Tag: Call the Midwife

Carolina Capers: Eclipse et al

JWF Leave a comment

WATCHING THE ECLIPSE

Sky watchers

The highlight of this past week was certainly the eclipse on Monday afternoon.  We were not in an area for a total eclipse but were expected to get 80-84% coverage.  It was a lovely sunny day with lots of blue sky.  The Chief Penguin and I walked to the downtown park, partly for better viewing, but mostly to be with other people.  We arrived just before 2:00 pm and quickly snapped up two of the electric green Adirondack chairs near the fountain.  

Several options for viewing

Not much happened for quite a while; then wearing our approved cardboard eclipse glasses, we gazed up and saw the sun being nibbled at by the black moon.  As time went on, more kids and families and couples gathered and found places to sit.  The blackness kept encroaching until around 3:10, we had just a fingernail sliver of golden sun left.  Quite something to see. 

Snoozing or studying the sky?

It never got dark here, but the sun did get dim and the air cooled a bit.  The weather was so salubrious, we stayed on awhile longer, checking every little bit to see the process slowly reverse as more of the sun emerged again.  An amazing experience!  The next one isn’t for another 20 years—odds are we might not see it!

INTERLUDE—MUSIC & FILM

Cary Town Band

One of the perks of living where we do is a wide assortment of free musical events and movies.  This week it was a concert by the Cary Town Band.  In existence since 1987, the band is made up of all woodwind instruments and boasts 50 plus players, all volunteers.  It’s led by a former member who brings enthusiasm, knowledge, and a bit of fun (think the occasional theme costume) to her conducting.  

This program featured music from composers like Sousa and Verdi to Elton John and John Williams all under the umbrella of people’s jobs.  Pieces included selections from the Lion King, Superman, Phantom of the Opera, and Die Meistersinger among others.  Cary Town Band presents four or five concerts a year including one for the Fourth of July.  This was a fun evening!  

Beyond Silence

The previous week we enjoyed a showing of the German film, Beyond Silence, released in 1996.  It centers on Lara, a young girl interested in music and particularly the clarinet.  She hears, but both her parents are deaf.  They three communicate by signing, and Lara’s parents rely on her for translating in interviews with her schoolteachers or when watching TV.  She aspires to study the clarinet in Berlin, and there is tension and then a rift with her parents.  It’s a sensitive portrait of coming of age and learning to navigate boundaries and limits. 

If the premise of this film sounds familiar to you, it may be that you’ve seen or heard of the 2021 American film, CODA (Children of Deaf Adults), which has some similarities, but the girl in it has a talent for singing.  Interestingly, CODA is actually considered to be a remake of the French-Belgian film from 2014, La Famille Belier, where the girl is also a gifted singer.  For those who are intrigued, it’s possible to buy or rent any of these films from Amazon or other sources. 

VIEWING NOTES

Nolly (PBS Masterpiece)

I watched one episode of Nolly, a series about an early British TV sitcom star who was suddenly let go from her show.  Much as I like and admire Helena Bonham Carter as an actress, I didn’t really get engaged with this production.  Nolly wasn’t very likable, too much of a prima donna, and the other characters seemed stale and dated to me.  Maybe the humor is too British or maybe it gets better in future episodes, but I had enough.  

Call the Midwife (Season 13, PBS)

Trixie, Nurse Crane, & Maureen (townandcountrymag.com)

Perhaps you think you’ve witnessed enough breech births and had too much sweetness and light to continue with this series.  The Chief Penguin occasionally has felt this way—but he continues to watch Call the Midwife with me.  So far, after three episodes, I think that Season 13 is a winner.  

Midwife often deals with serious medical issues of the 1960’s; in previous seasons it included Thalidomide babies and lung-infecting black mold.  This season when stalwart Fred becomes seriously ill, everyone is reminded of the importance of an up-to-date tetanus vaccine.  

After all these years, I’m fond of many of these characters from Sister Julienne to Trixie and Nurse Crane, and even Miss Higgins, who has loosened up somewhat.  They make for a winning cast of characters and continue to delight viewers like me!  Recommended!

Note: Unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Tidy Tidbits: Granddaughters, etc.

JWF Leave a comment

A MARVELOUS WEEK

This was a week about as close to perfection as one could request.  Everyone seemed to have a grand time.  Tim and Jen had multiple opportunities for tennis and honing their game.  The girls, 7 and almost 11, spent hours in the pool, swimming, jumping, racing one another, and playing with several visiting girls.  In quieter moments, they could be found re-discovering the joys of a dollhouse and building blocks or curled up in a chair with a book.

