Year End Review!!!

Gosh, what a year it's been! Originally I was going to write a month-by-month review but reading back over the titles of year's entries in the sidebar, well...there's so much that I wonder how managed to do all of that as well as (allegedly) work on my thesis.

So 2008 was kicked off with a bang at the Grand Old Lady of Melbourne hotels, and then I somehow managed to travel to Sydney and Hobart during that month. What? I really must have gotten no work done in January.

It was a year when I started drinking again - starting with the grape grazing festival in Feb, lurching on new bars, to intoducing new friends and re-introducing old friends to bars in the city. And eating in the various restaurants around this town was taken to another level. Mmmmm, fooooood :D

A year of saying bai as various people moved o/s - Drs. K and I-K who went to NYC, Liz, Kahunes, and everyone else who went to London (Seriously, London has so many Melburnians there, it may as well be Meldon). Not as many Ohais in comparison. But you know, there were a lot of weddings so I imagine someone will spawn a child soon.

Other than Syd & Hobart, I had the Great Around the World Adventure 2008 less than six months after the Great European Adventure 2007. I learned the lesson that McDonalds is always the same everywhere in the world and it tastes really good after flying for 20 hours, the joy of being frisked, really tried to love NYC, experienced the London *heatwave*, and confirmed that I really really really really do love Paris.

Books were a bit of a disappointment. I'd say the best book I read this year were either Slaughterhouse 5 (published in 1969) and/or Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran (published 2001). And then there was Breaking Dawn...
EDIT - Book of the year is Sergei Lukyanenko's The Last Watch from the Night Watch series. I can't sleep, I'm reading it and I had to come here and edit this post at 2:20am to tell you all!!! Okay, it was first published in Russia in 2006, but it's only just been translated in English! Read the entire series!!!!
I seemed to have enjoyed the movies I watched. According to the review mark, the best movie was The Dark Knight. In hindsight, I'm tempted to say the best movie I saw all year was actually Persepolis. A controversial decision? Pom, I'm looking at you.

It was an absolutely FANTASTIC year for hotties! And not just hotties for my own viewing pleasure, these hotties linked me to the OrangeHoodies, vanillabear, caramelbear, chocolatebear, gingerbear, bluebear, pinabear, and yodabear - my internet and photoshop habits haven't looked back :P.

So lets look at the hotties of the year....

Yoann 'Lashes' Gourcuff destroyed everything in his path but he also became everyone's *sweet man*

Henry Cavill took his hotness to another level.

Christian Bale returned as Batman. Women the world over swooned.

Monica is still there, but I'll put in a pic of Eva Green just to make her jealous.

My good ol' hubby, Marat...

And my brand new hubby, Iker Casillas (so long as he chooses to date ugly women, Marat will have to deal with it)

So yes, a memorable 2008. I hope 2009 lives up to its promise! Happy New Year, everyone!

Vote - Who should Vanillabear put first?!

Vanillabear has smaller reader numbers than me so I have kindly agreed to post this poll on my blog. We're having a difficult time trying to decide which member of her Box she should rank higher.

In the red corner, we have Senor Gonzalo Higuaín, 21 yo Argenitian striker, who currently plays for Real Madrid.

Scorer of many goals.

Possessor of a very nice six-pack
.
And owner of a sweetly winsome smile.

And in the blue corner we have Mr. Henry Cavill, 25 yo from the Isle of Jersey. Here are some links to things about him if you want NEED it. (Last one is very NSFW!!!)

Seriously, this pic is so hot, it's almost unfair.

poll by twiigs.com

So vote!!!

Painting of the Week - Montefeltro Altarpiece by Piero della Francesca

Piero della Francesca, Madonna with Child, Six Saints, Four Angels, and Duke Federico II da Montefeltro (Montefeltro Altarpiece) c. 1472-1474

Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
(source)

Keeping with the Xmas mode, Piero della Francesca (c.1410 - 1492) was a master of the Early Renaissance and this (unfinished) altarpiece comes from a genre of painting known as sacra conversazione in which the Madonna and Child are in conversation with the donor, in this case Duke Federico II da Montefeltro of Urbino, kneeling in his armour.

