in the blink of an eye

Oh hey end of February! You got here fast.

February has been a pretty monumental month. I mean, you've seen the pictures of the world map and the re-opening of the library where I volunteer a few times a week, and even though we didn't know it was going to be such a celebration at the Oscars this year, we're right on trend with our delve into the world of James Bond.

But February was also the month wherein I received 37 mosquito bites while sleeping at a fellow Volunteer's house one night.  Hilarious, only because the other two people sharing the bed received two each, at most.  I did successfully kill one of the mosquitoes right after she bit me (all the blood sucking mosquitoes are female, did you know?) (no, but for real), which was a sweet vengeance, though the other 36 did outsmart me, awakening me hourly as I felt the bites growing in number.

February also marked a full three day barrage of weddings, including the big day for one of my co-teachers and for our Khmer teacher (our in-training teacher and cultural facilitator.)  As we rode our bikes the 30 kilometers (18 miles) to our Khmer teacher's wedding, I realized how very quickly our time here is slipping away.  In the blink of an eye, we'll be back in America, settling and likely settled into our familiar routines, wondering how could have ever complained about it being so warm.



Because February was also the month in which we learned when we will officially close our service as Peace Corps Volunteers.  Though Volunteers sign up for a 27 month commitment (3 months of in-country training, then 24 months living and working at our respective sites), a number of factors have gone into Chris' and my actual service working out to (what feels like now) a very brief 23 months and 8 days.

We will close our service on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Ostensibly, this means that we could be on a plane, flying into our home airport the late evening of July 4th, perhaps to the sights of hundreds of fireworks across America.

And February was the month wherein I edited our respective resumes into one page oblivion as the first step in the arduous process that is finding a place to use our passions and experience back home.

And that's where we land at the end of this delightfully short month.  With a small, progressively clearer picture of our future.  A picture that comes ever so much closer each day, slowly taking over the vivid colors of our current heat and mango season saturated life in the wilds of this small southeast Asian country.

The Martini Files: Dr. No

this picture has nothing to do with this post.

So, sometime in the last six months, I mentioned to Chris that I thought we should use our free time in the evenings (after the sun goes down at 6:30 and before we head to bed around 10:30) to do something completely awesome:

Watch every single Bond film every made, creating a scoring rubric against which we will evaluate each said film as we view it, and then share our likely variant male-female perspective.

Which is actually what it evolved into, if we're being honest.  The initial conversation was more like: "Dude, Skyfall was so good!  We should so watch every single Bond movie! And then rate them!"  I'm not entirely sure of his exact answer, but, I mean, it must have been a resounding yes because we're here now (that's how decisions between spouses go, right? total and complete mutual agreement of all ideas presented by yourself?).

And so.

A month or so ago, we watched the very first Bond film, Dr. No.  Then we watched From Russia With Love.  And then Chris told me I had to write about the first film before we could review any more.

So, without further ado, our commentary and rubric scores on Dr. No.

Dr. No

1962

with Sean Connery

Chris' Overall Review
It’s impossible to can Dr. No…it’s the original Bond flick and so many other movies follow its lead. From the “bloody gun sight” opening to the original Bond theme music, its legacy has endured until today. Still, any fan of Bond or the movie in general will be able to point out a few face palms…

First, the music. It’s really inopportune. Almost like that are over-asserting the fact that, this will be the Bond theme music for the next thirty years. At one point the Bond music plays when he picks up keys to his car: unnecessary.

The villain is amazing – ethnic, crippled (but stronger because of it) and wildly cryptic with his plans for global domination. So cryptic in fact, that I really didn’t understand it. Apparently, affecting the launch of a Moon-bound rocket is enough to control the world…go figure.

