Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries

Vincent van Gogh, Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries, 1888

I love these colors and the summery feel of this work.

TV You Might Have Missed #10 — Pokerface

Poker Face is a murder mystery "case-of-the-week" series with each episode adapting the inverted detective story format popularized by Columbo.

Charlie Cale, a former casino worker with an innate ability to detect lies, is on the run from a casino owner following a suspicious death. Along the way, she encounters colorful characters and solves homicides in a variety of settings.

We really love procedural murder mysteries and this one is really entertaining. In each episode, we see the crime being committed, then we back up in time to see how Charlie was involved on the fringes of the victim's life, and the final section has the crime solved and justice served. The justice is sometimes unorthodox but always satisfying. I was always fascinated by how ingeniously Charlie has been included off-screen in the murder we've seen happening.

We were drawn to it because Rian Johnson developed it. Just as he did with Knives Out and The Glass Onion, this show is an homage to classic mystery TV series. 

The series was inspired by Columbo, being referred as a "howcatchem". Johnson also used Magnum, P.I., The Rockford Files, Quantum Leap, Highway to Heaven and The Incredible Hulk as influences for the tone of the series. Johnson was interested in "doing that Columbo or even Quantum Leap thing of having every episode be an anthropological deep dive into a little corner of America that you might not otherwise see." — Wikipedia

As with most Rian Johnson work it is a creative, superfun throwback to TV the way it used to be. 

Season One is streaming on Peacock and Season Two is in the works.

Notes on Mark: About the Sabbath

Jesus and his disciples walk through the corn.

MARK 2:23-28
We looked at this section last time, but this adds more nuance to the whole thing. Recall that Jesus is passing through a field of grain on the Sabbath and the hungry disciples pick and eat grains. The Pharisees are all over this like white on rice. (You can read it here.) 

Here are a few notes that add to our understanding of the nuances of this passage.

The fourth controversy, like the second, involves a meal—but this time it is a meal on the go, the ancient equivalent of fast food. Mark notes several occasions when Jesus and his disciples are so busy ministering to the throngs of people that they have no time even to eat (3:20; 6:31; 8:1).

[...]

In drawing this comparison [between himself and David], Jesus is declaring that the requirements of his messianic mission (here, his disciples' need for nourishment on the road) take precedence over the prescriptions of the law. But he is also saying more than this. Jesus is likening himself to David, and his disciples to David's loyal band of soldiers. David was the "anointed one" who had been chosen by god to lead Israel (1 Sam 16:13), but who spent years being hunted down by Saul before finally taking up his royal throng.  Like David, Jesus is the Lord's anointed one, his Messiah, pursued and persecuted by the leaders of Israel until the day when he will take up his throne. ...

George Montague, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: Gospel of Mark

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"Son of man": the origin of the messianic meaning of this expression is to be found particularly in the prophecy in Dan 7:13, where Daniel, in a prophetic vision, contemplates 'one like a son of man' coming down on the clouds of heaven, who even goes right up to God's throne and is given dominion and glory and royal power over all peoples and nations. This expression appears 69 times in the Synoptic Gospels; Jesus prefers it to other ways of describing the Messiah -- such as Son of David, Messiah, etc. -- thereby avoiding the nationalistic overtones those expressions had in Jewish minds at the time.

The Navarre Bible: St. Mark

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when Abiathar was high priest: The priest who provided David with bread was actually Ahimelech, Abiathar's father (1 Sam 21:1). This apparent discrepancy causes some modern scholars to accuse Jesus of misquoting Scripture, although this conclusion is unnecessary.

Jesus probably mentioned Abiathar instead of Ahimelech to post a warning for the Pharisees. Abiathar is infamous in OT history as the last high priest of his line, who was banished from Jerusalem and the priesthood for opposing Solomon, the son of David and the heir of his kingdom (1 Kings 2:26-27). He thus represents the end of an old order that passes away with the coming of David's royal successor. As Jesus compares himself and the disciples with David and his men, he likewise draws the Pharisees into the story by casting them as figures like Abiathar. The Pharisees, then, represent an old order of covenant leadership that is about to expire, and if they persist in their opposition to Jesus, the new heir of the Davidic kingdom, they will meet the same disastrous fate that befell Abiathar. Jesus' allusion to this OT tradition was a subtle yet strategic way to caution the Pharisees against their antagonism to his ministry.

The Gospel of Mark, The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible

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Sources and Notes Index 

Three Sisters on the Beach

Joaquín Sorolla, Las tres hermanas en la playa

One of my favorite artists, making me feel like it's time to go on vacation!

When Julie and Scott agreed to do this podcast from the hills of Appalachia in the 1910's, some people called them crazy.

 We discuss Christy by Catherine Marshall in episode 335 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. Join us!

Mark's Noble Quest by Katharine Campbell

This is a sequel to Rosaline's Curse which is a romantic comedy version of Sleeping Beauty where the 13th century young woman awakens in 2017. She encounters our modern world and Mark, a young man who is not only a nerd but also her true love. It's a lot of fun. Read that first. 

This novelette (longer than a short story and shorter than a novella) follows Mark as he tries to prove to Rosaline that he's just as brave as the guys back in the 1200s. That's not easy in 2024 but luckily a friendly fairy sends him on a quest to climb a volcano and recover a beautiful ring. While undergoing three trials. 

So it is a classic adventure set up. Except that this story is being told by Katharine Campbell which means it is charming, funny, and resonates with modern readers' lives. That's all while following the rules of such a fairytale. 

 This is highly satisfying and I only wish it were longer.

The Last Supper - Korean Art

The Last Supper, part of a series on the life of Christ by Korean artist Kim Ki-chang, 1950-53.
via J.R.'s Art Place

I really love art from foreign cultures depicting scriptural events. It makes me realize how universal they are and opens my eyes to the way other cultures see Christianity.

Great First Line: Twelve Fair Kingdoms

I should have known something was very wrong when the Mules started flying erratically.

Twelve Fair Kingdoms by Suzette Haden Elgin

You've got to want to read this after that line, just to find out what it's talking about!

The Rose

The Rose, Thomas Anshutz, via Arts Everyday Living

I love how modern the model looks, despite the clothing. It's the face and expresssion, of course. She's not demurely sitting there, she's got a look that makes you wonder what she's getting ready to say.

Spectacled Caiman and a False Coral Snake

Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus) and a False Coral Snake (Anilius scytale), Maria Sibylla Merian

Anyone who has seen Killing It's first season has to admit that this is the perfect art to consider.

TV You Might've Missed 9 — Killing It

Florida underdog Craig Foster (Craig Robinson) and perky Aussie Uber driver Jillian Glopp (Claudia O’Doherty) enter the Florida Python Challenge to win $20,000 so he can pursue his dreams of owning a saw palmetto berry farm.

Like most people, one of my favorite characters from The Office was Darryl who ran the warehouse. I'm not alone. Mention Darryl and the universal response is, "I love that guy!" That's what made us try his series Killing It, about Florida security guard Craig Foster whose dream is to own a saw palmetto berry farm. He and Aussie Uber driver Jillian enter the Florida Python Challenge which we discovered is a real thing) to win $20,000 seed money.

Craig is trying to show that he can provide for his daughter and maybe win back his ex-wife. He's a good guy faced a lot of the time with choosing the lesser of two evils. Jillian becomes a good friend as well as snake hunting partner. She is the moral compass of the show. She always knows the right thing to do and will push for it even if if hurts personally. 

Killing It feels like it really belongs in the Floridian setting thanks to the irreverence and shock humor, especially in the first season which takes us on a tour of snake oil salesmen in society. The second season is all about how Craig and Jillian weather the many ethical trials that they encounter in running their business. 

All this is while never forgetting to tie up the smallest threads in each episode to finish the story, drive the point home, and make the joke bigger than it was in the beginning.

Great First Line: Equal Rites

This is a story about magic and where it goes and perhaps more importantly where it comes from and why, although it doesn't pretend to answer all or any of these questions.

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

I don't love the book, but I do love that line.

Boy by the Water

Boy by the Water, Paul Gauguin, 1885
via WikiArt

This was inspired by the Lines and Colors post "Not the usual Gauguins" which I encourage you to check out. I discovered that what I disliked were the most recent Gauguins, not his early work. And there are a lot of early pieces that I liked a lot. Including the one above which evokes the sound of rippling water and cool shade, with some bird song. All in all a perfect place to while away a summer afternoon.

Man on a Balcony

Gustave Caillebotte, Man on a Balcony, Boulevard Haussmann, 1880

Great First Line: Take My Camel

"Take my camel, dear," said my Aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass.

Rose Macaulay, The Towers of Trebizond

This first line has made me try several times to read the book but, alas, I've just never been able to stick with it. That line though is so evocative. I can just see Aunt Dot and that camel! I believe she has a parasol.

Great First Line: Hogfather

Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Pratchett can comment on so many levels with just one funny line of text.

Saddling Up

Saddling Up, 1939, taken by Russell Lee
Via Traces of Texas

Bashi-Bazouk

Jean-Leon Gerome, Bashi-Bazouk, 1868-1869

Gorgeous headdress and look at the proud expression. I love it.

Notes on Mark: Fasting

The Disciples Eat Wheat on the Sabbath, James Tissot

MARK 2:23-28

There are good reasons for fasting but I never understood the Pharisees' question to Jesus, as it always seemed to ask why he wasn't copying the "holy crowd." Surely that would be the last reason for doing it ... which is just what Jesus points out. This is especially true when we know more about fasting in those times.

With the stricter Jews fasting was a regular practice. In the Jewish religion there was only one day in all the year that was a compulsory fast, and that was the Day of Atonement. The day when the nation confessed and was forgiven its sin was The Fast... But the stricter Jews fasted on two days every week, on Mondays and Thursdays. It is to be noted that fasting was not as serious as it sounds, for the fast lasted from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and after that normal food could be eaten...

... The trouble about the Pharisees was that in far too many cases their fasting was for self-display. It was to call the attention of men to their goodness. They actually whitened their faces and went about with disheveled garments on their fast days so that no one could miss the fact that they were fasting and so that everyone would see and admire their devotion. It was to call the attention of God to their piety. They felt that this special act of extra piety would bring them to the notice of God. Their fasting was a ritual and a self-displaying ritual at that...

The Gospel of Mark (The Daily Bible Series*, rev. ed.) by William Barclay

You may recall that I brought up the Pharisees questioning the disciples about Jesus' hanging out with sinners. Now, let's take another quick look at how the question about fasting is handled.

Once again, those voicing criticism aim it indirectly, as if seeking to drive a wedge between Jesus and his followers. Where as the previous question about Jesus had been addressed to his disciples (Mark 2:16), now a question about his disciples is addressed to Jesus.

The Gospel of Mark: Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture by Mary Healy

Interesting isn't it? What I always saw as fairly straight forward questions, albeit angry ones with ulterior motives, now become something much more planned and sly. The Gospel of Mark has a subtlety that it often isn't credited with and which Healy's commentary helps me to appreciate.

* Not a Catholic source and one which can have a wonky theology at times, but Barclay was renowned for his authority on life in ancient times and that information is sound, as are many of his general reflections.

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Sources and Notes Index

Mother Feeding Her Twins in a Cornfield

Mother feeding her twins in a cornfield by Bertha Wegmann, c. 1900
Via J.R.'s Art Place

 I love the sweet looks on the mother's and baby's face. Bertha Wegmann captured that perfectly.