Boy Crush #2

'As you wish'. Spoken by the irresistible Cary Elwes as Westly in The Princess Bride, never has my heart fluttered so much as to words spoken by a lowly farmboy.
Seriously hot. I don't know what else to say, just look at the picture a bit more. Elwes was 25 when this movie came out, so totally age appropriate for me right now, but in real life, he's the same age as my dad. Why, why did I have to work that out?

You know Robin Wright as Buttercup was luminous in this film too.

Basic plot line if you haven't heard of this movie: Westly is a farmboy who works for Buttercup. Just as they realise their love for each other, Westley decides to leave for the seas to make his fortune and news comes back that he is killed by the Dread Pirates. Buttercup is heartbroken, but 5 years later decides to marry Prince Humperdink but she does not love him.

While out riding one day she is kidnapped by 3 outlaws, the boss -Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), Fezzik a giant (Andre the giant) and Inigo Montoya - a fencing master (Mandy Patinkin, his full name will be become important in the quotes section).
They are tracked by Prince Humperdink and a mysterious man in black. And I won't say anymore in case there are people who haven't seen this marvellous movie. In short it is funny, dramatic and romantic all in one and features many great characters and one liners my family will quote for days after watching the film.
Wallace Shawn is one crazy little man, while not having a huge role, he makes his memorable.
Andre the giant's thick accent sometimes makes what he is saying incomprehensible but it adds to the fun (fun personal fact, he was only 13cm taller than my boyfriend).
I love Mandy Patinkin in this, I'm not even sure why but he does have a good role with the most meat (he is trying to avenge his father's death by a 6 fingered man).

Favourite quotes:
Inigo Montoya: Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

[Vizzini has just cut the rope The Dread Pirate Roberts is climbing up] Vizzini: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE.
Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Vizzini: I can't compete with you physically, and you're no match for my brains. Man in Black: You're that smart? Vizzini: Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Man in Black: Yes. Vizzini: Morons.

Buttercup: You mock my pain.

Man in Black: Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something

Prince Humperdinck: She is alive, or was an hour ago. If she is otherwise when I find her I shall be very put out.

Girl Power

So it's all progressive, historic and what have you, that Australia now has their first female prime minister. It's just too bad it had to happen like this.

As usual the media has focused more on her hair (and the fact that she is unmarried, no kids and has a hairdresser for a boyfriend) than any other aspects but it doesn't help when she also proclaims to be the first redhead prime minister. Double standards for women sucks.

By the way the woman on the left is Julia Gillard the new PM, the one on the right is Quentin Bryce the governor general of Australia and she has the power to fire the PM*. It's only happened once. How fricken weird is Australian politics?

*simplified version, I may or may not know what I'm talking about.

On the Beach

So in between all the ups and downs that goes with fostering animals I was also reading this depressing book (Neville Shute) I've been wanting to read for some time. Why? I'm not sure, doesn't everybody like to read about humanity's untimely end? The way disaster movies gross millions of dollars maybe they do.

Basic plot line without giving too much away:

Set in the not too distant future (for the time) the world has been rocked by some kind of war where nuclear weapons were used in the northern hemisphere. The last few countries with the population still alive is Australia, some of South America and Africa, but the global air currents are slowly sending the fallout down to the southern hemisphere.

The only hope the navy is clinging to is that there is some unexplained Morse code transmitting from Seattle. The Australian navy organises for the American submarine to go and check it out. In the meantime people are coming to terms (or living in delusion land) about the nuclear fallout reaching them and the end of life as they know it.

I wanted to read this book ever since I saw the telemovie when I was in high school, according to IMDB it came out in 2000 so I must have been 16/17 which seems to be the age I view dooms day films (I must do a post on Threads sometime, that film will scare the shit out of any 14 year old). 

The things I remembered from the telemovie:

• some guy kills himself driving really fast and crashing in his Ferrari instead of waiting for the radioactive sickness
• the lead guy played by an American had a really cool name (Armand Assante)

So based on these observations from a decade ago, I'm still not sure why I wanted to read this. I know I am a sucker for post apocalyptic books/films (don't judge, there's a lot of us) but this one just really depressed me. Also the females came across as none too bright, seriously living in la-la land about the future and the possibility of having to murder a child with a government issued suicide pill or injection. I know I'd rather watch my daughter get slowly poisoned to death! I realise it is a coping mechanism to continually think ahead and just avoid the harsh reality but seriously? I think I would have just took a pill as soon as I found out instead of just sitting around waiting to die. But that's the human spirit isn't it?

My god even this review is depressing. I did like some things: the way it makes you question your own behaviour in a similar situation and the way that the dialogue in all old Australian novels still always sounds vaguely English.

My apologies for the sombre post, our latest foster puppy has just gone out on trial and I'm feeling a mite sad.

For the record the original movie came out in 1959 (2 years after the book was published) and had Americans playing Australians (Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins). Slightly worst than watching the dubbed version of mad max. Don't buy old Australian films in Bali, children.

My Brilliant Career

My Brilliant Career's (1979) heroine is Sybylla (Judy Davis) an outspoken independent young woman living with her family in Australia in the early 20th century. As she is now of a certain age, her mum wants to send her out to work as a servant much to Sybylla's disgust. She longs to be a writer and experience life outside of their home on the farm.
Fortunately for her it doesn't come to that and she is shipped off instead to her grandmother's to live there with her mother's brother and sister as well.
They live in relative luxury and it is here where she meets Harry Beecham (Sam Neill), a friend of the family's son. They share chemistry and though Harry has a reputation with the ladies it is Sybylla he wants. Sybylla won't commit to his marriage proposal though at the moment as she still wants to write and experience herself alone, which is the opposite of what her family want for her. They want to tame her wild side and make her a proper lady.
Unfortunately her father's bad business dealings lead her to move to a tiny house on a farm where she is working off his debt as a governess to 6 unruly children.
Luckily due to a misunderstanding with the eldest son and his parents (they think she's after him but as she owns no property they can't let them marry even though Sybylla had no intention to) Sybylla ends up home again with the debt lifted until they're in better circumstances. So she is back at the family home and helping a calf out of the mud when Henry shows up again and still wants to marry her. In a move which shocked me (surprisingly) she turns him down, at least for the moment. She still hasn't found herself and wants to keep writing. It's a bittersweet moment when Henry professes he still wants her but Sybylla explains she would 'destroy him.'
Henry leaves and Sybylla sometime later posts off her manuscript. The credits begin with the sentence that Sybylla's novel was published in 1901. And us true romantics can cling to the hope that maybe they will meet again and be together at a later time.

