Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Kenneth Branagh’

In the right place at the right time

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , , on January 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Obviously I would love to write that the right place and time involved meeting someone like Kenneth Branagh or Uncle Stevie.  No such luck.

However I was in the right place at the right time for a person at work today.  She had some concerns about a topic and, in my humble opinion, God sent the Holy Spirit on down to make sure we connected.  Our conversation turned to some works by Edwidge Danticat.  Well, I got excited right away.  I’ve known of her work for about a decade and had just read an article written by Danticat that a friend had posted on fb.  I go on fb to share the article with the person and then we chatted for a bit.  The person then shared that one part of the situation was about Haiti and her experiences, peripheral though they may have been, that have shaped her thoughts, negatively, about the country.  Also, she was faced with the dilemma of dealing with some materials that go against her beliefs as a Christian.

Well, bust my buttons, I thought to myself.  The person who had posted the Danticat article had spent time in Haiti.  I shared that my friend had spent three weeks in Haiti a couple of years ago.  She returned from her three week trip about three days before the earthquake hit.  She was impacted by the country and then the earthquake so much so that she is in the middle of spending a year there through Beyond Borders.

Together this person and I looked at some of the pictures of my friend in Haiti.  I asked her to think of what could have shaped the lives of the people she had interactions with that could have made them hurtful to other people.  We talked about the materials that seemingly go against her beliefs.  I told her I was not trying to make her do something she didn’t feel comfortable doing, but think of Jesus.  He’s called at times a rabbi, a teacher.  Isn’t part of following Him learning about people and cultures in order to better understand and in turn enrich our own beliefs?  Didn’t He embrace the tax collector, the sick, the “undesirables”?

Our conversation was rich and deep.  We ran quite a gamut of topics and perspectives.  The person said I am in my job for a reason.  When I shared the story with my boss, she said that I had evoked an emotional response.  She knows I’m a junkie for that.

Right place, right time.

Read Full Post »

What’s it from?

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , , on January 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A favorite game of mine is to play “What’s it from?”  It’s quite a simple game and requires no game board, pieces, tokens, chips, etc.  You simply use your memory and imagination.  A good ability with accents doesn’t hurt, depending on what it’s from.  Many would call it a movie quote game, but growing up, my sister and I simply called it by the question that follows the offering.

The quote I used to catch my sister with constantly was “Making goo-goo eyes at Jane.”  She could never remember what movie it’s from and it drove her mad.  I could ask her every day of the week and she would forget the answer from day to day.  There are obviously standardquotes that are used regularly in every day life, but when actually playing one wants to use a more challenging quote.

Everyone uses movie speak at some point in their day.  Many of our adages come from plays, films, television, even radio.  More expressions come from Shakespeare than most folks realize.  A sampling:

All the world’s a stage.

To be or not to be, that is the question.

The green eyed monster.

Method in the madness.

All that glistens is not gold.

What a piece of work is man.

Out, damn spot.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose…

Many others that I use regularly, but you get the idea.  How many times have you heard someone say “You’re gonna need a bigger boat?” when referring to trying to fit something in your car, purse, house, etc.?  Today, I’ve been enjoying a series of quotes on fb with some friends and so far no one has bothered mentioning the movie which makes it more fun.  Many movies generate quotable lines and have websites dedicated just to the quotes.  But in “What’s it from?” you actually want to pick the more obscure quote.  Obscure but still identifiable.

I speak in movie speak at work somewhat regularly and happily my boss has not only gotten used to it but even enjoys it.  At home, it’s a way of life.  And why not?  Wouldn’t we all love writers to make us sound witty?  There’s a scene in How to Kill Your Neighbor’s Dog (Kenneth Branagh and Robin Wright Penn-funny movie) where this exact topic is discussed.  Haven’t you walked away from a conversation at some point in your life thinking, “I wish I hadn’t said that…why couldn’t I have said this?”  You are basically wishing that a writer had followed you around that day offering up witty dialogue for that moment.

We don’t have writers following us around all day though.  Usually the things we say that we wish we could take back are not from movies.  They are our own ideas that we didn’t think all the way through before saying them.  To quote, “You can’t take it back. …Why not?… Because it’s already out there… call the police.  It’s already out there.”  Once it’s out of your mouth, it’s out there and you can’t do anything but open mouth and insert foot.  Where are the writers when you need them?

