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
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