Captain Vincenzo Lunardi with his assistant George Biggin, and Mrs. Letitia Anne Sage, in a balloon

Captain Vincenzo Lunardi with his assistant George Biggin,
and Mrs. Letitia Anne Sage, in a balloon,
painted by John Francis Rigaud, 1785

From J.R.'s Art Place, where he has fascinating details:

Captain Lunardi was a pioneering aeronaut, who with his English assistant George Biggin put on several demonstrations of early balloon flight. This painting depicts one of the flights, but was painted in advance--during the actual flight, the weight of passengers proved too heavy and so only Biggin and Mrs. Sage took part. The painting was probably used to publicize the event.

The flight took off from London and lasted 90 minutes, followed by landing in a field, where Biggin and Sage had to be assisted by schoolboys in fending off an irate farmer angry at the damage to his crops.

As the first British woman to fly, Mrs. Sage later wrote an account of her flight titled "A Letter, Addressed to a Female Friend, By Mrs. Sage, the First English Female Aerial Traveller" that was printed and sold as a pamphlet.

Cistercian Architecture

Cistercian Architecture: Poblet Monastery, Catalonia
via Barcelona Photoblog

Isn't this lovely? I can just imagine slowly pacing along it, looking out at whatever is on the other side of those open arches.

Click through to Barcelona Photoblog for a bigger image and to see details about this architecture.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #82 — A Taxi Driver

It's been 12 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

In 1980, a foreign journalist hires a down-on-his-luck taxi driver to take him to Gwangju, South Korea. They soon arrive to find a city under siege by student protesters and the military. A Taxi Driver brings a ground-level perspective and a refreshingly light touch to a fact-based story with sobering implications.

I'd never heard of this 2017 movie which was wildly popular in Korea and was their entry to the Oscar foreign film nominations that year. Knowing only the brief description above and having a vague memory of Korea as having military dictatorship issues in the 1980s we launched into the movie.

As with the Indian movie Airlift, we were introduced to a piece of history we had never heard of. It turns out that the taxi driver, Mr. Kim, is the perfect character through whose eyes we should view the military lockdown of Gwangju. He also had no idea of the violence being perpetrated upon the protesters and innocent civilians. Following the reporter as he follows leads to the heart of the riots, the depth of the violence and oppression gradually unfold. We get to meet other taxi drivers as they help first with repairs and then with more important things. As the story goes on,  the driver begins seeing a bigger picture than just his own interest and that everyone, however seemingly insignificant, plays a part in others' lives. 

Based on a real event, this is a combination of fact about the photographer and fiction about the driver.  Kim's identity was unknown when the film was made so his story is fictional aside from his time with the photographer. Nevertheless, it is very effective and provides both a much needed lighter approach and "everyman" view which takes the audience along.

I came away grateful for good reporters determined to get the truth to the people. I also thought of the war reporters who have been dying in Ukraine. And I was reminded of how desperate the Ukranians' plight is, even as they fight with all they have. Those trends were personified in this movie.

As I mentioned, this reminded me of both Airlift and also of Argo. Fans of those movies will not be disappointed.

Couldn't Put It Down — Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton

When you're recovering from the flu and rediscover Aunt Dimity's Death jammed behind other books - that's a lovely moment. It's perfect recovery reading. 

Lori Shepherd thought Aunt Dimity was just a character in a bedtime story...

...Until the law firm of Willis & Willis summons her to a reading of the woman's will. Down-on-her-luck Lori learns she's about to inherit a siazable estate--if she can discover the secret hidden in a treasure trove of letters in Dimity's English country cottage. What begins as a fairy tale becomes a mystery--and a ghost story--as Aunt Dimity's indomitable spirit leads Lori on a quest to discover how true love can conquer all.

I'm not a lover of "cozy" mysteries as they are churned out today. However, this 1992 book is a charming mystery from before "cozy" was a category and it is far better than most. What sets it apart is the emphasis on what Lori discovers about herself in the investigation. This review hit the nail on the head:

This book, cleverly disguised as a cosy mystery, takes us into a world of adults looking at childhood memories through grown-up eyes. There are memories sweet and difficult, dark secrets, and finally, a love story or two. There's really not so much of a mystery here, but more a righting of past wrongs.

Certainly, when I was unable to continue reading and my thoughts whirled in flu-ish chaos, musing about this story kept me from focusing on how bad I felt.

Portrait of Emperor Napoleon I

Portrait of Emperor Napoleon I by François Gérard (1815)
via My Daily Art Display

Why Napoleon? Because suddenly he is in the background of my reading life in a weird way.

I have read half of War and Peace. The "war" part of that book is about Russia's part in the Napoleonic wars. At several points Napoleon is a character, actively influencing the young men whose stories we're following.

Now I'm taking a break from War and Peace. I've picked up The Count of Monte Cristo which I have been interested in rereading for a long time (sparked by my desire to rewatch the 2002 movie with Jim Caviezel). A key point of the book hinges on Napoleon being on Elba and the political struggles between royalists and Napoleonic supporters. So here we are again. Me and the Emperor.

Finally, I have begun listening to How to Eat an Elephant's series closely reading Les Miserables. Here we have a priest having a chance encounter with Napoleon which changes the trajectory of his life. We also have the Battle of Waterloo, which has an encounter that is key to characters later in the story. I've read the book before and won't be rereading it, but I am enjoying listening to the conversation about it. So, the Emperor is lurking in the background here and there again.

Very odd.

Books and Sharks

I do not believe that all books will or should migrate onto screens: as Douglas Adams once pointed out to me, more than 20 years before the Kindle showed up, a physical book is like a shark. Sharks are old: there were sharks in the ocean before the dinosaurs. And the reason there are still sharks around is that sharks are better at being sharks than anything else is. Physical books are tough, hard to destroy, bath-resistant, solar-operated, feel good in your hand: they are good at being books, and there will always be a place for them.

Neil Gaiman in a talk about libraries

It is true that some books do perfectly well on the Kindle. But there are others where a great part of the experience is in having a book in your hand, seeing where the text falls on the page, and (possibly above all) not running out of battery.

A miracle in Missouri? Body of Benedictine Sisters’ foundress thought to be incorrupt.

Truly amazing. This photo did it for me, especially after reading the conditions in which they discovered the coffin and that she hadn't been embalmed. Read the story at CNA.

A pilgrim venerates the incorrupt body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB,
on May 20, 2023. Lancaster was recently exhumed
in Gower, Missouri. | Credit: Kelsey Wicks/CNA

Kantara (Deep Mystical Forest): A Legend

Shiva is a tribal vagabond who lives with his mother in a tiny forest village. He avoids participation in the traditional worship ceremonies due to an unforgettable childhood incident. He is happy loafing around with his friends and doing petty jobs for his landlord. When forest officer Murali enters the scene, it gives a fresh dimension to the man-vs-nature fight. Can Shiva save the forest from Murali? 

I especially liked the beginning which establishes the deep connection that the people have to their forest demi-god and land. And the end is simply astounding. It makes this film a cultural experience that is startling and also wonderful.

In between is a good story of a slacker, traumatized from an experience in his youth, who must deal with an officious forestry police official who is determined to take his people's land. This part of the story is more straight forward to the Western mind, although somewhat unfocused in a few spots. But it has it's own twists and turns. 

RATING — ADVANCED. As I mentioned the middle of the movie is straight forward. However, the beginning and end have cultural elements that you just have to accept and let flow over you.

Marriage is a colossal gamble, or rather, a very great adventure

You and I are faced with one of those situations (which fortunately are not very numerous in one lifetime) which cannot possibly be adequately judged beforehand. It strikes me as a colossal gamble, or rather, a very great adventure. And personally I am considerably exhilarated by the risks! ... The greatness of the adventure perhaps consists partly in the fact that as a Catholic I can marry only once! But, as with being born, perhaps once is quite sufficient! In the Church, you know, there is a great heightening of every moment of experience, since every moment is played against a supernatural backdrop. Nothing can be humdrum in this scheme.

Marshall McLuhan in a letter to his future wife, 

The Medium and the Light

I love the idea of being exhilarated by the risks of the adventure of marriage. We tend to cringe away from risk. But, as Marshall McLuhan says, think of how big this moment is, with the supernatural background. We've got to look past staying safe and and hedging our bets in the big things of life. Think of adventure!

Dinner Time

 

Dinner Time, taken by the talented Remo Savisaar

This is a photo extraordinaire! Click on the link to see it larger.

Pray for those being killed in Nigeria

Seemingly coordinated attacks began late Monday night on nine northern Nigerian communities. So far, at least 100 people have been killed, and the violence is ongoing.

The killings come amid years of violence in northern and central Nigeria, perpetrated by Muslim Fulani herding communities and Islamist terrorist groups, and the victims are mostly Christian farming villages.

... even while the violence went on for hours, police were not immediately on the scene – a common criticism of law enforcement forces in the region, who are often accused of looking the other way during attacks on Christian villages.

The Pillar has the story here.

Pray for the victims. Pray for the bereft families. Pray for the perpetrators to have a change of heart.

In Honor of Our 39th Wedding Anniversary

As Tom says, it is the couple that can laugh at this joke who will be able to survive the reality of it! We're not there yet, but we are still laughing together, 39 years into our journey through life together.

An old couple were having problems remembering things, so they decided to go to their doctor to get checked out to make sure nothing was wrong with them. After checking the couple out, the doctor tells them that they were physically okay but might want to start writing things down and making notes to help them remember things. The couple thanked the doctor and left.

Later that night while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair and his wife asks, "Where are you going?" He replies, "To the kitchen." She asks him for a bowl of ice cream and he replies, "Sure."

She then asks him "Don't you think you should write it down so you can remember it?" He says, "No, I can remember that."

"Well," she then says, "I also would like some strawberries on top. You had better write that down cause I know you'll forget that." He says, "I can remember that, you want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries."

"Well," she replies, "I also would like whipped cream on top. I know you will forget that so you better write it down." With irritation in his voice, he says, "I don't need to write that down, I can remember that."

He fumes off into the kitchen. When he returns twenty minutes later he hands her a plate of bacon and eggs. She stares at the plate for a moment and says, "You forgot my toast."

The children and Aunt Enid

I am sorry that the first thing you should hear about the children should be that they did not care about their Aunt Enid, but this was unfortunately the case. And if you think this was not nice of them I can only remind you that you do not know their Aunt Enid.

E. Nesbit, Wet Magic

E. Nesbit is so funny and this sense of humor is strewn through all her children's stories.

Nibbler

Nibbler
taken by Valerie, ucumari photography
Some rights reserved

Lion Man

Lion man, from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany,
40,000 BC-30,000 BC

A Movie You Might Have Missed #81 — The Lunchbox

It's been 12 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Can you fall in love with someone you have never met?

A mistaken delivery in Mumbai’s famously efficient lunchbox delivery system (Mumbai’s Dabbawallahs) connects a young housewife to a stranger in the dusk of his life. They build a connection through notes in the lunchbox. Gradually, this connection promises to move past the confines of the lunchbox.

A nice concept that developed from the filmmaker thinking about a documentary about the Mumbai lunchbox delivery system.

This is a good film but it does at a deliberate pace. The story rests on the stars to powerful performances in roles that demand understatement. They deliver in spades. I also really loved the aunty upstairs who we never see but only hear coaching the young wife in her cooking and fills in with emergency spices and ingredients. There are a lot of touches of humor throughout that make this a very enjoyable movie.