The truth of the matter is no one needs a writer.  We all just need to remember that most folks are just doing the best they can each day.  We could all slow down, think about what we are going to say before we say it.  How will the person I am going to say this to react or feel about it?  Could it be misinterpreted?  Does he look like he’s having a bad day?  Should I save my remark for later?  Should I simply say nothing and smile instead?  If we could all step outside of our own worlds and think of others for a brief moment before imposing our pressing issues upon them, the world would be lovely.

Trust me, I stink at thinking before I speak.  I am a talker.  So is my one son.  So is my husband.  Explains why our youngest is the strong, silent type (though he’s catching up fast).  I’ve been working on it though.  I’ll take a brief pause before I speak, or I’ll preface something that I know might come across weird by explaining that I’m working through how to say something.  Baby steps.  Baby steps out of the office.  Baby steps down the hall.

Read Full Post »

My Lunch with Kenneth Branagh…again

Posted in My lunch with..., tagged , , on January 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I suppose by now we meet every few months to have a quick lunch.  This day would involve a lot of discussion about my sons.  They are addicted to Walking with Monsters, Walking with Dinosaurs, and Allosaurus, all narrated by Kenny.  They sit and mimic some of the narration, echoing Kenny’s beautiful voice.  My husband thinks I pushed these DVDs on our sons just to listen to his voice all the time.  It’s actually simply a lovely benefit of choosing a BBC series.

The boys love the BBC commercial during the previews the same as their mother.  They especially like the part about if you “stole” whatever you are watching then we should take a few minutes to think about your behavior.  They like the line about the accents and hearing things pronounced correctly.

Which leads to one topic during this lunch.  Our oldest yelled at the television when he heard how Kenneth pronounced Ankylosaurus.  He pronounced the “y” as a long “i” and that riled up our eight year old.  He shouted “It’s Ankylosaurus (pronouncing the y as a short “i”)!  How can you not know that?”  I have to side with my son on this one.  Traditionally speaking, at least with dinosaur names, the “y” is pronounced as a short “i”.  In Kenneth’s defense, I explained to my sons that there were probably paleontology experts there advising him or that it could be because of the British thing.  Ironically, Kenneth pronounced the “y” in “dynasties” as a short “i”.  Go figure.

His narration creates a particularly emotional tone  in Allosaurus.  My eyes have filled with tears several times watching the story of Big Al unfold.  You watch this adorable predator’s life from egg to death and Ken’s voice makes you invest in this dinosaur.  The films are an amazing series.  You should watch it if you haven’t yet seen it.  The images are stunning, the writing is solid, and the music is  beautiful.  Add to that Kenneth’s beautiful voice and you’ve got several hours of educational wonder.

The emotional responses evoked from my sons as they watch these films is classic.  They say “aw” when the little baby dinosaurs hatch and waddle into the forest.  They laugh when he talks about the amount of gas produced by the sauropods.  They are now desperate to learn the metric system to understand the measurements being given about the creatures.  They get angry when the fates of various creatures are described by Kenneth.  They call out the names of the dinosaurs as they appear on the screen.

While I don’t get to gaze upon Kenneth during these films, his lilting, smooth voice fills the house day after day.  I’d have to thank him for all my sons have learned about the monsters and dinosaurs, the art of speaking eloquently, and for all the ways to use dung in a sentence.  I have to say, I’d have paid extra if just once Kenneth could have called it poo.

Read Full Post »

Here sleep dinosaurs

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , on November 22, 2011| 1 Comment »

My eight year old has been a paleontologist since he was about four.  Even more impressive is that he could spell paleontologist since that time as well.  He knows dinosaurs like the back of his hand.  The bedroom is painted with dinosaurs.  So far Mommy-artist has finished the t-rex, volcano, and velociraptor.  The Brachiosaurus has been sketched onto the wall but not painted.  That is a great project for this weekend, just a little note to self.  The other bedroom, which is more of a playroom, has the shark from Jaws and other sea creatures painted on the walls.  Neither room is ever very tidy.

But yesterday when I came home from work the boys proudly showed me they had made their bed and kept the dino room clean all day.  How?  Why?  They got new bedding as an early Christmas gift.  Dinosaur bedding.

