It is really apparent to me that I need a break.  Just a break.  A mama break.  Time to unwind.  It’s 11:30 at night on the day before we make our big annual trip to Paducah, Kentucky to visit John’s Granny and Papaw, aunts, uncle, and cousins.  I’m so excited that I have been asked to make some things to bring this year!  Maybe this means I’m growing up.   So, tonight, I’m baking.  I’ve made sweet potato and raisin cookies and sourdough bread from the Nourishing Traditions Cookbook, and a coconut oil fudge recipe I got from a message board.  At about midnight, I’ll put in the blueberry muffins.  In the morning, I’m making a pumpkin pie.

I’m looking forward to this trip.  I love John’s family as much as I do my own.  They are precious to me.  The trip will also give me time to reflect on what is and isn’t working in my mothering.  I have decided that I need an information purge.  I first read about the concept on Alisha’s blog – On a Silent Sea, and her journey through reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.  She posted the idea on August 19th.  It has taken me this long to get the guts to try it.  Since we are going to be away for the weekend, I think it is the perfect time to start.

My biggest issue is the internet.  I never used to use it like I do since we moved.  I resented it really.  I hated the thought of computers taking the place of books with pages, sticking your nose right in the binding and taking in the scent of paper and ink, flipping, marking, and highlighting your way through.  I hated the internet for being trendy, the knew “thing”.  Yet, here I am right in the middle of it.  I don’t feel so strongly about it anymore, and I have come to see how useful it can be, especially to a mama who is kind of isolated in her beliefs and relationships.  That mama being me.

I live four and a half hours away from my best girlfriend and sister.  There are no more weekends on her couch watching TV, eating, and talking about what goes and who gives.  I am no longer close to the only Waldorf School in Kentucky, and therefore am missing out on that community.    The attachment parenting group that I am a member of is also far away now, and there’s no more meetings at the coffee house, or VBAC support.  I no longer have the community group meetings with my church sisters and brothers.  These were weekly activities that got me out and into the world when we lived in the city.  Granted, I’d be fine with just the weekends on the couch at Ariana’s, but I needed the rest too.  Despite all the wonderfulness of home, I’m missing the break that these things gave me.  A chance to get out of my shell once and awhile and experience people.

I took the girls to most of these outings, but it was a time to be with others, vent frustrations to people face to face, a time to develop friendship, have meaningful conversations.  Now, most days, the only conversations I have are either short evening ones with John, or on computer message boards.  It has become such that if I have any little issue, my first instinct is to go get advice or look it up online.  Sad, I know.  Useful, yes, but sad.

I’m so not good at making friends.  If you notice, the above activities already put me at a place where there were folks meeting for a purpose, or common goal.  I have such a hard time without that setting.  There aren’t many opportunities for mothers here to get together, and when there are, I don’t see many taking advantage of it.  John and I don’t get date nights.  It is a rare thing that I am doing anything sans the girls.  I simply don’t have childcare throughout the week when most things I would like to attend are going on.  John is busy weekends, so those are out most of the time.  I just don’t have anyone other than family (who work) that I am close enough to to feel unembarrassed to ask about childcare, and no money to pay anyone.  Historically has it most of the time been this way for mothers, or were extended families and communities part of the child rearing?

I drink Yogi Tea and on the little tabs they have a quote from Yogi Bhajan.  Yesterday, my quote was:

Self reliance conquers any difficulty.

While I believe that relying on God is the first thing, I can completely understand what Yogi Bhajan meant here.  The answers lie within ourselves.  God in us.  It’s there if we can shut out all the noise, observe, and listen.  I don’t do that – not at all.

That said, there will be no message boards, Facebook, or crazy internet searches for information for an unset amount of time.  I’m going to use the extra time that will give me to work on my home, my selfishness, and my relationship with the girls.  I’m going to use this time to listen, and come up with my own answers.

I realize these last few posts have been lots of words and no photos.  I will do better as soon as I am able.  I also apologize for the typos in the last post that I haven’t had the chance to fix yet.  I don’t know if letting others spend time in my head is interesting or not, but that’s what’s on my mind, and I’d like to tell someone.

I’ve been guiding myself through my yoga practice the last six days with a set from the back of The 8 Human Talents by Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa.  The music I have chosen, because I don’t have any yoga music, is Eddie Veddar’s work on the soundtrack to the movie Into the Wild.  If you have never seen the movie, it is beautiful, breathtaking, and based on a true story.  I love Pearl Jam and have since they became a band.  I believe Eddie Veddar to be the best lyricist possibly who ever lived.  There are two songs that seem to sing from a place where I am at now… Here they are for you.  I hope you enjoy them.

Surfing the net today I stumbled across a ton of great photographs. Majority came from one of my favorite sites; Dazed Digital. This first set is called In Their Shoes and I thought it was just amazing how much of a story can be built just on these images and the shoes their wearing. The others are just photographers who I thought were interesting. I really like portraits becuase again I really like it when a picture looks like it captures the very essence of a person or situation. These photographers did that for sure; Leon Diaper and Ariel Rosenbloom.
-Andrew J.

