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
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