Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms:Buddleia "Sungold," Lupinus Arboreus (Yellow), Cistus Argenteus, Purple Toadflax (2010),

I spent a very busy weekend escorting friends of friends around wineries in Napa and Sonoma, so I'm tardy in reporting what started blooming yesterday in the garden--four new plants.

First blooms on the orange-yellow butterfly bush with globe-shaped flower clusters (Buddleia globosa). I believe it is called "Sungold." This is a plant I found at one of the plant sales at Strybing Arboretum in San Francisco. It has done well here. It suffers toward the end of our dry summers, but it can be cut down to about 18 inches at the end of the season and it comes back very strongly in the spring--like nearly all of the butterfly bush (Buddleia) varieties. This one is striking for both its color and the round flower clusters. Most Buddliea come in whites, pinks, and purples. I don't have a record of this coming into flower in 2009.

The yellow bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus) had its first flowers of 2010 yesterday. This is a wonderfully fragrant large lupine (up to about six feet across and usually four to five feet high--although it takes well to pruning). I fell in love with it many years ago out at Bodega Head where I first saw hundreds of them. They are beginning to come into flower right now out at the coast as well. A little bit of the seaside in the back yard. Last year this plant first bloomed on April 26. A year according to Lupinus arboreus was thus 371 days. This plant is also referred to as Lupinus arborescens. I don't know which is correct.

Purple todflax (Linaria purpurea) is starting to bloom all over the garden. I bought two of these about three years ago. I let them go to seed. They sprout like weeds all over the place. I pull the ones that come up in inconvenient places and leave the rest. There is a pink variety as well. They are both pretty enough that I'm content to put up with their weedy ways. I didn't record the first blooms on this plant in 2009.

The rock rose "Silver Pink" (Cistus aureus) starting blooming yesterday as well--although I'm not entirely sure this is the right name. I seem to have lost track of the names of many of the rock rose species in the garden (there are at least eight). There are many hybrids and sometimes multiple common names for the same plant; it can be confusing. This one--whatever it is--is very attractive, but the plant hasn't been all that robust. It remains fairly spindly. I've had trouble getting it to fill out. Most of the rock roses are pretty much maintenance free. This one has required a little pampering. Perhaps it doesn't get quite enough sun where it is right up agains the side of the house.... I don't seem to have a record for this plant in 2009.

The garden is probably at its best right now. Hundreds of plants are in bloom. There is something in every corner. Because of the late rains, everything still looks fresh. I wish I could show it to you.

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Wines I'm Making: First Sulfur Spraying (2010)

This morning I finally had the opportunity to spray the grape vines with sulfur to prevent mildew. The forecast is now for clear skies for at least a week. The longest shoots on the Sangiovese vines are already about 18 inches long. The longest on the Cabernet vines are about six inches long. Spraying with sulfur is the one tedious chore involved in making wine. I enjoy just about everything else. It has to be done though. The vines will need to be sprayed again in another couple of weeks, as new growth becomes vulnerable. In the photo you can see the sulfur on the leaves. A tiny grape cluster is clearly visible a well.

Wines I'm Drinking: (Oops) Carménère Rosé

Some of my long-time readers may remember that I reviewed a large group of Carménère wines in these pages a while back (January 2009, to be precise) that included the 2006 (oops) Valle Central Rosé of Carménère (Grocery Outlet, $2.99). It was cheap and good. It's not that it was "good for the price." It was good wine, period. Forget the silly name. The ridiculously low price was a bit of icing on the cake. Not surprisingly, the wine disappeared almost overnight.

I'm happy to report that my local Grocery Outlet (Santa Rosa) suddenly has this wine again. I bought a case. There appear to be at least three cases left. It's worth checking your local store. Only $2.69 a bottle if you buy by the case.

One caveat: The wine is now a year older than it was when I first tasted it. I figured it worth the gamble. After I open the first bottle, I'll report back if anything disastrous has happened to it since last year. A link to my original review appears below.

[April 30 Update: I opened a bottle. It's very tasty--although somewhat sweeter than I remembered it. It still has a wonderful honey and passion fruit scent and an interesting waxy flavor (in a good way) that's reminiscent of the wines of France's Costières de Nîmes appellation.]

2006 (oops) Valle Central Rosé of Carménère

Birds I'm Watching: Oaks at Oakmont and Melita Rd.

Yesterday, I had errands to run near Oakmont. I took a quick look in some of the pockets of oak trees in the area. There are a number of side streets off the main road trough Oakmont that have large oaks in them and little traffic (often they are cul-de-sacs or loops that go nowhere). These streets offer excellent habitat for birds like chickadees, nuthatches, the oak titmouse, scrub jays, Pacific slope flycatchers, and, at this time of year, warblers. I suppose the place is called Oakmont for a reason. The streets have names like Oak Leaf Dr., Oak Point Ct., Oak Brook Ln., and Oak Mesa Dr.

I also looked around Melita Rd. I didn't see much of interest except a single white-throated sparrow. April 27 is a very late date to see one in Sonoma County. I think the latest record is May 1. Most of them will have already begun to move south after wintering here. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me. I may try to go out again today to get a picture of him, although he is likely to have moved off.

Art I'm Looking At: Graffiti Preserved--A Travesty?

I came across an interesting Reuters article today on Yahoo News. The story, entitled "Cleaners Paint Over Priceless Art," is about street cleaners in Canberra, Australia that painted over "graffiti art" the city wanted to preserve. The Canberra government is now scrambling to protect (with clear coat) other examples of work there by the street artist known as Banksy.

