I've just sat down to email some 20 businesses about their illiterate employees abusing my NO JUNK MAIL sticker. Contrary to popular belief, the NO JUNK MAIL sticker does, for the most part, work. Many an evening do I see all those useless catalogues poking out of my neighbours' mailboxes while collecting my addressed letters (and the odd unfortunate Cityrail notice about capital works at 7am) from mine.
Lately, however, some sneaky bastard has taken to stuffing catalogues and brochures into my mailbox, meaning that not only do I not realise that it is full of junk, it also explodes in paper when I unlock it. I can imagine scenarios where the postman can't fit legitimate letters into the box because the junk has already filled the interior. Not cool.
Hence the crusade to stop junk mail at its source - the businesses who create it. What do I hope to achieve? World Peace... well, I want them to tell their letterbox dropping companies to actually take note of the NO JUNK MAIL stickers and, surprise, surprise, stop putting junk mail into my mailbox. If I complain enough, those infernal junk mail droppers may just get the picture. In the end it'll be a win for anti-consumerism and for the environment. Fingers crossed.
29 January, 2007
19 January, 2007
The money or your life
I often wonder what the hell I'm doing as a writer. I'm not really talking about my job, although I am an educational writer by day, I'm talking about my long term prospects of being a writer. I like writing and I find writing challenging - and I think I always will. I don't think I'll ever become one of those people who will own their own business or be some kind of manager or editor. I just want to write. Unfortunately it doesn't pay very much and probably never will.
A friend and I had dinner this evening and we were talking about the money thing. She is in the media industry and we both have a lot of people around us who are in the finance industry. This can be frustrating because finance people don't seem to understand what we get out of our jobs, if not a good salary.
Okay, that's a bit stereotypical on my part so I'd better qualify that. Not all people who work in the finance industry are obsessed with money. However, many of the people we know often comment on our 'low' salaries, which, until we had compared with them, seemed quite okay to us. Our contentment came from our jobs, the disruption came from their lack of understanding that work is a package, not an annual figure.
In many ways I feel damn lucky that I started on a salary of $20K, way back when.
#1: I know how to save well and spend wisely
#2: I appreciate a decent salary when I see one
So it comes to this, people - the money or your life? Choose Life. (Thanks WHAM!)
Writing wins, every time.
A friend and I had dinner this evening and we were talking about the money thing. She is in the media industry and we both have a lot of people around us who are in the finance industry. This can be frustrating because finance people don't seem to understand what we get out of our jobs, if not a good salary.
Okay, that's a bit stereotypical on my part so I'd better qualify that. Not all people who work in the finance industry are obsessed with money. However, many of the people we know often comment on our 'low' salaries, which, until we had compared with them, seemed quite okay to us. Our contentment came from our jobs, the disruption came from their lack of understanding that work is a package, not an annual figure.
In many ways I feel damn lucky that I started on a salary of $20K, way back when.
#1: I know how to save well and spend wisely
#2: I appreciate a decent salary when I see one
So it comes to this, people - the money or your life? Choose Life. (Thanks WHAM!)
Writing wins, every time.
10 January, 2007
Jesus of Waverton
On Monday, as Old Man River and I were waiting for the train to work, we saw a television crew talking to a couple of people on the opposite (citybound) platform. We briefly speculated on the piece, assuming it must be train-related, then had a conversation about the poker game in Casino Royale.
Apparently Jesus has appeared at Waverton station..! A painted section, just underneath the platform rim, has peeled away to reveal the face of a bearded man that some people have speculated looks like Jesus. (Others say Shakespeare, Rolf Harris, Einstein...) (though I thought Shakespeare and Einstein were both famous for their moustaches and their crazy hair). What do you think?
I think it looks like Old Man River, actually. Or Monkey. Or an aviator of some description - I can sort of make out goggle-like things on his head. But what I really want to know is, who called the freakin' news crew about this trivial matter?
Anyway, 'tourism' to Waverton has not increased, thankfully. I do want to take a photo of it (the one used above is stolen from the Yahoo7 website) and archive it with my other Waverton photos. Then the hoo-ha will die out and the messiah will appear elsewhere.
