Starring: Kevin Bacon (naturally),
Carrie Preston, Kyle Allen, Alexandra Shipp, Simon Helberg.
Keywords: Flowers, small towns,
eccentricity, grief
I have
more and more come to realise that I don't trust movie critics (sorry, Awix). Apparently
they didn't much like this movie. It's not something enough, and it's too much
something else, and after all it's just Kyra Sedgwick and her husband and their
friends making a warm little film about a family with a flower-farming business
and a son who's determined to go live on Mars.
Not much
to see, perhaps, unless you're like the Youtube commenters who were grateful
for the film because it helped them process their own personal griefs. I put it
on because I like Kevin Bacon, Carrie Preston, and Simon Helberg (remember Florence
Foster Jenkins? He played Cosme McMoon, a plum role). The young folk were
good, too, and the kids with their mini-marshmallow guns were a scream. Watch
it when you're in the mood.
Oddly,
earlier that day, I'd read a piece by someone who appreciated Dickens for his
willingness to explore the pain of grief and loss. I suspect that a revival of
emotional art, literature, and cinema may be just around the corner. Humans are
hurting. Sophistication is not the only game in town. And if somebody doesn't
do something about all the oppression, violence, and sheer theft going on
around the world, I predict that this will be followed by the Song of Angry
Men.
No
wonder that guy wanted to live on Mars.
Helicopter on Mars
By NASA
Picture
Quiz
(Answer tomorrow)
What is this?
Paigetheoracle's
Pareidolia:
The
Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of
He says it's the 'elderberry monster'.
Video
of the Day:
Fjords,
with Surprise Ending
Galaxy Babe and Andy were up in Stavanger, Norway, earlier
this summer. They weren't filming The Odyssey, just fjords. But it was
about as hazardous.Good thing the
cinematographer had help.
Coming tomorrow: A visit to the open-air museum
brings a new puzzle and a conversation with some sheep.
Twitter
is the online proof that when humans proposed 'a new republic of letters', the
gods laughed. Today all the instant experts (just add clickbait) are arguing
about whether the works of Shakespeare, Austen, and Dickens were meant to be
enjoyed by hoi polloi ['οιπολλοι].
The
responses, of course, are largely unencumbered by the thought process and
completely uninformed by anything like a background in the subject under
discussion. It's amazing how much these people know: only a few days ago, they
were explaining the Odyssey to us. (But I'll bet they still don't know
that the hoi in hoi polloi means 'the'.)
What I
can't stand is what appears to me to be an open conspiracy to reduce shared
reality to the level of a shifting consensus shaped by the whim of for-profit
enterprises. Just now, and apropos of the 'literary' debate, I wanted to chase
down the source of the claim that, when Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop
was serialised, anxious readers literally stormed New York harbour when the
ships came in, shouting 'Is Little Nell dead?' It's a great story – one version
gives the number of would-be readers at 6000 – but where did it come from?
If you
know, please tell me. But I'm not accepting sources without proper footnotes,
or later than 1999. Because I suspect this is getting passed around without any
fact-checking. So I went to the Library of Congress newspaper files. I'm still
checking contemporary accounts from New York. I haven't found the 'swarmed the
dock' story yet, but I can confirm that Dickens was a superstar. Read this from
the New York Herald in 1842. President John Tyler hosted Dickens and
Washington 'Sleepy Hollow' Irving, and there was a huge crowd.
Fact is
always more interesting than rumour. Don't trust me on this – do your own
research. But do it right.
PS I've
come to the conclusion – after reading more than I ever wanted to about the
death of Little Nell – that the crowd-at-the-docks story is probably
apocryphal. It's usually referred to as 'a rumour' or 'a legend', or simply, 'I
got it off Wikipedia.' But Dickens sold
100,000 copies of that magazine a week.
On an
unrelated note: please share this link with everyone you know and click on us
daily. As of yesterday, this blog has had 500 mouseclicks and climbing.
Beauty
Spot of the Day:
Elizabeth
Castle, Jersey
From our correspondent Bluebottle
By far
the most prominent structure in St Helier is Elizabeth Castle, located on a
tidal islet in the middle of St Aubin Bay. This is quite a recent castle, with
the earliest fortification dating back only to 1551, renamed by Sir Walter
Raleigh in 1600 to Elizabeth Castle in honour of the queen. The initial gun
battery expanded over time to become a vast 15-acre complex.
The
castle remains accessible by causeway at low tide and is cut off for 8 hours a
day, with the causeway up to 12 metres (40 foot) underwater, as Jersey has the
third largest tidal range in the world.
During
the Civil War Jersey declared for the King, with Charles II visiting Jersey in
1650 and 1651. After a seven week siege, Elizabeth Castle became the last place
in the UK to surrender to Parliament. In 1781 the French attacked Jersey in
order to distract Britain from the Siege of Gibraltar, only for this invasion
to end in disaster.
During
Jersey's occupation during the Second World War the Germans built bunkers and
gun emplacements on the castle site, with a concrete observation tower built in
the upper keep with anti-aircraft gun on top. In fact it is the last castle to
see active combat, undergoing bombing raids on 10 August 1944.
Of older
historical significance is St Helier's Hermitage. Originally on a separate
islet but later joined by recent 19th-century harbour works is the rock on
which St Helier lived, now the site of a 12th-century chapel. St Helier was
decapitated on the rock in 555AD and according to legend, picked up his severed
head and walked 200 yards before dying. [Ed. This was a boss move.]
Elizabeth
Castle is now a major tourist attraction; visitors can travel by an amphibious
bus if the causeway is underwater or they would prefer to avoid the 0.7
mile/1.1km walk.
They're
Coming Round the Mountain (or the Bend, Anyway)
Moors
Valley Railway celebrated its 40th anniversary with a gala parade. A
7¼"gauge steam miniature railway
in Dorset, it boasts a track over a mile long with two stations, four tunnels
and a spiral. Bluebottle was there, naturally. Let him show you how much fun it
was.
Listen for the whistles.
Beauty
Spot of the Day:
Niagara
Falls
Slowly we turn…
…and take in the cool spray and magnificent view.
Courtesy of Galaxy Babe's son Allan, another world
traveller. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, it seems. Allan was in the
US for World Cup fun.
Bluebottle's
Fruitless Soap Operetta
Bluebottle strikes again, with more truly horrible
puns.
This episode is NSFW, big-time. Unless you're English.
Everyone else, view at your own risk.
Pareidolia
Theatre
I took this on a sunny day, somewhere in the county
that's high enough up for something like a horizon. Possibly someplace
romantic, like the Walmart parking lot. Rather prosaic after Niagara Falls.
But look at the sky. Do those clouds make you think of
anything? I know some of you have very vivid imaginations. So share.
Vocabulary
Faux Pas of the Day
A
Contradiction in Terms
In today's news: the
ridiculous word Truther. As in, 'Truthers want proof Armstrong
landed on the moon.' Or
'Truthers want proof
snake oil salesmen sell snake oil.' Or 'Truthers want to put people with common
sense in jail.'
The inmates are running
the asylum in a lot of places. Just keep them out of the dictionary business,
please.
Video
of the Day
There's a poem with this one:
the English are never more
than 100 km from a sea coast
this is why
my friends spend so much time
complaining about
seagulls
buckle up:
if the English person
in question
happens to be
a birder
you're in for a long
bumpy
ride
Video: Seagulls, Their Infinite Variety
(Thanks to SashaQ, FWR, Paigetheoracle, and Galaxy Babe
for all the seagulls. We who are landlocked appreciate you.)
Dad: I
don't understand why you have to translateBeowulf. I read that
in college.
I pause
to digest this. My dad, a civil engineer, famously told me about the time he
and his friends all turned in a project for astronomy class: a scale drawing of
the solar system, duly measured in feet and inches. (Their professor, an
erudite European, chortled.) I ponder the likelihood of these fine young engineering
students, all war veterans from the Tennessee mountains, intoning hwaet we
gardena in deep-fried accents and then I realised…
Me: Your
version had words like 'forsooth' and 'lo!', didn't it?
Dad: Yep.
Me: Mine
sounds like this: [reads part of the intro ending with 'þæt wæs god cyning.']
Dad: I
got that last sentence.
Me: I
thought you would.
Apart
from my Appalachian relatives' assertion that my great-grandmother spoke Old
English ('what does sugain mean?'), I have often found that epic poetry
generally tends to bring out the Fachidiot in people. When it comes to
their own folklore, they're often like the lay art appreciator: they don't know
anything about it, but they know what they like. Unfortunately, I suspect a lot
of medieval and classical linguists have a similar problem when it comes to
film art: yes, I'm sure Nolan's film leaves out a lot of detail when it comes
to the Odyssey. But the poem is 12,000 lines long and the movie's only
three hours. Odysseas would think you got off easy.
Personally,
I wish more scholars took themselves less seriously these days. I learned to
read Beowulf and other trifles from Professor Mary David at the
University of Pittsburgh. She was a fine scholar with an equally fine sense of
humour. At the time I was studying with her, she was spending her evenings and
weekends in her garage office collating and translating a manuscript – I think
it was Historia destructionis Troiae – with the help of her mother, a
lady of mature years. According to her, late-strolling suburbanites were being
shocked, shocked, we tell you, by the mirthful sounds of two women
cackling in their garage.
The
cause? Trying to find yet another synonym in the 500-line description of Helen
of Troy's left breast.
Enjoy
the movie.
Wildlife
Caption Challenge
SashaQ sent in this amazing duck photo.
Write a caption, you clever people.
