sovay: (Rotwang)
sovay ([personal profile] sovay) wrote2023-11-25 06:42 pm

Wouldn't end up on that Catherine wheel

As I wrote to [personal profile] elisem who is asking for good things, Autolycus sat on my desk for hours this afternoon and chattered like a Siamese-voiced machine gun at the fat sparrow just out of reach in the yew tree beyond my office window. It was fluffed out round with the cold and should obviously have been in his mouth. He batted at the glass; the sparrow fluttered away; it returned and he renewed his chatter. Only when it became too dark to see if the sparrow was still there did he lose the hunting hunch of a cat ready to spring through double glazing in pursuit of delicious prey.

More than the film noir in which capacity which the Criterion Channel has collected it for Noirvember, Robert Wise's The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) is a post-war Gothic which throws a successful shadow across the refugee dream of American sanctuary but somehow makes less than it should of the ironies of its heroine's imposture without which she would never have been plunged into an old-fashioned inheritance murder complete with endangered child and ambiguous ardor of the master of the house, but since it introduced Richard Basehart and Valentina Cortese to one another such that their marriage would take him to Italy for most of the rest of the decade where Fellini could spot him visiting his wife on the set of a movie he wasn't even making and I could discover him decades later in La strada (1954), I'm fine with it. William Lundigan continues to be much less interesting when he's supposed to be heroic.

I grew up watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my grandparents, so I am familiar with the phenomenon whereby as soon as Santa brings up the rear of the floats and the balloons and the Rockettes, open season on Christmas has officially begun, but I may have maxed out already on the carols and popular songs that have been filtering down through our ceiling all afternoon. "Santa Baby" three times in the same hour is a lot, with or without the yacht.
theseatheseatheopensea: Sabine Wren's Loth-cat. (Loth-cat.)

[personal profile] theseatheseatheopensea 2023-11-26 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
Autolycus sat on my desk for hours this afternoon and chattered like a Siamese-voiced machine gun at the fat sparrow just out of reach in the yew tree beyond my office window.

Aww! <3 One of my cats (who was part Siamese) was especially vocal whenever she saw a bird!

The movies they chose for "Noirvember" look great, and not your typical pick, right? There are some I've seen, others I've seen with a different title, and some I definitely haven't, and which I'll add to my list! Thanks for the tip!

I am familiar with the phenomenon whereby as soon as Santa brings up the rear of the floats and the balloons and the Rockettes, open season on Christmas has officially begun

<3 For me, the season officially started when my grandma took me to see the Christmas window display at the local branch of Harrods, which was a very special event!

And I feel you about the carols and popular songs! My sister and I enjoy playing Whamageddon, though, and then (after we both lose) Whamhunter! XD
theseatheseatheopensea: Illustration by James Marsh, cover of the album Missing pieces, by Talk Talk. (Missing pieces Dodo.)

[personal profile] theseatheseatheopensea 2023-11-26 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, good cat! Hestia and Autolycus both sing to the birds they sight. In our old apartment, they had mourning doves on the telephone wires outside the living room.

<3 My other cat would basically talk to any bird she saw, especially pigeons, with very loud meows that sounded less hunter-like and more friendly! It was adorable!

but the majority of this month went into being exhausted.

May next month be better! <3

It sounds it! What a lovely tradition. What sort of displays did they have?

I mostly remember there were super fancy toys and decorations, and they had a man dressed as Santa Claus you could get your photo taken with! The store itself was awe-inspiring, it was huge and had many floors and bright lights. It closed in the late 90s and the building has been mostly empty ever since. Whenever I walk past it, I think of the Christmas window displays, and also that it's 100% full of ghosts and wouldn't be out of place in a S&S episode!

I am not sure that I have ever heard "Last Christmas." I don't know how I'd know if I lost!

You're probably very lucky, because it's such an earworm! There's a version of the game that uses "Fairy tale of New York", which I think is very cool!
theseatheseatheopensea: Lyrics from the song Stolen property, by The Triffids, handwritten by David McComb. (Default)

[personal profile] theseatheseatheopensea 2023-11-26 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
I love the idea of your cat setting up communications with the local birds. I hope the pigeons talked back.

They did, and I suspect that they were laughing at her! She was the most uncatlike cat I've ever known! I realy miss her! <3

Thank you! Likewise?

One can always hope, right?

You should write it!

I think that the way my WIP folder grows could be a subtly scary S&S episode all by itself! XD

And [personal profile] spatch and I would lose it even before Christmas season started, since we both listen to the Pogues.

So would I! (And I would also add Tom Waits to the list of Christmas-related music that I don't really mind!)
theseatheseatheopensea: A person reading, with a cat on their lap. (Reader and cat.)

[personal profile] theseatheseatheopensea 2023-11-26 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I am sorry. Do you have cats in your life currently?

Thank you! <3 I had these two for over 15 years, but none at the moment.

Too many narratives, not enough time . . .

Absolutely terrifying!
thistleingrey: (Default)

[personal profile] thistleingrey 2023-11-26 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
I am not sure that I have ever heard "Last Christmas."

Near me, for whichever reason, it's far more likely than "Little Drummer Boy."
thistleingrey: (Default)

[personal profile] thistleingrey 2023-11-27 04:04 am (UTC)(link)
Better to've missed, IMO. :)