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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

A Johnny Depp Movie About Jack The Ripper

Dear friends,

** This is a review I did a long time ago, on the 27th of February 2011, and published in my previous blog "Paint The Sky". But as you did not read this before, I thought I may share my thoughts with you. Pay attention to spoilers, as I shall be telling you about From Hell**

It is 1888 in London, and the unfortunate poor lead horrifying lives in the city’s deadliest slum, Whitechapel. Harassed by gangs and forced to walk the streets for a living, Mary Kelly and her small group of companions trudge on through this daily misery, their only consolation being that things can’t get any worse. Yet things somehow do when their friend Ann is kidnapped and they are drawn into a conspiracy with links higher up than they could possibly imagine. The kidnapping is soon followed by the gruesome murder of another woman, Polly, and it becomes apparent that they are being hunted down, one by one. Sinister even by Whitechapel standards, the murder grabs the attention of Inspector Fred Abberline, a brilliant yet troubled man whose police work is often aided by his psychic abilities. Abberline becomes deeply involved with the case, which takes on personal meaning to him when he and Mary begin to fall in love…

“From Hell” is another Jack-the-Ripper yarn. This time around Johnny Depp plays Inspector Frederick George Abberline, who is investigating the work of a killer carving up the bodies of prostitutes in Whitechapel, London.

***

“From Hell” is a borderline horror/thriller. There is a fantastical element to the story as Depp receives visions of the killings, when “chasing the dragon” (or, in simpler terms, when doped up to his eye-balls). These visions are used to make mad-intuitive leaps on Abberline’s parts to help push along the story-line, as the bodies begin to pile up. Unfortunately the killer is quite obvious as the script provides “red herrings” which are set up in a manner that you know they’re going to be false, so the viewer is “surprised” (or not) when the real killer is revealed. That’s a shame as it removes some of the mystery from the movie when you realise you got it right. There’s also a rather interesting take on the murderer’s reasoning, which is not entirely unwelcome, but does feel somewhat as if they need to pad out the story and distinguish it from other Ripper yarns.

***

Johnny Depp kicks ass at this movie, showing us Inspector Fred Abberline similar to a Sherlock Holmes

He is a very clever character and combined with his sidekick played by Robbie Coltrane (whom you surely know from Harry Potter as Rubeus Hagrid) – that provides a heckload of fun – they make a perfect pair.

Mary Kelly is a very lovely character played by Heather Graham. The Irish beautiful prostituate that looks like a perfect doll and dresses as such is very appealing but somehow makes you think of her as a lady and not a female practicising her trade…

Anyway… I had to see this movie in 2 separate nights – I stopped at the middle of the movie feeling sick… the images are highly disturbing and it really makes you feel as if you were there, in the dark streets of London…
Overall

it is a pleasant Johnny Depp movie. And it is ALWAYS a pleasure to see Johnny work his magic on the screen

Yours truly,

A LadyBug Very Much Addicted To Johnny Depp/Helena Bonham Carter :)

A Story About Love Forgiveness And A LadyBug

Dearest friends,

More than a while ago... to be fair play, almost 3 years ago, my mother told me about a book called "The Shack". It was a book she loved and she dearly recommended it. I usually dont read books recommended unless I feel drawn to them, and in this case it did not spark my interest at all. I guess it did not help that mum gave it to me (in Romanian language) and to Marek (in English language) as a gift. Sometimes, things need to come naturaly so this seemed to me like a push. It took me 2 years to take the book Marek received into my hands and think of reading it. I always loved reading more in English, to tell you the truth... and to my shame, as the Romanian language can take a word a turn it upside down and give it a thousand meanings.

The book I will tell you a bit about today is The Shack. It is a Christian novel by Canadian author William P. Young, a former office manager and hotel night clerk, published in 2007. The novel was self-published but became a USA Today bestseller, having sold 1 million copies as of June 8, 2008. It was the #1 paperback trade fiction seller on The New York Times Best Seller list from June 2008 to early 2010, in a publishing partnership with Hachette Book Group USAs FaithWords imprint (Hodder & Stoughton in the UK). In 2009 it was awarded the "Diamond Award" for sales of over 10 million copies by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

***

The title of the book is a metaphor for “the house you build out of your own pain”, as Young explained in a telephone interview. He also told radio host talk show Drew Marshall that The Shack "is a metaphor for the places you get stuck, you get hurt, you get damaged...the thing where shame or hurt is centered."

The novel is intense and breathtaking and somehow you get lost in the story. You feel you are there with the main character, you feel his pain and you have the questions that he asks on the tip of your tongue. Mackenzie Phillips (also known to friends and family as Mack) takes his children camping and during the trip, his youngest daughter is abducted and murdered by a serial killer. I will not spoil the book for you, its questions / sorrows and its ending but I will tell you this: many Christians were upset with the novels unconventional way of portraying the Trinity. God the Father was portrayed by an African American Women, Jesus as a Middle Eastern carpenter, and the Holy Spirit as an Asian women. I, on the other hand, believe that is very much appropriate! Considering the region where Adam and Eve came from, there is a very high possibility that they were not white at all! And who cares about the color of the skin anyway! I believe that we should focus on love and being open-minded.

***

The Shack makes me think of an idea that I had ever since I was a child, when I was taught that at the same time God is love but also vengeance. To be fair, The Bible does show God both loving and also coming down with anger. I was thinking that God is allpowerful and allknowing so even if he knows in advance what we will say or do, he still gives us free will. At the same time we are his children, so he loves us. He loves us differently than we love our own, and he holds no grudges as he is made all out of love. In Corinthians 13 we find out that from all the things in the world, only one thing will always remain: Love! and the book shows us just that :)

***

In order not to spoil the book for you, but give you a taste of it, I thought I may share with you a few quotes that I really enjoyed:

Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to hold power over another is to choose to limit oneself - to serve. Humans often do this - in touching the infirm and sick, in serving the ones whose minds have left to wander, in relating to the poor, in loving the very old and the very young, or even in caring for the other who has assumed a position of power over them.
Mack, the world system is what it is. Institutions, systems, ideologies, and all the vain, futile efforts of humanity that go with them are everywhere, and interactions with all of it is unavoidable. But I can give you freedom to overcome any system of power in which you find yourself, be it religious, economic, social or political. You will grow in the freedom to be inside or outside all kinds of systems and to move freely between and amont them. Together, you and I can be in it and not of it.
Those who love me have come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims; some are Democrats, some Republicans and many dont vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions. I have followers who were murderers and many who were self-righteous. Some are bankers, some are bookies, Americans and Iraqis, Jews and Palestinians. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters or my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my Beloved.
You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you - Frederick Buechner, Telling the Truth
An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others - A.W.Tozer

I recommend this book with all my heart. It made me want to cry but it also made me smile wide. I read it on the train to/from work and it surely did brighten up my day. If you get around reading it, let me know how you liked it :)

Yours truly,

A LadyBug That Loves God

Monday, March 9, 2015

Audi India is about to enter in the Armoured car market

Black 2012 Audi A8 L W12 Security

Audi is ready to enter the Armoured car market in India with its A8 l Security edition. The first vehicle will be delivered within 4-6 months and is expected to cost around Rs 5 crores.
Audi A8 L Security is a high end Armoured full size luxury sedan that can withstand variuos threat like Attacks from AK 47 and Hand Grenades. More than 20 enquires about this car were made during 11th Auto Expo 2012 from the top executives/ corporates and government officials of the country.
According to the confidential sources, First delivery of Audi A8 L Security Edition will be made within 4-6 months with a tag of Rs 5,00,00,000.
Some Audi India Officials added, Audi A8 L Security is a quite niche vehicle and will be available for very few persons like Top business corporates and government officials. And all the deals will be handled by the Audi Security Division from Germany. Audi India said that this vehicle will not be available to normal customers. Audi A8 L Security is customized with the next generation security gadgets and techniques. The price of this car will vary according to the customizations done on request of the customer. This car is exclusively manufactured at Highly secured production facility in German so that the secrecy of the whole project could be maintained.
High-strength steel, mutli layered glass, aramic fibres, ceramics and special aluminum alloys have been extensively used to manufactured this OUTSTANDING ARMOURED PALACE ON WHEELS. The lower portion of the whole structure is blast proof and coated with anti-magnetic Armour plating. A single door of Audi A8 L Security weighs around 160 kgs and this is the perfect example to show how solid and secure this vehicle is. Even, Critics admire this boon.
After the launch of Audi A8 L Security, Audi India will start competing with its rivals i.e. BMW and Mercedes in arena of Armoured vehicles. These days The President of India uses Mercedes Benz S600 Pullman Grand Luxury Sedan and last year, Indian head of state also showed trust in that car.
Indian PM uses Armoured BMW 7 Series but now when Audi A8 L Security will enter this arena, it is going to win for sure as it is highly advanced than its rivals.
Lets see when the first delivery of this car will be made.

Audi A8 L Security Photos / Wallpapers