Changing Over

We are now knee deep in late autumn weather, which is a bit of a jolt after last week's sunny and very mild spell.  We are due for our first taste of snow tonight and tomorrow, which is never a welcome event here at the Homestead.  I leave water out for the birds to drink, and it was frozen for two days.  I finally was able to break the ice up today and insert the small heater that keeps the water open through most of our cold weather.  The birds are fed twice each day, and a small flock of blue jays always quietly awaits my appearance each morning.  They prefer peanuts, while the squirrels really like sunflower seeds.  The other birds eat birdseed mostly.  It's getting really expensive now to buy birdseed.  Not surprising, as most food, especially fresh fruit and vegetables, are being priced sky high.  Our inflation rate dropped to 3.1% recently, but that is only due to cheaper gasoline prices.  Everything else is going up and up.

 

With the arrival of the full moon Sunday and Monday, I am already looking forward to the December astronomy session.  Clear nights are rare in December, and if we get a few, it's usually bone chillingly cold.  But November turned into such a great session that I have some hopes for December.

 

Not much news from here at the Homestead.  Movies, reading, Deb working on her next film and me practicing piano, it's business as usual.  A week from today is supposed to be our next piano gathering.  I don't even know yet what I will perform.  Possibly Bach.  Possibly Beethoven.  Possibly Chopin.  Possibly nothing.  Lots of possibilities, anyway.

 

I'll take the film reviews here in reverse order, beginning with one that we just finished.  Deb gets five picks in a row, because it's her festival weekend.  Here are her first three.  West Is West is from 1987, and was directed by David Rathod.  Vikram comes to California from Bombay in hopes of attending university.  But his Indian sponsors are dealing with a family tragedy and are away from home.  So Vikram arrives with no place to stay.  He ends up in a small hotel (in San Francisco) run by an Indian lady.  His application is turned down by the university, and he is about to be deported.  He has been forming a friendship with a young female artist, rebelling against her family, and they manage to team up to make things eventually work.  But not in a way one might expect.  The lead actor is okay in the role of hard luck wannabe student, and the girl pulls off her role quite well, too.  Their Bollywood scene together is a very nice touch.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Before that we watched Powwow Highway again.  It seems quite popular around here.  It has many classic scenes and lines, scenes and lines that have become part of who we are and what we represent here at the Homestead.  Based on a fabulous novel by David Seals, the movie pulls few punches about life on a reservation, and the way that Whites are continually trying to exploit the resources there.  Starring Gary Farmer in a role that was meant only for him.  Highly recommended.

Still showing on Criterion. 

 

Before that came a concert performance film called Tripping With Nils Frahm, from 2020.  While I found the music quite good, the film shows Nils creating the sounds with a vast array of electronic equipment, including several keyboards.  My main problem was that he was moving around to different places so much to get the incredible effects he was producing that it greatly interfered with listening to the music.  So I gave up partway through the film, but will be sure to check out his stuff on Spotify this week.  He has also scored a few films.

 

Now showing on Mubi.  I recommend only listening, rather than viewing.
 

Before that came my two film picks.  The 2nd one was leaving Mubi soon.  It is called Bellissima, a 1951 film by Visconti.  It stars Anna Magnani as a very poor mother sacrificing everything, even her marriage, to get her five year old daughter into a film.  When auditions are called for slightly older children to play a part in an upcoming film, dozens of mothers show up with their daughters.  Anna shows up with her tiny 5 year old, telling the movie people that she is 7 and small for her age.  This is Magnani's film, and her pace and style are manic and non stop.  She talks, moves, carries on, argues, fights, and travels all in a whirlwind of motion and words.  I honestly don't know how she would ever rehearse her scenes, so perhaps she was improvising a lot.  The scene at the ballet school, for one, is priceless.  Though the ending cops out and becomes unbelievable (first that they would actually chose her little girl, with a manic mother like that, and second that she would ultimately refuse to let her daughter do the part), this is an unforgettable glimpse into post war Italy (neo realism) and the struggles that people faced to survive and try to get ahead.  Definitely worth a look.

Leaving Mubi soon.

