08/26/04

LC040826

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

We're cutting down our tallest trees and replacing them with
shrubs. Why aren't we doing more to protect our urban forests?

Eric Oldar>> This is, in essence, not a tree. It's a shrub
that's pruned to make it look like a tree. So we take a little
squatty shrub and we make a tree out of it.

Val>> And then, it may not be for everyone, but once you see
it, you'll never look at the human body the same. We go inside
"Body Worlds".

All that and more straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times.

Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> Across the country, trees are disappearing, falling prey
to development, and Southern California is no exception. Every
year we lose thousands of trees to make way for shopping centers
and houses. Now you say developers have to replace the trees
they cut down, right? Well, as Hena Cuevas discovered in
Riverside, they may plant new ones, but not all trees are
created equal.

Eric Oldar>> We're marching suddenly toward this futuristic
sterile environment where there's no greenery left.

Hena Cuevas>> A city with no trees. That's what Eric Oldar
from the California Department of Forestry in Riverside is
afraid of.

Eric Oldar>> We're not, in essence as human beings, in a
position where they put us into a concrete maze and expect us to
survive and live there. We want a sense of nature and openness
around us and that's where greenery comes into play.

Hena Cuevas>> Oldar has made it his mission to keep green from
turning to gray. According to the American Forest Organization,
over the past ten years, urban areas nationwide have lost more
than twenty percent of their tree cover and Los Angeles is no
exception to this national trend.

Eric Oldar>> We are quickly, as in our playgrounds and our
parks, concreting and paving over everything and we're losing
all of that greenness.

Hena Cuevas>> Greenness that a lot of times we don't notice is
missing, especially in a desert area like Los Angeles. However,
says Oldar, our large trees are being replaced with smaller
weaker ones, the proliferation of what he calls the pygmy
forest.

Eric Oldar>> We're planting trees or a forest for the future
that are pygmy forests. Where we have overhead conflict like in
the electrical wires, they would choose a small tree like this
so it doesn't grow into the wires. But when you look up here,
there is nothing above us. There is open sky and we should be
planting a large majestic tree not only to shade the sidewalk
and the street, but we end up planting these little trees.

Hena Cuevas>> So this is part of the instant gratification that
you were talking about?

Eric Oldar>> This is instant gratification. If you take a look
at the small diameter of this trunk, this is a small tree that's
been forced-grown in the nurseries to make it look like a tree
and then we put it in the ground. In fact, they have to stake
it like this because the tree doesn't have enough strength to be
able to hold itself up.

Hena Cuevas>> The crepe myrtles surrounding this new housing
development are actually shrubs and even when fully grown, says
Oldar, will have little or no benefit. Birds don't nest in
them, they provide little shade and no wood can be extracted
from them. So then it's more about quality of the tree than
quantity of the tree?

Eric Oldar>> It is, because the quantity of tree would reflect
more of a concern for creating the pygmy forest. If I plant
enough trees, won't I get the same benefit? No. If I rip out
one old large tree, I will plant, what, five or six fifteen-
gallon trees and will they ever grow into something that's large
and magnificent as the large one we've lost? No.

Hena Cuevas>> The larger the tree, he says, the better the
investment.

Eric Oldar>> A tree doesn't depreciate. It actually
appreciates.

Hena Cuevas>> This long-term thinking is what Larry Smith,
Director of Northeast Trees, is focusing on. Northeast Trees is
a nonprofit organization that works with the city of Los
Angeles. They're trying not only to increase the number of
trees, but to improve the quality of those that were planted.

Larry Smith>> We need more trees for people to be out and about
in these kinds of spaces comfortably because it still tends to
be last thing that's considered when you're talking about
creating a built environment.

Hena Cuevas>> So are trees kind of like an after-thought?

Larry Smith>> They have been, yeah. They have been, and
they've gotten a leftover space.

