Cézanne in Chicago

The trip to Chicago was pretty memorable for reasons both good and bad. I'll see if I can find the time to write it up later in the week.  For now, I want to focus on my prime reason for going, which was to check out the Cezanne retrospective exhibit at the Art Institute, which runs through Sept. 2, so just under 3 more weeks to check it out if so inclined.

I'll start off by saying it is a very strong exhibit and definitely worth seeing.  However, it isn't as good as the 1996 retrospective in Philadelphia, which I was fortunate enough to catch, though that was perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime show.  I actually own that catalogue, as well as a Cezanne and Beyond catalogue for a 2009 show also in Philadelphia.  I just don't think I saw that second show in person, as my children were so young at the time and while I did travel to DC for TRB in 2009, the Cezanne and Beyond show opened about a month after TRB!  But I did manage to see a Cezanne show (in Aix no less), which was an incredible treat, as I could walk around and see the landscape he was painting.  In 2015, quite a few Cezanne still lifes were on view in Hamilton, as I discussed back then.

I'd say all or nearly all of those still lifes, except The Kitchen Table (perhaps the star of that exhibit), were on view in Chicago.  In addition, there were quite a few paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire and quite a few bathers, including the massive Large Bathers from London's National Gallery.  I'd say the only thing really missing was one of his card players paintings.  Here are just a few highlights, but I would encourage you to get to Chicago if you are at all interested in Cezanne.  

Paul Cézanne, Five Bathers, 1877-78

Paul Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire, Seen from the Bibémus Quarry, ca. 1895-99

Paul Cézanne, The Basket of Apples, ca. 1893

Paul Cézanne, Still Life with Apples, 1893-94

The Rushdie Affair

So very much has happened over the past week, including the raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, which in a just world would lead to his imprisonment but in this cracked, shitty world will probably just lead him back into the White House.  Anyway, as has been reported quite widely, Salman Rushdie was attacked on-stage just as he was giving a talk in upstate NY.  He has survived and is slowly recovering, but it sounds as if the damage was pretty severe and he will likely lose an eye.  I've managed to see him in person twice, as I discuss here.  This post links to a few videos of some of his recent talks and interviews.  I would imagine it will be quite a while before Rushdie is up for appearing in person, and when he does security will be much tighter.  I can't recall security in Chicago but I don't think it was extreme.  I think all bags had to be checked in Toronto but maybe small purses were allowed.  I don't recall any metal detectors or being "wanded" in Toronto but maybe they did do a search of the purses that were allowed in.  At any rate, both events went off without a hitch.

The Guardian has a number of columns on this.  Far more than most American papers.  Margaret Atwood's is one of the better pieces, but there are several talking about how the fatwa has been internalized and how it is so frowned upon (though not illegal yet) among the woke to offend anyone's opinions and specifically to avoid punching down.  It would be next to impossible to publish The Satanic Verses in today's climate and probably only one of those publishers that specializes in publishing the "victims" of "Me Too" campaigns and not a reputable publisher would dare to publish it now.  As a concrete example, I was very disappointed recently at how many Toronto institutions, like the Aga Khan Museum and TMU (formerly Ryerson), backed away from their initial support of a controversial film about the Indian goddess Kali.*  It's pretty clear that in this era, there just aren't many champions of free speech, since it now has to be "respectful" free speech, which is an oxymoron.  It's not that I don't think there should be absolutely no limits at all, as libel and incitement of violence and murder do cross a line, but I would draw the line in a very different place than most of today's progressives.  I do wonder if this attack will force some progressives to realize there is no point in trying to appease religious fanatics and to engage in self-censorship.  It's just not worth it, since it is literally impossible not to offend someone anytime you post something or engage in any speech at all.

Anyway, my wishes to a speedy recovery for Salman Rushdie.  I hadn't really planned on rereading it in the next couple of years, but maybe I should make a point of reading The Satanic Verses (and at least occasionally doing so in public).  However, it's not my favourite book of his by far, which would be Shame or Quichotte depending on my mood, but that's not really the point.

* I'm not really that surprised by the Aga Khan, which is after all an institution to celebrate Islamic art, but TMU has fully internalized this position of not offending anyone with a Twitter account, which is an absolutely gutless and despicable stance for a university to take.  Again, depressing but not surprising given the way the world is today.

Sacrifices Paying Off?

I'd say it is a bit early to tell (and the scale is a little funky), but it looks like I have lost roughly 10 pounds and am back to where I thought was the starting point for my weight loss journey.  It actually hasn't been all that bad, and the craving for chips and other snacks is starting to recede a little bit.  Though I still wouldn't say it has been easy, and I'm off to the grocery store to get a couple more packs of gum.

I'm hoping that the next 10-20 pounds will come off the same way (keeping up the exercise and cutting back on snacks), and then I'll really start to see an improvement in how I look (and probably drop a size or two, since almost all the extra fat is in my belly).  I'll keep pushing after that and see how things go, but I'll probably just be working on maintaining and stabilizing, since it may well be winter by this time.  Anyway, something positive to celebrate for once.

Hot Hot Hot (Redux)

There really was no escape from the heat this weekend.  I do feel bad about running the AC, though with the fans going and not going in and out a lot, the house is staying reasonably cool.  It was supposed to rain at some point on Sunday, but it didn't.  Now we're just waiting for a thunderstorm today, and in fact I am working from home, which is extremely rare.

I went to the gym pretty early on Saturday, which was wise.  If I had been more interested in the current movies, I might have gone to see something.  It really was just too hot to work on the deck unfortunately.  So I spent a big chunk of the day sitting outside in the shade reading.  I finished up American Gods and passed that along to my son.

Sunday I did grocery shopping early.  It took a couple of trips, but I was able to go swimming at the Regent Park pool.  (I actually switched from jeans to shorts, which I almost never wear, but it was pretty unbearable biking with jeans.)  Then I biked over to the Gardiner Museum, which is free on the weekend through the rest of the summer.  

Sharif Bey, The Oviary, 2016

Then I dropped off and picked up a few more books at Robarts.  Then I biked home and rested.  I thought I had managed to give myself heatstroke!  Towards the end of the day, I was able to find places on the shelves for the books I picked up in Chicago.

One positive is that we managed to wrap up Slings & Arrows.  It was a great series, though there were a lot of things that would not be acceptable now, particularly humiliating the actor who played Macbeth and then letting the actor who played Lear terrorize the rest of the cast during rehearsals.  I thought Geoffrey was incredibly irresponsible in catering so much to the whims & desires of just one character (the dying Charles), and this made it a little hard to fully get into Season 3. Nonetheless, I'm glad to have seen all of it with my son.  I'll see how much of Red Dwarf 4 we can get through, and ideally finish up Boyhood and maybe Blade Runner and Men in Black.  I think we have timed out of everything beyond that.

At any rate, I really do hope it rains soon and the temperature drops.

Time Winding Down

I am a bit sorry I didn't get started watching movies with my son earlier, as he heads off to Ottawa Sept. 2 (and is spending a lot of time with his friends in the meantime).  I probably should have gone through Chaplin and Harold Lloyd a bit sooner.  I was looking over this list, and I don't think we'll get to many more of hem.  I've sort of prioritized the TV shows,* and I think we'll finish Slings and Arrows and Red Dwarf Season 3.  There's an outside chance we'll get deeper into Season 4, but only if we double up some nights.  We might finish up Boyhood, and I'm thinking we might try to watch Blade Runner, but I think all the rest of the 80s movies will have to wait for winter break or next summer.  Not sure if it would be worth trying to have him watch Ikiru or maybe get some bureaucratic experience first.

I'm thinking I might read Gaiman's American Gods on my short trip out to Chicago later this week, so I can let him take it off to college as something fun to read in his relatively limited free time.  I won't worry about the various follow-ups.

I am very, very out of practice, but I have kind of taken the basement back from my daughter (long story) and can start running the sewing machine again.  I probably cannot finish the half-finished quilt in time (not least of all reasons is because it goes off to someone in Mississauga who does long-arm sewing to finish it), but I can at least make a decent start.  And who knows -- maybe it can be mailed off to him.  That's what happened the last time, rather than me driving back to pick it up.

Of course I am also thinking about sanding the deck and staining it again while they are off in Chicago, but that requires 3 or 4 dry days (and ideally not so hot, which we really haven't had).  And perhaps a bit more motivation than I actually have these days.

It would be nice to finish one of these projects before I launch into yet another project (which I am not even going to bring up at the moment).  That's one of my biggest issues in not fully finishing up projects after they get to the 80% (or less) mark, and I either lose interest or run out of steam or both.  It's always more satisfying to start something new instead.  So I will try to do better this time.  Famous last words...

Edit (8/2): We're down to two final episodes of Slings and Arrows, and it looks like we'll push through next week.  (Not sure this will convince him to catch King Lear at Soulpepper or not.)  And only one more Red Dwarf left in Season 3, so we'll almost certainly get to that and maybe make a good start on Season 4.

* We did have a good run - all of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Black Books, Father Ted, The IT Crowd, Slings and Arrows and a decent chunk of Red Dwarf.  (Somehow I forgot about Blackadder, which we also watched!)