A House Without A Cat...

 ...is just a house.

We had to put our last cat friend, Mogollon, to sleep on Monday.  It's the first time in over 35 years we have not shared our house with a feline companion.  I am having a rough go of it, as we were pretty close buddies.  Coming home today from grocery shopping and not having a cat waiting for us was a strange and unsettling feeling.  I will devote a memorial page to Mogi later on; things are still much too raw just now.

Ever a ladies man, Mogi gets some TLC from my niece, in happier times. 

In other news, I will no longer routinely report on films we saw recently.  It just takes too much of my time, even though I enjoyed doing it.  We are just finishing up the August film festival (my choice), more selections from the Czech New Wave.  Instead, I am going to do some autobiographical sketches from time to time.  I was going to wait until I turned 70 for this feature, but lately I've been having some strong memories of old flashing into my nearly numb skull, so look for those starting up soon.

Tomorrow I will begin writing about August books read, and will publish it here as soon as it is finished, along with some art from the DIA.

Mapman Mike

Heat Wave

 Heat and humidity, minus the storms, have been with us long enough now to declare it a heatwave, the first long one of the summer.  Even sitting outside is uncomfortable, never mind having to actually work out there.  I cut the grass earlier in the week, but the Lone Mountain jungle continues to spread unabated.  A lot of outdoor work will have to happen when it does cool down, supposedly this coming Sunday.  Tomorrow will be the hottest day of the season, with strong storms promised.

Monday night I got to run through my piano program, finally, after a ten month delay.  I was originally going to perform it last October, but Covid started up again.  So at last I got to play it right through for someone.  Paula M., good music friend and former private teaching colleague (both of us now retired) came over last night to hear my program, and to perform four  piano pieces she has been working on.  It was a fun evening, and as usual from any given performance, I learned a lot.  My next play-thru will be at Deb's mom's retirement home, possibly next Monday.  After that, I will likely invite a friend or two at a time to come hear it, if they are indisposed.  Then I can finally put the pieces away and concentrate of some newer ones.  My brain is becoming numbed by the current pieces.

Deb continues to have her films accepted in some mighty important film festivals, including the Poe Festival in New York (she also made their 2022 Poe Festival calendar, March's photo being devoted to her film).  And she just had two of her films accepted for a festival in Detroit, called Shetown Festival.  She continues work on her latest (last?) Yorick adventure, an underwater one starring a singing mermaid and a lute playing octopus.

In listening news, we are just about ready to hear Beethoven's Op 13 piano sonata, one of his more revolutionary works.  Slowly getting there, though it will take at least two years to hear his complete works.  And I continue to read Swafford's 1000 page bio of the composer, a most entertaining read.  In reading news, I just finished the complete short stories of Ballard, and am reading another excellent novel by Malzberg.

In movie news, Deb's two most recent picks are as follows. Delirious was shown at Sundance, and stars Steve Buscemi as a paparazzi ("No, I'm a licensed professional.") who takes in a temporarily homeless young man and begins to teach him the business.  It's a fun film to watch, as the young man works his up to eventually becoming the hottest day time soap star on TV.

Now showing on Criterion. 

Her leaving August 31st choice was a 2018 Indian film called Naal, starring a happy young boy of six or seven years who is told by a visiting uncle that he is adopted.  This fact changes his entire outlook on life.  While the film (and young star) is charming, it is perhaps overlong by about 15 minutes.  There is some lovely photography, with the action mostly taking place in one small farming village near a river.  We get a direct view of local village life far from buses and trains, in a world that seems out of time with the rest of not only India, but the world.  Acting is very good, and the slim story is fleshed out nicely.  Definitely worth a peek, though seeing the little boy's face in closeup, expressive as it is, may becoming tiring after a time.

Naal, leaving Criterion August 31st. 

Sorry, no art today.  Next time.

