Just how dry is it? The month of May tied the record for the least precip, set in 1870. How hot is it? While today is much improved, we had a run of several 30+ C days that was quite unprecedented for this time of year. With humidity levels around 20%, it wasn't so bad as when the humidity is high. However, for 8 days there were no clouds, just sun beating down upon everything. Our county, Essex, is mostly farmland. Farmers love sunshine, but they also love rain. There is still no rain forecast in the next ten days. At best we get a 25% chance sometime next week. I haven't cut the grass here, allowing it remain long. Neighbours who have cut it now have brown, crispy grass. I worry for our trees, since we had a very drought last autumn, lasting into November. And heavy wildfire smoke has returned to our skies. I won't have time for astronomy this week anyway, so hopefully it will clear out by the weekend.
In piano news, last night was the 4th group performance session. Six of our seven members were able to come out, the largest gathering yet! Some very fine playing was to be heard, with lots of Chopin on the program. But Alde performed a truly beautiful Song Without Words by Mendelssohn, and a tough Prelude and Fugue by Bach, and Paula played three great jazz arrangements. I played the first three Lyric Pieces by Grieg, Op. 54. We were guests of Dr. S and his wife Yvonne, and everyone got to play on the fabulous Fazioli! It was a great night, with lots of discussion and anecdotes later on, along with wine and plenty of nibbles. Next meeting is in early July. The momentum seems to be carrying forward.
And this Saturday is my recital, here at home for a few close friends. Bach and Grieg, before moving on to new adventures.
In film news, there are four views to report. Deb gets five picks in a row, her usual two choices followed by the end of the month film festival, currently underway. Kumiko The Treasure Hunter, from 2014, is a frustrating film to watch. It's a out a total loser of a Japanese girl who travels to the US to find treasure, which is actually a huge stash of cash that was hidden in snow by Steve Buscemi in the movie Fargo. She is convinced it is real. This is a very sick girl, who spits in her boss' tea, steals the company credit card, is emotionless, has no friends, no prospects, and very little brain capacity. She does not make for a very engaging lead character. Exactly who this movie's target audience is is difficult to say. The end is complete stupidity incarnate. Best to avoid this one.
Leaving Mubi very soon. Good riddance.
Deb's regular choice for the week was a 1979 Czech film called Prefab Story, about a hideous apartment complex being built and inhabited on the outskirts of Prague. The workmanship is shoddy, unfinished, and of very poor quality. Women push prams through mud streets, and workers do their utmost not to do very much at all during the day. Humour and social commentary mix, creating a scathing look at people's dreams being burst by a heartless reality. Child care and access to medical care is ripped to shreds by the filmmaker. It could have been a very downbeat movie, but somehow it isn't. A lot of viewer head shaking goes on, though. Worth a look. It reminds us of the outskirts of Toronto today.
Prefab Story is showing on Criterion. Communism never looked so unappetizing.
Next come Deb's three picks that will constitute her festival choices for this time around. She went with a comedy theme. First up was A Great Wall, a film by Peter Wang from 1986. A Chinese/American man (Wang) quits his job in America when he is overlooked for promotion because of his race. He takes his family to China to visit his sister and her family. The film has a definite Chinese slant, with some very funny commentary of what people there think of America and Americans (mostly true). And of course the skinny, undernourished Chinese boy beats the healthy and muscular American boy in a major ping pong tournament. The Chinese family has a rather empty-headed teenage daughter who likes to hang out with her American cousin, and they do make it to the Great Wall at one point. It's fun watching the two families interact and learn about each other, after not meeting for 30 years. Worth catching.
Now showing on Criterion.
Next up (and last for this blog) is the first of three films we will eventually see by a Spanish director who made comedy films in the 50s and 60s during the Franco regime. First up was the latest one, made it 1963. The Executioner is quite a good comedy about an undertaker who ends up having to became a state executioner in order to get an apartment for his wife, child, and her father. However, he wants nothing to do with the job. His wife's father has just retired after 40 years of executions, and they will lose their apartment unless his son in law takes over the post. Directed by Luis Garcia Berlanga and starring Nino Manfredi (this one is an Italian/Spanish effort), the film dives head first into bureaucratic nightmares of getting a government job, and of getting a new apartment. Manfredi is a bit over the top as a man who will do anything to avoid executing a man, but the film overall is a joy to watch. Looking forward to the two others.
Now showing on Criterion.
Mapman Mike
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