February 2009 – Page 2 – Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog

Temporary silence

It’s very unlikely there’ll be any posts here for the next 14 days or so. I’m about to head to Bangkok Airport and fly to Yangon (Rangoon to the rest of the world) for 13 days in Myanmar / Burma. From what I’ve been told, internet access there is not that great so if I do post, I’ll be concentrating on the Travel Blog.

My flight back to Bangkok is booked for the 23rd. I go directly to the Hualamphong train station and from there overnight to Butterworth. Then it’s onto another overnight train… or a bus… or staying overnight and getting transport to Kuala Lumpur.

Either way I’ll be in KL on the 24th or 25th in a hostel with free wi-fi for a day or so before my flight to Perth, Australia.

I almost sound organised.

Please keep your comments coming, and check out the other blog for the duration. I’m really looking forward to this country as it has relatively little tourism and I’ve heard fantastic things about the people.

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D.Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye is, apparently, a classic of (American) English literature. It appears on reading lists in schools all over the world. Will someone please explain to me why?

The writing style is – I suppose – not too bad. It’s written very conversationally in the first person from the viewpoint of a young man who’s just been expelled from his umpteenth private school. He’s obviously short of a few brain cells as well, judging by his attitude to a lot of things.

Set in, I guess, the 1950’s means the language is a little archaic but I don’t mind that – I’m currently ploughing through more Conan Doyle and loving it. It’s the repetition, and the rambling nature of the prose that gets so tiring after a while. Oh, and the fact that bugger all really happens.

It’s “a day in the life” of someone I really don’t care about. I didn’t at the start, and I still don’t now I’m finished it. Had it been much bigger, it would have been discarded by the time I got past the mid-point.

Mind you, I guarantee my old English teacher likely got a hard-on reading it. But that guy was a ******* freak who seemed to love everything that you’re “supposed” to love – Shakespeare, Chaucer and the like.

If you want to read a classic, check out the Sherlock Holmes stories – although even they get a little tired after a while, around the time Doyle himself was writing them purely for cash. I’d only read this if I had to as part of an English course. And even then I’d shop around to see if there was another tutor with a different reading list.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I’ve not see the “new” Star Wars trilogy so I was a little out of depth with The Clone Wars, but all the same I enjoyed it. I’ve no idea who the vocal cast are but they did a decent job. The visuals are stunning with sequences to match anything you’ve seen in the “proper” films, or indeed the Lego games.

Plot in a nutshell: Jabba’s son has been kidnapped and the safe use of a sector of space by the Rebel Alliance (or whatever they were pre-proper Star Wars) relies on their finding him and returning him. Of course, the Empire (or whatever they were pre-proper Star Wars) are involved somehow, so everything is not as clear as it could be.

For a cartoon, the plot’s got quite a few twists and turns which was a pleasant surprise. For me, though, it was the visuals and the battles that made it. Just like the original trilogy.

A worthwhile addition to the storyline – though I still think anything outside the original, unedited trilogy should just be classed as chaff.

Herbie: Fully Loaded

Yeah, OK. I watched the new Herbie: Fully Loaded film. I was on a long flight, OK? And… it wasn’t bad. Not just because of the lead actress (Lindsay Lohan) who’s rather hot and about 15 years too young for me. Ah, well.

What I really liked about this is it has all the character of the original films without going mad with the CGI. Herbie‘s mischievous, gets his own way and even moves the way he used to back in the 70’s.

Plot in a nutshell: Herbie turns up in a junkyard about to be scrapped. The daughter of a racing driver spots him and buys him. By accident, she ends up in a drag race with an Indy car driver who then demands a public re-match… which he will win by all costs.

The little spark between the lead actress and her mechanic is obviously one that’ll work out in the end. The good guys are going to win. Herbie’s going to mess stuff up because he’s stubborn. Someone will overcome odds to prove they’re better than anyone thought they were. It’s a Disney film, for crying out loud.

I don’t remember the details of the old films too well – it’s been many years since I saw the parade along Low Fell when Herbie Goes Bananas came out – but this is certainly an excellent addition to a classic canon. If Hollywood insists on dredging its history because nobody can come up with something original then this is how to go about it.

Igor

I’m a sucker for a cartoon, so I picked Igor next on the in-flight list. I’d heard a little about it and it seemed a nice premise. The voice cast has some superb actors listed including Steve Buscemi, Eddie Izzard and John Cleese (all too briefly).

Plot in a nutshell: in a mountainous country the king has saved the economy – destroyed by continuous storm clouds – by promoting evil geniuses. Their job is to built devilish world-ending devices. Each year, these devices compete and the winner’s is used to blackmail the rest of the planet for enough money to keep the country ticking over for another 12 months.

Every mad professor has an “Igor”. They’re all called Igor and they all look much the same – small and hunchbacked, speak with a list. Or film follows one Igor with ideas above his station. Of course, he has a couple of comic sidekicks (a brain in a bucket and a squirrel that can’t die, no matter how much he tries) and there’s a bed guy in the plot.

The story is a little predictable, but it is a kid’s film. The action sequences are amusing, the animation superb and – as is often the case – one of the sidekicks has all the best lines. Donkey’s dialogue always outdoes Shrek‘s, for instance.

There’s comedy, romance, action and big monsters. It’s also slightly gross, so it’s bound to appeal to the younger set. Not a classic, but a good way to tide the last 90 minutes or so between Heathrow and Abu Dhabi.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: