Late Fall Weather

We are having our first real cold spell, though it isn't too bad.  It's a clear night and it's astronomy season, but I am at home.  November is usually a very cloudy month here, along with December.  As we are buying a new vehicle tomorrow, we had to clear out the old car and get it ready for trade-in.  So no loading of the telescope.  Figures it would be clear tonight, though.  Getting back to the weather, tomorrow promises a bit of snow, a very late event this year.  And wind.  So of course we are heading to Windsor in the morning.  Another medical appointment for Deb, then lunch, then off to VW.  It's been seven years since we bought a vehicle.  The last two have been Golf sport wagons, but this time we went for a Taos.  There are several reasons why, but no need to talk about that now.  It's a regular gas user.  The electric cars do not fit our lifestyle yet.  Hopefully next time. 

 

I've been invited back twice now to the piano group I left last year.  Still not ready, so I'll give it another miss.  The pieces are currently being memorized, and I really have nothing ready to play anyway.  Each time I memorize new pieces it gets harder and harder.  As does walking up steep hills.  I wonder why that is?  I can't even drink that much beer anymore.

 

We had such amazing weather for our road trip, which is still resonating strongly with me (the trip and the weather).  We seem to have found an ideal path for the westward journey, as well as the return one.  The in between bits will differ as we explore and hike new places, but it's fun to get to know a string of towns and cities across the country where sanctuary, refuge and good times can be had.  It makes the long drive so much more fun.

 

Since I only put up some of the photos from the trip on my travel blog, I will occasionally post one or two here.  Here is one from my big hike to the top of Texas, looking down a steep drop off along the trail.  No place for a Meniere's attack up here, my friends.

 

Heights can be quite dizzying in the mountains, even on a good trail.  This is a look down along the Guadalupe Mountain Trail in Guadalupe National Park.  Not only would one have a fairly bad roll, but there would be cactus all the way, too. 

 

In film news, I'll begin with most recently watched.  Soul Kitchen is a fun and funny film from Germany and 2009.  A man runs a greasy spoon restaurant in a run down building, gradually and hilariously turning it into a very successful venue with creative and highly digestible food.  His brother loses the place in a poker game.  An unfaithful girlfriend and a bad back doesn't stop him, nor an old boat captain who never pays his rent.  Enjoyable stuff from Mubi.

Leaving Mubi Nov. 30th. 

 

Before that we watched a Claude Chabrol film called The Flower of Evil, from 2003.  The story is strange but engrossing.  A woman is running for mayor in the French provences somewhere.  Her second husband is a cheating scumbag, and hates the thought of her in politics.  Her daughter and the son of the husband are getting very chummy.  And old Aunt Line has a few aces up her sleeve to help them along.  The French Resistance against the Nazis is brought up, someone gets killed, and Aunt Line gets an old skeleton to finally come out of the closet.  There is some very fine acting, some strange twists, and an usual ending, though it is happy for most.

 

Leaving Mubi Nov. 30th. 

 

Before that it was time for another viewing of Tarkovsky's Stalker.  Having read Roadside Picnic recently, I watched to rewatch the film.  I have many quibbles with the film, but I loved much of it.  The look, feel (and dark hues) of the opening and closing scenes are unmatched for dank and dreary atmosphere.  We see no colour until the three travellers are in the Zone, on their way to a building with a room that offers one's greatest desire.  It's probably best to not even think about the novel when watching (same with the director's version of Solaris).  No one can photograph water and use it metaphorically like Tarkovsky.  His dialogue gets somewhat melodramatic at times, and he really doesn't effectively show how dangerous it really is to be where they are.  However, the locations are perfect, the mood is consistent and very claustrophobic, and the photography nothing less than a marvel.  I wish he had played up the SF angle more, though the final scene is a good one.  Definitely worth rewatching.

Showing on the Criterion Channel. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

Summer's Final Kick

It's heatwave time in the Motor Cities (Detroit/Windsor), and yes, we are stuck doing our hill training and hiking this week in some very warm and humid air.  Monday we were climbing Malden Hill by 9 am, but it was already too late.  The sun was shining, and we slowly cooked ourselves.  Tuesday is long hike day, but there should be shade, at least.  The heat will last through Wednesday, and from then on it should be cooler.  In the olden days, when we were still teaching, we would head to New Mexico in mid-August.  Which meant we had to train through July and the first half of August.  I don't really know how we managed to do that.

And speaking of school, kiddies and teachers go back Tuesday, likely to some very warm classrooms.  We will have to drive by the local school tomorrow on our way to our hike, just up the road.  We shall wave and smile as we pass by.....

