Spring Woodland Wildflower Walk

This long-awaited event usually happens on May 1st, the day after Beltane.  This year it occurred on May 2nd, due to wet weather on the 1st.  Beltane itself was a pretty good party, with music, our final indoor wood fire of the season, and Deb's highly anticipated return to normal eating by ordering a pizza from Armandos.  They offer several vegan style pizzas, and Deb had her first chew in many months.  Her jaw, which had stopped her from all solid foods, seems to be healing now, enough at least to have the occasional pizza.  In general her health has improved nearly 100% since Spring Equinox, including her bladder and kidney issues and those nasty blood clots in her lung.

 

The woodland walk was at a nearby conservation area that encompasses a large woodlot just northeast of the town of Essex.  This is a favourite location for our Spring walks, as it is usually filled with wildflowers.  This year was no exception, and we saw acres of them, with huge amounts of both wild ginger and jack-in-the-pulpits.  Of course spring beauties were everywhere, and violets in three colours.  A lot of buttercups were also seen.  The only important spring flower that this site doesn't have is the trillium.  At least in our adventures here we have never come across any of them.

 

 

Spring beauties up close.

 

A carpet of beauties surround a stump.  They seemed to be singing to it.

A sighting of the rare red-headed forest walker wildflower! 

 

 

 Wild violets up close.

 

 Wild violets not so close.

Wild ginger flowers are remarkably beautiful, but they are shy.  They usually hide beneath the broad leaves.

 

Things were happening in the woods today.

 

 

Part of the trail is on a boardwalk.  There was a lot of standing water today in places, and the mosquitoes won't be too far behind.

A buttercup. 

 

 

Part of our trail as it skirts open farmland.

There were some beautiful mosses seen today, always a favourite of mine.

 

In movie news there are a few to report.  Grand Tour is a Portuguese film from 2024 and directed by Miguel Gomes.  A man in Burma is about to meet his fiancee, arriving on a ship from England.  He gets cold feet and heads for the hills.  He goes to Bangkok, then Singapore, then into Chinese back country.  Though the year is 1917, the director uses modern scenes to describe much of the story.  In some cases budget restraints work wonderfully well if creatively handled, as does this film.  There is very little acting to do in the film, which is as much a travelogue as it is a story.  The narrator and filmed scenes of various cities and their street life present the story, often with much humour.  The film, mostly in b & w, reminded us often of the films of Guy Maddin, though this director's vision is far saner and more easily viewable.  Just when one thinks that are no new ways left to tell a story, here is a brand new and very effective way.  Highly recommended viewing.

 

Now showing on Mubi. 

 

Next came five short films by Romanian director Radu Jude.  The Tube With A Hat is a heartbreaking story of a poor family trying to get their old TV set repaired.   From 2006 it features a father and son all day trek (in the rain) to visit a TV repair shop in the city.  They carry the beast all the way there and all the way back.  Hiking, hitch hiking, and riding the bus eventually get them there and back.  However, the man drops the repaired set as they near their home again, slipping in the mud.  Will the TV work when they get it back inside their leaky-roofed home?  The film is 23 minutes of pure father-son adventure.

Shadow of a Cloud is from 2013 and is 30 minutes long.  A Bucharest priest is called to the side of a dying woman.  He begins to administer the last rites, as the woman is clearly dying.  However, the daughter of the dying woman interrupts him and tells him no, they want a prayer of healing.  He complies and leaves.  When the woman dies shortly afterwards, the daughter blames him entirely for the death, and his second visit does not go well.  An odd but effective film, very slowly paced.

The Marshall's Two Executions is from 2018 and is 10 minutes long.  Using actual b & w footage from a 1960s 4-man execution by firing squad in Romania, the director pairs the actual killings (which were filmed at the time) with a later colour film that also recreates events as they happened.  Thus we get to see a very grim part of Romanian history not once, but twice.  Gruesome and sad.

Plastic Semiotic is from 2021 and is 22 minutes long.  It is an hommage to childhood toys, many of them plastic.  Instead of using stop motion, the director sets ups dozens of tableaux featuring the toys, including some hilarious ones of toys having sex with each other.  This is as very fun film to watch, and the toy variety and quality are astounding.  Worth many viewings.

Caracturana is a 10 minute film that highlights graphic works by Daumier in a very unique manner.  The director organizes the film around hand gestures of the characters in the prints.  Quite fun, especially the prints themselves.

The Potemkinists is from 2022 and is 18 minutes long.  More Romanian history is detailed, having to do with the crew of the Potemkin.  They were actually accepted into Romania during the revolution, thus thwarting Russia's attempts to bring them all to justice.  A giant monument to the men stands on a high hill overlooking the Danube canal in Romania, but the bottom parts have been vandalized and removed by scrap thieves.  The film is about the historical events, but at the same time we see a man trying to convince a female bureaucrat to get the government to fund a repair job.  She is not convinced at first, but he manages to alter his vision slightly and get her on his side.  A fascinating bit of forgotten history.

 

Following our enjoyment of his small films, we attempted to watch a feature called Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of Time, from 2023.  Despite its success in festivals and high ratings from critics, it was not our cup of tea.  We bailed after about 20 minutes.  I see a lot of positive reviews from male writers, but female critics (where I am looking) seem absent.  Small wonder.  The profanity and misogyny are off the scale here.  Sure it might turn out differently, but in the meantime who wants to sit around and listen to a "friend" of Andrew Tate spout off about what he "knows" about women.  Boys may laugh (though I sincerely hope not), but I highly doubt that girls would.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

April Books Read

Not a lot of volumes were read this past month.  Two of them were quite long and one of them was very intense and required careful and somewhat slow reading.  I also enjoyed 4 nights of astronomy last month, which always cuts into evening reading time.

 

Fires of Scorpio by Kenneth Bulmer, #29 in the Dray Prescott series, is a direct continuation of volume 27, beginning where Dray has just come out of the mountain tunnels.  He becomes reunited with his friend, but is immediately dragged away again by the Star Lords to another location and assignment.   His main purpose now seems to be to interrupt the religion of the Silver Leem.  He arrives at a point where a female child is to be sacrificed to their god.  Of course he saves the girl, and the first part of the story is enlivened by the presence of the child accompanied by Dray.  She has a personality (she is just under 4 years of age) and adds humour to the proceedings.  The latter half of the story is more serious.  Dray is reunited with another warrior friend who is also a chosen one in aiding the Star Lords in whatever it is they are trying to accomplish.  They team up again and the adventures are nonstop until the end of the book.  Though they have managed to disrupt the religion, there is a lot more to do.  And on it goes....  Another solid entry in this remarkable series. 

 

 

From 1974 comes Eater of Worlds, the 126 page on-going adventures of Kennedy and his male cohorts.  This time they are assigned to a case where a prisoner who was being transferred escaped with help.  Many innocent people were killed, and so Cap is trying to find out why this prisoner, with only a year left in his sentence, escaped.  This is one of those rare truly SF stories.  The bad guys think they are about to dig up secret treasure from a lost civilization, and the escapee was the only one with the coordinates to the site.  The location is on a barren planet (we find out later why it is barren), in a sandy desert prone to fierce wind storms.  They discover that the "treasure" lies within a protective shell in the form of a skull (I wonder what that could mean?).  Once they get inside, a very dangerous type of alien life form is released, killing anyone it touches in its form as first a liquid, and then a vapour (after someone panics and shoots it with a blaster).  It begins to spread, and it's now up to Cap and his team to try and stop it.  This is actually a very good story, and would make an excellent SF film.   

 

Collecting Myself: The Uncollected Stories of Barry Malzberg is a 2024 publication and 259 pages long and contains about 35 short stories by Malzberg.  He also contributes a very brief essay at the beginning.  The stories move chronologically from 1970 to 2022.

 

Terminus East is from 1970, and is about the failed colony on the moon.  It is a violent story, and not that appealing.  ** 1/2 stars.

 

Making Titan is from 1970 and details the bizarre 6th attempt by humans to land on Titan, Saturn's largest moon.  Will this one fail like the others, or be the first successful mission?  Remember, this is Malzberg. *** stars.

 

Exploration is from 1971 and is a Malzberg special; no one else writes about how being in space makes you crazy so well as this author.  The captain of a Mars exploratory mission loses it. **** stars.

 

Conquest is a silly tale from 1972 about first contact, which turns out to be a test for the human candidate who will be sent out to greet the aliens.  *** stars.

 

Two Odysseys Into the Center is from 1972.  This one has some pulp fiction humour attached, which ups the rating.  *** stars.

 

Dreaming and Conversions: Two Rules By Which To Love is from 1973.  Another great story of insanity and its self justification.  Of course aliens are involved.  **** stars.

 

Conversations With Lothar is from 1973.  This story and a few others were to become the 1975 novel Conversations, reviewed above.  It works well as a very short story, but the novel is quite incredibly good.  *** stars.

 

Triptych is from 1973 and is as much a satire of pulp SF as it is an homage.  Several possible pulp novels are condensed into a few paragraphs each.  Entertaining to read, and I find myself wishing I could read some of those novels.  *** stars.

 

The Wonderful, All-Purpose Transmogrifier is from 1974, and is way ahead of its time, as it describes addiction to virtual reality gaming.  Dated, obviously, but at the time well ahead of itself.  ** 1/2 stars.

 

Revelation in Seven Stages is from 1980.  Malzberg comes up with quite possibly the most bizarre and unusual use for ancient Eygptian mummies ever conceived.  Funny and weird.  *** 1/2 stars.

 

There The Lovelies Bleeding is from 1981, and tells of a blossoming romance in the far future, where such liaisons have been much frowned upon until now.  Progress against the repression is slow, but gaining momentum.  *** stars.

 

1984 is a one page story from 1985, on the expected theme.  Not too successful, in my opinion.  ** stars.

 

J. S. Brahms is from 1985 and features Sigmund Freud undertaking a cognitive test.  A pretty funny story no doubt related to Malzberg's novel.  Music afficianados will appreciate the humour more.  *** stars. 

 

The Queen of Saigon is from 1987, a story about the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of a Saigon prostitute.  Fine storytelling of a still touchy topic.  *** stars.

 

Ambition is from 1987.  A SF story in which a communications officer is responsible for the planet of Jubilation's inhabitants rebelling against the Earth invaders.  Offbeat and very short.  *** stars.

 

No Hearts, No Flowers is from 1989.  This is a funny mob-related story, where a casual social reporter thinks he has erred in mentioning a recent mob massacre one day before it happened.  He is summoned to pay a visit to "Bruno" and realizes his time is up.  But Bruno gives him more than he bargained for.  A fun read. *** stars.

 

Safety Zone is from 1990, a somewhat bizarre tale of a barfly and a man she meets one night.  A bit puzzling, but still some fine writing.  *** stars.  

 

One Ten Three is from 1991, and is one of the funniest stories I have ever read.  A race horse talks to a betting man and tells him he will win the next race.  The man bets $80.  Did the horse win?  In a way.  A truly wonderful story, and laugh out loud at times.  **** stars.

 

Dumbarton Oaks is from 1992, a story in which the devil is given tasks by the big boss.  A bit weird.  ** stars.

 

Gotterdammerung is from 1992, and is the story of a wizard who is visited by interested parties in finding the magic ring that was lost in the river.  The wizard is outsmarted, though the ring still remains lost. *** stars. 

 

Is This The Presidential Palace? is from 1992, a typical Malzberg story about an alien with an agenda meeting a human.  Quite amusing.  ** 1/2 stars.

 

It Comes From Nothing is from 1994 and is a spin on the end of King Lear.  Not a very nice spin, either.  In fact, kind of a cruel spin.  * star.

 

Sinfonia Expansiva is from 94, and is a somewhat sex-obsessed story that doesn't really work very well. ** stars.

 

Of Dust and Fire and The Night is from 1994, and is the author's take on the star of Bethlehem and three wise men.  It never hurts to throw the legend of the phoenix bird in, either.  A bit silly, but fun. ** 1/2 stars. 

 

Close-up Photos Reveal JFK Skull On Moon is from 1994.  A bizarre story where JFK ends up on the lunar surface, Elvis is now in France after having plastic surgery to alter his face and singing in small clubs.  He is being pursued by a 102 year old female fan who just birth to twins, who turn out to be JFK and Elvis reborn.  Marilyn Monroe reveals her unsuccessful pursuit of Elvis.  *** stars.

 

Getting There is from 2002 and is another powerful Vietnam anti-war story.  **** stars.

 

The Third Part is a view of Revelations as seen from the perspective of a southern redneck.  Most odd. *** stars.