06 January, 2007
Babel (film)
(Official Site)
There are four interspersed stories within Babel, each narrative starring its own protagonists and featuring its own problems. The critical moment is when Susan, an American tourist, is shot while riding a tour bus in Morocco. As the emergency unfolds, the audience realises how the separate stories become intertwined in the one incident. But there is more than one life in the balance - in turn, each story reveals its own tragedy.
Set in Morocco, the USA, Japan and Mexico, the film jumps between the four locations and the four stories within them in a non-linear way. It is done in a manner that makes for interesting viewing rather than a confusing story. Because the film is fragmented into different pieces, due to the different stories, it almost makes sense to have time jump within the film as well. The result makes the film more clever in its use of a climax for each segment, leaving the audience needing more information to complete each story.
However it is the movie's overriding theme of language that is the most interesting aspect (yes, there are subtitles for the non-English speaking parts). The highlight of this theme is the deaf-mute Japanese girl, Chieko, who is the centrepiece for the segment relayed in Japanese, sign language and body language. Chieko's predicament is her inability to communicate her desires, which frustrates her and leads her to all sorts of emotional strife, which is portrayed extremely well by the actress Rinko Kikuchi.
The biggest failing of the movie, however, is that the interconnected stories do not come full circle and fold back into each other. Instead, each has a separate, albeit satisfactory, closure. Furthermore, Chieko's story is rather tenuously connected to the others, which is a glaring weakness in the film's linking device.
The premise is an excellent one and there is nothing wrong with the stories as self-contained narratives. Alejandro González Iñárritu interweaves them well and he deserves all those nominations for Best Director awards. As for the film, I do not believe it was as good as it could have been considering its narrative foundations and an excellent cast (especially the unknowns!) so I predict that it will probably miss out on a sweep of accolades during the impending award season.
*** 1/2 - didn't reach its full potential.
There are four interspersed stories within Babel, each narrative starring its own protagonists and featuring its own problems. The critical moment is when Susan, an American tourist, is shot while riding a tour bus in Morocco. As the emergency unfolds, the audience realises how the separate stories become intertwined in the one incident. But there is more than one life in the balance - in turn, each story reveals its own tragedy.
Set in Morocco, the USA, Japan and Mexico, the film jumps between the four locations and the four stories within them in a non-linear way. It is done in a manner that makes for interesting viewing rather than a confusing story. Because the film is fragmented into different pieces, due to the different stories, it almost makes sense to have time jump within the film as well. The result makes the film more clever in its use of a climax for each segment, leaving the audience needing more information to complete each story.
However it is the movie's overriding theme of language that is the most interesting aspect (yes, there are subtitles for the non-English speaking parts). The highlight of this theme is the deaf-mute Japanese girl, Chieko, who is the centrepiece for the segment relayed in Japanese, sign language and body language. Chieko's predicament is her inability to communicate her desires, which frustrates her and leads her to all sorts of emotional strife, which is portrayed extremely well by the actress Rinko Kikuchi.
The biggest failing of the movie, however, is that the interconnected stories do not come full circle and fold back into each other. Instead, each has a separate, albeit satisfactory, closure. Furthermore, Chieko's story is rather tenuously connected to the others, which is a glaring weakness in the film's linking device.
The premise is an excellent one and there is nothing wrong with the stories as self-contained narratives. Alejandro González Iñárritu interweaves them well and he deserves all those nominations for Best Director awards. As for the film, I do not believe it was as good as it could have been considering its narrative foundations and an excellent cast (especially the unknowns!) so I predict that it will probably miss out on a sweep of accolades during the impending award season.
*** 1/2 - didn't reach its full potential.
2006 Film Wrap-up
I admit, I forgot about this blog in the last quarter of 2006. Doesn't mean I stopped going to films, I just didn't think to share my verdict. So I'm trying to make up for my oversight by giving out personal awards to films that I believe should get some credit.
