Matt McKeon
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This probably should have been in "Non Civil War books" section
Non Civil War Books and Movies
- Thread starter Matt McKeon
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done
Matt McKeon
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I just saw Roadrunner a documentary about Anthony Bourdain.
It starts with the publication of Kitchen Confidential, his unvarnished memoir about working restaurants in New York, and continues through his metamorphisis into a TV travel host and author. His travel shows started as unusual, funny as he fearlessly ate anything, and humane in his respect and appreciation of the cultures he was visiting. He deepened as a human being and an author, doing shows in Beirut during the 2006 war, and shows in the Congo, Palestine and the US/Mexican border.
HIs life ended very sadly as is well known, and the documentary tries to find an explanation, while not letting his life be defined by his suicide.
It starts with the publication of Kitchen Confidential, his unvarnished memoir about working restaurants in New York, and continues through his metamorphisis into a TV travel host and author. His travel shows started as unusual, funny as he fearlessly ate anything, and humane in his respect and appreciation of the cultures he was visiting. He deepened as a human being and an author, doing shows in Beirut during the 2006 war, and shows in the Congo, Palestine and the US/Mexican border.
HIs life ended very sadly as is well known, and the documentary tries to find an explanation, while not letting his life be defined by his suicide.
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I've read several of these over the years, inherited a book from dad and got hooked. I agree with your analysis.
diane
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I like these mysteries, too. I'd recommend the PBS Navajo Mysteries series to go along with them - very well done and well acted. Wes Studi plays Joe Leaphorn and Adam Beach plays Jim Chee. Great casting!
Matt McKeon
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I think that Netflix is going to do a new series.
Matt McKeon
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Greyhound
Tom Hanks stars as a US Navy commander in charge of a force of four destroyers and corvettes escorting a convoy from the US to Britain in February of 1942. They are beset by a wolfpack of U-Boats, unreliable equipment, and appalling North Atlantic weather.
Its quite good, exciting, and seems historically accurate, at least to me. It would have been wonderful to see it on the big screen, but covid kept that from happening. I saw it on Apple TV. Recommended.
Tom Hanks stars as a US Navy commander in charge of a force of four destroyers and corvettes escorting a convoy from the US to Britain in February of 1942. They are beset by a wolfpack of U-Boats, unreliable equipment, and appalling North Atlantic weather.
Its quite good, exciting, and seems historically accurate, at least to me. It would have been wonderful to see it on the big screen, but covid kept that from happening. I saw it on Apple TV. Recommended.
Matt McKeon
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A Cry of Murder on Broadway by Julie Miller
In 1843, Amelia Norman stabbed a young businessman, Henry Ballard, on the steps of the opulent Astor Hotel. To her regret, he survived. Miller's very interesting book paints a vivid and deeply researched account of 19th century New York, reform in the law and the prison system, the legal system, and the roles of women in the domestic and public spheres. Its a true crime and court room drama, where a rowdy crowd applauded Norman and reviled Ballard.
To give more details would spoil it. Highly recommended!
In 1843, Amelia Norman stabbed a young businessman, Henry Ballard, on the steps of the opulent Astor Hotel. To her regret, he survived. Miller's very interesting book paints a vivid and deeply researched account of 19th century New York, reform in the law and the prison system, the legal system, and the roles of women in the domestic and public spheres. Its a true crime and court room drama, where a rowdy crowd applauded Norman and reviled Ballard.
To give more details would spoil it. Highly recommended!
Matt McKeon
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Passion Fish
A popular soap opera actress, played by Mary McDonnell, is paralyzed in an traffic accident. She retreats to her family home in Louisiana, torturing and driving out a series of caretakers, in a spiral of self loathing, depression and heavy drinking. Alfre Woodard plays her latest nurse, who won't be driven away, because of reasons that are revealed. Its beautifully acted by all concerned, as various pieces of May-Alice past, her brother, high school friends, "daytime"(never call them soaps) colleagues, a former crush, all dropping in. Woodard is brilliant as Chantelle, secretive, wounded, but strong in a way that May-Alice needs. Funny bits as Chantelle meets the local folks, who refer to themselves as "swamp cajuns", "real swamp cajuns" and "coon asses."
Louisiana is photographed beautifully, in a dreamy ride the women take on a boat through the bayous, it could be a commercial for the department of tourism.
Classic bit when one of May-Alice's daytime colleagues describes a movie she had one line in: "I didn't ask for the anal probe."
