Being obssessive compulsive, the end of the year is a busy time for me. I suddenly get the irrepressable urge to finish everything I've been doing before midnight, despite the fact that new year actually means nothing to me and as a holiday I hate it.
So I spent this morning finishing The Count of Monte Cristo, and last night finishing 24. They bear a surprising amount of resemblence to one another as far as endings are concerned (apart from Monte Cristo didn't end with Edmond crying over his drug addiction in an SUV, which might possibly have been better.) I won't discuss the ending of the book, because I'm under strict orders from Daniel not to spoil him, but suffice to say I think everyone should read it. ^____^ Especially if you like your heroes anti and allegedly agents of divine justice. It was melodramatic, it had many people dying. It was a lot like Wolf's Rain. o_0 I like it. ^____^ I can't wait to see more of Gankutsuou.
I am now pulling my hair out waiting for the next season of 24, too. Season 3 has by far the best ending of any season yet. There are very few times I've ever been sufficiently nervous watching anything that I've leapt onto someone else because I can't bear to see anymore, but Daniel was duly attacked last night. ^__^;;;; It was one of those horrible situations where you *know* exactly what they have to do, and you've been thinking that for the past five minutes whilst the characters have been desparately seeking alternatives, and you can't quite believe they're going to do what you thought. If you know what I mean. ^___^;; You have to watch season three. It's a bit slow at the start, but it gets better, and it has sufficient important character deaths to make it important watching. Some are more deserved than others. Only nine more days until season four starts, anyway. ^___^
Right, well, that's me blogged for the moment. I'm off to obssess over end-of-year things. Happy New Year those of you who celebrate it. Happy Saturday, people like me.
Skunks _do_ smell really bad. I had forgotten that delight of being in Texas. o_0
Being out of the house at nine o'clock does mean I can accomplish more with the day, even if that accomplishment only means watching more 24.
Jack Bauer really does kill or inadvertantly bring about the death of a lot of his colleagues.
Liz is the most brilliantest person in the world. Not only did she send me an Azumanga badge and AWESOME shiny shiny Bakuten stickers, but she also got me AN ACTUAL CEL FROM MOSQUITON!!! ^____________________^ Words cannot express how much I love you, Lizzu. I have a Master Mosquiton cel with spazzy Koyasu-san and chibi friends. It is the best cel ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. ^__________^
But moving on from my incredible spazz-glee, for it is such, I think I owe some bloggage for the "since Christmas" period. Or even the "Christmas" period. I got many exceedingly cool things this year, including Little Britain season one, thanks to the Ass no Ryu. Now Daniel, like the rest of my family, also delights in the purile joy of Lou and Andy. Daniel himself got me utterly spanking gifts, including the Yoshitaka Amano calendar and the Hellsing Ruins cd. ^___^ I think he may also have had a hand in choosing his little sister's present for me, the first boxset of Card Captor Sakura manga. ^____^
The main occupation of Christmas day after the formalities was watching many many films. Highlights include being delighted to discover that Antonio Banderas *does* do Puss/Gato's voice in the Spanish dub of Shrek 2 and introducing Daniel's parents to The Nightmare Before Christmas. Everyone should love that film. On the downside, and predictably so, I,Robot was a pile of twaddle. I fell asleep. I never fall asleep in films unless they're *really* poor.
