Song of the week - Dove sono from The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)

I want one

.

Totally looks like

The Federal Election is going to be on at the end of the month and it's been somewhat amusing and disheartening to see the various debates, policy releases and so forth. Anyway, because the incumbent PM is *gasp!* an unmarried woman with no children there has been a level of debate about how can she understand policy about family given that she doens't have one, why her (male) partner isn't by her side, blah blah blah. It also means that she's been featured on glossy women's magazines because if there's one thing the Debate taught us, it's that she's highly appealing to the female voter.

And the biggest female glossy in the country is the Australian Women's Weekly, and lo and behold, Julia's made the cover. Except...with the make up and hairstyle and photography and whatnot, she now looks like this:

Prime Minister Julia Gillard
(Source)

Which, to me, makes her look somewhat like this woman:

Older woman sexbomb Charlotte Rampling
(Source)

I suppose there are much worse people you could look like, especially when you don't particularly look like her. But I think we should all be thankful that Gillard chose not to do some of the more risque shots of Rampling's past!

As an aside, I re-watched Keating! The Musical on the weekend past and it made me nostalgic for politicans who took part in those old school verbal stoushes with much colourful invective. The blandness of the Federal Election Debate and the way they seem to have similar policies with different levels of spending reminds me of the Election episode of Futurama where John Jackson and Jack Johnson are the opposing candidates.

Movie review - Inception

Perspective and perception are amazing things. When the trailer came out, a lot of people were declaring Inception as the next great classic. I'm not sure whether these people noticed that it also didn't seem to indicate a discernible plot to the movie. You're missing quite a piece of information there that could affect our perception of the film, methinks. But now I have seen the movie in full and can decide for myself whether it is a classic or not!

A mysterious man (Leonardo DiCaprio) washes up on a beach - the only items on his person are a gun and a small spinning top. He is brought to an old man who asks mystery man if he is there to kill him (old man). The scene changes - we now find out the mysterious man is named Cobb, and he and a colleague Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are attempting some industrial espionage on Saito (Ken Watanabe) by stealing information from his safe. A mysterious woman named Mal (Marion Cotillard), who clearly has some previous relationship with Cobb, is also present and manages to avert the theft by shooting Arthur in the foot. It turns out however that this entire scene is taking place in a dream - we cut to another scene where the three men are asleep in a shabby room with a fourth man who monitors their responses, while a riot goes on outside. It turns out that Saito knows that Cobb and Arthur are there to complete an 'Extraction' - the theft of information from people's dreams...and in fact this scene in the room with the riot is another dream! And we cut to 'reality' - the four men (plus the monitor) are asleep on the bullet train in Japan. The three men are woken up and escape before Saito awakens. But HA!!! It turns out Saito knew what they were up to - the monitor was a mole! - and the entire charade was an audition to see how good Cobb and Arthur, because Saito wants them to perform an 'Inception' - the planting of an idea into the mind, on Fischer (Cillian Murphy), one of Saito's competitors. An Inception is much more difficult than an Extraction, but Cobb is adamant it can be done and goes about assembling a crack team of people who are required to successfully carry it out - Eames (Tom Hardy) a Forger or someone who can impersonate other people, Yusuf (Dileep Rao) a Chemist or someone who can make the appropriate sedatives to give adequate time for the act to be carried out, and Ariadne (Ellen Page) an Architect who builds the environments of the dream.

Are you still confused? You shouldn't be - it's just a heist movie that takes place in the dream world. This means that they can throw in all sorts of cool special effects, do complete changes of scene, and acquire all sorts of strange skills at will without really having to explain themselves - because you never remember how you go places in dreams or explain the weird stuff that happens. That's not to say that the movie is a major cop out a la Vanilla Sky because ITS ALL A DREAM!!! - for one, we're told it's a dream world from the start. So why do I think it's not the classic people other people say it is? I think my perception that it's a simple heist movie may be affecting my perspective of whether it's a classic because when people go on about the movie's complexity, I find myself thinking, *but, but..!* Let me explain.

Once we have the information about what's going on in the movie, you then start to look at why things happen in a movie. In Inception, Cobb's character and motivations are fully realised - he is after all the main character. But he can't do it without the others and we're not given their reasons so much. Why does Arthur continue working with Cobb even when he knows that Mal's existence in the dream world is getting increasingly dangerous? For that matter, why do Eames and Yusuf even join the team? But then I think, *well, this is heist movie - money is a good enough motivation.* Why does Ariadne rejoin the team given that she thinks the dreamworld is kinda dangerous? But then I think, *Heist movie needs a token young idealistic female cast member!* and turn off the bullshit radar again.

There were many times during the movie that I thought *miam, that scene looks good*. Notable places this occured included watching water flood a crumbling palace, seeing what happens when people start to perceive that the world they're in is a dream and things start spectacularly breaking down , and how illogical things like the Penrose stairs can become real. The highlight is definitely when Ariadne realises she can alter the environment of her dream at will and causes the streets of Paris to fold upon themselves. It's amazing! But coming back to the point about perspective and perception, the visual effects are undoubtedly amazing and it was especially interesting to But after a while, my eyes started going *I don't like this!* and developing a headache from trying to figure out the way everything did or did not fit together. And oh-hoho! The script drops in a line essentially saying that the mind (literally) fights what it doesn't like! Coincidence? Maybe, but I couldn't help thinking that it's a deliberate action. This might not be an issue for anyone else.

And then of course, there is the ending of which there are two. The first ending is the end of the caper/heist and links us back to the events of the beginning of the moviem and then there is the second ending which is the actual ending of the movie. I won't say explicitly what happens but both have clearly been set up to have the audience question whether all that we've seen before is reality or yet another layer of a dream. To enter into a Blade Runner-esque *is Deckard a replicant?* argument, if you will. OR it could be that they didn't want to give us a nice, clean, happy Hollywood ending! You decide!

In all, I would say that despite my nit-picking, I would encourage other people to see it. If just because it's not brainless fluff we normally get - at least, not on the surface. Maybe all the pre-release hype has made people think it is genius, and made me look extra hard for reasons why it's not. In any case, great visuals and interesting ideas mean Inception has got the potential to be a classic...just not yet. That would be dependent on repeated viewings. I simply hope that it turns out to be a Matrix or Pulp Fiction-esque grow more interesting with time movie rather than a 'dammit, we've all been sucked in by a gimmick' movie, a la Forrest Gump.
8/10

Hills BBQ, Box Hill

Hills BBQ in Box Hill is one of those iconic restaurants for Asians who grew up in certain parts of Melbourne. We may mock it for its dirty appearance and the somewhat shoddy service, but you know it's the place to go when you want some comforting beef hor fun or a cheap dish of assorted bbq meats. And by golly, that's what we got last night.

But oddly enough, we also got a very helpful waitress! I was eyeing off the lemon flavoured teas in the fridge but when I pulled out the peach tea, she said it was her favourite and, I must admit, it WAS very good! She also helped RachiePoo pick out some lemon flavoured tea for herself and Clinty.

Peach tea!
Oddly enough, it reminded me of all the peach tea I downed in Italy.
Mmmm, memories...

Anyway, onto the food. We came to Hills for some comforting Asian food, and that's what we got.

RachiePoo's Beef Hor Fun

Clinty's Mixed BBQ on rice

Omar's Suckling Pig on Rice

My Combination on Crispy Fried Noodles

As you can see, the servings are pretty large. It didn't stop me from absolutely massacring the dish as soon as it was placed before me. Despite getting my dish last, I finished first! And all without the help of Supergut!

For the four dishes and three flavoured teas, it came to about $12 per person, meaning that if you have the free tea instead of buying something flavoured, Hills falls way into the $10 per head criteria of the studen food reviews! Cheap enough for us to go hit the Korean Supermarkets afterwards and score some Asian ice cream!

Song of the week - Freedom 90 by George Michael

Freaking Epic!!!

Noodle Kingdom, Russell St. City

So following the visit to Noodle Kingdom Preston, RachiePoo and I decided to visit Noodle Kingdom City to see how it stacked up.

I must admit, we were initially underwhelmed by two main things. Firstly, city is a lot dirtier than Preston.

The wall next to my seat. Got to make sure I don't lean against that!

Secondly, our table offered us a magnificent view of the kitchen's storage methods.

Ummm...I really don't know what to say about this.

But our worries were partially wiped out by the arrival of our food. We decided that without Supergut (aka Pooey), there would be no way the two of us could replicate our eating experience of Saturday. So we instead decided to not order meat harmonicas and simply limit our order to the:

Dandan mian - more chili than the Preston version *still good!*

Zhajiang mian - more beany than the Preston version *still good!*

Powerfist to the zhajiang mian!
(or constipation face)

And might I just say, I was a little confused. The reason for my confusion was then confirmed by RachiePoo - yes, these servings were indeed....larger than the Preston counterparts?!?!?! Well no matter, we were going to give them a good home!

Except we couldn't! Without Supergut, we couldn't finish our noodles! :O Having eaten to what I think would have been the equivalent of our Saturday servings, I looked up at RachiePoo and said with dismay, "I think I'm full!" to which she replied, "Me too!!!" But like any good Asian place, they gave us some takeaway boxes because like all good Asians, we can't waste half decent food!

So yes, at around $8.50 for a large bowl of noodles (and 20cents per takeaway box), I would recommend Noodle Kingdom City. I'll let you know if the dirtiness affects me any time soon.

Noodle Kingdom, High St. Preston

On Friday night, I went to Dumplings Plus on Swanston St. with a variety of friends. It was very disappointing. The chive dumplings had us burping up chive breath and the xiaolongbaos were so overcooked, the skins had broken in the steamer and the juice had streamed out! Very underwhelming. The food may be cheap (less than $10/dish) and the servings large but I felt it was not very good. You may take that as a review.

Later that night, RachiePoo asked me what I would be doing on Saturday. The answer was, "I'm going to pick up Pooey from the airport and then we're going to have lunch, probably at Noodle Kingdom in Preston. Want to come?" She said yes and it was decided that I'd pick her up before going to the airport.

Yes, the service at Noodle Kingdom isn't great - despite being a teeny 47/48kg, RachiePoo the heifer was asked to leave more space in the walkway. But at less than $50 for four HUGE dishes plus 3 bubble tea drinks, it was awesome and MUCH BETTER than Dumplings Plus. We got the zhajianmian (Chinese spagbol - the dish Marco Polo ripped off), dandanmian (much better flavour and nutty/sesame than the one we had the night before), xiaolongbao (no torn wrappings!), and some meat harmonicas. Okay, they were cumin-spiced mutton ribs. I felt so proud as we three small Asian chicks demolished all that food. It was awesome.

Believe it or not, Pooey got her blog up earlier than me so you can check out her entry for thoughts and pics of the meat harmonica!

Painting of the week - The Clothed Maja by Goya

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes , La Maja Vestida, 1800-1805

Museo del Prado, Madrid
(Source)

Goya's Clothed Maja is the counterpart to his Naked Maja. Both paintings hang side by side in Madrid's Prado Museum. They were both painted for the then-Prime Minister of Spain, Manuel Godoy, who was also rumoured to be the lover of Queen Maria Luisa. Godoy kept the two paintings whereby the clothed version could be raised by a pulley system to expose the naked one underneath. A kind of old-school peepshow if you will.

Of course, there is more info surrounding this pic. No one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition but you can bet that if they found out Goya had painted a picture of a nude woman (complete with pubic hair!) that they'd be unhappy. They were unhappy. In 1808, King Carlos IV of Spain abdicated, Godoy fell from power, and thus the Majas ended up in the hands of the Inquisition. In 1815, Goya was called up to explain himself, and ultimately lost his position as painter to the Spanish Court.

Kyoot dog!!!

I was happily walking my way down Johnstone St in Fitzy when something AMAZING caught my eye and I did a double-take then went :O :D :O :D

It was this DOG!!! Isn't he adorable?! I think he's a keeshond.

I don't know if the dog's owner get that kind of reaction much. He seemed pretty cool with me rocking over and saying with an excited squeal, "Can I pat your dog?!?!" and then going to the dog, "Aren't you gorgeous?!" while alternately rubbing his ruff and letting him lick my hands. And then when I asked, "Can I photograph your dog?!?!"...well the dog got really excited!!! And then he posed beautifully for this pic.

Awww, so kyoot. I want one!

Do you like the smell of adventure?!

The Eternal Dilemma - Rob Redford vs. Paul Newman

Bright minds get fascinated by some pretty diverse topics, and the really important topics get debated en masse. So when you've got a room full of Hons, PhDs and Profs in a room arguing about who is hotter, Robert Redford or Paul Newman, you know it's damn important!

As with many important topics, we could not reach a consensus so I'll throw it out to the masses!

*tumbleweeds fly past*

Look, just vote, okay? Here's some photographic help:

The Young Studio Glamour Shot

The Moody, Looking away from the Camera Shot

The Obligatory Shirtless Shot

The *Why yes, I did become a Silver Fox* shot

I hope that all helped.

Congrats Spain :D

Movie review - The Hedgehog (L'Hérisson)

To celebrate the return of Sophie to Melbs after the absence of a year (to study Law in London!), we decided to get back into the spirit by having dinner on Lygon St. (where I randomly spoke Italian - yes, I'm a tool) followed a French movie. And our movie of choice was The Hedgehog. Based on the bestseller The Elegance of The Hedgehog (which I haven't read because I was stopping myself from reading and dreaming about life in Paris - boohooo!) The Hedgehog is about finding the little things that make life worth living.

