Gilda & the Spanish Civil War

I love that Turner Classic Movies doesn't just show classic old movies. I love the classic old movies, I do. But TCM also shows obscure movies and documentaries that aren't shown on other channels, and I love those too.

Several days ago, they showed Gilda Live, Gilda Radner's Broadway show, filmed in September 1979. It includes most of the characters she made famous on Saturday Night Live: Emily Litella, rocker Candy Slice, Jewish gal of privilege Rhonda Weiss, Judy Miller (the energetic little girl with the big imagination who puts on "The Judy Miller" in her bedroom), and, of course, personal advice expert Roseanne Roseannadanna. It also features Don Novello as Father Guido Sarducci.

I saw this several times back in 1980 or so, when it was shown on one of the movie channels like HBO that, back then, showed movies. I must have seen it a dozen times back then, and I was thrilled that it was still so funny to me now... but maybe only to those that love Gilda Radner like I do and know these characters so well.

Radner was SO talented - the amount of energy she puts into every performance is astounding. She was one of my idols when I was a pre-teen - I wanted to be as funny and talented as her, but I never dared to really go for it the way she did. I always held back. I ended up crying through the last song: "Baby, Kiss Me... With Your Clothes On." It's so sweet. SNL was one of those sanctuary activities when I was a kid, providing a safe space for the madness all around. If it weren't for shows like this and weekends at my grandparents', I wouldn't ever get nostalgic about childhood. I sure miss her.

Several weeks before this, TCM showed, The Spanish Soil, a 1937 documentary/propaganda piece showing the struggle of Spanish Loyalists - also known as Republican - that supported the established government against the rebellion by ultra-right-wing forces led by General Francisco Franco, which was backed by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The short film was meant not only to show the bravery of the Spanish people, but also to how the Fascist forces were disrupting the simple lives of a small village just trying to irrigate a field. The film was produced by the Contemporary Historians production company, formed by theatrical producer and director Herman Shumlin, writer Lillian Hellman and poet, writer, critic, and satirist Dorothy Parker. The English narration was written by John Dos Passos and Ernest Hemingway, and originally, the film was narrated by Orson Welles - his narration for this film represents the very first professional film work of Welles, then a theatre and radio celebrity in his early twenties.

I love being able to actually see pre-World War II propaganda, rather than just reading about it. My sympathies have always firmly been with the Spanish Loyalists and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, and I admit to finding myself stirred by the passion of the filmmakers to get this message out - though the film isn't so great. Still, wasn't at all wasted time. Learning history never is.

And so, in summary: I love movies.

Precious buttercups at Halloween

Halloween used to be my favorite holiday.

I loved putting together a costume using nothing but the family closets and my Mom's makeup. I loved seeing what the other kids wore. I loved all the different ways neighbors celebrated, some with incredible decorations and some with homemade treats. I loved how some neighbors tried to be scary and some tried to be fun but pretty much everyone participated - and if they didn't, they just left their porch light off and there were no hard feelings. I loved the Halloween parties. When I got older, I still loved Halloween: I loved being the neighbor who dressed up, who delighted in the kids coming to my door in costume, whether they were little children or teens, and who never ran out of candy. And I still loved the parties.

I'm giving up on Halloween. The last five years have worn me down. I'm tired of opening the door to a bored adult standing there with a sack and saying, "Yeah, my kid's sick, I'm putting together his candy sack." Or a group of teens with no costumes, who won't even bother to say "Trick or Treat," holding out their hands or a baseball cap. I'm tired of the endless memes telling me what kind of candy to hand out, or not to hand out candy at all, to hand out toys or toothbrushes instead. Or not to hand out anything orange (yes, this was a request on an online group for my local community - someone's precious buttercup doesn't like any candy wrapped in orange paper). Oh, and don't be too scary! It scares my kid! And I'm tired of being told that any expectation of costumes or "Trick or Treat" is me being unreasonable - one person said I deserved to have my house egged as a result.

So, this Halloween, our porch light will be off. Enough. 

Boo.

I am now the Grinch of Halloween.

Living the consequences of Nov 2016 elections, dreading Nov 2018

In December 2016, I was told, "It doesn't matter to the average person who is President. It doesn't really affect everyday people."

In response, I said parents would be ripped away from their children because of the election. I said people would start losing their health care and some would die as a consequence. I said public lands would start shrinking and environmental protections would be radically rolled back.

As I said in a blog back in 2016 after that night, that smirking person said:

I was being "alarmist" and "overly-dramatic" regarding Trump and his supporters, that it's not "that bad", that I should be more tolerant and caring regarding his supporters, some of whom are my neighbors, that they aren't "bad" people, that being polite and listening to them would be good for me...

