Mother Nature's Sucker Punch

 As the countdown to spring is nearly here, winter has decided to arrive, in force.  We have dodged major snowstorms and severe temperatures all season, so far.  Just when the light begins to return, and hopes of seeing February's snowdrop flowers, it is our turn for winter.  Keeping in mind that we are the most southerly area in Canada, and that the rest of the country will be hit much harder, here is our  Detroit/Windsor forecast up to the 15th.  Spring is officially delayed.

It's already been a chilly late January and early February, with temps barely rising above 0 on only two days of the past ten.  And now this.  Worst of all, we have no snow, though a bit is supposed to arrive tonight.  Why is that important?  Because snow helps blanket the underground water pipes, and stop them from freezing.  When we lived in the town of Essex many moons ago, our water pipes froze in winter for a week.  What a disaster that was.  Try living with no water, and severe cold temps.  Though this incoming weather is far from the most severe cold we can receive, it's about as bad as it gets for this time of year.

In family news, Deb's mom is in the hospital in Lindsay, after a fall.  Deb spoke with her this morning and she sounds fine.  She has been using a walker at home, and having circulation problems.  She lives alone in a seniors condo, but it might be time to think about the next step.  She is 92.  Besides Deb, she has two more (older) daughters; one lives near North Bay, and the other one in Mexico.  No one can visit the hospital.

In local Covid news, the patients keep dying at an alarming rate, but today we are down to 20 new cases.  That seems remarkable, considering where we were just a few short weeks ago.  And people think lockdowns don't work.

In movie news, we finished up Deb's film festival weekend, and even got to watch one of mine last night.  My film choice was the final (5th) segment of Fassbinder's TV series called 8 Hours Don't Make a Day.  I am slowly working our way through all the Fassbinder material on Criterion, which is considerable.  We both really enjoyed this family series, getting a peek into industrial Germany in the 1970s.  The men work in a tool and die factory, while the women are either working (childcare, newspaper add department, bored housewife) or not.  The films do a good job of balancing the work day with the private lives of the people involved.  There is much humour, plenty of drama, and good storytelling and characters.

Deb's 3 film festival choices were unrelated to one another.  We began with Supa Modo, a Germany/Kenya production from 2018.  A young girl is dying from cancer.  She fantasizes about superheroes, enjoys movies about them, and has a vast poster collection.  She is in a hospital, but mom comes and takes her out, so she can die at home.  Sad and uplifting, there is lots of humour, and several superhero antics.  Recommended.

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Next up was The Getting of Wisdom, directed by Bruce Beresford from 1977.  Based on a popular book in Australia, it tells the sadistic story of a young girl attending a Catholic boarding school.  The movie is frustrating to watch, as the girls are continually catty and aggressive, always trying to hurt someone.  It doesn't make for great viewing, in my opinion.  It is similar in many ways to women in prison movies, with the headmistress a cruel ogre.  Anyway, suddenly, halfway through the film this girl can play piano like a master.  She never practices, hasn't touched a piano up till now, so the film switches to her as a pianist, amidst all the catfighting.  At the end she wins a major award and goes off to study in Leipzig.  Much less enjoyable than it could have been.  Much of the dialogue is very difficult to understand, as well.  It's fine when you can see the faces of the girls when they talk, but otherwise I missed a lot.  It's certainly no Picnic At Hanging Rock.

Now showing on Criterion.  

 

Lastly came Gohatto, a 1999 film by Nagisa Oshima.  One of the strangest samurai films I have ever seen, it deals with a young, beautiful, but evil homosexual swordsman, who nearly causes the school to have a major crisis.  The actor is very strange to look at, but perfect in the role as an obedient and very capable swordsman who enjoys killing.  Not sure I would recommend the film, but for samurai movie completists, it will pass the time.  Some remarkably beautiful and dream like sections.  The sword work is mostly very good.

Showing on Criterion.

 More news as it happens.

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Post-Christmas Message

 It began snowing on Christmas Eve, and continued all throughout Christmas Day.  It was also as cold as January, and still is.  We were promised one cold day, but this is the 3rd in a row.  So we have been even more inside than usual, if that is even possible.  I still make 2 trips outside every day, to feed the birds and squirrels.  We've had cardinals, a flock of goldfinches, nuthatches, sparrows, pigeons, and chickadees, along with every squirrel within ten square miles.  They eat voraciously when there is snow on the ground and it is really cold outside.  So do I.

I talked briefly with my parents on Friday, and Deb talked with Lynne, my brother's wife.  And today I talked at length with Amanda, who is in town to visit her family from Toronto.  As I write this blog entry the newest lockdown restrictions are in effect Ontario-wide, and will remain so until late January.  We'll see if that slows down the disease.  Already the newer strain has arrived here.

In addition to movies, we are watching Season 3 of Upstart Crow on Britbox, as well as watching Black Adder again from the beginning.  And we continue to watch Sir Tony Robinson's Walking Through History on Prime.  It's my turn to choose a threesome for this weekend's end of the month film festival, so stay tuned for that important announcement later in the week.  The show begins tonight at 6:45 pm.

Recently watched Criterion films include my two most recent choices.  The first was part 3 of Fassbinder's fascinating and fun TV series 8 Hours Don't Make A Day.  At 1 hr 45 min each, the five part series requires some serious set-aside time.  But it's worth it, as Fassbinder tackles the work-a-day world of a German industrial city in the 1970s.  Next came a short film from the leaving list, called Our Dancing Daughters.  From 1928, it is a silent film starring Joan Crawford as a carefree flapper, wondering why serious guys don't pick her for keeps.  The soundtrack is quite good, featuring music, sound effects, and even songs appearing over top emotional scenes. The ending is pure Hollywood cliche, but is fun nonetheless.  Bad characters who are really, really drunk should not try to negotiate a really long, high staircase.  Take it from me.

