Winter's Heart

The worst of our winter temps usually falls between about January 10th and very early February, even up to around the 13th of that month.  Six weeks of winter isn't bad for somewhere in Canada.  Sudbury is at least double that length.  So far the winter hasn't been that bad in our area.  It's been cold enough to be sure, with worse to come early next week.  We've had about 3.5" of snow, but a lot of that has now melted.  Temps have been pretty close to average, with cold spells mixing it up with brief thaws.  We are currently thawing.  So no complaining here, yet.  I've been ice skating (indoor arena) twice now, and hope to go again next week.  However, a major cold front is now arriving.

 

Deb had an unusually busy medical week, and we are both glad it has come to an end.  We had an experience with how medical services should be.  Deb was awaiting an MRI in Windsor.  Current wait time is 6 to 7 months.  So off we went to Detroit.  Booked an appointment for Thursday evening.  Back out the door of the private clinic 35 minutes later, photos in hand.  The results were sent to her oral surgeon the next morning, when her appointment was.  Instant service.  Of course we had to pay for the scan, but it was actually quite a reasonable cost, considering how much the machines cost.  The results confirm that she has some arthritis in her jaw.  She will continue on her regime of soft foods for another two months, with physio here in A'burg. 

 

A lung scan also uncovered the cause of Deb's breathing problem, and she is now being treated for that ailment with medication.  So the battles go.

 

In film news, we recently completed watching a 4-part made-for-TV series called Christ Stopped In Eboli.  From 1979 and directed by Francesco Rosi, it stars Gian Maria Volontè as the writer, artist, and sometimes doctor Carlo Levi, based on his memoirs.  He was exiled in 1935 to an isolated village in the south of Italy in 1939.  The film is a fascinating look at medieval times with electricity, as a city intellectual tries to reconcile himself to life in the slow lane.  This sometimes reminded me of a Doctor Who series, with a man suddenly transported to another dimension and time.  The photography is stunning, the use of hilltop towns superb, and the day to day life of the exiled man and the people of the village is brought to us in a way that a book or memoirs likely never could.  Low key but highly recommended.  Like many Criterion showings, the restored print is beautiful, and there are several extras to view afterwards.

 

Showing on Criterion. 

 

Desert Fury from 1947 purports to be a film noir, but could just as easily be seen as a western.  Lizabeth Scott plays a 19 year old woman who falls in love with a gangster.  Despite her mother's interference (Mary Astor), and sheriff friend Burt Lancaster, she plunges headlong into an affair.  It isn't until the last few moments of the film that she realizes her mistake.  The photography and background scenery are a highlight of the film, and much has been made of the possible homosexual relationship between the gangster and his number one man.  There is an overwrought score by Miklós Rózsa, and a really dumb three-car chase at the finale.  Filmed in brilliant Technicolor, this is a unique film, crossing a gangster movie with a western.

Leaving Criterion January 31st. 

 

And now it's time to prepare for the season's first true polar vortex.  We are in for some really cold temperatures from Sunday through Thursday.  Can't wait.

 

Mapman Mike

 

Winter Misses Again

We are now nearly halfway through January, and winter has not appeared.  It is coming, though, in about a week.  But we got the mother of all rainstorms Saturday, with almost 3" falling in our water-soaked yard.  North of us it was ice and snow.  I don't know how much snow 3" of rain would make, but it's likely a lot.  I'll take the rain, though our county is inundated.  The lakes are so high that the slightest offshore wind floods vast areas.  It turned cold today, but we still managed a walk.  Warmer temps are coming tomorrow for a few days.  But by next Sunday, if predictions hold true, winter will finally arrive here.

Piano practice is going well.  I have scheduled a pm concert on the 30th, and an evening one on February 1st.  Weather permitting, of course.  The final push will begin this week for me.  It's called getting serious.  And the week after that will be even tougher.  I wish I could play more often than once or twice each year.  But even gathering a small audience for a specific date is difficult enough.

In movie news, recent choices have included Soylent Green (mine, from 1973), and The Sweet Smell of Success (Deb's, from 1957).  Charlton Heston isn't too bad as Andy, the detective cop living in overcrowded New York City.  He lives with Sol, wonderfully played by Edward G. Robinson, an old man who remembers the good old days.  He meets the beautiful and seductive Shirley while on a case, but their relationship is different than in the book (less complex).  The book was called Make Room, Make Room, and was written in 1966 by Harry Harrison.  At least Shirley will continue to eat, as she sticks to her old job, which is living with and entertaining the new (very rich) landlord.  The very rich lack nothing, including plenty of space to live, heating and air conditioning, running water hot and cold, and food and liquor that ordinary people cannot get hold of.

Soylent Green is a new type of food.  In the book it is made from lentils and greens, but in the movie it's made from--well, watch the movie and find out for yourself.  The film holds up reasonably well, and like other 70s movies has a lot to say about the environment and what we have done to it.

 Showing in January on Criterion Channel.

The Sweet Smell of Success, from 1957, is filmed in beautiful b & w by James Wong Howe, and is directed by Alexander MacKendrick and stars Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster.  Lancaster plays the part of a Walter Winchell persona, a gossip columnist known as J J, who has the country's ear.  Tony Curtis is his protege, a man just as slimy, who is a press agent.  The New York location shooting is still stunning, and the extreme lows these two men will go to get J J's sister away from a jazz guitarist, are hard hitting and beyond any type of moral underpinning.  They both get their comeuppance at the very end, but along the way we truly despair that such people can even exist in the same world as us.  The only people who are likely worse are political leaders and politicians.

Now showing on Criterion. 

In other news, I talked to my Mom today.  Dad is sick with a bad cold, and turned his back the wrong way.  Double jeopardy!  Hope you get well soon.  My Mom's sister, my Aunt Pauline, just completed her move from a two bedroom apartment into a senior residence, where she is down to one room.  Her brother, my Uncle Bill, already lives there.  He has contracted a bad case of shingles recently, and is suffering greatly.  He is 87.  The residence is open, and they can come and go as they please.  Meals are included, and there are many common areas.

No more news for now.  Logan's Run coming up later this week (my choice).  See you soon.

Mapman Mike