Meniere's, Western Smoke, and Clear Nights

It's been a long time, fellow readers.  Things have been a bit busy around the Homestead of late.  Most recently I am just coming down from the high of having five superbly clear nights in a row. That's ten hours of driving and set up, plus more than 16 hours of observing time.  And the notes that go with that.  Usually time and schedules go out the window during such a week, and that is exactly what happened.

Before that we also had some clear nights, but the sky was pale with smoke from western wildfires (as it is again today), so astronomy was not an option.  I thought for certain that I would miss the month, but it miraculously cleared out for those five spectacular nights.  I am able to begin observing now by 8:30 pm EDT, so I usually wrap up around midnight or shortly thereafter.  Thus my sleep pattern was not greatly altered, and it is now coming back into alignment.  However, during the smoky sky period I also had three attacks of Meniere's, two of them very debilitating.  I have been 98% deaf in my right ear for several months now, and it was only a matter of time.  I'm sure other attacks are forthcoming.  But at least the Meniere's and the smoky skies coincided, and by the time skies grew black again, I was ready!

Today was Deb's infusion day, plus we had to take our car in to have a rattle fixed.  The rattle is in the rear view mirror, mounted on the front windshield, and the repair is so extensive that we were given a loaner vehicle until it can be repaired ( a part had to be ordered).  After Deb's infusion we got a take away lunch from a new vegan fast food place nearby.  We took our lunch down to a park with picnic tables along the shore of nearby Lake St. Clair, and enjoyed the 80 F temps and hazy sunshine (that smoke again).  After that we went shopping for groceries for the week, then headed back home.  More astronomy notes awaited to be written up, as well as a book review, a really fun but devastating one by Barry Malzberg called Cinema.  Now it's time to practice piano again!

We got through a few film screenings, and this weekend is Deb's choice for a festival.  My two recent picks were Zatoichi and the Chess Expert (#12, from 1965) and another Japanese film called A Colt Is My Passport.  The Zatoichi film came close to being an art film, with some amazing wide screen photography, some of the cruelest fighting wounds yet seen in the series, and a story that went well beyond the usual type, involving a mother and her very cute little girl.  Best of all, I had never seen this one before!  There is some broad comedy, though a tad on the sadistic side, and the usual high quality sword fight scenes.

 

                                                Now showing on Criterion Channel.

A Colt Is My Passport is from 1967, directed by Takashi Nomura, and is a violent tribute to American 40s noir films, with a nod given also to spaghetti westerns.  It is short and highly entertaining, starring Joe Shishido, the man with chipmunk cheeks.  The hero is an assassin who completes his job as ordered, is paid, but is then unable to leave the country.  When his crime boss joins forces with the enemy gang, everyone turns on him and tries to kill him.  He has to try and outwit and out shoot both gangs.  Action packed, though there is some nice down time, too.

                                                 Now showing on Criterion Channel.

Deb's pick last week was The Card, from 1952.  Directed by Ronald Neame and starring Alec Guiness, Glynis Johns, and Petulia Clark, it is a wickedly funny film depicting the hero's rise to power and riches from the lowest end of the class system (his mother is a washer woman).  Guiness is in top form and seems to enjoy the role of a lifetime.  Fun to watch!

Now showing on Criterion. 

In other news, we are expecting an afternoon outdoor visit from Amanda later this week.  Our social calendar is suddenly full.  Until next time, enjoy these early autumn days (and nights).

Mapman Mike

 

 

Clear Nights Ahead

Two of them predicted, in a row.  That is big news.  And it is cool, so the mosquitoes may not be a problem.  However, the late summer and autumn moon rise timings are the pits.  I will only have about 2.5 hours of darkness tonight before the big white beast rises in the east, and about 3 hours tomorrow night.  Still, I am getting excited!

My movie choice this week was called Our Man In Havanna, a Carol Reed film starring Alec Guinness.  A vacuum cleaner salesman in Cuba is recruited as a British spy, in a very funny film that features great performances from Ernie Kovacs and Maureen O'Hara, along with Burl Ives, Noel Coward, and Ralph Richardson.  From a novel by Graham Greene, the movie was filmed in Cuba.  We have seen the picture a very long time ago, but it still seems fresh and mostly funny.  A nice take on spy movies, from 1959.  This weekend is film festival weekend.  Three films have been chosen, but we'll see how many will get watched on an astronomy weekend.

 My movie pick for this week, from Criterion.

