'Notes On A Scandal'

Hi Geeksters :)

This has been a long week. I have to admit that it's been a while since I've posted (I feel so bloody guilty about it, sorry) but I will make up for it with other posts in store for you guys. Thus, today I will be writing a book review about a book that I finished reading about 6 weeks ago. I have to confess that this post was a bit hard for me to write, and you'll know why in a second. This book is called 'Notes On A Scandal' and it's written by Zoe Heller.

I came across this book in a fair and my dad pointed it out to me. He reminded me that it was made into a film starring Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench and that it was nominated for the Academy Awards. With that notice I remembered its brief synopsis, so I bought it.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would. This is strange for me because I rarely don't like a book. To be honest I was eager to end the book (in a negative way).

Firstly, a reason for my indisposition towards this book, is that I came to find that it didn't contain a plot and a link of events. I don't know if it makes sense, but I found it to be slightly boring and I felt that the plot was kept at the same level, there was no climax.

Like what the title suggests it's about a scandal, involving Sheba a 40 year old wife, mother and art teacher who starts to befriend and get SUPER CLOSE with one of the students, Steven. She also befriends the lonely, unsociable History teacher Barbara, who's the only one who knows of this fling. Barbara's the one who supported her from the very start till the newspapers started to attack Sheba. Although, she didn't agree with this scandalous action. We readers knew about the affair from the very start. We've been fed with personal thoughts and information from Barbara's POV, which I didn't find quite exciting. I slightly liked the scene, in particular, when Barbara went out to a "date" with Bangs, which was a change of pace.

The theme of loneliness stands out impeccably in this book. It's found in both characters. Sheba acts out on her solitude by going out with a much younger boy who's at least 25 years her junior. Meanwhile, Barbara tries to stand by Sheba's expectations of a friend by supporting her, continuously listening to her problems and trying to help. Out of the two characters, Barbara's loneliness stands out. Barbara believes that Sheba is unconscious of her loneliness, but in reality, Sheba is just as lonely as her. That may be the reason, after all, of her thinking and feeling loved by Steven. There's also the theme of jealousy. Barbara wanted attention, but she didn't wish any pity. Another theme is betrayal, when Barbara spilled the beans about her affair to Bangs.

Sheba's situation is a bit understandable. Her behaviour is unnaturally realistic. We also find this reflection of an Anna Karenina storyline. You understand that Sheba married this older guy at a young age and probably forgot what "being loved " meant. Still, she doesn't feel as if she's mistaking the laws of nature while she's going out with Steven. Her affair was her weakness.

Overall, I would give it a 4 out of 10. I hope that the film is better, due to the fact that it gained Oscar nominations. Did any of you read this book? Did you like it, unlike me? What were your thoughts about it?

Thanks and love,
Rakela

Credit : Google Images

Hello guys,

So today i was slightly busy (even in the past few days) but still i wanted to write one small special post to our readers and even passersby.

The Expectations Of Teenagers

Hey you guys :))

Right now I'm writing this on my parents' bed with my mother and sister giggling at something irrelevant under the Air Con on one of the hottest days that I have ever lived to survive through! LIKE ... EVER! (Taylor Swift moment). So, please stay tuned for my scribbles about a teenage life.

This topic, which is the expectations that any girl or boy might find her/his way upon, mostly in their teenage years or even later on, was brought up when I found a Tumblr post of a badge with this sentence on : " I shaved my legs for this?" This may sound silly and extraneous, but it got me thinking about how people expect us to do certain things which either : 1) we don't feel like to, or, 2) we aren't capable of doing them. Not the shaving legs though haha. Admittedly I'm not the best at shaving ... TMI

This is my point of view : These expectations can be mainly found in society itself.

The downs of being a teenager is that parents and family start to await and anticipate for you to, basically, grow up. They expect us to be more responsible, to be more serious and, sadly, stop acting like a child. Another example is when people expect more than we can actually deliver. Let's elaborate. Imagine : you wanting to have a simple occupation, because it's what you want to be and it's what you love, but the people around you want you to have another greater profession which is totally the other direction than your original thoughts.In certain situations this factor is real. The main thing that has changed in our lives when we had this transition from childhood to teenage years is the type of expectations we get approached with. People expect us to behave and dress appropriately when all we want to do is don't give a damn about it and have fun ... At least that's what I think.

Okay I couldn't help myself but get distracted by Jesus Navas' beautiful blue eyes. Note to self : don't get out of point and don't let cute guys distract you from your writing-zone!!

We already know of the MANY problems that society imposes on teenagers. This is one of the hundreds. Society wants us to have this perfect image. This is a huge problem with the result of being fake. Now, everybody might have different views on this and I respect them equally. This is just my point of view. Teenager are so-called expected to be this size, to have straight sleek hair without any baby hair poking out (no judging here), to have no spots on their faces (everybody has them and you shouldn't be shy/insecure about them), in order to be in a perfect state. That's not reality, we mustn't bother ourselves to reach these obligations
. Our main goal shouldn't be to please society but to please ourselves. You can do anything you want with yourself, as long as you'll be happy and it wouldn't be harmful. That's the most important thing. Everybody is their unique self.

I hope that this came as a piece of help/advice to you Geeksters. This was just one opinion so I'd like to hear yours as well. :)))

Croissants, daisies and love
from Rakela
xx

Credit : Pinterest

Short Story No. 1

The dentist who loved chocolate

This is the story of Mr Milligan and his wonderful world of chocolate.

Sharing is Writing Short Stories : Rachel and Rakela Write :)

Hello fellow geeksters,

Rachel here. How are you ? So, today I am writing a blog post about other future blog posts. As some of you may know, I really love writing  and  so what  is a better way to spice up this small corner of the blog with some short stories? Come on, Let's face it : This thing is almost empty. So that's why, every now and then I will  post some short stories with only a small plot in mind :  A name and occupation. I think Rakela will also be writing a few of her stories down here.

Maleficent Film Review

Hello fellow geeksters,

It’s been like more than 11 days since I posted something (sry!!). I just am in my final year at school, so I have a lot of things to do like projects, fieldwork, and homework (yes I do have summer homework.)etc...

But yet, I still have time to watch one short movie. I’d prefer to call it Maleficent.

'American Gangster'

Hello fellow Geeksters,

I've got a feeling that it's going to be a long one today. So grab your Sherlock Holmes hat, cuddle up with a nice cup of tea, and get ready to investigate with me! ;)

Today we're going to chat about a film made by one of the best and most influencing directors of all time, Ridley Scott. Sir "Unbelievably Amazing" Ridley Scott has done a vast number of movies that have to be mentioned in any Top Movies list which will inspire any on who loves and enjoys the pleasure in watching movies. That's why today we'll be discussing, while our jaws will be dropping and eyes will be popping (see what I just did there?), when we read about the wonderful tactics by which Ridley Scott used to direct the film 'American Gangster'.

With this being my own first blog post specifically about films, I'd like to express and, in a way, show off my "relationship" with films. (I'm already feeling eyes being rolled at my ridiculousness haha ;) : Films are my passion. Whenever some friend or parent brings the boundless topic of  films into the subject, I'll be completely hooked. Since I was a child, I had the habit of criticising actors. I would comment and say; "Come on! You could've made it more believable!" Anyway, in my family, movies are part of the routine. My dad used to have his own DVD rental shop, so you can imagine how fun it was for me to visit a paradise filled with the most amazing creatures (okay, now I'm just being weirder than usual). Every night, my dad would bring us a different film to see. My point is this : Films managed to make me happy whenever I felt down. They sculpted my desires to act, direct and write. They nourished me with creativity, entertainment, inspiration and interaction with the characters. They may mean all kinds of different things to different people. They produce and show the different interpretations of human kind. They make us laugh, cry and sometimes they make us reach a whole new perspective of the world. This is the true significance of movies.

Anyway, let's not go out of point!

The film is actually a true story and it's set in the 1970s during the Vietnam War, New York America. It's about an honest "good-cop" detective trying to bring down Frank Lucas who structured the organisation of selling and supplying the very popular drug "Blue Magic". This is quite an impressive film which was gripping and wonderfully done.

The character of Frank Lucas was really elaborate, the type in which you have to watch till the end of the film to understand him. What I noticed in him was that he repeatedly used the catchphrase "My man". My interpretation and thoughts about this are that if you came by to notice, he used the quote in times where he was dealing with, either competition or defence. I think that his "My man" intended to intimidate the opposing characters. It was imposed in a way as if he wanted to say "I'll be back for you" (usually towards those who owed money to Bumpy or towards detectives) where he's showing repugnance and anger. Another fact about Frank Lucas is that he took great care of his family. Proof of this underestimated fact is : 1) He bought his mother a mansion and 2) provided money for their needs. But the greatest proof is when his nephew told him that he wanted to be just like him. If you observed well (which I'm sure of Geeksters), you would've noticed the sign of concern on Frank's face. He was actually troubled and didn't want his nephew to depend on the same dirty business. He wanted the best for his family. Another thing to mention, is that when he was about to go after Trupo to kill him, his dear mother made it clear that he wasn't the type that went about killing cops. He respected her enough to not go after him. The scene where Frank beats the crap out of Huey, shows the true character of his blindness over his wrongdoing. Denzel Washington is an amazing, thrilling and exceptionally good actor. Sr. Scott once again chose correctly!

On another note, Russell Crowe was equally astounding. He portrayed the character of Richie Roberts. His character was quite a workaholic. He tried to balance his job trying to track down Frank and also trying to beat his ex-wife at court. With the character of Richie, we see how much of a good cop he is, while he's competing with the bad cops (one of them is Josh Brolin. No need to elaborate on his awesomeness). We empathize with him and feel his struggle to catch Lucas. Russell Crowe is in a way a male muse for Ridley Scott (which is in no way a bad thing! Geniuses think alike and both have amazing beards. Don't judge me I love beards!) He's directed Gladiator, A Good Year and Robin Hood alongside Russell with the lead role. Russell has done an impeccably and excellently well-played imitation. No one could've played a Russell Crowe part any better, in ANY movie).

In the last 5/15 minutes of the film, we finally watch Frank and Richie's meeting. At first, you may think how much of a bad ass Frank would be by threatening him. Then, it turns out that they unite and work together. A Roald Dahl moment - EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.

In this film we also see a breakout performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who proofed from the very start how much of a star he would turn out to be.

I had to include this in my review : While listening to a piece of the director's commentary, I found out that the scene where Trupo comes out the front door to see his beautiful car getting exploded to pieces, wasn't discussed with Josh Brolin. So this little stunt was totally unplanned and it showed how good of an actor he is, since he was composed (as in surprised) and still in his character's shoes.

On a slightly negative tone, I thought that the film was a bit monotonic. I'm not sure if it was just me, but I thought that the movie lacked from one element : SUSPENSE. I knew that Richie had the capability of catching him and that he would later on do that. It may be that I'm incorrect, especially since it is difficult to do this since it's based on true events, but I still wanted to share this thought. At the end of the day, this was a really good movie and it was clear that it was a hard movie to shoot, but the hard work paid of.

Thanks fellow Geeksters  for letting me share my LONG (emphasis on long) thoughts. Please don't hesitate to comment on your own opinions. I would love to hear different perspectives on this movie. I salute you Geekster :))

Love,
Rakela
xx

Credit : Just Jared

                                                                       Credit : Hd-Wallpapers