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The Northern Lights
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Images
- Hits: 363
So, the northern lights out the other night, went on a photo safari with mixed results. Down to the bridge, where I'd hoped to capture a great visual of them above it - no such luck, but as I was walking back through Lakeside Park of course they improved.
Anyways, here's a few of the dozens of pictures I took.
Note to self: Next time be a little more patient and bring a tripod!!
Leather Vest and Coat
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 263
Not my look, but why not mix it up a little?
Need to clean the bathroom mirror. Heading downtown, the street-people are in awe, I've won the fashion competition for the day, "Let him pass" they say, it pairs a little better with an brown paisly cowboy-billy shirt, but it hardly matters, this is just absurd...
The Hourglass Sanatorium
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 355
This, a peculiar Polish masterpiece from 1973. Based upon Bruno Shulz's "Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass.", which I'm not sure I have or haven't read; but the story revolves loosely around a man going to visit his father in a Sanatorium where the ordinary rules of time don't apply. Fantastical sets, Art-Nouveau in ruins, covered in spiderwebs and dust, the halls of memory, tied up trunks and bureaus, a graveyard with ravening wolves, examination rooms in surreal decay, inexplicable incidents...it becomes a parable of memory, the pretext of visiting his father leads him to relive and reexamine various stages of his life, the aesthetic alone makes it worth the watch, the opening train ride (a conductor leading any number of lost souls), the crowds of people - active or silent, frozen in time, it reminds you of a live action version of The Quay Brothers "Street of Crocodiles" (also by Bruno Schulz), or a darker, more surreal Jodorowski; rooms (memories) are entered, left, and then sealed behind, doors opening up to surreal tableaux, his father surrounded by bare-breasted flappers and prostitutes digressing upon Steak and Mushrooms, the stuff of indigestion and bad dreams...
A surreal masterpiece. You can read the wiki here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hourglass_Sanatorium
or watch it on YouTube here (for free!!!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8nHhstKtEA
Note: The YouTube version is low res and the colours are so-so. This could benefit from a restoration.
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 287
So this, my first check-out from the library, a proper Oprah Book Club Pick, a staff recommendation.
Enjoyable, a woman author (my daughter was giving me grief, not my fault that men write more to my taste than women...) - enjoyable, quirky, amusing, but a little lighter than I'm used to. I don't mind light, quirky, etc - but I'd prefer it in slimmer volumes.
While I can understand it's popularity, I'm a little perplexed at the reviews. I mean - not bad - but a long way from being great.
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