Every now and then I fall apart

Why do chicks cry so much?

It’s something I don’t quite understand fully. Sure, women are more in touch with their emotions, and it is our ‘feminine’ side that – allegedly – causes us to cry. Giving over to emotion is no picnic in the park, as most of us know, and the vulnerability of crying (not in the case where you are crying due to a surplus of humour-induced laughter) can be somewhat embarrassing and even degrading at times.

Men are lucky. Most of them only cry at funerals, or when something has really, really touched them deeply. I’m not saying all men cry at funerals, of course, yet it is difficult not to shed a tear when a good friend or loved one/ close relative passes away. Some men cry on their wedding day upon seeing their beautiful bride. Others cry tears of joy when a child is born, or tears of happiness after a successful operation and recovery. Note, thus, how men mostly only cry when it is deemed ‘appropriate’ – when it comes to those people in their lives who are closest to and mean the most to them.

Women, on the other hand, can cry at the slightest thing. I cry fairly easily, so if a novel or film ‘gets’ to me, don’t be surprised if I shed many a silent tear. But seriously: I can cry at almost anything. I even cried the first time I watched the film 300 (!!)… and I sobbed quite a bit when Ray the firefly dies in THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG. That’s how big a ‘sissy’ I am.

Last night was another case in point.

I haven’t been feeling well lately. No specific reason, I suppose, just a general kind of ‘off’-ness. Of course, one could argue that I still feel a bit messed-up, relieved, hurt (i.e. in physical pain) and many other emotions after the laparoscopy. Not being able to find a job for 7 months already, as well as feeling unsure about in which direction my life is heading, doesn’t help how I am feeling, either. As such, while I was sitting in front of my laptop last night, I made a huge mistake: I decided to listen to Westlife’s latest CD. Oh goodness… how the tears came flooding then…

I just couldn’t help myself. After a while Smudgy actually wanted to lie down on my lap (a rarity, I assure you), and the therapeutic stroking of my cat helped me feel better, but also had me crying more. No reason – merely stupid female sensibility. Ooh, I’m so sensitive, I’m so emotional, I’m listening to sad music and I just cannot stop myself… Wow, are all women like this?! I ended up going through all the Westlife albums I have on my laptop – yes, I have all of them – and listened to all their ‘classic’ sad songs: MISS YOU NIGTS, TONIGHT, WHEN A WOMAN LOVES A MAN, UNBREAKABLE, ANGEL… and their entire Love Album. THE ROSE always causes a weepy, teary-eyed state to overtake me. Yes, I know it’s originally sung by Bette Midler, but for some inexplicable reason, it’s the Westlife version that gets me all choked up.

Theirs, or my younger sister singing it. Seriously.

My younger sister once performed at a talent evening while she was still in high school (either last year or the year before that, I’m not sure), and decided to sing THE ROSE. I was sitting up on the balcony with my mum and dad, feeling disgusted and appalled by the students’ behaviour, waiting for it all to be over – my dad was videotaping it – when my sister started to sing. And just like that, tears in my eyes.

Another reason ‘why’ women cry, is because they are hormonal… which means, from a biased (often male) point of view, we cry because we’re more fragile and irritable at a certain time of the month. PMS? Are you serious?! Just because I do have my period, or you believe me to, doesn’t mean that I am definitely, for sure, most certainly going to cry more and due to the slightest thing… *roll eyes*

Yet one thing I cannot deny makes many of us, both men and women, feel sad and as a result causes tears is death. Especially when it is unexpected and sudden. Shakespeare wrote, “Death, where is thy sting?” And now I answer: found in the hearts of those left behind.

It is with great sadness that I tell my readers that my older sister’s father-in-law died of a heart attack yesterday morning. So much confusion is left in the wake of death-come-suddenly, and one can only hope that the love and support of others can help to ease the mourning, grief, and seemingly slow and painful passage of time that the family left behind now faces.

Love and cherish those close to you - you never know when they might be gone forever...

Where’s my team spirit?

I must be one of the few South Africans who don’t get it, because all around me, I see people completely amped for tomorrow’s Super14 Rugby final, and becoming absolutely stoked for the FIFA (soccer) World Cup starting on the 11^th of June. Is there something wrong with me?

I’ve never been much of a sports lover. In primary school, I played a bit of tennis and netball, but that didn’t last very long. I have watched a few rugby games, although I’ll openly admit that I don’t really enjoy the sport. There’s nothing wrong with loving the game and having a good time while watching it, yet it’s the diehard super devoted don’t-you-mess-with-my-team fans that truly scare and confuse me. Banner waving, beer guzzling, verbal disputes about whose team is better splattered like sacrificial blood all over Facebook… it’s just bizarre. I don’t care if you’re a Blue Bull or a Stormer, and I don’t particularly care if you think the other teams are lame and that your team are quite godlike to you – almost as mythical, powerful and revered as the many great Greek deities (i.e. gods and goddesses) of old – just don’t force me to be a part of it. I’d rather read a book. Or take a bath. Or clean the entire apartment from top to bottom. That’s how interesting I find rugby.

Percy Montgomery was (is?) a great player, though. And not because everybody says girls just think he’s hot. I carry no knowledge of this supposed ‘hotness’, and hotness in a guy has never been appealing to me. Of course, looks are important to a certain extent, but you won’t find me drooling over well-muscled and toned, half-naked, teeny-tiny underwear or Speedo clad men in calendars or select e-mails one’s gal pals distribute. I’m just not into it.

Cricket I can still watch, if the need ever arises. I used to love watching one-day cricket matches with my dad when I was younger, and I believe that back then, cricket was worth watching. Nowadays, it’s simply… I don’t know… different. I suppose that sounds pretty lame, huh? I don’t know how else to put it. Sure, changes occur as time elapses, and there are certain economics that apply to and develop with a sport, and that’s cool. Yet cricket has lost the ‘charm’ it once held for me when I was thirteen years old. Ten years have passed, after all. Blame my love of reading and studying for causing my disinterest in the wacko world of sports. Or blame my mild-child mentality, if you will. It always helps to have that as a fallback excuse (for ‘excuse’, read/ understand ‘scapegoat’).

I also preferred watching soccer when I was younger – especially Portugal, which constituted my favourite team during those years of innocent youth. I think I actually watched quite a bit of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and while I don’t recall watching any other of the World Cup games prior to that year’s tournament, I found it rather annoying how some teams would fake their injuries and just roll around clutching their knees in pain. That’s not tactic, boys, that’s only immature whining… like a little kid throwing a tantrum, or a diva wanting to get her way. It was then that I decided not to watch soccer anymore.

This epic year for South Africa – which seems epic to everybody except me – rings in the 19^th FIFA World Cup tournament. The first game was played in 1930, and since the beginning, three teams have proven to be the best of the best, giving their records: Brazil, Italy, and (West) Germany. Brazil have won five times, been the runners-up twice, gained third place twice, and came in fourth place once. That means that out of the thus far eighteen tournaments played, Brazil have been amongst the top four competitors ten times!! No wonder a lot of people are putting their money (literally and figuratively) on Brazil to come out on top this year. Italy has four wins, two runners-up positions, one third place and one fourth place standing, placing them under the top four competitors eight times. Germany has been one of the top four competitors eleven times (yes, you read correctly) – they have won three times, been runners-up four times, placed third three times, and gained fourth place once. Even though I’m not really into soccer, I would love to see two of these top three countries come head-to-head during the finals.

With all this commotion and excitement going on, I am sincerely worried about the state of my team spirit-ness (hey, you get happiness and sadness, so I figured I’d add a ‘ness’ on the back for fun – after all, the question isn’t why, but rather ‘why not?’) Will I become more eager once the games begin, or will my indifferent spirits be raised to greater heights once the semi-finals begin? Or… worst-case scenario… will I plainly continue to fill in my position as Little Miss Apathy up until the very end? I hope not.

Otherwise it’s going to be a very l-o-o-o-n-g World Cup month ahead…

Do films have the same IT factor as their novel counterparts?

Have you ever read a great book or story, then found the film version to be utterly lacking? It happens all too often, although there are cases where the film is also great, or for some people even better than the book/ story… since they never read or even knew that there was a book/ story, of course.

