And now a word from my friend Derri

Here's a clip from my friend Derri of The Lost Dogs and the choir (capitals omitted on purpose).

The funniest thing I’ve read recently...

Grocery store parking lot, Ottawa:

“We regret, but we are not responsible for damage or loss suffered to your vehicle while parked in this lot.”

Really? You regret it? Then you won’t mind making restitution for the damage caused. You don’t regret it, you are glad you’re not. You went to your lawyer to make sure you weren’t before you put up the sign.

Is this not symptomatic of the way we live? We politely avoid responsibility. We attempt to maintain a modicum of humility while at the same time we want to avoid blame. Without doubt, this is as human- as like me- as you can get.

Vertigo

First off, its the movie, not the disease...

At first, I couldn’t understand why this movie was on the top 100 list, especially since it made number 9 on the updated, 2007 list. Of course, this is Alfred Hitchcock so it is definitely a psychological thriller, but the strange behaviour of Madeline definitely made this a classic. The title even, "Vertigo", is barely central to the plot, then suddenly it appears. The nature of mental illness and love and acute melancholia and a guilty conscience are at the heart of this amazingly gripping movie. The deeper in you go, the more it makes you say, “What is going on?” Then you remember that it is Alfred Hitchcock and you wonder why you didn’t see it coming.

It is said that a majority of people in mental institutes are in because of guilt. Without fully thinking that thought through as it applies to this movie, I believe this is related. I’ve only seen a couple of other Hitchcock movies, but in those the plots were similar to each other. In “The Birds”, “Psycho”, and “North by Northwest”, the plot revolves around a strange occurrence which seems plausible, but involved something stalking someone else. In Vertigo, the scenario seems implausible, but you soon believe that it is real.

After a while, as the facets of the diamond are polished up, the reality appears, this is a great movie!

The most startling thing about this movie is the way that Scotty begins to obsess over his lost love and works to replace her by dressing up a passer-by to look like her. You feel a queasiness, being fully aware that this man is not well. What is even more shocking than his requests of his new love is that, though she knows it is not healthy, and that he is pursuing a love from the past, she goes along with it to be with him. She plays a character and falls for him, while he falls for the character, not her.

So what do we do with this? “It’s just a movie,” we say, and trudge on. I wonder though. Do I expect my wife to turn into what I want her to be? Do I love her for who she is? Can we say we truly love if we want them to change? As years go by in any relationship, new secret rooms are opened up to us, either revealed or discovered. How we handle these revelations speaks loudly to the depth and commitment of our love. Will we grow and continue to love or will we expect things to change in our partner?

Back to School!

Maybe back to blogging too? I've been putting stuff down all summer, but dial up internet does not make it too fun. I know, cut and paste, but anyway... maybe now I'll get at it. Thanks for still checking in!