Report from the Barbie Brigade

Barbie the movie - who would have thought that Mog, Megan, Julie, Kathy, McLassie and Sue were keen?    But we were, and from the opening scene when little girls were smashing their baby dolls to smithereens to get the new Barbie (in 1959) it was a wild ride.  

We followed Barbie through her day in fantasy Barbieland where Barbies were always happy and in charge of everything, including all the Kens - but it was less than satisfactory for our heroine.  Something else was going on, so Barbie and Ken travel through universes to the 'real' world to try and find out.   And at this point the social commentary becomes plain for us to see - in the real world, Barbie feels uncomfortable with all eyes ogling her up and down, while Ken revels in all the attention.  And so the first social switcheroo begins - in the real world Ken gets to learn about and play in the patriarchy; while Barbie, against her wishes, gets put back in her box (well, almost literally).   Somehow, Barbie escapes and along with Ken returns to fantasy Barbieland, followed by all the Mattel men in big offices who want to put her back in her box because there's not so much dosh to be made when she's not a doll.   But now Ken has found his patriarchal mojo (in his new Mojo Dojo Casa House) and Ken's takeover of Barbieland is the second switcheroo.  Ken rallies all the other Kens using music and dance (interesting!) and bravado, and the testosterone charged patriarchy is dominant in Barbieland, just like we saw in the real world.

Weird Barbie

But then the art of manipulation comes in to play as the Barbies plot their return, led by Barbie and Weird Barbie (short chopped hair and always doing the splits! - it was inspired, and Mattel have just released a doll called Weird Barbie - so more dosh for Mattel!).    Yes, we find ourselves at the third switcheroo - Barbies back in control after winning the Presidency and all the Supreme Court positions in Barbieland - but the Ken's have a place now too.  

But wait, the film didn't end there!  No spoiler but there is a final twist helped along by Barbie's creator (Ruth Handler), and it goes to choosing between Barbieland or being real (unless your take on the film was that Barbie achieved 'agency' and can now reproduce herself in Barbieland).  

Ruth Handler 40 years on from the first Barbie

Along with some high kitsch (including lots of horses on screens, and the fabulous image of the 10 Mattel men on a tandem bicycle heading off to Barbieland), Bollywood song and dance numbers, humour, social commentary (including by the narrator, Helen Mirren), and a few swipes at religion, there were some unforgettable scenes.  Gloria's monologue on being a woman was one, and you can read it here

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-veqmN8Dv5tbCVkLzi7HV4OKg9bddTbYvhqUTMI0_y4/edit?usp=sharing 

It was a unique movie in many ways - about a female doll, both a fantasy and set in the real world, targeted (probably) at the 40+ female audience rather than younger girls, with social commentary on gender, all with the glitz of an old fashioned musical and including a gay doll man (Alan) and Weird Barbie who both played a part in the final switcheroo.  We all wandered from the cinema a bit glazed over and were still trying to make it out over our pasta, pizza and arancini balls at Dolci afterwards.  

Life is full of contradictions, and its not easy being a real human (but worth it) were possibly take home messages, but the jury is still out on whether everyone enjoyed the film and agreed on its take on life.  However, we could probably all agree that its unlikely we will see the likes of this film again, unless there is the Hollywood sequel (maybe Ken the real Man?).   

And yes pleased to report that after an overnight soaking in Vanish, Sard spray and 2 washes, the chocolate came out (mostly) - ready for the next Choctop.   

The O's have it - Valetto and Jericho (and pussycato)

Five happy bookclubbers arrived at Kathy's place on 5 July to talk about many things including books, and were joined by a very relaxed pussycat who didn't join in the conversation but purred along quietly to the rhythm of the meeting.  Those who weren't able to hum along with us that evening were Cherrie, Barb, McLassie and Cherilyn - all separately tied up elsewhere with family matters.  After forgetting that we hadn't talked about transient global amnesia - we did.  And particularly Barb's recent experience which then reminded us about Cherrie's earlier encounter with such an odd medical event.  After audible sighs of relief that TGA, though scary, is pretty much an unusual one-off event, with no predictive features for future forgetful experiences, we then speculated that Megan's second opinion ENT guy might also have had a TGA episode and hoped he would get over it and finally make contact with her the next day.

