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RainDog
RainDog's Journal
RainDog's Journal
January 29, 2014
Physicist compares DEA to creationists aka anti-science bigots.
Physicist: If All Science Were Run Like Marijuana Research, Creationists Would Control Paleontology
In the face of obstacles to marijuana research from both the Drug Enforcement Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology and one-time MacArthur Fellow is calling out the federal government on its obstruction of science.
During an address before a medical marijuana conference Friday, John H. Schwartz explained how the DEA and NIDA act as a “tag team” to censor science, with NIDA holding a monopoly over legal access to cannabis for research, and the DEA refusing to reconsider the drug’s designation in the Controlled Substances Act as a dangerous substance with no medical value on the basis that sufficient research does not exist. He alleges that the government has blocked research even though it has long been aware of marijuana’s potential to serve many medical benefits including shrink aggressive cancer cells is because it might “send the wrong message to children”:
...
As a physicist, I can assure you that this not how physics works. … We are all expected to act like grownups and accept it gracefully as experiments prove our favorite theories are false. In physics, unlike marijuana policy, we consider the right message to send to be the message that’s true. …
Consider what American science might look like if all research were run like marijuana research is being run now. Suppose the Institute for Creation Science were put in charge of approving paleontology digs and the science of human evolution. Imagine what would happen to the environment if we gave coal and oil companies the power to block any climate research they didn’t like.
...
complete piece: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/02/25/1629721/caltech-physicist-if-all-science-were-run-like-marijuana-research-creationists-would-control-paleontology/
January 29, 2014
If a Congressperson is too stupid to read the research that indicates cannabis is no more addictive than coffee - that Congressperson is incompetent to rule on this issue.
If a Congressperson thinks Lady Gaga has anything worthwhile to say about public policy - that Congressperson is too incompetent to hold office, much less rule on this issue.
If members of Congress cherry pick evidence to believe, that person is incompetent to hold public office.
If anyone thinks Patrick Kennedy has anything worthwhile to say about this issue - well, someone whose family made its fortune in a competing industry while said product is illegal has no fucking business saying one word about this subject - and, frankly, the things that he has said indicate he, too, is incompetent (or well-paid to be so) to serve as a spokesperson on this issue.
Congress should READ THE FUCKING RECOMMENDATION from the DEA's own committee to determine the safety of cannabis.
Or READ THE FUCKING STUDY DONE BY NIXON that recommended MARIJUANA SHOULD NOT BE ILLEGAL.
Holder needs to simply remove cannabis from the drug schedule because this Congress has impeded nearly every bit of legislation meant to improve this nation.
If they're a Republican, they have shown they are not worthy of the title they hold.
Americans cannot afford to be ruled by idiots.
edit to add: please sign the petition to remove Michelle Leonart as acting head of the DEA. She is a liar and unworthy of her office. http://www.change.org/petitions/president-barack-obama-fire-anti-marijuana-dea-administrator-michele-leonhart
Congress is too stupid to legislate marijuana law
I hope MPP or NORML, etc. will start a petition to ask Holder to remove cannabis from the drug schedule because it is obvious that the elected representatives from several states are simply too stupid to do the job for which they have been elected.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/29/sen-jeff-sessions-quotes-lady-gaga-to-prove-pot-hurts-the-health-of-america/
During a Senate Judiciary oversight hearing on the Department of Justice, Sessions told Attorney General Eric Holder that he was appalled that President Barack Obama had recently said marijuana was no more dangerous than alcohol.
“I’m heartbroken to see what the president said just a few days ago,” Sessions explained. “It’s just stunning to me. I find it beyond comprehension. Did the president conduct any medical or scientific survey?” the senator wanted to know, pointing to studies that claimed marijuana use was linked to impairments in IQ and anxiety.
“That is exactly why one of our aid and enforcement priorities is the prevention of marijuana to minors,” Holder replied.
“Well, Lady Gaga said she’s addicted to it and it’s not harmless!” Sessions insisted. “She’s been addicted to it. Patrick Kennedy, former Congressman Kennedy, said the president is wrong on this subject!”
“I’m heartbroken to see what the president said just a few days ago,” Sessions explained. “It’s just stunning to me. I find it beyond comprehension. Did the president conduct any medical or scientific survey?” the senator wanted to know, pointing to studies that claimed marijuana use was linked to impairments in IQ and anxiety.
“That is exactly why one of our aid and enforcement priorities is the prevention of marijuana to minors,” Holder replied.
“Well, Lady Gaga said she’s addicted to it and it’s not harmless!” Sessions insisted. “She’s been addicted to it. Patrick Kennedy, former Congressman Kennedy, said the president is wrong on this subject!”
If a Congressperson is too stupid to read the research that indicates cannabis is no more addictive than coffee - that Congressperson is incompetent to rule on this issue.
If a Congressperson thinks Lady Gaga has anything worthwhile to say about public policy - that Congressperson is too incompetent to hold office, much less rule on this issue.
If members of Congress cherry pick evidence to believe, that person is incompetent to hold public office.
If anyone thinks Patrick Kennedy has anything worthwhile to say about this issue - well, someone whose family made its fortune in a competing industry while said product is illegal has no fucking business saying one word about this subject - and, frankly, the things that he has said indicate he, too, is incompetent (or well-paid to be so) to serve as a spokesperson on this issue.
Congress should READ THE FUCKING RECOMMENDATION from the DEA's own committee to determine the safety of cannabis.
Or READ THE FUCKING STUDY DONE BY NIXON that recommended MARIJUANA SHOULD NOT BE ILLEGAL.
Holder needs to simply remove cannabis from the drug schedule because this Congress has impeded nearly every bit of legislation meant to improve this nation.
If they're a Republican, they have shown they are not worthy of the title they hold.
Americans cannot afford to be ruled by idiots.
edit to add: please sign the petition to remove Michelle Leonart as acting head of the DEA. She is a liar and unworthy of her office. http://www.change.org/petitions/president-barack-obama-fire-anti-marijuana-dea-administrator-michele-leonhart
January 29, 2014
By Elena Mannes.
The Music Instinct: Science & Song explores ground-breaking science revealing the power of music and its connection with the body, the brain and the world of nature. The film deals with research, showing music can heal as well as its potential for education.
The Music Instinct: Science & Song
By Elena Mannes.
The Music Instinct: Science & Song explores ground-breaking science revealing the power of music and its connection with the body, the brain and the world of nature. The film deals with research, showing music can heal as well as its potential for education.
January 29, 2014
On Super Bowl Sunday, the face-off of Denver versus Seattle brings not just the issue of football to the fore. The match sees two teams play one another from the states that became the first to legalize recreational marijuana last year, in what may be the most prominent platform yet for marijuana reform ads.
At the stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., five ads will be displayed with messages that protest the National Football League’s stance on marijuana, point out there are as many annual marijuana arrests as there are attendees at the game (750,000), and suggest marijuana is safer than both beer and football.
(see other billboards at link, below)
The Marijuana Policy Project, which developed the ads, has also circulated a Change.org petition calling on the NFL to recognize state laws and “stop punishing NFL players for using marijuana.” They planned to deliver the petition, which has garnered more than 12,000 signatures, in front of NFL headquarters in New York City Wednesday morning.
In the past, marijuana ads from sporting events have faced bans from advertising companies, and stringent resistance from marijuana opponents. What would have been the first major marijuana legalization ad at a major sporting event was pulled at the last minute from a jumbotron outside the NASCAR 400 in Indiana in July. Since then, Marijuana Policy Project Communications Director Mason Tvert says billboards have been featured at several sporting events, including a billboard protesting the NFL’s marijuana policy outside Denver’s Mile High Stadium in September.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/01/29/3216411/marijuana-groups-denver-seattle-super-bowl-stand-prime-moment-advertising/
Marijuana Billboards At Super Bowl Will Pressure The NFL And Statehouses On Drug Policy
On Super Bowl Sunday, the face-off of Denver versus Seattle brings not just the issue of football to the fore. The match sees two teams play one another from the states that became the first to legalize recreational marijuana last year, in what may be the most prominent platform yet for marijuana reform ads.
At the stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., five ads will be displayed with messages that protest the National Football League’s stance on marijuana, point out there are as many annual marijuana arrests as there are attendees at the game (750,000), and suggest marijuana is safer than both beer and football.
(see other billboards at link, below)
The Marijuana Policy Project, which developed the ads, has also circulated a Change.org petition calling on the NFL to recognize state laws and “stop punishing NFL players for using marijuana.” They planned to deliver the petition, which has garnered more than 12,000 signatures, in front of NFL headquarters in New York City Wednesday morning.
