Happy young woman watching TV

Watching & Reading: On Screen & Page

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DOCUDRAMA OF FALSE IDENTITY

INVENTING ANNA (Netflix)

Julia Garner as Anna Delvey (tvline.com)

Anna Delvey, Russian by birth, presented herself in New York as a German heiress with a large trust fund. Only 25, she grandly aspired to create a club cum art gallery called ADF, the Anna Delvey Foundation.  Poised, confident, and brazen, she led the high life, courted the A-list of society, and conned investors into believing she was rich and worth the risk.  

Anna Delvey was a real person, but not what she appeared to be.  Based on an article that appeared in New York Magazine, this series is almost as much about journalist Jessica Pressler (called Vivian Kent) and her long investment of time and energy in getting and writing Anna’s story.  

You may not like Anna, and I didn’t much of the time, but her story is a fascinating study in social psychology.  Comprised of 9 episodes, the series runs through Anna’s trial for grand larceny.  Anna is played by Julia Garner, who won two Emmies for her role in the TV series. Ozark.   Jessica Pressler, the real writer of the article, has a new book coming out in August entitled Bad Influence:  Money, Lies, Powers, and the World that Created Anna Delvey.

ONGOING SERIES

BRIDGERTON (Season 2, Netflix)

Lady Danbury with Mrs. Sharma and daughters Edwina & Kate (latimes.com)

The courting games and rituals continue this season as Anthony, the eldest Bridgerton sibling, seeks a wife.  Rational and determined in his mission, he’s guided more by his head than his heart.  Key players are half-sisters Edwina and Kate Sharma who have come to London with their mother and are under the tutelage of the formidable Lady Danbury.  Edwina seems to be the perfect candidate for Anthony while Lady Whistledown aka Pen, is always on the lookout for new material for her gossip sheet.  I think this season, while different, is as good as the first one!

CALL THE MIDWIFE  (Season 11, PBS)

Call the Midwife cast (townandcountry.com)

Babies continue to be born, and East End London never climbs out of poverty.  The sisters and midwives of Nonnatus House remain super dedicated to serving the local mothers and their families.  It’s 1967 and while hair styles and clothing have changed, diseases like scabies can infect a whole community.  After ten years, I feel as if I know these midwives, Nurse Crane, Trixie, and Sister Julienne to name just several; their exploits and the cases they handle make for charming and heartwarming drama.  There is tragedy, but almost always there is something positive that makes this series uplifting.

RECENT READING

THE BEAUTY OF DUSK  by Frank Bruni

Bruni (wbur.org)

Memoirs are a popular genre. While many are accounts of growing up in a dysfunctional family or putting one’s life together after a contentious divorce, there is also a sub-genre related to dealing with diseases such as cancer.  A recent example of this sub-genre is Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad in my post of Sept. 19, 2021.

Frank Bruni’s first memoir, Born Round, was an affectionate portrait of growing up in a food-loving Italian American family coupled with his long struggle to get his weight under control.  His latest memoir, The Beauty of Dusk, is about the effects of an illness, but is more wide-ranging.  A few years ago in his 50’s, he suffered a sudden stroke which destroyed the sight in one eye.  Reading and navigating both became more difficult.  

Bruni discusses coming to terms with his disability, but more significantly shares examples of friends and others who are thriving despite disease or serious injury.  These examples are heartening and uplifting. They remind both Bruni and the reader that other people have serious issues to contend with, some that are hidden.  

Bruni is an engaging writer, and I enjoy his insightful New York Times columns on politics, gay rights, and other issues. Here,  I was impressed by how open he was, not only on his eyesight, but also about the disruptions in his personal life.

Sarasota Scene: Music, Food, & Literature

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SARASOTA ORCHESTRA MASTERWORKS CONCERT

Maestro Bramwell Tovey (sarasotamagazine.com)

The Sarasota Orchestra was in fine form last evening under the baton of new music director Bramwell Tovey.  Maestro Tovey is a Grammy award-winning conductor and principal conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra.   The program included lesser-known works by Richard Strauss and Samuel Coleridge -Taylor plus a lovely violin concerto by Mendelssohn played by guest artist Timothy Chooi.  Rounding out the evening was a selection from Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe.  I thought the orchestra played superbly but wished that Maestro Tovey had been much briefer in his comments before several pieces.

DINING FIND

481 Gourmet

Luscious lamb!

Located in Sarasota’s Rosemary District and sharing a patio with Rosemary & Thyme, 481 Gourmet is a great addition to the neighborhood.  We were a few minutes early for our pre-concert dinner, were warmly welcomed by the hostess, and seated at a table in the center of the dining room (outdoor tables were all reserved).  The dining room is handsome with deep gray walls and dark wood tables and bar.  

We were the first diners inside, and our waiter, Chris, enthusiastically greeted us.  Next another staff member walked by, smiled, and said hello.  Later, the owner herself came over to apologize for any confusion over the no longer offered pre-theater menu.  All this before we’d ordered any food!  We felt like celebrities.

As for the meal itself, the food was delicious. The three of us each had a Caesar salad followed by jumbo scallops, lamb chops, and grilled halibut as our entrees.  The scallops were over risotto, the lamb chops sat on a puddle of pesto, and the halibut was on a bed of couscous with tomato confit on top.  The Caesar salad was the perfect size with croutons and a lacy Parmesan tuile.  Prices are moderate to less moderate, but reflective of today’s food prices and staffing challenges.  Worth a return visit!

EXPANSIVE FRENCH NOVEL

Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin

(amazon.com)

Translated into over thirty languages and the bestselling novel in 2020 in Italy, Fresh Water for Flowers is the first novel by Perrin to be translated into English.  Set in France, mostly in a cemetery, it is a book with many characters, some living and some dead.  Primary is Violette, a still youngish woman whose life we follow from her days as a level-crossing keeper at a train junction to her work as a cemetery caretaker.  

When we first meet her, Violette is alone, her husband Touissant having long since disappeared.  She is friendly with the grave diggers, the priest, and the funeral director and spends her time observing and comforting the families of the deceased who come to bury and later mourn their loved ones.  She has her routine, and she keeps a notebook of the particulars of each new cemetery resident including the weather on the day of the funeral and how many mourners were present.  She gets to know and see again and again a select subgroup of these relatives.  When detective Julien Seul arrives to scatter his mother’s ashes on a stranger’s grave, Violette’s life becomes unsettled and entangled with his in ways she never imagined. 

The novel moves back and forth and around in time, in anything but linear fashion, as Violette’s past is revealed and bits of her childhood as a foster child meted out.  Struck by tragedy, Touissant and Violette separately seek answers to why the event occurred.  Other people’s lives are presented and probed, and diaries reveal secrets long kept.  From a woman who has more than her share of troubles to one who finally realizes she has the will and the right to be happy, Violette evolves into a whole person.  

This novel is rich in its depiction of friendship (Violette and Sasha, Violette and Celia) and ultimately, of love.  A long read, it pulls you in and weaves a spell.  Highly recommended!  (~JWFarrington) 

Note: Header photo and restaurant photo ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Watching, Watching: Film, Stage, & TV

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BEST PICTURE NOMINEES—Heartwarming and Otherworldly

CODA (Apple TV+)

Cast of CODA (imbd.com)

I hadn’t seen or read much about CODA until it won several awards from the Screen Actors Guild. I then noted it was also a Best Picture Oscar nominee which really brought it to my attention.  It’s a wonderful story, poignant and compelling.  Ruby, a high school senior, is the only hearing member of her family (mother, father, older brother).  She assists the two men in their fishing livelihood, the family’s means of support, and is the resident interpreter for their interactions with the outside world.  Ruby loves to sing, but at school, she is teased and bullied.  When she signs up for the school choir, she begins to find herself and to gain respect and positive regard from her classmates.  

This film is groundbreaking with three of the principals in the cast all being played by deaf actors.  One, Marlee Matlin as the mother Jackie Rossi is a familiar face, but the other two are not.  They are so expressive in their signing that they carry the film.  As Ruby, Emilia Jones embodies teenage angst coupled with loyalty and determination.  Her music teacher, Mr. V. (played by Eugenio Debez), is both demanding and supportive in the best way.  For those who don’t know (and I didn’t), CODA stands for Children of Deaf Adults.  The entire film has embedded captions.  Highly recommended! 

Dune (HBO Max + other sources)

Timothee Chalamet with other cast members (whathifi.com)

The Chief Penguin was more interested in seeing this film than I was.  I knew of Frank Herbert’s award-winning science fiction novel but had never read it.  Dune, the movie, is long (2.5 hours) and full of special effects including amazing spacecraft for interplanetary travel.  The plot is complex and involves several different worlds and a young man who is seen as the savior of his people.   

Suffice it to say that I didn’t love or hate the film and watched it to its end.  I would be surprised if it didn’t win Academy awards for sound or cinematography.  Recommended for sci fi fans.

BASKETBALL & POLITICS ON STAGE

The Great Leap by Lauren Yee at Asolo Repertory Theatre

Coaches flank Manford and his cousin Connie (sarasotamagazine.com)

The Chief Penguin and I just saw The Great Leap, and it’s my favorite Asolo production this season!  Ostensibly a story about a basketball game and a Chinese boy’s coming of age, it’s more significantly a political tale highlighting the contrast between free expression in America and constraints in China.  Set in 1971, coming out of the Cultural Revolution, and then in 1989, against the backdrop of Tiananmen Square, two coaches, one from San Francisco and the other from Beijing come together with their competing philosophies.  Each is determined to win this special game.   

The play is brash, funny, powerful, and thought-provoking.  Having visited China three times in the 1980’s, we watched the events of Tiananmen Square unfold on TV and worried for our Chinese friends there.

Standouts in this performance were Greg Watanabe as Wen Cheng, the Chinese coach, and Glenn Obrero in the role of Manford.  The play runs through April 2, so there’s still time to see it.

FOOD DRAMA

Delicious (Acorn)

Sam & Gina, chef Leo’s wives (radiotimes.com)

I read one mention of this Acorn series and decided to try it.  The setting is beautiful Cornwall and a luxury hotel and restaurant made famous by Leo Vincent, its chef.  It isn’t giving away too much to say that Leo dies early on, and his ex-wife and his widow are left to manage the enterprise.  Gina Benelli, his first wife, is a talented chef in her own right, while Sam, his second wife and widow, gave up her career when she married Leo and doubts her own considerable management abilities.  Add in Leo’s children: Teresa, Gina’s adult daughter, and Michael, Sam’s 18-year-old son, plus Leo’s mother Mimi, and you have conflicts of all sorts among these wildly different personalities.  

Most everyone lies or has a secret about something, and when these truths are revealed, sparks fly.  At its heart, Delicious is more about female friendship than heterosexual love (although there’s plenty of sex about). Some might find Gina and Sam’s clashes tiresome after a bit, but I watched all three seasons and stayed engaged.  The scenes of delicious food are mouthwatering, and Sheila Hancock as Mimi is both tart and loving.  Delicious is lighter fare with an occasional serious message.

Header graphic of couple watching TV courtesy of elements.envato.com

Granddaughters, Fun & Food

JWF 1 Comment

GOOD TIMES WITH OUR GRANDDAUGHTERS

Our granddaughters, Eleanor and Frances, had not been to Florida since February 2020 just before Covid. That year we celebrated Frances’ March birthday (she would turn 4) super early with a heart-shaped, pink-frosted cake.  The Chief Penguin, aka Grandpa, is the resident baker and works his wonders to create memorable birthday desserts.

