first day of volunteer work. had to report by 9am. was assigned to cleaning crew - basically went around the private accomms (swedish homes) and cleaned floors and bathrooms. went out under cat and cleaned with H, T and M.
lunch was pitiful affair from kugen (neighbourhood supermart) - cling-wrapped bread with sorry-looking piece of lettuce and thinnest slice of ham (7 SEK).
dinner at volunteer's kitchen, only 40 SEK and better than yum yum - pork with cous cous and mashed potatoes and apple crumble for dessert. cook is E, from spain. had earlier met his sis I, from barcelona.
found to dismay that our 2-week housing was this place i'd delivered mattresses and pillows and comforters to. bare bones extension with unfinished chipboard floors and walls. kinda like a human trafficker's halfway house. with a large monitor lizard as a pet.
general accomms with its hostel style bunk beds looked more appealing.
reluctantly spent a night there on assurance they would look into it the next day.
did not sleep a wink. heard knocking at one point, thought it was from upstairs until J answered 'yes?' turned out another lodger had been locked out. then J's phone went off and i thought it was 7am but it was only 4.
Friday, July 06, 2007
bangkok airport
a shrine in the middle of the tarpaulinned terminal. the ramp down to the waiting area was just clogged.
happiness was getting bumped up to premium economy where meals were served in courses and seats reclined more. actually needed to stretch to reach seat pocket in front of me.
unusual that no visa form was required for sweden. passport control room was badly designed - too tiny and the lines were just a mess.
the foreign exchange guy in the baggage claim had migrated from singapore when he was 8.
received P's sms and bought a round-trip ticket to stockholm central bus station to meet her and J.
happily dumped the backpack in the locker and went for breakfast. coffee and raspberry muffin (40 SEK each) in a pleasant square with the nobel museum.
walked past royal palace enroute to vasmuseet - 1600s ship which sank on maiden voyage and salvaged in the 1950s, also peek into social life in the 17th century.
met up with D and Q around 2 after very good lunch of meatballs and iced tea (118 SEK).
had to take subway to bus stop to catch bus to hallstavik and then from there to herrang.
dinner at yum yum (95 SEK) of sausage with rice. only time we ate there.
first night accomms in a quaint little cottage ('for our daughters 19 and 17') with horses in the field next to us.
a shrine in the middle of the tarpaulinned terminal. the ramp down to the waiting area was just clogged.
happiness was getting bumped up to premium economy where meals were served in courses and seats reclined more. actually needed to stretch to reach seat pocket in front of me.
unusual that no visa form was required for sweden. passport control room was badly designed - too tiny and the lines were just a mess.
the foreign exchange guy in the baggage claim had migrated from singapore when he was 8.
received P's sms and bought a round-trip ticket to stockholm central bus station to meet her and J.
happily dumped the backpack in the locker and went for breakfast. coffee and raspberry muffin (40 SEK each) in a pleasant square with the nobel museum.
walked past royal palace enroute to vasmuseet - 1600s ship which sank on maiden voyage and salvaged in the 1950s, also peek into social life in the 17th century.
met up with D and Q around 2 after very good lunch of meatballs and iced tea (118 SEK).
had to take subway to bus stop to catch bus to hallstavik and then from there to herrang.
dinner at yum yum (95 SEK) of sausage with rice. only time we ate there.
first night accomms in a quaint little cottage ('for our daughters 19 and 17') with horses in the field next to us.
Midnight Cowboy (M18)
Dustin Hoffman/Jon Voight/113 minutes
This 1969 movie is the only X-rated film to have won the Oscar for best picture.
By today’s standards though, the film is almost sweet and naive, like the character of Joe Buck (Voight), who comes to Manhattan to hustle. Though he is quickly outfoxed by the denizens of the city, he never loses his aura of innocence.
At heart, the film is about the relationship between Buck and Ratso Rizzo(Hoffman), a small-time conman – the friendship and love between two desperate and lonely people.
Hoffman’s transformation from the clean-cut Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate(1967) is impressive and Voight turns on the aw-shucks charm as Buck.
There is also a tender and believable chemistry between the two leads.
Still, there’s no denying that the film has aged. What was technically groundbreaking and thematically provocative is no longer so.
Which is where the DVD extras come in useful by setting the historical context of the picture and giving a sketch of director John Schlesinger, who died in 2003.
But, for a two-disc special edition, the extra garnishings are simply too paltry.
(ST)
Dustin Hoffman/Jon Voight/113 minutes
This 1969 movie is the only X-rated film to have won the Oscar for best picture.
By today’s standards though, the film is almost sweet and naive, like the character of Joe Buck (Voight), who comes to Manhattan to hustle. Though he is quickly outfoxed by the denizens of the city, he never loses his aura of innocence.
At heart, the film is about the relationship between Buck and Ratso Rizzo(Hoffman), a small-time conman – the friendship and love between two desperate and lonely people.
Hoffman’s transformation from the clean-cut Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate(1967) is impressive and Voight turns on the aw-shucks charm as Buck.
There is also a tender and believable chemistry between the two leads.
Still, there’s no denying that the film has aged. What was technically groundbreaking and thematically provocative is no longer so.
Which is where the DVD extras come in useful by setting the historical context of the picture and giving a sketch of director John Schlesinger, who died in 2003.
But, for a two-disc special edition, the extra garnishings are simply too paltry.
