Catching Up Again

 We continue to try and put up railings on our new outside staircase.  We have half of the job done; the other half requires some ingenuity.  Deb thinks she is up for the challenge.  More later.  Still nothing to report on our garage foundation.  There it sits, in all its unfixed glory.  The car sits outside, which won't work well in the winter.  Speaking of winter, I finally had my winter dream, which usually occurs on or about Summer Solstice.  In this dream, there was no snow on the ground.  But everyone was talking about the big winter storm that was immanent, and would soon bury us in the white stuff.  So there; that part of my life is done with.  I remember worrying about how to get the car into the garage before the storm.

In weather news, we have had no measurable rain here at the homestead since June 14th.  The grass is brown and the earth is cracked.  We've had two close calls, but no rain here.  Next chance is tomorrow night, when storms are predicted.  We need a good inch of rain at least.  In June we had five days at over 90 F, including a 99, 97, and 94 F.

In music news, my newest piano program is up and mostly ready for performance.  I've played the Bach and Beethoven for my piano friend Paula, and they went really well on her grand piano!  I was happy, and she was amazed.  So far so good.  Now I need to play for a few people, and get on with a newer program. We continue to listen to the complete works of Beethoven here at home, as well as our entire classical record collection, over a thousand records.  We need to knock back an opera soon.  We just finished our Bach records, as well as all the Schubert string quartets.  Next up are the Schubert symphonies.  As for Beethoven, we are in the opus 70s right now, heading well into his middle period compositions.

In gaming news, I am playing Myst 5, which will complete the 8-game series, 5 Mysts and 3 Urus, most of them being played for my 2nd time.  I continue to play Botanicula, but am currently stuck trying to rescue a 3rd tyke, with two already safe with mama.  We are ready for our 2nd game of Middle Earth The Wizards card game in our new series.  And tonight we played Scrabble for the first time.  It's supposed to be a game that's good for old folks to play.  We didn't keep score, but tried to learn the rules.  We should be ready next time for the real thing.

Turning to film, there are two to report.  I chose Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, a 2021 Japanese film by the director of Happy Hour, the 5+ hour film we watched last month.  This one featured 3 short tales, the last two being quite good, and the first just so-so.  Hamaguchi is a director to keep an eye on; we still haven't seen Drive My Car.  In the 2nd story, which is filled with irony and several risque moments, a married female adult student is enlisted by her young boyfriend to try and seduce a professor and get him fired.  She heads to his office prepared for the job, but the two of them of them hit it off rather well.  The ending is a surprise, and tragic and funny at the same time.  In the 3rd film, two women meet on the street, each thinking they know one another from high school, and strike up a conversation.  One invites the other to her house for tea, where they come to realize that they don't really know each other at all, both succumbing to mistaken identity.  Funny and touching, this is the best of the three.

Now showing on Criterion. 

My going away choice was 'Round Midnight, from 1986 and directed by Bertrand Tavernier.  From the description on Criterion....."’ROUND MIDNIGHT is a love letter from director Bertrand Tavernier to the heyday of bebop and the Black American musicians who found refuge in the smoky underground jazz clubs of 1950s Paris. In a sui generis, Oscar-nominated fusion of performer and character, legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon plays Dale Turner, a brilliant New York jazz veteran whose music aches with beauty but whose personal life is ravaged by addiction. Searching for a fresh start in Paris, Turner strikes up an unlikely friendship with a struggling single father and ardent jazz fan (François Cluzet) who finds his life transformed as he attempts to help the self-destructive musician. Herbie Hancock’s evocative, Oscar-winning score sets the mood for this definitive jazz film, a bittersweet opus that glows with lived-in, soulful authenticity."

It's a very engaging film, with great acting and fabulous blues music.  Highly recommended.

Leaving Criterion July 31st. 

In series news, we finished up Amazon's amazing 16 part one called Undone.  A very fun and original animated series to watch, and perhaps rewatch.  And tonight we saw part 5 of 6 of Dark Winds.  The final part comes out next weekend.  And we are halfway through Name of the Rose, an 8-part series.  A newer version of The Prisoner is on deck.

