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The Red Balloon
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 1670
The children this weekend past, and in an effort to improve them and find constructive ways to pass the time I showed them "The Red Balloon" by Albert Lamorisse. Now don't follow the links and Wiki it, it will destroy the surprise. A charming - or as the boy punned - "Uplifting" film about a little boy and his balloon. Short, only 30 some odd minutes, visually spectacular (esp. given it was filmed in 1956 - Paris), appropriate for all ages. Treat your kids to something not by Disney, in Calgary you can rent it at Bird Dog Video.
The Moth - Riveting Listening
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Audio & Podcasts
- Hits: 1635
Listening to stories from "The Moth" - riveting and fascinating narratives from all & sundry. Funny, sad, thoughtful, inspiring, they're all there.
Listen here: http://www.themoth.org/listen.
OR, if you've listened to them all and have a need to listen to some more, listen further here: http://odeo.com/channels/2105685-The-Moth-Podcast or here: http://castroller.com/podcasts/TheMothPodcast
The Exorcist Remixed
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Dreams
- Hits: 1912
I've somehow made the decision to show "The Exorcist" to my 12 year old boy. I've glossed over the girl-crucifix scene, I can just ffwd it or cover his eyes when we get there.
We, he or I, are in a village on top of a small mountain or large hill. It's a beautiful sunny evening, that warm, sad light of evening. And there's about to be a flood. The kids are just leaving school, and the water comes rising over a lip at the end of the street, rising and everything is being swept away. I'm in the flood, hauling children out to higher ground, feeling around for them with my feet. I find a couple of things of laundry detergent, I was carrying them and lost them, it seems stupid now, unimportant, but I take them out as well and carry them to the banks.
The flood is rising, and I keep going into the water, into the street, to look for people, but I'm not finding anyone. SO I go up the sidestreet, there's a large burgundy SUV, the boys' father is riding around in it through the countryside, telling the boy that he's just gotta sort things out, he's gonna get a jeep, the boy can have the old stationwagon. And I wonder why the mainstreet has flooded when, from here, looking around, we're the highest point in the countryside, nothing else is flooded, the water must have run uphill to the village.... It really is a beautiful evening, golden rays of light through dark and broken cumulus clouds, a perfect moment that fills me with sadness that it can't last forever....
And I think to myself "This is just like the movie, just the way I remembered it....."
It's so bleak
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Miscellany
- Hits: 2298
This has been one of those days. On the good side, caught 2 more mice 4 more mice (2 after this posting, 1 in trap, other in rubbish. And sounds from kitchen lead me to believe there's still more loose). Those, + the one I caught over the weekend (took out in the trash) bring the total to 14. And none of them King Rat. And I deposited a cheque, an advance against a portion of work done, bringing my bank account up to 1/2 the amount needed for March's rent.
In theory I'm rich. I've done the math. Projects started, projected advances, completion dates, bills issued....It's a great living. But somehow the cheques aren't coming in, the advances are for far less than the agreed amount, and I hate discussing money so I grin and bear it, but it's gotta stop. Bills are due at the end of the week, with no forseeable way of paying. The rent cheque is due to bounce sky high any day. And like a moron I keep reassuring myself that it's not as bad as it seems, that in theory I'm rich.
It's soo bleak.
And there's the project, stalled now 6 months, waiting for materials from the client. There have been endless revisions in the interim, suggestions, rewrites, materials sent over for my inspection, always incomplete. It's become a nightmare. Up at 6:00 this morning, putting together the tables, files to be uploaded, to discover glaring omissions, missing linked tables, irrelevant information.
Banging my head on the computer, thinking that I'm a moron, that I must be missing something, but I'm not. Or I am a moron, but not for the reasons I was initially thinking....
Outside, the weather is beautiful. 10 degrees or more, the streets turning into glistening rivers, rinsing away memories of a cold winter.
I try to break up the frustration by surfing the net, but nothing cheers me, no news worth reading, nothing to inspire me at all. Probably it's not the web, it's me, the combined weight of stresses finally dragging me down, the cheerful "Here's the Database" with nothing in it that can be made serviceable. The further postponed cheques, awaiting clients gathering materials.
It's been one of those days....
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