I always considered myself kind of a feminist, but I was surprised when the two didn't get together in the end. That damn film cover seduced me with it's picture of Henry and Sybylla embracing!
In the special features section there was a interview with Gillian Armstrong the director and she explained how back in 1981 this was particularly shocking and strange that the female lead turned her suitor down and that she's glad it is not so shocking anymore. I disagree to an extent not just from my own reaction but other movies I have seen recently, that don't seem to challenge this stereotype.

Okay characters: Judy Davis is perfect as Sybylla and I read somewhere that she actually can't stand to watch this movie anymore. Say it aint' so...she has this perfect flyaway frizzy hair and a great spirit that matches her character to the T.

Sam Neill's career I believe was also launched by this film, and he is pretty dashing in the film. One complaint was that I thought he should have had more character development although it is a testament to Judy and Sam's chemistry that they display so much just through facial expressions and their actions.

The scenery and set direction is really great, half the time I thought I was watching a period English film - the costumes were excellent.The contrast between the relative ease Sybylla finds herself living in, in her grandmothers house compared to the shanty little house when she is a governess is astounding.

I was pleased to read Davis was born and raised in my home town so maybe next time I'll review a movie with fellow Perth ite Melissa George. This may be a struggle, the only one I've seen lately was 30 Days of Night.
My Brilliant Career is definitely another Australian gem with a great central performance and not your usual ending or heroine.

Vote again...if you want

It's been a week so if you voted last week and don't mind doing it again please please click here on Ben's kitchen sucks. I promise I'll maybe only ask one more time!

Tomorrow My Brilliant Career and a dishy young Sam Neill.

Friends with Money and a cheap shameless self promotion

Did anybody ever actually see this when this came out (2005)? It seemed to slip under the radar and does actually have a few decent female actors in main roles. Christine (Catherine Keener), Franny (Joan Cusack), Jane (Frances McDormand) and Olivia (Jennifer Aniston) are good friends all with money quite obviously, except for Oliver who gave up her job as a teacher in a private school for a new job as a maid. While at first Olivia seems to be the screwed up friend who all the others want to help, they all really have all their own problems.

Christine's husband is a bit of a shit really, who doesn't ask her if she's ok when she hurts herself and she has to learn to not get worked up about the things he does. Yeah. Franny is the really rich one of the group (all her own money I forget why/how) but she needs to talk to her husband before she spends any of it and he comes across as judgemental about her friendship with Olivia.

Everybody thinks Jane's husband is gay (not that they say it to her face) and she has taken to not washing her hair and thinks it feels like she is just waiting to die (she turns 43 during the film) even though she has a successful clothing line.

Olivia is calling up some guy she had an affair with for a couple of months, smoking pot and using her client's vibrator. All we know about her previous job is that it wasn't her calling. During the course of the film she dapples with the idea of becoming a personal trainer, even though she is apparently the only one in the circle of friends who doesn't enjoy exercising.

I found Jane's story to be the most interesting, she also had the most understanding husband, gay or not (he probably was just a metrosexual-English combination) who handled all her suppressed rage and annoyance nicely. I found the scene where she gets angry at the store and runs into the glass door interesting and plausible. And McDormand is great actress who can express so much with facial expressions.

The casting of Aniston was interesting as she is about 10 years younger than the other actors. She is not bad in this, kind of similar disinterested longing as in The Good Girl but I enjoyed this movie more. I found the ending a bit annoying, the running time was only 88 minutes long I thought they didn't need to end it so abruptly and I am also not sure what it means that Aniston's new boyfriend also has money? Would she have not lasted much longer in the group without being well to do? Anyway if you feel like watching a vaguely entertaining film starring some talented actresses rent this one. And if that wasn't the lamest recommendation I don't know what is.

Because I know anyone who reads this blog is supremely nice for no good reason, could you please follow this link and vote for our kitchen to suck the most? Go to the link, clink on Kitchen Sucks and then it should come up as Ben's Kitchen Sucks and then you can vote for it. We entered this competition through Ikea to win a brand new kitchen for our very outdated house (hopefully they do a My Bathroom Sucks next!) and since we started late into the competition we need all the help we can get. I just don't have that many facebook friends people. Also there's the cheap thrill of seeing how crappy our kitchen is. Thanks!

The Year My Voice Broke

This is the film I should have watched before seeing Flirting. But for some reason (probably because Nicole Kidman is in the sequel) this movie completely flew under my radar and Flirting is what I bought.

Noah Taylor (18 at the time of filming) is Danny, local awkward outcast, his best friend is Freya played by Loene Carmen (17) a somewhat free spirit adopted to a local family. To complete the love triangle is Trevor played by Ben Mendelsohn (18) who is a regular feature in many Australian shows, and movies.

Danny and Freya are in high school, she is 16, he is 15 and have been best friends since they were little kids, he has always had a crush on her, which she acknowledges but doesn't really encourage. She then falls for local popular rugby player and small time criminal Trevor, much to Danny's disgust.
The story tells of their relationship progression, how she and Danny drift apart and as Freya is adopted, the story of who her parents are and what is the connection to the house on the hill which everyone believes is haunted by the prostitute who used to live there.
This is all set in 1962, but it doesn't style it as such in such an obvious way. Sure some of the songs are old  but it's the small town mentality which really gives the film character. Even if this was set in present time, the small town issues would still be there.

Things I loved (without giving much away)

• The 3 leads are so natural and cast to perfection. I have not seen Carmen in anything else but she is so earthy and just freaking great in her role. And the fact that they were all pretty close to the ages of their characters.
• Trevor's crazy little laugh he uses throughout the movie, you can just imagine the other cast members trying not to laugh
• not having a happy ending as much as I would have liked one
• the honest dialogue and Danny's struggle with his desire for Freya
• the scene at the dance and Danny in his Marlon Brando look. Just because I thought his and Freya's interaction was so sweet
• the scene where Trevor and Freya stick up for Danny in their own separate ways while he is being bullied
• the Australian scenery seems to be it's own character similarly to Picnic at Hanging Rock

I don't want to give more away as I really think it is a great film which should be seen by as many people as possible (I had to join Quickflix to watch it).
This film is part coming of age (although how I loathe that phrase) part drama, little drabs of comedy and a really great indie film.

