Celebrate!

Thank you, Iker! As he said the other day, I have submitted my thesis for examination so I have a few months of relative ease while they pick over it for bad science, bad logic, bad grammar/typos, and plagiarism. Hopefully, they will find none of those! But it wasn't smooth sailing - I was ready to submit on Wednesday afternoon except I found the graduate research office shut at 3pm on Wed and it was 4pm when I ready! Grrrr...this however meant that I was able to submit first thing on Thursday morning, leaving the rest of the day free for me to do some impromptu party shopping!

My congratulatory card with photo!

And so to kick off the celebrations at 11:45am, Marene, Mischka, Dusty, and I cracked open a bottle of the 2007 Langmeil Fifth Wave Grenache that I'd purchased in the Barawesome Valley. Then in the afternoon, we drank a bottle of 1998 Dom Perignon that had been lovingly donated by Pooey. Okay, the truth is that she bought it for herself many years ago in HK but stored it badly (upright, in a hot room, near a TV) for a few years. Therefore I cracked open a bottle of champagne that could have been sold for a profit on ebay...and found it was alright! Actually, it was quite good! We drank it down with strawberries, raspberries, gruyere, truffled brie, lavosh, and another bottle of the Langmeil grenache. *thumbs up* After work, I made it to Golden Key drinks at The Apartment where I got a 1/2 price cocktail *double thumbs up* but had to leave because I was buggered.

That night, I slept like a baby for 11 hours. Then I got up, did my laundry (it was necessary!), got dolled up, put on my 83% off dress, and tottered back into uni to help Abreeeeeez celebrate his submission! W00T W00T!!! Then I went off to The Supper Club to celebrate the end and welcome back Ruilin from her South American Odyssey with Pooey, Lydia, and Mischka.

I could have sworn there were more photos than this but given that the ones I do have aren't that flattering, these'll do!

Looking towards the round window of the Supper Club

Our wine, an Eden Valley (I think) riesling

Enjoying my riesling and MSGR congratulatory balloon

Some of the goodies we had to eat
(Not pictured, the croque monsieur, meatballs, sausage rolls, and second truffled duck parfait)

With Lydia

With Ruilin

Later, we tried our luck getting into Siglo. It was a gorgeous and warm night with a 3/4 moon and clear starry sky. Unfortunately it was too crowded and despite the girl consistently telling us that she'd get us a table soon, we decided to venture back downstairs to the comfy couches for some creme brulee and sticky date pudding. But we didn't leave before taking some pics of the night!

The neighbouring theatre wall

Nice clear night sky

The next morning, I dragged myself up and out to get to yum cha with the path crew. This was actually pre-planned and had nothing to do with submission but hey, all you can eat dumplings and fried stuff and prawns and puddings for $22? That's something to celebrate on it's own! Then I drove myself home to sleep it all off!

Song of the week - Fight for this Love by Cheryl Cole

(This is not the whole song - had a bit of an issue finding one that had embedding allowed, so for the whole clip, go here.)

This week's song of the week is dedicated to Pooey. Being in the UK for the last three years, she was bombarded by the love the UK press holds for Girls Aloud member and X Factor judge Cheryl Cole. Cheryl released a solo album last year, Fight for this love being the first single. Pooey found this song to be an earworm and decided to infect me with it. Due to me not constantly hearing this song, her attempt failed.

BUT NOW!!! Cheryl happens to be married to England, Chelsea and formerly Arsenal LB, (C)A$hley Cole - except, despite her being an absolute hottie, he's cheated on her multiple times, most recently in a sex scandal involving sending naked pics to some woman not his wife. She's finally had enough and they officially separated last week. I'm not overly crazy about her, but being a fan of the game this has been reported on numerous places I like to read as well as the Australian press, and they all mention how she sings this song. I'm sure it's purely for ironic purposes. Pooey bemoaned the fact that by no longer being in the UK, she's not being bombarded by what's going on in Shazza's life.

And so, Pooey and I now enjoy this song together and even do this strange hand gesture she does at the end of the full clip to each other.

Submission

Hola Amigos, como estas? Soy bien! Haff some champagne! I am 'ere because I haff some veeery happy news to tell yoo...Mallymoodle, mi amor, hass handed een 'err thesis. Si si, eet eez a beeg, beeg day. Shee ees resting from all zee 'ard work but weeel bee back soon to work on zee blog.

But for nao, more champagne to celebrate! And eegnore zee christmas tree.

Besos, Iker xoxo

Sculpture of the week - Warin the Wombat by Des McKenna

Des McKenna, Warin the Wombat, 2002

City Square, Melbourne
(Source)

I have chosen this week's piece of the week based on this website and misguided belief that I had taken a photo of myself sitting on the wombat. Alas, I couldn't find that photo so I'm guessing it didn't happen. I don't actually know much about this piece other than what's on those links above so I'll just summarise them for the lazy people who won't click the links.

Warin was carved on location from a red-gum log that was 1.5m long, 1m diameter, and weighing 2.5 tonnes. Because it was carved on site, it apparently acquired a very loyal audience who would watch the progress from behind safety barriers (EHS issues, you know). The name Warin is derived from two local aboriginal dialects, and it is apparently one of the most rubbed and favoured pieces in the square. For something that cute and easy to climb on, I'm not surprised!

(Source)

Also, something more important than Valentines...

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

and welcome to the year of the Tiger.
Let's hope its better than the way the year ended for another Tiger, eh?
(okay, that was a cheap shot).

Song of the week - Love is in the Air by John Paul Young

Happy Valentine's Day for tomorrow, everyone! While I'm at it, enjoy this!

Bestiality at its best

Been having a hard time at work (stupid thesis and last minute changes :@:@:@) but Jiggles posted this and it made me laugh so I thought I'd share the humour.

Apparently there are only 90 or so Kakapos (that fat parrot) left in the world so we should feel honoured to watch such a spectacle!

Movie review - UP!

For various reasons, the prime one being 'saving' the movie so I could watch it with various people and then not being able to see it with any of them, I was unable to see the latest Pixar movie until just now. Up has also just been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, the second animated and first computer animated film to be so (the first being Beauty and the Beast *sniff*). Here's my take!

Carl Fredrickson (Ed Asner) is a grumpy old man. But he wasn't always a GOM. In a very clever and touching introduction, we see him in childhood as dreamer who wanted to travel to South America and emulate the adventures of his hero, Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer). One day he meets Ellie, a tomboy with similar dreams. The two grow up, get married, and build a life together. When they realise they can't have children, they decide instead to save up to travel to Paradise Falls, the place where Muntz discovered a mysterious bird. Over the course of their lives, a series of unfortunate financial events occur and Ellie dies before being able to travel. Heartbroken at being unable to fulfill his promise to her, Carl ends up the GOM he is today. To add insult to injury, Carl ends up in a position where he loses their house and is being forced into a retirement home. To stop this from occuring, Carl sneakily attaches thousands of helium balloons to his house which then floats away. However, he has an accidental stowaway, young 'wilderness explorer' Russell, who is intent on helping Carl in order to receive his last badge to make his father attend the ceremony. And so we set off on the adventure in Carl's flying house!


So that's quite a detailed plot summary that doesn't even go into what happens after the house takes off. I however felt it necessary to give the background to the characters because even though Up only goes for 96 minutes, it packs a helluva lot of backstory of the characters' motivations. The film concentrates on each of the characters, the ones who can talk, the ones who can't, and the ones who sorta do (Dug), and gives each one a reason for why they do what they do. I cried during this movie and a number of people said they did the same. This is the strength of the film - that it manages to emotionally involve the audience because it shows a number of characters striving for what they want most.


Unlike other Pixar films, I don' think Up was intent on changing the game by testing what they could do with computer animation. But being a Pixar film, what they have done looks absolutely gorgeous, from the character design to the incredible rocky scenery of Paradise Falls. But a large part of the fun in Up is the lack of overt realism - no uncanny valley here, people! Carl is kinda cube-like and Russell is himself round like a balloon, and while each of the dogs are clearly identifiable by breed they're stylised enough to make you think that it doesn't really look like a bulldog/doberman/retriever. The little details are what makes it different though - from marking time by the way Carl's facial hair grows throughout the film to the iridescent feathers on Kevin, the mystery bird. Also, I watched Up in 2D - anyone know whether the 3D version enhanced the animation?

And so, Up is a delightful, gorgeous-looking, story-driven, adventure movie. Oscar winning? Lets just say I think it did a lot more in 96 minutes than what Avatar did in almost 3 hours. Oh yeah, it also made me (and a lot of other people) cry. Can't get much better than that!
8.5-9/10
pictures from rottentomatoes.com

Belle Nuit (Barcarolle) by Offenbach

Two granny divas, Montserrat Caballe (soprano) and Marilyn Horne (mezzo) singing the duet that's meant to evoke the feeling of floating on a gondola. And as Marilyn says at the beginning (in German) - "You definitely know this song (dieses Stück kennen Sie bestimmt)!"

Things I will do when I finish the PhD

As mentioned in the Barawesome Valley entry, I've been working quite diligently to try and get the thesis done. While it is not yet quite finished, it's very close to it. Yay. Hopefully it will be submitted within the next week or so.

And so to celebrate, here's a list of things to look forward to doing when I'm done!
My Submission Party. Got a lot of Barawesome Valley wine to drink!
Graduate and get my fluffy hat - as worn by these women with the red.
Sleep. By Iker, I'm going to sleep!
Eat. And bake. Kekeke
Go back to the gym and the pool - I'm getting squishy!
Be a better bridesmaid (thanks Natty).
Re-read the Harry Potter series!
Read lots of books in general!
Go to C-town to see the Post-Impressionist Exhitibion at the NGA (thanks for organising, Lydia!). While I'm there, I may as well see a brand new C-towner!
Go to the NGV for the Exhibition for previous sculpture of the week holder, Ron Mueck!
Actively try to find a full time, post-doctoral of some sort job. Location TBC. Hopefully Paris or somewhere away from Melb because I need a change of scenery!

Cities in a bag!

More presents from Pooey! Cities in a bag.

Gay Paree

London (complete with giant stag in the outskirts!)

It came from Muji. I will use Pooey's own words here - !@#$ I LOVE MUJI!!! This website makes me salivate!