The Bigger Perspective

I.T.D. (Information Technology Divisions) The Beginning


The byline for this blog is 'Question Everything'. So often in modern society we simple accept things as fact. It wouldn't be on a news stand or a television if someone wasn't looking out for our best interest, so everything they tell us must be true. Sadly, I have learned the exact opposite. Pretty much everything the media tells us is a lie.

We are trained to live in the here-and-now. How we got here and where the arch of our history might be taking us isn't stressed much these days. If you start to plan ahead and think about tomorrow you become harder to control.

If you live on the Gulf Coast and actually plan for that hurricane that will likely hit you in the next 5 years, you might stock up on water, sand bags and plywood window coverings. That means you will be spending less money on Hummers, Twinkies and Flat Screen televisions. Live NOW, spend NOW, be FREE! Marketing is a cruel joke in some ways.

Which is why I find myself drawn more and more to a website that really does give me perspective. The website is called Shorpy. The names comes from the young 12 year old boy in the first photograph they ever published.

This is a Photo Blog of nothing but old photographs in High Resolution. These are photos from the 1850s through the 1950. They usually post about 4 a day. Most of the photographs are stunning, but when you view them in Full Resolution, something magical happens. You can actually step into them. Unlike photography after WWII, cameras from this era used huge negatives, which gave a level of detail that is almost impossible even in today’s digital age.

You will never see most of these pictures, because they are tucked away in archives and are not easily found by the public. Even if you could find them, you would have to blow them up to see all the detail. Shorpy does that for you.

So what is the magic? When you look at the detail, you realize something. These people are us. The expressions on their faces, their walk, their hopes and their despair are all evident. They are all us. We haven't changed over the years. Only the trappings that we surround ourselves with have changed.

You won't see any electronics in these pictures. No telephone poles, no plastic, no air conditioning. Society may have been simpler back then, but there were still problems and there was still hope. The blog photo above shows a 'calculating room' of the Federal Government where rows of women (and men) toil endlessly on adding machines to calculate the amount of bonus checks for soldiers. There are no computer screens, no cubicles, no fancy desks...only a supervisor that literally stands behind them and watches them work. Still want to bitch about your current job?

And Shorpy? His name was Shorpy Higginbotham and he was a little kid photographed to document working conditions in the mining industry in 1910. He was 12 years old and worked in a coal mine for 10 hours a day. We will never know what became of him, but we can see the resolve in his face. Did he die of old age in a Pasadena nursing home or did he loose his life on the beaches of Anzio? Doesn’t really matter. I still see his expression on other peoples faces every day.

Clicking the title of the blog or clicking here will take you to the full size view of 'Calculating Room'. For a better perspective, browse their blog. It is well worth your time.

Not Being Subtle

In The Lap Of Luxury

We have been busy the past couple of days, hence the limited time to blog and read blogs.

We have been finishing up a home improvement project. That leaves about another 20 of them to go before we can just start 'living' in our house.

What we have pictured here is called the 'Venus Bath'. It is the master bathroom in our home. We totally gutted the old bathroom down to the studs and insulation and had it rebuilt. The cost (with help from George Bush's Tax Incentive Check) was in the five digit range. It took almost 3 weeks for the contractor to complete the job.

A few specifics about the bathroom. It has a hand pounded, free-standing copper bathtub that we purchased in Mexico. The ceiling is stamped aluminum sheeting that is hand-painted (by my wife). The custom facets for the tub cost in excess of $600. Since all the toilets that we looked at are now 'low flow' toilets that sit about 10 inches off the floor, we had our new one raised up off the floor to match the design motif for the tub. The room contains two wall size mirrors (framed to match the crown molding ... also hand-painted by my wife) that face each other and give an 'infinite window effect' for the room. The mural is tile, mounted to a plywood base, framed with cermic tile and hung on the wall. It weighs about 120lbs. Its cost was just under $1,000.

The tub will easily hold two adults and since it is metal, retains a lot of heat. After sitting in it for 45 minutes, the water is still pretty hot.

Suffice to say, that the wife and I will be taking a lot more baths in the future.

To see more pictures of the 'Venus Bath', check out the Flickr page by clicking the Blog Title.

Essential Cinema - 40

Black Narcissus

ACTORS:
Deborah Kerr ... Sister Clodagh
Flora Robson ... Sister Philippa
Jean Simmons ... Kanchi
David Farrar ... Mr. Dean
Sabu ... The Young General
Esmond Knight ... The Old General
Kathleen Byron ... Sister Ruth
Jenny Laird ... Sister Honey
Judith Furse ... Sister Briony

DIRECTOR
Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger

SCREENPLAY
Rumer Godden (novel)
Michael Powell (written by) &
Emeric Pressburger (written by)

CINEMATOGRAPHER
Jack Cardiff



SYNOPSIS:
A group of five nuns is sent to establish a church in rural India during the 1930s.




CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER
How a new perspective can reawaken the suppressed memories and desires of those in denial. A different point of view can be a dangerous thing.




PROS AND CONS
I was very impressed with this film. This is one of the films that epitomizes the British Film Industry when it started to experiment with color after the 2nd World War. They took a slightly different tack than Hollywood and the results are very impressive.




This film is shot in Technicolor which gives it a fantastic visual image. The sets had to be lite with very bright lights and the colors come across as very vivid with deep shadows. The effect is as though you are watching a moving painting.




The plot of this film is not an easy thing to understand. It is fairly subtle and has to do with the ordeals that a group of nuns have to endure as they attempt to establish a convent in a remote part of India. The clash of culture and the raw, barbaric beauty of the rural countryside forces each of the sisters to question her vows and re-examine their past.




This film is a wonderful example of how sexual tension can be implied. There is a lot of smoldering eroticism in this film, but it is only hinted at in the looks on charactors faces and the things that upset them. You can tell there is a sharp difference in what the character are saying and what they are really thinking.




The performances are wonderful, especially that of Deborah Kerr, and the scenery is spectacular. There isn't much that detracts from this film except that some modern day viewers may find the lack of a story arch and conclusion to be a bit frustrating. But this is a different kind of story telling from a different age of film making.


This film is available for downloading in M4V format (iPod/AppleTV/Quicktime Pro) by clicking the graphic below.



This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection which is located on the LaserDisc Database.

Clicking on the "Essential Cinema" title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. The listing of all the LaserDiscs that I have reviewed on IMDB can be found here.

Clicking here will take you to a listing of all the "Essential Cinema" reviews in my Blog.

Essential Cinema - 39

In Like Flint

ACTORS:
James Coburn ... Derek Flint
Lee J. Cobb ... Lloyd C. Cramden
Jean Hale ... Lisa
Andrew Duggan ... President Trent
Anna Lee ... Elisabeth
Hanna Landy ... Helena
Totty Ames ... Simone
Steve Ihnat ... General Carter
Thomas Hasson ... Lieutenant Avery
Mary Michael ... Terry
Diane Bond ... Jan

DIRECTOR
Gordon Douglas

SCREENPLAY
Hal Fimberg

CINEMATOGRAPHER
William H. Daniels



SYNOPSIS
A U.S. Secret agent must stop an organization of women from taking control of a space platform armed with nuclear weapons.



CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER
Originally, being super cool and suave. Historically, it is hard to believe that we ever thought that this was super cool and suave.



PROS AND CONS
Back in the mid-1960s, there was a revolution in cinema that owed most of its origins to James Bond. There were numerous copies of the spy-formula, notably Matt Helm, Modesty Blaise and Derek Flint. None of them reached the same level as Bond and were soon forgotten.



'In Like Flint' was the second and last installment in the 'Flint' series. The first film was called "Our Man Flint". The persona of Derck Flint was an Americanized James Bond. He was edgier, more self confident, a master of all things scientific and saw women as simplistic one dimensional playthings. At least in the Bond films, the women had some sort of personality.



While this film may have been cutting edge for its day, in retrospect this work would not even be considered entertaining during Saturday morning cartoon time. Society has moved well past this type of entertainment and expects better writing, production values and plot lines.



There are some redeeming insights from the film regarding societies expectations and ideals back when it was made. It still suffers from a segregated cast (only Caucasian actors and extras need apply), and every women was single, childless and in a bikini for most of the film. This was obviously a male fantasy film, but even in that genre, I don't think most men really aspired to be 'In Like Flint'. He wasn't the every-man's spy, like Bond was.



It would be interesting to find and old Matt Helm film, staring Dean Martin, to watch in comparison. I know there was also one Modesty Blaise film made with Monica Vitti in the title role. I saw it once and I recall it being pretty corny, but hey, you get to look at Monica Vitti for 90 minutes, so it had some redeeming value.

This film is available for viewing in M4V format (iPod / AppleTV / Quicktime Pro) by clicking the images below.



This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection which is located on the LaserDisc Database.


Clicking on the "Essential Cinema" title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. The listing of all the LaserDiscs that I have reviewed on IMDB can be found here.


Clicking here will take you to a listing of all the "Essential Cinema" reviews in my Blog.

Woman's Worry

Fear / Anxiety / Pressure


Originally, I had planned to make a series about this particular magazine, but instead I will opt for one glowing example.

Welcome to "Woman's World". This is a magazine that my wife seems to love. I am constantly finding new issues of it in our bathroom. I can't complain, because at $1.79 a copy, it is far better than "Cosmopolitan" or "O" magazine.

However, I have issues with this magazine and the stereotypes it perpetuates. It markets to the basic fears of women and claims to give them hope and promise for the future. This is much like Playboy promising young, hot, sexy blond babes for every 18 year old male that reads it.

