Lesson from the Movie Franz

I've been picking up again with my old. beloved habit of going to the movies. I'm still not at my old pace (about twice a week or so), but I'm gaining track, which is all thanks to October being a fabulous month, full of releases I die to watch. So far I've seen Blade Runner 2049, Wind River, Wish Upon, and yesterday I saw Franz, a movie by François Ozon, and which was part of a two week French Film Festival, held by one of the local movie chains. I intended to see another movie entirely, but then I saw this was being showed. so we (I was with a friend) went for that one.

taken from google.com

My friend is a younger lady who has taken French lessons at the Alliance Française, but as far as I know, she last year deserted the lessons. I can't tell you much about my own level of French, since I followed up to level 7 from the 9 back then, and then - upon a disagreement with the management - I left the classes and decided that I can very well keep my French up with yearly visits to Paris and a daily dose of Le Figaro and Le Monde. Honestly, so far, I've been able to defend myself. But that's beside the point here. Given that she and me allegedly speak (some) French, we decided also to go for Franz as a way to give our French some practice. And there were subtitles, just to make it safe. To our surprise - and my absolute delight - the movie was also heavily spoken in German, which instantly doubled the appeal for me and my chances to practice two of the languages where my knowledge is the weakest.

Franz is a movie that deals with many important social and personal issues, such as prejudice, our tendency to hold into hurt and resentment, the need to project our pain and anger on others, even when they are undeserving of it, and also on the many subtleties of lies, deceptions and deceiving moves. At the core of the movie there is a central lie (I'm trying really hard not to spoil anything here), that once it gets revealed, two paths unfold: one living with the lie, and another living with the truth. What I like about this message is how it shows a case where the truth doesn't make you free, but enslaves you further, retrains you and ruins you, while the lie built upon it actually frees you and give you your life back.

Throughout my life I've found that lies are not as poisonous as we are often told, and that there are lies, mweciful lies intended to protect others or to protect oneself. One can always, of course, argue on one side or the other, but there are certain cases at which - I believe - the truth would add nothing.

However, not all lies are merciful or white lies, some are mean and others are senseless. It was interesting for me, how I watched this movie and the topic of lies came up in them, as I have gotten at a point with some friends whose compulsive need to lie about pretty much everything, is going out of hand. I really wonder how is it possible that I find myself with this type of people in my life over and over and over. People like this want to make me retire from the world and swear off friends forever. Then again, truth to be told, I see them more as frequent acquintances, and are not part of my close group of friends, which include exclusive and absolutely amazing people such as Shimmy Gin, Jules, Arjen, Tina. Sonja and Laura.

One thing that really pisses me off about the liers currently in my life is that they seem to think that I'm stupid enough to believe their tall tales. Do they REALLY think I will really believe what they say? Or that anyone would? People seemingly able to remember and repeat entire conversations held in the past. And they always forget their own passwords. People portraying themselves as sensible, artistic souls and can only be seen and heard behave vulgary. People who claim to always put others first and don't even care when they trample over others, nor have any qualms about being abusive and opportunistic. People who claim to have magical powers, or suddenly declare themselves to be witches, mediums and yet can't even get right  the use of chammomille.

It annoys me when people think me stupid enough to believe that they can actually hold an intelligent conversation with a pet (and I have pets, I know how pets behave), where they supposedly explain the pet what they expect from them in complex concepts ("Spot, I give you food and shelter, I expect you to respect this house and stay clear from Granny's china". Spot nods and picks a spot away from the china cabinet to sit, because he understood), or make plans bloom by just asking them. (Clearly, because a witch's voice is more powerful than the timing set by Gaia.)

I have had many compulsively lying acquintances in the past, and the result is always the same: I walk away because their tall tales get to my nerves. Their tales always keep piling and piling up to the point where I don't see why should I waste my time with people with whom I clearly have nothing in common, if they feel such a need to feed me constantly with falsehoods. Useless, irrelevant, stupid lies.

Two of my acquintances are quickly reaching this end.

Movie Sunday with Friends

Today I went to see the movie "Kimi no Nawa" (Your Name) with my friend Shimmy Gin and his wife. I must admit that at first I wasn't very much taken by the idea of going to watch an animé movie, but Shimmy insisted and showed me a quite convincing review of the movie, so I decided to give it a try. I loved it. ^_^

The movie is about two highschool kids, Mitsuha and Taki, that live in different parts of Japan. Taki is a boy living in Tokyo, and Mitsuha a girl living in the country, in a small village. They have a curious situation where they change bodies ever so often, but they don't remember when it happens. Both of them believe they are dreaming, having strange dreams, but in truth they are waking up in each other's lives. Slowly the realize what happens and develop a sort of system, and a way to communicate with each other. However, their time in switched bodies quickly vanishes from their memories as they come back to their original bodies.

The plot of the story unfolds in quite an inexpected manner, and this constant rush to keep a memory, to stay ahead of forgetting, and then the desperation as memories fade away, give you something to think about the message of the movie. The importance of trusting your senses, the inevitability of forgetting even what's important for us. It's an interesting story about holding into what matters to us, keep on searching and treasuring moments.

The quality of the art is frankly magnificent, even though here and there I found parts where the quality of the drawing wasn't up to the rest of it. Curiously, more attention was delved to the making of the scenary than the actual animating of the characters.

I liked going out with Shimmy and his wife. Shimmy and I are like brothers, and his wife totally sees that. After their marriage, Are and I met for coffee, and we quickly became friends, which is such a relief! I really don't like having to hold back myself with my friends because their families won't understand. Are totally gets it. After the movie we went shopping a bit and then went to lunch. We talked loads and loads, and when we realized, it was already really late!

Time flies when you are having fun. :-)

Movie Review: Ghost in the Shell

Source: google.com

It has been over 13 years since the last time I was pretty much consumed by Japan animation or animé and manga art. That year (around 2004) was the end of almost seven years of being immersed in the otaku culture. During that time (that's from 1997 to 2004) I watched pretty much every single series and OVA I could get my hands on. One of those OVAS was Ghost in the Shell, a futuristic, dystopian story based on cyborgs and political moves.

Many of the movies I watched in those days had an impact on me, due to the quality of their art, but also the dark line of their stories. Akira, Perfect Blue and Ghost in the Shell are a few among them, though of these three, Ghost in the Shell struck me the most for the quality of the art.

