Lawrence of Arabia

The fellow's father smokes a pipe a few times a day on their porch. I actually like the smell of pipe tobacco, and if there weren't health concerns, I might do so myself. So it's been a peculiar little bonus to living above them for the past month.

But, things must change. I've been here longer than two of the three other people living here, which is quite odd.

Steve Jobs spoke to us this morning, as he's done since our stock started falling after Apple recently fell short of its expected profit margin for the fourth quarter. Since it was a confidential meeting (employees only - even contractors weren't allowed!), I won't say anything about what was said there. It is nice to feel that there's some concern on Steve's part, though. I would be happy to keep working for Apple for several more years, if I can continue to afford to (and want to) live in the area.

These meetings sure break up the day, though. Friday is a workout day for me, so I went to the meeting, then went to the gym, then came back and got a few things done and then went to lunch. Then in the afternoon I finally started accomplishing things. Although I do seem to have hit another milestone on my project, which is good. It's always great to see things you've programmed doing what they're supposed to!

Tonight Subrata and I went to see Lawrence of Arabia (1962), starring a virtual who's-who of British (and some other) actors of the time: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif ("Doesn't he play Bridge?" I asked Subrata), Jose Ferrer, and Claude Rains.

O'Toole plays the historical figure T.E. Lawrence, a leftenant in the British army during World War I, stationed in Cairo. Although not well-loved in his unit (his fellows and commander feel he's over-educated, insubordinate, and soft), he nonetheless manages to win an appointment in Arabia, largely controlled by the Turks (I think this was the last fling of the Ottoman Empire), who are intermittently bothered by the Bedouins raiding their towns. The British want to enlist the aid of the Arabs on that front, and Lawrence - who has long had a love of that land - is to "assess the situation" and report back to his superiors.

Lawrence learns some of the customs of the desert, although his guide is killed by rival tribesman, Sherif Ali (Sharif). Lawrence finds and befriends Prince Faisal (a very low-key Guinness), whose British advisor wants him to fall back to a safe position (and, by implication, integrate his forces under British command, which is not appealing to Faisal). Lawrence suggests an alternative, taking the Turkish city of Aqaba by crossing a nigh-uncrossable desert, and Faisal charges Ali with accompanying him. He succeeds, but the cost in his personal morals is high as he is forced to execute a man and loses someone close to him during a dangerous trek.

Upon reporting to the British, his commanders find that his relationship with the Arabs is invaluable, and send him back to continue working with them against the Turks. Lawrence soon begins to believe his own press as a man who can achieve the impossible, which of course is not entirely true, as demonstrated by a few disastrous events. Lawrence is also torn between loyalty to his country and to the ideals of the Arabs which he finds so beguiling, and he can never entirely embrace either one.

Lawrence of Arabia is a great adventure gone horribly wrong. The first half of the four-hour film concerns Lawrence learning about this great land, its people and their customs, and bringing his own skills to bear to assist them. The script here has all the humor and cleverness associated with great adventures. He upholds his morals and accomplishes great things - almost. He is badly shaken by what he's been forced, at the last, to do, but his commanders prop him back up and send him back.

Things go downhill from there, and Lawrence rides the edge of madness for the remainder of the film. The film is also about how a country can use up a person utterly, and then push him even further beyond that. Strangely, the film opens with the anticlimactic manner of Lawrence's death, 20 years later in Britain, but the gap between the War and his death is never filled in, leaving you wondering what kind of a shell of a man in hero's clothing was stumbling around England during the 1920s.

The production values are outstanding. Director David Lean pulls out all the stops to film the beautiful desert landscapes, and assemble hordes of Arabs in camps and in armies during the course of the film, along with brief shots of British and Turkish columns. The orchestral score is memorable and suits the film perfectly. And the acting is of course first-rate, particularly O'Toole's turn, at first self-effacing and insubordinate, and then haunted and tragic. Sherif's role as Ali is also a fine foil for O'Toole.

This is probably the best film of over 3 hours in length I've seen. Despite lengthy shots of people crossing large, featureless desert expanse, the pacing is fine, and the film is almost never boring. It's really quite excellent.

Frustratingly, one of my eBay auctions has gone wrong. I put up several sets of comics a few weeks ago, and five of the six were bid on. One of the five actually went for a very nice sum of money. And then a few days after the auction completed, the buyer said he couldn't pay me because he wrecked his car! So, I offered the set to the second and third bidders, at their high bids, but they had each already won other auctions for the same set. So I had to go back to the original winner, who was still unwilling to pay. Gah.

So now I'm going through eBay's non-paying bidder resolution system, which involves them sending him a warning. Their contract states that inability to pay is not an acceptable reason for backing out of a transaction (which is entirely reasonable, I think; I've been on the receiving end of a similar situation where I bid on an item by mistake, but was willing to live up to my - rather substantial - bid because it's the right thing to do). He reiterated that he will not pay, so now I have to file an official complaint with eBay in order to have my eBay fees for the auction refunded, and then re-list the item. It's really annoying. Although I sympathize with the bidder, I'm also rather honked off about it, and will certainly be leaving negative feedback.

I don't think I'm being insensitive here. I'm not only obeying the letter and the spirit of eBay, but I also made an effort to find another buyer - at a lower price - for the item. And now I'm bearing some of the weight of his misfortune. So why do I feel a little guilty about pursuing this?

No plans for the weekend. I've toyed with the idea of going to Santa Cruz for a day, but somehow doubt I shall. Probably I'll do some reading and putter around on the computer. In other words, another typical weekend.

Maybe if I feel really ambitious I'll call about some apartments.