January Film Festival

 Today was the first meeting of our new piano performance group.  There are three of us for now, which is just about perfect, giving us time for discussion and time to play for each other.  I played four of my Bach pieces; Nadia played a Theme and Variations by Beethoven, and Alde played the first movement of the Waldstein Sonata, also by Beethoven.  Everyone was enthused to get together, not having performed in a good long while.  

It was a cold day, but bright and sunny at least.  Tomorrow we are expecting two new windows to be put in.  Hopefully they will go in quickly, as it will be very cold at 8 am tomorrow, about 10 F (Wed).  We will shut down the furnace until they are done, running the wood stove and a few space heaters instead.  I'll get some photos if I can.

Deb's three-film festival was what I call a "ping pong ball" festival; which means that the films were not related in anyway (other than they are all showing on Mubi).  The first was Journey of the Comet, a Mexican film from 2009.  A man and his wife, later joined by their teenage grandson, travel from village to village in an old school bus with telescopes and other scientific gear, giving talks and demonstrations to people living on the outside of things.  They visit schools, town centers, and just about anywhere a small crowd could gather.  The school bus, a half-size one, is called Comet.  They set out from their home in southern Baja, traveling north through beautiful desert country.  When it's time to cross the bay to mainland Mexico, they find out at the last minute that they are not allowed to take their bus.  The film begins slowly, and is not that interesting.  But as it goes along the interest picks up, and the scenes of village life and people are really well documented.  A slow starter, and slowly paced anyway, it was worth a look.

 

Now showing on Mubi. 

 

Next up was a restored b & w film from 1961 called Night Tide.  It stars Dennis Hopper as a young navy sailor who falls for a woman who acts the part of a mermaid in a pier sideshow.  Rescued as a starving child from a remote Greek island by a kindly captain, he runs the sideshow with her.  It is a light horror film, on similar lines to Carnival of Souls, though not nearly as creepy.  Hopper's acting style may not impress everyone, but it suits the movie well.  Even though the mystery gets solved by the end, there is still the unanswered question of who the older woman was.  Worth catching if you are in to odd little films.

 

Showing in a restored print on Mubi. 

 

Lastly came a French epic from 2021 called Lost Illusions.  Based on a novel by Balzac, it is an engrossing film based on a very decadent Paris in the 19th C, and on an even more decadent press.  A young commoner/writer follows his high born lover to the big city, and for a time makes it big as a reporter for a newspaper.  The way things worked was that whomever paid the price could garner favourable reviews of their performed plays, new novels, actors and actresses, and so on.  If someone paid higher to give a bad review, then that is what was written.  The society was totally brutal, and the film captures the hateful and horrible games that were played with people's lives.  A big budget picture in widescreen format, it tells the tale of a young man with hopes and dreams, soon shattered and left in ruins.  At the end, he must begin again.  He is fortunate to have broken even, and to have another try at life.

Now showing on Mubi. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

January Books Read

I read 13 books last month, including the 7 authors remaining from my Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery Series, and 6 from the miscellaneous shelf.

 

Volume 7 in The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg is called We Are For The Dark.  Each of the ten stories is introduced by the author, and he also has written a 5-page intro to the volume.  The finest tale is the title one, a novella.  One of my very favourite kinds of SF stories has to do with found ancient alien technology, art, and/or music.  Silverberg has written a masterful story about true exploring, which is usually a search within oneself.  But he has done both types here, by combining it with an outward search.  We visit several planets, and learn why humans are going beyond the 100 light year radius decreed when colonization began.  One of his best stories, it is from 1988.  Lion Time in Timbuctoo is from 1990, also a novella.  The African story setting takes place in the same world as the author's 1967 novel The Gate of Worlds.  In that alternate history story, the plague decimated Europe until only about 10% of the population survived.  As a result, there was no European colonialism in the new World or in Africa or Asia.  The Turks rule a huge swathe of Europe, the Aztecs and Incas are still in control on their side of the ocean, and China remains a small player in world affairs (as does England).  This is the second of what Silverberg had planned as three stories set in that world, and it's a good one, more political intrigue that anything else, but very well written and fun to imagine.  Also noteworthy is Enter A Soldier. Later. Enter Another One, from 1989.  It is a novelette built around a discussion between Pizarro and Socrates about right and wrong.  

 

Under A Velvet Cloak, from 2015, is Piers Anthony's 8th and final book in his Incarnations of Immortality series.  This is not a slight series by any means, though Anthony often treats the material very lightly.  The series is needlessly complicated as it backtracks through time, moves into the future, and sees events from the perspectives of many different characters.  Most of the time reading I was not exactly lost, but in so deep that I didn't really care very much, except for wondering when the book would end.  If you like the first book you will probably enjoy reading the others, but beware.  Things get overly complicated.

 

Bulmer's 7th Dray Prescott novel is called Arena of Antares, and is from 1974.  This new adventure sees Dray captured (yet again) and made a fighting slave of an evil queen.  Yawn.  On it goes, with the remainder of the novel set in a gladiatorial arena, with fight after fight, usually uneven, for the delight and satisfaction of the bloodthirsty populace.  I was quite bored soon after the arena scenes takes over the plot.  Luckily for us, Dray and Delia are saved at the last second by their friends in an airship, who rescue them from the arena and take them to safety.

 

Tubb's 4th Dumarest novel is called Kalin, and is from 1969.  So far this is a pretty good series. 

Dumarest has a habit of ending up on dead end worlds, those that are depressing, have no honest work or way to earn money, and are nearly impossible from which to escape.  This time he hits a poisonous mining colony, worked by slaves.  The few free men have to scramble hard to find enough food to eat, and enough warmth to keep them alive over the winter.  The local wildlife is on the dangerous side, too.  He and Kalin, a psychic woman, arrive there after their passenger ship explodes, and they manage to escape in a life pod.  They are picked up by a slaver, but luckily for Dumarest he has enough money to buy his way to freedom, and Kalin's.  Her story becomes more complicated the further one reads, and by the end we are left dazzled by Tubb's plot.  Making their usual beneficial appearance are the religious brothers; making their usual harmful appearance are the Cyclans.  This is one of the better entries so far, in a series that will run for a very long time.

 

Cover of the month for January 2023.  The artist is John Schoenherr.

