Detroit Concert Season Opener

Sunday, October 7th/18 

Last night we attended the first of four planned concerts between now and our trip to Vienna.  The first three concerts come on consecutive weekends, so we have another concert next weekend, and another the week after that.  Our first concert of the new season was a performance of the Schubert Octet, one of the greatest pieces of chamber music ever written.  It's a long one, too, at nearly one hour.  It has six movements, and is heavily modelled on the earlier septet by Beethoven.  Schubert added a 2nd violin, which Beethoven omitted.  So he used a full string quartet (2 violins, viola, cello), then added a double bass and the three winds; French horn, bassoon, and clarinet.  The clarinet and first violin interact continually, but the other instruments get to solo as well, and the sound combinations are nearly limitless.

There are six movements, and each one seems to be a complete world unto itself.  The 12st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th are all massive in scale, and really do need to be taken one at a time by the listener.  Hearing all six uninterrupted is like eating a heavy 6-course dinner!  We had the good fortune of hearing 8 chamber players from the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, from London, and they gave a magnificent performance and interpretation.  Before the concert the musicians came out, and the horn player talked about the piece at some length.  the group played excerpts to illustrate certain points, mainly comparisons with the Beethoven work.  Then they performed uninterrupted.  It was a long time to sit, as there was no intermission. 

We hit heavy rain and storms once in Detroit, and again after the concert.  At home, 3.2" of rain was sitting in the rain gauge!!  Needless to say, our little creek is rather full today.  With the warm weather we've been having (and clouds), I will be cutting the grass again very soon.  Our tree and yard man paid us a visit last week.  We will be getting some trees trimmed and some old branches removed, as well as having an old stump ground down, thus stopping the endless number of shoots that grow on it every year.  There is still so much to do in the yard, but there are still mosquitoes, so we will wait a bit longer.

My own concert preparation has taken a bit of a dip since our return from NM.  I have been finding it really difficult to get back into the pieces, though my very bad ear likely has something to do with it.  I am not yet back where I was with the pieces before I left home, and am having trouble concentrating.  My reading concentration is fine, and I've been working hard on my trip journal (it's about half done now).  I just think I would rather be in NM right now, hiking some more.  When I returned and finally sat down at the piano again, I fully realized how difficult it is to play piano and learn pieces!  I actually had a dull ache in my brain afterwards.  It really does take full concentration, which is very demanding, especially if you are continually thinking of mountains.

October 2018

Wed., Oct. 3rd/18 

The former staff at APS was always much closer than most other schools.  We were a lot like family, and made some friends for life.  The camaraderie shown back in those days carries on occasionally even today.  Our luncheon attracted 16 or 17 people that use to work together day in and day out, doing our best to send students out the door in the right direction.It was a fun get-together, and there will be others.  One of our members couldn't be there, as his wife is dying of lung cancer.  Previously to the luncheon, a collection had been taken up raising considerable funds, and given to Dave for restaurants etc. as he deals with his wife's severe and terminal illness.  Anyway, it is a good group of people, and I am happy to still know them and was proud to work with them for many years.

The October astronomy session is turning into an unmitigated disaster, much like most of the other months so far this year.  Warm, humid, cloudy weather is persisting, much like a continuation of the first half of Sept.  No clear nights are predicted so far in the 10 day forecast.  Unbelievable.

I finally got some trip photos printed, and I am writing up the journal.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will be finished, and then can concentrate on the web version.  Next trip is Vienna in early December.  Caroline sent a link to a review of the Bruegel exhibit, and of course it sounds totally amazing.  At least half a dozen new (for us) paintings of his will be on display, in addition to the Prado's incredible "Triumph of Death", a picture we got to know extremely well during our six-week stay in Madrid in the 1980s.

Another tram view of the Sandia Mtns. in Albuquerque. 

September 2018

Sunday, Sept. 30th/18 

Today was as close to a normal day as I've had in three weeks.  I got to practice piano, which was an interesting experience.  My hands basically moved where they were supposed to move, but it felt like it wasn't me playing.  Very strange.  It will take several more days before I really know what I am doing again.  The listening program also resumed, this time with Brahms' Op. 53, his absolutely beautiful Alto Rhapsody, with words by Goethe.  Very few of his compositions made any immediate impact on audiences, but this one did.  A stunning piece of music! 

When I travel, the reading I bring along with me is not related to my SF rediscovery project.  Instead, I pull books from my other waiting piles.  On our recent journey to NM I finally finished up the Brahms biography.  It proved to be a most rewarding journey, and seemed like fiction much of the time.  The writer (Jan Swafford) has a real story-telling gift, and not only makes Brahms come alive in every chapter, but goes a long way to explain his very strange and off-putting character and personality.  I got the book for free several years ago for attending all of the DSO Brahms festival concerts, and have been reading it off and on since then.  The other book I brought and finished was the first book of the Solar Pons stories by August Derleth!  Often as good as the Conan Doyle Holmes stories, and frequently better, I look forward to the next batch soon.

More yard work today saw us about 30% caught up with what needs doing.  Tomorrow we will call the tree experts to come give us a hand with the bigger stuff.  The weather is perfect now for outdoor work, after a brutal summer.  I also continue to edit our trip photos, and hope to prepare some soon for printing. 

 This was the high point of our NM journey, as we huffed and puffed our way up another big beast of a mountain.

Saturday, Sept. 29th/18 

The laundry is done, the grass is cut (we had over 3" of rain in the interim)and we are (mostly) unpacked.  Two weeks with little news to read, virtually no social media, and even less piano practice and (for Deb) film making.  Normal operations should resume tomorrow.  I have begun the long and slow process of editing over 250 photos, hopefully keeping at least half of them.  We managed four great days of hiking, and more of driving.  Internet updates will take some time, as I always complete the written version first.  In the meantime, I will post some photos here as they are edited.  Check back often.

This wonderful little sculpture was seen in a window in downtown Springfield, Missouri.  It quickly became the symbol of my solo drive west, as I gained altitude each day until I reached NM!