More honorable cinematic mentions come for things we've been watching this week. Ivan informs me that Napoleon Dynamite is still at the cinemas in England, but it's out on dvd here. It's a very very wrong film, but having said that, I liked it. Somewhat (and by somewhat, read "incredibly") socially dysfunctional teenage geek spends too much time playing with action figures/drawing very bad pictures/fighting with older (also geek) brother. Napoleon finds a friends in fellow outcast Pedro, who decides to run for class president. And really that's about as far as I can tell you with plot. Napoleon's grandma has a llama, though. He tries to feed it steak. Whether you find that amusing or not will probably tell you whether you'll like this film. It's incredibly normal and at the same time incredibly surreal. It also has a great title sequence with credits written on food. I liked it. ^___^
The other particularly odd film we've watched recently was A Day Without a Mexican. The best way to describe it really is what would happen if you combined a Michael Moore film with a 1950s b-movie horror. Stay with me on this one. It's a mockumentary about one day in California when, upon waking, citizens descover that all the Hispanic residents of the state have disappeared. Now, assuming most people vaguely know about the demographic of California, this leaves the state in absolute chaos, particularly since a mysterious fog appears around the border stopping any communication with the outside world. It's silly, but it's got an ever-so-slightly-obvious point. ^__^ It's a very cutting film if you are interested in the subject matter, and very very funny anyway. ^__^
Anyway, I suppose I should get off the computer sooner or later. I may have to force Daniel to play some more two-player FF Crystal Chronicles with me. It's far too much fun to be able to play that game with another person now that we have two GBAs. It's a disgusting rip-off on Nintendo's part, but it's so good. >_< Daniel and I compliment each other's playing styles perfectly too, he being of the magely kind, and me being of the hitting things with sticks kind. I don't understand the fun in using magic. o_0 Really? Why would you want to stand back and cast spells when you can run in and wallop things??
There are sufficient RPG players here to ask this, I think. Magic user or fighter? Which are you? And if possible, with reference to which games. ^__^ It needn't *just* be Final Fantasy, you know. Anyway, go on, answer my question. Replies make me happy and don't make me feel so far away from you lot.
As a loyal customer of your postal monopoly in the United Kingdom for over twenty years, I feel I have a certain right, nay, duty, to report problems I encounter with your service. On the tenth of this month I posted a greetings card to Mr. Ivan Finch of Oxford, correctly addressed, believing that three days would be sufficient for this piece of correspondence to arrive for the aforementioned gentleman's birthday. I did not, however, expect said mail to be returned to my household on Christmas Eve with such assinine comments as "try Banbury" upon it.
THE HOUSE IS THERE, YOU PRATS! IT'S RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY!!
/angry
Christmas good. Far too much mucus in head to list good things about it. Predators ate my immune system. Unchallenging bloggage.
1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?
Took finals, introduced D to England.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
No (because I didn't make any) and no.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yep, my aunt. She has a new sproglet called Liam.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Two people close to D's family here died, both of which were very upsetting.
5. What countries did you visit?
The beautiful Republic of Texas? ^_____^
6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
A job over here. >_<
7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I don't have the brain for remembering dates.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Oh gee let me think. Graduating from Oxford? o_0
9. What was your biggest failure?
Ummm, going bald over my finals?
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Fairly consistently.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
All the Series of Unfortunate Events books.
12. What is your favourite celebrity/tv/similar quote from the year?
"But that's a snake. You always said that snakes had an aura of evil."
"Yeah I know."
"So lets get a rabbit then!"
"I want that one."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep."
"Well, it's your birthday money...what you going to call it?"
"Thumper."
13. Did you get any valentines or love letters?
Well, from D, yes. No one else, happily. o_0
14. Where did most of your money go?
To places that aren't my bank account.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Finishing finals and D coming to England.
16. What song will always remind you of 2004?
Rock Star by NERD/Vertigo by U2.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Older or wiser?
Oh younger, definately. The passage of time doesn't apply to me like it does other mortals. I'm like Gackt. And wiser, yes.
18. Thinner or fatter?
Don't know don't care.
19. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Not pulling my hair out, in the literal and figurative senses.
20. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Try and figure that one out from the previous question.
21. How will you be spending Christmas?
I *did* spend it here, in Texas, watching Predator 2, amongst other things.
22. Did you fall in love in 2004?
Well, not any more than I have been for the last for years. It's pretty much a constant. ^___^
23. What was your favorite TV program?
24 and/or Little Britain and Black Books.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Nope, I try not to. Oh but man have some people irritated me this year. Have they so.
25. What was the best book you read?
The Count of Monte Cristo/A Series of Unfortunate Events. Now that's a juxtaposition for you.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Um. No one? I'm about as cutting edge as a spoon when it comes to music.
27. What did you want and get?
Out of this place, if it's the last thing we ever do.
