My fascination with Jim Jones knows no bounds

It happened again last night.

When PBS aired its re-released documentary on the life of Jim Jones, I went into total shutdown mode. His life and the lives of his followers are so totally fascinating to me I had to watch it twice.

Jonestown: The life and death of People Temple can actually be viewed, in its entirety, online.

Initially, I was struck by the fact that I've actually been to Lynn, Indiana, where Jones was born and raised. As a child, I went on numerous vacations to Richmond, Indiana, with my family to visit one of my mother's best friends and her family.

Richmond is actually where Jones went to high school, but I can remember vividly being in Lynn as a little boy in 1986 and seeing the aftermath of a tornado that ravaged the small town.

In any event, it's just one of those weird connections.

The story of Jonestown is troubling on so many levels. It's a case study of the law of diminishing returns. It's scary to think that one deranged and charismatic individual could brainwash so many.

Emotions are scary things, especially when there are so many people in this world who seize upon them.

His story could scarcely be any more different than that of Clarence Jordan, whose integrated Kibbutz-like community preceded Jones by more than a decade. The difference between the two men, of course, is simple: one was a Christian and the other a false prophet.

He was a personalist dictator who seized upon human inadequacy. In his eyes, equality was expedient.

A few flicks to add to your watch list

I'm no longer the movie buff I was as a child, but I'm not averse to renting DVDs from time to time. Here are a few of my latest picks:

Gran Torino: I actually saw this one at the theater with my girlfriend. She didn't want to go see it (though she didn't tell me that until afterward) but ended up loving it. This film might just be the best ever, at least dollar for dollar. It's easily the best low-budget film I've ever seen, in other words. Clint Eastwood gets credit as writer, actor, producer and director. GT was filmed in Detroit, in one of the scary neighborhoods I once took my AAU basketball team. It's a story about revenge and redemption. Check it out. (Try not to be offended by all the epithets.)

Manda Bala: This is a documentary about corruption and blowback in Brazil. Latin America has been long understand as a region of the world rife with corruption, but often Brazil is seen as the more enlightened and less austere country on the South American block. The film is a mix of corruption, violence and mind-numbing groupthink. Worst of all, it's real. Filmmakers follow a Brazilian plastic surgeon who specializes in the reconstruction of severed ears. The criminal element in Sao Paulo has made a cottage industry of kidnapping. Very often the ear of the captive is cut off and mailed to family members with the demand for money. This is a must-see film for anyone who has ever studied the politics of Latin America.

There will be Blood: I saw this film at the theater a year ago and recently watched it again on DVD. I'm still convinced that this is the film that should have won the Oscar for best picture last year, even though "No Country for Old Men" was a similarly great film. The film is a chronicle of the life of Daniel Plainview, a greedy California oil man at the turn of the 20th century. It's a film about the corrosive affects of money. It's extremely dark and certainly not a feel-good flick. It's based loosely on a book (Oil!) written by Upton Sinclair in the 1920s.

Mr. Smith goes to Washington: Jimmy Stewart stars as Mr. Smith in this 1939 film about inside the beltway Washington. It's the story of what happens to Washington D.C. in the prsence of an honest man and, perhaps more importantly, what happens to that honest man. It's arguably the most controversial film of the era. America needs another Mr. Smith in Washington.

Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains: This is a simple and effective documentary film of the life of Jimmy Carter. For much of the film, Carter is followed as he travels the country promoting his controversial book "Palestine: Peace, not Apartheid." It's a very honest look at the man and a disposition that belies his stature in the world.

Remembering Dr. Matt

For those of you who don't know, the Flint-area lost one of its best and brightest on Monday when Dr. Matthew Hilton-Watson collapsed and died in French Hall on the campus of the University of Michigan in Flint.

Dr. Matt was truly a one-of-a-kind.

I've taken college courses at four different institutions in my life and I can probably remember well no more than a small handful of professors. To truly remember someone, to me, is not simply recalling something they said or how they looked. It's much more than that. To remember, is to have had some knowledge of who they were on a personal level.