Mapman Mike

 

An Anniversary

45 years of marriage on Saturday.  The weather will be very warm and humid, like it was on that Saturday in 1976.  We were married in a small church by the lake, and the party was at the camp afterwards, with swimming and sauna.  The bride was blushing and exceedingly beautiful, and she still is.  Why she has stayed with me for 45 years I cannot fathom.  But here we are.  It's also a full moon tomorrow, and that means a party on top of the party.  The opera of the month is Wagner's Lohengrin.  The main food dish is homemade vegan lasagna.  There will also be vegan chocolate cheesecake and ice cream.

The sun continues to retreat southwards, shortening our evenings and mornings.  We still have heat and humidity, though, until at least the end of august.  A little more than 4 weeks and it will be Equinox.  The summer is passing quickly, and soon I will be recalled to astronomy nights.  Without those nights this summer I have been mostly home, practicing piano, listening to music, watching films, and reading.  I continue to intensely study my New Mexico topographic map collection, which is exhaustive.  However, the program is not supported anymore, and someday a new computer of ours will fail to run it, which is what happened to my National Geographic collection of maps on CD.  So I will have to hang on to an older computer until I die.

Next week I begin my piano performances, in the hopes of playing the program a few times for individual or paired listeners.  My friend and colleague Paula is stopping by here Monday evening to listen, and to perform a few things she has been working on.  Depending how that one goes, we'll see about doing it a few more times, including at Lois' long term care home in Kingsville.

A few things to report on in film viewing.  Deb's leaving August 31st choice for last weekend was a 1952 Fritz Lang film called Clash By Night.  Starring Barbara Stanwyck as a woman returned from the big city to her hometown (Monterrey, CA), she eventually settles down with a simple but loving fisherman, raising a baby and keeping a home.  However, along comes a lit match in the form of Robert Ryan, and she is soon having a torrid affair with him and planning to leave town with him and her baby.  So much for settling down.  Some people have it, and some don't.  Did I mention I haven't been going out much lately?  And have little to no desire to do so?  Settling down is just right for this blogger at the present time.  Marilyn Monroe does a great job in her role as the 20 year old lover of Stanwyck's younger brother, and is supportive of the older woman, no matter how bad her choices seem.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

 

My main choice for this week was Zatoichi Meets The One-Armed Swordsman, #22 in the seemingly endless series of movies about the blind samurai bad guy who is really a good guy.  This one stars a Chinese kung fu dude, and provides a relief from the virtually repeating formula the movies have always had.  Had this one had a better ending, it could have been a classic.  But it ends exactly the same way as all his movies end; Zatoichi fights the main guest character and kills him.  For this movie especially, this was a really bad choice, and spoils the entire film.  Though he often gets it wrong, this time was a major blunder.  Only 6 more movies to go (and I already know the plot and outcome of all of them, even though I haven't seen them yet).

 

Samurai meets Hong Kong style fighting, on Criterion.

 

My going away choice proved to be a somewhat better film, Fellini's Nights of Cabiria.  The version we watched was fully restored in 2019, and the print is flawless, as it always is on Criterion.  Giulietta Masina is the entire film, her facial expressions and body language speaking volumes, even as her mouth rattles on and on.  She takes nothing from no one, and yet is so easily duped into falling for the man of her dreams and having all her money stolen, not once but twice.  She is a woman who deserves the best, but only gets leftovers from the garbage can of life.  The environs of Rome never look stranger than in Fellini and Antonioni films, and this one is no exception.  But there is a bus stop!  it's very odd, but I have no memory of ever having seen this film before, though its simple story is age old.  Highlights include Cabiria's night with a real movie star, and her early morning encounter with a good samaritan who brings blankets and food to poor people living in volcanic tube caves.

Leaving Criterion August 31st.

Lastly we turn to art from the DIA, a return to a print by Bruegel many who was inspired by this super creative genius.  I think my love of detail in paintings comes from my piano background, which requires that not only every note by clear and in its proper place and frame of mind, but also all the extras there are besides notes in a piece of music.  There are dozens of markings above and below notes, as well as in between the two staves.  So looking at details in detail is something I do without even blinking an eye.  Bruegel takes the prize when it comes to details in art.  This print is as detailed, if not more, than Hunters In the Snow.  I wish I had a poster-sized image of it to hang.

