He's My Brother, Always Full of Contagious Wonder

Following up the story of Peter Simon's recent sudden death on Martha's Vineyard here is a letter from his sister Carly Simon.

Peter may have been about nine years old and we were on the beach at Windy Gates. It was a sunny and calm day in late August. We were staying with Roger and Evelyn Baldwin who owned the Windy Gates property off South Road at that time. My mother, my sister Lucy, Peter and I had enjoyed days of sun and waves that were reasonably comfortable to ride without alerts every five minutes from concerned parents looking at their kids playing in the surf.

At about three in the afternoon, Peter suddenly sounded an alarm: “There’s a big wave coming. It’s a tidal wave!”

Here was a nine-year-old boy informing the scattered crowd of 20 or 30 people on the beach that a disaster was about to befall them. He was told to be quiet, to not scare everybody, and yet when we did look out to the east, over the Atlantic’s south shore, there was a bank of gray hovering in a linear fashion on the horizon. It was enough for everyone to begin asking each other, “Do you think that could be possible?” “I don’t know, it does look ominous.”

Little Peter was heralding a big event and panic soared in the humid, August mid-afternoon air. Up flew the striped beach towels. Books and thermoses were stashed away into beach bags. Bathers in the water took the nearest exit wave out and joined their posse on the beach for the hasty evacuation over the dunes to the many splinter-filled steps that floated above them, winding up to terra firma which was the grassy lawn of the Baldwin’s yard.

While climbing the steps we craned our necks to look back toward the ocean for the tidal wave to make its presence more dangerously known. Then, when safely on the lawn, our group, a bunch of beachgoers, sun lovers, the worshipers of the 1958 summer, waited with bated breath and heavy hearts, afraid for the entire south shore.

Time passed. Maybe 15 minutes and then the rain began to sweep in. The cloud bank that looked like a tidal wave to a nine-year-old child came from east to west and was accompanied by thunder, but little else. We, the peanut butter and jelly group of Peyton Place devourers, had been lured away from the beach by a little boy’s imagination.

Oh Peter. My darling sweet beloved little brother. No one I ever knew could be as outrageous and convincing and talented and huge hearted. He had that intelligence that made perfectly grown adults believe in his unlikely knowledge. That is a quality you can’t emulate. Almost always, he was right.

I wrote a song the morning he died. Click here to continue reading.

Turkey (or Chicken) Tamale Pie – Wow!

By Ned White, Bangor Daily News

Recipe for a terrific real-Southwest tamale pie with a soft cheesy “crust” to feed four. The kitchen smells soooo good when this is baking!

I’ll say it again – Wow. This is real Southwest cookery at its most savory and people-pleasing, and it’s a blast to make – a “pie” of turkey (or chicken) with various veggies and spices, topped with a fluffy and lightly cheesy cornmeal crust. My wife made this, but it was a joint effort because I was right behind her with the camera.

My guess is your Thanksgiving turkey leftovers are long gone, but if they’re not, this is a terrific way to treat them with the respect they deserve – savory, spicy, comfort-food satisfying. Or skip the turkey and use a roasted chicken instead. The recipe comes from our American Southwest cookbook, but I’ve made some slight changes to increase the yield: the book told us this made 6 servings, and it didn’t come close. Four of us ate this to the last hydrocarbon molecule, and were begging for more. Alas, it was not to be, darn the luck!

So the following should be plenty for 4 hungry people:

Click here to continue reading.

Movie Review—Widows

Theatrical release poster

by Peter J. O'Connell  

Widows. Released: Nov. 2018. Runtime: 129 mins. MPAA Rating: R for violence, language throughout, and some sexual content/nudity.

Widows, directed and co-written by Britain's Steve McQueen, has a scope and scale that few crime films since Michael Mann's classic Heat (1995) have had. As Widows unspools the planning and execution of an elaborate heist, it weaves in issues of sexuality, gender roles, race relations, political change, and police behavior.

