Again, about ‘The Fountain’

Last weekend we watched the film ‘The Fountain’ for the fourth time. This time we had the director’s commentary, but we couldn’t help ourselves and ended up watching the finale again.
Our friends must already be bored by this subject. Only it’s hard to ignore the topic when there is no justice for this under-appreciated movie.

The commentary isn’t very explicit. Darren Aronofsky isn’t very generous in solving the puzzle, but he gives some clues that made us think and discuss the film once again. And once again, it was different, and deeper. Now I think I can explain why. It is a gem with many facets. It is a poem about love, life, and death. It is a masterpiece. It is constructed to blow your mind and senses. It has many levels – rational, philosophical, spiritual, mythical and psychological. Every detail, every line and every symbol counts, because it makes the connection between planes. They are like pixels on the screen, only they don’t form a two-dimensional image but rather a multi-dimensional one, and not in space but in meaning.

It is not by accident that this movie wasn’t well received by critics and some of the public. First, it breaks all the rules. They weren’t even able to find a category for it. Second, it’s not easy to make sense of all the details at first. I guess people just categorize it as ‘Beautiful but it doesn’t make sense’ and then go on with their lives. And third, the theatrical trailer was totally misleading in suggesting reincarnation. THERE IS NO REINCARNATION WHATSOEVER! IT’S A STORY ABOUT A BOOK! It is a story about a man who loves his wife, and the way he copes with her death. It’s a spiritual journey.

I just hope that one day, when people are ready, ‘The Fountain’ will be rediscovered and Aronofsky will be recognized for inventing a new kind of cinema. Again.

More images

We bought a new game named Magnetix. It's made of magnetic rods and metal balls. You can build all kind of structures and it glows in the dark. It is quite addictive.



A funny picture downtown Dublin.
Even the statues commute.



Brady's of Shankill The Library in Shankill


Foggy afternoon Sunny rays

Cleaning the spider webs...

Well, it's been a while since the last post. It's just that things are happening and before they get transformed into a blog entry, other things happen. I am going to catch up with some pictures.

We had an interesting trip to visit a tower on a nearby hill. After visiting all the ruins from the map (or not -- some were on private property), we discovered that the tower is actually a chimney from an old lead mine. It looks cool though, and the real adventure was driving through tunnels of vegetation not much bigger than the car. Luckily the only traffic was a lady on a horse. From the top of the hill we could see all of Dublin, but there is not much to see because Dublin is quite flat. There are some proposals to build higher structures, but they don't receive approval from the municipality.

Hoping we are the only ones on this road

Up, up, through yellow bushes

Majestic trees Finally, the chimney
Defying gravity ;-) Dublin from above

Two full weeks

Last week went too fast. Morgan and Diane visited us and, while Morgan was at the office with Darse, I showed Diane some of Dublin. Since the weather is constantly changing here, I tried to show her as much as I could as long as it didn’t rain. Apart from a strong wind, we caught a beautiful day. We walked at least 10km along the coast. The sea was agitated and here and there made big splashes on the rocks. We started in Bray, the town south of us in Wicklow County, and then took the Dart to Dun Laoghaire (where I hadn’t been before). There we saw the shopping area, the harbor, people’s park, and had lunch and Irish coffee in a pub. Then we walked more or less along the coast to Dalkey. I had seen this area last year with Christine – actually we visited the “castle” where four actors showed four tourists how things were back then – but walking through Dalkey made me realize that it’s an extraordinary charming village/town. Too bad that I didn’t have my camera with me but Diane took some great shots. The day ended with dinner at Dali’s restaurant in Blackrock where we saw people parasailing and wind surfing.

Next day I wasn’t feeling so good so we just went to see how the big stores look. I showed Diane Cornelscourt, which is a good place for all shopping needs. Saturday we met them and other friends downtown, went to the well known tourist hotspots, and then visited a couple of pubs. After a nice dinner, the boys went to play some poker at the casino and the girls went to a nearby club, Café en Seine - beautiful setting, very crowded and the atmosphere reminded me the one at the castle for New Year’s Eve.

Sunday was income tax day. Unfortunately we couldn’t finish them, so this weekend it is mandatory to submit. As you can see, we didn’t have much opportunity to use our new car.
Actually, with the car parked in front of the house people ring my doorbell more often than before - usually service providers for gardening or charities. The good thing is that now I don’t find anymore notes in my mail from utility companies saying they came by and I wasn’t home. Now they actually ring. Talking about utilities, here you have to pay 160 Euros/year TV license if you own a TV. Otherwise you pay a fine of 634.87 Euros – I wonder how they came up with this number. In Romania it’s the same thing but it is not actually enforced. Here I’ve already received four letters about this. Finally, I called them and I will have to sign a declaration that I don’t possess a TV.


This week went by too fast, too. I am so thrilled to start learning again. The Open University is a UK long distance learning university. It is one of the biggest in the world. No wonder they are very well organized. Their website is so easy to use and has so much useful content. It seems that they thought of everything. I spent my time reading course preparation materials. It will be exciting to try creative learning instead of repetitive learning. It makes so much sense. The rule is: put the main ideas in your own words and challenge everything you can, and then recombine everything. Also, I’ve learned how to learn (most of it I already knew ;-)) and how to write essays for social sciences. Once a month I will have tutorials on Saturdays where I will meet my tutor and other students. They also have a list with students who, even though they cannot attend tutorials, would like to meet other students for learning and discussing purpose. They are called learning groups.

Next weekend is a long one. I am going to try to plan a small trip and hope for good weather.

Slow motion and fast forward

It is still spring in Ireland. It looks like the spring will never end. There are still trees without leaves, cherry trees are bloomed, and tulips and narcissuses are everywhere. It is spring in slow motion and I feel like doing something to speed up the process. I guess I can’t push the sap in the buds. That’s nature’s role.

On the other hand, it’s hard to believe that nature invented slugs and snails that eat big, soft and beautiful flowers. I had a slug attack on my petunias! They ate all the petals. Yum, slug delicatessen! Then I spread some blue chemical chips on the ground and the next day there was a snail cemetery in the flower bed. I couldn’t believe how many there were!

The other news is that we finally bought a car -- a 2001 Honda Civic. We picked it up from the dealer today, and we both got to drive it on the way home.

[Darse: We had been waiting for weeks for an advertised 1.3 litre Corolla to arrive from Japan, but when we finally got to test it out, we much preferred the 1.5 litre Civic. I was actually a bit unnerved driving Aaron and Christine's 1.0 litre Yaris, as it seemed somewhat under-powered when i needed acceleration the most -- like merging onto the highway, or turning in the middle of an intersection with double-decker buses coming at me in both directions... The 1.3 litre Yaris we test-drove was much zippier, so i thought the Corolla would be everything we'd want. But it didn't really have a lot of zip either -- maybe because it is much heavier than the fly-weight Yaris. The Civic isn't like my little sports car, but the it gives me much better piece of mind when it comes to evading all the crazy drivers! It is also in *amazing* condition -- it only has 36000 km, and has been impeccably well-maintained.]

The car is comfortable to drive and has lots of space inside. I think we made a good choice and can’t wait to see the Irish countryside now that we have wheels. Now we have the fast forward option for getting around town, too. We still intend to use the public transit system for convenience, especially to commute and to go downtown. The Luas LRT and Dart train systems are very good for that purpose. They don’t need 20 minutes to cross half of city center.
[Darse: the insanity of driving in downtown Dublin would require a full blog entry to itself. I fully intend to avoid it -- forever.]

Steps towards a better world

Lately, I’ve been studying a little about the financial and real estate markets. There are many signs to be worried about so I am trying to prevent any catastrophe that could happen to our personal savings and investments. I was looking for some funds that contain less banking and equities but they are not very popular. There are some about innovation, technology, health or education, but they are not doing very well. Actually, they never did. For some reasons people invest their money in real estate and banks. No wonder those have been thriving. And I can’t help thinking: what if people invested more in research, health, education, and especially in alternative energy? Wouldn’t it be a better world?


Recently I watched Jill Bolte Taylor’s TED Talk: My stroke of insight.

