Friday, January 28, 2011

Fab Friday's Review: "Snow Cake"

This week just flew by. And sadly the weekend will not bring any relieve, but will probably turn me into a crusty curmudgeon by Monday morning (I'll be in dire need of some mancandy! Any suggestions so that I don't have to go out hunting myself?) 

Anyways, I had planned on doing a Fab Friday review on the Parasol Protectorate books by Gail Carriger, from which I recently read the second and third installments, but upon watching "Snow Cake" last night, I decided to review that first and post the Parasol Protectorate review next Friday (look forward to werewolves, vampires, bustles and steampunk.)

Now back to "Snow Cake". OMG, how did I miss that gem of a movie? Apparently it was shown at the Berlinale 2006 and even nominated for the Golden Bear, and then it came out in German movie theaters in November 2006. 9 months after the Berlinale, why oh why do they keep doing that to us in Germany? Wouldn't it make sense to use the publicity generated by this MAJOR event to push these movies? I mean, really, "An Education" (another movie I wholeheartedly recommend) came out almost a year after being shown at the Berlinale. And as it was in the cinemas for only about two weeks, I almost missed it. I guess that is what happened with "Snow Cake". I almost missed it on TV last night, too, if not my friend A. had posted an alert on facebook. So I got myself some chocolate, got comfortable on my sofa and turned the TV to one of my favorite stations, ARTE, to enjoy 112 minutes of fine acting, uninterrupted by commercials (thank you, ARTE).

And let me tell you, that was some FINE acting. Dear me, I have been a devoted fan of Alan Rickman for decades now (uh-uh, that makes me feel old, now), but the way he portrayed this vulnerable, hurt, grieving man...wow, it's breathtaking. And all this done in such a minimalistic (I cannot think of a better way to describe it) way that every nuance in his facial impression has a meaning, changes the atmosphere, transports you right into his soul, oh boy, I was stunned. Equally stunning was Sigourney Weaver's portrayal of an autistic woman. This es a tricky thing to do for an actor/actress because it can go so horribly, horribly wrong. But not this time. No this was done with so much love for detail and understanding, never ridiculing this condition but instead letting the character of Linda evolve as a person in her own right.
I don't want to give any spoilers. So I'll give you just the plot synopsis from imdb.com:
Alex Hughes, an ex-convict, is on a road trip to Winnipeg to see an old friend. Along the way, he meets the annoying, but vivacious, Vivienne Freeman who manages to bum a ride with him. Just as he begins to warm to this eccentric girl, Alex's vehicle is in a serious automobile accident that kills Vivienne. After his meeting with the police, Alex decides to speak with Vivienne's mother. Upon arrival at her home, Alex discovers that the mother, Linda, is a highly functional autistic woman who convinces him to stay long to take out the garbage the day after the funeral he agrees to arrange. In those few days, Alex discovers new friends and learns more about the uniqueness of Linda even as he struggles to come to terms with his own grief. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

As Alex (Rickmann) slowly gets to know and understand Linda (Weaver) better, we the audience are taken further and further into the world of hers and we sympathize with her, we laugh with her and we cry with her. Oh boy, did I cry. I was bawling my eyes out. You know me, I'm a sucker for those happily ever afters, those happy ends where everybody is truly happy (except maybe the evil (step)mother). I usually feel cheated when everything does not fall into place at the end. (Yeah I know, terribly realistic and mature...but hey, if real life sucks so much, I want my fantasies to be happy....) This is not one of those movies. Yet strangely enough, while going through my box of tissues I have seldom felt so comforted at the same time. That's what it is, a comforting movie. Not an easy one mind you (see all that bawling), but a hopeful one.


Monday, January 24, 2011

Missing lolling around on Sunday makes Miss Anika a very malcontent misanthrope....


Normally, I'm a very sociable and balanced person (really, I am, despite being a little neurotic or as I like to call it: eccentric). But (and this is a big but): In order to maintain my sweet and likeable personality during the week I need to be able to insulate myself (as in "do not frigging touch me or talk to me for that time period") from the world for about 12-24 hours during the week. It's kind of like vampires needing to sleep during the day, or werewolves turning into, well, werewolves during full moon or ... (shoot, I'm out of paranormal examples, but you get my drift). 

This is why Sunday is so important for me. Sunday is the day I generally spend wearing either my jammies or my ragged sweatpants (the one's I would never ever wear outside). It's the day I let my hair down. Literally. Well actually I wash it and then let it airdry. But it amounts to the same (you'll understand if you're blessed/cursed with hair like mine, that takes about five hours until it is completely dry). Sunday is my special day. My holy-day.

Yet, for reasons mostly out of my control (darn it, I wish I had a least some super power), this hasn't happened on a regular basis for the last two months. And it is even worse because I had been looking forward to having a free weekend on this past weekend. I had even ordered three new books. All in anticipation of spending said weekend alone with them (and good food of course). Okay, my flatmate D. was occasionally allowed to talk to me (but only after I had addressed her first... having to share exciting plot developments and such). Ooooh, I was so looking forward to it!