 

Crossing the Border is from 2003 and deals with a man who has a sex change.  *** stars.

 

These The Inheritors is from 2006, and tells of the revenge of the insect world on humans, with a Jewish slant. ** stars.

 

The Passion of Azazel is from 2008.  A man who recently attended therapy and made a revealing discovery about himself make a golem in the form of a goat.  Inspired by a quote from Leviticus. ***1/2 stars.

 

Why We Talk To Ourselves is from 2011, and is a meditation on the 9/11 destruction of the Twin Towers in NYC. ** stars.

 

Richard Nixon Saved From Drowning is from 2014, as we hear words and thoughts from the not so great former president.  ** stars.

 

The Terminal Villa is from 2014, and was inspired by a quote from Dick Cheney, who had dramas while recovering from heart surgery.  Meant as a tribute to J G Ballard.  ** stars.

 

The Phantom Gentleman is from 2022, and has some musing of Malzberg on his upcoming "final Journey."  ** 1/2 stars.

 

January 2018 is from 2018, and isn't much of a story to end this pretty decent collection.  ** stars. 

 

Cover by Jeff Jordan.

Mother London is from 1988, a mostly disappointing novel by Moorcock that is 496 pages long.  It purports to give glimpses of London from the 1940s through 1988, mostly through the eyes of three people who survived by were greatly affected by the Blitz.  We get a pretty strong sense of what it was like to live under the threat of German bombs during WW II, especially the dreaded V2 rockets.  David, Joseph, and Mary meet in an institution some 15 years after the war.  Mary has been in a coma since she was 15, awakening at 30.  The three become very good friends, often interacting during the story.  The problem with the book is the storytelling itself, as well as Moorcock's complete inability to depict a troubled mind.  Both Mary and Joseph seem to have some type of psychic ability, and the novel is filled with italicized inner dialogues, sometimes of others near them and sometimes of their own thoughts.  I eventually learned to just skip over these sections, as they offered up nothing for the reader.  It's a silly attempt to be avante garde, or modern, and these passages often show just how clueless the author is about inner voices.

 

The storytelling is often divided into chapters that take place in a certain year, anywhere between 1941 and 1988.  The problem is that the chronology is completely messed up, with a 1970s chapter followed by a 1940s one, and then one from the 60s.  It destroys any kind of continuity the story badly needs to build up a sound picture of the main characters and their friends and acquaintences.  At one point we attend the funeral of a friend of David's before we even know who the person is.  Although I could go back and reread the novel and try to do it chronologically, the story itself and the characters are simply not interesting enough.  Much of the book is quite dull, and it was a struggle to get through it all.

 

With a title like Mother London, we get a rather superficial glance at the great city, possibly the greatest city of the world.  I had high expectations, but alas they were not fulfilled.  I found the parts dealing with the bombing and its aftermath the most interesting part of the book, but much of the rest held little to no interest for me.  I think much of that has to do with the way Moorcock (and his editor) chose to tell the story.  It's confusing enough trying to keep track of three main characters, but to have the time jumps interfere and confuse readers further, I found a lot of this book to be a waste of time.

 

Cover by Greg Ragland.

 

 

Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker from 1937 gives the reader everything.  Literally.  The full history of not just the Universe is here, but of everything else, including god (to humans) the creator.  Stapledon simply calls him Star Maker.  Stapledon creates not a novel in any sense, but a blow by blow description (highlights only) of life in the galaxy, in all of its myriad forms.  He imagines any kind of life that is even remotely plausible, bringing it into our minds as a done deal.  He explains the many pitfalls that doomed civilization after civilization on world after world, and how gradually the galaxy somehow (he explains how, don't worry) banded minds together and began a vast collective.  The author leads us by the hand as he gradually increases the scale of discovery until we have galaxy minds contacting other galaxy minds, and as the galaxies' lives come to their inevitable end, finally reach a state of total understanding.  

 

Stapledon goes on to then to describe the creator, the Star Maker, from his (he uses the masculine but by now we know what he means) own creation from pure matter, on to his juvenile creations, to his later masterpieces as he reaches his prime.  His final definition of the Star Maker did not please a lot of people, C. S. Lewis for one.  To this reader it is a totally brilliant concept, so far beyond and removed from the simplistic version of god held by most religious doctrines as to make it seem more than a possible answer.  Of course the author is limited to what was known about astrophysics in 1937 (stellar evolution is all wrong here, for one thing), but I think he can be forgiven this.  Considering this is fiction, his facts are pretty secure.

 

Stapledon influenced virtually every serious SF and fantasy writer, from E. R. Eddison, Jack Williamson, James Blish, Frank Herbert, Iain M. Banks, and on and on.  From this volume comes every story ever told, every story that will ever be told, and stories by the trillions that will never get told, due to a shortage of time remaining for our universe to exist.  The book, like his earlier Last and First Men, is all-encompassing.  Like it or not, Stapledon has given us a comprehensive and plausible history of everything that ever was or ever will be.  Rich reading.  A masterpiece.

 

Cover by Bip Pares.  I read the Kindle edition by Delphi Classics. 

 

Gitanjali is a set of 103 verses by Rabindraneth Tagore.  Written in Bengali in 1910, Tagore did his own translation into English in 1912.  He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 largely due to these amazing verses.  Ideally a person would read one of these a day for 103 days, and meditate on them.  Many are similar, though, and can be read carefully over a few days, as I did.  They can and should picked up at whim and opened to any verse.  Most of them deal with a human being trying to see and communicate with his god.  The verses made a nice follow up to Star Maker, placing human endeavour fairly high on the scale of evolution.  It's always nice to know that a few humans have made a significant spiritual journey during the short time allotted to us.

Prior to this came the short poem "My Golden Bengali," written in 1906 shortly after Bengal had been divided into two different religious states.

 

Mapman Mike

 

Late April Update

With Beltane fast approaching, it's a time for daffodils to wither and leaves to spring forth.  We have about a thousand day lilies striving to bloom before the leafing trees block their sunlight.  Our spring got off to a late start this year, and we are a few weeks behind.  Our grass has not even been cut yet, but it is certainly starting to grow quickly now.  With my final recital scheduled for Saturday afternoon, next week should be a relaxing one.  We will celebrate Beltane with our final wood fire of the season, and on May 1st we will walk in the woods to scope out any blossoming wildflowers.

