God Save The Queen, She Is Human After All

The Queen

Director: Stephen Frears

By: Kurt von Behrmann

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” wrote William Shakespeare. More than one monarch has no doubt found a profound truth in those words. It is this quote that opens, and effectively frames, the heart of Director Stephen Frears, The Queen, a film that chronicles the immediate aftermath, and subsequent fall out, that struck the U.K. and the British Royal family after the death of the late Princess Diana.

Instead of focusing on the contentious relationship between the late Diana with her regal in-laws, or the fascination her every movement generated, the centerpiece is on the manner in which the royals, and in particular Elizabeth II, responded to a nation swept by grief when a car accident one night in Paris took away one of the world’s most loved figures.

Whether or not the depiction here is an accurate one isn’t a concern. It is certainly an entertaining one that provides an interesting what if account of the conversations and deliberations that took place behind closed doors. One has the distinct impression you are witnessing the real nuanced conversations and activities that take place when the cameras are gone and statesmen, royals, servants and handlers operate within the cloistered realms of tradition and power.

Propelled by witty dialogue augmented by stellar performances all the way around, more on those later, Peter Morgan’s script is an economical, but highly effective, vehicle that includes some one liners that are all the more arresting when coming from sources you would least likely expect to be comedic.

A prime example is when Elizabeth II learns the new Prime Minister wants to remove the formality of his office by using first names. When she utters, with total sarcasm, the line, “Hello Tony,” in a mocking imitation of what greetings at 10 Downing Street would be, the condescension and disapproval are dripping with acid.

Having played Elizabeth I, and now Elizabeth II, Helen Mirren seems custom made for these parts. Here she gives what is obviously an Oscar caliber performance. Using the most subtle of tools, she effectively conveys the essence of a woman who at an early age found her self locked into a role that she proceeded to devote her life with stoic workmanlike resolve.

It is that strict attention to detail and formality that have made her successful in confronting adversity, while simultaneously creating a distance between herself and the world at large.

Mirren conveys the disconnect while project the power of such a post. Never losing sight of the weight of her character, she provides glimpses into the person behind the position. Her handling lends a certain sympathy critical to understanding the psyche of a person living in a highly rarified environment that is as nullifying as it is privileged.

Michael Sheen, who has not received a lot of attention, gives a dead ringer performance as Tony Blair. Self possessed, confident and slightly arrogant, Sheen creates an instantly recognizable type familiar to anyone who has ever spent time with an elected official. Providing a perfect counter weight to Mirren, Sheen gives an equally magnificent performance. No less convincing, and equally important, is that of his wife.

Helen McCrory gives to Cherie Blair a cynical sneer that provides an interesting commentary on the evolving relationship between the Queen and the Prime Minister. As her husband becomes more enamored with royalty, Cherie airs the view of those who feel that monarchs are at best pampered relics of little use in a contemporary world.

When she brings up the cost of maintaining the extravagance of their life style, and virtually tax free status, you can see Blair becoming defensive. He practically bristles when she suggests the U.K. become a republic minus hereditary royals. Although Blair is a Labour Party member, one can see the changes proximity to long term power can have, and how little time it takes to change even the most firm minded.

While the film does deal with that subject, royals versus non royals and class distinctions, the central core of the film is how Elizabeth II dealt with the consequences of Diana’s death. What made things so problematic for the Queen was that Diana was no longer an HRH. Having been “de royaled” if you will, the notion of orchestrating a state funeral becomes a violation of protocol. For a monarch whose entire world is built upon tradition, formal relationships and a strict adherence to unbreakable rules, she makes the only choices she can given her training.

By the rule book, she was correct in her decisions. However, nothing in her manual on “how to be a good monarch” took into consideration the feelings of the people, their attachment to Diana, or the fact that the royal family’s silence was not perceived as dignified grief as the Queen and her retinue believed. It was interpreted as icy cold indifference.

In a media world, where that which is private is all to frequently made public, public relations is critical to being in the “game.” The tempo of the times, the barometer by which Kings and Queens assess the mood of the people, was unavailable to the Queen, and in particular her husband, the consort Prince Phillip.

