Deb's Surgical Adventures

Deb's surgery went as planned today.  She was in to have a torn right shoulder rotator cuff repaired.  Recovery will take 4-6months.  In two weeks she sees her surgeon for a check up.  In five weeks she begins physio therapy.  We were at the hospital from 11 am until 4 pm.  She finally went into the OR around 1:45 pm.  She was in there about an hour, so it must have been a fairly large repair.  But everything went according to plan.  She is resting tonight.  there is no pain as yet, since she was given a nerve block.  The pain will arrive tomorrow around noon.  She has a prescription for that.

Last night we watched a Deb's choice film on Criterion Channel.  David Lean's Blithe Spirit, from the play by Noel Coward, features a stand out performance by Margaret Rutherford as the medium who inflicts a ghost into the household of a happy couple.  The ghost turns out to be the man's first wife, dead for 7 years.  Some hilarity ensues, but not as much as expected.  The film is very well acted, and I liked the ghostly makeup.  To me it is worth the price of admission to watch Rutherford go through her paces.  Wonderful stuff!

We have no plans for the next several days.  Deb needs to be quite still and quiet for awhile, which is going to be rather difficult for her.  She is going to try and sleep nights on her lazy boy chair.  I have become the chief cook and bottle washer, so meals will be pretty simple around here for awhile, until I can get into the swing of things.  The grass should have been cut today.  Heavy rain is expected tomorrow, but I shall try.  The farm fields are still soggy and water-filled, so there is no hope in sight for the farmers to get their crops planted.  If it does rain heavily on Saturday that will just about end their chances of a decent growing season.

Mapman Mike

New Piano Pieces--Week 9

I am starting to get the hang of some of my pieces for piano solo.  It has been a long time since I have learned a Bach Prelude and Fugue, and I did not choose a particularly easy one.  Still, it's nice being at a level where I can literally choose any of the 48 I want, and then learn it.  The G Minor pair from Book One is a serious work, especially the 4-part fugue, being very sombre.  It seems to fit well with our dark, dreary, and wet spring.  We have had only one warm day so far, in the 80s.  Not complaining about that, but certainly it could dry out enough for the farmers to plant.  Soon they will be one month overdue.  Anyhoo, I can play the prelude at a somewhat satisfactory level, and the fugue is nearly there,

Many of the pieces I have selected are either in G Minor or Bb Major, a key signature with two flats.  I will open the program with Couperin's "Mysterious Barricades," which is Bb.  Next comes the darker prelude and fugue.  After that comes yet another major work, Haydn Sonata L2 in Bb major.  The first movement of this great piece is so optimistic and and happy, a feature of Haydn that I always find irresistible.  You cannot play this piece in a grumpy mood--it just doesn't work.  It is a fairly long 1st movement, with a number of charming and rhythmically challenging themes.  However, the 2nd movement (in G Minor) takes one into a totally different world of sadness and a much darker beauty.  I can now play the first two movements, sort of.  I just started work on the third movement, a minuet and trio.  The minuet is in Bb major, but the trio is written in the very far flung key of Bb Minor.  It is rhythmically very tricky, and very catchy, too.  I should be able to play it (sort of) in a week or two, as it is the easiest of the 3 movements.

After intermission comes the Schubert Impromptu in C Minor, with three flats.  It is an endless variation on a theme, and a piece not easily forgotten once heard.  It was one of the earliest piano pieces I fell in love with, and it has been on my bucket list for most of my life.  It is one of two very difficult pieces on my program, and will take up the largest block of my practice time.  I am currently all the way through it, and parts of it are sounding not too bad.  After the Schubert comes another piece that has been on my bucket list nearly forever.  The Allegro Barbaro by Bela Bartok is more like an avalanche than a piece of music.  It is the closest I will ever get to undertaking a ride along with Attila and his Huns, as they tear across the country ravaging villages.  Despite its extreme difficulties, it is short, and I can (sort of) play it at a reduced tempo.  Getting it up to proper speed is the main challenge, in addition to not making oneself deaf from practicing it.

