04/11/05

LC050411

This program is made possible in part by a grant from the City
of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

Hummers have more muscle, hybrids rule at the pump, but which
one wins over consumers?

Roy Nakano>> I think it's one of the SUVs that are incredibly
deficient.

John Matthius>> All indications are that the hybrid vehicle
market is going to explode in the next five years.

Val>> And then, Fred Astaire and Bojangles got nothing on them.
This legendary team raised the bar on tap dancing.

It's all 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>> How high does gas prices have to go before people give up
their gas guzzlers and car makers start making more efficient
vehicles? Well, we may have reached that point. The latest
auto trends show that sales of Hummers have slowed and hybrids
are at high demand. And what about those SUVs and electric
vehicles? Kevin Smith takes a look at the changing car market.

Kevin Smith>> In the fabled car culture of Los Angeles, it's
often hard to stand out. There's no question that this baby
does. The original Hummer H1 is built just like the Humvee
military vehicle with better paint and more comforts. It's
definitely not for everyone.

Dave Vowell>> This runs the Duramax diesel engine.

Kevin Smith>> Just ask Dave Vowell. He's editor and publisher
of HMR Magazine which promotes the Hummer lifestyle.

Dave Vowell>> When you look at American icons like, you know,
Coca Cola, Harley Davidson, a cowboy hat, things that represent
America, this is it. Hummer as a brand signifies strength,
durability and individualism, you know, and that's America.
Nobody buys a Hummer to blend in.

Jodie Evans>> This is the ticket that we give to the Hummers.
It says "Driving a Hummer puts lives at risk."

Kevin Smith>> But Jodie Evans of the women's activist group,
Code Pink, says Hummers show the wrong side of America.

Jodie Evans>> We ticket every Hummer we see. This says, you
know, you're being an irresponsible citizen and, as a citizen,
I'm ticketing you for your lack of care for our culture, our
community and our standing in the world.

Kevin Smith>> The H1 came onto the scene in 1992. At five
tons, it weighs three times as much as the average sedan.
Arnold Schwarzenegger drove one of the first. The behemoth
costs more than a hundred thousand dollars and runs on diesel
fuel. Especially here in Southern California, each driver's
identity seems intertwined with his or her vehicle.

For those of us who favor small sports cars, this Hummer H1
seems better suited for a Middle East desert than a Los Angeles
freeway and it's even intimidating to think about driving this
out into the street, much less parking it at the grocery store.
Although grocery store parking lots are not necessarily what
Hummers are made for. To Vowell, it's not a truck. It's an
adventure.

Dave Vowell>> We take owners out and teach them how to use
their vehicle off-road. We teach them how to off-road
responsibly and not to damage the environment.

Kevin Smith>> General Motors acquired the Hummer brand and,
three years ago, gave us Hummer Light, sort of.

>> "It's really similar to the H1 that we were looking at as
far as like style and looks. You're just doing it a little bit
quieter and a little bit comfier inside."

Kevin Smith>> The H2 costs a mere sixty thousand dollars and
weighs about fifteen percent less than its big brother, but
that's still more than four tons. And mileage? Around ten
miles to the gallon, not good enough for Hummer haters.

Jodie Evans>> Well, why do you think everybody screams at
Hummers when they go by? They take up too much room on the
streets. It's their sense of arrogance. They're doing more
damage to the air. I mean, they are doing the worst on every
level.

Kevin Smith>> Hummer haters will be happy to hear that sales
are flat, discouraged by high gas prices and no new models for
the past three years. So GM is going for more mass appeal, not
just mass. How? It's introducing Hummer Lighter, the H3 due
out in May. The claim is that the H3 will get twenty miles per
gallon.

Dave Vowell>> The beauty of this truck is it opens Hummer to
more people. Now anybody looking to buy a new car for the first
time is in the price range of a Hummer.

Kevin Smith>> But will these slim-downed versions dilute the
Hummer brand?

John Matthius>> Certainly Hummer would not view the H3 as being
mainstream because it still very much has the styling cues which
are what are resonating with the buying public and that is that
paramilitary styling. Here you get to drive this thing every
day and be your own GI Joe or GI Jane.

