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
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