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raincitygirlUpon Iraq, Iran, diabetic pastry chefs (metaphorical), The Imitation Game, and Christopher Egan of Kings deserving an apology from me:
Uncle #1 sent me Dr. Irving Finkel's The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood as a Christmas present, and so far it's really very interesting. Uncle has actually met Dr. Finkel, apparently, at a party thrown by a mutual friend who works at the British Museum with him (with Finkel, I mean, not with Uncle). He said in the letter accompanying the book that apparently Finkel, because he's Jewish, has never been allowed to travel to Iraq, even though the archaeological sites where his life's work originate are there. I mean, not that a lot of people would want to travel to Iraq *right now*, but there have been times over the past few decades when it was relatively peaceful. It would be like being a diabetic pastry chef, who could create delicious things but not eat them.
Speaking of which, although actually NOT speaking of which, because I'm thinking of a whole different country with a whole different ethnic group and language, I remember many, many years ago reading a book whose name I've forgotten, a memoir by the founder of the Tehran School of something or other. She was an academic of some kind, and a supporter of Mohammed Mosaddegh back in the fifties. Must have been a tough cookie to found whatever she founded in the days of the Shah and his secret police. Anyway, she was arrested and interrogated in 1979 after the revolution, and one of the charges against her was that she had once been invited to an academic conference in Tel Aviv. Not that she'd actually *gone*, because she hadn't, but that she'd been invited.
She was let go by her interrogators, but fled the country after receiving word that she was very likely to be arrested again imminently. And she wrote this memoir about growing up in Iran and her work over several decades and her experiences of the Revolution. It was really very interesting, but I've forgotten her name and even what academic field she was in. Maddening, because I'd like to re-read the book sometime.
Upon mature reflection, I like The Imitation Game less the day after than I did last night. For one thing, because I didn't have the immediate urge to go back to the theatre and watch it again. I was kind of like, "That was awesome, but now I've seen it." Also, the repeated use of "fired" and "smart" grates a little. My mother, who is a real live English person, albeit one who has lived much of her adult life in Canada, thought the more likely words would be "sacked" and "clever". Is she wrong? It's entirely possible that she's wrong. I still recommend seeing it, but I'm not quite as enthusiastic as I was.
And I think I was unnecessarily cruel to Christopher Egan in an earlier post. I believe I compared him to a block of wood, but that was after re-watching only the first 2 episodes of Kings. Later on in the season (or rather, later on in the series, due to it having been FRELLING CANCELLED UNJUSTLY after only 13 episodes), his performances improve, or possibly the writing for his character improves. I had forgotten, not having watched the show in quite some time. I loved his scene in the second to last episode with Brian Cox's character, where Cox says, "Die loved, David," and he retorts, "I'd rather live miserable."
I still think Egan was miscast and the writing for David as a character was uneven, but there are definitely flashes of potential there which could have been nurtured in Season 2. So my apologies to Mr. Egan, in the unlikely event that he or anyone related to him reads this journal. Still glad, though, that Sebastian Stan was the breakout star of that show, because his performance as Jack just gets better with repeated viewings, as do the performances of Ian McShane and Susanna Thompson.
Happy New Year in advance!
Edited to add: and my mother came through with the name of the book, Daughter of Persia: A Woman's Journey from her Father's Harem to the Islamic Revolution (what a mouthful of a title!), by Sattareh Farman Farmaian and Dona Munker. Farman Farmaian was a social worker and founded the Tehran School of Social Work. My mum thinks she still has her copy of the book lying around somewhere.
Uncle #1 sent me Dr. Irving Finkel's The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood as a Christmas present, and so far it's really very interesting. Uncle has actually met Dr. Finkel, apparently, at a party thrown by a mutual friend who works at the British Museum with him (with Finkel, I mean, not with Uncle). He said in the letter accompanying the book that apparently Finkel, because he's Jewish, has never been allowed to travel to Iraq, even though the archaeological sites where his life's work originate are there. I mean, not that a lot of people would want to travel to Iraq *right now*, but there have been times over the past few decades when it was relatively peaceful. It would be like being a diabetic pastry chef, who could create delicious things but not eat them.
Speaking of which, although actually NOT speaking of which, because I'm thinking of a whole different country with a whole different ethnic group and language, I remember many, many years ago reading a book whose name I've forgotten, a memoir by the founder of the Tehran School of something or other. She was an academic of some kind, and a supporter of Mohammed Mosaddegh back in the fifties. Must have been a tough cookie to found whatever she founded in the days of the Shah and his secret police. Anyway, she was arrested and interrogated in 1979 after the revolution, and one of the charges against her was that she had once been invited to an academic conference in Tel Aviv. Not that she'd actually *gone*, because she hadn't, but that she'd been invited.
She was let go by her interrogators, but fled the country after receiving word that she was very likely to be arrested again imminently. And she wrote this memoir about growing up in Iran and her work over several decades and her experiences of the Revolution. It was really very interesting, but I've forgotten her name and even what academic field she was in. Maddening, because I'd like to re-read the book sometime.
Upon mature reflection, I like The Imitation Game less the day after than I did last night. For one thing, because I didn't have the immediate urge to go back to the theatre and watch it again. I was kind of like, "That was awesome, but now I've seen it." Also, the repeated use of "fired" and "smart" grates a little. My mother, who is a real live English person, albeit one who has lived much of her adult life in Canada, thought the more likely words would be "sacked" and "clever". Is she wrong? It's entirely possible that she's wrong. I still recommend seeing it, but I'm not quite as enthusiastic as I was.
And I think I was unnecessarily cruel to Christopher Egan in an earlier post. I believe I compared him to a block of wood, but that was after re-watching only the first 2 episodes of Kings. Later on in the season (or rather, later on in the series, due to it having been FRELLING CANCELLED UNJUSTLY after only 13 episodes), his performances improve, or possibly the writing for his character improves. I had forgotten, not having watched the show in quite some time. I loved his scene in the second to last episode with Brian Cox's character, where Cox says, "Die loved, David," and he retorts, "I'd rather live miserable."
I still think Egan was miscast and the writing for David as a character was uneven, but there are definitely flashes of potential there which could have been nurtured in Season 2. So my apologies to Mr. Egan, in the unlikely event that he or anyone related to him reads this journal. Still glad, though, that Sebastian Stan was the breakout star of that show, because his performance as Jack just gets better with repeated viewings, as do the performances of Ian McShane and Susanna Thompson.
Happy New Year in advance!
Edited to add: and my mother came through with the name of the book, Daughter of Persia: A Woman's Journey from her Father's Harem to the Islamic Revolution (what a mouthful of a title!), by Sattareh Farman Farmaian and Dona Munker. Farman Farmaian was a social worker and founded the Tehran School of Social Work. My mum thinks she still has her copy of the book lying around somewhere.
