Loser

I was flicking idly the other night and 2000’s Loser came on. I had forgotten about this movie and time hasn’t been its kindest friend, not that it was Amy Heckerlings best work to begin with.


I’m actually surprised Heckerling directed (and wrote), but not surprised her old buddy Twink Caplan showed up in this film (see also Look Who’s Talking, and Clueless).

Seeing Mena Suvari and Jason Biggs together in this film is akin to seeing Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy together in St Elmo’s Fire – it just seems weird when compared to their previous more popular films and pairings (American Pie and The Breakfast Club respectively).

American Pie was a huge movie when it came out. I loved it, never mind that it was nothing like my Australian high school experience (and I’m sure plenty of other American high school experiences too).

I remember the L loser signal when it was really popular. I remember it was around 2001 as I recall my cousin being born and we all thought it was hilarious that he learnt how to make the signal and use it to refer to my dad or mum when he was a toddler. It dates this movie of course, but I guess Heckerling has been about filming in the moment or just creating her own hyper stylised version of the current culture (hello Clueless!).
Mostly what I remembered from this movie is the pairing of the 2 American Pie stars, the L sign and Jason Biggs hunting style hat which hipsters will probably start wearing again. I watched about half of Loser before going to bed, so it may have had some good moral lessons but I missed them.

Speaking of American Pie, I call shenanigans (which was also the name of a past social netball team I was on – fun fact netball used to be called girls basketball in Australia until 1970) on the fact that the American Pie crew are having their reunion in 2012. I was sure I saw the original American Pie film when I was in 15 and I went to my ten year reunion last year hence they should have had their reunion in 2009. Unless it's not a class reunion per say. And then I'd look pretty silly.

Wesley, Grayson and Choco

I’ve had my boys since before Christmas and I cannot believe I have not blogged about them before. My blog used to be more foster –centric which I would like to get back to, but there’s been a lack of animal action lately what with 3 dogs living here pretty much full time now (we’ve had Mylo back who was with my parents, but who they believe is happier with his brother and me – so we share him).

Wesley, Grayson and Choco were surrended as part of a larger litter but apparently the other siblings were riddled quite badly with ringworm and so the committee member who viewed them said no. Which is quite sad and unnecessary as it turns out these 3 came out with it the next day anyway (Apparently the other siblings ended up at another shelter after getting rid of the ringworm so hopefully they are also safe).

So as you might have gathered from previous posts, I then got the ringworm. And then 2 of the dogs. And then suddenly I was just blurting out to people at work that I had ringworm under the pretence of not wanting them to get it and spread to their kids. Suddenly I was the girl who got asked how is your ringworm, instead of how was your weekend? The joys of fostering. And a little info on the old ringworm. It exists purely on the top layer of your skin, it's not a worm but a fungus (even better I know) and it is highly contagious so FYI I am not dirty and little kids get it all the time.

Anyway lucky these boys are gorgeous and very smooch which is a lovely change from my independent dog loving, cat hating, you-can-pick-me-up-but-don’t-force-me-to-lay-on-your-belly Sabrina cat.

Grayson is my favourite (of course I say I don’t have favourites but I secretly prefer some just slightly over the others) mostly because he’s always so happy to see me and starts immediately purring. He’s also stripy which reminds me of one of the best cats in the world we had who died in 2003. I’m trying to work out how we can keep him but I don’t really see a way. If I was to get a cat again I would definitely get 2 so they can grow together, be friends and keep each other company. But there’s no way I’ll be allowed to keep 2. 6 animals would be getting a bit redonkulous. I’m currently working on my aunty by randomly emailing her cute pics (manipulative!) so I would at least be able to visit.

They must be at least 12 weeks old now and they were so teeny tiny when I got them, I think their age may have been exaggerated. They love the dogs. If you saw on Twitter I posted a link to a YouTube video I posted which shows (mostly) Wesley smooching up to my dog, Ebs. It’s up to 67 views which is practically famous and was linked on his pet rescue profile. I have people coming to meet him on Saturday so the power of YouTube?

