New Windows

 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday (today) are about as cold as it ever gets down here. Tuesday morning I headed to Windsor for the first piano performance group meeting.  There are currently three of us: Alde, Nadia, and myself.  Both are teachers and piano performance majors.  The program I am working on has 7 pieces by Bach in the first half.  I played four of them on Alde's grand piano.  Next, Nadia performed a set of Beethoven variations, followed by Alde's reading of the first movement of the Waldstein Sonata, also by Beethoven.  The meeting spurred each of us to bigger and better things.  Alde wants to take a piano exam that he never took (A.R.C.T., the top exam of the Royal Conservatory); Nadia wants to get a whole program together; I have increased my practice time from about 12 hours per week to about 17 hours per week.  All of us are looking forward to our second meeting, here at the Homestead in February.  Because of the harpsichord, it could night turn into a Bach event.

The next cold day was Wednesday.  I didn't have to go out, but two new windows were installed.  We have used Centennial Windows and Doors throughout the upstairs of the house.  They are the best there is, pure and simple.  Very expensive, but one gets one's money's worth.  Their guarantee is a real guarantee.  They will even come and replace the draft stoppers beneath their doors when they wear out.  At 9:30 am, when the workers arrived, it was about 11 F outside, with a nice breeze blowing.  By the time they left at around 2 pm, it was 16 F.  Since the front door was going to be opened up so many times with the two workers coming and going, and since the furnace thermostat would be influenced by this, I shut off the boiler and turned on the wood pellet stove.  

 

The kitchen window replacement came first.  The space was wide open for less than half an hour before they plopped the new window in.  Because we kept the original wood frame, that was a much faster job than the next window.  With the wood stove chugging happily along, the downstairs was kept pretty toasty (67 F)!  Upstairs, unheated with no furnace on, we had a small electric space heater running, which kept the temp up there above 60 F.  

 

Next came the bathroom window, which was glass brick.  What a job taking that out!  It took about an hour to smash their way through it all.  Then they had to build a frame from scratch, then finally install the new window.  That bathroom got mighty chilly!  But we now have soundproof and air leakproof windows installed in 85% of the house, along with the two new doors.  Only two windows left to replace!  Once the bathroom window was in place, the wood stove was turned off and the furnace turned back on.  I was worried about the piano going out of tune, but it held up really well!  End of home improvement segment, except for a few photos.

 

The old kitchen window, showing frost buildup whenever it got cold.  Noise and air came through as well.

 

The installer at work in the kitchen.  The other guy was outside.

 

The new kitchen window.  Air tight, no frost, and almost totally soundproof. 

 

The old glass brick did not allow for any ventilation, so we had a moisture problem in the bathroom.  It also leaked cold air quite badly.

 

New bathroom window, which can open by lifting from the bottom, but it also pulls out at a slant, too, to allow for cleaning.  We can now vent the area after a hot shower.  The frame is new, too.  Airtight and soundproof.  Thank you Centennial!!

 

On to my two movie pics for the week.  First up was our fifth or sixth viewing of Peter Weir's The Last Wave, from 1977 and showing on Criterion.  There is also a ten minute short with the director talking about the film, which we had never seen before.  The film is one of the best fantasy films ever made, and though it has flaws, it also has greatness.  The plot concerns an urban tribe of Aboriginals living in Sydney and practicing tribal ritual and tribal law.  One of the tribe breaks a law, and is killed by the others.  Richard Chamberlain, a tax lawyer, ends up defending the native men against the charge of manslaughter.  But he is more than he seems; he has the power to dream of events that will happen.  The plot is great, the music is great, the photography is great, the acting is great, and the opening scene in a rural school yard is by now a classic.  Highly recommended, even if you have seen it more than once.  It's always great!

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

My leaving Feb. 28th choice was called Patang (Kite), an Indian film from 2012.  A minor family drama is an excuse to show the city of Ahmedabad during its annual kite festival.  With the colourful city and thousands of kites as backdrop, the plot matters little, and is pretty inconsequential.  A man and his daughter visit the city from Delhi, where his sister-in-law lives along with his mother, and his nephew.  The latter blames his uncle for the death of his father.  The young daughter has a little fling with a local boy during their two-day visit.  The nephew befriends some street urchins and tries to look after their welfare as much as he can.  The uncle, whose brother died after he left to set up business in Delhi, has purchased a new condo for the family, but they don't want it.  That's it for the plot, except for a lot of kite flying.  An easy film to watch, there are many striking city scenes.  There seems to be a lot of people in India. 

Showing on Criterion until Feb. 28th. 

 

Back with more news as it happens. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

The English, and Aniara

Winter has yet to arrive here in Essex County.  It's been mild, cloudy, with plenty of rain.  In fact yesterday was the first time we could remember having rain on Deb's birthday.  It's usually very cold, and often snowing.  Not this year.  1.5" of rain yesterday (Thursday).  It's finally supposed to turn cold again by the end of next week.  Now that we have been spoiled by having London weather for such a long time (Dec. 27th), it will not be fun.  The birthday party was low key but fun, with lots of music.  Many more to come, we hope!

We've been resuming outdoor walks this past month, too.  We are hoping for some desert hiking this Spring, depending on Covid.  Our local county is quite bad for infections right now, though one hears very little about it.  Deb got a Pfizer booster shot this week, and all is well, with no side effects.  She has only had Moderna shots up till now.

We will be getting two new windows put in the house on February 1st.  The kitchen and bathroom ones are being replaced with Centennial Windows.  We have nearly replaced all of our older windows now.  Only two more to go after this, for next year, hopefully.  Our only concern is how cold it might be, as the house will be open in two places to the north for a morning.  Usual winds are from the southwest, and rain and snow from the east, so it may not be too bad.  Hopefully all will be well, if a bit on the chilly side for a time.

The English is a six part western series showing on Prime.  It proved itself to be a gem of a show, despite some rather intense violence, and some of the most low down characters ever encountered in fiction.  One does not often think of people from England when referring to tales of the rough and tumble world of the American west.  But this one has English characters front, side, and center, including one of two leads.  The series finale was the best episode of the batch.  Highly recommended viewing!  Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer make a great pair of heroes.  With eye popping photography, much of it was filmed in Spain, due to covid.  Some shots are from Oklahoma.

 

Now showing on Prime. 

 

 The Fallen Sparrow, from 1943, stars John Garfield and Maureen O'Hara and is a taut war time Noir.  He was captured and tortured as a prisoner in the Spanish Civil War, and is back in America and trying to find out who murdered his friend.  Garfield is pretty good in the lead, and the script is relatively intelligent.  Worth a look.

Leaving Criterion January 31st. 

 

Now we come to Aniara, a Swedish SF film from 2018, based on the epic poem by Swedish Nobel prize winner Harry Martinson.  The story is essentially the same as the book, but brought considerably up to date.  The giant passenger ship, ferrying humans to a colony on Mars, is sent off course, and its fuel has to be jettisoned.  The story focusses on one woman, the person in charge of an AI therapy being.  She doesn't get much business in her studio before the accident, but she sure gets a lot afterwards, as people adjust to their new reality.  The movie is really well done, though it will not appeal to viewers who think SF means battles in space, and aliens bent to kill all humans.  The focus is on human drama, and how the ship's inevitable outcome affects people in different ways.  The captain does his best to maintain order and discipline, and for the most part there is very little panic and mayhem.  We had to order the blue ray disc to finally get to see this film.  It has virtually disappeared since its festival run.  Highly recommended, as is the book.  It's great to know that films like this, and Last and First Men, are somehow managing to get made, even though few get to see them.

Available on blue ray. 

 

We watched a 30' film on MUBI called The Human Voice, from 2020.  Based on a play by Cocteau, it was directed by Pedro Almodovar and stars Tilda Swinton.  She has been abandoned by her lover, and is having a rather difficult time of it.  Her performance is a monologue, and done with virtuosic flair.  Her lover has also left behind his faithful dog, who is having an even harder time adjusting than Tilda's character.  This is the Spanish director's first English language film.  I'm sure there are a lot of people who can relate to this film better than I can, but I still liked it.

This short film is now streaming on MUBI.

 

My going away choice for this week is a film called My Name Is Gulpilil, from 2021.  Diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017, the actor sat down to talk with viewers, telling us (and demonstrating) what it is like to have cancer, and how much he enjoyed making films and traveling to various parts of the world as a result.  He has been in some truly remarkable films, including Walkabout, The Last Wave, and the very recent and brilliant Charlie's Country.  While it is sad to see him so weak and almost helpless, what other Australian Aborigine has lived such a life as he?  He is concerned that he is too weak to get back to his home country.  Without oxygen, puffers, painkillers, and his nurse Mary, he is virtually helpless.  Yet he remains, in some ways, independent.  He loves being in front of the camera, which may have helped his spirits at this time.  He is a man who seems to have done it all, including being arrested and jailed several times for alcohol and drug abuse.  His illness will come as no surprise to viewers.  A very remarkable man, and I'm glad to have seen many of his films.