In a rich apartment building in Paris, precocious 11 year old Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic) has decided through years of observing her bourgeois family that she would rather die on her 12th birthday than grow up to be cold and self-absorbed like her sister or psychoanalysed and medicated like her mother. Meanwhile, the concierge of her building, Renee (Josiane Balasko) lives a life being overlooked by her rich inhabitants except for when they want something - like the sweeping up cigarette butts from the communal hallway or taking reception of a package. She fits the idea of what a concierge should be like - middle aged, poor, fat, ugly, etc, but is ultimately unconcerned with getting more. Paloma and Renee's lives and plans are disrupted by the arrival of a third outsider, the japanese widower Kakuro Ozu (Togo Igawa), to the apartment building. He recognises that both are not as they seem - Paloma speaks Japanese, and Renee can quote Tolstoy?!

This is a nice movie. It's nice seeing Renee and Paloma develop. Paloma learns that not all the adults around her are self-deluded in the pursuit of comfort and that life is worth living, and Renee doesn't have to hide herself and her intelligence away for fear of making her employers believe she's overreaching. But the really great thing about this movie is that we don't see all the characters suddenly become awesome. Paloma is still misunderstood by her family, and the tenants still don't know who Renee is behind her cranky veneer.

The acting is great with Balasko and Igawa getting across the characters with great economy of gesture but the outstanding one is Le Guillermic who comes across as the oldest 11 year old in the world - right down to the way she looks! And it's a big role too with lots of voice overs and scenes on her own. It's hard to comment on others as no one else has a role of note other than Anne Brochet as Paloma's mother, and she's more of a quasi-comic relief to show how absurd she is talking to plants but completely uncomprehending of her daughter.

The only things I'd really complain about are the subtitles calling Renee the building's janitor - puh-lease, a concierge is more than just a cleaner! Also, despite the movie being set in Paris, we see very little of Paris. Maybe it's a cliche but I wanted some of that Paris magic! It might also seem a bit slow to people as it's mostly talking rather than doing.

A sweet and interesting little movie.
7/10

Painting of the week - by Banksy

Banksy, Leake St Graffiti Removal, 2008
London
(Source)

One man's art is another man's graffiti. Who better to represent this than Banksy - the graffito whose artwork is worth millions of dollars - if you can chip it off the wall. But on the other hand, it's constantly being washed off the walls, even in the usually graffiti-happy Melbourne!

And yes I did pick this piece because the 'graffiti' being washed off looks like the Lascaux cave paintings! Can you imagine if someone decided they were crappy scrawl from some teens who couldn't draw?! :O:O:O:O

I'm on a horse

...now if only Old Spice actually smelled good

Books I have purchased and need to (finish) reading

Solar by Ian McEwan.
I like Ian McEwan. I haven't read all of his books but I've enjoyed the ones I have and enjoy the times where I attempt to explain to people how Atonement works as a piece of metafiction - the author tells a story but they tell a story based on their own motivations! It's not a cop-out!...I mean....*cough*, so getting back to the point. This book is about a womanising Nobel-prize winning physicist who heads a research institute examining global warming and renewable energy sources, but finds that while his professional life is awesome, his personal life is crumbling when his fourth wife (and not him!) whom he loves is having an affair! Ooh la la!

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks is a classic of clinical neuroscience storytelling! Lydia saw it in a used book stall on Sunday and held it up with a *Hey mallymoodle!* yell. I'll admit to giving out a squeal of delight - it's a classic of clinical neuroscience storytelling! - and rushing across to grab it. I then declared that I was going to buy it then and there without checking the price, much to the stares of Lydia and the stall holders. They didn't seem to understand when I told them that it's a classic of clinical neuroscience storytelling. Must be a neuroscience nerd thing.

Painting of the week - Lascaux Cave paintings

Great Hall of the Bulls, c. 15,000BC
Lascaux, Dordogne, Frances
(Source)

Discovered by four French teenagers in 1940, the Lascaux cave paintings are among the oldest paintings in the world. The paintings are divided up based on their location in the cave system and consist of over 6000 figures, mostly animals, as well as some abstract images. The animals primarily consist of horses, stags, aurochs and bison. Interestingly, there is only one depiction of a human within the paintings although there are positive and negative images of hands among others.

The paintings started deteriorating, particularly due to the growth of algae and fungi due to increased carbon dioxide and too many visitors. The cave was closed to the public in 1963 and a replica for tourists, Lascaux II, was opened in 1983. The deterioration of the original cave is still an issue, particularly after the installation of a new climate control machine in 2000. You can take a virtual tour of the caves at http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/en/00.xml/.