An Anniversary

45 years of marriage on Saturday.  The weather will be very warm and humid, like it was on that Saturday in 1976.  We were married in a small church by the lake, and the party was at the camp afterwards, with swimming and sauna.  The bride was blushing and exceedingly beautiful, and she still is.  Why she has stayed with me for 45 years I cannot fathom.  But here we are.  It's also a full moon tomorrow, and that means a party on top of the party.  The opera of the month is Wagner's Lohengrin.  The main food dish is homemade vegan lasagna.  There will also be vegan chocolate cheesecake and ice cream.

The sun continues to retreat southwards, shortening our evenings and mornings.  We still have heat and humidity, though, until at least the end of august.  A little more than 4 weeks and it will be Equinox.  The summer is passing quickly, and soon I will be recalled to astronomy nights.  Without those nights this summer I have been mostly home, practicing piano, listening to music, watching films, and reading.  I continue to intensely study my New Mexico topographic map collection, which is exhaustive.  However, the program is not supported anymore, and someday a new computer of ours will fail to run it, which is what happened to my National Geographic collection of maps on CD.  So I will have to hang on to an older computer until I die.

Next week I begin my piano performances, in the hopes of playing the program a few times for individual or paired listeners.  My friend and colleague Paula is stopping by here Monday evening to listen, and to perform a few things she has been working on.  Depending how that one goes, we'll see about doing it a few more times, including at Lois' long term care home in Kingsville.

A few things to report on in film viewing.  Deb's leaving August 31st choice for last weekend was a 1952 Fritz Lang film called Clash By Night.  Starring Barbara Stanwyck as a woman returned from the big city to her hometown (Monterrey, CA), she eventually settles down with a simple but loving fisherman, raising a baby and keeping a home.  However, along comes a lit match in the form of Robert Ryan, and she is soon having a torrid affair with him and planning to leave town with him and her baby.  So much for settling down.  Some people have it, and some don't.  Did I mention I haven't been going out much lately?  And have little to no desire to do so?  Settling down is just right for this blogger at the present time.  Marilyn Monroe does a great job in her role as the 20 year old lover of Stanwyck's younger brother, and is supportive of the older woman, no matter how bad her choices seem.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

 

My main choice for this week was Zatoichi Meets The One-Armed Swordsman, #22 in the seemingly endless series of movies about the blind samurai bad guy who is really a good guy.  This one stars a Chinese kung fu dude, and provides a relief from the virtually repeating formula the movies have always had.  Had this one had a better ending, it could have been a classic.  But it ends exactly the same way as all his movies end; Zatoichi fights the main guest character and kills him.  For this movie especially, this was a really bad choice, and spoils the entire film.  Though he often gets it wrong, this time was a major blunder.  Only 6 more movies to go (and I already know the plot and outcome of all of them, even though I haven't seen them yet).

 

Samurai meets Hong Kong style fighting, on Criterion.

 

My going away choice proved to be a somewhat better film, Fellini's Nights of Cabiria.  The version we watched was fully restored in 2019, and the print is flawless, as it always is on Criterion.  Giulietta Masina is the entire film, her facial expressions and body language speaking volumes, even as her mouth rattles on and on.  She takes nothing from no one, and yet is so easily duped into falling for the man of her dreams and having all her money stolen, not once but twice.  She is a woman who deserves the best, but only gets leftovers from the garbage can of life.  The environs of Rome never look stranger than in Fellini and Antonioni films, and this one is no exception.  But there is a bus stop!  it's very odd, but I have no memory of ever having seen this film before, though its simple story is age old.  Highlights include Cabiria's night with a real movie star, and her early morning encounter with a good samaritan who brings blankets and food to poor people living in volcanic tube caves.

Leaving Criterion August 31st.

Lastly we turn to art from the DIA, a return to a print by Bruegel many who was inspired by this super creative genius.  I think my love of detail in paintings comes from my piano background, which requires that not only every note by clear and in its proper place and frame of mind, but also all the extras there are besides notes in a piece of music.  There are dozens of markings above and below notes, as well as in between the two staves.  So looking at details in detail is something I do without even blinking an eye.  Bruegel takes the prize when it comes to details in art.  This print is as detailed, if not more, than Hunters In the Snow.  I wish I had a poster-sized image of it to hang.

