End of the Month News

We've been back from London now for 3 weeks.  All 8 blog posts have been published and in some cases revised.  As memories of London fade a bit, thoughts turn to a Sudbury jaunt.  My mom has been in the hospital for several days after hurting her back.  She is in a senior rehab wing now and undergoing daily physio.  She expects to be released Wednesday if all goes well.  So we will likely drive up for a visit.  Despite its northern climate, Sudbury is expecting a brutally hot week coming up.  We used to drive straight up in one day, but the past several visits have seen us stay overnight in the Collingwood area, then continuing on next day to Sudbury.

 

I spent my first 22 years in Sudbury, including elementary school, high school(s) and college.  Deb lived there for about 9 years.  We met in high school, got married when she graduated from Gr. 13 and headed off to Windsor together to attend university, she as a fine arts major and me for music.  We were married at Lake Penage in the summer of 1976, meaning our 50th anniversary is coming up soon.  I'll probably still have a nap that day.  But we will try to do something special.

 

In music news, Deb has completed a project I have long wanted done.  I have cassette tape recordings of my piano playing dating back to 1974ish, when I attended Cambrian College as a music major.  These tapes were in various states of deterioration.  In addition, I had 9 professionally done cassette tapes of my concerts from 1994-1999.  She has managed to clean them up, remaster  and digitize them, and despite some wobbly bits due to tape issues, I now have a nearly complete record of my piano recordings.  And there are lots of them.  Nothing too recent, but now with my new piano recording pieces is so easy I will likely recommence.  If I find a way to put them on-line I will post about it here.

 

In movie news there are two to report, as well as an interesting Belgian TV series.  First the movies, both of them watched on Criterion.  Killer Nun (you heard that correctly) is from 1979, an Italian picture directed by Giulio Berruti and starring Anita Ekberg.  She plays the role of a well established nun in a convent who is starting to lose her marbles due to a drug habit.  The film makes it appear that whenever she gets high she brutally kills someone in the convent.  However, experienced viewers of Giallo films will immediately recognize the real killer, a nun made psycho by her grandfather's sexual abuse of her as a child, followed by no one believing her.  Not a great film, but there are some very disturbing and sadistic murders.  Lots of nudity.

 

Leaving Criterion May 31st. 

 

Even weirder was Behind Convent Walls, a 1978 Italian film directed by Walerian Boroczyk.  This is essentially a porno film (with murders) trying hard to be an art film, but not really succeeding at either.  It's pretty boring ,though some of the sex scenes may pop your eyes out.  Full nudity, generous use of dildoes and a few murders can't save this picture which really spins its wheels and goes nowhere.  I did enjoy the final scenes with a bishop trying to restore order among a flock of hysterical nuns.  The film makes me glad that convents have walls.

 

The film is leaving Criterion May 31st. 

 

Lastly comes a great TV series from Belgium that we have been watching.  Professor T (2015-18) is a middle aged man, highly intelligent, autistic (high functioning) and with a totally obsessive compulsion disorder.  Apparently the federal police detectives are incapable of solving any serious crimes in Belgian.  This is lucky for viewers, since they must rely a lot on the professor to solve them.  In addition to finding criminals who have murdered, the professor lectures law and criminology students at university.  His classes are always highly attended and great fun (also very instructive).  The director sometimes inserts random fantasies the professor has, almost reminding us of the Dennis Potter shows.  These fantasies are sometimes quite bewildering, but are often very, very funny.  We have watched 6 episodes so far.  I hope there are many more.  The Brits copied it and did their own version, which we have not seen.  Highly recommended.

 

Now showing on Prime.  We are watching the original Belgian series. 

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Bach, and It's Winter

There will also be info on recent films viewed, so just hang in there.  In local news I have recently reconnected with a childhood best friend.  Dino and I hung out all through high school and into a few college years.  He moved to Toronto to work, like most of my Sudbury friends, while Deb and I headed to Windsor.  Dino and I were avid readers as kids, mostly of fantasy and SF, and he still reads a lot.  He and his second wife have a cottage northeast of Toronto, and they have visited Detroit with us once.  Dino is Canadian/Italian, and has travelled a fair bit with his wife, including visits to Italy, where he was born.  We seem to have reconnected, which is a good thing.  His mother is also still alive and living in Sudbury, so that is where we will likely meet again, hopefully in the Spring.

A few posts back I discussed the 2-part keyboard inventions of J. S. Bach.  I will be performing #9 at my next recital.  I will also perform #9 of the Three-Part Inventions, also in F Minor.  With the three part works listeners and performers get 50 % more notes.  Though Bach somehow makes 2 part writing sound full and intense, adding a 3rd voice makes a lot of difference to the richness of both complexity and harmony.  Unlike the 2-part works, I have not learned (yet) all 15 of the 3-part ones.  I am currently learning my 6th one.  While each set of inventions, both 2 and 3 part, cover all the emotional bases, #9 of the three part set goes way beyond anything else in either series, or even in much of his other keyboard writing.  At first I had difficulty getting a handle on the depth of the work and its single-minded affect, or emotion.  It is a very slow piece based on only three notes, initially F, Ab and G.  Bach was a very religious man, and most of his greatest pieces are religious in nature.  The only thing to which I can compare invention #9 is Christ bearing the cross and carrying it up the mount.  The three notes could represent three steps taken, then a pause, then three more steps, and so on.  There are many extreme dissonances in the work, sometimes making it difficult to tell if the performer is actually playing the correct notes.  Thus a lot of pain is being expressed, and not just a physical kind.  As just a piece of music without any religious connotations, it is still a truly sublime work, whose deep feelings immediately affect me when I begin to practice it.  It is probably one of two extremely minimalist works on the program, which is the theme of this recital.

