morning in America

Something I haven't done in a while: walking outside with my camera after eating my cereal, and appreciating the beginning of a new day. From our side-yard, looking east:

And, a few more steps back, revealing the dim outline of Mt. Hood (you have to squint, but it's there, at the bottom of the clear spot on the left):

Not too much work pending today, so I will steal some time and get back to the pile of films that I now have checked out from the library.

Last week, at a used book sale, I chanced upon the autobiography of Josef von Sternberg, a director I was first exposed to in college. I didn't know that much about him personally, so the book was a revelation. First of all, I always thought he was one of the classic early German directors, and was astonished to hear that he grew up in New York, and was a Jew originally named 'Jo Sternberg' (a capricious distributor added the 'von' to give the impression of nobility and he liked it).

The other day, I watched one of his early silents: The Last Command', for which the star, Emil Jannings, apparently won the very first Best Actor award, in 1928. It was astonishing in its vision, composition, lighting and editing, with multi-layered characters and quirky title cards that were written by Herman Mankiewicz (who, of course, went on to write little films like 'Citizen Kane').

Waiting for pickup at the library is The Docks of New York, and already on the pile upstairs is The Blue Angel (which I saw, once, decades ago) and The Scarlet Empress (the film which I studied back in college).

This is what I do, when I get interested in a particular director: view as many of the films as possible, in sequence, if possible. The last director that captured my attentions in this manner is Werner Herzog, and in my VCR at this moment (only a tape was available) is a curiously-repellent film called 'Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen' (or, in English, 'Even Dwarfs Started Small'). I think I'll be done with Herzog after this one - it is truly bizarre.

Played piano for two musical programs tomorrow, so it was a busy day. On Thursday, I have the first rehearsal for another music program, to be given on December 23rd. The 22nd, 23rd, and 24th will be busy with several events and dinners with friends, and then, on Christmas morning, we (all 4 of us) fly to LA for a few days, returning to Portland on the 31st (so the boys can be with their friends on New Years Eve).

As a said earlier, not a whole lot of pending work for me, before we leave, so it's a great time to watch films and read, listening to the furnace burn oil to keep us warm, while the Washington DC circus goes on and on and on...

OK, I really do need to do a little programming today, so time for coffee!