Living in Amherstburg

We have lived just north of the central part of Amherstburg since about 1990.  It is a riverside community that has good parks and a National Historic Park/Fort (Malden) that was built and manned during the war of 1812.  The town also used to give ferry access to Boblo Island, a giant amusement park now an exclusive residential community instead.  Lately downtown has become a tourist magnet, offering pedestrian-only streets downtown during the summer with some type of festival at least every other week.  The downtown area is a fun place to spend a half day, with views of the river from well cared for parks, several decent restaurants and more cafes per square mile than Vienna.  There is a good bookstore, and my old fashioned barber shop is right downtown, staffed by two excellent female barbers.  The ice cream store draws people like moths to a flame.  There are three major grocery stores and a smaller one.  Our family doctor is there.  It is a safe town, currently policed by a branch of Windsor Police.  We could live in a worse community, to be sure.

 

However, the main reason we live in this area, being the most southwesterly community in Ontario, is the easy access to a big American city (Detroit) and all that it offers.  Amherstburg is not Detroit.  And though Detroit isn't London (UK) it seems to get closer to it every month.  Covid took a bite out of our Detroit visits, and then the 2024 elected President took an even bigger bite out of it.  Since Trump was elected we have not crossed the order.  We used to cross almost every single week.  Art museums, symphony concerts, restaurants, breweries, cafes, strolling downtown and admiring the fabulous architecture were all favourite pastimes.  All gone.  Even visits to our beloved New Mexico have come to a halt.  We are far from alone.  Enough Canadians disliked America even before Trump.  But now there is a strong movement not to visit.  This is so sad for me and Deb, since we don't have a lot of running around years left in us.  We can see Michigan every day from our house.  By the time Trump is out the door (could someone nearly as bad step into his shoes?) we will be getting on in years.

 

The good side to all this is that we are rediscovering overseas destinations.  Our recent visit to London, with a possible upcoming visit to either Vienna or Berlin, has come about largely because of the policies of the sitting president.  The only downside is how much I hate flying, even when the flight goes smoothly and is on time.  Why not visit Canada you might ask?  We explore our local area quite thoroughly, to be sure.  We even make it to Toronto once in a blue moon.  But Ottawa is untouched, and Montreal has been off the radar for decades now.  These days, more Canadians are touring Canada instead of you know where, so roads are busier, cities more crowded and attractions more expensive.  We would rather remain at home working on our various projects than put up with heavy tourist crowds.  Day tripping is more our style these days, with one coming up soon, if the heat goes away.  Here is a recent temperature forecast for our area next week.

 

Not pretty.  We will be staying home a lot next week.  Anything above 75 F is too hot for us. 

 

Extreme heatwaves with high humidity are familiar to us here.  Back in our teaching days our school only had air conditioning in the central area, but none in the classrooms.  When June and September were brutally hot everyone suffered and little to no education took place.  We usually hibernate in the depth of winter these days, but also in the height of summer.  We are happy and very busy folk here at the Homestead.  But we would really like to get back to Detroit.

 

We've been gaming a lot lately, mostly PC games but every Sunday we play board games.  Today was the Traders and Builders expansion of Carcassonne, one of many fun add-ons to the main game.  With 24 extra tiles it makes the game significantly larger and longer.  Next Sunday we will try for a MECCG session (Middle Earth Collectible Card Game).  In PC gaming news we are finishing up the original 3-chapter game called Agon: The Mysterious Codex.  I continue to run Train Sim World, a different route each day.  

 

And I have restarted the original Tomb Raider games, with new and remastered versions of the first six games now out and quite inexpensive.  I have completed the training program for TR 1 though my skills are still weak.  I am currently in Level 1, exploring my way through the Andes in search of Inca secrets and treasures.  I finished part 1 with no difficulty and so far am mostly surviving part 2.  These are huge games with lots of shooting and killing, but in a weird way it's also fun to just explore after the dangers have been eliminated.  My weakness is swimming and also sudden attacks.  I tend to panic in both situations.  I am going to share a few images comparing the old original version of TR 1 with the new remake.  While the photos here are too small to really show up the differences, while playing it is like night and day.

 

Screenshot from the original 1996 version.  Note the pixels; they are everywhere.

 

The 2024 remake.  Lara moves much more smoothly, the lighting is superior and the game looks gorgeous.

  

1996. 

 

2024.

  

1996.

 

2024. 

 

In film news there is one to report.  Trade Winds is from 1938, a comedy murder mystery directed by Tay Garnett.  Frederic March is a womanizing detective sent to track murderess Joan Bennett as she flees San Francisco for various Asian ports.  Ralph Bellamy plays a rare comedy angle as a bumbling cop sent to keep an eye on March.  Bennett looks cute as a button and there is enough witty dialogue and exotic (backdrop) locations to keep viewer amused for the short running time.  So many old films worth watching that we have never heard of, this being one.

 

Leaving Criterion June 30th. 

 

I may report during the heatwave, or I may just sit in one spot in front of a fan until it is over.  Until then, I will publish my monthly book reviews very soon.

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 


 

 

Golden Cities, Far

Today's title comes from a collection of stories in a volume edited for the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series by Lin Carter.  I am now in the process of breaking up that series.  Some books are too old and in poor shape to keep, others I just don't want any more and they will go for trade, and a few, like the above titled volume, will remain for now on my bookshelf.  Since moving to Essex County in 1976 (Aug. 21st was our 49th anniversary; we moved down here one week after our wedding) we have always called Detroit our main home away from home, and for many years lived within sight of it.  When we lived in the Town of Essex we used to come to Detroit nearly every weekend, staying Friday and Saturday nights at the Millner Hotel for $20 a night (Can.) with breakfast!  Halfway between Essex and Windsor the road climbs over a bridge and the Detroit skyline would be briefly visible.  It was Deb who first used the phrase in today's title for how we felt leaving our apartment and school teaching lives behind us and entering a world, for us, like Camelot.  It was a time when Detroit wasn't yet its cool self of today, but for urban explorers it still had plenty of cool to spare.

Detroit.
 

Since those heady days of youth we have come to visit and know many of the world's great cities, including archaeological ones, but there are always those I had hoped to visit but now never will.  Not because I'm too old for that sort of thing, or unable financially to do so, but because these cities are currently lost to the world at large and will likely remain so long past my last breath.  Of course Kiev would be one of those cities, lost to a generation to a senseless war.  Another exotic locale that is currently in a hopeless state (for the same reason) is Khartoum.  There is so much history there, and as it was the centre of British colonialism, along with Egypt, there was a very good archaeological museum.  I say was, because the National Museum in Khartoum met the same fate as the one in Bagdad; it was completely looted and stripped of its priceless treasures and their context.  Civil war continues to tear apart the country.  There is really nothing left in Sudan to fight over, yet the bloodshed continues.  

 

Kiev. 

 

Khartoum. 

 

The most exotic city I would have loved to have visited was Mandalay.  There are two reasons why that would have never happened.  First of all, the country of Burma (Myanmar) is virtually closed to outsiders thanks to the usual military dictatorship.  Secondly, a life changing earthquake last year totally destroyed most of the golden temples that made the city what it really was.  C'est la vie.

 

Mandalay. 

 

In movie news there are two to report.  We have also been watching Picard: Series 3, and are 7 episodes in with three remaining.  They have already used virtually every TV SF trope, so I'm curious as to how they will fill air time till the end.

 

Pedicab Driver is a 1989 Hong Kong martial arts film that purports to be a comedy.  Directed by Sammo Hung, it does have some hilarious scenes and quips.  The hero is a very chunky pedicab driver who is also a very skilled martial arts master.  He must have inspired many large size Chinese to take up martial arts.  He can really move, even with sped up camera shots.  The downside is that this is one of the most violent, bloody and sadistic movies to come out of Hong Kong during its heyday.  Much of the comedy is ruined and forgotten by the unbelievable violence.  Still worth a look just to watch Sammo (director and star), who is very camera-genic.

