After watching all 7 seasons of Buffy in a very short span of time, thought I might want a break from fantasy/sci-fi type DVD box sets. So what am I currently watching? Doctor Who and Firefly (Joss Whedon's other offering, which charmingly and humourously crosses Westerns with space travel and throws Chinese phrases and cultural influences in for good measure, but which was cruelly and prematurely ripped from the airwaves. No doubt to make way for another mind-numbing reality show about unattractive women and their quest to be the world's best chihuahua juggler or similar). Naturally.
The weekend whizzed by in a blur of running errands and attending KY's summer-ish barbecue. Can't believe it's almost August.
Today I am also a living embodiment of a cliche that I didn't think really ever happened. A colleague and I both turned up to work in the same dress. I have tried to cover up the fact (literally) by keeping my sweatshirt on all day but really this just serves me right for lowering my usual standards and making a purchase at H&M. Never again.
Matt and Laura's wedding in five short weeks - meaning I have four weeks to drop a dress size, find an appropriate outfit and pick out a present that will travel first to Italy and then back to Dubai. Oh yes, and somewhere along the way I must sort out getting a Schengen visa so they will actually let me into the country. Details, details.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Closure
Well, it's happened.
The seventh and final Harry Potter came out over the weekend and the world now knows the end of the saga. Have to say, after getting off to a late start on reading the Harry books, the series has been a very formative part of the last few years for me - culminating with my decision to make no other plans for last weekend than to pick up and read my pre-ordered copy.
Was it worth it? Depends how you look at it really. On one hand, I am glad to know how the stories end, what happens to which of the characters and which of my theories were right. (Three and a half of them, in case you're wondering) On the flip side, it's not the fastest paced book of the series and I did find there were a few repetitive and somewhat unnecessary sequences that we could have done without.
On the whole though, the overwhelming feeling that we're at the end of an era overshadows any specific opinions about Deathly Hallows itself. Besides being a basic good vs evil tale (with not especially concealed references to Nazi Germany among others), I think the books appeal to such a wide audience because there's something for everyone in the tale. There are loads of characters, meaning almost everyone has one (or more) than they can relate to and connect with. Being a teenager is a pretty universal experience and who doesn't want (on some level) to be a hero?
Whatever will we do now?
The seventh and final Harry Potter came out over the weekend and the world now knows the end of the saga. Have to say, after getting off to a late start on reading the Harry books, the series has been a very formative part of the last few years for me - culminating with my decision to make no other plans for last weekend than to pick up and read my pre-ordered copy.
Was it worth it? Depends how you look at it really. On one hand, I am glad to know how the stories end, what happens to which of the characters and which of my theories were right. (Three and a half of them, in case you're wondering) On the flip side, it's not the fastest paced book of the series and I did find there were a few repetitive and somewhat unnecessary sequences that we could have done without.
On the whole though, the overwhelming feeling that we're at the end of an era overshadows any specific opinions about Deathly Hallows itself. Besides being a basic good vs evil tale (with not especially concealed references to Nazi Germany among others), I think the books appeal to such a wide audience because there's something for everyone in the tale. There are loads of characters, meaning almost everyone has one (or more) than they can relate to and connect with. Being a teenager is a pretty universal experience and who doesn't want (on some level) to be a hero?
Whatever will we do now?
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Cultural experiences of all sorts
Another busy week seems to have flown by and I found myself surprised (but pleased) to get to the weekend sooner than I expected.
After being stood up by a busy Mr Kenny on Tuesday I anticipated no other significant social activity last week. Famous last words indeed for the following two evenings saw me out and about. An unexpected night out erupted on Wednesday when I went for 'a drink after work' with a new colleague/friend who I proudly introduced to Gordon's and then dragged off to China Town to mangle a spot of dinner. By some strange coincidence we ended up back at the same place Geoff and I chose at random the night we were getting dinner in China Town earlier in the year. Clearly New Fook Lam Moon has some sort of sub-conscious hold over me. On Thursday KY and I went along to Shoreditch with Rachel and a couple of her colleagues, with a view to eyeballing the banker types said to haunt that neighbourhood. Being chatty girls though, we lost track of this objective pretty early in and just ended up having a giggly girls' drinks and dinner sort of evening. Fun despite not strictly achieving the set goals for the evening.
With no Jonathan Ross show to watch until September, Friday night passed in a blur of nothingness and I spent all of Saturday lounging about and preparing for my cinema expedition to watch Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix. Which was BRILLIANT. From the phenomenal early scene where Harry and members of the Order fly their broomsticks along the Thames and through London at night, to the suitably and well abridged fight in the Ministry of Magic at the end, this was easily the best Harry Potter movie so far. Only 4 days until the final book comes out and I can barely think of anything else in the meantime.