If anyone has seen Into The Wild (one of my favorite movies) you’ll recgonize this next guy- He’s from the “Love Mountain” Diaper does such a great job of capturing classic Americana in a very retro feeling way. I love it!

Airel  shoots mostly in black and white, of which I am a fan and there’s just something very… unglamorous and real about her pictures. I know a girl who looks a LOT like the girl in the chair on the right… kinda creepy lol.

Finally some antique shots from the ’40s and ’50s in America. This cowboy is from a rodeo in 1945.


Highway in New Mexico… having driven it not too long ago… it really doesn’t look that different ha.

The look on this woman’s face is priceless- 1955 Elevator

Having a good conversation is one of my favorite feelings. That moment when you feel almost buzzed with the excitement of how much you want to respond to and absorb what the other person is saying. These conversations happen both with the people I love most and oddly, the people I know least. With the latter category, the buzz comes from the fact that neither one has any expectations for what the other will contribute. I live for these chats.

Peace,

Sources: weheartit, imdb

Blog title from “The New Year” by Death Cab for Cutie

Though it’s better than the first movie, New Moon’s fatalistic, emotionally retarded, “I can’t live without you because I have no identity on my own” tale is only saved by some great action scenes and kickass special effects.  There’s only so much turning off your brain you can do.

Director Chris Weitz, who wrote and directed the great About a Boy, brings a film filled with beautiful scenery (yay B.C.…oh and Italy) and characters so. overcome. by. emotion. they. could. just. die.  When I started this blog, I knew there would be a few movies that I wouldn’t necessarily have seen on my own.  This was certainly one of them.  So thankfully a friend of mine (female to make me not look creepy) agreed to see this tween fantasy. So, I put my best incognito outfit on, slipped on my Clark Kent glasses, tipped the brim of my hat reeeeeeeeeeeally low and dug in for the next 2+ hours of teen angst.  oooooooooooooooooh the angst.

The Setup:
Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has some issues. She’s infatuated with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), her dreamy vampire boyfriend, to a level that’s not healthy but her problem is she’s worried her being human will ruin their love (she’s gonna get old and wrinkly you know….eewwww).  After a bloodlust moment over a Cullen family dinner party, Edward decides it would be best if they never saw each other again.  Well, Bella just wants to…like…die.  Enter the topless Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), a werewolf with some love of his own to give/share/lord over Bella.  The movie turns up the emotional turmoil to eleven as Bella deals with her growing “let’s be just friends” love of Jacob and her desire to get back to Edward.  The climax takes place in Italy where we meet the Volitari, vampire royalty and makers of rules…all leading us to the next installment of Twilight, Eclipse in June, 2010.

The Thoughts:
I could never be confused for a feminist.  I like a strong, independant woman with a mind of her own but I’m not starting any women’s studies or burning bras anytime soon.  Having said that, this movie is one of the biggest slaps in the face disguised as a teen romance I’ve ever seen (yes, I’ve seen a few).  The character of Bella is painful to watch.  She spends half the movie having nightmares and shutting down because her vampboy don’t want her no more  (double negative on purpose).  The only time where she feels almost ok is when she’s either c&%k-teasing the local werewolf or trying to kill herself to get Edward’s attention.  The tween (it’s latin for too young to know better) argument is that “this is true love, I just wouldn’t understand.”  I call BS on that one.  I like Kristen Stewart.  She’s a damn good actress (see Adventureland and my recommendation below) but her Bella is the most incomplete, whiny, co-dependent character.  There’s angst, and then there’s, my god shut up already.

The actors don’t have that much to work with.  The main three of Stewart, Pattinson, and Lautner play the characters as I’m sure they’re written. We get a bit of star power with the Volitari in the form of Dakota Fanning and Michael Sheen.  They don’t do much but gosh, they look so awesome with creepy eyes and pale skin.  I would have liked to see more of the Italian royalty but by the time we get to them, there’s not much movie left.

There is one scene I want to highlight for the sheer shock value.  We learn that one of werewolves’ fiance was facially disfigured because the wolf got mad and he just feels terrible about it now.  The Jacob character goes on to tell Bella that if she ever got him mad, he might snap and hurt her too.  And we don’t want that.  I actually had to lean over to my fellow audience member and ask, “did they just justify domestic violence?”  And what worries me is not a member for that young audience picked up on it at all.

I had been asked if I was Team Edward or Team Jacob.  Take this: I would rather pick the emo, pseodo homosexual, tortured Edward over the “acting is taking off your shirt,” wife beater Jacob anyday.

As you can probably tell, I wasn’t a big fan but I will say the threat of Victoria, the action sequences both in Italy and as the werewolves hunted vampires, as well as the werewolf effects were fantastic.  Unfortunately they didn’t happen enough to make up for everything else.

Twilight Saga: New Moon Rating:

1 ticket – go, but don’t tell anyone. If any movie deserved this rating, it’s New Moon.  This definitely plays to the romantic fantasy crowd and I was fully comfortable accepting that but I could only “go with it” for so long.  Go for the special effects but make sure your eyes AND ears are open to the messages this movie is giving.

