Engineer's Daughter

matokie mix 10.21.19

mix

the week that was

Things worth sharing:

1. Peter Brannen's fascinating book The Ends of the World gave me new appreciation for the work of modern geologists, what we're still learning about Earth's previous mass extinctions, and what said extinctions can teach us about the harm we're currently inflicting on our home planet. Come for the science, stay for the hilarious footnotes.
2. The current exhibition of portraits at the SFAC Gallery The Continuous Thread: Celebrating our Interwoven Histories, Identities and Contributions is incredibly moving, and it's just one component of the citywide American Indian Initiative. Check out the full schedule of events here.
3. Matt Borruso's show You Live at my fave local gallery Et al. just got extended to October 26, highly recommend carving out some time to experience the succession of images he has woven together for this video installation. I had to hightail it when the snake section started, but you are probably not as phobic as I am.
4. I felt lucky to catch HUSH-HUSH at the Berkeley Art Museum Saturday evening in a performance piece called Crummy Sheets in which a trio of artists used a real bed as a platform to explore sleep, dreams, and the concept of home. From their website: "HUSH-HUSH provides a space to blur genres, take risks, and be strange."
5. More Terry Fox! The Lab has videos, sound pieces, one of his pendulums, and a slideshow documenting his performances. Go check it out.
6. Movies worth revisiting: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's 2006 heartbreaker The Lives of Others, and Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's 2007 adaptation of Satrapi's gorgeous graphic novel Persepolis.
7. And my local biz rec for the week: Voodoo Love is an authentic slice of New Orleans on a sunny corner in SOMA. They take excellent care of the vegetarians and vegans too.

matokie mix 10.14.19

mix

the week that was

Things worth sharing:

1. I took a lovely mini road trip to Pescadero last week: Stayed at the Pescadero Creek Inn, had a picnic lunch at Arcangeli Grocery, poked around the Pigeon Point Light Station, dined at Duarte's, coffeed up at Downtown Local, visited the goats at Harley Farms. The perfect fall getaway.
2. The book I took along with me was a slim volume of Vasko Popa's potent poems, translated from the Serbo-Croatian by Charles Simic. It's hard to beat sitting in the sun by the sea and reading poetry rich with folkloric and surrealist imagery.
3. Terry Fox: Resonance is a major retrospective of the artist's work, curated by Dena Beard and Constance Lewallen, taking place right now across multiple venues around the Bay Area. It all kicked off last Friday at Grace Cathedral with Fox's 1977 piece The Labyrinth Scored for the Purrs of 11 Different Cats, and visitors were indeed invited to walk the labyrinth while the kitties rumbled away. I found a spot on the outskirts and just sank into the sound.
4. I also recommend the group show currently at the Mills College Art Museum, In Plain Sight, curated by Daniel Nevers and featuring work by Weston Teruya, Dario Robleto, castaneda/reiman, and Kathryn Andrews. The artists in the show encourage you to question your own perceptions and look more closely, mainly through objects constructed from a whole variety of materials.
5. I was chilled to the bone watching Alison Klayman's 2019 documentary The Brink, in which she closely follows (and interacts with) Steve Bannon in the time after he leaves the White House. That man is clearly evil embodied, as he stokes hate amongst Americans and meets with far-right leaders in Europe, but you also see the innate charm that makes him so dangerous.
6. Meanwhile thanks to the Criterion Channel I spent a wild week with the films of Lina Wertmüller, the first woman nominated for a Best Director Oscar. Honestly they contain way too much coercive sex/outright rape for me, but are still well worth a look if only to watch stellar actors (and regulars in her films) Mariangela Melato and Giancarlo Giannini do their thing. I'm not the first person to notice that the excellent fights in her films are actually better than the sex.
7. Photographer Jonathan Calm was at CCA Wednesday evening to give the Larry Sultan Photography Award lecture (he's also currently a resident at Headlands), and I'm fascinated by his ongoing project in which he is documenting the current state of sites listed in the Green Book. It's an epic undertaking, and as a black man traveling through the America of today he's finding all sorts of resonances with the past.
8. And a quick plug for two great new local businesses: Darling Electric Salon, where my stylist (and good friend) Lindsay will expertly minister to your coif, and Mela Bistro, where you should order the vegetarian platter.