Also, and this is nitpicky, in the final action scene of the movie, you see Dr. No’s island blowing apart (because Bond overloaded his convincing nuclear reactor: basically a converted swimming pool) and you see HUNDREDS of people fleeing. HOW DID HE EMPLOY THEM? Think about it – so many people = vacation days, benefits, salaries and a huge HR department. I just don’t see the feasibility of supporting such an immense army of evil, from a financial perspective, without any real assets or cash cow. Bond SHOULD have just started a union, which would have bankrupt Dr. No.

Despite its antiquated flaws, Dr. No is an awesome movie. Its all there – Bond’s uncanny knack for getting out of impossible situations, his superhuman ability to detect subterfuge and misdirection and some pretty cool (green screen enhanced) chase scenes. Most importantly, it sets the franchise up for a long, long run…

Kate's Overall Review
I mean, I'll be honest.  At this point, I am just watching because of the awesome retro 60's clothes, Sean Connery's manly beast chest and accent, and because I said I would.  This first one was decent- if I'd read the books and been a fan, I'd have been really excited in 1962 to see this movie.  But, as a stand alone movie... it was decent.

They do hook you in immediately in the beginning with a murder! Oh my!  But the music is used terribly - seriously, the main theme used as he steps off a plane? Into a hotel room? But NOT during a car chase, or as he runs from the island that is about to nuclearly detonate? Um?

The highlights of this film were the firsts: the first utterance of "Bond. James Bond."  The first listen of that theme music we all know so well.  The first Bond girl.  The first, first, first.  But, I'm holding out for number two to see how they connect this back in and build on it. 

Rubric Scores:

Opening Sequence:
the original! some black dots and color swirls and then! the shot from the barrel of a gun. here we go!
Kate: 5
Chris: 3

Quality of Bond (Believability):
Kate: 8
Chris: 7

Quality of Bond (Swagger, Sexiness):
so, he did don a blue suit for the second half of the movie. a light blue suit. with matching shoes.
Kate: 7
Chris: 5

Quality of Bond (Actor):
i mean, it's sean connery.
Kate: 9
Chris: 8

Quality of Villain:
seriously, Dr. No is pretty pathetic.
Kate: 4
Chris: 6

Quality of Bond Girl (General: as a character in the film):
they meet each other because she is hunting for shells on the remote island of the villain?
Kate: 5
Chris: 3

Quality of Bond Girl (Sexiness, Boldness, etc):
her entrance will be used as the gauge for all others: climbing out of the ocean in a sand colored bikini.
Kate: 8
Chris: 8

Quality of Plot: 
Kate: 4
Chris: 2

Locations:
England and Jamaica.
Kate: 3
Chris: 3

Quality of Best Fight or Chase Scene:
some tires squeal. seriously.
Kate: 5
Chris: 3

Delivery of "Bond. James Bond." (Location, circumstance, etc.)
nothing compares to the original.  happens at a gaming table, while drinking a martini.
Kate: 10
Chris: 9

Q gadgets:
dude, all he gets is a new gun at the beginning?
NA

Car:
NA- Had a driver throughout film

Quality of Human Elements that Make Kate Want to Watch:
you know, i'm invested, i'm hooked, we'll see where this goes.
Kate: 7
Chris: NA

Bond Fail (biggest scene that detracts from the plot):
the music is used terribly! chris can't get over the blue suit.
Kate:  -5
Chris: -6

Bond Fail (Instances of sexism, racism, other -isms):
depiction of Jamaicans
Kate: -8
Chris: -3

Total Score:
Kate: 62 out of 140
Chris: 51 out of 130

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have you an opinion on james bond?

bizzz-eeee

It feels so strange to say it, but I've been busy lately! Cambodia busy, yes, but busy nonetheless.

For example.

It was the (third..and final?) official opening of the library where I volunteer two afternoons a week.  The library is overseen and created by a German NGO, though all of the workers are Khmer and it follows a social business model where it strives to be completely self-sustaining, a goal that is finally starting to feel like a reality for the library here at my site.

Last week, several people from Europe, and mainly Germany, ventured to Cambodia to really kick off the remodeling of the library- now, learning center- and the beginning of the variety of learning opportunities the learning center will offer.

