Positives

* Boy getting award for excellence at school.

* Stuffing our stomachs silly on fantastic Passover foods, sitting around a friendly beautifully set table, reading old stories and laughing.
* Grandmother's chicken soup with matzo balls to die for.

* Warmer days and hints of spring to come.

Emergence/ Four Seasons

I went to the last performance of the National Ballet, mainly in hope to find something redeeming in Kudelka's work, and to catch another breath of fresh dancerly air with Crystal Pite's creations.
The Four seasons was a predictable disappointment, and Emergence simply wonderful.
There is something wrong when a choreographer takes continuous on-the-nose approach to the music he works with, only to wait for the most compelling and dramatic part of the phrase to take a pose. That's what Kudelka does. He does this all the time. My other quibble is that this is a good group of dancers, accomplished, skilled. He takes a humble approach to their skill, modest to a fault. He doesn't challenge them, doesn't give them a chance to shine, to show off their virtuosity. If there's anything in classical ballet that dancers and audience love, is the skill of it. Without that, it's nothing but prancing around in tights and flawy costumes, posing in between, with a bit of heavy lifting for the boys. Who cares.
Of course, traditionalists love this. They don't have to think about anything at all while watching - it lulls them to a nice comfortable snooze, as the old man sitting besides me confessed he was going to do even before the show started. But he wasn't snoozing during Emergence. He was startled, and watched intently from the moment the first dancer started to twitch on the stage.
Crystal Pite gives a dancer something to chew on, as well as the audience. Something to think about, a mystery to discover and anticipate. A fleshy piece of work, this Emergence, a bit creepy, inspired by the life of insects and intersected with introspection into the life of a dance group, yet beautiful and graceful and challenging. At 45 minutes, it is a long dance, and I wished it was longer. Excellent costumes, careful use of the atmospheric music, flawless lighting design that highlights exactly the parts of the body she wants us to notice at any given time, while hiding what lurks in the shadows just enough for us to wonder what's there.

A Man Dies, and Takes a World With Him

My father-in-law, 90 years old, died last night. He managed to live to such old age with grace and dignity, with humility and modesty, despite the ailments he suffered from in his last years. I've never heard him complain, or say a bad word about anyone. Gentle to the end, he found his peace at last.
He was a holocaust survivor, like many of his generation. The war destroyed his community, family, and home. His disastrous years as a slave labourer in the Hungarian army did not turn him into a bitter man, but into a hard working, quiet and reflective individual.
In his death I find the sadness not only of the beloved father of my husband, but that of a world gone by. One that is slowly and continuously being forgotten, as one by one the people in whose memory the old world still lives are dying, and soon there will be no one left to remember it.
This was the world he knew:

Women's Corner

In honor of all the fine ladies who frequent RM, I've dedicated one small rack for women's items. Men, please forgive me.
Now the ladies can browse for themselves while their men enjoy their own selection.
So far all the items are in small size. In the window there is a fabulous short and naughty AX (Armani Exchange) skirt with golden zippers size 28. It's waiting for that special woman who dares to be sexy. Come and try it on. It's worth $50 to have this wrap around your thighs.

While you're at it, look at this blue iridescent duo, hand made glass oysters. Who could resist the vibrant colour and delicate lines? They can be yours forever. Priced at $15 for the pair or $10 each.

The Lion Whisperer

Unrelated to fashion or clothes, but compelling in every other way, to those among us who adore the feline species in all their aesthetic glory. Watch this man play with his beloved friends, and marvel. I can't get that kind of love from my own miniature versions at home unless I force them into submission, and where is the joy in that? Watch and be envious of the enormous privilege this man has in entering nature's best.

Dame Maggie The Great

I've been gorging lately on youtube period movies. It is difficult to find one without Maggie Smith, but don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not complaining, quite the opposite. It's always a delightful surprise to find her in the cast in one more part where she gets the best lines, costumes, monologues and hairdos. What a magnificent woman!
Watch this atypical performance:

The Hour

This brilliant show is the British equivalent of Mad Men.
The Hour tells stories of the intrigues and betrayals within the musty, shabby corridors of the BBC in the middle of the 20th century, much like the period of Mad Men, but in London rather than New York, with all the subtleties you could imagine of the differences between the two, and the similarities.
The clothes and decor, accents and manners, the politics, the smoking and drinking, the sexism and racism and the beginning of the emancipation of women in the workforce and in bed.
Fabulous writing, immaculate acting, music to die for. Even though it's in colour, it could very well be in black and white, so Noir in style and manner: smoke in each frame as the alcohol swishing in glasses with every new discovery of the dirty things that go on behind closed doors.
It's sophisticated, rich, juicy and oh so very retro. What's not to love?

New Quote

Measuring Success:

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man

Lana Turner