Andrew Kightlinger's Le Blog

OSCAR PREDICTIONS

2011-02-19T22:25:00.000-08:00

IN RED: WILL WIN

IN BLUE: WHAT I THINK SHOULD WIN

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

This category is a toss up between The King's Speech and The Social Network. Social Network will be revered years from now as a defining movie of the 2000s. King's Speech will be long forgotten 10 years from now as a good but ultimately safe Oscar pick. If The Social Network, doesn't win, I'll be disappointed. But I fear that The King's Speech has somehow gained steam and will win the big award.

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening (The Kids are All Right)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

I'm sorry, but Portman sucks in the Black Swan. She delivered a surface level performance with no subtlety whatsoever. Black Swan is an interesting but overrated film, and the love for Portman's melodramatic role will forever be remember as a major Oscar faux-pas. Jennifer Lawrence gave the bravest performance of the year, and if not her, Annette Bening deserves an Oscar for her nuanced performanced in Kids.

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)

Firth is great in King's Speech, but he did better work last year for A Single Man, and I think he'll do better after this. Eisenberg's performance in Social Network is staggering...he disappears into the role and is working 1000% of the time, even when he isn't the focus of the scene. But Firth will win.

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale (The Fighter)
John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)
Jeremy Renner (The Town)
Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right)
Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

Bale will win this. Upset maybe by Rush, but I think Bale will win. He deserves it and gave the best supporting performance. I wouldn't mind seeing John Hawkes take it either.

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Leo is great in The Fighter and I'll be fine if she wins. But Steinfeld was revelatory in True Grit, though the role SHOULD be considered a lead. And if Bonham Carter wins, so help me...

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 will win, but I'd say that either How to Train Your Dragon could certainly sneak by. Or The Illusionist could as well. But TS3 is a safe bet. I'd rather see Tangled up there.

Best Documentary Short Subject
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Poster Girl is only truly engaging one in my opinion.

Best Short Film (Animated)
Day & Night Teddy Newton
The Gruffalo Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
Let's Pollute Geefwee Boedoe
The Lost Thing Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) Bastien Dubois

I admit bias on this one for Madagascar, but they are actually quite good. But The Gruffalo seems like the most awards-friendly. But I'd jump for joy to see Madagascar win.

Best Short Film (Live Action)
The Confession Tanel Toom
The Crush Michael Creagh
God of Love Luke Matheny
Na Wewe Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143 Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Its shot overseas and the story is compelling. It will take the prize. An win by Wish 143 or The Crush could also happen.

Achievement in Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

Inception should take all of the design categories. It deserves it.

Achievement in Cinematography
Black Swan (Matthew Libatique)
Inception (Wally Pfister)
The King's Speech (Danny Cohen)
The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)
True Grit (Roger Deakins)

Deakins should have won years ago (Jesse James anyone?) and will probably win for his tremendous work on True Grit. But Wally Pfister really did some amazing stuff in Inception and deserves it.

Achievement in Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)
I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)
The King's Speech (Jenny Beaven)
The Tempest (Sandy Powell)
True Grit (Mary Zophres)

I HATED Alice in Wonderland, but that wasn't the costume designer's fault, and she deserves it. The King's Speech could be boring choice on this.

Achievement in Directing
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
David O. Russell (The Fighter)
Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)

Fincher made a movie about Facebook a thrill ride. He deserves outright. If Tom Hooper wins, I'll be depressed. The King's Speech was a good movie, but it could have easily been an HBO film.

Best Documentary Feature
Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)
Gasland Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)
Inside Job Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)
Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)
Waste Land Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects)

Banksy's film is a hoot, but Inside Job will take it because of its relevance.

Achievement in Makeup
Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman

I HATED The Wolfman, but the make-up was impressive.

Achievement in Film Editing
Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)
The Fighter (Pamela Martin)
The King's Speech (Tariq Anwar)
127 Hours (Jon Harris)
The Social Network (Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall)

The best edited film of the year...bar none.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Biutiful (Mexico)
Dogtooth (Greece)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Hors la Loi (Algeria)

I assume it's good...my one uninformed pick.

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)
Inception (Hans Zimmer)
The King's Speech (Alexandre Desplat)
127 Hours (A.R. Rahman)
The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)

A groundbreaking score that moves scoring into a more digital age. Desplat is the upset here but he is one of my least favorite composers and does nothing memorable in King's Speech. Heck, he even ruined Harry Potter 7.0's score this past year.

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
"Coming Home" from Country Strong Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
"I See the Light" from Tangled Music and Lyric by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
"If I Rise" from 127 Hours Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

TS3 will win because it's Randy Newman, but Tangled's songs will be remembered years from now.

Achievement in Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

Inception for sure. Otherwise, I'd pick Unstoppable.

Achievement in Sound Mixing
Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

Inception will win this, but Social Network also did a solid job.

Achievement in Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

Inception delivered the most seamless visual effects. It's a travesty that the fake looking Alice is even nominated. Just because your movie is wall-to-wall effects doesn't mean it deserves a nomination.

Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours (Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle)
The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)
Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)
True Grit (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
Winter's Bone (Debra Granik and Anne Rossellini)

The safest bet of the night.

Original Screenplay
Another Year (Mike Leigh)
The Fighter (Paul Attanasio, Lewis Colich, Eric Johnson, Scott Silverand Paul Tamasy)
Inception (Christopher Nolan)
The Kids are All Right (Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko)
The King's Speech (David Seidler)

If think Nolan deserves this for wrapping his head around the plot, though he lays it on thick with that bloated 30 minutes. Another Year also would be nice. But it seems King's Speech has the momentum.

2010's BEST & WORST

2010-12-18T07:19:00.000-08:00

BEST & WORST MOVIES OF 2010
____________________

THE TOP 10

1. Winter's Bone
An unflinching look into the lives of a lesser known America. The screenplay is perfect and Jennifer Lawrence deserves the Best Actress Oscar over any contender this year.

2. The Social Network
Fincher took what was essentially a deposition-turned-screenplay into a riveting character study that will be remembered twenty years from now as a landmark turn-of-the-century movie. The only thing that would keep it from being completely iconic is Fincher's visual restraint, which is unusual for him. Eisenberg is deserving of the Best Actor Oscar for creating a character that is both despicable and empathetic. People accuse the role of being too simple, but that's the beauty of it...Eisenberg gets lost in it.

3. Waiting for Superman
Perhaps the most important movie of the year in terms of its message. Some teachers don't like the message because they won't admit the system's flaws. But this is saying is that instead of inventing Charter schools, why can't every public school in America be held to a high standard? And it's riveting storytelling to top it off.

4. Inception
Despite an over-bloated last half hour, Nolan's dream-scape masterpiece is still a spellbinding feat in original visionary storytelling.

5. Green Zone The most underrated movie of the year is also its best action movie. Unfairly compared to the Bourne saga, this film is actually light years better than any of those films. It's riveting and relevant, which yet another rock solid performance from Damon.

6. The King's Speech The feel-good movie of the year also educated on a little known subject of World War history. The acting is sublime and Rush surely deserves an Oscar for his nuanced performance as Lionel Logue. Firth deserved it last year for "A Single Man", but he's still amazing in this.

7. The Ghost Writer
Another overlooked movie from 2010, this is Polanski's best movie in years and the lead actors turn in some of the best performances of their careers. Thought-provoking and intense.

8. Mother
A Korean-language tour-de-force. The second best performance by actress this year is by Hye-Ja Kim. A slow burning but completely engaging who-dun-it.

9. Piranha 3D
Strange pick, I know. But here is a movie that knows exactly what it is and plays that card to the n'th degree. It's fast, fun, and bloody disgusting. You don't even need the 3D to enjoy the camp awesomeness of this first-rate creature feature.

10. Black Swan
A confounding film because its visual splendor outweighs its overall simplicity. I'm not sure if it thinks its deeper than it truly is, but as a modern retelling of Swan Lake, it's hypnotic ride from start to finish, with gorgeous cinematography and Oscar-worthy editing. And Portman is good, just 'showy' good, not very subtle in her characterization. Giving her the Oscar is the safe choice.

