French

Miss. Short Fuse is going to teach me french by bi-weekly lessons. Joy....

To Tell you the truth, I always like learning new languages and it would help me a lot if I learnt french in particular as I'd be able to read a lot more manga that is not translated into English.

I'll put up regular posts describing the progress. :D

La Vie En Rose

I watched La Vie En Rose on Saturday night, in a nutshell it is a disturbing, insightful, brilliant piece of film.

It centered around the life story of the illustrious Edith Piaf, Piaf was the name she adopted at the beginning of her career, her manager commented she was like a bird and so she took up the name 'Piaf' meaning swallow.

Aside from her glitzy success, her earlier life was shrouded in dark neglect, brothels and drugs. Her mother paid her little attention, her father used to work at a circus, he rescued little Edith from her mother's neglect, but I was shocked to find he left her with his mother who ran a brothel... I hope you can understand me when I say that a brothel is no place for a child to grow up in... at all. She nearly lost her sight from keratitis, after she had recovered and some time elapsed, her father took her with her to the circus (a wise move in my opinion) but the working women had grown a deep attachment to the child, possibly due to her innocence and untainted purity, and the leave of Edith was strongly opposed, resulting in a distressing farewell sene. It was at the brothel that Edith was introduced to the act of praying to St. Theresa whom the ladies would visit when seeking solace. Edith's belief of St. Teresa grew up with her in adulthood.

A few years later Edith's father fell out with the owner of the circus and chose to move his act as a solo on the streets of Paris... one word to give you a clue of what he did: Joint Hypermobility (okay, two words). It was then that Edith was suddenly put on the spot at the age of 9 to do something by her father, or the crowd would disappear. She sang, and that's where it started.

Growing up she continued to sing on the street and local clubs (hence not being needed as a working girl), her talent was discovered by a talent agent and she got to taste her term of stardom, until one of her acquaintances died of a drug overdose, that was when she believed herself finished as her own involvement in drug abuse was becoming more aware by the public.

She was also quite the drinker.

She eventually came back when she got an opportunity to sing at a vast music hall, which reinstated her position of excellent singer, as the years went by she was able to expand her career in New York, where she met Marcelle, a famous french boxer, married of course with three children. They fell in love..... yeah whatever, it's still wrong.

Edith had a rather nervous disposition to begin with, but at the death of Marcelle in a plane crash, she wallowed her pain in regular daily injections of what I assume to be cocaine. Five years later she was married to a man I doubt she loved, living in the US and heavily dependent on the psychoactive stimulants. She entered rehab. where she was asked to sing the fame Non, Je ne Regrette Rien, she sang when she got better. but not too much later she was diagnosed with jaundice due to Liver Disease, a result of her unapologetic drinking, from her youth to her stardom. She died as a result.

It was at this point in the film that I felt no sympathy for this domineering, dictating egotistical woman at all. She was a remarkable singer, a gift god gave her that brought her from the slums of Paris to the safety of New York. But she was rude, a drunk, drugged, uneducated and shockingly of all... a neglectful mother, leaving her two year old daughter to die of meningitis when she was still a cabaret singer. She inherited her singing gifts from her own neglectful mother but paid no remark of gratitude or respect to her.

She drank herself to her death and I have to say, she had it coming. By the end of the film I felt no envy, jealousy or admiration towards her. She had a retched life, she obviously could not help the unfortunate start in life, but God gave her the most remarkable gifts in life and she used the benefits reaped on booze. Despite the fame and fortune she died incapacitated, immobile and dreadfully weak, a result of her own infliction and mental dependencies.

Even though the film was not focused on faith or religion, I saw God bestowing gifts on a little girl in poverty, a dramatic turn of a life, the removal from the dark to sparkling lights. But Edith Piaf remained a wretched. To me it widened my eyes on how lucky my life started out and remained, how ungrateful I am to those around me and the comforts I keep shrouded around me.

It was definitely an eye opener.

I feel...

I have a pretty important week this week, I'm pretty nervous.

I've been under quite a few different emotions for some days now. Irritation, anger, sadness, excitement even a sensation of well being.

I am irritated because I feel walked upon, a punch back, the push over.

I am angry because I know all these things and don't do anything about it. And when I do snap, I feel ashamed for upsetting the other person.