Source: google.com

When the movie theatres started promoting Ghost in the Shell in live action format, I knew I had to go and see it. No, normally I don't like live action movies, and I have seen a few. Aeon Flux with Charlize Theron wasn't appealing to me, for instance, but an amateur attempt at Dragon Ball Z Mirai Trunks, or alternate universe future was so breath taking, that I decided to give it a shot.

I must say that the movie disappointed me. From the very selection of the intro music, and all the re-naming of Mokoto Kusanagi and then giving her all that past... (was that somewhere in the manga and I missed it or forgot about it?) Why make a perfectly good story into some emotional, hollywoodian motion picture? Ms. Johansson didn't look like a cyborg, but rather looked like a butch female, and Major's (Major? Really? Did something happened in the series I didn't watch that escaped from the OVA I saw?) sensualization and attempt to catch the essence of humanity was quite a slap for those of us who paid for the movie ticket in hopes to revive one of our old favorites.

Source: http://thescreen.hu/ ghost-shell-osszehasonlitas-az-alapkent-szolgalo-animevel/

The whole movie was like watching some AU fanfic, produced by Americans and Chinese, based on a beloved, cult-movie of otakus of old, which lifted the idea of the movie, some characters, some costume designed and then copied here and there some scenes. Even in the scenes lifted from the original OVA, the movie felt fake. I felt cheated, truth to be told.

From what I gather from other websites and blogs about the movie, the sentiment is quite generalized. It was a big gamble, I would say, and it didn't paid up well. Then again, I guess that in today's world knowing isn't really all that important when enterprises embark into an investment. Knowing your market is really inconsecuential, when one thinks that one knows things better than all the others. Well, enterprises and enterpreneurs would do well remembring that they ought to know their market if they want to reach into their pockets.

Happy Halloween and Blessed Samhain!

Finally, my  favorite day of the year, Halloween!! I had plans to spend the day with my friends, baking all sorts of goodies, but that couldn't be done since one of the girls had to cancel on us. But things didn't fell throught as Laura and I went out to the movies. We had gone a couple of weeks ago to watch The Crimson Peak, and then we saw the trailer for The Last Witch Hunter, so we went to see that one. Hell, that was bad. Not too bad, mind you, but it wasn't a good movie at all. The plot was too predictable, and it had such a "Fast and Furious" flavour to it, you nearly expected Paul Walker to appear any minute on he screen. It had every heroe-antiheroe cliché all wrapped into one. I nearly fell asleep on it. Twice! But Lau and I had a great time, and that's what matters.

This year Halloween has been quite wonderful, with a lot of support from a lot of people I didn't ever expect to be so involved in it.There have been a few negative notes as well, though not related with the Halloween or Samhain and honestly, from a part from which I haven't been expecting anything good. I'm thinking this might be my cue to move on, get away from this place from which I can't expect anything good anymore. As the wheel of the year turns, a cycle is completed and the veil thins for us o glimpse through it into the world of spirits. What wisdom can we learn from them? Maybe one that says: "Move On".

Movies, Clothes, Fabrics and Planners

I was supposed to tackle a project today, but I can see I won't do so. Nope, not this time around! Today it's raining a lot and I feel more like staying home and reading, or maybe penpalling a little. I do have a lot of letters to reply and my mood is much better for it as well. Then again, I have "closet-programs" to tackle, such as cleaning my closet and restocking myself with black clothes for the upcoming month of June. Yes, I know, BUT most of my black clothes are currently in Budapest, and I can't just hop on a plane every Saturday to pick up what I want to wear foe the office, now can I? And I must admit, I have quite some pretty things back at home. I'm also all excited planning my black jewelry and the flair I want to give to my Black Month outlook. Yay! This is so exciting! I totally love the Black Month! Everybody should have one.

Other than that, I'm having a wonderful time, which is so refreshening and uplifting after the absolutely horrid times I lived at the begining of the year. After six weeks at the new place, I can say that I've managed to get the hang of pretty much it and now I understand more. I also see better through things and have realized that I don't need to speak the utterly complex language of lawyers and lawyer-wannabes to be part of the team. I can defend my own speech style and pull it like a pro.

As part of this reemerging from the darkness, I have been making time to go out more with my friends... which so far ended in watching Star Trek 3 times in a 7 day-period, and a meeting to fangirl like crazy about a mix of Star Trek, Teen Wolf (hey! There's Sterek in there and that forgives the unsufferable school drama!), Destiel... and I know there was something else, but I forgot what was it. Oh, and talking of Star Trek, has anyone noticed that the clothes were terribly unflattering? The fabric was disgraceful, with fleecing cotton, plastified cheap spandex and some cloth that not only got fleecey, but the threads parted at the hems... and then all that stuff that looked like pulled from the cart of a homeless. The clothes were so unflattering you feared they were made by all the loosers of Project Runway.

Chris Pine and Zack Quinto actually looked like they had beer bellies and Benedict Cumberbatch, though mostly looked yummy - he's rather thin, so it would have taken FX to put a beer belly on him - when running in the last scene looked absloutely horrendous, like his whole torso was some sort of box, with no curves whatsoever. No butt, no chest, just a box with a head on top and limbs sticking out from the sides.

Now, I'm no fabric expert, don't take my word for it, BUT when you see fleece on the collar, a doctor in something that looks like the round, flat, collared Monster-boy's (the little werewolf, what was his name?) shirt on Karl Urban (plays Bones), you know that something isn't right. Yeah, yeah, good actors, but hey, if costume design isn't so important, why don't you make them play nude? Or grab the costumes from the last movie, or maybe what was left from Star Trek Voyager, but not the third rated crappy clothes! Hell! They looked like they could have flees! Hope no actor suffered from some flesh eating virus after wearing that crap!

Anyway, other than that, I'm experiencing a moment of peaceful joy. Maybe it's the rain, but I feel in happy peace, and I love it. Life is simply wonderful, and though I'm having the usual and normal issues of life, everything is just wonderful. I've been thinking about stuff like other purchases, such as getting a new filofax, since my Sketch's clasp is ripping more and more each day. I'm checking the site quite often, but simply don't see anything I'd like. That's a bummer. I love my Sketch, but they have no other Sketch's - and the last time they had, it was "maroon", which is a world to say "red". It's supposed to be "wine" or "dark red", but it's red, and no matter what people say, "red" isn't a color I consider professional. I've been thinking about "cheating on Filofax" with another brand... except that I remember then all I had to go through, all my searching, and realize that filofax is the brand that... meets my needs better. However, now without a Sketch to please me, I might have to go on a broader chase for what I want.

