Flicks and Muzak
The Kids Are All Right
There were boos and hisses of course. The plot just wasn’t plausible. Julianne Moore’s lesbian character “Jules” has sex with a guy. Although, Mark Ruffalo’s “Paul” largely resembles a bumbly, dishevelled lesbian…with a beard. Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right gently slides the emphasis off the assumption that the movie is about lesbians. Moore [...]
The Road: A Line Becomes a Circle
We used to sit in the dank swampy storm culverts below the tracks not far from our home. Kiley generally didn’t last long with the abundance of daddy long leg spiders that spun clingy curtains across our paths. Dax followed me most places, and stayed there, perhaps against his will, I can’t remember. Our dog [...]
Do Something Dangerously Memorable
When you buy a purebred dog from a breeder, the puppy undergoes a battery of reactionary tests to determine its placement suitability. An umbrella is suddenly opened to see if the pup is easily startled. A shaken jar of coins simulates noisy outbursts and challenges the dog’s confidence or potential anxiety. Lastly, the pup gets [...]
Please Do Not Disturb
Where The Wild Things Are has given me emotional indigestion. The movie trailer indicated that “Inside all of us is hope,” but the movie left me feeling the weight of the world on my heart and tear ducts, not just my shoulders. Like midnight Chinese food and the electric headache that drinking a vanilla milkshake [...]
Jann Arden Attacks the Architecture of the Human Heart
I like things that are reliable, like the threadbare comfort of my Sevens jeans, Starbucks skim lattes and a dog’s love. Meryl Streep movies come with an unspoken guarantee too—it’s gonna be gripping and as raw as ceviche. And when Jann Arden releases a new CD, I expect it’s going to be high-wattage. The lyrics [...]
Running Halfway
I didn’t eat pasta last night as every good runner should. We had a beer can chicken on the barbie, Beringer white zinfandel and double chocolate biscotti. I had intended on doing things properly this year, like the pasta thing, logging more than 5km a day in training and being sure to hydrate myself all [...]
Digging a Hole To China
I’m surprised Colin Angus didn’t succeed in digging a hole to China when he was a kid, because the guy is an unstoppable force. And if it were possible to find China in a sandbox, he would have done it. A few times. Angus has defied death more than once, voluntarily putting himself in situations [...]
Rachel Getting Married
Movies about weddings usually carry an unspoken guarantee. Much like a Meryl Streep film, you know it’s going to be good. Muriel’s Wedding (1994), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) and Mamma Mia (2008), were all box office sledgehammers.But Rachel Getting Married? Ugh. Director Jonathan Demme has delivered knock-outs [...]
Crazy for SHeDAISY
Once upon a time, I thought country music was what they played to lab mice to see if they would eat each other due to the anxiety and aggression the music caused. Close friends often tried to put me in a country music coma with the likes of Terri Clark, Vince Gill and other cowboy-hatted [...]
Moral Complacency
Irshad Manji, the fiery feminist identified by the NY Times to be “Osama bin Laden’s worst nightmare,” gently accused her Abbotsford audience of slipping into “moral complacency.” Manji recently wrote The Trouble With Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call For Reform In Her Faith. Her website www.irshadmanji.com offers free downloads in several translations for readers who [...]
