Two By Jim Jarmusch

Well, it took until mid day Wednesday, but we finally finished the weekend film festival.  Deb chose two films by Jarmusch.  From 1989 comes Mystery Train, three different stories united by the location of Memphis, and a small low budget hotel.  The first story concerns two very young Japanese tourists, arriving by train to visit some of the legendary music history highlights of the city.  Their visit to Sun Studio is a movie highlight, with the director giving a nod to Pee Wee Herman's earlier (by four years) tour of the Alamo.  The second story concerns a young Italian woman, stuck overnight in Memphis on her way to Rome with her husband's body in a casket.  She meets up with a creepy guy in a diner, and then with a very talkative American woman.  They end up sharing a room at the same hotel as the Japanese couple.  During the night, the Italian woman sees the ghost of Elvis.  Pretty cool scene.  The final story concerns three losers, related to the talkative woman.  They rob a liquor store and shoot the man working there.  They end up in the hotel, too.  None of the three groups of people ever meet, but we spend a lot of time with the two hotel employees behind the desk downstairs, the night clerk and the bell hop.  It's a fun film to watch, mostly successful, though not giving a very flattering image of Memphis.

 Now showing on Criterion. 

Two years later Jarmusch directed Night on Earth, five short films that take place in a taxi in five different cities, with events happening simultaneously.  The first story is a cab ride from LAX to a house in Beverly Hills, with Winona Ryder driving, sitting atop an LA phone book so she can see over the steering wheel.  Gena Rowlands is a successful talent scout that offers her an acting job.  The second story is the best of the bunch, an hilarious view of a black man trying to hail a cab on Broadway in NYC to get to Brooklyn.  Helmut and Yo Yo provide a very entertaining ride for viewers.  Thirdly comes a cab ride in Paris, with a blind woman getting a ride at four in the morning.  This one is pretty strange, and doesn't really develop very well.  The worst of the bunch is a cab ride in Rome, with manic cab driver Roberto Benigni regaling a dying priest with his confession.  Though the shtick is hilarious, watching the priest literally pass through Hell on his way to death is likely very funny for some people, such as those folk who are never going to die, but for me it spoiled an otherwise good segment.  Lastly comes Helsinki, with three very drunk friends given a lift by a driver who wants a baby, but lost a premature one already.  Weird to end the film with a downer like this, though I think it was supposed to be heart-warming, or something.  This is not a film I would willingly see again--once is enough.

 Showing on Criterion. 

Except for a few loose ends, the praticing is now mostly complete.  It's pretty amazing what gets done three weeks before a recital date, mostly because the focus becomes much more intense.  About 80% of my mistakes occur when my mind wanders, as it is often wont to do.  The remainder of my mistakes are caused by sheer clumsiness.  I still like all the pieces, even after battling them for ten months, but it will be good to rest them and contemplate starting new ones next week.

I'll finish up this blog with Grey Days, by American painter E. W. Redfield.  Our area looked just like this last week, but our snow is now completely gone.  It's been grey forever, though, and it will continue to be so for the next several days.  I have never seen this painting on display, but only on the website.

 Grey Days, by Edward Willis Redfield, American, 1869-1965.  Oil on canvas, ca. 1909.  40" x 52", unframed.  Collection of Detroit Institute of Arts.  Click picture to see larger version.

Mapman Mike

Recital Week

Ten months of keyboard work is coming to a focus, and this time next week I can be seriously thinking about starting all over again with different pieces.  Of the seven works of my current program, I have only studied one of them before.  The six new ones have undoubtedly created some new and interesting neuron pathways in my brain, which currently feels overworked.  I had an opportunity to run through the pieces on Saturday for Jenn, a good friend from out of town.  She is unable to make the actual recital next Saturday, as she will flying to Denver as I am performing.  But she dropped by for a visit.  Only one piece completely crashed and burned, and steps are being taken to remedy the situation.  Some of the pieces actually went rather well, or at least as planned.  Next up is a Thursday afternoon play through for two more friends unable to attend on Saturday (Saturday will be a very small audience).

After the play through for Jenn, the three of us went to Detroit for the day, our first visit in quite some time.  We tried to get some spinach pies from Dearborn Bakery, bu they were sold out.  We went to La Shish instead, for some falafel sandwiches.  Then we tried to visit a favourite Yemeni cafe.  It was so busy that we could not even get in the door.  Next up was the incredible Turkish candy store.  That visit was a success!  Treats for the concert attendees next week.  We headed into Detroit for coffee, little realizing that we would not be successful.  Astro had no parking nearby (it was drizzling and snowing, so we were not interested in walking much).  Trinosphere and Anthology closed at 4 pm (it was now 4:20 pm).  Cairo coffee was closed for a week's winter break.  And Germack, the biggest roaster in Detroit, was closing as we arrived, and they were out of coffee!!  So we headed to Brewery Faison with no caffeine in our blood.  It was Jenn's first visit, and my third.  The place was very busy. but seemed filled with young parents and toddlers.  At a brewery (no food available).  Weird.

Next, we hopped over to Windsor to a near-downtown brewery new to all of us, cleverly called Brew.   Next, we headed to our favourite vegan restaurant in Windsor.  The Garden has all manner of Asian vegan food.  It was closed permanently!  I am still in shock, and my sadness is deep.  We ended up at Pho Mango, a Thai restaurant.  After dinner, Jenn headed back east, towards Cambridge, and we headed home.  I found the performance as demanding and tiring as if I were playing for a much larger audience, and was glad to be home and resting comfortably, as they say.

In movie news, we watched The League of Gentlemen, a Basil Deardon directed film from 1960.  It's all about a group of ex-military men planning and carrying out a bank heist.  of course they are caught in the end, which really spoils the film.  And they are caught because a small boy (who should have been in school anyway) stands outside and writes down license plates in his little notebook.  Really?  That movie left a bad taste in my mouth.  In fact, I don't even see the point of making the film at all.  What good is all the planning and tension, if a screenwriter can just make up some silly excuse to get everyone caught.  The law must be upheld, and crime doesn't pay, and blah blah blah.

 A good movie with a great cast, but a really crappy ending.

At least it was a well made film.  It just had a very poor ending.  Deb's next choice (she gets four in a row this week) was much worse.  The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston, is yet another version of the last man on Earth, after a virus has killed everyone (sort of).  Loosely based on Richard Matheson's story, this one goes off the rails in every direction.  The score is one of the worst I have ever heard, sounding like a track to a fluffy TV movie from the 70s.  The set director's idea of mayhem in the streets is to have lots of (very white) paper littered everywhere.  Chucky hogs the screen with his frequently bared chest, and his frequently bared teeth.  Of the several SF movies from the 1970s we have seen lately, this one is at the bottom of the barrel.  Give it a miss, or have popcorn ready to throw at the screen.

 It's the end of the world.  It's the 1970s.  It's Charlton Heston yet again.

What more could you not want?  

And time for another work of art from the DIA, once more from the photography collection.  Like our last photo of Egypt, this one comes from an unknown photographer, this one was published around 1868 by Adolphe Braun.  B & W landscape photography has always interested me, at least since having seen a major show of works by Ansel Adams many years ago at the DIA.  The quality of these prints is truly amazing!

 Lac Doeshi, Switzerland, 1868.  8" x 16".  Sold by Adolphe Braun, by an unknow photographer.  Collection Detroit Institue of Arts.

 Detail of left side, above.

 Detail of right side, above.

 Detail of background, above. 

No cold temps or winter storms are predicted in the 10-day forecast.  January will go out like a lamb, and February will enter in a similar fashion.  So far, so good. 