 

I finished up the 4th volume of The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, reading the first half in December, and finishing it up in January.  There are volumes in the series that I do not have, but they cost hundreds of dollars and I have no interest in getting them.  His early stuff is mostly so much juvenile crap anyway.  So this ends my affair with Jack's fiction, except to read his highly anticipated autobiography in February.  The volume of short stories I finished up is called Spider Island.  The only decent story of his from the January reading is called Released Entropy, from 1939.  The story raises the question of how strongly was Williamson affected by Olaf Stapledon's writing.  A lot, it would seem.  Worlds within worlds, and universes within universes.  Despite the cop out ending, this is a fun story to read.

 

Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock contains four linked novellas from 1963-64 (updated slightly more recently) on the further--and final--adventures of Elric.  While none of the stories really stand out, they are fun to read.  Elric is certainly a unique sword and sorcery type of hero, so different from Conan, the heroes of Edgar Rice Burroughs, or even from Fafhrd and Mouser by Fritz Leiber.  All of Elric's adventures are tied up with sorcery, and especially with his soul stealing sword.  If this is your thing, then Moorock and Elric are for you.

 

Malzberg and Pronzini teamed up for their final novel in 1979.  Night Screams is a bit frustrating to read as a murder mystery.  The reason is that the story is written so that virtually anyone could be the murderer.  The writers wouldn't even have to make up their own minds until the last chapter.  So it's a cheat if you want to try guessing who did it.  And it you are correct, then it is likely that you guessed, or drew the name from a hat.  The story uses psychics as the victims of gruesome murders, with the setting a snowed-in village in New England.  As usual, there are too many victims for one novel.  The authors have collaborated on a few books of short stories, which will be reviewed here someday soon. 

 

Turning now to the six books from the shelf, five of them were taken from my Delphi Classics collection on Kindle.  Only one book actually came off a (dusty) shelf.  Black Cloud Rising came from an honest to goodness bookstore in Detroit (Source).  I went in and asked if they had anything on the American Civil War from a Black perspective.  I was shown this book by D. W. Falade from 2022.  A work of fiction, it has many truths to tell.  We follow a Black sergeant and a Black regiment of soldiers as they go about their day to day marching and fighting in the South during the Civil War.  There were no surprises to this reader regarding the rampant racism in the North and South (but especially the South), and to the higher standard that the Black regiment was held.  Though led by whites, the leaders (the colonel, anyway) are willing to learn about their men as they go.  There are no major battles, but there are opportunities for the regiment to show their stuff, and as they did in real life, they accounted themselves very well.  One does not have to have an interest in the Civil War to read this wonderful story about growing up Black, becoming a freed slave, and enlisting in the Union army.  Highly recommended.

 

Next came a truly delightful and slightly mad story by H G Wells called The Wonderful Visit."  From 1895, an angel accidentally crash lands on Earth, is shot and wounded by the vicar (a nature lover and collector who thought it might be a rare flamingo), then brought home to rest and recuperate.  This is not an angel of God, but one of art, like a muse.  This one is a violinist.  The story stabs at the heart of Christian society, however, and almost every page sends out a zinger or two.  I had not expected much from this story, but it turned out to be a real gem.  Chapter Two, where the author discusses English gentlemen scientific nature "collectors," has never been bettered.  Definitely worth a read.  Apparently Joseph Conrad loved the book.  Marcel Carne made a filmed version in 1974, which I have yet to track down.

 

Vera is from 1892, an early play by Oscar Wilde.  Loosely based on a real Vera, it tells of the Nihilists in Russia who wish to overthrow the Czar.  Political intrigue, hard socialism, and the defeat of monarchy is at the heart of this adventure tale, in four acts.  It was performed for a week in New York around the time it was written, before closing suddenly.  I doubt if it ever sees the light of day much anymore.  It certainly isn't a terrible play, though I doubt that Americans would have cared for the plot.

The Voyage Out was written between 1912-15, and was Virginia Woolf's first novel.  A lot of this novel is sticking with me.  It's one of those books where nothing much happens, but everything happens if one is aware.  A little bit autobiographical, a woman of 24 years ships out with her father, who owns a shipping company.  They are off to Brazil.  Also on board is her uncle, who is a scholar, and her aunt, who takes the girl under her wing.  The young Rachel Vinrace has been raised by maiden aunts in Richmond, and is pretty much clueless about life, men, and about love.  The novel traces her slow awakening, and of her first love.  The novel is slow to grip the reader, and it didn't really happen to me until we'd been in Brazil for some time.  There are a lot of minor characters, and we even get a brief trip up the Amazon.  But most of the action takes place in a small town not far from the river, in the villa where Rachel lives with her aunt and uncle, and in the hotel where the other British travelers stay.  Born in 1882, Woolf is about the same age as Rachel, and was obviously a thoughtful and observant woman.  Her first few drafts were heavily revised on the advice of friends, who found her original story too harsh an attack on society.  It's easy to read between the lines to see what she often meant, however.  It is an amazing first novel, and well worth reading.  It is a long one, at just over 500 pages. 

Next came a volume of poetry by W B Yeats.  The Wandering of Oisin and Other Poems was published in 1889.  The title poem is an epic ballad from Irish mythology, and is quite good.  Having read the Mabinogian, this one recalls similar doings.  It is about a normal man who falls in love with an eternal spirit, and they dwell in happiness for many a hundred years.  Eventually, however, he wants to return home, somehow expecting everything to be as it was.  Though warned that he would never be able to return, he heads for home.  It is the only early poem that Yeats liked in years afterward, and I must say that the rest were not very memorable at all.

Lastly came Sherwood Anderson's first novel, Windy McPherson's Son, published in 1916.  Divided into four books, the first deals with Sam's youth, growing up in a small town in Iowa.  He sells newspapers, and his enthusiasm and flair for selling and getting ahead impresses the locals.  He is guided by an artist, and a former school teacher.  His father is the town drunk, and his mother is the local washerwoman.  In book two he heads for Chicago to earn his fortune in sales, and indeed he prospers beyond anyone's wildest expectations.  He becomes a ruthless businessman, working tirelessly to make more and more money.  In book three he chucks it all and heads on the road, becoming a (rich) wandering vagabond.  He is in search of meaning to his life.  He and his wife had planned to raise children as their main goal, but their attempts result in three failures, all nearly killing his wife.  And so he goes in search of the big something.  Book four is very short, and brings him to the end of his journey, and at least a partial answer to his still burning questions about life, the universe, and everything.  The book will not be everyone's cup of tea, but for those lost souls who still haven't found what they seek (luckily, this reader has), the book will be a welcome journey into oneself.  Surprisingly good writing, though the novel is not critically acclaimed.

