Super geil, super geil.

Sehr, sehr geil...

Offspring

Oh god, I can't....I just can't deal with this. Even all the way over in Munich. I mean it got spoiled for me (thank you, Facebook), but knowing what was going to happen *sniff*. I screamed when I saw how things were going to pan out and wanted to vomit. Then I burst into tears when Kate screamed. It was too much.

So all I can say is that we should remember Patrick the way Nina would think of him.

Rest in peace. 

My new obsession

DOWNTON ABBEY!!!

People have been saying for a while that I would love this series but in Germany it aired on cable (which I don't have), and it probably would have been dubbed into German (which I don't understand perfectly). Having said that, my boss said she had the DVDs and I could borrow them off her and watch it if I wanted (I don't have a DVD player at home).

Pooey gave me the files when she came and visited in June but I was instead watching Offspring, Glee, and Game of Thrones, among others. But even then, Pooey was telling me I HAD TO WATCH IT. And that I would appreciate a pair of fine (piercing) eyes in the series. Well now! But I was also told it was engrossing and given that my evenings in Munich are also taken up with cooking, gym, and social activities, I decided that the best thing I could do was watch the series while I was isolated in Bremen.

HEILIGE SCHIESSE, THIS SERIES IS AWESOME!!! 

My god, it is perfect for me! Taking place from 1912 to 1914, it's a world of almost perfect civility, white-tie formality (the people upstairs), the people who make it possible (the servants), intermixed with family drama and class interaction! And there is a mighty fine pair of piercing eyes. Damn schexy ones, with great dollops of sexual tension.

In tuxedoes! Dammit, you two need to get together!

But upon completion of the first season, I discovered that Pooey didn't give me all of S2! I had to hold off watching until it was complete so I wouldn't have to be kept in suspense! Instead I decided to re-watch my favourite moments (such as when Lady Mary and Cousin Matthew flirt), but especially the tour de force awesomeness that is Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess of Grantham. 

As seen in this video!

But I've started S2 now, and it's set during WWI so this time around we get some uniform action.

And I love a man in uniform. Although I think that's a lieutenant uniform, not a brigadier.

Homeland

Something else I managed to achieve over Easter was watching the entire first season of Homeland. Starring Claire Danes as CIA agent Carrie Mathison and my favourite spunky ginger, Damian Lewis, as Marine Sargent Brody who has been held hostage in Iraq for 8 years and whom Carrie believes to have been turned to become a terrorist, THIS SHOW ROCKED MY SOCKS!!!


Seriously, this show is so tense - has Brody been turned or could his actions just be the result of post-traumatic stress disorder (not completely unexpected!)? Is what Carrie seeing real or is she paranoid due to missing the signs of 9-11 ten years earlier?! I don't really know what more I could say to describe the plot without massively spoiling the series. But it took me on a whole rollercoaster of emotions and I ended up being majorly sleep deprived over the break as I tried to devour as many episodes as possible without falling asleep during any episodes! In fact, I'm going to say it....BETTER THAN GAME OF THRONES!!!!


Clear your schedule and watch this, people. It's worth it!

Game of Thrones

After all the hype, after all the fandom, after all the recommendations and close to the release of the second season, I have finally finished watching Game of Thrones. A mediaeval fantasy series, I'm not particularly into this genre and after watching the first few episodes, I think I turned away because something known as Oktoberfest/Wiesn was taking place. And then, I just never went back because I got Band of Brothers and The Pacific. When Gnou came through recently, he was shocked that I hadn't finished watching GoT - quelle horreur!!! - and he demanded that we sit down together and watch as many episodes as possible until we got tired or drunk (we may have been drinking absinthe). I think after three episodes, defeat was conceded. Anyway, easy as it would have been to stop there and just read about what was going to happen on wikipedia or imdb, I figured I may as well watch the rest to get people off my back as to why I hadn't watched it. 


My thoughts? Not having read the books, I found the first few episodes  slow because it's basically introducing all the characters and locations. It definitely gets better later on as we see the political and personal games being played, and the complexity of the storylines becomes apparent. I'm not sure how much money HBO sunk into the production (apparently close to $5mill/ep), but the costumes, sets and CGI seem fairly convincing. However, all the money and costumes in the world wouldn't without the cast which is definitely the real strength of the show. Much has been said of Peter Dinklage's performance (well deserved Emmy and Golden Globe there), but Gnou rightly pointed out that even the kids are good - particularly Jack Gleeson as Prince Joffrey Baratheon. As he said (insert French accent here), "Ze Keed eez so good in 'eez role - 'ee really make you 'ate 'eem!"


