Sunday, September 27, 2015

Swedish noir

I've been working through the Steig Larsson trilogy, books,and movies, with the last book in French.  The last one got boring so I skipped to the movie.

Better than I thought.  The movies are good Swedish practice, and nicely edited.

I also got hooked on Danish sitcon "Rita" and crime drama "Dicte."  Funny and well done.  I learned Danish is too hard.

Trying to find a Finnish class has proved daunting, but I listen to Finnish and Russian learning podcasts alternately.  Odd and politically/culturally iffy, but it's working for me...

Thanks, Cle, for the greetings.  I dunno if Xena and her moment can be replicated, but something that longlastingly awesome would sure be welcome...


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Third day's the charm

Back home
Working dogs

Durfee creek.


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More SHT

I read it like that too...


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Superior Hiking Trail

Over the previous weekend, I joined a family backpacking trip to the SHT, planned from Judge Magney State Park to a trailhead where the trail goes on to Pincushion Mountain, all above Grand Marais.  Autosuggest wanted "backpacking" to be "hellish," but it was mostly quite fun, if arduous.

We had three dogs, which meant a forced fast pace, some wrangling, a little grumpy growling at naptime, and lots of thrills and chills at cliffside.  Everyone survived.  A sprained ankle required half our party to be helped out and taken home early, but not due to dog antics. 

My dog, a Husky Border Collie mix, pulls like sled pulling alternating with checking back in and herding.  So she pulls when going downhill on rocky sliding trails, but slacks as we go up hills, busy looking back to urge me on.  I did not get the dog assist the other hikers did from goal-oriented, non-herdy breeds...

The campgrounds were full, and our reserved site even had some freeloading Freegans in it when we arrived at 10:30 pm...  But the backpacking sites and trails were only sparsely populated, and we camped alone in a nice beach cove and then up in a large group site on a forested ridge.  No nightly critter visitors, except some small scurryings and bugs.  Good food and dog behavior in the tent.

Customer service at the Tettegouche State Park visitor center was disinterested at best, but the Java Moose and Pie Cafe in Grand Marais were awesome.  Food tastes good after camping,tho our cooks did well in the dried foods department.  We had more trouble hanging bear bags with all white birches...

Anyway.  Pictures tell more.


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Only Lovers Left Alive

Music, madness, Marlowe, Motown.  I expect nothing more of Jim Jarmusch, and this movie delivers.  His take on vampires really nails it.  This is no asskicking murder mystery solving vampire story, it's a requiem for the zombies.

Like Tiptree said, Hello, that's us.


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Saturday, September 26, 2015

Women photographers of Russia, Eastern Europe, far north/east

Wow: 29 photographers

http://calvertjournal.com/lists/show/3787/in-focus-29-women-photographers-picturing-the-new-east

Amazing collection.



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