A Visit To Sudbury

I had to drive almost 470 miles from home to escape the intense heat and dryness of our area.  But it was worth it.  Cool days, with heavy rain on one of them, made the trip more than worthwhile.  Into the bargain I also got to see my family.  Five of them live in a large apartment building which Dad owns.  He and my mother live upstairs, brother Steve and sister-in-law Lynne live on the main floor, and my niece Emma-Lee has her own room in the finished basement.  Everyone seemed well and happy, especially brother Steve, who just retired from his stressful job.  I managed two hilly city walks on my visit, a welcome change from the treadmill.  I also enjoyed a very welcome sauna (160 F!) and a swim in the family salt water pool.  Life is good in the north (in the summer, anyway).

I also got to perform my latest piano program for my parents, thanks to the generosity and friendship of Marion, a former mezzo soprano and voice teacher.  Her late husband John was my piano teacher at Cambrian College, getting me from Gr 5 piano through the professional level in three years!  I played on John's practice grand piano, as a guest of Marion.

 

PIANO RECITAL

July, 2022

Michael Ethier

Prelude #1 in C major (BWV933)

Prelude #2 in c minor (BWV934)......................................J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

 

Six Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 34

Theme (Adagio)

I – (D major)

II – Allegro, ma non troppo (Bb major)

III – Allegretto (G major)

IV – Tempo di menuetto (Eb major)

V – Marcia funebre (c minor)

VI – Allegretto (F major)

Coda (Allegretto. Adagio moto)....................L. van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Song Without Words (Andante), Op.102 No. 4....................................F. Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Impromptu, Op. 90 No. 2..........................................F. Schubert (1797-1828)

Nocturne, Op. 37 No.1..............................................F. Chopin (1810-1849)

Bethena, A Concert Waltz.............................................S. Joplin (1868 - 1917) 

The program is a demanding one for me, and it was played through with no intermission.  I did speak briefly between some of the pieces.  The program is now packed away, and new material has been started.  More later on the new pieces.

Some of the audience (my mom and dad) mingles with the guest performer after the concert. 

I have one movie to report.  Though it promised much, it didn't deliver very much at all.  House of Bamboo is from 1955, and is directed by Sam Fuller.  It was in colour, and in Cinemascope.  It was filmed entirely in Japan.  It could have been a real epic film.  But it wasn't.  The plot is a lackluster gangster film, and Robert Stack as the lead actor and hero leaves much to be desired.  Deb made a promising choice, but the film simply did not live up to its hype.  Deforest Kelly plays one of the gangsters.  Overall, very colourful and with some wonderful local photography, but pretty much a disappointment.

Now showing on Criterion. 

Tonight we finished up The Name of the Rose, an 8-part series on AMC.  While some of the episodes had some filler, overall the series was first rate and highly recommended.  I read the novel too long ago for a fair comparison, but I would like to think it is a definitive filmed version.  I sincerely hope other Eco novels will receive similar treatment in the near future.  The final episode features the burning of the library and monastery, as well as a number of deaths.

I will finish up today's blog with a quick look at a painting from the DIA.  American Impressionism features a number of works equal or superior to many French ones.  Detroit has a very good sample of French Impressionism, and a fabulous group of American paintings influenced by that movement.  On The Canal, 1916 could pass as a Van Gogh, and a very good one at that.  I have a healthy interest in the American canal era, which was extensive but short lived.  By the time the canals were fully constructed and operational, railroads were already beginning to supplant them.  Major flooding eventually destroyed the entire system.

We have visited many canal sites in Ohio and Indiana (a canal went from Toledo to Fort Wayne, IN, and from Toledo to Cincinnati).  It's fun comparing photos of the era (early 1900s) to the same locations today.  There are big differences.  Especially in the towns and cities, canals were in industrial areas, with no trees, grass, or any sign of a healthy ecosystem.  Viewing these overgrown sites today can give a very misleading idea of what the era was really like (a bit like Hell).  While Robert Spencer's painting does feature a large tree, he chose to paint it without leaves, likely in early Spring.  Though this particular image is from Pennsylvania, it is easily recognized as a classic canal side image of the day, from just about anywhere in the Midwest.  I love the slightly mismatched windows in the narrow central house.  The painting is getting me interested again in visiting some more sites!

On The Canal, New Hope, 1916.  Oil on canvas.  Robert Spencer, American, 1879-1931.  Unframed 30" x 36".  Did Van Gogh visit America?  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.