Showing until Dec. 31st on criterion.

The stunning Ms. Crawford in 1928.

The infamous staircase of doom.  

 

Deb chose to see what a city looks like with no clothes on.  From 1948 comes Jules Dassin's stunning crime drama The Naked City.  It was the first big Hollywood film to shoot on location in New York City, and it's fun to watch for several reasons.  The main crime story is quite good, and of course the outdoor and indoor photography is excellent.  One of the short features that accompany the film takes a tour of several locations used in filming.  The picture has a narrator, and he talks viewers through a typical workday in Manhattan, with the camera going into places never before seen, including the actual city morgue, and inside police headquarters, where various departments and labs are shown doing their jobs.  We have seen it before, years ago, but this was, of course, a newly restored print, which makes all the difference.  A solid film, worth catching.

 

Now showing on Criterion, with many extra shorts to support it.

Filmed on location in NYC, this was the first big American film to do so.  

Turning to painting, I chose yet another Arcadia image, this one even richer and more enticing than the last time.  This is a fun painting to gaze at when the snow is blowing and the weather is frightful.  It's even fun to look at when the weather is lovely.  I like these paintings because nothing seems to be going on.  Everyone knows that in the Golden Age no one had to work, or be anywhere at any specific time.  You could just loll around all day and eat grapes.  We could all use a few such days in our busy lives.  Even in a nearly one-year stay-at-home life, I am still far too busy.  This is a large painting, but because of the horizontal path, it is more difficult to enter the picture.  But the calmness and sereneness make up for that; we should not be wandering too far off anyway, as it is too taxing.
 

Landscape Of Ancient Greece, 1786, Pierre Henri de Valenciennes, French 1750-1819.  Oil on canvas, 39.5" x 59.5".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of left side.

 

Detail of right side.

 

Further detail, right side.

 

Your loveliness goes on and on...

See you all next time, after the film festival weekend festivities have ended.

Mapman Mike

 

September in November

It's been a warm start to November, and sunny, too.  But not clear enough for astronomy, as high haze has dampened my spirits all day today, the first one of the new session.  Tomorrow will likely be a repeat.  So I'm stuck at home watching for confirmation of Biden's win over The Monster.  Should happen tonight.

 

I saw my specialist yesterday, re: my vertigo. Hearing test came out as expected, with the left ear mostly normal and the right one--well, let's just say the hearing aid will continue to come in handy.  He put me on betahistine, 16 mg 3X daily, which is supposed to ease up things a bit as far as attacks of dizziness go.  Since cutting out most caffeine and all alcohol, and lowering my salt intake, I'm down to only about an attack a week right now (instead of one every five years or so, previously).  I am continuing with the exercise program, though it is mostly maintenance right now, until we can hike again.  We have been outside walking segments at a time of the local rails to trails pathway.  I have lost weight, especially in the middle area, and feel quite good these days, most of the time.

 

We both have had our flu shots now, though Deb is a week ahead of me as far as immunity goes.  And Gustav's ashes were available to us today, so he is currently sitting in a small velvet pouch on our Day of the Dead altar.  Usually our Samhain stuff is put away by now, but we extended it by a week.  Piano practicing continues, and if the drug helps hold off further attacks of vertigo, I will re-invite a few friends at a time over to hear the pieces.

 

In film news, we watched an amazing animated feature called Kirikou And The Sorceress.  From 1998, it incorporates several West African folk tales in a colourful and very fun story for all ages, as a unique new born baby faces off against all manner of dangers and tribulations, including the aforementioned sorceress.  This one is highly recommended!

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

That was Deb's pick, followed by end of the month film festival.  I chose only one film, but it was four hours and 47 minutes long.  Wim Wenders' Until The End of the World was first released in 1991, and he was forced to cut it to 3 hours.  We saw that version and didn't like it very much.  The director's restored version adds nearly two hours to the film, and though still with flaws, it was a much better epic to watch in this version.  If you saw the earlier version, then don't judge the movie yet--try and watch the longer one.  Though we had to break it up into several sessions, the time flew past.  The story gets really interesting when all the characters are assembled in an oasis in the Australian desert, at an Aboriginal cultural centre.  This part is among the best film segments I have ever seen!  Sadly, the movie (a SF) loses its focus and changes gears, getting involved with recording dreams, which become addictive to the dreamer/viewer of such material.  But up till that point (Wenders cannot end a movie satisfactorily in most cases), it is really quite amazing.  The world wide locations and photography are astounding, with the best parts set in Japan and Australia.

 

 

Next, we began a new TV series by Fassbinder called Eight Hours Don't Make a Day. Each episode is an hour and 47 minutes long, and seems to be a German version of East Enders, only more intelligent. The first episode was pretty decent, and stars a lot of the usual Fassbinder acting clan. Grandma's birthday is quite memorable, as is grandma! Seems promising enough to stay with it.

 

Now showing on Criterion.

 

After that came Jan Svankmeyer's Alice, a film we saw many years ago.  It's a flawed masterpiece, with some truly genius work being done here.  It is easily the strangest Alice adventure ever made, though it follows the story very closely most of the time.  It is very funny, very sad, scary, and very, very strange.  It is fitting that the Quay brothers paid tribute to the director with one of their own films.  Definitely worth repeated viewings.  No drugs needed.

 

Ending November 30th on the criterion Channel. 

 

Mapman Mike