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While impishly closing one eye, |
"Look forward to it tomorrow." |
Let's see, I wonder what you're saying. |
"I'm planning to depart tomorrow morning though......" |
"Yes. That's why, I'm saying to look forward to it before you leave the country──tomorrow morning, let's meet up in front of the gate. |
Part 7 |
Then, time passed and the next morning arrived. |
I slowly walked on the main street──following back on the road I came with and headed towards the gate. While passing through the shopping district, watching the Magicians flying in the sky. While passing under a rope passing through between buildings like an arch. While feeling the sweet fragrance of the blooming flow... |
I continued to walk. |
So reluctant to part with it. |
But it's natural that if you walk, you will arrive at your destination. And I arrived near the gate. |
Noticing me, the gate guard bowed. I also gave a delayed bow. |
If I advanced just a bit more, I would be leaving this country. However, looking around, there was no sight of Fran-sensei. |
......As we had not specified the exact time, she might have not yet arrived. |
Unexpectedly, it may be better to leave the country without saying anything like this. |
I don't know what Fran-sensei will give me──but, well, judging from yesterday's talk, she probably plans to give me flowers. However, I will only become troubled by receiving it. |
When they rot and I have to discard them, it will feel empty. |
Also, whenever I see similar flowers, at that time, I would probably be reminded of Fran-sensei and this country. |
That's not a very good tendency as a traveler. |
Because I would become sad. |
If I leave like this, then it probably won't leave bitter feelings. |
In that case, it's after all better for me to leave like── |
I stopped the foot I was about to step forward in its tracks. |
It was because flower petals started to fall from the sky. Red, blue, yellow. Pink, violet. The petals of various colors fluttered down just like snow. Fluttered silently, while drifting a sweet fragrance. |
I immediately realized that something like this was impossible if you thought about it normally──and as I looked up, there was after all, her figure. |
"You were quite early──Elaina. Our preparations barely made in time." |
Around Fran-sensei who was waving at me, there were shapes of the students. They flew in the sky while dropping down the petals from the baskets they held in hands. |
Each and every one of them was smiling. |
Fran-sensei said from above the broom. "I do not have right to detain you who became a traveler by your own desire. This is the most what I can do." |
"Have you been pleased?" |
I replied. |
While Inhaling air with all my might, "Yes, absolutely!". |
And then, I started to walk. I passed while the multi-colored flower petals whirled around me. |
Fran-sensei called out to me, "The academy students and I will be cheering for your journey with all our hearts. Please don't ever forget that." |
"............" I replied as I gazed up at the sky, "I also won't forget about everyone!" |
Before long I stood in front of the gate. |
The gate guard bowed and opened the doors. |
Stretching beyond it were the gentle plains. |
Just one last thing──Fran-sensei said from the sky, "Let's meet again someday. Until then, farewell." |
She said such thing. |
Surely, she was smiling just like usual. |
That's why, I also returned the smile. |
Part 8 |
A broom traveled across the plains. |
The flowers shined as they received the bright sunlight and swayed to the blowing wind. The cloudless blue sky continued without end. |
The one mounting the broom was a Witch and also a traveler. |
Her age was still young, being in latter teens. |
Her ashen hair swayed and her azure eyes were directed towards the boundary between the never-ending grasslands and the sky. |
Wearing a black tricorne and a black robe, with a star-shaped brooch attached to her, she continued to fly while scattering the flowers. |
Pointing the broom towards the direction where there is the world yet to be seen. |
What kind of country will the next one be? What kind of people will I meet next? Will it be a country full of Magicians? Or will it be the country with excessively high prices? Or perhaps, the country that might be destroying itself. |
With such thoughts in mind, the traveler continued to fly. |
Who in the world was that traveler? |
It was me. |
Monday, January 03, 2011 |
DAY "ONE" A.K.A This is what you come up with after over 2 years of silence? |
The quotes are because this isn't the first thought per se, just the first one I got while having the opportunity to type it out... so it's not technically day number 1 |
There's a million reasons to panic... All as insignificant or as life changing as you choose to make them. Fact remains that millions of people did it before you and hopefully millions after you will (end-of-the-world events permitting) |
It might be too soon to write about it in the first place... Perhaps I haven't had the time to fully absorb and/or realize the impact of this step... |
I was telling "N" a couple of days back that finding someone in your late twenties makes you one step closer to what many might consider the good life... I've failed to mention to her that it also automatically gives you a statistical longevity advantage over those who found said someone (I refuse to use the term "the ... |
Is it luck? Number of (educated) trials? Sheer bloody determination to tough it out? I have an answer but since almost every persons answer to that question is bound to be a subjective, autobiographical one, I would rather keep my answer to myself... I personally have evidence against and for all 3 theories :) |
