Ruth Davies Blues Night at Stanford Jazz Festival

Ruth Davies is a great jazz and blues bass player. It's just such a rare treat to see a woman instrumentalist. She led a fine group of musicians last night, including Chris Cain who is an amazing blues guitarist and singer. A standing ovation, an encore, wow!!

Lightweight movies

Went to a couple of blockbuster summer movies this week. Why do these movies always disappoint?

I, ROBOT was okay but I was wishing it were better for Isaac Asimov's sake.

SPIDERMAN 2 was okay, but a bit slow. Also, I am glad that a super hero can be a sensitive guy, but did Peter Parker have to tear up in almost every scene?

I did see UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN on DVD. My son Thomas aptly renamed it UNDER THE TUSCAN CHICK FLICK. I liked it. Nice scenery, good acting, attractive Italians all over the place. It wasn't entirely predictable, and that's all I ask from that sort of movie.

Brunch at Miramar Beach Restaurant

We went out to the coast today, it was sort of a belated Father's Day brunch. I like the food at the Miramar Beach Restaurant just north of Half Moon Bay.

Right across the street is the beach. My daughter is visiting from New York; here she is with my son and husband.

Okay, Okay, another artsy black and white movie

I saw Roman Polanski's first feature length movie Knife in the Water this week. In Polish with subtitles, it was a very suspenseful psychological drama with only three characters. I just got it as a curiosity, but I really liked it. The DVD extras are interesting; Polanski and others talk about what it was like getting a movie like this made at that time in Poland.

Click here for more on this 1962 film.

Okay, Okay, another Surfer Movie

Stacy Peralta, the same guy who made DOGTOWN AND Z BOYS, has a new documentary about surfing really big waves. We actually saw RIDING GIANTS in a theatre. Other than using the line "AND THE HISTORY OF SURFING WAS CHANGED FOREVER" a few too many times, it was pretty good. It was fun to see local scenes from Half Moon Bay in the segment about Mavericks.


CLICK HERE for more on this movie.

B-3 at Kuumbwa

The Hammond B-3 organ is THE jazz organ. It cries and moans the blues. It lays down a heavy funk.

Tony Monaco was in terrific form last night at Kuumbwa in Santa Cruz, playing with Bruce Forman on guitar and Darryl Green on drums. Wow! The interplay between the instruments was great. Monaco is very dramatic and a lot of fun in addition to being an organ virtuoso.

Click here to learn more about Kuumbwa -- a very unpretentious place with good sound and outstanding musicians.

Woman in the Dunes Hiroshima mon Amour

Watched WOMAN IN THE DUNES on DVD today. This movie was made in 1964, I probably hadn't seen it since the 1970's, but I am reminded of it all the time. The basic plot concerns a woman who lives in a house in a sand pit where she must constantly shovel away sand to survive. A man is trapped there and is forced to come to terms with a life of shoveling, too.

You might consider it too artsy, a horror story, an allegory for life, or all three. If you dig symbolism, you will love this film.

The very handsome Eiji Okada plays the lead. He starred in another favorite movie of mine HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (1959) which I also saw on DVD recently. Here is a photo from that movie so you can see how dishy he is.


For more info: Woman in the Dunes and Hiroshima Mon Amour.

Kent Haruf's Eventide

I sure liked this sequel to Plainsong. Once again the reader is right inside the life of a Colorado Plains town. As in any small town, there are some people who are just plain mean, some who are incompetent, and some whose kindness keeps the whole thing going. Haruf's dialogue is so true, it should be studied in writing classes.

Daughter's Keeper

Ayelet Waldman's Daughter's Keeper looks at the nightmare that a young woman faces after her boyfriend tangentially involves her in a drug deal. The girl's relationship with her mother is a primary focus of the novel.

This book was so good that I almost couldn't read it. Many mothers will tell you that they can't see movies or read books where children are in danger. For parents of young adults, it is still difficult because so much of their life is hidden and the consequences can be so serious.

Check out Ayelet's web site. Its book log is full of good ideas for more to read.

Cassini-Huygens Mission

The photos coming back from Saturn are beautiful. How proud I feel of our country for this accomplishment! Click on Latest Images to see what's up.

If you have a fast internet connection, be sure to look at the Phoebe composite photo to see details of this moon.

The Jane Austen Book Club

There has been quite a buzz about Karen Fowler's The Jane Austen Book Club which I finished last night. I became very fond of the folks in this book, although they did not especially remind me of anyone in my own book groups. As I read on, I would notice remarks they made while interpreting Jane Austen's six novels and think "isn't that just like something he/she would say?". I loved the digs by the lovers of literature about science fiction and its readers. There were wry parallels between the social interactions of the characters in the Austen books and this one.

For more on Fowler's works:

http://www.sfwa.org/members/Fowler/