This month passed quickly and relatively painlessly. The signs of Spring arrived as expected - the opening of Dairy Queen, Opening Day, and small army of people I have to look after the lawn and landscaping contacting me to re-up for another year. Taxes got done.
I got a nice long trip to Florida in - highlights below. More importantly I believe I am in the home stretch of the first draft of my current project. It's been particularly tough. I don't know if that is because I am working in a genre for the first time, or because my focus and creativity are starting to degrade with age.
I'm not sure I want to know. Really, all I want to do is enjoy my upcoming summer.
[Travel] Wild and Civilized Florida
[Movies] Flick Check: Captain Marvel
[Books] Book Look: Killing Commendatore
Sunday, April 07, 2019
[Travel] Wild and Civilized Florida
I still have no affinity for Disney World. I don't hate it and am certainly not offended by it. My knee-jerk response is to respect the hustle, but even that is too cynical. Actually, I tremendously admire the operational excellence. The service level is legendary and rightly so -- you can stop anyone in any theme park and ask them about something specific and they will tell you; nobody shrugs and says I don't know. Technological excellence is there too. You can buy a wristband which is then connected to your room or credit card and identifies you in the pictures that are taken at various places throughout the park which you can then purchase. Although you know you are spending money it doesn't feel like it. Brilliant. Lines are long but everything moves at a steady pace. So much is so well thought out, you can't help but be impressed, and disappointed at the level of effort put into every other service business you encounter in the outside world.
The closest thing to a theme park for an adult is Epcot which is a pretty cool place. Epcot has some interesting food and shops in the various "countries". China is a good one. There's a 360 theatre with an Intro to China which was visually stunning 20 years ago but is beginning to seem terribly out of date. There are often live bands. (Tony Orlando was featured this day, and it will take all my might not to snark.) Morocco is cool-looking. Canada, perhaps ironically, is also interesting.
If you are a grown-up Epcot's the spot to visit -- unless you want to count Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney, formerly Pleasure Island) which is really just a big shopping/restaurant area. It used to have The Adventurer's Club which was the closest thing Disney ever did to targeting adults, so it had to be killed.
(Aside: Remember the days when Disney was angling for more adults and Vegas was angling for more families? Those were not better days. Stay in your lane.)
I managed to see the fireworks from Grand Floridian which is the flagship Disney resort and worthy of the name. In truth, there's a lot to recommend in Disney and I can see how adults might want to visit, even without kids. It has what could be called "dependable quality". If you want a really nice trip where you can enjoy the good life and minimize the possibility of a snafu. Disney is your place.
But still, it's not for me. What's for me is the Gulf Coast.
For the second time in my life I swam with Manatees. I can't recommend this highly enough. This is not swimming in a pool with captive Manatees. This is swimming with them out in the wild in their natural habitat. And when I call it swimming, I mean more like floating. You are given a wetsuit and snorkel gear, and a big foam noodle because they really don't want you actually swimming, the splashing and noise bothers the creatures. Your guide locates them from the boat, then everyone gently, quietly enters the water from 20 yards away or so and slowly makes their way to the manatees location.
A Manatee is actually the closest thing to a living Disney movie creature. They have no natural enemies and they only eat sea grass, so they are pretty much totally chilled out about everything. They are huge, friendly, and peaceful. They just sort of slowly lumber about in the shallows eating and chilling. If they surface near you for air, you are permitted to gently stroke them -- they have a kind of slimy feel -- before they re-submerge. The adults take no notice of you. At one point I had swam far from the boat and on my way back actually collided directly with a big adult that was surfacing. It took literally had no reaction; I was nothing more than a fly spec to it. The calves, on the other hand, will occasionally roll about on the surface and play.
Crystal River is Manatee Central, mainly because it is a spring fed river where the year round water temperature is between 72-74 degrees. So in the winter, the Manatees migrate in to get out of the colder Gulf. I have been told that the ideal time to see them is December and January when they will be most numerous. However even when it gets warm the cows stay with their young calves that are not ready to migrate back into the Gulf. That makes it a year-round activity because it is the calves that are the most playful.
