Book Reviews-Pym, The Beauty of Trees

Pym
by Mat Johnson

Just. Get. This. Book. Now. Seriously. Temporarily stop reading this review and carry yourself over to Amazon or Barnes and Noble or your local library and arrange to have this book sent to you, downloaded to your reading device, or ready for you to pick up somewhere. This is the best book I've read so far this year. It's also FUNNIER than hell.

Although some of the humor in the book may be most deeply appreciated by those who are Edgar Allan Poe experts or academics (tenured or not) or scientists, or people suffering from unrequited love or those rare birds who are all of those things I truly believe that you will find this book hilarious no matter your race, ethnicity, work experience, age, gender, sexuality, blah, blah. It's freaking funny and that's it. It's UNIVERSALLY applicable to the human condition. I am very very very happy that I crossed this book off my "to read" list. I am definitely going to find more work by Mat Johnson to enjoy. I may start with his graphic novel Incognegro which I'm pretty sure I have laying around the home somewhere.  It was a gift from my brother who is a comic book fanatic. It's amazing that entire worlds lay at your fingertips. All you have to do is reach over and pick them up. Pym is so complex and so simple at the same time that after you finish you ask yourself why didn't I think of that?

This book is both parody and satire that touches on slavery, racism, American race relations, inter and intra-racial personal interactions, academia, art, and most especially Edgar Allan Poe's only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. It had been decades since I had read this work of Poe's. I remembered nothing about it. And according to both Mat Johnson and his in-universe stand-in I didn't miss much. Poe's work was a hastily written and poorly designed pulp novel about a mysterious journey to Antarctica, a racial mutiny, encounters with savages/pseudo-humans so black their teeth were black and a final meeting with a larger than life mysterious white figure. Having reread it after reading Pym, I can say that Poe's work was internally inconsistent and somewhat racist (though that was of the times). It did however inspire similar works by Jules Verne, H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains of Madness and most fortuitously Pym. So that's a good thing.

Much like Erasure, this book very much brings to mind such writers as Vonnegut, Heller and Twain. I've rarely read satire done so well and created from such seemingly disparate elements.
So what's it about you ask? Well Chris Jaynes, professor of African American literature has just been denied tenure and thus been effectively fired from his campus teaching position. He was the only black male professor at the university. He thought that if he were denied tenure he would shoot up the place or suicide bomb the faculty cafeteria but instead he mostly got drunk and cried. His department committee recommended tenure but the University President overrode that decision. At semester's end Chris decides to confront the President and "...show him how we do where I'm from, go straight Philly on him, and I knew all about that business because although I had never actually punched someone in the face before, as a child myself I had been on the receiving end of that act several times and was a quick study".

The meeting with the President doesn't go as Chris would like. In fact it goes bad from the start. Both Chris and the President are embarrassed when Chris barges in and catches his boss, a proud Jewish man, listening to Wagner. Chris is angered more when the President explains to him that Chris was hired only to teach black literature and be on the diversity committee and NOT to examine general American literature or expound on whiteness motifs in Poe's work. The President doesn't think Chris is smart or experienced enough to branch out and even if he were, that's not what the President wants. Chris doesn't think that just being on a "cover your a$$" and ultimately powerless diversity committee makes any sense. Later, in the bar running across his triumphant and dismissive black replacement, an angry hip hop theorist, Chris catches a beatdown. Even though it was in rhythm though it should not be confused with the downbeat. That is, as Chris explains, a completely different type of beating.

Fortunately however Chris has some good luck when he discovers a narrative by Dirk Peters, the "half-breed" companion of Pym in Poe's novel. Now believing that Poe's novel might have been based on truth, Chris decides to put together an all black Antarctic expedition to see if there really is a black nation out there that escaped colonialism or if some albino giants really do exist. To join him on this quest he brings along:

• Booker Jaynes: Chris' much older cousin, a hardcore black nationalist, civil rights activist and deep sea/salvage diver. Having lost faith in most black people post 1967 or so Booker is bossy, bitter and quite paranoid. He remains "blacker than thou". He has a dog named White Folks. 
• Jeffree and Carlton Carter: Sewage department workers and engineers, conspiracy theorists, web hosters, photographers, adventurers. They are also gay. Very openly so.
• Angela and Nathaniel Lathan: Angela is Chris' former girlfriend and has remained the great lost love of his life. Upon hearing that she had divorced, Chris invited her on the journey with the hopes of the obvious. Angela said yes but neglected to mention that she had remarried. This causes some mixed emotions on Chris' part, to say the least, particularly when Angela expresses hope that Chris and her husband Nathaniel will be friends. Nathaniel is an attorney and far more financially successful than Chris.
• Garth Frierson: Chris' childhood friend and someone who helped him move. Garth is an overweight unemployed everyman bus driver from Detroit with a passion for Little Debbie snack cakes and the artwork of Thomas Karvel (an obvious parody of Thomas Kinkade). Garth is convinced that Karvel lives in Antarctica. Garth does not appreciate everyone pointing out that his devotion to Karvel's work is a bit strange considering that Karvel never puts any black people or signifier of "blackness" in his art. He also doesn't appreciate anyone trying to steal his sugary snacks, of which he has prudently brought hundreds.

These people all reach Antarctica and discover that indeed some of Poe's novel was true. They also get enslaved. How they deal with this misfortune is the source of (pardon the pun) some of the book's blackest humor. Did I mention this book was funny? Virtually everything is skewered by Johnson's wit, whether it's black people claiming they're Native American while trying to push their naps underneath a do rag, or a white person seeing Chris, who could pass for white under certain conditions, and immediately assuming that he is white and thus obviously in charge of the group. At one point a half starving delirious member of the party launches into a longwinded doctoral dissertation on the evils of racism and the cannibalistic greediness at the heart of Eurocentric culture. His companion, who's in a very bad mood and had been silently ignoring the speaker for the past three days, punctures this heartfelt soliloquy by snidely asking "Are you saying hip-hop is any better?" When the person must answer in the negative, his companion sagely nods and goes back to ignoring him.

This book can be understood and enjoyed on multiple levels, from the satirical metafiction that it is to a simple rollicking good time. What I am trying to say is again, just read this book. It's written in first person, which normally I'm not fond of but that narrative device is perfect for this story. It combines humor with some very serious, even painful investigations into reality. 





The Beauty of Trees
by Michael Jordan

No it's not by THAT Michael Jordan. Have you ever read The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion and other books by J.R.R. Tolkien? One thing that shines through very brightly is that the author had a love for flora, especially trees. In Tolkien's creations, the best people take trees very seriously. It's the reflowering of a long dead tree that signals the return of the rightful king while the destruction of trees in the Shire herald the end of innocence and the arrival of evil, industrialization and some hard adult moral choices. Tolkien was a romantic at heart so it's no surprise that trees held such a special place in his heart. I think this book would likely be Tolkien approved. I grew up with elms and apple trees around my home. Unfortunately back in the day we lost our elm tree to Dutch elm disease, that cursed plague. Detroit has a lot more greenery than you would imagine while Michigan in particular is well known for apple and cherry trees. If I ever had real money not only would I have a gothic/baroque/art deco home made of stone I would also make sure to locate it next to and around a variety of different trees. This book lists 100 of the world's best known trees and depicts them in all their magnificent full color glory. It gives their various Latin names and descriptions of their histories, quirks, range in which they are found and the role they've played in the environment or human history. Some of these trees have immense cultural significance. Unfortunately cultural significance can by definition be quite specific as we see in Zimbabwe where there is a movement to eliminate "foreign" trees, that is trees brought from Europe. Many trees which we've come to think of as native to one land actually were brought over from other places long ago.

When you think about it it's amazing that you can have a living organism that can survive for hundreds or even thousands of years. It's even more amazing that trees provide much of the air we breathe, food and shelter for animals and other plants we need, and prevent soil erosion. Yet we often seem hellbent on destroying as many trees as we can. Trees represent a bridge between past and future as some grow so slowly that the planter may never see the full growth in his or her lifetime. They are something for the benefit of the next generation and all those thereafter.

It's fall now and Michigan is undergoing its normal beautiful transformation. After buying and reading this book I find myself more curious about the trees I see in my own backyard or in the remnants of forests that still abut my subdivision. I'm right on the border between city and country and this book makes me more interested in the country. To be honest I didn't find all of these trees beautiful. I thought the baobab was just ugly and the southern live oak, while gorgeous, brings up for me too many unpleasant antebellum associations. Still, each of these trees is special in their own way. If you are at all interested in the natural world, this coffee table book with glossy photographs is something you will want to have.

Alder

Red Flowering Gum

Redwood

Southern Live Oak

Rhododendron

Chicago Woman Brutalized by Police

I've written before about how I'm somewhat distrustful of police officers in general and stories like this only add to that sense of unease. The problem I have with police is not so much that they like any other human being can lose their temper or their patience, have or show prejudice and bigotry, or resort to violence more quickly than is required. After all those are all human traits . It would be silly to single out police officers for those failings. No, as we've discussed before the problem with police, who are after all agents of the state, is that they often get away with these things and/or are rarely held accountable to the full extent of the law. After all prosecutors often work hand in hand with police departments. So of course many prosecutors aren't often necessarily looking to arrest, prosecute and convict police officers, no matter how far they get out of line. This is bad because by law, custom and the fact they tend to be both armed and larger than you, people generally give physical deference to the police. We allow them to lay hands on us, arrest us and take us into custody precisely because we accept the authority of the state. Well what if the state consistently starts to behave in such a manner that a reasonable man or (in this case) woman decides that authority is no longer valid?