A popular soap opera actress, played by Mary McDonnell, is paralyzed in an traffic accident. She retreats to her family home in Louisiana, torturing and driving out a series of caretakers, in a spiral of self loathing, depression and heavy drinking. Alfre Woodard plays her latest nurse, who won't be driven away, because of reasons that are revealed. Its beautifully acted by all concerned, as various pieces of May-Alice past, her brother, high school friends, "daytime"(never call them soaps) colleagues, a former crush, all dropping in. Woodard is brilliant as Chantelle, secretive, wounded, but strong in a way that May-Alice needs. Funny bits as Chantelle meets the local folks, who refer to themselves as "swamp cajuns", "real swamp cajuns" and "coon asses."
Louisiana is photographed beautifully, in a dreamy ride the women take on a boat through the bayous, it could be a commercial for the department of tourism.
Classic bit when one of May-Alice's daytime colleagues describes a movie she had one line in: "I didn't ask for the anal probe."
Matt McKeon
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We Shall Remain
This is a four part PBS series, each episode focused on a confrontation between Native Americans and white settlers. The first is between the Wampanoags and the Pilgrims, the second between Tecumseh and the new United States, the third on the Trail of Tears, and the last on the confrontation at the Wounded Knee Agency in the 1970s. I've seen the first three so far.
They are very good. They tell the story by focusing on key individuals: Massasoit and John Endicott, Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison, and the Ridges and Rosses during the Cherokee Removal. Very highly recommended.
This is a four part PBS series, each episode focused on a confrontation between Native Americans and white settlers. The first is between the Wampanoags and the Pilgrims, the second between Tecumseh and the new United States, the third on the Trail of Tears, and the last on the confrontation at the Wounded Knee Agency in the 1970s. I've seen the first three so far.
They are very good. They tell the story by focusing on key individuals: Massasoit and John Endicott, Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison, and the Ridges and Rosses during the Cherokee Removal. Very highly recommended.
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Almost halfway through Never A Rest: A Biography Of Isaac Newton by Richard Westall. Sir Isaac was a damned interesring neurotic and Westall does a fine job of telling the scientific story without flying way over the reader's head.
Matt McKeon
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Fallout
This is an account of John Hersey writing Hiroshima in August of 1946. He was working for The New Yorker, a Pulitzer winning novelist who had done a lot of war reporting. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were examples of what The New Yorker called "scoops in plain sight." A year after the bombing, little reporting had been done, partly from war fatigue, party because of occupation and military restrictions on stories coming from the two devastated cities.
The government had suppressed, with much success, information about the radiation sickness that plagued the survivors, blunting the few stories that emerged as "Japanese propaganda." Hersey focused on six survivors, cutting between their experiencing the "soundless" flash and their horrific struggle to survive, and put radiation in the forefront. It humanized the Japanese, the objects of years of propaganda, and the fierce and fanatical enemies of the Allies.
Hersey changed the public perception of the bomb, atomic warfare, and the Japanese.
This is an account of John Hersey writing Hiroshima in August of 1946. He was working for The New Yorker, a Pulitzer winning novelist who had done a lot of war reporting. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were examples of what The New Yorker called "scoops in plain sight." A year after the bombing, little reporting had been done, partly from war fatigue, party because of occupation and military restrictions on stories coming from the two devastated cities.
The government had suppressed, with much success, information about the radiation sickness that plagued the survivors, blunting the few stories that emerged as "Japanese propaganda." Hersey focused on six survivors, cutting between their experiencing the "soundless" flash and their horrific struggle to survive, and put radiation in the forefront. It humanized the Japanese, the objects of years of propaganda, and the fierce and fanatical enemies of the Allies.
Hersey changed the public perception of the bomb, atomic warfare, and the Japanese.
Matt McKeon
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Chance by Joseph Conrad
I never thought I could be disappointed by a work by Joseph Conrad. I was wrong. "Chance" is his attempt at a love story, told in an indirect and complex way, Marlow telling the story to the narrator, mostly by quoting various characters. It's full of Conrad's musings about women, and dated they are.
The best part is the story of a corrupt financier, who creates a house of cards through deceptive advertising, and whose boundless greed and desire for more mask a profound incompetence and destruction.
What's depressing is the author of "Heart of Darkness," "Lord Jim," and "Nostromo" as well as other classics had this dreck as his best seller.
I never thought I could be disappointed by a work by Joseph Conrad. I was wrong. "Chance" is his attempt at a love story, told in an indirect and complex way, Marlow telling the story to the narrator, mostly by quoting various characters. It's full of Conrad's musings about women, and dated they are.
