Movie Review: Richard Jewell

Richard Jewell is named after the security guard who spotted a backpack bomb in Centennial Park during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He saved an immense amount of lives by running around, warning the crowd to evacuate. The movie tells the true story of how he was falsely accused of being the bomber.

Jewell fit the profile of someone who would plant a bomb to then become a hero by finding it: He was white, male, and had a lifelong dream of becoming a police officer. The FBI distrusted such wannabe cops. The local paper managed to get a leak of the investigation, then ran with the story. Because of that, the FBI was under pressure to resolve things quickly, so they ramped up the pressure on him.

If my description of the movie seems simple, it’s because the movie tells his story in a plain, straight-forward manner. There are no plot gimmicks or forced melodrama. It simply shows what happened.

Paul Walter Hauser should get an Oscar nomination for his performance. Hauser completely becomes Richard Jewell, a working-class hero who has no idea how to grapple with the forces out to destroy him. And Kathy Bates as his longsuffering mother is amazing as she shows the anguish she went through.

Clint Eastwood produced and directed. He has complete credibility for this sort of movie. Those of you who are old enough will remember the saying, “It took Nixon to go to China.” That is, President Nixon was so thoroughly anti-Communist before and during his presidency, he could go and open relations with Communist China without the American people thinking he was betraying us. In the same way, Clint Eastwood as an actor is most famously known as his Dirty Harry character, who had to unflinchingly use lethal force to deal with the worst of street criminals. Obviously, Clint Eastwood is not anti-law enforcement. But he can show how horrible things can become when law enforcement goes out of control.

One of the FBI agents does say something interesting in the movie. A profile is just “a jumping-off point.” It’s just a start, but then they need evidence. Watch the movie and see if they ever have any.

Pearl Harbor Day—A day that will live in . . . ignorance?

These were real conversations that took place years ago in a previous workplace on a December 7th. After all, the people I work with can’t be this ... Well, we’ll see. The conversations were so remarkable, I jotted them down at the time.

photo by Stan Shebs 

Worker: Do you know what the significance of December 7^th is?

Co-Worker #1: No.

Worker: Think: What happened in December 7^th?

Co-Worker #1: The stock market crashed.

Worker: You are kidding me! This is the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Co-Worker #1: Well, that was before my era. That was your era.

Worker: Wait a minute! I wasn’t born in the 40’s.

Co-Worker #1: Well, we didn’t study about that in school. We studied things like World War II.

Worker: Pearl Harbor was a part of World War II!

Co-Worker #1: Well, we didn’t study that. We studied about the fighting and stuff.

Worker: That was part of the fighting! That was how we got into the war.

Co-Worker #1: Well, I know.

Then, maybe a minute later:

Worker: Can you tell me what day is today?

Co-Worker #2: Your birthday?

Worker: No, what happened today, December 7^th?

Co-Worker #2: I know what happened on December 8^th. John Lennon died.

Still later:

Worker: Can you tell me what happened today, December 7^th, in history?

Co-Worker #3: I don’t know.

Worker: Do you know?

Co-Worker #3: VJ Day?

Worker: Well, you’re the closest

What’s remarkable about these conversations is the co-workers show a level of intelligence, using words like “era,” remembering the date of John Lennon’s death, making a guess about VJ Day. But these people were stunningly ignorant about the obvious.

These conversations occurred before smartphones were around, so they can’t be blamed for lowering the IQs of these people. (This was from a very old piece of paper I unearthed while sorting through old things. It proved very timely for today.)

It reminds me of a girl in high school who was authentically dumb. (If this offends you, start your own blog and describe dumb guys.) In our junior or senior year, a huge map of Europe had been displayed on the chalkboard for the entire semester of our history class. It had the word “Europe” in large, black letters, curving across the entire continent.

public domain

Something like this, but with the letters larger and

going in a graceful curve across the continent

For some reason, she was standing towards the front of the class and staring at the map. She stared, stared, stared, looking increasingly confused. Finally she asked the teacher, “Where’s America on this map?”