My main choice for last week was The Crow, from 1994, and starring the late Brandon Lee.   From graphic novel to film, the transformation looks pretty good.  The story is simplistic, with good guy seeking revenge on bad guys.  There is the expected climactic duel at the end between good and evil, with a princess that needs to be rescued.  This takes place on top of a cathedral during a storm.  While more suited to comic book pages than cinema (was this film really worth dying for?), it is good eye candy.  It's not too hard to spot the bad guys, but at least the look of the film, and the constant night scenes and falling rain, give it a kind of distinction.  There are nearly as many killings as in one of the Lone Wolf and Cub or Zatoichi films, though nowhere near the subtlety those martial arts films can display at times.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

It's nice to hear that David Tenant is back as Dr. Who for a short revisit, along with  Catherine Tate.  Sadly, we will never get to see any of them, as they show only on Disney, which we will have no part of.  Streaming channels can be very good; streaming channels can be very bad.

 

Mapman Mike

 

Missing In Action

 Where have I been?  Loyal readers should be able to tell when a massive streak of clear, moonless nights has swept our county.  Not much got done this past week except observing with the 12" reflector, and writing up notes next day.  I did manage some piano practice, too, and a bit of reading, and there are films to report.  But mostly it's been a rare November spell of mild, sunny weather.  My coldest night temp was 32 F, something I can easily handle with my winter clothing gear.  The first clear night was last Sunday.  I was greeted by not one, but two detours due to bridge construction.  So my 50 minute driving time became 60 minutes each way, all week.  Sigh.  Then, after less than two hours of gleeful observing, it clouded over, despite forecasts to the contrary.  I guess Nature doesn't listen to the forecasts.  But Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were great nights.  Mercifully I had Thursday off due to clouds, but it was clear again Friday, so out I went.  It's also clear tonight, but I have surrendered.  Besides, the moon is getting quite high now.  And it's windy and cold.  And I'm burned out.  But it's a happy burned out.

Last weekend we watched Wes Anderson's Asteroid City.  It's showing on Prime!  It is a colourful and entertaining film, and good for one viewing.  His sense of style is so unique, and his use of colour is always bizarre but attractive.  His characters, however, are never deep or interesting enough for me, though there is some improvement this time.  Let's just say that he never probes very deeply into the human soul.  But he can be very entertaining, and this film is entertaining.  Probably the best alien visitation ever filmed.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Deb's leaving choice for last weekend is called One Mile From Heaven, from 1937.  A light skinned black woman raises a white child, but by the age of five she is called out and has to go to court to prove the child is hers.  A wrenching drama where seeking out the truth will hurt one side but help the other side.  This is a very strange film, and is based on a 1925 novel.  While obviously dated (who would ever question anyone these days raising a child of a different race), it is amazing that a film was even devoted to this topic.  Bill Robinson is great as a police constable, and does a number of tap dances.

 

This b & w film is leaving Criterion Nov. 30th.  

 

My main film choice this week was a documentary starring Bill Maher, and he goes behind the scenes to tackle the world's fascination and dutiful devotion to religion.  Religulous is from 2008, and is as much comedy as it is investigative reporting.  Though focused mostly on Christianity, he tries to get at the reason people take things completely on faith rather than reason and logic.  Pretty much unforgettable, especially the leader of the Church of Cannabis.  Highly recommended, and showing on Prime.  Not terribly deep, but loads of fun.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

We hit the jackpot with my leaving choice.  Europa is from 1991, directed by Lars von Trier before he went completely off the deep end.  An American man goes to Germany just after the war in 1945 to get a job.  His uncle, a sleeping car conductor, gets him a job doing the same.  He unwittingly comes under the evil influence of the Werewolves, a German resistance group hitting back at those who are collaborating with the Americans, who are currently everywhere in the ruined country.  While the story is interesting in the traditional sense, it is the director's stylish look that really attracts viewers.  Going between b & w, colour, and some of each, unusual camera angles, his sense of time passing, the sets and lighting, and his brilliant use of rear projection, all take us into a world which we have never before experienced.  The third of his "Europa"trilogy, we are currently watching the first one.  Highly recommended.  This is von Trier at his best.

 

Leaving Criterion this month.  

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

Lone Mtn Film Festival Results

It's been a week.  We are now through most of it, with only grocery shopping tonight, and Deb to physio today.  Yesterday we were early for her 8:30 am appointment at the Met hospital in Windsor, to see if her wrist had healed.  The good news is that yes, it has healed, and she no longer wears her cast. The bad news is that just over two weeks ago, the five hospitals in Windsor and surrounding areas were hacked by dark web ransom pirates.  Needless to say no money was paid out, but all computer systems are down and will have to be rebuilt from scratch.  Cancer treatments had to be scrubbed, but have slowly resumed.  So everything is currently being done on paper, including registration, diagnosis, etc.  So it took a long time for Deb to see the doctor giving her the all clear.

