Our New Life: An Update

Regular readers of this endlessly fascinating column will already know that Deb and I have adjusted easily and well to indoor life since the virus forced a total shutdown of civilization as we know it.  Our county, Essex, Ontario, still has the highest infection rate per-capita in the country, and shows no sign of diminishing.  While it's pretty low compared to across the river in the land of the savages, it's still high enough to keep us pretty much doing the same thing we have been doing for the past several months.  Staying mostly indoors.

It's been a very warm summer, so even our exercise program has been indoors.  I am deep in my 6th week, or is it my 7th, of using the treadmill and the weight bench.  I strongly dislike exercise for the sake of exercise,and usually I have a goal in mind before starting any kind of program.  For much of our lives that goal has centred around high altitude hiking in New Mexico, or long distance trail walking in London, UK.  I am easily motivated if I have a goal to work towards.  And when I began this program in early June, I still had hopes of a late October or early November hiking trip to New Mexico.  Well, that slim chance has become non-existent since then.  There may be a slim chance for our third visit to Vienna at that time, but only if we do not have to quarantine upon our return.

Travel options aside, we have no complaints about mostly staying home.  I have had two astronomy night outings so far this session, with the chance of a 3rd one tonight or tomorrow, whichever clear night arrives first.  I've had one opportunity to see Comet Neowise, and it did impress me! 

In gaming news, we have finished a major 5-game tournament of Middle Earth The Wizards.  That takes about 2-6 months to finish up such and undertaking.  And we have played our first game of The Lidless Eye, from the same series, in which you play from the Nazgul viewpoint instead of a wizard's.  The games are similar, but there are some striking differences, too.  Our first game was rather hesitant and not very successful, but we will try again soon.  With the limited amount of cards we have, it's difficult to gather points.  The goal is to reach 18, but by the end of our first game I had only earned 8, while Deb had 5.  So the learning curve continues.

Once we finish a 5-game major tournament with our Wizards decks, we play a 5-game mini-tournament, playing five different games that I have made up using the cards and Tolkien lore.  This weekend, in addition to it being a film festival weekend, will also become a mini Carcassonne gaming event, if time allows.

In movie news, we have seen two films since my last post, one of my choosing and one of Deb's. We have also watched episode 5 of Berlin Alexanderplatz.  Deb's movie was from 1977, an American film by Joan Micklin Silver called Between The Lines.  It's about a group of young people who work and write for an independent newspaper in Boston.  It's a pretty depressing movie, and not really very entertaining.  But it offers one answer to the question of whatever happened to all of those idealists from the 1960s.  Bit by bit they were all absorbed into the American capitalist system, or left without a lifeline if they refused to join.  Most of the male characters in the movie are total jerks, which is an interesting aspect of the film since directed by a female, who probably knew many such characters.  But overall I found the movie too disjointed, with too many characters and too many side plots.  In the end the movie isn't really about very much.  Tellingly, the only person to quit the newspaper when it is taken over by a syndicate is the female secretary.  No one else had the guts to leave their low paying job, even though the entire slant of the paper was going to change.  In the end, almost everyone sold out.

 Now showing on Criterion, directed by Joan Micklin Silver.

My film choice was Zatoichi and the Doomed Man.  Besides some unusual combat settings, including a fog-shrouded fishing boat beach, and some stunning wide screen colour photography, there isn't too much to say about this short film.  Ichi kills at least 80 men, and at one point uses two swords.  There are no dull moments, but a few silly ones, as roving Buddhist monk, a petty criminal, tags along for awhile.  He meets him in the opening scene, where Zatoichi, using a bow and arrows, hits continuous bulls eyes on small moving targets at a sideshow, winning lots of money.

Zatoichi #11, now showing on Criterion.

And now it's time for art in the blog.  Today, instead of featuring a painting from the DIA, I turn to one of my oldest friends, Dino N.  Dino recently took up painting again, creating a loosely linked series inspired by his stay at home experience.  He hasn't painted in a very long time, so it's great to see some of his recent material!  He painted on 1' x 1' boards for most of these.  I have chosen four painting to show here.  Perhaps more later, if he continues to paint and send out images to me.

 I really love the calmness about this image, and how she seems to emerge from the water, just like a real goddess would!  I should mention that Dino and his wife have a cottage in central Ontario, and I don't.  I miss swimming in freshwater lakes.

 

 Dino's images are direct and easy to confront.  Here the wood grain in behind the paint adds a lot to the texture.  The vivid green is actually quite comforting, and the use of almost Asian painting brushstrokes for the greenery is very effective.  I couldn't think of a better use for a small board and some paint.

 

Beautiful colouring on the fish, and the undulation of the tail has been perfectly captured.

Another great image, this one an hommage to Japanese scroll painting.

And so we come to the end of another bit of informative and lively chatter from Lone Mountain Homestead.  I sincerely hope you have enjoyed your stay, and come back soon for another visit.

Mapman Mike