Two details from Spencer's fine painting. 

Mapman Mike

 
 

 

 

Recent Films

We're into our 4th day of temps in the 90s, with at least two more to go.  We are still working on railing segment #2, but only in the mornings, when it's shaded and less hot.  It's getting done, just real slow.  We continue to lead a mostly indoor life.  I was supposed to perform my piano pieces for a few friends this morning, but one of them is isolating due to Covid exposure.  The same thing happened last Monday with another friend.  I did perform them for Paula at least, and things went well.  I played on her grand piano, and it was a really fun experience!

A lot of films to report on.  I will begin with the most recent, which we were two of my choices.  Last seen was a 1949 western called Lust For Gold, starring Ida Lupino and Glenn Ford, along with a host of recognizable B character actors.  Filmed in the fierce and extremely rugged Superstition Mountains near Phoenix, it features some incredible stunt work near the end.  It concerns the Lost Dutchman Mine, said to be hidden up there somewhere, still.  Maybe I'll get lucky on my next trip to Arizona.  The mine is also said to be somewhere in western New Mexico, so we may stumble across it yet.  The movie actually encourages viewers to go in search of it!

Leaving Criterion July 31st. 

Before that came Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven In Hell.  From 1974, it is the 6th and final film in the series.  It's kind of like a samurai James Bond picture, on skis. The music is ridiculous. As usual there is some impressive gushing of blood, as well as newly headless bodies.  I remember many of the scenes, which were taken directly from the manga.  We also watched three short features about the film, created by Criterion.

Now showing on Criterion. 

Before that came Deb's choice.  It was a documentary about the Black director Melvin Van Peebles, called How To Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (and Enjoy It), from 2005.  It's a fantastic doc about a man who truly made himself, and had a mouthful to say about the Black experience in American in the 60s and 70s.  Highly recommended!

Leaving Criterion July 31st. 

For some reason Deb forgot to pick a regular film, so we move on to my two weekly choices for this past week.   From 2006 came Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly, and animated version of a Philip K Dick novel.  It is a very odd film, a futuristic film noir on the same wavelength as a favourite British TV series called In Deep that I used to enjoy watching.  A futuristic undercover cop gets himself hooked on the drug he is trying to prevent infiltrating the public.  Parts of this film could only be done as animation, such as the cloaking devices used to keep identities of the police secret.  A great film, somehow missed by us over the years.

Showing on Criterion until July 31st. 

Finally, seen a while ago, came another two shorts a feature by French comic director/actor Pierre Etaix.  The shorts were The Anniversary, the Oscar winner for 1962 in that category, and Rupture, from 1961.  In the first one a man tries to get home to his wife in time for his special dinner with her, but Paris rush hour traffic has other plans for him.  In the 2nd one, a man tries to write back to his girlfriend who has just broken off with him, but his writing utensils do not cooperate.  Both are very funny.  The feature is called The Land of Milk and Honey, from 1971.  there are no actors or staged scenes.  Instead, Etaix went into the field to shoot an amateur singing event, and lets the contestants and others speak for themselves.  The feature caused a scandal in France when it was released (for ten days only before being yanked), and virtually ended the director's film career.  Seen as a devastating attack on French people at the time, it's a mostly harmless and sometimes very funny and satirical look at that society.  With people pretty much speaking and demonstrating their shortcomings all on their own, Etaix has created a snapshot of a certain time and certain people, demonstrating to us nothing that people of any country would demonstrate.  It is not French people; it is people everywhere that he satirizes.  He just happened to be working in France.  Definitely worth seeing, as it has been restored, and was out of circulation for decades.

Now showing on Criterion. 

We are now 6 episodes into Name of the Rose,and we have watched the first part of the newer The Prisoner series.  And in Wondrium news we are viewing two lecture courses:  Archaelogy of North America (24 parts), and The Theory of Everything (also 24 parts).  Some great viewing around these days!

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 

Garage Foundation Update

 We finally found a contractor to tackle our little foundation job!  With thanks to Iannucci Custom Homes, repairs are well underway, and our savings account is considerably depleted.  We sent out an e-mail Wednesday evening.  Sometime Thursday Rob stopped by to have a look.  He said it would be no problem.  He is currently building foundations for two new homes, but had a break while awaiting materials for those projects.  At first he said he would start next Wednesday.  But by Thursday night he had changed his mind, and he was on the job with his crew at 7:30 am Friday morning.  First a trench was dug, exposing the crumbling foundation.

