The Aeronauts (2019)

First off, this movie is VERY tense, or at least it was for me.  So do not watchit late in the evening, because your heart will be racing all the way through to the end.
The film opens with Amelia (Felicity Jones), who is a noted balloon pilot, and James (Eddie Redmayne), a scientist desperate to prove his theories about the weather, take off on their mid-19th century vertical adventure in front of a large crowd to much fanfare.  In flashbacks,  we learn more about their tenuous relationship beyond pilot and scientist: how she lost her husband in a ballooning accident and how James had been laughed at by his colleagues for his outlandish ideas. As time goes on, James decides to prove his findings and hires a still-grieving Amelia to lead the journey—a generous offer she’s hesitant to accept because she struggles with PTSD and flashbacks related to when she lost her spouse. Back in the present ascent of their balloon, Amelia and James face many more dangers and setbacks as they shatter the height record and put their lives at risk for science.   Perfect viewing for a pandemic.

Night Boat to Tangiers by Kevin Barry

This book was long listed for the Booker Prize and it certainly fits that bill.  In fact it has a lot of the characteristics of books that make it to the short list as well.  The author said in an interview that the novel was inspired by his many trips to Spain during the coldest months of the year. He was fascinated by the ferry port city of Algeciras, where life is gritty.   One trip took the author across the Strait of Gibraltar to Tangier. He stayed at the Hotel El Muniria, where William S. Burroughs famously wrote “Naked Lunch".  That fact should be kept in mind when reading this book, as there is the drug and drink fueled memories of love, sex, and infidelity that run through that book.
Charlie Redmond and Maurice Hearne, the book's main characters, are Cork drug dealers, former big-time suppliers and users. Now into their 50s, their black money is squandered; they have done and could still do terrible things.  They are in fact hoping that life is not finished with them, but worry that they are being left behind.  While they wait for Dilly, Charlie's daughter, and while they wait they converse about their long relationship with each other.  By the end you understand perfectly why Dilly is not going to come back to Charlie and why.  Odd in it's cadence but well written.

Oatmeal Maple Bread

The premise of Bread Toast Crumbs is that you bake the loaves in two small round pyrex bowls.
So each loaf is a managable size, even for a household of one.

• 1 C (114g) rolled oats
• 1/4 C (80g) Maple Syrup
• 1 C (225g) Boiling Water
• 1 C (225g) Room Temperature Water
• 3 1/4 C (288g) AP flour
• 2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• Softened Butter

• In a small bowl, combine the rolled oats, boiling water and maple syrup. Let stand for 10 minutes to hydrate the oats. Add room temperature water and stir to combine. 
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, and instant yeast. Add the oat mixture. Using a rubber spatula and eventually your hands, mix and knead until the liquid is absorbed and the ingredients form a sticky dough ball. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or a plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the dough has double in bulk. (see tip in notes if your kitchen is cool) 
• Set oven rack in the center of oven and preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Grease 2 one quart oven proof bowls with butter- be generous here. Using two forks, deflate the dough by releasing it from the sides of the bowl and pulling it towards the center. Rotate the bowl quarter turns as you deflate, turning the mass into a rough ball. It doesn't have to be perfect. 
• Using your two forks, and working from the center out, separate the dough into two equal pieces. use the forks to lift each half of dough into a prepared bowl. If the dough is too sticky, wet your hands with water and scoop each piece up and transfer each half to a bowl. Do not cover the bowls unless the bowls are in a drafty area. Otherwise set the bowls in a warm space (see tip below if your kitchen is cool) while the oven is pre-heating for 10-20 minutes, until the top of the dough just crowns the rims of the bowls. Sprits the dough with a few sprays water and sprinkle just a little bit of oats on the top of each loaf (about 1 tsp each). 
• Transfer the bowls to the oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until golden all around. Remove the bowls from the oven and turn the loaves out onto cooling racks. If the loaves look pale, return them to their bowls and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Turn the bread out to cool for 15 minutes before cutting.

Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

Jumanji 3, like it's predecessors,  combines fantasy action and adventure with some comedy, a touch of romance, and real-life lessons about courage, friendship, and empathy—all with the help of some low-key race and gender fluidity. 
At the end of the last film, the four high school students who has gotten magically pulled into an old-school video game console and found themselves turned into archetypal adventurers, were so happy to get home that they smashed the game. But apparently the movie made enough money that a sequel was desirable, and so the game became operational again, and this time the now-college-age kids are joined by a couple of geriatric friends.
Since they beat a level of the game in the last movie, they are on the next level (get it), which is harder, but then again they have more experience.  It is surprisingly enjoyable to watch, although to be clear, I have an unexplained weakness for Dwayne Johnson, so there is that.

Sheltering in Place

 My spouse and are both health care workers and so for us it has been a rhythm of work then home then back to work.  He is an ICU physician so he will remain at work until he is sick while there is a chance that that I will transition to home only. 
So we feel in the heart of it.  At work there are furious preparations amidst a nation wide PPE and mask shortage.  This is unconscionable and the poor federal response to this will likely reverberate for months if not years.  There is nothing to say other than Republicans have blood on their hands already and we are at the very front end of this battle.  While they are worried about bailing out corporations they blanch at the cost of ventilators.  Any non-billionaire who thinks they give one scintilla about the worker needs their head examined.  And I am a professional.

The upside is that there are a lot of silver linings to being at home.  Yes, I have become an unrecognizable germaphobe.  When was the last time I chloroxed down my home and work space?  Washed my hands 30 times a day?  Never would be the answer.  But I have also returned to cooking in a big way.  I did not realize that I had strayed so far from making all my own food, but I had, and the food in my house is much better when I participate in making it.  Yes, we should explore safe ways to keep our local restaurants that are offering pick up service, but for the first two weeks we have been making do with delivered groceries and our own devices.

The Best Banana Bread

This recipe, from Midwest Made, is at least one of the best.  This will be my go to recipe in the future.

• 1 3/4 cups (400g) mashed, very ripe bananas (I used 3 1/2 bananas)
• 3/4 cup plus 2 T (196g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (112g) vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup (75g) well-shaken buttermilk, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 T dark rum, optional (I omitted it)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups plus 2 T (272g) unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 3 T (38g) granulated sugar, for sprinkling

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat it to 325 degrees, preferably on convection.
2. Spray a 9×5-inch with nonstick cooking spray and line it with parchment paper with a couple of inches of overhang on the long sides. Lightly coat the parchment with nonstick cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, rum (if using), and vanilla.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and fold until just blended.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
7. Place the granulated sugar in a small bowl.
8. Using your fingertips, sprinkle water over the top of the sugar. Work the water into the sugar, pinching it together, until it begins to resemble snow. (It should barely hold together when it is pinched together.) To add additional water, sprinkle water over the top using the opposite (clean) hand.
9. Sprinkle the dampened sugar over the batter, aiming to get it clumped up together in spots.
10. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes in a standard loaf pan.
11. Let cool for 20 minutes in the pan, then use the parchment paper to lift the loaf out of the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

The Happy Prince (2018)

Let's just say that this in not aptly named.  The prince is not even remotely happy, at least as the end of his life unfolds.
This is the tale of Oscar Wilde, told not at his peak of influence, but rather at the nadir of his life.
In 1885 he wrote in a letter to his friend James Whistler, stating that to be great is to be misunderstood.  Wilde may or may not have known how tragically true those words would be a mere decade later. After his highly publicized trial in 1895, Wilde was convicted of "gross indecency" for his flamboyant affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, a fellow member of the elite, and sentenced to two years' hard labor.  He badly miscalculated how poorly the affair would be received by both the public at large and his boyfriend's father, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry.  I am sure there was a lot of material for another story underlying that, but in any case most of Wilde's friends deserted him. Upon his release in 1897, his health ruined, he went into exile in France and died three years later, nearly friendless and destitute. He was only 46 years old. A sad ending to a gifted writer's life.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

I love this author.  The first book I read, Bel Canto, which garnered a lot of praise but I did not much like.  I worked beyond that, read The Magician's Assistant, and earlier work, and loved it.  The rest is history.
I loved this book.  It is a tale oft told, where the father remarries a younger woman, and unlike his first wife, who married him when he was poor, this woman is definitely attracted as much to his house and his money as to he himself.  She more or less shuns his children when he is alive, something he would have noticed if he wasn't so focused on staying away from wife number two.  In any case, his sudden death changes their lives.
The book loops around in classic Patchett fashion to close quite a few circles.  It has a perspective on love and loss, anger and forgiveness, family and connections, all of it believable and warm to behold.  It is not so much a tragedy as a family journey, with all the elements of what that entails.  Maybe my favorite of her books.

Japanesish Asian Tuna Noodle Salad

We are home all the time now.  Even though we are working, because in a pandemic healthcare workers do not stay home, but because we are doing absolutely nothing else, and everything is closed, we are cooking all of our food for the first time in quite a while.
This is an easy and delicious riff on a classic combination.  We did a quick in and out at our favorite Asian store, and they had plenty of rice and noodles, something the grocery down the block sorely lacked.  And, as per usual, it was practically empty.

• ¼ cup cut dried wakame seaweed
• 8 ounces dried udon noodles (or whatever noodles you have on hand)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons furikake or sesame seeds
• 10 to 12 ounces tuna in oil, drained
• 2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

For the Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sweet miso

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high, and set the wakame in a small bowl. Once the water comes to a boil, ladle or pour enough over the wakame to cover it by 2 inches; let the wakame soak for 10 minutes. Transfer the wakame to a colander to drain and cool; set aside.
2. While the wakame soaks, cook the noodles according to the package instructions.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing: In a measuring cup or bowl, whisk to combine the sesame oil, canola oil, rice wine vinegar, mirin, soy sauce and miso; set aside.
4. In a small skillet, lightly toast the sesame seeds, if using, over medium-low heat until fragrant; set aside.
5. Drain the cooked noodles in the colander, then transfer to a wide, shallow serving bowl. Add the wakame and about 3/4 of the dressing, and toss to coat. Divide the noodles among 4 bowls. Top each portion with tuna, drizzle with the remaining dressing, then sprinkle with the scallions and furikake or sesame seeds. Serve hot, cold or anywhere in between.

Zombieland 2: Double Tap (2019)

I have very mixed feelings about sequels in general.  Forzen 2 left me cold, but I adored Toy Story 4.  It made me want to go back and watch all the Toy Story ouevre, something that had not happened previously.  My spouse was eager to see this and since we are sheltering in place (more or less--we are both health care workers and so we have more of a work-home routine with groceries delivered in), this seemed like a light option.
I did not expect to like the first Zombieland movie.  I am not much into this sort of film in general, but I surprised myself by really enjoying it.  There was a balance between funny and gory, and it hit all the right notes for me.  It was a movie that sealed my love of Woody Harrison.
The sequel was the opposite.  The cast is larger, the carnage is gnarlier and the comedy is even more meta than before. But while individual moments and action sequences might be amusing, the endeavor as a whole feels like a tepid retread. Callbacks to running gags from the first “Zombieland” result in little more than sporadic chuckles, and the characters at the center of this new adventure haven’t developed in ways that are meaningful or compelling.  It was a rerun, not terrible, but covering no new ground, but leaving a lot more bodies.

Asparagus Almondine

Melissa Clark has a new cookbook!  It is French inspired, and the Food 52 cookbook club will be featuring it next month.  Maybe the month of sheltering in place that we are certain to have will be all about perfecting some French food.
This was my first foray, and while it was like dipping a toe into the water, this was really very good.

• 1 bunch asparagus 
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup chopped almonds
• 1/2 lemon squeezed over before serving
• ½ cup chopped fresh herbs (tarragon, parseley, chives)
• Kosher salt, as needed
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

1. Steam the asparagus until just tender, about 3 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until the foam has subsided and the butter turns a deep golden brown, about 4 minutes. (Take care that it doesn't burn.) Stir in the nuts and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the asparagus and stir until coated.  Remove from heat and season with lemon juice,  salt and pepper. Spoon herb mixture over warm asparagus and serve at once.

