March Reading

 I lost seven days of reading in March, due to an unprecedented series of clear nights during the monthly astronomy session.  It wore me to the ground, and I ended up traveling just over 500 miles altogether.  But what a month for observing!  The April session begins on the next clear night, and I am excited to get back to my galaxy observing project.  Despite the loss of a week, I still managed to get through much of my usual amount of reading, including ten books related to the Avon/Equinox series, and one by a non-related author, along with another 4 hours of volume 2 of 1001 Arabian Nights.  Here is last month's line-up:

 

As usual, Robert Silverberg lead things off.  I read To Live Again, a novel from 1969.  The novel (including an intro by the author) seems to fulfill J G Ballard's wish of having SF look inward rather than outward.  Silverberg looks inward in a very unique way: in the future it is possible to have your mind and personality preserved on tape.  Only the very rich can afford such a thing, and updates are suggested every six months.  Once you die, your memories etc. can then be purchased by another rich person.  Impressed into the single mind comes a complementary personality, making inner dialogues possible between the person and their acquired persona, and the person gains the life experiences of their intimate companion.  Not only this, but more than one persona can be added if desired.  I like the idea, and the writing, a lot, even though the complications of such tomfoolery could never really be fathomed.  *** 1/2 stars.

 

Next, I began yet another series by Piers Anthony, called Incarnations of Immortality.  The first novel is called On A Pale Horse, and the novel finds a man suddenly faced with becoming the figure of Death, and having to carry out his day to day duties and responsibilities.  There is a lot of humour, but also some interesting moral decision-making that must be done.  While the book is long, it is followed by a 22 page essay by the author that proves to be every bit as entertaining as the story.  I liked the story, though there were some weaker moments.  The next installment deals with the figure of Time.  *** stars.  

 

One of the best books in the actual Avon/Equinox series is #23, Bring The Jubilee, by Ward Moore.  It is a brilliant book dealing with time travel and the American Civil War, published in 1955.  It would be difficult not to admit the influence of that book on Harry Harrison, in his time travel/Civil War effort called A Rebel In Time.  While I much preferred the Moore novel, the Harrison one has its good points, too.  For one thing, the hero is black.  Imagine being black and educated today and being sent back to the American south in 1859.  Good luck with that.  So Harrison opens a brand new area with his confrontation of racial issues in America.  His writing is always so smooth and stylish, the book reads well and easily, and is hard to put down once begun.  *** stars.

 

From 1971 comes a novel as quirky as its title, The Electric Sword Swallowers (which I cannot fathom).  Nor does the cover byline "Every man his own Napoleon" make any sense, either. This is one of the oddest stories I have ever read, and I've read many odd ones.  In essence, the emperor of a planet (a self-proclaimed Napoleon), reenacts famous battles.  This particular story deals with the Battle of Waterloo at its climax.  Intelligent robots with some human DNA are utilized in the battle, thousands of them.  A group of reformers want to oust him, and use the robots for greater good and profit.  Our hero, Ferdie Foxlee, is hired as a top technician, after barely escaping two previous jobs.

The story begins as a comedy farce, but grows more serious as it goes on.  Some good points are raised throughout the story about revolutions, war, and the inhuman use of robots that are partially intelligent, and can act and feel on their own.  It's the kind of story one comes across more often in Ace Doubles than any other publisher, and I doubt any other publisher would have printed this as is.  Bulmer knows his military history, and he knows his emperors, too.  While I am not a fan of military history (or military anything), I found the book to be highly readable, and so original in concept that I enjoyed reading it a lot.  The ending is also very well handled, as the planet finds a worthy purpose after all, rather than just being a fun place to reenact battles.

*** stars.   

 

Beyond Capella by John Rackham was the unrelated book for the month, an anti-war space adventure from 1971.  Though very sexist for today's reader (what SF wasn't from earlier days?), Rackham at least tackles the issue of women in space and women in combat.  He also tackles other major issues such as the morality and wastefulness of war, computers replacing humans, and even alcohol on board ship (no one smokes on board in this book, either).  *** 1/2 stars.

Fifty Days To Doom is by E. E. Tubb, a 71 page pulp novella from 1954 that I quite enjoyed.  It marks the third anti-war book in a row that I read in March.  Tubb's novella has a lot in common with Rackham's novel, from 1971.  Both feature a man who is caught up in a senseless war, and wants nothing more than peace.  Again it always amazes me how so much story can be crammed into such a small number of pages.  *** stars.