To see the manatees you sign up for a tour. There are a number companies that run tours on pontoon style boats. My only suggestion is you get one that's going out earliest in the day; it gives you a slight edge in finding and claiming manatees. There is a certain honor among the tour companies -- it seems if you have found a manatee the other tours stay away until your tour group moves on.
The downside to this is Crystal River is pretty far from anything. It is located on what is called Florida's "Nature Coast", which is the more lightly-developed area starting about an hour north of Tampa and extending to the panhandle. This area is an interesting mix of early gentrification and rednecky old Florida. I like it. It's not so terribly high priced as the rest of the Gulf, suggesting I may settle here in senescence. Crystal River itself is about an hour and a half from Tampa and about 2 hours from Orlando. So if you want get on a 6:00am boat, you probably want to overnight it.
After Crystal River I spent the usual couple of days in Sarasota. I got to take a brief boat tour of Sarasota Bay something I haven't done in decades, and take in a Spring Training game. I wanted to see the Tigers but the schedule didn't work out. Not to worry though, in South Florida, you're never far from a Grapefruit League game. The Pirates play in the next city north, Bradenton, so I was able to catch a game before I flew out. As a bonus, right near the stadium there is an old-time barbershop -- two chairs, old guys sitting around telling dirty jokes -- so I figured what-the-hell.
I hopped in the chair and the fellow just asked. "Do you want a regular haircut?" I was unsure how to respond, I mean, at Great Clips they have all my haircutting records and history digitized. So I said "Sure." What followed was a five minutes cut with comb and clippers, he never touched the scissors. It was short but pretty darn good. The charge: $7. I gave him a $10 and told him to keep the change. After all then time I've spent in this area, it can still offer a new experience.
One thing that continues to fascinate me is how the veneer of civilized Florida is so thinly spread over the swamps and bayous. Trolling on a boat around Sarasota Bay you think nothing of seeing a stray manatee surface or a pair of dolphins hurdling the waves or a pelican plunging deep and coming up with a full beak. Everywhere you go the little geckos dart away at the sound of your footsteps. A State park full of gators and snapping turtles is usually within easy reach. Idiots buy exotic pets and abandon them to die in the wild, but they just thrive. Even in the middle of Disney World kids got to witness some real nature as a crane had landed in small garden and snapped up a gecko, swallowing it alive right in view of the children. Take that Animal Kingdom.
Despite centuries of development and what is perhaps the most virulent consumer culture known to man, Florida is still a tropical wilderness. If that's something you appreciate, you may be a Florida Man.
The closest thing to a theme park for an adult is Epcot which is a pretty cool place. Epcot has some interesting food and shops in the various "countries". China is a good one. There's a 360 theatre with an Intro to China which was visually stunning 20 years ago but is beginning to seem terribly out of date. There are often live bands. (Tony Orlando was featured this day, and it will take all my might not to snark.) Morocco is cool-looking. Canada, perhaps ironically, is also interesting.
If you are a grown-up Epcot's the spot to visit -- unless you want to count Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney, formerly Pleasure Island) which is really just a big shopping/restaurant area. It used to have The Adventurer's Club which was the closest thing Disney ever did to targeting adults, so it had to be killed.
(Aside: Remember the days when Disney was angling for more adults and Vegas was angling for more families? Those were not better days. Stay in your lane.)
I managed to see the fireworks from Grand Floridian which is the flagship Disney resort and worthy of the name. In truth, there's a lot to recommend in Disney and I can see how adults might want to visit, even without kids. It has what could be called "dependable quality". If you want a really nice trip where you can enjoy the good life and minimize the possibility of a snafu. Disney is your place.
But still, it's not for me. What's for me is the Gulf Coast.
