So, the election is over and it appears we may have a Hung Parliament (also known as a Minority Parliament) because neither major parties managed to score the 76 seats required to gain control of the House of Reps. There have been jokes about whether it's going to hang to the left or the right. I just hope it manages to hang to the left because when I think about Tony Abbott going to a conference of international leaders, such as the G20 or APEC....*shudder*.
It appears many people were as uninspired as myself about both parties, except that while I submitted my ballot paper correctly filled in (below the line to make sure that preferences were directed to whom I wanted, not by the party), many others submitted informal votes. Whether this is because someone told everyone to vote informally on TV is currently being investigated.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Song/video of the week - You make my dreams come true by Hall and Oates
Clip from 500 Days of Summer
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Horoki
This post is mostly written for Spuey. I don't know if he actually reads my blog, I think he does in a sort of random manner, but we contemplated coming here for dinner on Saturday except I couldn't guarantee him that dinner would be less than $30 per person and I couldn't get a table for 5 at short notice (it's a small restaurant).
Anyway! Tonight after attending a lecture with the Vanderpoons about the potential for climate change to affect disease rates (e.g. malaria, hookwork, influenza), we decided to celebrate Clinty's dirty 30 by going to Hutong. Not having booked, we naturally didn't get in and so instead we came up with the BRILLIANT idea to go to HOROKI!!! Horoki serves a kind of Japanese-fusion menu but before you roll your eyes at the *fusion* bit, I can say that they do it wonderfully. Not only will these photos show how wonderfully the food is presented, but the flavours were so clean and simple!
Daikon and sashimi salad ($14.50)
Despite being a bit *meh* about ordering salads (and salad in general), whenever I go here, I order this! The great contrast of the daikon and assorted leaved with the crunchy garnish (not sure what it is), containing pieces of prawn, kingfish, tuna, and salmon then liberally sprinkled with roe, and finished with a soy/sesame dressing...dare I say, best salad in Melbs?!
Tuna carpaccio with light soy dressing with parmagiano reggiano ($14.80)
It might sound kinda weird to have the raw tuna in shoyu and sesame dressing then covered with parmesan cheese with jap mayo on the side but the contrasting flavours were so crisp and clean! And kinda funky!!!
Beef Tatar ($13.50)
While furiously trying to scrounge up a menu on Saturday, I came across a review that claimed this dish is more pretty than tasty and lacked seasoning. Random reviewer, you are wrong. I've had tartare that's been over seasoned or over onioned (*cough rockpool cough*), this was just right with the delicate sesame and quail egg allowing the beef flavour to come through.
Creamy crab dumplings ($13.00)
Like individual serves of crab-filled tortellini. Not too heavy handed with the cream and therefore highly appropriate for those intolerant of lactose (I hope).
Soft-shelled crab with lemon sour cream mayo ($14.80)
Again, another dish with simple crisp flavours. My one complaint (other than not having more of it) is that because the crabs are fried, they didn't pick up the dressing very well. That was easily solved by running the crabs through the dressing. Hehehe.
Horoki Original Pasta with spicy cod roe butter sauce ($15.00)
Now, Rachiepoo actually pulled a bit of a face when I suggested this but she not only ate the dish, she ATE HER WORDS. I didn't detect much spice but the contrast of the creamy butter with the salty roe and a touch of green tea...I chose this as my plate to finish and greedily ran my spoon through the dregs to make sure those fish eggs didn't die in vain.
This photo came after I'd dished it out - this is my poor attempt at a Donna Hay-esque pasta swirl presentation.
Happy birthday, male Vanderpoon. BANZAIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!
Anyway! Tonight after attending a lecture with the Vanderpoons about the potential for climate change to affect disease rates (e.g. malaria, hookwork, influenza), we decided to celebrate Clinty's dirty 30 by going to Hutong. Not having booked, we naturally didn't get in and so instead we came up with the BRILLIANT idea to go to HOROKI!!! Horoki serves a kind of Japanese-fusion menu but before you roll your eyes at the *fusion* bit, I can say that they do it wonderfully. Not only will these photos show how wonderfully the food is presented, but the flavours were so clean and simple!
Daikon and sashimi salad ($14.50)Despite being a bit *meh* about ordering salads (and salad in general), whenever I go here, I order this! The great contrast of the daikon and assorted leaved with the crunchy garnish (not sure what it is), containing pieces of prawn, kingfish, tuna, and salmon then liberally sprinkled with roe, and finished with a soy/sesame dressing...dare I say, best salad in Melbs?!