28. What did you want and not get?
More money.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Unfortunate Events!! Unfortunate Events!! Or failing that, the guilty pleasure of finally watching all the Alien/Predator films. Yes I know they're not all from this year but I watched them in this year so if you'll be so good, put a sock in it.
30. What did you do on your birthday?
Went to see A Series of Unfortunate Events with D, got treated to pancakes and generally pampered.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Having more money.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2004?
Black.
33. What kept you sane?
The people who read this blog. SO. VERY. MUCH. In an incredibly literal way. o_0
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
The Count of Monte Cristo *swoon* In Gakutsuou or book form. They're essentially the same in my head. ^________^
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Umm, the American elections, I guess, and the stomping all over the Kyoto protocol that that entailed. >_<
36. Who did you miss?
D.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Ummm, I don't think I've met many new people this year. o_0
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004:
2004 was an ass-sucking year.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"Y'all gon' make me lose my mind/Up in here/Up in here" (DMX Party Up in Here) I couldn't possibly quote the rest of that song, particularly not the parts I remember bouncing around my room with Tasha to during finals.
40. What WILL your resolution for the new year be?
It won't be. I don't make them. But I'll be happy to see 2004 go, I can say that. o_0
Anyway, now I'm going to pester Daniel to let me play. He has had far too much Metroid for one day.
And if you don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Saturday! ^__^;;
Sorry about the lack of proper bloggage this week, it's been a bit chaotic here. The usual Christmas preparations have been interspersed with various other things, including Daniel and I purchasing the 24 season 3 box set and getting down to some serious cram-watching before season 4 starts next month. Ooh, and on Wednesday we went to the Humane Society (sort of like the American RSPCA on with less Rolf Harris) to look at puppies. Something I would have gone to do anyway, but Daniel's family are actually looking to get a dog, so it wasn't just for my enjoyment. I'd never been to a kennel before, so it was a novel if slightly upsetting experience. Looking at dogs = hugely fun. Realising I can't take them all home = not. >_<
We have had one very sad piece of news here this week. I think I'd told most people about the incredibly, incredibly nice lady that Daniel's family knew who'd recently got liver cancer. She'd been getting steadily worse over the last few weeks, and she passed away on Wednesday night. It's very sad to think her family (and people here) had this happen right before Christmas and weren't able to spend the holiday with her one more time, but she was suffering quite badly by the end, so everyone's taking comfort in know she's not going through that anymore. It's a real shame because she was an absolutely lovely person, I'd been to her house a couple of times and she was always brimming with questions about Daniel and me and England (she'd been to Oxford before and was a huge fan of Blackwells - I can't walk past there without thinking of her! ^___^) So it's very sad to see her go, but she was such a kind, philanthropic person that I don't doubt she's gone somewhere a lot better than here now. ^__^
Everyone take care tomorrow, and have huge amounts of fun. And remember the real meaning of Christmas, as the posters on an apartment block near here say "Happy Birthday Jesus!" ^______^
Now that it is past my birthday, I can officially be excited about Christmas. Not for any reason in particular, it's kind of difficult being away from at least one set of people I want to spend my Christmas with, but I just feel the need for festivities. I should go and buy more tinsel to dress up in, that would make me feel more festive. And they say it might snow here on Christmas Eve too. ^___^
So we've been frequenting Blockbuster far too much this week. With good reason. Alien films.
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As was duly noted at the Alienathon, it's a travesty that I'd not seen the Alien or Predator films. So in an attempt to rectify this, we went and rented a large stack of dvds, including Predator, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. I don't suppose I need to review them, because eeeeveryone and their dog has seen them already. Suffice to say, Alien 3 is the best of the lot, and reminds me how disturbed it makes me that I always seem to like prison films, and Alien Resurrection is a steaming pile of deus ex machina crap. Apart from the last alien, for whom I have a huge amount of sympathy.
In other news, thank you for the beautiful Christmas card! Being as fussy as I am about Christmas cards, it's really nice to see someone else go for an "actually to do with Christmas" design. ^_________^ *bugbear*
Anyway, off to watch The Simpsons. ^____^
Well, I actually had a very nice birthday Dia Mundial de Lemony Snicket (as it was termed all of yesterday. I'm not sure to what extent the rest of the world was aware of it). I got cinema, and pancakes...mmmmm pancakes. There's a restaurant over here call IHOP that just does the best pancakes in the world ever. And I mean crepe pancakes, not the scotch pancake type things people eat for breakfast in this country. I may have discovered the ultimate form of pancake : a whole caramelised apple (minus the pips and stalk, obviously o_0), wrapped in pancake, covered in whipped cream and butterscotch sauce. It was so. good. ^_________^
The other highlight of the day was, of course, the Lemony Snicket film. Which was awesome on a stick. ^_____^ I'm incredibly glad I liked it as much as I did. When we got to the cinema, I was still undecided whether I was going to love it unconditionally because it's Lemony Snicket, or hate it with a passion because it bore no resemblance to how the books seem in my head. But, all credit to the director because he's evidently someone who likes the books very much. ^____^
The good:
The sets and the cinematography are absolutely exquisite. As Daniel pointed out to me, the cinematographer for the film is the guy who did Sleepy Hollow, and it does look almost exactly like Sleepy Hollow in the "no daytime ever ever ever" element. We're just upset they couldn't have had the same director. How much would Tim Burton's Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events have rocked? >_< (If just for the name? ^_____^) It may well have been the most depressing film you would ever see, so maybe not. ^___^ But speculation aside, it's just such a beautiful film. I want to live in it. I could wax lyrical about the sets I absolutely adored, but you would acually get a scene by scene list of the film.
The reshuffling of the plot. When I heard about this, it was a bit of a bugbear. There are a few things in the film that don't happen in the books. *They* do not count as good elements. I don't like how they resolved the play at the end because I don't think Klaus would behave like that, but I *do* like the fact that they used it as the end of the film. But Count Olaf made a remake about Violet using her right hand, and that made me happy. ^_____^ Thank you for that, Mr Director, you averted the anger of many die-hard Lemony fans with that.
But the real reshuffling of the plot that I especially liked is the inclusion of the V.F.D. storyline from the start. This is something you only find out about in (I think) book five of the series, and it's one of the absolute best things in the whole story. What can I say, I'm a sucker for secret societies. ^____^
Violet and Sunny. The actress who plays Violet is absolutely wonderful. She looks perfect (I want. that. dress.) and she plays the character exactly how she appears in my head. ^__^ Sunny, also, is awesome. ^_____^ She was already my favourite character from the books, but seeing her playing with the Incredibly Deadly Viper put both Daniel and me in stitches. And she gets subtitles!! ^_____________________^
Lemony. Jude Law. English voiceover. Nuff said. ^______^
The bad:
Jim Carrey. This isn't actually as bad as it should have been. For about 90% of the time he does a good job of being Count Olaf, it's just other 10% of the time when he play Count Carrey that got on my nerves. Having said that, I can't think of anyone else who could have carried off the egotistical nature of the character as well.
The invented parts. The bit with the train and the changes in the ending that I already mentioned. Alright so they were necessary for the way they wanted to show the story, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. :p
The added schmaltz. I know it's a Hollywood movie, but please, Lemony Snicket doesn't do sentimental. Please leave it out of the next film. Thank you.
The cramming in of the first three books. They really didn't make enough of The Reptile Room for my or Daniel's tastes. I think it would have felt a bit less rushed, and a bit easier to understand if you weren't already familiar with the story, if they'd only covered The Bad Beginning and The Reptile Room. But having said that, I *loved* their take on The Wide Window. So pretty. So gloomy. ^_____^
Alright alright. I actually had better finish this review soon, because I suspect no one really wants to read it anyway. But I had to spazz. ^___^ I loved that film, and for the minor faults and Jim Carries, it's still a great adaptation of the books.
Lemony Snicket film fantastic - more later!
