MYST III: EXILE, A Look Back

As of January 31st our cold weather days have now increased to a season total of 40.  On those days the temperature did not reach 0 C or 32 F.  On many of those days the temp did not even come close to reaching that level.  So it's been very cold, though the winds seem to have died down.  The next ten days are supposed to continue cold, so we should reach 50 with no trouble at all.  Around here winter usually dies around the 14th of February--we are hoping it does.

Today is a full moon day, and tomorrow is Candlemas.  So many holidays and festivals around here!  Brigid comes out tomorrow to do her part in encouraging Spring to appear, though we can't get her fresh flowers until Tuesday.  We will also reveal our new cross-quarter Tarot card.  Deb continues work on her newest film, while her last one just chalked up an award in Toronto for best micro-short (She Makes A Moving Picture).  Yay Deb!  Next week will mark one month on my newest piano pieces, so I will talk about them then.

 

There are two films to report, one good and one bad.  The bad one was the 1969 b & w horror film It's Alive, starring Tommy Kirk as a dynamite carrying paleontologist, one of four people who get caught and trapped by a crazy man.  This is one of the all time bad horror films, with a monster (It) so badly done that it almost makes the film worthwhile to watch.  Apparently millions of years ago there were lots of these creatures, but hardly any nowadays.  The dynamite gets used at the end, and two out of five people and one It come out alive.  We barely came out alive ourselves.  At any time the prisoners could have walked out of the cave they are trapped in, but I guess it was just too much effort.  It features one of the most unpleasant husbands in the history of cinema.  What a relief when he is finally fed to the monster.

 

From our DVD collection. 

 

The good film was Suddenly Last Summer, a 1969 b & w film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift.  A one act play by Tennessee Williams was greatly expanded by Gore Vidal.  Taylor is a supposedly violent and crazy young woman being helped by Clift as her doctor.  Hepburn is her looney aunt who wants a lobotomy performed on Taylor, which is Clift's specialty.  This is high drama, and Taylor acquits herself well.  Hepburn chews up every scene she is in, and Clift just rolls along with the punches.  This marks the second film in a row with Taylor that I have liked her in her role.  The ending is a bit over the top.  What inspired the writer to come up with it?  I am curious.  Not a film to inspire one's love of humanity.

 

We watched a great print of it on Criterion. 

 

Turning now to Myst III Exile, I would like to share some thoughts on this game that emerged in 2001.  First the bad news.  The game is old.  It is rendered in 16 bit colour and appears at a resolution of 640 x 480.  Wow.  That means it will not run on most newer PCs.  However, the game is available cheaply on Steam, and this time we played it there rather than using the CDs.  It originally came on 4 discs, with switching required throughout the game.  I first played the game in July and August of 2001, spending 30 hours wandering the various landscapes.  I was impressed overall, though the game had some problems with sound and the mouse.  At the time I did not realize that there was a 5th ending, a happy one for all.  Imagine doing hours and hours and hours of work to find that there are no less than 4 bad endings and only one good (very tricky) one.  Nice reward for all the work.  Idiots!  On the good side, the static slideshow was gone.  Now players could turn 360 degrees and see things in all direction.  Heaven!

 

I played it again in 2015 on XP and it worked fine.  I finally discovered that 5th ending.

 

Now for the 2026 play, my 3rd time through the game.  It really needs an update.  The Steam version is the original, and it seems odd to see the low resolution, especially after playing so many new games recently.  Even so, it's still quite a pretty game to look at.  We played it together, though we needed lots of help.  The only way to truly understand what the hell is going on and why is to use the Prima Official Strategy Guide, which we kept handy and used liberally.  There are five worlds that require puzzles to be solved to advance the story.

 

The game opens on Tomahna, the house of Atrus and Catherine and Yeesha that we will see more of in Myst IV.  However, we are quickly taken to J'nanin, the world that is central to the game.  For most of the images below I have cropped out the bottom of the screen, which shows the inventory items, mostly books.  The game play screen is 640 x 480, more square than these cropped images.

 

J'nanin, where the puzzle solving begins.

 

Heading down into the crater towards that amazing little building within it.  Inside is an important elevator puzzle, as well as an office and desk that must be studied closely.  Here is the only bed in the game; a hammock in the office.  Deb and I took turns sleeping on it while we rested from our journeys.
 

