The There There Letter: Cracker Jack, Chinatown, and California
(Diane Ladd as Ida Sessions) "Are you alone?"
(Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes) "Isn't everybody?"
(from the movie Chinatown, 1974)
Three things from DAH. The There There: Where the heart is.
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance.
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First up this week: Cracker Jack and Jill …
"After more than 125 years as one of sport's most iconic snacks, Cracker Jack® is adding a new face to its roster, with the introduction of Cracker Jill™ to celebrate the women who break down barriers in sports." (PRNewswire 05 April 2022). I learned of Cracker Jill when a friend reported it served at an Oracle Park (San Francisco Giants) wedding (during a Giants win, of course). I've since seen Jack and Jill displayed side by side in a grocery store. Merriam-Webster gives us crackerjack as "a thing of highest excellence." Not a definition I'd offer for Cracker Jack or Jill. But I it is a crackerjack, memorable (if not praiseworthy) marketing move to make baseball snacking less gender biased.
Second up this week, Chinatown …
The 1974 movie (with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway) is a personal favorite. Its fictional (not factual) account of water and real estate conflicts inspired me to look more closely at the history of water in California. Such a fraught subject, especially with whatever climate change brings. I need to track down a copy of Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert, a book I've somehow managed NOT to have read, yet. I do (silently, to myself) reference actor Joe Mantell's line, as Lawrence Walsh, to Jake Gittes at the end of the movie. "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Playing in my head as "don't try to fix this problem" because it's futile (amidst so much corruption and compromised morality).
Third up this week, California …
I read about California. Living in the Golden State, I've so much territory to cover (I haven't been everywhere, yet). I wonder how many road trips it will take me to see most (never all) of the interesting bits. I need to decide which bits those are. And which of those bits can be readily visited with our dogs along for the ride. Some guidance for the key bits:
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance.
This Letter is Free every Friday!
You can subscribe and browse past issues HERE
First up this week: Cracker Jack and Jill …
"After more than 125 years as one of sport's most iconic snacks, Cracker Jack® is adding a new face to its roster, with the introduction of Cracker Jill™ to celebrate the women who break down barriers in sports." (PRNewswire 05 April 2022). I learned of Cracker Jill when a friend reported it served at an Oracle Park (San Francisco Giants) wedding (during a Giants win, of course). I've since seen Jack and Jill displayed side by side in a grocery store. Merriam-Webster gives us crackerjack as "a thing of highest excellence." Not a definition I'd offer for Cracker Jack or Jill. But I it is a crackerjack, memorable (if not praiseworthy) marketing move to make baseball snacking less gender biased.
Second up this week, Chinatown …
The 1974 movie (with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway) is a personal favorite. Its fictional (not factual) account of water and real estate conflicts inspired me to look more closely at the history of water in California. Such a fraught subject, especially with whatever climate change brings. I need to track down a copy of Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert, a book I've somehow managed NOT to have read, yet. I do (silently, to myself) reference actor Joe Mantell's line, as Lawrence Walsh, to Jake Gittes at the end of the movie. "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Playing in my head as "don't try to fix this problem" because it's futile (amidst so much corruption and compromised morality).
Third up this week, California …
I read about California. Living in the Golden State, I've so much territory to cover (I haven't been everywhere, yet). I wonder how many road trips it will take me to see most (never all) of the interesting bits. I need to decide which bits those are. And which of those bits can be readily visited with our dogs along for the ride. Some guidance for the key bits:
- I'm relieved to know that California isn't the largest U.S. state (Alaska and Texas are larger, land-wise). But California has the largest population, 40 million. That's 10 million more than #2 Texas).
- California iconography: Two state trees! Since 1953 both the coast redwood (tallest) and the giant sequoia (largest) have jointly held that honor.
- The Avocado is California's state fruit. So bougie on toast.
California icon bookends ...The Hollywood Sign: Fantasy and Reality of an American Icon, by Leo Braudy
Golden Gate: The Life and Times of America's Greatest Bridge, by Kevin Starr
I read Golden Gate a few years ago. I just finished The Hollywood Sign. Together these two volumes bookend California icons. Understanding their histories is delightful, and encourages me to do more visiting, California statewide.
And a bit more:
The Bridge
by Shel Silverstein
This bridge will only take you halfway there
To those mysterious lands you long to see:
Through gypsy camps and swirling Arab fairs
And moonlit woods where unicorns run free.
So come and walk awhile with me and share
The twisting trails and wondrous worlds I've known.
But this bridge will only take you halfway there-
The last few steps you'll have to take alone.
And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's "Sometimes"
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
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