Talking about planners, today I was talking to my boyfriend and I suggested something that may help other people too: a Reality Check Calendar. Thing is that sometimes you are in a situation where you are in a relationship or something that doesn't seem to work, but either you can't put your finger on it or you can bring yourself to make a change. Say, you feel your job is abusive, but you don't resign because the pay is good, or you have a friend who fights with you often, but you still love them and can't leave them. Or you have a neighbour that annoys you but you can make up your mind to talk to the rest of the neighbours to confront them. Or simply it's you. You feel like you are depressed all the time, or you'd love to finish something but never happens... you name it.

The Reality Check Calendar would be a tool for you to see actually what's going on. For it you'd need a yearly calendar, or a monthly calendar, maybe even a weekly calendar, BUT it must be something where you can see as much of a year as possible. In this calendar each time something you want to track happens, you make a note, or put a color dot according to a code. For instance: say you just don't feel ok at your job, but can't seem to work up the nerve you need to resign. So you grab the Reality Check Calendar and make the notes: the good and the bad. Say you mark with green the paydays and note down how much were you paid, you mark in red each time you had a quarrel with your boss and maybe the reason of it, orange for trouble with coworkers, say yellow for each time you had a great time, black for each time you had a night shift, blue for each time you had to do overtime, brown for each time you've got to leave early... and so on. You may or may not set a date to make a decision, BUT the point with the caledar is that you give the chance to yourself to have a rather objetive view of the situation, instead of relying solely on memories that might be heavily charged with emotions. It could help you realize that things are far worse than you thought, and that could promtp you to decide to leave or change the situation, or it might make you smile when you realize that's actually not so bad, and maybe your problem is just one little thing that's easy to fix.

This is much similar to the Period Track Calenders one can find on planners made specially for women, where you can mark your periods and so actually realize if there's a discrepancy, or you are perfectly fine and your periods are actually quite regular. You could keep several as well, say, one to track your job - say, not because you have problems, but you'd like to track how often and how long projects normally take - one for the family (trips, times you take one or the other to the doctor, how often you must take your dog or your cat to the vet), your exercising (how often do you participate in this or that, train or walk in a week), and so on. It shouldn't become something like a journal, though you can journal all you want, because the point of it is to give you an overview. If you wish to journal, keep a tracking journal next to it, but the Reality Check Calendar's point is to give you the big picture with the minimum effort.

Tack it to a board, keep the markers close, and don't think about it until the day something that worths marking happens. Then make it simple.

What do you think?

Plans

I'm going on a worktrip tomorrow. Me. A real, actual worktrip and not one of those trips HHRR comes up with that have only an educational intention. Excited? Hn, I don't know, truth to be told. More scared than anything, I guess. The trip is rather far, and since we are going by car, we'll have to leave from the office at 5 a.m. Add to it, I'll be coming back at night. LATE at night. And still have to come work on Friday. Yupi.

Hitting bed early tonight? Not likely, as I signed up for a conference about the role of auditoring in money laundring. That ought to be exciting! Now, now, don't you get excited thinking I'll learn new techniques of money laundring, no, that's not the point. Hopefully, though, it won't be a flat conference sayings something like "the role of auditoring in money laundring is to prevent money laundring, so auditors must be very careful and check everything, within the law". Oh, you'd be surprised about the hability of some to delude this plain sentence into a one hour speech!

Yesterday I was supposed to go watch Skyfall again. I didn't. I had the time, I had the means, I had the opportunity, but I didn't feel like it. I had actually rented "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", so I watched him play a Swedish investigative journalist. Did you know that I still haven't read this book? And I have it! I just always find something else to read. Anyway, I swapped some suave, sexually playful 007-Daniel Craig for a more human, troubled relationship-wise, thinner, softer around the ages journalist-Daniel Craig. And I kept wishing to hear him - him actually, not dubbing! - speak in Swedish. Not like I would understand a word, but I would have loved to hear him speak Swedish!

I've other movies to watch, such as Margin Call, Magic Mike (though I might skip that, suddenly), and something called "Perfect Student". Have no idea what's it about or why on Earth have I picked it. Well, if I get home not-too-late, then I'll watch Margin Call tonight, so on Friday I can watch that student thing, and then on Saturday either watch Magic Mike or return the whole thing and hit the movies for some more Skyfall. Or shall I lay off Skyfall and go pick something else from D. Craig?

Oh well, I'll leave my suggestions in my planner, and think about them later. ^_^

I'm in Love with Skyfall

I went to see Skyfall yesterday, and truth to be told, that's the only thing I can think of right now. That and "how come I never ever realized how freaking hot Daniel Craig is?" Okay, I did liked him in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", but his "Bond" wasn't really my type of Bond or my "real" Bond. That department was taken by the original one, Sean Connery, and then with a concesion to Pierce Brosnan, but that was all. Daniel Craig was the "yeah, yeah, whatever" 007 for me. I mean, I can't remember the first 007 movie he did and... there's one I didn't see and if this is his fourth or more, then there are other movies I'm completely oblivious of.

Yesterday was the premier in Costa Rica of the movies. Were I've been in Hungary now, this post would have happened much earlier, I would have seen the movie at least five times now, and I would have dragged my boyfriend to see it too. But being as it is, I just saw it and saw it once so far. Hyne willing, I'll hit the movies tomorrow to. I would go today as well, but a. I didn't bring my car due to plate restrictions, and b. I've a previous appointment. About be, is really a previous appointment a strong enough argument for not going to watch Skyfall again? Yes it is when you don't have your car with you and the only movie theatre you could consider in the current condition isn't showing it.

*checks*

Nope, my mistake, they ARE showing the movie! So yes, sadly I believe... wait, can I get OUT of there without a car? Hn... Anyway, yes, probably I'll watch the movie again today and then tomorrow to, because I love the movie that much and Dragonfly-CR might meet me tomorrow. I guess I'll see if I can cancel my appointment, though I'm probably not inviting this person over to the movies because this person has expressed a very strong opinion about stuff that happens in the movie (and which happen to be my favorite part).

