Detective Anna

One of the best TV series is a made in Russia supernatural detective series called Detective Anna.  From 2016, there are 56 episodes, consisting of a 26 2-part series.  That season ended in a bit of a cliffhanger.  Today I was browsing Prime and saw a second season!  I have been on the lookout for such a thing for many years now, so it must have been added to their lineup relatively recently.  Season 2 is from 2021, and consists of 40 fifty minute episodes, or 20 two part ones.  Wasting no time, we watched the first 2 episodes today.  Good stuff!  Resuming a series with original characters after five years can be quite a tough challenge, but the writer brilliantly takes up the story 5 years later!  Anna has trained in Paris to become a doctor.  Her friend and lover the detective mysterious went underground for five years, and she thought he was dead.  It all takes place in a provincial city some distance from Petersburg, around the turn of the 19th C.  The costumes are unbelievably good, as are most stories.  The acting is first rate.  The series is subtitled.  So happy to see this series back for more!

In more good news, I got my 1980s Schwinn 18 speed bicycle back from the shop today.  It underwent a complete tune up, with new tires, tubes, cables, and it received a top to bottom cleaning.  A shout out to Flow Cafe and Bikes in Amherstburg!!  Here are a few pics of the little beauty.

 

The top photo is from the bike shop; the middle one was taken once we got it home; the last one shows a detail of the handlebars.  More coming later. 

 

In travel news, we have planned our next voyage.  Last year we finally returned to travel, something we used to do several times per year.  Last Spring we undertook a road trip from Detroit to Little Rock, exploring some state high points and some Native American archaeological sites.  In the autumn we attempted a return to the mountains of New Mexico, getting as far as SW Oklahoma before having to cancel due to Deb's hiking accident.  For our upcoming trip, it is still mostly a road trip, and the focus is again on state high points and archaeology.  In mid-March we will fly into New Orleans, our first airport experience since late 2019.  We will fly home a week later.  In between we will drive to two major archaeological sites in the deep south, as well as tackling up to four more state high points.  We are excited, but also a bit nervous about being in crowded conditions.  Last autumn, after attending a crowded film festival for three days, we both came down with terrific colds, which lasted about 9 days.  So airports and flying do not exactly excite us.  Had we driven down there the trip would have to have been at least 4-5 days longer.  A full report will be made as soon as we are home, probably on the Road Trips blog.

There are two movies to report, both of them Deb's choices.  First came a documentary on Angela Carter.  Angela Carter: Of Wolves and Women is a one hour BBC production from 2018, and includes interviews with Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie, among others.  She died in her 50s from lung cancer.  I've only read one of her books, but have seen two films based on her writings.  We are both interested in reading more of her stuff now.

 

We watched this documentary on Youtube.

Penda's Fen is from 1974, and is also a BBC production.  This is a very strange little film about a teenage boy who can't seem to find himself just yet.  He is a loner, a misfit, deeply religious (his father is a parson), and incapable of action of any sort when it is needed.  On his 18th birthday his parents inform him that he is adopted.  While the news could have shattered the boy, it actually makes him stronger, as he comes to realize that he now has no idea of his genetic makeup, and thus of his possibilities in life.  He is intelligent and imaginative, and in love with the music of Elgar.  He has troubling dreams of demons and angels, and hallucinations of same.  In one scene he imagines that he meets an elderly Elgar, and learns first hand the secret of the composer's Enigma Variations.  Like the boy, the film can't seem to really find itself, and wanders around in the muck a lot of the time.  Is it a horror story?  A rite of passage?  A critique of the underpinnings of English society?  A search for truth in religion? To some it might seem profound, but to seasoned viewers it just seems lost in the search for truth.  The boy's father, the parson, turns out to be the most interesting character in the film, a man who is far from being religious in the traditional sense.  The boy himself is not very likeable, as he does not have a defining character yet.  Definitely worth a look.

 

We watched this little oddity on Youtube. 