 

For something completely different, I will talk about the Haydn Sonata I will be playing during an upcoming blog. 

 

Turning now to weather, one day it was November and the next it was January.  And it's going to stick around.  It snowed a tiny bit on Thursday and some of it is still around three days later.  Usually that kind of snowfall is gone by afternoon.  With the Great Lakes still being quite warm compared with the air, lake effect snowstorms have shut down many highways and towns in both the US and Canada.  Our snow in A'burg comes from Lake Michigan, luckily a long distance from us.  We get very little from lake effect snowstorms.  However, some areas have had nearly 48" (4') of snow.  A bit too much for me to contemplate.  A big snowstorm is usually 10-12".  We get one here about once a decade.  In Sudbury they get about two per year.  But 48"?  Seriously?  There are still people stranded on Ontario highways, who have been there over 10 hours.  Even the snowplows are getting stuck.  The interesting thing is that this thing was predicted.  Also, you could see it happening on weather radar.  So what do idiots do?  Get in their car and drive.  Even truckers and other professional drivers should know better; yet there they are, stuck during a blizzard on the highway.

 

In movie news, there are three to report.  Deb's leaving choice was Francis Coppola's mini-disaster of a film, One From The Heart, Reprise.   The 1989 version nearly sunk Coppola, it was such a flop.  Reprise is a re-edited version from 2004.  If this version is an improvement, I would not wish to ever see the original.  Tom Waits wrote and performs much of the music.  There are way too many songs, all sounding pretty much the same.  A couple seems in love at the beginning (Frederic Forrest and Terry Garr).  However, they soon fight and she leaves him.  Neither are interesting characters at the beginning, and they never change.  She meets up with Raul Julia.  They seem to hit it off, and don't make a bad couple.  He meets up with Nastassja Kinski.  Despite her energy and charm, he wants his original woman back.  She rebuffs him again and again.  He is the kind of guy that needs a restraining order.  She is not happy with him, but at the end goes back to him, leaving Julia stranded at the airport just before their flight to Bora Bora (of course it's all on his dime).  This is the entire plot, without nothing left out.  It is a far too simplistic plot to hold attention more than 15 minutes.  We both struggled to get through it.  It features a wonderfully moody fake LA, with terrific lighting and photography.  But give it a miss, unless you simply have to see every Nastassja film ever.  She is cute in this one, too, and does a high wire act.

 

The film has left Criterion. 

 

After that she chose something warm and comforting.  We rewatched The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes.  It's a poor title for this wonderful film, with a Holmes who blunders badly (which is why we've never heard of the story before) and a Watson who comes very close to being irritating, but just manages to escape it.  Christopher Lee plays an aloof and self-superior Mycroft.  There is a wonderful scene where the snobbish Mycroft has to listen to Queen Victoria praise Holmes and his adventures, which Mycroft detests.  This might be our 3rd viewing, but it's been as long time.  After suffering through the Coppola, it was as if a window had been opened to fresh Scottish air.  It was written and produced by Billy Wilder and stars Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely.

The film is showing on Prime. 

 

My main choice this week was Robocop, a film we had somehow managed to never see (like Hellboy).  It takes place in a futuristic Detroit, and is great comic book fun from start to finish.  From 1987 and directed by Paul Verhoeven, it was mostly filmed in Dallas.  A cop is brutally gunned down by a mob, and is somehow brought back in the form of a superhuman robot.  But his old memories come back when he is in his new metal skin.  He remembers the bad guys, and decides to take them down.  Of course the real bad guy is a white collar boss of a huge company trying to sell their own brand of private army to the city to tackle crime.  Lots of fun to watch, since the bad guys actually get the worst of it.  Way ahead of the Marvel movies et al, this one is a pretty good movie.  One major slip was that Anne Lewis, his original patrol partner, sees him killed, sees the faces of the bad guys, but never thinks to go after them.  Screwy.  The film went on to several sequels, as well as video games, comics, toys, and the rest of the media junk that follows a cult hit, especially a violent one.  I am on the lookout for the 2014 remake.

Now showing on Prime.

 

Mapman Mike

 

The New Version of Riven

We have been playing for a few days now, and are finally getting used to all of the changes in the 2024 version of Riven.  It would be a total blast to play the VR version.  Someday, perhaps!  So far we have explored Temple Island, where one first arrives.  There are many changes, though the landscape and transport systems remain largely intact.  Some of the puzzles are virtually the same, while others have changed drastically.  Those mysterious spinning fire marbles are even more mysterious now.  Pathways have been changed, most noticeable within the largest dome on the island.  Gehn's chair, where he can seem to appear to worshippers in the temple, is in an entirely new location now, though the temple itself remains unchanged.

 

The main difference is now those revolving fire marbles.  In the old game they would open and.... in the new version they open and can be entered, descending into the starry abyss via catwalks and ladders.  Gehn's idea to escape Riven was to create a linking book using the large central dome as the focus of power from the 5 spinning marbles.  Once the five smaller spinning marbles have been mastered, it is very easy to hop from one island to another.  We took our first trip.

 

We have also been to Jungle Island, likewise finding many changes there, too.  Lots of mysterious religious figures, and lo and behold there is an inventory system now.  While we always carried the special linking book, and a notebook given to us by Atrus at the beginning, there are now a few other things to carry, important to new aspects of the plot.  Over on Boiler Island, there is a new and somewhat easier way to get into Gehn's laboratory, where we are now puzzling over the new puzzles.  Moving in 360 degrees is fun, though the sky never changes, like it does in the revised Myst.  All the water moves, though, and there are mysterious cracks in the ocean.  We know that Gehn has not built a solid world, and there is much more evidence of that now.  The original soundtrack is there, but there is some new material, too.  Though players can turn in any direction, they are still mostly confined to the paths laid out in the original game, plus several new paths never seen before.  Some amazing rendering work has been done here, and each day we look forward to playing some more.  A final review will be posted here when we have finished the game.

 

 

It's strange to think that a masterpiece game like Riven can be improved.  It's a bit like the Vivaldi Four Seasons, and what Max Richter has done with them.  Bold, but very refreshing.

 

In film news, my festival choices are nearly complete.  We are now on the final film.  Before that we watched Daphne, a 2007 dramatization of the life of Daphne du Maurier.  It's a fairly pedestrian look at her leanings towards lesbianism.  When she sees the woman she will obsess over for many years (and who will reject her advances) she says she feels like an 18 year old boy.  She prefers wearing trousers, and has a torrid affair with an older woman, an actress from her play.  It's a pretty slim story, and I'm not sure that du Maurier fans will be too impressed.  Read her works instead.

 

Showing on Prime. 

 

Next came the 2nd film in Obayashi's anti-war trilogy.  Seven Weeks is from 2014, and tells the story, in its own unique way, of a 92 year old man who has died.  As the family comes together for the funeral rituals (which last for seven weeks) viewers learn about his life, especially his wartime memories.  There is a lot of fast talking in the film, putting subtitle readers at a disadvantage for enjoying the beautiful shots of local scenery, or even noting what is happening away from the centre of the screen.  It is a complicated story, and often told in a complicated manner.  The first film, Casting Blossoms To The Sky, though often avant garde in its storytelling, seemed more approachable and easier to sit back and enjoy.  I enjoyed the present film a lot, but I feel that one viewing was not enough to make total sense of what the director was doing.  I think perhaps a less experimental approach to the story would have been much better, leaving people with a better idea of what is going on.

Now showing on Criterion. 

A few weeks ago we watched The Third Murder, a great film directed by Hirokazu Koreeda.  This time it was the director's family drama After The Storm, from 2016.  A man, divorced from his wife, gets to see his son once every month.  He is behind on child support, and being threatened with the visits being stopped.  He wrote a best selling novel years ago but has no responsible sense with money.  He gambles at the track (bicycle races) and is working as a sleazy private detective.  The storm in question is Typhoon #34.  He, his former wife, and young son are forced to stay over at his mother's apartment during the storm.  He is a loser, through and through, and we are happy that his wife managed to get away.  It is the character of his mother that really steals the film away.  What a great role for an elderly Asian woman to get!  The actress is totally amazing, and we soon long for scenes that have her in them.  Another interesting aspect of the film is the discussion the estranged husband and wife have during the storm, where he finally realizes that he and she are not meant to be together anymore.  There is no shouting or screaming, as one would find in American breakup movies, and he doesn't get a gun and shoot her, his son, and then himself.  This is a distinctly Japanese view of resolving problems, and is quite refreshing, especially when the man finally accepts his fate.  Highly recommended.  We are on the lookout for his other films.

 

After The Storm, showing on Mubi. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

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A Winter Thaw Approaches

After 8 days of pretty severe cold weather and windy conditions, we are due for a warm up this week.  Today (Sunday) is still very chilly, but the old boiler should get a break beginning tomorrow.  A bit of an ice storm is on the way, however.  One can't have everything, I suppose.  I only shovelled twice so far this month, and the snow was light and fluffy both times.  We've had flocks of birds around for the twice daily feedings provided here at the Homestead, and the bird water dish heater kept water available as well.  Today we saw a robin (at least 6 weeks early) taking a bath in the water.

Dad is now home from the hospital, after having received no less than 6 units of blood in less than a week.  He said his care was excellent, and seems appreciative of the fact.  A special thanks goes to my sister-in-law Lynne, who stayed with him most of the time he was in, and kept abreast of his medical condition and treatment.  Dad is still very tired, but seems to be recovering.  We shall see.

In Doctor Who watching news, we continue to view the Catherine Tate episodes with David Tenant as the Doctor.  The two part Sontaran story was a bit of a disappointment, with the world (mostly London) saved from certain doom at the last second, yet again.  I can't help thinking that Londoners have very short memories, as they never seem to recall previous alien invasions, and always act surprised when a new threat from the beyond whacks at them.  "The Doctor's Daughter" is a strange tale of a father/daughter relationship like no other.  Starring his real life wife as his daughter (there are 13 years between them; she is also the daughter of a previous Doctor, Peter Davidson), it opens up possibilities that were never close to being realized.  She flies off in the end, appearing as if she might try to spawn another spinoff series, but so far that is the last we see of her.  This again begs the question of the Doctor's granddaughter.  No one has yet come to terms or tried to explain the origins of Susan, the girl from the very first episodes.  We more or less know what happened to her afterwards, but where did she come from?  Why not a story about that?  How did she and the Doctor begin their travels?

In film news, Hyenas (1992) is a remarkable film, recently restored, from Senegal.  How has globalization affected human morality, you might ask?  You shall be answered if you watch this slow paced but extremely engaging film.  Most African films can seem extremely exotic to Western viewers, and this one is no exception.  A woman returns to her village.  She is old now but extremely rich.  A grand welcoming celebration is prepared, as everyone hopes that the rich woman is coming home to save her town and bring it prosperity.  She does do all that, and more.  But her real reason for returning is for revenge against the man who got her pregnant at 17, then denied it, blaming others for the deed.  An innocent man was castrated, while the offender continued on with his life.  She agrees to give the villagers a vast sum of money, but they must kill the offending man first.  There is much humour in this film, despite the grim premise, and the view of village life centred around the only store/cafe in town is lively and sometimes hilarious.  Highly recommended!

Leaving Mubi soon. 

 

My 2nd choice for the week was another BBC Screen Two film.  These are small films that often pack a big punch.  Henri is a 1994 film that takes place in Belfast.  A ten year old girl (played by 12 year old Kara Bowman, a lively and musical accordionist) who plays the accordion is given a place at the country's prestigious music festival.  She is sent off by her dad, and is boarded by a local Catholic Belfast family.  She is a very gifted and intelligent girl, who is always writing letters to various companies and politicians, letting them know when they have erred.  Her best songs are Orange Protestant ones, and though she is not forbidden to play them at the festival, she is encouraged to try something else.  A small film that would not appeal to many, it caught us in the right mood.  The bizarre ending is pure delight.

Showing on Prime. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

Winter's Grand (Belated) Arrival

 IT is here.  IT has finally arrived.  IT is not much fun today, nor for the foreseeable future.  After this snowstorm we are to be hit with winds gusting to 100 km tonight and tomorrow, with temps dropping well below zero, and staying well below zero (Celsius) for many days ahead.  Ah, the howling sounds of January in Canada.  Detroit airport currently has an average departure delay of 81 minutes.   However, we at the Homestead are prepared for nearly anything.  The only thing that would affect us negatively this weekend is if the power went off for longer than 4 hours.  With heavy snow on the tree branches and the electric wires, this is a very real possibility once those overnight winds kick in.  We have a fireplace and plenty of wood to heat the central area of the house.  All of the fridge and freezer food could live in the garage indefinitely.  But we wouldn't have any hot water for tea, etc.  Anyway, we are now only observers, having to accept what comes our way.  We have the fire departments of our county on live broadcasts.  A few wires down and a house currently burning, but most of the calls are for vehicle accidents.  The first real snow of the season and people have forgotten how to drive in the stuff.

 

We dodged a big one earlier in the week, getting rain instead of the expected snow.  But that storm gave us the lowest barometer reading I have ever knowingly experienced: 28.86.  The lowest I have ever felt before that was around 29.30.  Normal is around 30.00.  And with this most recent storm hitting us this weekend we are back down to 29.03!  Amazing stuff!!

There are two films to report, but lately we have been rewatching the Dr. Who episodes that feature David Tenant  and Catherine Tate on Prime Video.  The original appearance of Donna Noble is in the episode called The Runaway Bride.  It is one of Tenant's better episodes, despite the ridiculous spider monster at the end.  The two actors seem to have an instant chemistry, and their repartee is hilarious.  A running joke about pockets, for example, really sets this one apart.  Partners In Crime, the first regular episode to feature Catherine, also introduces her wonderful and amazing granddad, played by Bernard Cribbins.  Both he and Catherine (and Tenant) ended up creating characters that are completely unforgettable.  Which is why we are rewatching those episodes.  We will see if they stand up over time as being truly memorable.  So far, yes.  I love Donna Noble, and I think that she might be in my top three companions of the Doctor of all time.

In movie news, most recently we watched The Man With A Shotgun, a Japanese pseudo western from 1961, and directed by Seijun Suzuki.  In widescreen colour, it is truly one of the weirder movies to come out of Japan.  With the usual fistfights, gunfights, saloon girls, good guys and bad guys, the movie will still have viewers' jaws dropping frequently during this story about a man out for revenge on those who raped and killed his young wife.  Lots of violence and more than a few surprises, Suzuki's early films are just as weird as his later ones, but in a different way.  Don't miss a chance to catch this one.  For us it is showing on Criterion.

The Man With A Shotgun is leaving Criterion January 31st. 

 

My main choice last week was called All Things Bright and Beautiful, a BBC production from 1993.  It is one of the Screen Two productions.  Here is the description from Prime:

County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. 1954 is the year of special devotion to Our Lady. When Barry's prayers to her are mistaken for a two-way conversation, the result is a wave of religious hysteria. Barry's father must rescue him from the worship of the village folk and the ambitions of Father McAteer.  

This is mostly a fun look at a pious young boy, whose actions are misinterpreted, and then allowed by the boy to go on, until a kind of hysteria has hit their small town parish.  It all begins with an innocent mistake, as the boy mistakes a hiding IRA refugee for Barabbas (hey, it can happen).  The old time radio gets a supporting role, too, to help set the time the story takes place.  The local priest is a complete shambles by the end of the story.

 

Showing on Prime.

That's it from the Homestead for now.  We are safe and cozy, and hope to remain that way.  Autumn has vanished at last; here comes Winter.

