mysteries

[electricland]

Have started the monumental task that is clearing out "my" room in my parents' house from 8 1/2 years' accumulation of Stuff. I'm finding some fascinating things -- my notebook from the year I tutored pariah_ink and Dan in high school math, physics, and chemistry (tossed), my agenda from Grade 13 (kept), a bunch of tapes (put in box for Value Village, like anyone's going to want them).

I've moved on to the bottom drawer in the chest of drawers and have encountered a curious item. I know I knew what it was once. I have a feeling it dates back to high school, but who knows? Anyway, it's a film container (remember film? you know, black with a grey top, not the clear Fuji kind) with "Tools" written on the side in gold ink. It contains:

• a balloon, black


• an elastic band


• a marble


• a paper clip, pink


• a puzzle piece


• a thumbtack, white (well, maybe it's a push pin -- you know, with the flat head, not the plastic kind with a waist)


• a small piece of Plasticine, yellow


• a Lego block, yellow


• a piece of card stock, peach, with "FBO" written on one side in black and "1^STs" on the other side in silver

I now have no clue what this signifies, but am immensely curious. Anyone have any ideas?

Also, GIP.

EDIT: My theories so far: It's some kind of toolkit for sparking the writer's imagination. Or it's to amuse small children, although I'm not altogether sure how that would work. I can't really see it being any kind of survival kit. Hmm.

EDIT 2: I seem to vaguely recall being part of a group, each member of which got one. But I don't know.

Comments

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

It reminds me of Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain. I'd rewatch the film, but I think I lent it to someone, who has yet to return it to me.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

that hadn't occurred to me! I love that movie. Perhaps I will buy it one of these days...

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

I loved it. I adore Mathieu Kassovitz more than is probably healthy. In part, because he directed one of my favourite films ever. And in part, because he's such a cool human being. And I loved the character he played in the film.

Anyway, that's the first thing I thought of, the little treasure box she finds hidden behind the wall in her bathroom.

And yes, you should get a copy of the dvd. The soundtrack is also great.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

I know nothing about him! But yes, he was lovely. Have you seen Munich yet? I have to admit I didn't notice him in particular, but he is in it, and the movie is much better than I expected it would be.

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

Okay, I don't know a lot about him, truthfully, but what I've seen and read about him has impressed me. And his film, La Haine, had a profound effect on me. And if you haven't gotten the chance to see it, do so. It's one of the most brilliant and important films I've ever seen.

I've been wishy-washy about seeing Munich. I'm not a fan of Steven Spielberg's films. I find them superficial and highly manipulative. But I'm interested in the subject matter, given that the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is of great personal interest to me. However, his presence might be the deciding factor!

He has a site, with a blog! I knew of the site, but not the blog (in French). www.mathieukassovitz.com

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Hmmm! Noted. (For the new year I have inaugurated a Binder of Books and Movies. We'll see how it works out.)

I was expecting a lot more superficiality and manipulativeness, FWIW, but then I know very little about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. I just read George Jonas's story about the long road to the adaptation (he hates it) which gave me another take... I didn't take at all the same things away from the movie that he did, although that's probably inevitable.

Anyway, not a ringing endorsement here, but a solid "much better than I thought it would be."

[nellisir.livejournal.com]

Thumbtack, I think. Pushpins are the ones with waist. At least that's what I believe.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

That's my impression too. All right, thumbtack it is.

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

There's a difference? I honestly didn't know that. I mean, yes, there is obviously a physical difference. I just didn't realise that each one had its own respective term, when they both do the same thing.

Course, like "trombones," I'm more likely to think of pushpins/thumbtacks by the French term for them, "punaises." My French likes to eat my brain. A lot.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Actually I think the two terms are mostly used interchangeably, but I always feel there *should* be a distinction drawn between them.

How is it possible that I worked in French-speaking offices (or at least partly French-speaking) for 6 years without learning the term "punaise"? Maybe I just wasn't using them very often...

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

I make such an odd anglophone. Just recently, I went up to someone at work and said, "do you have any punaises? The English completely authentically English and the French authentically French. I do the same with trombones, because I always forget the English word for that. Always. And it's not an easy thing to describe. I am such a dork.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

How the heck did you get that much stuff into a film container? Those things are only about an inch in diameter, and about two inches tall.

(Or are you talking about a film canister - the type that movie film is kept in?)

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Yep, film container. I should probably have mentioned that the balloon isn't inflated, and the chunk of Plasticine is less than 1 cm on a side. Everything else is pretty little. It's tight, but it fits!

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Wow... you must be a packing goddess. ;)

(And I actually never thought that the balloon was inflated - it's just that some balloons, even deflated, are bigger than a film container. That's still a lot of stuff.)

[electricland.livejournal.com]

But I didn't pack it! It was definitely someone else. Possibly someone with better packing mojo than either of us.