The Help-This book tells the fictional story of a small circle of white women living in Jackson, Mississippi and their African-American domestic servants ("the help" of the title) during the late 60s. The story is told alternatively from three point of views: Skeeter, one of the white ladies, a would be writer and the least socially successful of three friends that make up the central character in the white circle; Abileen, also a would be writer, who is the domestic help for Elisabeth, (one of Skeeter's friends,) and best friend to Minny; and finally Minny, the most outspoken of domestic help, who works originally for Hilly, Skeeter's other friend, and then after being fired in an incident that is central to the book, works for Celia Foote, an outcast in Jackson because of her white trash roots and because she marries the man Hilly loved. As Skeeter sympathy for the lives of the domestic help brings her more and more in conflict with the views of her best friend Hilly, she decides to write a book telling the stories of these women. Of course, as Jackson is the city that murdered Medgar Evers, such an book could lead to brutal reprisal. So Skeeter must first win the trust of the women whose stories she wants to tell.
This is a superb book, not only for capturing both the brutal and sympathetic race relations of the civil rights era South, but perhaps even more universally the story of women and their friendships and cat fights. Highly recommended.
Three Cups of Tea-This is the real life story of Greg Mortensen, a mountain climber whose failed attempt to summit K2 led to a lifetime of trying to build schools in the high passes of Pakistan. This is compelling reading and one begins to grasp the difficulties that make our foreign relations with Pakistan and Afghanistan so complex. More than anything one comes out of this feeling that one person can make a difference, and that when that person can garner the trust of key tribal leaders, miracles can happen. One also is reminded that our best defense against terrorism is not the force of our arms, but to provide education and meaningful alternatives to the madrassas and jihad. Although the book is written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, it is told in third person, which I first found a bit off-putting. Still, since I'm guessing that
Relin did all of the actual writing, with Greg providing most of the story supplemented by numerous interviews, this does come out alright in the end.
Avatar-I am not generally a fan of James Cameron, I enjoyed this film because of the way that the spectacular special effects film makes the fantasy world of Pandora come breathtakingly to life. By moving elements of the battle of little big horn into a fictional and futuristic setting and then keeping the references to its modern day parallels in Iraq fairly oblique, James Cameron can do a tiny bit of social commentary without raising the ire of his main constituency. While the story is necessarily predictable (at least if the younger generation has seen Dances with Wolves), the artwork enhances the story telling in a way that keeps us interested and connected. Unlike the dreadful films G.I. Joe and Transformers with their endless eye-candy battle scenes that become boring after 20 seconds, the battle scenes never really seem like the climax in this film. Rather, it is the smaller moments with discovery of the hidden potentials of the new world and its danger and beauty. It also occurs to me that the big studios may have identified one answer to the dwindling interest of moviegoers to actually see films at outrageous prices in the theater. Afterall, this is one movie that is far more satisfying to see in 3D on the big screen than at home.
Julie and Julia-Meryl Streep as Julia Childs is a hoot. And any food lover will salivate in this small film about a rather self-absorbed New York woman trying to come to grips with her depressing job and lack of success compared with her also self-absorbed but financially successful friends. Thankfully her far more grounded husband helps keep her in reality and Julie takes to blogging about her attempt to cook all the recipes in Julia Childs The Art of French Cookiing in a single year. The more interesting part of the film is really the back story about Julia Childs and her husband, an American diplomat stationed in Paris. Julia Childs is played by Meryl Streep and her performance is wonderful to watch. For my generation that is used to seeing Julia Childs done a parody on SNL, taking on the real Julia Childs is an eye-opener.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox-Cross Ocean's 11 with stop action claymation and you get this very quirky adaptation of the Roald Dahl book. While the sort of winkishly amateur titles and interjection seem a bit odd in a film that used the painfully expensive stop-animation technique and top name actors, this film is nevertheless quite a quirky gem. In particular, evolution of the relationship between the Mr. Fox, a "former" thief and his wife, and then their son and his athletic cousin through the inevitable show-down between the fur-bearing mammals and the farmers.
Angels and Demons-Unlike the DaVinci code, this movie adaptation of the Dan Brown book is at least interesting as its plot involves a ticking time bomb, a mildly useful and slightly accurate philosophical consideration of history of the Roman Catholic church and science, and the opportunity to see some of the lovely architecture of Rome and the Vatican. I'm curious why the producers made some of the revision that they did, because they made the plot twist at the end feel a bit more contrived, but they did lower the body count a bit which I suppose it makes more palatable to the audience.
