Notable People: Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Amy Brenneman, Alia Shawkat, Created by: Robert Levine and Jonathan Steinberg
Title: The Old Man
Review: Jeff Bridges shines in this tale of an aging rogue CIA agent who has been living a secret life off the grid for 30 years and is outed. Bridges is the definition of a suave and gentle deadly force even in his old age. The flashbacks to the origins of his story amidst the tempest of 1980s Afghanistan is well set and the intensity of the story well developed. Lithgow lead a sterling supporting cast. A perfect rebound vehicle for the recently recovered Bridges and the most watched show ever on FX. Just renewed for second season.
Review: The second in Leon’s award winning series featuring Commisario Guido Brunetti of the Venice policia. Wonderfully written with great-gusto characters who are not merely Italian- they are Venetian……. which I’ve learned, is most definitely a thing. Brunetti is a thoughtful character- much more cerebral than physical and a lifelong Venetian. The detailed descriptions of life in the canal city are absorbing and alluring and the mysteries well-conceived and well developed- with a wry commentary on power and corruption. If you are looking for something to sink your teeth into for a while, there are 32 books in this series that started in 1992 and Leon is still actively writing. Roba fantastica.
“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck” ………………………………………………………………The Dalai Lama
“Don’t try to steer the river” ………………………………Deepak Chopra
“Six minutes of thunder and lightning” ………………Loretta Haggers (Mary Hartman)
Word of the week: Obfuscate (try to use this word three times in the coming week)
Future News Predictions for this week”
The St. Louis Cardinals will win the world series with the legendary returning and retiring Albert Pujols going out in a blaze of glory (trying to find the corner bookie to place my far-fetched bet, but we have no corners here)
Donald Trump will be soon calling his tailor to design some orange jumpsuits for him
Our local mountain rivers and streams will be bone dry by October- and then……. the Zombies will arrive (not the British band kind)
I think the pix tell a pretty good story of the week in review, so I will just highlight and summarize (believe me? …………………Yes, or no?)
Sloanie Spumoni had her first day of school this week……oh my……might be more profound than turning 70…………………………
Papi and Lucy love them some short walks on the AT (come on –you can figure that one out) ……. though Lucy is terrified by the swinging bridge one has to cross to get there
The West River Trail in Londonderry is a great hidden find…and close to Grandma Millers magnificent Vermont-style Patisserie, and inflammation palace
The annual visit from Sister Jane is a blessed event…she moves in and it’s like she never left…not sure she has left her master bedroom for five days…. not really, but it could happen……
And we are expecting a slew more of visitors between now and the end of foliage…check the website for our rates and amenities…..must be the end of The Plaque?
Finished the 2002 local Music on the Green series, with our little folk club preforming its unique brand of dissonance…we may be out of tune, but the locals love us as their own….and I generally love it, despite the competitive sound guy routinely turning off my microphone mid-performance……that is a mountain thing…
The Vermont Country Store is a pretty good place to spend an hour or two…. with the most Tchotchkes per yard on the earth….and then when the sun comes back out- a follow up visit to the Silent Ones at the Weston Priory is the ultimate juxtaposition (anti-tourisme)
What’s better than picking SJ at the Manchester airport and moseying up the coast and beaches of Live Free or Die and into Southern Maine on a sunny day?
Shuckin’ and Jivin’ through dinner prep of peek corn and peak meat from our beloved local farmers…with a bit of French red and bit of Bill Frissell….is a major source of calm…compared, to say, pizza and Arrowsmith….…
THE POND……NOT FADE AWAY, NOT FADE AWAY, NOT FADE AWAY…………PPPPLLLLLEEEEAAAASSSSE….…….
And, The Green is fading and muting daily now……but the return of the magical light of autumn dusk is a sight to behold………………………
And, TQ is abounding the ville in her thorny crown (yes that begins with a “T”)…………………………..and the beat goes on…..IF ya gotta go….GO NOW….GO NOW….
Notable People: Gerard Depardieu, Benoit Magimel, Stephane Caillard, Created by: David Franck
Title: Marseille
Review: the legendary Depardieu makes a rare small screen appearance in this tale of power, corruption and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the French port city of Marseille. Deep dive into the bowels of dirty French politics in France’s poor cousin, second city. Strong performances abound and the juxtaposition of the famous and historical ancient port city with its modern crime ridden, drug infested and woefully anti-immigration counterpart is stunning. Kept me very engaged throughout and seems set for a third season return. Very, very Francais.
