Homeopathy? More like GAY-opathy!

Today turned out to be pleasantly normal after the last few days. With the pains now very nearly gone I was able to do anything without discomfort and I will definitely be back to work tomorrow. It was driving me mad knowing how much money I was throwing away by being off sick and the boredom of sitting at home all day. I watched Churchill: The Hollywood Years, a British comedy satirising American war movies. The plot revolved around the 'true story' of Winston Churchill, an American G.I. who infiltrated the inner sanctums of Britain's leadership to single-handedly overthrow the Nazis. The comedy works on two levels: one is the cleverer satire level which at face value is deeply offensive, but is aimed at making fun of American movies' interpretations rather than actually suggesting the major players in Britain's war were clueless toffee-noses who were incapable of fighting a war. This level also included a lot of direct spoofs to pearl harbour-esque films, notably with a romantic sub plot that undermines the main plot of the war, and scenes of unimaginable heroism from the American lead, prompting one Brit to say, in a line that made me cry with laughter, "I wish I was American." It perfectly summed up the stupidity of so many of those films. The second level of comedy was straight gags, such as the hilarious depiction of the royal family, with king George a cantankerous old man hellbent on not spending money and an alcoholic. At a dinner party for royalty from around the world, he is seen keeping tabs on who's eating too many sausage rolls and such. On this level its the forgiveable formula of some jokes missing the mark while some hit it directly. A great cast bulks up the movie with Christian Slater playing Churchill without any self-referential forced comedy, just playing the part like he's in a genuine war movie which makes it funnier. The rest of the cast is a checklist of British comedy kings (and a couple of queens). Altogether its a very enjoyable, funny film that could easily be taken as out of taste, but if you can appreciate the satirical level its an easy 8/10. This evening I saw a documentary by Richard Dawkins about modern day views on 'pseudo-science' and superstition such as alternative medicines against scientific methods. It was an engrossing well made program, covering many aspects of new age ideas. The medicine side of it came to the same convulsion that I've had for a long time: that its all a placebo effect that isn't at all harmless but also not particularly worthwhile for people to spend hundreds of pounds on. On a larger scale I find myself often torn between proven science and a more mystical side of the spirit world. This program showed me that science doesn't say these things don't exist, just that there's no proof that they do, so we shouldn't base our lives around them. And that is definitely how I feel; the program just put into clearer terms I suppose. The quote that sums it up beautifully is from Dawkins; "Be open minded, but no so open minded that your brain falls out." Song of the day is the acoustic version of Blut Im Auge from Equilibrium. It's on one hand an awesome song but on another relevant because my brother who is getting into metal aged 7 wants to play electric guitar. I used this song as an example as to why he can learn acoustic before getting a more expensive electric with the amp and everything. Suffice to say it worked.