Chappie (2014)

Chappie is the third film from Niel Blomkamp, the director of District 9 and Elysium. This movie is filled with messages regarding the Earth and its future but unlike District 9, the messages in Chappie ultimately come off as hollow. 
Chappie is an AI robot built to learn and grow.  Like a child but more metallic.  According to the faux-news reports that open the film, the police force in near-future Johannesburg, South Africa has been replaced with human-sized and heavily-armed robots that, while not indestructible, are powerful enough to have inspired a steep drop in the crime rate.These are not thinking robots, and they are easily outwitted.  So as a pet project, Chappie is created under the radar, and is a dangerous combination of easily manipulated and a deadly warrior.
The script is a bit heavy handeded, and the actors cannot save it.  Sigourney Weaver is a cardboard cut out of a corporate executive, Hugh Jackman lacks his usual charm, and Dev Patel is good.  The film is diversionary but not quite deep enough.

Mushroom Bourguignon

We were late to the party for the Food 52 Cookbook group, but luckily, it is possible on occasion to play catch up.  For last month members were invited to cook out of any of the previously featured cookbooks, and I got a handful that I do not own out of the library, and made this, which is Deb Perelman's recipe, more or less.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 pounds 1/4-inch sliced portobello or cremini mushrooms
• 1 cup pearl onions (thawed if frozen)
• ¹/₂ carrot, finely diced
• 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup full-bodied red wine
• 2 cups beef or vegetable broth (beef broth is traditional, but use vegetable to make it vegetarian; the dish works with either)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 ¹/₂ tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Egg noodles, for serving (buttered potatoes or farro work well too)
• Sour cream and chopped chives or parsley, for garnish (optional)

1. Heat the one tablespoon of the olive oil and one tablespoon of butter in a medium Dutch oven or heavy sauce pan over high heat. Sear the mushrooms and pearl onions until they begin to take on a little color, but the mushrooms do not yet release any liquid — about three or four minutes. It helps to do this in a few batches. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
2. Lower the flame to medium and add the second tablespoon of olive oil. Toss the carrots, onions, thyme, a few good pinches of salt and a several grinds of black pepper into the pan and cook for 10, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for just one more minute.
3. Add the wine to the pot, scraping any stuck bits off the bottom, then turn the heat all the way up and reduce it by half. Stir in the tomato paste and the broth. Add back the mushrooms and pearl onions with any juices that have collected and once the liquid has boiled, reduce the temperature so it simmers for 20 minutes, or until mushrooms are very tender.
4. Combine remaining butter and the flour with a fork until combined; stir it into the stew. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 more minutes. If the sauce is too thin, boil it down to reduce to the right consistency. Season to taste.
5. To serve, spoon the stew over a bowl of egg noodles, dollop with sour cream and sprinkle with chives or parsley (optional).

Sandwich Bread

My youngest son is a huge fan of the sandwich.  He stops to get one on his way home  every week day.  It is a ritual that has been disrupted by his school converting to on line classes combined with the imperative to stay home, right now, almost all the time.  So day one of social lock down, he baked bread.

• 4½ teaspoons instant yeast two 0.25-ounce packets
• ¾ cup + 2⅔ cups warm water divided
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
• 9 to 10 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, for brushing

1. In the bowl of a mixer, stir to dissolve the yeast in ¾ cup of the warm water, and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the remaining 2⅔ cups water, sugar, salt, room temperature butter, and 5 cups of the flour and stir to combine.
2. Using a dough hook, mix on low speed and gradually add the remaining flour until the dough is soft and tacky, but not sticky (you may not need to use all of the flour). Continue to knead until a soft ball of dough forms and clears the sides of the bowl, about 7 to 10 minutes.
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and turn it over so it is completely coated. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a draft-free place to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Gently press it all over to remove any air pockets. Divide the dough in two and, working with one piece at a time, gently pat it into a 9x12-inch rectangle. Roll up the rectangle, starting on the short end, into a very tight cylinder. Pinch to seal the seams and the ends, tuck the ends of the roll until the bread, and place into greased 9" loaf pans. Cover the loaves loosely and place in a draft-free area until doubled in size, 30 to 45 minutes.
5. Position an oven rack on the lowest setting and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Brush the loaves with some of the melted butter. Bake the loaves for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating halfway through, until golden brown (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 195 degrees F).
7. Remove from the oven and immediately brush with more of the melted butter. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans and cool completely before slicing. The bread can be stored in an airtight bread bag or wrapped tightly in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 4 days. It can also be frozen for up to 1 month.

