More Corman and Vincent Price

 It becomes more and more obvious every day that the world cannot afford wars.  Why not?  We have other priorities right now.  Just how much is it costing Canada to fight these summer long fires, which are still burning?  Guess who will pay?  Yup.  Taxpayers.  Then there was the Morocco earthquake.  How much will that cost to rescue and treat wounded people, to tear down and rebuild homes and businesses and mosques.  Who will pay for that?  Then there was the flooding in Greece and Libya.  The recent hurricane to hit Florida is costing the US hundreds of millions of dollars.  Another hurricane will likely hit Nova Scotia this coming weekend.  The amount of death and suffering just from natural disasters becomes more and more staggering with each passing month.  A quote today from an official in Libya said that they had no trained rescue teams available in the country, as it has been involved in civil war for years now.  Then there are the unending stream of refugees from war torn places around the globe, and those that can't escape.  Can we really afford war any longer?   With an IQ of 80 or higher, ANYONE would realize that no, we cannot afford war any longer.  My next question is related to the fires and floods and storms, and I will leave it unanswered, but how much longer can we continue to burn fossil fuels at such hellish rates?  Is most everyone in the world asleep at the wheel (sorry, that was two questions)?  I fear my rants are just beginning, so stay tuned if you like rants.  If not, just skip the first paragraph of these blogs as needed.

In other news, Haydn symphonies never seem to get old.  Even on the third go around for some of the most obscure ones, there are treasures to be rediscovered with every listening.  I already miss not playing any of his piano sonatas.  My last two choices from the Classical piano repertoire have been two large Beethoven pieces.  No regrets there, but I must get back to Haydn again for the next piano program.  The first movement of the Beethoven sonata (Op 10 #3) is at last memorized, thought hardly secure.  It is a sprawling movement, played very fast (someday).  Parts of it fit me like a glove, but other parts not so much.  It is a jovial Haydnesque piece overall, only on steroids.  It is very upbeat, with little jokes everywhere in it (except the 2nd movement, which is incredibly serious and devastating).  His next piano sonata was the Pathetique, so it was quite a jump after the Op 10 one.  I will spend a long winter getting right down inside of it, hopefully performing it in early spring.  By then it should be a part of me.  Right now we are still two distinct entities.

Today was our longer walk day.  We walked the Detroit River pathway in Windsor, west to east, and managed to get part way back to our starting point before taking the bus back to our parked car.  It was cool and grey, a perfect day for a long walk.  We stopped for a filling vegan lunch at Taloola's Cafe, which was very busy, before walking home on surface streets, following the bus route.  We managed to walk 5.6 miles, slowly upping our game.  Next week we hope to walk in Ann Arbor, MI, in a forest with big hills.

Phone pic from the top of Malden Hill, where we do our hill training 2x per week.  The new Gordie Howe international bridge continues to progress, possibly opening late next year.  Currently there is one bridge and one tunnel for cars and trucks, and one tunnel for trains.  The incomplete span in the middle is over the Detroit River.  More photos to come when I bring my camera next week.

 

2 cormorants cavort atop an archaeological ruin on today's walk.  Before the railway tunnel between Detroit and Windsor was widened, larger rail cars were shipped across the river on large barges pushed by tugboats.  I worked as a deckhand on such a tugboat one summer here, loading rail cars at one end and unloading them in Detroit.
 

As we passed by on our walk today, the Viking cruise ship Octantis was just docking in Detroit.  It cruises all over the Great Lakes in summer. 

 

Our topic finally turns towards the title of this blog entry.  Two more Corman/Price films were watched.  Tales of Terror is from 1962, and contains three short films: "Morella," "The Black Cat," and "The Case of M. Valdemar."  Price stars in all three.  The main interest is in the central film, which also stars Peter Lorre.  They make a truly hilarious pair in this film.  Most notable is the wine tasting competition between the two of them.  Price is priceless, and Lorre is perfect in his role as the alcoholic husband.  The final tale is pretty creepy, with Basil Rathbone playing a nefarious hypnotist, and Price as the victim who is hypnotized just seconds before his death.

Leaving Criterion Sept. 30th/23. 

 

The Haunted Palace is from 1963.  An old curse comes back to haunt the village when, after more than 100 years, a relative of the diabolical Joseph Curwen returns to claim his ancestral home.  Not many people are happy to see him back.  The innocent descendant is soon taken over by the spirit of the dead madman.  This film has nothing to do with Poe, and is very loosely based on Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward."  Unfortunately for monster lovers, it remains in the pit.  An okay film, it does have good atmosphere.

 

Leaving Criterion Sept. 30th. 

 

A few more of these old but fun films remain, all of them in widescreen and colour, so stay tuned to this channel. 