It's too early, so I won't spoil the movie - no matter how much I'd love to ooze over it ^_^ - though I may do it after I've seen the movie for the 10th time, which yes, it is a fair shot knowing me and my tendency to watch the same movie a million times when I've got a fancy for it.

With further ado, and given that I can't think of a single thing that's not Skyfall or Daniel Craig or how much I'd love to---- yeah, ehem, that, right - I'll close my lines here, for today.

VIP? Really?

After having finished reading Headhunters by Jo Nesbo, I convinced my boyfriend to go to watch the movie too. It has been freaking hot, so the sole idea of leaving the house was a hard task, but I told him that I'll invite him to watch the movie on the only VIP theatre I've heard of in Budapest.

I woke up early but didn't go jogging since it was 31°C (88°C) at 6:30 am. Like the hell, I'm jogging in that heat! But the day wasn't spent doing nothing. We finally decided to give in and bought the plane tickets to our trip to Helsinki online. I was adamant at first, as I like to have some tangible back up - namely a head office I can go to to complain if something is less than perfect, and nor Finnair, nor SAS have such in Budapest - but in the end, it was buying online or kissing Helsinki good-bye. Then, since the plane ticket was arranged, we also arranged the hotel question and the car rental question too. So this is done.

The next thing to plan is our trip to Braunau, but we will have time for that. :-)

The movie wasn't decided until a bit later on - though I told my boyfriend about my offer right after we finished the details with our Helsinki trip. We had gone to the VIP movies in Costa Rica, which are a wonderful experience he loved too. Comfortable lay-Z-boy couches, your own table, private candyshop area where you can get your regular movie stuff (popcorn, nachos, soft drinks, candy), but where you have a wider selection of stores with pizza, panini, sandwiches, crepes, sushi and a wide selection of alcoholic beverages. In Costa Rica you can order whatever you like either from each store, or place your order with a waiter, who will do the rounds for you, and charge you with one bill. These orders can be placed either at the lounge area, or inside the movie. And also, you can order at the lounge and have them bring your order to you into the movie.

It's an expensive little trip, but for those of us who appreciate the comforts and little extra luxuries of life, it worths it. Really, watching a movie in a cushioned couch where you could go sleeping, having a beer and eating crepes or sushi instead of nachos and watered coke... who wouldn't love that?

At first my boyfriend thought that there was no VIP in Hungary, but when I discovered that there's one in Arena Plaza, I decided I have to figure out what's like in here. Well, it was a huge disappointment. One should guess so when the VIP ticket allows you to stuff your face for free at the VIP candyshop 30 minutes before the movie starts. All seats stuck together - not separated every two seats by a small table, ceiling so low you can see it thought the whole movie because the light reflets on it, rows too close to each other, no waiter service within, and only the selection of regular movies: popcorn, nachos, softdrinks... okay, and beer.

Maybe I've gotten soft, but this isn't VIP.

The movie was fabulous, but the movie theatre was like the weater: horrendous.

A Bad Movie, an Ok Movie and a Good Haircut

I completed actually three of the tasks of my Complementary List: I found a hairdresser and got my hair trimmed. Then again, I'm not sure about going to that same hairdresser again, not only because it was freaking expensive and they did a face when I didn't tip them (sorry, but though I liked my haircut, I wasn't blown off my feet, and the price was quite steep... and had to be paid in cash), but maybe it had to do something with the hairdresser telling me that he is or was a world champion in hairdressing. Yeah, that might mean nothing, but I want something else from my hairdresser, so I'll probably keep looking... unless I go back to my usual hairdresser. We shall see.

I also had my weekly cocktail, though with a twist: this one was alcoholfree. (Rules don't say it must be alcoholic!) Yeah, well, it happens that sometimes you are not feeling 100% physically and so alcohol might not be the best for your condition, or a good idea to mix with the painkiller combo you've just downed. In any case, the cocktail (some Catalina something) was AMAZING! Wonder what the alcoholic version tastes like.

Then I watched two movies. It's Wednesday, and that means reduced prices, which makes it more livable if the movie is bad. Well, the first movie was HORRENDOUS! I would be crying for the money even if I would have seen it for free. There's no plot, no sense, no story, no character definition, no nothing. It's a pretentious crap full of stiff acting, crappy directing and phony lines, where a mediocre attempt at presenting a reloaded American Psycho-like story goes down the toilet miserably. The only possible goal this poor excuse for a movie could have is to show that Mr. Pattinson can fall even lower than Twilight, and show that he can do even worse acting. I didn't expect it, though, from Ms. Binoche. I wanted to get out of the movie since the first five minutes, but I only stayed because I was way up and it was too dark to find the door by myself. I did consider asking the guys at projection to please turn on the lights for a moment while I get out.

It was really, really bad. A disgusting trip to some sort of fantasy stuck in the 80's minus the big hair and the shoulderpads, with constant delving into senseless monologues that try to be artistic and probably are for the many ignorant assholes whose literacy is formed by the news on Facebook and the MSN.

The other movie was the one I expected less of, and yet the one that got me smiling. The title is "Last Night", or something of the sort (I saw it dubbed), and it got me thinking and remembering. The thoughts from it would most definitively hit the blog, or my journal, if they get too personal.

Finally, coming out of the second movie, I walked past this hairdressing salon. I thought about it for a while, considered, and then decided that what the hell, I need to trim my hair. I didn't like that they didn't take card - that would have made my life easier - but yet I've got into the chair, got my hair washed and my ends trimmed. I wanted a bit of change, and so the hairdresser put my hair to the side and reduced the ends on the longer side. It isn't bangs or a fringe of any sort, but the hair now falls in my face. It's quite pretty, but we shall see how my hair behaves once the hairderssing products are out of it.

Tomorrow I'm going to Mezőkövesd visiting. Hopefully the time on the train will be spent quietly, with reading and maybe even some writing, who knows? I've a letter to finish still, and I could use some time without interruptions to get going with it. Then I've letters to read as well, as today I just received letter from two of my penpals. :-D Life is awesome with penpals, and with a trimmed, healthy, nice hair is even more!

The Elderly

Once again a movie I originally didn't consider for watching gave me a pleasant surprise. This time around was "The Best Exotic Marigolg Hotel", a British production (from what I understand) directed by John Madden. In it, basically seven elderly Brits go to stay for different reasons at a hotel in India, which looks fabulous on the brochure, but turns out to be a place in shambles. The plot sounds quite like a cliché, and it does lean a lot on clichés (young love against society, the interaction between the wise elderly and the dreamy youth and so on, or the idea of people getting together from different backgrounds and interacting, getting somewhere together, like in a case of "MTV Real World Senior Citizen"), but from the first moment on the story rips away from the cliché, breaks the mold and shows you a naked truth that people isn't willing to realize: how our elderly are treated.

You may say the movie is full of clichés about elderly people, but it did got me thinking about how our societies treat them time and again, and also how we ourselves are treated by society. Then maybe perhaps this awareness is the result of being suddenly closer to the elderly of my own family, which indeed has given me a glimpse into their world and the conditions in which they live.

As most preconceptions about any group of people or "segment", one common mistake is to put all elderly people under one same category and think they are all the same: weak, unable to function by themselves, retarded when it comes to modern life, and above all, a burden to society. Many expect them to live at the margin of society, safely tucked away in their homes or at elderly homes, sitting in rocking chairs, wearing thick glasses and diapers while knitting something for the grandchildren. Elderly people who still have energy and work the land, manage a business or take on whatever job or activity, is looked at with surprise, and people wonder when are they going to break or when will they fall off to give space to modern times.

Our society is disregarding towards them, impatient and rude, and the only time they turn their attention towards them is when they view them as a market segment which can be exploited to sell them goods and services - many of which have been designed and developed by young people with no real consultation about what they really want and really need. Adult diapers, medication, homes for the elderly, even tours for the elderly, as if they had to be taken aside from the rest of the world, as if this way society could prevent they get in the way of modern times. The idea that they are waiting only to die, instead of wanting to keep living, or ignoring that they may still have dreams, that things can hurt them... these all are done to them day after day, and on many levels.

In a way, this situation reminded me that of Childfree woman, and how we are regarded by society. All woman are expected to want to be married and want to become mothers, and want to devote every single moment of their lives and happily give up everything for their children, so when any woman falls off this mold, this expectation, she's pressured to go back into the line and stop disturbing the "flow of society". Well, so is with the elderly. However, there where the rebelious women run against reproval and social bullying, the elderly run into closed doors, and constant ignoring.

Truth is that being elderly isn't being less of a person, though society insist on making you look and feel like an outdated, rejected ex-person, a carcas that should be tucked away where it interferes with nobody's life until they die and leave their place to someone else, someone young. Truth is, however, that life can start over at 70 or 80, that you don't need to be young to enjoy life, and being retired doesn't equal being useless or "out of circulation". We will all get old  sooner or later, and we are living longer and longer lives, so maybe it's time to start making plans and dreaming about the life we want to have after retirement, and not stop on the traditional dreams of a family, a good job, a house with white picked fence and a dog.

If you can, check out this movie, and it may inspire you some thoughts too.

Tired... Shopping

I've completed another item of my list... and half of another. No, I didn't get the things to get closer to complete those two mysterious items. In the morning there was no jogging because we had an appointment with the vet. Interesting vet, by the way. The office was extremely unkept and dirty - at least to my standards - but the vet himself was nice and quiet. Everything is okay with Cinder, but for the three of us, we've decided to have her sterilized. This will happen on Monday.

Time kinda slipped off our hands, here, and then there was some rain and all, so by the time I left to get going with my program, it was already late. However, I managed to watch the first movie of the week - and the selection went to "The Hunger Games", a bad movie that wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Do not misunderstand me, it was cheesey and very "expectable", but all in all it wasn't so terribly bad. Not another "Twilight", if you ask me, and much better than "Dark Shadows".

Then I went to do what I couldn't do yesterday: buy myself summer fit black clothes. The first store I hit was H&M, where I tried out some 17 clothes (17 is the number of hangers I can still hold in one hand, it seems), and this time around came out with 4 matches. Yay! Then hit C&A... not extected, but out of 3 blouses I ended up with 2, then had to hit a lingerie store because - for the first time in my life - I need a body shaping slip. Yep, I've reached that age, it seems. Then I bought two dresses that looked nice, but would be better with a slip that tucks my belly in, so I've got one.

By the way, slips are a nightmare! I hate clothes you have to fight and subdue first.

Finally I went to MNG, where I had my hopes really high, tried out some 14 pieces... and came out only with one that isn't perfect-perfect, but it's good.

Right now I'm tired, so I'll got to the fridge, open myself a Smirnoff Ice, look for something yummy to much, make the bed and fall into it until tomorrow.

As an after thought, though, I've been thinking about task 13, and it is possible I'll start the horror story I've been talking to a penpal of mine about. ^_~

(Note: I didn't get that dress, but I'd love to!)

Hard to Get Black

The "List of 13" already made my day. It's really awesome to have something like this, like a box  containing 13 adventures to complete before June. I planned to get the first task done - had even checked out some pieces I wanted to try out on the Internet - but it happens that getting black clothes is far harder than you'd imagine. Yes, buying black clothes is a veritable nightmare.

Today I checked out a Marks&Spencer, a Tatuum, an Esprit and an MNG, looked at hundreds of clothes, tried out at least 15 dresses and bought a Grand Total of none. Yes, four stores and 17 dresses later I've bought none. It was already hard to fund Summer-fitting black clothes based on cut and fabric, but then, as I tried the selected ones on, non of them fitted me well or were well cut. For once, I discovered that I'm not a 12 (US sizes) as I thought (or a 14, as I originally thought), but an 8 (which is weird, because I actually gained weight), and yet the clothes didn't fit me. Smaller clothes were too tight on the wrong places, and bigger ones drowned me, while those that were supposed to be good weren't flattering at all, with odd angles, with tight and loose spots at the wrong parts.