A Chicago woman has sued the village of Skokie and one of its police officers, alleging she was seriously injured after being shoved headfirst into a jail cell bench after a drunken driving arrest last winter. Cassandra Feuerstein, 47, said in a federal lawsuit that the incident required facial reconstructive surgery and the insertion of a titanium plate to "replace the bones that had been shattered."

Part of the alleged incident was recorded on jail video cameras, which Feuerstein's attorney, Torreya Hamilton, released Wednesday."The video speaks for itself," Hamilton said. "She does nothing to justify what this male police officer does." In a written statement released today, Village Manager Albert Rigoni said the village has “deep concern for Ms. Cassandra Feuerstein’s injuries that occurred at the Skokie Police Station.” The statement said that an officer involved has been placed on station duty, with no contact with the public, while both the village and the state’s attorney investigate.

Feuerstein was arrested for drunken driving March 10, according to Hamilton and court documents. The video shows officers searching Feuerstein inside the jail cell, where she appears to be asked to remove her boots and bra before being removed from the cell for additional processing. An officer then takes Feuerstein by the arm and appears to push her back into the cell. Video shows Feuerstein falling forward and striking her head and face on a bench, before officers and paramedics tend to her as a pool of blood spreads on the floor.

According to Feuerstein’s lawyer, Torri Hamilton, seconds after her client asked to call her husband and children, the officer hurled the 110-pound woman back into the cell with such force that she fell and landed face first on a concrete bench.

Police brutality may be closer to home if you happen to be black but as more and more stories show, race won't protect you from running into a brutal cop who LIKES hurting people. As Angela Davis said, if they come for me in the morning they will come for you in the night. Such police are dangerous to all citizens they encounter, regardless of their race or gender. Watch the graphic video below the fold and let me know what you think. The officer involved has not been disciplined nor has he been criminally charged. Now if you got this angry at someone on your job and did what he did, what do you think would happen to you? I imagine immediate discharge followed by arrest would be most likely.


   

LINK

Detroit Ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Sentenced to 28 Years

Back in March, former larger than life Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was convicted of multiple federal criminal charges of racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, bribery, and mail fraud. These all grew from him and his father demanding kickbacks from city contractors or other individuals seeking to do business with the city. Many of these kickbacks went to the mayor's good friend, construction mogul Bobby Ferguson, who was also found guilty of multiple charges. Basically if you wanted to play, you had to pay. Well today was sentencing. Mr. Kilpatrick was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison. As he is 43 years old, this is close to if not akin to a life sentence. By way of comparison other noted white collar criminals received both higher and lower sentences.
Bernie Madoff got 150 years in prison. Former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio received six years in prison for insider trading, a sentence he believed was brought about from his refusal, absent a court order, to cooperate with the NSA surveillance programs. Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich received a 14 year prison sentence for soliciting bribes for political appointments. People's sentences for various white collar corruptions range all over the place. It all depends on various factors, including your criminal history, how much you stole, whether or not you had the public trust and so on. Kilpatrick not only could have been a great mayor, he indeed had the energy and charisma to become a Michigan Senator or perhaps even Governor. 

Detroit — Kwame Kilpatrick has been sentenced to serve 28 years in prison for crimes of racketeering and conspiracy committed during his six years as the mayor of Detroit. That sentence was just handed down in U.S. federal court by Judge Nancy Edmunds. 

Edmunds said she was required to issue a sentence that is “sufficient but not greater than necessary” for a criminal enterprise that ran from Kilpatrick’s time in the state House to the mayor’s office. She described the former mayor as a larger-than-life character who helped himself to a jet-setting lifestyle. A significant sentence, she said, sends the message that corruption won’t be tolerated.

After declining to testify on his own behalf during the trial, Kilpatirck spoke before Edmunds made her ruling. It was an emotional and occasionally apologetic speech that included the omission: “I really messed up.”“We’ve been stuck in this town for a very long time dealing with me,” he said. “I’m ready to go so the city can move on.”His speech touched on a variety of subjects from his time in office and beyond, including:

■His affair with his former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty: “I was mad at people for finding out.”

■His own shortcomings: “It was pride and ego that took over. I couldn’t lose.”

■His resignation from office: "I didn't realize then that I beat down the spirit and energy and vibrance of what was going on in the city."

■His father, Bernard Kilpatrick: “He’s a real good man.”

■Stealing money from the city: “I’ve never done that...”

■The City of Detroit: “I want the city to be great again,” and to have a feeling “like it had during the 2006 SuperBowl.”

