A Real Spring Day!

We've had snowdrop flowers for a while, and the purple crocuses are out, but following a bitter winter has come a cold Spring.  My March gas bill tells it all: last March the average temp was +1 C; this year it was -5 C.  That is a pretty severe difference!  Anyway, we sat outside today for the first time, and roasted the first coffee of 2019.  Due to a breeze off the river, our temp only reached 55 F today; Detroit hit 61 F.  So sweaters were needed, but it still felt good.

Tomorrow I begin work on our 2018 taxes.  Next weekend will be the start of yard cleanup, and getting the lawn tractor up and running.  Exciting times.

 

 Fuji Instax photo of our largest evergreen, a white pine.

We planted it many years ago.

 Finepix A820 showing our back yard trees, still barren.

 The head roaster at Lone Mtn. Homestead.  The first roast of 2019.

 The first roast, complete!  Panama Boquete, ready to drink in a few short days.

 Our front yard.  Note the greenery beneath the main south window.

 Our snowdrops are still in full bloom.

 The purple crocuses are pretty recent, and looking especially pleased today.  

Deb has films showing this weekend in Germany and Belgium.  Should hear soon if anything won a prize.  And I am now one week into practicing my newest pieces for next year's concert.  Bach, Haydn, Schubert, and Bartok so far.  Maybe some Brahms or Debussy, if time permits.  It is difficult to learn a new program on only 2 hours a day of practicing, though once the pieces are moving along there is plenty of time.  Everything goes so slowly at first.  We'll see where I am in a month. 

Mapman Mike

Return of the Film Project

Several years ago I took up film photography again, and had a lot of fun with my many different classic cameras.  A recent late night visit to a Detroit gallery exhibiting enlargements of Polaroid shots got my interest up again.  I have not shot film in a long while.  In fact, two of my cameras still had film in them several years old.  I did finish up the 126 film, and sent it off.  Some results can be seen below.  The other film had been in the camera for too long, so I just trashed it.  I will reload the camera (an old fold out) and try again.  It appears that I have 10 cameras that shoot film, including 35 mm, 126, 120, 620, Polaroid 600, Fuji Instax wide, 127, and 110 for a very unique spy camera.  I now possess film for all of these cameras again, or should any day now.

 Some of my old film cameras.  L to R:  Thagee foldout (I now have a 2nd foldout), Zenith Sharpshooter, Rollei 35 mm (the best camera ever made!), Polaroid 600, Instamatic 500, Minolta Spy Camera, Herco Imperial (now defunct--Deb made it into a steampunk purse!), Baby Brownie Special (never used yet by me--film on the way!).  Not shown is my Instamatic SLR, with extra lenses, and my Fuji Instax Wide.  Updated photo to come.  

The central camera in the above photo is the Instamatic 500, taking 126 cartridges.  It was made in Germany and is a superb camera, costing a lot of dollars back in the day.  It was the top of the line Instamatic until the SLR came along.  Sadly, 126 film is no longer made, but I still have 3 rolls in the fridge.  Here are some recent images from the film that had been in that camera for about 3 years.

 Downtown Detroit, Christmas 2015.

 Emma Lee, Lynne, Steve, and Deb.  Lake Nipissing, summer 2016.  That's what I always loved about shooting film; Christmas and summer pics on the same roll!).

 The neighbourhood coffee roaster.  Fall 2016.

 Detroit River, a few days ago, across from our house in Amherstburg.  Yes, that is ice floating down the river.

Expect to see some more film photography results here soon.  We had a day excursion planned for today along the north shore of Lake Erie.  However, it was too cold, and the cloudy sky was without any contrast.  We'll try again next week.  Meanwhile, a trip to Detroit is planned soon, once my film order arrives at our mailbox there.

And now we turn to another famous artist, this one a painter of some repute.  Detroit owns 4 paintings by Vincent Van Gogh; two are landscapes, one is a self portrait, and one a portrait.

 The Diggers, 1889, Van Gogh.  Detroit Institute of Arts.

65 cm x 50 cm. 

Sometimes it takes me awhile to warm to paintings by this artist; at other times, I can instantly appreciate them.  For some reason I have always liked this painting.  Not loved it, but liked it.  The diggers appear to be removing a stump, a job that requires better tools than these poor labourers seem to be using.  There seem to be very few trees remaining in this otherwise barren landscape; one wonders if the standing trees are also fated to be removed, to make way for more field.  One worker is faceless, the other has his face hidden from us.  Van Gogh seems more interested in their work than in them.  It is a strange painting by a strange man, but the composition seems to work.

Detail of above.  The men appear to have been squeezed out of a blue tube of paint.

 The sky and background are executed in a very minimalist style, indicating the artist's interest in the foreground, not the distant lands.

 Amazing foreground detail.  To me, this would make a splendid full sized painting! 

