Bohemian Rhapsody

2019 Trip to Southwest United States, Music

Thanks to Stef’s surely legal (?) manipulation of downloadable movies off the Internet we watched Bohemian Rhapsody a new bio-pic about Freddie Mercury and his band Queen. I begin, by admitting I am not very familiar with Queen. Many of their songs were familiar, but I never listened to them closely or followed their fame in the day. I just was not interested. So I did not know their story. All I have learned is from watching this film and listening to some of their songs. I like what Freddie said, “we are 4 misfits playing to other misfits, none of whom belong together.” Aren’t we all like that?

First of all, I was struck by the song, “Keep Yourself Alive.” I repeated to myself the lyric, “keep yourself alive.”  I actually think that is important. Not in the ordinary sense so much, though we all want to keep alive so that does not need reminding, but rather keep alive in the sense of don’t allow your life to become what D.H. Lawrence referred to as  “death in life”. If that what we  have, as Lawrence was true for many of us, we are in bad shape. We should instead, keep ourselves alive.

I think that is what the film is about–i.e. avoiding death in life. Roger, one of the band members said, “there’s no musical ghetto that can contain us.” Later Freddie said, “My father would rather see me dead then be whom I am.”  Hasn’t every son thought that about his father? Yet, I hope mine never did. I also liked the line, “We’ll punch a hole in the sky.” That would surely  keep oneself alive.

The movie celebrated the song after which the film is named, namely, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, with its lyrics that are far from clear, in part because of its length. The record company wanted a shorter song, so the band packed up and left that company. Of course it became a big hit.

If you say the lyrics are not obscure tell me what these signify?

 

I see a little silhouetto of a man,
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
Thunderbolt and lightning,
Very, very frightening me.
(Galileo) Galileo.
(Galileo) Galileo,
Galileo Figaro
Magnifico-o-o-o-o.

I think they fit in some how with the them. Life is thunderbolt and lightning. Magnifico. Though I like the line “I see a little silhouetto of a man.”  I just don’t know what it means. Do you? Give me your theory.

I also  liked their idea of including the audience in the song “We Will Rock You,” where they said they wanted to include the audience as part of the song. And, of course that song has been sung in sports stadiums and arena’s ever since. I remember hearing it many times at the Winnipeg Arena. I just did not know it was a Queen song. I wonder if my lads remember it as well. With its driving beat I always liked this verse:

“Buddy you’re a boy make a big noise
Playin’ in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo’ face
You big disgrace
Kickin’ your can all over the place
Singin’

We Will We will Rock You

We Will We will Rock You.”

 

At the end of the film, when Freddie was dying of AIDS he didn’t’ want sympathy or long faces around him. I remember a good friend of mine who was dying, told me the same thing.  He wanted life until he died. He did not want life in death. “Don’t bore me with your sympathy,” Freddy said,  “It takes too much life away.”

I must admit this movie captured me.  This surprised me. I like it when  movies surprise me. I now think Queen are, “the champions.” In the end, harboring a terminal illness, Freddie struts across and around the stage and briefly, he is the champion, he is alive. I hope we can all be that.

 

Sedona: Pursuing Truth and Beauty

2019 Trip to Southwest United States, Arizona, Sedona, Truth and Beauty

 

We finished off the day in Sedona at Red Rock Crossing and Crescent Moon Park, one of my favorite spots. From there you can get spectacular views of Cathedral Rock and some lovely old buildings.

The water was also pretty murky after the recent heavy rains. We were just happy that we could walk to most o four favorite spots. We could not cross the river, as it was too high and moving too fast.

 

I love old buildings. I was really pleased that Stef and Charli chose to visit Sedona. Any excuse to come here is all right with me. I love Sedona. Sedona is a special place. Maybe there is truth to the claims that there are spiritual vortexes here. And not just for charlatans either. Why not?

 

I was a little disappointed that the water was high and rushing so there was no opportunity for a great shot of Cathedral Mountain reflected in an Oak Creek puddle. Well, you can’t have it all. You gotta dance with the girl you brung.

Today we really did pursue truth and beauty. That is my retirement goal. To pursue truth and beauty every day. This life of pursuing truth and beauty is fantastic.