Lastly comes a gentle, rhythmic Brahms waltz, back in the key of Bb major.  It is badly needed after hearing the Bartok.  I can play it, but still very slowly.

I am almost ready to begin memorizing some of the pieces, including the Bach prelude and Haydn 1st movement.  The Bartok needs to be memorized, too, as I really need to look at my hands for this one, and not the musical page. 

Turning now back to cinema and the Criterion Channel, my choice for this week was another Bulldog Drummond film.  B. D. Escapes is from 1937, and the movie was based on a play written by Sapper.  This time it is Ray Milland who gives his first and last appearance as the inimitable Captain Drummond.

The Drummond films are short, but a lot happens in them!  This one is filled with foggy nights, marshes, and creaky old houses.  Milland is pretty good as the hero, grinning a lot and not taking things too seriously.  Phyllis, played by Heather Angel, is not your typical 30s heroine.  She is strong, smart, and indomitable.  No wonder Drummond falls for her--they are two of a kind!  In later films a lot of humour is built upon their wedding, which never gets to happen because of new cases breaking out right at the crucial moment, sometimes when they are actually at the altar.  In this film, Drummond's cohort, Algie, is about to become a father.  However, Drummond will not let him stay at the hospital and worry in peace.  He drags him into the adventure, providing some of the humour.  A third companion is the butler, who also provides a lot of the humour.

It's Deb's choice next, and then she is in charge of this weekend's film festival.  Once every four weeks we watch a related series of films.  Last month I chose the Medici epic by Rossellini.  As Deb's surgery is on Friday, our festival may not happen till Sunday.  Probably some light comedy is in store.

Mapman Mike

Baron Munchausen

Deb's appointment with her anaesthetist was Wednesday morning.  The hospital was a madhouse, but within 2 1/2 hours we were out.  Next she sees her regular physician on Monday, and nothing else until surgery next Friday.

Meanwhile, even though it rained for the last two days (and will rain again overnight), I was granted a beautifully clear night last night.  The ground is still soggy, and the farmers are now almost 4 weeks overdue for planting their crops.  Not good.  But I saw some amazing galaxies!  I also got most of the grass cut today, despite the presence of a small pond lingering in our front yard.  Did I mention it's mosquito season?

Deb's Criterion Channel choice this week was a 1961 animated Czech film.  The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, created and directed by Karel Zeman.  Here is a short trailer that gives some idea of the incredible beauty of the film.   The film is also very witty and very funny, and will reward multiple viewings.  In addition to the feature, there were 5 short films about it.  In one, we hear from Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam about how this filmmaker heavily influenced their own work.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend seeking it out.  Criterion presented us with a newly restored print, which was simply gorgeous to look at.

We have also been watching (on Prime) a really good SF series called Electric Dreams, which presents a whole slew of short stories and novellas written by Philip K. Dick.  The budgets for each episode (not connected) is high, and the visuals are always stunning.  But best of all, the stories are of a very high quality, and so far have lacked extreme violence.  This is one of the best SF TV presentations I have ever seen.

Mapman Mike

Two Films and Lots of Rain

It won't stop raining, and the next 10 day forecast shows six days of rain.  So much for the next astronomy session.  We had 0.7" Saturday morning, and another 0.9" Sunday afternoon.  Add that to all the previous rain, and our lawn still resembles a rice paddy.  Mind you, everything is rather green at the moment, and the lilacs are in full bloom.

Our purple lilacs are having a good year.

In other news, Deb's only medical appointment this week is with her anaesthetist at Leamington Hospital, on Wednesday morning.  Her surgery is fast approaching, and we are trying to get as much done in the basement as possible before she finds herself short one arm for at least six weeks.

I have made some progress playing Syberia 3, though the game has yet to engage me.  It is tedious, and not that user friendly.  So far all of the play areas have been confining ones; hospital rooms, a crowded indoor market, a small outdoor area in winter.  The best part of the first game was the train, getting it to run and then being transported to new destinations.  So far there isn't much to look forward to.

