The Latter Days of April

 It's rare for leaves to be filled out on our trees by the end of April.  It has happened before, and it is happening again.  Despite 2" of snow last week, we are back into a very warm spring.

Deb has been visiting her mom daily, with 9 days remaining in her quarantine at her new home, Royal Oak LTC in Kingsville.  She now has cable TV in her room, and apparently had a good day today.

Mogi seems to be in perfect health, continues to eat like a hungry stray cat, and has resumed taking baths and cleaning himself after eating.  He used to try and lick himself with the cone, but only managed to lick the cone.

Music continues to keep us sane.  The Beethoven project continues, as it will for at least two years, as does the even larger Bach project.  Then there is the basement records listening project, also ongoing.  And two weekly concerts by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, which we continue to enjoy immensely.  And of course I continue to read, and to write.  The end of the month reading summary is not far away.

Then there is the Criterion Channel, a dream come true.  Even if it was just a movie channel with their own programming, we would still watch it avidly.  But being able to pick your own movies to watch, anytime, and stop and start them easily, is beyond the world of fantasy to me. 

Sunset Song, a 2015 Scottish film directed by Terrence Davies, was my going away pick for last week.  It's a close look at a farming family, filled with tragedy, violence, harshness, good old fashioned religion (part of the violence), and a young girl who has given up her dream of becoming a teacher, and, since the death of her mother by suicide, is merely existing.  She finds a good husband, but he unwillingly has to go off to fight in WW1.  Some lovely photography, the film was not only shot in Scotland, but also in NZ and Lichtenstein.  Worth a view, the lead female actress in quite good. 

Showing on Criterion until April 30th.  

Deb's main choice for last weekend was The Eagle Shooting Heroes, a Hong Kong special from 1993.  Try to imagine the Three Stooges doing a Kung Fu movie with a big budget, and add in about six more Stooges, and you might have some faint idea of what this movie is like.  It's great fun from start to finish, with some truly laugh out loud moments.  A unique film, worth catching if you can.

Now showing on Criterion. 

Her going away film choice was Shanghai Express, one of the great early 30s adventure/romance films.  Starring Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong, the b & w film follows a group of travelers between Peking and Shanghai.  The train photography is great, the story okay, and Dietrich and Wong stunning.  Directed by Joseph von Sternberg, this is a must see film.

Showing until April 30th on Criterion. 

More soon.  Thanks for dropping by.

Mapman Mike

 

 

Home Sweet Home

 After spending almost two months in hospital, Deb's mom is finally in her permanent LTC home, in Kingsville.  She made her epic journey from Lindsay on Thursday.  Ambulance from the hospital there to the local airport, then she was flown via small plane (Ornge) to Windsor, met by another ambulance, and transported to Kingsville, where we were setting up her room and awaiting her arrival.  She left the Lindsay hospital at 9 am, and arrived in her new home just before noon.  She has to isolate in her room for 14 days.  Her meals are delivered and eaten there.  Deb can visit, but has to wear the full PPE gear when with her.  The entire complex has been called the Hilton Hotel of LTC homes, though right now because of Covid it looks more like a wartime triage center.  We both had to be tested yesterday for Covid.  Hopefully it will turn out negative.

By sheer coincidence, all of her belongings from Lindsay arrived Thursday as well, at 10 am.  There were 34 boxes.  For one tiny room.  We ended up having to take about 20 boxes back home with us.  A big shout out to Randy G. and his pickup truck, who came right away from Windsor upon request and helped us bring stuff home.  Not sure yet what we'll do with it, as we can't even visit the local 2nd hand shops.  But Lois is in her new home, and the room looks pretty good.

Lois' room in Kingsville.

Nurse Deb.  She has to wear the full kit when visiting her Mom.

In Mogi news, we are currently in Day 14 of his recovery program.  That means that tomorrow we can take off his collar.  He'll be one happy little dude, but we have to watch that he doesn't scratch at the incision, at least for another week.  Here is today's picture, showing a much improved cat.

 

A bit of scab remains over the incision, otherwise all is well!   Great job, Mogi!!

 In movie news, I have one film to report.  Calamity is a 1982 Czech film about a man who drops out of university and decides to become a train driver.  His father runs the station cafe in their hometown, and wants him to help out instead.  The film is a light romantic comedy, quite hilarious in places, but also a not so subtle critique on the country at this time; the railroad is literally a shambles, barely a shadow of what it once was.  I generally love Czech cinema, and Criterion has so much of it awaiting our view.  I'm still trying to go through all of the Fassbinder works, as well as Scorcese's World Cinema Project.  While far from an art house cult film, I can highly recommend this film for those days that nothing heavy is required.

