Wall-e movie review

Wall-e - both the robot character and the movie - is just absolutely endearing. He's a garbage compacter left on Earth after the humans create so much rubbish they decide to hover in space while it gets cleaned up. He falls in love with Eva, a brand-spanking new robot who hails from hundreds of years later, when people have become inactive masses who go from place to place on hover-seats continuously sucking food through a straw.

The story mainly follows Wall-e and his pursuit of Eva, all the way to the great spaceship of humans. Through the gorgeous story (much of it told without dialogue), Wall-e manages to convey a depth of both feeling and communication: that loneliness is heartbreak, that humans aren't the only species that can feel love, that those who are 'broken' also have their own unique redeeming qualities, that humans need to take better care of their Earth home.

A standout moment in the movie for me is when Wall-e, a fan of Guys and Dolls, dances around for Eva in imitation of the musical. The film even manages to make cockroaches look cute and harmless - a feat I never would've expected. Pixar really did an amazing job with this movie and deserves all the box-office laudits it's undoubtedly already raking in.

Anonymous Lawyer

Anonymous Lawyer is a book adapted from a highly successful fictional blog by Jeremy Blachman, written from the point of view of a fictitious hiring partner at a major law firm. Personally I found the whorish capitalism and cynicism a bit too uncomfortable to fully enjoy at first, but it’s a quick easy read that provides a humorous insight into the world of corporate law in one of America’s major firms.

The blog entries are interspersed with personal emails, which provide great insight into the character of Anonymous Lawyer - particularly those between him and Anonymous Niece and The Musician. In an attempt to keep his anonymity, he describes those around him in broad strokes, like The Suck Up, The Jerk, The Woman Who Missed Her Kid’s Funeral, The Fat One and The Bombshell. The attempts to identify him (and themselves) by lawyers across the country are hilarious at times.

Towards the end I really began to sympathise with him and was hoping for a riding-off-into-the-sunset ending where he wakes up, discovers that there’s more to life than becoming The New Chairman and begins spending more time with Anonymous Wife, Daughter and particularly Anonymous Son. Of course, with the ending being what it is, he will undoubtedly have the time to do that.

Overall, in the words of a member of my book club, it was 'uncomfortably enjoyable'.

The perpetually unfinished Friday Night Knitting Club, Kate Jacobs

The Friday Night Knitting Club is one of those books that sits on my shelf while I lament the space it's taking and the money I forked out to buy it (even if I did get it with a 3 for 2 deal at Borders). I just can't get past about a quarter way, and I've given it 2 tries already.

It's a debut book by a new author and you can tell. The writing is too heavy, the situation cliched, characters one-dimensional and the plot borders on predictable and couldn't-care-less. The only redeeming feature was the premise - a single mum opens her dream shop selling yarn which attracts women from all walks who share their lives along with their patterns every Friday night. Sounds like the perfect chicklit setup for some light sparkling conversation overlaid by deep insights, but it really fails to deliver.

Apparently they've made a movie out of it with Julia Roberts. I hope it does better than the book, about which I can't comment much further as I haven't finished and don't intend to. I just wanted my two monumental attempts to read it documented.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon

I finished this weighty book just this minute and the lingering sense is one of pensive melancholy - strange, considering that it started with such jubilance. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is set around the lives of two cousins who create a comic book hero, The Escapist, who becomes a phenomenon. Sammy Clay is a boy whose imagination and brash enthusiasm overcomes the weakness of his polio-infected legs and breathes life into their creation. The artwork is brought to life by his cousin and partner Joe Kavalier, the sole survivor amongst his family since his escape from Prague during the Nazi regime just before World War II.

The story begins with success - two Jewish boys make it against the odds. As the story chronicles their growth during the golden era of 1930-50s New York, it's a case of real life intruding on a fairytale. Sammy struggles with his unspoken and unacceptable (at the time) personal proclivities while Joe joins the army to kill the Germans who have been haunting his dreams. I won't go further into the plot because the discovery of their journeys is central to the enjoyment of this book.

Pulitzer Prize-winning Kavalier and Clay is truly beautifully written - a hefty tome that pays homage not only to the rise of the comic book industry in New York and its accompanying social implications, but also to the fictional two men who contributed towards its popularity. It's what you'd call an 'epic novel' as it spans decades and portrays complex relationships, love, art, loss, dreams and regret with incredible depth, but Chabon's touch has the light and shade of a graphic novel - much like the final creation of Joe Kavalier.

Soon I Will Be Invincible, Austin Grossman

Told from the point of view of superheroes in a comic-book world, Soon I Will Be Invincible is an interesting read that makes superheroes seem just like the average person - except, of course, for their superhuman powers. They have insecurities, eating disorders, blonde moments, self-doubt and a pecking order.

The story alternates between two first-person narrators - ageing supervillain Dr Impossible and rookie superhero Fatale. Dr Impossible, fresh from his latest incarceration in maximum security super-jail, is out to destroy the world... again. There's a hilarious and heart-breaking moment when he goes to a dingy villain hangout in an abandoned shopping centre to meet some old cronies. The pathos of Grossman's description of the unglamorous side of villainy is at once hilarious and cringe-inducing, as Dr Impossible catches a bus to get there, changes into his costume in the bushes and has to walk back home afterwards.

