I was flicking through a notebook yesterday, and I came across notes I’d made over the summer, when we were in England. Notes for blog posts that never got written. On one page were the notes I made after an encounter with an elderly lady at a bus stop. She was waiting for a bus, I was enjoying a country walk. She stopped me, and started talking. She told me how the bus company has cut back their services, so she can’t go and visit her sister-in-law any more. She can’t get there and back in a day. Then she started telling me about her life, talking with great animation. I was hooked.
She was 15 when war was declared. She told her father “I hope it goes on long enough that I can join in”. He said “It probably will. They usually go on quite a long time once they get started”. She overheard her mum and dad discussing whether to let her join the WAAF. It was her dad who said to let her go: "we better had, seeing as she wants to so badly".
She met her husband when she was in the WAAF. His name was Johnny. They were on the wing of an aeroplane, in for repairs. She asked a mechanic on the ground to throw up a part she needed. He tossed it high in the air, she caught it in her upturned, cupped hand, and Johnny’s hand came down – slap - on top of it, on top of her hand. That was how they first got talking. Later on, he asked her what she was doing in the evening, and she agreed to meet him. When she turned up at the bar, there he was with another woman. “I didn’t think you’d show up”, he told her. So their first date didn’t exactly get off to a flying start, but things worked out, and they married.
They had one son, and no grandchildren. Their son was disabled (she used the word "handicapped") and died young, "but he was a super little boy, he really was”.
Johnny died in bed one night, with his arm round her. She phoned the police, and they came, and they got her to phone her friend Mabel. Mabel came and collected her, and took her to her house. She put her to bed in her son’s bedroom. Mabel’s son was keen on aeroplanes, and his room was full of airfix models. She lay there, her husband gone, surrounded by aeroplanes to look at. It seemed fitting.
As the woman talked, I could almost see the movie rolling. A young Kate Winslet would be good as the WAAF girl, I thought. Was it just because of the wartime theme that I could so easily imagine the woman’s life as a film? Was it the disabled son, who made her life a little different to that of most mothers? What was it? I think it was the details on which the stories hung. Yes. It was the details, intricate and intimate, that brought the scenes so vividly to life for me.
I wonder, do we all have lives that could be moments strung together on a cinema screen, if only we tell them in a spirited way, as if engaging a stranger at a village bus stop?
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Mulkar
It's a rum deal when you can't even understand your own children's accents.
8-yo was talking to me about a film he wants to see, called Mulkar. Now, I'm quite used to movies, books, games and toys with odd names. It goes with the mother-of-small-boys territory (if you have boy babies or toddlers, you are right to be feeling nervous at this point). I don't know where it all started, but I suspect the Three Wise Men had something to do with it. It's impossible to keep up. Just as you've mastered the use of a few words of the world of Yu-gi-oh, along comes Pokemon, and just as you've mastered a few Pokemon words and are feeling smug about knowing there's an accent over that e in the middle, along comes Bakugan. Is Bakugan out in the UK yet? And in case you thought you had Bakugan sussed, your son will develop an interest in Star Wars and all its spin-offs, or Bionicles.
Do any of you remember Lego Knight's Kingdom? Perhaps it's still current, but I haven't noticed them in any stores round here recently. That was the worst. In days of old, knights were called knighty names like Sir Galahad and Sir Lancelot. These days they have names like Sir Nasdaq and Sir Indesit. From the mighty realm of Vorsprung Durch Technik.
So yes, I'm quite used to made-up names being bandied about. For example, we own a DVD entitled Picachu. We really do. We have another entitled Squirtle. We also have The Battle of Metru Nui. See what I mean.
I've learnt that the thing to do with these names is to abandon all hope of remembering them, or of making any sense at all of how they relate to each other. It's very irritating for small boys to be interrupted by a keen parent with "ah, how's that Toa doing, there?" when he has a Visorak in each hand. Or "can I be Yoshi?" when you're not even playing Wii Mario Super Sluggers (okay okay, now I'm just showing off). No, the best thing to do, is to sound very interested, nod wisely, and let the names flow right through your brain without even attempting to stop them at a memory cell somewhere. Then you just have to bluff (what do you mean, you can't bluff? It wasn't THAT long since you were in the workplace.)