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Winter: The Real Thing

It has arrived at last, as we all knew it would.  Still, later is better than sooner when it comes to winter weather.  We had two snowfalls during the past week.  The first one was just a few inches, and it melted before the big one hit us.  The big one came Wednesday.  It snowed all day, adding up to about 6" of brick heavy snow.  The temperature hovered around 32 F all day, meaning the snow that fell was as heavy with water content as it is possible to be.  I finally got the driveway completely cleared by Friday afternoon.  Friday night it was snowing again.  But snow isn't the worst thing winter brings with it.  When the temperatures drop next week (and I mean drop), we will be glad to have the snow, as it will protect the water pipes.  Here are the temperatures for later next week.

 

Our highs and lows for next week, in F. 

 

Though not the coldest temps we ever get, when things last longer than a week  it gets tiresome very quickly.  Next Wednesday is the day we get two windows put in.  Go figure.  It will indoor winter coat day, and then try to convince the age old boiler to reheat the house afterwards.  I can hardly wait.

There are four movies to report on this time, as we gear up for Deb's 3-film festival choices starting tomorrow.  My two picks for last week were Family Romance LLC, a Japanese film from 2019 directed by Werner Herzog, and This Gun For Hire, a 1942 Noir thriller that is leaving Criterion January 31st.  First the Herzog film.  This is a real gem, on a topic that will undoubtedly become more and more mainstream.  It tells the story of a man who runs a company that lends out actors to families who need a stand-in for a relative for weddings, funerals, and the like.  The man is hired (among other jobs) to be the father for a 12 year old girl.  They hit it off, but his efforts to keep things at a professional distance hit a snag when the mother falls for him and asks him to move in with them.  This is a very touching drama with some wonderful scenes between the girl and her "father," who have several outdoor adventures and experiences.  It is also very funny in places, and very scary in others.  Herzog talks about the film before it is shown on Mubi, then does a question and answer afterwards with a Mubi employee.  Fascinating and worth seeking out.  The robot hotel is creepy, but the robot fish in the lobby are pretty damn cool.

Now showing on Mubi, and highly recommended. 

 

This Gun For Hire, from 1942, was the first film to pair Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.  Her acting style is simple and natural, and thus quite effective.  Ladd is the quintessential tough guy who falls for a soft dame.  Not required viewing, and uncomplicated in plot, it is still a fun film to watch.

 

Leaving Criterion Jan. 31st. 

 

We enter an entirely different world of cinema with the 2001 film Shaolin Soccer.  This is a very funny film that pokes fun at the kung fu genre, at soccer, and at itself.  A rising young soccer star is led to purposely miss his big goal attempt.  Thugs beat him up and cripple him, ruining his soccer career.  Late in life he decides to coach a team in the world finals, for a prize of 1 million dollars and a huge gold cup.  He befriends a Shaolin enthusiast with a powerful kick.  They next go after his brothers, trying to convince them to join and make a team.  This is the funniest part of the film.  There is also a girl who makes sweet buns  using her Shaolin technique.  The first half of the film is wacky and great fun.  However, once the final soccer match begins the film ties itself into a corner, and has to go with the sports movie tropes.  It becomes less funny and much less original.  Still, much of the movie is as good as the best of the Marx Brothers,and is definitely worth looking out for.  Watch for the Bruce Lee lookalike.

Showing on Criterion until Jan. 31st.

The Glass Key is also from 1942, and again stars Ladd and Lake.  It is a more complex film, and in many ways more enjoyable, than This Gun, above.  Ladd gets the plum role, and does a decent job of it as the friend of a powerful man who is accused of murder.  He goes out on his own to find the killer.  The scene where he escapes the heavies who are beating on him and keeping him out of the way is a classic, landing himself in the hospital for a few days afterwards.  Brian Donlevy also has a great lead role, and plays it perfectly.  A classic Noir film, and worth watching.  Miss Lake is again dressed by costumer Edith Head, and wears a few stunning outfits.  She underplays again, and it is effective.

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Where is the art from the DIA you might ask?  This popular feature has been on hold ever since the DIA redid their website.  They now have a horrid search engine which is all but useless for art lovers and browsers.  Now you must name a specific artist or picture, rather than search through "Portraits," "Landscapes", or even by country.  It is a hopeless mess at the moment.  Someone should lose their job over it.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

Joseph Campbell

We are rewatching an old talk show series where Bill Moyers interviews Joseph Campbell.  Called The Power of Myth, it is not only a reminder of how empty many people's lives are, but how much more empty they have become since the series first ran in 1988.  If you think that the 80s were empty of meaning, look around you today.  Major religions have become much more polarized and misunderstood, not to mention misinterpreted.  There has always been more hate in religion than love, but it seems magnified today.  Too many people screaming at others about their mistakes instead of trying to understand.  It's obvious that people have never really got along except in their own little tight circles.  So expecting different colours of people, or people with different beliefs to get along and thrive is asking a bit too much, I fear.  Campbell compares society to a machine, one which can swallow up personal identity.  He says that we should live within the machine, but outside of it as well.  Eating, sleeping, working, and raising a family can easily dominate and completely control a person's life, even one who is determined to attempt living outside of it.  Searching for meaning in life is a rather daunting and difficult task even as a full time occupation.  What myths do we have to lead us to better places?  Well, we have the myth of capitalism and consumerism, as well as the myth of rise to the top, be the best you can be, be anything you want to be, and many other myths.  But are these the myths that are going to save the human spirit?  Add to this the loss of the night sky to light pollution, where a human can't even lay back and contemplate the universe any longer.  Who are our heroes today?  Where can they be found?  What could they teach us?  Why should we care?  Anyway, the Joseph Campbell series, being replayed on Wondrium, is probably the best thing TV ever produced and exhibited.  We haven't seen it in nearly 35 years,and it was high time we saw it again.

And a perfect movie for our times is the one just awarded 11 Oscar nominations. Everything Everywhere All at Once captures everything that is wrong today (without knowing that it does so).  Mindless entertainment, fast moving, primitive violence, and with lots of action.  If you want to find the polar opposite to the teachings of Buddha, then this film is for you.  I watched about 40 minutes of it several weeks ago before giving up.  Deb lasted a bit longer.  That this film is so popular and talked about seems to me just another huge crack in the structure of our societal downfall. 

