Speaking of Canada Day, I do so love Canada. It's a beautiful country, with beautiful people; warm, kind, joyous. But Canada is not without her problems, and I'm horribly worried for her future. Like the States, and many other places in the world of late, Canada's fascists appear to be mobilising, and far too many people are unwilling to rock the boat enough to resist them as fiercely as needed. It has me concerned. This isn't to say that Canada was brilliant before this modern rise of hatred and stupidity. It wasn't. I was talking with a friend of mine, who is First Nations from a reserve not too far from me. He's seen great improvements, which assuages my concern a little. I'm still very, very worried, however.
Anyway, I didn't celebrate Canada Day by heading downtown to party in the city. Crowds of that size are incredibly stressful for me, and I spend the whole time wound up like a clock, ready to attack at the slightest provocation. It's not good for me. So, instead, I spent the day with my dad, who is a good sort, and doesn't get my back up. We chilled and listened to awesome music before heading out the cinema to watch the newest rendition of Aladdin.
I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed the film. It was, more or less, an entire rehashing of the animated version, with some changes. Still, it was fun, beautiful to look at, and utterly enjoyable. I have to commend Will Smith here. He had an impossible task of replacing the irreplaceable when he was cast as the Genie. He took it in stride, and made it his own. I was struck every so often with a barb of sadness for Robin Williams while watching this, but Will Smith did an amazing job and deserves a lot of credit. It can't have been easy knowing the legacy he'd inherited.
All in all, an excellent film. I don't even care that it was likely a cynical cash grab designed also to extend proprietary rights. It was a fun time, and I'm not sorry it happened. I might even buy this one on blue ray. *gasp*
In other news, I completely forgot about streaming last week. Not that I have a huge audience, mind, but I did promise to make up the stream I missed on Monday, only to... not at all.
It's all good. I'll stream tomorrow night. Which reminds me, my time teaching on Wednesday nights is done, so I will be returning my live stream to the regular Wednesday night slot for the rest of the year... until next spring, assuming I have the good fortune to teach kickboxing again.
Right, I have some terrible amount of work to be getting on with. Have yourselves a fantastic day.
Ciao!