Category: TV

View from Newagen to Hunting Island

Maine Time: Viewing & Reading

JWF 1 Comment

RECENT VIEWING

Soldier Father Son

This New York Times documentary is moving and extremely well crafted.  Brian Eisch is a single parent of Isaac and Joey and a career soldier fighting the war in Afghanistan.  When he sustains a serious leg injury, he returns home to a life very different from the one he had envisioned.  He’s in constant pain, can’t do the activities he’s always done with his sons, and his sense of manhood is diminished by this loss of physicality. Opening in 2010, the film follows Brian in Afghanistan through having part of his leg amputated and all the adjustments recovery requires. The intervening years bring new relationships (Brian’s girlfriend Maria) and unexpected grief, ending in 2019 when Isaac has transitioned from high school student to Army soldier. It presents a slice of life many of us have never experienced and is raw and tender and gritty. Highly recommended!

Endeavour (PBS Masterpiece)
Thursday & Morse

This is Season 7 of Endeavour.  Only three episodes in all, but each one is 90 minutes, and unlike previous seasons, they are all interconnected.  A series of murders on the canal towpath seem to have been successfully solved, but then another one occurs.  Morse has a new woman in his life and a budding friendship with a rich Italian.  He and Detective Thursday have their usual grumbles and disagreements, but this time Morse may have gone too far and caused a permanent rupture.  And we get a warmer, more relaxed side of Superintendent Bright in tender moments with his invalid wife. In each episode, we also have more of the private lives of the principals, adding to the richness of the series.  Recommended!

BEACH READ—SARASOTA SCENE

Footprints in the Sand by Mary Jane Clark (2013)

I believe I got an online offer for this Piper Donovan mystery.  It’s part of a 5-book series of Wedding Cake Mysteries, and not something I’d ever normally purchase.  I was probably lured by a cheap Kindle price and by the Sarasota/Siesta Key setting.

Siesta Key Beach (bestwesternsiestakey.com)

Protagonist Piper Donovan is an actor turned wedding cake baker who gets hired to make these fancy cakes in gorgeous locations.  She and her parents fly to Sarasota for her cousin Kathy’s wedding.  Kathy’s best friend is missing and then found dead. Thus, begins a whole series of murders.  Piper sticks her nose in foolishly and, with telephone advice from her FBI boyfriend Jack, attempts to help solve the mysteries.  

This is what’s called a cozy mystery, murders yes, but little in the way of gore or horror.  It’s light fare.  I enjoyed it as much for the Sarasota locales I know as for the Amish culture and characters Clark weaves in.  The Amish have a strong presence in Sarasota’s Pinecraft neighborhood each winter.   

BLOG HISTORY—STATISTICS

About a month before I retired in Summer 2014, I created Jots & Jaunts and wrote my first blog post.  That year, I produced 15 posts total.  In January 2015, I committed to writing a new post each week.   When traveling, especially internationally (those were the days!), I posted a new entry almost every day, thus creating an online journal for myself and others.  

Besides accounts of faraway places, blog topics include books, movies and TV, and the arts scene, as well as food and favorite restaurants.  The past five months have been challenging with no movies, no concerts or plays, and no restaurant dining—lots more content about reading and viewing.  

To date, I have published 396 posts with this one being #397.  That represents an average of 67 postings each year in the more than five years since 2015.  Besides the web, I share my blog on Facebook and with a select group of friends.  I enjoy and appreciate the feedback I get from my readers.  Thanks for your continued interest!

Maine rocks

Note: Header photo of water off Newagen and rock photo ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Summertime: Novels & Crime

JWF 2 Comments

NOVEL ADVENTURES

WOMEN & MEDICINE

Where the Light Enters by Sara Donati

(go.authorsguild.com)

If you’re a historical novel junkie and you like medical minutiae, then the sequel to Donati’s earlier tome, The Gilded Hour, might be just the perfect diversion.  Set in the 1880’s in New York, specifically Greenwich Village and environs, it’s the continuing tale of two female doctors, cousins Sophie and Anna Savard, who struggle to overcome prejudice and to provide comprehensive OB-GYN care for women of all classes.  Anna is married to a police detective, and Sophie is a rich widow, but also biracial.  Together they get involved in a series of missing persons cases.  

