Heavy Traffic

a film by Ralph Bakshi

The same checklist here as in Bakshi’s debut feature, plus some clumsy live action and pinball. Heavy Traffic mostly consists of zoomorphic humanoids, not too different from anthropomorphic beasts of Fritz the Cat but uglier. The only attractive character is Carole (Beverly Hope Atkinson). What did she find in Michael the pinball-not-exacty-wizard (Fritz 2.0? Future Bakshi?) is anyone’s guess. The soundtrack is really good, would be even better without Scarborough Fair.

High Tide

a film by John Reinhardt

Yet another obscure film noir. With pretty cool acting by Don Castle, Lee Tracy, Julie Bishop and Anabel Shaw and some great lines —

“He’s having a slight attack of rigor mortis right in the middle of my living room floor”

— this is my favourite of the bunch so far. But what’s with the title? High Tide is boring. No wonder the Spanish renamed it Ambición perversa — sure, it’s over the top but at least awakening one’s curiosity.

A fun fact: Reinhardt’s directorial debut was 1935 El día que me quieras featuring the tango of the same name as well as Volver and starring Carlos Gardel, Rosita Moreno, Tito Lusiardo and 14-year old Astor Piazzolla!

Symphonic Suites / Симфонические сюиты

by Edvard Grieg
performed by Grand Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio
conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky

This was another LP that my mum loved. DiscoGS lists 57 versions of this record, the earliest of them released in 1967. The orchestra is credited as Большой Симфонический Оркестр Всесоюзного Радио, which was its official name between 1966 and 1974. So let’s think Suites were recorded in 1966—1967. In our house, however, we had a 1971 pressing. I even remember the time (1971?) when it was squeaky new.

Since it was the only Grieg vinyl we had (Holberg Suite and Piano Concerto in A minor would come later), my mum referred to it just as a “Grieg”. “Put on a Grieg please.” My all-time favourite was «Шествие гномов» (March of the Trolls)^*. As it was the last track, I had to wait. But it was well worth it.

It still is.

Edvard Grieg Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 & 2, Lyric Suite

Эдвард Григ Пер Гюнт. Две сюиты из музыки к драме Г. Ибсена Лирическая сюита, соч. 54

Peer Gynt-suite nr. 1, op. 46 / Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46 / Пер Гюнт. Сюита №1, соч. 46 (audio) Morgenstemning / Morning Mood / Утро Åses død / The Death of Åse / Смерть Озе Anitras dans / Anitra’s Dance / Танец Анитры I Dovregubbens hall / In the Hall of the Mountain King / В пещере горного короля Peer Gynt-suite nr. 2, op. 55 / Peer Gynt Suite No. 2, Op. 55 / Пер Гюнт. Сюита № 2, соч. 55 (audio) Ingrids klage / Ingrid’s Lament / Жалоба Ингрид Arabisk dans / Arabian Dance / Арабский танец Peer Gynts hjemfart / Peer Gynt’s Homecoming / Возвращение Пера Гюнта Solveigs sang / Solveig’s Song / Песня Сольвейг Lyrisk suite, op. 54 / Lyric Suite, Op. 54 / Лирическая сюита, соч. 54 (audio) Gjætergut / Shepherd Boy / Мальчик-пастух Gangar / Norwegian March / Норвежский крестьянский марш† Notturno / Nocturne / Ноктюрн Troldtog / March of the Dwarfs / Шествие гномов*

*	This piece, Troldtog (literally, “troll procession”), is known in English as either March of the Trolls or March of the Dwarves. I prefer the former translation, while the Russian «Шествие гномов» means “procession of the gnomes”.
†	I suppose Soviet bureaucrats couldn’t leave «Норвежский марш» (“Norwegian march”) as such, they needed to insert peasants somewhere, as in “Workers and Peasants”. Thus «Норвежский крестьянский марш» (“Norwegian peasant march”). The original title, Gangar, is simply “march”, not even “Norwegian”.

Fritz the Cat

a film by Ralph Bakshi

Sex, drugs, rock’n’roll, profanity, graphic violence, politically incorrect jokes — in other words, “something to offend just about everyone”. I must say Fritz the Cat didn’t offend me that much. Perhaps it haven’t aged that well then. The thing is, at 78 munutes, the film is way too long for the message, if there was any. I don’t mind sex between anthropomorphic barnyard animals, I’d appreciate (proportionally) more rock’n’roll, and I really could live with less violence. Cut it to 20 minutes, I say, and we’ll talk. Of course, Billie Holiday and Bo Diddley are great. Some of them jokes still work —

We interrupt the Israeli–Arab war for this special announcement. The President, after conferring with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, has agreed to send more arms to Israel, based on the return of New York City and Los Angeles to the United States.

— and some of them don’t. “Radical left”, what radical left? By now, there’s no left left in the US.

Even bigger problem for me is that I didn’t find the protagonist lovable, or charismatic, or interesting in any way. The only character I sympathised with was Harriet the horse, maybe because she reminded me of the donkey from The Bremen Town Musicians.

Fritz the Cat opens the cycle Ralph Bakshi: Urban Noir organised by Filmoteca Canaria and Tenerife Noir.

Hollow Triumph (The Scar)

a film by Steve Sekely

Even less convincing — although significantly better produced and, IMHO, simply better — than Detour, this forgotten 1948 thriller stars Paul Henreid, Joan Bennett and Leslie Brooks.

How come that even the observant dentist Dr. Swangron (John Qualen) failed to notice that the titular scar migrated to the wrong cheek? Never mind that. The girls are beautiful. Henreid is pretty good in a double role of a chain-smoking baddie and, er, another guy, both of them psychoanalysts. Watch out for that orchid scene.

La cicatriz continues the cycle Los márgenes de Hollywood en la postguerra.

El París de los Dragones

by Tony Sandoval and Joann Sfar
translated by Lorenzo Díaz Buendía

Confused plot and too many dead or wounded dragons for my liking. It’s the romance between a Hawaiian strongwoman princess and a pansexual mermaid, coupled with a wicked sense of humour, that makes this comic worth checking out.

Detour

a film by Edgar G. Ulmer
based on a novel by Martin Goldsmith

There is no particular reason why this 1945 B-movie acquired a cult following while scores of superior films were forgotten. An unconvincing story with a few loose ends left untied, perhaps because the film creators ran out of little money they had, it is nevertheless worth watching if only for Ann Savage as Vera.

As I have learned, Vera was placed as a number 6 on Richard Corliss’ list of Top 25 Greatest Movie Villains, one position below Phyllis Dietrichson of Double Indemnity. Why? According to Corliss,

Picked up on a trip out west by a man (Tom Neal) fleeing from a death scene, she instantly and spectacularly gets on his and the audience’s nerves.

Wow. That calls for redefinition of what “villain” is. To me, Vera is a female version of Ostap Bender who, just like the Great Combinator in The Twelve Chairs, effortlessly takes control of a texbook patsy, in this case, Al. If anybody was getting on my nerves, it was this latter, on account of his incurable stupidity and repetitive voice-over narration. Against all odds, I kept hoping that Vera’s machinations would eventually succeed.

Detour was the opening film of the cycle Los márgenes de Hollywood en la postguerra organised by Asociación de Cine Vértigo.

Free live music and stuff in Las Palmas, January 2025

Happy New Years, we’ve celebrated several of them. Here are some things that we’ve seen in January:

• 18 January: «Este mar mío» @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos, Parque Doramas, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  Canarian singer-songwriter José Manuel Pérez “El Patillas” opened the new season of Musicando in the company of Gonzalo Macías (guitar), Carlos Meneses (double bass) and Néstor Ramos (drums).

• 17 September 2024 — 2 February 2025: «Juan de Miranda lo Pintó» @ Casa de Colón, Calle Colón, 1
  Works by Juan de Miranda (1723—1805); guided visit with Ramón Gil Romero and Francisco Javier Pueyo Abril on 30 January.

  

• 14 November 2024 — 15 February 2025: «Pérez Siquier» @ Fundación MAPFRE Canarias, Calle Juan de Quesada, 10
  Photography by Carlos Pérez Siquier (1930—2021); see the catalogue of his works here.

  

• 16 January — 14 February: «Welcome (An ironic view of us)» @ Centro de Artes Plásticas (CAP), Calle Colón, 8
  Photography by Angharad Rojo Martín.

  

And that was it for January. Looking forward to the Carnival already.

Crowdie Ever Mair / Овсянка

by Robert Burns and Samuil Marshak

I was not aware that Burns Night even existed until exactly 30 years ago, yes the very day of my first encounter with haggis and, as I learned much later, Black Brant scare. I arrived in Leeds just three days before and was staying at my Professor’s house while looking for my own accommodation. It started snowing in the afternoon, so we took the early leave — that is, about 5 pm, when everybody goes home. We spent the next two hours in a traffic jam. It was still a pre-mobile phone era and there was no way for the Professor to call his wife to say we’re stuck. At least we were sitting comfortably in the car, listening to the radio, most likely BBC Radio 3 broadcasing, guess what, Rabbie Burns songs.

Upon arrival, we were offered a dinner featuring hot porridge — Mrs Professor was an enthusiast of this dish on account of spending her formative years in Scotland. I found it impossible to refuse the first portion of the stuff but managed to politely decline the second helping.

