Sunday...watching The Bear
Jun. 26th, 2022 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatI have no idea what subject heading to provide. After binge-watching The Bear on Hulu, it's rather good by the way and deserves a review which I'll get to eventually, I took a walk to pick up a few things. And ran into an unexpected human obstacle course on a hot, humid, sunny day, with a slight breeze. Apparently there were block parties and Art Amageddon 2022, with assorted porch concerts in Ditmas. I live in Kensington, and Ditmas is about a fifteen to twenty minute walk across various busy intersections (the intersections extend the walk time or minimize it depending on how long I wait at a light). Also NYC drivers are insane. Every time I see these people drive - I think, oh gas prices have sky-rocketed in NY, and grin fiendishly. (Sorry to those of you who are also affected, nothing personal.)
Anyhow, folks were camped out with their kids on the grass, lawns, and sidewalks, providing a human obstacle course of sorts. Wish they were on the street instead - but alas, the street wasn't blocked to traffic. And they aren't nuts.
I didn't hear the music, apparently they were still in the introduction stage when I walked by, but I did see the art work - and oh god. That has got to be the ugliest acrylic oil paintings that I've seen in my life. (I've seen a lot of paintings, done some myself, and these made me think I was an amazing artist (I'm not) and any friend who had ever done a Wine and Paint class was.) It's like they mixed all the colors and came up with mud? There was a nightmarish child's sketch of a blackish blue cat, with brown slashes through it, and a painting that made me think of red teeth, blood and knives. And they had stacks of these paintings. All over the lawn. I thought of taking a picture - to share with you all, but decided against it. I'd have to post it to FB first, and I don't know whose house it was - it looked like the house that belonged to an acquaintance from church, but I could be wrong about that.
On the way back, I was burdened with groceries, so took another route home. Also had a slight headache, due to the barometric pressure and the head so wisely chose not to participate in the porch concerts. I don't like sitting on the grass - it's a long way down to the ground, and I've issues getting back up again. (I'm six foot - and about 90% of that is in my legs - so basically, my legs are 4-5 feet long. And they are getting cranky with age. Suffice it to say - the floor or ground is a long long way down.) Plus bad back - I require back support right now - I can't sit on the ground without back support. Live porch concerts are out. I did kind of envy the people across the street who could sit on their porches and listen - except what if you don't like the music or aren't in the mood?
****
Mother regaled me with my brother's visit to Italy.
Me: So it was all good?
Mother: Good and bad.
Me: Really? Tell me the bad! I want to hear the bad! (I'm not proud of this - but there it is.)
Mother (sighs): The air conditioning wasn't working at most of the places they stayed. Or was wonky. It was hot. He's upset because it was hot there, while it was cool here - and now he's come back to hot weather.
Me: Poor baby. More please.
Mother: They had scheduled a boat trip along the coast with snorkling, but it got canceled due to rough seas. He was able to swim in the Mediterrean though for one day - and said it was very salty.
Me: Yeah, the Mediterrean is extremely salty - so salty that you can float in it without trying.
Mother: that's what he said.
Me: I was pretty much covered with salt.
Mother: Also, COVID no longer exists over there. People act like it is over. No masks. Walk around and do what they want. He said it was crowded with lots of tourists.
Me: Well, it's kind of like that here - although people are still wearing masks in NYC and in my neighborhood outside and inside. (We have a 5% infection rate in NY and 3% in Brooklyn, which has been true for most of the pandemic.)
Niece made it to Athens safely with her boyfriend, although they had to switch BnB's because the first one had no working A/C and cockroaches. They are flying to another Greek island today. Also, she made it to her concert in Milan and enjoyed it tremendously - according to mother.
I'm glad I didn't have to travel there. I used to want to see Greece and the ruins, until I saw the ruins in Turkey, and ...
Mother: It's just rubble.
Me: Pretty much. And the landscape is a lot like Mexico and Southern California...not that pretty, kind of brown, with olive trees, and pretty ocean.
I would rather go to Belize or New Zealand. I live in city in a huge city with museums, going to another one doesn't really appeal. Although I am admittedly curious about Florence and Venice, both are Renaissance and Medieval Cities - so intriguing. Also I hear the food is divine, particularly for ceiliacs.
***
The Bear
This is an eight episode series, by Christopher Storer with three episodes by Joanna Calo.
Synopsis by way of IMBD: "Carmen Berzatto, a brilliant young chef from the fine-dining world is forced to return home to run his family sandwich shop - the Original Beef of Chicagoland - after a heartbreaking death in his family. A world away from what he's used to, Carmy must balance the soul-crushing reality of trading in Michelin star restaurants for the small business' kitchen filled with strong-willed and recalcitrant staff and his strained familial relationships, all while grappling with the impact of his brother's suicide."