And then I realized I had a previous engagement on Sunday. A birthday brunch! A 30th birthday brunch! So I decided, what the heck, I'll just swing by for an hour or two and then I'll be back with my books and I still have most of the afternoon. And then, there came up the opportunity to do an interview with the alternate noble prize winner, Nnimmo Bassey, on Saturday (stay tuned for that, it'll be on eufrika.org some time this week, in English, too). So, I resigned myself to spending Saturday on a demonstration against agricultural dumping (okay, I admit, a cause that I find very worthy). Well, I thought, you'll still have Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. And then, a friend and colleague suggested to meet Sunday afternoon to discuss a forthcoming collaboration on a museum project. And so I thought, Sunday has already been sullied... and I said yes. And so, my much anticipated weekend withered away in favor of an interview (my first one...I’m so excited...), a demonstration (I still think it was a great cause), baking (for the brunch and the tea/discussion), a birthday brunch (pretty good food) and a work meeting (which also yielded some delicious office gossip).

All in all, not a bad weekend. A very productive one, in fact. But it was not what I wanted!!! And next weekend is already taken up by a computer seminar. Which makes me very grumpy indeed. Thank goodness for mancandy monday.

PS: BTW, I did manage to read two of the three books (not in one sitting though, which takes out some of the enjoyment for me...). Anyway: I’m amazing. I know. But thanks for noticing anyhow.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Tasteful Tuesday: Golden Globes

I have to admit that I haven't seen most of the movies that were nominated for the Golden Globes. Either because they were too scary for me (yes, this is my deep dark secret: movies like "Black Swan", "Alice in Wonderland" and "Inception" scare the crap out of me, while "Scream" and the like I find mostly amusing...what can I say, I'm eccentric). Or I wasn't interested ("Burlesque", "The Tourist"). Or they haven't come out in Germany yet ("The Fighter" and "The King's Speech"). I did see "A Social Network", though. I thought it was kinda interesting and Jesse Eisenberg did a great job. But being the best movie out of those nominated? Really? That's sad...and somewhat implausible... come on... none of the others was better? Please, fellow movie-goers out there, does anyone concur with that decision? Even without having seen them I would put at least 2 of the nominated movies in that category ahead of this one....

On another note... don't you think the fact that Annette Bening was competing against Julianne Moore in the same category for their parts in the same movie, while if they had been a more gender stereotypical couple they would each have been nominated in another category...well, doesn't that show how stupid this whole business of gendering the categories really is....?

Monday, January 17, 2011

Being jobless, but neither "work-less" nor worthless

  It seems even though I am unemployed, I am not out of work. Admittedly, it is a very fine line between the two, but a very important one. Anyhow, the difference is, I'm not getting paid for what I do, but it is work, nonetheless. Nevertheless, a lot of people assume that when you are jobless, you have an endless supply of time. That might be true for some, but I find myself very busy with writing applications, attending seminars on how to write said applications successfully,  advancing my computer skills in yet more seminars, writing articles for eufrika.org, working on variuos projects, preparing and teaching a course at the university (for which I'll eventually get paid, hopefully) and the usual keeping the household running stuff, e.g. laundry, cooking, cleaning and more laundry. 

  In order not to fall into that dreaded I-wear-my-ratty-yoga-pants-all-day-and-only-leave-the-house-to-get-a-fresh-supply-of-chocolate slump, I try to give my day as much structure as possible. That's why I leave the house every morning to spend the day at the library where I do my work, if I don't have one of the above mentioned seminars. Twice a week I have fixed appointments in the evening (one for yoga, the other for eufrika), then on other evenings I regularly meet with people with whom I'm working on various projects which I hope will at some point lead to a paid function. Last week I had exactly one evening on which I was home before 8 pm and on which I had no appointment. 

  This is not to complain (although, I do that a lot, too, just ask my friend and flatmate D.). I just want to demonstrate, that even when you're not working in a paid function, you can be working nonetheless. In our society where a person's worth is so often fixated on what she does for a living, those of us who do not make a living with their work, tend to get a little lost in the narration of our lives. It is very hard to remember that what you're doing actually does have worth, even though it is not directly translated into money in your bank account. While some of the work I am doing at the moment is aimed at getting myself into a position where I do earn a living, some of it is not. And still it has a worth. Because I benefit others with that work. Be it the housework (only ask D. for the benefits of my housework skills) or my voluntary work. There might not be an immediate pecuniary result to it, but I believe that it is valuable nonetheless. 