 Autumn was arriving in the higher elevations.  Sandia Mtns., Albuquerque, as seen from the tram that took us from 6000' to over 10,000'  for our first big hike.  That downward opening is a waterfall during the monsoon season.

Friday, Sept. 28th/18 

We're Baa-aack!!  Just back from a great road trip--3689 miles and several mountains later, we have returned with a pile of laundry, and grass that needs serious trimming!  Lots of great photos to share, with maybe a few posted here tomorrow if time permits to download and edit them.  Stay tuned to this channel for more exciting updates soon!

Friday, Sept. 14th/18 

Twas the night before New Mexico, and all through the house there was much activity.  Laundry going now, packing finally begun, though things have been set aside for over a week.  It's much worse for a camping trip, but bad enough for a two week driving excursion.  It feels a bit strange teaching for two weeks, then stopping for two weeks.  As for the practicing, what can I say?  Things are good right now.  However, in two weeks probably not so much.  As to reading material, I am taking a break from my fiction project, and will be trying to finish the excellent Brahms biography I started a few years ago.  Sadly, the listening project is on hold, as my ear has reached a point where listening to music is no longer pleasant. 

I now have the ability to blog during the journey, so there might be one or two entries coming up.  Alas, no photos, as we cannot get them from the camera to the internet.  I managed one clear, very damp night of observing for the entire two week dark sky session.  Rather disappointing.  We will be in NM for my 65th birthday and the Autumn Equinox (with a fire on the outdoor patio at Sherri's B & B), and a full moon.  By the time we are back, it will be almost time to resume observing once again.

See everyone again in about 4,000 miles!

Monday, Sept. 10th/18 

Four days of clouds now, and cool temps.  Yesterday it remained in the 50s all day.  It was a total delight!  Not to fear, sunshine and warmth are returning soon.  However, New Moon has come and gone without a decent observing night.  Very few days left in the September viewing session.  Gordon (the storm, not the steam engine) is to blame for the weekend clouds.  Another incoming hurricane will affect us next weekend.

We have 4 days of hiking and exploring in NM coming up, a very exciting prospect!  Three areas involve new territory (and maps) for us, with one hike being a repeat from several years ago.  Mt. Taylor is an enormous one-time volcano that we climbed previously.  However, having just reached the summit, we were set upon by a fierce elctrical storm.  Hopefully this time we will be able to enjoy some summit time.

 Mt. Taylor, NM  rises to 11, 305', with a mile of prominence.  This will be the highest point of our upcoming journey.  Phtot was taken from our Amtrak journey to California a few years ago.

Saturday, Sept. 8th/18  

There was a time, perhaps a happier time, when Detroit belonged to us. We were the only people on the streets not begging for money.  We were trying to support small business, stay safe, and do all things cultural.  There were literally no white people to be seen outside the hallowed halls of Orchestra Hall or the Art Institute.  Definitely no babies, no children, and no dogs, other than the lean, hungry kind you wanted to avoid.  Switch to a few years later--Detroit is swamped with white suburbanites who have "discovered" Detroit, and don't mind being seen drunk and loud and belligerent at any time of day.  Dogs on leashes everywhere.  Babies!  Kids of all ages!  Is this Detroit?  There is even a version of the Croydon Boxpark, appearing suddenly on a lonely and previously empty series of vacant lots, now populated by happy suburbanites discovering a "real" city near them for the first time in their lives.

Ya, it was crazy busy in Detroit today on our visit.  We still managed to find an undiscovered vegan lunch spot near the heart of it all, and one of the best taprooms in existence, remarkably quiet today while chaos soared all around it.  We did a mailbox run to get Deb's Oscar-like statue from her win in Cincinnati, did a walk through one of Dearborn's most unique historic neighbourhoods, and managed to escape the throngs threatening to choke the city into some version of London or Manhattan.  Worst of all is the new electric scooter craze.  One day there were none, then there were billions of them, speeding up and down streets, sidewalks, and boulevards.  Rent a scooter, leave it anywhere when you are done with it, and move on.  We first noted them in Cincinnati a few weeks ago, but they are WAY more prevalent in the Motor City.  Bad news all round.  Can you imagine these things in London?  On sidewalks?  Well, folks, watch for it....

My reading mind has never been stretched so far as since I undertook the Ballantine Fantasy project, and now the Avon/Equinox SF project.  So many books I would never have glanced at, or, at most, read part of the first chapter and immediately discarded.  However, since I am now hooked on about 24 SF authors and committed to reading most of their output, I have been forced to read on through books I never would have finished.  And guess what?  I am coming out a much better person for it!  Some of these books (John Sladek and Norman Spinrad, Hal Clement and Ward Moore, Eric Frank Russell and Piers Anthony, among others, come to mind) have cranked my brain wide open in ways I thought only James Blish and Iain M. Banks could do. 

We have now had two cloudy, cool days in a row! This is big news.  Tomorrow will be Day Three!!  The remnants of Hurricane Gordon are arriving as I write, promising a full day of rain Sunday.  I will believe it when it happens....

Thursday, Sept. 6th/18

First week of teaching went smoothly.  I only have 9 students right now, down six from last year.  This is both good news and bad:  good because it means I have an easy year, and bad because it means that our travel fund will not reach its annual goal of $10,000.   This has been a very busy year for travel, with two major trips still coming up.  We went to London in the spring, then to Columbus to Origins Film Festival and Board Game Fair.  I went to Sudbury, then Deb went to Lindsay, both for family visits.  Then we went to Cincinnati.  NM coming up, and then Vienna.  So we went way over our $10,000 budget this year!  Next year will have to be more subdued, unless a few more students find their way into my studio.  Deb also had a harp student, who is now gone, so actually we are down 7 this year.  It means more astronomy chances for me, and I will likely return to Iaido in October. 

It has been a horribly hot and humid start to the school year, with temps from Sunday through Wed. at 88, 88, 90, and 92 F.  Add in gross humidity and it was a very bad time.  We stayed mostly indoors, though we managed to mostly keep up our morning walking program.  We have no choice, as some big hikes are coming our way very soon.  The kids were pretty burnt out by the time they got to me for their piano lessons.  The news reported this week that 80% of classrooms in our county are not air conditioned.  Today was much more comfortable, with cloudy skies and much lower temps.

There was a shooting this morning in downtown Cincinnati, one block from our recent hotel.  I was in the lobby of the bank where the shootings took place exactly two weeks ago.  A bit scary.

Today was Deb's blood work day; next Thursday is her infusion.

And in other riveting news, it has been a rather uncompromisingly bad observing session.  Not one night has tempted me to drive out to the observatory, mostly due to extreme heat and humidity, even at night.  Nothing promising in the near future, either.

Sunday, Sept. 2nd/18

A new astronomy session has begun, though it seems unlikely that a good night will arrive any time soon.  We are currently in yet another wave of heat and humidity, our 95th or 96th such event lately.  However, yesterday we received our biggest rain since June 19th.  The brown grass was green within one hour of the storm passing!  When this session ends in less than two weeks, we will be on our way to NM!

The storm hit us yesterday as we were visiting with Randy and Anita in the late afternoon.  There was more lightning than I am comfortable with, with several very close hits.  We left there house in Windsor as the storm was dying down, but ended up driving through another storm as we headed for home.  We chose back roads, largely with no traffic, so we had no difficulty getting home.  There was 1.6" in the rain gauge when we got there!  We had 4 days in August at 90 F or above, making the seasonal total 20 days so far, not including today.  It is supposed to be hot and humid all week.  I remember those 'back to school days' as a classroom teacher!  September can be brutal.

Randy traded in his white van, which he originally bought to transport his large telescope.  He bought a limited edition, numbered Bullitt Mustang, assembled in suburban Detroit with the engine made in Windsor.  It is way too much car for me, but Randy seems to enjoy driving it.  It rumbles pretty good, and has more power than it knows what to do with.  The car would be a lot more fun if there were legal places to drive it the way it was designed to be driven. 

Anita has been recently bothered by more pain than usual, and her pain meds are being increased to cope with it.  She is now on her newest chemo concoction, and is due for the next hit on Tuesday.  They won't know how the tumours are doing until late September, so until then we can only hope that the chemo is helping.  Best of luck Tuesday, Anita, and the several days afterwards!

My right ear has been plugged since March, but has gotten much worse since the hot and sticky weather has arrived.  It is at least 85% blocked right now, making piano practice an added challenge.  I have some memorization goals set before leaving for NM, and so far I seem on track to meet them.

Mapman Mike

August 2018

Friday, August 31st/18 

London has its Queen, and Detroit had one, too.  In one of the biggest funerals the city has ever seen (Rosa Parks also lived and died here), Aretha Franklin was laid to rest today.  She is in the main Detroit cemetery, the one we visit every Day of the Dead.  It might be arguable as to which Queen gave more to her people.  My money is on Aretha.  The outpouring of love for her over the past week has been remarkable, and her funeral was carried live worldwide.  We wisely went to Detroit yesterday for our errands.  Here are some photos from today's London Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2018/aug/31/funeral-of-aretha-franklin-in-pictures

A new vegan restaurant opened yesterday in Detroit, and we tried to get in for lunch.  There was no parking, the place was jammed, and there was a wait.  We will try again another day.  Yet another vegan restaurant is set to open this winter, this one in Mextown.  It will feature vegan tacos.  And very soon another Windsor vegan restaurant will open!  Good times for vegans, even in one-time lunch bucket towns.

We have watched some remarkable films lately on amazon Prime, all of them from India.  Here is a brief list: they are all worth seeking out.  Siddharth tells of  a man's search for his missing 12 year old son.  Crossing Bridges is about a man returning to his home village deep in the mountains of north eastern India, among the seven sister provinces.  I knew nothing about this part of India before watching the movie, and it proved to be a revelation.  Astu--So Be It tells the tale of a one-time brilliant professor, now suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and who wanders off from his family in the middle of the city.  Lastly comes Amal, a truly wonderful tale of an auto-rickshaw driver in the big city, and the small but vital role he plays within his society.

Possibly my favourite movie poster ever.

Tuesday, August 28th/18 

Some good news today from the Cindependent film Festival folks:  Deb's Essentially Alys film won 1st prize in its category, which was Off-Kilter Shorts.  Not the first time this film has won best of, and hopefully not the last!  Woot!

Not so good news on the piano teaching front--so far a large percentage of my students will not be returning this year for lessons.  I am not going to cry aobut it; I would rather have the evenings free at this stage of my life.  Perhaps a return to Iaido, and certainly more writing and music listening.

Sunday, August 26th/18

This is a quick update to say that we are back from Cincinnati and its really fun independent film festival.  Deb had a great time, meeting many different people, and her "Essenntially Alice" movie was very well received.  All the screenings had large audiences, mostly very appreciative.  I'll have more to say later in my Midwestern Cities blog (see left margin).

 We spent two nights in this great town, courtesy of the Cindependent Film Festival.  This tee shirt was in a window near the Woodward Theatre, where most screenings took place.

 In the Woodward Theatre lobby before the screening of Deb's "Essentially Alys."

 Deb checks out the film schedule in fronto of the historic Woodward Theatre, Cincinnati.

Friday, August 17th/18 

It's been among the most humid summers we have ever had, and though it began very hot at least the temps have backed off.  But the humidity is unrelenting, and basically ruined the August astronomy session.  It's also been difficult to get out and walk every day.  It is actually hard to breathe most mornings. 

We are a week away from our two-night visit to the Cincinnati International Film Festival.  We have received two $250 VIP passes, as well as two nights at an expensive boutique hotel downtown.  Cincinnati is about a five hour drive from Detroit, all on one highway, south of us.  In addition, we are now one month away from the big NM trip.  Originally planned with another couple and two vehicles, we are now travelling alone.  It will interrupt my teaching in September, but that's the way autumn is going to be from now on.

Speaking of teaching, I was supposed to have 5 full-time students this summer.  How about one?  The others have only come twice so far.  I'm not complaining, but rather enjoying the break.

Several years ago I became a sort of pen pal with a young woman from the Midlands in England.  Our discussions were usually based on fantasy literature.  She went to university in York.  She just recently finished her studies, and has become a clinical psychologist.  Dr. Steele is now in the process of moving to London to begin her practice.  Pretty cool!

Saturday, August 11th/18

It's been an unusual week, but things have settled back to normal here at the Homestead.  Practicing is going well, memorization not so well.  Sigh.  We are into our walking program again, in preparation for next month's hikes in NM.  We have dates with three mountain summits!

Deb was in Lindsay to visit her Mom on her 90th birthday.  Deb's two older sisters were also there.  Sharon had just returned from a long journey to Europe, various destinations, while Stephanie flew in from her retirement home in Merida, Yucatan.  The four of them had not been together for many years.

Deb has four films showing at three festivals this weekend.  Two of her comedy shorts were shown today at the Red Skelton Festival, in his home town in Indiana.  She also has films being shown in New Jersey and New York!  In two weeks we will be in Cincinnati for an event there, too.  We could be attending festivals nearly every month, sometimes more frequently, like this month!

The August astronomy session has been a bust.  Any clear nights we have received (and they have been very, very few) have been all but wiped out by high humidity and gathering haze.  The equipment becomes soaking wet, and the secondary mirrors fog up.  We have not had one cool, very clear night yet!

Friday, August 3rd/18 

I only knew three of my grandparents.  My paternal grandfather passed away when my Dad was seven, and though my Grandmother remarried and I always thought of Henry as my grandfather, I knew little to nothing about my real grandfather, including what he looked like.  On my recent visit to Sudbury, I noticed a photo of him hanging in Dad's den, so I took a photo of the photo.  Here it is...

The one and only known photo of my paternal grandfather.  Dad didn't even know he had been in the military until he saw this photo a few years ago.  

Deb's "Alice" film was accepted a while back in the Cincinnati Independent Film Festival, and they recently awarded her two VIP passes for the late August event ($250 each!), along with two nights at a downtown boutique hotel (value around $600!).  So in a few short weeks we will be off to Cincinnati.  It will our first visit since 2012, when she won her age group in the half marathon race walk.  She will attend filming events; I will revisit the Museum of Art, as well as explore two large used bookstores downtown.  I will join her for meals, and to view her screening.  She is in with the best films, showing Friday night at 9:30 pm.  We won't be back at the Homestead for long before we leave for our next NM adventure.

It is a very warm and humid start to the August astronomy session.  Three clear nights are predicted this weekend.  We will be leaving shortly for the observatory.

Monday, August 6th/18  

Deb is off to Lindsay to visit with her mom and two older sisters.  Lois turns 90 today!  Happy birthday, Lois!!  I brought Deb to the train station this afternoon.  Once in Toronto, she transfers to a bus to Lindsay.  She will come Wednesday, but fly from Toronto.  I will meet her at the airport around 6 pm.

Our August mini-heatwave is currently being sapped by a round of stroms.  We have had two so far, with a third in-coming.  Despite the half inch of rain we have received so far, we are still far below average, and need the rain.  While it rains here, a mile away it is still hot and dry.  With our last three days reaching 90 f or above (32+ C), we have now done that 19 times so far this summer.  It's a warm one, to be sure.  On to more indoor activities...

Memorization of piano pieces is ongoing, be it ever so slow.  I am working on the 2nd Bach piece, nearly half done.  4 of the 5 Haydn movements are memorized now, and I have started in on the Schumann, which consists of 12 smaller pieces.  We'll see how much gets done before our departure for NM.  Next storm approaching, so shutting down for now.

Mapman Mike

July 2018

Monday, July 30th/18 

As promised, here are some photos from family visiting here.  Also, a few from my flight to Sudbury from Toronto.

Lynne, brother Steve, and Emma-Lee in our living room.

 Momma bear and baby bear, with daddy bear jambon.

 Daddy bear having a nap.

 Emma-Lee with Mogollon and Gustav.

Spa day for Mogi! 

Departing Billy Bishop Airport in downtown Toronto.

 Partial view of downtown Toronto, shortly after take off.

 Clouds and Georgian Bay landscape from 24,000'.

 Smoke from Parry Sound Fire 33 rises between whiter clouds.  This very bad forest fire is still burning.

Thursday, July 27th/18

I'm back!  It's been a busy week of travel and visiting family.  Last Saturday I flew to Sudbury, arriving before 5 pm.  Lynne, my sister-in-law, and Alicia, my niece, picked me up at the airport and drove me to the Sudbury homestead.  I left Sudbury Monday at 7:30 pm, but missed my connecting flight to Windsor and had to overnight in Toronto.  However, I did get to meet up with Amanda for a late dinner in Toronto.  We met at a new vegan Mexican restaurant downtown, and the food was fabulous!  It was great to see Amanda again, and on her home turf.

In Sudbury we also ate out at a vegan Mexican restaurant.  Afterwards, I got to try a custom built, very powerful VR gaming system!!  Wow!  It was amazing!  I flew in a shuttle craft around the starship Enterprise, which was in dry dock in space.  Next I got to go to the moon with the Apollo 11 crew!  A fantastic program!!!  Now I have walked on the moon!!

I enjoyed a good visit with close family, including my parents, my aunt Pauline, Steve, Lynne, and Alicia, and very close cousin Cathy.  I had a most enjoyable time.  I got to spend several hours at Bay Used Books, and purchased about 30 books related to my recent reading and reviewing project.  Of course I could not fly home with that many books.  Steve and Lynne were coming down to visit, so they transported them for me.  On my final day before departing, I met up with my grade school best friend Darrell.  We had lunch and a great chat.  This was our second year in a row meeting up, after a lapse of about 50 years!!!!

