I know this specific musical choice is bizarre and you're all thinking, "Why in heaven would THAT be the tune of the moment?!" Let me explain. Firstly, I've been so ridiculously up-to-date with movie watching that there's nothing left for me to see at the cinema so I have to resort to renting videos from Itunes. Secondly, the Itunes new releases are things I've already watched on the big screen, so I have to wade through "old" films-"Sophie's Choice", "Zoolander", "Fiddler on the Roof", "Annie Hall"....and Arnold Schwarzenegger's finest work, "Kindergarten Cop".
For some reason, I had an urge to revisit the 90's and reminisce about the days of junior school, being twelve years old, and lusting after Arnold (because I didn't know any better, ok?! And I hadn't yet watched that "I Am Coming" YouTube video-if you're over thirteen you should totally YouTube it. I can't post it on this blog because I'm pretty sure I'll get chucked off blogspot.com). The following films defined the 90's for me: "Beethoven", "One Fine Day", "Mrs Doubtfire", "Made in America" and "Kindergarten Cop". So, when I feel tired of being a pseudo grownup, I escape into these films where there are children, amazingly emotionally captivating scores, dated clothing and hair styles, and happy endings.
In fact, spending my friday night with Arnold and memory lane proved to be such an injection of happiness that I gushed to my mum about it over the phone the following day. I shouldn't have been surprised when she responded to my jubilation with, "You really watched "Kindergarten Cop" last night? What an odd choice, Nicky....why? Aren't you a bit old for it?" The desire to escape, from time to time, into pre-adolescence is universal. However not everyone talks about it. For some people the antidote is behaving like a juvenile delinquent with slightly inebriated friends (note: I'm not saying I'm above this...). For others, they never leave that place of immaturity and naivety (ignorance is bliss). For me, however, my "time machine" comes in the form of childhood movies. And, more important than the films themselves, are the scores that accompany them and how they tap into my memory bank. And so we come full circle and to the point-the power of music.
Upon watching Arnold act as an undercover cop masquerading as a school teacher (helloooo, genius), I was struck by how happy hearing the score to this film made me. It brought back a flood of emotions that are connected to memories not of anything in particular, but of feeling a certain way. Tricky to describe as you can tell from my nonsensical thought process. Basically what I'm trying to say is that good film music (whether instrumental or with lyrics) triggers certain emotions and the feelings we experience upon hearing this music say with us forever and can be unearthed whenever we hear that specific music/trigger. There's some scientific research to back this up but I never managed to get through "This Is Your Brain On Music" or other such literature.
Anyway, Randy Edelman is a genius and I urge you to listen to the rather obscure soundtrack on Itunes. Turns out he also wrote the music for films such as "The Skulls" (love it), "Head Over Heels" and "Beethoven" (as a non-animal lover, that explains a lot about my emotional ties to this movie about a dog). Imagine my elation at finding this YouTube clip:
Onto the edible stuff. I've recently become an addict. And my addiction is expensive but under control-I promise. It started when a friend from SA who was studying at Berklee in Boston visited NYC and stayed with me for a night. As a thank you gift for letting him stay over, he left a small, matchbox-sized log of chocolate on my keyboard for me to find upon returning to my apartment. Initially I thought it was a lovely gift and I swiftly plonked it in my "chocolate draw." My mum will no doubt be disappointed that such a draw exists in my shoebox-of-a-home. However, if I may remind her, she raised three children with not one, but TWO "sweet" cupboards in her home. By cupboard I mean a two-shelved piece of furniture crammed with Cadbury's Top Deck bars, Meiji Hello Panda boxes, Woolworth's Chuckles (the "extra value" packets), Nestle Kit Kats, Maynards Wine Gums, and so much more. And that was only one cupboard. The other cupboard houses (yes, present tense, both cupboards are still stocked and armed) "higher-end" fare like Lindt Chocolate (the dark sea salt bar is amayzahing), Ferrero Rocher containers that were mostly gifts (we're not big fans), Massam's Nougat (proudly South African and the best), my dad's supply of Cote d'Or elephant chocolates and brands like Green & Black and Vosges (my contribution). So, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree but the upside is I also own a Kiwi-brand "meat" knife and nice a Kalkbay pottery spoon rest....so I've inherited a love for the good and the questionable.
But I digress. The gift from my visitor. The chocolate sat in its draw, untouched, for a good month while I went home to frolick in the sun and eat kingklip fish. I returned to a grey, snowy New York and found myself at home, late at night, recovering from Paul Newman's microwave popcorn and craving something sweet. I remembered the chocolate stashed in the draw and fished it out hoping it would hit the spot. And did it ever. The molten, dense log of fudgy brown bliss was earthy with a hint of sweetness and I ate it ever so slowly, using my front teeth to chip away at it's surface, savouring each nibble. I've never been one to savour things I adore. I'm often able to save them till last-the sweet potato fries accompanying my burger, or the soft polenta sitting next to my fish-but they disappear rapidly once I've started devouring them. And I've always been scornful of people who manage to eat half a chocolate bar and leave the other half lying around, untouched, for days or weeks. It shows weakness of character in my opinion. Eat it and eat it aaaaaall. And deal with the regret later when you have a sugar hangover. Take it like a man.
Well, this chocolate has changed my gluttonous ways. Maybe because it's all natural (vegan, no refined sugar, dairy free) and that tweaks my psychological connection to anything sweet, but I've managed to consume a piece, and only a piece, of this kind of chocolate every time I've eaten it for the past week. The only problem is that is costs an arm and a leg. But there are other raw brands that are really good and are cheaper so I'm not lingering on the price of my new addiction-it's chocolate that is actually good for me, doesn't comprise too much of the bad stuff that exists in other candy, and I'm able to eat it in moderation. So, a picture of my new love:
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