Asian Longhorned Beetle in Easton? Not yet

Diane Shannon, an observant member of the Garden Club, dropped off a tupperware container at the NRT yesterday. It held a large, long horned beetle with white spots. The NRT is happy to serve as the town's science center and gets several identification questions annually. We jumped on this one because the bug certainly bore a strong resemblance to the dread Asian Long Horned Beetle that has killed hundreds of trees in central Massachusetts. We quickly Googled the ALB and came upon the contact page for a Massachusetts Department of Agriculture botanist named Jennifer Forman-Orth. Wait a second, Jenny Forman was student of mine at Randolph who is a leading expert on Japanese Knotweed, a tenacious invasive plant. A quick call revealed it was indeed Randolph Jenny who is now the go-to person on all plant pests, pathogens, and weeds in Massachusetts. She publishes the Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Blog which can be found here. Turns out we could have accessed any of a number of pages Jenny has posted on ALB identification, but we had her on the phone and quickly e-mailed a photo of the bug. Jenny was back on the phone in two minutes with the good news that the beetle was a native species often confused with the ALB called the White Spotted Sawyer. We had a female with rather more distinct white spots than was normal, but the white semi-circle at the base of the neck was enough to make the ID. Also, White Spotted Sawyers have a pitted shell that looks moldy compared to the shiny shell of the ALB. Check out the comparison below:

White Spotted Sawyers prefer white pine and spruce while the ALB favors maple and several other hardwood species. The major damage by both beetles is caused by the larva that tunnel into the trunks of trees, but Sawyers attack trees that are already dead or nearly dead while the ALB attack healthy trees. A pile of pine logs waiting at a sawmill are a Sawyers paradise. By the way, the sound that the beetle makes as it chews is said to resemble the sound of a saw, hence the common name. Dead wood isn't all that nutritious so it takes the Sawyer two years to complete its life cycle in New England often with a little cannibalism of fellow larva thrown in. Adult Sawyers are clumsy fliers who will plop down just about anywhere for a rest so they are often seen by people. That white semi-circular spot at the top of the wings/base of the neck allows for instant identification once you know about it, but it's important to be sure! In Worcester County over 25,000 trees had to be removed due to ALB infestation. The great fear is that the ALB will move north and devastate maple syrup production. A number of posters about ALB identification will be on hand at Sheep Pasture's Visitors Center next week-come by and check them out.

Foreign Films II

The films of Europe have never had the same appeal for me as the ones mentioned yesterday from Asia, and I have to admit that my knowledge of Latin American (or Spanish) films is pretty sparse. This may simply be a result of teaching so many Asian students when I was working in Randolph and getting interested in their culture, but it also reflects a difference in themes and emphasis. Very few films from Europe have hit me with the same punch as To Live or The Color of Paradise, but let's start with one that does:

Italy
The Bicycle Thief-This simple story of a father who gets a job in postwar Italy and then has the bike needed to get to work stolen is a masterpiece of Italian neorealism about the relationships of fathers and sons.
La Strada-Anthony Quinn as a thuggish strong man in a traveling circus and Giulietta Masina as the girl who loves him.

Germany
Nosferatu-The only silent film that holds its appeal. One can appreciate silent films for their historical importance, but this one, despite the antique acting, still has the power to haunt your nightmares.
Run, Lola, Run-A wonderful movie experiment-what if you could run back the tape of life and make corrections-is a fun comic, dramatic, action romance film.

France

Day for Night-A charming movie about making movies. If you've ever made even a 10 minute film, you'll love and understand this one.
And then there are a million very well crafted and extremely watchable films that just don't have that special impact for me. Here are three great ones.
Breathless
Rules of the Game
Le Samourai

Brazil

Black Orpheus-A very special musical exploration of life among the poor during Carnaval.

Foreign Films

It's time to start thinking about what films to "discuss" at this season's Hockomock Film Festival Movie Club. Over the year's we've highlighted a number of great foreign films because we try to have about a quarter of our films from outside the English speaking world. I know a lot of folks don't like to read the subtitles on a film, but it's worth a stretch since so many excellent films are made outside the US and UK.
Here's a list of my favorites from Asia and the Middle East which runs to dramas since I'm humor challenged and prefer dark films. Actually I prefer films where things blow up preferably with cowboys, but I'm trying to be serious. Films from Europe tomorrow.

China
To Live-Zhang Yimou's reflection on forty years of 20th century Chinese history. An epic film told from one family's point of view. This is my favorite film of all time both for its story and the extraordinary film-making. A film that repays repeated viewing because the more you look the more you see.

Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-Two films that build on the traditional Chinese genre of sword and wire-work films to create real art. Both are extraordinarily beautiful. In Hero, Zhang Yimou shoots each segment of the film in a different color scheme and makes great use of special effects. The story and acting in CTHD makes you care about the characters.

Japan
I'm partial to the films of Akira Kurosawa. Rashomon is a masterpiece of world cinema with its single story told from multiple points of view. The Seven Samurai is a classic action film that became a classic cowboy movie when it was remade as The Magnificent Seven. Ran, Kurosawa's homage to Shakespeare's King Lear, is a brilliant film about how things fall apart.

India
Sorry to say, I haven't really gotten into the serious cinema of India. My favorite Bollywood film is Lagaan, a movie about an Indian village that uses cricket to beat the Brits out of a tax increase. They sing, they dance, they use every cliche of sports and war films, and its fun.  My Name is Khan, while not quite in the same class as the other films here, is an wonderful, very human film about an autistic man's triumphs-actually two or three movies, in India, in America, and in Love. Indian films tend to run beyond the two hour time frame favored by film club members, but I should spend some time with both the classic films of Satyajit Ray and modern serious films.

Iran
The Color of Paradise is the story of a blind boy who is not loved by his father. The film is amazing in that you see what it is to be blind. No coincidence that the little boy is named Mohammed and that the viewer is placed in the role of the omniscient observer. My other all-time favorite film. This one will blow you away and stay with you a long, long time.

Iraq
Turtles Can Fly. An antiwar film that isn't anti-American. Refugee children making a life amid the ruins.