Still Vacationing in Sunny PS

Yesterday, Mom and I went to the Tolerance Center to see the movie "Trumbo." It is an excellent movie with Dalton Trumbo played by Bryan Cranston and cast members CK Lewis and John Goodman. 

We must have our young people see this movie! It describes the black listing of Trumbo and many other hollywood screen writers and professionals.

Trumbo wrote the screenplay for Roman Holiday and Spartacus, movies that I remember fondly, but more important is the fight that Trumbo continued after he was released from jail after being found guilty of contempt of Congress. He recognized that not only was he suffering with no way to work nor support his family, but so were many of his Hollywood screen writer friends.

I had no idea that Hedda Hopper, John Wayne and Richard Nixon were so involved in railroading communists onto the black list and into jail. The "bad guys" who were in line with McCarthy's witch hunt really thought they were being good Americans, but it was not (and is not) illegal to be a communist. In the meantime, the communists' big transgressions were advocating for the lower paid workers and calling for a minimum wage.

The movie was an eye opener for me -- I had no idea that actor Kirk Douglas was a hero in that he was the first to put Trumbo's name on a script when he was still officially black listed.

****************************************************

I love the mountains here. And they all look different from different angles.

O.k., so this is not a mountain, but the light really is amazing, isn't it?

It was really windy yesterday and last night. The wind was making sand eddys on the street. Here, they actually plow the sand into the gutters on long roads such as Dinah Shore. It made me wonder if a street sweeper goes by sucking the sand into it and blowing it out of a tube back onto the desert. I'm always amused to see snow fences about 20 feet from the road -- they are there to hold back the drifting desert sand.

######################################################

Mom dropped off her mail ballot at City Hall. (One year the Post Office lost a whole truck of ballots so she wanted to be sure hers was received.)

On the lawn of City Hall

Speaking of big horn rams: they have found 5 dead lambs in a month on a golf course. It's apparently some kind of upper respiratory disease that the lambs are passing around to each other. The Bighorns have been classified as endangered and they keep wandering onto golf courses. A local news reporter said, 'Building a fence would help to keep them off the golf course.' That, apparently, is cost prohibitive. Personally, I think 124 golf courses is Palm Springs is way too much. But then, I don't golf.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

For those of you who can access ShowTime movies, you must watch "Confirmation!" (No exclamation point.)  It's the story of the confirmation of Clarence Thomas and how Anita Hill came to tell her story. It's not only gripping, but we saw it before the Trumbo story so this was my first dose of politicos I'd like to tar and feather.

I did not remember that Joe Biden was Chair of the Confirmation Committee.  What a wimp. I would use a feline appellation, but that would do a disservice to that raunchy word.

*****************************************************
Mom and I went to the Agua Caliente casino last night. I lost all of my money and Mom won $100!

Today we're off to do some shopping and then maybe the Tom Hanks movie when it's a cheaper matinee. Yahoo!