The bright side of life

Yesterday evening we were too tired to cook. Turns out that settling into a new job is quite exhausting! I am enjoying it but I am tired. Mr E had to deal with an unexpected challenge at work so didn’t feel like cooking either. So, we picked up some takeaway and the cats were thankful as well…

What is it with cats and paper bags or boxes?

Today I work from home again in my old job (I do that on Tuesdays and Fridays until the end of March) and it’s a good thing too as storm Eunice is heading our way this afternoon. It’s apparently going to be so bad that all trains will stop running after 2 pm and in the city I work in all public transport has already been suspended since 10 am, which means that all the buildings at “my” university are also closed for the day. I am all settled in at my permanent spot at our dining table…

The flowers surrounding me are from my work earlier this week and from Mr E’s work last week (he parked his flowers here after changing the water yesterday).

I don’t have that much work to do today, which feels good. During my meeting with my old boss this morning we also agreed to cancel these weekly meetings we have and just meet when needed (which won’t be much!). So, all that and the weekend almost being here and sitting in a sea of flowers makes me feel quite happy and cosy. Yes, there are also down sides to the day with mini-me having Covid (so far it all remains mild with her, just a little cold and she feels bored) and Junior needing to travel to his hotel for work in a little while before the storm really kicks in. Still, it feels quite easy for me today to look at the bright side of life and maybe I can also spread the joy a little with this song from my all time fave comedy film, Monty Python’s The Life of Brian.

I wish you all a good weekend!

Just one more thing! Or two..

I know I said I would stop talking politics, but then I came across this video just now (apparently already made in April) and it is the most brilliant thing ever! It spoofs one of my favourite Monty Python sketches from The Life if Brian called “What have the Romans ever done for us?” In fact, we love that sketch so much, I got my husband a T-shirt of it last spring…

The video stars Patrick Stewart, whom I also love. It’s called “What has the European Convention on Human Rights ever done for us?” and it’s truly brilliant!

Maybe if the Remain campagne had focussed more on what Europe does actually achieve, on the positive things being in the EU brings, the outcome of this referendum could have been different? Who knows… but videos like this going viral may have helped.

Two more reactions I’d like to add…

A blog called “Viceandvirtueblog” posted what I thought was a very good reaction on the Brexit vote. The author challenges the claim that this vote is a ‘class war’ or that it is ‘a victory for the common man against the establishment’. She argues that the outcome of the referendum was based on a campaign of fear and hatred that went largely unchallenged and on people believing the lies they were served. I won’t paraphrase all she has to say. If you’re interested, take a look at her piece “A cry against anti-intellectualism”.

And finally, as a David Bowie fan, this tweet from the actor Paul Bettany struck a chord with me. 🙂

In January I dismissed my mate's theory that David Bowie was the glue holding the universe together but I don't know man… I don't know…

— Paul Bettany (@Paul_Bettany) June 24, 2016

Ok, done with political blogging for now… let’s see how long I can last…

“Absolutely no cause for alarm”

Something about this whole Brexit campagne made me think of this brilliantly funny John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Michael Palin (3 members of the Monty Python team) sketch…

I want to snap out of the glum and Monty Python is always a good idea…

Right, that’s it. I need to stop relating everything to Brexit. This blog is all over the place, but even so, it isn’t meant to be too political. For my own sanity (and the sanity of those reading) I  will try to let go for a bit and just hope for the best! My mind needs a rest…

30 Day Movie Challenge – Day 18

Day 18 – Your favourite comedy

Last year I attempted a list of my top 10 favourite Christmas movies and the number 1 on that list also happens to be my favourite comedy ever! It is 1979’s The Life of Brian, made by Monty Python. Here’s the trailer although for me it doesn’t quite do the movie justice:

This movie is still seen as sacrilegious by some, but it really shouldn’t be. It never makes fun of Jesus himself; it’s about Brian who lives a life parallel to Jesus and is mistaken for a messiah. Brian unwillingly becomes the object of adoration and tries to escape from it. It is that and the poking fun at history and the Romans that provides the comedy.

The Life of Brian has so very many classic funny scenes that I won’t start listing them here (I already listed some in my Christmas movies post mentioned above); you’ll just have to watch this for yourself and see! And best to watch it in English as well, as half the humour dissipates in another language.

Even after watching it often it still has me in stitches every time!  I spent my childhood in Israel which is a hotbed of religion and you are confronted with history at every turn. I grew up with bible stories and my dad was a very critical theologian so there were discussions in our house about the “historical Jesus” and how he came to be the center of a world religion (I found reading Zealot : The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan absolutely fascinating in that respect). This movie and the issues it pokes fun at just fits with the environment I was brought up in and I think that’s why it clicks with me so!

(30 Day Movie Challenge – the full list of questions)

Cheering up on a rainy day

This is what I like to watch on a rainy day like today:

In the past (albeit long ago) I have even re-enacted this on occasion, outside on the streets! It really does make rainy days less somber. The movie “Singin’ in the Rain” is full of great numbers, like “Make ’em Laugh” and “Good morning” (that I still regularly sing to myself when I have a cheerful morning)

And then Gene Kelly makes me think of Fred Astaire and the awesome stuff he did in film dancing, like this one on roller skates!

And then I get nostalgic for old movies and old songs in movies, and I think of this:

Oh, how I love Audrey Hepburn! And Audrey Hepburn makes me think of Ingrid Bergman, my other favourite actress from long ago:

Casablanca is still a masterful movie… (and has another classic music scene where the people in the café drown out the Nazis’ singing with The Marseillaise).

Of course, when thinking of music in films, “The Sound of Music” pops up in my head as well. Quite some kitsch in there, but I can’t help myself, I love the film (I even went to a Sound of Music sing-a-long once, and boy, was that fun!). So, here’s “Edelweiss” (oh, and I adore the Baroness’s sarcastic comment just before Captain von Trapp starts singing):

Another one I like, although not so old (my kids would disagree, this is from before my eldest was born) is something Heath Ledger did in “10 Things I Hate About You” that makes me grin every time:

Another modern one that just makes me laugh from the movie “Enchanted”:

And of course, Monty Python makes me happy. I could link to “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from their absolute masterpiece film “The Life of Brian”, but I’ll choose the Galaxy Song instead (from “The Meaning of Life”), and then in the version as sung by Stephen Hawking!

And that is how you make a grey rainy day all happy and cheerful! 🙂