It was released in 1987 and Noah Taylor reprises his role for Flirting in 1991 as do the actors who play his parents. Both were also written and directed by John Duigan who stated in the bonus feature of the DVD that he intended the story of Danny to be a trilogy and would like to make a third with Danny and Freya at the ages they are now which would make them early 40s and set in about the late 80s. I have no idea how he would do it but I'd love to see it.

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion

Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michele (Lisa Kudrow) are high school friends who have been living together since they graduated.

Their ten year high school reunion is looming and while planning to go, they realise their lives (dead end job, no boyfriends) aren't looking too impressive.

After some half hearted attempts to find boyfriends, and find a job in Michele's case, Romy decides to just lie and say they are successful business women who invented post its. Yes, post its.

Things go awry on the way when they have a huge fight in the car about who is cuter out of the two of them.Then when they arrive at the reunion, Romy goes with the post it story and gets ridiculed by the horrible 'A' group. Michele comes to the rescue and they decide they don't care what anyone else thinks because they always have fun together. Or something. And then Sandy lends them the money to start their own clothing shop (Romy makes and they both design their own clothes).

The film includes a very long dream sequence, a completely random but I think hilarious 3 way dance between Sandy (Alan Cumming), Romy and Michele at the reunion, and some nice flashback scenes where the obviously 30 plus aged actors play teenagers.

Most of the movie is filled with overacting, some cliched characters (particularly the A group) but it's all done in such fun that it's enjoyable to watch. The bright clothes! The music! The 80's, ah it was my favourite decade. And they really are good friends to each other.

Lisa Kudrow is basically just reprising the role of Phoebe from Friends which isn't surprising as it was at the height of popularity at the time and she does it so well. Interesting side note, according to IMDB, Lisa was a virgin until she married her husband at the age of 31. How…refreshing is that?

Mira Sorvino, who I really only known as Paul's daughter and seen her in Mimic and At First Sight (sadly), also does a great job and for some reason I really love her voice. I wish I had that kind of raspy, gravelly quality in mine. Is that weird? For some reason I get her and Bridget Fonda mixed up..maybe it's the having famous fathers syndrome?

Alan Cumming plays Sandy Frik, the dork who loved Michele in high school and became a millionaire discovering some kind of rubber (used in tennis shoes not in condoms as Michele thought). I thought Alan Cummings was so cute in this and didn't know why Michele didn't like him. Granted the whole giant erection whenever she's around would get a bit annoying but that's just how he rolls in high school.

Janeane Garofalo plays Heather Mooney, the outcast who had a huge crush on Sandy. I just love her sarcasm, she has some classic lines:

Heather: Why don't you tell everyone I said to go fuck themselves for making my teen years a living hell?

Romy: Well, anyways, are you going? [to the reunion]
Heather: [referring to her cigarette] I'd rather put this out in my ass

Romy: [reading the customer paperwork] Heather? Heather Mooney? From Sagebrush High in Tuscon?
Heather: Yeah?
Romy:  It's Romy! Romy White!
Heather: You're shittin' me.
Romy: No! This is so weird - I didn't know you were living in L.A.
Heather: Well, now that you know, will we be getting together a lot?

This is such a frivolous fluffy movie that I can't help but like it. Released in 1997, I have fond memories from year 8, having slumber parties, eating junk food, talking about boys and thinking a high school reunion was a long time away.

Honestly watching it now, the idea of my ten year high school reunion scares me a little.

It will be ten years since I graduated next year and it's not like I have an awesome job/know what I want to do with my life, so I relate to the story in that way.

Also the whole facebook thing seems to make a reunion a bit pointless in some ways. On one hand it's not like anyone makes friends with people they once knew a long time ago old high school buddies other than to check out their pics (see how fat they got), and see how many kids they had with different fathers they're doing in their life.

Then again it would be interesting to actually have a conversation with some of these people instead of occasionally just laughing at their status updates. I'll be hoping for a contemporary dance off between some old classmates that's for sure.

New foster

Sabrina is our latest, completely different to Gizmo, she was only 7 weeks old when we got her and so tiny.
She took a couple of days to come out of her shell not like Mr Independent Gizmo but she's getting along with Ebs now too which makes it easier. I also got a nice email from Giz's new owner saying that he has fit in well in their home which makes the fostering easier.

Fingers crossed I do not get too attached...although I have already entertained thoughts of keeping her (again) as she doesn't seem to mind being an indoor kitten as much as Giz. Speaking of outside, my boyfriend went crazy with a chainsaw and our backyard now looks like this:

Just because I can

When I was little and being looked after by my grandparents predominantly since my mum went straight back to work, my grandfather nicknamed me Batfink. I wasn't sure what to think about this but I believe it was an affectionate term for when I was being a bit naughty. To this day my granddad doesn't really remember why the nickname started, I just looked like a batfink. Apparently at the time (mid-late 80s) Batfink the cartoon was pretty popular even though it was originally released as a spoof on Batman back in 1966, with memorable catchphrases. Anyway guess there are worst things to be nicknamed after than a superpowered crime fighting grey bat with wings of steel and super sonic sonar radar.

Now just to find my own vaguely racist Asian stereotype depicted muscle man Karate to get me out of trouble just in the nick of time. And drive me around in a cool batmobile-esque cars but that are pink naturally.

Logies

If you haven't heard of the Logies I wouldn't blame you. Sorry the 'TV Week' Logies, because we can't have an award show not sponsored by someone. I suppose the American equivalent would be the Emmys, as it is the Australian television industry awards and has been going since 1959, renamed the logies after Scottish man John Logie Baird who invented television as a practical medium. Who knew?

There is the coveted gold logie (amongst many other categories) for the most popular personality on television (how ambiguous is that?) and also the silver logie which to be honest I'm not entirely sure what that is for. The second most popular personality?