 

Another Asian film, this time from Korea, is Green Fish from 1997 and directed by Lee Chang-dong.  This one, which won first director awards in Korea at the time, seems to be somewhat overrated.  It is an uneven film that follows the haphazard life of a rather dimwitted fellow just released from his required time in the army.  I'm not sure what he learned there doing his time, but he certainly did not learn any fighting skills.  He returns to his family home, now surrounded by high rise apartments.  He has three brothers, one of whom has untreated spasticity, a sister and a mother.  His dream is to open a restaurant run by the family, but after coming to the aid of a young woman on a train his life takes a sharp turn.  Because the man seems to have a rather low I.Q., his inevitable doom is foretold many times during the film.  While there are some beautiful and very effective camera shots, and while the man's family is a believable group of misfits, overall the film tends to drag and lead viewers to many dead ends.  The title comes from a memory of childhood that the man holds dear.  Not recommended, and it is almost two hours long.

 

Finally, in health news Deb has a surgery date for her kidney stone removal.  She also sees her rheumatologist this week.  Deb has been flaring lately and needs to resume some type of RA meds.  And my foot stubbornly refuses to heal.  I am limited to short times of slow walking, something I am finding increasingly frustrating.  I go for ultrasound later this week.

 

Mapman Mike. 

 

Catching Up With News

I finally saw my own family doctor on Thursday.  More x-rays, some blood work and an upcoming ultrasound for my nearly broken foot.  There is still some pain, and Dr. P thinks it might be related to a tendon injury rather than a broken bone.  Whatever it is it's messing up my walking program after five years of daily exercise, and remains a major obstacle to our late September travel plans.  At the moment I could not deal with airports, train stations, etc, and of course I am unable to restart my training program.  I might try to ride my bike this week, though the weather has been so hot and humid I much prefer indoor exercise.

 

Earlier in the week Deb saw her kidney doctor for a followup, only to discover that she has another stone, this time in the opposite kidney.  He wants a CT scan, which will take a long time.  Deb wasn't too pleased to hear that news.  Her new drug for morning stiffness, hip, shoulder and neck pain seems to be working wonders.  She is just beginning her second week of a four week course of the drug.  So far the results have been great!

 

On Friday we spent much of the day in Windsor.  It was sunny and 89 F and very humid.  Deb had her annual mammogram and I had my foot x-rayed again.  Those appointments were at 10:30 am.  We had appointments downtown for our new passports, so we had a lot of time to kill.  We had tea and coffee at Chance, actually sitting outside in the shade.  We went for lunch, then to City Market for a walk (very slow walk for me), then down to the river for a while.  Our passports are now being processed and we should receive them in about 10 business days.  By then we should know if we are able to book flights, or postpone them until my foot heals.

 

A viking cruise ship is parked in Detroit for the day.  View is from Windsor. 

 

We also stopped in at Chapter Two and shared an ale flight.  So nice to see Ginger on the menu, and at very low alcohol. 

 

In film news there are three and a half to report.  World of Glory is the half, a short from 1991 by Swedish director Roy Andersson.  This film probably has the most shocking opening to any film we have seen.  From the Mubi website: 

 

A prelude to the director’s acclaimed studies of human alienation, this magnificent short from Swedish master Roy Andersson is shattering yet darkly ironic. Unfurling in drab domestic and public spaces, World of Glory lays bare the grotesque numbness of a man’s life, and modern society at large.

 

I'm not certain I would totally agree with that blurb, but the film is unique and startling, to say the least.  Heads will shake after watching this.  Mine did.

 

 Leaving Mubi soon. 

 

Deb paired that with a short feature film called Incredible But True.  It is a French film from 2022 directed by Quentin Dupieux, also showing on Mubi (and leaving soon).  Mubi's blurb again:

 

Descending into a bizarro world of electric genitals and elastic time, French jokester Quentin Dupieux devises newfangled, side-splitting methods for well-off egotists to keep up appearances. Suspend disbelief: this wild-eyed pursuit of eternal youth and virility is absurdly funny—and incisive too. 

