I wonder if anyone has ever done a study of human productivity cleanliness relative to the temperature of the natural environment. Personally, the number of dirty plates in the sink, amount of unwashed laundry etc is inversely proportionate to the maximum temperature of the day. Looks like I’ll have to live in a country where the average daytime temperature is about 23-25 degrees Celsius. It also can’t go above 30, cos then it’s just too hot to do anything.
So today hit 25 degrees Celsius, and I got so many things done: dishes, bathroom, laundry, general cleaning, household shopping (good knives, OMG, they rock; and a colander), watched Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and producer Lindsay Doran’s commentary, watched The Ice Storm, and oh ya, got back on that Fitness Ladder thingy – haven’t done it for weeks, but amazingly I was able to continue where I left off at Rung 12. Will have to start working harder, I can’t stop eating. And I managed to study a bit too. (Decided to try JLPT 1 again this July. Dear Universe, help me!~)
Red Cliff Part II basically set off the media junkie within, and I signed up with Tsutaya Discas for a 8 DVDs/month rental plan. The Ice Storm, been dying to see it since it’s so highly recommended by Carlene, but I still haven’t wrapped my head around it. Lee Ang keeps it so low-key, but his combination of the mundane and the dysfunctional was so disturbing for me, especially in that surreal and hauntingly beautiful setting. It is one of my greatest fears that one day I should feel so trapped in my own life choices that I’d be empty like them and try to fill the void like they did. I wish they had a director’s commentary on this DVD… I’ll have to find a copy of the book to read. The cast was distracting though – I had no impression who was in it other than Sigourney Weaver, so it was surprising to see Spiderman, then Frodo, and then CJ from The West Wing; I got caught up trying to remember Frodo’s real name (Elijah Wood, duh), and wondering where in the world did I see CJ before. I’ll probably watch it one more time before I send it back.
On a more upbeat note, I also saw Sense and Sensibility, which was something else altogether. I’ve been wanting to see it again since rediscovering Emma Thompson’s account of the shoot while unpacking my books last year. The commentaries on the DVD are pretty funny. Everyone kept pointing out the Period Sheep, and how they (the sheep) fainted, the farting horse and also how much they spent for Fake Digital Weather. And Lee Ang was obsessed with bonnets and was apparently brutal in his directing – e.g. to Emma Thompson: “Too old.” LOL. I love her Elinor Dashwood and how the people speak. Hugh Grant was funny as Edward but it felt a little like Four Weddings and a Funeral (Reprise); Alan Rickman was so dashing as Colonel Brandon tho~ and Hugh Laurie was so hilarious, imagine seeing House in period costume. Listening to their commentaries made me miss working as a part of a production team, but more than that, I’m relieved I don’t deal with these things anymore!
Now I feel like watching Pride and Prejudice again so that I can get all swoony over Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. ♥