Author: JWF

Tidy Tidbits: Reading, Cheese & Theater

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READING WOMEN

Our local paper included an article from the Washington Post by Alyssa Rosenberg about reading a year’s worth of books written by women.  That’s a fine idea, but she carried it a step further and did a pair of books each month for a total of 24.  I was intrigued and checked to see how many of these titles I had already read, a disappointing five in all.

Some of her pairings were unusual and some I will follow up.  For example, she paired My Brilliant Friend, which I’m happy to report I did finish and enjoyed, with Last Things by Jenny Offill, a first novel set in contemporary Vermont.  Calling each of these “slim,” however, is misleading as the Ferrante novel is a dense 300+ pages.  The Margaret Fuller biography by Marshall is paired with Marriage: A History by Stephanie Coontz—interesting since Fuller spent the bulk of her life as a single woman.  And Louise Erdrich’s beautiful novel, The Round House, is paired with The Secret History by Donna Tartt.  I loved the Erdrich book and certainly know of Tartt’s work; each novel is told from the male perspective.  There are more on Rosenberg’s list, but I’ll leave you to explore the rest.

CHEESE

We were in upstate New York (really upstate in the Finger Lakes region) last week.   Thanks to a recommendation from my sister-in-law, my sisters and I ventured into the countryside to visit the Muranda Cheese Company. It’s outside Waterloo, and on the way, we passed through the pleasant town of Seneca Falls, home of the Women’s Rights National Historical Park.  Seneca Falls was the site of the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention.

On their farm, the Murray family raises Registered Holsteins; the milk from these cows is used for producing a wide range of cheeses which are aged, cut, and wrapped here.  For a modest $2.00 each, we were invited to taste 15 different cheeses.  They included several cheddars, Gouda, Colby, a killer blue, and an array of smoked and flavored cheeses—with garlic and chives, bacon, and sundried tomatoes.  Our host was knowledgeable and friendly and we each went home with more cheese!  And, not a surprise, you can order their cheese online.

CULTURE NOTE

We recently saw a first-rate production of Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz’s play, Sotto Voce.  It focuses on the relationship between an elderly female novelist and a young male student, both of whom have connections to the 1939 doomed voyage of  the S. S. St. Louis.  This boat was taking Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany to Cuba, but was denied entry there and also turned away by the U.S.  The two main characters in the play never meet face to face, and all their interactions happen by phone or e-mail.  It is a play of voices and silences, very creatively staged.

Tidy Tidbits: Film & Theater

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TIDY TIDBITS:  Film & Theater

This was a week when we gorged on culture, films especially.  The Sarasota Film Festival (SFF) is celebrating its 17th year, and over the course of ten days 270 films, a mix of documentaries and feature films, are screened.  We were late getting tickets, having been away, but still managed to see several noteworthy films.  Most of these are making the rounds of a number of film festivals, and at least some of them are set for commercial release in the next three to six months.  Here are my thoughts and my recommendations:

Dior and I.  An excellent film about the fashion industry and Raf Simons’ first couture collection for the House of Dior.  Featuring both passages from Christian Dior’s memoir and the suspenseful account of the creation of Simons’ collection,  this is documentary film making at its best.  If you ever wondered why haute couture is so dear, then seeing all the hand work involved here, you will understand.  The film was also the focus of a recent NY Times piece in their style magazine.  Not for fashionistas only.

For the Record.  A documentary about court stenographers and those who do closed captioning for TV shows and the like.  I really enjoyed this film.  My husband got bored and snoozed a bit.  There was the excitement of the competition to see who was the fastest transcriber, and one of the contestants was local, from Sarasota.  I think my librarian and linguistically-inclined friends would enjoy this one.

Blood, Sweat and Beer.  The subject of this film is the craft beer industry and it portrayed two start-ups, one in Ocean City, Maryland, whose owner was having a rough time due to a copyright infringement law suit, and the other in a very depressed former Pennsylvania steel town.  Two energetic recent college graduates took on the challenge of creating a brewery and pub in Braddock in the midst of abject poverty and neglect.  The film could have used more editing, but it gives you a sense of how pervasive the craft beer industry has become.

Wildlike.  A feature-length film set midst the gorgeous Alaskan scenery, this is the story of a teenage girl who is sent to stay with her uncle.  She has problems with his behavior and runs away and attaches herself to a middle aged backpacker who has recently lost his wife and is trying to find some peace and solace in Denali National Park. Sensitively done and worth viewing.

Paradise, FL.  Another feature film, this one shot in the Sarasota Bay area and hence of interest due to its local color.  It’s a depressing tale of drug addiction and family strife straining the friendship and loyalty between two young male fishermen.  Overly long and drawn out, it still held my interest.  It would be better with some judicious cutting.

Theater

Asolo Rep did it again with their marvelous production of Somerset Maugham’s Our Betters!  This was the equal of anything you’d see on Broadway and was both well cast and well staged.  Featuring four women, all of whom were part of the exodus of American heiresses to Britain to find titled husbands, it was funny, fabulous and thought provoking about the role of women.  This director chose to move the time of the play from 1917 to the 1920’s in order to have costumes that were more flowing and allowed the women characters greater freedom of movement.  An inspired decision!