 

Rustic Solitude, Jan Duetecum, Dutch  after Bruegel the Elder, between 1555 and 1558.  Black ink etching on laid paper, 13" x 17".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of right corner.

 

Detail of lower central area.

 

Detail of lower left.

 

Detail of central left.

 

Central detail.

Central detail. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 
 

Zatoichi Film Fest, and February Books

The excitement seldom stops around the Homestead these days.  In cat news, Mogollon has taken to spending long afternoons upstairs.  That used to be Gustav's domain, and Mogi never went up there.  But one day last week he decided to go up, jump up on the bed, and get comfortable.  He comes up every day now, usually for my afternoon reading/nap sessions.  Unlike Gustav, he does not prefer tummy rubs.  Mogi likes being scratched under his chin.  I mean he really likes it, and can take it by the hour if need be.  He also likes having his ears lightly rubbed, but under the chin is his secret spot.

 

February being a short month, I still managed to get through a full cycle of remaining Avon/Equinox authors (10 books), also reading one outside the project, and dove 2 hours into Volume 2 of The Arabian Nights, by Burton.  And two books were each nearly 500 pages long.  So I did a fair bit of reading, including the Feb. issue of National Geographic magazine.  If I had the extra three days, I would have managed a 2nd book unrelated to my project.

Downward to the Earth, by Robert Silverberg, got things off to a fantastic start.  I awarded this novel four stars, as it deals head on with Manifest Destiny and colonization of planets.  The book is rich in planetary detail, including the two main intelligent species, the Nildoror, elephant-like, appear to be the dominant.  There are several gruesome moments, things that only happen (hopefully!) on alien worlds, and several more pathetic ones with human tourists on a guided tour.  Very fine reading!

Juxtaposition was the humdrum conclusion to Piers Anthony's original Apprentice Adept series, which now stands at 8 or 9 books.  However, I am done with the series now, after reading the first three, sick of its hero (way more boring than Frodo), and his exploits.  I awarded the 494 page novel 2 stars, which may be a bit generous.  Next up in March I will start a new series by the author.

Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat For President is a gem of a book, one of the finest in this very, very funny series.  Terry Pratchett was inspired to write after reading some of Harrison's funnier stories, and this might be the funniest novel yet by Harrison, as the heroic diGriz family (Slippery Jim, his wife Angelina, and their two boys, Bolivar and James) take on a military dictatorship on a banana republic planet now catering to tourists.  Besides being uproariously hilarious, the adventure is extremely well thought out, and underlying the humour is one of the best looks at tin pot hat dictators.  Better than reading the history of so many similar countries on Earth today.  I awarded it four stars.

Kenneth Bulmer's Swords of the Barbarians is a mediocre sword and sorcery pot boiler, written to mimic the style (very popular in 1971, when this was published) of Howard's heroic tales of Conan the Barbarian.  Nothing new is added here, though Bulmer sticks to a minimum of locations, and this helps to give some semblance of continuity and organization to the story.  It's not bad, but it's far from Bulmer's best writing.  I gave it 2 1/2 stars.

The Life Buyer, by E C Tubb, takes on the theme of rich people being able to afford all that is necessary to stay alive as long as possible.  Marcus Edward King, age 87, is the world's richest man, and is going all out to gain everlasting life, spending his fortune on long shots that he still hopes will pay off soon.  Despite the SF background, the novel is mostly a chilling crime tale, showing the desperate lengths some men will go to live forever.  There are lots of plot twists, as Tubb seems to know his way around the genre.  Good reading, and I awarded it three stars.

From 1968 came Jack Williamson's juvenile novel called Trapped In Space, aimed, I would guess, at ages 9-13, and published by Scholastic.  I had to get this on special order, and it arrived in near mint condition, wrapped in plastic.  Anyway, I went and spoiled things by actually reading it.  There are several remarkable things about this otherwise unremarkable story of a younger brother heading out into space to rescue his older brother.  First, aside from the main hero being white (his name is "Jeff"), he travels with a black male as his commander, an intelligent young female, born on another planet but her ancestry is Puerto Rican (!), and a very cute and very helpful alien, which Earth people fear and despise.  Most books from that time period (and even later), feature only males, or perhaps a mother or female secretary.  But a Puerto Rican female, and a black man as commander and friend to Jeff?  Wow!  Long live the 60s!  I awarded it 3 stars, and would still recommend it to kids today (if any actually still read).

