It's been a busy time in and around the Homestead, and the best days of autumn are slipping past. We had four days in the mid to high 70s F this past week and weekend, and it was sunny. A strange time was had by all. Most importantly, there were three clear nights in a row! Good bye reading program; good bye movie viewing. Hello galaxies! Today it's getting cool again, and it's grey and very damp. I just went outside to take some photos, and here are a few of them of the Homestead yard. Our leaf colours are peaking today, but I missed out on the sunny day photos.
I won't bore you with medical appointments and such, but Deb has begun disposing of her mom's jewellery, both costume and the good stuff. Yesterday she sold the good stuff, and now she is sorting through mountains of costume stuff. Lois was a lover of bangles and shiny things, and gaudy brooches and necklaces. Our house is still filled with her stuff, but Deb is determined to get it all out asap.
It has been a slow reading month for me as far as number of books goes, but I am still determined to finish up (someday) my main SF reading project. I am now well into my "free" reading period, mostly books still on my shelf (not many left!), and my thousands upon thousands of books on Kindle, mostly the Delphi series.
In viewing news, last week I selected 5 short films as my main selection. The first of these was a very funny film by Gabriel Abrantes, called The Marvellous Misadventures of the Stone Lady. It's a very well done animated film about a statue in the Louvre that goes walkabout, and well worth seeking out. Next came a series of four ten minute or so films called Relic 0, Relic 1, Relic 2, and Relic 3. Directed by Larry Archiampong and from 2017, these UK films are quiet and meditative, with unusual photography accompanying a narration. From the Criterion description: "Larry Achiampong’s RELIC series moves between African and Western vistas as it ruminates on time, history, and colonialism." We both liked these films, and recommend them if they can be found on-line somewhere.
My going away choice was called Dolemite, a blaxploitation turkey from 1975, about which the less said the better. It had its moments, but very, very few of them. Most of them involved outrageous pimp suits!
Leaving criterion in a few days.
Deb's movie choices included the 1933 Penthouse, starring Myrna Loy as a gangster's doll who helps out an attorney nail the killer of her girlfriend. Fast moving and fun to watch, Loy is the star (once she finally appears), and went on to a great career of mystery movies.
Moving up in years (but still in b & w) came China Doll, her pick for leaving Criterion Oct. 31st. Starring Victor Mature, Li Li-Hua, and Ward Bond, it's a war time picture that takes place in China, which the Americans used as air bases to supply their troops battling the Japanese. Part of the series Hollywood Chinese, a survey on the history of Chinese representation in American cinema, curated by filmmaker Arthur Dong, we have now seen several of these pictures. This one features an interracial marriage, and a child born to them. Miss Li-Hua was a Chinese movie superstar, and this was her only Hollywood film.
Li Li-Hua. Deb also chose Ken Russell's horror comedy film Lair of the White Worm, from 1988. It's about the fourth or fifth time we have seen it, and it's always fun. There are some very funny lines, and some truly hilarious scenes ("Rosebud;" The Snake Lady emerging from a large wicker basket as a snake charming song blasts from the neighbour's huge speakers; Peter Capaldi piping his way to safety with a vampire policeman close behind him). Definitely a fun film!
Mapman Mike
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