Crossing the Ditch

Imagine that two young Aussie blokes have decided to kayak across one of the roughest stretches of ocean in the world, The Tasman Sea. Imagine that when they begin planning their quest that, although they are adventurers, they have only limited experience in kayaks, yet they plan to paddle an ocean that regularly kicks up two-story waves. Imagine that they will be taking refuge from the frequent and violent storms in a tiny cabin on their specially-built kayak, and that one of them is the claustrophobic while the other is chronically seasick. And imagine that the last person to attempt this crossing was lost at sea.
It sounds pretty crazy and no doubt some will argue that it is, but in January 2008, James Castrission and Justin Jones became the first people to successfully kayak from Australia to New Zealand. Castrission's book, Crossing the Ditch, is a terrifically good read chronicling the two mates' adventure.
From some brief family history, through their decision to undertake the expedition and their many months of preparation, Castrission takes us through the story of design and out-fitting their kayak (named Lot 41), and how it almost sank on their first sea trial. He leads us through his search for a cure to his chronic seasickness, a malady which could have halted the expedition before it even began, and he describes his ever-changing and complex feelings towards Andrew McAuley, who beat them across the Tasman, but was lost within sight of New Zealand.
Castrission's description of the crossing itself is terrific. They reached the halfway point on Day 17; little did they realize that the second half would take them 45 more days as weather and currents forced them to paddle an extra 1100 km on top of the planned distance of 2200 km.
There's also a detailed appendix with stat and info about their kayak, food supply, training regime, and equipment.
A great book, seek it out.

Alien Zone

This is an odd 1978 film. It's an anthology film: four short films, and a framing story.
The framing sequence involves a man visiting a town for a convention (and to cheat on his wife). He gets lost in a storm as he tries to make his way back to his hotel and ends up being taken in by the town mortician (played by the late Canadian actor Ivor Francis). The mortician shows the man some of the bodies lying in state in his establishment and tells the story of how each of them died.
He tells four stories. The first is about a teacher who hates children who goes home and is killed by -- gasp! -- children. The second story, the worst of the lot, is about a man who lures women to their deaths in his apartment. There seems to be little point to this story, unless they were trying to be funny and failed utterly. The third story concerns an American and a British police detective trying to outdo the other with the powers of there deductive reasoning. This sequence stars veteran actors Charles Aidman and Bernard Fox and is actually entertaining. There's some genuine wit in the script and Aidman and Fox are having a great time chewing the scenery. The fourth story concerns a man who has no time for the less fortunate people of the world, until he ends up being one himself.
Finally, our cheating convention goer has had enough and heads back out into the storm, only to be confronted by the husband of the woman he was cheating with. Looks like the mortician has another customer.
I can only imagine that the title, Alien Zone, is some sort of homage to Rod Serling, because there ain't no aliens in this movie. Clearly, this is in the flavour of a Twilight Zone, or Night Gallery, and as a basic idea, it doesn't work too bad. The mortician has an endless supply of corpses to tell stories about, each one is a little mortality play with a twist ending, and then there's the final twist in the framing story. However in execution, this movie doesn't cut it. The script is mostly awful (save for the two detectives' story), the acting worse (again, save for the detectives), the direction just as bad, and the film looks like it was made for about $14.95.
If you do watch it, turn it off after Aidman and Fox have done their bit. That's the only part worth watching.

Good Against Evil

This is a 1977 tv-pilot about a writer (played by Dack Rambo) who teams up with a priest (played by Dan O'Herlihy) to battle a devil worshiper (Richard Lynch) and his merry band of cronies.
Rambo's character meets and falls in love with a woman that unfortunately for him has been chosen by Lynch and his group to give birth to the Anti-Christ. It's all very 1970s, and clearly designed to cash in on the success of the movie The Exorcist; the climactic scene is in fact the exorcism of a young girl just as in the more popular (and better) film.
The only other notable feature of the film is that it's the first television appearance of Courtenay, BC's own Kim Catrall, now famous for playing Samantha Jones on Sex and the City.
And then there's the DVD cover which has nothing at all to do with the movie. Does that look like 1977 American tv to you?