This strikes me as very odd. If property owners encourage graffiti or preserve it, they effectively neuter it. It becomes a travesty. If graffiti artists seek to create work knowing it will be considered a positive addition to an urban landscape and that it will be preserved as art, their work is no longer a rebellious and criminal act--which it seems to me is much of the point of graffiti. The graffiti artist is no longer an outsider. Instead, he or she becomes a participant in a modified version of the traditional relationship between artist and patron. The whole thing seems rather wrong-headed to me. While I understand wanting to preserve an interesting work once it has been created, shouldn't the graffiti artist have to accept that his or her work may be painted over or removed at any time? This reminds me of the original London punk subculture and its Mohawk hairstyles and the Takenokozoku performers in the Harajuku area of Tokyo. What began in each case as a pure expression of the self devolved into a series of hollow stunts for tourists. Perhaps it's just a problem of words: Street artists that use buildings as their canvases with the understanding that their work will be condoned are just that--street artists. It seems to me, however, that they should not be called graffiti artists. What do you think?

Rain: More than Half an Inch of New Rain (April 28, 2010)

More rain last night and today has added 0.65 inches to our 2009-2010 season total, which now stands at 30.85 inches (as of 2:00PM April 28). That's above the historical average rainfall for April 28, which is 29.90 inches and just below the historical annual average for Santa Rosa, which is 31.01 inches. I'm reporting rainfall at my own house, but some Santa Rosa stations have reported nearly 36 inches already this year. There was a little bit of hail mixed in this morning, but not enough to do any damage.

Wines I'm Drinking: Four Wines from Tuscany

Last night I tasted four red wines from Tuscany--three bottles of Chianti Classico and a Brunello di Montalcino--from Trader Joe's. I tasted the wines blind. They ranged in price from $8.99 to $19.99 (the Brunello). While $19.99 is an excellent price for any decent Brunello these days, I was curious to see whether it really stood out in a blind tasting. Notes follow:

2005 Incanta Chianti Classico Riserva
Medium deep brownish red with good color to the rim. Scents of wood, prunes, nutmeg, and orange rind. Tannic at first, with moderate fruit. Woody mid-palate. Fruit drops away fairly quickly. Finish is a bit tart with fine-grained tannins lingering. Comparatively long with some interesting brandy-like flavors on the end. After opening up a little, the tannins softened, but there wasn't a lot of fruit behind them. Bright, fresh acidity makes this easy to drink, but it doesn't have a lot of depth. Perfectly acceptable everyday wine, but the same can be had for less money. $9.99 at Trader Joe's.

2006 Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico
Medium deep brownish red. Color a bit less intense than in the first wine. Interesting nose. Wood, nutmeg again and something that put me in mind of women's makeup--stage pancake, perhaps--which is an odd association, but there it is. Noticeably richer on the palate than the first wine. Attractive sweet, ripe fruit. Light tannins. Round. Tasty right off the bat. Well integrated flavors. Not a powerful wine, but immediately appealing with delicate, lingering, woody flavors. Delicate but with a decent balance of fruity sweetness, soft tannins, and acidity. This turned out to be my favorite wine of the four. As it's half the price of the Brunello (which I also liked), I went back for more of this. I don't know if it will improve much with time (I'll reserve at least one bottle for a few years), but tasty for immediate consumption. $9.99 at Trader Joe's. Recommended.

2007 Il Tarocco Chianti Classico
Color again very similar to the first two wines, but somewhat deeper. Had some "off" scents. Smelled of iodine and musty paper. The wine was slightly corked. I took it back for a replacement. The second bottle was fine. Mostly scents of leather with something a bit musky as well. Hints of prunes. Something was suggestive of sour hard candies, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Sour plums, maybe? Initial impression on the palate was tartness with some woody flavors. The mid-palate was more attractive, but overall the wine seemed somewhat short and austere with dry, woody flavors predominant. Remained fairly tannic even after quite a bit of time open to the air. Not unpleasant in any way, but not an especially generous wine. Acceptable for everyday drinking, but this was the least attractive of the four wines in my view. It's well worth spending the extra dollar for the Lamole di Lamole wine. $8.99 at Trader Joe's. [Update: This showed much better the following day, suggesting it might be worth tucking away a bottle or two for a few years.]

2003 Bonacchi Brunello di Montalcino
I was excited to find this. Brunello is one of my favorite wines (I have very fond memories of the 1985 Lisini Brunello, among others. Ahh, those were the days...). To get a good Brunello today usually requires spending anywhere from about $45 to $85, so $19.99 looks very attractive (for my local readers, the best selection of Brunello is usually at Traverso's, which has moved from its downtown Santa Rosa location to a new store off Fountaingrove). The wine was tasty, but I wouldn't say it was anything like twice as good as the Lamole di Lamole wine. On taste alone, I'd have chosen this as the best of the group, but in terms of cost performance it was a disappointment even though it's undeniably inexpensive for a Brunello.

The Brunello was very similar in color to the other wines, although a bit deeper in hue and more garnet. Attractive "dark," musky scents laced with prunes, plums, and nutmeg again. At first seems tart and woody, but has a good mid-palate with ripe fruit and an extended, dry, finish marked by attractive, delicate tannins. Has some finesse. Fairly tight. This will need a little more time to be at its best, perhaps. The wine kept evolving over the course of the tasting, however, which is always a good sign. Later it seemed softer, with scents of leather and meat developing. While this is tasty, well made wine, it was not as exciting as I was hoping. Probably fairly priced at $19.99 at Trader Joe's, but, as noted above, the Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico was nearly as good and half the price.