The movie begins in Chicago when a spectacular robbery is spectacularly botched, and Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson), a renowned thief, is reported killed, alongside his partners Carlos (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Florek (Jon Bernthal), and Jimmy (Coburn Goss). The crooks' widows are, respectively: Veronica (Viola Davis), a teachers' union official; Linda (Michelle Rodriguez), a clothing store owner; Alice (Elizabeth Debicki), a “bimbo”; and Amanda (Carrie Coon), mother of a newborn baby.

The women are, in varying degrees, emotionally bereft—particularly Veronica, as revealed in her tender flashbacks to her life with Harry—but they are also in tough financial straits because of debts. The most pressing debt is $2 million belonging to crime boss Jamal Manning (Brian Tyeree Henry), lost in the botched robbery. Manning, an African-American, planned to use the money to finance his campaign for Chicago alderman against Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell), son of retiring white incumbent Tom Mulligan (Robert Duvall).

Manning wants the widows to make up his lost money—and fast. He makes his wishes manifest by the actions of his brother, Jatemme (Daniel Kaluuya), who carries out various beatings and killings. Jatemme, for example, brutalizes a man in a wheelchair—perhaps a nod to a notorious scene in a 1940s film noir in which Richard Widmark's character shoves an old lady down a flight of stairs, while he laughs.  

Veronica discovers a notebook of Harry's with a detailed plan for a heist worth $5 million. She recruits Linda and Alice to assist her, first in finding out what the actual location of the $5 million is and then in carrying out the plan. Because the Mannings have killed one potential driver, Veronica gets Belle (Cynthia Erivo), Linda's babysitter, to act as their driver.

The heist that the widows will carry out is not a “caper” a la Ocean's Eight, for example, carried out basically for fun. The widows are desperate, and their survival is at stake. But the heist is also an exercise in female empowerment. As Veronica tells her gang: “Now the best thing we have going for us is being who we are.” When Alice asks why, Veronica replies: “Because no one thinks we have the balls to pull this off.”

While the women plot, the Mulligans, father and son, argue. In high dyspeptic dudgeon, Tom denounces his son for being too accepting of the changes in Chicago that are giving power to minorities and migrants over the old guard. And Sgt. Fuller (Michael Harney), a corrupt cop, helps carry out a conspiracy. 

Eventually, the widows' plot goes into operation, with much violence and many surprises for the characters—and the audience. But McQueen handles the twists and turns of the plot adroitly—both the tropes of crime films, such as car chases and gunplay, and such complex topics as sexism, police brutality, and interracial marriage (Veronica and Harry). 

The performances are notable. Davis is both strong and sensitive. Kaluuya does a 180-degree turn from his doe-eyed nice guy in Get Out (2017). Duvall is the way we like to see him—in high dyspeptic dudgeon. And Debicki steals many scenes while in the plot to steal much money. See Widows. The women in it have . . . well, Veronica can tell you!

Photographer Peter Simon Dies at 71

While checking some quotes in my post yesterday about scolloping on Martha's Vineyard I learned that Peter Simon a Vineyard based photographer and Carley Simon's little brother died suddenly.
We feel fortunate that we have several pieces of Peter's work hanging on the walls of our home.
RIP Peter.

Peter Simon, the iconic Martha’s Vineyard photographer whose pictures of people both famous and ordinary, political protests, rock concerts and Island landscapes spanned more than half a century, died Sunday night at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.

He was 71 and had been battling lung cancer for some time.

Beginning in the 1960s and running until the time of his death, his prolific photographic career included rock and roll portraits, the civil rights era, hippie heyday, sports, Jamaica and its reggae stars. He had published numerous books, including On the Vineyard I, II and III, and a yearly calendar. His last book, To Everything There is a Season, was published in 2017 and was a retrospective of his life’s work with more than 700 photographs.

He was a reggae music aficionado and for many years hosted a weekly radio show on WMVY. He produced his own record labels, including the Vineyard Sound volumes that featured compilations of well-known singer-songwriters such as Richie Havens, Jonathan Edwards, Maynard Silva, Johnny Hoy, Susan Tedeschi and his sister Carly Simon.

