With Beltane fast approaching, it's a time for daffodils to wither and leaves to spring forth. We have about a thousand day lilies striving to bloom before the leafing trees block their sunlight. Our spring got off to a late start this year, and we are a few weeks behind. Our grass has not even been cut yet, but it is certainly starting to grow quickly now. With my final recital scheduled for Saturday afternoon, next week should be a relaxing one. We will celebrate Beltane with our final wood fire of the season, and on May 1st we will walk in the woods to scope out any blossoming wildflowers.
In home front news, Deb is slowly recovering from her two medical procedures. She is now busy selecting and entering film festivals with her newest film, Just A Peek. Check her website for any updates on public showings (upper left of this page).
There are several films to report, so I will get started on that. Claire's Camera is from 2017, and was directed by Hong Sang-Soo from South Korea. Filmed entirely in Cannes during the film festival, a female teacher from Paris meets a Korean director by chance at a cafe, beginning a series of social encounters that will hardly change the world, but will give viewers pleasure in watching developments. Claire likes to use her instant camera and takes a lot of photos of people. She also meets Manhee, recently fired form her film promotion job by her female boss, and Claire helps the Korean woman understand why she was terminated. It's a film that is not really about a whole lot, and it is very short. A low point of the film is when the Korean director berates Manhee in public for wearing shorts. This from the guy who slept with her recently. It does show the ridiculous social differences between east and west, especially with someone from an older (male) and more rigid Asian background. All in all a pretty likeable film.
Songs of Earth is from Norway, directed by Margreth Olin. From 2023 it is a combination nature film and one about the director's aging parents. Her 84 year old father leads us to the secret and sacred places in the awe-inspiring valley where he has lived all his life. Using expert drone and helicopter shots, we get unprecedented views of glaciers, forest, mountains, and the sea. Olin uses a four season approach, and we get to spend a year in the valley, most of it outdoors exploring and walking and climbing. Co-produced by Liv Ullman and Wim Wenders the film is meant for a big screen. Please do not watch it on your phone.
Art College 1994 is also from 2023, an animated film from China that details the life of art and music students from a Chinese college 30 years ago. Directed by Liu Jian, we follow the life of several male art major slackers and two very different female music majors. While the film is often laugh out loud funny, we can also feel the agony of these students trying to figure out how they are going to fit into an adult world that is alien to them. Viewers might classify the art boys as slackers, but they are constantly trying to push boundaries and find limits, usually butting against tradition as they seek out a more modern outlook. Definitely worth checking out.
In further local news, we have updated and enlarged our main computer monitor, mostly for gaming purposes. I am playing a lot of Train Sim 5 now, and working my way through Amnesia: Dark Descent. It's a Ben Q model and much much better than the older and smaller one. That one is now upstairs on my non-internet computer that I use for older games and such.
The next update is likely to be my slender reading list from April. See you then.
Mapman Mike
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