Donati is the pen name of Rosina Lippi, a retired university professor. She loves details and has done meticulous research (even creating newspaper clippings based on real events) to present what Manhattan was like in the 19th century—its architecture, the culture, and its politicians.  Chock full of secondary characters, friends and relatives of the two doctors, all intertwined with several subplots, Where the Light Enters is engrossing and highly readable!  (~JWFarrington)

SMALLTOWN OHIO

The Daughters of Erietown by Connie Schultz

Connie Schultz (Cleveland.com)

I was not familiar with Connie Schultz, a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, before reading The Daughters of Erietown.  Schultz grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio, and this historical novel (1950’s to 1990’s) overlaps with her early years and some of her personal experiences.  It’s the warmhearted story of three generations of women with limited means and big aspirations who are products of their time and place.  

The central focus is on Brick and Ellie McGinty, sandwiched between his father, Bull, and mother, Angie, and their own children, Samantha (Sam) and Reilly.  Brick is a high school basketball star with a college scholarship and Ellie dreams of going to nursing school.  When she becomes pregnant, they marry, and their choices narrow to staying put in their blue-collar life.  As the years pass, Ellie doesn’t give up completely on her dreams, while her daughter takes a somewhat bolder approach.  Brick soaked up being the center of attention in high school and seeks out that kind of attention in all the wrong places.  This is small town life marked by abuse, adultery, racism, and poverty in a time when smart women might end up stuck.  

Growing up, my family visited my cousins in Ohio each summer; Schultz convincingly evokes the cultural and social aspects of that time.  You will end up cheering Ellie on and applauding Sam for her gumption.  Recommended!  (~JWFarrington)  

SCANDINAVIAN VIEWING

The Sommerdahl Murders  (Acorn)

(cancelledshowstv.com)

As you probably have realized, the Chief Penguin and I like crime series.  The Sommerdahl Murders is a Danish series set in a small coastal town.  Dan Sommerdahl is the lead detective and he works with his partner, Flemming, and his wife, Marianne who is a criminal technician.  Dan and Marianne have been married for 25 years, but often, his job has taken priority.  In the opening episode, the situation comes to a head as he gets consumed by a murder case and misses a key dinner.  Unlike the Swedish series, Rebecka Martinsson, this one is faster-paced and very lively.  Quite a contrast to the frozen Arctic of the other and very good viewing!  Season 1 is eight episodes, and it seems very likely that there will be a Season 2 available here sometime next summer.  

Note: Header photo of flag from covenantcare.com

Beating the Heat: Inside Viewing

JWF Leave a comment

VIEWING

RELIGION AND LAW

Grantchester (PBS Masterpiece)

Mrs. C. and Leonard (pbs.org)

Season 5 of Grantchester is now airing on PBS, and it’s the second season with Will Davenport as the vicar replacing Sydney.  If you are Grantchester addicted, like we are, you can binge watch the whole season on PBS Passport.  Which is exactly what we did this week!  

Initially, I wondered if vicar Will and cop Geordie would have the same kind of rapport as that of Geordie and Sydney.  It’s different, but it’s there and they too make a fascinating pair—the somewhat hardbitten, but softer at the core than is apparent Geordie, and the kind, endowed with heartfelt sentiment Will.  

There are deaths and murders, but this season is all about relationships, relationships challenged and sometimes gone wrong.  Will’s stuttering relationship with reporter Ellie and his contentious encounters with his mother; Geordie’s wife Cathy’s conflicted relations with her mother; Leonard’s painful relationship with his father; and Mrs. C’s awakening to her husband’s past.   It’s a packed season and I wish there were more episodes right away.  

HUMANE MEDICINE

Lenox Hill (Netflix)

Dr. Mirtha Macri with patient (latimes.com)

Medical TV shows are a special breed; the doctors are bursting with ego, staff fall in love with each other, and surgical crises are skillfully resolved.   Lenox Hill is different. A documentary about an historic hospital in Manhattan of the same name, it focuses on four physicians and some of the patients they treat.  And it’s an intimate look at these doctors: their ideals, their frustrations, the care they provide, and their personal lives.  They are the chair and vice-chair of neurosurgery, the chief resident for OB-GYN, and an emergency room physician.  Two white men, one black woman and one Latina.  

