Posts by Lilith __
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Oh and I meant to say, yay for your new column Craig! And yay for more arty-farty-ness on PA! :-)
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Oh and I liked the book of Nights in the Gardens of Spain, but I'm unfamiliar with its literary precedents/antecedents. I see the tv adaptation is there On Demand, just off to watch that now....
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friend's theory is that despite the patent silliness of the first three movies, the actors played it straight
Despite at least one of them being high as a kite at the time.
I was 5 when Star Wars came out and it totally blew me away. 5-year-olds impress easily, and I'd certainly seen nothing like it before. I mean, it sure wasn't Mary Poppins.
And re-viewing Star Wars years later, it was still good fun. I think those original movies worked because they didn't take themselves so seriously, and they didn't try to do tragedy. The whole Anakin-turns-evil and Padme-dies-of-shame or whatever it was, frankly works better as back-story than something you actually have to sit through in all its embarrassing detail.
As Lucy says, though, it's a story about boyz. If you're a girl playing Star Wars, there is only Leia. I don't think Star Wars would pass the Bechdel Test.
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Up Front: Giving Me Grief, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Emma, I'm sorry for your loss. And I think your tribute is beautiful.
Craig, I understand what you're saying, but I understand Danielle's feeling too. I lost an uncle and an aunt within a few months of each other last year. They were both elderly and significantly disabled; I'm sure they didn't want to go, but I think life was holding less and less pleasure for them. It wouldn't be fair to want them to go on struggling, but it's such a big loss for the rest of us. I just hate that they're not still here to talk to and share with, with all their lifetime of experience and funny anecdotes and silly jokes. I don't like it and I still don't want to accept it.
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Hard News: Floating the idea, in reply to Russell Brown,
And I did an image search and found this absolutely amazing picture of the beach in the 20s.
What well-dressed beachgoers in that picture! Especially that chap centre left who appears to be both wearing a bowtie and carrying a handbag.
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Hard News: Floating the idea, in reply to Paul Williams,
I love love love Christchurch beaches, they are a huge asset for the city: full of natural sand and great waves. Sadly, they're only swimable without a wetsuit in the hottest part of summer. We really need our pools to learn to swim in. And also education sessions about dealing with rips and river crossings and the like.
I also think tourists and new immigrants should have compulsory water-safety instruction. I was alarmed when my Irish flatmate, newly-arrived in NZ, described to me almost getting caught in a rip while swimming at Scarborough beach, (Scarborough often has a rip on the outgoing tide, which locals know to be wary of) and I had to explain to her what it was and what to do if she was caught in one. She'd never even heard the term "rip" before.
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Hard News: Floating the idea, in reply to Glenn Pearce,
To learn to swim properly cannot be achieved in 5-10 40 minute lessons a year at school.
I’d rather see some sort of voucher system where kids are given discounted/subsidised lessons with professionals ?
I had professional swimming lessons as a child and have always been glad of them. But I couldn't have got to them (over in New Brighton as they were) without hitching a lift with a family down the road who also went. My family either didn't have a car at the time, or it wasn't available for the after-school timeslot. Transport is a big, big problem for many families if there isn't a suitable local pool.
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Hard News: Floating the idea, in reply to Paul Williams,
Usually the seawater in Auckland is too cold to swim in comfortably
even I’d say Auckland’s actually pretty cool, at least comparatively
Bah humbug!! (this comes to you on behalf of Mainlanders) :-)
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The Four Horsemen (of the apocalypse?)
I’m pretty sure they don’t mean Mark Todd and 3 of his buddies. :-)
“Horsemen are drawing nearer
On leather steeds they ride
They’ve come to take your life
On through the death of night
With the Four Horsemen ride
Or choose your fate and die
OH, YEAH YEAH!!…..
Gather ’round young warriors now
Saddle up your steeds
Killing scores with demon swords
Now is the death of doers of wrong
Swing the judgment hammer down
Safely inside armor, blood, guts and sweat”
I thought to make an amusing parody I would put these words in the Travesty Generator, but the result was indistinguishable from the original. Perhaps Ian D can do better. -
Hard News: Holiday Open Thread 2:…, in reply to Jeremy Andrew,
I’m sure the apocalypse comes with thrashy music with lots of distortion and the reverb turned way up. How could it not?
Then you’ll be looking for a bit of Enter Telephone for the soundtrack then…
I'm finding it hard to imagine that Doom comes with the sound of ringing telephones, but if it did, that would definitely be the soundtrack.