In home front news, Deb is slowly recovering from her two medical procedures.  She is now busy selecting and entering film festivals with her newest film, Just A Peek.  Check her website for any updates on public showings (upper left of this page).

 

There are several films to report, so I will get started on that.  Claire's Camera is from 2017, and was directed by Hong Sang-Soo from South Korea.  Filmed entirely in Cannes during the film festival, a female teacher from Paris meets a Korean director by chance at a cafe, beginning a series of social encounters that will hardly change the world, but will give viewers pleasure in watching developments.  Claire likes to use her instant camera and takes a lot of photos of people.  She also meets Manhee, recently fired form her film promotion job by her female boss, and Claire helps the Korean woman understand why she was terminated.  It's a film that is not really about a whole lot, and it is very short.  A low point of the film is when the Korean director berates Manhee in public for wearing shorts.  This from the guy who slept with her recently.  It does show the ridiculous social differences between east and west, especially with someone from an older (male) and more rigid Asian background.  All in all a pretty likeable film.

 

Now showing on Mubi. 

 

Songs of Earth is from Norway, directed by Margreth Olin.  From 2023 it is a combination nature film and one about the director's aging parents.  Her 84 year old father leads us to the secret and sacred places in the awe-inspiring valley where he has lived all his life.  Using expert drone and helicopter shots, we get unprecedented views of glaciers, forest, mountains, and the sea.  Olin uses a four season approach, and we get to spend a year in the valley, most of it outdoors exploring and walking and climbing.  Co-produced by Liv Ullman and Wim Wenders the film is meant for a big screen.  Please do not watch it on your phone.

 

Leaving Criterion April 30th. 

 

Art College 1994 is also from 2023, an animated film from China that details the life of art and music students from a Chinese college 30 years ago.   Directed by Liu Jian, we follow the life of several male art major slackers and two very different female music majors.  While the film is often laugh out loud funny, we can also feel the agony of these students trying to figure out how they are going to fit into an adult world that is alien to them.  Viewers might classify the art boys as slackers, but they are constantly trying to push boundaries and find limits, usually butting against tradition as they seek out a more modern outlook.  Definitely worth checking out.

 

Art College 1994 is showing on Criterion. 

 

In further local news, we have updated and enlarged our main computer monitor, mostly for gaming purposes.  I am playing a lot of Train Sim 5 now, and working my way through Amnesia: Dark Descent.  It's a Ben Q model and much much better than the older and smaller one.  That one is now upstairs on my non-internet computer that I use for older games and such.

 

The next update is likely to be my slender reading list from April.  See you then.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Dartford to Rainham by Thameslink

In local news, Deb had part 2 of her two-part medical procedure done today.  It was quick and she even went in ahead of schedule.  No more stent.  It was an aggravating ten days with it inside of her, and I doubt she will miss it now that it is gone.  As usual I got some reading done in the waiting room.

Last week I played my program for some non-piano friends.  It went well, and I seem to be getting comfortable playing most of the pieces.  One more recital and then I can put these pieces away and begin some new works.

I had a wonderfully clear and cold night of astronomy last night (Wed.), the first of the new session.  But it will be cloudy now for at least several days.

 

In gaming news I am playing the first Amnesia game (Dark Descent), a haunted house mystery puzzler set in a dark and abandoned haunted mansion.  So far it's been pretty good, but I am only halfway through part 1 of 4.  Many times these games begin fairly but end up being unplayable after a time, usually due to bad construction, or a sudden jump of difficulty that only the creator can figure out.  So we shall see....

 

In much more exciting news, I bought Train Sim World 5!  There was a great sale on, and for $22 Can. I got 3 huge packages, with enough engines, trains, and routes to last me indefinitely.  Of course I have spent most of my time at the training center, learning how to drive different locomotives.  I have about 15 or so to choose from, and yesterday I took my first lesson in driving a steam engine.  Not as easy as those electric diesels!  So far my favourite route is driving the Thameslink train from Dartford to Rainham.  This is an exact real time run, with all the correct scenery, tunnels, bridges, buildings, rivers, etc.  So far I have not been able to keep to schedule, as I have not driven at the maximum speed limit very much yet.  The route is about 20 miles and there are 11 stops.  There are uphill and downhill grades and miles of tunnels.  Each time I have driven the route the weather and times have been different.  The earliest run is the 5:58 from Dartford, and the morning fog is gradually dispersed as the sun rises.  I have also driven the final night run, also with some fog, and the moon shining above and some stars.  So far I have not crashed or sped through a red light, but it is hard to stop the train on steep downhill grades.  Anyway, it's been great fun.  The Southeastern segment has at least a dozen runs I have yet to do. and I haven't even had time to get to the German or North American ones.  

 

3 screenshots of my BR Class 700/0 EMU that I drive between Dartford and Rainham.  I still have to learn how to take my own photos within game.  Stay tuned!

 

 In film news we are all caught up for now.  We did finish a six part series called Monsieur Spade. 

Sam's final adventure takes place in France, and though the plot is a bit overdone, it's an enjoyable series to watch, filled with quips and plenty of murders.  The plot centers around a young Algerian boy who is gifted as a code breaker and a code maker.  Everyone wants him.  Set in a unique small French town, it has great locations and camerawork.

 

Mapman Mike

 

2nd Recital

I had a 2nd opportunity to perform my latest recital pieces today.  Thank you to Randy, Kate, and Peter for coming by to hear what I've been up to since last July.  The chance to perform is always a welcome one, and twice in one week is even better.  When Paula and Jenn are back from their travels I will run through the pieces again.  All went pretty well, with occasional slips and lapses.  The first Bach piece went really well, and overall the Haydn was quite fresh and zippy.  The Chopin Prelude, on its own, is a powerful little piece.  The Gnossienne also went really well, as did the Debussy and Glass.  So not a lot to complain about, though I know it could have been even better.  Such is life, and such is live performance.  Here is the program:

 

Michael Ethier

Piano Recital April 2025

"Simple Ingredients"

2-part Invention #9 in f minor

3-part Invention #9 in f minor..........................................J S Bach

Sonata in C major (HOB. XVI/35; L.48)

Allegro con brio

Adagio

Finale: Allegro.........................................................F J Haydn

***********************************************

Prelude #20 in c minor.....................................................F Chopin

Third Gymnopedie

Third Gnossienne.............................................................E Satie

Prelude #6 Bk 1 (..Des pas sur la neige)........................C Debussy

Etude #20.........................................................................P Glass

Mysterious Barricades.....................................................F Couperin

 

The only piece here that I have ever performed before this month was the Couperin.  When I begin working on the new program, the first half will be all Couperin, and on the harpsichord.

