The Million Dollar Hotel

a film by Wim Wenders

Somehow, I never heard about this film until last night. Once again, kudos to laSexta’s Todo Cine channel for showing it. Co-written and co-produced by Bono, of all people, the movie did poorly at the box office when released in 2000. It was not appreciated by the critics either, in spite of some top-quality acting, photography and music. Peter Stormare is great as an “ex-Beatle” Dixie, and his rendition of I Am the Walrus easily beats the 1967 original. One day I want to watch it again (with English subtitles, ’cause I didn’t understand half of things Tom Tom was saying).

Tom Tom (Jeremy Davies) tries to strike up a conversation with Eloise (Milla Jovovich). According to IMDb, the book that Eloise carries around is One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Timur’s Artwork

by Timur Kulikov

As Timur keeps producing drawings (mostly with Adobe Illustrator) at a rather alarming rate, I’ve helped him to set up his website with Weebly. Now he updates it on his own.

Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus

by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

This double album set comes in a cute canvas-bound slipcase, with CDs in cardboard sleeves and a lyrics booklet — a lot of lyrics in these songs, you know. Top quality lyrics too. I love every song here. Especially Get Ready for Love, Hiding All Away and The Lyre of Orpheus.

The well went down very deep
Very deep went down the well
The well went down so very deep
Well, the well went down to hell

Ah, brilliant. Who else could have thought of rhyming Orpheus with orifice?

Belly Dance Fitness

by Aerobics Oz Style

First published 4 January 2012 @ zumbafuerteventura

Just as in case of The Samba Reggae Workout, I ordered this DVD on the strength of the Amazon reviews. This time, however, it was rather a miss. I did not learn that much new, apart from some useful moves during the cool-down (called here “warm-down”). There is about 55 minutes of workout (including warm-up and cool-down) and quite a lot of utterly disposable bonus features, like Behind the Scenes or Team Profiles (where one of the instructors is showing her kitchen and another is going through her collection of hip scarves). The music is really boring. And what is “Oz Style”? I think it means that all the demonstration takes place on the beach, somewhere in Australia I presume. I quite like that — you almost expect a great white shark or something among the bathers on the background — although the camerawork is not that great. Apparently, the cameraman is rather fond of Dutch angles, which, according to Wikipedia, are

often used to portray the psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed.

Not the best choice for a dance fitness or, for that matter, any instructional video (unless it is the one on Dutch angle techniques). As much as I enjoy looking at the girls with very little clothes on, it would be better if the camera stayed focused on the instructors. Also, as the DVD is aimed at the beginner, one would expect a bit more of basic movement breakdown.

Stratvs Rosado 2010

This beautifully presented rosé comes from Bodegas Stratvs in La Geria, Lanzarote. The bottle has the words “El Vino del Fuego de la Tierra del Viento” in raised letters on it. The Stratvs’s own tasting notes say:

Aromas of red fruits — strawberries and mulberries, fresh herbs, fine patisseries and red caramel.

I am not sure about all that but it went down nicely anyway. At €8.50 per half-litre, it is not the cheapest beverage around. Still, now and then I feel the urge to support the local economy while having a good drink, and this is a very decent wine for the purpose.

More photos of rosé wine @ Shutterstock.

Finn Family Moomintroll / Шляпа волшебника

by Tove Jansson
translated by Elizabeth Portch and Vladimir Smirnov

This was the very first Moomin book I ever read, originally in Russian. Imprinting or not, I consider the Russian translation of this book superior to the English version (which I just finished reading). To start with the title: Finn Family Moomintroll — any book featuring Moomins could be named like that, right? The Russian title «Шляпа волшебника» is the correct translation of Swedish Trollkarlens hatt — literally, “The Magician’s Hat” (not “Hobgoblin’s Hat”). Снусмумрик sounds almost exactly as Snusmumriken (why Snufkin?), just as the names Тофсла и Вифсла are almost identical to Swedish “Tofslan och Vifslan” (in English, they are named Thingumy and Bob). The language these two latter creatures speak is translated to Russian more consistently. Or take this sentence:

О, какое счастье быть муми-троллем, который только проснулся и уже пляшет среди зеленых волн на восходе солнца!

Oh, to be a Moomin and to dance in the waves while the sun gets up!

And so on.

Never mind that, even in this translation it is still a magical book.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

by John Julius Norwich
illustrated by Quentin Blake

Whether or not you are still looking for that belated Christmas present... look no further. I imagine this one-way correspondence read by Hattie Hayridge (as female Holly in Red Dwarf).

2nd January Look here Edward, this has gone far enough. You say you’re sending me nine ladies dancing; all I can say is that judging from the way they dance, they’re certainly not ladies. The village just isn’t accustomed to seeing a regiment of shameless hussies with nothing on but their lipstick cavorting round the green — and it’s Mummy and I who get blamed. If you value our friendship — which I do less and less — kindly stop this ridiculous behaviour at once. Emily