Post for December 25
# 1586
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Opening Picture
Avatar: The Way of Water
Avatar The Way of Water poster
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File: Avatar The Way of Water poster.jpg
Uploaded: 16 December 2022
About Media Viewer
See “Screen” for Tucker J’s review
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Commentary
Although age continues to slow my metabolism, I have, at this moment in time, after a hundred, at least, iterations, cobbled ideas from a dozen sources to formulate an eating regimen unique to my style of living, taste, diet, and gastronomic fulfilment and I am about to thrust it onto you. I daresay that after reading this no one will follow it. But, everyone may take away a culinary tranche of an idea.
We Americans all start the day the same way: ‘coffee-and’. My ‘and’ is a 2oz piece of sweet roll, usually a half of an average size muffins. Often with butter. I do love butter,
Solid and melted butter
Matěj Baťha - This photograph was taken with a DSLR from WMCZ's Camera grant.
Švédský koláč naruby
Perhaps your takeaway will be eating your big meal at 9.00am. That’s usually when I eat my main (and basically only) meal. Along with my alcoholic intake of the day: either a carefully measured 3oz ‘g and t’ or approximately 10 ounces of wine. My main meal is always rather indulgent, the last several being Short Rib beef stew, Swordfish, Pork Chops, North End Gravy over rigatoni pasta with chicken wings and spare ribs, Roast Duck with Cherry Sauce, and Linguini and White Clam Sauce with a generous number (18) of fresh cherrystone clams.
Henri Brispot's A gourmand
Henri Brispot - Dorotheum
Ein Gourmand
At eighty, I split my daytime between going out for four hours and working at home. Part of working at home means that after my generous breakfast I take a 30-minute drowse, somewhere between a nap and a rest. I get up ready to take on the world, trying not to stumble and hurt myself in the process.
A man napping in a hammock, on a patio in Costa Rica
Michael Nutt from New York, US - David asleep in hammock
Sleeping in Costa Rica
At 1.00pm, the café moment. I mean a true café. I love, love, love the café with its mind-bending aromas permeating the space, floor to ceiling, wall to wall. A very hot cortado with oat milk is my current drink of choice. The caffeine is a feel-good jolt and the rich texture of the bit of oat milk satisfies my need for nutrients.
© Howard Dinin, 2022. All rights reserved.
My next intake is at 3.00pm when I have my modest sized-dessert, about 150 calories. It is almost always some form of chocolate.
Chocolates on a blue background (#f8f9fa)
nagualdesign - Derivative of File:Chocolate.jpg
CC BY-SA 3.0
File: Chocolate (blue background).jpg
Created: 5 May 2018
About Media Viewer
My last food of the day comes at 6.00pm. Sometimes it’s a piece of fruit or a vegetable (Tonight some leftover broccoli rabe with oil, garlic, salt and red pepper) along with a cup of Miso Soup. But most times it’s a bowl of Miso Soup (which I make by the batch) with seaweed, tofu, and scallions.
That’s followed by a 40-calorie popsicle and that by a cup of decaf genmaicha tea. The sugar and starch from the rice cause the tea to have a warm, full but mild nutty flavor with the aroma of the roasted rice. It’s easy to drink and seems to make one’s stomach feel better.
Loose Genmaicha tea.
No machine-readable author provided. Kyd assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims).
Public Domain
C’est ca. Eating and drinking is over until 5.00am tomorrow.
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Generation Z (aka Gen Z, iGen, or centennials), refers to the generation that was born between 1997-2012, following millennials. This generation has been raised on the internet and social media, with some of the oldest finishing college by 2020 and entering the workforce. This is their voice.
Kat’s Corner:
My friend Tevin and I and the NYC Ballet performance of the Nutcracker.
NYC Ballet the Nutcracker
the NYC Ballet’s Nutcracker on Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Kat: “A treat to see so many young patrons at the ballet.”
Kat: “Madison and I meet again at a mutual political friend’s party on Wednesday.”
“We worked together on Lucy Lang’s Manhattan DA’s race,” Kat.
“Will and I at our romantic 4th anniversary visit to Smoke, a local Jazz Club.”
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Recipe
TUNA SALAD SANDWICH
Quantities are for one person as her big meal of the day
Think of three separate components: the Spread, the Chomps, and the Baguette
THE SPREAD (smooth, for use either as a spread on the bread or tossed into the Chomps as a salad.)