Rating system:
½ ticket – rip up your ticket.
1 ticket – go, but don’t tell anyone.
2 tickets – good movie, take a friend. 
3 tickets – tell everyone you know.

Coming Attractions:

The Wolfman (release date: February 10, 2010) – Director Joe Johnston already has a pretty good track record – Jurassic Park 3, Jumanji and the really underrated Hidalgo.  And the wolfman is due for a comeback…stupid vampires and zombies.  Looks great and it boasts Benicio “Traffic” Del Toro, Emily “Devil Wears Prada” Blunt, and Anthony “HELLO! – SILENCE OF THE MOTHER F’ING LAMBS” Hopkins.

Randomly Recommended

Into the Wild (2007) – Kristen Stewart isn’t in this long, but she is memorable.  This is the real life story of Chris McCandless, a young, successful student with the world in front of him…so he decides to live there.  Only his world is the Alaska wilderness.  Amazing story of a guy that is driven to do what he wants, regardless of how unreasonable or crazy it seems to everyone else…including the audience.  Great acting from Emile Hirsch and a stand out performance from Hal Holbrook.

Wolf (1994) – Werewolves are the new vampires.  Less emo, more manly.  And with Wolf, it’s Jack Nicholson as a werewolf.  COME ON!  Hairy, selfish, charming, acts on instinct, walking libido, and could snap at the drop of a hat.  Isn’t Jack already one?  With Michelle Pfeiffer, a skinny James Spader and directed by Mike Nichols (he did the Graduate and Working Girl), you’ve got yourself a movie.

Mình xem Into the wild trong bao nhiêu ngày nhỉ? Ờ nói thiệc là mình cũng không nhớ nổi nữa.

E hèm, một bữa đẹp đẹp xấu xấu trời mình chạy vô blog của chị MM, thấy Into the wild nằm chình ình ở trỏng, một bữa xấu xấu đẹp đẹp trời khác mình chạy qua living social của chị MM cũng thấy Into the wild nằm chình ình ở trỏng. Vậy là mình quyết định xem phim

Xem phim này lâu ơi là lâu và nhiều lần ơi là nhiều lần.

Chỉ nhớ là lần đầu tiên xem phim vì muốn học tiếng Anh nên quyết định xem bằng engsub, coi đến đoạn Alex tìm được magic bus thì có việc gì đó, vậy là ngừng coi. Rồi coi lại lần thứ hai, coi đến đoạn Alex gặp được cô chú Rainey, rồi lại coi lại thêm lần nữa, thêm lần nữa, lần nào cũng coi đến đoạn đó hay hơn một chút rồi lại dừng, bây giờ mình cũng không nhớ nổi là tại sao dừng nữa.

Rồi cuối cùng quyết định chép phim ra đĩa ngồi xem vietsub cho nó dễ hiểu (sự chăm chỉ chuyên cần biến thành làm biếng ham vui )

Cảm xúc lúc xem xong phim thiệc là kỳ cục và bối rối. Có quá nhiều thứ để nhớ, có quá nhiều thứ để cảm thấy buồn bã, có quá nhiều thứ để thấy hạnh phúc, có quá nhiều, quá nhiều thứ đến nỗi choáng ngợp.

Lần đầu xem một bộ phim Mỹ mà mình không cảm thấy khó hiểu. Mà mình có thể cảm nhận trọn vẹn đến từng hơi thở, từng cử động, từng tình cảm của những nhân vật trong phim.

Có lẽ vì mình đã từng có những suy nghĩ y hệt như Alex, có lẽ vì mình đã từng có những cảm giác y hệt như Alex. Vì mình đã từng trải qua những điều mà Alex trải qua. Có thiệc không ta? Ờ, cứ cho là nó thiệc một phần bao nhiêu đi (sự thật là nó cũng chỉ thiệc có “một phần bao nhiêu” thôi hà )

Cho rằng nó là một lời nói xạo có thiệc đi là dễ chấp nhận nhất. Hehe.

Ừ, một người đã từng trải qua (dù chỉ là một chút xíu) những điều Alex từng trải qua, sẽ hiểu anh. Hiểu không có nghĩa là chấp nhận, là đồng tình. Chỉ là sẽ dễ dàng nhìn thấy anh, giữa một mớ những hành động nổi loạn, giữa một mớ những sở thích kỳ lạ, giữa một mớ những sự giận dữ, và cả giữa một mớ tình cảm dịu dàng, chỉ là sẽ thấy Alex đứng đó, và tự dưng trong cõi lòng ta dâng trào một cái gì như là tình thương mến giữa những người hình như có điểm gì chung với nhau.

Mình chưa bao giờ dám nghĩ như Alex. Mình sợ hãi các chuyến đi xa, sợ hãi phải rời mọi người, sợ rằng mình quay lại không kịp. Những chuyến đi dài dằng dặc, những chuyến xe tròng trành chông chênh, có một thời gian là nỗi ám ảnh của mình.

Vì vậy khi nhìn thấy hình ảnh Alex lội qua con sông băng, khi Alex ngoái đầu lại nhìn chiếc mũ len của cô Jan cắm trên một cành cây, mình thấy khó chịu kinh khủng, một người có thể bỏ lại hết cả thế giới này, bỏ lại cả cuộc đời này. Khi nhìn người đó, mình thấy ganh tị.

