Oct23

Tv Show “Bad Sisters”

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Tv Show “Bad Sisters”

I subscribed to AppleTV+ to watch the new season of “Morning Show” and the premiere of “Lessons in Chemistry,” but the big find was “Bad Sisters,” originally titled “Emerald.” Brilliant writing, bang-on characterization of four Dublin sisters trying to help the fifth sister who is trapped in an emotionally-abusive marriage. And it’s funny!

Bad Girls Cast

Bibi, Grace, Eva, Ursula, Becka

It won a 2022 Peabody award and four nominations for Primetime Emmys and I am thrilled to learn that it has been renewed for a second season. Set in Dublin and shot on location in Ireland, it is based on the Flemish series “Clan” and was developed by Sharon Horgan who plays Eva, the eldest. Deeply Irish in the way it deals with the bad husband, it never considers divorce or trying therapy to get the physically-enormous-but emotionally-stunted man to grow up. The photo reflects that there is wine in nearly every shot as they are harried by an insurance firm run by two brothers who are secretly in deep financial trouble. It moves at a brisk pace and I loved that I could not figure out how it was going to end until we got there. Very satisfying.

Oct17

Ferritin Update

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Ferritin Update

I donated blood between my trip to Lyon, France and my trip to Morocco, and took a Ferritin test when I returned from Morocco.

In 2020 I learned that I carry the mutations of Hereditary Hemochromatosis. My first report flagged anything outside a range of 15-150 so I squeaked by with 150. I started taking milk thistle and cutting back on iron and I drove the Ferritin down to 26 by July of 2021 but I felt awful. I could feel that I went too low. I created this graphic that guessed at the ideal ferritin level.

The NYTimes just published an article explaining that hemoglobin measures anemia but ferritin measures iron-deficiency and that ferrutin levels should be between 30 and 50 icrograms per liter. They described iron-deficiency symptoms as:

Symptoms are often nonspecific and vague, like fatigue, brain fog, lightheadedness, sleep disturbances and a reduced ability to exercise.

When I got back from Morocco, my doctor commented on the new score of 116 and recommended a target level of 50, suggesting two blood donations before March 2024. The NYTimes article says tea and coffee with meals are absorption blockers. The problem with cutting back on meat is my effort to battle scarcopenia.

Sep29

RDS Visits Chateau d’Anet

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RDS Visits Chateau d’Anet

I laughed out loud when I got to the end of the photos sent by Bob DeStefano, who I worked with at Grey Advertising in the 1960s.

RDS visits Anet, France, Home of Diane de Poitiers

Bob and his wife love to travel in “places where we don’t need inoculations or health insurance” referring to my recent visit to Morocco. He said:

We drove west from CDG airport and our very first stop on our first day was the très charmant village of . . . (drumroll) . . . Anet! Yes, a real typically French charmer about 45 miles due west of Paris. And it’s even pronunced with the “t” . . . Ah-Net. It has all the small village amenities . . . cafés, boulangeries, restaurants, quaint houses, hôtels, and a street-level, mostly-ruined château.

We planned for it to be our first stop and we were immensely pleased when we saw it. We stayed over in the hotel shown on the road sign. Needless to say, you MUST go there. Attached are some of the reasons why. You’ll love the last photo.

Diane de Poitiers in Aix en Provence

Chateau d’Anet was the location for the opening sequence in “Thunderball” and Bob and I had a lively Email exchange about Diane being a pistol. I shared that, about six weeks earlier, when I was in Aix-en-Provençe, I discovered this portrait of her, donated in 1860 as part of a private collection from Bourguignon de Fabregoules. It is of Diane as an “allegory of peace” and shows her holding the dove of peace in one hand and an olive branch in the other. Notice the shadows that the nipples create… The name of the painter is unknown.

Bob said, “There is a small museum across the street from the château where we got the full lowdown on Diane & Henri.”

