A Farewell

I am breaking blogging silence with some very sad news. My cat died last week. It seemed very sudden - Saturday she was having trouble breathing, but she was still moving fine, eating, though with some difficulty; but by Wednesday she was suffering bad, and Thursday morning, she went, while I was waiting for the local vet's to open to take her in. Poor old thing.

She was oldish - 13. Not ancient. I have had her for 12 1/2 years. She has been a superb cat. She was part of a litter my brother's cat had - 4 of them - John, Paul, George and Ringo. They had given away John and George, and let me have my pick of Paul or Ringo. Paul was a handsome boy - black and white tuxedo - but he also seemed a bit too rambunctious. Ringo was playful and friendly, but calmer, and that seemed like a good idea for an apartment cat. So Ringo it was - New Year's 2011.

(There they all are, 13 years ago.)

She turned out to be just about perfect. She was a fun cat, but she wasn't really wild - good in an apartment. She was friendly and social, but not needy - good when it's just the two of us most of the time. She was very sweet and good natured, she loved attention - she could be shy around other people, but 10 minutes later she would be plopped in the middle of the table expecting everyone to pet her. She was a joy.

(Always ready to help out on the computer.)

She was healthy as a horse, for almost all that 13 years. This last week or so is the first time she has given me anything to worry about. She didn't even have hairballs or puke, like most cats - unless she got to eating plastic, which she certainly did. Phone cords, plastic bags, the occasional connecting wire (chewed through the wire from my Roku to the TV, back in the days when I thought a Roku might be handy.) That was it, though. It makes me wonder if she ate something bad this time - I don't know what - but she acted like she might have swallowed something, and it all happened fast. I don't know.

I will miss her. She loved her new couch - 

She loved my old chair. Poor old kitty. Rest in peace, old friend...

Giving Thanks for Friday Music

Another Friday - Thanksgiving week is usually a complicated one, and this one has been no exception. Started last weekend moving stuff from one storage unit to another - a story in itself. (How does U-Haul survive, without knowing how to cash checks properly?) And then vacation, and all the usual temptations to sleep all day and play games all night... And some food shopping and food prep and all the rest, until the happy day arrives and you eat yourself into a coma and then sleep for 12 hours. Unless you have a retail job, and have to get up to be at work at midnight to cater to the stupidest ritual the country knows... that ain't me, thank god.

And so this Friday, what shall we do for music? Well - thank you songs are always in order....

1. ABBA - Thank you for the Music
2. Big Star - Thank You Friends
3. Fairport Convention - Now Be Thankful
4. George Harrison - Thanks for the Pepperoni
5. Mogwai - Thank You Space Expert
6. Neil Diamond - Thank The Lord for the Nighttime
7. Sam & Dave - I Thank You
8. DM Stith - Thanksgiving Moon
9. Soft Machine - Thank You Pierrot Lumiere
10. Xiu Xiu - Thanks Japan!

And video: Sam and Dave is certainly indicated:



And Fairport Convention, live:



And of course, a cat, thankful for that piece of string.

Random Tunage for Another Friday

Let us resume one of the rituals of the blogosphere, the Friday Music List - maybe even as a prelude to some actual movie blogging... With the results of the new Sight & Sound poll out, there is plenty to write about - those things always prove irresistible. I have been arguing about it a bit at Wonders in the Dark - defending Godard mostly, lately... it reminds me that it's been a while - 5 years since I posted a full Top X (100, at it happened) films... and I don't think I have ever posted a ranking of my favorite directors - I may have to address those oversights. Meanwhile - any temptation I might have to post my own Top 10 is going to have to wait - there is a very real chance it might be different by Monday - new print of Celine and Julie Go Boating is showing this weekend... I've seen it once - I am in awe of it and Rivette - seeing it again, might exalt it very far... I certainly am looking forward to it.

And so - random top ten - though first, another internet tradition - The Cat:



Thank you.

