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Weekend Butler: Do you have/need an air purifier? Van Gogh’s Cypresses and a Van Gogh movie. Ban the Bible in schools? Shrimp Salad. And more.

By Jesse Kornbluth
Published: Jun 08, 2023
Category: Weekend

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THIS WEEK IN BUTLER: Father’s Day 2023. Thich Nhat Hanh: Teachings on Love.  Was “Succession” a success?

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I wrote about the Levoit Air purifier in January of 2021.   If you can remember what our lives were like then, you’ll understand why many of you bought one. I moved on. COVID didn’t. I updated the piece. I moved on. And now, with New York experiencing the worst air in the world, I’ve updated it again. The message: If you’re in a smoke zone — and this Canadian smoke may drift down all summer — you  want/need an air purifier. Also, the Times tells you about an air quality monitor.  And need I say: masks!

DOMINIQUE SALERNO: “THE BOX SHOW”

If you saw my Matisse play at the Schoolhouse Theatre production in Westchester, you saw Dominique Salerno deliver a knockout performance as Matisse’s nurse and, later, the nun who inspired him to create his masterpiece, the chapel in Vence. In August, she’s doing a star turn at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, performing solo in “The Box Show.” In it, she performs 25+ characters while inside a tiny box. Each time the doors swing open, she’s in a new reality:  a lonely giantess, a drunken couple mid-fight, the entire Greek Army inside the Trojan Horse, and more! If you’ll be in Scotland, she’s a worthy destination. For information and tickets, click here.

WHEN THEY WANT TO BAN THE BIBLE…MAYBE THEY’VE GONE TOO FAR

from CBS: The Bible has been removed from all elementary and middle school libraries throughout the Davis School District in Utah after a parent utilized a new law that permits the removal of “pornographic” books from school libraries. The removal of the Bible was requested due to it being “one of the most sex-ridden books around.” The Utah Legislature in 2022 approved a contentious bill HB374, which lawmakers have described as a way to weed out content found to be pornographic from K-12 libraries and classrooms. Utah Parents United, a conservative parents rights lobbied strongly for the passing of HB374. The parent argued that the Bible contained topics such as incest, bestiality, genital mutilation, and infanticide, making it pornographic under the new definition set forth in Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-1227. A GOP lawmaker expressed sadness regarding the situation.

WEEKEND MUSIC

Keith Urban, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16. For the video with lyrics, click here. For the performance video, click here.  

WEEKEND WISDOM: JOHN COUGAR]

from the New York Times:

Bob Dylan and I were painting together one day, and I asked him how he wrote so many great songs. In all seriousness, he said, “John, I’ve written the same four [expletive] songs a million times.” I’m going to get in line with Bob on that. It’s always the same song, just more mature or with a different angle.

I’m good friends with Stephen King. I said, “Steve, why are we such hypochondriacs?” He said it’s because we make stuff up — a song, a story, a painting — and when we’re not doing that, we turn it on ourselves. You think, “Oh, I can’t breathe.” And even though you were breathing fine, all of a sudden you can’t, because you focused on it.

I get along great with my kids, and I talk to each of them three or four times a week. But I told them all kinds of crazy [expletive]. I told them I invented skateboarding. My youngest, Speck, was skateboarding at school and a kid said, “You’re really good.” Speck said, “I should be. My dad invented it.” The kid goes, “Your dad didn’t invent skateboarding!” So Speck hit him.

WEEKEND MOVIE

The Metropolitan Museum’s show of Van Gogh’s Cypresses is not to be missed… if, that is, you’ll be in New York. It closes August. If you can’t make it — and even if you can — I urge you to watch Julian Schnabel’s movie, about Van Gogh, “At Eternity’s Gate.” To read my appreciation and to stream it on Amazon Prime, click here. 

THE WEEKEND POEM

“Sentimental Moment or Why Did the Baguette Cross the Road?” by Robert Hershon

Don’t fill up on bread

I say absent-mindedly

The servings here are huge

My son, whose hair may be

receding a bit, says

Did you really just

say that to me?

What he doesn’t know

is that when we’re walking

together, when we get

to the curb

I sometimes start to reach

for his hand

WEEKEND RECIPE

Shrimp Salad 

Plenty of lemon —  both the zest and juice — is the secret to this tangy, creamy shrimp salad. If you’re using this to make sandwiches, chop the shrimp into pieces before adding them to the dressing. You can also leave the shrimp whole for an elegant salad, served with lettuce, avocado, and other vegetables if you like. If you’re starting with precooked shrimp, you can skip the first step entirely. The salad can be made and refrigerated for up to 6 hours before serving.

Yield: 2 to 4 servings

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 lemons

1pound shelled large shrimp

¼cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup diced celery

¼ cup diced red onion

¼ cup chopped fresh dill, parsley or cilantro (or a combination)

Lettuce, avocado or other vegetables, for serving (optional)

 

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a simmer. Slice one of the lemons and add to the pot, along with the shrimp. Simmer, never letting the water boil if you can help it, until the shrimp turn opaque, 2 to 4 minutes, depending on their size. Drain well, and discard the lemon slices. If you like, you can chop the cooked shrimp into smaller pieces.