I feel this may be a sad parting when it does happen. I do seem to get more attached to the cats for some reason. Maybe because they seem more vulnerable and more easily lost - my first cat foster did get hit by a car and I can’t specify that the new owner keeps the cat indoors. Enough doom and gloom, at the moment I am loving their crazy antics of running across the living room, beating up the dogs and cuddles.

Wolf Creek

The caption of 'Based on true events' is misleading, but there are aspects of similarities to actual crimes to backpackers in Australia.
I put off watching this film for a while because I heard it was very scary (or perhaps just really off putting to tourists?) but compared to what I’ve heard of other films in this genre Wolf Creek was not too hard for me to watch.
I won't go into the plot line in too much detail, if you like these kind of movies you would have already seen it, but basically it’s 2 English girls and 1 Australian lad (backpackers) falling victim to an at first seemingly helpful bushmen when their car won’t start in the outback. He tows them back to his abandoned mine site camping area and that’s when things go wrong.
Some background information on (in my opinion) the main real life crime influence - taken from IMDB:

The other major event to influence the film was the Bradley John Murdoch case involving Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio. Lees and Falconio were British tourists backpacking in Australia. Whilst travelling along the Stuart Highway, near Barrow Creek in the Northern Territory on July 14, 2001, they were stopped by a man who was indicating that they were having trouble with their car's exhaust. Falconio got out to investigate, and Lees heard a gunshot. The man then dragged her from the car, tied her up, and blindfolded her, before forcing her into his van along with Falconio's dead body. Whilst he was driving however, Lees managed to escape into the bush. Now in the dead of night, she hid and watched as the man and his dog attempted to find her. Eventually after the man left the area, Lees hailed down a passing car, and contacted police. A massive search was initiated for Falconio's body and the murderer. But almost immediately, the world media began to point the finger at Lees herself. Expert Aboriginal trackers had been sent to the scene where Lees had hidden from the man but could find no sign of tracks other than Lees' own in the vicinity. They also failed to find any fresh blood where the car had been stopped. Two years later, with many now firmly believing that Lees herself had killed Falconio, Bradley John Murdoch was charged with rape in Barrow Creek on or around July 14, 2001. Murdoch was found not guilty of the rape, but Lees identified his photograph as being the man who abducted her, and DNA tests then confirmed that the bloodstains on Lees' clothing matched Murdoch's DNA.


Murdoch's trial began on October 18, 2005. The jury was out on December 13, and returned with a verdict of guilty on the same day after only 8 hours of deliberation. Murdoch was also convicted of other assault-related charges on Lees, and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 28 years. Falconio's body has never been found, and there is still a great deal of speculation about the truth of the case. Murdoch has always maintained his innocence, and during the trial his defence team claimed that police procedures were not followed correctly, that Lees' story was inconsistent, and that it was impossible for him to have committed the crime. The defence also discovered that Lees had been cheating on Falconio during their time in Australia, something she denied until confronted with incontrovertible evidence. It was also pointed out how much money Lees has made from the incident; $125,000 AUD for an interview with Martin Bashir and $650,000 AUD advance for a book. Lees was also forced to admit to using ecstasy and marijuana during her visit to Australia, all of which undermined her credibility as a witness. Murdoch's team argued that the whole thing was a cover up.

Apart from the killer, Mick himself (and his very creepy laugh), the big scares are from the isolation the trio face in order to save themselves. Mobile phones don’t work everywhere and while we have populated capital cities once you’re in the middle of the country there isn’t a lot there.
This was filmed in South Australia but actually set in my home state of Western Australia and Wolf Creek does exist (the crater site) but is spelled Wolfe Creek in real life. Our state is a bit bigger than Alaska but something like 80% live in the south west corner which makes for a lot of lonely patches up north.

Regarding the casting, John Jarrett does a great job. For years he and his wife were fairly well known Australian personalities hosting Better Homes and Gardens, so it definitely was odd seeing him in this role.
The English girls did really well in seeming authentic (and IMDB informs me they are both Australian). Nathan Phillips was good but he wasn’t in a good chunk of the film. The final girl was not who I was expecting, so that was good as usually from the beginning you can pick who will be left surviving at the end.

Can Keira Knightly play a likeable character?