Tuna carpaccio with light soy dressing with parmagiano reggiano ($14.80)It might sound kinda weird to have the raw tuna in shoyu and sesame dressing then covered with parmesan cheese with jap mayo on the side but the contrasting flavours were so crisp and clean! And kinda funky!!!
Beef Tatar ($13.50)While furiously trying to scrounge up a menu on Saturday, I came across a review that claimed this dish is more pretty than tasty and lacked seasoning. Random reviewer, you are wrong. I've had tartare that's been over seasoned or over onioned (*cough rockpool cough*), this was just right with the delicate sesame and quail egg allowing the beef flavour to come through.
Creamy crab dumplings ($13.00)Like individual serves of crab-filled tortellini. Not too heavy handed with the cream and therefore highly appropriate for those intolerant of lactose (I hope).
Soft-shelled crab with lemon sour cream mayo ($14.80)Again, another dish with simple crisp flavours. My one complaint (other than not having more of it) is that because the crabs are fried, they didn't pick up the dressing very well. That was easily solved by running the crabs through the dressing. Hehehe.
Horoki Original Pasta with spicy cod roe butter sauce ($15.00)Now, Rachiepoo actually pulled a bit of a face when I suggested this but she not only ate the dish, she ATE HER WORDS. I didn't detect much spice but the contrast of the creamy butter with the salty roe and a touch of green tea...I chose this as my plate to finish and greedily ran my spoon through the dregs to make sure those fish eggs didn't die in vain.
This photo came after I'd dished it out - this is my poor attempt at a Donna Hay-esque pasta swirl presentation.
This is not really a student food review - it doesn't fit the *cheap* criteria at all other than the $15 lunch deal which is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Although it wasn't that expensive either - all up, I think it came to around $35 per person including drinks and a 300ml bottle of sake. Hehehehe. Regardless of cost, I feel that if your student life in Melbs is transient, you'll be missing out by not eating here. The wonderful flavours and quality of the food mean it is a bargain. So if you can, eat here! And therefore, to end,
Happy birthday, male Vanderpoon. BANZAIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!Sunday, August 15, 2010
Movie review - Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
In this movie aimed at a particular audience of a particular age and particular cultural subtype (hipsters), I found Scott Pilgrim vs. The World to be an entertaining movie. But don't be put off by the description of this movie as being for hipsters - there are enough visual jokes and funny moments in the script to entertain most people. I think.
Apparently based on a comic book series which takes place in a computer game world, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a 22-year old bassist in a band, between jobs, and dumped by his ex-gf about a year ago. At the start of the film, he's recently started going out with 17-year old Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). They do things that are appropriate given their age difference - walking around town, hanging out at the gaming arcade, going to the library so she can get books to study, and looking at records at the music store. This moderately inoffensive relationship is altered when he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who's moved to Toronto from NYC and is so cool with her pink hair. Except that to be with Ramona, he now has to defeat her seven EVIL EXES (Satya Bhabha, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Mae Whitman, Shota & Keita Saito, and Jason Schwartzmann), while also grappling with the concepts of love and self respect! And the movie writes itself.
Possibly because I knew little about it before walking in and being able pick the cultural references due to my information-sponge tendencies, I found I was quite enjoying myself and laughed out loud at some points - particularly when Scott tries to use the L word, "I lesbian you." But Officer Fisk said that he found the movie to be overly frenetic, constantly changing and difficult to get into the story. He also said he dislikes Michael Cera as a movie lead without a foil. I disagree - I felt his clueless face and generally nerdy demeanour worked well because you could understand when people said he wasn't 'cool' enough for Ramona.
Regardless of whether the things Officer Fisk objected to will also affect your enjoyment, I recognise that this is definitely a movie for people of a certain age and tendencies. From the moment the Universal Studios page comes up with the 8-bit graphics and tinkly music, you know that if people didn't play computer games, particularly from the late 80s onwards, you may not get why someone bursts into a cloud of coins when Scott defeats them. Familiarity with the comic book/manga/anime genre would probably also help given the proliferation of words popping up to accompany sound effects and other things.
Anyway, I think a lot of people would find Scott Pilgrim entertaining. Just don't take it too seriously.
7/10
Apparently based on a comic book series which takes place in a computer game world, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a 22-year old bassist in a band, between jobs, and dumped by his ex-gf about a year ago. At the start of the film, he's recently started going out with 17-year old Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). They do things that are appropriate given their age difference - walking around town, hanging out at the gaming arcade, going to the library so she can get books to study, and looking at records at the music store. This moderately inoffensive relationship is altered when he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who's moved to Toronto from NYC and is so cool with her pink hair. Except that to be with Ramona, he now has to defeat her seven EVIL EXES (Satya Bhabha, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Mae Whitman, Shota & Keita Saito, and Jason Schwartzmann), while also grappling with the concepts of love and self respect! And the movie writes itself.
Possibly because I knew little about it before walking in and being able pick the cultural references due to my information-sponge tendencies, I found I was quite enjoying myself and laughed out loud at some points - particularly when Scott tries to use the L word, "I lesbian you." But Officer Fisk said that he found the movie to be overly frenetic, constantly changing and difficult to get into the story. He also said he dislikes Michael Cera as a movie lead without a foil. I disagree - I felt his clueless face and generally nerdy demeanour worked well because you could understand when people said he wasn't 'cool' enough for Ramona.
Regardless of whether the things Officer Fisk objected to will also affect your enjoyment, I recognise that this is definitely a movie for people of a certain age and tendencies. From the moment the Universal Studios page comes up with the 8-bit graphics and tinkly music, you know that if people didn't play computer games, particularly from the late 80s onwards, you may not get why someone bursts into a cloud of coins when Scott defeats them. Familiarity with the comic book/manga/anime genre would probably also help given the proliferation of words popping up to accompany sound effects and other things.
Anyway, I think a lot of people would find Scott Pilgrim entertaining. Just don't take it too seriously.
7/10
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Award-winning!
I was talking to Clinty last night and, as usual, we got onto the topic of food. There is a bakery not too far from Uni called The French Lettuce, which allegedly has title of best vanilla slice in Melbourne. Or, as The Silver Fox and other Australians call them, 'Snot Blocks'. On the way in today, I decided that I had to swing by and taste these so called *best* snot blocks. Here is my assessment.
Firstly, at $5 a piece, it's not cheap! But when I unveiled it in the tea room at lunch, we all agreed - it's a pretty hefty sized slice!
It measured in at about 7cm x 7cm x5cm.
Niiiiiice.
I decided that while I could eat it, I would not mock my colleagues and so it was quite comfortably shared as lunch dessert between 4 people. We discussed the pros and cons of the slice and here's a quick summary.
Pros
Firstly, at $5 a piece, it's not cheap! But when I unveiled it in the tea room at lunch, we all agreed - it's a pretty hefty sized slice!
It measured in at about 7cm x 7cm x5cm.Niiiiiice.
I decided that while I could eat it, I would not mock my colleagues and so it was quite comfortably shared as lunch dessert between 4 people. We discussed the pros and cons of the slice and here's a quick summary.
Pros
- Covered in a light dusting of icing sugar rather than that thick cakey icing layer found on your usual snot block.
- Light, fluffy pastry.
- Excellent texture of the custardy cream (creme patissiere). Very smooth and wonderfully flavoured!
- Well...the fluffiness of the pastry meant that when we attempted to cut it, the custard came out the sides....but that just means the pastry is awesome, right?!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Intellectual shame?
This might come as a surprise to some of you, but I'm generally considered moderately intelligent. Lately however there have been times when I have really thought to myself, *Wow, you're really not living up to your intellectual potential.* Here are some cases in point.
In 2004, I would have called myself pretty close to fluent in French. While in Paris on a study trip during the Great European Adventure 2004, I purchased myself a number of 19th century French Literature classics to read and keep it up. One of these books was Nana by Emile Zola. I started it, but in 2007 I ended up purchasing a study guide (also in French) because I just wasn't reading it. I didn't read the guide either. But for some reason while I was trawling Wikipedia, I ended up just reading their summary of the book instead. This lazy reading then continued for the rest of Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle.
(On the theme of books, the large majority of thosen I completed reading during the years of my PhD have been historical bodice rippers. A couple of years ago, Lydia invited me to a book club meeting where I delivered a defence of the romance genre and discussed its complexities in the face of overwhelming derision from the general reading public. She said everyone was impressed!)
We're currently in the latter stages of an election campaign. A campaign I've found largely uninspiring, mind you. Someone asked me whether I was watching a political discussion and my thoughts on it. I told them I was instead watching a political satire show. This was a bald-faced lie. I was instead watching a police drama show that when I tell some people that I watch it, look at me in amazement when I say it's highly entertaining!