Two views of the old foundation, seen crumbling.  Underneath the garage floor it is hollow! 

Next it was time to demolish the old foundation, which took a few hours of hard labour.  Thankfully they were in the shade during this phase, as it was a warm and very sunny day.

Two of the three-man crew work to demolish the old foundation.  It is still shady at this point.

They use styrofoam pre-made forms.  Once fitted into place, they pour cement into it.  Still shady!

The finished product, as the cement sets.  All done in one day.  They came Saturday morning to remove the support boards. 

Today we are awaiting the digger to fill in the trench.  Next comes the concrete pavement for a large square part of the driveway.  This was supposed to have been done along with the new stairs, but once that contractor had dug down to the dirt, we saw the foundation problem, and he was unable to proceed.  So far we are out $14,000.00, with the driveway yet to finish.  That doesn't count our new eaves troughs, so add in another 3 grand.  But at least our drainage problem should finally be solved!  Many thanks to Iannucci Custom Homes!

Mapman Mike

 
 

 

Film Festival Time

We are running a bit behind n our viewing schedule, as we tackle several mini-series outside our normal weekly movie watching.  A normal week will see us watch 4 films.  But at the end of each month, a 3-film film festival gets thrown into the works, in addition to the regular schedule.  We are currently watching the June film festival offerings, chosen by yours truly.  I selected six short documentary films from Senegal, by director Paulin Soumanou Vieyra.  They begin with the 1955 short called Africa on the Seine, which takes us to Paris to see how blacks are faring at that time.  Next came the 1961 short called A Nation Is Born, detailing the history of Senegal.  Mol is from 1966, and is in colour.  A fisherman from a small village needs to purchase a motor, so he can go out further to find a richer catch of fish. The film details his efforts to find, fund, and transport his motor back to his home village from Dakar.  Birago Diop, Conteur, is a 1982 film about a Senegalese writer and poet, one who still influences the country's schools and thinkers today.  From 1981 comes his film about Ousmane Sembene's film Creddo.  The documentary is called Behind The Scenes: The Making of Creddo, and includes interviews with Sembene, his wife, his cameraman, and his editor, as well as many scenes of filming.  The hardships of African filmmakers are highlighted, including the 4 week wait for the rushes to be sent to Paris and returned to Dakar.  Eye opening stuff!  Lastly we watched Iba N'Diaye, about the Senegalese painter, a film from 1982.  The director died in 1987.  The films we saw give a glimpse into things African from an African perspective, and there is no better way to gain insight into that continent.

Before the above festival, I suffered through a 2nd viewing of Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth.  My views have not changed much; it is still one of the most sadistic films I have ever seen.  Though the fantasy elements are off the scale for their incredible effects and atmospheric renderings, the film is ruined for me by the violence.  Many viewers eem able to overlook this aspect of the film and move on.  I cannot.  Welcome back to modern films.  One of the main characters, who is the reason the other characters end up together in the film, is a fascist captain of the Spanish army, in 1944.  He is there to fight and eliminate the rebels.  Fine, whatever.  But del Toro goes way overboard with the character, making him a masochistic and ultra sadistic bully.  His portrayal and way over the top actions basically ruin the film for me.  No matter what eventually happens to him, he cannot ever be made to pay for what he has done (including shooting a doctor in the back and killing him, teasing and torturing a captured rebel, a stutterer, in a very long and extremely painful sequence, and shooting to death a little girl, another main character of the film).  Del Toro was a big fan of Dickens, and it shows, but now severely updated.  This film is not really entertainment, except perhaps for an ultra sadistic viewer.  But it is a reminder (if anyone actually needs one) of how cruel some people can be.  And if you really believe that this film has a happy ending, then go back to watching the Disney Channel.

Now showing on AMC. 

 

Pierre Etaix is a French director, kind of in the same category as Jacques Tati, a favourite of ours.  We watched 4 short comic films by Etaix, under the umbrella title of As Long As You've Got Your Health, from 1966, which was one of the shorts.  In it a stressed out doctor tries to deal with his stressed out patients.  The other three are Insommnia, about a man unable to sleep who picks up a bedside vampire novel and reads it; Cinema, about trying to find a good seat in a crowded theatre; and In The Country, about a picnicking couple, a farmer trying to put up fencing, and a hunter, all interacting in a hilarious way.  We are looking into more by this director.

