Random Musings on a slow Monday morning

My plant shutdown is mercifully over.

I enjoyed the normal schedule for the 2 weeks - working during the day as opposed to the strange hours I worked in the past, lounging in the office, not getting any calls to the floor, not having to do much work, etc. But I missed the company. Yes, the operators who occasionally give me drama were really missed, and I'm happy I'll be seeing them again this evening. Delighted, actually.

In other matters, my job search continues in earnest. Well, it's proceeded beyond the stage of a mere job search, since I have 2 offers already. I already took one drug test (a "piss test"), and I will probably take the second one tomorrow morning, on Tuesday. Whatever the case, I really want to head out of this company. I call this plant the 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams', although I think 'Graveyard of Dreams' is more apt. The more pressing issue is that I have to find an apartment (hopefully around Cleveland Ohio), pack, settle in and report to work in 12 days. I don't know if it's feasible, but I am sure as hell going to give it a shot. I'm especially looking forward to moving to Cleveland. I made a list of things I want to do in Cleveland. It's still not complete yet, but I am really looking forward to doing some things I never really had a chance to do here in NJ or never had the time to complete:

1) Take a ride on a hot-air balloon: http://www.gentlebreeze.com/ This is one company I have in mind, although they are in Columbus, and I'll likely be in Cleveland. i'm really looking forward to doing this, and Inshallah, 2010 is the year I'll do it!
2) Go camping: I need to figure out who with, though...
3) Learn to swim
4) Learn to ride a bike (I know, I know... how can a 23 year old not know how to ride a bike?). Well, I had a horrific accident on my tricylce as a kid - resulting in lots of blood and a trip to the local ER. I still remember the scene today: nurses chasing me around the hospital as I ran, blood dripping behind me, trying to escape my god-father doctor (who has now passed, bless him). I had to receive stitches for the accident, and eventhough I tried to pick up riding again at Princeton with three really generous friend-instructors, it never really took off.
5) Horse-riding. As the daughter of a man who played Polo for about 30 years, it's really a big disgrace that I don't even know how to ride a horse.
6) Tennis lessons - Big fan of tennis, and I always have been!
7) Go on a cruise - I discussed this with a friend from Ghana, and she said she and another mutual friend already talked about it, so we may be on to something here.
8) Visit 5 US National Parks, starting with the one in Ohio (the Cuyahoga Valley National Park) - including California
9) Join a book club
10)Learn to shoot? (This one is a little crazy, but why the hell not?)
11) Go snorkeling? Perhaps visit Australia for the Australian Open?
12) Visit the famous stadia in Europe (Wembley, Bernabeu, Nou Camp, etc)
13) Visit Puerto Rico
14) Visit Canada - since Ohio is close to Canada, this is certainly do-able
15) Go hiking
16) Go skiing
17) Take a boating/lake trip
18) Go to a tennis match, perhaps the US Open?
19) Go to an Olympics tournament
20) Go to a World Cup tournament
21) Go to a rugby match

I certainly think these are modest and attainable goals. The hot-air balloon ride may sound a little risky, but it really isn't. What's life without a little va-va-voom? One should experience a lot of cool stuff while in your 20s. Do not wait until you're too ill to do these things before you actually do them. It is my hope that I complete items 1-10 or at least start these items (1-10) or develop concrete plans, except number 7 and perhaps 10, before the end of 2010. I'll see how this pans out.

In other matters, I cannot get this song out of my head. See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6c8srkNfBI

The song is the soundtrack to a movie called 'Scorned', by Shirley Frimpong Manso. If you stick with me long enough, you'll find me waxing lyrical about Shirley. I believe she is unquestionably the most gifted and refreshing filmaker to come out of Anglophone West Africa in 20 years. And I don't offer such praise lightly - I really mean it. Absolutely brilliant woman.

Anyway, back to the song...

The song is titled 'Daa ke daa', and it's about a woman singing to her lover, asking him not to hurt her. Here are the lyrics:

Daa kԑ daa kԑ daa always and always and always
Kԑ oosumᴐ mi, kaa tse mi tsui If you love me, dont break my heart
Mԑ ni ji nᴐni ofeᴐ mi nԑ - What is it youre doing to me? Or what are you doing to me?
Obaa tse mi tsui You will break my heart
Obaa gbe mi You will kill me


It's in a Ghanaian language - I believe Ga or Twi, and one of my Ghanaian friends jokingly accused me of being more Ghanaian than many real Ghanaians, and I thought that was funny, even if absolutely untrue.

On movies, I watched the Sherlock Holmes movie directed by Madonna's ex-husband, Guy Ritchie. It starred Robert Downing Jr., who did the best he could with a nebulous plot and an insipid script. His side-kick, Watson, was played by a handsome actor (he's also famous, but I do not recall his name. Edit: His name is Jude Law). One critic said the director's goal in filmaking is "to make cool movies about cool guys with cool stuff". Having seen one and only one of Mr. Ritchie's movies, I tend not to disagree.

The movie played like a series of breathtaking snapshots, one fabulous picture after another, but with no adhesive to tie-up the snapshots; instead we end with a mish-mash movie, a patchwork movie, occasionally marked by great screenshots, but without any beating heart to sustain and fascinate the viewer. I'll give it 2 stars of 5, and that's because 1-star reviews often reek of bitterness, even where there is none.

As a long-time fan of Doyle's works, I think the plot was an insult on the great works of Mr. Conan D.

First, the relationship between Watson and Holmes was wide of the mark. A little-known detail is that the character of Gregory House in the TV show "House, M.D." was inspired by Sherlock Holmes. I do not know whether Wilson was also inspired by Watson - I doubt it, since Wilson and House seem to have an unresolved but undeniably potent sexual tension between them, while Holmes and Watson definitely did not! In any case, Holmes and Watson in Ritchie's latest offering were more House/Wilson than Holmes/Watson, or at least from my own interpretation of Doyle's rendering of Holmes/Watson. Ritchie's Holmes/Watson bicker like school girls over minutiae, a lot like House and Wilson do, and I am of the opinion that this is a classic case of the master imitating the mimic: the scriptwriter might have overdosed on House, MD right before he wrote that script because whether by choice or not, his characters end up more House/Wilson than Holmes/Watson. It's a disgrace. Holmes and Watson had their differences, but these never descended to the level of petty carping like I saw in the movie.

For one, Ritchie's Watson (like Dr. Wilson) is far more attractive than the original Watson - indeed he has some of the 'boyish good looks' Dr. Wilson is reputed to have had in the original House Script (I don't believe Robert Sean Leaonard looks 'boyish', but he also has his own ooh-la-la'). If memory serves, there is mention in the books of Sherlock's attractiveness, but I do not recall anything about Watson being a handsome man, and certainly not a distractingly handsome man like the actor who played him in this movie. In any case, the movie was nice mind-numbing action for a slow day, and I must admit that once I allowed myself to forget about the Holmesian theme, I enjoyed the movie.

And one more thing I noticed. Robert Downey Jr. has a nice big arse (baby got back!). That was quite funny to observe.

In other completely unrelated news, I understand that my Nigerian passport has expired. It expired almost a year ago, and now I have to renew it. I have to send a number of things to the Nigerian embassy, probably in DC, and get them to issue a renewal. I'm wary of dealing with the embassy, because I've heard terrible stories about them -- of seizing passports without any communications as to why, of very long delays that complete stuff up your travel plans, lost documents, etc. I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed.