Now Playing: Schubert's Unbegun Symphony
It's election day today in the US.
One can't help thinking of that lovely ballot scene in Answered By Fire, where thousands of East Timor residents turn out to exercise their hard-won right to vote, despite threats, violence, and militia harrassment. The only thing I had to worry about this morning was finding a parking space, and getting through the handshake gauntlet of eager local candidates.
So vote! Because you can. You'll oil the gears of democracy, get a free sticker, and meet nice people like my mom, who's working the polls today at her local station.
On an entirely different topic, I was watching a video of Possum Magic with the girls last weekend. Possum Magic is a children's book about a young possum named Hush, whose Grandma Poss has turned her invisible to protect her from predators. Unfortunately, Grandma Poss has forgotten the spell to turn Hush visible again.
So they travel around Australia sampling native delicacies, and Hush gradually becomes visible. They eat ANZAC biscuits in Adelaide, Minties in Melbourne, pavlova in Perth, and so on. Hush finally becomes fully visible when she eats a lamington in Hobart. In order for Hush to stay visible, they go around every year and do the eating tour all over again.
I mentally wrote a sequel to the book, featuring David movies at each pit stop: Alex in Adelaide, Mark in Melbourne, Faramir in Fremantle, Brett in Brisbane, Doug in Darwin, etc.
An All-Australia Wenham Film Festival might not counteract invisibility, but it would sure be effective against boredom.