Monday she went for the x-ray in nearby Lasalle.  That went very quickly.  Later that morning we got our Covid boosters in Amherstburg.  That also went quickly.  Afterwards, we had another financial meeting at our bank, as we are transferring our mutual fund assets there from Primerica.  Now all of our assets will be in one place.  Until they are hacked, and we lose everything.  On Tuesday Deb got her new orthotics.  Right afterwards we went for a long walk, and they seemed to work fine for her feet.  So all is slowly becoming well and back to normal.  Next week is Deb's flu shot, and also I have a doctor appointment.  So a relatively light week ahead for us.

In film news, there are several to report.  My festival choices this month were all unrelated to each other, as no theme was chosen.  First up was number #59 on the most recent Sight and Sound top 100 movies choice.  Sans Soleil is from 1983.  Here is the blurb from Criterion, where it is showing:

Chris Marker, filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer, editor, and now videographer and digital multimedia artist, has been challenging moviegoers, philosophers, and himself for years with his complex queries about time, memory, and the rapid advancement of life on this planet. SANS SOLEIL is his mind-bending free-form travelogue that journeys from Africa to Japan. 

Here is a quote from the director, from Wikipedia:

"On a more matter-of-fact level, I could tell you that the film intended to be, and is nothing more than, a home movie. I really think that my main talent has been to find people to pay for my home movies. Were I born rich, I guess I would have made more or less the same films, at least the traveling kind, but nobody would have heard of them except my friends and visitors."^[3] 

 

The film reminds me of something stoned people might have gone to see in the 60s or early 70s.  On certain types of drugs, the film might appear to be deep and philosophical.  But without drugs, it is actually pretty empty, perplexing, incoherent, and sometimes downright confusing.  There are so many better documentaries out there, it is hard to believe that this one has pulled the wool over so many eyes.  What most viewers take for depth is really a mostly empty look at somebody's home movies.  The gratuitous scene of a hunter killing a giraffe is inexcusable, another reason not to watch this mess of a film.

 

Now showing on Criterion.

 

Next up was a series of short films watched on Mubi.  I came across an early David Lynch film, 30' in length, starring Harry Dean Stanton.  So I chose it and decided to fill in the time of one full length feature with other shorts.  The Cowboy and the Frenchman is from 1988, and has to be one of the worst films we have ever seen.  It is pointless, humourless, and completely unredeeming.  Deb tried watching some of the director's early animation attempts, and pronounced them to abysmal to continue.  Avoid this short film, or watch it at your own peril.

 

David Lynch at his worst, now on Mubi.

Green Vinyl is from 2004, a short Brazilian fantasy film about a little girl left home alone by her working mother.  She is told not to play a certain green children's record, and the girl promises not to listen.  Of course as soon as mother leaves, she plays the record.  Mother comes home that night with an arm missing.  And so on.  Truly bizarre and unsettling, it is still a fun film to watch.  It blows Lynch out of the water, anyway.

 

Now showing on Mubi.

 

All The Crows In The World is a Hong Kong short from 2021.  It won the Palme D'Or at Cannes for best short.  A young woman goes to a party filled with middle aged, sexist men.  This is a very fun film, with lots of off kilter attitude and bizarre situations.  She ends up making friends with the one man who does not come on to her.  But he ends up being gay.  So much for male heterosexuals; this film tears them apart, with glee.  Recommended.

 

Showing on Mubi.

Ein Sof is a Mexican film from 2021.  It is 4 minutes long.  It purports to be an avant garde film, but it's just a 4 minute music video with some very strange fashions.  Even so, it is still better than the Lynch film.

 

Showing on Mubi.

Less and Less is a short film from France from 2010.  It follows the history of coin operated machines in Paris from the 60s and onward.  Tres amusant.  The one and only bagel dispensing machine is a highlight.

We finished with a Woody Allen feature film from 2014 called Magic In The Moonlight.  An arrogant magician is taken down a peg or three by his old friend, and along the way he falls in love with a young medium.  At first he is fooled into believing that she is the real thing, despite his attempts to prove her a fake.  An okay film, but nothing terribly special here, though we do get to see an elephant disappear from the stage.  Costumes and period cars (1920s) are also very good.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

And one last image before signing off for today--this is a weather map of the area just north of us from yesterday.  I think every possible form of precipitation is shown in one area of Michigan and Ontario:  green, yellow, and red for rain; pink and purple for ice storm; and blue for snow.  Very pretty.  The deep red shows heavy rain and possible hail.  I wonder how they enjoyed their day in those areas.