In the past, marijuana ads from sporting events have faced bans from advertising companies, and stringent resistance from marijuana opponents. What would have been the first major marijuana legalization ad at a major sporting event was pulled at the last minute from a jumbotron outside the NASCAR 400 in Indiana in July. Since then, Marijuana Policy Project Communications Director Mason Tvert says billboards have been featured at several sporting events, including a billboard protesting the NFL’s marijuana policy outside Denver’s Mile High Stadium in September.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/01/29/3216411/marijuana-groups-denver-seattle-super-bowl-stand-prime-moment-advertising/
January 27, 2014
Hey, hey, ho, ho. Leonhart has got to go!
Petition to fire DEA administrator Michelle Leonhart
This link goes to the petition:
https://www.change.org/petitions/president-barack-obama-fire-anti-marijuana-dea-administrator-michele-leonhart
In a recent speech, DEA administrator Michele Leonhart criticized President Barack Obama for his acknowledgement that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol in terms of its impact on the consumer. Yet there is an abundance of research demonstrating that marijuana is in fact less harmful than alcohol.
Leonhart has consistently demonstrated a reckless disregard of such scientific evidence. Under her watch, the DEA has obstructed attempts to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act — a classification reserved for the most dangerous drugs — and at a 2012 House committee hearing, she refused to answer a congressman’s simple question about whether heroin and crack cocaine pose more harm to the consumer than marijuana.
Shortly after taking office, President Obama mandated, “Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of [his] Administration …” Whether Leonhart is ignorant of the facts or intentionally disregarding them, she has fundamentally undermined the president’s directive and is clearly unfit for her current position.
We call on President Obama to immediately terminate DEA Administrator Leonhart and replace her with someone who recognizes the fact that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol.
Leonhart has consistently demonstrated a reckless disregard of such scientific evidence. Under her watch, the DEA has obstructed attempts to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act — a classification reserved for the most dangerous drugs — and at a 2012 House committee hearing, she refused to answer a congressman’s simple question about whether heroin and crack cocaine pose more harm to the consumer than marijuana.
Shortly after taking office, President Obama mandated, “Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of [his] Administration …” Whether Leonhart is ignorant of the facts or intentionally disregarding them, she has fundamentally undermined the president’s directive and is clearly unfit for her current position.
We call on President Obama to immediately terminate DEA Administrator Leonhart and replace her with someone who recognizes the fact that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol.
Hey, hey, ho, ho. Leonhart has got to go!
January 27, 2014
wiki: The White Balloon (Persian: بادکنک سفيد ?, Badkonake sefid) is a 1995 Iranian film directed by Jafar Panahi, with a screenplay by Abbas Kiarostami. It was Panahi's feature-film debut as director. The film won numerous awards in international film festivals around the world including the Prix de la Camera d'Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. The Guardian has listed this movie as one of the 50 best family films of all time.
The eve of the Iranian New Year. Seven-year-old Razieh sees a goldfish while out shopping with her mother, but her mother won't buy one. Razieh is upset about her mother's refusal and continues her campaign for the goldfish when they are back home. Her older brother Ali (Mohsen Kalifi) returns from a shopping errand for their father who, although unseen, has a tangible presence causing tension in the family.
Razieh finally gets her wish. Her mother gives her the family's last 500-toman banknote and asks her to bring back the change. Razieh sets off with an empty glass jar to the fish shop a few blocks away, but immediately loses the money to a snake charmer...
Nowrūz (Persian: نوروز?, IPA: [nouˈɾuːz], meaning "[The] New Day"
is the name of the New Year in the Solar Hijri calendar and is the most important holiday in Iran.
Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in the Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and Iranian families gather together to observe rituals such as visiting relatives to share special foods, banging pots and pans, and singing songs.
Haft Sîn -Persian: هفت سین? -or the seven 'S's is a major traditional table setting of Nowruz, the traditional Iranian spring celebration. The haft sin table includes seven items starting with the letter 'S' or Sīn "س " in the Persian alphabet. This tradition stems from the more ancient "Haft Chin" table.
The "Haft Chin" items are:
A bowl of water with goldfish (life within life, and the sign of Pisces which the sun is leaving) is an essential object of the Nowruz table, this goldfish is also "very ancient and meaningful" and has a Zoroastrian connection.
The White Balloon (Iran/1995)
wiki: The White Balloon (Persian: بادکنک سفيد ?, Badkonake sefid) is a 1995 Iranian film directed by Jafar Panahi, with a screenplay by Abbas Kiarostami. It was Panahi's feature-film debut as director. The film won numerous awards in international film festivals around the world including the Prix de la Camera d'Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. The Guardian has listed this movie as one of the 50 best family films of all time.
The eve of the Iranian New Year. Seven-year-old Razieh sees a goldfish while out shopping with her mother, but her mother won't buy one. Razieh is upset about her mother's refusal and continues her campaign for the goldfish when they are back home. Her older brother Ali (Mohsen Kalifi) returns from a shopping errand for their father who, although unseen, has a tangible presence causing tension in the family.
Razieh finally gets her wish. Her mother gives her the family's last 500-toman banknote and asks her to bring back the change. Razieh sets off with an empty glass jar to the fish shop a few blocks away, but immediately loses the money to a snake charmer...
Nowrūz (Persian: نوروز?, IPA: [nouˈɾuːz], meaning "[The] New Day"
is the name of the New Year in the Solar Hijri calendar and is the most important holiday in Iran.
Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in the Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and Iranian families gather together to observe rituals such as visiting relatives to share special foods, banging pots and pans, and singing songs.
Haft Sîn -Persian: هفت سین? -or the seven 'S's is a major traditional table setting of Nowruz, the traditional Iranian spring celebration. The haft sin table includes seven items starting with the letter 'S' or Sīn "س " in the Persian alphabet. This tradition stems from the more ancient "Haft Chin" table.
The "Haft Chin" items are:
Mirror – symbolizing Sky
Apple – symbolizing Earth
Candles – symbolizing Fire
Golab – rose water symbolizing Water
Sabzeh – wheat, or barley sprouts symbolizing Plants
Goldfish – symbolizing Animals
Painted Eggs – symbolizing Humans and Fertility
A bowl of water with goldfish (life within life, and the sign of Pisces which the sun is leaving) is an essential object of the Nowruz table, this goldfish is also "very ancient and meaningful" and has a Zoroastrian connection.
January 27, 2014
wiki: a 2003 American documentary film about the life and times of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara as well as illustrating his observations of the nature of modern warfare. The film was directed by Errol Morris and the original score is by Philip Glass.
The title is related to the military phrase "Fog of War", describing the difficulty of making decisions in the midst of conflict.
The film won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature. It was non-competitively screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
wiki: a 2003 American documentary film about the life and times of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara as well as illustrating his observations of the nature of modern warfare. The film was directed by Errol Morris and the original score is by Philip Glass.
The title is related to the military phrase "Fog of War", describing the difficulty of making decisions in the midst of conflict.
The film won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature. It was non-competitively screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
January 26, 2014
A 2013 Gallup Poll indicated that 7% of those surveyed currently used cannabis. (From this poll, 13% of liberals admitted to currently using cannabis, 8% of moderates and 2% of conservatives.)
So, let's double that figure and say 15% of the population would be cannabis users, although I would be inclined to think the figure will be higher, especially among the over 65 group, as they learn of the medical benefits for diseases of aging like arthritis, diabetes, neuropathies, alzheimers...so, let's add another 5% to account for this group and conservatives who didn't tell the truth...and for some of the additional plant material that would go into tinctures, etc. All figures are rounded up.
The figures, below, are taken from a weed business blog. I have no knowledge of this irl, so if anyone thinks these figures are off, speak. They assume the following:
That would keep cannabis at the price of$375 $100.00 per oz to the consumer, or $94 $25.00 per quarter oz. Those in CO have reported previous sales at $25 for a quarter oz. (or approximately a third of the price in the current illegal market, on avg. and guesstimating.)
Did I do the math right, teacher?
edit to answer: no. thanks coyotl
edit: adjusted figures for sales
How Much Weed Will the U.S. Need?
...to meet an estimate for demand? Bennyboy got me on this subject. The figure for cannabis is based upon vaping or smoking, not edibles, tinctures, etc., but we can assume some of that is included anyway. Check my math! I'm a notorious math moron.
The figures here are from USA Quick Facts and Gallup.
2013 Population: 316,128,839 million
2012 (last figure) percentage of the population under 18: 23.5% (I'll round that up to 25%)
Population over the age of 18: 237,100,000 million (rounded to 75%)
2013 Population: 316,128,839 million
2012 (last figure) percentage of the population under 18: 23.5% (I'll round that up to 25%)
Population over the age of 18: 237,100,000 million (rounded to 75%)
A 2013 Gallup Poll indicated that 7% of those surveyed currently used cannabis. (From this poll, 13% of liberals admitted to currently using cannabis, 8% of moderates and 2% of conservatives.)
