Sunday Snaps
Recap and Recs for February 2023
First off, welcome new subscribers! There are so many of you and I REALLY appreciate your support and faith in my writing project! Welcome welcome!
It’s already the first weekend on March and I feel like the stores are already putting out Halloween decor. Just kidding. No, not really. 2024 feels like it’s both unenduringly slow (hi longest January every) and moving at warp speed. I realize I said Sunday Snaps would be on the last Sunday of the month, but there was so much of February left on Sunday, I thought I could wait. What good is a leap year/leap month if it doesn’t do you a little favor? Planning for the last Sunday going forward, but always appreciate flexibility!
The Spring
The Spring picks up on day 2 of the investigation this week as we head into the initial interviews with the teens that were at the Halloween party. February 23rd’s chapter “Interlude: Un-Mappable” was a departure, and I appreciate all of you going with it. I wrote it a while ago to get a little deeper into the character and didn’t think I’d post it, but my friend Kate (@wildplumpoetry on IG) encouraged me to “play”, so I took the risk.
Speaking of risks, I remembered that it was a year ago in February of 2023 that my story suggestion made it on to an episode of My Favorite Murder - episode 365 “You Don’t Ever Know”. I found a weird little anthology of San Francisco true crime stories at Green Apple Books and the tale of “The Demon of the Belfry” was one of them. From the late 1890’s in the Mission District of SF - Theodore Durrant murdered two young women he was romancing at the time: Blanche Lamott and Minnie Williams. These were gruesome murders and very few people seem to know about them, but I also think a lot of San Francisco history, good and bad, was lost with the 1906 earthquake. It’s almost as though there’s time before and time after. I’m so honored that Karen Kilgariff went ahead with this story for the show. (For reference, I sent my suggestion in via email in May of 2022.) Somehow I think this little event spurred my idea to write my own SF crime story, and here we are…
Seen. Heard. Enjoyed. Still Thinking About.
Saw a live episode of the Criminal podcast in early February at the Palace of Fine Arts and it was lovely. Not only did I get to introduce my friend Kim to Phoebe Judges’ amazing voice, but the stories told all evening were so compelling and beautifully presented.
Truly cannot stop thinking about Swan Lake at the SF Ballet. My friend Justine invited to me to come last minute and what a treat to have this production as my first performance of this classic. Sasha de Sola was Odette/Odile was masterful, and the entire production was just stunning. Full house, standing ovation, and people shouting with joy throughout. A little girl (maybe about 10 or 12) was with her mother a few rows ahead of us and she was out of her seat cheering when Odile did her 32 fouetté turns in Act III. We all were. Don’t you love it when seeing the ballet is like seeing football game?
Speaking of football…actually, let’s not. I’m still sad. Go Niners.
Not much grabbing my attention in terms of shopping right now, but I’m kind of in love with this sweater from Lingua Franca that says “You can go your own way”. Yes, it brings up the Fleetwood Mac song, but with the little abstract map detail it makes me think of hiking the Camino de Santiago, a path which is often called “The Way”. I do love the look of this coat at Boden, but it’s 100% polyester which gobsmacks me when I see how expensive it is… How do brands get away with things like this?
I read Killers of the Flower Moon when it debuted in 2017 and was stunned by the story, no less so in the film interpretation. Though long, it’s beautifully done. The colors and landscapes are crisp and vibrant, and I loved the costuming. For me, Lily Gladstone steals the entire film. Her regal calm, beauty, and stillness are the prefect counterpoint to Leo DiCaprio’s lumbering folly. I also appreciated that Scorsese folded in the Tulsa Race Massacre to show the two narratives happening concurrently. Despite all of the beauty shown, you definitely felt the tension of the evil all around.
