Day #22,351-353

Day #22,351 was a travelling day and #22,352 didn't exist (crossing the International Date Line). Arrived in New Zealand on Day #22,353.

Walk km 13,073-13,078: to harbour and back from K Road
Walk km 13,078-13,085: to Auckland Domain and Albert Park

flowers and a fountain
approx km 13,082 Albert Park Auckland

Day #22,350

Walk km 13,056-13,073: Premium Outlets (South) to the Riviera

Movie #2226: Citizen's Band (1977, Jonathan Demme)

Movie cashing in on the CB frenzy of the 70s. It's "Grand Hotel" time again as various characters have their stories mixed together due to their one common trait: CB use.
And whatever became of Paul LeMat anyway? He looked like an up-and-coming star back in the day.

Day #22,347-349

Walk km 13028-13037: to the Strip
Walk km 12037-13041: changing hotels
Walk km 13041-13056 (9293 to go): trip to Laughlin

Day 22,348: Caesar's Palace (Las Vegas)

Day 22,349: arriving in Arizona (Bullhead City) after crossing the Colorado River

Movie #2222: 10:30PM Summer (1966, Jules Dassin)
Movie #2223: Isabel (1968, Paul Almond)
Movie #2225: The American (2010, Anton Corbijn)

Two Netflix movies including the famous Canadian production "Isabel" which is not available in Canada (only on Netflix USA) and one DVD of George Clooney starring in one directed by Anton Corbijn (former photographer for the NME).

Day #22,346

Walk km 12,016-12,028 (9318 to go): walking on Lone Mountain

Day #22,345

Walk km 12,994-13,010: Flamingo Arrayo Trail and Wetlands Park
Walk km 13,010-13,012 (9333 to go): to Fremont buffet
Walk km 12,012-13,016: watching Fremont Street Experience

wetlands
approx km 13,004 Wetlands Park Las Vegas

Day #22,344

Walk km 12,992-12,994: in transit

light rail train to SeaTac Airport
approx km 12,993 Seattle

Day #22,343

Walk km 12,986-12,992 (9351 to go): running errands

Book reread: The Galton Case (1959, Ross MacDonald)

I didn't reread this because it was a stinker.

Movie #2221: 711 Ocean Drive (1950, Joseph M Newman)

More of a crime drama than a "noir" but still plenty of fun. Big finale at Hoover Dam is worth the price of admission all by itself.

TV episode #50: The Prisoner: The Chimes Of Big Ben (1967, Don Cheffey)

"Danger Man" escapes from "The Village". In just the 2nd episode? Are you sure about that?

Day #22,342

Walk km 12,981-12,986 (9356 to go): every block walk - Selkirk Street

TV episode #49: The Prisoner: Arrival (1967, Don Chaffey)

The first episode of The Prisoner. "Danger Man" has resigned his position as a secret agent. He now finds himself the star of a brand new TV series. 

Day #22,341

Walk km 12,964-12,981: Meetup walk from Science World to Lost Lagoon

Movie #2220: Killer Dill (1947, Lewis D Collins)

Proverty row comedy that just ain't funny. For Mike Mazurki fans only.

TV episode #48: Danger Man: Time To Kill (1960, Ralph Smart)

Another favourite from my childhood that (based on this episode) may not have been as good as I remember it to be. 

Day #22,340

Walk km 12,957-12,869 (9371 to go): Meetup walk from Metrotown to Lake City stations

Movie rewatch: Duel (1971, Steven Spielberg)

Everybody knows this movie but did you know someone has just uploaded a nice new HD version onto YouTube? Not to be missed.

Day #22,339

Walk km 12,955-12,957 (9382 to go): running errands

Movie #2219: Black Mama White Mama (1973, Eddie Romero)

American International sends a few of their "stars" down to the Philippines to make a cheap movie. How about a script? Well, we can use that Tony Curtis-Sidney Poitier thing where two criminals escape but they're chained together. And the catch is that one's white and one's black. Yeah, that'll work, except in our picture they'll be women and they'll wear real skimpy outfits. Sure, and there'll be lots of cat fights. And shower scenes. And plenty of shootemups. Lesbiens too!
Pam Grier and Sid Haig lead the imported cast. This ain't "Gone With The Wind".  

TV episode #47: The Twilight Zone: Nothing In The Dark (1962, Lamont Johnson)

Load of crap. Old lady stops "living" because she's afraid of death. OK, that could be a nice moral. By locking herself up in her room and not allowing any contact with anyone else, she cannot possibly defeat death because she's already conceded defeat.
But no! It seems that death is really walking arm in arm with Robert Redford into the sunset! Jeeeezus (literally)!

Day #22,338

Walk km 12,940-12,943: running errands
Walk km 12,943-12,955: from Metrotown Station to Stadium/Chinatown station

Movie #2218: Beverly Hillbillies (1993, Penelope Spheeris)

Cloris Leachman mugging - even talented people must pay their bills

OK, enough of those weird YouTube movies - let's see what we can find on Neflix.
90 minutes of people mugging for the camera. Eight year olds may enjoy it.
Back to YouTube.

Day #22,337

Walk km 12,937-12,940: running errands

Movie #2217: Three Plus Two (1964, Genrik Oganisyan)

A Russian comedy from 1964! Amazing what you can find on YouTube. And do the Soviets have a wicked sense of humour? Niet!
Not funny at all but it does have that light breezy feel that Hollywood films had at that time. Historically interesting but nothing else to recommend it.