 

We are south of Detroit and west of Kingsville. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fading

Peak autumn colours have passed quickly, and as November roars in (more like December this past week, with actual snow flurries on Halloween), Nature begins to fade into browns and greys.  Early autumn and late autumn are really two completely different seasons here at the Homestead.  This coming weekend we lose our later daylight as we switch back to Standard time (which I would prefer to have year round).  Our Tuesday walk on the Greenway Trail was so different from the one a week ago.  For one thing, it was freezing, with a blustery breeze and 39 F.  For another, more fields had been harvested, leaving a brown and empty landscape surrounding us.  And for another, most of the leaves had blown down from around the trail.  A stark difference from65 F last week, and peak autumn colours.

 

We had our usual great Samhain festival here at home.  The decorations went up last Saturday, and will remain up until at least Sunday.  There was a wood fire, homemade pumpkin pie, great music, and the annual Tarot reading.  We each pick 9 cards from a shuffled deck.  Deb goes first, then after her reading is done the cards are placed back and reshuffled for my reading.  For the first time since we've been doing this (2004?), we both selected the same card as our year card.  I will post it here soon; it's perfect for us at the moment, at least.  In addition, we each have card that helps guide us through the 8 quarters and cross quarters of the year.  We mainly use the Arthurian Tarot, which is quite brilliantly adapted from the tradition Waite deck, but this year we will also use the Waite cards corresponding to our Arthurian picks, to deepen our reading.  The cards are never used as predictions of any sort, but rather give us something to think about for the 6 weeks that they stay out (except for the year card, which gives us something to think about for a year).

 

Here are a few phone pics of our inside decor this year.

 

These are all low light photos.  Deb was unable to carve the pumpkin this year, because of her cast.  So guess who did the honours?

Deb's rather crowded Day of Dead altar set up.  Yorick himself is sitting on a chair near centre.  The black centerpiece at the rear is a mirror covered in black cloth, a traditional Offrenda feature.

Our wood fire burns cheerily.  It was very welcome this year, as it was a cold and windy night.

This skeleton was a gift from my cousin Cathy.

 

Henry the Halloween Cat and Bruno the Gorilla team up every year for the festivities.

An old artwork of Deb's comes out but once a year.  Other art on our walls are also changed at this time.  

 

In health news, I got my flu shot last Thursday.  This Monday we both return for our Covid booster, followed by Deb's flu shot about a week later.  She is limited to the time when she can get such shots due to her infusion months.  Also next Monday Deb returns for follow up x-rays of her wrist.  Tuesday she returns to her podiatrist to get her new orthotics.  Then it's back to the hospital Wednesday morning, hopefully to get the okay to remove her cast.  Today she had to get her bi-monthly blood work done.  Afterwards, we met with our financial planner, whom we will see again on Monday.  On it goes.  If all goes well, we will go to Detroit with friends on Saturday, mainly to see the Offrenda exhibit this year before it closes.  Sunday is supposed to be the next piano get together, but I am a bit too flustered to concentrate much on piano performance just now.  I am practicing, though.

 

In film news, there are three to report.  Deb chose Lynch/Oz, a film from 2022 that explores the connections between many of Lynch's films with the 1939 version of Wizard of Oz.  This is a fun documentary, narrated by several different leading independent film directors, and copiously illustrated with scenes from Oz and most of Lynch's major works.  It makes if worthwhile to go back and see some more Lynch films.

 

Now showing on Criterion.

 

DHH is an Indian film from 2017, my leaving choice for the week.  It is a comedy drama about three young boys, about 5th grade, who hope to use magic to help them pass their exams.  One of the boys has failed three times already, and is old enough to drive a scooter.  They frequently skip out on class, and usually perform at the very bottom of their peer group.  It is a long, but highly watchable film.  Do they manage to use magic to help them pass?  You bet they do.

 

This film has since left Mubi. 

 

My main choice for the week was Company of Wolves, from 1985, and based on stories and the screenplay by Angela Carter.  Now showing on Prime/Shudder, this was probably our sixth or seventh view of the film, which tackles the darker side of folk tales very nicely.  A good cast, great sets and lighting and costumes, and decent effects for the time enhance this tale of a young girl brutally coming of age.  If you have never seen it, then I highly recommend it.  If you have, then you should know that it is well worth more than a single viewing.

 

Now showing on Prime/Shudder. 

Mapman Mike

    
 

 

October 2023 Reading Summary

Though a long month of 31 days, October was a short one for the reading program.  I took the Silverberg novel with my on a recent 8-day trip, but read very little.  When we returned home I was sick with a bad cold, and kept falling asleep each time I tried to read.  So I didn't even get the five Avon/Equinox authors' books read until October 19th, when I finally began my "free" reading period.  After that, I managed three books, the last one being very long.

