Quick tour of the Barawesome Valley

Four years after her initial foray into the city, Pooey went back to Radelaide to locum. Suboo had never been there before and so she decided that we two were going to visit Pooey and go on a wine tour. Therefore this past weekend, after rushing to finish a complete 2nd draft of the thesis (hence my lack of posting!) and following only 4 hours of sleep, I took the first flight out of Melbourne for a rush visit. Pooey picked the tour and I was really glad it was a large coach because it allowed me to sleep in the back during the (bumpy) ride to the Barossa Valley - or as we decided to christen it, the BarAWESOME valley. Hehehehe.

Our first stop was the *Whispering Wall*, a dam wall that was found to possess some very interesting acoustic properties!

The wall. Apparently they found out the sound-transmitting properties of the wall when two guys were talking at one end, and their manager heard them speaking at the other...

Pooey and Suboo contemplate the wall

We had a very nice tour group and some of the very tall Scottish people on the tour volunteered to be the ones to test out whether it worked or not. One of the guys ran to the other end of the wall and they proceeded to ask him questions. I kept thinking *stop answering the questions you're asking him, until I realised...HE was answering the questions! Freak-AY!!!

Whispering through another wall!

We then went to the first stop on our wine tour, Kies, where I had a sample of the few of the wines there and decided to purchase a small bottle of the 'Bastardo' Port - known as the 'Little Bugger.'

Our next stop, our good ol' friends LANGMEIL!!! We listened to the spiel again about the role of Lutheran immigants in the history of the Barawesome Valley, and how the 167 year old shiraz grapes were probably the oldest ones in the world.

I'm happy to be back!

Suboo looks around

Unlike our last visit, the old old vines were in fruit and our guide advised us to pick some fruit off the vines and do a taste comparison with younger vines. Oh my. I could be a tosser and proclaim that from now on, I will only eat grapes from 167 year old vines because they are jam-packed full of flavour...but I won't because those plants don't do high yields anymore and I wouldn't want to detract from the wine yield.

So happy to be with such old and tasty grapes!

Unlike the last time we were at Langmeil, they hadn't sold out of the signature wine, The Freedom, which is made from those 167 year old vines. Apparently we weren't actually supposed to be allowed to do a tasting of the wine, but somehow some of the old American tourists from our tour wheedled them into opening a bottle. It was...how can I say...DELICIOUS. Me and Pooey actually stared at each other after taking a sip of the Freedom, and just going *OMG, wow....that's good.*

Sipping my Freedom shiraz.

I must say, their decision to open that bottle for us was a mighty fine decision by the Langmeil people because Pooey and I decided to buy a bottle each. And at $100 a pop, those bottles don't come cheap. I think I'll crack it open for my PhD graduation. Maybe I'm biased because of our prior visit, but I think Langmeil was the best winery we visited. Either way, they must have been pretty happy that we rocked up because I walked out having paid for almost $600 worth of wine - lets just say that submission day will be boozy!

Our next winery and lunchstop was the Kaesler Winery, owner of shiraz vines that were, alas, only 120 years old. They wouldn't allow us to drink that shiraz (wonderfully named 'Old Bastard'), but we did taste their crisp semi-sweet riesling, Rizza. We thought it would go very well with Lobster noodles.

Kaesler have very nice grounds which I can imagine people using for parties.

Mmmm, parallel

Suboo being Asian, Pooey not ready

Roses!

Suboo tiptoes under the arches

But they also had easily accessible wine...I dunno, vats...which allowed us to do more silly photos!

Our last stop of the day was Wolf Blass. I dunno...after the high quality that was Langmeil and Kaesler, Wolf Blass wines seemed a bit...ho hum. Their structured tasting compared to the more relaxed ones that preceded it seemed a bit stern as well. Or maybe it was because I was tired and the heat of the day and booze were hitting me. Either way, Pooey and I needed to replicate the silly photos we'd taken year before and things were all good.

Pointing Pooey

Hiding Mooey

We three being sensible (for once).