I am sad, but sometimes happy. It's strange, I can't really explain it... like feeling hot and cold at the same time.

I am excited because I will be giving an important presentation all about Manga! And I will be going on a much needed holiday next month.

I feel well because I've discovered a vast amount of beautiful land that is literally 30 feet away from my doorstep, walking through it with miss short fuse for 2 hours was wonderful and exciting. Like being a small child and being brave enough to stray from your parents far enough to start exploring.

Last night, more than anything, I was physically fatigued by my family, I'm too old to endure their selfishness, accusations and battles. I just wanted to walk away, as cowardly as that may sound, it probably would have been the best thing for all of us. I'm tired of playing the peacemaker and getting nothing for it.

My trip to the Market

My father took me to a Market today. I think something like this should have been done about 15 years ago, but it was done today and I finally know what a maket is like.

We waited untill the very end of the market day when the fruit would be sold at a very cheap price. It was a little manic to say the least, hands were in air raising money, trying to get the attention of the seller. I did it once, and I felt a very compelling feeling to make sure I got that bag of grapes, a bit like knowing this is the last possible chance to get what you really want. It was indeed, a money making feeling.

In the end I and my dad debated a lot about how much the fruit bought was compared to a normal trip at sainsbury's. We ended up with one water melon, a box of very ripe mangoes (yum yum!) and 4 boxes of white seedless grapes. We intended to buy working gloves for my dad so the wood chips wouldn't give him any splinters, however, we were too late and the gloves were gone! Next week it will have to be then.

We then tried to find a pound shop on a high street near my home, no gloves there either, but the gloves were no where to be found. We made our way back to the car to go home.

But we got stuck in a narrow road with cars behind us and a car in front of us, facing us. It was a big car, with four young men, polish by the sounds of their loud swearing. They shouted orders to my dad while he remained quiet trying to think of a solution, the woman behind the big polish boys was also shouting out orders. Dad tried giving them hand signals to stay calm, but the boys considered dad a light weight- Big mistake.

When he was trying to reverse the stupid people in front of us was not making things easier, shouting orders.

'WAIT!!! Wait!' shouted my dad like a billowing thunder heard after lightning. I'll never forget the look on those boys' faces, just pure shock and fear. My dad can have a pretty scary face when he's angry, I know all about it, but I guess I'm immune considering I technically have half of that scary face. I've never been more proud of my dad for kicking the ego out of those boys.
Dad shocked those kids into silence and the drivers of the cars behind them. Eventually we managed to get out, but heard calls along the lines of 'ya pakistani!' which made me and my dad crack up laughing because the next time they come across an angry arab, they won't go unharmed.

Manga of the Month - May

I'm late doing this... sorry. But i do have a brilliant Manga lined up for this post. It was drawn by the ex-doctor Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astro boy, Black Jack and Pheonix. It was published 40 years ago in 1970 and is considered one of the best medical thrillers made.

It's name is 'Ode to Kirihito' and centres around a conspiracy against a doctor called Kirihito Osanai (western naming) organised by his supervisor and leading professor at a reputous University Hospital. Due to be engaged, Kirihito is sent away to a distant village called 'Doggodale' in order to contract a rare disease named 'Monmow'.

Monmow disease is a cross between Ricket's Disease (bone deformation) and Paget's Disease (facial reconstruction) but later discovered to be a disorder of the pituitary gland (involved in many hormonal functions), the end result is the appearence of a dog, with altered limbs and extensive hair growth, However, intelligence and mental abilities remains fully intact. Despite being a fiction disorder, Monmow disease holds many traits that patients with disabling disease suffer, such as alienation, the feeling of impotence and social inferiority.

The story follows Kirihito's journey to discover the root cause of Monmow Disease, to come to terms with his illness and to avenge the rape and death of his wife. He meets many people, and many towns, where he struggles to gain human identity through his practice as a doctor.

Ode to Kirihito is a remarkable tale of Medical Politics, the medical heirarchy of Japanese healthcare, racism against non-whites (and it's contribution to medical malpractice), Christianity, the choking power of disease, human identity, inteligence vs appearance, displayed humiliation, conspiracy in medical research and Mental illness.

The drawing style is branch off from what Tezuka usually does, but it is suitable and powerfully used in portraying Kirihito's story. A definite must read, and a well earned 9/10 Dessa rating.