chaletian | Entries tagged with films

Ugh, life. What a trial, eh? Every Thursday morning we have what we laughingly call our multidisciplinary team meeting which consists of the screening team plus an ophthalmologist or two. This is at 8am (which I already consider to be a TRAVESTY). Today I arrived at work at 7.05, headachey and starving hungry (for no reason, given that I could have stayed at home for another 55 minutes, come to, had a cup of tea and a lovingly prepared egg/toast combo, and generally segued gently into the morning’s travails) because I am an idiot. Still, I will go home at three (via Waitrose for a year’s worth of chocolate granola, assuming it’s still on special offer), so that will be nice. Tea tonight (and I am sure everyone feels spiritually starved from the long absence of updates re the Fangirl Towers menu) will be tomato and lentil soup* with a hearty crust of rustic bread.

Anyway, let us return, clawing fitfully through the mists of time, to yesterday evening. Katie and I went to see Rush (top notch – really enjoyed it and would recommend to all, F1 fans or not), then returned home to a tasty pasta parcel. Good times. Also, I watched the season opener of NCIS. I cannot lie, chums, I am concerned about the non-appearance of Certain People, espesh since I have heard Rumours. Prepare yourselves for wails of outrage and copious fix-it fics should the worst happen.

Moving on to today’s topic: what I’ve been reading. Actually, I’ve been hijacked a bit by my peripatetic interest in Richard III, so recent reading has consisted of Josephine Tey’s Daughter of Time, as well as Walpole’s awesome Historic Doubts and Markham’s original article in the English Historical Review** (this can be found online); the same issue includes Gairdner’s rebuttal of the Henry VII accusation and the corresponding flurry of letters couched, naturally, in the language of scholars. I have also, finally, got round to reading Kendall’s Richard III, which is extremely readable and I would definitely recommend it (also Walpole: his history is not beyond question, but it’s beautifully written).

Simultaneously, I am reading Peter Ackroyd’s The History of England vol. 1, which is also enjoyable, interspersing what is essentially a narrative divided by monarchies (arguably the most coherent way to structure a chronicle of medieval England) with snippets of social and economic history. I would definitely recommend it. And tonight’s reading will be the Holinshed’s Chronicles account of Edward II’s reign, so that I am fully prepared for the theatre tomorrow. (My edition is the Folio Society’s, and it’s beautiful.)

In conclusion, ooh, we went to see White House Down in the kino the other week and it was fucking glorious! The best kind of ridic action film, up there with Die Hard and Con Air (the twin towers, if you will, of the ridic-but-actually-genuinely-good-action genre).

* I say soup. By the time I’m done with it, it’s usually struggling bravely into stew territory.

** Yes, yes, this is because I can’t be arsed to read the whole book into which he expanded his article; maybe one day…

Hullo, world! Hullo, sky! Hullo, trees! It’s been an age since I tottered to my chaise longue to tap out a few lines regarding my recent activities. I shall do this in numbers. Structure is everyone’s friend.

1. I have now seen the Avengers film three times. Do not imagine I am planning to stop there. Ever since Katie and I cottoned on to the whole Cineworld unlimited pass thing, I have cast aside such restraints. Anyway: Avengers. AWESOME. (Fear no spoilers here, btw.) Totally lived up to my expectations. Everyone was brilliant; to my mind, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce and Scarlett Johansson as Natasha, particularly. I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Naturally, I am now writing fic, because that is what I do. It took me a while to find the right voices, but I’m getting there, I think. Take-home message: OMG AVENGERS YAY!!1! \o/

2. ... actually, I can’t really think of anything else. I’m just pottering around, really. Went to France at the beginning of April to stay with K’s parents, along with her sister and nephew (best baby face ever). Off to Norfolk next month (OMG next month yay!) with Helen, Katherine and our Nellie. At some point later in the year, I’m also hoping finally to pop to Qatar to hang out with the pater. So, good times.

3. Saw the Swahili Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe – super funny. Also (at least) seeing a hip-hop Othello and French Much Ado, before my long-awaited fantasy viz Jamie Parker returning in Henry V. I WANT THIS NOW. We went to see Matilda again, this time in the west end, with Kathye and Megan, and it was still, I am pleased to report, extremely excellent. Um, what else? Ooh, She Stoops to Conquer, at the National – so, so funny. We’re going to see Travelling Light and Collaborators there in the next couple of weeks as well. Theatre fills me with joy.

Anyway, that’s about it. I’ll totter off again, shall I?

1. This post made me happy.

2. K and I went to see Tinker Tailor yesterday. VG.

3. So, I found my copy of Evelyn Finds Herself (on my bookcase). With that success behind me, have I lent anyone my copy of The New School and Hilary? Can't find that either...