The reason the logies are a joke is that Australian television is generally not that great. We have great actors, writers and directors, but they generally work in film and/or overseas. There has been some past good television shows but we have nothing of the calibre (in my humble opinion) of some great American or British shows.
The unique thing about this awards ceremony is that the public vote on who wins. Hence the 'TV Week' logies as they distribute the voting coupons.
So not only do we have Joe Public voting for the 'best' shows in Australia, they're also the slightly dumb people who read a magazine devoted entirely to fictional TV characters.

Generally we also get an American or British singer/actor to be a special guest, as you can tell we need all the entertainment we can get, because obviously people aren't interested enough in the Australian guests and presenters. This year KD Lang did a few songs presumably (I watched about 10 minutes in total of the whole ceremony so I'm guessing), John Mayer was there (hurrah) and Johnny Galecki from the Big Bang Theory was a guest presenter. I heard an interview with him this morning and he seems like a really nice down to earth guy but it needs to be looked at why we need these special guests at all. Isn't that saying something about our industry?

There was a few Australian celebrities who were mobbed by reporters though and one of them was little Bindi Irwin. She cops a bit of flak, many think she was pushed into the limelight but seems to enjoy it a bit too much and doesn't have a normal childhood. Well when your dad was Steve Irwin you're unlikely to be normal in any conventional way and whether you agreed with him or not, he did do a lot for nature conservation.

Anyway back to Bindi. In the end I don't like mocking her - she's only 12 and she's a poor fatherless mite. Anyway she was at the logies (think she has a childrens program) and I thought she looked very nice without the khaki for a change.

But you know who won our gold logie this year: an old codger from Home and Away, our second longest running soap. I'm guessing it was a bit of a pity win for him as he's the last remaining original cast member. Think I'm getting harsh in my old age.

One of the parts I did see during the night which was Shaun Micallef's speech which he self proclaimed stole straight from Sir Lawrence Olivier. Amusing. Rebecca Gibney telling everyone she was pre-menstrual was not. Ew.

Binky the clown

I became aware of a blog which truly captures everything I feel about clowns (namely they are evil) but because of this fear I cannot look around this blog too much as I am afraid random image/s will scare the hell out of me.
So thank you coulrophobic agnostic for sharing with the world the true evil of clowns when I can't.
If you need any more proof check out this article. My friend sent me a link to a different article, same story, warning me it had clown content. She didn't tell me the image was of the scariest clown ever. You know who I mean. Not this guy. When I opened the link I had a mini heart attack in my office chair.

Anzac Day

Yesterday we had a national public holiday and for the first time I attended the war memorial to commemorate this day.
Anzac (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day (April 25th) marks the anniversary of our first major military action fought during WW1. This day holds particular relevance regarding the Gallipoli campaign which was meant to be a quick capture of the Gallipoli peninsular and then capture Turkey for our allies. It turned into a stalemate lasting 8 months and with high causalities on both sides.
At this time, Australia had only been a federal commonwealth for 13 years and wanted to establish a reputation worldwide. At the end of 1915 they were evacuated with over 8000 killed. Although this mission was ultimately a failure it cemented a icon of the Australian 'digger' who cared for his mates, and hung in there.
During WW1, Australia had a population of fewer than 5 million and nearly 500,000 enlisted with over 60,000 killed.

While reflecting during the playing of the Last Post (which always sends a shiver), I tried to think of those I'd known who'd fought in the war. A man who lives around the corner was a POW in Asia, but none of my grandparents or great-grandparents fought in the war (most held jobs that were needed at home and some were stuck in Nazi occupied Netherlands).

I tried to imagine what it was like, going away at 18, never returning or even being one of those left behind to wonder and wait. Truthfully no one can imagine what it is like unless you have experienced it and I hope that is something that doesn't happen in my lifetime. Lest we forget.

Hoping to post a review of Gallipoli which has my old favourite Mel in it, and is just a really good story told beautifully by Peter Weir.

Visit www.awm.gov.au for more info.

Pretty in Pink

Not a full post, because I can't be arsed and most people have seen this film enough, but I bought PIP the other day (still no luck on Young Einstein) and watched it over the weekend and I have some random thoughts that always bugged/excited me:

-why does Blaine like Andie? She comes across as whiny, self obsessed and bossy
-James Spader wears horrible 'boat' shoes when he and Duckie fight

- Duckie is adorable but mildly stalkerish. After watching this I embarrassingly admit to then flicking on Two and a Half Men and gazing fondly at Alan

-we all love it (I hope): Duckie's lip synching/song scene is hilarious, in particular his crotch thrusting while on the stairs

- love the outdated computer and 'chat' Blaine and Andie use

-also love Annie Potts in the movie. Why does she change for the pet shop owner date? Her style was awesome as it was, instead of wearing that awful blazer and hairstyle

-I kind of creepily like the fight Blaine and Andy have at the locker. It's not pretty, it's not succinct it just...is.

- I still love the little conversation between Duckie and Andie's dad. Overall I think Duckie actually comes off as age appropriate (for the decade) and authentic while Blaine's friends were all one dimensional biatches.

- I get Andie is the 'responsible one' since mommy dearest left but seriously? Waking her dad up every morning, forcing him to get out on the job hunt trail, then rejecting his egg breakfast the one time he gets up early himself? That's just mean.

- it's been said before but her prom dress is fugly. She ruined 2 better looking dresses to create that monstrosity

- what does it say when the test audiences reject the orginal ending of duckie and andie becoming a couple? That we want to see a couple against the norm make it? That we believe duckie and andie would never be anything more than friends seriously? That one half of a couple should not idolise the other? These are questions I should not be pondering in a John Hughes movie (RIP)

Gizmo Update

For those of you following my fostering animals rollercoaster ride of emotions, it looks like Gizmo has found a new home. My mum advertised him on her work classifieds (accidently advertised as free! He has been sterilised, microchipped and vaccinated and we are a volunteer organisation, hence the $175 fee) and within a day someone expressed interest. Admittedly that may have been because of the free price tag, but luckily he turned out to be an animal lover and doesn't mind paying up.
At the moment is on a 2 week trial which is due to end this week, so fingers crossed. His feedback about Gizmo so far has been great, and he's even using the name and he is responding to it which is cute.
We are now looking at fostering a dog or another kitten (I do get sad looking at his scratching post).

