Category: TV

American Lives: Embracing Difference

JWF Leave a comment

This past week, my viewing and reading reflected people who were seen as different, whether it was because of race or gender or sexual orientation. Following are notes on a series about a black woman entrepreneur, a documentary about a lesbian couple, and a heartwarming Facebook posting about a young girl’s quest for reassurance.

ACCOMPLISHED WOMAN

Self-Made (Netflix)

Madam and her daughter (amsterdamnews.com)

The sub-title of this 4-part series is: “Inspired by the Life of Madam C. J. Walker,” and it’s the story of America’s first self-made millionaire.  An African American laundry woman who started her own haircare product business, Sarah Walker was enterprising, indefatigable, and forceful.  From selling Addie Monroe’s hair grow product to developing her own improved formula, to determinedly opening her own factory, Sarah was unabashedly ambitious.  Saddled with a husband who was at first supportive, then roving, and a daughter with a sneaky, lying spouse, Madam nonetheless persevered.  Her company prospered and endured from its founding in Indianapolis in 1910 until it ceased business in 1981.  This is a good series about a remarkable woman, whose achievements and concern for black women everywhere are a welcome respite from today’s news. 

ENDURING & AFFIRMING LOVE

A Secret Love (Netflix)

(variety.com)

This documentary is the life story of a female Canadian couple who for more than six decades lived together, claiming to outsiders that they were cousins or just friends splitting the high cost of their Chicago rent.  Terrie Donahue and Pat Henschel met in the late 1940’s and fell in love much to their mutual surprise.  Terrie played shortstop on a professional women’s softball team in a league that played around the Midwest.  Later she and Pat both worked for the same company.  Ever careful, they didn’t come out to their unsuspecting families until 2009. 

The film was made by Terrie Donahue’s great nephew with lots of archival footage of their early lives and real time documentation as they approach their 90th birthdays.  It’s a sweet and amazing story about the power of love.  In their professional and personal lives, Terrie and Pat were pioneers.  Highly recommended!

A CARING COMMUNITY

I’m going to do something here I’ve not done before, and that is to share a Facebook post by my niece, Whitney, about her biracial 8-year old daughter, Naya.  It’s a heartfelt message about a lively black girl, her caring mom, and a town police team who went above and beyond to reassure Naya that she matters.  It’s a welcome reflection in a tumultuous week.

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There comes a day in every kid’s life where something changes…reality strikes and the light in their eyes dims just a little…the gift of the free-spirited careless, adventurous day they had not only one day earlier, gets traded for a long day of worry, self-doubt and anxiety.

Maybe they realized they weren’t as good at school as someone else, or maybe someone played a sport better, or maybe they wish their hair was straight, because everyone else’s was…

or maybe on that particular day, they just so happened to realize, what it meant…

To be black. 

Naya is … Naya. 

Since the day she could walk and barely talk she commands attention most places she goes. She makes friends with young and old, and will always strike up a conversation with anyone and I mean ANYONE. (not always a good thing lol) 

She is the most confident, authentic, talkative, stubborn, smart, energetic, hilarious, beautiful brown skinned little girl…

She’s a natural born leader, she loves to dance and sing, she loves art, she was blessed to be incredibly athletic, that I am in awe with daily bc she definitely didn’t get that from me lol. She is a talented competitive swimmer ( who dreams of being in the Olympics one day so remember her name #statesbates ), she is only 8 but swears most days she’s 18. 

She truly embraces life each and every day. It breaks me to think that anyone could look at her and think she is anything but all the amazing, unique things that make her, her. 

She has been glancing at the news time to time as she runs out of the room to ride her bike …she knows what’s happening, she can feel the injustice…We have talks and try to educate her the best we can… 

Yesterday was different though, she looked at me with real fear in her eyes and asked, “Mama will a cop come to my house and hurt me?!??” 

So now it’s time to really drive it home…we have to make her understand that everyone’s differences are what make them amazing and no one person is superior over the other. But sometimes, unfortunately, in certain situations she might be treated differently ….

So, Thank You Sheriff Catalfano, Sheriff Loveless, Trooper White and Trooper Tubbins for coming to speak to Naya today. 

You went OUT of your way today to show her that she MATTERS! 

Thank you for showing her that most law enforcement doesn’t want to hurt her just because the color of her skin… thank you for showing her girl power and thank you for easing her anxious heart by speaking warm, comforting words from the trooper that “ hey! He looks like me!”

But mostly, thank you for HEARING an 8-year old’s cry FOR CHANGE... 

and making her feel safe. I know that’s what most of you signed up for.

