Very nice!
Paul and I discovered a fantastic time for watching highly anticipated movies this weekend – the 9:15am show. On Friday night it was apparently impossible to get in to see Borat in any cinema across Natal. On Saturday morning, there were maybe 10 of us in the cinema.
As for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the film really is a lot of fun. I can’t say it is the most unforgettable film of the year, but Borat is certainly the most consistently funny – the best comedy of the year, with plenty of quotable lines to snicker about for ages. And, surprisingly, even some genuinely touching moments.
I won’t go into too much detail about the film, but I will say that my 2 favourite sequences of the movie take place at a rodeo (‘May George Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq!’), and a garage/front lawn sale (‘I will look through your treasures, gypsy. Is this understood?’). And there is an awesome gag involving an ice cream truck and a grizzly bear.
I know there has been some backlash against the film for resorting to ‘nasty pranks’ and making unsuspecting people look like fools, but Borat isn’t like that at all. The people who come off looking bad in the movie deserve it. Borat interacts with many Americans in the film who make a serious attempt to assist the clueless Kazakhstani reporter. These people emerge unscathed. But the men and women who flaunt their racism and sexism shamelessly in front of this ‘stranger’, they deserve any stigma they receive.
Sacha Baron Cohen is a comic genius. What he does is so far more sophisticated and socially relevant than anything South Africa’s favourite dress-up practical joker Leon Schuster has done recently.
Definitely a must-see film, and I wonder now, if South Park’s ‘Blame Canada’ received an Oscar nomination for Best Song, whether the Kazakhstan ‘National Anthem’ will be sung on Academy Awards night.
Otherwise, the weekend was pretty chilled. On Saturday, while Paul installed his new PC, I slipped into frustrated girlfriend cliché (believe it or not, I’m otherwise a very accommodating partner) and tidied his horribly messy room, mercilessly throwing out all kinds of accumulated junk. I filled 2 garbage bags.
On Saturday evening, Paul and I dressed up to go to The Durban Pops, an annual event modelled on the Boston Pops. Essentially it’s an evening of popular classical music, including extracts from operas, stage musicals and movie scores, performed by the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra and guest singers (including rogue Pop Idols) and musicians. Highlights of the evening included Brahm’s Hungarian Dance No.5, the Lord of the Dance theme, Evanescence’s My Immortal, A 007 Theme Medley and Tchaikovsky’s stirring 1812 Overture. And I was completely blown away by the 17 year old soprano who performed all the operatic pieces. I’ve never heard a voice like that before.
Anyway, in a bid to be healthy, we’ve been doing some form of exercise every weekend, typically cycling in the game reserve, or squash. This weekend it was an hour of squash, and at least then we felt less guilty about ending our weekend gorging on KFC.
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In other news, it’s our company Christmas party this Wednesday. The theme is Idols and we’ve hired out a Florida Road nightclub for an evening of feasting, drinking and wretched karaoke (we even have to dress pop star-ish).
I’ll have to be on best behaviour however as on Thursday morning I’m joining some clients for a township tour of Umlazi and Phoenix. Hangovers distractions won’t do in those environments. Anyway, I’m looking forward to the adventure away from the office…. although Paul has already asked what flowers I’d like at my funeral.
As for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the film really is a lot of fun. I can’t say it is the most unforgettable film of the year, but Borat is certainly the most consistently funny – the best comedy of the year, with plenty of quotable lines to snicker about for ages. And, surprisingly, even some genuinely touching moments.
I won’t go into too much detail about the film, but I will say that my 2 favourite sequences of the movie take place at a rodeo (‘May George Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq!’), and a garage/front lawn sale (‘I will look through your treasures, gypsy. Is this understood?’). And there is an awesome gag involving an ice cream truck and a grizzly bear.
I know there has been some backlash against the film for resorting to ‘nasty pranks’ and making unsuspecting people look like fools, but Borat isn’t like that at all. The people who come off looking bad in the movie deserve it. Borat interacts with many Americans in the film who make a serious attempt to assist the clueless Kazakhstani reporter. These people emerge unscathed. But the men and women who flaunt their racism and sexism shamelessly in front of this ‘stranger’, they deserve any stigma they receive.
Sacha Baron Cohen is a comic genius. What he does is so far more sophisticated and socially relevant than anything South Africa’s favourite dress-up practical joker Leon Schuster has done recently.
Definitely a must-see film, and I wonder now, if South Park’s ‘Blame Canada’ received an Oscar nomination for Best Song, whether the Kazakhstan ‘National Anthem’ will be sung on Academy Awards night.
Otherwise, the weekend was pretty chilled. On Saturday, while Paul installed his new PC, I slipped into frustrated girlfriend cliché (believe it or not, I’m otherwise a very accommodating partner) and tidied his horribly messy room, mercilessly throwing out all kinds of accumulated junk. I filled 2 garbage bags.
On Saturday evening, Paul and I dressed up to go to The Durban Pops, an annual event modelled on the Boston Pops. Essentially it’s an evening of popular classical music, including extracts from operas, stage musicals and movie scores, performed by the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra and guest singers (including rogue Pop Idols) and musicians. Highlights of the evening included Brahm’s Hungarian Dance No.5, the Lord of the Dance theme, Evanescence’s My Immortal, A 007 Theme Medley and Tchaikovsky’s stirring 1812 Overture. And I was completely blown away by the 17 year old soprano who performed all the operatic pieces. I’ve never heard a voice like that before.
Anyway, in a bid to be healthy, we’ve been doing some form of exercise every weekend, typically cycling in the game reserve, or squash. This weekend it was an hour of squash, and at least then we felt less guilty about ending our weekend gorging on KFC.
---
In other news, it’s our company Christmas party this Wednesday. The theme is Idols and we’ve hired out a Florida Road nightclub for an evening of feasting, drinking and wretched karaoke (we even have to dress pop star-ish).
I’ll have to be on best behaviour however as on Thursday morning I’m joining some clients for a township tour of Umlazi and Phoenix. Hangovers distractions won’t do in those environments. Anyway, I’m looking forward to the adventure away from the office…. although Paul has already asked what flowers I’d like at my funeral.
Comments
That way he can't slip back into pack rat mode and try to retrieve all those old PC boxes he's hoarding.
Things like making beds will either have to be done by you, or drummed into him. And if your man has yet to learn about personal hygiene, like bathing once a day, dump him!
I'm just going to get up, play games, then get back into it again, so whats the point? :P
Next to sitting in front of my PC, I do a lot of work on my bed (that sound so wrong), so I need it to be made, and the surface clear.
Plus, daytime naps are best on a made bed; not under the heavy covers