The Moon Children by Jack Williamson was the first of three jackpot winners for the month, a novel so astoundingly good that I know I will read it again soon.  Unfortunately, my copy is water damaged, so I will have to order a new one.  The 1971-72 tale starts out a bit like Wyndom's Midwich Cuckoos, and also features some John Christopher inspired passages.  But the direction that Williamson takes with this story of three alien children born to human mothers is completely original and totally fascinating, and remains one of the best SF novels I have ever read.  Very highly recommended.  ****+ stars.

I finished up Moorcock's Swords trilogy, the adventures of Corum.  The King Of Swords is an excellent finish to a great series, despite the 2nd book being much less interesting than were books one and three.  Definitely worth checking out.  All three books are quite short.  **** stars.  

 

I finally got to read some of the short stories by J. G. Ballard, a multi-month project that will see me finish reading all of his fiction.  Having heard rave reviews of his short works, especially the early material, I opened the first page of the first story with high expectations.  My expectations were blown clear out of the water.  I had time to read 13 stories, some of them novelettes, all his short writing from 1956 through 1960.  I will merely list the names of the stories that are among the best fiction ever written.  Prima Belladonna; Escapement; The Concentration City; Venus Smiles; The Waiting Grounds; Chronopolis.  Absolutely astounding stuff!!

Barry Malzberg, a favourite author of mine, wrote under more than a dozen names, in all genres of fiction.  Under the name of Howard Lee, he wrote the first of four novels based on episodes of Kung Fu, starring David Carradine.  The first novel is called The Way of the Tiger, The Sign of the Dragon, and brought back a lot of memories.  The flashbacks to the monastery are very well handled, and I would never have suspected that the smooth writing style was a work by Malzberg.  A 2021 reboot of the series is planned, starring a female (of course; who else) Caine.

Lastly came the third incredible discovery of the month (Williamson and Ballard being the other two), The Seedling Stars by James Blish.  Consisting of three novelettes and a short story, we get the complete history of how humans adapted to life on other planets, rather than selecting to colonize only Earth-like planets.  At times I felt that I was reading the very best work of Hal Clement.  Written in the mid-50s for pulp magazines, and then rewritten for paperback publication, this is an incredible series of loosely linked stories that I wish contained many more episodes.  Fabulous reading.  **** stars.

And now a very short film summary from the past week.  Deb's three film festival choices were unrelated, beginning with the 1934 Imitation of Life, a film ahead of its time, but considerably behind by now.  Imagine sitting in a theatre in 1934 and watching a film about a black girl who can pass for white, and rejecting her black mother and her black roots.  Still quite watchable, though some moments are painfully melodramatic.  The ending was changed from the book, which did not impress the author.

Now showing on Criterion.

 

Imitation of Life, 1934.

Walk On The Wild Side is from 1962, starring a very handsome Laurence Harvey, along with Capucine, Jane Fonda, and Barbara Stanwyck.  The New Orleans setting tells the simple story of a Texas man coming in search of a woman with whom he fell in love with three years earlier.  But the woman has changed a lot since their last meeting.  Filmed in beautiful black and white, the film is good, but suffers from I call the cliched Hollywood ending, in this case not the happy one.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

Lastly came a Preston Sturgess comedy starring a young Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck, along with just about every comic actor in the movie business in 1941.  While the film has a good first half, it falls flat in the second due to overuse of very silly slapstick comedy, which does not suit Fonda at all (nor would it suit anyone else).  There is some really good writing in the first half, but not much in the second.  The story ends up going in circles, too.  The real joy is seeing Stanwyck scintillate in the role of a card sharp, and in watching the many character actors in their small roles.  It gets tiresome watching Fonda play the part of a buffoon, often expressionless.

Half good, half bad.  Now showing on Criterion.  

 

Mapman Mike

More About Vampires (from 1970s movies)

 Up until last night we have had a very dry March.  There has been no snow, which is quite unusual, and no rain, which is very unusual.  But the flowers got watered last night, with the rain gauge showing 1.8 inches of water in it this morning.  That's a lot of water, and our creek was running high all day.  There was thunder and lightning to accompany it all, but somehow Deb slept through it all, for once.

