...don't you think?

How ironic is it that I and millions of Americans are cheering for a next President of the US whose middle name is "Hussein"?

For Shasta

Once in a while, a story strikes you and stays with you, like Beslan did and does for me.

I have always wanted to be a vegetarian because I love animals so much. Alas, I am very much a meat eater.
I have always wanted to be as colorblind as I was as a child. But with age came experience.
I have always wanted to be against the death penalty, as an ideal. But I've always been on the fence.

Two days ago, a monster was sentenced to death, and I don't see what else could have been done. Would a life in prison made him repent and change? I don't think so. What about the little boy he once was? I believe he is lost for this lifetime. We shoot rabid dogs, don't we?

Can society enforce "thou shall not kill" by killing? I wish I could say no.
For Dylan and Shasta, I say: "Yes, willingly."

Walking In The Sunshine

Not to be outdone by my little brother, who does it regardless on a daily basis, I went for a 21km walk yesterday. My hip flexors and I are no longer speaking. Other than that, R.A.S.

Windy

Two good books this weekend:

Cry, The Beloved Country
which has been sitting in my library for years, the only one of my books about Africa that had remained mysteriously untouched. I had tried it before once or twice but didn't have the perspective needed to grasp and enjoy it. Now I do, with a South-African sister-in-law only the cherry on the sundae.

Ayn Rand's Anthem
Controversial, sure, as was all she wrote. But as brilliant as the rest.
I dream I could wake up one day to find that there existed Lucy M. Montgomery, Jane Austen, Tolkien and Ayn Rand's books that I had not yet read. Oh the feast!



Shimmering colors, songs of the wind, chimes brought back from the seaside by my mother... as delightful to listen to as they are to look at.

At The Movies

So I saw the latest Batman.
It's become a cliché to say that Heath Ledger steals the show but he does. He simply does. I took a few minutes to think long and hard whether the hoopla over his performance would have been the same had he not died tragically since. Honestly, I think so! He created a character of such intensity, with peculiar speech, mannerisms, walk… The minute he’s on the screen, you see no one else. Christian Bale is oddly tame and flavourless, almost as a background character, but that’s partly due to the scenario, which gives him little chance to display his acting skills.

I was in the car, on my way to see Tropic Thunder, because I usually enjoy Ben Stiller‘s humor, because the premise sounded good and because a satire of Hollywood is always welcome. But I suddenly realized that even though that’s a movie I want to see and I’m willing to pay for, I’d rather wait for the DVD because most likely the out-takes will be worth the wait. So I turned aound.

Pride and Glory came out. I try to go see most of Norton’s movies but I believe this is the movie adaptation of Motherless Brooklyn. If that’s the case, I’m not so eager because I didn’t really enjoy the book. And if that’s the film, goodness, it’s a project Norton has been working on for, what? the last TEN years or so!

Finally, two movies I’m looking forward to: Body of lies, with Crowe and DiCaprio and, of course, Madagascar 2, with a lion and a zebra!!!!

Be good and don’t abuse the popcorn.

Olympics' Opening Ceremony - random thoughts

How do you insure security for an event THIS vast? The truth is, you can't. Determined and well organized terrorists, infiltrating themselves ahead of time, would make a play of it. Just trying to imagine the logistics of security on top of the obvious logistics of the opening ceremony makes me dizzy.

It feels funny to hear all announcements in French first. An homage to monsieur De Coubertin, I suppose?

I didn't like the military bringing up the Olympic flag. The Olympics are no place for the military and certainly not in the opening ceremony.

It struck me how Caucasians were interchangeable, country wise. Watch the athletes coming into the stadium and try to GUESS which country is which without looking at the flag or the colors. If you say you can do it, I think you're a liar. We tend to stereotype "the Australians", the "Brazilians", "the Spanish", "the Americans", but the truth is, we're all alike, we're all a melting pot. Only language, culture and politics really divide us.

Will Chinese athletes REALLY be dope free? aghhhh, hard to believe.

All right, let the games begin!

I'm on vacation!

This is the view from the North:



This is the view from the South:



This is the view on the floor: