Pan's Labyrinth 魔間迷宮
Yesterday, without any expectation, I watched the DVD of Pan's Labyrinth. It gave me 3 surprises :
1. It was a Spanish movie.
2. It was much more than simply a fairy tale.
3. It was a fable with meaningful messages and moral value.
Some scenes might be too cruel and bloody but those were necessary to anchor the story solidly to the reality of the world at that interval of history. I would highly recommend this movie to adults or teenagers with mature mind, but NOT for young kids.
P.S. Another surprise : the story was not from a fiction. It was from the Mexican film-maker, Guillermo del Toro, who was the playwright, director and producer all-in-one.
Beginning with sneezes . . . . . .
Why do people say "bless you" after a sneeze?
In ancient times, it was believed that the soul left our body when we sneezed and that evil spirits could then enter. Blessing you was supposed to prevent this.
Probably it was because no one blessed me when I sneezed, I usually ended up in flu or cold afterwards. The worst of all, I got sick during weekend.
Last week, it began with sneezes . . .
Wed - 3 passengers sneezed in the train cabin (ALERT!)
Thu - both my colleague and I sneezed several times during the day (DANGEROUS SIGN!)
Fri - I sneezed over 10 times in the morning and got runny nose (BEGAN TO COLLAPSE!)
Sat - full blown symptoms of cold hit me so badly that I went to see the Chinese herbalist (HADN'T BEEN SO SERIOUS SINCE LONG AGO!)
Amazingly, 90% of the symptoms liked runny nose, red eyes, sneezes and headaches were all gone on Sun. Rarely had I recovered so quickly, thanks to the herbal tea. And thanks to God, I could continue the teaching in the Sunday School.
