Vicky the ladies man meets Pan the freaky Faun

Good morning friends! Like force feeding myself vegetables a la New Years Resolution-style, I'm trying to force myself to blog more so I can get back into the groove. I thought about blogging some about my Europe trip, but that'll take too long, so I've decided to share about the most twisted "fairy tale" I've ever seen: Pan's Labyrinth.














Baby eater monster thing


While you digest that image, let me just say that no children should ever be allowed to see this film. Granted it's touted as a horror film officially, but I thought I was in for something like The Dark Crystal or whatever. I didn't know it had an R rating to begin with. I expected such depressing gruesomeness from the Finns or Icelandanders (?), but not the Spanish. This is not to say that I didn't like the film, because I did. It's highly original and well shot, but definitely not for the faint of heart. My buddy Jon and I went to see this film a few days ago because it's been getting all this Oscar buzz and love from Rotten Tomatoes. There were more than a few scenes in which I had to cover my ears or eyes. Afterwards, I turned to Jon and sighed "Well, it ain't Disney". I'm not sure if it was the man getting his leg sawed off or the girl getting shot by her stepfather or the various torture scenes with hammers that tipped me off, but I'm just saying that next time I'm definitely going to read up on a film like that before I see it.

Because of all the darkness I've thrust upon you with this movie, I thought I'd leave you on a lighter note. As you know I teach ESL at the university as part of my assistantship. And I really like my job. Well, most of my students for some reason end up being Asian. And while that's cool, you should know that it's the tendency of many Asian students to use Western names while studying in the U.S. Granted there is more than a fair share of "normal" names like Mike and Michelle, but every once in a while you get some fantastically out-there names that you have to refrain from busting out laughing as you take attendance every day. I was talking to one of my friends the other day who taught EFL in China and she shared a few gems of names that were too fantastic not to share. Here are some of my favorites to brighten your day (picture the roll call for this class):

Celery
Apple
Watermelon
Cinnamon (notice a pattern yet)
Germany
England
Fat Boy (Runner up)
and...... Vicky the ladies man!!!!!