Things I Learned This Week

Dante, Cantinflas, Aeschylus, Anderson, Cook, and Sweet Sweet Jane

What a heartbreak. My son can’t believe that 99-year-old David Attenborough outlived Jane Goodall who was only 91. I was kinda hoping they both would just live forever. Is that too much to ask? I mean really, she had a spring in her step like that of a small child or a rabbit. What a we-are-not-worthy woman. She was too good for this world. We were lucky to have her as long as we did. 💔 Sigh. That said, even if my heart is crushed, here’s some other stuff that made it into my brain this week.

Who knew that Texas State is one of the top performing arts colleges in the world? Apparently, a lot of people, so I was excited to see Prometheus Bound on Wednesday night. While I am not a huge fan of Greek plays, I was psyched to see what the theater department has up its sleeve. The tragedy is about Prometheus’s eternal suffering as a punishment from Zeus for giving fire to humans. Dang gods! The set and costume design were minimal yet impactful—the stage consisted of nothing more than a dramatic cliff and some projections. Having spent the last 13 years watching theater at a private university not known for its arts program, it was a thrill to see a show where everyone, from the leads to the chorus, was dialed in to 11. While all the woe was mildly traumatizing, I will be back for Sweeney Todd in November!

My husband and I often eat at this Mexican restaurant near our house, and I always sit near a painting of a man with a cap and a bandana, smoking a cigarette. When I asked my husband who the man was, he was shocked. “Cantinflas.” I just stared at him. “You don’t know Cantinflas? Everyone knows Cantiflas!” I’m not sure how I’ve lived in San Antonio this long without ever registering his name. CANTIFLAS, or to be more specific, Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes, the most famous Mexican comedian who ever lived. An actor and filmmaker during the 40s and 50s, he often played peasants who would strike up a conversation and then complicate it to the point where no one understood what they were talking about. In Hollywood, he co-starred with David Niven in the Oscar-winning film Around the World in 80 Days, for which he won a Golden Globe award for Best Actor (the first Latino to do so and only the second EVER to win the prize). Born into poverty in Mexico City, his stage name was a meaningless term he made up to hide the fact that he was a lowly actor from his disapproving parents. When he died, the entire country went into mourning, and thousands attended his funeral. Guess he showed them.

The Bible only uses vague terms to describe Hell. It is a furnace of conscious torment where the fire never goes out. A place of excruciating misery where the worm does not die. A place of agonizing thirst that can never be quenched. Reading Dante’s Inferno in IA class, and we discussed how so much of what we think Hell is comes from Dante. Being the art buff that I am now, I did a deep dive, and it ends up Dante got lots of his ideas from buddy (and my favorite) Giotto. They were close friends, very involved in each other’s work, but Giotto finished the Scrovegni Chapel in 1306 (the Hell of which can be viewed above, the first visual imaging of what Hell might be), and Dante didn’t start The Divine Comedy until 1308. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Who knows, but me thinks that Dante and Giotto probably had some pretty wild conversations. You can zoom in to high-res here to see some totally insane stuff.

We saw One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely based on the 1990 novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. It’s kind of a companion piece to Eddington. I don’t wanna say too much (ten thumbs up on the cinematography, acting, and everything), but just go see it. ‘Twas great.

Fun Sex Pistols facts. John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) named his follow-up band Public Image, after Muriel Spark’s book The Public Image. And Paul Cook (the drummer) has a daughter who sings pop reggae that will set your mood right, no matter what the temp. Hollie Cook was a member of the final incarnation of the female punk/reggae band the Slits and has since had a fairly solid solo career. Have a listen to Milk & Honey and fall in love.

Ten years ago, Trinity University Press brought Dr. Jane Goodall to campus, and I was lucky enough to spend a good deal of time one-on-one with her. At a certain point, she was talking about a UN conference she’d been to, and I mentioned how lucky she must feel to travel the world and meet so many amazing people. She grew sad and said it wasn’t that great because she didn’t get to spend as much time as she wanted with the people she loved. The animals depended on her. She earned extraordinarily high speaking fees and traveled 300 days a year to support the Jane Goodall Institute. At the time, it really broke my heart. Here is this amazing, incredible icon who felt like she was on a hamster wheel she couldn’t get off of. Too many people and animals depended on her. In remembrance of her, DONATE for all the weeks and years she didn’t get to spend time doing the things she loved to protect the natural world she adored. I doubt we will see that kind of dedication and selflessness again in our lifetime. Godspeed Jane.

Quote of the week?

“The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

― Jane Goodall

‘Til Tuesday kids.

Burgin

(An MFA grad student at 50+… follow along and read my story here.)