Mapman Mike

 

 

Changing Over

We are now knee deep in late autumn weather, which is a bit of a jolt after last week's sunny and very mild spell.  We are due for our first taste of snow tonight and tomorrow, which is never a welcome event here at the Homestead.  I leave water out for the birds to drink, and it was frozen for two days.  I finally was able to break the ice up today and insert the small heater that keeps the water open through most of our cold weather.  The birds are fed twice each day, and a small flock of blue jays always quietly awaits my appearance each morning.  They prefer peanuts, while the squirrels really like sunflower seeds.  The other birds eat birdseed mostly.  It's getting really expensive now to buy birdseed.  Not surprising, as most food, especially fresh fruit and vegetables, are being priced sky high.  Our inflation rate dropped to 3.1% recently, but that is only due to cheaper gasoline prices.  Everything else is going up and up.

 

With the arrival of the full moon Sunday and Monday, I am already looking forward to the December astronomy session.  Clear nights are rare in December, and if we get a few, it's usually bone chillingly cold.  But November turned into such a great session that I have some hopes for December.

 

Not much news from here at the Homestead.  Movies, reading, Deb working on her next film and me practicing piano, it's business as usual.  A week from today is supposed to be our next piano gathering.  I don't even know yet what I will perform.  Possibly Bach.  Possibly Beethoven.  Possibly Chopin.  Possibly nothing.  Lots of possibilities, anyway.

 

I'll take the film reviews here in reverse order, beginning with one that we just finished.  Deb gets five picks in a row, because it's her festival weekend.  Here are her first three.  West Is West is from 1987, and was directed by David Rathod.  Vikram comes to California from Bombay in hopes of attending university.  But his Indian sponsors are dealing with a family tragedy and are away from home.  So Vikram arrives with no place to stay.  He ends up in a small hotel (in San Francisco) run by an Indian lady.  His application is turned down by the university, and he is about to be deported.  He has been forming a friendship with a young female artist, rebelling against her family, and they manage to team up to make things eventually work.  But not in a way one might expect.  The lead actor is okay in the role of hard luck wannabe student, and the girl pulls off her role quite well, too.  Their Bollywood scene together is a very nice touch.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Before that we watched Powwow Highway again.  It seems quite popular around here.  It has many classic scenes and lines, scenes and lines that have become part of who we are and what we represent here at the Homestead.  Based on a fabulous novel by David Seals, the movie pulls few punches about life on a reservation, and the way that Whites are continually trying to exploit the resources there.  Starring Gary Farmer in a role that was meant only for him.  Highly recommended.

Still showing on Criterion. 

 

Before that came a concert performance film called Tripping With Nils Frahm, from 2020.  While I found the music quite good, the film shows Nils creating the sounds with a vast array of electronic equipment, including several keyboards.  My main problem was that he was moving around to different places so much to get the incredible effects he was producing that it greatly interfered with listening to the music.  So I gave up partway through the film, but will be sure to check out his stuff on Spotify this week.  He has also scored a few films.

 

Now showing on Mubi.  I recommend only listening, rather than viewing.
 

Before that came my two film picks.  The 2nd one was leaving Mubi soon.  It is called Bellissima, a 1951 film by Visconti.  It stars Anna Magnani as a very poor mother sacrificing everything, even her marriage, to get her five year old daughter into a film.  When auditions are called for slightly older children to play a part in an upcoming film, dozens of mothers show up with their daughters.  Anna shows up with her tiny 5 year old, telling the movie people that she is 7 and small for her age.  This is Magnani's film, and her pace and style are manic and non stop.  She talks, moves, carries on, argues, fights, and travels all in a whirlwind of motion and words.  I honestly don't know how she would ever rehearse her scenes, so perhaps she was improvising a lot.  The scene at the ballet school, for one, is priceless.  Though the ending cops out and becomes unbelievable (first that they would actually chose her little girl, with a manic mother like that, and second that she would ultimately refuse to let her daughter do the part), this is an unforgettable glimpse into post war Italy (neo realism) and the struggles that people faced to survive and try to get ahead.  Definitely worth a look.

Leaving Mubi soon.

My main choice for last week was The Crow, from 1994, and starring the late Brandon Lee.   From graphic novel to film, the transformation looks pretty good.  The story is simplistic, with good guy seeking revenge on bad guys.  There is the expected climactic duel at the end between good and evil, with a princess that needs to be rescued.  This takes place on top of a cathedral during a storm.  While more suited to comic book pages than cinema (was this film really worth dying for?), it is good eye candy.  It's not too hard to spot the bad guys, but at least the look of the film, and the constant night scenes and falling rain, give it a kind of distinction.  There are nearly as many killings as in one of the Lone Wolf and Cub or Zatoichi films, though nowhere near the subtlety those martial arts films can display at times.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

It's nice to hear that David Tenant is back as Dr. Who for a short revisit, along with  Catherine Tate.  Sadly, we will never get to see any of them, as they show only on Disney, which we will have no part of.  Streaming channels can be very good; streaming channels can be very bad.

 

Mapman Mike

 

Missing In Action

 Where have I been?  Loyal readers should be able to tell when a massive streak of clear, moonless nights has swept our county.  Not much got done this past week except observing with the 12" reflector, and writing up notes next day.  I did manage some piano practice, too, and a bit of reading, and there are films to report.  But mostly it's been a rare November spell of mild, sunny weather.  My coldest night temp was 32 F, something I can easily handle with my winter clothing gear.  The first clear night was last Sunday.  I was greeted by not one, but two detours due to bridge construction.  So my 50 minute driving time became 60 minutes each way, all week.  Sigh.  Then, after less than two hours of gleeful observing, it clouded over, despite forecasts to the contrary.  I guess Nature doesn't listen to the forecasts.  But Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were great nights.  Mercifully I had Thursday off due to clouds, but it was clear again Friday, so out I went.  It's also clear tonight, but I have surrendered.  Besides, the moon is getting quite high now.  And it's windy and cold.  And I'm burned out.  But it's a happy burned out.