With the Criterion Channel working fine for us using Roku, we are officially becoming movie buffs once again.  By coincidence we each chose a movie from 1933 recently (see my last blog entry).  Deb chose "Baby Face," starring Barbara Stanwyck.  She was 26 when she made this film, but looks around 19 or 20 years of age.  She plays a young woman who uses her good looks and her body to quickly get to the top of the ladder in a large insurance and banking company.  Being a pre-code film, it pulls no punches on how she achieves success, leaving several train wrecks behind her as she climbs.  She looks totally ravishing and seductive, and it is hard to believe she is an actress acting out a role; she seems to town the character she is portraying, and though we might not agree with her methods, considering her background (Dad used her as a prostitute since age 14 in his beer hall right across from a factory in Erie, Pennsylvania) we are mostly rooting for her along the way.  Only when she finally abandons someone she should have stayed and supported does she realize what has been wrong with her methods.  Alas, it is too late.  Great stuff!

My film choice for this week is called "The Adventures of a Dentist," very strange black comedy from Russia, in 1965.  The film sometimes plays as if it from the 1940s (it is in b & w, too), sometimes as a Fellini film, and other times like a buster Keaton film, as a dentist with a magic touch becomes the most popular man in the entire city where he works.  He takes painless dentistry to a whole new level.  Soon other dentists in town have no patients, and some are forced to leave.  Alas, one day his magic deserts him.  He stops practicing and becomes a teacher, until a crisis forces him to take up the forceps once more.  There are some very funny moments, and some very bizarre ones.  All in all it is a very intriguing attempt at film making, and seems to be in a category all its own.  Rare and quite fine.

 

The Town of Amherstburg is changing.  We now have a small plant-based restaurant in town, and a cafe with exceptional coffee with views to the river and park system.  It doubles as a camper trailer sales room.  The trailers must be seen to be believed.  We ended up there today and I had no camera with me.  We will be back!  And just across the street, opening July 1st, is downtown Amherstburg's first brewery and taproom.  We now have three reasons to ride our bikes into town this summer!
Mapman Mike

Dragnet Girl, 1933

My Criterion Channel selection for this week was called Dragnet Girl, a silent Japanese film from 1933.  Though filmed in a Tokyo studio, it is meant to look American, with signs, buildings, clothing, and dubious past times inspired by American gangster films.  So this is a strange film from the get go!  A very minor crime boss falls for a straight girl, the sister of one of his young boxers.  His moll doesn't take too kindly to this, and pays the sister a visit, packing a gun.  However, she ends up becoming quite charmed by her, and immediately wants to quit the racket and become honest and domesticated (!).  Her guy doesn't think too much of this plan at first, and a terrific row ensues.  Then he agrees to pull one more job, and be done with the criminal life.  He promises her he will go straight, after this final job.  If this were an American film we would say, "Ya, right.  Good luck with that."  But this is a Japanese film, and a really strange one at that.  Just try to predict the final outcome, I dare you!  Anyway, it turned into a fun film, something the like of which we have never before seen.  Miss Tanaka's acting is especially praiseworthy.

 Publicity still from Jasujiro Ozu's Dragnet Girl, 1933.  Kinuyo Tanaka and Koji Mitsui star in this entertaining Japanese version of an American 1930s gangster flic.  

Now on to our DIA landscape object for today!  I have been selecting some offbeat works lately, and I think I will temporarily continue mining this vein.  The DIA is an encyclopedic museum, and has works from ancient art through to modern.  The Kunsthistoriches in Vienna also has vast holdings of ancient art, but there is nothing modern in there.  So my selections, even just on a landscape theme, are nearly limitless.

Banquet In The Open Air, Roman, early 4th C. A.D.  Marble, glass, and clay.  66 cm x 66 cm.  Detroit Institute of Arts.    