On Wednesday of this week Steve, Lynne, and Emma Lee (now aged 9) arrived for their first visit here in 10 years (Lynne had been pregnant with Emma Lee at the time).  We enjoyed two dinners together, and they came here for a visit.  Emma Lee befriended one of our cats.  She is quite a charmer, and one of the smartest and prettiest young girls I have ever had the pleasure to know!  On my visit to Sudbury she had been with friends for a weekend sleepover, so I didn't get to meet her until they came to Windsor.

Now I am back to practicing, at last.  Tonight is a full moon celebration.  It's still touch and go as to whether we will see moonrise.

I happened to be reading the best book I have read in many years on my journey north.  It is an epic novel by Norman Spinrad called "Child of Fortune."  Unfortunately for Sudbury family, I could not put the book down when I was up there.  I just finished it Wednesday, and wish it had gone on for at least two more volumes.  It will resonate with me for the rest of my life, and I will surely read it again.  Photos are forthcoming....

Wednesday, July 18th/18

Summer teaching business is starting to pick up, after a very slow start.  Today I had four students, and next Wed. I already have 5 booked.  I am going to use the money for gas for our upcoming road trip to NM.

We enjoyed another fine night at the observatory last night.  Here are a few of Deb's early attempts at taking photos with her I-Phone through the eyepiece of her telescope...

 Oc 457 in Cassiopeia, sometimes called the Owl or Little Man cluster.

 A small Y-shaped star cluster near Gamma Cygni.

 Guess who?

 5-day old moon. The round dark area surrounded by craters is called Mare Fecunditatis.

Messier 11, an open cluster in Scutum.

The moon is now too bright to make evening observations worthwhile.  We are pretty tired from last night, anyway.  July was pretty good to us, with 5 good sessions.  Part of that is because we have had no rain since June 27th, and there has been plenty of sunshine.  No that dangerous temps have subsided for a time, we are ramping up the exercise program again.  We had a fine walk this evening, and hope to get back on the bicycles tomorrow morning.

Since we had to cut down a large maple tree in our front yard last year, we have been able to witness all the sunsets leading up to summer solstice, and now moving away from it.  It's been nearly a month since the solstice, and the sun is now setting quite a bit earlier, and certainly further south.  By the time the August new moon astronomy session begins, we should be able to begin observing a lot earlier.  It isn't really dark until past 10:30 pm right now, meaning that very late nights are unavoidable.

Monday, July 16th/18 

Our best chance of rain was today, and it has passed uneventfully.  There were scattered storms around us, but none had our number.  The last measurable rainfall here at the Homestead was June 27th.  That's 20 days ago.  Normally not too bad, but verging on desperate.  However, it has been extremely hot and sunny, and that has sucked moisture from the ground, leaving it parched as if it had never rained.  Our next chance for rain is on the 20th.  Good luck with that. 

Caroline's report from London is similar.  England is having severe grass fires, even within the boundaries of London.  Less heat and some significant rainfall would be nice.

Sunday, July 15th/18

I talked to Dad today.  He turned 87 yesterday.  He was watching World Cup Soccer.  It was a very quiet celebration.  Hopefully I can liven things up a bit next weekend when I visit!  He is reading a lot.  Sudbury is also having a major hot spell, though a little less intense than ours.  This weekend we added two more days that reached 90 F or higher, making a total of 8 for July, 8 in June, and 4 in May.  I can never remember that many hot days before, and it is still early in summer.  Incidentally, 90 F is 32.2 C.  That does not factor in the humidity, which frequently makes it feel like it's 40 C or above.  Brutal weather, though we have plenty of indoor activities to occupy us.  A cooler period is on its way, and I fervently hope that when I visit Sudbury it might actually be cold at night!

Deb has finished another short film, one of her best yet.  It should soon be uploaded to her site for public viewing, and I'm certain it will get plenty of festival showings, and quite likely some awards.  Meanwhile, we are still waiting to hear from Cincinnati to see if we are being granted free hotel rooms.  Her Alice film is showing there next month, in a segment entitled "Off Kilter films," as part of their main festival. 

The nights have been very warm.  It is currently clear, so we might be heading back to Hallam again.  I should be able to post a few of Deb's astro photos tomorrow.  If I forget, remind me.

Saturday, July 14th/18 

With four clear nights logged for this observing session, I'd have to say it was a good one.  Getting four good nights out of a possible 14 is not that easy to do anymore.  But that means days of sleep disruption due to body clock shifts.  We've been getting to bed around 3 am instead of midnight.  The effects are the same as those of jet lag.  In fact, we do better with 5 or 6 hours of jet lag, thanks to our program we use.  No such program exists for astronomy.  Deb is using her I-Phone with a special adaptor to take photos through the eyepiece of her telescope.  There is a learning curve, but after two nights practice she is getting some nice results.

Piano practice is on-going, with memorization plodding along.  If you only knew.  So far I have one Haydn sonata and one Bach prelude memorized. or about 10% of the program.  Reading continues to be loads of fun.  I am now reading Silverberg's follow up stories to Gilgamesh the King.  He won the Nebula Award for the first of three short sequels he wrote, as Gilgamesh and Enkidu wander around the Outback of Hell.  Great stuff!

We are watching many series and movies on Prime.  We just finished season 4 of  Mozart In the Jungle, and are nearly done with Tokyo Girl.  Tonight we watched Sanjuro, Kurosawa's follow up masterpiece to Yojimbo.  In wide screen it is just too amazing for words!  Kurosawa's humour is in full bloom in this samurai movie, headed by Toshiro Mifune.  Enough said.  Last night we watched an Indian/Canadian film called Amal, concerning a mini-taxi driver in Delhi, who might just be the genuine honest man.  An unforgettable little masterpiece.

Monday, July 9th/18 

Back into the 90s today.  This will be the 6th day of July for such an event.  Last Friday was a lovely day, reminiscent of what an entire summer used to be like in Sudbury when I was young.  Now, such cool days are rare.  It turned out to be a spectacular night for astronomy.  Deb and I headed out to Hallam, and four other observers were there, too.  So was the farmer whose land we use.  He was spraying his crops.  Luckily, the wind was blowing the dust away from us, but the barn lights were all on, interfering with an otherwise perfect night.  Dang-blasted farmers; who do they think they are, anyway?