I realize it won’t always be like this for her, but she had today… and this is what hope feels like… 

Today we won a little battle on the war on racism, today kindness and LOVE for humanity prevailed… and once again, I am so proud to call this community our home. #auburnNY

#blacklivesmatter #voteforchange #letsshoutoutthegoodcops #loveisaterriblethingtohate

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Tidy Tidbits: Escaping the News

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WHAT A HORRIBLE WEEK!

American life and U.S. politics hit a new low this past week.  Aside from the continuing dire news about the pandemic, there was the brutal Minneapolis killing of George Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer, followed by nights of violence in that city and mass demonstrations in others around the country.  Add in the president’s smear of respected news host, Joe Scarborough, and his tweets about looting and shooting, and it seems that absolutely anything goes.  As Florida opens up some, we here feel a bit in a bubble.  We read the depressing news, are angry and upset by it, but are fortunate to be well and safe.  Strange, weird times.

ESCAPES—READING AND VIEWING

NEW NOVEL

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

(fandm.edu)

At first, I was mystified as to where this novel was going.  Was Vincent male or female and what was her/his relationship to the Paul of the next chapter?  Skipping around in time and place (Vancouver, Dubai, Manhattan), Mandel creates a circle of characters who revolve around or otherwise intersect with Jonathan Alkaitis, investor and Ponzi scheme creator.  Vincent, decades younger, is Jonathan’s pretend wife; artist Olivia Collins invested with Alkaitis and seeks his attention; while Oskar and Harvey who work for him, both know, and not know, what they are doing on the Seventeenth Floor.  Paul, Vincent’s brother, initially works at the same glass hotel as Vincent, but then mostly disappears to take up composing and performing.  

It’s a high life for a while, and Alkaitis is Bernie Madoff writ large.  We follow Alkaitis to prison where he invents an interior life, his counterlife, which increasingly becomes entwined with, to the point of replacing, what is real.  And we hear from his colleagues and how they each fare after the fragile bubble bursts.  Mandel concentrates on the shifting lives and changing personas of individuals as they find and lose money, friends, and love.  This is my first experience of Ms. Mandel’s writing and I loved it!  (~JWFarrington)

WARHORSE?

War and Peace (Prime Video $)

Paul Dano, Lily James, James Norton (bcstudios.com)

This BBC adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel was written by Andrew Davies and produced in 2016.  There are eight episodes and it stars, among others, James Norton (of Grantchester fame) and Lily James (Lady Rose in Downton Abbey).  Set before and during the battles led by Napoleon against the Russians, it’s a grand spectacle about the lives of several young Russian elites.  There are beautiful women in lavishly decorated ballrooms, gruesome and gory battle scenes, and soul-stirring Russian songs; all against the glorious architecture of St. Petersburg and Moscow in the snow.  

Somehow, I escaped to adulthood without having read this masterwork, so I found the beginning a bit confusing with so many counts, countesses and princes to keep straight.  Shortly after, I became absorbed in their lives, loves and lusts.  

Note: Header photo of Florida sunrise ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Memorial Day 2020: Watching, Reading, Remembering

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READING A CLASSIC

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Partly out of response to the recent film version, my local book group opted to re-read Little Women.  Most everyone in the group had read it at least once.  As a girl, I was caught up in the lives of these four sisters and was stunned when Beth died.  And Jo was my favorite character.  As an adult, I found some of the early chapters slow going and a bit tedious (the plays they created didn’t appeal to me) and thought that Marmee was just too good to be true.  For me, it got better farther in, although since I knew the story, I admit to doing a lot of skimming.  Jo was still very much my favorite sister and agreeing to marry her professor fit her personality.  What I liked about the film version, which echoed the novel more closely than I initially realized, was the sheer energy and exuberance of Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy.  They are lively girls and re-arranging the order of events and letting Jo dominate added punch.  

WATCHING

Between my treadmill viewing and sampling other programs with the Chief Penguin, I’ve located some good viewing.

Inside the Vatican (PBS)

This 2-hour documentary focuses not just on Pope Francis, but also to a large extent on the individuals around him who work for the Vatican.  From the men who are tethered up high to clean the Bernini sculpture in St. Peter’s, to one of the interpreters of the pope’s speeches, to the Vatican’s social media director, to the head of security, to newly named cardinals from Madagascar and Pakistan, it is a fascinating portrayal of what is both enclave and enterprise.  Highly recommended!

