It's Not About Me

The Girl With The Pearl Earring

I first reviewed this movie in August 2009. Just watched it again the other day and the cinematography is still gorgeous. A must see, if you haven't....

 

If you walked around our home you would find it decorated in a mostly western theme – a skull-mounted elk head over the fireplace, Dave Jensen photographs of Oregon in the halls, a Terpning Indian print over the piano and everywhere muted earth tones. However, if you poked your head into our downstairs powder room your interest would be drawn towards a seemingly out-of-place portrait of a young woman gazing back at you over her shoulder. 

If you looked up close, you would notice a slightly yellowed glaze over the print that has developed a mesh of fine cracks, attesting to age, but the girl herself seems timeless – the head is covered as one from past centuries, her rounded face, deep eyes and hopelessly full lips suggest a modern woman.  The hair covering strikes me as unusual for any era, a turban-like wrap of blue and white cloth.  Finally, you will notice a substantial, teardrop pearl earring reflecting light from a source off to her left. She is Jan Vermeer’s “Girl With A Pearl Earring.”

The memory is foggy, but somewhere in grade school I was given a historical comic book that told the story of a boy who skated on frozen, Dutch canals and whose uncle was a painter. My imagination was captured by the descriptions of the pain-staking transformation of pigment in to paint, as well as images of seventeenth century, Dutch life.  I guess that may partially explain why many years later when I first saw Vermeer’s art I claimed him as my favorite painter.  Or maybe it's just because he's great. Other works I've enjoyed include “View Of Delft”, “The Milkmaid”, “Girl With A Red Hat” and “The Geographer”.

You would think that if I was such a Vermeer fan by now I would have seen the 2003 same-titled film telling a fictional tale behind this painting.  Well, I did this weekend and would recommend it as a feast for the eyes.  Shot after shot are framed as if painted by a Dutch master. Sets and costumes fit every image I’ve ever had of life in Holland. Lighting is a masterpiece in itself with natural and firelight giving rich contrast to the shadows of this incandescent-free time.  One particularly lovely scene showed the girl, Greet, peeking through wavy glass into a candle and torch lit banquet. lt just screamed Rembrandt.

The story itself, though tolerable, was not one I would likely go back to hear.  Greet, a housemaid for the Vermeer household, catches the painter’s eye and the painter’s lust.  There are other men, the local butcher boy and Vermeer’s patron along with all the sexual tension you would expect in the presence of such a beauty.  Vermeer’s wife eventually has enough and out goes Greet, but not before the painting is completed. You also get to endure the post-modern themes of class and gender exploitation, but I'd be surprised if those weren't major sins of the day in 1660.

The painting, by the way, sold in 1881 for two guilders and sixpence – in today’s exchange, about the same price that I paid to rent this film.  It's worth it at twice the price as a special treat for the eyes. The film that is. I can’t imagine what the painting would auction for if it was ever to leave its home in The Hague.

Best o' Twenty-Eleven

Ah, the "best of lists", for a blogger it's like popping ducks on a pond...  As usual, some of this stuff has been around for years, but it's new to me!

BEST NEW MUSIC:

Our new house band - Elephant Revival. Have been enjoying this Nederland, Colorado based group most of the year. Their genre? Try on "psychedelic country" or "transcendental folk" for a starter. I'm thinking maybe "grassgrass". We enjoyed them live just last night along with lots of old and young space-dancing hippies as we groooved to a 3-hour, end-of-the-year concert. You can get a little flavor on this YouTube, "Remembering A Beginning".

 

 

Continuing the alt/grass theme, I've also fallen for the Swedish group, Väsen. Got to see them this past spring touring with Mike Marshall & Darol Anger. This band features national champion fiddle and guitar players plus Olov Johansson on the nyckelharpa which looks like a cross between a fiddle, lap dulcimer and accordion. You'll pick up a decidedly Swedish flavor on this piece, Eklunda Polska #3.

  

 

FAVORITE QUOTES:

"History may not repeat itself, but it rhymes."   - Mark Tain

"Everywhere the human race goes, it drags a bell curve around with it."   - Doug Wilson

"Ignore the environment. It will go away."   - bumpersticker

"If God does nothing random, there must always be something to learn."   - John Calvin

"They lived outside. They lived with horses and cattle and dust and snow and moved all around a country they somehow could not learn to love because another geography was already inside them."  - Mark Jenkins, "Off The Map"

"If you're tired of parties, you go to the wrong church."   - Matt Barley

"When suffering restores us, burns away the empty shallowness,
And softening the heart, to be broken break and poured out wine...
When it rains it pours, turns life into a chalice,
There to nourish every soul, one at a time."

                                           - Phil Keaggy,  "Chalice" 

 

FAVORITE READS:

 

Patrick O'Brian continues to weave a spectacular tale. How can one man know so much sea faring history? How can one man write so many incredible sentences?