Mapman Mike

Winter Days

All three of them!  Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were colder than the average, but from now till the end of the month we will be above average.  How great is that?  Last year at this time the boiler was running 24/7.  Now it occasionally clicks on for awhile, out of sheer boredom.  I have been able to use the sidewalks, so the walking program is still going well.  I would love to do some desert hiking in New Mexico this March, and it seems as if I will be able to prepare for it. A decision will be made on February 2nd, after looking at the 10-day forecast from there.  It is also the day after my recital, so I will be able to devote myself full-time to preparing for some hill climbing at altitude.  I will need at least 6 weeks of prep work, if I can maintain a basic fitness level until then.

In movie news, we watched two rather different films this week (as usual).  Deb's choice was  Dark Star, a fun SF movie from 1974, the first film directed by John Carpenter, and co-written with Dan O'Bannon (of Alien fame).  It's actually a pretty good movie, and seems to get right to the heart of the matter regarding long voyages in space, and the ennui that affects the astronauts on board.  There is a lot of humour, including the extended scene of one of the men trying to feed an alien pet.  We have seen it many years ago, and have always remembered (an sung) the "Benson Arizona" theme song, which is a great one!  Definitely worth catching again, it it's been awhile.

 Showing on Criterion Channel.

My pick was another film seen a long time ago, Mirror by Tarkovsky.  With many scenes filmed in b & w, the film is a stark reminder that life is mostly difficult and mundane, but interspersed with moments of unrivalled poetry and calm.  This is a film that would reward frequent and repeated viewings.  On a narrative level it makes little sense, and the first half of the film is very different from the 2nd half.  But it is hard to take ones eyes away from the screen.  Tarkovksy has created a sensual masterpiece, but one that is not necessarily accessible to film buffs.  It is better to approach it like an abstract work of art, and let its power and aura enter into oneself, not forcing it, and not even trying to understand it.  Like a caressing ocean wave, it simply needs to be allowed to flow on its way, passing over and through you, and then both the wave and the recipient moving on, back into their own worlds and time stream.  Having said that, the movie has a lot to do with how memories recur in our thoughts, often mixing with our day to day reality.  We cannot escape who we are, or where we came from, and certain memories cannot be repressed, nor should they be.

 Showing on Criterion Channel. 

As for our look at another work from the Detroit Institute of Arts, we will stick with the Egyptian photography theme for one more go, this one by an unknown photographer.  Works such as these are seldom on view, though there is a dedicated graphic arts gallery within the museum, as well as a photography gallery.  With so much art now on-line, a person can spend months studying the collections of just one museum.  These high quality prints, which are still amazing to view today, must have wowed the folks back home in Paris back in the 2nd half of the 19th C.  I tend to view them as an explorer to another planet might see them--they are completely alien to me, though fascinating to look at and contemplate.  The civilization that created them, and is fondly remembered by most of us, is still not well understood.  One of the pieces I am performing next week is Canope, by Claude Debussy.  His musing on the Canopic jar traditions of ancient Egypt is something that probably gets closer to the truth than all the scientific papers that have been written about them.  What is death all about?  What is it?  What can we learn from it?  What role does ritual play, and what role does time itself play?  Anyway, this is a great photo, and is likely to remain one for a very long time.

 The Island and Temple at Philae, French ca. 1869.  15" x 18.5".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts. 

 Detail of above photo.

A modern photo from Wikipedia.  The temple was relocated here because of the building of the Aswan Dam.  An obelisk from the site now resides in Dorset, England.

Mapman Mike

A Winter Bulls Eye

For the very first time this winter, it snowed!  Our last significant snow was back in early November.  Up until Thursday, we were still picking dandelions for the tortoise.  No more.  We got about 6" of heavy, wet snow overnight and into Saturday morning.  The sound of Harley Davidsons have been replaced by passing snow plows.  And we are set for four days of (slightly) below normal temps, for the first time this winter.  We've had a cold day here and there, but not four days in a row.  Poor St John's, Newfoundland.  Totally buried in snow, with hurricane winds.  And more snow coming.

With a little help from our next door neighbour, Brandon, our driveway is clear.  Sunday we just have to remove the blockage left by passing snow plows.  It was fortunate that the storm hit on a Saturday, as rush hour traffic was greatly reduced.  Roads were very nasty all morning, but are mostly clear now.  Nothing else in the forecast, so we can relax for a time.

In movie news, we watched Logan's Run this week, the third in a series of SF movies from the 1970s.  Again, this one holds up pretty well, though of course the effects are primitive in many places.  Michael York does a good job as the hero/leading man, and Jenny Agutter never looked prettier and more wholesome.  Her acting is understated and very well done.  Peter Ustinov is the lone old-timer, living in the ruins of Washington, D.D., with his cats.  Those ruins were very well done.

 From 1976, now a classic SF film. 

Since it's Deb's birthday this weekend (Sunday the 19th), she gets to choose two movies.  Wow!  What a lucky lady!  For her first one she choose a sleeper from 2015 called Songs My Brothers Taught Me, filmed on location at Pine Ridge, South Dakota.  An 11 year old girl grows up on the reservation, strongly influenced by her several older brother, each of them except one with the same father as her but a different mother.  We get a really close, very personal look at life at Pine Ridge today, especially through the eyes of two high school seniors who are in love, and planning on moving to LA after high school.  But teenage dreams don't always work out the way they are planned.  Though very slow moving, and seeming much longer than the 94' running time,  it's easy to get hooked on these people, especially the little girl, who is starting to search for her own identity, but still needs strong support from her broken and dispersed family.

 

From 2015, now showing on Criterion. 

With one more film to choose, what will it be?  Tune it next time to find out.  In the meantime, let's do another art selection from the DIA, something to take our mind back to those happy days when we had no snow on the ground.... 

Why not Egypt?  And looking very much like Mars, except for certain architectural and sculptural artifacts.

 General View of the Ramesseum, Luxor.  Late 19th C., Henri Bechard.  10" x 15".  Detroit Institute of Arts.

 Detail of above. 

There are a number of his photos of Egypt on-line at the DIA website, and they are fun to look through on a winter night.  Here is a link to them.

Mapman Mike

Winter Misses Again

We are now nearly halfway through January, and winter has not appeared.  It is coming, though, in about a week.  But we got the mother of all rainstorms Saturday, with almost 3" falling in our water-soaked yard.  North of us it was ice and snow.  I don't know how much snow 3" of rain would make, but it's likely a lot.  I'll take the rain, though our county is inundated.  The lakes are so high that the slightest offshore wind floods vast areas.  It turned cold today, but we still managed a walk.  Warmer temps are coming tomorrow for a few days.  But by next Sunday, if predictions hold true, winter will finally arrive here.

Piano practice is going well.  I have scheduled a pm concert on the 30th, and an evening one on February 1st.  Weather permitting, of course.  The final push will begin this week for me.  It's called getting serious.  And the week after that will be even tougher.  I wish I could play more often than once or twice each year.  But even gathering a small audience for a specific date is difficult enough.

In movie news, recent choices have included Soylent Green (mine, from 1973), and The Sweet Smell of Success (Deb's, from 1957).  Charlton Heston isn't too bad as Andy, the detective cop living in overcrowded New York City.  He lives with Sol, wonderfully played by Edward G. Robinson, an old man who remembers the good old days.  He meets the beautiful and seductive Shirley while on a case, but their relationship is different than in the book (less complex).  The book was called Make Room, Make Room, and was written in 1966 by Harry Harrison.  At least Shirley will continue to eat, as she sticks to her old job, which is living with and entertaining the new (very rich) landlord.  The very rich lack nothing, including plenty of space to live, heating and air conditioning, running water hot and cold, and food and liquor that ordinary people cannot get hold of.

Soylent Green is a new type of food.  In the book it is made from lentils and greens, but in the movie it's made from--well, watch the movie and find out for yourself.  The film holds up reasonably well, and like other 70s movies has a lot to say about the environment and what we have done to it.

 Showing in January on Criterion Channel.

