Sydney

It doesn't have the same ring compared to where I spent last NYE, but it's a change of scenery. I've been here since the 28th and I've already changed skin tones *sigh*.

So far while I've been here, I've gone grocery shopping, not clothes shopping because I discovered yesterday that I still haven't been paid :(. As such, this will probably be my most expense-free holiday in years! I'm planning to go to the gallery (hope that's free) or walk around. Today I went to the beach for the first time in years and I got my first sunburn for the first time in years. It's on my shoulders and a little on my nose.

I went Bondi which is an ocean beach and those waves really pick you up and dunk you down! I went in over my head even though I've been warned that going into ocean water with contact lenses isnt really safe. I went out to the sandbar, jumped around in the water and went back. This went on for four hours, hence my sunburn. I also saw a lot of women not wearing their tops and looking at my tan lines...kinda wondering if i'd ever work up the bravery to do that too

My sister has a theory that the further north you go, the skankier the cities become and she's right. I mean sure, I've seen plenty of butt cracks (helloooo south lawn!) but until today, I had never seen butt crack coming out of a SKIRT. And it wasnt a little weenie hipster denim skirt, it was a full elastic-waist gypsy style skirt. That's just wrong.

NYE party planned in Kirribilli - seey'all later!

Movie review: King Kong

It's too long.
3/5




















JOKING!!!
But seriously, at 3 hours this movie is FAR TOO LONG. After making the LOTR movies, I'm sure any studio would be happy to indulge whatever movie Peter Jackson would choose to make and *whew!* it shows. Too many scenes go for too long - completely irrelevant (Ann and the Old man at the start, Jimmy), or exist as CGI showpieces to kill of characters - the Brontosaurus stampede and the Bug scene. The CGI is pretty brilliant but I couldnt help think at several stages of the movie that these bits would obviously be levels in the computer game.

The acting is pretty good considering that everyone is second banana to a giant Gorilla (pun intended! :P). Naomi Watts pretty much just screams or looks dewy-eyed, Jack Black was so slimy I wanted to punch him, Thomas Kretschmann was suitably menacing, authoritative, and fearful as the captain of the boat, Colin Hanks was great as Jack Black's long-suffering assistant, and Adrien Brody...we all know I *heart* him.

The whole thing about Kong being a victim of circumstance rather than a monster was depicted a bit too well - to the point where I was thinking that Kong was the *real* love interest as opposed to Adrien Brody/Jack Driscoll, and I started to want the movie to end with Ann and Kong being given a little island off NYC where they could live happily together but she'd be in close contact with personal hygiene and nutrition.

Some things I'd like to know
1. How'd they get Kong on the boat? Or did they just drag him all the way back like my sister thinks?
2. Seeing as 17 people died on the island, most of them crewmembers, how'd they even sail the boat back!?
3. How'd they get Kong into the theatre without various people seeing and knowing what he was?
4. Adrien Brody must be superman to survive being tossed around in a taxi without a getting a single scratch.
5. Naomi Watt's dress must be made out of the most awesome fabric ever! Not a single smudge during her time on the island!


Implausibility aside, if the movie wasn't so long, I'd probably give it better mark. But as it is, the length just served to put more flaws in. Shoulda kept it short and sweet.
3/5

Happy songs

In no particular order:

The Best Things in Life are Free - Janet Jackson and Luther Vandross
Love Generation - Bob Sinclar
Accidentally In Love - Counting Crows
You're the First - Barry White
Catch My Disease - Ben Lee
Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
Danke Shoen - Brenda Lee
Your Song - Ewan McGregor from Moulin Rouge soundtrack
Wake Me Up (before you go-go) - Wham!
All I Need is You - Guy Sebastian

Man, this is a hard list to compile!

Feed the Kitty (1952)

This classic cartoon short was directed by Chuck Jones for the Warner Bros Studio. Written by Mike Maltese, it was about a bulldog, Marc Antony, who finds a stray kitten, Pussyfoot, and takes the kitten home with him. However, he has to keep Pussyfoot away from his owner who has forbidden Marc Antony to bring things into the house.

Words can't express how great this cartoon is. At once comedic with the juxtaposition of the huge, brutish bulldog and his affection for the tiny black kitten and his efforts to hide her from his owner, that turns into *spoiler* drama as we see Marc Antony's grief when he believes Pussyfoot to be blended, cut up, baked into a cookies, and his desperation to keep her when his owner finds Pussyfoot alive and well *end spoiler*. Its not a bulldog, but I was reminded of this awesome cartoon when I found the above photo on the smet. Cute.

And to those ppl who've said they don't understand what the appeal of Adrien Brody is to me, neither do I. He's just sexy, ok?!

Adrien Brody

Unlike my attraction to The Captain in The Sound of Music, and Prince Stefan from Disney's Sleeping Beauty, I can't seem to figure out why I find Adrien Brody attractive.

With his long nose and thin face, he's not typically good looking. In fact, he kinda reminds me of Mark Tj (for those who know him).

I saw him first in the The Pianist and its accompanying publicity and remember thinking *gee, he's ugly...but not bad*. I think the appeal from Pianist was that he was an ordinary man in an extraordinary situation, dressed in '40s style clothing. It suited him, although he got a bit caveman-like when things got rough(er) for this character.

In any case, he then became a Zegna model and we started seeing him in shots like the one above.

He is also now the *love interest* in King Kong (review coming soon). As Jack Driscoll, Adrien Brody plays a gamma hero dressed in 30s clothing and I've got to admit, I really liked that too. I never thought of him as an action man before, but you know its nice that he can also play lover/hero roles...although the kiss scene looked kinda funny because of his long nose.

But you know, I think he really had me when he did this:I remember screaming with mirth when I watched him do this to Halle Berry and thinking, who can't love a man who can do stuff like this in front of a live audience and will be broadcast to millions? Adrien Brody is a man with style and we need more of those in the world. Oh yeah, and his voice isn't bad either.

The Slow Hand of Bowling

This is what my bowling *technique* is now named. It works on a similar principle as driving - at a fast velocity, minor adjustments produce a greater result than when you do them at a slower velocity. Likewise, it is easier to do fine manoeuvering when you're going slow.

When I first started bowling, I did try to bowl with great force, only to find my ball hitting the pin on the very right edge of the lane or just falling into the gutter. Somewhere along the line, someone (I think it was either Justin or Roy) pointed out to me that due to my left-handed-ness and the way I dropped it, the ball tended to spin in a particular way that resulted in it gravitating to the right side and suggested that I practise on either cultivating the spin from the extreme left or bowling slowly to delete it. I chose the latter.

And so while it may look as though the ball is going to stop half-way down the lane and it takes a minute to actually reach the end...I do bowl with higher accuracy. The problem now is that the ball doesnt hit the pins with enough force to knock all the others down. But this technique still beats Moans and I guess thats good enough :-P (90-something to 80-something. The Ly sisters are still up!)

Also, good luck to Kat(i)e for NYC - Fridays won't be the same :-P

winding down

bring on the holidays. hmmm, I better buy my ticket out soon

DAMMIT!!!!!

