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Weekend Butler: Warm up with a thriller in Paris. A film masterpiece. The importance of paying attention. Snark from (yes!) Mahatma Gandhi. 3:54 of joyous exercise. Should married couples live apart? A unicorn event, and more.
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Published: Feb 03, 2022
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Weekend
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THIS WEEK IN BUTLER
Trattoria: Simple and Robust Fare Inspired by the Small Family Restaurants of Italy
Sherryl Sachs: Costume Jewelry from her “Gilded Age” collection
Francis Ford Coppola: The Conversation
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A UNICORN EVENT
The other day I spent a Zoom hour watching a Ph.D. candidate present her thesis to her degree committee. She’d sent a 300-word summary to ground me. “Somatic hermeneutics” was beyond my understanding. And yet this was the most exciting hour of the week for me — and, I suspect, for the 70 friends and relatives who watched, muted and… nervous.
Why nervous? The Ph.D. candidate is in her 60s, an age when almost no one has a doctorate as a goal. Her mother is 97, in the hospital, near death, and, in the way of the world, possibly dying at the exact time of the dissertation defense.
Would you postpone? I would. She didn’t.
What I watched was a flawless, jargon-free, easily understood presentation — more like a naked sharing of her deepest self than a synopsis of ideas. When she spoke of “embodied expedience,” she spoke of her mother. They’re close, but her voice didn’t crack.
When she finished, in window after window, there was applause and cheers and some application of Kleenex. Later, when I thought about what it’s like to witness a unicorn event, I thought of Philippe Petit, walking from World Trade Center tower to tower, 1,312 feet above the ground. It can’t be done. He did it. And so did my friend.
WHAT TO READ: A THRILLER TO TAKE YOU AWAY
Click here.
WHAT TO WATCH: “A MOTION-PICTURE MASTERPIECE… A CINEMATIC MIRACLE”
Hardy Kruger died this week. His best film is a cult favorite, “Sundays and Cybéle.” Alas, you can’t stream it. Read about it, you may want to buy it.
REMARKABLE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THICH NHAT HANH’S FUNERAL
Click here.
3:54 OF JOYOUS EXERCISE
From Twitter: “During the pandemic I put this song on and exercised like there was no tomorrow I’ll never get tired of it I’ll play it at my funeral.” Crank the volume. What was Sylvester’s appeal? “His sound brought to mind a bright, soft, blue-skied world — one where race and gender no longer divide us and we love whom, when and how we want.” The biography is delicious. Sample wisdom: “Whenever you think you have on too much, you should put on more, just to be safe,”
SNARK FROM… MAHATMA GANDHI
When Mahatma Gandhi was studying law in London, a professor named Peters had a bad attitude … but student Gandhi never lowered his head and they met very often.
One day Peters was having lunch at the university canteen, Gandhi came with his tray and sat down next to him.
The very arrogant professor said to him, “Student Gandhi, you don’t understand!” “Pig” and “bird” don’t sit down to eat together. ”
Gandhi replies, “Be calm, Professor, I will fly!”
And the situation has changed. Professor Peters, filled with rage, because he understood that the student had called him “Pig”, decided to take revenge on the next exam …
But the student answers all the questions brilliantly.
Then the teacher asks him the following question: “Gandhi, if you walk down the street and find two bags, one with wisdom and the other with money, which of the two will you take?”
Gandhi replied without hesitation, “Probably the money, Professor.” ‘’
The smiling teacher tells him, “I would grab wisdom in your place, don’t you think?”
Gandhi replies, “Everyone takes what they don’t have, Professor.”
The already hysterical professor writes “IDIOT” on the exam sheet and returns it to the young man. Gandhi takes the sheet and sits down … after a few minutes he turns to the teacher and says, “Professor Peters, you signed the sheet, but you didn’t write my grade …”
MORAL: If you let something hurt you … It will hurt you. But if you do not allow it, the thing will return to where it came from.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PAYING ATTENTION: WHY THE BENGALS BEAT THE CHIEFS
From the Times:
Burrow shouldered a major load on Sunday, especially given Cincinnati’s inability to successfully run in regulation. He didn’t do it alone, though: the Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo deserves at least half the credit for the win. Cincinnati started the game playing the same two-deep coverages that slowed Patrick Mahomes and his explosive receiving corps in the regular season, to no avail. Mahomes patiently worked underneath passing windows until Anarumo lost his patience and played man-to-man — and was punished by Tyreek Hill over the top.
Even when all of Kansas City’s receivers were perfectly covered, Mahomes extended plays with scrambles until someone broke open or a running lane was revealed. And, after having his game plan beaten for 30 minutes, Anarumo made a pivotal adjustment that is almost never seen at the professional level: He conceded the pass rush entirely to contain Kansas City’s speed.
Cincinnati snatched the game away much like it did against Tennessee in the divisional round, thanks to Burrow’s toughness and the adjustments Anarumo made defensively. This isn’t about destiny or magic; the Bengals earned their spot in Super Bowl LVI by outplaying Kansas City.
SHOULD MARRIED COUPLES LIVE APART?
Click here.
CHEAP SUPERBOWL TICKETS
From an email: A good friend of mine has two tickets for the Super Bowl, 50 yard line box seats. He paid $3,500 each but he didn’t realize last year when he bought them, it was going to be on the same day as his wedding. Probably because of the extra game this year. If you know anyone interested, he is looking for someone to take his place…
It’s at St. Michaels Church in Wayne, NJ, at 3pm. The bride’s name is Nicole, she’s 5’4″, about 115 lbs, good cook too. She’ll be the one in the white dress.
A FORWARD-LOOKING IDEA FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH
From Twitter: “Every single Black church should be planning a voter registration drive to prepare for the upcoming midterm elections.”
NYC TICKETS TO BUY
Amadou & Mariam and Blind Boys of Alabama, May 2. For tickets, click here. For the reason why, click here.