Kevin Smith>> Even the giant Hummer H1 will have a new alpha
version this year, maybe getting nineteen to twenty miles a
gallon. Low mileage is certainly not an issue for Toyota Prius
driver, Roy Nakano. The popular hybrid gas and electricity
powered vehicle gets up to sixty miles per gallon. Nakano says
he averages about forty-four, but he bought the car mainly for
its high-tech features.

Roy Nakano>> One of the reasons why I purchased this vehicle is
the entertainment factor. It really wasn't the fact that it was
a Green car, although that's obviously a plus.

Kevin Smith>> Nakano should know a thing or two about cars. An
attorney by day, he founded lacar.com, an online magazine
dedicated to the Southern California car culture.

Roy Nakano>> The car is just so quiet when it's in the electric
mode.

Kevin Smith>> The Prius and other hybrids on the market run
partially off gasoline and partially off an electric battery,
using less gas. Is it going back and forth between electricity
and gas?

Roy Nakano>> Right. Right now, it's running on both. You can
tell by the dual arrows.

Kevin Smith>> The battery actually recharges when the driver
steps on the brake, so the car gets better gas mileage sitting
in traffic than on the highway. Perfect for Los Angeles rush
hours.

Roy Nakano>> Your whole mindset changes with this car. You're
just not in a hurry to get anywhere after a while and that too
is a relaxing factor when you're driving.

Kevin Smith>> Ever since gas prices soared past two dollars a
gallon, the Prius has obtained legendary status. Toyota
actually underestimated demand. Eager customers had to wait up
to a year and dealers marked up prices by several thousand
dollars, so we were surprised to find half a dozen Prius'
available on this lot in Santa Monica. The asking price,
however, was still more than a thousand bucks above the
manufacturer's sticker.

If hybrids are hot, whatever happened to pure electric vehicles?
At this General Motors facility in Burbank, electric cars are
waiting to be unplugged. That has these protesters angry. Six
years ago, GM built and leased eight hundred EV1 electric cars.
Now GM has closed the gate on its program and forced all
customers to turn in their vehicles. Seventy-eight of them sit
on this lot waiting for the crusher.

Chelsea Sexton>> So we call the area that the cars are in EV1
death row and we're hoping for a stay of execution on the cars.

Kevin Smith>> Chelsea Sexton actually used to work for GM on
the electric vehicle project. She says buyers have offered GM
nearly twenty-five thousand dollars apiece for these EV1s, but
GM has spurned the offer.

Chelsea Sexton>> And the car became a symbol of what was
possible and, instead of taking advantage of that symbol,
they're crushing what's possible. We're not trying to say that
everyone should be driving one of these vehicles, but we do want
it to be one of the choices available.

Kevin Smith>> And what of the most popular vehicles of the past
decade, the ubiquitous SUVs?

John Matthius>> It seems that the buying public really likes
and finds these vehicles appealing that have multiple uses, that
can be used for a lot of different aspects of their lifestyle.

Kevin Smith>> But the trend in SUVs is toward medium and
smaller vehicles along with hybrid SUVs like Ford's new Escape,
and what can we expect down the road? Somewhere between this
big thing and the next big thing.

Roy Nakano>> I think it's going to be SUVs that are incredibly
deficient.

John Matthius>> All indications are that the hybrid vehicle
market is going to explode in the next five years.

Kevin Smith>> And that means drivers around Los Angeles will be
less likely to say "running on empty". I'm Kevin Smith for Life
and Times.

Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and
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Val>> Drawing political boundaries is something only
politicians can love. Little wonder. They're the ones who draw
them and, not surprisingly, the districts almost always favor
the incumbents. Well, now Governor Schwarzenegger wants to
shake things up and he has an ally in the good government
watchdog group, Common Cause. Vicki Curry spoke with its
president.

Vicki Curry>> Chellie Pingree, you are National President of
Common Cause and one of your current efforts is working on
changing our current redistricting process. For those of us who
don't know, please tell us how our process works now.

