Waylon

Does anyone else see a resemblance here?



Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Yes: "Owner of a Lonely Heart"

Weekend Observations

Friday was Maryanne's birthday. She wanted to go out and try the Cloud 9 Grille; my review is here. The weather was cold, but she got a good turnout, and was able to enjoy her day.

As a result of Sarah's ad nauseum viewings of Disney's Sleeping Beauty, I have come to the conclusion that all the misfortune throughout the movie is the fault of the three "good" fairies. (I use quotes because they could be subconsciously sadistic). Observe the following:

• When Maleficent arrives at the castle, no one does anything to stop her before she curses Aurora. The fairies would have had the best chance to do so.
  
• While hiding Aurora in the cottage in the forest, it is through their careless use of magic that they are discovered by Maleficent's pet raven.
  
• At King Stefan's castle, it is when they leave Aurora alone that Maleficent is able to draw Aurora away and cause her to prick her finger.
  

I'll concede that it has been a while since I've read Perrault's version of the fairy tale, the version on which the movie was based, and I don't recall which of the above are from the "book" and which are creative license on the part of Disney. I'll also concede that fact that the fairies do their best to redeem themselves, especially by effectively rescuing the captured prince. Still, for three fairies that are supposed to be good, they certainly do a good job of botching things before getting them right.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Ozzy Osbourne: "Bark at the Moon"

Greek

After finishing watching 300 last night, and with still reading The Greek Myths by Robert Graves, I came to the conclusion that until now I had an innaccurate understanding of ancient Greece. I used to think of ancient Greece as a more or less unified nation, with power shifting from one city state to another throughout history. I think now, though, some research and reading may be in order. I'm currently revising my understanding, realizing that Greece wasn't so much a place as Greek was a culture shared by different people throughout what we now know as Greece, people of similar ethnic background and with similar religious and philosophical views. The aforementioned movie is probably not a good history lesson, nor is the distorted mythical interpretations of still older events presented in the Greek myths collected in the aforementioned book. Nonetheless, it does show that I have a lot to learn about the people that shaped civilization and perhaps formed one of the first bridges between Asian and European cultures.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Ray Charles: "Ring of Fire"