■His mother Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick’s term in office: “I killed her career.”

LINK 

Kilpatrick made things worse for Detroit, there is no doubt about that. At the same time we live in a system where fathers who have assaulted their own daughters have received a fraction of that sentence and where people who have put people in the ground have received less time for their actions. Of course as they say if you can't do the time, don't do the crime. The world is not a fair place anyway. If you weren't doing wrong in the first place you wouldn't be personally concerned about equity in sentencing. And every case is indeed different. But I can't help but think that 28 years is a little over the top. I was thinking more like 15-20. This brings an end to the sordid Kilpatrick saga, although there are still co-conspirators awaiting sentence, most infamously Bobby Ferguson. And maybe it's just me and my damnable pride but if I humbled myself and told the judge how sorry I was for everything and how I had learned from my mistakes and she STILL gave me 28 years I'd want to say a few more honest and much nastier things before I was hauled away for good. My basic verdict on Kilpatrick is that he wasted his talent and hurt the city.

What say you?
Ho-hum? Who cares? Good riddance? Fair sentence?

On the oppression of male youth in Palestine and the US

Today's guest post comes to us from Temple University graduate, Michelle Zei. Michelle is a freelance journalist who recently visited the Aida Refugee Camp in Israel. Her experience gave her a unique perspective on the turmoil surrounding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. 

During the summer, most Americans probably took vague notice that peace negotiations resumed in the Middle East. “Peace in the Middle East”, a phrase often thrown around allusively with little context, and a general attitude of futility. ‘There will never be peace,’ most people might think, ‘Why even try?’

“There's war on the streets and the war in the Middle East.” Tupac said it in the 90’s and it rings true today.

But approaching any situation as an endless conflict has never helped in the past and to take it a step further seeing the ‘Israeli- Palestinian Conflict’ as continuously hopeless doesn’t garner interest from the American public. 

The conflict that is portrayed as ageless is, in fact a military occupation dating back to 1948. There are not two equal parties at war but rather an indigenous group pushed inside narrow, shrinking borders under Israel’s on-going military rule. The occupation of Palestinian land and people, like other forms of colonialism, consists of the destruction of communities and culture: crippled economies, displacement of people, separation of families, millions of refugees, and the arrest of young males without warrant. Additionally, the arrest and disenfranchisement of so many men makes families and communities struggle for unity and economic strength. Women often bare immense burdens of maintaining households and trying to raise and protect their children- to teach them pride, strength and hope in the midst of a threatening reality. 

Many young Palestinian males share rights of passage of harassment and captivity similarly to young men of color in other parts of the world, even here. The U.S. injustices rooted in displacing natives, relying on slavery for economic growth, and later administering discriminatory laws under Jim Crow have put the U.S. in a place where black men have been systemically criminalized and assumed guilty until proven innocence. 

How can these people be innocent and receive empathy in a country where they’ve been pegged as violent aggressors without historical context (that includes them being the recipients of violence for generations)? Palestinians are faced with this dilemma as well. 

Under an oppressive judicial, police or military system, these young males are presumed as a threat before they even act. Even youth are suspects; building the foundation for them to be devalued and mistreated. Legal systems set the tone for how citizens view youth and adults.

In the U.S., we have the recent examples of Kimani Gray who was shot and killed by N.Y.P.D. officers and George Zimmerman’s murder of Trayvon Martin.

Palestinian youth also receive brutality and harassment from Israeli soldiers and citizens. For example, last year Jamal Julani, a Palestinian teen was attacked by Israeli teens in Jerusalem until he was left unconscious. This year in Aida refugee camp, 13-year-old MohammedAl-Kurdi and 15-year-old Ahmed Amarin were fatally shot by Israeli soldiers in front of a community center.

The power of social media led active community members to seek justice for Trayvon Martin. A change.org petition circulated and raised an overwhelming amount of support in favor of charging Zimmerman  and finally the state responded. Even when justice wasn’t served, adults and youth continued fighting to illuminate the legacy of racism and racial profiling- to advocate for young black men and stand in unity.

However much like Kimani Gray’s death, the deaths and imprisonment of many Palestinian youth go unreported and misunderstood in the U.S. media. We must challenge ourselves to learn the names and circumstances of those, local and internationally whose deaths and suffering never make headlines.

Minors behind bars

Just as many American activists from groups like Decarcerate P.A.  and the Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project address issues of imprisonment and the charge of minors as adults, children as young as 12 are held in Israeli military detention without charge, for renewable, six-month periods. According to the UN, in 2011, 200 Palestinian youth were arrested per month.  

The double standard for how Palestinians are treated within the Israeli courts is just one facet of apartheid in Palestine-Israel, reminiscent of that in South Africa and Jim Crow south.

