That was a long day....

I'm tired because I never really got much sleep last night. I'm not sure why. We went to bed quite late anyhow, and then I tossed and turned all night. I dreamt that I was working a job in which I had to scrub dead, mutilated fish which were as long as my arm span and with killer needle teeth. It was my only job, and I was being threatened with the sack; a blessing and a curse, really, given my dream selfs situation.

We were awoken by our intercom going off. At first, as it jolted me from my disturbed sleep, I thought it was the courrier bringing the lovely new clothes I ordered on Tuesday, but as I stumbled sleepy eyed down the hallway to answer I caught a glimpse of the clock in the living room and realised it was only quarter to seven in the morning. I picked up the reciever, but no one answered my greeting, so I went to look out of the living room window to see if I could catch our cold caller.

Right outside of the flat was parked a police car, but not just parked up at the side of the pavement; it was right accross the road, blocking it off from oncoming traffic. A police officer was walking down the street, away from our flat, scribbling in her little notebook. I wondered if there had been a "domestic" as they are not infrequent around here, but as I took in the sights from down the road I saw more police cars cordoning off the other end of our block.

Ben had joined me and this point, and suggested we go back to bed for now, we'd soon find out what was what, and if it was an emergency they'd surely be more persistant at our door. This time I fell straight into a deep and blessedly dreamless sleep, to be woken again at half nine by Ben coming through to give me the news about what was going on in our street. According to the local radio, a fifty year old man had been beaten about the head with an iron bar in a brutal assault in the early hours of the morning, litterally a few metres away from our flat. He was alive (and I've heard no news since to the contrary) but in hospital. I got up and started my morning routine. It didn't take long before the police were back to ask if we'd heard anything. We hadn't of course, our bedroom is on the other side of the building.

When we finally got out we were two hours later than planned thanks to our prolonged lie in. We knew we'd be out and about in town today, going for a meal and going to see Conan the Barbarian at the cinema. We also needed to sort some things out at the bank. As it turned out, the bank took much longer than we initially expected, however we did what we needed to do and then went to investigate the times for the cinema.

Given our lateness (you can ask my friends, I'm only ever punctual for work!) we weren't going to be able to enjoy our meal in a relaxed fashion and get to the cinema on time too, so we decided to opt for Apollo 18 instead, which we'd both read about and were very much interested. Plans reshuffled, we headed for Jamies Italian for a much looked forward to feast.

We'd been before, back in February, and thoroughly enjoyed it. However we'd not had any starters, and so this time we decided to go the whole damn hog. We went for a meat plank to start, though I have to say that as delicious as it was, it was a little dissapointing on the size department for the money we paid...there was one sample of each thing (one Lombardi chilli, one piece of prosciutto, one piece of salami etc) so we carefully divided each bit up. Then, because I'm now on Weight Watchers properly and counting all my points properly (as opposed to last week when I signed up then got distracted by familial meals out again...) I ordered a Prosciutto and Pear Salad...which was most definitely not tiny and was absoloutely divine.

Sadly the dessert didn't live up to expectations. Knowing I was trying to stick to being good I'd checked out the menu beforehand and decided to go for a sorbet. However, I noticed they had a dish that involved super thin slices of pineapple with mint chilli and blood orange sorbet, and remembered that fruit is all free to gorge upon on Weight Watchers, so I decided to try it. It was...unusual. I suppose the mint chilli should have been a clue. Anyway, it just wasn't to my taste, I kinda wish I'd just gone for regular old sorbet...however, since I had been very good all day I decided to be a little naughty and leave half of it then get a Ben and Jerry's at the cinema later (which was most definitely to my liking!)

If one thing put me off the whole thing, it was our waiter. Don't get me wrong, he was indeed a lovely guy, but he was so....involved...to start with, I asked for what was essentially a sweet sherry to drink. I knew they provided table water, and I generally only have one drink with a meal (I'm a very slow drinker, in fact I probably don't get enough fluid in general because of this). He twisted his face however;

"Really? You know, that's really supposed to be a dessert wine...."

"Oh, I know," I replied, "but I love this, and I really really just fancy it"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I love it!"

"Well....if you're absoloutely sure....are you sure?"