Cuộc đời mình, từ cái năm mình bắt đầu hiểu ra một số chuyện (năm nào vậy nhỉ) cho tới năm mình 19 tuổi, và tận những năm về sau nữa, mình mãi mãi không bao giờ có can đảm treo chiếc mũ len lên cành cây, nói gì băng qua con sông đó…

Alex muốn rời khỏi thế giới của loài người, đi tìm kiếm trong thế giới tự nhiên hoang dã cuộc sống thực sự. Và cuộc hành trình vĩ đại nhất lúc nào anh cũng hướng đến chính là chuyến đi đến Alaska…

Thế nhưng, cuối cùng ở giữa Alaska hoang vắng và lạnh giá, ở giữa “into the wild” Alex đã muốn quay lại. Alex đã cần thế giới loài người, dù thế giới đó có thế nào chăng nữa. Lúc đó mình đã thấy thật hạnh phúc, không hiểu sao nữa, mình thấy hạnh phúc đến nỗi muốn khóc. À, mình nhớ đến Rainbow song, mình nhớ mẹ mình từng bảo “Dù cho thế nào đi nữa, con người ta vẫn cần tình yêu.”

…

Nhưng mà kết cục là Alex không thể quay về.

Ừ, không thể quay về, trong tuyệt vọng, cô đơn, sợ hãi…

nhưng rồi nhận ra “Happiness only real when shared” và mỉm cười…

…

Mình thích nhiều hình ảnh trong phim, thí dụ như là bầu trời hình tam giác nhìn từ cửa sổ của magic bus, nơi đó những đám mây trôi vùn vụt, màu xanh da trời dịu dàng và xa xăm, thí dụ như là khi Alex đứng giữa một vùng băng tuyết, hai cánh tay dang rộng. Nhưng mà hình ảnh làm mình cảm động nhất là lúc Alex tưởng tượng ra cảnh mình quay về và được bố mẹ ôm thật chặt, thật chặt.

Với mình “into the wild” không phải là “into the wild” mà có lẽ là “into the love” thì đúng hơn . Lý do hả? Sẽ là một điều bí mật hehe.

Viết cái này trong lúc đang nghe Long nights nên mọi thứ thật lan man dài dòng. Và cũng thật dài dòng lan man…

Dehär var presenterna som mamma&pappa fick av mig idag!Eiffeltornet köpte jag i Paris och filmen “Into the wild” & spargrisen med engelska flaggan-motiv köpte jag i London.

Nomad. Basically means either a pastoral nomad, moving his herd every day in search of food, or a hunter gatherer nomad moving with the wildlife. Bruce Chatwin was forever fascinated by nomadic life and once spent years and years writing a book about his own thesis on ‘the nomadic alternative’. This brick of a book was according to his publisher almost unreadable and Chatwin ended up instead traveling Patagonia and writing ‘In Patagonia’. The rest is history.

I have spent the past 4 months attempting to realise my own Nomadic Alternative. On Monday the 23rd of November dreams become reality as I board my plane to freely travel the world, photograph, experience, write and live! New life. The road is the home. Nomadic Alternative.

I now own basically what I can carry. Well, carry with some help as there is an awful lot of camera gear, laptop, books and clothes. Still, my life and possessions is reduced to a mobile state and I have no home but the world, the road. Nomadic alternative. These are truly exciting times! Complete freedom and total liberation! I do know how lucky people consider me to be and I will live up to it.  But I have basically created this situation myself and I believe everyone can do this or parts of this. Most of what tie us down are in our minds!

While I do call it my Nomadic Alternative, like Bruce Chatwin would say, that is a truth and a half. Chatwin liked to say he was travelling with just a notebook and a backpack. In reality he carried a whole home with him, including a ton of books. In reality I will be jumping from base to base as a place to sleep is always quite nice! My first base will be with friends in Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. A dear friend from Copenhagen will also join me in Chiang Mai and together we will explore Asia for the next 4 months. Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, perhaps Burma, Laos and a little gday to Australia as well could be on the menu. No plans, except to live! photograph, experience, travel and be free, free!

“Not all those who wander are lost.” – Tolkien

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." -Chris McCandless

The road is home

Let us conclude with the road, in this case a lovely red dirt road from Karijini, Australia. Red and blue dawn at it’s finest. Into the Wild.

Karijini Red and Blue Dawn
© Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

If you know some great photography locations in Thailand – and Asia – I would love to hear about them! See you on the road.

Maybe this is morbid, but I’ve become totally fascinated by the halted-in-time blog kept by Evan Tanner, a former UFC middleweight champion and all-around inspiring guy who died last year. At the tail end of his career, he decided to venture off into the desert for some camping and self-reflection and unfortunately never came back. Heat exposure. It’s too bad. The sport really needs more people like him around to balance out the doucheyness. Through his writing he comes across simple and gracious, but his carefree nature also seems kind of aimless and at times melancholy. He just fell into martial arts. He admitted his faults. He trained hard. He loved those around him. He turned his house into a training centre for troubled young martial artists. He died.