Deb's movie choice was Barbara Stanwyck's breakout film, directed by Frank Capra.  Ladies of Leisure is from 1930, with Ms Stanwyck playing the part of a party girl.  She is rescued very late one night by an artist, and he immediately wants to paint her.  She soon falls in love with him, but he is rich and out of her league.  Perhaps.  Ms Stanwyck gives a tour de force performance, bringing out the complexity of her character.  Of course the film is melodrama, but her performance never stoops to anything less than great stage acting.  This was Capra's 5th sound film, and the restored print was a marvel to behold.  The film is nearly 90 years old, but is now in better condition than when it first ran in theatres. 

 Deb's movie pick this week.  Love that fine print build up!!

In other news, Mogi the cat,who has been with us since September of 2007, has been limping rather badly, having problems with his back right foot.  He seems to have sprained it, as it gets better for a time, then he goes and does something and injures it again.  We are watching him, but he seems comfortable, still eats like a full grown horse, and is very social.

Deb had her infusion on Tuesday, and I had my teeth cleaned.  Thursday I had a follow up with my M.D. regarding my iritis flareup a few weeks ago.  Today, ADT is sending a techie over to reinstall the alarm on our front door, which had to be removed when we had it replaced.  The new door is amazing, and we notice how much quieter it is in the house now, too.  In the summer less cold air will escape, and in the winter less heat will escape.  Though the door will never pay for itself in our lifetime, it will make us more comfortable.

Mapman Mike

Movie Musings

Late June and the first half of July have brought summer weather full force into our area.  After a bitterly cold winter, and a depressingly cold and wet spring, the weather has been non-stop blue skies and hot temps.  More of the same is predicted for the rest of July.  Though we have not had any extreme temps, it will turn out to be one of the hottest Julys on record, and that is saying something.

Work in the basement proceeds apace, with some new flooring added and many books reshelved.  Even my old Edgar Rice Burroughs collection, with fabulous cover art by Frazetta and Krenkel, are back out on shelves.  Mostly art books still to unpack, but I need another shelf and more bookends. 

It has now been six weeks since Deb's surgery, and 10 days since beginning some basic at home physio exercises without her arm sling (it is officially retired).  This week she returns to the physio room, to ramp things up a bit more.  I have a routine medical check up on Tuesday.

In film news, Deb's work has been accepted once again at the major film festival in Cincinnati, Cindependent.  She sent in three short films, hoping that one would be accepted.  It was, but so were the other two!  We will be heading south the last weekend in August, hopefully with a complimentary room downtown once again.... 

My choice of film for last week was a silly British comedy starring Alec Guinness.   He plays the captain of a passenger/cargo boat that travels regularly between Gibraltar and North Africa.  He has a wife in each port, and lives very different lives with them.  In Africa he is married to Yvonne De Carlo, and they eat out and go dancing and drinking every night.  He brings her flowers each time, and they drink champagne.  In Gibraltar he is married to Celia Johnson.  He is in bed every night at 10 pm, doesn't go out for dinner, and buys his wife domestic presents like a vacuum cleaner and sewing machine.  The movie becomes funnier when De Carlo wants to become more domestic, and his British wife wants to start living life a lot more.  A very sexist film that likely could not be easily watched by a younger generation, but it has some fine moments of true comedy.  Nicholas Phipps is wonderful as the first officer.  The film is on the Criterion Channel.

 The Crown Prince is a three hour drama showing on Prime, detailing the short life of Rudolf, crown prince of the the Austria-Hungarian Empire.  If you want to see some stunning locations, costumes, and some decent historical drama, this makes a nice change from all of the British history lessons we get.  Though it focuses more on the Prince's love life than his ill-fated political career, he was so hampered that he could not have done anything much anyway.  The three hours or so goes by very quickly.

Deb's Criterion choice for last week was a film noir neither of us had seen.  From 1951, Robert Ryan plays a city cop that is getting too rough with the scum he has to deal with every night.  He is warned by his colleagues and his superior, but continues on his mean streak until the captain sends out of town to help solve a murder.  The movie, which has so far been gritty and urban, shifts to the snowy mountains, where the local sheriff and a posse are hunting down someone who murdered a young girl coming home from school.  Soon the chase is on.  It is an unusual noir in that the movie completely changes gear halfway through, and the ending, though not perfect, is more satisfying than most noir films.  Directed by Nicholas Ray, he became ill during filming and Ida Lupino, who plays the blind sister to the murderer, helped direct some of the final scenes.  Definitely worth a look.

I am halfway through July, where I am trying to memorize four of my piano pieces.  I seem to be on track, and have really been putting in the hours, so I should make it.  I will report back at the end of the month, but so far so good.

Mapman Mike