Jun 25 2011

Tree of Life

“Many films diminish us. They cheapen us, masturbate our senses, hammer us with shabby thrills, diminish the value of life.”
– Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert calls the film Tree of Life a prayer…not asking for something, not to someone or something, but a prayer for everyone and everything.  It most definitely is not your typical Hollywood fare.  It is a film that is beautifully shot and for the most part edited (I did think one sequence was a little long).  It is a film the plays with the idea of what the beginning and end actually are.

This isn’t a film for everyone though. Which in some ways can lead to that “I’m a genius film maker and smarter than you” vibe. The way it plays with time can make it difficult to follow.  In all honesty, I’m not entirely sure how I felt about it.  I mentioned above one sequence I thought could have been edited a little differently (I think it could have been a little shorter without affecting the impact of the sequence).  I do think that one of the ideas was to keep you questioning, both when and where you are, but how we are connected with each other and our world.

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Jun 14 2011

James Vincent McMorrow

A lovely song recorded in a house by the sea (in Ireland) 01 If I Had a Boat by jamesvmcmorrow

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Jun 13 2011

Hector and the Secrets of Love

Back in January, I read a book Hector and the Search for Happiness.  Not long after, I saw the film Blue Valentine (Trailer).  I had grand plans to write about both the book and film at the time.  Certain events were a little too fresh in my head at the time, time passed, and I never wrote about the book or the film.

Hector and the Search for Happiness is part of a now series of books by the French author François Lelord.  Lelord is psychiatrist who did post doctorate work at UCLA and now lives in SE Asia.  In the book, Hector is a psychiatrist who is burnt out and decides to go on a global journey to discover secrets of happiness.  But that’s all I’m going to say about that book for now.

The translation of the second book in the series, Hector and the Secrets of Love came out at the end of May.  The book begins not long after the first one ended.  Hector is happy with his work, his relationships, his love.  He’s even considering getting married.  Then his girlfriend’s boss invites him (and a few other leading psychiatrists) to a resort to ask them about love.  For Hector, there is another task…his girlfriend’s boss wants him to find a friend and colleague that has disappeared while researching love for the pharmaceutical company Hector’s girlfriend works for.

This journey is going to be a lot more complicated than Hector’s first journey, because love, as Hector often says, is complicated.

In the spirit of the first book, over the course of the book, Hector makes numerous observations about Love.  These “seedlings” are the building blocks to the five components of love (and their corresponding five components of heartache).  Below the cut, I’ve put each of the 27 seedlings of love (at least until someone tells me I have to take it down).  I don’t really think I disagree with any of these observations.  As for the components of love and heartache…for that you’ll have to read the book yourself.

Love being such a complicated thing, this book often made me sad while reading it.  But I suppose a journey to discover the secrets of love is also more prone to heartache than a journey to find the secrets of happiness.

So how is my own journey to discover the secrets of love? Well that’s its own journey…one I’m still on…I’ve been in love and lost love…and I’m still discovering how to love (both myself and someone else)…so instead of answering that question in this public space, I’ll leave you with the words of Hector at the end of his journey:

“Love is indeed complicated, difficult, sometimes painful,
but it is also the only time that our dream becomes reality…”

 

Continue reading

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Jun 09 2011

Obama’s Leadership

An interesting reflection on President Obama’s leadership during his first term from a friend’s husband and the Christian Science Monitor…read it here: Obama and leadership

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2011/06/obamas-leadership/

Jun 04 2011

has it already been almost half a year?

Outside of a few posts about bread (and even those have dropped off) and the normal list of books for the year, I haven’t been writing much here this year.  Well to be honest, I haven’t been writing much anywhere this year.  I’ve been full of a lot of ideas but not a whole lot of action…or at least not sustained action.

So what’s been going on this year?  Well, Alicia and I are dating again and as of May we’re living together, so that’s one big change.  Alicia’s best friend (and her boyfriend) came down over Easter weekend to visit (and see this show).  We went up to visit my sister in Berkeley (and I finally got to meet her boyfriend after two years of Christmas travel headaches) at the end of April.  I’ve been continuing progress towards building my moving fund (current progress is in the sidebar).  I’m still pretty much on track for my book goal for the year (greater than or equal to last years 80 books).