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Movies I'm Watching: The Best Movies I've Never Seen (April 27, 2010)

I've just seen three more of the films recommended in Leonard Maltin's 151 Best Films You've Never Seen. These three were all stinkers. I'm really surprised Maltin likes these films. Having said that, I've never thought much of Maltin's recommendations, and so far my prejudice has been reinforced by seeing the movies he singles out in this book--and I'm still in the "B"s. I saw American Dreamz, The Ballad of Little Jo, and The Big Hit. None of these three have much to recommend them in my view. Save your time and money.

American Dreamz (2006, written and directed by Paul Weitz, starring Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, Willem Defoe, Sam Golzari, and others) is an example of everything that's wrong with American filmmaking today--slick, bland visuals; mediocre acting; and flat writing that insults the viewer's intelligence. The film's one redeeming feature is the interplay between the Hugh Grant and Mandy Moore characters, two people who don't think much of themselves that are attracted to each other precisely because they understand each other so well. American Dreamz is billed as a comedy, but I don't think I laughed once. Typical Hollywood laziness. Almost entirely lacking in wit or intelligence. I can't imagine what Maltin sees in this. Two thumbs down, to borrow a phrase.

The Ballad of Little Jo (Written and directed by Maggie Greenwald, starring Suzy Amis, Bo Hopkins, Ian McKellen, David Chung, Heather Graham, Rene Auberjonois, and others) at least has in it the kernel of an interesting story--although there isn't a great deal of drama in the plot. A plot synopsis would seem to exhaust as much of the story's potential interest as the film itself has.

A woman with a child born out of wedlock on the East Coast flees to the West (leaving her child behind). She finds life tough as a single woman. The film suggests the only roles available to her are wife or whore. The central character, however, chooses an alternate path through life: she becomes a man, by cropping her hair, dressing as a man, and working as a man. She eventually finds a place among the people she settles near. In a subplot, the Chinese laborer she takes on as a manservant becomes her lover. Almost no one else knows she is a woman until she dies and the undertaker begins to prepare the body for burial. Everything else that happens is pretty much standard western fare.

The Big Hit (1998, directed by Kirk Wong, written by Ben Ramsey, starring Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Avery Brooks, and others) was about as good as American Dreamz, which isn't saying very much. It is a mostly dull, sophomoric action piece that seems to be trying to laugh at itself, but without much success. It occasionally veers off into Hong Kong-style martial arts effects, especially toward the end of the film. An implausible romance between sensitive hitman Melvin Smiley (the Mark Wahlberg character) and his kidnap victim, Keiko Nishi (played by China Chow), is embedded within strife among gangsters. At the same time, the sensitive hitman is trying to please two other women he's involved with, his Jewish fiancé, Pam Shulman (played by Christina Applegate), and Chantel (played by Lela Rochon). The kidnapped girl (daughter of a Japanese tycoon that has gone bankrupt) goes to a girls' school that has a uniform with the inevitable short plaid skirt, allowing the filmmakers to titillate in the style of soft-core Japanese schoolgirl porn. Although Christina Applegate was sporadically amusing as the Jewish bride-to-be struggling with her parents that aren't about to accept her non-Jewish fiancé, I suspect this film was more fun for the people that made it than it is likely to be for people who watch it.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Carpenteria, Digitalis, "New Dawn" Climbing Rose, White Bush Rose (April 26, 2010)

First blooms of 2010 today on the Digitalis that comes up every year under the hammock. I'm still not sure how this got started. It was probably in some seed I threw around the garden years ago. This is Digitalis purpurea. It always looks pretty in the spring but then suffers through the dry summer. It has been quite reliable nevertheless.

First blooms today also on the Carpenteria californica by the birdbath and on the "New Dawn" climbing rose on the back fence, behind the grape vines. The white bush rose by the Osmanthus also bloomed today. The Carpenteria was a new addition to the garden last year, so I have no record of a bloom in 2009. Actually, there is another Carpenteria in the garden planted a couple years earlier, but it has never bloomed, for some reason.

"New Dawn" is a beautiful old-fashioned climber with full pink blossoms that open out of tight buds. I can't remember when I planted it (around 2002, I think), but it is now as tall as the fence (more than six feet high) and about 10 feet wide. It was the closest thing I could find to the pink climber that used to bloom on the fence at what was my grandmother's house in Dayton, Ohio--a rose that long ago became effectively nameless. It had been there forever. "New Dawn" bloomed on April 20 in 2009. A year according to this plant was thus 371 days.

The white bush rose (another nameless rose--although it may be "Tumbling Waters") also had its first flower of 2010 today.

Wines I'm Drinking: 2005 Château Roudier Montagne-Saint-Émilion

Last night I tasted the 2005 Château Roudier Montagne-Saint-Émilion. The appellation Montagne-St.-Émilion is one of four surrounding St. Émilion proper allowed to append "St. Émilion" to their own names. The wines of the St. Émilion satellites can be solid (I've had the best luck with those from St. Georges-Saint Émilion), but they rarely have the power and finesse of wines from St. Émilion itself and the nearby Pomerol--or even from other "small" appellations on the right bank of the Dordogne, such as Fronsac. 2005, however, was the kind of year that favors even the smallest, unsung producers. I'm always on the lookout for tasty, inexpensive wines from that year, hoping to repeat the many successes I had finding wonderful little wines in 1989 and 1990--especially because most of that wine is gone now.