Notable People: Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Michael Mando, Rhea Seahorn, Patrick Fabian, Giancarlo Esposito, Michael McKean, tony Dalton, Mark Margolis, Created by: Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan
Title: Better Call Saul
Review: Not sure what to say about this, except if you have not watched it, where have you been? For my money, right up with “The Wire” and “The Sopranos” as the best ever series on TV, which IS the new movie theater. Both a prequel and ultimately a sequel to the wonderful Breaking Bad, it is an extraordinary portrait of characters run amok. Odenkirk’ s transition from mild mannered Jimmy McGill to part tortured- part egomaniac scumbag lawyer, Saul Goodman (“It’s all good man”) is a rare thing of beauty. Dalton, Margolis an, especially the foreboding Esposito, are subtle manifestations of evil rarely see, Bands is…. well…. Banks….one of kind. The show is brilliantly written, exotically filmed, heady in way rarely seen outside of Sweden, and riveting. The final season was 13 episodes broke into two segments-the wait for the last 5 episodes was almost unbearable…and did not disappoint. The ghost of Walter white hovers throughout, but Saul owns the planet. I am brokenhearted to reach the end of this line.
Notable People: Amalie Dollerup, Lars Ranthe, Anne Louise Hassing, Annette Steffelbaek, Jens Jacob Tythsen, Created by: Hanna Lundblad, Stig Thorsboe
Title: Seaside Hotel
Review: This compelling combined drama and subtle comedy “Badehotellet” in remote, NW Denmark opens for its wealthy guests each summer. We follow the guests and staff at the hotel from 1928 and into the 1940s. What starts out as a lighthearted comedy turns darker with each year as Denmark is overtaken by the Depression and then Fascism and the Nazis. The show becomes overly political out of seemingly nowhere- a fascinating turn of events. The ensemble cast has may of Denmarks’ top actors and is wonderful. This is a place we’d all like to spend our summers. Thankfully, a season nine is in the works.
“Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop” ……………………………………………………………………………………………Rumi
“Beside the roadway a flowing of clear water in a willow’s shade: I thought for a short while to linger and take a rest” ……………………………………………………………………..Saigyo
“Did I see you down in a young girls’ town, with your mother in so much pain; I was almost there at the top of the stairs with her singing in the rain” …………………………Neil
It’s been another wonderful temperate week here in the Greens as late summer turns into early Fall, but the Heavens remain closed. As I tooled around the grand sweep of the hills this week, I draft (past of drift?) to pondering some of the mystery of life questions, which I, of course, felt compelled to share, et, voila:
When one gets invited to grand dinner with our local German national M&M’s, should one have the right to expect sauerbraten, kartoffel, schnitzel, and such……apparently not, as the ubiquitous salmon and quinoa seem to always dominate the menu in our yoga-land……but the visit last Sunday to the M&M’s little cottage with the grand view was quite compelling…and the pre-dinner view on the newly built tiny deck with AstroTurf and no rail (at 2000 feet) was quite delightful……………………….
If you are musical royalty, do you have to hit the big time?……………………………….apparently not. Lucy and I drifted up to the hamlet of Pittsford on Tuesday night for their Summer concert series, whilst The Queen sat on her throne at the annual convening of the Association (THE association!)…..and what a delight…..a farmers meadow surrounded by mountains, dozens of older singles alone with their dogs (Lucy and I both got us some phone numbers)…..a farm to table tantric food truck, and the scintillating stylings of the Krishna (yep, that’s his name) Guthrie Band……threats of serious rain evaporated along with the many wisps of vape into the thin mountain air….and Hari, Hari, who is the progeny of Arlo, and the grand-progeny of Woody, seems to like being a local musician rather than pursue the big time, tho he’s good enuff……what a sight…..Vermont….
What does it mean when The Queen asks you to nab, grab, snap or snatch something? …. snatch, really?……..It generally means the gathering of unrelated objects into a bag to transport many different or diverse artifacts and not have one’s hands needlessly tied up…. this week’s installment of nabbin’ resulted in a 2-day loss of my camera, which had been snatched into a bag of chocolates and put away…. snatch, crackle, pop……
Is climate change simply socialist propaganda?…..after our most recent heat wave, which we all know does not happen at elevation….and one rain shower in 2 months(delightfully, just as we readied to play on the Green a few weeks ago), and streams and rivers with no water…..I say …No, Nyet, Non, No Mas……no sissy shit here…..I now believe that the heat, drought, torrential storm pattern is simply due to our multiple slights against our higher powers, which has made Hell rise up much closer to the surface…just to get us all knowing what to expect…Yeah, that’s the ticket, Yeah…climate change—Feb, Pui…..
