In Seattle, I checked up on Michael Morales, still writing his amazing lyrical and melodious masterpieces after all these years, now with computerized digital sound. He even let me add some harmony. Thirteen years ago, we were struggling together against the wind and rain, biking and hitching our way across Ireland and Britain.
This time, we headed up to Vancouver, Canada, a city that will now find its place among my list of most beautiful cityscapes. Mike had to head back to work in Seattle after a day in Vancouver, but coincidentally, another friend, Jay Keller, from the Washington DC area, was also in Vancouver at the time, and we got together to bicycle through the parks, take a micro-brewery tour and check out other pleasures the city had to offer.
Twice I had the good fortune to enjoy fantastic aerial views of my favorite mountain on the whole planet, Mount Rainier. I was in route to and from Boise, Idaho, where I visited my long-time friends, Hatem and Kathy Mostafa. Aside from jogging, movie going, and playing with their Black Labradors, Shadow and Jordan, we took requisite account of where we were in our lives, did our political and philosophical sparring, and enjoyed the sights of Central, Idaho. This included quite a diversity of landscapes -- sand dunes, roaring waterfalls, volcanic caves, and snow-covered mountains. I always enjoy visiting Hatem and Kathy. It would be an understatement to say that they've come to mean a lot to me over the nearly three decades that we've known each other.
-- Short excursion to Boston -- I had a mostly relaxing visit to Boston, Massachusetts and Nashua, New Hampshire in late March visiting my friends Michael, Natasha, Masha, Max, Vladimir and Valentina, 12 years now since our first connection in Estonia and Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia. I also had some time with Fernanda, who has been visiting from Argentina. We first met on a safari in South Africa.
-- Finally finished scanning 8,000 slides -- It's been a major task for more than a year now to organize and scan the photos and slides from my world travels, but finally it is finished; and many new ones can now be seen by clicking on the galapagos tortoise on my main home page.
-- MOVIE REVIEWS -- The movies I've seen lately have not been widely shown, and although a couple of them were particularly good, you might be hard pressed to find them. They are still getting some play in artsy theaters, but if you can't find them, check them out when they come out as videos.
Windhorse -- This is far and away the best movie I've seen about Tibet. While Seven Years in Tibet and Kundun focused on the life of the Dalai Lama, Windhorse focuses on somewhat more recent (1980s) Chinese repression of average Tibetans. It is the only of the three movies that was filmed clandestinely in Tibet, (the others being filmed in Nepal and Morocco), and I sat in wonder of the chances that they must have taken to film it. The credits at the end listed many names as "withheld" to protect the participants from possible retribution. It's clear why the Chinese government would try to prevent it from being shown here in the States (notably, here at the DC Film Festival, and elsewhere), since the movie's propaganda might have been kinder to Attila the Hun. There was one Chinese good guy for balance. Aside from providing welcome insight into one of the most fascinating cultures on the planet, I enjoyed seeing many places that I well recognized in Lhasa and elsewhere, such as the Yak Hotel, a backpacker's hangout where I stayed for a couple weeks. This is a must-see movie for human rights activist types, but it would also likely captivate anybody with a taste for exotic places -- and Tibet is still about as exotic as any place on the planet. **** out of a possible 4 stars.
West Beirut -- While I found Windhorse playing even way out in Boise, Idaho, I think that West Beirut may not get much play outside of big city film festivals. It would be a shame though, since I found the movie to be just the right blend of humor, irony, drama and horror, very much like the city of its name. The movie is set during the most violent years (late '70s, early '80s) when Lebanon was hell-bent on tearing itself to shreds. It's perspective is from that of three adolescents who seem to pragmatically make due and even have a good time when all around them insanity reigns. ***1/2
American History X -- This movie about neo-Nazi skinheads in Venice, California is often difficult yet compelling to watch. It works well both as social commentary and entertainment, and Edward Norton, one of last year's Oscar nominees for best actor, put in an astounding performance that I would have chosen over the actual winner, Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful. Perhaps the nastiness of the role precluded him from winning. This is a very strong film in both message and characterization, but if there was any weakness for me, it was in the believability of some of the skinhead dialogue. Something tells me, inspite of how intensely these folks may feel hatred at times, in reality such things are usually expressed a bit more subtly and cooly when talking amongst themselves. Also, I've spent some time in Venice, California, and if anything, the city tends to leave the (perhaps mistaken) impression of tolerance both for diversity and extreme eccentricities. Hatred is everywhere, but Venice, a very unique American city that attracts mostly harmless free-spirits and bizarros of all stripes, could have been put in more context. These weakness, however, are not significant distractions from what is otherwise a powerful message movie, and I would highly recommend it to most open-minded folks -- although it's not a movie to which you should bring your date. ***1/2
Tango -- This movie may be too artsy for many movie goers, unless they are strongly appreciative of dance and dance symbolism. I have an abiding respect for anybody who attempts to dance the Tango, which seems to me the most impressive and difficult kind of dance to perform. I saw the movie in Boston with my friend from Argentina (the Land of the Tango), who actually never learned it there, but is now learning it here in America. *1/2
The Matrix -- Many folks disagree with me on this one, but I went to this movie kicking and screaming and came out the same way. Okay, it had a somewhat novel bent on a standard sci-fi concept (computers controlling humans), but the main message I got was n-th degree violence by men in black suits (shades of Littleton, Colorado). If movies only meant special effects to me, I might be more generous, but instead it struggles to earn one-half star. Don't send your hostile, pyrotechnic, genius kid to this one! 1/2
COMING UP NEXT QUARTER: Trip to Minnesota. Hey, my nephew Joshua is graduating high school!!!
Summatime, summatime, sum, sum summatime! Check in and let me know what's up with you. You can contact me by clicking on this E-mail address: doman@tidalwave.net.
Review previous newsletters:
Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 3, 03/01/99 -- Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 2, 12/01/98 -- Germany, Poland and Czeck Republic
Dean's News Vol. 2, No. 1, 09/01/98 -- A summer romance
Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 4, 06/01/98 -- New York City and Minnesota trips
Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 3, 03/01/98 -- Arizona and Colorado trip
Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 2, 12/01/97 -- Venezuela and Trinidad
Dean's News Vol. 1, No. 1, 09/01/97 -- Toronto and Niagara Falls
-- For those who may have missed my change of address: The new address is: Dean Oman, 1523 North 16th Road #1, Arlington, VA 22209. The telephone number remains the same: 703-524-7641. My email address is now: doman@tidalwave.net, although the old one doman@nicom.com should function through the remainder of this year. Likewise, my new web page address is: http://deanoman.com/index.htm.
Best wishes to all,
Deano