At this point I kind of lost my temper a little bit. I don't drink a lot of alcohol. I tend to have a drink with my meal if we're out and about, and if we arrange to have a few hours in the pub every couple of months with our friends then sure I'll have more than just one....and then there's the once a year or so when I go a bit bonkers on a night out...but seriously, when I drink I'm drinking because I want to drink something specific. I wasn't in the mood for 'actual' wine. His face was a picture when I turned around and said;

"Oh ok then, just get me a diet coke then".

Not the response he was looking for I feel.

He felt similarily involved with our starter. After explaining what every individual piece of garnishing was he finally left us to it, however when he returned to find everything gone but the mega olive (neither me nor Ben like olives) he pointed at it like my mum would if she'd found I hadn't eaten all my meal. After arguing with me over it I eventually picked it up and took a bite out of it.

"There, you see?" he said.

"Mmm...it's really not to my taste".

I'm going to stop reviewing our meal time now before I burst into an even more violent rant about it.

After lunch, we still had an hour or so to go before the film, so we decided to go to Waterstones and browse the books.

I had in mind a book I wanted to get after having stumbling accross it on this blog belonging to one of Ben's old University mates, called "The Ultimate PCOS Handbook". Having read her overview of it, it appealed to me; like Nicki, I've been poo pooed off by various doctors who don't seem to appreciate the difficulties it causes, and when sent to see a dietician about it, she just infuriated me (as I've previously discussed) with her inane suggestions and no talk of how best to treat my condition. Anyhow, I've never actually read a book about the condition, and all my knowlege is based around the symptoms, supposed causes, and "if you loose weight it goes away, but the condition makes loosing weight a shitter" so I decided hmm, can't hurt. Plus it'll keep my mind focussed on the reason I want to loose weight; to make babies.

After our impromptu shopping trip to Waterstones we perused HMV then made our way to the cinema where, to our joyous suprise, we ran into Becky and her lovely lover Steve. They'd come from work as an impromptu thing so I convinced them to join us for Apollo 18 thinking it'd be great. I now feel nothing but horrifying guilt.

Dont get me wrong, Ben absoloutely loved it. And it consisted of a lot of the things I love in a good horror; great tension, bare little glimpses of what it is that is terrorising the victims, great jump spots...and I loved Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield...but this just didn't do it for me. Once you realised what was happening (which didn't take long) the mystery had vanished and all you were left with was some tension built on the promise of having a jump. It really didn't deliver it well, however.

It was filmed to look and sound like grainy old footage from the early seventies, and this kinda helped to give it suspense because you couldn't really see what was happening...sadly this method made for such a distorted hour and a half of visual and audio that by the end I had a splitting headache and was dizzy for at least an hour afterwards, as well as motion sickness (and as I said, I loved Para and Clover, so it's not like this has happened before with this kind of "amateur footage" film). I also found the "monsters" behind it all to be pretty mediocre. I mean, the film is marketed on the basis of "this is why we never went back to the moon" but all it really says is "we never went back to the moon because the moon has crabs" - or should I say rocks that turn into crabs. I know there's nothing much on the moon other than rocks, but really...crabs? Your evil alien overlords that burry into your body and drive you slowly insane are crabs?

I really didn't enjoy it, and I could feel from her body language that Becky wasn't enjoying it either. I feel kind of bad for dragging them into it now, especially since we had to go to do the shopping pretty much straight afterwards...but never mind. You win some and you loose some. Like I said, Ben thought it was great so perhaps you will too.

Anyhow, that pretty much sums up our day...we did the grocery shopping, then when we got home my mum called and we had a nice long natter. Me and Charlotte are going to see The Queen of Spades in Leeds at the end of October so I was explaining some of the arrangements to mum since we'll have to stay there overnight (Charlie and I did consider just hopping a late coach back to Liverpool after, but the show ends half an hour before the last coach and we didn't want to risk it.) I'm really looking forward to it, and of course I'll be able to scratch off "go to see another Opera" from my day zero list!

Appologies for being so verbose with not even a single picture! I just had such a lovely day, and now I have to head bedwards as it's a work day tomorrow. Till later everyone!