Gold Digger (Acorn)

(rotten tomatoes.com)

It might seem like a classic May-December romance, except that the woman is 60, and he in his thirties.  Julia is a recent divorcee with unhappy grown children while Benjamin comes out of nowhere and chats her up at a museum exhibit.  What is he after?  Her money, say her children.  Or something else?  And what happened to this family in the distant past to generate so much angst?  Not knowing Benjamin’s ulterior motives or what scarred Patrick, Della, and Leo, her children, makes for underlying suspense.  I enjoyed this 6-part series, while finding Julia somewhat unbelievable in her unquestioning acceptance of Benjamin. 

Belgravia (Epix)

Anne Trenchard & daugher-in-law Susan (parade.com)

Belgravia is another series by Julian Fellowes, based on his novel of the same name, and written and directed by him.  Opening on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo and then fast forwarding to 1840, the series is set in the exclusive London neighborhood of Belgravia.  It’s a classic story of upper middle-class striving, gambling, thwarted love affairs, and subterfuge.  Mr. Trenchard is a successful businessman in trade with a married grown son, Oliver, and a deceased daughter, Sophia.  Unbeknownst to his wife Anne, he has provided financial support to a young cotton merchant, Charles Pope, who, subsequently, attracts the attention of the rich and titled, Lady Brockenhurst.  How these two families and their relatives become intertwined in each other’s affairs is the stuff of drama and intrigue.  While the first episode is a bit slow and the end results mostly predictable, it’s fun entertainment.  Recommended.

A DIFFERENT SORT OF SUMMER

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer.  Folks crowd beaches, friends congregate at barbecues, and parades abound.  Not this year.  In the midst of Covid-19, this year is different.  States are loosening up and lifting their shelter-in-place and lockdown decrees, while many people remain wary and businesses and restaurants open under restricted conditions.

As we pause to recall the reason for this holiday, may we also think of the 100,000 individuals in this country gone because of Covid-19.  The front of today’s New York Times is entirely covered with the identities of 1,000 of those people, a mere fraction of that death toll.  It is a sobering piece that makes me doubly appreciative of all that I have, especially my health. What follows is a small sampling of those who are no longer here.

BY THE NEW YORK TIMES MAY 24, 2020

One hundred thousand.

Coronavirus (new scientist.com)

So imagine a city of 100,000 residents that was here for New Year’s Day but has now been wiped from the American map.

Auditor in Silicon Valley. Patricia Dowd, 57, San Jose, Calif.

Great-grandmother with an easy laugh. Marion Krueger, 85, Kirkland, Wash.

Wife with little time to enjoy a new marriage. Jermaine Ferro, 77, Lee County, Fla.

Sharecropper’s son. Cornelius Lawyer, 84, Bellevue, Wash.

Cancer survivor born in the Philippines. Loretta Mendoza Dionisio, 68, Los Angeles

Former nurse. Patricia Frieson, 61, Chicago

Ordained minister. Merle C. Dry, 55, Tulsa, Okla.

Traveled often in the United States and Mexico. Luis Juarez, 54, Romeoville, Ill.

Bounce D.J. and radio personality. Black N Mild, 44, New Orleans

Vietnam veteran. Michael Mika, 73, Chicago

Conductor with “the most amazing ear.” Alan Lund, 81, Washington

Preserver of the city’s performance traditions. Ronald W. Lewis, 68, New Orleans

Loved to travel and covered much of the globe. JoAnn Stokes-Smith, 87, Charleston, S.C.

Liked his bacon and hash browns crispy. Fred Walter Gray, 75, Benton County, Wash.

Member of a Franciscan monastery. John-Sebastian Laird-Hammond, 59, Washington, D.C.

Squeezed in every moment he could with his only grandchild. Carl Redd, 62, Chicago

Followed in his father’s footsteps as a pipefitter. Alvin Elton, 56, Chicago

Jazz pianist, composer and educator. Mike Longo, 83, New York City

Educator and marathoner. Arnold Obey, 73, San Juan, P.R.

Co-wrote nine books about computing. Donald J. Horsfall, 72, Rydal, Pa.

Active in the AIDS Foundation. Kevin Charles Patz, 64, Seattle

Engineer behind the first 200-m.p.h. stock car. Larry Rathgeb, 90, West Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Could make anything grow. George Freeman Winfield, 72, Shelburne, Vt.

Early woman on Wall Street and a World Bank official. Carole Brookins, 76, Palm Beach, Fla.

Renowned for her business making detailed pins and corsages. Theresa Elloie, 63, New Orleans…

Loved reading, especially mystery novels.Peggy Rakestraw, 72, Matteson, Ill.

Preacher and blues guitarist.Landon Spradlin, 66, Concord, N.C….