Mapman Mike

Books Read in March

I managed to get through 8 books from my list in March, as well as one from outside the list.  First the list, which are from authors related to the Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery Series.  

First up was an Ace Double, with a short novel each by Robert Silverberg (alias Calvin M. Knox), and a shorter one on the flip side by Milton Lesser.  The Silverberg effort, called The Plot Against Earth, is far superior to Lesser's Recruit For Andromeda.  I am never happier than when I have an unread Ace Double in my hands, and I am just setting out.  I read (and forgot) many of these books as a young teen.  With the best authors, these shorter novels took on epic proportions.  After lasting only 138 pages it seems as if we have read something much longer, as so much happens in the limited time and words available.  Many times the authors would get caught up in the tale, and had to suddenly end it when they reached their word limit!

Next came Michael Moorcock's 2nd novel in his action packed Mars series, paying homage to Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Moorcock can write a pulp adventure with the best of them, and I am looking forward soon to the third and final book in this exciting series, which again takes me back to my boyhood.  I still have a complete collection of Burroughs' stories.  When heroes were heroes.

Ward Moore's Caduceus Wild was up next, a strange but fun tale of a post apocalyptic Earth ruled ruthlessly by doctors.  They were given a lot of power after the holocaust, treating radiation sickness, and having to decide who can be allowed to get pregnant and who cannot.  We follow along with the underground movement as three people try to escape the USA for England, where things are saner try to imagine that)!  Originally penned in 1959, it was given a dusting off and update  by Robert Bradford, then republished in 1979.  My copy contains several original b & w images from the 1959 printing.  I love Ward Moore, a writer I never heard of before this project.

Next came The Burning World, by J. G. Ballard.  I have now read--and loved--three works by this author, and look forward to many more.  Crystal World and Drowning World make up the other two stories, and though they are not related, they do make a fascinating trilogy of life after planet-wide disasters occur.  My favourite is still Crystal World, but the other two are really quite incredible journeys, too.

Barry Maltzberg was up next.  Though I did not like the Avon/Equinox selection very much, I did really get in to The Empty People, the 2nd book by him I have now read.  From 1969, it reminded me a little bit of Iain Banks' The Bridge, though this one deals not with an injured brain, but with a very sick one caused by cancer, and perhaps another one just melting down.  Pretty fascinating writing.

Next came a book unrelated to my series work.  We have both been reading the works of Pat McIntosh.  She writes mysteries set in Glasgow in the 1400s, and have proved quite readable and fascinating.  I first came across her in the 1970s, when she wrote some incredible fantasy tales about a female assassin guild.  This one was called A Pig of Cold Poison, and was a very good entry in the series.

Then it was time for my final Avon/Equinox book, Black Easter by James Blish.  I have been waiting to get back into Blish since this series began, and his novel was the only one from the set that I owned before I began to collect the series.  It is the best tale of black magic ever penned, and part of a 4-book series called After Such Knowledge.  Unforgettable.

I've been reading Robert Silverberg short stories from the 1950s, reissued with introductions by Silverberg.  The recollections of his early pulp publishing days are almost as interesting as his stories.  He often wrote under different names, sometimes contributing up to 70% content for some of the monthly SF magazines.  He is not even sure how many stories he wrote, but it was a lot.  So far I have read 5 books of short stories from the 1950s, with one to go.  The one I read in March is called In The Beginning: Tales From the Pulp Era.  Pure fun!

Lastly came a long book by Norman Spinrad, which took me 8 days to get through.  Called Pictures at 11, it is the story of a small group of eco-terrorists taking control of a small, independent TV station in LA.  Pretty brilliant writing, by a man who knows show biz.  Not only that, but Spinrad comes up with a brilliant idea to save the planet, one that I do not believe has ever been tried on a large scale.  It might work, too. 

Next time, some art.  Specifically, one of 5 Van Goghs the DIA owns.  It will be a landscape, naturally.

Mapman Mike

Catching Up

The two weeks before a recital are, for me, not just busy ones, but intense ones.  There is usually so much to finish up.  Pieces that have sounded pretty good for the past few weeks now require tightening up.  Difficult passages require extra practice, and easier ones that have been all but ignored lately need to be brought back into the game.  I am fortunate in still being able to find an audience.  Often that turns out to be the most difficult part of the process.  I have no students interested, other than an adult one.  Randy came to the recital last night, and Jenn, from Cambridge, a three hour drive!  My adult student came, and brought her 14 year old son, at his request.  And our two young next door neighbours came; I used to teach Amanda trombone ten years ago, and we seem to be still on good terms.  Her boyfriend, Brandon, also came.

So now that the pieces have been played for a small audience, it could be the chance to continue working on the pieces, or put them away and take out a new program.  If it was easier to get an audience, I would happily continue to work on the pieces for a few more weeks in order to perform them again.  But after nearly one year, I think the time has come to say goodbye to Bach, Haydn, Schumann, and Louie,and move on to my next program:  Bach, Haydn, Schubert, and Bartok. 

Because of my January eye surgery, my performance was delayed by nearly two months.  Those two extra months were good to have, but not entirely necessary.  So perhaps next year, if I am ready to perform sooner, I will hang on to those pieces longer and try to perform them a few times, instead of just once.  

Today I find myself with time on my hands.  It is pouring rain and quite cold outside, so it will be a somewhat carefree day, with some gaming later in the afternoon.  I hope to get back to Syberia 3, also, a PC game I started a while back but had to abandon because of the approaching recital.

Now, it is time for our visit to another work of art from the DIA.

 The Talking Oak, William Maw Egley, 1857.  British.

76 cm x 63 cm.  Detroit Institute of Arts.

Egley took as his inspiration the poem of the same name by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.  You can read it here.  Talking trees are important to several mythologies, and I have even used one in my short story about a young vegetarian vampire.  This maiden is 15, and newly awakened to love.  She spills her secrets to the tree, who in turn talks to her lover.  A somewhat strange love triangle is thus formed.  This is one of the more unusual paintings in the collection, and is usually on display.  It's a difficult work to walk past without stopping for a moment or two.

Detail of above.  Note the ferns around the tree, which are mentioned in the poem.

 Egley's version of Tennyson's tete-a-trunk.

 Detail of the landscape. 

It is nearly time for my end of the month review of the books I have been reading.  I am currently finishing up an epic novel by Spinrad, which has taken a week so far.  Check back soon.

Mapman Mike

The Moon Goddess: Poussin's Selene and Endymion

We are getting close to the March full moon--it's only one day away.  Are you prepared?  It's also the first full moon of Spring, as it occurs just after Equinox.  The Church miscalculated.  Easter should be this Sunday, but instead it is late next month, after the next full moon.  It's difficult to get good help these days, even at the Vatican.

I've got my Polaroid 600 camera loaded with black and white film, and I've already taken one photo, which turned out better than most of the enlarged ones we saw at the gallery in Detroit last Thursday.

 My first Polaroid shot in many years!  A tree in our front yard.  

The interior rollers appear to be a bit dirty, but I can't clean them until the film is done.  I think it adds some ageing to the photo.    

Back to the moon goddess.  Who doesn't love a lovely moon goddess?  Poor Endymion, who fell madly in love with one, immortalized in Poussin's wonderful painting at the DIA.  This is one of a dozen or so paintings in the museum that it is worth crossing half the world to come and see in person.  I think it is the artist's finest picture, positively dripping with mythological madness.

Selene and Endymion, Nicolas Poussin, 1630.

122 cm x 169 cm.  Detroit Institute of Arts. 

According to the myth, if you fell in love with the moon goddess, you had to kiss her goodbye each morning.  The sun is just rising, with the curtain of night being flung back.  I'm not certain how the shepherd hopes to keep his sheep safe during the daytime, if he has been cavorting all night.  Interesting in this picture is how large the figures are, dominating the landscape.  This is one of the most poetic pictures I have ever seen, and I love that chariot racing across the sky.

The curtain of night is being thrown back, as Apollo 

shoots across the sky in his sun chariot. 

 Parting is such sweet sorrow.  Hopefully that dog will keep an eye

on the sheep, while Endymion catches a few Zzzs.

 No doubt about it--that moon goddess is a looker!  Love all the red hair.  Who knew that the moon goddess was a redhead?

Selene and Endymion, up close.

 Mr. Sunshine, coming to spoil everything. 

I finally have a concert date, as well as a tuned piano.  The concert will be Friday, March 29th.  I will run through my program for Philip Adamson on Thursday morning, prior to visiting Detroit.  I have switched my piano practice times to later in the day, to help adjust to my 7 pm performance time.  Every little bit helps.  So far four people have replied positively.

I finished reading the 27th and final book in my Avon/Equinox Rediscovery Series!  The final work was Black Easter by James Blish, a dark masterpiece of conjuring that has to be read to be believed!  It is part 3 of a 4-book series, so now I will have to back up and read the first two.  Currently reading a book of short stories from the 1950s by Robert Silverberg.  Pulp SF heaven!

Mapman Mike

Mahler 5th Symphony

Thursday was Detroit day.  It was mild, windy, and raining much of the time.  There was a hockey game, so all the good drinking spots were filled with lads and lasses in red shirts.  Jenn was with us for the day.  We started out at Lucky Coffee, then moved on to the Dearborn mailbox.  I had two books waiting for me there.  Then it was off to downtown, where we saw all the red shirts and full pubs.  We parked (free!) on the street beside Orchestra Hall, then walked to 8 Degrees Plato.  This is a store that sells craft beer and local wine.  They also have a dozen taps, and sell tasters for $1 or 2$.  Jenn and I had four tasters, and Deb had a taste of one of mine.  The beer is always changing and always excellent and fresh.

