Weeknotes: 10/8/23-10/14/23

This Week:

• My Family and I spent last weekend in Eastern Massachusetts, particularly Cape Ann. It’s a place we really love, and plan to spend more time in the coming years.
• In North American Material Culture, I talked about wampum and repatriation, with a focus on the long process of the loss and return of the New York Wampum. I also handed out their final take-home exam, and finished some grading. Then we’re done!
• In the Museum, I did some work on upcoming programs, especially “The Horror in the Museum”. I also hosted a class on wearable art and showcased some objects in the collection.
• My wife and I re-watched “The Crow” a movie that was vitally important to me as a teenager for many of the reasons mentioned here. The film generally holds up. The stark and moody set design of a dark-mirror Detroit still looks wet and grimy and great. The acting is all pretty superb, stocked as it is with excellent character actors. And the soundtrack, though variable, has some astonishing highlights, which feature in the film, including maybe the best song the Cure ever wrote, and both Nine Inch Nails and Rollins band paying energetic homage to their ancestors. The whole thing is anchored by an emotionally and physically rich performance by Brandon Lee that should have kicked off a rich and varied career and instead was tragically snuffed out. A great movie for Halloween, or for anytime.
• I finished reading Carmen Maria Machado’s “Her Body and Other Parties”, but I’m still working on my notes about it. The short version is that it was excellent; creepy and sexual and feminist.
• Still more car and house work. Blah….
• I did get to see my folks for a brief lunch, and we firmed up our plans to visit them at Christmastime.