IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
Documentary review KUNM Jim Terr © (aired 10-22-07)
July
20, 1969 was, I believe, a Sunday. I remember that only because it
was on Sundays that we kids occasionally went to Conchas Dam with
our friend Marvin, to water ski. It was on the way back that I heard
Marvin exclaim, "Damn! They landed on the moon! That's amazing." At
that point I was only half-listening to the radio, if at all, and
even with Marvin's amazement it still didn't make much of an impression
on me.
As
one of the astronauts points out in the new documentary, "IN THE SHADOW
OF THE MOON", many people who were adults long before that date found
it hard to believe that man had walked on the moon, and many born
since can't imagine it was any big deal.
I
guess I was sort of on the cusp at the time, and what I remember now
about the first moon landing could be summed up in a one-minute version
of Steve Martin's "Five Minute University": It took about three days
to get there, there were three astronauts, some people claimed it
was a hoax, and the first astronaut to step on the moon said "One
small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". Actually, it's been
reported since that Neil Armstrong really said "One small step for
A man…", which does make more sense.
Armstrong
is the only one of the astronauts who have actually been to the moon
who is not interviewed in the new documentary; evidently he's a very
private person. The others are wonderfully sharp, funny, even ironic
- and their story is thrilling to hear, and to see along with the
dramatic, beautifully restored, amazingly clear footage in the documentary.
It's important to recall how outrageous was President Kennedy's proclamation
in 1961 that the US would put a man on the moon by the end of the
decade. It was only in that year, 1961, that the first men - a Russian
and then an American - had even orbited the earth.
Among
the many things I didn't know or remember until seeing this fabulous
documentary, was that there were five additional successful US voyages
to the moon - one of which almost didn't make it back, as chronicled
in the film "Apollo 13." Or that the three astronauts who died in
a fire weren't even on a mission to space - they were just sitting
in a test capsule. Or that the space capsule's velocity on re-entry
is 13 times faster than a bullet. Or that President Nixon had pre-recorded
a eulogy to be broadcast in the event that the first bunch didn't
make it back to earth. Or that the people of the world were glued
to their radios and TV sets and were thrilled not that Americans had
walked on the moon, but that "we" - humans - had accomplished something
inconceivable.
IN
THE SHADOW OF THE MOON does a brilliant job of re-creating the drama,
the danger and the enormity of what was being undertaken, almost entirely
through the words of the astronauts interviewed. They too were overwhelmed
by the task and what had been thrust upon them. The fame, the guilt
at becoming celebrities while their friends, other pilots, were being
shot down in Viet Nam, their mixed feelings about expressing religious
sentiments when confronted with the awe of being in space and seeing
the earth from a distance.
The
astronauts were recruited from among the elite corps of test pilots,
men accustomed to handling life-threatening, unexpected events with
coolness. Even among this exclusive bunch, Neil Armstrong, chosen
to be the first man to step on the moon, was exceptional. Among the
stories recounted about Armstrong is by another of the astronauts,
who tells of learning later that his heart rate had gone up to 144
on liftoff, but that Armstrong's had remained at a leisurely 70.
IN
THE SHADOW OF THE MOON is a riveting and very moving reminder of the
days when something truly daring and visionary could be accomplished
by a talented, dedicated nation, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON is playing at the Center for Contemporary
Arts in Santa Fe. This is Jim Terr.
(SEE
TRAILER! http://www.intheshadowofthemoon.com/
)
"A
Fabulous Time at the Theater!"
review by Jim Terr KUNM
- © 2007 -
aired
October 10, 2007 LISTEN
Ron Bloomberg
has written for such TV shows as All in the Family, Three's Company,
Home Improvement and many others. Whether or not the award-winning
writer moved to Santa Fe with retirement in mind, his creativity and
output have not diminished, and he has had several excellent pieces
featured on the local stage and on radio. He's even branched out into
acting, with a convincing role in David Mamet's "Glen Garry, Glen
Ross" at the Santa Fe Playhouse this past winter.
