GAZA

Lately, I have gotten into so many discussions, with people having varying opinions, about the recent conflict surrounding Gaza. What surprised me was how little knowledge many people have about the history of the area.

Since I try my best to avoid politics in my blogs (one rarely convinces a person holding an opposing view) I thought that rather than share my views, I would simply re-print some information from Wikipedia and from the Associated Press.

People are left to form their own opinions:



The Gaza Strip (/ˈɡɑːzəˈstrɪp/;^[1] Arabic: قطاع غزة‎ Qiṭāʿ Ġazzah [qɪˈtˤɑːʕ ˈɣazza]), or simply Gaza, is an
exclave region of Palestine on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea that borders Egypt on the southwest for 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km (32 mi) border. Gaza makes up part of the Palestinian territories which includes the West Bank and in 2012, the United Nations General Assembly "accorded Palestine non-Member Observer State status in the United Nations".^[2]
In 1994, Israel granted the right of self-governance to Gaza through the Palestinian Authority. Prior to this, Gaza had been subject to military occupation, most recently by Israel (1967–94) and by Egypt (1948–67), and earlier by Great Britain (1918–48) and Turkey when Gaza had been part of the Ottoman Empire. Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de-facto governed by Hamas, a Palestinian group claiming to be the representatives of the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian people. Gaza forms a part of the Palestinian territory defined in the Oslo Agreements and UNSC Resolution 1860.^[3]

The Gaza Strip acquired its current northern and eastern boundaries at the cessation of fighting in the 1948 war, confirmed by the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement on 24 February 1949.^[8] Article V of the Agreement declared that the demarcation line was not to be an international border. At first the Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government, established by the Arab League in September 1948. All-Palestine in the Gaza Strip was managed under the military authority of Egypt, functioning as puppet state, until it officially merged into the United Arab Republic and dissolved in 1959. From the time of the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government until 1967, the Gaza Strip was directly administered by an Egyptian military governor. Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War in 1967. Pursuant to the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, the Palestinian Authority became the administrative body that governed Palestinian population centers while Israel maintained control of the airspace, territorial waters and border crossings with the exception of the land border with Egypt. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip under their unilateral disengagement plan. In July 2007, following the 2006 Palestinian legislative election and the Hamas takeover in 2007, Hamas had functioned as the de facto ruler in the Gaza Strip, forming an alternative Hamas Government in Gaza.

In 2014, following reconciliation talks, Hamas and Fatah formed a Palestinian unity government within the State of Palestine. Rami Hamdallah became the coalition's Prime Minister and has planned for elections in Gaza and the West Bank.^[9] In July 2014, a set of lethal incidents between Hamas and Israel led to the Israeli military launching Operation Protective Edge.

Today’s News: (8/8/14)
Israel resumed strikes on targets in Gaza in response to rocket fire from the area shortly after the expiration of a cease-fire between Israel and the terror group Hamas, Israeli military officials said Friday.
The renewed violence threw the Cairo talks on a broader deal into doubt. Hamas officials said they are ready to continue talks, but Israel's government spokesman said Israel will not negotiate under fire.
Hamas wants Israel to open Gaza's borders, following a seven-year closure also enforced by Egypt, but Israel says it will only do so if the Islamic militants disarm or are prevented from re-arming. Hamas has insisted it will never give up its arms.
The rockets appeared to have been an attempt by Hamas to exert pressure on Israel without triggering a major escalation. Smaller Gaza groups claimed responsibility, while there was no word from Hamas rocket squads.
However, Israel said it will not negotiate under such terms.
"When Hamas broke the cease-fire, when Hamas launched rockets and mortar shells at Israel, they broke the premise of the talks," said Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev, adding that "there will not be negotiations under fire."

Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007, and have since enforced it to varying degrees.

The closure led to widespread hardship in the Mediterranean seaside territory, home to 1.8 million people. Movement in and out of Gaza is limited, the economy has ground to a standstill and unemployment is over 50 percent.

Israel argues that it needs to keep Gaza's borders under a blockade as long as Hamas tries to smuggle weapons into Gaza or manufactures them there.

The militant group has said it is willing to hand over some power in Gaza to enable its long-time rival, Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to lead reconstruction efforts, but that it would not give up its arsenal and control over thousands of armed men.

The Gaza war grew out of the killing of three Israeli teens in the West Bank in June. Israel blamed the killings on Hamas and launched a massive arrest campaign, rounding up hundreds of the group's members in the West Bank, as Hamas and other militants unleashed rocket fire from Gaza.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO RICK RHODES

                My family and I have compiled some of my late husband’s best known songs and with the help of a friend, Caleb Lambert, we are making them available on iTunes as a Fathers’ Day Tribute to him. For those of you who did not know Rick, he was an extremely gifted singer and composer who earned at least two dozen Emmy Award nominations and who won five of them.

                To learn more about Rick, I suggest you look in this past November’s blog archive for an article I posted about him.

