For those of you who know ME but don't know THIS yet:

You might like to know that I'm pregnant. With twins.

We saw them today on an 'echo' (ultrasound). They are now about 6.5 cm long, top of the head to the tip of the tail. They are complete in the sense that they have arms and legs and a head with eyes and a mouth and everything. They just need to grow a little lot more, for the next six months. As we watched them they were bouncing up and down inside me, stretching and turning and jumping with their little legs. They are expected to be born end of July. The official date is August 6 but twins are usually early. We'll see.

So... that's the news! I'm not calling or mailing everyone of my acquaintance to tell them the news because to be honest I'm still much too flabberghasted by it myself. I do hope you'll understand.

Also: I promise not all of my blog entries will be about kiddies and kiddie things. :)

Casablanca, and why I found it a fine film indeed

Yesterday I finally got around to watching that all-time classic film Casablanca. My guy told me I had to see it and after some pestering from him I did. I enjoyed it immensely. After the dark and grey, gritty things I had seen recently (Firefly, 9, Avatar…) the black and white images of Casablanca were a relief for the senses. Those were the days of film making!

Okay, I admit that after a while I wanted to slap Ilsa across the cheek and tell her to think for herself for a minute dammit! Okay, I admit that halfway through I wanted to throw some cold water over Humphrey’s face and tell him to get himself together man! But those are cultural differences. The past is, after all, another country.

In short: I loved the film. I loved how it presented its story. I loved how the characters were charming or convincing or downright funny. I loved the imagery of the film, and I loved its music. I loved how the film was set in its own time: usually in films about the war there is already a shadow of things to come. Not in this case because they didn’t know at the time how the war would develop.

Laszlo’s imprisonment in a concentration camp: it was presented as a long internment in a maximum security prison because nobody in Hollywood knew what went on in those camps at the time. Or what was going to happen. It’s an amazing blissful ignorance. Consequently Germans are only depicted as rude oafs and not as the vicious cruel men they would become in all Hollywood productions not much later.

Related to ‘the past is another country’: I must admit that I also loved seeing an onscreen romance without sex. Clothes stayed on. I am no prude but am I really the only one who gets fed up with characters immediately tearing each other’s clothes off because they happen to be male, female and approximately the same age? The peer pressure for anyone finding him or herself in an adventurous situation must be killing. "Oh look, we have a few minutes to spare before the alien invasion / grand shoot-out / criminal heist of the century. Well there’s nothing to it but to have sex now, no matter how tired, injured, or hateful we are. Here goes!" Gah.

Avatar, and why I found it a very disturbing film

We went to see Avatar yesterday. It played on the big IMAX screen in 3D and it seemed like just my kind of film. It wasn’t. I wanted to leave the theatre half way through and felt so relieved when I finally stepped out into the chilly air of the Amsterdam winter 2010. To me the film was very disturbing in many ways, some of which I am able to express more or less, and some are less manageable by words. And even with those I can address verbally, I struggle to get it right.

The thought that went through my head mostly during the film was what a friend of mine had posted on her Facebook when she went to see it. She said she had read a review that said: “Why do white people keep making these films?” I can see where the reviewer got it from.

Now despite the fact that Avatar is sci-fi/fantasy, I still felt the director wanted to make some real parallels to actual humanity. And that is where I start to itch. We had humans in their starring role was Greedy Westerners (because they represent humanity in most films), and we had Na’vi in a rendition of Exotica with sure signs of African features and cultural aspects, a Balinese kecak (a.k.a. ‘monkey dance’) set-up (but with harmonic singing), and some Asian influences as well.

The whole storyline, such as it was, was immensely black and white, with the blue people as the good guys who are so close to nature and in touch with their spiritual selves, while the human people were greedy aggressive bastards. Except for a few of course but they wanted to be like the blue people.

Ah! The blue people! Or Na’vi as they were called. With idealized physiques (so strong! so flexible! slim waists! big eyes!) and distinctly African facial features, they represent the perfect being. They also have a perfect community. And they connect, as a community, with the natural and spiritual world.

Somehow I cannot help thinking of that late nineteenth century notion of the ‘noble savage’. I remember an exhibition with pictures of native Americans from that age: all proud indians on proud stallions, both of them gazing off into the distance, so wholly in touch with… well, everything! How the photographer at the time had portrayed them was as icons. As images. Things. And as such, they were not acknowledged really as people. They were different, see?