 

I forgot to mention that we have had two days in a row where we exceeded 60 F.  In Canada, in winter.  We have flowers ready to bloom.  Cooler weather will begin returning tomorrow, but nothing very scary.  We had about 9 days of very cold air in January, and then it was gone.  The winter that wasn't.  However, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were buried alive last week, with over a meter of snow in many places.  Yikes!

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

Arctic Bomb Cyclone

10 PM Update: We had a partially sunny day today, and it went to 35 F.  And it appears to be clear this evening, though I wasn't prepared, so no observing.  Drat.

We are to receive an arctic bomb cyclone this Christmas.  I am hearing happy voices on Facebook today, exclaiming that we are going to have a white Christmas (why does Christmas have to be white? I much prefer green).  If only they knew.  It will begin as rain, then change to ice, then change to snow, and then to a blizzard.  A blizzard is a combination of thickly falling snow combined with gale force winds.  That should happen Friday night and Saturday, a time when many people will be (attempting) to travel.  On top of this will be temperatures that are not amusing in the least.  It hasn't gone above 0 C since Friday here, but that is nothing as to what is coming this weekend.  And we haven't had a sunny day in the last 16 tries.  How does a high of -8 C sound for Saturday, with strong winds?  Don't ask about the lows.  Welcome to the most southerly part of Canada in December.  So I do hope everyone enjoys their white Christmas, whether stuck at an airport or stranded on a highway, or at home with power out.  'Cuz all that whiteness is going to come with a heavy price tag.

In happier news, all continues to be well at the Homestead.  Medical appointments for Deb yesterday and on Thursday, and out tonight for the weekly grocery store run.  Randy G. is stopping by for a visit on Winter Solstice tomorrow, and Amanda sometime later in the week (weather permitting).  Piano practice is going well, with pieces about six weeks away from being presentable.  Bach and Grieg, a most unusual combination.  Deb continues to slog away at her latest film, a mini SF epic.  Our music listening program continues to be fun, as we discover LP records we have never played before, and continue with our Beethoven odyssey of hearing everything he wrote (we are just about to enter his late phase).  I haven't been writing much of late, but continue to read voraciously.  And the indoor exercise program continues, awaiting the day when I might actually hike again in far off mountains.  Sigh.

In viewing news, we have paused our viewing of English and Interview With a Vampire for a time, mostly to escape the extreme violence and blood.  We have started to watch a very old British series called The Edwardians, from way back in the early 70s.  Each full length episode tells the story of a famous person or persons from the early 1900s.  So far we are halfway through the 2nd episode.  No blood or extreme violence so far, but we did here one "damn," though the man uttering it was soundly scolded by his wife immediately afterwards.

In film news, there are two to report.  The first is a real oddball film, fun to watch, but tiring at the same time.  The Wizard of Speed And Time is from 1988, and is a frenzied attempt to show a young stop motion animator trying to sell a film project in Hollywood.  It is very funny, very clever, and very fast paced.  Though a bit too frantic for this well aged viewer, it scores a lot of points in its totally zany style.  Recommended (it's on Youtube) for stop motion film and special effects fans.

Watch it on Youtube. 

My leaving Dec. 31st choice from the Criterion streaming channel was called Love Crazy, from 1941.  It stars William Powell and Myrna Loy, and begins with them trying to celebrate their 4th anniversary ritual, backwards.  An unwelcome visit from Loy's mother interrupts the festivities, and the marriage quickly unwinds from hereon in.  A very funny picture, truly worthy of the term "screwball" comedy.  The stuck elevator scene builds to a truly funny climax, among others.

Showing on Criterion till Dec. 31st.

Deb's leaving Dec. 31st choice was a bit grimmer, the Island of Lost Souls from 1932, starring Charles Laughton as Dr. Moreau.  This is one of the best horror films to come out of a very productive decade.  It's moody, creepy, intelligent, and degenerate, and came a full decade before the Nazis did their experiments on humans.  Of course the story is far earlier, by H G Wells.  Too much ahead of its time, I'm afraid.  A masterpiece of atmospheric horror.

Leaving Criterion Dec. 31st. 

Happy Winter Solstice to all northern readers, and a very Happy Summer one to all southern ones!!  Our chopped woodpile is high and dry, and ready for action.

M.