Sunday Reads: Distorted Shapes Frame a Disillusioned Thought
Posted: June 26, 2016 Filed under: just because 52 Comments


Like Boston Boomer, I am easily distracted…but since abstract puzzle pieces get my attention…and not mystery books…the links are in a lean dump fashion.
Turkey uses tear gas to break up gay pride gathering – LA Times
Hillary Clinton marches in NYC Pride Parade – NY Daily News
Survivors of Boston bombing meet with Orlando victims still in hospital | PBS NewsHour
Take a look at the photograph on the PBS NewsHour link.
Dan Rather slams media for acting like a ‘business partner of Donald Trump’ to boost their ratings
Sanders: Hillary Can Win Over More of My Supporters ‘If She Does the Right Thing’ | Mediaite
First vessel passes through expanded Panama Canal – News from Al Jazeera
Top ‘ndrangheta mob boss Ernesto Fazzalari caught after 20 years on the lam in Italy – CBS News
Italy’s second most sought-after fugitive, a convicted ‘ndrangheta crime syndicate boss feared as a “merciless killer,” was captured Sunday as he slept in his bed in a hideout in the rugged Calabrian mountains, police and prosecutors said.
Ernesto Fazzalari “went from his sleep to the handcuffs of the Carabinieri” paramilitary police after 20 years on the run, Col. Lorenzo Falferi told reporters in the city of Reggio Calabria.
Reggio Calabria Prosecutor Federico Cafiero De Raho described Fazzalari as “a merciless killer” and a protagonist of the 1991-1992 turf feud between ‘ndrangheta clans that bloodied the Taurianova town area of Calabria in the “toe” of the Italian boot-shaped peninsula. In one macabre episode in the feud, a victim’s head was tossed in the air and shot as a target.
This is a bit of news: Pentagon to Lift Ban on Transgender Service Members | Alternet
A new Broadway play is starting to tour…‘Beautiful’ makes a fetching Los Angeles debut at the Pantages – LA Times
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical” is that rare Broadway offering – a jukebox musical with a soul.
The touring production, which opened Friday at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, reveals the reason this show has become the “Jersey Boys” for the XX chromosome set.
Borrowing the tried-and-true biographical formula of scrappy artists working their way to fame, the musical extracts all the nostalgic glory out of a catalog of hits few Baby Boomers will be able to resist.
At the same time, the center of storytelling gravity is decidedly female, making this show as rich in poignant emotion as it is in Broadway pizzazz. There’s psychology for those who want it and era-defining tunes for those who’d rather escape into the memory of a simpler, if not necessarily more enlightened, American era.
“Beautiful” sketches Carole King’s rise from precocious Brooklyn songwriter in the late 1950s through her powerhouse collaborations with husband Gerry Goffin in the 1960s to the liberated solo career catapulted by “Tapestry” in 1971 after her marriage failed.
Douglas McGrath’s book capitalizes on those introspective qualities King’s later music gave unforgettable voice to – tenderness, self-doubt, and wisdom hard won from disappointment. But this is as much about a generation of artists as it is about one extraordinarily gifted woman.
Last link for this Sunday:
Saturday Night at the Movies: Lazy hazy crazy: Top 10 summer idyll movies By Dennis Hartley
Since this is the first official weekend of summer, I thought it would be a good excuse to cull a list of my 10 seasonal favorites for your consideration. These would be films that I feel capture the essence of those “lazy, hazy, crazy” days; stories infused with the sights, the sounds…the smells, of summer. So, here you go…as per usual, in alphabetical order:
The reason I include this link is for the first movie on the list…
Claire’s Knee- This 1970 offering is “part five” of a six-film cycle by the late French director Eric Rohmer known collectively as “ Six Moral Tales
” (each individual entry works fine as a stand-alone film), and my favorite of the cycle. Jerome (Jean-Claude Brialy) is a thirty something diplomat enjoying his final “bachelor holiday” on Lake Annecy, where he runs into old friend Aurora (Aurora Cornu). She is a writer, currently blocked for ideas. Playfully informing Jerome that he will be her Muse, she offers him a guest room, and introduces him to her neighbor, a woman with two teenage daughters, a precocious 15 year-old named Laura (Beatrice Romand) and her aloof 16-year old sister Claire (Laurence de Monaghan).
It doesn’t take Jerome long to start giving Aurora story ideas. While mindfully keeping Laura’s platonic crush at bay, he finds himself drawn to her sister, developing an inexplicable desire to touch her knee. Despite how that sounds, there’s nothing leering about the way Rohmer handles it. To Jerome, this is an abstract and romanticized form of adulation (like Alan Ladd’s obsession with the painting in Laura), as opposed to a sexual urge. He keeps the voyeuristic Aurora apprised, as she eggs him on (she needs the material). Ultimately as enigmatic as love itself, topped off with gorgeous cinematography by Nestor Almendros.
That is all I have for you …what are you thinking about today?
Your opening story about the puzzle painting and the storm was riveting. I almost forgot about the links below it. Very moving.
Oh, thank you very much…
Seconding Jackie. Except I did forget about the links. When they appeared it felt like Wait. What? I don’t live in that world.
You’re an amazing human being, JJ. Hang in there.