4. I am selling some books. Buy them!

GGBP - Falconer's Lure, Antonia Forest - excellent condition - £40
Greyladies - Twice Dead, EM Channon - excellent condition - £7
Charlotte Sometimes, Penelope Farmer - HB/dw in vg condition - £4
The Parrot and Other Poems - PG Wodehouse - HB/dw in vg condition (collection of PGW poetry) - £5

PBs in vg condition (unless otherwise stated) £1 each: Willard Price - Gorilla, Amazon, Diving, African, Arctic, Cannibal, Lion Adventures; MC Beaton - Sick of Shadows, Hasty Death, Our Lady of Pain (the Edwardian Lady Rose series); Noel Streatfeild - Gemma, Gemma and Sisters, Goodbye Gemma (all good, 50p); Meg Rosoff - How I Live Now; EBD - Chalet School Fete (80s white spine ed).

P&P extra. Post or email me if you're interested.

5. ( Merlin spoilers )

So, yes. Life not actually as dismal as previous post would indicate. In fact, pretty fucking awesome (though my laptop keyboard is still pissing me off - does anyone know any tricks for decreasing the sensitivity of a touchpad?).

- Fingers now mostly healed.

- Bed delivered and incredibly amazingly delicious.

- I have a plan for decorating the now huge and empty back wall of my bedroom. It involves Etsy and is going to be beautiful and functional.

- Had festive drinks at Jess's last night - very civilised indeed.

- Kathryn's birthday tea last weekend - also very civilised.

- Have ordered most Christmas presents, and they have started arriving. This is vee gee.

- Am not, in fact, hovering on the brink of destitution. In fact 2011 should be fairly decent. Poor arithmatic was always a failing...

- Katie and I are going to Hamlet, the Globe's Winter Wassail, and a carol service at Westminster Abbey. Thumbs up.

- I saw the GP about my strangulated whatsit on my neck yesterday. He booked for me to come in and have it lopped off with a white-hot knife. This morning, it seems to have fallen off of its own volition. Ha!

- So, I had an awesome weekend towards the end of November. On the Friday, went to see HP7.1 at the O2. It was so much better than I was expecting! I really enjoyed it, and absolutely fell in love with Hermione all over again. Then the next day,

morganmuffle drove me,

katie__pillar,

klo_the_hobbit and

seiyaharris to Stratford to see the RSC's new production of Matilda. OH MY GOD IT WAS SO AMAZING!! I was, tbh, a tiny bit leery, because the combination of Matilda, Tim Minchin and RSC had so, so much to live up to that I was afraid it couldn't possibly, but it truly exceeded my wildest expectations. The children were brilliant, and the musical itself was just magical. I will be going to see it again if it transfers to the West End, and would advise everyone else to do the same. UNLESS YOU HATE AWESOMENESS. Anyway, after that we went for tea at Chloe's parents and watched Strictly, and then came home. It was actually the most amazing 24 hours - just so lovely to do brilliant stuff with chums.

- This weekend will hopefully also be bon. Am still, admittedly, in bed, but I've been awake since about 8, which surely counts for something? Right? Anyway, cet après-midi, am off to Staines to congratulate Darren on the anniversary of his birth, then tomorrow Katie and I are off to Kingston for Christmas business, the day to be concluded by putting up the Christmas tree, watching Muppet Christmas Carol (OMG YAY), and consuming pizza and ribena cava. Good times, say you? Best times, say I.

I CANNOT BELIEVE I HAVEN'T LJED IN SO LONG! I am genuinely shocked by my own lacksadaisical approach at telling you about what I've been doing. SHOCKED. GENUINELY. So, in the seven minutes available before the Lego Head Man lets out his traditional plaintive cry that dinner (in today's case, chicken cacciatore à la Nigella - tasty tasty) is ready to be fettled, I shall update you.

This is, of course, hampered by the fact that I can't remember what I've been doing.

♥ WEDDING! Jess got married to Douglas in the darkest depths of Gloucestershire, and I, along with Katie, Pim and Katherine, went to watch. It was really nice, and we saw various people, and Megan and Hannah were bridesmaids and supercute (they went off rollicking on the grass at the reception place and in their white dresses and Megan's hair up like a little C17th girl, they did look like they belonged in a timeslip story). So, wedding was good, speeches were very good (Jess, I love you and your mother forever for both doing one), realising that the Kate and Fliss I'd been talking were in fact

chiasmata (well, Kate was), which fact apparently everyone else knew, was VERY EMBARRASSING but tant pis. Plus Travelodge/Little Chef hilarity, SO MANY TAXIS, and CELIA IMRIE being awesome. A good weekend.