Watched Priscilla the moment it came out on HBO last weekend and while I think there was a lot to enjoy about this film, the ending leaves a lot to be desired. Of course I loved the classic Sofia Coppola aesthetic throughout, especially her use of b-roll and still imagery. (Philippe le Sourd was cinematographer, while her brother Roman headed her second-unit — as he did for Marie Antoinette and most of his sister’s films, as well as the films of Wes Anderson. Speaking of which, Roman Coppola’s own film CQ from 2001 is a favorite and incredibly stylish if you’re into a late-1960s Parisian vibe. Isn’t everyone?) Coppola didn’t shy away from the subtext of Elvis & Me, which paints a very troubled relationship between Priscilla and Elvis: isolation, manipulation, domestic violence, addiction - it’s all there. However, I think that they were maybe handled a little too delicately. The book came out in the 80s and made the rounds as I was growing up, so we all knew the story far too young and romanticized it far too much (like Flowers in the Attic and its 80’s ilk). In the cold light of 2024…Wow, ew, eeeeek. And I say this as an Elvis fan. This Priscilla is definitely in her gilded cage and entirely unsatisfied, or she would be if she were allowed to realize it. Which begs, is she unintelligent or unaware? Or just in the throws of love? Stylistically, I loved that Sofia Coppola used low-lighting throughout to hint at the shadows of the relationship, and didn’t focus much on Jacob Elordi as Elvis - he’s shown at a distance, out of focus, shadowed, wearing dark glasses, etc. - he’s an enigma she can’t quite grasp. The ending just leaves so much to be desired, in my opinion. It’s a big glaring question mark which I thought was maybe unfair to the life of Priscilla Presley. Overall enjoyable though and wonderful eye-candy.
Really enjoyed True Detective s4 and found the ending to be very satisfying. This interview with writer/director Issa López from Variety where she discusses the last episode is fantastic. Loved the story and the style of Monsieur Spade but the ending was kind of a womp for me. I don’t want to give anything away, especially as I’d love to see this series come back again for more seasons, but the ending was a bit too tidy and I think Dashiell Hammett may agree. Feud: Capote Vs Swans is fun of a very different variety. Really enjoying the acting and style of this series and cannot wait to see how the final episodes wrap up. Tom Hollander is incredible, as is Naomi Watts and the full ensemble. Jewelry editor Will Kahn of @willsnotebook on IG has been doing recaps of the jewelry styles throughout and they’re full of classic Verdura. (The brand even has an “As Seen on Feud” edit on their site.)
The New Look on AppleTV+ is beautifully done, especially with Juliette Binoche as a fifty-something Coco Chanel. In fact, I’m loving that so many legendary designers are depicted in the series: Balenciaga, Balmain, Lelong, Patou, Lanvin, Rochas… I loved how they depicted the designers forming a united front at the end of WWII in order “save” France’s fashion industry. Lelong’s idea of a group fashion show on 1/3 size wire-form dolls was a stroke of genius, leveraging materials and resources across the group to present new fashion out of almost nothing. Sets from Jean Cocteau and Christian Bérard didn’t hurt either. The show known as the Theatre de la Mode was held at the Louvre in March, 1945 where it received more than 100,000 visitors, and then traveled the world. This article from Forbes by Rachel Elspeth Gross (one of my favorites) provides excellent details on this. That said, the narrative around the activities of Coco Chanel during WWII are a little messy. Granted, there are more episodes to go, but Chanel’s ties with the Nazi party are very well documented (be sure to read Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel’s Secret War by Hal Vaughn for specifics,) but so far the show seems to be making a case for Chanel’s innocence with a “she had no choice but to…” narrative. This may change as the series closes, but it’s a bit off-putting when the evidence is there. Meanwhile Christian Dior’s own sister Catherine, a member of the French Resistance, is captured by the Nazi’s and sent to a work camp in Germany - also a true story. (Catherine was the original “Miss Dior” for the brand; it is unfortunate that Maria Grazia Chiuri (current designer for Christian Dior) chose to graffiti “Miss Dior” over a number of pieces from this Fall’s collection for the house. Apparently this motif was based on a 1967 signage made for a line of Miss Dior boutique when Marc Bohan was the designer. Even with this meaning and intention, I think the design choice here was a big miss in an otherwise lovely collection.) A final thing on The New Look - the closing songs are classic French war-time tunes sung by modern artists: Nick Cave singing “La Vie en Rose”, Florence Welch - “White Cliffs of Dover”, Lana del Rey - “Blue Skies” - all are exceptional renditions.
I could (should?) say something more about some of the great stuff coming out of the fashion weeks, but this Snap is already too long… Product recs next time too.
But a few new reads on Substack: I’m in love with Unbox Inbox by Chloe List - all about CPG packaging design with witty analysis and history. Be sure to check her posts on mustard and salt! OG San Francisco blogger Alicia Lund has just joined Substack, so please show her some love too.
Looking forward to the Oscars and the start of baseball this month!