And then we all fell asleep on the bus ride back into town!

Song of the week - Undisclosed Desires by Muse

*This was meant to go out on Saturday, don't know why it didn't.

Merrymaking with Calvin at the Prince

I don't really go in for the live music scene. I prefer the quality and comfort of lying around in my room or walking around on the street listening to a recorded track. What I don't enjoy is being physically intimate with scores of sweaty and drunk people. I also don't appreciate being shoved, sweated on, witnessing fights, or having ringing ears. So in hindsight, I'm actually a little amazed that I agreed to go see Calvin Harris at his BDO sideshow at the The Prince of Wales in St. Kilda. Oh yeah, I also don't enjoy St. Kilda.

But I went, and despite the distasteful feelings inspired in me by the crowd and conditions, I enjoyed listening to the happy dance-y music. In fact, I may even have MOSHED!!! Or at least, I jumped up and down when I was told to.

So let us all enjoy these youtube vids of Calvin's happy dance music and jump along!

Acceptable in the 80s


Big hit, I'm not alone


And of course, Merrymaking at my Place!

Hooray for bargains!

I love dresses. But you know what else I love? Bargains! Suboo said to me on Friday night *Hey! I saw a dress that I think would look good on you and it's reduced to $50...from $300!* I was :O. And then I was tempted. So very tempted.

But I'd recently purchased a dress in Sydney that had also been reduced. Also, I'm kinda povvo now that taxpayers have decided to stop funding my lifestyle (scholarship ended). But...bargain! And it was coming from a store that's quite good quality. So I decided that I would head on down to the shop, try the dress on, take a photo, bring it back to the bar, and if they majority of people thought it looked alright, I would purchase it.

They liked it. And so now I own another black cocktail dress!

The 83% off dress.

Or as Pooey said when she looked at the price tags featuring the deductions, "Geez, it's like they were dying to get rid of these dresses!"

So while I'm at it, I may as well show you the dress I got in Sydney.

At $255 to $100, it's only the 60% off dress

And oh yeah, those red shoes in the photos were 50% off. Hooray for bargains!

Sculpture of the week - Jeanne d'Arc by Emmanuel Fremiet

Emmanuel Frémiet, Jeanne d'Arc, 1906 replica of a 1872-74 original

State Library of Victoria forecourt, Melbourne
(Source)

19th century French art was influenced by the social goings on of that century - not only the effect of the technological advances but also that the French population had a tendency to have a revolt or be in a war approximately every 20 years. Jeanne is an example of a post-Franco-Prussian War/Paris commune sculpture. The dramatic and defiant pose of the French heroine celebrates France's military past after their humiliation at the hands of the Prussians with the idea that God might send them another hero or heroine to deliver them from their hated enemies. The original (of sorts) is located at the Place des Pyramides, Paris, in all its gilded glory (below).


Thankfully, the Melbourne version was not gilded - can you imagine what it would look like on a bright 35+ degree day?! OUCH! The composition of Jeanne recalls the great quattrocento equestrian works - French sculpture of this period was referred to as néo-florentin reflecting influence Renaissance ideals. The Melbourne version was acquired as part of the Felton Bequest and placed outside what was then the National Gallery.

Other replicas of Jeanne are located in Portland, Oregon, Philadelphia, and quite fittingly for the Maid of Orléans, New Orleans.

Movie review - Paranormal Activity

This is allegedly the scariest movie ever. Unlike the last movie I reviewed, it's not dependent on special effects but rather playing upon the basic human fears of unexplainable happenings and things that go bump in the night.

Whatever.

I watched this with Pooey and Smee (a notorious movie pussy) and well, Smee was the one who said "I found Harry Potter 1 scary...this was bullshit." This movie masquerades as a video made by a couple - Katie and Micah - to try and record the weird goings on around the house. Turn's out Katie is being stalked by a demon. We're supposed to feel creeped out by watching their psychological disintegration.