Played with stiff resolve by James Cromwell, in this drawing of his character, he comes off as an out of touch, insensitive snobbish over bearing jerk. His son, Charles, comes off less abrasive, but no less sleazy. Living in fear the populace will turn on him, he takes great pains to look appropriately mournful, primarily out of concern that he will be held personally liable for the death of his former wife dubbed The People’s Princess.

Persuaded by Blair to make a more outward display and address the populace, a reluctant Queen follows the advice, all the while unsure and shaky about the appropriateness of it all. When Prince Phillip utters the line, “Sleeping in the streets and pulling out their hair for someone they never knew. And they think we're mad,” it brings a certain balance to a situation that from the outside appears drastically different.

Seeing the vantage point the royals had toward the entire episode, and their cryptic response seems less detached and more in touch with a time and place when private lives were private.

While the inability of the Queen to effectively “read” her subjects was impaired, when she opted to come forward, she showed the type of flexibility, adjustability and innate understanding of power and perception that have allowed the Windsors to remain crowned heads that are more than just figure heads.

Much of what takes place in The Queen is pure conjecture. However, none of the suppositions and guess work stop this from being wildly entertaining. For royal watchers, historians and serious film lovers, Stephen Frear has produced yet another brilliant effort that shows a perspective on life in the U.K. that may come as a complete surprise to those of us on these shores.

The Singing TV Guys: From News to Musical Muse

(Above Mike Chamberlin and to the right, Chris Coraggio, The Singing T.V. Guys)

By Kurt von Behrmann

“We were at a Sun’s game and he said, ‘I hear you sing,’” recalled Mike Chamberlin -- Morning and Afternoon News Anchor for Channel Five K.P.H.O. (Phoenix Arizona) -- on how he and Chris Coraggio became the “The Singing TV guys.” Perhaps more familiar to Valley residents as news personalities, Coraggio is the primary Sports Anchor for Channel Five. For Chamberlin, music has been more than just a pastime; it nearly became a full time career.

“When I was nineteen, I was signed to Columbia,” says Chamberlin, who was in a series of bands on the West Coast including one progressive one, Volume 8 Number 44, the title taken from an issue of T.V. guide. The California native, who incidentally still surfs, was just about ready to take the plunge into music full time when Uncle Sam called. It effectively ended his musical career. Surviving Vietnam, he was on the G.I. bill and ready to enter broadcasting. “I got tired of coming home smelling of smoke,” explains Chamberlin on his reasons for saying goodbye to music and hello to broadcasting.

Working his way from radio to television, he has managed to survive in a business where most are nomadic, and careers can be brief. Having been with Channel 3 for 17 years, he recently moved to Channel 5 “This is like a whole new beginning for me here, and it is terrific,” says Chamberlin. However, his musical association with Coraggio took place prior to the move. Due to the fact they were at different stations, they did not have the opportunity to make public their second careers as musicians on the air. “We were kind of in the closet,” says Chamberlin.

Although at competing stations, that did not prevent them from performing together, or knowing it was going to work. “We knew immediately we were going to mesh,” says Chamberlin. Performing their own compositions and covers, they worked so well together that it seems like a match made in musical heaven. “We have never had an argument over music,” says Chamberlin adding, “we are so compatible musically.”

In an odd tennis accident, Chamberlin broke “the money finger,” aka the index finger, on his right hand. “The surgeon said it will never be like before, but I was hell bent on making music,” says Chamberlin. Not one to give up, he locked himself in a room and relearned the chords. Taking it even further, he sought his original guitar teacher who helped him with some work around solutions. In an odd way the accident proved to have a positive outcome. “If I had not broken my finger, I wouldn’t have been as serious about it, or gotten with Chris,” says Chamberlin.

Performing in a wide spectrum of venues, including one where they had unknowingly found themselves booked in a home for mentally challenged individuals, which interestingly enough turned out to be one of their most personally rewarding moments, it is RV parks and senior homes where they have found their core audience. “I hope when I am in one someone sings to me,” says Chamberlin.