 

A couple buy an older home and discover that it has some magical and fantastical qualities.  As it involves becoming younger, it is the middle-aged wife who soon becomes addicted to its power.  Meanwhile, the man's boss happens to live a few doors down and they get together for a dinner.  The boss tells them about his new electronic penis (from Japan) and all the marvellous things it can do.  This has to be one of the funniest quartet dinner party scenes I have ever seen.  An absurdist film with elements of Dada (black ants), it is highly amusing.  Recommended.  I will look out for the director in the future.

 

Leaving Mubi soon. 

 

We also watched the first two movies of the most recent Planet of the Apes series.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes is from 2011, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is from 2014.  A third and fourth film are available to us; we'll see.  For now we have had enough of apes versus humans.  The first film is the best of the two, showing how medical research into a cure for Alzheimer's Disease goes awry, not only giving incredible intelligence to the chimps used for research, but causing a devastating virus that soon wipes out most of the humans on Earth.  The second film begins ten years later.  The action is set in San Francisco, a nice change, and it allows the apes to escape the city and dwell in a large forest.  The effects are nothing short of spectacular and totally amazing, and the character of Caesar, the lead chimp, is realistic and totally believable.  He is given not only intelligence, but sensitivity and a moral sense (apes must not kill apes).  Of course everything is ruined in the first film by bad humans, and in the second by bad humans and a bad ape.  Bad things tend to ruin everything for everyone, as if we need to be reminded.  The films are definitely good, but there is lot of violence, much of it using machine guns.  And the old trope of having two males fight it out as the climax of the second film (even though they are apes) keeps the tradition alive.  The first film is certainly well worth seeing; the second one not so much.  And I have a feeling that the third one will be nothing but more gunfire and sadistic humans killing lots of apes.

 

 

Both films (and the 3rd one) are showing on Starz. 

 

Yet another sale on Steam saw me acquire more railroad lines.  I now run trains in England, Germany, Switzerland and the USA.  Since each locomotive is quite different, especially between countries, I am always in a panicked learning mode.  I was hauling a mile-long freight train yesterday, realizing near the end that the brakes were not working!  So I had my first runaway train.  It did not end well.  Since then I learned what I did wrong.  Sometimes the trains are set up and ready to drive; others times not so.  This was one of those not so times.  I had three locomotives at the front of the train and two in the rear.  They were not speaking to each other, and needed to be properly linked.  Problem two was with the brake setting, which hadn't been done properly.  I needed to go into the on-board computer (I didn't even know you could do that) on the lead locomotive and change to settings.  I reran the service and aced it.  Live and learn (though I would have died in that first one).

 

Leaving Brighton running a service to Lewes.

 

Evening on the Goblin Line, London.

 

Pulling away from Victoria Station on the way to Brighton. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 

A Holiday Abroad

Yes, we visited our favourite city on Friday, and took Amanda along for her first visit in several years.  Downtown Detroit is such a vibrant and fun place to hang out these days, though it always was to some extent.  But these days it has depth, with bars, restaurants and cool little shops scattered all over the downtown area.  We crossed the border using the tunnel around 10:30 a.m. and were in a line with only one car ahead of us once at US Customs.  We parked downtown and proceeded to give Amanda a quick tour of some of the beautifully restored old skyscrapers, most from the 1920s.  It's hard now to find any abandoned buildings downtown.  We began at the 1910 Dime Building, then went on to the Guardian building, one of Detroit's greatest treasures (it appears on the cover of the Detroit Michelin Guide).  We took the elevated train to the David Whitney Building, then went on to the cozy and very special Wurlitzer Building and then around the corner to the Metropolitan Building.  All three are now high end hotels, as were the next two.  The Shinola Building downtown and the Book Building were both busy and truly gorgeous.  We had lunch at Hop Cat, sampling some small pour ales before going to the Detroit Film Theatre for a special screening of early silent fantasy films.  All in all a great day, with beautiful weather that included mild temperatures and even some sun.