Queen of the Swords by Michael Moorcock, the 2nd Corum tale, was rather disappointing, and to me didn't show much effort at all by the author.  When Moorcock is hot (like Piers Anthony), he is really hot.  But when his creative powers are in a declining phase, his writing suffers a lot.  The book is a pastiche of Tolkien (especially The Silmarillion), E R Burroughs, Robert E Howard, and even Fritz Leiber, all of whom do a much better job than this messy concoction.  I awarded it 2 1/2 stars, thanks to the appearance of Jerry Cornelius.

Extreme Metaphors: Collected Interviews of J G Ballard, was an eye-opening experience.  Interviews from the 1960s through the time near his death in 2008 show a man who is confident, often correct in his opinions (but sometimes very wrong), and has a lot to say that we should be listening to.  Luckily for us, Ballard liked to talk nearly as much as he liked to write, and we are left with a full portrait of one the giants of 20th C literature.  He was really down on space flight (rightly so), and on most SF written in the golden age and beyond.  Ballard was more interested in "inner space" than outer space (as is Barry Malzberg--there is no indication that Ballard ever discovered this essential writer), and more interested in modern suburbs than inner cities or the countryside.  A fascinating collecting, and at 498 pages, it took me a while to get through this book.  Four stars.

In Tactics of Conquest, Barry Malzberg tackles insanity through a 41-game chess match, where the two players, chosen by the "Overlords" of space, play for the fate of the universe.  Expanded from a short story, the novel follows the two master players through a five-move chess game.  There is one chapter allotted for each move.  If you want inner space, than read Malzberg. I gave it three and a half stars.  Reading Malzberg is like being involved in a nightmare from which you cannot wake up.  Even so, I love his writing.

Earthman Come Home is James Blish's 3rd and longest novel of his Cities In Flight series, in my opinion the best SF series ever written.  I am making my way through for the 3rd or 4th time, and enjoying every minute of this classic SF series.  The whole concept of entire cities lifting off from Earth and going in search of work across the galaxy is so original that I cannot believe it has not been made into a series of films or TV episodes.  It is so much better than Star Trek, mainly because the travellers are compared to "Okies", from the 1930s American depression, when poor folk had their homes and farms seized by banks and they left the midwest, taking on any work they could find.  This novel is a compilation of 4 novellas that were joined together, thus we get four different adventures of NYC, with mayor Amalfi at the helm.  All written in the early and mid-fifties, this is a fabulous book.  Four stars all the way.

Lastly came an unrelated book.  I read The Star Mill by Emil Petaja, the 2nd book in his Kalevala SF/fantasy series.  The Star Mill is the sampo of legend, and Ilmaren must destroy it with his magic sword, before the out of control sampo swallows the universe.  This book sticks closely to the legend, and is great fun to read.  Three stars, at least.

I have now started on a new iteration of the Avon/Equinox authors, and am currently reading a novel by Silverberg from 1968.

In film news, we watched 3 Zatoichi films over the weekend, my festival choices for March.  We saw #15, 16, and 17.  They are all essentially the same movie, but with subtle differences that make watching all of them worthwhile.  In #15, called Zatoichi's Cane Sword, he is told by a master sword smith that his trusty old katana will break on its next killing cut.  And it does, though not in any expected way.  #16, called Zatoichi The Outlaw, was the actor's first production with his own company.  The story is a bit more baroque, and visuals are composed carefully and artistically.  In #17, Zatoichi Challenged, the blind swordsman (known mostly to his enemies as "that blind bastard") faces off with an opponent of equal skill, as he often does.  However, the outcome in this one is different from all the others, and makes for a nice surprise ending.  I love these movies; the bad guys are always the baddest, but they always meet with Zatoichi's form of justice.

Zatoichi #15:  Zatoichi's Cane Sword.

 

Zatoichi #16

Zatoichi #17:  Zatoichi Challenged.  