The teacher paused for a moment to collect herself, then said calmly, “That’s a map of Europe.”

Without any hint of embarrassment or self-reproach, she said, “Oh.” She continued to stare at the map.

To her credit, she seemed to be well-liked.

Amazon Lockers vs. The Porch Pirates

Just to be upfront, I prefer ordering books from Barnes & Noble. But I have to admit, the Amazon lockers can be a lifesaver. Here in the Seattle area, we have a bad case of the porch pirates: Scummy people who steal delivery boxes right off a person’s front porch. They’re just looking for electronics or other valuables. If it turns out to be a book or DVD, these creeps probably just toss it. With Amazon lockers nearby I can go there, put in a code I was sent, and access my package.

Before that, three deliveries were stolen from my doorstep. One was a DVD that isn’t being made anymore. Water, starring Michael Caine, was one of the funniest movies ever made.

Sure, I can buy the horribly expensive copies left on Amazon, or some cheaper version that will only play on a German DVD player.

A book I lost that really irks me is And the Beagles and the Bunnies Shall Lie Down Together. This was a collection of all the Peanuts comic strips that quoted the Bible.

Wait. I saw just now I can get it again on Amazon for not too big of a price. See ya.

Return of the 50-Foot Woman

Okay, that title was to catch the eye. But I like how the giant movie posters have returned to the Alderwood Mall 16 move theater. For months, the giant frames for posters have been empty. Now the posters have returned for the holiday season. The walkway with a railing below the posters lets you know how big they are.

click to enlarge

I think one movie is meant for men, and the other for women. But which is which?

Zombie Flash Mob

Redmond, Washington is the home of Microsoft, berry picking, and zombies. I’ll let you guess which is the scariest.

For zombies, the Redmond Town Center had the annual Thrill the World Event today. Just like last year (see my post), I got there early. I suddenly realized this fellow was in the back seat of the car next to mine. I’m not kidding.

People were just dying to get in there.

So here’s the official banner.

Quite a crowd showed up.

click to enlarge any of these pictures

Notice the non-zombie people on the upper level watching. Redmond Town Center is a nice outdoor mall with a large Marriot inside. I noticed a couple people walking by dressed very professionally, and other people just come to visit the stores. I heard one man ask, “Why are there so many zombies?

Here’s a zombie nurse.

And here’s another one. I could say the shadow on her face is symbolic . . .

. . . but really, she was trying to get the sun out of her eyes. 

The chiropractor was in. 

Seriously. Chiropractor. 

Here are some of the winners for best zombie makeup.

And here’s a zombie family.

The kids were moving around, so the mother’s face was blocked.

Maleficent was also there.

I think the zombies would have been afraid of her.

Edward Scissorhands and Kim paid a visit.

Isn't it weird when Wonder Woman photobombs your picture? 

How was your day? 

For my review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, click here. 
  

[Permission granted to use any photo on this post, so long as it is labeled “Photo by Mark Murata”]

Book Review: Sea of Glory

Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery: The U.S. Exploring Expedition was penned by Nathaniel Philbrick, well-known for In the Heart of the Sea and Bunker Hill. This recounts the epic voyage of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, otherwise known as the Ex Ex. From 1838 to 1842, they explored Antarctica, then the Pacific—including Fiji and the Hawaiian Islands—and then Puget Sound and the Columbia River, going on land to explore what are now the states of Washington and Oregon.

The Ex Ex was potentially as significant as the Lewis and Clark expedition on land. But hardly anyone knows about it. And thereby hangs a tale.

I was astonished there was such an expedition, sailing from Virginia down to Antarctica—in wooden sailing ships! Then they went on to encounter Pacific Islanders, some friendly, some violent. Considering where I live, I had great interest in their exploration of the Columbia River. I had no idea the mouth of the Columbia is considered the third most dangerous river mouth to traverse in the world.

But why don’t more people know about this expedition? Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, who was in charge of the Ex Ex, was far too inexperienced a man to be in charge of such an epic voyage. By the end of the expedition, all his officers had turned against him. Wilkes was put on trial for his outrageous behavior. If any of his officers were more competent than he was, he would humiliate that officer in front of the men, give him reduced responsibilities, or put him off at a friendly port. By all accounts, he was an incompetent and a coward. Much of the expedition’s discoveries went unpublished.

