🎥 Call Me by Your Name (2017) ★★★★½
🎵 RIP Chick Corea. I vividly remember first listening to his music. The CD Verve Jazz Masters Vol. 20 was my introduction to jazz music, around 1994. Captain Marvel was my favourite song on it. His approachable but distinctive style made jazz way less alienating to me.
🎥 Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) ★★★½
🎥 Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) ★★★
I was pretty sceptical at first, but it was way better than I expected. The obvious visual spectacle served the story well and I liked the calm pace of the film.
🎥 The Fly (1986) ★★★★
I almost forgot that I had already seen this film in my teenage years. Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis are both at their best in David Cronenberg’s most commercial horror film, which could just as easily be regarded as a tragic, heartbreaking love story.
🎵 One of the positive side effects of the pandemic: we just made a last minute decision to attend a streaming concert by Laura Marling. From the comforts of our home. And it’s (almost) just as great.
🎵 My week in music (week #3 & #4 2021)
I took some time to update my meditation playlist with music I turned out to already have in my digital music library for more than 15 years?! Like the beautiful album Baobab by Guem (who coincidentally passed away just last week…).
🎥 Animal House (1978) ★★★
A bit underwhelming, but typically John Landis. And at least John Belushi was funny.
Yesterday, we were pleasantly surprised when a friend decided to watch an exclusive livestream of a great theatre performance at our place. Weg met Eddy Belleguele was the hit of 2020 in the Netherlands, and the online experience did not detract from its artistic quality at all.
🎥 Dog Day Afternoon (1975) ★★★★
🎥 Trading Places (1983) ★★★½
This comedy is about as 80s as you can get. A lot of humour aged very badly, but the themes covered are still relevant. Made me want to watch more films by John Landis.
Pretty happy with our first month of supplying solar power to the grid. It’s a modest start, considering the winter season. I also like the slope of that energy usage trend line.
🎵 My week in music (week #2 2021)
David Byrne / Talking Heads are among my favourite artists ever. I wasn’t too familiar with Fear of Music (1979) yet. Animals is a great song.
🎵 I’m not an avid fan of Jacob Collier, let alone that I ever really listened to Charlie Puth’s music, but this Instagram livestream of them both chit-chatting through their keyboards is really something else.
🎵 My week in music (week #1 2021)
Thundercat’s music is definitely not for every occasion, but It is What it is is a masterpiece.
🗞 Great essay by Timothy Snyder: The American Abyss
“The Republican Party is a coalition of two types of people: those who would game the system (most of the politicians, some of the voters) and those who dream of breaking it (a few of the politicians, many of the voters).”
📺 I.M. (2020) ★★★★½
The true story of the all-consuming love between writer Connie Palmen and journalist Ischa Meijer. Based on Palmen’s novel of the same name.
Excellent directing by Michiel van Erp, superb acting by Ramsey Nasr and Wende Snijders.
🎵 My week in music (week #53 2020)
Of course, in the last week of the year, I listened to a several best-albums-of-2020 lists. And despite this crazy year, I think creativity flowed in just as many (if not more) unexpected and exciting ways as other years.
🥾 Made a nice walk with friends and the family in nature reserve De Stulp near beautiful Lage Vuursche. It was chilly and misty, but enjoyed it very much.
🥾 Short walk on estate Landgoed Broekhuizen, Leersum
🎵 My week in music (week #52 2020)
Finally sat down to give Bob Dylan’s Murder Most Foul a thorough listen. It felt almost like a spiritual consultation with the master himself. In many ways my song of the year.
📚Currently reading: Natuurdagboek by Nescio.
🎥 Critical Care (1997) ★★★
If you watch this as entertainment, this is not a good film. But as a pamphlet against the commercialisation of healthcare and medical bureaucracy, this is an important film, made by Sidney Lumet. I don’t see these kind of films being made nowadays.
🎥 Soul (2020) ★★★★½
What a great new Pixar movie! We watched it with the whole family on Disney+ the day it came out. I find it very admirable how they time and again manage to put real, existential life problems in very personal and identifiable storylines.
🎥 A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) ★★★★