Debate recap

Chris Christie - Very convincing and pleasant personality 

Vivek - Performer, definitely interesting. Personality is fundamentally cringe, but not in a distracting way

Haley - Dislike 

Pence - Dislike, but impressive performance for what it was 

Bergum - Maybe the most normal 

Asa Hutchinson - grim Huntsman clone 

DeSantis - Explains situation well, incredible glitch 

Scott - A zero, but not unpleasant

Lentil soup

I have saved several recipes over the years--many on scraps of notebook paper. I found a recipe for Lentil soup. In the cupboard I found a 1 lb bag of La preferida lentils, so I decided to make the soup. 

I didn’t have any celery so I just skipped it. I picked through my elastic sack of garlic, but nearly all the cloves were in a sorry state. I found 1 and a half good cloves. I added some iodized salt and 2 smatterings of olive oil. 

One of the most interesting steps was sorting the lentils. The recipe didn’t say to sort the lentils, but the rest of the internet warned of debris; so I did some sorting. I colandered the lentils rinsed them. I only found one small branchlike thing, while glancing through all the flattened piles. 

I poured tap water into a large pot and then put in the lentils. I added heat and the other ingredients including the spices. I occasionally added more water. I wasn’t sure how long it’d take; after a while I tasted some broth and lentils. The lentils weren’t hard, but the broth seemed tasteless, so I helplessly added more salt (non-iodized this time). Despite this discouragement, I resolved to trust the recipe and not attempt resuscitative measures. I simmered it a bit more, but not so much to wipe out the lentils. 

Before my second taste, I allowed the spoonful to cool. Thankfully the broth seemed more bodied. The soup was more piled than I prefer, but still had a nice watery composition. I’m inclined to that over starch-thickened soups. This is not the norm, no? I imagine the scenario in Defiance. Everyone’s in line waiting for one ladle-full of watery broth. One man complains it’s insufficiency, but he is punished for it, so those who follow are content with a single ladle. 

I don’t recall having a soup without anything floating around--a pure broth. But that is the true test that indicates whether a soup works or not. 

P.S. 

I made this again. This time I added chopped up ham and some celery.

Upcoming movies

Movies are still a big part of my life, though I struggle to write about them. It is obvious what sort of material would work well in discussion, but how do I summon those details of experience to the fore? There are some recent projects I want to touch on. 

Deeply anticipated

The Holdovers - Payne - Classical American artist 

Killings of the Flower Moon - Leo/Scorsese - I haven't revisited The Irishman, but I frequently fantasize about it. I have towering optimism about this project since Scorsese is clearly getting better with age. Leo may be my top movie star as well. I saw glimpses of the trailer… my God 

 

Anticipated 

Afire - Petzold/Beer - This has to at least be what Undine was; I hope it’s more fully formed

Dune: Part Two - the novel/Villeneuve/Zendaya/Rebecca Ferguson/Chalamet (reluctantly) - The world of Dune is a great place to be. A great case for reading a novel so its residual follows you for the rest of time. I didn’t like BR2049, but I think a re-approach is possible 

Ferrari - Mann - We have not had a Mann in nearly a decade. I recall tragically finding out about him a couple weeks after Blackhat released (and had already vanished from theaters) 

Murder Mystery 2 - Sandler - I saw the original before I re-discovered Sandler as an adult. I was aware of the weird Sandler corner of the internet, but didn't find myself in step with them until more recently 

Oppenheimer - Nolan/process-oriented - Classical American artist 

Showing Up - Reichardt - I have some optimism this will be about modern American life (so few movies are) 

Viduthalai: Part I - Vetri Maaran 

 

Somewhat anticipated

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - I have pivoted away from Sundance-adjacent material (e.g. CODA), but I faith in this one since KFC did Edge of Seventeen 

Beau is Afraid - Hereditary was a good experience in the theater. Midsommar was an awful one at home (excepting the whole-house garage-suicide). I feel like Joaquin should hold this one over, and the 3-hour runtime is promising 

Copenhagen Cowboy - I haven't kept up with Refn since Neon Demon, but I feel like it will go similarly now 

Dhruva Natchathiram: Chapter One Yuddha Kaandam - GVM - I suppose it may not release, but I can’t leave it out due to its spiritual connection to Enai Noki Paayum Thota 

Eureka - Viggo/Alonso/modern western with classical look 

The Killer - Fincher - Cozy director for me; his first since Gone Girl (does Mank count?) 

Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1 - Cruise 

Napolean - Scott/historical 

No Hard Feelings - JLaw - I would have thought the run she is on is worse than it is. She is not great in Don’t Look Up, but it’s more a fault of the screenplay; the movie is good overall. I am a Dark Phoenix defender–though that’s more Sophie Turner’s movie. Red Sparrow was awful, but not a Serena-level situation. mother! was respectable choice; Aronofsky is on a stunning run up to now. After that we have the X-Men movie that followed her peak in 2015–so not too shabby! 

Ponniyin Selvan 2 - Ratnam - I saw this a week or two ago. I’ve struggled a bit with this series, but there were 2 moving songscapes, and I saw it on a fantastic screen. I hope he steps back a bit from these epic scales and returns to the basic romance structure 

Thuramukham - Epic 

 

Non-negligibly anticipated

Challengers - Zendaya/Luca (I guess)  

Jawan - SRK 

Maamannan - Selvaraj 

May December - Haynes 

Music - Schanelec 

Tiger 3 - Maneesh Sharma

Vanishing oatmeal raisin cookies

For some reason I decided to make these. Normally I prefer to make non-dessert things, since I am more into savory things. If I’m making cookies, oatmeal raisin is usually my first choice. And I already had all the ingredients the day before I bought a cylinder of raisins. 

The initial step turned out to be the hardest. The recipe required about a stick of softened butter–and all my sticks were frozen. I cut up the stick so it’d thaw faster, but faster was still not fast enough. I ended rigging up a lamp so its incandescent bulb poked into the center of the butter bowl. After some time, a 180-degree rotation of the bowl, and some more time, the butter seemed mixable. Handling the brown sugar turned out to be tricky as well. It was old, so I had break the chunks apart. I really should have removed all of it from the bag and grated it to a consistent shape. The amount had to be off since it was still chunky when I measured it. It did end up mixing well enough. The rest of the process was more routine. I put a little too much vanilla–it jumped out of the bottle. My baking soda was several years old. Maybe I could have unclumped the raisins before mixing. I used old-fashioned oats. I didn’t have one of those cookie scoops with the sliding half-ring, so I just used a plastic tablespoon to put the dough-plops on the sheet. Once the sheet was filled with plops I formed them with my hands to make them more circular. Is this a no-no? The recipe said 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. I went the full 10 minutes with both batches, since the golden-brown wasn’t as golden brown as I expected. 

I let them cool on the sheet for 1 minute and then on the rack for 15 minutes. I liked them. The main thing was the texture; both the mountainous shape and bottom had a hard crest, while inside there was a softer region with some moisture. If pressed I’d say there was some oddness with the flavor–maybe a soda note? The raisin distribution was not close to uniform either. It’s not a cautionary tale (if someone else made these I’d consider them a success) but I like the finding the full composition since they are already close to what I’m looking for. 

I ended up eating most of the batch (I made 2 dozen–is that 1 batch or 2 batches? I feel like we need 2 words here; one corresponding to 1 bowl of cookie dough, and one corresponding to 1 sheet) by the end of the evening, and the last few the next morning. So I guess next time I’ll have to eat like 4 then give the rest to someone else. 

