s. twain / back-log, build-up

when

What will I tell my kidlets or grandkidlets when they ask me what life was like when my country was at war? I was thinking about a line in a song that says something like, "We're at war with terrorism, we're at war with [this] and [that] but most of all, we at war with ourselves." Mmm, that's "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West for anyone who wants to know. I ...was re-realizing for the half-dozenth time, that a war persists in my lifetime.

Yes, in my arrogant Westerner mind, I know many wars have persisted around the globe during my lifetime but (dot, dot, dot) I'm an arrogant Westerner.

Right now, I don't know anything that's really DIFFERENT different, aside from the things that we talk about and the casualties that we suffer. This is strange to me and I am not quite sure where to go with it.

3 in 2

On Monday I watched Kingdom of Heaven (2005) with my friends who live down the street. It was ...good. The movie kept me quite enraptured and I love that I had no idea what to expect before I started watching. When my friend first told me the title of the film, I got excited, thinking it was the 2007 Jamie Foxx and Jason Bateman gig - The Kingdom. Alas, 'twas not.
I am very interested in the film, just in so many ways and I must say I was impressed by Orlando Bloom's acting. He does pretty well as a leading man.
I was very fascinated by all the things that were true of the time, 1184AD. It was a cool moment when the main character asks, "Where is the place where Christ was crucified," because he was in the right area and wanted to go to the mount. It's crazy to me, just crazy to think that you can ask something so matter of fact and no one says, "There was no Christ," or, "Christianity is a hoax," or whatever.
I enjoyed seeing that not everything about the "early days" was glam, no not at all. I mean sure this is about a thousand years too late for such yay-for-the-early-church-isms but still. It's good to see how brutal life was and how crazy religious divisions and affiliations could be, especially among adherents of the same religion.
There were many things that men said which demonstrated how completely off-base or misinformed or misled or plain wrong they were when it came to Christianity and how they knew God that were pretty heartbreaking. If they weren't heartbreaking they were maddening and I'm not OK with either. After a while it became so much that I wanted to give up. (When I say give up, I mean to stop arguing and stop getting upset in my mind. Any time a wrong-ism comes across my plate, I correct it in my mind, usually as if I were talking to the person who was speaking. But when it seems like EVERYONE is messed up well the situation does look more dismal.) But I couldn't ever actually give up, either because perseverance is where it's at OR complete snap-your-fingers turn-around revival is in order.

7.5/10

On Sunday at around 10 or 11pm, Edward Scissor Hands (1990) came on Bravo! or Showcase. I trust boffadem guys to air films worth watching. On top of this, I realized that I had never actually watched Edward Scissor Hands no matter how familiar with it I seem to think I am. There were like two or three other things that I wanted to watch at that same time but ESH won out because to watch it otherwise, I'd have to go out of my way, so I figured _____.
What can I say? WOW. What a great film.
Wow. I've been missing out. And what the heck - Johnny Depp never changes, does he?
Tim Burton + Johnny Depp + Danny Elfman = great great great combination. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I just adore how they all make sense for eachother. It's amazing. I feel so blessed being able to enjoy their work. (21)
If Tim Burton could just write a book....so many of my questions would be answered. (He has written a book, hasn't he?) Um yea. I want to know what to say about set and costume design. Like why did he use an ice cream palatte? I say that and it sounds like I think it was a bad idea so I demand an explanation. No, it's nothing like that. I'm just so fascinated beyond my own understanding that ...yea. I really don't know what to say. It was awesome. And even though TB has a lot of similarities among his works and a lot of telltale markers, this thing did catch me by surprize in a few ways. Indeed, indeed. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

After this - oh WHAT was I thinking?! - I watched The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) because, well, I love that film. I've def seen it about five or six times but, if I space it out well enough, I can enjoy it every time. There are so many things....
Well firstly, Alexandre Dumas? Brilliant man.
Second, Leonardo DiCaprio? Unappreciated. I've never been let down by his skills and I cringe to think of all his haters.
Third, Gerard Depardieu and John Malkovich...they fascinate me at arms' length. I should do some more investigation into both of them. I appreciate them from where I stand but I know there's so much more to know. (Awwww, wouldn't it be sweet if your romantic partner said that to you? Awwwww.) ahem
Fourth, Jeremy flippin Irons
OH
MY
GOODNESS.
Why is this man so cool? What's up with that? Where did that voice come from? Who would have done a better job of portraying Scar in The Lion King (1994)? Answer: no one. Holy crap, eh? I happen to like the character in this film, too (and I don't know exactly HOW biased I am, but regardless of my Irons affection..). Aramis is one flippin cool cat.
The intensity of the storyline, too, always gets me. Seventeenth-centry France was crazy (I'm sure the whole of Europe was crazy at the time) and scandal and corruption and betrayal and imprisonment and the chasm between classes and birthrights and everything...it simply amazefies me. I'm glad I watched it for two reasons: (1) For all the inbetweeny half-assed reading I had done during this film and ESH, I actually finished the article I was working on and (2) it's just a great film. End of storro.


epiphanies? Again? really? me?

I got a letter in the mail today. It had a big cheque inside, addressed to me. I'm.... boggled, again. [My brain and heart did a few backflips and danced a few dances and then] I realized I was overwhelmed all over again. Out of my mouth came the line, "Of course I'd get overwhelmed trying to do God's work as a mere man." I stopped and then said it aloud to myself again.

Sometimes you just gotta let the heck go.
Mmmm sometimes I need to be re-reminded of the simplest things. What am I doing? What am I doing here in this life?
He um....He takes care and He abounds with patience for which I must be ever greatful. ock