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Happy Lemony Snicket day, everyone! You may also be aware of another celebration going on today (that's right, the day after Daniel's birthday) and thank you for the card. It was birthday-ey and Texan. ^___________^
But yes, I am somewhat ambivalent about my birthday. Historically it tends to be a day for things going wrong. o_0 But I've had some very nice presents this morning, including the special edition of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb from D, which I very VERY much wanted, and the cutest cuddly toy puppy EVER from D's parents. The Ass-no-Ryu get the prize for most unexpected present for the Dylan Moran stand up dvd. ^_______^ *glomps* I didn't even know he'd brought out a dvd. Quality.
So D is taking me to see the Lemony Snicket film in a bit (yes I am forcing him to take me to the earliest showing, why do you ask?) It may or may not be terrible, but they've been plugging it like a mad pluggy thing on tv here and it does look incredibly pretty. I want Violet's dress. She looks like some kind of gothic Snow White. Possibly the "Snow, Glass, Apples" Snow White.
Anyway, I have to go and have a shower and so on and so forth or I won't be ready for the cinema!
KINGDOMS HEARTS 2 TRAILER!! PLAYING IN MULAN WORLD!!! AND AND AND AURRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!
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(yes I knew about that ages ago too, but it's nice to see him. :p)
(PS Tasha, how do I get rid of blogspam again?)
So today I took advantage of the exchange rate to do some much-needed clothes shopping. o_0 This isn't something I usually enjoy, except when I can get two huuuuuge shopping bags full of stuff I actually like for about thirty quid. ^_____^ I love this country. It gives me fleecy pyjamas for not much money.
In a fit of unexpectedeness, I finished the Lemony Snicket game today, barely twenty four hours after purchasing it. Not that it bothers me in the slightest because I still have considerable glee over it. Oh, and I'm not having a birthday on Friday, I'm having a happy Lemony Snicket film day. This will make me feel less old. o_0
Speaking of my non-age-related festive event on Friday, thank you for the presents, Ass-no-Ryu! ^_____^ Not that I have open them because I'm not *that* naughty, but thank you anyway. I'm sure they're going to be wonderful. ^___^ Thank you for mine and D's cards too, Ivan.
In other news, Kingdom Hearts : Chain of Memories is incredibly fun. The battle system looks spazz-tastic, but can almost be ignored in a just-hack-n-slash-in-the-usual-manner way. I also have Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles at the moment too, which is increeeeedibly pretty. o_0 It does fall foul of the "generic rpg with Final Fantasy name slapped on" criticism, but that doesn't make it a bad game. It's still absolutely beautiful and fun to play, even if real-time fighting invariably makes me nervous. ^___^;;;;
Anyway, hope all is well in the homeland, and all the other parts of the world from which people might be reading, I'm off to sit under some blankets. It's cold. o_0;;;
I have the Series of Unfortunate Events game. It makes me happy. I know this makes me a loser because it's a money-grubbing movie tie-in game, but but but you get to play as Sunny!! ^_______^ And that's a good thing. ^_______^
The glee is not entirely dissimilar to the first time I played the Nightmare Before Christmas PS2 game. It makes me incredibly happy to run around in Uncle Monty's house, even though it isn't *exactly* as I imagined it. It still has the Incredibly Deadly Viper in though, so I'm happy. ^____^
The gameplay isn't actually that bad. I suspect it's not actually a long game, as I've only been playing for a few hours and already in to the events of the second book, but I rather expected that. It's a fairly solid adventure/platformer with a nice fighting system, chiefly involving Violet's inventions. Oh, and I want a pair of levitating loafers so. much. ^__________^
Anyway, much as I know I'm being exploited for all I'm worth with the Lemony Snicket franchise these days, I still love it. They've maintained the prose style, which is my favourite thing bar none about the books, *and* they have translations for Sunny-speak. ^___^ Both of these are very good things that I thought they might do wrong, but they didn't. The only thing I'm somewhat wary of is I think they may have changed the ending to The Bad Beginning in the film/game. o_0 Well they certainly have in the game, which is not particularly cool. Buuuut, I'm willing to overlook that for the moment.
So, Lemony Snicket glee.