This year, the weather was lovely and sunny all but one day, and the girls frolicked for hours, and hours, in the pool. They became quite good swimmers last summer and refreshed their water skills while having oodles of fun.  F dove for rings and swam underwater. Using a pink (what other color is there!) noodle, she created a mini zipline effect on the pool stairs railing.  E jumped in the deep end, swam across the pool, and had timed races with her dad to see how fast she could swim.  

Besides the appeal of the water, there was the matter of food.  F loves strawberries and cherry tomatoes!  She devoured a couple of pints of each.  E, an increasingly accomplished baker and cook, loves all kinds of cheese, and helped with meal preparations and making pancakes, all with the occasional assist from Frances.  It not being Maine, these pancakes were made special with the addition of mini chocolate chips.  

The entire family likes pasta, so noodles and penne were featured in several dinners along with turkey chili, Italian Sunday sauce, and sauteed shrimp.  Going to Tide Tables Restaurant, a cozy spot on the water with inside and outside dining, is a tradition so, one day we braved the crowds to arrive for an early dinner.  Despite what was a packed parking lot, the elapsed time between arriving there, parking, waiting with drinks, and being escorted to a table was just 30 minutes!  The staff deserve credit for efficiently organizing the whole process.  

This is a family all of whom love clams.  Lunch at the Cortez Clam Factory on Saturday fit the bill.  A cousin visiting from Colorado joined us, and we were able to sit outside on the patio.  While only one person ordered clams, the brisket Reuben, Cuban sandwich, shrimp, and fried haddock were very tasty.  A true success!

On the home front, there were several opportunities for tennis, the girls and I kicked around a soccer ball, we did a fish puzzle, and we read books together and silently.  The girls also played with a favorite dollhouse plus blocks, Legos, and Calico Critters.  And we made time for going to Sarasota with a look at the boats in the marina and visits to two shops.

Reading on the stairs
Enjoying a book of jokes!

For the finale, we celebrated Frances’ upcoming 6th birthday with a unicorn-themed cake and cupcakes made by you know who.  It was a magical visit, full of fun for all of us!

Special birthday cake and cupcakes

SARASOTA TREATS

Most of my regular readers know that I am passionate about two stores in downtown Sarasota.  One is Artisan Cheese Company located in the Rosemary District and source of an array of cheddar, Swiss, Camembert, and other delectable cheeses from here and abroad.  The shop also sells distinctive butters and crackers, chocolates, Rancho Gordo beans, and unusual condiments plus homemade soups and delicate feta from Lesbos, Greece.  

My other favorite is Bookstore1Sarasota, a marvelous independent bookstore with a great selection and a very helpful staff.  They are now in a new location on Pineapple St. in The Mark, a new condominium building.  The shop is spacious and attractive with big windows and a colorful tropical flower graphic naming the sections.  From Staff Picks to the latest in fiction and nonfiction plus classics and books for kids, it’s fun to browse.  I always find at least one new title to buy!  There’s also have an upstairs area for events which might include a café at some point.  Both stores are worth the trip!

SOPHISTICATED DINING IN BRADENTON

Chateau 13

Chateau 13, in our opinion, still serves the best, most sophisticated cuisine in the area.  At a recent dinner there, the Chief Penguin and I were re-impressed with the caliber of service (the bread plates even came with a bread-and-butter knife, almost unheard of these days!) and the food.  We indulged in historic Champagne cocktails followed by the charcuterie cheese plate for the Chief Penguin and the French Caesar salad for me.  He then had the salmon rillette salad and the stuffed piquillo pepper appetizer while I savored the salmon en croute.  To top it off, we shared an order of truffle fries, but no dessert.  Everything was delicious!    

Note: Photos ©JWFarrington. Header graphic courtesy localjaw.com