This is probably what irked me most about this film: the notion of the noble savage coupled with the obvious parallels to the situation on earth. Other than that I really don’t like watching war films and I had not expected this to be one but violence was definitely presented as something wonderful. I also felt a deep annoyance about how the main character naturally became the leader of the Na’vi people, despite him having been with them for only three months, because hey! he was trained as a marine! Marines are widely known for their cultural sensitivity, right? Right. And researchers are geeks with little to no knowledge of the real world.

Top that off with that “but it is only a film!” can be countered with the notion that something similar to what happened on Pandora is actually a regular occurence in earth’s Amazonia, but without the flying dragons… Bad taste in mouth.

Oh look, I’m not the only one: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/willheaven/100020488/james-camerons-avatar-is-a-stylish-film-marred-by-its-racist-subtext/

The 3D was stunning.

South West USA: Las Vegas

Las Vegas. I don't like it. There are some things that are fun to see and do and I enjoy those. It is fun to see all the different casinos and their weirdness; standing in the Venetian in the 'San Marco Square' and thinking "what a nice day to have an ice cream outside on the terrace" and then doubling back on your own thoughts. Of course it's a nice day! You're inside the hotel, the 'sky' is a ceiling with really good lighting. The terraces are not outside... Outside in the Nevada desert means about 40 degrees Celsius. Not nice for icecreams because they liquify instantly.

Of course the thoughts quickly dissolve too when the comedia dell'arte opera troupe enters the square, singing Verdi classics.

The guy had the biggest win in the casino: $200. We only played the slot machines and tended to go for the fun ones: ones with lights and noises and freaky wheels that start turning when you get the right combination. My highest win was $89 in one go. But there is a Victoria's Secret in the casino so it didn't last.

The show KA by Cirque du Soleil was amazing. The hotel room was luxury. The food was okay. The sights were seen. The vacation, alas, came to an end as we flew back from Vegas. All the way home.

South West USA: Zion

Zion Canyon. There is something about it. The short version: I love being there. The long version includes notions of manageable beauty and size, tales of soul searching and coming home, feeling both tiny and strong, endless surprises and a general sense of being home away from home. The problem is that at a certain point even the long version does not suffice and it all comes down the ultra-short version: Zion.

The park Zion Canyon was founded early in the twentieth century. Before that the canyon had been a sacred place for the native peoples for centuries, until European settlers broke the spell and explored it, made it accessible for cattle and carts, and made orchards in it. The Virgin river, the one that carved out the canyon in the first place, is really the life blood of the canyon. It still moves around and keeps carving. The little town of Springdale, situated just outside the park’s limits, seems to have a healthy relationship with the park itself. It has a calm, small-scale feel to it. No big chain hotels, restaurants or stores in Springdale: too much growth, it knows, would mean destruction of the unique character and appeal of both town and park. And so despite its proximity to horrible Las Vegas, Springdale takes it easy. Many other parks in the US have not been so fortunate.

My parents had often heard about Zion from me and they were naturally curious about the place. I think they loved it too. What my parents did not hear from me is the spiritual connection I have always felt with that place, from the first time I was there which is about twelve years ago. It was a lot like coming home, as I said above, but back then to a landscape I had never experienced before. I was a stranger in a strange land up to the point where I drove into Zion. The wonder of visiting a new place was still there but it was my place. That feeling never left over the years. (More about Zion and me in a later entry, I promise.)

We did two hiking trails the first day: Emerald pools (relatively easy) and Angel’s Landing. The latter is also described as the ‘grandfather of all trails’.

For those of you unfamiliar with it: Angel’s Landing consists of a very steep climb with long switchbacks, a short and relatively easy stroll into a shady and luscious (and cool!) narrow side canyon, some (very) short switchbacks to a resting place, and finally a steep and risky (okay: scary) climb along a narrow rocky ridgeback to the very top of a high outcrop in the middle of Zion Canyon. The whole thing is about 5 miles, it is marked down for about four hours. That should tell you something. We’ve ‘done’ Angel’s Landing several times now, usually in less than four hours, but it never ceases to amaze. This time my parents joined us until the resting point just below the climb. We took it easy and they met the (substantial) challenge admirably. On the way down we met a desert tarantula. Talk about facing one’s fears…

The beers and burgers at Oscar’s that night tasted particularly good.

