Sunday, September 30, 2012

Day #22,200-201

Walk km 11,773-11,785: Meetup walk Riverport to New Westminster
Walk km 11,785-11,795 (10,406 to go): Mosquito Creek
water and rocks
approx km 11,782 Mosquito creek

Friday, September 28, 2012

Day #22,198-199

Walk km 11,759-11,773: Steveston to Riverport (Richmond)

Movie #2119: Man Of The Moment (1935, Monty Banks)
photo taken during production -  the scene in which Laura gets the idea to jump in the river

Charming romantic comedy starring silent movie star Laura La Plante. She doesn't really resemble her name at all, instead she portrays a ditzy blonde who decides to commit suicide with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. A lot if funny routines in this one.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Day #22,197

Walk km 11,757-11,759 (10,438 to go): running errands

Movie #2118: Crown v. Stevens (1936, Michael Powell)

Standard melodrama helped along by a lot of nice touches by director Powell and the obvious fun Beatrix Thomson was having playing the totally amoral murderer.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Day #22,195-196

Walk km 11,742-11,744: to T&T
Walk km 11,744-11,757: Meetup walk to Steveston
Meetup walkers
approx km 11,746 beside Richmond Oval

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Day #22,194

Walk km 11,735-11,742: south Richmond

farmer's field (after the harvest)
approx km 11,737 south of Steveston Highway (Richmond)

Movie #2117: Osaka Elegy (1936, Kenji Mizoguchi)

Daughter must get money to keep her father out of jail and to ensure that her brother graduates from college. So, what's a young lady to do?
After the family reaps the benefits of her sinning, they turn their back on her (because she's a sinner!).
Very simplistic tale without much character development. This is an early Mizoguchi and he did much better in later years.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Day #22,192-193

Walk km 11,727-11,730: running errands
Walk km 11,730-11,735: 54th @ Doman to Patterson Station
Saturday afternoon in suburbia
approx km 11,732 48th Avenue

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Day #22,191

Walk km 11,723-11,727 (10,464 to go): running (slow walking) errands

Book #431: False Conception (1994, Stephen Greenleaf)

This book may be better than I think. I took a vacation in the middle of reading it so the plot kinda lost its momentum.
It's the standard Ross MacDonald plot (something happened 20 years ago that finally boils to the surface). However, Greenleaf throws a couple of extra monkey wrenches in to make it kinda like Ross MacDonald in 3D.

Movie #2116: Wild Strawberries (1957, Ingmar Bergman)

Another Swedish laugh fest!
An old codger sets out on a drive to Lund. But the journey to Lund turns out to be a journey through the past. However, all ends well as he appears to be younger when he arrives than when he left.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Day #22,190

Walk km 11,720-11,723 (10,467 to go): around downtown

Movie #2113: Picture Brides (1934, Phil Rosen)

Mail-order brides are shipped to the Brazilian jungle to marry diamond mine workers. The usual.
IMDB gave this one a 66 - they're daffy.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Day #22,181

Walk km 11,710-11,720 (10,461 to go): every block walk from Eton to Rupert Station
Monday afternoon in suburbia
approx km 17,712 from Skeena Street

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Day #22,180

Movie #2112: Hands Of A Stranger (1962, Newt Arnold)

Another winner from the SMPR12 channel on YouTube. This is the oft filmed story of the concert pianist who has someone else's hands grafted onto his body.
This Newt Arnold fellow has a decent visual style and the music of Richard Lasalle seems a bit overdone but it is effective. This film zips along at quite a pace and is over before you know it (partly because this copy is missing 10 minutes from the original but also because it's so well made).

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Day #22,179

Walk km 11,703-11,710: Meetup mural walk
loaded down car
approx km 11,706 McLean Drive

Book #430: Operation Stranglehold  (1973, Dan J Marlowe)

Not nearly as good as "The Vengeance Man". This is an entry in the Earle Drake series. It appears that Earle is closely related to Donald E Westlake's "Parker". Both live outside the law and are totally ruthless. At least Parker is - Drake talks the talks but he's a bit of a softie underneath.
Dan J Marlowe ain't a bad writer but he's no Donald E Westlake.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Day #22.178

Walk km 11,696-11,703 (10,475 to go): Meetup walk from Commercial to Stadium Station
Meetup walks looking at a wall mural
approx km 11,698 near Britannia School

Movie #2111: Officer 13 (1934, George Medford)

Some seriously bad acting in this one. Some nice shots of 1930s Los Angeles but not enough to hold anyone's interest. IMDB rates this 66 - these people must be addle brained.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Day #22,177

Walk km 11,684-11,696 (10,481 to go): Meetup mural walk
Meetup walkers
approx km 11,685 29th Avenue Station

Day #22,175-176

Walk km 11,670-11,674: to and along Hastings
Walk km 11,674-11,684 (10,492 to go): Lougheed Centre Station to Braid Station via Boulevard Casino

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Day #22,174

Walk 11,656-11,670 (10,504 to go): Meetup walk along St George Street

Book #429: Needle In A Haystack (2006, Ernesto Mallo)

I just picked this one up at random. This one doesn't work so well because there is all kinds of sick people here but it lacks a calm central character for contrast. Usually, the detective or policeman takes that role in these kinds of stories. Here, the policeman is just as off-center as all the "bad guys". The only two stable characters are not at the story's core.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Day #22,173

Walk km 11,653-656: running errands

Movie #2110: Blonde In Bondage (1957, Robert Brandt)

It's back! The SMPR12 channel on YouTube had been shut down due to copyright complaints but it's up and running again. SMPR12 is the channel that has such such classics as "Stark Fear", "Shanty Tramp" and "Five Minutes To Love".
However, we cannot add "Blonde In Bondage" to that list. This is an odd Sweden-USA co-production but the final result is totally inept. The plot has more holes than swiss cheese and I'm sure the Swedes were very happy to see every female in Sweden throwing themselves at the one cast member that was American.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Day #22,171-172

Walk km 11,631-11,640: every block walk
Walk km 11,640-11,653 (10,519 to go): Meetup walk from #6 Road to New Westminster
Meetup walkers
cranberry fields of Richmond