 

Detroit's newest skyscraper looks like a ghost image of the David Stott Tower.

In the lobby of the 1910 Dime Building, looking up.  This was Detroit's first tall building.

Stained glass in the Guardian Building.

Amanda and Deb in the Guardian Building.

Waiting for our elevated train at the Financial District Station.

After dropping us off at Grand Circus Park, our train departs.

Amanda bought us coffee before the movie. 

 

Amanda also visited us the night before, and we exchanged gifts (ales and gummies were part of it).  I also got her to play a round of our Bob Ross board game.  So we are all caught up for now.  She wants to return and spend a night or two in Detroit with her boyfriend, who was in Buffalo with his parents.

 

We have been gaming here at the Homestead.  I am playing two pc games, Tengami and Road To India. We have also played Scrabble (I lost), Bob Ross (I won), and a few others.  But mostly it's been business as usual, with Deb working on her film, and me practicing piano and reading.

 

Though I handily won this particular game of Middle Earth: The Wizards, I lost the overall tournament to Deb.

I also lost the Carcassonne tournament 2 games to 1.  I couldn't fill that central piece, which might have given me a victory.  Which makes me think there should be at least one tile in the game that is a "free" tile, and can be used once for anything. 

 

In home movie viewing, there are some to report, both chosen by Deb.  Most recent was a film by Bill Morrison called The Village Detective: A Song Cycle.  From 2021, the film traces the cinema history of one of Russia's most legendary and popular actors.  Clips from many films, from the 1920s through the 1970s, show Mihail Žarov in film after film, often singing his way through his part.  The film is highlighted by a damaged film that was cast overboard and ended up spending years in the ocean in a tight canister before being gathered in by Norwegian fishing nets. So we see damaged (but beautifully so) scenes from The Village Detective, a very low budget Soviet serial interspersed with some documentary footage of finding and restoring the found film, as well as scenes from the actor's other films.  All in all a pretty interesting film, making the most from a film find that didn't turn out to be anything special.

Leaving Criterion in 2 days. 

 

Before that (also Deb's choice) came The Holiday, from 2006, a film we have seen before.  Some of the film was on location in Shere, a tiny village off the beaten path in Surrey.  Deb and I were visiting there on a walking day when filming was taking place.  Fake snow was everywhere, and a lot of it had tracked into the village pub, The White Horse.  We asked around and found out about the film, so of course we looked for it when it came out.  Starring Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Carmen Diaz, Jack Black, and Eli Wallach, this is a really fun holiday movie to watch.

 

On our visit to Shere many years ago we were surprised to see snow on the village church roof.  We passed a movie set, with a scene in a car ready to be filmed.  We missed out on seeing any of the stars, and we didn't even know anything about the film at that point.  The Holiday is a great film, especially the parts with Eli Wallach as a very aged retired Hollywood screenwriter.

 

Now showing on the Roku streaming channel. 

 

More news as it happens.

 

Mapman Mike

 
 

 

 

A Visit To Detroit

 We haven't been to Detroit since December 10th!  We used to go every week!  I'd say our habits have changed since Covid.  Not a little.  Anyway, it was a perfect day, with cooler temps, lots of sun, and a sky filled with enormous feathery clouds.  Donald Trump was also in Detroit today, but we managed to miss that event.  The Cass Corridor, our usual hangout, was quietly bustling, just the way we like it.  Nearly every block has new apartments under construction, usually from converted older buildings.  This year for the first time in a very long time, Detroit's population actually rose.  It's easy to believe when you see all the new things continually happening.