It seems I won't get paid until after Christmas because I was supposed to sign a form but no one gave it to me to sign before the person who gives clearance left last week to attend a conference in India. What the hell is with that?! If I can run a ship so tight that the OHS ppl are singing my praises despite no formal qualifications, why can't other peole get their stuff together?

Great. Now I have to handle concentrated acids while cranky. I'm gonna take a paid 30 min break to calm down.

I forgot

Roy requested a shout-out last night.

Hi Roy!

Eponine - Lea Salonga vs Frances Ruffelle

Hands up the fans of the Alain Boublil-Claude-Michel Schonberg musical Les Miserables? And hands up the people who believe that while Cosette is the one who gets the guy, Eponine is actually the premier female role in the musical (except maybe Fantine)? Yeah, me too. The most recognised performers are Frances Ruffelle who created the role at both the original London and Broadway runs, and Lea Salonga who was selected as the Eponine in the 10th anniversay *dream cast* (There's also Kaho Shimada but I haven't been able to track down a recording of her) . So, who is the better? If we compare the best songs for Eponine, I'll give my rundown.

*On My Own* - Eponine bemoans the fact that her love for Marius is unrecognised. Salonga sings Eponine here as strong and defensive of her love while Ruffelle's version seems more wistful, particularly in the verses where she tells of how she imagines their life together. I suppose if you think of it in terms of acting, Ruffelle is better at displaying this as Eponine's flight of fancy followed by her agony at the knowledge that Marius will never return her affection. However Salonga's vocal superiority far outstrips Ruffelle, the intensity and power she puts into lines, particularly All my life, I've only been pretending... and the vibrato as she holds the final syllable - I wish I could sing like that. Ruffelle has a thinner, higher pitched voice, but when it breaks in some notes...makes you feel Eponine's emotions a bit more. I guess its a tie between acting vs singing here!
LS - 4.25/5, FR - 4.25/5

*A Little Fall of Rain* - Duet with Michael Ball (definitive Marius) as she's dying.
Woah! Lea Salonga takes her acting guns out here and her voice just craps all over Ruffelle's. The sad sweetness as she revels in the joy that Marius finally realises how much she loved him, even if he couldn't/didn't return it, she can die happy knowing at least he knows, assuring him that she's fine even though she's mortally wounded...wow! Her dying gasps, her short notes in her last verse, here's a girl who'd rather walk through fire than admit her pain to her love. If there's one complaint, its that sometimes Salonga sounds a bit too robust for someone who's dying...but it just shows her vocal awesomeness once again. Although sometimes screechy, Ruffelle's version isn't bad (she sings it better than I ever could) but she's just blown away.
LS - 4.85/5, FR - 3.5/5

The crystal-clear voice, the technically perfect vocal attack, the solid depiction of character... add one more trophy to your cabinet Lea Salonga. You are my definitive Eponine!

This is a good photo

Sure, he was creepy in Batman Begins, but allow me to present Cillian Murphy in from this month's L'Uomo Vogue.

Quite dashing, don't you think? I think we need more of this!

DVD review - Raising Helen

There's something about Kate Hudson that annoys me. I haven't figured out what it is yet, but it's probably got something to do with how she always seems kind of perky. Knowing this, I answered The Call from Carmencita and we decided to watch Miss Hudson's latest new-to-weekly DVD, Raising Helen. After this, I'm beginning to wonder whether its not so much that I find her annoying, but rather I find her roles annoying. This will be explained in time.

The basic story is that we have 3 sisters, Felicity Huffman, Joan Cusack, and Kate Hudson. Kate is a lot younger than her sisters in age and maturity (probably mid to late-20s), but she and Felicity (who I assume is eldest) are close to each other in personality, with Joan being the ultra-mature/maternal one in the middle. The elder two seem to be housewives, while Kate works as a PA for the head of a modelling agency - her life being a combination of hot clothes, glamourous parties, early office starts, short-notice travel, etc. We are shown that she's actually VERY good at what she does...but also that she's immature and *playing* at life. Tragedy strikes when Felicity is killed in a car accident, and leaves custody of her three children (15yo girl, 10yo boy, 5yo girl) to Kate, much to everyone's shock. And so we have a movie showing Kate trying to achieve balance between raising a family and her *party* lifestyle.

Now, if you know me, you're probably thinking I'm going to write a diatribe about how conservative values are being pushed whereby being a successful career-woman is incompatible with having a family and being *responsible*. This is pushed to an extent - Kate loses her job after a debacle involving a model, some kids, and permanent textas...but this is counterbalanced by her actually going back to the agency and being promoted to agent (cos she was good at promoting the agency's models). No, what really gave me the #$@! was the actual character of Helen.

It's not that she was a party girl and is finding it difficult to adjust. I'm sure that if someone left me custody of children not much younger than me, I'd have trouble adjusting to it too. It was her complete inability to have even a sense of AUTHORITY, and upon discovering that she does in fact have one, her inability to exercise it, letting Joan take the blame for being "horrible". The eldest daughter sees Kate as a partner in crime, not an authority figure, and throws a party in their apartment while Kate is at work, and later goes to the senior prom (even though she's a freshman oooOOooo) even though the guy who asked her is dodgy and has the plan to get into her pants.

Now I don't know about you, but if I came home from a long day at work to find a bunch of kids having a party and trashing in MY house, I'd be freaking furious. But no, Kate can't force them out cos she remembers what its like to be 15 and how popularity was everything. Upon finding that her niece has left the prom AND stolen her credit card, she's developed enough outrage to call Joan on what to do and track the niece and boy to a seedy motel....but just as the time comes to give what for, she tells Joan that she can't handle the idea of being hated for having to do this her niece. EXCUSE ME?!?!?! She'd rather let her niece ruin her life than be hated for humiliating the girl in front of a boy?! A boy, I should add, she had previously told her niece to stop hanging around?!? Where the HELL are your balls woman?!?! And get some perspective while you're at it. Cos there's sheer immaturity which is probably what Helen started at, then there's stupidity which Helen can't be cos of her professional proficiency, so that just leaves idiocy where you know what the right thing is, but you do the dumb thing anyway.

And so, Kate Hudson, so long as you keep choosing roles where your character can't see reality or sees reality but hides from it, I'm just going to have to keep finding you annoying.

2/5

I DEFINITELY need to be less efficient!

My boss just paid me a visit to see my progress in the cataloguing and re-organisation of the lab chemicals (he hasnt been in for the last 3 days). He saw that half the chemicals were gone and that I've essentially finished the catalogue with only the concentrated acids really left to go, and even put all the salts in alphabetical order. He then congratulated me on getting the work done in less than a fortnight as he thought it would take at least 3 weeks.

At this announcement I asked *If you thought it would take that long, why did you always ask if I'd reached Zinc yet?*

To which he said *It was fun watching you panic.*

DIRTY!!!

The End of the Explosion and *stardom* returns!!!

For those who read this last week or have seen me and asked what I'm doing now, TODAY was CHEMICAL DISPOSAL DAY.

YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!

