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| Saturday, December 21, 2019 |
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| 12 min. reading |
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Suggestions for your senses,
every Saturday at 9 a.m. |
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Good morning.
This week, we browse the Criterion Channel streaming network, warm up in Røros Tweed from Norway, sip the new Jus Jus low-alcohol sparkling verjus, gain some Christmas song wisdom from composer Andrew Gant, and ask Fleurotica’s Robin Hilleary how to pick a potent flower arrangement.
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 On Ep. 30 of our Time Sensitive podcast—our Season 2 finale—Andrew talks with engineer, inventor, designer, entrepreneur, and investor Tony Fadell. We’ll be back on March 4 with Season 3. |
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| A still from Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936). (Photo: Roy Export S.A.S) |
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The Criterion Collection recently launched its on-demand streaming service, the Criterion Channel, which means that you can now stream a majority of the titles from its vast library of art-house essentials. From classic to contemporary, the global selection counts more than 1,000 films in all. Time to upgrade your Netflix-and-chill game. Here, we pick a few of our personal favorites:
Modern Times (1936)
“Modern Times is Charlie Chaplin’s comedic take on the human condition in the wake of technological advancement. Within the current context of economic disparity and the threat of A.I., the film is as relevant today as it was in 1936. This is the original man-versus-machine story that ultimately resolves itself with a sense of hope for humanity.” —A.Z.
Surface Tension (1968)
“The title of this arresting short work by Hollis Frampton says it all. An experimental three-part film, it’s fascinating and beautiful, and, at times, also frenetic and nauseatingly choppy. My favorite part is the speedy, peripatetic tour of New York City. Imagine Google Maps circa 1968—it’s a rare glimpse into the life of a city that, more than 50 years later, is now an entirely different world. Watching it today, there’s a then-and-now contrast that creates an interesting tension, one the filmmaker couldn’t have imagined.” —S.B.
Chungking Express (1994)
“In this dreamy Wong Kar-wai classic set in 1990s Hong Kong, love, heartbreak, and chance encounters intersect at a late-night Midnight Express deli, where the storyline of one jilted policeman emerges against the background of another, and people go about their daily routines and strange obsessions. Gorgeous cinematography and Wong’s portrayal of time—frantic and passing by in a color-smeared flash one moment, and languorously slowed down the next—evocatively capture the feeling of loneliness, longing, and living in a bustling city.” —A.K.
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Sweater weather begets snuggly blanket weather, and we’re particularly taken by the lush and puffy woolen creations of Norwegian heritage brand Røros Tweed. Named for the 17th-century copper mining town on Unesco’s list of World Heritage sites, the textiles company grew out of an apprentice and charity program that was originally established in the late 1700s, with funds bequeathed by the mine’s director, Peder Hiort; it only later became a commercial entity, in the 1940s. Today, Røros fuses centuries-old craft with modern-day design, issuing collaborations with contemporary talents like the New York– and Oslo-based architecture firm Snøhetta, whose angular, graphic pattern is designed to fold into the shape of the studio’s namesake, the Snøhetta mountain in the Dovrefjell range, and the French designer Inga Sempé, whose intricate patterns and gradients have featured in three collections to date (one of which is pictured above). Sara Wright Polmar’s striking Toskaft throw is available in the U.S. through Design Within Reach; you can also find Røros’s wares through the Scandinavian design retailer Fjørn. It’s the perfect warm-and-fuzzy for someone on your nice list.
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Artist, cookbook author, and chef Julia Sherman has had her fair share of memorable meals—her popular blog, Salad For President, posts photographs and recipes of the many dishes she’s shared in the company of friends and fellow artists: jerk shrimp and breadfruit with Simon Benjamin; green salad and dukkah with Joan Jonas, Gwenn Thomas, and Joana Avillez. But it was a happy accident that led to the idea of her latest project, Jus Jus, a sparkling alcoholic beverage made from verjus, a tart juice pressed from unripe grapes that’s typically used as a vinegary note in salads and marinades. Sherman had a homemade bottle of the stuff lying around, and one day discovered it had aged and fermented, producing a gentle fizz and a soft, mellow buzz when she tasted it. So she did what any artist-chef would do—she called up her winemaking friend Martha Stoumen, to experiment and see if they could make a batch of the stuff on purpose. Two years on, the duo has just launched their first pressing, a blend of unripe petite sirah and sweet muscat grapes, with an A.B.V. that’s so low, at 3 percent, that “it can’t be considered wine,” Sherman says, “but it’s similar to wine in that it’s always going to be changing from year to year.”
As a busy working mom, she also offers a practical and compelling case for Jus Jus: “Working in the food industry, there’s sort of a reason to drink every single night. It’s very hard to avoid, but I’m not definitely not sober, and I love to celebrate and enjoy the ritual of wine without having to get too drunk.” Hold the hangover; we’ll be popping a bottle of this come New Year’s Eve. |
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Andrew Gant, a British composer, singer, Oxford University lecturer, and the author of Christmas Carols: From Village Green to Church Choir (Profile Books), shares a sampling of classic Christmas songs and elaborates on their surprising folk origins.
“White Christmas” (1942)
Irving Berlin
“Songwriter Irving Berlin has a fascinating backstory: Born Israel Baline in tsarist Russia, his family fled to America where he went on to become one of the first, and most successful, creators of the Great American Songbook. This song typifies his clever but direct style of melody and ability to match words and music—it also gave Bing Crosby his biggest hit.”
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” (18th Century)
“Many Christmas ‘carols’ are really just party songs, mixing images from pre-Christian history with folk songs, imagery of life and death, and all sorts of other things. This one has its share of nonsense elements: The partridge, for a start, lives on the ground. Could it be a mispronounced variant of the French word for a partridge, ‘un perdrix’? Maybe. A version of the song appeared in France around about the same time as the first printed English version.”
Corelli Christmas Concerto (1714)
“Roman Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli wrote instrumental pieces to conjure up a devotional mood as part of services in the ornate churches and chapels of Rome. This wonderful piece contains a typical flowing movement based on the rhythms and melodies of the pifferari, the shepherds playing their pipes in the hills above Naples. It’s a reference used by many composers of the time to capture the spirit of Christmas (the brief instrumental ‘pifa’ in Handel’s Messiah is another example).”
“O Come, All Ye Faithful” (1744)
“This popular tune is actually based on a Catholic hymn transcribed by an Englishman fleeing persecution in France, with words from a translation of a Latin hymn by several English poets and clerics. The song has been associated with all sorts of things—including Bonnie Prince Charlie, Portugal, and Benedictine monks. Despite its mongrel heritage, nothing quite says Christmas like the famous last verse.”
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Robin Hilleary, the singular one-woman talent behind the New York City floral studio Fleurotica, offers advice on choosing the perennial please-all gift: a fragrant, freshly cut bouquet of flowers.
How do you pick a potent flower arrangement?
The floral industry is just as flawed and complicated as that of food and agriculture. Imported cut flowers are bred for beauty, not scent, so beware of cheap roses sprayed with fake rose fragrance—seriously. Stick with organic flowers, and choose as locally and seasonally as possible to ensure you get happy, healthy, and naturally, boldly scented flowers. And stay curious and open-minded, because sometimes the least expected varietals have a beautiful scent.
What varieties of plants do you prefer, from a scent perspective?
There are so many that really move me—roses, of course—but also: the creamy, musky scent of cymbidium orchids, transportive chocolate cosmos, scented geranium, tuberose, muscari (or grape hyacinth), sweetpeas, the blossoms of any citrus tree, little wild daisies…
What other elements make for a show-stopping floral bouquet?
I love unexpected pairings and unique forms. I think that anything can be beautiful en masse when arranged sculpturally—say, a ton of wild grass cut to exactly the same length in a kind of Brutalist way, or wildflowers at wacky, winding lengths, like dancers with long limbs. Alternatively, picking truly jaw-dropping blooms means you shouldn't put too much effort in at all. A few Icelandic poppies in a vase don’t ask for even an iota of work, as they should be left to shine entirely as they are, alone in the vase.
What are some of your favorite flowers to work with at the moment?
I can gush over any flower, but will have phases in terms of color palettes. Right now, I’m enjoying working whites and creams into my work, which I haven’t typically gravitated toward. Those lighter hues can really makes surrounding colors pop, while also showcasing the contours and shadows of the blooms.
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Happy holidays! We’ll be back with our next newsletter on January 4. Until then...
Today’s email was written by Aileen Kwun.
Editor: Spencer Bailey
Creative Director: Andrew Zuckerman
Producer: Emily Queen
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