When asked my opinions on what should be done to counteract pollution, the economic crisis, and global warming, my reply of "We need a new global pandemic - think about it!" was met with rounds of laughter. I was then asked what I really thought. When I repeated, "We need a global pandemic!" people were less pleased.
So yes. Should I be ashamed of my lack of opinion on the hard hitting questions and inability to complete works of literature? Perhaps its due to brainfry from research and alcohol abuse of the last four years. Or am I simply in the process of moving away from elitist intellectual thought and back into the popular fold? Either way, I'm going to get some KFC!
In 2004, I would have called myself pretty close to fluent in French. While in Paris on a study trip during the Great European Adventure 2004, I purchased myself a number of 19th century French Literature classics to read and keep it up. One of these books was Nana by Emile Zola. I started it, but in 2007 I ended up purchasing a study guide (also in French) because I just wasn't reading it. I didn't read the guide either. But for some reason while I was trawling Wikipedia, I ended up just reading their summary of the book instead. This lazy reading then continued for the rest of Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle.
(On the theme of books, the large majority of thosen I completed reading during the years of my PhD have been historical bodice rippers. A couple of years ago, Lydia invited me to a book club meeting where I delivered a defence of the romance genre and discussed its complexities in the face of overwhelming derision from the general reading public. She said everyone was impressed!)
We're currently in the latter stages of an election campaign. A campaign I've found largely uninspiring, mind you. Someone asked me whether I was watching a political discussion and my thoughts on it. I told them I was instead watching a political satire show. This was a bald-faced lie. I was instead watching a police drama show that when I tell some people that I watch it, look at me in amazement when I say it's highly entertaining!
When asked my opinions on what should be done to counteract pollution, the economic crisis, and global warming, my reply of "We need a new global pandemic - think about it!" was met with rounds of laughter. I was then asked what I really thought. When I repeated, "We need a global pandemic!" people were less pleased.
So yes. Should I be ashamed of my lack of opinion on the hard hitting questions and inability to complete works of literature? Perhaps its due to brainfry from research and alcohol abuse of the last four years. Or am I simply in the process of moving away from elitist intellectual thought and back into the popular fold? Either way, I'm going to get some KFC!
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Graduation 2010!
So after many years of thinking hard, I have finally graduated from the PhUD.
This was celebrated by finally receiving my big gown with the red things and the fluffy mushroom hat with tassels....
which I promptly made my parents wear...
and I had to learn how to doff it at my peers.
We then celebrated by drinking jugs of iced tea from Long Island...
then chicken dancing with Spubag!
This was celebrated by finally receiving my big gown with the red things and the fluffy mushroom hat with tassels....
which I promptly made my parents wear... 
and I had to learn how to doff it at my peers.
We then celebrated by drinking jugs of iced tea from Long Island...
then chicken dancing with Spubag!Saturday, August 07, 2010
Sculpture of the week - Lunch with Helmet On by Shigeo Fukuda
A couple of days ago, I bought an art monograph called Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali & the Artists of Optical Illusion. It's pretty cool and I highly recommend it to people who like to look at optical illusions and go *wow!* But despite the big names in the title, I found that the best illusions in the book were not by Escher or Dali, but artist that were lesser known (to me). And I decided that the artist profiled in the book that I liked best was Fukuda.
Lunch with Helmet On is constructed out of 848 forks, knives, and spoons welded together to make that...mass...which magically has the shadow of a motorcycle when a light is shone at a certain angle! Like, WTH...THAT'S AMAZING!!! Fukuda has done a number of these, and according to the authors of the monograph, he's said that it's extremely difficult to make a 3D object that allows equal penetration of light to form the shadow. I do not doubt this statement - I'm amazed that he could do this at all!!!
BEST PIECE EVER!!!
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
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!!!
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.
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.
Monday, August 02, 2010
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.
And full of random singing!
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
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?
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
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:
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.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
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
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
Saturday, July 24, 2010
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!
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...
RachiePoo's Beef Hor Fun
Clinty's Mixed BBQ on rice
Omar's Suckling Pig on Rice
My Combination on Crispy Fried NoodlesFor 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!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
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.
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!
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.
Monday, July 19, 2010
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!
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!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Painting of the week - The Clothed Maja by Goya
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes , La Maja Vestida, 1800-1805Museo del Prado, Madrid
(Source)
(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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)