A little bit of lent

So after the excitement of Shrove Tuesday, Pancake day, Mardi Gras or, my personal favourite, Fat Tuesday, Wednesday marked the beginning of lent with many Christians and indeed non-Christians across the world heaving a collective sigh as they give up something the enjoy for the next 6 and a half weeks.

But what really is lent and why do we put ourselves through such a test of willpower?
In it's simplest form Lent marks the forty days in the lead up to Easter and represents the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by the Devil before starting to minister. Today, alongside it's religious foundations, lent has become a symbol for self control and preparation in the run up to Easter and spring for both Christians and non-Christians alike.

But the big debate is, when does lent end and do Sundays actually count?
Well, the honest answer is that it depends entirely on you! Some people believe that lent ends at Sundown on Maundy Thursday, whilst others believe it continues right through until Easter Saturday. Likewise, a lot of people argue that Sundays's aren't included as they are a traditional day of celebration and feasting. So, depending on what you decide to do lent can range anywhere from 38-46 days!

This year I've decided to go vegetarian for lent and give up chocolate (a bit of a big deal as a self-confessed chocoholic) and any kind of takeaway (an occasional but extravagant and necessary treat). As always I'm going to keep it up until Easter Saturday and probably continue on Sundays as well, meaning I'm in for the full 46 days! That said, I may allow myself one Sunday off, purely in the interest of eating up anything I've given up that won't keep until after lent has finished you have to understand!

So what are you giving up this year, that is if you are? And no cheating, giving up something you don't do anyway doesn't count!!

Finally, I'm going to leave you with something someone I follow on twitter posted earlier in the week.

"If you give up something for lent just so you can loose weight, then baby Jesus does crying."

Do I agree? On the one hand, yes it is a religious tradition and deserves to be respected as such, but on the other if it helps people to better themselves, prepare for spring and put a little perspective back in their life then does it really matter? Either way you are continuing (or at least attempting to continue) the tradition and giving a nod to the true meaning of Easter, no matter how small that nod may be.

The Wizard of OZ

Next on my list of must see classic movie musicals was the Wizard of OZ, an altogether bizarrely mesmerising film, and without doubt one of the most well known of the MGM movies. The 1939 film, based on the novel written nearly 40 years before, was the most expensive film produced by MGM at its release, as you can see in it's pioneering use of special effects and technicolor (although by today's standards they seem brilliantly cheesy and retro). However, the majority of the films success and subsequent cult following came a little later in the film's history after a rather lukewarm reception on its release.

Watching the film again it was exactly as I thought, and half remembered it would be, complete with the wondfully artificial set, Munchkin chorus and infectious bouts of skipping along the yellow brick road. Although, I do have to admit to never having watched the sepia beginning of the film as a child, finding it rather bland and unexciting, I tended to fastforward to the bit that had colour and singing and dancing.
It only occurs to me now, watching the film through adult eyes, that this was the exact effect the director was aiming for - to show how Dorothy must have felt, a fact that must have gone over my 8 year old self (and indeed very nearly my 20 year old self!). Perhaps their intention to contrast the two parts of the film was a little too successful...

Now, the wizard of OZ is steeped in myths and speculation over double meanings and hidden intentions, which I'm not even going to attempt to go into, given the vast bank of view points and 'evidence', some of which I am sure may have good foundations, others perhaps not. If it's one thing I've learnt from my course at uni so far, it's that the more you look for something, the more likely you are to find it, whether it actually exists or not.

So on the surface, as a family friendly film, all I have to say is that it has indeed stood the test of time and remains a family and worldwide favourite, proving again and again just why it deserves its place in film history. That said, despite being greatly enjoyable and a magnificent piece of film escapism, I still had a few little niggles, although easy to dismiss once you fully submerge yourself in the film.

For a start, exactly how old was Dorothy (Judy Garland) supposed to be? Her behaviour, clothing and general demeanour suggest a young girl, whilst Judy who was only only 16 has the air of a much older actress playing a child. Rumour also has it that she was also made to wear a corset to make her look younger still. The final confusion comes in her rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, sung with a maturity and voice difficult to attribute to the apparent child you see on screen.

The other thing that had me wondering was the Munchkins. Where they all actually dwarfs, children or a mix of both? Well, with a little research from our mate Wikipedia it appears that all the Munchkins were indeed real dwarfs known as The Singer Midgets, employed by the rather shady character Leo Singer. There's something about him and the way he made his money out of hiring out his 'Midgets' that just doesn't sit right with me, but I suppose it was a very different time back when the film was made.

So, overall an enjoyable and emblematic film, just as long as you don't think too much about it! I think perhaps I'd prefer Andrew Lloyd Webber's new stage version more, I hope I get to find out one day!
Maybe it's time for a new film adaptation...?

So, here we are. I leave you with Judy Garland singing the song that will forever leave her voice and the song imprinted on musical history.

Legally Blonde on the West End

I first discovered legally blonde the film in middle school when I was off school with glandular fever and quickly became properly addicted to it. Even now, having not watched the film for a good few years (its true, sadly you can have too much of a good thing) I dare say I could still parrot about 75% of the lines if it was in front of me - yes, there was a time when I could have got close to 100% if I'd concentrated!

So when legally blonde the musical opened in London, despite my slight obsession with the film being long gone I vowed to go and see it one day. A few years down the line and it was still sat at the bottom of my list entitled 'things to go and see one day...' and the closest I'd actually got to seeing the musical was adding the original London cast recording to my regular playlist on my iPod.

Now things at uni have been getting rather stressful recently, so when it was announced that the show was closing I decided that I had to get my bum into gear and go and see it with my mum as something to look forward to/a reward for my efforts in trying to keep up with uni, work and stay sane (which is no mean feat I can tell you!). We also discovered that we actually knew two of the cast members back from when they were teenagers in WOW Youth Musical Theatre (I'll tell you more about them another time), before they made it to the west end, so we got in touch and finally bought ourselves tickets for the other night.

Well, what can I say? I thoroughly enjoyed the stage show and the extra dimension the big musical numbers brought to the show, making it an almost separate entity from the film and definitely my preferred option over watching the DVD. There's very little dialogue in the musical, making it brilliantly fast paced and fun, just as it should be to match the larger than life characters. The think that really stood out for me though was Paulette, Elle's new best friend and beautician played brilliantly by Natalie Casey. Her quirky, yet awkward style makes her instantly loveable and a real hit with the audience, providing some of the biggest comic moments of the show in addition to her two big numbers, 'Ireland' and the 'Bend and Snap'.

So in summary all I have to say really is get out there and go see it for yourself because it's truly brilliant and such a shame that it's closing! I could quite happily sit here and talk about it all night, in my own little fluffy pink bubble, but for now all I have to say is that I will definitely be booking to go and see this when it comes near me on tour and quite possibly be telling you a little more about what I thought about the whole thing in more detail at a later date), but for now I leave you with this...

Snaps for Paulette!

My final new years resolution...

I've made reasonable progress with my new years resolutions so far this year, so I thought it was time for one more, because nowhere does it say that new years resolutions have to start on January the 1st does it? It's still February, that counts as the new year, right?

Since setting my new years resolutions however many weeks ago I've managed to watch (and actually pay attention to!) 2 classic films I'd never really stopped to appreciate before, which is no mean feat considering the amount of free time I have at the moment. I've also managed to keep up the running, despite my rather naive choice of suitable clothing for a run at half 7 in the morning when it's minus 4 and like an ice rink outside. The phrase 'either brave or stupid' comes to mind, and in this case I'm pretty certain it was the latter.
Anyway, despite my varied success at my somewhat vague new years resolutions and haphazard way of going about them, this leads me on to my final new years resolution - the very fact that you are reading this is somewhat of a give-away, but here we are...
New years resolution number 3: To write a blog post at least once a week. Every week.
Yes, you heard me right, I am committing myself to posting at least once a week and there's no way of interpreting that one to my advantage! As Friday is my one day off a week and I will endeavour to post something every Friday as far as is possible, with additional posts during the week as and when I have the time and something potentially interesting to say.

So there we have it, my new years resolutions:
No 1: To watch more classic movies, Musicals in particular.
No 2: To try and exercise more.
And finally, No 3: To blog at least once a week, probably on a Friday.
I wonder how long I can keep this up for...

Breakfast at Tiffany's

So I decided to carry on my little movie quest with an all time classic - Breakfast at Tiffany's - to add a little style to my otherwise less than glamorous week of uni and work.

Now, I'd attempted to watch this a few years ago and I have to say I got a little bored and didn't manage to watch it all the way through. I put it down to still being a little too young to appreciate it, because all girls love Breakfast at Tiffany's, right? It's got such a cult following that perhaps I was just a little young to fully appreciate its brilliance - that would be it.

However, I have to say that at the ripe old age of 20 I still don't really get what all the hype is about. Yes Audrey Hepburn is gorgeous as usual and it cannot be denied that the film is extremely stylish. The delicately humorous moments with the telephone in the suitcase and the poor cat who gets pushed from pillar to post help to make the character of Holly Golightly endearing, but I can't help but feel that the overall plot is a little flat. With moments of such subtle but great writing it seems to me there were so many lost opportunities to develop the story that little bit further and really make it a film masterpiece in my eyes.

Don't get me wrong, it's a perfectly watchable film, and I will no doubt see it again without protest, it just didn't quite hit the spot with me. Perhaps one day it will, perhaps it won't, but either way you've got to love Miss Hepburn's style!

So finally in tribute to the poor nameless slob - it's time to give him the recognition he deserves. Enjoy :)