Fade

This YA fiction By Robert Cormier begins with a photograph. Young Paul is fascinated in the early 30's by an old photograph of his father and his brothers, sisters and parents. Where his uncle Adelard should be there is simply a space. Uncle Adelard is a wanderer never staying in one place for too long and Paul always wants to ask him about the photo and what happened, was he playing a trick on everyone or is it something else?
Paul is 13 and learns he is a fader after 2 incidents where he is under stress and manages to 'disappear'. At this time his uncle Adelard returns to town and explains to him that he is also a fader (hence the photograph)and it is passed down generation through an uncle to a nephew.
At first Paul is excited by his new gift, then he begins to see things that he wished he hadn't.
Paul soon realises his gift has a strong power over him and after seeing his father get stabbed in the melee which occurs when other workers are called in to stop the work strike he is involved in, he does something he soon regrets. He soon decides to never use the fade again.

There was a huge section at the beginning of the novel where Paul focuses on his aunt and his 'forbidden' love for her. I was not sure what this was all about, and she never really reappeared in the novel. I was waiting for her to pop back up in the end and add some kind of enlightment...unless she did have another child and that child had a child. In that case he or she would be another generation's fader.
There were also 2 instances where Paul saw inappropriate sexual activity while faded, so I wouldn't be wanting children too young reading this book, even though it is young adult and if I'd heard of it back in the early 90s I would have read it. So that's me being a hypocrite.

The storyline also flits between years where Paul (now a very successful writer) tries to find his nephew who he believes to be the next generation fader, and to the 1980's where his cousin's granddaughter finds Paul's manuscript and doesn't know whether to believe if it is fact or fiction.

This book involves incest, violence and murder, it is interesting to see a YA book which actually delves into these topics, but it also got the novel onto the frequently challenged books list. Cormier's books don't seem to have a happy ending, and while this would disappoint my mum, I don't mind it. As nice and packaged as it is to have a happy ending, endings where the loose ends are still dangling are usually more interesting and leaves for more reader interpretation.

According to the all mighty wikipedia, the rights to produce a film on the novel were acquired last year in January with Richard Kelly named as a producer which fills me with some hope, although IMDB doesn't offer anymore info either.

BSC

Just in case you didn't see it on BSC Ridiculously, you may want to check out this article.

I love the random facts Ann gives us about the series and her experiences writing it.

She says that she relates most with shy Mary-Anne, yet Mary-Anne was the first to get a boyfriend. Me thinks a young Ann was projecting onto the character what never happened in her adolescence. And Claudia's crazy outfits were a result of looking through magazines/catalogues and watching TV to see what young people were wearing? Well holy crap but I wouldn't wear a lot of what the models wear in magazines and I'm guessing the TV series she was consumed with was Blossom and her crazy outfits and hats.

And her thoughts on what the babysitters would be doing now are classic. Poor Mallory is still getting shafted! No 'strong feelings' about Mallory and just that Dawn is permanently in California. She must have figured 'California casual' works a lot better in Cali.

Also this quote from David Levithan (editorial director at Scholastic): "This whole generation of girls who had grown up reading the Baby-sitters Club were now teachers, librarians or mothers..." [in reference to the revised release of the early books]. Isn't this a little sexist? Just because we grew up reading this series are we all destined to these career choices? Maybe I'm reading too much into a series I idolised more than 10 years ago.

Gizmo update:

He did not get along with the dogs :( One was actually a bit scared of him, but the other is a bit more boisterous and bigger and when Gizmo gave a warning swipe he did not like it.

Luckily my boyfriend and I were there to supervise so nothing got out of hand but it looks like we haven't found a new home for him yet.

The Midwich Cuckoos

Over the Easter break (well specifically yesterday after the long weekend project of painting our lounge room and hallway was completed sort of - we ran out of paint) I caught up on some reading and finally finished Uglies and then The Midwich Cuckoos (didn't read any of Jane Eyre though, don't know when I'll be finishing that sucker).

Basic story: an English town experiences a 'black out' where everyone in the town is asleep for a day with no warning/obvious reason whatsoever. When they awaken they realise all the possible women in the town have been impregnated. There are mixed reactions obviously and once the children are born it becomes quite clear they are not from this world, and the women were used as host mothers.

It is discovered the children can all communicate telepathically and are collectively just one boy and one girl. When the children reach the age of 8 (but look and speak much older) incidents begin to happen sparked by when one of the children is nearly accidentally killed. It becomes clear that something need to be done about the children as they can 'will' people to do what they want.

I love story lines like this in theory as I love anything that little bit left of centre, conspiracy theories etc but this being a novel published in 1957, got a little bit wordy and a bit too 'English' for my liking.

My overall thoughts:

It was very British, sort of 1950's esque and they were still concerned about the iron curtain, which I found kind of twee (and allowed me to reflect on some long forgotten history lessons).

There were lots of long winded passages of dialogue which I have previously encountered in Stephen King novels so maybe this is a trait of science fiction? I haven't read enough of the genre to know, and while it is informative and interesting it still comes off sounding a bit fake. Like you know, no one talks for 5 minutes holding a captive audience repeatedly. Or if they did we would think them a pompous bore.

I haven't seen the original film adaptation, just the one Christopher Reeve was in before he became paralysed, which is not very faithful to the novel. I have also seen the Simpsons episode (Wild Barts Can't be Broken) where they view the fictional The Bloodening, which is a parody of the film and is quite amusing but really has not a lot to do with the novel.

Overall a book I read out of curiosity and while it did still intrigue me, I may have picked the book based on the cover again (deliciously retro). How shallow of me.

Gizmo

Just a couple of pics of Gizmo who is going to an old friend's place from high school (who married another older friend) tomorrow night for an adoption trial.
They have 2 dogs so they want to see if they get along so fingers crossed they're a good fit and I can foster some more kittens in the future.
If not he comes back to us, and the great advertising campaign starts! Although I will be sad to see him go, he's getting better behaved and has a lot of character.

Valentine

I'm a terrible horror movie critic. Even when I know the movie is terrible, the acting/actors are bad, the story is cliched, dialogue unnecessary I still think it's a good horror movie as it managed to make me jump.
Every red herring still makes me want to hide my face in my pillow. Why? Who knows, my dad gave me a good education in campy (and some not so) 80s horror classics like the Howling, Nightmare on Elm Street, the original Prom Night and An American Werewolf in London when I was in high school so I would have assumed I would be immune to the devices the films use to scare us silly.
Instead I am a wimp and Valentine still made me jump. Instead of taking the high road and having a look at the classic horror movies I want to look at those corny, usually kind of crappy movies that still nonetheless can give me the heebie jeebies. Insults are expected.

Released in 2001 and I'd suspect cashing on on a bit of the Angel fame David Boreanaz had at the time ("He's no angel, but he's not a killer!) Valentine had it's moments.

It opens with a flashback scene where a young boy (Jeremy) at a valentine's dance is asking a few pretty girls to dance with me, and getting knocked back each time. These girls are: Paige, Kate (the only nice one), Lilly, and Shelley. Dorothy, a chubby girl agrees to dance with him and then we later see them kissing. Some other boys also catch them, and then because Dorothy is embarrassed she pretends that Jeremy forced her to kiss him (how very Jessica Wakefield!) and the boys proceed to beat the shit out of Jeremy, with apparently no teachers noticing.

Fast forward about 13 years and the girls who rejected Jeremy are getting killed off one by one by someone in a creepy cherub mask.
The cast of girls consists of Denise Richards (why oh why is she cast in films, she plays the same characters consistently badly), Marley Shelton, Jessica Cauffiel, Jessica Capshaw and Katherine Heigl who dies within the first 15 minutes. They're all serviceable apart from the annoying Richards.


Things that annoyed me about this film: the lame installation type 'art' Lilly's boyfriend produced and the techno music in this part and during the valentine's day party. I hate that kind of music. Maybe that's just me but it turned me off.
Denise Richard's whole part in the film and in particular the part where the detective hits on her. Can I find another word meaning lame?
The random people that got killed. The maid, why? The girl in the sauna, who was she? Our rented DVD skipped at that point so I have no idea of the context of that murder.


Things I didn't hate about this movie: Marley Shelton (Kate) and Jessica Capshaw (Dorothy)were okay, I emphasized a bit with Dorothy and I quite like her as an actress.
I did jump during a few scenes, in particular the scene where Katherine Heigl was murdered, so it did manage to scare me. Granted it may have had something to do with the huge projector screen we were watching it on and the fact as I mentioned before, I am something of a scaredy cat.
The twist wasn't too bad, I mean not up there with The Usual Suspects or anything but I didn't hate it.
Overall an okay film with some bad dialogue at times and some pretty average killings.
In other slightly embarrassing news I also watched 17 Again on the weekend and didn't hate that either. I must be growing soft in my old age. Also in other 'I'm getting soft' news the kitten I have been fostering, who we have nicknamed Gizmo due to his likeness to a mogwoi is up on the adoption webpage and I've gotten a little teary. Sigh.

Yahoo Serious

I've been meaning to do a post on a ridiculous (but if memory serves funny) australian movie named Young Einstein which gained a ridiculous amount of press at the time it was released, but I feel it may be a struggle to find a DVD store that stocks this gem.

While I locate (or buy) the DVD I present some interesting facts about it's star, one Yahoo Serious (born Greg Pead, well you'd change your name too?):

Apparently first Australian to write, produce, direct and star in his own film

He married the actress known as The Blonde in Young Einstein.

He allegedly tried to wage a trademark lawsuit against Yahoo! in 2000, it was quickly dismissed as he couldn't prove he'd suffered any distress or confusion from the name being shared. Heh.

When I googled him, the second pre populated result was: Yahoo Serious where is he now?

The Bingle

This is Lara Bingle. Pretty no? She rose to fame as a spunky 19 year old in the Australian tourism ad which featured the line "Where the bloody hell are ya?" to much disgust from our English friends. That was around 2006.

This is Brendan Fevola. He plays football (that's Australian rules) for a club called the Brisbane Lions. Prior to this he played for Carlton football club where he was dumped for unfavourable antics. He is a douche. This will become more apparent later.


This is Michael Clarke. He plays cricket internationally for Australia. Generally a like able character. Is rolling in the money hence he brought Lara an Aston martin car. He and Lara hooked up about 4 years ago and were until recently engaged.

Brendan and Lara had a relationship in 2006. Lara claimed to have never known that he had a wife and 3 kids. While in this affair, Brendan allegedly took a topless camera photo of Lara in the shower. The photo was released to the media by another anonymous footballer who claims that it is widely circulated around many footballers phones. Woman's Day, a fluffy 'celebrity' magazine reportedly offered her $200,000 for her story, after they published it last Monday.

This is Dermott Brereton. He played football for Hawthorn in the 80s, and is currently a sports media personality. Whatever that means. Friday just gone he claimed that before Lara and Brendan began their affair he had informed Lara that Brendan was married. "And her reply to me verbatim was 'Do you think he'd still have a go after me?' " Lara's agent Max has denied this claim.

On Friday 12th March, Michael Clarke flew from New Zealand where is was playing in an international game to be with Lara. On Saturday night their engagement was called off. No other comment was given.

This story has generated so much attention in Australia it is practically the first news item for the last week since it broke. Now there has been talk of Lara allegedly flushing her $200,000 engagement ring down the toilet and a plumber had to be called as it blocked the pipe.She has copped so much flak for this whole thing, primarily because people saw her as a money grabbing 'model' who has really done nothing since the ad campaign several years ago, and Michael Clarke is seen as a nice wholesome cricket player who has been swindled by Bingle. The annoying sexist thing is that Brendan Fevola who is well known as a cad is not getting the same criticism she is. Regardless of whether she knew he was married or not, he definitely knew he was married with children and shouldn't have pursued a relationship full stop.

