STOP PRESS!!!!

I started thinking about writing my year-end wrap up...but I got distracted by this piece of news delivered to me by Kickette.com....

IKER CASILLAS IS BACK ON THE MARKET

HOLY MOLEY!!!

He must have found out that the Phud is nearly done so I'm ready to move to Spain and start popping out his babies now. Like, right now.

Yes, just keep on tossing that ball while you wait for that plane to land.

Dirty Carbonara night!

Silly Natty and Ladiesman_217 purchased a marital home which they proceeded to tear up and renovate. To celebrate what is essentially the end (for now) of the destruction, Silly Natty decided to invite some people over to eat Spaghetti Carbonara. I can't remember how the discussion decided we were going to eat specifically that, but hey, CARBONARA!!!

Dr. I-K fries the bacon, Natty does an Asian pose

bacon, bacon, bacon....(and mushrooms)

eggs, eggs, eggs...(+ cream to the side)

ta-DA!!!

Mmmmm. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of my empty plate but rest assured, I (and the others) ate a lot before collapsing on the couch to peruse wedding magazines. Job well done.

Things I have been doing other than blogging...

So regular readers might have been concerned about the drop off in the level of blogging I haven't done in the last few days.

(Strange, I thought I just heard a pin drop!)

Anyway, here is a list of things I have been doing instead of writing this blog.

Not working on thesis!!! YES - unlike the last few years where I would have been in the lab all alone over the xmas break, I have not been working on my thesis! Okay, maybe a little, but I have not been in the lab or writing!

Baking and Eating. Holidays, the scent of bananas, a lump of butter in the fridge = banana cupcakes. A day later, they're all gone. Clearly, I had to replace them with more cake! I think I'm getting chinny.

Shopping! I resisted going out on Boxing Day and the following day, but Pooey asked for a Wii. So I went out and got one. Hehehehehe.

Boxing. Obviously since I purchased the Wii, I've had to play it right?! My traps and lats hurt. But oooooh...I may have found a my home gym exercise :D

Jigsaw. An evil person who shall remain nameless gave me a jigsaw for xmas knowing that I enjoy these things. Because I am cocky, I said I would complete it within a week. That week ends on Sunday.

What I'd done by Tuesday night.
I'll keep you posted on the progress.

And of course, Sleeping. Mmmm, sleeping in everyday has felt so good :D

Movie review - The Hangover

Months and months after people told me this movie was a classic of the genre (although I'm not sure exactly which genre it belongs to - Hai Mischka!) I finally managed to watch The Hangover.

A couple of days before his wedding, Doug (Justin Bartha) and his best friends, Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms), and his fiancee's brother, Alan (Zak Galifianakis), head to Las Vegas for his bucks party. The next morning, Phil, Stu, and Alan awake to a trashed hotel suite, a random baby, a tiger in the bathroom, and worst of all, no Doug. So the guys retrace their adventures to figure out what exactly went on the night before. It's a very simple premise, but it's extremely well executed.

This can in part be attributed to the characters who, while a bit stereotypical (the confident guy, the worrywart, and the weirdo) are sympathetic because they're genuinely freaked out at having lost their friend, bewildered by their hijinks, and not remembering a single detail of how they did it. But another part is that the movie stays away from cheesy flashbacks, instead choosing to reveal the details of what happened piece by piece to them as well as to us so that many of the jokes catch you unawares.

Having said that, perhaps the best aspect of this movie is that a lot of the jokes are unexpected! The plot steers you in some areas expected of a night out in Vegas (strippers, shotgun wedding), but largely sticks to bizarre actions conducted when one loses their inhibition - like, where did that tiger come from? In fact, one could argue that one of the best things about this movie that it largely stays away from what would normally expect from bachelor parties (strippers etc). They are of course alluded to in the closing credit sequence, a photographic montage of the things that went on during the night. Watch the ending credits - the photos can be somewhat amusing.

So is this a classic? I'm not sure. But it has a verrrrrrrry highly entertaining narrative, and full of classic lines. So on the strength of that, go watch it if you haven't! By the way, tigers love pepper...they hate cinnamon.
7-8/10

Song of the week - Britpop wars part 2

Blur arguably put their best work out after the Britpop 'war'. Not to say that their pre-1996 work isn't great, but they received more international attention with their later albums particularly with their 1997 album Blur which featured Beetlebum and their internationally best-known song, Song 2. However, my favourite song from their backlist comes from their 1999 album 13, the gospel-tinged Tender.

Princess

Princess A, taken at today's family Xmas party.

Every family has one. Well, mine has two if you include me, given that that's my parasol she's posing with!

Press Club dinner

One of the side-effects of the Masterchef phenomenon was making George Calombaris a celebrity. Despite the fact that he uses cutlery with a closed fist, we decided to have dinner at his flagship restaurant, The Press Club.

And so on a warm summer's night, we group of undergrad buds rocked up at 8pm for dinner.

Except I rocked up too early and was told to go to the bar and wait. I decided to order a bellini.

Dinner was a case of ordering off a semi-set menu consisting of four courses, where we were able to select our dish out of three options.

Our menu du jour (ou nuit)

The mezze course consisted of a number of small shared plates. These consisted of olives, some pickled cabbage and cucumber, a salmon cerviche (my favourite of the lot), and the following which looked very nice:

a saganaki and tomato-flavoured shot.

Because I'm allergic to oysters and didn't have a hankering for vegetables, ordered the scallops for entree.

My scallops - the dressing on top included pistachios and sultanas.
They kept the roe on *thumbs up*

Because all the mains looked good, we have photos of all three.

My main - the lamb with pomme puree.
Or as Cam called it *a fancy name for mashed potatoes!*

The pork belly with fennel and peach.
Ummm...a bit salty. Asians do it better!

The salmon.
Quite nice.

For dessert, I had the baklava.

Baklava. Damn, it was yum.

Dr. I-K with the yummo baklava.

So, do I rate it? Yes, it's better than Rockpool and DEFINITELY better than Nobu. On the other hand, the expense vs. quality satisfaction equation might have been altered depending on who you were during the night. There were a few mix ups with orders (not mine) that led to a debate as to whether a tip should have been delivered (this is Australia - tipping is not compulsory!). Over all, I'd say, "yeah, Press Club is really good!" but I'd also put in the condition that you book early and save up for it.

Bridesmaid shopping win!

After much searching, Silly Natty, Dr. I-K, rachie-poo, and myself have agreed on a dress for Silly Natty and Ladiesman_212's wedding. I have been given clearance to post a photo by the bride herself. I think she's just as relieved as us to have one thing knocked off the list :D

As you can see, it's a dove-grey dress by Maticevski.
Hmmm, that mirror is a bit dirty.

Next on the list - shoes, jewellery, hair, and makeup!

Song of the week - Britpop wars part 1

I started re-listening to Oasis' 1995 album What's the Story (Morning Glory), and thinking how much I enjoyed it when it came out. It's release led to one of the seminal moments of the 90s Cool Britannia movement - the Britpop war with Blur.

My song of the week doesn't come from Morning Glory but instead from their 1994 debut, Definitely Maybe. And so here is Whatever.

Good strings and simplicity before infighting and egos led to the bloated overproduction of later works (although I still do love Stop Crying Your Heart Out *thumbs up*).
Next week will be a song from Blur!

Yeah!

Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test...

English Genius

You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 100% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

Take The Commonly Confused Words Test at OkCupid

Bridesmaid shopping fail or Party dress shopping win!

Silly Natty and Ladiesman_217 are getting hitched next year and Dr. I-K, Rachie-poo and yours truly are going to be bridesmaids. *Woohoo! Wedding crashers watch out!*

Anyway, we've been looking for a dress to suit all of us, which we've found to be more difficult than expected due to various cuts and colours - the usual dramas in looking for matching dresses. That said, when we three bridesmaids went shopping yesterday, we did find a dress on which we all reached consensus - we loved the cut and colour! Unfortunately, it didn't match the vision for wedding colour themes of the bride, and it got vetoed.

I then decided *You know what? I still like the colour and cut, I've got other parties to attend, I'm buying it anyway!* And so I did :D

Decadent Tuesday!

Following a quick email exchange today and I ended up waiting for Lydia in the GPO ABC shop before heading to a noodle shop for dinner. I had the

Bún bò Huế
(Source)

she had the Bún chả giò. Mmmmmmm.....Viet flavours are so nice in these warm summer nights.

This innocuous and gentle start to the evening then evolved into what will now be known as DECADENT TUESDAY!

