The Broken Wrist

No, not my wrist.  Deb's wrist.  And various other assorted bruises and bumps she acquired after taking a tumble on Monday.  We spent Monday at an urgent care clinic, with x-rays, then went home.  That was supposed to be a hill walk day as well as Deb's infusion day.  Neither of those events transpired.  Tuesday she walked with me at Malden Hill, in between icing her various body parts all that day.  On Wednesday she got a call back from the clinic.  Back across the county we went yet again.  The wrist was broken.  Thursday morning we had to be at Met Hospital in Windsor for 5:30 am.  She got a wrist and arm brace, which is essentially a cast that can removed for showering.  Though continuing with plans to attend the film festival in Cincinnati, we called off the New Mexico hiking trip on Wednesday night.  However, we will now go to Cincinnati with our NM gear, and decide on Sunday if we should continue on west, or head home.  Deb's pain level and comfort will be the deciding factor.  She's goes back to the hospital in 6 weeks for a new x-ray.  So the final week of the exercise program sort of fell apart.  We will see how that goes.  We still have a full week before any real mountains are encountered., and we have increasingly strenuous hikes planned as we drive west.  We can always turn around at any point on our journey.  Stay tuned for further updates.  The house is being looked after 24/7, so no worries there.

 

There are two odd films to report, one of them being perhaps the oddest of them all.  Deb's leaving choice was called Sicilia, an Italian film from 1999.  It takes several actual Sicilian dialogues that were written down in the 1930s and attempts to dramatize them on location.  It seems an incredibly silly idea for a film, and it is.  No doubt it has some value to some cultural anthropologists, but for general viewers it is nothing but 67 minutes of people having conversations (which in Sicily appears to mean shouting at one another at nearly full volume) on the most mundane topics under the sun.  If any incentives were needed to keep me from visiting Sicily, this one would do it.  Much better to read a travel book about the island (which, if written by a local, might be all in block caps).

 

Leaving Mubi in 2 days. 

 

Deb's regular choice was a much better film, another by Hal Hartley.  The Girl From Monday is from 2005, and is a near future dystopian visit to an Earth run by corporations (whoever heard of such a thing!).  Aliens are involved in the resistance, but alas, the corporations have all the aces (hundreds of them) up their sleeves, and the protesters are tolerated because it is good for the economy.  Parts of the film bring back memories of David Bowie's alien in The Man Who Fell To Earth, as well as various other films and TV series.  A woman who turns to the resistance is caught doing something wrong and sentenced to two years of hard labour--she must teach high school for that time.  Definitely worth looking out for.

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Normally, Deb would have her film festival choices this weekend.  But as we are attending Cindependent Film Festival in Cincinnati instead, I will be back with my own festival choices in late October.  Deb's film A Fable For Four Voices will be shown Saturday afternoon.

 

Mapman Mike

 

AvantGrand Baptism

Saturday evening Deb and I hosted the monthly piano player get together.  Alde was out of town, but the other regular members showed up.  The piano was given a very good workout, beginning with Paula performing a short piece by C P E Bach, and a Prelude by Gershwin.  Next up, Jim gave a truly beautiful performance of a piece by Scott Joplin, and the piano sounded amazing under his professional sounding touch.  His brother had just passed away last week, but he had been able to record the piece and play it for him beforehand.  So he played it tonight as a memorial to him.  He followed up with the Grande Waltz Brillante Op 34 in A Minor by Chopin.  He returned at the end of the night to perform the Bach Toccata in E Minor, a major work that sounded totally incredible on the piano.  I could not have been more pleased with the sound.  Next up was Dr. Seski (our Rob Sr.), who played a Chopin Waltz and a piece by Schubert, followed by Dr. Ling, who brought the last two movements of the Appassionata  by Beethoven.  After a short break, we resumed with Rob Jr, Dr. Biswas, who played the final movement of the Waldstein sonata by Beethoven.  Again, the piano really shone here (as did Robert), as volumes of layered sound poured forth from the wide awake piano towards the small but appreciative audience.  I finished up with short pieces by Bach (on harpsichord) and Mendelssohn, and two by Alexina Louie.  And so the piano had a very good workout!  Best of all, I got to sit back and hear all different kinds of music performed on it.  Our next meeting in October will be at Jim's home, in the distant city of Chatham.