1. Wild Flag - Race Horse (damn! a new song!)
2. Terence Trent D'Arby - Wishing Well
3. Pylon - K
4. Mars Volta - Roulette Dares (The Haunt of)
5. The Flying Burrito Brothers - Do You Know HOw It Feels?
6. Young Marble Giants - Salad Days
7. Patti Smith - Seven Ways of Going
8. Fleet Foxes - Lorelai
9. Melvins - The Stupid Creep
10. Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Wake up and Make Love to Me

Can't avoid posting this - "Wishing Well" being one of those songs I only ever heard on TV, back when MTV had videos - and loved....



And - Wild Flag is a good choice here:



Have a great weekend, readers mine!

Happy Thanksgiving!

While the turkey is cooking, here's some old rock and roll - let's be thankful for the electric guitar!



And Sly:



Or, if you are a cat - what better to be thankful for than a paper bag and a friend to wash your head?

More Snow! Hooray!

Well, here I am, buckling down for another snow storm, this one threatening to last a couple days, turning into sleet somewhere in the middle. That sort of thing sets off alarms - put down a foot of snow, then cover it in ice - there won't be a tree left standing in New England! The electrical situation may soon become precarious, even in the metropolis. Fortunately, this waited until the middle of the week - it's been a very nice stretch for movies, the last couple weeks - some of last year's best films replayed; and a Hong Sang-Soo series at the HFA. I'd just as soon not try to plow through a blizzard to see them - though I have done worse. I made it out during the April Fool's blizzard of 1997 to see Rebel Without a Cause! I suppose I'd make it to Hong's films anyway...

The weather hasn't started yet, so it's off to work I go. It's supposed to start any minute though. The commute back home in the evening ought to be entertaining.

One possible consolations is that no Groundhogs will be seeing any shadows this week.

That's all for now. I will leave you with a Cat Picture. She agrees with me on the merits of Grinderman, I think.

Snow Day

Yes indeed. Very pretty snowstorm, but it's all pretty heavy and there's a lot of it, so there is an awful lot of this around:



I myself got a day off from work, which is just as well as I also got half a day with no electricity... I took the opportunity to wander the neighborhood looking at the aftermath (if that's the word - its still coming down, sort of...), then warmed up with a bowl of Pho before coming home... I've been looking at theinternet, and I am confused - did someone accuse Sarah Palin of drinking the blood of Christian children? Surely that can't be right - she would never discriminate on the basis of race, color or creed, would she?

Right. The mere mention of a certain reality show star and failed politician gives me a pain - here, as an antidote, is a picture of a cat misbehaving, cutely...

Happy New Year!

2011 is under way - how delightful! I am back from visiting the kin, and getting settled back in. I have a new housemate, a dear little kitty cat under the tree:



Though more typically, in the tree:



Anyway - she is settling in, and should be all right, as long as she doesn't try climbing to the top of my bookshelves - we might all be in for a nasty surprise then...

So it's been a full week or so, with traveling and holidays and all - a nice little rest, some very photogenic weather -



- way too much chocolate, cookies, pie, etc. And lots of Christmas movies. And Bogart - another nice gift under the tree:



And so - into the new year. I won't belabor my resolutions - I notice I posted blogging resolutions last year - yikes! I did visit the relatives, though - I did take a class or two - it took me all year, but I even got the Mabuse set! Otherwise.... the goals stand, basically - see more movies, write more - we'll see. This is about all I have the energy for today, having celebrated the new year mostly by eating way too much Tapas and Chinese food. Time for a nap!

And - I suppose - a somber note - the passing of Hideko Takamine, the extraordinary Japanese actress, aged 86. I have not really composed anything in her honor - I will give you the Siren's take and an image - Takamine as a delightful moppet in Tokyo Chorus. She would grow up to be among the very best actresses, in some of the very best films of all time. And, I think, the most purely beautiful of the great Japanese actresses of the 40s and 50s...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Did someone say the turkey was ready?

Don't eat too much... yeah, right... don't forget to share with the kitties...

Happy Thanksgiving.