Before driving out to the observatory, we stopped off to visit Anita and Randy.  Anita continues to hang in there, but is obviously having a pretty rough time of it.  She no longer has to travel to London for her chemo.  Her next treatment is tomorrow, and we wish her luck and send our love!!

Sunday night was clear again, so back I went.  Saturday had been a bit hazy, so I stayed home.  Glad I did.  According to Larry B, an observer who is usually also out there often, it was full of observers, and the farmer was still at it.  By contrast, last night saw only Larry and I on the site, under a beautiful sky.  We were accompanied by thousands of mosquitoes, however, so I was spraying myself with Deet a lot.  More clear nights are expected mid-week.

Thursday, July 5th/18 

6 days in a row of 90+ temps, including 95 F yesterday and today.  4 days in May above 90 F; 8 days in June likewise; so far 5 days in July.  I dare say this is unprecedented.  I did not mention humidity, which does have many precedents.  It is ending presently, as storms pass over us and a cold front approaches.  The good news is that several fine astronomy nights begin tomorrow, and I can't wait!  However, by Monday we are supposed to be back in the 90s.  We managed an early morning bike ride today, our second of the week.  Usually by 10 am it is already 85 F, so things have to get done early.  Tomorrow is lawn cutting day, and I imagine everyone in the neighbourhood will be out cutting, due to the cooler temps and lesser humidity.

So far we have only played one of the three games we purchased in Columbus.  The Dr. Who Classic Doctor card game was a real bust; it is a very badly designed game.  After three goes we have managed to tweak the rules enough to make it playable and more fun, though a lot of frustration is still present during game play.  Not sure how our rules will work with 3 players, but the original ones were terrible for any amount of players, and seemingly got worse the more players there were.  Players are able to gang up on anyone who starts to pull ahead in points, so the whole game tends to just fall apart, as nobody could win by strategy.  It all came down to the final play, if someone was able to hang on to a point, or score one on their last turn.  Don't really know how a game like this could get past testing phases.  Makes one wonder.

Deb's Alice film has been accepted in a major film festival in downtown Cincinnati.  She might be eligible for a free hotel room; if so, we will likely attend in the latter half of August. 

I am reading a fascinating book by Hal Clement just now, called Close To Critical, and is mostly about a rescue mission concerning two children stranded on an environmentally hostile alien planet.  One child is human, and the other alien.  The only possibility of rescue comes from the intelligent inhabitants of the planet, who might or might not be able to repair the stranded lander with two kids inside.  This is the best SF by Clement that I have read so far--I have an autographed copy!  There is an Earth robot on the planet that can communicate with the natives, but a two-second delay between its sending and receiving info from its orbiting human engineers adds realism and drama to the proceedings.  Very fine stuff!!

Monday, July 2nd/18 

The month of June saw 8 days reach temperatures in excess of 90 F, as well as several more in the upper 80s.  That is more extreme highs than we usually see in an entire summer.  July 1st was also above 90.  We are currently in our 7th day in a row of a heat and humidity extravaganza, and it is supposed to last several more days.  This is more than a little puzzling.  The worst kind of climate one could imagine would be an extremely cold winter, which we certainly had, followed by an extremely hot summer, which we seem to be having.  Usually they do not follow, and for logical reasons.  However, Logic and Nature have never been good companions.  We spent a good portion of the winter indoors, and summer is turning out to be similar.  We have managed a few early morning bike rides, but otherwise have been staying inside.  I have now practiced piano heartily so far this holiday.  My previous piano program was ready much sooner than expected because of the cold winter we had.  It looks like I might be spending a lot of time practicing this summer, too.

Our mid-September road trip to NM is mostly planned.  We still do not know yet if a friend or friends are coming along with us.  It makes little difference to our journey.  Two new hikes are planned, as well as a return climb to a favourite mountain.  On our last ascent of Mt. Taylor I was nearly blasted by lightning.  It literally came out of the blue.  Very scary.  Hopefully the September weather will be more amenable to climbers.  We will spend 7 nights in NM, 4 of them in Albuquerque and 3 at our favourite B & B near Bandera Crater, in the pine forests of the Zuni Mtns.  It has been a number of years now since I last drove the big highway west.  Deb will fly west a few days after I leave, but will drive back home with me at the end.

I managed to read 10 books in June related to my Avon/Equinox project, some of them being very long (one volume took me 8 or 9 days).  I am currently a very old pulp tale (1936) by Jack Williamson.  Following this will come a very early novel by a new favourite writer, Rex Gordon.  Next is Hal Clement, followed in turn by an early novel by Silverberg.  And after that comes #22 in the Avon/Equinox series, an award winning story by Michael Moorcock.  After that, I start all over again, reading through books by each author in turn.  I have read all the books by some of them, so I don't have to read 22 books to get to the next one.  That number would now be 14.  It's a really fun project, and I never seem to get bored with it.  You never really know what the next novel or short story collection has in store.  Several of the books read are not SF, but either just regular fiction, or historical fiction, or, in the case of Silverberg's excellent Gilgamesh the King, a mix of history, fiction, and mythology.  I seem to love the old pulp stories nearly as much as the more modern and complex writing.  I grew up reading Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard, Ace Double SF novels, before getting into Blish and Leiber, two of the best.  If I ever finish with the Avon/Equinox series, I already know what my next project is going to be.

Deb continues to work on her short films.  Her success rate of being shown is quite high, and she has more laurels and certificates than she knows what to do.  She has scored a major showing in England coming up in September, where her films, along with other winners from a festival in Brighton, will be shown on 21 screens across the country!  Not bad for a self-taught amateur!

