Narragansett culture clash

Phillipe & Jorge are not exactly proponents of casino gambling, but that doesn't mean we think the Narragansett tribe shouldn't try to clear the government obstacles put in its path. Channel 10's special on the Narragansetts (Thursday, April 17 at 7 p.m.) goes a long way in explaining the tribe's history and point of view -- and not just on why it wants to operate a casino on tribal lands.

Thoughtfully written and produced by WJAR's director of special projects, Bob Rose, Our Neighbors -- The Narragansetts is narrated by the Native American actor Graham Greene, and gives context to the Narragansetts' perspective.

Rose dug up some great archival footage and a lot of fascinating historical tidbits for his documentary, beautifully shot by station videographer Jim Karpeichik. Did you know, for instance, that the Narragansetts were not allowed to vote in the Biggest Little until 1950?

Regardless of whether you believe casino gambling is a good thing for Vo Dilun (and your superior correspondents decidedly do not), you can't ignore how the state's position is rife with hypocrisy, a point a number of tribal members make abundantly clear in the Channel 10 program.

Then again, in the world of yahoo capitalism, hypocrisy is the coin of the realm, just as brutality is in totalitarianism and naivete is in socialism. Unless the Narragansetts' claims to sovereignty are illegitimate -- and the US government has been quite clear about Native American sovereignty for a long time now -- the current imbroglio has all the earmarks of yet another broken treaty.

On the other hand, what the Narragansetts want is the opportunity to be hypocrites themselves, just like the white man. To P&J, a gambling facility doesn't exactly fit with a culture noted for its reverence for the land. Still, there is another -- and one might argue, larger -- element to the picture that has to do with paternalism.

There is no easy answer to this dilemma, but Rose's special does an exceptional job explaining where the Narragansetts are coming from. Kudos to Channel 10 for continuing to underwrite the fine documentary work of Robert Rose, who has provided some of the best local television has to offer.

Male bag

We recently received a note from a friend in the utility field who, wonk that he is, reads a number of industry publications. The accompanying illustration came from the April issue of the Electricity Journal.

Our correspondent says he was fascinated by this depiction of superior behavior. "Considering the subject matter of the issue, 'Meditations on Market Power,' " he writes, "all sorts of captions come to mind, including 'Narragansett Electric lobbies George (of the Jungle) Caruolo for a 2.8-per-kWH transition fee in the restructuring bill.' "

Yes, indeed. There wasn't a dry eye at Casa Diablo as we once again remembered our old friend Allen Ginsberg.

Travellin' man

Phillipe and Jorge are having our tuxedos cleaned and getting our chauffeur, Carvaggio, to gas up the limo as we prepare for the public premiere of the movie Traveller, which will open in New York City on April 18. The script is by one of P&J's longtime best friends, Jim McJim (a.k.a. McGlynn). While the film made its world premiere at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin weeks ago, P&J weren't in the mood to get our cummerbunds dusty.

Traveller features current silver screen and TV stars Bill "Apollo 13/Twister" Paxton and Julianna "E.R." Margulies. It was filmed by Paxton's independent production company. (And you all know how the indies did at the last Academy Awards, n'est-çe pas?)

The film also was mentioned on Entertainment Tonight and in People magazine, and will be reviewed next week by our close personal friends Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert.

Already Paxton has been on the Today show to promote it, while a Tonight show appearance is in the works. It's only a matter of time before the "Beanie" versions of Paxton and Margulies's characters appear in McDonald's Happy Meals.

Having been privy to the plot since it was a gleam in Jim's eye, P&J know that the story revolves around a group of Irish gypsies in the US who exist in a complex little world hovering below mainstream radar.

Enough said, since we're counting on the box-office take to supply our pal with enough money for more than a few rounds of Pernod and grapefruit. What we will say is that it includes Margulies's first on-screen "love scene" (ah, right to the prurient appeal, don't ya love it?), although Traveller is far from The Sound of Music.

Traveller will premiere in Boston on May 2, as well as in Dallas and Los Angeles in the next few weeks. We've got big-time faith in our boy McJim. Be there or be square.

Thanks for the memories

While this month's celebration of Jackie Robinson's breaking of the baseball color barrier 50 years ago may seem like overkill, the exposure shouldn't be taken lightly considering the present scene in both baseball and race relations.

In our youth, Phillipe and Jorge had the opportunity to meet Robinson at a Religion in American Life dinner, and we have cherished the personalized autograph we received ever since. At the time, the enormity of what he'd achieved was fairly lost on us -- foremost in our minds he was a great baseball player regarded as a truly courageous human being.

Since that time, we've come to realize how much of a positive impact he had on people's lives within the framework of what was then the country's national pastime. He did this in spite of vicious personal attacks and racial abuse that led to segregated living quarters and restaurants.

The sad thing -- and the reason why the Robinson media oversaturation does not annoy us -- is that while superstars like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron say they would not be who they are today had it not been for Jackie's paving the way, many modern ballplayers, black or white, have no idea what he accomplished.

More important, neither do schoolchildren of any creed or color. So the more the merrier from the fourth estate, we say. Let a little more light into what was once a very dark room.

Jackie Robinson -- a big, big man who deserves to be well remembered this year and every year.

Kudos & congrats . . .

. . . to the folks at the Fund for Community Progress, who announced a 24-percent increase in revenues this year. The increase was largely due to workplace campaigns opened up at Hasbro Inc. and Smith Barney and Hinckley Allen and to a successful Fund-sponsored roast of restaurateur Guy Abelson and a grant from the New York Community Trust (a source suggested by local philanthropist Buff Chace). This is wonderful news especially now, when the need is so great. Congratulations to FCP executive director Nondas Hurst Voll and all the great volunteers who kept the Fund vital during some very hard years.

. . . to the editors of Providence's East Side Monthly, who aced the competition for best local April Fool's prank. The cover of the monthly's April issue features a huge photograph of former East Side resident, John F. Kennedy Jr. The headline heralds his appointment as the "next president of Brown University." The faux report inside contains some of the funniest writing we've seen around here in a while. Good job, gang.

. . . to Jon Westling, the President of Boston University, for upholding the office in fine John "Hi-ho" Silber tradition. Westling has been arguing for some time that students who say they suffer from learning disabilities are just "not very bright." Now he's defending himself in federal court in a lawsuit brought by students who say he doesn't take learning disabilities seriously.

As part of his argument, Westling used to mention one "Somnolent Samantha" as his prime example of a student's taking advantage of the system by claiming learning disabilities. Turns out that Samantha, who Westling insisted was real, was merely a concoction of his own none-too-swift mind. In federal court, Westling had to admit during cross-examination that he couldn't come up with one case of a student's faking a learning disability.

We also find it amusing that Mr. Rigid Standards and Academic Achievement has neither a master's degree nor a doctorate. Gee, wonder how he got the gig? (For a possible answer, see illustration elsewhere in this column.)

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