Hal Hartley's first film is from 1989.  Called The Unbelievable Truth, it concerns a man just out of prison looking to restart his life in the same town where he committed his crime.  Convicted for manslaughter against his girlfriend's father, he learned how to be a mechanic while in prison.  Pretty much a comedy, he falls in love with his new boss's daughter, and vice versa.  Her old boyfriend keeps appearing, picking fights with anyone who looks at her.  Everyone in town has a different version of what his crime was.  We don't learn the truth until the end.  Not great cinema, it is still worth watching if you liked No Such Thing.  The main actor and actress in that film are also the main ones in this earlier one.

Now streaming on Criterion. 

 

Next up is a film about Goya.  Come back soon!

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Your Daily Doodle

Well, I don't actually post daily, but there are enough posts on here (hundreds, if you get into the older stuff) that you can always find something to read in between these ongoing important and vital messages.

What happens when a pianist keeps his current pieces going longer than they should be kept?  Do pieces have a "best before" date?  Lots of pianists and other musicians are having this problem these days.  Do pieces get stale?  In my case, what happens is this: I know I've kept a piece too long if the mistakes I keep making are all related to concentration.  If a driver drives the same route day after day, he soon loses the ability to keep track of the entire route.  In other words, he tunes out the scenery and the road after a while.  Same with commuters, who endure the same tube or train ride day after day.  And the same with musicians who over practice their pieces.  Even though I am also working on two large, much newer pieces for my next next concert, I am still keeping the older ones alive, in the hopes of performing them someday at my next concert.  When is someday?  Someday.

Our county is currently deep in the red zone for Corona 19, though Amherstburg isn't bad at all.  But as the cases pile up, and the hospitals remain filled, a lockdown is looming, likely beginning next Monday.  Not unexpected, as people still dash to and fro in a madness that is hard to describe and to understand.  Going to the mall is such an ingrained behaviour, especially in December, that people just cannot stop doing it.  Even in the healthiest of times, I might go to a major mall twice per year, and never in December.  But I admit to being different.

In movie news, Deb has had two picks.  She choose a selection of short films by Native American Sky Hopinka.  His films are experimental, using images and words that remind me of films from the 1960s.  Except his are in colour and usually to do with Native themes.  His 2016 documentary about Standing Rock is probably the most accessible of his films for most folk.  My favourite one is called I'll remember You As You Were, Not As What You Will Become, and is a tribute to a deceased native poetess.  Some of the imagery is the best I've ever seen, as he captures pow wow dancers using a special filter that makes them appear totally ethereal and spiritual.  Showing on Criterion, and also available on disc.  

 Scene of Native dancer from film by Sky Hopinka.  

 

Deb's choice from "leaving December 31st" was Strange Cargo, starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Peter Lorre, and some guy (Ian Hunter) playing Jesus. It's a strange, very religious film, as a mysterious man helps a group of prisoners escape an island prison, though most of them die brutally in the attempt.  It's somewhat successful as a pure adventure film, but that is not its goal.  This is Gable's first release after Gone With The Wind, and his last pairing with Crawford.  She is amazing in her role as a hard-bitten dancer trying to scrounge out a living, but Gable is too heroic and forceful.  He doesn't seem like a prisoner, but rather a man enraged by his five star hotel because his room service champagne isn't cold enough.  Of course the Catholic League Of Decency banned the film, because it showed God in a natural light, without the trappings of church and priest, and they even objected to the bible passages quoted in the film. LOL.

Showing until Dec. 31st on Criterion.  

 

In art news, here is another fantastic DIA image, a print by French artist August Louis Lepere (1849-1918). Whenever I see a death date of 1918 I immediately think of either WW1, or the flu epidemic.  Finding info on him is not easy, so I don't know which, if either.  This image strikes a chord with us this week, as we just finished watching the 1958 six part serial called Quatermass and the Pit.  It's still one of the best SF TV shows ever created, despite being limited as to special effects.  If you've seen the series, then the following image will make more sense.  Even if not, it's a stunning image in itself, a favourite of mine.

 

1890, wood engraving (9" x 8").  Collection DIA. 

 

In music listening news, we heard a wonderful digital concert on-line yesterday sponsored by the DSO.  It was a jazz quartet (double bass, acoustic, drums, sax, and piano.  Cyrus Chestnut is a mountain of a man, and a heck of a jazz pianist.  He and his group performed music from A Charlie Brown Christmas, extending it to longer than 90 minutes with all the wonderful improv that ensued.  Good stuff!  Our home listening program includes continuing on with the complete string quartets of Haydn, Art of the Violin by Locatelli, the complete works of Beethoven, in chronological order, and tonight we start an opera by Handel, Rodelinda.  That doesn't count the stuff we just throw on during the day, such as Orchestra Baobab, Brian Eno, Ancient FM internet radio, or just about anything else.

 

Mogollon, our remaining cat, has now made his permanent home on the living room couch, listening and enjoying music as much as we do.  Because he never got along with Gustav, he used to always be confined to one back room when we weren't around, and he always had to sleep there, too.  Suddenly he finds himself King of the Castle, and is taking full advantage.

 

Mapman Mike