SHOULD ANIMATION CHARACTERS WEAR WIGS?

Yes, absolutely! Badly fitting wigs make any character look better. Of course the badly fitting hair doesn't have to be a wig...in fact, it's better if it's not. It can be the character's natural hair that just doesn't sit quite right on the head. 

The fact that humans have long, unruly strings growing out of the top of their heads is funny. Cartoonists ignore that at their own peril.

Even live action comedic actors (above) would benefit from wig-like hair. If you're Betty Boop or Cary Grant then the well-groomed wigless look is great, but really, how many people does that apply to?  For most comedians real hair needs to have a life of its own. It should be willful and should require constant adjustment.

There's more to say about cartoon hair, so I'll return to the subject again. Right now I want to announce that Steve Worth has a new animation site called "Animation Resources." Steve was the former webmaster of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, one of my favorite animation sites. The last time I looked the site was still up but it appeared to be inactive, and now Steve has taken up residence at this new address. There's lots and lots of valuable material there, with new articles being added all the time. Check it out!

http://animationresources.org/

Be there or be square!

HOW GERMANY GOT OUT OF THE DEPRESSION

How about a serious post for a change?

If I were an economist the area I'd focus on would be the quest for a market driven method of providing full employment, which I define as voluntary employment at a living wage for everybody who is willing and able to work. That doesn't sound like it would be too difficult to achieve but, believe it or not, no modern economic system, including our own, has ever pulled it off. Even communist countries which call themselves "workers' states" haven't been able to do it. There's plenty of unemployment in those countries, they just don't report it.

Oddly enough, the only country which is widely believed to have achieved it was Germany in the 1930s. But is that true? And if it is true, how did they manage to do it? How did they get out of the Depression so quickly and then create full employment besides? I know nothing about economics, but I just read a book on the subject, and I'll pass along the opinions of the author.

The book is "The Nazi Economic Recovery 1932-1938" by R. J. Overy (1982). Overy believes the recovery was a fake. Unemployed people were simply drafted into The Labor Service, where they were forced to work for an extremely low wage, usually on farms. Once they were in the service they weren't classified as unemployed anymore. According to Overy the real German economic miracle occurred in the 50s, and had nothing to do with Nazi policy.

The Nazis were said by some to be Keynesians because they also believed in big government spending to handle unemployment. The author, who's a Keynesian himself, was revolted by the idea. He says Keynes strongly believed that big government spending had to be accompanied by low taxes. The Nazis believed in high taxes. They didn't want consumers to spend money on things, they wanted them to save their money in banks where the Nazi's could make use of it.

Apparently the Nazis inherited what today we might call a "progressive" agenda from the Wiemar Republic. In Wiemar the government owned or controlled some big industries and when the Nazis took over they simply amplified that policy, gradually expanding it til even small business came under their control.

Add that to fact that Germany didn't try to export or import much during this period and was concerned mainly with self sufficiency wherever possible. Overy says this was disastrous for the country because it cut them off from foreign competition which, if they had engaged in it, would have forced the country to increase efficiency and to modernize. No wonder wartime Germany used slave labor. They were too inefficient to produce enough goods by normal methods.

Overy's book left me feeling sad for the Germans. They had a cruel leadership to be sure, but they were also an energetic, educated people handicapped by a system that just didn't work.

THE AMAZING SLUMS OF RIO

This (above) is Rocinba, a slum on a mountain in Rio de Janeiro. I got interested in the place because it was the locale for an action film I just saw on DVD, called "Fast Five." Yeah, it's a Vin Diesel film. I'm not a fan of the man, but this one worked for me (well, sort of...you have to forgive a lot). It made me want to visit Rocinba for real. Geez, I'd probably get killed there.

The thing about Rocinba is that it succeeds in being somewhat beautiful, even though it's a slum. How many slums can you say that about? 

Parts of Rocinba remind me of Montreal's "Habitat (above)." Both make high density living seem appealing, at least from a distance.

Back to Rocinba: here Von Deisel (above) tries to elude the police by taking a shortcut through what may be the community's drainage. Do you see what I mean about the place being good looking? Sure, it's toxic and decrepit, but if you had to live in absolute squalor, you could do worse. 

Imagine what it's like to climb these hills every day if you don't have a car.  Come to think of it, it couldn't be that easy even if you do have a car. I think a lot of people have motorcycles.

In real life the place (above) is run by drug lords who provide some electricity and water in exchange for loyalty from the people who live here. Every once in a while the drug people hold big late-night block parties which attract the rowdiest people around. They fight with each other and lots of people end up getting killed.

It looks like some of the buildings (above) have been given a paint job. Rio is trying to clean up the slums in time for The Olympics and the world soccer championships.

 In November there were pitched battles between the drug gangs and the cops.

 The people who lived there, including some of the children, were so used to violence that they casually went about their business, oblivious to the machine gun fire and exploding grenades all around them. 

What a city of contrasts! Beauty and ugliness side by side!

A YouTube video claims that there are 50,000 murders a year in Brazil! No wonder that country wins so many of the UFC martial arts championships! 

Here (above) a couple runs along the rooftops, trying to evade the police.

They have no choice but to jump down onto a distant roof of corrugated tin fragments. What a view!