Together we played a new card game, Taco vs. Burrito, laughing and scheming to see who would escape the Health Inspector card and have the most points.  Even for adults, this was a fun game! We also celebrated F’s 7th birthday.  Creative Grandpa came through with frosted yellow cupcakes (some with pink icing and some with whipped cream) on a lighted 3-tiered stand.  Quite some pizazz!  

Birthday cupcakes on stand
Close up of cupcake with strawberry

To round out the week, they checked out Coquina Beach, and we all headed to our perennial favorite, Tide Tables, for two dinners. We survived the challenge of parking and the wait (20 minutes, not the projected 30) for a table, with F holding tightly to the buzzer.  Scoops and cones at Tyler’s Ice Cream made for another treat.

Smiling sisters

No trip to Florida is complete without a stop in the bookstore, that’s Bookstore 1 in Sarasota.  Combine that with replenishing the cheese supply at Artisan Cheese Company, and you have a satisfying outing.  Food for brain and body.  

Our house is quiet, the foyer is bereft of shoes, sneakers, and sandals, and the crew is back home in New York.  But what good memories we made!

VIEWING UPDATE—CONTINUING SERIES

Call the Midwife (PBS)

Midwives Trixie, Phyllis, & Nancy (PBS)

It’s hard to believe that Call the Midwife is in its 12th season, but it is.  The year is 1968, and the folks in Poplar are still poor and in need of better living conditions and healthcare.  Visiting Sister Veronica brings a blunt manner and new ideas for helping the children.  Nurse Crane faces repercussions due to her age, and Trixie juggles preparing for her wedding to Matthew with caring for their patients.  Familiar faces are back from Dr. Turner and Sheila to Sister Julienne and Sister Monica Joan.  Babies are born, problems are solved, and there is always hope.  I find this series moving and emotional in a good way.  I’ve now watched four of the 8 episodes.

Sanditon (PBS)

Charlotte & Alexander Colbourne (PBS)

Season 3 of Sandition, based on an unfinished novel by Jane Austen, is in its third and final season.  Georgiana is about to celebrate coming of age and into her inheritance.  Charlotte Heywood returns for the party with her farmer fiancé.  Tom Parker continues to tout the greatness of Sandition and petitions a wealthy man for his support for a hotel.  As expected, flirtations and expectations abound as single women angle to catch the eye of just the right gentleman.  

It’s fun, mostly light-hearted, and a welcome change from the dark crime series the Chief Penguin and I have been favoring.  There are six episodes in this finale.

Note: Unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header photo of kids in pool from Dreamstime.com.

Happy young woman watching TV

Watching & Reading: On Screen & Page

JWF Leave a comment

DOCUDRAMA OF FALSE IDENTITY

INVENTING ANNA (Netflix)

Julia Garner as Anna Delvey (tvline.com)

Anna Delvey, Russian by birth, presented herself in New York as a German heiress with a large trust fund. Only 25, she grandly aspired to create a club cum art gallery called ADF, the Anna Delvey Foundation.  Poised, confident, and brazen, she led the high life, courted the A-list of society, and conned investors into believing she was rich and worth the risk.  

Anna Delvey was a real person, but not what she appeared to be.  Based on an article that appeared in New York Magazine, this series is almost as much about journalist Jessica Pressler (called Vivian Kent) and her long investment of time and energy in getting and writing Anna’s story.  

You may not like Anna, and I didn’t much of the time, but her story is a fascinating study in social psychology.  Comprised of 9 episodes, the series runs through Anna’s trial for grand larceny.  Anna is played by Julia Garner, who won two Emmies for her role in the TV series. Ozark.   Jessica Pressler, the real writer of the article, has a new book coming out in August entitled Bad Influence:  Money, Lies, Powers, and the World that Created Anna Delvey.

ONGOING SERIES

BRIDGERTON (Season 2, Netflix)

Lady Danbury with Mrs. Sharma and daughters Edwina & Kate (latimes.com)

The courting games and rituals continue this season as Anthony, the eldest Bridgerton sibling, seeks a wife.  Rational and determined in his mission, he’s guided more by his head than his heart.  Key players are half-sisters Edwina and Kate Sharma who have come to London with their mother and are under the tutelage of the formidable Lady Danbury.  Edwina seems to be the perfect candidate for Anthony while Lady Whistledown aka Pen, is always on the lookout for new material for her gossip sheet.  I think this season, while different, is as good as the first one!