At some point in our post-dinner conversation, the topic was turned towards the fact that my desire for cake that had not been sated by eating an almond and chocolate danish/croissant-esque pastry for morning tea, and secondly venues where I should have my Submission (oioi) party. Somehow we decided that we should go to one of the locations I was considering, so that we could partake of some crème brûlée (okay, it's not a cake but I'll still eat it :P).

(Source)

And so we strutted up Lt. Bourke to go to one of my favourite bars out of my many favoured bars of this glorious city, Siglo.

While perusing the drinks menu, our lovely night could only be enhanced by having a Bellini.

(Source)

Think about it. The combination of peach liqueur, peach nectar, and chilled prosecco drink, as a side to a delightful dessert on a warm summer's evening, while sitting on a rooftop terrace overlooking Parliament and surrounding gardens. Lydia decided that she would have one too. But hark! Should we be drinking booze, eating custard, and staying out late on a weeknight that wasn't Friday?!?! And then Lydia made it all better by declaring "Of course! It's Decadent Tuesday!"

Hopefully this will become a monthly event.

Crimes against fashion

(Asian) Nightclubbing. Looking for fashion crimes here is about on par with Oaks Day. It was requested that I revive the Crimes Against Fashion tag to comment on a particularly heinous and incredibly common crime - the clear plastic bra strap.

Now in theory, they kind of make sense - they're clear ergo they are nigh on invisible, right? Except...they're so bloody not! In daylight, you end up with shiney shoulders. And it's even worse when you're in a nightclub with multi-coloured lights going off which then reflect off the plastic so they become even more highly visible. If you don't want your bra straps to be visible, invest in a good strapless bra.

On the topic of visible bras, we also saw a lot of this action going on in the club

The backless dress with the visible bra.

Just...no.
(Photos from google image search)

Opera binge

So in the last fortnight I went and saw three different productions! It was bloody exhausting but also somewhat enlightening due to the differences.

First opera was Cosi Fan Tutte. My expectations were superduper LOW given the last butchering of Mozart that I was privvy to, and my catching snippets of the first scene on ABC2. The modern updating I could handle (although they might want to ask their leads to tone up if they're going to walk around in open shirts) but horror of horrors - it was being sung in ENGLISH. :O:O:O:O But you know what? I found myself quite enjoying it while I was watching. Sure, the translation was a bit on the dodgy side, but the fun of the music shone through. And I do love Soave sia il vento even though it was in English. Special props must go to Tiffany Speight as naughty Despina. Again, I'm not sure how much my enjoyment of it was aided by thinking it was going to be a crash and burn so caveat emptor to people who intend to see it.

Next up was Aida. It occurred to me while I watched the production that Aida is one of those SUPER operas that can't be modernised or fiddled with a la Mozart. For one, it's set in Egypt, has a cast of thousands, and one of those super-tragic plots that needs to be sung in Italian :P. The production starred Jennifer Wilson who was absolutely amazing. Not really of Ethiopian slave proportions (which bothered a friend who saw the production before me), she has a BIG voice that blew me away - it could be heard over the very large chorus! Milijana Nikolic as Amneris started off very slowly but by the end I was happy to give her a thumbs up as well *thumbs up*. My main criticism would be that the direction by Graeme Murphy was bordering on the pretentious side with the projections, travelator stage to similuate Egyptian friezes during the triumphal march, and the ballet. Hah! There was a bit where some of the dancers were topless and I could hear the mutterings of *is she naked?!* going on around me.

The last opera of the season was A Streetcar Named Desire by Andre Previn. I LOVED THIS LAST ONE!!! Starring Yvonne Kenny, Antoinette Halloran, and Teddy *blush* it was full of great singing and made me want to re-read the play and watch the movie. Sung in English and featuring *modern* music that caused some amusing grumblings from the older ladies while waiting in the toilet queue, I found the production very interesting and a faithful rendition of the play. The music may not have been particularly melodic on par with Mozart, but there was good use of horns (it is set in Nyawlins') and at times simulated modern urban sounds. Thumbs up!

I will admit to being slightly opera'd out now. Onto the 2010 productions!

Song of the week - All These Things That I've Done by The Killers

Oh yeah you gotta help me out, yeah oh don't you put me on the backburner...when everything's lost, the battle is won, with all these things that I've done.