In my defence, I was driving while we were discussing Mulkar. As you all know, the average Midwestern mom vehicle is only a whisker shorter than a London bus. If I'm in the driving seat (which, being safety conscious, I always am when I'm driving) and your child is in the back, you really need an intercom system or some hands-free walkie-talkies to communicate with each other. Speaking of London buses, I'm thinking of running a string down the side of the car interior, with a bell, so that the children can indicate to me when they want me to stop. Anyway, I was driving, and the conversation went like this:
8-yo: Can I see Mulkar?
Me: Mulkar? Is it a good movie? Have any of your friends seen it? (buying time here)
8-yo: Yes, it's good. Can I see it?
Me: (thinks: darn it, I still don't know what genre we're in here) Um... I'll have to think about it. What's it called again?
8-yo: Mulkar. Mul-kar.
Me: Mulkar. Yes. Is that about... Mulkar?
8-yo: Mom! Mul... Kar...
12-yo: (joining in the exasperation) Mom! It's Mul... Kar... You know. As in Mul... Kar...
Me: Mul... Kar...? As in Mul... Kar...?
12-yo eventually spelt the words out for me. Have you guessed what it was they were talking about?
Click here to find out.
I'm wondering if it stars John Mulkarvich.
.
8-yo was talking to me about a film he wants to see, called Mulkar. Now, I'm quite used to movies, books, games and toys with odd names. It goes with the mother-of-small-boys territory (if you have boy babies or toddlers, you are right to be feeling nervous at this point). I don't know where it all started, but I suspect the Three Wise Men had something to do with it. It's impossible to keep up. Just as you've mastered the use of a few words of the world of Yu-gi-oh, along comes Pokemon, and just as you've mastered a few Pokemon words and are feeling smug about knowing there's an accent over that e in the middle, along comes Bakugan. Is Bakugan out in the UK yet? And in case you thought you had Bakugan sussed, your son will develop an interest in Star Wars and all its spin-offs, or Bionicles.
Do any of you remember Lego Knight's Kingdom? Perhaps it's still current, but I haven't noticed them in any stores round here recently. That was the worst. In days of old, knights were called knighty names like Sir Galahad and Sir Lancelot. These days they have names like Sir Nasdaq and Sir Indesit. From the mighty realm of Vorsprung Durch Technik.
So yes, I'm quite used to made-up names being bandied about. For example, we own a DVD entitled Picachu. We really do. We have another entitled Squirtle. We also have The Battle of Metru Nui. See what I mean.
I've learnt that the thing to do with these names is to abandon all hope of remembering them, or of making any sense at all of how they relate to each other. It's very irritating for small boys to be interrupted by a keen parent with "ah, how's that Toa doing, there?" when he has a Visorak in each hand. Or "can I be Yoshi?" when you're not even playing Wii Mario Super Sluggers (okay okay, now I'm just showing off). No, the best thing to do, is to sound very interested, nod wisely, and let the names flow right through your brain without even attempting to stop them at a memory cell somewhere. Then you just have to bluff (what do you mean, you can't bluff? It wasn't THAT long since you were in the workplace.)
In my defence, I was driving while we were discussing Mulkar. As you all know, the average Midwestern mom vehicle is only a whisker shorter than a London bus. If I'm in the driving seat (which, being safety conscious, I always am when I'm driving) and your child is in the back, you really need an intercom system or some hands-free walkie-talkies to communicate with each other. Speaking of London buses, I'm thinking of running a string down the side of the car interior, with a bell, so that the children can indicate to me when they want me to stop. Anyway, I was driving, and the conversation went like this:
8-yo: Can I see Mulkar?
Me: Mulkar? Is it a good movie? Have any of your friends seen it? (buying time here)
8-yo: Yes, it's good. Can I see it?
Me: (thinks: darn it, I still don't know what genre we're in here) Um... I'll have to think about it. What's it called again?
8-yo: Mulkar. Mul-kar.
Me: Mulkar. Yes. Is that about... Mulkar?
8-yo: Mom! Mul... Kar...
12-yo: (joining in the exasperation) Mom! It's Mul... Kar... You know. As in Mul... Kar...
Me: Mul... Kar...? As in Mul... Kar...?
12-yo eventually spelt the words out for me. Have you guessed what it was they were talking about?
Click here to find out.
I'm wondering if it stars John Mulkarvich.
.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Paul's house: take two
Day 17 of 'The Daily Post'.
