A SCOTS BLUFF-HAWKE MAKES BLUE-AND TO THE BRIDE!

Like a Scot's Wind

  English, Scots, Irish and a blend of Brit genealogies have  settled in Cambria and on the central coast. 

  Windswept bluffs and plenty of room to ramble are appealing and familiar.

   Legroom with views.

 

   Expansive heath where land joins sea.

   Wind and surf in chorus.

     This area "speaks" to some of our DNA.

Born To Be Blue
will make you blue

    Chet Baker is one of those great talents who let demons direct his life and Born To Be Blue, currently in release, is an artful film that tells the story very well.  

     Ethan Hawke, who studied the trumpet and who sang, turns in a superb performance capturing the genius and torture of Chet Baker. Baker was a better singer than Hawke but the entire score and musical ambiance of the film is masterful. Cool and blue jazz and the essence of mellow.The film ventures into a little bop, thanks to the Dizzy Gillespie shading in the plot. Then there is Miles Davis and the script's hint that Baker was pained to get Mile's respect, even to the point of destructive behavior.

     Hawke is good throughout, but the scene where he stares into the mirror in the dressing room at Birdland while fighting with himself about whether to take methadone or to fire up a fix of smack is riveting and is the distilled crux of the story. Born To Be Blue is directed by Canadian Robert Budreau who has made award winning shorts. Brit Carmen Ejogo is excellent in her double role as Elaine and Jane.

     It is an art film, playing in limited distribution about a tortured artist who lived to play the trumpet and shoot heroin, so you won't leave with a smile. It's not for everyone, but if you like Baker's music, Jazz, good story telling and excellent acting it's a good 90 some minutes. Hard to beat the music.

                           

Happy Anniversary

   After all these years you are still my beautiful bride

and I'm more in love every day. 

A Sweet Finale

    Giovanni the maestro at Harmony Cafe at the Pewter Plough does many things well including his own take on Zucatto. This was a recent "experiment."  We lab animals were swooning very quickly after this photo. "Heavenly" was a consensus.

     See you down the trail.

NEAR AND FAR

STARTS

SHARING HARMONY IN CAMBRIA

     Regular readers may recall Chef Giovanni of Harmony Cafe and his ability to delight all. Giovanni has moved from Harmony California, population 18, to Main Street, Cambria. He brought along the culinary magic.

        These, from his current monthly lunch menu, are examples.

    At the top the polenta and wild boar ragout with lentils. Just above is the sausage burger and cannellini beans.

  As you may discern after study of this recent lunch menu, making decisions here are a challenge. He tells me he stays up late thinking of new offerings. 

 Chef Giovanni has moved into Cambria's famed Pewter Plough Playhouse, decorated with caricatures by the New Yorker's late Al Hirschfeld. 

   True to Cambria's bohemian and art colony nature, the unique wooden tables are the creations of craftsman David Plumb who is a singer and minstrel extraordinaire'.  

  We share this with trepidation. Locals enjoy the masterful and inventive culinary skills and time to chat with Giovanni, a delightful character. When foodies discovered his location in rustic Harmony we found ourselves sharing it with those who came from LA, San Francisco and further afield. But great is great, so if you get to California's central coast, Cafe Harmony at the Pewter Plough is guaranteed to be an authentic joy.

    In a future post we'll tease you a bit with some of his homemade dessert and coffee creations and his garden patio.

HARD STORIES FROM A DISTANCE

   After seeing Beasts of No Nation I told friends that all of us, everyone, regardless of politics or belief, should be held accountable for something that has been reported but largely ignored, the weaponizing of children. 
     It happens in many places, but director Cary Fukanaga tells the story of an African orphan turned into a solider by a charismatic commander played masterfully by Idris Elba. Elba's performance is cited as being ignored by the Academy Awards nomination process. It's a shame there's no category for first time roles. Abraham Attah, the young Ghana native  who plays the orphan is extraordinary. His final monologue, as he relates to a therapist what he had endured changing from a gentle boy who prayed regularly and loved his family to a hardened killer is both a chilling and haunting performance. Tragic reality undergirds this difficult but important film.

     Straight Outta Compton, posted previously, achieves something important as well that I failed to note. It provides a sense of the life that explains better than any politician, professor or activist why young blacks can grow up with an attitude about police and the larger society. Though some will bristle, as they did at the time, NWA was justified to have the anger and frustration they spoke so boldly.

     Revenant is an epic. Its scale as story, production and ultimately as a film is huge and overwhelming. I understand why DiCaprio has been nominated. His work is phenomenal. However, in my estimation at least, Eddie Redmayne's performance in The Danish Girl is even better. Redmayne shows more diversity, range and complex emotion than did Di Caprio, as good as he was as a frontier scout fighting for survival. 
      In the last analysis the Oscars come down to something more than mere performance. Politics, culture and money are involved and DiCaprio's film is larger in all ways. That could make a difference. So too the fact Redmayne won last year for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking.  

     

      After all, the Oscars are not about curing disease, winning wars, ending oppression, bringing justice or anything earth shattering.  They are professional awards given by an industry where the bottom line is just that-commerce.

     See you down the trail.

EXPERIENCES-HARMONY BY EVENING AND BOYHOOD BY FILM

FILM AS EXPERIENCE
follows below
EVENING, HARMONY

   Harmony Cafe, a "California Provence' " lunch favorite, dressed up for an evening Pipestone Winemakers dinner

 the chocolate fettuccine

 Winemakers Jeff and Florence Pipes and Chef Giovanni

BOYHOOD

   Richard Linklater's BOYHOOD, the extraordinary 12 year project is an experience, with more impact than a mere film.  

    It's being called an emotional epic, spellbinding, film of the decade, and more.  It earns those accolades in a way that weaves you into a family, characters, and life, unlike anything I've seen. There is something indelible in seeing the impact of all that life offers, especially on Mason played by Ellar Coltrane who we see grow from an adorable little kid to a college student. For the first time we see and feel the reality of boyhood complete with the icebergs and shoals of parental and adult intrusions teamed with the searching, longings, doubts and expressions of growing up.

     Seeing the cast age before your eyes draws you into the story. Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater, the director's daughter who plays sister Samantha and Ethan Hawke are all superb.  I heard in an interview that much of the script was improvised and from that emotional forge comes an authenticity that would accrue over a 12 year relationship.

      Boyhood is a 2 hour and 44 minute experience that is unique and totally absorbing. It is a brilliant accomplishment and is in an echelon of filmmaking reserved for real art. 

 Seasonal Blooms

drought tolerant

   See you down the trail.