Thursday, June 30, 2005

Movie review: Mr & Mrs Smith

Well, with the help of Martin and Roy, I managed to get that virus off my computer. Or at least, I think I have. Msn didn't stuff up during the hour that I was properly online, but I might still format the machine at the end of this year.

As to Mr&Mrs, my sister says she won't watch this movie because she doesn't want to give creedence to homewreckers, but I think its pretty fantastic. Who would have thought Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt could be so funny? And the chemistry between them! WOW!!! For that one person who's been living as a hermit in Siberia, M&MS is about a married couple who are assassins assigned to kill each other. The first section is a bit slow, but as soon as they find out who theyre after, explosions and hilarity ensue.

Part of the reason why I like this movie so much is that it doesn't take itself so seriously. The shed, bastion of masculinity, is where Mr keeps his weapons while Mrs keeps her in a modified Smeg oven. Mrs is upset at the prospect at having to kill Mr and drives off upset, but after he (accidentally) shoots through the windshield of her merc, the gloves come off! Never mind the other patrons, lets booby trap restaurants! And of course, completely destroying the immaculate house while beating each other up.

Some of the implausible moments detracted from the overall enjoyment. Their incredible indestructibility in the final shoot-out for one. Mr getting a knife in the leg but still able to run. Being married for so long and not realising something was a little off (how could they not get blood on their clothes?). And really, Brad and Angelina married, sleeping next to each other and no sex for a week? AS IF!!! From their first meeting, through to when they want to kill each other, to the final reconciliation, its totally believable.

Enjoy-o-meter - 3.5-4/5

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

stupidstupidstupid

I have a virus thats stuffing up my msn. And seeing as thats my main mode of contact with the outside world, its a catastrophic event!!! I've been trying to fix it since Tuesday night, here's to hoping I manage to get it completely done by remote aid.

In other news, Mr & Mrs Smith is a good movie. I'll review it later!

Sunday, June 26, 2005

The Suitor by Sandy Hingston

Is love enough to make someone give up all they know and have just to be with that certain special other one? Though the cynic/realist in me says it's not possible for the daughter of an English Duke to give up her whole life to live as a peasant in Napoleonic France, there's a part of me that thinks it's possible that they'll have their HEA.

But the really intriguing thing about this book is that the heroine is no braindead simpering miss. Katherine Devereux dismisses all her classmates babblings about perfect love, but at only 19 and when Alain Montclair makes it his mission to *woo* her, she just can't help but fall. After ingeniously following him to France (really, the way she executes it is impressive) and in a roundabout way breaking him out of prison, she finds herself headed to the vineyards of the Cote d'Or where she begins to realise that, in the grand scheme of things, the ideas she held important were perhaps not the be all and end all. And so we watch the glorious unfolding of an immature superbitch into a more pragmatic slightly less superbitch.

If you can get past the shocking cover and the fact it is a romance book through and through, I highly recommend it.

Bra sizes

For the last few years, I have been pretty certain that I was a 12C. This has often resulted in me buying bras that look hideous because theyre quite large. However, the other day I went to Myer because they were 30% off all underwear and sleepwear and discovered I am now a 10C. You know what that means. I've lost proportional weight!!! Now although the cup sizes are quite large, theyre not quite so hideous. Oh yay!

Friday, June 24, 2005

Movie review: Batman Begins

Oooh, Christian Bale. He's no Mr. Darcy and Batman's a little too tortured for my liking, but...damn if I don't say woo! Now THIS was a big movie that delivered. Sword fights, things that explode, a plot!

My criticisms are thus -
Sometimes the vibrating floor was a bit distracting and it felt like I was on a rollercoaster ride.
Katie Holmes as the assistant DA? I don't think so.
The last third was a bit too much like Dark City.

Otherwise, I give it 4-4.5 out of 5!

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Fetishes

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Project update

My supervisor is taking a holiday for about a week so I'll be left to my own devices. I'll probably just spend even more time down in Histopath.

Today, Su ling discovered how much fun it is to use the microtome. It sure is fun!

