NOBODY casts dogs and butterflies on walls anymore; one can only guess that these days nobody can really remember how. Funny, but back in the days when life was less wired, one could actually amuse oneself casting shadows in the dark. There was even, in fact, a Sesame Street segment featuring an Indian man casting the most intricate shadow figures and it was the best thing you could ever show to your friends, if you learn it. Folks of an even earlier time must have had twice as much fun playing with shadows by the light of gas lamps.

IN another time and place, shortly after General George Armstrong Custer’s “last stand” in 1876 to be exact, there was a town in South Dakota that attracted drifters, fortune-seekers, prostitutes, criminals, tyrants, burned-out adventurers and just about everyone else with nowhere to go. Here, feuds and alliances are forged, however temporary and self-serving as the town is both famous for its gold and notorious for its lawlessness.

AS a present to myself, I decided to enroll in a rare and scary dance class: adult beginner’s ballet. Back in high school this body of mine could spike a mean volleyball, do splits and cartwheels with other gymnast bodies, and sweat it out in a tight leotard in jazz class. In college, it swam alongside Air Force Team bodies, kept up with male bodies on mountain climbing trips, and bravely rappelled down waterfalls. It dreamed of jumping out of airplanes (with a parachute, of course). It was a body that knew its power. Then it joined the workforce.

LONG before globalization was a popular concept, or was even a word coined by westerners to describe the changes they observed in the world economy resulting from the increased international trade and cultural exchange—long before it was the buzzword it is today, "globalization" was a very common cultural experience for the people of Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

HEY are, it is reckoned, the theater’s version of the Fab Four.

EING in a foreign country does something funny to your system. Shaken out of your routine and your habits, it’s as if every cell in your body is being forced to readjust. In that case, the ability to almost spontaneously just pack up and head for different (if not greener) pastures is something to be admired. And, in Quincy Teofisto’s case, such adaptability has proven perfect for his career and personality.

It’s a Michael Bay film. What else would you expect?