Dave's Journal, June2021
You know that I like pictures 1000X more than I like reality. Well yesterday wandering around YouTube documentaries, I stumbled onto the (now dead) artist, W. Hammershoi and I love his stuff. Reminds me so much of J. Vermeer (but much more muted colors) who is maybe my most favorite old-time painter.
Considered one of the greatest American movies - Orson Well's "Citizen Kane". I've watched it many times over the decades. Watched it last night, and caught this scene that has some meaning in today's political world.
Charles Foster Kane is a very influential, rich guy who runs a tabloid newspaper and runs for governor. He is a belligerent, overbearing bully.
He looses the election.
This is the scene at his newspaper's print room where they are selecting which version of the morning paper they need to release. Here are two screenshots to show their choices.
The relevance to today's US presidential circus is amazing.
Couple weeks back I threw a fit at a restaurant in Boston over the menu. Waiter does not give us paper menus but tells us to use the QR code that is glued to the top of the table. Then he walks off.
Deb, Audree and Jim quickly grab their phones and do QRcode reading stuff. I say "What exactly the f##k is this?" and I repeat that phrase more than a few times.
The waiter, seeing me smash my cell phone on the ground, brings me a paper menu.
Another classic watched this week was GWTW (1939). I had forgotten how great this was for it's technical character as much as it's entertainment value. Vivian Leigh is a wonder. Never a dull or vacant look in her eyes or expression, even when she is on the sidelines (which, admittedly, isn't often). And Clark Gable is a seriously handsome dude, even if he can't act (he always just plays Clark Gable). Leslie Howard is an aggravating whimp; I often wanted to slap the back of his head. Hattie McDaniel ("Mammy") stole every scene she was in.
Ever wonder why space aliens never stay for a visit ?
Our favorite car show.... cancelled again this year. Outdoor events are limited to 150 people now, which means no big car shows. This is depressing.
Letting the cats stay out in the breezeway was bound to make a problem, and today, it did. Tux caught a chipmunk and brought it through the house out to the porch. Chaos reigned when he let it go and it scrambled around the place. I closed the door locking Tux and the critter on the porch while I figured what to do. Wait for Tux to kill it? (he did not seem inclined to kill, just play)!
I baited a cage trap with critter food, pulled Tux inside, opened 2 porch windows. Hoped the critter would either jump out a window or walk into the cage trap.
Hours passed, he stayed hid. Then he came out and sniffed around. I watched through the glass door, grabbed a camera (the wrong one!) and got him just before he jumped out a window.
All's well that ends well.
Had to get out of here, we drove across half the state to relax and buy scented candles and nik-naks. I also picked up a mint 1960's VW for my surfing ventures.
Picked up sandwiches at Mill3
Both places said "No masks if you are fully vaccinated". We happily took the damn masks off.
Things you surely don't want to do . . .
you don't want to steal John Wick's car and you don't want to kill John Wick's dog.
(I watched it for about an hour. The body count was 30+ and showed no signs of slowing down. Smart and dramatic dialog, I'll say that much for it.)
For the first time since the COVID quarantine started (over a year ago) we met Joanne and Ferruccio for lunch (at Boynton's). Lots to catch up on (too much to report here). They are now grandparents, and the kid (Trent) is very cute indeed.
Over at Mike's house I did a walk-around video and it turned out bumpy and choppy. But I did a few screen caps and this and that to make "art". This is not Mike's house, it's his neighbor's. The patchy light through the trees was too nice.
Then we had lunch at a local cafe. I was very very patient while the nice lady at the register chatted and chatted with everyone, and the other nice lady in front of us had a list of gourmet lunches she needed for her entire office building while exchanging giggle-worthy chatter with the cashier (who also was the cook !!)
Anyway . . . I had my very first ever avocado toast and (seriously) it was fabulous.
Then we crossed the street to the new gourmet cheese shop and listen to a long (kind of interesting) story of cheeses and how they make theirs down in the basement. I explained how, putting the science of gourmet cheese aside for a moment, the city really needs to work on downtown parking out front there.
I bought some Italian Herb dip cheese that I'll taste later.
Met Jim and Audree for lunch (Seasons 52) and to see Rory (their vintage cat) the new kittens (Violet and Dandelion) that they are learning to live with.
Always a great day with them, and we plan on going to Portsmouth in a few weeks.
Here's Rory . . .
Being a kid during the Cold War, I was told that Russians were godless heathens who were out to kill us all as soon as they could. Well .... that was probably true of the Russian government of the time, but throughout history, the Russian people (99% peasants ?), have been very religious. In a nearby town there is The Museum of Russian Icons (religious art), and I go there once a year to refresh my memory. Went there today. Here are a few pictures of the artwork (date back to 1300-1600).
Long Lost Cousins
Due to COVID and life in general, we don't see each other very often, but this weekend Maria & Joe visited and we got together at Joanne & Ferruccio's last night. Eat eat eat talk talk talk .... could have stayed all night. (Had a 5oz Bialetti espresso at 8:30 !!!). J&F whipped up just a few things to nibble on.
Cousin Pete is a "pro" level horror movie & culture fan. (Years back he gave me his DVD horror collection when he upgraded to Blu-Ray.) His artistry is painting castings of movie figures and dioramas, and I asked him for a few pictures of what he has finished. He grabbed his i-phone and sent me some. Here are 2 .
I love this stuff (and I envy talented people).
