Monday, November 2, 2015

Small Potatoes

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONTAL LOBES: SMALL POTATOES
November 02, 2015--"Small potatoes" is a reference to Ireland's potato famine in the mid-nineteenth century, but its metaphorical use here indicates that this is a bagatelle of an entry that I might later incorporate into a more substantial entree , or discard. 
Since Chantal Akerman died and I re-saw her stupendous Jeanne Dielman 23 quai du Commerce Bruxelles, as well as her latest and final film,
Not A Home Movie, the potato
 peeling and cooking scenes, as well as the discussion in the new film on the vitamin-preserving merits of not peeling potatoes, potatoes are on my mind, And physically on my dinner plate--not peeled and not white but the delicious purple yams from Japan or California, scrubbed vigorously and eager to soften up in boiling water..It's an anomaly of nature that crustaceans turn red in boiling water, and in some countries boiling water is a form of torture for dissidents, but the humble potato doesn't question ithe protocol that makes it edible. Others must share my taste for them because they vanish in a few days from the bins at the local food co-op.
One potato Two potatoes Three potatoes Four
Five potatoes Six potatoes Seven potatoes more...
was a counting chant we used playing blind man's buff
the blindfolded person counting while the other kids ran to hide in the trees andbushes surrounding the school building (see Brighton Moon for that building,

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153592180731291&l=e110f11be0
a converted freemason's temple).