♥ Our balcony garden is not yet dead. I know. We're amazed too. In fact, it's thriving: herbs are merrily growing away, we have tiny green strawberries, and our tomato plants are AS TALL AS THE SKY*. There has been a lot of watering, and also spraying of the mint with washing up liquid, as it has traumatically become infested with greenfly. Boofaces. Still, the washing up liquid is doing its promised job (god save Katie and her arcane childhood knowledge), so all is not lost.

♥ I feel I should let everyone know that, when the apocalypse comes, FT can survive for a month or so on baked beans, orange juice and yogurt. But I cannot share this information without attaching a grave warning: don't, when you find yourselves stumbling along the Strand, dodging zombies and trying to scavenge ginger nut biscuits from the bin (I'm looking at you, Helen: I know your tendancies), attempt to breach the barricade of 22 The bally old W. We will react strongly and sternly, and you will find yourself tumbling back down the stairs with the tiny remnant of a hacksaw sticking out of your eye.

♥ So, about that tiny remnant of a hacksaw. We bought a garden cane to be a curtain pole for the balcony door. So far, so good. But we knew it would be too long, so we bought a little hacksaw to cut it down to size. "Hmm," said Katie dubiously, "a hacksaw won't actually saw through wood." "La," said I, ever the optimist, "it will be fine." Came the day, came the garden cane/hacksaw attempt. Which lasted approximately three seconds, up to the point that the hacksaw blade snapped into three. "Ho hum," said I, and began my attempt to saw through a garden cane using the aforementioned tiny remnant of a hacksaw. It was about two inches long. My progress was not inspiring. After a while, Katie came to see what havoc I was causing. After putting newspaper down in a bid to stop me getting sawdust everywhere, she attached herself to one end of the tiny two-inch hacksaw blade remnant. I maintained my grip on the other end. Together, in a thrilling display of teamwork, we sawed that fucker in half. Oh, how we chuckled - near insensate with mirth, we were, and then I said (hilariously, I think we can all agree), "And then they realised they were punching a baboon!" which led to more laughter. Good times, readers, good times.**

♥ In other news, I cracked open my sewing machine, and hemmed the curtain that is to go on the hacksawed garden cane. I also made a top (rough draft with not-so-great material), which needs some work before I make it with proper material. But it's fun to be sewing again - I haven't really for ages (except for curtains etc when we moved in).

♥ Also, I have done other things with my time. I did the Remix Redux challenge, which was quite exciting because I've never done a proper challenge before. Maybe this will be the year I actually sign up for Yuletide! I wrote a Merlin fic which I quite liked in the end, so I will post that here soon.

♥ In other fanfictional news: Chalet School. Zombies. Coming soon to an LJ near you.

♥ Anyway, returning to the previous point. Other stuff. Katie and I went to see Iron Man 2, which I loved because RDJ is the king of ace. We went to a party at Nellie Dean's new house, which was vee nice. Also nice: the gather, the highlight of which was undoubtedly drinking many cocktails (and stealing bits of Kathryn's kumquat liqueur-themed ones) and trying to sing along to Joseph without Helen changing the playlist. After the gather we went to Ikea, and Katie and I bought things we needed without going crazy (the ultimate Ikea challenge). TRAGICALLY AND INEXPLICABLY the Swedish shop did not provide us with salmon paste. We are confused and desolate, just as if a treasured chum had kicked us in our lady bits.

♥ I have become indoctrinated into Criminal Minds. OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SHOW. I love everything about it. I love how the nice people at the beginning don't happen upon a grisly corpse, thereby setting in train the events of the episode. Oh no. They are the grisly corpse(s) setting in train the events of the episode. Also, Garcia is so rocking awesome. And Spencer Reid is made of love. And Jane Lynch may be the most superdooper thing ever. And Hotch is so stern and so adorable, and Morgan is just so stalwart. Anyway. Love.

♥ People should read this fic: Bredon in Narnia - The White Witch tries to tempt a child of Peter and Harriet and fails utterly. As, of course, she would. Also Rain Check - An investigation takes Hotch into Harvelle's Roadhouse. Because it's so just who Hotch and Ellen are.

♥ So, there you are. The last month or so of a squeenly life. I clearly haven't written this is the seven minutes before the Lego Head Man let out his plaintive cry. I have now nearly finished both my dinner and my yellow milk. And so I bid you adieu.

xoxo, Suburban Squeen ***

* Or about two feet tall, depending on how you view the situation.
** Which no one will appreciate, because no one ever does appreciate our hijinks. :-(
*** STILL AMUSING IN MY HEAD.

It's Friday evening, so I'm sure I can be forgiven for bullet-pointing!

♥ I made an actual, honest-to-god new recipe for our dinner! I am always in a rut cooking-wise, and though I do occasionally add new dishes, it's at a very slow rate. (In the past year we've had chicken korma, PCP, kedgeree and... yeah, that's about it.) Anyway, this was one off a Waitrose recipe card - sausage, potato and pea casserole. Tasty, tasty. We will have the leftovers for dinner on Sunday, possibly with, as Katie phrased it, a hunk of rustic bread to mop up the juices.

♥ We went to see Crazy Heart at the kino on Wednesday, which I enjoyed. Entirely concur with Katie that Colin Farrell's role should have been played by Christian Kane, but that's the lunacy of Hollywood for you. Not as stylised as recent outings, but I still liked the cinematography, and enjoyed Bad Blake's character progression.

♥ Continuing my earlier outrage, I was further incensed to see yesterday that Ed Balls had waded into the Jamie Bulger thing to say that Atkinson's comments had been "unwise". Fuck off Ed Balls, and grow a pair.

♥ Etsy. Oh, Etsy, Etsy, Etsy. I love you and all your beautiful, beautiful things. I want my pay rise chiefly so I can buy necklaces from you. But not even for you will I contemplate a vagina plaque. I do not think it would suit our decor.

♥ We are off to Hampton Court tomorrow. I am quite excited - I do like a bit of historic house visiting. Hopefully the weather will be nice, but who knows? Actually, let's see if BBC Weather knows. Ein minuten bitte... Boo. Rain all day. Ah well, an outing isn't British if it isn't tipping it down at regular intervals. I shall, however, be taking my cag. Also a tiny picnic, as I will be meeting Katie en route from her morning chores. Egg mayonnaise sandwiches, je pense, with a bit of bugel crisp action and maybe some oreos. A meal for kings. (Not the Kings, natch, they will be at home... oh lol.) And on Sunday I must, must, must tidy the radioactive fallout zone that is my bedroom because it's just shameful. I have tunnels. They don't quite have roofs, but it's not far off. I fear for my future.

♥ Work continues to be engaging, though apparently not so much for the new prog man who has disappeared off again. Strange times. Tragically, my afternoon was spent in mandatory training for the new patient management system (which I will not be using personally), along with a dozen or so IT-illiterates, including a slightly deaf, surely-near-retirement-age lady, who asked coquettishly stupid questions all the way through and maintained a near-perfect record of clicking the wrong thing. One aged volunteer was incapable of double-clicking ("Click it, and click it again. No, more quickly. Try again."), and the trainer had obviously had more than he could bear of the whole thing (ours was the last training session for the whole hospital before the system goes live). Painful. I left as soon as possible.

♥ I have now bought all of Katie's birthday present, and want it to be her birthday NOW so I can give it to her. Why isn't it April yet? Why? IT'S SO FAR AWAY!!

Katie and I just ate a mammoth aubergine and mozzarella pasta thing. Yum. Also pop. Also, we're watching Singin' in the Rain. I ♥ Cosmo Brown. We have an army's worth of roasted vegetables to be added to couscous and feta for lunch, and we are achieving domestic goddess levels of kitchen organisation. Go us.

In other news, we went to Katherine's on Saturday for supernice lunch with Helen, Kathryn and the Kings (and Lee, natch), which was vee nice, only then Megan made us watch High School Musical 3 and I slept through the one song I actually like. Boo. :( We also got quite excited about our proposed holiday. Norfolk, woo, except no white car of peril. We're going to Hampton Court on Saturday with bods, which should be ace.

In other news, there has been no visiting of my grandmother lately. This is terrible.

We went to see Alice in Wonderland last week. It was ace, as was A Single Man the week before. I do love me a stylish film. Love liek woah. Speaking of, I should get Inglourious Basterds on DVD at some point. That film was fucking awesome.

And to wrap up: Well, I can't make love to a BUSH!

Oh, it looks nice outside! Not in a snowy way (no snow :( ) but just in a bright wintery day way. Pale blue sky striated with long, thin clouds, and stiff, bare branches. LOL we're on the second floor, so that's all I can see from the living room window. Anyhow, I'VE BROKEN UP FOR CHRISTMAS!! WOO!!! Extremely excited: I have two weeks off - I haven't had a break that long all year, and I think I need it, even though work is really awesome at the moment. And when I say awesome, I mean OMG TOTALLY FUCKING AWESOME LIEK WOAH! So that's nice.

Anyway, I've just had a shower, made a present for Katie's parents, finished presents for Kathye and Helen, and I just need to tidy up a bit (maybe), get dressed and head out to Kathye's for Christmas party joy. This evening, Katie and I are planning to go and see St Trinian's 2 at the kino, which I am looking forward to, because I loved the first one. Here's hoping the sequel delivers.

