I saw Jodhaa Akbar last weekend, I saw it again tonight. It wasn't quite as magical the 2nd time, I was analyzing its structures and how they cut up the songs - I had downloaded the soundtrack earlier this week and often had it on repeat on my computer or iPod. The sets, costuming, music, and actors were gorgeous. The music drew from a few different Indian styles, but I detected a vocoder here and there, it was a nice blend of modern and traditional. The movie struck me for a couple of reasons: the lead character, the emperor, was very committed to following his own moral path, almost like a superhero. He was trying to maintain peace and reduce the number of soldiers who died in wars, which seems the opposite of how conflicts are solved nowadays. At a few points, the characters were caught up in religious moments, and these moments grabbed me - I experience my own religious belief in my heart and body, rather than as dogma and rituals. It was nice to see religion worked into the plot on the big screen, it was validating for me.

vaughan mills visit

Well I finally made it out to the Vaughan Mills mall, with its flagship store Bass Pro whatever it's called.
That mall was an assault on my visual senses.
The food court was painted a pukey hospital green, and there were some "food" mural illustrations near the ceiling at either end: the colours were pretty saturated, and they and didn't add anything apart from kind of being a focal point in a large space. There were some ceiling panel type things high above the fast-food counters, in a dizzying array of designs. It seemed no two were the same, which kind of made the whole room a hodgepodge of patterns and colours and I couldn't see any unifying anything about the area. I know some things that might look good on paper (or a computer monitor) might not translate into what looks good in the form of actual steel girders and corrugated steel ceilings.
There was one throughway that had a narrow purple ceiling with all these plexiglas curved panels reaching up high. That was the only thing I liked.
Some areas had carpet that was wrinkling up. My dad would have commented that the carpet needed to be walked upon and stretched a bit, before it was to be permanently glued to the floor, but in a mall, you don't have that luxury to let people walk on it to break it in, the way you do in a house. I'm guessing that it was the wrong carpet for the job.
I'm normally spending time in Sherway Gardens or Square One, which I realize are established malls and have had some renovation since they were built. Note to Vaughan Mills planners & builders: you can't go wrong with a beige or black marble floor in a mall. It will last forever, and you can dress it up or down, depending on what you do to the walls.
There is some "canadiana" in the food court, which is a kind of a nice touch. We sat at a table that had a map of where I grew up, embedded in the tabletop. But it gave the place an American feel somehow. (One thing was from Windsor, never been there; something with an old-school picture of Kleinburg's downtown would have been more appropriate.) Especially the Canadian flags in the Bass Pro store... wow that place is waiting to be spoofed in a movie, with its dioramas with stuffed raccoons and bears atop the change rooms. I kid you not! Also it makes extensive use of murals. I'm not sure what the planners were trying to say, by having all that type of decoration, strikes me as going for the most obvious, and lowest common denominator as well. I can shop for GPSs and tents with a bit more dignity, thanks, in MEC or Canadian Tire. The aquarium was a nice touch though, with people showing their kids the fish, right beside a rack of kids' toy guns. I was a bit moved, by someone's young Asian dad being riveted by the fish, he reminded me of the racially-motivated harassment that Asian fishermen were experiencing in local lakes and rivers lately. :(

I'd get it to listen to NPR I guess

I was in the mall a few days ago, and they had a few armchairs set up in the mall corridor, but on the table beside them, these ones had little satellite radio recievers with headphones. I had a listen, and I found Bloomberg Radio and NPR, both of which might actually make it worth my while to get a subscription. If I lived in the US, I would probably just get it so that I could hear CBC Radio One, but I imagine I could get by on NPR. In any case, they market satellite radio by touting "Howard Stern, sports radio" which I give a big thumbs down to - if they'd told me I could get NPR, I'd've had more interest in it to begin with.

Facebook has a crappy interface, especially when dealing with photos.

Can I make a photo that is in an album already, into a profile picture? No! Of course not! I have to download it from the album, to the hard drive, and then re-up it as a profile picture. I had to do this for my neighbor who is in her fifties. Also she cannot add photos at all, either I add them, or another neighbor does.

I have the distinct feeling that someone has cooked up all the menus and stuff without actually testing it on anyone.

babbehs

I went to visit my wee nephew a week or so ago, he's 9 months old, and capable of getting around not too badly - he doesn't walk but he crawls. He can pull himself up to a standing position, and when I was there, he leaned against the coffee table, and proceeded to pull items off the shelf one at a time and smash them against the table top. My mom said there's a difference between boys and girls from the start, and clearly this dude is "busy", as she'd term it. His tenacity at getting his hands on any item in reach, is adorable and frightening.

In other baby news, I just got some photos and news about my cousin's daughter... she is not home from the hospital yet as she is not over 5 lbs, I don't know the whole story but to see her with a little oxygen and feeding tube setup was kind of... I dunno, my cousin is a super nice guy and to think that they can't take their wee daughter home yet and cuddle her at home, is kind of bleh. I'm making yet another baby afghan, I think this is the 5th, and I have it down to a science how many balls of yarn of which size make up how many rows of crocheting. But it was fun to pick out the cute pink yarn! Other babies had unknown gender when I bought the yarn, or were boys. I got some yarn for a wee cardigan as well, it will be wee for sure because a baby who is 5-6 lbs will still fit newborn clothing. I'm terrified that any sweater I start for my nephew will be outgrown by the time I finish LOL but with this little girl I think I have some time, of course I hope she outgrows it quickly :)

wired for sound

My folks are moving... a long way...
they unloaded their stereo... on me! :D (:o)
It's a Technics setup, the speakers say 75 watts - it's rather nice and boomy. It was purchased likely in the early 80s, and our technophile neighbor helped my dad pick it out.
Right now I have Winamp wired into the Tape In phono jacks, and I'm re-experiencing some of my fave music through a new set of speakers, therefore with a new sound. I have never heard John Scofield's Uberjam so loud in my living room before.

I totally hadn't expected them to donate it to me, but I'm ever so pleased.
in other news, smog days are back, my allergies are acting up. I needed a refill of my Flonase spray inhaler or whatever it is, and because I hadn't realized how old the prescription is, I was told to get a new prescription.   I hate the chokey feeling I get and it will be a relief to get this all over and done with. I only use it on smog days but I'm miserable without it.

tear up the roots

My parents are moving... in 3 weeks... across the country. They sold the house fairly quickly, and the closing date was quick too. I am moving my crap out of their house like crazy... I wanted to scan in some of the photos in their albums but I will have to unpack them first. O.o