 

Deb is still feeling poorly, and likely will be until the concluding half of her medical procedure is undertaken.  Next week the stent will be removed, and hopefully that will end months of pain and infections.  In the meantime, she just has to hang in there, and take a happy pill as needed.

 

As full moon approaches, we have a perfect night tonight, with clear, dry skies.  Useless, though, as far as observing with a telescope goes, thanks to the brightness of the moon.  It's been a bad year so far, with only two usable nights to date.  I have so much work I would love to accomplish before I'm too old to lift the telescope and set it up and take it down.

 

In movie news, there are two to report, as well as Season Two of Picard.  Try to imagine a scenario where Wesley Crusher, Q and the Borg come out looking okay.  All this and more, folks, believe it or not.  Crusher, Q, and the Borg provided some of the most tropy and unwanted moments in Next Generation, and the writers stretched themselves to the limit in Picard to make them come out looking pretty clean and decent.  Unfortunately, there was overuse in Season Two of Picard's childhood background, with his insane mother who ended up killing herself.  There are so many flashback scenes to his boyhood that they ended up dragging down the series.  We get to see Data's creator, and he is evil in Season Two.  I imagine he will return, but hopefully not.  One more season to go, though we will wait awhile before viewing it.  We are still also immersed in Dark Winds and Monsieur Spade.

 

L'Innocente is a costumer by Visconti from 1976.  The main reason to watch the film is to view the parade of women's dresses on display.  Most of the film's budget must have been spent on costumes.  Here is the blurb from MUBI:

In late-19th century Italy, Tullio, an insatiable aristocrat, grows bored with his wife Giuliana and neglects her for his more exciting mistress, the wealthy widow Countess Teresa Raffo. After learning that Giuliana is having an affair of her own, he becomes tormented and descends into madness. 

It's quite a long film, mostly watchable but not always.  High society shows itself, yet again, for what it really is; empty.  Tullio is a hideous character, another less than fine male role model to follow.  To make matters worse, Giannini wears one expression throughout the entire movie, his grim face.  The camera work is excellent, as are the sets, lighting, and mise-en-scene, also spot on.  Visconti is a master director, and all of his skills and artistry are on display in this extravagant film.  I won't say it's the most engaging film I've ever seen, but it's certainly one of the better looking films.  Recommended if you enjoy beautiful women in incredible clothing.

 

The film was showing on Mubi, but has now departed. 

 

The Love Witch, written, directed, and produced by Anna Biller, is a 2016 murder/horror film that tries to emulate films from the 1960s.  Drenched in rich colours, mostly reds, and filmed with humourous parodies of Hammer films and such, the movie is great fun to watch.  A beautiful female California witch uses magic potions and rituals to try to land a faithful and loving boyfriend/husband.  Her spells are successful, but she tends to overdo them, driving the male crazy after a time.  Once she realizes that he is not the guy for her after all, there is only one way to rid herself of them.  The film succeeds on many levels, and its 125 minutes running time passes quickly.  The visuals are stunning, and the lead actress is both beautiful and funny, even though she acts the sincere part, playing it pretty straight.  A must view for fans of early 60s colour horror films!  My only complaint is that she should have been a redhead.

 

Leaving Mubi in three days. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

An Epic Day

Sunday was an epic day, as Deb spent nearly 16 hours at Met Hospital in Windsor.  Last week a CT scan confirmed a kidney blocked by a 7 mm kidney stone, and it wasn't going anywhere.  Dr. Shen, her family physician, arranged to hurry along a procedure to remove the stone.  Originally Deb was scheduled to have it done on April 17th, but he did not want to wait that long, and neither did Deb.  She's been plagued by infections for the past several months, and Dr. Shen's fine detective skills finally determined the cause.

He arranged with the on-call urologist at Met to have it removed on Sunday.  We showed up at ER as told, arriving at 7 am.  The doctor was notified of Deb's arrival, but we didn't even see him for three hours.  So we sat in ER surrounded by sick people.  We were masked, but it remains to be seen if we will escape that ordeal unscathed.  Some people were quite sick, and spreading it around nicely by coughing and coughing and coughing.  Once out of the waiting room we sat around in ER, but now inside, where the action is.  We did not have to see an emergency physician, but Deb's urologist came by to introduce himself and tell her what he was going to do.  Dr. Khalaff was a very nice man, and looked like he'd know what he was doing.  We sat in a cubicle for about an hour while they searched for a bed in the hospital for Deb.  There was a free bed in Maternity, so up she went.  She was made comfortable, but had to wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Deb's surgery was as an "add on", meaning that she kept getting bumped by emergencies that could not wait.  That was understandable, and the nurses were terrific.  Dr. Khalaff came by again and chatted with her for a time, explaining why she was being kept waiting.  He was just waiting for access to an operating room.  He was ready; Deb was ready.  Finally, at just after 7 pm, Deb was wheeled in to have her procedure done.  She hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 11 pm the previous night, so she was feeling pretty low.

 

Previously, while she napped in the afternoon I went to a nearby vegan restaurant (Nooch) for lunch.  I had an amazing omelette with hash browns, and a delicious 0.5 Pilsner.  I was back with Deb right after lunch.  Luckily there were no babies in her room, and it was in a very quiet wing on the floor.  Only one other woman was in the room, and she was pretty quiet.  Finally, after a very long day, it was Deb's turn.  She was in the OR for about 75 minutes while they went in (up the wazoo, so to speak) to grab the stone and remove it.  All went well, and Dr. Khalaff stopped by to see me in the waiting room afterwards, after talking with a groggy Deb (she was out for the procedure).  She had to stay nearly three hours afterwards, to make certain her vitals returned to normal, and that all physical equipment was working properly.  Today she is tired and sore, but seems to be recovering like a champ.  I had to go to the pharmacy early this morning for her six (!) prescriptions she has to take for the next while.  We are now on first names basis with our pharmacist, never a good sign.  She is lovely.  Jennifer is from Ghana.  Now we are all hoping this will put an end to her frequent UTIs.

