Black Mirror (1) Review: Piano Repertoire 8 Week Update

 A lot happens between posts, most of which does not get reported.  We added one more cold day, bringing our season total to 51.  Hopefully that is all behind us now.  We had some snowdrops blooming on the 28th of February.  Their numbers are increasing daily.  Crocuses and daffs are also on the rise.  Astronomy season has begun once again, after a three month hiatus.  Rain and clouds are in the forecast.  Sigh.  Deb also had her second and final iron transfusion.  It seems to be working and she is hard at work on her most recent short film.

 

We finished watching season one of Mlle. Holmes, a French series in 6 parts.  Four of the programs weren't too bad.  The worst one was the finale, called (of course) The Final Problem.  It was almost unwatchable, as a woman who had competently solved crimes for five weeks suddenly falls apart completely when she realizes that Mlle. Moriarty is framing her for shooting her grandfather.  The frame up is so bad and amateurish that sixth graders I have known could have easily got out of being blamed.  Supposedly part of a crime fighting police team, she goes it all alone, as so many TV character tropes do.  She hides evidence, she loses her ability to think, and she acts completely selfishly.  Of course she has no Sherlock blood in her veins; only Moriarty's and her mother's, after they had a brief affair.  Or something.  Moriarty would be ashamed of her.  Anyway, it was a bad way to finish the season.  Not to mention that she commits murder at the end.  Grandpa wakes up at the conclusion, after being in a coma throughout the entire episode, unable to tell anyone who shot him.  No trope there.

 

In addition to being hard at work watching the final ten episodes of Foundation, we watched a new film by a favourite (up till now) director.  Dracula is a 2025 film by director Radu Jude, who turns his creative block towards AI, chatting with it about the Dracula myth and letting AI come up with its own version of it.  Thus it is a series of short films connected by the director's chats with AI, and loosely connected to the Dracula myth.  The main story that seems to run through this very long film (170 minutes) is quite good.  A sort of Dracula low budget stage event sees Dracula and the girl he seduces performing in front of a group of tourists in Romania.  At the end of the play the audience gets to chase them around the village with long wooden stakes, after giving the villains a one minute start.  Other shorter films are less and less successful, finally becoming too comically raunchy to even sit through unless the viewer has a bad fever and is mildly hallucinating.  Anyone who has used AI for creative purposes has a fair idea of how badly things can turn out.  While the film has some terrific scenes, it also has far too many which are beneath most intelligent people's dignity to view.  I can recommend the first half, though it contains an overlong love story that ends in a bizarre enough way.  Another later story concerns the first Dracula novel published in Romania.  The movie goes downhill the longer one watches.  See it at your own peril.

 

Radu Jude and AI take on the undying legend.  

Showing on Mubi. 

 

Moving on to PC gaming, we replayed Black Mirror, a horror adventure game published by The Adventure Company in October 2003.  I first played it in December of 2005, though it took me four months to get through it (25 hours of playtime).  I remembered almost nothing of the game, other than it rained a lot, so this was like playing it for the first time.  Deb and I played it together.  Even so, we needed to look up some things.  More on that later.

 

Overall Black Mirror remains a pretty decent game.  It spawned two sequels (both played) and a new and updated version of this first game, still awaiting me in my Steam library.  Samuel Gordon returns to his ancestral home (Black Mirror Castle) upon the suicide death of William Gordon, his grandfather.  He soon becomes embroiled in a family curse, and works to solve a great mystery surrounding William's death.  The story is okay, at least until it is revealed who the killer is.  That revelation defies all logic.

 

The game plays out in six chapters.  Locations are gradually added as the game progresses, but it begins inside the castle and on the grounds.  There are several people to speak with, and many rooms to explore.  The first two chapters include the nearby village and a church.  Chapter 3 takes players to another ancestral home in Wales.  This chapter is like a game unto itself.  Chapter 4 adds underground locations including beneath the church and Black Mirror Castle itself, as well as an old mine.  Next come many chilling visits to the morgue, an ancient stone ring and a lighthouse.  Many locations are seen in late autumn daylight and during night and dark thunderstorms. I was correct; it does rain a lot in this game.  And yet Samuel never wears a hat or carries an umbrella--perhaps he is crazy).  Presentation is via an enhanced slideshow format, where Samuel walks across the view.  Sometimes the on-screen scenario can be extended by walking further or to one side.  Let's look at some images now.

 

 

Black Mirror Castle. 

 

The main entrance hall within the castle. 

 

The castle greenhouse.

 

Churchyard cemetery.  There are several cemeteries in this game.

 

Entrance gate to the house in Wales. 

  

The local map showing all locations (except Wales).  Once acquired players can click on the map and transport there. 

 

The very creepy Morgue.

 

To escape from the old mine we must shoot and kill a wolf (boo, hiss) in a timed sequence set up to make players fail. 

 

My favourite screenshot, taken beneath the parish church. 

 

Same cemetery as above, at night.  There are at least four in the game.

 

The final problem, so to speak.  This is close to the end of the game, in Chapter Six. 

 

As the images hopefully demonstrate, I have no quibbles with the graphics.  Again played in 640 x 480, Steam has done a good job of keeping this old game looking good.  Not having to constantly switch CDs is a good thing, too.  Anyway, the body count continues to mount during the game.  In addition to William and the wolf, the castle gardener is murdered, a young boy (boo, hiss), Samuel's uncle and his cousin (?) James.  Besides a few too many murders, what else is there to dislike about the game?

