Detroit Day #2

It rained.  Oh how it rained.  All day.  So our walk around downtown was postponed indefinitely.  My 2nd visit to Detroit since the start of the pandemic was with Jenn G, who hadn't been over yet since it all began.  She wanted to see the Artemisia exhibit at the DIA.  She drove from Cambridge that morning, picked me up at the house at 11, and we were off.  Deb is still unable to cross, or if she does she cannot enter her mom's LTC facility for 14 days afterwards.  We hope this rule changes soon.

After easily getting over the border with no wait time, we drove to Eastern Market.  I purchased coffee at Germack roasters, then we drove off to Hopcat, a craft ale hot spot in Midtown Detroit.  We each had three 5 oz glasses of different craft ales, then ordered their vegan tacos.  The beer and tacos were excellent.  We sat at the bar.  The place would usually have been very busy at lunchtime, but it was rather quiet today.  Many people continue to work from home, and street life has yet to really recover.

Next stop was the DIA.  Jenn went to see the main exhibit, whilst I wandered the quiet and darkened rooms of the Asian collection for an hour.  I also spent some time at a car design show in the modern galleries, and took in a bit of early Flemish art.  We were to meet afterwards in Rivera Court.  I had time to sit and look at the wonderful murals once again, and took a few photos.  The murals still appear as if they were just recently painted.  It is a very popular place at the museum, and seldom empty of admirers.

Rivera Court murals, Detroit Institute of Arts.

Mural detail.  Fritz Lang, anyone?

Detail of above.

One of the main panels, Diego Rivera mural in Detroit. 

Two concept cars from the auto design exhibit at the DIA. 

Henri Met de Bles, Detroit Institute of Arts.

Central panel of an early Italian tryptych.  I love the colours and patterns in these kinds of paintings.

Medieval Madonna and Child, evoking a sense of calm and sanity. 

We left the DIA hoping that the rain would stop and we could go downtown and walk...nope.  So it was off to another pub.  8 Degrees Plato is the perfect combination of tap room and beer and wine shop.  There are always about a dozen taps pouring strange and wonderful brews from around the world, and the shop can be browsed for an hour at least.  Again we had three short samples before deciding to pack it in and head for home.  Back in A'burg Jenn stayed for dinner before heading back towards home.  We hope to visit the art museum in Toledo next time.

In haircut news, we both got haircuts on Friday.  I am on FB with many former APS students.  Several of them cut hair.  But one of them now comes to your home to cut.  So on Friday afternoon Garnette came over to undertake badly needed services.  We haven't seen her since Gr. 8 graduation!  She has two daughters, and many nephews and nieces.  She did a fantastic job with both of us, and I suddenly feel civilized once again.

In garage door news, as we exited the house Tuesday evening for groceries, the large spring on the garage door broke.  Upon our return the door would not open.  Deb called Dorco (yup) Wednesday morning, and they came out Thursday morning.  It was repaired with a brand new spring, and now works better than when it was new.  The door will not open without that spring.  Weirdness.

Turning finally to film news, we have now watched six b & w movies in a row.  My niece, who turns 13 soon, will not watch anything in b & w.  She hates it.  Is that common today among youngsters?  What a loss for them if this is so.

The Mill on the Po is an Italian melodrama from 1949, directed by Alberto Lattuada.  It follows two families, one a farming one and the other one millers.  Farm boy loves miller girl, and they get caught up in a political and social upheaval, as a general strike is called to protest working conditions.  It is very well acted by the principals, including the belligerent, bellowing, bigger than life brother of the girl, who eventually causes the central tragedy of the film.  Quite good, with some excellent river and rural photography.

Showing on Criterion until May 31st.

Next came Fassbinder's 2nd last movie, Veronika Voss.  From 1982 it deals with the drug addition of a fading former movie star, and the corrupt medical profession and police that surround her and take advantage of her.  When she falls for a sports writer,  he gets dragged into a very sordid environment, losing his girlfriend and his sense of who he is.  Based loosely on a real German actress who died by suicide in the 1950s, it is a pretty good film, with some bizarre scenes and dialogue.

Now showing on Criterion.

Our last b & w film (ending our streak) was International House, starring W C Fields and a host of other entertainers, including Baby Rose Marie and Cab Calloway, whose band perform "Reefer Man".  The action takes place in Wu Hu, China.  I probably needn't say too much more.  Still, it is very funny and quite wild in places, and certainly worth watching.  Some fun musical numbers, and lots of pre code underwear on display.  Bela Lugosi has a fun role as a jealous Russian general.

Showing on Criterion until May 31st 

Mapman Mike

 

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