Date: 18 June 2006 12:34:19
I am a proud uncle. Skye has a DVD with all manner of Kids' Christian and Nursery-Rhyme Songs: and she has her favourites -- The Wheels on the Bus being one of them. She dances around when it comes on and she even can do the actions: she moves her little hands in a circle for "The wheels on the bus go round and round..."; she bobs down and up for "The people on the bus go up and down..."; she brings her hands to her eyes and pretends to rub them for "The babies on the bus go, 'Waa waa waa'"; she brings her hand to her mouth and 'shooshes' for "The mummies on the bus go, 'Ssshhh ssshhh ssshhh'"; she mimics hitting a horn and manages a 'Beee' for "The horn on the bus goes 'Beep beep beep'; and she throws a thumb over her shoulder for "The driver on the bus says, 'Move on back'" It's a joy and delight to watch. I was amazed the first time and played it over and over again: she didn't get sick of it. I loved it.
She also liked a song with animals in a zoo being shown and she enjoyed the old Sunday School Song (it must be old as I remember it!), The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock -- and she does the rain coming down and floods coming up actions. I am so proud of her.
Apart from singing kids' songs with my niece, I caught up with some relatives from Tasmania and watched a movie. It was great to see the relatives again: they are just as I remember them when we last visited them down in Tasmania many, many years ago.
The movie I saw, and greatly enjoyed, was Wah-Wah. I can highly recommend it: it's funny, it's sad, oh so sad at times, and it's a sheer delight to watch. Richard E Grant directed the movie, which is based on his own experiences as the son of the Minister of Education in Swaziland: Wah-Wah is set against the backdrop of the handover of power by the British in Swaziland in the late 1960s. The events that unfold are seen through the eyes of the young boy who is caught in the midst of his parent's unhappiness, sees his mother run off with the neighbour, is sent to boarding school, and returns two years later to find his dad has remarried.
Fantastic acting by all, as I think you generally always find in British movies. Emily Watson as the second-wife, a brash and sassy American, is a joy to watch; Julie Waters has some of the best lines of humour; and Gabriel Byrne puts in a particularly great, and to me at times heart-wrenching, performance as the father unable to cope and who turns to drink and violence. Nicholas Hoult, who was in About a Boy, seems like he will continue to be a fine actor: I was easily drawn into and identified with his character. The human emotions come out so very clearly and I don't think one could be anything but drawn into this rollercoaster of a tale: well done to all and to Richard E Grant on his debut feature. A wondrous movie.