Notable mentions:

The Kids Are All Right
A brilliantly written and flawlessly acted comedy.

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Not the best of the series, but still a cut above most big-budget fare. And the best acted of the series so far. Will probably fare better as a double feature with Part 2.

Going the Distance
An underrated comedy gem that towers over the rest of the romantic trash released this year. And honest and funny film.

Let Me In
Dare I say better than the original? The only thing that keeps it from being so great is shoddy sfx and a feeling of deja-vu. But the screenplay actually improves on the tension and plot-structure of the original.

Predators
A worthy sequel and throwback to the originals. Exciting and very well acted.

Resident Evil: Afterlife
Don't judge me for this. But this is a first-class thrill ride and some of the best use of 3D thus far.

Toy Story 3
Despite having a conventional plot, what makes this work so well is its themes. Growing up is indeed tough.

Tangled
The best animated movie of the year because of the sheer exuberance displayed on screen. This made me feel like a kid again. The only downside is that the songs are "Little Mermaid" or "Lion King" memorable.

OVERRATED MOVIES OF 2010

MONSTERS
A technical marvel, but just too boring to recommend.

127 HOURS
The Boyle film that I don't really care for. His visual style took over the story and instead of serving it, it smothered the story. And I had no sympathy for the lead character, who reminded me of why I also hated "Into The Wild".

HEREAFTER
A neat idea is essentially stillborn as a movie. It just chugs along at a pace that even Eastwood can't justify.

SALT
Completely predictable trash.

RED
Mildly entertaining, but nothing more. Not sure why this was such a hit?

DESPICABLE ME
A cute movie, but unlike most other animated films this year, the humor was simple too obvious.

THE WORST OF 2010

Robin Hood
The worst movie of 2010. A complete waste of talent. Ridley Scott was on vacation and Crowe did it for the money. An awful awful movie.

Sex & The City 2
Sets the woman back 20 years and promotes racial insensitivity to boot. Michael Patrick King, you're show was always superficial treacle. And now this movie unveils what it always was. Gone is even an iota of smart writing.

Grown Ups
So many supposedly funny people manage to make a comedic abortion of a movie. The only funny joke involves a reference to Idi Amin. After that, I tuned out.

Cop Out
So bad, it's NO good. There is not a single joke that works. An embarrassment for all involved.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Nic's took a paycheck for this surprisingly stale family adventure. This is boring corporate-driven film-making at its worst.

Knight & Day
How could such a great idea go so completely wrong? Completely preposterous and humorless. And I haven't even seen The Tourist...

Twilight: Eclipse
The best of the trilogy, but still pre-adolescent trash. In five years, everyone will realize they were duped into seeing what was essentially The Days of Our Vampires, already based off of terribly written books.

The Wolfman
Such a great concept squandered because of unsure direction and studio tampering. Even the casting is off. It does get points for a cool wolf vs wolf fight, but otherwise, it sucks.

Wall Street 2
Stone has lost it. While the acting mostly works, the screenplay gives most of the characters very little to work with. Years in the making and this is the best they could come up with? At least it plays as economically relevant.

Due Date
A complete misfire. Barely any comedy and plain mean-spirited. How could so much talent do so wrong? Just watch "The Hangover" again.

FITREC Photo Examples

2010-02-24T16:37:00.001-08:00

PHOTOS OF FITREC shot with the Canon EOS 5D Mark ii

AT AUNTIE DASSIE'S

2010-02-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

My great week-end at Auntie Dassie's in Oneonta. Love 'em so much! Ate amazing curry goat and roti, played Wii sports, and got acquainted with all the awesome mammals!

My great week-end at Auntie Dassie's in Oneonta.

KELO NEWS Story

2010-01-01T08:31:00.001-08:00

DEMO REEL

2009-12-09T21:24:00.000-08:00

Stills from movie where I was BEHIND the camera.

2009-12-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

GOLDMILK FAVORITES
Completely Improvised musical and skit.

GOLDMILK FAVORITES PART 1: PELVIC THRUSTS

GOLDMILK FAVORITES PART 2: PANDA HYSTERECTOMY

LIVING IN BOSTON

2009-10-12T16:15:00.001-07:00

LIVING IN BOSTON = The Apartment

The toilet and the evil bunny prop.

Kris' room

My room.

The Kitchen

Living Room and Entrance

Bookshelf from Craig's List.

Dining Room.

Living Room.

Living Room, vantage point 2.

THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF GOOD

2009-04-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

WINNER! Salmagundi Award - VIRGINIA FESTIVAL OF STUDENT FILM

BU FILM SCHOOL...

2009-03-02T07:29:00.000-08:00

Framing Forrest.

Sid asking me to set-up the next shot.

Me and the Director's Viewfinder.
Scott and the Light Meter.

Shooting the interview sequence.

The Arriflex...the camera used to shoot many independent films
and a lot of films in the 70's. It's nearly 40 years old now.
This is our 2nd semester camera.
I will be shooting "Romans for Rolling Papers" with this guy.

Snow in Boston.

Sid shooting with the Bolex, our semester 1 camera.

My shooting wardrobe.

Shooting a scene with smoking..not my movie.

Setting up lights with the Grip kit.

Forest and Mel, two freshman actors BU's CFA.

The old Bolex.

Pietro and the angel. Rehearsal.

Rehearsing the break-in.

Neena's Lamp Shop.

Me and Lloyd Kauffmann,
creator of The Toxic Avenger.

Redstone Film Festival.
L to R: Chris, Ashley, and Scott.

Me and Pietro.

Chuck Merzbacher announcing the festival.

Redstone audience.

Me and Jose, the guy we met when we toured the school last May.
He worked in the basement.
He was a gaffer (electrician) on Spielberg's Amistad.

BU Pub after the festival.
I hate too many jalapenos.

A cool mural near my apartment.

A wall somewhere.

Scouting Locations with Sid.

Changing film in TOTAL darkness.
The changing bag. It's like threading the projectors at State 123.
But blind-folded.

Setting up the lighting and doing sound check.

Michelle, our wonderful actress.

Scott readies the slate.

Light Metering Forrest, who plays on ignorant racist.

Ashley with a mic taped to her.

Finding the right shot for Forrest.

Kenice prepping sound.

The Kino Lights on Ben, our Pakistani actor.

A moment of happiness for Ashley.

Our major lights: the Arri 300. There are also Arri 650s and 1000s.

Ben in a production still.

The KINO lights up close.

Kenice...waiting to boom.

Scott...our lighting master.

Kenice and the boom mic.

Cool shot of Ben through Sid's glasses.

2008-07-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW LYRICS
TO MY NEW ALBUM "BACCHANALIAN"
the album will drop Aug 15th.

THE WORDS THAT HURT ME

2008-05-15T15:13:00.001-07:00

INDIA

2008-02-19T08:52:00.000-08:00

INDIA
an epic journey
starring The Kightlingers
(all photos by ANDREW KIGHTLINGER)

Throughout this entry, there will be music videos showcasing
the music of India and its Bollywood film industry.
The following is a music video for Ishq Bector's "Aye Hip Hopper"

Dad on the roof of the Pod Hotel in Manhattan

Time Square at Night

Near the X-mas tree

Not 30 Rock

The Empire State Building

The Flat-Iron

My People's Magazine pose

6AM in Helsinki, Finland

11AM in Dehli, India.
Indians are in denial over their pollution problem.
"We have many foggy mornings!" they say.
Yeah, everyday for the past six years. And it's getting thicker.

The Taj Palace, one of the trendiest hotels in India.
The service was exceptional, though nobody
who worked there had a soul.
All robots. Where Willie when you need him?

Tooktook's (aka motorized rikshaws)

Qutub Minar, an 800 year old Mosque.

Qutub Minar intricate sandstone architecture

The grandness of Qutub Minar

The Pillar of Qutub Minar.
The original architect died, so a new guy took over.
There are two distinctive styles on the pillar.

The Bottom of the Pillar

The Top of the Pillar

Humayun's Tomb, built by his wife
and suggested as an inspiration for the Taj Mahal.
Built around 1562.

In the background, Humayun had a tomb built for his barber.
He loved his barber.
The most my barber ever gets is a $1 tip.

India Gate, in the center of Delhi.

A woman selling roasted nuts.

The Red Fort of Dehli, destroyed by the British during colonial times.
Go figure.

Proof that there is modern architecture in India.
No matter how cold it looks.

Gandhi's Tomb

Men singing a repetition of Gandhi's last words:
"He Ram!", which translates in essentially "oh god!"

The Lotus Temple, a Baha'i monstrosity.

On the flight to Kathmandu, Nepal.
That is the mountain K2 in the middle (at least according to the pilot)
of about 1% of the Himalayan mountain range.

Hindu temple in Kathmandu.
A statue of Shiva, the Destroyer.

A statue of Krishna.

A statue of Ganesha.

Hindu cremation site of Kathmandu.

Cremation site, again.

Amitabh Bachchan, India's biggest movie star.
He is so famous, he has a temple built for him
and is considered by many as a Hindu god.

The Hyatt Regency of Kathmandu's pool.
Too cold to swim.

Kathmandu's fog (pollution) problem.
There is a city behind there somewhere.

Inside the Hyatt.

The Bouddhanath Square

In Bhaktapur City.

Durbar Square in Bhaktapur City.

Nyatapola Tempe in Bhaktapur City.

Clay pots being made around the clock.

Dad and a lion.

In a temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman, the monkey god.
The flower is an offering to the god.

The front of the Hyatt Regency.

In Patan City.

The only Church in Kathmandu...
an interesting amalgam of Christian culture and Hindu practices.

We sat on the floor for Christmas service,
but we did sing "Joy To the World".

Pashupati Nath Temple, a Buddhist temple.
Nepal is mostly Hindu, but Buddhism is still very strong.
They co-exist peacefully for the most part.

Prayer offerings at Pashupati Temple.

More prayer offerings at Pashupati Temple.

Monkeys were everywhere in India and Nepal,
and they are considered pests, though they don't harm them because
they are considered sacred (Hanuman, the monkey god).

Chillin' at the Temple

Cows are sacred as well,
so when they become useless (can no longer give milk or are sick),
they are let loose to roam the streets like a stray dog.
They are very peaceful animals and people will feed them
and keep them alive as an offering to the gods.

In Kathmandu's market square called the Thamul.

Kathmandu when the fog (pollution) subsides.

A typical morning breakfast in India and Nepal.
Yak Cheese, Parantha bread, some cereal, watermelon, mango,
or spinach juice, and absolutely amazing papaya.

The Hyatt Regency of Kathmandu.

The Bouddhanath Stupa (stupa in another Buddhist term for "temple")
It was said that this nearly 2,000 year old temple
was made from the teardrops of the workers because of a drought.

A Tibetan restaurant where Dad and I had a wonderful meal.

A Buddhist temple where monks were praying 24/7.

Prayer offerings at Bouddhanath.

A puppy followed us around.
I touched him, and then contracted 16 diseases.

Praying at Bouddhanath.

VARANASI (or Baranas) in India.
This is the Sarnath, where Lord Buddha preached his first sermon
after his Enlightenment under the fig tree.
Sarnath was a jungle city that was later destroyed by Muslim invaders.
These are remains.

Sarnath again.
Imagine Richard Dreyfuss standing over it with a fork.

Varanasi in the oldest living city in India,
and the holiest place for Hindus because it is located on the Ganges.

Buddhist Temple

Buddha Statues.

The site of Buddha's Enlightenment.

On the banks of the Ganges at 6:30am.

Getting in a boat on the Ganges.
All Hindus believe that they must bathe at least once
in the Ganges in their lifetime.
80% of Hindus (the third largest religion in the world) accomplish this.

Varanasi on the Ganges.

Varanasi on the Ganges.

Varanasi on the Ganges.

On the big boat: India's biggest superstar, Amitabh Bachchan,
and his son Abishek and wife Aishwarya Rai
(who won Miss Universe a few years ago).
Amitabh's mother just died and they were dropping
her cremains into the river.
People were there in droves, cheering and praising him.

Varanasi on the Ganges.

Our tour guide at Varanasi.

Varanasi on the Ganges.

A Brahmin, the highest order of priest in the Hindu religion,
and one of the highest rungs of the Hindu caste system.
This Brahmin was offering prayers to families of the dead.
There are so many people in India, that someone is ALWAYS being cremated
at the Varanasi cremation site, the largest cremation site in the world.
The smell was foul and unsettling, but the site of burning bodies
and the devotion to the dead was fascinating.

The Narrows of Varanasi, my favorite part of the trip.

A stray cow sleeping.

The city of KHAJURAHO and the Temples of the Chandela Kings.
These temple are famous for depicting Kama Sutra (sex).

Ganesha.

Kama Sutra was used to educate about sex.
These carving are all over the temples. On the inside and the outside.

Khajuraho.

A lion eating a small boy.

Kama Sutra.

Bestiality.

Camel carvings.

Khajuraho.

A congregation of animals statues.
Reminds me of downtown Sioux Falls.

The most famous Kama Sutra carving.

The intricacies of the sandstone carvings.

Puppies fighting.

Khajuraho.

Khajuraho.

Khajuraho.

Khajuraho.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

This is a funny statue.
She has a thorn in her foot, but her boobs are so big,
she has to look between them to pick it out.

A dance show at Khajuraho.

A dance show at Khajuraho.

The creepy person in the background was also a fakir (could step on nails);
I was not sure whether he/she was a man or a woman.

On the road to ORCHHA.

A kid that kept saying "hello!"

There are two sets of steps.
One for people, and the larger one in the background for the Elephants.

Il ladro di biciclette

A random Hindu temple for Ganesha.
The paint is used for prayer.

On the road to ORCHHA.

Orchha Palace of the Bundelas.

Orchha Palace of the Bundelas.

The country side of Orchha.

The jacuzzi tub of the Palace.

Dad and me at Orchha.

The frescos of the palace.

This elephant is made totally of women.

The gates of Orchha.
The spikes kept out war elephants.

Powders at the Orchha market.

A Sikh at Orchha.

A mangy dog. I wanted to bundle him and take him home.

Fresco's at Orchha.

The Train Station of Jhansi.

The city of AGRA, home of the Taj Mahal,
one of the seven wonders of the world and rightly so.

The entrance to the Taj Mahal.

The revelation of the Taj.

The Taj Mahal, a tomb built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz.
A monument for love that was started in 1631 and was completed 22 years later.
It combines Hindu and Muslim architecture. But it is technically a Muslim site.

Me and the Taj.

The Taj Gardens. The site opens at 7AM,
and by 7:15 there were over 1,000 people there.
Nearly 20,000 filter through per day.

Taj up close and personal.

The text on the Taj walls.

The Taj domes.

The Taj Guest House, just right next to it.

More Taj art.

The pillars of the Taj.

The Mosque near the Taj.

Inside the Mosque.

Buying a Kashmir rug.

The rug shop.

A rug...

The Red Fort at Agra.

Monkeys at the Red Fort...
this mother was missing an arm.

One-armed mommy and her brat.

Dad and Pissed Off Monkey.
If my dad would have had the chance, he would have studied it.

The architecture of the Red Fort.

The Colors of Clothes.

Inside the Red Fort of Agra.

The Arc of The Covenant...

The Taj Mahal from afar.

A symbol of peace.
If you rotate it, it become a symbol of destruction.
Hitler meant to use the symbol of peace,
but picked the wrong rotation.
Stupid Nazis.

Built before the Taj Mahal,
the Baby Taj or the Tomb of Itimad Ud Daulah's white marble
was an inspiration for the Taj's white marble look.

The tomb of Itimad Ud Daulah.

People bathing.

Prayers in the sand.

Angry squirrel.

A bridge we weren't supposed to be driving on.
BUT... that's India.

On the banks of the river, opposite the Taj Mahal.

A camel on the riverbed.

Joe.

A kid begging for money.
We gave him some.

Me and Ajay, our driver in India.
Fun dude.

The Taj Mahal on the deserted banks of the river.
Nobody ever comes here and the view is arguable better.
Most tourists wouldn't want to brave the slums of Agra to get here.