Piero's works are characterised by a tranquil feeling, as expressed through the colours and balanced vertical composition, and very precise perspective and geometry. All the figures except the donor are lined up in a slight curve around the Madonna and Child. The artist has paid particular attention to the setting of this painting: clearly taking places in the apse of a church, the way the shadow falls clearly defines a 3D space. Whether it be a garden or within a building, the ability to define a proper 3D space is common throughout Piero's works. Because the painting is unfinished, it is possible to see the very precise way Piero applies his paint as well are the lines on which the composition is based.

The altarpiece features very complicated iconography, too complicated to talk about here. But if you're interested, a basic explanation can be found here. A more complex analysis can be found on it here.

As an aside, I remember my Italian Renaissance lecturer talking about Piero and saying how some art historian (I think it was Erwin Panofsky) apparently believed that you could drive around northern Italy and see all of Piero's works that are still in situ in one day. To that, the lecturer said "I don't know what he was driving, but it sure wasn't a Fiat Uno!!!"

Other activities...

I forgot to write that Daniel(e) returned here after a two year absence. Despite the short notice, Ruilin and I managed to scramble into town to catch up on lunch and drinks.

We kicked it off with lunch at Horoki and in hindsight, I seriously regret not taking a photo of the lunch we had. We ordered and shared three different lunch specials and spent a fair amount of time saying *damn, this is good!* We savoured our meal but eventually decided to leave because the staff pointedly started setting up their lunch on the table next to us.

Since it was such a lovely day, and I was the sole native drinker, I decided we should go to a bar with an open rooftop to kick back and chat. Our first stop was Madame Brussels where we enjoyed the lawn furniture and astroturf, until the presence of children blowing on party whistles drove us out.

Enjoying the lawn in Brussels

We then went and enjoyed the classy environs and nice view of Parliament House over at Siglo. Ruilin and I had an amazing truffled duck liver parfait (I also regret not photographing it - it was so amazing Ruilin bought an extra one for herself!), Daniele's amico svizzero Paolo joined us, and we had long conversations on male vs. female life outlook, travel, and the pronounciation of names in Italian.

So yes, fun was had by all and it was great catching up. As Dan said during one of our long and detailed conversations - we all remembered the good times and it were as if he'd never left!

Xmas wrap up

So this year's xmas was at our place this year. Usually it's a family thing but there were some people I didn't recognise there. Assuming that marauding gangs of Asian families don't go out crashing the parties of other random Asians, I assume they were friends of my parents.

At least, I assume so.

Anyway, I didn't take that many photos this year but the highlights were:

• Watching Elf again. I'm singing/I'm in a store/and I'm siiiiiingiiiiing!/I'm in a store/and I'm siiiiiingiiiiing!
• Amelia and Auntie singing a duet of Alicia Keys' No One. I don't think Amelia (3yo) can read but she seemed to know when she was required to sing the chorus.
• The boys then settled down to play some Halo 3. Some girls made it to my room where we watched The Big Bang Theory and laughed hard when we watched the episode about playing Halo 3.

So anyway, happy hols people and I hope you all ate until you had to sleep it off.
I'd also like to wish a Happy Birthday to Ellen in Canada-land for tomorrow! Happy birthday!

Question to the crowd!

So an ex I haven't spoken to in nearly four years has invited me to his wedding. The breakup was not civil so at best, this is an olive branch. At worst, this is an insult.

poll by twiigs.com

The spirit of the season is alive and well...

...the spirit of competition, that is!!! I've said before, when you put a lot of intelligent bored people in the same place at the same time, we turn into puppies and get destructive. To stop this from happening, my dept. has a number of competitions during the year, the last of which is the Xmas Tree Decoration Comp.

The basic rule is that we have to make a Christmas decoration of some sort for the departmental tree, using only things that we have in our labs - animals and body parts not included. Competition is fierce but lately it's come down to mine vs. the lung yab. This years' judge couldn't decide the winner and declared it a draw. Well the Pom (who works in the lung yab) and I are, quite frankly, dissatisfied with that result so I throw it open to the interwebz.

So here we have the exhibits which basically came down to religious interpretation vs. secular.
Piece 1 - The Xmas train

Made from normal and microcentrifuge tubes, boxes, polystyrene, culture plates, foil, and cardboard.

Piece 2 - The Nativity

Made from normal and microcentrifuge tubes, pipettes, pipette tips, culture plates, mesh, cotton buds, bench liners, kimwipes, wire, polystyrene, cardboard, and foil.

poll by twiigs.com

I won't reveal which lab made which piece, vote!

Painting of the Week - Mount Fuji at Dawn (Red Fuji)

Hokusai, Mount Fuji at Dawn (Red Fuji), c. early 1830s

Takahashi Collection, Japan
(Source)

I was watching the Japanese Spaghetti Western (Ramen Western?) Movie Sukiyaki Western Django the other night when a detail jumped out at me from the screen! In the opening scene where Quentin Tarantino is accosted by some Japanese cowboys, the background is a large version of this print!

From the ukiyo-e series 36 Views of Mount Fuji, the same one that includes the much more famous Great Wave off Kanagawa, Red Fuji is a woodblock print that shows the blazing red volcano against a cloudy morning. This print breaks ukiyo-e tradition in a number of ways. Firstly, landscapes were generally used as a setting for human interaction and apart from the fact there are no humans in this print, the 36 Views series clearly emphasises the mountain over the people. Secondly, the shading effect on the volcano cone created by wiping off some of the paint emphasises not only the woodgrain on the printing block, but also time of day (dawn) and act as an attempt at perspective. And lastly, there's Hokusai's use of a low viewpoint.

The last two point has got to do with the increasing Western presence in Japan in the early 1800s until the Opening of Japan in the early 1850s. High or level viewpoints were previously the norm in Japanese art with low viewpoints pretty much non-existent. Perspective in Japanese art was seen through attempts at foreshortening but ultimately lacking vanishing points and orthoganals (lines that go to the vanishing points). Given his integration of Western principles into Japanese art, it's no surprise Hokusai was a favourite in the West, particularly of the Impressionist Monet.

Movie review - Love Me If You Dare/Jeux d'Enfants

Reading the comments for this film on IMDB, Jeux d'Enfants/Love Me If You Dare seems to be a film you either love or hate. I first saw this a few years ago and I loved it! Remembering this, I recently purchased it on DVD and watched it again with a more critical eye.

Julien and Sophie are outcasts from the other kids at school - Sophie because she's Polish and her poor socio-economic background, Julien is psychologically outcast because his mother has cancer. On the day she finds out she's dying, Julien's mother gives him a carousel box, which he subsequently gives to Sophie on condition he can have it back sometimes. Offended, Sophie tells Julien he'll have to do something to get it back, starting the game of dare. The kids use the game to escape the real world and one-up each other, but as they grow older Julien (Guillaume Canet) and Sophie's (Marion Cotillard) games become darker until it becomes the most important thing in their lives.

I can understand why a lot of people hate this film. For one, the film goes into ImaginationLand quite a bit and you have to decide which are the *real* events. There's even an ambiguous ending - I know which one I think is the real one but Laulita for one begs to differ! Secondly, I think this movie is mistakenly labelled a romantic comedy. It has romantic elements and bits of it are funny, but it's more about growing up and facing life's responsibilities rather than a fluffy 27Dresses-esque confection. And of course there are the central characters. Sophie and Julien aren't nice people - they do some pretty mean things to people and each other in the course of their game. Hell, Julien even describes it in voice over as a *perversion* and in one of the definitely imagined sequences, Sophie dares him to kidnap and kill someone - which he does! No siree, this is no cuddly feelgood Amelie.

The acting is what gets me to overlook the absolutely asshole-ish and sociopathic tendencies of the two main characters. Canet and Cotillard are excellent in showing the gamut of emotions the two have towards each other - their adolescent glee and attraction turning to fear, bitterness and hatred until their final...er...glorious reunion. In particular is a key sequence of scenes where we see *SPOILERS* Sophie's rehearsal to tell him she loves him but he rebuffs her to study for exams followed by Julien's attempt to tell her he loves her, their reunion at the restaurant when he tells her he's marrying someone else to fulfill her dare that he could never do something to hurt her (it cuts like a knife and you see it all on Cotillard's face), and his devastation when she calls in the dare that he say *No* at his own wedding. *END SPOILER*. You can see on their reactions to the havoc they wreak on each other and it doesn't make for comfortable viewing. I'm not surprised to read that Cotillard and Canet are now partners!

So yes, Jeux d'Enfants is a type of romance. A romance between two people, clearly soulmates, yet so insecure that they'd rather cling to a bizarre, masochistic game than reveal their vulnerabilities. Or is it because they do know each others' weaknesses that these two are perfect for each other? Either way, I think it's a very honest story that most people don't really want to see when they want 'romance'. To steal a line from someone on IMDB: This film is AMELIE meets FIGHT CLUB...this is definitely NOT a chic-flick. It is a film about love, but it shows all the shades of grey and hurt that we don't think of in the pursuit of happily ever after.

8/10

Also, the ending credits featured this great remix of La Vie en Rose by Zazie.

The subs are in Spanish if anyone wants to learn these languages in parallel.

Cheers and Jeers

I'd just like to send cheers to the bus driver who sat at the bus stop for longer than he needed to so I could cross the road and sprint uphill to catch that bus. Seriously, at least a 30 seconds passed since the last passenger got on and I tumbled through the doors (which had to be opened for me). And he thankfully didn't see off until I had gained my bus feet. That deserves a big thumbs up *thumbs up*.

Jeers to the woman sitting behind me who was complaining about her frenemy throughout her part of the ride. Seriously, if you really think she's *sabotaging your relationships*, you're either seeing the wrong type of guys or she really isn't your friend and it's time to cut her loose. Just do it, but don't spend all that time whining about it.

Eau de vie

It is with much pleasure that I read we have apparently received our average rainfall for the month in the past two days :D. The rain apparently started sometime around Friday lunchtime (I say apparently because I was sleeping - lazy me) continued throughout Saturday, and ended sometime Sunday morning.

It's been great - the soothing sound of rainfall on glass, the joy of knowing that things will look green in about a week's time, and wonderful weather for lying around the house watching Bollywood movies with friends while chomping away on Abrez's homemade curry - which is what Kate, Mischka, Yetapee, Dominic, Abrez and myself did on Saturday afternoon. And the really great thing is that although it's been raining, it hasn't been that cold! The temp has been around the mid-high teens, meaning I was able to walk around in a dress and high heels on Friday for the Dept Xmas party without getting frozen, and it's not warm enough to turn into humidity town.

The downside is that walking in the rain and mud in my high heels on Friday night has probably wrecked my lovely shoes :(. Dave took a photo of me cleaning my feet and shoes in a 711 after we trudged from the Docklands to Flinders St. And then driving around on Saturday was pretty hazardous. Getting home, some trees had be brought down on the freeway and visibility was pretty poor and not helped by certain drivers not turning on their lights. But shoes can (probably) be fixed and my driving ability got me through to bring on more rain!

Painting of the Week - Self Portrait by Albrect Durer

Abrecht Dürer, Self Portrait (1500)
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

(Source)

One of the great artists of the Northern Renaissance, Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1528) based in Nuremberg. Dürer was also great at self-promotion. Apart from painting, Dürer also wrote a number of texts on perspective and geometry, made engravings, and woodcut prints. All his works contained his monogram signature - the little AD mark in the top left of the painting. By making prints which were easily transportable containing his mark, Dürer's fame spread internationally.

Dürer made a number of self-portraits in a time and place when the subject matter was not particularly common. The 1500 version is his final existing portrait and the most famous. While his previous portraits showed him as being fashionably dressed and with detailed background, this is comparatively simple and sombre. Depicting the artist in a Christ-like pose, the painting is not seen as blasphemous, and is instead read as reflecting man as being made in the image of God as well as Dürer's undisputed talent as an artist being a divine gift.

The inscription reads 'Thus I, Albrecht Dürer from Nuremburg, painted myself with indelible colours at the age of 28 years.'

Growing old gracefully.

I was reading the paper this morning when I saw this picture of Liz Taylor:

(Source)

It depresses me that she used to be such a beautiful woman but now that she's elderly (76yo) and unwell (diabetes, hip replacements, brain tumour removed) she's fighting time like that. I accept that the loss of youth and beauty is not an easy one to deal with. Hell, I'm no beauty and I'm not old but it's kind of galling for me to look in the mirror and see that things have changed. But the leggings, hat, boots, and (dear god) the #$!@-me red lipstick and nail polish makes me hope that she demanded that her assistants do that (possibly) because she's doped up on various painkillers (probably).

Liz in past days (Source)

This then made me think of actresses of the past who managed to escape the slide into parody and managed to look great as they aged. So here is a list of women who I think didn't turn in Michael Jackson with time.

Lauren Bacall at some point in time and at the premiere of Gypsy last night (Source)

What I love about Lauren Bacall is that she actually looks her age (83). She's a fabulous old-school star and with those pearls, simple suit and hairstyle she's never lost her class. Okay, the low-riding top I'm not so fond of but hey, it's proof she's all real so a big thumbs up!

Vanessa Redgrave in 1966 and in 2007 (Source, source)

Vanessa Redgrave (71) was never in my mind a total glamazon - no giant jewels and over-the-top make up for her. Maybe this makes it easier as she's kept her fresh faced look as far as I can tell. Of course, with cheekbones and piercing blue eyes like those, she didn't need all of that stuff anyway.

Catherine Deneuve and daugher Chiara Mastroianni (Source)

I'm not putting a younger photo of Catherine Deneuve here because she is actually not that old (65). Having said that, I had to include her because I remember watching 8 Women in which she was 59 and just staring at how beautiful she was. Her co-star in that movie, Danielle Darrieux (91), also gets a mention. Still actively making movies and still smiling.

Danielle Darrieux at 89! (Source, source)

Olivia de Havilland publicity photo then and now (Source, source)

Olivia de Havilland hasn't acted in about 20 years, and fair enough given that she's now 92, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the last surviving star of Gone With The Wind is recognisable for the woman she was seven decades ago!

(Source, source)

And then of course there's Sophia Loren (19, 72yo in that pic) who's clearly had work done (such a smooth face!) and is doing some serious mutton/lamb action but somehow manages to pull it off to the point that she was a model for a Pirelli calendar a few years ago!

Alright, so these women started off with some pretty good genes and bone structure, but it just goes to show that it is possible to grow old gracefully.

Movie review - Quantum of Solace

Woah ho ho!!! This is a movie that grabs you by the scruff of your neck right at the beginning and doesn't let go until the ending credits! Picking up literally right after Casino Royale, we follow James Bond's search for explanations and vengeance for Vesper Lynd and on the way we pick up two more storylines involving the control of natural resources.

I've read a few reviews saying that this is possibly one of the worst Bond movies ever. I disagree. While it is definitely not as good as Casino Royale, it's certainly not as bad as say A View To A Kill. Okay sure, the story is a bit of a mess - Quantum is actually three storylines - Bond's revenge story, Camille's (Olga Kurylenko) revenge, and hunting down the villian of this piece, fake environmentalist Dominic Greene (Matheiu Amalric). It definitely lacks the clarity of CR and the linkages don't really add up until the second half. It probably also doesn't help that you need to be really familiar with CR for it to make any sense. Having said that, once you think about the story, you realise it was all blended very cleverly together and unveils and evil organisation (QUANTUM) setting the scene for a good company of villains for future stories - hopefully no more media moguls starting wars just to sell newspapers!!!

One common criticism I've come across about Quantum is that the plot merely serves to link a number of action sequences and that it's become more like the Bourne Trilogy. To a degree, that's true. The new action Bond definitely owes a debt to Bourne as seen in the *gritty* quality of the fights seen in the use of everyday objects as weapons, the quick editing, the quick change in locales, etc. The editing was sometimes an issue as I did find it hard to distinguish who was Bond in these dirty fights. There are a lot of action sequences compared to the other movies and given the short (106 minute) running time, it might seem like a continuous fight.This wasn't an issue for me, although dancinghula might disagree so I guess it's a matter of perspective.

So onto the bad things...The villian Greene, was certainly slimy but not as interesting or badass as LeChiffre, Blofeld, Jaws and so forth. The only reasoning I can see for his actions is that he's a greedy opportunist. Gemma Arterton was pretty much a waste other than to bring Bond back to the 'good ol' days' of Bond girls who had weird names (Strawberry Fields), slept with Bond (fair enough), and died in strange ways (covered in oil - call out to Goldfinger!). Also, I miss Mr Moneypenny!

I'd like to finish by making a comment about Daniel Craig's wardrobe in this movie. Designed by Tom Ford, it is fantastic!!! There were points where I was thinking during the movie *wow, that's a great shirt/suit/tie*, particularly his outfit in the last scene, pictured below. Mmmm-mmm! The Pom says it's all down to the man wearing the suit (methinks he has a case of the man-crush for Craig), but if you put a good man in a shit suit, he's still a man wearing a shit suit.

(Source)

So yes, an action packed movie from the get-go which kicks off like an angry mule with an awesome car chase through the tunnels of northern Italy (Aston Martin DBS vs Alfa Romeo!), and keeps on punching (like Bond himself) throughout the movie. Actually, I lie - the movie does suck in one major place: during the opening credits. I loved Chris Cornell's song for Casino Royale, but I really hate the song by Jack White for Quantum. It's terrible.
7.5/10

Blog stats

I always wondered about who was reading my blog (other than the people I bully to read it), and finally decided to install a statcounter. I always assumed that people ended up here due to the various reviews I put up seeing as there's almost nothing remotely porn-ish here.

