Ten Commandments: A Continuum Spectrum

Is "Thou Shalt Not Kill" realistic? Some people try to hold to this as a precept, regardless of circumstances. The Jains (which is usually pronounced more like "Jines") live according to strong principles of nonviolence. Not many others do, so far as I know. Why?

If the King, Queen, Emperor or Nation (etcetera) sanctions killing, people will kill, some without compunction. In self-defense, people will kill. In the heat of passion, people will kill. In wars, people will kill. In the "line of duty," people will kill. As sanctioned punishment, people will kill. For a sense of power or amusement, psychopaths will kill.

By contrast, the Jains will try avoid killing as much as humanly possible: including animals and plant life. Are they crazy, or is the rest of the world crazy? Or does it depend on the situation?

If limits are put on killing -- and there usualy are, even in extreme situations -- what should they be? A universal problem with human activities like war is that even cultural and religious limiters are usually broken. Support "our troops" whether they are Waffen SS or 101st Airborne or French Foreign Legion? Support "our troops," even if they rape, plunder and kill civilians? I think not. But I might be singing to a different tune if the enemy was at the gates, ready and able to sack and destroy my city and everyone I know.  That's the rotten damn fool I could be. 

Basil: I don't believe you give a damn about your country.

Zorba: Don't you talk to me like that! Look here, here, here -- nothing on the back. I have done things for my country that would make your hair stand. I have killed, burned villages, raped women, and why? Because they were Turks, or Bulgarians. That's the rotten damn fool I was. -- Zorba the Greek, 1964.

Today's Rune: The Self.

It's 1968, Okay?

My gig as ring boy, 1968. I am seven years old in this picture. I don't remember sampling the wedding cake ahead of schedule, making my Aunt D. angry (a very rare event); I do remember running around during the reception, sampling champagne surreptitiously.
Inspired by JR Tomlinson, because of his interest in family photos. None of my siblings are in this one, but my parents are, and other family members.

"Thanksgiving" by Erik D. France, November 1969 (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA)

What's there to be thankful for?
I'm living!
A time to count your blessings
Thanksgiving's a special time
The blue sky
The birds that fly
The beautiful trees
The honey-making bees
All of these
I am thankful for
And many more.

"The Snowflake" (Ditto., December 1969)

Before I melt
Come look at me
My beauty see
Breathe and I vanish
Instantly

Today's Rune: Harvest.

The Big Lebowski Cometh

Next round, Lone Star International Film Festival: Jeff Bridges and T-Bone Burnett chat before a large screen showing of The Big Lebowski at The Modern, munching on take-out from Kincaid's. Full house; I got this shot from the second row.

Bridges related one dude's theory about Donnie (Steve Buscemi): he is a figment of Walter's (John Goodman's) imagination. Said notion may work: Lebowski seems to never look at Donnie, and only a couple of times seems to speak to him directly. With the Coen brothers, who knows?

Today's Rune: Journey. Cheers from Tar Heel Land!

The Last Picture Show at 39

Above: Peter Bogdanovich and Jeff Bridges at the Lone Star International Film Festival on November 13, 2010. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. In this segment, these two dudes introduced The Last Picture Show, and came back after, as well. I took this from the fourth row. Loved seeing this film on the big screen for the first time -- even though it was a digital print and visually a little murky in places. The movie itself retains its full power. And culturally, who could ask for more than having two of the participants speaking in person at the screening? As for what they said, I'll have to get to that in a future post. Meanwhile, Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
















Today's Rune: Journey.

In Praise of Quinoa: Chisaya Mama

Man, I had the best dish of quinoa I've ever had -- well drizzled in juice that I squeezed into it straight from a fresh lime, it had explosions of tastiness! Seriously. By itself, quinoa* is somewhat bland, more or less like some kind of wild rice or couscous, but the lime really made it work. Courtesy of the Spiral Diner, which specializes in making vegan food taste real good (and affordable).

*Widely pronounced keen-wa.

Above photo (a quinoa dish): http://yogaearth.com/blog/quinoa/

Any ancient foods you've come across over the years that surprised you?  Added any to your regular cuisine?  