For the second time in my life I swam with Manatees. I can't recommend this highly enough. This is not swimming in a pool with captive Manatees. This is swimming with them out in the wild in their natural habitat. And when I call it swimming, I mean more like floating. You are given a wetsuit and snorkel gear, and a big foam noodle because they really don't want you actually swimming, the splashing and noise bothers the creatures. Your guide locates them from the boat, then everyone gently, quietly enters the water from 20 yards away or so and slowly makes their way to the manatees location.
A Manatee is actually the closest thing to a living Disney movie creature. They have no natural enemies and they only eat sea grass, so they are pretty much totally chilled out about everything. They are huge, friendly, and peaceful. They just sort of slowly lumber about in the shallows eating and chilling. If they surface near you for air, you are permitted to gently stroke them -- they have a kind of slimy feel -- before they re-submerge. The adults take no notice of you. At one point I had swam far from the boat and on my way back actually collided directly with a big adult that was surfacing. It took literally had no reaction; I was nothing more than a fly spec to it. The calves, on the other hand, will occasionally roll about on the surface and play.
Crystal River is Manatee Central, mainly because it is a spring fed river where the year round water temperature is between 72-74 degrees. So in the winter, the Manatees migrate in to get out of the colder Gulf. I have been told that the ideal time to see them is December and January when they will be most numerous. However even when it gets warm the cows stay with their young calves that are not ready to migrate back into the Gulf. That makes it a year-round activity because it is the calves that are the most playful.
To see the manatees you sign up for a tour. There are a number companies that run tours on pontoon style boats. My only suggestion is you get one that's going out earliest in the day; it gives you a slight edge in finding and claiming manatees. There is a certain honor among the tour companies -- it seems if you have found a manatee the other tours stay away until your tour group moves on.
The downside to this is Crystal River is pretty far from anything. It is located on what is called Florida's "Nature Coast", which is the more lightly-developed area starting about an hour north of Tampa and extending to the panhandle. This area is an interesting mix of early gentrification and rednecky old Florida. I like it. It's not so terribly high priced as the rest of the Gulf, suggesting I may settle here in senescence. Crystal River itself is about an hour and a half from Tampa and about 2 hours from Orlando. So if you want get on a 6:00am boat, you probably want to overnight it.
After Crystal River I spent the usual couple of days in Sarasota. I got to take a brief boat tour of Sarasota Bay something I haven't done in decades, and take in a Spring Training game. I wanted to see the Tigers but the schedule didn't work out. Not to worry though, in South Florida, you're never far from a Grapefruit League game. The Pirates play in the next city north, Bradenton, so I was able to catch a game before I flew out. As a bonus, right near the stadium there is an old-time barbershop -- two chairs, old guys sitting around telling dirty jokes -- so I figured what-the-hell.
I hopped in the chair and the fellow just asked. "Do you want a regular haircut?" I was unsure how to respond, I mean, at Great Clips they have all my haircutting records and history digitized. So I said "Sure." What followed was a five minutes cut with comb and clippers, he never touched the scissors. It was short but pretty darn good. The charge: $7. I gave him a $10 and told him to keep the change. After all then time I've spent in this area, it can still offer a new experience.
One thing that continues to fascinate me is how the veneer of civilized Florida is so thinly spread over the swamps and bayous. Trolling on a boat around Sarasota Bay you think nothing of seeing a stray manatee surface or a pair of dolphins hurdling the waves or a pelican plunging deep and coming up with a full beak. Everywhere you go the little geckos dart away at the sound of your footsteps. A State park full of gators and snapping turtles is usually within easy reach. Idiots buy exotic pets and abandon them to die in the wild, but they just thrive. Even in the middle of Disney World kids got to witness some real nature as a crane had landed in small garden and snapped up a gecko, swallowing it alive right in view of the children. Take that Animal Kingdom.
Despite centuries of development and what is perhaps the most virulent consumer culture known to man, Florida is still a tropical wilderness. If that's something you appreciate, you may be a Florida Man.
