It is going to get very warm later in the week, with temperatures usually seen in July. It's time to install the upstairs air conditioner, and test the main system. Hopefully it will switch on, but if it doesn't, it's best to find out now. In other news, we had our windows washed today, along with the cleaning of the eave troughs. And we are well into our fourth day with no hot water, other than that boiled in a kettle. At least we can wash our hair properly, but bathing has been limited to rough camping style, a la wet wipes. Tomorrow, hopefully, the new tank will be installed.
Not much in the way of other news at the moment. Piano practice, reading, and movie watching continue to occupy our time. The May astronomy session has ended, and I made it outdoors twice. My search for dark skies takes me quite far from home. It was different when we had two vehicles. With Deb visiting her mom 3x each week now, the gasoline fuel usage has shot way up for April and May. We never used to buy gas in Ontario, preferring to fill up in Detroit instead. Those days are still gone, so we pay the price for living in Canada. Gas is about 40% cheaper in Detroit than Windsor, mostly due to taxes and our lousy dollar.
In movie news, my going away choice for last week was called The Damned, an eye-popping film from Visconti about the rise of the Nazis in Germany in 1933. The story follows the (mis) fortunes of an industrial family as the politics around them continues to change radically. The film goes way over the top, yet doesn't show anything that didn't happen at the time. There is sex, including incest between mother and son, pedophilia x 2, a drunken debauched homosexual orgy (followed by a massacre of them by the Nazis). There is killing, backstabbing, suicides (x3, including a six year girl victim of sex abuse)--in short, everything one needs to make a great film. Or not. I believe that the title tells it all. We are in Hell, witnessing the events that put all these people there in the first place. The opening shot, with steam, smoke, and lots of red colour, gives it all away (as does the title of the movie). Weird, disturbing, shocking, and even quite distasteful, the movie is a must see event. Cut down to 2 1/2 hours from its original 4 hours, one can only gasp at the thought of a longer version, though it would explain some of the abrupt shifts in the story. Sets, costumes, camera work, and lighting are all top knotch. No German would have ever made this 1969 film about Germany. It took an Italian, with an international cast, to pull it off. It amazes me to think that people salivate over the politics in stories like Game of Thrones. Reality, folks, is much stranger and more fascinating than fiction. And much, much sicker.
Deb's first weekend movie choice was Dance Girl, Dance, from 1940 and starring Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball. It's a solid film about two dancers, one destined to be a showgirl (Ball), and the other to be a serious dancer (O'Hara). In the film's highlight, O'Hara gets to stand in front of an audience of rowdy men in a burlesque hall and shame them for their behaviour and attitude towards women. Score! O'Hara is gorgeous, and her character and that of Bubbles (Ball) make a perfect contrast, keeping the film lively and fun throughout.
Now showing on Criterion.
Mapman Mike
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