Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Day #21,713

Walk km 7577-7580: to T&T
Walk km 7580-7588 (14,125 to go): 29th/Gothard/Galt/Nanaimo/Kingsway/Baldwin/32nd/Gladstone/31st/Dumfries/30th/Knight/29th/Culloden/35th/Sherbrooke/Ross/Glen/24th/Carolina/King Edward

flowers
aprox km 7583 32nd Avenue

Book #381: The Score (1964, Donald E Westlake)

I remember reading one of these early "Richard Stark"s back in the day and feeling quite disappointed. No such problem here. This is pretty much the equal of the later Starks. Parker appears just a tad more human here - but not much.

Movie #1693: Yesterday Girl (1966, Alexander Kluge)

Well, that was different! No-account woman spends her life lying, stealing and prostituting herself. This is all presented in a string of disjointed cinematic forms rather than a straight narrative. Kept me glued to the screen throughout.

Movie #1692: The Running Man (1963, Carol Reed)

The Laurence Harvey character in this movie must certainly be one of the most unpleasant characters to be found in any movie. The plot begins when he's incensed when an insurance company will will not pay off on his claim even though he's let the premiums lapse. From there on he is forever taking out policies in order to swindle the insurance companies. In short, he's a spoilt brat. A fine picture although I wished that the Lee Remick and Alan Bates characters were more interesting. They are both weak willed people who just follow along in Harvey's wake.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Day #21,712

Walk km 7570-7572: running errands
Walk km 7572-7577 (14,135 to go): 49th/Beechwood/51st/West Blvd/61st/Arbutus/Marine/63rd/Angus/64th/Marine/Angus/68th

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Day #21,711

Movie #1689: The Frightened City (1961, John Lemont)

Quite a triple feature today: Canadian documentary, Mexican blasphemy and English crime drama. This one stars a pre-Bond Sean Connery as an enforcer for the mob. Quite entertaining as the English backdrop makes for a nice change of pace from the usual Hollywood fare.

Movie #1688: Viridiana (1961, Luis Bunuel)

a veritable "last supper" full of sinners

I think if I were a Catholic I would understand more about why this is so blasphemous. Viridiana is ordered by her mother superior to leave the convent to visit her ailing uncle. On the outside, Viridiana meets nothing but sinners (just as the church says) until she finally becomes one herself.

Movie #1687: The Strangest Dream (2008, Eric Bednarski)

It's a National Film Board Of Canada documentary about Joseph Rotblat, the only scientist to quit the Manhattan Project before the atomic bomb was completed.
One interesting thing I learned from this is that the military had already told the scientists that the bomb was not being created as a deterrent to the Japanese - the bomb would be used to deter the Russians. I didn't realize that they knew that at such an early stage.
The second half of the film is about the Pugwash conferences which is how the NFB comes in since Pugwash is in Nova Scotia and the conference was first funded by Cyrus Eaton.
One problem with the film is a lot of the visuals displayed behind the audio are not identified so you're not sure what you are seeing. Otherwise, an excellent film.

Farewell Poker Tour tournament #12: $215 2 to 7 Triple Draw (PokerStars weekly)
This should be my last $215. I leave for Vegas next Sunday.
1st Break (4:55 PM): already down to 3,020 chips (from 4,000). That puts me in 13th place (out of 16 players). We're moving at a pretty fast pace (94 hands played already).
BUST (5:23 PM): Well, that didn't take long. I couldn't draw anything.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Day #21,710

Walk km 7555-7557: running errands
Walk km 7557-7570: Marine Dr Station to Brighouse Station via Bath Slough Trail with Meetup group

Meetup group
aprox km 7559 along the Fraser River

Friday, May 27, 2011

Day #21,709

Ellie Greenwich expired on August 26th 2009, her website "elliegreenwich.com" expired on May 27th 2011. Last video goes to Ms Gore:


Book #380: The Book Of Dead Philosophers (2008, Simon Critchley)

The last book of philosophy I read was "The History Of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell which took me about a year to read. This one took two days. Simon Critchley has a sense of humour.
This is a history of philosophers pared down to just their views on death and then how they died. Since these fellows (and a few women) keep dropping like flys while I was able to continue reading right along without a care in the world, I found it quite a happy reading experience.

Movie #1685: Rachel & The Stranger (1948, Norman Foster)

Lighthearted look at straightlaced William Holden and devil-may-care Robert Mitchum. Since this is Hollywood, Holden always gets the women!
At least it's lighthearted until they kill a bunch of people at the end of the picture. That wasn't very nice.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Day #21.708

Walk km 7550-7555 (14,133 to go): King Edward/Hudson/McRae/Marpole/15th/Birch/7th/Burrard/6th/Cypress

trees
aprox km 7552 The Crescent


another day, another Ellie Greenwich song:


Movie #1684: Hollywood North (2003, Peter O'Brian)

In order to get TCM from my cable provider I had to buy all these crappy movie channels as well. I looked over their listings and they all appeared to be crap. Some of these (like Sundance) looked fine if you checked the USA schedule but the Canadian schedule was totally different. Because it's seems to be very hard to get the Canadian rights to any movie, the Canadian schedule is filled with TV shows, documentaries and Canadian films.
So, just for fun I checked what was on this evening. Encore Avenue was showing a Canadian movie called "Hollywood North", It's about the making of a tax write-off movie. Tax write-off movies are a genre that hasn't really been explored. In the 80s, Canadians could make movies and as long as they lost money, the producers could get more money in tax write-offs than they lost on the movie! Ingenious. The idea was that the government was paying these guys to make bad movies so that a core of experienced movie technicians could be trained in Canada. The result would be that people would then come to Canada to make real movies. That's not just the plot of this movie: this really happened.
And this movie ain't so bad. It's better than a tax write-off movie (believe me, 'cause I've seen some of them).

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Day #21,707

Walk km 7547-7550: running errands

another day, another Ellie Greenwich song:


Book #379: Voices Against War (2009, Lyn Smith)

A collection of quotations (each about a paragraph long) from people who were in one way or another anti-war. It would have been much better if the whole world were included but it's almost totally people from the UK. Interesting but not very entertaining (plotwise we know what happened!)

Movie #1683: Black Angel (1946, Roy William Neill)

Not quite noir. This is advertised on the DVD box as noir but it just falls short. However, it's still a quite enjoyable crime drama from a story by Cornell Woolrich. Both Dan Duryea and Broderick Crawford are excellent in this one. June Vincent isn't much to talk about and Peter Lorre does his usual Peter Lorre turn.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Day #21,706

Walk km 7542-7546 (14,160 to go): to Save-On-Foods
Walk km 7546-7547: between buses

another day, another Ellie Greenwich song:

Ellie's songs get around: Rita Chao was from Singapore, Nancy Sit was from Hong Kong

Movie #1682: The Fortune (1975, Mike Nichols)

Two bumbling con men marry and then kill off an heiress in order to get her inheritance. Jack Nicholson is quite funny but that's about it.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Day #21,705

Walk km 7532-7540 (14,165 to go): to Yaletown Station/(skytrain)/49th/Heather/50th/Neal/52nd/Tisdall/53rd/Tisdall/54th/Ash/57th/Cambie/59th/Selkirk/73rd/Marine
Walk km 7540-7542: to Safeway

plants
aprox km 7536 54th Ave

Another day, another Ellie Greenwich song:

seems kinda bare without those Beach Boy harmonies

Movie #1675: Fauborg St Martin (1985, Jean-Claude Guiguet)

the real Patachou

MUBI has dumped a whole slew of free movies onto their website and this is one of them. It's a standard "Grand Hotel" type with all the tenants and staff having their own troubles/secrets. This one stars famous French chanteuse Patachou. However, I've never seen her picture so I was wondering which cast member she was. Two of the cast members sang during the movie and I thought I had it figured out - but no, Patachou ended up being one of the non-singers.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Day #21,704

Walk km 7522-7532: from Aberdeen to Brighouse Station with Meetup group

Meetup group
aprox km 7527 Westminster Highway

Movie #1674: The Roar Of The Press (1941, Phil Rosen)

PRC programmer.

another day, another Ellie Greenwich song:

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Day #21,703

another day, another Ellie Greenwich song:

the complete Beverley Jones Story can be found here
there's not much to the video so while you're listening to the song why not peruse this Beverley Jones comic



Movie #1673: 20 Million Miles To Earth (1957, Nathan Juran)

my favourite onlooker shot

After last night's movie, anything would be a letdown. So, I went with this 50s sci-fi giant monster movie. Those movies are generally a letdown compared to any other movie. However, this one was a bit different. It was made by Columbia so it had a budget. They didn't spend any of the money on actors or script though. They put their cash into hiring Ray Harryhausen to do the special effects. And a fine job he did too. Nathan Juran also did quite well (loved those shots of the onlookers' various reactions to seeing the beast). Added bonus was the super high quality widescreen picture from Crackle. Most enjoyable.

Farewell Poker Tour Tournament #11: $22 HORSE (PokerStars SCOOP)
This is the last of the SCOOP tournaments. After this it's just practice for Vegas (I leave June 5th).
1st Break (11:55 AM): not much to report here. I started with 5,000 chips and I now have 4,586. I think I'm a better player than some of the others at my table but I still need some cards.
2nd Break (12:55 PM): Man, this is slow going. After two hours I've moved up from my starting chips of 5,000 to 5,416. 2,808 players have entered. 569 are already bust. I'm in 1168th place. The top 440 get paid.
BUST! (1:34 PM): Two bad hands back-to-back and that was it. So, my SCOOP results were less than sterling: 1 cash in 10 attempts.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Day #21,702

another day, another Ellie Greenwich song:

great song, crappy video but this song and "Chapel Of Love" are like bookends

Movie #1669: Synecdoche New York (2008, Charlie Kaufman)

Well now, this is more like it! The most depressing movie ever? You bet. And yet, it's got it's funny bits too. And if you're thinking depressing who do you cast? That's right: Philip Seymour Hoffman! There never was an actor who could put across depression like PSH.
The movie is in two parts: first we have the straight out depressing stuff which is piled on in ridiculous quantities. Then there's the Kafkaesque weird stuff that helps alleviate some of the depression with a few chuckles along the way.
It's an EPIC!
This one must have won just a giant sack full of oscars.

Farewell Poker Tour Tournament #10: $22 No Limit Omaha hi/lo (PokerStars SCOOP)
1st Break (2:55 PM): Pretty good start = I didn't go bust. My original 5000 chips are now 6,965. There are (so far) 2330 entries of which 582 are already bust. My 6,965 chips puts me in 572nd place.
2nd Break (3:55 PM): Pretty good second hour = I didn't go bust. In fact, my chips are now 21,884 which puts me in 110th place. 2,597 players have entered of which 1,463 are already gone. Top 378 get paid.
3rd Break (4:55 PM): Pretty good third hour = I didn't go bust. My chip count has come down to just 10,091 but that's still good for 449th place. Let's see, I'm in 449th and 378 get paid. Looks like I'll need a little luck to get into the money.
BUST! (5:07 PM): in 508th place. Not good enough. Tomorrow is the last SCOOP. After that I'll just be playing to get rid of my money.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Day #21,701

Walk km 7513-7515: to Safeway
Walk km 7515-7522 (14,179 to go): to Yaletown Station/(skytrain)/49th/park/48th/Fremlin/54th/Oak/58th/Laurel/59th/Fremlin/60th/Heather/61st/Fremlin/62nd/Heather/63rd/Laurel/58th/Heather/59th/Marine

birdbath
aprox km 7518 Fremlin Street


Another day, another Ellie Greenwich song:

This was a hit for The Dixie Cups but I couldn't find a live video that would embed so you get The Angels instead. Besides, I always liked girls that wore suspenders!

Movie #1667: Violence At Noon (1966, Nagisa Oshima)

This one is a little weird. Four sided love/hate story in which everyone keeps talking about suicide. All those suicides and attempted suicides sets this one apart from your normal love/hate story. However, you can't really take any of it seriously so it's just fun for it's novelty value.