Though piano practice has been going well, the path carved by the program into my brain is getting a bit well worn.  Even the two pieces I am working on for the NEXT program are coming up fast.  What to do?  I don't know yet, but just dropping the program is one possibility, and giving my neurons a rest period.

Tomorrow night is the full moon, and we will have an all-day celebration, which includes listening to an opera (Wagner's Rienzi this time), baking a moon pie (Deb's special apple recipe, with yours truly as the head peeler), a wood fire, and perhaps a shepherds pie.  Music, relaxation, food, wood fire--it all sounds so romantical.  Glad I am invited!

In movie news, we watched a number of jazz shorts from 1929-39 this week on Criterion, featuring entertainers such as Bessie Smith, Artie Shaw, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and, in the best of the bunch, Louis Armstrong.  There were also two rather funny short films starring Bing Crosby as himself.  That counted as Deb's movie choice, and it lasted about 160 minutes.

My choices began with Fassbinder's 1974 filmed version of the novel Effi Briest, which I have not read but would now like to read.  The film is wonderfully done, with Hannah Schygulla as Effi, and turning in a wonderful performance of a girl of 17 who marries a an older man, a serious man who becomes her teacher rather than her lover and best friend.  She ends up having a brief affair with a younger man, and many lives unravel years later when the truth becomes known.  Very sensitively handled, beautifully filmed in black and white, and acted superbly throughout.  Highly recommended, this was our 2nd viewing so far.  There is also a 1955 and a 2009 film version, which we haven't seen.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

My 2nd choice was from the leaving March 31st folder, and it was called The Velvet Vampire, 1971.  Another female vampire hungers for a young married couple.  Invited to her desert ranch, they are attacked from all angles by the bloodthirsty beauty (Celeste Yarnell, looking suitably pale and vampish).  Not as arty as last week's Daughters of Darkness, from the same year, it nonetheless has a  few moments of interest, but it's biggest fault lies in being filmed in a very sunny desert environment, which more or less spoils the mood we have become used to when watching such films.  The acting is sometimes quite painful, especially that of the young wife.  Hammer film it is not.

Celeste Yarnell seems quite suited to play the part of a murderous vampire.

Showing on Criterion until March 31st.  

 

We also watched the finale episode of Elementary, an underrated and very good Sherlock Holmes series, updated to present day and taking place mostly in NYC.  Seven seasons of great stories have come to an end, right back where it started.  No doubt we will rewatch many of them, if they remain available on Prime.

 

In addition to Saturday's opera, it's Deb's film festival weekend.  And someday I'll post some more art from the DIA, unless they have run out of the stuff.

 

In conclusion, Great Lakes shipping is back, as the huge freighters head upriver, many aiming for the far end of Lake Superior before filling up with grain, turning around and coming back.  It's always fun watching them go past our house.  I plan to take photos of them soon, too, and perhaps keep track of a few ships over the coming year, courtesy of shipfinder.com. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

March is Missing

 We have moved directly from winter into middle spring.  March has already broken several daily records for high temps, and will no doubt go on to break the monthly average as well.  We have also had more extremely fine clear nights than in any other month I can remember.  It's the 21st today (Happy Birthday to J. S. Bach!!), and we have had at least 15 clear nights so far.  Of course that means we've had little to no rain, either.  Two years ago we had so much spring rain that farmers never got to plant their crops.  Last year was normal, but this year seems headed for a drought.  What a world.

My reading program is zooming along again, after a very slow start due to so many clear nights used for astronomy (I ended up using 7 of 10).  Though it has remained clear, circumstances have not allowed me to resume operations now until after next weekend's full moon.  Practicing is still in a holding pattern, as I await the time when I might perform my pieces for a small public.  Vaccinations in our area on on-going.  Deb is eligible, and is awaiting a call from her doctor.  I should get my first one sometime in the latter part of April, with no word on when, or if, a 2nd shot will be available.  Some of my American friends have already had two shots.

