Amusing and Pleasant Recollection

 "I shall never regret," said Mr. Pickwick in a low voice, "I shall never regret having devoted the greater part of two years to mixing with different varieties and shades of human character: frivolous as my pursuit of novelty may have appeared to many. Nearly the whole of my previous life having been devoted to business and the pursuit of wealth, numerous scenes of which I had no previous conception have dawned upon me - I hope to the enlargement of my mind, and the improvement of my understanding. If I have done but little good, I trust I have done less harm, and that none of my adventures will be other than a source of amusing and pleasant recollection to me in the decline of life. God bless you all!!""

Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

Fernando Pessoa (another one of my man crushes, as you know) had famously proposed that the greatest regret of his life was never being able to read The Pickwick Papers again for the first time. Mr. Pickwick had called his friends - and members of the PC - together let let them know that, "The Pickwick Club exists no longer." I thought of this line the other night at 2:00 in the morning, when pain had forced me awake, and I was keeping the cats company out in the living room. Usually, my self-loathing (which is always flowing just beneath the surface) is most acute during those times in the middle of the night when I can't sleep (this is a new experience for me, another gift from old age, because for most of my life the only thing I did well was sleep; sleep apnea was doing its best to kill me, but at least I wasn't staring at the ceiling, reflecting upon my innumerable failures as a father, husband, son, brother, friend, scholar, teacher, etc.). I reached for one of our copies of The Pickwick Papers and tracked down the passage. I suppose it should have made me sad, but instead it filled me with appreciation, for all of the people who have played, continue to play, and hopefully will always play, a role in my absurdly rich life. Doubtless, I will be dragooned to speak at tomorrow's going away soiree, and hopefully Dickens will help me out.

Movies in 2026 125

 

Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1943)

Last night I watched a short film that I had first seen last year, Maya Deren's 1943 Meshes of the Afternoon. This is part of my goal to watch more short films this year, which, as I proposed earlier, I think I've ignored over the years. It's considered a foundational work in the surrealist canon, although I read an interesting review that argued that it was probably influenced more by the wave of film noir movies that were popular then. After the film I asked Janet if she had ever heard of Maya Deren, as they both went to Smith College (like so many intelligent, cool women I know). I'm jealous of folks who went to amazing schools like Smith, and it pains me that so many great small liberal arts schools are closing in this America where moronity and greed rule. Recommended - the film, not today's America.

Movies in 2026 124

 

Hold Me Tight (Mathieu Amalric, 2021)

Last night I watched another Vicky Krieps film. Apparently she's turned into the go-to actress for films about isolation and misery. She's good fit, although not because she seems more than normally isolated or miserable, but simply because she's such a good actress. I suppose that just as with any actor in any category, there is the definite chance that they will get pigeon-holed. What I love about European films is the desire to make important films about important topics, stuff that would be relegated to a remarkably small budget in an independent film, because all the film industry resources are reserved for the latest installation of the Marvel or Star War brand. There are certainly big budget productions in Europe, but there seems to be a smaller gap - essentially, they're not simply making stupid new movies about Superman or the Fantastic Four or impossibly small budget independent films. Anyway, thanks for coming to my TedTalk. The film I watched last night was Mathieu Amalric's 2021 film Hold Me Tight. Vicky Krieps plays Clarisse, who has apparently run away from her husband Marc (Arieh Worthalter) and her kids, but, in reality, they are the ones who left her (although not in the way we think she left them). Most of the film is her obvious grief and her memories - an imagined memory - of her family's lives after she has left them. Vicky Krieps's wonderful, sorrowful performance holds the film together when it might have spun out of control. You should definitely check it out. It's being featured in this month's Vicky Krieps collection on the Criterion Channel.

1

 Yes, 1, not 54. The last week has begun. As I was saying earlier, I was very touched by the sign with the player wearing 54 yesterday. Erik, the culprit, promised as a last week gift to not complain about Champlain or students, although we both know that I grouse about both far more than he ever does. My students were great on Monday, which may relate to a wonderful job by their professor, but I suspect only reflects either their being able to see the end of the semester - or some grudging happiness for their professor.