Farewell Poker Tour Tournament #9: $11 Pot Limit Omaha hi/lo (PokerStars SCOOP)
1st Break (11:55 AM): Oh no, not pot limit again. I can't play that. To prove the point I have wasted most of my 5,000 chips. I now have only 643. I should bust out very soon. I predict 12:16.
There are 5,116 entries (so far). Over 1000 have already gone bust.
BUST! (12:12 PM): I couldn't even last til 12:16. At least I went "all in" with the best hand.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Day #21,700

Walk km 7500-7506: to Yaletown Station/(skytrain)/41st/Willow/42nd/Tisdall/48th/Willow/47th/Fremlin/46th/Oak/47th/Granville/48th/Oak
Walk km 7506-7513(14,187 to go): around downtown with Meetup group

sunny day in suburbia
aprox km 7504 48th Avenue

Another day, another Ellie Greenwich song:

Manfred Mann - Do Wah Diddy by scootaway

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Day #21,699

Walk km 7496-7498 (14,201 to go): to the Safeway
Walk km 7498-7500 (14,199 to go): running errands

Another day, another Ellie Greenwich song.
By the looks of this video they must have really changed the lyrics when they translated them into German.


Movie #1666: W. (2008, Oliver Stone)

Interesting that they would make a movie about a president while he was still in office. Looks like they put the kid gloves on for this one. Although they do portray him as a buffoon, they portray him as a sincere buffoon. I think that most would argue that he and his administration knew full well that the "proof" they had about WMDs and Al-Quaeda links were just fabricated lies. However, Stone decided to go with the studipity defense. I guess there's only so far an American can go when they are looking at a sitting president.
Besides that, this was a quite enjoyable movie to watch and was expertly executed.

Farewell Poker Tour Tournament #8: $215 Stud hi/lo (PokerStars SCOOP)
Still 1 hour and 20 minutes before the start. Since this is my favourite game, I contemplating playing in the $215 instead of the $22.
I've decided on the $215. Celeb players so far are Marcel Luske & Liv Boeree.
1st Break (11:55 AM): Disappointing. Started with 5000 chips and I'm now at 4,744. That puts me in 180th place out of 270 entries. I'll have to pull up my socks in the next hour.
2nd Break (12:55 PM): Oh, this is horrible. I'm down to 2,434 chips. I just haven't got any cards. I'm lucky to still have 2,434. Only 14 players have less chips than me (plus the 4 that have already bust). I think I'm due for some good cards - hour 3 should be good for me.
I just looked at the 4 players that have bust - one was Marcel Luske. At least I'll finish ahead of him.
BUST (1:30 PM): Well, that was the worst run of cards that I could ever imagine. The good news: it can't get any worse!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Day #21,698

Walk km 7491-7493 (14,205 to go): running errands
Walk km 7493-7496: to Denman @ Davie

Movie #1665: The Wife Of General Ling (1937, Ladislao Vajda)

The picture quality wasn't good but the soundtrack was in worse shape. The plot is set in Hong Kong and the evil Chinese are no match for the virtuous English. Not sure if this one was racist as well because of the poor soundtrack (the title character did rue the day she married a chinaman).

Another day, another Ellie Greenwich song: Maybe I Know (Lesley Gore, 1964)
From the summer of '64 - made it up to #14 on the Billboard charts

And for those who want to hear the recorded version (produced by Quincy Jones):


Farewell Poker Tour Tournament #7: $10+rebuy+addon Pot Limit Omaha (PokerStars SCOOP)
1st Break (2:55 PM): I'm pretty bad at all PL games. I started with 6,000 chips (including the rebuy). I 'm now down to 2,985 before the addon. I'm in 2,474th place out of 2,833. Sounds pretty bad but 1,850 players have already bust out (that's Pot Limit for you). My chance of getting to the 2nd break? I'd say about 10%.
BUST (3:18 PM): That didn't take long now did it?

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Day #21,697

Walk km 7476-7491: Meetup group walk around downtown

Song #38,045: He's Got The Power (1963, The Exciters)
A great song that only made it to #57 on the Billboard charts (March 2, 1963).

That's just fine but how about a live version.
Unfortunately, I cannot embed the live video so you'll have to go over there to see it. It's well worth the trip........... most videos from 1963 are just lip sync so this is a treat to see this one live.