CALL THE MIDWIFE  (Season 11, PBS)

Call the Midwife cast (townandcountry.com)

Babies continue to be born, and East End London never climbs out of poverty.  The sisters and midwives of Nonnatus House remain super dedicated to serving the local mothers and their families.  It’s 1967 and while hair styles and clothing have changed, diseases like scabies can infect a whole community.  After ten years, I feel as if I know these midwives, Nurse Crane, Trixie, and Sister Julienne to name just several; their exploits and the cases they handle make for charming and heartwarming drama.  There is tragedy, but almost always there is something positive that makes this series uplifting.

RECENT READING

THE BEAUTY OF DUSK  by Frank Bruni

Bruni (wbur.org)

Memoirs are a popular genre. While many are accounts of growing up in a dysfunctional family or putting one’s life together after a contentious divorce, there is also a sub-genre related to dealing with diseases such as cancer.  A recent example of this sub-genre is Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad in my post of Sept. 19, 2021.

Frank Bruni’s first memoir, Born Round, was an affectionate portrait of growing up in a food-loving Italian American family coupled with his long struggle to get his weight under control.  His latest memoir, The Beauty of Dusk, is about the effects of an illness, but is more wide-ranging.  A few years ago in his 50’s, he suffered a sudden stroke which destroyed the sight in one eye.  Reading and navigating both became more difficult.  

Bruni discusses coming to terms with his disability, but more significantly shares examples of friends and others who are thriving despite disease or serious injury.  These examples are heartening and uplifting. They remind both Bruni and the reader that other people have serious issues to contend with, some that are hidden.  

Bruni is an engaging writer, and I enjoy his insightful New York Times columns on politics, gay rights, and other issues. Here,  I was impressed by how open he was, not only on his eyesight, but also about the disruptions in his personal life.

Watching: Three Superb Series

JWF Leave a comment

With the arrival of cooler weather, perhaps you are spending more time indoors, When you get tired of reading or knitting, I have three top-notch television series to recommend.

Call the Midwife (PBS)

Nurse Crane & Sister Julienne (bbc.co.uk)

It’s hard to believe that this is the 10th season of Call the Midwife.  Early seasons drew extensively from the memoirs of midwife Jennifer Worth.  Successive seasons have built on the premise of an order of nun midwives working alongside secular midwives to serve a poor East London community.  While some viewers may feel that the series is too sentimental, more recent episodes highlight medical and social issues such as Thalidomide babies and domestic abuse.  

The current season, which the Chief Penguin and I binge watched, is both sober and thought provoking.  It is 1966 in Poplar, the Beatles are popular, and England is in the World Cup.  Abortion, Down syndrome, race, and wretched housing condition all figure here.  And yet, your favorite midwives, from the often wise Sister Monica Joan, compassionate yet firm Sister Julienne, and outspoken but oh, so caring Trixie, aka Nurse Franklin, persevere.  As the voiceover before every episode states, it’s definitely for mature audiences.  

Grantchester (PBS)

Leonard Finch (distractify.com)

Grantchester too is a keeper, and the seasons keep coming.  Most of us have adjusted to Sydney’s replacement by Will as the curate since detective Geordie, assistant curate Leonard, and housekeeper Mrs. C. remain in place!  This season, season 6, is a much darker one than the previous ones.  

It is 1958 and while there is a murder in every episode, Leonard’s homosexuality and the U.K. laws in effect are a running story throughout the season.  It is a season with added depth and poignancy and one that made me appreciate society’s greater acceptance of differing sexual identities.  This is first rate television.  Highly recommended!

Maid (Netflix)

Margaret Qualley as Alex (indiewire.com)

Maid is a new offering on Netflix and one also dealing with a serious subject.  Based on a memoir by former maid, Stephanie Land, it’s a graphic and heart-rending picture of poverty and living hand-to-mouth while working.  Alex, the maid, abruptly leaves an abusive relationship with her toddler daughter Mattie.  Without a plan or any support, she is hard pressed to find a job or a place to live.  Some of the social services offices she encounters seem unhelpful or at best indifferent.  Reluctantly, she is offered a job as a maid cleaning houses.  Some clients are wealthy with gorgeous homes; others are realtors having seriously filthy properties scrubbed for sale.  

You can read about what it’s like to be poor in America, but this series clearly depicts how one small incident (a sick child, for example) has a domino effect on everything else from her job to her apartment.  It’s raw viewing, but Alex’s daydreams and her interactions with her kooky artist mother provide some relief.  Margaret Qualley with piercing dark eyes is amazing as Alex, while her real-life mother, Andie MacDowell, plays her mother here. 

Note: Header sunset photo ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).