Pride (2007)

This is an inspirational underdog tale about a man who builds a swim team from the ground up.  With phenomenal acting and a wonderful screenplay based on the real-life accomplishments of Jim Ellis, the movie is a solid production, even if its originality leans towards the formulaic, with feeling good trumping some of the deeper issues.
Jim Ellis (well played by the fabulous Terence Howard) has ambitions and dreams, but due to racial discrimination in 1973 in Philadelphia, he’s forced to take a lowly city job cleaning up a nearly abandoned recreational facility. There, he discovers the crotchety janitor Elston (Bernie Mac) and a fully functional swimming pool. When the property is scheduled to be closed up and the basketball hoop outside is removed, the local kids who previously dominated the court accept an offer from Ellis to use the pool. After they realize the value of Ellis’ training and their own potential as a group, they form the city’s first African-American swim team – and must face the hardships of racism and injustice to rise to the top of the sport.  It is a warm feeling in the end, despite all the prejudice.

Donut Cake

Midwest Made by Shauna Sever is the year long book picked by the Food 52 Baking Club, and this recipe has been wildly popular.  As a cake donut lover, the fresh grated nutmeg is the flavor that I love about them is in abundance in this recipe. Yum!

• 2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk, at room temperature

To finish:

• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted, plus more as needed
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

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Instructions

1. Position a rack to the lower third of the oven and preheat it to 325°F. Spray a 9x5-inch light-colored metal loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and line it with 2 perpendicular strips of parchment paper — 1 cut skinnier to fit lengthwise across the bottom and up the 2 short sides, 1 to fit crosswise and up the 2 longer sides. Cut the strips long enough to have a few inches of overhang on all sides.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in 1/4 cup of the flour mixture. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and stir in the remaining flour mixture and buttermilk in 5 alternating additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Finish folding the batter by hand to make sure everything is incorporated — the batter will be very thick.
4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until the loaf is golden with a couple of cracks on top, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 60 to 75 minutes. Let cool in the pan set over a wire rack for 15 minutes. Use the parchment paper to lift the loaf from the pan. Let rest for another 30 minutes.
5. When the loaf is cool and firm enough to handle, but still slightly warm, sift the powdered sugar all over a large rimmed baking sheet (keep the sieve handy). Peel the parchment from the cake. Gently turn the loaf over in 1 hand, using part of your forearm to support it. Using a pastry brush, brush the bottom of the cake with some of the melted butter. Carefully set the loaf, right-side up, in the powdered sugar. From there, brush the long sides with the butter, turning the cake from side to side to coat in sugar, then brush and coat the short sides. Lastly, brush the top with the butter, grab a handful or two of sugar from the tray, deposit into the sieve, and sift sugar generously over the top of the loaf. Roll the entire loaf in sugar once more so that it resembles a giant powdered sugar donut. Carefully transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving, touching up the loaf with a quick sifting of sugar as needed.

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

This book chronicles the underbelly of the struggle in Northern Ireland.  Nearly 4,000 people were killed in the Troubles in Northern Ireland between the late 1960s and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, as violent tensions flared between mostly Catholic republicans, who sought unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, and a mix of Protestant paramilitaries, police, and British army forces arrayed against them. People died in shootings and riots and bombings. They were killed in street level struggles, while guarding military posts, or while simply going about their daily lives in Belfast.  It was a brutal time, and this book chronicles it beautifully.  The book follows two sisters who were part of the Catholic armed resistance, were jailed for their part in the London bombings, and who participated in the organized hunger strikes that led to their repatriation to Ireland, and the abduction and murder of a Belfast native, leaving her numerous children orphaned and seeking justice.  It lays out the quandaries involved for both sides, and when you shut it at the end, you are both sad and resigned to the way people are.