My pushback against this person made observers uncomfortable. I ended up losing some people I considered friends because I dared to talk openly after that night about the horror show that quickly unfolded after January: the ban on Muslim immigrants, the canceling of green card status for people who have lived and worked here for many years, the scaling back of the affordable care act and the taking away of health care coverage from thousands (soon millions), the flat wages while prices rise, the layoffs of thousands of people and closing of businesses, the scaling back of public lands, the elimination of various environmental protections, the elimination of protections for home buyers and people with student debt, Nazis proudly marching in the streets of the USA, emboldened and empowered by the President, the President's open adoration of violent regimes (Russia, Saudi Arabia, North Korean, etc.), the separation of children and their families at the borders, the internment camps for immigrants, and, of course, the rich getting oh-so-richer while critically-needed safety net programs were eliminated.

So, yeah, I was right about the consequences of election night - in fact, I underestimated the consequences. But I take no pleasure in being right about it. None. I would have loved to have been wrong.

I didn't really think about then was how the Presidency would affect me, personally, so quickly: two much-needed jobs in the pipeline completely disappeared within weeks of the election because of anticipated federal budget cuts. Former clients have greatly scaled back because of federal cuts. We're holding our breath over a quickly-approaching green card renewal as we read horror stories of denials.

When I say elections are going to have dire consequences and affect real people, I'm not imagining things nor exaggerating. All of this affects real people, and if it hasn't affected you, then you are privileged.

It's not enough to vote in November - ask neighbors if they are registered. Ask them if they need a voter guide from the League of Women Voters (your state has them online). Ask them if they know where their polling place is. Ask your college-student sons and daughters' friends the same.

Also see Silence means approval

Washington County Sheriff and District Attorney both oppose Measure 105 in Oregon

On Wednesday, August 08, 2018, Kevin Barton, Washington County District Attorney, and Pat Garrett, Washington County Sheriff, had their joint statement in opposition to Oregon Measure 105 published in various newspapers in the Portland, Oregon metro area. These newspapers require registration to read their statement online, and while registration is free, the registration step turns a lot of readers away. So below is the statement in full. One of the points the sheriff makes repeatedly, and rightly so, is that the current law (ORS 181A.820) provides no sanctuary to an undocumented immigrant who commits a crime in Oregon. 

As district attorney and sheriff, we are the elected law enforcement leaders in Washington County. One of our primary obligations is to ensure public safety. We believe every member of our community has the right to live, work and raise a family in safety and that an essential aspect of being safe is feeling safe and having access to justice.

Through our role as public safety leaders, we are aware of Ballot Measure 105 (formerly known as Initiative Petition 22). This measure seeks to repeal ORS 181A.820, a 31-year-old Oregon law that controls when local law enforcement agencies may use local resources to enforce federal immigration laws. We are compelled to speak because we believe this ballot measure may negatively impact public safety.

Oregon's Legislature passed ORS 181A.820 in 1987 to provide structure regarding how and when local police can be involved in enforcing federal immigration law. This longstanding law states local police cannot use resources to detect or apprehend persons whose only law violation is federal immigration law. Importantly, this law does not prohibit local police from using resources to detect, apprehend or even cooperate with immigration officials for people who have violated federal immigration law and committed a crime. In other words, the current law (ORS 181A.820) provides no sanctuary to an undocumented immigrant who commits a crime in Oregon. In fact, it specifically authorizes police to share information with federal immigration authorities.

ORS 181A.820 strikes the right balance. Under this law local police cannot enforce federal immigration laws but can cooperate and communicate with immigration authorities if an undocumented immigrant commits a crime. While there are certainly ways the current law could be improved or clarified, and there appears to be some misunderstanding regarding how this law works, repealing it altogether is not the answer.

A repeal of ORS 181A.820 would likely create a chilling effect in our community. Certain members of the immigrant population may be less likely to report crimes, to access justice services such as restraining orders, or to even appear in court and testify as witnesses. Immigrant communities and families may become greater targets for criminals because they may be less likely to come forward or appear in court to testify. These are not hypothetical concerns; we have already seen these issues occur. If ORS 181A.820 is repealed, we believe these problems may increase.

Additionally, a repeal of the current uniform law that allows all law enforcement throughout Oregon to communicate with immigration authorities regarding criminal defendants would likely result in a patchwork of inconsistent ordinances and rules from various cities and counties.

Our community is safer when citizens and non-citizens alike report crimes and testify in court so we can arrest and prosecute criminals. We believe that ORS 181A.820 strikes the right balance to keep our community safe and we oppose the effort to repeal it.

Kevin Barton, Washington County District Attorney, and Pat Garrett, Washington County Sheriff.

Why listening to candidates is so imporant

There are two people running for the office that heads our county government here in Oregon. One of them

• doesn't believe libraries should do anything but lend books and videos (he has a big problem with "all these language classes and other stuff they offer now"), 
• believes there aren't any homeless or mental illness problems in our county that nonprofits and churches aren't "handling", 
• believes our county's affordable housing crisis will be solved by tax breaks for private companies, and 
• believes that the way to handle traffic congestion is to build more roads and synchronize traffic lights. 

