Adventures of Late

I've been enjoying the lovely almost-springtimeyness! It's delicious. Saturday, I went to my African dance class. I've been going, off and on, for almost five years. I love the live drummers, and the random assortment of people forming a community, and the crazy ways we move our bodies. They have a bunch of classes, for good prices. www.rdtutah.org.

In keeping with the theme, I guess, a friend and I went to Peery's Egyptian Theater in Ogden to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo that evening. They are the South African group who recorded with Paul Simon on his Graceland album. Really good.

Add a fun family get together, and the weekend was complete.

And, just for kicks, an ode to Spring, by Gerard Manley Hopkins, for you today.

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring —
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.
What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. — Have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.

Middle Eastern Film Fest

I'm a big believer in being a tourist in my hometown, so I try to find unique events in the area. Since I went to Jordan and Israel in the fall, I thought I'd take in the Middle Eastern Film Festival hosted by the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. They show a film every couple weeks, and I've gone twice.

Wednesday I saw "Dunia--Kiss me not on the eyes," an Egyptian film. It's about a woman who is a literature graduate student and aspiring dancer, and the intersections of her life with her professor, who is blinded by attackers after speaking against the censorship of "A Thousand and One Nights", her husband, who after their marriage tries to curtail her activities, and her friends, who are trying to establish more freedom for themselves and their daughters despite the limitations placed on them not by men but by older generations of women. Definitely a message movie, but needed, and enjoyable.

A few weeks ago I saw "Lemon Tree," which was a little lighter and had some sweet and funny moments. A Palestinian widow is trying to protect her lemon orchard, right on the border of Israel and the West Bank, from being cut down after the Israeli defense minister moves in right across the way. It's her story of fighting back and re-entering life, and about the similarities of people on opposite sides of the conflict. I really enjoyed it and now I'd like to see "The Syrian Bride," with the same actress and director. The actress, Hiam Abbass, is also in "The Visitor" which came out last year in the US.

Future movies: On Monday, March 8, 2010 at 7pm, the U of U is screening "Waltz with Bashir," and animated documentary about individuals coming through the 1982 Lebanon War. It was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and other awards. This one is at the Fort Douglas Theater, 245 S. Fort Douglas Boulevard

The last film in the series is playing Wed. March 17 at 6pm in the UMFA auditorium. It's "Persepolis," the story of a girl growing up in Iran, based on a graphic novel. It was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar but lost to Ratatouille. http://umfa.utah.edu/calendar

Film Festival Joy

For my inaugural post, I give you my report on the Banff Outdoor Film Festival world tour. Awesome! You should go next year! Short films on extreme rock climbing, rafting through Africa, and saving birdies in the Arctic. My two favorites were one about a British guy who rode a tandem bike from Alaska to Argentina, and all the people he picked up on the way to help him pedal, and one about another Brit who became one of only 6 women in history to row solo across the Atlantic. She had cameras on through the whole thing--broken oars, broken satellite phone, and all.

I have mixed feelings about the fact that since humans no longer have to fight for survival, we make up dangerous things to do and then learn from them. But it really was inspirational to see a person face physical exhaustion, frustration, and complete solitude on the wide, wide sea and continue to trust herself and use her emotional and physical resources to finish the course.

Plus, I won a drawing for a really cool wool and polar fleece Outdoor Research beanie. Swag on top of pondering the tenuous relationship of humans and nature? Yeah, baby.

Check it out:
http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=021010-1
http://www.chestnutmtnproductions.com/banff/banffhome.htm
http://rozsavage.com/