October 15 2023 — Existential Autotrip

October 15, 2023
# 1624

the archive, a Gen Z Corner Entry

Driven by an all consuming internal fire- I float through different mediums and manifest myself onto the page, into the story- I embed myself into the frame and sit on the wall in your living room. I am the amalgamation of blackness and queerness pressed onto the page with every brush stroke. I am Lex.

the archive. ep. 1. helo
(left: heloisa, right: lex)

Originating from Brazil, Heloisa Piece is the embodiment of love and community. She has cultivated beautiful communities across the globe and challenged what it means to build and maintain relationships.

In the midst of living, I have sought to capture the beauty in my friendships and the scope of what it truly means to live and connect. Herein lies the archive. A glimpse into an intimate community perspective through the words, ideas, and feelings of many. This is a deep dive into community love and understanding. A concept that has been expertly interwoven into this ezine- that continues to tug at my heart strings and implore more of me, more of us. In this docuseries, you will find more than words; you will find the heartbeat of friendships, the unspoken language of belonging, and the unwavering strength found in us all. Each phrase, every anecdote, is a testament to the richness of our shared experiences, painting a vibrant mosaic of connection.

I invite you to join me in this exploration. Let these narratives envelop you, let the brushstrokes of our collective stories paint the walls of your imagination, and let the amalgamation of our identities ignite a fire within you. Together, let's delve deeper into the profound tapestry of community love, understanding, and the infinite beauty of human connection. Welcome to the archive.

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Commentary
Tilting at windmills. Yet, Chris Christie gets lots of publicity. And, God Bless Him! He’s the only one Donald Trump is really running from. And he is the creator of the best Trump moniker: Donald Duck. Quack! Quack!

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Kat’s Gen Z Corner

Apple Picking

Will and I have made upstate trips a regular part of our seasonal routine.

In the fall, there’s nothing Manhattanites love more than escaping the city and traveling upstate to pick some apples and pretend you’re small town folk for a day. We now have a favorite orchard in Warwick, NY, that makes the best apple pies I’ve ever had. This year we bought two, quite literally fresh out of the oven.

Will and I have made upstate trips a regular part of our seasonal routine. Sometimes for hiking, sometimes for swimming, and sometimes for apple picking. They are always massively successful trips that rejuvenate our over-stimulated city bodies and help soften our overworked minds.

And it’s just so much fun. It’s delightful to celebrate the newly crisp fall air by picking some Red Delicious apples or enjoying spiked cider around a fire with the sweater you just dug out for the changed weather. And although these trips remind me of my life in North Andover (a Boston suburb), upstate New York is really quite remarkable in its beauty and offerings than just any small town.

I’m so proud we are creating a little life together with fall rituals and favorite upstate haunts. Makes me feel wonderful and whole.

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Do You Believe in Magic? Anthology of Stories from the North End
Edited by Dom Capossela

We have received many positive comments about the book, "Do You Believe In Magic".
Below is an email sent to Dom Capossela from Bob Chiota, a follower living in California.

"Dom,
Greetings from the West coast! Congratulations on your continued success! I've heard(read) so many great things about "Magic". I'll be in town next week for our reunion and want to purchase 10 books for the Chiota family extended.
***I'd like to purchase them on Wednesday 13 Sep, if at all possible, as I plan to distribute them during that week, as I visit relatives and friends.***
Please let me know if this is possible and how to execute.

Your pal Bobby"

In fact, Bobby got his ten books in time.
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And this, from Anthony Cortese:

I have just bought my 20th book. That’s ‘twentieth’.
Everyone I have given a copy of the book too has loved it.
Tony Cortese
adcortese@gmail.com

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Tucker’s Corner
It was difficult to pick a subject this week. Wes Anderson released 4 absolutely gorgeous short films on Netflix that are absolutely worth your time. The first of which is titled The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. In much sadder film news, Terrence Davies, one of the most beautiful filmmakers to ever live and work passed away. He’s left behind a career of incredible work but for my money The Long Day Closes is one of the finest films ever made. It’s streaming on The Criterion Channel if you’ve got a subscription. My review this week though isn’t nearly as steeped in film nerd-dom. It’s a simple yet incredibly thrilling courtroom drama that shows all you really need to be sucked into a movie is a good story and great performances. This is The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial - Directed by William Friedkin

William Friedkin’s final film is an adaptation of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, a film that might seem at first like a whimper for the man behind The Exorcist and The French Connection, but that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. Caine is a deceptively brilliant piece of filmmaking and a reminder of exactly how talented a director Friedkin was. The vast majority of the film takes place in a single courtroom, which gives the film a theatrical quality, but Friedkin has a perfect track record with adapting stage work to the screen. Both the films Bug and Killer Joe are incredible stage to film adaptations that never lose what made them so good originally. In Caine, Friedkin’s touch is incredibly calculated. Where he puts and moves his camera, when he chooses to cut, and how deftly he directs a cast’s worth of captivating performances makes it even more sad that we’ll never get to see him practice his art again.