The disposal guys came in at a little past 10 and took away the 100 chemicals that I'd earmarked for disposal. Zisos the EHS guy was there to supervise and told me that when the guys make a shocked *foof* sound - thats never a good thing. These guys are pros...and for them to look at the some of the stuff and be shocked...well thats never a good thing! Now I can rest a lot easier that the whole place isn't going to go down in flames (threw out most of the explosive hydrocarbons) and that cancer isnt going to spread throughout the place (ditto the carcinogens).

A drawback to this is that Zisos figured that since I look young enough, and crappily dressed enough to be a student, he recruited me to be an extra in an EHS video to be shown to first years about various safety things. I don't know if my acting lessons as a child helped (yes, music and sport be damned!), but I did manage not to laugh.

The Beetle photo

As my sister said - THATS PRETTY BIG!!!

Alas, not a very good photo though

The Beetle Battle

There I was, happily riding home from work, reading my book (Lolly Scramble by Tony Martin) when I felt something tickle/pinch my arm. Imagine my horror when I found a bright green (actually, the colour was quite nice, it was like burnished metal that changes colour when you alter the angle of light) BEETLE/SCARAB looking thing on my arm!!!

With a little shriek (hate bugs) I flicked it off my arm for it to land ON MY SKIRT. With another shriek, I stood up and flicked it onto the floor of the bus. I then settled back down with the book, ignoring the curious gazes of my fellow passengers. But alas. I could hear a little whirring sound and found the beetle headed straight back towards me! I stood up and the beetle and i duked it out for the seat...but to no avail.

I conceded defeat, and once again ignoring the mocking gazes of the passengers, changed seats. I then took a photo with my camera of the blasted thing...but my phone is charging so i cant load the photo yet.

Alice - 0, Beetle - 1

Cake in the Fridge Rules

(Wooh! My first blog at work!)

At my *normal* department (shout out to PATH at UniMelb!!!) there's a unspoken rule that if there's a box with a leftover cake in it (or for that matter, any food that's come from a departmental source), that cake is fair game for anyone with an empty stomach or just a cheap source of food (Jigs, I'm looking at you). At my *new* dept (shout out to ED at Latrobe! - not that anyone here knows about my blog)...there's a plate with about a quarter of lemon meringe pie left and another plate with some brownies.

So...do I apply the rules from my old dept here or let the cake go? I'm in such a quandary :-(

Movie review: Harry Potter 4: The Goblet of Fire

Hmm...this will be a difficult review to write. On one hand, I walked out satisfied but on the other, I wasn't blown away the way my friends were and found myself thinking that the book was better.

So lets start off with whats good about the movie. Trying to cram 629 pages into less than 3 hours of movie was never going to be an easy task, but they managed to cram in most of the pertinent information and events. The CGI has improved a lot since the first movie. I recall thinking that the Quidditch match in the first was like watching a 3D sports game - something like the FIFA games cos the polygons weren't quite smooth. But now that it has become a lot better, the visuals of landscapes, events such as the first round of the Tri-Wizard Cup, and characters such as when Gary Oldman/Sirius Black comes through the fire are a lot more convincing. My personal favourite scenes were the arrival of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students at Hogwarts - real effort there with the choreography to show off the personalities of each school, and of course the ball - love how it turned from an ultra-formal ball with formal dancing into a kind of rave, and who else spotted Jarvis Cocker as part of the band?!?! Ruper Grint and Emma Watson were amusing as Ron and Hermione and the adult actors were great as usual in their limited roles (special shout-out to Ralph Fiennes - Mr. Awesome Villian)....which I guess then takes us to the bad.

Daniel Radcliffe...I guess this is the payoff you get from when you're hiring an 11-yo for a series of movies. His acting has improved, but compared to Emma and Rupert and the amount of time focussed on him...its unfortunate. The amount of makeup on all the young actors!!! I'm aware theyre British and going through a difficult stage in life, but really! They were all milky skinned with rosy cheeks and pink lips. It looked a bit like old-school theatre. The most incredibly disturbing and uncalled for scene in the whole movie - where Harry takes a bath to figure out the clue to the second task and Moaning Myrtle attempts to flirt. I'm aware that he has legions of pubescent female fans, so i'm chalking this up to pandering to that crowd, but I myself am not turned on by the sight of bare 15yo chest, and the knowledge that the actress playing Myrtle (Shirley Henderson) is 40yo....that just made the whole thing kinda disturbing.

I remember during the movie feeling fairly entertained, but I couldnt help compare my feelings to Ruilin who was laughing out loud for most of the movie. Apart from when Harry does a spit take when Cho Chang smiles at him, nothing about the movie particularly moved me. I'm aware Katie Leung/Cho Chang has been under fire for not being beautiful enough, but you know, she fits the standard asian teenager look, so everyone who thinks she's ugly - GET OVER IT.

While I was fairly entertained, I've received comments (from Martin in particular) that the movie was terrible...and to an extent I agree with him. One of the things that disappointed me was that a lot of the sub-plots that elevated Goblet of Fire away from being a mere-childrens/teen book were cut out. Things that showed the machinations behind the scene at the Ministry for Magic - their willingness to use Harry as a political pawn and then refusal to take his warnings about Voldemort seriously. The clues that were dropped as to the identity of the villain. The bits that show the characters are growing up and their conflict. While I understood what was going on and could therefore fill the gaps, for people who haven't read the book (such as Tina), the movie was an incoherent mess consisting of vignettes linked by common characters.

So I guess then what we have is a flawed movie that while servicing its fans well, is ultimately let down because it has been tailored to suit the fans. It was good, but not outstanding. I suspect it won't stand the test of time, but we'll see when that comes.

3/5

Oh my!

Alors! It's been a busy few days since my last post.

Firstly, I got a full time job! Well, it'll be full time for about 2 or 3 weeks or however long it takes me to do. I'm working for the Ed. Fac. at Latrobe as their practical technician. Basically what that means is that I'm cataloguing 30 years accumulated chemicals and will then organise their laboratory until it passes government conditions. And oooo, right now, that lab is a HOLE full of toxic chemicals! I was interviewed on Monday and asked to start on Tuesday in order to get a heap of chemicals thrown out by Wednesday 14/12. I saw the lab momentarily on Monday, but on my first proper poke around, I found

• 2 bottles of Benzene sitting on a shelf - carcinogenic and causes genetic mutations
• hydrogen peroxide (unstable) sitting next to motor oil (KABOOM!)
• sodium crystals in a rusty tin (KABOOM!)
• 2.5L bottle of carbon tetrachloride sitting on a shelf - poisonous carcinogen
  
• calcium carbide, which explodes when it hits water, in a RUSTY CAN

Aiyo! I could probably get a heap of chemicals thrown out by next week, but the lab won't be in (my idea of) functional for at least another week after that. I wonder if I can organise new chemical storage facilities...mmm, its like redecorating.

Secondly, changes in appearance. No, I have not permed my hair, but ppl are telling me they think I've lost weight! I'd give a great *oh yay!* but I suspect it may just be due to my summer clothes being tighter than my winter ones. Even if I am looking better, it's offset by the fact that I seem to have re-crippled myself. The old ankle is playing up and for the last 2 days I've been doing some serious limping. I drove yesterday, and since it was the GoGo-mobile (heh), that clutch didnt feel too good.

