Right, I promise I will be positive for the next few entries. I am rather happy in myself, so why not reflect this?
I'm consuming less media than I could. This is partly due to my habit of watching Harry Potter movies in German (I bought myself a boxed set about a year ago, and they play automatically in German), and partly due to the lure of the lovely, lovely internet. But I will return.
I have watched Kiki's Delivery service, which I bought ages ago and never really got the chance to watch. Well, I have now.
I was utterly charmed by it - optimistic Kiki, the wisecracking cat Jiji, and the city - well, apparently it wasn't based on a German city, but it certainly looked like one to me with all the coloured buildings with facing on them. And you know what? I wish I could fly on a broomstick now. It's be so cool to be able to do that, rather than all that messing about with aeroplanes. Although I dare say there'd be aerospace disasters. But not in the world Kiki seems to be set in...
Of course, it isn't all sunshine and roses. I have a couple of complaints - some personal, and some not so much. We never really find out much about magic in this universe. Magic allows you to fly and talk to your pet and do some spells and presumably some potions as well, and...? And why do the witches encourage 13-year-olds to go and fend for themselves in a far-away city? Is it a Really Tough Character-Building exercise? Are there any wizards? What skills does a witch have that would get her some decent employment amongst non-magical people, anyway, apart from the titular delivery service? I suppose the film is more about friendship and building ties and personal growth, but like a lot of fantasy worlds there's gaps that I want filling.
The story structure - well, let's just say I was totally shocked when the credits started rolling. I'd have preferred a little denouement, a little more resolution, before the credits, as the film just seemed to stop right after the climax. A little bit of Tombo and Kiki going home in the sunset, with some commentary by Jiji - and then the montage-credits can roll. Still, it's a small complaint. I'm certainly not put off buying other Studio Ghibli DVDs. I'm trying to decide which one next - I'm not exactly in the mood for something like Grave of the Fireflies (for one, I've already been spoiled); I think I'll just go for something that involves cats. The Cat Returns, probably.
I've been reading The Children of Freedom, by Marc Levy. Yes, it's about the French Resistance, so it hits one of my preferred subject areas. Well, what can I say? I don't feel qualified to judge writing that's about bravery in the same way that I can talk about coming-of-age stories. I suppose going to live in a foreign country at 20 is brave, but I didn't have to maintain a persona or engage in clandestine activities. Or shoot people. I just had to work out how to communicate to a salesperson that I was in dire need of sanitary supplies at a point when I didn't know the German for "sanitary pad". (It's 'eine Damenbinde', for future reference.)
I'd highly recommend this book if you want to read about bravery and survival - and some of the faint ridiculousness of the situation. There's quite a few of the "I'm laughing because the only alternative is weeping" moments, as well as a bizarre image that haunts the protagonist when he shoots a German officer who has just urinated. I don't want to say much more, for fear of spoilers. Just buy it, if you're anything like me and want a bit of vicarious danger and courage.
I've been surfing the Biscuit Reviews at A Nice Cup Of Tea And A Sit Down. I have fond memories of many biscuits. I favour the Bourbon (far superior to the import Oreo, frankly), the Viennese Whirl, the Malted Milk and Choco Leibniz, and hate the Rich Tea. Speaking of Oreaos, it was somewhat amusing to see the Americans get into an impassioned defence of a distinctly mediocre biscit. Seriously, read the comments on the review. At least two people have missed the fact that the blog is a bit of a piss-take; if the paragraph (from the Mint Viscount Review)
Viscounts of old were highly regular affairs with their cream filling
extending very close to the biscuit edge but today's Viscount seems to
a bit chucked together. The review biscuit is by no means atypical with
most of the packet looking like they had been in some sort of biscuit
construction fight.
didn't clue you in as to the general tone of things, nothing short of a cast-iron frying pan to the head would. It's funny, people!
Oh well. Did some tidying today. Scored a beaded bag, a Whistles skirt and a Whistles Dress from the squalor in the little bedroom. Whistles! I can dress like a rich person! Also found about 30,000 pairs of my dad's underwear (why?), 5,950 heavy-duty German jumpers (designed for the sub-zero temperatures of a Bavarian winter), and that we've got two more computers in the house than I thought we did. And a zillion 'nice' carrier bags. I really must introduce my parents to the concept of the rubbish bin, and my mother to the concept of Not Buying More Sodding Clothes. Because not only does she have clothes I've not seen her wear in living memory, I've got clothes I never knew I had. I think I'll actually need to ask for help on the internet to clear the three 'junk' rooms of the house. See, if we had one clear room I could stack wanted stuff in while I sorted and discarded in situ, as it were, then I'd be much happier and I wouldn't have to reverse progress at the end of the day by putting stuff back into the messy room. How did my parents accumulate so much anyway? I thought they were, you know, not rich enough to allow prodigious consumption. They're like poster children for the nineteen-fifties in terms of how much crap they've bought. I looked up "compulsive hoarding" in the internet, but it doesn't seem to apply if only certain rooms require acrobatics to get round and it requires animal poo, apparently, which we don't have.
Probably going out tomorrow because I just have to escape. And I don't really want to spend all tomorrow tidying as well.
Wow! I'm amazed that I actually managed to write reviews! two!
Harry Potter in German? I thought watching Bond in German would be the craziest thing a body could do. ;o)
Posted by: Lies | 07/27/2008 at 08:15 AM