The best part is the story of a corrupt financier, who creates a house of cards through deceptive advertising, and whose boundless greed and desire for more mask a profound incompetence and destruction.
What's depressing is the author of "Heart of Darkness," "Lord Jim," and "Nostromo" as well as other classics had this dreck as his best seller.
Matt McKeon
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King Lear
I've seen this at least twice before over the years. This barebones outdoor production at Shakespeare and Company(Lenox, Mass.) featured Christopher Lloyd, famous for the Back to the Future franchise as the aging king.
It was an intensively emotional experience for me. Lear's rage against his daughters, his fury and fear as he faces his diminishment in the world's eyes, his declining abilities were movingly portrayed by Lloyd. The later scene where he fails to recognize one of his adult children hit close to home.
I've seen this at least twice before over the years. This barebones outdoor production at Shakespeare and Company(Lenox, Mass.) featured Christopher Lloyd, famous for the Back to the Future franchise as the aging king.
It was an intensively emotional experience for me. Lear's rage against his daughters, his fury and fear as he faces his diminishment in the world's eyes, his declining abilities were movingly portrayed by Lloyd. The later scene where he fails to recognize one of his adult children hit close to home.
Matt McKeon
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Worth
After 9/11, lawyer Ken Feinberg is tasked with distributing the victims compensation fund, as "special master." The fund was an attempt by the federal government to head off a series of lawsuits that would bankrupt the airline industry and paralyze US air traffic.
Feinberg has to in effect, calculate the worth of individual human beings. He is played by Michael Keaton as a gruff, analytical type whose team is overwhelmed by the testimony of grief stricken survivors. Very intense.
After 9/11, lawyer Ken Feinberg is tasked with distributing the victims compensation fund, as "special master." The fund was an attempt by the federal government to head off a series of lawsuits that would bankrupt the airline industry and paralyze US air traffic.
Feinberg has to in effect, calculate the worth of individual human beings. He is played by Michael Keaton as a gruff, analytical type whose team is overwhelmed by the testimony of grief stricken survivors. Very intense.
Matt McKeon
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I remember Feinberg because he was the guy distributing funds to survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Matt McKeon
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Come From Away
A musical about Gander, Newfoundland, an small isolated community that happens to have a huge disused airport from the era when jets needed to refuel. On Sept. 11, 2001, 38 jet liners from all over were diverted to Gander when the United States closed American air space and Canada followed suit.
The number of "plane people" doubled the size of the town. The unforgiving environment("the weather tries to kill you and the water tries to drown you") bred a tough people with a tradition of hospitality to the desperate stranger("he who comes from the sea, who comes through the snow"). They open their homes, supporting the stunned travelers from dozens of nations. They shrug off thanks, ("you would have done the same"), one passenger wonders would we, through? Their astonishing generosity makes a moving story. Recommended. On Apple TV
One of the plane people says you can't tell a knock knock joke in Gander. "Knock, knock" "Come on in, the door's open."
A musical about Gander, Newfoundland, an small isolated community that happens to have a huge disused airport from the era when jets needed to refuel. On Sept. 11, 2001, 38 jet liners from all over were diverted to Gander when the United States closed American air space and Canada followed suit.
The number of "plane people" doubled the size of the town. The unforgiving environment("the weather tries to kill you and the water tries to drown you") bred a tough people with a tradition of hospitality to the desperate stranger("he who comes from the sea, who comes through the snow"). They open their homes, supporting the stunned travelers from dozens of nations. They shrug off thanks, ("you would have done the same"), one passenger wonders would we, through? Their astonishing generosity makes a moving story. Recommended. On Apple TV
One of the plane people says you can't tell a knock knock joke in Gander. "Knock, knock" "Come on in, the door's open."
Matt McKeon
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What is a Life Worth?
This is an account by Ken Feinberg about his role as Special Master for the 9/11 victims compensation fund. He explains the mechanisms used to determine how much money family members were going to get. The law was pioneering and allowed Feinberg a tremendous amount of discretion. He includes the graphs and formulas his team used.
But the bulk of the book is about grief and Feinberg's observation of how, why and what people grieve.
This is an account by Ken Feinberg about his role as Special Master for the 9/11 victims compensation fund. He explains the mechanisms used to determine how much money family members were going to get. The law was pioneering and allowed Feinberg a tremendous amount of discretion. He includes the graphs and formulas his team used.
But the bulk of the book is about grief and Feinberg's observation of how, why and what people grieve.