 

Scene from Cinema, one of the shorts by Etaix showing on Criterion. 

 

In local news, the heat and humidity are back.  At least we had a few days of relief, though the sun is merciless this time of year, even on "cooler" days.  We are once again making progress on installing a second railing segment on the new stairs.  There are problems trying to match it to the first segment, but those are being overcome with new tools and lots of patience.  Concrete hole drilling should resume tomorrow afternoon.

I did a run through of my piano pieces when Amanda visited last weekend.  Next Monday I will perform them for three friends, and possibly for Jenn if I see her this weekend.  Even though we are now entering our 7th wave of Co-vid, this will be the first time we have had three people inside our house since before the pandemic.  The next day Deb and I will go to Windsor to receive our 2nd booster shot.  After that I will think about making my way north to Sudbury, possibly later that same week.  My brother Stephan retired from his job last week, a service manager at the local Ford dealer.  He should be in a good mood!  Meanwhile, tomorrow I report to my ear specialist for another hearing test and check up.  My hearing has fully returned again, so I anticipate a quick visit.  Dr. Ling is also a pianist, and we usually chat more about music than about ears.  And Thursday Deb returns to see her oral surgeon, probably for stitches removal and a final check on how things are healing.

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

Catching Up Again

 We continue to try and put up railings on our new outside staircase.  We have half of the job done; the other half requires some ingenuity.  Deb thinks she is up for the challenge.  More later.  Still nothing to report on our garage foundation.  There it sits, in all its unfixed glory.  The car sits outside, which won't work well in the winter.  Speaking of winter, I finally had my winter dream, which usually occurs on or about Summer Solstice.  In this dream, there was no snow on the ground.  But everyone was talking about the big winter storm that was immanent, and would soon bury us in the white stuff.  So there; that part of my life is done with.  I remember worrying about how to get the car into the garage before the storm.

In weather news, we have had no measurable rain here at the homestead since June 14th.  The grass is brown and the earth is cracked.  We've had two close calls, but no rain here.  Next chance is tomorrow night, when storms are predicted.  We need a good inch of rain at least.  In June we had five days at over 90 F, including a 99, 97, and 94 F.

In music news, my newest piano program is up and mostly ready for performance.  I've played the Bach and Beethoven for my piano friend Paula, and they went really well on her grand piano!  I was happy, and she was amazed.  So far so good.  Now I need to play for a few people, and get on with a newer program. We continue to listen to the complete works of Beethoven here at home, as well as our entire classical record collection, over a thousand records.  We need to knock back an opera soon.  We just finished our Bach records, as well as all the Schubert string quartets.  Next up are the Schubert symphonies.  As for Beethoven, we are in the opus 70s right now, heading well into his middle period compositions.

In gaming news, I am playing Myst 5, which will complete the 8-game series, 5 Mysts and 3 Urus, most of them being played for my 2nd time.  I continue to play Botanicula, but am currently stuck trying to rescue a 3rd tyke, with two already safe with mama.  We are ready for our 2nd game of Middle Earth The Wizards card game in our new series.  And tonight we played Scrabble for the first time.  It's supposed to be a game that's good for old folks to play.  We didn't keep score, but tried to learn the rules.  We should be ready next time for the real thing.

Turning to film, there are two to report.  I chose Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, a 2021 Japanese film by the director of Happy Hour, the 5+ hour film we watched last month.  This one featured 3 short tales, the last two being quite good, and the first just so-so.  Hamaguchi is a director to keep an eye on; we still haven't seen Drive My Car.  In the 2nd story, which is filled with irony and several risque moments, a married female adult student is enlisted by her young boyfriend to try and seduce a professor and get him fired.  She heads to his office prepared for the job, but the two of them of them hit it off rather well.  The ending is a surprise, and tragic and funny at the same time.  In the 3rd film, two women meet on the street, each thinking they know one another from high school, and strike up a conversation.  One invites the other to her house for tea, where they come to realize that they don't really know each other at all, both succumbing to mistaken identity.  Funny and touching, this is the best of the three.

Now showing on Criterion. 

