Corporate America
— Amazon
— Work culture
— CEO as possible sociopath
New York Times public editor’s function as independent reactor/ombudsman
The structure of German U-Boats
— claustrophobia
— gross smells
— the sinking of said U-boats
——-scratches found on interior walls
The Lusitania (off-shoot of above topic)
— everything about the ship. The captain. The passengers.
— what the event meant
— Documentary footage of Lusitania setting sail (amazing)
— Woodrow Wilson
—— neutrality campaign/League of Nations
WWI (off-shoot of above topic)
— Re-cap of Franz Ferdinand’s assassination (Exhibit A presented of Rebecca West’s description of FF’s trip to Sarajevo)
The various faces made by Allison, caught by my camera, as she leapt (or cannonballed) off the diving board. We described the various faces as:
— maniac in an old-fashioned Victorian lunatic asylum
— a terrified soon-to-be-murdered person as an axe-wielding killer comes at her
— We kept zooming in on her face on the photos and laughing until tears streamed down our faces.
Sociopaths. (This topic will repeat)
They are:
— charming
— disarming
H.H. Holmes
— his “murder castle” in Chicago
— the forensics of that time
— the upcoming book/movie (Scorsese?)
— Wikipedia article read out loud and discussed
——- The difference between a regular murderer and a sadist
Death/Grief
Bachelor in Paradise
— gender politics
— dating rules (woman as aggressor/woman too eager or into it = BAD)
— thick ludicrous eyelashes
The pros/cons of suburban life
The high school reunion I missed/weekend in R.I.
— classmate tazed outside the reunion for being drunk and disorderly (friend said later: “I could smell his skin burning.”)
— pile of iPhones on the sidewalk
— Visiting the gun shop
— My old friend Glenda
which led to …
Being stalked
— lack of recourse for stalk-ee
— Delusional men who won’t take No for an answer
Ethan Hawke: Yes? No?
Mountain Gringo salsa: our mutual adoration thereof
How much we love the sounds of nature
— cicadas
— wind
— trees
Tycoons/robber barons/capitalists of Industrial Revolution
— Vanderbilt
— Rockefeller
— Carnegie
— J.P. Morgan (and his wretched emasculating father)
——– We watched the History Channel’s Men Who Made America series: amazing.
— Paused it to talk about Maury Klein, my great college professor and the best class I took in college: The Industrial Revolution. Told Allison all about it. Then we started up the show again, and in 10 minutes time, there was Maury Klein onscreen as an expert.
— Titan, by Ron Chernow, which we read together. Now we want to read The House of Morgan.
The qualities of really successful people
— innovation/risk
— not giving up
— imagination
Which then led, naturally, to:
Sociopaths/Narcissists
Serial Killers
Creepy psycho children a la We Need to Talk about Kevin
The danger to dogs in Malibu from coyotes who leap fences into backyards
— Similar danger to dogs in NYC who have gone missing when tied up outside grocery stores or whatever, possibly kidnapped to be put into a dog-fighting ring.
Our awesome skin and how proud we are of our awesome skin and how good we take care of our mutually awesome skin
— her mud mask and whether or not I should give it a shot
Pools vs. Ocean. What do we think?
The sucky design of the garden hose
Our various family members and how they all are doing.
How much we like Sandra Bullock
Nicola Tesla.
— We spent quite a bit of time casting the fictional movie about the rivalry between Edison and Tesla.
— Possible actors to play Tesla: Joaquin Phoenix. Tom Hardy as Edison? Tesla looks vaguely like Orlando Bloom but could Bloom pull it off? We discussed with desperate seriousness as though this were an actual job we had.
Rosemary Kennedy
— lobotomy
— Joe’s lying – the whole tragic situation
— John-John’s body language in a photo in People magazine, leaning towards Rosemary inclusively. We both stared at the photo. Stricken.
——– John John’s death.
——– The Seinfeld episode about John John.
Taylor Swift/Miley: Yes? No?
— the importance of what teen girls like
— how ahead of the curve teen girls often are
— they lead the way towards what’s cool or what’s next and what do they get for their prescience? Scorn and derision. See: Elvis Presley. So I’m all for anything that teen girls love without reservation. I’m for anything that gives teen girls a fun fantasy life, and pleasant dreams, and something to strive for.
— also I just love Miley.
How much we hate it when people are assholes during complicated highway merges.
The following conversation is not about anyone we know. It’s based on a picture of someone (whom we do not know) playing a banjo. That’s it. Once we started we couldn’t stop:
“He drinks artisanal beer.”
“He makes his own almond milk.”
“He’s a feminist.”
“He works in a co-op.”
AC/DC.
— our love thereof
— which led to a conversation about Def Leppard.
— side swerve to Stone Temple Pilots
— Judas Priest was mentioned in there somewhere too, as was Nirvana
— we reminisced about Yaz
— and then U2
— all roads lead back to AC/DC. The highway to hell.
“He’s a feminist.” Ha!
I saw AC/DC a week ago. It was AWESOME! And so was the crowd.
AC/DC rocks. So jealous! There’s a great audio clip of Brian Johnson on Sirius XM radio right now making fun of other singers warming up and doing vocal exercises. “Really? We’re not singing opera here.” And another one where he is with Angus making fun of him drinking his tea like an old man. Hell, they are old men. Cracks me up. Would love to hang out with the two of them.
Ha!! Hard to picture, but yeah: old men.
It’s like coming to terms with the Metallica guys being in their 50s. What?
So envious you saw AC/DC. How FUN!! I bet the crowd was awesome!!
and yeah, in re: the feminist: sometimes it’s a relief to allow yourself to be mean and judgmental.
Men Who Made America is a great series! They did a great job balancing all sides of them as humans. Many people like when shows/documentaries take a viewpoint and tell the story from there. I love shows that give you a mix of facts and ask you to draw your own conclusions. The JPM story was fascinating and I knew nothing of the backstory of Carnegie before that show.
Paula – it really is so good!! I was wary because of the re-enactments but I think they did a fine (and very simple) job. And I also loved how many of the experts were people like CEOs and Presidents of companies – not just historians. Great great context.
And yeah, I knew very little about Carnegie either except Steel and Carnegie Hall. Also, apparently, I have been mispronouncing his name forever? Car-NEHG-ie.
It was a very rich experience and we watched about 6 hours of it over the weekend. It took us forever because we kept stopping to pause. We had both read Titan (great bio of John D. Rockefeller – so we were very up to speed on him) – but there was so much more information we learned.
ALSO: another tribute to Maury Klein – I took his class a million years ago when I was 18 years old. And I STILL remember so much stuff from that class. I was like, “Ohhh, Vanderbilt, right, I remember this now …”
Nothing worse than bad reenactments or experts with no clue. Just made me think of when my son Talked me into watching a show called Ancient Aliens on The History Channel. I thought, ok aliens but how bad can it be? It’s on THC, right?!
I can’t gif like Lyrie or Helena but just google Ancient Aliens show guy. Please, please, look it up. Watching this show was a gift because THIS GUY was the expert and because every historical event ever involved aliens. Kennedy assassination? Aliens. Founding Fathers? Friends of aliens.
Okay I can’t wait.
Paula, I googled it. Thank you.
Right?! Right?! “Don’t dump your wackadoo on us.”
So, Ethan Hawke, yes or no – was there a decision on this?
I love Ethan Hawke and Allison is somewhat “meh” although she’s liked him in some things.
I love him in some things and I guess I’m meh about other things but I’m a Yes, definitely.
I think Ethan Hawke is a yes based on the Before Sunrise movies alone.
I’m kind of with the dissipated middle aged dad thing … but yeah, all of those Before movies.
and yeah – all the Before series, as well as his co-writing of those series. I like him a lot.
I ended up holding hands with him at a memorial/prayer service in Hell’s Kitchen a couple of days after September 11 – maybe the week following. The fire department in that neighborhood had been decimated. They lost so many people – and they still have plaques up outside (as all precincts do in NYC) – and people still leave flowers outside on the anniversary day. I had gone to leave flowers outside. there were flowers piled up against the door. There’s a little park across the street, and people had gathered in a circle and I went to join. I was still in shock – everybody was. anyway, I joined the prayer circle, a space opening for me, people taking my hands. It went on – there was a priest there (whose parish was on the same block) – and the mood was traumatized all around. Everyone was weeping – but we had been weeping all day anyway. It wasn’t until the whole thing ended that I realized the dude next to me was Ethan Hawke. He looked like absolute SHIT – as did we all. The second the service was over, we both lit up cigarettes, standing outside the park.