Ajay and the Taj.

This 10 year old kid was soliciting camel rides.

I was convinced.
They also insisted I do this stupid pose,
as if I was holding the Taj.
Whatever makes them happy,
and I might as well get my 100 rupees worth ($1).

Petting Raja, the camel.
He was soft and I wanted to take him home.

Raja getting up.
Camels are the coolest creatures and they are so proud yet so clunky.

Honey, I Blew Up the Tourist.
Stomp The Taj.
Tajzilla.
(somebody stop me!)

Reflections of a Taj Mahal.

Sunset in Agra.

Bonfire of The Vishnus by Tom Wolfe.

A Throne at the Fatehpur Sikri palace enroute to Jaipur.
Also used as a political round room.

The elephant tomb of Akbar the Great's elephant.
If you look closely, there are elephant tusks lined up and down the tower.
I guess he only loved one elephant.

Dad and I at Fatehpur Sikri.

Me reenacting the last part of
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade at Fatehpur Sikri.

Light coming in at Fatehpur Sikri.

Me looking BA at Fatehpur Sikri.

The Harums (whorehouses) of Fatehpur Sikri.
King was busy!

Dog sleeping in contorted position.

Mosque of Fatehpur Sikri is considered
a replica of the Mosque at Mecca.

Fatehpur Sikri Mosque.

The Drying of Rose Petals for Prayers.

A man washes his feet, hands,
and face before entering the Mosque to pray.

The city of Fatehpur Sikri.

The Great Gateway or Buland Darwaza,
one of the largest gateways in Asia.

The door of Fatehpur Sikri.

One of the largest statues of Hanuman in India.

A Tooktook in Jaipur.

Ads in Jaipur.

Elephant Crossing.

Out of my way!

Camel weaving in and out of traffic.

The Raj Mandir, the largest,
most prestigious movie theater in India.

The city of Jaipur.

Jaipur at night.

The Amber Fortress
of Rajput and Mughal Dynasties.

A snake charmer.
Snake charming is illegal in India now, but they still do it,
and it's not that impressive because they
take out the cobra's poison glands.
In fact, that's why snake charming is banned,
because it's cruel toward cobras.

A baby elephant that cost an exorbitant price to touch.

An army of 98 elephants carried tourists into the Amber Fortress.
Of the entire trip, I was most excited to ride elephants,
but it turned out to be the most disappointing aspect of the trip.
It was a tourist trap to the max,
and they beat the elephants with large sticks.
I got to touch our elephants trunk, though.
His name was Lachmi and he was the old of the elephants (81 years old).

The elephant beaters...err, drivers.

To the Amber Fortress.

Traffic Jam.

The elephants did have beautiful paintings on them.

he elephants would drop us off on that ledge,
and then the beaters...err, drivers would ask for a hefty tip.

The Amber Fortress, built over a period of 125 years.

The gardens of the Amber Fortress, currently being redone.

The mirrored architecture of the Amber Fortress

The Hallways of the Amber Fortress.

The Amber Fortress in restoration.

The Water Fortress of Jaipur.

The Water Fortress of Jaipur.

Elephant Crossing.

The oldest movie theater in India.

The largest sundial in the world.

At the Maharajah's palace in Jaipur.
Maharajah's still exist as simply ceremonial figures.
This giant silver vase in the largest single body of silver in the world.
The Maharajah used to fill it with water when he went to
England because he refused to drink English water.
As a joke, Bill Clinton did the same thing
when he visited Jaipur as President.
He brought along American bottles of water so he could drink American water.
Proof that Bill is the funniest U.S. president.

The Maharajah's Palace.

The Maharajah's dog;
it was the only overweight dog I'd seen in India,
and as you can see, the caretaker is about to slap it
because that pup was a brat.

The Palace of the Winds.

The Palace of the Winds, in Jaipur.
Since women were not supposed to be at public function,
they would sit in the Palace of the Winds,
and look out of windows.

The Old City of Jaipur, nicknamed the Pink City
because of all the pink (or brown) everywhere.

Rickshaws.

Me and Madju and Pia.
These two women sold my Kurta Pajama (Indian garb).
Pia was convinced I was Nicolas Cage
when I walked into the store,
and thus solidified my appreciation for Nic Cage.

8 Hour Layover in Helsinki, Finland.
At 6AM.
This is a large Lutheran Church.

Helsinki is a beautiful city,
but it lies on the Baltic Sea,
so it was about -4 without wind chill.

The beauty of Helsinki lies in the lack of pollution
and the bright pinks, browns,
and oranges of the architecture.
A stark contrast to India's cities.

Helsinki Skyline

Me and a Finnish Stewardess of FinnAir.
They were all hot...err, beautiful.

Sinki at dawn.

Not quite Hell, but pretty frozen over.

An absolutely beautiful city.

An orthodox church in Helsinki.

THE END.

TO THE FRENCH

2007-02-13T08:03:00.000-08:00

Ma vie à Pierre et à l’université.

Ma compagnie d’improvisation, Goldmilk Favorites.

On improvise des comédies musicales en 45 minutes.

En haut, il y a Brenda, Nick, et Sean.

En bas, il y a David, Jillian, Moi, et Kris.

Moi, Kris, Wade, Evan, et David.
Nous sommes tous dans la chorale d'Augustana.

La ville de Salt Lake City pendant le tour de la chorale d’Augustana.

Le Missouri est gelé.

Un chemin dans la forêt.

La rive du Missouri.

Plein de neige chez nous.

Toujours trop de neige.

La niege et le vent.

Beaucoup de neige.

Ma voiture provisoire (la voiture de mère en effet) et L’Hybride.

Le barrage d’Oahe. C’est ici où je travail pendant l’été.

La végétation pendant l’hiver.

Des aigles dans les arbres.

Notre rue (Bridgeview) pendant l’hiver.

La camionnette de Lon.

La maison de Kightlinger pendant l'hiver.

Un quai sur le Missouri.

Lon et le Missouri.

Ma nouvelle voiture (pour le moment).

Edith à la maison pendant Noël.

Harrison Ford à la maison.

Le repas de Noël.

Lon en train de couper le rôti de bœuf.

Lon en train de pelleter de la neige.

G'ma ou ma grand-mère.

Ma tante, Faye.

Lon en train de boire du Bardolino.

Mynna pendant le repas de Noël.

La table.

Le salon à la maison Kightlinger.

Mon amie Chandra et leur chien, Bosco.

Jacob est un de mes meilleurs amis. Il s’est marié avec Chandra.

Moi et le Père Noel.

Il y a plus de 100 sapins en exposition au Capitole.

Ma tante Faye, Lon, et ma grand-mère.

Les escaliers du Capitole.
L'architecture est Italien.

Le congrès du Dakota Du Sud.

Pierre et Fort Pierre.
Population: 15,000

La banlieue de Fort Pierre.

Le terrain vague de Pierre et Fort Pierre.

Des oies et le Missouri.

Des oies sur la colline de Verendrye.

La ville de Pierre et Fort Pierre en Decembre.

2006-12-21T04:53:00.000-08:00

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF
ANDREW KIGHTLINGER
NOTE:
The commentary is still a bit "skeletal".
I must still edit the commentary.

For my last night with the Desjardins,
we ate snails.

They were "mmm" so good.
A little chewy, but good.

Then Agnès made a mushroom omelette,
with mushroom picked by her father
in the South of France.

Agnès cookin' up a storm.

Jean-Luc wondering when dinner's coming.

This is Agnès' father, René.

Agnès' mother, Chantal.

Agnès' sister's dog, Titeuf.

René herding sheep. (No kidding)
They live a very quiet, peasant life
in the South of France.
It'd be great to retire there.

They raise these awesome sheep to eat.
We had a great couscous at their home
made with muton from their own
private stock.

One of these lambs will turn 3 months old on Dec 25th.
Lamb of God?

Frangipan trees in Le Midi of France
(Le Midi would signifie the South of France).
I went to Le Midi for two days with
Agnès, because she grew up in this area.

Green wheat fields in the South of France.

