Impossible Burger

We had a very busy Memorial Day weekend, and then I spent the last couple of days attending to various medical appointments, including my 22^nd treatment with pembrolizumab today.

We drove up to Sharon on Thursday to attend “Yom Orchim,” a program that Striar Hebrew Academy (SHAS), the local Jewish day school has for special guests, particularly grandparents. Following the group presentations, Barry spent time with Maya. As a fifth grader (the oldest students in SHAS), she considered this exercise a bit childish. I spent most of the time with Julia, and took some adorable pictures as she showed me around her classroom and participated in the various activities and projects that were set up for the students.

Friday afternoon we took Eliana and Maya to see the movie “A Dog’s Journey,” the sequel to the 2017 movie, “A Dog’s Purpose,” which we had seen with Maya in 2017. It is a very touching film about the multiple “lives” of that same dog. In the current movie, the dog learns to detect early signs of cancer in people through the sharp sense of smell that dogs possess. Apparently, dogs can in fact be trained to do this under some circumstances. It made for a very touching story.

We had a lovely Shabbat afternoon, having lunch with Simmie and her family at the home of friends of theirs, and spending the later afternoon with Eliana, Julia, and Noah while their parents and siblings attended a Bat Mitzvah celebration.

On Sunday we all headed to the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University:

https://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/. We had not been there in some years, but this was an especially nice time to go as the impressive and extensive collection of lilacs are in bloom. We took many pictures but I am waiting to collect them from everyone; for now, here are a few I can share.

Finally, we returned to Dina’s home for a barbeque. We were very excited to have been able to buy the new meat substitute called “Impossible Burger.” I had eaten it before in a couple of places, but Maya, who has been a vegetarian for a few months now, was eating it for the first time and really enjoyed it. Here are a couple of pictures, and you can see it really does look like a hamburger. I admit I have not eaten a beef hamburger in about thirty years, but from what I can recall this does taste quite a bit like the “real thing,” and opens the door for eating something those who observe the Jewish dietary laws have never been able to eat: a cheeseburger! We could not do this on Sunday because the burgers were cooked on a meat surface, but it is something I plan to try.

https://impossiblefoods.com/food/

We were fortunate that the weekend weather was so lovely. Now the rain has returned. At least we did not have any tornadoes here, as I believe happened in New Jersey.

Be well, all.

Love,

Rebecca

Hillary and Clinton

We went to see a very powerful play on Broadway simply called “Hillary and Clinton.” The play centers on the early days of the 2008 presidential campaign in which the main candidates for the Democratic party nomination were Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barak Obama. 

There were just four actors in the play: Laurie Metcalf, John Lithgow, Peter Francis James, and Mark Penn. Ms. Metcalf, familiar from her long standing role as Roseanne’s sister Jackie on the television show “Roseanne,” for which she won three Emmy awards, and winner of two Tony awards (for “A Doll’s House, Part 2” in 2017 and “Three Tall Women” in 2018 – she has certainly been busy) was an amazing Hillary. Former President Bill Clinton was played by Mr. Lithgow, a well-known actor who may be familiar to many from his role on the television series “Third Rock from the Sun,” as well as roles in films including “The World According to Garp,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Footloose,” and a remake of the famous Twilight Zone episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.”

The other two actors, Peter Francis James as Barack Obama, and Zak Orth as Hillary’s chief campaign strategist, Mark Penn, were not familiar to us but were really excellent in these roles.

It was a powerfully raw and honest portrayal of both the political and personal lives of the Clintons. The playwright, Lucas Hnath, clearly drew heavily from aspects of the Clintons’ lives that are well known, although the story was presented as though it may have taken place on another earth-like planet. The relationship between Hillary and Bill was often painful to watch. One line that really stuck with us, and with Ben Brantley, who reviewed the play for the New York Times, was when Hillary said “I want to stay in this marriage because I want to stay in it, because I get more out of it than I lose — but Bill, every second that passes I see myself losing more than I gain.”

The playbill included this little note, but I am not sure I would agree with that description.