Last weekend we watched Wes Anderson's Asteroid City.  It's showing on Prime!  It is a colourful and entertaining film, and good for one viewing.  His sense of style is so unique, and his use of colour is always bizarre but attractive.  His characters, however, are never deep or interesting enough for me, though there is some improvement this time.  Let's just say that he never probes very deeply into the human soul.  But he can be very entertaining, and this film is entertaining.  Probably the best alien visitation ever filmed.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Deb's leaving choice for last weekend is called One Mile From Heaven, from 1937.  A light skinned black woman raises a white child, but by the age of five she is called out and has to go to court to prove the child is hers.  A wrenching drama where seeking out the truth will hurt one side but help the other side.  This is a very strange film, and is based on a 1925 novel.  While obviously dated (who would ever question anyone these days raising a child of a different race), it is amazing that a film was even devoted to this topic.  Bill Robinson is great as a police constable, and does a number of tap dances.

 

This b & w film is leaving Criterion Nov. 30th.  

 

My main film choice this week was a documentary starring Bill Maher, and he goes behind the scenes to tackle the world's fascination and dutiful devotion to religion.  Religulous is from 2008, and is as much comedy as it is investigative reporting.  Though focused mostly on Christianity, he tries to get at the reason people take things completely on faith rather than reason and logic.  Pretty much unforgettable, especially the leader of the Church of Cannabis.  Highly recommended, and showing on Prime.  Not terribly deep, but loads of fun.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

We hit the jackpot with my leaving choice.  Europa is from 1991, directed by Lars von Trier before he went completely off the deep end.  An American man goes to Germany just after the war in 1945 to get a job.  His uncle, a sleeping car conductor, gets him a job doing the same.  He unwittingly comes under the evil influence of the Werewolves, a German resistance group hitting back at those who are collaborating with the Americans, who are currently everywhere in the ruined country.  While the story is interesting in the traditional sense, it is the director's stylish look that really attracts viewers.  Going between b & w, colour, and some of each, unusual camera angles, his sense of time passing, the sets and lighting, and his brilliant use of rear projection, all take us into a world which we have never before experienced.  The third of his "Europa"trilogy, we are currently watching the first one.  Highly recommended.  This is von Trier at his best.

 

Leaving Criterion this month.  

 

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

 

 

 

The Rings of Power

But first, the local news.  We are slowly getting through a very busy October.  This week we both had our haircut, long overdue, followed by a trip to the lawyer in Kingsville handling Lois' will.  Still to come are a doctor's visit (me) and my postponed dental cleaning.  Deb also needs to go to her mom's bank, but she is waiting for a call back to book an appointment.  Next week is Lois' Celebration of Life, which Deb is handling (quite well).  Throughout all this I am currently suffering through a bout of poison ivy.  We cleaned up some of our yard a week ago last Saturday.  On Tuesday night, in the middle of the night, I began to itch.  Thinking it was mosquito bites, I applied some cream and carried on.  Two days later, it had spread down both wrists, just past where my work gloves had protected my hands (thankfully).  I've been itching badly for over a week now, with likely another week to go.  Taking Benadryl and applying hydra-cortisone cream.  There are times when it doesn't bother me at all, and other times.....

Back to TV viewing now.  For the first time in my life I am seeing Tolkien brought to film that fully satisfies me.  Prime Video's  Rings of Power is easily the most awesome fantasy epic ever filmed.  We have seen 4 of 6 hour long episodes, with an obvious big battle awaiting.  We have met harfoots (hobbits), men, elves, dwarves, orcs, and many other strange creatures, including a man who arrived via meteor.  We have visited Lindon, home of the western elves, and been to Moria to see the wonder that the dwarves have created.  We have been to Numenor and seen their wondrous city.  In short, the scenery and backgrounds have been non stop jaw droppingly beautiful.  The creators have learned much from Peter Jackson; the detail in clothing, armour, weapons, furniture, tools, and jewelry are unsurpassed.  Best of all there is some music, some elf singing and some dwarf praying.  There is humour, much violence, but also many quiet moments.  It all rings true of Tolkien's writing.  Despite reading some criticism that things move too slowly, they don't.  If anything, things are happening too quickly, and I wish I could linger longer in places.  The Numenorean ships are breathtakingly beautiful, and when we first enter Numenor it is a sight never to be forgotten.  Same with the dwarf mines and their underground city.  And the approach of the elven ship into the western lands is also handled with perfection!  I could go on and on about this series, but suffice it to say I like it very much.  Read the appendices to Vol 3, "Return of the King", and you will see how slender was Tolkien's vision of the 2nd age.  A few paragraphs and a chronology, and the Prime folk have created something as deep and breathtaking as the 7 Tolkien books themselves.  My only complaint is that Galadriel, a slender woman, is  given the power and strength of several giants.  She is tireless, and seems more ninja and Conan the Barbarian than female elf.

We are also making progress with the three other series on Prime: Wheel of Time, Tales From the Loop, and Night Sky.  When those are finished, I will report more fully on them.  All are promising, but so far somewhat uneven in quality.  I'll also report back on the final two episodes of Rings.  Tonight we watch part 5!  Deb's going away movie choice was a strange pick for her.  Called Car Wash, it is from 1976.  The action takes place over a full work day at an LA car wash.  It is a comedy with some drama, and well worth watching.  Richard Pryor pops in with the Pointer Sisters (who do an energetic number).  He is a preacher who preaches about the value of having money!  There are many priceless moments, and the film captures the 70s like no other.  Fun to watch.

It's Criterion run ended on Sept. 30th. 

It's been awhile since I posted a landscape image from the DIA.  Their massive Van Gogh exhibit is now on, though I am not sure when we will get there.  I haven't checked into tickets yet, though I likely will soon.  In the meantime, here is a seasonal American landscape painting I have always enjoyed seeing.  The artist is considered a tonalist, and there are several of his works in the DIA.

Landscape, 1921.  Dwight William Tryon, American, 1849-1925.  Oil on panel. 11.5" x 17.6".

Mapman Mike

 

Up To Date

As I write this, Puerto Rico is being obliterated (again) by a hurricane, and Japan is suffering through a monstrous typhoon.  The weather here at the Homestead remains quite hot and humid, and of course, dry.

It's been a busy weekend for Deb.  She had been spending a lot of time with her mom last week, as she went steadily and quickly downhill.  She was with her on Wednesday afternoon when she passed away.  Lois already had arrangements in place.  Thursday we had to go and empty out her room.  7 bags of garbage, 2 trips to Goodwill with small furniture and framed prints, etc., and two loads that came home with us. That second trip was courtesy of Randy G. and his large van, to carry two pieces of larger furniture.  Friday, Saturday and today, Deb is going through more stuff of her mom's that was being stored here.  She has also been dealing with the funeral home in Lindsay, arranging a Celebration of Life in a few weeks, and talking with a lawyer in Kingsville who is helping with the will and estate.  Since Deb was not named as the main executor (just secondary), it complicates things somewhat.

Meanwhile, yesterday in Sudbury my parents celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary!  Quite a milestone.  Of course it also means that my hiking days are quite numbered, since I came along one year after their marriage (one year and five days later).  There was a large crowd of family and friends.  Deb would have been unable to attend because of that reason, and I couldn't go as I would need the car.  Anyway, we should be able to visit in mid October, after the Lindsay Celebration and interment of the ashes.  Hopefully we will get to experience a splashy and colourful northern Ontario autumn.

We have been watching movies and series throughout the past week, but I will only talk briefly about some recent TV series we have watched.  A while ago we completed watching the 2nd season of an Icelandic police drama called The Cliff. Whereas season one had interesting elements of supernatural doings, season two was just the straight and very standard modern police drama, with the usual murders, drugs, kidnappings, pedophilia, and you name it thrown in the pot.  I heartily recommend season one, but not two.

As to Amazon's Lord of the Rings, we are waiting till the end of the month.  Deb will choose it as her film festival, when 5 episodes will be available.  Really looking forward to it!  In between, we are currently watching early episodes of three different Amazon produced series.  The first is a SF called Tales From The Loop, a series of loosely connected stories taking place in a town where people work underground in mysterious circumstances.  Based on artwork by Simon Stålenhag , the first episode was quite amazing; the second one one was much less intriguing.  There are 8 episodes in  all, and we will likely watch them all.  We also have the art book in our Amazon wish list.  The art is truly amazing!  Music is by Philip Glass.

A promising SF series we are watching on Amazon.

Another SF series on Amazon is called The Night Sky, starring Sissy Spacek and J K Simmons.  It's also in 8 parts, and we have seen two.  It's more soap opera than SF so far, but I'm hoping that the pace will pick up a little very soon.  The premise is that two oldsters have held a deep secret for many years, underground beneath their tool shed.  A tunnel leads to a window to another world.  And there is a door to it, as well.  So far very little has happened, and way too much time has been taken up with fairly boring every day affairs.  We may or may not make it through all episodes of this one.

Another 8 part SF series on Amazon Prime. 

The third series we have just started watching on Prime (only one episode seen of eight) is called The Wheel of Time.  It's one of those overly serious epics completely ripped off from Tolkien and Robert E Howard, but the effects and budget for this one seem quite impressive.  It's based on books by Robert Jordan, whom I have not read.  Based on what I have seen so far, I am not likely to read them, either.  There is as second season already in the can, and a third has been promised.  We'll be lucky to make it through episode two.  More later.

Now showing on Prime (Season 1 of 3). 

Also on Prime was Deb's film choice for this week.  The Duke (2021) stars Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren in a very fun movie about an older man from Newcastle who steals a newly acquired portrait from the National Gallery in London.  He wants to hold it ransom so that money can be donated to the elderly to pay their TV licenses (it's a British tax on owning a TV).  Wonderfully acted, and quite delightful to watch.  The courtroom scenes are the highlight.

Mapman Mike

 

Heatwave

 We are having a week of heat more suited to late June or anytime in July.  And though storms are nearby, it's been extremely dry for the past two weeks.  We are in need of rain, badly.  Lots of it.  In hot water news, our tank was installed last Tuesday.  After waiting five days to shower, it sure felt good.  And the seasonal war of weeds versus us is in full swing.  We are holding our own, but in this heat they will undoubtedly win again.  Our flowering trees and shrubs are having a banner year; it must have been a perfect Spring for them.  Our house is surrounded by flowering things of many varieties.

Some good news for Deb and I on the vaccine front.  Next week we are scheduled to receive our 2nd dose of Covid vaccines.  Woo hoo!  Because we are considered care givers for Deb's mom in LTC, we are eligible.  My interval between shots will be exactly 7 weeks; Deb's will only be two days longer.  Considering that only 50% of Canadians have received the first shot, we are fortunate indeed!  Not that we'll be booking any holidays in Brazil or India, but it will open up a few options for us, at least.