Except that we feel nothing because these people do everything they're advised not to - buying a ouija board, trying to communicate with the demon - or don't do things that sane people would -LIKE STAY IN A HOUSE THEY THINK IS POSSESSED!!! It tries too hard to come across as *real* and fails completely because the acting is too unconvincing. Or as Pooey said "Ugh, Katie is so annoying! When is she going to die?!" Seriously, the three of us sat around to shit our pants and basically ended up bored and waiting for the end.

Scariest movie ever, hey?
2/10

Movie review - Avatar (3D)

A band of imperialist foreigners land on a location populated by lush forests, rich in natural resources. These newcomers want these resources because it will make them rich in their homeland. But the land is inhabited by some natives who don't want to give up their land. One man, a member of the foreigners, gets separated from his brethren but the princess of the natives takes a shining to him. He lives with these natives, learns their ways, and comes to identify with their civilisation. Oh, he and the princess also fall in love. But the time comes when he has to choose between his new friends and his culture.

This is actually the plot of the 1995 Disney cartoon Pocahontas, based on the real-life story, but also of Avatar.

Avatar is an interesting movie. Set on Pandora (one of Jupiter's moons, based on the visuals), there's Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) as the John Smith character, a former marine who after being separated from his research team, is rescued from some Pandoran wildlife by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the Na'vi princess. Then insert the plot summary from above to figure out what's going on. As you can tell, it's a fairly commonplace story. It's also been described to me as a metaphor for what's going on in the Middle East, although it could also be about Asian, African, North, and South American colonialism. So yes, story is not particularly original but it has mass appeal. I'm not going to bother picking holes in the logic of various motivations of characters but they are there.

Having said that, the characters are one-dimensional, which is usually not a problem for me, (hey, I did enjoy the Transformers movies!) but in this instance when people are good or bad, the lack of grey was led to aspects that struck me as being somewhat ridiculous. The main case in point was during the [Spoiler] final fight between Jake in Avatar mode in his fight versus the Colonel Quarich (Stephen Lang). The final attack on the Na'vi has failed, a normal military commander would go back to base and regroup - but Quaritch instead jumps into his mecha suit to duke it out to the death. The motivation seems...misplaced. Because it totally helps the cause, you know [End Spoiler].

As an aside, I would like to make a comment about Sigourney Weaver being the WORST RESEARCH SCIENTIST EVER!!! There's a short sequence when Jake is talking to the camera and Sigourney in the background is looking a plate that's on a phase microscope. She picks up a pipette, picks up a fluid sample of some sort, upends the pipette, and then goes to eject onto the plate! Upending a pipette when you've got a sample in there means all the fluid goes into the plunger!!! And oh yeah - product placement for EPPENDORF PIPETTES!!! W00T!

Back to the review. For all the weak story and lack of educating someone how to use a pipette, it's clear that the money was invested in the visuals and invested well. Whoever the production designer on this must have had a field day with the planning of how Pandora was going to look and what each of the strange and wonderful plants and animals were going to do in their brightly coloured way. In fact, the contrast between the bright and pretty colours of Pandora vs. the human base was quite stark - I'm certain there was meant to be a message in there. There are some sequences that are really gorgeous and when you add in the 3Dness of things and it really is quite a wonder to look at.

That brings me to my next issue. I didn't get nausea but headaches did plague me throughout the movie. Part of the way 3D visuals works is the reliance on having what we're meant to concentrate on being in focus and indicating something being close or in the distance through blurring. It probably says something about my personality, but I didn't want to just focus on the action - I wanted to look at the things that were closer or further away! But that meant I was pretty much fighting to try and see in focus things that are meant to be blurry. My poor eyes and brain struggled.

With the beauty of Pandora, I know Cameron wanted to linger over the creations so that everyone can marvel at it, but there were points when I though *okay, I've had enough of doing x, it's time to further the story*, and this happened at a number of places during the movie. At 162 minutes long, well, its not compact. That's why I can't help wishing there was more of a story to distract myself from how long it was.

