Two epic dinners

Yesterday and tonight, I had two epic dinners.

On Tuesday night, I forewent a Zumba Class (those abs are to die for! LOL) because dancinghula was back from C-town so we , her siblings, and various other friends went to the Robert Burns Hotel. Don't be fooled by the connotations of the name - we didn't have haggis. Oh no. Instead, we had a Spanish feast! Unfortunately, I didn't take that many photos because we were too busy digging in.

Pffft, we had to have sangria of course!

Tapas to share: Eggplant chips. We also had the albondigas (meatballs), chorizo, garlic prawns, stuffed mushrooms...there was more but I can't remember.

Mains: Seafood...for TWO?!?! This was HUGE!!! We also had two different paellas, one with seafood and one with seafood and chicken. I really wish I took photos of them because they too were HUGE!!!

Luckily we decided to keep our dessert stomachs clear because when the waiter told us what they were, we...er.....kinda ordered all of them :D.

Catalan Cream/Custard. Like a less set creme brulee. That's not a criticism - it was delicious!

Orange cheesecake. Also delicious!

Churros. Light and fluffy with a crispy outer. *thumbs up*

Sticky Date pudding. Okay, not really that Spanish but still good!

Chocolate Fondant. Alas, this one was a bit of a disappointment because it lacked the gooey centre. That problem was solved by pouring the churros dipping sauce into the fondant!

I will admit, by the end I was feeling in a little bit of pain - my food baby was definitely increasing! But she/he/it grew another month bigger when Tuesday night was followed up with Czech dinner on Wednesday night!

Apparently, Koliba was the first authentic Czech and Slovak restaurant in Melbs. Not having visited the region (yet), I'm not sure if it's authentic but they definitely had things that pleased the crowd.

WarBrother, quite pleased with his 500ml beer

WarBrother, much MORE pleased with ONE LITRE beer steins!

Note the family resemblance here on their pleased, pleased faces

My plum brandy. Very smooth and easy going down.

Enough about the booze - onto the food!

Entree - Bramborak, a potato pancake with side of sauerkraut

Utopenci, marinated sausage with raw onions

My DEVIL BREAD (for reals, it was called this on the menu), bread with minced meat and cheese

The mains - what is apparently the Czech National dish: roast pork with sauerkraut and bread dumplings (a bit like the flour bit on cha siu bao)

Crumbed and deep fried edam with traditional potato salad (and garden salad)

My Chernohor - pork schnitzel wrapped in bramborak - potato pancake - with potato salad (and garden salad)

When I told Pooey the cuisine of the night, she asked me how it was with the comment, "You know, people don't go to the Czech Republic for their food." I can understand why. Mischka described the food as 'hearty'. Someone else said that's a euphemism for 'big servings of bland-ish food'. Maybe I got lucky, but I quite liked my orders although it was agreed that my dishes were the best ones of the night. I suppose if you don't like sauerkraut, onion or potatoes, happen to be a vegetarian, or unable to eat giant wheels of deep fried cheese as large as your face, this place may not be for you. But if you are capable of any of the above, go for it! Or you know, you could share meals. The servings were definitely capable of being confortably shared between two.

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?

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/.

Student food review - Eastern Kitchen, Union House Melb Uni

Dr. I is back in Melbs from NYC. She'll happily tell you that Eastern Kitchen (or EK for short) is her favourite place to eat. Yes, for her, it's right up there with Vue de Monde. I'm not sure if it's my favourite place, in fact I know it's not, but in terms of price to quality, it's right up there!

(Photo of EK not taken due to my fear they'll never let me order again)

EK is has a Chinese-Malaysian based and consists of a bain-marie foods such as black-bean beef, sweet and sour pork etc, as well as a menu of things cooked to order. Ignore the bain-marie (unless you're starving or in a rush), and order off the menu. The order menu has things such as fried rice, won ton noodles, crispy fried noodles, and so forth. All of the items on the menu are under $10 - I think the most expensive things are $7, probably because they have seafood in them like the Seafood Laksa. The regulars I order are Tom Yum Chicken soup noodles, Chicken Laksa soup noodles, and Char Kway Teo.

Cha kway teo!

All of these dishes do contain actual meat and actual vegetables. As you can see in that pic, it does actually have beanshoots, spring onions and onion onions, and beef. Okay, it doesn't have chinese sausage and prawns but I think it's still acceptable! The laksa is perhaps not a true curry flavour and I often have to spice it up by putting in a spoon of chilli sauce but I'll accept that too! The dishes are of also of a respectable size. In the past I have previously eaten only half and stored the rest for a later meal (during my hardcore days), or have consumed the entire bowl/box to the astonishment of my workmates who wondered where the food went (into my hollow leg).

Now the real kicker about EK is that when Dr. I came back after 3 years away from Uni, she took one look at the menu and said, "Three years and still the same price!" It actually wasn't - it has increased in price...but all the dishes are still $7 or cheaper! The cha kway teo is in fact only $6.50 (up from $6 in 2009) but for that price, I'll accept that lack of prawns in the mix!

Movie review - Toy Story 3(D)

Name me a trilogy where the third movie is the best. The original Star Wars? Return of the Jedi was wrecked by the Ewoks. Godfather part III? Don't make me laugh! Okay, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is pretty entertaining, I'm not sure if it's better than Raiders of the Lost Ark...but enough of this because I would like to review Toy Story 3 and start off by declaring it as good as the other two...AND POSSIBLY THE BEST!!!

*SPOILERS ABOUND IN THIS REVIEW*

Eleven years after Toy Story 2 and FIFTEEN (!!!) years after Toy Story 1, Andy is now about to head to college - his toy collection is now greatly reduced in size and down to a handful of favourite toys such as Woody, Buzz, Jessie, the Potatoheads, etc. Those who are left are worried about their futures - they're not keen on being thrown out but are willing to be stored in the attic if that means they can stay together. When Andy decides to take Woody to college and store the others in the attic, a bag mix up results in them nearly being sent to the rubbish tip, and then all, including Woody, being actually sent to Sunnyside Daycare Centre. Here, they're welcomed by the genial Lotso the Lotso'huggin' bear (Ned Beatty) who states that at Sunnyside, there's an endless supply of kids who will keep playing with them - a toy's heaven, if you well. There are new friends, and Barbie falls in love with her soulmate, Ken (Michael Keaton) and his large number of clothes and accessories. The gang decide that they would rather stay at Sunnyside and be played with rather than attempt the dangerous return journey, with the exception of Woody who wants to return, so the toys part ways. But Lotso, sadistically twisted after being replaced when lost on a daytrip, runs Sunnyside as a prison for toys - breaking the spirits and bodies of new toys by forcing them into the pre-school room who don't realise they're age-inappropriate. But is it better to be broken and played with or abandoned and forgotten?!

Everything about this movie is so great, I almost don't know where to start with the gushing. It's difficult to articulate what's so great about it other than telling you to go see it yourself. As with all Pixar films (except Cars), the animation, story, and acting of TS3 are top notch.

As we all know, CGI has advanced in leaps and bounds since TS1 came out, but the animators have resisted the urge to make things look more realistic in a Finding Nemo or Wall-E way, instead sticking to the bright blocky palette of the original. But movement between expression is clearer...except where deliberately left to be clunky such as the jerky movements of Ken and Barbie's fused joints! The detail on Lotso's fur moving from fluffy to mottled and dirty as time and weather conditions pass, Mr. Potatohead's plastic shell covered in sand or his floppiness when he becomes a pitabread...all amazing.

But the glossy visuals mean nothing without a killer story to back it up! (Take note, Avatar!) As you can probably tell by that long plot summary/introduction, the story is a bit more sad and emotional than the previous movies, dealing instead with themes of growing up, letting go, the bonds of friendship, abandonment, courage, loss, and redemption. No one ever wants to be discarded from the lives of the people you love but kids grow up, pets get old, toys get broken or forgotten...its all very sad reality for the lives of humans and toys. And although your heart may be broken when the one you love moves on, you can't let yourself get bitter and twisted like Lotso - you have to man up and realise that life goes on like the pre-loved toys at Bonnie's house! There are so many moments of suspense and horror! From when they are accidentally sent to the curb for the garbage to when they end up at Sunnyside, when Buzz discovers the truth of Sunnyside but is forcibly reset to factory setting and acts as the other toys' gaoler, Woody's distress at Chuckles the Clown's retelling of Lotso's history and the conditions in which he's left his friends, their dramatic break out, and the ending when Andy finally realises that although he has so many good memories of his toys they're better off being given to someone who will love and keep playing with them. It's all good.

And the acting! We all know the previous actors do their stuff and do it well, so just looking at the new toys or the ones with expanded roles...Ned Beatty who switches from jovial to menacing in mere words, Jody Benson (Ariel the Little Mermaid!) showing that Barbie may seem like a bimbo but she's an intelligent woman at heart, and But most important is the voice acting combined with the animated faces! I can only give you a description of the Incinerator scene when the toys realise they can't out-run a garbage incinerator. From the moment Jessie looks at Buzz and lets out a ragged, "Buzz, what are we gonna do?"...the look of resignation upon their faces as the toys one by one link hands and accept the worst possible fate of death...it's right up there with the pain on Optimus Prime's face as he died in Transformers 2! I even sat there and thought *they're NOT really going to end the trilogy like this...ARE THEY?!?!* It's a most torrid and convincing combination of acting there is.

My main note of criticism is that we watched TS3 in 3D. Save your money and don't do this. As far as I could tell, I doubt there was any particular sequence which was enriched by the use of 3D. Or it was so seamless that I didn't notice it. *shrug* Also, I guess the scene where the Chatter Telephone explains how the toys won't be able to escape Sunnyside because of the Monkey Guard...that Monkey is pretty scary! Me and Pooey actually turned to each other with fear in our eyes!

Seriously, this movie is amazing. It made me feel bad that last year at the grand age of 28, I decided to pack up my childhood ties and sell them on ebay. Except not my favourite - a raggy, somewhat disgusting old toy named Kanga (it's a 'roo) that I received when I was 4. I had to go home and give Kanga and Watermelon Pooh a hug. In the words of Pooey - one of the best movies I've seen in a long time! If you haven't watched it or made plans to, I think you should!
9/10

Saving money fail...or WIN!!!

I've been working slightly more than usual lately - being called in to cover for people who are ill or having to work more because people want more work done within a shorter amount of time. This has meant that

1. By being paid by the hour, I am able to charge more hours than usual!
2. Full time work is kinda annoying because I've gotten used to being able to leave uni whenever I felt like it
3. But I'm going to receive slightly more money when I look at my bank account!
   

And you know, with the sales currently on it's been difficult to not to go nuts in anticipation of having money. I feel I've been quite restrained in the grand scheme of things. Other than the metal lizard shoes, I've only spent $50 on stockings and another $70 on books. The restraint pretty was shot this week, although to be fair, the items I bought were mostly on sale so we can all decide whether it was a win or a fail!

Believe it or not, despite my love of red and my love of strapless dresses, I don't own a strapless red dress. This has now been rectified.

Alannah Hill Roses Everywhere! frock with AH Hug me Slowly belt.
I didn't intend on buying anything but I was killing time while Suboo was getting her makeup done. I tried this dress on and decided to buy it...and was then pleasantly surprised to discover a discount on top of already discounted frocks for a total discount of close to 50%!

Ma wanted to go shopping after dropping Pooey off a l'aeroporto so we chugged on down to DFO. I finally got myself a new clutch purse because although it has served me well for the last 4 years (I think), I've recently began to feel it was time to retire faithful purple.

And that's how I got crocodile red.
All purses were $75 or a discount of more than 50%. When she entered the store and saw me holding three purses, upon being told that they were $75 each, Ma asked if I was going to buy all three. Kekeke.

So yes. While perhaps not the greatest week for savings, have I not ultimately saved? I will say this though - one last shopping go this season might be required because I have to finally concede that one of my pairs of jeans is definitely too large and actually it looks quite terrible. Any volunteers to help me find a pair?

Bacon gumball review

A few weeks ago, Dr. I posted a picture of a tin of bacon flavoured gumballs on the book of face with the caption 'Only in America'. Going against the flow as I often do, despite many people decrying about how awful they must be I found myself intrigued at how the combination of savoury bacon and sweet gummy flavour would work. Wonder no more!!! The gumballs have arrived and in the grand scientific tradition of self-testing and experimental replication, I can no report on how they taste!

Opening the tin, you'll find yourself assaulted with an intial aroma of artificial smokey-bacon flavour in conjunction with the rubbery undertone of gumball. Upon putting one of these in my mouth...when the gumball shell cracked, a dry, smoke-like flavour expanded throughout my mouth, permeating my soft mucous membranes and continuing down my throat. I felt as though an actual smoke cloud was there, so I would describe the experience as to akin to smoking cigarettes although given that I've never smoked a cigarette ever (yes, this is true), I could be wrong. The initial 'smoke' is then juxtaposed by the sweetness of gum leading to a flavour best described as a melange of smoke and rubber. The awfulness made me laugh and I eventually had to eject the gum and swill my mouth out with glasses (yes, plural) of water. As one of my audience said, "I wish I had a video camera to record that!"

Pooey's description, "...like eating the remnants of a burnout."

Scientists are a curious bunch, in being both inquisitive and also of a strange nature, and so I was highly entertained going around ACB asking various people if they wanted a bacon gumball. From Honours Student to Associate Professor, one could track the piquing of interest, followed by the horror induced by the scent, the resolute attitude of whether they were up to the challenge, an initial confusion in response to the initial flavour, disgust in response to the second, and then either humour or declarations of how evil I am. So regardless of edible rating and whether they fulfill their promise of being a bacon-flavoured gumball, there is definitely much entertainment to be had from them!

Painting of the week - The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory, 1931
Museum of Modern Art, New York
(Source)

Salvador Dali is the favourite artist of many people, no doubt due to his strange, and instantly recognisable images. The Persistence of Memory is possibly his most recognisable painting, filled with the iconic image of the melting clocks. There are many interpretations of this but the melting clocks have been seen to representsthe irrelevance of time, reinforced by the fob covered in ants indicating rot and decomposition. But these dreamlike images with the deformed and fading human-like figure in the middle are juxtaposed with the beach and cliffs, indentifiable as being from Dali's home and childhood experiences. So perhaps then what we're seeing is how time is rendered 'soft' by memory, but the eventual decay of memories changes our ability to perceive time.

As an aside, the incredibly amazing thing is how small the image actually is. At 24 x 33cm, it's just over the size of an A4 sheet. And having seen this in real life, the tininess really reinforced what a great draughtsman Dali is/was!

False advertising?

Last week I met up with Lydia for a post-jungle holiday catch up. (Just to clarify, she went to the jungle, not me kekeke.) Tired of eating hawker asian and various other semi-fast food, she decided we should eat at +39, a pizza bar. Now, despite the title of this blog entry, +39 was pretty good! For future visitors, I highly HIGHLY recommend the pizza that has leek on it, I can't remember its actual name. Tirolese? Something like that. Either way, it has leek on it. What's got me opining in a rambling manner is the truffle vs. truffle oil problem.

Now, I love truffles. That wonderfully earthy aroma, backed up by the flavour explosion when they hit your mouth *gargling sound*. But I also love truffle oil - because let's face it, truffles are expensive for a reason and when you can't shell out for the black stuff, the black-infused (or even artificially flavoured, I guess) oil will suffice. Just a bit of a drizzle over some leaves and you can win friends with salad! However, when you're telling me something has truffles, I expect there to be truffles, not truffle oil.

$24 for something that has truffles?! Sold!!!

:O Where are my truffles?!?!

Now, I don't profess to be a gastronomic expert but looking at the pizza, I'm not entirely convinced there are truffles on it. That greyish-brown stuff at the border of the topping and crust could be pureed/minced truffles but neither of us are entirely sure and it's definitely not the way I've ever had them served before. The pizza is still tasty but alas, I doubt that it's due to 'the diamond of the kitchen'.

CLASSIC SONG!!!

Dedicated to my AWESOME chum Suboo. The lyrics so apt!

Thumbs down to men who aren't manly enough and hobags who think they've won trophies!

:O

Iker has shaved off his conquistador beard!!!

To quote Kickette: Now Pepe Reina approved!

I'm torn - although we first fell in love when he was clean shaven, I got used to the beard. He looks younger and you can see the jawline and killer cheekbones better, with the beard he looked more *manly* and dare I say, *all-conquering*? Oioi? Oioi!!!

Mmmm, so manly. You can also see the metal hat and breastplate as he steps off the ship!

Bounce away!

Beard in profile
I actually highly recommend you click and open this picture because it is HUGE!!!

Having said that, as one of the comments on the original Kickette post note, the last time he shaved his beard, he broke up with his then-girlfriend. Hmmm, now now, don't stress out, we haven't decided to divorce! Kekeke.

Song of the week - Spybreak! by Propellerheads

This song came on while I was in the gym the other day...and by golly those big beats made me work it hard! You may also recognise it as the song that featured in the lobby fight scene in The Matrix (one of my favourite movies) so it also made me feel like cartwheeling around the exercise bikes and roundhouse kick a weight sets!

Some people are so hot, it's unfair

I was looking at Kickette to console myself this morning following Spain's the shock 0-1 loss to Switzerland, and sure enough they delivered a way to cheer me up!

Member of the Spanish National Team, Real Madrid, and the most important team of all - my box of hotties, Xabi Alonso

Even with the gingerbeard, or maybe I'm developing a thing for male facial-fur, this man is BEAUTIFUL. As an aside, I did think for a moment that the title to the article that they posted this on referred to the fact that he'd probably always smell nice. Mmmmm Xabismells.....

Some anecdotes

On the 1km walk home from the bus stop to my house...there's a streetlight that always extinguishes when I walk past. Always. This is my superpower.

Now that the weather has turned cold, I have observed the following things

- My track pants for the gym are really good at stopping the cold wind from getting to my legs. My actual normal wear trousers are less so.

- Some people (girls) seem to think that putting a pair of leggings under a pair of shorts = winter wear.

I've started re-listening to Les Miserables (mostly on youtube), and for the video for the 10th Anniversary Dream Cast version of "A Heart Full of Love":

Features the following comment from behindthymask which made me laugh: Princess Jasmine vs. Pocahontas! Go go go!

After a few months of working part time, the thought of gearing up to full time work is depressing. No more will I be able to just say *hmmm, I'm going to fly to X for the weekend - I'll just send an email saying I'm not coming in on Friday/Monday* To this I say BOOOOO!!!