I also finally saw Harry Potter 4 - review coming in a few days!

BDO and Trivia nights

heheheh. I dunno if I should write about what happened on Friday night. It was pretty hilarious but at the same time makes someone look kinda foolish. No matter. Here goes!

I was invited out to join an informal BDO (accounting firm) bar hop. So after driving into the city and leaving the car at Martin's place we joined Katie and co. at Trader Bar. They were well into their cups and might I say, a very nice bunch of people :-) We proceeded onto Bambu before deciding to shake our asses at F4. At the surprisingly early time of just after midnight, Katie decided she was tired and her feet hurt, so we said our goodbyes and supporting her on both sides, headed back to Martin's. There we decided to cook her Martin's special spaghetti because she hadn't had dinner either, but in the 20-30 minutes or so it took us to cook, Katie had pretty much passed out on his bed. So making sure we left her a portion, we ate our bits and then decided to watch some tv that he'd recorded off his computer. And all through that time, Katie didnt budge. At 3-something am, we kinda gave up on trying to wake her up and I settled in for the night next to her...even though she was hogging the quilt :-P while Martin took the couch. We didn't surface again until past daybreak and Katie admitted that when she woke up the first things she thought were *Where am I? Who is this person sleeping next to me?!?* hehehe

And then I attended a Trivia night, forming a team with Jess, Jade, Boonie, Emily, and my brothers. After naming our team *Go Banana!* (no one seemed to understand the reference) we came second to the reigning champions. I have to say this next bit as an acknowledgement - my brothers and I carried the team. Big cheers to Jess for her lovely cheerleading skills and Jade for organising. Next time, we're gonna recruit and Indian doctor and come FIRST!!! GO BANANA!!!!

Shakira - Don't Bother

Hmmm, I haven't written anything about music in a while.

When Shakira first came onto the english-speaking scene a few years ago, I couldn't stand the weird kinda yodel-singing she does. That and the fact her songs were just EVERYWHERE and I frankly got sick of hearing Whenever, Wherever. But you know, now that the hype has died down, I find her music not bad.

Don't Bother is the lead single (in this country anyway) off her Oral Fixation Volume 2 album. (Fijación Oral Volume 1 is in spanish, obviously.) The verses are sung in a kinda low pitched-staccato before launching into the high-powered chorus with a great yell of *HEY HEEEEEY!!!!* While the yodel-singing is still there but toned down, so too are her wonderfully wacky lyrics which are as wacky as ever. My favourite part of the song would be the spoken verse where Shakira whispers these lines:

For you, I'd give up all I own
And move to a Communist country
If you came with me, of course.
And I'd file my nails so they don't hurt you
And I'd lose those pounds
And learn about football
If it made you stay, but you won't, but you won't

The line about learning football is my absolute favourite. Now there's a girl who really loves her guy!

The Great Macadamia Shortbread Experiment

I love shortbread :-). I also love macadamias :-). And they are commonly combined to make macadamia-flavoured shortbread. So, you wouldn't think it'd be too difficult to make, right? I have been using the same shortbread recipe for the last few years. I got it from a cookbook titled *Comfort Food.* It's a good and simple recipe, consisting of only butter, caster sugar, plain flour, rice flour, and salt, producing lovely crumbly and butter biscuits cut into hearts, stars, bears, hands, rabbits and christmas trees/arrowheads. But you know...sometimes you just want a little more.

So today I endeavoured to change my recipe to include macadamias. I purchased 100g of unroasted nuts from the supermarket and put them in the food processor to crush. And it kinda worked. I ended up with something that looked a lot more like almond meal with some pieces that were a bit larger. Those last pieces for some reaons would just dance on top of the blades instead of being broken up like the other good nuts. No matter, its just something different, I told myself.

I then proceded to go about the rest of the recipe and method, adding in half a cup of the macadamia meal...and met my first big problem. Ideally, I should have adjusted the level of butter to accomodate the increased volume of dry ingredients. Because I hadn't the mixture was a bit crumblier than normal. This resulted in difficulty combining the whole thing into malleable dough. Why didn't you just throw in more butter? I hear you ask. Shortbread requires the butter to be creamed into the sugar creating an aerated mixture. The air bubbles then create a delicate and light texture. So, I would also need to have change the amounts of sugar used too.

Anyway, I managed to get the dough into some ball-y shapes and put them in the fridge to solidify a bit before cutting into cute shapes. By the time I came back from my errands, the balls were hard like rocks. Ugh. I tried rubbing them with my hands to make it into something vaguely roll-able but with a bit of pressure the ball just crumbled into giant halves. With a sigh, I started again kneading the crumbs together to form some semblance of dough and this time, cut the shapes straight from the warmed dough. This was also quite difficult as cutting it would make the edges of the dough crumble up meaning I could only cut about 2 or 3 shapes max. from each time I rolled it out. Eventually I got it all done. Yay. Adjusted the heat to accommodate for my crappy oven (although the first batch still burned).

Verdict: Well...the cookies are still quite sweet although understandably more crumbly than the standard one. Unless I get a cookie that has one of the larger lumps of macadamia, I can't seem to taste the nuts which is a pity. This batch will handed out to gauge ppl's reactions but I'll probably have to adjust the recipe to account for the addition of the nuts, whats the best size to cut the macadamias, and of course butter and sugar levels. Overall, I don't think theyre that bad - maybe a B-/C+ - good but not outstanding.

Movie review: Salaam Namaste

Bollywood. That word either brings you into rapture or sends you into shudders of agony. Me? Well some of it I like, some just annoys me. Salaam namaste was/is apparently a ground-breaking Bollywood movie in that it was the first to be filmed completely outside of India...and that it shows *gasp!* (spoilers here)
KISSING
PRE-MARITAL COHABITATION
LOVE SCENES
SINGLE PARENTHOOD
And if you know your Bollywood, you know how ground-breaking that is. But I mostly saw this movie because it was filmed in and around Melbourne.

Anyway, the story is pretty simple and standard. Ambar (Preity Zinta) is a medical student and DJ (although its called RJ in the subtitles for some reason). She left India because her parents didn't want her to study medicine, instead preferring that she get married. Her move caused her to be disowned and in her day job is the most popular DJ and the most popular Indian station in Melbourne, Salaam Namaste. One day she is supposed to interview Nick (Saif Ali Khan). Nick came to Melbourne to study architecture, but his real passion was cooking and he is now head chef at the hippest Indian restaurant in the city. Nick sleeps in and doesnt make the interview. Ambar is incensed that he didn't have the manners to apologise for ruining her show and embarks on a ...well, its not quite a crusade, to ruin his reputation. And so they start hating each other. Unknowing of each other's appearance, they meet and feel an attraction at a beach wedding that Nick is catering for and where Ambar is bridesmaid. When they discover their identities, they have a moment of *How can I love this person? I hate them!* followed by many adventures.

