Scriffles: The Invention of Lying. Movie Review.

Ricky Gervais. RG. Should have his own rating. Really Good.

The Invention of Lying translates so much of what we know is true which we can't put into words - without swearing. Or crying.
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Is Gervais having a go at "reality TV" here? 
I wondered halfway if he was trying to say that lying is a good thing, but no! 
What he's saying is that it doesn't count if you lie! 
It doesn't count if you lie. 
He tells lies to make people feel good about things: about dying, about living...
It's a strange movie in that the main character doesn't undergo a transformation.
The woman he's pursuing, played by Jennifer Garner, has the epiphany and the transformation.
She's supposedly vapid. He makes her happy. But she doesn't want short, fat, snub-nosed kids.
This is a love story.
She rejects her feelings for him. He's heart-broken.
He invents God - the Man in the Sky. She's intrigued but still doesn't want snub-nosed kids.
He can say whatever he likes and everyone, but everyone, will believe him.
(Don't you know people like this?)
But he's not evil.
He does use it to get what he wants. 
But does he use it to get her?
You'll have to watch and find out.
Love to know what you think.

Scriffles: The Sin of Omission by Margaret E Sangster. Poem.

It isn't the thing you do, dear,
It is the thing you leave undone
That gives you a bit of a heartache
At the setting of the sun.

The tender word forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flowers you did not send, dear,
Are your haunting ghosts at night.

The stone you might have lifted
Out of a brother's or sister's way,
The bit of heartsome counsel
You were hurried too much to say;
The loving touch of the hand, dear,
The gentle, winning tone
Which you had not time nor thought for
With troubles enough of your own.

Those little acts of kindness
So easily out of mind,
Those chances to be angels
They come in the night and silence,
Each sad, reproachful wraith,
When hope is faint and flagging,
And a chill has fallen on faith.

For life is too short, dear,
And sorrow is all too great,
To suffer our slow compassion
That tarries until too late;
And it isn't the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone
Which gives you a bit of a heartache
At the setting of the sun.
XoxoxoxoxoxoxO

Margaret E Sangster

Scriffles: 49er eats lettuce.

Galapagos turtle - this 49er's winning from Lisa Yallamas on Vimeo.

It's a tortoise, aged 49. It's feasting on life, despite all the distractions, annoyances and perceived shortcomings - it lives in a zoo, in Sydney.

This 49er's belongs on a different island - where kids can't pat its back. Where it can eat without being talked about.

Lettuce ponder... what's on the menu at your zoo this Christmas? Better not be tortoise! Some Tortoise Facts

Oops! It's aged 59.

Scriffles: Drenching rain stops holiday traffic

Rain for the new year:

Left Brisbane four days before Christmas. 

Drove from Brisbane almost to Sydney admiring the billowing and blooming clouds.
Gorgeous.
Well. Two days (after arrived at Pearl Beach an hour-and-a-half out of Sydney) the Heaven's opened.
Here's how it went.

Day One: crossing the Great Dividing Range through Warwick's farming district in Queensland over the border down the New England Highway to Tammworth.
Day Two: Tammworth over the Mountains via Thunderbolt's Way winding up to Walcha (prounounced Wacca) - simply gorgeous! 
Cattle crossing a road that is like a winding roller coaster - simply gorgeous!
Pacific Highway. Not gorgeous!
Reached Pearl Beach two days before Christmas - got two good days at the beach.
From Boxing Day - rain.

Trip Back to Queensland
Day 1: Traffic at a standstill from Kempsey. Head off into coast road via tourist trail through national park through Macleay Valley beside the river - gorgeous.
Stayed at Nambucca Heads - would have been goregous without rain. The boat moored out front of unit had about 10 inches of rain water in it.
Day 2: Traffic at a standstill at Ballina. Head inland via Bruxton Highway through Lismore, Nimbin, Tweed Valley, Currumbin Valley - drenched banana and sugar crops and roads but gorgeous rainforest drive on long and winding road. Home safe. Gorgeous...