Respected figures in the civil rights movement like Alice Walker have long admonished the occupation and chosen to stand with the Palestinian people. Walker wrote Alicia Keys a letter to join the cultural boycott of Israel a couple months ago but her letter wasn’t understood or received by the public or perhaps Keys herself. 

In addition, Nelson Mandela’s friend Ahmed Kathrada who also was imprisoned for fighting against apartheid wrote a letter to Morgan Freeman, asking him to pull out of a fundraiser for HebrewUniversity.

Other public figures like Angela Davis and Lenny Kravitz have spoken out against the Israeli military occupation as well. These people recognize the importance of connecting local concerns and action to international solidarity and advocacy.

The fight for Palestinians to be recognized and have freedom is an ongoing struggle. Peace negotiations will inevitably resume at some point, with the U.S. playing referee. As American citizens, we often hear in political discourse that Israel is our biggest ally in the Middle East, a beacon of light and example of democracy. However as we know, young democracies built on the displacement of others are imperfect and in need of constant examination and changes so that more people can thrive and live in peace.

Many refugees and immigrants from Palestine, like other regions of the world are now American citizens, continuing life in a place with its own contradictions and injustices. Stories of pain and persecution are more often silenced than shared. Learning more about other countries, especially where the U.S. government has a large presence is a way to better understand our country, its people and influence.

I encourage you to look into the rich history and culture of the Palestinian people, learn the names of politicians, artists, and even innocent boys whose lives have been cut short by unpunished crimes.

Movie Reviews-Breaking Bad(Final Season), World War Z

Breaking Bad, Season Five (Part Two)
Created by Vince Gilligan

Although I do not list or discuss every spoiler that happened here, some are inevitable and may freely be discussed in comments if you wish. The show is over and that's that.

And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.
So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
"Time" -Pink Floyd

Walter White's (Bryan Cranston) greatest strengths (and weaknesses) are his intelligence and rationality. Some have used the show to criticize whiteness or masculinity. I think those critics miss the point. Walter White did not feel entitled because he was a white man. Walter was angry because through a mostly unexplained chain of events during or immediately after graduate school he either left or was pushed out of a company he co-founded which later became a billion dollar entity. He spent the next twenty years trying to forget about that. And what did he have to show for that time? He had a son that was more respectful of and responsive to his uncle than to Walter, a patronizing nosy sister-in-law, two low pay low status jobs, maxed out credit cards and a pushy, occasionally bossy wife. So when Walter received a terminal cancer diagnosis he had nothing to lose by breaking bad. Walter has accurately believed that he's always the smartest person in the room. He thought that he could successfully apply rationality and intelligence to the criminal world the same way that he's done in the chemistry lab. He was wrong.

Walter White's double life gave him everything he wanted. Walter won although he was estranged from his apprentice and partner Jesse (Aaron Paul). Despite a few minor hiccups, such as personally murdering a co-worker from pique, watching another child die, considering murdering another female co-worker on multiple occasions, and hiring neo-Nazis to murder redundant workers, Walter avoided the spotlight and prevented any family member besides his wife Skyler from discovering his actions. Walter had some close calls but via luck and inventiveness, stayed off the radar of his outwardly jovial DEA ASAC brother-in-law Hank Schrader (Dean Norris). 

With the assistance of canny and paranoid corporate executive Lydia Rodarte-Qualye (Laura Fraser) Walter expanded his meth empire overseas. Walter earned so much money that Skyler could neither launder nor hide it. Once Walt realized he was worth over $80 million, finally even his greed and pride were satiated. He retired and turned over his supply chain to a local business partner. 
But can we just immerse ourselves in evil and sin and then walk away clean? I don't think so. Not in Gilligan's story. Perhaps if you repent and seek forgiveness it's possible but repentance is not on Walter's agenda. So the muck sticks. Lydia, and Laura Fraser did a bang-up job, is not pleased with the new supplier's quality. She pesters Walt to unretire but he declines. She even visits his car wash to convince him. This is exactly what Skyler was worried about. Lydia's nervous tics, good looks, stiletto heels and bright red lipstick mask a very cold and calculating, even brutal nature. She's not to be underestimated. Lydia takes steps to improve the batch quality. It's all about numbers with her.

Another person who Walt underestimated was his brother-in-law, Hank Schrader. At the end of Season 5A, purely by accident, Hank found evidence linking Walter to a now deceased meth cook. The evidence wouldn't be enough to convict and wasn't really enough to get a search warrant. But Hank is much smarter and more resourceful than Walt realized. And as both Hank and Walt emphasize, they're family. They know each other's habits. And now that the curtain has dropped Hank knows when Walt is lying. Everything has become clear to Hank. Hank's anger, pride and integrity won't let him let this go. People whose opinions I respect disagree with me but I think that when the chips are down Hank's a good guy. Yes, he is a blowhard Type A personality, can flirt with bigotry, and can be offensively patronizing both to women and to men he finds insufficiently masculine (i.e. Walter). But he's not corrupt and still has the love and respect of his wife, something that Walter can't say. Hank puts drug dealers, drug suppliers and murderers in prison. Walter has created an international meth empire. If Hank turns a blind eye there's more likelihood that he could be charged as an accessory. But coming forward also risks charges and would likely end his career as a law enforcement official. At best he would be a laughing stock. He could be forced out and lose his pension. Telling the truth will also obviously end his relationship with Walter and Skyler.