In other viewing news, Deb has a film festival choice coming up this weekend.  We just watched two of her regular weekly choices.  The first was showing on Mubi, an amazing Japanese film from 1962.  Structured like a theatre piece, it is based on an 18th C bunraku play.  The visuals are totally stunning, with several sets achieving the beauty of Japanese scroll and screen paintings, before slowly coming alive with human actions.  The Mad Fox is a little weak in the story department, and it kinds of loses its way by the end, but nevertheless this is a major gem that likely no one has ever heard of or seen.  Highly recommended, especially for lovers of Japanese art and kabuki theatre.

 

Scene from The Mad Fox, now showing on Mubi. 

 

Deb's leaving choice for this week was a children's film from Australia called Storm Boy, from 1976.  A ten year old boy and his father live on the beach, apart from civilization.  The father fishes and sells his catch.  The boy wanders the marshes on foot and on his small raft.  He is befriended by an Aboriginal, also living off the land (played by Gulpilil).  When hunters shoot a pelican, three chicks are left behind.  The boy raises them, and one stays with him, very tame.  Based on a novel, the book covers some new ground for kids' stories.  But as usual, the beloved pet must always die (such a trope in kids' books and films), this time shot by mindless hunters.  Some wonderful beach photography, and the pelican trainer deserves an award.

Leaving Criterion Jan. 31st. 

 

Speaking of storms, we have a major winter one headed our way.  It is supposed to snow and blow all day tomorrow. We had about 2" of heavy, wet snow on Sunday morning, but that is almost gone now.  Today it is sunny and in the mid-30s F, a very nice January day.  But tomorrow, our county is in for 6-12 inches of heavy, wet snow.  The fluffy stuff is okay, but it needs to be colder.  When the temperature is only near 30 F, it falls like neutron star material.  It means a day of heavy shovelling, something I could do without. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

The English, and Aniara

Winter has yet to arrive here in Essex County.  It's been mild, cloudy, with plenty of rain.  In fact yesterday was the first time we could remember having rain on Deb's birthday.  It's usually very cold, and often snowing.  Not this year.  1.5" of rain yesterday (Thursday).  It's finally supposed to turn cold again by the end of next week.  Now that we have been spoiled by having London weather for such a long time (Dec. 27th), it will not be fun.  The birthday party was low key but fun, with lots of music.  Many more to come, we hope!

We've been resuming outdoor walks this past month, too.  We are hoping for some desert hiking this Spring, depending on Covid.  Our local county is quite bad for infections right now, though one hears very little about it.  Deb got a Pfizer booster shot this week, and all is well, with no side effects.  She has only had Moderna shots up till now.

We will be getting two new windows put in the house on February 1st.  The kitchen and bathroom ones are being replaced with Centennial Windows.  We have nearly replaced all of our older windows now.  Only two more to go after this, for next year, hopefully.  Our only concern is how cold it might be, as the house will be open in two places to the north for a morning.  Usual winds are from the southwest, and rain and snow from the east, so it may not be too bad.  Hopefully all will be well, if a bit on the chilly side for a time.

The English is a six part western series showing on Prime.  It proved itself to be a gem of a show, despite some rather intense violence, and some of the most low down characters ever encountered in fiction.  One does not often think of people from England when referring to tales of the rough and tumble world of the American west.  But this one has English characters front, side, and center, including one of two leads.  The series finale was the best episode of the batch.  Highly recommended viewing!  Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer make a great pair of heroes.  With eye popping photography, much of it was filmed in Spain, due to covid.  Some shots are from Oklahoma.

 

Now showing on Prime. 

 

 The Fallen Sparrow, from 1943, stars John Garfield and Maureen O'Hara and is a taut war time Noir.  He was captured and tortured as a prisoner in the Spanish Civil War, and is back in America and trying to find out who murdered his friend.  Garfield is pretty good in the lead, and the script is relatively intelligent.  Worth a look.

Leaving Criterion January 31st. 

 

Now we come to Aniara, a Swedish SF film from 2018, based on the epic poem by Swedish Nobel prize winner Harry Martinson.  The story is essentially the same as the book, but brought considerably up to date.  The giant passenger ship, ferrying humans to a colony on Mars, is sent off course, and its fuel has to be jettisoned.  The story focusses on one woman, the person in charge of an AI therapy being.  She doesn't get much business in her studio before the accident, but she sure gets a lot afterwards, as people adjust to their new reality.  The movie is really well done, though it will not appeal to viewers who think SF means battles in space, and aliens bent to kill all humans.  The focus is on human drama, and how the ship's inevitable outcome affects people in different ways.  The captain does his best to maintain order and discipline, and for the most part there is very little panic and mayhem.  We had to order the blue ray disc to finally get to see this film.  It has virtually disappeared since its festival run.  Highly recommended, as is the book.  It's great to know that films like this, and Last and First Men, are somehow managing to get made, even though few get to see them.

Available on blue ray. 

 

We watched a 30' film on MUBI called The Human Voice, from 2020.  Based on a play by Cocteau, it was directed by Pedro Almodovar and stars Tilda Swinton.  She has been abandoned by her lover, and is having a rather difficult time of it.  Her performance is a monologue, and done with virtuosic flair.  Her lover has also left behind his faithful dog, who is having an even harder time adjusting than Tilda's character.  This is the Spanish director's first English language film.  I'm sure there are a lot of people who can relate to this film better than I can, but I still liked it.

This short film is now streaming on MUBI.

 

My going away choice for this week is a film called My Name Is Gulpilil, from 2021.  Diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017, the actor sat down to talk with viewers, telling us (and demonstrating) what it is like to have cancer, and how much he enjoyed making films and traveling to various parts of the world as a result.  He has been in some truly remarkable films, including Walkabout, The Last Wave, and the very recent and brilliant Charlie's Country.  While it is sad to see him so weak and almost helpless, what other Australian Aborigine has lived such a life as he?  He is concerned that he is too weak to get back to his home country.  Without oxygen, puffers, painkillers, and his nurse Mary, he is virtually helpless.  Yet he remains, in some ways, independent.  He loves being in front of the camera, which may have helped his spirits at this time.  He is a man who seems to have done it all, including being arrested and jailed several times for alcohol and drug abuse.  His illness will come as no surprise to viewers.  A very remarkable man, and I'm glad to have seen many of his films.