When Bloomberg
heard Chris Calloway, daughter of famed singer and bandleader Cab
Calloway, sing in a Santa Fe club, he was mesmerized, and came up
with the idea of combining Calloway's singing with a set of his new,
short comedic pieces.
The result, modestly
and perhaps ironically titled "A Fabulous Time at the Theater!", plays
its final weekend at the Santa Fe Playhouse this Friday, Saturday
and Sunday. The program is not musical comedy, as Calloway simply
introduces each short piece with a song and some of her witty banter
- all top-notch and thoroughly enjoyable.
Bloomberg has
recruited some of his favorite actors he's encountered in Santa Fe,
to populate his short comedies, including Grande Dame of the Santa
Fe stage and Hollywood screen, Robyn Reede, and local veteran Barry
Hazen. Hazen delivers what I thought was the funniest bit of the entire
program, a live TV show warm-up between acts, consisting as those
things do of dumb gags designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator
- such as myself - and they really hit the spot.
Despite Bloomberg's
background, watching his pieces is not like watching television, because
they have more depth and pathos than you're likely to see on any sitcom.
The first and longest piece, "No Socks," features another anchor of
the Santa Fe theater scene, Liam Lockhart, a fairly recent Hollywood
emigrant himself, as a comedy writer burdened by the hopelessness
of making a successful network pitch at the advanced age of 46, compounded
by bereavement at his wife's death.
He talks his young,
attractive typist, Jaclyn Jardine, into lending some youth appeal
to his impending pitch meeting, and the outlook suddenly gets better
- then worse - then better - then worse, in a spiral much more ambiguous
and unresolved than you're likely to see on prime time TV.
The second piece,
"We the People," stars Gregory Chase and Fran Martone - along with
Robyn Reede - in a thoughtful and touching exploration of whether
a Santa Fe liberal and a Republican, both looking for love, can possibly,
ever, just get along. We know James Carville and Mary Matalin manage
it somehow, but watching this one unfold is truly engaging, honest
and dramatic.
The final piece,
"Nobody's Perfect," seemed to me to be a bit thinner than the others,
but was well-executed, by Anna Felix and Jacob Mulliken and - again
- Lockhart - in fine performances.
"A Fabulous Time
at the Theater" finishes this weekend at the Santa Fe Playhouse. Information
and reservations are at 988-4262 or via their website, SantaFePlayhouse.org.
This is Jim Terr.
11th
Hour - movie review - Jim
Terr / KUNM ©
The
11th Hour is Leonardo DiCaprio's ambitious documentary laying
out the many disasters threatening human survival, including but not
limited to global warming. DiCaprio did an earlier short film called
The Last Days of Ancient Sunlight, based on the book by talk
show host and author Thom Hartmann.
Hartmann's thesis, which he also explains in the new film, is that
for most of human history, our population and growth were limited
by current sunlight, as captured in plant and animal life that could
be consumed by humans.
The
current "bubble" of petroleum production, the consumption of ancient
captured sunlight extracted as oil and coal, is a tiny, two-century
blip which has allowed the earth's population to skyrocket to levels
that will be unsustainable once the petroleum and fertilizer run out
- which will be any day now. Fortunately, mankind and our political
leaders are rising to the challenge by moving to limit the population
and halt the mindless worship of "growth." That's all you hear on
TV and radio any more; you can hardly get any gossip about celebrities'
and politicians' sex lives.
…Oh,
I'm sorry, I must have been thinking of a parallel universe. In fact,
we as a group couldn't be less interested. I even developed some websites
myself, called www.StopAt2.com
, www.DosBasta.com and so on,
and offered them to population groups who ARE making an effort to
inform and motivate, and I couldn't GIVE them away.
The
many experts in The 11th Hour speak brilliantly about not only
the demographic and environmental threats to our survival, and a few
possible solutions, but also the forces opposing our getting more
aware and active - big oil, leaders interested mainly in their own
survival, television, apathy - the usual suspects. Hey, I'm aware
of the situation and I'm not even interested!
I
asked Thom Hartmann if we could really expect government to do anything
meaningful about the survival of the human race, when they can't even
address a few more obvious and immediate problems. Here's his answer:
(Thom Hartmann quote -
hear)
A
couple of the folks in The 11th Hour pointed out that the earth
will survive in any case, species will regenerate, and flowers will
bloom, with or without humans and our exploitation, waste, war and
pollution. A cheery thought, I suppose, some small consolation.
The
film's speakers are bright, visionary, dedicated and articulate, but
the overused talking heads format, the backlighting, the crinkled
gray backdrop, the graphics running on-screen that are impossible
to absorb while people are talking heavy talk -- it's all so cliched.
Though I'm not sure how it could have been done better. I kept thinking
that if one of those Republican media geniuses had been given the
same footage and a sufficient paycheck, they could have packaged it
more effectively somehow.
But
it's a heroic effort, well worth seeing. After all, it's only the
survival of our species - and a few thousand others - at stake. Perhaps
your reaction, your sense of hope, of encouragement to take action,
will be better than mine. This is Jim Terr.
Theater
Review "DOUBT"
KUNM - Jim Terr © 2007
AUDIO
I
remember the name "John Patrick Shanley" as the writer of the Oscar-wining
1988 film, "Moonstruck." I wasn't as fond of it as most people, so
when I saw that Shanley was the writer of a Pulitzer- and Tony-award-winning
play called "Doubt: A Parable," enjoying a sold-out run at the Cell
Theater, I said to myself, "Well, maybe that's why; maybe Shanley
is actually more of a playwright than a screenwriter."
But
it turns out that Shanley has in fact had little recognition as a
playwright, for his nearly 30 plays written in the past couple of
decades. That is, until he wrote "Doubt."
Twisted
logic aside, seeing Fusion Theater Company's production of DOUBT is
one of those peak theater experiences where a brilliantly crafted
and engaging work is executed by an essentially perfect cast of wonderfully
skilled actors, beautifully directed.
The
setting is a parochial school in the 1960s, long before the priestly
molestation scandals exploded publicly -- but obviously not before
the activity was in progress. A scandal is brewing at St. Nicholas
Church School. But is it really? Is the handsome father Flynn having
his way with a particularly vulnerable young student, or is the highly
analytical and controlling Sister Aloysius simply letting her imagination
and her own bitterness run wild?
Hmmm
it's not real clear, and this fine line of DOUBT keeps the audience
engaged and in suspense as much as even the best murder mystery might
do - perhaps even more so. What's at stake here is reputation, a child's
life, and reality itself.
Ross
Kelly plays the earnest, attractive and appealing Father Flynn. Appealing,
that is, to everyone but the suspicious Sister Aloysius, played with
razor-keen intensity by Laurie Thomas. The sincere Sister James (Rachel
Tatum) doesn't know quite what to believe, and just wishes all the
turmoil and confusion would go away. "You would trade anything for
a warm look," Sister Aloysius admonishes her. Ouch!
In
the middle of all this the child's mother, Mrs. Muller, visits the
school for a conference with Sister Aloysius, who as always has an
agenda which reveals itself only after a snakelike few minutes of
intense coiling before the strike. But Mrs. Muller, a flawless Angela
Littleton, has a few surprises herself hidden under her at-first-compliant
veneer, and the struggle and maneuvering between these two powerful,
determined women is breathtaking.
It's
also on a strangely different note from the rest of the play, and
it was interesting to read that this scene was actually the initial
inspiration, the original vision, from which Shanley wrote the rest
of "DOUBT". Fusion is an Equity theater company, a professional designation
which unfortunately carries with it a relatively high admission price,
but for those who are able, DOUBT is a powerful and unforgettable
performance. Extra performances may be added to accommodate the tremendous
response to this production; call the Cell Theater at 766-9412 or
visit FusionAbq.org for ticket information.
This
is Jim Terr.
