I managed five astronomy outings this month, while a sixth was cut short due to smoke from western fires. I have had a banner spring series of great nights with the telescope, beginning actually back in February. Though I will probably get out a few times in June, due to late night sunlight those times are brutal the next day. Besides, a priority soon will be getting my next program played for some friends, and then continuing on to the next program. There will be a visit coming up soon to see family in Sudbury, too, for a few days. Mom just had her 94th birthday, and Dad's 92nd is coming soon. And Emma Lee will be fourteen this June!
Now that astronomy nights are over till next month, my reading program can get back on track. I lost six nights of reading last month, or about 9 hours. I am currently enjoying my end of the month ramble through authors from Delphi Classics. I keep adding to the list, too, as more get published every month. Even the complete Tolkien is now available for around $4. Haven't snagged that one, yet.
While I was cutting my far back lawn on Monday I finally met the new neighbour, Phil, who moved into the house behind us last autumn. He had cut the grass for me. I went over to talk with him. He is a local farmer, and seems interested in buying that back piece of property from us, on the other side of the creek. Since our bridge rotted away several years ago we have no direct access to that piece of land. So here's hoping that we can sell off that piece, which is really a problem for us right now. I imagine it will be a fairly involved and somewhat lengthy process.
Two films to report on, one of them Deb's choice and one of them mine. First up was The Wayward Bus, a Hollywood film from 1957. Based on a novel by John Steinbeck, it's part soap opera and part adventure film, starring Joan Collins and Jayne Mansfield. Passengers transfer to a rickety old bus in southern California to get to a border city with Mexico. But the rains are coming down, and there are landslides, destroyed bridges, and lots of mud to slow things down. Actually a pretty good film, one that we had never heard of.
My main choice was The Housemaid, a Korean film like no other, from 1960. This is one spooky and totally weird movie, one of the best pyscho-dramas I have ever seen. Lots of Hitchcock influences here, but also much originality. A Korean family including two kids and one on the way take in a young female housemaid, who becomes a true monster as she sets her sights on the man, a piano teacher. Restored and now part of Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, this is a movie that has to be seen to be believed. Most of the film takes place in a two story house with a prominent staircase. Even more prominent is a bottle of well used rat poison. Some very steamy sex scenes still seem avant-garde today. It came with a short intro by Mr. Scorsese, as well as a 15 minute extra with a young Korean filmmaker (Bong Joon-ho) talking about the film.
Mapman Mike
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