Monday, June 20, 2005

Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason

A friend of mine really hates this movie because she says its preys on the insecurities of females and says its ok to be a slob because some hot human rights lawyer will sweep your off your feet and love you for all your imperfections regardless. I'll admit that to an extent I agree with her, but there's one big redeeming factor for this film.

MARK DARCY/COLIN FIRTH!!!!

Ooh la la! So honourable, so upright, so full of jealousy and insecurities regardless of how put together he seems. And don't we all want a guy who loves us with our wobbly bits? Who looks good in a suit and an overcoat? Who isn't afraid to come up behind us and says he misses us already too? And who can yell on a public street that he loves you? *sigh*

So jealous Mandy! You go meet a Mr Darcy type while you run around the Inns of Court in the next two years. And when you do, find out if he has a brother/friend thats exactly the same cos you've got a friend waiting for him right here ;)

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Company

I don't know if this is a problem other people have. Someone once told me never to attend two functions in one night because the second one will always disappoint. I spent last night in the company of two different groups of people. The first was convivial and altogether pleasant despite the fact the group consisted of people I had only met a few times before. The second group was made up of people I have known for years, but with whom I have spent little time with in the past year or so, and that may have been the problem. Having already eaten dinner with the first group, I sat about with the second listening to their banter which consisted of joking that others had homosexual tendencies etc. I'd heard this plenty of times in the past and know that it is only banter, but as the alcohol wore off (or on depending on your perspective) I couldn't help but think *migod, I've known you people for 5 years and you still act like this?* I don't deny that my being slightly intoxicated and lack of being in their company probably influenced my observations, but at the end of the night I couldn't help but wonder whether it's possible to outgrow your friends. Or I may have turned into an intellectual snob. That's always likely.

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Getting old

I know I'm not in my dotage yet, but sometimes I just feel old. Last night I was with the Paris crowd and some of them started discussing what they wanted to do for their twenty-first birthday parties. They asked me what I did for mine and when I said how long ago it was, there was a pause and then someone said she was in year 12 then.

Ouch!

And speaking of getting old, how good is Mariah Carey's *We Belong Together*? Who would have thought after the last few years that she'd still have it in her? Kudos to you, kudos,

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Book binge

I was really proud of myself because I hadn't caved into these half-yearly stocktake sales.

Then I went on a book binge today.

I bought 6.

Ouch!

Monday, June 13, 2005

I don't know if I should be proud or not


My computer geek score is greater than 12% of all people in the world! How do you compare? Click here to find out!


Overall, you scored as follows:

87% scored higher (more computer geeky),
1% scored the same, and
12% scored lower (less geeky).

Compared to those in the same age group as you:

93% scored higher (more computer geeky),
1% scored the same, and
6% scored lower (less geeky).

What does this mean? Your computer geekiness is:

Definitely not a computer geek. You probably don't even know what a computer is. Say it with me COM-PU-TER.

Saturday, June 11, 2005

Buffets

Last night I went to a buffet for dinner and ate so much I had to sleep on my side like a pregnant woman.

But the discomfort was worth it! Mmmmmm, dessert...

Friday, June 10, 2005

Lost the ability to judge distance

I just could not park the car today. And I really should not have had that much difficultly because instead of driving the huge 4WD that I've been driving for the last 2 weeks, I was using my sister's little lancer. Needing to meet someone at 1:30pm, I just grabbed a spot near the Med Building. I fully admit to not being one of the world's best parallel parkers, but after all the practice I'd been doing in the Jeep, I expected to take less than TEN MINUTES to park that lancer! But thats not the worst bit. The spot I'd chosen to humiliate myself over was located outside the Law Building, smack bang in front of the cafe! And so I had ppl eating lunch at the cafe sharing in my humiliation.

Because that was a 2 hour spot, I had to park the car again later...my new spot I was trying to beat someone to (10 hour spot that the meter no longer runs after 4pm). Due to my rush and neighbouring cars being so close to the line, I ran into a little trouble. After attempting to fix myself up and failing miserably, I crawled out of the passenger side and asked a complete stranger if he'd help me. Luckily, he agreed even though I told him he'd have to crawl into the driver's seat. That was kind of amusing to watch because he was pretty big and wearing a suit. But he got it done and laughed (at me?) and handed back the keys. There is a little dent though :(

I'm getting better!!!

