Hottest 100 voting
I love voting in the Hottest 100. There’s always songs I forget the name of, but nonetheless I manage to find 10 songs I liked and would want to hear on Hottest 100 Day (aka Australia Day). My sibs also have this fascination, but this they are both overseas and may not have the internet access that will allow them to vote! Ha ha!
Anyway, this is my list for 2008:
Birds of Tokyo – White Witch
Fratellis – Mistress Mabel
Goldfrapp – Happiness
John Steel Singers – Evolution
Josh Pyke – Make you happy
Lyrics Born – Hott 2 Deff
My Morning Jacket – Highly suspicious
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Dig Lazarus Dig!!
Presets – Talk like that
Ting Tings – Great DJ
My sister hates the Ting Tings. And I think Lyrics Born may get me kicked out of the family.
Thoughts on Harry Potter #1
Fairly random thoughts, really:
The book was quite similar to the film, in that there was only one section that I remembered being a lot different from the movie (and that might anyway be my memory): the opening. I don’t recall so much detail about Harry-getting-to-Dursleys, which didn’t surprise me and which I quite enjoyed.
It felt very much a first novel; there were some aspects of her writing style that had me wincing. That said, it was certainly readable. Obviously…
It is hard for me to say whether I would have been hooked on this had I read it sans-hype, and before seeing the movie. Possibly? Certainly the omnipresent threat of Voldemort, and the rather neat ‘one school year in a book’ timeline, makes a series seem attractive enough.
There weren’t that many characters in this book, and I think most of them made it into the movie. I know a friend of mine has a thing for Pansy, and I don’t remember her from the movie; there might have been one or two profs who didn’t make it into the movie either. Other than that, a good concordance I think? Also, I had forgotten how genuinely obnoxious Hermione was early on, and how little Harry and Ron like her at first.
This is probably one of the books where for me, having seen the movie was actually quite useful. I love Maggie Smith, so seeing her as Prof McG worked immensely well for me; ditto Robbie Coltraine as Hagrid. The banquet scenes etc probably also worked better for my limited imagination with something to remember.
Characterisation? Not that great. Plot? Not overwhelmingly original. Descriptive? Quite. Do I understand Tansy’s mania for fanfic? Not yet.
Discoveries
I am in the ‘want to give useful presents’ zone. So today, I went to my discovered-forgotten-rediscovered love, Basfoods. Ah, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, I love you. Especially in bulk.
I intended to buy some puy lentils for some people outside the city, who would struggle to find those little gems, and see what other nuggets I might unearth. Consequently I am sitting here taste-testing and finding new favourites:
double roasted chickpeas: I’d heard of people eating these like popcorn… oh yes.
sugar-coated almonds: OK, so not a new discovery, but… yum!
sugar-coated pistachios: Drool.
sugar-coated chocolate sesame: !!
sugar-coated coriander: Wow.
sugar-coriander: apparently people eat these like after-dinner mints. Me, I could probably eat them by the handful.
I might be in love.
i also bought 150g of cinnamon quills for not much, which I’ll split up; and sumac; and curry powder.
I’m feeling really quite smug.
It has begun
Yesterday was extremely productive. I had to do something that required my presence but no action – physical or mental – on my part. So I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Yes, the whole thing. In about three hours. Yes, for the first time. Also the first two chapters of Chamber of Secrets.
As predicted, I enjoyed it. I’ve been putting this off for a while – first off I refused to read it because it seemed like a tawdry rip-off of many of my favourites; then later because one of the things I hate most is waiting for the next book in the series (I’m looking at you, Garth Nix; get on with Lord Sunday already.) Also, when they first came out I was not in a YA frame of mind. And finally, I am a mule sometimes: so many people told me to read them that I got stubborn.
Aaaaaanyway… now I’m going to read them. Good thing I have plenty of friends who can hook me up with the set on demand.
I have *the* most awesome friends
So, I’m nearly done at work – am taking next year off to start my MA.