 

Like the late writings of Jack Williamson, the late writings of Robert Silverberg are not to be missed.  The man is on a roll, big time.  From 1994 comes  Hot Sky At Midnight, at 388 pages. At its heart it is an ecological story about humans destroying the Earth (can that really happen?).  But the novel has more than one heart.  It is also a futuristic retelling of Lord Jim, one of Conrad's finest novels.  Paul Carpenter goes through many iterations in this, his story.  We meet him as a Level 11 salary weatherman in Spokane (Level 20 being the lowest on the grid).  He gets a unique offer to be captain of a boat out of San Francisco.  He is sick of Spokane, and accepts the reprogramming involved with the job transfer.  He messes up terribly on his first voyage, and is actually fired by his corporation, something that is virtually unheard of at his rank.

It's difficult to say what exactly makes this book worth reading, but I would have to say it is the very accurate picture of what Earth will resemble in not too many years.  The only other SF novel that rivals it for potential accuracy is Norman Spinrad's unforgettable Greenhouse Summer, an even more cynical look at our chosen future.  SF often gets it wrong when it comes to future predictions.  However, when an author gets it right, the reader can feel the truth emerging in every single page.  Perhaps not the masterpiece to compare with Conrad, but this is a damn fine book that should scare the hell out of every person alive today.  Especially if you are young.

 

From 1977 comes the final book written about Commander Abernathy Fox.  That is one of the saddest statements I have ever written in this blog.  This is #14, called Close Quarters.  Captain Fox, of the British Navy, is doing more than his part to help his country defeat Napoleon.  In fact, I doubt the British would have ever won had it not been for Mr. Fox.  The 148 page finale was not supposed to be the last book, but alas, it was.  Fox sets sail in his repaired ship for England, part of a large convoy headed by his nemesis, Captain Stone.  I had always hoped to see Fox get even with that blackguard captain, but I will never get that pleasure.  Nor will faithful readers get to see Fox promoted to full Captain, something he deserved many books ago but never received.  This book is typical of the adventures Fox and his loyal crews have faced since the beginning of the series, with one big exception; this time we get to see Fox capture and ride in a primitive submarine!  Science fiction?  Nope.  Bulmer is relying on actual attempts to use underwater technology in battles from the time, and he came up with a workable solution.  Despite its many flaws, Fox used it twice for successful outcomes on his behalf.  A nice touch in this otherwise standard Fox adventure.  

 

There is a bright gleam of hopeful light at the end, however.  Fox has rescued two British merchant ships from Spanish pirates, and one of them was carrying many grateful VIPs.  It seems a given that he will be rewarded when back on English soil.  And he has brought back the captive submarine and its French inventor and his crew.  The admiralty should be rewarding him, also.  If only there had been a Book 15.  We have suffered Fox's indignities along with him, and deserved to be rewarded nearly as much as he did.

 

The Scourge of the South by E. C. Tubb is the 3rd western of his (of 11) I have read.  Short, packed with action, I again must admire him for trying to depict Native Americans as real people, with their own beliefs and ways of doing things.  A young boy is kidnapped from a wagon train attack by the Sioux, and raised as their own.  He becomes a warrior and eventually must choose between living with the Sioux and fighting the white man, or returning to his roots and fighting for the rights of Natives that way.  A pretty good read, with many truths included, including the way Indians considered war, and how the white man killed the buffalo, thus killing the way of life for Indians.

 

Next came a group of shorter stories by Michael Moorock, Fabulous Harbors, loosely connected by family and place Von Becks, in London).  Two of the stories, both very good ones, had been read in previous volumes.  Of the newer stories, most are pretty middle of the road as far as fantasy literature goes.  One major exception is "No Ordinary Christian," from 1995.  It is the kind of story that one might dream, forgetting much of it next morning.  The Albino features, as do the old Egyptian gods and Aton, the new god.  A desert oasis provides the most interesting backdrop so far in this volume.  Recommended.  From the previously read tales, "The Black Blade's Summoning" also stands out.  It is an Elric tale, where he meets up with one of the Von Becks.

Another Burt Wulff (The Lone Wolf) book, #2 of 14, was read.  Bay Prowler is from 1973, the 2nd of ten such books Malzberg wrote within one year to fulfill a contract.  He continues his annihilation of the drug traffickers, this time in San Francisco.  But he meets a girl who restores some of his humanity and sanity, at least briefly.  He gets to blow up a ship and take out more mid-level crooks.  Next time he is off to Boston, to do some more damage.  Pulp fiction at its bloodiest.

***************************************

 

One of the pleasures of visiting downtown Cincinnati is stopping in at Ohio Bookstore, a used book store almost in the same league as John King in Detroit.  Four floors of books await, and it would be too easy to spend hours in here.  Years ago I found several books I needed for my Avon/Equinox project.  On my most recent visit here in late September, I was searching for Low Company, by Daniel Fuchs.  They had no books by Fuchs.  However, searching nearby "Fs", I came across a little hardcover book by Bruno Frank.  The Days of the King is a fictional novel based on Frederick the Great in his old age.  With a forward by Sinclair Lewis, and dozens of illustrations by Adolph Menzel, it was a bargain I couldn't refuse.  I wasn't even certain that I would read it, but the art inside was amazing.

 

One of dozens of illustrations by Menzel. 

 

The book is in three parts, with each revealing something important about the character of the King.  We learn that he is a humanist, an animal lover, a musician and champion of the arts, and a champion of the poor and working class people.  We also learn about his loneliness, his losing his manhood to incompetent doctors at age 27, and the many cruel rumours about him that spread, including that he was gay (he wasn't) and that he had sex with his female dogs (he didn't).  The writing is pure and the three episodes are lovingly told.  This is history the way most people would love to hear and read it.  The scene at the apothecary shop, where Frederick stops over for a night being very ill, reveals truths about medical treatment of troops back in the day, is chilling to read and think about.  His love of animals, especially his horses and his small Italian greyhounds could only be truly understood by a fellow animal lover.  This chance discovery turned into a very good read, and a most memorable one.

I finally located a paperback copy of Low Company, a novel by Daniel Fuchs.  I found it on Abe Books website, and promptly ordered it.  It came from nearby (Kitchener), and only took a few days.  From 1937, it was Barry Malzberg's pick for best novel of the 1930s.  It is the last one that he recommended I have read (20s through 70s--see my blog article for February 2023 books read, published here March 1st).  Fuchs only wrote three novels, and this last one, considered his best, only had a run of 1200 when it first came out.  Virtually forgotten until rediscovered in the 1960s, my edition has a new preface by the author written in 1961.  The book is very claustrophobic.  There are few characters, mostly Jewish, and most of the action takes places at Neptune Beach, now better known as Coney Island.  An aging Jewish man runs an ice cream parlour.  He is the most stereotypical Jewish business man one could ever hope to meet.  He is a Woody Allen in perpetual crisis and misery.  Yes, he is a humourous character, but he is also one of the most tragic figures in literature.  His employees and a few regular customers make up the cast of characters, and they are characters.  Shorty, the regular soda jerk, is hot after women.  Arthur, the dishwasher, is a young lad who yearns to be a man.  His is one of the saddest outcomes in the novel.  Karty, a customer, was once an accountant, but has been lured to his doom by betting on horses.  He has stolen $1300 from his wife's brothers' garage, and they are out to get him.  Shubunka, in business with the owner of the parlour who rents out apartments to Shubunka's whores, is being squeezed out of his shady business by a new heavy handed crime syndicate invading New York.  He is perhaps the oddest character in the book, obsessed with his self image, always looking in the mirror to see if he is expressing emotion properly.  When reality finally does bite him, he is bitten hard.

The title refers to the lowlife that work and inhabit the streets around Neptune Beach.  Here is a quote from page 166 of my Berkley Medallion edition.  "This was Neptune Beach, Lurie [the horse race victim] cried to himself, lacking dignity, lacking spirit and feeling, concentrated wholly on desire and the process of its satisfaction, abject and mean."  There is no major male character in the book with redeeming qualities.  It is a grim world, a kind of purgatory, much of it brought on by the multitude of bad choices the characters continually make, including lying to themselves and others over and over again.  The irony is heavy at all times, and at no time heavier than the last line of the book.  This is fascinating reading, and it's hard to put the book down, especially when the plot begins to come together in the last section.  A truly neglected classic.  Highly recommended.