The 2005 Château Roudier Montagne-Saint-Émilion was an appetizingly deep red with a hint of garnet. It looked neither young nor old. The nose was suggestive of flowers and perfume with hints of leather immediately coming up out of the glass. Swirling the wine brought out considerably more--cherries and licorice, and hints of barnyard and violets. The violets, in particular, persisted.

The wine was initially rather harsh on the palate--quite tannic and closed, but it did have some ripe fruit pushing through. I decided to decant it to let it open up. (If you buy this wine, I recommend doing the same.) There was a very light deposit in the bottle, but I decanted the wine mostly to give it air. With air and a little time, some nice cherry flavors developed and later I began to detect scents of vanilla and oranges along with the violets. While the tannin fell away to reveal some nice fruit flavors in a clean, compact package rounded out by sweet tannins on a shortish finish, the wine was rather low in acid, which made it begin to seem a bit flat as soon as the tannic bite moderated a little. I enjoyed the wine for its flavors of cherries and (later) very ripe plums and for lingering suggestions of violets that made it seem something like a well-made Côtes-du-Rhône, but it lacked the balancing acidity a wine needs to continue tasting fresh and alive. I suspect that this will not be a long keeper (on the following day, it tasted very flat indeed). It may be at its best now, decanted. Fairly priced at Trader Joe's at $12.99 a bottle, but I probably won't go back for more of this. Then again, I might.

I write about many subjects. Use the tabs at upper right to explore other topics. For more wine reviews, use the "Wines I'm Drinking" tab.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Sally Holmes Rose (April 25, 2010)

The first buds opened today on the large climbing rose "Sally Holmes" behind the grapevines. This is one of my favorite roses. When fresh, the flowers look almost like dogwood blossoms. When whole groups of them open at once (and the buds form in large clusters), the plant looks like a woman in a green gown holding numerous bridal bouquets. When the flowers age, they go pale and spotty and look rather forlorn--contributing to the plant's charm. But, I must admit, I like Sally Holmes best when her bridal bouquets are new. Sally Holmes first bloomed in 2009 on April 16, so a year according to Sally was 374 days.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Phlomis Fruiticosa, Cistus "Sunset," Penstemon Heterophyllus (April 24, 2010)

First blooms of 2010 on three plants in the garden today: Phlomis fruiticosa, the big Jerusalem sage; Cistus "Sunset;" and the purply-blue wild penstemon Penstemon heterophyllus. Phlomis is one of the first plants I put into the garden here, not realizing how big it would get. It's now about seven feet across and the flower stalks are nearly as high as me. The photo shows buds in an axial whorl. A pair of big yellow petals will pop out of each of the "cells" visible here. This plant bloomed much earlier last year (April 10). A year according to Phlomis fruiticosa was 379 days.

"Sunset" has been blooming around town for about a week. The one here is comparatively shaded, so it has bloomed later than many. The plant bloomed in 2009 on April 9--much earlier than this year. A year according to "Sunset" was 380 days.

Penstemon heterophyllus is one of my favorite plants. It's almost irridescent. I've seen it growing wild in rocky, higher-altitude areas in California and elsewhere. It doesn't seem to last very long (2-3 years) and doesn't seed itself much, but I'm happy to keep planting it. I have a note of it blooming in early June along Highway 97 in the north-eastern part of the state, but no record of its first flowers in the garden last year.

I write about many subjects, not just the plants blooming in my garden. Use the tabs at upper right to explore other topics. 

Birds I'm Watching: Ellis Creek Water Treatment Ponds (April 24, 2010)

I took a walk around the Ellis Creek Water Treatment Ponds in Petaluma this morning. I saw 32 species. Crow, Canada goose, mallard, snowy egret, American coot, cinnamon teal, Brewer's blackbird, red-winged blackbird, black-necked stilt, blue-winged teal, whimbrel, common moorhen, American goldfinch, Eurasian collared dove, marbled godwit, Western kingbird (first sighting in Sonoma County for me), Bullock's oriole, house finch, black phoebe, tree swallow, killdeer, song sparrow, savannah sparrow, mute swan, pied-billed grebe, marsh wren, starling, sora, Anna's hummingbird, turkey vulture, red-tailed hawk, and northern rough-winged swallow.  I got a nice shot of a handsome savannah sparrow singing.

For more information about bird watching in Sonoma County, see my Website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: White Cistus, Trillium, and Dianthus (April 23, 2010)

First blooms of 2010 today on three plants--the big white Cistus (rock rose) under the pink crabapple (above), the Trillium at the back of the house (below), and the low Dianthus by the driveway.

I don't have records for 2009 for either the Cistus or the Dianthus, but the Trillium bloomed last year on April 21, so a year according to the Trillium was 367 days. The photo here is from last year. The leaves this year are rather bruised because of the sustained hail we had a couple of days ago.

Movies I'm Watching: The Best Movies I've Never Seen (April 22, 2010)

In the past few days, I've seen more of the films recommended in Leonard Maltin's 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen. As noted in my previous post on the subject. I didn't think that much of any of them. So far, I remain generally unimpressed by the recommendations in the book. This post looks at Aurora Borealis and Better Than Sex.

Aurora Borealis (2005, written by Brent Boyd, directed by James C. E. Burke, starring Joshua Jackson, Steven Pasquale, Donald Sutherland, Louise Fletcher, Juliette Lewis, and others) has been much praised, I see, but it struck me as being on the level of a decent made-for-TV movie, no better. Despite some good performances, particularly by Juliette Lewis, the whole was unpersuasive. Much as I like Donald Sutherland, and despite a very convincing Parkinson's disease tremor, I found his performance uneven. 

