Attack on Labor in Wisconsin

Here at Domestic Tranquility we are depressed. We live in a bubble, where everyone more or less agrees with us. However, there are clearly lots of folks who are eaten up with envy and hate and use that to hurt those who are not like them. They even live in Wisconsin, home of Progressivism and LaFollette. They see teachers, nurses, state bureaucrats and others as unfairly profiting from the largesse of the taxpayers, when the benefits that state workers receive should be the benefits everyone receives. And despite the propaganda that would have you believe that state workers are paid more than employees in the private sector, public employees overall make less than those who work for corporations.

So the labor-haters side with the fat cats who just got a big tax cut in return for supporting Governor Walker, even though this is not in their best interests.

The Republicans are masterful at framing issues so that ordinary working people side with the rich and powerful. Why can't the Dems do this?

And, of course, when they are laid off because of the trickle-down effect of the massive budget cutting that is occurring everywhere, they may have a different tune. But then it will be too late.

On Wisconsin

OLGS has gone back to Madison to be part of the state employees protest. The whole thing is so sad and bitter, especially for him. He was -- I can't say that he is now -- so proud to be part of the University of Wisconsin system. Just a few tidbits:

1. His family is tied very tightly to the university. His father, sister, aunt, uncle, brothers-in-law, countless cousins and asssorted in-laws are all graduates of the UW. Some have been major supporters and boosters over the years.

2. He was named Teacher of the Year for the entire university system, an honor that goes to only one faculty member each year, becuase of his devotion to students and his creativity in teaching them.

3. He is (or was) a firm believer in what was known as the Wisconsin Idea -- the notion that the university served the state, and vice versa. He even had his students do projects of specific use to various state departments and had them make presentations in the Capitol about their work.

4. He is perfectly willing (I do not agree with him -- truth in advertising) to sacrifice his pay and benefits in the service of the greater good during a temporary crisis. I disagree because I feel that Gov. Walker has manufactured the crisis to get his way and that having faculty members pay more for health care and pension is simply a drop in the bucket, and a ploy by the gov. to mask his real intention -- gutting the public employee unions.

What OLGS is not willing to do is give up his collective bargaining rights -- rights that were hard won and late in coming but that are a staple of the Wisconsin tradition. But the gov. and his henchpersons wouldn't understand that.

What is gratifying to OLGS and many thousands of his fellow Wisconsin employees is the support they have received. Messages of solidarity have come from other states and countries as well as from students, police officers, neighbors and even Republicans. What touched OLGS the most was a sign held by a student at UW-Eau Claire: We Love Our Professors. In nearly 30 years of teaching, OLGS had never heard this.

Beat the yahoos. Show your support. Go to Madison.

Attack on Domestic Tranquility

The peace at our little household, sliding downhill to a genteel retirement surrounded by aging cats, rambunctious flower beds and traffic noise from I-94, has been shattered. The governor of the state of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, has declared war on state employees (of whom OLGS is one among more than 45,000). Not only is he going to require state employees to pay the full amount allowed (but up to now, not required) by law for pension and health care, but he is banging the drum for privatizing their pensions. And he is railroading this through next week, giving those affected little time to respond and the majority Republicans in the state assembly little time to think (if they do, which I doubt).

In addition to affecting professors and public defenders, who seldom vote Republican, the new approach will also affect folks like prison guards, of whom Wisconsin has many and who do vote Republican. It also severely affects part-time employees who are on limited contracts; their access to health care will be eliminated as of March 1. The LTE in OLGS's department makes $13 per hour, has four children and an unemployed spouse. What will happen to them? Where are the governor's anticipated savings if this family goes on welfare and uses Medicaid?

This is grandstanding of the worst type. I secretly expect that the gov simply wants to make a name for himself, a la Sarah and Michelle. Even if he's not successful -- and he probably will be -- he will have marked out his territory as the driver of a tank rolling to crush the greedy state employees and their unions. George Bush was also very good at this, drawing a line in the sand to make his point and then moving on to something else.