The Sweet Smell of Success, from 1957, is filmed in beautiful b & w by James Wong Howe, and is directed by Alexander MacKendrick and stars Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster.  Lancaster plays the part of a Walter Winchell persona, a gossip columnist known as J J, who has the country's ear.  Tony Curtis is his protege, a man just as slimy, who is a press agent.  The New York location shooting is still stunning, and the extreme lows these two men will go to get J J's sister away from a jazz guitarist, are hard hitting and beyond any type of moral underpinning.  They both get their comeuppance at the very end, but along the way we truly despair that such people can even exist in the same world as us.  The only people who are likely worse are political leaders and politicians.

Now showing on Criterion. 

In other news, I talked to my Mom today.  Dad is sick with a bad cold, and turned his back the wrong way.  Double jeopardy!  Hope you get well soon.  My Mom's sister, my Aunt Pauline, just completed her move from a two bedroom apartment into a senior residence, where she is down to one room.  Her brother, my Uncle Bill, already lives there.  He has contracted a bad case of shingles recently, and is suffering greatly.  He is 87.  The residence is open, and they can come and go as they please.  Meals are included, and there are many common areas.

No more news for now.  Logan's Run coming up later this week (my choice).  See you soon.

Mapman Mike

Concert Countdown

I have set dates for my next piano recital.  Barring serious weather interruptions, I will perform the latest pieces on the afternoon of Thursday, January 30th, and again Saturday evening February 1st.  That will leave me open to celebrate Candlemas next day, unless snow or ice postpones my date.  There is still considerable work to do before then.  I have been increasing my practice time over the past few weeks, and will increase it again beginning next week.

Recent films update.  Deb selected Three On A Match, a fluffy little pic from 1932 starring Joan Blondell, Bette Davis, Ann Dvorak, and Warren William.  There are some amusing moments before the high melodrama begins.  Humphrey Bogart has a small roll as a heavy for a gangster.

Another choice for Deb was a French film from 1942, called Lettres D'Amour, directed by Claude Autant-Lara.  With extravagant dresses designed by Christian Dior, this wartime French farce is a long way from being a classic motion picture, but it is highly amusing, and complex and fast-paced enough to keep one's attention from wandering.

Some of the elaborate dresses designed by Christian Dior.

My film choice was Cornel Wilde's 1970 filmization of John Christopher's novel.  I had seen it when it first came out, then finally read the book in 2017 as part of my Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery project.  The book is hard hitting, pulling no punches, and the movie doesn't do a bad job of things.  The violence is hard to stomach, the rape scene is very realistic, and I could have done without so much emphasis on the still birth scene (Yarghh!).  Trying to compact an entire novel into some 96 minutes of screen time is quite a challenge, but this one succeeds beyond all expectations.  Worth a look if you've never seen it, or if, like me, it had been 49 years.

It's not that unusual for winter not to have fully arrived by January 7th.  However, it's been way warmer than normal for a long time now.  We had a very cold Halloween, and our only snow came in early November.  My December gas bill was less than the November one.  December was 2.2 C above the norm.  January seems headed that way.  A very cold and windy day is in store for tomorrow, but by Thursday it warms up again and we are back to rain.  Maybe some snow Saturday night, but rain is just as likely, and they are not predicting which it will be.  Last year, our bone chilling winter did not fully arrive until January 19th, so we have a long way to go before we can celebrate the end of winter.  Still, every day closer to spring counts for something.

Mapman Mike

December Reads

I got through 13 novels last month, 10 from my Avon Equinox authors project, and 3 others.  The most recent of the others was a book of short stories by Rabindranith Tagore, including the fabulous "The Cabuliwala" and "The Postman."  I haven't read Tagore in many, many years, and after reading these 10 stories I honestly don't know what was wrong with me.  More of his writing coming soon. "The Postman" is showing on Criterion, along with several other Tagore stories, filmed by Satyavit Ray.

I read Stonehenge: Where Atlantis Went To Die, by Harry Harrison, and it completely clarified the meaning of the Stonehenge site for me, and reaffirmed my Atlantis beliefs, as to what it really was, and what likely happened.  It is virtually impossible for Stonehenge to be a calendar, and now I see why.  The excellent postlude by Professor Leon Stover should be read, even if the novel isn't.  But the novel is pretty darned good, too. 