I know this review sounds incredibly negative. It's not to say that I didn't enjoy the film - I didn't sit there wishing everyone would die like I have in other movies, but it is definitely overrated and too long. It's not the masterpiece of story telling everyone seems to tell me - it's a very long promotion for the CGI technology that James Cameron has been working on for the last decade. I very highly doubt my opinion will change with repeated viewings which means I can only give it a score in the lower, but passable, range.
6/10

Hotties of the week - Niko Kranjcar and Josh Hartnett

This weeks' pieces of the week (oioi) are for Ven who has been suffering footie/soccer withdrawal due to the European Cold Wave.

Niko Kranjcar...

He of the AC Milan-worthy hair

The Tongue Porn (and Mufasa likeness)

The complete package-ness

Not to mention the pinch-worthy ass

Plus, she totally caught his eye as well!
(Picture courtesy of Ven's mama)

Next we have Josh Hartnett. If you don't know who he is or understand why he's a hottie...just watch this video, the first 2 minutes will do. Please.

Totally looks like

Princess Tiaamii Andre, daughter of Jordan/Katie Price and Peter Andre

(Source)

totally looks like

An Oompa-loompa
(Source)

Eating our way across Sydney part 4

On our final day in Sydney, we decided to go back to Surry Hills to buy homewares and eat lunch at bills, he of the shiny Macleans teeth and CORN FRITTERS. One dog-shaped memo holder for Lydia's handbag later, we were on out way to CORN FRITTERS.

Now, I didn't actually take any photos of the CORN FRITTERS from this visit, so here's a pic of when I had them back in 2007 with Alix.

Delicious then, delicious now.
And bacon!

We also ordered the wagyu beef burger and proceeded to share the goodies.

One thing we agreed on was that they were very corn-esque with not too much flour holding it together. That was good. It however meant that when Lydia cut them it kinda of fell into a delicious mess. Also, the scent of bacon had been teasing me throughout the duration of our walk as we meandered past the brunching crowds. Bacon and corn. Yum. The wagyu burger was also delightful with a side of lightly herbed french fries and some very nice tomato relish.

To finish, we eventually headed off to the airport with our leftover macarons (really, we were very disciplined when it came to eating them) for our flight back home. Our last meal was thus the Chicken Korma and Fried Rice on flight QF465. I didn't take a photo of it but...needless to say it fell behind the other meals we had on our vacation. Alas, all good things had to come to an end.

Eating our way across Sydney part 3

On the third day, Lydia and I decided to take the walk down to Pyrmont to go to the Sydney Fish Market. The last time I was here was in 05/06 with Pooey. On that fateful trip, we ate 500g of salmon sashimi and 1kg of pipis. Why it has taken me so long to go back, I have no idea. But since I was on the way back, I decided to do it with a vengeance! Well okay, Lydia had some input too :D.

Given the excesses of my last experience, Lydia decided to match and meet - 600g of sashimi!!!

Yep, that girl sure does look happy with her 500g of salmon and 100g of kingfish!

Look at that beautiful succulent flesh. *sniff* so lovely.

Fish heads, fish heads...

We decided to not get pipis but to instead walk around and look at the stalls. I saw some truffled brie for sale and to this day, I'm not sure if I was extremely disciplined or foolish to not purchase some. I can't remember how expensive it was ($14 for 100g?) but it was enough to make me think twice...but...truffles...brie....*sob*. Anyway, I did get some deep-fried calamari rings because it's been years since I had some. Again, I don't know why it's taken me so long between drinks.

For dinner, Lydia and I had our big decadent meal - dinner at Aria, the restaurant of another Masterchef celebrity chef, Matt Moran. We skipped the entrees and went straight to the mains - quail for Lydia, jewfish for me. For sides we had truffled mash potatoes and the broccolini, with the cheese platter and some dessert wine (botrytis) to finish. Located on Bennelong Point, Aria has a lovely view of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House which was duly reflected in the prices.