My main criticism? Other than the slowness of the first few episodes, the show gained the nickname Boob of Boobs with good reason. In the book, does so much exposition occur with sex going on? Are there usually so many random moments of nudity? I think there's at least two sex scenes per episode. If there is one commendment for the nudity, it's that it's not just females - there is some p33n as well (if you consider that a good thing). Also, I found Nedd Stark annoying after a while *SPOILER* - If you know the heir to the throne is not the King's child and suspect the Queen and her brother had a role in trying to kill your child....WHY WOULD YOU LET THEM KEEP THEIR LIVES WITHOUT DISSEMINATING THE INFORMATION?!?!*END SPOILER*


So, GoT was pretty entertaining. While I haven't reached the same level of enthusiasm as the reviewers on imdb or even Gnou who said he gets excited when he hears the theme, I'm amused enough when I saw this Simpsons rip off of the GoT opening sequence

and to look forward to season two - coming out on April 1st. 

A great thing about going to the gym

Television! 


I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer followed by some core work. Having finished that, I decided to try and do more work and so I hopped back onto an elliptical trainer when - hey ho! I realised that Futurama (auf Deutsch) was on VIVA. And not just any old episodes of Futurama - two of my most favourite ones, Amazon Women in the Mood and Parasites Lost.


Great thing is, I've seen the episodes so many times in English that I totally got the German translations and picked up some new vocab! Ich habe gesnu-snu!

Unfortunately I couldn't find the clips in German - luckily it also works in Spanish!

More Muppet toys

Smee sent a video of me playing with Swedish Chef to Pooey. She asked what other dolls were available and I said Kermit was there. She asked that buy Kermit ASAP!!! And the Spu messaged me while I was still sleeping asking that I get Beaker as well. 

I am actually really impressed by how good the Kermit was. He was also £2 more expensive than the other two so I guess they really invested those two quid.

The large number of dolls meant I had to leave them in Runds to make friends with Smee.

Band of Brothers

I've been watching The Pacific and I've got to say, other than the strange thrill of seeing Melbourne on film (hehehe, I know where they filmed some things!), it's not as good as Band of Brothers. Or at least, it's suffering in comparison given that I've been watching them end to end. Okay, BoB has the unfair advantage of being older and therefore subject to more viewings and I know what's going to happen, but I'll lay it out as to why The Pacific suffers in comparison.

1. The source material. Firstly, unlike some criticisms I've read, I will never, ever say that the Pacific theatre of WWII is less interesting than the European. That's just wrong. However,  unlike BoB which is derived from Stephen Ambrose's text of the same name, The Pacific is based on the biographies of two different men, Eugene Sledge and Robert Leckie, as well as recalling the experiences of John Basilone. While the three served in the 1st marine division, they did not serve together and so it seems more mashed together than a coherent following of different members of the same team, as we saw in BoB. This brings me to point 

2. A lot of the strength of BoB is seeing how the team bonds and suffers together through adversity, whether it be during training, through the various battles, loss of members to death and injury, to the end of the war. This team feeling is partly what makes BoB so powerful because it also feels as though we are a part of them, whether they're sitting in the snow in Bastogne, getting angry at Lt. Dike, or amazed at the badassery of Speirs. To me, there is less emotional involvement because it is following different teams in The Pacific.


3. Despite the subject matter, there are some surprising moments of levity. This is important because even though War is Hell, life can be pretty damn funny.

Those first few reasons are the main strengths and weaknesses comparing the two. But because I'm superficial, a very important reason is also...
4. The cast of The Pacific are just not as hot as the one in BoB. Ron Speirs sounds like he may have been an asshole in real life (possibly murdered POWs, rampant looter, his own men are slightly afraid of him), but played by Matthew Settle (aka Rufus from Gossip Girl), it seems kinda psycho hot! Take these gifs for example:

See? Hot! 

And then there's when we see how sad Doc Roe is, struggling not to bond with his teammates as they die in the snow and forest, it hurts!

Ron Livingston may always be slightly thought of as insecure Berger from SATC but he lends Lewis Nixon a certain charm despite the chronic alcoholism. And of course, BoB stars my favourite ginger, Damian Lewis, as the main character of the series, Dick Winters. I really love their scenes of platonic manlove in the last episode. Also, it's kinda fun to pick who the actors are now as the series features actors who were nobodies then and are people now - e.g. Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Tom Hardy...


4. With the team stuff and the hot actors, it's actually kinda slashy. This shouldn't be a reason for liking BoB more...but it is. Particularly Winters/Nixon. Just watch this clip.

Anyway, I'll try to repeatedly watch The Pacific until I feel a similar level of love. Otherwise, it's back to Europe with Easy Company!

This needs to happen...

