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sss Smartly acted, handsomely filmed adaptation of Charlotte Bront's classic coming-of-age tale about a spirited young woman who becomes a governess for a wealthy man with a handsome face, a dour demeanor, and a family secret locked away in the attic. Charlotte Gainsbourg and William Hurt acquit themselves well in the leading roles, and smaller parts are superbly handled by a roster of first-rate British talents, including Joan Plowright, John Wood, and Billie Whitelaw. Anna Paquin portrays the young Jane. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli. V
Twin Peak Fire Walk With Me Torrent
sss A demented scientist forces a man and his robot friends to watch an old Hollywood movie, which they greet with a nonstop torrent of jokes, gags, and smart-alecky remarks. The picture they're heckling is a shorten-ed version of "This Island Earth," an entertaining 1955 fantasy that deserves more respect than the MST3K folks give it. But some of their wisecracks are funny, and the show is short enough (well under 90 minutes) to pass pretty painlessly. Jim Mallon directed the satire, which is identical to the award-winning TV series that spawned it. P V
In 1982, the Walkman had been out only three years, and I was living in Japan on the brink of adulthood, and it was perfect. The Walkman allowed me to occupy two places at once, to belong here and there. It accompanied me on my walk to school. It accompanied me on my train ride. It accompanied me when my palate finally started to change, and I exchanged the French fries for rice and fish and miso- shiru. It accompanied the skinny, long-haired Belen girl who became the not-so-skinny, spiky-topped, Japanese school girl. It was there when it became more difficult for me to speak English than Japanese. The little sisters of my second host family borrowed my Walkman and left behind their cassettes, and I listened to them too.
It was singing in very melodious tones through the long August afternoon two summers ago, while we, the chief, his happy-hearted wife, and bright young daughter, all lounged amongst the boulders and watched the lazy clouds drift from peak to peak far above us. It was one of his inspired days; legends crowded to his lips as a whistle teases the mouth of a happy boy; his heart was brimming with tales of the bygones, his eyes were dark with dreams and that strange mournfulness that always haunted them when he spoke of long-ago romances. There was not a tree, a boulder, a dash of rapid upon which his glance fell which he could not link with some ancient poetic superstition. Then abruptly, in the very midst of his verbal reveries, he turned and asked me if I were superstitious. Of course I replied that I was.
He ceased speaking with that far-off cadence in his voice with which he always ended a legend, and for a long time we both sat in silence listening to the rains that were still beating against the window.
But the most haunting of all the melodies is the warbling laughter of the Tulameen; its delicate note is far more powerful, more far-reaching than the throaty thunders of Niagara. That is why the Indians of the Nicola country still cling to their old-time story that the Tulameen carries the spirit of a young girl enmeshed in the wonders of its winding course; a spirit that can never free itself from the canyons, to rise above the heights and follow its fellows to the Happy Hunting Grounds, but which is contented to entwine its laughter, its sobs, its lonely whispers, its still lonelier call for companionship, with the wild music of the waters that sing forever beneath the western stars.
After a stay of several days in Manila, the first 250 workers leftby rail for Dagupan on July 17, 1903. Arriving there at night, they ate andwere billeted in the camarines (stores) around the market place. The nextmorning the men were issued with two days' rations and then set offwalking to Twin Peaks, a distance of some 35 miles, but inexplicably did notarrive there till late on the afternoon of July 20. There they received morefood and were told to find what shelter they could as it was too late toproceed the four miles further to the main construction camp that night. Thenext morning, as the men were lining up preparatory to leaving, two of thecapataces approached Mr. Holmes (Major Kennon being absent at the time) andin broken English "demanded" more rations, refusing to go anyfurther without them. (26) The men were duly given more rice and salt andpromised beef as soon as an animal was slaughtered. Again the men lined upready to depart when the same "youngster" once more approachedHolmes complaining that the women with them had not been issued any rations.Holmes had no authority to distribute food to anyone but laborers but, as thecapataz insisted, he complied "in order to preserve peace and get themstarted." (27) Finally, the men started off for the construction campwhen the young man returned a third time to ask how much the daily rate ofpay was and, on being informed that the amount was US25 cents gold andrations, "flew into a state of excitement and said that he had beenpromised $4 a day when his work became as good as an American's butunder any circumstances he was to get $2 a day and rations for each of hismen." The capataz then refused to take the men to the construction siteat Camp Three and instead positioned them in front of the chiefengineer's house where he said they would remain until the arrival ofMajor Kennon and the resolution of the matter. (28) Ross's report makesno further mention of events that day except to note that "the veryinstant" the fresh meat was distributed to the men "they simplytook it and walked deliberately out of camp." (29) Workers returningfrom the site, however, told a somewhat different tale, one in which Americanlaborers had kicked-over and broken the pots in which their rations werecooking, and how they had been denied shelter when the torrential rainsfrequent at that time of the year had fallen. (30)
American management techniques were at first largely coercivethough there were strict regulations governing the use of physical violence.A reluctant workforce was egged on to greater efforts by white foremenmouthing coarse language and foul invective. Victor Clark, whose detailedsurvey of labor remains one of the principal sources on colonial education,observed one such instance in which a white boss pouring forth a torrent ofAmerican-Spanish "contumely" was regarded by a gang of"bewildered" stevedores as simply "borracho o loco"(drunk or crazy). (52) While some foremen may have been constrained byinjunctions to avoid physical contact, others were not, and the whole roadsite was imbued "by the idea of force." Personal violence, however,proved to be both ineffective and self-defeating as employees did not workany faster, deserted at the first opportunity, and spread stories about harshtreatment that encouraged others to stay away. Ridicule was a much moreeffective method according to Chief Engineer Holmes. Men found"loafing" were made to stand in a prominent position holding asmall piece of rock: "This would tend to call upon him a sheaf ofwitticisms and remarks from his collaborators, who would work with anincreased vim for some time." (53) On another occasion, a foreman wasable to appeal to the indigenous sense of hiya (shame) to induce his squad toclimb a river canyon side. On reaching the 50-foot ladder, the men hadcategorically refused to ascend, proving equally deaf to threats or appeals,and had only done so after the disgusted foreman had ordered his wife tomount: "She did so and the whole party, following her, moved on itsway." (54) Yet despite all these schemes, the men would "not do anhonest, full day's work" and could only be kept at work at allunder the vigilance of "a white foreman." (55)
Over time and with persistence, greater success followed: laborersgradually realized that theirs and their patrons' interests diverged.U.S. government employers kept patrons away from the premises, while tellingworkers that they had no need to share their wages and would always be ableto find employment when they sought it. Foremen found engaging inexploitative practices were promptly fired and the grounds for theirdismissal made known to all concerned. A white foreman discovered committingsimilar practices was discharged, arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to sixmonths in Bilibid Prison. (77) Care, too, was taken to ensure that workerswere not abused or mistreated. Bosses and foremen had habitually struck menwho showed insolence or did not obey promptly. Now anyone found guilty ofstriking an employee faced immediate discharge, and the regulation'sstrict enforcement was credited with inducing a marked change in attitudestoward work and overtime. (78) Workers responded well to the new situation.By 1902 most enterprises in Manila no longer had problems in securingsufficient labor. Butt reported considerable progress: men receiving regularwages, furnished with steady employment, and not paying anyone for theprivilege of working had the "effects on the laboring classes throughoutthe city in getting away from the clutches of padrones and others who havebeen robbing the laborer of his earnings." (79) The situation in ruralareas, however, was far more difficult though here, too, the influence ofsuch policies was substantial. Such was even the case regarding laborconditions on the Benguet Road in the aftermath of the fiasco ofPoblete's obreros and under the new management of Major Kennon.
While the walk-out at the mountain campsite was evidently ofconsiderable moment to the workers concerned and demanded the immediateattention of the American officials involved, the whole affair was ofconsequence to a third group of people. Moreover, it is largely due to theactivities of this latter group that Poblete's obreros are remembered atall: that they became first the subject of public scrutiny, then the focus ofofficial inquiry, and ultimately the central characters of historicalreconstruction. To a radical intelligentsia in the capital city bent onopposing American rule, the episode at Twin Peaks presented a perfectopportunity to publicize the nationalist cause, embarrass the civiladministration and discredit political opponents who had chosen accommodationwith the archipelago's new rulers. These were the literati that FelipeCalderon had identified as those principally responsible for the rebellion.(93) They composed a "third estate" of clerks and writers distinctfrom the landed rich or the rural poor who profited from the continuing chaosof war to improve their social status. (94) Their chosen weapon was not thegun but a "war of words," a torrent of radical journalism, labororatory, seditious theatre and religious nationalism that they unleashed uponthe invaders and those who supported them. 2ff7e9595c
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