Sep28

OLLI Art – Artistic Couples

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OLLI Art – Artistic Couples

I’m so glad I made the effort to get to the class taught by Linda Loveland Reid on artistic couples, even though it was less than 24 hrs from my return. Jet-lagged and with guts grumbling from careless snacking in Morocco, I loved the class. This was my favorite quote:

“I’m Frightened All The Time, But I Never Let It Stop Me.”

By learning the stories of the two artists together, I finally have some context for Georgia’s disturbingly sexual images. I learned that Georgia couldn’t tolerate live-model class in art school (with undraped models) and yet she not only allowed Stieglitz, a married man, to take hundreds of nude photos of her and she allowed him to exhibit a selection in New York City, laying the groundwork of her name being connected with sexual exhibitionism and promiscuity. Did Stieglitz make money from this show?

Mabel Dodge Luhan and O’Keeffe

The teacher also touched on their contemporary artist, Arthur Dove. But who became famous: O’Keeffe or Dove? The recipe continues to be that sexual favors pay for the marketing expertise that few artists can manage. [Exceptions: Koons, Rauschenberg] I look forward to the day we can tell the truth about what works, about how humans really are…

My favorite photo that the instructor showed showed was of Georgia, in the desert, with her arm around the woman who taught her to drive — a woman who maybe was for her, what Georgia was for Stieglitz — someone who could see her and could help her get what she needed.

Aug1

Book “How Democracies Die”

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Book “How Democracies Die”

by S. Levitsky & D. Ziblatt

David McCuen recommended “How Democracies Die” in the class on Terrorism he taught at Sonoma State University in the Spring of 2023 in the Osher Livelong Learning Program. The book was published in 2018 and details how Donald Trump was preparing, in 2016, to deny the results of the 2018 election if he did not win. On the day that Jack Smith indicted Trump in D.C. Federal Court for Conspiracy and Obstruction of Government Process, I read the authors’ four key indicators of authoritarian behavior.

  1. Rejection of (or weak commitment to) democratic rules of the game. Trump consistently undermined the legitimacy of elections by questioning the validity of machines, of ballots, or counting methodologies, and of who had authority to what the actual count was.
  2. Denial of the legitimacy of political opponents. Trump’s personal attacks on Hillary, Obama’s citizenship, and Biden’s son.
  3. Toleration or encouragement of violence. Trump’s encouragement of violence toward hecklers and protestors at his speaking events and his incitement on Jan. 6, 2021
  4. Readiness to curtail civil liberties of opponents, including media. Trump’s effort to nullify legitimate electors by fraudulently installing his own, which would rob citizens of their right to have their votes count.

In an opinion piece in today’s NYTimes, Randall Eliason says, “The charging decisions in the indictment reflect smart lawyering by the special counsel Jack Smith and his team.” Trump is not charged with sedition or insurrection, which (if convicted) would disqualify him from holding future office. It does not charge the six unnamed co-conspirators. Trump is also facing federal charges before a judge that he appointed in Florida, for document mishandling.

Proceeding against Mr. Trump alone streamlines the case and gives Mr. Smith the best chance for a trial to be held and concluded before the 2024 presidential election.

Authors Levitsky and Ziblatt were alarmed that the primary process had failed in its gatekeeping role to weed out unqualified or dangerous candidates. Trump had never held elective office, was not a lawyer, has no mare than a bachelors degree in business. Only once in the past 100 years did a never-before-elected man reach the presidency — Dwight D. Eisenhower.

When gatekeeping institutions fail, mainstream politicians must do everything possible to keep dangerous figures away from the centers of power.

The indictment, a short 45 pages double-spaced, makes clear that leading Republicans in the targeted states, and the Vice-President himself, stood up to Trump and said No. In this moment, I have hope.

Jul31

Yorty Creek July 2023

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Yorty Creek July 2023

Brent put together a MeetUp paddled for Saturday the 29th of July at Yorty Creek. Lake Sonoma was full again after being dangerously low six months ago. Eleven paddlers showed up.

Yorty Creek Inlet Buzzing with Dragonflies and Happy Ecosystem

Wayne and I were the most experienced paddlers so we checked out the side inlets while the beginning paddlers moved toward the center of Lake Sonoma. After about two hours in over-90° sunshine, five of us returned to the boat ramp for lunch. Brent and Wayne accompanied the rest of the boaters across the power boat channel to a large island for lunch.

Jul19

Frankfurt – Städel Museum

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Frankfurt – Städel Museum

HolbeinSteg Footbridge to Städel

Thunderstorms were forecast for Thursday 22 June so I walked across the Main River using the Holbein Steg footbridge to get to the Städel Museum where I bought an all-day ticket with plans to visit in morning and return after lunch. I started upstairs and was dazzled by the ENORMOUS painting of Martin Luther defending his 95 theses at the Diet of Worms. I had never seen, in the U.S, France or Italy, a heroic painting of Martin Luther. It felt vaguely blasphemous and another wave of realization of how different Germany is from the catholic countries I usually visit.

The upstairs had a wonderful exhibition of Old Masters something I long for in the U.S. because where our museums really excel is contemporary art. I came to an empty gallery and as I sipped some water while I read the note about why the gallery was empty, a silver-haired guard came up to me and spoke for a couple of minutes, sternly. When he was finished, I explained that I had no idea what he said, so he started again, in English. Apparently, one is not allow to ingest anything in the museum. And, indeed, I later found a two-line posting at the bottom of a German language notice in the lobby. Sometimes learning new customs is uncomfortable.

Enormous Tribute to Martin Luther on Top Floor Lobby (from Städel website)

I was mesmerized by brilliant paintings and icons from the 1300s, 1400s and 1500s which made it clear that there was great distance between the rich and and poor even back then. The quality of the art was spectacular and the preservation was wonderful. Detailed mosaic icons that have enjoyed centuries of care. Plenty of portraits and half-dressed young ladies posed as goddesses, but not in as high a proportion as in the Louvre. After about three hours of Old Masters, I walked through the beautiful gardens surrounding the museum to Otto Hahn Platz and took the tram to the Sachenhausen district to check it out and returned to the hotel by tram.

When I walked back to the Städel in the afternoon, I saw the “Modern” ground floor boasted paintings by Picasso and the Impressionists and the special exhibition on the lower floors titled “Textures” featured artworks that were not two-dimensional paintings and not really three-dimensional sculptures in the conventional sense. I love seeing how curators show off stunning work in their collections that don’t fall into traditional categories.

“Texture” at the Städel

Finding Sachenhausen

Yesterday I had a couple of disappointing meals so I resolved to be better prepared today and before I went to sleep I studied transit maps. In the morning I found a paper timetable (numbers only) for the 16 and hand-drew a map on it. It was still faster to walk to the museum but the 16 would take me to Sachenhausen, the restaurant district where Rick Steves recommended several restaurants featuring Applewine, a local specialty, and one restaurant opened at 5 p.m.

When I finished my second visit to the Städel, I set off again by tram from Otto Hahn Platz to find the restaurant Apfelwein-Wirtschaft Fichtekränzi but I got hopelessly lost. Google Maps could not locate me, my phone was heating up, and I got all the way to the river before backtracking to the warren of little streets that makes up this charming food and entertainment district. I found the right street but could not find the restaurant! Finally, I looked UP and saw a sign pointing down an alley. It was a little past 5 pm when I walked through the garden to big tables without people. The late June day was muggy and I had been schlepping around a rain jacket since 10 a.m.

