GOING CLEAR

GOING CLEAR is a brilliant HBO documentary by filmmaker Alex Gibney. The only thing missing were the many more documentaries that could be made on the same subject with equally disturbing content because there's that much more dirt already dug up about Scientology's transgressions.

But Gibney created a beautifully focused and simplified narrative of the birth of Scientology, its growth and most obvious crimes by just using L. Ron Hubbard's own words, either spoken or written (and own record, like the documents that prove him to have been lying pretty much all his life), as well as those who followed his teachings but have broken free of the insane mindset his teachings induced when enforced with the cultish oppression and exploitation he came up with (like anything good that happens to you is thanks to Scientology, anything bad is your fault and just means you have to give up even more control of your mind and life to "the church" etc., or lying is always justified to defend Scientology and its leaders, or when someone questions the church or its leaders they must be attacked, harassed, humiliated, lied about, etc.).

Gibney creates a movie watching experience that had me angry, sad, (crushed is the word I used with my fellow film watcher) and yelling at the TV. His use of distinct and articulate characters with firsthand knowledge of Scientology (including several who had been among the top leaders of the cult for most of their lives) to explain the initial attraction and escalating brain washing that led to their accepting worse and worse conditions and outcomes and fear (to doubt the "church" or its leaders meant being ostracized and cut off from family and friends etc. the usual cult jive).

The most disturbing fact the movie exposes, and the only one I hadn't known before (one of the great things about this documentary is that despite my knowledge of almost everything the movie exposes the reality had never hit me so hard, before watching this flick) is that despite membership falling the church's wealth continues to grow. From tax records that probably only show a portion of its true holdings, it's over three billion (with a "b").

Three billion dollars wields a lot of power anywhere. Hopefully this film will lead to Scientology finally being taxed as a profit making business which exploits its workers (even the top leaders admitted the most they made was fifty dollars a week, and the people doing the heavy lifting wished they could make that much). Think of what that three billion could do for poor communities in this country. Scientology is just another corporation where the top few folks make millions and everyone else works far too much for far too little and the rest of us taxpayers pay the bill.

A PERSONAL FAVORITE

[My old friend Jamie Rose posted this to her Facebook page and reminded me of this poem from It Takes One To Know One (though the version she posted didn't have the indented lines as this hopefully will):]



HEAVEN & HELL


1. HELL

Hell is
           no escape.
                             And no acceptance.


2. HEAVEN

Ah, heaven.
                      Heaven is
                                          more complicated.





[There was also a footnote: "As Merton points out, everyone gets Dante's Inferno, but who talks about, or even reads, his Paradiso?"]

PAST BLAST(ED)

[me in 1964, drunk, having just won the little loving cup in an Air Force talent contest, playing piano and singing humorous songs like "Gimme That Wine"—took the prize for the comedy category (lost in the jazz category]

TIME FOR MORE BERNIE

THIS SONG AND PERFORMANCE ONLY GET BETTER WITH AGE

[PS: My older son Miles was playing this a lot lately and commenting on how beautifully written this song is, as well as beautifully performed, on the original record, but this live performance, despite the corny orchestra (I suspect this was at the Oscars in '68) is a pretty perfect rendition...]

ARAM SAROYAN ON HIS EARLY WRITING LIFE

Worth reading here.

ANOTHER RARE LIST

Had to use Google and other sources to come up with some of these, but the first list I've engaged in in a while and my post-op brain mostly cooperated although I know I could have come up with some better movies for some of these letters:

MOVIE TRINITIES

ANATOMY OF A MURDER

ANNIE HALL

THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES

THE BIG SLEEP

BLADE RUNNER

CASABLANCA

THE COMMITMENTS

THE CRYING GAME

DOUBLE INDEMNITY

DEAD END

DINNER AT EIGHT

EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN

8 1/2

THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE…

FOOTLIGHT PARADE

FUNNY FACE

THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER

THE GRAPES OF WRATH

THE GODFATHER

GROSSE POINTE BLANK

HIGH NOON

A HARD DAY’S NIGHT

HANNAH AND HER SISTERS

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

THE INFORMER

JULES AND JIM

JAILHOUSE ROCK

JOHNNY GUITAR

THE KILLERS

THE KING OF HEARTS

KING KONG

L. A. CONFIDENTIAL

THE LADY EVE

LAURA

THE MALTESE FALCON

MIDNIGHT COWBOY

MARTY

NORTH BY NORTHWEST

NINOTCHKA

NATIONAL VELVET

ON THE WATERFRONT

OUT OF THE PAST

OKLAHOMA!

