Reviews

I went out to see Whale Rider with Nesha on Saturday evening... what a GREAT film! Keisha Castle-Hughes, who was 11 at the time of filming, was amazing. The movie worked on so many levels and it was a pleasure to see so many small details added. The ending was a little far-fetched but not entirely improbable. Learning about the Maoris of New Zealand was entirely fascinating. It was sad to see how their culture and people are affected by modern society, like the aboriginals of many countries, but there were glimpses of the richness and potential glimmer of hope.

The next afternoon on Sunday, we saw The Legend of Suriyothai. This was a historical film about Thailand's (Siam) past circa 15th century. The movie was rich with visual details but incoherent in some ways. Although entertaining and informative, many of the main characters (especially Suriyothai herself) disappeared from the film periodically and sometimes for long periods. There was apparently a lot of minutes cut from the original version for it's North America release so that may have something to do with it. I just got the impression that the title should have been the Legend of Lord Piren instead since he had a much more major and consistent role. The actress who played the title character was also unfortunate to lack the onscreen presence of a starring character and her wooden acting didn't help matters either. Maybe it worked since she showed the calmness and grace expected of a person of royal upbringing. The movie was still good despite some minor things. I wonder how much better the unedited original version is?

PLEASE use your turn signals!

I made a comment jokingly about my friend Racheal being "laid-back for a red-head" and just to prove my point, Nesha took it personally. She got somewhat huffy and thought that I implied that she/redheads were often hot-tempered. That one took a lot of back-tracking to get out of!

Speaking of Racheal, she recently expressed concern over my motorcycle riding. She feels that I'm a good and safe rider but she couldn't help worrying as a friend of hers was killed by a left-turner during the weekend.

This got me thinking too about Nesha. I don't know if she should get a scooter. I am glad that I convinced her to get her motorcyle and licence next year. She only got her driver's licence about 6 months ago and she doesn't own a car at the present so her experience hasn't increased very much. I decide to leave my bike at home last night and drove my car to work because I wanted her to drive back home when I stayed at her place overnight. I wanted to give her as much opportunities as possible to gain some experience driving and dealing with traffic. I'm also trying to teach her as much as I know about being a good driver. I told her how I thought one of the funnest parts about driving is trying to predict how everyone around you will act. I hope she'll come to a point where it becomes a zen-like experience for her as it can for myself.