We are now deep into our final week of trail hiking preparations.  The mountains are calling, and we are nearly ready to heed those calls.  We have been fortunate in having a cool, mostly sunny month in which to prepare for the big times.  Our trip will have a prelude, as we head to Cincinnati (by invitation) to attend the film festival there next weekend.  Following that event, our vehicle will point west for several driving days.  Excitement is mounting here at the Homestead.

There are two films to report on today.  The first was Deb's main choice, a strange little film called The Eight Mountains.  It is about a lot of things, but mostly about a strong friendship between two men.  They met at age 12, one of them a mountain-raised lad, and the other visiting the Italian Alps for a month in the summer.  Filmed in 4:3 by choice (obviously), it seems to suit the film, which requires close framing some of the time.  The mountain scenery is splendid, and the film does well with the emotional bond between the two lead actors.  This could, in fact, have been a really great film.  However, the insertion of at least 6 folk guitar ballads (sung in English!) during the film is so in your face and poorly chosen, that I would have walked out of the theatre had I seen it there.  As it was, we had the mute on for at least 20 minutes of running time.  Luckily it is sub-titled, or we would have missed some of the dialogue.  Watch at your own risk to your ears.

Now showing on Criterion, with extras. 

 

My main film choice for the week was another strange little film, this one from Portugal.  Filmed in b & w, Tabu is from 2012.  It is actually two shorter films, split in the middle by a changing story arc.  The first part takes place in Lisbon.  A woman who lives next door is the only friend that a lonely and very elderly woman has.  The old woman has a live-in housekeeper.  The first story is about the woman who is the friend, but we follow the elderly woman until she finally passes away.  As she is dying she hands her friend a crumpled piece of paper with a man's name and address on it.  She wants to see this man before she dies.  Despite doing her best to find the person (he is in a nursing home), the older woman dies before they can meet up.  He does attend her funeral, and afterwards goes to a cafe with the friend, and her in-home caretaker.  There he begins to tell the story of the deceased woman, and the movie switches now to Africa, namely a plantation in Mozambique.  This is the better half of the movie, and takes place in the early sixties.  There is intrusive music here, but it is fit to purpose, as we watch a Portuguese rock and roll band perform and hang out, helping us date the time that events are happening in the flashback story.  We never return to the cafe, and the film ends when the African part of the story ends.  Of course the old man telling the story and the elderly woman who just died were lovers in Africa, even as she was married to someone else and pregnant with her daughter.  A tragedy finally separates the pair, and they are destined never to meet again.  Quite a good film, and recommended.  There is a crocodile.

 

Leaving Mubi in 3 days. 

 

That's all for now.  Iaido tonight, and back to hill walking tomorrow. 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Hiking Tuesday

Films first today.  Goya's Ghosts is a film from 2006, a partial biography of Goya, with fictional characters inserted at will.  Directed and co-written by Milos Forman, it takes a close look at the years in Spain following the French Revolution.  We were privileged to view many of Goya's paintings while spending an entire summer in Madrid many years ago.  From some of the most horrifying images ever set to canvas to some of the most bucolic, he is a major artist to be reckoned with.  The film explores many of the horrors that the Spanish people endured both under royal rule and during the revival of the Inquisition by the Catholic Church, all of which greatly influenced the artist and his images.  Goya himself seemed to be mostly an observer on the sidelines of major events, carefully digesting, and then reforming on canvas what he saw happening around him.  A recommended film, with period sets and costumes perfectly depicted, including some taken directly from the canvases of Goya and his etchings.

 

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Two more Corman/Poe/Price films came next, both of them highly recommended and fun to watch.  Even though the films have little to do directly with Poe's stories, they certainly capture many of his basic themes and ideas.  First up was the classic The Raven, starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff.  Also starring as a young dashing fellow is Jack Nicholson.  From 1963, this is in rich colour and widescreen (Panavision) format.  Many of these films were seen by us on small TVs back in the day, often with commercials inserted at random, and sometimes in b & w.  So seeing restored widescreen versions has been a real treat!  From 1963, the theme of The Raven is treated very lightly by Corman, who allows the stars considerable freedom to be themselves.  They are such professionals that seeing them altogether is one of the highlights of 1960s movies in general.  Lorre is the cowardly wizard (until he has had a considerable amount of wine, when his mouth gets him into trouble) who needs his chest of magic doo-dads in order to accomplish anything.  Karloff and Price are the master wizards, who only need their hands to conjure.  They have a fun magic duel at the end of the film.

 

Now showing on Criterion until Sept. 30th.

 

Lastly came a more serious film in the series, The Pit And The Pendulum, from 1961.  Watching Price descend into madness is great fun, as he channels the spirit of his demented and evil father once he is driven to distraction by the sudden reappearance of his dead wife (Barbara Steele).  The pendulum scene is well done, and the costumes in this one are truly authentic, conjuring up Renaissance Spain down to the last detail.  As is all the other films from this series (there is one more to go!), there are plenty of red candles to be seen, as well as secret passageways, enormous castles, and highly decorated sets.  For once, this house does not burn down (with the same footage used in each film whenever it does happen). 

 

Leaving Criterion Sept. 30th. 

 

We set out for Ann Arbor, MI Tuesday morning for our weekly hike, hoping to use the steep trails of Nichols Arboretum.  After enduring a traffic jam in Windsor, and then on the freeway in Detroit, we abandoned ship and used the less hilly but still pleasant Dearborn Trail.  Alas, it is asphalt rather than dirt.  We walked 5.65 miles, not a lot when compared to some of the upcoming hikes, but pretty good for a couple of old-timers who haven't done this sort of thing for five years now.  We are just finishing up Week 4 of the great preparations, with a little over one week to go.  Wednesday is cross training day; we will cycle.

Redhead on Red Bridge, as we cross a branch of the Rouge (Red) River in Dearborn, MI, near the beginning of our hike.

 

 

Rouge River, with distinct bumps on a log that happen to be sunning turtles.

Red Tailed Hawk watches for something to eat.  Deb spotted him as we crossed a very long footbridge over the Rouge River. 

 

We had our usual delicious lunch at La Shish on Michigan Ave; a rice/almond salad for two, with a side of baba ganoush, and freshly baked pita bread.  We then headed to our favourite Middle Eastern candy store, Hashems Nuts and Coffee Gallery, also in Dearborn, to stock up on supplies.  We will be offering individually wrapped candy, and white wine on Saturday for our piano group.  We finished up in Windsor at the relatively new Yemeni Corner Coffee House.  They had vegan treats along with truly great coffee.  Deb also brought home some green beans to roast from Hashems.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

More Corman and Vincent Price

 It becomes more and more obvious every day that the world cannot afford wars.  Why not?  We have other priorities right now.  Just how much is it costing Canada to fight these summer long fires, which are still burning?  Guess who will pay?  Yup.  Taxpayers.  Then there was the Morocco earthquake.  How much will that cost to rescue and treat wounded people, to tear down and rebuild homes and businesses and mosques.  Who will pay for that?  Then there was the flooding in Greece and Libya.  The recent hurricane to hit Florida is costing the US hundreds of millions of dollars.  Another hurricane will likely hit Nova Scotia this coming weekend.  The amount of death and suffering just from natural disasters becomes more and more staggering with each passing month.  A quote today from an official in Libya said that they had no trained rescue teams available in the country, as it has been involved in civil war for years now.  Then there are the unending stream of refugees from war torn places around the globe, and those that can't escape.  Can we really afford war any longer?   With an IQ of 80 or higher, ANYONE would realize that no, we cannot afford war any longer.  My next question is related to the fires and floods and storms, and I will leave it unanswered, but how much longer can we continue to burn fossil fuels at such hellish rates?  Is most everyone in the world asleep at the wheel (sorry, that was two questions)?  I fear my rants are just beginning, so stay tuned if you like rants.  If not, just skip the first paragraph of these blogs as needed.

In other news, Haydn symphonies never seem to get old.  Even on the third go around for some of the most obscure ones, there are treasures to be rediscovered with every listening.  I already miss not playing any of his piano sonatas.  My last two choices from the Classical piano repertoire have been two large Beethoven pieces.  No regrets there, but I must get back to Haydn again for the next piano program.  The first movement of the Beethoven sonata (Op 10 #3) is at last memorized, thought hardly secure.  It is a sprawling movement, played very fast (someday).  Parts of it fit me like a glove, but other parts not so much.  It is a jovial Haydnesque piece overall, only on steroids.  It is very upbeat, with little jokes everywhere in it (except the 2nd movement, which is incredibly serious and devastating).  His next piano sonata was the Pathetique, so it was quite a jump after the Op 10 one.  I will spend a long winter getting right down inside of it, hopefully performing it in early spring.  By then it should be a part of me.  Right now we are still two distinct entities.

Today was our longer walk day.  We walked the Detroit River pathway in Windsor, west to east, and managed to get part way back to our starting point before taking the bus back to our parked car.  It was cool and grey, a perfect day for a long walk.  We stopped for a filling vegan lunch at Taloola's Cafe, which was very busy, before walking home on surface streets, following the bus route.  We managed to walk 5.6 miles, slowly upping our game.  Next week we hope to walk in Ann Arbor, MI, in a forest with big hills.

Phone pic from the top of Malden Hill, where we do our hill training 2x per week.  The new Gordie Howe international bridge continues to progress, possibly opening late next year.  Currently there is one bridge and one tunnel for cars and trucks, and one tunnel for trains.  The incomplete span in the middle is over the Detroit River.  More photos to come when I bring my camera next week.

 

2 cormorants cavort atop an archaeological ruin on today's walk.  Before the railway tunnel between Detroit and Windsor was widened, larger rail cars were shipped across the river on large barges pushed by tugboats.  I worked as a deckhand on such a tugboat one summer here, loading rail cars at one end and unloading them in Detroit.
 

As we passed by on our walk today, the Viking cruise ship Octantis was just docking in Detroit.  It cruises all over the Great Lakes in summer. 

 

Our topic finally turns towards the title of this blog entry.  Two more Corman/Price films were watched.  Tales of Terror is from 1962, and contains three short films: "Morella," "The Black Cat," and "The Case of M. Valdemar."  Price stars in all three.  The main interest is in the central film, which also stars Peter Lorre.  They make a truly hilarious pair in this film.  Most notable is the wine tasting competition between the two of them.  Price is priceless, and Lorre is perfect in his role as the alcoholic husband.  The final tale is pretty creepy, with Basil Rathbone playing a nefarious hypnotist, and Price as the victim who is hypnotized just seconds before his death.

Leaving Criterion Sept. 30th/23. 

 

The Haunted Palace is from 1963.  An old curse comes back to haunt the village when, after more than 100 years, a relative of the diabolical Joseph Curwen returns to claim his ancestral home.  Not many people are happy to see him back.  The innocent descendant is soon taken over by the spirit of the dead madman.  This film has nothing to do with Poe, and is very loosely based on Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward."  Unfortunately for monster lovers, it remains in the pit.  An okay film, it does have good atmosphere.

 

Leaving Criterion Sept. 30th. 

 

A few more of these old but fun films remain, all of them in widescreen and colour, so stay tuned to this channel. 

Hal Hartley's first film is from 1989.  Called The Unbelievable Truth, it concerns a man just out of prison looking to restart his life in the same town where he committed his crime.  Convicted for manslaughter against his girlfriend's father, he learned how to be a mechanic while in prison.  Pretty much a comedy, he falls in love with his new boss's daughter, and vice versa.  Her old boyfriend keeps appearing, picking fights with anyone who looks at her.  Everyone in town has a different version of what his crime was.  We don't learn the truth until the end.  Not great cinema, it is still worth watching if you liked No Such Thing.  The main actor and actress in that film are also the main ones in this earlier one.

Now streaming on Criterion. 

 

Next up is a film about Goya.  Come back soon!

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Roger Corman and Poe

We are just about to begin our third week of training, as those sizable western mountains loom closer and closer to us.  Will I be ready to climb some really big mountains in three weeks?  Nope.  Not a chance.  During our 2nd week of training we had to make some switches, mostly due to extreme heat and humidity.  Our long walk Tuesday was shortened not by the weather, though, but by swarms of very hungry mosquitoes on the path.  We fled, resorting to treadmill work at home instead, in a nice and cool basement.  And because of recent rains (it never stops around here) we had to move our cross training day to today.  Cross training day means yard cleanup, mostly weeding.  We have seen an enormous increase this year in poison ivy, and for the 2nd summer in a row my skin has made contact with the nasty plant.  It caught me at the edge of the glove on my right wrist this time, a very narrow strip about 1/4" wide and about 1" long.  The skin turns bright red, and some of it boils.  The itch goes bone deep.  But this year I tried a new medication, and it works really well.  My symptoms began Sunday night, and are still going as of today (Friday).  But the ointment really works, and I can sleep in heavenly peace.  Unlike last year's batch, which was more widespread.  Anyway, back to yard work later today.

 

In piano news, I have slowly begun to use more and more features of my new Yamaha Avantgrand piano.  I am just starting to use the recording feature now, and have already used the transposition feature and a different scale tuning to help simulate the sound of Baroque keyboard music on its harpsichord setting.  I should have 4 short pieces to perform at our next gathering, on the 23rd.  I practice exclusively with headphones now, and really like it a lot.

 

In music listening news, we are finally getting serious with the 222 Bach CDs.  We are currently getting through the organ music.  And on Sunday mornings we continue to listen to a different Cantata each week.  It will take some time.  We are also deeply into the Haydn box set, too.  We are now on our 3rd go around of the complete (104) Haydn symphonies.  This CD set was recorded in the Haydn room at Esterhazy, where all the concerts were originally presented.  And we continue to get through the LP record collection, weaning as we go.  We are currently listening to all of the Liszt records.

 

Turning now to films, all of the Corman/Poe films are leaving Criterion this month.  We hope to get through most of them by then.  First up was the best of the set, Masque of the Red Death.  From 1964, we saw it in a beautiful print.  Jane Asher's hair never looked so red!  Price is not too hammy in this one, and his presence in nearly every scene holds the picture together quite well.  Skip Martin is also very good as Hop Toad, who seeks a terrible vengeance on a thoughtless aristocrat.  Hazel Court has a bad dream, and brands herself with an upside down crucifix.  Shares of red paint went up quite a bit that year, too.  Atmospheric, and undoubtedly influenced by earlier Hammer horror efforts.  A classic that still holds up well today.  Nicholas Roeg did the photography!

 

Leaving Criterion Sept. 30th. 

 

Next came a much earlier picture, Corman's The House of Usher. Though atmospheric, this film does not entirely succeed.  For one thing, there are only four characters, and it is filmed almost like a play.  In parts it is very slow moving.  By taking a short story and dragging it out to feature length, too much depends on the acting.  Aside from Price, who is great in the role of big brother not wanting his young sister to leave home (incest being a taboo subject not only in Poe's time, but also Corman's), the other actors barely manage to make it to the adequate stage of acting.  Definitely watch this one, but not right after Masque.

 

Leaving Criterion Sept. 30th.  

 

Leaving Corman and Poe for a time (they will be back here soon), but staying withing the realm of fantasy and horror, comes a neat little independent film by Hal Hartley.  His 2001 feature is called No Such Thing, and is a modern version of Beauty and the Beast, or Beowulf if you prefer, with a difference.  A monster that has lived forever and cannot be killed, lives a lonely existence in remote coastal Iceland.  A young woman goes in search of her fiancee, who was believed killed by the monster.  Their first meeting is a bit rough, but they gradually come to respect and like each other.  Robert John Burke plays the most memorable monster in our recent film watching experience.  Sarah Polley plays the fearless and enterprising young woman (looking much like a schoolgirl most of the time, but not always).  Helen Mirren plays a news editor for a shlocky New York news service, and Julie Cristie (!) plays a doctor that helps Beatrice (Sara P.) recover from an accident.  While parts of the film are quite hammy (Mirren's role as editor, a mad scientist who may be able to kill the monster, and a sadistic research scientist), others are humourous and serious as needed.  Though the film overall is very good, there are some scenes that could have been excluded or improved, such as the Willy Wonka-like press interview, Beatrice's nights long sex rampages, and the entire plane crash thing.  The monster torture scenes and beatings are a bit overdone, too.  I would have spent more time and energy on the relationship between the monster and the young woman.  Highly recommended, but uneven.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Summer's Final Kick

