monoceros blogsI really, really like this trailer.
I don't care if Waitress appears mainstream - it's really an indie film - or that the pies might be a little overkill (still, the names of the pies are pretty great). It's got Keri Russell (Felicity!) and Nathan Fillion (from Firefly!). And in the awful-husband role is creepy Jeremy Sisto who first creeped me out in Six Feet Under years ago.
Despite the comedy and heartfelt goodness (though I suspect there won't be a predictably happy ending, because the clue - if you catch it quickly enough - is right there in the trailer), the film has a tragic background. Adrienne Shelley, who writes, directs, and appears in the film, was murdered before she got to see her work raved about at the Sundance Film Festival. I think a lot of people want the film to do well; it would be a wonderful tribute to the director.
On a personal note, my teaching observation came and went. I don't think it was great, but I suppose it wasn't all bad either. My students were supportive and quite sweet (I do like them so!). I have three more weeks of teaching and intensive grading and eating the same ol' mee pok tah at the Engineering canteen (it's the shortest line). Somewhere in between, I'll miss my brother's graduation (my parents get to attend though), squeeze in a few tango workshops with Argentine tango superstars Javier Rodriguez and Andrea Misse, finish up Susan Minot's Evening, listen to Regina Spektor's "Samson" dozens of times (thanks to yAnn, who wrote about the song; this got me hunting for the original, slower version that Spektor recorded in 2002), and plan for a vacation whether or not I ever get to take it.
Let's add Travis' "The Boy With No Name" to the list of May music releases.
Here is the video for "Closer" (fun cameo included). The supermarket setting reminded me of a classmate at my MFA program who was fascinated by grocery stores in America. I remember a story of hers set in a supermarket. Quirky and captivating. Now I'm missing my balm-for-the-spirit late-night shopping at the 24-hour Kroger.
This isn't a May but June release. But since I've mentioned the band, Travis, I should add that my thoughts always go to this fellow workshopper (he was a year ahead, a classmate of EK's) when a song of Travis' appears in the iTunes window. Part of his novel was one of the first pieces I got to read in at the start of the program. It's lovely to see that work come so far.
Pink Martini's third album, "Hey Eugene," is arriving in May. It's just one of the slew of new albums from popular musicians, singers, and bands coming out that month. Among others, there are Maroon 5 ("It Won't Be Soon Before Long"), Tori Amos ("American Doll Posse"), Erasure ("Light at the End of the World"), Michael Buble ("Call Me Irresponsible"), and Rufus Wainwright ("Release the Stars") - he's not so popular or widely known but he ought to be! I suppose May's the time for new music since school's out and summer beckons, the season for long road trips or lemonade afternoons at the park (prime music-listening occasions).
On a personal note, in May, three close friends celebrate their birthdays, and another will depart for a year-long adventure. Much celebration, anticipation, and farewells. I can't decide if I'm going to love or lament the coming of May.
After sampling tracks from Pink Martini's new offering, I'm pretty sure it's going on the shopping list the next time I visit the music store. They haven't changed their recipe much, but it's that tried-and-tested-and-loved recipe their fans adore and want a lot of anyway - distinct flavors from across the globe, capable switching between gentle and vigorous vocal stirrings. More importantly, given the long production period between the first two albums, it's a thrill that the third one's coming out this soon.
Many people are going to be wondering if the worst mass shooting incident in US history could have been prevented. But amid the debate, students have to deal with the senseless killings, the loss of friends and professors. And then the fear plaguing any parent with a child in Virginia Tech. Was she in that building? In that classroom? If the phone rings, let it be her.
Being halfway across the world didn't lessen the horror when I listened to a recording of gunshots. Yahoo News also features raw sound footage of the gunshots captured by a student, a longer audio that jarred the still scene of the university campus (though soon, police were emerging from the building carrying injured victims). So many gunshots, and the shouting...the shouting.
The latest is that the gunman - who shot himself after the massacre - could be a Chinese man on a student visa. I'm sure many - myself included - wish they could vent their fury and that immense sense of awfulness on him. Why? Why?
What little comfort they can find in these dark hours, I hope the victims' families and friends receive it. And for those who had their lives snatched away, go well, far away from this haunted world.
1. An Anatole France quote - "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another."
2. A quote from E, treasured writing instructor, who was quoting EB White, who was perhaps quoting Thoreau - "If you keep swimming in the direction you want to go in your life, even if it doesn't seem you're getting anywhere, at some point you'll look around and realize you've gotten farther than you'd ever dreamed you would. I honestly believe that's true. Keep swimming!"
3. A recent MM Lee quote - "I say you have no sense of proportion; you don’t know what life is about."
Even if Singaporeans don't know much about the life he speaks of, they do know about their own lives, and they struggle with them every day. Some worry about how they'll pay the bills this month; some can barely provide pocket money for their children; some wait for a generous soul to put a two-dollar note in their cupped palms; some dream of the day they'll be able to call a home their own, the day the gargantuan loan's fully paid off; some agonize about finding a job. Someone should give them a break, a good job, and for those who have any job at all - a substantial pay rise would be nice. And I'd like for nurses and social workers and anyone who slogs for the sake of humanity to get more money too. But real life never happens that way, does it? Don't we know it.