Atonement and James McAvoy

I had watched Atonement in Singapore a few months ago but when our local cinema (short drive away) was screening Atonement, I took the chance to watch it again. Why not? Just another opportunity to ogle at James McAvoy, who though young, has a charismatic and mesmerising quality. He doesn't look overly gorgeous the way Brad Pitt or Keanu Reeves are, without them opening their mouths, but there's a quality McAvoy has that is harder to pin down. He makes me weak at the knees...hahaha!

I immensely enjoyed Atonement, loved Joe Wright's technique of shooting the same scene from the perspective of different characters and the rhythmic tapping of the typewriter which added to the sense of suspense. It all came together so beautifully and smaller roles played by Brenda Blethyn (Robbie's mother), and then in the finale, Vanessa Redgrave was amazing. She said more in her facial expressions - the pain, regret, and wish to make amends. I wish I can act like her!

A comment Phill overheard in Singapore when we were watching this movie has remained etched in his mind such that everytime he sees Keira Knightley, he repeats the comment: "So Skiiiinnnny" in a typical Singaporean accent.

Baby Names have Got Weird!

I have always been abit intrigued with how parents choose a name for their baby. I reckon it's a difficult decision. Parents sometimes want a unique name, one they think their kid will have sole rights to, so that they do not become a Tom, Dick, or Harry.

But an increasing trend among parents to change 1, 2 or more letters in traditional names so that they are spelt differently is one I don't subscribe to. Why spell Alexander 'Alex-Zander'? I'm not sure it adds anything to the name. It just makes the parents seem like bad spellers.

A worse trend (not mentioned in the article below) is where parents choose not to have any vowels for their kid's name. So, for example, they may have a name, hzydn, which they choose to pronounce 'hayden'. If you can take the trouble to wrench those vowels out, then I think those parents should take the trouble to twist their tongue and pronounce the name as it reads.

I know this rant might just come back and bite me in the b*m, but for now, I'll keep my favourite kids' names close to my chest.



Roze by any name would spell as sweet

THE phonetic spelling popular in text messaging and emails has been blamed for degrading the English language.

Now it's being fingered for a trend in unconventionally spelt baby names.

Parents are shunning traditional spellings for versions such as Alex-Zander, Cam'ron, Emma-Lee, Ozkah, Thaillah and Ameleiyah.

Analysing Australian births in 2007, social analyst Mark McCrindle found the name Jayden was registered spelt 12 ways, Aidan nine ways, and Amelia and Tahlia eight ways.

Lachlan had five other versions - Lochlyn, Lochlin, Lochlen, Lochlain and Lauchlan.

"The use of a 'y' instead of an 'i' has hit epidemic proportions, as has the use of 'k' over 'c' like in the names Jaykob and Lynkon, double letters like Siimon and Chriss and hyphens like Emma-Lee," said Mr McCrindle, of private research agency McCrindle Research.

The trend was due to the phonetic spelling in email and text messaging and to parents wanting their children to stand out, he said.

"Gen X parents were the first generation to grow up themselves with mum not staying home with the kids or their parents divorcing, and they hated their parents not being around to show them love.

"Knowing they will probably recreate some of those sins, they now are naming their kids uniquely to show how individual and special they are to them.

"There is also a bit of backlash against the conservative names like Jack, Ella and Olivia."

Jacquelene and Ashley Wilkinson named their daughters Briarna, born on February 15, and Maddisen, 16 months, in the hope of influencing their nicknames.

"We wanted conservative, girly names for our children. I don't like some of the more out-there names people are giving their kids," Ms Wilkinson, from Bulleen said.

"We liked the sound of the name Brianna, but I didn't want her be an 'Anna' because we like the nickname 'Bree', so we decided on Briarna."

Ms Wilkinson had wanted to call her first daughter Madison, but a friend wasn't so sure.

"She said, 'God I hate names that rhyme. They must get so teased at school' off-handedly once and I thought, 'Oh no, what am I doing with Madison Wilkinson?' " she said.

"But I've loved the name forever and didn't want to give it up, so my husband and I were on the internet one night and saw the spelling Maddisen, and knew that was it."

Source: Herald Sun, March 6, 08