 

Leaving Criterion January 31st. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Winter Days

Apparently the gods read my blog!  After last Sunday's lament about cloudy weather, it was bright and sunny next day.  And again the following Saturday.  We have been nearly blinded by light.  But today is the first January-like day we've had so far, as regards temperature.  It has been mainly mild in our area, and will resume that pattern again beginning Monday.  We still have no snow, and the river is ice free.

 

Today the Sault Locks will close for the winter, so the last of the upper lakes shipping is on its way south.  It looks like the lower lakes will see year round shipping, however.  I mostly watch two ships, the CSL Laurentien out of Quebec, and the 1,000' giant Mesabi Miner.  The CSL ship passed our house 38 times this past season, on its 19 round trip journeys between Quebec and Thunder Bay.  That's a lot of mileage!  The Miner passed 32 times, on 16 round trips between Duluth and Cleveland/Toledo.  It is too long to navigate the locks at Niagara, so it never gets to Lake Ontario or the St. Lawrence Seaway.  I will hopefully be seeing them again in a few months.

 

Two days ago I began to (finally) memorize most of my piano pieces.  I have 3 of 7 Bach pieces locked in, and about 20% of the Grieg Lyric Pieces.  So we'll see where we are with that project by mid-February.  Practicing is going well, and I am looking forward to the first meeting of our new performance group on the 31st.

 

Last Tuesday we had a salesman come to the house from Centennial Windows.  We want the bathroom and kitchen windows replaced.  So far they have done 5 of our windows, and two doors.  A while back we had the 4 basement windows upgraded by a different company.  After this project, there are only two more windows to replace.  Tuesday also saw the piano get tuned.  It is always a treat to practice on a newly tuned piano.  Not only does it sound different, but because the strings have been tightened, it even feels better to play it.

 

In film news, we have knocked off two more from the Sight and Sound list.  In The Mood For Love is from Hong Kong and the year 2000.  Coming in at #5 all time best movie, it is a fairly empty exercise in cool camera shots, as well as a minor fashion show for the lead actress, who wears a different dress in each scene.  The emotional involvement of the leads is virtually non-existent.  They talk quietly, mostly in monotone, and become friends, as their own husband and wife are off having an affair.  They don't wish to succumb to the same feelings, so keep their relationship platonic.  That's it.  While it is a decent enough film in its own way, it does not belong on any top 100 list, even from the 2000s.  But #5 all time best?  Really?  Nada.

 

Now showing on Criterion, Sight and Sound's #5 best movie ever. 

 

Close Up is an Iranian film from 1990, coming in at the #17 spot.  Again, hardly.  There are two ways to approach this film.  The first is to see it as one of the most boring films ever made.  The other is to see it as a curiosity, a film unique in the canon, and worth a look for its insider's peek at a weird sort of criminal case in Tehran.  Either way (we did mostly enjoy it), it is not a film one would wish to see twice.  Nor is the previous love story. So as we are discovering, the Sight and Sound list is a pretty useless measurement of how great a film is.  There are so many better Iranian films to choose from,and Chinese ones as well.  But what do we know?

 

Now showing on Criterion, and holding down the #17 spot on best films of all time (or so says Sight and Sound). 

 

My leaving in January choice from Criterion was a better film by far than either of the two previous ones.  Charlie's Country is an Australian film from 2013 starring David Gilpilil as a senior Aborigine, trying to come to terms with white people who have stolen his land.  The film is by turns very funny, extremely touching, spiritually engaging, upbeat, downbeat, and every other beat.  It is a truly wonderful film, one that we almost missed out on seeing.  Highly recommended.  The opening act where Charlie and his old friend go hunting is one of the funniest and best openings to any movie I have ever seen.  And the rest is no disappointment, either.  

Leaving Criterion January 31st/23 

 

We are nearing the end of the series on Prime called English, but we have given up on AMC's Interview With A Vampire.  There isn't a single character worth caring about in this film, and it isn't worth putting up with the mindless violence (often meant to be funny).  So we left after perhaps 4 episodes.  English is very violent, too, but at least the two main characters are interesting.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

A Sunless World

It's been mighty cloudy for the past 6 weeks.  My last astronomy outing was Nov. 25th; that should tell you something.  Every day we wake up it is dark, gloomy, damp, and chilly.  Someday the sun will shine here again; I can feel it.  

 

We've been enjoying our stereo/Spotify hookup, with lots of Philip Glass, Brian Eno, and Johann Johannson coming out of the speakers.  And the soundtrack to Tales From the Loop by Glass makes an awesome album.

 

There are four films to report; two from Mubi and two from Criterion.  We each picked one from each service.  And coming up early in the week is our blue ray purchase of Aniara.  Looking forward hopefully to that one.

 

My two choices were The Structure of Crystal, a Polish film from 1969 showing on Mubi, and Sunflower, a film by De Sica from 1970, and leaving Criterion January 31st.  Crystal was directed by Krysztov Zanusski, with the entire film taking place in a rural farmhouse far from the city.  A physicist and his school teacher wife have fled the rat race for a different lifestyle, and are enjoying it immensely.  He does personnel research projects, and is the official weatherman for the local airport.  They are visited by a former friend and colleague of the man, an active physicist who wants him to return to the city and his previous work.  The film is a gentle one, and is quite beautifully filmed in b & w.  The opening wide shot, as the couple await their visitor, is most memorable.  The print itself was perfect.  Filmed in winter, you will want to wear a sweater when viewing this film.  Recommended.

The Structure of Crystal, streaming on Mubi. 

 

De Sica's Sunflower, from the same period, is a vastly different beast.  This is a big budget affair starring Marcello and Sophia.  It was also the first Western film to be shot in Russia.  It takes place during the 2nd World War.  Marcello is shipping out to Africa in two days, but falls in love with Sophia just before leaving.  After having sex, she convinces him to marry her, as it will give him a 12 day leave.  When their 12 days are up, they hatch a scheme where he pretends to be crazy.  He is found out, and shipped to the Russian front.  Imagine a battalion of men from sunny Naples suddenly finding themselves in Russia during winter.

 

He doesn't return after the war, and Sophia, believing him to be still alive, goes to Russia to search for him.  What she finds, and how she deals with it, takes up the latter part of the film.  This is one of the best war (anti-war) films ever made, with only a very few scenes doing more to show what war is really like than most so called war movies.  Marcello's face is once again perfect for his role as a hapless foot soldier far out of his depth.  Highly recommended, with some very moving scenes.  The way the film moves from comedy to tragedy, with the war the cause of it all, is masterfully handled.

 

Sunflower, now showing on Criterion until Jan. 31st. 

 

Deb's choices included Harry Dean Stanton's last film, Lucky, and a Robert Wise B picture melodrama called The House on Telegraph Hill.  Harry Dean was 90 when he made his film, about a 90 year man living alone in a small Arizona town.  He has a daily routine which he follows religiously, including morning exercises, a glass of milk, a walk through town, an evening at the local bar, etc.  The film does not begin with a lot of potential, but it slowly comes together very nicely.  The film was done in 2016, with the premiere in 2017.  Harry Dean died one week before the premiere.  Filled with autobiographical material of the actor, the film is a fitting tribute to a great character actor who finally got his big role.  Also starring President Roosevelt the tortoise (it's not a turtle; it's a tortoise).  Also starring David Lynch as Harry's best friend, and directed by Lynch's son.  Recommended as one of the best films about aging gracefully and cantankerously, at the same time.

Now showing on Mubi. 

 

Telegraph Hill is a gaslighting film from 1951, starring Richard Basehart as the cad, and a lovely and capable Valentina Cortese as a woman who steals a dead woman's identify after surviving a woman's Polish concentration camp during the war.  Not a great film by any means, as it is full of tropes (the brake fluid is gone, so we have a great example of how not to drive in San Francisco; there is a gaping hole in an outbuilding, with a 30,000 foot drop to the street below,which she manages to fall into; her husband, who is trying to kill her, just happens to meet her downtown in the same building where she is seeking help from a friend; the ultra bitchy lover of the husband).  However, a few of the tropes are turned upside down, such as the orange juice scene, and the bitchy lover proving loyal to the little boy she looks after rather the cad).  In b & w, and maybe worth a look for fans of Robert Wise and gothic romance literature.

 

Hilarious poster from the film.  Showing on Criterion until Jan. 31st.

 

The House. 

 

Our big outing for this week is to meet Randy G. for coffee later this afternoon at 14th Coffee.  The excitement never stops at Lone Mtn. Homestead--come back soon and visit again.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

Last and First Men: The Movie

Springlike weather continues, though near the Detroit River it has been perpetually foggy.  I haven't seen a ship pass by in days now, but they can certainly be heard.  Foghorns are sounding nearly every minute at certain times.

In music news, I have succeeded in gathering a small group of performing pianists to meet occasionally to try out pieces on one another.  So far there are 3 of us, but this could easily grow larger quickly.  First meeting is tentatively scheduled for the morning of January 23rd.  Looking forward to it!!

In further music news, we were able to locate a recent film based on Olaf Stapledon's 1930 novel First and Last Men.  Conceived originally as a multimedia presentation with images, a narrator, and music, the film worked its magic for us from the opening shot to the closing one.  The film and music is by Johann Johannson, from Iceland in 2020.  He shot the incredible black and white (!) photography mostly in Yugoslavia, at a sculpture park in the mountains, and composed ambient music that is nothing short of alien and futuristic.  Tilda Swinton narrates, speaking words of Stapledon's that give a sense of the final part of the book.  There is no way that the entire book could have been filmed in one go.  Johannson died shortly after the film was made, thus destroying any hope for more chapters from the most incredible SF book ever written.  Now it has a suitable film companion.

Now showing on Mubi. 

We made some fun discoveries this week as a result of chasing down a copy of this film.  One of them is a streaming service called Mubi.  It is a good partner for Criterion, though this one does not have as large a library.  Still, there are enough films now in our queue to keep us going for months, even if we stopped watching Criterion (which we hopefully never will).  Another discovery we made was Spotify (I know, but we're old; these things take time for us).  Here we found the album of music from the film, and have now hooked the computer via Bluetooth into our stereo.

We originally got into Spotify by reading a recent article in the Guardian.  One of the writers has selected a different short piece of music to listen to every day in January, and in the article there is a direct link to the piece on Spotify.  Except that yesterday's (the 3rd) was on Youtube, and it came with an accompanying animation.  Fun stuff!!  So we now have a long listening list awaiting in favourites on Spotify.

Getting back to films, I finished up my December Film Festival with two more by Jasujiro Ozu.  Tokyo Chorus is a silent film from 1931 that follows the life of a young man.  Seen first as a student in a military type school, he is later encountered as an insurance salesman who loses his job when he stands up to the boss over the firing of an older employee.  There is comedy mixing with drama, and the picture is easy to watch.

Now showing on Criterion. 

Lastly came a 1936 film called The Only Son.  Leaving his small village for Tokyo, a young man goes to seek his fortune.  His mother has sacrificed everything to pay for his education.  When she pays a surprise visit to him, she finds him married, with one child, and teaching night school.  She is not impressed, until she sees him act kindly towards a poorer neighbour.  She goes back home with good memories of her visit.  Back at home, the young man has decided to continue his education so that he can get a better paying job.  Ozu's films are always intelligent, and never stretch things beyond what might likely happen in a certain situation.  He is excellent at establishing character, and at getting across emotions in people who are usually reluctant to show what their true feelings really are.

Now showing on Criterion.  

Deb's going away choice for this week was a Sam Fuller western called Forty Guns.  It stars Barbara Stanwyck as a rancher with forty hired guns as helpers, and she mostly gets her way in the world.  The opening scene, with Stanwyck riding hard and followed by her tribe, is very much like watching the opening to Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.  The characters of both are very similar, too.  A Federal marshal comes to town to arrest one of her helpers for robbing the mail.  Things get tense, people get shot, and the bad guys stir things up.  An unusual western, with Stanwyck doing her usual fine job in the leadership role.  Unusual scenes include the outdoor  town baths, complete with singer and guitar player, and dinner time at Stanwyck's ranch, among others.  Filmed in b & w Cinemascope!

Leaving Criterion January 31st. 

Mapman Mike

 

  

December 2022 Books Read

It was a foggy and mild New Year's Day here at the Homestead, and the ships along the Detroit River sounded mournful as they passed by.  If one is looking towards hopeful new things for 2023, today's weather will not be very inspiring.  Even so, this is typical weather for us at this time.  We have seen more foggy New Year's Eves than any other type.  Last weekend was the coldest and windiest it ever gets here, whereas this weekend it's been raining since Friday, not to mention quite dark.

We had an enjoyable party for two last night, with wood fire, lasagna, some music, and talk of Olaf Stapledon's writing.  That led us on a search for a recent film of his novel Last and First Men, on a streaming channel with a 7-day free preview.  So watch for that review soon!  And we ordered the blu ray disc of Aniara from Amazon.