 

Rustic Solitude, Jan Duetecum, Dutch  after Bruegel the Elder, between 1555 and 1558.  Black ink etching on laid paper, 13" x 17".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of right corner.

 

Detail of lower central area.

 

Detail of lower left.

 

Detail of central left.

 

Central detail.

Central detail. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 
 

And A Few More Films...

 We normally watch about 4 movies a week here at the Homestead of late, not counting the end of the month festivals.  My choices for last week were Fassbinder's Chinese Roulette from 1976, and followed up by Fellini's first solo feature, The White Sheik from 1952, which is leaving Criterion on August 31st.  We are nearing the end of the Fassbinder films, with seven or eight remaining.  We have been watching one per month for quite a while now, in addition to his three TV series.  Roulette is another oddball film, more theatrical than cinema.  There are eight characters, including the handicapped young daughter of the married couple.  Her parents are both having affairs, and through deception and a mix-up the four lovers end up at the same mansion for the weekend.  The young daughter, who is around 12, knows this and heads out there also, with her governess, a woman who doesn't speak.  At the mansion itself are an older woman who cooks and cleans, and her son who manages the grounds.  All 8 characters have lead roles, which is amazing in itself, but the focus is mostly on the hateful relationship between the young daughter and her mother.  There are never too many laughs in a Fassbinder production, and this one is no exception.

Now showing on Criterion.

On the other hand, The White Sheik is quite funny, though touching at the same time.  A newlywed couple are in Rome for their honeymoon.  She is 20 and he is much older.  He has every minute of their visit planned, including a meeting with the pope, along with his extended family.  She has other ideas, however, and slips out of the hotel room while her husband naps.  Expecting to be gone only about half an hour, she gets caught up in circumstances that keep her away all day and all that night.  The frantic husband must not only search for her, but must keep his family deceived as to her whereabouts.  The young wife is a super fan of current photo novels, the ones starring the exploits of the White Sheik.  She wants to meet him, and to give him a drawing of himself that she has done.  The music is by Nino Rota, and Giulietta Masina has a small role as Cabiria, a woman of the night who tries to give some comfort to the distraught husband.  A great little film, with the wide-eyed Brunello Bovo, and the even wider-eyed Leopoldo Trieste being fun to watch.  The Sheik is played by Alberto Sordi, in a very funny role.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

Deb's first weekend choice was Macao, directed by Joseph von Sternberg, starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell.  This is a low budget crime story from 1952, and doesn't really have a lot going for it.  The characters go through the motions, but it seems somewhat tired and formulaic.  Jane sings two numbers in a dingy casino bar, supposedly the best place in Macao.  She has a great little backup band, though.  We both had higher hopes for this one.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

In DIA landscape news, Jan Both has a print worth looking at.  Ponte Molle, or Ponte Milvio, from the 17th C, shows a Roman bridge over the Tiber in northern Rome.  The print shows a bridge still serviceable but in need of repair.  It doesn't seem to be romanticized, but rather an accurate depiction of the bridge in use at this time.  Under the print images I have posted a few contemporary photos.

Ponte Molle, 17th C.  Jan Dirksz Both, Dutch ca 1618-1652.  Etched print in black ink on laid paper, 8" x 11".  Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of left side.

Detail of right side.

 

Photo of the bridge today.

Another photo, similar angle to the print. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 
 

Recent Movies

 We are currently experiencing very high humidity levels, along with very warm temperatures.  The past few days have been the most uncomfortable of the summer, but lucky for us a breeze is off the river and aimed towards our house, keeping our yard considerably cooler than a Wal Mart parking lot.  Violent storms have been predicted over the past few days, but all have missed our location.  More of them are on the way.