 

The day before (Saturday) was the first of three piano recitals for me and my newest program.  I performed the pieces for Jim P. and Rob B., both exceptionally fine pianists.  Jim is a piano teacher and Rob a physician.  On Friday I will perform it again, this time for non-pianist friends, and then once again around the 23rd, when Paula is back from Florida and Jenn from Texas.

 

 

Michael Ethier

Piano Recital April 2025

“Simple Ingredients”

2-part Invention #9 in f minor

3-part Invention #9 in f minor..........................................J S Bach

Sonata in C major (HOB. XVI/35; L.48) 

 

Allegro con brio

Adagio

Finale: Allegro.........................................................F J Haydn

***********************************************

Prelude #20 in c minor.....................................................F Chopin

Third Gymnopedie

Third Gnossienne.............................................................E Satie

Prelude #6 Bk 1 (..Des pas sur la neige)........................C Debussy

Etude #20.........................................................................P Glass

Mysterious Barricades.....................................................F Couperin

 

 

In TV news we are watching Season Two of Picard, which is not very good.  The Borg want to take over the galaxy, and way too much time is spent watching very boring scenes from Picard's boyhood.  Filled with the usual tropes that SF TV series all seem to use (Picard is nearly killed; the evil Borg Queen can do anything, and has a ton of helpers; lots of gunfights; a very in poor taste fast car driving scene; good old Q returns yet again;  Data's creator is persuaded by Q and Borg to kill Picard) I can't wait for the final episode, but not for the reason it's producers hoped I would.  We are also watching Season Three of Dark Winds, the Hillerman series about Navajo Detective Joe Leaphorn.  We have two more of those left to watch.  And we also began a series called Monsieur Spade.  It's the 1950s and Sam Spade is living in France.  The Algerian war of independence is in full swing.  Spade gets involved in a horrendous multiple murder case.  We are only two episodes into this one, but it seems to be pretty good.

 

More news as it happens.

 

Mapman Mike 

March Reading

You Can't Stop Me is from 1963 and is 158 pages.  It was written by "Don Elliot," one of Silverberg's many false names.  This one takes the prize for the most outrageous novel I have ever read.  It's about a serial killer (58 victims no less) who strangles the women either during sex with them or just before.  This is a story about a real sicko, and I find it hard to believe that Silverberg needs cash so badly that he would allow this one to be republished.  He even writes a short intro to the volume, excusing himself because "times were different then."  Umm.  Not so different, really.  Silverberg wrote more sleaze novels than all his other fiction and non-fiction combined.  And I used to wonder, when reading his SF, why women never played major roles in a majority of his stories.  I truly think the man had a problem with women, and anyone brave enough to read this book would likely agree.  One for the trash heap.  There is nothing I can think of about the story that redeems it.  If I needed an excuse to stop reading Silverberg, this is it.  Avoid this one.

From 1984 comes Kenneth Bulmer's 154 page novel Delia of Vallia, #28 in the Dray Prescott series.  It makes a terrific change to finally find out what Dray Prescott's counterpart gets up to while he is off on his adventures.  The Empress is a Sister of the Rose, a secret organization of females trained as warriors but out to do good.  They work with hospitals, orphans, women in perilous situations that need assistance, as well as helping out in putting down rebellions in Vallia.  When some of the sisters are being recruited by a rival women's group to help bring down Vallia, Delia is sent to the hot spot to find out what is going on.  The plot mostly concerns women, though there are some memorable male characters as well.  Delia goes through nearly as many hardships as her galavanting husband, and by the end of this tale readers have even more respect for this true Empress of a woman.  Bulmer pulls no punches in showing how Delia is humiliated before she strikes back.  Highly enjoyable and a much needed change of pace for the series.  My Kindle edition included a very short story by Bulmer taking place in the same world, but not directly related to this series.  Called "Lallia The Slave Girl" it recounts the revenge one such female gets on her brutal master.  The story has become a legend and oft told on Scorpio.  

 

E. C. Tubb's Hills of Blood, an aptly named western from 1965, is 145 pages long.  The basic story involves a group of Confederate prisoners of war being asked to help man an understaffed western fort, thus aiding the Union troops.  There is considerable resentment, but the captain of the imprisoned men tells them it's better than starving and freezing to death in prison.  There is a secret gold mine involved in the plot, and a few rebel soldiers not too anxious to fight Indians for the Union.  As per usual, Tubb sympathizes with the Indians and their great loss of land and lifestyle.  He has also had a very upstanding Confederate soldier or former soldier in a lead role more than once in his westerns.  Just reading this series of novels one can learn a lot about Plains Indians from that time.  All of his western novels are recommended reading.  I had expected something quite different when I began reading them.  This is the final one.  Recommended.

 

In the final volume of the violent Lone Wolf vigilante series, we finally witness the complete collapse of Wulf's sanity, and his final demise at the hands of his one-time partner and friend Williams.  Philadelphia Blowup is from 1975 and is a brief but intense 120 pages.  Malzberg has created a memorable character in Wulf, one that is beyond human in his actions and abilities.  His one goal is to eliminate the upper echelon of drug dealers, but once he has eliminated them his task has barely begun.  This is what finally drives him to madness; the fact that despite all he has done, he has barely started in making a dent on American drug use.  During the series Malzberg gets to deal alot with bigshot people who are about to die, despite the fact they believe themselves invulnerable.  There is a sameness to the boldest of the kingpin men, which quickly evaporates when they realize that Wulf will now kill them.  Malzberg also gets to use one of his strongest points as a writer, that of a madman justifying his actions any way he can.  Inner voices are a specialty with Malzberg, and he gets plenty of opportunity in these novels.  The story ends with two afterwords from Malzberg, dated 2022, where he continues to sound off about the real reasons for the Vietnam war, as well as what really happens during the "war on drugs."  He is an interesting writer with plenty of ideas and strong opinions, and even in this offbeat series he manages to delve deeper than many hard fiction writers into today's problems and their root causes.  It is a difficult series to recommend because of all the violence, and the fact that it is all aimed at a male audience.  There are too many killings and too much of the same kind of storyline, though the final five books do deviate considerably from the first nine.  At least the author brought things to a definite conclusion, unlike many other long running series.  

 

Moving on to my unrestricted reading choices, I began with the second crime novel by Ghanian author Kwei Quartey.  Children of the Street is a sometimes shocking and heartbreaking story of life in Accra, the capital and largest city in Ghana.  A serial killer is murdering teenage street kids, using ritualistic methods that are cruel and outrageous.  Detective Darko Dawson tackles the crime series, and we get more than a glimpse of life on the streets in a poverty stricken zone of the city.  The problem is almost unbelievable for a western observer, but the long list of acknowledgements at the end of the novel indicates how much research went into the story.  The author is also a practicing M.D.  Like in the novels of Tony Hillerman, set on lands populated by the Navajo Nation, we learn a lot about Ghana and its people in these stories.  The first book was set in the smaller places in the north of the country, but here we are hit full face by modern Accra and the problems it faces.  Quartey writes in a simple fashion, not using large words or complicated sentences or overly constructed plots.  The writing and story is simple and straightforward, suitable no doubt for high school age children, though the material is considerably dark.  Highly recommended.

 

I read the Kindle edition.
 

I keep hoping I will come across a novel by Vita Sackville-West that I actually enjoy reading.  Challenge, written in 1920, is not it.  Sackville's writing seems to me vague, wispy, and without grounding.  The novel was banned in the UK until 1974 or 1976, though I cannot see nor think of a single reason why.  It is a pretty fluffy concoction, set in the Greek Isles at the time they sought independence, but Greece was coming for them.  There is nothing in the story except petty politics and a perverse kind of selfish love.  Julian and Eve are cousins, both very young (22 and 19).  though they fight and argue constantly, they are in love.  She wants love unconditionally, and admits that even if he had a dog she would be too jealous of it to live peaceably with Julian.  His interest in helping some of the islands revolt against their Greek masters is, to her, too much to compete against.  So she aids the Greeks in reconquering the islands, and sees Julian exiled.  She then realizes that she has destroyed him by taking away his fight for freedom, so she goes out and drowns herself.  At the last minute she has second thoughts, but alas, it is too late.  She is likely one of the most unlikable female characters I have ever encountered in a novel, with almost no redeeming qualities.  I say almost, for she does love, but her kind of absolute love is a perversion of the word, in my opinion.  She is not even above luring on a priest who takes to her, driving him mad with desire for her.  When he is rejected, he kills himself (or trips over his garment, we never know for certain which).  Not recommended.  But stay tuned; her next novel is Orlando, so maybe there is some hope yet.  For a much better novel showing a female writer pushing boundaries (sand having them come back to bite her) read Kate Chopin's The Awakening, from 1899.

 

Mrs. Warren's Profession, from 1893, is another early play by G. B Shaw, one that was banned from performance for several years after publication.  The play is prefaced in my Kindle edition (Delphi Classics) by a long tirade against censorship by the author, and indeed is more interesting to read than the play itself.   Not put on the stage until 1902, it tells the story of a woman who runs a house of prostitution, using the earnings to ensure her daughter receives the best education available to her.  The play was savagely attacked as "unnatural."  Shaw's lengthy response is, as one can imagine if one knows of Shaw's critical skills, right on the mark.  The play itself is in 4 acts, each taking about 20' to read.  Apparently even mention of such a woman was enough to cause apoplexy in the theatre critics of the time.  the opening performance audience loved the play, especially the women.  However, the next performance was for the critics,and thus history is made.  If anything, Shaw's a bit overboard on his "modern" woman, casting her a person not seeking love, adventure, beauty, or truth.  Instead, she wants to work in an office and use her skills of higher calculation (she is a university graduate in high standing), and never wants a vacation.  While it is admirable that she wants to leave her background and dubious friendships behind, I'm not too impressed with her life goals.  She sounds remarkably like an AI version of a calculator.  The play has amusing moments, but is mostly a scathing social commentary and assessment of the options for employment open to women of the time.  It is easy reading, and overall brings up many valid points about the English labour market of the time as it pertains to females.  Recommended.

 

Lost Worlds is a vast collection of 24 stories from 1944 by Clark Ashton Smith.  Smith's stories, for me, put most of Lovecraft's work to shame.  Smith is a writer, whereas Lovecraft was not.  Smith can set an eerie atmosphere with very few words, capturing an entire setting easily and craftily.  Smith is best at hinting at horrors, rather than trying to always describe them outright, and telling us how horrifying they are.  He lets readers decide what is horrifying and what isn't.  The first story is classic Smith.  "Empire of the Necromancers" is set in Zothique, the last continent to survive near the end of the Sun's life.  Earth is mostly dust and gloom, but two evil wizards decide to use their evil skills to repopulate a province that was decimated by plague.  They conjure up the dead people that once lived there, and turn them into zombie slaves.  Smith set many of his best stories in Zothique (see the Ballantine Fantasy volume edited by Lin Carter), and this one is characteristic of them.  If you are looking for a unique atmosphere for tales of wizardry, look no further.  

Next comes "The Isle of the Torturer," a much less successful story no doubt written to bring to life some lurid cover for Weird Tales.  A King sees his kingdom vanquished by a plague called the Silver Death.  His chief wizard gives him a ring that saves the king alone.  So far so good.  He sets sail for a friendly island and is shipwrecked instead on the title isle.  From here on the story degenerates quickly into nothing but horrible tortures.  One neat twist is the cruel girl who pretends to be trying to help him, but is only keeping him and his hopes alive so that he might live to be tortured for one more day.  His original wizard told him to never take off his ring, for the Silver Death will emerge.  At last it is time to take off the ring, but how?  He is tied up and on a torture wheel.  Read and find out how the king gets his revenge.

"Necromancy in Nat" sees Prince Yadar's intended bride kidnapped while he is on a hunting trip.  He goes on a worldwide search for her.  He ends up shipwrecked on Nat, an island of wizards and their zombie slaves.  This story is a bit more coherent than the one above, and begins as as normal kind of adventure, but quickly jumps into Sinbad the Sailor territory.  The ending is very unexpected yet perfect.  One of the author's better tales.

"Xeethra" is one of the best.  A shepherd boy wanders into a strange and lush valley with his drought starved and thirsty sheep, one that he has never before seen.  He discovers a cave entrance and following the dark passage emerges in a strange land filled with springs, healthy trees, and promising lands.  He plucks a fruit from a tree and eats it and his life is transformed.  The fruit brings back ancestral memories of when he was King of a great city on the seashore, and he sets out to find his city.  People he meets think he is quite mad, but after a long and harrowing search he comes to the ruins of a once-great city.  This adventure story is very well written and full of surprises, and as atmospheric as any by the author.  It is like reading the very best Dunsany adventure.