Each issue of Women's World is essentially the same. The themes remain constant as does the basic cover layout and contents. Lets take a little stroll through the subliminal anxiety of the modern American women;

A) "God Bless America" We are narrowing our focus from the outset. While Muslims and other faiths might worship the same 'God', lets face it. This magazine really isn't aimed toward them. We are looking at the Bible belt here and women over 30.

B) "So Easy, So Cute!" This is a standard on every issue. It is the craft-like treat with a theme, such as flowers or the American Flag, or a teddy bear. It is almost alway a desert. It is an eye catcher for the starving woman on a diet. Most women standing in the checkout lane will wonder, "If that has low calories, maybe I can eat it!", better buy the magazine and find out.

C) "The Smiling, Middle-agd, Anglo-Saxon Woman" I don't recall ever seeing an African-American or Asian woman on this magazine. Again, Bible Belt Mid-Westerners don't tend to be those ethnicities. She always looks happy (like most of the readers 'want' to be), and is usually proclaiming that she has lost some un-imaginable amount of weight based on the main cover story (see "F" below).

D) "Cure Your Stress!" Welcome to fear #1. It is assumed that all reader of this magazine are stressed out over something such as weight, love life, finances, acceptance, the list is endless. So lets give the potential buyer / reader a life line on how to cure it.

F) "The Get-Slim Vitamin" Welcome to Fear #2. All women are overweight. The concept of an ideal weight for most women is unobtainable. This fosters a concept of inadequacies in women that they will do anything (including spending lots of money) to correct. I am constantly amazed at the new 'methods' that this magazine comes up with to loose weight. Here it is a vitamin, but in the past it has been the televisions shows you watch, the cars you drive or the candidates you vote for. "Vote for George Bush and lose 10lbs!".

G) "Loose 9lbs in a week!" This is the sub-plot to "F". There has to be a number reference regarding how much weight you could lose. The number has to be significant enough to make the woman think she can actually lose it, but small enough to sound realistic. The number is never less than 3lbs or greater than 15lbs. In all reality, any doctor will tell you that a true weight loss of more than 3lbs per week is unhealthy. So there claim of 9lbs in a week seems bit on the ludicrous side.

H) "Live Longer!" Finally, there is Fear #3. The fear of getting old and dying. The concept of telling these readers that death is inevitable and to enjoy the time you have left is unheard of. Aging / Death are to be feared and there MUST be ways to starve it off and be young and happy forever. At least this magazine wants you to think that.

I) "Paula Dean's Best Every Barbecue!" The planned party feast. This is another staple of the magazine. The HUGE dinner function that you can cook all these dishes for. While the dishes may actually be healthy, the quantities represented certainly are not. The concept of portion control is never mentioned. Besides, nothing makes you forget about stress and aging/death than eating pounds of meat and sweets.

J) "Save 10% on Gas!" There is usually a cost saving sub-heading thrown in somewhere on the front. But fear of monetary failure does not tend to be a major concern for these readers. At least not as much as stress, death and aging.

K) "Feel Happy Every Day!" (see "D" above) The message being, that most of the time you are not happy. Read this article and you can change your basic personality type and be freed from all the media pressure regarding your weight and your age. Yeah....right.

L) "Looks Years Younger In Just 30 Days!" (see "H" above) I don't think there is anything more pathetic than a 50 or 60 year old woman striving to hold on to her 20s and 30s. The readers of this magazine did not get that memo. The bottom line here is that you ARE old...and you do everything in your power not to let it show. Live in denial people.....it is the right thing to do.

So lets sum this up. The average middle aged white woman is 'stressed', 'overweight', loves to 'cook', loves to 'entertain' and is profoundly afraid of growing 'old' and 'dying'.

That means that the average American Woman's life adds up to: Being Stressed + Being Fat + Eating + Eating-A-Lot + Aging + Dying = Misery. Gee, what a great magazine. I am so glad I was born a male so I don't have to be marketed to in this way.

Instead, we males get "Playboy" and "Popular Mechanics"....but that is another blog. Who wants dessert?!

Minds Eye - 2

One More Time....tweaked

Learning from the last effort, I decided to make the same sort of visual but this one is a bit tighter and shorter. Probably won't be doing anymore, because I am running out of Phoenix landmarks that are within walking distance of my house.

Minds Eye - 1

Meanwhile, On My Day Off


A simple 6 minute film that I did yesterday. This film was shot entirely on my LG Cell Phone, using video and still images. It was shot in the interior of the Phoenix Public Library. My goal was to test the resolution of the camera and how it would look when edited and exported to streaming web video.

The images were transfered to my iMac G4 via Bluetooth and then edited in iMovie. It was then exported in Streaming Video at 320 X 240 resolution.

It may be interesting to note that while I was walking through the library I was listening to Jean Michelle Jarre on my iPod, which is also the soundtrack to the video.