That's not to say dinner wasn't excellent, it truly is, but I will admit to baulking a bit at the mains which started at $52 (okay, $44 for the vegetarian meal). Was it worth it? Hard to tell. Of course, because they are completely different meals on different strata, it's difficult to judge if it was 'better' than the dumplings at Din Tai Fung or the ramen that come at a fraction of the cost. I can't help thinking that when things get into 'fine dining' levels whether it is truly worth it, regardless of it be in Melb, Syd, London or Paris etc. But my fish did have a beautiful crispy skin and tender cooked flesh, those potatoes were truffled (or at least truffle oiled). If everything were not perfectly just so, I would definitely have reservations about it. But it was, so I guess you get what you're paying for. And the view.

A view of the Bridge and Opera House at Bennelong Point. Not the one from Aria.

Eating our way across Sydney part 2

On Day 2, we decided visit to Balmain to visit somewhere that may have been popular before, but apparently became huge following the Masterchef phenomenon - the Adriano Zumbo patisserie for macarons (oh, and the cafe for lunch).

We took a ferry to get there.

Lydia enjoying the ferry ride sans seasickness.

Going under bridge.

Leaving the Opera House behinds in our ferry wake

View of the bridge from Balmain East ferry stop.
I can't remember the name of the park.

Because the ferry we took stopped at East Balmain and not Balmain Balmain, we had to take a hike up the Darling St. hill to get to the main strip of Darling St. where all the shops were. This is where our second motto of the trip (after Je ne veux pas travailler) comes in - oh! To be young and fit! - as we powered up that hill. By the time we got to the main strip, it was only 12:15pm or so and neither of us were hungry. We thus decided to look at the shops which is how we ended up buying a pair of shoes each and I got another dress to boot.

For lunch we had the quiche of the day - chorizo and Potato, which we both felt was slightly false advertising because we got hardly any chorizo, followed by some of those famous macarons.

Some of the macarons.

So what did I think? Well, the top of the meringue were crusty and the flavour was fullsome...but I felt the inside of the meringue bits and fillings were too soft. At one point I went to lift a macaron out of the box only to have the crust bit detach from the rest of it - quelle horreur! I prefer them to be a bit chewy, these fell apart in my mouth. Lydia didn't have a problem with it, but not how I prefer macarons to be.

For dinner on day 2, we had ramen. Regular readers may know that when I eat ramen in Sydney, I usually go to Menya. However, I had disturbing news (from Lymbo) that since they have decided to expand, Menya is no longer the awesomeness that it used to be. As a result, ramen dinner was instead at Ramen Kan based on the review in the link. I find it difficult to judge Ramen Kan on whether it was superior or inferior in terms of the ramen quality. It had a good soup base which we both commented on, but part of the power of Menya was the freshness of the noodle. To determine superiority, I would have to eat a bowl from each place in quick succession. Alas, I was unable to do so.

Eating our way across Sydney part 1

Some of you may have been wondering where I went for the last week. No, I was not giving birth to my crack baby or lying in a post-NYE alcoholic stupor. I went to Sydney. With the GFC hitting (not a recession in Aus :P - hai Amandine!), Lydia's firm was forcing ppl to take leave during the low season, so after a short convo, she booked us tickets to go north. Why did she take me? Well given the frequency with which I'd been up there over the last few years, I know my way around. Oh, I also eat a lot and am happy to share my food.

People asked me exactly what we were going to do over there given that it's tourist high season and I'm a notorious sun/beach hater. Well now. My answer to them was EAT OUR WAY ACROSS THE CITY. Oh, and take a break from work. (I hear Pooey say *what work?!*) The theme of our holiday was thus this song. I couldn't find a video that would allow me to embed it so I suggest you just go there and listen. And then repeat. We heard it on the first day of our trip while perusing some clothes and knick-knacks in a store in Surry Hills. The chorus which translates to I don't want to work, I don't want lunch, I just want to forget, and then I smoke seemed almost perfect - apart from the fact we were totally going to lunch and neither of us smoke.