So, let's double that figure and say 15% of the population would be cannabis users, although I would be inclined to think the figure will be higher, especially among the over 65 group, as they learn of the medical benefits for diseases of aging like arthritis, diabetes, neuropathies, alzheimers...so, let's add another 5% to account for this group and conservatives who didn't tell the truth...and for some of the additional plant material that would go into tinctures, etc. All figures are rounded up.
Estimated percentage of cannabis users @15%: 35,565,000 million
Est. @20% of the adult population: 47,420,000 million
Estimated cannabis usage at 1 ounce per month/20% of the population: 47,420,000 million ozs.
Estimated cannabis usage in lbs. per month: 30 million lbs.
Estimated cannabis (in pounds) for the American market for one year: 360 million pounds.
Est. @20% of the adult population: 47,420,000 million
Estimated cannabis usage at 1 ounce per month/20% of the population: 47,420,000 million ozs.
Estimated cannabis usage in lbs. per month: 30 million lbs.
Estimated cannabis (in pounds) for the American market for one year: 360 million pounds.
The figures, below, are taken from a weed business blog. I have no knowledge of this irl, so if anyone thinks these figures are off, speak. They assume the following:
Est. no. of lbs. per acre: 625 lbs.
Est. for marijuana @ 10,000 plants per acre @ 72 in. (6 ft) spacing per row
Est. number of acres required to grow 360 million lbs per year @ 625 lb per acre: 576,000 acres.
(this assumes a single grow season per year of an outdoor grow)
edit to remove projections from weed industry blog
Est. for marijuana @ 10,000 plants per acre @ 72 in. (6 ft) spacing per row
Est. number of acres required to grow 360 million lbs per year @ 625 lb per acre: 576,000 acres.
(this assumes a single grow season per year of an outdoor grow)
edit to remove projections from weed industry blog
With legalization, cut the profit to producers by three-fourths to $1500 to $50/oz and, thus $800.00 per lb.
360 million pounds per year @ $800.00 per lb: $288million BILLION for the producer.
Another quarter for the sellers/per lb: $288 billion for the seller
Another quarter for tax revenues/per lb $288 billion to the govt.
360 million pounds per year @ $800.00 per lb: $288
Another quarter for the sellers/per lb: $288 billion for the seller
Another quarter for tax revenues/per lb $288 billion to the govt.
That would keep cannabis at the price of
Did I do the math right, teacher?
edit to answer: no. thanks coyotl
edit: adjusted figures for sales
January 25, 2014
at IMBD: http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3213073689?ref_=tt_pv_vi_1
wiki: Bob le flambeur ("Bob the Gambler" or "Bob the High Roller" is a 1956 French gangster film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. The film stars Roger Duchesne as Bob. It is often considered a film noir and precursor to the French New Wave because of its use of handheld camera and a single jump cut.
The director, Jean-Pierre Melville (born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973), with the French Resistance during World War II, adopted the nom de guerre Melville as a tribute to his favorite American author, Herman Melville. The director loved all things American after his experience during the war, including gangster films. After the war, he applied for and was refused a license to become an assistant director. He became an independent film director and started his own studio.
Melville's independence and "reporting" style of film-making (he was one of the first French directors to use real locations regularly) were a major influence on the French New Wave film movement. Jean-Luc Godard used him as a minor character in his seminal New Wave film Breathless. When Godard was having difficulty editing the film, Melville suggested that he just cut directly to the best parts of a shot. Godard was inspired and the film's innovative use of jump cuts have become part of its fame.
Melville's movie is the equivalent of the modernists at the turn of the 20th century, whose work was rejected by the French Academy. This group of artists responded to World War I with Dada, Surrealism, Cubism, "Ready Mades" and changed the face of French art by rejecting the classicism typified by state-approved art. Melville's work, more than fifty years later, precipitated a similar moment in film.
Review by Roger Ebert: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-bob-le-flambeur-1955
Bob Le Flambeur (1956)
Link to full movie: French with English subtitles (with commercials, unfortunately)at IMBD: http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3213073689?ref_=tt_pv_vi_1
wiki: Bob le flambeur ("Bob the Gambler" or "Bob the High Roller"
is a 1956 French gangster film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. The film stars Roger Duchesne as Bob. It is often considered a film noir and precursor to the French New Wave because of its use of handheld camera and a single jump cut.
