Carolina Moments: Watching, Reading, Eating

ON SCREEN: BIG CONTENDER FOR MULTIPLE OSCARS

Marty Supreme

In past years, the Chief Penguin and I have made it a goal to see as many of the Best Picture Oscar nominations as possible.  More recently, we’ve been slackers, but we might see a few of them between now and the March awards.

Marty with paddle (wsj.com)

We are fans of Timothée Chalamet since seeing him in Call Me by Your Name and Lady Bird, both films of 2017.  As the star of Marty Supreme, he gave us a good excuse to walk downtown to the cozy Cary theater for an afternoon show.   Chalamet plays Marty Mauser, an overconfident young man out to achieve fame as a star ping pong player, and he was fabulous! He most certainly deserves his nomination for Best Actor.

The film actually has a total of 9 award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Did I love the film?  No, not really.  It is fast-paced and intense, with one lively scene after another like a ping pong ball ricocheting back and forth across the game table.  Set in the 1950’s and supposedly inspired by a real ping pong player, it has little in the way of character development or a moral arc.  Perhaps that makes it more realistic.

Marty is perennially supremely confident, arrogant even, ever ready to make a deal and get what he wants with little to no effort.  He’s also careless with other people’s feelings, including his sometime girlfriend’s.  But then, it’s a sports film, and Marty is always hankering after the next major tournament (in Japan, perhaps) and scheming to find the money to get there.  He has no real job and no long-range plans.  

The tournament scenes are dizzying and a technical feat.  The soundtrack is appropriately heavy or boisterous as needed, and Gwyneth Paltrow has a touching role as actress Kay Stone, trying for her own comeback.  I wanted Marty to get his comeuppance and so found the ending disappointing.  Overall, I give it a qualified recommendation as more of a guy’s film.  

READING: MARRIAGE UPENDED

Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden

Burden (nyt.com)

Author Belle Burden is the product of a socially prominent wealthy family.  Her grandmother was Babe Paley, magazine editor and socialite wife of William, founder and CEO of CBS.  Burden’s mother, Amanda, is an urban planner who was director of city planning in New York under Mayor Bloomberg.  It is not surprising then that Belle, a young lawyer, met and married another rich, preppy lawyer.  He too was socially connected.

Over two decades together, they had three children, and he flourished in his career, while she mostly gave up working, tending to the household and the kids’ lives.  During Covid, she learned James was having an affair.  Confronted, he announced the next day that he wanted a divorce and didn’t want nor care about shared custody of their children.

Strangers is Burden’s account of her shock and disbelief, her struggle to pull herself together, and her probing reflections on why and what motivated husband James to cut himself off so completely.  The book grew out of a column she wrote for “Modern Love” in the New York Times.  

She is candid in sharing her personal shortcomings, reveals James’ in-it-for- himself approach to money and family, and doesn’t stint on describing how difficult the divorce proceedings were.  Yet she genuinely loved this man and so retains some kindness toward him.  What I found striking was how much she became a 1950’s traditional wife after the arrival of the children, knowing nothing about their family finances and not asking any questions about them.  It’s a very engaging quick read and I recommend it. (~JWFarrington)

COOKING: IN THE KITCHEN WITH A MEAL KIT

Recently, the Chief Penguin and I re-discovered how much we like the Fresh Market stores.  We regularly shopped at our local one in Florida. The Fresh Market in Cary is bigger and nicer with tempting deli salads, a wide variety of ethnic sauces, pickles, and spices, and a cheese case that comes close to rivaling Wegmans. 

Photo on kit package

This time we surrendered to the temptation of one of their Market Meal Kits, specifically the Thai Coconut Chicken Rice Bowl.  There were several choices ranging from flank steak to Korean barbeque, but this one piqued our fancy.  I’ve never prepared one of these meal kits before and was surprised and pleased by the freshness of the ingredients, the sturdy plastic box containing each item separately wrapped, and the straightforward directions.  

