We celebrated last Thursday's Vernal Equinox with an afternoon/evening party, and except for two medical appointments for Deb it was a very fun day. One of those was simply an ultrasound scan of bladder and kidneys, with results expected tomorrow. It is a very uncomfortable test; I had one the week before. You have to drink a lot water beforehand, and then hold everything in until the scan is finished. Not much fun. Then Deb had a physio appointment, and she made a great connection with her therapist, who gave her exercises to do at home. All in all Deb has been progressing well of late.
One of the things we do at Equinox is draw new Tarot cards for the following six weeks. Deb was able to get rid of her burning house card, which she has had since Dec. 21st. Was it a coincidence that she was so sick all that time? And my card, which was a cloudy, snowy, gloomy landscape, is now one that shows clear skies and a giant comet passing overhead. It is called The Star, and is one of the major arcana. Deb's new card is also a major arcana, called Sovereignty. We both scored well!
Deb's new Tarot card for the cycle up to April 30th.
As to my card, it has already brought me a usable and quite fabulous clear night for astronomy. Saturday night for the first usable night I have had since November 7th. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, ye unbelievers. I put in 4 hours at the eyepiece, and it was like a dream come true. Winter constellations are passing quickly from view, but I managed to catch a few major objects before spring ones take over. I observed from 9 pm till 1 am. It was very chilly and damp by then (24 F), so I packed it in. I've been working on my notes all day Sunday and I am not quite finished yet.
Another tradition on Equinox is to take down our winter art from the walls and replace with appropriate Spring art. We now have Deb's large painting of Knight Peak on the wall, and a beautiful framed print of a rabbit that I bought in NM many moons ago. I chose Parsifal, Wagner's final completed opera, for our day of listening. The opera is about 4 hrs. and 20' of music, taking up 4 CDs. We started to listen a week before, during our March full moon party, and managed to finish it on Equinox. Themes from the opera continue to run through our heads. Over the past year we have been listening to the complete Wagner opera canon, and we only have Twilight of The Gods left. Once we hear it, it will be my 4th (?) time through the entire Ring cycle.
In TV news, we completed the final season of Star Trek: Next Generation, and have moved on to Picard, Season 2. Both Wesley Crusher and Q figure big in the final season, so be warned. And Q has now returned in Season 2 of Picard. There's just no getting rid of the guy, and this theme continues to show the paucity of creative SF writing on TV.
We watched a rather uninteresting 4-part series on Britbox of Agatha Christie's Ordeal By Innocence. Virtually every character is unlikable, including the woman murdered. She is especially unlikable. So if the murdered person is a piece of rot, and the other characters are totally unlikable, what is there to make one enjoy watching? From 2018 it stars Bill Nighy and a bunch of other people. Not recommended, though the TV series likely has very little to do with Christie's novel.
Now we come to one of the best films either of us has ever seen. Read that last sentence again before continuing. The film is called Grand Theft Hamlet. Conceived and filmed during Covid lockdowns, the filmmakers attempt to perform the full play Hamlet inside the crazy and violent world of Grand Theft Auto. The film is so brilliant that it is difficult to find accolades that do it justice. From 2024 (UK) it was directed by Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane, a husband and wife team who go through a marriage crisis at times at how much time he is spending inside the game world. So many hilarious things happen during the attempt to gather actors and audience that the film can justifiably be called a comedy. At the same time there are moments of great poignancy, and greater truths emerge from the most unlikely scenes. One of the most remarkable and offbeat ideas to ever get put on film, the handling is just as good. Highly highly highly recommended!!
Lastly comes a very strange Russian horror film from 1967, directed by brothers from Kazakhstan. It is called Viy. A young seminary student is on his way home for holiday when he is accosted and captured by a very hideous witch. She jumps on his back and makes him bear her through the sky. When they land he beats her to death with his staff in a panic of horror. The rest of the film reveals how the witch, now as young and very beautiful woman, gets her revenge on her killer. It is a short film (78') but very effective. The excellent score is by Karen Khatachurian, nephew to the great Aram. It is based on a story by Gogol. Natalya Varley plays the witch very effectively. The effects are mostly very good, especially on the 1st and 2nd night that the young monk must keep vigil over the witch's body. The film would likely terrify a class of 5th Graders. Makes me wish I was still a teacher. Highly recommended.
Mapman Mike
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