Farewell Poker Tour Tournament #6: $215 Omaha hi/lo (PokerStars Weekly $215)
1st Break (5:55 PM): Started with 4000 chips. Now at 4,465 which is good for 4th place out of 17 entries.
2nd Break (6:55 PM): Now at 8,764 which is good for 2nd place out of 23 entries. 3 have already bust out.
BUST (7:36 PM): Sailing right along............ two bad hands..........I'm gone. Finished 16th (out of 27).

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Day #21,696

Walk km 7467-7476 (14,220 to go): to Yaletown Station/(skytrain)/49th/(bus)/49th/Chester/45th/St Catherines/49th/Windsor/52nd/51st/Prince Edward/55th/Ontario/61st/Manitoba/63rd/Cambie

flowers
aprox km 7473 61st Ave

Movie #1664: Le Couple Temoin (1977, William Klein)

A couple are chosen to enter a model apartment where they are experimented on by the government to determine just what the "model couple" would want. It's all a bunch of garbage but it does swing quite close to "original" at times and so it's reasonably entertaining to watch.

Farewell Poker Tour Tournament #5: $22 Stud lo, Stud hi & Stud hi/lo (PokerStars SCOOP)
This one starts in about an hour. I think I'll have my afternoon nap while I'm waiting.
Now 9 minutes before the start and we have two celebs signed up: Lex Veldhuis & Marcel Luske.
BUST! (2:55 PM): Amazing. I started off with 5000 chips. I quickly went straight down to 2800 before just as quickly rebounding to 7,000. Then it was straight down and out. The reason for this is that they made these tournaments "turbos" which means that the stakes rise very quickly. I think they want to get these tournaments over quickly because the players in Europe will need their rest before Monday's work or school. And I wasn't alone: 272 players bust in the first 55 minutes.
Ooops! Wait a minute, this is Saturday. I don't know why these were turbos.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Day #21,695

Walk km 7459-7467: King Edward/Balkan/26th/Knight/King Edward/Dumfries/21st/Clark/20th/Knight/19th/Knight/17th/18th

cherry blossoms over everything
aprox km 7465 21st Ave

Movie #1663: Starman (1984, John Carpenter)

alien in the back of a pick-up truck

Not really a rip-off of Close Encounters. Carpenter ups the ante by writing the alien into the plot rather than have them just stand around looking weird at the end of the movie. And then he decided to turn it into one of my favourite genres: the road movie. Besides that, he does kinda fill in the rest with the usual Close Encounters touches. If you're gonna steal, steal from the best.

WOW! Google has finally screwed up big time. The blogs crashed and a lot of my updates were lost. They've finally put the blogs back up but after promising the missing information would be restored, it has not - and no explanation is being given. What's the world coming to if you can't rely on Google?
The missing info: I finished in 38th place in the stud tournament and won $115. It took 7 1/2 hours to complete! Then I watched "Crooks Anonymous" (1962, Ken Annakin) which was quite pleasant.
Yesterday, I walked to the library and then with the Meetup group in Richmond. I've now walked 7,459 km. When I finished my walk I finished reading "Poisoning The Press" (book #378) by Mark Feldstein.

Farewell Poker Tour Tournament #4: $55 Omaha hi/lo (PokerStars SCOOP)
Omaha hi/lo used to be my favourite game until I started playing stud. It's another game that I might be a little rusty at.
1st break (11:55 AM): I'm off to another good start. My original 5,000 chips are now 6,577.
So far 1,531 have entered so we'll have more entries than the stud. 33 have already gone bust. My table is kind of weak but there are no crazy players - everyone is trying their best to win.
Of course for me the pressure is off - I cashed in the stud so anything after that is just gravy.
2nd break (12:55 PM): Well, that didn't go so good. I went as low as 2500 chips before getting back to 4,412. That leaves me in 962nd place. There are 1828 entries - 409 are already bust.
Looks like they'll be paying the top 270.
Bust (1:23 PM): That didn't take long. Tomorrow is triple stud (razz, stud, stud hi/lo).

