Conspiracy Theories

I’m hesitant to even go this direction, but I feel obligated. Right now, I write from the top of a mesa in New Mexico. I’m in Los Alamos, Atomic City, home of the atomic bomb and other government secrets, allegedly of course. In the last two days I feel like I’ve learned more about WWII, the ‘Hill’ and Roswell, than I have in at least a few years in school. Here are some of the highlights (and some of my personal favorites).
The city of Los Alamos, New Mexico was essentially created in secret. Before the National Laboratory was established in 1943, there was the Los Alamos Ranch School, a boy’s school for 12-18 year-olds escaping the traditional school system. When the government decided to open up “The Lab,” as it’s known up here, on “The Hill,” (Sorry, but the lingo is important), they essentially bought the land the school owned and kicked everyone off the Hill. Then, they began building lab buildings across the top of the mesa, expanding as necessary. The entire scheme was run out of a P.O. Box out of Santa Fe, and only one woman there held the gate keys to the Hill; Dorothy Scarritt McKibbin. She has a fascinating story if you have time to read it.
It was on top of the mesa, unbenounced to the rest of the world, that a group of scientists, physicists, technicians and their families moved out to Los Alamos and began work on the secret Manhattan Project.
I can’t imagine starting an entire city, and making it part of the design to prevent knowledge of the city to the rest of the world. I can understand the choice of location though; it takes about 45 minutes to get here from Santa Fe, and the winding roads up into the mountains are a great means to hide an entire city. Even the weather is well “designed” to help. There is a fog that rolls in each morning, at least now because it’s winter, and covers the tops of the mountains. The scrubby brush and rock cliffs around the mesa make it easy to hide a few building, and when the lab started, that’s all there was. I try to imagine how the media was kept out of this. Was it the times that made this possible? The necessity of secrecy? I read the letter that the Secretary of War sent to the owner of the Ranch School. My favorite part was the last two sentences where the Secretary strongly suggests that the Ranch School’s reasons for closing are kept quiet.
I’m staying at my roommate’s house on the Hill, and her father is a scientist at the lab. He treats radioactive water, allegedly. He’s one of the most fascinating people I’ve met, someone who just knows a lot about a lot of things. The first day I was here, he explained the basic designs of two bombs created during the Manhattan Project, both of which were dropped on Japan. He was able to describe the design and function of the bombs to me, as a person not chemistry-oriented.
Later this week, we will be stopping by Roswell on the way back to school. This topic is hard to even go into, based on the amount of research that has gone into the controversy and its legitimacy. Either way, it’s a noteworthy piece of both American history and culture. Having lunch today with some local Los Alamosians (?), one mentioned a conversation she had had with a former New Mexico public official. This official had visited Roswell, and gotten into an interesting conversation with a person who had been in Roswell during the time when alleged crash occurred. Better yet, he was working in the morgue when the bodies of the “aliens” had come in. The figures were badly burned, and it was difficult to make out, but what this morgue worker said was that the “aliens” were in fact human bodies of Japanese descent, allegedly of course. The cover up was to stop widespread panic that the Japanese were invading the United States. And I will go there, think about the resemblance…
Japanese…Alien
Yellow skin…Green skin
Slanted eyes…Something like slanted eyes
Typically shorter…Miniature people
This was all told to me; I’m not just making this up.
Whether all or any of this is true I don’t think is really the point. Are we ever going to REALLY know what happened out in the desert, over 50 years ago; No. It’s just not going to happen. We just aren’t going to ever find out. If we did, it would probably be because we were being invaded. By aliens. Or the Freedom of Information Act suddenly became more powerful than the Constitution. Those are just about the possibilities. What is important is how those (alleged) events have changed American culture. They have created a genre of comic books, novels, stories, movies and a population subset of slightly deranged people. And the rest of us…well, we love it.

Slumdog Millionaire - 5 Stars

The slums of India.

Two boys left without a mother.

Violence.

Corruption.

20 Million rupees.

and throw in a love story.

That's Slumdog Millionaire in a nutshell. A absurdly small and broken nutshell. A few words can't begin to describe this movie. But I will admit my bias. After spending my junior year of high school in New Delhi, India I couldn't wait to see this movie and see if it brought me home. At least to one of my homes.

I wasn't let down. I found the movie to be the perfect combination of elements. It is enough Bollywood to give the rest of the world a taste, but enough Hollywood to keep the Western world interested. I don't think the masses are ready for an entirely Bollywood film; they are on a completely different element. And from personal experience, I don't know if we are ready to dance in the aisles like they do there on a regular basis.

Most important for me was the reality that directors Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan brought to the screen. It would be so easy in a movie about the slums of India to overdramatize or underrepresent what life is like. I don't feel that they did. Those images are hard to see, but important. The images are so vivid; the bright colors of the women's sari's being washed are almost as realistic as they are in real life.

The story is told in an unusual way - it jumps back and forth, from present time to the childhood of Jamal (Dev Patel) and Salim, his brother. This unique time sequence keeps the viewer wanting more and always thinking ahead. It's appropriate for how we learn their story.

The most unexpected part of this movie for me was the casting. It was incredible. The actors, while almost unknown, were outstanding. My favorite actor was adult Salim, played by Madhur Mittal. He had fabulous curly hair and an attitude, and I loved him. What's most surprising is that I wanted to hate him, but found myself unable. The entire movie, he made choice after choice which lead Jamal in the wrong direction and further from his goal (which I won't give away). His last scene had me near tears.

Go see the movie - it deserves its 8 Oscars.

I'm PUBLISHED!

http://thematthew.typepad.com/the_matthew_online/2008/11/welcome-to-the-neighborhood.html#more

An article for the John Cabot University Newspaper I wrote studying abroad last semester. I found it while I was Googling my name.

I know it was wrong, vain even. But I'm always curious. Besides, we've all done it. But still exciting! It wasn't a front page article, but that's only because it was written the week of the Nov elections. I guess I can concede to Obama. He's a little bit more important than my article about bird poop.

When I get a chance, I'll find this article's follow up...a look at where the birds went.

Again, I appologize.

Clark and Michael

http://www.clarkandmichael.com/index.php

Two up and coming actors in my book. I've only watched the first couple of episodes of their "web show," ....are they "webisodes?" I don't know if I'm ready or prepared for the lingo. Anyways, it's funny and it's Michael Cera, a.k.a. the cheese to Juno's macaroni.
Plus it's precious that they are friends in real life. Friends rock.

I'm sorry...for anyone who hasn't seen this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sd-j0rKeKw

That was harsh.

Oh wait. It wasn't.

I just wish this video was longer.

Can you OutFOX Fox?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlI97TFims4&feature=PlayList&p=22FA179A8852DD10&index=0&playnext=1

This is the first part of a documentry I watched over the weekend. It's called OutFOXed and it's certainly one way of putting things. The documentry delves into the conservative media outlet that is FOX News, its anchors and its management.
This video almost falls into the category of conspiracy theory, but I hate to tarnish it like that. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for Area 51 (I'm visiting Roswell, NM on my way to spring break), the Lunar Landing and the secret planning of 9/11, but the negative conotations "conspiracy theory," put people off. It's more than just a late 90s movie with Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts.
The video, like many others before it (That's you Bowling for Columbine and Sicko), is the start of a conversation. It opens the door to questions and to better understanding. That's why I enjoyed watching this.
Ciao,

Today's BIG Thing

Today's a big day. I also discovered my new favorite website. It's incredible and possibly more entertaining than messing with my little brother/little sister/cat/roommate.
www.todaysbigthing.com
Ciao!