And when I say many adventures, I mean it! The movie takes place over a year and they really cram in the stuff tha can happen in the space of a year although oddly enough they dont show the rain :-P. At 158 minutes you're really glad when the intermission arrives but at the same time, if you suspend belief you shouldnt feel the burden of time. Just sit back and enjoy the many hilarious moments. (For everyone who knows him, one of the people I watched this with was Nick Chu, so you can imagine that even if you dont find it funny, it was amusing to just hear him laughing all the time.) Some of the especially amusing bits were Ambar and Nick singing their love by dancing around Melbourne, at one point Nick is playing a guitar with those Latin Guitar guys in Bourke St. Mall. Nick also parks his girly little SMART car in the Mall. The Indian-Australian Crocodile Dundee landlord (EXACTLY!). Driving to get ice-cream in the middle of the night and finding a vending machine thats just standing on the street. At the wedding, the completely random introduction to the first song by having some anglo guy shouting *everyone take off your clothes!* and having everyone comply and then run into the water to play volleyball (I dont think this scene was filmed in Melbourne :-P). And of course (spoiler) Ambar's hilariously pregnant belly which seems to begin at 8 months - and given its size, her continued ability to dance and run and when the baby kicks for the first time!! I think this last one made everyone crack up the most.

One of the biggest complaints about Bollywood is the random singing and dancing. But you know, there were only about 4 or 5 singing and dancing pieces, its certainly manageable, but still probably not some ppl's cup of tea. This is a pretty hard movie to review. I know pretty much all of the movies I've reviewed have a 3/5 rating or above (generally cos I don't bother going to movies that I know I don't like - e.g. Stealth or Sky High), but while I did enjoy this movie, I see soooo much wrong with it that I'm not sure if I can recommend it to many people. It was ultra long. An unbelievable yet completely predictable plot full of cliches. The sometimes crappy acting - stand up Tania Zaetta. The crappy script. The way a leafy Melbourne boulevard turns into the Great Ocean Road...The movie is pretty crappy. But it was highly enjoyable!

Just don't expect too much and its a 4/5 movie.
All other times, 2/5

Movie review: In Her Shoes

Wow, talk about an Ultra-Chick Flick...and yet I find myself unequivocally within the *thumbs up* party for this movie.

Rose (Toni Collette) and Maggie (Cameron Diaz) Feller are sisters. Rose is a "frumpy" but successful attorney. Maggie may have the looks but is dyslexic, unable to hold a job, and thus has always gotten by on her looks. Believable sibling rivalry is what drives this movie. It begins with Rose meeting a guy (partner in her firm) who finds her attractive, but after a night of l'amour, she has to pick up Maggie who's drunk at her school reunion. Maggie is thus thrown out of home by her step-mother and Rose reluctantly takes her in.

(Spoiler section) Rose's boyfriend/Law partner assigns her to go to Chicago for the weekend for a case, implying that he will also go along for a weekend of nookie, but he pikes - sending instead another member of the firm without informing Rose. Maggie spends the weekend looking for a job, and does find one at a dog-grooming salon, but after her first day finds that Rose's car has been towed. She accepts an offer of a drink and ride from two guys, but when they go to pick up the car, one of them makes untoward advances and she freaks out. When Rose arrives back from Chicago, exhausted after a wasted weekend to find the apartment a mess, her car with a boot on the tyre and a distraght Maggie (who's stolen a dog from the salon) she's unsympathetic and demands Maggie move out. When Rose makes it back to work, she basically tells the guy not to waste her time, and stays back to make up for the wasted weekend. Meanwhile, Maggie is trying to clean up her stuff...but when Rose's bf turns up at the apartment with flowers as an apology, she seduces him...only for Rose to turn up and catch them inflagrante delicto. And so begins the rift that can only be healed when each sister realises her own worth without the other...and yet come to recognise the effect of the other on them.

I can't really explain why I liked this movie so much. Sure, its got its cliches, it can be quite mawkish...and yet it's completely believable. It is completely believable that the sisters have formed these personalities/behaviours due to the way they are and were probably compared to each other. Likewise things from the sisters' pasts are remembered differently and forming different perspectives. Maybe it's cos I have a sister. I dont know.

All I know is that it's a lot better than many other Chick Flicks I've seen. Except maybe Kate and Leopold - but even then, it was Mr Perfect (Hugh Jackman) who made that movie, NOT Meg Ryan.
3.5/5

Movie review: Corpse Bride

Stop-motion animation! It's a great thing! Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) is the scion of a nouveau-riche family being married off to Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson) from an impoverished aristocratic family. After fluffing his lines, Victor is sent off into the forest to practice his vows. Unfortunately, when he gets them right, he jokingly puts the ring onto what he thinks is a twig. It's really the skeletal hand of a girl who was murdered after being convinced to elope with a scoundrel. Grrrr.

Ahh...a movie where the other woman is not a scheming bitch or a psycho-needy girl. A movie where the boy doesn't want to hurt either girl but will do what he thinks is right even if its not what he really wants. Bad people are vanquished! Singing and dancing skeletons! At 70 minutes, the movie crams a lot in, from showing that Victor and Victoria are really soulmates, even if it is an arranged marriage, to the vileness of the real villian. My one quibble would be that although she gets a happy ending, I think Emily the Corpse Bride still got a bad deal.

Oh well, cant win them all.
4/5

It wasn't a bender

but it sure felt like it. On Thursday after I missed the bus, I decided that I could walk the distance from my house to the Freeway entrance to get into Zone 1 and hence cheaper tickets. Bad Move. While it only took me about 15-20 minutes, the combination of fast walking and high heels ground blisters onto my poor toes. I rode the bus to Martina's apartment, where I begged some bandaids and we both examined the blisters...wow! They almost took up the whole pad of my big toe! So after he generously gave me the last of the bandaids he stole from his parents, we went off to lunch (crepes!). We then headed off to Uni where I had a losing confrontation with the Scholarships office, then met up with Lydia for a chat before heading back to the city for Andrea's goodbye dinner - take 1.

Mmmmm....Korean BBQ.

It was followed up with karaoke. Much to our disappointment there was very little 80s classics, although I think we did listen to Andrea and Ginny singing Jay Chou's Greatest Hits. A good time was had by all (except maybe Celeste and Tony) and we ended up leaving around 3:30, continuing our vocal abilities after the machines had been switched off and walking down the street.

Well that funtime had bad repercussions as I had a job interview at 9:30am on Friday, so after crawling out of Andrea's apartment I made my way down to Collins St, but I think I gave a really bad interview (4 hours sleep? Not enough to be sparkly I'm afraid). So assuming Andrea would be still sleeping, I breakfasted with Tina again (pesto toast!), and went back to his place to watch Naruto and Inu Yasha for several hours. Sometime in the afternoon, we split again, him to go dancing lessons me to meet with Andrea. Andrea, Jia, and I went off for Andrea's goodbye dinner - take 2 (mmmm, sushi train!), then met up again with Tina to watch Corpse Bride (review coming!). Later, Jia left, Kelly arrived and the 3 of us headed off to the Westin for a bottle of wine and pots of tea. Spooey picked me up and we went home.

Saturday I spent catching up on sleep and then went to a trivia night for Red Cross charity. We didnt win. Pooey. And then Su-ling and I went out for hot chocolate. And i spent most of today resting. Like I said, it wasnt a bender, it just feels like one

These are the last ones, promise

Your Scent is Rose

Delicate, feminine, and soft Your personality is fresh and understated

What Scent Are You?

