Thursday 28 October 2010

Troublesome Thursdays

Every Day is a Winding Road

To You Know Who

Stuck

For countless months I've had this piece of classical music stuck in my head  & couldn't work out whether it was from a movie or who it was by.
Today, while listening to Ase's Death on youtube & completely not thinking about the aforementioned melody, I saw a video in the corner that I decided to click and lo and behold, it just turned out to be the song I had been searching for for months.
So, with sweet relief, I present a most joyous stuck in the head.

Saturday 23 October 2010

The End

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch is no more. 
Well, it was no more a while ago but I have officially finished all seven series & it really did get quite bad. But, it has a nice fairytale ending & I've kept a few episodes from the past series for when I feel like a nostalgia perk.

VINTAGE

Soothing Saturdays

Electric Relaxation

Thursday 21 October 2010

TV Choice

Venture Bros.
2003 - 


I feel The Simpsons should always retain the title of best cartoon series as it paved the way for all the cartoons we have now & the first several series were really brilliant.


The Venture Bros., however, comes a close second. I did not like it at first, mainly because I watched it a few episodes in &, like The Wire & The Sopranos, had not witnessed the storyline & character build. 4 series in, & I'm still hooked. As a continuation series, it doesn't leave big gaping holes in previous storylines or erase past events like most cartoons do. If a character dies, cuts their hair, ages, loses a limb, it stays that way. The storyline is brilliant & at around 10 minutes long, it's pretty easy to breeze through a whole series in a short amount of time.


I'd highly recommend to any Adult Swim, comic or cartoon fan to watch it/download it NOW.

FILM OF THE DAY: ACTION

Lethal Weapon (1987)



Actor of the Day

Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson
American/Australian
January 3rd, 1956-


I feel bad for Mel Gibson.
Just a little.
It's unfortunate the man's so riddled with problems because as an actor, he's very entertaining to watch, and as a director he's pretty darn great.
Apocalypto is under-rated & not without its backlash (mainly due to historical accuracy - but what film doesn't bend the truth?) but has some of the best cinematography I've ever seen & is fascinating to watch. Gibson certainly likes his gore, which is why Passion of the Christ has been put on the back-burner until I'm ready for 10 minutes of Jesus-torture.


But re-visiting his 80s/90s hey-day, I've had much fun. Last summer I had an Arnold Schwarzenegger binge & it was fantastic. Now, it's Mel Gibson's turn & whilst he's no Schwarzenegger, he does what he does well.
I've still got much to go through, & naturally, not all his films are great, but I do think that - minus all his personal bullshit - he should be recognised more for his acting and directorial abilities, rather than the Jew-hating, woman-bashing, alcoholic man that he is.


Although, Tom Cruise has yet to recover...

Thursday 14 October 2010

VINTAGE

Can't keep running away

TV Choice

America's Next Top Model
I haven't watched it for a few seasons now but the new offer of Italian Vogue on the cards is pretty big time.
I think they've made a few poor decisions though on the people they chose/eliminated, I'm sure as an attempt to make non-commerical looking girls feel like they're beautiful, but it's so painfully obvious some of them will never be models that it makes it kind of frustrating at times.
My favourite at the moment is Esther. I think she's beautiful, she's got curves whilst still being slim & isn't a loud mouth who feels it necessary to remind everyone of the numerous hardships she's had to overcome..


My second favourite is Kendal. She's got amazingly long legs & seems pretty nice, & photograph's really well.
Thirdly, is Jane. She is really pretty and whilst they insist she's not high fashion, I can totally imagine her in a Ralph Lauren spread.


Stuck

C-L-E-O-P-A-T-R-A

Troubled Thursdays

Trouble

Monday 11 October 2010

Stuck

Gold Dust


The video's really cool as well.
Makes me want to go get a skipping rope & do some damage.

I'd like to....

read The Pillars of the Earth.
I've been wanting to get involved in an historic epic for quite some time & I just happened to stumble upon this.
It's slightly hefty though, running a page count larger than War and Peace but once I find a library stocking it, I shall persevere.