I've learned all of this by attending two forums - newspaper stories and his website make him appear relatively sensible, if just center-right politically.

I have a feeling most of the people that want to support this person don't realize what they are voting for.

Pay attention to your local races, folks. MAKE time to hear these people speak. I have a feeling most of the people that want to support this person don't realize what they are voting for.

30 years ago - 1988

Jeepers. It just dawned on me that, 30 years ago, I graduated from Western Kentucky University, worked my first summer at the Williamstown Theater Festival and then started as a PR assistant at Hartford Stage in Hartford, Connecticut, which had just opened A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Mark Lamos and which featured a very young and often shirtless Bradley Whitford. And I was a size 8.

It was an extraordinary year. I loved my senior year of college and I loved my first post-university jobs. I felt like the luckiest girl alive.

What a year it was (links go to photos):

• I wrung in the new year outside of London with my best friend from WKU, Carmen, and my new best friend from the UK, Louise.
• In the Spring, I was part of the first massive protest that my university had seen in more than a decade - students protested the WKU President, Kern Alexander, install faculty editors at the WKU student newspaper, the College Heights Herald, and the WKU yearbook, the Talisman.
• In May, I graduated, stuck around town for a month with friends, then closed my bank account in Bowling Green and moved away, not knowing that Domino's Pizza hadn't cashed my last check I wrote to them and they swore out a bench warrant for my arrest and my former flatmate, still in town for the summer theater, had to take care of it. 
• I drove from Kentucky to New England and back to Kentucky twice, having never seen much of the USA at all until then. 
• Over the summer, I helped a fledgling little show called Entertainment Tonight get interviews at Williamstown, which they featured on TV for a full week. 
• Sigourney Weaver said my name and Tony Goldwyn rocked his baby while doing a press interview in my office. 
• I met Christopher Reeve and he hated me and two years later, he STILL hated me. 
• Nikos Psacharopoulos would hang up on me if he called and I said my boss wasn't in the office. 
• Jon Polito and I discussed both being Capricorns.  
• I worked with possibly the most talented, dedicated, fun staff I ever have in my life - at Hartford Stage (though the staff at the UN my first two years run a very, very close second)

Good times!

Many of the people I knew in that year, and met in that year, are my still friends to this day.

30 years ago? Sometimes it seems like a million, sometimes it seems like yesterday.

A happy ending for Daisy Dog

Daisy the dog snarled and lunged at other dogs. She didn't play with toys. She wouldn't look at the other dog or the cats in her apartment. She avoided eye contact with humans. She looked anxious all the time. I was a bit scared of her.

Then I started walking her every day, along with the other dog in her apartment. My own dog, Albi, had died, and I wasn't quite ready to get a new dog, but I missed dogs, and her owner had trouble getting around. When I would arrive to walk Daisy, she would howl with delight. Sometimes I howled too. She started prancing when I walked her. A firm "OFF" at the first sign of a growl stopped her snarling and lunging at other dogs. After bringing her into my backyard just once, she veered towards my house every time I walked her, wanting to return - and stay. When I would walk her back to her apartment, she would fall behind me. Her reluctance to return was obvious.

After several months of this, her owner, my neighbor, died. There were five cats to find homes for, and two dogs - one of them Daisy. Four of the cats were adopted quickly. The other canine, a trained therapy dog, was quickly adopted as well. I took one of the cats, despite promising my husband once upon a time we would never have a cat. But he said no to Daisy: she looked too scary, she was overweight, she was older, people would avoid us when they saw us coming with her.

Other neighbors, with a house full of cats, said they would foster Daisy until they, or I, found a forever home for her, but after just a few months, they announced they were keeping her.

Daisy still howled whenever I arrived to walk her or just to visit. I stopped by once just to say hi with my new dog, Lucinda, on our way to the vet, and Daisy insisted on going with us. She had dog toys and she played with them. She started rolling in the yard on her back, doing that happy roll that most dogs do. She loved the pit bull, Bella, next door. She would fuss at Lucinda like a cranky, beloved aunt, and Lucy LOVED it. Daisy would come for a visit and lay on the back porch, just hanging out, surveying the yard, watching Lucy be crazy. Twice I caught my husband bent down rubbing the "scary" dog's belly. When one of the cats in Daisy's home had kittens, she patiently let them crawl all over her. She lay quietly as the pet rabbits hopped around her, a look of amazing contentment on her face. She enjoyed being cuddled.

Daisy lived for four years in a house where she was loved and adored. A house in stark contrast to where she had lived before. A house where there was no screaming or constant angry chaos. A house that was sometimes lively and loud with joy but more often quiet with love and contentment. And in October 2018, Daisy passed away quickly and peacefully in the home she loved and that loved her oh-so-much.

Love you always, Daisy Dog.