Oceans 8 (2018)

The truth is that I really did not like any of the recently done Ocean movies, and I never saw that original that spawned the remake, so maybe it was a lot to expect that I would like this one.  I did wait until a transatlantic flight to watch it, because I am almost always more forgiving when I can do almost nothing but sit, but that did not help.
I thought that maybe the all female cast would sway me in their favor, and while it is a truly awesome line up of female actors, who are seemingly having fun working together, that was not enough.
Here's what is good.  It’s a heist flick, carrying on the tradition of Ocean’s trilogy, with all the elaborate machinations you’ve come to expect from the series. It is crime as high art—which is fitting, given that the robbery this time takes place at The Met Gala, the annual fashion extravaganza at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is all about how you dress and what you wear, as much as who is invited.   Slickly paced and radiating sexy glamour, this film moves with the swagger of a supermodel prancing down the runway.  That and the female power theme are well done, and if you like that, this might suit you.

Transcription by Kate Atchinson

This is somewhere in between her books that revolve around World War II and her Jackson Brody series.  There is a bit of a mystery going on, and the book, while largely taking place in and around the war, does have some close to present day action as well.
It is  a flat out traditional spy story, with double agents, disappearing ink, corpses spirited away in rugs, recording devices hidden in walls and a plucky young heroine who knows how to use a pistol — and even a sharp knitting needle — when backed into a tight corner.
Juliet Armstrong is an 18-year-old file clerk in 1940 when the British Security Service, otherwise known as MI5, plucks her out of her routine and throws her into the dodgy world of “counter-subversion.” Together with a couple of recording engineers, Juliet spends days crouched over listening devices in a London flat, eavesdropping on conversations that her boss, Godfrey Toby, conducts next door with his visitors, all of whom are “fifth columnists,” or British Nazi sympathizers.  The book, in the usual Atkinson style, jumps between the war and times into the near and then far future, but it is all well done, and keeps you guessing along the way.

The Player Schneklud by Paul Gauguin, 1894

This imposing portrait of a seated cellist is one of the last of Gauguin's French works. I saw it as part of the Cone Sister's Collection, which they donated in it's entirety to the Baltimore Museum of Art.  It is a very impressive collection which again shows that there was a lot of support for French Impressionists in the United States.  It was painted in the first months of 1894. Its curious title, Upaupa Schneklud, inscribed on the canvas at top left, combines the sitter's surname with a reference to Gauguin's first Tahitian sojourn.
The sitter is usually referred to as the Swedish cellist Fritz Schneklud. According to recent research, however, the cellist was Fréderic-Guillaume Schneklud, a French born in Paris in 1859. His family of German origin emigrated to Paris from Poland.
The slight resemblance of the cellist in the painting to Gauguin has led to some speculation that the painting might be a self-portrait. However, a recently discovered photograph of Schneklud leaves no doubt that the portrait is in fact quite accurate.
As for the title, "upaupa" is a traditional local dance in Tahiti, which Gauguin enjoyed during his first stay there. There is a painting in the collection that is very much of Gauguin's Tahiti period as well.

Tag (2018)

This is a movie and grown men who one month a year drop everything and resume the game that they played as children.  So it is highly unrealistic (when was the last time you had an entire month off of work?), but there you have it (and in fact, this is based on a true story). 
The game began when they were nine years old. Thirty-five years later, it’s still going strong as five lifelong friends dedicate one month each year to playing  tag,  the old grade-school classic most kids leave on the schoolyard — right around the time they stop believing that girls have “cooties.” If that sounds like the setup for the ultimate man-child comedy, you wouldn’t be far from the mark, although  the casting of Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner, who have credible dramatic role histories, is inspired. And yet, nestled amid all the runaway immaturity of this loosely reality-based laugher, “Tag” delivers the compelling case that anything that manages to keep a bunch of childhood buddies in contact over the course of more than three decades can’t be all bad.