[Movies] Flick Check: Captain Marvel
The ultimate verdict on this is that it is a fair-to-middling entry in the Marvel canon, which by default makes it a better than average action film. It has baggage, though. It has the undertone of a female empowerment message. All well and good, but we know what that means -- some significant minority will interpret it as a political statement and voice displeasure. In response another group will call them racists because that's what we call people we disagree with. So a small corner of the world with outsized visibility will be sniping at each other on Twitter and Reddit.
I blame Marvel for this. If the movie was good enough dramatically you wouldn't need to hype any sociological underpinnings. My guess is the folks at Marvel probably sensed that it wasn't up to their standards (I emphasize their) and providing a theme of female empowerment is a cheap way to cover up shortcomings. Resorting to current events and societal trends for good play is what a filmmaker does when he runs out of human ideas.
As a result the movie will not be able to be judged on its merits, but I'm going to try anyway. The plot is pretty much a standard origin story formula: Normal human experiences a freak occurrence which makes her super, overcomes many adversaries, obstacles, and reversals of fortune on the path to finding her heroic purpose. Marvel's characteristic ironic humor is on display, although no one in this film has the comic chops to carry it off like the Avengers. The action scenes are solid and the CGI -- especially with respect to Nick Fury -- is frankly amazing. No characters here, though, are particularly engaging and the villain is unmemorable.
So all-in-all, I would call it an average-to-slightly-below-average film for Marvel (again for Marvel). Still, I have concerns...
Captain Marvel is theoretically going to be a lynchpin in the next generation (the post-Avengers era, Phase 4 is it?) of Marvel films. It is not an auspicious start.
More importantly, Captain Marvel is being touted as the secret weapon that allows the Avengers to defeat Thanos. If that turns out to be the case, it will be enormously disappointing. We have spent ten years with the Avengers, gone through hell with them, shared their personal (personal -- not sociological, not political) conflicts and growth. To bring someone else in at the last minute to save the day would be a disaster, dramatically speaking. I still hold out hope that Fiege is smarter than that and doesn't believe setting up the next generation of films is worth spoiling the original story.
In any event, if you haven't seen Captain Marvel, it's likely you can safely pass on it. Other than her existence and her being very powerful, there is little in the movie that will have direct bearing on Endgame.
I blame Marvel for this. If the movie was good enough dramatically you wouldn't need to hype any sociological underpinnings. My guess is the folks at Marvel probably sensed that it wasn't up to their standards (I emphasize their) and providing a theme of female empowerment is a cheap way to cover up shortcomings. Resorting to current events and societal trends for good play is what a filmmaker does when he runs out of human ideas.
As a result the movie will not be able to be judged on its merits, but I'm going to try anyway. The plot is pretty much a standard origin story formula: Normal human experiences a freak occurrence which makes her super, overcomes many adversaries, obstacles, and reversals of fortune on the path to finding her heroic purpose. Marvel's characteristic ironic humor is on display, although no one in this film has the comic chops to carry it off like the Avengers. The action scenes are solid and the CGI -- especially with respect to Nick Fury -- is frankly amazing. No characters here, though, are particularly engaging and the villain is unmemorable.
So all-in-all, I would call it an average-to-slightly-below-average film for Marvel (again for Marvel). Still, I have concerns...
Captain Marvel is theoretically going to be a lynchpin in the next generation (the post-Avengers era, Phase 4 is it?) of Marvel films. It is not an auspicious start.
More importantly, Captain Marvel is being touted as the secret weapon that allows the Avengers to defeat Thanos. If that turns out to be the case, it will be enormously disappointing. We have spent ten years with the Avengers, gone through hell with them, shared their personal (personal -- not sociological, not political) conflicts and growth. To bring someone else in at the last minute to save the day would be a disaster, dramatically speaking. I still hold out hope that Fiege is smarter than that and doesn't believe setting up the next generation of films is worth spoiling the original story.
In any event, if you haven't seen Captain Marvel, it's likely you can safely pass on it. Other than her existence and her being very powerful, there is little in the movie that will have direct bearing on Endgame.
[Books] Book Look: Killing Commendatore, by Haruki Murakami
This one is both sprawling and intimate. It is Haruki as we know him: telling human stories through magic realism; the typical mix of spiritual conflict, eerie fantasy, and pop culture references.
Our protagonist is an artist, a painter who has made the compromise of spending his time painting portraits to support himself, suffers a fairly traumatic divorce. Lost in a fugue state, he spends an extended period driving about northern Japan with no destination in mind. In time he settles into a home belonging to a legendary elder painter who is no longer resident, being in the throes of dementia at the end of his life.
That's when the real weirdness begins. We encounter an cursed hidden pit, a rich and noble, but suspicious, neighbor, an undiscovered masterpiece, a mystery from the time of Anschluss, a precocious little girl, a two-foot tall manifestation of an idea, and more, not in that order.
Killing Commendatore is about believing in the face of unknowing. All the characters conflicts stem from not having a full understanding of things and, for that matter, the impossibility of having a full understanding of things. In the end, our protagonist comes to the conclusion that belief in the face of uncertainty is the blessing that gets you through. If you can't ever know the objective truth, belief it the thing that saves you.
Whatever twists and turns along the way -- and they are often entertaining -- Haruki is very good at directing his characters to the conclusion. It's also interesting to note that Haruki is nearly 70 years old, so it is a theme very fitting a man who has spent a life considering the nature of the world.
In reading, it is a mixed bag. Haruki is strong on visual description which makes the story quite vivid, but along with that is a nearly Russian level of scene description which can get tiring. The characters are given to self-exposition which can seem awkward, however the key ideas are well dramatised. The structure is odd in that important characters don't get mentioned or make an appearance until midway or later, but it is not jarring.
And, as I have mentioned, the humanity is there, which is really the most important thing. Should you read Killing Commendatore? If you enjoy Haruki then yes. It is another fine entry in a long and Noble-worthy career; you'll feel right at home. It is probably not as good for your first Haruki as its length and detail are a bit intimidating -- for that I would go all the way back to something like Norwegian Wood for something less fanciful (interestingly, it also features a protagonist who wandered about in a daze for an extended time) and move into the more fantastic stuff from there.
Our protagonist is an artist, a painter who has made the compromise of spending his time painting portraits to support himself, suffers a fairly traumatic divorce. Lost in a fugue state, he spends an extended period driving about northern Japan with no destination in mind. In time he settles into a home belonging to a legendary elder painter who is no longer resident, being in the throes of dementia at the end of his life.
That's when the real weirdness begins. We encounter an cursed hidden pit, a rich and noble, but suspicious, neighbor, an undiscovered masterpiece, a mystery from the time of Anschluss, a precocious little girl, a two-foot tall manifestation of an idea, and more, not in that order.
Killing Commendatore is about believing in the face of unknowing. All the characters conflicts stem from not having a full understanding of things and, for that matter, the impossibility of having a full understanding of things. In the end, our protagonist comes to the conclusion that belief in the face of uncertainty is the blessing that gets you through. If you can't ever know the objective truth, belief it the thing that saves you.
Whatever twists and turns along the way -- and they are often entertaining -- Haruki is very good at directing his characters to the conclusion. It's also interesting to note that Haruki is nearly 70 years old, so it is a theme very fitting a man who has spent a life considering the nature of the world.
In reading, it is a mixed bag. Haruki is strong on visual description which makes the story quite vivid, but along with that is a nearly Russian level of scene description which can get tiring. The characters are given to self-exposition which can seem awkward, however the key ideas are well dramatised. The structure is odd in that important characters don't get mentioned or make an appearance until midway or later, but it is not jarring.
And, as I have mentioned, the humanity is there, which is really the most important thing. Should you read Killing Commendatore? If you enjoy Haruki then yes. It is another fine entry in a long and Noble-worthy career; you'll feel right at home. It is probably not as good for your first Haruki as its length and detail are a bit intimidating -- for that I would go all the way back to something like Norwegian Wood for something less fanciful (interestingly, it also features a protagonist who wandered about in a daze for an extended time) and move into the more fantastic stuff from there.
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