Calamity is from 1982, now showing on Criterion. 

From the DIA, a beautiful Japanese screen depicting scenes from the Tale of Genji. This was probably the first novel from a foreign culture that I read.  Deb and I actually read it aloud back in the 1970s.  Despite it being perhaps the first novel ever, there haven't been too many film adaptations.  And we haven't viewed any so far.  Nothing of the sort on Criterion.  There is an animated version I would love to see.

Central detail.

Central detail.

Spring and Summer Palace Gardens, from The Tale of Genji.  Six-panel folding screen; ink, color paint, and gold on paper, Japanese 17th C. 67" x 141".  Detroit Institute of Arts.

Mapman Mike

 

 

Gift From the Far North

Yes, it snowed.  All day Tuesday.  It's gone now, thanks to a bright (but cold) sunny day.  We got about two inches, one of the latest snowfalls I can remember.  We can get flakes anytime in April, but enough to stay on the ground overnight is rare this late in the season.  The birds were not impressed, nor the flowering trees and regular flowers.

Our poor daffs.  taken with my good Fujifilm camera. 

 

I have a really old Polaroid camera, which still works (mostly).  It is being replaced by a newer model, on its way as I write.

I also have a much better Fuji Instax.  The scan is not very good compared to the original, which is very sharp and clean.  

 There is big news regarding Deb's mom and her move down to our area.  Hopefully tomorrow I will have good news.

 

And Mogi is making a remarkable recovery, now in day 12 since his surgery.  A new pic of him coming soon.  You won't believe how well he has healed.  What a guy! 

 

Deb's two weekend movie choices were The Bad and the Beautiful, from 1952, and David and Lisa, from 1962.  Other than both being in beautiful black and white, they have nothing else in common.  Bad is a Hollywood film about Hollywood, directors, writers, actors, and producers.  It stars Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Dick Powell, and Walter Pidgeon.  Though this is not my kind of movie, it is enjoyable as it is broken down into three separate stories revolving around Douglas's producer character, as seen through the eyes of three people whom he has worked with previously.  Loosely based on some real Hollywood legendary people, it easily passes the time.

 

Now showing on Criterion.

 

Leaving April 30th was a beautiful little film, David and Lisa, about two mentally unbalanced young people attending a special boarding school.  Headed by a caring doctor and staff, the picture focuses on the two young people as they try to cope with their surroundings in their own way, and are slowly drawn to one another as well.  An award winning film that still holds up well today, it is recommended viewing.  Keir Dullea and Janet Margolin are the teens, and Howard Da Silva is the doctor.

 

Leaving Criterion on April 30th.  

 

And lastly, more Spring celebration from the collection of the DIA.  What was spring like in Europe in 1617?  How was it greeted?  Check out this etching by Jan Van de Velde to find out.  I'll drink to that.  And maybe dance, too.

 

Spring, 1617, by Jan Van de Velde, Dutch 1593-1641.  Etching and engraving in ink on laid paper.  11.5" x 17".

 

Detail of left side.

 

Detail of right side.  

I have started a new photo blog, devoted to road trips and images taken from the road and/or of the road.  Stay tuned for more info on this exciting development.  I miss road trips.

Mapman Mike

 

 

Six More Weeks

 We are under a new 6 week stay at home order, just as the weather turns towards mid Spring.  Needless to say, it is not going over well with many people, who are more than a little sick of being told to stay home, yet have to go to work everyday.  Schools are shut, making daycare a nightmare for working parents.  And that includes teachers at home with their own children, who have to work all day on-line with students.  The government tried getting the police to issue random stops and fine people for being out for no good reason, which was quite a common thing in the UK during their lock down.  But here, the blow back was so fierce and loud that the government quickly backed down, especially after most police agencies said they would not do it.  Score one for the people!

Mogi continues to improve, though he still has a week to go on the cone collar.  He will still be heavily sedated all this week, though Mogi spends much of his cat life seemingly sedated anyway.

I will turn to art from the DIA first this time, before talking about movies.  Today's work comes from John Mix Stanley, a 19th C artist-explorer, most famous for his images of the west, and of the natives there.  Today's painting shows an unusual subject, one with a sense of humour along with the typical trappings of his many works.  Indians playing cards is from 1866, and shows a group of three natives passing some time while a fourth looks on from his horseback position.  I have never come across such an image before, but it reminds me of how it must have been passing time back in the days.  Cards, which we still play in many forms here at Lone Mountain Homestead, are easily carried, can be played almost anywhere, and can involve the mind is higher levels of thinking for long periods of time.  No doubt awaiting their fellow braves at a rendezvous point, this work points out the similarities, rather than the differences, between our two cultures.

