More Homages to Hokusai's Great Wave

As noted in my last post on this topic, The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, also known as The Great Wave or simply The Wave, is a woodblock print by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai, dating from 1829 to 1833. These days this iconic print is the subject of an infinite variety of pop art references made in homage to it. And it is always instantly recognizable no matter what form it takes. 

I've come across some more marvelous examples on the internet since my last post, so here they are for your viewing pleasure --

This photo is of the Boucheron Wave Diamond Tiara created around 1910 --

This photo from 2007 is of Rice paddy art (tanbo āto) in the village of Inakadate in northern Japan --

Christian Dior also paid homage to Hokusai in his 2007 couture collection --

And, of course, cats seem to be disproportionately represented in current pop art homages --

One Actor, Two Very Different Roles

This week I finally got to see the 2008 movie version of Brideshead Revisited. It is a worthy adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's famous British novel, although of necessity a very compact and much abridged screenplay, certainly compared to its original adaptation in the 1981 multi-episode television series. That series made stars of Jeremy Irons (as Charles Ryder) and Anthony Andrews (as Lord Sebastian Flyte) and they both left big shoes to fill by any successive actors. But I think that both Matthew Goode (as Charles Ryder) and Ben Whishaw (as Lord Sebastian Flyte) made those roles their own.

I think whoever plays Charles Ryder has the harder of the two roles. Ryder is naive, trusting, easily impressed by wealth and privilege, and not really sure who he is or what he wants. His personality seems rather dull, buttoned-down and pedestrian contrasted to the larger-than-life flamboyance and dramatic flair of Sebastian. Yet, alone of all the characters, Charles is in every scene because the movie is from his point of view. He must carry the film.

As it happens, this week I also binge-watched Matthew Goode play his most recent role as a very different character than the emotionally repressed Charles Ryder. He stars as Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck in the Scottish crime thriller series Dept. Q, now streaming on Netflix. DCI Morck is a foul-mouthed, emotionally scarred, volatile, miserable sonovabitch who is almost impossible to work with.

Dept. Q. has been deservedly getting rave reviews and I highly recommend it too. It's gritty, with a big dose of violence, complex characters, good acting and an extremely well-written script and plot.

Yes, I Am Indeed A . . .

. . . and I love every minute of my retired life! This fabulous graphic was made by blogging buddy Lissa of Postcards from the Bookstore and I won it in her recent 4th Blogoversary giveaway! Thanks, Lissa!

Lissa writes witty and thoughtful posts about blogging, books, reading, and writing. She accompanies them with beautiful custom graphics and images which she also creates. Here's a few examples of her fab work --

Lissa always finds a great topic for the April A-Z Challenge every year too. Plus she occasionally posts her short fiction for us to enjoy as well!

Be sure to heck out her blog here!

"Assault With A Deli Weapon"

Do NOT Listen to HRH's Propaganda

Let's end on another beautiful musical note --

a harpist serenading his dog with

Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah

(some nice special effects too!)

The Joy of Language (and Punctuation)

Water Buffalo Sandals

Hey, did any of you Boomers have a pair of these during your hippy-dippy-doo days in the 1960s/70s? I know blogging buddy Mitchell of Moving with Mitchell did because he recently confessed all in a blog post comment.

Not too long ago at Poetry Club, we were given the prompt "feet." Here's the poem I dashed off about my days of wearing these sandals. It's not a particularly good poem, but it brought back a lot of memories!

buffalo sandals --

cheap, sturdy brown leather

from India or somewhere

water buffalo hide, I think

tanned and oiled, perfectly flat,

a special loop for your big toe

you had to soak them in hot water

walk around wearing them

til they dried and took on

the shape of your feet

only one step up from walking barefoot

I wore them incessantly every summer

in my university days

now I walk comfortably

only with expensive custom orthotics

worn in sensible shoes

good arch and heel support a must

to prevent plantar fasciitis flareups

looking back to my buffalo sandal days

I can't help but think:

who WAS that lunatic?

[Poem © Debra She Who Seeks, 2025]

Postscript:

Apparently you can still buy these sandals at an online site called HippieShop but the price is absolutely exorbitant these days -- $45! Even the sale price -- $29.99! Mitchell recalls never paying more than $1.99 US for his and I certainly never paid more than $5 Cdn for mine. But sheesh, I guess those current prices reflect 50 years worth of inflation.

Trash Panda MADNESS!