Books for Girls and Boys

Published Saturday 28 Nov 2009 Books Leave a Comment
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I have a lot of writing to do this weekend so that I can try for the first time in my sorry life to write a damned essay before the final due date day.  The essay is due on Thursday but I will have a busy week this week and I do not want a repeat of last time since I made myself miserable.  So, we have a free weekend (except for lunch with friends tomorrow) and I intend to use it wisely.  I have a lot of reading to get done this weekend.  I have to finish the set books for my course: Little Women (American version including Good Wives – I am less than half-way through Good Wives) and Treasure Island – I have read most of the introduction and that is all!.  I really enjoyed Little Women but I am finding Good Wives harder to stomach – whilst I appreciate that it was written in a different time, the way women and their lives are depicted sticks in my teeth and the March’s so-called charity is plain condescension.  Having said that, I would probably be enjoying it more if I were reading it purely for pleasure.  I had read all the Little Women series before but I don’t really remember much.  However, I have never read Treasure Island so I am interested to see what I make of it.  The essay will be looking at how Alcott and Stevenson depict their characters growing up (unless I decide to choose the other question which I cannot remember right now!).

Shuffle fun #3

Published Friday 27 Nov 2009 Music 2 Comments

This is always fun so here are my first ten this time around…

Pulp ‘Underwear’

This song is off the album Different Class and recalls a very specific time when I was at university.  I listened to this album to death which means I barely ever listen to it anymore although I did the other day and realised how much I still like it.

Metallica ‘Wherever I May Roam’

Metallica came up in my last shuffle so I wont go on and on about them again.  I will say that this song id probably one of my favourite.  It has one of the best first lines ever:  ‘And the road becomes my bride’.

Jamelia ‘Numb’

Jamelia covered Linkin Park’s Numb for Radio 1 in the Live Lounge and it made it on to this first compilation.  The whole album is excellent but I particularly like this cover.

Christina Aguilera ‘Aint No Other Man’

Christina is a complete guilty pleasure for me.  She may do to many vocal gymnastics but there is not denying that the girl can sing.  I really like Back to Basics – the old style and the new coming together.  This song is especially catchy.

No Doubt ‘Don’t Speak’

Aw this song is beautiful.  Again, it reminds me of being in the third year at Uni (although I think it was released before that), standing in my friend’s bedroom, looking through her CDs.  The same mental image comes to me whenever I hear this song, which is pretty annoying.

En Vogue ‘Whatta Man’

I started listening to En Vogue because of my best friend from university.  I still listen to this in the car so I can sing my socks off without causing anyone any aural harm.  This song was a collaboration

Suzanne Vega ‘Marlene On The Wall’

I must have listened to this album hundreds of times be proxy – my brother was a big Suzanne Vega fan.  A year or so ago, he bought me some iTunes vouchers so I thought it only fitting to treat myself to first album (from which this song is taken).  The music hasn’t aged.  She tells a story with her songs and I am captivated when I am listening to her.

Prodigy ‘Charly’

I can safely say I hated this song when it was first released.  Dance music of any kind ws abhorrent to me in my early to late teens (and early twenties for that matter) and it was only when Prodigy released Firestarter (and the album it was on, The Fat of the Land) that I started paying attention.  I since bought the singles and get a warm fuzzy feeling of nostalgia now listening to this song.

Heart ‘If Looks Could Kill’

In all their rock-out big-haired guitar-soloing words-belting glory, Heart were one of my first music-loves.  Huge in the 80s in the US, they had some popularity over here (especially with their biggest hit ‘Alone’).  I adore this band and I still love to listen to their stuff – I only recently bought their greatest hits having had a sudden urge for some Wilson sisters action!

Cat Power ‘Love and Communication’

We bought the album The Greatest on our road trip up the east coast of US in May 2006.  We visited Wilmington (so I can see where they filmed Dawson’s Creek!) and wondered into CD Alley which is the shotting location for the video shop in Dawson’s Creek and the record store in One Tree Hill.  The staff were really friendly and helpful and suggested this album to us and also the Grandaddy new album (which we also bought – we are suckers for good service!).  This dreamy CD was perfect for the open road and of course, now when I hear it, I think of North Carolina, Virginia,  and Shenandoah which is not such a bad thing.

Wanna play? The rules are simple.  Take your iPod / iPhone / MP3 player of choice / CD player (old school!) and then SHUFFLE (and no cheating!!)…

Lily

Published Thursday 26 Nov 2009 Music 1 Comment
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On Tuesday night, Rich and I went to see Lily Allen play the Birmingham National Indoor Arena.   Neither of us felt particularly up for it (Rich bought the tickets on a whim) but after Rich rushed back from London, we managed to get up to the Mailbox in Birmingham to park (I really want to have a proper look around the Mailbox – it’s very posh).