 

Leaving Criterion January 31st. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Winter Days

Apparently the gods read my blog!  After last Sunday's lament about cloudy weather, it was bright and sunny next day.  And again the following Saturday.  We have been nearly blinded by light.  But today is the first January-like day we've had so far, as regards temperature.  It has been mainly mild in our area, and will resume that pattern again beginning Monday.  We still have no snow, and the river is ice free.

 

Today the Sault Locks will close for the winter, so the last of the upper lakes shipping is on its way south.  It looks like the lower lakes will see year round shipping, however.  I mostly watch two ships, the CSL Laurentien out of Quebec, and the 1,000' giant Mesabi Miner.  The CSL ship passed our house 38 times this past season, on its 19 round trip journeys between Quebec and Thunder Bay.  That's a lot of mileage!  The Miner passed 32 times, on 16 round trips between Duluth and Cleveland/Toledo.  It is too long to navigate the locks at Niagara, so it never gets to Lake Ontario or the St. Lawrence Seaway.  I will hopefully be seeing them again in a few months.

 

Two days ago I began to (finally) memorize most of my piano pieces.  I have 3 of 7 Bach pieces locked in, and about 20% of the Grieg Lyric Pieces.  So we'll see where we are with that project by mid-February.  Practicing is going well, and I am looking forward to the first meeting of our new performance group on the 31st.

 

Last Tuesday we had a salesman come to the house from Centennial Windows.  We want the bathroom and kitchen windows replaced.  So far they have done 5 of our windows, and two doors.  A while back we had the 4 basement windows upgraded by a different company.  After this project, there are only two more windows to replace.  Tuesday also saw the piano get tuned.  It is always a treat to practice on a newly tuned piano.  Not only does it sound different, but because the strings have been tightened, it even feels better to play it.

 

In film news, we have knocked off two more from the Sight and Sound list.  In The Mood For Love is from Hong Kong and the year 2000.  Coming in at #5 all time best movie, it is a fairly empty exercise in cool camera shots, as well as a minor fashion show for the lead actress, who wears a different dress in each scene.  The emotional involvement of the leads is virtually non-existent.  They talk quietly, mostly in monotone, and become friends, as their own husband and wife are off having an affair.  They don't wish to succumb to the same feelings, so keep their relationship platonic.  That's it.  While it is a decent enough film in its own way, it does not belong on any top 100 list, even from the 2000s.  But #5 all time best?  Really?  Nada.

 

Now showing on Criterion, Sight and Sound's #5 best movie ever. 

 

Close Up is an Iranian film from 1990, coming in at the #17 spot.  Again, hardly.  There are two ways to approach this film.  The first is to see it as one of the most boring films ever made.  The other is to see it as a curiosity, a film unique in the canon, and worth a look for its insider's peek at a weird sort of criminal case in Tehran.  Either way (we did mostly enjoy it), it is not a film one would wish to see twice.  Nor is the previous love story. So as we are discovering, the Sight and Sound list is a pretty useless measurement of how great a film is.  There are so many better Iranian films to choose from,and Chinese ones as well.  But what do we know?

 

Now showing on Criterion, and holding down the #17 spot on best films of all time (or so says Sight and Sound). 

 

My leaving in January choice from Criterion was a better film by far than either of the two previous ones.  Charlie's Country is an Australian film from 2013 starring David Gilpilil as a senior Aborigine, trying to come to terms with white people who have stolen his land.  The film is by turns very funny, extremely touching, spiritually engaging, upbeat, downbeat, and every other beat.  It is a truly wonderful film, one that we almost missed out on seeing.  Highly recommended.  The opening act where Charlie and his old friend go hunting is one of the funniest and best openings to any movie I have ever seen.  And the rest is no disappointment, either.  

Leaving Criterion January 31st/23 

 

We are nearing the end of the series on Prime called English, but we have given up on AMC's Interview With A Vampire.  There isn't a single character worth caring about in this film, and it isn't worth putting up with the mindless violence (often meant to be funny).  So we left after perhaps 4 episodes.  English is very violent, too, but at least the two main characters are interesting.

 

Mapman Mike