Missing/Movies

Clearly, Saturday is becoming the day I willfully induce homesickness. I woke up this morning and decided to watch "A League of Their Own" while mending some of the pauper's clothes I brought over from Richmond. Whoa. Side project abandoned as soon as the needle was threaded. Total weepfest. But not at the typical moments that got me in the past, ie. when Betty Spaghetti gets the fateful telegram about her husband's death in the Pacific, or when homely Marla Hooch says goodbye to her father and her small town in Colorado to try out for the All American League. No...I cried at almost every scene that involved sister-sister competition between Lori Petty and Geena Davis and during all big Baseball montages and swelling American music and fireworks. And during Madonna's roadhouse swing dance sequence! Shoot, man. It felt great. There IS crying in baseball, Tom Hanks! On my couch, on my sleeve, and a runny nose, too.

All of my movies are suddenly very very dear to me; it's like I'm watching them for the first time. I told you I went to see "Sharks In Venice" last weekend, and it was truly the worst movie I have ever seen, and for that reason, also one of the best. But I have to tell you something about movies here: most of them are heavily censored for romance (references to/displays of kissing, sex of any sort not shown), but violence and cursing is fair game. I'd asked Lesley about violence before the previews started, and she said, "I'm pretty sure they don't censor that too much" as a troupe of small children filed into the seats in front of us. Then, the lights dimmed and what followed was 15 minutes of the most violent, nightmare-inducing movie previews I've ever seen in my life. Literally...new ways of killing people were invented in these previews--like a man puts a hand grenade down another man's shirt and throws that man off a building and he detonates in mid-air!!!!!! This is a PREVIEW!! When people weren't shooting other people point blank, they were shouting expletives. I was crying I was laughing so hard; it was too unbelievable, and my question about movie censors was fully answered. And that, friends, is your cultural lesson for the day. (*** I feel duty-bound to tell you that all these movies, except "Drag Me To Hell", seemed to be obscure--B or C level-- and either American or European-made.)

What else...oh, Felicity posted a video to facebook today and I thought you'd enjoy it. Since I'm on a roll with high-emotion media...
It's a part of the Think Campaign that's run by the organization behind Education City--Qatar Foundation. They've removed the link from facebook, but there is a small window on the bottom left of the QF homepage that also shows the video. All of the settings, minus the first scene with the planetarium and the second scene with the girl in the river, are on campus. Isn't it beautiful? Maybe they'll release a larger version of it soon, but for now, if you want to learn about QF's mission, this will do. Encouraging the world to think? What a nice idea.

Good weekend, but too short. Iftar (breaking of the fast) tonight at a Syrian restaurant with all the faculty and staff. Will post again tomorrow...