It's heatwave time in the Motor Cities (Detroit/Windsor), and yes, we are stuck doing our hill training and hiking this week in some very warm and humid air.  Monday we were climbing Malden Hill by 9 am, but it was already too late.  The sun was shining, and we slowly cooked ourselves.  Tuesday is long hike day, but there should be shade, at least.  The heat will last through Wednesday, and from then on it should be cooler.  In the olden days, when we were still teaching, we would head to New Mexico in mid-August.  Which meant we had to train through July and the first half of August.  I don't really know how we managed to do that.

And speaking of school, kiddies and teachers go back Tuesday, likely to some very warm classrooms.  We will have to drive by the local school tomorrow on our way to our hike, just up the road.  We shall wave and smile as we pass by.....

In piano news, I am trying to memorize the final few bars of Beethoven's Op 10 #1, 1st movement.  It's nearly there!  Cake and champagne soon, I hope! Then to memorize the 4th mov't, and then the 3rd.  Likely not the 2nd one, though.  It's very slow, and full of notes.

The film festival continued with the 183 minute version of Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev, a film from 1966.  It is in b & w, except for the final scene.  The film contains around 7 short features concerning Rublev, a real historical character of which virtually nothing is known.  He was an artist, an icon painter.  There is a slightly longer version, but the "shorter" one is the one most people recognize as the definitive one.  For one thing, it cuts out some animal torture scenes (but not all of them).  Set around the year 1400, it is a grim tale of artists struggling to create amidst unspeakable chaos and horrors.  There are some lighthearted moments, but these are soon wiped out by the slaughter of peasants, and other such scenes.  The final story tells of the creating of a giant bell for a prince.  It is created from scratch, and we get to witness the entire process.  This is truly amazing film work, and the recreated scenes are absolutely authentic looking and believable.  The very opening scene shows a man who can really and truly fly!  A stunning and unforgettable film.  It was shelved in the Soviet Union for 7 years after its first showing.  The Criterion edition includes many extras, and we watched several of them.

Now showing on Criterion, with several extras. 

 

Next come two features showing on Prime.  The first film was about P G Wodehouse, and his unfortunate time spent in a German prison camp.  Called Wodehouse In Exile, it is from 2013.  For anyone still unclear on what happened to him, and why he was branded (by some) a traitor during the 2nd world war, this little film should clear things up nicely.  Well acted and well presented, the world gets to hear his side of the story.

 

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Lastly comes an odd little gem, a sleeper of a film and well worth seeking out.  Friends and Crocodiles is from 2006.  Jodhi May gets to wear some expensive looking female executive clothing, and Damian Lewis gets to drive a double decker bus, and do other fun things, such as throw pretty wild parties.  The story follows the two main characters, and several interesting minor ones, through the 70s and up to the present (2006).  May plays a character determined to move up in the world, and to help change it for the better.  Lewis plays her opposite--every opportunity is his to make his life better, but he is stuck with himself and unable to do much about it.  However, when he works with May he seems to have more potential, at least.  Watching the two characters develop and change over time, and seeing them interact, makes this film worth watching more than once.  Both actors are perfect in their very different roles, though of the two he is the much more interesting character, because of his unpredictability.  Highly recommended.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Deb's SF film got accepted into a very cool festival in Manchester this week.  Only 12 films were selected from over 300 submissions.  Woo hoo!  Wish we could attend, but we'll just be getting back from our mountain hiking excursion at that time.

 

Deb also had an article about some of her film making published this week.  It's in a highly read trade magazine.  Here is a link if you care to peruse....

 

Mapman Mike