Hot Times

The final week of August has been one of the hottest and most humid weeks of the summer.  It should end today--the heat, that is, not the humidity.  So far my new astronomy cycle has been a washout, but things should improve by Sunday.  Monday is the new moon already, so I don't have much time remaining.  I have a newly cleaned telescope mirror, and I'm anxious to get out and use it.

 

Piano practice is paying off.  I've been at the new pieces for about six weeks now, interrupted by my medical issue.  But almost all of the pieces are at least playable, and memorization is proceeding well.  I hope to memorize everything except the two pieces by Bach.  That includes three Haydn movements, 2 pieces by Satie, a Debussy Prelude, and an Etude by Philip Glass.  I've just started memorizing the Glass, and am well into the Haydn.

 

In fitness news I am again back at it, after a hiatus due to some health issues.  I am still experiencing some pain, but it is intermittent and not as severe.  There can be some lingering pain even weeks after passing a kidney stone.  Next week is the start of the intensive 6-week training program we use for high altitude hiking.  I am not really certain I can get through it again, though I am willing to give it one more try.  I made it through the program last year, but Deb's 2 injuries precluded any hiking.  Weather is supposed to be less hot and much drier.  Here's hoping.

 

I am just finishing up my last book of the reading month, and will be publishing my August post either late tomorrow or early Sunday.  Watch for it, all you fans of great literature (and not so great).

 

In viewing news, we are now watching, in addition to films, three series and two Great Courses.  Tonight we watched episode 1 season 2 of Rings of Power.  It mostly fills in a lot of detail about Sauron and what he has been up to.  Not a really compelling episode to begin the new season, but it has some wonderful shots both indoors and out, including Cirdan's shipbuilding workshop at the Grey Havens.  And we finally get to see those Elven Rings on the fingers of their owners.  We continue to watch Star Trek Discovery, Season 1, though that becomes less and less interesting as it goes along.  There is decent acting and great effects, but way too much violence and sadism.  I miss Star Trek, when they went exploring, and Science was an important topic.  Now it's about war and battles and traitors and cruelty, and lately we went again to an alternate universe, where bad versions of everyone from our universe lives.  Good grief!  And lastly (and still holding our attention) is The Peripheral, also quite sadistic and violent, but at least the plot seems original (William Gibson) and quite fascinating.  The CGI views of a future London are quite spectacular, too.

 

We are watching a 24 episode Great Course on Mystery Fiction, and we just began one on Gravity, after finishing up one on the best piano literature.  That latter one was one of the best seen so far, of about a dozen courses we have viewed on various topics, from weather to ancient astronomy.  It is a truly great channel, and the professors are mostly the best in their field, and good speakers.

 

In film news there are three to report, Deb's choices up first, and then my choice.  (my film festival choices begin this weekend).  First is The Birdcage, from 1996, an American remake of La Cage aux Folles.  Mike Nichols directed Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as the gay couple.  It is as inoffensive a film about gays as can ever be imagined, and perhaps even funnier than the original version.  It is certainly colourful.  Gene Hackman is terrific as the Republican Senator from Ohio, whose daughter wishes to marry the son of Williams.  Many great supporting roles make the film consistently good, especially the houseboy role played to perfection by Hank Azaria.  Highly recommended, especially if you liked the original.

 

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

 

Next came a downer of a film.  The Hypnosis is a Swedish film from 2023, about a young couple making a pitch to find an investor for their women's health app.  They attend a weekend workshop on how to hone their sales pitch, and then get to present it to actual investors.  But she goes completely off the rails after visiting a hypno-therapist before leaving.  The film becomes nothing but an uncomfortable cringe affair.  It's supposed to be a comedy and zany--it ain't.  If you enjoy feeling extremely uncomfortable for about 80 minutes of the total 100 minute running time, then you may enjoy this film.  We did not.  This thing won film awards at festivals!

Showing on Mubi.  Avoid. 

 

Speaking of a cringe worthy film, I chose Fellini's Orchestra Rehearsal from 1978.  This film makes Plan 9 From Outer Space appear as the masterpiece that it is.  Fellini's film is so bad that it makes my kidney hurt (the good one).  He attempts to show what happens when the unions take over the workplace.  He chooses the most conservative of organizations, the orchestra.  The film uses a caricature of a conductor as the orchestra leader, and the film shows the quick descent into chaos caused by bad leadership and new union rules for workers.  No doubt Fellini had a bit of a grudge against unions, having to make his later films trying to appease them.  Even so, this must rank as his worst film (at least I hope it is the worst).  Imagine if some young film goers wanted to learn about Fellini and went and saw this film.  A must to avoid.  Much cringier than even The Hypnosis (what a double bill it was to sit through). 