Favourite

NORWAY
I've recently added Norway to my mental shortlist of places I'd like to visit.
In a recent UN report, it scored high in per-capita income, health services, governance, and educational level, as well as being mentioned as one of the best places to live for the sixth consecutive year.
I've planned for a 2011 visit, along with a trip to Amsterdam & Stockholm.





Manic Mondays

Goodbye, Sober Day

Film of the Day: Drama

ERIN BROCKOVICH


With Eat.Pray.Love. currently out at cinemas, it led me & my friend to discover we both love Julia Roberts.
I'm surprised she has not received more attention from men for her looks because she is strikingly beautiful with a model's figure.
On top of that, she's a brilliant actress.
I find sometimes that beautiful actresses are (usually) not very good at what they do (Megan Fox, Lindsay Lohan, Sienna Miller) or are overshadowed by their beauty. For instance, Marilyn Monroe was not a brilliant actress but she was very good, and people sometimes forget that she was not just this incredibly beautiful face.
But today I felt like watching a film on one of the many movie channels available & Erin Brockovich was just starting as I was flicking through, so felt it only apt to watch the film that won the ubiquitous actress her first, and currently only, oscar.
I forgot that it's actually rather good, and it went by quite quickly. As I'm somewhat older now, I was also excited to see appearances by faces I now recognise, such as Aaron Eckhart, Albert Finney & Marg Helgenberger, as well as Conchata Ferrell.
It also made me miss Julia Roberts, and the kind of calibre of actresses that were once so many and are now so few.
So, while Erin Brockovich was a 2000 film, I'm still sticking to the other side of the millennium and I shan't be back any time soon.

Sunday 10 October 2010

I Would Like...

The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain


I had my apprehensions when I first saw their tv show on BBC2, presuming it to be a gimmick that two 'hairy' lads who ride motorbikes enjoy & like to cook fine food. 
Whilst they do have beards and ride motorbikes, they're not just good cooks, they're fantastic cooks. I've used a couple of their recipes over the past few months & they've gone down a storm (& I'm no natural cook).


They're passionate about local food, local produce and using every part of an animal to create a highly flavoursome and spectacular dish.
Their recipes can be quite complicated, some have to be skipped altogether due to the difficult task of acquiring some of the ingredients, & they do usually involve a lot of ingredients but it's definately (or definitely, however way you want it) worth the effort, & I'm looking forward to rustling up some tasty three course meals over the coming winter months.


This is the first recipe I ever used of theirs & it went down incredibly well. 
It's also in season so simply parfait.
Cinnamon & Apple Pork Belly with Mulled Cider Cabbage & Roast Almonds

Favourite

The Octopus is my second favourite sea creature and the Translucent Pelagic Octopus is just awesome.

Random Article

I've only just come to learn of the random article function on Wikipedia and I have to say, there's a lot of boring stuff to sift through.
I did, however, find this one quite interesting.
I think because I've recently rekindled my love of games.
Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game

Superstitious Sundays

Stevie

Saturday 9 October 2010

Shameless

I watched X-Factor tonight.
Not even on tv.
I went out of my way to watch it online.
Two and a half hours.
It frustrated me.
2 and a half out of the 4 judges annoyed me.
Yet I still watched.
I feel dirty.
And I only showered a few hours ago.

To You Know Who

Much like that watch on your wrist, you're a fake.
You're a bore, please develop a personality.



Soulful Saturdays

Heard about Creedence through the grapevine

Friday 8 October 2010

I'm totally...

crushing (damn the 90s fever) on Zywiec beer right now.
I'm quite confident to proclaim it's my favourite beer.
It's Polish, it has a quite high strength (for a beer) of 5.6%, & even the bottles are cute.
It's also cheap.
Pretty much always, cheap beer = cheap taste, nasty buzz, even nastier hangover.
But this stuff is delicious.
I highly recommend a try.

VINTAGE

Twiggy, 1966
Barry Lategan