Persons – Page 39 – GEORGE ROTHERT

Truth Becomes Fiction Becomes Truth

In the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the Coen Brothers retold – sort of – Homer’s Odyssey, but relocated to depression-era Mississippi. (It also generated interest in so-called “Americana” or “Roots” music,” thanks to the best-selling soundtrack put together by T-Bone Burnett.) George Clooney played Ulysses Everett McGill, a chain-gang escapee and con man, trying to get back to his estranged wife Penny, portrayed by Holly Hunter, and their seven daughters. He needs to prove he’s “bona fide,” so they will take him back.

You’re probably asking what this has to do with Donald Trump.

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The Notorious Pink Lady of Malibu Canyon

Fed up with the graffiti despoiling the area around the Malibu Canyon tunnel, Lynne Westmore Bloom decided to do something about it. During the night she suspended herself with ropes down the rocks above the tunnel’s entrance. She went to work to chipping away at the defacement. Finally, after several months of nocturnal labor removing graffiti and clearing out scraggly brush, in one night, October 1966, using ordinary house paint, she created her gift to Los Angeles commuters: a sixty-foot-tall naked lady.

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MLK and AZ and the NFL

After four unsuccessful election attempts, Evan Mecham took office as Governor of Arizona in 1987. His first official act was to rescind his predecessor’s executive order creating the Martin Luther King Jr holiday in the state.

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Something To Make You Squirm in Your Theater Seat

James Baldwin was well established as a best-selling writer when The Fire Next Time was published. His first novel, in 1953, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was based on his growing up in Harlem. Subsequent novels explored then-taboo subjects such as homosexuality and interracial relationships. His essays delved into racial tensions and the experience of being black in the U.S.

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Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction Dept.

Last week Emirates Airlines cancelled its flight from Muscat, Oman to Dubai. The reason? Snakes. Baggage handlers found a snake in the cargo hold. Of course, the airline apologized for any inconvenience.

This is not the only snakes-on-a-plane incident. Read about others here. My personal favorite is the passenger with ten baby pythons in his pants.

A clip from the classic movie.

Warning: contains Samuel L. Jackson language.

Political Update

In case you are not aware… after January 20, Barack Obama will no longer be President of these United States. After his two terms, we move into the post “post-racial” era.

Take a few minutes to enjoy a photographic retrospective of Obama’s eight years in office.

From the Washington Post:

“We have a generation of children whose first president was a man of color. Who saw a first lady move with determined authority.”

From England’s The Guardian:

“Unlike most politicians, Obama is genuinely cool.”