You are a Great Girlfriend

When it comes to your guy, you're very thoughtful But you also haven't stopped thinking of yourself You're the perfect blend of independent and caring You're a total catch - make sure your guy knows it too!

Are You a Good Girlfriend?

oh god...

You Belong in Paris

Stylish and a little sassy, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine, the men! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth.

What City Do You Belong In?

More test results!!!

heheh, i've got Andrea addicted to these now

Your Power Color Is Teal

At Your Highest: You feel accomplished and optimistic about the future. At Your Lowest: You feel in a slump and lack creativity. In Love: You tend to be many people's ideal partner. How You're Attractive: You make people feel confident and accepted. Your Eternal Question: "What Impression Am I Giving?"

What's Your Power Color?

What Your Underwear Says About You

When you're bad, you're very bad. And when you're good, you're still trouble! You're comfortable in your own skin - and don't care to impress anyone.

The Underwear Oracle

Your Seduction Style: Sweet Talker

Your seduction technique can be summed up with "charm" You know that if you have the chance to talk to someone... Well, you won't be talking for long! ;-) You're great at telling potential lovers what they want to hear. Partially, because you're a great reflective listener and good at complementing. The other part of your formula? Focusing your conversation completely on the other person. Your "sweet talking" ways have taken you far in romance - and in life. You can finess your way through any difficult situation, with a smile on your face. Speeding tickets, job interviews... bring it on! You truly live a *charmed life*

What Kind of Seducer Are You?

You Are a Bloody Mary

You're a fairly serious drinker, who's experimented a lot with different drinks. You're a drunk, but a stable drunk. You don't ever let your drinking get out of control.

What Mixed Drink Are You?

Your Heart Is Red

You're a passionate lover - you always have a huge fire in your heart. Too bad it's hard for you to be passionate about just one person! Your flirting style: Outgoing and sexy Your lucky first date: Drinks and dancing Your dream lover: Is both stable and intense What you bring to relationships: Honesty

What Color Heart Do You Have?

I think I'm addicted...

How You Life Your Life

You are honest and direct. You tell it like it is. You say whatever is on your mind. Other people's reactions don't phase you. You prefer a variety of friends and tend to change friends quickly. You tend to dream big, but you worry that your dreams aren't attainable.

How Do You Live Your Life?

Your Birthdate: May 22

You tend to be understated and under appreciated. You have a hidden force to do amazing things, doing them your own way. People may see you as strange and shy, but they know little. Your unconventional ways have more power than they (and even you) know. Your strength: Standing up for what you know is true Your weakness: You tend to be picky and rigid Your power color: Silver Your power symbol: Square Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

How You Are In Love

You take a while to fall in love with someone. Trust takes time. You give and take equally in relationships. You tend to get very attached when you're with someone. You want to see your love all the time. You love your partner unconditionally and don't try to make them change. You stay in love for a long time, even if you aren't loved back. When you fall, you fall hard.

How Are You In Love?

Your Kissing Purity Score: 69% Pure

For you, kissing isn't a casual thing Lip to lip action makes your heart sing

Kissing Purity Test

Your Ideal Relationship is Marriage

You've dated enough to know what you want. And that's marriage - with the right person. You're serious about settling down some time soon. Even if you haven't met the person you want to get hitched to!

What's Your Ideal Relationship?

Your Inner Child Is Angry

You're not an angry person. But when you don't get your way, watch out. Like a very manipulative kid, you will get what you want. Even if it takes a little kicking and screaming.

How Is Your Inner Child?

Well, I got *agape love* again...

so I did this other test to make me feel better.

You Are a Little Scary

You've got a nice edge to you. Use it.

How Scary Are You?

Rock on!
Then I did this test...

You Are 50% Boyish and 50% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch. Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes. You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them. You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

Yeah!

Gee, I wouldn't have picked this

Your Love Style is Agape

You are a caring, kind, and selfless partner. Unsurprisingly, your love style is the most rare. You are willing to sacrfice your world for your sweetie. Except it doesn't really feel like sacrifice to you. For you, nothing feels better than giving to the one you love.

What's Your Love Style?

Think I might have to do this one again!
And this one!

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to obedience and warmth. In love, you feel the most alive when things are straight-forward, and you're told that you're loved. You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

The Bar Crawl

Lydia has a 10 day break between her second-last and last exam, so being the exam-less person I am, she asked me to organise a bar crawl for us to get smashed on. And so last night, me, Lydia, Martin, Andrea, Celeste, Bei-Bei, Tony, and Queenie, Sampson and Enoch went on a crawl of some of the many bars of Melbourne.

First port of call - Canary Club where me and Lydia had a hasty dinner of 1 meatball, 1 mushroom, and 1 piece of toast with halloumi cheese. Drink - Vodka cranberry plus half of Andrea's Midori and Lemonade (Drink count - 1.5)

Bar 2 - Stellar bar, drinking Gin and Tonic plus half of Andrea's Midori and pineapple (DC - 3)

Bar 3 -Trader Bar, Me, Lydia, Martina and Tony had tequila shots in commemoration of Lydia's 21st party in Paris, and a gin and tonic when it reached $5.10 price (DC - 5)

Bar 4 - Bambu where we decided it was time to splash out on cocktails. Lychee mule (tasty!) and another vodka cran (DC - 7)

Bar 5 - Robot. Only the seasoned drinkers were still functional by now, so Martina, Lydia and I had that weird cocktail that Robot makes that tastes like lychees, is a kinda bluey colour and has sugar on the rim. I can never catch its name. (DC - 8)

It was a good night for all. And I'd like to give a shout out to the bars we wanted to visit but didn't/couldn't - Bellavista Social Club, Double Happiness, Cookie, 3 Below, and Martini Lounge. Also, KFC Swanston St for their post-party Wicked Wings.

Movie review: Pride and Prejudice 2005

First things first...it's not bad. In fact, it's quite good. Unfortunately, it will always be compared to the 1995 BBC version starring COLIN and JENNIFER. Keira and Matthew...they're not bad. In fact, I think this may be the best acting I've seen Keira do - even though Lizzie is meant to be plain, so they just dress her down a bit. Luckily Rosamund Pike was cast as Jane...there are some shots of Rosamund that make her look so beautiful, it was a good call. Matthew...well he's not classically good looking. He's a self-described *Pudding-head* and in some shots I've got to agree. But once you get past the fact that he's nowhere near as smouldering as COLIN, he's quite good and sexy. I think its the combination of the voice (deeeeeeeep), the eyes (puppy dog), and the coat (big and flowing).

Of course, the movie cramming the story into 2 hours will suffer against the 6 hour miniseries. The main events - the Assembly Rooms, Netherfield Ball etc get put in, meaning that the cuts and compressions were the conversations and witty repartee that make it a comedy of manners. People who added conflict were also cut - Wickham for one...other than his looks, you don't see much of what appeal he had for Lizzee, and Mr and Mrs Hurst were completely missing.

