July Film Festival

The fun never stops here at Lone Mtn Homestead!  We finally managed to get the 2nd part of our front steps railing installed.  There is room to put one more segment, but perhaps next year.  We are still awaiting cement work to finish off the garage foundation project.  Hopefully this week.

I've been toying with three possibilities for a near future road trip, about two weeks long.  One involves a drive to Albuquerque, but only allowing four days in NM.  This is so we can visit some places we have overlooked for too long along the way, such as Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas, as well as the Wichita and Quartz Mountains in SW Oklahoma, and Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle.  The trip would culminate in two important hikes near Albuquerque.

If Deb were to come along on this trip, she would not see her mother for a full month.  She would not be allowed to visit until two weeks after returning from the US.  If I were to go alone (the 2nd possibility), I would fly to St Louis, rent a car, and do the trip myself, returning to St Louis to fly home.  I would be gone two weeks, but Deb would have the car and still be in touch with her mom.

Possibility #3 would see us take the long way (through Canada) to visit Winnipeg, Manitoba.  We would stop briefly in Sudbury going and returning.  We would use our own vehicle.  Deb would be gone two weeks, but be able to immediately visit her mother upon returning.  This would be a spectacular autumn drive around Lake Superior to a big Canadian city I have always wanted to visit.  We would also make an excursion to Gimli, on Lake Winnipeg.  Autumn weather could be frightful this far north, however.  So wheels in my head are turning.  A lot depends on Covid, and now Monkeypox, infection rates.

In film news, Deb chose the 8-part PBS series Around the World in 80 Days, starring David Tennant.  Though colourful and well acted, and despite following the book much of the time, I was left feeling somewhat disappointed overall.  The best episodes were the ones in France and Italy, and the one where they are stranded on a Pacific island.  The series is filled with stereotypes and cliches, much like the novel, and would likely appeal most to children who could sit through the adult moments patiently.  I would have no interest in seeing it again.  I read the novel in high school, so it's been a while.

Now streaming on PBS Masterworks.

Still no rain, but perhaps tomorrow.  Highs in the mid 90s with humidity again tomorrow.  Next time we meet here I hope to discuss my newest piano program.

Mapman Mike

 

Onward and Onward

Entering our third month of staying home now, except for rare outings for groceries, and even rarer clear nights for astronomy.  We actually had two good nights, Monday and Tuesday.  I was out Monday night, but was kept home Tuesday by my 2nd Meniere's attack in 3 days.  This season always seems to bring about the worst of it for me, due to allergies.  And I had really pulled back on my meds.  But I have resumed.  My right ear remains about 95% plugged, making practicing piano more challenging.  Thunderstorm season has now arrived, and some warm Gulf air is entering our neighbourhood, after a very chilly April and May.

In movie news, we finished Around the World In 80 Days, as well as The Ghost Goes West, both showing on Criterion in very fine prints.  80 Days features some wonderful colour photography of once exotic parts of the world, before hordes of people in tee shirts and shorts descended upon them.  I have never read the story by Jules Verne, but that will be remedied.  Ghost was also an entertaining diversion, as a Scottish castle is moved to Florida, stone by stone.  The castle ghost accompanies the move.  The ghost effects are quite good.

Both films now showing on Criterion Channel. 

In art news, there is still no sign of when the DIA might reopen to the public.  Our border with the US will be closed to casual traffic at least until June 28th anyway.  So I continue to sift through the on-line offerings.  Here is today's selection.

Clearing in the Woods by Renoir (the museum has a very strong Renoir collection) is a painting that expands our appreciation for the artist, as it shows a subject inspired by Barbizon artists.  These artists were painting landscapes near Paris in the mid 1800s, and several of them rank among my favourite painters.  Rousseau, Bonheur, Daubigny, Courbet, Millet, Diaz, and many others were outside painting long before it caught on with the Impressionists.  Inspiration for the Barbizon school of painting came directly from nature, and Dutch 17thC landscape paintings.

Clearing In The Woods, Renoir, 1865.  Oil on canvas, 22.5" x 32.5".  

Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.  

Painted when the artist was 24, it is one of the rare Renoir pictures with no human figures in it.  It also shows the move away from more realistic depictions, such as those by Rousseau, to a more abstract version of nature, softer and warmer in many ways than the Barbizon school.  We get the feeling of a hot day, where sunlight is shimmering across the land.

Detail of left foreground.  The image is not out of focus.  Renoir was intending to show landscape through summer heat and humidity.

 Detail of right side, showing some of the humid sky. 

In gaming news, I finished playing Four Last Words, a very fun and very funny game based on early paintings and music.  The object of the game is to commit all 7 Deadly Sins.  It is very challenging, and I needed a walkthrough for Gluttony and Lust.  Highly recommended, with laugh out loud moments nearly everywhere throughout, including the excellent end game sequence.  I will definitely play this one again soon.  It was created by a single person, and is relatively unknown.

Deb and I recently started playing a game called Kentucky Route 0, one of the strangest little creations I have ever encountered.  It is played in 2D, with surreal and very beautiful and imaginative graphics.  The game was released in 5 parts, but we downloaded the entire package.  We are still playing Part 1, which has been a pretty amazing game so far.  You play as a man with a truck attempting to deliver some antiques to various rural addresses.

Image from part 1, near the beginning.

 Image from part 1. 

Our listening program is moving along.  We recently heard Symphony #102 by Haydn.  Only two more left!  And we recently acquired a lot of CDs by Brian Eno.  Lots left to do around here, at least for another month or so.  Until next time, happy stay at home time!

Mapman Mike