To Burst The Bottle Bubble, Fountains In Paris Now Flow With Sparkling Water

France might be known for its bottled water (think Evian or Perrier). But in Paris, the mayor wants people to give up plastic bottles in favor of city tap water — with bubbles added for extra appeal [ . . . ]

More: To Burst The Bottle Bubble, Fountains In Paris Now Flow With Sparkling Water

Lady Bird, John Hartford and Jimmy Dean

By Mike Stevenson

I finally saw Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird at a matinee show yesterday. Loved it.

I enjoy going to the movies at weekday afternoon shows. The theater is usually near-empty, tickets are a bit cheaper, and I usually sneak in a glass of wine and a bite to eat. I don’t mind being alone for a movie – in fact I think I prefer it. We form a  relationship – just me and the film. I offer the movie a sip of wine and nibble of cheese. She politely says, “No, you have it.”

A few thoughts about Lady Bird:

  • I was so blown-away by the inclusion of the John Hartford song “The Eve of Parting” in the movie. Hartford has been a favorite of mine since my late twenties, when a used-record store purchase satisfied my curiosity about the brilliant composer of the classic “Gentle On My Mind.”  It’s always a bit disconcerting when a popular movie or tv show features an obscure tune or artist that belongs secretly to you (or is this a me thing?) “Curse the thought of your existence… Loving every flaxon hair…” wow. Hartford was such a great lyricist. Is it selfish of me not to want to share John Hartford with the masses ? Probably.

  •  Lois Smith is really excellent in a small supporting role as Sister Sarah Joan. I wonder if young Saoirse Ronan chatted with the octogenarian actress about her experience acting with James Dean in 1956 East of Eden?
    Lois Smith as Sister Sarah Joan

    Like most guys my age, I was crazy about all three of James Dean’s movies, especially East of Eden, and I was smitten with Lois Smith in her very small role as the saloon girl (she sweetly says to Dean/Cal, “Yer just a kid, ain’t ya?”) Here’s Lois Smith’s screen test with Jimmy. She is strikingly beautiful here, at about the same age as Saoirse Ronan is today.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwR0SyrpEmo

  • Lady Bird’s mom – Laurie Metcalf – steals the movie and will a Best Supporting Actor award. She made me cry, and I love to cry alone at the movies.

White wine in winter

It’s a common belief that winter is red-wine weather, but WTOP wine guy Scott Greenberg says some white wines go with cold weather like flannel sheets.

After all, big red wines are the perfect accompaniment for cold-weather fare, such as stews and chili. And they can be tongue-warming good on their own as well [ . . . ] More: Wine of the Week: Don’t put away the white wines for winter – WTOP

Meet the Cheese Nun

Mother Noëlla Marcellino is a scientist, a world-famous cheese maker and a Fulbright Scholar who also happens to be a cloistered Benedictine nun.

For her expertise and knowledge, she has been featured on “CBS Sunday Morning,” has had her journey unveiled on the PBS documentary “The Cheese Nun,” has championed sustainability on the Netflix series “Cooked” with foodie Michael Pollan and has been written about in The New Yorker.

None of this would have happened, she insists in a telephone interview from the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, without guidance by the hand of God from her early years of making cheese for her community of nuns in fulfillment of her vow of obedience. Divine providence also was present, she says, while she studied the biodiversity of cheese-ripening fungi for three years in France as a Fulbright Scholar, then as she became a regarded advocate of preserving the tradition and biodiversity of cheese.God still guides her now, she says, as she serves her community away from the cheese, as webmaster for the abbey. [ . . . ] Read More