Honestly, I think I was more excited than them at first.  I have looked for dinosaur bedding for several years and had only found “baby” or “toddler” stuff, nothing that was “grown up” enough.  This bedding has great dinosaurs, dinosaur tracks on the sheets, and neat stripes on the other side of the reversible comforter.  It looks great with the existing colors of the bedroom, including the curtains (What, the curtains?).   They feel very grown up with their new bedding and triceratops LED night-light.  Who knew it would help motivate them to keep their room tidy?

They also have been enjoying a dvd about dinosaurs that they keep watching over and over again.  But I don’t mind.  It’s narrated by Kenneth Branagh.

My little dinosaur hunters are becoming quite the big boys.

Read Full Post »

Phone Acting

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , on November 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Have you ever noticed that some actors are terrible at phone acting?  They are supposed to be on the phone and they have a blank look on their faces and it seems as if they are counting sheep until they say their next line.  I hate that.  You don’t sit on the phone with a blank look on your face.  You are reacting as you do when talking face to face.  In general, sit-com actors are terrible at phone acting–not all, but most.  Some film actors do it well.  Dustin Hoffman.  He can pull off phone acting.  Meryl Streep.  My dear Kenneth Branagh.  Julia Roberts on occasion.  When an actor is bad at it, it completely breaks the suspension of disbelief for the audience.  It smacks you back into reality and you realize there is no one else on the other line.  How hard is it to be engaged in a conversation?  Imagine what the lines would be if the other character were on the other end of the line.  It’s not that difficult.  Think about when you are on the phone.  You gesture, you make faces, you multi-task and do other things.  Community theater actors are typically not good at this, I am sad to say.  This should be required in all acting classes as far as I am concerned.  That’s just my opinion.

Read Full Post »

My lunch with pirates

Posted in My lunch with..., tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on September 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Ah, did you enjoy International Talk Like a Pirate Day?  I did.  Arrrr, matey!  If you didn’t know this day existed, allow me to introduce it to you.  All I really know about it is you can talk like a pirate today and no one can look at you funny.  See, this comes in handy for me since I often talk like a pirate.  I also think like a pirate.  Now, I not be talking about the really bad pirate stuff and I know piracy is actually a bad thing, but, son of a biscuit eater, the spirit of a pirate, by hook or by crook be alive and well.

They (those people practically as infamous as pirates) say you are either a pirate or a ninja.  Pirates be way cooler and can capture more booty with less death.  Pirates also love one of my favorite words, bloody.  Things can be bloody with multiple meanings when ye be a pirate.  I also feel piracy is more obvious in our society.  They (thar they be again…) don’t say that you ninja-ed the music, you pirated the music.  Thar isn’t a catchy, rhyming phrase like by hook or by crook.  Thar be no cool flag like a jolly roger.  These symbols and expressions are so well known and have been within culture in general seemingly forever.  Now I will give the ninja a plug–they be bloody stealthy in their ways and perhaps that is an advantage.  Some things may be better protected for the ninja way of life, or I just need to study me opposition a little more closely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at all of the influence piracy has had on society (and I only be looking at the influences that I can readily pull from the Davy Jones’ locker of me mind at this time of night).  Pirates were acceptable to Walt Disney decades ago.  Pirates of Penzance is a beloved operetta with really great songs (“For I am the Pirate King” or how about a “Paradox”, anyone?).  If Gilbert and Sullivan appreciated the value of piracy, everyone can.  Besides, Kevin Kline is amazing in that film.  Top of his form thar he be!

 

 

 

Obviously Disney’s Pirates grew beyond what I think even Walt could have imagineered.  Johnny Depp kicked some bloody arse in that role and offered a great way to celebrate one’s piracy with their children.  Pirates think outside of the box, highly confluent they be, while ninjas tend to lean toward precision.  Truly, I mean that.  It’s not just because of what I did at work today.  I have an awesome picture of Captain Jack Sparrow in my office.  My youngest has a beta named Jack Sparrow.  We’ve got the pirate castle, the pop-up Black Pearl ship, pirate hats, scarves, eye-patches…you get the picture.  And we often go with the flow, thinking outside of that box.

But piracy shows up in other places.  If you recall my obsession with Kenneth Branagh,  you will have guessed that I will now be referencing Pirate Radio, a great movie.  And the youngins think that piracy and music is something they connected together for the very first time.  Nope, long ago, in the 1960s the two were linked.  (Check out the cool pirate connection-Bill Nighy is in both Pirate Radio & Pirates of the Caribbean!  Check out the cool Kenneth Branagh connection-both are in Pirate Radio and Valkyrie-not a pirate movie, and one where I have to tolerate Tom Cruise, which is a completely different blog that you’ll never read because I wouldn’t spend the time, wow, I really can’t stand Tom Cruise, can I?  Except for the ritualistic viewing of Top Gun with my dad.).  Anyway…I digress.