Total Into the Wild type shit, made extra tragic for the fact that he actually name-checks that book/movie in his blog to quell concerns that his desert trip was some sort of suicide mission or cry for help:

“It seems some MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) websites have reported on the story, posting up that I might die out in the desert, or that it might be my greatest opponent yet, etc. Come on, guys. It’s really common down in Southern California to go out to the off-road recreation areas in the desert about an hour away from LA and San Diego…So my plan is to go out to the desert, do some camping, ride the motorcycle, and shoot some guns. Sounds like a lot of fun to me. A lot of people do it. This isn’t a version of ‘Into the Wild.’”

Sadly, that’s exactly what it turned out to be. Check it out — not only for the feel-good spirit, but also because seeing him post pictures of his trip preparation is all sorts of eerie. It works on several levels depending on how messed up of a person you are. Yay!

For something a bit more lighthearted, I also highly recommend Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No, a digital baseball-themed short from the people at No Mas TV and artist James Blagden. I don’t want to go into too much detail because you should just watch the shit, but for background, Blagden animated the late Pittsburgh Pirate’s NPR-produced recounting of how he infamously pitched a no-hitter against San Diego in 1970, which he accomplished while TOTALLY BLITZED OUT ON LSD. It’s a lot of fun and a great tribute to Ellis, who died of cirrhosis at the too-young age of 63 while on the wait list for a new liver. Sign those organ donor forms, people.

You’ll NEVER have a story this great to tell:

(via)

Folkpartiet skriver om LAS i dagens brännpunkt. Finns det någon mer diskuterad fråga på Svenska arbetsplatser än LAS? Otaliga gånger har jag diskuterat denna lag med goda vänner, för att efteråt konstatera att diskussionen inte stärkte vänskapsbanden.

Jag minns en eftermiddag, när jag låg hemma och slötittade på TV:n. Talkshowen Oprah upptog etern och ämnet för dagen handlade om folk som fått sparken. Nu till kulturkrocken; Oprah och hennes gäster menade inte att man skulle reagera med ilska, rädsla eller hopplöshet vid uppsägning. Tvärtom, den uppsagda borde först gå hem och ta in vad som har hänt, för att sedan återvända till jobbet och tacka chefen för att han givit dem möjligheten till att påbörja någonting nytt.

Först kändes det lite löjeväckande. Tacka för att bli uppsagd? Mina svenska hjärnsynapser sände ut starka varningssignaler; här var det någonting lurt på gång. Men efter lite reflektion; varför inte?

Inte alltför sällan konstaterar vi att människor är vanedjur som uppskattar trygghet. Må så vara. Det svenska samhället har anammat denna uppfattningen om människan, lite djärvt skulle man kunna påstå att det är just denna föreställningen om människan som är fundamentet till folkhemmet. Vi har skapat lagar, förordningar och turregler som flörtar med denna trygghetsgen. Vi vet vad vi har, och vi ved vad vi ska förbli.

Sällan talas det om de mentala murar som sakta skapas, för varje dag på jobbet läggs ytterliggare en tegelsten till denna mur. Efter 30 år är muren hög, och det är svårt att se över till andra sidan. För att legitimera murbyggandet stiftas lagar som LAS, och en föreställning om att; det är en rättighet att ha ett arbete skapas. Konsekvenserna blir att förvirring uppstår när människor vill riva muren. Försöker ni beröva mig mina rättigheter?

Tillbaka till Oprah. Man skulle alltså tacka chefen. Märkligt eller hur? Poängen var inte att visa personlig tacksamhet mot chefen, utan att för sin egen skull visa att nya kapitel i sitt liv skulle skrivas. Livet byggs på tillfälligheter, och man kan inte räkna med konstanta tillstånd. Istället för att kämpa för något som aldrig kommer tillbaka, skulle man söka nya tillfälligheter som skulle bli en ny milstolpe i det som kallas livet. Genom att bli avskedad öppnades nya möjligheter, den gamla mentala muren raserades och världen låg åter öppen. Det lilla kontoret eller det insuttna fikarummet utjorde inte längre ramarna, nu var fältet öppet för framtiden.

Två skilda perspektiv, vilket tilltalar mest? Långt inne i själen, trots att de flesta inte vill erkänna det, kittlar det lite; nya möjligheter, nya kartor, kanske är det dags att öppna den där restaurangen jag alltid drömt om? För att exemplifiera med populärkultur. Filmen Into The Wild väckte många drömmar hos människor. Kan man göra sådär, bara vandra iväg, bort från det gamla? Den smått naiva unga mannen som lämnar det gamla och vandrar mot det nya. Han byter tryggheten som studierna givit honom mot spänningen av att vandra in i det vilda, det okända. Jag har sett flertalet inlägg på internet om hur härligt det vore att göra som han, att vandra iväg likt Supertramp mot ovissheten och söka nya utmaningar.

