Last night’s surprise evening was provided to JVL and I courtesy of Disney Corp., who provided us with a tasty spring-roll laden dinner at East! on Queen Street (oh yes, I went waaaaay off my diet – I even had a sugary iced tea!) and then we waddled over to watch “Howl’s Moving Castle”, the latest Studio Ghibli creation, at a preview screening in the Paramount. Very nice.

The movie was okay, although I always prefer to watch with the Japanese voicing and subtitles rather than dubbing. It was very magical and the backgrounds were lush and beautiful as always, but somehow the water and greenery effects seemed less vibrant than they have been in, say, My Neighbor Totoro or Princess Mononoke.

Still, I left the theatre feeling refreshed and creative and took photos on the bus on the way home of random bits. I have the sudden, irrepressible desire to decorate a room with sparkling jewels and Hindu statuary and small toys and sparkly things, like the wizard’s bedroom in the film. Speaking of the wizard, JVL and I both noticed that he was really modern anime-style attractive, which is to say, totally androgynous looking. Boy? or Girl? Who knows? Who cares!

Now I am going for lunch on campus with my friend Nona the Dean. Hooray!