Back to piracy in everyday culture.  Ahoy, Pirate Booty, the delicious snack food.  Love it!  Thar’s the Pirate weekend down in Maryland.  Heck, thar’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Well, me hearty, I must be off to bed.  If I oversleep, me boss will make me walk the plank and we don’t be wanting that.

By the way, I be skipping the editing feature since the pirate speak will cause the spell and grammar check  to use the cat o’ nine tails, flogging me blog about all the pirate talk.

Read Full Post »

Randomness because I’m sleepy

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , , on September 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Rehearsal went well.  Then again I got to leave after scene 7.  I hope it went well the rest of the evening.

There are moments from my job that are simply awesome.  They warm my heart like Kenneth Branagh saying Shakespeare.  I love being a pirate captain.

A feeling of friendship can come from the oddest places.

My sons had a good first day of school.  I guess they realize it isn’t all bad.

My husband is a terrific man who gives such great support to his wifey.

I get to go to sleep in a warm and comfy bed in a really nice house filled with love and laughter (sometimes even while we sleep).

My dog has the cutest face and grunts as he falls asleep.

My youngest was really proud that in his “My First Day of School” coloring pages he gave all of the children “evil eyes”.   My oldest was pleased he was right and I was wrong-he could have brought his new Matchbox Mega Rig Squid Sub to school because it was indoor recess.

Thank you, God, for these blessings.

Read Full Post »

My Lunch with Kenneth…third course

Posted in My lunch with..., tagged , , , , , , , , on August 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Third course…don’t really know what that would be, perhaps a cosmo for me.  I would now share with Kenny, yes, we’d be on a first name basis by now, an observation my husband once made.  Ken speaks “Shakespearean English” better than most people speak modern English (love their songs, but that’s a whole different blog).

Case in point—watch the scene in Love’s Labour’s Lost when he says the monologue about love.  On the dvd, the one scene is titled “It Kills Sheep” and the next is “Heaven”.  The two monologues sound, from Ken, like regular, everyday English.  It does literally come trippingly on the tongue.  “My melancholy and my rhyme…my rhyme and my melancholy”.  Oh, and the line about Hercules and the line about Apollo’s lute strung with his hair…leading to “And when Love speaks, the voice of all the gods
Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony”.  Ah, pure beauty.

My sons wanted to stay up late last night and I let them as long as they were watching Shakespeare.  I put in Love’s Labour’s Lost.  After it had played for a few minutes, my one son asks, “Is this Hamlet?”  I told him no.  He said, “But that’s the guy from Hamlet.”  Yes.  He then asked, “Is this Love’s Labour’s Lost?”  How proud was I?  We’ll have to try Henry V tomorrow.

Read Full Post »

My lunch with Kenneth part 2

Posted in My lunch with..., tagged , , , on June 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Okay, I probably sound silly writing about this since I haven’t seen the movie yet, but Thor rocks.  The reviews I have read are all positive, people are liking it and it made millions and millions of dollars in a respectable time-frame.   Go Kenneth.

My favorite review (I believe in EW) spoke of how it brings an innocence back to comic book movies.  I immediately thought of Superman (of course I mean the Christopher Reeve one).  The level of escapism in Superman was wonderful.  You felt as though the world did have villains, true, but Superman was there to save the day.  He was a nice guy.  Honest guy (“…Pink.”).  You trusted in Superman.  That’s what I’ve read about Thor.  And face it, with a comic book rooted in mythology it doesn’t hurt to have someone like Kenneth bringing it all together.

The next topic I would bring up would be the return of Wallander.  I’ve heard rumors and I hope they are true.  I didn’t think I would like the character or movies, but I love them (from BBC, I watch them on Mystery Masterpiece on PBS).  They are such an interesting character study-of Wallander, the country, and the criminal mind.

I would also have to discuss the role of Sir Larry…I know Kenneth wasn’t the first choice (duh…how’d they miss that one?).  I think it’ll be an interesting movie, but I’ll be watching for Kenneth.