Hena Cuevas>> It's this leftover space that's the problem.
With land being so scarce and precious in Los Angeles, finding
ample room for these trees is difficult. Also, many people are
afraid of the roots.

Larry Smith>> Even if you wanted a large tree to share the
space, eventually it would start buckling the sidewalk and the
landscape around it. There are liability issues that are
presented by that, especially people walking along the
sidewalks.

Hena Cuevas>> So Smith and his group look for areas around the
city with enough space like the banks of the Los Angeles River.

Aaron Thomas>> Well, further up, there's a whole stretch of
land between the two bridges there that is ready for planting.
I mean, there's plenty of space there.

Hena Cuevas>> And this median in Eagle Rock.

Aaron Thomas>> In this situation, we have a really good and
rare opportunity of having a large median. It's approximately
twenty feet wide, so it will accommodate a larger species of
tree.

Hena Cuevas>> Aaron Thomas is the lead arborist at Northeast
Trees.

Aaron Thomas>> It's a shame to not use a large species in this
space where we have the opportunity to put a large tree.
Anything smaller than that is a waste.

Hena Cuevas>> It's a long-term investment since these newly-
planted trees won't reach their maximum height for another one
hundred years. That's almost as long as these trees have graced
the streets in Riverside.

Eric Oldar>> There's no way those crepe myrtles will ever
provide a canopy like this. To stand in the street and
appreciate the coolness of the shade and, you know, what it's
bringing here makes a big difference not only to us standing
here talking, but to these homes over here. So we have a public
tree, unlike the crepe myrtle that we saw earlier on the public
right-of-way, that is providing environmental benefits to the
homeowner himself.

Hena Cuevas>> The tree provides added shade that lowers cooling
costs and increases property values. These benefits may not be
felt immediately, but in the long run, they will improve the
overall quality of life.

Larry Smith>> The citizenry needs to understand the benefits.
They need to request the benefits and say, look, we want these
trees to be big. We don't want these trees to be small. We
know the only way they're going to get big is that they give us
more space and we're willing to help with that.

Hena Cuevas>> Do you still think there's hope for Los Angeles?

Larry Smith>> Yes, I do, or I wouldn't be doing this
(laughter). No, there's hope, there's hope. It took a lot of
years to get to this point. It's going to take a lot of years
to get back to a better place for the urban forest.

Eric Oldar>> And the simple act of planting a tree, and every
tree that we choose to plant for future generations, is one of a
decision that we make today that gives us a course of action
that sets the stage thirty or forty years down the road, so we
need to make intelligent decisions. I really believe that we're
beginning to make those connections today.

Val>> If you'd like some help picking out the perfect tree for
a particular spot, you can get expert advice and it's free from
the California Department of Forestry or Northeast Trees.

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Val>> So is there life after death? Well, certainly not in
physical form, right? Well, think again. More than two dozen
human bodies have taken on a whole new life of sorts through an
amazing process called plastination. I got a personal tour of
"Body Worlds" from the President of the California Science
Center, Jeffrey Rudolph. A word of warning. This exhibit may
not appeal if you've got a queasy stomach.

The human bodies are preserved by a groundbreaking process
invented by a German doctor who preserved specimens for medical
study. His name is Gunther von Hagen and the technique is
called plastination. You call it a plastinate. What is that?

Jeffrey Rudolph>> Actually, it's a name invented by Dr. von
Hagan who invented this technique, this plastination. What
these specimens are are real humans during their lifetime donate
their bodies for medical education. Our bodies are mostly water
and what this process does is to, through a chemical step,
replace the water in our body with plastic. What you've got
here is a specimen which is a true human specimen, but it's
mostly plastic and will last forever.

Val>> Forever?

Jeffrey Rudolph>> Longer than the mummies.

Val>> Incredible.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Although we can see every nerve and vein, the exhibit
reveals nothing personal about the donors. Now we don't know
how old this person was, do we?