Our Homesick Songs by Emma Hooper

What is it about Newfoundland that inspires these mournful tales that are beautifully told?  Whatever it is, keep them coming.  This is the second book by the author who managed to write one of the best road stories ever (Etta and Otto and Russell and James), and it does not disappoint.
The book focuses on a fishing village, Big Running, where over time, maybe because of climate change, maybe something else, but for whatever reason, there is no more fish. Most people just up and leave, but some refuse to budge at all, and others, like Martha and Aidan,  go outside to work for money, and come back to enjoy their home.  They  remember the first time a net came up only half full, but the town has been slowly depleted until only six houses are still occupied.

But their children, fourteen-year-old Cora and ten-year-old Finn, feel each parent’s absence keenly.  Each comes up with their own plan to save the family.  This part of the story is interspersed with tales from the past, when life in Big Running was full in every way.  There are plenty of people in town and still plenty of fish in the sea.  No one can imagine that their robust way of life can ever end.
Contrast this with the yearning and desperation of the Connors in 1993, as they cling to a lifestyle that is quickly disappearing.
The book is filled with the mysticism, stories and music of Newfoundland.  The writing is lyrical and poetic. But the biggest triumph is the depiction of a family that must make some very hard choices, but continues to love each other unconditionally.

Traditional Basque Headdress

I was blown away by the array of Basque headdresses for woman (a fraction of which are shown here).  How do they do it?
In ancient times the way women styled their hair and covered their head was distinctive of their social and civil status, and what is more, of the role they held and the consideration they received from a strongly hierarchical society. Within the rigid, stratified society, and subsequently in the traditional world until late into the 19th century, headdresses were worn by women to reflect their civil status.

That and other models gave way in the 14th century to a great variety of linen headdresses worn in villages along the Gulf of Bizkaia, all most splendid by their shapes and artistry. These women would be recognized and acknowledged by locals and foreigners here and beyond the territory of Bizkaia by their headgear.

Its function was affected by the pointed shapes of headwraps worn by women in Bizkaia, interpreted by the ecclesiastical authority as another instance that the body of women is “the devil’s door” (ie. too phallic) and hence became prohibited by bishops in the Basque dioceses. Nonetheless, the women of that time challenged the regulations over and over, for they looked upon their headdresses and dressmaking as part of the costume of their country and made its preservation subject of lawsuits and sanctions, for which they were mostly supported by the local authorities.

Rampage (2018)

Warning.  If you don't like either Dwayne Johnson or the King Kong style monster disaster movie, set this one aside.  You absolutely must be a fan to wade through this.
At the beginning, a scientist on a space station is struggling to save some genetically engineered samples from a mutated super-rat.  It is a definite indication of where this movie is going. The samples plummet to Earth, and land in three locations. One happens to hit ground in a San Diego Wildlife Sanctuary managed by Davis Okoye (Johnson). Davis’ favorite beast is a giant albino gorilla named George, and the clever animal happens upon one of the genetic samples. Before you know it, George is growing at a never-before-seen rate, accompanied by increased aggression and insatiable hunger. He kills a bear, escapes, and, well, lots of things go boom.
There are two other mutated beasts, and while the company who created the mutations and the US military are trying to kill the beasts, Johnson is trying to save them.  He has a former scientist-employee of the company who has a guess at where the antidote is kept, and there are a lot of battle scenes and up close encounters you would associate with a Johnson meets CGI film.  Very diversionary.