 

Indians Playing Cards, 1866.  John Mix Stanley, American, 1814-1872.  Oil on canvas, 16" x 26".  Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of central area, above.  

 

In movie news, we watched a film that has been sitting in the queue on our Prime channel for a long time.  Ex Machina is a pretty decent SF story about a brilliant man who creates a human-like AI life form, and brings in someone from his company to test and see if she can pass for human.  The story, which would fit easily into a novelette of about 40-50 pages, contains some very good dialogue, though in most ways does follow a conventional story pattern.  However, if the story on its own might not impress an avid SF reader too much, its filmed execution is quite outstanding.  The effects are very impressive, and the confined setting helps keep the story grounded and simple.  There are no convoluted plot twists or deep subtexts.  Though the ending is quite chilling, I believe that Ava will someday realize her mistake in leaving Caleb behind.  In other words, she does not have a conscience at the end of the picture, but if she continues to learn and advance by observing other humans, she just might develop one after a time.  A recommended movie, especially for SF fans.

Now showing on Prime.  

We also watched They Live By Night, a unique noir love story starring a very handsome and young Farley Granger.  He plays the part of a boy sent to prison for murder at 16.  He escapes with two roughnecks, who bring him only (he is now 23) to help him rob banks with them.  He meets and falls for Cathy O'Donnell, and their story makes up the main subject of the picture.  Of course they are fated to not live happily ever after.  The film is deep and involved, and plays like reading a very good crime novel.  Though the young couple have opportunities to escape the US and move to Mexico, they wait until it is much too late.  A very highly rated film directed by Nicholas Ray, I can easily recommend it, especially to fans of the Noir genre.

Showing on Criterion until April 30th.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

Mogi Update

Mogi is well on his way to a full recovery.  We are halfway through day 6, post-op, and so far doing well.  The vet called today, and the report given was all positive.  Let it be said, however, that Mogi is still not impressed with his cone.  After eating he tries to wash himself, and we have to watch with sadness as he licks the plastic cone, with his paw held up just beneath it.  Anyway, here is an updated photo from today that shows his improvement.  9 more days of cone life, however.

 

Looking much better on Day 6.  Still not a pretty sight, though. 

 

In movie news, Deb's short film "King of the Cats" has placed first in the Gold Star Movie Awards, winning the micro-short category!  I wish we had a thousand dollars for every festival she has won with one of her movies.  We wouldn't be rich, but we'd have thousands of dollars....

 

In Criterion film news, Deb had chosen The Ninth Configuration, a film from 1980, as her going away soon choice.  We had seen it many years ago and liked it, so we tried again.  It stars Stacy Keach, who I usually don't like very much, but is quite good in this one.  He plays Killer Kane, a marine who went psycho in Vietnam, killing so many people that he seems beyond help.  He is sent to an isolated military asylum, mostly filled with draft dodgers faking insanity to escape the service, but first appears as a psychiatrist there to help the other men.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your beliefs), it becomes tangled in a kind of Christian redemption theme, something that usually doesn't work too well in film.  And the redemption comes via a sadistic biker in a bar, who taunts Kane to his breaking point, a very painful episode to view.  So, mixed reviews for this one, also hampered by the overdone antics of the inmates trying to prove their insanity.  From the novel "Twinkle Twinkle, Killer Kane," and by the author of "The Exorcist."

Showing on Criterion until April 30th. 

 

For my regular choice of the week, I chose two short films by Ousmane Sembene, everyone's favourite Senegalese filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with a 20' film called Borom Sarret, a totally brilliant little film about a day in the life of a man with a horse drawn cart in Dakar.  Two extras came with the film, which seems to encapsulate so much about developing African countries, and the way so many people have been left behind.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Next came his 1966, 59' feature called Black Girl, about a girl who is hired by a French couple to look after their three children.  However, when they take her back to France, she becomes a live-in slave, without friends, and is put to work full time as maid, cook, and babysitter.  The film, which we have seen before, is a harsh look at colonial attitudes in the 60s, and makes a good pairing with the previous film, above.  Both films have been newly restored with the aid of Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project.  I am slowly working my way through all of these world films.  There are three extras with this film, including a contemporary interview with the lead actress.

