Jesse Stone

Jesse Stone is a former LAPD detective who moved across the country to Paradise, Massachusetts to be a small-town police chief.  Jesse is a divorcee and alcoholic.  These problems led him to leave California.

Stone Cold (2005): Police Chief Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) is called to the beach.  Officer Simpson had been patrolling and spotted a dog sitting among the rocks.  When he went to check on the dog, he saw a dead man, presumably the dog's owner.  The man had two bullet holes in his chest.  He was not a citizen of Paradise.  The investigation has hardly begun than another person is found dead with two bullet holes.  Is this one shooter or possibly two?  Jesse collects license plates and interviews the vehicle owners.  One couple, a husband and wife, strike Jesse as peculiar and worthy of further investigation.  Meanwhile, a rape case has also landed in his lap.  The victim is a high schooler.  Jesse arrests one of the boys and soon finds himself accosted by attorney Rita Fiore (Mimi Rogers) who threatens legal consequences.  After that, she throws herself at Jesse but he declines the offer.  He already has a bedmate, Abby Taylor (Polly Shannon).  Lastly, there is the question of the dog.  Initially, Jesse adopts the dog while he looks for a better home.  Inevitably, the serial murder, the rape case, and the dog adoption converge in the climax.

Night Passage (2006): Jesse Stone stared out at the ocean with his dog at his side.  A police officer stopped to check on him and observed that he smelled alcohol.  Jesse admitted to being drunk but said he'd sober up before he drives.  Moreover, he revealed that he's a former cop.  Despite being the second movie, this predates Stone Cold.  Here we see Jesse drive cross country with his dog to interview for the job of chief in Paradise.  He is a bit surprise when he gets the job.  "I wouldn't have hired me," he confides to one of the police officers.  He has hardly begun the job than his predecessor - Chief Carson - is found murdered.  While getting to know the town, he starts up an affair with Abby Taylor the city attorney.  He is also propositioned by Cissy Hathaway, wife of one of the city councilmen, Hasty Hathaway (Saul Rubinek).  Of course, Cissy has had many affairs.  Among the issues that he must tackle are a spousal abuse case, the murder of Chief Carson, and establishing a rapport with his 3 police officers.  Interestingly, because this is a prequel, a character who died in Stone Cold is brought back.  Unexpected.

For some reason, Jesse finds women throwing themselves at him.  Sure, he's played by Tom Selleck, but some random drunkard in his 50s shouldn't be getting this much action.  His ex-wife calls him regularly though we never see her.  One gets the impression that he still loves her but is exasperated and exhausted by her.  But he doesn't want her to stop calling.  In general, Jesse is a sad fellow who rarely smiles and might be suffering depression.  This is not Magnum P. I.

I watched these on Amazon.  Just okay.  Selleck fans might enjoy it.  However, Bosch is better.

Lt. Charles Hunter: Court Martial!

General Quitman had marched his brigade through unpleasant terrain to achieve a joint capture of Alvarado with the Navy under Commodore Perry.  However, upon arriving at the outskirts of Alvarado, he was startled to find the stars and stripes flying over the fortress.  In fact, the city was already captured and Quitman's march had been for naught.

With the fall of Vera Cruz, the troops at Alvarado had foreseen an inevitable loss to an American assault.  If Vera Cruz had fallen, Alvarado was doomed.  The garrison had marched away as soon as an American ship was spotted off the coast, evacuating with whatever war material it could.

For having captured 4 Mexican ships and captured two Mexican towns, Lt. Charles Hunter was court martialed.  He had arrived in the theater less than a week prior.  The charges pressed against him were 1) Treating with contempt his superior, and 2) disobedience of orders.  On the first, he had captured Alvarado without the authority to do so, he had captured Tlacotalpan without authority, and finally he had captured and burned a ship without authority.  On the second, he had been ordered to report to Captain Breese and assist in the blockade, not enter the harbor to capture the town.  Lastly, he failed to report in person to Commodore Perry at 10 AM.

Hunter's defense to the charges was that he had little choice.  When the enemy offers a white flag, what was he supposed to do?  Decline to accept the surrender?  When news of escaping ships came his way and he was not in immediate contact with his superior, what should he do?  Let them go?  Regarding the grounded ship, should he have left the cargo for the enemy to salvage?  When he arrived at Tlacolplan, should he have left the enemy ships at the port and declined the surrender of this town?  As for being late, he admitted to forgetting the appointment.

The findings were that he was guilty on both counts though not all the specifics.  He was therefore reprimanded and dismissed from the theater.  For an ambitious officer, this was a heavy blow.  Promotion and advancement, glory and distinction were won during conflicts.  He was sent back to the US to find out what would become of his career.

Though his immediate commanders did not appreciate his energy and flouting of command, the American public was more forgiving.  He was greeted as the hero of the hour in New York and presented a sword.  He gained the name of "Alvarado" Hunter.  In August 1847, he was given command of the schooner Taney and sent to the Mediterranean.

Lt. Charles Hunter: Scourge of Alvarado

As the Mexican-American War was underway, the US Navy needed more ships.  It purchased the USS Bangor and rechristened it as the USS Scourge, a gunboat.  Lt. Charles Hunter, then 37 years-old, was given command and sent to join the fleet in the Gulf of Mexico.  He arrived on station on the day that Veracruz had surrender.  He reported to Commadore Matthew Perry, who had recently taken over from Commadore Conner.

Commadore Perry had been serving as second in command for several month.  Now that Veracruz was secured, he had plans to capture less important ports, most notably Alvarado.  The US Navy had already made two efforts to capture the well-fortified port but had to retreat each time.  He had consulted with General Winfield Scott about a joint operation to capture Alvarado.  It was only a 30-mile march from Veracruz.  Scott agreed and allocated General Quitman's brigade to help capture Alvarado.  With this in mind, Perry ordered Lt. Hunter to Alvarado where he was to report to Captain Breese of the Albany.  There, he would maintain the blockade of that port.  Lt. Hunter eagerly set out.

The Scourge was a steamer with only 3 guns and 50 men.  Arriving at Alvarado, Hunter saw no sign of the Albany.  The Albany was a sloop-of-war, having only sails for propulsion.  The wind along the gulf coast had presented difficulties for staying on station.  Certain that the Albany would appear in a day or two, the Scourge took up a position off the coast and fired at the fort.  The following day, he resumed his bombardment only to have the fort surrender!  Both pleased and astonished, he navigated into the port and demanded that Alvarado surrender.  The city complied immediately.  One of Hunter's crew was fluent in Spanish and learned that the garrison had fled after the bombardment, departing with several ships as well as military equipment.  Hunter left a midshipman and several sailors to hold the fort at Alvarado and immediately steamed upriver.

Shortly, he caught one of the ships.  It had run aground.  Viewing it as not worthy of salvage but also not wanting it left to the enemy, he set it ablaze.  Continuing his cruise, he captured 3 ships and secured the surrender of Tlacotalpan, a town on the Papaloapan River.  He put prize crews on the captured ships and returned to Alvarado.

When Commadore Perry received word of Lt. Hunter's exploits, he decided how to proceed in a snap.  Here was a man who had accomplished with one small ship what the whole fleet had failed to do on two previous occasions.  Clearly, this called for a court-martial!

Mohawk (2017)

It is the War of 1812 in upstate New York.  Joshua Pinsmail, a British agent, tries to enlist the Mohawk to the British cause.  Most of them refuse.  However, Calvin Two Rivers thinks they should fight the Americans.  Viewing his mission as a failure, Joshua ponders his departure; he will miss Okwaho, his Mohawk lover.  Joshua, Okwaho - nicknamed "Oak" - and Calvin travel together.  One night, Calvin left their camp and killed 20 American soldiers in their sleep!  Unsurprisingly, a band of Americans are soon on their trail for vengeance.  The Americans catch up to the trio just as the trio are conversing with other Mohawk.  The tense situation inevitably results in conflict where arrows fly and muskets bark.  The trio make good their escape, but the remaining Americans continue the pursuit.

The story transforms into a horror movie as Oak - who has had visions of a skull-faced apparition from the start - dons such a costume and hunts down the Americans.  Somehow, despite having suffered grievous wounds, she is able to outrun them, setup traps, and fight in toe-to-toe combat, and displays superhuman strength.  Has she been possessed by some Mohawk spirit of vengeance?  No.  She's just that cool.

Oak is the main character.  She wears a mini skirt and short-sleeved tunic.  She looks entirely unlike a Mohawk squaw.  Everyone else has a reasonably accurate period costume or uniform, so this proves to be a significant anachronism.  Worse, it all fits rather loosely so she isn't the gratuitously sexy Mohawk.

The Americans are led by Colonel Holt.  He has two soldiers, a tracker, and an interpreter.  Despite being deep in the woods and far from any backup, he acts as though he is leading a full regiment of men.  Whenever one of his men dies, he views it as a reason to continue rather than a warning that he is beyond his depth.  Worse, he expands his mission from simply capturing Calvin to capturing all three.  Why?  Basically, the Americans are doomed to self-destruct thanks to Holt's recklessness.

One of the Americans, Private Lachlan Allsopp, is a giant.  Played by Jon Huber, a real life wrestler, he towers over everyone at 6'5" tall.  Interestingly, Allsopp claims to be a veteran of the Battle of Tippecanoe, which took place in Indiana in 1811.  How is he still a private?

Mediocre.  Skip.

Trudeau Resigns

After nearly 10 years as prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau has announced his resignation.  For most of my life, Canada was a land to the north that rarely made news.  It was a great place for generating talent, kind of like the minor leagues for baseball.  So many famous entertainers come from Canada, like Bob and Doug McKenzie.  Take off, hoser.  With the arrival of Trudeau, Canada started being newsworthy, and not in a good way.  Here is a handsome and charming man whose policies are clearly terrible.  Things have gotten demonstrably worse in Canada during his tenure.