My going away choice was 'Round Midnight, from 1986 and directed by Bertrand Tavernier.  From the description on Criterion....."’ROUND MIDNIGHT is a love letter from director Bertrand Tavernier to the heyday of bebop and the Black American musicians who found refuge in the smoky underground jazz clubs of 1950s Paris. In a sui generis, Oscar-nominated fusion of performer and character, legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon plays Dale Turner, a brilliant New York jazz veteran whose music aches with beauty but whose personal life is ravaged by addiction. Searching for a fresh start in Paris, Turner strikes up an unlikely friendship with a struggling single father and ardent jazz fan (François Cluzet) who finds his life transformed as he attempts to help the self-destructive musician. Herbie Hancock’s evocative, Oscar-winning score sets the mood for this definitive jazz film, a bittersweet opus that glows with lived-in, soulful authenticity."

It's a very engaging film, with great acting and fabulous blues music.  Highly recommended.

Leaving Criterion July 31st. 

In series news, we finished up Amazon's amazing 16 part one called Undone.  A very fun and original animated series to watch, and perhaps rewatch.  And tonight we saw part 5 of 6 of Dark Winds.  The final part comes out next weekend.  And we are halfway through Name of the Rose, an 8-part series.  A newer version of The Prisoner is on deck.

In writing news, my children's vampire novel has been translated into French, and is ready to send off to Paris this week!  Fingers crossed on that one.  Thank you, Celeste!!

I'll finish up with a summer time painting from the DIA.  Western Landscape by John Mix Stanley shows me where I would love to be right now.  And if not floating down a river or crossing a lake, then at least I'd like to be sitting where the painter is, and just watching what happens.

Western Landscape, 1847-1849.  John Mix Stanley, American, 1814-1872.  Oil on canvas, mounted on Masonite.  18 1/2" x 30".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts. 

                                                                        Detail of above.

Detail of above. 

Mapman Mike

 

 

June Reading Summary

 Besides the usual 8 books by my remaining Avon/Equinox series writers, I managed to read 4 others, and parts of four others.  I am taking my time reading 4 books over many months, including one on American paintings in the DIA, the Beethoven biography by Swafford, a book of folk tales, and a coffee table book on great train journeys of the world.  Those will be wrapped up eventually, but I am in no hurry.

My monthly reading always begins with Robert Silverberg.  This time it was the epic Lord of Darkness, from 1983.  At 612 pages, it is one of the longest novels by the 24 Avon/Equinox authors I have come across.  Silverberg divides the story into 5 books.  Essentially it is the true story of Andrew Battell, from Leigh in England.  The action takes places in the latter part of the 16th C and the early part of the 17th.  Silverberg is a renowned history writer, where I first encountered him as a youth.  While the historical details of Battell's surrealistic life are scant, Silverberg fills in the narrative skillfully and with great attention to historical detail.  If proof is needed that truth is stranger than fiction, look no farther than the life led by Battell.  Stranded in South America on his first voyage abroad, he is enslaved by the Portuguese and eventually brought to Angola, in Africa.  Here the adventures truly begin, and never stop.  While Silverberg invents details such as a family for Battell, for the most part his story jives with the facts (available on the internet in full).  This is a tale of darkness and suffering, and a harrowing account of  Portuguese rule at the time.  If this were pure fiction, no reader would believe it remotely possible that such events ever happened.  And even if only 1/3 of the things told in this tale did actually happen, and the rest never did, then Battell still would have led the most remarkable life one could ever imagine.  Highly recommended.

For Love of Evil is the 6th book in Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series.  Published in 1988, this is one of the best of the series, if not the best so far.  What I do like about the series is how Anthony relates some of the same events from different perspectives.  Book Six concerns the doings of Satan, and while he has been featured in each of the first five books, he finally gets to tell his own story here, and we see his side of things for the first time.  The action starts in the late 12th C, and is quite brutal.  The opening scene of a frightened village girl entering the hut of a sorcerer is one of the best openings to a fantasy novel I have ever read.  At some point I asked myself where this medieval tale, good as it was, was going.  Knowing Anthony's writing as well as I do, I was confident it would all tie in.  And it does, quite beautifully.  We meet many old characters, and a few newer ones.  I seriously don't know how Anthony can keep track of all this without continually rereading the earlier volumes.  He seems to write a book from many different series each year, so how he can keep them all straight in his mind is really something.  A winner!

The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus, Harrison's novel from 1999, is another very fun entry in the beloved series.  What is special about this one is that he is aging, and beginning to think that the insane and dangerous life he leads, with his beautiful and equally deadly wife, Angeline, is getting to be a bit much.  Retirement seems like the thing to do, as soon as he finishes up this adventure.  He does briefly join the circus as a magician, as he tries to find out who is committing a series of bank robberies on various planets.  The whole family gets in on this one, with their twin boys taking up much more of the slack than in previous adventures.  Only one more book in the series remains to be read.  Then I shall have to start them over.

