We had a lovely Sunday drive today. After attending church in Nitra, we drove north along the mountains to a Salas called Kostrin, where we had an intensely (and deliciously) Slovak lunch. Then we headed further north and east to Bojnice castle. It’s nice to live in a place that is so well seasoned with food for the belly and the soul….
Not in this world of hope deferred,
This world of perishable stuff:—
Eye hath not seen nor ear hath heard
Nor heart conceived that full “enough”:
Here moans the separating sea,
Here harvests fail, here breaks the heart:
There God shall join and no man part,
I full of Christ and Christ of me.
—from Christina Rossetti (you can read the rest of the poem here)
Wow!
I wasn’t sufficiently prepared for the power of the short film Auf der Strecke. In only 30 minutes, a terrifying story unfolds before us, often without words. The protagonist works in security for a department store watching people all day long. He also has his eye (through his security cameras) on one particular employee in the book department – a young woman who catches his eye. One day after work he rides the same subway with her and – well something happens. He watches it unfold before him. As we find out in a later scene, he is certain he understands what he observes, and he acts on his understanding. Let’s just say the scene and the whole film are packed with irony.
And there I was watching him watch. And I believe I understand what I observe, and I act on it….
I never thought I would be writing these words, but Trnava actually has a legitimately good sushi bar. It’s called Wasabi, and it is the real deal. I can’t say that it is in the same class as Austin’s Koreana (which, in a nightmare-become-reality, burned down last spring just weeks before I returned for a visit). On the other hand, I can honestly say their Broccoli soup is out of this world, and their maki and nagiri are tasty and fresh, though the variety is limited.
About the soup: it’s a heavenly creamy broccoli soup, with some chunks of fresh salmon, croutons, and topped with shavings of parmesan cheese. And it is unreal.
Oh, one more thing: I will start teaching a conversational English class there next Thursday evening. I plan to accept payment in sushi….
I’m not quite sure why I settled on Run, Lola, Run this evening. I think I saw the DVD in the Foreign section of Blockbuster back when I lived in Austin, and I picked it off the shelf several times, but always set it back down. Then it started showing up in my Amazon recommendations – I guess they thought I’d like it. And I did – sort of.
Here’s an understatement: It is a bit more frenetic than some of my favorite films like, for example, Remains of the Day and Babette’s Feast. Lola doesn’t seem to be based on any Jane Austen novel – though, as in Jane Austen (and in all true romance), Love conquers any and every obstacle. And I mean every obstacle, including the biggies like Time, Chance, Evil, and Death. (Compare Song of Songs 8:6.)
You may want to look at a review or two before you give it a try – it certainly isn’t for everyone.
On the recommendation of my Slovak tutor, of all people, our family watched the Walt Disney dog adventure Eight Below. The dogs are by far the stars here – gorgeous and intelligent, fiercely loyal, affectionate and courageous. Um, I wish I could be half as good as one of these dogs!
The human characters are interesting enough to not ruin a great dog movie. Their acting isn’t terrible, and they end up pulling together to do something almost 100th as heroic as the dogs (not bad for a dog movie).
If you are concerned about frightening scenes that might disturb small children, Paula only screamed once….
We finally got around to watching Julie & Julia the other night. The movie intertwines two stories: that of Julia Child and her husband Paul, from their arrival in Paris in 1949 to the publication of her cookbook, and that of Julie and her husband. I don’t remember Julie’s last name, or the name of her husband, because I found her story far less compelling than Julia’s, and really it only served (for me) as a vehicle to deliver Julia’s story. A movie about someone writing a blog as a therapeutic exercise and achieving a kind of “gilt by association” with a truly interesting person just doesn’t appeal to me.
On the other hand, Julie’s dishes made me very, very hungry!
Another joy of watching this film is Meryl Streep’s performance. Incredible. Another reminder that she is among the greatest actresses of our time….
In The Cold War: A New History, Yale history professor John Lewis Gaddis writes with skill that does justice to one of the most remarkable periods of history. His narrative isn’t simply chronological, but a presentation of the history seven times, from seven perspectives or themes. (Which reminds me of the book of Revelation – but I don’t have time to explore that analogy further.) The details of the story that have been revealed since the opening of the records from behind the former Iron Curtain are sometimes chilling and often change or at least challenge our old perceptions.
The highest drama for me, though, remains the rapid unravelling of communism in Europe in and around 1989. I’ve read several accounts of those events, and am always incredulous – though it happened in front of me.
Read this book!