After this we went to Whole Foods and got ourselves food from the hot take-away bar, then ate it at a booth table just outside the cashiers.  By then it was time to get across the street to Orchestra Hall.  Thursday night concerts are the best--the balcony is half empty!  Seats are only $15, and the sound is as good as the conductor hears it down on the podium.  The program opened with the Concert Mistress performing Mozart's 5th Violin Concerto.  It is an odd piece, and quite lengthy.  Her tone on the loaned Stradivarius was beyond the beyond, and the performance was spell binding!

After intermission came one of the greatest symphonies ever written (there are fewer of these than one might think).  The 5th Symphony of Mahler dates from 1911.  While the entire program featured Austrian music, and only about 135 years separates the two works, a greater contrast in style and sound could never be found in classical music.  Especially music using the same basic rules.  The Mozart half of the concert featured about 35 musicians, whereas the Mahler half featured more like 100.  7 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, and a tuba, along with nearly every percussion instrument made certain that Mahler had your attention.  When he uses the full orchestra, which is infrequent, it feels as if the top of your skull is lifting off.  When he uses smaller sections to get certain sound effects and affects, the magic is purer than it is anywhere else, except perhaps in Mozart.

So it was a truly fantastic concert, and $15 can not be better spent anywhere.  It was one of those events that most people would never think could happen in Detroit, and yet it happens all the time.  I wish we lived there, and could take more advantage of what is offered.

As the concert began at 7:30, we were back at our vehicle by 9:45.  We had one stop remaining.  As Detroit's Own hosted a one-night photography show Thursday from 7 pm till midnight. It was at the Tangent Gallery, down a side street in a suitably creepy old industrial area.  The exhibit, which had a few good things but mostly garbage, was a brilliant idea.  Polaroid snapshots were blown up to about 10X their size, complete with frame.  They were all shots of Detroit, and a few were pretty good.  Woodward Camera, the sponsor, was there selling cameras and film.  I picked up a package of b&w film, and my trusty Polaroid 600 camera is loaded and ready to go!  If I manage to get a lucky and decent enough shot, I can get it enlarged to poster size.  How cool is that?

 Deb took this cool night shot from just outside the gallery!

We stayed long enough to view the exhibit, buy my film, then headed back home.  Two days later and I still have all kinds of Mahler themes running through my brain.  Not a bad thing at all!

Mapman Mike

 

March Break

This is the time of year that I think of the desert.  For nearly 30 years we would go to NM during the school break at this time, and wander happily in the desert for a week.  I still have unfinished business there, but did not feel like travelling this year.  Hopefully next year.  Our summer and autumn visits to NM are into the high country, but in early spring we stay down where it's warm.

Even though there are no lessons here this week, I have four students coming tomorrow.  A dedicated bunch.  Today I had my piano tuned.  I wish I could have it tuned every week--it is such an amazing instrument to play when it is in tune.  Since we turn the heat down at night, and then back up in the morning, it plays havoc with the strings.  I was supposed to have a lesson with Philip Adamson today.  I had to cancel, due to a night of insomnia.  I would have wasted my time and his if I had tried to play for him today--it would have just been mechanical, at best.

Speaking of Philip, he played his fifth in a series of Beethoven piano sonata programs last Friday evening.  He played the three sonatas that are in the key of D.  It included two of my favourites: The Tempest, which I have played at two different stages of my life, and The Pastorale, which I would love to study.  He performed with the music, which isn't surprising since he gave his last program on October 15th of last year.  That's fast work!  His performances are always worth attending; doubly so when he plays Beethoven, for which he has an uncanny affinity.  Deb and I attended with Randy G. and Jenn G.

Of course skies were perfectly clear the night of his recital, so I had to give up the one and only clear moonless night we have had.  However, it was clear last night, and I headed out to Hallam to do battle with a 5-day old moon, which rides annoyingly high in the March sky.  Still, it was wonderful to be back out amongst the stars!  I was home (nearly frozen) by midnight.  Usually I can fall asleep immediately after such a night.  Not last night.  The brain would not turn off.  Thus no piano lesson today.

On Thursday Jenn, Deb, and I are heading to Detroit to hear the orchestra perform the Mahler 5th Symphony.  The concert mistress will also perform a Mozart violin concerto.  Before that we will sample some beer at Hopcat, and get to the mailbox.  Dinner somewhere, too.  Then, after the concert, depending on how we all feel, there is a one-night photo exhibit we would like to attend, a little deeper into the city.  So I will likely blog again on Friday, time permitting.  No art work today, but if I do get time tomorrow I will post one.

Mapman Mike