We finished up a very short but very beautiful PC game the other day, called Dear Esther.  The game, if it can be called that, involves simply walking around one of the abandoned Hebrides Islands at dusk.  Along the way some information is passed along in epistle form, telling the tragic story of a woman's death, and a man's guilt and sorrow at her loss.  The scenery is nonstop, and involves four areas of exploration, including a magnificent and very stunning underground cave, and the moon lit climax as we finally achieve our walking goal, a high signal tower atop the highest point on the island.  Definitely a game worth repeating many times, like Real Myst.  We haven't decided yet what our next game will be.  Stay tuned.

Yesterday we celebrated Vernal Equinox.  It was sunny and somewhat cool, but an absolutely gorgeous day.  We undertook a short outdoor walk on the nearby Greenway Trail, enjoying one of the bluest skies I have ever seen in Essex county.  Best of all, the sky was unmarred by jets.  Usually our skies are covered in jet haze from Chicago and Detroit planes.  Today all was still.  We got a take out lunch from The Plant Base in A'burg, eating at home while watching the very disturbing 1973 film The Wicker Man.  In the afternoon it was time for new Tarot cards, then we replaced all the winter art on the walls with spring art.  Deb baked almond cookies, the best of the best.  In the evening came music and a lovely wood fire.  The next big holiday is the full moon, the first one after Spring Equinox, meaning that Easter is just around the corner.

In film news, there are three films to report.  Most recently came Wicker Man, a very unsettling film from 1973, our third viewing (at least).  This is a very harsh look at a form of paganism in modern times, involving animal and human sacrifice.  A human is sacrificed in years following a bad harvest, and this is the year.  A mainland Scottish policeman is lured to a private island to investigate the disappearance of a young girl.  The policeman is a fervent Christian, a virgin, and is led to the sacrificial wicker man in a very moving and powerful concluding scene.  Despite the pagans being shown in a very poor light, there are several moments of humour and wonderful word play involving Christopher Lee (Lord Summerisle) and the police sergeant.  About the only good thing about Christianity is that it replaced human and animal sacrifices with the body and blood of Christ in the form of wine and unleavened bread.  Of course most pagan rituals do not involve sacrifice of any kind, but no matter, it's a film that needed some hard hitting drama, and it gets it at the expense of pagans.  Overall this is a very dark film, despite all the bright sunshine and happy celebrating.  Watch Britt Ekland dance naked and bang on the walls of her room.  There is a modern remake that must be avoided at all costs.

 

Showing for another week on Criterion. 

Daughters of Darkness, from 1971, is another horror film from the early 70s that will polarize viewers into two camps, though not as drastically as Wicker Man.  At its heart it is a lesbian vampire film, featuring the most famous vampiress of all time.  It also has a strong feminist slant.  There are three females in the film, and three males.  Two of the males, older, are unable to do anything to bring the Countess under control.  The third, a young man, is a sadistic brute who beats his newlywed wife, and kills the Countess' young female companion.  Not much to like in the way of males in this film.  The film is quite stylish, and the setting at an off season and otherwise empty seaside hotel is Ostend is atmospheric and rich in detail.  The ending, of course, is truly ridiculous ("faster, faster...."), but there are some fine moments that make this worth viewing.  I have been on the hunt for this film for many years, never even realizing it was on Criterion until it showed up on the leaving schedule.  Glad I finally got to see it.

Showing on Criterion until March 31st.  

 

Martin Scorsese's World Film Project involves the restoration of some of the most import films ever made, spanning the globe.  Here is a link to all the film titles so far, and a few forthcoming.  Most of these, if not all, are showing on Criterion, and I am slowly making my way through them. This month I chose Memories of Underdevelopment, a Cuban film from 1968.  The film was nearly lost completely, and had deteriorated to the extreme limits.  Restoration was painstaking and time consuming, as with many of these otherwise forgotten domestic and foreign films, and we got to watch the best print possible of this classic film.  Sergio is a Cuban, but molded into the European style of man.  After the 1961 Bays of Pigs invasion failure, he alone of his family and friends remains in Cuba.  As Cuba itself deteriorates, so does he.  A truly fascinating film, once again showing a male, sexist and empty of soul, that we can hardly sympathize with.  Definitely worth catching if possible, as are any films on the list.  We have only seen six so far.

 

Now showing on Criterion, part of the World Cinema Project undertaken by Martin Scorsese.
 

No art today, but here is a photo of our crocuses from March 23rd a few years back.  They are also blooming today. 