This travesty even made the New York Times, which is ever alert to possible train wrecks. And you gotta love the gov's assertion that he is prepared to call in the National Guard to fill in for state workers who decide to rally in Madison or go fishing. Think about your basic 19-year old Guardsman teaching OLGS's class on the prelude to the Civil War or a class on Romantic poetry. Of course, the gov would say that we shouldn't be providing such classes as state expense. He has an answer for everything.

That Hamilton Woman

Vivien Leigh, playing the same role she played in Gone with the Wind and many other films -- bad girl with a cute smile and knowing eyes. Fiddle-dee-dee. Anyway, the movie, released in 1941, sets Scarlet -- sorry, Lady Hamilton -- against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Really, however, it's about resistence to dictators, wherever they are, and the need to fight on, despite all odds. Unsurprisingly, this was one of Churchill's favorite movies.

The real Lady Hamilton, painted by George Romney

Vivien and real life husband Laurence Olivier smoke up the screen in retelling the adulterous affair between Lady Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson, the admiral who finally beat Napoleon's navy at Trafalgar. This film followed Korda's Thief of Bagdhad and was filmed on a limited budget. It did not, however, prevent Vivien from wearing amazing dresses.

Vivien Leigh as Lady Hamilton

OLGS returns

OLGS has returned from two weeks in Hungary and Romania. He thinks this is the last subsidized trip, given that the governor of Wisconsin is now on the warpath against state employees, who will be giving up somehwere between 5-10% of their pay -- permanently. For that reason, OLGS is a Pittsburgh fan.

If the bleak beauty of a real Transylvanian village attracts you, be warned: they have no snowplows.

Is it business or is it class? You decide.

Another trip to central Massachusetts, this time via Air Tran. Very convenient at both airports, with the departing flight leaving MSP from the Humphrey Terminal (I refuse to call it Terminal 2, which is its new official name). Once at Logan, a short walk to the gate at the United terminal, where you can get a surprisingly good slice of pizza. And the stop in Milwaukee is easy off, easy on.

Because I was feeling sorry for myself, I upgraded to business class on the return flight. Don't bother, unless you really want the larger seat. On the Boston leg, they handed out free drinks and instead of just peanuts, passengers received a choice of chips, peanuts, or pretzels. On the MIL to MSP leg, there was nothing except the free drinks. I was hoping for at least rubber chicken.

South Pacific

Did you know that the 1958 musical, South Pacific, starred a Hungarian-American? Mitzi Gaynor is allegedly of Hungarian descent, and has referred to herself as a "Hungarian Virgo". Her performance in the film made her an icon, and to this day she appears in events celebrating the film.

There are some great songs in the film. But what is really interesting is the race-relations sermon that is part of the story. Stationed on a South Pacific island as a nurse during WWII, Mitzi falls in love with a French resident of the island. However, Mitzi's Arkansas upbringing makes her reject him when she learns that he was previously married to a Polynesian woman and has two children by her--children that Mitzi cannot accept. And Mitzi's difficulty is not that Frenchy had another woman (who died, of course), but that Mom and the children are "colored". However, as is inevitable in musicals, Mitzi comes to her senses and love triumphs over prejudice.

The filmmakers did not do all their homework, however. The group of Sea Bees who make up the chorus of the musical includes a black sailor. The film was made after Harry Truman integrated the Armed Services in 1948. However, it is supposed to be about WWII, when there were no integrated units. So having a black sailor is incongruous. However, given the theme of the story, it's probably OK -- if integration is good enough for the Navy, it should be good enough for the girl from Arkansas.

Snow-- the morning after

Update from the kitchen window: 17 inches fell at MSP before stopping last evening. Snow removal guys came to plow us out last night with a very loud snow blower. Sound is magnified at 3 AM, which is when they showed up. They abandoned ship, and snow blower about 30 minutes later, leaving us with a partially plowed driveway.

OLGS is out trying to make do with our much lighter snow blower, although he's leaving the driveway in the hope that the snow guys will return with heavier equipment. He's just going to do the sidewalk. Always the good neighbor.

This is the biggest snowstorm we've had since moving to our Mpls. house. Makes me feel like a real Minnesotan.

Too cold to snow?

