T-shirt becomes tote bag

I recently stumbled upon this interesting tutorial that shows how to turn a t-shirt into a bag. I decided to try with an old t-shirt that I was actually thinking of throwing away. Instead, I know have a very sturdy bag that I use to carry my lunch box at work

And the verdict on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is… Not as amazing as some reviews say, a good movie nonetheless. But I am afraid I won’t be able to look at Daniel Craig for a while without thinking of Simon’s Cat YouTube videos. I don’t want to write spoilers, but I just had to mention that reference. There are a couple of scenes that made giggle more than one spectator in the theatre. The movie is good, anyway…

...hello?!

Please, let director and cast do what they do best.

If you’ve read recent movie reviews, you might have guessed what film I’m referring to. If not, well… I’m talking about Dream House.
The infamous trailer that many say spoils the entire film, doesn’t really spoil that much. Or let’s put it this way: it spoils something, but not everything. As you watch the film, it is clear that the director tried his best and the cast is amazing, but for some reason the production decided to change the film so much that neither the director nor any member of the cast wanted to promote the film. Something must have gone very wrong. And you can probably sense it in the second half of the film. The story is deeply psychological, not a horror-thriller overseen plot. Yet, the depth of the characters never develops fully. The cast is left with very little to play with and the ending is so rushed that you might even wish the same pace was given to the ever-boringly-slow Twilight – Breaking Dawn, part 1.

Shame, because this could have really been a great film. It’s not always that you get to have 3 actors who can talk without saying a word. Not all can do that and if the plot had been properly developed, I’m sure it would have led to an even more outstanding performance. Instead, you end up seeing Craig & co. trying, really trying. There’s something more beneath the surface, something more they want to show. Sadly, it won’t happen in this film.

Anyway, if you don’t mind looking a bit further than the first visual impressions when you watch a film, you might enjoy Dream House. I found it a story about love, loss, guilt, helplessness, acceptance (and not all this whirlwind of emotions refer to Craig’s character). Truth is, thanks to whoever ruined it, this is probably not one of those films you’ll want to re-watch, but given the other choices at the moment, it’s better than the usual Christmas stuff. In my area, we’re still waiting for the second Sherlock Holmes and the remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (wow, must be Daniel Craig season) but with my usual luck, they are both coming out when I’ll be in another country, umpf…
Next cinematic mission: Another Earth. Its director/writer won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival this year. I guess it must mean something.

I also realised that only 2 out of 6 actors who portrayed Her Majesty’s famous spy are actually British: Sean Connery is Scottish, George Lazenby is Australian, Timothy Dalton is Welsh and Pierce Brosnan is Irish. Only Roger Moore and Daniel Craig are British.
Same with the theme songs. Except for Paul McCartney (Liverpool, Live And Let Die) and Duran Duran (Birmingham, A View To A Kill), all other singers and bands are from the USA, Scotland, Wales, Norway. I could bore you listing them all here, but I think I’ll spare you the torture and save this priceless piece of knowledge for some TV quiz, in case some day I decide to go to one

This morning I turned on the shuffle on iTunes and Daft Punk started playing. End Titles. From the last Tron soundtrack. You’d ask: what is the connection with Harry Potter 7.2? Aside from mentioning an end, that is.

Well, Harry Potter main theme is quite simple and easily sticks into people’s head. They remember it. Same as Superman or Star Wars… 2 notes and *poof* we already know what is playing. If you think of the music itself, in all these cases it’s just few notes, simple melody, very repetitive. Exactly like this Tron soundtrack. Daft Punk is a French duo that released quite a few electronic/dance album. The tracks are simple, not a lot of ‘musical virtuosity’, no lyrics. Nonetheless, this simplicity is what stays with us. Simple sounds often evoke deeper feelings and memories than instrument mastery. Chose carefully the tones, maybe a minor key to convey a bit more sadness, hold the notes long enough and people will mumble your song for years to come.

The mysteries of the human brain.

—
Daft Punk – End Titles (Tron Legacy Soundtrack)

Just a few names.

I don’t like that.

Actually, I don’t like reviews in general. I like comments from customers, readers or spectators. But critics reviews can fool you sometimes. Especially for books. You read this wonderful ramble on how fantastic this book is, magnifically written, sensational: “the new [random famous author]” and so on. Then you buy the book and it’s about half as magnificent as you thought it should be.

Don’t you find it a bit disappointing?

You’d think: now why the heck is she talking about book reviews? Well, 10 minutes ago I thought that maybe I could add a short paragraph next to each of the books that I have in my virtual bookshelf here. The titles are so random, maybe you’d like to have some info on the book, especially the less known ones. But then I thought that it’s a bit too much writing. I’m not sure I have the time to review each book. Maybe I can just add some symbol, a score, like +++. I’ll think about it. For now, here’s the list of online/real bookshops I buy books or films from.

Amazon.co.uk – Probably no description needed.

Waterstones – Oh, I could spend days in their main shop in Piccadilly Street!

Alibris.co.uk – I found some interesting books here at reasonable prices.