 

Well, there are very few actual puzzles.  Assemble a torn photo, unscramble some riddles, solve a 4 x 4 sliding puzzle, figure out how to open a jewel box with a puzzle along with a few other examples, this game is mostly about pixel hunting.  Hot spots appear red when the cursor is placed on them.  Very often spots that have been checked 101 times and not shown up will turn red later, after a certain conversation or action has taken place.  Inventory can become crowded at times.  Worst of all, some hot spots must be left clicked and right clicked, or else.  Yes, players can "die" in this game.  After Samuel gets killed a few times by a wolf, and his head sliced off, it is a good thing to save often.  This brings me to my main complaint.  If you don't save often you get a much more immersive experience in the game.  But if you don't save often and you die (not if but when) then a lot of replaying must take place.  If you do save often, you totally lose the immersive experience of being in the game.  Developers never really get this.  It seems a necessity to kill the player many times, to prove how stupid players are and how clever the developers are.

 

Things I liked were the fact that Samuel would not leave a place if there was still more to do there.  That was very handy.  And many of the map locations could not be visited if they were no longer needed.  Very helpful.  Sadly, however, the game lacked flow.  As soon as one puzzle was solved, one thought that the way ahead would be clear for a time.  Usually another obstacle was encountered almost immediately.  And now we come to the game's conclusion.  Once we know who the killer is, we also realize that it would be virtually impossible for that person to have committed all the crimes.  For so many reasons (no blood anywhere on him, for one).  Perhaps this will be explained better in the second game, which I've also played but forgotten.

 

I can recommend the game, though it falls beneath most games where players cannot die.  Good graphics and highly atmospheric locations, a decent enough story (until the end).  But beware that right click option. We played for a total of 24 hours, taking solutions where needed and seemingly stuck.

 

In piano news, the first 8 weeks are usually crucial to further development.  Practice is very slow, as the pianist attempts to teach his body what to do when and where.  Being a naturally slow learner, 8 weeks usually doesn't get me very far.  However, I can now play the Invention in D by Bach, and the Haydn sonata (a small one, albeit) is coming along nicely.  I have even began to memorize it.  The Bach Prelude in D from Book 1 is still very slow going.  Though mostly a piece for right hand, it has more tricky places than a typical mine field.  The fugue, though, is progressing well.  It should be ready to play in another four weeks.  I have yet to begin the final piece on the first half, a short work by Beethoven.

 

The second half of the program is dominated by a very difficult Chopin Nocturne, Op. 27 #2.  I nearly gave up during week 5, and I might still pack it in.  Despite getting 40' a day to itself, it still sounds like I am sight reading it.  If after another four weeks it is still going nowhere, I will switch it off for a different piece.  The pieces by Scriabin range in difficulty from fairly easy to quite difficult, are developing as expected.  One of them is fully playable while the other two slowly improve each week.  Lastly comes a difficult piece that I learned several years ago, March Wind by MacDowell.  It is coming back to me quite fast and should be memorized and playable in four weeks time.  I will report again at that time.

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

 

February Reading Summary 2026

It was a short month, but the first half was cold enough to be inside a lot.  There are seven books to report this month

 

Scorpio Reborn is from 1995 and is 252 pages long, the first book of the Lovian Cycle by Kenneth Bulmer, itself part of the extensive Dray Prescott series.  Our hero now finds himself in the southern hemisphere, sent on another mysterious mission by the Star Lords.  He arrives amidst a dwelling fire and barely manages to save a woman before he is knocked cold by a falling beam.  She ends up dragging him from the building.  In a neat twist, Dray Prescott is paralyzed for the first few chapters of the novel, watching events transpire but unable to participate.  He gradually recovers the use of his limbs, then comes speech, and finally he is his old self again.  He is paired with another of the Star Lords' servants, this time a female.  She thinks that she saved him from the fire, instead of the other way around.  Dray allows her to lead, but when he thinks matters should be handled differently he goes his own way.  A good tale filled with evil and cruel bad guys who get their just desserts in the end.  There are three novels in this volume.  

 

The Kindle volume contains three novels.  I read the first one, above.

Cover art by Ken Kelly. 

 

Prison of Night is by E C Tubb and is from 1976 and is somewhat unusual in this series.  Earl Dumarest stays on the same planet for this direct sequel to the previous story, something that has never happened before.  Readers should be glad he did, as some of the mystery of this very strange planet gets solved.  Every day its two suns come close together, and when they do an effect termed Delusia occurs, which enables dead people from a person's memory to come forth and speak with them.  It can be a very unnerving experience, though in some cases it is healing and beneficial.  That is one mystery that does not get solved in this story.  However, this planet has another surprise to claim as its own.  Humans can only be outside during the daylight hours; should they remain out after dark it is the Sungari that rule the world.  These are mysterious creatures that kill people who leave home after dark.  When curfew is called people must remain indoors.  Dumarest stays out and attempts to meet up with these mysterious night time things.  As a result part of the mystery of their existence is revealed to readers.  The rest of the book is standard adventure, with a war to fight and a woman who loves Earl and wants him to settle down with her and raise babies and stock animals.  It won't be a surprise to readers of this series that Dumarest blasts off for other worlds at the end of this book, continuing his search for Earth and his avoidance of the deadly Cyclan.  They are after information in his brain, so he remains on the run. 

 

Cover art by Don Maitz. 

 

I began a Michael Moorcock epic novel called The Whispering Swarm.  It is the first volume of a series called The Sanctuary of the White Friars.  As the large first volume is divided into three books, I shall report when I have completed all three.  I am reading one a month for now.  If things go well I will tackle volume two.

 

Turning now to the Delphi Classics series, I began the month with a novel by Jerome Jerome.  Tommy and Company is from 1904 and consists of a group of short stories loosely linked into a very readable type of novel.  The year is significant, as the stirrings of feminism began to appear in the London public.  Jerome has a field day poking fun, mostly at men, and how they react to modern women.  Tommy/Jane is the central character, a sexless waif at the beginning who is taken in by Peter Hope and eventually adopted by him.  The first story describes their meeting and establishes both characters in a most hilarious fashion.  While the book is far from farce, it is often very very funny.  It can also be quite touching.  Overall, however, the stories are simply great fun to read, and give insights into the times and the people of London.  We meet characters one or two at a time, and though they usually star in their own story, Tommy/Jane is usually working behind the scenes in all of them.  While making only brief appearances after his/her first story, Tommy/Jane provides the main reason to keep on reading.  He/she is one of the most original characters in literature.  The final story is one of the finest endings to a novel this reader has ever encountered.  Full marks for Mr. Jerome.  **** stars.