On Saturday KY, Rachel and I set off for the countryside with a view to broadening our cultural horizons. A bit of sat-nav guided turn-missing meant we didn't get where we initially planned to go but were suitably compensated when we went straight to lunch at a pub that came highly recommended by an ex-boss (of mine anyway, he's still KY's boss) which fully deserved the build-up he gave it. Random cultural experiences were still to be had when we spotted and popped into a castle on the drive back. The brochure said the castle was built in 1385 but I'm convinced it wasn't there when we drove past it on the way to lunch an hour earlier. Bizarre.
Work is busy but productive this week. As regards social activities, I have already got off to a good start last night by skipping the gym to go for a drink with colleague from above. Am sensing a pattern developing. However, as am under strict instructions from Mum to 'go out and meet people', surely I have no choice but to give in?
After being stood up by a busy Mr Kenny on Tuesday I anticipated no other significant social activity last week. Famous last words indeed for the following two evenings saw me out and about. An unexpected night out erupted on Wednesday when I went for 'a drink after work' with a new colleague/friend who I proudly introduced to Gordon's and then dragged off to China Town to mangle a spot of dinner. By some strange coincidence we ended up back at the same place Geoff and I chose at random the night we were getting dinner in China Town earlier in the year. Clearly New Fook Lam Moon has some sort of sub-conscious hold over me. On Thursday KY and I went along to Shoreditch with Rachel and a couple of her colleagues, with a view to eyeballing the banker types said to haunt that neighbourhood. Being chatty girls though, we lost track of this objective pretty early in and just ended up having a giggly girls' drinks and dinner sort of evening. Fun despite not strictly achieving the set goals for the evening.
With no Jonathan Ross show to watch until September, Friday night passed in a blur of nothingness and I spent all of Saturday lounging about and preparing for my cinema expedition to watch Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix. Which was BRILLIANT. From the phenomenal early scene where Harry and members of the Order fly their broomsticks along the Thames and through London at night, to the suitably and well abridged fight in the Ministry of Magic at the end, this was easily the best Harry Potter movie so far. Only 4 days until the final book comes out and I can barely think of anything else in the meantime.
On Saturday KY, Rachel and I set off for the countryside with a view to broadening our cultural horizons. A bit of sat-nav guided turn-missing meant we didn't get where we initially planned to go but were suitably compensated when we went straight to lunch at a pub that came highly recommended by an ex-boss (of mine anyway, he's still KY's boss) which fully deserved the build-up he gave it. Random cultural experiences were still to be had when we spotted and popped into a castle on the drive back. The brochure said the castle was built in 1385 but I'm convinced it wasn't there when we drove past it on the way to lunch an hour earlier. Bizarre.
Work is busy but productive this week. As regards social activities, I have already got off to a good start last night by skipping the gym to go for a drink with colleague from above. Am sensing a pattern developing. However, as am under strict instructions from Mum to 'go out and meet people', surely I have no choice but to give in?
Monday, July 09, 2007
Weather and deep-ish thoughts
So, London has torn off its whiskers and revealed its true self over the last few weeks, making no pretence at sunshine or warmth as it did last summer (thus luring me into a false sense of security when I first arrived). It has been wet, moist, damp, aqueous, moist and soggy in turns since I got back from various travels, with no signs of change imminent.
Until this past weekend, that is, which was heavenly - bright and warm with temperatures in the early 20s and not the merest suspicion of rain to be seen. And London rejoiced by simultaneously hosting Wimbledon 2007 finals, the British Grand Prix, Live Earth, Le Tour de France and no doubt several other less well known but not less worthy events. I celebrated by spending a third of the weekend in bed with a cold, another third by braving Oxford Street on a Saturday and getting severe crowd rage, and a final third in a darkened cinema watching Ocean's 13.
Fear not though, they're predicting that we'll go back to rain and storms this week, so I can go back to my usual routine of wearing flip flops and walking around outside.
Last week KY, Rachel, James and I went to watch some sort of independent play malarkey at the Old Red Lion Theatre - a Canadian production named (aptly it turns out) Get Away. Badly delivered monologues about a post-apocalyptic world and paedophile undertones ensured that we did, as soon as they broke for interval.