But the script is the real problem here: Would Duncan (Joshua Jackson), a man unable to shoot a deer, really give his aging grandfather a loaded shotgun to commit suicide with? I found myself unable to accept the incongruity. Duncan's brother is a cliché. The ending of the film is more than a little too pat--how nice that the Donald Sutherland character dies on cue so that his grandson can fly off to San Diego to get back together with Kate (Juliette Lewis). If only life were so neat.  

Better Than Sex (2000, written and directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, starring David Wenham, Susie Porter, and others) is at least a little bit different. It approaches falling in love from the perspective of two people trying not to fall in love--two people surprised they have fallen in love. 

Josh (David Wenham) and Cin (Susie Porter) meet at a party, they aren't especially attracted to one another at first, but they talk some and end up sharing a taxi home. He's staying in town for only three days. During the taxi ride, both Josh and Cin begin to think about a quick fling--knowing there'd be no strings attached. Inevitably, she asks him in when they arrive at her door, and one thing leads to another. The rest of the film is a chronicle of a one-night stand that ends up lasting three days (and then some). What was supposed to have been no-hassle sex turns into emotional attachment on both sides.

We can't help our feelings. Sometimes we fall in love in spite of ourselves, in spite of everything.  

The story is told through straight narrative intercut with documentary-like interview segments, portions of phone calls between secondary characters, musings we understand to be the thoughts of the main characters (sometimes during the action, like theatrical asides; sometimes with the character sitting against a studio backdrop as if being interviewed), and through wry comments from the taxi driver. The taxi driver keeps showing up in the right place at the right time, always encouraging love, like Cupid on wheels. The creative editing keeps things moving, keeps the sex (essential to the story) from playing too dominant a role or becoming gratuitous, and it keeps the audience at a distance. We are voyeurs, but voyeurs invited to see the show and the players know they are being watched and we know they know. Despite the somewhat obtrusive devices (especially the taxi driver) and a falling back on cliché in some scenes (notably the girl-takes-forever-to-get-ready-to-go-out-and-doesn't-have-anything-to-wear scene, which is quite long, and the guy-never-bothers-to-flush-the-toilet scene), Better Than Sex was mostly intelligent and entertaining. 

Birds I'm Watching: Close to Home

I took a walk today up the long road that winds through the woods behind our house. It was in the early afternoon, which is not the best time of day to see birds, but I counted 17 species nevertheless. Most of them were birds I'm used to seeing at the bird feeder. The exceptions were a wild turkey, some tree swallows, a violet-green swallow, and a Pacific-slope flycatcher. The flycatcher sat still enough to allow me to get a good photo.

Movies I'm Watching: The Best Movies I've Never Seen (April 21, 2010)

In the past few days, I've seen three more of the films recommended in Leonard Maltin's 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen. I didn't think that much of any of them, to tell the truth. I wouldn't say they were a waste of time, but--so far, anyway--I have been disappointed by the recommendations in the book more often than not. I saw: Baadasssss! (2004, written and directed by Mario Van Peebles--based on a book by his father, Melvin Van Peebles--starring Mario Van Peebles, Joy Bryant, T. K. Carter, Terry Crews, Ossie Davis, David Alan Grier, and others); Better Than Sex (2000); and Aurora Borealis (2005). This post looks at Baadasssss! More about Better Than Sex and Aurora Borealis in a post tomorrow.

While Baadassss! was interesting on a number of levels, it left me wishing the film had been a straight documentary rather than a hybrid documentary/biopic. Baadasssss!, tells the story of the making of Melvin Van Peebles' groundbreaking 1971 film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, generally considered the first film made for a black audience by a black director that wasn't forced to toady to a white-controlled studio. Baadasssss! was interesting because it tells an interesting story: The elder Van Peebles, set out to make a feature film with almost no resources and entirely outside the Hollywood system--engaging in what some have referred to as "guerilla film-making." Van Peebles worked with whatever he could scrounge. The actors were friends and family. The sets were makeshift. Money was perpetually running out (he finally finished the film with a $50,000 loan from Bill Cosby). Surprisingly, Van Peebles succeeded.

The elder Van Peebles was angry and it was an angry period in US history. The Black Panthers were agitating for change (and later championed the 1971 film), the Vietnam War was raging. Hoping to direct full-length films after making several shorts, mostly on his own, Columbia offered Van Peebles Watermelon Man, a comedy about a white man that wakes up black. Watermelon Man was a commercial success, but it was mostly his contempt for the studios born of that experience that drove Van Peebles to set out on his own. It's a testament to his determination and persistence that Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song was completed and released (although rated X and initially in only two theaters nationwide). It went on to become the highest-grossing independent film made up until that time. Van Peebles paved the way for other independent black filmmakers, indirectly spawning the blackxploitation genre as well.

Baadasssss! switches back and forth between a straight retelling of the story of the original film production and documentary-like interviews with the people involved (both the actual people and the actors portraying them). Baadasssss! also attempts to say something about the relationship between the younger filmmaker and his obsessed father, but somehow that relationship never comes across as genuine, and Baadasssss! ultimately seems a fairly bland retelling of the facts. Still, Mario Van Peebles delivers an interesting performance as his father, the story is a good one, and the film gives us a glimpse of what it meant to make a film independently in the early 1970s--more interestingly, what it meant for a black man with a message the establishment didn't want to hear to make a film independently in the early 1970s. Having said that, I get the impression from reading about Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song that Baadasssss! downplays that film's violence and sexuality, and, in that sense, Baadasssss! is not entirely honest. Not a great film, by any means, but probably worth seeing once. I imagine Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is available on DVD as well. Now I'm curious.