G-Force-The Chipmunks turned secret agents, this easily forgettable kids movie still entertained our youngest kids because of the cuteness of the CGI secret agent rodents. The plot rather predictably unfolds with the project to train guinea pigs and other animals as FBI secret agents being shut down by a overeager new FBI manager after an apparently botched raid. The rodents end up in the pet shop, make a few new friends, escape, and stop a plot to destroy the world which turns out to be run by one of their own. While a few jokes are original and funny, mostly this is derivative stuff. But still better than an hour and a half at the dentist office.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
New Year's Day in the Smokies
Growing up in small village below one of the most awesome canyons in the Wasatch Mountains, I have many fond memories of winter-time on the mountainside. But Middle Tennessee lacks snow and mountains, and without the money to fly out west every Christmas time, it seemed unlikely that I could pass on these memories to my children.
That is until we discovered an obscure jewel of a mountain park in our backyard. Okay, not so obscure and not quite as in our backyard as we would like, but nevertheless Great Smoky Mountain National Park is quickly becoming one of our favorite destinations. The key? Don't go during peak visiting seasons, and go into the back country. JP and I started a tradition last year, by going to GSMNP on boxing day, so we decided to go on New Year's Eve this year. Last year the temperatures were in the 60s and we saw nary a snow flake. So this year, we decided to head up to the top of the mountain and summit Rocky Top, the peak made famous in the fight song of state's flagship university and inspiration to rednecks everywhere.
After driving down, we stayed new year's eve night in the Cades Cove campground, which was mostly deserted. We sat by the fire discussing our new year's resolution and when we had burned the firewood out, played Qwirkle in our tent until midnight, when we toasted the new year and slept as soundly as our malfunctioning self-inflating sleeping pads allowed.
(Note to those interested in camping and hiking here. In the winter, the campground is pretty empty and no reservations are needed. You can arrive very late at night and set up, making it possible to leave after the workday and still set up camp. Car camping is $17. The overnight parking for all of the adjacent mountain trails are in the parking lot next to the campground store.)
Although the whole point of going down the night before was to get an early start on the trail, there was no point of rushing things on a holiday. So not very early on New Year's day, we finally rolled out of our sleeping bags and made a leisurely breakfast. Then we stowed our car camping gear in our bearproof metal box on wheel and retrieved our backpacking gear. Our original plan had been to hike all the way up to the Spence Field shelter ( 5.2 miles) on the Appalachian Trail that day, sleep there overnight, and then to hike to Rocky Top the next morning before descending. But both this shelter and all of the nearest other shelters on the AT were already fully reserved, so we had made a reservation for backcountry campsite #9 instead ( #10 had bear activity.) which is lower down on the trail (3 miles in) and nicely situated on Anthony's Creek. Our plan was then to summit and return to the campsite in one day.
As we climbed from the Cades Cove campground at elevation 1965 feet to the campsite #9 at 3200 ft, we passed from no snow, to traces of snow, and finally to where the ground was completely covered with snow.
Nevertheless, the work of climbing up the trail had us quickly stripping off all of our layers to keep from sweating too much. We started around 10:45 am and by 12:30 pm we had reach the campsite. My lack of conditioning was evident and I was glad I would not have to haul my full backpack all the way to the top of the mountain. We found a semi-level spot well away from the campfire site and put up our tent and then hoisted our packs on the provided bear cables. While we were setting up, we were joined by another father and son who set up their tent near by.
By 1:15 pm, JP and I head out, hoping to make it to Rocky Top summit (elevation 5441 ft) and back by dark (~ 4:45 pm.) Our map showed the distance from our campsite to the junction with the Appalachian Trail to be 2.2 miles and then we were just guessing from the map that it was another mile along the AT to Rocky Top.
The trail is a bridle path that can be used in the summer by lazy equestrians, so it is generally easy hiking, but climbing 1800 ft in 2.2 miles is still a lot of hard work for an out-of-shape, overweight guy. Thankfully, JP did much better and was able to fully enjoy the breathtaking beauty. Because of my sluggishness, we didn't reach the junction with the Appalachian Trail (elevation 4887 ft) and the ridge line until 2:55 pm. By then, we realized we couldn't make it to Rocky Top and back to camp before dark.
As we reached the ridgeline and the AT, I also realized I had also made an error in my expectations. Because I grew up with the Rocky Mountains, where the ridge line of most mountains are well above the treeline( ~9000 ft), I had assumed that simply by reaching the ridge line, we would have unobstructed views of the valley and beyond. But at 5,000 ft, the ridge line of the Smokies are still well covered in trees, and at least on this day, the smoky mist of the clouds obscured any panoramic view. Which is not to say that it wasn't really cool to be standing on the top of the mountain range, its just that it didn't look so different except that instead of always looking up the hill, we were looking at open sky above us and trees below us.