In reading news, I begin as usual with the seven remaining authors of the Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery series.  Incidentally, that blog site of mine remains very popular with readers.  Lately, someone from Hong Kong has been delving into my Michael Moorcock page, though most hits seem to come from the USA.  However, recent large numbers of hits also came from Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland.  Reliable author Robert Silverberg got things started for me with his 1990 Letters From Atlantis.  Written in epistle format, it tells of two time travelers visiting Atlantis, sharing the mind and bodies of two natives of that ancient time.  The book is also a prequel of sorts to Silverberg's Star of Gypsies from 1986.  Though the present book can be read unaccompanied, it makes a decent series with the original.  Incidentally, the method of taking over an earlier mind goes back to Olaf Stapledon in his first two novels.  It is a direct ripoff of the earlier author, who continues to influence SF writing to this day.  Letters is not a particularly good book, and teenagers would likely have trouble getting through it (a lot of the short novel is description of buildings, rituals, daily life, etc. in Atlantis.

Next came Alien Plot, a 1992 collection of 17 short stories by Piers Anthony.  None of the stories are great, but a few are worth reading.  My favourite was called Soft Like A Woman, from 1988, about a woman crew member of a secret military mission who single handedly saves the day.  Also fun to read was a half page story called To The Death, about a martial arts expert challenging an ascetic to a duel.  This was the first of 3 stories that had to be 50 words or less, and this one is very good.  Revise and Invent is a very funny tale about a writer trying to follow various editors' advice to get his story published.

Kenneth Bulmer's Fox series continues to entertain me, being one of the best sea faring adventure series ever conceived.  Bulmer's sense of humour and deadly irony are ever present , as well as enough action to satisfy any pulp novel reader.  In Fox #9: Cut and Thrust we again spend a long time on shore between missions.  When he is recalled to active duty, he is given command of a gunboat, and ends up saving a disastrous mission against the French navy.  Most of Bulmer's writing is very consistent and top notch, and this book is a great example of that.

Book 3 of E C Tubb's endless series about Dumarest, a planet-hopping adventurer, is called Toyman, and is a good entry in the series.  Like Bulmer, Tubb is usually a very reliable writer.  We now have the goods on the series, with Dumarest's character (such as it is) mostly predictable in most situations.  Even his situations are now mostly predictable (he will have to fight a lot; he will never stay in one place; he keeps searching for Earth, his home planet).  In this adventure, which takes place entirely on the planet of Toy, Dumarest has travelled there to use their famous main library computer to find out anything he can about Earth.  People always mock the name of Earth, saying it is a quite ridiculous name, while in turn living on a planet called "Toy."  Go figure.  There are a few neat plot twists near the end, and a final symbolic kick in the teeth for Dumarest, as he finally gets his wish to ask the library for information about Earth.  The fight scenes are some of Tubb's best, and the finale in the maze is also quite well done.  Overall a worthy pulp fiction read.

Next came the first half of a large hardcover compilation of early stories by Jack Williamson.   Spider Island: Vol 4 of the Collected Stories contains 12 stories, 9 essays, and many images.  I read the first half in December, and will finish the volume in January.  The stories, all from the mid 30s, range from the ridiculous to the barely readable, suitable for a 14 year old in the 1930s, perhaps, but not many others.  Considering what Olaf Stapledon was writing in the 30s.....  The main problem here is the one dimensional character, both good and bad.  The Blue Spot is probably the most readable of the lot, as it at least has two strong female characters (always called "girls" in SF from this time).  There are also two stories that aren't too bad from a type where the final explanation has to have no supernatural cause, but during the story it might seem that such was the case.  One of them, The Mark of the Monster, is very much in the Lovecraft tradition, and does provide some chills.

Next came the first half of an Elric volume by Michael Moorcock.  Two sets of four novellas are collected under two umbrella titles.  I read The Stealer of Souls, which actually contained two excellent Elric stories read previously.  The Dreaming City and When the Gods Laugh are both from 1961, and are featured in the Elric collection Elric: Song of the Black Sword (see above).  Next came two novellas new to me, both from 1962.  Stealer of Souls is a decent story in which Elric seeks help from his homeless kinsmen in taking down an evil wizard.  At first he is hired by merchants to kill the most successful merchant in the city, but plans evolve.  Lots of magic, some grim fighting, and some humour.  In Kings In Darkness Elric and his friend rescue a girl and agree to lead her safely home, after her family and guards were attacked and killed (though most of the mercenary guards ran away).  On the way they take a detour through a creepy forest, and have dealings with the murderous king who dwells there.  A pretty dark adventure.  Elric ends up marrying the young woman they rescue.

There was one other good Elric story as well, from 1962.  The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams has a barbarian hoard bearing down on the city where Elric lives with his wife.  Well now, did those barbarians ever pick the wrong city to molest.  With cats, dragons, magic, and bloodshed, this is a worthy addition to the Elric chronicles.

Last in the Avon/Equinox authors read last month was a brilliant early novel by Barry Malzberg called In My Parents' Bedroom.  From 1971, this 125 page non SF novel was the author's way of telling some of his personal story to readers when he turned 30.  And while the tale is autobiographical, it is also so much more.  Rather than tell a straight forward story of what it was like growing up with his parents and sister in the 1950s and early 1960s, he takes us on a guided tour of the former apartment where they all lived.  The apartment is now a National Historic Site, and the Westerfield family has become the picture postcard of a bygone era.  All of the family's rooms are preserved as they were, as well as many of their personal belongings.  Though Michael, as a family member, is not supposed to visit the home, he takes his girlfriend on the half day tour.  There are no surviving photos of him, so he is not recognized.

The tour begins in the main living room, then proceeds to the kitchen, bathroom, and three bedrooms upstairs.  By the time we finally get to the gift shop and restaurant (a totally hilarious experience), we have come to know the small tour group and guide as well as we now know the Westerfield family and how they lived.  There are many priceless moments along the way, though most people who don't get Malzberg's dark humour and cast iron irony will be left thinking that the book is shallow, with too much sex.  I am so happy that Malzberg is being republished today.  Virtually all of his literary works are again in print and available on Kindle.  I came upon this author just in time for my reading project.  This particular novel had not been available again until very recently.  It is a small masterpiece of storytelling, and besides showing the banality of life "back then", we read it today and ask ourselves, has anything really changed much?