 

I have added D. H. Lawrence's complete works to my Delphi Classics collection. I began with a novella of his, The Ladybird from 1923.  It's an emotionally packed story that takes place from 1917 to sometime after Armistice.  A young woman visits an English hospital to see a badly wounded German officer known to her family from before the war.  Her own husband is fighting somewhere in Europe of Africa,and is eventually wounded himself.  The wounded German and the young wife become closer and closer, until when her husband finally returns, she is faced with her great problem.  A good read that delves into the psychological problems that wars create, as well as the physical ones.  It also demonstrates how war can change certainties (her love for husband) into uncertainties.  When one thinks one is happily married and then encounters a soul mate, what can one do?  *** stars.

 

Next came a rereading of George MacDonald's Phantastes, his first novel published in 1858.  I first encountered this fairy tale for adults in Lin carter's Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series (see separate blog) as #14.  On first reading I loved the book and awarded in four stars.  On second reading I sitll love the book, but rated it down slightly.  This is mainly due to the main character and the many terrible choices he makes through his dream journey to fairyland, thus causing hardship and misery to others.  The main character is Anodos (ascent in Greek), and his adventures are epic.  They begin in the fairy woods, then on the the fairy castle, then deep underground and opening out onto a vast sea.  This book, more than other other, helped start the adult fantasy trend, and direct links can be found in many places to later works by William Morris and Lord Dunsany.  It likely also influenced Tolkien, and C. S. Lewis, who read the book at 16, was forever changed by it.  Even Arthur Machen's writing can be traced back to episodes in this book.Therefore, anyone interested at all in adult fantasy will find this a must read novel.  It isn't terribly long, and there is a lot of poetry and stories within stories.  Definitely recommended.  *** 1/2 stories.

 

Cover art by Gervasio Gallardo.  See my Ballantine blog link at upper left margin.
 

Speaking of Arthur Machen, next came his earliest published short tales.  The Chronicles of Clemendy, or The History of the Ix Joyous Journeys Carbonnek.  In these linked tales from 1888 of medieval love and loss Machen harkens back to Rabelais, Chaucer and Boccaccio.  His stories feature during a journey among fellow Silurians (lovers of wine, joy, music and letters), and are told by various men.  One tale tells of a mechanical clock knight that usually hits the bells with his weapon, but appears to be walking about town after dark and catching people doing things with members of the opposite sex that they really shouldn't be doing.  Another tale explains how a man wasted his life digging for treasure after overhearing some monks discussing the subject.  There are two with wizards and maidens, the first one a sad tale of woe as a lovely maiden is kidnapped and ravished by an adept, then killed.  The second tells of a wizard father who does not wish his daughter to see other men, afraid that his dark magic might be called out.  Other tales tell of a knight trapped in a high tower, more than a mile above ground, while another tells of a knight trapped in dungeon far beneath the earth.  In all it is a good collection of tale, though after a while they have a similarity that makes it difficult to remember and distinguish between them.  I could see James Branch Cabell being influenced by these tales, though his writing is more erudite and dryly humourous.  Machen does inject humour into the tales, however, sometimes waiting till the moral of the tale is revealed.  Well worth reading, especially if you have only read his novels and later stories.

*** stars.

 

Ghosts (1986) is the second tale in Paul Auster's New York Trilogy.  It is short, more a novella, and seems to repeat a lot of what was encountered in the first book.  Again we have a private eye (a real one this time, supposedly) staked out in an apartment and keeping an eye on a man.  That's pretty much the story in this disappointing sequel to the first book.  Auster seems to get some of his inspiration from the final episode of the 1960s The Prisoner TV series, where Patrick McGoohan finally discovers "who is Number One."  I will eventually get around to book three, but now I am in no rush.  ** stars.

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 
 

Five Films (and More Iron)

It's been a busy week for films, as we had four that are leaving Criterion on the 28th at midnight, so we had to put a rush on them.  Glad we did.  Before we get to the films, a news update.  Deb is feeling better and has just had her second iron infusion.  She began to notice a difference 72 hours after her first one.  So far so good.  Her blood work shows a plethora of iron (just what is a plethora...) and her hemoglobin count is heading upwards.  It's what we expected and hoped for, but it's nice when it actually happens.  Deb had a miserable December, January and most of February.  She is back working on her latest film.  We have one more millstone to deal with around her neck, but that is next week.  Moving on.

 

This morning I practiced at Randy G.'s house, since he lives not too far from where Deb was being treated.  I also got to tour his amazing home built observatory for the first time, where he uses his 11" Celestron scope in his backyard.  Though he lives in Windsor and the light pollution is bad, he has made enough adjustments to deal with the worst of it.  I am looking forward to a night time visit just as soon as we get a few days past new moon.  A full one is coming up soon and will feature a total eclipse, though we'd have to be in New Mexico to see the whole thing.  There has been a tiny bit of progress in my piano pieces, but more on that after next week.

 

We continue to play the original Black Mirror PC game, though it is often a frustrating experience.  In these old adventure games players can die suddenly, in quite horrible ways.  As a result one has to stop often and save the game, or else replay an entire segment after one dies.  Such gameplay kills the immersive experience totally, but gamer designers back then didn't get that.  They thought it was cool that they could "outsmart" players.  Anyway, more on the game when we have completed it.