Next came a disappointing novel by Kenneth Bulmer, the first sequel to his Land Beyond The Map, called the Irunium series now.  I have high hopes for this series, after the excellent first book.  On the flip side was The Wandering Tellurian, by Alan Schwartz.  This is the only know book by this author, and no one seems to know anything about him.  Curious.  This story is a halfway decent planetary adventure that would have made a great series.  It is certainly better reading than the Bulmer.  

Up until now I hadn't realized that E. C. Tubb had written books in the Space: 1999 series.  After reading his Child Of Space, some things had a familiar feel to them.  Sure enough, this is a repackaged story from the series (which I had never read), with names changed slightly.  It's a good story, and worth reading, and if you are a fan of the old TV series, reading it is even more fun.  But I wonder how and why it was re released under a new title, with no mention of its origins.  Strange.

I finished the Seetee series by Jack Williamson, though there may be a short story floating around somewhere.  I liked the first book a lot, and this one somewhat.  The first book had some concerns about a very ancient and advanced race of beings, but the sequel never even mentions them.

The Eleventh Hour, by S. B. Hough (alias Rex Gordon) is an unbelievably good story about WW111, following it from the first Chinese soldiers invading Nepal, to the complete destruction of much of the world through atomic weapons.  Though harrowing, the book is extremely well written, extremely believable, and, in my opinion, in the first rank of holocaust fiction.  A stunning discovery, by the man who wrote First On Mars, the 1950s version of The Martian.

I'm nearly out of unread SF books by Hal Clement.  That is a shame, but most will be reread.  December's offering was the outstanding Still River, as university students of the future are given the assignment of visiting a planet and doing a complete report on it.  SF planetary exploration at its finest and most descriptive.  No aliens, just fantastic exploring and adventure on a truly strange world.

I also read One Of Our Asteroids Is Missing, a ridiculous but fun early pulp novel by Silverberg.  On the flip side were three novelettes by A. E. Van Vogt.  Though the ideas were quite nifty, the writing style was very substandard, as if the author assumed we knew what he was thinking, instead of explaining things better that required it.   The stories are from 1949 and 1951, so I assuming that the popular author improved his writing as he went along.

I finished up the Jerry Cornelius tetrology by Michael Moorcock.  The author scored another direct hit with the final book, called The Condition of Musak, where we learn the truth about Jerry and his incredible adventures.  This is a really fantastic series!  Jerry is certainly a hero for the 1970s, and he doesn't do too badly in 2019-20 either.  Some remarkable writing, a good portion of it being very, very funny.  Do not miss this series!

Ballard's Hello America is another fantastic book--I seem to have really hit the jackpot last month. The first half of the novel is my very favourite kind of book.  In the tradition of John Christopher, we wander across an alien desert North America, ravaged by climate change and abandoned by its people.  This section is truly fabulous reading.  The 2nd half takes place in Las Vegas, and becomes more political and violent.  I've read so many of these kinds of books in the past 3 1/2 years, but this one stands very high in the rankings.  It also hearkens backs to Ballard's first three SF novels.

Oracle of the Thousand Hands is a very early effort by Barry Malzberg, about a young man who masturbates, often.  I can't say it is pornographic, but there is a lot of weird sex in it.  The author seems to begin his affair with diseased minds at this point.  While I would hardly be comfortable recommending the book, there is some very dark humour, and more than once I was laughing out loud as I read.  Strange and unsatisfying.

With James Blish's VOR, we are swept away to Michigan, where the entire novel takes place.  A single alien craft lands, and after suitable waiting, VOR emerges.  What a fantastic book about first contact, and the many consequences it could have during a cold war!  Blish is one of the bests writers SF ever produced, and it's easy to see why.  The book has a lot to say about first contact, and I was often reminded of the movie Quatermass and the Pit.  One of Blish's earliest novels, he is already a master.

