American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

This is a black spy novel and it is great.  Just read it.

The espionage genre remains one of the whitest, least diverse branches of suspense fiction. That’s ironic, because so many great African American narratives have been about “passing,” and living watchfully undercover. This book is extraordinary in a lot of ways — first because it places a female African American intelligence officer, Marie Mitchell, at the center of a Cold War tale of political espionage. But also striking is the novel’s deeper recognition that, to some extent, rudimentary secrecy is something all of her African American characters have learned as an everyday survival skill. As Marie’s father wryly tells her on the day of her graduation from the FBI training academy at Quantico, “I’ve been a spy in this country for as long as I can remember.”

The book jumps around in time and place, from the early 1960s to the early 1990s; from Queens to Martinique to Burkina Faso. At the heart of the story is Marie’s professional romantic encounter, while working as a contractor for the CIA, with the actual historical figure Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary young president of Burkina Faso who is known as “Africa’s Che Guevara.” While Marie’s assignment in Burkina Faso is filled with seduction and double and triple crosses, the most absorbing parts of her story is when she flashes back to her middle-class childhood in Queens and to her time in the 1980s as a special agent.  There is a lot to grok here, and it is so well written that you are propelled through the book to the end.  This is Wilkinson's first novel, and I am already looking forward to her next.

Las Medinas, Diego Velazquez, 1656

Velázquez displayed a mastery of light and shadow, a flair for rendering the minute details of surface and texture (something that some Baroque masters, like his Italian precursor Carvaggio, did not dwell on), and a talent for capturing the likenesses of people.
This is probably the best known of his paintings, and it depicts members of the royal court and family.  The painting is set in Velázquez’s studio space at the Royal Alcázar of Madrid, the fortress-turned-palace where the king and his family lived.  At the center of the chamber stands the princess—also referred to as the empress and the infanta—Doña Margarita Maria of Austria, the first child of Philip IV and his second wife Mariana. Directly to her left and right are the titular meninas, the ladies-in-waiting, who would accompany and attend to the young royal in her daily routine.  Further to the right stand the dwarf Maribárbola and court jester Nicolás Pertusato (or Nicolasito), who were a part of the royal household.  Just behind the meninas is a nun, Doña Marcela de Ulloa, who appears to be caught mid-discussion speaking with an unidentified guard. To the left, we see Velázquez himself, peering out from behind a large canvas. He wears a fine black courtier costume, including a cape and the red cross of Santiago painted on his chest. This symbol was a marker of his knighthood, which the king bestowed upon him in 1659.  Finally, the king and queen are caught in the reflection of the mirror, just as we the viewer would be caught had we been there.  I think Dali is a descendant of this Velazquez.

Front Runner (2019)

This movie revisits the downfall of Gary Hart, the progressive Colorado senator who was on track to secure the Democratic nomination and possibly the presidency in 1988.  He was hugely charismatic with an ease in public speaking that Pete Butigieg is now the only candidate truly channeling, and equally appealing ideas about fairness and what that means for ordinary Americans.  Unfortunately, he was also an inveterate womanizer who failed to understand the shifting nature of the press and their willingness to shield politicians in a way they did back in the era of Kennedy and company.
The problem is that the whole story never seems to venture out of the shallow end and the normally charismatic Hugh Jackman is horribly miscast as Hart. He seems too old and too world-weary to be the 46-year-old, idealistic face of the future. No matter the personal and political pressure Hart was under, he remains closed-off and on-message; even his sporadic outbursts of anger seem stiff. The movie offers little insight into his true feelings, and it doesn’t provide Jackman with much of a moral or emotional evolution to portray. He is at the center of this story, and yet he feels like the least-developed character on screen.So while a window into the shift that occurred at the time, there wasn't much to gain.  It was a good movie to watch on an airplane.