I don’t go to the movies much nowadays.  Too many cell phones, too many dollars, and too many people.  I still wish the movies were at the local four theater cinema in the mall of my childhood.  Better yet, go back to the days when going to the movies was an event and you even dressed for it!  But movies are ten bucks for one (think a dime a dozen raised for inflation).  Movies aren’t EVENTS anymore.  They come in and out of the theaters amazingly fast and most people seem to go for the social aspect rather than the art or experience.  Now the technology can provide such an experience but the glow of the cell phones and the chattering of the crowd interferes too much for me.  I’ll wait for the dvd or bluray or heaven forbid…cable.

Read Full Post »

Simplicity vs. mediocrity

Posted in Musings and Epiphanies, tagged , , , , on May 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Salieri said he was the patron saint of all mediocrities in Amadeus.  It is easy for a person to fall into the opinion that she is mediocre.  I’ve attended that pity party for too long.  I wrote of my desire to live simply and that is a much better place than a desire to live with mediocrity.  I took small steps yesterday toward that goal.  After adding a number of items to the recycling bins and filling a trash bag (some things just have nowhere else to go), I realized I am applying what I teach to others about procrastination.  Thirty minutes a day on an undesirable task and eventually it will be done.  If I can’t handle the thirty minutes I can surely handle the “Tolerable Ten.”  Any task can be tolerated for ten minutes.  I am also using rewards.  This may make me sound like a ten-year old, but these habits have been with me since I was about that age and I need rewards as I try to break the habits.

My reward tonight was to watch House without multi-tasking.  It was lovely.  I used to have several shows that I enjoyed and made a point of regularly watching.  I’m down to just House.  As shows have gone off the air, I haven’t found new ones to replace them.  I don’t like “reality” television because I know there is nothing real about it.  I went on casting calls for a few back in the day.  And yes, I’ll show my age, former shows included Cheers, Friends, X-Files and Monk.  I do enjoy the Wallander movies and word is that dear Kenneth will be treating me to some more even as the author announced he is done writing about Kurt.  I usually multi-task while watching television shows but tonight I waited to put the laundry in the washer till after the show.  I didn’t have the rhythmic spinning of the tub to distract me and I didn’t feel the self-imposed pressure to switch the clothes to the dryer when the cycle was done.

As House tried to remove his tumors, my boys were in their room reading the I-Spy book together.  They had already eaten dinner (stroganoff, crescent rolls, and tomatoes covered with mayo, salt & pepper-the favorite summer veggie).  We had talked about their school days and the fact the both had substitutes today.  Harrison and I talked about not faking “the sicks” and spending the morning at the nurse’s office anymore.  Hamilton tried to convince me he had milk with lunch and could have orange juice with dinner.  When I explained I can see every single item they purchase for lunch (including the extra snacks) he changed his tune and welcomed the glass of milk.  They cleaned up their train set-up, brought in the recycling cans and brushed their teeth.  I watched House, guilt-free and totally focused.

Parenting has always been a challenge.  It doesn’t matter when you were starting out as a parent, society was telling you how to do it.  Today seems to be a bit more hyper about telling folks how to do it (many more laws and way more vaccines).  It was so vogue to have your child in EVERYTHING by the time he was two.  We have bucked that trend since day one.  You can be a renaissance man over time, you don’t have to do it all at once.  A couple of years back there were a few articles about not over scheduling your children.  My husband and I said, great now we’re in style.  Our boys play in the dirt, sometimes eat the dirt, and collect bugs.  They “create” germs, write spooky stories, and howl like wolves most nights.  And they know how to entertain themselves while their mother watches her Monday night show.

I am not teaching them that television is more important than them.  I am teaching them that you have to unwind and relax.  You have to stop everything and let your mind be reflective.  Whether it is sitting and watching a show or movie, listening to music, or reading a book, you have to stop going, going, going so you don’t burn out.  And sometimes you need to do this by yourself.  So you can give of yourself fully to others the rest of the time.

After enjoying the episode, I tucked the boys into bed, we said prayers, gave goodnight kisses, and then I put the laundry in the washer.  The clothes are ready for the dryer.  Next I’ll practice my songs for Saturday night.  Then it’s to bed after today’s last dose of antibiotic steroid drops and an ice pack on my left eye for the allergic conjunctivitis.  I can fold the laundry tomorrow.  Ah, simplicity.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »