The Visit

Last week we were paid a visit by my mother, her sister (my aunt) Pauline and my cousin Cathy (Pauline's daughter) here in A'burg.  They arrived Tuesday the 11th and stayed until Thursday morning, when they headed back to Toronto.  My mother is heading home (Sudbury) today, after her week long voyage.  Not too shabby for 96.  Pauline is 2 years younger than Mom, and Cathy is 2 years younger than me.  They stayed at a funky hotel in A'burg called Stry (spelled correctly--for the missing 'O' visit the adjoining bar), and visited here at the Homestead on all three days.  We enjoyed a day out in the county on Wednesday, visiting a market/store, a winery and our favourite off the map cafe (14th Coffee).  We ate out in downtown A'burg, enjoying food at Salty Dog one night and then at Artisan Grill next night.  Lunch in Harrow on Wednesday was at a place called George's Eatery.  All restaurants had delicious vegan options for Deb and I.  One dark and chilly night we wandered into Navy Yard Park to see the holiday light display, still being put up at that time.  It was a really fun visit.  Mom hadn't been down here for 12 years!

 

The day before they arrived we had our first taste of snow.  It was gone by the time they arrived on Tuesday. 

 

Deb, Mom, Cathy and Pauline.

 

Same as above, with me replacing Cathy.      

 

We don't get much family company where we live, so it was great to have a chance to spend time with our closest relatives.  Pauline and Mom are the lone survivors of 7 kids that my grandparents had. 

 

In shipping news there are 5 ships that I follow regularly on-line, watching for their passing from our windows.  This weekend 3 of them passed by (2 are currently with tourists in the Antarctic).  The CSL Laurentien passed southbound on Friday, likely its last voyage of the season.  Likewise the mighty Mesabi Miner.  Both ships were heavily laden and moving slowly.  The globe-trotting Federal Bering passed northbound during the night.  I took photos of the first two, and will watch for the Bering on its southbound journey later in the month.  We currently have an extra gap allowing us to see more of the river, as an old house was torn down across the street and a new one is quickly rising.

 

The 700' Laurentien passes our house southbound.  View from our veranda.  A new house is being built across the street.

 

Riding low, the 1000' ore carrier Mesabi Miner heads towards Toledo after a busy non-stop shipping season. 

 

In movie news there are two to report.  Robert Altman's 1979 A Perfect Couple is a comedy romance.  A couple meet via a video dating service and undergo a very rocky relationship.  She is a singer in a large rock band and he is the manager of an antique shop.  The movie consists of many songs by the band, though fortunately they are mostly okay.  The band is run by a patriarchal and bossy singer, while the man's family is led by a dictatorial father.  The humour is often strained, and the young actress who plays the lead obviously suffers from anorexia off screen.  It is painful to watch her when she removes some of her clothing.  She died of cancer in 2013.  It's a strange movie, with the lead actor (Paul Dooley) being quite pushy and obnoxious in getting her to date him after they have broken off.  Definitely a movie of its time.

 

Leaving Criterion Nov. 30th. 

 

Hitchcock's silent 1928film A Farmer's Wife could have been directed by almost anyone at the time, and was likely one of his pictures he was contracted to make.  From a 1916 stage play by Eden Phillpotts, it is a romantic comedy that sees a widowed farmer seek a new wife.  With the help of his young and beautiful housekeeper (try and guess who he ends up marrying) he creates a list of eligible women and tries to propose to them.  One by one he is rejected.  At first he is furious when they refuse him, but he gradually learns to expect no for an answer.  A few outdoor scenes enliven the many indoor shots.  The comedy is a bit broad for modern tastes, but there are some nuances that show that some care was taken in the filming.  A shot of several hundred hunting dogs crossing a small bridge is unexpected, especially as we see the view from an angle where only their tails show.  Overlong (107 minutes), we did make it to the end, but not in one go.