Chellie Pingree>> Absolutely. Well, just to give you a little
background, Common Cause is about thirty-five years old as an
organization. We work in states all over the country. The
issue of redistricting, how the boundary lines are drawn for our
elected officials, has been a concern to us since 1975. We are
currently working in states all over the country that are
rethinking how they go about doing this and California happens
to be one of those states that's generated a lot of interest
recently, so we're here working on that with our state chapter
as well.

What that means is that every time the census is drawn, we
redraw the boundaries both for state legislative seats and for
congressional seats in keeping with the idea that there should
be one person-one vote and also looking at some considerations
about how to make sure we put those districts together in the
best possible way. Our interest is that we feel that a lot of
state legislators have changed the process in such a way that it
often just allows the politicians to pick the voters that they
want as opposed to have fair districts where the voters get to
choose the politicians they want.

Vicki Curry>> So our current system actually has the
legislators creating the districts, or creating the districts
essentially for themselves?

Chellie Pingree>> Absolutely, and that's how it works in many
states across the country. You saw what happened in Texas.
That kind of raised the visibility of this issue. After the
district lines had been drawn, the Republicans went back in and
said, okay, we're going to change the boundaries here. We're
going to take back some seats in Congress and we're going to do
it the way we want to do it as opposed to looking at a specific
set of criteria.

What we favor actually is those states -- and Iowa is a good
model, Arizona does it -- those states that have a panel that
works outside of the state legislature. Sometimes they are
members of the public. In California, it's proposed that they
would be retired judges. But basically what they do is they
take it out of the political process. It keeps it from being
whatever party is in control gets to decide what those seats
are.

Increasingly what happens in a lot of states, it's not just
about the partisan politics. It's about incumbents protecting
themselves. The fact is, in the last California election, there
were no incumbents whether they were in Congress or in the state
legislature that lost their seats. Now that's not the only
factor. They also can raise a lot more money usually, but the
lines were drawn in such a way that all of the incumbents were
protected and sometimes it's the Republicans and Democrats each
saying to each other, hey, I'll save my seat and you save your
seat and we'll be okay.

Suddenly it's become sort of a political domain, partly because
of what happened in Texas. Georgia just passed this sort of
partisan redistricting. Then the Governor of California decided
to make it one of his key issues. As I said, the legislature
now has it in their hands. The Democrats have bills, the
Republicans will have bills, and we're hoping that they can come
to an agreement that puts it back in the hands of voters and
thinks of voters first, not protecting incumbents first.

Vicki Curry>> So it seems that California is at the forefront
of this issue, what's happening here right now?

Chellie Pingree>> Well, absolutely. California -- and partly
because the governor decided that this was going to be one of
his key agenda items, he's going to put it out there. One thing
we've noticed in the rest of the country, when California makes
something an issue, it becomes the front page of the New York
Times. So this year, redistricting, while it was already a
topic of conversation in many states, has focused a lot on
what's going on in California. We're extremely enthusiastic
that the legislature and the governor are now in this
conversation and that the people of California have the
opportunity to design one of the most innovative and forward-
thinking systems in the country and we hope we'll see that
happen soon.

Vicki Curry>> If I understand it correctly, there's something
like eight different plans out there right now in California for
redistricting. What do you see as some of the problems, some of
the worst plans, or what are some of the holes that need to be
filled in?

Chellie Pingree>> Again, you know, the political process is
kind of messy, as people say. It's a good idea that there are a
lot of bills out there and, again, it's the purview of the
legislature to decide what they think is the best possible
opportunity of going about doing this. For us, we have certain
criteria that we really hope will be in the final plans.

Those things include making sure that there is a panel outside
of the state legislature, that it does not go back into the
hands of the legislators who, you know, rightfully so, have to
think about their own next election cycle and need to be removed
from that. It has to be clear on the criteria, so whatever the
order of this criteria is, the panel that goes about deciding
it, again, can't be influenced by one big idea or one person who
wants the process to go in a certain way, and it has to be very
public. You know, some of the proposals have been, you know,
much more secretive that don't engage the public.

But I think it's extremely important that people in their
communities are able to come forward and tell the panel making
this decision here's exactly how we want it to go and here's
what it looks like in our community and you should know these
things about this when you're drawing the district boundaries.
It can't be a process where, when everything is said and done
and the legislature's made the decision, people wake up the next
morning and say, "I'm voting where?" You know, "For who?" It's
got to feel like, in the end, we have competitive elections,
that people are well-represented and they understand why the
district boundary lines are drawn the way they are.