                Rick composed a wealth of music, songs and instrumentals, over the span of a lifetime. All of the songs chosen for this album are unique and have Rick's "sound". (Let's Be Lovers Again, which I wrote with Rick, was nominated for an Emmy Award in the nineties and Michael Feinstein opened his 2004 European Tour with They Don't Write 'Em Like That, a song about the "tin pan alley" days.)
                We are hoping to get the word out through social media: Facebook, Twitter, and blogs such as this. A percentage of any monies that might be accrued from the sale of this album/tracks will be donated to the Tug McGraw Foundation, the focus of which is "to provide support and resources for people affected by brain tumors and brain related trauma."

                We're appealing to everyone who knew Rick personally and to those who only knew him through his music to spread the word -- post it, share it, tweet it -- so that our goal of making it go viral can be realized. Rick would have loved this! If it does well, we would love to add some of his more obscure singles, some of his earlier work, and some of the music he composed for The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company.

                Thank you all in advance for helping spread the word and supporting our efforts! https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/best-of/id885106756

               

a

Date and Time my Lifetime Movie will be airing.

I am trying to get the word out in all forms of social media that the movie I wrote for Lifetime Television will be debuting shortly. For those of you who have not already heard, it is set to air on June 21, 2014. I believe it will be on a few times subsequently over the following day or two. Though the station is available to most people, if you don't get Lifetime, you might be able to access the movie online.

My original title, Empty Cradle was apparently too similar to a title used before so the network re-titled it. It is now called, Stolen From the Womb.

As you might recall from a previous blog I posted, my daughter and I flew to Vancouver to watch the movie being shot. It was a wonderful experience and we actually had small cameos in the film (look for us in the la- maze scene:)

For more information and a sneak preview go to:  http://www.mylifetime.com/movies/stolen-from-the-womb 

So set your DVRs and hope that we get good ratings!

Thank you,

Vivian

THE MAGIC CASTLE

It’s been quite a while since I blogged. Other writing commitments and life in general have taken up much of my time. I feel, though, compelled to write about my recent experience at the Magic Castle.

                What is the Magic Castle?  It is a private club in the heart of Hollywood that caters to those young and old who are intrigued by the art of magic. The members of this exclusive club are magicians and entry to the Castle is only allowed to members and their guests (although there are some ways of getting around this restriction if one is determined.)

                The building itself is quite unique. It was a mansion designed in the early 1900’s by  real estate developer, Rollin Lane and it remained in the Lane family until the mid-fifties. Eventually it was leased to  magic enthusiast, Milt Larson and his son Bill in 1961. Their intent was to create an atmosphere whereby magicians could perfect their craft.  They succeeded in doing so and the Magic Castle opened for business in 1963.

Over the years many additions have been made to the original structure, allowing for the inclusion of several theaters, bars, a library and other meeting spaces but the integrity of the Castle has remained constant. For example, there is a strict (and I mean strict) dress code that seems somewhat of an anathema in the 21^st. C.  Dress is formal. Men must wear jackets at all times (they may remove them to eat) and "properly knotted" ties must be worn. Needless to say, jeans and tennis shoes are forbidden. When one is at the Castle, the formality of dress is actually a plus and adds to the atmosphere, especially in this day and age when people rarely have the opportunity to dress up unless they’re on a cruise ship or walking the red carpet.

Nightly, five different magic performances are showcased in three different theaters, with additional performances added in the Peller as well as Hat and Hare Pub and W.C. Fields Bar on weekends Informal performance areas near the five bars give magician members the space to perform impromptu magic for guests and other patrons. In the music room, a piano is played by invisible "Irma," the Castle's "resident ghost," who takes musical requests. (My friends and I tried stumping Irma a few times, but “she” always came through with whatever obscure tune we requested.)

On the evening I attended I was part of a group invited to partake in a “séance held to communicate with magician Harry Houdini”. (For those interested, I posted a blog about the life of Houdini a while back.Check out the archives.) I was invited, along with my date, by my daughter and son-in-law who won this privilege by having placed first in a costume party last  Halloween.)

A mentalist held court, the table shook in darkness, and ultimately the séance turned out to be an enjoyable and unique experience, even for those present who were extreme cynics. (My date took great pains, when we left, to explain the illusions with the utmost of logic. It made no difference to me; in the moment, I was taken in by these illusions and I didn’t mind a bit.)

Can you think of movies with memorable séance scenes in them?  Offhand, The Changeling, Séance on a Wet Afternoon, Ghost, and The Uninvited come to mind. I know there are many more, particular in movies made in the “golden age”, the thirties and forties, when the topic of spiritualism was just beginning to be explored.

If you know a magician I strongly suggest you get yourself invited to the Magic Castle. It will be an evening you won’t forget soon.

Enjoy your week and thank you for reading,

RHODES LESS TRAVELLED

Vivian

MY LIFETIME MOVIE

          It’s been a very long time since I’ve blogged. Part of the reason for this is that for the past year I’ve been devoting my “writing energy” to completing one screenplay and revising another.

          With the support of my writing workshop and the guidance of its mentor, Ken Rotcop, I’m pleased to say that my efforts have paid off. I’ve just sold my first screenplay, EMPTY CRADLE, to Lifetime Television and production is expected to begin in Vancouver in November.