 

Now showing on Criterion, as part of the World Cinema Project. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Tugboat Summer

 Here are a couple of photos of Mogi's recovery and aftermath of eye removal survey.  If you are eating, stop now.  The first picture was taken Monday, after two full days.  The 2nd was taken today, Tuesday, after 3 days.  It's hard to imagine that he will recover from this disaster, but he already is. Tough little guy, for his age.

The bruising is still maxing out today.  Photos are being sent to the vet daily.  We are keeping him sedated and calm, but he is still eating well, responding to our affection, and using the litter box normally.  The cone has to stay on for 11 more days, which is what is really making him unhappy.  

 

In happier news, here is a morning shot (today) of our bird feeding area beside the house.

 

Turkeys at the bird feeders. 

 

Now on to the tugboat story.  Not many of my friends know that I worked one summer on the Detroit River, towing barges filled with railway cars between Windsor and Detroit.  Our boat, the Prescotont, was a beauty of a ship.  It was crewed by two deckhands, an engineer, and Captain Sandy.  As a deckhand, one of my most important jobs was ensuring that Sandy had a beer in his hand at all times.  Seriously.  He was an awesome captain, and could handle that boat with his eyes closed.  He never messed up a landing, despite rough waters and high winds and the strong current, and gently placed the gigantic barges (there were two of them, one a disused paddlewheeler!) into their docking positions several times a day.

 

Of course I had other jobs, too.  When we were underway (each journey took about 30 minutes from dock to dock), we had to make sure the ropes were in good shape, and that the barges did not break free (one did once, but we caught it and used our backup safety rope).  When departing and landing we had to release or secure the barge and the tug, jumping to shore or back onto the boat as needed.  There were often long waits ashore as the captain took the papers to the customs office at the docks, so we were set to painting and polishing the old boat.  Sadly, I have no pictures from those days.  It was the late 1970s, and I was in university when I got the summer job, thanks to a friend who worked as a deckhand.  One day he was a man short and came and got me out of bed.  Away I went.

 

It was a very hot summer, too, but it was so much cooler out on the river.  Deb had knee surgery that summer, and was nearly helpless at home for much of the day.  There were no TV remotes back then, but she rigged her own with string and her crutch.  She got to go on the boat one evening during the Freedom Festival, when the boat was commandeered by the owner for a cruise for his friends.  Deb was welcomed aboard, with crutches.  My brother Steve, 13 or 14 at the time, came down from Sudbury for a week, mostly to help Deb out at the apartment.  But he also came aboard a few times, and Sandy put him to work, and paid him, too!

 

A few memorable events....  Sandy had elbow surgery, and was off work for about ten days.  A substitute captain, whose name I forget, was hired.  He was good, but no Sandy.  One time on approaching the Windsor dock he came in too fast, and we crashed hard into it.  There was damage, and the customs agent, awaiting the boat, had to turn and run for his life.... Another time I was hauling up some water over the side when my eyeglasses fell off and went splashing into the Detroit River.  I had to work a few days with no glasses.  When we docked in Detroit, Sandy let me go downtown to a one hour eyeglass place and get fitted.  It still took 24 hours, so I had to make two trips downtown.... We rescued a ship once, a salty flagged under Yugoslavia.  They had been attempting to leave the Detroit dock, facing upriver, and trying to turn to face downriver and home.  Unfortunately, the strong wind and current proved too much for the ship, and it was unable to turn.  It was drifting far downriver and heading for a crash landing when we got the call.  Luckily we were free at the time, or that ship would have smashed into the shore.  They threw ropes down to us when we arrived (from very, very high above us), we secured them to our tug, and after about twenty minutes of tugging their ship finally began to turn.  Once halfway around the wind and current did the rest.  We released their ropes, and their crew was cheering and whistling and waving at us as they departed for home.

 

I still have my inland sea papers.  I had wanted to work the following summer on a big inland ship, but I got a year round job as a security guard in Windsor instead, which helped pay our way through our B. Ed. year.  That was also a fantastic job.  But that's for another day. 

 

The Prescotont, centre, in a tugboat race.  It wasn't very fast, but it was strong as an ox.

 

The Prescotont on a cruise.  It is now docked in Midland, Ontario, and has become mainly a pleasure craft.  The ship hails from 1930!  Nice paint job!