The presentation was also a bit more Bronte than Austen - there were a lot of standing alone looking into the distance and wild weather. Darcy's ardently admiring speech for one takes place in a driving rainstorm while he and Lizzee are taking refuge in a Greek temple folly. There are also a few things that seem out of place given that it takes place during the Regency. During the Netherfield Ball, Darcy and Lizzee stop in the middle of the dance to stand very close and talk to each other....and no one comments. Not even a complaint that they've stuffed up the dance formation! In another Lizzee has gone to Meryton with her sisters, but isnt wearing a bonnet or cloak.

But these complaints are just trifles, they do not truly vex me
3.5-4/5

Friday night karaoke

I am probably not tone deaf but you wouldn't realise that if you ever heard me sing.
Somethings I discovered last night:

1. After 6 years of being legal drinking age, I have discovered I don't need to drink to have fun (but it helps)
2. Rick Astley songs are really easy to sing
3. Maroon 5 songs are deceptively difficult
4. I have no lower register
5. I have no higher register
6. Those private rooms are not soundproof
7. All men love Aerosmith's *I don't wanna miss a thing* because they believe its one of the few ballads they sing to that doesn't make them feel gay.

HOORAY!!!!!

Man! It's so great to be back in the world of the living! Honours has FINALLY finished, and you know what that means! YES! After SEVEN, count 'em, SEVEN long years as an undergraduate, I have finalled finished my uni degree. God, what was I thinking to let it drag on for so long? Not that I didn't enjoy myself - I deliberately chose degrees that I'd enjoy more than make me money.

Well the final defence seminar was on Tuesday while the Cup was on. It was quite nerve wracking as I do believe that I'm a terrible public speaker despite my ability with words in general conversation. I NEED to have a script. I may not read off it, but if I'm allowed to jut talk freeflow, you're gonna get rambling and I know it. In addition, I'm a fast talker in general. But anyway! After many many practice runs (thank you Marg for coming in on Sunday, Lisa, Laura, Christina and James for turning up to the final practice and asking questions and giving feedback), it all went well! I think I did ok if the number of staff coming up to me the day after and telling me how well I did was any indication.

But of course, there was still the Wednesday presentations to go so I had to spend another day listening to other ppl talk about their projects and think about questions to ask....man, one of the cancer research students got KILLED by a professor. The prof admittedly asked a question that was integral to the project and the student attempted to avoid the question. Bad move. All it did was prompt the prof to ask the question in a more direct way so that everyone understood, making the student's inability to answer more obvious, blowing a hole straight through his work.

The relief....the load off our shoulders....its a wonderful thing. Unfortunately the release kinda made everyone just loose the adrenaline that was keeping us going through the stress and the sleepless, work-filled nights. So instead of going out and getting smashed the way all our supervisors thought we would, there was just everyone slinking home to sleep the days away. And 48 hours later, here I am back again. Rest assured however, its gonna me a long, drunk november. Bring it on!!!!

Popstars

Such choreography! These guys must have practised hard!!!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648

Watch it and learn ;)

Dilemma

I've been offered two PhD positions and I can't choose between them.

Project 1 is in the Department of Pathology and is essentially a continuation of the MS work that I'm doing now. Since the results of my experiments came out, my supervisors have been really excited about how *significant* they are in terms of the data completely proving something that others havent really paid much attention to. They have requested that I remain on project to complete the work. I get on well with everyone that I've worked with this year, but the problem is that my staying is dependent on receiving a scholarship - they don't have enough funding to offer me one outright. In terms of receiving first-author credit in journals, this is probably better because we know what needs to be done.

Project 2 is in the Department of Anatomy and is similar to what I've been doing, except that the point has been proven and is therefore looking to explain a mechanism. There's plenty of cash and they've got enough money to offer me a scholarship, but its in an area i dont know (Diabetes-related blindness). In terms of techniques and broadening career options, this is probably the better option. The head of the lab is also a "proper" researcher in that she's not employed by the University to be a full-time lecturer and there's plenty of people around to ask for help.

So how do I choose?

Well its been a long week

of writing and sleep deprivation in order to write my thesis. And I'm glad to say I handed a draft in today :-D
But here's a story to display how my brain just switched off dealing with the real world in order to devote itself to science.

My mum made fried rice for dinner and I decided to take some for lunch. I took out a lunch box, got a spatula to spoon out the rice....and dumped the rice right on top of the box's lid. That's right. I was so out of it, I forgot to remove the lid.

I laughed so much I cried and had to call my sister so she could see and dole out the rice properly.

ah...memories. :-)

procrastination day

Apparently I am a Warrior Angel, but I'd help those in need.


Warrior Angel


What Anime Angel Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I dont look very happy in the pic

Movie review: The 40yo Virgin

With the devastating argument of *You can't write the Discussion section of your thesis until you speak to your Supervisor so how much writng can you possibly get done in two hours anyway?*, I agreed to watch The 40 year old Virgin with my sister and her friends.

And for two hours, I was carried away into the world where Andy, a clerk in an electronics store is *aided* by his co-workers in the best way to relieve him of his virginity. For all its prurience, it was quite a sweet movie and looked at things such as why men cheat, how one person's great love affair can be viewed as another's obsessive ex-partner, and how action figures are a great thing to investment plan. If you're looking for a treatise on the role of sexual relations in the world, this may not be it. But if you're looking for a 2 hour diversion, its not bad

3.5/5

And speaking of diversions, I dont think I'll be updating as regularly as I normall would due to writing, so here are some other blogs that are quite entertaining

http://ahyesmedschool.blogspot.com - the adventures of a nice, young, jewish boy as he goes through medical school, currently in 3rd year and doing his clinic rounds

http://trent.blogspot.com - for celebrity gossip and grainy photographs

http://lasfashionistas.blogspot.com - for fashion and grooming advice as well as analysis of celebrity and general pop culture

my poor little baby

He's normally the best of children. Happy and laughing, he almost reversed my no-children policy. But now he's teething and living in a world of pain :( And nothing's working except painkillers. But really, do you want to be giving heaps of those to a 13month old?

Its been a while between innings...

I've been having hard week at uni, trying to generate some last ditch results now that the last bits of tissue have come in. It was control tissue so I had to repeat everything. After starting off well last saturday by having the H&E and CD3 stainings go well, I came in on monday night, leaving at 10pm after preparing the GFAP for tuesday. The first 3 worked fine and I was looking forward to finishing up exps on Thursday. Hopes of that were dashed on Wednesday afternoon when the Control KO tissue came up positive for axonal damage, then on thursday the lectin stain caused its problems again and I suddenly found myself with only 3 of 5 stains to back up my hypothesis. So here I am again repeating the SMI-32 for axonal damage. There's no point trying to repeat the lectin as I've got no tissue left and its the more *temperamental* of the two.