          At times the reaction I receive when I mention Lifetime is similar to the one I used to get when I wrote for the soaps.  Some people, mostly women, will “admit” to Lifetime being their “guilty pleasure” and others are adamant about “never having watched that kind of thing”. Incidentally, Lifetime Television and Lifetime Movie Channel are two different entities; the former deals primarily with stories inspired by true events, as mine was, whereas those aired on LMC do not.

          It is fair to say that movies on both Lifetime Television and on Lifetime Movie Channel tend to be formulaic and somewhat melodramatic at times, but isn’t there room for melodrama in the arts? I personally prefer this genre to, say, reality television.

          For those film buffs claiming to love classic films starring the likes of Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyk, Joan Crawford, and other leading ladies of the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, I would pose the following question: What do you suppose happened to the genre of film in which these actresses performed?  More importantly, what do you suppose happened to the audiences for those movies, such as those produced by Ross Hunter?

          The answer is obvious. The majority of mainstream films today are geared towards young men between the ages of 16 and 30. With fewer and fewer features targeting the male demographic over the age of 45, let alone the female demographic, movies whose subject matter concern themselves with love triangles, children given up for adoption and unfaithful husbands were not welcomed. With a few notable exceptions (Unfaithful, starring Diane Lane, The Call, starring Halle Berry) even thrillers, if they are female driven, are now relegated to television, specifically to LMC. The bottom line is that there is a need for this particular genre.

          What follows is a compilation of female driven films of yesterday that, had they been made today, might have easily found themselves aired on Lifetime Television or LMC. I’ve listed them in no particular order.

Stella Dallas                            (starring Barbara Stanwyk)

Back Street                              (starring Susan Hayward)

To Each His Own                    (starring Olivia DeHavilland)

My Name is Julia Ross            (starring Nina Foch)

Dark Victory                           (starring Bette Davis)

Madame X                               (starring Lana Turner)

Autumn Leaves                       (starring Joan Crawford)

Gaslight                                   (starring Ingrid Bergman)

Imitation of Life                      (starring Claudette Colbert)

Julia                                         (starring Doris Day)

          I think I’m in pretty good company and just as I had no compunction about “admitting” to watching as well as writing for daytime serials, I am proud to say that my first full length screenplay will be a Lifetime movie.

          I hope to begin blogging again as frequently as I can; thank you for following me in, RHODES LESS TRAVELLED.

Have a nice weekend, Vivian

GANGSTER MOVIES

Last week I went to see the movie, Gangster Squad, despite the somewhat insipid reviews it received (I rarely look to reviews alone knowing that there have been many movies which received great reviews that I didn’t care for).

            Admittedly, much about what I enjoyed about the movie was the setting. The story takes place in the late forties and is based on the fight the police put up in order to keep gangsters (specifically Mickey Cohen) out of Los Angeles.

            Aside from the music and costume of the era, the general feel of the film was old fashioned. My brother introduced me to gangster movies at an early age and this movie had some of the same elements of those films.

            Josh Brolin, the lead, was the perfect, square jawed hero of many a black and white film and Emma Stone was the consummate femme fatale. My favorite, however, was the good guy/bad guy character portrayed by Ryan Gosling. He calls to mind the pretty boy/gruff charm of Bill Holden as well as the dark, bad guy  seductiveness of Robert Mitchum. A dangerous and appealing combination for most women.

            Some reviewers balked at the gratuitous violence of the film but hasn’t that been the nature of all gangster films throughout the years?

            I’ve listed what are believed to be some of the best gangster movies of all time along with some of my own personal favorites (ie. Roaring Twenties is not usually on anyone’s list but is a favorite of mine).

PUBLIC ENEMY – 1931 (the first of 3 James Cagney movies I’ve listed)

LITTLE CAESAR – 1931 (Edward G. Robinson’s breakout role)

ROARING TWENTIES – 1939 (when Cagney begs Humphrey Bogart not to shoot a young soldier, telling him "the kid’s only about 16" Bogart replies, "well, he ain’t gonna live to see 17", then he shoots him.)

WHITE HEAT – 1949 (another Cagney classic)

THE GODFATHER - 1972 – (probably considered the best gangster movie ever, though I think II is arguably somewhat better than the first – don’t bother with III).

SCARFACE – 1983 (put this one on the list because my husband loved it; way, way too violent for my taste)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA – 1984 (classic epic starring Robert Di Niro)

THE UNTOUCHABLES – 1987 (Kevin Costner played a great Eliot Ness as a foil to Di Niro’s Capone in this De Palma film )

GOODFELLAS – 1990 – (One of my favorites. Memorable for Ray Liotta’s portrayal of Henry Hill, as well as  Joe Pesci’s portrayal of the perfect sociopath "you laughin’ at me?")

DONNIE BRASCO – 1997 – (great performance by Johnny Depp)

THE DEPARTED – 2006 – (wonderful Scorsese ensemble including Leonardo DeCaprio, Jack Nicholson, and Matt Damon)

(Honorable mention: Road to Perdition, Casino, Millers’ Crossing, Mean Streets, Carlito’s  Way, Pulp Fiction, Bugsy)

Thanks for reading Rhodes Less Traveled,  Vivian