Categories: friends, prayer, parish-life, food, cinema, theatre, life
Date: 08 June 2009 10:17:50
A glorious Monday here in Sin City to round out the Queen's Birthday Long Weekend. I spent the day mowing, pruning and cleaning -- and it was rather pleasant all up: especially being out in the sun. A cool change is on its way though -- we may get snow on the mountains west of Sydney over the next few days and I imagine it may get rather chilly at fellow Wiblogger Miss Lisa's ancestral home. I will be heading down in that direction this Friday evening to watch The Wizard of Oz put on by the Southern Highlands Youth Arts Council. A colleague is the director and we have a good group from our company going down for various performances. Looking forward to it.
Yesterday, as well as the Pentecost Sunday services, with the Kneeling Prayers immediately afterwards[*], our had a parish picnic to celebrate the design of a church building on the property purchased -- and the purchase of the property too. For those of you unfortunate in not knowing any Middle Eastern persons, and why I used 'unfortunate' you will soon see, as in many other non-Western cultures, food plays a rather large part in any celebration. In fact, I'd say it plays a primary part. Not only were the tables groaning under the weight of food, two kebab machines were also brought -- necessitating the bringing of a petrol generator to run them. Add to that all manner of Middle Eastern meals, sweets and plenty of fruit -- and the word 'picnic' seems rather inadequate to describe the spread before us.
I was glad I went for a number of reasons. Long-suffering readers know I do not like crowds, even small ones, and I often avoid such functions. But I had a great time -- even if I left after 2-and-a-bit hours as I needed some time on my own. It was great to not only celebrate with wonderful food, but also to catch up with some parishioners and to get to know others a bit better. My Godfather, a beloved friend and brother in Christ, and his wife also came -- they are at a different parish -- and it was great to see them again and to catch up: she is expecting a baby in 2 months [the first] so they are obviously very exicted. It was also great to have an in-depth conversation with my Godfather, especially on a particular struggle I am currently facing. As always, he has wisdom, compassion and insight, and helped a great deal; I am blessed in having him as a Godfather, and more than that, a friend.
Saturday was spent relaxing mainly: I watched, and enjoyed 2 Days in Paris. I found it far better than I expected: and given I had heard great things that was a surprise as expectations can sometimes lead to disappointment. All credit to Julie Delpy who not only wrote, produced and directed the film, but also starred in it alongside Adam Goldberg. The film is about a couple, Marion and Jack, who after a sadly unromantic trip to Venice, decide to stay in Paris for two days before heading back to New York. You may think Paris, being a gloriously beautiful and romantic city, is the emphasis of this film: in fact, it rather takes a back seat to the insanely wonderful characters of Marion and Jack, who are so very original and very quirky, and their thorough and complete examination of the differences in culture [Marion is French; Jack American], gender and people in general. It's an in-your-face ride, no doubt about it; but it is also such a wonderfully hilarious ride that I am set to buy the DVD when I can -- I loved it that much. A great film. [Which also reminds me I want to get Odette Toulemonde, another French film I loved and which I've been looking for on DVD in Oz for ages.]
A great long weekend all up: hopefully I am ready to start the working week tomorrow...
[*] you may wonder how prayers could be known as "Kneeling Prayers": obviously, we kneel; not-so-obviously, from Pascha to Pentecost there is a rule of no kneeling at prayer in the Orthodox Church -- these prayers re-introduce the availability [penance? :) ] of kneeling.