Their patients come from the city and from afar to have babies, to be treated in the emergency room before returning to a shelter, and to receive cutting edge brain surgery.  It’s a tribute to their courage that these individuals allowed so much unfettered access while vulnerable.  There are eight episodes and I am not quite to the end.  The medical procedures are graphic, the emotions high, and I was moved to tears and joy.  Highly recommended!

EATING

TASTE OF MAINE

Mermaid Pies

Maine lobster roll (brocavore.com)

Normally, I only eat lobster rolls in Maine.  I’ve been disappointed too many times in other venues.  But, thanks to the urging of our friend Sue, we finally ordered two lobster rolls from Mermaid Pies, a small “bakery” on Cortez Road.  The owner is from Maine which gave his offering some untasted credibility.

The rolls are packed for takeout and the roll, dressed lobster meat, and a side of cole slaw are each in its own container.  The lobster portion is generous, the right kind of split bun is toasted and buttered, and the cole slaw is nicely vinegary.  Yum!  Perhaps the lobster wasn’t quite as sweet as on the coast of Maine, but that’s a quibble.  I see more Florida lobster rolls in our future!  

Note: Header photo of Sarasota Bay from sunnysarasotahomes.com

Girl surrounded by stacks of books

Tidy Tidbits: Mostly Books

JWF Leave a comment

READING

FASCINATING WOMAN

Lady First:  The World of First Lady Sarah Polk by Amy S. Greenberg

(charlotteonthecheap.com)

History has not been kind to James Polk, the unpopular president known for his Manifest Destiny policy and the U.S.-Mexican War of the 1840’s.  He only served one term in office and his widow outlived him by more than 40 years.  Sarah Polk, on the contrary, was charming and gracious and cultivated the image of a deferential and very proper southern Christian woman.  In reality, she was also smart, well-educated and astute. She easily related to men and manipulated government officials in service of her husband’s political career, especially during the White House years.  Her correspondents were numerous, and she hosted many a reception, even when she and James lived in rented rooms in a D.C. boardinghouse while he was in Congress.   

The Folks were plantation owners with a raft of slaves, and after his death in 1849, Sarah continued to keep their slaves.  During and after the Civil War, she aimed to be seen as friendly to the Union while quietly and privately continuing her efforts on behalf of the Confederacy and Confederate causes.  Ahead of the times in her influence and power, Sarah Polk was a multi-dimensional individual who had a lasting impact on her times and was revered by many into her late 80’s.  This is a fascinating and engaging biography and an account of some of the most critical years of the 19th century.  (~JWFarrington) 

WATCHING

ARCTIC MURDERS

Rebecka Martinsson  (Acorn)

(thekillingtimestv.wordpress.com)

Rebecka Martinsson is an attorney at a prime law firm in Stockholm when she returns north of the Arctic Circle after the death of a close friend.  Convinced that all is not right, she becomes involved in a murder investigation.  There are eight episodes in Season 1, and each murder mystery is a two-parter, all taking place in the cold, frozen north.  

It takes a little bit of effort to get into this series; dialogue is sparse, Rebecka is both smart and unorthodox in her approaches, and sometimes the connections between characters are hard to sort out.  Nonetheless, the Chief Penguin and I got hooked on this series and watched all of it.  Apparently, Season 2 has debuted in Sweden, so we can cross our fingers we’ll eventually get it in the U.S.

SUMMER READING

Here are a few of the titles I plan to read over the next few months. What is on your list or in your stack?

Barbarian Days:  A Surfing Life by William Finnegan (a memoir, winner of the Pulitzer Prize)

William Finnegan (mensjournal.com)

The Body in Question by Jill Cement (Notable book, novel about an affair between jurors)

German Boy:  A Child in War by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel (a memoir, recommended by Dean)

The Daughters of Erietown by Connie Schultz (first novel by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist)

Spying on the South:  An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony Horwitz (re-tracing Frederick Law Olmstead’s journey of the 1850’s)

Note: Header image of girl and book stack is from ipipliwool.comyr.com.