Cases in point:

Bend it Like Beckham (2002)

In this film Keira plays a soccer player who befriends the new player, Jess (played by Parminder Nagra - FYI playing a very convincing 18 year old when she was 27) but then gets majorly pissed when she nearly kisses their coach. On top of that, Keira's mum nearly ruins Jess's sisters wedding screaming that her daughter is not a lesbian.

Love Actually (2003)

In this Keira plays a newlywed who's husbands friend is secretly in love with her for some unknown reason. Most annoying line (while viewing his recording of the wedding ceremony) "I look quite pretty don't I?"
Gag me.

Never Let Me Go (2010)

Ruth, Kathy and Tommy are friends who grow up together in an english boarding school. Although Kathy and Tommy are clearly more suited, Ruth (played by of course Keira) steals him away. Typical. And not to be harsh but I don't think she can pull off playing 18 anymore. Who am I kidding? This whole post is harsh.

Atonement (2007)

This one is a bit of a stretch I'll admit. Knightly plays Ceclia whose sister Briony accuses her lover of a crime he was not guilty of. So basically she's just a bit of a bitch of a sister. Love the green dress she wears though.

Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)

I am one of the few who have not seen any of the Pirate series. So can someone tell me, is she like able in this? I'm always jealous of anyone who gets to pash Orlando Bloom.

Jersey Shore

I hate to admit to this. Particularly as for so long I have been in blissful (and proud) ignorance of the 'characters' of this show, what the hell the show was about (hint getting drunk and being as vile as possible) and how to decipher their Jersey-speak.
But this all changed over the Christmas break, there I was staying up too late and I flicked the station over, where they play some riveting car crash television late at night. Suddenly a diminutive little girl with big hair was handing over her hoop earrings and telling someone to 'hold these for me' and then promptly engaging in a awkward girl fight with someone called Angelina. I was hooked. I needed to see the rest of the fight. And so on and so on. Yes I feel my brain cells diminishing with every episode but sometimes you need that switching off of the brain reality television provides.

His only redeeming feature seems to be his abs

So yes, now I am part of an elite group of people who know what grenades are when referring to women, and what DTF stands for. Of course I never said I liked the characters, they are truly vile at times, the men sexist disgusting pigs, the women caricatures of .... etc why am I even justifying myself? We all have our embarrassing habits.

Reverb Part 2

6.  Who was important to you? 
My family is always important to me, even more so since I moved out with my boyfriend nearly 2 years ago. I talk to my mum or dad usually everyday, and while my brother and I have had our differences he's usually there for me. Of course my boyfriend is also important, he's helped me through some rough times and visited me twice while I was in hospital overnight.


7.  What do you hope to remember? 
Be careful - really careful - when  handling kittens with ringworm. Or you will get it yourself, and be forever known as wormy. Even though it's not actually a worm, and no however many times you tell people that it won't matter.

8.  Where did you spend money?
Um where didn't I. From my complete inability to take a packed lunch to work; to possibly needing to take out shares in Subway in particular their chocolate chips cookies (is that possible, I'll have 12 million shares in baked goods) to the never ending process of trying to make our small tiny house with a huge backyard livable (new fly screen door, new floorboards, new rug, another 30 square metres of grass that we laid rather lumpily, numerous plants - some which have survived).

9.  When were you most scared?
Probably the few times Sabrina the cat stayed out all night. Or thinking about possibly having to pay some student loan debt back in 2012.

10.  What questions did you ask?
Why am I watching Jersey Shore?

11.  Who surprised you? 
 That I got through an operation. I haven't been in the hospital since I was 8. I was totes nervous.


12.  What did you learn?
Community is an excellent show.  And I have friends who will still come out with me to a club for my birthday even though they all think we're too old. My boyfriend can make an excellent pool cake.

Reverb 2011

Stolen from Reno, the Girl and maybe a little late but what the heck. It's time for some reflecting, feel free to ignore.

1.  Where did 2011 begin?
2011 began with another year in the boring job I was boringly comfortable with. Still fostering animals, about to celebrate my 27th birthday, but with only 1 permanent dog and cat in the household.

2.  Who did you meet?
Through my new job I have met a lot of cool new people. Became better acquainted with someone I went to high school with and still kept in contact with 'my girls' (10 high school friends I still regularly see and have monthly catch ups with).