Laptops and Beauty marks on girls who resemble exes aside [which ex? Doesn't matter N ♥], I think its up for each person to discover the answer to that question on their own... I'm reminded? Of an old story about someone asking the old wise man the answer to some question and the old man sending him on several pointles... |
Update: It could also be The Karate Kid part 1 :) |
Soooooo, where was I? Yes, panicking. |
I'm OK with my own company... I keep myself in check, and generally before it gets too complicated as well... No one is perfect but we should all strive to be better, shouldn't we? In fact (religion aside) I believe in mini mistakes to help us do mini corrections on our course to "greatness"... Everybody wants to be gr... |
I have cyclical depression? Tidal shifts |
I like to refer to them as waves washing over me and any man worth his dinner knows you don't fight the tide, you swim and duck and such until you clear it... It'll be interesting to see how it goes with "N" ♥ around this year and with all the new factors |
P.s. It is also worth noting that those cycles are most apparent/vicious in Jan and late June early July. |
P.s Bardo :) It's not the first thing in over 2 years, just the first here :) |
If you were inquisitive as to what the Betsy DeVos education system would resemble, look no further than the wildly obnoxious “Fist Fight,” or you could just smash a brick upside your head; that almost sounds like a healthier practice. |
On the last day before summer vacation, high school teacher Andy Campbell [Charlie Day] perseveres in order to stay focused amid countless immature senior pranks. |
The rest of the teachers endure the chaotic madness with apathy, that is, except for one: Strickland [Ice Cube]. |
Feared by students and teachers alike, nobody would dare cross him. But when Campbell reluctantly gets Strickland fired, he’s challenged to a fist fight after school, a fight that spreads like wildfire across several social media sites. |
Weary of Strickland obliterating every bone in his body, Campbell spends the remainder of the school day forging wild solutions to put an end to fight before he ultimately makes friends with the pavement. |
Samantha Moore / Art Director |
Samantha Moore / Art Director |
How does one thoroughly articulate the hazardous alternate reality otherwise known as “Fist Fight?” |
It clearly attempts to pay homage to the 80s screwball comedy (specifically “Three O’Clock High”), in which characters pull off ridiculous (sometimes destructive) feats and yet, are exempt from any and all consequences for their actions. Oh, how times have changed. |
“Fist Fight” encompasses a world in which one could commit a grisly murder and receive a medal of commendation for doing so. |
Almost instantly, the school environment comes across as disingenuous; the sets consistently include a manufactured aura at all times, as with most artless studio comedies. |
A large slice of studio yuck-fests primarily exist to make a quick buck for everyone involved, throwing caution to the wind whether or not people will continue to cherish it three weeks after it’s initial release. |
What? Ice Cube and Charlie Day have a free afternoon to blemish their résumé? Get ‘em to the studio lot on the double! |
We’ve already established that reality is vacant from this movie, but the extreme lengths in which our two leads go to, guarantees zero support on either side of the fight. |
Strickland is a closet psychopath who, when pushed to his absolute breaking point, slowly walks out of a classroom and comes rushing in with an axe, swinging the sharpened blade numerous times against a student’s desk. Had the student stayed perfectly still in his seat, I’m thoroughly convinced that Cube would have cho... |
Of course, in this universe, he simply gets fired; there are no arrests and no charges, just a simple goodbye. |
And yet, he has the audacity to preach about what’s wrong with the current political climate among school administrations. |
By succumbing to blackmail and stooping to Strickland’s level, Campbell is no better, but there’s a key difference between the two; these quirks are meant to embody a progressive character arc. |
“Fist Fight” is chock full of such toxic messages throughout, especially regarding a school guidance counselor who regularly proclaims her need to have sex with the students. A few gems for your reading pleasure: |
“The news always leaves out the good part when the teacher seduces the student.” |
“I want that teenage d—.” |
“I want that teen-is.” (fill in the blanks for yourself) etc. |
At one point, I surprisingly lost track of how many instances in which Jillian Bell would make reference to teenage molestation with a hearty smile. Hearing any sort of laughter in these moments made me sick to my stomach. |
Not surprisingly, when it finally gets to the fist fight, it’s fairly entertaining, that is, for five minutes. |
An occasional snicker doesn’t excuse this lame excuse of a film (which should have been nothing more than a passable “SNL” fake trailer) for stretching out its utterly bleak worldview for ninety minutes. |
Overall, “Fist Fight” is a pile of ugly, mean-spirited nonsense that grossly misunderstands the basics of absurdism, uttering raunchy dialogue for the sake of getting a reaction. |
Rating: D- |
Matt Bilodeau can be cotacted at mbilodeau@kscquinox.com |
Friday, 8 April 2016 |
#70 - Sea Life Sydney Aquarium |
I'm not sure why, but we seem to quite often find ourselves in aquariums. I wouldn't describe us as aquarium enthusiasts, per se, but we do like doing stuff in general, and we seem to end up in lots of places where an aquarium is one of the main things to do. Ones that stand out are Monterey Bay Aquarium, Dubai Aquar... |
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