As per the past several years, autumn is arriving about two weeks behind schedule. It is windy tonight, with grey skies and falling temperatures, after finishing up with our 8th warmest September on record. October began in a blaze of heat and humidity, but that seems to have passed until next year. Despite summers that are often fiercely hot and humid, and winters that seem to growing more severe, I still enjoy living somewhere that has four very distinct seasons. In the summer the house temperature is kept at 77-78 F, while in the winter it is kept at 67-68 F. So we have a period of readjustment to undergo over the next few weeks.
Early Autumn, late 13th-14th C. Qiag Xuan, Chinese. Ink, watercolour, and gold on paper. Overall size 12 inches x 34 feet. Image size 12" x 47". Detroit Institute of Arts. Click on image for larger version.
Detail of above.
Detail of above.
Tomorrow we will have our first wood fire of the new season, and change around some of our art on the walls. I always get a hankering to read Tolkien in the autumn,and the bug is biting once again. I think it is time that I reread The Silmarillion. It's been a very long time. And then the Unfinished Tales, Books 1 and 2. That will have to be done before rereading the main series of LOTR. I've been working on my Avon/Equinox series now for 3 1/2 years, so it may be time for a short hiatus. I will complete one more iteration of works by the remaining authors, and then decide.
The listening program continues in fits and starts. The four recent astronomy nights tend to put such things on hold. We are just finishing up the "73s," by Haydn (his symphonies), Brahms (his complete opus), and Britten (complete as well). Tonight we heard the 2nd Symphony of Brahms, Op. 73. It is almost like a time travel experience, as we hear some Beethoven in their (music from the past), some Mahler (music from the future), and plenty of Brahms himself, representing the present. It makes a wonderful analogy for showing that time does not always move in a linear fashion, but can jump around randomly. A most memorable and lovable work!
We watched episode 2 of Carnival Row tonight, the darkly fascinating steam punk tale showing on Prime. It has some of the best costumes, sets, and locations of any fantasy series I've ever seen, but it is unrelentingly dark, like most series showing today. The final season of Mr. Robot begins showing this weekend, too. My Criterion movie choice for the week was Judex (French, 1963), a lovingly crafted remake of the Judex serial from 1916. Tons of books were also written about the caped and masked hero, usually called Phantomas. The movie is pretty slow moving adventure, but we are riveted by the bold and ruthless actions of the femme fatale. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants, which is the fortune of very rich banker. One of many things I found interesting about the film is how many people died, but then didn't really die. First the banker is killed, then a man who knows that the banker is a criminal, and then the banker's daughter. But none of them really die, often saved by chance interventions by bystanders. Scenes that stand out (and there are several) include the Poe-like costume ball, with people wearing bird masks, the villainess, in disguise as a nun, undressing into her black "evil-action" body suit; and the final battle/catfight atop the roof of an abandoned building, black suit versus white. Pretty memorable flic.
From 1963--now showing on Criterion.
The bird-themed costume ball, from Judex.
The femme fatale meets her nemesis, and her doom , in the climactic rooftop scene.
Now showing on Prime. We have watched two episodes.
Mapman Mike
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