Yearly Archives: 2008

Anti-noir in rails and snow

Luke Harrington

Transsiberian
Spain, 2008
Directed By: Brad Anderson
Written By: Brad Anderson, Will Conroy
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley, Kate Mara, Eduardo Noriega
Running Time: 111 min.
Rated R for some violence, including torture and language
3 out of 5 stars

It turns out Ben Kingsley still can make a good movie—consider me pleasantly surprised. After his embarrassing turn in The Love Guru and the disappointing The Wackness (not to mention Elegy, which I haven’t yet seen but have heard mixed things about), I was starting to lose faith in the ol’ guy. Then I saw the surprisingly entertaining thriller Transsiberian (a coproduction of Spain, the U.K., Lithuania, Germany and China), and my faith was restored. Don’t let me oversell it—Transsiberian is far from being a great film, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, but it was a nice little surprise.

Transsiberian is a somewhat typical thriller that takes place on the Transsiberian Railway (which runs between China and Moscow), playing out about like a mash-up of Murder on the Orient Express, Detour and Fargo. The latter is present right down to the Middle American stereotype played by Woody Harrelson (Natural Born Killers, No Country for Old Men)—the accent’s not as exaggerated, but the rest of it is there: he’s protestant, white, middle class, and generally dorky and clueless (essentially a live-action Ned Flanders). The film kicks off when he and his former “bad girl” wife Jessie (Emily Mortimer, Lars and the Real Girl) finish a short-term mission trip to Beijing and decide to ride the rails across Asia. Here they make the acquaintance of a mysterious Spaniard named Carlos (Eduardo Noriega, Vantage Point) and his American girlfriend Abby (Kate Mara, Brokeback Mountain)—who may or may not be all that they seem.

Of course we are talking about a thriller here, so I can’t say much more without “spoiling” it, but expect the requisite twists and turns. Visually, this is the same sort of anti-noir that the Coen brothers and Christopher Nolan pioneered with Fargo and Insomnia, respectively: astonishing aerial and tracking shots where the screen is filled with white, not black: miles and miles of barren, snowy wasteland, driving home the isolation of the characters (particularly those who “have somebody”). Paired with a mournful string soundtrack, it makes Transsiberian a somber affair, even in its most shocking and humorous moments.

Thematically, it could best be described as post-feminist neo-noir, with Jessie playing the tragic hero, here led astray by the combined forces of fate and the “homme fatale” Carlos. Her sexual and romantic frustrations make for a tense first act—one which concludes with one of the most shocking, devastating acts of violence I’ve seen on screen in a long time. (And which should please—or possibly offend—film snobs by inverting some key iconography from Béla Tarr’s Satantango.)

And then, sadly, it all falls apart.

Director Brad Anderson (The Machinist) has chosen an unfortunate two-act structure for this film, with this violent moment acting as the bridge between them. It’s not necessarily a bad idea, but in practice, it makes for a first act that’s impossible to follow up. Anderson has elected to make some subversive, Hitchcock-style decisions in whom to kill off, and while Hitch could probably have pulled it off, for Anderson it merely deflates the tension. While the first half of the film chugs along, powered by sexual sparks, back-stabbing and general suspense, the second half derails (literally) and becomes a mess of drug politics, graphic torture, and gee-whiz action sequences, all of which attempt to top the earlier crimes of desperation, and none of which do. (And unfortunately for him and his highly rehearsed Russian accent, this is when Kingsely shows up.) It’s not hard to tell where it’s going, and it makes no twists or turns in getting there.

This is all frustrating, since the first half promises a masterpiece of neo-noir; sadly it was not to be. Still, the film is arguably worth seeing for the first half alone—not to mention Mortimer’s excellent performance as the girl who can’t escape her past and Kingsley’s very good work as the crooked cop. With another rewrite or two, Transsiberian could have been a serious contender; as it is, it’s just another foreign film with some vaguely offensive stereotypes of Midwesterners. The choice is yours.