In movie news, Deb chose a German film as her going away choice last weekend.  Goodbye, Lenin is from 2003, and directed by Wolfgang Becker.  Though it strains credulity to the extreme, it is an engaging film thanks to some good acting.  Set in East Berlin just before reunification, a mother and solid party member is in a coma for 8 months during the startling events of 1989.  When she awakens, the doctor warns the family than any kind of emotional shock could kill her.  Her teenage son decides to hide the truth from her about reunification, going to extreme and farcical methods to hide the truth from her.  There are some hilarious scenes, and some which are very moving.  A pretty solid film.

Showing on Criterion until May 31st. 

My main film choice last week was another viewing of Kurosawa's Ran, his version of King Lear.  It is an astounding film of greed, stupidity, treachery, and human fallibility, with outstanding performances by all, wonderful location photography, intense battle scenes, and costumes to die for.  One of his best films, and certainly one of Shakespeare's best plays, too.  Oddly, this film is not contained in our 25 movie set of Kurosawa's films, nor is it showing of Criterion.  We watched it on Prime, of all places.

Now showing on Prime. 

This is a long weekend holiday in Canada, as we celebrate (seriously) Queen Victoria's birthday.  It is also the kickoff of our viewing of M*A*S*H, and the sipping of gin martinis, traditional held on Friday at 5 pm, and continuing on until Autumnal Equinox.  Believe it or not, this is the 20th year of this homespun tradition.  We watch half a season per year, and then reruns as necessary, and we are now halfway through Season 10.  However, this year we did things a bit differently.  Instead of watching the TV series, we watched the Robert Altman movie.  While it is quite difficult to get past the overt sexism of the time, and sometimes one shudders as one laughs, it still is a brilliant film, though probably seriously in need of a remake.  From 1970, it was filmed during the Vietnam War, and has more to say about 1970 then it does about the Korean conflict.  The film is showing for one month only on Criterion, so I chose it as my going away feature of the week.  Of course not only does the film demean women (but only really the true army ones), it also takes a comical poke at suicide.  Definitely a product of its time, it would be amusing to sit through this with an audience of today's younger adults, watching the effect it has.

Showing in May on Criterion. 

Mapman Mike

 

Six More Weeks

 We are under a new 6 week stay at home order, just as the weather turns towards mid Spring.  Needless to say, it is not going over well with many people, who are more than a little sick of being told to stay home, yet have to go to work everyday.  Schools are shut, making daycare a nightmare for working parents.  And that includes teachers at home with their own children, who have to work all day on-line with students.  The government tried getting the police to issue random stops and fine people for being out for no good reason, which was quite a common thing in the UK during their lock down.  But here, the blow back was so fierce and loud that the government quickly backed down, especially after most police agencies said they would not do it.  Score one for the people!

Mogi continues to improve, though he still has a week to go on the cone collar.  He will still be heavily sedated all this week, though Mogi spends much of his cat life seemingly sedated anyway.

I will turn to art from the DIA first this time, before talking about movies.  Today's work comes from John Mix Stanley, a 19th C artist-explorer, most famous for his images of the west, and of the natives there.  Today's painting shows an unusual subject, one with a sense of humour along with the typical trappings of his many works.  Indians playing cards is from 1866, and shows a group of three natives passing some time while a fourth looks on from his horseback position.  I have never come across such an image before, but it reminds me of how it must have been passing time back in the days.  Cards, which we still play in many forms here at Lone Mountain Homestead, are easily carried, can be played almost anywhere, and can involve the mind is higher levels of thinking for long periods of time.  No doubt awaiting their fellow braves at a rendezvous point, this work points out the similarities, rather than the differences, between our two cultures.

 

Indians Playing Cards, 1866.  John Mix Stanley, American, 1814-1872.  Oil on canvas, 16" x 26".  Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of central area, above.  

 

In movie news, we watched a film that has been sitting in the queue on our Prime channel for a long time.  Ex Machina is a pretty decent SF story about a brilliant man who creates a human-like AI life form, and brings in someone from his company to test and see if she can pass for human.  The story, which would fit easily into a novelette of about 40-50 pages, contains some very good dialogue, though in most ways does follow a conventional story pattern.  However, if the story on its own might not impress an avid SF reader too much, its filmed execution is quite outstanding.  The effects are very impressive, and the confined setting helps keep the story grounded and simple.  There are no convoluted plot twists or deep subtexts.  Though the ending is quite chilling, I believe that Ava will someday realize her mistake in leaving Caleb behind.  In other words, she does not have a conscience at the end of the picture, but if she continues to learn and advance by observing other humans, she just might develop one after a time.  A recommended movie, especially for SF fans.

Now showing on Prime.  

We also watched They Live By Night, a unique noir love story starring a very handsome and young Farley Granger.  He plays the part of a boy sent to prison for murder at 16.  He escapes with two roughnecks, who bring him only (he is now 23) to help him rob banks with them.  He meets and falls for Cathy O'Donnell, and their story makes up the main subject of the picture.  Of course they are fated to not live happily ever after.  The film is deep and involved, and plays like reading a very good crime novel.  Though the young couple have opportunities to escape the US and move to Mexico, they wait until it is much too late.  A very highly rated film directed by Nicholas Ray, I can easily recommend it, especially to fans of the Noir genre.

Showing on Criterion until April 30th.

 

Mapman Mike