In this quest I realized one sad thing: prints and colors are often used to disguise the imperfection of the clothes made. Also, the simplest cuts and shapes can reveal the biggest flaws and shortcomings, and today I seem to have found them all. However not everything was lost, as I managed to complete the second task: get myself (at least) a pair of black jeans. This one was a very happy, very joyful experience. Without thinking I went to a Levi's store, where I simply said to the sales guy that I wanted a black pair of straight cut jeans. Without searching all over the place, he went for the perfect cut, and pegged me for a pair three sizes smaller. The sweetheart, he didn't know I always get a pair one size bigger since I like my pants just a tad big (I hate to wrestle myself into my pants, or even the feel of clothes being snug, and prefer that soft, slight looseness of clothes a bit stretched out. I know jeans normally stretch, so you are supposed to buy a pair that's very tight, but I still prefer them already bigger).

Slipping into the perfect pair, at the perfect size was like a dream. Legs sliding around my legs, waist line somewhat bigger than my waist, but that's nothing a little fitting can't fix, and hips just perfect. Why can't everything be this simple?

To finish the day, I tried to complete my first movie of the week, but I couldn't bring myself to watch either Battleship nor 21 Jump Street, so I went to my favorite café restaurant, and ordered a delicious Raffles Singapore Sling and some washi rolls. Both of them were to die for. So I checked also the cocktail of the week.

I'll give the first task another try tomorrow at a different commercial center, and also try to slide in one of the movies of the week. If things go well, I'll also try and get two things I'll need to prepare for two more of the tasks, but that will be a secret until tomorrow. ^_^

I've been thinking about making this List of 13 something constant in my life, or at least for a while. I've already been thinking about new tasks to add, new little adventures and tasks to include. 13 is a magical number for all the ideas and thoughts it provoke, so that's why I'd like to keep on that the number of tasks and adventures I'll set for myself. I haven't decided to the period I'll give to each List of 13, maybe 4 weeks for each, so that in a year I get 13 lists as well... from Full Moon to Full Moon, or Waxing Moon to Waxing Moon, New Moon to New Moon... who knows. The ideas are good, the projects and lists are fun. I'll decide when I make up my mind about it... and maybe by the time I make my next list.

A Day of Small Adventures

Perhaps today is going to be yet another one of those days - like Tuesday - that I won't be sure I've lived. Damned, I need to get serious with TV shows so that I can set a day tracker in my life. Today I just kept forgetting that it was Friday, and though you may ask why do I need to know which day am I in when I'm not working, well, because others do and businesses keep different hours and Wednesdays, as I recently discovered, the movies can be seen at a reduced rate.

There was no "level 2" and nothing particular to nag at my nerves today, but as my boyfriend prepared to go out to work, I though about yesterday, and how I wanted to go to the movies (after having gone on Wednesday after Level 2), but I didn't go for I was too lazy and otherwise occupied with being lazy, watching some TV, reading some political/financial magazines and busying about the Internet; I though that maybe today would be a good day to make it up for what I left undone. As an after thought, I smiled thinking how on Wednesday - for Level 2 - I acually dressed according with the color of the day suggested by Llewellyn's Witches Datebook, without knowing. I wore brown head to toe and was looking SMASHING in it.

I had gone for the beads, as you know, but haven't bought all I needed to string up a decent set, so I thought that today was just perfect to go over there and hit the glasses and little compartments with beads and make magic. After having taken a look at my book on jewelry, it was easy to go there with a purpose, so I came out of there with a hefty bounty of many, many colored beads of different sizes and shapes, loose, packed in small bags and little tubes. The owner of the tiny place was nice to me and gave me a 10% discount considering me already a "regular". The place was buzzing with ladies so at home around beads and jewelry supplies, talking about the techniques they were most versed in, and referring to bead and supply details I have never heard before. To my amazement, I was quickly included in the conversations and was part of sharing the experiences of how we love to make jewelry, but end up with more pieces than what we can wear in a lifetime. I believe my friend Dragonfly-cr can perfectly relate to that.

From there I rushed to the movies at a close-by commercial center - just like I did in Wednesday. My mission was simple: The Raven followed by The Avengers. I thought I was going to see one good movie followed by one bad movie - but I wanted to see the bad movie to get the jokes on Internet about it. As it happens, I saw a lame movie followed by a comic-comic movie. Thor was handsome, and so was Captain America, and Scarlet Johanson's sidekick, and IronMan was the heart of the movie... though I had to keep myself in check so I wouldn't shout "Go Sherlock!".

These are my third and forth movies of the week, as on Wednesday I saw the terrible "The Woman in Black" followed by "Dark Shadows"... which was just as disappointing. It was like I went to see - and paid! - a really bad episode of Supernatural, with no plot at all, and lacking the two handsome Winchester brothers and their slash, and then went to see a washed down version of "The Monster Family meets Beetlejuice". Oh well, at least today I saw The Avengers and there were handsome guys in it.

Haven't hit the movies so hard in ages, but then again, if I don't do it now that I've the time, when else would I do it? Only, just for insurance, next time I'll hit another movie complex, so that I don't get to be the regular-regular who watches two movies in a row... like I do.

People really don't come to the movies much in Hungary. The Raven was deserted, and the premier was yesterday. Well, The Avengers was full, and the premier of it was weeks ago. Wonder how will it be for the premier of Brave.

In between the movies, I went to have some light, late lunch at one of my favorite restaurants: Leroy. Though this was the one where I can ask for gyozas - and they prepare them superbly - I wanted something new. I asked for a Miso soup - which was particularly horrendous, tasting too much of vinagre - and completed the order with a Tennessee Highball (Jack Daniels, giner ale, lime) and an order of hamachi sashimi. Believe it or not, that was my first order of sashimi of my hole life. I wanted something light, something wholesome, and what could be more wholesome, more healthy, more light than fresh, raw fish slices?

Well, I didn't regret my decision. The order contained three thick slices of hamachi  - which I understand is white tuna - fresh and juicy, served with the mandatory ginger shaves, some wasabi and a siding of cucumber. The pieces were simply exquisite, and each nearly melted in my mouth as I took a bite from them. Perhaps it's not the cheapest thing one can order, but it was amazing and absolutely worth it. Then of course, maybe a Tennessee Highball wasn't the proper drink for it, but it was all amazing and got me out of the fiasco mood after The Raven and ready for the Avengers, even if I had to deal with Ms. Johanson's annoying acting. There goes another actress falling off the wagon, forgeting the requierements of her craft in the name of a fame gained on their physical atributes... Pitiful.