Video (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/229)

It’s an inspiring and eye-opening story. It’s also some degree of personal relief. My grandmother lived many years unable to communicate – speak, read, write – or walk, due to a stroke in her left side of the brain. She was imprisoned inside her body for so long, and yet, she might not have had a terrible life all that time.

There is so much in our brain. If only we would be taught how it works and how to train it. I am not thinking only about activating the right side of the brain, but in a general way. We are so vulnerable, spend too much energy, and live with so many wrong beliefs, because nobody told us how our brain works. It’s not easy to figure out by ourselves. Many scientists spent years of research that can be synthesized in a few sentences. But once aware of their conclusions, everything starts to make sense -- we are stronger, and even healthier. What if children would be taught about their brain like they are taught to write? Wouldn’t it be a better world?

Too busy

It’s been a while since my last written post. Many little things have happened since then. Our trip to Canada was very busy – delayed luggage, trip to Edmonton, citizenship exam, meeting friends and family, shopping, fighting with jet lag, etc. Back to Ireland, back to work. Darse at the office, me dealing with a thousand little things like finding a car to buy, dealing with banking, shopping, and other appointments, registering for the Open University, gardening, writing, trying every day to paint… Oh, so boring for you to read!

Holidays passed quietly. We had a long stroll the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day in Bray. This is where we took the pictures from my previous entry. At that time there was a “fun fair” on the esplanade. Darse was amazed by the fact that all of the swinging/shaking/spinning rides were unfolded from semi truck trailers. It made sense because it was a traveling fair. [It makes those rickety rides extra scary -- there's actual risk involved! -drb] The cleverness of the folding was fun to study but the final result was a tacky spin machine to make people sick.



I hope you enjoyed the six-eyed alien from my pictures. Actually Darse was wearing my sun shades under his glasses because of a headache induced by the bright sunlight. Hopefully he won’t have this problem anymore when he gets his new glasses that darken in the sunlight.

We went to a games party (video games, Chinese poker, and trivia) before Easter where, most likely, we beat a world record. We had the longest Trivia Pursuit game of all time: about 5 hours or more. And then we had more trivia at Rockfield Pub this week with Darse’s colleagues where we didn’t finish last. Yay! (Pub quizzes have lots of questions about football, UK and Ireland whatnot).

The weekend forecast is rainy and windy so again, it won’t be perfect for strolling or pictures. There is always stuff to do at home too.

Maybe we'll go to see some cars. One funny thing about looking for a car is the inventiveness of sellers of pink Toyotas. There are dozens for sale, and they are rarely defined as pink in the ads. They are "purple", "blue" (?), "metallic purple" or "red". They stretch the definition of pink to "twilight rose" and "metallic salmon". Actually, they all look like this:

[If we ever did buy one of these, it'd be from the guy who called it "PINK!". -drb]

Beautiful Sunday

Our regular visitors feeling at home

Bray esplanade and sea walk

I'm an alien... I'm a Canadian alien

Bray seen from the sea walk
The cliffs of Bray Head

Trying to catch the train

More sea from above

heathrow sux

London Heathrow airport is an interesting and enriching experience that enables one to better appreciate all things that do not suck nearly as much (which, to a very close approximation, is all things).

After the usual 10-minute bus trip between terminals, we had to traverse the entire length of Terminal 1 three times. We got to the entrance of the departure gate only to be told that we had to go back to the beginning to get a biometric scan. I'm not talking about the usual indignities, like seizing our terribly dangerous four-ounce bottles of water, or making us strip off our belts and shoes, or submitting to the random anal probes -- that's all old news. No no, this is a new one, where we get digitally fingerprinted and retinal eye-scanned. Think of all those high-tech security scans in sci-fi movies, like "Total Recall", "Minority Report", "Gattaca", "Code 46", and others. Now add in the Voight-Kampff test from "Bladerunner". Well, it's here, folks! We then had to register the digital fingerprint scan again back at the departure gate, just to make sure that we hadn't sneakily changed our DNA identity during the 15-minute walk. Sheesh.

