PC Woes

A few weeks ago we found a top flight gaming PC on sale, so we ordered it.  Deb spent the usual several hours setting it up, killing off the bloatware, and transferring our files from the older PC.  The new one has a much faster processor and a kick-ass video card.  Except that over two weeks the system crashed on us 6 or 7 times.  So Thursday it was back to the store with it.  It has been sent back to the manufacturer for repair.  We could have exchanged it for a new one, but decided to wait a week and get this one fixed, which would be far less work for Deb than starting all over with a new PC.  So the old one is back in service for a while.  It runs fine, but it is a bit on the slow side for some games, and the graphics card is quite outdated now.

 

Original plans had us leaving for Europe on Sunday and staying for two weeks.  However, it was not to be.  Deb took pretty long to recover from recent invasive medical tests, but that wouldn't have stopped us.  Her breathing difficulties seem to be exacerbated by her new RA drug.  And my foot is not yet ready for airports and London transport.  There is good news, however.  I am now walking daily again for up to half an hour, but still at slow speed (2.2 mph versus my normal 3.5 mph).  Foot pain has subsided but is still present.  The big toe feels like it is always sprained, most noticeable when walking on cement or asphalt.  Despite the improvements I will still attend my bone scan on Saturday in Windsor.  Anyway, we took a couple of walks near our local ponds this week, before the weather turned grouchy.  I also managed (so far) 4 astronomy outings in October.  I am very happy about that.

 

Hard to see, but a pair of swans were enjoying the warm autumn weather.

 

Since our walks early in the week the weather turned cold and windy, and we've been indoors a lot.  The wood stove is in action, but we spent time preparing the gas boiler for its seasonal labours. 

 

In movie news there are a few to report, including one that we saw a few weeks ago and I forgot to mention.  Though Hollywood often misses the mark with big budget pictures and actors, we quite enjoyed The Sandpiper (1965) starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.  She is a single mom living off grid on the California coast at Big Sur, in probably the best location for a house in the entire world.  She is an artist raising a 9 year old boy.  When he gets into minor trouble one time too many, the local judge orders him sent a boarding school.  It is run by Richard Burton, playing a married religious man.  Of course they fall in love and all the rest of the Hollywood crap, but there are some memorable scenes.  In one of them Taylor could be talking about herself in real life as she describes how men have hounded her since she was 12, and that she doesn't want to be tied down to any kind of normal life.  We're with you, Lizzie!  Burton's character, despite being happily married, can't keep his lust at bay when near Taylor, and the ending is a strained one for all concerned.  This is a beautiful colour film to watch, and it does carry an emotional impact.  Altogether very well done.  And of course that famous song, "The Shadow of Your Smile" by Johnny Mandel...

 

A Hollywood film worth catching on a big screen. 

A Chinese Ghost Story 2 is from 1990, with the same characters (and a few new ones) keeping things lively and pretty funny.  If you liked the first one (we did) then the 2nd one will contain much of the same things.  Good effects and the sad and tragic love story keep the pace lively and interesting, up to a point.  Having seen two of these things, and knowing that a 3rd one awaits, I can't say I'm terribly excited.  Still, there are worse ways to pass the time, and obviously a lot of stunt work and fun effects went into this feature.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Lastly comes Robert Altman's Gosford Park, from 2001.  With an all star cast, it's kind of a mash up of Renoir's Rules of the Game, and the Upstairs Downstairs series for TV.  It inspired Downton Abbey to be created, and is well worth watching.  There are so many characters involved, each with their own mini-plot, that the pace is very quick and the time flies past (135' running time).  The events take place over a weekend of "shooting", as a ton of birds are massacred by the gentry for the sake of a pleasure outing.  There is so much story, given out in pieces separated by pieces of other stories, that one has to really pay attention to keep track of all the happy people (sarcasm, dear readers) and their doings.  There is also a murder, with Stephen Fry recreating Monsieur Hulot as an ineffective detective.  Great fun by a master director.

 

Leaving Criterion Oct. 31st.  

 

Mapman Mike  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Egypt and Beehives

It is sunny and heading towards 72 F today.  Soon bars will be crowded with people drinking green beer.  What fun.  Way back in 1976 on this day, I asked Deb to marry me.  I was in college and she was still in high school.  It seemed to work out okay, so far.

The word is out--testing at the border returning to Canada will be dropped April 1st.  Hopefully soon afterwards I will make my way over to Detroit for the day, the first time in over two years.  Deb is still unable to go.  If she leaves the country she can't visit her mom for two weeks.  Not much else planned for the near future.  A visit to Sudbury in May.  Hopefully some autumn hiking in NM.

Now on to the Egypt part of the blog title for today.  We finally finished watching Cleopatra, the 1963 Hollywood blockbuster film starring Elizabeth (Cleavage) Taylor, Richard Burton, and a whole bunch of other people.  Lots and lots of other people.  The opening scene of a Roman battlefield reminded me of similar scenes in Russia's War and Peace, which we saw several months ago.  Only the director here did not have the Russian army at his disposal.  There are many truly magnificent scenes, many of them shot in Rome and Egypt.  Cleopatra's lavish entrance into Rome has to be one of the highlights of movie making.  Beautiful set design, camera work, lighting, outstanding costumes, and a decent story make this a must see film.  It looked totally amazing on our 40" widescreen TV, but how much better it would look on a really big screen.

Following a jaw dropping Las Vegas show, Cleopatra arrives in Rome.

 

Now showing on Criterion, until March 31st.

Costumes and headgear were astounding, as were sets, lighting, etc. 

The film clocks in at four hours and eleven minutes, including Overture, Intermission, and musical epilogue.  Unfortunately the music was mostly bad Hollywood schmaltz.  The visuals made up for it.

Turning now to the beehives of the blog title, we arrive at a little Spanish film from 1973 called Spirit of the Beehive.  This truly wonderful movie concerns a small family living in a tiny village on the outskirts of Franco's last years.  Two sisters, ages about 6 and 8, attend a local showing of the 1931 Frankenstein movie in 1940s rural Spain.  The little one, Ana, becomes transfixed by the monster, especially after her sister tells her that it is possible to talk to him if she closes her eyes and whispers to him.  She leads her little sister to an abandoned farm building and water well where she says he lives.  The film is not easy to describe, as it really doesn't have much story.  What it does have is an insight into childhood rare in book or film, and a way of expressing emotion in a most subtle fashion.  The visuals are nothing less than haunting, and the acting by the children is perfectly directed.  This is one of Guillermo del Toro's favourite films, in his top three, and it's not hard to see many of his ideas coming from here.  We still have a ton of film extras to watch about this film, adding up to more minutes than the 98 minute film itself.  The film is unforgettable.

Spirit of the Beehive, on Criterion. 

Mom plays piano, in a Vermeer inspired shot.

Ana (left) and sister Isabel overlook an abandoned farm building and well, where the monster is said (by Isabel) to live.

And I'll finish with a few more early family slide scans.  The project is now complete, and soon I will move on to the slides of our earlier European journeys, and the earlier Valley of Mexico ones.  Still lots of work ahead.

Our front yard in Sudbury, looking towards the Copper cliff smokestacks of INCO.  Those bare mountains at the end of our street are now forested.  That mountain was also a local ski and toboggan hill.

 

  Me holding younger brother Stephen, alias the burrito boy.

Winters were endless in Sudbury (and still are).  We briefly lived in a different house, the upstairs of a duplex.  I had a ski hill in our backyard! 

Today also happens to be a full moon.  The party commences soon.

Mapman Mike