Category: TV

Carolina Comments: Beautiful Blossoms & Determined Detectives

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FLOWERS AND ART

Art in Bloom, North Carolina Museum of Art

This week, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh hosted its 11th annual Art in Bloom.  It’s the museum’s biggest fund raiser; museum admission here is free except for special exhibitions. The 40 floral works range from brightly colored (lots of orange) to subdued browns, from low bowls to pillars of blossoms, and from elegant to wild and exotic.  Sometimes the works seem closely related to the art and sometimes it’s hard to appreciate the inspiration.

Piece inspired by R-DHYA by Bhavsar

In my San Franciso life, I went to the de Young Museum of Art’s similar exhibit entitled Bouquets to Art.  Now in its 41st year, it too pairs elaborate floral arrangements with paintings and sculpture.  My sense, after visiting Art in Bloom, is that the local exhibit has larger and taller pieces in the mix.  In any case, what floral designers can craft using a wide variety of plants and flowers is stunning and even sometimes amazing.  

Column of roses inspired by painting on the far wall

RECENT VIEWING

DEATH IN NEW ZEALAND

A Remarkable Place to Die (Acorn)

Veronica & Anais (rotten tomatoes.com)

Set in and around gorgeous Queenstown, the crime series, A Remarkable Place to Die, is almost worth watching just for the scenery. Detective Anais Mallory returns home to lead the homicide division and gets caught up in trying to solve the mystery of her sister’s death in a violent crash several years ago.  Assisting on her team is detective Simon Delaney, who was a candidate for Anais’s job.  Adding to the complexity is the fact that Anais and her mother are not on good terms, despite Anais’s desire to forge a warmer relationship.  As Mallory digs deeper into her sister’s accident and her father’s death before that, she risks losing her job and destroying friendships.  

The series consists of four episodes, and each is 90 minutes long.  It takes a bit of getting into and Anais is not always a likable character.  Fans of the comedy series, Under the Vines, will recognize Rebecca Gibney (Daisy) who here plays a serious role as Anais’s mother Veronica.

WEIRD CRIMES IN PARIS

Astrid Season 4 (PBS Masterpiece)

Raphaelle & Astrid (entertainment-focus.com)

Fans of this autistic super sleuth will be delighted with Astrid’s return in Season 4.  Astrid, based in the criminal records archives, works with detective and now good friend Raphaelle to solve unusual crimes in Paris.  These murders occur in unexpected places and under strange circumstances.  Astrid’s encyclopedic memory and keen observational skills enable her to see things her colleagues miss.  

Astrid is literal, sometimes missing slang or subtleties; a Monday night dinner is a Monday dinner and not one on Tuesday instead.  She is a regular participant in an autism spectrum support group led by patient and caring William, and she has a slowly developing romance with Tetsuo who lets Astrid set the pace.

I’ve watched the first three episodes in this 8-part series and am looking forward to the others. I continue to be intrigued by the evolving relationships between Astrid and Raphaelle, Astrid and Tetsuo, and Astrid and her colleagues, who are still sometimes baffled by her responses.  I also like Dr. Fournier the pathologist.  In French with subtitles.  Recommended!

Note: Unattributed photos by JWFarrington including header photo of blue and white flowers.

Valentine Reading & Viewing

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WITTY ROMANCE FOR VALENTINE’S WEEKEND

(free vector.com)

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Romance is a hot genre these days.  It’s come out of the closet or perhaps better put, out from under the covers.  Romance novels, historical ones and contemporary ones, have been around for years.  New sub-genres incorporate fantasy or feature gay protagonists.  With their large readership, romance titles are also receiving more attention from the reviewing world and even academia.  Note the new exhibit related to romance cover art and publicity materials, Romancing the Novel, at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland.  It’s curated by a male communications and cinema professor.  

Texan Katherine Center’s recent rom-com, Hello Stranger, features artist Sadie Montgomery.  A portrait painter, Sadie is struggling to gain recognition in her career.  A finalist in a big prize competition, she must produce one more work for it when she has a major accident.  Post surgery, she awakens with face blindness (a real condition where human faces often appear incomplete.)  She tells only a handful of friends as she struggles to adjust.  

Sadie is attracted to her dog’s vet as a potential mate and makes damning assumptions about a neighbor in her apartment building.  It’s funny, poignant, heartwarming, and a really good story!  You will route for Sadie all the way through.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY GONE AWRY

The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts by Louis Bayard

Oscar Wilde (wikipedia.com)

Constance Wilde knew Oscar loved her and their children.  He was affectionate, but not passionate.  In Louis Bayard’s marvelous new novel, The Wildes, we see Constance as she becomes aware that her husband’s emotions are more fully engaged elsewhere.  It is late summer in Norfolk, England, an escape from London for this family, and the young poet Lord Alfred Douglas, familiarly known as Bosie, is coming to visit.  

In the opening chapter, we follow Oscar and Constance on a leisurely stroll as she quizzes him about this latest house guest.  It is a brilliantly rendered description of wifely curiosity and husbandly dodging of the real issue.

