Snow, cold, wind. It arrived more than a month early this year. We appear to be having our January instead of December. Currently hovering just above freezing, that will once again change overnight to some pretty severe cold for this part of the south. There have been a few pretty nice sunsets, however, and before all the leaves came tumbling down there were some lovely scenes from the garden. But now it's just harsh winter, though in a week it looks as if we may return to more seasonal weather, just in time for Solstice.
Last week I had a chance to play my newest piano program on Dr. Seski's Fazioli piano. There were a few memory spots that needed brushing up. Tomorrow I take the program to Chatham to play them on Jim P.'s 9' Steinway! Though it's much less stressful to play on one's own instrument, by playing pieces on a different piano one quickly learns how to adapt to different situations. For example, the treble range of the Fazioli is not as powerful as my Yamaha, but the bass notes are stronger. So balance is a problem that has to be adjusted for each and every piece. Similar problems will arise tomorrow on the Steinway, not to mention that each piano has a totally different touch to it, and subtleties of expression must be adjusted second by second as one plays. In short, if the pieces come off pretty well on a different piano, then they should be easier to play afterwards on the home instrument. I will try and get a few photos tomorrow; I completely forgot to take some of the Fazioli.
Deb took her first injection today of her new RA drug. It is a very expensive drug, costing just over $1000.00 each month, and is self administered bi-weekly. First time went well. Two months will tell her how well it is working. The previous drug, taken as a daily pill, worked well for her RA symptoms, but seemed to cause her shortness of breath to worsen and her dry cough to increase.
In movie news there are three to report. Kaili Blues is a Chinese film from 2015 and directed by Bi Gan. Fascinating in its own way, it takes us to a region of China few westerners have seen or heard about. With good reason. It is a damp sub topical climate, and the outlying villages appear to be very poor and badly built. Grey crumbling concrete dominates the architectural landscape, and people live inside very run down housing, doing business from very run down storefronts. The plot, such as it is, serves mostly to take us deep into the river valley and forest where people form a nearly continuous population up and down the river. We are not in Kaili City for long, as one of two brothers leaves to find his young nephew, whom his younger brother was going to sell. Instead, a friend took the boy away and put him in school, but the uncle wants to raise him and goes in search. The film is noted for a continuous tracking shot of just over 40', and it is a remarkable deep dive into the lives of poorer people living along the river, seemingly far away from modern civilization. We have one more film of Bi Gan to watch, as this one has piqued our interest. A very offbeat film, and easy to watch for the most part. Very little happens except people living their lives. The young generation of males appears to be completely lost to the world.
Before that came Silvia Prieto, a 1999 film from Argentina. Billed as a deadpan comedy, it does have its moments. Silvia decides to abruptly change her life, and quits using cannabis and leaves her barista job. She buys a canary but doesn't want one that sings. She discovers that there is another Silvia Prieto in Buenos Aires and feels compelled to contact and meet with her. At times the film is brutally cold, with characters not showing much emotion. At other times we simply watch in wonder as Silvia gets a temporary job handing out free powdered soap samples with another woman her age. They end up dating each other's ex-husbands. The final shot of the movie is a bizarre documentary section that gathers several women together in a living room, all of them named Silvia Prieto, and we hear a bit about each of their lives. Not a great film, and seemingly as pointless as the lives of the characters within it, though it does have a few sparkling moments.
Before that came an even more rambling and pointless film, though this one was a bit more fun to watch. 92 in the Shade is a 1975 film directed by (and written by) Thomas McShane. What makes this one fun to watch is the cast. The film stars Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Margot Kidder, Harry Dean Stanton, Elisabeth Ashley and Burgess Meredith. Fonda wants to run a fishing guide business in Florida, but he runs into problems with Oates, just released from jail, who doesn't want the competition. After they play a mean trick on Fonda, he blows up Oates' fishing boat to even the score. Fonda is good in the role of a young man trying to wiggle his way into the world, while Burgess Meredith is hilarious as his off-his-rocker grandfather. Of the two endings filmed at the time we saw the one where Oates gets his ultimate revenge on Fonda. In the unseen ending they both end up becoming friends. Not recommended, but if you do see it it's good enough to sit through once.
Mapman Mike
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