Baño del Papa, El

We went to see a screening of Baño del Papa, El tonight.

This was a brilliant movie. It was beautifully set between Uruguay and Brazil and deals with the impact, or lack thereof, of the Pope's visit there in 1988.

I can recommend it.

Trailer here but without english subtitles.

Reading

I returned to work on Monday and then was back off sick today and now also tomorrow. It is now officially a "virus" - wow medical science has progressed so far since blood letting and vapours. Where is the smart anti-virus with genetic material targeted specifically for this virus and my body ? Instead I get some symptomatic relief and the suggestion to "wait it out".

The silver lining is that I have undertaken to catch up on some the books given to me over Xmas. This list includes

• A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
  

I am only half way down the list so I am unlikely to complete it before returning to work.

Also while waiting for the Doctor I had half an hour to kill, Annalise had the car, so sat down and had my hair cut. It is short, very short. My head is now very light and very cold. I think I should have waited for the summer.

This evening Stephen and I watched Oceans Thirteen . I am not sure how this got onto our DVD rental list but it was rubbish. I don't make a habit of watching rubbish all the way through but I think I went a little catatonic on the sofa.

Black Sheep

Annalise and I went to see two movies last week, in addition to the vagina monologues. The first was "Black Sheep" - a New Zealand movie with mutant sheep. Think "Shaun of the Dead" but replace the zombies with sheep. I have always suspected that Sheep could turn bad and savage people.

The second movie was Ratatouille - this was supposed to be a family outing but both Stephen and Emily bailed on us. It was nice watching Sophie enjoy it and seeing Paris again - even if it was through the eyes and nose of a rat.

It flies

This morning at around 8:23am I read the last page of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

This afternoon at around 3:10pm my plane flew.

It took off did several circuits before landing. This is a trainer - the aircraft equivalent of riding a bike with training wheels attached but it seemed miraculous that something I had constructed could fly.

Picture of plane

This is the airfield of the Leatherhead model flying club. The trees and the river seem much more menacing and the field much smaller when an aeroplane is at stake.

I now have my life back - no need at stay up until 2am each night.

Tomorrow is Sophie's birthday - Lunch, Shopping, ears pieced (it was either this or sky diving and turns out she needs to be 18), Simpson's movie, dinner and family board games with DVD. Seems like a lifetime since her party last Friday night.

Movie recommendation

Tonight we watched Hot Fuzz





This is a very British, spoof movie in the same genre as Shaun Of The Dead.

Highly recommended.

Join me on the dark side

Just in from watching THE movie.
Must perform magic, kill, drink blood, eat children ....

Why did I not listen, when the signs were so clear ?

Harry Potter - the antichrist ?

With the release of the movie Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix expect a deluge of commentary on how evil these books are and how they are corrupting the youth.

These nutters at PawCreek ministries claim - 'The Harry Potter books are just another means of blinding millions to the truth. When people love imagination, superstition, paranormal intrigue, witchcraft, and sorcery better than they love truth, the Creator will allow them to be filled with their own desires. When the cup of sin is full, the King will say, "It is enough."' There is more, just follow the link.

Backing up these beliefs are ChristianAnswers.net.

Are these people serious? These are BOOKS, and children, myself included, love the idea of a magical world where spells and potions are possible and where pictures talk and amazing creatures exist.

Thus far, despite all five of us in this family having read all the books at least a couple of times, the worst side effect I have noticed an intense desire to read. For instance we attempted to read the last one aloud as a family but Stephen, we later discovered, had woken in the middle of the night to read ahead (this was a direct breaking of the commandment "Honour thy father and mother"). Oh and to be fair there is a fair amount of squabbling over the amount of time each person gets reading each book before having to pass it on to the next in line.

Do these people want us to stop reading books dealing with magic and fantasy? Should we burn them? Should we issue a fatwa on J.K. Rowlings as for Salman Rushdie. No of course not. So either read the books and see the movies or get a life and focus on something really important.

Little Miss Sunshine

We watched the DVD of "Little Miss Sunshine" last night - very good and very funny.

Some other good movies we have seen (at the cinema) in the last couple of weeks

The Page Turner (French story of revenge)

Pans Labryinth (Dark Spanish story set during the war in Spain)

I can recommend all of these.