Thanks to Warren Moon for loaning me his #1 for the penultimate Countdown post. What can one say about Moon that hasn't already been said? He's the only player who appears in both the CFL and NFL Hall of Fame (the only other double occupants are coaches: Bud Grant and Marv Levy). He was born in Los Angeles, California, and played college ball first at West Los Angeles Community College and then more famously at Washington. Despite a stellar career at Washington, Moon went undrafted (I suspect he was a victim of the then long-lingering suspicion of Black quarterbacks, which seems insane now, but what fairly common until not that long ago). He signed with the Edmonton Eskimos, playing for six seasons, along the way winning five Grey Ciups, and winning the Most Outstanding Player Award in 1983. In 1982 he became the first quarterback in either league to throw for 5000 yards in a season. He then made his long-awaited arrival in the NFL, playing for the Houston Oilers for a decade, before brief stops with the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks, and Kansas City Chiefs. I will be sporting his jersey on Thursday, the last active class day of my teaching career.

East Calais Posh

 There are many things about Vermont that I will not miss, but there are other things that I'll miss quite a bit. Some of the smaller, more obscure, things are what I'll miss the most. For example, I'll miss my Saturday morning routine of making the dump to the local dump transit station on Moscow Woods Road in East Calais. I get to check out the local smart set (the dump is also where people running for office often hang out on Saturday morning, because it's the one place where you are guaranteed to see a lot of people). While there, as I've celebrated elsewhere on this blog, I get to deliver dog treats to Willow (now, sadly, on the disabled list with knee surgery) and Misty as they hang out in their truck. Then I head around the corner to visit the East Calais General Store, which is a great store - and Jen, who runs it, is really great and always happy to help out with things. Inevitably, I grab a breakfast sandwich to supercharge for my next stop - the gym in Berlin for my Saturday morning workout (since it's a half-hour drive to Planet Fitness it's OK to wait to grab brekkie at the store). Since the weather has broken (a bit, it snowed on Sunday - and I drove through a whiteout on the way to school yesterday), I sat outside to revel in the nice weather and scenery.

You can't get more posh than a sausage and egg sandwich and a chocolate milk.

54?

 Apparently there is a movement (conspiracy?) to convince me to put off my retirement and stick around at Champlain for another year. I found this photo on my door this morning, covering up the picture of Davis Sanchez's #2. The logic is that with my diva twice a week schedule I only have classes 27 days a semester, so 54 would be my year. No one has admitted to this chicanery so far, but, truthfully, I was sincerely touched by it. Maybe they will remember me past June.

Thanks to Justin Lawrence for unofficially loaning me his #54 as for the Unofficial Countdown as part of the scheme to convince me to hang around for another year. Lawrence was born in Edmonton, Alberta, (and thus he is a National player) and played college ball at the University of Alberta before being a 5th round pick in the 2018 draft. Over the years he's played for the Calgary Stampeders, Toronto Argonauts, and currently for our hometown Montreal Alouettes. He's a three time Grey Cup champion, once each for the three clubs - which would inspire me to sign him, because he's both a good player and also clearly good luck.

Movies in 2026 123

 

The Ghost Breakers (George Marshall, 1940)

After the relative disappointment of Phantom Thread I decided not to think, and instead simply watch a movie that I loved from childhood: The Ghost Breakers. It stars Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard (who I obviously have such a cinematic crush on) in one of the first horror comedies, which have been a staple of Hollywood for decades. Is it a great movie, of course not, nor even a good one, but it's also a film that I'd watch every time it popped up on the TV, and I eventually just my own copy. It also stars Willie Best, in one of those demeaning roles that black actors had to play for decades, as Hope's (Larry Lawrence) valet Alex. Apparently Hope said that he thought Best was one of the best actors he ever worked with, and other actors over the years said similar things, but Best was stuck playing certain roles. Later in his life he had pot and heroin busts, and the bad publicity brought an early end to his career. It makes me wonder if someone has written his biography, if so, I may track it down. The other interesting black actor in the film was Noble Johnson, who faced many of the same obstacles. Because of his imposing size, Johnson played a greater variety of roles, although none of them that gave him many opportunties: a zombie in The Ghost Breakers, a native in King Kong , an Indian chief in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, etc. What I didn't know, and which is very interesting, is that Johnson founded the Lincoln Motion Picture Company, an African American film company that made, what at the time were called "race films." The challenges of keeping the company afloat proved to much and Johnson eventually closed it down and went back to character roles. Again, I need to track down a biography.