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It was a retro throwback weekend at the local theatres. I saw Real Genius and Back to the Future over the weekend. Both were a lot of fun. Before Real Genius, they asked who was seeing the film for the first time, and it was probably 80% of the audience. I felt old...

Sorry I can't make it. I managed to catch Aoki a few times around town when I was living in Chicago. One time he had a concert with taiko drummers involved. And I think I saw him once with Fred Anderson, but I wouldn't bet my life on it...

I use a Freeware app called BurnAware Free. It's fine for my purposes.

I hope so. I've owned it for over 15 years, and I'm finally going to tackle it...

Some absolutely ridiculous plot holes (pretty typical for all time travel movies), but actually quite entertaining. Toronto got to "play itself" in this film. I thought the Beck taxis that turned up were also a nice touch. I assume this was a fairly low budget indy film, but it looked pretty good.

Halfway through Madame Bovary, and I get the sense things aren't going to work out well for her. 🤔 But no more spoilers. 🤐 After this, Angela Carter's Wise Children, her last novel. Then this weekend, I have a very long bus ride to Detroit and back. Then plan is to take Fante's Bandini Quartet. I'll likely finish it on the trip or just after.

I'd been holding off for what seems like forever, trying to see Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7 for the first time on a proper screen. There was a mini Varda fest at the Paradise Theatre here in Toronto, and I saw The Beaches of Agnes (which was very interesting), but they didn't screen Cleo. So I went ahead and rented it and watched it this evening. Definitely an interesting film. I think my favorite part was up in her room with the kittens and then later the song-writing crew (with the pianist played by Michel Legrand!). On a completely different note, I plan on watching the SF comedy Relax, I'm from the Future either tomorrow or Monday.

I mentioned this on a different thread, but only 2 CDs remaining of Barbara Thompson's First Light though the download will remain available. https://jazzinbritain.co.uk/album/first-light-2 I really ought to do the (digital) subscription to Jazz in Britain on Bandcamp. Maybe a little bit later this fall...

While I usually (or at least currently) just purchase downloads through Bandcamp, I decided to buy one of the last remaining CDs (plus download) of Barbara Thompson's First Light. Apparently they are down to 10 physical copies. https://jazzinbritain.co.uk/album/first-light-2

Been dropping in at The Rex again. I plan on seeing the Eric St. Laurent Quintet (guitar, bass and 3 percussionists!) tonight, though I can only stick for the first set. This Thurs. Pat LaBarbera is back as part of The Rex's tribute to John Coltrane. Neil Swainson is supposed to be at the gig as well. I may stop by on Friday to check out the Andrew Scott Quartet, but not entirely sure yet. I saw them last week, and they were fine.

The first one is on iTunes (and other sites?) as Cream of Jazz Funk The other compilation doesn't seem to be up, though some of the Mainstream albums (with these tracks are available) unless these were alternative versions.

I also have the Japanese CD version (UCCU-3059). I had no idea that it had gotten so rare. I don't recall if I had made a special order (at one point was collecting most Bobby Hutcherson and then Harold Land albums), or it just happened to be in at Dusty Groove on a day I was there. Or it might have been something in between where I was tipped off and looking for it, but I'm pretty sure I didn't do a special order to Japan for this. Nonetheless, it's been ages since I've listened to it, so I shall correct that today...

Fontane's Effi Briest (with Madame Bovary to follow shortly thereafter)...

Almost halfway into Narayan's The Man-Eater of Malgudi. Just not feeling it, though it is short, so I'll finish it. The main character is a total wimp who lets other push him around all the time. And the storyline isn't that appealing either. Maybe a third of the way into Malraux's Man's Fate, which is more interesting for sure. This is about the rise of the Communist Party in China, specifically Shanghai, mostly told from the point of view of the revolutionaries. This would be a good pairing with J.G. Farrell's The Singapore Grip, which is almost entirely told from the point of view of European ex-pats. I liked but didn't love this novel, mostly because I thought the ending didn't live up to the rest of the book.

Generally not having major problems with USPS, though one package on its way from Montreal to Chicago has vanished. 😞 I hope it turns up but not holding out any hope at this point (several months later). 😢

Just saw Theatre Camp. Very funny, even if it draws hard on Waiting for Guffman and other mockumentaries and to a lesser extent Meatballs. The plot is that the director of the theatre camp is sent into a seizure by strobe light effects in a high school production of Bye Bye Birdie (while scouting for talent to attend said camp) and thence into a coma. Her son, who has never really understood the magic of theatre and is portrayed as a doofus, steps in on an interim basis to help run the camp. The rest of the staff openly belittle him. Will they all pull together (to save the magic) when there is a financial crisis that threatens the camp? They are screening Grave of the Fireflies at the same cinema, so I think I'll check that over the weekend, but I needed a bit of time to adjust...

Just wrapping up Maugham's Cakes and Ale. Very entertaining. From the introduction, there is quite a bit on how Maugham himself was very thin-skinned and threatened another author (who was lampooning him) with legal action. A bit sad, but it doesn't stop one from enjoying this novel. Will be reading Waugh's Decline and Fall next and then for something completely different, Narayan's The Man-Eater of Malgudi.

RIP. I just was streaming Straight Street (by chance, linked by Gary Thomas) for the first time a couple of days ago.

Salman Rushdie The Enchantress of Florence Managed to get most of the way through this book on a very long bus trip. It's an interesting tale of how the Mogul Empire and Renaissance Florence were linked through an Indian princess written out of history but restored through the telling of (tall?) tales. I should be able to finish it in the next few days. And then I will turn to Maugham's Cases and Ale, an amusing story with some very catty writing about the London literary world. I should have gotten further on this, but I was wrapping up Austen's Mansfield Park, which I felt was quite a dud, and the final stories in Mavis Gallant's Varieties of Exile.

I may be disappointed in how it finally turns out, but it looks like Drive-Away Dolls (by Ethan Coen of the Coen Brothers) is riffing off of Pulp Fiction, at least based on the trailer, which I've seen a couple of times now. Supposedly this won't actually be released until 2024...

Sort of droll, given that this same magazine really stepped into it for promoting cultural appropriation. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/jonathan-kay-steps-down-1.4114691 Maybe that just proves their point that it is essentially impossible to have civilized discourse on the internet, but still kind of a boneheaded move.

While this is a fairly short novel, I found it got a bit baggy by the end. It could have made a killer novella or extended short story, however. I got halfway through Austen's Mansfield Park over the weekend. I don't think it really stands up as well as P&P or S&S. I dipped into Maugham's Cakes and Ale as well. Some very biting commentary on the London literary scene. I'm definitely looking forward to this after wrapping up Austen.

There's a local cinema that is showing classic and somewhat overlooked anime films (for $5!). I just saw Paprika, which is really quite a mind-bending film all about diving into people's dreams. I'd say that Fellini was at least one of the inspirations behind this movie. And apparently Nolan admitted that Paprika was an inspiration for Inception.

This is my favorite late Bellow novel by far. However, I'm a little worried that my tastes have shifted so radically that I won't enjoy it if I reread it (I just did not like The Adventures of Augie March at all this time around), but I suspect it will hold up whenever I get back to it. I did enjoy Reuss's Henry of Atlantic City more than Horace Afoot. I'm just now venturing into All About H. Hatterr (NYRB). Hoping that it lives up to the buzz.

I'm on the fence, but will probably pick this up. I probably had all the albums at one point, but currently only have 5 (of 9). Maybe a bigger issue is I really don't have shelf space for another Mosaic box, so something's gotta give... 😉