Mapman Mike

June 2018

Friday, June 29th/18 

This might be called the monthly music blog.  Turn away if you have little no interest in music.  At your peril.  The Haydn listening project is up to Symphony #28.  Unlike the early Mozart symphonies, the works by Haydn are all unique and very artistic.  These are not the writings of a guided child, but of a mature musician using his imagination to the fullest.  Each work is filled with eye-opening surprises, and artistry beyond the extraordinary.  Very few people get excited by Haydn's music.  That says more about most people than about Haydn.  The Britten and Brahms projects have seen Op 51 completed.  The Brahms Op 51 set consists of two major string quartets.  We know that most people listening to music have an attention span of about 45 seconds, before they begin wandering off in other directions unrelated to their listening.  The best composers were quite aware of this, and their music incorporates composition techniques with the short attention span of their listeners in mind.  Being a practicing pianist, my attention span may be slightly longer, but I still need variety and constantly changing harmony and rhythm to keep up my interest.  These quartets are splendid places to begin your work, if interested.  The first quartet in C Minor is especially good for this--it is awash in fabulous music, ever-changing!  Listen to one movement at a time, and preferably more than once.  Your brain will thank you.

As to my own piano pieces, I have begun memorizing the 1st half to the program, which consists of two short preludes by Bach and two short sonatas by Haydn.  The 2nd half will consist of a major work by Schumann, his Op. 2 "Papillons."  The butterflies Schumann had in mind were more of the social variety, as we attend a masked ball in 12 movements.  I will conclude the program with the final three astronomy pieces by Alexina Louie, entitled Shooting stars, Blue Sky II, and Into Forever.  That final piece is the only one I have not yet started to work on.  Hopefully once the first half is memorized, it will save me enough time in my two hours of practice to include that final, and necessary, piece of music.  This will also mark my 3rd or 4th concert in a row featuring a female composer.  I think I will try and continue with this idea in all future concert planning.

Wednesday, June 27th/18 

My summer holiday is well underway!  No teaching at all this week, and then only on Wednesdays.  Sunday evening's recital went well; I am still awaiting someone to send me a group photo.  When the concert ended, Deb and I headed to a local brew pub.  Sandwich Brewing Company does a mean vegan cheese board!

Yesterday we went to Detroit for a fun visit.  It took us 48' to get through the tunnel and through customs, but once clear we had a very fun day.  I doubt any other city in the world is seeing the kind of explosive growth and renovation of old buildings that Detroit is seeing.  With Ford Motor Company's recent announcement of their purchase of the long-abandoned train station, and their intention to fully restore it and move 5,000 employees there, it just doesn't get any better.  There are still no streets downtown to walk where construction can be avoided.  this has been going full blast for about three years now, with building after building restored, open for business, and doing well.  Downtown yesterday was as busy as central Croydon, and that is saying a lot.

The Book Building, background, is one of the largest renovation projects ever undertaken  in the US.  The exterior has been completely cleaned.  Once restored inside, it will house offices, retail, and condos and apartment.   The foreground building is one of dozens of lesser old buildings currently undergoing restoration.

 Not only this fabulous old building is being renovated into a hotel, but the project also includes the three buildings to the left of it, as well as new construction in the rear.

3 new high rise buildings are underway downtown Detroit, including this one, which will be Detroit's tallest building when completed in 2 years.

 New construction and renovation is everywhere in central Detroit.

 The two buildings in the background, both once long-abandoned, are being converted into very unique and fancy hotels.  The one on the right is open now.  It is called The Siren.  Their website is filled with great photos, but it takes a while to load.  The lobby is like standing in an Edward Hopper painting.

 Entrance to The Siren Hotel, Detroit.  This place is beyond words!!

 A loafer in the lobby. The lobby also serves as cafe seating.

 Part of the lobby of The Siren Hotel, Detroit.  7 restored buildings downtown have been or are being turned into boutique hotels.

 View south along Woodward Ave.  (looking towards Canada).  The foreground buildings on left and right were once abandoned skyscrapers.  The left one is now apartments, and the right one is a hotel.  Nearly every building looking along Woodward has undergone, or is undergoing, a complete refit.

 One of Detroit's trams, which connects the downtown area to Midtown, the Medical Center, the Cultural Center, Wayne State University, and the New Centre, where the Amtrak station is.  $1.50 lets you ride for three hours, any direction.

 Detroit's downtown parks have never looked so welcoming!

When Detroit was in the doldrums (80s, 90s, 00s), the only shops etc that managed to remain open were on the main drag.  All of the side streets that had once hustled and bustled with commercial action, had died.  The side streets are not only back, but better than ever with their unique shops, cafes, bars, and restaurants.  There is an overwhelming demand for residential space downtown, and all of the office space for the next five years has been spoken for, including space not yet fully renovated.

Anyway, a good day was had by all!  I should be blogging a bit more regularly now that I am teaching less.  No excuses.  See you tomorrow.  And have a very happy full moon!! 

 Downtown Detroit, showing part of a row of refurbished buildings, including the skycraper taking up the right side of the photo.

Open street furniture is everywhere downtown, including really comfy and shaded chairs for napping (not shown)!

 

Tuesday, June 19th/18

We set heat records for both Sunday and Monday, not surprising if you lived through those days.  Last night at bedtime we were deluged by rain, thunder, and lightning.  I awoke to find 2" in the backyard rain gauge.  However, it was so dry that by this morning, other than a muddy and fast-flowing creek, there was little evidence of the heavy rain.  In fact, I was able to cut the grass by 11 am! 

I have managed to publish the first part of our recent voyage to Columbus, Ohio.  I hope to work on the rest later in the week, mostly concerning some very fine brew pubs we visited. I also just finished a very odd book by Piers Anthony and Robert E. Margroff called The Ring.  The short review can be found on the Avon/Equinox page, under Piers Anthony.  I really like Anthony's SF work, and this is a very early story he wrote with another author.  Glad I read it, though.

I have now completed my teaching for Monday and Tuesday, and won't have to do that again until September.  I will finish up tomorrow, but in two weeks I will resume Wednesday teaching for July and August.  That money should pay for the gasoline for our upcoming road trip to NM in mid-September.

