Gaudi

Our second little blast of winter has gone the same way as the first one; all the snow has melted, and we are having modestly mild days.  We are now inside our 6 weeks of darkness, being the three weeks before and after winter solstice.  Of course our 42 degree latitude means it never really gets dark all the time here; even at the solstice we still manage 9 hours with the sun above the horizon.  But it is relative, and it's plenty dark by 5:30 pm now.  It is also time for the new astronomy session.  I really lucked out in November, but will be lucky if I can grab one good night out of the deal this month.  Any bit of wind combined with cold temps and I'm done, since I literally am out standing in a field.

 

Our county, Essex, is spending the week in the "red" zone, as we are breaking records for the number of Covid cases each day.  Our hospitals are getting swamped, too.  Green, yellow, orange, red, then lockdown.  We were green just a few weeks ago, and have been proceeding through all the pretty colours since then.  We hit red on Monday.  By next week we will likely be in lockdown mode.  To us it makes little difference.  We are home except for groceries and pet food.  It's becoming apparent that a vaccine will not end the pandemic, either.  What will?  Nothing humans could agree on.  I wonder how tackling climate change will be possible, if we can't stay home and drive less for a major disease.

 

We have received our 3rd National Geographic magazine since subscribing.  October was all about the latest dinosaur research, November was given over to Covid, including a lot about Detroit (where the disease is currently very subdued compared to the rest of the US), and December is given over to the Great Lakes.  I was hoping it would come with a wall map of same, like in the good old days, but it was not to be. 

 

In movie news we watched Antonio Gaudi, a film by Hiroshi Teshigahara.  It's more like a visual poem, as it shows most of the architect's greatest work without an y talking, only music.  It certainly got me interested in a return to Barcelona.  It came with 3 extras, all quite good.

 

Now showing on Criterion.  

 

That was Deb's final pick from her 3 for festival weekend. Now it was my turn for a single from the collection, followed by a pick from the movies leaving Criterion on December 31st. This will be followed by two for Deb, similarly chosen.  I chose five short films featuring W. C. Fields, including his first one called The Pool Shark, from 1915.  I really love this man, and had never seen any of his short films before now.  I claim It's A Gift, his 1934 feature, to be the funniest film ever made.  After the silent film we saw four talkies from the early 1930s: The Golf Specialist, where even after 20 minutes of trying he cannot get his shot off; The Fatal Glass of Beer, with a song of the same name which he sings, hilariously; The Pharmacist, which ends in his shop getting destroyed by a gunfight between police and a robber--Fields is saved by his daughter's boyfriend "Cuthbert"; and The Barber Shop, where we see and hear Fields perform on the double bass.

 

Leaving on Dec. 31st is The Awful Truth from 1937, a classic film starring Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, and Ralph Bellamy, a bedroom farce that apparently was mostly improvised rather than scripted and rehearsed.  Cary Grant's face is priceless to watch, as he tries his best to scupper his wife's relationship with Ralph Bellamy.  The couple are divorcing, but having more than second thoughts as time goes on.  Lots of fun to watch, and to read about behind the scenes.  Nominated for multiple Oscars, it won two.

 

Showing on Criterion until Dec. 31st.  

 

I mentioned a while back that I would show part of a New Mexico map from time to time.  This is part of a 1:24,000 quad I was recently studying.  It appears to resemble one of Mandlebrot's perfect examples of a fractal.  We heard him speak once at a large science convention in Detroit.  It was a small room, pretty packed, and I had never heard of fractals.  I have been keenly interested in them ever since, and have two computer programs to play with that generate them, colour them, and animate them.

 

Part of a NM topo map, showing canyons, mesas, streams, and very rough roads.  I love spending time exploring these maps, and several of them have been the basis for some incredible hiking trips. 

 

In other news, a few days ago a large freighter got stranded in the shipping channel in Amherstburg.  It was just freed today and sent on its way.  Approximately 30 ships have been stacked up in the river and beyond, waiting for the channel to reopen.  Tonight there is a parade of ships passing by, their low but audible rumble making our radiators vibrate, not to mention the walls.  They will likely pass by all night.  Luckily the river has no ice yet.

 

And finally, a photo from a Detroit newspaper, showing one of the falcons that live on and around the nearly 400' Ambassador Bridge, as it stares right into the live cam.  An amazing photo!

 

 

 Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Maps, Movies, and Music

The Beethoven CD collection arrived today, and it is really something beautiful to behold.  Even if one never listened to a single disc, it would still be a major investment.  In addition to a large book with many full colour illustrations, each of the several sections comes with a booklet with essays and full track details.  Nothing like this has ever been put out before; in addition to the complete works, there are many different interpretations of many of the main works.  For example, there are 4 complete and different sets of the 9 symphonies, and two full sets of the string quartets, three of the piano sonatas, in addition to several single works being given several times with different performers.  A miracle in a box!

The box is huge, holding 123 discs, one large hardcover book, and 9 smaller booklets.  I have died and gone to heaven.  Someday I will own the same kind of set, but of Bach's music.  I may never leave home again voluntarily. 

And speaking of mind-blowing purchases, I turn now to a brief discussion of maps.  I own a CD-ROM set of all of the maps published by National Geographic.  I've had the set for many years, but the program does not work on modern computers.  Thus I have not had access to these maps for nearly a generation now.  Recently, National Geographic has put all of their maps on-line.  They can be purchased individually, but even better is that if one buys a print subscription ($19 US), then not only do you receive 12 issues of the magazine in the mail, but you gain on-line access to their entire map collection.  even better than this, the quality of the scans is much improved over the old CD set.  So guess who recently purchased a subscription to National Geographic?  It's been an orgy of maps around here lately!

A map from 1922 that I have been perusing lately.  Sections can be downloaded and copied, too.  A Few things of note from the legend.  First, there are no roads, only railroads and caravan routes!  Secondly, many rivers on the map are marked "Unexplored."  Be still my beating heart!!

 

Small detail from a 1922 National Geographic map of Africa, one of hundreds I now have access to.  

In all the excitement we have hardly noticed that it has been unseasonably cold the past few days.  We had our first wood fire Wednesday evening, and it was a beauty.  It even attracted a cat.  The furnace got tested Thursday morning, and the 50 year old boiler is performing magnificently again.  We are all set for cold weather, though it is supposed to moderate by Tuesday of next week.  That is good news, as that is when the new astronomy session kicks off, weather permitting.

In movie news, we have each watched one of our own selections, and I watched part 12 of Berlin Alexanderplatz.  My movie choice this week was another TV undertaking of Fassbinder, a three and a half hour production shown in two parts called World On A Wire.  We watched Part 1 this week, and really liked it.  It's a fairly engrossing SF story about creating a computer program that simulates life as we know it, and people in the lab can communicate with their coded counterparts.  People on our side of the equation keep disappearing mysteriously, and no one seems to remember them.  Part 1 ends with a cliffhanger shock, so we are anxious to see Part 2 next week.

 

Now showing on Criterion.  We watched Part 1, lasting 1 hr. 45 min.

Liking it a lot so far. 

 

Deb's film choice this weekend was directed by Robert Siodmak, from 1944.  It is a well done noir film that has some very expressionist scenes, including a night scene at an El station in New York.  We also get to watch a crazy jazz set in a very small room.  Elisha Cook plays drums like a madman, and kisses the heroine, who is pretending to like him to get information from him.  Her reactions to his kisses are classic, as she will do do literally anything to free the man she loves from jail, where is wrongfully imprisoned.  Though hailed as a classic, the story is not consistent enough for me, but still worth a look.  The sets and photography are excellent.

Now showing on Criterion.

Sculpture studio.

Elisha Cook, Jr. jams on drums.

Visiting her man in prison.

My favourite scene, an el station at night, where the stalker becomes the stalked.

  

Now that we are in a suitably artistic frame of mind, I had promised to reveal some more works from the DIA collection.  I have some German Expressionist art that would fit in nicely here.  However, by coincidence I heard from Dino again today, and he sent his latest creation.  It's about as far from noir as one could get, but that's just fine, too.  Enjoy his painting of a barn swallow!  Thanks, Dino!

 

A recent work by Dino.  Beautiful capture! 

 

   Mapman Mike