This is a rare example of a work of art that would have hung in a Roman house.  While very few have survived, Pliny writes that familiar scenes were very popular with Roman art lovers, and that these included landscapes as well as routine tasks.  The Detroit panel shows both.  In the upper level a group of well-to-do Romans feast outdoors, in the shade of leafy tree branches.  Beneath them work is carried out, some of which is related to their feasting.

Dining al fresco, Roman style.

 The lower section shows different types of human activity, carried out by servants and slaves.  

In the past few weeks Deb has continued to have a number of medical tests and procedures done.  We are nearly there!  Next week she attends the hospital in Leamington to meet with her anaesthetist.  The following week she sees her family doctor, and then undergoes surgery to repair her very painful right shoulder, caused by an injury practicing Iaido.  She also continues to clear out the basement, in preparation for garage and basement asbestos removal at the end of June.  I have begun to assist, and will do much more beginning tomorrow.  So far we have put out a lot of green garbage bags for three weeks in a row.  Likely a few more of those to go.

More Sudbury pics coming soon!

Mapman Mike

  

 

There And Back Again

900 miles of driving later, we are back home.  Needless to say, we are pretty tired.  We drove up to Sudbury on Friday night, returning today.  Saturday afternoon was Mom's 90th birthday, and it was a very busy and very noisy affair.  My brother Steve and my sister-in-law Lynne organized everything.  Over 25 guests attended, with about 15 staying over for dinner later.  The day was cool but mostly sunny, so a large part of the afternoon was spent outdoors in the big back yard.  I will have more photos and words about the event in coming nights.

 Family and friends attending Mom's 90th birthday.  Mom usually has her eyes closed during photos.  Her sister Pauline is on Mom's left, and her brother Bill is seated on her right.  My two beautiful nieces are in front, with my brother Steve in blue behind me.  Dad is standing behind Mom, wearing sun glasses.  To his right is Lynne, and then Deb.

 Emma-Lee and Dad help Mom blow out 9 skinny candles.  I wanted all 90 of them on the cake, but was voted down.

We watched a short film tonight.  Our Betters is a film from 1933, filmed by George Cukor from a play by Somerset Maugham.  Watching this stuff today is quite challenging.  The film is 86 years old, and though it still does have things to say to us today, the way they are said doesn't have much meaning anymore.  There are some funny lines and situations, but the main thing one takes away from a viewing is that certain writers can still be read from those days, though not necessarily very much.  Even Korda's and Carol Reed's acclaimed films which we recently saw can be somewhat challenging.  But I found this very early Cukor film even a bit beyond that, though there were many very enjoyable moments.  I'm certain Maugham's play looses much in translation to an early talkie, but even so I am not too inclined to go searching for a copy of the play.  Now Oscar Wilde, on the other hand....

This was Deb's selection for tonight's Criterion Channel feature.  

Mapman Mike

Bulldog Drummond

After watching several very bad prints of some the 1930s films of this action hero a few years ago, I got interested enough in reading some of the novels.  It was time for a visit to John King books in Detroit.  Written by "Sapper," who was really H. C. McNeile, I found the books refreshing, witty, suspenseful, and very well written.  To my surprise, the Criterion Channel has several of the films in its library.  The earliest one they have is called The Return of Bulldog Drummond, and it stars Ralph Richardson as the WW1 veteran turned crime fighter.  It is a treat to see Sir Ralph in a non-stop action movie, using his fists as much as his words.  When the bad guys try to mess with his wife, Bulldog turns awfully mean.

After just finishing up Rossellini's Medici trilogy of films, I wanted something short and sweet for my next film selection.  I'm not certain if the term mis-en-scene was used back in those days of early films, but the incredible amount of characters on the set at any given time is a tribute to Walter Summers' direction, as people walk in, walk out, fight, interact socially, or just pass by in the busy scenes, indoors and out.  Like the fast moving American pictures of the 30s and 40s, this one always has something going on: a phone ringing, a message being delivered, a person knocking at the door.  It is 73 minutes of barely controlled hysterical mayhem!  Good fun! 

And now for something completely different: one more Renaissance sculpture from the DIA, again showing a remarkable landscape above the Nativity scene.

 Nativity, attrib. to Giovanni Ambrogio de Donati, c. 1490.

Italian, polychromed and gilded poplar.

165 cm x 90 cm    

It is an amazing piece of sculpture, and it is huge!  Speaking of mise-en-scene, check out the foreground and background.  This is a fun work to explore in detail.

This sculpture has more detail in it than most paintings of its size.  Look at the Virgin's cloak, and her hand and fingers.  In fact, everyone's clothing is remarkable and done with great skill.  The little angel is so sweet, and the cows are impressive, too.  However, the fun really begins in the upper background scene.  Each face is totally different, including that one eye peeking between two of the kings.

This part of the sculpture is so remarkable as to almost defy using words.  Just look at it!  Sheep eating tufts of grass.  Three wise men on the way down.  A moon in the night sky.  Little pathways, a dozen people, 15 animals, tiered hills.  This scene almost makes me giddy!  It reminds me a bit of J. R. R. Tolkien's own drawings and paintings.  I think he would have loved to see this work.

This is the weekend that my mother turns 90 years old!  We are heading up to Sudbury on Friday to wish her a happy birthday!  Deb has medical tests to attend on Wed., and Thurs. of this week.  More coming next week.  She has also been doing a remarkable job of cleaning out the hordes of flotsam and jetsam that make up our basement.  9 or 10 garbage bags out the door last week, and 6 or 7 more this week.  Our appointment for basement floor removal is set for June 26th, so everything must be done by then.

Mapman Mike

The Age of The Medici

We have just concluded our first Criterion Film Festival Weekend.  It was my choice for first festival, and I chose a three part TV series by Roberto Rossellini called "Age of the Medici."  It lasts a total of 4 hours and 15'.  We watched one part on Friday, another on Saturday, and the final part Monday.  I had never heard of this series until I began browsing the Criterion Channel offerings.  I knew I had to see this!

 The only thing I did not like was having to read the endless and non-stop subtitles.  The backgrounds, hair, and clothing were always fascinating to watch, but fast moving subtitles also needed to be read.  Filmed in Venice, Florence, and Rome, among other places, the film is a joy to watch.  Rossellini had become fed up with film, assuming it had peaked as was no longer encouraging any type of education or serious discussion.  He was also not happy with the way educated people become specialists, and in his program he demonstrates his educational ideals in the person of Leon Battista Alberti, one of the greatest humanists to have ever lived.  His character eventually becomes much more important in the series than that of Cosimo, who merely provides funds and encourages great minds and artists.

The series also does a good job of showing exactly how and why Florence was so important at this time, and what it meant not only for art and artists, but for Christianity as well.  This is exactly the kind of series that most people today would watch for five minutes or less.  And it is exactly the kind of series that would help the world have less of those shallow kinds of people in it.  Bring of Star Wars episode #19!  I have always admired the films of Rossellini, and thoroughly enjoyed the time spent watching this series.

In the spirit of the Renaissance, here is a work of art from the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts. 

Miniature Altarpiece with the Nativity and the Annunciation 

To The Shepherds.  Flemish, ca. 1520.  23 cm x 14 cm (open).

Detroit Institute of Arts  

Detail of the central panel.  I absolutely love the flock of sheep on the hill!

 Detail of the lower tondo, showing gift bearing wise men.  

This is one of the more unusual examples of landscape in art at the DIA.  Such altars fold down into very small, thin objects, easy to carry with you on a journey.  The craftsmanship has to be seen to be believed!

Further detail of the central panel.

