In a timely piece of online journalism, New York Times film critic A.O. Scott reviews John Ford’s film “The Grapes of Wrath.” The film, adapted from John Steinbeck’s novel about the Great Depression, Scott says, “mede me think that’s it time for Hollywood to stand up again for the downtrodden and the dispossessed.”

The film, released in 1940, was nominated for seven Academy Awards, and it earned Mr. Ford his second of four directing Oscars.  Mr. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, and the committee cited this novel as one of the main reasons for awarding him the prize.

The book is certainly revelant in todays economic times.  The term depression commonly used by economic prognosticators and forecasters who frequent the cable news programs.   It is said that “The Grapes of Wrath” had a profound impact on President Roosevelt.  With his reading list growing, I wonder if it should be at the top of President-elect Obama’s stack.

Over the weekend I had a nice conversation with Kristin Fisher of KATV about her new online project “Choose Your News.” It’s a cool feature in which Fisher gives audiences the opportunity to vote on the story she covers.  She’s using her blog, online video and Twitter to keep the public informed with what she is covering.  Her stories also air on the evening news.  Mark Hengel of Arkansas Business has a piece in this week’s issue about Fisher’s work.  If you have story ideas, you can e-mail Fisher at kfisher@katv.com or find her on the Internet.

It’s a perfect fall day here in Little Rock.  There’s a slight wind, chilly temperatures, and overcast skies.  It’s a shame there’s not a football game at historic War Memorial Stadium.  The Razorbacks, in fact, are off this week. Clinton School communications chief Ben Beaumont reminded me of this many months back when he announced his wedding date (it’s today; will Houston Nutt be in attendance?)   Congratulations, Ben and Claire.

It’s actually a pretty weak day for football all around.  The LR Central Tigers didn’t even sniff a win, much less the playoffs, so I’m not as focused on the high school football as I normall would be.  And can I really get fired up about Notre Dame - Navy; Florida - South Carolina; Auburn - Georgia?  Dunno.  We’ll see how the day goes.

It could be a good day for movies and books. “Quantum of Solace,” the 22nd James Bond film, opened last night.  It’s no “Casino Royale,” but there’s some cool stuff and pretty women.  Mathieu Amalric (of “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) is an impressive (if under-utilized) villain.  But the song really sucks.  If you live in big cities, like New York, you can see “Slumdog Millionaire,” “A Christmas Tale,” “I’ve Loved You So Long,” and “Synedoche, New York.”  You should go see them. I live in Arkansas, so I can go see “Saw V” (that’s an exaggeration, of course.  I can also see “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”).

Tomorrow, The New York Times Book Review assesses a new biography on the late George Plimpton, of “The Paris Review” among other literary and interesting achievements.  “In these crazy, mixed-up times, George is a character to be fondly remembered, a hero of sorts, and a charmed and charming partner in his own spirited dance to the music of time,” writes Graydon Carter in his review.

My fall reading list is almost complete.  I’ll look forward to a lot of holiday.  I’ll pick up the Plimpton book, and finish “Herzog.”  Recommendations are welcome.

The November 17th issue of The New Yorker is loaded with great political writing.   Free admission to the Clinton Presidential Library, too, if you’re in LR.

That should be enough for a Saturday. Enjoy it. I’ll check back in tomorrow.

On Sunday, November 16th Arkansas First Lady Ginger Beebe will be at the Clinton School of Public Service to present the 2009 “Arkansas Artists Engagement Calendar” which features art from across the state.  Many of the artists will be on site to join Mrs. Beebe in the presentation and discussion.  The event is free and begins at 2:00 p.m.  Books will be on sale for $20 and Mrs. Beebe will be available to sign them.  Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or calling 501.683.5239.

Stepping away from state and local politics, LR Episcopal Collegiate School PR chief Stacey Jones passes along news that the school will begin its annual drive to collect food for the Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church. They’re asking each student to bring 10 canned food items, and they’re shooting for 100% participation.  This is the single largest donation the church receives to its food program annually.

This comes on the heels of news that food banks all across America are struggling during tough economic times. The New York Times notes, “In the four months since June, demand for food aid has risen 20 percent in areas of the country with the healthiest economies and more than 40 percent in areas with the weakest, leaders of nonprofit food-distribution organizations say. And they predict that the need will keep growing in 2009 if the job market continues to contract, as expected. Requests are so high that some food centers are turning away the hungry. “

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette notes the rise in handgun and rifle sales in the state.  This from the article,

“The rise in gun purchases in Arkansas mirrors increases seen in the rest of the nation, fueled by anxiety and uncertainty over what limits might be placed on future gun purchases in the wake of last week’s election that gave the Democratic Party control over the White House and Congress for the first time in more than a decade.”

I guess these people missed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June of this year.

The article also notes the rise in gun purchases for people who want protection in light of recent events in Little Rock, including the slaying of KATV reporter Anne Pressly earlier this year. “That’s been a big [factor ] in the increase in sales,” said Kevin Lloyd, manager of Bullseye Guns & Ammo at 205 N. Shackleford Road in Little Rock. “A lot are people in the Heights, who lived close to her or who knew her.” As a result of the slaying, people also are purchasing “pepper sprays and stun guns like crazy,” he said.

