This Is Beautiful: The Odyssey

 Not a hot take by any means, but Christopher Nolan's film "The Odyssey" is extremely well done. I went to see it earlier this week with a friend and it really did not feel like its runtime. A major standout for me was the music, whoever composed that score had an impeccable sense and control of the tension. The music was really a part of the whole experience instead of something laid on top of it. The best example I have is that Odysseus's bow string is a chord and part of the music whenever he is fighting or hunting and that is used to really great effect. 

The film can feel a little preachy at times with all the talk of Zeus' law (treat strangers with kindness) and how it has been broken. But I think it works for a modern audience, it both makes it feel rather timely and humanizes the characters. Odysseus knows that he messed up during the war and is able to talk about that to Penelope towards the end.

The performances were amazing and the visuals were fantastic. I'm so glad I managed to catch this film in theaters!

“The Bloody Chamber and other stories” by Angela Carter

This is a collection of short stories based on fantasy or folk tales. Some are really short, only a page, while others are much longer. There’s one based on Beauty and the Beast, a Puss in Boots, and Red Riding Hood among others.

I have a soft spot for retellings of familiar tales that get more of a modern twist, especially those written by women, so I did largely enjoy this work. Most of the protagonists are female, and a lot of them manage to get happy endings! Especially in “The Bloody Chamber,” the main character is about to be beheaded by her serial killing husband when her mother comes for her and shoots him in the head. It’s very satisfying.

I will also say though that there’s a bit too much… sex? For my tastes. It’s fine for the stories where it makes sense, and it’s really funny in Puss in Boots, but almost every story has a girl taking off her clothes at some point. Which like, I get it for a few stories and there’s a bunch that deal with the human/animal divide so that’s all good. But then the Little Red Riding Hood one mentions the wolf’s huge junk multiple times and she gets naked at the end and it just feels like we used this up previously.

So this was fun, it’s a quick read, but it gets a little repetitive. I still had a great time though, which is all I want from a book like this.

This Is Beautiful: Staying Put

 Alright my past post was on Toronto, but now I'm reversing course here. I'm so glad I get to stay at home for the next two weeks and work part-time. I need a break from doing things and I think that this is going to be great! I'm a few days into a course that I'm teaching in the mornings this week and next and so far it's pretty chill and I'm liking it a lot. Hopefully this is just the recharge that I need.

Toronto

 Last week we finally had a real vacation and went to Toronto, Canada! It was really nice, except for the air quality turning the city into the apocalypse about halfway through. That was not as fun. But I really liked the place! I would love to go back since we definitely only experienced a fraction of the stuff available.

First of all, I loved the vibe of Toronto. It felt super international and artsy. There was a lot of fun graffiti that I enjoyed on a lot of the street lights and community boards. My favorite was a sheet of paper saying "Are you ugly? Email me, I have questions" which was so funny. There also was such a diverse group of people on the streets and in restaurants. Nearly everything was in English and French, which was so neat as an everyday occurrence.

Now our first day was dedicated to museums, starting with the Art Gallery of Ontario. I really liked their collection! There was a lot of local and Canadian art, plus plenty of special exhibits you can get into with general admission. And even beyond the super advertised exhibits there were a number of rooms dedicated to specific artists so you can see a lot of their work in one place. It was a cool way to highlight their work without making a huge fuss about it. Plus all of the museum descriptions on the walls etc were in English, French, and Anishinaabeg. Which I had never seen in a museum and was super excited about.

After that we went to the Baha Shoe Museum! I was so excited about this museum, it was half of the reason I wanted to go to Toronto. There was a main exhibit covering a timeline of shoes, then a few special exhibits. We saw an exhibit on a specific designer, cowboy boots, and archeology of shoes at a specific site near Hadrian's Wall. It was a cool mix of topics related to shoes! Only a fraction of their collection is ever on display so it changes over frequently, which is sad for me since I can't go back for a while.

Our next day was when the sky looked like the end times due to air quality, but we went out to the Toronto Islands anyways. It was so nice to hop on a ferry and just get to a beach. It's great to have that so accessible and nearby to such a large city!

Anyways, I loved Toronto. All of the food I had there was amazing, and there were so many museums we didn't have time to check out. I hope that I'm able to go back soon!

This Is Beautiful: Local Conference

 Over the weekend I managed to self-finance my way to a local conference at a university about an hour away. It was really nice! First of all, I could do whatever I want. I have stopped formal work for a university so I don't need to report back to anyone and can check out as much as I have interest in. And also, it's close enough I just drove up and stayed with a friend. It was lovely and flexible. I got to check out what I was interested and just ditch the rest. So nice!

"The Crystal Cave" by Mary Stewart

 This is part of my journey through some older fantasy books. This was ok, because I had just finished a really good book I was definitely not as enthusiastic about this one. Tigana just has such a lovely cast of characters. This book just focuses on the protagonist the entire time and as a result just feels flat and lonely.

The story tells Merlin's life leading up to his raising of King Arthur. It starts with him as a child, a bastard in the house of an English noble. He meets a wizard in the woods and learns from him, but ends up running away when his grandfather dies and his uncle that hates him takes over. This doesn't last long, he is kidnapped and taken to Ambrosius who is trying to become king. It's then revealed that Ambrosius is his birth father, and that Merlin has some form of Sight that sometimes lets him see the future. Merlin helps Ambrosius win, Ambrosius then dies unfortunately and his brother Uther becomes king. Uther falls for the Duchess of Cornwall and Merlin helps them hook up and produce Arthur. Story ends with them procreating and Merlin predicting to his manservant that this child will be the greatest king of England.

As I have alluded to, I found this story to really lack colorful characters since so much of it is Merlin going off on his own. He repeatedly says that he loves being by himself in caves which would be a great opportunity to clarify some part of his magic. But that also never happens either. Plenty is explained as just being good at engineering, but his Sight comes and goes and is never quite clarified. He seems less like an actual wizard and more like some confused priest.

The treatment of women is also pretty abysmal. Repeatedly they are called whores or sluts, and the only women with any hint of a thought process are Merlin's mother and the Duchess at the end. Of course, I should emphasize, both women are just there to have children. Really disappointing since the author is (checks notes) a woman. Like I really don't care if it's to be "historically accurate" I don't want to read it.

This is part of a series about King Arthur but I really don't think I'll be checking out the rest of the series. This one stands enough on its own and I can stop reading here without needing more of it.

This Is Beautiful: Moving?

 Alright so I spent this past week moving myself into an apartment in North Carolina and it was surprisingly... not painful? I tried to be smart about it and got the place and had furniture delivered in advance. And then it took multiple big shopping trips to get the rest of the stuff and some food. But overall this wasn't that bad? Which surprised me a lot, I feel like moving is one of the most stressful things you can do. But everyone has been super friendly, and I think after inhabiting multiple apartments I'm used to a no frills life and I know what I need to function. And it's exciting to think of the opportunities here and the things I'll be able to do! So trying to ride that excited wave for the last few weeks before I officially change residences.