Not so. While most people are here for the reviews, some people who end up here are clearly on the look for pr0n. Although the search phrases are not really that bad (no where near as weird as this blog - moderately NSFW), here are some of the search phrases that have sent people here.
So yes, the most common phrase that people use to end up here is *awesome breasts* and I find that even more amusing when you put into consideration the first line of that entry. Otherwise people are turning up to look for information on Paullina Simon's Bronze Horseman Trilogy *sigh, Shura...* and the movie reviews.

Incidentally, to the people looking for slash fiction between Iker Casillas and David Beckham, this might be a better starting point. And for people looking for pants-free Yoann Gourcuff, try these links (possibly NSFW).

So sad

I only just noticed that the little map in my sidebar has been wiped at some point in time!

I am sad that I no longer have something acknowledging that at some point in time, some one in Gran Canaria, Sakhalin, Bloemfontein, and Trois Rivieres came and read my blog.

Sculpture of the Week - Buddha Calling The Earth To Witness

17th Century Burmese, Buddha Maravijaya (Victory over Mara)

(Source)

This week's Piece of the Week was inspired by the PSOAS DVD night. Our theme was *kungfu!* and we watched a hilarious English dub of Jet Li's Shaolin Temple (seriously, get your hands on this cos it's hilarious in a Monkey way), and the Thai action thriller, Ong-Bak. There was lots of *Buddha will forgive me* action and I noticed that the sacred sculpture Tony Jaa was tracking down in Ong-Bak was of this type.

The story behind this sculpture is that Mara, the demon of desire and death, came along and tried to distract Buddha while he was mediatating on his way to enlightenment. Buddha was having none of that desire thingy and touched the ground and called up a goddess of the Earth who came up and got Mara to leave him alone! Such awesome power right there. Like the Shiva Nataraj, this is a commonly replicated image.

As befitting the story, Buddhas calling the Earth to Witness is generally regarded as an object of worship and meditation in temples or as figurines for the home. In fact my brother was given a teeny figurine of this as a present from someone who went to Thailand. He kept it on his study desk at home. Since he's now on his way to becoming a doctor, I guess it worked!

Blog Challenge - Happy Music part 2

On further thought, I think my list below is woefully inadequate. I had my other ipod on random (yes, I have two) and I remembered even MORE, older music that cheers me up! So here's some more with me trying to break them into genre.

Motown
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Aint No Mountain High Enough.
I would just like to say that I love music from the Gordy Berry-Motown Era. Watch the documentary *Standing in the Shadows of Motown* and I swear that you will either already know (and love the songs). If you don't, you will.

Diana Ross & The Supremes/Phil Collins - You Can't Hurry Love
It was really hard trying to pick my favourite from the entire back catalogue and I couldn't decide if this one or Marvin & Tammi made me happier. Then I came across this clip and decided that it just had to be included.

80s

WHAM! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
I don't care what people say about the 80s being the decade that style forgot. This was a classic decade for music, particularly 1987 (hai Kahunes!).This song is actually from 1984, but despite being only 3 years old at the time the peppiness has stayed with me ever since!

Since I can't find a clip for WHAM! that allows embedding, I'm putting in a classic from 1987, Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up - RickRolled!!!

Asian/Cantopop
Harlem Yu - Qing Fei De Yi
Now, I can't actually speak or read Chinese. I can read and say some things here and there but not enough for you to give me text and me to do anything with it. But I used to listen to this song enough that Miss Pooky and I ended a glorious karaoke night by singing this. Spoof/Fan clip by WongFu.

RnB/Pop
Janet & Luther - The Best Things In Life Are Free.
A short story, I was in a nightclub a few years ago when the canny DJ played this and the entire place erupted into cheers. Such is the power of this song.

Janet Jackson - Someone To Call My Lover
Continuing on from Miz Jackson, Mischka played this song in her car and 'fessed up that she loved it. I do too and I promised her that I'd look up the song that the opening guitar riff was taken from and I forgot about it until I heard the song again today. It's from "Ventura Highway" by America.

Beatles vs. Stones
Beatles - I Saw Her Standing There
Super difficult to pic a favourite out of their amazing backlist but this always makes me want to go out and dance - Grease-style. Or put on a puffy dress and scream.