The Opposite of Lynching

The current administration is well known for accusing others of what they themselves are doing.  It is like a compulsion to expose themselves.  The very definition of projection, where they project the heinous thoughts and actions onto others.
So it is with the use of the word lynching to describe the Constitutional process that is going on right now in the form of impeachment.  First and foremost, it is the sort of thing that the current administration baits its followers to do to others.  Debasing  people, making them seem less than human, so that in committing the crime of killing them it is not seen as murder because they are not human.
But think about it.  Lynching is pulling someone out of the protection of the law and due process.  Impeaching is the polar opposite of that, pulling someone in the the sphere of the law.  Here is the thing, though--when you are a criminal the last thing that you want is for people bringing your acts out into the light of day.  And it goes without saying that appropriating a lawless act as your cover is reflective of why the process is indeed quite necessary.

Surrender at Breda, Diego Velazquez, 1635

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was born in 1599 in Seville, Spain, to a family of minor nobility. He demonstrated an aptitude for painting from an early age, becoming an apprentice to the painter Juan de Herrera when he was around 11 years old. The boy went on to study for five years with Francisco Pacheco, known for his Mannerist technical style.
Velázquez would eventually marry Pacheco’s daughter, Juana, and the elder painter would remain a mentor to him.  By the 1620s, Velázquez’s early work had earned him a following in Seville. 
In 1625, after a ten-month siege, the city of Breda in southern Holland surrendered to the Spaniards under the famed Spanish General Don Ambrogio Spinola. The painting illustrates the ceremonial exchange of keys that took place three days after the official capitulation of the Dutch forces at Breda. Thus the focus of the painting is not on the battle, but rather the reconciliation. It demonstrated that Spinola was a fair winner.

La Campana, Madrid, Spain

We stayed in a great apartment near the Plaza Mayor, and there were a number of restaurants there that were featured on an Anthony Boudain show at one time or another.  I have not loved either of the two books of his that I have read, but I really like his approach to food as it intersects with culture and local specialties.
La Campana is right off one of the six or so entrances to the Plaza Mayor, and it is a bustling place.  I ordered the tortilla espanola, which is a dish that I love but rarely make, and this version was heavenly.  The egg was light and the potato cooked enough to be soft but with some tooth feel, and perfectly seasoned.  The olives that I had to accompany this simple repast were perfect.  And the whole meal, with my cafe au lait, was less than 5 euros. 
Added to the food was the ambiance, which was perfect, a bit like a pinxchos bar in the north, where you get your food and then go back to pay for it once you are well and done.  Lots of good people watching as well.

Stochastic Terrorism

I have seen a lot of this on the sides of those who support tRump.  "He isn't threatening people."  "When he suggests that Ukraine should investigate the Biden's or their financial support would go away, that is just a thought, not a threat." And so on.
If he doesn't say I am threatening you then it is all in how you interpret it and he cannot be held accountable for that.  These are people who would be paying protection money to the Mafia in a heartbeat.  And in a way they are.  The current regime is siphoning off money from the lower and middle class and lining the pockets of the rich and richer, all without the insight that they are being hoodwinked.
But this must not be tolerated.  While it is hard to say you have made a mistake, this has been a huge expensive mistake on the order of the war we have been in the last two decades.

Phillip IV and Velazquez

The Prado has an exceptional collection of Velazquez' work.   Diego Velázquez (1599–1660) was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV, one of the greatest art collecting Spanish kings.  In addition to numerous renditions of scenes of historical and cultural significance, he created scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family, other notable European figures, and commoners. In many portraits, Velázquez gave a dignified quality to less fortunate members of society like beggars and dwarfs. In contrast to these portraits, the gods and goddesses of Velázquez tend to be portrayed as common people, without divine characteristics.

Besides the forty portraits of Philip by Velázquez, he painted portraits of other members of the royal family, including princes, infantas (princesses), and queens.  One thing that struck me when I was in the gallery that displayed these huge paintings of the royal family was not only did Velazquez paint the family as he saw them, but that there was  tremendous family resemblance between each of them.  To the left is Phillip IV's brother, and above is he, painted at about the same time, 1626-8.

Sala de Despiece, Madrid, Spain

 This was the restaurant that we would most definitely go back to that we ate at our last trip.The food here is innovative and delicious, heavy on the seafood options, and beautifully prepared and presented.  It is also reasonably priced.
My favorite dish was a potato dish, but second was a Mediterranean shrimp followed by razor clams.  My husband thought the beef carpachio followed by a sous vide egg yolk dish.  So there is a lot going on here to love.
Yum!

The front of the house is a bustling continuous bar where you sit with strangers and elbow in to get a table.  We are in the back room, which is almost certainly a cooler that has been converted into a dining room. We ate there with another group, and we all ended up with the same food.  Enjoyment was high, and reasonably priced wine was available as well.

Nobleman with His Hand on His Chest, El Greco, 1580

Back to the Prado.  Spanish art is the visual art of Spain and that of Spanish artists worldwide. Understand the influence and importance of El Greco, Velázquez, and Goya, and Spanish art distinctive characteristics is a window into the culture. These differences can be partly explained by the Moorish heritage in Spain, especially in Andalucía, and partly on the wealth of the New World.
El Greco (1541–1614) was one of the most individualistic of the painters of the period, developing a strongly Mannerist style based on his origins in the post Byzantine Cretan school, in contrast to the naturalist approaches then predominant in Seville, Madrid and elsewhere in Spain. Many of his works reflect the silvery-greys and strong colors of Venetian painters such as Titian, but combined with strange elongations of figures, unusual lighting, disposing of perspective space, and filling the surface with very visible and expressive brushwork.
The nobleman, tentatively identified as Juan da Silva, was the notary major of Toledo. Because he is a gentleman, he wears a lace collar and cuffs, pendant, and sword.  The painter emphasized the nobleman’s illuminated hand and fingers. As a result, they have been variously interpreted as repentance, a vow, some rhetorical gesture, or simply a strong composition.

Late Night (2019)

Emma Thompson plays a "The Devil Wears Prada" kind of woman as the late night talk show host Katherine Newbury.  She is dismissive of everyone, to the point of not even learning their names and referring to them by number.  She exploits them in every way possible and then spits them out.
In steps Molly Patel, played by the script writer Mindy Kaling.  She is impulsively hired to add to the writing staff diversity, but she basically has no experience, and spends a lot of time doing due diligence to figure out why the show's ratings are tanking, and figuring out what to do about it.  It is a smart, funny movie that actually takes the late night show genre to task for the lack of women it showcases or embraces as comedians, and does it in such a a gentle and enjoyable way that we really don't mind being shown we have it all wrong.

Apply Apple Cake

This is an excellent apple cake, and if my spouse had made it closer to the New Year, I would have considered serving it for that occasion.  As it is, we are end the end of the celebration of the harvest!  From The Artful Baker, which was Food 52's baking cookbook last month.

For the apple puree:

• 4.4 pounds (2 kg) apples, preferably tart, tangy & firm, such as Winesap

For the cake:

• 2 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon (2 g) fine sea salt
• 1+3/4 sticks (200 g) butter, at room temperature
• 1,5 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon (3 g) ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 g) ground allspice
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1,5 cups (390 g) apple puree (recipe below)

To serve:

• 1 tablespoon (10 g) powdered sugar

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C).
2. To prepare the apple puree, peel, quarter, core and cut the apples into large chunks, place on a parchment-lined baking tray and bake for an hour, stirring once after 30 minutes. Remove tray from oven. Drop oven temperature to 300 F/150 C.
3. Transfer baked apples into a mixing bowl and puree with a hand-held immersion blender until smooth. Transfer apple puree on a half sheet pan, smooth the top with a spatula and bake, stirring and smoothing every 15 minutes to prevent a crust to form on top, for 50-60 minutes, making sure it doesn’t dry out completely. The puree will thicken but it should still be soft enough to dissolve in the cake batter. If it’s too thick, you may add a couple of tablespoons of water and puree with a blender to thin it.
4. Remove tray from oven, transfer apple puree into a bowl and let cool. Increase oven temperature to 350F/180C. You’ll have a bit over 1,5 cups (400-450 grams) of apple puree. Some of the puree will stick to the pan; fill it with hot water and let stand for a while for easy clean-up.
5. To prepare the cake, butter and flour a 10-cup (9-inch) Bundt pan and set aside.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
7. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, for about 2 minutes. Add sugar, cinnamon and allspice and beat on medium speed for 3 more minutes, scraping down the sides with a spatula as necessary. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure each one is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add 1,5 cups (390 g) of the apple puree and beat until fully incorporated, for about a minute.
8. Stop the mixer, sift the flour mixture on top and beat on the lowest speed just until incorporated. Transfer batter into prepared pan, smooth the top with a spatula and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 45-50 minutes.
9. Let it cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
10. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. Wrapped airtight, the cake will keep at room temperature up to 3 days.