 

Vermiglio is an Italy/France/Belgium film from 2024.  It takes place in a tiny alpine village in Italy during the 2nd world war and just after.  The film takes a close look at one family; the father is an aging schoolmaster for the local children.  His wife is a baby making machine.  By the end of the film they have had ten kids, and another is on the way.  Another of the babies dies soon after being born.  The film seems to focus on the three daughters, one of marrying age, another one in her mid-teens, and the third about ten or eleven years of age.  When a soldier appears, running from the war

after escaping the village, he and the oldest daughter hit if off.  Things soon turn topsy turvy.  Beautifully photographed high in the mountains (Dolomites), we pass through all the seasons, some more than once.  There is a lot to like about the film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Venice.  Perhaps it could be outdone by a sprawling novel, which might be able to define characters a little more, the film is still an amazing accomplishment.  Directed by Maura Delpero.  Recommended viewing.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Next came a film with more screaming than any other film I have watched.  Alucarda is a Mexican horror film from 1977 and directed by Juan Lopez Moctemzuma.  Here is the blurb from the Criterion website:

 

Directed at fever-pitch hysteria by Alejandro Jodorowsky collaborator Juan López Moctezuma, this ultrablasphemous satanic shocker is one of the unholy grails of the nunsploitation genre—an orgiastic freakout of Catholic imagery, vampirism, lesbianism, and demonic possession. Following the death of her parents, teenage Justine (Susana Kamini) arrives at a convent where she strikes up a curious friendship with the mysterious Alucarda (Tina Romero)—a relationship that will unleash a most ungodly terror within their cloistered world.

 

Tina Romero is unbelievably good as the dark-haired young girl taken over by the devil.   Her face can change from a smiling and happy virgin to the most diabolical creature ever seen, in a single heartbeat.  The film is in colour, and seems to echo Hammer Films, though this one goes much farther in pushing boundaries and in pure screaming horror.  Watching the nuns, who are unable to deal with a satanic experience, is a highlight of the film.  They just go stark raving mad, especially after the descriptive sermon given by the priest warning of what becomes of lost souls.  A don't miss film, one that I had never heard of!

 

If you catch this gal in your headlights, keep driving.

 

Leaving Criterion Feb. 28th.
  

Exiled is a Johnnie To film from 2006 and may be the best gangster movie ever made.  The action (and there are more bullets flying than on a typical day during WW II) takes place in Macau.  Four hit men are sent to eliminate a former gangster who turned on his organization.  They end up staying for dinner with his wife and baby, preparing and cooking it themselves.  Watching killers peel and chop veggies and use a wok tells the viewer that this is no ordinary film.  The five men were school chums at one time, and they still have a camaraderie.  They end up taking on not one mob, but two of them (plus they manage a gold heist in their spare time).  Terrific characters, and even though the film is a virtual comic book, it works remarkably well.  There aren't many folk left standing by the end, but the mother and baby seem to make it out okay.  Worth more than one viewing, especially once you figure out what is happening.  Lots of comic relief, including a cop just days from retirement who keeps avoiding any killing and action.  Highly recommended.

 

Leaving Criterion Feb. 28th. 

 

Somewhere is a 2010 film directed by Sofia Coppola.  It has one of the worst openings to a film I have ever seen.  It won the Golden Lion at Venice, so we plodded on.  It turned into a pretty good film.  A hotshot actor by the name of Johnny Marco has it all: fame, money, women, parties.  However, inside he is as empty as a gas tank running on fumes.  He drives his Ferrari out on a lonely circular track in the desert.  In a drunken stair descent he breaks his wrist and lies abed for a few days.  He hires twin blond pole dancers to come to his room and dance for him.  The film seems to hit its lowest point because they come not once, but twice.  Then his eleven year old daughter arrives, brought by his ex-wife.  Beautifully played by a young Elle Fanning (her smile can light up an entire room), they hang out together and seem really connected.  She figure skates and studies ballet.  He ends up having to take her to Italy with him for an award ceremony where he is being honoured.  The movie thrives on their partnership, but when he has to take her to summer camp (mom has left and did not say when she might return) and returns to an empty apartment, he is devastated, slowly beginning to realize how empty and useless his life has become.  The final scene is ambiguous; he leaves his car beside a lonely road and begins walking.  If he dies, then his young daughter will likely kill herself, as she already feels abandoned by her mother.  If he lives then he mind find himself somewhere out there, and return a better person.  I really wish I knew.  I do not have a good feeling about a man walking in the desert without water.  A pretty decent film.

 

Leaving Criterion Feb. 28th. 

 

Lastly comes Winter Kills from 1979, starring everybody from then.  Jeff Bridges stars as the half brother of an assassinated President, with John Huston playing the overbearing but hollow rich and controlling father.  The film pokes fun at conspiracy theories, especially the Kennedy assassination ones.  Part black comedy and part adventure film, it is quite fun to watch.  Eli Wallach, Anthony Perkins, Sterling Hayden, Dorothy Malone, Ralph Meeker, Toshiro Mifune and a cameo by Elizabeth Taylor all make the movie better than average.  Directed by William Richert.

 

Leaving Criterion Feb. 28th. 

 

I will conclude with a few more Train Sim World screen captures, all with a winter theme. 

 

Switzerland.

 

Same as above.

 

Midlands of England.

 

Somewhere in Cornwall.

 

In the mountains of California.

 

Edinburgh Castle. 

 

Night or day, rain or shine, I'm moving freight and passengers across the world!

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 
 

 

 

 

Iron Time

For reasons not yet completely understood Deb has been losing iron from her blood at an alarming rate.  At first it was gradual, but then it seemed to accelerate over the past two months, to the point where she can't do much for very long.  To say she is frustrated would be an understatement.  Thursday she received the first of two massive iron infusions.  She gets another one next week, then sees her specialist in April.  So this can take a long time to work.  Her levels of hemoglobin are correspondingly low, and with the added iron should eventually re-balance itself.  In the meantime we wait. And wait.  We're hoping for some improvement this week.  We'll see.