And before I forget, Happy Birthday Ivan. I hope you liked the card. :p
I'm in Texas, after a verrrry long day flying yesterday. Everything was surprisingly on time, though. I actually made my connection flight in Chicago despite only having an hour and a half to make it. o_0;;;
So, ummm, numerous interesting things happened on the way but I'm struggling to remember them through a combination of jetlag and talking to many people right now. ^_^;; Staying at the grandparents' house on Thursday night was actually quite nice. I found out some interesting stuff which might come in handy in the future. ^__^ I also found out that apparently our family name proper is O'Gripha. ^___^ The original Irisherised version of Greaves. Which is quite cool, I thought.
Ooh ohh, I got me a new cd player. Yes I know the rest of the world and his dog has an mp3 player, but I don't have the money for one, so cds it is. >_< I got it in duty free in Manchester, took it on the plane and realised it was packed in one of those stupid plastic sealed thing. And strangely enough, you can never find a pair of scissors on an aeroplane (for fairly obvious reasons). So it got put away and not used for the *delightful* eight hour flight. I tried to find scissors when I got to Chicago by asking various people sitting at desks, but to no avail. So I ended up causing huuuge amounts of amusement for the other people waiting at the San Antonio flight check in biting and tearing the packet open. The number of people grinning when I finally got the cd player out amused me. ^______^
It may well have had something to do with me being the odd-looking English girl sitting on the floor in a tinsel-covered cowboy hat, but who knows. ^_____^
So yeah, the flight to San Antonio was relatively painless. I sat next to a very nice man who'd majored in Mesoamerican archaeology so we geeked out about that. ^____^ And I looked out the window at the lovely lovely clouds because I actually got a window seat for once. And I had music to listen to whilst watching them, so I was very happy. ^_____^ The Katamari Damarcy theme and Vertigo are now officially Songs to Watch Clouds By.
At this point I'd just like to add NAAAAAANANANAAANANA KATAMARI DAMARCY!
So I've got to San Antonio fine, and everyone here appeared to be quite happy to see me. ^___^ I wonder if that'll still be the case by the time I have to leave. ^____________^ Oh, and my mum is also fine, in case anyone is wondering. She had her knee replacement operation yesterday (nice timing, NHS, thanks for arranging that one...) but apparently she's doing well.
Today has been quite fun. I've been taking advantage of the exchange rate to get myself a copy of Kingdom Hearts : Chains of Memories for the GBA. ^_________^ I will be sure to share my glee with the KH fangirls when I get to play it, don't worry.
Oh, and the best thing that happened to me today. Went into Blockbuster to get many and various fun things, then when we got to the counter the woman told me she had been asking us questions on purpose because she "could listen to my accent all day". ^_____^ Glee! ^____^
Anyway, food's here so I better go. ^__^
Cheerio, I'm off to America now. Blog again in a couple of days, and I'll be textable until about ten thirty tomorrow morning. ^_^
I DON'T WANT TO PACK!! >__<
...I will go to America with a book and a change of underwear. That will be fine. >_<
I hate packing... *grumbles*
donedonedonedonedone.
It's been a *real* pain in the ass to make, but the commissioner is very happy with it and that's all that matters in the end. ^__^ Oh and they're going to give me money for it. That too.
So I've had an interesting few days catching up with people in Oxford and generally being an inconvenience around the place. But it made me happy, so never mind.
Many many good things have happened since I last blogged, but you know and I know that I have a brain like a sieve and I'm unlikely to remember the majority of them. So I'll skip to the particularly fun bit : Friday night.
Being at animesoc again was nice, if a little confusing from the evil room double-bookers. The new things in the line up were interesting to see, but probably not to my taste. The Big O just mings, it really does. >_< It has horrible, horrible mecha designs and a disturbing, disturbing android who just reminds me of a horrible cross between the female in Metropolis and Rachael in Blade Runner. o_0 But anyway!