To see the full reviews of these books, and over 400 more like them, refer to my Avon/Equinox blog (see top left of this page).  I also have images of all the cover art from these novels.

We are currently watching a mini film festival of SF movies from the 1970s.  we just watched No Blade Of Grass, and there are plenty more to come.  These films are showing on Criterion, but only in January.

Mapman Mike

Marseilles Trilogy

Last weekend's film festival just finished up today!  Over 6 hours of movie viewing, plus about 2 1/2 more of extras.  Seeing the beautifully restored prints of this remarkable, witty and very moving film trilogy was a great way to end 2019 and begin 2010.  The writing is so good, and the story so human based, that watching it today is likely just as riveting as it was back in the 1930s.  The films took France by storm, and also did well in America.  The Criterion extras really filled in most of the gaps regarding production, and most were fun to watch.  Especially the ones with some of the actors.  There was also a lot of footage with Pagnol discussing his career.  We saw these films in Detroit more than 25 years ago.  They should be seen be everyone interested in film.  Pagnol wrote all three scripts,and co-directed the films with three different directors, including Alexander Korda on the first, and Yves Allegret on the second.  I liked those two films more than the third one, though it has it moments, too.  Minor characters enhance the films, and the outdoor photography, especially in #2 and #3, is totally amazing.  French actor Raimu as Cesar holds the whole thing together--the man is simply a fantastic actor in this role.  Many, many memorable scenes and lines.  Highly recommended!

 The first film in Pagnol's Marseilles trilogy. 

 The 2nd film.

 The concluding chapter. 

New Year's Eve was a quiet one for us.  A wood fire, music, and of course in bed well before midnight.  I did hear the fireworks from my pillow.

On Thursday we finally enjoyed an excursion to Detroit, the first in a very long time.  The weather was sunny, breezy, and very mild. We began at the DIA, focusing on a three-room exhibit about Detroit's Bruegel painting, "The Wedding Dance."  The painting is seen out of its frame, and is lit and restored so well as to literally take one's breath away when seen.  The exhibit is very detailed, and though some of the material was also present in Vienna, there we had no time to spend on what kind of brushes and paints the artist used.  Too many paintings to see.  But with an entire exhibit based around one painting, we could take our time and delve into Bruegel world.  The exhibit was packed, but like Vienna, there was no problem getting right up to the painting.  Very well done!

We ate lunch at a Mid-Town Middle Eastern restaurant.  Lentil soup, fresh baked pita bread, and baba ganoush was on the menu.  We left stuffed and happy.  We will be back to this attractive and delicious spot!  Next came a new chocolate store, where we splurged and purchased one tiny piece of vegan chocolate for $3, carefully wrapped in a tiny box.  After one tiny half bite each, it was gone.  However, it really was worth the price, and one piece would be enough for one person.  Then it was off to City Bird to replenish Deb's bath soap, and then on to Avalon Bakery for a box of their vegan cookies.

Next came a return visit to Brewery Faisan (Pheasant), my 2ns visit.  I hit the jackpot with two of the most incredible beers I have ever had the pleasure to sip.  Their Belgian inspired Tripel left me nearly speechless, as did the Paterwagen, or Robust Porter.  I came home with a 16 oz can of each.  I will return again and again and again.  Leaving the premises, we actually did spot one of Detroit's famous wild pheasants, after which the brewery is named!  No pink elephants, though.

Lastly came our coffee stop.  Out of literally a dozen spots we could have visited, we chose Anthology Coffee.  True artisans, these folk.  Our pour over was among the best we ever had.  Both ways at the border, in bound and outbound, we got right up to an agent within a minute, and were soon on our way.  That certainly makes the trip a lot more pleasant.  On every visit I am reminded of what a fantastic city sits just across the river from us.

I am currently working on writing my two essays for our January astronomy club newsletter.  Sometimes deadlines are good.  I will make it on time yet again.  To read any of these articles, visit our club website (RASC Windsor).  Just look under newsletter archives.  The newsletters are nicely put together by Steve M., and always contain some great member photography. 

Mapman Mike