I joined in by offering to do something visually interesting for the walls.  Peace Corps has a world wide World Map project, wherein maps are painted in various countries by various Volunteers. In Cambodia, that usually means on the outside wall of one of a Volunteer's respective school.  My teacher training college already has a map, courtesy of a previous Volunteer.  So I offered to paint one inside the learning center.  While it wasn't ideal in terms of community action, it was fun and every single person- as in, every single patriot of Cambodia- was visibly excited when they encountered both the process and the map.

In fact, I got to re-draw and re-paint Cambodia on the map because a small Eastern section was accidentally not traced (I'm no artist.)  It was fantastic to see the librarians and others point out that a section was missing and really had me smiling that, despite what may seem like a serious lack of geographical knowledge, they know their country well.  Exactly as it should be.

(Though, I'm pretty stoked for the learning opportunities present now that I can visually reference other countries, their size, location and general proximity to Cambodia.)

Add all of this to a jaunt to the capital for a meeting which was simultaneously amazing and emotionally draining (for me), beginning a new teaching schedule with the (NEW AND ONLY!) female English teacher and getting a random, wicked throat illness, I'm done.

But I did find energy to teach some kids "duck, duck, goose" at the learning center this afternoon.

Or, rather, "duck, duck, chicken" as I really wanted to work on saying "chicken" instead of "kitchen."

And thus it was a glorious afternoon.

apparently, it's february.

It really is, it's February! Which is nuts, man, just nuts!  The arrival of the shortest month passed me by, literally, as I spent the day biking about 100 kilometers (60 miles) to nearby Kampot town.  We had a holiday from school due to the 100 day funeral and cremation of the King Father, Sihanouk. 

Our original plan for the weekend included what might be our final trip to Siem Reap before we had home later this year, but that was derailed when we were given a travel restriction through Phnom Penh.  The capital city was expecting a couple million people for the funeral, making movement around the city nearly impossible.

So instead we opted to bike, once again, to Kampot.

I don't know why.

It's a beast of a trip, and I can officially declare that I may not be built for long distance biking.

We stopped a number of times, including the one documented here, which was about stop #5 for us, when we were about 10 kilometers outside of our destination.

I. Was. Beat.

But the rewards of the trip are immediately visible when I sat down to this breakfast Saturday morning:


A book, pancakes with real butter, and a coca cola.  Yeppers, pretty much my definition of satisfaction.

I am really going to miss these pumpkin pancakes!

Sunday involved more eating and lounging and not working on the beast of a grant proposal that I am preparing for our second Camp GLOW, which was a poor decision in terms of time management, but a great decision in terms of general weekend enjoyment!

Monday dawned bright and early (for Chris, who woke up in time to see the entire first half) as we sat down to enjoy the Superbowl!  This game was the bee's knees for me, as I've officially decided that the Ravens are my team.  Which sounds so very bandwagon-y, but really, I've been defending Bmore for years (Charm City, baby!), so it's only appropriate that I fully embrace all aspects of the town's sports.  So, go purple it shall forevermore be from me!

I didn't bring a purple shirt with me to Cambodia, so a purple headband had to suffice.  Chris was far too interested in the actual game to be concerned about showing colors, but he was rooting for the winners for the majority of the game (halfway through, muttering something about wanting it to be more exciting? well, got your wish, didn't you sir Topher?!).

And, I mean, Beyonce? And DESTINY'S CHILD? Made. My. Life. It really did.

And even though the next two images are blurry, my hardcore football fan-ness should be noted because:

A) I even had purple nail polish!;

2) I ordered bacon and cheese potato skins for breakfast (it was 8:30 AM!) instead of waiting to go get more pumpkin pancakes, just so the whole thing could have a Superbowl party feel; 

and

C) there was no book in sight. No book, I tell you!

Bring it on, February! I may not have much disposable money left after that delicious weekend, but I'm ready!