Jeffrey Rudolph>> No, we really don't. With each of the
plastinates, anonymity is maintained while they're donating
their bodies. Many of the donors indicated they were willing to
be identified, but Dr. von Hagen decided nevertheless he should
maintain their anonymity in case a member of the family came in
or --

Val>> -- not only that, but it's really about humankind. It's
not about --

Jeffrey Rudolph>> -- it's not about an individual or their
history. It's about learning about people and their bodies, so
we don't know the exact age.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Now this is an athlete and you can literally see the
difference in the muscle tone.

Jeffrey Rudolph>> Yes, this was the most muscular body donor.
It's been put in an athletic position as a basketball player and
you can really see the tremendous strength in these muscles.

Val>> That's fantastic. Do you have any ethical issues? Is
this exhibit controversial?

Jeffrey Rudolph>> The exhibit had some controversy in Europe.
In Asia, no. Before we brought it here, we thought it was
really important to consider all the ethical issues and we put
together a group of advisers, both medical and religious
leaders. They primary issue they focused on was insuring that
the body donors properly donated their bodies. They reviewed
the process and they were a fully and informed consent. The
bigger challenge hasn't been controversy or complaints.

The bigger challenge has been that people have a general
reaction when they see photographs or hear about the exhibit
that makes them think it may be gross and they're a little
afraid of it. Yet as people go through the exhibit, most people
fairly quickly turn from thinking about that it might be gross
to fascination with the details and the lessons they can learn
about their own bodies.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Von Hagen's technique works on every part of the body
except the eyes. It turns nerves into cobwebs, blood vessels
into lace and skin into a cloak. And if you've ever wondered
what cigarettes can do, compare the lungs of a nonsmoker to a
smoker. This is the first time the cyclist has been on display,
is that right?

Jeffrey Rudolph>> Yes. The cyclist is -- actually, the body
has been expanded so this person is one and a half times the
size he originally was.

Val>> Like it looks like he'd be about eight or nine feet.

Jeffrey Rudolph>> Yeah, it looks like a giant.

Val>> Although it was a big person.

Jeffrey Rudolph>> He was a big person. The reason this is
expanded is kind of like you look at some of the layers and
complexity of the body and how it's put together. Our bodies
are so packed with all these complex systems that you can't see
them all. When you're looking through the muscles and the
skeletal system, you don't see all the internal organs and the
like, so here he pulled it apart a little so you can get a sense
of the relative positioning and how the body all fits together.

Val>> Now what are those? They look like billiard balls, cue
balls.

Jeffrey Rudolph>> This is actually the hip joint. The hip is a
ball and socket joint and actually, similarly, the shoulder is
the same thing if you look up here.

Val>> I had no idea it was so perfectly round.

Jeffrey Rudolph>> It's the round piece that allows the full
range of movement. It's also a little bit like the shoulder is
actually unstable and you can dislocate that when the ball comes
out of the socket.

This is actually of particular interesting specimen when you
realize that all these systems are integrated together. You've
got your skeletal system that we looked at earlier. Now you've
got your arterial circulation and your circulatory system and
everything. It's all this complex and amazing --

Val>> -- and if you've ever wondered why, when we've all gotten
a bloody nose (laughter) now you can see why sometimes it just
gushes.

Jeffrey Rudolph>> You can see that or, for those men out there,
you can see why you bleed so much when you cut yourself shaving.

Val>> But Hagen didn't confine himself to Homo sapiens. The
largest specimen in the exhibit looked like something Edgar
Allen Poe would dream up.

Jeffrey Rudolph>> This horse is an interesting specimen and the
most complete and difficult specimen that Dr. von Hagen has done
yet, but it also allows us to look a comparative physiology.
You can compare the horse and the human. A couple of
interesting points would be to compare the size of the brain,
the rider's brain in the right hand and the smaller horse's
brain in his left hand.

Val>> But not all that much smaller really.

Jeffrey Rudolph>> No, but compared to the size of the animal,
significantly smaller.

Val>> Oh, right.

Jeffrey Rudolph>> And then you also -- on the other hand, if
you look at the musculature of this horse, this is an incredibly
powerful, muscular animal and the size of the muscles compared
to the human muscles are enormous, like an animal made to work
more than to think.

Val>> Now does he plan on plastinating other animals?

Jeffrey Rudolph>> Yes, he does. He's actually plastinating the
gorilla that unfortunately died in a zoo in Germany. It's a
phenomenal specimen and it allows us to look, again, at
comparative physiology. But in this case, we'll look at a very
close relative and to realize, when under the skin and the hair,
how much a gorilla and human look alike and yet at the same time
to realize the incredible mass of the gorilla's muscles. It's
an amazing animal.

Val>> Well, Jeffrey, thank you for bringing this exhibit to Los
Angeles and all of California, for that matter.

Jeffrey Rudolph>> Thank you so much for sharing it with your
listeners and viewers. We're very proud to be here.

Val>> And, by the way, if you're interested in becoming a
plastinate, you can fill out a donor card right here at the
museum. In fact, this exhibit has inspired six thousand people
to fill out body donor cards.

To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us
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contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org.

Patt Morrison>> Welcome to FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm
Patt Morrison here this week for Larry Mantle and we begin with
a thriller starring Ben Kingsley and Aaron Eckhart. It's called
"Suspect Zero".

[Film Clip]

Patt Morrison>> Joining me this week are critics F.X. Feeney of
the L.A. Weekly and Andy Klein of CityBEAT and ValleyBEAT. All
right, F.X. "Suspect Zero". Is that a rating or a title
(laughter)?

F.X. Feeney>> (Laughter) I think that it's a good title.
Basically, I was surprised by how well I responded to it. In
the opening credits, they have that kind of pixilated sinister
quality of "Seven" and I thought, uh-oh, I've seen this kind of
creepy killer movie before. Aaron Eckhart plays an FBI agent
coping with something that seems to be paranormal or
supernatural, so I thought, uh-oh, sounds like "X-Files". But
the screenplay by Zack Penn and Billy Ray, which has been
directed by E. Elias Merhige of "Shadow of the Vampire",
actually uses an escape philosophy early on, I think, largely
because of the Ben Kingsley character.

We're asked throughout the film, is Ben Kingsley a killer,
killing all these people that Aaron Eckhart is trying to solve,
or is he what's called a remote viewer, someone who actually
sees the killings? Is it all the theory of "Suspect Zero", the
man who's going around the country doing all of this without a
pattern or is he "Suspect Zero"? It plays chess with our
intelligence very well and I like very much that it appeals to
our intellect instead of a blood and guts affair.

Patt Morrison>> Andy?

Andy Klein>> I'm a little less positive on this. In fact, I'm
a lot less positive. I thought the script was really a dog's
breakfast. I've seen this script a million times before. The
movie, "Copycat", I think is the most similar. I didn't really
care about what surprises there are. I will say, however, that
the director, whose name I won't even try to pronounce, is a
real stylist and I feel that he brought stuff to this material
that's really more than it deserves. It's got a lot of
freakiness that's genuine.

It is very derivative of "Seven" in its style, but that's not
necessarily a bad thing. Plus, Ben Kingsley. Nobody can be as
scary as Ben Kingsley. I mean, this is the scariest skinny
little bald guy in the universe and he brings out all that
intensity here like he did in "Sexy Beast". He's terrific, and
Aaron Eckhart, I think, is actually doing the best work here
that I've seen him do.

Patt Morrison>> The next film is in the tradition of "Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon". It stars Jet Li and it's called "Hero".

[Film Clip]

Patt Morrison>> Andy Klein, the next film is "Hero".