None of these worlds were meant for anything except to train Atrus' two criminal sons how to manipulate worlds and get along together to solve problems.  I wish the Myst stories had left those two alone, already imprisoned by Atrus at the end of Myst.  We now have to deal with a man driven mad by the cruelty of those two boys.  Saveedro, played with full force and intensity by Brad Dourif (Wormtongue in LOR), is rightly upset with Atrus for not keeping a close rein on the boys, and the game is all about his seeking revenge.  He has been separated from his wife and kids for twenty years, and is now a raving madman.  

 

Anyway, there are three main puzzles to solve in J'nanin, also referred to as the lesson age.  The solving of each puzzle gains the player a different world to explore.  There is also a minor puzzle to solve beneath the main elevator, found in the art nouveau house shown above.  The elevator gains the player access to the main tusk summit, which has solutions to each of the three main puzzles.  There are also three smaller tusks, with a major problem to solve for each.  We got through J'nanin without much trouble.  One of the puzzles I really liked was the light puzzle, shining from one lamp to another across the small island.  It's also a great island to walk in, as the player can make a complete circuit of the island without backtracking.  It is a death-defying walk and quite exhilarating!

 

The first world we traveled to from J'nanin was Voltaic, the energy age.  The puzzles here are also mostly solved by a bit of poking and exploring, though the three-storey steam pipe one is tedious and overly complicated.  Especially since Saveedro has damaged part of it, as he has in each world.  The puzzles would be difficult enough, but by damaging them things can quickly go from bad to worse for players.

 

Players first appear on a tiny islet in Voltaic.

 

Voltaic is the energy world.  Water power and steam power must be engaged in order to progress here.

 

Catwalks, both high and low, an elevator, underground caverns and above ground caverns, along with an airship ride, are some of the highlights of this very scenic age.  Once things are up and running, there are some great sound effects.  This helps immersion in the game, as the music, for the most part, is quite lame by Myst and Riven standards.  Once the age has been completed players are rewarded by a scenic airship ride through the canyon.  We get to take a sheet of paper with us which has a mysterious symbol written on it.  Back to J'nanin via a handy linking book, and on to the next world.

 

Amateria, the age of dynamic forces, is still my favourite of the worlds of Myst III, though the puzzles are virtually impossible without spending a lifetime of trial and error.  The small island can also be walked in a circle, with indoor and outdoor scenery of a spellbinding quality.  The sky was unbelievably dramatic, with lightning, thunder and some of the best dark clouds and lighting to this day.  Even in 2026 I still love just walking around that place.  Its Chinese themed architecture works perfectly against the drama of the overall atmosphere.

 

For its time, Amateria was a wonder to behold.

 

I still enjoy taking leisurely walks here. 

 

As mentioned, the puzzles here can be far too challenging, and with very little in the way of help as to what needs doing, this beautiful setting can quickly become a frustrating experience.  Hints and use of a walkthrough are nearly mandatory if the player wishes to exit the game in a spirit of fun and enjoyment.  Whereas the payoff in Voltaic was a ride in an airship, this time one gets to ride inside an ice sphere, whizzing through a maze of track.  It's best to save the game before the final code is inputted, so the ride can be taken again.  Back to J'nanin with another symbol on paper, and off to yet another world.

 

Edanna, the world of nature, is nearly a complete disaster, and one of the worst Myst creations to ever be thrust upon a devoted gamer of the series.  There are many physical levels to this game, but if the player doesn't begin from the uppermost level and work downward, there is no hope of success.  Should one wander down into the depths of the jungle first, nothing at all can be accomplished.  It's so easy to get lost and turned around down there that I can safely bet that many players likely abandoned the game somewhere below.  Even if by chance some puzzles are solved, you will never figure out what they mean.  Even with a walkthrough and a map from the strategy guide, good luck finding and solving everything that needs doing.  None of it makes the least bit of sense as far as teaching the boys anything about worlds or nature.  The jungle at the bottom features one necessary pathway that is virtually impossible to find.  It is easy to get turned around, and can become something of a maze, that dreaded feature of many early adventure games, beginning with the Zork text games and continuing on into visual games for far too long.  The less said about Edanna the better; use a walkthrough if you wish to remain sane.  Otherwise, expect plenty of anger issues to arise.  Upon completing this world the reward is to be picked up by a giant bird and brought up to its nest.  A third page with symbol is gained.

 

Saveedro has painted murals in most of the ages, telling of the deeds of Sirrus and Achenar, the evil sons of Atrus.  This one is located in the jungle of Edanna.

 

There are some truly beautiful areas in Edanna, especially deep below.  As to fair or logical puzzles, there are none. 

 

The final world visited before end game is Narayan, the age of balance.  Again Saveedro (who we bump into here and quite often in the game) has damaged part of the age, in this case destroying some tapestries which hold symbols related to the three we have gathered before arriving here.  Again the puzzles are complex and unnecessarily abstruse.  Part of the first main puzzle makes absolutely no sense at all.  The second one is easier, as it is simply copying symbols from an underground tapestry collection and putting them into a machine.  This world is very limited, and there is little to explore.  With only three discs, the developers were running out of room.  But seeing a gondola that will follow an airborne track leads the player to assume that he/she will soon be riding the vehicle.  Not so.  The gondola is only for Saveedro, if you make it that far in the game.  Once the second main puzzle is solved, the end game sequence begins.  Save as soon as you can.  Next come the five endings.  Choose wisely.  It doesn't matter, as the game sets up the player to lose.

 

A mysterious door in Narayan, which, unfortunately, we never get to enter.  This is a micro age, with very little to see.

 

This screenshot gives the true 640 x 480 screen dimensions of the game, with the bottom uncropped.  If the game ends properly Saveedro gets to go for a ride. 

 

Of the five possible endings, three of them end badly for the player and for Atrus.  A fourth ending ends badly for Saveedro, but okay for us.  A fifth ending, which will only possibly be found by players after all the others have been tried (I missed it entirely the first time I played and never knew of its existence), ends well for everyone.

 

The game could really use an upgrade, and I would certainly replay it then.  Though a fairly good game with lots to see and many places to wander freely, I rank it well behind Riven and a bit behind Myst.  Even so, it is one of those games I find myself thinking back to often, with that little dwelling at the crater bottom on J'nanin and the mysterious and entrancing world of Amateria.  It was hurtful not to see more of Atrus and Catherine's house, but we get the whole thing in Myst IV.

 

Happy Full Moon, and Happy Candlemas! 

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quiet Holidays

Aside from the one visit that we were able to capture Amanda for, it's been a quiet holiday here at the Homestead.  Especially weather wise.  Lots of fog, very still and very damp air, creating warm dark days and a goodly amount of rain.  We managed one outdoor walk on the Greenway on Boxing Day, and it was a perfect autumn day for it.  Yes, it's still autumn around here, at least for several more days.  Going all the way back to last Friday, we had an all day Solstice Festival by the fireside, with an 8 hour wood fire, the first act of Wagner's Siegfried, plenty of food and drink, reading, napping, and other fun things.  On Christmas Day we watched Prime's Rings of Power, our second viewing of this epic adventure loosely based on Tolkien's appendices to LOR.  Amanda visited the day before Christmas, and we pretty much got caught up on news, enjoying a good visit, our first in far too long.  She is looking after her aging kitty, but is also reentering the world of travel once again with her boyfriend (whom we might actually meet someday!).  A week in Colombia is up next for them.

 

In other news, I talked with Alicia over the holiday, my niece.  She is a corporal in the Canadian Armed Forces, and on January 15th she will be on her first shift in the military police, which she recently joined.  We are all very proud of Alicia and her accomplishments to date.  We will be thinking of her on the 15th!

 

This is turning out to be an interesting period of time for encountering Germanic myths and legends.  Siegfried is Wagner's 3rd opera in his Ring cycle, based on northern and Germanic legends.  This is our 3rd or 4th time through the entire cycle, which we sometimes do all at once, but this time have separated the works by months. The hero has just reforged the broken sword of his father, and is off to the kill a poor dragon.  Tolkien based a lot of his material on the same legends used by Wagner.  And I happened to read a fantasy novel by William Morris this past week, too.  He actually translated several northern Sagas, but The House of the Wolfings, from 1889, is his fictional account of the Goths doing battle with the invading Roman army.  While loosely historical (the Romans never really did fully control the barbarian lands), the atmosphere is steeped in magic, gods, and myth.  We get a close look at how the Goth society was organized into clans, and how they fought together when their way of life was threatened.  They certainly were not simple barbarians, as the Romans thought.  It is a stirring novel, and the first part seems like it could take place in Middle Earth.  The river that runs through the countryside being invaded is called the Mirkwood.  More on this book in my monthly reading summary, coming soon.