We hadn’t eaten so we were desperately trying to find something vaguely healthy to eat but we just didn’t have enough time to eat somewhere proper so we ended up scorfing a sub-par hotdog / cheeseburger (me the hotdog, him the cheeseburger) with chips and a drink in the NIA.

We got down into the standing area in time for the support act, Example.  I had never heard of this dude but he was surprisingly good and he was also a bit dorky (and excited to play such a big crowd) which endeared me to him.  I recognised at least one of his songs and will non doubt be checking out more of his stuff.

We then hung around waiting for Lily to come on.  I’ll give her this – she does play some good tunes  to her waiting fans – Nirvana, Oasis, some old Ska…

The gig itself was very enjoyable – we don’t have her newer album but her tunes are very catchy and she is entertaining.  She was clearly very nervous and not used to performing to such a large audience.  She also managed to piss off half her audience by calling the people in the seated areas ‘posh’ and ‘moody’!  I think she was just overwhelmed by the large arena and it must be very weird having so many people sitting there watching you prance about (very few people in the seated areas were up on their feet dancing). With the bigger venue came a bigger budget for the gigs and when asked what she would like for her tour, she asked for a Guinness pump on stage so she could serve pints to her loyal fans who spend hours at the front before the gig to reserve their place (thus missing out on the bar!).  It was a nice idea but a little clunky especially since one of her songs ended while she was still pulling a pint, meaning it was a little anti-climactic.

She got into her swing though and despite her worrying about her poorly voice, she sounded great.  I wasn’t too keen on her backing musicians who at times drowned her out and generally made bit of a racket.  For me, the best bits were when the music was kept simple and her voice could shine.

At one point, Lily had to stop mid-song to get help for someone at the front who was ill.  She was visibly shaken by it and it threw her for just a moment but then she was back on form.  She performed a few covers: Oh my God (originally the Kaiser Chiefs which she covered for Mark Ronson), Naive (by The Kooks – I loved this!).

She also sang a version of Dub be Good to Me (originally Beats International) with special guest Professor Green (I am not nearly cool enough to know who this person is).

We left at the end of the main gig before her encore so we just missed her version of Womanizer (by Britney Spears, as if  I need to tell you) although we heard it through the door as we walked around the outside of the arena.  She also played my two favourite of her songs, Little Things and The Fear, before we left, so I was happy.

New feature – email subscriptions!

Published Wednesday 25 Nov 2009 Journal 3 Comments
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WordPress.com has just released a new feature which will allow you receive email notifications of my new blog posts.   Just click on the button in my sidebar over there on the right. This may be of interest for those of you who do not use a feed reader to keep up with the blogs you read (although if you do read a few blogs and you aren’t using a reader, I suggest you check out Google Reader pronto!).

Happy subscribing!

20 second reviews – part 4

Published Tuesday 24 Nov 2009 Screen 1 Comment
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Here is part 4 of my 20 second-reviews of all the films we have rented from Lovefilm since our subscription started.

Semi-Pro
30 December 2008

As a BIG fan of Anchorman and Zoolander (and Will Ferrell generally), I was looking forward to this.  Whilst Blades of Glory made me laugh a lot, this effort fell short.  It was funny, in places, but it had nowhere near the re-watchability (invented word!) that Anchorman has.  Woody Harrellson provided some entertainment also but since I am straining to remember anything in the way of plot or jokes, it can’t have been very memborable.  As the great Randy Jackson would say, it was just aiit for me, dog.  Would watch again without protest but am unlikely to go out of way to do so.

Wanted
13 January 2009

I couldn’t resist this unflattering picture of Angelina – she is pulling a fairly ridiculous face which is fitting because this film is fairly ridiculous.  I still really enjoyed it, ridiculousness notwithstanding.  James McAvoy is one of those actors that seems to go down well with the ladies despite his less than classic good-looks.  He is pretty charming, I suppose.  But I think his inclusion in the film help balance things out and made you root for the character more than a Ryan Reynolds or [insert you own superficial action hero here].  It was great fun and I would definitely like to see this again, preferably in HD.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
13 January 2009

I like this a LOT more than I was expecting.  At the time I watched it, I only knew Jason Segal from Knocked Up,  having never watched How I Met Your Mother or Freak and Geeks (I am remedying the first watching it daily on E4).  I hadn’t really watched Veronica Mars either, so seeing the usually perky Kristen Bell as the bitchy and eponymous Sarah Marshall probably did not have the impact it could have had.  That said, I DO know Mila Kunis from That 70s Show and Family Guy and I love her.  She made this movie for me.  It was both funny and sad.  Russel Brand was even alright in it although I do cringe whenever there is British stunt casting.  Would happily to see again.

