Movie Theater in the Sky

My new definition of long-distance flying is paying some $800 each way to go to a double-double-feature movie. Minus the popcorn. (Why don’t planes just pop some fresh and serve it?) I saw three fabulous movies flying the 11 hours from Shanghai to San Francisco (skipped a fourth to read) and each not only held me in that timeless world where time is not a factor, but genuinely uplifted me and in fact had me weeping and cheering. Two of them are the kind of whistleblower movies I love— the Spotlight, The Insider, All the President’s Men, The Post genre where the bad guys try to get away with murder, hiding it under lies and cover-up, using their big money to shut down opposition, threatening or beating up the whistleblowers. But in the end, they get their just desserts. Yeah!!! Can’t wait for the eventual Bringing Down Trump Oscar-winning movie!!

One of them that I saw on the plane was Marshall, a sleeper of a film about Thurgood Marshall and a trial in Connecticut and the other was one of the classics I had seen, but still was enthralled with—Erin Brockovich. The third, Pleasantville, was also a repeat and a different genre, but a few parallel strands about truth and justice. What a pleasure.

And so, so weirdly, back in my home in San Francisco on the same day I left Shanghai (International Date Line), a three-hour nap, unpack the suitcases and then put up the blogs I couldn’t post in China (more about this soon). As before, I offer them in a backward order, ie, the first, “Music Is the Standard” is some eight posts down the line. Again, not much on being a tourist in China, but a lot about teaching music and of course, some reactions to the latest lowpoint in American culture and politics. Now back in the heart of the beast, but except for now having access to The Daily Show and the Late Show, not much different reading the news here or abroad.

Now for a walk to my neighborhood. It was sunny coming in from the airport and then it rained and the air feels fresh and clean. It’s good to be home.