Mom's younger sister, my Aunt Pauline, turns 90 today! Born in the middle of February in Sudbury in 1931 is quite an achievement in itself, but surviving 90 years isn't too shabby an event, either. Happy birthday Auntie! Hope we can see you, and all the rest of the family, again someday.
Deb's mom is still in hospital, but preparations are underway to get her some home care when she is released. That's it for the news. Now, turning to weather....
It's cold in Texas. Really cold. They are not happy, and are not coping well. I fully understand. Our severe cold spell here in the southernmost part of Canada is now into its 11th day, and will not end anytime soon. But wait, there's more! Though we dodged cold weather until February 5th, we eventually got hit, and hit badly. And so we have dodged snow storms all winter, as well. But the snow has been slowly piling up, with a half inch here, a half inch there, and then two inches last night. And now we are in the bullseye for the big one. Beginning tonight at around 6 pm, and continuing until noon Tuesday, we are expecting 8-10 inches of snow. I see much shovelling in my future, and a long wait for Spring. The funny thing is, tomorrow our county is finally going to emerge from lockdown, and transfer back to red zone. Restaurants are allowed to open partially, and salons, gyms, etc., all with restrictions in place. They've been waiting months for this day, and it's going to be a bad snow day for them. Rotten luck, for sure.
In movie news, I'm not sure what came over me when I picked March of the Wooden Soldiers, from 1934. It's a kids picture filled with fantastic sets and characters from Mother Goose, and stars Laurel and Hardy. There are several truly awful songs spread throughout, which don't help the proceedings very much. Still, the sets are lovely, and the two comics are their usual selves, namely acting like two very overgrown kids. Several of their routines are funny, and a few are not. At least it is a short film, and it's leaving Criterion in 2 weeks.
Deb's main movie choice for the week is called A Story of Children and Film, from 2013, compiled and directed and narrated by Scottish director Mark Cousins. It takes a look at several movies that highlight children in the stories, including films from Africa, Iran, Europe, America, England, etc. It must have taken a lot of work to compile and edit, and get permission for the many film clips shown. Though it tries very hard, the film is disorganized, rambling, and easily loses focus, and while it's great fun to watch clips from so many familiar films, there are so many important films either dealt with superficially or not at all, that it's easy to see how the director got lost during his project. It's simply too big a topic to handle in one film. This could easily have been a ten-part TV series, beginning with early films and progressing by date, or even taking one theme per episode and working through it. Since so many great children's films came from books, it's a wonder that this was never even mentioned in the film. Entire sequences showing his nephew and niece at play falls pretty flat, too.
I'll try to return tomorrow with news of the big snowstorm of the year, and more art from the DIA. It's almost been a full year now since I have been to Detroit and the art museum there. What a world.
Mapman Mike
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