At least the sashimi was good.

So, adding it up, I tried new things and I hit also the old ones, and from all of them I reaped fabulous experiences and a great chance to relax, lay back and enjoy life, because that's what it has been given to us.

Hot Spring

It couldn't wait another day, so today I hit the shoestore (Deichmann, if you must know) and bought a couple of shoes. Yes, a couple of shoes. I needed them, really. When I came from Costa Rica in April,. I brought only a couple of shoes with me - basically a pair of black pumps, my black wedge heel crocs (which I use for work constantly, not that I'm working now), my flat purple crocs shoes, and my black boots. There was no more space for any other shoes, though I still have lots and lots of them, bit these were all I could bring. I had another pair of black pumps and black boots here and my red home sleepers. These have proved okay until the warmth broke in, and my ankles and feet started to swell from the heat! My soles felt like burning every single day, and I dreaded going outside because none of my shoes could be used without socks! I do have a pair of pink flip-flops, but I also use them inside, and so we don't really want to bring the dirt from outside into the appartment. However something had to be done.

I must admit that I love seasonal shopping. Stores overflow with products and several good bargains can be found, since some stores try to steal away the customers of others, but also outrageous prices. I'm still not very versed in the shoeshop tricks of Hungary or Europe (as I am in Costa Rican shoe shops), but after some windowshopping and comparing prices (which I also did in Vienna now that we were there), I realized what everybody knows, that by walking just a little you can find pretty much the same shoes in a lower price. It's okay to check for bargains, because even the more expensive shoes can have flaws or defects, that could be reinforced in less expensive ones. For instance, the first thing I check on a shoe is the sole, because I have had problems with soles coming off, and I know how terrible that can be! And sadly, nobody really thinks about carrying a spare par of shoes just in case. The I check the inside of the shoe and the way the sole has been attached to the shoe. It's only after the shoe has passed these paramethers that I try them out.

During my checkings, I found in Deichmann these cherry printed sandals. I'm not big on sandals, but I really needed sandals specifically due to the heat, and somehow I couldn't get the cherry printed ones out of my head.The print resembles a lot the printing on the dress Marilyn Monroe used in one of the scenes of the movie Misfits. Perhaps it's because of that movie and because I like Marilyn Monroe very much, or because I love cherries, but the shoes stayed with me.

It got me thinking also about the way seasons influence even the way people select their clothes. It's not only the type of clothes, but even the printing and the colors. More and more people are out there not only in shorter clothes, but also lighter or wearing bright, Spring-like colors, and the girls in tiny, tight shorts with floral prints, or small mini skirts filled with whimsical little flowers all over are the statement of the fashion. It's like women take it to themselves to bloom along with Mother Nature.

Shoes in brilliant colors and floral prints also show around everywhere. A tiny black mini skirt with opaque black tighs and feet tipped in royal blue, lacquered pumps. Flowy black dress and nude colored pumps. Purple and yellow flats, or denim sandals printed richly with flowers, or linen raw colored wedge sandals with flower patterns formed with beads and rhinestones walk around tipping legs wrapped from the knee up in cargo pants or short jeans (not cutoff! Europeans don't really wear cut off jeans!). The heat is here and we are all whilting, but we all do it in style.

Gift Pack from L'Occitane

What a wonderful day I had today! I finished a letter for a friend in Malaysia, I received a letter from a friend in Germany - a very thick letter! - had delicious cottage cheese sweet balls for lunch, and then went to post my Malaysian friend's letter. Dear, I hope she gets my letter this time! Just in case I scanned the letter to make sure she gets it either physically or digitally.

In February (or maybe March?) during one of my regular purchases at L'Occitane the salesgirls offered me the L'Occitane Club Card (yes, another frequent buyer card. What a surprise). As part of the benefits of the membership there are discounts, premiums, access to special products, but also in the begining you get a set of "L'Occitane's Best". To get it you have to do a purchase after you receive an e-mail and before the period indicated in the e-mail ends. Well, you don't have to ask me twice, specially when here the products of L'Occitane are much more affordable than in Costa Rica, so I went to buy my beloved handcream, footcream, cuticule cream (all these of Shea Butter) and a daycream of olive oil to better attend my face. (Though the shea butter cream is the best for moisturizing - I can testify! - the olive oil cream helps to keep the needed water in the skin, even in oily skin, without making it oily.) It happens that there was also a promotion to introduce the almond products - most of them slimming, since summer and bikini season is comming! - if you bought products for a given amount. If you weren't a club member, you could buy a the promotional package at a very low price, but if you were a club member, then you've got it for free. Well, what would you think, with my purchase I actually got my "L'Occitane's Best" and my promotional "Almond" gift for the same purchase!

It's amazong, but I feel so set! ^_^ I've a lot of awesome products, and got them for a really unique price -  you gara admit that I did catch a very, very good promotion! - then treated myself with a nice dinner at my favorite restaurant, started working on a really awesome blog-post topic (probably for tomorrow) and went to see a very interesting movie, "Gone", with Amanda Seyfried.

Today's day was... amazing! It's amazing how something simple or how a good handcream and a great deal can make us feel like a million bucks. ^_^

Night Out With My Girls

Have you gone to see a movie twice, so that you can go watch it with your friends? Or maybe even more times so that you can get "the hang" of it? Well, I'm one of those people who can go and watch the same movie a gozillian times and the buy the DVD so I can keep watching it until the end of times. Evidently I am one of those and in this occasion the movie I went to see twice was Sherlock Holmes 2: The Game of Shadows. In here I won't go into the details of the movie for you can read that in any film critic site, and I'm not one to go repeating what others say. That's boring - and takes the fun out of both blog writing and blog reading. Wouldn't you agree?

The first time I went, it was with my boyfriend. I'm quite a fan of movies, and go as often as I can - as long as the movies shown are to my liking! - while he's not. In the past lot of years he has gone only when I've taken him to the movies, and that's not that many times. (Well, once settled in Hungary, that's going to radically change!) This was a couple of weeks ago, and we went to the VIP theatre. The experience of the VIP was so marvelous he decided Hungary NEEDED dearly the VIP experience. He would run and open VIP movie halls, if he could!

