Now playing: Café, by La Plata artist Mister/Miro y su Fabulosa Orquesta de Juguete. Gracias a Laura Citarella por el encuentro.
Currently reading: Controstoria dell’Italia by Giampiero Mughini 📚
In the dog days of a Marin County summer, there is something sublime about taking a Sunday afternoon break with sourdough bread and fresh chevre cheese. We are so blessed to have incredible cheese makers, from Stepladder in Cambria to Laura Chenel in Sonoma to Cypress Grove in Arcata. Abbondanza!
Shiguéhiko Hasumi on the “cruelty” of Yasujirō Ozu: “Is there anything as difficult as seeing a film in which we only ever arrive at the shot itself, no matter how far we go?” I think Antonioni (just saw Red Desert again last week) is also in this vein.
Yesterday was the first day in months that our patio surface was wet from morning dew. Fall is coming.
Currently reading: Directed by Yasujiro Ozu by Shiguéhiko Hasumi 📚About time to honor one of the geniuses of 20th century world culture.
Currently reading: A Certain Lucas by Julio Cortázar 📚Finally getting around to this birthday gift.
Counting my blessings for living between two incredible film treasures, the Smith Rafael Film Center and the Lark Theater. So fortunate to be able to see films usually reserved for the elites of lower Manhattan and the west side of Los Angeles. Recently caught Romanian Radu Jade’s latest (and perhaps one of his finest), Kontinental ‘25 🍿.
Currently reading: St. James Park by John Doll 📚 Just getting started in this tale of mid-city corruption, and women’s and cannery worker’s rights in depression-era San Jose. The fix is in with organized crime, anti-communist city bosses, and a young worman trapped in the high stakes.
Currently reading: The Dark Heart of Italy by Tobias Jones 📚 Really enjoying an Englishman’s thoughts on Italian culture (including football–ironic that the Italian national team has now missed out on three consecutive World Cups).
Sometimes when reading a novel, here The Jokers by Albert Cossery 📚, you are smacked on the head by the currency (the governor === Trump).
This governor was a face—possibly the most ridiculous face—of the universal reign of fraud. Heykal knew him by sight, having often seen him at the municipal casino, surrounded by his most fervent supporters. They formed a sinister crowd of lackeys hovering around him and smiling earnestly at the stupidities he reeled off in an oracular tone. Heykal was so captivated by the man’s brute ignorance that he developed a true passion for him: here was someone so tragically stupid that you could only respect him for it. Magnificently and single-handedly he represented the inanity that ruled the world.
With the brutality of our government wearing on us all, I appreciate folks like KALW’s Rose Aguilar. Last week she took a break from dealing with all the struggles against injustice and inhumanity to spend an hour discussing words and deeds that can lift our mood and help us through an era of austerity and stripped freedoms.
My own response will include making artwork. And passing on words and images of beauty.
Wandering around downtown San Antonio, a very difficult city to read. Some beautiful (in the eye of the beholder) architectural artifacts here and there, with empty-feeling spaces in between.
First post with a picture from Puglia.