I suppose I should get on with the whole dressing thing. Ciao ciao, darlings.

Today has been spent pleasantly tidying etc and weeding out books and videos to go to the charity shop. I have been tidying my room, people. I know. It's crazy. Anyway, then I made tea, and oh em gee, it was delicious! We had chicken cooked with shallots, and roasted squash (also with shallots *g* - three guesses what we got in our Abel & Cole delivery!!), and potatoes sautéed with garlic and rosemary, and broc and carrots. Absolutely lovely. We're planning to have it again tomorrow, because we're exciting like that. Ben & Jerry's for pudding. Aces. Anyway, at the moment we're watching Tristan + Isolde, which we saw at the kino when it came out because there wasn't anything else we wanted to see, and surprisingly really liked it. It's actually quite a good film, and the scenery and production design are tip top. And when I go to bed (once I've, y'know, made my bed), I will watch Merlin on iPlayer. Groovio.

Well, bugger me with a fish fork. I've been enjoying all our newly returned shows, but I mun say the season premiere of NCIS has knocked them all into a cocked hat. Fucking awesome TV - loved it!! LOVED IT LIEK WOAH! \o/

In another news, it was Venom's birthday today, so we had lovely birthday breakfast, and did little else. Nice day. I made shep p. with lentils in with the usual mix, which was nice. Today, I also used my fic tag for the TWO-HUNDRED-AND-SEVENTY-FIFTH TIME. Wowza. So, you may be asking, what else has happened this week? Well, not a great deal. I have read a lot of books by Gaelen Foley, Helen came over for dinner on Monday and I signally failed to help her write a Christmas carol (seriously, darling, when was asking the atheist for help a plan?), instead getting overly amused by all the headings in my schoolgirl Good News bible (Jesus Heals a Man, Jesus Heals a Paralysed Man, The Man With a Paralysed Hand, Jesus Heals a Roman Officer's Servant, Jesus Heals Many People, Jesus Heals Two Men With Demons, Jesus Heals Two Blind Men, Jesus Heals a Dumb Man, Jesus Has Pity For the People), and last night...

Oh. Last night.

Excuse me a moment.

*goes out*

*comes back*

So, last night we wended our usual path to the Barbican for a jolly evening with the Bad Film Club. We were going to see a film that has become something of a cult in America. It... it...

No, sorry.

*goes out again*

*takes some deep breaths*

*comes back in*

I can't possibly find the words to do it justice. So I'm just going to give you the trailer instead.

OMG, everyone needs to watch the film Wild Child. It is adorable. Boarding schools FTW.

♥ Katie and I went to see (500) Days of Summer at the kino, which was really good. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up. I liked the non-linear structure (style > substance). Tomorrow is Arcadia, Friday I am going to see Ben in some random melding of all musical versions of Figaro, and Saturday is Catherine's 30th birthday party, so I will be vee busy, and then Katie's parents are coming to stay for part of next week, which will be nice. I like parental visits, and, though naturally I adore my own parents, Katie's parents are an awful lot more relaxing! However, my own mater will be staying with us next Sunday night, so it will be nice to see her too.

♥ After getting back from the cinema, we made late-night spag bol. Awesome. Garlic bread and everything (good vintage, btw, Katie). Also, we randomly received a tiny avalanche of post (almost as if the PO hadn't delivered anything for a couple of weeks which surely couldn't be the case) and an Amazon parcel apiece. Woo. My shoes arrived today, and although they are exactly the same style in different colours, one pair fits while the other doesn't. Weird. Will try the red ones on again tomorrow in the hopes of a different outcome.

♥ Also: tomorrow, prepare to stand back as I talk about how a Miley Cyrus song reflects one of my, for want of a better word, philosophical beliefs.

Adding to my woe (already considerable), my left bra strap has been twisted for most of the day, which was very uncomfortable. It's tipping it down and I have no umbrella or, indeed, any coat. I didn't have time to blow dry my hair this morning so it looks shit. I didn't put on any make up, so I look shit. I am completely unironed and look like I slept in a laundry basket. The phone has NOT STOPPED RINGING, like people somehow think I might be interested in talking to them. I am SURROUNDED BY STUPID, as usual. The Fellow who's supposed to deal with patients has fucked off for the weekend without (i) telling anyone or (ii) doing any of the work I gave him this morning, some of it specifically to do with patients who are coming in VERY SOON INDEED.

