Gr. 8 Graduation, 1967

Deb came across this priceless photo in the upstairs closet this week, as she was (unsuccessfully) searching for an older art work of hers.  My Catholic school Gr. 8 graduation!  I'm actually on Facebook with two of my old classmates!  Vittorio P. back row, 3rd from left, became a Toronto area narcotics officer, and collapsed suddenly at his home on Christmas morning, 1990, as he was opening presents with his family.  He died the next day, of mysterious causes.  At 37.  Vittorio was a good guy, serious, and kept to himself a lot.  Very tragic.

Yes, I'm, in there. 

 

Deb had her teeth cleaned and x-rayed on Thursday.  Prices have gone up a lot since last year.  No surprise there.  It was sunny and very mild (52 F), so we went downtown for lunch afterwards.  As usual, I sat in the car and read while she was inside the dentist's office.  There is a brewery nearby, so I stopped in and purchased a few cans of ale, too.

 

Last Monday we had our first snow event.  By bedtime it was coming down hard, and no sooner had my head hit the pillow than the snowplow began its ritual passing.  From a snowstorm to sun and mild weather; I think it's going to be a somewhat unusual winter.  Of course the snow is now long gone.  It's interesting to watch the birds in full panic mode during the first snowstorm.  All their ground food disappears, and if they are yearlings they have no idea what is going on.  So I put out extra food that day, as it was also windy and very cold.

 

Earlier Monday we had an afternoon visit from Phil, a former student from many years ago.  Phil now lives in Pennsylvania, but was here to visit his dad.  Phil has had a rough year.  His mom died in April, his wife left him in October, and his dad was recently diagnosed with cancer.  Phil runs a music podcast that deals with Irish rock, a la Pogues, called Paddyrock.  He makes a great dj, but the music is a bit too head banging for us these days.  And speaking of the Pogues, this is the day after Shane MacGowan passed away, at 65.  How he managed to live that long will always be a mystery to this blogger.  We heard the Pogues live in Detroit many years ago, but Shane had been removed from the band by then.  I would have loved to have heard him in his prime days.  As to Phil, he will return after Christmas, bringing his two youngest kids along this time.

We have also purchased our final two replacement windows, for the back TV room.  Once these are in, all the windows have been replaced since we moved in.  No more cold air leaks!  The master measurer came on Wednesday.  They will be installed Dec. 15th.

 

In movie news, I will first finish up with Deb's final two festival choices.  Her two remaining films were both Japanese, and both in the SF and fantasy genre.  First came Princess from the Moon, from 1987, and directed by Kon Ichikawa.  The story comes from an 8th C folktale, easily believable to have some truth at its root, of an alien spacecraft crashing, leaving one survivor.  She is one strange little thing, growing in a matter of days into a beautiful young woman.  The costumes in this film are to die for, with more yards of cloth used than perhaps any other period film.  After getting settled on Earth and liking her life and the people around her, her friends from beyond (the folktale says the Moon) return in a spacecraft to retrieve her.  there is no appeal, and she sadly leaves her human family behind.  This is a very fun film, and extremely beautiful to watch.  Highly recommended.

 

Princess From the Moon, now showing on Criterion. 

 

Next came a historical fantasy, based on the origins of Japanese civilization.  Again there is some mighty fine apparel in this flic, called Himiko, from 1974.  People who worship the Sun are in conflict with those who worship the Mountain.  And so it goes.  Himiko is the legendary priestess who is the only one who can get messages from the Sun, which she passes on to her people. An oddity definitely worth catching.

 

Himiko, from 1974, is now showing on Criterion. 

 

My leaving pic was Invisible to the Eye, a Turkish documentary from 2020.  Here is the summary from Mubi, where the film was showing (it's gone now).  Inspired by Eremya Çelebi Kömürciyan’s book “History of Istanbul: Istanbul in the Seventeenth Century”, Invisible to the Eye traces this particular itinerary in contemporary Istanbul and opens up an endless path into the multifaceted visual history of this long-standing city.

 

It is a dreamy look into the city's architecture and spaces and people, as readings from a 17th C traveller's description is read.  I have always been intrigued by Turkey, especially Istanbul.  Just by pure coincidence, direct flights from Detroit began last month.  If you are interested in historical views of ancient cities, you will find this film fascinating, as I did.

 

This film has just left Mubi. 