About the author:

A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Luke Harrington currently resides in Tulsa and works in the aerospace industry–but, at any given moment, would probably rather be reviewing movies. In his spare time, he’s off playing blues piano and pretending to be Assistant Editor for MovieZeal.com.

Too much preaching, too little thrilling

Evan Derrick, Film Critic

Traitor
United States, 2008
Directed By: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Written By: Jeffrey Nacmanoff (screenplay) and Steve Martin (story)
Starring: Don Cheadle, Guy Pierce, Jeff Daniels, Neal McDonough, Saïd Taghmaoui
Running Time: 114 minutes
Rated PG-13 for intense violent sequences, thematic material and brief language
3 out of 5 stars

Traitor occupies the unenviable limbo between an exciting episode of 24 and a mediocre Bourne clone. Moderately entertaining at times, sermonizingly stuffy at others, it manages to challenge one’s ability to remember it afterwards. If I were to damn with faint praise (which I am about to do), I would say it is worth a rental.

Writer/director Jeffrey Nachmanoff (who penned The Day After Tomorrow – I know, not a legacy that inspires filmgoing confidence) brings to life a story from the mind of Steve Martin (I know, not the expected breeding ground for espionage thrillers). Don Cheadle stars as Samir Horn, an ex-special forces officer who wheels and deals explosives on the international black market, Guy Pierce is the FBI agent who hunts him down, Jeff Daniels is the government operative who might be running a covert op, and Saïd Taghmaoui is the jihadist who befriends Samir over a game of chess in a crumbling Yemeni prison.

The pot of global intrigue is stirred in flavorless ways, leading up to a massive terrorist attack on US soil and two unexpected twists, one that is emotionally surprising and one that becomes logically defective the moment you have more than 10 seconds to process it.

Is Samir good/bad, undercover/terrorist, Muslim disciple/extremist? The film attempts to tease us with his true colors throughout the entire runtime, but the outcome remains annoyingly obvious. Additionally, the script takes long pauses to turn to the audience and spout uninspired religious clichés like “Every religion has more than one face.” Nachmanoff appears to believe that he can be provocative and politically correct at the same time (“We flirt with controversy because the terrorists are Muslim extremists but it’s OK since our hero is a good Muslim”), but the two are mutually exclusive. Rather than focus on being a great thriller, Traitor ends up buckling under the strain of its desire to people-please. You can even tell the film’s coda was focus grouped into oblivion; easy money says the DVD will have “Alternate Ending!” slapped all over its cover.

Want a tasty thriller? See Tell No One (which is still playing at the Circle Cinema), or even Tony Scott’s cotton-candy Spy Games. Looking for a provocative film about competing belief systems? Try The Believer, Ryan Gosling’s supercharged acting debut. Otherwise, just wait for Traitor on DVD. Or see it next month when it’s called Body of Lies and stars Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio.

About the author:
Evan Derrick loves movies, loves talking about movies, and even makes them from time to time. In addition to being the founder and senior editor for MovieZeal.com, he is also a member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle and a father of two beautiful children. He can be reached for comment or complaint at
" />evan@moviezeal.com.

The Scent of Life, the Sacrament of Presence

Patrick B. McGuigan

In memorable dispatches from Rwanda this summer, reporter Rick Hampson of USA Today covered the visit of Cindy McCain, wife of the Republican presidential nominee, to the scene of a crime – the horrible African genocide of 1994.

It’s hard to imagine, but the killing fields of Rwanda were among the most brutally efficient in human history, ranking alongside those of Cambodia, mainland China, Nazi Germany and Russia in earlier generations. Fourteen years ago, in the course of about 100 days, members of the Hutu tribal majority engineered the deaths of about one million people, mostly in the Tutsi minority tribe.

While Cindy McCain and her allies in CARE International were in Africa, half a world away, 15 female Rwandan business owners (from all of that nation’s ethic groupings, one of them a survivor of the genocide) participated in a “Peace Through Business” program in Oklahoma City. Three weeks of classroom instruction at Oklahoma Christian University preceded a week “shadowing” businesswomen around Oklahoma.