I am hooked on Kenneth Bulmer's late 18th C early 19th C Fox series.  Number 4 is called Siege, and is a complete historical look at the great battle of Aden, Arabs and British against the ground forces and navy of Napoleon.  We get a first hand view of the action and intrigue from the perspective of Mr. Fox, an officer in the British navy.  He and his men happen to become embroiled in the great siege, though Bulmer follows all details of the events very closely to what actually happened.  A great read, as I continue to learn some obscure history from these authors.

Ironhead, a collection of stories by E C Tubb from the 1950s, was first published in 2018 for Kindle.  There are five stories, the best of which is "Iron Head", about a lowly man who looks after cattle.  40 pages later he is the top leader of the joint planets.  An amusing story with a great last line, this could have taken up a series of four or five huge books by lesser writers (I think of the endless prequels and sequels to Dune written by Herbert's kin).  No need, since someone like Tubb can say it all in a novelette!  "Memories Are Important"--What would happen if a person lost all access and connection to every one of his/her memories?  If they only lived in the moment, in the "now".  A fun but scary question, which is answered by Tubb in this engaging what-if story.  It also has a very unique answer to the "escape from the locked room" trope used by so many mystery story writers.  Two of the other three stories are also of high quality and fun to read.

Jack Williamson hits yet another home run with Terraforming Earth, a SF novel from 2001 that is written on a scale obviously influenced by Olaf Stapledon.  This is a truly great SF novel, one that should be read by all fans of the very best of the older stuff.  The action takes place on a moon base, and on Earth, but through many generations and centuries.  Divided into 5 sections, it was originally published that way.  Highly recommended, and easy to read.

Cover of the month, by Stephan Martiniere.

Michael Moorcock's The Warlord of the Air was originally written in 1971, but reworked for this 1993 edition, which contains 3 stories starring Oswald Bastable (a minor character from a story by E Nesbit).  In this story, he carried into the future, an alternate 1973 in which steam power and airships still reign supreme, and the world ha been without war for nearly a century.  However, there is a catch; colonialism is still going strong, and native inhabitants are still being subdued and ruled by Britain and the other colonial powers.  An interesting look at an alternate future, one that Bastable finds quite baffling.  A good story, and I am looking forward the other two.

The first segment of my reading month concluded with Barry Malzberg's The Cross of Fire, one of his finest novels.  From 1982 we watch as Harold Thwaite of Denmark is undergoing an administered hypnotic procedure, in which he is able to step into the shoes (sandals) of historic religious figures.  The year is 2219.  The problem with Harold is that he has a martyr complex, and when it is time to come out of his trances it becomes more and more difficult.  Eventually he refuses to come out, wishing to remain, be crucified, and to rise again a few days later.  Besides scenes of Jesus with the apostles, and Jesus with Mary Magdalene, and Jesus with Lazarus, we also have Harold as God, disputing and wrestling with Satan.  In addition there are scenes with Moses and Aaron, including the parting of the Red Sea, scenes with the suffering of Job, scenes of his being the Lubavitcher Rabbi (an old testament judge), and various conversations with his wife, Edna, back in real time.  The book is totally fascinating, and of course very sacrilegious.  It is often quite funny, as we get a future man's version of some of the great men of the Bible.  But as the book goes on, and it becomes more and more obvious that Harold is deluding himself into believing everything that happens to him, I begin to get reminded of present day fanatics.  Not so much the religious ones, but more like the ones who deny certain events every happened, such as the Sandy Hook massacre, or Trump's inability to come to terms with his election loss.  to him, the only way he could ever lose is if the other side cheated.  Reality holds no hope for such people, and Harold is similarly doomed.  This is one of Malzberg's finest books, and would pair nicely with a reading of Moorcock's Behold The Man, though they have very little in common.  Recommended.

I read four books off the shelf last month, though really only one came from a real shelf.  The rest came from my Kindle shelf, which is now thousands of books.  Tony Hillerman's Landscape is a work of non-fiction, pairing each of Tony's Navajo mystery novels with photographs of where the action takes place.  The book was begun during Tony's later years, but he died long before it was completed.  His daughter Anne took up the torch.  She writes a long intro, as well as gives a description of each of the novels, showing the original cover.  Tony provides his thoughts on each volume.  The photos are stunning, and the book is a must for fans of Hillerman.  Since his death, Anne is now writing similar mysteries, but focusing more on a female Navajo officer, one who played smaller roles in her father's books.

