Christmas movie

Today we saw Narnia in class. To me the movie isn't very "Christmassy", but an enjoyable film. Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the wardrobe is based on the book of the same by C.S. Lewis. The book is one of many in the Narnia series which in total is seven books.

The Narnia series has many similarities with another series; Lord Of The Rings. And this isn't purely coincidental. Both Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien fought on the western front during "The Great War". Many of the epic scenes in both series draw inspiration from both writers experiences during the war.
Maybe the best example of this is seen in Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings. In the second book the protagonists cross a wasteland where there was a battle long before. In the waters and pits there are dead bodies looking up drawing people in. This is partly based on a riverbed close to the Somme where Tolkien fought. When the soldiers crossed the riverbed they could see their comrades faces staring at them with a dead gaze.

The Narnia series has a religious perspective unlike its counter part. C.S. Lewis was going through a religious phase at the time of writing and many of the characters are allusions of biblical figures, e.g Aslan having a striking resemblance to Jesus, even though he's a lion.

It's leaking!

Julian Assange, self proclaimed watchdog and future Bond villain, is again in the spotlight of the world. The liberal hacker/journalist/philanthropist is on the run from the international authorities. Accused of rape and three accounts of sexual harassment he has now gone underground.

The most recent dump of documents is mainly diplomatic gossip. It gives an honest picture of the real diplomatic relations free of any false smiles and awkward televised conversations. It shows us that official policy isn’t the same as personal opinion. American diplomats call Kim Jong Il a “flabby old chap” and Putin and Medvedev Batman and Robin. The rant goes on and on about every major world leader, but is this so terrifying?

The opinion of the diplomat isn’t the same as the country’ foreign policy, so as long as no one starts crying the world won’t end in a nuclear holocaust, yet.
When it comes to Julian Assange he is currently in an undisclosed location waiting for the diplomats to stop calling each other names, and when they do it will all go back to normal. Or at least until WikiLeaks releases a new load.