A beautiful river in Le Midi.

The narrow, narrow roads of Le Midi.

Le Vercors Mountain range
on the way to Le Midi.

The Rhone River.

A beautiful road lined with trees.

A nuclear powerplant.

We need these in SD.

Agnès' childhooh home.

A beautiful street in Le Midi.

Agnès hometown of Uzes.
There was a Christmas market, but it was closed.
And the fountain was shut off.
The film "Cyrano De Bergerac"
with Gerard Depardieu was filmed in this area.

The silent, eerie streets of Uzes at night.
The town is very alive at day.

Cool X-mas decorations in Uzes.

Roman-era paved roads.

The Gutter.

Everything is old, in a classic-looking way.

Even a gypsy wagon.
Wowaweewah!

Sunset in Le Midi.

Uzes in the morning.

Le Pont Saint Nicholas.
The Bridge of St. Nicholas.

Morning road.

Another narrow road.
Next time I come here,
I'm getting an intl' permit
and driving.

The river Le Gardon.

Training for Le Tour De France.

The supposed house of Patrick Bruel.
He's a huge french star, actor, and poker player.
World Series of Poker players may know him.

The city of Nimes.
Jeans were invented here.
"Denim" = De Nimes (from Nimes)
Crazy, huh?

A unique fountain in Nimes.

Another unique fountain.

The Stargate fountain.

La Maison Carrée
(The Square House)

Notice the different levels of architecture.

"I am not a crook!"

Shrip and Lobster at an Italian restaurant.

A man walking his doberman;
the Dobe had his leash in his mouth.
Smart dog.

The narrow pedestrian streets of Nimes.

The Arenas of Nimes.
Yes, Roman arenas.

I wanted to go in, but it cost $14.
I guess the cost of upkeep has gone up.

More narrow streets.

A cathedral in Nimes.

Reminded me of the Flat-iron building in NYC.

That darn arena again.

Crazy cathedral.

Bleeding stigmatic eyes!

Me and the Haribo Kid.
Haribo is Europe's leading candy maker.

Breathmints that fights bad breath
and prevent diseases.
(This one's for you Dad)

Inside the Haribo store.
I bought some liquorice and Happy Cola.

The streets of Nimes.

The beautiful cathedral of Nimes.

Thanksgiving pie at Les Desjardins.
I helped make a Thanksgiving dinner for the family.

We made "Beer-Butt Chicken".
(I got recipe from Lon Kightlinger,
I repeat Lon Kightlinger, State Epidemiologist)
The recipe is simple.
Open can o' beer.
Drink half.
Stick up chicken's butt.
Set oven at 375 degrees.
Cook chicken standing tall for 1hr 25 mins.
Enjoy the best chicken ever.

Lucas smothering whipped cream
on his pumpkin pie.

Whipped cream from Madagascar.

Random Haribo Kid & Me pic for a smile.

Goodbye Grenoble.

The neighboorhood dog near the apartment.
This pup is like 100 years old
and still lurks the streets.

That chicken was a hurtin' unit after we got done with it.

Les Desjardins, full of chicken and pie.

Snow-covered mountains around Grenoble.
The city hasn't had any snow,
but mountains have.

The busy streets of Grenoble near Christmas.

More busy streets.

The dorms on Grenoble's campus.

My last Grenoble sunset.

Goodbye, I love you!

MARSEILLE

2006-11-15T02:27:00.000-08:00

SANTA'S SICK:
Chris & Cody Come To Town

Chris Markley and Cody "Chowder" Nicholas
drop by in France for a 7 day visit of wonder.
They spend two days in Paris,
and then took the train to Grenoble,
arriving at 9:45 in the morn.
Then we went to Marseille.
The fun begins.
[This picture was taken in an abandoned WWII era hospital]

The first of many pictures of Cody & Chris.
This is near Grenoble's Centreville,
and also near the place where
the French Revolution was declared
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
wrote some his philosophies.

At "The Family Pub",
which isn't akin to say "a family restaurant",
but more an Irish pub where everyone becomes family
after a few pints.
Here, we played darts and danced like idiots.

Lucas, Cody, and a seven year-old (me).
This same night we indulged in local Fondue with The Desjardins,
who were nice enough to let
Chris and Cody sleep at their pad.

Chris on the way up to La Bastille,
still in Grenoble.

Cody and I peering out over Grenoble,
among the ruins of the 200 year old fort.

Chris and I overlooking Grenoble
and its "agglomerations".
The valley of Grenoble was formed
by a glacier nearly 10,000 years ago.

The first of many Chris antics.

Our much deserved beer (Stella Artois),
after hiking up 250 meters (820 feet).
(dear mom and dad: i'm not drinking beer in this picture)

Chris vs Pigeon: Whoever wins, we've all wasted time.

While waiting for the train,
which I thought left at 11AM (actually 1PM).
We buy French pastries,
and Chris indulges in an eclair.

So the boredom sets in...
...that train couldn't come any slower.

France's nuclear power plants
on the way to Marseille.
[Insert Chernobyl joke here]

We took a bus halfway to Marseille.
(Another development I was unaware of)

The beauty of Marseille,
France's most cosmopolitan city.

Chris and Cody excited about
NOT staying in a hostel.
"Thank you, Mynna!"
They are pointing towards the Mediterranean.

Cody and I in the hotel room,
aptly named "Pierre & Vacances".

The beachside neighborhood
around the hotel.

Cody in the morning.
I woke him up to stage this photo.
And nothing is worse than angering a Bobka at 8AM.

More of Marseille near the beach.
Or "Le Prado" as the French called it.

Our first dinner:
A couldron of mussles, fresh from the sea;
cooked in white sauce and garlic & herbs.

Chris then ordered Salmon Ravioli.

I had sautéed squid and rice.

Cody had a filet of king fish that was awesome.

Chris and I baywatching in the Meditteranean Sea.
We were the only idiots swimming in Mid-November.
It wasn't THAT cold.
Maybe ten minutes of screaming "AAAHH It's cold!"
And the ten minutes of "This isn't so bad...let's go!"

And the sunset was to die for.

A Makeleroy washed-up on the beach.

Pondering the water color sky.

All those not stupid enough to swim
would fly kites.

A soccer game in the sunset.

Cody and Chris baywatching.
(notice the erotic hue given off my the sunset)

I just like this picture.
It's as if the sun is buring a hole in the sea.

Our breakfast one morning.
Pigs in a blankee.
Tropezienne (a custard cream filled cake).
Lemon pie Chris insisted on getting, and then hated.
And coffee and almond bars.

Our one goal in Marseille was to visit Chateau D'If.
Chateau D'If is an island situated in the Frioul Archipelago,
about a mile off the shore of the Bay of Marseille.
Winds were too high that day,
and the boat trip to Chateau D'If
was cancelled.

So we waited at the fish market,
deciding what to do.
These fish (the name of which slips my mind)
used to be sold with their head cut off
because they were so ugly.
Now people don't care,
because the head is good to eat.

We eventually decided to take a boat
to the neighboring islands of
the Frioul Archipelago.

The Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille.

That is Le Fort Nicolas in the background.
Cody took a liking to that fort.

On the Frioul Archipelago.
The dike-connected islands take up over 650,000 square feet.
The dike connecting the two island of
Pomègues and Ratonneau
was built in 1822.

The view of Marseille from Frioul.
Marseille is the secon largest city in France.
It has a population of approx. 1.5 million people.
The city was founded in 600 B.C. as trading port by the Greeks.
Today it is the portal for many immigrants into France,
and a very important port city.

A lagoon on Frioul.
The wind was so high (nearly 50 mph),
that ocean spray was quite frequent.

The fishing port of Frioul,
and the dike.

A perspective view to show how high we went.
Apparently I walk too fast (thanks Dad),
and Cody was angered over this.

The port of Frioul.
The island is inhabited by about 100 people,
most of them fisherman and restaurant owners.

Frioul is famous for its historical monuments,
including WWII ruins and Roman architecture.
Here, some stone steps crumble 'neath my feet.