Bo
Peabody lecture/book review Hear
Jim Terr - KUNM August 20, 2007
Bo
Peabody really makes you think. The first thing he made ME think is,
"Who in the world is Bo Peabody?" It's not the sort of name you forget
after hearing it the first time.
Well,
it turns out almost everyone in the world of internet technology except
me has heard of Bo Peabody. He's the entrepreneur who developed Tripod,
a social networking website, out of his college dorm room and sold
it for $58 million, and went on to develop and sell other sites and
businesses I'd never heard of, for billions. He now runs a venture
capital group which tries to spot and fund up-and-coming internet
ventures, especially those located in small towns where they might
help generate jobs and support the community.
Peabody, now 38 and still very youthful-looking and enthusiastic,
spoke to a technology venture group in Albuquerque recently, and outlined
his vision of how information technology has progressed, from storytelling
around the fire to the printing press to TV to the sort of web sites
like Google, YouTube, e-bay and Napster which are not so much concerned
with generating information or entertainment "content", as it's called,
like the big film and music companies, as much as new ways of delivering
them - and how these "content creators" must adjust to the idea of
their stuff being given away to some extent, in order to survive.
As
a producer of "content" myself, specifically music and films, I was
less interested in the mechanics of the new technologies than in watching
Peabody's lively thought process in general, and his analysis of what
makes a good entrepreneur and a successful venture. He has laid all
this out in a wonderfully short book, LUCKY OR SMART? SECRETS TO AN
ENTRERENEURIAL LIFE. It's only 66 pages long, perfectly suited to
my attention span.
Peabody
makes a few points which are not surprising, for instance that a successful
entrepreneur needs a huge ego to carry him or her through the numerous
disappointments, rejections and lean times, and to be able to keep
selling the project until it succeeds - and in the meantime to attract
loyal, talented partners to hang in there with you. But also the importance
of being able to turn that ego off in order to really listen and learn
from feedback and criticism, without going into defensive mode, and
to go with the radical changes of direction which he says all of his
successful ventures have taken, versus the original idea.
Most
interesting to me was that Peabody really displayed this quality of
humility, in answering some questions from the audience which I thought
might have put him on the defensive, but which did not at all. He
even, to my surprise and delight, mentioned me as a film producer
and storyteller after looking over a DVD sampler I had handed him
before his talk!
Regarding
the short attention span issue, that's actually one of the key points
in Peabody's book. He refers repeatedly to "B student" types, which
would include himself, versus "A student" types. He characterizes
"B" students as being fairly good at and knowledgeable about lots
of things, with a relatively short attention span -- typically the
founder and promoter of a venture. The "A" student types, he says,
are those who can really focus on and excel at a given task; these
are the very valuable managers and partners essential in any venture
or organization started by a generalist like Peabody.
These "A" students include the truly eccentric geniuses whom Peabody
calls "sociopaths", in the sense of being far outside the mainstream
of human behavior. I had to double-check him on this in the dictionary,
and in fact the definition of sociopath does not necessarily include
any serial killing.
Peabody
repeatedly makes reference in his book to a venture having some positive
human and social value if it's going to inspire the needed loyalty
and be successful. He actually cites very few examples of this in
his book, but I sense that that really is a key part of his motivation
in creating ventures and passing out the venture capital.
Whether
your attention span is short or long, whether you're starting a high-tech
business or a restaurant [Peabody has done both], "LUCKY OR SMART?"
deserves your attention. The book is filled with provocative thoughts
and surprising tidbits, such as his frank opinion of people addicted
to e-mail and to checking their Blackberries, and how much valuable
time they're losing when they could be generating ideas. And his account
of his own 15 minutes of fame (which I must have missed) is wonderfully
honest and revealing.
Incidentally, that discussion that was so beside-the-point to me,
about new, as-yet-undiscovered models for internet technologies, must
have triggered something, because I woke up with a brilliant one just
a few days later. Check with me next year to see if it's gone anywhere.
This is Jim Terr.