Since I discovered the 'if you can type, you can make movies' website, we've been entertaining ourselves with it. It's quite fun when your kids get to the age when they are able to do this kind of thing with you, rather than building train tracks (though I do miss the train tracks). It's a little humiliating, because they are so much more adept at the technical stuff, but once you've got over that, you can have some laughs. And there's less to tidy up at the end of the afternoon.
The boys also enjoyed browsing Youtube with me (it's out of bounds for them on their own) for remixes of the 'Poo at Paul's' Glade advertisement.
12-yo has masterfully combined the two, and made his own movie version of Poo at Paul's. Here it is (and it's only 27 seconds).
Since I discovered the 'if you can type, you can make movies' website, we've been entertaining ourselves with it. It's quite fun when your kids get to the age when they are able to do this kind of thing with you, rather than building train tracks (though I do miss the train tracks). It's a little humiliating, because they are so much more adept at the technical stuff, but once you've got over that, you can have some laughs. And there's less to tidy up at the end of the afternoon.
The boys also enjoyed browsing Youtube with me (it's out of bounds for them on their own) for remixes of the 'Poo at Paul's' Glade advertisement.
12-yo has masterfully combined the two, and made his own movie version of Poo at Paul's. Here it is (and it's only 27 seconds).
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
An American in England: the Director's cut
Day 13 of 'The Daily Post'.
I thoroughly enjoyed Calif Lorna's short movie. She's an English woman living in California, and the movie shows her asking for a glass of water, and getting lots of cliches along the way.
At the end of the clip, it says "If you can type, you can make movies". I can indeed type, thought I, so off I went to the movie-making website, and had a jolly time.
I thought I'd try a little empathising, so my movie is about what I imagine it's like to be an American in England. The English woman comes across as rather aggressive - I intended her to be conversational. I'll have to scrap her and get a more empathetic actress next time.
US expats, have you had conversations like this?
I thoroughly enjoyed Calif Lorna's short movie. She's an English woman living in California, and the movie shows her asking for a glass of water, and getting lots of cliches along the way.
At the end of the clip, it says "If you can type, you can make movies". I can indeed type, thought I, so off I went to the movie-making website, and had a jolly time.
I thought I'd try a little empathising, so my movie is about what I imagine it's like to be an American in England. The English woman comes across as rather aggressive - I intended her to be conversational. I'll have to scrap her and get a more empathetic actress next time.
US expats, have you had conversations like this?
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Iotie and Iota
If someone had said to me “Write down a list of all the issues that are playing out in your life at the moment, and we’ll weave them together into a story for a movie. Choose one of your favorite actresses, and we’ll get her to play the lead. Oh, and pick a European capital you like, and we’ll throw some luscious shots of that in too”, then Julie and Julia would have been the result. I saw that film over the week-end, and I loved it. It was all there for me: a good story, two good stories actually, a clutch of well-drawn characters, a bit of romance/relationships, some clever moments, some funny moments, some emotional moments. It was a bit clunky in places, but mostly, a thoroughly good watch. For me, there was more to it than just a good movie, though. I connected with it deeply.
As for that list of issues, it would go like this: blogging and whether there’s any point to it, being a trailing spouse and whether there’s any point to it, writing a book and whether there’s any point to it (and whether it’s remotely possible), the different feel that living in Europe has to living in America and whether that matters, how to stir up your mojo when your life feels full of nothing. As I wrote that, I realised that ‘dealing with the emotional aftermath of being treated for cancer’ doesn’t feature, but I’m thinking that the more perceptive among you will possibly spot subtle elements of it between the lines. The rest of you will probably think ‘denial’. (Denial? Me? Never.) There was something about cookery in the film too, but that’s not on my list of life issues, as it happens.
Julie and Julia, at different times, in different places, and for different reasons, each added purpose and oomph to her life, by adopting a project and getting on with it. As a result of watching Julie and Julia, I have decided to publish a blog post every day, for a month. That is my project. I was going to wait till 1st October to start, to make it tidy. I was also sneakily thinking I could use the intervening time to write a little advance stock of posts. But that isn’t the right spirit for the challenge, is it? So I’m going to start tomorrow. Watch this space.
