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Breathless
Sep. 27th, 2022 06:19 pmWeekend social activities were pretty good, visiting a good friend in their new home as their first official guest (of course I brought champagne and chocolate-coated strawberries, what sort of person do you think I am?), and receiving the ever-loyal Erica H., for some episodes of "Archer". But a personal highlight was going to The Astor Theatre on Sunday evening to watch Godard's À bout de souffle (aka "Breathless"). Unable to rustle up fellow film-lovers, I went by myself to see this in true critic style and dressed up for the occasion as one should when attending The Astor. I love "Breathless", it's one of my favourite films of all time; jump-cuts, semi-improvised, a tragic narrative, comedic, heavily referencing other films, and of course, Jean Seberg still leaves me weak at the knees. But most importantly, it is shortly after Jean-Luc Godard's euthanasia, and this will be his lasting contribution to film art.
It's a curious phrase "À bout de souffle" ("to the end of breath", literally translated which is very appropriate how the film ends) and as life imitates art, I have a fair bit of breathlessness myself at the moment. This week I've been running three supercomputing workshops, Introduction to Linux and HPC, Advanced Linux and Shell Scripting for HPC, and High Performance and Parallel Python, and the latter really isn't an oxymoron but does require work. Unfortunately, I have also come down with quite a cold with a bit of a headache, low energy, and a phlegmy chest and cough. Running three days of workshops in such a state is quite a test of my own dedication and endurance, fortunately, both of which I have in spades. Also, with due diligence, I have taken a RAT and it tells me I'm corona-19 free. I will certainly be spending Thursday on sick leave, however.
Also leaving me utterly breathless in another manner was the recent discovery that a distant friend is not receiving the appropriate medical treatment for a chronic condition. The condition is the sort that will, on average, shave some 25 years off their lifespan. The treatment, known to be pretty successful, isn't horrendously expensive, but they just don't have two red cents to rub together. I just cannot help but think why their well-paid beau apparently hasn't come to the party. Maybe it's just me but I would have thought their life would be worth saving. Anyway, I am thinking out loud, and from a perspective of some ignorance. Maybe there are other circumstances at play, and I'm not going to inquire (or elaborate) any further.
It's a curious phrase "À bout de souffle" ("to the end of breath", literally translated which is very appropriate how the film ends) and as life imitates art, I have a fair bit of breathlessness myself at the moment. This week I've been running three supercomputing workshops, Introduction to Linux and HPC, Advanced Linux and Shell Scripting for HPC, and High Performance and Parallel Python, and the latter really isn't an oxymoron but does require work. Unfortunately, I have also come down with quite a cold with a bit of a headache, low energy, and a phlegmy chest and cough. Running three days of workshops in such a state is quite a test of my own dedication and endurance, fortunately, both of which I have in spades. Also, with due diligence, I have taken a RAT and it tells me I'm corona-19 free. I will certainly be spending Thursday on sick leave, however.
Also leaving me utterly breathless in another manner was the recent discovery that a distant friend is not receiving the appropriate medical treatment for a chronic condition. The condition is the sort that will, on average, shave some 25 years off their lifespan. The treatment, known to be pretty successful, isn't horrendously expensive, but they just don't have two red cents to rub together. I just cannot help but think why their well-paid beau apparently hasn't come to the party. Maybe it's just me but I would have thought their life would be worth saving. Anyway, I am thinking out loud, and from a perspective of some ignorance. Maybe there are other circumstances at play, and I'm not going to inquire (or elaborate) any further.