 

Most influenced by this novel was Tolkien, and by coincidence we re watched Rings of Power.  We watched the first episode on Christmas Eve, and the rest on Christmas Day.  There are 8 episodes, and each one is riveting, spellbinding, eye-poppingly beautiful to look at, and filled with great acting, sets, costumes, arms and armour, and not to forget those Numenorean ships!  This first series focuses on Galadriel and her attempts to seek out and destroy Sauron.  Needless to say, she has her work cut out for her.  The series was ratings bombed when it appeared because (I kid you not) there are people of colour in major roles.  So trust no on-line ratings.  Still today it is being ratings bombed because, as everyone knows, only white folk live in fantasy worlds.  Next to Galadriel (who pretty much fits the blonde northern fantasy heroine in every respect), the best character is Arondir, an Elf warrior perfectly played by the handsome and statuesque Ismael Cruz Cordoba.  If you cannot imagine a dark-skinned Elf, then don't bother watching, please.  And everything to do with the Dwarves is so unbelievably good that even after watching it twice, I still can't believe it!  The mines of Moiria are extremely well portrayed in their heyday, before the balrog was awoken by the deeper mining activity.  Durin has a Black wife, so beware.  And Numenor has a Black Queen.  And there are Black Hobbits!  Oh, where will it all end?  Hopefully in a second season at least as good as the first one.  This is don't miss stuff for Tolkien fans.  It was a very fun Christmas Day!

 

In regular movie news, well, we often don't watch regular movies, as regular readers of this blog already know.  Our main sources for film viewing are three streaming channels: Criterion, Mubi, and Prime.  None of them are expensive, and we watch dozens and dozens of films each year, mostly on the first two, which feature foreign and experimental film.  Though if you dig deep, there are many great films, big and small, on Prime.

 

Deb's two choices from last week included one of the more interesting films we have seen of late.  You Are Here is a Canadian film from 2010.  It's pretty much impossible to give a plot synopsis, but it involves mysterious found video tapes, and other artifacts, that puzzle a woman.  She finds and collects them on long walks, then categorizes and stores them in an archive.  She eventually intersects with a strange experiment where people are being sent to seemingly random locations, and reporting back to a central control room.  This film could easily be a total mess if mishandled, but somehow the director manages to not only intrigue and puzzle us, but keep us interested as well. Deb thinks it has to do with early AI experiments, while I think it is an attempt to show how the human brain works if consciousness is removed.  Whatever the hell it is, it makes for a strange and somehow wonderful viewing experience.

 

Leaving Mubi Dec. 31st.
 

She also picked a Hollywood film, but one that seems to rise well above the typical melodrama I was expecting.  A Letter To Three Wives dates from 1949, and was directed by Joseph Mankiewicz.  A beautiful woman, whom we never see, lures the husband of one of three women to run away with her.  We get the marriage story of all three couples told in flashback, as each woman, who has received a letter from the mystery woman, reflects on her marriage, and whether or not it is her husband who has left.  The film, though showing a melodramatic core, is filled with more snappy lines and witty dialogue than most Oscar Wilde plays.  Sight gags are also part of the fun, namely the house of one of the women that sits next to a busy railway line.  Each time a train passes, the whole house shakes and all dialogue and action by the inhabitants has to stop.  Starring Jean Crain, Linda Darnell, and Ann Southern as the three wives.  Recommended.

 

Leaving Criterion Dec. 31st. 

 

Lastly comes my first pick of five, as I get my two regular picks for the week, as well as the end of the month film festival choices, three of them.  Back in 1989 we saw a most strange little film called The Magic Toy Shop (1987) at an alternative movie house in downtown Detroit.  We were regular patrons of the Tele Arts programs, though not many other people were ever seen to attend.  It was a bit ahead of its time for Detroit, I think, even though DFT often packed the theatre with slightly more mainstream European films.  Anyway, this film is only available on a very bad print on Youtube, but we finally watched it.  Based on a story (unread) by Angela Carter, it is a very scary look at a domineering man (a very scary Tom Bell) who runs a toy shop and marionette theatre.  His wife and her two brothers help out, but when he accepts three suddenly related orphaned children into his home, things really begin to go awry.  This is one of the strangest movies every made, and likely seen by the fewest people.  It is a horror movie at its heart, but also a very unique fantasy and dark fairy tale.  The toyshop life reeks of severe patriarchy, and the ultimate downfall of the owner will test viewers ability to believe what they are seeing.  As the children say after watching a mind numbing version of "Leda and the Swan" on the small family stage, "I don't like that play."  DO NOT MISS seeing this most unusual film.