Three days to the fifth Harry Potter film. Eleven to the seventh and final book. As this era comes to an end, I found myself speculating on whether the Harry phenomenon might be the pop culture influence that defines my youth. I mean I like the Beatles and many people love Star Wars but for someone my age or younger, I wonder if we can really know what it felt like to feel excited about them, look forward to them and experience them when they first happen. I may own every Beatles album but I'll never understand what it's like to have their music happen in my lifetime. And perhaps that's what Harry does for me? I've invested the last seven years in learning about him, following his every move, hypothesising what will happen next to him and, it appears now, contemplating on what his life means to me. I can barely contain my excitement at the next film (found myself ever so slightly teary-eyed at the posters outside the Odeon in Leicester Square and watching the trailers has routinely sent me into supersonic high pitched squeaks, ever since the first one back in 2001) and have been counting down to this book coming out since I finished the last one in a single day back in 2005. I'm not sure anything else has, or necessarily can, mean so much without actually being a true-life experience. And for kids in the future, whose parents will no doubt get them the Harry Potter books, the same way the rest of us watched Star Wars or read Lord of The Rings after the fact, which they will probably love and treasure, it will still never feel like this. Somehow I like that idea. I only hope that we don't become so degenerate as a society that the next set of kids never have a similar experience of their own.
Until this past weekend, that is, which was heavenly - bright and warm with temperatures in the early 20s and not the merest suspicion of rain to be seen. And London rejoiced by simultaneously hosting Wimbledon 2007 finals, the British Grand Prix, Live Earth, Le Tour de France and no doubt several other less well known but not less worthy events. I celebrated by spending a third of the weekend in bed with a cold, another third by braving Oxford Street on a Saturday and getting severe crowd rage, and a final third in a darkened cinema watching Ocean's 13.
Fear not though, they're predicting that we'll go back to rain and storms this week, so I can go back to my usual routine of wearing flip flops and walking around outside.
Last week KY, Rachel, James and I went to watch some sort of independent play malarkey at the Old Red Lion Theatre - a Canadian production named (aptly it turns out) Get Away. Badly delivered monologues about a post-apocalyptic world and paedophile undertones ensured that we did, as soon as they broke for interval.
Three days to the fifth Harry Potter film. Eleven to the seventh and final book. As this era comes to an end, I found myself speculating on whether the Harry phenomenon might be the pop culture influence that defines my youth. I mean I like the Beatles and many people love Star Wars but for someone my age or younger, I wonder if we can really know what it felt like to feel excited about them, look forward to them and experience them when they first happen. I may own every Beatles album but I'll never understand what it's like to have their music happen in my lifetime. And perhaps that's what Harry does for me? I've invested the last seven years in learning about him, following his every move, hypothesising what will happen next to him and, it appears now, contemplating on what his life means to me. I can barely contain my excitement at the next film (found myself ever so slightly teary-eyed at the posters outside the Odeon in Leicester Square and watching the trailers has routinely sent me into supersonic high pitched squeaks, ever since the first one back in 2001) and have been counting down to this book coming out since I finished the last one in a single day back in 2005. I'm not sure anything else has, or necessarily can, mean so much without actually being a true-life experience. And for kids in the future, whose parents will no doubt get them the Harry Potter books, the same way the rest of us watched Star Wars or read Lord of The Rings after the fact, which they will probably love and treasure, it will still never feel like this. Somehow I like that idea. I only hope that we don't become so degenerate as a society that the next set of kids never have a similar experience of their own.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Desired by many celebrities
Received this excerpt in an email today and thought I had to share. It's taken from the website of a Russian restaurant/night club in New York and that's really all I know about it, but it's also all you really need to know in advance...
Named after an Odessa beauty Tatiana, who is frequently seen making rounds in the exotic andgrandiose restaurant. The Brighton Beach mystery of tradition unravels before your very eyes. I call it dinning with attitude. The scene that opens up is something out of a James Bond movie "From Russia with Love". Its Sex in the City mixed in Sleepless on Brighton Beach. Vodka and Cognac pours like fountain Di Trevi in Rome.
Ladies hang on to your husbands and guys don't forget to shave, because there are plenty of people to impress. You do not need a red carpet invitation to see city's top fashion worn in style and such sex appeal that is even desired by many celebrities.
Named after an Odessa beauty Tatiana, who is frequently seen making rounds in the exotic andgrandiose restaurant. The Brighton Beach mystery of tradition unravels before your very eyes. I call it dinning with attitude. The scene that opens up is something out of a James Bond movie "From Russia with Love". Its Sex in the City mixed in Sleepless on Brighton Beach. Vodka and Cognac pours like fountain Di Trevi in Rome.
Ladies hang on to your husbands and guys don't forget to shave, because there are plenty of people to impress. You do not need a red carpet invitation to see city's top fashion worn in style and such sex appeal that is even desired by many celebrities.
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