Adlibris.com – This one is Scandinavian based. It sells books, audiobooks/mp3 and CDs.

Bokus.com – Best online Swedish bookshop I found so far. Similar to Adlibris, but generally better prices. It also sells books, audiobooks on CD or the files can be downloaded after purchase (mp3 and iPod versions available).

Grant and Cutler – Really nice bookshop in London. Great selection, great service, also sells online and ships worldwide.

Discshop.se – Huge selection of DVDs, comparable with Amazon but much better service. Amazing how fast their standard shipping is, considering that they send from Sweden.

Beorn

I was following the updates on The Hobbit and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the role of Beorn has been given to one of my favourite Swedish actors. YAY! Grattis Micke! That’s good news… less English speaking actors in the cast.

But then I read that the film is likely to be released in 3D. What the heck! Or I could list you some Swedish swear phrases here, but I’ll spare you that. My point is: why everything now has to be filmed in 3D??? I watched a couple of films in 3D and besides feeling a little dizzy for the first 15-20 minutes, I think they would have been equally enjoyable even in regular HD. Honestly, I don’t see the need for such technology, just like I don’t see any need for splitting the story in 2 parts. The same thing happened with the latest Harry Potter. No comment.

Making The Hobbit was a good idea in the first place, but then I believe “business constraints” stepped in: 3D, 2 parts… oh, and Cate Blanchett is back too. Weird, as her character is not in The Hobbit, if I remember correctly. So… blah, I just hope they will think twice, thrice etc… before destroying the story. Fy fan…

Blankness

I recently finished watching the BBC Wallander series n.2. I am a big fan of The Kurt Wallander Series, I read all the books last Summer before I moved to the UK. My mother had them all in the family library and she said they were really well written and thoroughly enjoyed them. I was looking for something new to read, so there it all started… I instantly got hooked on Kurt’s story. The Italian TV back then aired part of the Swedish series and it was very interesting, seeing the adaptation of quite a long series of books. I read 9 books of the series and I can’t wait to read the latest one, The Troubled Man. By the way, I also read “Italian Shoes” by the same author, Henning Mankell, and I loved it. I don’t know what is it with these Swedish authors and their sad stories. I really like them.

This afternoon, after I watched the latest Branagh’s Wallander, I was brought back to my last year at high-school. You’ll wonder why is that? Well… First funny thing is, I owe my high-school diploma distinction in Italian literature to Kenneth Branagh and his Henry V. Of course I later chose to become a veterinarian, but that’s another story. Back to Shakespeare, at the literature exam I had the brilliant idea to talk about Shakespeare in comparison with another Italian author and some of his tragedies. Long story short… Shakespeare was not in the program, but thank to Mr Branagh’s accurate films, I almost knew the Henry V by heart, haha! And I aced the exam. This memory made me giggle this afternoon. Maybe some day I’ll meet the man and thank him. I mean Kenneth Branagh, not Shakespeare, of course.

Then, Wallander also made me think of something else. Kurt finds out that his daughter writes poetry and she never told him, but preferred to share it with her grandfather, Kurt’s father. Wallander is a complex character, yet quite simple. It depends on your point of view. I like to think of him as a very sensitive man that struggles with his most intimate emotions and strives for perfection in his work, but he’s not infallible. A sad man. One of those deep characters that make you realise how difficult it is to handle feelings, relationships, insecurities. Fears.

All this reminded me of an assignment we once had at high-school, same class, Italian literature: “Do we write in sadness?” We were supposed to discuss Leopardi‘s thought that poets and writers in general are driven by sadness, torment and pain. It is somewhat true, not all poems or songs talk about funny, cheerful experiences. Going back to the initial Wallander theme, Emily Barker comes to mind, and her Nostalgia. Then, why do we like them so much? Yes, we. Take a random song in your .mp3 player and listen to the lyrics. The chances are, the lyrics are sad or mention regret, distance, loss, solitude etc etc. Yet, we love the song. I think this happens because there are some things that we cannot easily express with words. Poetry comes to the rescue, it’s a sort of visual writing, because we can toss words on the paper and mix emotions and memories, hopes and wishes, in just a few lines. It all makes perfect sense to us. It’s complete, a condensed summary of how we feel and it tells a lot more than a thousand pages. Add the right minor keys to the music and you have one of those songs that recurrently pop in your mind whenever you feel a bit sad.

However, we can write when we are happy too. I’m sure some people only write when they are happy. I write when I have a lot to say and not enough will to explain it, so I sum it all up in a poem. It’s cryptic and crystal clear at the same time. I guess I’m a lazy writer. The eyes are my ink, my sight will read all the words that are not written on the paper or on what surrounds me.

Dark clouds getting closer

After a whole week of sunshine and not less than 25 °C / 77 °F all day long, I kind of appreciated some fresh air this morning. Finally, a Summer storm!

Well… no. It was dark, it was cloudy and it was chilly indeed. For just about 1 hour. Now it’s sunny again and definitely warmer.

I wish I had my proper camera with me, but here is another one for the iPhone collection!