3.    What books did you read?  
A lot, and re read a through for when I wanted comforting. But new ones included (what I can remember) the Hunger Games trilogy, The Slap, The Woman in Black, Fast Food Nation, The Seance, Don't Look Now and Other Stories, The Year of Magical Thinking, The Giver, Fade.

4.  When did you struggle?
 I really struggled while recovering from my knee operation and have still in some ways since even though now I can walk pretty well, I still cannot run, jump and play team sports. Not working for 2 months and having very little money was challenging.

5.  What did you discover?
I can live on little to no money but not for long and I really should take control of my debt. I can do things I'm scared of and live to tell the tale.


Part 2 soon if I'm still feeling reflective.

Just because.

Pete's Dragon - a beloved movie from my past but probaly not that great to kids today

Toothless!

It seems I've had a thing for dragons for a long time and not realised it. After dragging my feet and refusing to see How to Train Your Dragon for a long time, when I finally saw it I was enthralled. We know sometimes refer to our dog as Toothless after learning the characters movements in the film were created used a mixture of animals movements including a dog.


Pete's Dragon and Puff the Magic Dragon were always confusing to me, and I have no idea why except for the obvious first initial.

Elliot is a cartoon dragon whose actual screen time was only around 20 minutes, as he can make himself disappear. He is friend to Pete, an orphan in the early 20th century. It makes for the usual hi jinks when Pete says he has a dragon (who invariably destroys stuff) but has an made up invisible dragon. He is on the run from his abusive adoptive parents and somehow manages to wrangle his way into the heart of local lass, Helen Reddy and her dad played by Mickey Rooney. Did I mention this was also a musical? The catchiest song I can recall though is by his vagabond adoptive family who want him back to do their chores and such titled "Bill of Sale" referring to how Pete was purchased and is theirs to own.
Released in 1977 this is one of those often forgotten kids films, kind of how Bed knobs and Broomsticks is a poor mans Mary Poppins, but I actually prefer the former. Reading some of the comments though, of course the cartoon and real life action does not meld too well together a lot of the time, and apparently the kid can't act his way out of a paper bag, but come on people it was 1977! An innocent time, and Mickey Rooney plays a drunk in it! Shennigans abound. Check it out.

The Queen and the President

Australia has hosted both the Queen and the President of the USA within the last 3 weeks which is kind of exciting I guess. The Queen even came to my neglected little state as part of CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which includes 54 other countries most of whom stemmed from the British Empire including Canada, India, South Africa).

To be fair most Americans wouldn't know what to do with it either

I almost went to the big, public aussie barbeque that was held for the Queen on our foreshore on her last day in the country, but I went shopping in the city instead. If I actually think about it, I guess I would vote for Australia to become a republic and have nothing much more to do with the UK, but on the other hand I just thought it would be cool to see the Queen in public. Also the idea of the barbeque was pretty PR savvy. Getting old Prince Phillip to have a go turning some sausages on an outdoor barbeque was interesting.

While the President did not visit my part of the world (with only 27 hours time spent in Australia, who can blame him?), he was the first President to visit the Northern Territory which is the top end of Australia, which is hot and home to a lot of big crocodiles.
Now I will readily agree that my American politics knowledge is pretty minimal. Apart from some memories of Cold War info stuck in my head from an old history lesson, I don't keep up with much - though I probably should. Like most, I was glad when Obama became president if only purely so George Bush was out but after listening to the speech he gave parliament I gotta say that guy has a lot of charisma. How nice it would be to listen to a leader of my own country talk with passion...but then again maybe it's just the accent.

That 'special' relationship

A reunion and 2 puppies

So my ten year high school reunion was the other night, and you know what they say: the more things change the more they stay the same.
I'd say for about half the night we all reverted back to our old cliques and social circles. But instead of my group standing near the lockers in the rose garden, and the popular groups in the main quadrangle we were upstairs at a bar with a tiny area for buying drinks and a server who couldn't serve the drinks quick enough.
It was such a surreal feeling walking up the stairs. I just remember thinking to myself that I needed to latch on to someone I recognized and remembered as being friendly and then I needed to get a drink stat. Within about half a hour I had told some guy that I had a crush on him in year 9 but he just laughed it off, which thinking about it now, is a bit embarrassing.
We did start to mix and I didn't get horribly drunk and embarrass myself (previous crush revelation excluded), but a lot of people didn't show. I think only about half from our graduating class turned up, I'm guessing more will be attending the 20 year reunion and perhaps think enough time hasn't gone past?
Sadly the music was not late 90s/early 2000s specific, and we didn't get any spectacular dancing a la Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.

Now to the puppy portion of this post. The fosters have been far and few between due to having Mylo and Herbie who have extra attention since February of this year, but with Mylo on trial at my mum and dads place and we having officially adopted Herbie I figured I would dip my toes into the puppy foster world again. Napoleon is the white puppy and Tiger obviously the stripey one. They are apparently wolfhound x staffy x kelpie but to me the breed they mostly look like is staffy, short stocky fellows that they are. They are currently about 8 weeks old. I have forgotten how much mess and time they take up, OMG I am exhausted. Luckily they're pretty cute.

Fright Night (1985)

It annoys me that there are all these remakes of 80s movies happening and my boyfriend hasn't even seen the originals (I haven't seen the original The Thing either but I plan on rectifying this soon).

Also:
1 These kids today won't even see the originals nor possibly know these new craps are remakes
2 Hollywood clearly has no new ideas and is lazy

There was a time during high school when my dad decided his children needed to watch some classics, thus this when I saw the original Fright Night where a teenager, Charlie thinks he is living next door to a vampire played by Chris Sarandon. No one believes him including his girlfriend Amy.
Some points:

Chris Sarandon has a certain charm although all I could remember of his previous roles was playing Prince Humpledink in the The Princess Bride where he was a douche.
Amy is one hella scary vampire
The special effects were still pretty good
I don't think it aged too badly if you ignore the club scene and Amy's hair style.

It looks like the remake has the old movie star character changed into some kind of legitimate magician/vampire killer instead of a washed up scared guy who helps Amy and Charlie that Roddy McDowell played so well in the original.

I felt it had some more realistic bits if possible. The bit where Peter Vincent just freaks out an d runs out the front door is something I would do.
Amy looked a lot older than a teenager though, and IMDB informs me she was actually 27 at the time the film was made. And I completely missed that she was Marcy in Married...With Children.
Charlie was pretty cute. And the character name of Amy should be used much more often in my opinion.

You make my dreams come true

Is it sad or am I just really lame that I worked out it was a Hall and Oates song from Step Brothers? I'm excited either way.

Grosse Pointe Blank

Before I get into the film, it's been five weeks since my operation and I am now working again full time which has it's advantages (money) and disadvantages (I can no longer watch copious amounts of daytime TV in my comfy pants). 

My scars were actually a bit disappointing once the bandages come off except for one which is pirate esque and I'm quite proud of.

In honour of my impending ten year high school reunion next month (and also because there was a John Cusack movie in existence that I hadn’t seen), on Sunday night we watched Grosse Point Blank.

Released in 1997, the premise sounded interesting enough to my Transformers/Fast and the Furious fuelled boyfriend: Martin Blank (Cusack) is a hitman whose 10 year high school reunion is approaching. By fate (according to his secretary played by real life sister Joan Cusack) he also needs to perform a hit on someone in his hometown the same weekend. Dan Ackroyd is also on his tail (a competing hitman) begging him to join the union. Added into the mix is Debbie (Minnie Driver) who he stood up on Prom Night and hasn’t seen since.

My dad recommended this film years ago and it is surprising to me that I have taken so long to watch it.

I expected comedy, action and the wonderful Mr Cusack and this film did deliver that to some degree. I did think it would be funnier but it’s not to say I didn’t have some giggles.

It's hard to believe I'm now at the same point in life as John is in this movie. I've in no way got my career figured out (hitman or not) and I hope I don't dress as badly as some of these people who attend the reunion do. 

I had a genuine good laugh at the baby Martin holds while at the reunion. It was a nice contrast between the crazy 'married with three kids - I'm so happy (not really)' classmate in charge of the name badges at the entrance to the reunion and the mother of the baby Martin is holding  and her more chilled  out attitude to marriage and kids. And that kids facial expressions were just hilarious.

I thought the ending could have been better, it seemed a bit ambiguous but maybe that's just my preference for  a clearly defined ending.

Overall I enjoyed the film just not as much as I thought I would.

Regarding my own reunion, I am definitely going if only for curiosity's sake. I have some friends who are of the "I'm having my own party on the same night" persuasion. People hold grudges for a long time, or maybe they just don't want to revisit that time in their life, I get it, no judgement. My time wasn't that bad in high school (or maybe the years have dulled the pain) and I am just curious about some people who aren't on Facebook or have just dropped off the face of the planet.

I'll go and it will just be completely anti climatic. I'm not expecting any dead bodies a la Grosse Pointe Blank, but maybe there will be some funky moves to 2001's Miss Jackson by OutKast.

Housebound and a pee cup story

I'm housebound and bored out of my brain.
Actual surgery was okay, I had my little button of morphine I could press when the light was on and I was  indulged another hit.

Pre surgery I had to pee into a little cup as seems to be standard procedure but I'm not entirely sure why. Being the good Samaritan I am I obliged and proceeded to give the closed cup a wash over with water as no one likes to get pee on their hands. Unfortunately maybe I washed a little too vigorously as I started to erase the information on the cup which determined that the pee belonged to me. Luckily I was provided with a brown paper bag for modesty's sake of my pee and since my name was still visible I didn't say anything to the nurse.
While we're on the subject of embarrassing urine stories, I had my first bedpan experience. I didn't think this would happen to me, the first nurse wheeled me IV drip, morphine and all into the bathroom so I had some privacy. Unfortunately it was all a bit hard for the other nurses and one tried to get me to use the bedpan. Um that was my body's deal breaker apparently. That was just not going to happen.
Can I also state the obvious right now and say nurses don't get paid enough. The grandmother next flimsy sheet divider door was complaining about the nurses to her children often for the approximately 30 hours I was in hospital (I didn't complain about her midnight flatulence problem nor the fact that she kept the TV on all night. Needless to say after being woken up every 4 hours for antibiotics as well as Granny's shenanigans I did not get a good nights sleep). I wanted to scream at her: You're in a public hospital. Your operation was paid for by the tax payers and you are complaining that a nurse didn't come quick enough to get a bedpan for you! Sheesh.

Otherwise for me, the pain has not been too bad. I'm back at home and have some 'hillbilly heroin' as it's apparently known on the streets (maybe not by those that buy or sell it). It's just all so awkward. I'm bandaged up from ankle to high thigh and then a tube sock over that and it won't be coming off for another seven days. Hello plastic bag showers.

But I am so sick of laying on the couch. I'm loving that I finally get to watch True Blood, I'm catching up on United States of Tara and I think I'm fulfilling my reality trash TV quota with America's Next Top Model and Tabatha's Salon Takeovers.
But aside from making my eyes go square what can I take up? I learnt to knit from my Nanna many moons ago but I think I actually need her to start and finish a line for me (and I've just realised this entry seems to have way too many drug references) so maybe I cannot actually knit.

I'm reading The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas which is about what happens when a man smacks an unrelated young child at a barbecue and the implications this brings to the people at the barbecue, the aftermath told from many different points of view. Really interesting so far, won a lot of awards and I believe is being turned into a mini series with Melissa George to be shown on TV soon.

Man I'm beginning to wish I could quilt.

A fortnight in the life of...

So turns out the pesky knee pain I've been having required getting a MRI and revealing a disrupted cruciate ligament injury which I actually injured last year. So this injury I just did some more damage. So surgery here I come which is a really scary prospect for me as I've never broken a bone or spent any time at all really in hospital.

Excitedly I am finally seeing the final Harry Potter film tomorrow. Being one of the few not to read the books when I finally do read them (maybe during surgery recuperation?) it will be unique in that I will already be picturing Harry as Daniel Radcliffe etc having watched them first.

Luna and Norbit, my long term cat fosters both went on a trial within a day of each other to new families. After having them for nearly 8 months more than a few tears were shed and I should know whether they are permanent homes by this Thursday when the trial adoption period is over.