Having touched down around lunchtime, after dropping our bags off at our serviced apartment we decided to take a walk down Oxford St. and onto Surry Hills. It was noted that as two girls walking down the main gay drag of Sydney together, we might have been giving off a certain impression, but hey! :P We had lunch in Don Don, a Japanese restaurant Pooey took me to to 6 or 7 years ago. Lydia reported that it was still good (she had very fresh sashimi). I was less impressed - I ordered chirashi sushi don and the photo claimed there would be raw squid and tuna, although a slip of paper said there was no tuna. However, when I ordered it, the waitress told me there was no squid either! WHUT?! I ate what turned out to be salmon and prawn with rice but a part of me mourns the lack of squid. *sigh*.

For dinner we hit the Sydney outpost of the Taiwanese dumpling chain Din Tai Fung.

We can see into the kitchen where they are hygienically wearing face masks.

Lydia serenely awaits the dumplings

Steamers as decor

Xiaolongbao!!!

Dan dan noodles!!!

Chili wontons - WTF?! Why are those wrappers not egg-based?!?!

Better than Hutong? I don't know. Everything tasted fine (and tasty) but while the wrappers were thin on the xiaolongbao, it felt strangely sticky in my mouth and again, WTF with the wrappers on the wontons not being egg-based? Also, good thing I speak French because when told how expensive the meal was, I was able to say in a different language *What?! That's expensive for dumplings!* Otherwise, I highly recommend it!

Painting of the week - Cymon and Iphigenia by Lord Leighton

Frederic Leighton, Cymon and Iphigenia, 1884

Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney, Australia
(Source)

To celebrate my being awol for a week, I'm presenting something from the gallery of the city I was in. During our undergrad AH phase, I told our English Art Lecturer that I found 19th century Engligh painting incredibly insipid due to the emphasis on pale, wan, consumptives being touted as the epitome of beauty (Pre-raphaelites), not to mention the hypocrisy of moralistic paintings (particularly with respect to female behaviour), but also Academic-style paintings that could be construed as borderline pornographic (step up, Alma-Tadema!). However, Flaneur had been telling me throughout the duration of her MA that I needed to see the Leighton at the AGNSW and that that would perhaps change my mind.

Cymon and Iphigenia illustrates a story from Boccaccio's Decameron, in which an uncouth young man, Cymon, decides to become educated and more moral after falling in love with Iphigenia, and thus, beauty tames the savage beast. I can see why this is a considered a great painting - the lovely arrangement of the draped figure of Iphigenia, the diffuse light highlighting the sensuous undulations of her body...it is quite lovely. Definitely much better in person than in photographs. But enough to erase all the issues I have with Victorian Painting? I don't know.

Quote for the day, week, month, year....you name the duration of time.

I'm doing farts to make me go faster!!!

- Little running boy (approx 4 years old)
Pyrmont, Sydney

Year-end Roundup (or lack thereof)

So avid readers of the blog may have noticed a lack of roundup this year. The short answer is that I feel I can't be bothered. There is no long answer :P

But anyway! I don't feel 2009 was that bad a year (for myself, I won't speak for others) but as with things in life, there are disclaimers.

I came closer to finising the Phud...but still haven't managed to submit it for examination.
I did a fair amount of travel...none of it overseas or to glam locales.
I saw a few good movies...no classics. Well, maybe Inglourious Basterds.
But my biggest disappointment...I don't think I discovered any new hotties! :O:O:O

Otherwise, I ate a lot of food, bought a lot of clothes, and had a lot of fun.
Let 2010 be just as good, if not, even better!

Except with more Phud finishing going on. That HAS to be done :S

Movies review - Sherlock Holmes

Pooey, Mischka, and myself braved the Shoppo carpark to watch Sherlock Holmes. Now, we three have been looking forward to this movie ever since...well...possibly since it was announced, and Mich and I had been holding off for Pooey to return to Melbs so we could watch it together. Now, I had been positively shocked shocked! to hear some people tell me that they had found Holmes disappointing! Like what?! And so with a bit of trepidation, I sat down and waited for the show to begin...

