Flower Confidential

Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers - Amy Stewart

Stewart's investigations take her from an eccentric lily breeder to an Australian business with the alchemical mission of creating a blue rose. She visits a romantically anachronistic violet grower, the largest remaining California grower of cut flowers and a Dutch breeder employing high-tech methods to develop flowers in equatorial countries where wages are low. Stewart follows a rose from the remote Ecuadoran greenhouse where it's grown to the American retailer where it's finally sold, and visits a huge, stock –exchange–like Dutch flower auction. These present-day adventures are interspersed with fascinating histories of the various aspects of flower culture, propagation and commerce. Stewart's floral romanticism—she admits early on that she's "always had a generalized, smutty sort of lust for flowers"—survives the potentially disillusioning revelations of the flower biz, though her passion only falters a few times, as when she witnesses roses being dipped in fungicide in preparation for export. By the end, this book is as lush as the flowers it describes.


A fascinating at look at something i knew nothing about. i've never been a huge flower fan, and it was good to learn about it as a business. a lot of technical pollination information, but still a good well moving read.

Wall (DVD)

Wall : a cinematic meditation on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict /
by Bitton, Simone.

The hypnotic documentary Wall--subtitled "a cinematic meditation on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"--immerses viewers in the rhythms of life around the wall being built by the Israeli government to section off the Palestinian regions of Israel. Much of the movie is simply long pans of the wall itself, which is made of concrete barriers in some places (where the government feels there is a higher risk of gunfire) and a fence topped with razor wire in others, while the filmmakers hold off-screen conversations with children, Israelis, and the Palestinians who have been hired to build the wall. Periodically the movie returns to a brusk interview with the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, who defends the wall and shrugs off concerns about the damage the wall--which may end up being over 500 kilometers long--is doing to the natural environment as well as the political one. "This fence blocks the artery that feeds the Israeli heart," says one dismayed Israeli in an eloquent interview. But documentarian Simone Bitton refrains from metaphor; the considerable impact of Wall arises from her simple and matter-of-fact approach, ranging from scenes of teenage soldiers refusing entry to a woman hanging her clothes with the fence in the background. --Bret Fetzer

Great film. very slow moving at times, but that is the point. the wall is huge, and you get the sense from the long views of it. Not very preachy, just interviews with "regular people" and their opinions.

Reel Paradise (dvd)

http://reelparadise.com/main.html

Reel Paradise (dvd) is great! John Peirson takes his wife and kids to Fiji, and spends a year showing free movies at the 180 meridian, and old theater. Reminded me a little of the Scituate Playhouse! A neat glimpse of contrasting cultures. John doesn't try to convert anyone to anything - it's just his story. It's also interesting to see Fiji through the eyes of the kids, not just the more "enlightened" adults. Same teenage issues everywhere - breaking curfew and all that!

Double lives

Double lives : crafting your life of work and passion for untold success /
by Heenan, David A.

Interesting read. about the lives of those who do many things, and craft the life they want. kinda "self-helpy" - but interesting from the perspective of the history of those written about. contains a list of things to do: 20 keys to leading a double life. i like the list better than sifting through the whole book, but some stories were interesting. i like the "double life" concept myself - i seem to do many tings, and it makes me happier.

Kitchen Confidential

Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain. An older book, but not without relevance. He keeps popping up in my viewing, so i decided to actually read the book. A terrific read, hilarious look at breaking into the gourmet restaurant biz, and the development of a true restauranter. I liked it as much as Bruford's Heat.

Another plug while on the subject for Food and Wine magazine. Again, I picked up a copy in regards to a top chef mention. A great magazine. good recipies, great reviews. a little more accesable for me than cook's illustrated (to which David subscribes and reads avidly).

Golf

Tales From Q School (Feinstein) Makes me glad I don't play golf at this level (or any level, except "mini", of course!). Q school used to have a classroom component, but now the grueling entry to the PGA tour is a test where you had better hope your game is "on" for that day. The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. A well researched read, as usual for Feinstein. I skimmed much of the tour details, the emotion is what I was after. Good read for the gold season - will give you a new appreciation for the sport and those who are not on the "money list".

ROCK SCHOOL!

If you don't believe there's educational value in Zappa and Zeppelin, Rock School (DVD) will set you right. Some parents may be horrified by Paul Green, a one-time aspiring rock star and founder of the Rock School in Philadelphia (and later, in cities all over the U.S.), where kids from eight to 18 learn such valuable skills as thrashing guitar, pounding drums, and how to perform like a "Golden God" á la Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant. Green embraces old school rock (no hip-hop or Britney wanna-bes here, thank you), and while some may take issue with his belligerent, berating and foul-mouthed treatment of his young students (some musically gifted, others definitely not), it's obvious that Green is on to something, giving aspiring rockers an outlet for educational enthusiasm they might not muster for traditional classroom subjects. Using a digital video camera to gain intimate access to Green and the future rockers of America, filmmaker Don Argott has crafted a funny, alarming, and altogether fascinating documentary that has a lot to say about our national obsession with fame, the curious benefits of Green's peculiar style of teaching, and the undeniable value of encouraging young people to embrace their dreams. For those about to rock…we salute you! (from amazon.com)

This was hilarious. A must see if you teach music. Especially the part where the guitar teacher keeps asking a kid to play a riff, then sing it, then at least clap it.... and the kid gets it wrong over and over and says "can we just play it now?" The performance at "Zappanalia" is truly amazing. The good, the bad, the loud, the messy.