In writing news, my children's vampire novel has been translated into French, and is ready to send off to Paris this week!  Fingers crossed on that one.  Thank you, Celeste!!

I'll finish up with a summer time painting from the DIA.  Western Landscape by John Mix Stanley shows me where I would love to be right now.  And if not floating down a river or crossing a lake, then at least I'd like to be sitting where the painter is, and just watching what happens.

Western Landscape, 1847-1849.  John Mix Stanley, American, 1814-1872.  Oil on canvas, mounted on Masonite.  18 1/2" x 30".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts. 

                                                                        Detail of above.

Detail of above. 

Mapman Mike

 

 

Six More Weeks

 We are under a new 6 week stay at home order, just as the weather turns towards mid Spring.  Needless to say, it is not going over well with many people, who are more than a little sick of being told to stay home, yet have to go to work everyday.  Schools are shut, making daycare a nightmare for working parents.  And that includes teachers at home with their own children, who have to work all day on-line with students.  The government tried getting the police to issue random stops and fine people for being out for no good reason, which was quite a common thing in the UK during their lock down.  But here, the blow back was so fierce and loud that the government quickly backed down, especially after most police agencies said they would not do it.  Score one for the people!

Mogi continues to improve, though he still has a week to go on the cone collar.  He will still be heavily sedated all this week, though Mogi spends much of his cat life seemingly sedated anyway.

I will turn to art from the DIA first this time, before talking about movies.  Today's work comes from John Mix Stanley, a 19th C artist-explorer, most famous for his images of the west, and of the natives there.  Today's painting shows an unusual subject, one with a sense of humour along with the typical trappings of his many works.  Indians playing cards is from 1866, and shows a group of three natives passing some time while a fourth looks on from his horseback position.  I have never come across such an image before, but it reminds me of how it must have been passing time back in the days.  Cards, which we still play in many forms here at Lone Mountain Homestead, are easily carried, can be played almost anywhere, and can involve the mind is higher levels of thinking for long periods of time.  No doubt awaiting their fellow braves at a rendezvous point, this work points out the similarities, rather than the differences, between our two cultures.

 

Indians Playing Cards, 1866.  John Mix Stanley, American, 1814-1872.  Oil on canvas, 16" x 26".  Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of central area, above.  

 

In movie news, we watched a film that has been sitting in the queue on our Prime channel for a long time.  Ex Machina is a pretty decent SF story about a brilliant man who creates a human-like AI life form, and brings in someone from his company to test and see if she can pass for human.  The story, which would fit easily into a novelette of about 40-50 pages, contains some very good dialogue, though in most ways does follow a conventional story pattern.  However, if the story on its own might not impress an avid SF reader too much, its filmed execution is quite outstanding.  The effects are very impressive, and the confined setting helps keep the story grounded and simple.  There are no convoluted plot twists or deep subtexts.  Though the ending is quite chilling, I believe that Ava will someday realize her mistake in leaving Caleb behind.  In other words, she does not have a conscience at the end of the picture, but if she continues to learn and advance by observing other humans, she just might develop one after a time.  A recommended movie, especially for SF fans.

Now showing on Prime.  

We also watched They Live By Night, a unique noir love story starring a very handsome and young Farley Granger.  He plays the part of a boy sent to prison for murder at 16.  He escapes with two roughnecks, who bring him only (he is now 23) to help him rob banks with them.  He meets and falls for Cathy O'Donnell, and their story makes up the main subject of the picture.  Of course they are fated to not live happily ever after.  The film is deep and involved, and plays like reading a very good crime novel.  Though the young couple have opportunities to escape the US and move to Mexico, they wait until it is much too late.  A very highly rated film directed by Nicholas Ray, I can easily recommend it, especially to fans of the Noir genre.

Showing on Criterion until April 30th.

 

Mapman Mike