An old guard house at the top of Frioul,
desecrated by graffiti.
[That's Chris' shadow]

A villa on the island,
and probably the guy with the most land & money.
Actually most of the land is owned
by the French military.

Ruins of buildings destroyed during WWII.

As close as we ever got to Chateau D'If.
The island is the setting of Alexandre Dumas'
"The Count of Monte Cristo".
It is said that the hole dug by Edmonde Dantes is still there.
The currents around the island are so dangerous,
that it was the ideal "escape-proof" island.
(The boat managed to dock at Frioul,
but not at If.)

By far, the prettiest lagoon.
We wanted to swim, but we would have had to go naked.
You'll never know if we did or not.
At the top of the hill is an old hospital,
destroyed after WWII.

Chris ignoring the "Protected Wildlife & Vegetation" signs.

Me on the rocks of the lagoon.

A small beach-side infirmary near the lagoon.
I just thought the roof blowing in the wind
was sort of cool.

Chateau D'If from Frioul.

My favorite picture of the trip.
"The Last Man"

My other favorite picture.
I call this "Gateway Of Heaven".

God?

The center chapel of the Hospital,
and Chris' crack.

The Roman chapel yet again.
Shakespeare shows are frequent here now.

A winding gravel road leading from
one end of the island to the other.

The waves crashing on the rocks,
producing a cool ocean spray.

A WWII ship graveyard.
We ran out of time, but it would have been cool to see.

The 200 year old dike on Frioul.
Notice how the houses in the distance
blend in with the rock.

A dog that was far too interested in our pizzas, on Frioul.

We were consistently followed by a creepyman.
We stragetically took this picture
to catch him staring at us.

Our adventure to the Lebanese Restaurant.
It was a Sunday night, and the town was dead.
We were the only costumers in the restaurant.
We tried a Kir made of Rose water.
It was good, but "different".
"Kir" is a white wine with an added aroma,
normally Cassis (a blackcurrent liquor).

Chris tried lamb kebabs.
Chris labeled this meal a disappointment.
Cody had chicken kebabs,
which were excellent.

I had beef cooked in a sour milk-based sauce.
It was pretty good.

Our appetizer plate,
made up of Falafel, Lebanese pizza (?),
a wonderful spinach roll, couscous,
humus, and other wonderful foods.

To show how Marseille is a modern city
built within the wonderful century old structure.
The brilliant architects of this town
managed to blend the old with the new.

The Cathedrale De La Major,
a beautiful, gargantuan Catholic church,
near the Old Port.

Old, leather-skinned man tanning in Speedo™ .

A beautiful museum in Marseille.

This crazy Gull showed his dominance
over a piece of left-over fish from the market.

Mine! Mine! Mine!

On our last day together,
Chris and Cody finally start to recover from jetlag.
Or do they?

Cody had an awesome looking salade,
that was apparently disappointing in taste.
Chris had pasta.

I ate Steak Tartare
(aka Tiger Meat aka raw hamburger).
It was "mmm" so good.

A famous neighborhood in Marseille.
This is called La Montée Des Accoules.

A beautiful square called
La Place Jules Verne.

Beer at 9:30AM.
We tried to get on another boat to Chateau D'If,
but apparently they don't operate on Mondays.
Nothing like drinking a depressant after being depressed.
But this was one of the better beers I tasted.
It was a lemon-based beer called "Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc".

La Pleine at night. (In Marseille)

Chris Down A Creepy Alley.

"Bonjure... justuie christof... jem jambon... sebant"
"Bonjour, je suis Christophe. J'aime le jambon. C'est bon."
The only French Chris learned.
TRANSLATION:
"Hello, my name is Chris. I like ham. It's nice."

Going down into the Marseille Metro.
I was attacked by a Rottweiler down there,
and Cody fell in love with Monica Bellucci.

Cody and Monica Bellucci.
Actually, this is a poster for a bad French movie
called "Le Concile de Pierre" (The Stone Council).
It's about a French scientist who adopts
a young Thai boy who goes into a coma,
and she must find a way to save him
through witchcraft and wizardry.

A fresque (fresco) in the subway.
This picture is also one of my favorites.

The metro rushing by.

Waiting for the train.
Notice the very 80's decor.

Leaving the metro.

Good friends in Marseille.
It was fun, Chris and Cody,
so thanks for coming,
and I hope you had a hella good time!

After missing my train by 4 minutes,
which includes such bad luck situations like:
Cody's metro card not working,
Chris refusing to cross the street on a red light,
and me being universally bad with trains.
I got on a later train.

Waiting at the tracks.

Realizing that I still have Chris' digital camera
in my bag. Bill's going to be angry.
(thanks for the book!)
Too bad they were halfway to Paris at that point.

THE END.

PICS: SWITZERLAND

2006-11-03T05:17:00.000-08:00

DR. SWISSLOVE:
OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP LISTENING
AND MISS THE TRAIN

My trip to Switzerland.
The yellow marks my journey.

Welcome!

My train was supposed to go from Grenoble to Geneva,
and then to Bern, then to Thune.
Somehow on the way to Geneva, I stopped listening
and without any knowledge of the innerworkings
of the European train system,
I had no idea I needed to change trains halfway through the trip.
I stayed on. I ended up in a town called Annecy,
and had to backtrack 50 miles.
But I made it to Switzerland, and all the fun began.
Moral of the Story: Pay attention.

The train was a double-decker.
It is called the TGV: Train Grande Vitesse (High Speed Train).
There was a restaurant in the middle of the train.
South Dakota should invest in a public trains system.
Just think, Pierre to Sioux Falls in 45 minutes.

A view of Lake Geneva.

More of Lake Geneva.

Snapshot of Geneva.

The Fountain of Geneva, called "Jet D'Eau"
It shoots about 459 feet in the air,
and it takes every single drop of water more than 16 seconds
to drop to the ground.
132 gallons of water per second are released
at over 180 mph.

Once I arrived in Thune,
I spent my time with Ueli and Edith Sahli.
They were first friends of my aunt and uncle in England,
then became friends of my mother,
so my family has known them since our days in Madagascar.
They were so happy to have me over.
Ueli works for the Swiss Army.
Edith is an amazing musician and conducts a band.

On the left side of the table,
Edith's sister, Renate, and a dude named Edgar showed up.
We had coffee and a french liquor called "Vieille Prune" (Old Prune).
It was very strong.

The path to the Sahli's house.

They loved having me over, and were very nice.
In Switzerland, all they drink is mineral water (club soda).
They don't seem to drink regular water.
The wine was my gift to them:
a Venician red wine and a local French white wine.

My room was very cozy,
and I slept on a Japanese-style bed.
Well, it isn't Japanese, but the blanket
had calligraphy all over it.

The view from the Sahli's house.
This is Thune and Lake Thune.

Their house was very atmospheric.
The type of home you find in fairy tales.

The view of the Alps that surrounded their town.

The Sahli's front yard.

Ueli's bass.
They also had a piano, but it was out of tune.
So I treated them to "In Love With Sorry",
a half step down.

After a band concert (I'll get to that later),
the Sahli's took me to the pub.
At this pub, I met the coolest man I have ever spoken to.
He spoke no English, but we spoke for quite some time.
I drank a dark beer called Dunkle Perle.
It's like Guinness, but sweeter.

Ueli and Edith chillin' after a successful concert.
Ueli looks familiar.
Like someone Steven Spielberg has directed.

Ueli and I.
The meal we ate was wonderful:
a fried potatoe swith melted Gruyere cheese casserole,
with a pork & mushroom stew.

The city of Thune.

The river was populated with Swans.
I embarrassed Ueli by yelling "Kaw!" at all the swans.
This one wasn't particularily happy to see me.

The river of Thune is so clean
that fish cannot live in it.
There are not enough nutrients for them to feed on.

The River of Thune.

Ben Harper is loved by all in Europe.
So is Mando Diao.

This dam is over 100 years old.
Us razzeezzees have seen better (inside joke).

Suckers don't know what they have coming...

Now this is interesting!
Back in the day, Napoleon travelled through Switzerland,
and several battles were fought in the area.
When Napoleon was defeated in one battle,
his army was forced to leave behind stolen goods.
The Swiss people found this statue in a large wooden crate.
They don't know where it came from,
but it know stands in downtown Thune.
It has been dubbed 'The Sleeping Man'
because they found him lying in that crate.