THE PHILADELPHIA STORY

THE PALM BEACH STORY

THE PUBLIC ENEMY

THE QUIET MAN

QUADROPHENIA

QUEEN CHRISTINA

RED RIVER

REAR WINDOW

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

THE SEARCHERS

SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE

12 ANGRY MEN

TOOTSIE

UNFORGIVEN

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

UMBERTO D.

VERITGO

VIVA ZAPATA!

VIRIDIANA

WEST SIDE STORY

WHIPLASH

THE WIZARD OF OZ

X-MEN

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

X-MEN FIRST CLASS

YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY

YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU

ZERO FOR CONDUCT

ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO
ZIEGFELD GIRL

LITTLE WHITE LIE

Compelling Frontline documentary [whoops, Independent Lens doc I should have written, not Frontline] worth watching, LITTLE WHITE LIE tells the story of a Jewish girl who grew up being told her Sicilian paternal grandfather was the reason her skin was darker than anyone else in the family.

I've known a lot of so-called mixed race people, including women who were raised by "white" mothers but had "black" fathers, usually not around. And several of them had Jewish mothers so were raised Jewish.

But Lacey Schwartz was raised to believe she was the offspring of her two "white" Jewish parents and whenever questions came up about her being darker, the explanation was the infamous Sicilian grandfather.

In this documentary film made by Schwartz she confronts the denial of her family and her past to explore the ramifications of being told and believing and living like you're "white" and then discovering only in college her "black" identity.

The film is personal and particular to one person's experience and exploration of the racial social construct but raises questions relevant, or that should be relevant, to all, at least in this race conscious society. Pretty fascinating.

ANOTHER OLD FAVORITE QUOTE

"The trick is in what one emphasizes... We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same."  —Don Juan (from Journey to Ixtlan)

A POEM (FOR INTERNATIONAL POETRY DAY)

This poem from around six years ago first appeared in the literary magazine COURT GREEN and is in my latest book, SWING THEORY, out any day from Hanging Loose Press:

DEAR BIRDS

Thank you for your example.

And for eating pesky insects,

and making incessant music

everywhere, like the crow

that woke me my first morning

in Tokyo, with a caw that

sounded strange, as though

in another language than

the ones I knew back home.

I mean the ducks of you, how

do you float on wet feathers?!

The genius of your oily ducts

and webbed feet! And geese,

despite the mess you make

especially now that flying South

is no longer necessary,

you still appear majestic

in your realm, and cranes

and egrets and swans in

dirty polluted pools of

Jersey wasteland. The miracle

of you, and pigeons, so

despised, I still admire

for your tenacity and survival

skills and unique beauty,

the ways you snap your heads

from side to side as if by

some other rhythm than the

ones I know, but most of all you

little ones, sparrows and

finches and wrens and the rest,

and those big among the

small, you Robin Red Breasts,

so proud and independent,

and astonishing Cardinals

and admonishing Blue Jays.

(I just learned from my fourth-

grade son’s science project

hummingbirds are actually

aggressive too, like you!)  You

constantly amaze and surprise

me with new facts, oh birds,

which never contradict the in-

spiration of your ability to float

on breezes and make the wind

your world. Ah birds, don’t

let us diminish your variety

with our greed and lack of

a united will. Keep using the

sky for your canvas, making

art that never ceases to

engage the child in us.

ANOTHER FACEBOOK ROUNDUP

ANOTHER LATE NIGHT MINI-RANT

Spent the day in court, traffic court, witnessed a trial and otherwise all plea bargains with big fines as the way the town brings in revenue obviously cause some of the original "violations" people were brought in for were pretty lame and even bogus, like a woman pulled over for driving in the 65-mile limit fast lane at 58, etc.