Även om förändringar inte behöver vara lika drastiska som Supertramps vildmarksliv, behöver inte ett avsked vara livets ände; utan början på någonting nytt. Lagar som hindrar människors föreställningsvärld från att inse vilka fantastiska möjligheter och vilken otrolig spelplan det finns för att förverkliga dem är att frånta en stor del av det som är människans innersta väsen; hoppet och framtidstron.

Så slopa LAS. Släpp lös kreativiteten. Att de rent praktiska fördelarna överväger för ett sådant ställningstagande är bara plus i kanten. Främst handlar det om att frigöra individens mentala landskap, och riva de murar som hindrar oss från att se världens möjligheter.

Watching movies is one of my favorite activities. Today I had the rare pleasure of getting to watch two (usually that only happens when I’m dog-sick and stuck in bed). They provided a bizarre counterpoint for each other.

The first was the upcoming adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Now, the last one out of the gates on this was No Country for Old Men, what I consider to be an almost pitch-perfect movie. Add to that Viggo Mortensen and Robert Duvall, two of my favorite actors, and I was pumped. The kicker: free passes for pastors, followed by a theological discussion of the movie led by a “noted theologian.” Sold!

The movie was bleak – I expected that. And that was hard to watch. But it just wasn’t that good. The Coen Brothers nailed No Country’s pacing with the painfully drawn-out vista shots and the almost wordless dialogue. Here, there was some good cinematography, but it felt like they were trying to get through it too fast. I know it’s unfair to compare relatively new-comer directors to the Coen Brothers, but this really didn’t live up to the challenge at all. For a free movie, though, intriguing.

The noted theologian was Reg Grant, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. It was not that long ago that places like Dallas would have urged faithful Christians to run the other direction from such movies, so I am encouraged to see the evangelical mainstream willing to engage secular culture, not deny it out of hand. But what followed in discussion was frustrating. The film was full of Biblical and philosophical allusions, much like No Country. However, the discussion seemed to be hell-bent (pardon the expression) on shoe-horning the film into a Christian allegory. The relationship of the Father and the Son, the pronouncement that the Son is “the one,” the only man in the film named is “Eli,” sparse conversations about God and angels, all of that adds up to a lot of fodder for conversation. But to somehow assume that McCarthy’s nihilistic worldview could be bent into a crypto-Catholic “hope in Christ” morality tale? Not quite…

I was reminded of the Ralph Wood article comparing the theologies of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, entitled Lewis & Tolkien in Tension. In it, Wood describes how Lewis’ literature has no purpose if the allegorical interpretation is not there. In other words, if you don’t get that Aslan is Jesus, then The Chronicles of Narnia aren’t going to be of much use. Tolkien, on the other hand, seemed to prefer the uniqueness of Christ and therefore refused to have any Christ-figure in his masterworks. The themes of Scripture, however, are there: betrayal, trust, faith, transcendence, temptation, humility, etc. Allegorical, no. Rich, yes.

It was reading Wood’s article that helped me understand the deep flaw I’ve never been able to articulate with dispensational readings of Revelation. A vision of the future? Yes. One in which the Whore of Babylon/seven seals/four horses means a specific person/entity/nation/enemy? Probably not.

And yet, that’s exactly what this audience was trying to do with The Road, find the Christ-figure and how to use this as a preaching tool. One audience member went so far as to say that the end offers the possibility of hope in Christ and the “new heaven and new earth.” First of all, there’s a big difference between hope and optimism; hope is a lot more than “glass half full.” You can have a bleak future and still have eschatological and soteriological hope. And second, folks, if the future looks anything like McCarthy’s vision, then there is no cause for hopetimism.

Enough about the film I didn’t enjoy. The second film was with guys who went on our OPC Men’s Retreat in October. We watched Into the Wild, the story of Chris McCandless, the Emory student whose misanthropy causes him to abandon all for the solitude of an Alaskan winter only to discover the truth that “Happiness is real only when shared.”

Sean Penn’s directorial eye was exactly what The Road needed. The drawn out shots of mountains, whether bleak or beautiful, were well-executed. And there was enough fodder for theological/philosophical discussion, albeit in non-allegorical terms: loneliness, woundedness, community, limitation, success, dependence, independence, forgiveness, enlightenment, you name it. And if that weren’t enough, there’s far more religious conversation that actually occurs within the movie. From vague discussions about God to prominent quotes from Tolstoy (himself an intriguing Christian writer), McCandless’ own search seems to have these eternal questions in mind. And the way Penn shapes the narrative only highlights these ideas.

And so for now, the balcony is closed. We’ll see you next week at the movies.

(having watched the preview again, did we get a truncated version today? ‘cuz half of the scenes in the preview were not in what we saw)

The film version of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are, has been in theaters for almost a month now. This means that most of you reading this have already seen the film if you wanted to to begin with, and also that I am proving myself to be one of the tardiest reviewers on Earth.

To begin with, I love Spike Jonze. As far as his feature film directorial work I can say that Being John Malkovich and Adaptation are two of the most original, thought provoking works in recent years. Even though it has been seven years since Adaptation hit the screen, Jonze has kept busy directing music videos and other projects, including a documentary about Sendak. So the guy is on top of his game. He brings an immediate authenticity even before stepping into the theaters, because this is a Spike Jonze film, and this guy makes amazing films.