 

Sedona: The Most Beautiful Place in the USA

2019 Trip to Southwest United States, Arizona, Family, Sedona

Stef and his friend Charli

After our short visit to Montezuma Castle, wwe continued our journey to Sedona. In 2002 USA Today Weekendmagazine officially declared Sedona “the most beautiful place in the country.” I used to think this was mere boasting by local tourist shills, but when a national magazine crowns you the most beautiful place you have a right to be proud. And this pride is far from misplaced. Sedona is gorgeous. It is as simple as that.

I was really pleased that Stef and Charli chose to visit Sedona. Any excuse to come here is all right with me. I love Sedona. Sedona is a special place. Maybe there is truth to the claims that there are spiritual vortexes here. And not just for charlatans either. Why not?

Our first stop was at the Visitor Centre where they also have some outstanding rock formations. We saw Bell Rock, Courthouse Butte, and Cathedral Rock. The latter we saw again later from the west side.

I will never forget the first time I came here after a partners meeting in Phoenix. I drove in with one of the partners while everyone else drove back home. We were both stunned by the beauty of the place. I remember phoning Chris and saying to her, ‘we have to come back here next year, for you have to see it.’ It really is that beautiful. And today was on exception.

Today, the skies were brilliant blue. The air was clean. The temperature was cool but pleasant for walking around. And the red rocks for which the area is famous  were spectacular. It was a great day!

Later we drove into town and took some photographs, including a team picture, from the airport. They now charge a $3 fee, which we thought was quite reasonable. The light for all our photos was wonderful, though a few happy little clouds would have been nice. The airport has a great overview of the city nestled into the valley between stunning red rocks. It was a great place for a team photo.

We also stopped to see and photograph the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Few churches have a more spectacular setting.

 

 

Montezuma’s Castle

2019 Trip to Southwest United States, Ancient Humans, Arizona, civilization, Indigenous Issues

Our son Stef and his friend Charli came to visit us in Arizona. One fo the things they wanted to see was Sedona. So we headed out one day. Along the way, thanks to Chris’ insight,  we stopped at the badly misnamed Montezuma National Monument.

The Monument illustrates wonderfully the life of the southern Sinagua Native Americans who lived here hundreds of years ago. The Monument is located in the Verde Valley. The northern Sinagua people as well as the Hohokam people’s culture heavily influenced the architecture and farming that was developed here.

Ancestors of today’s Puebloan people started building the “castle” in the wall about 700 years ago. No one knows why they built their huge connected homes onto the side of the cliff, but there are various theories that have been proposed. Defence was likely part of the reason. Once the step-ladders would have been withdrawn it would have been difficult, but not impossible for invaders to attack. From the cliff the residents enjoyed a commanding view of the creek, the fields, and surrounding countryside. It was also a place where the occasional flooding of the Beaver Creek would not have cause serious problems. Having homes on a south facing wall would have been very advantageous in winter.

What is now wrongly called the castle, probably housed about 35 people. Including families in nearby pueblos and rock shelters 150 to 200 people may have lived here. It is a five-story 20-room building that occupies a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley floor. Early European settlers marveled at it and wrongly assumed it was Aztec in origin. That is why they named it after Montezuma. Very close to it was a  larger 45-room condominium that has most disappeared. Only the remnants remain. For most of the time it was occupied people found a reliable source of water in the creek below.

The indigenous people who lived here belonged to a network of villages united by kinship, agriculture and cultural traditions that stretched for miles along the nearby Verde River into which Beaver Creek flows.

There were scattered villages in the region ranging in size from about 600 to 1,100 people. By 1200 CE (Common Era) communities extended all along the Verde River and its tributaries, such as Beaver Creek. Around 1300 C.E., they were all part of a complex settlement network that is now largely lost on account of modern residential developments. 40 large villages in eh area. The flood plains below were used to grow crops. They were also used for travelling. About 6,000 people in the valley were connected to much large populations of Native Americans to the north and south.

Originally, Indigenous People roamed the region for thousands of years, hunting and gathering food. The area’s characteristic farming and architecture emerged later influenced by near by Hohokam and the Northern Sinagua.

The first permanent settlement is believed to have been established by Hohokam people between 700 and 900  (CE). These farmers grew corn, beans, squash, and cotton using sophisticated techniques like canal irrigation to draw water from large distances. These people were civilized!  I want to emphasize that. This is a them I intend to return to in my blog. They also produced their characteristic red-on-buff pottery and built ballcourts. They had one-room pit houses perched on terraces that overlooked their fields in the bottom-lands.