The last of the Potters pt. 2

Well, this was never meant to be a two parter, but since it's my first entry since actually seeing the film (and as today has been such a wonderful, relaxing day which seems to have gone by far too fast and really nothing much at all has gone on to blog about) it may as well be.

It was absoloutely magnificent. I said to Becky before we went in that I'd probably shed a few tears by the end of it. I was one of the few people who wasn't actually crying at the end as it turns out, but not because it didn't touch me...merely because my powers of holding back the tears in order to maintain my eyeliner so I don't have to bus home with streaky cheeks is phenomenal. It was quite a tear jerker, for a number of reasons;

1. The end is so happy! Yes, they include the epilogue, and you know, it's always weepy to see a new, happy generation spawned from the loins of your good friends. Not that Harry Potter is a good friend, but you know...the children! Awww...
2. Everyone dies. And whilst the deaths aren't the same as Dobby's death when he dies there right before your eyes, it's still terrible and sad.
3. Although I maintain it isn't the same kind of "end of an era" thing as when the book came out, there certainly aren't any more Harry Potter films left. All I have now is Twilight, and that just isn't the same...

There's really not that much to say. If you've read the books, you'll know how close to the story the films have always kept and this was no different. If you haven't read them, well you'll certainly not want me spoiling it any more than I already have. I watched Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone this afternoon when it was shown on ITV and it's amazing how much the effects etc have come along. It was very shiny, full of action.

Oh yes, once again, if you've actually read the books you'll already be expecting a much more action packed spectacle than part one, and if you haven't, then don't let the last films more dull sequences bore you. Part two hits the ground running, then doesn't stop till the end.

No film is perfect of course, but I find it hard to think of anything majorly poor, all things considered. I suppose Bellatrix's death was a little underwhelming, though amusing (if death ever can be funny) death by ulta tight corsetry. Voldemort's death too was a bit underwhelming...not the death itself, but the duel at the end just...well it just wasn't how I pictured it in my head. I can't fault the film for not being able to read my mind. Once again, because of the solid and dedicated fan base the directors had a hard job on their hands when it came to bringing such an epic scene to the screen.

All in all I can't wait to see it again when my folks come down...and if they decide they don't want to see it...then I can't wait to watch all eight films back to back :D

Till later folks,

The last of the Potters

Well, after yesterdays total flunk out and spitting out my dummy, I've woken up today feeling full of energy and happy sparkleness (yes, that is totally a real word, and completely a viable emotional state!).

Of course, this may have something to do with the fact that in ten hours time I'll be hunkering down in the cinema with my popcorn, ready and waiting for....

There've been some tearful moments in the world of Potter recently. The cast gave an emotional goodbye at the premier last week, and all over people are saying it's the end of an era.

I don't quite feel the same way. To me, it's the end of a hangover of an era. The kind of hangover that makes you sit up and think "wow, what the hell just happened?". To me, the end of the era was when I turned the last page of the book, screaming "OH MY GOD" at Ben.

Incidentally, that's how I end all the books I love having read them the first time. It's just how I roll.

Don't get me wrong, I love the films. I remember when the first film was released. There was so much expectation, so many breaths to be held. It could have gone spectacularly wrong, of course, what with the massive fan base with all their expectations, but I looked on it with the attitude that I just wanted to see if it looked "in real life" like it did in my head. To my astonishment, it really did...not perfectly, of course not, but there was no mistaking who was who, what was what, where was where, it was all there. That is a testament not only to the skill of the director and his crew, but one hundred percent to JK Rowling and her skill as a writer.

The movies to me are like the cherry on the top of the cake. It's all very razzle dazzle, complete and utter eye candy. Brilliant stuff, don't get me wrong. And the way it all played out, seeing the cast grow up together, not just the children but the older members too, that was something really special.

But as much as I know I'm just going to love tonight with every bone in my body, and I'll be out there in a few months time ready to get my grubby mits on the box set when it inevitably comes out, and yes of course I'll shed a tear when everyone dies (I remember before the book was released, Rowling had said that a main character dies which may upset some people, but by the end of it, all I could think was "well, who was she talking about, because actually, pretty much everyone is dead now...") but it won't be the same Earth moving calamity and feeling of loss and "ending of an era" to me that everyone is hyping it up to be. The era has already ended, this is merely the after party.