To evaluate this movie you should honestly compare it with the first one, but the first one left me so cold, I can't recall enough of it to pass judgment. This one, however, was charged heavy with slash. I though it was going to be an action movie, so what the heck, he would probably like it, but I never expected my eyes to bulge out and my hands to curl into a fist wishing to have my slasher friends close to hold their hands and scream in delight. Thus, the decision was made and we decided to go out the three of us to evaluate the slashiness of the movie. We met at our favorite commercial center - a large and posh commercial center at the South of the capital, in one of the most exclusive areas of the Metropolis. Once there we realized that they wheren't presenting the movie any more. That was like a slap on the face! However there was a nearby mini commercial center built around an IMAX movie theatre, where they were still showing the movie. We had to wait some two hours still, sort of, but we were cool, as we were going to drive there.

Before leaving we went to have something to much on while I presented them with the marvel of mangas on the Kindle and they passed me some digital mangas as well. It was like in the old times, when the three of us met with other friends to gap about yaoi mangas and yaoi animes, and yaoi anything for hours, sharing CDs and mini CDs full of whatever we have managed to hunt down in our cruises through the gutters of the Internet. 

From there we went to the movies only to discover that the 18:45 show was sold out. The horror. We wanted desperately to see that movie, so what to do? After a bit of debate we decided to get tickets for the next showing, at 21:30. I called home to let my boyfriend know that, no, I wasn't dead, I just didn't get tickets at any of the showings I expected, so I was going to stay with the girls for the 21:30 - the last one. With the tickets in hand we went to the Sports Bar in the complex, where the girls relished in ordering mouthwatering delicious cocktails with enough alcohol in them to fly a Boing 777 from Bali to Corsica, while I - minding the driving - had to make due with a virgin Piña Colada. The downside of driving.

There we spent a nice time between more gaping about mangas and yaoi and recently seen movies, and work stories and travel stories (Kate has recently come back from a trip she did to Peru, I believe, from which she showed us the most funny videos where her deadpan serious comments made a banal image of people walking unto an account about the last days of civilization befire the rise of the zombies), and then some disturbing images about kickboxing matches that looked just like... mating. There, while many watched intently the match, we tried to figure out how could two men locked in a tight embrace, pushing to be on top, grabbing each other's asses actually pass for a sport. Because if that's a sport, I might believe I have been practicing on the bed quite often...

The time for the movie arrived, and we took our seats in the regular movie hall (the VIP was showing something else), and we giggle like schoolgirls about a thing or two, then showing annoyment as the image was cut and a portion of the upper end of the film was seen on the lower end of it. Quite unnerving. However the problem got fixes in the first 5 minutes of the movie and soon we were able to enjoy the film, grabbing hands and turning to each other mouthing "Oh My God!" and "Did you see that!!?". However the best scene, the grand scene was the dance scene. There we sat, the three of us, linked by the hands and holding our breaths in excitement, only to mutter at the end of the movie: "I didn't get it... how can they explain it to the non-slasher public?"

The mystery may remain forever unsolved, but the three of us walked out of the movie hall, minutes before midnight, with a large grin and plans to run down the Internet looking for slash fic.

Double-Take-Movies

Something I love to do, but often I must do myself, is watch two movies on a row.  This trakes some stamina, a lot of free-FREE time and a couple of good movies you really want to watch. To find a mate to do these sprints isn't easy, since the both ot you, or all of you must have the same stamina, the same passion, the same amount of unattached time and like the same movies. So, when you are into double-takes at the movies, you better like going alone or you'll be fixing and trying to bring together more things than time and two good movies.

This weekend was perfect for a double-take and that's what I did, watching "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "Karate Kid". It had been a while since the movie theatres had shown something good, but now two pictures came that picked up my interest.

The first one, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" truth to be told, fell short on my expectations. Pulling from a picture of Disney of the same title, strong in the musical content of it, as well as the animation experiments, the story by Jon Turteltaub pulls the scientific nerd into the magical, playing with a lot of elements of this subculture, including fake posters of Magic The Gathering, and elements that pull in magic movies of the 80's and why not? some Harry Potter too. Effects and powers were pieced up from other movies, including "power balls" and such spells that were excecuted exactly in the Dragon Ball fashion, conjuring even a power shield - ball of void - that looks quite like a shield I believe Son Gohan used protection against Cell, or was it Goku protecting Gohan? The concept, either way, was the same.

It was refreshing to see magic explained as a series of phisical and electronical reactions, also where the heroe was this unseeming boney guy with highpitched voice and sorry attitude, too awkward to stand in the shade of today's hot stuff Zac Effron and Co. Magic doesn't change the guy, and though he gets the girl, he never changes his ways: he continues being this nerdy, awkward kid. The message is nice: be truthful to yourself and keep going.

I recommend this movie with loads of caution.

The other one,"Karate Kid", totally stole my heart. This movie ket the plot close to the original one, yet with a twist that fitted it marvelously into today's world. Single mother, surroundings of economical struggle, where it isn't money what makes the day and solves problems, but attitude. A motion picture filled with such simple things, reachable things in a rich environment.

The human aspect of the story is present quite strongly, particularly in the character played by Jaden Smith, Dre Parker. At first glance some of the characters might seem flat, basically as stretched thin by the effort of the performer to pull it, with an almost theatrical flair that does not come right on the silver screen. The picture, however, comes together beautifully as it unfolds. The photography, scenery turns magical and fitting to the emotional plane of both the story and the characters. Synchrony, in this sense is impecable.

The greatest feature, however, is Jaden himself. Either the character was written and fitted for him or not, he comes out with incredible naturality, owning both the part as well as the picture in a strong, engaging way. It's almost as if he weren't acting, as if he were really Dre Parker and he were pulling all this entirely by his own. When he cries you cry, when he laughs you laugh with him, and when he struggles you grind your teeth. His fear leeks thick from the screen and infects you with such intensity you wish to run away from the theatre and not look back. The chemistry with Jackie Chan is amazingly strong and honest.

Usually remakes are flat and boring, often even insulting, as an attempt to milk a cow that has been milked dry already. Attempts usually relay on the memory and the feelings of those who saw the first one, and bets on the improving and covering up a generous memory can pull. This time, the remake was an after thought as the story was fresh and fitted to a new reality, to fabulous actors and actresses and a completely new frame.

I wholeheartedly recommend this picture, but caution you also: take a handkerchief with you.