The movie kicks off with Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jnr.) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) breaking in on an occult ceremony and rescuing a girl from certain death. They discover that the villian is Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong). He is arrested, and all seems to be well in Holmes and Watson's world. But cut to a few months later and Holmes is not well. A borderline Asperger's sufferer, he's not handling the impending loss of his heterosexual life-partner - Watson is going to ask Mary (Kelly Reilly) to marry him and thus move out of 221B Baker St. For his part, Watson is bit tired of Holmes' quirks, and his obsessive, not to mention highly eccentric, behaviour. He intends to end their professional relationship by being the attendant doctor at Blackwood's hanging. Meanwhile, a woman from Holmes' past, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), comes onto the scene to hire Holmes to get something Blackwood was working on before he got arrested. But then Blackwood...COMES BACK TO LIFE!!! And so the case begins...

Now, this movie can be boiled down to one statement - THE ROBERT DOWNEY JNR. SHOW!!! Okay, and Jude Law as well. But really, RDJ plays the role with his usual twitch and scruffiness that conveys someone who functions at the very edge of acceptable behaviour, and only then when there's a goal that interests him. In short - RDJ :P. For his part, Jude Law has to play the straight man in comparison. The long-suffering companion who is ultimately understanding and forgiving of the other's foibles. That's not to say it's all a one-sided friendship. There are hints that Watson has his own demons (gambling) that Holmes is able to keep in check. The two characters and actors rub against each other so well - it's like the ultimate bromance. No wonder Holmes is scheming to break Watson and Mary up!

The plotting - I didn't think it was that transparent. Sure, I noted that we were given hints as to what was a significant item/action/event in order to solve the mystery, but don't spend the movie trying to figure out what's going on. We're given the payoff in the end. Also, I think the pacing of action-story-action-story was adequate. No boring bits (for me!). One of the main criticisms I'd heard was that the story had paranormal elements - the opposite of traditional Sherlock using logical deduction to solve the crime. Well. It is set in the late 19th century - the height of the Spiritualism (remember, Doyle believed in fairies), however Sherlock does ultimately use his observations and knowledge of science to debunk the mystical goings on.

Anyway, I think we three walked out with varying levels of satisfaction. Mischka was all *HELL YEAH!!! SEXIEST HOLMES EVAAAAHHHHH!!! I WANT MOAR!!!*. Pooey enjoyed it but felt a bit miffed that despite filming being done in her street, she didn't get to see her former front door. I was pleasantly satisfied.

I don't know what you people are talking about, but I found it enjoyable!
7/10

Jigsaw = Complete

It was actually completed around midnight last night but I couldn't be bothered posting it.
*dusts hands and walks off into the sunset*

P.S. Especially for Lynn :P

Painting of the week - Mural by Keith Haring

Keith Haring, Mural (I don't know if it has an official name), 1984
Collingwood Technical College, Melbourne
(Source)

One of the most famous artists of the 20th century, Keith Haring was originally from Pennsylvania but studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He was subsequently influenced by the graffiti seen in the clubs, streets, and subways of the city and developed a very distinctive style comprising of bold lines and cartoon-like figures on plain coloured backgrounds. As with the graffiti influence, much of Haring's work took the form of mural paintings in public places.

On the cusp of international celebrity in 1984, Haring visited Melbourne (woooh!) where he completed a number of murals around the city. This famous one is located on the east-facing wall of Collingwood Technical College on Johnston St which is clearly visible from the street. At two storeys high, it is one of the last remaining murals of that size left in the world, and features the 'moving' characters of Haring's style. I'm not sure what the caterpillar with the computer on it's head is meant to represent :P Given its age and location, the mural has naturally started to deteriorate, but I remember it being nominated for preservation and undergoing some sort of conservation (not restoration) work a few years ago.

Haring died in 1990, aged 31, of an AIDS-related condition.