Grace, Wizards, Produndity, and April Showers
Hey, peeps!
Long Lost Wolf here. (well, it feels like it’s been a long time, and yea, I’ve long been lost regardless. Soon I’ll be back in the fandom world, God willing!) Amidst tax season crises, moving crises, poor health crises, and weather crises, I’m crisesied up! Seriously.
Okay, update time in the next entry! (And I’ll get to answering all comments too in the next two days!)
The weather here has been ... something else. We had a particularly harsh winter this year, with unbelievable storm upon storm, rain, snow, monsoons of rain, mudslides, more rain, wind, rain, cold, and oh yeah, rain. As David Duchovny once remarked in an interview while filming X-Files up here, “it’s sort of like a tropical rainforest. Only without the tropics.” Well, the wet trend has certainly continued. When the sun came out this weekend, people were popping out of their houses hesitantly, staring up at this strange bright thing hanging in the sky and wondering what the heck it was.
I have experienced a bunch of interesting if small events lately, and felt like rambling about them, so feel free to ignore me. (And I’m so tired of talking about work, and this seems more fun, so ...) Three of them were, (other than the Big Move, of course) in order: a Miyazaki Video night, a special lecture and talk about C. S. Lewis, and seeing the film Amazing Grace.
The Miyazaki night was really fun. A good friend of mine introduced me to a couple of friends of hers who were hosting this group event, a Canadian former JET Programme participant, and her Japanese husband whom she’d met while teaching English in Japan. We had a really interesting Japanese-esque evening of sushi and saki, watching and discussing Howl’s Moving Castle, (seen it before, but it’s still so great) and Spirited Away. (First viewing!) I’m always so impressed by Hayao Miyazaki’s work, and his ubiquitous themes regarding war and environmental issues. (And that war in Howl makes it quite different from the Wynne-Jones’ novel upon which it’s based) (and Yoshi actually remembered Gatchaman from his childhood! Cool conversation.) I’m more in love with anime (I should emphasize quality anime with that) than ever! (And yes, still madly keen on Kyou Kara Maou. KKM rocks!) I know Miyazaki’s son has done new films based on Ursula K. Le Guin’s Wizard of Earthsea, but I heard that they’ve had a major familial rift over it, and so I’m told not to expect the same quality of filmmaking from Tales of Earthsea, most unfortunately. Ah well.
Last Sunday I had the rare opportunity to attend a presentation given by a group called the Newman Association, a club of scholarly intellectuals who give talks on all sorts of literary and esoteric subjects, and this particular one was given by a really cool professor who specialized in studies of the awesome C. S. Lewis and his views on Mysticism. Now, I happen to be a lifelong fan of the man, primarily as author of The Chronicles of Narnia, and then his unique take on science fiction with the Perelandra trilogy, and the hugely engaging Screwtape Letters, and much later discovering his singular writings as a foremost Christian apologist and spiritual writer. Dr. Robert Stackpole, who gave the talk, was a brilliant speaker, and I found this lecture both fascinating and moving. I didn’t know much about the area of Mysticism, and I certainly learned a great deal. What made this experience even more special to me was that I was able to attend it in the company of a friend of mine, retired UBC English professor Mahmoud Manzalouie, a former student of C.S. Lewis himself, (whom I’d taken to see the film version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe two Christmasses ago, and who’s agreed to allow me to do an interview with him in May ) and that was a once in a lifetime experience. I could practically feel my mind (or maybe spirit?) elevating to a higher level during that morning. It was ... quite thrilling really. I am eager to learn more, and it’s been so long, in the midst of my fatigue, depression, and stress, that I felt that long-ago desire to learn and expand my horizons like that. It was so ... refreshing, and wonderful. Maybe things really are getting better! I am filled with hope. :-)
I haven’t had much time to watch movies at all for a while: my several jobs, plus the moving thing, has really kept me hopping! But I’d wanted to see this particular film, and when a friend suggested they’d like to accompany me, I couldn’t resist. And I’m so glad I caved! Amazing Grace is a beautiful film, based on the story of real life activist William Wilburforce, the man who almost singlehandedly helped end the Slave Trade in England back in the day. (He also was the founder of the S.P.C.A., an organization I’ve long supported and quite dear to my heart, amongst many other charitable foundations) He was played by one of my favourite actors, Ioan Gruffudd, whom I’d loved in the Horatio Hornblower series, and the SF law series Century City, but who is known best to North American audiences for his part as Reed Richards in the Fantastic Four films. He did a lovely job in the part, but perhaps I am a little biased. But all the cast was great, particularly Micheal Gambon (the ‘new’ Professor Dumbledore in the recent Harry Potter films) and especially Albert Finney, whose performance as John Newton, the slave ship captain-turned-priest who composed the famous hymn “Amazing Grace”, was absolutely brilliant. It is a subtle and lovely film, and I highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you get a little tired of the more trite, predictable, mainstream Hollywood schlock that we generally get inundated with. It may not be as cool or fun or flashy as the upcoming Spidey 3 (which I’m not dissing; I fully intend to see and enjoy it) or other superhero movies, but it’s superb to see a little film like this come out now and then. I find it amazing that a man like William Wilburforce actually existed, and his story was very inspirational. A hero in every sense of the word. I wish I could be as brave and as full of integrity and compassion like that. It’s both humbling and exciting to realize that people like this really lived, and still do today.
And speaking of Harry Potter, wow, am I ever beginning to gear up for this coming summer, with HP Month in July. Not only is the Order of the Phoenix theatrical adaptation flying up quickly, (and what a HUGE cast is listed: most MUST only be cameos!) but the final book, Deathly Hallows, is looming so closely. (can't believe it's the last one!) Being the major fan I am, I find I'm filled with a mixture of anticipation, sorrow, and anxiety about the novel. For one thing, I'm quite afraid some of my favourite characters are not long for this canon world! :-( It's starting to make me edgy in a sort-of fun, take-me-away-from-the-Real-World kind of way. (I'm even dreaming Harry Potter these days. Fascinating scenarios. That is, when I DO manage to sleep. This ongoing insomnia trick is driving me Voldemort!)
Ah, I realize just how long I’ve indulged in my rambling already in this post, and I still haven’t got around to answering some of my friends’ requests to describe my new living situation, but this is so long already I’ll just do a separate post soonest. Yes, I think that’s best. Arrgghh, that sure sounds ... erudite, doesn’t it? (Gah. Worn to the bone. And the brain, apparently.)
Well, these have been interesting and enlightening experiences lately, small and not exactly world-shaking as they were. I’m still very glad for them. They ... sparked me again.
I hope it’ll only get more interesting and fulfilling as this Spring progresses!
Paxwolf the Sparked ;-)