 

Happy Spring! 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

Getting Caught Up

 Though the clear nights continue (10 so far this session), circumstances beyond my control have caused me to pack it in till April.  I managed to get out to my windmill site 7 times in March, filling many pages with successful observing observations.  By now I am caught up on my sleep, practice is going well, our listening program is on again, and I am reading twice a day.  And we are watching movies again.  I am three behind in my reporting, and will also try to fit in a work of art from the DIA in this post.

 

My leaving March 31st choice was one of the best SF films from the 1950s.  The Incredible Shrinking Man is from a story by Richard Matheson, which I have never read (yet).  Several things make this a really great film, including the brilliant concept of a man shrinking away to nothingness.  Matte work and special effects are really well done.  The shrinking man has bad day after bad day, being harassed by the house cat, then by a monstrous spider, a flood, and he is unable to communicate any longer with normal sized people.  Trapped in the basement for the last third of the movie, his eventual escape brings him solace and oneness in the universe, as the movie features one of the greatest endings of any film ever made.  It has been a very large number of years since my last viewing of this fun film.

Leaving Criterion March 31st.  A true classic! 

 

Deb had two choices next.  First, from 2018, came a film by Peter Medak, called The Ghost of Peter Sellers.  Back in the early 70s, Medak, after having made three successful pictures, failed miserably to bring a big budget film to completion up to studio standards.  The abysmal failure caused his career to take a nosedive, and he remains bitter about his experience to this day.  What happened?  This is a documentary detailing his experience, and why the film failed to get any distribution.  The main reason was its star, Peter Sellers, who did everything he could to sabotage the film from the get-go.  A fascinating documentary, with lots of footage from the movie, and the making of the movie.

 

Now showing on Criterion.  

 

Her next choice was a 1928 film by Buster Keaton, called The Cameraman.  Keaton is one of our favourite comedians, and he is up to his usual death defying exploits in this short film.  It's a wonder he ever lived to old age.  Some very funny scenes are always guaranteed in Buster's films.  This one has a public bathing changing room scene that is priceless, a funny gag where he jumps on a speeding fire engine, thinking he is on route to a fire, and the closing scene where he thinks the cheering crowds are for him.  Great escapist fun from start to finish.

Buster plays a newsreel cameraman.  On Criterion until March 31st.  

 

In art news, it's finally time to look at a painting again from the DIA.  Fire In A Haystack is a major work from the brush of Jules Breton, famous for his sensitive depictions of French peasants.  This time we are faced with an action image of nearly cinema intensity.  There are enough individual figures in the painting to remind us of Bruegel's peasant works, and this one does make a nice complement to the Institute's Peasant Wedding Dance.  The Breton is also on a very large scale, making detailed observing fun.  It is a painting that grabs viewers, like the Isabey Shipwreck we saw awhile back.

Fire In A Haystack, 1856, Jules Breton (French, 1827-1906).  Oil on canvas, 55" x 82.5".

Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of upper center.

Detail of lower center.

Detail of left side.

Detail of lower right, showing artist's signature.  

 

Signing off for now.  It's time to listen to some Haydn, the to bed for some reading!  Tomorrow is the only day of the week (until Sunday) that I can stay home all day, so I am greatly looking forward to it.  It's a busy time all of a sudden.  I will explain all next time.  No vaccines for us yet.

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

More Clear Nights

In fact, I'm swamped in clear nights.  Tonight (Friday) is cloudy, so I can get my life back on track, briefly.  I just had a can of beer, my first in about two weeks.  It's been a busy time.  So this will be a brief message, again.  Once the moon takes over the night sky, I'll be back with my regular columns, which I know you are all awaiting with extreme impatience.  Sorry about that.  Usually by this time of month I've read at least 4 books.  However, I haven't even finished my second one yet.  Such is life.  Practicing is suffering, too.  But I've enjoyed some glorious nights at the eyepiece of my telescope!  Thus proving that life is a series of trade-offs.

 In movie news, Deb chose Monsoon Wedding, an Indian film from 2001, and Casa de Lava, a Portuguese film from 1991.  Monsoon is a big family drama, centered around an arranged marriage.  It's a good movie, high budget, and the acting is very fine.  There are also numerous street shots of Madras that keep the film set in India rather than in an upper class home and garden.  Definitely worth sitting through, though no revelations will come out of it.  It handles some touchy subjects really well.

