It's coming. It seems to arrive each and every year. We have had a rather pleasant autumn, if you discount the fact that we have had no rain. This year our first glimpse of what is to come will begin arriving Sunday, and by Monday and Tuesday it will be cold. The weather change coincides with the next astronomy session, so it will be too cold to stand in an open field with my telescope. I had a rather splendid observing month in October, however, and made it out on five separate nights. Even so I'd like to get out three more times before winter, so I hope the temps get seasonal again later next week.
I've been rereading my journals from all my previous visits to London. The first thing that strikes me is how much energy we had back in the day. During our March Break from teaching we would have a full day of museums, walking, pubs and navigating transport, followed by an evening concert, then at least one other pub before beginning the long trek back to our abode. And right back at it next day, six or seven days in a row. This is while many of our colleagues were lying around on warm and sunny beaches, blinking in the sunlight. The weather in London was frequently cold and damp. But what fun we had, getting to know another great city in such detail (Detroit being the other one). We hope to return soon. Here are some pics from our 2007 visit.
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In local travel news, my mother is coming to visit next week! She will arrive Tuesday and stay until Thursday morning. She will arrive with her sister, my Aunt Pauline, courtesy of Cathy, Pauline's daughter and my cousin. They will stay at a small hotel in downtown Amherstburg, about 7 minutes from our house. There won't be too much on the agenda, except lots of sitting and talking, with perhaps a visit to a local winery or three. Needless to say that our house will get a good cleaning beforehand.
In movie news there are a few to report. Hitchcock's 1934 The Man Who Knew Too Much is well worth seeing again, and of course Criterion has a pristine and restored print. After watching the film again about a kidnapped young girl and the parents trying to do the right thing, we were treated to a 17' discourse by Guillermo del Toro, who has done this sort of thing for a number of his favourite films showing on Criterion. Peter Lorre is terrific as the evil mastermind, who fights to the bitter end to carry out his assassination plot. The final scene, a shoot out between police and bad guys, goes on and on and on, but is a great ending to the film. Often these events last very briefly, or revert to negotiations. Not this one! Band bang bang till the end.
Another film we hadn't seen in decades was All The President's Men, a 1976 film starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as two newspaper men who end up bringing down Nixon as a result of the Watergate break-in, an assault by Republicans to infiltrate and wire tap Democrat headquarters in Washington. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film is mostly talking. However, the pacing is fast and the tension builds as the two men get closer and closer to the truth. The real star here is how the workings of the press are revealed, a pretty much all-boys club of reporters and editors. This is a don't miss film, though the ending is abrupt, possibly due to cost overruns.
Lastly comes Hitchcock's 1926 The Lodger. While the story is weak (everyone seems so amazingly stupid in this silent movie) the photography is quite good, evoking German Expressionism with its shadows, odd angles and claustrophobic atmosphere. The legendary London fog is in abundance, as are the killings. One would think that after the 8th Tuesday night killing in a row of a blonde woman that blonde women would not go out alone at night. Alas, but they do. Truly blonde in all things, perhaps? Joe the detective is as thick as a brick, and super jealous besides. The lodger of the title is nearly as dumb as everyone else, keeping his secret until it is too late. Why was it a secret, anyway? At least the cliche of having the blonde heroine menaced by the serial killer is avoided, and a happy ending does ensue (except for all those blonde women). Not one of the great silent films, but watched a lot because of who made it. Beautifully restored and showing on Criterion.
Mapman Mike
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