"Collected
Stories"
Theater review - Jim Terr - KUNM July 13 07
Listen
I once produced
a series of educational videos, one of which was intended to excite
young people about reading. Despite good reviews, I was never convinced
that the video really succeeded in conveying the excitement of reading
- let alone writing.
Although I'm not
sure it's the intent of "Collected Stories," a two-woman drama debuting
this week in Santa Fe, this play conveys both. Written by Donald Margulies,
"Collected Stories" concerns a stormy and deepening relationship between
a fairly successful short story writer, making her living for the
past thirty years as a professor, and her writing student, who is
absolutely dazzled and intimidated to be spending time with the author
whose works she knows by heart, word for word.
Ruth, the author,
is a cynical, acerbic, self-contained and certainly intimidating character,
played perfectly by Janeal Arison. It's a cliché to say that a good
actor "inhabits" a character, but Arison so thoroughly becomes Ruth
that it's hard to imagine she might have a separate identity as a
person and as an actor. This is clearly a play she could not resist
doing, and I'm very glad she took it on.
The dialogue is
wonderfully thoughtful and intelligent, and is only magnified by the
actors' intense, intelligent and nuanced performances. That's another
cliché, nuanced, but I think you'll agree if you see the play.
Writing and literature
are the subject at hand, not just as this relationship takes off but
throughout, but the women's deepening and strained relationship itself
unfolds vividly and viscerally as well.
As Lisa, the young
student and budding writer, Bree Merkwan also does beautiful work.
By the nature of the piece, she is largely dominated and overshadowed
by the older character, who comes to resent Lisa's having her whole
life and career ahead of her. I'm no walking encyclopedia of either
drama or literature, but I've never seen this issue - among others
- dealt with so honestly.
Not to give anything
away, I hope, but there's the added satisfaction of seeing a play
which, for a change, not only does not end on a happy note, but perhaps
not even a resolved note. And in this case, that ending is still perfectly
satisfying. "Collected Stories" can only be described as rich on every
level, with a jewel flying by at every moment in terms of language,
insight and acting.
I never really
saw any serious theater until my early 30s - well, better late than
never. Those who have not yet gotten into the theater habit would
get off to a great start by seeing this rich, rewarding and beautifully
executed performance.
And I believe
those who are already theater aficionados will be thrilled as well
by "Collected Stories," a gem if I ever saw one. "Collected Stories"
starts Thursday at the Santa Fe Playhouse. Call 983-7330 for information
and reservations. This is Jim Terr.
Interview
July 11 '07 with John Flax of
Theater Grottesco re their production,
"The Rise and Fall of a Fortune Cookie Company"
Audio
only - Listen
Tricklock
Company's "Black River Falling"
Theater review - Jim Terr - KUNM May 3, 07 Listen
The incredible
whirlwind of activity that comes out of the Tricklock Theater Company
reflects the power of a shared vision that theater can communicate
on many levels, and make an impact on both individuals and community.
Tricklock's steady
stream of mostly-original work, all remarkably creative in both content
and form, featuring their many talented company members and their
collaborators at UNM, where they've taken up residence, isn't the
end of it. Add their work with talented teen actors and writers, and
their annual Revolutions International Festival, bringing in original
works and actors from around the world - and their own international
touring - Tricklock has enough on their plate to keep five theater
companies busy.
Their current
production, Black River Falling, at UNM's Theater X in the
bottom floor of Popejoy Hall, is another groundbreaker for Tricklock.
Tricklock actor and education director Kevin Elder, working with the
actors and other company members, filled several notebooks with ideas
on how to tell this tale of tragedy and loss through four sisters
living in an 1880s farmhouse in northern Wisconsin, before settling
on a final script.
The farmhouse
is made of fine gauze, just open enough for the audience to peer through
at this cavalcade of hope and creeping insanity - mostly the latter
- the product of untold pain sinking a desperate attempt to maintain
a stoic veneer of hope and good cheer.
Even at best,
this would be no warm and friendly 19th century "Leave It To Beaver"
domestic scene, but the fits of painful memory, attempted suicide
and desperate stabs at nostalgia play out with only occasional moments
of relief, jerking toward a tragic conclusion.
Which is not to
say the mood is depressing at every moment. Fabulous live original
music performed by a bluegrass trio on-set, songs as evocative as
the best of "O Brother Where Art Thou?" in my opinion, beautifully
complement and lift the action playing out in the gauze farmhouse
and outside, right up next to the audience.
This being Tricklock,
the meaning is never handed to you on a platter, and I wasn't able
to connect to all the incidents being telegraphed by all the scenes,
but it was clear that a thing of beauty, skill and integrity was being
offered up by actors Elsa Menendez, Katy Houska, Summer Olsson and
Abigail Blueher, and it's never any less than mesmerizing.
Black River
Falling takes to the road - specifically Germany and Poland -
immediately after this run, so this is the last weekend to see Tricklock
Company's newest offering at UNM's Theater X, phone number not included
in the program as it never seems to be in theater programs, but rumor
has it that the reservation number is 925-5858. This is Jim Terr.
Santa
Fe Cinematheques
Jim
Terr - film review - KUNM Feb.22, 07 © Listen
Two things that
would be hard to live without, if I had to relocate somewhere, would
be public radio and cinematheques. I'm not sure what the difference
is between a cinematheque and what they used to call an art house,
but I gather that a cinematheque is where you can see so-called independent
films and documentaries you're not likely to see in your local multiplex.
Now, I'm not one
of those people who shuns and disdains everything that's likely to
show in the multiplex. I loved The Departed, I loved The
Wedding Crashers, and I especially loved Babel. But I also
love variety, and documentaries, and Santa Fe - one of the most movie-going
cities in the country, with one of the highest ratios of screens-to-inhabitants
-- is also blessed with more than its share of cinematheques.
For starters,
there's the CCA, the Center for Contemporary Arts, a complex including
a theater, art and performance spaces that's been in Santa Fe at least
as long as I have, which is 20 years. Currently playing at the CCA
is the Penelope Cruz hit, Volver, and for only a couple more
days, the Oscar-nominated short films, both animated and live-action.
And starting this weekend is the fifth annual "African Effect" film
festival, always interesting and always moving.
On the College
of Santa Fe campus is one of the largest screens and most high-tech
sound systems in the area, called The Screen. Curated by serious and
knowledgeable film fanatic Brent Kliewer, The Screen is home to many
festivals and events, as well as an always-challenging film schedule.
Playing at the moment is Pan's Labrynth, an incredible film
which mixes fantasy and gritty reality and recent history almost effortlessly,
and The Cave of the Yellow Dog, which I hear is a moving masterpiece
as well.
Not far from The
Screen, located in a strip mall on St. Michael's Drive, is The Santa
Fe Film Center. Formerly The Cinema Café, this venue features huge,
soft couches where you can sprawl and watch an always-shifting, fascinating
array of films and documentaries, many of them favorites from the
Santa Fe Film Festival brought back for an extended run. Just last
week I saw a fabulous documentary called Sacco and Vanzetti,
a hit at the Santa Fe Film Festival, and last night I saw a truly
incredible documentary called Beyond the Call, about three
wild, crazy, successful and eccentric middle-American guys in their
50s who get their kicks running aid missions to the most dangerous
parts of the world, wherever they decide people are most in need of
food and medical care.
Carrying thousands
in cash, and often - as they say - the only people in the region not
carrying guns, these guys know where the satisfaction is in life,
for them at least, and this documentary is an eye-opening step outside
the bubble of America, as they call it. Beyond the Call runs
again this weekend only at The Film Center, and I strongly recommend
it.
Finally, even
the much-maligned multiplex has some choice offerings, here in the
City Different. At least one screen at the UA De Vargas is always
loaded with so-called indie films from Fox Searchlight and Sony Classics.
Coming soon is perhaps the most powerful film I've seen in the past
year, The Lives of Others. This is the German nominee for best
Foreign Film, the story of a Stasi agent assigned to eavesdrop on
a top playwright in the darkest days of the East German police state,
just as the playwright has decided to stop towing the government line.
