Foundation is not must-watch TV.
BUT season 2 was better than season 1. The story much easier to follow.
The ending clearly sets up season 3. The Mule is coming.
Lee Pace is particularly good as Brother Day. I’d watch the show simply for his performance as the egomaniac dictator of the universe.
The rest of the cast is strong, as well.
Visuals and cinematography are first class, of course.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’ve been a fan of Wade Davis for decades.
An academic and adventurer. He crossed the Darién Gap at age-20, for example.
This book is a summary of his Massey Lectures:
The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World (The CBC Massey Lectures 2009)
Very good. Smart and succinct.
Davis compares cultures quickly and easily, looking for lessons for us who haven’t lived with Amazon tribes for years.
Of the thousand key point, one really struck me. His discussion of how the British — on arrival — could not understand the Australian aborigines.
These are and were a people with no notion of linear time.
Theirs was one of the great experiments in human thought. The notion that the world existed as a perfect whole, and that the singular duty of humanity was to maintain through ritual activity the land precisely as it existed when the Rainbow Serpent embarked on the journey of creation.
… But in life there is only the Dreaming, in which every thought, every plant and animal, are inextricably linked as a single impulse, the inspiration of the first dawning.
Had humanity followed this track, it is true that we would have never placed a man on the moon.
But we would most certainly not be speaking of our capacity to compromise the life support of the planet. I have never in all of my travels been so moved by a vision of another possibility, born literally 55,000 years ago.
TED Blog
Edmund Wade Davis CM (born December 14, 1953) is a Canadian cultural anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author, and photographer.
Davis came to prominence with his 1985 best-selling book The Serpent and the Rainbow about the zombies of Haiti. He is professor of anthropology and the BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia.
I watched the first 20 episodes of Blindspot. There are 100 altogether.
The premise is intriguing.
A mysterious, tattooed woman with no recollection of her past or identity shows up in Time Square NYC.
The FBI discovers that her tattoos contain clues to crimes they must solve.
Jaimie Alexander as Remi “Jane Doe” Briggs is excellent.
I also like Ashley Johnson as Patterson. She’s very convincing as the nerd who wants to do the best possible job.
I was far less convinced by Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller, head of the FBI Critical Incident Response Group. He looks the part of the tough guy. But isn’t believable.
The show is 72% on Rotten Tomatoes and lasted 5 seasons. A lot of people like this kind of mindless shoot-em-up where the heroes never seem to get hit by AK-47 bad guys.
They survive car crashes without a bruise.
No need for a search warrant for these agents. 😀
It’s non-stop thriller. Like 24 — but not nearly that good.
Seems to me there is a template for every episode. Cliche dialogue is not only allowed, but preferred.
I can imagine writers being asked to ‘dumb it down‘.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Excellent.
Adler-Olsen is a Danish crime fiction writer best known for his Department Q series.
The first book in the series is The Keeper of Lost Causes. (2013)
Carl Mørck used to be one of Denmark’s best homicide detectives. Then a hail of bullets destroyed the lives of two fellow cops, and Carl—who didn’t draw his weapon—blames himself.
So a promotion is the last thing he expects. But Department Q is a department of one, and Carl’s got only a stack of cold cases for company.
His colleagues snicker, but Carl may have the last laugh, because one file keeps nagging at him: a liberal politician vanished five years earlier and is presumed dead. But she isn’t dead…yet.
I particularly enjoyed Mørck’s sidekick, Assad.
It was adapted in a 2013 Danish film.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Every time he shoots a new music video in Iceland, the locations become tourist attractions.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
While in Venice I read a book set in … Venice.
Venice, 1943: Stella Jilani is leading a double life, working as a typist in the 3rd Reich Office, but smuggling out information for the Italian Resistance and using her old typewriter to produce an underground newspaper.
Her life becomes even more complicated when she crosses paths with two very different men – the cultured, enigmatic Cristian De Luca, her immediate superior at work, and friendly Jack (Giovanni), an injured British-Italian parachutist, who needs her help. …
Historical Novel Society
A second story line is set 2017 — Stella’s granddaughter stumbles on an old typewriter and a box of mementoes. Determined to connect with her Venetian heritage, she begins an obsessive quest to find out what happened to her grandmother following WW II.