Vicki Curry>> So the big question is if Common Cause has got
the kind of reforms that you're talking about, if this kind of
redistricting starts to happen, what kind of change do you
really think it would make long-term on the political landscape?

Chellie Pingree>> That's a very good question and, one, I would
say that, you know, again, we're an outside advocacy group. We
work with the League of Women Voters and a whole variety of
civil rights organizations and citizens activists. You can't do
this with just one organization, although it's a huge concern of
ours. In the long run, I think if we're able to draw more
sensible district boundaries in the state, again, we will have
voters feeling like, you know, it makes a difference when I go
to the polls and I know that my politicians have to listen to
me. Because it's not just a done deal. They didn't choose
their district boundaries. They know they're not safe every
election and they know that they have to be more responsive to
the voters.

Vicki Curry>. Chellie Pingree of Common Cause, thank you so
much for taking the time to talk to us about this issue.

Chellie Pingree>> Well, thank you very much for having me on.

To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us
by mail at this address:

Life and Times
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Los Angeles, California 90027

You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or
contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org.

Val>> Mikhail Baryshnikov called them perfect examples of pure
genius. He was talking about the Nicholas Brothers and, in the
1920's and 1930's, this tap dancing team raised the art to new
levels. They made scores of films and blended acrobatics with
classic tap. I got a chance to meet Fayard Nicholas and talk
with him about his amazing career.

The crowd turned out for a party at the Hollywood Museum.
Inside, the rooms were covered with photos and Hollywood
memorabilia, but tonight the center of attention is a living
legend, Fayard Nicholas. Fayard is one-half of the famous
Nicholas Brothers tap dancing team.

Fayard Nicholas>> "We were known as the Nicholas Brothers and
we made a lot of movies."

Val>> Fayard is being modest. He and his brother are arguably
the best tap dance team of the twentieth century. Just take a
look.

[Film Clip]

Val>> Fayard and Harold were born into the world of music,
entertainment and vaudeville.

Fayard Nicholas>> My parents were in show business and I used
to go to the theatre every day to hear them play and watch all
the entertainers on stage. I looked at them and I said to
myself, they're having fun up there. I would like to be doing
something like that.

Val>> Fayard learned by watching and then taught his younger
brother everything he knew. As young boys, their father had
them audition at a theatre in Philadelphia.

Fayard Nicholas>> So we got up on the stage, we sang the song
and then we went into a little dance, and the manager said stop
it, that' enough. You guys are great. You're booked here next
week (laughter).

Val>> Word of the talented twosome spread and, at the ages of
eighteen and eleven, they were booked at Harlem's renowned
Cotton Club.

Fayard Nicholas>> And Bill Robinson was there, Ethel Waters,
Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Lena Horne. At this time, Lena
Horne was just one of the dancing girls there. Beautiful.
Herman Stahl introduced us to everybody and they said get up on
the stage and do a little dance or something for everybody. So
we got up on stage and sang a song and did a little dance and,
after we finished, Duke Ellington said these boys are original.
Well, thank you, Mr. Ellington, you're original too (laughter).

Val>> Their first movie role came in 1932 and launched a long
succession of silver screen performances. One of their most
famous is this number from the 1943 film "Stormy Weather".

[Film Clip]

Fayard Nicholas>> There was something special about "Stormy
Weather" and everybody liked it. All dancers like "Stormy
Weather", but "Down Argentine Way"? Did you see that one?

Val>> No.

Fayard Nicholas>> Oh, you must go see that one too. That's a
good one. Have you seen "Orchestra Wives"?

Val>> No.

Fayard Nicholas>> What? How about "Sun Valley Serenade"?

Val>> Nope. The only one I saw was "Stormy Weather".

Fayard Nicholas>> That's the only one?

Val>> Yes.

Fayard Nicholas>> Well, you should see these too.

Val>> Okay.

Fayard Nicholas>> In "Sun Valley Serenade", we introduced a
song called "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" with the Glenn Miller
Orchestra.