 

It's a rainy and dark Friday here at the Homestead.  The trusty wood burner is cranking out heat.  Piano social is this Sunday afternoon.  Deb is working on her new film, and getting a lot of acceptances for her most recent completed films.  All is well.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Maps, Meniere's, Movies, and Music: My Path to Sanity

I didn't mention my reading pastime in the title, because it doesn't start with the letter "M".  With a full Meniere's attack coming every third or fourth day, I have a whole new outlook on life taking shape in my mind.  I was given 20 tablets of Lorezepam on Wednesday.  I need to take two at the onset of an attack.  They work like magic.  The vertigo remains under control (though there is a fierce battle for a while), and there is no nausea.  Using Gravol, I would end up with three or four bouts of nausea and vomiting, and around four hours of dizziness.  I would have no food for at least 8 hours afterwards, except for ginger tea, and feel lousy for an other day.  With this new drug, the attack is minimized in minutes, and 90 minutes after the onset I am making dinner and eating it.  I have 16 tablets left.  Then what?  They can become addictive, and if taken regularly and then stopped can cause withdrawal symptoms.  So far I've had two doses of two pills (the maximum is two pills per day), one Wednesday and one Sunday.  If only I could keep some of these in my pocket.  I never know where or when the attacks will happen.  I see my specialist in less than three weeks.  Today I had bloodwork, and I am booked for an MRI, probably not until around Christmas.  I remember Deb having her should one done on an Easter Sunday.

 

On to Maps.  There are currently three areas of interest to me currently in this subject.  First and foremost are my digital topo maps of New Mexico. about three thousand of them.  And yes, I am going carefully through each one of them, and planning hikes which I would kill to be able to carry out.  I'm already a year behind in my hiking, and fervently hope I can return to the mountains of the Southwest next Spring.  My second area of interest in maps is astronomical, namely the Uranometria Star Atlas, the most complete atlas of the heavens in existence.  In 226 charts it plots 25,800 galaxies, 1600 open clusters, etc etc, and over 280,000 stars.  This is a serious volume to own, peruse at night, and take into the field.  I often sleep with it beside me.  Thirdly come the National Geographic Maps, all available to me on-line with my inexpensive subscription to their print magazine.  Hundreds of maps of the world and space.  I particularly enjoy looking at old maps of Africa, from the deepest jungle to the vast Sahara.

 

Moving on to Movies for awhile, I just finished the 14th and final episode of Berlin Alexanderplatz.  The epilogue was nearly two hours long, an entire movie unto itself.  Experimental avant garde theatre meets 1980s television camera and editing techniques.  This might be the best two hours of televison ever made, as Hans Biberkopf enters the mad house, and must work through his problems internally, while on the surface he vegetates.  Truly wonderful execution of so many different styles, backgrounds, plots, characters--a major tour de force.  There are several hours of extras to watch next, and a 1931 film version of the book, lasting 90 minutes.  So lots more Biberkopf to come!

 

Now showing on Criterion Channel. 

 

Deb's movie choice last week was a Japanese movie from 1963. Directed by Kon Ichikawa and called An Actor's Revenge, it tells the tale of a leading male actor who plays the parts of women in traditional theatre, and his years long struggle to avenge the death of his mother and father at the hands of crooked justices and merchants.  The visuals, in wide screen and colour, are stunning.  The film could be simply watched without knowing the story.  Some of the music is quite annoying, but the story, one of sorrow and hardship, is also punctuated with some humour.  Definitely a good catch.

Now showing on Criterion Channel.

We also watched a 1950s SF, called The Atomic Submarine.  Somehow this decent little film had escaped my viewing up till now.  A flying saucer causes havoc under the north pole, and a top sub and crew are sent to put a stop to it.  The is b & w film from 1959 is not quite as silly as most such films, and was quite fun to watch.  It was only about 65 minutes long.

Now showing on Criterion, thru October 31st.

 

In music news, I continue to practice, but due to the unpredictability and frequency of attacks of dizziness I am experiencing, I am holding off on the performances, at least until I see Dr. Ling in a few weeks.  Hopefully I can continue with my working meds until the MRI.  If not, it's back to Gravol and suffering.  Our listening program marches along.  It is in five sections.  We are listening to the complete string quartets of Haydn one night, baroque records from our collection on another night (currently Geminiani Op 3 and Op 4), finishing up the Brahms complete works on a third night, and working through our opera collection on vinyl on a fourth night (currently one side left to go in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers).  Thursday and Friday evenings at 7:30 pm we are subscribed to live DSO digital concerts, which we are really enjoying.  So lots of music going on here.  As soon as the Brahms box set is complete (nearly done), we will begin the Beethoven set.  Hoping to add the Bach bo set once we get through the Haydn quartets (a while yet).

 

And I'll conclude with a rainy day photo from the DIA, taken on Woodward Ave. in Detroit, in 1955.  It's been grey and wet around here lately, and I miss Detroit.

 

    Untitled (Street Corner, Detroit), ca. 1955, printed after 1980, gelatin silver print. 
Bill Rauhauser, American, 1918-2017 

 

Mapman Mike