Performing as many as 215 shows annually, and taking the responsibility of arranging concerts and setting up on their own, they have no roadies. They have successfully juggled busy careers and managed to never miss a gig. They even found time to produce their own CD.

Cover numbers like “Take Me Out To The Ballgame,” and new compositions like “The Newsroom Blues,” co authored by the duo are included. Parodying such personalities as Beverly Kidd, Kent Dana and Tara Hitchcock in their self penned effort, Lin Sue Cooney managed to escape inclusion. Then again, it is rather hard to fit the name into a rhyme scheme, but knowing then again with the singing TV guys, perhaps little is impossible.

Providing Choices: Annie Loyd

Annie Loyd, Congressional Candidate

Note:
Recently, Annie Loyd announced that she is withdrawing from the race for U.S. Congress for the 3rd Congressional District in Arizona.

“There is no doubt that partisan politics has brought us to an impasse, has brought us to this fork in the road, it has brought us to being unable to pass any type of legislation that moves us forward as a society and we have to start somewhere,” said Annie Loyd. As an independent running for U.S. Congress, she has put herself in the front lines of Arizona politics. Should she win, she would make the history books.

If Loyd triumphs against Democrat Bob Lord and Republican incumbent John Shadegg, she would make history as the first independent woman to hold such an office. As an open and out Lesbian, she would make yet another first in the political arena. Usually front runners who put themselves in such a position are those that started out with that in mind. In the case of Loyd, the idea of running was not a first consideration.

As a small business owner, she was the managing partner of a residential construction company in Arizona, she had firsthand experience working on political campaigns and with non profits —including HIV-AIDs groups. The move to elected office appeared imminent.

“ Running as an independent for congress allows me to have an independent voice not attached to party politics, without highly paid consultants telling me what to say , who to say it to, who to take money from representing a system that is broken, representation a system that promotes parties and not the good of the people,” said Loyd.

“I care about people, humanity. And in my state in Arizona I am outraged by the fact that we are not more outraged at what is going on here to our failure to promote renewable energy resources, economic generator. Our failure to bring forth good ideas with regards to health care, our failure to address immigration, these are systems failures.”

A hot button issue in the Southwest, and increasingly one in other parts of the U.S. as illegal immigration has had an impact on the agenda of politicians on both sides of the ideological fence, Loyd has no difficulty in assessing the damage, or pin pointing the attempted solutions to the issue.

“We (The State of Arizona ) are the epicenter. We are the laboratory. We are the chemistry experiment, put a little of this in, and see what is going to happen. Eventually we are going to have an explosion.”

Loyd has no problem in situating the blame for some of the current state of affairs in Arizona on one very popular, and very controversial, political figure.
“People like sheriff Joe Arpio are adding that chemistry of hate and fear and playing on people’s hate and fear,” said Loyd adding, “They are utilizing their position as law enforcement agencies to intimidate hard working men and women.”

Loyd underscores the complexity of the issue and the the lack of venues for the expression of concerns.

“Another aspect is the lack of serious open discussion about the problem. And that is part of the problem are the lack of discussions going on, substantive discussions, about immigration because it is so confusing. So people say, ‘Well gosh I want secure borders, ‘ people want safety and yet there is something going on inside of them that touches their humanity and says there is something not right about this and they are uncomfortable with it, but they don’t know how to speak out about it.”

“The policy issue around immigration is more complex than our tax codes. So it is difficult for rational sane citizens in Arizona to know what to stand for and stand against,” says Loyd.
Recently in Arizona those who are believed to be illegal immigrants were rounded up by local officials in a raid to remove illegal immigrants. The actions of Sheriff Arpaio have been the cause of some concern in the Governor’s office. When considering that 40,000 warrants have been allowed to go without action while the County Sheriff utilizes resources to round up those believed to be illegal, his recent actions have has caused a storm of controversy. Considered by some as an act of overt racism, the effectiveness of these round ups has been called into question, along with their legality.

Considering that the Sherif’s post is a political one in part, his recent actions have come under scrutiny. Considering the current budgetary limits – the state has experienced a tax shortfall -- the limited resources available to law enforcement to handle known offenders with warrants, some have considered these moves as little more than political posturing to appease a public frustrated by the infectiveness of local and federal officials to arrive at realistic solutions to the long term problem of illegal immigration.

