Wednesday 25 April 2007

Is it only Wednesday?

For some stupid reason, internet at home is being massively inane and uncooperative.

This prevents my being able to inflict my brilliant thoughts and observations at the moment they strike me. And it just loses some of its spark and charm if one must put things down to post at a later time. Vexation.

Last night, got to watch Girl With a Pearl Earring in its entirety (just too pooped on Sunday and Monday nights) and get in some knitting. Overall, must say that liked visual texture of film and experience of it, BUT I really do wish Scarlett Johannson would not look interminably slack-jawed all the time. As I am not a huge fan of S.J., am not aware if this is her usual look, but it is really annoying and I should like to advise her against it. She is beautiful and certainly fits the image as Vermeer’s subject, but SHUT your mouth! Sets and costumes were wonderful and the character of Vermeer’s wife is absol. detestable, as she should be, but you do kind of pity her. And what horrible discrimination between Protestants and Catholics there was at that time! For two socially constructed groups to so vehemently hate each other in the name of the same faith baffles me. But then, humans are judgemental and would probably find something else to hate each other for, such as not making ice cream properly.

Last night also began new book, Cats and Kings, that I found in the kitchen at work in the ‘Take a Book’ holder where we make tea. It claims to be ‘Bill Bryson with whiskers’, although I find it, so far, to be kind of like Bill Bryson crossed with Bridget Jones. It is a true account of a girl who goes on a quest to Siam and Burma to find one Siamese and one Burmese to replace her cat of 20 years who had died the year before. She dumps her boyfriend at the beginning, since a) he is just not working out and there is no need to stay with someone out of boredom or desperation and b) he kind of makes fun of her quest and you instantly dislike him as a pompously successful someone who is going to make another unwitting girl’s life miserable for the next few years until he is bored. (pending rant here, not about self , so don't worry -- shall refrain for time being) It seems the book is going to describe a very oppressed part of the world that a lot of us (incl. myself) are completely clueless about if discussion should happen to progress any further than The King and I. Therefore, am looking forward to reading, despite this being, I believe, the third book going at the mo.

Relative to multiple books, last week, finished La Prisonniere – autobiographical account of Malika Oufkir. She and her family were imprisoned for twenty years by the government of Morrocco. They simply 'disappeared' after her father’s death, which was related to an attempted coup. It is a truly horrific story, and amazing tale of human strength and the will to survive. The fact that such a ‘mankind’s-inhumanity-to-man’ saga caused her to miss her life for the period of the sum of my life up to the time I started college in 1991 is quite sobering. Kneece recommended it to me, and I recommend it in turn. Writing style is not superb, there are gaps and incomplete strings of logic in the telling, but significance of story overrides this.

To complete my evening, watched a little bit of a show about the Mesolithic inhabitants of Britain. There is evidence on the sea floor, in an area called Doggerland, all around the island of Britain of human habitation on landmass that flooded after the Ice Age. It is quite fascinating! They would have been able to walk from Denmark… Wow.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

S.J. is a babe and her pout is her trademark. Who cares if she looks dumb, who cares if she is dumb. She is hot hotty hot hot and I'd drag my whatsit over a mile of broken glas just to be able to..... yes ok I'll let you finish the rest.

Girl with the Pearl Earring you say, Dawn isn't that a similar title to the film you starred in when money was tight? Tee hee right off to flagellate now to make up for the rudeness.

Ouch, oh, ow, ouch, left a bit, ouch, ow, oh, yes, that's the spot....

DawnyLiz said...

Mr Townsend ... thanks for the free publicity, my full back catalogue is available on line - but then again you'd know that as you spend so much time on there you filthy boy!

Apologies Amerie for my mucky friend!
Dx