The visit of the Rwandans was arranged by Oklahoma businesswoman Terry Neese. She is known around the country as a regular on Fox News segments, and also turns up frequently on Cable News Network and other networks. Her Labor Day column was printed in Monday’s Washington Times. Neese’s work as director of family policy issues at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) in Dallas has enhanced her growing impact as a national “player.”

Less well known, Neese’s efforts befriending and training third world entrepreneurs are just beginning to get some attention. She told me last week, “The program is founded on a simple premise: It’s possible to change the world by educating women about business and giving them the tools to succeed.” A woman of many hats, Neese is president of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW), lead sponsor of “Peace Through Business.” She said it has been “amazing to see the effect” of this effort in the lives of participants.

This summer was certainly busy for Neese. In addition to her program at Oklahoma Christian, she traveled to Midland, Michigan for the August graduation of 15 Aghan women from IEEW’s program at Northwood University. While there, Northwood President and CEO Keith A. Pretty surprised her with an honorary Ph.D.

Back home in Oklahoma, one highlight of the month for the Rwandans was a day spent at the historic Paseo Arts District in Oklahoma City. An eye witness shared this account of the Paseo visit with me: “The women began their Paseo experience at the Art of Yoga studio, where we ate box lunches from Prairie Gypsies and observed a yoga class.” After lunch, the visitors “proceeded to JRB studio where Sue Hale [a ranking newswoman at The Oklahoman] gave us Paseo history, then led us on a tour of several of the galleries. The ladies shopped and ‘talked shop’ with many of the proprietors.”

Hosts of the Paseo visit included business women, local artists and/or gallery owners who mentored the women from Rwanda, several of them handicraft shop owners. Joining the Rwandans for that day was Monica-Luechtefeld, Executive VP/Supply Chain and information technology for Office Depot. The company donated 30 laptop computers to the Rwandans and to Afghan women who attended school in Michigan as part of Neese’s Peace through Business 2008.

That their names might enter cyber-space in a blessed context, the students from Rwanda included Chantal Sarah Bucyana, Rebecca Busingye, Joy U Gahigana, Cecil Halkey, Bertha Kabuto, Goretti B. Kabuto, Apollonia Kibukayire, Betty Habimana Kinyana, Ruzindana Lillian Kyampaire, Juliet Mugisha Mbabazi, Elise Umulisa Milenge, Eron Asiimwe Nsenga, Margueritte Francois Nyagahura, Gloria K. Uwizera and Emertha Uwanyirigira.

When the women “graduated” from Oklahoma Christian, Juliet Mbabazi spoke for the group. She thanked Neese and other organizers of the program. Her beautiful, lilting voice was addictive to hear. Juliet grew emotional as she explained that women in her country preserve cultural and family traditions, not with the written word, but by tellling stories aloud. She said tales of their summer here will begin, “Once upon a time, in Oklahoma.” Then, she cried. And, so did we.

Juliet watched me as I watched her. After her speech, she came and sat next to me on the front row. I was so enchanted during our moments of conversation that I neglected to take detailed notes. I simply remember Juliet gave thanks to God, to Terry Neese, to Oklahoma Christian, and to Oklahomans, repeatedly. Talk about an attitude of gratitude!

The IEEW program is a big deal, and it’s based right here in Oklahoma. Among the local and international dignitaries attending their graduation was Doreen I. Kagarama, first secretary at the Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda in Washington, D.C. Oklahoma’s own Judge Vicki Miles, just the second African-American federal district judge in America, came to the ceremony.

Judge Miles was appointed by the late Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist to represent the U.S. judicial system in various international forums. She has continued that work in recent years, and recently visited Rwanda. At the IEEW graduation, she renewed a friendship with Goretti Kabuto, one of Neese’s students.

Looking back on it all, Neese told me, “Everywhere they went in our state, the women from Rwanda were greeted with open arms and affection, and they reciprocated. In the end, what struck me about these women is not the differences among us, but how similar to ours are their dreams of peace, prosperity, faith, family, friends and freedom. My fervent prayer is that God will protect them, and never allow those of us who worked with and love them to forget their smiles and their wonderful hearts.”