In travel news, Americans are now allowed into Canada by land if they are fully vaccinated and have a recent negative Covid test to show.  However, Canadians cannot yet travel to the US, except via air.  Weird.  With the explosion of new variant cases over there, we are not very interested in visiting anyway, at the moment.

In movie news, I have Deb's two weekend picks to report on.  And there should be time at the end to get back to another work of art from the DIA.  First up was a feature animation, one that promised much but in the end was somewhat disappointing.  From 2007, the film had very physically unappealing characters, a very simplistic story, and a lot of falling to the ground from great heights.  As a cat person, I can say that there are far too many distressing cat sounds in the film, too, enough to greatly alarm any cats withing listening distance.  The premise of the story is a little boy exploring a big city at night, and finding out what goes on.  As Deb said, this would have been enough to base the entire film on, but instead we get a weak story about a shadow that is taking over the world, and only the little boy can save them by facing his fear of the dark blah blah blah.  Some very stunning visuals, and definitely worth watching.  But a masterpiece of animation it is not.  There is borrowing from Disney, Tim Burton, and Japanese animation.

Now showing on Criterion. 

For her leaving August 31st choice she picked a Chaplin short, and a one hour documentary on Eric Campbell.  Eric played the villain in many Chaplin short films, and hailed from Scotland.  His life was cut short by a drunken driving car accident.  The Chaplin short chosen was The Cure, about a sanitarium with water than heals.  It is a very funny film, one of Chaplin's best, with the main laughs coming from a revolving front door at the hotel, as well as Eric Campbell's unwanted amorous advances on a young woman.  The massage scene is also a classic.   Lots of Chaplin is leaving this month, so we will likely watch more.  Deb also squeezed in a short by Georges Melies, the early French animator.  We watched The Diabolic Tenant, a minor masterpiece of stop motion filming and bizarre storytelling.  Again, a lot of these are leaving this month, so will likely watch a few more.

Leaving Criterion August 31st.

Leaving Criterion August 31st.

An 8' film by Georges Melies from 1909, leaving August 31st.

Turning finally to art from the DIA, it's always great fun to discover a wonderful artist one has never heard about before.  The DIA has 8 prints by Anthonie Waterloo, a Dutch artist (1610-1690) with an amazing sense of depth, line, and shadow.  It wasn't easy to choose just one of his works from the museum's print and drawing collection, but here it is.  I love how he allows the eye a chance to escape from all of the intense foreground detail, by providing a partial vista on the left side.

Watermill, 17th C.  Anthonie Waterloo, Dutch 1610-1690.  Etching printed in black ink on laid paper, 11.5" x 9.5".  This is one of a series called Six Vertical Landscapes.  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.

Detail of the mill and stream.

Detail of left side.

Detail of tree above mill.  

Mapman Mike

 

August Doings

 August is a slightly strange month.  It's like July, but not quite the same.  Right now the sun is racing south towards Equinox, and then onward to Winter Solstice.  Nights are growing darker earlier.  The angle of the sun is now about the same as it was on April 23rd.  But what a difference.  I often wonder if Nature gets a bit sick of the seasons as they start to wind down.  Enough with the heat and humidity, already, it might say.  Let's get some cooler nights, and less intense sunlight during the day.  As a kid, August was the time of the dreaded back-to-school sales in stores, with TV ads hyping the coming end to holidays.  It was a last chance to do fun activities all over again, and then some, before returning to the classroom.  Of course teachers feel the same way as kids, so I had many extra years of August Angst.  A lifetime of it, in fact.  Not so much these days, with not even a single private student coming my way in September.

July was warm and wet, but not unduly warm.  We had 14 days when the temp reached 30 C or above, topping out (several times) at 33 C.  So not too bad.  The Homestead rain gauge received 8" of rain, which is adequate, but 5" of that came over one weekend.  Areas around us got much, much more.  It was enough to keep the mosquitoes extremely annoying this summer.  We are now into another hot and humid time period, with smoky skies added in from fires in north west Ontario, as well as B.C., California, et al.  We don't get the smoky smell, as the smoke is very high, but it messes up the skies, likely keeping our temperatures a bit lower than they should be.  It seemed a good summer to take a pass on astronomy.  Too many bugs, and the front of the car collects them by the thousands during a night drive.  Too wet, and too smoky, too.  Hopefully things will resume in September.