Back in happier days, Katie and I went to see Inglourious Basterds on Wednesday (oh, Orange Wednesday, never leave), which I was a bit sceptical about seeing but OMG I LOVED IT LIEK WOAH. Absolutely brilliant. I would recommend it whole-heartedly.

ETA: Oh, Charlie Brooker, he's a card...

Ah, the weekend, that oasis of awesomeness in the desert of officedom... Yesterday, Katie and I GOT UP EARLY (yes, ON A SATURDAY) in order to go to Kingston (there is nothing I don't love about Kingston) for a bit of shopping. You will all, I know, be ecstatic to hear that, after three and a half years, we have finally bought a new little scrubbing brush on a stick for the kitchen. *high five* 17p well-spent, I think we'll find.

After the shopping and the smoothie drinking, we went to Ealing to have lunch with Katherine, in honour of her birthday (which is today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATHERINE!!!). We sadly were only three, since Helen was still on her plaguey sick bed, however we called her and through the power of the speaker phone, we all got a little chat and she was allowed to share vicariously in the experience of Katherine opening her birthday presents. (HA HA HA WINE COOLER OMG WE'RE SO HILARIOUS!!) After lunch (delish), we plotted Frolickiness for a while (Frolick, people, come and Frolick...), and then Katie and I headed home via the Hammersmith Sainsbury's, have had the spiffing idea of brunch and tea for today. (Mmm, brunch. Mmm, tea.)

Today, I arose at half past ten, and read two more LJ Smith books (I don't even have words, at this point), and then watched The Last Legion (Colin Firth as a Roman soldier...) and Push (Chris Evans as anything and I am there), both of which I enjoyed to a surprising extent. I put half my books on eBay. I made brunch. Katie sorted tea. I made a bastard version of my tomato soup that basically turned into tomato and lentil bol, but whatevs, it's probably nutritious, and that's three days' lunch right there.

Also, I want to check everyone's up to speed with regard to The Great Hair Catastrophe of 2009. I've washed it a few times, and it doesn't seem that much lighter to me, though Katie assures me it is. Head and Shoulders will, I'm sure, do its sacred work - on the second scrubbing, I can feel the chemical tingle in my scalp which is simultaneously comforting (yes! work your magic! strip my stupid, ill-advised hair dye!) and concerning (can Head and Shoulders give you cancer?). Anyway, Katie took a photo. Normally I would not trumpet my shame in this manner... oh, OK, fine, yes I would.

( This way to view my shame... )

So, yes, no words there, really. However, tragically, I must tell you that my piteous existence does not stop there. Many of you will know of my troubled relationship with milk. I cannot deny we have our ups and downs. (For those of you who are new to the world of Me & Milk, the rules are simple. Milk must come from an approved source, namely the major supermarkets of Sainsbury's, Waitrose or Tesco. It cannot have been left unrefrigerated for more than 15 minutes. It cannot be past its sell-by date*. It cannot taste in any way unlike standard homogenised milk. If milk meets these strict criteria, it is my faithful friend, and I will drink it by the gallon. If not, I will scrawl curse upon malediction upon its treacherous plastic body, fling its milk blood down the drain, and throw the remains to the wolves**.) We had new milk recently. Properly delivered, properly containered milk from Sainsbury's. I supervised its arrival myself. It has not broken any rules. And yet, yet, fair reader, I just drank a glassful AND IT TASTED OFF.

I AM SO TRAUMATISED.

*sighs* Nobody understands my pain. Except Helen. We are tiny tragic soulmates.

* Yes, these are a giant con and normally I will eat/drink anything that seems OK regardless of label, but see above re total and irrational milk neurosis.
** Or leave it for Katie and/or the making of cheese sauce/pancakes etc.

Oh em gee, darlings, how long has it been since I updated properly? An age, is how long. I've had so much stuff to LJ about I've forgotten most of it. I wish I could say that it means you only get the wheat and not the chaff but, to be brutally honest, I mostly tend to remember the chaff.

Anyway. Moving on. I went to the beach a couple of weekends ago with

katie__pillar,

weird_bird and the rest of the King clan on our annual West Sussex coast pilgrimage. Ah, the beach. The beach. There are no words sufficient in the English language to fully describe the beach experience. So Katie made a video of me at the beach:

In other news, we went to see Harry Po at the kino, which was highly enjoyable, though mostly, I have to admit, for the lolz. There was atmosphere of high hilarity in the cinema. Loved some of the design though: Draco in his shirt sleeves and those birds in the cages - ace.

Last weekend, I went with Katie and

klo_the_hobbit to the Ben & Jerry's Sundae on the Common, WHICH WAS EXACTLY LIKE HEAVEN WOULD BE (if I believed in heaven). We had lovely weather, and there were bands and free ice cream and grass, and it was all perfectly lovely. I re-read Fray over the course of the afternoon and I now want there to be more Fray. I also want to read some kind of Buffy -> Fray -> Firefly mélange, because I think that would be awesome. On Sunday, Katie and I were domestic. Well, Katie was domestic. I mostly napped.