Even the olive oil for sautéing was included, along with a small packet of seasoning.  The vegetables, broccoli mostly with some onion, shredded carrots, and a few onion pieces and snap peas, are stir fried and set aside.  While you cook the chicken, the rice packet goes into the microwave for its cooking.  Then add veggies and the coconut sauce to the chicken and voila, in a minute or two you have a complete dish to serve over the rice.  Start to finish without any pauses, it takes just 15 minutes.

The resulting dish was delicious, nicely spiced, and not salty!  We enjoyed it, and not being big eaters, had some leftover for lunch.  We look forward to trying other kits.

Carolina Comments: Cuba & Local Culture

 REFLECTIONS

Cuba in 2019

It was not unusual to see images of Fidel Castro around

Seven years ago this week, the Chief Penguin and I were part of a small group educational and cultural trip to Cuba.  We were in Havana the bulk of the time with a trip one day to the Vinales Valley.  In the city, we experienced lunch at a private restaurant, one of the few examples of free enterprise allowed, and heard a talk by an economics professor on how the Cuban economy worked.  We learned about Hispanic music from a musician professor and attended a special dance performance by a lively female troupe.  

Habana Campos Dance with colorful chairs

Havana is called “a city of columns.”  I took a walking tour of the city’s architecture led by a noted local architect and was impressed with the beauty of its historic buildings.  

Havana facade
Levels of columns
Distinctive facade

We also saw a variety of cotton candy convertibles on the streets, sometimes midst buildings in disrepair.  It was a study in contrasts.   

Cotton candy cars, Havana

During our visit, there was a hurricane and the power went off in the middle of our group dinner on the second floor of a partially open-air restaurant.  Undeterred and cooking with gas, the waitstaff brought us our remaining courses by candlelight.  Using our iPhone flashlights, we safely navigated down the stairs to our waiting van.  The hotel and our room were also in the dark until the lights blinked on around 3:00 am.  That was an unexpected adventure.

Her first cigar?
Transport to lunch
Hand rolling a cigar

In the countryside, we visited a tobacco farm, saw tobacco leaves being dried, and could purchase cigars singly or by the box.  At another farm property, we climbed into a wooden cart pulled by a pair of oxen and jogged up a muddy hill for lunch outside.  The family who run this farm were most welcoming and lunch was a tasty spread.

Roast pig for lunch at a family farm

All in all, visiting Cuba was a memorable experience and alas, a trip you couldn’t make today.

MUSIC AND FOOD

Before the latest snowstorm, the Chief Penguin and I enjoyed two outings, one to a concert, the other for lunch at a nearby Lebanese restaurant.

North Carolina Symphony Concert

After almost two years in this area, we finally attended a NC Symphony concert in Raleigh.  Meymandi Concert Hall is a contemporary building with 65 ft. high ceilings and several tiers of seating in addition to the main floor orchestra level.  It is named for Dr. Assad Meymandi, a native Iranian, psychiatrist and neurologist, who practiced medicine in Fayetteville and then in Raleigh.  A faithful subscriber to the concerts, he was also a generous donor.  The hall opened in 2001.  

Not being season subscribers, we had a limited choice of seats, but we ended up, happily we discovered, in the 4th row on the main floor.  Very close to the musicians, which might not always matter, but it put us with an excellent view of the pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason for her Mozart piano concerto (No.23 in A).  

The concert, led by energetic guest conductor Ketaro Harada, was devoted to Mozart with several pieces in D major, and the concerto in A.  We heard the overtures to “Don Giovanni” and “The Marriage of Figaro” along with Symphony No. 35.  It was a most enjoyable evening and a good incentive to go again.

Lunch at Sassool in Cary

Due to a civil war in Lebanon in 1976, the Saleh family left their country for the United States.  Unable to find pita bread, they initially started a bakery and then later expanded in 1989 to become a restaurant.  One brother went out on his own and named his new casual restaurant, Sassool, grandmother Cecilia’s nickname.  Today, there are two Sassool locations, one in Cary and one in Raleigh.

A group of us went for lunch and Simone, one of the family owners, offered up a buffet of their signature dishes.  We could sample everything from chicken shawarma, falafel, kibbeh patties, Greek salad, a lentil dish, hummus, baba ghanouj, and, of course, fresh pita bread.  You can eat in or take out from the wide variety of salads and other dishes in their cases or purchase dry goods from the grocery section.  We savored the variety of foods and even brought some of it home!

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Carolina Comments: Cocooning in January

WINTER THOUGHTS

Good morning.  Like much of the country, North Carolina is experiencing a winter weather event.  For some, it will be a really massive storm with inches and possibly feet of snow; for others, after a bit of snow, the real concern is freezing rain and ice.  We’ve had just over an inch of snow and are bracing for a wintry mix later today.  If it gets above freezing, we may avoid serious ice and possible power outages.

Taste of winter in North Carolina

Meanwhile, we have nowhere to go and will stay inside cozy and warm.  Yesterday, before the storm arrived, we binge watched two episodes of The Pitt.  Last evening, as a palate (read mind) cleanser, we began Season 6 of All Creatures Great & Small.  Episode 1 is sweet and mostly joyful.  The war is ending, and Tristan returns home on leave.  As for Mrs. Hall, will she be persuaded to come back to Darrowby?  Watch to find out. We also recently viewed the intense crime series, His & Hers, on Netflix.

And there are books, two included here, for your consideration.  I have also started The Loneliness of Sonia and Sonny and made it past the first 100 pages.  It’s a tome and I’m enjoying it.  Look for comments in a future blog.

MYSTERY: DUPLICITY & DECEPTION

The Good Liar by Denise Mina

(Mina.theguardian.com)

The Good Liar is the first book I’ve read by Scottish crime novelist, Denise Mina. It’s a dense and graphic account of the murder of a prominent couple and the events afterward related to investigating the crime.  Claudia O’Sheil is a professor and a blood spatter expert who works for a forensic science company.  Sir Philip Ardmore is her boss and a supportive mentor.  Recently widowed, Claudia is overwhelmed with grief and struggling to deal with her two teenage boys, one unruly and disruptive.

Philip knew the murdered couple and the son, William, is a prime first suspect.  Who besides him had access to the couple’s apartment?  Claudia’s blood evidence results in William being charged and sentenced to prison.  But what if, William wasn’t the murderer?  And what really was the cause of Claudia’s husband James’ death?  If she was wrong about the blood evidence, what is the truth and to whom does she have an obligation to tell?

The novel moves back and forth in time as Claudia’s dilemma about what to say or not is played out against the backdrop of the murder.  There is Philip’s class and place in the power structure and questions about James and their professional colleagues and friends.  

Once I got fully into the book, I was enmeshed in the complexities of the situation.  The writing is precise and detailed and requires close reading.  Recommended for Mina fans. (~JWFarrington)

CAPTIVATING MEMOIR: FAMILY & MARRIAGE

The Irish Goodbye: Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly (2026)

(bethannfennelly.com)

I reviewed this book for First Impressions pre-publication in BookBrowse and am including my review here.  Publication date is late February 2026.

The Irish Goodbye is a collection of short to extremely brief writings by former poet laureate of Mississippi Beth Ann Fennelly.  It ranges from quick thoughts on married life (a cracked knee when presenting a 25th anniversary ring to folded oven mitts), to contemplating friendships old and fresh, to mourning the sudden death of a sister, to facing the deaths of other family and friends.  Much space is devoted to Fennelly’s recollections of her sister and the deep hole she has left in Fennelly’s life.  Mixed with the sadness and the wondering, there is also humor and wit. 

I found this book a delight.  As it progresses, Fennelly removes a few more layers and candidly exposes more of herself.  Her prose is succinct and precise and often sparkles. She makes you smile as you admire her adept turn of phrase.  Recommended for book clubs looking for a short powerful punch!  (~JWFarrington)

WATCHING: LIES & MURDERS

His & Hers (Netflix)

Jack & Anna (rotten tomatoes.com)

His & Hers is a six-part mystery series set in a suburb of Atlanta. Jack Harper is a county detective and his estranged wife Anna is a TV reporter who returns after having been away for a year. The death of her friend Rachel brings her back. She and Jack tangle over how the murder is covered and who is involved. At the heart of the series is set of girls who were high school classmates, some friends, some not.

