Lost In Translation

Trinidad: Day Three-El Nicho Waterfall

Downtown Trinidad.

Tour truck.

Tour guide at coffeehouse explaining the old coffee making process.

Ashtray.

Pork with rice and beans.

El Criollo sunset.

Topsy Turvy

I've been a long time Mike Leigh fan, but I missed Topsy Turvy (1999) when it first came out, perhaps because it was a period piece about opera. I have associated Leigh with contemporary drama and I am not much of a musical fan, but I found this film delightful on several levels. It was amazing, a film about the collaborative artistic experience, with accents that relate to Japan, but also a musical in a sense since several scenes from Gilbert & Sullivan musicals were portrayed. Kevin McKidd (Trainspotting), Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent, and all other actors turn in fine performances. It is essentially a film about artistic creativity. The two leads Jim Broadbent as Gilbert and Allan Corduner as Sullivan inject the characters with intensity and sensitivity towards creating the best shows they can. I suspect that it could be a metaphor for the creative team unity also needed in creating a successful film.

Trinidad: Day Two

Museo Romantica.

Museo de Arquitectura Trinitana.

Cuban coffee and sweets.

Museo Nacional de la Lucha Contra Bandidos.

Views from the bell tower.

Santeria Museo.

Street life.

Restaurant Shango Tu Mejor Opicion.

This told me where to have dinner this night.

Museo Nacional de la Lucha Contra Bandidos.

Dulce Cremai's Copon Especial ice cream-Cuban ice cream is great!

Sunset at the rooftop bar at El Criolla.

Yet another talented Cuban band.

Creole style pork for dinner at El Barracon.

 

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya (2014) was a Studio Ghibli production, but different from the usual Miyazaki production, which I found interesting since it displayed a different animation aesthetic. I'm not sure if it was a fairytale or a fable? What was the intended message: be true to your heart? Affections don’t matter? It had a bittersweet ending and may have been overlong  for my taste, but entertaining enough overall.

Trinidad: Day One

Several people recommended that I visit the UNESCO World Heritage town Trinidad. It's over 500 years old and was built on sugarcane profits, but they no longer grow sugarcane in the adjacent valley. It calls to mind other old Spanish colonial towns like Cuzco, Peru and Granada, Spain.

Museo Romantica.

Plaza Mayor.

Iglesia Parroquial de la Santisima Trinidad.

Shrimp in a spicy red sauce. Almost all restaurants have some kind of live music-there was a duo here and all of the bands were great-I always gave tips to the bands whenever I was out.

Trinidad: Hostal Venulego

I wanted to stay in an old colonial style home in Trinidad near the center of town-Plaza Mayor. I found Hostal Venulego which was 30 CUC (about $30) a night. They rented three room and had a lovely courtyard with tables and chairs outside to enjoy the courtyard. On the downside there was a restaurant club just over the wall which meant earplugs for the early starts I had on my two day excursions while staying there.

My Name Is Red

I was compelled to read something by Orhan Pamuk after he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006. I decided to start with My Name Is Red (1998). It is a historical literary thriller about murders among late 16th century miniaturists who decorate books commissioned by pashas and sultans. First one miniaturist, Elegant Effendi is murdered then the leader of the artist collective, Enishte, that is creating a special book in the Frankish (Venetian style of life-like painting) for the sultan. However, it is also the love story between the beautiful widow Sheruke (and daughter of Enishte) and Enishte’s top clerk, Black. They must overcome several obstacles before they can marry and their future happiness lies in solving the murders, especially that of Enishite. The novel is written in a leisurely 18th century style from the point of view of several different characters throughout 59 Chapters. These include the main characters listed above but also include a variety of minor characters and others that are inventive and novel: Ch. 1 “I Am A Corpse” / *Ch. 3 “I Am A Dog” / Ch. 10 “I Am A Tree” / Ch. 19 “I Am A Gold Coin” / Ch. 24 “I Am Death” / Ch. 31 “I Am Red” / Ch. 35 “I Am A Horse” / Ch. 47 “I, Satan” / Ch. 50 “We Two Dervishes” / Ch. 54 “I Am Woman.” I particularly thought the sections from the point of view of the gold coin, the dog, the horse, and Satan were impressive and entertaining. The novel is rife with digressions from the main narrative stories. These digressions related to history, religion (the Koan is referred to often), art, parables, and allegories throughout the novel. In addition, the novel reflects analysis of conflict between the east and the west, art and religion, the sacred and the profane among the digressions. It seems as though it might be a possible allegory of contemporary censorship of the arts in Turkey as seen in the repressive preacher Ezurumis who finds coffeehouses to be profane as much as the storytellers and artists who frequent them. It is an epic and powerful novel.

Havana: Day Three

Cuban fast food, there's no McDonald's so the food that Cubans eat on the go tends to be simple sandwiches like the one above or simple individual sized pizzas.

Parque Central with the statue of Jose Marti.

Nacional Belles Letteres Museo. I ended up seeing a fascinating documentary film by Johan Grimonprez playing on loop in one of the exhibits called Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y (1997), about the numerous airplane hijackings the late 60s and 70s.

A historic drugstore in Old Havana.

A typical vegetable stand in Havana.

And a typical butcher-note the lack of refrigeration.

An example of the foreign backed businesses that are starting to emerge in Cuba's new economy. Miglis is run by a Swedish owner and has a continental menu of appetizers and mains. I ate with Charlie and a couple of his Canadian fiends who were discussing plan to open a Canadian style bar in the near future.

I had Chile Lamb, which was more like a stew than I had imagined it would be.

Down Terrace

Ben Wheatley's Down Terrace (2009) was an entertaining and surprising film. It is the story of an unconventional crime family, the father plays roots/blues music and likes to smoke pot and says he's not in it for the money. The story took a sudden turn halfway through the film becomes a brutal black comedy and bears it’s teeth with sudden violence. Father (Robert Hill)-Son (Robin Hill), a real life father-son team, (Julie Deakin)-Mother dynamic is key to the film and all three turn in great performances. The Chris Pringle character (Michale Smiley) was great comic relief, as a hit man with a three year old in tow. Another unconventional aspect can be seen in the decision to use a blue grass/ blues soundtrack to score the film. This is one of those entertaining sleepers that goes under the radar by due to lack of promotion or big stars to promote it.

Havana: Day Two

Hotel Nacional, formerly run by American gangster Meyer Landsky.

You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Jose Marti statue in Cuba.

Old Havana.

In front of the Museo de la Revolucion.

Old city wall.

The infamous Sloppy Joe's, featured in Graham Greene's novel and film version of Our Man in Havana.

Inside Sloppy Joe's.

Cafe stop.

Museo Belles Artes.

I really enjoyed this museum and discovered several Cuban artists that I's like to research in the future: Marecelo Pogolotti, Jorge Arche Silva, Antonio Gattorno, Rafel Blanco, Golberto Frometa, Pedro Alvarez, and Tomas Sanchez in particular.

 Hotel Seville-another setting for Our Man in Havana.

Inside Hotel Seville.

Capitolio Nacional.

Street sweets.

Hotel Ambos Mundos, where Hemingway was a resident on Obisdo Street.

Museo de la Ciudad.

Plaza de Armas.

Plaza Vieja.

The old armory.

Cuban pastry: cangrejito-deep fired and filled with cream.

A stylish restaurant near the Hotel Deauville.

Ran into a Tokyo friend, Charlie, by chance in the restaurant and we'd hang out when I was in Havana.

Chicken gorgons with dipping sauce.

Grilled fish with fried plantains.

Live music hall.

Some uninspired Cuban-fusion rap, I would have liked to have seen something more traditional.