View from the kitchen window
When people from New England, where they get lots of snow, ask me how I like the snow in Minnesota, I always tell them that it's too cold and dry to snow much. The difference between here and there is that when it does snow, the snow remains on the ground until April. In contrast, the 10 inch snows that regularly occur in Massachusetts disappear within a week or two.

My tune has changed. Right now it's snowing again, and we are on track to have the snowiest December in many years. The Twin Cities are shut down in expectation of 12 inches or more. It's blowing and drifting, as they say on the road conditions report. This is probably snow scam -- weather people are never happier than when a disaster is looming. But there are five inches on the ground at 9 AM with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

What's going on? Looks like global warming to me. It is now warm enough to snow, and snow hard. Kinda exciting, and reminds me of my childhood in snowy Central Mass.

Who ever thought there would be an upside to climate change?

F.I.S.T.

Want an obscure Sly Stallone movie? Try F.I.S.T., starring Rocky as a thinly disguised Jimmy Hoffa, who, in this movie, is a Hungarian-American, or hunky, named Johnny Kovak. This is a legit entry into the Hungarian movie pantheon because it was written by Joe Eszterhas, a Hungarian immigrant and Cleveland reporter who went on to write the screenplays for more famous films, such as Basic Instinct.

The reason we watched this otherwise forgettable movie was the presence in the cast -- and credited, too -- of Rev. Alphonse Skerl, pastor of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic (Hungarian) church in East Chicago, Indiana. OLGS has met Father Skerl, who was very helpful when OLGS visited the parish in search of records for his current project studying Hungarian immigrants to the U.S.

Father Skerl appears in F.I.S.T. (Federation of Interstate Truckers) at least three times as the family priest. However, the time period of the movie being primarily pre-Vatican II, the good father speaks Latin rather than Hungarian during Mass. OLGS reports that Father Skerl still speaks Hungarian, despite his being in the U.S. since 1956.

People watch movies for the strangest reasons.

Thief of Bagdhad

A deviation from the plan of watching the films of Pressburger-Powell, the Archers. The Thief of Bagdhad, released in 1940, was produced by Alexander Korda, who left what is now Hungary in 1919. After working in the film industry in Vienna, Berlin and Hollywood, he began producing movies in England. His first, The Private Life of Henry VIII, was a big hit and has been credited with turning the moribund British film industry around.

The designers of the 1992 Disney film Aladdin watched the Thief of Bagdhad very carefully. The thief is cute and cunning, the Princess'father is a fat, dithering fool who nevertheless loves his daughter deeply, and Jaffar has very long fingers. The genie is not as benign as Robin Williams, and the Prince and the thief are two different characters, but both differences seem inconsequential. Chases through the market, playing hide and seek with the guards and stealing food were shamelessly copied by the 1992 version, and a good thing, too. They are funny.

Hungarian Exodus to Hollywood

Now that winter, more specifically ice and snow, are settling in, it's time to devise a way to amuse myself but still feel productive. Those Puritan genes are coming to the surface.

Emeric Pressburger

So, to support OLGS in his ongoing efforts to master all things Hungarian, I have resolved to watch films involving Hungarian emigres in Hollywood. The list is vast, with a seemingly endless supply of directors, screenwriters, producers, actors, musicians and others becoming part of the US film scene from the silent film era to post-1956. And the US was not the only landing spot for Hungarians who turned out to have remarkable talent for all aspects of film-making; many of them headed for England, adding to the richness of British movies.

I am starting my odyssey with the films of Emeric Pressburger, who on his own and with Michael Powell wrote, directed and produced movies in England from the 1930s to the 1960s in England. Probably the most famous result of the Powell-Pressburger collaboration was the 1948 film, The Red Shoes, based on the tale by Hans Christian Andersen.

A lot has been written about The Red Shoes, which was recently restored and re-released by the Criterion Collection. I'm not equipped to judge it as a ballet movie, but it had its charms, nevertheless. A couple of interesting things to watch: the behavior and recreation of the corps de ballet, the set designers and others foreshadows later beatniks. Lots of late night drinking and partying, something that I didn't think dancers did much of, not that I know many dancers, but...