Available to watch in a bad print on Youtube. 

 

In the meantime, we are looking forward to seeing the sun again someday.  Perhaps.  As for clear nights, forget it.  We never saw the sun anywhere near or around Solstice, nor this week's full moon.  But on the bright side, I have yet to shovel snow so far this year.

 

Mapman Mike

 

Spring Things

Spring usually means outside work.  This year, a lot of that was done for us by the town.  We have a storm drain/creek/river that cuts our backyard in half.  It can become a roaring torrent in heavy rain, or dry up completely in late August during a drought.  But the banks had become seriously overgrown in recent years, with trees, reeds, shrubs, etc.  Two workers hired by the town came through our yard a while back and cleared out much of the mess.  We have already paid many thousands of dollars ourselves to clear out fallen and dead trees, but this cleanup seems to have been covered by our tax dollars.  There is still one large tree, a poplar, on our property that needs to be taken down.

Closer to the house, we are getting new eaves troughs installed.  During heavy rain our current system is worse than useless.  We now have severely damaged front steps, and a sinkhole in the making in front of our garage.  A concrete specialist came out to have a look, and he will soon begin work on removing the old concrete staircase and installing a new one, as well as repairing the driveway where it is sinking, as well as giving us a new coat of cement on our vast and private front veranda.  We are excited to finally have this work done.  We still need some new windows, and an inside floor to have tiled.  But first the eaves and new cement.  With no travel happening the past two years, we have saved enough money to get some serious issues fixed.  Our two newest doors come in very handy during howling winter winds.  We will have spent about $25,000 on home improvements during the pandemic.

Our Ontario mask restrictions have evaporated, even as other countries which have done the same are now experiencing high levels of Covid.  As a local health employee said, Covid hasn't gone away, just our restrictions to help prevent it from spreading.  Of course masks are still required in hospital and nursing home settings, as well as a very few other places.  And as of April 1st, the border will be open to all vaccinated international travellers without having to provide a negative test.

With the family scanning project now mostly complete, I have turned my attention to our own travel slides.  I am currently transferring our Spain slides to computer from 1982.  We spent an entire summer in Madrid and Barcelona that year, and I shot mostly b & w film.  Then I will do the Copenhagen slides (two weeks spent there one summer), and then on to our three trips to Mexico City and its valley of archeological wonders.

I had a minor medical procedure done yesterday in hospital.  It was very quick, the entire process from parking lot back to the car taking exactly one hour, but once home I just chilled out all day.  I managed to read an entire 280 page novel.  Today everything is back to normal, with piano, exercise, map work, writing, and of course reading.  It is now astronomy season, so I will be hoping for a clear night or three this week and next.  Can't wait to get back into the deep, dark sky!  In further medical news, I had a cortisone injection in my shoulder last Friday, and it is helping to alleviate pain caused by a tear in my right rotator cuff, as well as some bursitis.  It was Deb's arthritis doctor I saw, by a weird coincidence.  I am now awaiting a physio appointment.

In film watching news, I chose a Dutch film called Miss Minoes, about a cat who suddenly turns into a young woman.  Despite its mostly Disney formula plot, the film has much humour and charm, as well as a host of cats that can act (Goddard would be happy about this).  I've often wondered what a cat that turned human would look like, and how they would act.  Now I know.  Lots of fun.

Miss Minoes is showing on Criterion until March 31st. 

The rooftop singing scene is very funny.

The movie features considerable nose rubbing.

Deb's regular weekend choice was All About Eve, a very funny and highly cynical look at backstage theatrical actors, specifically Bette Davis playing the juicy role of one very famous Margo Channing.  It is one of her best roles, and she plays it to the hilt.  Anne Baxter plays the seemingly innocent young fan who adores her, and her breathy charm and delivery of lines is perfect in every way.  With a great supporting cast and non stop witty dialogue, this is one of Hollywood's best productions about actors, writers, and directors.  Recommended.

 

Now showing on Criterion.

There is also young Marilyn Monroe in the cast, not shown.  Celeste Holm is beside Ann Baxter and Bette Davis. 