 

We finished watching Season Two of Foundation, loosely based on Asimov's first book in the series.  There are ten more episodes to go.  Maybe next week.  I am getting tired of the same characters, who die and then seem somehow to return to life.  We have also been watching a French TV series from 2023 called Mademoiselle Holmes.  She is supposedly the great granddaughter of Sherlock, and lives with her grandfather in a French chateau near Nantes.  She works in the city as a policewoman, and has a young intern doctor with her (her Watson).  In the third episode it appears that it is more likely that she is a descendant of Moriarty (her dad) and Holmes (her mom).  Not much is explained yet in the major arc, but in the meantime she is building a reputation in the department as a crime solver.  She is hyperactive, has some emotional and mental problems (she usually takes meds), and plays fiddle in the style of Brittany folk music.  So far it's an engaging series and she is likable to a certain extent (like Holmes).  It is showing on PBS Masterpiece.

 

The first season is streaming on PBS Masterpiece. 

 

In film news there are two to report.  The Fan is Otto Preminger's 1949 filming of Lady Windermere's Fan.  It was Oscar Wilde's first great stage success and he was asked for more of the same afterwards.  Jean Crain plays the young newlywed who thinks her husband (Richard Greene) is having an affair with an older woman of somewhat ill repute.  Madelaine Carroll, in her final role, plays the older woman who carries with her a great secret.  George Sanders is a character who is also in love with the married Crain, and almost gets to steal her from her husband.  The director adds a framing device, beginning and ending the story is contemporary post-war London, and it does the play no harm.  Sanders gets some of the best lines, but he seems to hurry through them without much emphasis.  Still, this is a decent film though I would much rather see it performed live in a theater.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

TNT Jackson is from 1974, a kung fu film starring black actors, but it takes place in Hong Kong.  Starring Millie Milan as a gal looking to avenge the murder of her brother, and Rudy Ray Moore as the guy she is looking for.  Mostly action with a bit of dialogue, as least the film is fast paced.  There is at least one good scene with a carnival taking place.  At one point a group of dancers and revelers is lured into a police station, where Ms. Jackson is being held.  In the ensuing chaos she is freed.  The entire carnival sequence is quite well done.  From our Mill Creek Entertainment DVD collection, called "Drive-in Classics."  Not much of a classic, though.

 

From one of our 50 Movie DVD boxed sets. 

 

We continue making progress with Black Mirror, an older PC game we are now playing off of Steam.  I have been getting rid of my DVD games as they come up on Steam.  They run better and look better, though I am still keeping discs that have not yet appeared on Steam.  I continue driving trains, adding Austria to my ever-growing list of countries.  I'm behind in my screenshots, so here are a few from my many services undertaken.

     

Approaching Meissen Station, Germany.

 

London Overground, dusk.

 

London Overground, dusk.

 

Along the Rhine, Germany.

 

Hauling tanker cars in California. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorrentino's Latest Film

 Once in a blue moon a film comes along that truly deserves the term masterpiece.  I used that word to describe the director's earlier film The Great Beauty, which I claim is a sequel to La Dolce Vita.  His latest film is the 2025 La Grazia, starring Toni Servillo as an aged Italian president serving out the final days of his six year term, and Anna Ferzetti as his daughter and aide.  The film is sublime and so far from what most people would imagine a major motion picture to be.  Servillo is at his best as a man questioning his own worth and his ability to make difficult decisions.  On his mind are two pardons for murderers, and a bill he must sign before it becomes law on euthanasia for humans.  The film is both deep and accessible.  At times the president is a pig-headed man who can't seem to move a step in any direction.  For years he has been emotionally paralyzed following the death of his wife, whom he adored.  However, he had learned that she had been unfaithful to him one time, and he has created a private hell for himself trying to discover who that person was.  Beautifully photographed, we were both surprised by the use of rap music in the film, by a director known for his esoteric taste in film music.  However, the judicious use of rap somehow aids the film and the incongruity of an old man rapping is a gem of a moment in this film filled with gem-like moments.  The scenes with the dying horse ("Elvis") are very painful to watch, and we wonder just how cruel the president can possibly be.  But once the horse dies he has changed; he is now able to clearly make his important decisions.  Especially since he now knows who slept with his wife.  This is a film worth many viewings.  Unmissable.

 

Showing on Mubi and looking great on our 55" screen. 

Another film, though not a rival to La Grazia, is an Indian film from 2024 called All We Imagine As Light.  Directed by Payal Kapadia, the story is set at first in Mumbai.  We follow two nurses, a younger one and a more experienced one, as well as the female commissary cook who they befriend.  There are hospital scenes and street scenes, with the latter having a documentary effect in their starkness and chaos.  The youngest nurse is in love with a Muslim boy, while her parents are sending her photos of eligible men that she should marry.  She cannot even broach the subject with them of her Muslim boyfriend, and the film boldly goes where virtually no other Indian film has dared, up to the point where they make love (in one of the most tasteful love scenes ever filmed).  The older nurse is tied into an arranged marriage.  Her husband works in Germany and hasn't even called her in over ten years.  He does send her a rice cooker, though, but with no message.  She gets up enough courage to call him, but an answering machine with a woman's voice is her only contact, and she quickly hangs up.  The older lady is being chased from her home by developers who want to put up a large condo and not compensate her.  She moves back to her ocean-side village, and the two nurses accompany her.  It isn't until we get to the beach that things finally heat up plot-wise.  All three women have made bold decisions in the end, giving their own interests and well-being top priority.  Beautifully filmed and very well acted, the film is definitely worth seeking.  No violence, no guns, no murders, no drugs and no weak female characters.  And prodding the Romeo and Juliet theme with a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy is taking things pretty far in the India of today.  Overall quite well done.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

In weather news, Spring is here!  At least for a while.  Snow is melting and temps are bouncing up to where they should be and above.  Though it's been a terribly cold winter (we've had 49 days where the temp did not rise above freezing; most of those days it didn't even get close), we have had plenty of sun.  We've seen many beautiful sunsets as we watch the northern march of the sun towards its Equinox position.  Whereas the UK has had quite mild temps by comparison, they have had so much rain in places that they haven't seen the sun in weeks.  I'll take the cold.  Especially since we have had barely any snow.  And New Mexico and many western US mountain states have had virtually none this year.  That is really bad news, as the water reservoirs out west all depend on snowpack, and there isn't any.  Even Florida is now in a drought situation!  That's quite a climate hoax someone is perpetuating.

 

In health news Deb continues to crash towards bottom.  Her infusion won't take place until next Thursday.  Her blood work results from Thursday show a steady decline.  She is very tired most of the time, and can not even stand up without having breathing problems.  And on we go....

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

Piano Repertoire

 February is off to a brutally cold start, though we are still very limited in the amount of snow we have received this year.  I'm sure that will arrive later in the month.  Still, we are hopeful that things will begin to end by the middle of the month.  It went briefly above freezing yesterday, before crashing to today's brutal tempts.  46 days so far with no rise above freezing, and several more in a row coming up this weekend.  Even if we did have a lot of snow it would be too cold to snowshoe.

 

I have a new family doctor, since my doctor moved away.  He is very thorough.  He sent me for a heart stress test and it went well yesterday.  Everything seems to be working as it should.  Huzzah!  Deb is urgently awaiting an iron transfusion, one of two that she needs asap.  We are still waiting for an appointment, hopefully early in the coming week.  She is very tired and run down and her breathing worsens weekly.  She is able to work on her film, but far less intensely than before.  Fingers crossed.

 

In gaming news we are currently playing two games on PC.  TR-49 is a brand new game where the player has to get a very old computer working again.  It has jumbled a lot of books and information and we are supposed to unscramble things.  We have uncovered about a fifth of what we need to do.  It's quite interesting in some ways, and quite boring in others.  There is no travel--you sit in front of an old computer (the Bletchley one, lying forgotten and disused) and do research.  The other game is the original Black Mirror from 2003.  I played it many years ago and am replaying it now.  There are two sequels which are also quite good, and a remaster of the one I'm now playing which I also look forward to trying.  This is Deb's first time, though she undoubtedly helped me with some puzzles in my original playthrough.

 

This is how the screen looks in TR-49.  Our score is at the top right.  Notes are kept by the game automatically (below right).  We are down in a basement, possibly inside the machine.  A man is upstairs telling us to work fast and urgently.  It's mostly all a great mystery to the player so far.

 

A screenshot from Black Mirror showing the great manor house where much of the game is played. 

 

In movie news there are three to report.  One is a really terrible SF film from our DVD collection called The Creeping Terror from 1964.  It's a low budget brain killer.  Instead of trying to survive watching the film as delivered, we chose to watch it on MST-3K, with Mike and the bots joking as the film proceeds.  A spaceship crashes and an alien comes out and begins eating people.  The people never run away, and sometimes have to insert themselves into the creature.  It is too ridiculous.  However, the MST episode is very funny and makes even this film quite palatable.

 

From our DVD collection.  Do not watch the original version; instead, watch the MST-3K episode, from Season Six. 

 

Days of Being Wild is a 1990 film by Wong Kar-Wai.  A selfish and spoiled young man uses women until he tires of them and then moves on, often leaving them emotionally scarred.  Though far from being a great film, it does introduce a lot of the director's signature themes, which are developed more maturely in his later films.  The young man is searching for his birth mother (not too diligently) while living with the woman who adopted him.  A local policeman gives the viewer some hope that something decent may yet come from a relationship he had with one of the young man's cast away girlfriends, though the film ends before a true ending is revealed.  Odd and disjointed at times, and the young man is a true piece of turd, so the film isn't that pleasurable to watch.

 

Showing on Criterion. 

 

Misericordia, a French, Portuguese, Spanish film from 2024 is even less fun to watch.  A young man returns to the tiny French village where he grew up to attend the funeral of a man whom he once worked for in the village bakery.  His arrival sparks jealousy in the dead man's son, who wants him to leave right after the funeral.  For no apparent reason the young man stays on, and is then accused by the son of trying to bed his mother.  They have several fights, and in their final one in a remote part of the forest the young man who returned kills the son in a fit of rage.  He buries the body and his worries commence.  The film might have had some credibility without a murder.  But of course there is a murder.  Why?  Can no one make a film without a major crime in it anymore?  The police know he did it but can't prove it.  The local priest knows he did it and helps him cover up the crime, even moving the body from the forest to the church cemetery in the middle of the night.  How this film ever made it to Cannes and Tiff is beyond me.  It's a below average crime film with some not very impressive acting.  The scenery, however, is lush and gorgeous, mid-autumn in the mountains.  The wide screen aspect works well outdoors, but the many indoor shots look quite silly.  Not recommended.

 

Showing on Criterion.  Give it a miss. 

 

I have now put in four intense weeks of practice on the newest piano repertoire.  It sounds like I'm still at the sight reading level.  Progress is grim.  42 hours practice and not really much to show for it.  I can barely play any of the pieces.  It's always so disheartening at the beginning.  In four more weeks I hope to have made at least a dent in the pieces.  The first half features three works by my favourite composer, Bach.  Two Part Invention in D Major will open the program, a fairly dense and very contrapuntal piece, and not as easy as it looks.  That is followed by the Prelude and Fugue in D Major from Book 1 of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier.  The Prelude is a jaunty number that gives the right hand a decent workout, with both hands jumping in for the finale.  The Fugue is a little French Overture, one of the composer's least learned fugues.  It promises to be a fun piece, and shouldn't be too difficult to learn.  We'll see.  All of the Bach is now being played (slowly) hands together, after many hours of hands separate practice.

 

Next comes a sonata by another top favourite composer of mine, Haydn.  It is a miniature piece in three movements, with the first being a theme and variations.  There is nothing too difficult here, and I am hoping it will sound okay in four more weeks.  The second movement is a very short minuet (without trio!), and the third is a rousing finale, a crowd pleaser if there ever was one.  It is the most concentrated and brief version of sonata form I have ever encountered.  I will finish the half with a bagatelle by Beethoven, Op. 119 #1 in g minor.  This is a favourite of mine and I haven't played it in many years.  I have yet to begin this piece.

 

The second half opens with three (more) preludes from Op 11 by Scriabin, #s 4, 5 and 6.  I have yet to begin work on #6, the most difficult one. The first two are slow and the third is madcap fast, in octaves.  Next comes a Chopin nocturne, the most difficult piece on the program.  The Op 27 Nocturnes are among the finest things he ever wrote.  I played #1 years ago and thought I might learn it again, as it is my favourite Chopin piece.  But I decided to give #2 a try.  I can barely play the thing hands separately right now.  This one will require much more time per day than I have been giving it so far.  I likely made a mistake in choosing this one.  Time will tell.

 

I will finish the program with a rousing etude by MacDowell called March Wind.  It's a very effective showpiece, one I have played before.  But I am excited to play it on the grand now!  I'll report back in a month on my progress, if any. 

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

 
 

MYST III: EXILE, A Look Back

As of January 31st our cold weather days have now increased to a season total of 40.  On those days the temperature did not reach 0 C or 32 F.  On many of those days the temp did not even come close to reaching that level.  So it's been very cold, though the winds seem to have died down.  The next ten days are supposed to continue cold, so we should reach 50 with no trouble at all.  Around here winter usually dies around the 14th of February--we are hoping it does.

Today is a full moon day, and tomorrow is Candlemas.  So many holidays and festivals around here!  Brigid comes out tomorrow to do her part in encouraging Spring to appear, though we can't get her fresh flowers until Tuesday.  We will also reveal our new cross-quarter Tarot card.  Deb continues work on her newest film, while her last one just chalked up an award in Toronto for best micro-short (She Makes A Moving Picture).  Yay Deb!  Next week will mark one month on my newest piano pieces, so I will talk about them then.

 

There are two films to report, one good and one bad.  The bad one was the 1969 b & w horror film It's Alive, starring Tommy Kirk as a dynamite carrying paleontologist, one of four people who get caught and trapped by a crazy man.  This is one of the all time bad horror films, with a monster (It) so badly done that it almost makes the film worthwhile to watch.  Apparently millions of years ago there were lots of these creatures, but hardly any nowadays.  The dynamite gets used at the end, and two out of five people and one It come out alive.  We barely came out alive ourselves.  At any time the prisoners could have walked out of the cave they are trapped in, but I guess it was just too much effort.  It features one of the most unpleasant husbands in the history of cinema.  What a relief when he is finally fed to the monster.

 

From our DVD collection. 

 

The good film was Suddenly Last Summer, a 1969 b & w film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift.  A one act play by Tennessee Williams was greatly expanded by Gore Vidal.  Taylor is a supposedly violent and crazy young woman being helped by Clift as her doctor.  Hepburn is her looney aunt who wants a lobotomy performed on Taylor, which is Clift's specialty.  This is high drama, and Taylor acquits herself well.  Hepburn chews up every scene she is in, and Clift just rolls along with the punches.  This marks the second film in a row with Taylor that I have liked her in her role.  The ending is a bit over the top.  What inspired the writer to come up with it?  I am curious.  Not a film to inspire one's love of humanity.

 

We watched a great print of it on Criterion. 

 

Turning now to Myst III Exile, I would like to share some thoughts on this game that emerged in 2001.  First the bad news.  The game is old.  It is rendered in 16 bit colour and appears at a resolution of 640 x 480.  Wow.  That means it will not run on most newer PCs.  However, the game is available cheaply on Steam, and this time we played it there rather than using the CDs.  It originally came on 4 discs, with switching required throughout the game.  I first played the game in July and August of 2001, spending 30 hours wandering the various landscapes.  I was impressed overall, though the game had some problems with sound and the mouse.  At the time I did not realize that there was a 5th ending, a happy one for all.  Imagine doing hours and hours and hours of work to find that there are no less than 4 bad endings and only one good (very tricky) one.  Nice reward for all the work.  Idiots!  On the good side, the static slideshow was gone.  Now players could turn 360 degrees and see things in all direction.  Heaven!

 

I played it again in 2015 on XP and it worked fine.  I finally discovered that 5th ending.

 

Now for the 2026 play, my 3rd time through the game.  It really needs an update.  The Steam version is the original, and it seems odd to see the low resolution, especially after playing so many new games recently.  Even so, it's still quite a pretty game to look at.  We played it together, though we needed lots of help.  The only way to truly understand what the hell is going on and why is to use the Prima Official Strategy Guide, which we kept handy and used liberally.  There are five worlds that require puzzles to be solved to advance the story.

 

The game opens on Tomahna, the house of Atrus and Catherine and Yeesha that we will see more of in Myst IV.  However, we are quickly taken to J'nanin, the world that is central to the game.  For most of the images below I have cropped out the bottom of the screen, which shows the inventory items, mostly books.  The game play screen is 640 x 480, more square than these cropped images.

 

J'nanin, where the puzzle solving begins.

 

Heading down into the crater towards that amazing little building within it.  Inside is an important elevator puzzle, as well as an office and desk that must be studied closely.  Here is the only bed in the game; a hammock in the office.  Deb and I took turns sleeping on it while we rested from our journeys.
 

None of these worlds were meant for anything except to train Atrus' two criminal sons how to manipulate worlds and get along together to solve problems.  I wish the Myst stories had left those two alone, already imprisoned by Atrus at the end of Myst.  We now have to deal with a man driven mad by the cruelty of those two boys.  Saveedro, played with full force and intensity by Brad Dourif (Wormtongue in LOR), is rightly upset with Atrus for not keeping a close rein on the boys, and the game is all about his seeking revenge.  He has been separated from his wife and kids for twenty years, and is now a raving madman.  

 

Anyway, there are three main puzzles to solve in J'nanin, also referred to as the lesson age.  The solving of each puzzle gains the player a different world to explore.  There is also a minor puzzle to solve beneath the main elevator, found in the art nouveau house shown above.  The elevator gains the player access to the main tusk summit, which has solutions to each of the three main puzzles.  There are also three smaller tusks, with a major problem to solve for each.  We got through J'nanin without much trouble.  One of the puzzles I really liked was the light puzzle, shining from one lamp to another across the small island.  It's also a great island to walk in, as the player can make a complete circuit of the island without backtracking.  It is a death-defying walk and quite exhilarating!

 

The first world we traveled to from J'nanin was Voltaic, the energy age.  The puzzles here are also mostly solved by a bit of poking and exploring, though the three-storey steam pipe one is tedious and overly complicated.  Especially since Saveedro has damaged part of it, as he has in each world.  The puzzles would be difficult enough, but by damaging them things can quickly go from bad to worse for players.

 

Players first appear on a tiny islet in Voltaic.

 

Voltaic is the energy world.  Water power and steam power must be engaged in order to progress here.

 

Catwalks, both high and low, an elevator, underground caverns and above ground caverns, along with an airship ride, are some of the highlights of this very scenic age.  Once things are up and running, there are some great sound effects.  This helps immersion in the game, as the music, for the most part, is quite lame by Myst and Riven standards.  Once the age has been completed players are rewarded by a scenic airship ride through the canyon.  We get to take a sheet of paper with us which has a mysterious symbol written on it.  Back to J'nanin via a handy linking book, and on to the next world.

 

Amateria, the age of dynamic forces, is still my favourite of the worlds of Myst III, though the puzzles are virtually impossible without spending a lifetime of trial and error.  The small island can also be walked in a circle, with indoor and outdoor scenery of a spellbinding quality.  The sky was unbelievably dramatic, with lightning, thunder and some of the best dark clouds and lighting to this day.  Even in 2026 I still love just walking around that place.  Its Chinese themed architecture works perfectly against the drama of the overall atmosphere.

 

For its time, Amateria was a wonder to behold.

 

I still enjoy taking leisurely walks here. 

 

As mentioned, the puzzles here can be far too challenging, and with very little in the way of help as to what needs doing, this beautiful setting can quickly become a frustrating experience.  Hints and use of a walkthrough are nearly mandatory if the player wishes to exit the game in a spirit of fun and enjoyment.  Whereas the payoff in Voltaic was a ride in an airship, this time one gets to ride inside an ice sphere, whizzing through a maze of track.  It's best to save the game before the final code is inputted, so the ride can be taken again.  Back to J'nanin with another symbol on paper, and off to yet another world.

 

Edanna, the world of nature, is nearly a complete disaster, and one of the worst Myst creations to ever be thrust upon a devoted gamer of the series.  There are many physical levels to this game, but if the player doesn't begin from the uppermost level and work downward, there is no hope of success.  Should one wander down into the depths of the jungle first, nothing at all can be accomplished.  It's so easy to get lost and turned around down there that I can safely bet that many players likely abandoned the game somewhere below.  Even if by chance some puzzles are solved, you will never figure out what they mean.  Even with a walkthrough and a map from the strategy guide, good luck finding and solving everything that needs doing.  None of it makes the least bit of sense as far as teaching the boys anything about worlds or nature.  The jungle at the bottom features one necessary pathway that is virtually impossible to find.  It is easy to get turned around, and can become something of a maze, that dreaded feature of many early adventure games, beginning with the Zork text games and continuing on into visual games for far too long.  The less said about Edanna the better; use a walkthrough if you wish to remain sane.  Otherwise, expect plenty of anger issues to arise.  Upon completing this world the reward is to be picked up by a giant bird and brought up to its nest.  A third page with symbol is gained.

 

Saveedro has painted murals in most of the ages, telling of the deeds of Sirrus and Achenar, the evil sons of Atrus.  This one is located in the jungle of Edanna.

 

There are some truly beautiful areas in Edanna, especially deep below.  As to fair or logical puzzles, there are none. 

 

The final world visited before end game is Narayan, the age of balance.  Again Saveedro (who we bump into here and quite often in the game) has damaged part of the age, in this case destroying some tapestries which hold symbols related to the three we have gathered before arriving here.  Again the puzzles are complex and unnecessarily abstruse.  Part of the first main puzzle makes absolutely no sense at all.  The second one is easier, as it is simply copying symbols from an underground tapestry collection and putting them into a machine.  This world is very limited, and there is little to explore.  With only three discs, the developers were running out of room.  But seeing a gondola that will follow an airborne track leads the player to assume that he/she will soon be riding the vehicle.  Not so.  The gondola is only for Saveedro, if you make it that far in the game.  Once the second main puzzle is solved, the end game sequence begins.  Save as soon as you can.  Next come the five endings.  Choose wisely.  It doesn't matter, as the game sets up the player to lose.

 

A mysterious door in Narayan, which, unfortunately, we never get to enter.  This is a micro age, with very little to see.

 

This screenshot gives the true 640 x 480 screen dimensions of the game, with the bottom uncropped.  If the game ends properly Saveedro gets to go for a ride. 

 

Of the five possible endings, three of them end badly for the player and for Atrus.  A fourth ending ends badly for Saveedro, but okay for us.  A fifth ending, which will only possibly be found by players after all the others have been tried (I missed it entirely the first time I played and never knew of its existence), ends well for everyone.

 

The game could really use an upgrade, and I would certainly replay it then.  Though a fairly good game with lots to see and many places to wander freely, I rank it well behind Riven and a bit behind Myst.  Even so, it is one of those games I find myself thinking back to often, with that little dwelling at the crater bottom on J'nanin and the mysterious and entrancing world of Amateria.  It was hurtful not to see more of Atrus and Catherine's house, but we get the whole thing in Myst IV.

 

Happy Full Moon, and Happy Candlemas! 

 

Mapman Mike