More on the Move
Ok, so I haven’t posted much about my life so time for an update on K. I’ve just returned from a week down in NSW, checking out rentals & getting prepared for the big move. R has 5 weeks left in his unit so not long now! This morning the guy from across the road bought our 2 pigs so that’s one less thing to worry about.
About 3 weeks ago a guy, B came to look at the house with a view to buying it. He came back a week later with an offer $35k less than the asking. We knocked it back & he returned with an offer $20k less. I said we weren’t wanting to go more than $10k under so he’s going to get back to me on Friday – cross your fingers for us as selling to B would make life a whole lot simpler. Money is incredibly tight at the moment with me not working, paying rent & a mortgage and the travel costs for R & I to see each other are a big strain on our already tight budget, so I’m starting to stress in a big way. The sooner we can get this place sold & me down to NSW the better.
My Debut Album
This is something that used to do the rounds on email, then on forums. Now it’s popped up on Facebook and I’m sure I’m not the first to put it on my blog either. But it’s fun, and I’m bored, so here we go!
1 – Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 – Go to http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 & refresh the page
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 – Go to http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 – Put it all together using image editing software
5 – Post this text as a note, attach your debut album cover & tag your friends!
Lost in Movies
Thanks to the rain & my subsequent boredom, I’ve seen a fair few movies over the last week or so. I don’t think any were spectacular enough to warrant a post of their own, so here’s my quick-rate on them all.
Knowing
It was bucketing down after lunch on Easter Monday, so my dad & I decided to hit the cinema and see the first non-kids movie that was playing – which turned out to be Knowing. Neither of us had even heard of it so had no preconceptions and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. It was fairly predictable and the end somewhat contrived, but the disaster scenes were fantastic and the movie was overall a good watch.
Babylon AD
I’d been waiting awhile to see this, and ended up somewhat disappointed. It started out as the futuristic action flick I’d expected but somewhere along the line it turned into a dull drama, with the end leaving me feeling unsatisfied. Diesel was typically Diesel, which while comforting is getting a bit old, I’d love to see him branch out a bit more.
The Transporter
I quite enjoyed this one, plenty of action, good effects & a reasonable plot. The ever sexy Statham certainly didn’t hurt my enjoyment and I’m looking forward to watching the next two.
Pineapple Express
I loved this one. It’s been a long time since a movie has made me laugh out loud, so Pineapple Express gets a big thumbs up from me. Not a lot of substance or plot, but a great light hearted flick with some great performances that was a very easy watch.
Max Payne
I only vaguely remember the video game, so thankfully I don’t have a comparison to make on that front. Overall, I loved the movie, very dark action with a touch of the supernatural – a very “me” movie (or rather, a very “K” movie as R would put it). It’s definitely one for my ever growing DVD collection.
Iron Man
Another reasonable watch. I was never a comic book/super hero kid so didn’t know the gist behind Iron Man before watching the movie, which added to the enjoyment. Stunning graphics & effects with some good performances, though I felt it could have done with a little more action. A good watch if you’re after something light.
Eagle Eye
Another four star flick. I really liked this one, just the right mix of action & suspense with stellar performances from Monaghan and LaBeouf (who was looking particularly tasty). A good plot that was mostly believable, nice effects and overall easy to watch.
The Bank Job
Another good one here. Drama, suspense, action & a few laughs, definitely a winning blend. Excellent direction, good casting & believable performances made for a good watch.
Lost in Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn
For me, this was the pick of the series to date. Longer, and slightly more difficult reading, it still only took 2 days to finish (no, I don’t have a life). I was disappointed by how Charlie & Renee reacted to the wedding, I would have liked to have seen them kick up some sort of tanty over it but it was all roses… literally. The change to Jacob’s first person in Book 2 was interesting, much better than it would have been to read about those events from Bella’s perspective and a welcome change.
The name given to the child, Renesmee, is one of the most ridiculous names I’ve ever heard – I actually threw the book in disgust. Bella’s reaction to the resulting nickname was just as annoying as the name, if not moreso, and combined they really did ruin the rest of the book for me. I know she’s just a ficitonal character and all, but hey, give your kid a stupid name, expect a stupid nickname!
All in all, a reasonable book once again let down by frustrating characters (never before have I wanted to reach into a book so many times & slap the characters) & poor writing (seriously Meyers, buy a fucking thesaurus).
Lost in Stephenie Meyer’s Eclipse
I figured I had better get this posted before I completely forget this book, because it was a tad on the forgettable side. It was much better than New Moon, though that really isn’t difficult to do, but there wasn’t really anything ‘stand out’ about this one. I was somewhat surprised to see I was partially wrong in my predictions about this book in my review of New Moon, while I was never truly convinced that the Quileute werewolves & the Cullens would war – Meyers seems too clear cut on the good/bad issue to let any of her ‘good’ characters become the ‘bad’ ones – a war was the most predictable next step, so Meyers created another group of vampires to play the bad guys. Not exactly what I expected, but expected none the less.
At least this time round the action felt more spread out through the book, so it wasn’t as sluggish as the first two, however true to form, it was full of dull descriptions, and it was for the most part predictable with the characters taking painfully long to come to conclusions any reader with half a brain would come to 100 pages back. Again Meyers style is poor, but still a quick, easy read if you have nothing better to do.
Lost in Epic Australia
An epic movie is bound to breed epic blog posts, so I apologise in advance for the lengthy ramble. The entire first paragraph is about me, so feel free to skip it if you’re only interested in hearing about the movie itself.