So on to the books.  After his earlier forays into the art world with The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, and the film world with Electric Hotel, we went to Italy with Dominic Smith this time around, via 'Return to Valetto'.  Though it ended well for Hugh and Elissa, we conjectured whether it was a book about abandonment? or grief? or inherited grievance? or even a twist on Cinderella? or ends justify means?, or something else?    Told through its narrator, historian Hugh Fisher, the story was grounded in family history, but it seemed to have a few loose threads for some, and too much Italian lingo for others (where is Cherrie when her bookclub needs her fabulouso italian pronunciation?).   

Despite not finding out why Aldo never returned to Valetto, the story held attention - with the secret events of WW2 and reflections on the Italian partisans and Nazi collaborators quickly overtaking the thorny question of property inheritance.  In this world of instant communication, it was perhaps a nod to the past that this secret was revealed through previously unknown private letters between the mothers of our main characters, Hugh and Elissa.  And who doesn't like a good secret to drive a book?  Whether the final denunciation, coming after Ida's big 100th birthday party, was well conceived and a good way to end (the book that is, not Silvio R) was conjectured by all - and the general consensus was that it was perhaps an untidy end to a light but interesting read.   

A very comfortable el pussycato

You can read Megan's take on Dominic here -  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RnCse35oVHE3AM1Oj0P1cRzXZbsMjFNPCXoQ7pb7svw/edit?usp=sharing

 

As we moved on to Kathy's selection 'The Bookbinder of Jericho', el pussycato found her place curled up in her sleeping cushion and a few wondered if they might join her, though as Kathy launched us into Pip Williams' latest - not quite a sequel to her earlier 'Dictionary of Lost Words' - any chance to smooch with le petit chat was left well behind. 

Margy's copy - The Complete Works of Shakespeare

Frontispiece of 1910 copy

There was general agreement this book took longer to get into than PW's first novel, and as we were thinking about how the book tiptoed across history while the bookbinders danced along the gathering table, Margy drew out of her bag her surprise book!  It was her copy of the original 1910 publication by the Oxford University Press of the book referred to in Jericho, 'The Complete Works of William Shakespeare'.  And so Margy was able to evidence that the quote in the first pages of Jericho was indeed from the 1910 publication edited by WJ Craig - 'I have only ventured to deviate where it seemed to me that the carelessness of either copyist or printer deprived a word or sentence wholly of meaning'.  Bound in leather, with gilt lettering and page edging, her beautiful old book threw us all into a different space - but affirmed that sound research was done by author Pip Williams for Jericho.    We reflected on the characters including the sufragette/VAD nurse Tilda, her friend and mother of the twins (whose story, Mog suggested, could be PW's next book), Lotte and Bastiaan, and Kathy's best character, Miss Garnell.   Some wondered (but didn't mention) whether the book attempted to engage us to make comparisons (thinking here of similarities in PW's two companion books; using twins as central characters; PW referencing Vera Brittain more than a few times - VB was the author of her 1933 autobiography 'Testament of Youth' about similar times, VAD nursing, fighting for women's suffrage and entry to Oxford) - just a random thought here from your blogger!   But there was general agreement that though another interesting story, this book probably wasn't as engaging as Lost Words.

You can find Kathy's comments on Pip and the book here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qEcIRv6fP5gYPoIM7N_ByelxXpGlV86OPGtuXup00kQ/edit?usp=sharing

Our evening finished with delicious Apple Strawberry crumble cake and talk about America, Trump, Biden, Putin and Prigozhin.   But the lasting image for the evening was of Jeremy in his undies and socks, as described by Mog, when he enthusiastically emerged to proclaim that he could now pull on both his socks and undies despite his dislocated shoulder.  What an ever-lasting vision we were left with!