I'm not one to usually harbour any friendly feelings towards models (except for Megan Gale, she seems so cool). Primarily because I find it ridiculous people should be paid astronomical amounts of money just for looking like whatever is in fashion at the moment. And right now that seems to be very thin, tall, and sort of same same in my opinion. But then Tyra will tell me you have to be able to walk down a runway and pose and contort your body to what the stylist/photographer wants in shoots, which would be harder than it looks I'd imagine. Secondly I'm more than likely majorly jealous that I'm not making an astronomical amount of money for being young and hot! Back to Lara's situation and in particular the topless photo of her taken by Brendan. The rampant sexism still prevalent in football is disgusting. they have their 'ladies days' but the fact that so many footballers still felt the need to forward this picture around on their phones shows that not a lot has progressed. Saying that Bingle has not handled the situation very well. What could have been a sympathetic situation towards her, perhaps under the right management, has turned into a publish backlash against her. She obviously did not want her photo taken in the shower, it is obvious she is not posing for it and is unhappy. If she had just agreed to an interview immediately after the photo was published and donated the money to some kind of women's charity group, it may have been over in a manner of days. Instead she publicly denounced the media, essentially biting the hand that feeds her, not to mention her agent orchestrated the whole media circus ring around her. The result is a broken engagement. She is only 22, and while I can't say I feel sorry for her, I don't believe she deserves the backlash she is receiving at the moment. I think it shows the narrow mindness of the Australian media that it was even made into such a big deal, when there is no much more going on in the world. Or maybe it the enormous thirst for 'celebrity' scandal we seem to have.

Books to read: part 2

After watching First Tuesday Book Club on the ABC I have now discovered Fade by Robert Cormier and I can't believe I haven't heard of this guy in regards to YA/science fiction before. Ordered from Borders, hope it lives up to the hype from the presenter.


Going by my original post from March 25th 2009, I still haven't read Beloved (Toni Morrison); The Princess Bride (William Goldman); A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith); A Separate Peace (John Knowles); The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky) and Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian (Sherman Alexie).
Hmm 9/15 isn't too bad.

Out of the books on my list I did read I most enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale, Prep and Rebecca. Not to sure if I want to read Chbosky's anymore. And realised I still have not read On The Beach, after the ordering debacle. Always order online kids, not through those pesky retail monkeys (just kidding I used to be one).
Any suggestions on old or new classics would be much appreciated?

In Like Flynn

In honour of Hollywood greats with the Oscars on today, I thought I'd take a closer look at old school Hollywood in the form of Errol Flynn.

The allure of Flynn has always been a bit of a mystery to me. For a start, he was deemed swoon worthy eons ago (born 20th June 1909), so I guess that means tastes have changed (it was really hard to find a picture of him without that horrible little mustache!).

Secondly, he is from Tasmania. I don't know what the american equivalent is (I guess being from the south?), but in Australia if it is revealed that you hail from Tasmania it is akin to marrying your cousin. Actually that's when the inbred jokes starts. And also the 2 heads jokes etc. Basically Tasmania is the butt of all states amongst australians, followed closely by South Australia and then Perth, Western Australia where I'm from (acronym of WA = wait awhile).

So the fact that he rose above his Tasmanian upbringings speaks volumes I guess. The fact that he was a sex symbol for a while and was actually born in Australia (do not see Gibson, Mel; Crowe, Russell or Kidman, Nicole) also gives him points.

Flynn was known in movies for playing the dashing swashbuckling hero but in reality he had a reputation as a notorious womanizer (married 3 times), a binge alcohol/drug taker and rumours circulated that he was bisexual (with Howard Hughes and Truman Capote no less) and a Nazi sympathiser.
The phrase In Like Flynn resulted from his charges that were laid against him for statutory rape in 1942. He was acquitted. So overall an interesting guy? "I like my whiskey old and my women young."
So not so sure about Errol anymore, seemed like a dirty old man at times.
I did like Guy Pearce's portrayal of him in Flynn in 1997, but then again I think Guy is pretty cute.


Australian Crawl a band popular here in the early 80s before disbanding in 1984 even immortalised Flynn in song:


Errol Convict state
It just don't rate
He want to get higher
Apple isle, the inbred smile
He's going to get by'a
His mothers hand
He could not stand
He left for the islands
To fish and hunt
He take a punt
The new guinea highlands


Ohhhh Errol
I would give everything just to be like him


He had to go
The Sirocco
He's sailing the high seas
Hollywood, Captain Blood
He's billin the Nazis
Took a rebel stand
Contraband
Coast of Mexico
He wants to pounce
Like an animal
To the girls he just can't say no


Ohhh Errol
I would give everything just to be like him (x 2)


He had them all
Screamin for more
He play the wild scene
Ah scandalise, no compromise
He's down on his knees
Swashbuckling
He was the King
The toast of Tinseltown
They build him up
They took it all
And then they just cut him down


Ohhh Errol
I would give everything just to be like him (x 2)


Bad grammar aside, it's succinct, a little ironic, quite a catchy song and a good sum up of Errol's life.

Thanks to:
theerrolflynnblog.com
lyricsdownload.com

Fun with animals

So I want do something a little different and do a more personal entry. I know I've done them before but they were kind of lame and the only reason I haven't deleted them is that deleting them would be more lame. This event is about something which only happened yesterday and I wanted to get it out of my system in a therapeutic writing session.

I have recently signed up with an animal volunteer organisation with animal welfare being very close to my heart (some would say too close, I have a tendency to get emotional about animals). Seeing as I wasn't getting much job satisfaction out of my 2 part time jobs I thought I could at least try volunteer work in a field I was interested in.

Basically the deal with this organisation is primarily all the volunteering opportunities are posted on a forum (things like fostering, home checks, transport help, events) and anyone who can help and who has signed up posts a response if they can help.

I am really keen to foster a cat or dog, but my boyfriend not so much. And since I am technically living in his house, it is up to him. He wants to wait until we have grown some lawn as at the moment it is sand city. But then I saw this posting for a staffy cross older female who was going to be put down yesterday unless we could find a foster/someone who would adopt. For a start I shouldn't even be looking at the foster section, but I was and my heart went out to this dog who had been in the pound for 14 days and was due to be put to sleep unless she was picked up.

I asked my boyfriend and he agreed reluctantly and I spoke to the ranger at the pound. They advised she would be put down soon and I told them I would try and get down there by 4 that afternoon and I would bring my dog Ebony down to see if they would be friends.

I got there to some very nice rangers and a volunteer with the pound and Ebs and I trotted out the back to meet this dog named Venus.