I’ve also dug out a tapestry, which Husband gave me the first Christmas we were married. That was 13 years ago. I’ve done about one square inch in those 13 years, but I’m determined to finish it now. To keep me up to the mark, I have bought 5-yo a tapestry kit too. I pictured us sitting next to each other, companionably stitching. Of course I hugely underestimated how many minutes (seconds, sometimes) a 5 year old can manage on her own, before reaching the end of a row, or needing to change color, or getting into a muddle. If I’m going to make any progress on my own tapestry, I’ll need to do so in solitary sessions. I think it’s a good project, though.
Incidentally, what happened to the word cookery? Everyone says cooking these days. Even cookery books have become cookbooks. It's a shame. Cookery is a great word. We should have a word bloggery as well, and why not tapestryery while we're about it?
As for that list of issues, it would go like this: blogging and whether there’s any point to it, being a trailing spouse and whether there’s any point to it, writing a book and whether there’s any point to it (and whether it’s remotely possible), the different feel that living in Europe has to living in America and whether that matters, how to stir up your mojo when your life feels full of nothing. As I wrote that, I realised that ‘dealing with the emotional aftermath of being treated for cancer’ doesn’t feature, but I’m thinking that the more perceptive among you will possibly spot subtle elements of it between the lines. The rest of you will probably think ‘denial’. (Denial? Me? Never.) There was something about cookery in the film too, but that’s not on my list of life issues, as it happens.
Julie and Julia, at different times, in different places, and for different reasons, each added purpose and oomph to her life, by adopting a project and getting on with it. As a result of watching Julie and Julia, I have decided to publish a blog post every day, for a month. That is my project. I was going to wait till 1st October to start, to make it tidy. I was also sneakily thinking I could use the intervening time to write a little advance stock of posts. But that isn’t the right spirit for the challenge, is it? So I’m going to start tomorrow. Watch this space.
I’ve also dug out a tapestry, which Husband gave me the first Christmas we were married. That was 13 years ago. I’ve done about one square inch in those 13 years, but I’m determined to finish it now. To keep me up to the mark, I have bought 5-yo a tapestry kit too. I pictured us sitting next to each other, companionably stitching. Of course I hugely underestimated how many minutes (seconds, sometimes) a 5 year old can manage on her own, before reaching the end of a row, or needing to change color, or getting into a muddle. If I’m going to make any progress on my own tapestry, I’ll need to do so in solitary sessions. I think it’s a good project, though.
Incidentally, what happened to the word cookery? Everyone says cooking these days. Even cookery books have become cookbooks. It's a shame. Cookery is a great word. We should have a word bloggery as well, and why not tapestryery while we're about it?
Monday, April 13, 2009
Easter Monday movie titles game
Since it's Easter Monday and no doubt raining in England (and here too), I think we all need a game to play. Here's a fun one, which I am stealing unashamedly from Lord Celery's blog.
Think of a famous movie. Change one letter (just one letter, mind) in the title, and produce a new movie, the one they could have had a lot of fun making if only they'd left that typo in the original proposal.
Let me start you off.
Dig Hard - Bruce Willis's lesser known gardening epic
Fission Impossible - the story of how the atom was split
Chariots of Fife - Ben Hur's visit to Scotland
Shrew - you thought he was an over-sized green ogre, but in fact Princess Fiona was rescued by a tiny furry rodent with a Scottish accent
Paws - when the Australian coastline was terrorised by a man-eating chihuahua
Star Wart - Steven Spielberg's budget-busting series about an inter-galactic facial blemish
The 39 Stops - life as a driver on the Northern Line
Schindler's Lift - the history of the world's third largest elevator company
Now it's your turn.
.
Think of a famous movie. Change one letter (just one letter, mind) in the title, and produce a new movie, the one they could have had a lot of fun making if only they'd left that typo in the original proposal.
Let me start you off.
Dig Hard - Bruce Willis's lesser known gardening epic
Fission Impossible - the story of how the atom was split
Chariots of Fife - Ben Hur's visit to Scotland
Shrew - you thought he was an over-sized green ogre, but in fact Princess Fiona was rescued by a tiny furry rodent with a Scottish accent
Paws - when the Australian coastline was terrorised by a man-eating chihuahua
Star Wart - Steven Spielberg's budget-busting series about an inter-galactic facial blemish
The 39 Stops - life as a driver on the Northern Line
Schindler's Lift - the history of the world's third largest elevator company
Now it's your turn.
.
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