HARRY POTTER AS AN ANIME!!!!!

My interpretation of who's who, top to bottom, L-R
Tom Riddle/Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, Nagini
Regulus Black, Kreacher
Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley
Charlie Weasley, Bill Weasley
Percy Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Fleur Delacour
Fred Weasley, George Weasley
Tonks, Prof. McGonagall, Prof. Sprout (? not sure about this one)
Hagrid, Dobby
Aberforth Dumbledore, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood
Professor Snape
Remus Lupin, Sirius Black
Lily Potter, James Potter
Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley
Harry Potter
Prof. Dumbledore.

HOLY SHEET, I'D WATCH IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!!

I originally saw it here.

Things I say that my workmates find amusing

"But he jerked her around for years!"

- my comment about Mr. Big from SATC

A Truth Universally Acknowledged...

...that women the world over love Pride and Prejudice and Colin Firth is the DEFINITIVE Mr. Darcy!

I was hanging out at Yuliana's place before Xmas when I noticed she had not one, but two copies of Pride and Prejudice. When I pointed it out, she said she LOVED the book and had watched the BBC edition many times - but not the German dub version because apparently it's 1.5 hours shorter (wtf?!) - and in fact, she had the DVD right there!!! Naturally, I was :D and as we trotted off to work's Xmas party, we agreed that we had to watch the episodes again together. We caught up with Caro and told her of the plan, whereupon Caro informed us that she had NEVER seen it. We were both :O and invited her along!

After a decadent brunch, we three settled in to watch it. And just like the last time I watched all six hours in a row, we sat enraptured and commented along with the scenes! For example: 

• When Firth makes his appearance at the Meryton Assembly rooms, Caro's priceless comment was, "Is that Mr. Darcy? Oh my god, HE'S A MAN!!!"
• Shuddering at how sweaty Mr. Collins always looks. 
• Reciting Darcy's original proposal with him!
• "Dearest, loveliest Lizzie...how come no one ever says dearest, loveliest Yuliana?!"

 Caro said she went home in a haze of loveliness, to the extent that her bf asked her to leave 1815 Hertfordshire and come back to Munich. And as we discussed how awesome the series is today, another girl revealed she had NEVER seen the BBC version, only the Keira Knightley movie version! We all looked at each other and declared that we must simply do it again! HOORAY!!!

The most unlikeable person on TV?

I've been re-watching Glee from the beginning of the series right up until the current part of the second season and I must say, it's quite enjoyable. Except for one thing.

I REALLY DISLIKE RACHEL BERRY.

During the first season, her desire to be popular and rule the school, okay that's unlikeable but understandable, given that they're kids. But her actions in the second season such as sending Sunshine to a Crack House so she couldn't challenge Rachel's position as lead singer in the club, or basically saying to Finn that she wanted to be the only thing to make him happy....ugh! This level of insecurity to strangers as well as people she 'loves'...I can see her turning into Mr. Schu's stupid wife. Stupid.

Anyhoo, here's a clip from Glee of Charice sticking it to Rachel! 
 


Also, here's a clip of the Boys' school singing Teenage Dream! YAY!

High school flashbacks

Summer Heights High is being replayed on ABC2 and having known girls like this....

IT'S LIKE BEING BACK IN HIGH SCHOOL!!! HAHAHAHHA.....ahhh....so true!

I love Modern Family (and Phil Dunphy)

Do you watch Modern Family? If you don't, you should. I have spent the last two days watching the episodes one after the other and I am convinced of its utter hilarity.

I have also decided that I want to marry someone like Phil Dunphy.


Because he is a big haphazard goofball


(which might actually piss the real me off)


But it would always be funny

And full of random singing!

Seriously, how can a show that brought us the song *Underneath the Moonlight* be bad?

Do you like the smell of adventure?!

I'm on a horse

...now if only Old Spice actually smelled good

Totally looks like

This hairdresser

Totally looks like

The Crow Demon from Monkey
(Image source)

Influencing life since the last fortnight

Well now, all the love I've been giving to the Pretty Woman official soundtrack for the past two weeks have borne fruit. Pretty Woman is going to be shown on TV on Saturday night.

Kekekekekeke.

Character assassination

I like to think of myself as someone who does not sit idly by while injustices occur. If I see someone treated unfairly, I would like to think that I'd speak up, even if it means taking the unpopular route.

I would like to say that the treatment of the character Aleksandr Petrovsky (Mikhail Baryshnikov) in the final season of Sex and The City was totally unfair!