It's rather good - and what I'd describe as hyper-realism. The dialogue is exactly how people talk, and they are often screaming over each other, or talking over one another. Cursing. Fighting. And it's very raw. But, also touching in places, and the writer's adeptly show who each of the main characters are - without lots of expository dialogue.
Each character moment is earned, and feels real. And there are episodes that are told in each character's point of view. They don't tell much about themselves, they hold their cards close to their chests, but we are shown just enough to understand. Example? The character of Sydney is shown in her bedroom in her father's home at night, listening to the EL train rattle by. She gets up at the crack of dawn, takes anti-acid meds from a medicine cabinet filled with medications, and takes off that morning, after we see her flashing back to a bank credit being denied. She's the impatient sous chef at the restaurant, a recent hire, with an exemplary resume.
There's references to Chicago throughout and the series is loosely based on and filmed at Mr. Beef on Orleans, one of the only properties in Chicago to have an address of 666.
Also, Jeremy Allen White who plays Carmen in the series - went to cooking school for two weeks and worked in the kitchen of multiple Restaurants, among them the Michelin star-rated Pasjoli, to train for the show. It shows, he's comfortable moving around the small kitchen, chopping vegetables, and working with his colleagues. One of the actors, the one who plays the handy-man is an actual chef, and very good in his role as handy man.
The entire series with the exception of a few scenes here and there - takes place in the kitchen of the restaurant, or a restaurant, with food preparations going on. It's the first fictional series that I've seen that takes place completely within a kitchen and shows food prep in detail. It's also innovative in that the lead character and chef isn't an asshole - he's not a womanizer, he's not an addict, he's not arrogant. And some of the best scenes are between him and his sister, Natalie aka Sugar.
One of the better hyper-realistic series that I've seen. It's not a downer. It's not exceedingly violent. It's not nihilistic - if anything the opposite. And the episodes are about thirty minutes in length.
Oh, it also treats COVID as if it happened a while ago. I wish television series would stop doing that. Either don't reference at all, or reference it realistically. Particularly if you're going with hyper-realism.
It's on F/X and currently streaming on Hulu.
Anyhow, folks were camped out with their kids on the grass, lawns, and sidewalks, providing a human obstacle course of sorts. Wish they were on the street instead - but alas, the street wasn't blocked to traffic. And they aren't nuts.
I didn't hear the music, apparently they were still in the introduction stage when I walked by, but I did see the art work - and oh god. That has got to be the ugliest acrylic oil paintings that I've seen in my life. (I've seen a lot of paintings, done some myself, and these made me think I was an amazing artist (I'm not) and any friend who had ever done a Wine and Paint class was.) It's like they mixed all the colors and came up with mud? There was a nightmarish child's sketch of a blackish blue cat, with brown slashes through it, and a painting that made me think of red teeth, blood and knives. And they had stacks of these paintings. All over the lawn. I thought of taking a picture - to share with you all, but decided against it. I'd have to post it to FB first, and I don't know whose house it was - it looked like the house that belonged to an acquaintance from church, but I could be wrong about that.
On the way back, I was burdened with groceries, so took another route home. Also had a slight headache, due to the barometric pressure and the head so wisely chose not to participate in the porch concerts. I don't like sitting on the grass - it's a long way down to the ground, and I've issues getting back up again. (I'm six foot - and about 90% of that is in my legs - so basically, my legs are 4-5 feet long. And they are getting cranky with age. Suffice it to say - the floor or ground is a long long way down.) Plus bad back - I require back support right now - I can't sit on the ground without back support. Live porch concerts are out. I did kind of envy the people across the street who could sit on their porches and listen - except what if you don't like the music or aren't in the mood?
****
Mother regaled me with my brother's visit to Italy.
Me: So it was all good?
Mother: Good and bad.
Me: Really? Tell me the bad! I want to hear the bad! (I'm not proud of this - but there it is.)
Mother (sighs): The air conditioning wasn't working at most of the places they stayed. Or was wonky. It was hot. He's upset because it was hot there, while it was cool here - and now he's come back to hot weather.
Me: Poor baby. More please.
Mother: They had scheduled a boat trip along the coast with snorkling, but it got canceled due to rough seas. He was able to swim in the Mediterrean though for one day - and said it was very salty.
Me: Yeah, the Mediterrean is extremely salty - so salty that you can float in it without trying.
Mother: that's what he said.