 

The captain's chair, on the bridge.  I would be up here several times each day, as the beer fridge was downstairs. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

Movies and Mogi

 What is like for a cat to have his eye removed?  Painful and very uncomfortable, especially if you have to wear a collar and you can't rub the sore area or lick it.  We are keeping him sedated today as much as possible, and applying ice regularly.  He seems to be bouncing back, and continues to eat well.  But it's going to be a long ten days.  Mogi keeps bumping into things with his collar.  Deb says that he is like a little roomba vacuum, hitting something and then immediately changing direction and trying to go somewhere else.  With only one eye he has no depth perception, either.

 

Poor Mogi!  Deb thinks he looks like a beaten prize fighter.  There is still lots of bruising and swelling.
 

I am pretty far behind on my movie updates, so I will try and keep things short.  Deb's going away film was called The Homecoming.  This was definitely not The Waltons version.  Peter Hall first directed Harold Pinter's bizarre play on the London stage, then followed up with this 1973 film version.  It's like a mad tea party for truly demented adults.  Despicable adults.  Enjoyable?  Hardly.  Hard to turn away from?  Somewhat.  Annoying?  Very much so.  We did finish.  Not so with another Pinter filmization, called Butley, starring Alan Bates.  This one was so annoying that we both gave up after about twenty minutes.  Hard to believe people paid money to see this stuff in theatre, and then would rush out to see the film.

Showing on Criterion until the end of April. 

 

Next came my two choices, my main one from the collection, and the secondary one from the leaving file.  I chose Zatoichi #18, The Fugitives.  He kills a lot of bad people, once again decimating the male population of a large area of Japan.  By the time he is through with an area, the male to female ratio must be nearly astronomically small, perhaps one man to 10 women (Caracas anyone?).  Unfortunately, nearly every film in this series has now become the same one.  He arrives, gets involved in local politics, wipes out the bad guys, makes a lot of friends, then leaves.  Any one of them is quite good, but after 18 versions of the same film, one wishes for a slightly different ending someday.

 

Now showing on Criterion.

 

My leaving choice was Gregory's Girl, from 1981, an hilarious teen coming of age movie directed by Bill Forsyth, one of Scotland's wittiest artists.  Gregory, a gawky, shy, girl crazy teen boy falls in love with a female football wizard.  His date with her, and what happens before and after, is the film's raison d'etre.  A wonderful film, and beautifully acted by all involved.    Now a cult classic.

 

Leaving Criterion on April 30th.  A don't miss film. 

 

Lastly (for today's blog) came Deb's weekly main choice, Chaplin's Modern Times.  One of the greatest and funniest films ever made, if you only have time to see one Chaplin film before you die, this is the one.  Though we have seen it multiple times, it was a joy to watch it again.  I am fascinated by how Chaplin can use his body, whether he is walking, running, roller skating, dancing, or doing slapstick, his body is a form of poetry in motion.  The film is hilarious from start to finish, and when he is on camera there is simply nowhere else to look.  Watch for the feeding machine, his work on a very fast factory assembly line, his department store roller skate, and his nonsense song in the cafe.  A true genius.

 

Now showing on Criterion.

 

 Mapman Mike

 

Mogi Is Home!

 Our little best friend pulled through from the eye removal surgery--now we just have to make sure he makes it through the full recovery period.  He had surgery around 5 am Saturday morning, and we picked him up at the hospital about 12 hours later.  His former eye area is very swollen.  There are dissolving stitches which mustn't be touched, so he has to wear a cone for at least ten days.  Not fun.  He keeps hitting it on things as he tries to move around.  He ate like a little horse as soon as he got home, and everything else seems to be functioning normally, too.  We did find out from the tests they ran that he has stage 2 kidney disease, not that unusual for a cat his age.  So he is now on a special vet diet.  He was very restless when he first came home, but he is finally resting quietly now (9 pm), on a blanket on the floor of our entrance way.

 

I will get caught up on movie news soon.  We'll see how things go.  First, I would like to talk about ships for a few moments, those muscular great lakes ones that pass our house constantly from spring to late fall.  The first ship I saw pass this year was the CSL Laurentien, heading upriver towards Thunder Bay, at the top of Lake Superior.  That was March 24th.  Then it passed with a full load, heading downriver on April 2nd, travelling to Quebec city.  Today it passed again upriver, thus completing a full loop, which took 17 days.  The ship is 223 meters long, well over 700'.  A few photos are below,  along with the American Spirit, over 1000' long.  I can follow their progress on Marine Traffic.com.  So far I am watching four ships, but that will expand to ten when I have time.

The American Spirit, heading up river.

 

The bridge of the Laurentien.

Heading back to Lake Superior.  How many trips will she make this year?  Any guesses? 

 

Mapman Mike

 

It's Been A Day

 As I write this, our last surviving cat, Mogollon, is at the emergency animal hospital in Windsor, awaiting eye removal surgery.  More on that in a moment.  First, we took the taxes of Deb's mom to H & R Block, a tax service chain, to get done and submitted.  Deb went in with all the material while I sat in the car reading, and watching nesting birds in the various business signs at the strip mall go back and forth.  That took about an hour.  Next, we went to her mom's bank.  Deb has been paying her mother's bills as we receive them.  That was quick, only about 15 minutes.  Home for lunch, then a relaxing afternoon.  Almost.

Deb found something on the floor.  It turned out to be part of Mogi's eye, the dead right one.  The lens had come out.  His eye had been oozing for several days, but that was not unusual.  Finding part of his eye on the floor was a bit unusual.  Off we went to Windsor, to the emergency vet.  As the province of Ontario is in a shallow form of lock down, and the virus is beginning its 3rd rampage through our area in a year, we could not go in with him.  We sat in the parking lot for 3 1/2 hours, waiting for the vet to see him, and then awaiting results of all the tests she had ordered.  Surgery is forthcoming, either tonight or tomorrow, depending on how many other emergencies they get which might get priority over our poor little Mogi.  We should know more by tomorrow morning at 9 am (Saturday).  He is 17 years old, and hopefully up to this event.  If not, we have seen the last of our little buddy.

I'll get around to our viewed movies next time, and perhaps some more art.  Ending with some good news, Deb and I both had our first Covid vaccinations on Wednesday.  Deb got the Moderna and I received the Pfizer.  We both had sore arms for about a day afterwards, but no other side effects.  We are not scheduled to receive our 2nd dose until the end of July.

Mapman Mike

Clear Nights, and Some Cloudy Ones

I have had two outings already in the April session, Thursday and Friday.  And it's clear tonight, but the sky is pale and smoky, so I am staying home.  Spring skies offer unprecedented views of other galaxies, and I have had an eyeful lately.  With daylight savings time I can't begin observing until 9 pm, so my nights get later and later now through summer solstice.  I am currently undertaking observations in Sextans and Coma Berencies, both areas loaded with galaxies faint and bright, small and large, and everything in between.

 

I took a short break from practicing piano earlier in the week, and it helped my sanity.  Our province has just imposed further restrictions once again due to rising Covid cases.  There will be in place for at least another month.  Vaccinations continue to slowly move ahead.  Deb and I are scheduled for Wed. April 7th.  We shall see.

 

In movie news, here are my two picks for last week.  My main pick was Red Desert, from 1964.  There are several movies by Antonioni that I can never get enough of, and this is one of the them.  His first colour picture, this one belongs to Monica Vitti all the way.  She plays the part of a woman having a perpetual mental breakdown.  Married and with a young son, she has been in a car accident, hospitalized, and is on a downhill path in her life.  She reminds me of a bird that has struck a window, and is dazed and confused afterwards, and possibly permanently damaged.  Her furtive movements, looks, and her deep insight into such a woman's troubled mind makes for a film that is hard to watch sometimes, but is astounding most of the time.  It came with several short extras, including interviews with the director and with Monica.

Now showing on Criterion.  

 

From the leaving April 30th file I chose an odd duckie of a film starring Dick Powell and Adolph Menjou called The Tall Target, from 1951.  It purports to tell the tell of a New York policeman's  efforts to stop the assassination of Lincoln before his presidential inauguration.  It all takes place on an overnight train journey from New York to Washington in March 1861.  It ends up being a typical Hollywood thriller, with Powell as cardboard an actor as could be.  It is interesting historically, since modern American politics looks pretty much the same today.

 

Showing on Criterion until April 30th. 

 

And now, at long last, I return to the world of fine art!  It's Spring, so how about a Spring photo from the DIA's collection.  It could also be called "I Miss Detroit."  I love this man's work!

 

Marjorie East, From The Zone.  2009, printed.  Scott Hocking, American, born 1975.  14.4" x 22".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.  

 

And I can't resist another one by Scott.  This is one of the most sublime images I have ever seen.

 

Roof Marsh, Roosevelt Warehouse, Detroit, 2008.  Scott Hocking again.  22" x 33". 

 

It's images like these that make we almost wish Detroit wasn't improving so quickly.  This whole area is under full redevelopment currently.  Alas, no more marsh....

 

Mapman Mike