Idaho Transfer

Scientists are working on a matter tranference system, but they discover that their system can be used not only to send people from place to place, but to the future. They discover that 56 years in the future, something calamity has destroyed mankind. So the project scientists have been sending research teams to the future to determine what happened, but also to make preparations for permanent habitation. Only young 20-somethings can make the trip; older adults die if they attempt to make the journey.
Karen (played by Kelley Bonahan) joins her sister Isa at the facility, which is run by their father. Karen is a troubled teen but joins Isa for a transfer to the future. Isa injures herself, and Karen, trying to save her sister, performs the transfer back incorrectly and Isa dies.
Karen is not dealing with her guilt very well, but she joins the expedtion to the future.
Something happens in the past, and the transfer system no longer work. The group decides to head out to Portland where other groups are planning to meet up, but Karen discovers something and disillusioned, she heads back to the transfer station. There, Karen is attacked by one of the group who has gone mad and also returned. Karen discovers that the transfer machine is working again and transfers herself to....well, that would be telling.
This is an intriguing little film directed by none other than Peter Fonda. Fonda's directing career lasted only three films; it probably didn't help his career that the distributor of this film went bankrupt just as the film was released. Shot against beautiful Idaho scenary, it must have looked great during the short time it played on a big screen. It's a slow and haunting movie that is aiming higher than it can reach, but it is worth a look.
The cast is mostly unknowns, but they do a good job. The only star of note is Keith Carradine, two years before he would star in and win an Oscar for best song in Nashville.

Shadow of Chinatown

This 1936 film is feasture-length version of a 15-part serial. It stars Bela Lugosi five years after his success in Dracula, and many years before he fell in with Ed Wood's gang.
A beautiful Eurasian girl and a mad scientist (that would be Lugosi) have been hired by a European import firm to destroy a group of Chinese merchants so they can take over their business. A scrappy newspaper reporter and her hunk boyfriend decide to investigate.
It's a bit of a light-hearted lark, and horribily over-acted in parts, but some of the action scenes are ingenious and well-done. Bela barely appears in the movie at all, probably a smart move.

The Wrong Man

I remember being woken up by a frantic phone call.
Planes. New York. Buildings. War.
It didn't make a lot of sense, frankly. I had no frame of reference for what I was being told. I switched on my TV just in time to see the first tower fall.
Mouth agape, comprehension still elusive.
Eventually I arrived at work, and found co-workers huddled around computers streaming radio broadcasts.
"They have no idea what they just woke up," I said.
Turns out, none of us did.

The Presidency of George W. Bush is irrevocably tied to 9/11. At first he spoke with restraint and clarity in response to the attacks, but that only lasted about 24 hours. Then it became apparent that I what feared was actually being contemplated: Pax Americana -- American forces tearing a swath across the globe, making the world "safe."
The irony is that this is exactly the plan that Bush's neo-con advisers had wanted him to follow anyway, even without a 9/11-type tipping point, and this is exactly what bin Laden expected him to do.
Bush believed that he was a man destined to live out a defining moment of greatness, and he threw himself down this ruinous path chasing that moment.
But Bush was never great. Not at anything, except having a famous last name and falling in with people who were willing to exploit it. His moment of destiny was the moment that he became President, thus proving the old adage that anyone could become President, even a party-hopping ex-frat boy drug user who had failed at almost everything he tried.
The wrong place, the wrong time. The wrong man.

Pax Americana didn't succeed, mostly because the Neo-Cons, drunk on hubris and their own press clipping, believed they knew better than anyone else. I guess when your invasion of a foreign country is based on lies, soon you actually start believing them. They forgot that the mission was to get bin Laden.
In WW II, it took 2068 days for the Allies to get Hitler. Now after 2688 days, Bush is gone but bin Laden is still out there. A free man.

Those who like Bush perceive him as a strong leader. But he wasn't. He was so weak that he bought into every stupid and destructive idea his clique of Neanderthal advisers whispered into his empty head.
Perhaps his rigidity was mistaken for strength. But sticking to your plan no matter how far reality diverges from your hoped-for reality isn't strength, it's inflexibility. In Bush's case, it was a disastrous liability.
Bush didn't even come through for his constituent base, the people who actually like him and think he's done a good job. He failed the neo-cons, he failed the religious right. He failed everyone.

We all know that this is the century that the American Empire finally falters. Bush pushed that time frame up by at least a generation or two. He praised free market capitalism, but was forced to to use the tools of socialism to save the business elite. He denied there was a need for fuel conservation, and now there's no oil. He denied the need for financial regulation and now there's no economy. He denied that climate change existed, and now there's no time.

So, George, what are you going to do now? Start a new oil company and run that one into the ground too?
Or perhaps you'll be dealing with the creation of your "Presidential" Library. That should be an easy job -- you only read one book of any consequence while you were "President": My Pet Goat.
So long, Bush. And good fucking riddance, too.

Fool:
1: a person lacking in judgment or prudence
2 a: a retainer formerly kept in great households to provide casual entertainment and commonly dressed in motley with cap, bells, and bauble b: one who is victimized or made to appear foolish : dupe
3 a: a harmlessly deranged person or one lacking in common powers of understanding b: one with a marked propensity or fondness for something (a dancing fool) (a fool for candy)
4: a cold dessert of pureed fruit mixed with whipped cream or custard