[Film Clip]

Val>> That's Dorothy Dandridge in the middle. Later she would
become Harold's wife and the song would become the brothers'
signature number.

Fayard Nicholas>> "Pardon me, boys, is that the Chattanooga
Choo-Choo", and I'm listening to this and I said what the hell
is that? (laughter) Glenn Miller was sitting right beside me
and I said what do you think of this song, Glenn? He said it
stinks (laughter). But you see, you never know what's going to
be a hit or a miss. It was a great record for Glenn Miller and
it sold millions and my brother and I couldn't get off the stage
all over the world until we sang and danced that song,
"Chattanooga Choo-Choo".

Val>> What distinguished the Nicholas Brothers was their
gravity-defying acrobatics. They combined leaps, cartwheels and
flips in ways that were unmatched then or today.

Fayard Nicholas>> My brother and I used our whole bodies, our
hands, our personalities and everything. We tried to make it
classic. We called our type of dancing classical tap and we
just hoped the audience liked it.

Val>> And they did. Audiences were often left gasping. Even
after the popularity of musicals subsided, the brothers traveled
the world performing on stage and in nightclubs. In 1994, they
were given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. By then, they
had won every dance award imaginable. They had performed for
the King of England and seven presidents.

Fayard Nicholas>> And I think President Clinton was my
favorite.

Val>> Really?

Fayard Nicholas>> Oh, yeah.

Val>> How come?

Fayard Nicholas>> I liked him because he was so full of life.

Val>> Really?

Fayard Nicholas>> Yeah, and I loved his wife too, Hilary. Oh,
she was great, yeah (laughter).

Val>> Later in Fayard's career, movies re-emerged although the
roles had changed a bit. In "Night of the Golden Eagle", Fayard
plays a once-famous dancer living in a once-grand hotel.

[Film Clip]

Val>> At age eighty-three, Fayard suffered a stroke. That same
year, his beloved wife died. A longtime friendship with dancer,
Katherine Hopkins, helped him get through the hard times.

Fayard Nicholas>> Oh, she would come by and cheer me up and
take me out, so we kept in touch with each other. All of a
sudden, we started looking at each other and I was falling in
love (laughter).

Katherine Hopkins-Nicholas>> Well, first of all, when I met
him, I didn't have a clue who he was. I mean, I used to see
these films when I was a little girl, but I didn't know it was
the Nicholas Brothers. I'm sitting there watching these film
clips and he didn't know that I didn't know. I just said, oh,
that's wonderful, Fayard. He didn't have a clue that I was like
in shock (laughter).

Val>> Katherine and Fayard were married in 2000, the same year
that Harold Nicholas died.

Fayard Nicholas>> Oh, he was wonderful. We were such great
friends. We were crazy about each other. We never did fight or
anything like that. Sometimes when I'm on stage by myself and
I'm doing a little something, I look over like he's really there
with me. Yeah, he's still there (laughter).

Val>> Today Fayard and Katherine live in a small apartment in
Burbank. A recent People Magazine issue featured Fayard and
requests for autographs have piled up.

Fayard Nicholas>> Now I'm really right-handed. I had this
stroke and that's why I had to learn to write with the left
hand.

Val>> Though he's slowed down physically, some things haven't
changed. He's as quick as ever to laugh and he's got a
contagious nonstop smile.

Fayard Nicholas>> I've always been happy, all my life. I'm
just as happy as the day is long. I like peace. I think if
everybody would just love each other, we won't have all these
wars like we're having now.

Val>> And a little dancing and music along the way?

Fayard Nicholas>> Oh, yeah (laughter). And have a little
dancing and music.

[Film Clip]

Val>> And the Nicholas Brothers' latest honor? They were
designated by the Mayor of Los Angeles as one of the city's
cultural treasures. 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.

This program was made possible in part by a grant from the City
of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

Val>> Next time on Life and Times --

The governor wants to build up the cargo industry. It would
bring in thousands of new jobs, but it would also bring
something no one wants.

>> And it's ongoing noise, lights and pollution all day long.
In the past, it wasn't always like that, but because of the
added capacity, it just continues to grow and grow and grow and
it's virtually right up against the houses now.

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