As a first-year teacher, I got assigned a mentor. Julie is wonderful: competent, enthusiastic, no-nonsense and endlessly encouraging. And she is fond of pointing out that before I knew her, I was dumb as dogsh*t.
Today I got to my desk, and there was a present – wrapped in handmade paper, with Matilda of Flanders (the subject of my thesis) printed on it. Inside was a blue tshirt, which she had had screenprinted: “Eleventh Century Queens Rule.”
I am stoked, and wore it all day. Such a lovely gift!
This video is full of awesomeness
Of course, you will have to have a passing appreciation of both Star Wars and Star Trek to get the awesomeness… but it’s still remarkably clever editing, even if you don’t!
The Other Boleyn Girl
I wonder if Anne really was as scheming and conniving as this movie makes out… I’m not sure which I think is more believable.
And George?? Seems to me that that’s taking the slander and propaganda put out at the time a little bit too seriously. I find it very difficult to believe that there was any suggestion of incest. It was simply too taboo, surely. (The actor, though – Jude from Across the Universe! – lovely.)
Poor Mary Boleyn. How horrid to be dealt with like that… and to have history all but ignore you, too, after all of that! She is the most interesting of them all, I think, from this portrayal: George is weak; Anne is something of a bitch; Mary is simply too good for her own safety. Natalie Portman is surprisingly good in this role, as is Scarlett Johanssen.
Their mother – whom I can only ever regard as Duckface, thanks to Four Weddings and a Funeral – is magnificent in this movie. Eric Bana… usually I’m a big fan, but he wasn’t wonderful for me here. Maybe because he has quite a bit part, focusing as it does on the women; maybe because filling the shoes of Henry VIII is a big ask, and he’s just not quite up to it – or the script isn’t.
I also hadn’t realised that the gap between Anne and Jane was quite so short as the movie implies, but I guess it makes sense since one of the reasons for getting rid of Anne was the overwhelming desire for a male heir, and Jane seemed like a good option (as, of course, she was. Poor Jane).
Sad: no mention of the allegation that Anne ordered a French sword for the execution because it would be sharper and therefore swifter.
The costumes are simply delightful; I enjoyed the music, too, and the sets.
Rome
I am watching Rome!
That is, I’m into the second episode of the first season.
I still hate Octavian. Sorry. I like James Purefoy and Marc Antony, so that’s a lovely combination. Although I hadn’t expected him to be quite so… brutal… I like my Richard Burton view of him…
I also hadn’t expected the interest in the common people, which is cool. Nor the quantity of sex. (And the full-frontal nudity, too.)
For a TV show, this is a glorious production – as I had heard; it looks like a high-quality film! HBO must be rolling in it.
Iron Man
I’ve seen Iron Man, finally.
And it was brilliant, as I’d heard. I know nothing about the comics, so obviously I can’t comment on its authenticity. But the opening – how he gets the idea, creates it – very clever! Ridiculous, but clever. Tony Stark is one hilarious hero, and hugely enjoyable to watch. I hadn’t expected Robert Downey Jr to be nearly as good as he was! Infinitely watchable. I had expected Gwyneth Paltrow to be a bit painful, but actually I thought she fit the character quite nicely.
The story was interesting enough, without trying to be too ambitious, which I think can sometimes be a failing in films that really, should be all about the action. (OK, I don’t really mean that, but I think directors do sometimes forget that there are lots of us who are happy with good solid stories, and lots of action, and don’t need more convolutions than The Wheel of Time.) There were a couple of points where I was surprised, which is really all I ask for!
The effects were also brilliant.
Dangerous chocolate cake
Courtesy of my sister comes this gob-smacking recipe:
5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional… ha! as if it would be an option to put them in!)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).
And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!
I made it last night, and did go the ‘virtuous’ option… it was tasty, but I think I over-mixed it; it had that texture that overmixed muffins sometimes get. Still… I’m trying to decide whether I really ought to post this, or if I should delete it and the email and try to forget that chocolate cake could be so accessible!
Randomly Yours, Alex 