Casa de Lava takes place on Cape Verde Island.  The story tells of a young female nurse who accompanies an injured labourer back to his home, and more or less gets herself involved in the weird life of the natives and Portuguese who live there.  The young actress is quite good, and though the film, like Zama a few weeks ago, is often incomprehensible, it is hard to stop watching once begun.  Mariana makes friends, though she thinks of herself as among the dead.  When her patient returns to life, her grip on reality fades even more.  A definite catch, if you can find it.  It leaves criterion at the end of March.

Leaving Criterion on March 31st.  

Also leaving Criterion on March 31st.  

 

My first choice for this week was an oddball British film starring Peter Sellers, called Only Two Can Play.  Sellers, a quiet librarian, is married and has two (or maybe three) children.  He is on the prowl for some female action outside of his marriage, and lands himself in the big time when he meets lovely and influential Liz, a woman who finds him attractive and can help him earn a promotion.  The movie is half drama and half comedy farce.  Sellers is quite brilliant in his understated portrayal of a man looking for stray sex, but is never able to actually achieve it.  Sexist by modern standards, of course, the film can probably only be appreciated by an older audience, of people who grew up thinking this was quite normal behaviour.  Not that there aren't any amount of men like Sellers' character still around today, but our tolerance of them has dropped to an all time low.

Leaving Criterion March 31st.  

 

There are so many films that we want to see that are leaving this month that all of our choices so far have been taken from the leaving file.

 

I am hoping to finish my Harry Harrison novel tonight, and move on to Kenneth Bulmer.  Tomorrow I am hoping to get reacquainted with my piano, and my treadmill.  We did manage to play another chapter of our latest PC game, Dear Esther.  We made it out of the cave!  Looking forward to wandering the island some more. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

Astronomy Nights

 When cold, clear nights arrive, an amateur astronomer has to give up most of his normal life.  Piano practice is cut back, reading comes to a standstill, movie watching practically stops, but exercise carries on.  For a typical 3 hour observing session, of which I undertook 4 last week, it takes me five hours, not counting the prep time at home.  That includes driving each way, set up, and take down.  Then comes the notes at home afterwards, which take several hours.  So, much of a day is used up on clear nights when the moon isn't up.  The nights were all really cold ones, well below zero.  Three pair of light gloves with hand warmers do the trick nicely, so that I can manipulate pencil, flashlight, turn atlas pages, and switch eyepieces.  If I used big, heavy gloves or mittens, I would not be able to do anything with my hands.  On my feet are snowmobile boots, suitable for Arctic Circle and beyond.  My feet often get overheated, even on the coldest night.  Lined pants, snow pants, special undershirt, turtle neck, sweater, hoodie, autumn jacket, winter jacket, warm hat, scarf---I look a bit like Charlie Brown in his winter gear.  But I am comfortable out there!  I observe very close to a wind turbine, which can become very noisy on a breezy night, so sometimes that is an issue.  But the skies are great, 40 miles from home.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the anniversary of our last visit to Detroit.  We went to the DIA to see a Rembrandt exhibit, went to a vegan restaurant for lunch, and then to a new cafe.  Good times, long gone.

In movie news, we have watched two films since my last post.  Skin Game is from 1971, starring James Garner and Louis Gossett.  James Louis have a scam going, whereby Louis pretends he's a slave and James has to sell him.  After the sale and collecting the cash, the two would ride out of town fast, moving on to the next town.  What could possibly go wrong?  The movie is quite good, very funny at times, and up front anti-slavery.  However, the n-word is used so many times that I'm surprised that Criterion even showed it.  Worth a view if you can catch it.

 

Leaving Criterion March 31st.

 

The people who write the movie blurbs for Criterion are often too good at their job, overstating the case for seriously flawed films.  Such was the case for a horror film called A Tale of Two Sisters, from South Korea and 2003.  The film begins well, then just completely destroys itself.  Some people can take a complex story and tell it in a compelling and understandable fashion.  Others can take a simple tale and over-complicate it, making it totally incomprehensible.  That is what happened to this film.  There is a decent story beneath it all, but total frustration soon takes over any viewing pleasure that might have been forthcoming.  The film loses its mind long before the characters.  The film won awards and seems to have good reviews, but any film that needs major explaining after viewing is not for me.  Acting is good, sets and photography are good.  I think a lot of people are fooled by pseudo-intellectual crap, especially people who normally watch brainless muck horror films.  This one has its share of blood and gore, despite calling itself a "psychological horror" film.  And of course innocent lovebirds are killed, in the name of film art.

Showing on Criterion until March 31st.  

 

That's all for now, folks, until I get reoriented into normal society again.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

Zatoichi Film Fest, and February Books

The excitement seldom stops around the Homestead these days.  In cat news, Mogollon has taken to spending long afternoons upstairs.  That used to be Gustav's domain, and Mogi never went up there.  But one day last week he decided to go up, jump up on the bed, and get comfortable.  He comes up every day now, usually for my afternoon reading/nap sessions.  Unlike Gustav, he does not prefer tummy rubs.  Mogi likes being scratched under his chin.  I mean he really likes it, and can take it by the hour if need be.  He also likes having his ears lightly rubbed, but under the chin is his secret spot.

 

February being a short month, I still managed to get through a full cycle of remaining Avon/Equinox authors (10 books), also reading one outside the project, and dove 2 hours into Volume 2 of The Arabian Nights, by Burton.  And two books were each nearly 500 pages long.  So I did a fair bit of reading, including the Feb. issue of National Geographic magazine.  If I had the extra three days, I would have managed a 2nd book unrelated to my project.

Downward to the Earth, by Robert Silverberg, got things off to a fantastic start.  I awarded this novel four stars, as it deals head on with Manifest Destiny and colonization of planets.  The book is rich in planetary detail, including the two main intelligent species, the Nildoror, elephant-like, appear to be the dominant.  There are several gruesome moments, things that only happen (hopefully!) on alien worlds, and several more pathetic ones with human tourists on a guided tour.  Very fine reading!

Juxtaposition was the humdrum conclusion to Piers Anthony's original Apprentice Adept series, which now stands at 8 or 9 books.  However, I am done with the series now, after reading the first three, sick of its hero (way more boring than Frodo), and his exploits.  I awarded the 494 page novel 2 stars, which may be a bit generous.  Next up in March I will start a new series by the author.

Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat For President is a gem of a book, one of the finest in this very, very funny series.  Terry Pratchett was inspired to write after reading some of Harrison's funnier stories, and this might be the funniest novel yet by Harrison, as the heroic diGriz family (Slippery Jim, his wife Angelina, and their two boys, Bolivar and James) take on a military dictatorship on a banana republic planet now catering to tourists.  Besides being uproariously hilarious, the adventure is extremely well thought out, and underlying the humour is one of the best looks at tin pot hat dictators.  Better than reading the history of so many similar countries on Earth today.  I awarded it four stars.

Kenneth Bulmer's Swords of the Barbarians is a mediocre sword and sorcery pot boiler, written to mimic the style (very popular in 1971, when this was published) of Howard's heroic tales of Conan the Barbarian.  Nothing new is added here, though Bulmer sticks to a minimum of locations, and this helps to give some semblance of continuity and organization to the story.  It's not bad, but it's far from Bulmer's best writing.  I gave it 2 1/2 stars.

The Life Buyer, by E C Tubb, takes on the theme of rich people being able to afford all that is necessary to stay alive as long as possible.  Marcus Edward King, age 87, is the world's richest man, and is going all out to gain everlasting life, spending his fortune on long shots that he still hopes will pay off soon.  Despite the SF background, the novel is mostly a chilling crime tale, showing the desperate lengths some men will go to live forever.  There are lots of plot twists, as Tubb seems to know his way around the genre.  Good reading, and I awarded it three stars.

From 1968 came Jack Williamson's juvenile novel called Trapped In Space, aimed, I would guess, at ages 9-13, and published by Scholastic.  I had to get this on special order, and it arrived in near mint condition, wrapped in plastic.  Anyway, I went and spoiled things by actually reading it.  There are several remarkable things about this otherwise unremarkable story of a younger brother heading out into space to rescue his older brother.  First, aside from the main hero being white (his name is "Jeff"), he travels with a black male as his commander, an intelligent young female, born on another planet but her ancestry is Puerto Rican (!), and a very cute and very helpful alien, which Earth people fear and despise.  Most books from that time period (and even later), feature only males, or perhaps a mother or female secretary.  But a Puerto Rican female, and a black man as commander and friend to Jeff?  Wow!  Long live the 60s!  I awarded it 3 stars, and would still recommend it to kids today (if any actually still read).