Which brings me back to Burns. In The Complete Works of Robert Burns, there is a letter to Mrs. Dunlop from 15 December 1795 where he writes:

To leave talking of the matter so gravely, I shall sing with the old Scots ballad —

“O that I had ne’er been married,
etc. ”

See, Crowdie Ever Mair was already “old” in Burns’ times. I’m sure the Bard changed a word or two to make it sound more modern.

Robert Burns Crowdie Ever Mair

Роберт Бёрнс, перевод С.Я. Маршака Овсянка

O that I had ne’er been married, I wad never had nae care; Now I’ve gotten wife and bairns, An’ they cry crowdie ever mair. Ance crowdie, twice crowdie, Three times crowdie in a day, Gin ye crowdie ony mair, Ye’ll crowdie a’ my meal away. Waefu’ want and hunger fley me, Glowrin’ by the hallan en’; Sair I fecht them at the door, But aye I’m eerie they come ben. Ance crowdie, twice crowdie, Three times crowdie in a day; Gin ye crowdie ony mair, Ye’ll crowdie a’ my meal away.

Раз — овсянка, Два — овсянка И овсянка в третий раз. А на лишнюю овсянку Где мне взять крупы для вас? Одиноким, неженатым Не житье, а сущий рай. А женился, так ребятам Трижды в день овсянки дай. Век живет со мной забота. Не могу ее прогнать. Чуть запрешь за ней ворота, Тут как тут она опять. Раз — овсянка, Два — овсянка И овсянка в третий раз. А на лишнюю овсянку Где мне взять крупы для вас?

What’s “crowdie”? According to the glossary here,

Crowdie, a composition of oatmeal, boiled water and butter; sometimes made from the broth of beef, mutton, &c. &c.
Crowdie time, breakfast time.

The Russian translation of the song is called «Овсянка». «Овсянка, сэр» (“Porridge, Sir”) is a popular in Russian-speaking space meme from the 1981 Soviet film «Собака Баскервилей». In this movie, Sir Henry Baskerville was not a huge fan of it. The blasted dish is never mentioned in the novel, so it must have been an invention of the filmmakers. Also, porridge was used as ammo par excellence by Gromit in A Close Shave. Told you, it’s not edible.

La clase de griego

by Han Kang
translated by Sunme Yoon

I never heard about this writer until she won last year’s Nobel Prize in Literature. I certainly didn’t expect to see any of her books in our library. And there it was, on the New Arrivals shelf by the entrance to the reading room. I picked it up to leaf through. Suddenly, a middle-aged man, who also was browsing next to me, said: “It’s a good book. Take it.”
“Have you read it?” I asked, a bit suspiciously. I am not used to strangers giving me reading advice.
“Yes. It’s great.”

And he was absolutely right. It’s a beautiful novel.

I read Greek Lessons in Spanish translation. I hope the English one is equally good.

La casa

by Paco Roca

A year after their father’s death, his three adult children return to their family home in the country. To spruce it up before selling, no doubt. As the memories flood back, they don’t seem to be that sure.

I wish them all the luck in the world and... hope they keep the house.

Free live music and stuff in Santander and Las Palmas, December 2024

These are things that I’ve seen in the last month of 2024.

• 1 December: Namina @ El Almacén de Little Bobby, Calle del Sol, 20, Santander
  Natàlia Miró do Nascimento (vocals, guitar) and Pep Gol (trumpet, melodica, seashell, percussion) presented an eclectic programme of both originals, mostly from Namina’s latest album La nuit, and covers of songs like I’m Your Man by Leonard Cohen, Chove Chuva by Jorge Ben, Sympathique by Pink Martini and Chocolate Jesus by Tom Waits.

  

• 1 December: Jazz Jam @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol, 4
  Later the same evening, I was able to enjoy one hour and a half of a jam. Featuring the base band of Beltrán del Álamo (bass), Adrián Buenaga (tenor sax), Carlos Pizarro (guitar) and Raúl Quintana (drums), plus guests.
• 8 December: Diego Jascalevich @ Rvbicón
  An evening of folk and folk-inspired music by a virtuoso charango player, composer and singer.

  

• 12 December 2024 — 31 January 2025: «Una tirada de dados» @ Centro de Arte Naves de Gamazo, Avenida de Severiano Ballesteros, 3
  Works by Chema Madoz.

  

Back in Las Palmas, more exhibitions:

• 21 November 2024 — 3 January 2025: «Hilando Memorias» @ Centro de Artes Plásticas (CAP), Calle Colón, 8, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  Works by Gema Sánchez Yánez; guided tour on 23 December.

  

• 12 December 2024 — 31 January 2025: «Nautas» @ Centro Cultural CICCA, Alameda de Colon, 1
  Works by Miguel Panadero.

  

And that was it for December. Happy New Year!