 

That's all for now.  Looking forward to my first astronomy night since Dec. 8th tomorrow.  It will be below freezing, so I will be dressed like Nanook of the North. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

Solo Detroit Day

Deb got sick on Saturday, and is still feeling somewhat tired and worn out.  Tonight, as I write this, we should be boarding our flight to San Diego, CA.  We cancelled, not knowing how she would feel by tonight, and whether or not I would come down with whatever she had.  No fever, just extreme tiredness.  I had some books waiting at the Dearborn mailbox, and Deb still didn't feel well enough to come with me, so I set off alone.

A book by Silverberg and another by Spinrad were waiting for me, as well as a slew of junk mail which we hadn't collected in some time.  After collecting my books I headed to Midtown for lunch and some ale.  Lunch was a bowl of borscht.  Next, I headed to Hopcat and tried three 5 oz glasses of beer, two from Belgium, and one more local.  They were very different from one another, and very delicious. The day was very mild, and it was a pleasure to be walking around a city again.  Our home walks are very boring and suburban.  And another note on the mild temps--we officially just had our 9th warmest winter on record.  It was a pleasure, to be sure.  Let's just hope that it isn't followed by the 9th warmest summer on record, or worse.

Next up was a quick visit to the DIA, to view a print and drawing exhibit on Dutch and Flemish art, all drawn from the permanent collection.  It is a show worthy of something one might see at the Albertina in Vienna.  I only spent a half hour here, and will return soon to spend more time.  I concentrated on some of the landscape art, and was very happy with what was being shown.  Here is one of the fine pieces I looked at today.

 Landscape With A Square Tower, 1650, Rembrandt.  Etching and drypoint, printed in black ink.  it is tiny!  3 1/2" x 6 1/8th".  Detroit Institute of Arts.  This was one of the smallest pieces in the show.  Imagine growing up as a child in that house, and having that tower in which to play.

 Detail of left side.

 Detail of central tower.

 Detail of right side. 

For some reason, this very tiny image totally captivated me.  I wish I could have borrowed it for a while.  Rembrandt kept total control of his prints, doing all the drawing, etching, and printing himself.  Getting up close and seeing the squiggles that make up the composition was a revelation to this viewer.

After leaving the museum I headed to a new coffee shop, open with several other businesses in an area of Detroit that had been desolate and unloved for many decades.  Ochre Bakery and Cafe is a true oasis.  Though not that far from Wayne State University in distance, its actual situation could only be described as inner city rough.  Some beautiful landscaping has also been done, and by summer it will be a true oasis.  The coffee is roasted there, and they had vegan lemon pound cake.

In movie news, there is a lot of news.  We watched three Zatoichi films over the weekend.  Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold shows the misery and grief that peasant farmers had to contend with, at least when Ichi wasn't around.  The body count in this one is very high.  Everywhere he goes, Zatoichi decimates the local male population.  There are some beautiful scenes involving lanterns at night, as well as more cruelty per minute than any other movie.  In Zatoichi's Flashing Sword, he is shot in the back with a gun, and is nursed back to health by a family that controls a major river crossing.  A rival gang, ruled by a greedy and evil boss, wants to take over the crossing and raise the fees considerably.  As usual, there is humour in this film, as a bearer has to carry the solidly built blinds swordsman not once, but twice, across the river.  The next was, #8 in the series, is called Fight, Zatoichi, Fight.  This time he has to carry a baby to its father, after the mother is murdered while walking home with him.  Another evil nest of vipers is uncovered, and some of the lowest breeds of humanity are on display.  Fortunately for all concerned, they are sliced to ribbons by Zatoichi.  He also has to take on two sumo wrestler bullies, after the baby pees on their heads from a balcony.

A still from Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold.

 From Zatoichi's Flashing Sword.  He encounters a pinwheel and candy seller on the road, and buys a sucker.  Hearing children nearby, he offers to buy them candy thinking there are two or three of them.  But there are 15 kids.  They thank him and tell him to watch out for a hole in the road, on the right side.  He thinks they are tricking him, so he keeps left.  And falls into the hole.  They watch him in silence as he crawls out.

 Zatoichi's baby delivery service comes into play in

Fight Zatoichi, Fight! 