Um, what else? Last night, Emma and Ben (though not Bob, because she foolishly forgot and double-booked herself) came for dinner, and we were joined by Katie and Chloe, who were breaking from their epic Thames Path walk in Barnes. Ate grilled halloumi and watermelon salad, butternut squash risotto and garlic bread, and chocolate cheesecake, which was all quite nice, and watched the pilot of Glee (joyous). Emma forgot to get her home-brewed wine out of the fridge (her description: "rancid"), for which relief much thanks. We drank white grenache instead, which was much nicer. I had two glasses. Go me. There was a reason for this untoward drinking on my part, viz HIDEOUS HORRENDOUS DAY AT WORK CAUSED BY SHENANIGANS I CANNOT GO INTO PUBLICALLY but which has now mostly been resolved. Go me for being a tiny bit assertive.

Also, I bring happy news. One of the fake hookers who killed the midget wrestlers has been arrested. Still worried that there's another one on the loose, though...

Last night, Katie, Emma and I went to see Snakes on a Train at the Bad Film Club. So, yeah. There were snakes. On a train. Involved in some barely explained Mayan curse. There was also a drug-smuggling subplot that made little sense, and at the end the woman turned into a giant snake and ate the train. Good times.

In other news, I go on holiday on Sunday!!! I am sure you have all been on tenterhooks waiting to hear about the ticket situation, but rest assured it has all been resolved, by dint of me ringing the train company and LYING with neither blush nor shame. I will be picking them up at Paddington on Saturday (a day early, mark you, in case of any problems – how practical am I?) and all will be well. Holidays!! Currently I am trying to work out how many books I can take. Normally, of course, I’d take a dozen or so, but I am hampered these days by having to take the tiny tiny shiny laptop, phone, MP3 player, and, more to the point, all their respective chargers and cables etc. So, what with them and some clean knickers, I’ll be lucky to have space for any books. Ho hum. I will think of something.

In other news, my black nail varnish is chipping and I didn’t have time (OK, whatevs, I forgot) to do it last night. I look like a Gothy tramp. Must remember to do that this evening.

So, I’ve been watching some original series Star Trek (always a treat). I watched Amok Time and heard, for what would have been the first time ever, the magic words ‘pon far’. Little did the random bloke who came up with this meaningless collection of letters imagine the impact it would have on fandom, I’m sure. However, I was telling Emma and Katie about that particular episode on the train home last night, and about T’Pring challenging etc, and Spock giving her to Stonn, and Katie remarked upon the total gender fail! in the concept.

Which leads me to a fic rec. Or, rather, an author rec. Pat Foley has a series of Amanda/Sarek-centric fic on her ffnet page and her own fic page (link on the ffnet page). I read these stories quite a long time ago, and have been re-reading them in light of my renewed Star Trek love. They look at Sarek and Amanda’s relationship, their relationships with Spock, T’Pau, the rest of Vulcan society, and the press, amongst others. It’s not always easy reading, because the author really highlights the point that although, as Human and Vulcan, Amanda and Sarek have a lot in common, and are happy in their marriage, there are massive differences in their cultural backgrounds and cultural understanding that cause huge problems, chief of which is how husband and wife interact, and how a wife should submit to her husband. The idea that, due to biological imperatives, a Vulcan wife must be submissive, or at least passive, with regard to her husband, is interestingly explored, particularly because that is so contrary to Amanda’s character and background. I would really, really recommend all her fic, but please note that while some of it is normal gen, even a bit fluffy, some of it could be a bit distressing in terms of sexual themes. But yes, very good, and really fleshes out Vulcan society and characters. Ace work. (Also, she has an indulgently good H/C story where Spock turns into a kid and McCoy has to look after him. Spock joins the Pony Club!!)

CBB Summer Frolick

However, enough of such fol-de-rol! Frolick time! CBB peeps who haven’t been on the board, the Summer Frolick this year is taking place on 22 August in Derbyshire and it’s going to be AWESOME. Maybe even AWESOME SQUARED. The programme and venue details are in the Gathering forum, so bop along. To the forum. But to the Frolick, too. Frolick FTW!