Next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 5th September 2023, at McLassie's place with book selections:

McLassie: Trespasses, by Louise Kennedy

Margy: Best of Friends, by Kamila Shamsie

However, we agreed that with possible absences in September, this date may be reviewed, so stay tuned.   

Unspoken words and written words

Hoo-girls!  It was our first full house for a few meetings at Mogs on 3^rd May, so there was a lot of pre-book club chat about various haps including bargain dog beds at Audi, dog tussles on the beach and men who talk to the television, before Moggy pulled us in to line, sat us down, moved Bonnie off her lap, and introduced her selection, ‘All that’s left unsaid’, by Tracey Lien.   After hearing her talk at Book Week, Mog jumped right in and traced Tracey’s journey from growing up in a migrant Vietnamese family/community in Cabramatta, to journalist in Australia, then on to Los Angeles, where growing anxiety about journalism and ethics drove her to study for her Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Kansas.  “Research your own experience” is one piece of advice sometimes given to emerging writers and so Tracey did exactly this in her first book.  Set in Cabramatta during its drug days of the 1990’s it follows her (possibly) alter ego Ky as she investigates the death of her younger brother at Lucky 8.  True story it wasn’t but based on a true crime it was.

Australia comes out of this book quite whiffy with the stench of racism continuously swirling through the book.  There was a lot of discussion about this element of the book, along with the difficulties faced by the Vietnamese community when they arrived in Australia (which coincided with Australia’s late 1970’s transition from the White Australia Policy to multiculturalism).  So we learnt it was mainly the first generation of Australian born Vietnamese who haunted the druggie streets of Cabramatta in the 1990’s, while their parents worked hard, drank hard, gambled hard and often (it seems) set against each other, verbally and/or physically.  There was a lot to pick through and we agreed the book explored the conflicts, pressures and characterisations of the Vietnamese with some finesse.  In hindsight, it was interesting that Vietnamese males (of both generations) seemed to struggle more to adapt - though this can be contested as some females lost the plot as well.  However, this may be one of the many reasons why Denny’s death was so tragic, as he was regarded by all as a ‘good’ son.  Though it also has to be said one of our readers thought the good person/bad person trope was overdone and puzzled why the author used this analysis to the extent she did (who could that be now?).  Despite this lone criticism we all agreed it was a great book selection, and was important to read about the difficulties growing up as part of a minority community in Australia.

 

Yuendumu Doors at SAM

After a bigger discussion about minorities and racism, aboriginal communities and racism and artificial intelligence, and when Bonnie had settled down again on the floor, we time travelled 30 years and geographically travelled 16,438 kms with Cherrie’s selection ‘Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop’ by poet Alba Donati (translated by Elena Pala) – a very different book in sooo many ways.  

 

Written in diary format, with book orders at the end of each day’s entry (count the number of books you’ve heard of, if you dare), Cherrie gave us the run down of the book as we marvelled at her mastery of the Italian pronunciations of towns and names.  There were quite a few how's in this book - how Alba started the bookshop (crowdfunding campaign), how it burnt down shortly after it opened and how it was resuscitated with the help of the local community only to then strike Covid lockdowns.  We also read about Alba’s family and background as it emerged bit by bit from the diary, including (after 50+ years) the separate reconciliations of her 101 year old mother and 20 years younger father, and then her brother and Alba herself, the 19 years younger sister.  And interspersed were delightful rapid fire stories of most of the other 180 villagers living in Lucignana – along with Alba’s attempts at commercialism by organising and selling literary-themed jars of jam (go figure), Freda Khalo tea (it was highly coloured) and other unique products (read book-titled knitted socks).  

 

It was a short but alluring read about daily life in the village and the bookshop, and we all wanted to find our way to the bookshop’s garden with a coffee (or FK tea) in one hand and a book in the other.  