The director, Jean-Pierre Melville (born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973), with the French Resistance during World War II, adopted the nom de guerre Melville as a tribute to his favorite American author, Herman Melville. The director loved all things American after his experience during the war, including gangster films. After the war, he applied for and was refused a license to become an assistant director. He became an independent film director and started his own studio.
Melville's independence and "reporting" style of film-making (he was one of the first French directors to use real locations regularly) were a major influence on the French New Wave film movement. Jean-Luc Godard used him as a minor character in his seminal New Wave film Breathless. When Godard was having difficulty editing the film, Melville suggested that he just cut directly to the best parts of a shot. Godard was inspired and the film's innovative use of jump cuts have become part of its fame.
Melville's movie is the equivalent of the modernists at the turn of the 20th century, whose work was rejected by the French Academy. This group of artists responded to World War I with Dada, Surrealism, Cubism, "Ready Mades" and changed the face of French art by rejecting the classicism typified by state-approved art. Melville's work, more than fifty years later, precipitated a similar moment in film.
Review by Roger Ebert: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-bob-le-flambeur-1955
Before the New Wave, before Godard and Truffaut and Chabrol, before Belmondo flicked the cigarette into his mouth in one smooth motion and walked the streets of Paris like a Hollywood gangster, there was Bob. "Bob le Flambeur," Bob the high-roller, Bob the Montmartre legend whose style was so cool, whose honor was so strong, whose gambling was so hopeless, that even the cops liked him. Bob with his white hair slicked back, with his black suit and tie, his trenchcoat and his Packard convertible and his penthouse apartment with the slot machine in the closet. Bob, who on the first day of this movie wins big at the races and then loses it all at roulette, and is cleaned out. Broke again.
Jean-Pierre Melville's "Bob le Flambeur" (1955) has a good claim to be the first film of the French New Wave. Daniel Cauchy, who stars in it as Paolo, Bob's callow young friend, remembered that Melville would shoot scenes on location using a handheld camera on a delivery bike, "which Godard did in 'Breathless,' but this was years before Godard." Melville worked on poverty row, and told his actors there was no money to pay them, but that they would have to stand by to shoot on a moment's notice. "Right now I have money for three or four days," he told Cauchy, "and after that we'll shoot when we can."
This film was legendary but unseen for years, and Melville's career is only now coming into focus. He shot gangster movies, he worked in genres, but he had such a precise, elegant simplicity of style that his films play like the chamber music of crime. He was cool in the 1950s sense of that word. His characters in "Bob" glide through gambling dens and nightclubs "in those moments," Melville tells us in the narration, "between night and day ... between heaven and hell."
...The climax of "Bob le Flambeur" involves surprising developments that approach cosmic irony. How strange, that a man's incorrigible nature would lead him both into and through temptation. The twist is so inspired that many other directors have borrowed it, including Paul Thomas Anderson in "Hard Eight," Neil Jordan in "The Good Thief," and Lewis Milestone and Steven Soderbergh, the directors of the "Ocean's Eleven" movies. But "Bob" is not about the twist. It is about Bob being true to his essential nature. He is a gambler.
Jean-Pierre Melville's "Bob le Flambeur" (1955) has a good claim to be the first film of the French New Wave. Daniel Cauchy, who stars in it as Paolo, Bob's callow young friend, remembered that Melville would shoot scenes on location using a handheld camera on a delivery bike, "which Godard did in 'Breathless,' but this was years before Godard." Melville worked on poverty row, and told his actors there was no money to pay them, but that they would have to stand by to shoot on a moment's notice. "Right now I have money for three or four days," he told Cauchy, "and after that we'll shoot when we can."
This film was legendary but unseen for years, and Melville's career is only now coming into focus. He shot gangster movies, he worked in genres, but he had such a precise, elegant simplicity of style that his films play like the chamber music of crime. He was cool in the 1950s sense of that word. His characters in "Bob" glide through gambling dens and nightclubs "in those moments," Melville tells us in the narration, "between night and day ... between heaven and hell."
...The climax of "Bob le Flambeur" involves surprising developments that approach cosmic irony. How strange, that a man's incorrigible nature would lead him both into and through temptation. The twist is so inspired that many other directors have borrowed it, including Paul Thomas Anderson in "Hard Eight," Neil Jordan in "The Good Thief," and Lewis Milestone and Steven Soderbergh, the directors of the "Ocean's Eleven" movies. But "Bob" is not about the twist. It is about Bob being true to his essential nature. He is a gambler.
January 25, 2014
The Stanley Brother Ted Talk
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