 

From a DVD that we own. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 
 

 

Winter Shows Its Face

It's coming. It seems to arrive each and every year.  We have had a rather pleasant autumn, if you discount the fact that we have had no rain.  This year our first glimpse of what is to come will begin arriving Sunday, and by Monday and Tuesday it will be cold.  The weather change coincides with the next astronomy session, so it will be too cold to stand in an open field with my telescope.  I had a rather splendid observing month in October, however, and made it out on five separate nights.  Even so I'd like to get out three more times before winter, so I hope the temps get seasonal again later next week.

 

I've been rereading my journals from all my previous visits to London.  The first thing that strikes me is how much energy we had back in the day.  During our March Break from teaching we would have a full day of museums, walking, pubs and navigating transport, followed by an evening concert, then at least one other pub before beginning the long trek back to our abode.  And right back at it next day, six or seven days in a row.  This is while many of our colleagues were lying around on warm and sunny beaches, blinking in the sunlight.  The weather in London was frequently cold and damp.  But what fun we had, getting to know another great city in such detail (Detroit being the other one).  We hope to return soon.  Here are some pics from our 2007 visit.

 

Outside Kensington Tube Station.

 

A London tourist shop.

 

Deb climbs stairs at Bayswater Tube station.

 

British Museum.

 

One of many pub stops during our week in London.  Rather cozy, no?

 

Downtown Shere, on a day trip away from London

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Portobello Road, London.  Market day. 

 

In local travel news, my mother is coming to visit next week!  She will arrive Tuesday and stay until Thursday morning.  She will arrive with her sister, my Aunt Pauline, courtesy of Cathy, Pauline's daughter and my cousin.  They will stay at a small hotel in downtown Amherstburg, about 7 minutes from our house.  There won't be too much on the agenda, except lots of sitting and talking, with perhaps a visit to a local winery or three.  Needless to say that our house will get a good cleaning beforehand.

 

In movie news there are a few to report.  Hitchcock's 1934 The Man Who Knew Too Much is well worth seeing again, and of course Criterion has a pristine and restored print.  After watching the film again about a kidnapped young girl and the parents trying to do the right thing, we were treated to a 17' discourse by Guillermo del Toro, who has done this sort of thing for a number of his favourite films showing on Criterion.  Peter Lorre is terrific as the evil mastermind, who fights to the bitter end to carry out his assassination plot.  The final scene, a shoot out between police and bad guys, goes on and on and on, but is a great ending to the film.  Often these events last very briefly, or revert to negotiations.  Not this one!  Band bang bang till the end.

 

Showing on Criterion. 

 

Another film we hadn't seen in decades was All The President's Men, a 1976 film starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as two newspaper men who end up bringing down Nixon as a result of the Watergate break-in, an assault by Republicans to infiltrate and wire tap Democrat headquarters in Washington.  Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film is mostly talking.  However, the pacing is fast and the tension builds as the two men get closer and closer to the truth.  The real star here is how the workings of the press are revealed, a pretty much all-boys club of reporters and editors.  This is a don't miss film, though the ending is abrupt, possibly due to cost overruns.

 

Leaving Criterion Nov. 30th. 

 

Lastly comes Hitchcock's 1926 The Lodger.  While the story is weak (everyone seems so amazingly stupid in this silent movie) the photography is quite good, evoking German Expressionism with its shadows, odd angles and claustrophobic atmosphere.  The legendary London fog is in abundance, as are the killings.  One would think that after the 8th Tuesday night killing in a row of a blonde woman that blonde women would not go out alone at night.  Alas, but they do.  Truly blonde in all things, perhaps?  Joe the detective is as thick as a brick, and super jealous besides.  The lodger of the title is nearly as dumb as everyone else, keeping his secret until it is too late.  Why was it a secret, anyway?  At least the cliche of having the blonde heroine menaced by the serial killer is avoided, and a happy ending does ensue (except for all those blonde women).  Not one of the great silent films, but watched a lot because of who made it.  Beautifully restored and showing on Criterion.