 

Leaving Mubi in 1 day.  A good thing, too. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

An Anniversary

45 years of marriage on Saturday.  The weather will be very warm and humid, like it was on that Saturday in 1976.  We were married in a small church by the lake, and the party was at the camp afterwards, with swimming and sauna.  The bride was blushing and exceedingly beautiful, and she still is.  Why she has stayed with me for 45 years I cannot fathom.  But here we are.  It's also a full moon tomorrow, and that means a party on top of the party.  The opera of the month is Wagner's Lohengrin.  The main food dish is homemade vegan lasagna.  There will also be vegan chocolate cheesecake and ice cream.

The sun continues to retreat southwards, shortening our evenings and mornings.  We still have heat and humidity, though, until at least the end of august.  A little more than 4 weeks and it will be Equinox.  The summer is passing quickly, and soon I will be recalled to astronomy nights.  Without those nights this summer I have been mostly home, practicing piano, listening to music, watching films, and reading.  I continue to intensely study my New Mexico topographic map collection, which is exhaustive.  However, the program is not supported anymore, and someday a new computer of ours will fail to run it, which is what happened to my National Geographic collection of maps on CD.  So I will have to hang on to an older computer until I die.

Next week I begin my piano performances, in the hopes of playing the program a few times for individual or paired listeners.  My friend and colleague Paula is stopping by here Monday evening to listen, and to perform a few things she has been working on.  Depending how that one goes, we'll see about doing it a few more times, including at Lois' long term care home in Kingsville.

A few things to report on in film viewing.  Deb's leaving August 31st choice for last weekend was a 1952 Fritz Lang film called Clash By Night.  Starring Barbara Stanwyck as a woman returned from the big city to her hometown (Monterrey, CA), she eventually settles down with a simple but loving fisherman, raising a baby and keeping a home.  However, along comes a lit match in the form of Robert Ryan, and she is soon having a torrid affair with him and planning to leave town with him and her baby.  So much for settling down.  Some people have it, and some don't.  Did I mention I haven't been going out much lately?  And have little to no desire to do so?  Settling down is just right for this blogger at the present time.  Marilyn Monroe does a great job in her role as the 20 year old lover of Stanwyck's younger brother, and is supportive of the older woman, no matter how bad her choices seem.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

 

My main choice for this week was Zatoichi Meets The One-Armed Swordsman, #22 in the seemingly endless series of movies about the blind samurai bad guy who is really a good guy.  This one stars a Chinese kung fu dude, and provides a relief from the virtually repeating formula the movies have always had.  Had this one had a better ending, it could have been a classic.  But it ends exactly the same way as all his movies end; Zatoichi fights the main guest character and kills him.  For this movie especially, this was a really bad choice, and spoils the entire film.  Though he often gets it wrong, this time was a major blunder.  Only 6 more movies to go (and I already know the plot and outcome of all of them, even though I haven't seen them yet).

 

Samurai meets Hong Kong style fighting, on Criterion.

 

My going away choice proved to be a somewhat better film, Fellini's Nights of Cabiria.  The version we watched was fully restored in 2019, and the print is flawless, as it always is on Criterion.  Giulietta Masina is the entire film, her facial expressions and body language speaking volumes, even as her mouth rattles on and on.  She takes nothing from no one, and yet is so easily duped into falling for the man of her dreams and having all her money stolen, not once but twice.  She is a woman who deserves the best, but only gets leftovers from the garbage can of life.  The environs of Rome never look stranger than in Fellini and Antonioni films, and this one is no exception.  But there is a bus stop!  it's very odd, but I have no memory of ever having seen this film before, though its simple story is age old.  Highlights include Cabiria's night with a real movie star, and her early morning encounter with a good samaritan who brings blankets and food to poor people living in volcanic tube caves.

Leaving Criterion August 31st.

Lastly we turn to art from the DIA, a return to a print by Bruegel many who was inspired by this super creative genius.  I think my love of detail in paintings comes from my piano background, which requires that not only every note by clear and in its proper place and frame of mind, but also all the extras there are besides notes in a piece of music.  There are dozens of markings above and below notes, as well as in between the two staves.  So looking at details in detail is something I do without even blinking an eye.  Bruegel takes the prize when it comes to details in art.  This print is as detailed, if not more, than Hunters In the Snow.  I wish I had a poster-sized image of it to hang.

 

Rustic Solitude, Jan Duetecum, Dutch  after Bruegel the Elder, between 1555 and 1558.  Black ink etching on laid paper, 13" x 17".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of right corner.

 

Detail of lower central area.

 

Detail of lower left.

 

Detail of central left.

 

Central detail.

Central detail. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 
 

And A Few More Films...