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Day #21,693

Farewell Poker Tour Tournament #3: $33 Stud (PokerStars SCOOP)
I used to think I was quite good at stud but I haven't played in quite awhile. Not sure how I'll make out in this one.
1st break (11:55 AM): a bit of a roller coaster ride in the first hour. I won a bunch of hands in the first 10 minutes to go up to 5800 (from the start of 5000). Then I lost a lot of hands to go into the 3000s before making a comeback near the end of the hour. My chip count is now 5,834.
There are 1196 entries so far. 2 have already busted out. I'm in 236th place.
2nd break (12:55 PM): Another roller coaster ride. I quickly went up into the 8000s before falling back badly. I won a pot just before break to finish at 6,641.
There are 1,494 entries. 102 are already bust. I'm in 362nd place.
3rd break (1:55 PM): Well, this hour wasn't a roller coaster, it was pretty much straight down. I am left with only 1,123 chips. I lost most of my chips when my flush was beat by someone hitting a full house on 7th street. Most of my chips have gone to players who kept chasing and hit their miracle card on 7th. Oh well.
There are 950 players left of which 224 get paid. I'm in 921st place.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Day #21,692

Walk km 7432-7444 (14,248 to go): Science World to English Bay (and return)

Meetup walkers (taken with Glenn's camera)
aprox km 7438 English Bay

Movie #1657: Derby Day (1952, Herbert Wilcox)

I'm a sucker for horse racing movies. This one is a series of short stories. Everyone is going to the Epsom Derby but they all have different reasons. The novelty of the concept makes for entertaining viewing.

Farewell Poker Tour Tournament #2: $11 Pot Limit 5 Card Draw (PokerStars SCOOP)

2nd break(9:55 AM): This one started at 8 AM (while I was asleep) but I signed up around 9:15. I'm no good at this game so I won't go far. My original 5000 chips have already shrunk down to 3955.
3,580 entered this tournament - 955 have already gone bust.
3rd break(10:55 AM): I'm still here! I've got 6,850 chips but I had over 14,000 at one time. Was very lucky to get the 14,000 but now my lack of skill at this game is showing.
There are 1634 players left of which 540 get paid. I don't think I'll be one of the 540.
Bust (11:17 AM):About time I busted.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Day #21,691

Walk km 7424-7432 (14,259 to go): Marine Drive Station to Marine @ Knight via Richmond

trail sign
aprox km 7428 Bath Slough Trail

Farewell Poker Tour Tournament #1: $16.50 Badugi (PokerStars SCOOP)

Marcin Horecki (outlasted me)

I'm giving up poker in June so I'm finishing off with a bang. I'll be playing in the SCOOP (Spring Championship of Online Poker) series in May and then I'm off to Vegas in June for some live tournaments.
Today's game is badugi which most people play very badly. I was thinking of moving up to the $162 level but I think I'll just stick to $16.50 since this is my first tournament. There should be tons of awful players at the $16.50 level. If I don't cash in this, I'll be very disappointed.
Right now it is 5 minutes before starting time and we have 847 entrants. How many have ever played badugi before? I'll be updating this on each hourly break and when I bust out.
First Break (11:55 AM): Surprisingly, everyone at my table knows the rules of badugi and there are no crazy players. "Xlisa" from the Ukraine is too loose with her chips so she won't last. Everyone else is playing a nice conservative style. We started with 5,000 chips and I now have 5,855. There are 1738 players (so far, registration is open for 2 hours) 9 have already busted out.
2nd Break (12:55 PM): My 5,855 chips are now down to 5,355. I told you this was a tough table!
There are now 2,097 entries and 146 are already bust. Approximately the top 300 will finish in the money. I'm currently in 881st place. I'll need to pull my sox up if I plan on cashing.
Amazingly, "Xlisa" who I badmouthed on the last break is ahead of me. She has 6,740.
Also at this table is Team PokerStars pro "Goral" (Marcin Horecki from Poland). He has 6,440 chips.
Bust (1:26 PM): WOW! I didn't win a single hand after break #2. At least I didn't lose because of bad play. I lost because I could not draw anything and my opponents were drawing like God.
My next tournament should be the Stud on Wednesday.

