"Trading Places" (1983) with "Soul Man" (1986)

Need a good laugh and it's mission accomplished with both these films. A high-five to the perfect duo!

Randolph (Ralph Bellamy) and Mortimer ( Don Ameche) Duke are two rich brothers who own a

successful brokerage firm in Philadelphia. Louis Winthorpe ll (Dan Aykroyd) works for the brothers as a commodity broker and leads a privileged, upper-middle class life. On the opposite end of the social scale is Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy), a street opportunist looking to make a quick buck. The Duke brothers encounter Ray and an opportunity opens up for a bet. They believe that under the right circumstances even a poor person like Ray could make good and become another Louis Winthorpe. Soon Ray is living Louis's privileged life - a company owned home, a butler at his disposal, a chauffeur driven car and entry into an elite tennis club while Louis is out on the streets having lost his home, friends and fiancé and all his money. Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis), a prostitute, after hearing his story feels sorry for him and takes him in. From here on starts Louis's mission to get his life back on track. A perfect cocktail of "gigantically hilarious" proportions with Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Trading Places is based on Mark Twain's "Prince and the Pauper", an early 19th Century publication.
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Mark Watson's (C. Thomas Howell) dream has come true - he has been accepted into law school at Harvard. But this comes at a cost! When Mark Watson gets his college acceptance letter his happiness is short-lived. Even though he is from a wealthy family Mark is forced to pay his way through college and this seems highly improbable. So Mark decides to apply for a  scholarship, which is incidentally only for African American students. Surprise, surprise - Mark is as white as they come. But a man's got to do what a man's got to do and Mark decides to cheat. Mark exceeds a tanning pill dosage and  now seemingly Black he must face Harvard life. On his scholastic journey he meets and falls for Sarah Walker (Ray Dawn Chong) and is greeted with a few surprises that forces him to question his ways.
Soul-searching and funny!

A mi hermana, te extraño ( To my sister, I miss you .. )

This is for my little sister .... Having been the older one, it was a privilege and a matter of pride. We are not too far apart in age and have grown up together having been an important part of each others lives. There are such fond memories that come to mind and it seems like only yesterday - we would stay awake long after the lights were turned out, giggling and swapping stories in the dark. I loved watching horror films but I was scared s#$&-less! I would control the remote and I would insist on watching the film on mute. With my eyes clamped shut and my fingers in my ears my sister would be so upset at not being able to "enjoy" the movie, threatening me that this was the last horror film we would be watching together. I haven't changed! But I wonder at her bravery and that is something she has taught me. I remember the cravings of a midnight snack and making our shared favorite, a steaming bowl of instant noodles that the two of us would enjoy huddled under a blanket. With parents away at work and being left to our devices, we would share our earphones of our one and only Sony Walkman (yes you heard it loud and clear, I do belong to that time) and we would enjoy the read-alongs together. Helping each other with homework, celebrating birthdays, Easters and Christmas and planning exciting gifts and more so sharing life's ups and downs and secrets that could not be entrusted with anyone else ...

I cannot do justice as our whole lives can't be summed up in a few words.

Time has flown and the years have passed, we both have our families and distance has us on different time zones. We each have our share of challenges to face and we don't have the luxury of being able to run to each other anymore. But the bond that we share continues to keep us glued together and something we hope to pass on to future generations.  

And ... there were showers

During the homily at church last Sunday, father asked a very pertinent question! He wanted to know if anyone from the congregation had witnessed a miracle that day and to raise their hand. I didn't have to think too much for I had an answer .. I did have a miracle .. The long - awaited monsoons had finally arrived and I was alive and truly well to experience it.

The skies had been dark and ominous for a few days now .. The clouds were laden and hovered, waiting to spill their drops onto the parched earth. I was sitting by the window when the first drops fell .. Sipping my tea, watching and listening to the music of rain drops as they pitter-pattered down was a miracle in itself. There it was - nature's attempt at gifting us a clean slate after a brutal summer, a new season full of the promise of new life. The birds are reveling, the flowers were in bloom  and soon the rains had rendered the air crisp and cool.

With eyes turned heaven-ward and a prayer on my lips I said "Thank you" for the gloriously cool drops  ... I can only stop to gaze and appreciate the wonder of it all ..  

A self click during a road trip



One of my favorite "rain" numbers

Cant Help Falling In Love ~Patrick Wilson (Conjuring 2)

Elvis in a rich baritone gave us a song that for years later will still catch your breath.

But James Warren was a close second.  

The Conjuring 2 (2016)

I absolutely love 'The Conjuring' and it is one of my favorite horror flicks. 'Hide and clap', demons crouched over cupboards, behind doors, hanging and floating bodies ... I watch the movie every time it is on television and so you can only imagine how much I've anticipated the release of the second part of the film. So with bated breath and fingers crossed I watched this film on a cloudy morning at the cinemas. Now why morning? Good question! Just a precaution on my part that by nightfall, the effects of the film would have faded substantially. So with goose-bumps, here goes ..
The year is 1977! Ed (Patrick Wilson)  and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) continue to give talks on television and at universities on the paranormal. However during a séance, Lorraine gets a vision convincing her that she no longer wants any part in exorcisms.  However, their help is sought by the church to investigate claims of paranormal and demonic activities in Enfield, England. Here the Hodgson families is convinced their house is haunted. Will Lorraine be able to get over her premonitions to help the family in need? I can't tell you any more and spoil it for ya ...
James Wan has managed to up the ante on the suspense, fright  and creepy element. It is a nail-biting and hands down, horrific movie. Please do watch!
Oh and by the way, I am back to sleeping with the lights on, again!

Word for the day :-
dendritic - having a branched form resembling a tree

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

This feels like it happened an aeon ago, but I vividly remember the morning of one particular birthday. I woke up to a beautiful, bright and sunny day. Next to my pillow, gift-wrapped in a lovely pink was a little package. The size and shape told me it was a book. I tore into the gift and Lewis Carrol's, 'Alice in Wonderland' was all mine. So years later when this book was made into a movie, watch I did and now when the sequel came out I told myself that this one I could not miss.

It's Memorial Day and we thought what better way to end the long weekend, so off to fantasy world it was. After six years, it was good to watch and remember Alice.

Alice's father is no more and the family is in deep financial stress. Alice risks losing her father's ship, on board of which she has travelled the high seas having enjoyed many adventures. Alice returns from a trip to China and gate-crashes Hamish Ascot's, her ex-fiancé's, party. He has taken over her father's company and she hopes to wrestle back their family home in exchange for the ship. There Alice follows a butterfly, Absolem, through a mirror  and returns to Underland. Alice's help is sought after by the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and other well wishers to save The Mad Hatter's (Johnny Depp) life. Hatter believes his family was killed during the attack of Jabberwocky Day. So Alice has to fight Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) and steal the Chronosphere to time-travel to the past, in the hopes of finding Hatter's missing family and in turn saving his life.

It's goodbye to Alice, Hatter, White Queen and Queen of Hearts.

So follow Alice through the looking glass and wait for the fantastical adventure to begin .. and remember, hold  on tight...

Word for the day :-
anathema - something or someone that one vehemently dislikes
and also
a formal curse by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine.

Una canción desesperada - a song of despair

It was the evening of Mother's day and I was at my mum's for dinner. We were just about  done with a scrumptious meal and the telephone rang. I received heartbreaking news - A beautiful woman, a gifted teacher, a loving wife and the doting mother of two beautiful girls, had been taken from this world. My maternal grandma, who is the oldest of four siblings had lost the youngest and the only other survivor of the brood. Grandma cried with the initial shock, but, being the strong woman that she is, she got a hold of her self and we collectively began to reminisce ....

Granny remembered carrying her sister, fondly called Paapa (baby), as a little child and being a surrogate mother to her. They come from a family that loves movies, and now that the 🐈 is out of the bag, you know where I get the obsession from. I would get reviews of latest releases whenever Paapa and I would speak. Anyone who knew her would never forget her easy and radiant smile that was always waiting to burst forth and which could light up the darkest corners. Paapa was classy and always dressed to perfection, an epitome of elegance and good taste. She was an amazing cook and she prepared finger-licking good fish pickles, biryanis - to name a few favorites. She never hesitated to part with recipes when asked. She had a green thumb and a little thriving garden to prove that. She never hesitated to give of her time, advice or help. She was always a patient teacher. Being an avid reader she introduced me to my now favorite crime writer.
And she was married to the love of her life with whom she had spent 50 glorious years. They shared a true passion - travelling. These globe-trotters had many beautiful stories and pictures of their adventures together. She was a wonderful homemaker with a beautiful home filled with souvenirs and she was always kind enough to remember her family and would thoughtfully pick something up for everyone.

Her niece gave a touching eulogy, likening Paapa to an angel - an angel who had flitted into our lives, an angel who lived like one and with a gentle whisper of her wings, when she was called she flitted away like one.
There was no time to prepare for the days ahead making it an uphill task for the family.

Being a fan of Pablo Neruda I am fond of this particular poem:
When I die I want your hands on my eyes:

a new dawn, a new hope, a new life

I want the light and the wheat of your beloved hands

to pass their freshness over me one more time

to feel the smoothness that changed my destiny.

I want you to live while I wait for you, asleep,

I want for your ears to go on hearing the wind,

for you to smell the sea that we loved together

and for you to go on walking the sand where we walked.

I want for what I love to go on living

and as for you I loved you and sang you above everything,

for that, go on flowering, flowery one,

so that you reach all that my love orders for you,

so that my shadow passes through your hair,

so that they know by this the reason for my song.

 --Pablo Neruda, Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada. Cien Sonetos de Amor. Plaza y Janés. Ave Fénix 205-2. Sexta edición, junio 1998. 

Keeping the family in our prayers .. 

                                                                                            Pic By Jessica Jones