"Happy Feet"

Saw the film 'Happy Feet' at the cinema yesterday afternoon (a year team trip). Basically, (not spoiling the story), it's about Penguins, and how this one Penguin is different from all the others. Instead of having a 'heart song' (i.e. being able to sing well, and having his own song), he loves to dance and his feet move when he's feeling deeply. But he finds he can't be himself (as it goes against 'what makes a penguin a penguin') and is always being told to try to sing/stop singing - as his voice is awful - and to stop dancing. He's told that what he is isn't natural, and is made to feel like an outcast, and finally banished from the emperor penguin colony. But it all has a happy ending, when he ends up coming back and saving the whole penguin colony. A very sweet and in places very funny film, (although a little bizarre in terms of how the storyline moves). But it also has a lot of thought-provoking stuff in there. (This is the point where my housemates of last year would tell me I think about films too much again...) It makes you think about being different - how it's really hard to be different from the crowd, and also not to be able to be free to express who you are. But the film implies that ultimately it's people who dare to express who they really are and to be different, despite the costs, who will make a difference ! Very challenging. It also brings up a whole load of environmental stuff, about how fishing in the antarctic is disrupting the Penguins' food chain and even outrightly killing some of them by the waste left behind by the humans. Although slightly unrealistic in it's portrayal (for example, I wish all our environmental problems could be solved as easily as this one seemingly was in the film), it nevertheless makes you think. I came out in an odd mood - having enjoyed it, and laughed a lot, but also been very provoked. Anyway...food for thought.

Sorry my blog has become a bit of a diary of events recently. In some ways this reflects my state of mind, that I have been kept very busy and with hardly any time to take time and think about stuff. (And when I have wanted to post recently on more thoughtful things, blogger has been being annoying). But as I have said before, I will try to make it less of a diary - as that isn't the reason I originally started writing on here. But it might take me a while.

Now to have something to eat and try to get a bit of rest before what is shaping up to be a very good but very manic day tomorrow - looking forward to the morning family service and the carol service in the evening (the first one at Woodies I will ever have been to) - the church is currently looking amazing with all the Christmas decorations up ! Oh, and one last thing...you may have noticed I added a couple more links to the sidebar. Do check them out. Most of them I already look at/read, just hadn't gotten round to putting up links before now !

p.s. Another last thing...I am now on blogger beta ! Very strange. Another set of features to get used to. *Sigh*