Found Art: Chair and Shadow (April 20, 2010)

I saw this shadow in the house under a chair today. The dark wood and the shadows of the chair and the window blinds looked interesting against the bright, warm maple floor. Found art.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Scabiosa Farinosa, Sulfur Buckwheat, Echium Wildpretii, "Altissimo" climbing rose

First blooms today on Scabiosa farinosa, a leather-leaved mounding variety of Scabiosa that does well in our hot summers. Although this plant has a tendency to die out in the center, new growth will sprout from almost anywhere, so holes tend to fill in. It grows easily from cuttings, too. This plant bloomed on May 4 in 2009, so it's comparatively early this year. A year according to this plant was only 350 days.

The first tiny flowers in some of the clusters on our sulfur buckwheat plants (Eriogonum umbellatum) opened today, although the plants still look quite closed up. This plant bloomed on April 17 in 2009. A year according to sulfur buckwheat was therefore 368 days.

First blooms today also on Echium wildprettii--only a few an the long stem are open. It will be a week or so before this plant becomes a brick red torch, attracting bumblebees and hummingbirds.

One bud on the climbing rose "Altissimo" opened today as well. I love this sturdy, deep red, single-petaled climber. Stunning in full bloom.  This flower bloomed on April 6 in 2009, calculating a rather long year this year of 379 days. Despite the range in years calculated by the three coming into bloom today that I have data for, the average of the three comes to 365.6 days--very close to a calendar year.

Rain: Another Downpour (April 20, 2010)

Another downpour during the night last night (April 19) added 0.45 inches to 2009-2010 precipitation in Santa Rosa. This morning was generally clear and sunny, if cold, but then there were more showers and after that, hail. Following the hail, we had had a total of 1.15 inches of new precipitation. Our season total now stands at 30.20 inches as of late afternoon on the 20th, which is above the historical average of 29.58 inches for this day, but some Santa Rosa stations have reported well over 35 inches already this year. The historical annual average for Santa Rosa is 31.01 inches.

Music I'm Listening to: Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra and Lang Lang (April 19, 2010)

I heard a very enjoyable concert last night at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. Christoph Eschenbach conducted the last of 23 concerts in a US tour by the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra in Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17, Prokofieff's Symyhony No. 1, and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1. The soloist in both concertos was Lang Lang.

The audience got a treat after the published program was complete. The orchestra performed an encore--although, frustratingly, no one told us what it was and no one afterwards knew either. Following the orchestral encore, Lang Lang returned to the stage for a scheduled talk with the audience. Lang Lang expressed his thanks to the orchestra, whipped out what looked like a brand new iPad, and proceeded to play what he called a "high-tech version of Flight of the Bumblebee" by drumming his fingers on the pad, occasionally reaching over to the real piano to embellish a bit, much to the audience's delight. I'm still not sure whether he was actually playing, using an app on the iPad or if he was just fooling around, pretending to play while the music played in the background (I think the latter). If that were not enough, stage hands next brought out a second piano stool and we got to hear Eschenbach and Lang Lang play two pieces for four hands--Eschenbach, of course, started his career as a pianist. Again, frustratingly, no one told us what we were listening to and no one afterward knew what the encores were, but it sounded like Debussy to me--perhaps from his Petite Suite. Probably because this was the last concert of a long tour, the mood after the show was relaxed--celebratory almost. Some of the best music I've ever heard live has been encores like this, when the pressure is off and the musicians are just enjoying themselves.

Taken as a whole, the concert was wonderful, but it got off to a slow start. Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3 is what I used to put on the record player, turned up loud, to listen to just before going out for final exams in college. Somehow I felt powerful, full of knowledge, in control, ready to conquer if I marched out with that music ringing in my ears. It's stirring music--or at least it should be. Eschenbach and the orchestra managed to make it sound almost lugubrious. The pace was slow, the sound was dull. I've had this experience before at Davies Symphony Hall. There seem to be pockets of rather muddled sound--although the seats were good: Upper orchestra, dead center. I noticed this also at the Itzhak Perlman concert I recently heard there. The strings in particular lacked brilliance last night. Having said that, it makes no sense to attribute the flatness entirely to the acoustics; the second half of the program was excellent. I can't explain it, but the Leonore Overture was a disappointment, and I'm afraid the Mozart suffered from the same dark, dull tone in places. The piano playing was impeccable and nicely expressive, however, especially in the middle movement (Andante). Lang Lang is one of those performers that immediately banish all worry about a possible missed or stray note, even in the most demanding of passages. He is interesting to watch--although the unnecessary flourishes suggestive of bad ballet can become tiresome after a while. His gestures while playing reminded me of Melvyn Tan (Whatever happened to Melvyn Tan?), although Lang Lang is somewhat less flamboyant.

(Photo of Christoph Eschenbach courtesy of the San Francisco Sympony. Photo by Eric Brissau.)