This filmmaker is known for his ambiguous endings and I'm annoyed even after two viewings over his lack of giving us a solid happy ending. Here is the place where we don't want imagination, we want to see it play out for ourselves. That is a small part of this lovely movie.

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

The Three Bears

Arthur Rackham, The Story of the Three Bears, 1837
via Wikipedia

The Little Good Mouse

Himmapaan, Illustration for 'The Little Good Mouse' from The Red Fairy Book,
edited by Andrew Lang, published by The Folio Society, 2008.

I love fairy tale illustrations, especially when they're as charming as Himmapaan's.

Couldn't Put It Down — War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

I picked this book up recently to reread and was riveted all over again. I remembered the broad strokes but not so many that I wasn't surprised by some big plot twists, especially toward the end. I read it at every spare moment, carried it all over the house and just loved it all over again.

So I'm reposting this review from 2008 in the hopes that you'll pick it up and have just as good a time.

Eddi reminded herself that this was not the only bass player in Minneapolis. The ads hadn't even appeared yet. "Ahhhh ... listen," she said at last. "I'm not sure you ... that this is a good idea."

And he raised his eyes from his bass just enough to look at her. His eyes were more fluent than his mouth; they blazed contempt and hostility, they pleaded for her forbearance, her indulgence.

She winced and picked up her own guitar. "Ever heard Bram Tchaikovsky's version of 'I'm a Believer'?" He shook his head, but continued to watch her, his fingers poised over his stings.

"Start it," he mumbled finally, and Eddi shrugged.

The song did kick off with only guitar. Then Carla dropped in after a few measures with a series of snare drum punches, and Dan's synthesizer yowled across it all.

Then, in precisely the right place, the bass came in. It began as if the Rocky Mountains had begun to walk. It sounded like the voice of the magma under the earth's crust, and it picked up the whole song and rolled it forward like water exploding out of a breaking dam. They were suddenly tight, all four of them, as if they were a single animal and that monster heartbeat was their own. Eddi listened wonderingly as they played the complicated stop beats in the chorus with respectable precision. She was dimly aware that she was playing some of the best guitar of her life.

When they were done, Eddi looked around and saw her own amazement on Carla's and Dan's faces. "Well," she said, and, unable to think of anything to add, said it again.

No one declared the newcomer to be the band's bass player. It would have been beside the point. Eddi only wanted to see if they could make other songs sound like that. She had no idea if he could sing; given his willingness to talk, it seemed unlikely. But for bass like that, she could sacrifice a harmony voice.

I have never read any book before that so well made me understand the synergy and energy of a band until I read this book. I would think that probably holds for any band playing any sort of music, on varying levels.

If that were all that there were to War for the Oaks it would be interesting but not worth recommending. Not since Neverwhere by Neill Gaiman have I read such wonderful urban fantasy. The book begins with Eddi who is having a very bad night. She has broken up with her boyfriend, which also means their band is now kaput, and then she finds herself in the dark city streets fleeing a truly terrifying vicious dog ... who suddenly changes into a man. 

Thus begins Eddi's coercion into being the mortal being needed by the Seelie Court of Faerie for their upcoming war with the Unseelie Court. Ostensibly the Seelie Court are the good guys but as these beings all are operating under completely foreign rules it is often difficult to tell the difference. Eddie is left with the dog/man, otherwise known as a phouka, as a bodyguard as she goes about her regular life of forming a band while waiting for the war to begin.

This is all a pale description of a rich story that pulls the reader into the world of Emma Bull's making. We learn about champions, love, truth, honor ... and , of course, musicians.

Highly recommended.

SPOILER
Reader's note for parents of YA readers:
Eddi does have an affair though details are not described. She later has another with an encounter that is a bit more descriptive but not graphic. The first is excused due to undue "faerie" influence and she refuses to resume it based on moral grounds. The second other is from true love. Both are handled well and nothing that makes an adult reader blink twice as part of this genre. This is the sort of book I would have read quite eagerly as a high school student.

It is worth saying about America ...

It is worth saying [about America] once again that no nation has ever come into the possession of such powers for good or ill, for freedom or tyranny, for friendship or enmity among the peoples of the world, and that no nation in history has used these powers, by and large, with greater vision, restraint, responsibility and courage.

London Times, 1954

When all you hear is criticism of your country from both without and within, covering every time period in which your country existed - it is really nice to see praise like this, even if it is from way back in 1954.

The Princess and the Unicorn

Armand Point (1861-1932), The Princess and the Unicorn

TV You Might Have Missed 4 — Tale of the Nine Tailed

The nine-tailed fox is a magical creature that appears in the folktales of East Asia and legends of Korea. It can transform into a beautiful woman, often to seduce men in order to eat their liver. Korean television plays fast and loose with this idea, as television often does, to create an urban fantasy where the titular nine-tailed fox is an enigmatic man, Lee Yeong. 

He works on earth for the the gods' Department of Immigration of Life After Death — hunting down mythical beings who kill humans. A lovely television producer, Nam Ji-Ah, whose show investigates the supernatural, suspects that he is involved in a murder case. She investigates him and he investigates her. Ji-Ah's looking for her long lost parents and Yeong's on the lookout for the reincarnation of his lost love. Naturally they will work together. Just as naturally, nothing is as it appears on the surface.

The plot just gets deeper, more intertwined, and definitely more fun from there. With 16 episodes of over an hour long, there is plenty of time for the obligatory romance of the K-dramas along with the many adventures into the supernatural. The writers did an extraordinary job of skillfully leading us to expect plot developments and then yanking the rug out from under us with twists and turns for every episode.  We also really enjoyed seeing the supernatural creatures from Korean culture which were often really different from anything American.

Tale of the Nine Tailed is a sixteen episode roller coaster ride of that never fails to leave you wondering how they'll get out of each predicament, while the romance keeps things feeling cozy in the background.

The Espousal of the Rat's Daughter

The Espousal of the Rat's Daughter
Illustrated by Warwick Goble

Isn't this a wonderful illustration? You can read the story here.

The Greatness of America

The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. 1

Hoping we still have this ability!

Cinderella at the Kitchen Fire

Cinderella at the Kitchen Fire, Thomas Sully, 1843

Tthis lovely, gentle painting is in the Dallas Museum of Art and was brought to my attention when sweet Hannah gave me a print of it after a visit there. I love the glimpse of the stepsisters primping in the background.

Well Said: Absolute Government

A man's admiration for absolute government is proportionate for the contempt he feels for those around him.

Alexis de Toqueville

The Carp Streamers Bless Children

Calligraphy and View, The Carp Streamers Bless Children

 I love the way these carp streamers look as if they are swimming in the blue sky as if it is the sea. The blogger tells us:

In the Far East, the carp is an auspicious fish.
They had continued swimming the festival history more than 1000 years.

Now, I am seeing wind.
The carp streamers ( Koinobori ) are swimming in the deep blue firmament.

Time, Space, Existence, 　 Eternally.. 　Stream of Universe...

Kingfisher

Remo Savisaar, Kingfisher

This looks like a beautiful painting.

Couldn't Put It Down — West of Eden by Harry Harrison

But what if history had happened differently? What if the dinosaurs had survived to evolve intelligent life?

In West of Eden, bestselling author Harry Harrison has created a rich, dramatic saga of a world where the descendants of the dinosaurs struggled with a clan of humans in a battle for survival.

Here is the story of Kerrick, a young hunter who grows to manhood among the dinosaurs, escaping at last to rejoin his own kind. His knowledge of their strange customs makes him the humans' leader ... and the dinosaurs' greatest enemy.

Ah 1984. The year I got married. The year I read West of Eden. So many good things happened that year!

I loved this book from the beginning and reread it a lot but I haven't picked it up for a long time. When it was selected for an upcoming podcast episode, I was curious if it would hold up. It is 400 pages long and I read 300 of them last night. Plus I've been sneaking a few pages here and there as I have gaps in my morning routine. I guess that means I like it as much as ever!

The worldbuilding is simply wonderful. The contrast between the two ways of innovation, adaptation, and tradition are also interesting. Kerrick as the person bridging the two worlds of intelligent dinosaur and nomadic humans brings just the whole story into focus.

Plus it's a darned good adventure.

With a friendly welcome, as if the soul had been in pain and imprisoned, [Jesus] says sweetly ...

Then we hope that God has forgiven us our sins, and that it is true. Then our courteous Lord shows himself to the soul most merrily and with a glad expression. With a friendly welcome, as if the soul had been in pain and imprisoned, he says sweetly, “My darling, I am glad you have come to me. In all this misery I have ever been with you. Now you see my loving and we are made one in bliss.”

Julian of Norwich

This really says it all, doesn't it?

The Little Owl

Albrecht Durer, 1506, The Little Owl
via WikiPaintings

Albrecht Durer is probably most famous for his painting of a hare, but I couldn't resist this little fellow.

An Invitation From Someone You Have Longed to Meet

Just imagine if one fine day an invitation arrived that you have been waiting for for a very long time, from someone you have been waiting to meet. A person with whom you have longed to stay, to spend a long time talking together. On the day that invitation arrived, how great would be your joy?

Death is God’s invitation, and it is with this joy in my heart that I await it. I know well how good and beautiful God is and how tenderly He takes care of me. For this reason, when I finally receive His invitation, I will be very happy to accept it.

[…]

The fact that He holds in store His greatest gift, death, until the last moment, is precisely the loving gesture of a Father. In fact, I think, as a parent, I too would do the same if I had something beautiful to give as a gift to my children. I would keep it hidden until the last moment, to bring it out as a surprise, when they least expect it. I could then enjoy the sudden amazement and joy painted on their faces. In the same way, God will rejoice when he sees my surprise when I accept death’s invitation.

Takashi Nagai, Thoughts from Nyokodo

I love this so much.

Dodo Head

Dodo head (detail)
via Biblipeacay

This detail comes from a much more thorough post at BibliOdyssey containing Zoological Atlas pages that are a treat for the eyes. I'm sad there's no chance of ever seeing a Dodo in real life but grateful for the images.

What was the first temptation?

We know what the first sin was: Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit. But do you know what the first temptation was? "You will be like gods" (Genesis 3:5). This is the first temptation that has always plagued humanity.

Word Among Us, Feb. 26, 2023

Holy moly. Yes.

Cat in a Window

Utagawa Hiroshige
One Hundred Famous Views of Edo #101, "Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival"
via Wikipedia

I was looking for cat art thanks to Pangur Ban and found it very difficult to locate. Then I came across this by Utagawa Hiroshige whose 100 Views of Edo are on my coffee table as I leisurely go through them. Perfect!

Turtles

Claude Aubriet (1665-1742) - Album de coquillages et poissons
via Biblipeacay

I'm a sucker for turtles. Real turtles that is. Old fashioned drawings of turtles are a close second. Aren't these simply fantastic in coloring and details?

A Movie You Might Have Missed #80 — Shall We Dance? (1996, Japan)

It's been 12 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Passion is about to find two unlikely partners.

A middle-aged Japanese businessman’s dull life takes an interesting turn when he signs up for a ballroom dance class just to meet the beautiful instructor. But he keeps the lessons secret because in Japan ballroom dancing —where you hold a stranger closely in public — is considered perverted.

Meanwhile, his wife feels the changes in the behavior of her happier husband, and hires a private eye to investigate whether he is having an affair.

This charming and funny movie gives foreigners real insight into Japanese life in the city and suburbs and the cultural restraints that everyone must live with daily in modern life. It isn't really about dancing or romance so much as it is about social commentary on several levels, albeit with a light hand.

When you dance you’re exposing your inner self. You are out there for the world to see. This has so much potential for embarrassment. You have to ignore that if you want to enjoy what you’re attempting. You have to allow yourself to trust or you don’t get the full experience in living — to varying degrees everyone in the movie makes that connection.

I originally watched this in 1997 with an intern fresh from Japan who had seen it twice already. She was surprised at some of the places the American audience laughed and had to ask why some things were funny. Clearly the director had a good understanding of both Japanese and English speaking audiences to be able to hit both so accurately!

NOTE

Scott and I discussed this on episode 105 of A Good Story is Hard to Find.

Rembrandt's Elephants

I love this because (a) I love elephants, (b) I love Rembrandt, (c) Sam in Lord of the Rings loves oliphants, and (d) I really, really loved seeing an elephant in Eden. Check out the next drawing.

Be sure to go to lines and colors to see why Rembrandt's elephants were featured and for more of his olliphant drawings.

Water into Wine

If Christ could change water into wine, why could He not change wine into His own Blood?

St. Cyril, Catechetical Lecture XXII

Genius! I don't know why that never occurred to me.

Ideal Christianity

Ideal Christianity doesn't exist, because anything the human being touches, even Christian truth, he deforms slightly in his own image. Even the saints do this.

Flannery O'Connor, letter 1963

Depressing but true.

Sin and Evil

Sin is interesting but evil is not. Sin is the result of an individual's free choice, but evil is something else.

Flannery O'Connor, letter 1957

An interesting distinction isn't it?

Bull Dog

Antique Produce Crate Label

The Golden Age in the City of Lights: Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris

This review ran in 2011 when we originally saw the movie. This is part of our mini-festival showing my mother our favorite Woody Allen movies. So I thought I'd share the review again.

Owen Wilson plays a dreamer who has made a fortune writing screenplays but longs to find a sympathetic soul to read his first novel. His fiancee and her family seem wrong for him in every way but he doesn't notice because he's so busy longing for the Golden Age of 1920's Paris when the American writers and artists mingled. One evening, lost in a dark side street, sitting forlornly on the steps, he hears midnight chime and a very old yellow taxi pulls up. The merry group inside beckon him in and he joins them only to find himself literally swept away to meet his idols.

Midnight in Paris has a surprisingly straight-forward story and moral, albeit one told with a romantic eye to the artists in 1920s Paris and those who yearn nostalgically for the past. This is a love letter to Paris, a nod to comedy, a commentary on modern Americans in Paris, and above all a reminder that now is all the time we have and we may be living in a golden age in the present. Sweet, charming, and funny. A winner all 'round.

I give it four stars out of five because there were a few details which didn't work with the logic of the story quite right, and which we all noticed. They don't make that much of a difference but catching them would have gotten a bit closer to perfection.

UPDATE
My favorite people were Hemingway and Dali but I must also add that I've never understood people who say that Marion Cotillard is beautiful. Until now. She is luminous in this film. Kathy Bates was also perfectly cast as Gertrude Stein. All were just a joy to behold in this film.

A Blockade Runner

A Blockade Runner, Briton Riviere

Tick-Tick

Briton Riviere, Tick-Tick, 1881
via Arts Everyday Living

Sympathy

Briton Riviere, Sympathy, c. 1878

 This is one of my favorite paintings featuring, as it does, a dog doing what they do best — empathizing with their loved ones.

When a misfortune is a grace

What in the eyes of the world appears only as a misfortune, for the saints is a grace: the place of the path to self-perfection.

Takashi Nagai, Thoughts from Nyokodo

This is the necessary reminder that Jesus loves us and doesn't give us things that are bad. We understand imperfectly, see in a dim reflection of a mirror.

Dogs from Europe

Hashimoto Kansetsu (1883 - 1945), Dogs from Europe
via Wikipedia

 I really love thinking of some art lover in Japan marveling over these exotic dogs. To be fair, they seem fairly exotic to me, but not in the way they would to someone from the other side of the world who'd never seen the breeds at all at all.

A Terrible Book Hangover

You can't put the book you just finished behind you because you still want to live in it. You have a terrible book hangover, and it lasts three days. Ibuprofen does nothing for it. You're sad because whatever you read next can't possibly be as good as the book you just finished. You depair because nothing you read can possibly be as good, ever again.

Anne Bogel, I'd Rather Be Reading

This doesn't happen to me often but when it does it's terrible. And wonderful — to have read such a book, such wonderful writing, such depth of feeling. And so forth. But in the meantime, what does one read until one recovers? I mean, you've gotta read something. You can't just not read for three days. It's a tough way to live.

Your friends may use the word obsessed ...

Cull duplicates. If you have two copies of a book, keep the prettier one. If you can't bring yourself to get rid ofyour duplicates, buy a third copy. When it comes to books, two is the loneliest number. Multiple copies of a single title are acceptable. Many many multiples are preferable to two or three; excess makes you look interesting. Your friends may use the word obsessed, but they can't deny your obsession is interesting.

Anne Bogel, I'd Rather Be Reading

I do have duplicates, and more than two, of several books. To be fair, most of those are because I like different translations, such as for Dante's Divine Comedy. The Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, is because I have lightweight paperbacks for reading in bed, a one volume version that has notes written in it (yes, I know, notes), and a third with Tolkien's own illustrations throughout. I can't guarantee I won't buy another one with Alan Lee's illustrations — if I can find such a thing or afford it — but that's for the future to worry about. I also confess to duplicate copies of Uncle Tom's Cabin and Dracula because one copy has notes in it.

 And, of course, the Bible for different translations or commentaries. But the Bible is in a category all its own.