A week of clouds and rain are now upon us, after three whole days with no rain.  The astronomy session is now officially over.  I managed four outings, better than average for the past few years.  I finished up my work in Leo, which took 6 1/2 years of my Spring observing time.  I have moved on to a new constellation, namely Coma Berenices.  It, too, is filled to the brim with hundreds of galaxies, and will likely require several years of hard labour to complete. 

Mapman Mike

 

Cocteau, Carol Reed, and April Books

My film choice for Beltane was "Les Enfants Terribles," a movie we have not seen in perhaps 35 years.  The Criterion print was excellent, and many parts of the film were brand new to me.  Though Cocteau did not direct the filmization of his 1929 novel, he was on the set a lot of the time.  I just love the whole concept of setting up a bedroom in a vast room, with all of the original bedroom furniture and knick-knacks, screened off from the rest of the house.  It was also fun to watch the film lying in bed, possibly the best place from which to view it.

Tonight we watched Carol Reed's taut thriller "The Fallen Idol," again in a pristine print.  The b & w photography is among the best there ever was, and the deep focus allows us to see everything in the foreground and background.  The setting is the French Embassy in London, and wherever it was filmed it was perfect in every way!  The young boy Phillipe is extraordinary.  He has more lines than Baines!  I had forgotten how many very funny moments there are in the film, too.  It is so great having in-home access to so many wonderful films, all in pristine condition.  We hope to have our first mini film festival this weekend.  More on that later.

I read 12 books in April.  11 of them are realted to my Avon/Equinox project, and one was unrelated.  There are simply too many books to discuss them all here; that is what my Avon/Equinox blog is for.  However, I will mention the highlights.  I finally got around to Book 5 of T. H. White's Arthurian epic.  Published separately, it is called The Book of Merlyn, and is all about what Arthur learned from the animals about war.  It, along with The Once and Future King, is among the finest literature I have ever come across.  The books are absolutely haunting and unforgettable, and worth many readings.  Highly recommended!

I finished John Christopher's young adult series called The Word of the Spirits.  I really enjoyed the first two books, but the third one really went way off the rails.  It was a frustrating ending to an otherwise great series.  The Daleth Effect, by Harry Harrison, is worth a look.  Part cold war spy story and part SF, Harrison nails the impossibility of keeping a wonderful scientific discovery out of the hands of the military, who will turn anything they can into a weapon.  It can't be called depressing, because those are the facts.  A wonderful invention is brought to Denmark by an Israeli physicist, and with their help its full potential to do good is realized.  Enter American and Soviet interests, and Utopia is doomed to failure. 

I continue to be delighted and amazed at the intelligent writing of S. B. Hough, alias Rex Gordon, alias Stanley Bennett (as in this case).  The Ascott Experiment has all the ingredients of a nearly perfect novel, and the mystery of the young girl being held captive by her father, his doctor, and her nurse, is quite extraordinary.  The sea setting is vastly different than any other sea voyage I have read about, and the character of the ship's captain, psychologically scarred by an event during the Korean War, is simply astounding.  Highly recommended.

Probably the SF highlight of the month goes to J. G. Ballard for his "The Atrocity Experiment."  My version has notes after each chapter by the author, helping to explain what he was writing about, and where many of his ideas came from (Surrealist painters!).  This is my 4th Ballard novel to date, and I must say that I am an enthusiastic fan.  "Atrocity" was difficult to get through at first, and had to be read slowly.  Often, passages had to be reread.  But as the book goes on, one's brain slowly adjusts to the avante-garde writing, and I began to really look forward to my next encounter with it.  In the end, it is likely one of the more important books I have ever read.  I don't necessarily go along with much of Ballard's ideas, but his connections between science and pornography, and between violent events and sexual arousal, are pretty much spot on.

Lastly comes a quirky novel by Barry Malzberg, writing under the name of K. M. O'Donnell.  Dwellers of the Deep is a really fun look at fans and collectors of 1940s pulp magazines, with the hero continually being kidnapped by aliens.  They are trying to convince him to give them one of his rare issues, as they need the science article it contains.  Very funny stuff!

Mapman Mike