Helene

 Hurricane Helene has dispersed.  Its winds reached us this morning and continue tonight as I type.  The devastation it has caused the deep south is virtually unprecedented, and it will take weeks to assess and begin to repair the damage.  40 dead so far, and counting.  We are expecting some rain tomorrow and Sunday from it.  Needless to say that the first week of my newest astronomy session hasn't gone well.

 

The fourth week of our mountain hiking fitness program has begun.  It doesn't feel as if I will be ready to climb mountains in two weeks (three, actually, as it takes us a week to get there; we hike on the way, making it our 6th week of training).  But the program is tried and true, so I must believe.  Three high altitude hikes are planned, including the Texas state highpoint.  That first one, a tough one to be sure, is on the sixth day after our departure from the low flatlands.  It will be a major test for me, and without passing it I cannot think about hiking the big one, NM's Jicarita Peak.  So a Plan B is being formed in case Guadalupe Peak gets the better of me.  Not having hiked in the mountains for six years now, failure is a distinct possibility.

 

Deb is finishing up her Hound of the Baskerville film project, which she is using mostly as a learning experience for her newest animation software purchase. The film stars yours truly as the evil Stapleton, toying with women in the part, much like I do in real life.

 

Last night we had an incredible sunset, moving from yellow through pink, orange, and red.  Here is a photo taken near the final phase.

 

Sunset photo taken from our front yard, with the sky reflecting upon the Detroit River. 

 

In film watching news, I will begin with last weekend's pick, and move towards the most recent pick.  Twentieth Century is from 1934.  Directed by Howard Hawks it stars Carole Lombard and John Barrymore.  He plays a theatre director, and she is his latest acting discovery.  A romance blossoms, then wilts, as she finally deserts him and heads for Hollywood.  While they both just happen to be on the same train from Chicago to New York (the Twentieth Century), he gets a chance to win her back.  Barrymore is in top form, and often quite hilarious as the manipulating man that will do anything to score another Broadway success.  Lombard, not quite so successful in her role (she screams a lot), plays the young put upon actress trying to put up with Barrymore's eccentric and overbearing ways.  Somehow or other we had both missed seeing this film before.  it's worth it to watch Barrymore, almost playing himself at times.

Leaving Criterion Sept. 30th. 

 

Following was next, A Christopher Nolan film from 1998.  From the Mubi description:  Driven by boredom, a writer randomly shadows strangers on London’s bustling streets. What starts as fictional research becomes an unsettling journey when he’s confronted by a burglar named Cobb. Drawn into Cobb’s world of crime, the writer treads a perilous path, entangled in obsession and danger.

Stay away from bad guys.  One would think by now, after all the movies and novels that have contained this message, that people would follow that simple maxim.  But no.  Instead, they are attracted and seduced by bad guys, to their inevitable undoing.  An almost harmless hobby (follow a person once, but never again) soon turns into a crime spree, and then a deadly crime spree.  As the poor victim becomes more deeply involved with this film's version of Faust, his demise becomes more and more certain.  An original film to be sure, and in b & w.  Worth a look at the director's earlier smaller scale work.

 

Now showing on Mubi. 

 

Most recently came Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, a 1970 Spanish thriller.  Though light on murdered bodies, it is heavy on sexual sadism.  Filled with suspense movie tropes, it isn't too hard to guess what is going on, though a few surprises remain at the end.  A woman begins to think she is going crazy, as there is no evidence of the insane man, she says, who is causing her grief.  Of course some of the tricks used by the bad people trying to drive her crazy are never explained (the apartment she takes her husband and the police to is suddenly empty of all its furnishings and looks old and unused--it hadn't been rented in over a year.  No explanation of how that one was done).  The movie features the most futuristic 1970 furnishings and women's outfits for the time--it often reminded me of one of those sexy spy movies that proliferated for a time after the Bond films became successful.  If you enjoy seeing an innocent woman totally gaslighted, then you should like this film.  If not, oh well.  She does live happily ever after, though.  Sort of like a Dickens novel, I guess.  The bad guys get all the breaks, until the final minute.

Leaving Mubi Sept. 30th. 

 

I have resumed working with my Spirograph set.  Perhaps if you get lucky I will post some more images of my work next time.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

News Update

So much news it's difficult to know where to begin.  Deb's latest animated SF short continues to rack up the prizes.  Still a few festivals to hear from, too.  Her latest win comes from Italy's "8 1/2 Film Festival."  That group also has set up a booth at Cannes, and will be featuring Deb's film. 

In ship watching news, I watch 5 ships on a regular basis through a live shipping website.  Four of them are on the Great Lakes, and the other one travels the world, occasionally passing our house on the Detroit River.  One of the Great Lakes ships recently had some electronic problems and ended up grounded off Belle Isle in Detroit.  Though they are unstuck now, they are currently dead in the water while repairs are made.  Their cargo is salt.

 

The Mark W Barker pays an unexpected visit to Detroit's Belle Isle.  Photo is from the Detroit Free Fress.  Ironically, the ship grounded right in front of the island's Great Lakes Shipping Museum, which has a live cam that watches ships pass.  The whole thing was caught on the live cam.

 

In other news, I am committed to a hiking journey to New Mexico this fall.  My main goal (subject to change without notice) is to make a 2nd attempt at climbing Jicarita Peak.  Our first attempt was thwarted by a mismatched water purification bottle.  The mountain is southeast of Taos, atop one of the finest and most scenic ranges in the whole state.  A few other major hikes are planned alongside this one.

Jicarita Peak, NM.  Aim high and see how far one gets.  Training in earnest will begin mid-August. Author's photo from October 2016.  Though the mountain is probably still there, some of this beautiful forest has burned in more recent wildfires.

 

In music news, the next piano get together is in two weeks.  It sounds as if six members will be in attendance.  Practicing here at the Homestead goes on (and on).  I'm still hoping to trade in the piano I now have for a Yamaha keyboard, deluxe model.  Watch here for details.

 

So far this session I have had four clear nights (make that five), but smoke from Alberta wildfires has been milking up our sky.  One of those nights I stayed home; the other time I went out but should have stayed home.  It's supposed to be clear tonight, but smoke is forecast.  Tomorrow looks better.  If I get a fifth outing I will be very happy, though it really cuts into my evening reading time.

 

Now on to movie news.  We wrapped up the final 2 episodes of the French TV series The Middleman.  I can report that the fish had a happy ending.  The series mostly takes place in a run down Parisian apartment building, and the hero (with the possible aid of the fish) travels between the present and a time in the past when he was a child.  It is an amusing series, and well worth catching.

 

We also watched another incredible Seijun Suzuki yakuza film, Branded To Kill from 1967.  This is one of the best 60s films I have ever seen, though it makes little sense and has very little plot to it.  The director was reportedly fired after this film came out, and went on to do TV work before returning to films more than a decade later.  In this very watchable but screwy film about a hired killer, things get really weird when he becomes the hunted.  More gunfights then the average western.  Starring our favourite chipmunk-cheeked hero, Joe Shishido.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Deb chose a documentary called Spettacolo, from 2017.  It follows the population of a small town in Tuscany as they try to mount their latest annual theatrical presentation.  With the young people no longer present in great numbers, more and more work falls upon the aging population.  Viewers wonder why they are continuing to torment themselves in this way.  Give it a rest, or perhaps consider doing things every two years.  Preparations for the spectacle begin in the winter, with discussion about what the topic will be for the performance this year.  Spring and summer show the readings, rehearsals, staging, etc., until opening night finally arrives.  The festival has a huge following in Italy.  However, the amount of volunteer labour involved is quite ridiculous.  Not always riveting cinema, it does show the dedication of several people taken to extreme lengths.  The project began as a way to socialize in the summer evenings, and to tackle subjects important to the people of the village.  I strongly suspect that it won't carry on for much longer, however.

Now showing on Criterion.  From 2017.  

 

Mapman Mike