Gurinder Chadha and Merlin. Alakazam! (9/16/09)

Okay, so I've been holding out on you guys on my zoo trip. And now I'm going to share, and you're going to be jealous at first (well, Filmi Girl will, anyway), but then you're going to pity me, because I am a big wussy wuss wuss.

The Scene:
A sunny day in the Central Park Zoo.

The Cast:
Me and my pops. Sea lions doing tricks and tamarin monkeys being adorbs and cuddly red pandas chillaxing in trees. (Oh, yes—and one other person.)

Holy adorable red panda scoping out her audience of ardent admirers!

Holy adorable red panda gazing at her panda pal, who's chillin' in the grass below her. OMGz I want to snuggle her!

The Story:
I'm a wimpy douche.

The Long Version:
I was looking at pandas, and I noticed a very familiar-looking woman standing next to me. She looked an awful lot like Gurinder Chadha, in fact. And I dithered and wimbled, and she had a conversation with her husband and children, and they decided to leave the zoo.

After she left, of course, I decided that it was absolutely, unquestionably her. And I didn't have the ovaries to just tell her that Bend It Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice are two of the most fabulous movies ever. (Emphasis on Bend It Like Beckham, as per usual.) Or that I'm wicked psyched about It's a Wonderful Afterlife.

Yeah. It was definitely Gurinder Chadha and her hubby. I suck.

Sad! But even though I totally pussed out, it's okay. 'Cause I got to see this guy rockin' his backstroke:

The polar bear swim meet is fast approaching. Work those pecs, buddy!

In non-stalker news, the Daily Mail ran an article several centuries ago (well, in January of this year...so perhaps just several decades ago) on the "end of the hourglass [figure, not timepiece]." It's...kind of a weird article. You should check it out.

You should ALSO check out Merlin. I've never heard of it before, but it seems it's been picked up in the US (did everyone know this but me?), and this blog post about it at the Guardian is hilarious. (Thank you, blogger, for calling the eleventh Doctor Who "a funny-looking teenager dressed as a history professor." I will love you forever for that.) Guilty pleasure, here I come!

The Cat's on the Bus and the Dark is Rising. (8/1/09)

Okay, y'all, Saturday cuteness: Darling Devon kitty takes regular advantage of public transportation. Even more darling bus drivers take care of kitty en route. You must watch this video; it's adorable. (Hat-tip to V!)

Casper takes the bus. Awwww!

Less cute: Did you know that the Times of London has a dating site? Does that seem odd to you? I don't believe the New York Times does this. NYT does, however, print things like this at the bottom of movie reviews: “Funny People” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Penis, penis, penis!

Um. Weird. Anyway...

In political news, I was unaware of the existence of Irish Travellers (whom we Yanks might refer to as Gypsies), and I am flabbergasted. Proper Gypsies (of the Roma tribe) are still in the UK as well. I suspect there is less fortune-telling and more dealing with limited means than our fairy tales might have us believe, but still. No one hangs on to tradition like the British.

On a closely related topic, I was also unaware of the alleged curse of the Wandering Jew—but maybe the exceptional Susan Cooper WAS aware of said Wanderer, and maybe he appeared in the The Dark Is Rising as the Walker.


If you haven't read The Dark is Rising series, you really, really should. Cooper wrote it in the '60s and '70s, and certain things about it may ring familiar: Will, the unassuming English boy who comes into his magical own on the dawn of his eleventh birthday. Merriman, the powerful magician who must sacrifice the one for the many. The ultimate battle of good versus evil, waged on a grand scale. But the similarities end there. Cooper's relatively somber five books possess a L'Engle-esque cast of characters, different books following different groups of people who are tied together in one way or another. There is a holiday in a heavily superstitious town; there is a long visit to a cheerful family in the painfully gorgeous Welsh countryside; even Arthurian legend is looped into the fold of Cooper's tales. (Though no one ever says, "Merlin's pants!" Which is a shame, really.)

I read these when I was eleven, just like Will, and I used to wander down a path through the woods behind my house, pretending it was the Old Ones' Way and that I was Seeking the six signs. Because I wasn't a dork at all.

If you are a sucker for ultimate battles between good and evil (and I know you are, you Lord of the Rings–loving, Star Wars–watching, Harry Potter–devouring nuts), read these books. They're short-ish; you can knock them out in a few weeks. And book four, The Grey King, won a Newbery medal. So you KNOW it's fab. But for the love of all that is holy, avoid the offensively reworked film version, 2007's The Seeker. (I'm not providing a link for that. Sully your own computer, if you must, but I won't do it.)

Ice cream and swans (7/23/09)

I'll post a proper post tonight, y'all, I promise! And I'll get my schedule fixed soon, so I can post in the mornings like I'm s'posed to. In the meantime, allow me to leave you with some hot ice cream and a video of the "thrifty" Queen attending the annual Swan Upping on the Thames.