It says something about Hank's stubbornness and sense of duty that he continues his investigation anyway even after Walter makes an oblique threat to Hank by advising him to "tread lightly". What would you do in Hank's place? If you discovered a family member was a serious criminal and you were law enforcement how would you handle it? Whatever sins Hank has committed (getting snippy with his wife during his paralysis, assaulting Jesse, making a few ethnic jokes) they are as nothing compared to Walt's. Hank doesn't poison kids. Walter does. And Hank freely accepts responsibility for his mistakes, something that Walter won't do unless and until he's forced. Hank may well be the most righteous major character on the show.

Walter's hubris and greed catch up with him and leave him vulnerable to more violent and greedier rivals. Although Walter had problems with both Gus and Mike and eliminated them, Season 5B showed the dangers of escaping the frying pan only to fall into the fire. In season 5A, Walter used the deceptively kind looking Todd (Jesse Flemens) and his friendly but sarcastic Uncle Jack (Michael Bowen) as his new muscle to tie up loose ends between him and the remnants of the Gus Fring organization, more specifically those people who had worked for Mike. But Todd and Jack (who are neo-Nazis) are more dangerous to Walter and his family than Gus or Mike ever were. Walter's actions were like putting down a dangerous Boxer and bringing home a rabid Cane Corso. 

Hank pressures Walter and Skyler, which in turn forces both Skyler and her sister Marie (Betsy Brandt) to choose sides. This has tragic familial consequences as several of Walter's and Skyler's lies are revealed. Both sisters go into "stand by your man, until death do us part" mode. If you had to choose between a spouse and a sibling, who do you choose? Walter is at DefCon 4 status. He makes it painfully clear to Hank that bringing him down will have quite negative results for Hank and Marie on personal and professional levels. Hank and Marie are more hurt by the fact that Walter would threaten them than by the actual threat. Hank is crushed. Marie so quickly goes into "hate Walt" mode that you have to wonder if she had pre-existing reasons to hate Walter. I guess the sense of familial betrayal can explain a lot of it.

The two groups are at an impasse when Jesse, disillusioned and clinically depressed, discovers something that allows him to deduct correctly that Walter poisoned Jesse's girlfriend's child, Brock. This transforms Jesse into a living incarnation of rage and revenge. His formless frothing fury finally forces Walter to turn against Jesse while the embittered and desperate Hank sees someone who can be used to bring Walter down. But Jesse is the catalyst for events that spiral out of Walter's or Hank's control and result in ruin and death for many people. No one gets away untouched. Just as in The Wire, when the dissolution of the Barksdale organization preceded the rise of the even worse Marlo Stansfield group, Walt learns the hard way that Todd, Uncle Jack and Lydia are more vicious than his previous muscle or distributors. 

Todd is completely without mercy. He enjoys killing and does not hesitate to kill women or children. And for Lydia the balance sheet is all that ever counts. The moment that she thinks you are a debit and not a credit is exactly when you need to back away slowly from Lydia and exit the room. Her extermination of the inferior supply network showed that.

This season had incredible shootouts, several tense standoffs, incredible brutality, emotionally shocking moments and a few moments of catharsis. The showdown with Agent Gomez and Agent Schrader on one side and the Nazis on the other was amazing television. It's rare that just the sight of a pickup truck making a turn contains so much menace. Of course the car showing up right before Ricky gets shot in Boyz n the Hood surpasses it. Hank goes from what he sees as his greatest triumph to fighting for his life. And Walt goes from someone who is loved if not always obeyed by his son Walt Jr.(R.J Mitte) to someone who is rejected by his son as a murderous and abusive figure. Breaking Bad took five seasons to ask and answer the question if Walter White is someone who really broke bad out of very good reasons and was just playing the role of ruthless druglord or was the milquetoast high school science teacher really the false role all along? Walter had quietly rotted away from the inside. He was seething with resentment over being "overlooked" by life. From his POV  a man as intelligent as him shouldn't have been working as a high school teacher.  Walter aka "Heisenberg" is an evil SOB but he's also someone who tries to protect his family even as his actions destroy it. Walter shows he has some remaining humanity when he attempts to make the police think that Skyler was innocent. Of course Skyler had suggested murdering Jesse so innocent she's not.