Juana and Lucas by Juana Medina

This is a book that my daughter-in-law read to her third grade class.  It is playful and inclusive, all while illustrating a point.
Juana, a Colombian girl takes on her greatest challenge—the English language—in this cheery series opener. She lives in Bogotá, where she enjoys life with her family and dog, Lucas. When English is introduced in school, Juana asks everyone she knows if she really has to learn another language. The author incorporates italicized Spanish words throughout Juana’s first-person narration, always providing enough context clues so that English-speaking readers can do some language-learning of their own (“When a grown-up says something is going to be a ton of fun, it means there will be no fun at all. Not even a single bit of fun. Nada de fun”). Enlarged words and phrases creative type placement help emphasize Juana’s lively attitude as she discovers the ways that English can be useful.
Let's all learn Spanish because that can be fun too!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I really do love this holiday, even though this year I am kind of cutting it short in order to travel.  So I guess that I should start there, that I am grateful that the past couple of years I have been well enough to travel widely, and have managed to both travel to places that have long been on my to do list, and that I have been able to do things with family and friends as well.
The political climate has been such an incredible disaster that it is hard to know where to start being thankful and stop being angry, but I think that is the point.  Self-centered people who want power and control over people love the stirring up of great passions, both for and against them, and we have seen that continue to play out in our nation's leadership.  Fortunately, there have been some rays of hope with elections this month.  The first is that people showed up.  They weren't quite as outraged as I would have hoped, and seemingly decent people had very morally bankrupt ideas about what is and is not acceptable to perpetrate on your fellow man.  The attack on the free press and the incitement of violence has prompted not unsubstantiated comparisons with fascism and nationalism.  The youth vote in particular, was encouraging.  More to be done, but I am thankful for the engagement, and the fact that over a 100 women will be in the next Congress, many of them of color.  It is about time and I am very thankful about that.

Book Club (2018)

I watched this on a trans-Atlantic flight as a light diversionary film, and it fits that bill, but with some heavy hitting talent on the screen.  Much as how I feel about Grace and Frankie, this film doesn't add up to the sum of its talent, but it is good.
Each of the four lead female characters represents a distinctive romantic stage of older womanhood. Jane Fonda’s Vivian is a never-wed, fabulously successful luxury hotel owner who has a huge appetite for sex but steadfastly shuns commitment.  She is sset back a bit when Don Johnson, playing her old high school sweetheart, reappears on her scene.  Keaton’s character, who is also named Diane, is a recent widow after 40 years of marriage. Her two grown married daughters never consider that maybe she wouldn’t want to spend the rest of her days in the elder-care-ready basement in one of their Arizona homes. She meets a dead-heading pilot, Andy Garcia, and falls a little bit in love with him.  Candace Bergen’s Sharon is an outwardly intimidating federal judge who hasn’t had a relationship of any kind, save with her cat, ever since her divorce 18 years ago. But now that her ex and her son are both engaged, she decides to give online dating sites a try, and she find's her first outing with Wallace Shawn to be much more fun than she anticipated. Mary Steenburgen’s Carol is the only one of the bunch whose marriage is still intact as she lives out her dream as a successful chef with a bustling eatery. But she and hubby Craig Nelson have struggled with intimacy ever since he retired six months ago.So it is a quiet (and largely PG) exploration of end of life intimacy.

The Saboteur by Andrew Gross

This is not really my sort of story.  My father and my father-in-law were huge fans of the unsung heroism of some during WWII.  I did not know, but this story was an epic movie starring Kirk Douglas called the Heroes of Telemark (yet to be seen).

This is a work of historical fiction based on the true life stories of the Norwegian Freedom Fighters assigned the seemingly impossible task of destroying the Nazis’ supply of heavy water before it could be used to produce an atomic bomb. I read it because my parents were reading it for their book club, and we also had family in town.  They read the book that is the actual account of this actual event, and so it was nice to juxtapose that with the elements of the book that are added for propelling the story. 
Kurt Nordstrum was an engineering student in Oslo in 1940 when the Nazis invaded. His whole life changes as he fights with his friends in the Norwegian resistance. The friendships, bravery and strength of these men and women is highlighted in this story.  The book allows one to feel the tension between love for country, the resistance to the Nazi's and the atmosphere of evil that comes about with an occupying force.  Who to trust, who not to trust, how to balance impending casualties and the risks that everyday people took in the war.  While the Nazi's were really not on the right track when it came to developing an atomic bomb, these men knew that not, and risked everything to stop them. 

