The wonderful and interesting Schmutzie (of Milkmoney or Not, Here I Come) paid me the great honour of giving me a "Thinking Blogger Award".

*Blush*

Given the amount of silliness and side-tracked thoughts that I let myself indulge in on these pages, I surprised and pleased, and for the first time I empathize with Sally Field: "You like me, you really really like me!" I have to say that I really admire Schmutzie, the thoughts she sets on page and wonderfulness that is herself and her blog, so its lovely that this came from her.

:P I digress: Tee hee. I feel a *bit* like when I won the valentine's day cake at school in grade two. It had those spicy cinnamon hearts on it and white gooey frosting and the inside of the cake was dyed red (always a dubious choice). I had a "reaction" to the red food dye and ran around like crazy after eating the cake, so my teacher had to send me home. OK, I don't feel exactly like that, but a little bit.

So, it seems that there are some rules for this award (because bureaucracy of some form never fails us), which are the following:
Here are the blogs on which I would like to bestow the thinking blogger award (I would happily give one back to Schmutzie, but I don't think that's allowed. Plus she already has one.):

• Linda of the Grumpiest Girl in the Room for her gentle yet blunt and humorous insight into life and living.
• Neil of Citizen of the Month for both his wonderful "Great Interview Experiment" but even more for his great wit.
• Randall Munroe of xkcd and of his own blag for being smart and funny, and for bridging the gap between geekdom and romance.
• Andrew Vande Moere for information aesthetics for bringing together information and ae... er... wait, for bringing together knowledge and beauty in such a great way. (Much better).
• Everyone involved in PostSecret which despite its uber-famousness in the world of blogdom has given many people a forum in which to open their hearts, express their art, and otherwise inspire or horrify. It never fails to make me think. And despite the fact that I know that it is unlikely that they will continue this meme... I couldn't not acknowledge how great I think their blog is.
• {Honorary mention: the now acclaimed Ze Frank who coined the phrase "thinking so you don't have to." I have a serious blog-crush on this guy. He combines funny with thoughtful and shocking all of the time and I don't know what I have enjoyed more thoroughly than his one-year "The Show", and his continued blog which varies and combines the ridiculous with the deeply introspective with "silly happy kidness". But he's too famous to get an *actual* award. Sorry, Ze. ;)}

Labels: beyond entertainment, brains, cheesy, sometimes other people are much more creative than i am. ;), token valentine's day mention, writing inspiration

Just attended the Rotterdam film festival. Of the films I saw, here are a few recommendations:

• Go with Peace Jamil (Ma salama Jamil) -- A brutal, powerful story about cycles of revenge within the Arabic community in Copenhagen. This is a film that I can't talk about much, it moved me beyond words. The relationships between characters are incredibly tangible and universal (not, of course, including killing people for revenge...) It left me weeping and disoriented.
  
• Tricks (Sztuczki) -- A really wonderful Polish film. The main character, a small boy, was played realistically and charmingly. It unfolds in a beautiful way within scenes of life.
  
• Un baiser, s'il vous plaît! (Shall We Kiss?) -- A romantic comedy of sorts, but with a dark edge, showing the games we play with ourselves when we try to figure out love (or alternatively, we are not always wise when we go with our impulses -- shocker, I know). Very very funny in parts. There is a telling in the telling when a woman addresses the temptation to kiss a man she has just met (they both have partners) by telling him the story of friend...
  

I'm sorry, I know these aren't very complete reviews but I think that what draws people into a film is always so personal. One of the things that occurred to me about these films is that no trailer could ever do them justice. Any kind of synoptic treatment would cut the stories short.

If you have the chance to see or rent these films, please do, and tell me what you think.

Labels: beyond entertainment, films, other people's stuff, sighs