As Walter finally admitted to Skyler he liked doing what he did. He enjoyed it. Although he regrets the destruction and loss that finally touched his family, I honestly don't think he would have changed very much. He's going to die and go to hell, if such a place exists, and he's ok with that. The wages of sin are death. Walter's cancer has returned and it's terminal. There's no exit and no escape. But just like Milton's Lucifer, Walt still retains his pride and intelligence. There was a reason that Hank's last words to Walter were "You're the smartest man I've ever known." It was ironic that although Walter often felt emasculated by both his wife and brother-in-law, it's Walter who's constantly seen doing a tremendous amount of stereotypically masculine work, whether it's putting in a new hot water heater all by himself or building various mechanical devices, including one that helps him settle scores with the Nazis. That he doesn't make it out alive should not surprise anyone. Gilligan said that he wanted to turn Mr. Chips into Scarface. I think he succeeded. 

Breaking Bad gave us definitive closure. Walter may have started as an anti-hero but by the end he was just as evil as Gus or Mike or Tuco. He only tried to end what he had started when the filth he worked with touched his family. But it was his own pride and need for adulation that brought his house of cards crashing down. A viewer may be happy to see Walter take revenge (I was to an extent) but like the mantra from A Bronx Tale, there's nothing sadder than wasted talent. And Walter White certainly wasted his. Ultimately he was a wicked SOB who got what he deserved and a tragic figure.
TRAILER
Read Dean Norris' interpretation of Hank and Walt here.




World War Z
directed by Marc Forster

This Brad Pitt vehicle wasn't half-bad. It was based on a novel that is in the ever expanding stack of books I bought but have not read yet. I've heard that there were significant differences between the book and the film but since I never read the book I couldn't tell you what they were. I had no pre-conceived notions about what to expect. Who knows why zombie films, books and television shows have become so popular of late? What does that say about our fears? Vampires touch on sex and death (or lately quite specific female-centric romance interests). Werewolves seem to have currently dropped off the cultural radar but obviously play off our fears of the beast within, our id. Do zombies touch on our fear of being a slavish member of the collective, just another brick in the wall? Could be. Or it could just be that zombies are monsters that are frightening but easy to kill with no moral qualms.

This movie was a little longer than it needed to be in my opinion but nonetheless it was a very fun ride that gave some fun updates to the zombie mythos.

Anyway Gerry Lane (Pitt) and his wife Karin (Mirielle Enos) and their two daughters are in traffic in Philadelphia. They've heard some strange reports about disturbances and imposition of martial law in some places. In the film's most impressive action sequence (and there are plenty) the Lanes are witness to and caught up in the zombie attack. This is shot, for lack of a better word, realistically. Gerry (and the audience) can't really see what's going on. People are running (or driving) away with no thought for who they hit in their frantic attempts to escape. It's literally like I imagine a herd of antelope must react when the lions attack. If you don't start moving RIGHT NOW, you're going to get trampled.

Gerry gets his family out of their now damaged car. He's able to see the first of the zombies and also see a human turn into one. Calling these "zombies" may not be technically correct as it's unclear that the humans die first. It's also apparently not anything supernatural. Nonetheless the zombies are no longer human, have an apparent bio-chemical change and are driven by a hunger for human flesh, or least a desire to bite people. They also move fast.

Gerry is not a man without resources though. He's a former UN war crimes investigator and is able to call in some chips to have the UN Deputy Secretary General Thierry Umotoni (Fama Mokoena), an old buddy, send a team to extract him and his family. But the Lanes need to survive the night first. Not only are there zombies about but with the breakdown of law and order there are rapists roaming the streets as well. There are some exciting siege pieces before the Lanes escape, along with a young boy, to the relative safety of a US aircraft carrier. Whatever's going on is worldwide. The scientists believe that it's something which is viral and that in order to discover a vaccine, they must find patient zero. They want to send Gerry and a top ranking scientist (Elyes Gabel) to one of the earliest outbreaks they know about, in South Korea. Gerry demurs at first but the military commander makes him an offer he cannot refuse.

This kicks off an increasingly audacious worldwide search to discover how the zombies were created and to find a method of protecting humans from the zombie plague. This was a fun movie that doesn't fall into the video-game/special effects trap that so many movies in this genre do. Well it straddles it though. A while back I wrote that Quarantine 2 would have been scarier and more effective if it had investigated the zombies on a plane motif a little more. Well World War Z does just that. Again, I think this film could have cut about 10-20 minutes but all the same it moves fast. This is something I should have seen in the theater. Enjoy.

