Sunday smörgåsbord #040 - 7.4
This week: A weekend in the country, Saltburn (not connected) and Dalí's Falla. Plus, in the criminal justice system, sexually based offences are considered especially heinous.
Happy Sunday! Thanks for reading Scrambled Eggs.
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Features & Podcasts
‘‘I got you an Oscar. Why do I need to pay you?’ The secret shocking truth about Merchant Ivory’, The Guardian. If someone were to say ‘Merchant Ivory’ to me then films of a certain era about a certain era would come to mind - and nothing more. This article filled in a lot of blanks, and that’s putting it mildly. The documentary it’s promoting has gone straight onto my ‘to watch’ list.
‘I stopped apologising for my poor German, and something wonderful happened’, The Guardian. As someone who attempts to speak Spanish every day and who apologises for it every day… well, I feel seen and called out at the same time. A good reminder that eighty percent of the battle is showing up and acting like you don’t care, even when you’re cringing inside. (Side note: the author has nothing to apologise for - German is her fifth language!)
‘Dalí designed a Falla / Dalí diseñó una falla’, Distrito Fallas. A chance conversation on LinkedIn sent me down a rabbit hole researching how Salvador Dalí once designed a Falla (if you don’t know anything about Valencia’s famous Fallas fiesta check out this recent post of mine). This article gives a good overview and even includes a wobbly handheld video of the replica Falla kept in the Reial Cercle Artístic de Barcelona (maestro or not, Dalí’s sculpture was still burned like all the rest).
‘A new start after 60: I had to make my life count before it was too late – so I rowed across the Atlantic’, The Guardian. At 57 Sian Davies was laid up in bed unable to walk thanks to a herniated disc. Four years later, she was becoming only one of six women over 60 to row across the Atlantic. We can accomplish so much, and in different seasons of our life: Sian’s story is proof of that.
‘The film fans who refuse to surrender to streaming: ‘One day you’ll barter bread for our DVDs’’, The Guardian. Despite being a technophile (and I don’t say this flippantly: his entire career has been anchored by tech) my Dad is deeply suspicious of today’s trend towards ‘renting’ rather than owning our belongings, particularly media. And I think he has a point, but one which overlooks that this generation often needs to rent rather than own most of their things (see: housing instability, job instability, planet instability!) Regardless of our conflicting views I read this article with his words ringing in my ears, particularly the part about the shift in film’s content (and availability) thanks to the licensing agreements involved. Could he be.. onto something? Thank God he still has our entire VHS and DVD collection just in case.
Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Law and Order: SVU, Netflix. The seminal TV show of my twenties finally makes it to Netflix. Yes, I’ve watched them all already. Yes, I’m obviously watching them again. As the meme goes, every girlie has her mental health procedural, and this one will forever be mine. Watching a few SVU repeats after a hard day’s work this week immediately brought back fond memories of falling asleep to New York City’s ‘especially heinous’ murders. There’s something soothing about a world in which Benson, Stabler, Tutuola and Munch (sob, RIP) exist, especially when the series has been going long before Me Too and Times Up. Certainly they give me more faith in the criminal justice system than the Met currently does.
Saltburn, dir. Fennell (2023). I loved Promising Young Woman and given all the hype (good and bad) I was excited to dive into Emerald Fennell’s latest outing. But sadly I didn’t love it. The ‘look’ of it all: yes. The soundtrack: definitely. Fennell went to Uni when I did and it shows; though I wasn’t smart enough to go to Oxbridge I was instantly transported back to my University days (minus the huge country pile, Studio 54-esque parties and, you know, the really weird stuff). But in the end I loved the idea of the characters more than how they were executed (though Rosamund Pike was breathtakingly good) and my interest piqued more from the questions the film raised about class and fitting in than the ‘drama’ (trying to write about this without giving spoilers is hard). The last scene also left me totally cold, for me it didn’t fit the rest of the film (just me?!) In fact I came away from the film wondering if Fennell had accidentally made the opposite point to what she intended. What did you think? I’d love to know your take in the comments.
Lifestyle
This weekend we escaped to the countryside for a couple of nights, finding a super simple AirBnb in the mountains about ninety minutes outside of Valencia. The ‘Casa Rural’ we picked was perfect: in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by olive trees, and rough around the edges in all the right ways (minimal frills, no wifi, stonking fire, great views). At night you could hear a pin drop it was so quiet. In the evening we played board games, read by the fire, and watched whatever was on terrestrial TV - a strange sort of luxury in itself.
In the daytimes, we did two lovely hikes, including this one up to the Castilo de Chirel (link via All Trails). Perched right on top of a cliff it looked daunting, but was only a 1.8km hike up a well-maintained path. After tackling only a couple of steeper inclines we were rewarded with a stunning view of the river and reservoirs below the castle, plus an opportunity to amble around the ruins which date from the 13th century.
That’s it for this week. I hope you find something in this list that sparks joy or curiosity.
If you’ve got any recommendations on articles, podcasts, Substacks or shows for me to dive into, please drop them in the comments. Until next time!
❤️ If you liked this post don’t forget to hit the heart to let me know and help others find my writing.
📮 And if you’re not yet subscribed, all editions of Sunday smörgåsbord are free forever. Sign up for free and get next week’s in your inbox.