HOW THE BEATNIK RIOTS BEGAN

EXT. 50S BEAT COFFEE SHOP: We hear a discussion going on inside.

EDDIE BEATNIK (VO): "So that's where the art of film is today...."

INT. COFFEE SHOP:

EDDIE BEATNIK: "It's caught between two poles: Fellini and Bergman. The man of heart and the man of mind."

EDDIE BEATNIK: "Fellini's simple and light hearted. Inside he's a child and through his vision we relive...well, you know." 

EDDIE BEATNIK: "Bergman on the other hand...what a cold fish! Did you see 'The Silence?' I thought it would never end. Bergman's just a rehash of Ibsen, only it's all done with stares instead of dialogue."  

BEATNIK EDDIE: "I'm afraid cinema will never reach maturity until it rediscovers heart. 

BEATNIK #1 (VO): "Yeah, heart!" 

BEATNIK #2 (VO): "Without heart film is nothing!"

BEATNIK #3: Dig it, Man. Without heart, life is nothing!"

  

Eddie looks for something.

EDDIE BEATNIK: "Anyone got a light? I can't find my matches."

BEATNIK #1 (VO): "Hey, you're putting me on the spot, man!"

BEATNIK #2 (VO): "Yeah, like matches cost money. Cats should use their own matches."

BEATNIK #3 (VO): "Dig it, man! In life you gotta have your own bread! No mooching!" 

BEAT GIRL: "Gee, that's too bad. I could use a light, too."

SPEED SFX: ZWOOT! ZWOOT! ZWOOT! as several arms race into sc., to light her cigarette. 

BEATNIK #1 (VO): "Let me lay it on you, Sister!"

BEATNIK #2: "Here's a light! Keep the lighter!"

BEATNIK #3 (VO): "I have a pocket full of lighters! Take them all!

BEATNIK #4 (VO): "I have a whole house full of lighters! 'Wanna see them!?""

BEATNIK #5 (VO): "Do you need a ride home? How about a sandwich?"

BEATNIK #2: "Eddie, I agree with your opinion about Fellini, but you got Bergman all wrong. He's witty. Actually Bergman is more like Fellini than somebody like Rossellini."

BEATNIKS # 3 and 4: "Rossellini's the main dude. Even Fellini copies him."

BEATNIK #5: "But does Rossellini have heart? That's the question."

BEATNIK #6: "Does Fellini have brains? THAT'S the question!"

 BEATNIK #7: "Yeah! Fellini thinks we're all interested in his fantasies about fat girls."

BEATNIK #7: "I don't think Fellini would know what to do with a real woman. In fact, I think Fellini is......" 

TO BE CONTINUED.......

A HOMEMADE LATTE: THE THEORY CORNER WAY

OUCH! I scratched my lip on the French Press I was holding, and the computer wouldn't let me retake the shot. Oh, well. The girl in the background is my assistant chef, Magnolia.

Anyway....

GOOD MORNING!!! I don't know about you, but I'm going to have a cup of coffee...a faux cafe latte, actually...made The Theory Corner way. What way is that? Read on!

The Theory Corner way uses a French Press, a milk frother and a bean grinder. None of this stuff costs very much, and pressed coffee doesn't take long to make.

Okay, you put the water on to boil. Lots of people use hippie water (bottled water) but I use filtered tap water. Nobody in LA needs to use bottled water in the winter months, because our water in that time of year comes from the High Sierras, and is top quality. During the Summer we buy water from Nevada, and that's murky, so if you're from Southern California and you feel you must buy bottled water, then that's the time to do it.

Anyway, while the water's boiling you grind your coffee beans in one of those little counter top grinders like the one pictured above. I like Starbucks coffee, French Roast Bold, Whole Bean. You can get Starbucks brand coffee at the supermarket. Grind the beans "coarse," which takes about 9 seconds.

The water hasn't come to a boil yet, so you can get started on the milk froth. I recommend buying a frother (pictured above, on the right...on the left is the French Press) but if you don't have one, just put some milk in a jar, shake it vigorously, and put it in the microwave for about a minute. Now you have milk froth.

Put the milk aside, and add the ground coffee to the French Press, along with a tiny pinch of salt, some sugar, and maybe a drop of vanilla extract. Pour in the boiling water. At the 1/5  mark stop and stir the coffee and water. [Magnolia's doing it wrong here...the idea is to stir only when the level is very low]. Never stir it again after this. Pour in the rest of the boiling water and let it all steep for four minutes: no more, no less. At exactly four minutes, press the plunger down slowly...about thirty seconds for the whole plunge.

Now you're ready to pour the coffee into a cup. I put a little froth on the bottom, beneath the coffee, and the rest on top. A lot of people prefer to have all the froth on top. Add some whipped cream and cinnamon or nutmeg and you're done. Maybe eat a piece of banana bread with it. Delicious...but it doesn't stay warm very long.

A video to help you get started:



Alton Brown uses a burr grinder. One of these days I might get one, but my humble little blade grinder works so well that I see no reason to change.

NO, I'M NOT DEAD!

Oops! I missed a day! Sorry, I've been Christmas shopping and cleaning up the house for the holiday when my whole little family'll be together under one roof again. 

I'm still working a little bit at a time on my two beatnik posts (samples above and below). I've also been reading some interesting stuff which I can't wait to tell you about.   

I'll be back tomorrow!