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!