Basque Tombstones

The San Temlos museum touts itself as having the largest collection of hilarria, or ancient Basque tombstones.  They are disc shaped atop a trapezoidal shaped stand, and they face the rising sun, which is a cool way to think about how they want to think about their dead, basked in light each morning.
There are lots of designs that are represented, the most common being either rosettes or geometrical designs, and they often have a design that incorporates motion, going clockwise or what is thought of as a forward direction.  Other popular motifs are the sun and moon, and things that are natural.
I like the idea of carving something for a loved one once they die.  It is somehow more beautiful to me than a name and a date, and perhaps an epitaph about their character.  It is more about saying something with pictures rather than words.

Hearts Beat Loud (2018)

I really enjoyed this quiet independent movie that focuses on a young woman about to leave her single parent home and go to college.
Frank is a widower who owns a record shop in Red Hook, a Brooklyn neighborhood far removed from the bustle of Manhattan. If you go to Red Hook, you can feel the past of rock and roll, when vinyl was all we had and the quality of an artist was judged on their boy of work.  However, it is unsustainable, and as with all things, the winds of gentrification are blowing.  So Red Hook is closing and his daughter is going far away to college.
Before she goes, they record a song that she has written, and Frank, on a whim, uploads it to Spotify, and sometime later it ends up on an indy music play list.  He starts to get performance fever, the thought that he and his daughter could make it big, that she wouldn't have to leave, they could just play music, and he runs with that for a while, but then they settle back into the real world, a bit grumpily, and move on.

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

JK Rowling's murder mystery series is starting to resemble her Happy Potter series in at least one aspect.  While the first three books of the series grew incrementally longer and more intricate in plot, the fourth book exploded into something that could actually be used as a weapon if necessary.
If you are a murder mystery fan who likes character driven books, this is a great series.  Rowling is probably suffering from a lack of proper editing,  but Strike and Robin continue to grow into people that the reader feels like they know.  They are characters who come across as knowable, and who I like, despite some very irritating qualities.
The book weaves and winds in and out and around both a current mystery as well as a few hidden secrets.  We know who we want to be guilty, but it isn't until the end that the exact nature of the crime emerges and the reasons for it all may be the weakest part of the book, but it is a good read, easy in the way that Rowling's other books are to read, they suck you in and while they are heavy to lift, you don't want them to end either. 

Basket of Fruit and Vegetables, Andrés Ginés de Aguirre

If ever in San Sebastian in the future, check out the Museo San Temlas, which is devoted to all things Basque, going back to ancient times, and bringing it into the present.  Almost all aspects of a cultural heritage are covered in the three floors of the museum, and the art works go from medieval times to the 20th century.
I loved this painting by Basque painter Andrés Ginés de Aguirre, which is on loan from the Prado museum. It is from the early 19th century.  I have always had an affection for still life paintings.  There is something very beautiful and telling about what is composed in them, and they can reflect a lot about what the culture and the place and the time were all about.  This one has an outdoor setting and abundant vegetables, which is much like what you see today, with farming and gardens everywhere you look.

Midnight Sun (2018)

This is a youthful romantic drama (with comic elements), and if you are a fan of those, and I have to admit that on occasion I really do enjoy an entirely predictable plot line that ends on a note you can see coming a mile away, then this might just fit the bill for you.  This one has one protagonist with a fatal illness, instead of The Fault in Our Stars, which has both young lovers at risk.
Xeroderma pigmentosum—a one-in-a-million skin ailment that makes exposure to the sun’s rays potentially deadly—wouldn’t necessarily sound like the stuff of romance, but it is at the center of this love story.  Katie has watched Charlie grow up as he has gone by her window every day for much of her life, and as someone who can't go out and meet him, he has become the center of her dreams.  She ventures out only at night, and has a chance meeting with him at the local train station, where she is busking.  He falls for her, she doesn't tell him about her condition, the sun rises, and the rest is just as you would expect.  The end. 