Here's a list of films I saw in 2006 (* = recommended):
Broken Flowers
The Producers
Brokeback Mountain *
Jarhead
Kinky Boots
Imagine Me & You
V for Vendetta
Tristan & Isolde
The White Massai
X-Men 3
Thank You for Smoking *
Friends with Money
An Inconvenient Truth *
Little Miss Sunshine *
Macbeth
The Devil Wears Prada
The Departed *
The Prestige *
A Scanner Darkly *
Casino Royale *
Happy Feet
Award for the most hyped movie to disappoint:
The Producers
Award for the most hyped movie to live up to hype:
Brokeback Mountain
Honourable mention to Casino Royale
Award for the most serendipitous movie:
The Departed
Both Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio put in excellent performances, supported by classic Jack Nicholson (who I don't like but I think suited his role well).
Best Actor in any role:
Hugo Weaving as V in V for Vendetta
Honourable mention to Robert Downey Jr in A Scanner Darkly
Best Actress in any role:
Abigail Breslin as Olive in Little Miss Sunshine
Honourable mention to Anne Hathaway as Lureen in Brokeback Mountain (NOT as Andy in Devil Wears Prada)
Best movie based on another text:
The Prestige, based on a novel by Christopher Priest
Honourable mention to A Scanner Darkly, based on a novel by Philip K Dick
Best Comedy:
Little Miss Sunshine
Best Drama:
The Prestige
BEST MOVIE OF 2006:
The Prestige
A hard one, due to the outstanding performances and narratives in all the recommended films. However, The Prestige was well cast (Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson and Michael Caine) and Christopher Nolan's superb direction deserves the accolade.The audience should benefit from repeat viewings of this film on DVD, which may not be true of all of the recommendations here.
Here's a list of films I saw in 2006 (* = recommended):
Broken Flowers
The Producers
Brokeback Mountain *
Jarhead
Kinky Boots
Imagine Me & You
V for Vendetta
Tristan & Isolde
The White Massai
X-Men 3
Thank You for Smoking *
Friends with Money
An Inconvenient Truth *
Little Miss Sunshine *
Macbeth
The Devil Wears Prada
The Departed *
The Prestige *
A Scanner Darkly *
Casino Royale *
Happy Feet
Award for the most hyped movie to disappoint:
The Producers
Award for the most hyped movie to live up to hype:
Brokeback Mountain
Honourable mention to Casino Royale
Award for the most serendipitous movie:
The Departed
Both Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio put in excellent performances, supported by classic Jack Nicholson (who I don't like but I think suited his role well).
Best Actor in any role:
Hugo Weaving as V in V for Vendetta
Honourable mention to Robert Downey Jr in A Scanner Darkly
Best Actress in any role:
Abigail Breslin as Olive in Little Miss Sunshine
Honourable mention to Anne Hathaway as Lureen in Brokeback Mountain (NOT as Andy in Devil Wears Prada)
Best movie based on another text:
The Prestige, based on a novel by Christopher Priest
Honourable mention to A Scanner Darkly, based on a novel by Philip K Dick
Best Comedy:
Little Miss Sunshine
Best Drama:
The Prestige
BEST MOVIE OF 2006:
The Prestige
A hard one, due to the outstanding performances and narratives in all the recommended films. However, The Prestige was well cast (Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson and Michael Caine) and Christopher Nolan's superb direction deserves the accolade.The audience should benefit from repeat viewings of this film on DVD, which may not be true of all of the recommendations here.
A lady!
I saw my first trannie in Chatswood yesterday. Male as female, heavily made up, dressed in a turquoise floral dress and a large black hat. Just a fleeting glance but something about the way s/he stood furtively on the corner made me believe she was a man. I wanted to yell out "But I'm a lady!" Emily Howard (of Little Britain) style. But that would have been rude, so I didn't.
It has been a strange week, capped off by the usual pub shenanigans at the Orchard. Strange because I have been in another headspace while watching myself be productive in real life. Also because my haemoglobin was too low to give blood on Thursday. I'd brought along Hints for his first time and I couldn't give any myself! I'm on ferrous pills now and should be back in the game soon enough.
At the Orchard, The Bear and I had an interesting discussion about travel and then talked about The Intellectual, who is no longer with us. According to her, he said "if you find you're behind deadlines, you can pay me to finish your units for you. You'll find that you'll improve your standing in the company because your writing will have improved."
I think I choked on my drink at that point. For a frame of reference, The Intellectual is a complete academic snob, which pretty much renders his work unreadable because it is too dense (or 'prolix', to borrow from Catch 22). He has this strange, strange belief that you can't be smart and attractive, hence his misapplied vendetta against The Bear and JJ in particular, who have been nothing but nice to him. I'm not one of the beautiful people, so I guess he thought I was smart enough to talk to him. What nerve.
Also memorable:
By the time we got onto the train it was 10:30pm so Old Man River and I walked home together, leaving the other four (The Bear, The Chief, Punk Pirate and Boy Lego) on the train to assail the city. The others had all gone home or elsewhere by that point, but I was being a good girl - a lady! - by returning home at a decent hour and not at all drunk. Whew.
It has been a strange week, capped off by the usual pub shenanigans at the Orchard. Strange because I have been in another headspace while watching myself be productive in real life. Also because my haemoglobin was too low to give blood on Thursday. I'd brought along Hints for his first time and I couldn't give any myself! I'm on ferrous pills now and should be back in the game soon enough.
At the Orchard, The Bear and I had an interesting discussion about travel and then talked about The Intellectual, who is no longer with us. According to her, he said "if you find you're behind deadlines, you can pay me to finish your units for you. You'll find that you'll improve your standing in the company because your writing will have improved."
I think I choked on my drink at that point. For a frame of reference, The Intellectual is a complete academic snob, which pretty much renders his work unreadable because it is too dense (or 'prolix', to borrow from Catch 22). He has this strange, strange belief that you can't be smart and attractive, hence his misapplied vendetta against The Bear and JJ in particular, who have been nothing but nice to him. I'm not one of the beautiful people, so I guess he thought I was smart enough to talk to him. What nerve.
Also memorable:
- Punk Pirate ashing a cigarette on his tongue without touching it with his hands.
- The Ent talking about sniffer dogs at the cricket and me claiming that he was lying about what he said to the police.
- The Chief, Boy Lego and the quest for the aviator sunglasses.
- Punk Pirate puckering up to Blue Rinse then popping a cigarette in his mouth before she realised.
- Boo-urns!
- The Chief throwing a slice of lemon onto patrons below us in my name.
- Boy Lego losing his pants when running down the stairs.
- Boy Lego doing a dance in The Chief's aviator sunnies in front of bemused train passengers.
- The Chief's THREE pairs of sunnies from out his bag.
By the time we got onto the train it was 10:30pm so Old Man River and I walked home together, leaving the other four (The Bear, The Chief, Punk Pirate and Boy Lego) on the train to assail the city. The others had all gone home or elsewhere by that point, but I was being a good girl - a lady! - by returning home at a decent hour and not at all drunk. Whew.
03 January, 2007
Tiger
Tiger turned 20 on Monday, so he's no longer a teenager and I'm no longer subject to those ubiquitous cradle snatcher jokes. I've been thinking about him a lot lately for no particular reason, except maybe he was the last person who was happy to take me as I was. I never tried to impress him and he never tried to impress me - we accepted each other pretty much unconditionally.
Except that's not true either, because I ended it knowing that we could never grow into anything more. And then relapsed because it was too easy to be with someone who wanted to be with me. Who doesn't want to be wanted sometimes? But now it has been a while and I am still thinking of him and I haven't moved on either. Did we split for nothing, then?
Trying to resist calling him. Must be strong.
Except that's not true either, because I ended it knowing that we could never grow into anything more. And then relapsed because it was too easy to be with someone who wanted to be with me. Who doesn't want to be wanted sometimes? But now it has been a while and I am still thinking of him and I haven't moved on either. Did we split for nothing, then?
Trying to resist calling him. Must be strong.
01 January, 2007
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