I am looking forward to a summer of reading, practicing, riding my bike, writing, playing games, both computer, card, and board variety, as well as generally taking things easy.  In the old days when teaching school I was able to completely get away from kids for two months.  That won't happen again this summer because of teaching, though very few kids take lessons for the entire vacation.  After tomorrow's lessons it will be time to prepare for the Summer Solstice partay!!

Sunday, June 17th/18 

We are just back from Columbus, Ohio, and our 2nd annual visit to Origins Game and Film Festival.  Once again it was very hot.  On our return home today the temps were in the mid-90s, plus loads of humidity.  Later this week, possibly tomorrow, I will be blogging about the trip (see the Midwest blog) and posting photos.   Two of Deb's short films were screened, and we ended up buying three board games.  On Friday I visited the Columbus Museum of Art, and I also managed to drink some delicious samples at 4 different brew pubs.  We found some new cafes and veg friendly restaurants, too.  All in all it was a fun trip, though tiring.

We left for Columbus on Thursday, and of course the night before was clear with spectacular skies.  I stayed at the observatory until 1 am, enjoying the best night to view galaxies in a long time.  I finished my work in Bootes, a constellation I have been studying for several years now.  I also began work on a new one, Draco.

I have one week left of teaching regular music lessons, plus the final student concert next Sunday evening.  I am, as ever, looking forward to summer break.  At this point I do not think I will return to Iaido, but that may change once things settle down a bit here.  I have been away since December, and would like to return, but I also enjoy not having to drive to Windsor 2x per week.  I should know more after next week. If I could have one less night of teaching, I would probably return full time.

Sunday, June 10th/18 

More about books....  I managed to pick up 22 books relating to my Avon/Equinox project recently.  Most of them were by Silverberg, but I also got some by Piers Anthony, Kenneth Bulmer, and Jack Williamson.  In addition to those, we picked up three others.  I used to have a copy of Three Men In a Boat, and I promised to loan it to Anita G.  It is a very funny book, though it also has moments of poetic beauty and dreamy prose.  Alas, I no longer had a copy, so we picked up another.  There is also a short film about the book, staring Michael Palin and Tim Curry, which occasionally measures up to the writing.  It is a Victorian novel, and began its life as a travelogue of rowing up the River Thames.  It captures the essence of life in Britain before WWI, and is worth more than one or two readings.

Two other books acquired yesterday were written by August Derleth.  Derleth is the man responsible for Arkham House Publishing, including works by H.P. Lovecraft.  He also wrote a number of highly regarded Sherlock Holmes stories, in the tradition of Doyle.  Derleth's character is called Solar Pons.  I had never even heard of these until I came across them in a recent essay by P. J. Farmer, himself an incurable Holmes fanatic.  Really looking forward to reading these!  They take place in the 1920s.

I recently had my two-year anniversary of the Avon/Equinox Project.  To date I have read 21 of the 27 books in that SF series, and continue to delve into other works by those 24 authors.  Last year (since June 3rd., 2017) I read and reviewed 120 books related to the series, making a total of 220 altogether.  Last year I also read 11 other works, unrelated.

Saturday, June 9th/18  

Today was our first Detroit day in ages!  Mostly it was a visit to John King Books, where I had a very long shipping list.  I stopped after about 20 books, but I could have easily bought 20 more.  I was in the SF section the entire time.  At one point (I was in the "Bs," checking out Kenneth Bulmer) when a voice came through the book shelf towards me.  I bent down and saw a face, a young woman of perhaps 20 years.

     "Do you work here?" she asked.

     "No, but I know the store pretty well.  Is  there anything I can help you with?"
    "What is your favourite SF book?"  Suddenly I felt like Robbie the Robot in Forbidden Planet, when he is asked to shoot the Captain.  My brain short circuited, and I was unable to respond.

     "Sorry," came the voice.  "I probably shouldn't have asked you that.  It wasn't a fair question."

      Since I had just finished with the "A's," I told her about my favourite works by Piers Anthony.  We located the first two of the three Man and Manta series, and she took those, but we could not find a copy of Macroscope.  We chatted briefly, and she seemed very appreciative of me for the recommendations.  She was from NYC, visiting Detroit for the first time.  She'd already been in the bookstore for two hours, and showed no signs of wanting to leave. 

We next went to Eastern Market, but it was just too crowded to hang out.  We went to Brew Detroit, then next door to Batch Brewery, then to nearby Anthology Coffee, and then Deb drove me home as I sang songs for her.  It's was raining a bit as we got home, and I have a small truckload of books to check off my list and order properly into my reading list.  Yay Detroit!    

 The moat at Arundel Castle.  Another previously unpublished photo from our recent trip to London.

Thursday, June 7th/18

We have had a splendidly cool week, as compared to last week.  No A/C running, fun to be out on our bikes, comfortable to sleep--if only this was what summers are like in our area.  With this week's teaching out of the way, I only have two weeks left to go, plus the final concert.  Then I will have one week off before beginning the summer session, when I only teach Wednesdays.  I have at least 5 students interested in regular summer lessons.  That would be plenty for me.

Today is election day in Ontario.  What a sorry choice of characters to choose from.  We voted, but it was a matter of choosing the least obnoxious of the candidates.  Whoever wins, Ontario is in for a sorry 5 years.

Last Sunday Jennifer G. drove here from Cambridge, ON, bringing food, beer, gifts and books.  We spent a fun day sampling beer, snacking, and planning our epic drive to New Mexico in September.  She brought us two Steampunk books.  We checked on the dates for the upcoming convention in Detroit in July.  Sounds interesting!  She also brought us a home beer tasting kit, with four small sample glasses, beer tasting notes, and a checklist to fill out for each beer.  It will be another fun thing to do, possibly on the trip to NM, which will include several brewery stops and tastings.

On the battlements of Arundel Castle, from the approach to 

the Keep.  The gaggle of school children that kept us company 

aloft can be seen re-entering the castle proper.