Gay Republicans?

Gay Republicans (DVD)

I watched while fighting a bad cold, and on cold medicine, and it still kept me watching. Kinda slow moving, but very interesting. I had heard of the "log cabin republicans" but knew little about them. They were all for George W. until he went too far with efforts to institutionalize a ban a gay marriage. How could they possibly reconcile that within their group? Some tried, but the group officially voted not to support Bush. A few stragglers hung on, saying "it's just not time for gay marriage to be accepted." One particularly curious fellow, who at some point fully intends to marry his partner, when he is "allowed" by law - when the time is "right?"

This issue makes me crazy. We are at WAR. let's focus on fixing something important - not spend our time trying to legalize OBVIOUS discrimination. oh, and while we're at it, criticize the few strong relationships left int his country in a time of skyrocketing divorce rates and marital strife. ugh.

good flick though - yes, it was biased towards one side, but it had little more than straight narration, and the players told their own stories. i like to try to form my own opinion, rather than be "guided" to it by a michael moore-type film.

In The Shadow of The Stars

In The Shadow of The Stars (DVD)

okay, a very good one! a look (from around 1989) at the choristers of the san francisco opera company. many want to be the soloists themselves. quirky, odd performers with lots of tales of background encounters. opera is a tough life, i imagine. makes for good viewing, though!

Summer Vacation!

Is there anything sweeter than the last day of school? I had such a nice last day with the kiddos yesterday. we performed, and it was a reflective day for me. although i always wish we could have done "more", i was able to reflect on their accomplishments of the year. they sounded great, and they love music. the rest will come. i am already excited about next year - but looking forward to a fun summer at the playground!

Sweet and Low

Sweet and Low by Richard Cohen bills itself as "the unauthorized true story of one Brooklyn family." And what a family. Cohen, the disinherited grandson of the artificial sweetener Sweet 'n' Low's inventor, combines two parts Horatio Alger-memoir, one part cultural commentary and three parts personal criticism into a fascinating snapshot of American life, immigrant experience and a broad sermon on the perils of fortune. Cohen's maternal grandfather, Ben Eisenstadt, a mid-grade inventor and Brooklyn restaurateur concocts the idea of selling sugar in individual packets--a revolutionary concept in the age of crusty, unsanitary sugar dispensers. His idea stolen by the big sugar companies, Cohen squeaks out a post-war living selling his packets in their shadow until he and his son, Marvin, invent the formula for the saccharine sweetener and catch the first big wave of the American diet craze. Those little pink packets create a vast fortune soon tarnished by interfamily squabbles, Mafia influence, FDA edicts and, mostly, the baser aspects of human nature--greed, jealousy and pride. Cohen, a writer for Rolling Stone and The New Yorker, among other publications, weaves a compelling and often biting narrative about his mother's family. Using those pink packets as metaphor, he paints a dystopic portrait of the American Dream, that, in his family's case, was as devoid of nourishment as any artificial sweetener.


I had to just quote from Amazon - this book was great. a little confusing, a long list of characters, but the story was engaging. And "sweet and low" is from a song, but also from Tennyson - who knew?

Guest House

Guest House
This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,meet them at the door laughing,and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Rumi

Instead of Making Art

Instead of Making Art
"Most of us spend many hours each week watching celebrated athletes playing in enormous stadiums. Instead of making music, we listen to platinum records cut by millionaire musicians. Instead of making art, we go to admire paintings that brought in the highest bids at the latest auction. We do not run risks acting on our beliefs, but occupy hours each day watching actors who pretend to have adventures, engaged in mock-meaningful action.

This vicarious participation is able to mask, at least temporarily, the underlying emptiness of wasted time. But it is a very pale substitute for attention invested in real challenges. The flow experience that results from the use of skills leads to growth; passive entertainment leads nowhere. Collectively we are wasting each year the equivalent of millions of years of human consciousness. The energy that could be used to focus on complex goals, to provide enjoyable growth, is squandered on patterns of stimulation that only mimic reality."
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The Secret of Lost Things

The Secret of Lost Things - Sheridan Hay

Loved it. An Australian "orphan" whose recently lost her mom comes to New York to find fortune? Well, perhaps just survive. Few characters outside her place of employment - a bookstore that sadly do not seem to exist anymore. Still struggling to find fiction I like, but the descriptions of the bookstore alone (the major plot setting) were terrific. A clever twist at the end - an expected ending, but I was fooled a little. Good read!

My Country

My Country, My Country (DVD)

Laura Poitras, Amercian, followed around an Iraqi doctor, 6 months before, and leading up to, the 2005 elections in Baghdad. A glimpse of his daily life, and the struggles there. It seemed surprisingly not "political" to me - as all documentaries i like best seem to be. Lots of people just trying to survive. They even seemed to not dislike Americans - but wanted us to get our act together, and really help rebuild. hopelessness has set in.

And then I watched more rhetoric at the Republican debate. I feel like my hands are tied in my information of the war. I plan on watching more of these as we get closer to voting - is there really a solution? I am probably for a quick withdrawal, and yet these people will suffer more, at our hands. Do we have an obligation to "get it right" - now that we have gotten it so wrong?