Weekend Update

Friday ended a tough week for Chris – lots going on at work, too much stress – so we consciously wanted to make the weekend fun. Friday night we went downtown right after work to see “Schultze Gets the Blues,” a German movie we’d wanted to see for quite some time. It’s about a retired salt mine worker and accordion player who leads a very simple life (especially after retiring) until he accidentally happens upon a zydeco station on the radio one night, which changes his life completely. It’s a very quiet movie, lots of “white space” both in terms of the visuals and the dialogue, and it’s incredibly sweet. It reminded both of us of “Kitchen Stories,” which we’d rented last month – also quiet, and also sweet. “Schultze” is, as Chris pointed out, another travel story in disguise. Schultze is a man who’s lead a life of routine, and for whom a chance meeting with a strange sound on the radio means a round-the-world adventure the likes of which he certainly wasn’t planning for.

After the movie we went to the Gotham Building Tavern for a late dinner – we got there at 9:30, and the place was packed. It was still packed when we left at nearly 11:00. Who are these people who stay out so late?!? (Clearly, they’re younger than we are…) The food was good, a very interesting menu with lots of stuff on it I was unfamiliar with – which was a fun learning experience. My favorite dish was the thing I was most nervous about – nettle ravioli. I have bad memories of a large patch of nettles we had on the farm in Connecticut, a patch which I ran through once as a young’un – in one side happy, out the other side screaming. I couldn’t imagine eating them, but apparently once they’re cooked they’re great. I just wouldn’t want to be the pre-cooking handler.

Saturday we spent almost the entire day in downtown Portland, which we haven’t done in quite awhile. We started out at the Portland Farmer’s Market, which opens about a month and a half earlier than our own, where we had breakfast, bought some lovely asparagus and basil and took some photographs. It was really busy, with baby strollers and dogs on leashes making getting through each aisle more difficult than it needed to be. In those situations I generally find myself getting impatient, until I realize that if I have nowhere in particular to get to and no time constraints, I’m getting worked up over nothing. Such was the case at the Market, where I eventually calmed down and enjoyed the bustle. Farmer’s Markets are great for people-watching.

After the Market we went to an eye glasses shop that Chris has been drooling over for something like a year now. He ended up finding frames he loves, so they’re on order. My prescription needs to be renewed, so I didn’t get anything – plus, it’s a “boutique” shop and the prices scared the crap out of me… We’ll see what insurance covers! Then it was off to Camera World, where my intent was to look at tripods and ask questions. I did that. Then we walked around the store for a few more minutes and wound our way back to the tripod department, where I bought a new one! It’s lovely, really wonderful and easy to work with, really versatile. And it’s Italian-made, which in my mind at least makes it even better.

It was such an unexpectedly beautiful day – it was supposed to have been a bit overcast, but ended up clearing and being quite sunny. We browsed through some Pearl District shops we’d never seen before deciding we were ready for a snack, so went to the Chinese Garden where we bought ourselves a membership and went in for tea. The Tao of Tea runs the tea house in the garden – we sat on the second floor in front of a window overlooking the garden, sipping our tea and nibbling our food. Then we wandered through the garden for an hour, where I took a zillion (okay, two rolls) more photographs. They don’t allow tripods except by prior arrangement, so I couldn’t play with my new toy, but that was okay – it’s so interesting to see how much the garden has changed in just the month or so since we were there with Chris’ dad. The tour guide back then said it changes every day, but I thought she was exaggerating. Now I’m not so sure! With memberships, we’re looking forward to going back on the spur of the moment, just because we’re downtown – instead of making it a special trip.

From the garden we finally headed back home – it was nearly 5:00, and we needed to get to the library before it closed (more movies on hold) and to the grocery store for the remaining ingredients for the dish Chris was testing. When we got home, I got out my new tripod and “played” – took pictures of my garden (lots of close-ups so you can’t see how pathetically small it is). It was great fun. I stopped keeping track of the settings today, mostly because I couldn’t be bothered, and secondly because I’m relying on the light meter. I guess we’ll know if that was a wise decision when I get the photos back.

Chris’ experimental dish was wonderful – ravioli with asparagus, mint and ricotta inside, in a sauce made from pureed peas and onions. Yummm… We watched “The Last Samurai,” which I liked more than I expected to – I’m not generally a Tom Cruise fan, and there was plenty about this film to not like, but overall it wasn’t an unpleasant experience. On Sunday, I ended up watching a few of the “extra features,” including a piece called “Hollywood vs. History” which was interesting – sort of turned the entire story on its head. The history folks said the look and feel of the time portrayed in the film is accurate, but that the substance is pure Hollywood. Chris was impressed they put that feature on the DVD, as it kind of debunks their whole concept of who the “good guys” and “bad guys” were, and I guess he’s right – but it still sort of annoyed me.

Sunday we had a pretty suburban day. Chris went for a long bike ride, I got my hair cut, and then we ran errands. Okay, very suburban. We watched the director’s cut of “The Last Emperor,” which has an extra hour for a total viewing time of 3 hrs. 38 mins. And let me tell you, it feels like a 3 hr. 38 min. movie! I’d never seen the original cut, so I can’t say if that would have also felt long, but this cut felt really long. And yet, I wouldn’t say it was entirely unpleasant. It was a real learning experience for me – I’m not exactly a student of history, and when I went to college the one “world history” required course was called “Western Culture” – it wasn’t until several years after I graduated that they even added an alternative to that course which included Eastern history as well. I figure the only time I would have learned about the time depicted in “The Last Emperor” was in high school history class, which was probably only a year (rather than one per year), and I’m guessing wasn’t that thorough. At any rate, I had no idea until last night what bad-asses the Japanese were... Yipes! I’m still not clear on how historically accurate the film is, though Chris thinks it’s pretty close, so I need to read a bit more before I take it as the gospel. Still, quite an educational film, nonetheless.

Today, I’m making last-minute arrangements for our NYC trip this week – I’ve got to find the perfect birthday gift for my aunt, and arrange for cat-sitters for the fur-babies. We’ve got a 6am flight to catch on Wednesday, which will be decidedly un-fun, but as long as I can sleep on the plane I’ll be okay by the time we get there... I think...