I’ve read most of Stephen King’s work, so it goes without saying that I watch the films with a critical-yet-open eye and mind – every director has a different take to a tale, and cuts and/or changes become necessary in order to fill the film into the allotted amount of time for the project. Now, not all films become theatrical releases. Some of them are made for television, whereas others fall into the direct-to-video category.

As far as the theatrical releases go, I’d say that – as a devoted King reader – I am pretty pleased with the results. I have seen: CARRIE; THE SHINING; CHRISTINE; STAND BY ME; PET SEMATARY; MISERY; IT; SLEEPWALKERS; THE DARK HALF; THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION; THINNER; APT PUPIL; THE GREEN MILE; DREAMCATCHER; SECRET WINDOW; 1408; THE MIST; and, most recently, DOLAN’S CADILLAC. (Come on, who hasn’t seen THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION or THE GREEN MILE? You know how great they are!!)

I actually watched SECRET WINDOW before reading the novella, and even though the endings between the two differ, I think both work pretty well for their target groups. 1408, the film, differs greatly from the short story, yet all-in-all I find it to be an enriching experience. John Cusack is a phenomenal actor, and he portrays his role as Mike Enslin with passion and conviction, which is no less than I would expect from Mr Cusack. Throw in Samuel L. Jackson as Mr Olin, and you’ve got a done deal. The only thing that bothered me when I watched the film the third time (besides the fact that the paintings aren’t the same as in the short story, but no biggie) is that it differed from the ending I had viewed previously! I went to see the movie twice on the in the cinema, so there of course the ending was the same, as they wouldn’t screen two different endings. Yet when I watched the DVD my younger sister brought home one day, the disc’s ending differed from the on-screen one, and I must admit that I was most ‘disgusted’, if I may put it that way. I’ve you’ve seen the film, and you are a Stephen King devotee like myself, I think you’ll know which ending I prefer.

One film that truly failed to grasp my attention, I’ll admit, is the 2009 release of DOLAN’S CADILLAC. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but what I watched is definitely not what I had envisioned from reading the short story. I just couldn’t get a ‘feel’ for the film, and it actually quite annoyed me… I’ll have to watch it again before making any further remarks, so let’s just continue, shall we?

The made-for-television films and series I have seen are: THE TOMMYKNOCKERS; THE NIGHT FLIER; ROSE RED; THE DIARY OF ELLEN RIMBAUER; ‘SALEM’S LOT; DESPERATION; and NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES. THE NIGHT FLIER was all right, although the female reporter never appeared in the story. I liked ‘SALEM’S LOT very much, as well as NIGHTMARES AND DREAMSCAPES. DESPERATION was so-so, my mind wandered at times, and I kept feeling that the novel was by far superior to its film adaptation.

ROSE RED, a television series, used to be the highlight of my week at the time it aired here while I was in high school. Those evenings were some of the best spent in my life, and since then I have been trying to get my hands on a copy in order to re-watch it. I rented it from the video store once, yet their copy was damaged. I almost forgot about it, having pushed it further back in my mind in order to study and what-not, but now I am on a raging quest to find it – and once I do, I’ll be having a ROSE RED marathon. Who needs sleep anyway?!

And yes, I actually do have a candidate to fulfil my ‘utterly lacking’ criteria as mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog entry. I am referring, of course, to THE TOMMYKNOCKERS. After wasting about 3 hours (181 minutes/ 10 860 seconds) of my life, I was totally put-off reading the book again. I cannot ever recall whether or not I made it to the halfway point in the novel, though I highly doubt it. The whole film was about build up, as if you had to grin and bear through every gruelling minute and agonizing second of the film, hoping that some sort of climax or ‘wow’-factor would make an appearance to save the day (and by ‘day’ I naturally mean the film)… yet it never happened.

It never happened. *Cue hysterical laughter*

On a different note, I am pleased to inform my readers that FROM A BUICK 8, CELL, and BAG OF BONES are in development. BLACK HOUSE, THE DARK TOWER, and THE LONG WALK will also be turned into silver screen wonders (and I use wonders, of course, quite optimistically). Oh, and apparently remakes of PET SEMATARY and IT are also going to be made. The only question is, will they ever find a suitable candidate to fill in the horrible clown-shoes of Tim Curry as Pennywise…? *shiver*