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Weekend Butler: No glass ceiling for these women! My fearless, surely doomed Oscar choices. Wisdom from RuPaul and Emmylou Harris. A 4-star weekend movie. Skillet-tossed (yes!) gnocchi.
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Published: Mar 09, 2023
Category:
Weekend
THE IMAGE IN THE PHOTO: Nature, showing off.
JUST ONE DAY?
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY was celebrated on WQXR, New York’s classical music station, with all-female programming (“We’re here,” a recorded announcement told us. “We were always here.”) On WFUV, Fordham’s alt-rock station, a line-up of female DJs programmed a day of music by women. And now? Back to the old formula?
NO GLASS CEILING FOR THEM!
These women are descendants of people who have inhabited the Andes for a thousand years. Most are wives of the guides who lead climbers to the summits of the mountains of Bolivia. The women work as porters and cooks. In 2014, something like feminism grabbed them. They had no climbing experience, but they called themselves the Cholita Climbers. Eleven of them — the youngest was 23, the oldest 52 — set out to climb a peak in Bolivia that tops out at 19,974 feet. They wore their traditional wide, puffy skirts and plaited hair. Their one concession: helmets instead of high bowler hats. All eleven reached the summit. In 2019, five Cholitas — Lidia Huayllas, Dora Magueño, Analía Gonzáles, Elena Quispe and Cecilia Llusco — climbed Aconcagua (22,841 feet), the tallest peak in South America. They’re now thinking about Everest. To watch an inspiring video, click here.
IF I WERE AN OSCAR VOTER
Why does “Tár” get my vote for Best Movie? Because it’s a movie! I argued with it. Hated it. Loved it. Thought it was too long (2 hours, 38 minutes, but couldn’t see what to cut). And this: after, I wanted to talk about it. That was a challenge. Who saw it? The film’s production and marketing costs: more than $35 million. Gross in the United States: $7 million. Shabby! You could say there are fewer small movie theaters now. And that classical music is too “special” for most audiences. And this, above all: it’s very hard, if not impossible, to “like” Lydia Tár. Okay, all that. But what a performance! Cate Blanchett already has two Academy Awards. She’s the next Streep. And this may be her best yet. Just watch the preview. And this interview. To stream it on Amazon Prime, click here.
As for Bill Nighy, my choice for Best Actor? I’ve finally seen “Living.” It’s a slow, stately movie that spares you nothing — I had to pause it a half hour before it ended, because he knew he wasted his life and there was so much regret. I’m glad I returned. What Nighy does at the end, how ravaged he looks, and how determined — and how he achieves it all with few words and a camera fixed on his face. To watch on Amazon Prime (It’s expensive, but less than a theater ticket and popcorn), click here.
I’M GOING TO REVIEW THIS BOOK SOON , AND THERE MAY BE SPOILERS. IF YOU’RE GOING TO READ IT, MAYBE DO IT NOW.
“Trust,” by Hernan Diaz, is the best novel I’ve read this year. It’s so good I read its 400 pages… twice. It’s one of The New York Times and Washington Post top ten books of 2022 , longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, winner of the 2022 Kirkus Prize, and named one of the best books of 2022 by The New Yorker, Vogue, Time, NPR, etc. And it’s on Barack Obama’s list of 2022 favorites, although I don’t see how he actually reads the books he says he loves. [To buy the book from Amazon, click here. For the Kindle edition, click here.]
KANYE WEST HEADLINE OF THE WEEK: Adidas Wants to Move On but Still Has $1.3 Billion in Yeezy Sneakers
After severing business ties with the rapper Ye, Adidas said it would cut its dividend and declared 2023 a “transition year.”
THE WISDOM OF RUPAUL: “You’re born naked. The rest is drag.”
THE WISDOM OF EMMYLOU HARRIS
I was interviewing Emmylou Harris about her CD, “Hard Bargain.” I said: Your life has been one blessing after another, so why that title ?
Emmylou: Just being in the world is a hard bargain. Everything has a price, a blessing and a curse. It’s relentless. We can’t really resist life — we’re pulled back into it.
Jesse: What’s the reward?
Emmylou: The reward is that we’re here.
THE WEEKEND MOVIE: ANOTHER GREAT FEMALE DIRECTOR
I’m President of the Debra Granik Fan Club. Her first films were industrial videos for trade unions in the Boston area. The subject: people doing their jobs. She went on to make two films about unforgettable character who don’t have jobs. The first was Jennifer Lawrence’s debut, Winter’s Bone, set in the backwoods, where legal money is hard to come by. Her second feature was “Leave No Trace,” about a war veteran with PTSD who lives in the woods with his young daughter. It didn’t get the attention it deserved, and on Oscar weekend, watching it will reassure you that, every once in a great while, a determined director makes a great independent film. Here’s the trailer. To stream the film from Amazon Prime, click here.
THE CROOKED TREE AND THE STRAIGHT TREE
a story from Tom Waits
My kids are starting to notice I’m a little different from the other dads. ‘Why don’t you have a straight job like everyone else?’ they asked me the other day.
I told them this story:
In the forest, there was a crooked tree and a straight tree. Every day, the straight tree would say to the crooked tree, “Look at me…I’m tall, and I’m straight, and I’m handsome. Look at you…you’re all crooked and bent over. No one wants to look at you.”
The two trees grew up in that forest together. And then one day the loggers came, and they saw the crooked tree and the straight tree, and they said, “Just cut the straight trees and leave the rest.”
So the loggers turned all the straight trees into lumber and toothpicks and paper.
And the crooked tree is still there, growing stronger and stranger every day.”
THE WEEKEND POEM
Jack Gilbert, “Tear It Down”
We find out the heart only by dismantling what
the heart knows. By redefining the morning,
we find a morning that comes just after darkness.
We can break through marriage into marriage.
By insisting on love we spoil it, get beyond
affection and wade mouth-deep into love.
We must unlearn the constellations to see the stars.
But going back toward childhood will not help.
The village is not better than Pittsburgh.
Only Pittsburgh is more than Pittsburgh.
Rome is better than Rome in the same way the sound
of racoon tongues licking the inside walls
of the garbage tub is more than the stir
of them in the muck of the garbage. Love is not
enough. We die and are put into the earth forever.
We should insist while there is still time. We must
eat through the wildness of her sweet body already
in our bed to reach the body within the body
THE WEEKEND RECIPE
From Southern Living
Skillet-Toasted Gnocchi with Peas
Potato gnocchi is a great alternative to pasta—and possibly even better when crisped up in a pan. Gnocchi, or Italian dumplings, can be made with potatoes, semolina, cornmeal, wheat flour, or similar ingredients. Toasting is the key to store-bought gnocchi.
Although the package directions call for it to be boiled in salted water, sauté the gnocchi in a pan with a little butter and oil until they are golden brown on the outside and hot and tender on the inside. Then, much like pasta, these toasty little nuggets can be flavored in almost any way imaginable.
We like this fresh springtime riff, with sweet peas, parsley, lemon, and parmesan cheese. But you can add your favorite vegetables and herbs, tomato or pesto sauce, or even some protein like sautéed shrimp or sliced grilled chicken.
Whatever you choose, you’ll have a satisfying dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less.
Serves 6
1/4 cup salted butter, divided
1 (16-oz.) package potato gnocchi
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 1 large garlic clove)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (10-oz.) package frozen sweet peas, thawed, or 1 1/2 cups shelled fresh sweet peas
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon lemon zest plus 1 Tbsp. fresh juice (from 1 lemon)
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup)
Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high; add gnocchi, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, about 10 minutes.
Add garlic and thyme, and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add broth, salt, and pepper; bring to a simmer, and cook until reduced by about half, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add peas, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, and remaining 2 tablespoons butter; cook, stirring constantly, until butter melts, about 1 minute.
Top with Parmesan, and serve immediately.
[thanks to Jill M]
