The Lion King

Last night (Wednesday), Karen took me to see "The Lion King" musical at the Paramount. She loves going to see musicals and this is the second one we've seen together now. It was a great show and I loved it! My favorite part was the character of the adult Simba singing about how he's got to grow up. He's all alone on stage, no special sets or anything. Also, I loved the effects of how they brought back the spirit of Mufasa. Now, "The Lion King" is one of my favorite Disney movies of all time and I'd heard that this show was spectacular. But, even I was surprised at how well it translated to the stage. I loved how the 'animals' walked down the aisles at the beginning of the show. It definitely startled some people! Karen loved it, too. She had seen it before in London and was curious about how it would be on the Paramount's stage. The two children who played the young Simba and Nala were very good and it looked like they were enjoying themselves in the roles. All the actors were good and the songs were well done.


Now, the only thing I want to know is why the Paramount allows people to be sitted DURING the show? I figure 97% of the people were able to make it to the theatre in time. Why should we have to suffer to allow the other 3% who don't know how to tell time? About 10 minutes into the performance, the ushers showed four people to their seats in the row in front of us. That meant that during a dramatic scene, the people in front of us had to stand up to allow them to move to the seats. That blocked our view during the scene, plus those people had to take off their coats and get into their seats. Those people shouldn't be allowed to their seats until intermission. If they want to throw a hissy-fit about not being able to see the show, I don't care. If people weren't allowed to go to their seat during the performance, maybe they'd learn to get there in time. Karen tells me that in Singapore, people are constantly late for parties and social gatherings, but they are never late for shows because they know that they will not be seated until intermission.

Oh well. It was a great night and I can't wait to see another musical!

A Witness to Life

As we get closer to our church wedding in Singapore this April, I've been thinking about more than just the flowers, the guests, the songs and the food.

I happened along a quote from the movie "Shall We Dance?" (2004). This is the scene where Susan Sarandon's character, Beverly Clark, talks about why people get married.



"We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet ... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things ... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."

Watch the clip "A Witness" here.

I think all of us have this need for our lives to be noticed. For our lives to be witnessed. In my opinion, being married is just one of the many ways to fill this need. Marriage, however, means having a witness to life for life. To have a good marriage, it is important to marry the right partner. It is equally as important to be the right partner.

A week before her wedding, Tawnya Schilt (a writer for the Marshfield News Herald) wrote:

"The quote [from Shall We Dance?] mentions nothing of ownership or power over someone else. It infers a sharing, a beneficial symbiosis between two people who have found each other and want to see how their journey will unfold together. Both equally independent, but with mutual dependence and reciprocal obligation."
Source: "Marriage means having a witness for life", October 21, 2007 (quoted from a movie review at Marriage.about.com)

This movie reminds us of the importance of communicating and not allowing a marriage to fall into a rut. The original Japanese version of this movie, "Shall We Dansu" (1996), in my opinion, is even more beautiful. Roger Ebert stated in the Chicago Sun Times that "I enjoyed the Japanese version so much I invited it to my Overlooked Film Festival a few years ago, but this (American) remake offers pleasures of its own."

American or Japanese, it's a great movie to enjoy alone, with friends or with your special someone. I want to watch one version or the other or both with Chad before (renewing) our vows in April.


This is the scene where Susan Sarandon's character, Beverly Clark, talks about why people get married.




This is another one of my favourite scenes in the movie.

Gone to the Movies

On Thursday morning, I woke up, got on the computer and went on to Roger Ebert's blog and read his latest piece. It was not the norm for me to be reading Ebert's journal but here I was, reading...

Ebert: I was watching Tony Scott on the Charlie Rose program, and he said, in connection with "The Reader," that he was getting tired of so many movies about the Holocaust. I didn't agree or disagree. What I thought was, "The Reader" isn't about the Holocaust. It's about not speaking when you know you should.

That really got me interested to read more. Like Ebert, I thought to myself, "This is something I'm guilty of". I continued reading Ebert's piece until I saw the words-"Spoilers will follow". You see, we were going to watch 'The Reader' that very afternoon. I must have paused just for a moment before reading on. It was such a thought-provoking piece!

Then Chad, Ebert's No. 1 fan and a loyal follower of his writing, woke up. I told him "Ebert has written a really great piece this morning but don't read it yet!"

If you have already watched, intend to watch or even plan to skip 'The Reader' altogether, go and read Roger Ebert's piece here. The insightful analysis of the movie really makes you think.

With 'The Reader', Chad and I had finally watched all the movies nominated for the Oscars 'Best Picture' award.

This is a definite FIRST for me. Never before have I managed to watch ALL the movies nominated for 'Best Picture' BEFORE the 'The Oscars' award ceremony.

Here they are-the nominees for Best Picture and my 2 cents on each of them.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Has a 'Forrest Gump' feel. Phenomenal cinematography. Great movie but I'm surprised by the 13 Oscar nominations especially since Clint Eastwood's 'Gran Torino' was completely overlooked.



Slumdog Millionaire
Here is where Chad's opinion and mine are at opposite poles. I thought the first half of the movie was the best part and Chad did not enjoy the movie until the second half. Go watch this!



Frost/Nixon
I liked the movie. Powerful perfomances but I'd be surprised if it won 'Best Picture'.



Milk
Sean Penn's performance is awe-inspiring. I liked the movie a lot.



The Reader
It's a wonderful movie,though I would not put my money on it for 'Best Picture'. I would like to invite you, once again, to watch the movie and then read Ebert's piece on it. Alternatively, you may want to read the piece first before you watch the movie. I was able to get so much more from this movie because of it. Reader comments are also well worth a read.

Have yourself some great days at the movies!

Dollars and Sense

I've been in U.S. for 5 months now and the most frequent question I'm asked by friends in Singapore must be "So how are you adjusting?". A quick trip to the grocery store today showed me that I still have a few things to get used to. At the checkout counter, it always seems to take me twice as long to identify the U.S. bills I need. Years of handling colour-coded Singapore notes has spoiled me.






Look at the colours of these notes. The monochromatic sameness of the U.S. bills definitely loses out in the aesthetic department!



U.S. Coins (L-R) : penny (1-cent), nickel (5-cents), dime (10-cents), quarter (25-cents), the rest seem to be limited in circulation

I'm not much better with the coins. When something costs US$5.30, for example, I would usually hand over $5.15.


If you look at the U.S. coins and compare them with the Singapore coins, you can see why I keep making this mistake. It's counter-intuitive to me for the dime(10 cents) to be physically smaller than the nickel(5 cents). The Singapore 10-cent coin and the nickel are almost identical in terms of size.

I have no problems with quarters(25 cents) though. They make so much sense (pun completely intended)! In fact, it would not surprise me if I find myself fumbling for that 25-cent coin when paying for something that costs, say $10.75, when I'm back visiting Singapore in April.