Rules of chess

1. Never play Rf1-Re1
2. Never resign (unless it’s your last game) 
3. You don’t have to castle 
4. Never agree to a draw 
5. If you control the game, delay checkmating your opponent 
6. Consider retreating 
7. Promote every pawn you have 
8. Don’t play h3 (Unless g4 will follow) 
9. Don’t play f3

2021 pt. 5

A nice sunned winter day pushing over melted snow I enter the lobby. Not a soul to see; nor in the theater. Sadly this return remained only an endurance test–though I didn’t stop there. A flier, in the evening probably. A drive down country roads; they don’t know each other. Acquaintances brought together with work. We meet another, but not the prize. Duration so abbreviated–Have I ever gone back?... well, yes, but the well still runs too high. Was this other in an afternoon–No, I’d say early AM. Netflix VOD opening, a chore until it finds a home in the great global market. Why this next? I guess just to be in the know. There was that one (and maybe one other) review. Maybe it was the tease of Anna’s role. It did capture our modern world, which is not so simple. Before I trample too much, there is the glow of the scenes near the open–a precise drill through my own indie predilections. A captivating force in ordinary form. Later that force fades into a mask (and literal possession) and the suffusion fades into parched debauchery. Another early AM, so easy to settle inside. I wanted them to be together. But he demands he’s a predator… life next to an industrial operation is so… A weekend split finished the next morning–TV on the north wall. Maybe some basketball on later. It was just Mom and I. She loved princess Di too, right? Woman in trouble, again. Was that theater insufficiently lit? Have I made that walk since then? A bathroom break, surely. I suppose I was in a mood, where did this push that? I wish there was more from that one, just a little something from the male. But it was a summer movie. Maybe my first time there? The booth didn’t seem to serve entry past the start time. No matter I came right in on that gray image. In a shop, the boy busy with work. There were a couple of groups; me, the right-most. Midway in the halls there was that girl walking through. Did I time my exit well? I guess I play-act my part as a movie person each time he makes a new film. There was more than I expected (or at least what the past rightfully indicated), so I won’t complain. Still, the boy was missing the bib and food-smear he deserved. I don’t know how to cast this anonymity away. Sometimes all the feeling has left–if there was any to begin with. So to be clear–I can say one thing. I owe this choice to the bounties of the past; at the very least, those promises were not unpaid. Finally back to those early adventures to the center. I had to be the only one, though my memory is not certain. And here’s some TV for which my hateful feelings have grown. And then this, another in a late evening, into the AM. One of those you find after a great period lost. The runtime olympics dusted forever. And this other–for the girl, maybe? Adjacent to the current thing? No–but yes to the former. Mostly bloodlust and emotional scattering. Again, in this retrospective address, this choice is shocking. Surely a test-run was involved. There is that nice scene of rural escape. A drive and some logistics. A Banks album and the curve into 694. Sitting in that lot, waiting. At least my scorecard wasn’t empty. Why then was I led to this? Maybe just a whim–files on a hard drive. It’s been so long–thousands of discourse cycles away now. There, it’s done.

2021 pt. 4

Dune

Villeneuve movies can sometimes end up cold if the characters don’t resonate with the expectations of today's movie audience (of which I am a member). This is not the case here, so its rapturous reception is unsurprising. Even with limited exposure, Zendaya leaves an impressive imprint. Chalamet fails to embarrass standing in MacLachlan’s legacy. I’m not sure what to say about Ferguson; I’m on board obviously.

Undine

Lovers meet in a cafe, colliding with each other to shatter a tank and free its great gallons of liquid. The two actors are great together but their separation leaves the film disjoint and wanting. We’re left to wonder why there’s not the maze of upholstery we see in his other films. 

CODA

I don’t like to rain on the parades of emotional Sundance pictures, but the contrivances here were tough to get over. I scored one point for CODA’s mean teacher, but elsewise there’s only tyrannical niceness.

A Floating World

The coldness of the other paired with the newness that accompanies its experience. Walking along and through untouched cobbled streets, seeing not a face at all. I jump at a stone-wall–not quite. Looking across the bay–which of those who stroll through is my friend? A nighttime walk across a bridge–where I should go next? Another temple–have faith, my son; show me. Into another square, another gardened walkthrough–and dreams that bring it all back. Do I know how to walk along the snowed roads, up in a circle? Did I ever really wander? It’s hard to summon anything but praise for the loneliest of pictures.

Ninnila Ninnila

I do like nice restaurant camaraderie with a cycle of dishes to gaze upon. A cartoon about a chef who’s now a magician, presented in warm soft-focus.