Waylon! by Sara Pennypacker

Now that I have both a granddaughter and an elementary school teacher in the family, I am expanding my reading options down from Young Adult into what are more accurately seen as Children's books, and what a fun time that has been.
Waylon’s finding fourth grade tough, both at school and at home. He is different from most other kids and he finds that most adults just really do not get him.  In school, Arlo Brody, the kid everyone wants to be like, has decided that the boys should be divided into two teams. Waylon just wants to be friends with all the kids, but Arlo says the teams are at war.  He creates a have and have nots situation, where you are either in, or you are on the outside looking in.  Guess where Qaylon ends up. 
A new boy, Baxter, who might be a criminal, seems to want to hang out with Waylon. Meanwhile, Neon (Waylon’s 14-year-old sister formerly known as Charlotte) has taken to wearing all black and locking herself into her room.  Between the two, they form a kind of support team for Waylon, and along with Waylon’s passion is science, he manages to muddle through. 

Baked Squash Pasta

I am a bit challenged by a small vegan meal.  I can do a big one, because lots of my vegetable side dishes are either vegan, o can easily be converted to vegan and I can add a plant based protein to to one of them, and a meat dish for the non-vegetarians and viola, everyone is more or less happy.  But I wanted to make a simple pasta an salad meal the evening before we were serving a more elaborate meal the next night, and didn't want to do something lame, like olive oil and garlic and herbs, so I made this, which on the one hand the only reason to make it is that you are feeding a vegan, but is quite good, so others will eat it too.

• 8 ounces penne pasta
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion (about 1/2 medium onion)
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper + more to taste
• 1 tablespoon Tamari or low-sodium soy sauce, to taste
• 4 cups  squash
• 1/2 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme)

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions, stopping 1 to 2 minutes short of the recommended cooking time so that the pasta is nice and al dente. Drain, return to pot, and set aside.
2. While the pasta is cooking, start the sauce. Set a large saute pan over medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil. Add the onions and saute, stirring occasionally, until soft and turning brown, 7-8 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute.
3. Add broth, stirring to loosen up the bits of cooked onion at the bottom of the pan. Stir in the dry mustard, smoked paprika, salt, black pepper, and Tamari. Add the butternut squash. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover the pan. Cook until the squash is tender.  Alternatively, if it is easier, you can roast the squash.  I used carnival squash myself.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Remove veggies from heat, remove lid, and let sit until cool enough to handle. Transfer to the pitcher of a blender. Add coconut milk and lemon juice. Puree until smooth. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, if desired. If the sauce is too thick to move around in the blender, thin it with a little more vegetable broth.
6. Pour the butternut sauce over the pasta in the pot. Stir gently to combine. Pour into a 2-quart baking dish (approx. 8-inch by 8-inch should be fine). It will seem seem soupy, but it will thicken up when it bakes!
7. Top with panko and thyme sprigs if you have them.
8. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and the breadcrumbs are golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Life of the Party (2018)

My only defense for watching this start to finish is that I was on an international flight.  Melissa McCarthy plays a forties something woman who dropped out of school her senior year of college to have a baby, who, coincidentally, is also now a senior.  As they drop her off at school and are supposedly heading off for a month in Italy, her husband tells her that not only is he leaving her, he is taking his mistress on the Italian holiday and by the way, he is selling the house as well.
Instead of getting outraged and a good lawyer to fight this ridiculous appropriation of community property, all the while cleaning out the joint bank account so that she can survive in the meantime, she instead crawls under the virtual covers, only to arrive at the idea that she should have a do over on her senior year, and that she should share it with her daughter.  Which would be most college senior's idea of an out and out nightmare, but the daughter and her friends are incredibly warm and welcoming, and the coming of age of an already grown woman plays out in front of the only child.  It is not good.

Spring in War Time by Sara Teasdale (1915)

I feel the spring far off, far off,

    The faint, far scent of bud and leaf—

Oh, how can spring take heart to come

    To a world in grief,

    Deep grief?

 

The sun turns north, the days grow long,

    Later the evening star grows bright—

How can the daylight linger on

    For men to fight,

    Still fight?

 

The grass is waking in the ground,

    Soon it will rise and blow in waves—

How can it have the heart to sway

    Over the graves,

    New graves?

 

Under the boughs where lovers walked

    The apple-blooms will shed their breath—

But what of all the lovers now

    Parted by Death,

    Grey Death?

