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Various links on travelling by train around Europe

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Antonio Ponte - Train World Brussels

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I’ll do my crying in the train

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I'll do my crying in the train

There are some movies that impress me to tears. Even if I see them multiple times, I cry.

Titles include:

I cried at How to Train Your Dragon (2025) pretty much at all of the whole second part of the movie. The crying was very high, similar to Saving Mr. Banks (2013). Pretty much for the same reasons, also.

I consider this movie to be in my top 10 movies, but probably in the top 5 I’ve ever seen.

“Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.” ― Jean-Paul Sartre

In the movie, the acting was fine, the script was fine, and the special effects were fine. But what I did to what the movie did to me – this was exceptional.

I know people who don’t watch the same movie twice, who don’t go to the same plays twice etc.

I don’t know How to Train Your Dragon (2010) by heart. But I’ve seen it enough times again and again to know most dialogues and actions. It’s a more-than-ok movie, I saw the other parts in the series, also.

But this 2025 movie was simply amazing to me, even if I knew a lot of things from the animated version.

I go to see theater plays, and a lot of them don’t move me that much. Sometimes I travel a lot to see a show (theater, musical, other type of performance). The cinema is a much easier solution to consume media, and I’ll put more emphasis on it, based on the 2025 movie.

It’s very rare that something moves me with theater this much as it was today. No spoilers, so I won’t give details on what moved me, but take a look at the trailer.

I don’t think I’ll see the 2025 movie again at the cinemas, but I will surely rewatch it at some point.

Until then, I’ll do my crying in the train.

PS #1: I watched the movie with my brother. His reaction to the movie: „Quite an aggressive movie, but I liked it.”. I think they’ve done something to the 3D glasses. We might have watched different movies.

PS #2: Why watch a remake of a movie? It’s because it’s generally like with Vivaldi Recomposed (Max Richter – Anotimpurile de Vivaldi recompuse – Blog de Olivian Breda) – it’s the same song you know & love, but with some twists. Even if you know the main story, there are differences in the remake.

PS #3: In Romanian, they translated „God” with „Thor”. :)

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Toughen up

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Nick Kenrick - Lord, give me firmness without hardness, steadfastness without dogmatism, love without weakness ... Jim Elliot

I heard this thing many years ago, it stayed with me:

  • Women open up, show vulnerability, and admit to mistakes. After they do this, other women tend to protect and care for that wound, treating it with care.
  • Men toughen up, never show vulnerability or mistakes. If they do this as an exception, other men attack and use the weakness against that person.

Initially, the person who told me about this told it in such a way that the woman’s behavior and solution are optimal. In my opinion, the optimal behavior is this:

  • Open up like women, and use the weakness against the person, like men.

I think opening up an issue and then being confronted with it, being mocked about it, seeing it repeatedly, has the option of making one more powerful. Tougher, if you want.

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On Jesus Christ Superstar Musical (Glasgow, 2024.07.29-30)

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Jesus Christ Superstar Musical

I saw „Jesus Christ Superstar” (JCS) – musical, in Glasgow, twice: 2024.07.29 and 2024.07.30.

Feedback?

I saw the show initially in Romania in 2006 (I went to see it twice).

Since then, I have become quite a fan, listening to the songs many times, watching the movie a few times, and watching pretty much everything about JCS I could get my hands on.

I became a fan of such music. According to my Last FM profile, I have listened to music by Andrew Lloyd-Webber more than 4,000 times.

I saw The Phantom of the Opera (POTO) four times (not always in its entirety) in London, and Starlight Express once, in London.

The last time I saw POTO, it was the greatest musical I had ever seen, so my expectations for JCS were high.

What did I like about the show?

Mary’s performance. I found the songs sung by Mary very nice, I enjoyed them very much.

Some other members of the cast. I especially liked Ryan O’Donnell (Pilate) and Jordan Michael Todd (Ensemble).

The music was fine overall. I have nothing to object to; there was nothing „wrong” with it.

What would I have appreciated more?

This is quite important – people put a lot of passion into the original version. They seemed to pour their souls into singing. On the upside, they showed emotions; on the downside, they seemed quite a bit desperate. Half a century later, I found that the actors were much more relaxed in this musical, even on powerful topics. While the role of Mary in this musical suits her well with a more relaxed way of singing, the others do not. I agree, putting your soul into something has something of a desperation. But if you take that away, you also take some emotions out of the performance. I didn’t consider anything was put back on. „We take out desperation; we put nothing back.” In my opinion, what was lost in this process were the emotions. Not all performers showed this; some actors had emotions, but most were following the issue I presented here.

I found that the objects on stage were over-simplified. Perhaps having everything simple and to the point is based on some people’s tastes. I think there is such a thing as „over-simplification.” A phone with close to no physical buttons may be nice, but there’s not much I dislike more than a remote control with just a few controls. I would have preferred more objects/things on stage.

Conclusion?

I liked the show, I think it could have been much better, though.

See photos here »

PS: A quote related to helping too much, too many people:

[JESUS]
Ooo There’s too many of you; don’t push me
There’s too little of me; don’t-don’t crowd me
Mmm, don’t crowd me
Oww, Ohhh
Heal yourselves!
(via »)

PS: On the topic of JCS, in Romanian:

#1, #2, #3 (just a quote on #3).

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Live videos building computers

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New desk in new apartment!

At some point, PC Garage used to offer a service called Serviciu Asamblare video interactiva cu Iulian – PC Garage. (live PC Building)

These are videos I like:

The thing is, these are not live videos, they have been edited, cut, and so on.

Also, you can learn from the videos, the speaker gives details.

Just filming a computer being assembled is not the same thing as creating an edited video on how to assemble a computer.

It’s the same thing, but different.

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How it was at The Phantom of the Opera (Romexpo, 2025.06.13)

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The Phantom of The Opera

I’ve seen The Phantom of the Opera (Romexpo, 13th of June, 2025). For the context, I consider this musical as the best play I’ve seen (I saw it last summer, in the UK).

Thoughts about the show in Bucharest?

  • I enjoyed the music & interpretation, thought it was good. Not dreamy-perfect, though.
  • I didn’t think the costumes/elements on the stage were as good as those in London 2024.
  • I got tickets for the cheapest seats. The thing is, the chairs were made of plastic, and they were not that comfortable.
  • I consider the location was wayyyy too large for the play. It was just too big, I couldn’t see properly. I couldn’t properly see the actors from the back of the building. It was something like a TV – but I paid to see a movie at the movie theater. I got a TV experience, paying for a cinema.
  • Do I recommend the show? Yes, but it’s not the best show I’ve seen (like the one in London).

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