A longtime year-round resident of Chilmark, Peter was a familiar and ubiquitous presence on the Island, where he would wander about with his camera, often barefoot in all but the coldest months of the year. Lucy Vincent Beach was a favorite summer haunt. Click here to continue reading.

Dragging for Gold, Bay Scallopers Navigate Seasonal Ebb and Flow

Here is an article from the Martha's Vineyard Gazette that brings good insight into what goes into getting those delicious scallops on our plates--TG.

It’s November, and that means bay scallop season has arrived on the Vineyard. But by most accounts, it will be an average to poor year for scalloping, both up Island and down.

“It’s been a really slow year,” said Edgartown fisherman Arno Ewing as he steered his skiff into Cape Pogue Pond Monday morning. “But that’s after three really good years in a row. So it’s what you can expect.”

Commercial and recreational scalloping is now open in every Island town. Scalloping is an important winter industry for independent Vineyard fishermen who rely on the Island’s historically rich saltwater ponds to drag or dipnet for the high-demand shellfish crop. But in recent years, pollution and coastal development has threatened the notoriously fickle bivalves, and early reports from Island towns have painted a grim outlook for the 2018-2019 season.

“It’s not a banner year, by any means,” Edgartown shellfish constable Paul Bagnall said this week. “We’re cooking along with 25 to 30 limits a day, which isn’t too bad. But last year we were doing around 45 to 50. It was regionally a good scallop year, and this year, well, it’s looking to be regionally a not so good scallop year.”

Last year, Edgartown issued 100 commercial scalloping licenses. This year, the town has not yet reached 80. Still, Mr. Bagnall said he feels fortunate that there are any scallops at all in Cape Pogue Pond, Edgartown harbor, Katama Bay and Sengekontacket Pond.

“We’re lucky we have them, we just don’t have a lot of them,” Mr. Bagnall said. “There’s never any easy scalloping. There’s just good scalloping, and bad scalloping, and I would put this in the mediocre quality.”

Click here to continue reading.

Don't fall for this computer scam!

Beware message like the one below are being received by people mailing. Do not send any money, Bitcoin or anything. I received three identical messages in one day.

Hello!

I have bad news for you.
19/07/2018 - on this day I hacked your operating system and got full access to your account 

It is useless to change the password, my malware intercepts it every time.

How it was:
In the software of the router to which you were connected that day, there was a vulnerability.
I first hacked this router and placed my malicious code on it.
When you entered in the Internet, my trojan was installed on the operating system of your device.

After that, I made a full dump of your disk (I have all your address book, history of viewing sites, all files, phone numbers and addresses of all your contacts).

A month ago, I wanted to lock your device and ask for a small amount of money to unlock.
But I looked at the sites that you regularly visit, and came to the big delight of your favorite resources.
I'm talking about sites for adults.

I want to say - you are a big, big pervert. You have unbridled fantasy!!!

After that, an idea came to my mind.
I made a screenshot of the intimate website where you have fun (you know what it is about, right?).
After that, I made a screenshot of your joys (using the camera of your device) and joined all together.
It turned out beautifully, do not doubt.

I am strongly belive that you would not like to show these pictures to your relatives, friends or colleagues.
I think $706 is a very small amount for my silence.
Besides, I spent a lot of time on you!

I accept money only in Bitcoins.
My BTC wallet: 1H9bS7Zb6LEANLkM8yiF8EsoGEtMEeLFvC

You do not know how to replenish a Bitcoin wallet?
In any search engine write "how to send money to btc wallet".
It's easier than send money to a credit card!

For payment you have a little more than two days (exactly 50 hours).
Do not worry, the timer will start at the moment when you open this letter. Yes, yes .. it has already started!

After payment, my virus and dirty photos with you self-destruct automatically.
Narrative, if I do not receive the specified amount from you, then your device will be blocked, and all your contacts will receive a photos with your "joys".