Still Life with Game, Vegetables and Fruit by Juan Sanchez Cotan, 1602

This is the first of at least several posts that I hope to do on paintings I saw in the Prado but was unable to photograph.  In their defense, they have beautiful digital versions of their entire collection on their website, but it remains  somewhat annoying to find the exact ones I loved most.  First world problems, I get it.  The amusing thing is that every guard that I had a conversation with wanted to talk for minutes about it rather than a swift "no" and that be the end of it.
This is considered the first surviving bodegon, or Spanish still life.  As a result, it is one of the most famous paintings in the Prado. It is one of six known Sanchez Cotan paintings.  Despite the lack of volume, he is still known as the father of Spanish still life painting.  As a result, Sanchez Cotan’s style – a strong light source illuminating objects set against a black background –  heavily influenced Spanish painters and subsequently influenced other European painters.  He abandoned painting for a religious life.  I love how everything jumps out of the painting at you, and it is in a gallery with a number of other such paintings.  Even the name of the painting points to the high degree of detail Sanchez Cotan saw in life.

Ode to Joy (2019)

Another British romantic comedy that I watched while coming home from Spain recently.  I love to watch movies, and in the setting of having gotten up way too early to catch my flight, followed by an incredibly irritating interaction with ground transportation in Frankfurt (where it essentially took 40 minutes to get from the plane to the terminal, all the while the majority of people were squished into a bus standing up.  Seriously?  This is Germany, famed for efficiency, which in this particular instance seems like grade inflation.  I barely made it to my flight before boarding began and I had a two hour lay over).
In any case, this is very light fare.  Charlie is the main character, and he can’t feel big emotions—especially joy—otherwise it will make him pass out. It’s part of a disease  called cataplexy, which is a real thing, in which any large emotion confuses his brain chemistry and causes him to shut down, making him faint right where he’s standing. He’s had it all his life, and it makes him resistant to experience a deep feeling of love.So, of course, this is about him falling in love and all the mayhem that causes.  Enjoyable if not particularly deep.

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Ethan has been making pizza for the better part of 2019, and he wanted to venture in a new direction.

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast 

12.5 ounces all-purpose flour 

2.5 oz. medium grind corn meal

2 teaspoons fine sea salt 

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar 

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for oiling the bowl 

12 ounces deli sliced part skim mozzarella 

12 ounces of provolone sliced cheese

One 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand

minced onion, garlic

Grated Parmesan, for topping and garnish 

Directions

1. Mix sugar, yeast and 8 1/4 ounces room temperature water (about 80 degrees) in a bowl and let bloom for 15 minutes. Combine flour, salt, corn meal, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Once yeast has bloomed, add to dry ingredients along with corn oil. Gently combine with a rubber spatula until a rough ball is formed.
2. Knead on low speed with the dough hook for 90 seconds. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and proof until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes. Punch down and press into the 12" cast iron skillet and let dough settle for 20-30 more minutes.
3. Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.
4. Cover entire bottom in mozzarella, all the way up to the edge. Cover the other half with the pepperoni. Top with a sauce made of tomatoes, onions, and garlic that has been cooked lightly, ass a bit of sugar for a sweeter sauce. Spread out with hands to the edge. Sprinkle top evenly with grated Parm.
5. Bake, rotating halfway through, until golden around the edge, about 25-35 minutes. Let rest for about 10-15 minutes, then either gently lift pizza out of pan or just cut your slice out of the pan like a pie!