The other thing is the color. Everything has a sunset glow, and the colors are intense. Really intense. OLGS noted that perhaps they hadn't quite gotten technicolor right. Or it could be the remastering. For whatever reason, it's kind of hard on the eyes, although the dancing is nice. Credit Moira Shearer for that.

Snow!

First snow of the season. Wet, heavy, heart-attack snow. Tree-damaging snow. Hazardous to electrical wires snow. Snow-emergency snow. Snow that requires the first use of our newly hired plowing service ("I don't start plowing until the snow stops." Makes sense, but what if there are twelve inches?) Snow that is so close to water it will all turn to ice once it melts, rendering me a shut-in until March. Cookie-baking snow. Stay in and watch movies snow. Soup making snow. Snow that keeps the cat Mitzi inside for the rest of the winter. Snow that brought Joe College Grad home in search of "boots" (a pair of suede Nike skater shoes -- "They're great, Mom. I've used them for two winters, and they don't smell when they get wet.")

It's beautiful.

Remembrance of Things Past

Although the arrival was not timed, I appreciated the appearance of the Kramer movie, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with an amzing cast. Classic 60s caper comedy, with:

Spencer Tracy
Milton Berle
Sid Caesar
Edie Adams
Ethel Merman
Jonathan Winters
Mickey Rooney
Buddy Hackett
Phil Silvers
Dorothy Provine
Dick Shawn
Terry-Thomas

And this is just the main cast. The secondary players include the likes of Don Knotts, Jimmy Durante and Jim Backus.

The reason I was so glad it showed up now -- having been languishing in the Netflix queue for years, it seems, is that this is one of the movies my dad took me to see. This, along with "The Shaggy Dog", are iconic events in my childhood.

Be careful what you take to your kids to see. They may manufacture a memory out of it 50 years later.

Funeral planning

What do you do after a death in the family? There are so many details to attend to. Some family members care about the details, others do not. But the details have to be attended to by someone.

You can leave much of this in the hands of the funeral director, who will, for a price, take care of almost everything. The professionals will find a minister, let you use their facilities, provide refreshments, etc., etc. They will not, at least in Massachusetts, sell you a marker, as per state law. Instead, they will refer you to a favored place. I assume they get a kickback, but someone has to do it.

We were referred to Empire Granite, serving Worcester since 1896. And the facilities had not been changed since then. However, the salesperson (did I mention that it is definitely a family business?) quickly figured out that we did not want two granite hearts or entwined flowers and pointed us at something that everyone could agree on. Folks in his business have to be good at reading people, and he was.

But, as with everything, a visit to a new kind of salesroom is also a lesson. For example, did you know why joint headstones have the other spouse's name and birth date already engraved? It always seemed tacky to me. However, if you don't do this, you will probably have to take the marker down when the next person dies, and in the case of Empire Granite, send it back to Vermont where the work is actually done. Most folks, including me, don't want this additional expense. Hence the premature listing of the other spouse. Apparently just entering the death year is something that can be done without removing the stone entirely. And now you know.

Another thing that someone has to do is plan the memorial service. What hymns, if the dear departed liked to sing hymns, which was true of my father? I can't stand Fairest Lord Jesus, which he apparently liked -- who knew? So my mother and I compromised on some other warhorses that we both liked.

And then the readings and speakers. That was easier. A few Psalms (although they had to be from the King James -- find a Unitarian minister who can do that!), something my dad had written, some reminiscences from a former colleague -- and we were done. Then off to the social hour, pie and ice cream, my dad's two favorite foods.

Still in the hopper -- find a few musicians to lend gravitas to the occasion. We have a piano player -- no organ, which is too bad. Gotta get the program printed. Hope that someone sends flowers, even thought the obit says no flowers! Need to arrange some photos, especially the cute ones from the 20s and 30s for folks to look at while they are eating pie. I'm sure there are other things to do, but if we don't, the event will still happen.

I'm thinking of writing up my insights into funeral planning. Oops--guess I've already done that. The big lesson in all this is that you have lots of different people to please. In this case, my mother, my brother, my uncle (who is performing the role of master of ceremonies at the memorial service) and I had to agree. So far it's worked out fine but there is still time for something unresolvable to arise. We'll see.