Bedouins Preparing a Raiding Party

Giulio Rosati - Bedouins Preparing a Raiding Party [1895] via Gandalf's Gallery

As is common for Rosati, the artist has used strong colours to pick out one or two characters in particular, in this case the figure in the foreground on the right, who discusses with his companions how best they should plan their attack. A few particular details reveal the extraordinary attention Rosati has not only paid to his motif, but also to the composition. For example, the main figure's shoes echo the curl of the butt of his gun, while the brilliant blues of the figure on the left tie the group of men to the sky, and help to balance the dominating colours of his companion.

I quite feel that an apology is due for beginning a novel with two long dull chapters full of description.

I quite feel that an apology is due for beginning a novel with two long dull chapters full of description. I am perfectly aware of the danger of such a course. In so doing I sin against the golden rule which requires us all to put our best foot foremost, the wisdom of which is fully recognised by novelists, myself among the number. It can hardly be expected that any one will consent to go through with a fiction that offers so little of allurement in its first pages; but twist it as I will I cannot do otherwise. I find that I cannot make poor Mr Gresham hem and haw and turn himself uneasily in his arm-chair in a natural manner till I have said why he is uneasy. I cannot bring in my doctor speaking his mind freely among the bigwigs till I have explained that it is in accordance with his usual character to do so. This is unartistic on my part, and shows want of imagination as well as want of skill. Whether or not I can atone for these faults by straightforward, simple, plain story-telling—that, indeed, is very doubtful.

Anthony Trollope, Doctor Thorne

Indeed. I had just finished those long, boring chapters and was mentally reviewing the much faster start of The Warden and Barchester Towers, the first two books in the series. And then this came along. I had to laugh and forgive him, however annoyed I was. And I was annoyed. I now expect a rousingly good tale.

Old Veliky Novgorod

Apollinary Vasnetsov - Old Veliky Novgorod [1901], via Gandalf's Gallery

Apollinary Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (Vasnetsov, July 25, 1856 - Moscow, January 23, 1933) was a Russian painter and graphic artist. He specialised in scenes from the medieval history of Moscow. Vasnetsov did not receive a formal artistic education. He had studied under his older brother, Viktor, also a famous painter.

The Romantics documentary series — the legacy of Yash Chopra and Yash Raj Films

Featuring archival footage and in-depth celebrity interviews,
this docuseries celebrates the life and legacy of Hindi filmmaking titan Yash Chopra.

Over the course of four episodes, director Smriti Mundhra covers Hindi cinema in a way that almost no one ever has, from Chopra’s early work to the rise of his sons Aditya and Uday in the ’90s and 2000s, to the shifting sensibilities of the industry and effects of Chopra’s death in 2012. The project was born out of Mundhra’s own love of Hindi cinema and documentary expertise, and a realization that she had never seen a film retrospective about the culture and movies that raised her.

IndieWire interview

A really excellent documentary. Well edited, conceived and executed.

This series is something that Indians will enjoy and that true film fans will appreciate. Other than that, only people like us — a true minority of Indian film lovers who are not ourselves Indian — will appreciate.

We've seen so many of the Yash Raj movies, especially the more recent ones. I loved seeing the story of Yash and Aditya Chopra - it was a wonderful behind-the-scenes view of something we love.

(Also I was stunned to realize that Ali from the Dhoom series was played by Uday Chopra. That took me completely by surprise. That's how out of touch I was with who the family members are.)

He would have been the hero of our tale ...

The one son and heir to Greshamsbury was named as his father, Francis Newbold Gresham. He would have been the hero of our tale had not that place been pre-occupied by the village doctor. As it is, those who please may so regard him. It is he who is to be our favourite young man, to do the love scenes, to have his trials and his difficulties, and to win through them or not, as the case may be. I am too old now to be a hard-hearted author, and so it is probable that he may not die of a broken heart.

Anthony Trollope, Doctor Thorne

And then we get two chapters about this character and his family.

I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel

We are readers. Books are an essential part of our lives and of our life stories. For us, reading isn’t just a hobby or a pastime; it’s a lifestyle. We’re the kind of people who understand the heartbreak of not having your library reserves come in before you leave town for vacation and the exhilaration of stumbling upon the new Louise Penny at your local independent bookstore three whole days before the official publication date. We know the pain of investing hours of reading time in a book we enjoyed right up until the final chapter’s truly terrible resolution, and we know the pleasure of stumbling upon exactly the right book at exactly the right time.

This is light, fluffy fun for anyone who is a dedicated reader. You continually recognize yourself as Anne Bogel talks about book hangovers, rearranging bookshelves, Then there are the lists - many chapters are rapid-fire, run-on lists of contradictory yet complementary reader-centric behavior. And she did all this while tossing off examples which didn't fall into any category I regularly read. So we know there isn't science fiction mentioned. And not many mysteries. Some behavior just crosses all genres.

She gets me.

You take five books to the pool because you can’t decide what to read next. You can’t comfortably manage your purse because you shoved three books in on the way out the door, unable to decide what to read next. You pack twelve books for a five-day vacation because you can’t decide what to read next.

A Song for Nagasaki: the Story of Takashi Nagai: Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb by Paul Glynn

I just finished reading this book for an upcoming podcast episode. It was moving and inspirational to read this during Holy Week. I already love the book but this combination is extremely powerful.  

Therefore, I'm reposting this review from 2014 when I first read the book. 

In 1928 young Takashi Nagai was a medical student at the top of his class. An atheist, he passionately believed that science held the key to the future of the human race. He loved his country and believed the "spirit of Japan" would improve his nation's future.

Then came a telegram that sent him racing home to be with his mother as she died.  And his world changed.

