Notable People: Jeff Daniels, Maura Tierney, Alex Nuestaedtner, Created by: Dan Futtermen
Title: American Rust
Review: Third season not as rich as the first two for this dark and foreboding drama set in the far reaches of Western Pennsylvania coal country. Daniels is his usual amazing self (he is everywhere these days) as the lonely and depressed Police Chief, now returned to his former life as a Pittsburgh Detective. The critics really did not like this show, for reasons I can’t really understand. It is a bit slow moving, and, at times, a bit predictable. But, Daniels is a tour de force (as always) in a complicated role and the supporting cast is really good. The cinematography brilliantly captures the area’s fade and despair, and the music is dead on. Nuestaedtner shines as confused former town football hero, stuck in his home town and charged with murder. The move to Amazon from ShowTime allowed for ease of binge watching. Anything with Jeff Daniels is worth watching. Season finale suggested this would be it for this show, but it has been picked up by Amazon affiliate, Freevee, for another season. Daniels plays and sings the great country blues title song at the finale.
“From the moment we cease trying to swim upstream and begin to flow with the current, something changes within us” ………………………………………………. Arthur Sokoloff
“It’s never too late to take a moment to just look”………………………………………………………………………………………………Sharon Salzburg
“Over white cotton cloth spread out in the sun…billowing clouds” …………………………..Koyoroku
“The more we change, the more we remain the same” …………………………………… Who knows
We arrived …but just barely….so still in the nexus of a zillion things to do……. thus, a short welcome BLOG……listening to Ferlin’ rant from a 2001 Bunty show on “Ten to One” ……. how weird is it to hear your own rants live on the computer…? Only in America…. here with our short lived legend of a bass player Richard, singing the Seeds and Stems Again blues”.
But, I’m already digressing….leaving was less tumultuous than usual, notwithstanding my car reverting to it’s demon state of flashing random lights accompanied by instant loss of transmission power…….just days before flight…that led to last minute, last breath of my expiring extended warranty trip to the hated dealer….which pinned us down to the last minute before it was fixed (we’ll see about that- last year it took 3 months) before we left Thursday….and as a result, enjoyed a three hour enforced thunder storm break and wound up having to pack the car top carrier at nine at night completing the “it’s always something experience”………but by early Thursday, undeterred, we headed north, then East….a drop dead gorgeous travel day, that left the flatlands behind after a half day, and led us into the proverbial wilderness…..
Unusually for us, we drove tight thru, powered by a massive lunch pail in each car, and then a quick Diner stop at the Greeks’ in Troy, before turning north thru the pines…with our new beloved Consumer Cellular service working every step of the way through the valleys and the mounts….no shit…and then at our house for the first cell service ever….no BIG shit!!
The yard was a mess, we could not find anything. Reclamation gets harder with senior moments…. but on balance, all good, maybe even more than good. Leaving the grand-progeny behind no small task…and the last supper with Tess and kids on Monday had me crying an ocean as little Parkie and Sloanie exhorted me for one more hug Papi from their respective car seats just before driving off into the sunset…a piece of my heart leaving with them…as it was with my new band mates and my old friends of winter re-connection…not to mention the 3 minutes away Chinese food……. but then…. but then…. but then….
Lucy and The Queen are both clearly in unchained heaven, Saffron is busy with a treasure trove of meece hunting in the basement, the house is in good shape, the yard is conquered for now after two day of whacking, pruning, push mowing, mowing and chain cutting-and though I do wonder if maybe we are becoming too long-toothed for this………………… that gets assuaged by the visit welcome-home visits from the long-lost Trailer –Masseuse and the persistent Dumpmaster who feels in his bones (like rain brought arthritis) that it is to go to flirt with TQ, then by having Lucy’s little friend, Ivy, show back up, then a lovely post exhausting sunset dinner at DJ’s in Ludlow, and the sight of The (full) Pond once again bursting forth from the shooting fountain.
In between workloads, we managed a short trek to the wonderful Kelly’s Snack-shack in Wallingford for burgers, A+ hand –cut fries and …you bet…. Best Creamees anywhere (we should ask Lucy how good the fries and Creamees were)…..and of course the first dirt road walk amidst the grand verdant Greens.
See you for more Ramblin’……. both afoot and to you-each Sunday …or thereabouts….
Notable People: Toby Jones, Monica Dolan, Alex Jennings, Ian Hart, Created by: James Strong and Gwyneth Hughes
Title: Mr. Bates VS. The Post Office
Review: Labeled as “the greatest miscarriage of justice in Britain’s history”, the series tells the very uplifting and persevering story of a group of rural sub-postmasters, who fought back for over ten years to defeat the overwhelming power and bureaucracy and greed- based persecution by the behemoth division of British government. You probably have to be a PBS type to really like this one; it is very low key, but charming in it ‘s own way. A short four episode series that lets you root for the vast underdog led by the winning charm of Toby Jones and the wonderful ensemble cast.