But the obvious taking advantage of people to make money on fines was compounded by the fact that over ninety percent of the cases involved marijuana, because after people were pulled over the officer, usually a state trooper because they were on a highway that runs through the town where the ticket was issued and the court was, smelled either "burnt marijuana" or "raw marijuana" (which I hadn't known before are the official legal terms and the troopers take a course to learn the smell of each!).

So that raised the possibility of jail time or bigger fines and was used to intimidate people into copping to a lesser plea and paying a less huge fine but still one that was a hardship to most, who, by the way, and no surprise—and despite the fact that the town this was all happening in is predominantly if not almost completely "white"—were almost all not "white," in fact the person I was with was the only "white" defendant who was also a native-born "American."

It isn't just the Fergusons that have this problem. It's an all-American problem. Either that or no "white" people ever smoke or have in their possession marijuana in their cars. Yeah sure.

MY IRISH ROOTS

My Irish grandmother Rose MacBride (on the right above with the suspender-like straps) from County Mayo (as I remember it) and her sister

My Irish grandfather Michael Lally from County Galway (first police officer in my home town of South Orange, New Jersey)

a later shot of my grandfather after they got rid of the keystone cop helmets and gave the cops bicycles to patrol on

my Irish immigrant grandparents as I knew them as a boy with my oldest brother Thomas Lally, later renamed Father Campion, a Franciscan friar

me and some siblings and cousins and other neighborhood kids, mostly Irish-American (I'm the little roundheaded toddler at the top right)

me and my parents and siblings c. 1943

my late cousin Paddy Lally in front of the thatch roof cottage my grandfather Michael Lally grew up in, me taking the photo on one of my visits c. 1992

LATE NIGHT MINI-RANT OR EARLY SAINT PADDY'S DAY GREETINGS

Here's what I want my friends to check out and watch to the end for Saint Paddy's Day:

ANOTHER GREAT NIGHT OF MUSIC

So last night in the city at Webster Hall to see EDITH POP (with my oldest son Miles on bass) give another terrific show, tight and right, and do a little dancing (I kept thinking how can I be the only male in this crowd to be moving more than my head to the music, especially since I was twice as old as many and even more than twice for most of the rest).

If you ever hear of EDITH POP playing anywhere you can get to, then get to it and you will see one of the most compelling live acts around. Last night it hit me that the front woman for the band puts on a show that's like a mashup of Lydia Lunch and Iggy Pop. And speaking of compelling live acts, the band they were opening for, the main act of the three bands playing, CAPSULA, was fantastic. The show they gave last night was pure punk rock by a stripped down dynamic trio (guitar, drums and bass) that never let up.

I tried to find some live shows online that reflected the power and speed of the music they made last night but nothing captured the experience, so you'll just have to catch them live sometime too. That might be difficult since they all live in Bilbao, Spain (though they're originally from Argentina, and by the bad ass female bassist's looks I'd say she might descend from some of the original inhabitants of that country).

The show they gave last night was like a distillation of the best shows you could see at the height of CBGB's punk scene, pure power, attitude and commitment to the spirit of the music no holds barred. One of my new favorite music makers: CAPSULA.

[found one that's closer to last night's performance]

ANOTHER REASON WHY I LOVE JOHN LENNON

I may have posted this before, but it's worth watching again. The intro shows why I always preferred working-class Lennon truth-telling always-himself John to business-major focused-on-the-moola way-too-self-conscious (which morphed into way-too-self-centered) Mick, and the performance shows why Lennon was always his own man musically as well...

EDITH POP AT WEBSTER HALL

If you can make it, there's no one like Edith Pop (and my son Miles plays base with the band): at Webster Hall (125 East 11th Street NYC) this Saturday, March 14th, at 7PM in The Marlin Room. I'll be there, hope you are too.