Secondly, the subject matter, the book itself, is popular like no other children’s book seems to be popular. For the outcast child, Where the Wild Things Are is a comfort and an inspiration. For everyone else, it’s a damn finely drawn and written thing. It’s images are indelible. Everyone knows what this book looks like, even if it’s been twenty five years since you saw it.

I mean, look at these guys? Who wouldn’t want to party with them? Ever since I was small, I have wanted to see the Wild Things in action. So why was the Wild Things film so tame?

The film begins with Max, the crazy kid in the wolf suit. Cat suit? Some kind of Wendigo perhaps? Either way, he’s beating the shit outta that dog in the opening titles. We follow Max around at his level, low to the ground, around parked cars and in snow huts. We see his world though his eyes, and its refreshing to be rooting for the kid instead of wishing their parents had some discipline.

Seriously, I usually hate kids just like Max in the grocery store or at the bank, but I don’t hate Max. I can understand and sympathize, hell I was rooting for him. “Bite her, yeah! Bite your mom!  You’re a wild thing! Now run for it! Yeah! Get on the boat, it’s your only hope. Ride Max, ride like the wind. Yay! Max made it, let’s party with the Wild Things!”

There’s only a few problems with this party. When Max sneaks up on these Wild Things, they’re having a discussion. And not a “let’s get wild!” kind of discussion. More of a “I’m mad at her. She’s a meany.” kind of discussion. So they’re not really being wild so much as wildy emotional.

Our main Thing, who is named Carol for some reason, is throwing  a fit. This fit is voiced by James Gandolfini, a master thespian and angry fit thrower. I swear, Tony Soprano is TV’s biggest baby. But I digress.

The other Things also have regular (i.e. not wild) names like Alexander, and celebrity voices like Forrest Whitaker to Paul Dano, but these voices come out too much like people. Adult paople. Actors in fact. Reading dialogue as they jump around foam sets in their workout clothes. Yes, the actors playing the Wild Things actually moved around a set while lending their voices, but this only means that they come across as winded and fatigued. You can hear Gandolfini panting between practically every line, desperately trying to keep up with Max on set.

And the problem in this film lies in the relationship between Max and the Things. They ask too much. They fight too much. The Things are too easily wounded. Too easily enraged or depressed. They all act like teenagers!

Hear me out. Max is a kid. He wants to party. The Things are a teenage clique. They want to be popular. They want their leader, Max, to be their best friend. They shit talk, they betray and insult, and injure each other with too much malice. There are boyfriends and girlfriends among the Wild Things, there are toadies and unpopular pipsqueaks that no one is sure who keeps inviting to the party. Basically, these Things are not wild. They’re emo. They’re fucking sad is what they are.

Max actually needs to escape from the island, like the real world he ran away from an hour and a half ago. Only this time, he might get eaten if he doesn’t. And then there’s the eventual return and reconcilliation with mom and then Max shares a look like he, you know, he grew up just a little, able to appreciate his human parent all the more after the dramatic, confusing, and all together unwild expereince that was Where the Wild Things Are.

So what did I think? Meh, it was alright. I can’t wait for Spike’s next movie, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Quick Top 5

The top five other movies with the word “Wild” in it.

5. Into the Wild - This is the movie that inspired the list. I watched this film the day after Where the Wild Things Are, and was like, “wow, how many movies do you see with the word wild in it? And I just watched two in a row! I wonder what other movies have the word wild in it???”

4. The River Wild – A staple of TNT’s afternoon cable programming for almost ten years, this movie is merely ok, but it does have Meryl Streep in a kick ass role, and it’s the only movie with Kevin Bacon to make the list (Sorry Wild Things, but there’s just not enough room).

3. Wild Strawberries - The artsy film on the list, this is a classic from Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman. The dream sequence alone is one of the most brilliant things ever put to film. About an old man facing death and the fact that he’s never loved anybody. It’s not a happy picture.

2. Wild at Heart – One of David Lynch’s great love stories, this film is all entertainment. It’s bizarre, creepy, unforgettable. It also has Nick Cage and Laura Dern and Willem Defoe, each in some of their best roles ever. A thouroughly awesome movie for one end to the other.

1. The Wild Bunch - On my short list for greatest film ever, The Wild Bunch redefined violence in cinema. It also redefined the western, the anti hero, the use of editing, sound effects, basically everything. If you’re at all interested in the history of film, this is a must see. It’s a landmark. I like it a lot.

-Charlie

I’m just now seeing this movie, and it absolutely took my breath away. It was like a compelling and intriguing book. I could not take my eyes away it was a great watch and it was very heavy as well. It was extremely sad, well more so towards the end, the more of it was epic; VERY EPIC.

I now have a fascination of Emile Hirsch which I already had, but this film has resurfaced that fascination.

intothewild

We had wanted to see this movie for a while now. Many people had been telling us about it: groundbreaking, inspirational… And it was. Technically it is a story about a young boy ( 22/23) who finisheshis college and decides to abandon all material posessions and just live according to nature rules. He enjoyes everything that gives him freedom ( when he is paddling down a very rough rever I can actually feel his excitenment). Not a lot of things happen in the movie- its more about what he thinks and reads and he reads good stuff.