We are glad we had this opportunity to see such talented and well-known actors in such fascinating roles.

Love,

Rebecca

In Your Face New York

Last week we went to see a live episode of “In Your Face New York.” You can read about this series at

https://inyourfaceny.org/about/

This performance was hosted by singer and songwriter Nellie McKay. But it had caught our eye because one of the featured performers was Roz Chast, a humorist and New Yorker staff cartoonist of whom we are quite fond. Her most recent book is a collaboration with New Yorker writer Patricia Marx called Why Don't You Write My Eulogy Now So I Can Correct It? A Mother's Suggestions. They read from this new book and it was simply hilarious.

But there were also some other terrific performances. In particular, harpist Bridget Kibby played Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor which was nothing short of amazing, and I share a video of one of her previous performances here.

 

Also on the program was actress and commentator Nancy Giles. Here is a sample of some of her work:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nancy-giles-on-the-end-of-bill-cosby/

Yesterday we went to see a new film, “The Souvenir,” which received fairly positive reviews, including from A.O. Scott of the New York Times. The movie tells the story of a young man, Anthony (Tom Burke) who is hopelessly addicted to heroin and the young woman, Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne, whose mother Tilda Swinton plays her mother in the film) who loves him. Julie is a student in film school who is so hopelessly naïve and taken with Anthony that she again and again tolerates and forgives his atrocious behavior towards her. As an example, he stages a break-in of their apartment where all of her jewelry, including a treasured pin, is stolen and sold to pay for his habit. To be honest, I am not sure what she saw in him, and this made her character more annoying than pitiful. It was just a hard movie to watch, so I can recommend it only if you are in the mood to recognize a truly self-destructive personality.

So as not to end on such a dour note, it is absolutely beautiful outside right now, so we hope to get out a bit today!

Love,

Rebecca

Lock-Down Drill

We were at home in New York this past weekend and spent Shabbat morning at our regular synagogue, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale. This week the synagogue’s Community Security Service had scheduled a “lock-down drill” which was described in detail in the weekly bulletin. While this information is available to anyone looking for it, I am not going to post the details here lest I make it easier for someone who might use it for less than honorable reasons.

Before the drill, we had been instructed on where to go and wait for an “all clear” announcement, and the process proceeded smoothly. When we returned to the sanctuary, my eyes happened to meet those of a woman who had been sitting across from me and had also returned to her seat. She looked somewhat familiar although I did not know her name. But I noticed immediately that her eyes, like mine at that point, were moist and red, and we chatted quietly about just how upsetting this experience had been, highlighting, as it does, the very real possibility that something so horrendous could take place in our beloved synagogue. I am well aware of the incidents that have occurred in places of worship over the past few years, but our brains have a clever way of convincing us that it will never happen wherever we or our loved ones happen to be. This drove the reality home in a very powerful way.

Let us all hope and pray that we never need to implement all the plans we have put in place.

Love,

Rebecca

Network

16 May 2019

Network

I cannot remember ever going to see a play, as opposed to a musical, on Broadway. So last night was a first: we went to see “Network,” starring Bryan Cranston as newsman Howard Beale, at the beautiful Belasco Theater. 

We had actually never seen the 1976 film for which Peter Finch won the Oscar, so we watched that a few days ago. Although the basic plot of both was the same, the film was rather dark while there were definitely some laughs in this staged version. But I am not sure I appreciated the humor. The story is about both unscrupulous corporations and obsessive television viewers, neither of which could fully exist without the other.

The staging was quite fascinating, and Mr. Cranston was every bit as powerful in this role as expected from the reviews as his character descends into a sort of madness, threatening to kill himself on air. We were not especially impressed by the actors in the other main roles: Tony Goldwyn, as Max Schumacher (played by William Holden in the film) seemed a bit too young for the role, and Tatiana Maslany, as Diana Christensen (played by Faye Dunaway in the film) was somewhat weak in that role.

https://www.broadway.com/videos/159038/experience-broadways-riveting-network-starring-bryan-cranston/

The audience enthusiastically joined in the famous refrain of the movie, the words used to rev up the audiences at the fictional Howard Beale television show, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Perhaps these days those words are hitting a bit too close to home for too many people.