 

Showing on Criterion. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 
 

It's (Mostly) Over

Winter, that is.  Early Spring was a week late, but it arrived after a very cold and snowy February  There were 19 days where the temperature did not rise above 32 F.  That is a very unusual statistic for the Homestead and vicinity for such a short month.  But our snow vanished almost overnight as very mild temps and a lot of rain arrived suddenly.

 

Board gaming continues, mostly Sunday afternoons.  We bought a new expansion (#8) for Carcassonne and just learned how to use it this week.  It's called "Bridges, Castles, and Bazaars."  It was worth getting, and adds some new and fun elements to the game without over-complicating it. 

 

I've also added a new dimension to my weekly skating time.  Another old timer who skates there usually brings his hockey stick and a puck, and last week he brought me a hockey stick, too.  So for the first time in many decades, yours truly was passing the puck and shooting on goal.  As a result I skated faster and burned a few more calories, and have a sore shoulder from using the stick.  Deb walks at the indoor track at the same time, while the central area of her track is being used by model airplane pilots.  This past week she helped untangle a few crashes on her journey.

 

In piano news, the recital program is shaping up.  It should be ready in about three weeks to begin playing for friends.  Some more work on the Haydn sonata and on the Glass Etude is still needed, but it's nearly there.  I go tomorrow morning for my 2nd lesson with Philip A.

 

Today was election day in Ontario, a province of Canada with 16 million people.  The ruling Conservative party is supposed to win a majority.  We voted this morning.  With 8 names on the ballot splitting the vote, there doesn't seem to be any way of defeating the ruling party.  Last time only 22% of voters turned out, but I think that should be significantly higher this time.  Polls are open till 9 pm, so results won't likely be final until tomorrow.

 

In film news there are three to report.  Most recently we watched Kenneth Branagh's production of Much Ado About Nothing, from 1993.  The film mostly works, though it's very unconvincing at the end when the young woman who was wrongly accused of sleeping around forgives her intended and all is well.  More likely there would be a lawsuit and the two would never have married.  The acting and locations are great, and there are some very funny moments dealing with Benedick (Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson) becoming a couple.  There is palpable energy from the cast, and the movie can easily be recommended.

 

Leaving Prime tomorrow.
  

Before that came Topaz, a Hitchcock spy thriller from 1969.  A cold war story set in the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a French diplomat is entrusted with the job of going to Cuba and finding evidence of what the Russians were up to.  With the usual plot twists and turns, this turned into a pretty good film.  With real Cuban locations and a cast of minor but very good actors.  Watch for the director playing a man in a wheelchair, then getting up and walking out of the frame.  Recommended.

 

Leaving Criterion tomorrow. 

 

Before that came The Consequences of Love, a 2004 film directed by Paolo Sorrentino and starring Toni Servillo.  He plays a very unlikable character, a man who has been forced into a position of helping the Mafia launder money into Swiss bank accounts.  He is very private and unpersonable, seldom taking note of others around him.  He uses heroin one time each week, on Wednesdays at 10 am.  He used to be an investor, and was trusted with Mafia millions.  When his advice lost them most of their money, he then appeared on their payroll.  He lives in a hotel near the Alps, in Lugano.  He manages to fall for a young barmaid at the hotel (played by the very fetching Olivia Magnani, granddaughter of the great Anna), but doesn't really know how to woo.  When she fails to show up for a promised rendezvous on his birthday, he decides to pack it in.  He refuses to deliver the money that week (millions in cash in a suitcase), and does not tell where the money is.  He is given several chances to tell, but instead ends it all.  The final scene might answer a lot of Jimmy Hoffa questions, as he is put to death by the Mafia in a traditional manner.  It is a somewhat troubling film, though bold enough in tackling the issues it deals with.  However, I did enjoy it, especially as his story comes out piece by piece, and we realize the position he is in.  Stuck, in other words.  Recommended, though far beneath the director's masterpiece film, The Great Beauty.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Coming very soon:  the February reading summary!

 

Mapman Mike