Andy Klein>> Yeah, this is one of the most beautiful films
you'll ever see. It stars Jet Li as a swordsman in ancient
China around the time that the Chinese empire is being created.
He gets an audience with the guy who is going to become the
first emperor of China -- but he hasn't conquered everybody yet
-- because he has slain the three most fearsome assassins in the
country who were all out to get the emperor.

The whole film is in flashbacks as Jet Li tells the emperor the
story of how he did this. The emperor then, in fact, starts
suggesting that maybe he hasn't been totally forthright and we
get several versions of the events. It's beautifully done.
Like I say, the cinematography by Christopher Doyle is
exquisite. It's got epic style. But I do think it does slow
down three-quarters through when we're getting to the third or
fourth version of this story and I have some ideological
problems with the film. But you shouldn't miss this on the big
screen. It's absolutely gorgeous and it will be great on DVD,
but not as great.

Patt Morrison>> F.X.?

F.X. Feeney>> Well, I was at a fascinating disadvantage when I
saw this film. I must say that I agree with everything positive
that Andy says about it. I saw it in Poland. It was in
Mandarin with Polish subtitles. I speak neither language, so it
had to rely on its visual. I was in awe. I was dazzled and
transported for, you know, the full length of the film. The
craziness of several versions? I thought, oh, is it different
realities? Is it different after-life? But the visual texture
of the film almost seems like the fights are becoming more
spiritual as it goes on. It just felt like true poetry and I
really enjoyed it a great deal.

Patt Morrison>> To finish this week, a documentary, "Uncovered:
the War on Iraq", chronicling the decision by the Bush
administration to make war in Iraq.

[Film Clip]

Patt Morrison>> And the third film, "Uncovered", F.X.?

F.X. Feeney>> Well, this is a fascinating documentary that
comes out in the time of "Fahrenheit 911" and also "Control
Room" and it is fully in their league. It does so not by being
terribly cinematic. It's basically one talking head after
another. But these talking heads are CIA analysts, most of whom
worked for the CIA from the 1970's up to the present. Their
take on the Iraq war which is extremely theoretical and not easy
to predict from one man to the next, I believe is a very
organically damning case of the recent enterprise of the
government. You could say it's a polemic, but actually what's
happening is you've got all these different people, highly
trained and skilled individuals, looking at this from different
angles and they're seeing the same thing. I don't know, I
thought it was very powerful and I think it's a very necessary
film.

Patt Morrison>> And Andy?

Andy Klein>> Yeah, this is terrific. It's a documentary that
actually is a reworked version of a documentary that had come
out on DVD several months back.

F.X. Feeney>> Directed by Robert Greenwald. I forgot to
mention that.

Andy Klein>> Yeah, who also did "Out-foxed" and
"Unprecedented". He's got a whole series going here. They've
really substantially reworked this for this theatrical release.
It was under an hour before. They've added about a half hour of
material partly to update things, but also to flush out some of
the arguments. Most notable, I think, among the additions is a
fairly lengthy interview with David Kay, the weapons inspector
whose final report was characterized in a lot of places as being
undetermined when, in fact, the final report really was "we
can't find any weapons and probably won't" and he was very clear
about that here. So this is really sort of a well-organized
argument that can be presented to people who still don't get it
about the Iraq war.

Patt Morrison>> That's it for another edition of FilmWeek on
Life and Times. I'm Patt Morrison here this week for Larry
Mantle joined by critics F.X. Feeney of L.A. Weekly and Andy
Klein of CityBEAT and ValleyBEAT. Join us next time for
FilmWeek.

Val>> As remember that you can hear a full hour of FilmWeek
every Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. on KPCC 89.3. And that's our
program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times,
thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.

Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> Next time on Life and Times, the truth about Los
Angeles's immigrant workers. The president's new plan may allow
millions to come out of the shadows. We'll meet a factory owner
who says it's about time.

>> I venture to say with the utmost confidence that the
President of the United States probably has some falsely
documented or undocumented workers working at some of his
ranches during the last twenty-five years.

Val>> That's next time on Life and Times.