The timing of his resignation is interesting.  If Kamala Harris had won the presidency, would Trudeau be on his way out?  Rather than a clearly contentious relationship with Trump in his near future, is he bowing out to let some other member of the Liberal Party get browbeaten by the Orange Overlord?  With a coming election this year that he is unlikely to win, why stick around for the coming turmoil.  Apres moi le deluge.

Though it is almost certainly a joke, the idea of Canada as a 51st state isn't such a bad idea.  Clive Cussler had it happen in one of the Dirk Pitt novels and that was pretty cool; I forget which novel that was, but a treaty where the UK sold Canada to the US for WWII aid was discovered in some sunken hulk.  As far as population and GDP, it is about the same as California.  Huh, Gavin Newsome and Justin Trudeau have that same quality of handsome charmers who sell snake oil policies.

Canada has turned a corner and better days lay ahead.

Strange Duty of VP Presidential Candidates

Today, Vice President Kamala Harris certified the 2024 election in favor of her opponent, Donald Trump.  She is not the first vice president to have that uncomfortable duty.  Al Gore certified the 2000 election - in which he won the popular vote - for George W Bush.  Hubert Humphrey certified Richard Nixon's 1968 victory.  Nixon could sympathize with Humphrey, having been in the same position in 1960, when he certified his defeat against John F Kennedy.  One has to go back a century to find another sitting VP and failed presidential candidate announcing his opponent's victory.  John C Breckinridge was James Buchanan's VP.  He was one of 3 candidates opposing Lincoln and placed 2nd in the electoral college.  In February 1861, he announced that "Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, having received a majority of the whole number of electoral votes, is elected President."  He then joined the Confederacy to oppose Lincoln in a less civilized fashion.

By contrast, only two VPs have had the joyous opportunity to preside over a victory.  VP George Bush certified his victory in the 1988 election.  Prior to him, one has to go back to Martin Van Buren who won the 1836 election as Andrew Jackson's VP.

The remaining two men who jumped directly from VP to presidency did so prior to the 12th Amendment.  As Washington's VP, John Adams was elected in 1796, but his opponent, Thomas Jefferson, won the vice-presidency.  The awkwardness of having the president and VP from rival parties brought about the 12th Amendment so that - generally - each party put up their picks for each office.  Thus, in 1800, Adams and Jefferson had a rematch but selected VP candidates; Aaron Burr for Jefferson and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney for Adams.  The Jefferson-Burr ticket won, but both had identical electoral vote totals.  Now Burr argued that he had just as much right to be president as Jefferson.  This triggered a contingent election where the House had to choose, thus denying Jefferson the opportunity to announce his victory.

Stranger in a Strange Land

To explore Mars, humanity gathered a diverse and accomplished group of people - half men and half women - and sent them off.  Earth lost contact with the explorers before anything was learned of Mars.  25 years later, another ship was sent.  This one discovered a survivor of the first mission.  It was a young man named Michael Valentine Smith, who was born the first crew and raised by Martians.  Yes, there are Martians.   Michael then returned to Earth with the second mission and finds he is bewildered by the actions of humanity.  He is soon adopted by Jubal Harshaw, an all-knowing sage who rambles about how the world is and how it should be.  However, it turns out that Martians are vastly more advanced than humans, such that Michael can perform real magic.  When attacked, a pair of men simply vanished.  Nothing can truly threaten Mike unless he allows it.  As he matures, he discovers women.  You see, there are no sexes on Mars.  He is quite delighted by women.  When he explored religion, he decided it was all wrong and established a religion of his own, the Church of All Worlds.  This did not go over well with existing religions and Mike was soon the target of law enforcement and mobs.  Where will it all lead?

The book is long and mostly plodding.  Jubal will talk your ear off.  He is a lawyer and medical doctor, but earns a living by writing stories.  By the end, it felt like Heinlein had inserted himself into the book in the person of Jubal Harshaw.  For a sci-fi book, there isn't much sci-fi.  Sure, Mike can do telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, astral projection, and various other things, but that's nothing new.  There are flying cars, bounce tubes (new-fangled elevators that seem dangerous), space travel (not that it plays any part in the story after getting Mike to Earth), and what sounds like a 3D television.  Ugh.  You think commercials are bad now, the commercials interrupt the action in the future.  "And now back to the mob violence, sponsored by Space Soap."

Though Mike is the main character, he is mostly off screen.  His actions are described by others to the latest recruit or - most often - Jubal.  His new religion is communal living in a 'nest' where orgies and naked swim parties occur.  Yeah, there is a lot of sex, discussion of sex, sexual mores, and so on.  Learning Martian is key to gaining Mike's powers and he works at breakneck speed to generate a Martian dictionary and train his followers in Martian.

Overall, it was mediocre.  Maybe I didn't grok it.  I have liked most Heinlein books I have read, but stopped reading him after Friday.  The heroine was named Friday and she was an artificial person who, unbeknownst to her, was pregnant.  I don't recall much beyond that.  It was no Starship Troopers, Space Cadet, or Have Spacesuit Will Travel.  But there was a similar vibe between that book and Stranger.

Skip.