If anyone thinks his side of the story should be told, by all means read Sea of Glory. But it seems to be the old story of the Navy taking a smart young man and unaccountably thrusting him into a position where he was in way over his head. For years. To Antarctica and back.

I have to say I found Sea of Glory depressing. A much more uplifting book is Erebus: One Ship, Two Epic Voyages, and the Greatest Naval Mystery of All Time by Michael Palin, which I reviewed here. This British expedition had competent commanders. There’s some sort of lesson here, don’t you think?

Better Call Saul—with DeepFake

I previously blogged about DeepFake videos. At that time, they could not also fake people’s voices. (There is fake voice and lip-movement technology, but that is separate and incompatible at this time.) Now the fake videos are to some extent able to fake voices. If you watch the clip below, sometimes the words don’t match the lips, but the voice sounds real.

It features Trump’s face mapped onto Bob Odenkirk’s face. Since it has the Trump voice saying a nasty word, I'll just leave the link here if you care to explore it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho9h0ouemWQ&t=45s

The major concern as these fakes get better, is that we might see on the internet a video of President Trump or Kim Jong-un announcing they’ve launched nuclear missiles.

On a more mundane but personal note, are you eager for video banking? When someone can fake your face and voice, then tell the bank to transfer your savings to some account in the Bahamas?

And I would be remiss if I didn’t put in an excerpt from my novel Alpha Shift. Captain Christina Chechi is about to find out how badly her ship’s communications have been hacked.

A wall monitor gave a nonsensical message from Captain Akajima that didn’t mention her, Captain Chechi.

Arms at her sides, Christina made both hands into fists, hard, as if she were a teenager willing herself to grow taller. She raised one of them and tried calling the bridge.

A smiling picture of herself showed, wearing the wrong red dress. The image was an abomination of perfect hair, makeup, and costume, and it gave a winning smile as it said that all conditions were normal.

Christina hit the wall monitor.

She put her hands over her eyes and told herself to simmer down. Then she considered anew the general quarters alarms. This is not just about me. Even though she was captain, she was just one person, but communications in general had been sabotaged. They’re trying to take the ship. My ship.

Contest Coming Up Fairy Soon

A contest is coming up for aspiring writers. We are to write a short synopsis of a finished novel, then add the first two sentences. The winner will get a free critique from a professional editor of the first ten pages of the story. So here’s the synopsis, then the first two sentences will be below the picture. Let me know what you think.

Ashley, a fairy, grows to human size and helps out in the war of the worlds when Martian cylinders land. Steam-powered war machines emerge, wielding heat-rays in their metallic tentacles. Although Ashley comports herself as a lady, she gathers her courage and flies near the head of one of the machines to help guide the artillery. But the resulting explosion separates her from her friends, leading to a lonely odyssey in war-torn England.  

On midsummer’s eve I stood on the central toadstool, gripping the bumpy surface with my toes. The moist air from the humus below clung to my bare skin, the warm mugginess attacking the elaborate curls I had styled for the occasion.

Copyright

It may surprise readers (and wannabe writers) that legally, writers do not sell stories. That’s how it’s described in everyday terms, such as selling a story to a magazine or selling a novel to a publisher. But in legal terms, what writers sell is copyright.

This can become extremely complicated. See my post on speakers at Norwescon on how publishers try to get the rights to audiobooks. They will also try to get the rights to movie versions, graphic book versions, action figures, t-shirts, etc. This all has to be negotiated. But it underlines the fact that what the writer sells is copyright to the story. In some contracts, the rights revert to the writer if sales of the novel fall below a certain point. And there are nightmare stories of a publisher going bankrupt, and writers have no clear path to recovering their copyright.

On the lighter side, the old Star Trek did some black and white publicity photos. They never copyrighted them. They are public domain.

Don’t know who this is? Watch an old show.