The wing we're sitting in while waiting for our flight to Dublin is disgusting. I am actually experiencing full-on disgust and revulsion as i write these words. There are plenty of negative associations already built-up with this place, since we've been stuck here twice before -- domestic flights are routinely delayed (occasionally due to high winds, but usually due to general incompetence).

The terminal we're in is reminiscent of the inside of a large tin can turned on its side. The walls are concave corrugated aluminum, making it just about the most austere inhospitable dehumanizing soul-crushing decor a sociopath could ever conceive. The fabric seats are filthy beyond words. There is hardly any ventilation, which is just dandy, given the thousands of exhausted gamey sweaty travelers that file through here every day. Without wanting to belabour the point, let's just say this is a fine centerpiece in the Orwellian dystopia that is Heathrow airport.

[Did you see "Children of Men"? I'm certain the fascist Fortress State of oh-so-near future England was modeled on Heathrow. This place is the germ where the epidemic began.]

Oh well, one has to take the good with the bad, and this is the price we pay for a lovely week spent in Alberta. We were there primarily for Xan's Canadian citizenship exam, but it was also an opportunity to take care of some chores (like taxes and banking) and catch up with people.

It was nice to gorge on some of our yummy healthy comfort foods. After a big grocery spree, we had a bonanza of wholesome goodies to choose from. We both went for the nectarines first, but the 3-colour cole slaw and real yoghurt weren't far behind. [Right now i'm snacking on a distinctly Albertan delicacy: tasty and nutritious roasted Wheat Crunch (Cool Ranch flavour:).]

Despite the nuisance, it was strangely enjoyable to stroll along the crazy Tim Horton's line-up that ran out the exit, wound through tunnels and into the adjoining office tower. The journey didn't take too long, and it was well rewarded with the magical elixir that is genuine TH coffee. There are many more food-related anecdotes from the trip -- suffice it to say that i overindulged in that particular aspect of home.

However, a much greater pleasure was visiting with people, especially those at the U of A (the poker group, naturally, but also the Hex guys, the Netflix team, and a dozen other friendly faces). It's only been four months, but that's a long time when you're used to seeing them almost every day. It is enough time away to gain a bit of distance and a fresh perspective, and my conclusion is obvious and unequivocal: the people there are awesomely awesome. It's especially evident in contrast to Heathrow, where the people are often discourteous, uncooperative, passive-aggressive, and thick as a brick. [Not a fair comparison at all, of course, putting cool computer ubergeek elites up against the proletariat rabble of Oceania, but i can't help noticing the dramatic difference between these ultra-gentle and ultra-hostile environments.]

Okay, i'm gonna stop raggin' on this grotesque aluminum cesspool, and focus on something more positive and constructive -- leaving this hellhole!

Colours

Daffodils
Daffodils, planted a long time ago and now spread unevenly on the banks of roads, brighten the landscape. Yellow and green for many kilometers. I saw some pictures taken in our neighbourhood during the summer, and it seems that it will get much greener than it is now.
By the way, my daffodils are still in shape after almost a month, and there are more bunches coming into bloom. Now I understand why there are so many bulbs planted everywhere. They require little maintenance and last for so long.

Red Luas
The Red Luas is actually purple, just like the Green one. Actually it’s the red line and the green line. You would think there must be a reason for these colours, but they could also be randomly chosen -- like the bus numbers, which have no apparent logic or meaning. Plus, I couldn’t find route maps anywhere, just general sketches. Google is much more helpful than the official bus website because Google has the bus stops. (Bus is actually pronounced like boss and it’s funny when you ride the boss ;-)).

The names of the train stops are sometimes intriguing like: Museum. And you wonder: what museum? The mystery vanishes when you see the entrance to the National Museum of Ireland two meters away from the door of the train.

Downtown, the train goes on narrow streets, 1.5m away from window shops. Between the train window and shop windows, pedestrians walk minding their own business on the sidewalk. It’s dazzling when the landscape is so close to the train. I had the feeling of a metro going through a tunnel of buildings and walls.

Downtown it is always crowded, no matter where you are. Citizens are told by the Luas announcement lady in a sweet and reassuring voice that they should watch their belongings, as pick-pockets may operate on the train. After all, Dublin is a tourist city.