Notable People: Theo James, Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Giancarlo Esposito, Created by: Guy Ritchie
Title: The Gentleman
Review: created by cutting edge director Guy Ritchie for Netflix, it is a spin-off of Ritchie’s 2019 film of the same name
Edward Horniman (the wonderfully deadpan James) has unexpectedly inherited a massive, regal estate and the title of Duke of Halstead at the reading of the last will and testament of his deceased father. He learns that the land has become part of a weed growing empire run by enchantress, and deadly, Susie Glass (Scodelario). He must navigate a wacked out, semi-sophisticated and bourgeois world of eclectic and dangerous characters with sordid agendas, while to keep his eccentric family, and himself, alive. Amusing, but on the dull side- though the legendary refined menace of Esposito makes it worth it when he is on camera (not enough). Seems an unlikely renewal to me.
Bonosera, Bonosera“White dew over the potato field…. the Milky Way” ………………….Shiki
“What a caterpillar calls the end of the world, we call a butterfly” …………………………..Eckhart Tolle
“Be THE Ball” ………………………………………………………………………………………..Caddyshack Zen
The Hot Tamale Heat Wave hit The Greens this week; pumping out near 100° heat for several days. The Queen went haywire with temperature control……. opening and closing every window in the house, multiple times a day, for four or five days- ostensibly either keeping the heat out or containing the cool in. Regardless of our interior state, midweek resembled a blast furnace outside- a rare occurrence in our mountain idyll. We even resurrected the ancient window air conditioner to assist with sleep in the upper sauna. Then, lo and behold, thunderstorms hit, and within hours we were huddled in blankets against the night chill-very Mountainesque.
We started the week last Sunday in search of a Father’s Day dinner; the dining out experience now akin to searching for the lost city of Atlantis. After finding two advertised- as- open places closed and boarded, and sitting around a third totally chaotic waiting area, we bit the bullet and settled for Applebee’s………really Applebee’s (though, I am ashamed to admit that the 2 fer 25 is alluring-not quite free lunch- but alluring nonetheless).
Filled with plentiful, if unspectacular, dinner fare, we sought a short grocery run- continuing our experiment with doing our shopping at the low rent Price Chopper; after weeks of disgust with Hannaford’s skyrocketing prices and failure to stock what we want. The Chopper clearly appeals to a different clientele……. who apparently are now us. The highlight of our trips there is often the assistance we require, and receive, at the barely functioning self-checkout; delivered in adventurous style by an extremely cross-eyed young man who is clearly on the spectrum and probably with Asperger’s; our interactions often involving something approaching pantomime.
Can anyone tell me what exactly a Webinar is, anyway?
In the highlight of the week, we returned on Tuesday to the splendor of the lovely Hub at Weston dining room for the monthly community lunch gathering. We were amongst a small group in the very upscale, faux –rustic-mountain cottage dining room and clearly the youngest people there by a decade or more. Not only did we enjoy a spectacular gourmet luncheon (almost Downton- Abbey-esque) but we were sent packing with multiple take out portions for friends in need back at The Mount. Sadly, we were unable to deliver these in a timely fashion, and ate them instead. I am reassured in my belief, that there is indeed Free Lunch. (ya feelin’ me, Feel?)
Lucy and I have resumed weekly dirt road walks with the Erstwhile Russian Spy; often resulting in long and in winding remembrances of life on The Mount; most of which are clearly fabricated, but fascinating nonetheless; and who am I to take issue with fabrication? This week the walk started right outside our door in sprinkles, and up the hill to the home of the displaced Southies thru a roaring thunderstorm, returning Le Spy to our house drenched…just in time for dinner date.
After the heat, the chill and the downpours, Friday was nice enough for a day trip out to the Middlebury area. We decided to take a long-cut, heading west over to Castleton and then up Route 30, a remarkably lovely drive, through the verdant Champlain valley; miles and miles of rich green farmland surrounded by The Greens to the west and the Adirondacks to the east. Our reward was lunch from never-changing Momma Corleone, at the eccentric Costello’s Italian deli, nestled covertly in the fascinating old Marble Works section of Middlebury. In between rain drops, we settled for dinner on the ground next to the raging river, with the old Marble factories looming in the background.
Saturday, after a belabored visit to the Dumpmaster, and his new protégé, we had a fine beat-the –rain walk on a nearby dirt road before settling in for rainy afternoon nap. We are expecting severe storms this afternoon, likely to preempt our planned outing to an outdoor Weston playhouse performance up by Ascutney, which we may alternately catch in Grafton, later this week. The show is really directed at children under 12, but there is free lunch, so what the hey?
Planning to hit The Trailer for massage this week from the elusive Masseuse, and make the trek down to The Apple later in the week to see the aging Cousins, of which I might add, I am the youngest; you go boy……….
Time to go and inspect the weed growth for this week. Be brave, Be kind, Be curious. Till then……
Review: Burke, who may be Americas most gifted and greatest living writer- has become prolific in his old age; now putting out an extraordinary two books a year in his late 80s. This is his astounding second in 2024 alone and is a collection of eight short stories and novellas. A bit uneven; with maybe three classic, three very good and two a little drifting-but still……..his characters transcend any time or place-though they are well ensconced, usually either in remote Montana or the deep Bayou in rural Louisiana. This, like all his books, is full of raw power, pinpoint imagery and deep exploration of our shared psyches-from his lens as a tortured war vet, hanging- by- a- thread recovering addict and grieving father. To say more is superfluous, so instead I will quote from late in his last novella of this collection:
“What am I looking for? The past. The space where most of our answers lie. And also the place foe which we have the least respect. The human personality never changes. Read The History of the Church by Eusebius. It’s not about the church; it’s about 4th-century Rome and ultimately about us. We witness the deaths of the martyrs in the arena, but the Herd and most of the other players are the same bunch that are with us today, totally committed to the dirty boogie and doing it in four-four time.” ………………………………………………..WOW…………………………….
Happy Father’ Day to all whom the shoe fits……or foo shits…….
“Coming or going, always at home” …………………………………………………………..Zen
“The cool breeze takes up its abode……even in a single blade of grass” …………….…Issa
“Yes, I’m workin’ my way back to you, babe…with a burnin’ love inside” ……………….Bob Gaudio
Father’s day Sunday morning sunshine abounds, but I wake from hazy sleep with questions on my mind.
Is there a connection between the price of milk and high percentage of people living off social programs in the state of Vermont?
How important as garnish?
Is it a traditional father’s day gift for the birds to tweet and the train to Choo Choo at 5:00 AM on the designated morning?
We started our week with the traditional Sunday night visit (clearly a Jewish thing) to the splendor of East for long awaited reunion with the roast duck with pine nuts. Lovely setting on the road to Killington, white tablecloths, Asian elegance, prices that defy the cost of Chinese Food anywhere else.
On the way, we got in a walk with Lucy and discovered a major new dirt road opp; running off route 103 on the old, and currently closed, Airport road. This is a Bermuda Triangle walk, in which one could disappear, and leads to an old gristmill and mid 1800s covered bridge being rebuilt. No cars, no people, rear of the regional Airport security massive fence, hillside overkill- are there terrorists targeting the Rutland regional Airport?
It appears that are Belmont General store is getting close to reopening, after two years of closure and massive rehabilitation- which may foreshadow no longer having to make a road trip to pick up butter, or beer- though there is some question of whether the new owners have any sense of the local’s needs or are trying to create a tourist mecca destination in the middle of nowhere.
Have I mentioned how difficult it has been to locate new release library books here in The Mount; currently I have the Mount Holly and Ludlow libraries competing for my esteemed business- as in which one is able to locate any book released in the last millennium.
My weekly trip to Rutland for the comprehensive shopping day provided an opportunity to continue my search for a lunch less than $13.00; I scored the $6.00 high-quality breakfast sandwich at Olivia’s Market- which is the equivalent of free lunch. See, there is free lunch.
Thursday night we made our first visit of the year to the Weston Playhouse to see the Vermont style production of Jersey Boys; more impressive then you might imagine from the oldest summer stock theater company in the country. We met our favorite Southie (well, maybe co-favorite) from the castle at the top of Bowlsville road, for a wonderful dinner in the exclusive Hub at Weston, connected to the theater; supping on the terrace on a magnificent summer eve whilst being served by an array of extremely precise and well-coiffed young men- what a night!