Click here to play Make-A-Word word game, and TRY to score better!

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Click here to play Make-A-Word word game, and TRY to score better!

The Red Stuff

Today, I gave away 500ml of my finest claret. That's right. I donated blood for the first time - extra virgin blood!

I saw a placard asking donors to head to the Grand Buffet yesterday. Knowing that they were going to be there today, I ate a T-bone steak for dinner. Then this morning, I had breakfast of
toast
eggs
bacon
sausage
mushrooms
spinach
tomato
hash brown
and baked beans.
Unfortunately, by eating so much I limited the amount of water I could chug down. After being weighed (54kg) and having my blood pressure taken (120/70), I had an iron reading and had to disclose what I'd eaten/drunk in the hours prior and have my iron levels taken. They were quite impressed with the food, not happy at the water, and surprised at the iron.

Its kinda funny watching your own blood spurt out of your body. The nurse got it on the first go, but after watching it slow down quickly, she rotated the needle. And damn if I didn't feel every little turn it made! It seems you can donate 500ml or lie there for 20 minutes. Any more (time or blood) is not ok in this country. I'm not sure how long I was lying there for, but after a while the machine I was hooked up to started beeping. I'd reached 400ml but the flow was too slow. I was instructed to squeeze my fist to encourage the flow to get faster and I did manage to fill the last 100ml but it was pretty hard going. Then they had to take some samples to do extra testing and because it was so slow, the nurse kinda...tapped...the tube and needle in my arm to make it go faster. Man, that hurt too.

But then I was given food to make the hurt better. And it worked!

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

ho hum

The more work I do, the less I seem to want to do it. Or the worse I seem to become. After last week's mega Bielschowsky staining (when only 13/17 slides properly stained), I just seem to be losing enthusiasm for the whole thing. I think it's linked to my decreasingly ability to do things. That that I'm not capable of learning new techniques, just that I seem to be increasingly crap at the things I can do.

Case in point, I was supposed to cut 40 sections at 6 microns. Normally I can cut 20 sections in about 30 minutes, so logic would say I'd get this done in an hour. WRONG. It took me THREE hours to get it done today, and I lost a lot of sections on the way. *sigh* Maybe it's time i took a break.

Sunday, June 05, 2005

So dishonest and hurtful

Somebody stole my home-delivered Sunday newspaper this morning. That's just wrong. And I live in a relatively affluent area too, so it's not like the people around me can't afford to go out and buy their own copies, I mean it only costs $1.50!!! Instead they've just gone and made my world a little less cheerful and me more suspicious of everyone around me.

It's a sad state of affairs when you can't go out and expect your morning paper to be there anymore. Job well done. :'(

gamma heroes

I want one.

"the best qualities of both the alpha and the beta hero. He is strong yet not overly arrogant. He leads, but not by cruelty. He may have a bad reputation, but it is undeserved. He can do battle, but never with the heroine. He too may have been tortured in the past, but doesn't appear the wounded animal, lashing out at those he loves."

surely theyre not that hard to find, right? :-P

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Movie review: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Before I get started on this review, 2 yukky things happened today.
1. When I was walking to the bus stop, I saw a dead cat by the side of the road.
2. The bus driver was clipping his nails on the bus!

The movie...I never thought I'd say this about something from the sci-fi genre, but this is a damn CUTE movie! Marvin!!!! So round and cuddly even though he's a depressed robot. But I felt so sad at the end....I'll not say more than that.

There's a bit of a retro feel about the special effects that's quite charming. Instead of using CGI to make the Vorgons, you can tell some of them are actually puppets. It's stuff like that. Some of the sets look like painted polystyrene. And the wardrobe isnt full of huge, elaborate pieces of how people think aliens/space travellers dress. For example, most of the characters just wear one outfit the whole time. Arthur gets to spend the whole movie wearing his dressing gown. The plot is a a bit out there, but thats ok.

I didn't think I'd like the movie so much because I just couldn't get into the book when I started reading it years ago. But it's clever and full of charm. And I'm a sucker for brains and charm.

Rating - 4.5/5