You know you're watching too much True Blood when your boyfriend walks in with a red Mother drink and you think it's V. Seriously loving that I am finally able to watch this show, not at all what I expected after reading others opinions for so long though but definitely entertaining.

Holy crap!

You guys. This Brutus is real. I know he's not Lake Placid size or anything but seriously this is awesomely scary, no? Read the background info here.

My Girl 2 or the one with a dreamy Austin O'Brien

Not sure about that hat though

I was 11 at the height of my 'Austin O'Brien is adorable' phase, so not inappropriate at all. Plus he then played Logan Bruno in the BSC movie so I was hooked (although he was terribly miscast I believe).
I loved the original My Girl as many did, but I think my pre pubescent self liked the sequel more in a way as I was it's target audience in many ways when it was released. Veda Sultenfus (Anna Chlumsky) from the original is now 13 and summer vacation is coming up. She decides to complete an assignment on someone she's never met and their accomplishments, on her mother who died when she was a baby. To research her mother, she goes to LA to visit her uncle Phil and his de facto Rose, and her son Nick (Austin O'Brien), which is where her mother went to school.
I know this is a 'family friendly' film, but I must have blocked out how many corny lines are in this movie. The kiss at the end was awkward (but appropriately so). Nick had some of the worst (romantic) lines in the film (maybe also appropriate for a 13 year old?).

I did like the relationship between Vada and her uncle Phil (Richard Masur), that may be because I just have a soft spot for Masur but it seemed quite natural. I thought the way they handled his and Roses (played by Christine Ebersole) relationship missed it's mark in some ways. It was supposed to be very risque that they were living together yet not married, and instead of going down the route of making Rose to be self assured and not needing the marriage card, by the end of the film they are engaged. Just seemed like a lost opportunity of making more of a statement. But what am I talking about - this is a family movie.
When I was younger I loved Vada's wardrobe. My friends and I had a thing of watching these movies from the mid 90s (the Sandlot Kids, Now and Then) and loving the wardrobes and activities they did and trying to recreate them, like by riding our bikes more, trying to play baseball on our school oval and wearing flannelette shirts. If just wasn't the same. You don't even want to know about our Clueless and knee high socks phase.

I like Anna Chlumsky and the character. Sort of precocious but also interesting and a bit different. I also think she's a better actor than what is presented on her CV. Definitely better than Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain atrocity she did with Christina Ricci while sporting really awful hair.

On a personal note, I had 3 weeks of unemployment, scored a casual job which required at least 10 kilometres of walking a day and then I hurt my knee playing basketball the week before. I have awesome timing. It's been tough but I'm not on the bread line yet.



Not Norbit



Foster wise, I still have Luna and Norbit the cats, and Mylo and Herbie the Labradors. I had one woman come and look at Norbit the other day and actually was attracted to him due to his similarity to an Australian Mist cat. Has anyone even heard of this breed? Weird. Maybe he does have some pedigree in him.

Crafting and cats

.

Zoe is a fellow foster carer and she also has an excellent blog. After a few of her own kitty vet bills piled up she enlisted help of other generous bloggers to help raise money, go to Giraffe in a Scarf to read the whole story. I've got two entries, am pretty excited but you've gotta be quick to get in the draw!

Starting to freak out about lack of money as evidenced by my dreams

So last night I'm drifting off to sleep and it's fricken freezing but I can't have the heater on for too long as I only have 3 more days of employment before I have to consider doing something drastic to earn money so we can't afford a high electricity bill. But it's okay because I have my hot water bottle between my knees and I begin to think that this is a great idea but what about my feet? They're cold, maybe I really need a full length hot water bottle like the full length body pillow I like to hug more than my boyfriend when I'm going to sleep because it doesn't move around a lot, snore or try to grope me. Then I know I'm nearly asleep because I start having the most random thoughts/ideas which I only have in the last 5 minutes before I'm actually asleep. Because we know a full length hot water bottle would also be very costly to my budget every night, not to forget the facts of possible burns etc etc.

Then I had a very unsettling dreams where clowns were trying to eat me much like Bart Simpson, but we warded them off with some quick thinking ie we locked the doors.
By the way does anyone know where Dibly Fresh has gone?

Like totally redundant

So the job hunt begins...