(I loved the pics. I also forgot to say yesterday that BB kitten pics made my day.)
xoxoxoxoxo
Hey sweetie! Great post!! Freaking Neo Nazis in California had a parade …stabbings though not shootings. https://twitter.com/politicques/status/747159696767881220
The neo confederate, white Klansman, is Matthew Heimback, who sent his klan to Sacramento. Here is the racist prick at a Trump’s rally in Mar 2016, where Trump is telling the klandom to “Get THEM OUT”, “GET THEM OUT”……….he’s wearing the red cap, and black t-shirt and tossing the black lady back and forth.
That was a great bit of writing right there, JJ. I was captivated. What a wonderful escape. I want to go back there. It was intoxicating.
Ibid!
Keep writing, JJ!
Yes! Wonderful post!
I am now back in the dark, The site BB gave me is not working anymore to get on WP and NYT. Could anyone tell me what’s going at the stabbing ? Or anything else I am missing. Damn, who knew You could miss this shit? Even HUff Po, is senting you to WP.
Try the Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com
http://time.com/4383144/california-protesters-stabbing/
Thanks so much janicen, I had some sort of brain fog as to where to look. I am losing it. Today has been exciting in a bad way.
Did you download the cleaner, pdgrey? You just have to run it again and you’ll get back on. The WaPo only gives you 5 free articles. Sometimes you can also get in by typing in the headline on Google News.
You paint fascinating word pictures, JJ. You are a true artist.
I’ve been off the Internet since February but I hope the Sky Dancers are doing well. Peace be with you all.
Hugs Beata! I’ve been thinking about you. I hope you are well and will return every so often. I miss your wisdom and insight.
Beata…..I’ve thought of you often. Hope you are ok!
Hey, Beata! Glad you’ve stopped in for a visit. Please come back often when you can.
Doin’ good Beata, glad to hear from you! Miss your special touch, and music too.
For you, Fannie, and all the Sky Dancers:
Perfect…………and Top O’the Hill to you.
Beautiful. Here’s to you, Beata.
How wonderful, Beata. Thank you
It’s so good to see you Beata! Love you.
“That is all I have for you …what are you thinking about today?”
I’m thinking about you today after reading that mesmerizing opening. That’s quite a talent JJ. Use it, it is your power! Rise Woman!!
Whatever you do, DON’T read the comment section of the AP Story about Hillary attending NYC Pride. The sufferers of HDS are experiencing their final gasps of hatred before Hillary becomes our next POTUS.
It’s amazing how long some individuals can go on denying reality. I still think they are ratfkers.
I agree. And I don’t think they’ll be able to hide their ratfucking much longer as the base consolidates around Hillary and become less open to believing their bullshit.
Beautiful writing, JJ.
You sound so depressed-understandably so-do make sure to get the right meds from your doc.
I wouldn’t get out of bed without antidepressants.
Huge news!!!
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It’s the best news we’ve had concerning Choice in a long time. I believe this decision will finally close the door on all of the loopholes they’ve used to end Roe V. Wade. They cannot win this and when President Hillary Clinton appoints Justice 9, it will become impossible to beat this dead horse back to life. Maybe now the GOP will takes it’s grimy hands off of our uterus!!!
Hillz and Warren on stage together in Ohio right now. MSNBC.
Warren says, “I’m here today because I’m with her”
I’m watching too. They both look great!
Surprised to see Hillz lean against the seat a moment ago. She looks tired. She’s been busy with the campaign and Aiden!
Hillary marched in the NYC Pride March yesterday. She is everywhere, every day. I don’t know how she goes at such a hectic pace, but she’s quite a WOMAN!!!
Oh that’s right, I forgot she was at NYC Pride. I couldn’t handle her pace for one day and I’m younger than her.
Warren is giving it her all.
Goofy hat! LOL!
Great speech so far by Hillary.
Yes, she’s laying it all out.
Great Day for America……….after 45 years fighting for abortion rights, here we are, in majority vote 5/3………they will not be allowed to discriminate against women, and make them criminals, or make them resort to the back alley for coat hanger abortions. I am so in tune to Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren, their actions urge people to join the party, and join us, we are justified and will win the election.
Great Day today.
That’s wonderful.
Looking at Clinton, Warren, Granholm, I’m thinking I should wear my hair shorter. LOL! It seems to be the style of capable, smart women.
I’ve never regretted getting mine cut short.
I was one of the hippies with hair so long I sat on it. I even wore the long forehead & temple braids. I began cutting mine in stages in the 80’s until finally I had a full fledged short haircut. It’s really more work than long hair, but I love short hair and would never let it grow out again. Especially now that it’s mostly white!
I know what you’re saying, my hair is the longest in years, and years, and I am about to have a new smart look too. It will happen, and I love the color BLUE to go with that smart look.
Sanders’ voters have moved to Hillary faster than Hillary’s 2008 voters moved to Obama!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/26/donald-trumps-bad-month-just-got-worse-because-bernie-backers-just-rallied-to-clinton/
That is great news and perhaps the push Bernard needs to get him to either endorse Hillary or go home to VT. Either way, he’s finished.
Does he have any idea how pathetic he is clinging to his spotlight? Time to exit stage left!