I only say this now because it wasn't until last month that I watched all of the episodes of S6 in a row and I saw how it panned out. This past weekend the last few eps were replayed again and I fully confirmed in my beliefs. Now, I was a fair to middling fan of SATC but I knew enough to follow which character was a sweetie-pie (Aidan), which was an insecure asshole (Berger) and which was a charming bastard (Big), but I fully believe that Petrovsky didn't misrepresent himself in anyway! Quite frankly, if Carrie were a little more mature, I think what she had going on with Petrovsky was a sweet situation. Lets break down why Petrovsky was an asshole in the view of the show and why I think it was simply blackening of character!

Petrovsky has a child from a previous relationship and doesn't want anymore kids, forcing Carrie to give up any likelihood of herself having any kids.

• Carrie doesn't exactly express her desire to have kids during the show. I think what happens here is a case of wanting what you can't have. Also, where's the acceptance that he had a life before she came along? He's 20 years older - of course there's the possibility he had a kid!
  

Petrovsky ignores her friends, instead deciding to stay in his studio.

• It's his job. If Big were working, it's not as if he could just leave it to entertain her drunk friends.
  

He's insensitive to Carrie's distress when Samantha is diagnosed with breast cancer, saying that he had a friend who died from it.

• Okay, it's important to be positive when friends get diagnosed with life-threatening conditions but it would be downright foolish to not face up to the reality that the chance that they might not pull through. He had experience in this and was trying to warn her that it's always a possibility.
  

Petrovsky decides to go to Paris, forcing Carrie to leave New York if they're to remain a couple.

• I can understand the difficulty in leaving behind a life to follow a partner across the world but I would like to reiterate that Petrovsky had a whole separate life before she came along and being an artist, there's always the chance he might want to leave and go to other arty cities. Also, if she didn't want to go, she didn't have to go...

When she arrives in Paris, she feels neglected because he talks to this friends in French which she doesn't speak fluently and doesn't go to the museums with her. He later forces her to go with him to the gallery instead of allowing her to potentially make friends and then ignores her once they get there.

• Didn't she say she always dreamed of going to Paris? What was she going to do when she got there, speak English? Pffft. How about instead of idling around, going to classes to improve your language skills or lack thereof? Or you know, get a job so you're not bored? Isn't Carrie an independent woman? We're given the impression that she stayed at the gallery for aaaages while he ignored her - how about leaving as soon it's apparent he doesn't need you?
  

He hit her during their last argument.

• That was an accident. He was facing away from her and shaking off her hand. That was no slap!
  

Carrie goes on to give that big speech at the end of An American Girl in Paris Part Deux about how she's searching for crazy, all-consuming love where she comes first.

• Ummm...this guy is paying for you to live in Paris with him. You can go out to Dior on Avenue Montaigne and buy it out. Without holding a job! I'd say he think's youre pretty important to him.
  

(There's more I could say but it's making me angry.)

So after all that, Carrie decides to go back to a guy who screwed her around for six years - someone who was unfaithful, married someone else within months of splitting from her, someone who moved across the continent and didn't intend on telling her, someone who was so immature and insecure that despite being in his 40s he ran away when he realised he loved her. And he did it AGAIN in the movie! (Okay he made it up to her there but they still won't be having kids.) Maybe it's because I have a soft spot for Paris and Russians, but I stand by my assessment. Petrovsky was a pretty good deal!

TV moment - The Wonder Years

I stayed home today, ostensibly to devote a few hours to doing re-analysis while wearing my pjs and in the comfort of my beanbag and snuggly blanket. While I managed to do this, I had to take a 30 minute break at 3pm to watch this....

In my head, it's hard to belive that The Wonder Years ran six years. It was such a defining show that it seems to have ran for both more and less than that amount of time. The show follows 11 year old Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), his best friend Paul (Josh Saviano - who did NOT grow up to be Marilyn Manson), and his sometimes girlfriend Winnie Cooper (Danica Mackellar) through junior high to summer before college. So far, so what. But the show is set in the late 60-early 70s so there are additional issues dealing with various contemporary themes such as the Vietnam War, racial and social changes, in conjunction with the teen and family themes.

This show was so funny - I tried desperately to find the episode where Kevin gets a pimple on his chin a few days before he meets the hot daughter of family friend or the Kevin *Amold* episode (heh) on youtube. No luck. But another thing that made this show so awesome was the soundtrack comprising of contemporary music - The Doors, Jimi, The Beatles, The Stones etc... Unfortunately the awesomeness of the soundtrack is apparently what's causing difficulty in getting it onto DVD for everyone to enjoy because of licensing issues.

If this show is ever broadcast near you, watch it! And for those who have watched it and wanted to know if Kevin and Winnie end up with each other, here is the ending to the very last episode to answer your questions (Spoilers abound!!!)