There has been some surprises though as well.  The biggest so far came on the morning of May 9th.  I went to work like any other day even though I was feeling a little off.  I continued to feel a little off and even told Alicia that my right arm was feeling a little twitchy.  The next thing I remember, I woke up in the hospital to see my sister’s boyfriend (who lives in Berkeley, but happened to be on So. Cal. that day).  I had a seizure and had been taken to the hospital via ambulance.  I was kept overnight for observation and released the next day with a prescription and instructions for follow up appointments with my regular doctor.  So far, the medications are working without any noticeable side effects and my tests are coming back normal.  So it seems to be one of those fluke things that just happened.  Something the doctors won’t be able to fully explain.

Before releasing me, the doctor’s at the hospital advised me that I shouldn’t drive and that they were required to notify the DMV.  The letter of re-examination from the DMV came a few days later.  For that, I would need to have a form filled out by my doctor by June 4th or my license would be suspended on June 5th.  This being LA, most people I tell this story to think this is the worst part.  But for me, its just a minor inconvenience.  I was already commuting to work via the subway and vanpool.  My work provided bus pass allows me to get around other places, and I can always let Alicia drive my car for the trips public transit doesn’t work as well for.  The specialist I saw told me as long as there are no more seizures in the next three months, he’ll fill out and sign the form.  A much nicer time frame than the six months to a year the hospital doctors told me.

I think that brings things pretty up to date.  The summer is starting to fill up though…going to see the Timbers play ChivasUSA at the Home Depot Center tonight.  Next weekend, we’re going to spend a night at a bed and breakfast in the San Jacinto Mountains.  The weekend after, we’re going to Portland (where I’ll be going to watch the Timbers vs. NY Red Bulls match with Elizabeth and Austin as part of the Timbers Army!).  In July, we’re going to Temecula to see the Avett Brothers perform.  The “big” trip this summer is in early September though.  We’re going to Brooklyn for my buddy Mike’s wedding!

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Apr 11 2011

Tree of Codes

I’ve had this on order at Amazon for months, but finally noticed in the reviews that Barnes & Noble had it in stock on their website.  In his latest work of fiction, Jonathan Safron Foer has literally cut out a new story from Bruno Schulz’s classic story The Street of Crocodiles (also known as The Cinnamon Shops).

The result is something beautiful…words from pages below peeking up into the current page…giving so many different ways to read each page.  Reading through front to back is quick, as there aren’t many words on each page…and each page is only one-sided.  But this is something I imagine you’d want to read over…seeing the different ways the words come together.

About the book (from Jonathan Safron Foer):

The making of the book (from the publisher):

Tree of Codes (Publisher’s Microsite)

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Apr 05 2011

lovin’ you…

reposted from rocro

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Mar 19 2011

Tartine Bread

tartine1.JPGtartine2.JPG

San Francisco’s Tartine Bakery’s famous breads come out of the oven six days a week at 5pm.  It is normally all gone by 6pm.

In Tartine Bread, Chad Robertson teaches you how to make this wonderful bread at home. Tartine’s bread differs from the standard San Francisco sourdough by using a young levain (wild starter).  By using the starter when it is still young in the cycle, it doesn’t have as much of the distinct sour taste of the traditional San Francisco sourdough breads.In making this bread, I created a wild starter that I fed everyday for a little over a week.  This was to get the starter in a consistent life cycle so when it came time for baking, you’d be able to use the levain at the right part of its life cycle.

The other great thing in this book is that Chad found an ingenious solution to the problem most home bakers face when baking hearth style breads.  Most home ovens are not sealed to the extent commercial baking ovens are.  To create a sealed environment, he uses a cast iron combo cooker (Like this one from Lodge).  This creates a small sealed environment, where the moisture in the dough creates the steam necessary for a good oven spring.  The resulting bread has wonderful crumb with large gas pockets.  Unfortunately the bread was so tasty, I forgot to take a picture of what it looked like on the inside (or maybe not so unfortunately since it was so good).

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Mar 19 2011

White Bread

white1.JPGA basic White Sandwich loaf.  This is essentially the same loaf my grandfather makes in his bread machine, but instead made by hand.

white2.JPGThe formula made enough for two loaves…but not the 1.5lb pans.  I ended up transferring one of these to a smaller bread pan, so it actually crested over the lip of the pan.  While my loaves weren’t quite as tall as I’d hope, they still turned out pretty much as expected.  Good sandwich bread (and also good for toast)white3.JPG

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Mar 19 2011

Tuscan Bread

tuscan1.JPGTuscan Bread is made without salt and as a result has a more plain flavor than a French Bread for example. In Tuscany, this is made up for with the generous use of flavorful sauces to dip the bread in.

tuscan2.JPGThe bread definitely didn’t have the same full flavor of the traditional french loaf.  It did however make a good dipping bread.

tuscan3.JPG

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