After a quick snack, we headed back down the mountain, passing all the backpackers who did have reservations for the shelter. It still took me slightly more than an hour to make it back to camp, arriving as darkness fell. Our fellow campers had already got a nice fire going, and invited us over, so we cooked our dinner and conversed with them through the early hours of darkness. I have written previously of the great joy and intimacy that comes from sitting by a back country campfire with strangers. This evening didn't disappoint. The father spoke with something like a German accent and was co-owner and engineer in a CNC manufacturing shop in the county adjacent to ours His son was the same age as JP and their scout troop had been to Philmont. So they shared their adventures.
After the fire burned down, we hung our packs on the bear cables again, and settled down for the night around 8 pm. I read from the book I had given to my wife for Christmas, "Three Cups of Tea" (because it was on her wish list and what bibliophile can resist giving someone a book they want to read?) and then snuggled down into my sleeping bag.
During the night, the temperature dropped from the 20s into the teens. Even bundled up in my sleeping bag, I felt cold, mostly because my stuffy nose made me feel like I was suffocating if I fully cinched up my mummy bag and because my rapidly deflated sleeping pad was no longer giving me much insulation or cushioning from the cold ground. After laying there for hours and hours, and with my bladder urging me to get up, I finally looked at my watch. It was 10:49 pm! Oh boy, I thought, this is going to be a long night. But after answering the call of nature, and blowing my nose as thoroughly as I could, and putting on my outer jacket, and finally fully cinching up my bag, I felt warm enough to fall asleep. Still every so often, I would have to extract myself from the warm but claustrophobia-inducing confines of my bag and blow my nose. JP tells me he kept thinking there was a bear in the tent. The other family was kind enough not to mention it in the morning.
When we woke up, our tent was covered with snow and more was still falling. Although it was still bitterly cold, it was thrilling walking around in the crunching snow. (Well thrilling for me because my shoes were waterproof, not so thrilling for JP whose shoes quickly got wet.) We tried to rescue enough downed branches to start a fire, but couldn't coax more than a relatively small one. Enough to melt the water in our metal water bottles but not much else. Fortunately for us, when the other father woke up, he located some good dry stuff and turned our pitiful little fire into a roaring blaze.
After a warm meal of oatmeal and hot cocoa and more fireside chats, we finally had to leave our little frozen paradise and hike out. The other family decided to hike out with us.
With about a mile to go, we crossed from cloud cover into blazing blue sky and sunshine, which sparkled on the new fallen snow. It was another glorious day in the Smoky Mountains.
That is until we discovered an obscure jewel of a mountain park in our backyard. Okay, not so obscure and not quite as in our backyard as we would like, but nevertheless Great Smoky Mountain National Park is quickly becoming one of our favorite destinations. The key? Don't go during peak visiting seasons, and go into the back country. JP and I started a tradition last year, by going to GSMNP on boxing day, so we decided to go on New Year's Eve this year. Last year the temperatures were in the 60s and we saw nary a snow flake. So this year, we decided to head up to the top of the mountain and summit Rocky Top, the peak made famous in the fight song of state's flagship university and inspiration to rednecks everywhere.
After driving down, we stayed new year's eve night in the Cades Cove campground, which was mostly deserted. We sat by the fire discussing our new year's resolution and when we had burned the firewood out, played Qwirkle in our tent until midnight, when we toasted the new year and slept as soundly as our malfunctioning self-inflating sleeping pads allowed.
(Note to those interested in camping and hiking here. In the winter, the campground is pretty empty and no reservations are needed. You can arrive very late at night and set up, making it possible to leave after the workday and still set up camp. Car camping is $17. The overnight parking for all of the adjacent mountain trails are in the parking lot next to the campground store.)
Although the whole point of going down the night before was to get an early start on the trail, there was no point of rushing things on a holiday. So not very early on New Year's day, we finally rolled out of our sleeping bags and made a leisurely breakfast. Then we stowed our car camping gear in our bearproof metal box on wheel and retrieved our backpacking gear. Our original plan had been to hike all the way up to the Spence Field shelter ( 5.2 miles) on the Appalachian Trail that day, sleep there overnight, and then to hike to Rocky Top the next morning before descending. But both this shelter and all of the nearest other shelters on the AT were already fully reserved, so we had made a reservation for backcountry campsite #9 instead ( #10 had bear activity.) which is lower down on the trail (3 miles in) and nicely situated on Anthony's Creek. Our plan was then to summit and return to the campsite in one day.