The women went home to Africa in August, taking with them new friendships and warm memories of a month spent learning about American ideas and practices memorialized more than 200 years ago as “the pursuit of happiness.”

While in Africa, Mrs. McCain met with women who had survived the genocide, including one 36-year-old who lost 120 relatives and was raped 12 times, resulting in internal organ damage that has prevented her from having any children. During that memorable visit to Rwanda, an Anglican archbishop said Cindy McCain had brought to his people “the sacrament of presence.”

To those of us who believe in them, Sacraments are considered a visible sign of God’s love. Here in Oklahoma, the Rwandan women entrepreneurs gifted us their own form of sacrament, in their presence. No doubt it was the same with the Arghan women in Michigan.

In a column, Washington Post writer Michael Gerson said Cindy McCain could never forget “the scent of death” she encounted in Rwanda in 1994.

Here in Oklahoma, meeting the Rwandan women and witnessing their encounters with American women as varied as Miles and Neese, I was blessed for a time with the scent of life, itself.

Photo Detail:
Photo One: Women from Rwanda, Africa, dance at the conclusion of their recent graduation ceremony from the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, held at Oklahoma Christian University. The woman in a pantsuit in the front is Doreen I. Kagarama, first secretary of the Rwanda Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Photo Two: Juliet Mugisha Mbabazi, a businesswoman from Rwanda, spoke emotionally of her love for the people of Oklahoma during graduation ceremonies for IIEW.

Photo Three: In the dark outfit at the center, U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles of Oklahoma, only the second black woman district judge in U.S. history, greets Rwandan graduates of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women after a recent ceremony at Oklahoma Christian University.

About the Author:

Since 2002 Patrick B. McGuigan has regularly contributed commentaries and news stories to Tulsa Today, and previously served as our capitol editor. He is an editor at The City Sentinel, an Oklahoma City weekly where portions of this essay appeared previously.

John McCain’s trifecta

Nina May

John McCain has just experienced a political Trifecta garnering the coveted conservative base that is absolutely necessary for any Republican to win an election. It is the very oxygen of the party in much the same way liberals are the core of the Democratic Party.

The first win for Senator McCain that shook his slumbering base was the Saddleback Forum where his direct answers that revealed conviction and resolve stood in sharp contrast to Barack’s fumbled, arrogant, non-answer responses. So distraught was the left that they had to create an immediate spin that McCain had the answers before hand. Although that has totally been disproved, let’s run out that scenario and look at the idiocy of it.

First of all, you would have to be totally out of touch with reality to not think a question on abortion would be asked at a religious forum. Either get new advisors, or go into a different line of work that’s not above your pay grade. But let’s say that McCain did have knowledge that an abortion question would be asked. Advisors and handlers to politicians work diligently to make sure their candidate never answers a question directly, but handles it with obscure nuances that seem wonderful on the surface but when transcripts are read, "there is no there there." If McCain’s advisors had seen that question they would have briefed him on a more eloquent answer, instead, he answered the question of when life begins, from his heart, when he simply said, “conception.”

{mosimage}So, if he had been alerted that, shock, there was going to be an abortion question, he realized he didn’t have to spin an answer to appeal to a broad base of voters, he just had to answer it honestly and forthright, and that is what ticked the Obama people off. Hey wait, that’s not allowed . . . he didn’t do that obscure nuanced thing like our candidate does, and it gives him an unfair advantage, so we better spin it that he had the questions first. Talk about sore losers. But the real winners were not only McCain, but his base that finally saw the resolve they had been waiting for.

The second laurel wreath for McCain was the Republican platform that has in the past few election cycles, been a blood bath between the right to life group and the liberal, pro-abortion wing of the party. Always the life plank is at risk of being sawed off, and always a small remnant of determined warriors ride in to save the day. That was good news for conservatives and hope was once again in the air.

But the coup de grace, the Kentucky Derby, Wimbledon, Olympic Gold for John McCain was his selection of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

{mosimage}I just happened to be in the Petri dish of political experimentation with almost 300 conservative leaders from around the country who were gathered for a meeting. The speaker was interrupted to pipe in the live feed of the announcement. The discussion in the group for three days before the announcement concerned who the pick would be and what the response would be if it was x, y or z. The responses varied depending upon the possible choice from, “I refuse to vote for that ticket,” to “Is it too late to form a third party?” to, my own which was, “Let’s select a write-in candidate and do a protest vote.” If you have been reading my columns, you know that is what I have been saying.
So, imagine our surprise when not only Sarah Palin was announced as McCain’s VP candidate, but that the whole room erupted in thunderous, standing ovation support. It was as though everyone in the room had a horse in the race and that collective horse made it over the finish line as the clear winner. Women were crying, men were high-fiving, everyone was hugging and celebrating because now . . . they had a ticket they could get behind, they could believe in, and they could enthusiastically support.

Those leaders represent millions of people around the country and several, including me, have since made public announcements that they have switched from an adamant position of not supporting McCain to being excited about the race.

No wonder the trash machines were in the streets within minutes to dump on Governor Palin and declare she was not experienced enough to be Vice President, but they still can’t explain why Barack is experienced enough to be President when his resume totally pales in comparison to hers. Even though she is not running against him, they seem more concerned about her than they are about McCain and for good reason. She is young, dynamic, effective, principled and tough.

Several in that group of leaders likened her to Maggie Thatcher, which of course means the liberals, the feminists, the good ol’ boys, will do everything they can to destroy her, but the harder they try, the more entrenched her base will become because we will all see this as a unified attack on us. We will take those attacks personally and fight back in a phalanx of solidarity with a woman who could be destroyed by a hypocritical machine that pretends to want women and blacks to rise to levels of leadership . . . but only if they can be manipulated and exploited by that machine.

{mosimage}But, let’s look at other groups that have been sitting on the sidelines trying to decide if they should vote for Barack or McCain. There are millions and millions of people in rural America who share the same values with McCain but who are slowly being seduced by the empty idea of change. The seduction is possible because there is nothing substantive to hold them to the concept of status quo. What the Governor Palin nomination said in words louder than empty slogans was, “If change is what you want . . . change is who we are.”

Here is a young, hockey mom, turned PTA leader, local elected official turned mayor, turned Governor who has challenged the Democrat AND Republican status quo and brought ethics back into the equation. She is a card carrying member of the NRA and member of a union, both of which will appeal to the blue collar worker who always feels dissed by the liberal elite as they cling to their guns and Bibles. Now they can vote for someone just like them.

There are more guns in America than people and more gun owners than the total number of people who usually vote in presidential elections. They own guns for many reasons and are tired of being classified as right wing nuts by the liberal elite, when ironically, many gun owners are liberals. Protecting the Second Amendment is a key issue for many Americans and it could be the deciding factor in this election.

Millions of women who are upset with the way Hillary was treated, whether or not they would vote for her, are encouraged to see a young, articulate, attractive woman be selected by a man who could have chosen anyone to be his running mate, but chose a fellow maverick, who does what is right, not was is expedient, and pays the price for such principled decisions.

With over 55% of the population strongly in the pro-life camp, and over 90% agreeing that partial birth abortion should be illegal, it is going to be much easier for McCain to rally the troops and bring it over the finish line. But he has to keep moving forward, keeping his newly reconciled base around him at all times, and not back down or be intimidated by the tiresome tactics of the left. It is like running a race . . . don’t look back, don’t look down . . . keep looking forward, looking ahead and moving closer to the finish line and to ultimate victory.

About the author:
Nina May is the producer/director of the award-winning documentary, Emancipation Revelation Revolution, which tells the history of the civil rights movement in America, the role that both parties played in it, and what happens to blacks who leave that liberal plantation and embrace conservative values. Nina is an artist, writer, producer and commentator, and has had her own TV show, “An American Renaissance,” and wrote and produced a daily radio commentary for over 1200 stations. To write her, click here.

Mobile review

Tracy L. Crain

Sunday, 31 August 2008
Edit Note: Tulsans may learn a great deal from other cities that utilize different forms of city government. Tulsa Today began with the Little Rock review (click here for that news article). Today we continue the review of how Mobile, Alabama deals with the ongoing challenges of urban administration and progress. This is the second in a series that profiles individual city governments within the region.
Isaac Newton seemed to illustrate the sentiment best. "I do not know what I may appear to the world. I seem to have been only…playing on the seashore and diverting myself in now and then, finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."

Hundreds of miles are traveled each summer to reach the pristine waters of Mobile, Ala., the largest metro area along the Gulf of Mexico, located between New Orleans and Tampa. They travel to see the 300 year old tree, still standing, and the Victorian mansions. They take a drive through the I-10 tunnel onto roads so white, it’s blinding. Then, quietly and anxiously, retreat to the beach, where sounds of the ocean float up to the condos, all lined in a row.

Seldom do travelers see the side of Mobile, where current Mayor Sam Jones, elected in 2005, is busy orchestrating it all. No time like the present to enjoy a cup of coffee, adjust the seat and get acquainted.

Jones serves in a governmental system where he is the Chief Executive Officer responsible for city affairs. He holds the power to appoint eight of the nine members of the planning commission, all members of the Industrial Development Board, the Airport Authority, the Housing Board, City Attorney and others.

He is assisted in his duties by a Chief of Staff, who works to coordinate the activities of the four Executive Directors and their senior staff. Municipal elections are held every four years.

"Our system is what you call a strong mayor form of government," Jones said. "The advantage is that it is a lot easier to get programs implemented as it offers total control of service delivery and the management of government. It’s good, but requires different levels of accountability."

On the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, it seems fit to say even government has rebounded nicely. Not long ago, it was a completely different scene.

"It changed in 1985," Jones said. "We were once a three commissioner system and there was absolutely no diversity in city government. I am the first African American mayor this city has ever elected."

He describes a series of lawsuits. One was against the school board, another against the county commissioner, and one other, Bolden vs. the City of Mobile. He makes a poignant notation. "The lawsuit was brought about because no African American could get elected here. It was impossible to be represented by government."

A compromise was reached and a legislative task force worked to establish the current mayor council form of government that consists of a mayor and a seven member city council–where the mayor is elected at large and council members are elected from each of the seven council member districts and a super majority of five votes is required to conduct council business.

In this system, city council members make ordinances and approve budgets. "They have no connection to administration. It’s a misdemeanor for them to direct any city employee," Jones said.

This form of government, according to former Mobile Mayor Mike Dow, Executive Vice President of Centralite, allows the Mayor Chief Executive Powers and enables him to operate the city like a Fortune 500 company.

"He can directly hire and promote employees. He is in there long enough to be strategic and to develop goals. That makes it possible to treat business like a business."

Dow, who also works with the Ala. Motor Sports Park, sees city government as a service industry that can be operated like a business with public employees or through private methods. "However it is done, it requires a good balance," he said.

Garbage collection in Mobile becomes the prime example. "I found city employees could deliver the same service and support that private industry delivers and that city employees could do it cheaper. We went to one person garbage trucks during my term and we were able to save 1.2 million and 70 employees," he said.

Those improvements were a victory for a system that has had its share of controversy over the three commissioner system that rotated members every year.

"How in the hell can I be strategic with that kind of zoo?" Dow asks. "No one was in charge long enough to make it happen. It was a mess."

Another ineffective form of government, he says, is having a part-time mayor for medium to large cities. "To do things right, you need a full-time executive. You can’t have someone choking up or someone who is controlling everything too much. You need someone in charge of each section," he said. "I believe that each area is a separate discipline."

Dow connects the fundamental areas of politics to business with one thread. That would be the notion of trust.

"For one, you have got to have trust in relationships. Be trustworthy and build trust. Build relationships," he said. "We have to get beyond partisan divides and things like demographics that we think define government. Look at national government. Being a democrat or a republican is more important than getting the job done and that saddens me a great deal."

In this city, with a reported population of 575,250 residents, 67% of residents are white, .5% American Indian, .30% African American, .6% Asian, and .3% other. The median income is $42,508 and the greatest percentage of residents, according to the Chamber of Commerce, is in the 35-64 age bracket.

However united or divided, there’s a lot of reason for Mobilians to be proud. The city is ranked by Money Magazine as one of the best places to live and the cost of living is reported to be one of the 10 lowest out of 80 US metro areas.

Those visiting might feel the French, British, Spanish, African, Creole, and Native American influences here–possibly even a hint of the strong Roman Catholic parish, which was established shortly after Mobile was founded in 1702.

As for area business, AT&T is here, handling telecommunications needs of the residents. In addition, there’s more than 65 motor freight carriers transporting interstate shipments to and from the area as well as six railroads and new cruise ships, a strong aerospace industry, and significant manufacturing and construction, such as the four billion dollar steel plant planned for late 2009.

Mobilians are also looking forward to a new interstate bridge that will allow drivers the opportunity to bypass the tunnel and heavy traffic on Highway 10 comprised of people coming from Texas trying to get to Florida.

"It is all in the works. The new bypass will be at least 180 feet high," Jones said.

It’s all part of a strategic plan for reconstructing and continuing the long, rich history of Mobile. "We’re the number one city for economic growth and expansion. The one key is globalization. Major companies and international companies have an interest in us because of the port of Mobile."

The port, which is recognized as a hub for the region, links US markets to emerging markets in Central and South America. According to the Chamber of Commerce, "It was cotton that made Mobile a major seaport and commercial center before the Civil War."

More than 500,000 bales were handled each year, which made Mobile second only to New Orleans in cotton exports for the nation. Along with a successful cotton market, ship building grew to be quite a significant industry as well.

Current success, in many ways, springboards from the history of the town and Jones is working diligently at continuing its advancement. Part of how he does that involves a program he refers to as "City Smart," which he says enables him to effectively manage his departments. Under this program, each director reports to the mayor every two weeks, where they examine progress and set goals.

It is much more effective, Jones says, than a system with no accountability.

"One of the things that has been really positive for this community is that we do everything in partnerships. We work in concert with one another to achieve economic development," he said.

Dow mentions the significance of competent staff. Well remembered by the company he kept, he’s notated for employing what’s been called, "a million dollar staff."

Filled with coast guard professionals, highly trained engineers, and other people who have proven themselves; they’re described as people who could walk right out of a movie scene in The Guardian. However far their legacy reaches, Dow says their employment was about improving the quality of life in Mobile. "A business needs an experienced, capable staff."

It’s what the city had and has. Perhaps the people are the great secrets of this thriving area, surrounded completely by water.

"It is what is so unique about the state of Alabama," Jones said. "Our area is appealing to people who move from other areas because of the hospitality, the location, and the other activities that take place. The atmosphere and climate of the community has been one of our strongest selling points."

One of his primary functions in government is preserving and improving those selling points and the quality of life Mobilians love.

With attractions such as the nine million dollar Hank Aaron Stadium, named for Mobile’s Home Run King, that serves the AA baseball farm team for the San Diego Padres as well as the GMAC Bowl, a NCAA College Division One bowl game, which is held at the Ladd-Peebles Stadium, in addition to a significant amount of area golf, he shouldn’t have any difficulties.

There’s also the Alabama Contemporary Dance Company, a world class arts council, and so much more–here at the edge of the inland and inter-costal waterways; where back at the beach, far from the politics of this all, a father has taken a day to enjoy some fishing with his small son.

It’s perhaps the greatest portrait of all, here in Mobile.

The two cast a line. Joggers pass by. Couples walk and talk. Children are at play. Just a few feet away, in one of the newly built condos, there’s a weight room with a man inside. He’s watching Ice Road Truckers, or maybe the lady in the pool nearby. Simple, innoncent lesiurely activites.

Someone in route to the beach from the condos, says, "I need a cup for sand."

For there are castles yet to build in Mobile…

Oh, sweet home…that’s true.

Last Updated ( Thursday, 18 September 2008 )