Booknote: James and Ferrante

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I have returned home from my Asian Adventure and along with re-adjusting to east coast time, I’m back doing more reading.  Here are my latest books.

WSJ Book Club

Sometime ago, I read that the Wall Street Journal was starting an online book club.  I was intrigued, but I was still working and didn’t think I had the time to commit to it.  Now, Colm Toibin, one of my favorite authors, is moderating a 6 week discussion of Henry James’ novel, The Golden Bowl.  I probably last read this novel in college, but vividly recall the Masterpiece Theater production of some years ago.

From www.imdb.com
From www.imdb.com

 

 

 

Now I’m reading it again, this time from the 1922 New York edition of James’ works given to me by my grandfather.  This copy was published on good paper (probably acid-free or mostly so), is in good condition, and comprises two volumes, given its length.  I have the added bonus of a folded sheet of lined yellow paper with my grandfather’s handwritten notes tucked in the front.

James’ sentences are lengthy with many phrases strung together by commas.  I liked Toibin’s advice, in an article about his choice, to just read them and not worry about understanding every nuance.  He also suggested reading at least 50 pages at a time without a break.

Online, a question for discussion is posed each week, and this week’s relates to the names of the characters, Adam Verver, Prince Amerigo, and Fanny Assingham, and their significance.  I have long been a fan of Henry James and this online discussion provides motivation and discipline for my reading.

 

Elena Ferrante 

In between short takes of James, I’m reading the first volume, My Brilliant Friend, of Italian novelist Elena Ferrante’s series about a lifelong friendship between two women.  Ferrante has received a lot of publicity and much praise for her works and occasioned curiosity about her identity and even her sex.  She was born in Naples and has written a number of successful novels, but uses a pseudonym.  As her works have been translated and made available outside Italy, there has been greater speculation about her including an article last year in the New York Times.

BrilliantFriendThe first volume is not an easy read, in my opinion, but I am determined to finish it.  Set in a poor neighborhood, the childhood section is somewhat stream of consciousness with a raft of characters and could be said to mimic how a younger child’s mind recalls events.  The second section, “Adolescence,”  is more straightforwardly presented.  Ferrante easily captures the capricious nature of childhood relationships; she likes me, she hates me, she feels superior; I admire her, but I want to best her, I want her to like me, etc.  Onward, I go!

Asian Adventure: Tokyo New Science

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It was fitting that on our last full day in Tokyo we visited the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation.  That’s it’s full name,  but it’s so long the Japanese call it Muraikan for short, which means ‘future.”  Given its focus, it’s most appropriate.  We were hosted by their international outreach team and their director, Dr. Mamoru Mohri, who did two missions on the space shuttle.

The museum opened in 2000 in a classy contemporary building and is full of light with an energetic vibe and crowds of people.  This is spring break week, and there was a long line at the ticket booth outside and masses of young children in the special exhibit on the first floor which was all about co-creation and the linkages and connections between technology and art.

Children drew something on paper and then it was projected on this wall.
Children drew something on paper and then it was projected on this wall.

 

Video panel--historic painting animated--part of special exhibit
Video panel–historic painting animated–part of special exhibit

In the entrance lobby (this area only is free admission), you can sit on a bench or a lounger and gaze upon a large replica of planet Earth that is suspended from the ceiling, changes frequently, and is made up of LED panels.  You can also walk the spiral ramp that takes you closer to it.  It is amazing and brings home the interconnectedness of all of us.

 

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Other floors included a relatively new space for very young children, a cafe with tables of  three different heights and sizes (little ones for kids), and such exhibits as how the brain works, life in 2050 in a model city, a deep sea submersible that you can climb into, and a big attraction, a female android, and the robot ASIMO created by Honda.  ASIMO gives performances three times a day that include it moving in a variety of ways, jumping, talking (Japanese and English transcriptions are on a wall screen), and even singing.  ASIMO was quite something to watch and hear and the area was packed with visitors.

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As we toured the museum, we encountered a volunteer (in an orange vest) and later a science communicator (white vest).  Muraikan has 600 volunteers and 50 science communicators in addition to other staff.  About 1.4 million people visit each year, and the museum offers a full range of science workshops and other activities.  They also provide lab space for researchers from other institutions for several years at a time.  The labs are open to the public at set times, and Dr. Mohri commented that not only were visitors impacted by seeing “real” scientists up close; the scientists themselves were changed.

 

To round out our day, we strolled in the lovely Japanese garden behind the New Otani Hotel.  This is an extremely old and historic garden and when Mr. Otani was building the hotel on the adjacent land, he directed that the garden be retained and maintained.  It rambles up and down along stone steps with a pond, benches and a bright red lattice bridge, an oasis midst the city’s bustle.

Now, time to say, “sayonara, Tokyo.”  It’s been great!