Queen of the Swords by Michael Moorcock, the 2nd Corum tale, was rather disappointing, and to me didn't show much effort at all by the author.  When Moorcock is hot (like Piers Anthony), he is really hot.  But when his creative powers are in a declining phase, his writing suffers a lot.  The book is a pastiche of Tolkien (especially The Silmarillion), E R Burroughs, Robert E Howard, and even Fritz Leiber, all of whom do a much better job than this messy concoction.  I awarded it 2 1/2 stars, thanks to the appearance of Jerry Cornelius.

Extreme Metaphors: Collected Interviews of J G Ballard, was an eye-opening experience.  Interviews from the 1960s through the time near his death in 2008 show a man who is confident, often correct in his opinions (but sometimes very wrong), and has a lot to say that we should be listening to.  Luckily for us, Ballard liked to talk nearly as much as he liked to write, and we are left with a full portrait of one the giants of 20th C literature.  He was really down on space flight (rightly so), and on most SF written in the golden age and beyond.  Ballard was more interested in "inner space" than outer space (as is Barry Malzberg--there is no indication that Ballard ever discovered this essential writer), and more interested in modern suburbs than inner cities or the countryside.  A fascinating collecting, and at 498 pages, it took me a while to get through this book.  Four stars.

In Tactics of Conquest, Barry Malzberg tackles insanity through a 41-game chess match, where the two players, chosen by the "Overlords" of space, play for the fate of the universe.  Expanded from a short story, the novel follows the two master players through a five-move chess game.  There is one chapter allotted for each move.  If you want inner space, than read Malzberg. I gave it three and a half stars.  Reading Malzberg is like being involved in a nightmare from which you cannot wake up.  Even so, I love his writing.

Earthman Come Home is James Blish's 3rd and longest novel of his Cities In Flight series, in my opinion the best SF series ever written.  I am making my way through for the 3rd or 4th time, and enjoying every minute of this classic SF series.  The whole concept of entire cities lifting off from Earth and going in search of work across the galaxy is so original that I cannot believe it has not been made into a series of films or TV episodes.  It is so much better than Star Trek, mainly because the travellers are compared to "Okies", from the 1930s American depression, when poor folk had their homes and farms seized by banks and they left the midwest, taking on any work they could find.  This novel is a compilation of 4 novellas that were joined together, thus we get four different adventures of NYC, with mayor Amalfi at the helm.  All written in the early and mid-fifties, this is a fabulous book.  Four stars all the way.

Lastly came an unrelated book.  I read The Star Mill by Emil Petaja, the 2nd book in his Kalevala SF/fantasy series.  The Star Mill is the sampo of legend, and Ilmaren must destroy it with his magic sword, before the out of control sampo swallows the universe.  This book sticks closely to the legend, and is great fun to read.  Three stars, at least.

I have now started on a new iteration of the Avon/Equinox authors, and am currently reading a novel by Silverberg from 1968.

In film news, we watched 3 Zatoichi films over the weekend, my festival choices for March.  We saw #15, 16, and 17.  They are all essentially the same movie, but with subtle differences that make watching all of them worthwhile.  In #15, called Zatoichi's Cane Sword, he is told by a master sword smith that his trusty old katana will break on its next killing cut.  And it does, though not in any expected way.  #16, called Zatoichi The Outlaw, was the actor's first production with his own company.  The story is a bit more baroque, and visuals are composed carefully and artistically.  In #17, Zatoichi Challenged, the blind swordsman (known mostly to his enemies as "that blind bastard") faces off with an opponent of equal skill, as he often does.  However, the outcome in this one is different from all the others, and makes for a nice surprise ending.  I love these movies; the bad guys are always the baddest, but they always meet with Zatoichi's form of justice.

Zatoichi #15:  Zatoichi's Cane Sword.

 

Zatoichi #16

Zatoichi #17:  Zatoichi Challenged.  

 

That's all for now.  Looking forward to my first astronomy night since Dec. 8th tomorrow.  It will be below freezing, so I will be dressed like Nanook of the North. 

 

Mapman Mike