Barack Obama bested John McCain by 34 points among voters 18-29, the largest in post-war American history according to Tuft’s Tisch College Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.  That margin is nearly four-times the margin of John F. Kennedy in 1960.  The youth vote made up 18 percent of the electorate this year, one point more than in the last three presidential elections.

The Clinton School of Public Service hosted a forum on the youth vote the day before the election.  Have a look.

From Nicholas Carr’s Rough Type blog,

“Blogging seems to have entered its midlife crisis, with much existential gnashing-of-teeth about the state and fate of a literary form that once seemed new and fresh and now seems familiar and tired. And there’s good reason for the teeth-gnashing. While there continue to be many blogs, including a lot of very good ones, it seems to me that one would be hard pressed to make the case that there’s still a “blogosphere.” That vast, free-wheeling, and surprisingly intimate forum where individual writers shared their observations, thoughts, and arguments outside the bounds of the traditional media is gone. Almost all of the popular blogs today are commercial ventures with teams of writers, aggressive ad-sales operations, bloated sites, and strategies of self-linking. Some are good, some are boring, but to argue that they’re part of a “blogosphere” that is distinguishable from the “mainstream media” seems more and more like an act of nostalgia, if not self-delusion.”

UPDATE:  Thanks to the Nashville Post Politics Blog for the link.

The Razorbacks go for a mighty fifth win today against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

I write about football more than I write about movies in this space, which is a bit strange because movies have more relevance to the themes and topics of this blog than football.  I’m not certain where I’m going with all of this, but as I was browsing the web this (early) morning, I came across this review of “Synedoche, New York,” the latest project from Charlie Kaufman, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Adaptation” and “Being John Malcovich.”  Christopher Orr writes, “Seldom does one run across a work of art so strange and original and yet so comprehensive, an invented universe so fully realized that emerging from the theater at its conclusion can be a dislocating experience. Though barely two hours long, the film feels longer–and not, for once, in a bad way. It is an immersive experience, far too much movie to be fully digested in a single sitting or, in my case, even two. And, yes, that may be taken as a compliment, a complaint, or both.”

I am eagerly anticipating this film.  If you’ve seen it and have thoughts, I would love to hear them.

because they tell stories like this one, of Eugene Allen, who worked as a White House butler for 34 years.  This is great work by Wil Haygood of The Washington Post.

Twitter has launched a new feature called Twitter Vote Report where users can tweet about their voting experiences. Twitter is tracking them geographically. Arkansas is stepping up.

It’s the last Sunday before the presidential election. I’ve been up for hours browsing the Internet and watching the special edition of “Morning Joe.” John McCain is storming through Pennsylvania today before stops in New Hampshire and Florida. Barack Obama is in Ohio for most of the day before heading to Florida.

The Sunday television buffet is appetizing:

• Meet the Press - Sen. John Kerry, Fred Thompson. Roundtable: David Broder, David Gregory, Michele Norris, Chuck Todd.
• This Week - David Axelrod, Rick Davis. Roundtable: Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, George Will, Mark Halperin.
• Face the Nation - David Axelrod, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. John Ensign

NEW POLLS: VA (Obama +3), MN (Obama +11), PA (Obama +7), CO (Obama +5), IA (Obama +17), NV (Obama +4), OH (Obama +6).

ADS: The National Republican Trust PAC is running a hyper-negative Obama/Rev. Wright ad here in Arkansas. Just saw it. Elizabeth Dole yanks the nastiest ad I’ve seen this election season. (Arkie connection: El Dorado native and former Mike Huckabee staffer Hogan Gidley works for Dole.)

FOOTBALL: Hogs win. 2 wins away from a bowl berth. Guns up in Lubbock, Texas. BCS chaos forthcoming? Certainly.

OOPS: Dick Cheney steps out and endorses John McCain. Talk about bad timing.

GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER: Frank Rich on why Barack Obama is the guy to lift us up and dig us out of trouble.

IF OBAMA WINS: Is it Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff? That’s the rumor. (He’d be great.)

NOT SO FAST: McCain: “We’re going to win!”

IT’S A PARTY: Chicago prepares for election night. It was 16 years ago that Little Rock was doing the same thing.

SIKE: Sarah Palin is pranked by Borat-esque Canadian funny men. McCain does SNL.

CHARLES BARKLEY FOR PRESIDENT: David Kinkade at The Arkansas Project captures the former NBA star dissing Arkansas.

It’s Saturday, which means that another Razorback gut punch is in the making.  The Hogs kick-off against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at 1:00 p.m. Yes, I’ll watch.  I’m a glutton for punishment, although Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit picked the Hogs to win. So I have that going for me . . . Sadly Joe Pa and the mighty Penn State Nittany Lions are off this week . . . Today also marks the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, Florida.  The Gators battle the Georgia Bulldogs at 2:30. The party/game is so popular that the Clarke County (Ga.) School District had to close school on Friday because there weren’t enough teachers available.

After having spent the better part of this morning online (I’m cool like that), I can’t tell you a whole lot that is helpful regarding this presidential election.  Both candidates are flying around on airplanes and giving speeches (I watched John McCain deliver a speech today in which he furiously banged the podium and said “my friends” four hundred times) . . . Sarah Palin has a First Amendment grievance . . . Huh? . . . Barack Obama got testy while trick-or-treating . . . David Broder says this is the best election he’s ever covered.

For now, I’m done.  I’ll be back online later today.