Me: I was pretty much covered with salt.
Mother: Also, COVID no longer exists over there. People act like it is over. No masks. Walk around and do what they want. He said it was crowded with lots of tourists.
Me: Well, it's kind of like that here - although people are still wearing masks in NYC and in my neighborhood outside and inside. (We have a 5% infection rate in NY and 3% in Brooklyn, which has been true for most of the pandemic.)
Niece made it to Athens safely with her boyfriend, although they had to switch BnB's because the first one had no working A/C and cockroaches. They are flying to another Greek island today. Also, she made it to her concert in Milan and enjoyed it tremendously - according to mother.
I'm glad I didn't have to travel there. I used to want to see Greece and the ruins, until I saw the ruins in Turkey, and ...
Mother: It's just rubble.
Me: Pretty much. And the landscape is a lot like Mexico and Southern California...not that pretty, kind of brown, with olive trees, and pretty ocean.
I would rather go to Belize or New Zealand. I live in city in a huge city with museums, going to another one doesn't really appeal. Although I am admittedly curious about Florence and Venice, both are Renaissance and Medieval Cities - so intriguing. Also I hear the food is divine, particularly for ceiliacs.
***
The Bear
This is an eight episode series, by Christopher Storer with three episodes by Joanna Calo.
Synopsis by way of IMBD: "Carmen Berzatto, a brilliant young chef from the fine-dining world is forced to return home to run his family sandwich shop - the Original Beef of Chicagoland - after a heartbreaking death in his family. A world away from what he's used to, Carmy must balance the soul-crushing reality of trading in Michelin star restaurants for the small business' kitchen filled with strong-willed and recalcitrant staff and his strained familial relationships, all while grappling with the impact of his brother's suicide."
It's rather good - and what I'd describe as hyper-realism. The dialogue is exactly how people talk, and they are often screaming over each other, or talking over one another. Cursing. Fighting. And it's very raw. But, also touching in places, and the writer's adeptly show who each of the main characters are - without lots of expository dialogue.
Each character moment is earned, and feels real. And there are episodes that are told in each character's point of view. They don't tell much about themselves, they hold their cards close to their chests, but we are shown just enough to understand. Example? The character of Sydney is shown in her bedroom in her father's home at night, listening to the EL train rattle by. She gets up at the crack of dawn, takes anti-acid meds from a medicine cabinet filled with medications, and takes off that morning, after we see her flashing back to a bank credit being denied. She's the impatient sous chef at the restaurant, a recent hire, with an exemplary resume.
There's references to Chicago throughout and the series is loosely based on and filmed at Mr. Beef on Orleans, one of the only properties in Chicago to have an address of 666.
Also, Jeremy Allen White who plays Carmen in the series - went to cooking school for two weeks and worked in the kitchen of multiple Restaurants, among them the Michelin star-rated Pasjoli, to train for the show. It shows, he's comfortable moving around the small kitchen, chopping vegetables, and working with his colleagues. One of the actors, the one who plays the handy-man is an actual chef, and very good in his role as handy man.
The entire series with the exception of a few scenes here and there - takes place in the kitchen of the restaurant, or a restaurant, with food preparations going on. It's the first fictional series that I've seen that takes place completely within a kitchen and shows food prep in detail. It's also innovative in that the lead character and chef isn't an asshole - he's not a womanizer, he's not an addict, he's not arrogant. And some of the best scenes are between him and his sister, Natalie aka Sugar.
One of the better hyper-realistic series that I've seen. It's not a downer. It's not exceedingly violent. It's not nihilistic - if anything the opposite. And the episodes are about thirty minutes in length.
Oh, it also treats COVID as if it happened a while ago. I wish television series would stop doing that. Either don't reference at all, or reference it realistically. Particularly if you're going with hyper-realism.
It's on F/X and currently streaming on Hulu.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-27 08:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-28 02:45 am (UTC)But it has to be consistent, I think, or it would be jarring?
Lost kind of is known for coming up with the individual character study episodes. Where the entire episode is told in that character's perspective, and via flashbacks.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-28 11:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-27 07:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-28 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-30 10:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-01 01:05 am (UTC)And the people are very friendly. I enjoyed Costa Rica. Did it for my 50th birthday via G Adventures (it's a Canadian sustainable travel group - that helps local businesses, stays at local hotels, and travels sustainably). Also reasonable group tours - with no more than maybe 10-12 people on a tour. You get to do your own thing or stuff with the group.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-07 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-07 10:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-08 01:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-27 09:57 pm (UTC)Oh, yes! Both would be excellent!