Stones - Start Me Up
Mick's antics and face used to really freak me out when I was younger. Now that I'm older, it's good for bopping along while on public transport.

Song I love that I'm kinda ashamed to say I love
Jesse McCartney - Leavin'
Why I was sitting in the OKR Party House watching TV baffles me but this song was all over the music video channel when I was in London. It's catchiness drilled a hole in my head and oddly enough, reminds me of sunshine - probably due to the *heat wave* London had while I was there. Incidentally, I don't find Jesse hot - he still looks like a little boy to me.

Blog Challenge - Happy Music

There are many songs that make me happy. The emotional response I get is one of the most important things I look for - screw the political message *cough Radiohead cough cough*. So I had to cap this at 10 songs and 7 genres based on what I had on my ipod.

In no particular order....

Pop
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
I'll admit to getting a little sick of the overplay this song is getting on the radio, but then I listen to the original acoustic and I remember again.

Maroon5 - Little of Your Time
Adam Levine and M5 are the masters of strangely boppy break up songs. This one is a conversation between two people - one who's had enough and one who's resorting to sex to make the other one stay.

Rock
Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out
It seems kinda strange to think that Oasis, they of the brawling and drinking could write something so sweet and tender. I especially love the strings. Should I not be able to organise it myself, I would like to have this played at my funeral for the positive message.

Disney
Enchanted/Amy Adams - That's How You Know
I love this song and I've spoken before about it's infectious happy :D

Opera
The Barber of Seville - Largo Al Factotum
One of my favourite pieces from one of my favourite operas. I love this vid of Thomas Hampson singing it, especially when you get the close up when he does the really fast bits (4:17)

The Barber of Seville - The Lesson Scene (Contro un cor)
The character who sings this is (Rosina) is written for a mezzo-soprano but sopranos are often cast in this role to make the vocal gymnastics seem even more spectacular. Count Almaviva is surreptitiously courting Rosina and finagles his way into her house under the eye of her guardian, Dr. Bartolo by posing as the priest who gives Rosina her singing lessons. Seriously, Edita Gruberova makes this look easy.

Dance
Groove Armada - Easy
This is a great house track - the thumping beat, the build up through the gradual addition of instruments, particularly when the piano kicks in, the roaring singing from (I think) Sunshine Anderson. Yeah, 'cos looking back it was EASY EASY EASY!!!

Linus Loves ft. Sam Obernik - Stand Back
I've also spoken about this one before and I still love it. Check out those moves!

International
Mikuni Shimokawa - Sore ga ai deshou (I Guess That's Love)
This was the opening theme to my favouritest anime of all time, Full Metal Panic! - Fumoffu. I can't find a video with the translation but I think you should all get the message from the clip and song.

Laulita's Box of Hotties

The various Boxes of Hotties I have lying around have inspired some of my (real life) friends to build their own boxes! This one here belongs to Laulita with descriptions in her own words plus images she wanted me to use.

Vittorio Grigolo, Italian opera singer. A man who looks good in an Italian suit and can sing! And he's not too tall (just right for me). Have had the pleasure of seeing him sing live twice. Only a metre away and I forgot my camera, damn!

Ricardo Scamacio, Italian actor. A good looking actor you can't ignore. And he tends to die in his movies.....too sad.

Paul Bettany, English actor. He was great in 'A Knight's Tale'. Love the pale look from Da Vinci code.

Romain Duris, French actor. I've lost count at how many movies this guys done. 'The Spanish Apartment' is great one.

Orlando Bloom, English actor. If not just for playing one hot elf.

Jason Statham, English actor. Started off swimming and ended up in acting...thank you. Have had the pleasure of hearing him talk live about 'The Bank Job'. Once again only meters away but too dark for a good pic.

Michael Weatherly, American actor. We all know and love him as Anthony DiNozzo in NCIS tv series.

Rupert Everett, English actor. Ok he's gay. Great life....his autobiography's a good read. Had my book signed. Got the pic right this time.

Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor. The eyes! We'll forgive him for 'Brokeback Mountain' but hey I'd turn gay for him!

It was a tough choice between Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig but Hugh wins it. The Aussie actor! And it's not because of 'Australia'. I knew he would make it when I saw him in Beauty and the Beast (musical) many years ago. He played Gaston. Wolverine is another hottie.