Protected: New Years’ Eve Ruminations

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New Years’ Eve Ruminations

Just got home from work and turned on the TV to see one of these retrospective shows of the year that was. 2002 seems overall a year that on balance is more depressing and discouraging. Very few things happened that were inspiring. A few sports victories that is about all that could be seen as uplifting.

This year’s news seems to be a compilation of deaths, politicians’ dishonesty and inhumanity, high fliers in the financial world finally bringing companies down through their greed and dishonest dealings, loss of faith and growing public cynicism, mounting bigotry and strife within the community(not helped by a government bound on stirring up the xenophobia among the community for their political advantage.) A thoroughly dispiriting year of drought and hardship in the country and the horror of the Bali bombing with so many more innocent deaths at the hand of fanatics and bushfires that burnt their way across the state again this summer bringing more destruction, but thankfully few deaths.

And then the world situation – Sheriff Bush and his Deputy-Sheriff Blair, (with shouts of encouragement from the peanut gallery from our PM) determined to go to war with Iraq come hell or high water, for domestic political reasons(US mid-term elections and diverting attention from the Bush Administration’s links with the crooks who ran Enron and his lack of success in finding Bin Laden and boosting a flagging US economy) and for control of oil to ensure cheap oil supplies for the US in the forseeable future. Conveniently forgetting it was the US and western countries who provided the materials and know how to produce the weapons of mass destruction in the first place. Funny how Dubya is not so keen to take on North Korea. A country that is a much larger threat to the US than Iraq. It has been confirmed that they already possess nuclear warheads, while they can’t be so sure that Iraq has any at all. Maybe it is just that North Korea has a much bigger and better trained army than Iraq and if Bush starts a war for political purposes he has to make sure he wins it with limited US casualities (bugger the Iraqis, they don’t count, never did). That could not be done in North Korea. And he does want the kudos of being a victorious Commander-in-Chief to garner as many votes from the US people at the end of the war.

Then after this depressing saga, a source of unintended humour was the Commonwealth Govt’s funded community announcement about “Being Alert and Not Alarmed.” The government’s contribution to safeguarding the Australian public against terrorism. Perhaps the government is the only one not aware of the old schoolboy howler. “Be Alert. Australia needs more lerts.” But this advert was a god awful waste of money. It gave no information on how one could be more aware of potential terrorist activity or behaviour. All it did was give out a hotline to dob people in that you think are acting suspiciously. An open invitation for every bigot in this country to ring up and complain about their “foreign migrant” neighbours. This campaign makes as much sense as the ridiculous “Duck and Cover” advertisements that the US government produced in the ’50s to supposedly advise people to protect themselves if a nuclear bomb was dropped.

It only leaves me to hope sanity will reassert itself in the coming year and all opportunistic political leaders will be put back in their boxes and the rest of us can start to enjoy life again without the threat of war. Wishing everyone a Great New Year and lots of happiness, love and good times.

PS To LDR, chin up girl things have to improve.

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Protected: Thoughts on LOTR:TTT

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Thoughts on LOTR:TTT

I know most of you may have seen it, but for those few who have not I’ll hide my thoughts from the front page for those who don’t want to know anything about the film before they see it –

Well the film was beautifully shot. It has inspired me to make the trip across the Tasman and go searching for hobbits. Well no I have not become a pervy hobbit fancier like LDR. Elves seem prettier. No just to discover for myself the wondrous mountains and fjords there. Don’t know when I’ll do it. Probably next Xmas.

The battle scenes at Helm’s Deep were as spectacular as the publicity claimed. Loved the elf armour. So stylish. The action scenes were great, but they did seem to go on a little bit longer than I needed. Thank heavens they broke it up with interludes reverting back to Frodo, Sam and Smeagol/Gollum and Merry & Pip & the Ents and with the amusing by-play between Legolas/Gimli and Aragorn/Gimli.

The character of Smeagol/Gollum was superbly presented in this film. The inner turmoil of the character was so well displayed in scenes where Smeagol argued with Gollum over whether he should help or hinder the hobbits and the scene witnessed by Faramir after he was captured by Faramir’s men when he was seething with rage at Frodo’s perceived betrayal. You develop a true feeling of sympathy for this creature whose mind has been destroyed by the evil power of the ring. It makes you understand why Frodo tries so hard to befriend him. Frodo must be the only one who could understand him.

The Ents were very well done.I was wondering how they would represent trees walking. I did enjoy these scenes and the dialogue between Merry and Pippin and Treebeard. I can see why Tolkien’s work resonates with some in the Green Movement in his open defence of the natural world against the destructiveness and brutishness of the industrial world of iron and steel represented by Saruman and his orcs. It was a statement that nature would always win in the end and perhaps if we as mankind with our sense of ownership of the world and all that is in it and belief that we can contol it are sadly mistaken. That the natural world (just think of the green house effect, salination of soils, etc) will find a way to humble us and make us reconsider our behaviour and hopefully be true guardians and protectors of the natural world.

I know Tolkien disliked people comparing the real world and its events with those of Middle Earth, but I can see in scenes like that of King Theoden mourning his son, Theodred’s death echoes of the grief of all parents after WW1 or WW2 for their children. The whole sense of overwhelming darkness and despair threatening to engulf the whole of Middle Earth also resonates with anyone who feels worried and in despair at the current evil in our world. But in Middle Earth the bad guys are readily identifiable and the source of terror and death and evil are known. In the real world I’m not so sure it is so easy to assign total evil to one side and goodness to the other. Maybe that is the attraction of the film as well. In this world good and evil are clearly defined. Maybe people wish the real world was like that.

As for the criticism of the slight roles played by women in this film, Eowyn and Arwen. Well Tolkien was a man of his age and women were not warriors, the term Shieldmaiden of Rohan says it all really about Tolkien’s idea of women’s place in the world. They may be magical and have powers of their own far beyond mortal ken (Arwen)but probably as far as he was concerned their sole and best destiny is to be wife and mother. It may not be palatable to feminists who wish that women could be presented in a more active fashion, but the film is true to the book in the way they have been presented. It is a legend so of course there have to be the white knights like Aragorn or Legolas or Faramir to fight the evil foe. One thing about this film all the really evil people are men. So you could say it equally discriminates against men. And Eowyn gets to slice and dice in the end. Just wait to Part 3.

Overall it was a great addition to the first chapter, but because the action is somewhat stalled. It is the preliminary bout, destroying the minion of Sauron, Saruman. Also the actual quest to destroy the ring of power has not actually progressed much further. Frodo is yet to be anywhere near completing his task. He is buried in the despair, caught in the web of evil created by the ring and cannot see his way out. As Gandalf the White warns Aragorn and the others the final confrontation with Sauron is yet to come, so it will probably be the final chapter which will in the end be remembered as the best part. But this is a superb extension of the story and I think the makers of this film appreciate that the audience are mature enough to see that. They don’t pander to those with a short attention span by giving a recap of the first part at the beginning.They recognise that the audience have either read the books or were so intrigued by or enthralled with the first part that they do not need to be treated like schoolchildren.

It is definitely a 10 out of 10 for me. Pity is we have to wait a whole year for the next one.

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Protected: Extreme boredom and lemming alert ahead

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Extreme boredom and lemming alert ahead

This is definitely LDR’s effect on me. Doing these quizzes.

Which LotR male cast member do you sound like?
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You speak like Viggo! I will now label you multi-talented, sexy, and your voice makes me sleepy.

Which Hobbit Body Part are You?
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Sweet! You’re Frodo’s Ass. Work it baby!

Frodo’s Ass indeed! This hobbit obsession of LDR’s is starting to effect me. No must concentrate on Viggo’s ass, biceps, chest anything really instead of a hobbit’s backside.

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Protected: Frida

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Frida

Attempted to go shopping this morning to spend some of the money I received at Christmas, but I had one look at the frenzied crowds and decided I’d go see a movie instead. Decided against the LOTR:The Two Towers for the same reason as I avoided the shopping. I hate huge crowds and as I have heard of the frenzied interest in the film I thought I’d leave it for a day or so. I decided to go and see a bio-pic, Frida that was showing down at the Dendy on Circular Quay where other than tourists, it was relatively quiet part of the CBD. It was a beautiful day today. Sunny with white clouds scudding across the sky blown by a balmy north-east sea breeze. Went there the long way, around via the Domain and the Art Gallery and through the Botanical Gardens. The flowers in full summer bloom. From there wandered around the Opera House to the Quay. The water glistening and white-capped, on the harbour, a regatta was being held and the sail boats were scudding along with the breeze behind them with the ferries weaving in and out between them. Perfect day, lifting me from my post-Xmas tristesse.

The movie too was as brilliant as the summer sunshine outside. The stark jewel colours of Mexico and the house of Frida Kahlo in particular full of her art work. The painter’s unforgettable look is captured and revealed, as colourful and potent as her art in the folkloric skirts and blouses, the braids interwoven with satin ribbons, the romantic Mexican jewellery. An example when Kahlo tries on her traditional lacy white Mexican wedding dress and suddenly and defiantly changes into a vivid green peasant dress and red wrap instead.

Thank heavens Salma Hayek played the role I really cannot imagine Maddona in the role. I admit Madonna has the attitude of Frida that of a defiant woman rebelling in an extremely patriarchal society, but I think Salma probably gives it greater depth because she is Mexican and is psychologically aware of the culture the Frido Kahlo was defying. The film has moments of surrealism as the artist becomes the painting, as the film places Frido’s paintings as sign posts through the artist’s life, for example her wedding to Diego Rivera and a self-portrait with her hair chopped off after discovering Diego’s infidelity with her sister. As well at the paintings that depict her inner pain, for example the one she painted after the miscarriage of a child showing her pain at the loss of the child due to the fact that her body was so broken and damaged in the bus accident.

As well as the pain the film also depicts the woman’s sheer exhilaration of life, her exuberance, her humour and her sexuality. Diego had many lovers and a way of coping with this was for Frida to actually take to bed some of his lovers herself. She drank, had sex with men and women and sang lustily in bars and was a beautiful woman with style. I assume this film was released ages ago elsewhere, but I urge anyone to go see it, if it is still in cinemas. It was a totally satisfying film experience.

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weather

I did like Versailles’ Weather Pixies too –

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