Subsequent chapters or acts follow Constance and sons Cyril and Vyvyan, to Italy where they live under assumed names during Oscar’s time in prison, to the sons in the mucky trenches of WWI, to Vyvyan some years later re-visiting the past to try to sort it all out, to finally a re-imagining of the family’s sojourn in Norfolk in 1892.  Well researched and beautifully crafted, Bayard’s novel sensitively combines reality with creativity.  One of the best literary novels I’ve read in some time!  (~JWFarrington)

COMFORT VIEWING, AUSSIE STYLE

Darby and Joan (Acorn)

Darby with Joan (rottentomatoes.com)

English widow Joan, a retired nurse, is determined to find out what her late husband was up to in Australia, when he was supposed to be in Barcelona.  Boldly setting out in her mobile home across the wilds of that country, she encounters retired Australian detective Darby whose truck has broken down. Her offer of a ride quickly becomes a shared journey as they deal with a death among a group of hippies and then travel on to assist an old chum of Darby’s.  

The story is light, the banter between these seniors is engaging, and the mysteries they solve are often murders, but the series is not gruesome.  There are two seasons with 8 episodes in Season 1 and six in Season 2.  The Chief Penguin and I have now watched the first two episodes.  Thanks to new friends for suggesting it.  Recommended if you are in the mood for stress free, fun viewing!

Note: Header image of hearts from Unsplash.com

Carolina Moments: January Diversions

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January is a winter month, and very much so this year for much of the U.S. We cocoon more, spend more time reading and watching TV, and only venture out when the weather moderates. Here you’ll find a thoughtful novel, a comforting drama series, good food in Cary, and reflections on a noted chef.

NOVEL OF THE WEEK

Mothers and Sons by Adam Haslett

Author Haslett (hatchettebookgroup.com)

Prize-winning fiction writer, Adam Haslett is the author of short stories and several novels.  I found his 2016 novel, Imagine Me Gone about depression within a family, compelling and sensitive.  His latest novel, Mothers and Sons, might simplistically be dubbed a novel about gay love.  But it is so much more than that.  It’s a novel of feelings, nuanced relationships, estrangement, violence, and secrets.  

Peter Fischer is a 40ish immigration lawyer in New York, dedicated to his work almost to the point of obsession.  He deals with individuals traumatized by the violence or abuse they experienced in their home country, who seek to stay legally in the U.S.  Peter has little social life outside the job and tepid relationships with his work colleagues.  He is estranged from his mother Ann and seldom in contact with his sister Liz.

Ann was an Episcopal minister who left her husband, Peter’s father, for another woman.  Together she and Clare founded and built a retreat center for women in rural Vermont.  In dealing with the case of Vasel, a young gay man from Albania, Peter finds himself reliving and agonizing anew over his adolescent friendship with his classmate Jared.  Haunted by his reflections, he at last visits his mother to explore their mutual past.

This is a deliberate novel with perhaps too many immigration cases leading up to Peter’s focus on Vasel.  Vasel’s elusiveness and withholding of details push Peter to review his own relationships and actions of twenty years ago.  Meanwhile, his mother misses her son but is examining her own love for Clare, while trying to shove aside her attraction to another community member.  The events of twenty years ago don’t really feature in her memory until Peter comes to visit.  

This novel probes its characters’ innermost feelings. They are complex individuals whose vulnerability and weaknesses the author shares. Chapters occasionally alternate between present day and Peter’s memories of his teenage years.  Recommended for fans of literary fiction!  (~JWFarrington)

COMFORT VIEWING

All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 (PBS Masterpiece)

Helen, Jimmy, & James (parade.com)

If you’re looking for something soothing and somewhat sentimental, Season 5 Of All Creatures Great and Small may be just right.  It takes place in a somewhat simpler time, albeit marked by James’ and Tristan’s war service and the anguished worry and waiting of their family back home. 

Quirky veterinary intern Richard Carmody provides additional color while security warden Mr. Bosworth’s gruff and exacting exterior masks a soft center.  Baby Jimmy ‘s cuteness appeals to everyone, and Helen and Mrs. Hall capably maintain the household and keep Siegried and everyone on an even keel.  It’s a heartwarming series with moments of poignance and levity.  Recommended!

ABROAD AT HOME: LUNCH IN CARY

Pro’s Epicurean Market & Cafe

Colorful olives

The weather on Saturday had warmed up enough that we walked downtown, by the park, and farther on to try Pro’s Epicurean. It’s a brightly lit, attractive restaurant that also functions as a market for wines, vinegars and their dishes.  The cuisine is a mix of French and Italian with charcuterie and cheeses, crepes, salads, pastas, meat and seafood entrees, and a host of specialty sandwiches.  The staff were friendly and very welcoming.  

Between us, we sampled the olive medley, the country pate, and a best-to-be-hungry sausage, peppers, onion, and melted mozzarella Raphael sandwich.  The sandwiches can be had on a baguette, seeded rye, or a soft roll; the Raphael would have been easier to eat had it been on a roll.   Wines, beer, mixed and soft drinks, and creative mocktails are also on the menu.  In warmer weather, you can eat out on their patio.  Recommended!