In piano news, I am trying to memorize the final few bars of Beethoven's Op 10 #1, 1st movement.  It's nearly there!  Cake and champagne soon, I hope! Then to memorize the 4th mov't, and then the 3rd.  Likely not the 2nd one, though.  It's very slow, and full of notes.

The film festival continued with the 183 minute version of Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev, a film from 1966.  It is in b & w, except for the final scene.  The film contains around 7 short features concerning Rublev, a real historical character of which virtually nothing is known.  He was an artist, an icon painter.  There is a slightly longer version, but the "shorter" one is the one most people recognize as the definitive one.  For one thing, it cuts out some animal torture scenes (but not all of them).  Set around the year 1400, it is a grim tale of artists struggling to create amidst unspeakable chaos and horrors.  There are some lighthearted moments, but these are soon wiped out by the slaughter of peasants, and other such scenes.  The final story tells of the creating of a giant bell for a prince.  It is created from scratch, and we get to witness the entire process.  This is truly amazing film work, and the recreated scenes are absolutely authentic looking and believable.  The very opening scene shows a man who can really and truly fly!  A stunning and unforgettable film.  It was shelved in the Soviet Union for 7 years after its first showing.  The Criterion edition includes many extras, and we watched several of them.

Now showing on Criterion, with several extras. 

 

Next come two features showing on Prime.  The first film was about P G Wodehouse, and his unfortunate time spent in a German prison camp.  Called Wodehouse In Exile, it is from 2013.  For anyone still unclear on what happened to him, and why he was branded (by some) a traitor during the 2nd world war, this little film should clear things up nicely.  Well acted and well presented, the world gets to hear his side of the story.

 

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Lastly comes an odd little gem, a sleeper of a film and well worth seeking out.  Friends and Crocodiles is from 2006.  Jodhi May gets to wear some expensive looking female executive clothing, and Damian Lewis gets to drive a double decker bus, and do other fun things, such as throw pretty wild parties.  The story follows the two main characters, and several interesting minor ones, through the 70s and up to the present (2006).  May plays a character determined to move up in the world, and to help change it for the better.  Lewis plays her opposite--every opportunity is his to make his life better, but he is stuck with himself and unable to do much about it.  However, when he works with May he seems to have more potential, at least.  Watching the two characters develop and change over time, and seeing them interact, makes this film worth watching more than once.  Both actors are perfect in their very different roles, though of the two he is the much more interesting character, because of his unpredictability.  Highly recommended.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Deb's SF film got accepted into a very cool festival in Manchester this week.  Only 12 films were selected from over 300 submissions.  Woo hoo!  Wish we could attend, but we'll just be getting back from our mountain hiking excursion at that time.

 

Deb also had an article about some of her film making published this week.  It's in a highly read trade magazine.  Here is a link if you care to peruse....

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

Tarkovsky Weekend; August Reading

The famous Russian film director is not a great teller of stories, but he is a supreme poet of cinematic imagery.  We watched Nostalghia, The Sacrifice, and Directed by Andrei Tarkovski, a documentary on the filming of The Sacrifice.  All three films were leaving the Criterion Channel at midnight Monday, so we were on a deadline.  We have seen the two films a long time ago.  Nostalghia was filmed in Italy, and in Italian, while The Sacrifice was filmed in Sweden in Swedish.  Of the two films I much prefer Nostalghia, which has always been my favourite film by the director.

 From 1983.  Possibly his best film.

 From 1986.

 A documentary from 1988.

Though any Tarkovsky film is worth watching, usually many times, Nostalghia is one that really stands out.  The theme of water is prevalent throughout, though the climax switches to fire (as it does in The Sacrifice).  The entire film is mesmerizing from a composition standpoint, and includes the most wonderful images ever put on film.  Both it and The Sacrifice deal with mental illness, though in very different ways.  The final image in Nostalghia is the most brilliant thing I've seen since discovering the paintings by Caspar David Friedrich.  I don't like talking about Tarkovsky's films; they are too visual.  But I love seeing them.  We saw The Mirror awhile back, and will soon review the rest of them, including Stalker, Solaris, and Andre Rublev and Ivan's Childhood.  Thank the gods for the Criterion Channel, and modern restoration of great films!

The documentary really gave a close up view of how the director worked.  Basically he had his hand in every single frame of the film, and must have been hard to work with.  He sees himself as a collaborator with his team, but his dictatorship is on display for all to see.  How else could these films have been made?  This is one man's vision, not from a team.  There are quotes from his diary, and interviews with his wife. 

Last week, Deb's choice was a 1982 Australian film directed by Gillian Armstrong called Star Struck.  It is an amusing but very light weight tale of a brother sister team entering the entertainment business, and in the process trying to save the family pub from bankruptcy.  Pop music and lots of dancing all through it.  Not my cup of tea, but it is watchable, thanks to the energy of the lead teenage actress.

