Golden Cities, Far

Today's title comes from a collection of stories in a volume edited for the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series by Lin Carter.  I am now in the process of breaking up that series.  Some books are too old and in poor shape to keep, others I just don't want any more and they will go for trade, and a few, like the about titled volume, will remain for now on my bookshelf.  Since moving to Essex County in 1976 (Aug. 21st was our 49th anniversary; we moved down here one week after our wedding) we have always called Detroit our main home away from home, and for many years lived within sight of it.  When we lived in the Town of Essex we used to come to Detroit nearly every weekend, staying Friday and Saturday nights at the Millner Hotel for $20 a night (Can.) with breakfast!  Halfway between Essex and Windsor the road climbs over a bridge and the Detroit skyline would be briefly visible.  It was Deb who first used the phrase in today's title for how we felt leaving behind our apartment and school teaching lives behind us and entering a world, for us, like Camelot.  It was a time when Detroit wasn't yet its cool self of today, but for urban explorers it still had plenty of cool to spare.

Detroit.
 

Since those heady days of youth we have come to visit and know many of the world's great cities, including archaeological ones, but there are always those I had hoped to visit but now never will.  Not because I'm too old for that sort of thing, or unable financially to do so, but because these cities are currently lost to the world at large and will likely remain so long past my last breath.  Of course Kiev would be one of those cities, lost to a generation to a senseless war.  Another exotic locale that is currently in a hopeless state (for the same reason) is Khartoum.  There is so much history there, and as it was the centre of British colonialism, along with Egypt, there was a very good archaeological museum.  I say was, because the National Museum in Khartoum met the same fate as the one in Bagdad; it was completely looted and stripped of its priceless treasures and their context.  Civil war continues top tear apart the county.  there is really nothing left in Sudan to fight over, yet the bloodshed continues.  

 

Kiev. 

 

Khartoum. 

 

The most exotic city I would have loved to have visited was Mandalay.  There are two reasons why that would have never happened.  First of all, the country of Burma (Myanmar) is virtually closed to outsiders thanks to the usual military dictatorship.  Secondly, a life changing earthquake last year totally destroyed most of the golden temples that made the city what it really was.  C'est la vie.

 

Mandalay. 

 

In movie news there are two to report.  We have also been watching Picard: Series 3, and are 7 episodes in with three remaining.  They have already used virtually every TV SF trope, so I'm curious as to how they will fill air time till the end.

 

Pedicab Driver is a 1989 Hong Kong martial arts film that purports to be a comedy.  Directed by Sammo Hung, it does have some hilarious scenes and quips.  The hero is a very chunky pedicab driver who is also a very skilled martial arts master.  He must have inspired many large size Chinese to take up martial arts.  He can really move, even with sped up camera shots.  The downside is that this is one of the most violent, bloody and sadistic movies to come out of Hong Kong during its heyday.  Much of the comedy is ruined and forgotten by the unbelievable violence.  Still worth a look just to watch Sammo (director and star), who is very camera-genic.

 

Another Asian film, this time from Korea, is Green Fish from 1997 and directed by Lee Chang-dong.  This one, which won first director awards in Korea at the time, seems to be somewhat overrated.  It is an uneven film that follows the haphazard life of a rather dimwitted fellow just released from his required time in the army.  I'm not sure what he learned there doing his time, but he certainly did not learn any fighting skills.  He returns to his family home, now surrounded by high rise apartments.  He has three brothers, one of whom has untreated spasticity, a sister and a mother.  His dream is to open a restaurant run by the family, but after coming to the aid of a young woman on a train his life takes a sharp turn.  Because the man seems to have a rather low I.Q., his inevitable doom is foretold many times during the film.  While there are some beautiful and very effective camera shots, and while the man's family is a believable group of misfits, overall the film tends to drag and lead viewers to many dead ends.  The title comes from a memory of childhood that the man holds dear.  Not recommended, and it is almost two hours long.

 

Finally, in health news Deb has a surgery date for her kidney stone removal.  She also sees her rheumatologist this week.  Deb has been flaring lately and needs to resume some type of RA meds.  And my foot stubbornly refuses to heal.  I am limited to short times of slow walking, something I am finding increasingly frustrating.  I go for ultrasound later this week.

 

Mapman Mike. 

 

A Brief Catching Up

It was a doozy of a cold, and I still have that cotton in my brain feeling two weeks later.  My last cold was in December 2018, after returning from a sleepless but fun week in Vienna.  Deb's last cold was literally decades ago.  Her overcharged immune system has protected her till now.  She is a few days behind me in her recovery, but doing well.  We have both been sleeping a lot.  Whenever I try to read, I fall asleep, so along with the travelling we did my October reading list will be on the short side.  Deb's wrist seems to be healing well, with 3 weeks left to wear the cast.  And her lung is slowly healing, too, with far fewer painful episodes.  All will be well again someday soon.

 

We were away for 8 days instead of 17, so the piano program didn't suffer too much.  I did light practice during the worst of my cold.  Things are still a bit wobbly, but memorization of the Beethoven proceeds apace.  I resumed some light physical exercise a week ago, including a few outdoor walks, some yard work, and cutting the grass.  So only 50 more weeks until I get another chance at hiking in New Mexico.  5 of those 8 days we had were lots of fun; the last 3 not so much.

 

I have been working on the trip blog, and have the Cincinnati portion published.  Look on the American Midwest blog link, upper left on this page.  I am currently working on the second part, and might publish it by tomorrow.  I did get some really good photos, even in Oklahoma.  I haven't printed any yet, but soon.  

 

In film news, some really good ones on which to report.  But first, Deb's SF film is being shown this weekend in Manchester at their incredible SF festival.  Her film was one of only 6 chosen from a thousand entries that will be shown during the main event, and is in competition.  This looks like such a fun event, and we would love to attend, perhaps next year.

 

Mandalay is from 1934, and directed by Michael Curtiz.  Quite a good picture, when a woman dumped by her criminal lover has to fend for herself, taking an unpleasant job as a night club hostess in SE Asia.  She meets an alcoholic doctor and they seem to hit it off, until lover boy returns, expecting the woman to help him out.  Kay Francis is a knockout beauty in this short feature.

 

Leaving Criterion Oct. 31st. 

 

The Coconuts is from 1929, and is the first appearance on screen of the Marx Brothers.  While they are very funny, and their routines are well timed (the auction scene is one of their funniest), the movie screeches to a halt far too many times for some very lame songs, sung very lamely by others.  Harpo's harp solo, on the other hand, is very good, as is Chico's piano solo.  Fast forward during the other songs and all will be well.

Leaving Criterion Oct. 31st. 

 

Genghis Cohn is one of dozens of BBC films and filmed plays that were released as a multi-season anthology series called Screen Two.  Prime seems to have picked up a half dozen or so of these films.  This one is exceptionally good.  From 1994, it features a Jewish comedian who is murdered by the Nazis in a mass killing of Jews during the war.  His ghost comes back to haunt the commandant in charge of the killings, until he gets his sweet revenge.  This could easily have been a horror story, or a really heavy drama.  But it is actually more of a comedy!  And it has some very funny moments, too.  A real sleeper gem, and worth seeing more than once. 

 

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Another Screen Two BBC presentation on Prime was called Small Faces, from 1996.  It takes place in Glasgow in 1968, with a young boy growing up amidst the violence and despair of life in a poor inner city.  It was well acted, but the story it told could have happened anywhere, including Milan or St. Louis.  Not really that memorable, unless, perhaps, viewers grew up in Glasgow in 1968.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Legend of the Red Dragon is a Chinese kung fu film from 2002.  Despite the violence, it is mostly a comedy, as a small team of do gooders, led by Jet Li, takes on the evil folk in charge of the country.  More a display of insane acrobatics than martial arts, it also features an invincible bad guy, who literally cannot be stopped.  He drives an all-silver steam powered racing car!  This one also features a group of young boys, including the hero's son.  Five of the boys have part of a treasure map tattooed on their backs, which the bad guys are after.  A very silly way to spend two hours.

 

Starring Jet Li, and showing on Prime. 

 

Next came a mind bending SF film, which seems to really be a play that was filmed.  Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth is from 2007.  From the description on Prime: An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.  Well scripted and very well acted, this is one of those rare, highly intelligent scripts that tell truths most people do not wish to hear about.  The expose of Christian religion (having all been taken from earlier mythologies from other parts of the world) could have been written by Joseph Campbell.  This is a very highly recommended film, with a few surprises at the very end.  There is a sequel which it seems it might be better to avoid.  We'll see.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Mapman Mike