Earth, Wind & Fire

By Paul Levine


"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge. "
--Raymond Chandler, "Red Wind"

Actually, this week's Santa Anas are a lot worse than that. A HOME BURNS TO THE GROUND IN GREEN VALLEY LAKE

It’s 90 degrees outside with a desert-like 3 per cent humidity. The Santa Anas are blowing 50 m.p.h. with gusts to 70.

Fires are popping up all over Southern California. A quarter of a million people have been forced out of their homes. Those of us who live in the hills or in wooded canyons are alert for the smell of smoke and the sound of sirens. (Note: In California, the term “wooded canyon” is a synonym for “kindling.”) Below, our street:
Brave firefighters, seen here in protective gear, are doing everything they can in horrific conditions.

The wind is supposed to die down tomorrow, but what we really need is a monsoon, and there’s no rain on the horizon.
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VIVA LAUGHLIN? NOPE. LAUGHLIN, R.I.P.
Last week, Alessandra Stanley in The New York Times began her review of the new CBS drama/musical with this appraisal.

"Viva Laughlin on CBS may well be the worst new show of the season, but is it the worst show in the history of television? It certainly comes close ..."

Yesterday, after a mere two airings watched by approximately 127 people nationwide (okay, maybe not that many), CBS pulled the plug, cancelling the series.
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HERE’S MY TV LIST. WHERE’S YOURS?

I TIVO these programs every week.

1. DEXTER

(Based on Jeff Lindsay’s “Darkly Dreaming Dexter,” the show features a witty and savvy serial killer to die for.)

2. MAD MEN

(Set in 1960, when everyone smoked, guzzled martinis at lunch, and men chased their secretaries around the desk). JON HAMM, AD MAN WITH A TANGLED PAST, ON "MAD MEN"


3. CALIFORNICATION

(Don’t be put off by the sophomoric title or the gratuitous sex, which Jim Born assures me is the best kind. With the sharpest writing around, "Californication" has my Emmy vote).

4. CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

(Larry David’s neuroses don’t seem as funny this season. He remains true to his theme, however. No good deed goes unpunished).

5. JOE PATERNO’S WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE

(Granted, Joe has been saying the same things since 1966, but then, so have I).

What’s on your list?

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AMC FLUNKS THE BAR EXAM

American Movie Classics has an on-line poll to choose the greatest “courtroom drama" of all time. You can vote for any of the following ten films.

Twelve Angry Men

A Few Good Men

The Rainmaker

Erin Brockovich

My Cousin Vinny

The Firm

To Kill a Mockingbird

Inherit the Wind

Philadelphia

Amistad


Whoever came up with the list must have flunked the bar exam. “My Cousin Vinny” is a terrific courtroom comedy, and the two films adapted from John Grisham books, “The Rainmaker” and “The Firm,” are pleasant potboilers, at best

So where are “The Verdict” and “Witness for the Prosecution” and "Anatomy of a Murder?" Nowhere to be found.

What's your favorite courtroom film?

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DON’T SIT NEXT TO ME UNLESS YOU GET YOUR FLU SHOT

“I lost 11 great-uncles on one day in the First World War, and yet more people died from the influenza pandemic of 1918 than in that entire war."

-- Peter Hudson, Willaman professor of biology, Penn State University.

Gesundheit,

Paul