 

We began our day at John King Books, an easy place to spend an hour.  I spent a lot of time looking through a 1945 Collier's world atlas.  We had that atlas in our house when I was growing up, and I spent many hours perusing it as a child, planning on where I would visit.  I also invented solo person games to play using the atlas.  No interstates!  I nearly bought it; I should have.  I inherited a really fine up to date National Geographic world atlas from my dad recently.  He loved that atlas.  I can see where I get my interest from, at any rate.  After King we went to Fire Ass Vegan.  Yup.  A very catchy name.  It is one of half a dozen or so new vegan places popping up everywhere, though this one had the best hours.  We had take out wraps, and sat at a shady table on Wayne State University campus.  Next was a visit to West Canfield St., where both sides are lined with very funky shops, breweries, and restaurants.  There is a place to buy our favourite soaps, and we bought one.  Then on to Source Booksellers, where I usually buy something, but I didn't.  I did buy a book at King, though.  It's called "The Mammouth Book of Tales from the Road:  Tales of Life on the Move," filled with short essays by different writers, including Kerouac, Moorcock, Ballard, and many others.  Looks like good reading before a road trip!

 

Next up was a new (for us) brewery, in a very up and coming neighbourhood.  Many of these places used to be no go zones, but they are now welcoming and fun to visit.  there are discoveries to be made around every corner.  Nain Rouge Brewery had 10 taps of their beer, of which we tried 4.  It is a total gem of a place to sit and sip, surrounded by restaurants and an game arcade that also serves ales.  Our final stop was for coffee at a newer cafe/grocery store called Seasons Market and Cafe.  They serve coffee roasted in Ann Arbor.  We took our coffee (and vegan brownie) to the little oasis of a park adjacent, finding the most perfect table shaded by trees that one could ever hope to find.  We also bought a bag of Guatemalen coffee beans, from the roastery (called Hyperion).

 

After that it was back into the car.  In Detroit the parking is by zone #.  For the entire afternoon we were able to park anywhere in the zone, after paying once (2$ per two hours!).  We had a long wait at Canada Customs, due to an unusually long stop for a car ahead of us.  When that finally cleared, it was shift change, so we waited another ten minutes. 

 

West Canfield is a very fun street to explore in Detroit.  Just off to the right is Shinola.

A little park leads to Nain Rouge Brewery.  I've been wanting to get here for some time now.

We sat indoors and sampled four of their ten ale offerings.  A very cool spot, adjacent to restaurants, an arcade, and a pretty new apartment building.

Inside Nain Rouge Brewery on a lazy Saturday afternoon.  Temps were mid 70s, a perfect day for strolling the neighbourhood.

The small park adjacent to Seasons Market and Cafe.  We are at the world's most perfect table, surrounded by deep and welcoming shade from trees.  That table in front of us was soon occupied.  The entrance to the park, across the way, is through an old water tank, the kind that used to sit atop buildings here.  It has been cut open and now serves as the official park entrance. 

 

In my last post I celebrated the fact that we had not yet had a heatwave.  Well, the party ends tomorrow.  Here is a look at what is in store for next week.  Tuesday is the only day we need to go out.

 

Current temp as I write this is 72 F.  Tomorrow it begins.  I would say the weatherman is understating by saying "warm."  Add the humidity and I would say "ugly."

 

In film news there are two to report, both from Mubi.   Deb chose one called Funny Pages, directed by Owen Kline and from 2022.  A young cartoonist comes into contact with a former colour separator from an older comic series, and tries to get him to teach him.  This off beat comedy is mostly stolen by actor Matthew Maher, who plays the completely psychotic former cartoonist.  Sometimes brutally funny, the film is one to look out for, especially for those of us into graphic novels, comics, and funnies.  Daniel Zolghadri plays the hapless young man who wants to learn.  He also appeared in episodes of the unforgettable series called Tales From The Loop, which is still showing on Amazon Prime.

Now showing on Mubi. 

 

The teacher and pupil, from Funny Pages, 2022. 