 

Adela Cathcart (1864) by George MacDonald contains several short tales within the framework of a novel.  In fact, it's easier to think of this very long book as a collection of stories, rather than a novel.  The stories are told by various people over the Christmas holiday period, including two by the narrator, "John Smith."  The first of his tales is one of the finest, a fairy tale called "The Light Princess," about a princess who has a spell cast upon her by her evil aunt.  The spell removes the young lady's gravity, causing her to float up rather than stay anchored to the ground like the rest of us.  This is a wonderful tale, easily pulled from the pack and able to stand on its own.  The storytelling hour after dinner is conceived by the narrator, Adela's uncle, to lift her mood.  She has fallen into a sickness of the spirit, and, at 21, seems destined to a life of dullness and routine, and perhaps marriage to a cousin for whom she has little to no feelings whatsoever.  A very few of the remaining ten or so stories are memorable.  The more Christianity inserted into a tale,the less memorable that tale becomes.  "The Cruel Painter," told by the young doctor now looking after Adela's health, is also a very good tale, one of those supernatural tales (vampires and such) that really has no supernatural elements to it at all.  This one would make a great little horror film.  The second tale of John Smith, the narrator, is also fun and truly bizarre, and is called "The Shadows."  It would best be handled by animation, and could be pretty impressive as such.  Remove all the overt Christianity and the book is filled with some wonderful stories.

Mapman Mike

 

 

Life Goes On

 

It's been over three weeks now since Deb's hiking trail fall.  And we both lost a week in there to very bad colds.  But I have resumed my exercise program (the maintenance one) for two weeks now, and Deb has finally had her long overdue infusion for her RA.  While waiting for her last Monday (the procedure takes about 30 minutes) I took a walk to some nearby shops, discovering a Halloween store where I spent some time, and then came across a vegan restaurant of which we knew nothing.  Called Copper Branch (?), it has a full menu and bakery.  It is a chain in Canada and has one place in the US.  So we now have two vegan places right where Deb goes every two months!  I got a takeaway order for each of us.  We shall return!

 

I have managed two segments of the rails to trails path near our home lately, with Deb accompanying me on the second one last Tuesday.  It was sunny with temps in the high 60s.  It will be mild until Saturday, when cooler air will return with a vengeance.  Firewood is being chopped and split.  No heating has been required this week, either.  But the wood pellet stove is standing by.

 

 From my solo walk last week on the first segment of the trail.

 

The 2nd segment of the walk Tuesday with Deb. 

 

In other blogging news, the 3rd and final segment of the recent travel blog has been posted on the American Midwest site (see margin, upper left), detailing Deb's accident and the very pleasant scenery of the Wichita Mountains, what we saw of it at any rate.  It certainly was a memorable trip.  In about 49 more weeks, we can try it again.  I have also updated and reedited most of the photos.

 

I tried pricing airfare to London from Detroit.  The airfare alone would pay for an entire 17 day trip over here.  So no London in our future, even if we did have a desire to fly again.  Even airfare from Windsor to Sudbury to visit my parents is a ridiculous amount.

In film news, there are a few to report, beginning with a couple of strange Japanese films chosen by Deb last week.  First up was We Are Little Zombies, from 2019.  This is an experimental film about four 13 year olds--three boys and a girl--who met at their parents' cremation.  They are all suddenly orphaned, and they decide to hang out together.  They are also all emotionless, as they try to deal with their situations in unusual ways.  A truly dark comedy, it's hard to take one's eyes from the screen.  Viewers get pulled in by the bizarre stylization of the film, as well as the intense colours used, and the deadpan humour.  Definitely worth catching.

 

 Leaving Mubi soon. 

 

Giants and Toys is from 1958, another colour extravaganza that relies heavily on the energy of its starlet.  Hitomi Nozoe is chosen as the poster girl for a candy company, in a deadly competition with its two main rivals.  She has bad teeth, the personality and energy of a giddy teenager, and the smarts to know what to do in almost any situation.  This is about cutthroat corporate life, where working in such an environment is very hazardous to one's health.  Director Yasuzo Masumura made some 60 films, but is little known in the west.  Mubi has just acquired many of his films, so he will likely be popping up here more often now.  Part comedy and part drama, it is a film like no other from Japan.  Worth a look if you are lucky enough to find it anywhere.

 

  

Now showing on Mubi, along with several other films by the director. 

 

My main choice for this week was a made for TV mystery called The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: The Murder in Angel Lane from 2011.  Part of a detective series, it is the 2nd installment of four, and the only one showing on Prime.  It features the usual convoluted plot, with the main suspect innocent (of course) but looking mighty guilty, the incompetent and unfriendly-to-private detectives police force, a good cop and a bad cop, and a hero who finally gets it right, after several wrong turns and very few happy faces.  Nothing new here, but some fine costumes and authentic 19th C pub scenes.

 

Now showing on Prime. 