At the Dump this week, I encountered the new sub Dumpmaster, who claims to be a skilled handyman which we have arranged to find out. The true Dumpmaster apparently remains dubious.
Last night we attended a small birthday dinner cookout at the Masseuse in the Trailer’s place, for her partner, Metal Mike. The Masseuse has been out of circulation for the past two years after a series of losses; so it was a big occasion and revolved around their new state of the art gas griddle (compared to the half assembled built one our barn that has mystifying Korean instructions and that we bought for $75.00 at Walmart). Since COVID, Metal Mike has also become a mixology connoisseur, so we had giant fu-fu concoctions of unknown origin along with brilliantly griddled smash burgers.
It has been an interesting week all the way around, but the absolute highlight the week (maybe of the decade) was our trip midweek down to Manchester to pick up the print job for TQ’s Association for their annual mail stuffing solicitation. We intended to dine as the Burmese hole in the wall we discovered last year run by the Soup Nazi and his lovely wife; who makes bearing the NAZI worthwhile. Sadly, they were closed, which is unpredictable- so we settled for a New York style pushcart meal of hot dogs with mustard and sauerkraut in a parking lot, served by middle age lady claiming to have “the best buns in town”- which turned out to be true.
From there, we headed out of town on quaint route 7A to find the print shop, which was set in a small industrial park. While TQ went in to see to the printing, I went next door to what appeared to be a confectionery and chocolate haven. Entering, I realized it was more production then retail. I was about to leave when the gentleman behind a glass partition in the vestibule asked if he could help me. As I turned to him he yelled out my name and came rushing out to greet and embrace me. Ron, the owner of Mother Myricks’ deserts, and we had met at a wine and music dinner at the Manchester Inn seven years ago and he asked, at the time, to be added to the Blog mailing list. Turns out, he is likely the number one follower to my blog (did not even know I had followers”), is an avid reader, waits each Sunday for the Blog release with baited breath; he and his wife Jackie had actually discussed coming to find us in The Mount so that they could meet the various characters that populate the weekly Sunday sermon.
To say that this freakishly chance meeting made the day for both of us, would be a gross understatement. It was like finding a long lost treasure and allowed me to figure out who one of my subscriber email addresses actually belonged to. Turns out we share a plethora of cultural interests, and that Ron is fond of quoting the blog to his long suffering wife and looking up various and sundry lyrical obscura references I include for my own amusement, and am never really sure anyone else or really cares. Ron insisted we go back into town to visit his wife at the retail location; which resulted in quizzical looks and very fine desserts, before stopping back to see Ron and snap a photo, which he dressed up for and seemed to view as equivalent to being on the cover of Rolling Stone.
Ron, this BLOG’s for you!!!!!! My newest friend and best reader. Long May You Ron.
What can I say, one in a million——who loves Blog, Blog….…we love Blog, Blog.
Notable People: Lize Feryn, Wietse Tanghe, Matthieu Sys, Barbara Serafian, Wim Opbreauk, Sven Mattke, Created by: Jan Matthys
Title: In Flanders fields
Review: Ten part 2014 gritty mini-series on BBC/PBS (who are clearly the new kings of drama) telling the story of the Boesman family living under German occupation in Ghent, Belgium during the first world war. Flanders Fields is a common English name of the World War I battlefields in Belgium and France. The battle scenes can be an assault on the senses- as this “war to end all wars certainly was”. The horrors of the gas attacks are well portrayed as is the brutal lack of regard the Germans had for those they conquered. The story is told thru the lens of a successful doctor, his wife and their three adult (ish) children; all of whom become intricately involved in the war. No happy endings here- but very well done drama with no lack of surprises.