 We normally watch about 4 movies a week here at the Homestead of late, not counting the end of the month festivals.  My choices for last week were Fassbinder's Chinese Roulette from 1976, and followed up by Fellini's first solo feature, The White Sheik from 1952, which is leaving Criterion on August 31st.  We are nearing the end of the Fassbinder films, with seven or eight remaining.  We have been watching one per month for quite a while now, in addition to his three TV series.  Roulette is another oddball film, more theatrical than cinema.  There are eight characters, including the handicapped young daughter of the married couple.  Her parents are both having affairs, and through deception and a mix-up the four lovers end up at the same mansion for the weekend.  The young daughter, who is around 12, knows this and heads out there also, with her governess, a woman who doesn't speak.  At the mansion itself are an older woman who cooks and cleans, and her son who manages the grounds.  All 8 characters have lead roles, which is amazing in itself, but the focus is mostly on the hateful relationship between the young daughter and her mother.  There are never too many laughs in a Fassbinder production, and this one is no exception.

Now showing on Criterion.

On the other hand, The White Sheik is quite funny, though touching at the same time.  A newlywed couple are in Rome for their honeymoon.  She is 20 and he is much older.  He has every minute of their visit planned, including a meeting with the pope, along with his extended family.  She has other ideas, however, and slips out of the hotel room while her husband naps.  Expecting to be gone only about half an hour, she gets caught up in circumstances that keep her away all day and all that night.  The frantic husband must not only search for her, but must keep his family deceived as to her whereabouts.  The young wife is a super fan of current photo novels, the ones starring the exploits of the White Sheik.  She wants to meet him, and to give him a drawing of himself that she has done.  The music is by Nino Rota, and Giulietta Masina has a small role as Cabiria, a woman of the night who tries to give some comfort to the distraught husband.  A great little film, with the wide-eyed Brunello Bovo, and the even wider-eyed Leopoldo Trieste being fun to watch.  The Sheik is played by Alberto Sordi, in a very funny role.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

Deb's first weekend choice was Macao, directed by Joseph von Sternberg, starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell.  This is a low budget crime story from 1952, and doesn't really have a lot going for it.  The characters go through the motions, but it seems somewhat tired and formulaic.  Jane sings two numbers in a dingy casino bar, supposedly the best place in Macao.  She has a great little backup band, though.  We both had higher hopes for this one.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

In DIA landscape news, Jan Both has a print worth looking at.  Ponte Molle, or Ponte Milvio, from the 17th C, shows a Roman bridge over the Tiber in northern Rome.  The print shows a bridge still serviceable but in need of repair.  It doesn't seem to be romanticized, but rather an accurate depiction of the bridge in use at this time.  Under the print images I have posted a few contemporary photos.

Ponte Molle, 17th C.  Jan Dirksz Both, Dutch ca 1618-1652.  Etched print in black ink on laid paper, 8" x 11".  Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of left side.

Detail of right side.

 

Photo of the bridge today.

Another photo, similar angle to the print. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 
 

Update on Deb, and Other News Fit to Print

Things are looking up for Deb!  Her bandages are off, and she is able to shower.  The pain is lessening, too.  She's not quite ready to play hockey, but she is improving.

Yesterday we bought some doors for our main front entrance.  They will be completely weatherproof, and we will no longer be bothered there by a polar vortex.  Doors, installed, of a high quality, are very, very expensive.  $5,000.00 expensive, for one main door and one storm door, with screen/glass.  Also adding to our June expenses is a fallen tree, which is being removed later today, to the tune of $800.00.  And then, at the end of the month the basement floor tiles come out, to the tune of $4600.00.  Where is this money coming from?  The travel fund, of course.  That's about a year's worth of travelling for us, and it was time to take a year off.  When travel resumes, it will likely be to San Diego for a few days.  NYC is also near the top of the wish list.

My Criterion Channel movie choice for this week was Fellini's "8 1/2."  There is not much I can say about this film that hasn't been said a thousand times already.  It is one of the greatest films ever made, and nothing in cinema illustrates better the immense difficulty artists face in creating something memorable and vital, especially once they are expected to do so by an adoring public.  Whatever wavelength Fellini was on, I know I am virtually on the same one.  Sitting down to watch one of his movies is like getting into a pair of comfortable slippers and pajamas.  Somewhat strange looking pajamas.  Wherever Fellini takes you, it is going to be an amazing and worthwhile trip.  Though I have seen the film several times, it had been a while, and, like rereading the best books, it's always fun to discover things you never saw before, or have totally forgotten about until suddenly rediscovered.

We have had many unusual visitors to the bird feeding station this year.  Some of them have actually been birds, including a very large wild turkey.  Of course there are the ducks, too.  But we have also had rabbits, deer, the local ground hog, and even Rocky Raccoon has recently paid us a visit.

Mapman Mike