REMEMBERING CHEF CHARLES PHAN

The Chief Penguin and I enjoyed many delicious Vietnamese meals at Charles Phan’s Slanted Door restaurant in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Some of my favorite dishes were the imperial spring rolls, his signature shaking beef cubes, and cellophane noodles with crabmeat.  He was a pioneer who gave Vietnamese cuisine new prominence on the food scene.

We also got to know Charles a bit as he created and oversaw the first dining venues at the then newly open California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.  Over the years, he opened satellite locations of Slanted Door along with developing other restaurant concepts.  Covid closed the Slanted Door in San Francisco, but other locations exist in Napa and elsewhere.  Sadly, Charles Phan died of a heart attack at 62 this past week.  We have fond memories of his cooking.

Note: Header photo of January sunrise and olive medley ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Carolina Comments: Viewing & Eating

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NOTEWORTH MOVIES

Continuing to focus on likely Oscar nominees, the Chief Penguin and I watched two recent films on Netflix last week.  Both included music, but one was intense and unconventional; the other was reflective and the winding down of a career and a life.  The films are Emilia Perez and Maria.

GENDER TRANSITION AND MORE

Emilia Perez (Netflix, in Spanish with English subtitles)

Emilia (usatoday.com)

Emilia Perez is a wild, operatic, intensely emotional movie with music, dancing, and some humor.  It’s based on an opera libretto that was adapted from a novel.  

Manitas del Monte, a drug lord with a long history of violence lures Rita Moro Castro, a young lawyer looking for greater recognition and more professional challenges, to oversee his disappearance and transition to a new life as a female.  His wife Jessie must believe he is dead and go into hiding with their two children.  His new life as Emilia is a rollercoaster ride full of surprises and twists.   The soundtrack is great, several dances add levity, and yet there is also mystery and darkness.  

The cast is superb with Karla Sofia Gascon, a trans woman, as both Manitas and Emilia, and Zoe Saldana as the glamorous and selfless Rita.  The film is truly unconventional, but I highly recommend it—if you are seeking something different.

A DIVA REFLECTS BACK

Maria (Netflix)

Angelina Jolie as Maria (nytimes.com)

Greek and American soprano Maria Callas was one of the most noted and talented opera singers of the 20thcentury.  Maria, the film, takes place in Paris during the fall of 1977 with flashbacks to some of Callas’ performances during her stunning career.  Now suffering from a diminished voice, she valiantly rehearses with the faint hope of performing once again.  

While Callas, as convincingly evoked by Angelina Jolie, is the focus, this diva’s life is made comfortable by the care of Bruna and Ferruccio, her stalwart household help.  Her relationship with Aristotle Onassis is also touched upon.

The plot line is simple and measured and interspersed with marvelous singing.  Angelina Jolie does some of the singing, but when Callas is in her prime the recordings are primarily of Callas.  It is not a perfect film but should be enjoyed by opera buffs and Callas fans.

SPIES ON TV

The CP and I are also always on the lookout for good drama and crime series on television.  We recently watched the somewhat different British thriller series called Black Doves.

FRIENDS, LOVERS, & AGENTS

Black Doves (Netflix)

Sam, Helen, & Reed (netflix.com)

When undercover spy, Helen Webb’s secret lover Jason is assassinated, her original trainer, Sam, is sent to London to keep her safe.  Helen nominally leads an ordinary life as a politician’s wife and mother of two children.  Yet, she is part of a covert group called the Black Doves and regularly reports to Reed, her handler.  As Sam and Reed and now Helen become involved in the mystery of who killed the Chinese ambassador to Britain, there is violence—shootings, killings, and kidnappings.  

It is often hard to follow the plot and the motivations of the secondary characters.  What is noteworthy and most enjoyable is the richness of some of the relationships.  Helen and Sam have a genuine longstanding friendship, and there is the bittersweet once-upon-a-time love between triggerman Sam and the upstanding Michael.  

I kept thinking we should abandon this series, but we kept coming back to it.  The cast is wonderful with Keira Knightley as Helen, Ben Whishaw as Sam, Sarah Lancashire as Reed, and familiar faces from Bridgerton and The Crown.   Overall, I recommend it, knowing it will not appeal to everyone.

CARY DINING

Shinmai (N. W. Maynard Road near Lowe’s)

Interior, Shinmai
Salmon bento box

This attractive Japanese restaurant is small, but its menu is extensive.  I dined here for lunch this past week with the Adventurous Eaters.  Our group of 17 took up almost the entire restaurant.  While ramen is a Shimmai specialty, there are plenty of other noodle dishes featuring soba and udon noodles as well as dishes with fish or crab.  Some of us sampled gyoza (little spicy beef dumplings), vegetable tempura, lemongrass ribeye, okonomiyaki (a squid pancake not often seen on menus), a chicken and cabbage bowl, and the teriyaki bento box with salmon.  

The food was very tasty.  On a return visit, I’d like to try more items from the First Flavors part of the menu.   

Note: Shinmai photos and header photo of seesaw park ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)