 

******************

With the 7 Avon/Equinox authors' works read before the middle of December, I had time to read 7 more books taken off the shelf and from my Kindle collection of complete works of certain authors.  I begin with the 2nd novel of Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy, called The Wandering Fire.  Still an early work from 1986, there are nevertheless hints of what was to come forth from this incredible writer.  This 2nd novel could also have been called "Everything But The Kitchen Sink," as the author throws the entire Arthurian mythology into the soup mix.  At first I found it quite funny and more than a little off putting, but once the magic settles down for a little while the premise becomes acceptable and fun.  Not a great fantasy novel by any leap of the imagination, but miles ahead of most people writing fantasy garbage today, who seem to have learned nothing from their predecessors.  The final act of reaching the enchanted island and trying to defeat the evil wizard is worthy of the best of Fritz Leiber or Michael Moorcock.  I am looking forward to the concluding book in the series, and then moving on through the rest of Kay's books.

Cover of the month goes to Ted Nasmith's wraparound painting for The Fionavar Tapestry. 

 

Next came some poetry and a novel by Vita Sackville-West.  She was born at Knole House, Kent, a calendar house.  It had 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances, and 7 courtyards.  She grew up there, but the house went to her younger brother on the death of her parents, something which she was quite bitter about (eldest son gets the goods).  Two early poetry collections yielded a few gems.  Constantinople is a collection of 8 poems from 1915, of which "Muezzin" is noteworthy.  From 1917 came a larger collection called Poems From East and West.  Two of these stand out: "To Knole," a poem about growing up at her ancestral home; and "A Creed," a poem which immediately sets her apart from most of mankind at that time.

 

Then I read her first novel, Heritage, from 1919.  Told in three parts, as many books were then, it follows the life and love of a young man from the city and a girl from Kent farm country.  Not a great novel in any sense of the term, it is still readable and enjoyable in its small scale tale of love lost, and then won.  There are memorable moments, and no doubt it would make a good PBS TV series.

 

Next came George Bernard Shaw's earliest play, but preceded by two even earlier fragments of plays.  The longer of these fragments is from 1878 (he was 22), called Passion Play, and is a very funny look inside the house of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph during his early years.  Totally sacrilegious in its vocabulary and unstinting take-down of the great myth of Jesus (and especially Mary), it's a shame this was never completed.  Of course it would have never been performed anywhere anyway, and he likely realized that at a certain point and just stopped writing.  Well worth seeking out.  Next came a short play fragment from 1889 called The Cassonne.  There isn't much distinctive about this later work, of which only a few pages were written.  Then comes his first completed play, called Widows' Houses, from 1892.  It is a social commentary play, and tackles the tricky subject of housing the poor, and making money from the suffering of others.  Parts of it are very well done, but the final outcome is rather unsatisfactory, as there is no easy answer to the problem.  Still, it likely got people talking.

 

The Double Shadow and Other Fantasies is a 1933 collection of stories by Clark Ashton Smith, a writer who is much better than Lovecraft at certain types of tales, and far surpasses Robert E Howard.  Lin Carter published most of his stories in his own made up thematic collections throughout the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, and Smith was one of the best discoveries I made at that time.  So I am now reading the stories in the order they were published.  The first three stories are among the best fantasy tales ever put to paper, equal to the very best Jorkens stories by Lord Dunsany.  "The Voyage of King Euvoren" shows the influence of the Arabian Nights tales on a young Smith, especially the Sinbad tales.  "The Maze of the Enchanter" turns the typical Conan story on its head, and the ending is so brilliant that I won't even discuss it.  Let's jsut say that Roberet E. Hoard wold not have approved, though he might have laughed a lot.  One of the finest tales of sorcery ever written.  Likewise "The Double Shadow,"a story that pits a sorcerer and his apprentice against the oldest and most feared magic ever imagined.  A horror tale like no other.  Of the remaining three stories, only "The Willow Landscape" is worth mentioning.  This is a much more gentle tale of magic and sorcery.

 

Stargazer is a 2021 Navajo mystery novel from Anne Hillerman, and it takes place in parts of New Mexico with which we are very familiar.  It involves astronomy, too, so I enjoyed it even more.  My one complaint about the main character, a female Navajo police officer, is that she is essentially given the characteristics of a child, rather than an adult.  She drinks too much pop, eats burgers, doesn't eat any fruit or veg, and only takes pepperoni on her pizza.  Her day to day thoughts are usually so mundane as to be almost scary, mostly concerned with her aging mother and somewhat wild younger sister.  However, there are times in this book when looking up at the night sky seems to ground her a bit, and lift her thoughts to the more spiritual aspects of living.

 

Olaf Stapledon's second novel was written two years after his first, and has a direct connection to it.  Called Last Men In London, it is from 1932 and perfectly complements his first one, called Last and First Men.  Stapledon's works are worth seeking out for those of us looking for spiritual gratification in our reading.  His books read much like what a documentary film is to viewers, and do not necessarily follow any traditions of what a novel, especially a SF one, should be.  In this book, a future human from 2 billion years in the future returns to explore the mind of a man from London in the years before, during, and after the First World War.  I eventually had to stop bookmarking pages, as I would have ended up bookmarking virtually every page.  As much philosophy, ethics, and spiritual guidance as it is fiction, it is a must read book (though one reading will not be satisfactory).  One does not rush through a Stapledon book, and I highly recommend keeping a notebook handy.  One of the highlights, among many, is the section or chapter that has to do with the birth of a child, and following it through its early years.  Priceless and unforgettable.

 

Lastly read was Jules Verne's 3rd novel (his 2nd was not yet available for my Delphi Collection), one of his most famous and entertaining ones.  I first read Journey To The Center of the Earth (1864) as a young high school student, perhaps age 15.  The title is a bit of a misnomer, as the professor, his nephew, and Hans never make it to the center, but the adventure is great fun anyway.  There is a lot of humour in the story.  The professor is a madman, and reminded me a lot of Beethoven (I also read a long chapter of his biography by Swafford this month).  The book heavily influenced Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose Pellucidar series takes place beneath the Earth.  Even as a boy, I liked how the book was slow to start, gradually building up to the trip to Iceland, then across the barrens to the mountain they would climb, and then descend within.  Once underground, things happen more quickly, and the ending is one of the great ones from adventure writing at its best.

 

I'll be back soon with a film update, and any other news that's fit to print.

 

Mapman Mike