 From Australia, 1982.  Now showing on Criterion.

August Reading

I read ten books related to Avon/Equinox authors, and one unrelated.  The unrelated one was by Angela Carter, called Heroes and Villains.  A post-apocalyptic tale in the tradition of Davy, by Edgar Pangborn (a much superior volume), it describes the life of a young girl who abandons the safety of her tower and village of scholars after the death of her father.  She is thrust into a cruel world.  Whereas Pangborn tells his tale of woe with some humour and much warmth and affection, Carter's story is all hardship and cruelty, and a bit hard to take.  I think it is an allegory of when a girl leaves home to follow the guy of her dreams, and what usually happens to those dreams once reality bites.  Very depressing reading.  Next month I hope to get around to reading The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells, as my non Avon/Equinox book.


I began the month by reading Harry Harrison's 4th instalment of his wonderfully quirky and very funny series, The Stainless Steel Rat Needs You.  The Rat is a reformed master criminal, now used by the galactic police to catch crooks just like he used to be.  Aided by his equally clever and resourceful wife, also a formal mastermind criminal, they make an unbeatable pair, in the tradition of Myrna Loy and William Powell.  In this latest story, they are also assisted by their twin teenage sons, two chips off the old blocks.  The opening scene, where Pappa must get the boys out of school a few days before graduation is classic Harrison at his funniest.


Next came The Diamond Contessa, the concluding book in Kenneth Bulmer's Keys To The Dimensions series.  It is a fitting conclusion, though in the end the series was all just a bit too hectic for me, with too many worlds in too short a time, and too many heroes and villains.  The first book remains the best of the bunch, but Contessa makes a worthy ending to it all.


Pawn of the Omphalos, by Tubb, is a rousing sword and sorcery tale wrapped up in a SF package.  I really liked this little masterpiece, though I would have taken the opening idea and gone somewhere totally different with it.  Definitely worth checking out.  And Jack Williamson came through with a great work entitled Trial of Terra, four interlinked stories pitting the survival of Earth against a superior race that wants to use Sol as a space flight beacon, thus wiping out the planets.  When Jack is in the groove, there is no one better in the genre.


I had one novelette left to read by Hal Clement.  Hot Planet, an early work, is classic Clement and worth a read.  This one takes place on Mercury, and is a rousing tale from the early 1960s.  It's Earthmen against an alien environment once again, and |Mercury can really dish it out.  I am finished reading all of Clement's available works, and will sadly miss him in my roster.  I am now down to 10 remaining authors.  Moorcock's The Champion of Garathorm is the 2nd book in his Castle Brass series, or 6th in the Hawkmoon series.  It is a first class story, and really gets us involved in the whole multi-verse thing for which Moorcock became famous.  So far this is an excellent series of SF/Fantasy.   One book left to go.


Rushing To Paradise is J. G. Ballard's take on the summer beach novel, a murder/mystery that takes place on the Costa del Sol in Spain, in a community of English expats.  Despite knowing it was inevitable, I hated the ending but loved the book.  This is by no means a summer beach novel; merely Ballard's take on such a thing.  It is a masterpiece of literature, a supreme bit of craftsmanship, and a tour-de-force retelling of the modern crime novel.  Not to be missed.


Malzberg's second novel, Screen (1968), has long been unavailable.  It was just re-released in July of 2020.  It was first published by a porno book company who tried out a more upper class style of x-rated book.  Needless to say, Screen met with scathing reviews and much hatred and lots of censorship.  It's really a great story, about a young man who goes to the movies and gets completely enveloped; not in the actual movie, but in imaginary relationships with the stars.  He becomes Marcello, married to Sophia, and their relationship is a total hoot to watch.  He has affairs with Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot, and many others, in his fantasy world.  His real life girlfriend is trying to save him and his job, but he turns out to be a hopeless case.  Available on Kindle, and a real gem.


From 1962 comes The Night Shapes, James Blish's take on Tarzan and the works of H. Rider Haggard.  Sadly, nothing new is added to the genre, and I felt quite disappointed in the story.  That completed my newest cycle of books, and it was then I read the book by Angela Carter mentioned at the beginning.  It was time to begin a new cycle.


The Time Hoppers, by Robert Silverberg, is a complete novelization for 1967 of a story he wrote in the 1950s called Hopper.  While I did not like the short story at the time, this novel is quite good, and though the basic story is intact, there are now enough details and character development to turn it into a very readable story.  Someone in the 2400s is sending men back to the 1970s and beyond, due to overcrowding and high unemployment in the current time frame.  The government wants control of the device, and agent Quellen is given the mission.  This is a very original and dark view of the future, and an extremely clever dip into the whole time travel can of worms.  Very well done and worth a read.


Mapman Mike