 

As Mogs moist fruity/mango cake triumphantly went down the book selections for 5 July at Kathy’s place started to tumble out – they are

 

Megan – Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith

Kathy – The bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams (you can get it at Big W for $16).

And you might get the right recipe for the cake here https://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipes/mango-fruit-cake-recipe/exyu8mue

(note to Mog: please review and assess, but don't use ChatGPT - if you want to read a scary article about AI, try this one - https://www.theage.com.au/national/when-the-godfather-of-ai-warns-you-about-his-offspring-you-listen-20230504-p5d5ig.html

Lessons for life - Chemistry and Sanity

On the first day of Autumn 2023 (yee haa, end of summer) we gathered at Cherilyn's place for our first meeting of the year - apart from Megan who was golfing her way around New Zealand, and McLassie who we all missed too.

Our heartfelt conversation began on the subject of pacemakers - that is, the internal ones for Cherrie and Kathy and not Gerry's mob - and agreed that medicine can be a marvel in the 21st century but what a pity some of the medical practitioners aren't so much.  All hoping for a better next day for Cherrie.

Cherilyn sat us down and introduced us to Bonnie Garmus, author of her book 'Lessons in Chemistry' giving us an overview of the author's story and the book's story.   (There are quite a few interviews with Bonnie on Youtube - this one is only 3 minutes but you can get other longer ones by searching Youtube.  And here is the link to the book review in the Guardian if you missed Julie's earlier email - theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/25/bonnie-garmus-so-few-of-us-havent-been-pushed-aside-lessons-in-chemistry?utm_term=63fb1185ad3100e51db7a477ca939672&utm_campaign=Bookmarks&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=bookmarks_email

The book was started after a work meeting during which Bonnie's voice wasn't heard, so she went home and wrote the first chapter starring Elizabeth Zott as the woman who wouldn't be dismissed.  Five years later, the book combining "feminism, history, science, and television in an engaging and thought provoking way" (review by ChatGPT) emerged and hit the no 1 bestseller list.  We were all highly engaged with this book, mostly because it resonated so much with our varied experiences.  Becoming Elizabeth Zott became an aspiration.  

We learnt the voice of Six Thirty was inspired by the author's dog, Friday, who apparently recognised many words, including some German words (did I just make that up or did I remember it from the discussion?).  Six Thirty was highly intelligent too (with over 900 words) and had a key role in the book - as a companion, guardian and importantly a truth teller. We didn't get to talk about many other characters (including the good ones like Mad and Calvin, the not so good ones, and the ones that came good in the end) but did chat about the wonders of the television cooking show 'Supper at Six', and possibly its model, Julia Childs 'The French Chef' (who, if you watch the clip, amazingly sounds just like Meryl Streep).  While the fairy tale ending was a bit of a downer for some, (not everyone has a fairy godmother), we all agreed it was a great read and a great choice - a very engaging story reflecting the social milieu of the 60's (and sadly beyond), but laced with humour and charged with positivity. 

It was then on to Barb's book 'How to stay sane in an age of division', by Elif Shafak.  This was a little book with a BIG message, and has, we learnt, kept Barb awake at night.  Barb told us about Elif Shafak who is well known as a celebrated writer  - coming from a cross cultural background (Turkish; German; English), with a sexual orientation that also crosses over.  The book covered issues such as social dislocation, the decline of democracy, the role of technology and social media and extremism - and Barb referred to the collective narcissism that this can create. We talked about the anger in those who dive down rabbit holes of conspiracy theories and/or anti-vaccination and/or extremism, and Kathy reminded us how important it is to stay calm and rational in the face of such anger.    This brought us to a discussion on the limitations of the book, where practical solutions were not so easy to find.  Story telling is offered as one solution but for some of us it was hard to get to grips with how this was going to resolve the seemingly intractable challenges of the 21st century.    And for some the book's messages were equally applicable for people who don't want us to stay sane in an age of division - aka right wing promoter Jordan Peterson (a Canadian psychologist and media commentator according to Wikipedia - think child of Steve Bannon and Sidney Powell - boy has Trump got a lot to answer for!)).  But then, the book's title assumes the reader is already sane, so perhaps we're OK after all.   