I want you to be prudent.
- Do not try to find and destroy my virus! (All your data is already uploaded to a remote server)
- Do not try to contact me (this is not feasible, I sent you an email from your account)
- Various security services will not help you; formatting a disk or destroying a device will not help either, since your data is already on a remote server.

P.S. I guarantee you that I will not disturb you again after payment, as you are not my single victim.
This is a hacker code of honor.

From now on, I advise you to use good antiviruses and update them regularly (several times a day)!

Don't be mad at me, everyone has their own work.
Farewell.

Movie Review: Overlord

   

by Peter J. O'Connell  

Overlord. Released Nov. 2018. Runtime: 109 mins. MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence, disturbing images, language, and brief sexual content.

War is a horrible thing, and Overlord, directed by Julius Avery, is a horror film set in World War II, specifically the night before and the day of D-Day. The film begins with a fast-paced, very noisy, quite spectacular sequence of a bombing raid by Allied planes on German positions on the French coast. The planes draw fierce anti-aircraft fire. The sequence is filmed in a garish palette with effects done by pre-computer methods. It's as if the “pictures” in this motion picture are combat posters from the WWII era itself. 

This approach to effects is quite (wait for it) effective in plunging us into the story. “Plunge” is the operatic word, for one of the aims of the raid is to drop a squad of paratroopers near a French town where a radio transmitter important to the Germans is located in the tower of an old church. The squad's mission: Destroy the transmitter.

In classic WWII movie style, the squad features a variety of types: the leader, Cpl. Ford (Wyatt Russell) is a hard-bitten warrior totally focused on the given mission; Boyce (Javon Adepo) is a brave African-American with a sensitive side; Tibbett (John Magaro) is a sniper proud of his shooting skills; Chase (Iain De Caestecker) is a somewhat nervous combat photographer; Rosenfeld (Dominic Applewhite) is a Jewish soldier. Dawson (Jacob Anderson) is a squad member who gets killed early on in a minefield. 

After Dawson's death, the team continues onward, enacting various tropes of World War II movies, but doing so in a style somewhat reminiscent of Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen (1967) and Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009). The G.I.s encounter Chloe (Mathilde Ollivier), a beauteous young Frenchwoman, who takes them into the village where the church with the radio tower is located. The team members are in Chloe's house when a Nazi patrol performs a routine inspection, and the Americans have to hide. But when a Nazi officer, Capt. Wafner (Pilou Asbaek), attempts to rape Chloe, Boyce attacks him, forcing the other G.I.s to take Wafner prisoner. 

Boyce makes his way into the Nazi base, the church, where he learns that Mengele-type doctors are carrying out various experiments in a basement lab, experiments involving a mysterious liquid compound discovered under the church. Guess what? The liquid brings corpses back to life as zombies, with inhuman strength, a resistance to gunfire, and a very, very hostile attitude. As Wafner says: “A thousand-year Reich needs thousand-year soldiers.” 

Overlord now transforms from a war picture to a horror movie, with lots of gore and yucky deformations of faces and figures. (These effects are achieved by brilliant use of makeup rather than by computers.) Zombies destroy and are destroyed (with difficulty), and live persons, both Germans and G.I.s, injected with the liquid turn monstrous. But does the transmitter get destroyed?

Drop in on your multiplex to find out. This hybrid of war and horror is quite exciting and quite entertaining (despite—because of?—the gore and yuck), and it is an imaginative success. A salute to director Avery and his writers and to Javon Adepo, Pilou Asbaek, and Mathilde Ollivier—all of whom you probably will be seeing a lot of in the future!

“Footnotes” to the film: Operation Overlord was the name given to the D-Day invasion. There were, however, no bombing raids on German positions the night before. The Allied commanders would not have wanted to alert the Germans to the possibility of impending landings by making such attacks. Some paratroopers were dropped, however. Also, Private Boyce is African-American, but whites and blacks did not serve together in the same units in World War II.