OH EM GEE am so tragically (a) bored and (b) tired. Have been landed with reception due to clinic day, which is bad enough, except of course I am utterly exhausted from not getting in till midnight after seeing "Bats" at the Barbican (oh, Bad Film Club, how much are you made of win?) and then BEING UTTERLY STUPID and finishing off The Demon's Lexicon (OMG so good!) so I didn't actually go to sleep till half one, and then I had to get up to start my stupid, circuitous tube strike journey in. I actually managed to get to work by five past nine, though, by dint of NOT WALKING ALL THE WAY FROM FINCHLEY LIKE A FOOL (and also, admittedly, NOT FLAILING LIKE A FOOL IN A VARIETY OF FOOD-SELLING EMPORIA), so that worked out nicely. But yes. Tired. Bored. Woe.

But Xanthe has booked tickets for us to see Arcadia so WOO and YAY and WIN.

Had an absolutely lovely day yesterday with

katie__pillar,

katherinea and

balooky. We visited the INTERNATIONAL DOLLS HOUSE MUSEUM in Ealing which was in a room guarded by two very earnest and sweet bods who seemed quite excited that we were visiting their establishment. Then we did a spot of shopping (during which Katie and Katherine kept RUNNING AWAY and leaving me and Helen to wander aimlessly like we had a clue where we were or what we were doing), bought some tat in Tiger, visited Curry's so I could look at laptops (big one has broken again, leading to IMMENSE woe), and generally bopped around. Katherine had then created the world's best tea (cakes and tarts and sandwiches and other loveliness), after which we lay around quite lazily. Then we visited the goslings, and Katherine made dinner (butternut squash, red onion and ricotta lasgna - absolutely delish). It was all ACE. We also planned my "staycation" - genius!

Today, I have put out my laundry, put some more on, and made myself some tuna mayonnaise in a mixing bowl for lunch. Yum. However, must get dressed etc, as am GOING TO SEE STAR TREK AGAIN WOOOOOO with

klo_the_hobbit.

On Friday night (after she had scared me NIGH UNTO DEATH at Waterloo), Katie and I watched the finale of Supernatural (interesting, very interesting) then had a very deep and meaningful discussion about GOD and RELIGION and STUFF. Good times.

OMG I THOUGHT I COULD WAIT.

I TOTALLY CAN'T WAIT.

I WANT TO SEE STAR TREK AGAIN. NOW. RIGHT NOW. THIS MINUTE, DAMMIT! CHLOE, WHEN CAN WE GO? SOON, PLEASE, SOON, VERY SOON...

Uh... uh... uh...

OMG!!!! *flails* THAT WAS SO MUCH MORE MADE OF WIN THAN I WAS EXPECTING! STAR TREK, OH STAR TREK, MY FIRST SCIFI LOVE! OH OH OH! OH! *flails more*

I am so going to see that again. Oh yes, my friends.

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chaletian

All My Fic Ever

June 2016

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What is this life if, full of care, we have to get up at arse o'clock in the morning...
"He probably wants to curb your use of extravagant metaphor..."
Things.
La la la
There is no defence against the power of the capslock.
"In countries like China, Hilary Faye probably would have been killed at birth."
"Well of course we talk! Don't everybody?"
Well, hello there...
Food is ace.
"You are tearing me APART!"
Bol is not a food. Bol is a way of life.
"Darling. I don't know how to tell you this, but there's a Chinese family in our bathroom."
"When it comes to killing Nazis, I think you show great talent."
"I must scream of my pain in the loo!"
"I'm on my feet for four hours a day, three days a week..."
"You’ve got paperclips stuck to your hand."
I could have a comedy quote from Bats, but mostly it was a stupid film with few redeeming features.
I like the world. It's nice.
HELP ME! HELP ME JIM, SPOCK, BONES AND ALL THE GODS IN THE STAR TREK PANTHEON...
"Green blooded hobgoblin..."

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Diary of a Suburban Squeen

Entries tagged with films

What is this life if, full of care, we have to get up at arse o'clock in the morning...

"He probably wants to curb your use of extravagant metaphor..."

Things.

La la la

There is no defence against the power of the capslock.

"In countries like China, Hilary Faye probably would have been killed at birth."

"Well of course we talk! Don't everybody?"

Well, hello there...

Food is ace.

"You are tearing me APART!"

Bol is not a food. Bol is a way of life.

"Darling. I don't know how to tell you this, but there's a Chinese family in our bathroom."

"When it comes to killing Nazis, I think you show great talent."

"I must scream of my pain in the loo!"

"I'm on my feet for four hours a day, three days a week..."

"You’ve got paperclips stuck to your hand."

I could have a comedy quote from Bats, but mostly it was a stupid film with few redeeming features.

I like the world. It's nice.

HELP ME! HELP ME JIM, SPOCK, BONES AND ALL THE GODS IN THE STAR TREK PANTHEON...

"Green blooded hobgoblin..."

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June 2016

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