Reality

I love a good ominous sounding title, however todays post is not greatly ominous at all!

We had a great weekend, it was everything I wanted for Ben and more. I was worried that he might succumb to the blues, he would have been well within his rights to. However, I knew that my mission was complete, and completed very well too, when he turned to me yesterday after having gotten back from our second excursion from the cinema and told me it was the best birthday he'd had in a long time, despite the obvious reasons for it being a less than palatable occasion for him.

However, one part of his birthday celebrations has left me feeling terribly guilty.


As regular readers will know, Ben and I are fans of Formula 1 racing. Ben, unlike me, is one of those people who, when he is a fan of something, likes to know all about it; the history, the people, the politics. Many people are like this with music and their favourite bands, but Ben is like this with sport, and I am not really like that at all (Hey, I like this music, I shall listen to it. Hey, watching those people race cars is exciting, I shall watch it some more.)


So when he found out months and months ago that a documentary about Ayrton Senna was coming out on general release in the cinema, Ben jumped for joy and I died a little inside....I knew he'd want to go and see it, that he would be hard pushed to find anyone else to go with him, and he wouldn't go on his own.


He nagged and nagged me to agree to seeing it with him. And for a while I point blank refused. He pushed more, saying that with other movies he'd nagged me to see I'd ended up enjoying them. I replied "remember Transformers?" which he had nagged and nagged me to see with that same logic, only to have me fall asleep halfway through and start snorring.


Eventually, I came up with the ultimate in cunning plans. So cunning that it couldn't possibly fail. Yes, I would agree to go and see Senna at the cinema, if only he would come with me to see the next installment of Twilight.


He hates Twilight. I mean, he loathes it with a passion. It's not that it's particularly offensive to him as such. The books are bad, the movies are (somehow!) worse. It's the hype that surrounds it all which has him so put against it, and the general mutilation of Vampires and Werewolves which Meyer has managed to bring about. He hates it, and is very vocal about it. There was no way he was going to agree to seeing Twilight with me.


Oh how I underestimated how much he wanted to go and see Senna.


So we went yesterday. On Monday, his actual birthday, we went to see Xmen First Class, because we both wanted to see it and it was the only other chance we had of seeing it. This made me feel a little better towards Senna...it was like a good news sandwich...prequel it with Xmen, then watch Senna and fall asleep, but it's the cinema so ice cream and pop corn, fantastic. We ended up having the screen all to ourselves, and since this was the case I was fully intent on being rather immature and shouting "LET ME SEE YOUR BOOBS" every time a lady was on screen, cause, you know, he's already promised to be rather vocal at Twilight, when we know it won't be deserted.

Except, I made the joke once at the beginning and then shut up and watched the damn thing cause it was actually really really good. I even shed a single tear at the end when he (censored for spoilers lol). I mean, it was nothing like Harry Potter where I blubbed like a baby when Dobby (more spoilers lol) but only because of my immense self control.

So now I kind of feel really guilty about making Ben go to see Twilight when I know he's most definitely not going to like it.

However, I have the feeling that had Twilight been out before Senna and by some miracle of God, Ben had decided he was now Robert Patterson's biggest fan boy, he would still have expected me to go to see Senna, so I'm not letting him out that easily.

Perhaps I can trade it in for another favour. He'll have to make some proposals, let's see what he comes up with anyway.

By the way Ben, since I know you'll be reading this, you'll have to do this off of your own back. This is me offering it up to you, it's now up to you to come up with the goods.

Anyway, yes, Senna was very good, Xmen was also rather good (and I especially liked when Wolverine -spoilers-)

I'm just going to stop you right there and say that this leek and potato soup I'm eating right now tastes suspiciously of a cheese and onion pasty.

Anways, all good things must come to an end and now we're back to reality. Still, life is pretty good. Still no good news on the job front but I'm keeping on top of my search so that's something at least. I've a coffee afternoon coming up on Friday which I'm very much looking forward to, I have two tickets to the opening night of Harry Potter in a couple of weeks (yaaay!) and then over the first week of August the family will be paying a visit. So yes, still lots to look forward to over the next month and a bit ^_^

Till later folks!

