Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A Play Worth the Read

This week I was lent a book by a friend. Well, technically its a play, but anyhow it is literature.

It was SO good! I would recommend A Streetcar Named Desire to ANYBODY. It's all about this couple who are quite an odd pair. They wife is of a relatively nice back round and the husband is as ordinary as the day is long. Their marriage works simply because they are deeply in love with one another. Even through strikes are aimed towards Stella (the wife), they still make it.

Stella's sister Blanche comes to stay with the couple for the summer. Through the story we as readers must put together Blanche's real life story. She claims to loose the family estate after many deaths that drain her of every penny. However, we later learn that she stayed at a few hotels and had many lovers before coming to mooch off of her sister. Blanche is obviously a very unstable person and at the end of the play she is taken away so that Stella and Stanley (the husband) can live a peaceful life together with their new baby.

Again, I really recommend this play to anyone. I haven't seen the film with our Waterfront's Brando, but I've heard that this is also very good.

Friday, January 2, 2009

The Finale

Sleeping Arrangements was ADDICTING! Its like a really cheesy movie, you just can't stop.

Hugh and Chloe go back to the villa to find their "real lives" instead of the imaginary silliness they were fantasizing over in the small Spanish town. Chloe realizes how much she appreciates her family when Phillip gets told by Hugh that Phillip's sector of PBL bank will close now that Hugh's company has taken over the bank. The admirable thing to do would be to have a positive attitude and resolve to look for a new job, and this is exactly what Phillip does. Also, Chloe sees how wonderful Phillip is with Sam and Nat and how distant Hugh is from his kids.

Hugh know that when he tells Phillip that his job is lost, he will have lost any chance with Chloe. He's smart enough to know that Chloe would never leave her partner in such a tricky time. Therefore Hugh gives up on that relationship and decides to improve his marriage and fatherhood responsibilities.

At the end of the book, Gerard calls to tell the families he plans on visiting,, but both families are so fed up with his nonsense, they decide to leave just before Gerard arrives. This is a great way to get back at the sticky wine taster who plotted against his friends for his own amusement.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

OH BOY!

The plot is thickening! Chloe needs a break because she finds her husband Phillip breaking his promise to "not talk about work". Amanda needs to get out of the villa because she hates the Murrays. So, Phillip takes Sam and Nat to a beach for the day and Amanda takes her children to a petting zoo. That leaves... Hugh and Chloe...the old love birds...

Chloe starts going stir crazy and walks right out of the house and into a town quite a few miles away. In this town, the Spanish guitars strumming and the smell of cooking garlic capture her in a moment of perfection that she desperately needed. She walks into a dress shop and craves to look fabulous like the Spanish women with their red flowers in plaited hair and long, colorful skirts. The shop keeper sees her staring longingly at a blue skirt. The keeper hands her a sleek, and barely there dress that Chloe at first rejects. However, once she is forced to wear it, she finds herself in a state of newfound confidence. She buys the dress and discards her old, brown cotton dress and saunters into a little bar with stucco walls and small wooden tables.

But...little did Chloe know

Hugh had woken late in the morning and decided to take a drive. He came to a small town with dusty, yet charming streets full of flower sellers, and indigenous rhythms. Realizing he hadn't eaten in a while he chose a small, yet friendly bar to have a class of wine. He looked up when Chloe walked in. She looked just as stunning as she did 16 years ago.

And...you can guess what happened after a couple of drinks and music and years of distance. This is NOT good. Hopefully things will clean up a bit by the end of this story.