The people lived mainly by farming but supplemented their staple crops by hunting and gathering.  Game included deer, antelope, rabbit, bear, muskrat and duck. Corn was a very important food. They also mined a local salt deposit a few miles away. There is evidence that they traded widely. Likely salt was highly sought by indigenous people throughout the west. They lived a good life, probably a lot better than the Europeans who came to visit (and plunder).

Sinagua craftsmen and artists created stone tools like axes, knives, and hammers. They created manos and mutates for grinding corn. Other crafts included bone awls, needles, woven garments of cotton, and ornaments of shells, turquoise, and local stone (argillite) for personal wear.

Southern Sinagua builders used local materials for their pueblos. The cobble walls Chris and I saw a nearby Tuzigoot a couple of years ago, are very large but poorly balanced. The limestone at Montezuma castle is fairly soft and splits unevenly. Yet Montezuma Castle, protected as it is from the elements, stood for more than 700 years. I don’t think my house will stand that long.  It is one of the best-preserved prehistoric sites in the American Southwest.

By the 1950s the “castle” was no longer stable and visitations had to be prohibited. Until  then tourists could crawl around the homes.  In 1964 the ceiling had to be repaired. Maintenance now is constantly required.

Indigenous groups occupied the cliff dwellings between approximately 1,100 and 1,400 A.D. the area also contain a larger pueblo and many small alcove homes in the cliff face along Beaver Creek.

The buildings they built above ground and often on the cliff face, were masonry dwellings that started appearing in about 1125. At first these were small structures, but later they built pueblos. By 1150 they started building large pueblos often on hilltops or in cliff alcoves. Montezuma Castle and nearby Tuzigoot village, which Chris and I visited a couple of years ago reached their maximum size and population in the 1300s.

Various theories have been offered as to why the site was abandoned in about 1,400 a couple of centuries before the Spanish arrived. The leading theory is prolonged drought caused by climate change. Over population may also have been a factor, as is happening again in the much of the southern US. People tend to flock to nice places! Look at us. Diseases and conflicts between groups may also have influenced the move.  Some have speculated that they left for religious reasons. People do strange things for religion. Many southern Sinagua people migrated to the north to pueblo villages. Some likely stayed in the Verde Valley and returned to hunter gathering.

Today we enjoyed a brief but fascinating journey into the land of Native Americans of the region. It was worth the trip. Next I will blog about Sedona.

Money doesn’t Talk; it Swears

2019 Trip to Southwest United States, Decline of the west, politics, Trump

Last week, in his State of the Union address,  President Donald Trump said the American economy is booming, unless politics, foolish wars, or ridiculous investigations interfere. He was referring of course to the many investigations of him and his campaign, including the Mueller inquiry and numerous investigations launched by the House of Representatives now that the Democrats are in the majority. Really the essence of Trump’s argument is that because the economy is doing well no one should interfere with him no matter what he has done. This is the same attitude he has to the Saudi Arabian assassination of American resident and Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi. After all they Saudis have invested billions in buying American arms. Is that not reason enough not to interfere in anything they have done, no matter how despicable?  Because millions of people continue to support Trump, and even think his State of the Union Address was “presidential”, it shows to all that America is morally bankrupt.  Dylan was right, “money doesn’t talk it swears.”

Fear Porn

2019 Trip to Southwest United States, Fear, Human rights, Immigration and Refugees, politics, Populism, Trump

Fear Porn

 

In recent years many people in the west have characterized refugee issues as security decisions rather than humanitarian issues. This has had important negative consequences for refugees. As Jennifer Welsh said in her Massey lectures, “One implication of this ‘securitization’ of asylum seekers is the tendency to reframe the responsibility to tackle refugee situations as a matter of peace and security and to focus on immediate causes of displacement.”

This approach causes many people, such as my own current Member of Parliament, Ted Falk, to concentrate on the destabilizing effects of the presence of refugees on neighbouring country’s security, communal cohesion, and national identity. People like Falk believe that refugees are dangerous. They fear refugees and therefore make poor decisions about them.

