Kairos: Info on Dragonfly? Er, start reading archives from ard start of May? Hahaha...
A change from the European rantings I've been doing of late...
Plagiarized from Krystal's blog
I tried the Name Acronym but somehow it really screwed up my blog. So basically my name reads:
K=Kinky
H=Honorable
E=Enjoyable
L=Loving
A=Arty
T=Temperamental
H=Honorable
Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com
Interesting that the first one is kinky... Oh behave... And a double helping of Honorables! Does that mean I'm destined to be a judge? :p
And a pretty touching story...
A girl asked a guy if he thought she was pretty, he said..no. She asked him if he would want to be with her forever..and he said no. She then asked him if she were to leave would he cry? and once again he replied with a no. She had heard enough.
As she walked away, tears streaming down her face. The boy grabbed her arm and said... You're not pretty, you're beautiful, I don't want to be with you forever, I NEED to be with you forever, and I wouldnt cry if you walked away...I'd die...
Altogether now... Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.............
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
If you haven't seen this show already... WTF???
Joel Barish [Jim Carrey] one day finds out that his girlfriend Clementine [Kate Winslet] has undergone surgery in order to erase all memory of him from her mind. On a mad impulse, he goes to the clinic that she did it and orders the procedure for himself.
However, as the erasure is being done, Joel's mind becomes conscious. As he goes through all his memories of her, and all the good times they had, he suddenly realises that he doesn't want to lose his memories of her. His mental avatar goes on a wild chase in order to save his memories of Clem from being erased.
One reason to watch this show: Charlie Kaufman, the talented writer. His words are smooth, without being stereotypical, or kitschy, and hence, very realistic. And yet, he manages to make them sound very poetic, very lyrical, as if you were reading a good poem in a book. Definitely not your usual Hollywood dialogue. The love scenes are touching, without being vomit-inducing.
Also the plot is refreshing and really makes one think. Would you undergo such a procedure in order to forget a bad break-up? [In a scene where Carrey first enters the clinic, there is a woman sitting there with various doggy apparatus on her lap. Hm.] Kaufman suggests the view that, stung with the recent pain, you may think you want to, although you really don't want to.
At first, when the erasers took away the memories of recent arguments he had with Clem, Joel was happy to let those memories go. Then as they went further back, to when the relationship was good, to rare moments of intimacy between the two, he becomes desperate to hold on to them.
So even though things may seem bad sometimes, if one were to calm down, think a bit deeper, then maybe there are things worth saving after all. After Joel remembered all the good times, he realises all the things he loved about Clem rather than the things he hated, and then he realised that he still loved her after all.
I dunno. I'm of the opinion that no matter how bad some memories are, they still serve in one way or another to make you the person that you are. Our present beings are the result of the sum of our experiences, and if you take away any of those past experiences, we would have lost some part of ourselves together with it. It is through our memories that we learn, that we know.
[Hm. Maybe I should have explained it this way when one of my students asked me why history was so important as a subject.]
Also, the film raises the point that even though you had the memory erased, you may still be doomed to commit the same errors. Firstly, because you lost the memory of the previous failure, and secondly, because of your inherent character.
The character that illustrates this most clearly is Mary Evos, [Kirsten Dunst] the receptionist at the clinic. Hm, shan't reveal the ending. Go watch the show and find out what she did, and what happens to her. Hee.
All in all, a very touching love story, and very refreshing from the candy-pop-bubblegum stuff that usually comes out.
Starman - Underrated Comic
Hm. Just tried to find info on the Net on this comic and came up zilch. That just shows you...
In the tradition of Batman, Superman and other costumed heroes, Starman is Jack Knight, who wields the Cosmic Rod that channels cosmic energy to fight the bad guys of Opal City, and other supervillians that come his way.
NOT in the tradition of other costumed heroes, Starman is dressed in old WW2 goggles, a black leather jacket, old hawaiian shirts and pants.
The theme that runs through the Starman story arcs is that of PAST. Jack Knight is the reluctant hero, who takes up the Starman name from his father, the original 1950s Starman, when his brother dies. At first, he is unwilling to take up this mantle, because he dismisses his father as a costumed idiot running around trying to save the world. Then when a crimewave hits Opal City, the place he grew up in and loves so much, he is compelled to take up the rod in order to save it.
All through the arcs, however, we can see that Jack is in fact, more like a hero that he thinks he is. A lot of times, he will rush into the midst of danger, only to think: "Wait a minute. Why am I doing this? This is what a hero does!" And then starts beating up the bad guys.
The writer does a very good job in characterization and plot development. Rather than a series of disconnected mini-stories, the Starman arc more closely resembles a long-running drama series, with good actors and storyline. The other comic that most resembles this aspect would be the much acclaimed Sandman storyline. This is a welcome change from most other action comics, because then you can really see how the characters in the story develop as the plot progresses.
Also, as I said earlier, the PAST plays a significant role in this storyline. All throughout the stories, we are reminded of how Jack's father, Ted Knight, was the original Starman, and some of Jack's actions are influenced by what the original Starman would have done. [Sorta like when you take over the family business, only this family business is crime fighting] There are also appearances by heroes from the 1950s, who pop up now and again to tell Jack what happened in the past, in order to help him in the future.
This is a good story to check out, and no wonder it's an Eisner-winning comic. I recommend starting with Sins of the Father to get an idea of what I'm talking about. The books can be borrowed from National Library. [Hey, you didn't think I had that much money to buy new comics now, didcha?]
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