In Smog & Thunder
2002-10-09 18:46:53+00 by TC 4 comments
In Smog & Thunder is a film about the inevitable war between Northern and Southern California. They have some obvious technical problems but it's an interesting story.
2002-10-09 18:46:53+00 by TC 4 comments
In Smog & Thunder is a film about the inevitable war between Northern and Southern California. They have some obvious technical problems but it's an interesting story.
[ related topics: History California Culture ]
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#Comment made: 2002-10-10 01:36:49+00 by: other_todd
I'm not so interested in the film, but thanks for that page, Todd. It led me to a link in the L.A. Times that told me that the San Fernando Valley is actually trying to secede from Los Angeles! So is Hollywood.
It's interesting; I've been delving through all the various websites (I'd dig through the L.A. Times archives too, but all their more interesting-looking past articles on this require registration), and I can't find anything that sounds like the REAL reasons for me. Everyone is arguing the issue in terms of money, taxes, schools, municipal services, et cetera and I don't believe that for a minute. Someone thinks their town would suck less if it weren't attached to L.A. - that's my suspicion - or are trying to flee something else they associate with being part of the Los Angeles Monster.
The truth, of course, is that Los Angeles has been placed on earth to instill in us a fear of Hell by giving a sneak preview. It originally had a second purpose, which was to keep San Francisco from being hopelessly overpopulated with clueless hipsters, but it has failed in that mission.
#Comment made: 2002-10-10 02:05:46+00 by: other_todd
My final paragraph above was mostly intended as a joke, of course, but it's true that I have an unreasonable bias against Los Angeles. It's also true that I am really enjoying reading about this little war. It amuses me because of my bias. It's like someone shouting "Our hellhole is better than their hellhole! We don't want to be a part of their hellhole anymore!" OK, OK, I'll be good. Seems like all the money is on the anti-secession side, and it also seems like the votes are against them, since they can't just vote themselves out - it's gotta pass by a majority of ALL of Los Angeles voters. I've been waiting to find a site which invokes the spectre of race issues, but so far every page has been coy about that except this one, which I think should be taken with a largish grain of salt. (Dig down far enough and you'll find the race discussion.) Anybody in that area want to shed some light on this from the local perspective?#Comment made: 2002-10-10 02:49:07+00 by: Diane Reese
This reminds me too much of The Fifth Sacred Thing, a heavy-handed book written in '93 by Starhawk, about the future California, with enlightened folk from the gentle, peaceful San Francisco area (where the streets have all been torn up and replaced with organic gardens, benevolently ruled over by revered matriarchal witches) pitted against the vile, "righteous" right from the LA-area south, which is employing both conventional and biological warfare against the pacifist-leaning north. It's way over the top, but suited some of my prejudices just fine. (And it has sex, too.) If I'd read it as an impressionable 16-year-old girl, it might have affected and motivated me in the same way Silent Running did in 1971.
#Comment made: 2002-10-11 15:56:07+00 by: TC
Wow Todd, I find the secession thing very interesting. I happen to live in a community Glen Cove(4,000 pop) that once tried to secede from Vallejo(115,000 pop) but failed about 11 years ago. You would think people would welcome an exodus of people that no longer wish to be part of that community but it becomes more an issue of power and resources and thus doomed. Quite sad really.
Diane, I had a friend once that adopted three cats and I coerced her into naming them huey, luey and duey...