Roofs, Boots, and the Digestible Future

I've decided to try being a little more active with my Twitter account. But I've decided I'll only twitter in iambic pentameter--the element of challenge is what I needed to sweeten the deal. Last night I emitted four tweets;

I have a bruised apple I am eating.
There'll be no booze to-night, only the fruit.
Please go tell your friends that I am tweeting.
Samus got an item; the high jump boot.

I haven't been playing Metroid, but I've been thinking about the high jump boot lately. With this rhyme scheme, I figure I'll have a Shakespearian sonnet for every twelve tweets.

Last night I watched Mary Poppins, which I hadn't seen since I was a kid. As often happens when I watch as an adult some movie I'd seen repeatedly as a child, it seemed less ominous and big, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I've grown so used to any movie I watch that's set in Victorian or Edwardian London being shot on location amongst London's many surviving or restored structures from those periods. So for me, Mary Poppins, shot in Burbank California, was sort of a fascinating novelty. The actors amidst sets and beautiful matte paintings creates an impressionistic London that exists only in this movie. Gloomy, sooty, but richly coloured--its deep dark and light contrasts set it apart from most other Technicolor musicals.





I was strongly reminded of the current financial crisis by what turns out to be the movie's central conflict--Mr. Banks' passion for the illusionary system of investments versus a child's desire to give tuppence to a homeless woman. Poppins' description of Banks as a man who can't see past his own nose contrasted with the more instinctual delight of children seeing talking penguins is sort of a fascinating war of magic--pouring one's love, energy, and time into a nebulous, possible future reward versus immediate, human affection for beauty and people.

I bought this 45th anniversary edition a couple weeks ago, but last night was the first chance I had to watch it. It's not blu-ray, but the resolution doesn't seem to be very much smaller than those hi-def videos I've accidentally downloaded now and again. As usual for Disney DVDs lately, it has an audio commentary not listed on the box. Commentaries are the only reason I buy DVDs anymore--wish Disney was hip to that. It was kind of a gamble buying this. Maybe you think the commentary wasn't mentioned because it's a guy who animated one of the turtles and the guy who bought paints? No, actually it's commentary by Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Karen Dotrice, who played Jane Banks, and songwriters Richard Sherman and Robert Sherman. You'd think you'd want to advertise this amongst the special features.

I watched the new Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles with dinner last night. Very disappointing after the two previous very good episodes. The dopiest moment was Sarah punchily implying to Cameron that future John had sent her back in time so he could be away from her. So Sarah goes out of character to say something that doesn't make any sense. Great.

I feel like I may need an extra dose of caffeine to-day--feeling a bit dim and I have a lot of drawing to do . . .