Today's Rune:  Wholeness. For Spiral Diner & Bakery, see: http://www.spiraldiner.com/

Joe Louis: American Icon

Except when quoting, I'm laying down a personal moratorium on the word "hero." That said, we jump from Castro's Cuba to the JFK assassination (47 years ago today), back to Castro and then to Joe Louis, who visited Cuba in 1959-1960. In January 1960, he was quoted as saying “Cuba was the only vacation spot where Negroes could go without bias.”*  This did not go over well during the Cold War. But let's step back to the 1930s through early 1950s, and a cool CD I picked up at Half Price Books: Joe Louis: An American Hero, orginally released in 2001 and now available on demand.

Alabama-born Detroit Challenger, World Champion, Cultural Legend.  More than forty songs were composed, recorded and released about Joe Louis during his lifetime, creating a microcosm of American society from various perspectives. I love these kinds of cultural overlays and palimpsests.  This collection includes seventeen tracks, and not all of them are songs.   One one track, the Reverend Mr. J. M. Gates delivers a sermon, "Joe Louis' Wrist and His Fist" (1940).  Two of my favorite cuts so far are Memphis Minnie's "He's in the Ring (Doin' the Same Old Thing" (1935) and The Dixieaires gospel song, "Joe Louis Is a Fightin' Man" (1947) to the tune of "Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho."

Here, Detroit's Mayor Albert E. Cobo meets with Joe Louis; Joe's Mama looks on worshipfully.  [Photo credit: Virtual Motor City, Wayne State University].

Started checking out these books for more on Joe Louis:

Thomas R. Hietela, The Fight of the Century: Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, and the Struggle for Racial Equality, 2002.

*Alternate version: "where a Negro can go in the wintertime without discrimination." In "CUBA: Fidel & the U.S. Negro," Time, June 6, 1960.

Barney Nagler, Brown Bomber, 1972.

Today's Rune: The Self.

Hector Cruz Sandoval: KordaVision, Part 2

KordaVision continues, carrying us along through a lawsuit that Korda won against Smirnoff Vodka in London (its world headquarters) for using his iconic Che Guevara photo in an advertising campaign without due credit and for corporate profit, which Korda did not like (to say the least).

Korda (Alberto Díaz Gutiérrez, 1928-2001) then happily observes -- a playful (and proud) gleam in his eye, reminding me in appearance of the late George Carlin -- "I had the luck" of photographing four Nobel Prize winners: Jean-Paul Sarte, Pablo Neruda, Ernest Hemingway and Gabriel García Márquez.

KordaVision then backtracks to the 1950s. Prior to his primary association with the Cuban Revolution, Alberto adopted the moniker "Korda" to distinguish his (and partner Luis Peirce Viers') studio from others, and because it sounded like Kodak, which then dominated the photography business in Cuba. He explains that Korda is derived from the names of two Hungarian actors.

Studio Korda worked in fashion photography; Alberto often used a Rollei flex camera like his American role (and "roll") model, Richard Avedon. During this time he met his future (second) wife Norka, a comely and photogenic muse and fashion model (they later divorced).

In 1959, he traveled with the Cuban delegation to New York City and there showed Avedon his porfolio; Avedon advised him to stick with photographing the Revolution, which would have a greater impact than fashion photography.

Back in Cuba, Korda's empathetic turning point came when he went out to the Cuban countryside, taking pictures of the common people; especially photographing Paulita, which resulted in the above image, La niña de la muñeca de palo (1959).  Note how she is hugging a small wooden log as a doll substitute -- heartbreaking.

KordaVision continues to follow Korda's arc as a photographer; we follow him to the USSR with Fidel Castro, their visit with Nikita Khrushchev and onward. Much more recently, Korda and his compatriot photographers meet with Castro, an arrangement requested by Hector Cruz Sandoval, the director.

We see Korda during an exhibition in Chicago that also landed in Baltimore and L.A., near the end of his life. At the Chicago exhibit, Korda waxes poetic. "There are three things in life -- do you know the song? Health, money and love. Whoever has these three things should give tribute to God. With good health, one lives free from worries. That's why I want everyone to understand the chorus of the song:  'Whoever has (one) love, let him cherish it . . . Health and money, do not waste it.'"

Later, regarding the art of photography, Korda cites from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince / The Little Prince (1943): "You can only see with your heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes."  A fitting observation for a fascinating and wonderful film.

Today's Rune: Wholeness.