So I always have this weird feeling of close-ness to him when I remember that day.
But yeah, think he’s a very good actor.
(Memory vivid due to the close-ness of the day, I’m assuming.)
So where did you come down on the Ethan Hawke question?
And Orlando Bloom? I think he can be really good when he’s cast correctly—but he has been in over his head, too. And he got overused and hung out to dry by Hollywood after the Pirates movie.
That line reminded me of a conversation my brother and I had, years ago, about The Great Gatsby. This was mid-90’s and we decided that Bruce Willis would be perfect casting, which lead to trying to cast the other major leads (I’m sorry to say, I can’t remember now who we settled on for Daisy or Nick–or Jordan, either, but there was an actress at the time that I thought would be perfect for her. No, I’m sure it wasn’t Demi Moore!)
I like Ethan a lot – especially in his somewhat-dissipated middle-aged-dad form. Ie: Boyhood, and the recent 10,000 Saints (which Allison had just seen – hence, our discussion).
Orlando Bloom just showed up in a movie I thought was really funny and he was really funny/good in it – it’s called Digging for Fire. And his cameo as himself on Ricky Gervais’ Extras was my favorite star cameo (although Ben Stiller’s and Kate Winslet’s were hilarious as well). That Extras episode showed me he had a wicked sense of humor about himself, and he seemed kind of awesome. But yeah, I don’t think he’s really been “used” properly – and the Legolas thing is damn limiting, to say the least. I mean, it’s a poker-face character with almost zero depth.
Allison and I love to pretend-cast pretend-movies – it really is a fun game!
Now I am wondering who would have taken those roles in the mid-90s. Julia Roberts as Jordan? She’s too hearty and up-front to be Daisy, I think.
Julia Roberts, definitely not a Daisy type, but yes, I could see her as Jordan. I think it was a tv actress? Keri Russell maybe? The look is wrong, but she could have nailed the cool-edged flapper type.
I just saw “Boyhood” recently, and I loved Ethan Hawke in it–slightly seedy suits him. Also in “Gattaca” which I think is one of the best (semi-recent) sci-fi movies. But he isn’t someone that automatically makes me say, “gotta see that one!)
I liked Gattaca a lot too. And Training Day.
Oh my God, Keri Russell, of course – the darling with the curls! I was so convinced her whole career would be ruined when she got her hair cut. Silly me.
Actually, in his younger days, Ralph Fiennes would have been a ringer for Tesla.
Ah, Tesla
lol, Helena! Who was it who played Tesla in “The Prestige”? Was it Bowie? I thought he was pretty good– :-)
Ha! It was Bowie, Barb. Loved those scenes in The Prestige.
I love The Oatmeal’s obsession with Tesla. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla
http://theoatmeal.com/blog/tesla_museum_saved
and John C. Reilly, of course, has already played Tesla in this unforgettable small sketch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gOR91oentQ
Have you been to the U505 exhibit in Chicago at the Museum of Science and Industry? Not only can you go on the U-Boat, but they have all sorts of accompanying stuff, including interviews with the German captain as well as the American captain that miraculously seized the boat. You guys would love it! Max was obsessed with it for a while and used to draw it a lot.
Kate – wow, no, I haven’t been. That sounds incredible!! I can see why Max would be obsessed.
Allison and I were talking about the sheer level of claustrophobia that must have gone on in those boats. I kind of want to go on one (or in one) just so I can get a feel for it.
xoxo
Haha Sheila. This pretty much sums up our friendship and shared curiosity/passions. Still laughing at the artisanal beer-drinking, almond-milk making feminist. Such a great weekend.
Love you!
At first you were mad that I was making fun of him and then suddenly you came out with the “makes his own almond-milk” and it was all over from there.
Love you!!
In some awful temp receptionist job I had in the 90s, I spent a whole afternoon planning my wedding to John-John. I wasn’t even that into him, but I certainly knew the names of all his relatives as well as various family hangers-on so the fun was trying to picture where they would all sit. I, like, sat there drawing tables and writing tiny little names on them – for hours. It was the most insanely fun thing I ever did while technically supposed to be working.
Shortly after that, I started seeing him regularly. A friend of mine got a job at Macmillan, in the same building as George, and sometimes when I waited for her out front he would get on his bicycle and ride away. I’m sure I gave him a bug-eyed look the first time I saw him, thinking of those little tables. But he always smiled.