I do not think he's a hottie...

but there is something oddly hypnotic about this picture....
It's probably the tux (with undone tie oioi) and glasses. But what's really disturbing is that I actually do believe he looks like a mannequin in this picture.

Help me, please.

(Picture from Kickette)

Arrrrrgh matey! Happy birthday, Lydia!

An incredible FIVE years since we met each other on the Great European Adventure 2004 where we happily celebrated her birthday by having tequila shots in Le Marais, we celebrated Lydia's birthday in a much more civilised manner with an afternoon tea.

But not just any afternoon tea party - there was an amazing Lighthouse cake to be eaten!
I'm not really sure why the cake was shaped like a lighthouse - I think it had something to do with a dream/request, but the actual cake backstory was that it had been invaded by Pirates (arrrrr), and the British Navy were rowing away to stop them from getting the booty!

Lydia with her cake.

A close-up of the cake - they are lego men!
It was a chocolate cake iced with white chocolate. It actually had pink layers, I don't know why they've come out orange here :(

The cake with the amazing cake artists, Bron and Tash.

And we all happily tucked into the cake, sandwiches, cupcakes, cheese, and fairybread and lived happily ever after. Happy birthday again, Lydia! Best birthday (cake) ever!

Song of the week

No I won't kneel!

Help please! + *bonus* new love!

Some people like to mark new phases of their life but cutting their hair off or getting makeovers or the like. For my periods of upheaval, I like to get glasses. Okay, that's not true. It's more like I realised my current pair of glasses are five years old. I have thus spent a bit of time looking for a new pair but have been hobbled by the realisation that while I *look good* in glasses, it is difficult to find a pair of glasses that suit me due to my round face and anime-esque features (kekeke, whatever).

But now that Pooey is back, we took a day out to try and find me a pair some suitable and suitably different frames. I require 2 frames, one for general wear and one to get transition lenses - lenses that change to sunglasses in sunlight for when I don't feel like wearing contact lenses. Help me choose, please!

These are the options (excuse the funny faces I'm pulling).

CK5189

CK5590

Face a Face 1

Face a Face 2

Denmark

Please pick your favourite two. I've allowed multiple selections so hopefully this will work.

Also, while we were randomly ambling around, I found myself gazing into the deepest, sweetest brown eyes I had ever come across and fell instantly in love. With those eyes came soft honey-blonde hair and beautiful floppy ears.

Unfortunately, I can't really keep a puppeh right now, so my heart was broken asunder and with a longing glace, we parted ways. *sigh*.

I *HEART* POOEY!!!

because she is my favourite sister and brings me such nice presents! Pooey arrived yesterday morning and I didn't get to see her until today because I was at work and then I had to go to the opera! (Opera blog entry coming soon.) Then when I came home from all the singing, everyone was asleep :(

Anyway, here's some of the awesomness she got me.

Dresses!!! Pooey and I love a good strapless dress and although I was the winner in the bust wars, they fit very nicely! I can retire that mauve one!
L- H&M, R - Zara. Why are these brands not sold in Australia?! :@

T-shirts!!! Pooey got these from David&Goliath.
Hehehe, spooning leads to forking oioi

Assorted things that Pooey thought I'd like or I asked for!!!
L-R, Alice in Wonderland coaster from when she went to Oxford, Tube-brand mint box from when she went to the Transport Museum, Cath Kidston purse, Cath Kidston coin purse, Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche (miam miam!!!), various other Chanel goodies (oui oui!!!).

Not photographed are the large number of comfy M&S bras I asked for (woooh, so comfy!!!), various food products, and Cath Kidston umbrella. Also, apparently there is a large number of romance books and shoes that are being shipped over :D.

*clap clap clap* Have I said I luff Pooey? If not, I luff Pooey!!!

End in sight?

So....see that countdown calendar counting down to my thesis submission? Well it's incorrect. I'm not going to submit in 3 days or whatever it's at. BUT!!! I had a chat with Da Boss yesterday and she said the END IS DEFINITELY IN SIGHT for her!!! She can see the light at the end of the tunnel for me :D The prediction is definitely by the end of the year (fingers crossed), I need to just need to fix up some niggly little things and *sigh*.

And then I can lie in bed and.....lie in bed. I don't have a job yet.

Anyone need a scientist?