Post-meeting glee was had with Jenny being put in our northern/Germanic places, in charge of making the mulled wine. ^____^ You lot just didn't see the number of times I spilt it over my fingers trying to get it into the glasses. o_0 But we got to put many things in a big pot and throw sugar at it so this made me happy. ^______^
So then we came onto the main event of the night, the watching of much Aliens. ^_____^ I know it's a huge flaw in my cinematic education that I'd never seen the original Alien films before, but now that's set right. Or wrong, depending on how you look at it. I know the films shouldn't be funny, but! but! Lolly-stick aliens running around jumping out of people's stomachs! ^__^;; I thought that bit was meant to be scary, but I really can't get my head round the idea with the little blighter bleeping about looking like a plastic puppy on speed. ^_^;;;
Controversially, I think I have to say I liked the first film better than the second. *Yes* there's the blindingly obvious difference in budget between the two, and there may be *some* bias on my part for liking Ridley Scott and not liking James Cameron, but I just liked the first one a wee bit more. o_0 There were too many members of the cast I just wanted to get aliened faster in the second film, and I just didn't get Vasquez. Incidentally, the thing on her shield says "El riesgo vive siempre" : "The risk always lives". Oooh that's as cunning as it is subtle.
And of course, the Alienathon was bisected by the wonderful fun of Oxford Christmas stuff! ^___^ I'm really sorry I couldn't do proper presents for everyone this year, I'll endeavour to make up for it at some point, but I hope people liked their spazzy home-made Christmas cards. ^__^;;; I feel slightly guilty for the awesome haul of presents I collected, but hopefully I showed my gratitude as it was. I haven't stopped playing with the sparklers Helen-chan gave me, despite not having lit any of them yet, and the platter of literary melodrama from Janeular is an enormous source of airport-boredom-busting glee. ^____^ Ooh ooh! And there was one more thing that a number of people probably didn't see, cause she presented it to me this afternoon! A lapis lazuli bat necklace! ^_____^ Egypto-batty-tastic! ^____^
I had the strangest dream this morning after the festivities, even stranger for having nothing to do with Aliens. I did, however, manage to retcon one of my own dreams from a few months ago (mmm, far too self-referencial...) and completely rework the Series of Unfortunate Events film so that it wouldn't have Jim Carrey in. o_0 Oh and I made Lemony Snicket appear considerably more like Gabriel Van Helsing than should ever be possible. o_0
And now I'm going to stick sticky stars on my wall and go to sleep, I think. I have a hard day's fimoing-and-painting ahead of me tomorrow. >_<
Gankutsuou 8. ^___^ Interesting re-jigging of the dinner party, which did irritate me a *little* bit with the presence of characters who weren't meant to be there, until the last scene. Which was just a far too quality way of making up for the lack of backstory. ^____^
Gankutsuou makes me happy...
I'm feeling decidedly phlurrrrgh at the moment. I suspect it's the remnants of the weekend, combined with the interesting night's sleep. Or lack thereof. Go on, ask me why I couldn't sleep last night, ask me.
...what, you mean you don't get "I keep wiggling my toes involuntarily and it's stopping me getting to sleep" insomnia? o_0
So anyway, I'm in Oxford! I need to drag you to lunch at some point, possibly Friday, cause I've not seen you yet. Everyone come and have lunch!
Today was spent chiefly doing various things I've got to do before I go to America, which are really driving me mad, I have to say. I'm having kittens about the commissions I've got to finish before the middle of next week. >_< The PSO staff is a big worry, but hopefully I can get it done on Sunday. I only have to get it painted, so it shouldn't ought to take *that* long, but it's just irritating to have it left to do. >_< Especially with all the people who've been asking about other commissions this week, too. >_<
But whilst I'm still talking about eBay, this makes me happy, in a "no really I'm not a stalker we just have a mutual friend" sort of way. ^__^;; It's nice to see the results of auctions, especially when it's one I cared about considerably. ^__^
So this evening I've continued to do the various things I'm meant to be doing, and enjoying Janeular's Raffles DVDs. I am having an innoffensive fluff craving at the moment, and it's most welcome. I'm not actually sure how/when I started liking Raffles, because I'm sure I didn't like it the first time I saw it. o_0 I blame being at home with Moom all the time....we spend so much time watching all kinds of rubbish. o_0
Right, I want me some cake. *resolute*