Next, I had the great pleasure of reading Lord Dunsany's 2nd book of tales featuring Jorkens, called Jorkens Remembers Africa, from 1934.  These 21 tales are among the most imaginative and humorous tales of fiction and fantasy ever written, and are often ignored by Dunsany fans.  I never had access to them before, but I now have all of Dunsany's writing on Kindle, thanks to Delphi publishing.  While all the stories are fun, particularly notable are the following: The Lost Romance; The Escape From The Valley; Ozymandias (the best!!!); In The Garden of Memories.  A real treasure chest of short tales of the imagination of a genius.

 

The cover to my Kindle version of stories, lasting 300 pages.  

The unicorn story is one of the best! 

Next came the first novel by Anna Katherine Green, a mystery writer who inspired Doyle and many others, including Agatha Christie.  The Leavenworth Case is from 1878, and while not a truly great detective novel, it was one of the earliest published by a woman.  Though American and set in New York and upstate, it is a thoroughly Victorian novel.  As soon as the reader realizes that neither of two beautiful women, cousins, could possibly have been the murderer, the rest is academic.  Even though all evidence points to one of the women especially, it just was not fitting nor acceptable for a woman to commit such a crime.  Besides the original murder that gets the whole case going, there is only one other murder, something for which I was grateful.  Too many contemporary novels of this type never know when to stop with the killings.  I liked the police inspector, who will feature in other novels by Green.  In an odd twist, he has rheumatism quite badly.  Well worth a read for mystery fans who want to find the source of such things.

Near the end of a month, if I only have a day or two remaining before I need to restart my Avon/Equinox, I turn to L Frank Baum.  I read his 4th Oz book, from 1908.  Called Dorothy and The Wizard In Oz, it begins with an earthquake, and Dorothy, Zeb (a young boy), her kitten, and an old horse, falling into a crack and ending up in a strange country of plant people.  This is yet another amazing adventure, brought into being by the author because of all the children who kept writing to him for more more more.  Luckily for all of us, he complied. The book is great fun!

Cover and interior art by John R Neill. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

Catching Up

...we now return to our regular programming.

The first part of June, with one or two exceptions, was seasonal and even a bit on the cooler side.  But not the 2nd half.  We have already endured many days of temps that go far beyond "above average."  Not only that, but it has been very dry, and will continue so until at least Friday.  I cut the grass yesterday for the first time in two weeks, on the slight chance of predicted rain.  No rain, but the grass is cut.

Later today I am awaiting the passage of the CSL Laurentien, one of five ships I watch on a regular basis.  This will be her 7th upstream pass, heading for Thunder Bay from Quebec City.  Back and forth all summer.  Quite a workhorse.  Meanwhile, Federal Bering, which was in Windsor a few weeks ago (likely picking up salt), was then off to Scotland, and is now in Ostend.  The Federal Cedar, which spent the winter in and around South American and Mexico, is on its way to Montreal, and will hopefully take a swing up our way in the upper Great Lakes.

We are nowhere with repairs to our garage foundation.  We simply cannot find anyone interested to come and fix it.  We basically need a foundation mason, but apparently they are all busy.  Sigh.  We ourselves are assembling and putting up railings this week on the new staircase, however.  The main job is to drill 16 holes into the new cement.  We are purchasing a new drill for that job.  Pictures to follow.

In film news, we have watched three interesting documentaries lately, all of them excellent and very well presented.  We have had to subscribe to AMC+ for two months in order to watch a new series they are presenting (see below), but they also have several other good things to watch.  One of them is Jodorowsky's Dune, from 2013.  Featuring much of the concept art that was created, and nearly endless conversations with the man himself, this pre-Star Wars idea was simply way too ahead of its time.  There can be no doubt that it would have been a terrific and awe-inspiring picture had it been made.  In the end it needed 5 more million dollars, which were nowhere to be found.  Definitely a fascinating way to spend a few hours!

Now streaming on AMC+.

Another good doc showing on AMC is Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown.  Dating from 2008-09, this one is incredibly well researched, and features interviews with Guillermo Del Toro, Neil Gaiman, John Carpenter, Caitlan Kiernan, and others.  Lavishly illustrated with historical photos and art inspired by his works, this is a must-see film for fans of horror fiction.