Thune's city hall.

[In Background]
A Thune community that lives on levels on a hill.

Swiss buildings.

A Smart Car.
You could fit two me's in there.
But not three.

More of downtown Thune.
Scooter Libby seems to have opened
his own barbershop.
Now he can gossip and divulge more secrets.

The castle of Thune,
built in 1195.

The castle is now a tourist attraction.
And it costs a fortune to see.
Switzerland does not use the Euro as currency.
So they inflate prices as much as they want.
They use the Swiss franc.

The city of Thune in the fall.

It took this picture because of the dog.

Ueli avoided me as we toured Thune.
Am I taking a picture of the pigeon (bottom),
or of the town?

A very posch hotel in Thune.

The Sahli's took me to a lodge up in the Alps to eat.

I ate filets of kangaroo.
Yes, you read that right. Imported from Australia.
For those who've tasted elk or moose, it tastes about the same.
It had a little hop to it too.
But I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

We also the drank the best wine
I have ever had in my life.
It was a local wine from Speiz,
a town near Thune.

Captive mountain goats.
Or the devil's spawn.

Horses of the Swiss Army.
This horse was a fan of me.

This one not so much.

Talk to me, horsey!
Cuz the glue factory's a waitin'!

More angry mountain goats.

A "no smoking" sign.
Europe needs more of these.

On my way to the band concert.
I had to take a bus, and everything was in German.
Yet I didn't get lost.
Huh, I must no "get" trains.

The Swiss band/gospel choir concert was at a church.
Edith was the conductor.
It was the "Gospelchor Konzert:
unter der Leitung von Dirk Raufeisen mit
Blaukreuzmuskik Steffisburg
unter der Leitung von Edith Sahli".

This amazing singer sang (in perfect english)
"Everything is Gonna be Alright" and
"Amazing Grace"
"Oh Happy Day" and "His Eye Is On the Sparrow"
were also sung.

Ueli playing his French horn and getting ready to party.
(actually, the wine was a Thank You for the tech crew)

This concert really rocked "Amazing Grace"!
Bravo!

I went to a Swiss Army Military show.
This was an American tank built by Chevy.
There was free beer, so I was being goofy.

Ueli may be the jollier Harrison Ford.
Look closer.

Litte Miss Sunshine.

Sprayin' down a tank.

Every citizen must be enlisted!

Ueli's job with the Swiss Army is to
restore old Army "things".
He restored this bike.

Horseshoe action. Poor Horses.

Ueli also restored this motorbike.
I'm telling you, Harrison Ford used this in
"The Last Crusade".
Ueli is Harrison Ford.
The connections are way too obvious.

One of the first ever drones.
The Swiss Army is actually one of the most
technilogically advanced militaries in the world.
But since Switzerland is a neutral nation,
they simply show off their technology
at Army shows every other month.
Every man must enlist in the army by the age of 18.
But you don't really do anything.
(sounds like my kind of army!)

Harrison Ford and Edith at the Army show.

Swiss fighter jets did an air show that was quite impressive.

I took this picture.

Army man bored out of his mind at 1000th air show.

Don't know why this was there.
Didn't bother to ask, but it was sure pretty.

After years of floating down Lake Sharpe
in a small three person raft,
I've decided to go bigger.

I wanted to steal one.
Then I realized that wasn't a good idea.

This is a tank simulator.
Since Harrison Ford was a big cheese
at the Army base,
we got to see inside.

Inside the simulator.
"Note to self: don't drive tanks if drafted."

"Note to self: shoot this when drafted"

"Note to self: this beer isn't draughted."

Saying goodbye to Edith and Harrison.
I don't know what was wrong with me.
Must have been crying.

Goodbye from the train.
Goodbye Edith.
Goodbye Harrison!
I'm a fan of your work!
Even "Firewall"!

Beautiful train scenery.

Lake Geneva on the way back.

Goodbye Switzerland.

SOME ADDITIONAL PICTURE
OF A CONVENT IN GRENOBLE

PICTURE XII

2006-10-12T02:24:00.000-07:00

WHEN BLOG BECOMES OVERPOPULATED
WITH MOVIE RELATED STUFF
IT MEANS I'VE HAD NO TIME
TO HAVE FUN.

I HAVE NEW PICTURES...
...I HAD FUN.

This is was my daylong hiking trip up to
La Moucherotte.
I am eating Le Mont Blanc,
one of the tallest mountains in Europe at 4,807 meters.
More on that later...

If you have seen "V For Vendetta",
you know what this means:
Revolution!

By far the best ad I've seen in France so far.
This is an ad for a train.

This is the name of the band that Lucas plays in.
They are a ska band,
which means they combine jazz, rock, and reggai.

One of the band's guitarist rocking out.

Lucas is the one in the middle.

More rockin'.

The guitarist crowd surfs.

Lucas gets serious. Damn serious.

The brass section.

The final hoorah.
Goodbye "Les Phenos".
It was fun.

Lucas and I on the creepy stairwell
going to the Desjardins' apartment.
They haven't dusted in 300 years.

This is so illegal.
So I did it.
The french force people to sit through ten minutes
of commercials BEFORE watching the previews.
Movies always start at least
30 minutes from normal start time.

A beautifully sad statue in front of a church.

Renault is a car company.
France's Ford, if you may.

I guess the stairs aren't that scary.
I look high, but I am not.
Actually, it looks like I've been working out.
(sort of)
I haven't been. I need to.

A local pizza place.
This isn't the best pizza I've had
(that was at Chez Pierre's),
but it was still awesome.

They sell pizza sandwiches as well.

And Croque Mr.!
Bread with melted cheese and ham.
Good stuff.

I ordered a "Five Cheese Pizza"
Gruyere. Blue Cheese.
Goat Cheese. Camambert.
La Tomme.
It was amazing,
and so was the bathroom afterwards.

France's Wal-Mart.
Carrefour means "intersection" in French.

I haven't seen this in the U.S.
(Yet)
Digital price tags.

My eternal quest to find Peanut Butter
ended in the "Foods of the World" section
under "American foods".
I found Skippy(TM).
One small jar for $4.
My family refuses to like it.
They simply don't eat PB in France.

Carrefour's wine section.
Bigger than most in the U.S.
And all that is guaranteed to be somewhat good,
if not excellent.

The Carrefour Aisle Vixen.
I didn't mean to take this picture,
but this woman is on a mission.
And will kill to get that last head of lettuce!

The seafood section with my good friend, the Eel.
I need to try some of that before I leave.

Shrimp and Oysters and Crab
and other Wonders!
Seafood is loved by all in France.
It's too bad Super Wal-Mart in Pierre
doesn't have this kind of selection.

Fish and Squid (the white stuff in the middle).
At this point an employee yells at me
for taking illegal photographs of the Carrefour logo.
I stare in bewilderment and say "Je suis tourist."

One last shot to spite them!

Left to Right: Casey (?), Me, Scott.
Scott is in my class, and he's cool,
and speaks good French.
We went to a bar called La Barberousse (Redbeard).
And "no", I am not drunk.
Some French dude insisted on taking pictures
of everyone with their tongues sticking out.

Abercrombie, eat your heart out.
This is my day of hiking with Agnes.

Life-making in progress.
I can now add the following to my resume:
Grasshopper Voyeur.

Beautiful view from the top.

Agnes treks up the hill.

A view of the valley from La Moucherotte.

This is a cute calf.
And the French love to eat calf.

Mother is angry that I'm taking pictures,
and eventually gets closer.
I leave.

Le Mont Blanc on the clearest of days.
I'd love to climb it, but you need training.
Which I haven't got.

Grenoble and the "agglomeration" from the mountains.
400,000+ people.

I took this picture because of self-interest.
No other reason.

These birds were ready to attack me
because I wouldn't give them bread.
"The Birds 3: No More Crumbs"!

This is a big rock.