Not a bad book. But not great.
It was interesting to learn how the Italian underground operated under dictator Mussolini and the NAZIs.
I really enjoyed Kenneth Branagh‘s 2nd Agatha Christie adaptation ➙ Death on the Nile (2022).
Belfast was excellent, as well.
So I was keen to see Haunting in Venice (2023), loosely based on Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie.
Though not as good as Nile, I do have a lot of respect for the 3rd film. It feels true to the Agatha Christie formula.
Film students should study the cinematography and audio.
Branagh portrays the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. An ego trip.
Tina Fey is Ariadne Oliver, Poirot’s friend and a crime novelist (something like Christie).
Having lost faith in God and humanity, Detective Hercule Poirot lives in retirement in post-war Venice, employing ex-police officer Vitale Portfoglio as a bodyguard.
On Halloween, novelist Ariadne Oliver convinces Poirot to attend a séance at the palazzo of opera singer Rowena Drake and help expose medium Joyce Reynolds as a fraud. …
Gathering the other guests together, Poirot exposes _______ as the murderer. …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Surprisingly, I loved Venice.
After 9pm it could be 50 years ago. Elegant decay.
I flew to Venice mainly because Tam & Les were there for a conference.
Fully expected to be disappointed — as I was by Florence in high season 2023. Too. Many. Tourists.
Happily, Venice is still GREAT.
Narrow streets and bridges are near deserted at night.
Here’s a painting of Venice in 1607. At places it looks the same today.
The winged lion is the symbol of the city.
IF taking a gondola, I’d recommend you hire a musician to tag along.
I was there for 3 days. Here are some of my random photos.
The far end of Venice is Lido, the beach.
There is a surprising amount of green space. You can even cycle in Venice.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch Rick Steves on YouTube.
Bigoli (Venetian: bìgołi) is an extruded pasta in the form of a long and thick strand.
Good for me were pasta to go places in Venice.
Choose bigoi. Choose your topping. Take it away in a box.
This one is a kind of Carbonara.
This one is Amatriciana: Tomato and Bacon.
I can then sit on the canal to enjoy with my Diet Coke bottle of cheap wine. 😀
Overall, the Carbonara variations are my favourites. Eggs, hard cheese, cured pork, and lots of black pepper.
I tried a super popular local restaurant near a train station. AMERICAN portions.
Tastiest of all — however — was a small portion of lasagna I had with Les and Tam at a random tourist restaurant in Venice. I couldn’t recall better.
Outside Italy, the phrase “Bolognese sauce” is often used to refer to a tomato-based sauce to which minced meat has been added. As kids in Canada we ate spaghetti and meatballs — thinking it a kind of spaghetti bolognese.
The mayor of Bologna pointed out that “Spaghetti bolognese doesn’t actually exist, yet it’s famous the world over …”
Ragù alla Bolognese is what it’s called here.
Tagliatelle al ragù alla bolognese is much preferred over spaghetti. Often served with grated Parmesan on top.
This is grocery store Tagliatelle bolognese. I added the parmesan and pepper.
Sadly, it was the worst pasta I had in Italy.
I’m the kind of gourmand who’s quite happy with spaghetti and ragù sauce out of a jar. 😀
BUT for this trip to Tuscany, I decided to learn something about real pasta.
Hostel homemade Tagliatelle has a nice texture. Long, flat ribbons that hold a lot of sauce.
In the north, cuisine is influenced by Germany and Austria. But I stuck with pasta in Trento.
Monograno Felicetti is like spaghetti. And was served to me al dente.
The carbonara was tasty. Cured pork and black pepper the main takeaways.
In Italy, I listened to sections of a good book:
Pasta, Pane, Vino: Deep Travels Through Italy’s Food Culture
Author Matt Goulding was inspired by Anthony Bourdain.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
S. A. Cosby is one of the hottest writers working today.
Some call him a “Southern noir” crime fiction writer.
In this book, a Black sheriff in a small (racist) Southern town faces off with a serial killer.
The story is excellent. But the intent is clearly to examine the racial and geopolitical fault lines of America’s South.
If I had any complaint, I’d say it’s about 40% too preachy. 😀
Read an excellent review by Gabino Iglesias.
Rick McCharles 