There are two reasons it took me so long to get around to watching this movie. The first being that I have always had a deeply buried desire to be an actress but it was never an option for me to pursue that dream. Growing up, we lived all over Australia, but never any where near capital cities, their acting schools & the opportunities they offer for aspiring actors. Meaning that my parents would have struggled to find any way to even try to assist or support me in realising this dream, so I never even bothered to tell them. My father was also very strong in his opinion that getting a good education & a ‘real’ job was the most important thing in life, and that fanciful dreams were a waste of time. So together with the knowledge that so many people try & fail to become actors, and that I had no exceptional qualities to make stand out in any way – I was not ‘movie star’ material, I convinced myself that it was something that I would fail at regardless so why bother trying? By the time I was old enough to leave home, I had accepted my lot in life & made the best of what I had, burying my desire for acting and concentrated on my ‘real life’. So when I heard that some of this movie was being filmed in Bowen, just 3 hours drive from me, and I discovered that they were holding auditions for extras the day after they took place, I was devastated. I took it as a personal affront, totally irrational of course, but to have been so close, to have just been able to try, just once, was all I wanted. So I held on to my grudge & refused to watch.
Once I stopped holding Mr Luhrmann, his cast & the crew personally responsible for my quashed dreams, I was never really in the mood to watch it – my second reason. I had assumed this was just another love story, another courageous woman doing it tough in the Aussie outback, another rough as guts Aussie bloke morally bound to help her and their inevitable romance, just this time with added Luhrmann flair. Well, I was right, but it was more than that. I had no idea that racial intollerance & the ‘Stolen Generation’ was a primary topic, intermingled with love, adventure & tyranny. It certainly made it much more enjoyable for me, as romance has always been low in my genre preferences.
It’s unmistakeably ‘Baz Luhrmann’, so if you’re not a fan of his style then this probably isn’t a movie for you. If you are, then you’re going to love Australia. The scenery is amazing, Australia in all it’s glory, and the cinematography is simply stunning, creating Luhrmann’s signature surreal world. The acting was impecable, with a special mention to David Wenham for his excellent portrayal of the villan Fletcher, however, while Brandon Walters did an amazing job as Nullah, the character itself was not as endearing as it should have been. As so many people have already mentioned, the movie is a long one, but I didn’t find it at all dragging so never noticed while watching it.
Lost in Hell
Metaphorically speaking anyway. Ergon cut power to our area today to do work & it was hot as hell here today. I’m pretty much refusing to move more than 1m from the air con until I’m certain the melting has stopped. Add to the heat, the loss of power meant no shower, no internet, no tv – just me, my book, my panting puppies and a whole lot of sweat, yup, sounds like hell to me!
I finished Eclipse on Monday so I might review that soon. Though I may need to reread it first as I’m already starting to space on most of the content. I’m only 29 & my memory is already failing, woe is me. LOL
Monday, Monday
Had R home for the weekend, it certainly wasn’t long enough after being apart for 5 weeks. We didn’t get up to much, fixed the hot water system, went to the markets & veged in the air con. It’s been drama central with Virgin Blue this morning though. After getting up at 4am to drive into town, we checked R on & paid for his excess baggage. I then left at 6.20am as he was boarding his 6.40am flight & after my ridiculously long drive home thanks to 2 bloody face scrapers, I get a call from R that his plane is broken & they’ve been booted off. He’s a connecting passenger, so he was moved to Virgin’s 11am flight, while the direct passengers were told they’d just have to wait til the original plane to be fixed – thank god for small mercies. He then had to collect his baggage & re-check it for the new flight – at which time they tried to re-charge him for the excess, he spat it of course, and obviously did not pay again. He’s now going to miss a familiarisation he had to do for work at 4pm, but barring any further problems, he should still get to work tonight. Fun, fun, fun!
And to top it all off, my books didn’t arrive today, not happy Jan!
Lost in Stephenie Meyer’s New Moon
I was really disappointed with New Moon, it certainly paled in comparison to Twilight. I don’t know what I expected really, but I know I expected more than what I got. The book was incredibly boring for the most part, and terribly predictable. The relationship building between Jacob & Bella, while obviously needed to lay way for the inevitable Werewolf/Vampire war & fight for Bella’s mortal soul that is sure to be the subject of the next book, was tedious at best. I found myself glossing over much of it and at one stage I even flicked forward to see if & when the Cullens would return to the story.
As with Twilight, the majority of the book is slow, filled with long winded descrpitions & scene setting, while the actual ‘action’ is rushed, crammed in at the end like an afterthought.
Lost in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight
Like most books made into movies, I found the former much more enjoyable than the latter. In a way I’m glad I saw the movie first (it was certainly a new way to do it for me) as I think I would have liked the movie even less had I read the book first. However, seeing the movie first certainly had it’s disadvantages. I prefer to form my own ideas of how characters look, sound & act, but of course my head was mostly filled with the actors and as Robert Pattinson does absolutely nothing for me, I found it hard to grasp how stunningly beautiful Edward was supposed to be. And of course there’s the obvious fact that I knew exactly how it would end.
But still, as with the movie, I found while I liked the story I still didn’t like the way it was told. While the repetitive arguments were an intergral part of the story, I found the sheer length of them unecessary & infuriating. Likewise, the continual need to describe Edward’s beauty was pointless & annoying . However, I now understand the so-called “Rob Effect” – the outcry of fans against the casting of Pattinson as Edward – and the defensiveness of those pro Rob. No one could live up to the impossible beauty, battered into our brains on almost every page, nor could any one man possibly be the Edward that every woman imagines reading this book. Despite dragging I still couldn’t put it down. It was easy to read & certainly kept me enthralled to the very last page.