God I hope it works. I just wanna finish up and start writing :(

handball champ and Dancing Rooster

Friday was a busy day. To celebrate the end of the footy season, my department had a *Pie Day* and handball competition. There were meat pies, party pies, sausage rolls, mini sausage rolls, pasties, mini pasties, mini ricotta and spinach pies, apple pies, and apricot pies. Basically there were a lot of pies.
The handballing competition was similar to the one they have on tv - everyone gets 3 shots and you aim at a big target; the bullseye (hole) is worth 10 points, inner circle is 7, outer circle was 5, if you hit the cardboard 3, if you hit the wall you got nothing. With my first go, I managed 15 points which meant I was actually came 6th. The top 5 ppl had a second go and the person with the highest out of those 5 won. After the first 4 finalists, it turned out that the 5th person had already returned to the lab so I took their spot. And I scored 21 points which was the highest! So I won, much to everyone's shock. Especially given the strange picture of me in a frilly pink skirt and knee high boots doing handballs. Who would have thought? :P

Later that night I went out to the Croft Inst. with friends. For people who havent been upstairs, its sport themed and the back wall has bleachers which give you an excellent view of the dance floor and the dancers. There was a guy who'd dance by lifting up his leg and then stomp it back down and bend over, like a rooster. He had some pretty weird moves. In one he kinda bent over, and with feet pointed in opposite directions, turn circles. It was very entertaining and I was disappointed when he went cos there wasnt anyone to point and laugh at anymore.

On Saturday, I spent most of the day in the lab, the sole bright spot being a phone call from Mandy in London. *Thumbs up*

eppendorf rocks!!!

Eppendorf came to the dept today to show us their wares, and like always, they brought along a great deal of freebies and foodies so everyone would come look-see. They fed me morning tea and lunch - I'm so full of food now. But I dont know how they can justify the fact that they put a small bottle of wine into every showbag. Scientists on the juice? Outrageous!!!

My hand was stung by a stinging nettle yesterday while I was turning a plant. Afterwards it swelled up and went lumpy then went down again until i just had a bunch of red spots on the back of my hand. I was reminded of this because the red spots are itchy tonight

Weekend adventures.

His name is Gaspard Ulliel, and I'll get to him later.

After a quiet Friday at home with my dvds, I had an action packed Saturday and Sunday with my sister's car. Those who know me know I'm not a big fan of driving, especially to places I'm not familiar with. But I did a lot of that on Saturday, and I did it ALONE!!! (mostly)

Firstly, I drove to Kew to pick up Queenie and then proceeded to drive the two of us (using her directions) to Camberwell for brunch. And it was an AWESOME brunch. We split eggs benedict with extra mushrooms and hash browns. nummie nummie nums. We then browsed through many shops on Burke Rd looking for a present for my new cousin (currently un-named although she will probably be named Isabelle). I got her some pink fleecy blankets. Toys weren't necessary because my auntie already has a 1yo boy. I then drove Queenie back to her house and played with Cookie for a while. She's such a happy dog, although it was tiring playing with her.

I then drove through Kew Junction to Uni to pick up my spare hairdryer. I don't think I've ever done that during daytime before. I parallel parked outside the Med Bld, picked up my stuff, then drove to Faraday St to buy some oriental lillies from Lygon St and then walked to the Women's to gossip with Tash and wrap them for free at the old Flower shop.

Then I did the hard bit....driving to Sunshine hospital all by myself. I did get lost once - I took the wrong slip lane and ended up driving somewhere I wasnt supposed to be, but a quick consultation with the Melway told me how to get back on track. Good thing I stole the new one from my brother's car. By the time I got to the hospital it was no longer visiting hours. The downstairs nurse quizzed me on information concerning my auntie as if she thought I was some random person! And then the ward nurse told me off for visiting during non visiting hours! Some people are busy, ok!!! But anyway, I carried the baby around for a bit but I found I had to be careful about the positioning because she had a tendency to go for the breast. My uncle came in later and I played with baby Ethan while Uncle fussed about the new one. I *heart* Ethan. I want a baby just like him - happy.

I then drove to Kensington to have a pizza and dvd night with Lydia because her housemates went to Bendigo for a 21st. We watched Hitch (3/5) and the movie featuring that spunky young thing above - Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles (A Very Long Engagement). It's by the director of Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet), and starring Audrey Tautou (from Amelie) and Gaspard Ulliel (from Les Egares). Audrey and Gaspard are childhood sweethearts. Gaspard has been fighting on the Somme but after a fellow soldier is blown up and splatters all over him he gets himself deliberately wounded so he can be sent home. However, getting yourself injured to avoid battle is a capital offence. Rather than face a firing squad, he and 4 other soldiers are thrown into No Man's Land and assumed killed in the crossfire. Audrey believes that she'd know it in her soul if Gaspard were dead, and so begins a beautiful, romantic, not to mention quirky, mystery movie. It also features Jodie Foster with a flawless French accent! Watch it! (4/5)

Nothing happening

Since my supervisor said that I should repeat all my experiments and I'm waiting for some new control tissue to come in, I've basically got nothing to report on cos thats all I';ve been doing.

1. I worked at being Dr Love for broccoli on Monday
2. Uni Tuesday and then had pho with Pans, Katie and Tina, then mucked around wtih him in the new city cinemas for a bit. We also found a shop (cant remember its name) that sold all these funny shirts with weird slogans on them. The best one in my opinion had *BRING BACK ANIMAL TESTING - MY DOG CAN'T SPELL*, with a picture of a dog writing "masta". heheheh
3. Uni Wednesday
4. Uni right now. Although I was told that Target are selling T shirts that say *Bad Alice* on them.

Might go get some!

Quick Movie Reviews

I've seen these movies lately but havent had enough time to critically review them, so here's the rundown:

Les Soeurs Fachees (Me and My Sister) - Two sisters (Isabelle Huppert and Cathering Frot) grew up with a drunk mother who psychologically abused them. Isabelle has since moved to Paris and is very emotionally controlled and cold, while Catherine stayed in Le Mans and always tries to see the brighter side of things. Isabelle lives in bourgeois comfort and has never had a job, while Catherine is a beautician. The story comes from Catherine coming to Paris (she has written a manuscript and has an interview with a publishing house), and the conflict between the sisters. You will at times really hate the way Isabelle treats Catherine, but in the end you can't help but pity Isabelle. In French.
3.5/5

Gong Fu (Kung Fu Hustle) - Stephen Chow wants to be a gangster and masquerades as a member of the Axe Gang, bringing trouble in the form of the real Axe Gang to the inhabitants of Pig Sty Alley. Hilarious fighting and multiple references to other movies ensue. Just dont think too hard about whats going on. If you're looking for a silly movie that's plain enjoyable without sex but a lot of comical violence, this is it
4/5

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - good, but not as good as the first one. While the explanation of why Willy Wonka is so weird makes the movie less *dark* than the first one (where he was just weird for the hell of it), many things in this movie didnt work as well IMO from the original. For one, the Oompa-Loompas. I dont like how it was one guy repeated over again and i found their songs about what was *wrong* with each child broke up the rhythm of the movie as a whole. The interaction between Wonka and the children just seemed off. Case in point - after Violet hugs Wonka and introduces herself, Wonka replies with *I dont care*. Well he cared enough to put out 5 golden tickets with the idea of randomly finding a successor, so you'd think he'd have a vested interest in getting to know her. The children themselves...the other 4 just seem so awful, that to me, Charlie didn't win because he was the best candidate out of them - it was more out of default. There are more gripes...but really, its an ok movie.
2.5/5