Love,

Rebecca

65K

We went the other day to see the film “The Biggest Little Farm.” This may not be playing in many cities or theaters, but I would imagine it will eventually make its way to PBS or some other channel that shows such films, and if you happen to notice it you should definitely see it. It is a fascinating story of a young couple who decide to leave their city lives and become proprietors of an old-fashioned farm on which they raise both animals and crops, and is an incredible visual experience. The life they have chosen is not an easy one, but they are motivated and spirited and plow forward (excuse the pun) through quite a few challenges. This is not really a movie for young children, as there are some rather painful scenes, including an attack by coyotes on their chickens that leaves quite a bit of carnage. But it is worth seeing if you have a chance.

Meanwhile, the weather here feels more like late fall than late spring, but the forecast is calling for an improvement over the next few days. I am ready to stop being cold all the time!

Love,

Rebecca

Cannot always agree with Manohla Dargis

Along with A.O. Scott and others, Manohla Dargis reviews films for the New York Times. Clearly, she is a recognized expert on such matters. But I reserve the right to disagree with her.

After reading Ms. Dargis’ fairly glowing review in The Times, we went to see “Long Shot,” starring Seth Rogen (Fred Flarsky) and Charlize Theron (Charlotte Field). The movie tells the story of an ambitious woman who (spoiler alert) eventually becomes President of the United States. But I found two things quite troublesome. First, there is no way that a woman as accomplished as Charlotte Field would actually select such a doofus as Fred for a life partner. It may be mildly amusing (and that is being generous) but it is simply too far removed from reality to be of interest. Second, and perhaps I am taking things far too seriously here, I think it is time we have a more realistic portrayal of the type of woman who truly could be a successful POTUS. If I were any one of the female candidates currently vying for that spot, I would find this film rather insulting. Other countries have elected talented women to lead them and it is certainly high time that we here in the United States do the same.

Enough of my soapbox on this one. Go and see it if you will, and feel free to tell me I have no sense of humor whatsoever. 

On a more serious note, we also went to see the documentary on Ruth Westheimer, “Ask Dr. Ruth.” She led quite a life, from being sent off to Switzerland at the age of ten when the Nazis came to power in her native Germany to nearly losing her legs fighting in Israel ten years later. But she prevailed and eventually ended up studying at the Sorbonne and earning her Ed.D. at Columbia Teachers College.

The movie tells how she got into the position for which she became so well known. After completing her doctorate, she became a postdoctoral researcher for Helen Singer Kaplan, renowned professor of human sexuality at Cornell Medical College. But to be honest, while Dr. Ruth was certainly a scholar, she also did a lot of ridiculous things along the way. Perhaps she was just having fun with her subject matter, or perhaps she was determined to make a lot of money. She may well have done that, but she continues to this day (she is over 90 years old) to live in the same small apartment in the Washington Heights neighborhood of upper Manhattan.

All in all, it is a very well-done documentary about a fascinating powerhouse of a woman.

Love,

Rebecca

This one has to make your day

Why would Stephen ever want to have any other musical guests when he can get the best to come on his show? James still sounds so terrific!

I know he has had Paul Simon. Maybe Carole King is next? She was on The Colbert Report back in March of 2008. I would say it is high time that she visit him again!

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/5boih5/the-colbert-report-carole-king

Have a great weekend.

Love,

Rebecca

Yom Hashoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day

One of my most vivid memories of our first trip to Israel back in 1980 was that we were there for Yom HaShoa, Holocaust Remembrance Day, which, this year, is today.

At 11 am and again at 11 pm on that day, sirens are sounded throughout the country and life literally comes to a standstill. It is truly a moving experience. I am sorry to say that I do not seem to have taken any pictures that morning, but it is still very much etched in my brain.

Now, forty years later, even if we cannot be in Israel this week, we can join in this experience through the wonders of modern technology. Here is an example from Jerusalem.

Love,

Rebecca