½ cup Italian parsley leaves, washed, dried, and chopped
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
¼ cup roughly chopped green olives, such as Castelvetrano (or use a Brushetta from a jar)
3 or 4 anchovy fillets, chopped
¼ cup chopped celery
1 TB chopped capers
2 TB mayonnaise
Zest of ½ lemon
¼ cup chopped red onion
3 TB chopped dill pickle
Salt and pepper
For a smoother Spread, run all the above ingredients through a food chopper. Except the celery. Hand chop the celery to retain the great crunch it adds to the salad or sandwich.
THE CHOMPS
Handful of lettuce leaves or arugula or watercress
8 ounces best quality oil-packed-tuna, drained, broken into chunks
Tomato slice, medium chopped
Thin slices of red onion
Bean sprouts to taste
Salt and pepper
THE BAGUETTE
Do I have to say, “Buy the best sandwich bread?”
Open the baguette and spread the Spread.
Starting with the Tuna Chunks, add the tomato slices, the onion, the lettuce, and lastly, the sprouts.
Salt and freshly ground pepper everything and then trickle high quality EVOO over the inside of the sandwich.
An occasional day’s main course.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
“If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant’s life,
she will choose to save the infant’s life
without even considering if there are men on base.”
~ Dave Barry
An outfielder about to catch a fly ball
All-Pro Reels - https://www.flickr.com/photos/joeglo/50336621713/
Yadiel Hernandez catches fly ball from Nationals vs. Braves at Nationals Park, September 12th, 2020 (All-Pro Reels Photography)
CC BY-SA 2.0
File:Yadiel Hernandez (50336621713).jpg
Created: 12 September 2020
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Science
NASA's successful Artemis I mission paves the way for what could be the most exciting space moment in decades — landing people back on the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
Why it matters: The mission moves a crewed Moon landing from the realm of the theoretical to a likely event for the first time since the Apollo era, Miriam Kramer writes for Axios Space.
What's next: NASA's second Artemis mission flight will send a crew of astronauts around the Moon without landing before coming back to Earth.
The four-person crew is expected to be named in early 2023.
The Orion Structural Test Article's Crew Module meeting its Service Module for a series of tests
Tim Peake - https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake/status/991947286510006272
And more science:
“It’s a true scientific moment,” Kenneth Chang, who covers physics and other sciences, said. “It lets you look forward and get hopeful about what’s possible.”
Tuesday, December 13, 2022 10:00 AM ET
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California announced what they said was a major milestone in reproducing the power of the sun in a laboratory.
In a first, a fusion experiment generated more energy than it took to start the reaction, scientists said, a major research breakthrough.
The advancement will be built upon to further develop fusion energy, which has long been seen as a possible future source of bountiful energy.
Why is this result such a big deal? As a clean source of energy, nuclear fusion could help replace polluting fossil fuels and overcome climate change. And if the remaining challenges are figured out, nuclear fusion could produce more energy than today’s technologies are capable of.
The Sun is a main-sequence star, and thus generates its energy by nuclear fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium. In its core, the Sun fuses 500 million metric tons of hydrogen each second.
NASA/SDO (AIA) - http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/browse/2010/08/19/20100819_003221_4096_0304.jpg
The Sun photographed at 304 angstroms by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA 304) of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). This is a false-color image of the Sun observed in the extreme ultraviolet region of the spectrum. The sun is actually the smallest star.
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Local
And what is going on here in Boston?
This led exercising benefit workout for Toys for Tots becomes first event utilizing the new City Hall Plaza.
Thousands such events to follow in the years ahead.
Harvard Bookstore replacing Barnes and Nobles
When Barnes and Nobles closed this location, it was a blow on several levels. So this construction is an important new tenancy at the Prudential Center in Boston.
Not only does it add to the value of the real estate, not only is it a great convenience of neighbors, but it’s an important tonic for the health of the literary soul of Boston. So hoping it’s a major hit.
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts, including links.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
From our terrific movie critic, Tucker J:
Hey Dom,
I took the rest of my day yesterday and wrote something on Avatar: Way of Water if you’d like to post it on the blog.
Blog meister responds: A treat! It’s published directly after “Mail”, just below in “Screen.”
And from dear friend, Sally C:
Dear Dom,
The post below about Maxwell Anderson caught my eye, because the Sacco and Vanzetti story inspired him to write a play based on them.
Sacco and Vanzetti bronze by Gutzon Borglum of Mt. Rushmore fame
I’m very sorry to hear about your recent injury to your arm and hand. It’s good that it hasn’t turned out to be severe, but of course the continued pain in the thumb is – well – a pain in the thumb! Not a convenient spot! Are you or will you be getting any physical therapy? Do you have any therapy putty to work the hand daily at home? I found both the physical therapy and the putty invaluable in restoring my left arm and hand to full mobility and dexterity after I broke my arm in February 2020. The PT specialist couldn’t believe how quickly I recovered and regained hand-grip strength.
Stay warm and keep thinking about Tuscany, which sounds like a lovely place to stay warm.
Sally
Blog meister responds: Sally was raised in a family where kind thoughts and support were as natural as breathing. Or a glass of Chateau D’Yquem with a tranche of Mousse de Foie Gras.
This bottle available at your local wine store for $649.00
And this from friend Jim P:
Hey Dom,
I think I am starting to like your weekly blog better. It is longer which is better because it makes me slow down to read it and also return to it more than once.
Love,
Jim
Blog meister responds: Speaking of being naturally kind and supportive.
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Screen
Avatar: The way of Water
“It’s been...eighty-four years and I can still smell the fresh paint. The China had never been used. The sheets had never been slept in. Titanic was called the ship of dreams. And it was...it really was.” - Titanic
In 1997 James Cameron took the world along for a ride to the bottom of the ocean and back in time to visit the ill-fated ocean liner in Titanic. On top of being a complete technological breakthrough the likes of which had never been seen before on any screen, Titanic was so popular that it quickly became the highest grossing theatrical film of all time. It held that spot for ten years until Cameron decided he was done resting on his own laurels. 2009’s Avatar was an even bigger smash than Titanic and though their genres couldn’t be more different their appeal was the same. A simple story told with bold vision and the best special effects money could buy. Many of which needed to be invented to meet Cameron’s needs and standards.
I quote Titanic above because it illustrates one of the key aspects that sets Cameron’s films apart from other effects heavy faire. With Titanic and Avatar, the details are rendered so well you truly can smell the fresh paint. Every frame is fully immersive and even when the story lines of these films are familiar or even predictable, the world these stories take place in is so sumptuous, so tangible, that you never want to leave. Thankfully James Cameron doesn’t want to leave either and after thirteen years (thankfully not eighty-four) he’s given us all another chance to return to Pandora in Avatar: The Way of Water.
This sequel, one that demands the biggest theater screen you can find, is surely not a surprise coming from the perennially forward-looking filmmaker of the sensational sequels Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. After all, Cameron always seemed at unusual ease with follow-ups, maybe because he’s always searching for ways to improve upon, even revolutionize, what’s already behind him.
When watching—or more accurately, experiencing—The Way Of Water, the thing that will perhaps feel most awe-inspiring is the dignified beauty of the underwater ecosystems Cameron has created. It doesn’t matter that none of the glow-in-the-dark marine life and vibrantly gorgeous fluorescent fish you will see beneath the blue surfaces of Pandora actually exist. What matters is that you will instantly believe that they do, no doubt due to Cameron distantly and dreamily representing psychedelic versions of the countless finned creatures he knows well and has maybe even seen with his own eyes. In that, the world of The Way Of Water—chiefly occupied by reef people called the Metkayina Clan—feels safe, cozy and comforting when compared to the stunning rainforest renderings of the first Avatar, which at first glance were hostile and dangerous for outsiders. And that makes sense, since water is also where Cameron himself is most content, most undeniably at home.
However, his returning protagonist Jake Sully (Sam Worthington)—doesn’t share Cameron’s proficiency of deep seas at the start. Throughout the film’s first hour and act, screenwriters Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver remind audiences of the union of venerable ex-Marine Jake (here, fully living in his Na’vi body) and resourceful Na’vi Neytiri (the terrific Zoe Saldaña), now married with children. But the danger from Na’vi’s worst enemies—the greedy “Sky People”—persists. So, the Sullys have no choice but to make the sacrifice of leaving the jungle to protect the Na’vi from becoming targets of ruinous humankind, men who heartlessly mine and destroy Pandora for its valuable minerals.
And so the second act of The Way Of Water picks up where the former installment’s Dances With Wolves-adjacent plot ends, with the Sullys traveling across picturesque mountains, isles, and high seas to foreign lands they haven’t known before. Amongst the unit are Jake and Neytiri’s children: the golden child Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), the sidelined Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), the feisty Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), and the nature- and animal-loving adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), whose mom, Dr. Grace Augustine, was a major character in the first film. When Spider (Jack Champion), a goodhearted, Pandora-bound human kid that the Sully children love, unwittingly helps out returning antagonist Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephan Lang), the Sullys reach the above-mentioned (and aqua-green) Metkayina Clan and join the ranks of leaders Ronal (Kate Winslet, in her first Cameron collaboration since Titanic) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis), who agree to take the refugees in and teach them the way of water.
Admittedly, this integration process while Sky People pursue the Sullys is a little more of the same, plotting-wise. But the aquatic world that surrounds them is so dazzling that you won’t mind a story that’s soothingly familiar, freshened up by the presence of the Sully kids who get their fair share of alienation, adventure, and youthful romance once amongst the Metkayina children Tsireya (Bailey Bass) and Aonung (Filip Geljo). While the impossibly adorable and underwater natural Kiri is the MVP, the bullied Lo’ak living under the shadow of Neteyam especially receives a lovely storyline here, befriending a spectacular and valuable whale-like sea beast that is just as much of an outcast as he is.
Cameron astoundingly wraps his time-honored good-vs-evil package inside the most relatable emotions that honor concepts such as loyalty, sacrifice, friendship, love, and family that has equal room for both mothers-daughters and fathers-sons. And that accessibility, alongside Cameron’s knack for lucid and consistent big-budget storytelling—a feature most studio blockbusters lack these days—is why The Way of Water packs a punch throughout its mind-blowing set-pieces. In simplest terms, Cameron invites the viewers back into his universe in the first act, dips their toes into a brand-new offshoot of it in the second, and rocks them there in the third, entertainingly feasting on plenty of Aliens, Terminator, and yes, Titanic references throughout.
The whole package here is so ambitious, yet intimate and gently tempered in its quieter moments, that it feels heartening to be reminded of what a big-budget Hollywood movie can be when it refuses to get crushed under pointless piles of rubble and noise. It’s wonderful to have James Cameron back with a picture that feels like a theatrical event to be celebrated, nowadays a retro idea occasionally reminded by the likes of Nope and Top Gun: Maverick. These are Cameron’s own waters, and it’s significant to see him effortlessly swim in them again.
· Tucker
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Short Essay*
Genmaicha ("brown rice tea") is a Japanese brown rice green tea consisting of green tea mixed with roasted popped brown rice. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as "popcorn tea" because a few grains of the rice pop during the roasting process and resemble popcorn, or as "people's tea", as the rice served as a filler and reduced the price of the tea, making it historically more available for poorer Japanese. Today all segments of society drink genmaicha. It was also used by people fasting for religious purposes or who found themselves to be between meals for long periods of time.
The sugar and starch from the rice cause the tea to have a warm, full, nutty flavor. It is considered easy to drink and to make the stomach feel better. Tea steeped from genmaicha has a light-yellow hue. Its flavor is mild and combines the fresh grassy flavor of green tea with the aroma of the roasted rice. Although this tea is based on green tea, the recommended way to brew this tea is different: the water should be at about 80–85 °C (176–185 °F), and a brewing time of 3–5 minutes is recommended, depending on desired strength.
Genmaicha is also sold with matcha (powdered green tea) added to it. This product is called matcha-iri genmaicha. Matcha-iri genmaicha has a similar flavor to plain genmaicha, but the flavor is often stronger and the color more green than light yellow.
People
Angelo Badalamento
Angelo Daniel Badalamenti (March 22, 1937 – December 11, 2022) was an American composer and arranger best known for his work in composing for films. He mainly is known for his collaborations with director David Lynch, notably Blue Velvet, the Twin Peaks saga (1990–1992, 2017), The Straight Story, and Mulholland Drive.[1] Badalamenti received the 1990 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for his "Twin Peaks Theme". He composed scores for many other films including The City of Lost Children, A Very Long Engagement, and Holy Smoke!
He also recorded songs with artists including Nina Simone, Shirley Bassey, Julee Cruise, Pet Shop Boys, Dusty Springfield, Marianne Faithfull, David Bowie, Tim Booth, Siouxsie Sioux and Dolores O'Riordan.
Badalamenti received a lifetime achievement award from the World Soundtrack Awards's Academy in 2008 and the Henry Mancini Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 2011.
*The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Community Pictures with Captions are sent in by our followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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