Fatale is the newest member of the New Champions, a super-league made up of a motley crew of heroes, including recently divorced Damsel and Blackwolf (yes, it appears superheroes get divorced too). Through her eyes we see the competitiveness, insecurities and all-too-humanness of the superheroes as they are forced to work together to find missing CoreFire, the greatest superhero of them all.

In Soon I Will Be Invincible, Austin Grossman takes a comic book idea and makes it accessible to people who may not really be into comic books themselves but are still fascinated by the whole superhero genre, like me. It's particularly interesting because the heroes and villains aren't stereotyped or revered for their inherent qualities, but are rather deconstructed and shown to be normal people whose personal decisions about their abnormal abilities make them what they are. Overall, I found it to be a great read.

Spring cleaning the green way

With it now being Spring and all (at least in the southern hemisphere), cleaning seems like an appropriate topic to write about at this time. I've been reading a bit about household cleaning chemicals and their long term effects etc, and basically, the outlook's not good. Commercially sold cleaning products often contain chemicals that aren't good for you to breathe in on a daily basis, and are actually toxic to the human body. What's the point of living in a spotless home if it's killing you slowly, eh.

So I did a bit of research and shortlisted my favourite (incidentally the simplest) solutions for a chemical-free, non-toxic, spotless home.

All-purpose cleaner: mix a solution of ½ vinegar and ½ water into a spray bottle

• this cleaner works on all surfaces including kitchen counters, the bathroom sink, toilets and floors (except stone and marble)
• also use on windows and mirrors, wiping with a sheet of newspaper for an extra streak-free clean

All-purpose scourer: sprinkle baking soda onto a damp sponge

• baking soda is a natural scourer that deodorises and scrubs grime including bathtub rings, food deposits in kitchen sinks, inside fridges, etc.
• for tougher grime, make a paste from baking soda and water, apply to grimy areas and let it sit for 10-20 minutes before cleaning. Even works in grimy ovens – just leave overnight
• also works on tarnished pots and pans

Furniture polish: mix ½ teaspoon olive oil with ¼ cup vinegar or fresh lemon juice

• dab on a soft rag and wipe wooden surfaces
• mixture can be stored indefinitely in a glass jar and shaken before use to blend

Mold and mildew: combine 1tsp tea tree oil with 1 cup of water in a spray bottle

• shake to blend and spray on problem areas like walls, ceilings, furniture, musty rugs and shower curtains
• leave and do not rinse – this solution will tackle mold and the eucalyptus smell will dissipate
• alternatively, simply spray undiluted white vinegar on mold and mildew
  

Extra tips:

• to avoid after-shower fog on bathroom mirrors and windows, sprinkle tea tree oil on the surface and wipe with a sheet of newspaper
• use vinegar instead of commercial fabric softeners in the washing machine – particularly good for sensitive skin
• leave a container of baking soda in the fridge (open) to absorb smells
• mint is a natural enemy of ants and mice, so spray distilled spearmint oil or brewed mint tea in nooks, crannies and cracks to keep them away

Bonus for the heavy-duty spring cleaners:

To get rid of mineral deposits clogging your shower head (remember that the water you clean yourself with comes through this metallic fixture after all):

• place undiluted vinegar in a plastic food storage bag (freezer bag/oven bag etc)
• place the shower head inside the bag so it's covered by vinegar and secure with a rubber band
• let it stand for 2hrs or overnight
• remove bag, rinse the shower head and buff to a shiny finish (and of course, turn your shower on to wash out the vinegar before taking a shower)

Cheers to a clean and healthy season!

On Beauty, Zadie Smith (book review)

On Beauty, like many truly literary works for me, took a while to get into, and even longer before I figured out that the family was mixed-race, which is kinda important to know in order to understand the specific cultural foundation of the book. It was particularly interesting because I realised this is one of the first books I've read where so many of the characters are black - not that it's particularly important in the scheme of things - but it was a totally different world than I was used to reading about. And fascinating.

Cultural differences aside, the characters are real people, fleshed out and shown in all their flawed natural glory. Howard Belsey, the central character, is an English professor at a Massachusetts university, married to African-American wife Kiki, with whom he has three children. The relationship between Howard and Kiki is the maypole around which most of the threads of the story are wound, particularly Howard's affair with a close friend of the family, and his rivalry with Monty Kipps and its rippling effect on both families.

Ultimately, it's the foibles and flaws of the characters that really bring out the beauty of this book. The characters are etched beautifully - from their son Levi who likes to act like he's from the ghetto when in fact he's from a privileged background, to Carl, who actually is from the ghetto but would like nothing more than to belong to the campus culture of the Belseys and Kipps. Things are not perfect in this world - characters are betrayed, fail to reach their own unspoken expectations, fall into temptation, act without considering their true motives and learn to forgive. It's a book brimming with love for the people we actually are, not the people we want to be. For me, it was Kiki who actually brought the title home. It's through this full-figured, middle-aged woman and her open vulnerability, her love and her huge heart that we understand what real beauty is.