 

 

 

An absorbing adventure of a trek across Siberia by bicycle. I learned a new Russian word: "balota" болото (for "swamp"). I also got a peek inside of late 20th century Russia. Not many smiles there.

 

 

 

 

What a perfect storm of men and women that came together in late 18th-century America. Oh that a few stray bands of such weather would blow over us today.

 

 

 

 

RC Sproul walks you through the book of "Romans". A book that has literally changed the world (and more than once).

 

 

 

 

 

SCREEN FAVORITES: I did find Sherlock and Capt. Jack Sparrow to be entertaining. ("You walk like a girl." "You should know!") But really not much to be excited about on the big screen. There were however some jewels you can find in DVD sets such as "John Adams" for starters. Even better is the HBO adaptation of "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" and the BBC's "Foyle's War". 

                                     

Personal "Sandlot"

Last week the movie “Sandlot” came ‘round on the family video rotation. If you’ve never seen the show, it’s your basic coming-of-age flick focused on a group of boys who live for pick-up baseball at the neighborhood sandlot.  The prepubescent lads experiment unsuccessfully with chewing tobacco and “seduce” the hot lifeguard at the public pool by staging a near drowning, but the real crisis occurs when the boys’ last baseball parts with its cover after one exceptional swat.  At this point the new kid in town, a brainy and awkward 12-year old remembers that his step-dad has a ball sitting on a shelf in his study they could use. He unfortunately doesn’t recognize the name “Babe Ruth” whose autograph is on the ball. Things go from bad to worse when this ball is knocked over a fence into a property guarded by the meanest, droolingest, junkyard dog ever. Rent the vid to see the sweet resolution.

This movie, especially scenes of the filthy, fading, slime-covered autograph bring back my own grade-school memories of a baseball once owned. It must have been around ’64 when my parents gave me fifty cents to enter a raffle for a ball signed by Roy Face. Now Roy was not the Babe, but he was somebody. He relief pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1953 to 1968 and along the way earned numerous records, some of which still stand. In Pittsburgh his greatest renown is for saves in games 1, 4 and 5 in the 1960 World Series, then pitching, but getting pulled in the eighth for a pinch hitter in Game 7. You know, the one that ended with the heart-stopping, series-winning, bottom-of-the-ninth, home run by Bill Mazeroski.

Well, I won that baseball and it sat proudly on my dresser for a year or two until one day my younger brother decided to take a pen and scribble his name over top of Roy’s.  Unlike the movie “Sandlot”, no redeeming moment followed.  I assume the now worthless ball was relegated to outdoor play and was eventually lost, worn-out, but given my prowess, probably not knocked over any fence. 

Dumela, Mma* (I Wish You Joy #2)

It's been some time since I last wished you Joy, but I want to save these endorsements for items that are clearly above the rest...

So, how often is it that you watch a film that far surpasses your expectations in regards to the book? Well so it is with "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency", a title that was recommended to me many years ago by my friend KGM. The name didn't grasp my inner guy and I'm not much for whodunits, but I did respect the commender's taste so filed it away in the back of my brain. I was tipped over the edge by MagsitraMater in her comment that "Ladies" was one of her favorite books "on tape" and that it was available for a mere 3 bucks, used at Amazon. I found the stories enjoyable, but not riveting, but was thoroughly taken in by the lush African accents and names. I was tempted to go to Botswana just to hear the trilled R's and drink bush tea. Imagine my delight when I find on Netflix that HBO dramatized the books into a series that I could be found in my mailbox in a couple of days!

The series follows Mma Ramotswe, a traditionally-built African woman, as she earns the respect of the diverse citizens of Gaborone with her crime-solving wit and moral clarity. She is supported by her enchanting secretary, Mma Makutzi whose claim to fame is that she scored 97% on her exams at the Botswana Secretarial College and will not advance her career by an affair with a boss - like those pretty girls do. Mr. JLB Matakoni, a very loveable, but timid garage owner, plays the love interest to Mma Ramotswe. To round out the regulars, there is BK, the flaming hair stylist who's "Last Chance Salon" is neighbor to the detective agency.

My recommenation? Find these DVDs and enjoy seven evenings with your family on the edge of the bush in southern Africa. Sorry, but the series ends abruptly as HBO decided to cancel the series. Too bad, because this is television that our family found deeply enjoyable.

*Dumela, Mma (Hello, maam.)

Lord's Day Hike

So on Sundays we get up, go to church, come home to a major feed-your-face-pigout on Saturday night leftovers, then go for a hike. Some how the dog knows it's a Sunday and starts flipping out the moment I change my clothes. Say the word "walk' and she starts spinning. My daughter made this short that I love. Check it out. It's way more than a "look-at-my-dog" video. The awesome music from Florence + The Machine doesn't hurt either.

 

 

The Most Expensive Concert I've Not Seen

Middle of August, 2008, Red Rocks. Jo and I had Allman Brothers tickets. Looking forward to a "Blue Sky" boogie - instead we were hunkered down, hypothermic in horizontal rain and 45 degrees. The optimist in me feared a similar story for the concert of the year, U2, 360, Denver (just about the only thing I can imagine that would get me to set foot inside Mile High). Well I was right about the weather - it's snowing in the mountains above the city tonight. It didn't matter though, Bono blew his back out at the end of May and the gig was postponed for a year.

Now these tickets were a wee bit pricier than I'm used to paying. First I had to join U2.com to get a one day advantage over the masses. It did work though. I was able to get 4 nice seats for less than you would pay to watch grown men in Howard Johnson suits stand up and fall down in the same stadium. That was last October however, nine months before the show. Now make it 21.

Hey, no concert, no problem. Instead I went shopping. Took a 10% off coupon to Best Buy, grabbed myself a Blue Ray and a free BR disc of my choice, which just happened to be be" "U2 360 At The Rose Bowl". Out with the old, in with the new, DVD players that is and we were ready to crank up the amps. It was "Magnificent"!

What a set! What a play list! My were they on that night. The sound was stupendous, but the film editor has to go. If you didn't have "Vertigo" before you pushed "play" on your remote you would shortly. In the first 15 minutes the average camera shot lasted less than two seconds. It made the frenetic madness of MTV look calm in comparison. The producers and film editors apparently didn't take any of the criticism of the Elevation DVD to heart. (I think U2 fans really are able to hold a visual thought for longer than a heart beat or two.) 

The two titles I've already mentioned shined particularly and then there is always "Beautiful Day", Bono's done better, but I feel privileged each and every time I hear that song. I was also grabbed by "Until The End Of The World", a song whose lyrics I hadn't payed attention to until this evening where Judas converses with Jesus in alternating sarcasm, longing and regret. Missing from the gig was "Yaweh", a stunning, soul-moving, acoustic segue to (Psalm) "40" performed at the finale of the Chicago 2005 DVD and on "U2 3-D".

So my review: two thumbs up, one down. Sonic and visually dazzling! Film editing the equivalent of ten fingernails on a black board.

Now back to waiting patiently. There won't be a film producer editing my eyeballs in Denver 2011.

 

Girl With A Pearl Earring

If you walked around our home you would find it decorated in a mostly western theme – a skull-mounted elk head over the fireplace, Dave Jensen photographs of Oregon in the halls, a Terpning Indian print over the piano and everywhere muted earth tones. However, if you poked your head into our downstairs powder room your interest would be drawn towards a seemingly out-of-place portrait of a young woman gazing back at you over her shoulder. 

If you looked up close, you would notice a slightly yellowed glaze over the print that has developed a mesh of fine cracks, attesting to age, but the girl herself seems timeless – the head is covered as one from past centuries, her rounded face, deep eyes and hopelessly full lips suggest a modern woman.  The hair covering strikes me as unusual for any era, a turban-like wrap of blue and white cloth.  Finally, you will notice a substantial, teardrop pearl earring reflecting light from a source off to her left. She is Jan Vermeer’s “Girl With A Pearl Earring.”

The memory is foggy, but somewhere in grade school I was given a historical comic book that told the story of a boy who skated on frozen, Dutch canals and whose uncle was a painter. My imagination was captured by the descriptions of the pain-staking transformation of pigment in to paint, as well as images of seventeenth century, Dutch life.  I guess that may partially explain why many years later when I first saw Vermeer’s art I claimed him as my favorite painter.  Or maybe it's just because he's great. Other works I've enjoyed include “View Of Delft”, “The Milkmaid”, “Girl With A Red Hat” and “The Geographer”.

You would think that if I was such a Vermeer fan by now I would have seen the 2003 same-titled film telling a fictional tale behind this painting.  Well, I did this weekend and would recommend it as a feast for the eyes.  Shot after shot are framed as if painted by a Dutch master. Sets and costumes fit every image I’ve ever had of life in Holland. Lighting is a masterpiece in itself with natural and firelight giving rich contrast to the shadows of this incandescent-free time.  One particularly lovely scene showed the girl, Greet, peeking through wavy glass into a candle and torch lit banquet. lt just screamed Rembrandt.

The story itself, though tolerable, was not one I would likely go back to hear.  Greet, a housemaid for the Vermeer household, catches the painter’s eye and the painter’s lust.  There are other men, the local butcher boy and Vermeer’s patron along with all the sexual tension you would expect in the presence of such a beauty.  Vermeer’s wife eventually has enough and out goes Greet, but not before the painting is completed. You also get to endure the post-modern themes of class and gender exploitation, but I'd be surprised if those weren't major sins of the day in 1660.

The painting, by the way, sold in 1881 for two guilders and sixpence – in today’s exchange, about the same price that I paid to rent this film.  It's worth it at twice the price as a special treat for the eyes. The film that is. I can’t imagine what the painting would auction for if it was ever to leave its home in The Hague.