"I rushed to her bedside. She was still breathing. She looked fixedly at me, and that's how the end came. My mother in that last penetrating gaze knocked down the ideological framework I had constructed. This woman who had brought me into the world and reared me, this woman who had never once let up in her love for me ... in the very last moments of her life spoke clearly to me! Her eyes spoke to mine, and with finality, saying: 'Your mother now takes leave in death, but her living spirit will be beside her little one, Takashi.' I who was so sure that there was no such thing as a spirit was not told otherwise; and I could not but believe. My mother's eyes told me that the human spirit lives on after death. All this was by way of an intuition, an intuition carrying conviction."

In an unlikely turn of events, Nagai turned to Blaise Pascal's Pensées in his grief and bewilderment, having been attracted to the Catholic poet-scientist in a high school literature class. This was the first step into a spiritual journey that ended in Nagai becoming known as the "saint of Urakami" after the atomic bomb hit Nagasaki.

Nagai's biography is captivatingly told. Paul Glynn combines vivid descriptions, character insights, and just enough Japanese history so that we have context. As a result I wound up admiring the Japanese people even more than I did already. I never realized how many of the Japanese ideals combine with saintly living, especially as seen through Takashi Nagai's eventful life.

At Mass on Sundays and feast days, the Nagais often heard Father Moriyama speak on the beauty of the simple family life at Nazareth. It showed, he said, the great worth of ordinary family life and the grace of God present in humdrum daily work. This reminded Nagai of his boyhood, when his mother taught him how to find the universe in a bowl of rice: "Look at the rice carefully, and discover behind it the countless generations of farmers who pioneered wild land and nurtured rice paddies through droughts and floods, poverty, war and pestilence. See generations of artisans too in the simple, practical beauty of the bowl and chopsticks and in all the merchants who handled Them. See your parents took, who worked hard to be able to buy and cook the rice." Nagai's mother would conclude her lesson by joining her hands and bowing in a gesture of profound gratitude, reciting a prayer that explained all this, and the universe as well: "Namu Amida Butsu. We depend on our utterly, Amida Buddha."

... [The Japanese character] Shigoto, "work," is made of two ideographs meaning "something that is a service." All are the beneficiaries of countless other "workers," and we owe it to the community to do our own job well, not primarily for material recompense but out of gratitude. This was the boy's introduction to Japan's famous work ethic. Nagai the Christian recalled his mother's gentle homespun spirituality with gratitude.

I am really struck by how many modern issues Nagai struggled with: belief in science as ultimate good, humanism, the atom bomb, cancer, and more. His faith gave him peace and the way he lived it in unimaginable circumstances gave that peace and faith to others. I also really admired his absolute dedication to truth, so much so that when he became curious about Christianity he decided to carry out a scientific experiment by boarding with a Japanese Catholic family.

This is much more than a simple biography, needless to say. Because we're following Nagai's spiritual journey, we are invited to look deeper within ourselves and journey also. This book is fascinating and inspirational.

How fitting that this is the first book I finished in 2014. Not only is it the Solemnity of Mary, which Nagai would have very much appreciated, but it is the beginning of a New Year where I am taking Takashi Nagai as my patron for the year. So ... it seems meant to be on several levels.

Highest recommendation.

ALSO - Scott and I discuss it at A Good Story is Hard to Find.

Bholaa

An ex-convict must undertake a perilous, violent journey in order to meet his daughter after years of imprisonment.

We saw this at the theater with our daughters and son-in-law. We all gave this top marks. First, let's talk about the fun stuff, which I will quote from my daughter Hannah's review.

I think everyone should see this, ideally in theaters.

Unless you think you’d spend whole thing thinking things like:

“You can’t pull a trident through two guys handle first!”

“How can he be lifting someone off the ground who has already been shown to be taller than he is?”

“You can’t punch a motorcycle out of the air!” with a slight frown on your face.

In which case, I’m sorry you hate fun. That must be really hard for you.

Also — it was a compelling story with clearly drawn characters, excellent acting, clever twists, stylish choreography and imagery, and over the top action very well done.

Ajay Devgn's direction showed an impressive creative vision, all the more so when you consider how good the first half of his Runway 34 was - and how different the requirements of the two stories were. Many directors can't do as well and we look forward to more of his directed films.

Once again, we appreciated his acting, so clearly conveying what he is thinking often without doing much physically. That's not easy and not seen often in Indian movies. Tabu was impressive, as always. It had to be fun to play such a kick ass character.

Recommended for beginners. Rated for older teens.

Enjoyable all round.

ALSO — Discussed in An American's Guide to Bollywood.

Write a check, kiss it up to God ...

Write a check, kiss it up to God, and move on with our lives. Remember: Even if the money itself gets wasted, the generosity never is. There is no such thing as a wasted act of love; and something done out of love, either for neighbor or for God, is worth more than the hugest impersonal donation in the world.

Simcha Fisher, Giving alms like a Catholic

Durham Cathedral

Durham's massive patterned columns hold aloft the finest cathedral in northern Europe, built (between 1093 and 1128) to symbolise the power of the conquering Normans, and embodying revolutionary technology.
Description from Paul Johnson, photo via Wikipedia.

 Absolutely gorgeous isn't it? A bit about cathedrals in general from Paul Johnson's Art: A New History.

The liturgical demands of the cathedral, which were complicated and exacting and continually becoming more so, meant that it had to be designed from the inside outwards. The dynamic force pushing the designer against the frontiers of his technology was the insistence of bishop and chapter, backed by the public, that he provide an ever-larger enclosed space in the middle of the church. This was reinforced by a religious and aesthetic urge to let in more light by building the walls higher and higher. To the early medieval man, the church was an epitome of his cosmology. The stone with which it was built symbolised eternity. The walls upheld the firmament above. There God dwelt to receive his voice and prayers ascending upwards. Worship was a rising motion and the higher the ceiling the closer man's prayer and song, which filled it with sound, would come to God. And the higher the roof, the more detached it was from the clayey prison of the earth beneath. Height was therefore an escape from earth to Heaven and that was why the cathedral had to provide it.

He goes on to talk about why Durham is so revolutionary and the constraints the artist was working with in order to built a fitting tribute to God.

An affectionate letter from a bishop must surely be the most disagreeable missive which a parish clergyman can receive.

His state became still worse when he received an affectionate but solemn letter from the Bishop warning him of his danger. An affectionate letter from a bishop must surely be the most disagreeable missive which a parish clergyman can receive. Affection from one man to another is not natural in letters. A bishop never writes affectionately unless he means to reprove severely. When he calls a clergyman his "dear brother in Christ," he is sure to go on to show that the man so called is altogether unworthy of the name.

Anthony Trollope, Dr. Wortle's School

Book of Durrow

The Book of Durrow (seventh century) is a masterpiece of calligraphy,
 drawn from late Roman models, and merged into Celtic passion for abstract decorative forms.

 The above caption comes from Art: A New History by Paul Johnson. This book is a simply marvelous way to read about history, as focused through the lens of artistic development.

I've always loved illuminated manuscripts and I wish that there was a version of them produced in modern times. I would snap up a Bible thusly illustrated. Think how it would enrich one's meditation to have art and words working together to raise our communication with God to a higher level.

My wishes aside, our modern age does allow us to enjoy illustrated manuscripts from ages past. I particularly love the page above with the dragon-ish capital N.

These artistic instincts and skills were in due course Christianised, and put to work in the monastic scriptoria which were springing up all over western Europe. The result was a kind of art which, in its intricacy of line and colour, has never been excelled. ...

These monasteries began, from the early seventh century, to produce illuminated manuscripts of great beauty and elaboration. It is not always possible to discover which house produced which book, and scholarly argument, reflecting modern nationalism, rages round the provenance. ... Then follow the three "luxury" manuscripts, prepared by great artists as a feast for the eyes of Dark Age kings: the Book of Durrow, from about 670 (Dublin, Trinity), the Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 700 (British Library) and the Book of Kells, c. 800 (Dublin, Trinity). These three masterpieces have never been excelled in the history of book production: the concentrated skill they display astonishes, mystifies, overwhelms and even alarms modern eyes. It is hard for us to get inside the mind of the scribe-artist who spent months, perhaps years, decorating a single page with a combination of abstract motifs, zoomorphic or terrestrial stylised figures, major initials and elaborate script, all integrated in designs which are self-perpetuating patterns of dynamic movement.

The workmanship is so close to perfection that it is almost impossible to detect signs of fatigue or flagging invention. ...

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer
By John Keats

Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne;
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold.

Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star'd at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

I never knew that the famous lines "Then felt I like some watcher of the skies when a new planet swims into his ken" came from a poem about reading a great translation of Homer. 

I know exactly how this feels, albeit minus the translation aspect. I've been reading 25 pages a day of The Lord of the Rings for my Lenten lectio divina and it has been transformative — both for my prayer life and for my feelings about the book itself. I am coming up on the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and am in the grip of just such a feeling.

St. Mark

Donatello, St. Mark (1411-13)
via Wikipedia

... it also remains true that Italian sculptors, like those north of the Alps, were moving relentlessly in the same direction: the discovery and representation of the individual human being, with truth and dignity. It was a move away from mere human symbols and archetypes toward actual flesh-and-blood men and women. For the Christian faith taught that humans were not types. Each had an immortal soul, and the carvers began to look for it in the faces and bodies they saw. But whereas the northern sculptor had no theory and worked by instinct—and his instinct for realism, as we have seen, was overwhelmingly strong—the Italian sculptors were beginning to learn about humanism, the knowledge from the past which directed fierce attention on the human body and psyche, created in God's image and the potential master of the universe and all it contained. The human being was all-important and sacrosanct, and to portray him accurately and vividly was a God-like act, worthy of the utmost pains and the highest genius.

Paul Johnson, Art: A New History

Amen.

I really, really like it when historians are not afraid to acknowledge all sorts of influences on people, including their faith. And to go to the trouble to understand the faith enough that they can see how it influences the people.

Rethinking the Enlightenment: Faith in the Age of Reason by Joseph T. Stuart

The Enlightenment is a fascinating example of the relationship between religion and culture. As common ways of life, Christian culture and Enlightenment culture both conflicted and overlapped with each other—or diverged altogether. Christians interacted with the Enlightenment thought conflict, engagement, and retreat. Each of these strategies possessed different emphases, strengths, and weaknesses.

I got interested in this after hearing the author on Catholic Answers Focus. I'd never heard of the Catholic Enlightenment or how many ways the Christian culture intentionally overlapped with the secular Enlightenment. The author did a great job of explaining the Enlightenment's origins and main players before going into the three Christian responses that led to the Conflictual Enlightenment, the Catholic Enlightenment, and the Practical Enlightenment.

Focusing on key people and events, he is able to tell this complex story so clearly that I was able to keep track of it the entire time. I grew very fond of some of the people involved. In fact, Pope Benedict XIV is now a new favorite of mine. And Edmund Burke — what a clear-headed thinker! I'd already read about some of these people, such as Susannah, Charles, and John Wesley. However, Stuart had more in-depth information than I'd seen. I really enjoyed seeing how they fit into the historical jigsaw puzzle, often bumping into others who I'd never have thought of connecting.

I also was fascinated by his examination of why the French didn't experience a religious revival as they eventually did in the English-speaking world. Comparing their situation to the American experience, which was that of Practical Enlightenment, was really eye opening. In fact, Practical Enlightenment is so key to the American psyche that, as I was reading, I felt right at home. That's still how we think, for the most part. Or has been until fairly recently, anyway.

This is just an excellent piece of history, explanation, and story telling. We are left with the message that our times are not lost or hopeless. We can regain what is being lost. It was done before and we can do it again.