Baked Salmon with a Mustard Dill Sauce

This recipe is super simple (and maybe a little retro), but delicious, and the salmon stays moister with the sauce on top.

1. 
   • 1 cup sour cream
   • 1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
   • 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
   • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2. • 1 1 1/2-pound center-cut salmon fillet with skin
   • 2 teaspoons minced garlic

1. 1. Whisk sour cream, dill, onion and mustard in small bowl to blend. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
   2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly oil baking sheet. Place salmon, skin side down, on prepared sheet. Sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper; spread with 1/3 cup sauce. Bake salmon until just opaque in center, about 20 minutes. Serve with remaining sauce.

Guns, the NRA, and "Staying In Your Lane"

Ok, I have a serious bone to pick with this, and it is not because it was posted the day before the shooting in a country and western bar in Southern California where there was armed security--shot first of course.  No, it is because a paid by the gun industry lobbying group that seeks to ensure that all guns be available to all people all the time thinks that the health of the population is not under the purview of physicians and scientists.  They decline to mention who should be at the table when talking about the health risks of guns, but it certainly should not be those who are trying to sell them.  It would be like the tobacco companies contesting that they should have been consulted before scientists published all that data showing that smoking kills you.  And asbestos makers were probably thinking they should be asked for input about how best to regulate asbestos.  But no, those who profit from the hazard are not part of the solution.  The NRA should follow its own advice and stay in their lane.
You can see why the NRA would try to obfuscate the issue.  The health risks of gun ownership are well established and stable.  If you own a gun you are ten times more likely to die by a gun than if you don't own a gun.  You are nine times more likely to die by suicide if you own a gun than if you don't own a gun.  These are undeniable facts.  You might argue that it is a self-contained problem, that those who choose to own guns are those who put themselves at higher risk.  Two problems with that.  One is that the gun owner is not the only one at risk, the household is also, and accidental shootings of children are the 4th leading cause of death.  So innocent bystanders are killed. Then there are the increasingly common mass shootings with assault weapons that are designed to kill people being used to do just that, kill people.  People who may not have taken on the risk of gun ownership are in those crowded public spaces.  And when people die from something at an increased rate,  that in fact falls into the realm of medicine.  Our lane.

Ready Player One (2018)

This was such a great book, a true surprise to me that I enjoyed it so much, and two of my kids who watched the movie enjoyed it and felt like it followed the story ark of the book exactly, so I expected to love it.  It did not turn out that way.
Spielberg directed this and the author had a hand in the script, so that was not the issue for me.  Nor was what many a critic found annoying, which is that it is also steeped in 1980's nostalgia.  One, while I was alive and well in that era, all things related to video gaming were completely unknown to me.  Two, there does seem to be a genuine nostalgia today for those old games, and kids who were born a decade or so later definitely know more about them than I.  So not sure what the issue is there.
The story is basically post apocalyptic, not infrastructure left to speak of, but somehow there is great wifi and no shortage of electricity (which anyone who has survived one bad storm knows is wildly unrealistic).  So people prefer to play in the video game world rather than live in the real world, and the biggest gamer of them all sets up the ultimate quest and Wade, our hero, goes against bad guys, both in the game and in real life, to reach the quest.

Celebrate The Wins, Mourn The Losses and Move On

Only 727 more days until the 2020 elections.  What to do at this point?  The first is to celebrate the gains.  Democrats retook the House and while it appears that the fear and entitlement of the white patriarch is indeed alive, well, and ready to actually kill people for not being them and ceding their superiority, there are at least an equal number who think otherwise.  There are historic numbers of women elected, and a lot of firsts in terms of diversity.  We are inching toward a truly representative government.

So until we have specific candidates to advocate for, where should the focus be?
 We need more from the media.  Support Facebook's efforts, meager though they may be, to ameliorate their role in spreading nationalist propaganda and invoking a bit of censorship against blatant falsehoods aimed at inciting violence.  Support the Free Press, push back against the lies, and consistently call out the press when they give lies a seat at the table.  Take away the stage.  When the President lies, don't show him doing so, just say it happened and move on.
Access to voting is key.  More people voting, even if they disagree with you, is a good thing for all of us.  This is a great time to get people to register to vote, and maybe efforts to get valid voter ID for those who are challenged in doing so, either because of finances or lack of understanding of what counts and how to get the required documents.  I hate the idea of voter idea, don't get me wrong, but I think it is easier to argue this point, that every citizen needs to have the tools with which to vote, than how I really feel.
 We need to allow people the time and options to vote.  A national holiday seems less effective than to press for more early voting options and more polling places. A goal of lines to vote that are less than an hour nation wide.  We also need to secure the votes that are cast, and these efforts can certainly be requested now.  They take time to ensure and change.
Finally, continue to be engaged, resist nationalism, be aware of the national picture as well as the local picture and pitch in. Reach out to youth!

Vote For Representative Government

There is a lot on the table this election, the first and foremost being the role of telling the truth plays in government.  I know there is a long history of candidates telling lies in order to get elected, but the current President of the United States has told about 6,400 lies in 640 days, so roughly 10 things a day that are flat out not true.  He isn't even consistent in his lying.  Sometimes he says something that happened, but then he says it didn't happen, or it happened another way.  It is embarrassing for our country.  So there is that.  Then there is the moral and ethical issues.  Some of that is linked to the lying, but there is underlying cruelty, if not out and out sadism, in the pleasure taken in inflicting injury on others.  Then there is the white nationalism issue, which the FBI sees as a greater terrorist threat than ISIS.  That has certainly born fruit this past few months.  Finally there is the assault on freedom of the press to inform the people about their goevernment's actions and possible motives for those actions.  So, the 108,000,000 people who did not vote last time around, and those who have just turned 18 in the last two years, this is it, the time to change the course of your nation, your state, your community. Please, we are depending on you.  So is the planet, because the whole climate change disaster is a runaway freight train.

Won't You Be My Neighbor (2018)

This movie presents the history of Fred McFeely Rogers, Presbyterian minister, children’s advocate and one of the most beloved Republican. Mr. Rogers was known for wearing a specific article of clothing (his grandpa sweater) and for his inclusiveness of all children regardless of race or religion. From 1968 to 2001, Mr. Rogers kept millions of children out of their parents’ hair by offering a half hour program designed to counter the cartoon violence and frenetic pacing of practically every other kids’ show on the air.
I really never watched this show when it was on in my childhood, or in my children's childhoods, and there was a lot I didn't get about the show or the man.
Looking at “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” with adult eyes is rather fascinating. Here he was putting his feet into a wading pool with a black man to counter the racist notion of not sharing public pools with African-Americans.  He told everyone that he wanted them in his neighborhood.  He espoused love and respect for all.  You also notice that there’s a clear distinction between imagination and reality—we’re never lead to believe that the puppet segments are anything but pretend, for example. Mr. Rogers never talks down to his viewers, nor does he really sugarcoat uncomfortable things like anger or death. He’s very matter of fact, and his manner was deliberate, constant and repetitive. He was strangely subversive in an understated and non-threatening way. Bravo!

Baked Rice with Mint and Pomegranate Salsa

2 c. basmati rice
50g unsalted butter, melted
3 1/2 c.  boiling water
50g mint (40g left on the sprigs; leaves shredded for the remaining 10g, to use in the salsa)
150g feta, crumbled into 1cm-2cm pieces
salt and black pepper

FOR THE SALSA
40g pitted green olives, thinly sliced
seeds from 1 small pomegranate (90g prepped seeds)
50g walnut halves, lightly roasted and roughly broken
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1. Preheat the oven to 230C/350 F
2. Place the rice in a high-sided ovenproof dish, measuring 20cm x 30cm (9x13). Season with ¾ teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper, then pour over the butter and boiling water. Top with the sprigs of mint and cover the dish tightly with tinfoil so that the rice is well sealed. Bake for 25 minutes, until the rice is light and fluffy and all the liquid has been absorbed.
3. Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the salsa, minus the 10g shredded mint, in a medium bowl with ¼ teaspoon of salt. Mix well and set aside.
4. Take the rice out of the oven, and remove and discard the foil. Pull the leaves off the mint sprigs – the stalks can be discarded – then place these back on the rice and sprinkle with the feta. Just before serving, stir the shredded mint into the salsa and spoon evenly over the rice. Serve hot.

A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

This book, on the New York Times list of notable books of 2018, is an impressive first book for the author.  It begins by demonstrating one of the pillar ideals of the American dream, which is that those who work hard can get ahead.  The corellary to that is that circumstances can and should improve over generations. That’s how the son of poor immigrants, regardless of race, creed, or national origin, can become an attorney or a doctor. But things don’t always follow this trajectory. In this new multigenerational novel set in New Orleans, the daughter of a prominent doctor becomes the grandmother of an incarcerated young man.  so going high doesn't always mean you will stay there.
This generational arc is largely related to systemic racial bias, but to simplify this novel as an exploration of such minimizes Wilkerson’s incredible achievement. Rather,  it is a portrait of a family, troubled at times, close at times, living in the American South, and a richly layered exploration of their sufferings.
So it starts off on a high note.  It’s 1944 and Evelyn and her sister Ruby are the daughters of the first African-American doctor in New Orleans. One daughter marries a common man, and the other reaches for something better but it never materializes for her.  The story is one where mistakes were made, but the price was always high and the path out of trouble more of a mine field than a well lit road.  I really loved this, the author is a good story teller, and while it is sad, it feels loved and real.

Bouquet Garni for the Winter

 
We made a good amount of effort enough times over the spring and summer months that we ended up with a very satisfying garden this year.  It started with some peer pressure from one of our sons to have a bigger and bolder garden this year than last.  That was setting a high bar, as we had had our first decent garden in over a decade the year before.  There was much room for improvement, and the soil was turned over and amended, plants were planted, a fence was built to keep out unwanted wild life.  We watered, one of us weeded, and we followed more or less the mantra of deep mulch gardening.  When we heard Ruth Stout's mantra that it was a method for the elderly, the busy, and the indolent, we saw we were the trifecta of a target audience.We were rewarded with a full season of herbs and vegetables. Then, all of a sudden, we had frost.  Only the hardiest of herbs remained and what to do?  We made a few dozen Bouquet Garni for the freezer, to be used in soups and stocks throughout the winter.

Fried Broccoli and Kale with Toasted Garlic

Yes! Ottolenghi Simple is a great cookbook!
I suspect if I read The Guardian, I would know these recipes too, but I do love looking at the cookbook itself, the pictures are beautiful and the dishes turn out the way they appear in the photo.  Which practically never happens.

You can blanch the broccoli and kale well ahead of time. Once half-cooked, refreshed and dried, they’re then ready for the final fry before serving. That little bit of prep turns the dish into one that can be on the table in just over five minutes. Serves six, as a side dish.

1 large head broccoli, separated into 3-4cm florets
350g bunch curly kale, tough stems discarded
3 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
½ tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp urfa chilli flakes (or 1 tsp regular chilli flakes)
Salt
10g mint leaves, roughly shredded
1 tbsp lime juice

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil and blanch the broccoli for 90 seconds. Lift out with a slotted spoon, refresh under cold running water and dry well. Drop the kale into the boiling water, blanch for 30 seconds, then drain and refresh. Squeeze out as much water from the kale as you can (I find it easiest to wrap it in a clean tea towel, and squeeze), then set aside.
Heat the oil in a large saute pan on a high flame, then fry the garlic and cumin for about two minutes, stirring a few times, until the garlic turns light golden-brown. Lift out the garlic with a slotted spoon and put on a small plate. Add the kale to the pan (take care, because the moisture in the leaves may cause it to spit to begin with) and fry for three to four minutes, until the leaves start to crisp up.
Add the broccoli, a teaspoon of chilli flakes and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, stir through for a minute, then transfer to a large platter and gently stir through the mint. Drizzle the lime juice over the top and serve with the remaining teaspoon of chilli and the crisp garlic scattered on top.