Day 24 - Your favourite movie (and what it's about!)

I've a bit of a confession to make. My "favourite movie" changes each and every day. One day, it's an old classic. The next, it's that amazing piece of cinematic brilliance that I just saw the other week at the Odeon.

Still, there are some mainstays, some films that I hold closest to my heart for one reason or another. From my childhood I recall forever having Labyrinth and The Land Before Time whirring in the VHS player. Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid were my Disney favourites that I can still happily watch today. I remember when Beauty and the Beast and Aladin were released, and though I was very young (aged five and six respectively) there was big talk about the cutting edge animation techniques used. Even today the magic carpet ride through the crumbling Cave of Wonders never ceases to thrill, Belle and the Beasts touching and iconic scene in the ballroom still stands up to scrutiny.

Then there are the films that came out as I grew up and hold their own special places in my heart for the milestones which they mark. In 1996 at the tender age of nine, a friend and I took our first tentative steps into the world of the musical when we went to see Evita. A bit hard hitting for a nine year old perhaps, but it's stayed with me all these years. That year I got it on VHS for Christmas. A couple of years ago I replaced it with the DVD version. It gets played at least once every couple of months, and the soundtrack is wrecked courtesy of yours truly. In 1998 to mark the end of my Primary School years my dad took me and my cousins to see Godzilla. We thought it was pretty amazing. Nowadays my husband, a true Kaiju fan, holds it with a little less awe than me (oh, it's an entertaining film, but it's not 'really' Godzilla!) but let him think what he thinks! In 2001 at the age of fourteen my school friends and I started taking regular trips to the cinema together and one of the first we saw together was American Pie 2. I wouldn't otherwise class that particular film amongst my favourites, but it was particularly memorable as it was the first 15 rated film we went to see together, and being that none of us were 15 we were all quite proud of ourselves for getting in (we were all geeks and teachers pets...that kind of thing was really something to us!)

As I got older still, films turned from just a social activity to something to use in the ever tricky world of dating. Some dates were succesful, others not so much. Films that hold this particular badge of honour include Around the world in 80 days, Team America, War of the Worlds, and my personal favourite, The Chronicles of Narnia. That one in particular was very succesful as it ultimately landed me with a husband!

The past few years haven't been too bad either. I'm a great lover of the monarchy so films such as The Kings Speech and Young Victoria have made a great impression upon me. The Sci-Fi lover in me has been thrilled by movies such as Inception, Star Trek, Children of Men and Serenity. I never was much a lover of comic books, but Watchmen captivated me in ways that I never expected, and Hellboy, Ironman and the X-men series have had similar results. Fantasy hasn't had a bad run recently. Lord of the Rings anyone? Though of course, to say that was the only great fantasy of recent years would be wrong. Stardust, in my mind, was quite exquisite. And it would be criminal of me to forget to mention the Harry Potter series.

Of course I'd be wrong to ignore the great classics. I love a good musical, and all the oldies have their special place in my heart. Specifically, however, I would have to name The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and The King and I as my great favourites. It's not all pretty ladies in frilly gowns though. The Lost Boys is an epic classic, and whilst we're on the theme of Vampires I personally love Bram Stokers Dracula with his sexiness Gary Oldman in the lead role. I don't care what anyone else says, I love it!

Which brings us nicely to the end now. Out of all of it, what is my favourite movie?

No, of course I don't mean it, what are you, high?

Truth is, I cannot place my finger on any one film. I could say Lord of the Rings, but as epic as it is, and it is epic, there are better films out there. I could say Stardust, but this would be for purely sentimental reasons that only Ben really understands. Some films stick in my mind as "the most...." such as Paranormal Activity, being the most scary ever, thus some sick masochistic urge within begs me to watch it over and over again, but it isn't my favourite.

I'm going to say that if I had to choose one film, and I wasn't allowed to watch any other film ever again, it would have to be this. It makes me smile, it makes me tear my hair out at points, it reminds me in ways of my own family and it reminds me of a certain happy day of my life. It entertains me, I don't need much brain power to process it. It isn't the best film in the world, it isn't the funniest. It isn't the most epic, it isn't the cleverest. It isn't even that clever at all... but it makes me happy and I can watch it over and over again. It can only be....