Cartoonish
Thoughts
(Netflix can be very illuminating.)
It's a Sign
Caiman Raptor Elk again. He's wondering if he should
call an exorcist for this SatAnic satellite dish.
I'm worried that the Radiobauer is planting
electronics.
Video
of the Day
Feed Me First: Blackheaded Gull Chicks
By SashaQ
This is some first-rate wildlife footage. Good for
saying 'aww…' and laughing at the same time. Or writing your own voice-overs.
If you come up with one, let us know.
I asked the writers to send photos of what they were
doing this weekend. Robbie Stamp sent this selfie with this guy he ran into.
From what I hear, he and Peter Gabriel discussed Life, the Universe, and Everything,
which is as it should be. Carry on, froods.
A
Thing of Beauty
Is a
Joy Forever
Tavaron found this in her garden. Naturally.
Vocabulary
Notes
Or, not all phrasal verbs are bad ideas.
Like the
late bard Nanci Griffith, I was a child of the Sixties. I know, I know: y'all are all busy trying to forget us faster than we can get
off the stage. But in addition to what increasingly appear to have been our
futile attempts to create a bit more breathing space for the meek of the Earth,
we also contributed a fair number of neologisms to the language we're all using
to talk to each other.
Yeah, I
know: that other lost generation, the one in the Twenties? Made up a lot
of words. Most of them are considered quaint and cute these days: phrases like cat's
pyjamas do not exactly roll trippingly off the tongue. But try these on for
size.
Turn on:
as a verb, or hyphenated as a noun. Don't tell me you haven't used it. Beyonce
turns me on. The news isn't exactly a turn-on these days. And yes, Professor Leary used to advise people
to turn on, tune in, and drop out. You don't have to go that far.
But you're still using the phrase.
Rip
off: Yes, we were getting our
phrasal verbs from the criminal underworld. That phrase goes all the way back
to 1904 prison slang. And yes, Abby Hoffman said, Free speech is the right
to shout 'theater' in a crowded fire. (Steal This Book) But a lot of
the allegedly brilliant ideologies you're seeing in public discourse these
days? It's all a rip-off, brother.
One
more, then I'll quit.
Cop
out: Jack Kerouac probably popularised this one. But for sheer volume of
public demonstrations of copping out, we'd have to wait for the 2020s, eh?
I have
more on my little list, and I'll come back at you with them from time to time,
but in the meantime, don't say those hippie freaks didn't give you anything.
And try to be a little less temporally provincial, won't you?
It's
a Sign
50 Pfennig to use the toilet: 70 Pfennig
if you wash your hands?
Caiman Raptor Elk is camping in Germany again.
He wrote: The sign is a bit aged, because we have
left that currency behind us for quite a while.
Me: Never mind that; this is an alarming approach to
hygiene. And in Germany, no less.
Video
of the Day
Hausmaus, by Tavaron
Tavaron: This is the same mouse in my house. Again.
I recognised it from the hole in its ear.
Me: Why doesn't your cat catch it?
Tavaron: The cat seems to be of the opinion that if
it is inside of the house it is not her business.
Okay, I admit it: I'm writing this on Sunday afternoon
and I'm tired out. So have this morning's poem. Like the song says, 'Take an old cold tater and wait.'
Featured
Insect
Zygaena ephialtes
Tavaron found this in her garden.
Deprecated
Buzzword of the Day
(Deprecated by me, anyway.)
Iconic:
What's wrong with 'iconic', you ask? Most people use it belligerently when
they talk to me – and, as I believe Mandy Patinkin said to Wally Shawn [in an 'iconic'
movie], 'I don't think that word means what you think it does.' Look it up. I'm going to ask Merriam-Webster.
Among other reasons, Merriam-Webster doesn't ask you for money. Or post snarky
pop-ups like the German one that said Gratuliere, dein Adblocker
funktioniert. (The page refused to display if you didn't disable your ad blocker, so I
don't know how clever the rest of it was.)
Definition
#1 is: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an icon. This is
helpful. So: The accessible parking sign is iconic. Good enough.
Definition
#2a is: widely recognized and well-established. So, Otto Waalkes is an
iconic comedian. At least, if you're familiar with German comedy.One
person's icon is another person's 'who'?
Definition
2b is: widely known and acknowledged especially for distinctive excellence.
Aha: this is the one you probably meant when you told me So-and-So was
'iconic'. Although what you probably meant wasn't really in the dictionary,
because what I suspect you meant was, 'This person made several quadrillion
dollars/euros/rupees/Triganic Pus last year and got megaquantities of hits on
their website, so they are much more important than you.'
As
Merriam-Webster remarks, '. . . iconic has become part of the
language of advertising and publicity: companies and magazines and TV hosts
encourage us to think of some consumer item or pop star or show as first-rate
or immortal or flawless. . . when that person or thing is actually simply
widely known.'