(ST)
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Dreamgirls (PG)
Jamie Foxx/Beyonce Knowles/Eddie Murphy/Jennifer Hudson/130 minutes
This adaptation of the Tony award-winning Broadway musical by Bill Condon features meticulously-reproduced song and dance routines from the 1960s and1970s, spanning the gamut from doo-wop to disco.
But in spite of that, or perhaps because of it, the movie feels sluggish. The musical numbers put a brake on the narrative instead of moving it along.
Loosely based on music superstars The Supremes, the movie features a bravura performance from Hudson as Effie White, a talented but prickly singer who gets dropped from the group.
Beyonce, on the other hand, doesn’t even get a chance to bust a lung until late in the movie with the song Listen.
The DVD extras include extended and alternate versions of the musical numbers as well as a music video of Listen.
In the unlikely event that you’re not sated by the movie itself, these should do the trick.
The most interesting of the lot is an alternate version of Steppin’ To The Bad Side sung by three male characters, a welcome change from the numbers sung by a trio of women.
There’s also a snappy account of how ambitious record executive Curtis Taylor,Jr (Foxx) will do whatever it takes to get his music onto the airwaves.
(ST)
Jamie Foxx/Beyonce Knowles/Eddie Murphy/Jennifer Hudson/130 minutes
This adaptation of the Tony award-winning Broadway musical by Bill Condon features meticulously-reproduced song and dance routines from the 1960s and1970s, spanning the gamut from doo-wop to disco.
But in spite of that, or perhaps because of it, the movie feels sluggish. The musical numbers put a brake on the narrative instead of moving it along.
Loosely based on music superstars The Supremes, the movie features a bravura performance from Hudson as Effie White, a talented but prickly singer who gets dropped from the group.
Beyonce, on the other hand, doesn’t even get a chance to bust a lung until late in the movie with the song Listen.
The DVD extras include extended and alternate versions of the musical numbers as well as a music video of Listen.
In the unlikely event that you’re not sated by the movie itself, these should do the trick.
The most interesting of the lot is an alternate version of Steppin’ To The Bad Side sung by three male characters, a welcome change from the numbers sung by a trio of women.
There’s also a snappy account of how ambitious record executive Curtis Taylor,Jr (Foxx) will do whatever it takes to get his music onto the airwaves.
(ST)
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Petropolis
Anya Ulinich
Is the Russian emigre novel shaping up to be the latest literary trend?
On the heels of Marina Lewycka’s well-received A Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian and the recent Two Caravans, comes Petropolis.
The protagonist of this highly readable debut novel is the biracial, Jewish and prickly Sasha Goldberg and we witness her coming of age as she makes multiple escapes over the years.
The first from her dead-end Russian hometown, the second from the life of a mail-order bride in Arizona, and the third from de facto house arrest by her wealthy benefactress.
At the same time, Anya Ulinich, herself a Russian emigre, has more on her mind than the adventures of her spunky heroine.
The title of the book refers to the poem of the same name by Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, which was about “the death of a great city”, Petrograd, during the Russian Revolution.
The city in question in the novel is the tragic Siberian town of Asbestos 2, its disintegration an icy accusatory finger directed at the ills of the Soviet system.
Given that Ulinich immigrated to the United States when she was 17, the book is no doubt an impressive achievement. Still, there are moments of studiedness in the phrasing which hint at the fact that English is actually her second language.
It also has to be said that Ulinich is not one for loose ends. You are even given an update on Sasha’s boyfriend when she was 14 through an encounter several years later.
But despite the penchant for resolutions, Sasha herself remains oddly elusive and you never fully get a grasp on her.
A pity really since you know she’s led a fascinating life and it would have been nice to know her better.
If you like this, read: The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (2000, $23.10 without GST at zakoola.com)
Among the shimmering strands that make up this gorgeous tapestry of a book are marvellous escapes, epic love, comic books and questions about identity and self-worth.
(ST)
Anya Ulinich
Is the Russian emigre novel shaping up to be the latest literary trend?
On the heels of Marina Lewycka’s well-received A Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian and the recent Two Caravans, comes Petropolis.
The protagonist of this highly readable debut novel is the biracial, Jewish and prickly Sasha Goldberg and we witness her coming of age as she makes multiple escapes over the years.
The first from her dead-end Russian hometown, the second from the life of a mail-order bride in Arizona, and the third from de facto house arrest by her wealthy benefactress.
At the same time, Anya Ulinich, herself a Russian emigre, has more on her mind than the adventures of her spunky heroine.
The title of the book refers to the poem of the same name by Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, which was about “the death of a great city”, Petrograd, during the Russian Revolution.
The city in question in the novel is the tragic Siberian town of Asbestos 2, its disintegration an icy accusatory finger directed at the ills of the Soviet system.
Given that Ulinich immigrated to the United States when she was 17, the book is no doubt an impressive achievement. Still, there are moments of studiedness in the phrasing which hint at the fact that English is actually her second language.
It also has to be said that Ulinich is not one for loose ends. You are even given an update on Sasha’s boyfriend when she was 14 through an encounter several years later.
But despite the penchant for resolutions, Sasha herself remains oddly elusive and you never fully get a grasp on her.
A pity really since you know she’s led a fascinating life and it would have been nice to know her better.
If you like this, read: The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (2000, $23.10 without GST at zakoola.com)
Among the shimmering strands that make up this gorgeous tapestry of a book are marvellous escapes, epic love, comic books and questions about identity and self-worth.
(ST)
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