Arts&Culture
RECENT POSTS
Coffee currency and other secrets of the prison economy
A new series from the National Geographic channel explores prison life. Starting with an episode on the prison economy–what they call “the hustle” of bartering goods and services. The series debuts on Tuesday, February 1. In this episode (clip above), producers find out that the gold standard of Ohio’s Ross Correctional Institution is spoonfuls of instant coffee.
New legal comedy set in SF
Behold “Fairly Legal,” a new courthouse comedy set in San Francisco (and filmed, unfortunately, mostly in Vancouver). Funny take on on USA’s decision to market the show by handing out gray cookies (because justice exists in the fuzzy area between right and wrong) from the SF Appeal. The debut is Thursday at 10pm.
Does anything scare teenagers?
A couple weeks ago, Richard Gilliam, an inmate serving time in a California state prison, wrote about the program “Crossroads” at San Quentin State Prison. A&E last night debuted a series about the same program (which you can watch on their site) called “Beyond Scared Straight.” The program takes a group of teenage girls who’ve shoplifted, done drugs, “lost their purity,” etc. to Valley State Prison in Chowchilla. Girls, it’s posited, do not take their self-destructive behavior or the threat of imprisonment very seriously–they assume that because they’re female, they won’t get in as much trouble. Here’s a little preview of what they’re treated to at Chowchilla:
Hmm. They look slightly frightened, anyway. The series replays this Saturday at 8pm.
The art of the pickpocket
A friend of mine is currently fixated on pick-pockets and sent me these clips. The first is from Robert Bresson’s 1958 film “Pickpocket,” and illustrates a more subtle technique. In the second, the more modern Bob Arno’s approach seems to center around confusing people while groping them. Both are pretty absorbing to watch:
Judging prison books by their covers
Via Prison Culture, the blog Just Seeds is spending the month looking at books about prisons–and specifically, comparing how the books’ covers play into certain mentalities. To start, the blog (which does a regular feature called, “Judging books by their covers”) takes on books about the 1971 Attica prison riot. Attica was a four-day inmate takeover protesting prison conditions, which ended in the deaths of 29 inmates and 10 hostages by police gunfire, as well as four others killed during the riot. Covered by national media, the riot and subsequent carnage had a lasting impact on the public’s view of prisons and prisoners. Certainly not everyone left with the same take-away from the event, and the books that came out following the riot, Just Seeds points out, reflect different interpretations of what happened. Or at least, their covers do. The books to the far left and far right reflect a more sensationalized approach, meant to shock. The center book covers, text heavy, are variously powerful and a little reminiscent of a certain 1970s sci-fi film by George Lucas. Check out the full post, it’s pretty interesting.
Maybe it’s just the books I’m reading right now, but they seem heavy on the prison wall/fence/bars barriers motif:
Gay prison love story opens today
Anyone seen “I love you, Phillip Morris,” yet? Advance reviews sound intriguing.
Evening LinkUp: Religion, prison, and a Prop 8 date
Jerry Brown ramps up probe of small city corruption Bell has everyone wondering what their local government is up to. (Sacramento Bee)
Invisible border fence in tatters After paying over $1billion for the technology, the US will abandon it. (Los Angeles Times)
Movie review: ‘Conviction’ offers convincing case People are a-buzz about this movie, based on a true story, about a man wrongfully convicted of murder. Haven’t seen it yet. (San Francisco Chronicle)
The 9th Circuit will take up Proposition 8 Arguments set for December 6 at 10am. (SF Appeal)
Sikh Group zeroes in on Californian Attorney General Man is allegedly denied employment as a correctional officer because he would not shave his beard (which Sikhs never shave) and could therefore, the state says, not properly wear a gas mask. (sikhnet.com)