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Weekend Butler: Tina Turner’s salvation: Buddhism. Killer Orcas? Does Facebook have $ for you? Weekend movie from 1931: “Little Caesar.” Song of the week: Taylor Swift. One-pot spaghetti. And more.
Published: May 25, 2023
Category:
Weekend
TINA TURNER (1939 -2023: “BUDDHISM LITERALLY SAVED MY LIFE”
A hundred million records sold. Eight Grammy Awards. The most successful singer in the history of pop music. All true. But those honors and achievements aren’t, for me, what’s most worth celebrating about Tina Turner.
How hard was the first half of her life? Abused as a child. Abused again by Ike Turner, her coke-addicted husband — she left with 36 cents and a Mobil gas card. Her only child with Ike died of colon cancer. Another son committed suicide.
The word I’ve seen a lot to describe Tina Turner today is “indestructible.” Ok, but not because her will to survive was so strong. In 1973, she had a practice that healed her and sustained her and filled her with the kind of joy that others could seek in their own lives. As she explains:
I used to be baffled about why I had to endure so much abuse, because I hadn’t done anything to deserve it. After I began practicing Buddhism, I realized that my hardships could give me a mission—a purpose. I saw that by overcoming my obstacles, I could build indestructible happiness and inspire others to do the same. Then I could see everything that came my way, both the highs and the lows, as an opportunity for self-improvement and for sparking hope in others.
After I began studying Buddhism and chanting Nam-myōhō-renge-kyō, I felt as if a different person emerged. My true self came out, and I became cheerful, confident, and resilient. My approach to life and work became calmer and more thoughtful, and my reactions were more tempered. I used to get angry first and ask questions later. But after I embraced Buddhism, it flipped. I could easily stay calm and figure out the details instead of jumping to conclusions. I came to understand that any achievement stems from inner change. The more I studied Buddhist principles, the deeper I dug within myself and cleaned up whatever attitudes or habits were standing in my way. And the more I chanted and aligned my goals with an authentic desire to inspire happiness in others, the more my life began to improve. I credit my spiritual practice with all the positive transformations—from the smallest to the largest—I’ve had in my career and personal life.
Once I started my solo career, I would chant for an hour before each show, focusing on the true happiness of each person who came to see me. I visualized my audience and prayed that I could be whoever each person needed me to be that day so that I could inspire their dreams and help them recharge their souls. For me, being onstage was the best—a great exchange of energy with each person in the audience.
Tina Turner’s practice was Soka Gakkai Nichiren Buddhism. She chanted every day for fifty years. Listen to her chant it here. And then the other sign of that coin, watch her perform “River Deep, Mountain High — “the greatest song in rock and roll, period.”
WHAT ORCAS TELL ORCAS: SINK BOATS!
It’s no accident. But why? Click to read.
ABSURD HEADLINE OF THE WEEK: “MARIJUANA-INFUSED APHRODISIACS EMERGE AS NEW LOVE DRUG IN NEW YORK”
Yes, the New York Post.
DOES FACEBOOK OWE YOU MONEY? FIND OUT!
So it won’t be much. But the possibility of extracting even a few cents from Mark Zuckerberg is worth taking a minute. Read this.
WANDA SYKES WISDOM
“Until a drag queen walks into a school and beats eight kids to death with a copy of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird,’ I think you’re focusing on the wrong shit.”
WEEKEND MUSIC: “GIVE ME SOME TIPS TO FORGET YOU”
The song is a conversation between a man and a woman who are meeting at a bar in a hotel, The Alcott. They’re unsure about the relationship but not about their feelings —and like moose with antlers locked, they can’t get closer, can’t get free. The singers and writers are Aaron Dessner of The National and Taylor Swift — and if you’re holding on to an ancient perception of Swift as a kid act, you need to upgrade it. She’s 33 now. And she can write: the lyrics are right on the video. Lacerating! Watch and read.
WEEKEND MOVIE: “LITTLE CAESAR”
Why? Because it’s a story of a reality that we’re still experiencing. [This groundbreaking piece is long. And disturbing. You are strongly encouraged to read it.]
On January 9, 1931, at the bottom of the Depression, Warner Bros. released “Little Caesar.”
Cesare Enrico (“Rico”) Bandello, played by Edward G. Robinson, is a stubby, tough-talking, trigger-happy thug modeled on Al Capone. He dominates the film as he rockets to power. And yet he’s not the movie’s most powerful character. That is “Big Boy,” played by the ‘20s star Sidney Blackmer.
“Big Boy” lives in a mansion at the top of a hill in the very best neighborhood. He’s a patrician: firm jaw, grey at the temples, custom-tailored smoking jacket. But he’s also the city’s crime leader. Ultimate power is his — on a whim, he could terminate Rico.
The poor and the powerless paid their nickels at the box office so they could cheer Rico’s rise — and gasp at his fall. They barely noticed “Big Boy.” But you may be sure that moviegoers who ran corporations and commanded vast fortunes did. And they had to smile at the way the movie ends: Rico, broke and alone, is gunned down while “Big Boy” sails on, above the fray.
To stream “Little Caesar” on Amazon Prime, click here.
WEEKEND POEM
“Our Real Work,” by Wendell Berry
It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
THE WEEKEND RECIPE
One-Pot Spaghetti With Cherry Tomatoes and Kale
From the Times: In this simple recipe, raw pasta and cherry tomatoes are simmered together in a single pan, cooking the pasta and forming a thick, starchy sauce at the same time. The efficient technique is internet famous, but this is the British cookbook author Anna Jones’s vegetarian take on the phenomenon, adapted from her book “A Modern Way to Cook.” The technique is easy to master and endlessly adaptable: When you add the kale, you could also toss in a couple of anchovies and a generous pinch of red-pepper flakes. When you season and top with cheese, you could add a pile of fresh chopped herbs, like mint, basil or oregano.
Yield: 4 servings
1 pound spaghetti
1 pound cherry tomatoes, halved (about 2 pints)
2 lemons, zested
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
1bunch kale or spinach, leaves only, washed and chopped
Black pepper
Parmesan, for serving
Bring just over a quart of water to a boil. Meanwhile, place spaghetti, tomatoes, lemon zest, oil and 2 teaspoons kosher salt in a large, dry, shallow pan. (The pan should be large enough that the dry spaghetti can lie flat.)
Carefully add the boiling water to the pan with the spaghetti. Cover pan, and bring up to a boil. Remove lid and simmer for about 6 minutes, using tongs to move the spaghetti around now and then so it doesn’t stick. Add kale or spinach and continue cooking until remaining liquid has reduced to a sauce and the pasta is cooked through. Taste, season with salt and pepper, and top with Parmesan.