The transformation
that occurs in the playwright, his actress girlfriend, and the agent
assigned to monitor them, are as suspenseful and powerful as anything
you're likely to see on screen, ever. When this film ended, I literally
couldn't get out of my seat, and couldn't talk. If you see nothing
else, please see The Lives of Others when it shows up at a
screen near you. With a look at the treasures to be found in Santa
Fe's cinematheques, This is Jim Terr.
"My Name is Iran"
Jim Terr - book review KUNM 2-13-07
KUNM
listeners who remember a powerful
three-part public radio series in 2004 called "My Name Is Iran"
will recall the story of a young American woman bouncing back and
forth between the US and Iran, absorbing and exploring her Iranian
heritage, struggling to fit that in with her American roots and with
her own serious, introspective soul.
Davar
Ardalan found her calling as a reporter and producer at National Public
Radio, and in her new
memoir, also called "My Name Is Iran," she speaks glowingly
of how Albuquerque and KUNM provided the path to a degree of peace
and fulfillment as a journalist and mother, after years of turmoil
which included becoming a young Islamic bride in Iran - a subservient
role which was bound not to work out - and even a veiled newscaster
on Iranian TV.
In
her late 30s, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with her Iranian
husband and two children in tow, she ended up in Albuquerque because
one of her uncles, a psychiatrist, lived here. "The land of enchantment,"
she writes, "would not disappoint me." She writes that not only the
landscape and climate but also the ancient multi-cultural feel, provided
a bridge to her memories of Iran, and combined with a freedom of spirit
and supportive people, helped her heal from a lifetime of confusion
and conflict.
And
her couple of years as a reporter at KUNM gave her a chance to join
NPR in Washington DC, leading her to a fulfilling career in reporting,
and as a senior producer for "Morning Edition."
It
was amazing for me, as someone who couldn't write 500 words about
my own family history or cultural heritage, to see Ardalan go into
such incredible detail about the history of Iran, Islam, and her own
family.
Many
of her ancestors were remarkable. Her family on her father's side,
the Ardalans, were a prominent and powerful clan in Persia and Iran,
going back for centuries.
Her
great grandfather was a cabinet minister and close advisor to the
Shah, and killed himself in the 1930s when he felt his own assassination
or imprisonment was inevitable. Her maternal grandmother, an adventurous
young nurse from Idaho, struck out at age 22, totally against her
family's wishes, to work at a hospital in Harlem. There she met an
Iranian physician, an incredible survivor who graduated medical school
at age 54, and married him. They eventually returned to Iran and did
pioneering work in public health. After they split up, years later,
grandfather Abol, now in his 70s, went on to have a second marriage
and ten more children over the next 16 years.
Ardalan's
parents were intellectual seekers from San Francisco, who took her
and her siblings to Iran when she was an infant, to rediscover their
own heritage and share it with their children. Her father was an architect,
a friend and protégé of Louis Kahn, who was depicted in the moving
documentary, "My
Architect." They eventually broke up, leaving the adolescent Davar
even more adrift.
The
incredible intercontinental family saga is dizzying to follow, but
it makes Ardalan's eventual resolution and finding peace even more
satisfying. There's a personal sense strangely missing in her story,
there's a certain veil between the reader and the writer, but as a
primer on Iran, Islam, the wonders of New Mexico and of radio journalism,
and even the process of creeping fascism, "My Name is Iran"
is fascinating reading.
Davar
Ardalan returns to New Mexico for appearances Monday the 20th at 4:30
at the UNM Bookstore, and Tuesday at 5:00 at Garcia Street Books in
Santa Fe. This is Jim Terr.
Second
thoughts on impeachment
Jim Terr for KUNM © 2-12-07 LISTEN
I've been thinking
lately of a fairly simple solution to a huge, complex and tragic problem.
