The video.
Here’s a little video that shows what a typical day was like in Newcastle. It starts with my morning walk, then Mike’s morning swim, a bit of cleaning, and then off to beach.
Don’t worry, it’s less than a minute.
xo, jill
December 24, 2011
Just hear those sleigh bells…
jingling, ring ting a-tingling too!Molly and I have prepared for you our third annual Christmas video. We have so much fun making these silly little digital cards.
This year we went straight to the heart of Christmas in Abu Dhabi: the Abu Dhabi Mall!
Enjoy!
Merry Christmas!
You can watch last year’s video right here, and the year before that here.
xo, jill
December 6, 2011
How to Celebrate National Day: Video
Live action.I put together a few of Mike’s video clips from National Day. If you enjoyed the pictures from my last post, the video gives an even better idea of what it’s like out on the Corniche.
xo, jill
November 9, 2011
Where in the World? (Location Reveal)
Game over.Thanks for playing my little game. There were many great guesses including:
Algeria
Ireland
Israel
Madagascar
Malaysia
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Spain
Turkey
Yemen
…but no one got it right.
Play the video to reveal our secret destination!
Since no one guessed correctly, I wrote all the entries down, put them in a hat, and chose a winner. (If you made multiple guesses you got multiple entries.)Jenny, you’ll be the lucky recipient of this beautiful tote bag.
Ok, so Bangladesh wasn’t exactly a hotbed of souvenir options (more on that later). This tote was the best I could do, but I’ll be sure to add a few UAE goodies in the parcel too.
Thanks for guessing! Molly and I had fun reading the comments the one time we found internet on our trip before the giant rat scared us off the computer… oh dear.
xo, jill
October 23, 2011
Abu Dhabi Film Festival 3
Shorts, whales, and krishna.
The last batch of films I saw was a bit of an exhausting experience. I rushed to the theater after school to meet Mike for a quick lunch/dinner before our first film. Then it was on to the next. I left home in the morning at 6am and didn’t make it back until well after 9pm. Long day. I needed to rest up for our last film the following day… a 3+ hour endeavor.
5. Shorts Program 1
Directed by many many people
Premise: This showing was a selection of a variety of short films from around the world. To be honest, about half of them weren’t that interesting. One in particular was long, slow, and strange. I took a nap, I couldn’t help it. I enjoyed these three in particular.
a. Luminaris: Impressive stop-motion and unusual subject matter.
b. Bear: Very funny. Very dark. (No trailer available, this is the best I could find.)
c. Short Memory: Shocking and very, very sad.
6. Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson
Directed by Trish Dolman
Premise: Paul Watson was an early member of Greenpeace. It didn’t take long for it to become apparent that Watson was a bit too radical for the group. Differences regarding Greenpeace’s strict non-violence policy resulted in Watson founding his own organization, Sea Shepherd. Sea Shepherd’s goal is to prevent whale hunting, and the group will go to the extent of putting themselves in danger to do so. Oh man, this film did a number on me. If it was socially acceptable to full body heave sob in a packed movie theater, I would have done it. It’s difficult to explain why. Obviously, whaling (and seal clubbing) is a very brutal thing. The images in this documentary are very graphic. But in addition to the images, I found elements of Paul Watson very sad. Let’s just say that his opinion of humans is not very flattering. All that being said, this film is excellent and despite being very sad (for me), it was also inspiring.
Directed by Trish Dolman
Premise: Paul Watson was an early member of Greenpeace. It didn’t take long for it to become apparent that Watson was a bit too radical for the group. Differences regarding Greenpeace’s strict non-violence policy resulted in Watson founding his own organization, Sea Shepherd. Sea Shepherd’s goal is to prevent whale hunting, and the group will go to the extent of putting themselves in danger to do so. Oh man, this film did a number on me. If it was socially acceptable to full body heave sob in a packed movie theater, I would have done it. It’s difficult to explain why. Obviously, whaling (and seal clubbing) is a very brutal thing. The images in this documentary are very graphic. But in addition to the images, I found elements of Paul Watson very sad. Let’s just say that his opinion of humans is not very flattering. All that being said, this film is excellent and despite being very sad (for me), it was also inspiring.
7. George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Premise: A documentary on the Beatle who was always a bit more mysterious than the rest. If you are already familiar with the life of George Harrison, this film won’t teach you much. I knew a rough outline of Geroge’s life (Beatles’ rise, travels in India, solo career, died of cancer), so the film filled in a few holes. It’s always fun to see old photographs and video clips, and to hear what people’s friends have to say. The film is in two parts. Part one ends as the Beatles break up. Part two finishes the story. I personally preferred Scorsese’s documentary on Bob Dylan, but that could be just because I knew less about Dylan beforehand.
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Premise: A documentary on the Beatle who was always a bit more mysterious than the rest. If you are already familiar with the life of George Harrison, this film won’t teach you much. I knew a rough outline of Geroge’s life (Beatles’ rise, travels in India, solo career, died of cancer), so the film filled in a few holes. It’s always fun to see old photographs and video clips, and to hear what people’s friends have to say. The film is in two parts. Part one ends as the Beatles break up. Part two finishes the story. I personally preferred Scorsese’s documentary on Bob Dylan, but that could be just because I knew less about Dylan beforehand.
That’s a wrap!
xo, jill