And, is climate change just maybe responsible for Hot Flashes?……well, I had dinner with two of my favorite gals one night this week, and endured an ardent display of removing articles of clothing and putting them, and more, back on……………………. over four courses and an hour a half…on and off…. off and on….is this a real thing?…………..or more Socialist Propaganda?
Are we indeed paying more for everything?…..well, I’d say generally, yes…..and in Vermont….MEGA- yes….picked up Chinese –got sticker shock….picked up Tex-Mex, got sticker shock….not talkin’ Gore-Met here,……stopped at a roadside deli for a sandwich…are you kidding me….milk 40% higher than in the heartland….and what about housing?…..in our booming metropolis of Burlington, there are 1400 candidates for every rental vacancy, leading kindly landlords to raise $1200 dollar rents to $3600….climate change, anyone?
And, what happens when your new potential doctor informs you-at your fist meet and greet- she is giving you the same advice she would give her own father…. are you kidding me…what happened to sexual transference?……Lusty projection……I AM…NOT…. YOUR…. DAM…. DADDY……damn it…. …………………………………and..……………………………………………I’ll damn well flush whenever and only whenever I want to….so there…
Did I really say any of the above……oh boy, oh girl, oh mama…………………… there goes that man again…………………..Love Ya’ll……..THIS MUCH………
Review: after a month reading the laborious Pillars of the Earth, I went for down and dirty, reaching back to an old friend, Walter Mosley, who is like a well-worn pair of jeans. Had been a few years since my last dance with the fabled LA private dick, Easy Rawlins (think Denzel) and his mega- dangerous killer associate, Mouse Alexander, but it was like I nave left. Picked up with this gem, set in post Watts LA in 1963, where Easy follows up on some Sam Spade like intrigue, while ruminating on the world’s condition, the purpose of war and especially on racism in America……. all set in La and San Francisco at the dawning of the 60s counterculture. It’s a lot to unpack, but brilliant story by one of the best ever in the genre, and I read the dam things in 3 days. Mosley originally set this series immediately post war with the general, and especially African-American, LA boom of returning GIs and this ones takes us up to the summer of love-written in 2005 and the 10th in this wonderful series, that the magnificent Mosley is still writing. You Go, Easy!
Review: This almost 8 pound, 1000-page hardcover book took me a month to read (some read In between for a break) and gave me forearm cramps juts holding it up (might want to consider this one on kindle). But-its’ a beauty. Follett is a master writer of spy fiction-dating back to the Cold War- but took a break in 1989, defying convention, to write this, the first of three works on medieval history/culture and the building of the giant European cathedrals. This book has it all: love, lust, extreme evil, power brokering rarely seen, extraordinary perseverance, enlightenment, scientific discovery- all around the lives of a group of people in 12th century Britain, over a 60-year period and amidst the building of a historically designed massive cathedral (without power tools). It is an amazing wok of historical fiction and filled with unique highs and lows in the reading of it. Hard not to love and hate the characters and hard to take the sheer brutality of the lust for power and control, but this is a brilliant piece of work worthy of your time (a lot of it). And, Follett’s circa 2000 updated intro is worth the price of admission
Notable People: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Gabriele Byrne, Iggy Pop, Billy Bob Thornton, Robert Mitchum, Ville Virtanen, Sampo Sarkola, Directed by: Jim Jarmusch
Title: Dead Man
Review: Whom Mama, this is possibly the most bizarre film I have ever seen. The back story: was listening to Dwight Yoakum and Lukas Nelson on Sirius XM and they got into a rap about this movie and the improvised Neil Young live soundtrack- describing the unbelievably esoteric 15-minute opening scene on a train without dialog. It all sounded too much to miss- so found it on HBO-and gave a watch. Bizarre dos not quite cover this 1995 all black and white effort. Depp is a dandy from Cleveland on his way to some very Western place for an accounting job-and that is mostly it for the plot. The film is filled with wild cameo appearances with very young Depp, Thornton, Byrne, Glover and a briefly wild Alfred Molina. One of Depp’s first roles and the great Mitchum’s last. The Young soundtrack is an assault of grunge guitar that perfectly matches this surreal film. Impossible to rate- you have to be really curious for this one.