Notable People: Steve Carell, Domhnall Gleeson, Linda Emond, David Alan Grier, Created by: Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg
Title: Astrid
Review: I don’t give this rating lightly. In one of the more remarkable performances in recent memory, Steve Carrel transforms himself into the symbolic ghost of famed analyst and Auschwitz survivor, Viktor Frankl (“don’t wake me up if I am having a nightmare- the reality is much worse”), to treat a serial killer patient how is holding him hostage. Intrigued? You should be. This is a 20-minute show (until the last cataclysmic episode)- that feels like you have watched it for two hours. Darkness and intensity do not come close to describe it. This show was suggested to me by my old friend, Bruce, a renowned analytic practitioner in his own right, and I’m deeply grateful to him for the experience. Both carrel and Gleeson, as the tormented serial killer who wants to get better, are riveting. Their relationship is riveting; the mother living upstairs is riveting. Pure art. A one and done unfortunately, but the ten episodes are transformative. The end music of Leonard singing “You Want it Darker” (his last recording) with an orthodox Jewish choral backing and a Cantor is beyond fitting.
Notable People: Sara Mortensen, Lola Deweare, Created by: Laurent Burtin, Alexandre de Seguins
Title: Astrid
Review: For my money, PBS is on top of the streaming world for all kinds of wonderful drama series-although you have to like sub- titles for many of them. This is a new one, about a young woman deeply on the spectrum, who becomes unlikely friends with a very tough police officer (Deweare- Think the Zaftig one from Cagney and Lacey) and becomes an asset to the Parisian police crime fight team with her striking memory and deductive abilities. Mortensen is brilliant in the title role, incredibly nuanced, and charming- hard not to wonder if the actor herself is on the spectrum, she is so dead on. Pants a nice picture of the capabilities of people with autism and their potential and value-and it quietly funny while featuring good murder mysteries. Cast is flawless. Definitely a returner for at last two more seasons.
“There comes a time when one asks of Shakespeare, even of Beethoven, “Is this all?” ………………………………………………………………………………. Aldous Huxley
“There will always be suffering, but we must not suffer over the suffering” …………………………………………………………………………………………………. Alan Watts
“Truth is something you stumble into when you think you are going someplace else” ……………………………………………………………………………………Jerry Garcia
Did you ever have to make up your ind? ……To pick up one and leave the other behind? It’s not often easy, it’s not often kind…did you ever have to make up your mind?…………………………..
Kids in Disney’s very hot summer universe pix attached for viewing….
Oh Queen, where art thou? The Queen (TQ) has re-established her court in The Mount….connecting with her volunteer efforts, her bone building, her posse and her rituals….out an about doing the deeds daily….developing new efforts to hand re-invent the land with the evisceration of our rear section of overgrowth; now housing a varietal of dug up and relocated saplings abducted from many trails and dirt roads…….and in her efforts to eradicate mowable space has now erected a tomato tent smack dab in the middle…she spends her days swathed in white fiber and black fly netting happily humming her way around the manse…dreaming up new and better projects…
Whilst, TQ engages in her efforts at yard eradication, social change and woman power, I search for lunch. I search near and I search far – and am befuddled by the utter lack of options regardless of direction….Since Covid, eating option losses include: beloved Sal’s in Wallingford, once beloved Sam’s Steakhouse (early bird deal of the century), the only locals place in tourist-bound Ludlow (Da café at DaLite), local legend Harrys , the local subway (only a slab now), and our closest grocery store and drug store-and of course, our local general store (closed two years now, and still under perpetual construction)….we are evaporating…..there is still lunch around- at about $13 a sandwich pop….which far. far exceeds my sensibilities and my allowable dally quota………where have all the flowers gone…where is the free lunch…where art the men that I used to sport with?………
Dirt road walks have resumed in earnest…with Lucy Lou far racing off into the woods to chase the very evasive “chippie” (any form of rodent that runs away) ……and …… to come back covered in a- animal shit, b- dead animal carcass, c- poison ivy or d- Lyme-bearing Ticks……………. it’s a dangerous world out there…….
Transitioning from suburban convenience to the rural mountain landscape always creates adjustments. But these have become increasingly challenging (post Covid-post floods) and represents daily exotic (NOT erotic!) puzzles to solve. Obtaining a jug of milk is akin to crossing the frontier in a covered wagon, sometimes amounting to an hour and a half of roundtrip journey. This week I continued my mountain auto and phone journeys; finding my way back to the original sin, car dealer dealership to resume my efforts at defeating the random, flashing error lights that haunt my vehicle- this all before my 100,000-mile warranty expires next week.