MOVIES

2006-10-02T01:27:00.000-07:00

THE PERFUME :
STORY OF A MURDERER
OPENS DECEMBER 27 in the US!
SEE THIS FLICK!Here's a link to a review I posted on one of the web's top filmsites:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30266

NOTE!

2006-10-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

Since my french classes have gone into full swing,
I will be updating less often,
but whenever something interesting happens,
I promise you will know.
And again, thanks for reading.

CHECK THIS FRENCH RAP VIDEO OUT!
about a black dude who lives in all-white French mountain town.

http://www.kamini.fr/

Peace,
Andrew Kightlinger

MOVIES

2006-09-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

MY
MOST ANTICIPATED MOVIES
OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON

1. PAN'S LABYRINTH
directed by Guillermo Del Toro
starring Doug Jones & Ivana Baquero
...a spanish-language fantasy from the director of Hellboy and Blade 2.
Apparently, this film is a masterpiece beyond words.
An R-rated children's fairytale.
In the film, a girl lives in an imaginary world of her own creation
and faces the real world with much chagrin.
Post-war Fascist repression is at its height in rural Spain
and the girl must come to terms with that through a fable of her own.
TRAILER:
http://www.chud.com/demo/pan640x360_1500.mov

2. THE FOUNTAIN
directed by Darren Aronofsky
starring Hugh Jackman & Rachel Weisz
...the new film from the director of "Requiem for a Dream".
Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories,
The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.
Essentially, Hugh Jackman tries to save the love of his life over 1000 years by drinking the sap of a magic tree.
TRAILER:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/thefountain/trailer1/large.html

3. BABEL
directed byAlejandro Gonzales Inarritu
starring Brad Pitt & Gael Garcia Bernal
...from the director of "Amores Perros" and "21 Grams".
Three stories set in Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico and Japan.
The story begins with a tragedy striking a married couple on vacation;
and chaos ensues from then on.
TRAILER:
http://images.apple.com/movies/paramount_vantage/babel/babel-h.ref.mov

4. A GOOD YEAR
directed by Ridley Scott
starring Russel Crowe & Freddie Highmore
...a feel-good movie in France's wine country. What's not to love?
In the film, a rich, selfish lawyer gets a wake-up call
at his father's vinyard in Provence, and finds love as well.
TRAILER:
http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1449611&sdm=web&qtw=640&qth=400

5. CHILDREN OF MEN
directed by Alfonso Cuaron
starring Clive Owen & Julianne Moore
...the concept alone has me sold!
In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate,
a former activist agrees to help transport
a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea,
where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.
Who doesn't want to see that?
TRAILER:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/childrenofmen/large.html

6. THE DEPARTED
directed by Martin Scorsese
starring Leo DiCaprio & Matt Damon
...Scorsese doing a crime movie never fails.
Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover
within the Boston State Police department and the Irish mafia,
but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made,
and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities.
TRAILER:
http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1451528&sdm=web&qtw=640&qth=400

7. APOCALYPTO
directed by Mel Gibson
starring Rudy Youngblood
...Mel Gibson may hate Jews, but he's a great director.
As the Maya kingdom faces its decline,
the rulers insist the key to prosperity is to build more temples and offer human sacrifices.
Jaguar Paw, a young man chosen for sacrifice, flees the kingdom to avoid his fate.
TRAILER:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/touchstone/apocalypto/theatrical_large.html

8. THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
directed by Kevin MacDonald
starring Forest Whitaker & James McAvoy
...apparently Whitaker gives one of the best performances in film history.
Based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime
as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s.
TRAILER:
UNAVAILABLE

9. STRANGER THAN FICTION
directed by Mike Forster
starring Will Ferrell & Emma Thompson
...Will Ferrel in a serious comedy....mmmm...
An IRS auditor suddenly finds himself the subject of narration only he can hear;
a narration that begins to affect his entire life, from his work, to his love-interest, to his death.
TRAILER:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/strangerthanfiction/large.html

10. CASINO ROYALE
directed by Martin Campbell
starring Daniel Craig & Eva Green
...it's a new Bond!
James Bond's first mission, where he must stop a banker
from winning a casino tournament and using the prize money to fund terrorist activities.
TRAILER:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/casinoroyale/trailer1a/high.html

11. THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
directed by Gabriele Muccino
starring Will Smith
...I love Will Smith.
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son (played by son Jaden Smith)
as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional endeavor.
TRAILER:
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thepursuitofhappyness/video/trailer/trailer_high.asx

12. FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS/
LETTER FROM IWO JIMA
directed by Clint Eastwood
starring Ryan Phillipe & Ken Watanabe
...two films about Iwo Jima
from the American perspective and the Japanese perspective.
TRAILER:
http://www.flagsofourfathers.com/public/video_files/flags_of_our_fathers_trailer1_large.mov

13. SAW III
directed by Darren Bousemen
starring Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith
...the "Saw" films are the only original horror films made today,
and that counts for something.
In the film, Jigsaw kidnaps a doctor to keep him live
while he watches his new apprentice put an unlucky citizen through a brutal test.
TRAILER:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/sawiii/large.html

14. ROCKY BALBOA
directed by Sylvester Stallone
starring Sylvester Stallone
...there's something about this that just sounds right.
Rocky comes out of retirement to go in the ring once again.
Not so original, but Stallone is a good writer (!)
and this could be something special.
TRAILER:
http://a1834.g.akamai.net/7/1834/6694/v0001/mgm2.download.akamai.com/6694/Theatrical/ROCKYBAL_t1_700K.mov

15. BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNING OF AMERICA
FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION
OF KAZAKHSTAN
directed by Larry Charles
starring Sacha Baron Cohen
Kazakhstani TV talking head Borat (Cohen) is dispatched to
the United States to report on the greatest country in the world.
With a documentary crew in tow, Borat becomes more interested in
locating and marrying Pamela Anderson.
TRAILER:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/borat/trailerg/

16. THE PRESTIGE
directed by Christopher Nolan
starring Hugh Jackman & Christian Bale
...from the director of "Batman Begins", 'nuff said.
In the film, Rupert and Alfred are rival magicians.
When Alfred performs the ultimate magic trick,
Rupert tries desperately to find out the secret to the trick.
TRAILER:
http://www.totaleclips.com/Player/Bounce.aspx?eclipid=e28166&bitrateid=242&vendorid=600

17. TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE:
THE BEGINNING
directed by Jonathan Liebesman
starring R. Lee Ermey & Jordana Brewster
...i hated the remake, but this character still intrigues me.
This explores the origin of the killer
and according to early reviews, it's killer!
TRAILER:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/tcm_thebeginning/index.html

18. THE QUEEN
directed by Stephen Frears
starring Helen Mirren & Micheal Sheen
...apparently Mirren's performance is dumbfounding!
The film is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle following the death of Princess Diana.
TRAILER:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/thequeen/large.html

19. DELIVER US FROM EVIL
directed by Amy Berg
starring Oliver O'Grady
...a documentary that will finally bring light
to one of the the Catholic Church's largest blunders.
The film exposes the deep corruption of the Catholic Church
and the troubled mind of the man they sheltered,
Father Oliver O'Grady, a pedophile for over 30 years.
TRAILER:
http://lionsgate.arcostream.net/lionsgate/deliver_us_from_evil/DUFE_Trailer_1A_300.wmv

20. THE NATIVITY STORY
directed by Catherine Hardwicke
starring Keisha Castle Hughes
...after PASSION, maybe this religious movie will actually not suck.
A drama that focuses on the period in Mary and Joseph's life
where they journeyed to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.
TRAILER:
UNAVAILABLE

21. TENACIOUS D
IN THE PICK OF DESTINY
directed by Liam Lynch
starring Jack Black & Kyle Gass
...this movie will simply rock.
Jack and Kyle search for a magic pick that will make them rock gods!
TRAILER:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/tenaciousdinthepickofdestiny/large.html

22. THE GOOD GERMAN
directed by Steven Soderbergh
starring George Clooney & Cate Blanchett

...i'll see this based on the poster alone.
In post-war Berlin to find his former mistress,
an American journalist is lured into a murder mystery.
TRAILER:
UNAVAILABLE