No one was sure whether Barb would get a good nights sleep that evening - but it was an interesting conversation about an important little book by a writer whose time has come.  Whatever the sleep quality was, Barb's hair looked great and it sounded like an interesting conversation in the hairdressing salon about book clubs and guts (see below).   We all enjoyed Cherilyn's fabulous Plum cake and apres livre conversation, which included many torrid tales of Hissing Sid - then some of us drove homewards through the CBD without headlights switched on (OMG - who could that be!).  

Cherilyn's yum plum cake 

And here is the Cake recipe: Slice 4 large nectarines, 3 large peaches, or 5/6 plums in basin/colander and sprinkle with 2.5 teaspoons of sugar and toss (Cherilyn added a good teaspoon of cinnamon as well).  Set aside to drain.

Cream together 320gm butter with 300gm sugar.  Add 3 eggs and grated zest of 2 lemons.  Add 250 mls milk, 400gm self raising flour and 1.5 teaspoons baking powder.  

Divide the batter between 2 x 30 cm torte tins.  Cover one with the drained fruit and place the other into the freezer for later.  Sprinkle over the fruit a further good tablespoon sugar, and bake at 180C for around 55 minutes for nectarine/peaches, and 60-65 minutes for plums.  Remove when skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake.  Serve with whipped cream.  

To serve the second cake, thaw, cover with more drained sugared sliced fruit (ie another lot as above), add the tablespoon of sugar and cook.  (Or you could just halve the batter quantity and make one cake).  

Other books mentioned were

• Hitlers girl by Lauren Young (about one of the Mitford's dalliance) - NOT Mog's selection for a number of post-meeting reasons (difficult to find; reviews not flattering; historical errors; and do we really need to know?)
• The glass castle, by Jeanette Walls (this is the book Mog was trying to remember that was similar to Education). 
• Against the loveless world, by Susan Abulhawa (go see her at Writer's week if you dare)
• Diary of a Tuscan bookshop, by Alba Donati - probably Cherrie's selection for next meeting
• Gut - the inside story, by Gulia Enders (from Barb's hairdressing salon somewhere on Goodwood Road)
• All the broken places (follow on from The boy in the striped pyjamas), by John Boyne

And for something different - 

• watch - The extraordinary Attorney Woo (on Netflix)
• listen to - the podcast, Pongsu https://www.theage.com.au/pong-su and also on Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-last-voyage-of-the-pong-su/id1481166968
• watch - The Outfit, a must see film with Mark Rylance that has just come on to Netflix

Next meeting at Mog's place on Wednesday 3rd May 2023 - books are:

Diary of a Tuscan bookshop, by Alba Donato (Cherrie)

All that's left unsaid, by Tracey Lien (Mog)

Farewell 2022 - Hello 2023

 

Its the 2022 wrap up and 2023 opening book selection

Book selections for 1 March 2023 at Cherilyn's place:

• Cherilyn: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
• Barb: How to remain sane in an age of division by Elif Shafak

2023 Schedule (first name hosts unless otherwise arranged):

• Wednesday 1st March - Cherilyn and Barb
• Wednesday 3rd May - Mog and Cherrie
• Wednesday 5th July - Megan and Kathy
• Wednesday 6 September - McLassie and McMargie
• Wednesday 1 November -  Sue and Julie

And lets get more 'F' into the FnB club - feel free to share any films you think are worth seeing. Here's a start

She Said - you'll never watch Miramax again; its on in theatres now

Burn before Reading - an older Cohen Bros film now on Netflix (yes it does channel Fargo)

Feel free to add to the list.....