There’s sadness in front of the camera too with what might be the final released appearance of Lance Reddick. Here the legendary actor plays Captain Luther Blakley, the head of the proceeding, and he does so with such authority that it makes the whole affair infinitely believable. Lance is another famous name I’ll miss like I knew him personally.

The titular court-martial concerns the charge of mutiny against Lieutenant Stephen Maryk (Jake Lacy) which took place aboard the Caine, a ship that was caught in a cyclone in the Strait of Hormuz. During a conflict over how to get the ship and its crew safely through this natural disaster, Maryk and a group of allies basically relieved Captain Phillip Queeg (Kiefer Sutherland) of his command. Maryk’s attorney, Lieutenant Barney Greenwald (Jason Clarke) understands that though he represents the defense he’ll have to take a prosecutorial approach to cross examining Queeg. If he can prove that Queeg wasn’t sane enough to captain the ship, Maryk will go free. Monica Raymund plays the lead prosecutor, Lewis Pullman plays Thomas Keefer (an ally of Maryk’s on that fateful day), and Tom Riley and Jay Duplass play further witnesses to Queeg and Maryk’s state of mind.

We never actually see what happened on the Caine via flashback, so we’re left to form our own opinions as we hear the testimony of each of the film’s players. From the outset Friedkin, cinematographer Michael Grady, and editor Darrin Navarro play feather-touch games with how they tell this story. Queeg’s first time on the stand has him in frame alone with few cuts to break up his dialogue. He’s also situated close to the camera so he takes up the bulk of the frame in a way that implies the authority of a ship’s commander as well as suggesting the potential that he could be a tyrant who abused his power. Keefer, the second witness, is framed further back, allowing the prosecutor Challe to share the screen suggesting at least that he has a lower status than Queeg. Friedkin goes a step further with Urban’s (Gabe Kessler) testimony. He shoots him from a distance that allows every other person in the room to fit in frame and Urban appears tiny. Friedkin controls what we think of each of these characters without highlighting or underlining. The work of a true master.

With Friedkin’s help or not Kiefer Sutherland delivers one of the best performances of his long career. He’s only got two scenes – one as a witness for the prosecution and one for the defense – and he brings singular energy to Queeg, making the man feel like the titan he needs to be for this story to work. He couples the echo of strength with the picture of a man who very much may suffer from PTSD and whose anxiety has turned him into a monster to those around him because they can’t imagine a leader with faults. Every performance is lovely but if anyone stands up to Sutherland it’s Jason Clarke. Clarke portrays Greenwald as a man who has nothing but respect for Queeg and a higher rank in general but also knows he has his own job to do and will see it done to the best of his ability. You can see and believe this duality throughout every one of Clarke’s scenes.

Without giving away the ending, the film’s final monologue is meant to provoke and Friedkin sure loved to do just that throughout his career. It’s lovely and fitting that his final film contains such a divisive epilogue, a scene that twists the intent of the trial that came before it, showing the proceedings, however official, to be broken pieces of a broken system. It’s a fitting coda for a director who worked to subvert societal norms like religion, authority, and even sanity. It’s also a reminder of what we’ve lost with his passing.

Q a downtown Boston Restaurant
It’s terrific!

The pot they served us [pictured above] was large and the two broths [you get a choice of two] were both delicious, even before we added the seafood. We chose the pork and chicken broth and a mildly spicy broth [which was too spicy for my taste.] What fun!

For the protein we chose the assorted seafood which included shrimp, crab, oysters, clams, squid, cuttlefish, and fish filet.

And we ordered spinach for a green.

Make your own dipping sauce, choosing the aromatics from a long plate of vessels holding half a dozen options. Ours included soy sauce, vinegar, hot pepper, and garlic.

You are instructed all along the way so you are not going to make a mistake.

This restaurant was a treat.

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FOOD

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Chuckles and Thoughts
"The word bipartisan usually means that a larger-than-usual deception is being carried out."
George Carlin

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Six Word Stories
"Lonely road, found kindred spirits, belonging."

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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts, including links.

Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
text to 617.852.7192

Hi Dom,

I brought a copy to my Aunt Phyllis for her birthday. She LOVES it.

:) - Laura

*Community Pictures with Captions are sent in by our followers. Feel free to send yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com

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Oct 11 October 15 2023