SOME SUCCINCT WIT AND WISDOM CIRCULATING OUT THERE

ANOTHER OLD FAVORITE QUOTE

"A GENIUS IS THE ONE MOST LIKE HIMSELF." Thelonius Monk (found among random notes written on bits of paper)

THE OTHER NIGHT

A shot of me about to read some poetry at the event Saturday night (taken I believe by my friend the terrific writer and go-getter Lisa Duggan I believe):

(That's a poorly lit reproduction of the exquisite cover—by the uniquely talented artist Susan Campbell—of my soon-to-be-out latest collection of poems: SWING THEORY)

ANOTHER SWEET EVENING OF POETRY

I wish I had asked someone to film the reading I was part of tonight. But then often these kinds of live events are best experienced in person. At any rate, it was delightful for me to see my friend Stella Kamakaris's poems, like urgent telegraphs from the soul, get the kind of warm response they deserve, and to see my friend Elinor Nauen share poetry and prose both entertaining and brilliant at the same time, as usual, and for me to get to share some new poems and some old with an enthusiastic and appreciative crowd of New Yorkers and Jerseyites. Totally fulfilling. Thanks universe.

Just a reminder:

 Tomorrow evening, Saturday March 7th

I'll be reading my poetry,

as will Elinor Nauen and Stella Kamakaris theirs

at Studio 26 gallery

179 East 3rd Street NYC

event to begin at 6PM

free to the public

MY RESPONSE TO BIBI'S SPEECH AND HIS SUPPORTERS (BECAUSE I WAS ASKED TO COMMENT)

Netanyahu has been giving speeches, including to our congress, for decades warning that Iran is about to acquire a nuclear weapon it will use to destroy Israel, for decades.

As for his supporters, let this guy say it for me:

FOCUS

The premise for FOCUS is preposterous, so is the plot and the penultimate scene, and yet, this film is so stylish and smooth it comes across as a not bad homage to other stylishly successful movies with preposterous premises and plots like say CHARADE or OCEAN'S ELEVEN and it's many reincarnations.

Will Smith is no Cary Grant but he's never come closer to the kinds of roles Grant played than he does in FOCUS. For the first time he doesn't seem to fall back on his boyish charm as much, if at all, but instead has a grown up manly charm that worked for the female friend who suggested we catch this flick and for me as well.

And the chemistry between him and Margot Robbie, who plays his foil, is pretty fun to watch. I loved her in THE WOLF OF WALL STREET and ABOUT TIME (the latter one of my favorite movies and talk about preposterous premises and plots) but in FOCUS she really gets to show her acting and comic and romantic and seductive chops in the biggest role I've seen her in yet.

From the soundtrack to the overheard panoramic shots of Manhattan, New Orleans and Rio (from what I assume are drones), this flick is so stylishly seductive and polished and lavish it's hard to remember that the thing I knew the duo who wrote and directed it best for before was BAD SANTA. And the acting is first rate, especially by Smith and Robbie, but matching them are Adrian Martinez (in the BAD SANTA role in some ways) and Gerald McRaney (in the best thing he's ever done).

A great flick to take your mind off the weather or whatever else may be bothering you.

AND ONE OF THE BEST EXPLANATIONS OF "RACE RELATIONS" EVER

Here.

BEST EXPLANATION OF GERRYMANDERING YET

Here.

WINTER WONDERLAND REVISTED (A LATE NIGHT PART MINI-RANT PART MINI-RHAPSODY)

People are getting pretty sick of the snow here in my part of Jersey, but I gotta say, I still dig it (in all senses of the word) cause when it comes down like it did today it covers all the slush and mess and dirty snowbanks with a new coating of pure white, it muffles the sounds of the few vehicles on the roads besides plows, and it reminds me of so many Christmas card scenes when I was a kid and winters were storybook winters, with frozen ponds to skate on all season and snow forts and snowmen and snow angels and sleigh riding and all the rest.

People around here got used to those days being something in the past until this winter and the last when climate change brought the arctic air down here and not where it's supposed to be (my nephew in Alaska only got to ski there days this season cause he had more rain and less snow than us as well as higher temperatures most of the time)...

I understand many folks are sick of it, but for me, snow falling and covering everything in one simple shade of white, looking so clean and pure and magical, still makes me smile, as it did today. And fact is, it'll be gone soon enough and by summer some of the same people complaining now will be whining about the heat. That's a whole other story (and just for the climate change deniers out there, January was the hottest January on record, despite the cold weather in Jersey and other parts of the country)...