A BOOK A FOOD A FILM

Sunshine Sento Sake, but make it about my world

The US strikes on Iran sicken and enrage me. The Iranians do not deserve this campaign of terror. This graphic so effectively showcases the media’s egregious war mongering.

Will there be no consequences, again, for their support of a “preemptive strike”? How can we be falling through the exact same trap door? Reject this narrative and the papers that trumpet it.

I recommend following Writers Against the War on Gaza, which routinely publishes my favorite newsletters. This week, I’m going to watch an Iranian film. I will repeat this assignment frequently for as long as the US commits to waging this unprovoked, reprehensible war.

And now, for something silly…

“Every 23-minute episode of Sunshine Sento Sake follows the same format: Each one begins with Utsumi at his job as a salesman, which he clearly isn’t very good at; sent out into the field, he makes his way through the neighborhoods of Tokyo, and inevitably gets distracted when he spots a sento, a type of Japanese public bathhouse. After calling the office to say to not expect him back, he hits the baths. Picking a tub, he sinks in until he’s up to his neck in the steaming water, leans his head back with a bright grin on his face, and says, ‘Ah! I feel so guilty!’

“Following a soak… he dresses and heads back out into the world, but not to go back to work. He needs a drink and a snack.”¹

That is my inspiration. This is my sunshine sento sake:

A Book

Everyone says to read Lonesome Dove. I will, I swear! May I also suggest listening to Donna Tartt read True Grit. Turns out it’s the summer for Western novels and subverting the Western cowboy genre.

A Food

Every week of the summer I think about eating shave ice at Soen (923 SW Oak, Thursday to Monday). These are not the pebbly snow cones of my youth. There’s no blue raspberry syrup puddling and soiling a flimsy paper cone. My friend Sakiko tops fluffy clouds with seasonal purees and syrups that encapsulate fruit at its peak. While eating, I feel I could continue forever in a dream state.

Also, don’t miss her inari—sushi rice wrapped in seasoned fried tofu. It’s a perfect food.

A Film

On Thursday, June 12, I went to a retrospective of filmmaker Jim Blashfield’s work. Jim is a dear family friend. I have a photo of us asleep on the pink couch at our old house off NE Flanders. I’m under the age of one, diaper off, passed out on his chest. He’s equally sound asleep, jaw slack.

My brother Zak has spent the last 25 years collaborating with Jim on a host of incredible public video works. Jim is dear to me!

Zak and Jim at the retrospective!

Jim is best known for making high profile music videos in the 1980s for the likes of the Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, Nushooz, and Joni Mitchell. The one that truly takes the cake—and is required viewing, period—is his video for Michael’s Jackson’s Leave Me Alone. If you haven’t seen it, please do so this very second!

I find every element of this video brilliant. It’s a story of being turned into a carnival ride for public entertainment. MJ travels through his own carapace and passes by the paparazzi-fueled narratives that defined his public image. He dances with the bones of the elephant man! His very real chimp, Bubbles, accompanies him for the ride. It’s like he’s saying: yes, I’ve been turned into an edifice for public amusement, and I’d like you to leave me the F alone, but for the record, the real me is different than what you’ve constructed and just as wacky.

Of course, we know that MJ was a brilliant musician and performer. (Dare I say the greatest?!) He was also someone who had sex with a child. He was a troubled human. But this video stands the test of time. It’s about him but it’s about something larger: the insidious relationship between celebrity, projection, and schadenfreude. It’s funny as hell, and beautiful, and absurd. I’m amazed MJ signed off on Jim’s vision.

During his Q&A, Jim mentioned that each second of the film was 20 frames, and each element within each frame was hand built, shot, and then cut out with X-Acto knives. By my math, that means they built about 5,500 individual frames—each one, I’d argue, is a work of art! This time-consuming stop-motion animation took some thirty people over nine months to build and execute. The work was done here in Portland. At some point, Jim asked members of the audience who’d worked on these videos to stand, and dozens of old folks slowly rose. I was screaming my head off in appreciation!

After you watch Leave Me Alone, may I ask that you also consider watching his gorgeous, hilarious 25-minute black-and-white surrealist noir, The Mid-Torso of Inez. Think Kobo Abe meets Buñuel. Think detective story as it unravels. Think Portland in the late 70s as beautifully shot and with as much humor as you could hope for.

During the screening, I wrote down a few bits of the narration that I find hilarious:

“His mind, such as it was”

“Am I my father’s son, Lois Ann?”

Speaking of “my father’s _____,” when my father’s name appeared in the ending credits, my heart swelled. Please watch!

And here’s an extra rousing call of appreciation and support for all my friends making potent experimental films! This is how I return to the Portland I cherish of the past. In the future, I believe the same will be true of films being made right now. These films transcribe the ineffable, unhinged, and imaginative elements of our lives and communities. The truths they tell come to us through the looking glass. Maybe that’s why they stand the test of time so well.

When things are especially bleak and unyielding, we may think we need to be efficient and hawk-eyed and forget that we’re mystical animals. How wrongheaded! We always need artwork that breaks the rules. Keep at it, friends!

1. Whitney Reynolds, “‘Sunshine Sento Sake’ Is the Next Best Thing to Being in Tokyo,” Eater, February 1, 2017, https://www.eater.com/2017/2/21/14662772/sunshine-sento-sake-review