Such irrational fears have spread around the world but particularly to the United States. Of course, as I have indicated elsewhere, the United States is a peculiarly fearful nation. They especially fear the influx of migrants and immigrants and refugees from the Muslim world and from Mexico. It is not an accident that many of these people that they fear have skin colours other than white. In my opinion this is the legacy of the American history of racism going back for centuries to its horrible treatment of indigenous people and importation of African-American slaves and their offspring.

President Trump himself was filled with venom and anxiety at the thought of the approaching brown hordes. Then he turned to filling his supporters with fear. That is something he has a unique talent for. Of course it is easy to mock absurd fears, but fears are important. They are used to generate hate against people seeking asylum. Stoking fear and hate in a democratic state is a very dangerous thing.

Donald Trump capitalized on these fears to get elected President in 2016. It did not matter that the United States had an extremely onerous vetting process of all such possible entrants to the country. It’s not a perfect system, but it is probably the best in the world.

Trump also tried again, with less success, to capitalize on such fears just before the Mid-term elections in 2018. He warned of the so-called “Caravan” of refugees and asylum seekers heading from Central American including Hondurans and others to the United States. Donald Trump and his close ally Fox News ratcheted up the fear to such an extent that millions of Americans feared this group of rag-tag people consisting by most accounts of a lot of women with young children.

The Republicans claimed the Democrats were organizing this crusade and that they believed in completely open borders. Trump was a master of manipulating this to his own advantage. He said he would send 5,200 troops. Later he increased this to 15,000 troops. Not just border guards, but troops. According to the Washington Post, “This appears to be the largest such peacetime deployment of active duty U.S. troops a the border in a century.” This was more troops than the Americans sent to fight super scary ISIS. The American troops were also ordered to secure the border walls (remember many already exist) with razor wire.

Of course all of these security people were being added to a border already hyper-militarized with 16,000 border guards, 5,000 ICE personnel, 2100 National Guards and many deportation agents. All this to oppose men, women and children who might throw rocks.

Many Americans interviewed on television said this was an invasioneven when they were more than a thousand miles away. It became a huge election issue and fired up his base of supporters. This was not surprising since Trump and his Fox allies relentlessly fueled the fears. Sean Hannity, watched by millions of Americans, repeatedly referred to this as “an invasion” as did other Fox contributors. He also referred to it as a “a mob of humanity.” Donald Trump himself repeatedly referred to it as an imminent “invasion of our country.”

All of this was done while the invading “army” without weapons was a couple of months away. What kind of invading forces give the target country a 3 months heads up?

Would young mothers take their children on such a perilous journey if they were not fleeing something they really feared? Like gangs that were to a large extent fueled by American deportees returning to their presumed homeland. These gangs were often fueled by drug money from American consumers. Should we not show some empathy for them? Or should we listen instead to demagogues? These people are suffering; they should not be demonized.

Even other stations, besides Fox, are getting on the bandwagon against these demonsapproaching the border? Trump tweeted, “the caravans are made up of some very tough fighters.” Later in the same day, October 31, 2018, 5 days before Mid-term elections he tweeted again, “Our military is being mobilized at the Southern Border. Many more troops coming. We will NOT let these Caravans, which are also made up of some very bad thugs and gang members, into the U.S. Our border is sacred Must come in legally. TURN AROUDND!”  Clearly he wanted to scare the crap out of people. Some have called it Trump’s scaravan.

Talking about the Caravan while helping a Republican candidate in Florida Trump said this about the Democrat rival,

 

“Andrew Gilliam wants to throw open your borders to drug dealers, human traffickers, gang members, and criminal aliens. That’s great. That’s what we want. Let those people pour in folks. Let them join come join you on your front lawn.”

 

Trump is a master of stoking fears.

There were actually 4 caravans that appeared to be heading toward the U.S. The Washington Postdescribed the situation this way,

 

Military planners anticipate that only a small percentage of Central American migrants travelling in the caravans U.S. President Donald Trump characterizes as “an invasion” will reach the U.S. border, even as a force of more than 7,000 active-duty troops mobilizes to prevent them from entering the country.

According to military planning documents, about 20 percent of the roughly 7,000 migrants are likely to complete the journey. The unclassified report was obtained by Newsweek on Thursday.

