of walking in ice
Tuesday, 14. November 2006, 20:18:49
Yesterday morning it snowed that soft dry snow that melts before it touches your skin. It fell so slowly that you could be fooled into thinking it might stop and just hang there in the air. When I was out walking along the river it had just started and none had stuck to the ground. The ducks sat with their feathers fluffed on the frost covered grass waiting for it to gather around them.
While I was at work the day warmed enough that the snow turned ever so gradually into a light but constant drizzle.
The result in the evening was a wet, slippery, translucent mush that showed the edges of every footprint in icy outline. It squelched like quick-sand and threatend to topple me headlong into it's grey slushy clutches.
Learning to walk on this new watery, icy, snowy surface reminded me of the Werner Herzog book "Of Walking in Ice". It's a slim little book that I read some years back, an account of his walking from Munich to Paris in a straight line in the winter of 1974. The reason for this trip was that he had been told that the film critic Lotte Eisner was ill and likely to die. Herzog, ever the eccentric, got it into his head that they had to meet and therefore she couldn't die until he got there. So he walked. So she would live longer.
On his journey, he breaks into vacant vacation homes and meets interesting characters and reflects. The book has a nice tone, reads quickly, and is certainly of interest to anyone who has followed German cinema generally or Herzog specifically.
I was just searching for a picture of the cover (this was the best image I could find) to put in this post and found that the paperback version I have is selling only on collector sites for between $285 and $495 (US) depending on condition. The hardback, which I've never seen, is listed at $1200. Who knew.
I read this summer that he, Herzog, has a new film in the works that is comprised almost exclusively of stock documentary footage from NASA and various antarctic scientists but re-cast through editing and dialogue into a science fiction film. Contrast with the now established 'mockumentary' style of Zelig, Spinal Tap, Man Bites Dog, Blair Witch, etc.
In the mean time, I must practice my walking in ice as it's a dangerous business. Somehow the Norwegians make it look effortless, even in spike heel boots that should be treacherous all by themselves.
While I was at work the day warmed enough that the snow turned ever so gradually into a light but constant drizzle.
The result in the evening was a wet, slippery, translucent mush that showed the edges of every footprint in icy outline. It squelched like quick-sand and threatend to topple me headlong into it's grey slushy clutches.
Learning to walk on this new watery, icy, snowy surface reminded me of the Werner Herzog book "Of Walking in Ice". It's a slim little book that I read some years back, an account of his walking from Munich to Paris in a straight line in the winter of 1974. The reason for this trip was that he had been told that the film critic Lotte Eisner was ill and likely to die. Herzog, ever the eccentric, got it into his head that they had to meet and therefore she couldn't die until he got there. So he walked. So she would live longer.
On his journey, he breaks into vacant vacation homes and meets interesting characters and reflects. The book has a nice tone, reads quickly, and is certainly of interest to anyone who has followed German cinema generally or Herzog specifically.
I was just searching for a picture of the cover (this was the best image I could find) to put in this post and found that the paperback version I have is selling only on collector sites for between $285 and $495 (US) depending on condition. The hardback, which I've never seen, is listed at $1200. Who knew.I read this summer that he, Herzog, has a new film in the works that is comprised almost exclusively of stock documentary footage from NASA and various antarctic scientists but re-cast through editing and dialogue into a science fiction film. Contrast with the now established 'mockumentary' style of Zelig, Spinal Tap, Man Bites Dog, Blair Witch, etc.
In the mean time, I must practice my walking in ice as it's a dangerous business. Somehow the Norwegians make it look effortless, even in spike heel boots that should be treacherous all by themselves.
When you're in Austin .... ice walks on YOU
By anonymous user, # 16. November 2006, 18:02:09