South West USA: From Capitol to Bryce

As promised: a little entry about our day between Torrey and Zion Canyon which held two (!) National Parks in itself namely Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon. Both of them still in red rock country, and both of them very beautiful in their own way.

Capitol Reef is named ‘reef’ because it is really a long fold in the landscape, like a ridge or reef. (At least, I think that’s why.) Before we have always driven through the topmost point of it, from Hanksville to Torrey, on our way from here to there. We have good memories from Torrey so it is a logical place for us to stop.

The good memories from Torrey? Okay: the first time we were there we arrived late in the evening and everything was really dark. It was me, my guy, his brother, and a friend. The guy’s brother and me went into the lobby to find out if they had a room for us. There was a man before us, discussing rooms with the lady behind the counter. He travelled with his family with two kids or so. He looked very tired. The lady explained to him that she had rooms downstairs or up on the second floor where he would have a better view. The man sighed, thought for a bit (probably about his family, the suitcases, etc.) and said Ah, screw the view! I’ll take downstairs! “Screw the view” became a bit of a household expression after that. At the lobby (where we got the upstairs rooms, obviously) we found out that we had travelled into ‘mountain time’ meaning we had only 30 minutes left to have dinner in the restaurant across the street. Two women were playing country music as we ate our steaks. The following morning the to-be-screwed view presented itself to us: it was absolutely stunning!

Back to 2009. Since the cross-country drive the previous day had been cut short due to the weather (see earlier entry) we drove into the north side of the park and did the scenic drive. Quite a beautiful bit there, along the river. Theoretically it would have been possible to continue down the small, unpaved road to the south, on towards the highway, but we were cut short by a small stream. The stream itself we could have tackled, but not the steep bank on the other side of it. The Aspen was not a proper 4-wheel-drive, you see? Having little desire of tearing the underside of our car out, we doubled back.

Did you know that large portions of the American landscape are preserved just for the silence and tranquility of the place. Quiet as a natural resource. I know they're trying to do it in the Netherlands, but it just. isn't. the same. ("I can see Germany from my house!!!")

Bryce Canyon is on the way between Capitol Reef and Zion Canyon. It is very different from either of those though, in fact very different from most parks. The main attraction is the ‘amphitheatre’, a grand bowl of weird rocks and spires called ‘hoodoos’. Everything is a pinkish kind of orange. It is a very strange landscape and you have to see it to believe it. Which is why we also hiked into the canyon (and out again obviously) to be in the middle of it. My mom, not a good climber, huffed and puffed a bit on the way but overall she did really well, that was encouraging for hikes in Zion Canyon.

As we drove into the eastern part of Zion Canyon at the end of the afternoon we spotted some bighorn sheep. We had never seen those in the wild before. It was a beautiful sight. The rams (two) kept a watchful eye over the flock and we had plenty of time to admire their curved horns. Watch a short video of the sheep (actually they’re goats, technically speaking…) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcI8BIpQzoY.

South West USA: Colorado encounter

(Durango)

My father had spotted a good hat and decided to buy it. We went into the ‘sports shop’ which held all kinds of gear for outdoors activities: clothing and flashlights, but also knives and fishing rods. A row of hunting rifles and guns was displayed just behind the long counter.
The man behind the counter was in a good mood. He explained to everyone who passed by that it was wonderful how Talk Like a Pirate Day fell on the same day as Jewish new year, and greeted everyone with ARRRR! Oy!

When it was my turn I told him Arrrr! and said “Hold on sir, I have something to show you” before conjuring up the Dread Pirate Gavroche from my bag.

He was delighted. Would it be alright if I took a picture of the pirate in front of the rifles? It would be fine. In fact, the man would pose with the pirate himself! He did, once in front of the rack and once while holding the rifle with the pirate on top.

He told my parents about the gun laws in the United States and Colorado in particular. (Colorado is an ‘open gun’ state which means that you don’t need a permit as long as you carry the weapon visibly for everyone. Colorado is the state with the highest ‘concealed weapon’ permit percentage of the US.)

He had obviously told Europeans before because he also told us about the differences and history between the continents. You see, he said, the gun policies in Europe are different because historically the royalty wanted to keep firearms for themselves. The US, he explained, never had this kind of history. In fact, the US was a nation built on guns. Therefore, gun control was silly.
As he positioned the Dread Pirate on top of the rifle and posed proudly, I said to him: “Only in America!” He agreed.

(Stay updated on the Pirate's adventures through his very own blog on http://dreadpirategavroche.blogspot.com)