The cinema is not a craft. It is an art. It does not mean team-work. One is always alone; on the set as before the blank page. And for Bergman, to be alone means to ask questions. And to make films means to answer them. Nothing could be more classically romantic. —Jean-Luc Godard
He's writing about himself. —Bergman
Out here in the northwest corner of the far left coast we joined much of the rest of the country hammered by winter weather. My journal entry for Thursday the 11th shows temperature was 33 when I woke and rose to 34 at some point during the day. Midafternoon brought light rain with particles of frozen stuff mixed in during my walk to the library to return Victim 2117, a Department Q crime novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen where Assad's story is revealed (noted for readers familiar with the series), and a collection of articles from Cahiers du Cinéma written by young film enthusiasts named François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, and others associated with the French nouvelle vague (new wave) in the early 1950s before they went on to make films of their own.
The temperature was 25 degrees when I woke on Friday and soared in the afternoon to the day's high of 26. A light covering of snow had fallen overnight and light snow continued throughout the morning, with sufficient accumulation to make a fifteen-minute afternoon walk feel like about 40. Saturday the temperature was 23 when I rose and hit 28 later in the day. According to one report the Portland metro area had six to ten inches of snow. There were also significant power outages, which my neighborhood had the good fortune to escape. I went outside only to deposit a bag of compost material in the bin. The going was treacherous even for that.
Things are looking up this morning. The temperature is 32 and the sun threatens to shine as I type at 9 a.m. Today's projected high is 37, with a low tonight of 35, per the National Weather Service. Weather Underground has the high at 44 with tonight's low 39. With luck I run tomorrow.
The rush to a foregone conclusion is the only new blog entry, published Saturday shortly before the Senate voted twice-impeached former president Trump guilty by a 57–43 margin, ten votes shy of the the number needed for conviction. The outcome was, as noted in the blog title, a foregone conclusion. The fact that seven Republicans voted to convict is significant because the country needs every voice from every corner to counter the alternative facts and revisionist history already being laid down by forever-Trump propagandists. For this one moment, and on this alone, I stand with Mad, Bad, & Dangerous to Know Mitch McConnell: "There is no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day [January 6]."
Meanwhile, Lickspittle Lindsey Graham leaves no doubt where he stands:"Mr. President, this MAGA movement needs to continue. We need to unite the party, Trump-plus is the way back in 2022. He’s ready to hit the trail, and I’m ready to work with him." (Noah Feit, Graham picks a side in growing rift between Haley and Trump for future of GOP, The State, February 14, 2021)
Essay topics on my mind:
- A spirit of inquisition animates both the woke left's cultural revolution and the Trumpist right's moves to purge Republicans who voted for impeachment and conviction.
- Peaceful protest, largely peaceful (which means not wholly peaceful) protest, riot, and insurrection. Yes, I may revisit this topic yet again. It continues to bug me.
Not sure what if anything will come of this. Of late the poetry work, most of it devoted to "Letter from an Obscure Man," a long (by my standards) poem in progress, has been more fruitful and more satisfying than the essays.
Pictured below: Your oft humbled scribe as a young poet. Painting by Jim Brown (who now paints under the name Jim Darlington). From the collection of Susan Wallace.
Keep the faith.
yr obdt svt