Last Thursday I had my fourth and final piano lesson in a series from Philip A.  He actually came out to the Homestead to teach me, and stayed for a great lunch prepared by master chef Deborah.  We have now managed to cover all of my upcoming recital repertoire.  In about two weeks or less I should be able to pin a date down for the commencement of recitals, one or two guests hearing it at a time.  I still have lots of details to work on, thanks to Philip's ultra keen ear, vast piano experience, and his manner of explaining exactly what needs to be done to improve the pieces.  So I have been motivated to practice for four weeks now, and this should continue until concert time.

In movie news, I have two picks to report on.  My regular choice for last week was L'Eclisse, the 3rd film in a loose trilogy by Antonioni.  It contains some brilliant work by Monica Vitti and Alain Delon, and some of the most alienating outdoor landscape scenes ever filmed.  Rome never looked more like a city from another planet.  I love the director's black and white work, and will continue to views these movies again and again.  There is one particular shot at the very end of the film that I especially like; a deserted street corner at night with a building, a tree, and a street light, that just seems to capture the essence of the entire film.

Now streaming on Criterion.  From 1962.

My going away August 31st selection was Fassbinder's English film, Despair, based on a novel by Nabokov.  I panicked when I first saw it on the list, since i still have a long way to go to see all the films by the director showing on Criterion.  I thought they were going to take them all off.  but so far, this is the only one, so I grabbed it first.  Dirk Bogarde puts on a slight German accent, playing the role of the CEO of a chocolate candy factory that is seeing its sales slumping in 1930 Berlin.  He takes out a life insurance policy, comes up with a silly plan to make it appear he has been murdered, and then have his wife collect the policy money and meet him in Switzerland.  The film is quite funny, obviously using many of Nabokov's lines, but overall is tragically so.  Fassbinder is not Antonioni, but I like his work.  This is one of his least difficult films to view, though it has avant garde theatrical moments galore.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

Mapman Mike

 

War and Peace

 No, I haven't read the book.  But I might now.  We finished watching the 7 hr. version of War and Peace, the movie made in Russia.  It took four years of filming and editing.  It was worth it.  Released in four parts, Criterion has the film in its fully restored version, along with lots of worthwhile extras.  Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, he also plays the part of Pierre, a key role.  The part of Natasha was played by a discovered ballerina, Ludmila Savelyeva, and a more perfect choice for the role cannot even be imagined.  The film was Deb's entire festival selection for July.  Though I found it overwhelming to watch it in only three days, it is by far the most epic film I have ever seen.  With 12,000 actual Russian soldiers and cavalry available for the battle scenes, nothing like this was seen before or after.  All museums were told to give complete cooperation, so the props are genuine.  Costumes and props are off the scale not only in number, but also in detail.  Interiors are filmed in magnificent palaces, including the Hermitage.  This is not a film, but a major life event.  Not to be missed, this is a wide screen masterpiece of cinema that will never appear dated.

Completed in 1966, this Oscar winning feature is showing on Criterion, which is the place to be for film buffs. 

In local news, today (Friday) was Lois' birthday, her 93rd.  Deb baked a cake, arranged for the use of an outdoor gazebo at the home, brought presents from her two sisters and herself, and arranged for lunch.  It was a party of three today, and Lois seemed to love it, especially the fake champagne, which she thought was real.

Lois opens her gift from Sharon, her daughter (and Deb's sister).  

Lois cuts into her home-baked cake (by Deb), after lunch.  The cake was delicious!

Deb made her a needlepoint change purse (4" x 4"). 

Happy Birthday, Lois!!

Mapman Mike