We are just coming out of a prolonged spell of very cold air. No records were set but teeth were set chattering throughout the area. This satellite photo gives a decent indication of what it was like around the Homestead these past few weeks. Despite the cold, we have had very little snow.
Two cold January sunsets, taken four days apart. The Detroit River is frozen solid. Notice how the sun has moved to the right in the second photo, taken only 4 days later. The sun is roaring back towards Equinox. Hang in there; winter is on the way out.
Indoor activities continue here at the Homestead, including board games and PC games. We have reloaded a game we played for a time and then gave up on, and are giving it another go. Called J.U.L.I.A. Among The Stars, it's a pretty decent SF game with several mysterious happening occurring at science stations scattered on several planets in a distant solar system. Only one human is left alive. She is aided by the probe's on-board computer (with a faulty memory) and Mobot, a drone that is able to go down to the planets to find out what happened. We also played Tokaido, and then again with a new add-on that allows for more choices at every stop along the road. We have three games remaining from the pile I brought upstairs for the Winter solstice party. We should get through those before our end of winter party, this year tentatively set for February 12th (unless there is a snowstorm).
We have been watching the only two Doctor Who seasons we have never seen. The sixth doctor was played by Colin Baker, with his mousy and whiny assistant Peri Brown. Season 22 Series 4 is called The Two Doctors, and features Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines, and we are in the middle of it just now. It's wonderful to see Troughton again, in his final appearance before his death two years later. The Sontarans are in Seville, and soon so are the two doctors. Season 22 consisted of 45 minute episodes, and this installment has three episodes. I don't mind Colin Blake as the Doctor, at least so far.
In film news there are two to report. Run Lola Run is a very silly, if not stupid, fantasy film in which his and her scumbags keep getting another chance to live and find a solution to their untimely, if deserved, deaths. From Germany in 1998, it shares its theme of how small alterations in our daily life can change the future with several other and much better films. Try the 1987 Polish film Blind Chance, or the 2008 Doctor Who episode called "Turn Left," for a somewhat better look at the theme. True to it's title, Lola does run. In fact, she runs a lot. In fact, she runs just a bit too much for my liking. A very thin plot, with little to no character (a girl who can scream at a very high pitch for a long time is about as deep as we get into Lola), it's short running time hints that may be the film is too long for a short, and too short for a feature. Give it a miss.
The Hard Way is a melodrama from 1943 that stars Ida Lupino who wants to make her kid sister something big, something that will take them out of their dreary small town. Her sister (Joan Leslie can look and act 18) does show talent, and by luck and hard choices, she becomes a big star on Broadway. Despite her climb to the top, her non-supportive husband kills himself because she won't quit and have ten kids with him. This pretty much ruins the bright lights for the girl. Republicans and so called Christian viewers would likely think that the lessons learned here are the real truth. Stay at home, ladies, and have babies. Everyone will be better off. One would hope that those days are gone forever, but it's not likely. Good acting, but near the end I was ready to throw things at various people in the film.
Mapman Mike
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