Lone Mountain Homestead Bus Stop

 After more than 30 years of living here without any public transport, we now have a (very) limited service between Windsor and Amherstburg.  And there is a bus stop right outside our door.  When the service first began in September, the nearest stop was 1.2 miles away, making it pretty useless for us.  That's 2 1/2 miles of walking if the service was used.  But it's local election season, and we had a visitor stop by the house one day a few weeks back, representing someone running for reelection.  He asked me if there was anything troubling me that the mayor could fix (why do they only ask during election season?).  So I told him the bus stop was too far away to be useful.  He said he'd mention it to the mayor.  A few days later Deb and I went out for a walk, and Deb spotted the new bus stop sign on a pole about 50 feet from our property.  It's a temporary one, but it's posted on Google Maps!  When the permanent one is up, I'll be sure to take a photo.  We plan on taking the service into Windsor soon.  I will report on that, too.

In viewing news, we have watched the final (8th) episode of Rings of Power.  Some big revelations were made, and we finally got to see some rings being fashioned.  The three Elven rings look pretty sweet.  Our Middle Earth Collectible Card Game has all the correct information about the rings, too.  The Elven rings are very difficult to use in the game, as the character and ring must be in your play deck, and hopefully pop out when needed.  But now I am more interested in using them, so we'll see.  Overall, the series is quite splendid.  The story is not as much fun (or familiar) as the main Tolkien books, but it has built an incredibly complex base from which to expand, and is also laying down strong foundations for the Third Age.  We will likely rewatch the series, perhaps near Winter Solstice, and then maybe again next summer, before Season Two is released.  Yes, it's that good.

In cinema viewing, there are two to report.  We watched a short film by Ulrike Ottinger called Laocoon and Sons.  It's a strictly avante garde film from 1975, a throwback to some of the best Dada film work.  Somehow, though often ridiculous, the film works, and is fun to watch.  It's only 48 minutes long, and that certainly helps.  She seems to be a very interesting director, and we will watch more of her films in the future.  We also watched a short documentary, an interview with the director.  This is the third film of hers we have seen.

Now showing on the Criterion Channel.  

 

Next up was a documentary about Dennis Hopper, called Along For The Ride.  From 2016, it is directed by Nick Ebeling, and is hosted by Hopper's best friend and aide, Satya de la Manitou.  It's a fascinating film about a man who is very hard to categorize and pin down.  He doesn't fit in any of the boxes.  He was an actor (method), director, editor, photographer, and a very troubled person.  Drugs and alcohol were a large part of his existence, but he did manage some incredible performances and films, including Easy Rider, Mad Dog Morgan, and two films with Wim Wenders, in one of which he played Tom Ripley, from Highsmith's novel "Ripley's Game," and the other one where he plays Death.  Definitely worth watching.

Showing on Criterion until Oct. 31st. 

 

Mapman Mike