As we climbed from the Cades Cove campground at elevation 1965 feet to the campsite #9 at 3200 ft, we passed from no snow, to traces of snow, and finally to where the ground was completely covered with snow.
Nevertheless, the work of climbing up the trail had us quickly stripping off all of our layers to keep from sweating too much. We started around 10:45 am and by 12:30 pm we had reach the campsite. My lack of conditioning was evident and I was glad I would not have to haul my full backpack all the way to the top of the mountain. We found a semi-level spot well away from the campfire site and put up our tent and then hoisted our packs on the provided bear cables. While we were setting up, we were joined by another father and son who set up their tent near by.
By 1:15 pm, JP and I head out, hoping to make it to Rocky Top summit (elevation 5441 ft) and back by dark (~ 4:45 pm.) Our map showed the distance from our campsite to the junction with the Appalachian Trail to be 2.2 miles and then we were just guessing from the map that it was another mile along the AT to Rocky Top.
The trail is a bridle path that can be used in the summer by lazy equestrians, so it is generally easy hiking, but climbing 1800 ft in 2.2 miles is still a lot of hard work for an out-of-shape, overweight guy. Thankfully, JP did much better and was able to fully enjoy the breathtaking beauty. Because of my sluggishness, we didn't reach the junction with the Appalachian Trail (elevation 4887 ft) and the ridge line until 2:55 pm. By then, we realized we couldn't make it to Rocky Top and back to camp before dark.
As we reached the ridgeline and the AT, I also realized I had also made an error in my expectations. Because I grew up with the Rocky Mountains, where the ridge line of most mountains are well above the treeline( ~9000 ft), I had assumed that simply by reaching the ridge line, we would have unobstructed views of the valley and beyond. But at 5,000 ft, the ridge line of the Smokies are still well covered in trees, and at least on this day, the smoky mist of the clouds obscured any panoramic view. Which is not to say that it wasn't really cool to be standing on the top of the mountain range, its just that it didn't look so different except that instead of always looking up the hill, we were looking at open sky above us and trees below us.
After a quick snack, we headed back down the mountain, passing all the backpackers who did have reservations for the shelter. It still took me slightly more than an hour to make it back to camp, arriving as darkness fell. Our fellow campers had already got a nice fire going, and invited us over, so we cooked our dinner and conversed with them through the early hours of darkness. I have written previously of the great joy and intimacy that comes from sitting by a back country campfire with strangers. This evening didn't disappoint. The father spoke with something like a German accent and was co-owner and engineer in a CNC manufacturing shop in the county adjacent to ours His son was the same age as JP and their scout troop had been to Philmont. So they shared their adventures.
After the fire burned down, we hung our packs on the bear cables again, and settled down for the night around 8 pm. I read from the book I had given to my wife for Christmas, "Three Cups of Tea" (because it was on her wish list and what bibliophile can resist giving someone a book they want to read?) and then snuggled down into my sleeping bag.
During the night, the temperature dropped from the 20s into the teens. Even bundled up in my sleeping bag, I felt cold, mostly because my stuffy nose made me feel like I was suffocating if I fully cinched up my mummy bag and because my rapidly deflated sleeping pad was no longer giving me much insulation or cushioning from the cold ground. After laying there for hours and hours, and with my bladder urging me to get up, I finally looked at my watch. It was 10:49 pm! Oh boy, I thought, this is going to be a long night. But after answering the call of nature, and blowing my nose as thoroughly as I could, and putting on my outer jacket, and finally fully cinching up my bag, I felt warm enough to fall asleep. Still every so often, I would have to extract myself from the warm but claustrophobia-inducing confines of my bag and blow my nose. JP tells me he kept thinking there was a bear in the tent. The other family was kind enough not to mention it in the morning.
When we woke up, our tent was covered with snow and more was still falling. Although it was still bitterly cold, it was thrilling walking around in the crunching snow. (Well thrilling for me because my shoes were waterproof, not so thrilling for JP whose shoes quickly got wet.) We tried to rescue enough downed branches to start a fire, but couldn't coax more than a relatively small one. Enough to melt the water in our metal water bottles but not much else. Fortunately for us, when the other father woke up, he located some good dry stuff and turned our pitiful little fire into a roaring blaze.After a warm meal of oatmeal and hot cocoa and more fireside chats, we finally had to leave our little frozen paradise and hike out. The other family decided to hike out with us.