Dr. Matt was briliant and didn't know it. He was a cosmopolitan guy who loved nothing more than to talk about his favorite place in the world: Kentucky.

I've never seen a professor who loved being in the classroom more. And it wasn't that he enjoyed the attention, either. He thrived on the comaraderie -- the relationships he built with students.

Dr. Matt taught me a thing or two about French, but a lot more about life. He proved to me that elitism doesn't have to proceed from brilliance.

His love of the classroom was only bested by his love for his family, and never passed on an opportunity to talk about his kids.

Dr. Matt is still teaching, too. To read about what he meant to students, faculty and friends, check out this special page at UM-Flint's website.

The family of Professor Matthew Hilton-Watson has requested that the memorial service be held at the University of Michigan-Flint. The memorial service will take place on Friday, March 27 at 3:00 p.m. in the University Theatre. The entire campus community is invited to the celebration of Dr. Matt’s life and work.

Merry Christmas from the Field family of one

Here's the thing: I've never sent a Christmas card in my life, but I've received a few. I know that many families send these cute little picture cards featuring each member, alongside the family pets, flanked by stockings in front of the fireplace. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the pictures; that being said, what I enjoy most is the letter that often accompanies the picture. You know, the one that gives you the rundown of everything everyone is doing with their life. With that in mind, I figured that I would write one of my own. After all, it has been a long time since I've written anything in this blog.

Here goes...

* I have been dating a beautiful 25-year-old CCU nurse named Jessi since round about November. I'd be more specific about the actual date, but it's hard to say when the relationship went from friendship to more than that. I liked her from the start; she liked me from about the 3/4 pole--forgive the horse racing reference. Neither of us is all too interested in moving fast, though you wouldn't know it by the way I fawn over her. In any event, I don't know where the relationship will take us, but I've sure been blessed to have her in my life for the past few months. We're actually a lot different, but I think that's what makes it exciting. I've learned a lot about myself since being with her; namely, I don't know what I'm doing in a relationship.

* I'm continuing in my position as a reporter/columnist/writer/blogger/photographer at the Flint Journal. I enjoy the work, but I also know that the prospect of staying there very much longer is pretty bleak. Newspapers are like the auto industry sans the federal bridge loans. I just don't have much confidence in the future of the Journal and morale is at an all-time low in that building. Even so, I've always been treated fairly by the Journal (heck, they've kept me around for like seven years) and I don't regret the time I've put in there.

* I've been writing a lot about politics in the past few months. It's becoming painfully obvious to me that my first love, at least with respect to hobbies, is politics. I always thought it was sports first and politics second, but I was wrong.

* I recently ordered testing materials for the LSAT. For those of you who don't know, it's the test you have to take to be accepted to any law school worth its salt in this country. I've mulled over the decision for quite some time, and I'm convinced that it's worth looking into. All my life people have told me that I should go into politics. One of my good friends, Mike Jones (a doctor in Pittsburgh), is convinced that I could go a long way in the arena, claming that I have "no skeletons in the closet." I guess the score will make the decision for me. If it's high enough, I will be eligible for all kinds of grants and scholarships. If not, I'll vacuum the turf at Toronto's Skydome or something.

* I'm still attending First Presbyterian Church in downtown Flint and I love it. I continue to be involved in the PIPE ministry and I also teach Sunday School to high schoolers every week. I cannot imagine a more relevant and involved church anywhere.

* I'm currently reading a book about Jesus to coincide with my Sunday School curriculum. I recently listened to an audiobook by Pat Buchanan and I am in the middle of another by Chris Matthews. That's knowledge moving right to left, friends. I also just watched one of the greatest films ever made: Mr. Smith goes to Washington (1939). If you haven't seen it, go grab a copy.

* Finally, I have only a little more than three weeks left of basketball season. If Mott Community College wins their regional tournament this weekend, I will be heading back to Danville, Illinois for the national tournament in a couple weeks. It's a unique little town and it would be my third trip in three years on the basketball beat at the Journal.