Review: this was a difficult book, both to read and to review. I’ll start off by saying it’s extremely well written and engaging. The characters are well developed and its sense of place is vivid. After that, it gets murky; this is a story that some would see as a touching and unlikely love story and some would see as a heinous portrayal of sexual abuse -and even incest. I wanted to put this book down many times, but stuck with it and its complexity drew me in and resulted in my telling other people to check it out, whose careers, like mine, have dealt with these kinds of taboos. It will challenge you and your opinions, values and sensibilities. In its essence, it is the story of a traumatized little girl, very emotionally limited and with a series of compulsive kinds of issues, who is trying to survive from a drug dealing and violent, neglectful family- and who finds what many would see as inappropriate love and nurturance. It’s often hard to tell who the good guys and the bad guys are in this book. Certainly not for everyone, but if you want challenge, give it a try.
Notable People: Larry David, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, JB Smoove, Richard Lewis, Created by LD and Gavin Polone
Title:Curb Your Enthusiasm
Review: What is there to say about this absolutely bizarre show that continued the Seinfeld tradition of being about nothing- except possibly the most annoying person ever to grace the small or large stage. The final season went out with a bang- with all kinds of late references to Seinfeld-and even a Jerry sighting. The ensemble cast of zany real Hollywood types was entertaining throughout and the main players had amazing rapport and chemistry. Watching Larry and Susie berate each other became high art. It always looked they were having too much fun doing this show. It’s tempting to believe that liking or hating this show was mostly a function of cultural background- but it may simply be one of good or bad taste-and clearly mine can go in either direction. The opening scenes of the last season’s first episode with Larry going at it fil tilt with Siri pretty much captures it all. I will miss this antichrist despite all his shortcomings, which rank as equal or greater than almost any living individual.
Notable People: Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, Created by Jen Statsky and Paul Downs
Title:Hacks
Review: Season 3 exceeded even the first two brilliant seasons. Smart, witty, great writing and dialog, amazingly funny cast of ensemble odd-ball characters-and Smart (Designing Women) and the extraordinary Einbinder have a once in a generation chemistry. A half hour not to be missed.
Notable People: Jamie Dornan, Danielle MacDonald, Greg Larsen, Olwen Fuere, Created by: Chris Sweeney
Title: The Tourist
Review: Extremely creative and bizarre Aussie drama starring Dornan as the victim of a car crash who wakes up in a hospital in Australia with amnesia. The Irishman wakes up with amnesia in an Australian hospital. Seeking answers, he encounters a local woman who remembers him and volunteers to help him rediscover his identity. What few clues he can find hint that he has a dark past from which he must escape before it catches up with him. That’s the basic plot, which does not do justice to this very quirky, well-acted, well written series recommended to me by my connoisseur of all things art friend, Feel. Two dynamic seasons go by in a flash. This intense series has the good sense to have a number of great comic relief characters, and Dornan is quite loveable in the lead role. Surprisingly, not yet renewed for a third season.
Review: Another in my line of books from the Chicago Tribune’s top Ten from 2023, this fantastical fable is filled with wonder and possibility. Nora Seed live in a beat down town outside of London with a dead end job and a lonely life. After her only real connection- her cat- dies, she gives up and takes an overdose. She then finds herself in the magnificently constructed and imagined Midnight Library, where she discovers her own infinite number of parallel universes and lives; which are all based on her book of regrets. Confusing? Maybe a little, but her chronicle of trying to find a life that is meaningful and her trying out of lives that might be worth living for, is quite energizing and captivating. This book was a pleasant surprise; hard to put down and well written, thought I thought it faded away at the end, and became a bit more predictable. Still, a quality read and a unique concept.
Review: What a rare treat- a new issue from one of the great writers of the 20th century. “Gabo” began writing a series of five novellas in 2001 and published several in next few years. This one got stuck in many iterations and then his dementia set in, and he chose to give up on it. He died in 2014 and almost ten years after his editor took it up again and his sons decided to publish it. There has been criticism of this as a money grab that Gabo did not want to publish, but it stands up as a fine part of his métier-a wonderful novella about a woman who finds totally out of character love once a year on an island she visits where her mother is buried. Classically Gabo and full, of grace and light wit. For those of us who cut our chops on a 100 Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera, this is an unexpected and magnificent gift; for those too young or unfamiliar, give it a shot, but try the classics.
Review: I got turned on to this book from the Chicago Tribune’s “Best of 2023 List”, where it was the number one rated book for the year. Award winning author, McBride, tells the striking story of Pottstown, PA. in 1936 woven around the lives of the towns’ Jews and Negroes, which are heavily intertwined and often banded together against the Between-Wars white-protestant oppression. McBride’s’ understanding and mastery of traditional Yiddish culture and idioms is impressive and his sense of the 20th century African American experience is illuminating. The book is filled with charm and wit, richly filled in with an assortment of ode and compelling characters. It is long book and started with an absolutely alluring bang, but bogged down a bit in its middle sections. An unusual and thought provoking story that’s also quite a bit of fun.