  Still, there are times in which I feel worthless and excluded. There are those small-talk moments with people you meet at a function/party/seminar, in which the question "and what do you do?", inevitably arises and it is usually one of the first three questions that comes up. The "...for a living..." part is not necessarily included, but usually implied. It used to be fairly easy to answer. I was a student of Islamic and African Studies at University. I had an identity. (I save the question: "And what are you going to do with that?!?" that inevitably followed every time for another rant...) These days, it is not so easy. I find myself saying: "I'm a lecturer at the University" more often than not. Even though that is but the smallest part of what I do. And I haven't even gotten paid for it yet (yet another subject for another rant...) But to say: "I am unemployed at the moment!" Or even telling people about the work I am doing at the moment, no, that is too embarrassing. It has no status. It makes me someone to be pitied at best. Or someone to look down on at worst. 

  And even harder is it to justify things to myself. Am I entitled to downtime? to play? to take the weekend off from the endless grind that seeking a job is? to say no, when someone expects me to do something for her because I supposedly have the time? You bet I am. Do I know it? Most of the time. Do I follow through with it? Sometimes. Do I remember it on account of others? Not nearly enough.

   I believe we as a society place too much emphasis on the monetary worth of things. We tend to draw a lot of our identity from what we do, and the more money we earn with what we do, the more worth we have as a person. On the other hand, if something we do, does not earn us any money, it consequently earns us less respect. Is the work a stay-at-home dad/mom does, really worth less than that of a teacher? And is the work of that teacher worth less than that of a bank manager? In terms of what this person is paid for it, it seems so. In view of the respect that person gets in general, sadly, it seems so, too. In terms of its value for us as a society, I think, not. Maybe it is time for us to value work differently, to re-think our definition of work and its worth, to find a new approach to what defines us as valuable members of society.

  And maybe it is time for myself to re-evaluate myself. To give a different answer to the question: "What do you do?" Maybe even ask myself a different question: "who are you?!" And not let myself be defined by my financial/professional status, but by what makes me the person I want to be. Not the person who I want to portray.


Now, after you bore with me through one of my lengthy rants, here's what you're actually here for.


Friday, January 7, 2011

My Fabulous Goddaughter!

It's Fabulous Friday and today I'm celebrating one of the most fabulous people I know. My goddaughter, Annaliese, who turned 3 yesterday!

(Pictures are all courtesy of her very talented mother)

She was just five month old when I met her for the first time.

Such a sweet toddler 

But now, that she has grown, she has such a personality:
cute as a button
adventurous 

funny  
sweet  
a fashion model
a diva
a rockstar
a wonderful big sister
and obsessed with the Easter Bunny
Oh, how I love that girl!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Disney Heroes


Sarah from the Smart Bitches has a poll about which is your favorite (animated) Disney Hero. At first that was no brainer for me. Beast of course from Beauty and the Beast. Not in his human form Adam but as the Beast as which he appears throughout most of the movie. (In human form he appears slightly bland...) 
Why is he my favorite hero? That's an easy one. He actually gives Beauty room to grow and appreciates her for her intelligence and personality, not (solely) because she's a looker and has boobs. And he gives her a library. A frigging library! If that does not seal the deal, I don't know what would. (And he has hair on his chest.)
This got me thinking (it is Thursday, right?!). What about the other Disney (cartoon) heroes? Well, I gotta say, not too impressive. There are guys that are so bland, they don't even have a name (or does anyone out there know the name of the prince in Snow White?), vacant pretty boys either dark (Prince Charming) or blond (Philip from Sleeping Beauty), juvenile stereotypes (Alladin) or even blatant jacka**** (I'm looking at you Eric!). Nope, none of them does it for me. Personalitywise I gotta admit I love the non-human heroes. Give me Tramp or Robin over those bozos any day.
I can't say anything about Milo from Atlantis because I never saw the whole thing (the snippets I saw were just too painful to bear), but I do love the idea of a nerd as hero. Likewise Mulan, The Princess and the Frog and Tangled. The last three are on my ever growing list of DVDs to rent when I have time.
Anyways, when it comes to role-models I find most Disney chracters serverily lacking. Which is kinda scary. I mean, sheesh, that's the stuff I grew up with. No wonder life is so confusing...
What do you think?

On that thought: Even though it is not Monday, this just was too good to pass.



Monday, January 3, 2011

Monday Mancandy is back

As the first week of the new year is starting I find myself doing not the same procedure as last week but the same procedure as basically every weekday of the last months. Not much has changed, but I find that reassuring. Getting back into familiar routines sometimes feels like wrapping oneself in a one's favorite blanket. 

Between Christmas and New Year I took a break from everything related to my usual workday pottering and spend time with the family (mine and that of my roomate D who were visiting us) and some friends. While that was fun, it was not very restful (at least for me). Now I'm back to my orderly routine, feeling a lot more in charge and surprisingly a lot more restful. Life sometimes is funny that way, especially if you're unabashed neurotic like me.

In honor of routines and rituals, here is this week's mancandy.