King Kong Certificate U?
I doubt it somehow. I managed to discover the cinema the other day and since I haven’t plucked up the stamina to sit through my first Bollywood epic (I kid myself I am saving it until Jess gets here!!), I decided to go and see the only English film on 11 screens! King Kong. For those who haven’t yet seen it, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable remake with some cracking special effects. Most entertaining. But some quite scary moments…especially if you are 2 or 3 years old!! Yes, it would appear that the concept of film certification is somewhat alien to the film industry here. The audience was full of parents with their tiny tots trying to watch a 3 hour film! One of the things I noticed was how incredibly well behaved most of them appeared to be. I concluded this must be for one of the following reasons: firstly, they were mostly asleep (it being the 10pm showing); secondly, Indians have hypnotic powers over their children, derived from a long history of snake charming (interesting idea but unlikely!!); thirdly, they had astonishing attention spans and were thoroughly engrossed (equally unlikely – attention spans and toddlers are mutually exclusive sets methinks!); and fourthly, and most probably (based on the sample of 2 sitting behind me) the kids were completely stunned and terrified into silence by scary parts of the film Worrying parenting to say the least– I can’t believe that those kids would not be having nightmares. There were certainly points at which they emitted squeaks of fear and buried themselves in their parents’ sides. And they weren’t the only ones in the cinema. I cannot imagine taking a kid Alistair’s age (Adamand Jo’s little one who is 20 months) to see a film like that – the kid behind me cannot have been much older…
Talking of Alastair, he is quite the little livewire. A really fascinating and entertaining toddler who seems to find new ways to make me laugh, or make me do something really silly that I am glad no-one else at home can see me doing, every time I see him. In fact I think I would go as far as to say that if, midst-way upon life’s journey, I found myself in the family way, I hope I am blessed with a kid as lovely as that!
Back to the subject of big flickering screens, what I have seen of Indian TV seems most bizzarre (mainly because a lot of presenters look like 70’s throwbacks) – I saw a little bit the other night when I was babysitting for Adam and Jo. Although I can’t understand a word, the formats are depressingly similar to the imported US garbage we get at home: they even seem to have a version 15:1 here, with significantly harder questions!! Is the dreaded box the greatest evil of modern times?!!! Maybe you don’t think so; but as far as I am concerned Reality TV and the shameless addiction of the nation to it’s mindless drivel (Pop Idol, Big Brother, I’m a celebrity etc) is certainly one of the more worrying trends of recent years. Thankfully, it does not seem to have made it over here. People also talk mercifully little about television they have seen here – although almost everyone has one – even the poorest slum dwellers jerry rig them with stolen power and fabricated aerials. One of the things I noticed since Jess and I got rid of the TV licence is how much conversation revolves around TV these days. It can get very tedious continually explaining oneself as conversations start up “did you see such and such last night…”
This was not meant to be a tirade against the telly. Although now the hobby horse has bolted it does seem a shame to shut him in the stable – he does seem so metaphorically happy in the open paddock!! That notwithstanding, for the sake of your collective sanity I’ll come to the point! Yes there was one.
Instead of telly, I am occupying some hours a day twanging on a guitar! Adam loaned me one together with a book of chords and some hymns in it a couple of nights ago, and I am deriving immense pleasure learning songs I like (well when the pain of the strings cutting into my left hand doesn’t distract that is!! I am told they harden up after a week or so! Hope so…or there won’t be any skin over them left to harden!) It is amazing how satisfying making music is – it is one of the delights in life I had forgotten about, and this has really made me want to pick up my instruments again (Mark and Katie I want to have a chat with you about that when I get home…). I wish I had learned the guitar earlier since under these circumstances, it is great not to have to find other musicians but be able to enjoy making music on your own. One of the things I have always loved about the guitar is its ability as an instrument to unite a random collection of people around it singing songs they all know and create an atmosphere out of nowhere – the good old sing-along!!
On which note (a G I think!) I’m going to sing myself to sleep now…
Nighty night all!
Talking of Alastair, he is quite the little livewire. A really fascinating and entertaining toddler who seems to find new ways to make me laugh, or make me do something really silly that I am glad no-one else at home can see me doing, every time I see him. In fact I think I would go as far as to say that if, midst-way upon life’s journey, I found myself in the family way, I hope I am blessed with a kid as lovely as that!
Back to the subject of big flickering screens, what I have seen of Indian TV seems most bizzarre (mainly because a lot of presenters look like 70’s throwbacks) – I saw a little bit the other night when I was babysitting for Adam and Jo. Although I can’t understand a word, the formats are depressingly similar to the imported US garbage we get at home: they even seem to have a version 15:1 here, with significantly harder questions!! Is the dreaded box the greatest evil of modern times?!!! Maybe you don’t think so; but as far as I am concerned Reality TV and the shameless addiction of the nation to it’s mindless drivel (Pop Idol, Big Brother, I’m a celebrity etc) is certainly one of the more worrying trends of recent years. Thankfully, it does not seem to have made it over here. People also talk mercifully little about television they have seen here – although almost everyone has one – even the poorest slum dwellers jerry rig them with stolen power and fabricated aerials. One of the things I noticed since Jess and I got rid of the TV licence is how much conversation revolves around TV these days. It can get very tedious continually explaining oneself as conversations start up “did you see such and such last night…”
This was not meant to be a tirade against the telly. Although now the hobby horse has bolted it does seem a shame to shut him in the stable – he does seem so metaphorically happy in the open paddock!! That notwithstanding, for the sake of your collective sanity I’ll come to the point! Yes there was one.
Instead of telly, I am occupying some hours a day twanging on a guitar! Adam loaned me one together with a book of chords and some hymns in it a couple of nights ago, and I am deriving immense pleasure learning songs I like (well when the pain of the strings cutting into my left hand doesn’t distract that is!! I am told they harden up after a week or so! Hope so…or there won’t be any skin over them left to harden!) It is amazing how satisfying making music is – it is one of the delights in life I had forgotten about, and this has really made me want to pick up my instruments again (Mark and Katie I want to have a chat with you about that when I get home…). I wish I had learned the guitar earlier since under these circumstances, it is great not to have to find other musicians but be able to enjoy making music on your own. One of the things I have always loved about the guitar is its ability as an instrument to unite a random collection of people around it singing songs they all know and create an atmosphere out of nowhere – the good old sing-along!!
On which note (a G I think!) I’m going to sing myself to sleep now…
Nighty night all!
posted by Duncan at 5:28 am
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