How is it connected to Cph? Well, when he paddles down the river a couple calls him to join them because they have hot dogs. Then we see a blonde guy and a topless woman who turn out to be from.. COPENHAGEN. They are orange and crazy. Nice touch.

Resolutions after seeing ” Into the Wild”:

*go wild for not more than 2 months

*always have a “safety pillow” such as.. any form of contact with people

*talk to people ( well, that is tru always)

* tell the closest that you love them

*read Tolstoy’s ” Family Happiness”.

trailer:

8/10

Take it easy!

I am definitely one of those people who listens to music while reading. Background noise can be very distracting, and there’s nothing better than popping in some noise canceling headphones to envelop your focus in a cocoon of sweet melodies. It helps me relax and I can fully concentrate on the words in front of me. In noisy places, it can be a the perfect way to create a sense of isolation to be able to read without environmental influences. However, I do not like music with lyrics while reading. Instead, I listen to instrumental songs that can carry me away without taking away from my reading.

Lately, I’ve been on a “Clair de Lune” kick. It is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard, and I will admit that have set it to repeat. In fact, I’m listening to it right now. What can I say, I was inspired by this post. In addition to classical, I also enjoy latin music and long jam band sets. I find they provide a backdrop for a story much in the way a musical score works with film. Sometimes the reading of a book can become even deeper through listening to the correct music. To this day, when I think of “Into the Wild” I automatically begin to hear the Grateful Dead’s “Weather Report Suite” in my head.

Although I realize that reading and listening to music can be a difficult thing to do concurrently, the perfect combination can be very rewarding and creates a multi-sensory experience for a reader. So try listening to instrumental songs first and see where it goes. You never know, you may really enjoy it.

In mei gingen Imke Dielen, Zofie, Ntone, Sart68 en @CHouttave een 24 uur into the wild (lichtelijk geïnspireerd op deze film). Blogpost van Imke alhier (check die comments, WTF???), het artikel van De Standaard en de foto’s van Sart68.

Vorige woensdag ging ik met één van mijn beste maten iets gelijkaardig doen: we namen de trein naar Virton (géén trein gemist, hoera voor de NMBS!) met als doel naar het Franse Verdun te stappen. Maar door een veranderde timing bleek dit niet echt haalbaar te zijn. De vooropgestelde drie overnachtingen werden er twee, en veel verder dan een verlaten NAVO vliegveld en Marville zijn we niet geraakt.

Een zwarte panter werd niet gespot, een dood everzwijn (jammie!) en een hoop maretakken en door klimop ingeduffelde bomen wel.

Frappante vaststelling: als je Frankrijk binnenloopt, dan krijg je een bordje te zien, maar als je België binnenloopt, dan krijg je euh, niks te zien!
Uiteindelijk op drie dagen een 47 kilometer gewandeld, met elke dag toch een paar keer 100 meter geklommen en gedaald te hebben. Gelukkig was er niet schandalig veel regen, wel veel wind. De kou ’s nachts viel nog net mee.

Anyway, hieronder wat foto’s (taken from the motion picture), in willekeurige volgorde:

Besjes

Eenzame boom op het verlaten vliegveld

Boots in modder

Everzwijn voor Obelix

Anderhalve ezelskop

Bienvenu en France!

Op zoek naar frieten konden we enkel de ganse frituur kopen...

Eten klaarmaken in de gamel.

De kaart bekijken.

Ons kamp

Wij komen van achter de heuvel rechts op de horizon. Ver én hoog!

Een draagbaar benzine-vuurtje is wel handig (en een klein beetje gevaarlijk).

Een leeggeplunderde hangar.

Een kerkhof met uitzicht

Maretakken voor de heksen en druïdes.

Een spook dat ons niet binnen wou...

Een klein Frans watervalletje.

Een eenzame weg.

Je n’ai pas trouvé ce livre, mais c’est le livre qui m’a trouvé !  Durant la semaine j’avais regardé par le pur des hasards (conseille d’une amie) le film Into the Wild (A propos, si vous n’avez pas vu ce film => courrez louer le DVD !).  Trois jours après, en visite chez une amie, j’ai regardé dans les étagères de sa bibliothèque et j’ai tiré le premier livre sous la main sans regarder le titre. Bingo ! Into the wild dans les mains ! Je suis resté con un moment et je suis finalement rentré chez moi avec le livre.

C’est une histoire magnifique, bouleversante, qui ne vous laisse pas insensible. L’histoire vraie de ce jeune homme qui du jour au lendemain quitte tout ce qu’il a, donne tout son argent, quitte sa famille pour se retrouver au milieu de nul par avec “un chemin tout tracé” .

Le film retrace plus l’aspect “histoire vraie” c’est à dire qu’il témoigne plus du quotidien du jeune homme, avec ses rencontres etc… Mais le livre est une narration faite par le journaliste qui a enquêté durant des années sur Christopher McCandless.

• Biographie de l’auteur
• Fiche du livre

Christopher McCandless devant son camion (photo vraie)

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