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the week that was

This and that:

1. Please approach Gaspar Noé's Climax with extreme caution because holy moly trigger warnings galore. However, I am a fan of neither Noé in particular nor horror in general and yet still found this film completely absorbing. Incredible choreography, killer soundtrack, jaw-dropping camerawork, and Noé's singular knack for using cinema to make me feel like I just dropped acid myself.
2. Hip Hop Juice Box is the type of coffee shop/juice bar that makes me feel instantly at home, and even the wifi password makes me smile. Crossing my fingers they host watch parties if the A's make the playoffs...
3. I finally watched Jane Campion's first film Sweetie this weekend and predictably loved the hell out of it, with Campion's creative vision strong right out of the gate. Dysfunction thy name is family, and Genevieve Lemon as Sweetie is indelible.
4. Days after finishing David R. Bunch's Moderan my brain is still speaking its dystopian vocabulary: warring Strongholds and arsenals of fear and new-metal people. Bunch himself said about his writing, "I'm not in this business primarily to describe or explain or entertain. I'm here to make the reader think, even if I have to bash his teeth out, break his legs, grind him up, beat him down, and totally chastise him for the terrible and tinsel and almost wholly bad world we allow."
5. September with Henry David Thoreau, an entry from September 15, 1856: "Sep. 15. Monday. Sophia says, bringing company into my sanctum, by way of apology, that I regard the dust on my furniture like the bloom on fruits, not to be swept off."
   

the week that was

This and that:

1. Alex Ross Perry and Elisabeth Moss make beautiful (rock) music together in his movie Her Smell, in which Moss stars as a musician who is equal parts genius and chaos monster. I loved all the references to '90s alt-rock (definitely stick around for the credits), and how the film firmly centers women and all the male characters kind of float around at the periphery of the action.
2. I had a lovely evening in Santa Cruz on Saturday filled with many of my favorite Santa Cruz things (veggie Mobo Sushi rolls, shopping at Sockshop and Bookshop Santa Cruz, etc) before capping it off with Santa Cruz Shakespeare's delightful production of Pride and Prejudice. Adapted from the Austen by Kate Hamill and directed by Paul Mullins, this version leans hard into physical comedy along with some well-executed anachronisms and panto influence to boot.
3. Max Boot's book The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam is a compelling biography of the man who wanted the U.S. to practice "hearts and minds" diplomacy overseas, and it also helped fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge about the run-up to the Vietnam War.
4. Thanks to the Criterion Channel I've been soaking my head in films by Athina Rachel Tsangari this week, a director associated with the Greek Weird Wave and who closely examines just how strange we humans be. Attenberg is an excellent place to start.
5. Moms and non-moms alike will find a lot to chew on in Molly Smith Metzler's play Cry It Out as it hilariously and poignantly examines the choices women have to make in this country if they want to become a parent. Just Theater's current production at Custom Made is extraordinary, directed by Molly Aaronson-Gelb and starring a trio of my favorite local actors: Martha Brigham, Lauren English, and Lauren Spencer.
6. Tickets for next Sunday's Apples & Hops Festival at the UC Botanical Garden are probably too spendy for me, but proceeds do benefit the Garden and include as many apple donuts as you can inhale.

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the week that was

Not a busy week for me as I mostly stayed home with sweet Stella the ConeCat. She's healing nicely after her surgery last week to remove a tumor from her ear, and all my fingers and toes are crossed that it does not reoccur. Even in hermit mode I found some things I thought worthy of note:

1. Sebastián Lelio's Gloria Bell is a "cover version" of his earlier movie Gloria, and it's a wonderful vehicle to showcase Julianne Moore's many talents. It also artfully and accurately evokes the experiences of a single woman of a certain age.
2. As I was already in animal-caretaker mode this week I also re-watched Laurie Anderson's Heart of a Dog, a film that continues to reveal secrets to me after multiple viewings. The dedication to Lou Reed at the very end gets me every single time.
3. If you're strolling along Market Street in San Francisco keep an eye out for my friend Jessalyn Aaland's Class Set posters (newly installed this week by the SF Arts Commission), part of her ongoing project that combines inspiring words and art from a whole host of amazing artists.
4. The new Town Popup is a beautiful storefront on International Boulevard that provides space for a rotating roster of chefs and small businesses. Last night I swung by to try the Helladilla by current resident Man vs Fries (fellow vegetarians: you can order almost everything on their menu without meat) and it was the stuff stoner dreams are made out of.
5. I'll be DJing my last shift of the summer on KALX this Sunday, otherwise you would find me at Drake's Beach in Point Reyes at their annual Sand Sculpture Contest.
6. And have you checked out the 1619 Project yet?

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