 

The Third Murder, a Japanese film from 2017 and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, is an entirely different sort of experience.  This is a taut and involving tale that goes deeply into what begins as a simple case of brutal murder.  As the plot and characters develop, however, it becomes more a tale of what Truth is, and isn't.  I am currently reading a light-hearted though elegant and purposeful book called "Gallantry" by one of my favourite authors, James Branch Cabell.  While Cabell's version of gallantry has many aspects to it, The Third Murder might still fit into the definition of that word per Cabell.  As the young woman at the heart of the film says near the end, "No one tells the truth."  A thought provoking film, and a true sleeper.  Highly recommended.

 

Now showing on Mubi. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Downtown Detroit Day

We had pretty much lost touch with the downtown scene over the past few years, but are slowly getting it back again.  We mainly wanted to revisit the restored Book Building, an amazing skyscraper from 1926 that just recently completed a top to bottom restoration.  Here is an historic postcard of the building.  We visited last Friday.

 

Detroit Historical Society collection. 

 

It had been abandoned for some time before Dan Gilbert became involved.  Now, it looks brand new, with the entire exterior being cleaned, the interior brought back to perfection, and the 476' skyscraper once again holding its head high in downtown Detroit.  The tall portion is now apartments, while the broader and lower part is a hotel, with rooftop bar.  In the corner area facing us, ground floor, is a very beautiful and fancy French restaurant (my own photo to follow).  The lobby has a small cafe/bar, and there is comfortable seating for all, with some great table top books laid out to peruse.  After checking out the public areas we sat and had tea at the cafe.  Of course the lobby is now decorated for Christmas (with books under the tree, gift wrapped), but it is still stately.  Original ceiling bas reliefs are restored, as is the original clock.  There is marble everywhere.  An unfinished room houses a historical exhibit about the building and the area.  Before the stock market crash, the other side was to house an 81 story tower, twice as high as the one standing today.  Imagine that!  Well, the blueprints are there to see.

 

Meanwhile, the tallest new skyscraper a few streets over is nearly at its highest, while other new buildings not quite so high seem to have popped up overnight.  Of course downtown was busy on a Friday afternoon, and all decked out for Christmas.  People were ice skating, and the decorations and lights were pretty much endless, even though we saw them in daytime.  Here are some of my photos from inside the Book Building, and of the newest addition to the skyline.

 

Deb sits and enjoys tea in the lobby of the Book Building.

Looking up in the atrium of the lobby.  Notice the bas relief ceilings, and that stained glass roof.

 

Glass ceiling of the atrium, which gives a golden light to the lobby area.

One panel of the ceiling.

 

The original lobby clock is also restored, though it was too dark to see the three golden cupids beneath it. 

Through the door shot of the art nouveau French restaurant in the Book Building. It was closed at the time.

 

This incredible 1937 Cadillac was parked in front of the Book Building on Friday. 

 

A shot of the David Stott tower in downtown Detroit, another restored favourite of ours, along with the much higher new Hudson site building going up near it.

We hope to return next Friday to see a group of avant garde silent films at the DIA with live music.  In local movie watching news, there are two to report.  Going from most recently watched, Deb's leaving choice this weekend was Star Dust, from 1940 and starring Linda Darnell.  How are stars made in Hollywood?  Well, talent scouts head out across the nation looking for undiscovered beauty and singing and acting skills.  A teenage girl from small town Arkansas is given her big chance, but internal politics get in her way.  Darnell shines as the girl next door who wants to make it big.  Also starring John Payne and Roland Young, and directed by Walter Lang.

 

Leaving Criterion this month.

Before that, my films was also leaving soon, from Criterion.  It was Mel Brooks' High Anxiety, his spoof of Hitchcock films from 1977.  Also starring Cloris Leachman, as a demented nurse at the Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very, Very Nervous, where Mel Brooks will become the new head.  While many jokes misfire, since there is at least one a minute viewers don't have to wait long for one to click.  A highlight is Mel singing the title song in an impromptu night club performance.  There are Hitchcock references everywhere.

 

Leaving Criterion this month. 

 

We are currently watching Tesla, from 2020.  More on that film in the next post.

 

Mapman Mike