Gone Baby Gone
14 February 2009

I am not sure we actually watched this on Valentine’s Day as the date above suggests since these dates are the dates the DVDs are returned to Lovefilm – I hope not since this is not really romantic fair.  What it is, though, is bloody good film making from the excellent cast (Casey Affleck was just superb as was Amy Ryan who was nominated for an Oscar for her role as the mother whose child goes missing) to the tight script and wonderful direction by Ben Affleck.  This film broke my heart a little and stayed with me for ages after.  I really want to see this again.

Michael Clayton
18 February 2009

I can’t remember the point at which George Clooney stopped being fun, cute Dr Ross / Ocean’s Eleven cheeky chappie but somewhere along the way, The Cloon became not just respected but credible and powerful.  The subject matter was not necessarily that exciting on the surface of it, but before it, I was hooked.  Richard Scickel (Time Magazine film review) said this:

A morally alert, persuasively realistic and increasingly suspenseful melodrama, impeccably acted and handsomely staged by Tony Gilroy.

I completely agree!  I will watch this again someday I expect – despite how much I liked it, I am bound to be reluctant to watch again for the same reason I was reluctant to watch in the first place – because it seems a very dry subject.

Part 1 can be found here.

Part 2 can be found here.

Part 3 can be found here.

Fighting fit

Published Monday 23 Nov 2009 Journal Leave a Comment
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Today I popped in to see my great auntie Joan with my mum. She has just moved down from Manchester (after living there for 89 years) to live in a residential home in Banbury. She is so much nearer, we can visit her in the evenings to say hi or at the weekends where before she ws just that bit too far for anything other than the occasional visit.  Joan was the auntie I took to Wales in the summer for a few days and during that time, she was quite frail, breathless and generally not well.  We still had a marvellous time but I was concerned about her.  Since then, she had a nasty fall and ended up in hospital.  After a lot of family discussion, it was decided that a move into a home with a higher level of care would be for the best, since it was so hard for her to get about.  She came out of hospital straight to the new home and she is already feeling at home.  None of us dared hope that she would settle as quite as she has and her health has improved remarkably.  The home has a lot of activities which she likes and she still has her own flat which is private.  I am so thrilled to see her happy and thriving!

I heart Tumblr – week 3

Published Sunday 22 Nov 2009 Journal 2 Comments
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Here are more picks from the past week on Tumblr.

The first of two Glee instalments in this I heart Tumblr. I couldn't resist this photo of the actors who play Quinn and Puck with a baby.

Double the cute.

More cuteness.

Do you watch How I Met You Mother? You should. Neil Patrick Harris alone will make it worth your while.

MIT vs Mr T

These look amazing and I bet they are yummy too.

Yeah I know, more Glee. I have no clue if this pic was taken from an upcoming episode or a promo but I can't wait to see it, whatever it is.

Did I mention the cuteness?

This made me LOL in the truest sense of the acronym.

This is entitled Dwangela Gothic.

More next week!

Christmas shopping

Published Saturday 21 Nov 2009 Journal Leave a Comment
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We braved the miserable weather and venture out to the shops do get some Christmas shopping done.  This is particularly organised for us – we have never been so organised before!  We made some excellent progress and have bought the majority of our presents but we couldn’t resist a few items we saw for ourselves such as this vintage-looking Union Jack cushion which looks perfect in our lounge:

Here is it in situ:

We also couldn’t resist these tea towels:

Why is it that you find so much stuff you want when you are shopping for other people?!

Achievements

Published Friday 20 Nov 2009 Books , Craft , Journal , Music , Screen Leave a Comment
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It’s Friday and I still haven’t got round to taking pictures of my swag from the Vintage and Handmade Fair last Saturday.  Instead, here is another list.  I have achieved the following this week:

  • Drove down to Chipping Sodbury for the fair, then home, then Rich and I drove down to Bucks to visit our friends, then home, then we drove to Coventry then home – all in the space of 29 hours.
  • Watched a video for my OU course and started reading part 2 of Little Women (AKA Good Wives although I am a bit behind with a lot of the reading!).
  • Went to see Annie at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham.
  • Bought a load of Christmas presents while in Birmingham on Wednesday.  It’s a good job that Selfridges is not that convenient for me.  Deadly.
  • Converted a friend to Glee.  We watched three episodes in a row last night and I have promised I would supply her with the rest asap!
  • Caught up on Friday Night Lights.  Still love that show.

So much still to do though.  I am hoping to get my craft on this weekend and finish The Quilt.

Pressing pause

Published Thursday 19 Nov 2009 Journal 1 Comment

It’s day 19 of NaBloPoMo and I have so far managed a post a day which is, frankly, pretty remarkable.  But I need a little break from thinking so please enjoy this picture of three kittens swaddled up WITH HATS and in a plastic box.  No,  I have no idea either.

Find my niche? Such advice is gleefully ignored here where I spread the bookish, crafty, navel-gazing, rockchick, teevee love.

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