Our Reluctant Winter

 Our unconventional winter weather endures like the unwelcomed guest determined to stay at the party even after everyone else has left. Last Friday evening, my friend and I watched a documentary film at the Oriental Theater. Friday was the official St Patrick's Day, so we were fortunate to find a spot to park outside Whole Foods on Prospect. Fortunate until we walked into a considerable headwind on North Avenue. The wind chill factor dropped the temperatures into a feels-like range in the single digits. Fortunately, the high winds evaporated much of the previous night's rain, so we didn't get icing conditions.

After an exceedingly mild winter from November until February, this March, a one-two punch of snow and cold is unseasonable and unwelcome. I forget. Did that gopher see its shadow?

Seven Guitars,  @ The Rep

I've seen two of August Wilson's plays done for the screen, Ma Rainy's Black Bottom and Fences. This was my first theater experience of his work, and what an experience it was. It was staged on a stunning set that, we found out during a talk-back session with the cast, mimicked Wilson's home in Pittsburgh. The cast of guest actors and born and bred Milwaukee stalwarts were up to the challenge of the three-hour production of stunning poetic dialogue with a sprinkling of choreography and song.

Wilson's play presented a picture of black life in the nineteen forties with its roller coaster of hopes and disappointments. Yet, it was unsparing in its revelation of the shattering of dreams and its optimism for a better future.

If you closed your eyes and just listened to the play, it would be worth it, but to deny yourself of the experience of watching these actors give motion to the words would be sad.

Medical report: MRI and Analysis. 

This Monday, I had an MRI to follow up on the masses they found on my pancreas and bladder. The mass on my pancreas is very small. However, we will scope it before it's decided if it warrants further surgery. 

I will switch Doctors for further scrutiny of the mass on my bladder. The doctor I have been seeing is so busy he can't get to me for months.

We know that if these growths are cancer, it hasn't spread anywhere in my body. So my doctor says it's doubtful if it is cancer at all. But, if it is, we got in plenty of time.

On the Easel:

Michigan Ave Bridge In  The Snow

12 x 16 Pastel

Flight

9 x 12 Pastel

Classic Oldies But Goodies Film:

This week I watched Being There with Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, and Melvin Douglas. I'm not sure how they diagnosed Peter Sellers' character when this film was released (1979), but today we'd say he was on the autism scale.

At the opening of this film, our protagonist, Chance, is being protected from society by his wealthy friend. Chance lives within the walls of a mansion which we later find is in a rundown urban neighborhood. Chance is a gardener and television addict. His worldview and conception of life are shaped by these experiences.

When his benefactor dies, Chance is thrown out of the mansion and onto the streets. Through good fortune, he finds a new benefactor who finds his innocence and simplicity leading to people mistaking him for a prophetic guru.

The film is long on social criticism and humorous circumstances in which even powerful and intelligent people embrace Chance's innocence for greater understanding. The irony is they may be right.