Now streaming on AMC+. 

A few weeks ago we watched Margin, a simple film about a journey up the Amazon on a passenger ship, directed by Maya Da-Rin.  Criterion also has her film called Land, from 2009, about a city that shares a border with Peru, Colombia, and Brazil, far up the Amazon River.  She spends time in this far off city, getting in fairly deeply with some of its citizens, including some Indigenous people who have had to make major adjustments to their lives in order to survive. Well worth seeing, her work is a form of visual anthropology.

Showing until June 30th on Criterion.   

Some other films we have seen lately (Criterion) include One Day In The Rainy Season, an Indian film from 1971 directed by Mani Kaul.  Based on a play by Mohan Rakeesh, the plot concerns a young village woman who gives up her hold on her lover so he can go to court and become a famous writer.  The play has very few characters, and is entirely set within a small and very basic hut in a small village. The acting is carried out in unemotional speech, giving a timeless quality to the b & w proceedings, almost as if the words were spoken by dead people, rather than ones emotionally involved with the tale.  Unique and worthwhile.

Showing on Criterion until June 30th/22 

 

Fritz Lang's 1941 Man Hunt was next, starring Walter Pidgeon and George Sanders.  Pidgeon is a big game hunter who sets his rifle sights on Adolph Hitler.  Before he can pull the trigger he is caught and arrested.  Refusing to sign a confession to Nazi Sanders, he escapes back to England with the Germans in hot pursuit.  Though well acted and filmed tautly and expertly, the film left me a bit cold.  I think that the character of the hunter becoming the hunted could have been made a bit more realistic.  He seems to have virtually no skills whatsoever, so how he ever got close enough to Hitler in the first place remains a mystery.  The whole concept of the enemy in our midst, however, was very well done.

 

Showing on Criterion until June 30th. 

 

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart In the Land of Demons, and Black Belt Jones, from 1973 and 1974 respectively, make a good double feature of action packed mayhem.  While Lone Wolf slaughters the enemy with his trusty blade, Jones uses karate to demolish his enemies.  And they both dispose of a lot of enemies.  It's not the kind of movie pairing one might think of, but it works! Both are streaming on Criterion.

Streaming on Criterion. 

 

Streaming on Criterion until June 30th. 

 

In addition to films, we are currently involved in several series, including two sets of lecture courses on Wondrium.  We only have one left in the SF literature series, and still several more on the archeology of North America.  As one of those courses finish, we will begin a new one.

 

On Prime we are now well into the 2nd season of Undone, an animated fantasy series that is quite complex and easily one of the better fantasy screen adventures ever undertaken.  It is aimed at adults, and follows the adventures of a family of four as they unravel their past, present, and future selves.  Needless to say the plot is difficult to explain, but the acting, writing, and special effects are truly inspired.  Episodes are less than 30' each, but pack an awful lot into that time.  Highly recommended.  There are 8 episodes in each season.

Seasons 1 &2 are showing on Prime. 

 

The reason we subscribed to AMC+ was to watch their new series called Dark Winds. The first season has 6 one hour episodes.  It is so well done that a second season will be presented next year.  It features Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Navajo police officers from Tony Hillerman's acclaimed detective series, largely set in Northwest new Mexico and Northeast Arizona.  So far we have seen three episodes, and the fourth is set for tonight.  We both love the Hillerman books (17 or 18 of them before he died, with the series now taken over by daughter Anne, who was an executive producer for the TV series), and have seen two or three earlier films based on the books.  But this series has a budget, and the production values are near to perfect.  The casting seems enlightened, especially Leaphorn. We are devouring this series!  We got my dad interested in the books a long time ago, and he should be able to watch this series on his AMC regular channel.

 

Leaphorn and Chee take on the bad guys!  Great stuff! 

 

As a bonus, we also found an 8 part series on AMC called Name of the Rose.  It follows Ecco's book much more closely than the earlier film ever did, and once again the TV production values are superb and nearly overwhelming.  It may seem odd to find John Turturro playing the lead role of the detective monk, but so far (2 episodes in), he is unbelievably good.  I have never seen medieval atmosphere so authentically depicted on the screen.  We have certainly hit gold this month.  And waiting in the wings is a 2009 version of The Prisoner, a six episode series that might prove interesting.

 

A 2019 8 part series showing on AMC. 

 

I will return with more news in a day or two.  And it close to the time when I summarize my month's reading.  Please return soon.

 

Mapman Mike