I'm referring, of course, to the war in Iraq. And the geniuses who
dreamed it up and were able to sell it to a panicked and gullible
American public.
The first few
times I heard the suggestion of impeaching the president, I dismissed
it because, well, I don't remember why exactly, but it probably had
something to do with the idea of being left with Dick Cheney as president.
Even the first time I heard of the current effort to spark the impeachment
of both of them by the current resolution before the New Mexico legislature,
I wasn't sympathetic, even when it was explained to me that this is
a constitutionally-mandated way to get the matter before the U.S.
Congress.
Now I'm not only
supportive but enthusiastic about the New Mexico effort, and I'll
tell you why.
Almost as disturbing
as the havoc and suffering and torture and death of probably 500 or
600,000 people which this invasion has unleashed, is the prospect
for continued killing whether we leave tomorrow, or a year from now.
And the cultivation of probably hundreds of times the number of skilled,
US-hating terrorists as there were before the invasion. Not to mention
the expenditure of $800 billion or so that could have been better
spent on life rather than death, and the accomplishment of nothing
positive that I can see, except perhaps the removal of Saddam Hussein
- whose reign most Iraqis now say they'd prefer to the current situation.
I'm not saying, by the way, that there weren't one or two good intentions
in this poorly-planned, deceitfully-sold and illegal would-be "cakewalk."
A column
by Newsweek editor & columnist Fareed Zakaria entitled "We
Might 'Win,' But Still Lose" (January 22), explains that even
in the unlikely event that we "succeed" militarily, "Sunnis will become
more insecure as their militias are dismantled", and the torture,
bombings and killing are likely to continue.
So, if you're
willing to face the enormity of this tragedy, for those treacherous
enough to have gotten us there by using fake and inflated charges
of a threat to our security, impeachment seems almost too kind a punishment.
I wish we could also impeach the fair number of Americans who still
insist there are WMDs in Iraq, that Saddam was behind the 9-11 attacks
and provided a breeding ground for Al Quaida terrorists, and that
Bush and team didn't hunger to invade Iraq long before 9-11 gave them
an excuse to do so - despite numerous first-hand-reports to the contrary
from various ex-administration insiders, journalists and even a Bush
biographer.
Impeaching Bush
and Cheney would send the world a great message: "So sorry! We apologize
for being such big suckers as to have allowed ourselves to get into
this! And to show our good will, here are the heads of two of the
chief perpetrators!" Maybe this would defuse some of the anti-American
anger this war has generated worldwide, and make it safer to travel
overseas or to New York City or Disneyland in the coming decades.
In this way, and perhaps only in this way, can Bush and Cheney still
be useful in mitigating the after-affects of their adventure. And
by getting the ball rolling, New Mexico can have something to be truly
proud of.
The second part
of my Simple Solution is getting out of Iraq - like tomorrow! No more
money down the toilet, no more American lives to clean up an impossible
mess, and if there's any chance the Iraqis can somehow stuff back
in the bottle the demons that have been let loose, well, I'm willing
to pray exclusively for that every day for the next 5 or 10 years
or whatever it takes. Which is about all I can do about it.
But actually there's
one other thing I can do about it, and that is not to support one
more politician or candidate who won't admit a mistake. It's that
kind of ego that got us into this. It's one thing to admit you were
hoodwinked, along with tons of other too-trusting Americans. It's
another thing - and it's bird-brained - to say that if you knew then
what you know now, you'd not have voted to let President Bush invade
Iraq. If you can't detect B.S. at least as well as millions of other
Americans could at the time, you're not qualified to be president
in these times of terror and deceit.
One final thought,
and this should appeal to the free-market capitalists out there: After
we leave Iraq, let's take 10 or 20 percent of what we've been spending
there, and offer it to whatever Iraqis propose the best plans for
doing their own rebuilding, and for protecting and utilizing what
they've rebuilt. There's nothing like a truly competitive, fairly-judged
bidding process to encourage creativity and effectiveness. Unlike
the no-bid process that put the current top US contractors into Iraq.
This is Jim Terr.
