5 Very Science Fiction-y Things About Pregnancy

You might have noticed the blog's been a bit quieter than usual lately. There's a reason for that: I'm busy with the next generation. Being pregnant is supremely weird, especially when it's your first time. Sometimes I feel like I woke up in a science fiction (or horror) movie, so here's a list of weird stuff about pregnancy. I'm only about halfway through, so any veteran mommies out there, feel free to add to the list in the comments.

So, here's my list:

1. Cool new superpowers, like a heightened sense of smell and taste. At about six weeks or so I developed Witcher senses. Just like Geralt's, except I doubt he has to step into the bushes to throw up every time he smells coffee. Or maybe Sapkowski just left that part out. As a bonus, most healthy foods start to taste like poison. Well, I guess it's good to expand your palate. (This, thankfully, went away in the second trimester. I doubt you can grow a baby on ice-cream and folic acid supplements alone.)

2. Playing host to a strange little alien that moves around in your tummy. It's weird. The first kicks leave you feeling both elated and supremely creeped out at the same time. And that first ultrasound; It's like something out of Alien.

3. The vivid dreams. Virtual reality has nothing on these. Even though I've mostly been too sick to write, I've got enough material to last me a couple of years.

4. The hormones make you act very strangely, from getting overly emotional over pictures of kittens to eating peculiar things like sun-dried tomatoes with soygurt. (Yummy!) Suddenly your body has a mind of its own and you're no longer in control. I also turned into a morning person overnight. Seriously, I never thought I'd be getting up at 6 a.m. voluntarily. Very Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

5. The rampant paranoia. Your house is suddenly a deathtrap, and you worry about the baby getting eaten by squirrels while sleeping in the stroller and similar totally rational and likely scenarios.

P.S. Don't let these freak you out if you're planning on having kids. There's good stuff too. Mass Effect onesies and Death Star pregnancy shirts, for example.

Dinner with Dalí

Did you know Salvador Dalí published a cookbook in 1973? Like Dalí himself, it's gloriously weird and OTT, and, best of all, he did the illustrations himself! My copy is the Taschen English translation, which is beautiful, but I would like to get a copy of the French original, because it does feel like something is maybe getting lost in translation.  Just check out the prosaic translations of the index below: "the cannibalisms of autumn" is apparently eggs and seafood. Don't speak French? Go on, feed a few of these into Google translate. It's very entertaining. 

Here's the man himself. Wouldn't you love attend that dinner party?

As for the recipes, they're not the most practical sort, like this crayfish tower, but they are fun to read. 

And you gotta love the illustrations!

There are also some menus included in the book.

Yeah, I probably won't be trying out the frog pasties or the many ways of cooking calf's brains, but as a curiosity, this was absolutely worth getting. I got mine from Amazon, but different versions seems be available online. 

Long Live the Ukulele!

Image from Wikimedia commons

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain did a few shows in Finland, and I was lucky enough to attend the concert in Turku last week. I loved the show; it's impossible not to smile when somebody plays the ukulele, and when you add to that some wry British humour, well-chosen covers, and loads of genuine enthusiasm, you have a winner.

The songs performed ranged from pop to rock to classical, but I especially enjoyed the orchestra's version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." The crowd went wild when one of the players pulled out a kantele (a traditional Finnish instrument used in folk music) and started playing. I also liked the medleys of different songs.

You can view videos of the orchestra's performances on youtube, but for the full experience you need to see them live. Definitely go if you get the chance. Looks like they've got a bunch of shows coming up in the UK and in Germany in the next six months. All the shows in Finland were pretty much sold out, so it's best to get your tickets well in advance if you want to go.

3 Weird French Films to Take Your Mind off Current Events

Need a break from the Trumpocalypse? Me too. Here are three very strange French films to help you take a vacation from reality.

Peau d'Âne (Donkey Skin) from 1970 is a French musical by Jacques Demy. The plot follows a highly questionable French fairy tale about a king who wants to marry his own daughter, forcing her to flee and masquerade as a peasant wearing a stinking donkey skin while she waits for her prince to rescue her. With Disneyesque musical numbers ranging from twee to disturbing, crazy technicolor sets, and some very hammy acting, this film is equal parts so-bad-it's-good and  unintentionally hilarious. You can view the best bits on youtube if you're not up to the whole thing, but the ending is worth seeing, trust me.

Delicatessen, the French 1991 post-apocalyptic comedy with echoes of Sweeney Todd, is gory but funny and truly strange. In a France where food is in short supply and grain is currency, landlord Lapet, a butcher by trade, lures victims to his apartment building with the promise of a handyman's job and then murders them for their flesh. Add to the mix a former circus clown, a woman who repeatedly tries to kill herself, and the sewer-dwelling resistance in their diving suits and you get a faint idea of what the film is like. Highly recommended, but not for the faint of heart.

Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/

L'Écume des jours is called Mood Indigo in English, but the literal translation is "the foam of days." The film, starring Audrey Tautou, is an adaptation of Boris Vian's novel Froth on the Daydream, and it's completely bonkers. It only takes a few moments for the movie to tumble into bizarro world, and suddenly you're wondering if somebody slipped some LSD into your tea while you weren't looking. The symbolism gets so OTT that you just have to laugh despite the serious themes of love and loss the film explores. 

Need more? I found a site than lists strange films and did a search for French titles. You can check it out here: 

http://366weirdmovies.com/tag/french/

What about you, what's the weirdest film you've ever seen? Doesn't have to be French, any language will do if it's available with English subtitles.

There's a Storm Coming

It's super creepy outside right now. The light's a weird, sickly kind of yellow, and the air feels heavy and thick. 

                   

                                                           That looks even more ominous. 

                                 

                      This is probably what the world feels like just before the apocalypse. *shudder*