1 Dead in Attic - Chris Rose

Chris Rose is a columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper. After evacuating his family from the city to avoid Hurricane Katrina, he was one of the first to return and witness the devastation up close and personal. The book, 1 Dead in Attic, is a collection of columns he wrote during the first year of the "recovery."

If New Orleans is in any way important to you, you need to read this book. I have talked to a lot of people who have lived this experience, but no one has put it all out there to see like Rose. At times funny and at times down right scary, his columns bring to life the day to day struggle that was living in New Orleans after the flood. Rose's house was not flooded and his Uptown neighborhood made out a lot better than most, but the pain of seeing so many places you know and love washed away and the rest of the city struggle to find its footing takes its toll on him. In fact, I got the feeling along the way that Rose was starting to lose it. His writing became very angry and he was clearly frustrated that progress was not being made, and in fact the city seemed to be going backwards in many ways: with half the population traffic was worse and crime was up. As time goes on, he struggles with how to communicate what is happening to the outside world. On the one hand the Garden District and the French Quarter are open and he wants tourists to come. This New Orleans is doing fine. On the other hand large parts of the city are not getting any help, insurance checks are not forthcoming, and people are not coming home. The city is schizophrenic and it's not funny. Cases of PTSD and other mental illnesses, as well as suicides are going through the roof, and there are not enough mental health workers, so people are self medicating. Finally Rose admits he too has seen too much and is suffering from severe depression. He started to get the hint when he realized all he did was sit and stare out the window. He didn't talk to his wife, he didn't interact with his kids and he didn't want to go to a job he loved. After some therapy and medication he wrote an amazing column admitting his problems. His admission made him the poster boy for mental distress in New Orleans and earned him a guest appearance on Oprah, where he was explicitly told not to mention this book (Oprah had not read it and did not want to endorse it - this lead to a great column: As Not Seen on Oprah).

Rose is still writing for the Times-Picayune, but like New Orleans, he continues to have some major issues. In the new foreword he tells of his divorce and an addiction to prescription pills. Clearly it's going to be a long road back.

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is a love story, but it may take a while for you to realize this. It is not a date movie (unless you know your date well and they can handle torture, murder and a kid jumping into an open toilet). While this movie was shot in India with Indian actors, it did not come from Bollywood.

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who has somehow made it onto the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" After the first day on the show he is doing so well, he is arrested on suspicion of cheating - there is no way a street kid (a slumdog) could know so many answers. To prove his innocence, he tells the harsh story of his life in the slum where he grew up . As the story progresses he reveals how he knows the answer to each of the game shows questions. The stories are harsh and extremely gritty. Along the way we find out he left behind a girl he loved when they had to escape a gang lord who was maiming the kids who worked for him so they could earn more money begging. We also learn that Jamal really has no interest in winning the money, but is hoping the girl he loves will see him on TV and they will be reunited. This is when we finally realize underneath this dark drama lies a love story. I won't tell you any more, but suffice to say you will be on the edge of your seat.

Bring Back the Public Restroom

The bus had to take a little detour today because 5th street was closed. As we drove up Oak St., I looked out the window and saw this guy grabbing at the front of his pants. Before I could look away I saw the second worst result I had going through my mind. He whipped it out and started peeing right on the curb behind a dumpster. I want to make it clear that even though there was a dumpster, people were still walking on the street right beside him and you could clearly see what he was up to. I was so grossed out that I wanted to get off the bus and call the cops on this guys, but then I thought about it for a second. What choices did this guy have?

He didn't look too bad, but he may be homeless and have no place to go. Even if you are not homeless, have you ever tried to find a bathroom in a big city? Everywhere you go the signs say, "Restrooms for Customers Only." It's hard to find a place to go and if you do, the place is usually so gross you'd rather get a urinary tract infection from holding it than go in there.

What ever happened to the old fashioned public toilet? When I was a kid, I went to visit my family in Scotland they had them all over the place. I know in these lean times it would be a hard sell to get people to pony up tax money to install more public toilets, but it's got to be better than seeing people pee on public streets.

Rabbit Comes to His Final Rest

John Updike died yesterday of cancer at the age of 76. I think most people would agree, along with Mailer and Bellow, he was a titan of 20th century American literature. I first got to know him through the Rabbit series of books: "Rabbit, Run,” 1960; “Rabbit Redux,” 1971; “Rabbit Is Rich,” 1981; and “Rabbit at Rest,” 1990. They chronicled the life Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom from high school basketball star to car salesman, householder, husband and father. Each book was a very real reflection of the times. The first book saw Harry growing up in the 50's and coming of age in a more innocent time. In "Redux" he starts a family and works at a job he hates while the counter culture and Vietnam war rage around him. In "Rich," we see him hit middle age at a time of excess and the wall street mentality "greed is good." And finally in "Rest" Harry faces his decline. Luckily I did not have to wait ten years for each book to come out. By the time I found the series we were already in the mid-80's and I had a short wait to close out the story.

What I appreciate about these books is how real his writing was and how perfectly he captured a simple life and put it in the sweeping context of its time. This is of course a well imitated storyline now, but Updike was an original. My love of these books was hard to reconcile with some of his other writing. I usually found it very hard to get through his criticism and reviews in the New Yorker. In fact I often avoided reading him so as not to turn me off the book he was reviewing. I only ever saw one interview with him, and I found him thoroughly engaging. He was a great man and he will be missed.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

By now we all know that this is the biggest movie of 2008. With 13 Academy Award nominations, including best picture and best director it is by far the most nominated film. The first two times we went to see this movie it was sold out (third time lucky I guess) and the theater was still full at the show we went to, despite the movie being out for months.

The story of the movie is actually quite simple, it's the way that it is treated that makes it so interesting. In a nutshell, Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is born at the end of the first world war. While he is the size of a baby, he has all the physical attributes and ailments of a very old man. The movie follows his life as he gets younger, grows up and finally becomes a young child. I think most people would have a very hard time explaining why Benjamin keeps getting younger, but the story is set in New Orleans, so people are not as bothered by the super natural or they put it down to drinking too much.

This is a longish movie, but the good news is that once it gets going it doesn't feel long. The story is narrated by a woman attending her dying mother as hurricane Katrina bears down on New Orleans. She is reading from Button's diary, which at first seems like fiction, but reveals itself to be much more complicated as the story develops. This is a big and wonderfully shot movie, I can see why the Academy loves it, it is epic. If you have the chance, you should go see this movie on the big screen and if you don't get out to many movies, make sure you make this one, one of the ones you see.

Sam Adams is back at Work

It looks like Mayor Sam Adams has decided to come back to work and get down to the business of running the city. Below is the e-mail he sent out yesterday:

Dear Portlander,

Tomorrow, I go back to work as your mayor. I know I have made big
mistakes. I know I have let you down. And I ask for your forgiveness.
I believe I still have a very positive contribution to make -- to put
to work the 20 years of public service to the good of Portland. And as
I do this, I pledge to you I will work harder than I have ever worked
before to make sure Portland meets our challenges.

These are some of the toughest times we've ever faced. The worst
recession in 60 years, one of the highest national unemployment rates,
some of the toughest business landscape we've ever seen.
Now, rightfully, I know Portlanders are not going to rely on my words,
and will look to my ability to deliver results to them in the coming
months. Like working with my colleagues to prioritize city spending to
protect the most viable public services, like public safety. Like
implementing the half-a-billion dollar economic stimulus package that
puts Portlanders back to work at good-paying jobs. Like improving our
schools. Like making sure that as the green economy unfolds that
Portland is at its hub.

And as we do this work together, with the lessons that I've learned in
hand, I will work each and every day to restore your trust and faith
in me as a public servant. I want to thank everyone who has sent me
letters and texts and emails of support. I want to thank everyone who
has sent me questions and who have, rightfully, sent me criticisms. I
look forward to working with all of you to make sure that Portland
moves forward.

Thank-you,
Sam

Charles "Sonny" Liston was a bad man. In every sense of the word. He was intimidating and evil. He was also the boxing heavy weight champion of the world. He came up about as poor as you can be in America in the 1920's (although it is hard to say exactly how old he was as he did not know the date of his birth and recorded at least four different dates on boxing licenses - each making him 3 to 5 years younger). His parents were sharecroppers and he left Arkansas to lead a life of crime in St. Louis. Arrested for petty stick ups and basic stupidity, he spent eight years in jail where he began to box. After he got out of jail he was managed by a series of mobsters who helped keep him out of jail as he loved to drink and drive and attack women (even ones married to his friends). Throughout his career he was often denied a boxing license due to his connection to mob figures. The most shocking of allegations made in the book is that he threw both his fights against Cassius Clay earning his gangster friends over $2 million 1959 dollars.

Nick Tosches has also written biographies of Jerry Lee Lewis, Hellfire and Dean Martin, Dino. My guess is that if you met him in a bar he would spend the entire time talking about how great a writer he is and how he connected with these dark figures. I found his writing fake and intrusive. There were to many points where his style took away from the story and said, look how cool I am or wow did I just write that. I would say, Nick get over yourself. Sonny Liston was a bad guy, you don't need to make him a hero.