For Loyd, it is the very political nature of the two party system that is to blame for the ineffectiveness of government both locally and nationally in dealing with the issue.
“Partisan politics has stolen the voice of individuals. Partisan politics has stolen the voice of ‘We the people,’ which our constitution was based on ,” says Loyd.

“Republicans want to believe that their party stands for conservative values. And co responsibility, yet we have a nine trillion dollar deficient under republicans,” says Loyd.
She is no less critical of the other side.

“Democrats want to believe that their party is the party of employer sanction laws, the suppression instituted by sheriff Joe Arpio is impeding upon the constitutional rights of individuals everyday and the democrats, both the democratic party in the state and its leaders, have failed to speak out and represent the hard working men and women in this State,”said Loyd.

“ When NAFTA was passed by the Clinton administration it was to bring Mexico’s economy into alignment with the U.S. When the U.S. does well Mexico does well, if the U.S. doesn’t do well Mexico doesn’t do well.”

“ Mexico’s population is leveling out now. They have issues with immigration from Guatemala, El Salvador, the Honduras just like we have challenges with immigration. Immigration is an issue for nearly every country around the world, and that brings up issues of globalization. It brings up issues of multi national corporations , but it goes to the heart and soul of do we value people or do we value property.”

“Go back to our forefathers like Henry Ford,” said Loyd adding, “They knew building their companies that built the United States, the economic generators for the U.S. , was that the most important capital were their workers. In both our work force and our military we have forgotten that we are human beings, that we are people,” said Loyd.

It is that very lack of focus, lack of priority given to individuals that Loyd attributes as the cause for frustration on the part of voters, and society in general.

“We have lost our moral compass, “ said Loyd adding, “We have become so enmeshed in consumerism, acquiring a bigger house, acquiring a bigger car, that we have failed to remember what is truly important.”

“I think it happened over a long period of time in our society, I think has become a cultural issue. And in the light of all of this ugliness and supposed disappear I find great opportunity. The opportunity is when the pain becomes greater than the fear, we make the change. The pain we are experiencing as individuals in Arizona witnessing the Gestapo like behavior like Joe Arpio, is causing us tremendous distress.”

Loyd sees little in the Sherif’s activities that are solving problems.
“ He (Sherif Arpiao) is a publicity hound. He has a magnificent campaign, at the tax payers’ expense. He takes on issues that are hot button issues and gets covered every single day. He uses the media to further his own personal agenda. It makes for great copy, and intimidates elected officials to the point where they stop challenging him,” said Loyd.

“In the civil rights movement, it wasn’t until two Jewish men , two young Jewish boys died fighting for civil rights, that it finally shifted in the media. Do we have to have people die before we understand that this is not right?” asks Loyd. “ So I run as independent to inspire people to find and use their voice. I run as independent to inspired people to stand up and stand for doing the right thing. There is absolutely no justification in the year 2008 for water bording , for torture.”

With her concerns, running a campaign like this depends on support. Loyd has not sought big names to endorse her candidacy.

“ I have to be honest with you, we have so much time in the day. In a large political campaign, and I have been involved in large political campaigns, you have a couple of people to go after endorsements. We don’t have that luxury. So we are smart about the time we spend,” said Loyd adding, “I spend little time looking for endorsements. I would rather have one from the little old Lady who has lived her for 90 years than Phil Gordon( current Mayor of Phoenix Arizona).”

It is political opportunism that is also to blame for the problems we face, and it is an issue that Loyd feels is epidemic in U.S politics. “It is about what is politically expedient. And that is why we are where we are in so many issues,” says Loyd .

“We are at the cross roads of the old way of doing it faced with it isn’t working, And we have this new path, whether you call it a paradigm shift a fresh perspective, it is there. It is 2008 are we going to keep going down the same road, and it is a road mired in insanity.”

One area she sites as an example is the erection of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
“We were so excited about the wall coming down with Ronald Regan, and now we are talking about the only solution we have for immigration is to build a wall? That to me is the most preposterous expensive ideallogically based radicalization in our country. That is insane! We are better than this we are more innovative than this.”

