Tag Archives: India

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Movie Review)

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I don’t watch all that many movies. But when I’ve got a long plane ride, I might watch one or two. I usually have a hard time finding one I think will be worth the time. Since I can never sleep unless I’m lying down (or I’ve been up for over 24 hours and just too exhausted to stay awake any longer), I’m apt to try out  the in flight ‘entertainment system’ on the plane.

My flight home from Luanda to Frankfurt was 8 1/2 hours long. Then I had another 10 1/2 hour flight from Frankfurt to Houston. I didn’t really see ANYTHING worth watching at first glance. I flipped through the choices again and again, searching for something to keep my mind occupied (the book I was reading just wasn’t holding my interest).

I finally decided to try this film. It’s not something I usually would have watched. I usually prefer science fiction/fantasy, horror, or really silly comedy. (I also watched the ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ this trip home.)

I’m glad I did decide to watch the ‘Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’. It really was pretty funny. Not in an ‘in-your-face’ kind of way, but in a more subtle kind of way.

The idea behind it- of a fantastic retirement home in a faraway, exotic, cheap and affordable location- was very interesting to me. I’ve been looking for that myself in real life. I watched the movie to see how the characters dealt with the different things they’d come across in daily life in a foreign country.

I loved the movie. The actors, (Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Penelope Wilton and Dev Patel), all did a great job. I especially loved the way Muriel (Maggie Smith) grew into her new life. The director (John Madden) found the perfect settings and put it all together in a wonderful way. I really enjoyed myself. I laughed a lot, I even cried a couple of times. I’ve always wanted to visit India and this film has given me even more reasons to go. 🙂

I have a couple of friends I really hope I can get to watch this movie. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes an adventure, travel, learning new things, new cultures, about life, about yourself. I thought it was very inspiring and worth sharing.

Let me know if you’ve seen it already and what you thought.

WalkFree.org – The Movement to End Modern Slavery

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WalkFree.org – The Movement to End Modern Slavery.

I just got an email from Mother Jones about this campaign. I’ve known about and been interested in modern slavery for a while now. This is the first I’ve heard of this group Walk Free. It looks like they are worth supporting. I am totally against any kind of slavery and I think its just sickening that it is STILL going on in so many places around the world, including right here in the good ol’ USA.

I did sign the petition even though I have some reservations about it. I’ll probably get some shit for saying this but…

I don’t really think I know enough about other peoples lives to be the one to make decisions for them. IF they are actually making these decisions for themselves, if they think they have no other options, then maybe they should be allowed to do that. Yeah, I can sit here in my nice cozy (comparatively) life here in America, I have no real idea of what life is like for those poor people in India. I do know that when I was a kid, I worked 2-3 jobs to support myself (illegally). I was very grateful that the people who employed me were willing to do it anyway. It gave me options and a way to escape from a lot of very bad situations with my family. I just wonder if the prohibition of allowing work before 14 is going to backfire in ways we can’t know yet. It is pretty much a given that any governmental action requires the use of force, most of such actions will cause the Law of Unintended Consequences to come into play. I don’t know what is worse, the slavery or what could come about from trying to fix it with the use of force.

Any thoughts? comments? anybody from India on here that can tell me more about this???

Cargo Ships on Beaches…Really? | gCaptain

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Cargo Ships on Beaches…Really? | gCaptain

I always thought it would be so cool to drive one of these big ships up on the beach! I mean really, the whole point of shipping is NOT to run your ship aground.

I do understand that there are some horrendous working conditions there for these people. I also understand that the people who take these jobs are desperate for ANY kind of job to support themselves and their families. I know when you’re desperate, you might not want to be too picky about what you will and won’t put up with. Maybe people might want to figure out what is the reason why they are so desperate in the first place- someone mentioned that there were too many people (comments below article). Yeah, that is the bottom line really. These ship breaking jobs are actually good paying jobs for over there. Yes, I’m sure it could be made safer and would save some lives, but look at what we have done here as far as safety goes- we are regulated to death! I would love to see the comparison statistics on safety between those ship breakers and the ones here (IF we have any left). I don’t think it would really make ALL that much difference. I notice the people working all over Asia on bamboo scaffolding, no shoes, no safety belts, no hard hats, no nothing except the knowledge that if they get hurt, no one is going to help them. They seem to do just as good as we do on their accident rates. All without putting everybody in the “safety” straightjackets like they did here. We can’t do anything anymore without filling out reams of paperwork and dressing up like we’re going to outerspace or something 🙁