Well the two dogs did not even notice each other for a few minutes both happily sniffing around the yard. The ranger had walked away, just in the next room I think and I was left with the volunteer. I still had Ebony on her lead and they finally noticed each other and were nudging noses. Ebs was doing her little dance on the lead she sometimes does when she wants the other dog to play (she is a 2 and a half year old Labrador cross, also a rescue dog but we got her when she was 8 weeks old).

But out of nowhere after some careful sniffing, the other dog turned feral and latched onto Eb's neck. Well I tried grabbing the dog, Ebs was squealing, I'm sure I had some interesting sounds coming out my mouth, the volunteer rushed to get the ranger. I got my hand in the other dogs mouth and was trying to ply it away from her neck, I got her away once and Ebs started to wander off but she was a bit confused and the dog latched on again. The ranger came running out and managed to separate the dog and I grabbed Ebs who luckily seemed to be okay.

We went into the rangers office, because in all the hoopla I had grazed both knees quite badly and 2 of my fingers were bleeding. Some nice old ranger put antibacterial solution on my fingers and knees and band aids and then I started to feel woozy. Think my body had lost it's adrenaline hit and the shock was now catching up with me. Ebs was checked out and seemed OK, no bleeding, I seemed to be more traumatised by the incident than her! My vision started to go blurry and it felt like cotton wool was filling my ears. The last time this happened was when I had to give a uni presentation solo while everyone else had partners.

After a had a sit down and 2 mugs of water and felt well enough to go home, after being informed I would need a tetanus shot.

Today I had my shot and Ebs had a vet check up just in case (and yes because we are those crazy animal parents), we also did notice a superficial mark on her shoulder that we thought should be looked at.

So overall a sad experience for everyone. I felt so guilty taking my fur child to meet another dog and have it end so badly, and now Venus will most certainly be put down when I wanted to give her another chance to get a new family. And now I'm walking around looking like I've got major carpet burn on both knees (as if) and I'm having to use a different finger to click the computer mouse (a hardship I know). For a first time volunteer experience it could not have gone worse. The only sunshine through the clouds is to try and see how much I can milk the experience and get any time off work.

Although the pictures are a bit old, that is our Ebony one spoilt pooch.

Old and new Drew

I watched Firestarter about a month ago and Whip It on Friday night and just thought what an interesting journey for Miss Barrymore.
I'd read Firestarter a while ago but had never seen the movie, I'd enjoyed the book and read it a few times so knew the movie would not match up to what was running in my head.
Basic plot line: Andy McGee participated in a scientific study for cash while he was in university, while there he met Vicky Tomlinson who he later married and had one child Charlene (Charlie) who is played by Barrymore.
The study gave the Vicky mild telekinetic powers and in Andy a substantial mind power which lets him 'push' others actions. Their daughter Charlie has even more powerful abilities, namely the power to create fires.

The government who commissioned the study has been keeping an eye on the couple ever since their university days and are obviously very interested in their abilities, particularly in Charlie. The movie has them basically on the run for the first third of the film from the government agency known as the The Shop, after they killed Vicky and captured Charlie. Andy rescues Charlie using his ability but after a short reprieve they are caught again. They set Charlie and Andy up in separate parts of the Shop and dope Andy up all the time and eventually plan to kill him.
They make Charlie perform all sorts of experiments and plan on using her as some kind of weapon. Charlie's ties to her father are too strong though, and Andy's to her. He fools the doctors into thinking he is taking his medication but is secretly practising his pushing ability. He manages to get a meeting with Charlie and he creates an escape plan.
Unfortunately he hadn't counted on Rainbird, a sniper posing as an orderly in Charlie's chambers to have formed a bond with Charlie. They have a showdown and Andy dies and then Charlie kills Rainbird.
She then goes on a fire spree killing a lot of employees working at the Shop in a rage fuelled by the death of her father. She escapes and goes to an elderly couple who helped Charlie and her dad while they were on the run, and then they help her tell her story to a newspaper.

As with most Stephen King adaptations, when they try and use the similar dialogue from the novel it comes across as laboured and not true to life. While it reads fine on the page, I felt some of Andy's dialogue particularly did not translate well to film. Barrymore does an okay job, she was only 9 at the time and just had to look stressed and whiny a lot of the time which most kids can do!


Now Whip it. I really wanted to see this at the cinema but never got round to it and just watched it on Saturday night. Have to say I was a little disappointed overall, but might have been due to my high expectations.
Ellen Page plays Bliss (what is with the funky hipster names, can someone please call their child Sarah?) whose mother keeps pushing her into beauty pageants she is not interested in. There is some back story with her now being an outsider at her high school, but it isn't fully developed and you feel there could have been a more interesting story there.
A chance sighting of some roller derby girls prompts Bliss and her friend Pash (what the hell is this short for?) played by the delightful Alia Shawkat, to check this event out. Check this out for info on roller derby, I cannot be bothered going into the rules.
Bliss decides to try out for the next intake of roller derby, hiding the fact from her old fashioned mother. She actually gets in and the team gets into the grand final or whatever Americans would call it! Along the way, Bliss forgets about her friend Pash, is lying to her parents, makes some new friends in her roller derby team (including Barrymore who also directed) and scores a (lame) love interest.


I found Drew's character to be unnecessary, she is basically playing a dopey, violent roller girl with lots of colours in her hair (roller derby name: Smashley Simpson). For a maiden directing voyage she didn't do too badly but I think she just wanted to be in the movie and have fun with all the girls, knocking people over etc that she lost sight that maybe the character wasn't necessary. Maybe others thought she added some more comedy to the proceedings but I thought Bliss and Pash's natural friendship had more funny lines.

Drew's career has had a progression from troubled child/teen actor to producer (Whip It, Fever Pitch, Charlie's Angels 1 and 2 and Donnie Darko) and now director and she comes across as likable in my opinion: "I know certain actors are total screwed up on drugs, yet it gets covered up. Why wasn't I excused for 'exhaustion' or the 'flu'?"

Oh and happy 50th post to me! My first post was on the 29th November which makes my blog a Sagittarius. As well as being the birthday of my fabulous aunt it is also the birthday of Louisa May Alcott, C.S. Lewis and Garry Shandling.