“We have many politicians, but we have few leaders,” says Loyd.

“I am not an isolationist, I am pragmatic. We cannot continue the American economy solely on buying things being a consumer society. We have to create a manufacturing base again. We have to create real sustainable resilient jobs for the American people.”

Running a campaign that is outside of the support of either political party can mean more than struggling for support. I can turn ugly.

“I have had phone calls saying , ‘ what is it going to take to get you out. ‘ I have had phone calls saying you have to drop out. I have had threats. Yes, I have documented threats from people in political parties that say you have to get out,” said Loyd. The phone calls to exit the race begs a question, one the Loyd quickly raised after recounting what transpired during the campaign.
“If I am not a threat, why are you spending time threatening me? If you think I can’t win, why are you spending your time and energy threatening me?”

“I don’t stand in fear. I am not afraid of Joe Aprapio, said Loyd adding, “ I would rather die for what I believe in than sit back in silence allowing atrocities to occur in my home town. In the place that I live, to my friends. I will not sit in silence and do that,” said Loyd.

With her outspoken stance, her sexual orientation has not been an issue in her candidacy, at least not directly. “No, no body has come up to my face and said no I am not supporting you because you are gay. I don’t have, for my age , the stereotypical coming out. I knew that I was gay when I was 17. So I grew up in South Dakota. I grew up in that state when people were beat up because they were gay. And I experienced that personally. I witnessed that period.”
Loyd often points to disconnects and the lack of communication among those engaged in the process as reason for the system failures.

“Our high level decision makers or at the national level fail to engage with the people whom they are making policy decisions about . Most republicans don’t interact with democrats and republicans don’t interact with democrats.”

As an independent she is just that. However, there are elements to both parties that have some appeal to her. “There are things republicans say that make sense to me, there are things democrats say that make sense to me.”

With younger people making up larger parts of the voting constituency, the issues that they feel most passionate may come as surprise to those unaware of them.“Across the board they are interested, they are engaged they are intrigued. They love that I am running as an independent,” said Loyd adding, “One of the most frequent questions I get asked is about social security. “

“Many of them are going into the military. One or two in each class room. You have a large number, I don’t know the exact statistic but 70 to 80 percent , are go in wanting to get an education and not having the means to do it any other way. Other kids are going in because their family is there. They feel a call to duty.”

“ I spend time with military moms and dads and kids that have come back from Iraq and older men and women who have served over there and it is so tuff for them. They look like deer caught in the head lights. You know they have witnessed things no human being should have to witness. And doing things no human being should have to do,” said Loyd adding, “My heart goes out to them. They are so courageous in what they want to accomplish.”

She is also aware of the increasing problems returning troops have with obtaining proper medical treatment. “The red tape they have to go through. Again we are just not taking care.”
It is the difficulty that some having grasping the current state of affairs that hit Loyd with an observation about the current state of the nation.

“We live in Disneyland,” said Loyd continuing, “We as Americans live in Disney land. We don’t have to worry about an airport blowing up because of the diligence of our men and women in the military.”

There is also the increasing role fear has played in the way day to day business is being conducted that often leaves those wishing to participate unable to do so. “In the United States people have come to fear the government and I find that completely undemocratic,” said Loyd. “No longer is it time to ask permission or wait until it is perfect. WE need more candidates not less.”

One question that comes up is the issue of splitting the vote. With Loyd’s candidacy having an impact on both parties, the issue of splitting the vote is not one she is one to shy away from addressing. “It is the politics of fear and it works with most people, said Loyd. “ Does not a democratic republic benefit from a multitude of choices?”

Considering the strains, threats and difficulties in running a race such as this, one could come to the conclusion that it would lead to stress. “I am truly the happiest I have ever been in my life.”
A persistent theme that crops up for Loyd is the importance of opening doors for others.

Whatever the outcome, Loyd wants to encourage more to run, even against the odds.
“My goal is to inspire you,” said Loyd.

Kyle Jordre, Phoenician Artist with new Directions and New Causes

(Jordre with one of his works.)