"The Holiness of Azerdarac" is a tale from medieval Averoigne, oen of several such tales written by Smith.  A young priest is sent to investigate a bishop suspected of foul magical deeds.  Brother Ambrosa discovers more than he wishes to, and sets out on his return journey to his own city to report on his findings.  But he never makes it home.  Instead, he has adventures where he journeys back 700 years, encounters a seductive sorceress, than is sent back into a future time, and then back again to the sorceress who tried to send him back to his own time.  It's not as confusing as it sounds, and is actually well written.  Many of these tales would make an excellent series of short films!

"The Beast of Averoigne" takes place in the year 1369, describing events near an abbey as a bright comet slowly passes through the heavens.  This is another very effective tale, and again would make for a great short film, or even a feature if handled well.

"The Letter From Mohau Los", or "Flight Into Super-Time" is a very poor time travel tale, characteristic of many badly written SF stories from the late 30s and 40s.  Stick to H. G. Wells on this theme.  Most of the story is description, with very little in the way of plot.  So many loopholes....

"The Light From Beyond" is a novelette about an artist (he likes to illustrate stories by Poe), who, while in seclusion in an isolated mountain cabin, has an other-worldly experience that changes him forever.  Inter-dimensional travel to an alien world will do that to a person.  He eats a somewhat forbidden fruit there and undergoes what might be regarded as an LSD trip.  Interesting story, especially the lead up to solving the mystery before he travels.

"The Hunters From Beyond" is about a writer of macabre tales and his cousin, a sculptor of devilish creatures.  Very few, if any, of Smith's stories have a happy ending.  The burden this time falls on the innocent artist's model, who is kidnapped by demons.  She isn't at all the same when she returns.  As usual, the story has an interesting exposition.

"The Treader of the Dust" is a short tale about a man deeply into studying the dark arts.  He ends up conjuring an entity that rapidly ages everything around it, including his butler and himself.

"The Last Incantation" is another brief story, this one about a sorcerer in Poseidonis, the last standing isle of Atlantis.  Smith wrote a number of tales about the lost continent.

"A Voyage To Stanomoe" describes how two powerful wizards of Poseidonas, after failing to find a solution to the island's destruction, flee in their spacecraft to Venus.  A very weird tale with a remarkable ending.  Smith's imagination is beyond categorizing. 

"The Death of Malygris" is classic Smith, a tale of an evil and all-powerful wizard in Poseidonis who takes taxes from traders.  the king has finally had enough, and summons 12 wizards to aid his main wizard in doing away with Malygris.  It turns out that Malygris has been dead a long time already, and is just sitting in his chair atop his tower.  Or is he dead?  Two expeditions set out to find the truth.  A wonderful tale of black sorcery!

"The Tale of Zatampa Zeiros" is one of the best short stories of wizardry ever written, and it is likely that it greatly influenced a young Fritz Leiber.  Two fearless thieves set out to loot a cursed and forbidden ruined city.  Unfortunately, their luck has run out on this mission.  Great writing, showing a humourous side to Smith.!

"The Doors To Saturn" is a bizarre tale of a wizard who becomes interested in dark magic and a god that might be worth visiting.  He is being pursued by an inquisition priest.  After creating a method of visiting the god, who happens to dwell on Saturn, he disappears in a most unusual way.  But he is followed by the priest, who wants him arrested for worshipping a dark god.  The two eventually become entangled with a low grade civilization on Saturn, before escaping certain death and moving on to a somewhat higher life form.  More humour can be found here than chills, but again proving Smith's nearly limitless imagination.

"The Seven Geases" is yet another humourous look at human interactions with gods.  A royal hunter disturbs a wizard, ruining it with his intrusion.  As a punishment the hunter is sent into the netherworld to serve an evil god.  When that god has no need of him, he is sent on to a 2nd god, and so on until the 7th god is reached, releasing him from his fate.  along the way the hunter, weaponless, encounters all manner of nasty beasts that wish to devour him, but his protected by a primitive bird from the original wizard, to ensure he makes it safely to the intended god.  The sudden ending of the story satirizes the writer's problem of having to stop writing when a certain amount of words have been reached, as laid out by pulp editors.

"The Coming of The White Worm" tells of a giant iceberg and its evil being that flow south, freezing everything and everyone in its path.  One wizard will someday possess the key to destroying the awful beast.  Will he be able to do it?  With Smith, one never knows.  Again, this is one of the most bizarre stories I have ever read.  It would make a good folk tale explaining the ice age.

"The Maze of Maal Dweb" is one of Smith's best tales, as a barbarian matches wits with a wizard who has kidnapped his intended bride.  In Smith's writing, barbarians do not have much of a chance.  Atmospheric but also humourous.

"The Flower Woman" is a sequel to the above story, where the wizard Maal Dweb heads off seeking new adventures.  The story has a very abrupt ending, but is a pretty good one up to that point.  Dweb pits his resources against seven other wizards who are trying to elevate themselves to a dangerous lever of wizardry, and must be stopped before that happens.

"The Demon of the Flowers" tells of an evil power that inhabits a flower, and gives them dominance over humans.  When a female human is to be sacrificed to feed the evil power, the king tries to finally put a stop to things.  This is as Smith story, so his success is somewhat tempered by failure.

"The Plutonian Drug" is a silly story with an ending that is far too predictable, and makes the main protagonist look like a complete idiot.  A man takes a drug that allows him to see so far into his past and into his future.  But his future goes dark as he enters a lane way shortcut at night.  Hmm.  Wonder what might happen.  When the drug wears off he wonders that exact thing, as he takes the shortcut through the lane way.

"The Planet of the Dead" is a trans-dimensional love story, cloaked in sadness and lost memories.  A good tale as an antique collector and amateur astronomer leaves Earth for another existence in another place and another time.  He spends a brief month there before returning.

"The Gorgon" is the real thing.  The head of the Gorgon is well and living in London, and still turning direct onlookers into stone.  A man grieving his dead wife travels the world, stopping in London where he is accosted on the street and promised a mirrored look at the real thing.  He accepts, and his adventure begins.  Unusual, even for Smith.

 

Original hardcover publication.  I read the Kindle edition. 

Mapman Mike