Movie #1656: Silvia Prieto (1999, Martin Rejtman)

A bunch of people all give things to one another. They pass stuff (and themselves) around. Does it mean anything? Doubtful. Is it entertaining? Nope.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Day #21,690

Walk 7411-7424: River Rd/Fraser River walkway/Bath Slough Trail/park/Thorpe/Dallyn/Deerfield/Dallyn/Danforth/Dallyn/Cambie

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Day #21,689

Walk km 7401-7411: from Joyce Station to Sperling Station with the Meetup group

Meetup group walkers
aprox km 7408 Kensington Street

Movie #1655: Forgotten Silver (1995, Costa Botes & Peter Jackson)


Fakeumentary of forgotten film director Colin McKenzie. Has a few chuckles in it.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Day #21,688

Walk 7399-7401: running errands

Movie #1654: Hi Diddle Diddle (1943, Andrew L Stone)

Pola Negri starts singing Wagner and everyone joins in

This Andrew L Stone sure is a master of all genres. I just finished watching his "Ring Of Fire" a few days back (drama of teenage delinquents) and now "Hi Diddle Diddle" (the screwiest of the screwball comedies). It's hard to imagine any other director who has made two movies more diverse than these.
The plot here is useless but of no concern as the whole thing is packed with all kinds of goofy situations and clever one liners. The best bit is the woman who keeps popping up all over the place. Someone says "I've seen her somewhere before". Someone else says "yes, she's a friend of the director - he puts her in any scene he can find a place for her". This predates Jean-Luc Godard and Alain Robbe-Grillet by a good 20 years.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Day #21,687

Walk km 7388-7399 (14,288 to go): from Waterfront Station to Rupert Station with the Meetup group

Meetup group walkers
aprox km 7395 Pender Street

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Day #21,686

Walk 7371-7378 (14,308 to go): Haro/Denman/bus/Davie/skytrain/Cambie/Canada Line bridge/Cambie/skytrain/Pacific/Expo/Abbott/Hastings/Carroll

Walk km 7378-7388(14,298 to go): Aberdeen to Brighouse Station via Fraser River walk and McCallan Trail

McCallan Trail
aprox km 7383 Richmond

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Day #21,685

Walk km 7359-7369(14,316 to go): across Canada Line bridge, through Richmond to and across Knight Street bridge then on the bus to Carroll @ Pender, from there home
Walk km 7369-7371: running errands

Fraser River
aprox km 7366 from the Knight Street bridge

Movie #1653: Night Into Morning (1951, Fletcher Markle)

This couldn't have been an easy picture to make: a man slowly goes downhill after losing his family. There's enough talent here to pull it off especially Ray Milland who gives a great performance. By the way, this Fletcher Markle is the same one who had a TV show on the CBC in the 60s: Telescope. He also helped Orson Welles on the screenplay for The Lady From Shanghai and signed Lorne Greene to play Ben Cartwright on Bonanza. He was born in Winnipeg.

Book #377: The Cabin (1992, David Mamet)
A collection of magazine articles. Fairly entertaining.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Day #21,684

Walk km 7355-7359: running errands

Movie #1652: Just One Of The Guys (1985, Lisa Gottlieb)

New on Crackle, it's the "Gone With The Wind" of 80s teen comedies. However, that's not saying much. Most of the credit seems to go to Joyce Hyser who gets to play both a boy and a girl. I guess it's not too bad and they do use a tune by The Stooges on the soundtrack.
Just looked this one up on IMDB: Joyce Hyser didn't get to act in another movie for 5 years after making this one. It took Gottleib 10 years before she could direct another movie after this.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Day #21,683

Walk km 7342-7355: walk around Stanley Park with the Meetup group

Movie #1651: Horrors Of The Black Museum (1959, Arthur Crabtree)

A prime example of the British horror movie. A much better budget than its American counterpart and infinitly more dull. Michael Gough overacts mightily as the evil genius who gets his assistant to commit a series of horrible murders. This one adds a long and tedious lecture by some Hollywood "expert" on what we're about to see. Piffle.

Movie #1649: Wizard Of Mars (1965, David L Hewitt)

Pretty much forgettable grade-Z sci-fi except for the scene of the guy in the tube with the glowing brain - I thought that was well done. Before that we just have four people in space suits walking around pretending that where they're walking is Mars. After that we have a bodyless John Carradine giving a very long and tedious speech.