The Artist who doesn’t use a Brush has Found other ways to express in paint

By: Kurt von Behrmann

“When I paint, I get lost,” states Kyle Jordre in his artist’s statement. The journey from conceiving an idea to the actual fabrication of a work can take unexpected bends, even detours.


Immersion in the act of being creative can easily induce a unique type of vertigo. It can also lead to new ideas. When he followed that statement with the words, “I get lost in a world where I wonder about things that trouble me,” given the recent work he has created, ideas and elements outside of himself are becoming a part of his artistic language.

From the time Kyle Jordre opened his studio in 2006 to the present, there has been a change in direction of his works. The general aesthetics of his work has remained consistent. Fluid richly colored vibrant hued paintings with paint applied directly to the surface in the form of drips, splatters and paint smeared across the surface, the signature characteristics that distinguish his work are still present. His use of hand made instruments to apply paint are as well.

Unlike most artists who keep assorted brushes, Jodre doesn’t use them. He never has. Instead, assorted squeegees, devices he has constructed on his own have remained his instrument of choice. “I am still using different kitchen utensils,” says Jordre. However, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care for them. He could very well go to the traditional way artists have worked. “Who knows what will happen with that,” says Jordre.

Irrespective of the tools, he has created his own identity and secured a place for himself in Phoenix that is drawing attention, and patrons. Works being prepared for installation rest next to recent works ready for display. Having his own studio slash gallery, Jordre is one of a hand full of artists who has managed to keep a gallery open and in operation in city where spaces open and, unfortunately, close.



Located on Grand Avenue, which has become yet another art center in the ever expanding greater Metropolitan Phoenix area, his space is an open contemporary building occupying a corner. Clean and modern looking, it is an open space that showcases his creations to positive effect. Having been impressed with the cultural life of Pheonix’ First Fridays, when galleries in the city stay open late the first Friday of the month, it was enough of a draw for Jordre to purchase the space and become a part of the Grand avenue renaissance.

This is particularly true given the most recent works. As a result of art works created for charitable organizations, Jordre’s latest creations bring together his existing aesthetics merged with a desire to communicate awareness regarding specific social issues.

“I think a large part of that is my background. I feel that I want to be a part of the community having been a teacher for ten years, middle school social studies, one of the things that I can contribute as an artist, not necessarily being cash, I can contribute through my art.”

Among the first of the new works to feature that interest came about as a result of a fund raiser for the Phoenix Birthing Project, the only African American Maternal Child and Health agency in the State of Arizona. The organization was formed to address infant mortality in the African American community.

It was a cause that Jordre felt compelled to assist when they needed art work for a fund raiser.
“ I immersed myself in this thought. If I were a member of this community and I knew the infant mortality rate was one in four will make it to the age of one, what the heck would my mind be going through. How could my mind convey this thought to the rest o f the community about what is going on here.”



The solution to the problem of how to communicate that concern visually arrived in the form of “By Our Hands,” a belly cast of a pregnant women. The plaster cast is covered in acrylic paint in a drip style reminiscence of Jackson Pollock, another artist from the west who found expression in free form drip painting.

A nonprofit devoted to providing visual art for at risk children and their families, Free Arts of Arizona put together a fundraiser that involved each artist taking one chair from IKEA as a starting point for a work of art to be donated. For Jordre, it was the launching point for a three dimensional element in his work.

The aggressively titled, “What are you looking at?” is a merging of Jordre’s freewheeling color with a chair that is so deconstructed that it resembles an abstract pair of glasses. Liberated from serving as something to sit on, the chair has become eye glass frames that rest against a back drop of wild color.



Clearly, reaching out beyond the studio walls to become a contributor to fund raisers has not only assisted the artist, it has provided a form of inspiration as well. Having been an educator of the young, it makes sense he would be drawn to charities like the ones mentioned. It may also keep alive past connections to education, a point the artist agrees. “This is a way to stay in touch with that part of me.”

It may also explain his choices of organizations as well. “I chose those things I feel that are important that are in my community and within my reach, “ says Jordre.

You can view the artist’s works at http://www.jordre.com/