TV Episode #46: Miami Undercover: The Thrush (1961, Howard W Koch)

Run of the mill TV crime drama about the music industry payola scandal. Larry King plays the DJ who's gunned down for refusing to play a record. The record is by Jill Corey (who helps the police round up the baddies). Steve "I Wake Up Screamimg" Fisher wrote the screenplay.

Day #22,335-336

Walk km 12,925-12,926: running errands
Walk km 12,926-12,937 (9399 to go): Meetup walk from Metrotown to Gilmore (train stations)

TV series #45: The Betty White Show (1954)

It's family values galore as Betty sings "Getting To Know You" and "Maybe I'm Right". The grand finale is some 10 year old coming on to sing "Silent Night" and then being showered with a huge pile of toys. Totally unwatchable except for historical reasons.

Day #22,334

Walk km 12,912-12,915: to Safeway
Walk km 12,915-12,925: Meetup walk in Pacific Spirit Park

Movie #2216: Eva Wants To Sleep (1958, Tadeusz Chmielewski)

Ingenious Polish comedy. Although the filmmaking is of a very high standard, there is just one problem: it's not funny.

Day #22,332-333

Walk km 12,901-12,903: running errands
Walk km 12,903-12,912: Meetup walk in Pacific Spirit Park

Book #447: The Seventh (1966, Donald E Westlake)

It's back to the big caper plot for the 7th in the Parker series. Someone has stolen the loot from Parker's most recent score. He also killed the woman that Parker was living with. Parker is out for vengeance - nobody steals his money!

Day #22,331

Walk km 12,877-12,889: Metrotown Station to Lake City Station
Walk km 12,889-12,901: Meetup walk from Broadway/City Hall Station to 54th and Tyne 

brown grass
approx km 12,880 Deer Lake Park

Day #22,330

Walk km 12,876-12,877: running errands

Music Video #4: Butterfly Concerto (Qiu Wenqi?)
The uploader obviously snuck a video recorder into this concert of The Butterfly Concerto performed by just a violinist and a pianist. We see the performance from between two seats in row 2. Probably recorded in Taiwan (since that's where the uploader lives). There is no info on the performers except that the Chinese characters translate as Qiu Wenqi - is this the name of the violinist?
As for the music, it's quite good. Sound quality is excellent. You don't lose much by having the piano play the entire orchestral part. The two musicians sound professional - I don't think that this was a high school recital. 

Music Video #5: Debussy's String Quartet in G (New Kyiv Quartet)
This is a tough one. All strings so there's no variety in the music (except for the pizzicato parts). It can drag if not played well. This one doesn't sound as good as the LP I used to have. Cameraman doesn't help with zooming in and out. I'm sure there are better videos of this one out there.

Music Video #6: Bach's Harpsichord Concerto #1(Helene Grimaud & Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra)
Wednesday evening classics continue. This is more like it. Multiple cameras give this a professional look. I haven't heard this before but because of the piano (Helene must have forgotten her harpsichord at home) and string interplay, it's never boring. Three parts: fast-slow-fast. I guess even then the second movement was supposed to be the "mood" movement. Excellent.

Day #22,329

Walk km 12,862-12,876 (9453 to go): meetup walk zigzagging from Broadway Station to 54th Ave

Movie #2215: Go Go Second Time Virgin (1969, Koji Wakamatsu)

This may have been just intended to shock but it's also mighty weird. A bunch of teens gather on an apartment rooftop on a hot summer night. First comes gang rape, then mass murder and finally the survivors commit suicide. Creepy.

Day #22,328

Walk km 12,855-12,862 (9466 km): walk from Metrotown to Gilmore stations

Movie #2213: Daydream (1964, Tetsuji Takechi)

Super weird for 1964 but then this is Japanese! It's two sexual perversions battling it out for 90 minutes. In one corner: romance - in the other: s&m. Caught in between is the poor woman who has to put up with these two men (and their two extremes). We have lots of electronic music and weird scenes shot primarily in a dentist's office and overnight in a department store. It was kinda fun but ultimately rather pointless.

Book #446: The Jugger (1965, Donald E Westlake)

This one is a bit different. There's no big caper here. Parker decides to investigate when a confederate who knows his real ID appears to be getting senile in a small Nebraska town. Better snuff him before he spills the beans. However, on arrival, Parker finds that someone has beat him to it.

Day #22,327

Walk km 12,844-12,855 (9472 to go): Meetup walk in Stanley Park

Meetup walkers
approx km 12,850 Stanley Park

Day #22,326

Walk km 12,830-12,844 (9482 to go):  Meetup walk on West Dyke Trail (Richmond)

Movie #2212: Blueprint Of Murder (1961, Kihachi Okamoto)

Super flashy directing style. I had trouble keeping up with the plot because constant subtitle reading was a hindrance to trying to keep track of all these characters. It's all about industrial espionage and the style is pure comic book.
It's amazing what you can find on YouTube. Sure beats Netflix!

Music Video #3: Butterfly Concerto (Akiko Suwanai,  no orchestra named)
Sounds good. Recorded in 2009 at 50th anniversary celebration of the composaition.
A few ticks in the sound and screen has crap all over it. Looks like it was uploaded from a cheap VCD.

Day #22,325

Walk km 12,807-12,818: SFU to Vancouver boundary
Walk km 12,818-12,830 (9495 to go): Meetup walk along False Creek