 

The next piano this Sunday was cancelled due to illness of the host.  I am hoping to play some Beethoven at it next week instead.

 

Mapman Mike 

A Brief Catching Up

It was a doozy of a cold, and I still have that cotton in my brain feeling two weeks later.  My last cold was in December 2018, after returning from a sleepless but fun week in Vienna.  Deb's last cold was literally decades ago.  Her overcharged immune system has protected her till now.  She is a few days behind me in her recovery, but doing well.  We have both been sleeping a lot.  Whenever I try to read, I fall asleep, so along with the travelling we did my October reading list will be on the short side.  Deb's wrist seems to be healing well, with 3 weeks left to wear the cast.  And her lung is slowly healing, too, with far fewer painful episodes.  All will be well again someday soon.

 

We were away for 8 days instead of 17, so the piano program didn't suffer too much.  I did light practice during the worst of my cold.  Things are still a bit wobbly, but memorization of the Beethoven proceeds apace.  I resumed some light physical exercise a week ago, including a few outdoor walks, some yard work, and cutting the grass.  So only 50 more weeks until I get another chance at hiking in New Mexico.  5 of those 8 days we had were lots of fun; the last 3 not so much.

 

I have been working on the trip blog, and have the Cincinnati portion published.  Look on the American Midwest blog link, upper left on this page.  I am currently working on the second part, and might publish it by tomorrow.  I did get some really good photos, even in Oklahoma.  I haven't printed any yet, but soon.  

 

In film news, some really good ones on which to report.  But first, Deb's SF film is being shown this weekend in Manchester at their incredible SF festival.  Her film was one of only 6 chosen from a thousand entries that will be shown during the main event, and is in competition.  This looks like such a fun event, and we would love to attend, perhaps next year.

 

Mandalay is from 1934, and directed by Michael Curtiz.  Quite a good picture, when a woman dumped by her criminal lover has to fend for herself, taking an unpleasant job as a night club hostess in SE Asia.  She meets an alcoholic doctor and they seem to hit it off, until lover boy returns, expecting the woman to help him out.  Kay Francis is a knockout beauty in this short feature.

 

Leaving Criterion Oct. 31st. 

 

The Coconuts is from 1929, and is the first appearance on screen of the Marx Brothers.  While they are very funny, and their routines are well timed (the auction scene is one of their funniest), the movie screeches to a halt far too many times for some very lame songs, sung very lamely by others.  Harpo's harp solo, on the other hand, is very good, as is Chico's piano solo.  Fast forward during the other songs and all will be well.

Leaving Criterion Oct. 31st. 

 

Genghis Cohn is one of dozens of BBC films and filmed plays that were released as a multi-season anthology series called Screen Two.  Prime seems to have picked up a half dozen or so of these films.  This one is exceptionally good.  From 1994, it features a Jewish comedian who is murdered by the Nazis in a mass killing of Jews during the war.  His ghost comes back to haunt the commandant in charge of the killings, until he gets his sweet revenge.  This could easily have been a horror story, or a really heavy drama.  But it is actually more of a comedy!  And it has some very funny moments, too.  A real sleeper gem, and worth seeing more than once. 

 

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Another Screen Two BBC presentation on Prime was called Small Faces, from 1996.  It takes place in Glasgow in 1968, with a young boy growing up amidst the violence and despair of life in a poor inner city.  It was well acted, but the story it told could have happened anywhere, including Milan or St. Louis.  Not really that memorable, unless, perhaps, viewers grew up in Glasgow in 1968.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Legend of the Red Dragon is a Chinese kung fu film from 2002.  Despite the violence, it is mostly a comedy, as a small team of do gooders, led by Jet Li, takes on the evil folk in charge of the country.  More a display of insane acrobatics than martial arts, it also features an invincible bad guy, who literally cannot be stopped.  He drives an all-silver steam powered racing car!  This one also features a group of young boys, including the hero's son.  Five of the boys have part of a treasure map tattooed on their backs, which the bad guys are after.  A very silly way to spend two hours.

 

Starring Jet Li, and showing on Prime. 

 

Next came a mind bending SF film, which seems to really be a play that was filmed.  Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth is from 2007.  From the description on Prime: An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.  Well scripted and very well acted, this is one of those rare, highly intelligent scripts that tell truths most people do not wish to hear about.  The expose of Christian religion (having all been taken from earlier mythologies from other parts of the world) could have been written by Joseph Campbell.  This is a very highly recommended film, with a few surprises at the very end.  There is a sequel which it seems it might be better to avoid.  We'll see.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Mapman Mike