Taking Big Steps Backwards

Trump came and Trump will go.  Eventually.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.  Bribing the Ukraine to dig up dirt on a potentially strong Democratic candidate to oppose him in his re-election campaign might sink him.  The Senate has been disgustingly unable to wean themselves away from billionaire supporters in order to actually do their Constitutional duties, but at some point the volume of treasonous activities will be so crushing even they will have to act.  Or there will be an election loss.  Or in 2024 he will be gone.
What remains in his path of destruction is not so much something that he created, but rather something he unleashed, which is the fact that we are (and always have been) deeply divided on things like opportunity, women, race, immigrants, and so much more.  For a while it appeared that progress was being made towards a just and equal society.  Then it was suddenly clear that alot of men and some women think that the white male stranglehold on all that matters should never have changed.  Sigh.  The struggle is very real.

Wild Rose (2019)

I watched this on my way home from Spain recently, where I was on a European airline, and therefore had greater access to the British Isles movies.  This one comes from Ireland and spoiler alert, it is terrific.

It’s the stuff of classic country tunes, this tale of heartache, honky-tonkin’ and hard-won redemption. The opening scene is Rose getting out of prison, for what we do not know until much later.  It’s also the stuff of every movie about an underdog who dreams of music stardom, with its hardscrabble origins, a raw talent, inner demons and a final triumph upon a glittering stage.

But  ignores a lot of those tropes and repeatedly upends your expectations of how a film like this is supposed to play out -- how it should look, how it should sound. It also has the benefit of an electrifying, star-making performance in Irish actress, Jessie Buckley.  As the title character, she is truly wild in all the best and worst possible ways: unfiltered and unpredictable, manic and magnetic, a charmer and a child.  The movie gives her the opportunity to take over the screen and mesmerize us, but  also knows well enough to sit back and watch and listen during the quiet moments. When Buckley’s Rose allows herself to be vulnerable, to expose herself to the uncomfortable revelations that come with introspection, it can be as powerful as when she’s belting out a song from the heart.  It is heart warming and bittersweet and feels very real.

Club Allard, Madrid, Spain

El Club Allard, a 2 Michelin star private hideaway in the centre of Madrid, stands within “Casa Gallardo”, a splendid building with a Modernist Style, designed by Federico Arias Rey and built in 1908, situated on Calle Ferraz nº 2 at the corner of Plaza de España.  The Egyptian Debod Temple is opposite it in a huge park and we walked from there to the restaurant, only to encounter a huge amount of construction and a need to not just cross a street but rather to make a 20 minute, several block detour.  It was our over the top meal for the trip and it did not disappoint.

We had the Gourmet tasting menu and shared one wine pairing between the two of us.  Unlike some restaurants of this quality and service, the lunch menu is no different--and no cheaper--than the dinner menu.  Come very hungry because it is a large meal.  I could barely eat the following day.

A couple of things.  This was a seafood forward tasting menu, which is my favorite, living in a landlocked neighborhood as I do.  If there are things that you don't eat, they will substitute for you.  And the place is very elegant, so a sumptuous dining experience that you do not have to dress up for (there were guests in t-shirts).  The wine pairing is excellent (and pricey) and the whole experience was spectacular.

Chocolate Caramel Tart

This is from the fabulous Artful Baker!

For the Crust:

• 10
  tablespoons
  unsalted butter
  (softened)
• ⅔
  cup
  powdered sugar
• ⅓
  cup
  Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1½
  cups
  all-purpose flour
• 2
  egg yolks
• 1
  teaspoon
  vanilla extract

For the Caramel Filling:

• ¾
  cup
  heavy cream
• 6
  tablespoons
  unsalted butter
• 1½
  cups
  superfine sugar
• ½
  cup
  water
• ½
  teaspoon
  fleur de sel
  (or other flaky sea salt)

For the Chocolate Glaze:

• ½
  cup
  heavy cream
• 5
  ounces
  dark chocolate
  (finely chopped)
•  
• Fleur de sel
  (to garnish)

Directions:

1. Make the Crust: Place the butter and sugar in a food processor and process until pale in color, about 10 seconds. Add the cocoa powder, flour, egg and vanilla and pulse until a soft dough forms (about 10 1-second pulses). Turn out into a round 9-inch tart pan and press into the bottom and up sides. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prick the dough with a fork and bake for 15 minutes, or until the dough is baked through. Set aside.
3. Make the Caramel Filling: Place the cream and butter in a small saucepan over low heat and warm until the butter has melted; set aside.
4. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and water over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to high and boil, without stirring, until dark golden and the mixture reaches 340 degrees F on a thermometer. Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the cream mixture (be cautious, as it will bubble up). Return the saucepan to low heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the fleur de sel and pour into the pastry shell. Refrigerate until set, at least 30 minutes.
5. Make the Chocolate Glaze: Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for 2 minutes, then stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Pour the chocolate over the caramel layer. Refrigerate until set, at least 15 minutes. Sprinkle with additional fleur de sel before serving. Leftovers should be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Spiderman: Far From Home (2019)

I have boys.  Lots of boys.  And therefore I find myself more or less trapped in the Marvel Universe.  I am not even sure exactly how it started.  As a child I was deeply involved with Batman (which looking at it now some 50 plus years later, it was horribly written, completely overacted, and so really, part of it is that I have some basic attraction that is innate).  But somehow over the last twenty or so years there have been so many Marvel movies with so many separate as well as overlapping plot lines that I seriously can not keep up.  So here I am, watching yet another one, and choosing to not yet tackle End Game, because even on a long haul over water flight, I do not have time to do three hours of something I can barely follow the story thread on.
This one, in contrast, is pretty straight forward.  There is something to the back story with Iron Man that I didn't catch the first time around, but is not necessary to know--in fact most of the movie makes sense just within itself, so that is good.  I find the young Peter Parker to be a likable enough guy, and the story started quickly and gathered momentum to the now expected surprise ending.

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferante

When I finish this quartet of novels, and it is almost certain that I will finish them, I suspect I have been the slowest to read them, especially for readers who started them after they were all in print.  And truly, I would read this sort of collection but starting the next book the moment I finished the previous book and not stop until I am done.  I have done a variation of that to date.  It took me over a year and several false starts to read the first book, but upon finishing it, I immediately started the second, but it took me over a year to read that one.  There is just something about this story that I both want to read and want to avoid.
This is the book about young adulthood, where both Lila and Elena have settled into what isn't exactly love, but relationships, and children are involved.  Elena has more of a story book story while Lila's is more of a horror story, but in fact they are both restless and dissatisfied, and in many ways they remain attached to each other all the while wanting to shed the bond.  It is very complicated and filled with flawed characters, who are, after all, deeply human, and maybe that is a bit much to take in all at once.  In any case, it is terrifically written, and I will almost definitely start the fourth book.  But also just as likely to take another year to finish it.

Dot Painting 101

I know that the paintings that are being done by aboriginal people today are being done largely for the tourist market, and that traditionally they were drawings in the dirt, or on rock walls.  I ran into a seller at the Santa Fe International Folk Market from Alice Springs who was very dismissive of work done in Uluru as being more touristy, and truthfully, the things he had looked very similar to what we saw in Uluru, but the prices were a bit more reasonable, so he may have had somewhat of a point (although he was not a "the customer is always right" kind of guy).  None the less, I found the whole dot painting process to be very cool and I took a class with an instructor and a translator while I was there last summer.

So here it is, my attempt at either translating my thoughts into a prescribed frame work or cultural appropriation, which ever side of the issue you lean towards.
I found the history of Australians treatment of Aboriginal people to be as reprehensible as our treatment of our native population.  There is so much about the skills that ancient cultures needed and had for survival in all sorts of extreme environments that are not well appreciated or understood, and somehow, for me, understanding a bit more about the art is deeply satisfying.