TRAILER

Revenge Porn Outlawed

Let's say that you're happily married or otherwise paired up. Or let's say that you're not but all the same you've found someone with whom you like to pretend you're married on a regular basis. Well over time and this time can be a relatively short period for some people you will probably relax around this person. That is, after all, the very definition of intimacy. This man or woman will know things about you that no one else does. Pillow talk can be quite revealing. During this relationship you and this person might even exchange notes, pictures, letters and e-mails that are really for your eyes only sort of stuff. Some people share more than others but if you're human and have been in a relationship no matter how brief or fleeting, your partner has some information about you which is not available to the general public. Few people stay together forever. Ideally if a break up occurs it's a mutually agreed upon thing where two people decide that they can't or shouldn't live or sleep together any more and respectfully and calmly part ways. Right. Unfortunately many breakups aren't mutual. And they certainly aren't respectful or calm. Insults may be hurled, tears may be shed, threats may be uttered and decades long feuds may develop over who paid for (and thus owns) mutually enjoyed items. 

Something else that may occur during or after a breakup is that one or both parties to the breakup may decide to share with the world (or at least their former lover's/spouse's circle of friends) the kind of information I detailed above. This is most definitely NOT a morally good thing to do but the urge to hurt someone the way that you think they hurt you, ESPECIALLY if you were the dumpee and not the dumper, could be overwhelming. I think this is wrong but emotions can overwhelm morality when it comes to affairs of the heart. If a man suddenly gets a text message from his wife that she's dumping him, doesn't ever want to talk to or see him again and oh by the way she's been playing house with her co-worker for the past two years, you might understand why this fellow might start venting some negative emotions about said woman. Of course this is not gender specific. Each gender is equally capable of being emotionally swept away by tidal wave feelings of hostility and revenge that could arise from imagined or real mistreatment. 

As the cost of photography and storage has dropped while the ability to produce your own naughty photographs has increased tenfold, some people (mostly women) have discovered that perhaps sending certain intimate photographs to people (mostly men) that they loved or at least lusted after wasn't a good idea. When the breakup happens some people who find themselves in possession of naughty pics decide to post them to certain internet sites.

SACRAMENTO, California — California Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed a bill outlawing so-called revenge porn and levying possible jail time for people who post naked photos of their exes after bitter breakups.

Senate Bill 255, which takes effect immediately, makes it a misdemeanor to post identifiable nude pictures of someone else online without permission with the intent to cause emotional distress or humiliation. The penalty is up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

"Until now, there was no tool for law enforcement to protect victims," the bill's author, Sen. Anthony Cannella, said in a statement. "Too many have had their lives upended because of an action of another that they trusted."  Cannella, a Republican, has said revenge porn is a growing problem in the age of social media, when photos and videos that were made privately during a relationship can find their way onto hundreds of websites. Before the criminal law was enacted, California allowed victims to sue their virtual assailants, but that is an expensive and time-consuming option.

LINK
This is crude and crass and really pathetic but I don't think it's really that different than people sharing love letters or telling other people stories which are designed to show their ex in a bad light. It's just part of human nature. People say that all is fair in love and war. I'm not sure that's really the case but I am sure that I don't want to send people to jail or prison because they posted a picture of their ex. It's not ladylike or gentlemanly behavior but is it worth taking away someone's freedom? Not from where I sit. The chance that something like this might happen can be reduced by not creating these sorts of pictures in the first place but this sort of privacy violation can never ever be eliminated. If you've ever been intimate with someone in your life, they know things about you.  And if you break up with someone, s/he may say negative things about you. That's just part of the risk of being a healthy adult. All you can do is try to be intimate with people who have some sense of morality and honor. It's all in the game. I don't think the state needs to be involved here.

QUESTIONS

1) Should this sort of thing (posting pics of your ex) be illegal?

2) If you give a picture/note/e-mail to someone, who owns that item?

3) Is all truly fair in love and war?

4) Are there free speech implications?

Bohemian Gravity

I understand very little about physics and even less about string theory. But I think I understand a tiny bit more after watching this video. This was created by Canadian Tim Blais, a musically talented McGill University physics Masters candidate. As it turns out Queen guitarist Brian May, besides having co-written the song (Bohemian Rhapsody) that inspired this cover, also happens to be a professor of astrophysics. He linked to this song on his website and called it astonishingly good. So if you want to get a quick explanation of what string theory is or just like hearing another version of Bohemian Rhapsody, check this out.

Blais said that it’s important that people need to understand the world around them.

“Science also makes you appreciate the immense complexity and beauty of seemingly mundane everyday occurrences; even something as simple as a stirred cup of tea…” he said. “So I would say that people should also understand science just because the world is so much more interesting when they do.”

Blais is no stranger to music: he plays the drums, piano, guitar and other stringed instruments. He’s taking time off from school and turning to music. But, he added, “I’m never going to stop being a scientist at heart.”

LINK