When I began my indoor exercise program at the beginning of last June, I had high hopes that I would be hiking in NM in October or November. Ha ha ha. I stayed with the program, however, hoping I could visit the desert in Spring of 2021. Ha ha. Eight months later, it has become such a habit that I continue to exercise for no particular reason. I am wonderfully fit, but staying at home. How ironic, considering how many major hiking adventures we went on, despite being completely and totally unprepared physically. Hiking next autumn in New Mexico? Perhaps, though I do not have high hopes. Nor even low hopes.
At first the vaccine announcements cheered everyone. After all, the flu shots given each year to millions did not cause any supply/demand problems (until this past year, of course). So no one was expecting major issues with the new vaccine for Covid 19. Now that, at least for Canada, the vaccine seems further away than ever, a myth, if you like, the news has actually angered a lot of people. Guess who they are angry with? Not the company who stopped giving Canada the vaccine this week, but the government. I guess the Prime Minister should have been making a lot of the stuff in his bathtub, or something, for just such an emergency.
Anyway, our hopes of getting the vaccine in time to enjoy a life outdoors again has slipped away. We aren't getting our first dose, anyway, until we can be assured of getting the 2nd one within 21-28 days, so we will likely be near the very end of the line. In the meantime, I had two outings this week. Monday I went to Harrow for birdseed and cat litter. Today I went out for groceries, to a store that was largely empty of shoppers. How lucky! Once I am back home with the loot, and I realize that I don't have to venture forth until next Tuesday (prescriptions), a very happy feeling comes over me. Go away, world. Don't come back until you are ready for us.
Last night the snow plows ran all night. We awoke this morning expecting to see a lot of snow. However, there was less than 1 cm on the ground. Really? Let's keep the entire highway residents awake all night, for absolutely nothing. Even at breakfast the plows were still running up and down the highway with their plows down, on perfectly bare pavement! Idiocy, as they must spend their allotted budget, unless they get less money next year.
In movie news, we have a winner, and a loser. The winner (both were Deb's picks for the weekend) is called Tom Thumb (Le Petit Poucet), a fantasy from 2001. Mixing and matching several fairy and folk tales, this is a dark, very scary movie that Criterion mistakenly put on its Saturday Matinee program for children. Trust me, any children watching this film will need therapy afterwards. The movie is mostly brilliant, though the music is disappointing, and no matter how fast those wolves run, they can never catch the five brothers. Most people alive today know nothing of the real stories of the fairy tales, before they were made more palatable for children (for which, as a child once, I am eternally thankful). This gloomy though highly entertaining feature reminded me a lot of Company of Wolves, another favourite film of mine, though this one is even darker and more violent. The settings are absolutely beautiful, like some of the very best PC games I have played. Highly recommended!
Next up was Le Cercle Rouge, a crime caper from 1970 directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, and starring (of course) Alain Delon. The movie is spoiled by several head scratching leaps of (il) logic. First we have a handcuffed criminal on board a night train (?) with a policeman escort, who escapes by picking the cuffs with a safety pin, then kicking out the window of the train (ever try to break a train window with your foot? Then jump out that window as the train is speeding along? Good luck!). With police and (very slow) dogs in pursuit, he crosses a little creek about five feet across. The dogs follow his trail to the creek, but then no one can figure out where he went, as his trail simply disappears. Really (rolling of eyes)? Then comes the heist, which is so complicated they would need months to prepare. No problem. They are ready in one or two nights. The ending, which I will not divulge, is the worst of all, with two (or more) enormous leaps of silliness that defy description. All one can do is shake one's head, and wonder what they were smoking in France in 1970. Enough said.
Following up on paintings from the last entry, today we get to see the other half of the set by Filippo Falciatore (active 1728-68). Concert In A Garden (1750, oil on canvas, 30" x 40", unframed) appears at first to be the exact opposite of the Tarantelle image from last time. People here are behaving in a more respectable fashion, as we get a posher clientele in this work. However, music, nature, and love still seem to be at the centre of things. Again, there is a feast of details to enjoy. Similar to images by Lancret, Boucher, and Watteau, I marvel at the eccentric keyboard, and wonder how those strings manage to vibrate while turning a corner!
Until next time....
Mapman Mike
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