The series is intense, emotions run high, there is plenty of sex, and lots of F-bombs. We thought about abandoning it after the initial episode, but somehow got sucked in and were caught up short by the ending. Overall, it’s a clever story of lies and facades, and you are kept guessing as to whose truth is the truth.

Carolina Comments: January Diversions

Snow in upstate New York

It’s winter and the weather outside is cold and gray and sleety.  When not exercising in the gym or fulfilling our several committee assignments, the Chief Penguin and I find ourselves burrowing deep into reading or bingeing on a TV series.  Hence, this week, you have here a book and a medical drama.

FABULOUS NOVEL

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Author Evans (WSJ.com)

Viriginia Evans is 39 and has a stack of unpublished novels.  Disappointed and depressed, she started writing again, partly just to vent.  The result was The Correspondent, long in the making, and a word-of-mouth surprise bestseller.  It was published in 2025.  I just finished reading it, and I loved it!

It’s an epistolary novel, told totally in letters; in this case, letters to and from Sybil Van Antwerp, a divorced woman in her early 70’s.  Over the years, I’ve read a few epistolary novels.  Two have stayed with me.  One is Clarissa by Samuel Richardson, published in 1748 and considered a landmark in psychological realism. I read that one in college.  The other is An American Marriage (2018) by Tayari Jones. It uses letters between a woman and her husband, in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, to depict the shortcomings of the criminal justice system and the tensions in their relationship.

In The Correspondent, Sybil is a retired lawyer who was in private practice with Guy Donnelly.  When he became a judge, she served as his clerk.  Her career was central to who she is.  Sybil has always liked order and is not afraid to write, (but not speak) her mind. She has two adult children, a childhood friend, Rosalie, and a brother, Felix.  She writes to her family and friends and also to well-known authors (Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry being two examples) and even to a customer service staff member from Syria.  

The letters are written over the course of nine years and through them, the reader also gets to know Sybil’s children Bruce and Fiona; her best friend Rosalie; her neighbor Theodore Lubeck; Harry, a troubled teenager; her Texan suitor Mick; and what books she’s reading.  The presence of Harry and the gift of a DNA test kit open new horizons for Sybil and shake up her previously quiet existence.  

I found Sybil a fascinating character and a fully realized and convincing senior citizen. I was engaged with her and Rosalie and the ups and downs of their 60-year friendship. I also sympathized with Sybil as she tried to sort out why she and her daughter Fiona were somewhat at odds. There’s humor and poignancy and very real human emotion in these letters.  And anyone who’s a lover of books will smile over Sybil’s leisure reading.  Highly recommended! (~JWFarrington)

COMPELLING VIEWING

The Pitt Season 1 (HBO Max)

Dr. Robby (amazon.com)

The Chief Penguin and I joined the Dr. Robby fan club as soon as we began watching The Pitt.  Set in an emergency room in a Pittsburgh hospital, this fictional series is intense, realistic, and compelling.  Each episode, there are 15 episodes in Season 1, covers one hour of the day in this ER.  At the head of it all is Dr. Michael Robinavitch, aka Dr. Robby, head nurse Dana, and a bevy of doctors, medical students, and other staff dealing with the arriving patients.  

Some cases are gory accidents needing immediate attention, others are less serious, while sometimes the most difficult aspect of a case is not the medical treatment, but dealing with family members.  Parents or adult children who are upset and in denial about their son’s or their father’s chances for recovery.  Also evident is the impact on the medical staff of providing care in this stressful environment.  How do they develop the resilience needed to continue after losing their first or their fiftieth patient.  

Overall, the series producers have a doctor evaluating the episodes as they film them to make the series as close to a real ER situation as possible within its fictional context.  Dr. Robby is played by Noah Wyle who had a lead role in the earlier ER TV series.  

We are three episodes into the first season, and Season 2 has just been released.  The episodes are graphic and can be hard to watch, perhaps too much for some, but we are definitely hooked!  (~JWFarrington)

FORTHCOMING  

Notes on the Netflix crime drama, His & Hers, and a mystery novel by Denise Mina.

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