Architect of Boston’s monumental City Hall. Michael McKinnell, 84, Beverly, Mass. …

Loved travel, mahjong and crossword puzzles. Carol Sue Rubin, 69, West Bloomfield, Mich. …

Taught math, English and history for over 30 years. Julia Maye Alexander, 81, Upland, Calif. …

Known for her Greek chicken and stuffed peppers. Helen Kafkis, 91, Chicago …

First black woman to graduate from Harvard Law School.Lila A. Fenwick, 87, New York City

Met Opera violist and youth orchestra conductor. Vincent Lionti, 60, New York City…

No one made creamed potatoes or fried sweet corn the way she did. June Beverly Hill, 85, Sacramento …

Took great joy in writing little ditties under her pen name, Penelope Penwiper. Susan Grey Hopp Crofoot, 97, Westwood, N.J. …

One of the few African-American corporate bond traders on Wall Street. John Herman Clomax, Jr., 62, Newark …

Loved his truck, Dorney Park, Disney World, model trains and especially California cheeseburgers. James W. Landis, 57, Krocksville, Pa.

Tidy Tidbits: Watching, Reading, Eating

JWF 1 Comment

VIEWING

The English Game (Netflix)

This is an excellent series and great “feel good” viewing for these strange times.  A whole series (6 parts) about football, (soccer, that is), you say; but I’m not a sports fan.  Well, there’s so much more to this historical drama by Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey. 

(Kinnaird & Sutor (metro.co.uk)

Opening in 1879, it focuses on two men, Arthur Kinnaird, captain and star player on the Old Etonians, a team of toffs, and Fergus Sutor, a mill worker from the north of England and the best man on team Darwen, and their competition to win the championship cup.  The rich men feel they own the game; the mill workers are passionate about it and capture the hearts of their town.  Add in the plight of poor women, often single and pregnant, and you get a picture of contrasting lifestyles.  For me, the last episode echoed the exhilaration of the finale of Chariots of Fire.  Highly recommended!

The Geniuses of Palaces (BritBox)

For armchair travelers (and aren’t we all today), this 3-part series written and hosted by historian Dan Cruickshank takes the viewer on a tour of historic palaces built by the English kings and queens down through the ages.  From the familiar Tower of London to Buckingham Palace along with the lesser known St. James’s Palace and Hampton Court, it’s visually striking, especially the interiors.  Note that captioning isn’t available, and Mr. Cruickshank’s accent sometimes hindered my understanding.

READING

Sea Wife by Amity Gaige

(flickr.com)

This new novel is rich and chewy with a lot of satisfying substance.  His wife, Juliet, reluctantly agrees, when Michael buys a sailboat and proposes that they with their two young children leave home for Panama and spend a year sailing.  Juliet is a stalled and depressed poet with an unfinished dissertation, worries about her success as a mother, questions about their marriage, and unresolved issues from her childhood.  Michael is restless and not loving his job in the corporate world, has fond memories of sailing on a lake with his dad, and feels he can never measure up or meet what Juliet demands of him.  Their children, Sybil, age 7, and George, 2, are resilient survivors.  

The book takes the form of Juliet’s musing and recollections about the voyage back at home in the present time interspersed with Michael’s very detailed and personal log of the trip on the Juliet, named for his wife.  We know from the beginning that Michael is not present, but we don’t know where or why or how the journey ends. There is that suspense plus the delights of the trip, the initial revival of their marriage, and then an unraveling.  It’s marvelously well written with the dominant and distinctive voices of Juliet and Michael punctuated by a conversation with Sybil.  

EATING 

With more time at home, I’ve been motivated to experiment with some new recipes.  Last week, I made a straightforward cauliflower casserole with cheddar cheese from Food & Wine.  I didn’t have sour cream on hand and so substituted Greek yogurt and was pleased with the results.  The Chief Penguin thought it was okay but would have preferred the richness of sour cream.  I also cooked a spicy chicken, celery and peanut stir fry which was a bit different. The celery was a main ingredient and we both found it delicious.  Lastly, I found an older Bon Appetit recipe for spicy-sweet sambal pork noodles which just tickled my palate.  It combined fresh ginger, fresh basil, soy sauce and chili paste in a sauce that I put over spaghetti.  It’s a keeper!

Spicy Pork Noodles (bonappetit.com)

We continue to do curbside takeout with an occasional variation in which restaurant.  We finally tried Harry’s Kitchen on Longboat Key and found both their meatloaf and the beef stroganoff very tasty.  The food is prepared ahead of time, so you have to re-heat it when you get home.  The portions are generous ones.