bookofjoe

'The Big Brass Ring'

A political thriller directed by George Hickenlooper, whose unexpected death in 2010 at 47 and subsequent New York Times obituary led me to a number of interesting looking movies he'd directed that I'd never have heard of had he lived.

People shouldn't have to die for me to find out how great they were — but at least once a month I'm introduced to astonishing books, movies, art, music, design and other productions by people who up to their deaths worked largely under the radar.

But I digress.

This 1999 film boasts a fantastic list of names involved in its production, first and foremost Orson Welles, who wrote the screenplay in the 1980s.

Hickenlooper bought it nearly two decades later and updated it from a story about an independent presidential candidate post-Watergate to a gubernatorial race in the 1990s.

And the cast: William Hurt at his absolute best as the cynical, conflicted candidate William Blake Pellerin with more than one deep, dark, potentially candidacy-ending secret in his past; Miranda Richardson as his independently wealthy alcoholic wife who loathes Hurt's character even as she depends on his success for his happiness; Nigel Hawthorne as a bent, half-rational former senator pulling strings and watching Pellerin jump; Irène Jacob as a news correspondent determined to uncover Pellerin's secrets by any means necessary.

An absorbing and visually striking film.

Helpful Hints from joeeze: What to do if a bee or wasp flies into your moving vehicle

1. Lower all your windows

2. Let the insect exit on its own

Below, a Charlottesville Daily Progress story relates what could happen should you choose to take more active measures.

Bid To Swat Bee Causes 3-Car Wreck in Fluvanna

A woman trying to swat a bee that had flown into her car crashed into oncoming traffic Wednesday evening on U.S. 250 in Fluvanna County, causing a wreck that hospitalized three people, according to the Virginia State Police.

Claudette Egry of Orange yanked her steering wheel left when she tried to swat the bee and ran her Honda Civic into an oncoming Jeep Cherokee, said state police Trooper M. Covert. A Kia Spectra then ran into the back of the Jeep, he said.

All three drivers were taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center, Covert said. Egry was airlifted to the hospital, and the two other drivers were taken by ambulance, he said.

Egry has been charged with reckless driving, he said.

Covert said drivers who discover a bee in the car should roll down windows and attempt to let the bee exit on its own.

Drinking Glasses

Because beer goggles are so over.

From websites:

These playful "eyeglasses" actually serve as a fully functioning drinking straw.

Wear them and take a sip: you'll see the contents of your glass swirling before your very eyes!*

Features and Details:

• Washable.

• Red, Blue, or Green

• Ages 3 and up so all my readers are good here.

$6.43.

*My Crack Indianapolis Correspondent©®™ gets this effect without these glasses: nuf sed