I was pretty cranky when I sat down and couldn’t get a glass of water, but I ordered the frankfurter appetizer: grilled sausage with sauerkraut and bread and the legendary applewine which is a bitter hard cider. They go great together. The tab was 9,40 so I paid 10 and everyone was happy. Google did a better job of getting me back to the tram stop which I recognized because it was the one I had scouted earlier in the day so my research paid off. I was still dry when i got on the tram but the heavens opened within a few stops. Several loud noises and I thought the thunder had started, but it was riders slamming shut the transom windows with a forceful smack of the hand. The Main river was choppy and we crossed it, and the sky was pelting big drops when I alighted, clad in my sky blue rain jacket. One sharp burst of thunder, but I was back to the hotel in a jiffy — all the street people were standing pressed against the buildings and I realized the hard rain would wash the streets.

It was a good day, so much better than yesterday’s overpriced curry-wurst and lame 15€ dinner. Research and Rick Steves is the way to really have fun in a new city. Of course, it took me two hours of online research the night before and scouting the area today today, and I got lost, and caught in a driving thunderstorm, but it was worth it to have a frankfurter in Frankfurt.

The Trains Run on Time but Not the Escalators

S-bahn to Flughaven escalator

Friday 23 June was departure day. On the news, the Titanic deep dive submersible had imploded and all were dead. I took the S-bahn back to the airport and the lo-o-o-ng escalator was not working. Walked the length of the platform: not only was the other escalator now working, the transparent elevators were stopped in mid-ascent, filled with frightened-looking people who looked like they were thinking about the submersible. I carried my bags all the way up, impressed with my fortitude but breathing heavily.

There did not seem to be any passport inspection between Germany and France but I made my life harder by flying from Frankfurt to Lyon. If I had taken the TGV train from the main Frankfurt train station, just steps from my hotel, to Lyon’s Part-Dieu train station I would be door-to-door for less than $50, in only six hours and a lot less miserable. The tram from Part-Dieu goes straight to the hotel area of Lyon, but the connection from the airport to the Part-Dieu train station is $20, exorbitant by French standards. (It costs $60 to get to Santa Rosa from SFO.) I did not arrive any faster going by plane.

Returning to Frankfurt

Now that I understood that the trains ran on time, I did not need to stay at the airport for the one night layover on Tuesday 11 July. I cancelled my airport IBIS for 105€ and booked a room at the Rick Steves-recommended Victoria, still close to Hauptbahnhof train station but I could walk there on the much nicer Kaiser Strasse, and it was only 86€ with this wonderful breakfast for following morning. I never had an offer of decaf coffee on this trip.

The sausages in Germany look the same as in France but they taste much better!

Even though our departure from Marseille was thirty minutes late because French baggage handling did not work, the Lufthansa pilot tried to make up the time by flying so fast we arrived only five minutes past expected time. Alas, Frankfurt airport was not ready for us and people with tight connections sat with us while we waited for a bus. The clash of attitudes between the French and Germans is so interesting. I got back to Frankfurt in enough time to finally see Kleinmarkthalle. Because it was late in the day, I bought some stuff to go, and some expensive, delicious gingerbread at Lebkuchen-Schmidt.

Vegetables in Foreground, Bread in Background

I loved Germany and really got a feeling for why they have been fighting the French for centuries. It’s like they are both big, strong smart dogs: one is a German Shepherd and the other is a Standard Poodle. Very different, each excellent. But we know which one will win the fight. For me, the contrast between Martin Luther Protestants and Avignon Catholics was telling.

Jul18

Frankfurt – Getting Started

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Frankfurt – Getting Started

Hauptbahnhof Train Station in Frankfurt

I arrived Tuesday 20 June 2023 feeling nervous. I had tried to memorize YouTube video on how to get from Flughaven (flight harbor) to Haupbahnhof on my own. The RMV ticket machines were not really in English but luckily I was right by a ticket office. S-bahn (suburban light rail) to Hauptbahnhof was easy and I went straight to Tourist Info office for good help and lots of brochures.

I had been fretting that the reservation that I had PAID for a month in advance would not be honored. 180€ per night 540€ total. Had to walk down Muchener Strasse narrow, dirty, crowded but room on top floor, delightfully chilly, interesting shower

I was so hot in the muggy June weather, schlepping the bags wearing long sleeves, a vest and two shirts. I took a cold shower and set out cruising for Euros, beer and dinner. Got 250€ from the train station ATM which perfectly charged my Wells Fargo savings account $332.51. Found a doner place with outside seating and sat next to Evan from Australia who helped me order a delicious meal and a lager beer. The restaurant only offers one kind of beer because muslims frown on drinking and it is called “pils.”

Frankfurt gets its name from being a shallow place to cross the river (a ford).

The weather was clear on Wednesday, the Summer Solstice, so I visited the top of the tallest building in Frankfurt, the Main (mine) Tower. Instead of taking Rick Steves walking tour through the red light district, I waited 25 minutes for hop-on/hop-off bus but gave up and walked the 15 minutes, past the Euro offices to Main Tower, afterwards visiting the lobby of the adjacent building to see the Bill Viola video artwork in the lobby.

Main Tower (Tallest) Römerberg center foreground, Big Red Paulskirche on right (stock photo)

Frankfurt is a Financial Capital

I was hoping to get a sense of direction from the top of the tower but I could not see Römerberg (center foreground in stock photo above) because it was blocked by a new skyscraper is being built, but I was happy to see the train station.

HauptBahnHof from Main Tower

From the Top of Main Tower with Main River in Background

I was surprised, when I was making lodging reservations for Frankfurt, that the price I had to pay was triple the going rate week before and for my visit few rooms were available. I am guessing what drove up the rates was the summer solstice food event at Opera Platz which I could see setting up from the Main Tower. I checked out Opera Platz t was still before noon when I walked through the fancy shopping district of Zeil or Hauptwache or Konstablerwache before took the S-bahn back to hotel for nap. At 3:30 took the hotel desk recommended taking the U-bahn (oo-bon, underground city metro) to Rómerberg which was efficient but traveling underground didn’t give me any orientation. My jet lag was kicking in despite buzzing from the strong, delicious morning coffee. I was disregulated and tired.

OperaPlatz was a Summer Festival

Kaiserdom – St. Bartholomew’s

I intended to eat at Kleinmarkthalle, but I didn’t realize it was behind me, across Berliner Strasse in Altstadt (New Old Town). The U-bahn put me in Römerberg, rebuilt in 1983 to look like the half-timbered houses of yore. It may have been intended as a gesture toward history but it is more like a purpose-built tourist attraction and I was overcharged 8,50€ for a curry-wurst.

Holy Roman Emperors were elected at St. Bartholomew’s, called Kaiserdom (Imperial Great Church) locally. Portable artwork survived the Allied bombing in WWII and I finally grasped that the very old, carved altarpieces were designed to be portable, painted on both sides so they are beautiful even when closed.

Römer is the Town Hall which faces central statue of the goddess of justice without her customary blindfold. This market square was the birthplace of the city where trade fairs were held as far back is the 12th century. Banking in Frankfurt dates back to 1405. Today the Römer houses the city council and mayor’s offices.

I also visited the big red St. Paul’s Church (Paulskirche) which was destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt. A smaller church told the story of Martin Luther in the 1500’s and is a stop on a Luther pilgrimage route. I was headed toward the river to cross Eiserner Steg footbridge. Looking back, I could see the Röm. I considered walking over to the area with the nice restaurants (Sachsenhausen) but I was tired and saved that for another day.

Römerberg – Justice is Not Blind

Plaque on Exterior of St. Paul’s [Paulskirche] Rebuilt in 1944

Eiserner Steg Footbridge with View of the Dom (two photos side-by-side)

I share the hope of many who venture across dark waters to meet people from different cultures and languages. This Greek inscription from Homer’s Odyssey might allude to Frankfurt’s beginnings as the furt (ford) where the Franks (early French people) crossed the river to reach the marketplace.

“while sailing over the wine-dark sea to men of strange speech.”

Greek Inscription on Eiserner Steg

Jul16

Aix-en-Provence was Hot!

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Aix-en-Provence was Hot!

Anet in Aix

On Friday, the 7th of July, the Berkeley Folk Dancers trip came to a close and most of the dancers returned home but I headed for Aix-en-Provençe, only 40 minutes and 7€ away by bus but I had to take a 10€ cab ride through a seedy part of Marseille to get to bus/train station Gare Saint-Charles at the top of a hill.

Departing from Gare Saint-Charles, Marseille

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aix is a city of fountains. In 123 B.C., when the Roman consul Gaius Sextius Calvinus wanted to lay siege to the walled city (oppidum) of the Celtic-Ligurians on a plateau about 3 kilometers inland, he chose a site with plentiful springs, some of which were hot. The camp was called Aquae Sextiae, the waters of Sextius, shortened to Aix in the local language.

The camp eventually grew into a Roman city with thermal baths, ponds and fountains to cool the narrow lanes. Some fountains today still bear the Roman markings. The old town now has 27 public fountains within the ring roads.

 

The fountain in the main circle (rotonde) is referred to by the locals as Place Charles de Gaulle

 

 

Main rotonde marked by big central circle in this map

Bus Station on far left corner next to Hotel Rotonde where I sweltered for four nights

Place des Augustins has water squirting from all four sides of the base

Place des Augustins is ringed by pubs

The water is warm in this fountain called Mossae by the locals

 

Restaurants surrounds this soothing and cooling fountain

 

Saturday I visited the big market on Cours Mirabeau but it was really hot so I skipped the tour of the nearby lavender fields. I walked back to the hotel to the music of the cicadas. Sunday was predicted to be even hotter so I got up early and visited the obelisk-fountain Place des Augustins and the “architectural masterpiece” Place d’Albers before 10 a.m. when the Granat and the Granat XXeme museums opened. It was already 90° by 10 a.m.

Renovation in Progress of Place d’Albers on left. Right side not yet renovated.

When the museums opened at 10 a.m. and I was so overheated that I was little disoriented. I had to get directions down Rue Clovis Hugues to get to the Granat Museum.

Rue Clovis Hugues

I had been standing in front of the Granat Musuem to take this picture but because the museum was not open, and it was 90° outside, I did not recognize it. I was mesmerized by the parishioners arriving for 10 a.m. Mass at Saint Jean of Malta.

Saint-Jean-of-Malta Parish Church

I really loved the Granat XXeme Museum and it merits its own post. I was looking forward to lunch at the bistro near my hotel but was dismayed to discover that, because it was Sunday, the cafés were closed. It was also wicked hot, 37° Celsius (close to 100°) with 38°C. predicted for tomorrow so I spent another afternoon in my hotel room taking cold showers. I did not have in-room temperature controls and I was too torpid to realize that I needed to call the front desk and negotiate a room temperature in Celsius. My coconut oil, which melts at 78°, was liquid the entire time in Aix.

Monday, another really hot day, I visited the Tapestry Museum and was delighted to be charged only 4€.

Tapestries from about 1650 in the Bishop’s Palace

Back to the hotel for Monday afternoon to hide from the heat and to contact the bank to make sure my credit card transactions worked for hotel in Aix and the following night in Frankfurt. Frustrated that I have to use insecure networks to reach my bank because I can’t rely on them honoring the travel plans I filed. I ventured out for dinner around 7 p.m. but the restaurants were filling with groups of couples and families with two small, beautifully dressed, well-behaved children. Sitting my myself, sweaty, seemed undignified and poorly-planned. Aix is a place for love and connection, not solitary adventure.

On my walk back to the hotel, the air was filled with the squawks of tiny conures, a deafening din that rivaled the jungles of Guatemala. I learned that the SCNF train arrives in the middle of town but the TGV requires a bus connection that runs every 30 minutes. The airport bus stops at the TGV station.