Murder Mystery (2019)

Sandler and Aniston play Nick and Audrey Spitz, a NY couple who is celebrating their 15^th wedding anniversary. They’re a happy (enough) couple, and Aniston and Sandler have the easygoing chemistry that comes with actual friendship and former screen coupling. Some of the best moments in “Murder Mystery” are the minor beats between the two that define a decade-and-a-half of marriage. They’re so believable as a couple that one wishes they didn’t feel the need to overplay the gender roles for comedy.  She is smart and competent, he is shall we say, less attentive to clues in his environment, and yet she defers to him all the same.
They get caught up in what I would have to characterize as a comedic multiple murder situation where money is the obvious motive, and in the end they solve the crime.  It is a very diversionary movie, which perhaps best suits our current times.  If we are socially isolating, we need to rely heavily on on-line resources, and this is streaming on Netflix.

Celebrating Friday the 13th

When I was in college, I lived in a house that was named for a mythical Brown professor, Josiah S. Carberry, professor of psychoceramics (or cracked pots).  He was created in 1929, presumably before the crash, but maybe not, and he lives on.  The legend is that he is traveling the world in researching his field of expertise, and to prove it, postcards streamed in from around the world to university telling tales of his adventures.  In 1974 the New York Times did an article on him as the most traveled person.  There are many things that I learned during my time in Carberry House that I don't much dwell on now, but the tradition I have carried forward is the celebration of Friday the 13th.  We always had a party, taking an "unlucky" day and transforming it into a reason for celebration.  One thing I had forgotten is that leap day is also a Carberry Day, and this leap year we had the biggest of celebrations in that one of our son's got married.  It was a huge party that was really on the cusp of the COVID-19 pandemic reaching home for us.  Our community of 90,000 people has 16 COVID-19 positive cases, all from a trip they took together to Egypt, so we are now moving swiftly to social distancing, so this Carberry Day was vastly different from the one just two weeks ago, with a quiet celebration at home after my spouse returned from working to screen patients for the novel virus.  Get ready, it is going to be a rocky six weeks or more.

The Shallows by Nocholas Carr

This book was on Obama's summer reading list last year, and I am just now getting around to finishing it.  I am a bit lean in the area of reading nonfiction, and this did not immediately appeal to me.  The premise of the book is that the Internet has changed the way our neural networks function, and the subtext is that we are dumber for it.
The web encourages us to click through lots of data in a short period of time, and things that are longer than 10 minutes don't hold our attention. We stop reading novels before we know it. He references the change from oral to written work, which happened centuries ago as an example of how technology has been changing man forever.
Carr puts together an informative history of brain science to back up his argument. The latest neuroscience says that our grey matter is malleable and plastic. And as the internet remoulds and rewires the brain in its image, the old book-reading circuits fall out of use and wither.  Read this book: you'll learn lots of interesting stuff, lots of thought-provoking theories about the brain.  And if you finish it, you'll have a satisfying sense of having, at an individual level, disproved its thesis.

UFO (2018)

Derek (Alex Sharp) a brilliant college student, haunted by a childhood UFO sighting, believes that mysterious sightings reported at multiple airports across the United States are UFO's. With the help of his girlfriend, Natalie (Ella Purnell), and his advanced mathematics professor, Dr. Hendricks (X-Files' Gillian Anderson), Derek races to unravel the mystery with FBI special agent Franklin Ahls (David Strathairn) on his heels.
There is a combination of things going on that are relevant to what is happening now.  One is that people who believe in extraterrestrial intelligent life are marginalized and they keep their thoughts secret.  The other is that the government does a mammoth job to suppress knowledge of the truth. There are some lessons that relate to the current pandemic to be found, where there is misinformation being propagated by the federal government, which impairs the public's ability to trust them.

COVID-19 Precautions

It is time to really pay attention to preventing the spread of illness within the United States, and after a lengthy discussion of the possible ways to do that within my health care system, I hope that we can manage this.  The longer we delay the epidemic, the lower the peak numbers will be, and the less people who will die.  Wash your hands as if your life and the lives of others depends on it.

That said, governments will not be able to limit both deaths from COVID-19 and the economic impact of viral spread. Keeping mortality as low as possible will be the highest priority for individuals; hence governments must put in place measures to ameliorate the inevitable economic downturn.  COVID-19 has developed into a pandemic, with small chains of transmission in many countries and large chains resulting in extensive spread in a few countries, such as Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Japan.   Most countries are likely to have spread of COVID-19, at least in the early stages, before any mitigation measures have an impact.  What has happened in China shows that quarantine, social distancing, and isolation of infected populations can contain the epidemic. The impact of the COVID-19 response in China is encouraging but it is unclear whether other countries can implement the stringent measures China eventually adopted.

Truly Devious Series by Maureen Johnson

I have read Young Adult fiction since I no longer have a child who would be considered in the target demographic, which all in all is a shame, because I really like this genre.  My SIL, who shares that love, recommended this trilogy to me, and I very much enjoyed it.  My one recommendation is to get them all before reading the first.  The reason is that the first book especially just ends, which is annoying.  There is no attempt to wrap up a bit of the story, and move forward.  It is a straight ahead "To Be Continued" ending.  They are quick reads, so a 2-3 week period of library loan is good enough. 
The story itself takes place at a fictional high school for exceptional kids on a remote Vermont mountain top.  It flips pretty regularly between the 1930's and the present.  The past events revolve around when the founder of the school is devastated after  his wife and daughter are kidnapped.  He pays the ransom but his loved ones are not returned to him.  In the present, the school accepts a student who is obsessed with the original crime. She gets her dorm to be interested as well, and they start to investigate.  That is when the past crime engenders a current one, and the solving of the two are both linked and the heart of the story that runs between all three books.  I enjoyed this very much.

Aquarela (2019)

This is a movie about the power of water.  There is only music but it is visually splendid all on its own.
The documentary begins with a car zipping straight across Siberia’s Lake Baikal, which usually remains frozen January through May. And then the car disappears, plunging through the thin ice. Russian filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky captures the moment at the world’s oldest, largest, and deepest freshwater lake in an astonishing feat of fast-frame-rate cinema that showcases the power of water all over the globe. It also placed its director and crew into terrible danger.
Which becomes a theme that continues when they get to Greenland just in time to experience large pieces of glaciers to calf off into the water.  Kossakovsky chased stunning images of water around the globe. The movie has no narration to explain where you are, or what’s going on. Kossakovsky improvised locations and shot without a script, trying to show the water’s point of view. The effect is hypnotic, haunting, and terrifying.

Gemini Man (2019)

I watched this movie because it was on a short list for Oscar nomination, so when there were not that many movies available either streaming or in theaters, but we quite a few names that were possibles, I got down to work at seeing those I could.  Not necessarily my most successful effort.
Here is the thing.  At core, this movie is a bad story that makes no sense and fails in so many ways. It’s inconsistent, it doesn’t earn its emotional bursts, it presents a shallow examination of its themes (which are serious and worthy of consideration), and it feels like a movie made from a synopsis of an idea rather than a fully formed story with a beginning, middle and end.
On the upside, the cast has terrific chemistry together and are likable.  There are some top-notch action sequences pushing the envelop with new technologies that I don't totally get, but I hear are noteworthy.  All the movie needed was a good story to hold it all together and turn it into a win... which is the crucial ingredient the film lacks.  Good airplane movie.

Ugly Dolls (2019)

Here is the deal.  I spent the entire months of December and January, into February watching movies that were nominated for an Academy Award, and the aftermath is bound to leave one feeling like other things are a bit of a let down.  This movie, a submission for the Best Animated Feature film category, was much funner to watch than it might first appear.  Unfortunately, it appears to have been made hand in hand with a line of merchandise, which serves only to diminish it.
The story is a very straightforward one.  You do not have to dig deep to catch its drift.  The ugly dolls are rejected, both by their fellow dolls and ultimately by children as well.  They are sequestered in a town all their own, but some of them feel like there must be more.  They make their way to the land of perfect toys, and lo and behold, they find themselves being the brunt of jokes, but also finding more than they bargained for.  A good kid movie.