And another Karel Zeman film has come on-line, his totally restored 1958 Invention For Destruction.  Based on a story or two by Jules Verne, his unique mix of live action and fantasy is unparalleled in the world of cinema.  Earlier we saw his Baron Munchausen, which was in colour.  This one is in b & w, and couldn't be improved in any way.  Spellbinding story telling from a master movie maker.  These are his two major works; one other feature may appear someday.  The two movies would make an incredible double bill.

Time to sign off.  It is listening hour, and the cats are gathered on the couch.  Tonight, it's a mass by Palestrina.  Tomorrow, it's Op. 93 of Britten.  Good night.

Mapman Mike

Fighting November Blahs

The doldrums arrived early this year, with our first major snowstorm about two months ahead of schedule.  The snow is gone for now, but the darkness, heavy clouds, and damp chill to the air make day to day life a tad dreary.  However, I had a beautiful clear night on Friday, and it was sunny some of that day.  It was actually the 2nd clear night of this session, but the earlier time it was way too damp and foggy to consider driving into the county (actually, into the next county) to set up.  Dampness gets on the mirrors and eyepieces, causing early shut down of operations.  It was 32 F when I arrived at 6 pm, and 28 F when I left at 9:45 pm.  The autumn stars were up upon arrival, and the winter stars were up upon departure.  I hope I can steal one more good night before the moon interferes.

Last Tuesday I gave a short talk on double stars at our monthly club meeting.  However, my laptop would not connect to the WiFi, and the main projector in the hall did not work.  That was the same day as a major power failure affected a lot of people, including Windsor and us, so that may have contributed to the problem.  Luckily, a fellow member had his laptop, and his worked.  The back up projector was crappy, though.

Yesterday, Deb had her first laser treatment of three that she will need. She certainly experienced some pain afterwards and today, but things are improving as I write.  We have pills for any occasion on hand, so her suffering was mitigated.  Once this problem is fixed, then we can move on towards getting her heart problem looked after (again).  The laser treatments are not covered by the government health plan, nor our private one.  The cost was just over $2000.  Ouch.  More pain.

I just finished an epic novel by Norman Spinrad, part of my Avon/Equinox project.  The book, which took me 9 days to read, is called "He Walked Among Us," and is one of three that he wrote trying his best to put forth solutions for saving the planet from our greed and indifference.  I am now into the Tarot series by Piers Anthony, an author that continues to hold my interest.  It ties in loosely to the "Cluster" series I am reading by him.

In movie news, we continue to watch the Zatoichi series, having just seen #4.  The first four are loosely connected, and more or less set the tone for the 26-movie series.  However, last weekend we watched the 1932 "Three Penny Opera" directed by Pabst.  It was excellent!  Brecht hated it, and many of Weil's songs were cut, but the film works beautifully.  Mackie Mackie!  I am also getting mildly interested in the work of Chantal Akerman.  More to come on her.

 Now showing on Criterion. 

In gaming news, I continue to make progress in Syberia 3 on the PC.  It is a vast game, though the bugs are annoying.  I have had to download saved games a few times now and jump ahead of a bug I could not get past.  It is visually stunning and takes place in many different locations, including a very gloomy Russian asylum in winter, a seaside town, a large ferry boat, an amusement park, subway tunnels, and now in a night time wooded winter landscape.  It is, at least, visually appealing.  We are trying to improve on the Dr. Who card game we bought in Columbus, Ohio a few years ago, and will be playing this weekend.

The listening program has expanded to include the entire record collection.  Recently, we listened to a 4-record set of music by Josquin des Prez, as well as Symphony #80 by Haydn (we're getting there), and Op 79 by Brahms (two major piano works that I MUST learn!), Britten's Op 79, a short work for chorus and orchestra, and we are continuing with the complete organ works of Buxtehude.  I will no doubt be going through several needles.

Our next Detroit day is scheduled for Monday.  I have a book waiting, and Deb wants to buy a few collector coffee spoons from an antique dealer in Dearborn, for an upcoming Yorick episode.  We will stay for lunch, and it wouldn't surprise me if I managed to have a pint in there somewhere.  Detroit had its annual Christmas lights celebration on Thursday night.  Here is a photo.  Pretty fantastic city.

Wow! 

Mapman Mike