Little Miss Sunshine...

If you've been paying attention you'll remember that I don't usually like comedies, but I'd heard enough good about Little Miss Sunshine to want to see it, and besides, it has Alan Arkin in it - I do like his comedies, ever since seeing The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming at an impressionable age. And Catch-22.

So. Little Miss Sunshine. As I might have predicted, Alan Arkin was magnificent as Grandpa, but he wasn't my favourite character - that was Steve Carell as Frank, who was quite wonderful - a depressed gay academic. My kind of guy! I also liked Dwayne, the depressed teenager who won't talk and who hates everyone.

It's a very clever movie. I enjoyed it. I laughed. But it reminded me why I don't much like comedies - it seemed very contrived. Cleverly contrived, but contrived all the same. All the characters seemed more like a 'type' than real.

And of course I liked the theme - that's it's stupid to divide the world into winners and losers. Ought to go without saying, don't you think?

Good news...

StarWolf sent this article to me and I just have to put a link to it. Mei Lun is such a lovely creature.

Movies...

I took this from firko: Once tagged by this entry, the assignment is to list 10 movies: your 5 Favourites & your 5 Guilty Pleasures. Then, pick 5 of your friends and tag them. No tag backs. This explanation should be included.

Favourites

• The Lord of the Rings


• Witness


• Casablanca


• Dangerous Liaisons


• The Lion in Winter

Guilty Pleasures

I don't have any 'guilty pleasures'. I am shameless, and I consider it pointless to feel guilty about a matter of taste. So I'll use this category to cite movies that aren't the kinds I usually like, or which other people don't admire as I do:

• The Sound of Music


• Hero


• Die Hard With a Vengeance


• Serenity


• Star Trek: First Contact

Now, I make it a point not to tag people, but I'd love to hear your lists.

Betrayal...

They talk of a man betraying his country, his friends, his sweetheart. There must be a moral bond first. All a man can betray is his conscience. - Joseph Conrad

After lunch...

I went trekking out into the snowstorm at lunchtime to get some exercise, pick up a library book, and check to see whether the local supermarket had the breakfast cereal I had so enjoyed in Malta, Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Clusters.

No, they didn't.

But on my way out of the store, I noticed a catchy headline on a magazine: "What can you do in 15 minutes?" It was suggesting various items of household utility ("unclutter your car") but my thought was: Do you have Captain Jack, and a stopwatch?

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I got this question-meme from gem225. Answering it looks like more fun than working on the bank statement. I abridged this list because some of the questions don't apply. I even changed the grammar on some of the questions just because I could. ( Random questions... )

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Yoga Basics News had something I thought I needed to hear today, so I'm reproducing it here:

Dhriti (steadfastness) is an essential component to achieving one’s goals and to making progress along the yogic path. Dhriti requires overcoming non-perseverance, fear, and indecision as well as a constant practice of patience, courage and will. The more ambitious our goal is, the more obstacles we may encounter, and the more Dhriti will be required for our success. But for our Dhriti to effectively achieve our goal, a clear purpose, realistic objective and well-conceived plan must first be in place.

Working on it.

Reminding myself that I am descended from the Scottish clan Grant, whose motto was: Stand Fast.