If the military’s assessment is accurate, it would mean the U.S. is positioning five soldiers on the border for every one caravan member expected to arrive here.

“Based on historic trends, it is assessed that only a small percentage of the migrants will likely reach the border,” the report says.”

 

It turned out the military planners were not as worried about the potential migrants as the American President. The military report was more concerned about Americanmilitia groups eager to lend their well-armed support. As the Washington Postsaid, “The assessment also indicates military planners are concerned about the presence of “unregulated armed militia” groups showing up at the border in areas where U.S. troops will operate.”

Trump was also quick to characterize the members of the caravan as scary individuals, even though most other reports, other than Fox News of course, said they were mainly women and children fleeing violence in their own countries often caused by gang members that had been deported there by American authorities. Trump described them this way at different times: “many young strong men,” “very tough fighters,” “terrorists from the Middle East,” “hardened criminals,” “lepers,” “people with small pox and TB,”  and “a lot of bad people.” Another Republican added, “pedophiles,” and “wife beaters”. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for anyone else. Added to that, according to the Washington Post, “He also insists the number of migrants heading north is much larger than estimates put forward by U.S. and Mexican officials.” Of course Trump has never allowed the facts to stand in the way of the hateful or fearful messages he wants to send.

Trump said similar things in April that everyone forgot about. Trump painted a picture of a large group of migrants near the border as rapists and pillagers. It turned out to be 400 people requesting asylum which they are legally entitled to do.

Then Trump added that if any of these people throw rocks the troops should fire their guns. Reminds me of the Gaza strip. Is that what American has come to?

It was no accident that Trump made a huge issue of these caravans a few weeks before the American midterm elections of 2018. He did not want to wait until the potential migrants arrived as that might blunt the political message he wanted to use in those elections. Now he is doing it again to gain support for his big beautiful wall.

Trump, together with many of his supporters loves what Bill Maher called Fear Porn. Why is that? I think that Trump like populists and demagogues around the world uses fear to drum up support for his policies. He does that because his ideas have little rational basis. How else can he get people to support them? Porn sells.

Basketball: A Religious Experience

2019 Trip to Southwest United States, Arizona, basketball

 

I went to a college basketball game. Arizona State University (ASU) played their fierce in state rival the University of Arizona (U.A.). It was a great game that went into overtime. And the hometown Sun Devils from ASU were victorious over their hated rivals the Wildcats from UA and the crowd went wild.

We all know that basketball is the world’s greatest sport. But how many people know that basketball is a religious experience. This game proved it, if there was any doubt. During the last 15 minutes of the game I had to stand up as often as at a Roman Catholic Mass. Then came the real clincher–the crowd kept cheering, over and over again–‘Go Devils Go! Go Devils Go!”  Can there be any doubt? But since when do people cheer for the devils, even if they are only sun devils?

The crowd jumped up, arms raised in praise. Just like at a Pentecostal Church service. I had trouble understanding the fans. Not because I am nearly deaf. They were speaking in tongues. There was rejoicing as there was in heaven when the Prodigal son returned.  This was because the Sun Devils rarely won against their hated rivals.

And there was wailing and gnashing of teeth for the losing team. The music became funereal. Just like a funeral hymn. I swear that is true. Rather, since I am a good Mennonite, I solemnly affirm that was true.

In the parking lot I experienced hell. Cars stuck in line. No movement. It felt like this pain would last forever. On the way home the religious experience continued. I drove by the “Devil’s Advocate Bar.” I heard a jazz tune driving home, “End time Brilliance,” it was called. There was no doubt. It was clear. This was the Rapture all right. Had I been left behind?

The Favourite is not my Favourite

2019 Trip to Southwest United States, Movies, Trump

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z43z6ch9nrjxwgd/Screenshot%202019-02-08%2019.26.03.png?dl=0

 

The Favorite is another movie nominated for best picture. At first I thought the movie was largely a waste of time and effort.  Then I mulled it over. I think it did deliver  an important message, especially for these times we live in.  The movie demonstrated  that absolute authority is not pretty, nor are the sycophants that suck up to it. It is important to remember this at any time we encounter absolute power, or even its ugly little sister, like that of Donald Trump and the Republican sycophants  that suck up to him. This is a very good time to think about that. The Favourite is not my favourite movie, but it has it’s good points.