King Kong (1933) vs. King Kong (2005)

The 2005 remake of King Kong, and the 1933 original are both excellent movies; if you like one, you will like the other. They both have a fascinating story, a plethora of strong characters, even the same cheesy monster fights. Without detracting at all from the original film, the remake updates the cinematography and special effects to modern standards. This is not to say that modern standards are inherently better, merely that they allow the film to connect more easily with contemporary audiences.

It is fascinating to see virtually the same movie told from two different perspectives. Both could be called "Hollywood movies" (though not necessarily in the literal sense) but the culture of America in the 1920s has a distinctly different flavor than the globalization of 2005, and although both movies are set in the 20s, the differences are striking. Obviously, the use of CG vs. stop-motion animation and color vs. black and white film, but even the way people talk, and the nuances of relationships are heavily influenced by their respective cultures. For example, in the 1920s, no apology was necessary for the implication that women (such as the heroine, Ann Darrow) were frail, and that men were their protectors. In 2005, the movie bends Ann's character ever so slightly to accommodate modern cultural views; she is still largely a pawn in the overall plot of the movie, but she is a more strong-willed and self-confident pawn.

I may be one of the few people who watched the 2005 remake of King Kong before watching the 1933 original. I don't recommend this, for two reasons: first, the remake builds on the original in a myriad of ways, paying homage to shots and actions, characters and even quoting specific lines. Watching the original, I found myself constantly back-comparing, thinking about the history of the movies, instead of moving ahead with the story. Second, it's easier to appreciate the enduring quality of the original, and the faithfulness and improvements of the remake when you watch them in that order.

Yesterday I bought the remake, and I'm looking forward to watching all the DVD extras!

The Complaining-about-yardwork Club

Every time I talk to someone about my new house, they make a big deal about how it's a lot of work to keep up the yard. Is this supposed to make me feel bad, or are they commiserating with me?

In a way, it's like they're accepting me into their club, but apparently one of the major club rules is that you have to complain about mowing the grass. I understand that mowing the grass is one of those things that just needs to be done, but no one really likes to do it. But is complaining about it some sort of therapy, or an attempt to drag me down into misery with them? I suspect the former, but I often feel like it's the latter.

Whatever happened to keeping a positive attitude?

New house; lots of work!

I feel so much better now that we're actually in our new house! It's great, great, great to have our own place--a nice house, with lots of character, nothing that needs to be fixed right away, but lots of little projects I can do to make things better.

It's exceptionally convenient to live within biking distance of so many things. Friends, church, the Library, etc, etc. Now, back home I go, to....pick a task! There's always something fun to accomplish :-)

Plagiarism

I just read yet another article about a rich or famous person getting busted for plagiarism. What's up with that?? With everyone and their dog writing books, making movies, etc, etc, these days, I know it's hard to come up with original stuff, but it's also so easy to share information (whether by book, web-site, or DVD) that I'm surprised anyone would risk it.

I learned my lesson in 5th grade, when I wrote a short-story version of "The Black Stallion." I wasn't even intending to plagiarize; I was just obsessed with the story, but my teacher pulled me aside and gave me a lecture about plagiarism, so I learned.

To me, "Do Not Plagiarize" was a basic life lesson, like "Do Not Steal." I pity the people who didn't learn this when they were young.

Spanglish

Spanglish is an insightful, passionate story about the relationships between a mother (Flor) and daughter, both immigrants from Mexico, and the family that hires Flor as their housekeeper.

In spite of numerous lines of dialog, and even whole scenes in Spanish, I never felt that the movie was straining to make us Anglos understand. The script was cleverly written so that there is always some sort of logical translation--usually a bilingual character translating for an English-speaking character. The sole exception is, unfortunately, in the climactic scene, where the film resorts to a rather mundane voiceover that detracts from the emotion of the scene.

My favorite scene is one in which the Hispanic daughter translates for her irate mother. Not only is the girl an amazing actress, imitating first her mother, then the man she's talking to, but I was shaking my head in amazement at the hilarity and poignancy of the situation; a daughter forced into the middle of a fight between adults, but dutifully translating, even when it hurts her.

Spanglish looks, at first glance, like a typical romantic comedy. It is in fact a realistic look at the complexity of interactions between and within two families, and across language and cultural barriers.

The end of Camerata (for now)

The St. Joseph Valley Camerata has disbanded, for the time being, following our last concert on May 6. We sang our hearts out, and it was an excellent concert. I will miss this group; I was looking forward to many years of professional choral singing with it.

But, in the words of David Seitz, musical director, "The board members accepted...my resignation. However, neither the corporation nor endowment were disbanded. There are no plans to resume performances just now, but the possibility of Camerata Singers, Inc. being the vehicle for future high-quality performances by accomplished and auditioned singers remains."

The day after the concert, I was talking with some singing friends about forming a smaller mixed voice choral group, more along the lines of mennosong. This idea is part of the Big Unknown currently dominating my plans for the fall :-)

Delay: Part II

The mistake made by the USCIS has caused a cascade of faulty information regarding my immigrant status. The mortgage company gets their information from the Social Security Administration, but since the USCIS only got their act together this past Thursday, the SSA's data was out of date, and now the mortgage company's information is out of date. Unless the mortgage company can show some real initiative and contact the USCIS directly, as we recently suggested, we are at the mercy of the communication lines between USCIS and the SSA.

The upshot of this mess is that we might lose the house because of a bunch of bureaucratic miscommunication.

Delay

We've had to delay moving until next Saturday, May 20.

Who knew that I would need proof of legal residence in the United States to get a home mortgage? Probably lots of people, but no one I talked to. I was supposed to have said proof a few months ago, but USCIS made an error. Thursday I drove to Indianapolis to correct this error. Ironically, if I was hispanic, like most immigrants, the mortgage people probably would have thought to address this issue sooner, and we wouldn't have had to delay.

Summer plans

I have a lot of ideas for what I'd like to do this summer.

First among them is buying a house. That is almost finalized. Then I will want fix up the house. It's an old house, so it needs some repairs, but there are also some things I just want, like a garden, and a ceiling fan (it doesn't have A/C).

I would also like to find a part-time job in television, or something along those lines. Maybe a movie theater or movie rental place, although that might not be quite stimulating enough.

My parents might be visiting, and helping with the home repairs, but I would also like to visit their farm again, and see my sister's new place in nearby Owen Sound.

Interspersed among these major activities, I'm looking forward to catching some big summer movies; at the very least X-men and Pirates of the Caribbean. I'll also be hanging out with friends a lot; living near them is a big part of our reason for moving to Goshen.

I'm really looking forward to the next few months!

Jessica

In preparation for living in Goshen, beginning next week, we've had to buy a second car. We can only afford an old beater, so I was pleased to find one with the redeeming quality of being interesting to look at ;-)

Car brain

I'm looking for an inexpensive car to buy. I've been shopping around, and reading reviews of cars. I know about what I want (under $1500, good fuel economy and reliability), but now I have to find one. There are a lot of places to look. Too many options. My brain starts going in circles.

I read an article in Discover magazine about a study showing that people made better decisions about complex purchases when they didn't think about them too much. I'm not sure where the line is between being intuitive and being lazy. Can I stop thinking now?

I believe I love my stapler