Yesterday (2019)

This is a great example of a story that has some very funny components to it but the overall plot requires an absolute suspension of belief.  It is a what if movie that is loads of fun to watch, but not too terribly deep when all is said and done.
So here is the story.  Jack won a talent show when he was 14 years old, and his friend Ellie encouraged him to make a career of it, which in his twenties he is in the midst of doing.  He has some moderate success but has decided it is time to call it quits, when there is a 12 second blackout world wide that leads to him having a bike accident.  He loses consciousness and two teeth and the world loses The Beatles and Coca-Cola.  It is a warp in the space-time continuum.
Tentatively at first and then in earnest he starts to recreate their songs, and as you would imagine, he becomes a world wide sensation over night.  He doesn't have a huge ego about it--he remembers where he is got the material, but he does start to lose his friendship with Ellie, who is obviously the love of his life.  It is a feel good movie filled with classic music.

Spanish Shrimps in Garlic Sauce

We had a lot of fun doing a cooking class in a trained chef's house while we were in Madrid.
The easiest thing that we made was this traditional tapas dish.  One thing that we did with the shrimp shells was to make them into a stock for a paella, which is something that we could do but almost never do.
This is a quick and easy dish that is so delicious.

Shrimps in garlic sauce

 (3 cloves garlic-1cayenne -100 gr. shrimp-1 tbsp. brandy-2  tbsp. fish stock-3 tbsp. oil-parsley)

1. Peel and chop finely the garlic. Heat the oil in a small pan. Add the garlic and the cayenne pepper and fry until they just begin to brown 
2. Raise the heat and immediately add the shrimp. Stir briskly until the prawns turn pink 
3. Add the brandy and when alcohol has been evaporated, add the fish stock and reduce 
4. Season to taste with salt, sprinkle a big pinch of minced parsley and stir before serving it w/bread.

Raise Hell

Molly Ivins was one of America’s most caustic and beloved political commentators. She was a loud, brash Texan with a knack for a needling phrase and had a long-running syndicated national column.  Ivins was also known as a serious critical force to be reckoned with by her friends and her foes. She was unabashedly progressive, but her main interest was in holding the feet of the powerful to the fire, no matter their political party.
She would have recognized the issues related to presidential abuse of powers that have been clearly delineated in the Mueller report and then resurfaced in much the same way in the whistle blower accusations of threats to Ukraine if they did not dig up dirt on the Bidens.  And people seriously think this is no big deal.  They see themselves as patriotice, while the founding fathers roll in their graves.

Long Shot (2019)

This is a romantic comedy that is Seth Rogan's sweet spot.  The guy who is smart and funny but not that handsome who gets the girl who is out of his league.
In this version, he is Fred, a brash reporter who writes for an independent newspaper that gets bought by a huge conglomerate, the sort of organization that he hates.  He quits on the spot, and spends the evening with his best friend commiserating about his fate and the state of the world.  The friend is going to see a band that he knows or manages and lo and behold, Charlotte (played by Charlize Theron), the current Secretary of State, is in attendance.  Coincidentally, she used to babysit for him as a child, and he has a wildly embarrassing memory of their last meeting.  She, on the other hand, is pretty sure that she knows who he is, and makes a point of seeking him out at the party and figuring it out.  Then she has a fateful meeting with the president, who is not running for a second term and agrees to endorse her.  She needs a speech writer, and she wants Fred for the job.  He is a bit reluctant, but it goes very well for him professionally as well as personally.  The commentary on how much a female candidate has to alter her personality to win over the electorate while a TV star sits in the White House, it’s impossible to miss the allusions to the election of 2016, but it does stay pretty aloof from political aspersions. Recommended.

Salmorejo Cordobés

Add caption

Salmorejo Cordobés is a cold tomato soup from the Andalusian region of Spain. It's a smoother, more luscious version of its Andalusian cousin, gazpacho, and is served with toppings like hard-boiled egg, jamón, and olive oily tuna, giving it an extra touch of texture and sustenance.

• 1 kilograms (about 8 to 10) vine-ripe tomatoes, quartered
• 4 to 7 grams (1 to 1 1/2) garlic cloves
• 95 milliliters (about 1/2 cup) extra-virgin olive oil
• 20 milliliters (about 4 teaspoons) white vinegar
• 7 grams crunchy salt (or to taste)
• 75 grams day-old bread, torn into small pieces

Toppings

• Hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• Jamón iberico
• Olive-oil packed tuna
• Avocado

1. Add bread and chopped tomatoes and let sit. 
2. In a blender, combine the first 3 ingredients and blend until smooth—it should be like a puree.
3. Turn to low speed and stream in the olive oil—keep blending. A few solid minutes of blending time is very important during this step, to give the salmorejo an emulsion-like texture.
4. Add vinegar and salt, and blend again. Taste and adjust salt, vinegar (and maybe the garlic) to your liking.
5. Chill completely before serving.
6. Serve with toppings (see below) and, of course, bread for dipping.

Let's Talk About the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of about 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometers over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometers. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia, and it is one of the living wonders of the world.  And it is almost a certainty that it will die in the not too distant future.

I was in Queensland last summer, which was the first time in 35 years that I had been there.  It is still well worth visiting, and the natural beauty as well as the shear vastness of it is a thing to behold.  The lighter color in the photo above is the reef as I saw it one day that summer.  And the fish abound at this point, even if some of the coral is dead. 
The reality of climate change is everywhere, if you are just paying attention.  Great is right.  The injustice that we have done to her generation by ignoring it is inexcusable.
This is one gigantic example of it.
The young are coming for us for this inattention to the health and safety of our only home, and their fury is understandable.

The Big Wedding (2013)

There is a lot of acting talent in this somewhat tangled romantic comedy.  Ellie (Diane Keaton) and Don (Robert DeNiro) were once married but no more.  They have three adult children, one of whom was adopted near the end of their marriage from a woman in Columbia who gave him up for adoption in the hopes of a better life.  Don now lives with Bebe (Susan Sarandon) and weirdly they live in the house that Don and Ellie built.
On the occasion of Alejandro's wedding, there is a lot of hoopla.  If you are a fan of romantic comedy then you will be completely forgiving of the entanglements that ensue, but if not, then you are going to be annoyed.  He is marrying a childhood sweetheart who has bigoted parents with serious white collar crime issues.  His biological mother is coming and she is prim and proper whereas he is not, and she doesn't know that.  There are some very extraneous things that occur, but all in all it is a light and easy to watch movie.

Palisades Cafe, Mount Vernon, Iowa

We went here recently, after a very long hiatus, to celebrate one of my son's birthdays.  The restaurant feels exactly the way it did back in the day that it was the Lincoln Cafe, so if you have those memories, never fear, you will not be disappointed, not in the decor, nor in the cuisine.
The combination of rotating monthly specials that consist of a red meat, a fowl, a fish, and a vegetarian option with burgers and sandwiches and a couple of appetizers remains unchanged.  The thing we loved about that when the kids were younger is that they could get a hot dog or a burger and we could have a high end fancy meal and we were all at the same place.  That stands up here, and we still love it, even though the kids were getting the big mains and the elders were ordering sandwiches.  The same friendly atmosphere and great food persist, and it is highly recommended.

Feed Iowa

I recently went to a fund raising event for this charity and our community supported agriculture farmer is a huge supporter of this concept.  When all of their share holders have gotten what they want of the vegetables they have grown, they donate what is left to this organization and to our local food pantry.
The fact that there is food insecurity in our country is ridiculous.  We do not have a minimum wage that is a living wage, and so people who work full time do not make enough money for food, shelter, and healthcare.  The "safety net" involves public assistance, so we allow businesses to not pay salaries that cover basic expenses for families, and the government then subsidizes these businesses with housing and food supplements, which is unfair for everyone but those who own shares in these businesses.  But solving that problem is a long way off, and people are hungry now, so providing good, fresh, locally grown food is good for the community and good for the planet.  Consider supporting this group which does such good work.