Three things struck me visually. First, the layout of the string instruments on stage was a mirror image of what we're used to seeing in the US. The basses and cellos were on the left, the violas on the right. I've seen European orchestras perform before, and our local conductor in Santa Rosa, Bruno Ferrandis, a Frenchman, once remarked that the layout in Santa Rosa was "backwards." I'm aware of this difference in the way we array the strings, but I've never really noticed it before. It seemed to make little difference to the sound. Second, there were only two or three blond heads among the Schleswig-Holstein performers, which was a trifle surprising at first. Again--no effect on the sound. (However, as this is an orchestra for young performers drawn from areas well outside of Schleswig-Holstein, it's not hard to explain.) Third, the women in the orchestra were dressed rather more daringly than the performers I'm used to seeing in San Francisco. One of the front-row cellos had on a tight-fitting, off-the-shoulder top, another seemed to be wearing something resembling a body suit--everyone in black, of course. Once again--no effect on the sound, but these things are part of the extra dimension that a live performance provides.

I've remarked here before that I've learned to treasure the gems of live performances and not worry too much about the disappointments. This concert would have been worth it just for the second half of the program. Eschenbach gave us a very precise, controlled performance in the first three movements of Prokofieff's Classical symphony that fit the music perfectly and allowed for a strongly contrasting, almost frenzied final movement. Here the sound was clear and clean, and bright and loud where it should have been. A delight.

Lang Lang and the orchestra were in top form for the Beethoven Concerto as well. An appreciative audience immediately stood up for an ovation at the end. I wish they had been more appreciative during the performance. I've noticed over the years an inverse correlation between the celebrity  of a performer (as distinct from his or her talent) and the manners of the audience they attract. The more famous a performer is outside the world of music enthusiasts (for whatever reason) the more likely the audience is to be full of people more interested in the person than the music. These people tend to have a low tolerance for sitting still and being quiet. Davies Symphony Hall is always a co-conspirator: The seats creak, the hollow metal backs of the seats sound like timpani, the hard wood floor might as well be a giant drum--every heel resonates; coughing, sneezing, watch alarms, rustling paper, and dropped water bottles all made an appearance. Still, with the excellent performances of the Prokofieff and the Beethoven concerto, Lang Lang's funny iPad performance, and three encores, I'm not complaining. It was a lot of fun.

(Photo of Lang Lang, courtesy of the San Francisco Symphony.)

Dinner beforehand at Café Della Stella was solid, as always, if not exciting. I had an excellent arugula salad with roasted (grilled?) pears, scampi as a main dish, and a tasty panna cotta for dessert. The highlight was a very tasty 2008 Villa Teresa Pinot Grigio from Italy's Veneto region. Very dry, deceptively delicate, very flavorful. Behind the fruit it had something of the quality of a really good Fino sherry. Delicious.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Pink Cistus, Yellow Columbine (2010)

First blooms today on the Cistus near the Higanzakura (flowering cherry) tree. I'm trying to remember which species this is, but can't. First blooms today also on the yellow, long-spurred Aquilegia (columbine) in the garden. Last year the columbine bloomed on April 21, so a year according to this flower was 363 days.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Phlomis Lanata (2010)

The first buds on one of the Phlomis Lanata plants in the garden opened today. People seem to call this Jerusalem sage, but the plant I know as Jerusalem sage is the much bigger plant Phlomis fruiticosa. In any case, both plants do wonderfully in our hot dry summers with almost no extra water. This year the plants are especially lush-looking because of all the rain we've had. In the background of the photo here you can see Spanish lavender blooming. These two plants pair nicely. Phlomis lanata bloomed on April 20 in 2009. A year according to this plant was 363 days.

Birds I'm Watching: Spring Lake (April 17, 2010)

I walked around Spring Lake in Santa Rosa this morning with a group from the Madrone Audubon Society. There was a lot of activity today. I saw 44 species. The highlights were four green herons, a nesting great horned owl, and excellent views of a Pacific-slope flycatcher making a nest. I got an excellent photo (if I say so myself) of the flycatcher carrying nesting material.

Birds I saw: Western bluebird, red-winged blackbird, orange-crowned warbler (7), warbling vireo, white-breasted nuthatch, Pacific-slope flycatcher, acorn woodpecker, mallard, oak titmouse, California towhee, spotted towhee, Swainson's thrush, Bewick's wren, scrub jay, black-headed grosbeak, mourning dove, violet-green swallow, cliff swallow, tree swallow, Anna's hummingbird, song sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, golden-crowned sparrow, house finch, dark-eyed junco, California quail, Wilson's warbler, yellow warbler, Bullock's oriole, Steller's jay, American goldfinch, Canada goose, green heron (4), coot, osprey, American crow, common moorhen, black phoebe, snowy egret, brown creeper, bushtit, great horned owl, and pied-billed grebe (7).

For more information about bird watching in Sonoma County, see my Website Sonoma County Bird Watching Spots.

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Cistus (2010)

First blooms today on the low Cistus (rock rose) at the front of the house. This plant bloomed last year on April 16. As today is again April 16, a year according to this plant was 365 days. I think this is the first plant to have bloomed on exactly the same day two years in a row since I started keeping track. First blooms today also on the white valerian by the beehive. Many new irises opened today as well.

I regret that I can't remember the name of this Cistus (or is it a Halimiocistus?) I got it from Ken Montgomery's Anderson Valley Nursery, in Booneville. I'll have to contact him to remind me.

Movies I'm Watching: Kinky Boots

I've just seen Kinky Boots (2005, directed by Julian Jarrold, starring Joel Edgerton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sarah-Jane Potts, and others), an entertaining bit of fluff, purportedly based on a true story but giving the impression that the writers have found it necessary (as they so often do) to embellish and add for "dramatic effect." It would be nice if moviemakers once in a while gave their audiences credit for having a little more intelligence. One wonders what the real story was.

Still, this was fun to watch and there are one or two truly funny moments. The highlights of the film are the performance of Ejiofor as drag queen "Lola" and the final runway show in Milan with Charlie (Edgerton) left on his own to model the family factory's new line of "boots for women who are men."

Birds I'm Watching: Annadel State Park, Santa Rosa

I went out to Annadel State Park for a hike this morning to look for spring migrants. I saw quite a lot of birds. including Band-tailed pigeon (16), turkey vulture, cliff swallow (20 or so), Bewick's wren, Anna's hummingbird, crow, mallard, red-shouldered hawk, Pacific-slope flycatcher (3), ruby-crowned kinglet, raven, oak titmouse, pileated wooddpecker (heard), acorn woodpecker, warbling vireo, wild turkey (including males in full display), quail, many Wilson's warblers (at least 9), black-headed grosbeak (7), Orange-crowned warbler (8), yellow warbler (1), robins nesting and feeding hatchlings, spotted towhee, bushtit, chestnut-backed chickadee, dark-eyed junko, and lesser goldfinch--27 species in total.

The black-headed grosbeaks (above), and the warblers have just returned from warmer parts south. Pictured below is Wilson's warbler--not a very good shot: these guys move around a lot.

Books I'm Reading: Sex on the Brain

I just finished reading Deborah Blum's Sex on the Brain: The Biological Differences Between Men and Women (1997, Penguin paperback edition), a well-written, entertaining, occasionally enlightening look at the biology behind sex differences. Although there wasn't much that seemed startlingly new, I enjoyed this. It is a concise, clear overview of a very wide range of research on the subject of sex differences.

The book includes excellent chapters on: Why sex exists at all; on the physical differences between male and female brains (there are very few, they are very subtle, and it's not at all clear what the few discernible differences mean); on emotional differences (yes, men and women build friendships and networks differently); on monogamy and polygamy (the former turns out to be very rare in the world--the human species is described as "slightly polygamous"); on homosexuality; on testosterone in men (and women); on estrogens and the female cycle (which involves far more than menstruation); on love, lust, and rape; and on gender and power.

What is perhaps most remarkable about Deborah Blum's writing here is its objectivity. There are no gender polemics in a book that could easily have been biased, and she shows an extraordinary sensitivity in her discussions of such things as hormone effects on both men and women and of rape. Frankly, it was fascinating to listen to a female voice so lucidly and empathetically articulating the typical emotional and behavioral effects of testosterone on men. Her discussion of rape as possibly persisting in human culture because it may make biological sense was somewhat uncomfortable to read, but convincing. There is much here to explain why we behave the way we do without giving anyone (male or female) facile excuses for bad behavior. Recommended.

Hmmm.... What to read next?

Rain: It Just Keeps Coming Down (April 11-12, 2010)

It just keeps coming down. This is by far the wettest year we've had in the almost ten years I've lived in Santa Rosa. Yesterday and overnight last night we had another 2.0 inches of rain. That brings our total for the 2009-2010 season to 29.05 inches, which is just below the historical average for this day in Santa Rosa (29.17 inches), but several inches higher than last year (last year the rain stopped in early March, if I remember correctly), and some stations in Santa Rosa have had as much as 33.7 inches. The historical average annual rainfall for Santa Rosa is just over 31 inches.

I could do with some sunshine now for a while, although sunshine can be a distraction when I'm stuck at my desk working, as I will be at least through the end of tomorrow.

Wines I'm Drinking: 2006 Clos du Tal "Stone's Throw Vineyard" Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon

Tonight I opened a bottle of the 2006 Clos du Tal "Stone's Throw Vineyard" Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon--that is, a bottle of one of the wines we make here in the garage from grapes we grow out back. 2006 was the third vintage. The vines were planted in 2001, so they were quite young in 2006, but this wine has improved considerably since I last tried a bottle a few months ago.

The nose in particular has developed some nice leathery scents and some hints of roses that I don't remember from the last time I tasted it. The wine tastes fruitier and the tannins are beginning to soften. It still seems a bit austere compared to the riper wines we made in 2008 and 2009 (the 2009 is yet to be bottled), but this has come along nicely. It will be interesting to continue tasting a bottle every three months or so to see what kind of staying power it has.

Before long, it will be time to do a vertical tasting of everything we've ever made--from 2004 to 2009. The only real disaster was the 2005. Most of the grapes disappeared into the gullets of the local raccoons in that year. I made only six bottles from sour grapes that had to be picked too soon--what the raccoons left behind. Since then we've devised a system of nets and electric fencing that has made it possible to let the grapes hang as long as they should, which has made a big difference (needless to say). The 2008 and 2009 wines were made from grapes that were optimally ripe. The 2009 looks especially promising.

In case you're wondering, "Clos du Tal" is a play on "Clos du Val," with the T-A-L of Talcroft substituting for "Val." We call it "Stone's Throw Vineyard" because we live on an old basalt quarry--there are a lot of stones here--and the vines are a stone's throw from the house. Appropriately, our little vineyard of 32 vines is surrounded by a stone wall. "Clos" in French refers to a walled vineyard, often owned by a monastery. Such vineyards are common in parts of France, especially in Burgundy. There are some remarkable walled vineyards there, notably in the town of Gevrey-Chambertin. "Clos" is related to our English word "cloister."

What a pleasure, what a luxury it is to be able to open a bottle of wine I've made myself. I wish I could share it with you. Last summer, when I drove to Ohio, I took a couple of bottles with me to share with friends. This summer I will take a couple to France, to share with friends there. Friends I haven't seen in many years.