Sunrises and sunsets fascinate me and wherever in the world I am, I try to capture nature’s canvas as best as I can. This is a throwback post to some of the awesome sunsets I’ve managed to capture….
Singapore
Sin
New Delhi
Kuala Lumpur
Jogyakarta
Somewhere between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai
The Sultan’s Seal – Jenny White
The naked body of a young Englishwoman washes up in Istanbul wearing a pendant inscribed with the seal of the deposed sultan. The death resembles the murder by strangulation of another English governess, a crime that was never solved.
Kamil Pasha, a magistrate in the new secular courts, sets out to find the killer, but his dispassionate belief in science and modernity is shaken by betrayal and widening danger.
In a lush, mystical voice, a young Muslim woman, Jaanan, recounts her own relationships with one of the dead women and her suspected killer. Were these political murders involving the palace or crimes of personal passion? An absorbing tale that transports the reader to nineteenth-century Turkey, this novel is also a lyrical meditation on the contradictory desires of the human soul.
On Sunday, GG and I caught the live-action remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. This film is rated PG in Singapore which meant she could not see it with her friends. But honestly, I really didn’t the big deal about it being PG as the theatre was filled with young children and their parents, many much younger than GG!
Emma Watson was aptly cast as the bookish, but brave Belle while the actor who played the Beast, Dan Stevens only showed his true self at the very end, was scary initially as the beast and one who got our sympathy as the movie moved along. Luke Evan’s Gaston was also spot on as the slightly slimy and pretentious character he was.
The film is pretty true to the animated version and those who’ve seen it will follow the movie. I loved the songs and GG hummed along with the soundtrack. The film is longer than the typical Hollywood movie with a running time of 129 minutes. It also gives a bit of the backstory about why the Beast behaved the way he did in the beginning (when he gets cursed) as well as a bit of Belle’s background, especially about her dead mother. These scenes, which are experienced by Belle with the Beast show us and Belle his soft side and are probably instrumental in getting her to fall in love with him.
As to the other cast, my favourite of the household help was Lumiere, Beast’s butler who turned into a candlestick voiced and enacted by Ewan McGregor. The interplay between him and the majordomo turned clock Cogsworth played by Ian McKellen was lovely to watch as was the romance between Lumiere and Plumette, the housemaid played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw who had been turned into a feather duster. I also loved how Mrs Potts (Emma Thompson) and Chip (Nathan Mack) were interpreted, and would have loved to have more scenes between the two. Another interesting character was Gaston’s sidekick LeFou who was played quite flamboyantly by Josh Gad. He was an out and out closet case, corrupt and utterly devoted to Gaston, but who in the finale changes sides and moves to the side of the good.
I also liked that throughout the film, there was a lot of racial diversity, but I’d image that in the 16th century France where the film is set, especially in the small village of Villeneuve where Belle lives and the nearby castle of the Beast, you would not expect to see this kind of racial diversity.
On to the elephant in the room, the overtly gay scene which everyone was talking about. Because of this scene and perhaps one more somewhere in the middle of the film, Malaysia has postponed the release of this film indefinitely. Both the scenes were, according to me, not worth the hype it generated. Agreed that this is a children’s film, but the violence where the Beast fends off the wolves and also when the villagers come to kill the beast and ransack the castle would probably be more frightening to children than these scenes. These were literally blink and miss scenes and I seriously doubt any child in the theatre (and there were plenty the day we saw the film) would have even realised what was happening in that fraction of a second.
So there you have it, a film which is surely worth the ticket price (plus the popcorn you will inevitably buy). Please do go and see it if you haven’t yet. If you have, I’d love to hear what you thought of it.
Here are some trailers from the film for those who haven’t seen it yet.
A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate – Susanna Calkins
For Lucy Campion, a seventeenth-century English chambermaid serving in the household of the local magistrate, life is an endless repetition of polishing pewter, emptying chamber pots, and dealing with other household chores until a fellow servant is ruthlessly killed, and someone close to Lucy falls under suspicion. Lucy can’t believe it, but in a time where the accused are presumed guilty until proven innocent, lawyers aren’t permitted to defend their clients, and—if the plague doesn’t kill the suspect first—public executions draw a large crowd of spectators, Lucy knows she may never find out what really happened. Unless, that is, she can uncover the truth herself.
Determined to do just that, Lucy finds herself venturing out of her expected station and into raucous printers’ shops, secretive gypsy camps, the foul streets of London, and even the bowels of Newgate prison on a trail that might lead her straight into the arms of the killer.
This was quite an interesting week for me. The week started as usual and since the children were at home because of their term break, it was controlled chaos at it’s best!
Mid-week, I got a couple of calls from recruiters for positions they had advertised online. In one case, I had to go and see their client with just about 2 hours notice! I also got a message through LinkedIn from someone in HR from a big multinational company for quite a senior position. Initially, I thought this was an elaborate prank, though why would someone prank me like this, I wondered. I did respond to that person and have sent them my resume, though I do not hold any hope there!
I also met up with a career coach and they critiqued my resume which made it better. The coach will also work with me for the next few months so hopefully, all these efforts will make a difference and soon.
GG and I went to see Beauty and the Beast yesterday and it was fun doing a mum and daughter time. BB was not really interested, so he stayed home with S. We really enjoyed the movie and since both like Emma Watson, it was a fun day.
This was my week, hope next week is better than this one! Have a wonderful week folks!
