February

It will be one to remember.  For two weeks now we have been in a snowy deep freeze.  After Monday night's 9" snowfall, we now have over a foot on the ground.  The good news is that there is enough snow to snowshoe.  The bad news is that we are too tired from shovelling to do much else physically.  I have shovelled every day this week so far, and it is snowing again right now.  The temps are supposed to go above freezing on Monday, which will make 17 days in a row staying below 0 C, not counting wind chills.  But the temps are not going to reach the daily average well into March, so we are staying below normal for a long time yet.  Wednesday's low of -22.5C broke the record here for that day.  Remember, folks, this is extreme southern Canada, not the great white north.

I had fun watching all the tension during the Mars landing today.  Personally I thought the mission would fail, due to its complexity.  But it went off (so far) without a hitch, and it was a real thrill once that confirmation came that all was well.  We have the NASA TV channel on our system, so we watched in on big screen TV.  Can't wait for the science to start now.

We have been using Skype to talk with Deb's mom, who is still in the hospital, two weeks now.  We also talked with my parents the other night, the first time I've seen them in nearly 15 months.  So if anyone out there reading this wants to Skype with us, let us know.  We are good to go.

In Mogollon news, his right eye has been changing almost daily, but at least it is not causing him any discomfort.  It grew to the size of a green grape last week, before shrinking down to the size of a pea.  We send regular photo updates to the vet.  He has an appetite, purrs a lot, and is now even coming upstairs to nap with me in the afternoon.  Drops only go in his good eye now, as his bad one is quite dead, though still physically changing.

 

In movie news, Deb's choice from the 'leaving February 28th' list was a wonky film directed by Stanley Donen called The Grass Is Greener, from 1960.  Starring Cary grant, Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr, and Jean Simmons, the best thing about the film is the hilarious opening credits sequence, though it has absolutely nothing to do with the film itself.  Billed as a 'sparkling bedroom farce,' I would consider the film a farce, at least.  I found it quite distasteful, with Mitchum too old as the rude intruder who falls for Kerr.  And why does she fall for him in the first place?  Cary Grant seems to sleepwalk through his role, with Simmons providing the only spark to the film.  Give it a miss. 

Leaving Criterion Feb. 28th. 

 

My main choice for the week consisted of several short films, totally about 95 minutes. Four of the films were by Ghanian director Akosua Adoma Owusu.  From 2005 came Adjube Kete, a six minute film following a day in the life of a young village girl, who is bullied by her family as she goes about her daily chores.  Next, from 2010 comes Drexciya, a brilliant 12 minute film about an abandoned swimming pool.  Here is the blurb for the film..... 

"Akosua Adoma Owusu draws on the Afrofuturist legends propagated by the underground Detroit-based band Drexciya—about a mythical underwater subcontinent populated by the unborn children of African women thrown overboard during the Transatlantic slave trade—for her portrait of a once-grand, now abandoned public swimming facility in Accra, Ghana."   

I think that J. G. Ballard would have loved this film.  I really liked it myself.  Next up was Kwaku Ananse, a 26 minute film from 2013, telling about a young African American woman visiting Ghana for her father's funeral.  It veers off into local folklore, and enters some lovely landscape.  Quite well done.  Lastly from this director came her Mi Brone Ba, from 2009.  This is a funny look at hair braiding, using an African tradition of practicing on little white dolls.  It is 22 minutes long, and ends with a joke that is very funny.  After these four films, I want to visit Accra even more now.  I spent a lot of time last summer wandering the streets and visiting markets using Google Maps, and I keep an eye on flights coming and going from Amsterdam, which is directly connected to Detroit.

 

Next was Touch, directed by Shola Amoo, a British director.  From 2013, it is a 12 minute SF film about a beautiful android falling in love.  A very simple film, of the kind one sees so often at film festivals.  Lastly came The Lonedale Operator, directed in 2018 by American filmmaker Michael Almereyda, lasting 15 minutes.  It is an interview with the aged poet John Ashbery.  Extremely well done and fun to watch, it is illustrated with clips from several old movies.  

 

My leaving Feb. 28th film for tonight is Dr. Strangelove.  It's been way too long....  It's also DSO night, with a Brahms chamber piece on the program.

 

For today's art image, I have chosen a favourite image of Deb taken at the Nelson Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City.  Taken a few years ago when Deb still had long hair.

 

Deb visits Kansas City, and meets a friend.  

 

Mapman Mike

 

Travelling to New Mexico, Africa, and Umbria

 

 We have made many of our 38 trips to New Mexico in the latter half of August.  In our teaching days there was only mid-March, July, and August that we could travel afar.  The latter half of August was always a bitter sweet time, because following the hiking and camping trip to NM, we would be right back at work.  Many of our wedding anniversary days were spent climbing mountains and doing extraordinary hiking.   I have been leafing through my NM journals, and getting sharp pangs of "I want to go there again" lately.  Now, of course, we have the option of going in September, October, and even November, so it is doubtful if we will ever visit again in August.  August is the height of the monsoons, and can be very wet and stormy.  But I will always feel the call at this time, regardless.

Here is a photo from one of our spectacular August hikes in days of yore.  This one overlooks Georgia O'Keeffe country, not far from her home in Abiquiu, which also featured in "Breaking Bad."

My summer in Africa saw me spend several days in Accra, Ghana, studying the city up close with Google Maps.  Maps lists all the museums, shops, and restaurants, with links to visit websites and view photos, and Street View allows one to walk the streets, looking around in all directions.  Accra is a really fine city, with several veg restaurants and some lovely hotels.  It faces the Atlantic in a southerly way, and the beaches look great for strolling.  

After that I moved on to the sources of the Nile River.  I began with the Victoria Nile at Lake Victoria, lazily following it to where it becomes the White Nile, and then on to Khartoum where it joins the Blue Nile.  I then followed the Blue Nile all the way back to its source.  Reading Jules Verne's Five Weeks In A Balloon got me interested in the Nile expedition.  Realizing the extreme conditions the early explorers had to face made my desk top adventuring seem rather tame by comparison, but it was still fun, and I came to know parts of the Nile quite well.  In my explorations around Lake Tanganyika I discovered a place to stay in one of the national parks.  It is called Greystoke Mahale, and looks so good that I am literally thinking of trying to get there.  With access to jungle, chimps, the lake, and a mountainous national park, it would be the experience of a lifetime.

Greystoke, of course, is named in tribute of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan character.  As an adolescent, Tarzan was my main hero.  Those books led me to read other books about rain forests.  If I ever do go to Africa, it will be either Algeria for a desert experience, or Tanganyika for the jungle.

It's surprising how many books related to Avon/Equinox project are set in Africa.  Novels by Ballard, Spinrad, Blish, Chad Oliver, and others have whetted my appetite even further.

Greystoke Mahale main building, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.  Sleeping cabins are hidden. 

I have also spent a considerable amount of time in Perugia this summer, courtesy of Mr. Google Map.  We have a 272 page Martin Randall volume, which contains all of their 2019 escorted tours.  I randomly chose The Heart of Italy, and have been closely following the itinerary, exploring medieval cites and towns of Perugia.  The hotel is in Spello, and day trips go from there.  So far I have explored in detail Spello, Assisi, Todi, Perugia city, Foligno, Montefalco, and Gubbio.  Left to see are Orvieto and Spoleto.

                        Spello, Italy.  Image courtesy of http://www.ginamussio.com/spello-italy/ 

Hopefully all of my future travelling will not have to be virtual.  In the meantime, we are doing well at saving money for the day when we will feel safe to venture deep into the wide and wonderful world once again.

Mapman Mike