Even more challenging has been the amazing quest to secure a battery that might permit my medieval cell phone to take advantage of the newly spectacular availability of cell service at The Mount- with our switch to lovable Consumer Cellular. But alas, not a battery within a 2-hour drive and the online mavens take a full week plus to find us- and that, only by having the orders sent to a fake mailbox belonging to the Masseuse at the Trailer. Having finally been notified of delivery, I found her mailbox empty, then realizing that the benevolent, but not so competent, folks at the government’s mail dictatorship had kindly decided to not deliver to the proscribed address- but instead to lovingly hold this for me at my post office box- which had just closed for the next two days. In disbelief, we messaged our friendly former postmistress, who agreed to meet us at the boarded up facility, to allow us access the long sought forbidden fruit; only to discover we had been sent the wrong battery. Apparently, No phone for Bonzo- not yet, not today, maybe Tuesday….. Did I mention some things are more challenging in the mountains?
Has anyone watched “The Patient” on Hulu………. Role of a lifetime and show of the year……….. A rare piece of true small screen art……… Watch for coming review.
Is anybody watching the NBA playoffs? Hard to maintain interest in June for the 50 million dollar men………. It’s time for baseball, no?
Been trying to use speech recognition to offset constant stress of typing…. with mixed results. While dictating this I coincidentally passed gas, resulting in the computer asking me “what was that?”
On the upside of mountain transitions, there is a fine dirt road waiting around every bend, the wonderfully empty Spring house at Okemo as my personal exercise facility and trails in the woods directly outside my door to romp down for my jogs………… Not to mention the plethora of Creamee opps, shimmering lakes, regular jaunts to the one and only Ramuntos pizza, farmer’s markets ubiquitously placed and 85 degrees’ days with no humidity.
Our mountain milieu provides a comforting safe harbor after the fruitless search for something resembling free lunch and a half day spent going to town for provisions, like some Friday night’s farmer’s ritual ….and then cruising Rutland’s’ miracle mile, back and forth, for hours on end, searching for one good thing…. left de circle…………….…right de circle……
Today we will try to connect with the legendary Trout King-to get The Pond its annual burst of macrobiotic energy in the form of his magic $300 secret bucket of nutrients, then a possible visit to a cancer ailing friend and the wiling away of what looks like a rainy day- such is a Sunday in the Greens.
Until we meet again can-just try and reach me…. if you can …. good luck with that. Be well one and all.
Notable People: Jeff Daniels, L. Warren Young, Tom Pelphrey, Diane Lane, Lucy Liu, William Jackson, Ami Ameen, Created by: David E. Kelley
Title: A Man in Full
Review: another vehicle for Jeff Daniels shining star (from the great Tom Wolfe novel in a series co-produced by The Obamas); fresh off the gritty northeast coal country of American Rust, into this role as the “60 Minute Man”, a college football icon, turned ruthless businessman, living in a traditional good ol’ boy, southern power frenzy, while the world is shifting away from him. Daniel’s is spectacular and the cast formidable, though mostly not very likeable. Indefatigable Charley Croker’s business and political interests collide when the Atlanta real estate tycoon defends his empire from those wanting to capitalize on his sudden bankruptcy and fall from grace. The story, of lies, deceit and greed is set against an undertone of racial tension and social injustice, with an all-star cast of African –American actors. Pelphrey is despicable as the man with a giant inferiority complex trying to bring the great tycoon down, and Ladd is perfectly radiant as Charlies’ ex-wife. Young steels the show as the corporate lawyer turned reluctant desperate defense attorney as he searches to find his moral compass. Limited six-episode series that was intensely enough. Won’t be back.
Review: Ryan is beyond prolific- having self-published over a hundred books in 8-9 different serial forms. This series is relatively new and co-written with Detective Brian Shea. It shows-very inside info on detective doings, centered around Rachel Hatch, a former Covert Ops soldier now roaming around the country making bad people pay. She is an absolute takes no shit- kick ass character who struggles with emotions and connections- but is working on it. Though not the most well writhe novel I have read, Ryan is good storyteller and Hatch is a captivating subject. Big on all the bestseller lists- with a lot more where this came from.