One of the books I am currently reading is a catalogue of American paintings from the DIA.  I usually study one painting each day.  A few days ago I came across this image of a painting I have seen many times and loved, and am now anxious to see once again.  Called Fifty Avenue At Twilight, it is an eye catching depiction of New York from 1910.  The buildings are all identified, and yet the image goes so much beyond depicting an actual scene from a big city.  It seems to capture a mood that we have experienced at twilight in several large cities, though my clearest memory of such would be from evening strolls in Mexico City many years ago.  It's a perfectly lovely painting that seems to get inside a mood that I love encountering.

5th Avenue at Twilight, ca 1910.  Birge Harrison, American, 1854-1929.  Oil on canvas; 30" x23".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts. 

I will conclude with an image from Barcelona, showing Deb appearing on a balcony of La Sagrada Familia.  Back in 1982 you were allowed backstage, so to speak, and Deb went exploring.  She surprised us by appearing on the little balcony, calling down to us (my parents were with us at the time).

Deb on the balcony, Barcelona 1982. 

Until we meet again.

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

Egypt and Beehives

It is sunny and heading towards 72 F today.  Soon bars will be crowded with people drinking green beer.  What fun.  Way back in 1976 on this day, I asked Deb to marry me.  I was in college and she was still in high school.  It seemed to work out okay, so far.

The word is out--testing at the border returning to Canada will be dropped April 1st.  Hopefully soon afterwards I will make my way over to Detroit for the day, the first time in over two years.  Deb is still unable to go.  If she leaves the country she can't visit her mom for two weeks.  Not much else planned for the near future.  A visit to Sudbury in May.  Hopefully some autumn hiking in NM.

Now on to the Egypt part of the blog title for today.  We finally finished watching Cleopatra, the 1963 Hollywood blockbuster film starring Elizabeth (Cleavage) Taylor, Richard Burton, and a whole bunch of other people.  Lots and lots of other people.  The opening scene of a Roman battlefield reminded me of similar scenes in Russia's War and Peace, which we saw several months ago.  Only the director here did not have the Russian army at his disposal.  There are many truly magnificent scenes, many of them shot in Rome and Egypt.  Cleopatra's lavish entrance into Rome has to be one of the highlights of movie making.  Beautiful set design, camera work, lighting, outstanding costumes, and a decent story make this a must see film.  It looked totally amazing on our 40" widescreen TV, but how much better it would look on a really big screen.

Following a jaw dropping Las Vegas show, Cleopatra arrives in Rome.

 

Now showing on Criterion, until March 31st.

Costumes and headgear were astounding, as were sets, lighting, etc. 

The film clocks in at four hours and eleven minutes, including Overture, Intermission, and musical epilogue.  Unfortunately the music was mostly bad Hollywood schmaltz.  The visuals made up for it.

Turning now to the beehives of the blog title, we arrive at a little Spanish film from 1973 called Spirit of the Beehive.  This truly wonderful movie concerns a small family living in a tiny village on the outskirts of Franco's last years.  Two sisters, ages about 6 and 8, attend a local showing of the 1931 Frankenstein movie in 1940s rural Spain.  The little one, Ana, becomes transfixed by the monster, especially after her sister tells her that it is possible to talk to him if she closes her eyes and whispers to him.  She leads her little sister to an abandoned farm building and water well where she says he lives.  The film is not easy to describe, as it really doesn't have much story.  What it does have is an insight into childhood rare in book or film, and a way of expressing emotion in a most subtle fashion.  The visuals are nothing less than haunting, and the acting by the children is perfectly directed.  This is one of Guillermo del Toro's favourite films, in his top three, and it's not hard to see many of his ideas coming from here.  We still have a ton of film extras to watch about this film, adding up to more minutes than the 98 minute film itself.  The film is unforgettable.

Spirit of the Beehive, on Criterion. 

Mom plays piano, in a Vermeer inspired shot.

Ana (left) and sister Isabel overlook an abandoned farm building and well, where the monster is said (by Isabel) to live.

And I'll finish with a few more early family slide scans.  The project is now complete, and soon I will move on to the slides of our earlier European journeys, and the earlier Valley of Mexico ones.  Still lots of work ahead.

Our front yard in Sudbury, looking towards the Copper cliff smokestacks of INCO.  Those bare mountains at the end of our street are now forested.  That mountain was also a local ski and toboggan hill.

 

  Me holding younger brother Stephen, alias the burrito boy.

Winters were endless in Sudbury (and still are).  We briefly lived in a different house, the upstairs of a duplex.  I had a ski hill in our backyard! 

Today also happens to be a full moon.  The party commences soon.

Mapman Mike