a collection of ‘stuff’ by people.

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Ten latest movies/films I've watched

Includes films/movies I have watched at a cinema or a friends place... so be it whether they are cinema, DVD, Video or TV (though I don't tend to add TV movies that I only half watch anymore)... even the humiliating ones I shouldn't be owning up to.

1. Huo Yuan Jia (Fearless) - Mixed feelings... the begining? Long winded and didn't really leave me with much thought on the characters either way but I liked the second half a lot.
2. Thank You for Smoking - Loved it. Very well done. Great dialogue.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Good fun, as expected.
4. X-Men: The Last Stand - I think what happened is there were lots of cool ideas but no time to fit them all in if the story line was developed at all... so they didn't. Develop the storyline that is. X-Men 1 & 2 had much better storylines. Not bad, if you want action. And let's face it, sometimes that's all you do want.
5. DemonLover - Uhhhh... well. Um. Right. Ok. This was one of those films where you think you've got the plot and then you don't... then you do and then you realise you are just a bit confused. Being in French subtitles, perhaps something was lost in the translation. Interesting. (Another vid night movie)
6. Garden State - Yeah... again. It was a vid night with friends. I like it. Zach Braff is a funny guy.
7. V for Vendetta - Enjoyed it. Good story. Hugo Weaving. Based on graphic novel published under the Vertigo label (comic books dahlinks, comic books). Go see it.
8. Walk the Line - to be honest, the pace was a little slow. I found myself wondering if I should just turn it off and go and do something else (but then a song would come on that I like, or something would happen to keep me there watching). If you're going to watch it, do it when you have absolutely nothing else to do and are bored senseless.
9. Water. Thanks to the Palace-Nova, I saw a preview session of this film. I liked it. A lot. I'd recommend you go see it. Some of the critics in the session after muttered (or rather stated in *very* educated tones) that they thought it was good but could have been better and it was a little awkward. It's the story of a group of Widows, in India in the 1930's living together, without any real choice and their story is told through their interactions with one another and those they encounter outside of the house. Go on, ignore the critics, listen to me and go and see it.
10. Serenity (and the accompanying Q&A) - Loved it. Of course. Want more. Preferably more of a Firefly/Serenity based series... but if not a movie would do... :)

Related stuff: Movies list archive, Review: Bourne Identity, short movie reviews (2003/04), Rant: People who talk in the cinema, IMdB

Music I appreciate

These are not necessarily recent... and are not even necessarily my favourites. It's just music that amuses me or appeals in some way or another. Thanks to last.fm, you can also be uber nosey and see the what I've been listening to recently.

• The Vasco Era - Their energy and music had the crowd from the first second right through until the end of their gig. See them live! Their second EP, Miles is better than the first but live is still the ultimate way to experience this band. They have bluesish overtones and go off... in a very cool way... but with 'Muppet' like energy :)
• Apocalyptica - This is what you get when you put classically trained musicians together with Metallica music. Very cool Finnish band. And I mean VERY.
• Ash Grunwald's hilarious Dolphin
• Underwear goes inside the pants by LazyBoy. Bags today's society. Bags McDonalds. A political statement disguised as black humour. Or something.
• Dress sexy at my funeral by Smog. It makes me smile... and... because I like funerals that are a celebration of someones life. I don't believe funerals should be some morbid bland drudgery full of mumbo-jumbo. The best funerals I've been to (yes, of course I could list them) were those I feel best celebrated who the people really were in life and didn't try to pretend that they'd practically been saints... after all, we often love people in our lives as much for their quirks and foibles as for their higher qualities.
• When i was a sperm by Master Wells. Really... how silly can you get?
• Date Rape by Sublime. A tad nasty really but the first time I heard this I thought, 'Man! Where *is* this going?' Then it got to the punch line and I thought, 'Ahhhhh'.
• The Usage of the Word F**k by ?? (attributed to Monty Python, Dennis Leary, George Carlin, Adam Sandler and even Orson Welles) - I originally heard this from 'the dub dentist' but apparently it's just one of those things that does endless rounds... and that's entirely understandable. [the urban dictionary]
• Chris Wilson - because he's good. Duh! (If you are ever priviledged enough to be around when he does an unaccompanied version of The Crown of Thorns' Ballad Of Slim Boy Fat just shut up and listen).

Related stuff: Triple J Unearthed, last.fm

Ten of lifes little things...

• A Christmas break with friends over from Ireland, London, Canberra, Sydney and... friends based locally who I adore.
• Spending time with yet another friend I'd not seen for a while - she's up to all kinds of exciting new adventures - and has a plan.
• The best lamb roast in a long time... more to the point great company (sometimes you don't realise how often you miss people until you see them again)
• Having a coffee while briefly catching up with a friend who I haven't seen for a while (life sometimes gets in the way). It's nice to hear people are making "what wanted to do for some time now" a reality.
• A lazy Sunday trying to listen to a flu ridden aquaintance play guitar for the singing ego who made my ears bleed (not literally) and sharing commentary with others who turned up in support of said aquaintance.
• Catching up with a friend who was visiting from interstate - she used my place as 'home base' while in town.
• Seeing my cousins who briefly while they were in town... 'cept I don't think boys should be allowed to turn into men overnight without warning. Now I feel old.
• A moment I have at least once a week these days is laughing madly with my 'baby' sister. I love it. (Though am sometimes convinced she parties inside my head - how else could she be so much on the same wave length?)
• Catching up with some of the 'angry merkins' for beer, dinner, drinks, talk, film clips and tv - I like these people.
• Lots of moments missing here between January and June - what can I say, I've been busy having moments.

Related stuff: Life's little things archive

Things that I should probably change - but most likley won't

A friend suggested I should perhaps change the heading of this section to 'reasons why my friends think I have z or m chromosome' (or something similar). (Refer profile). I'm not going to.

• I twirl my hair when I'm tired. I know about this one... I've been doing it since birth (well, except for when I was first born and used to rip out my hair to make myself cry so I could cry myself to sleep... but after that). It's a habit that's here to say... it's an inbuilt reaction to being tired.
• I can't seem to help but notice the small details about people - physical and verbal habits and mannerisms. Mind you, while some people see it as the compliment it is (you have to pay close attention to a person to notice their little habits) it really peeves others.
• Talking to myself. I really blame my high school English teacher (and yes, I know her name). She told the class that if we read stuff out we'd be able to tell if it sounded right or not. I think I went overboard and took it to extremes. sigh. It's been a great burden for various flatmates along the way.
• Letting random friends (mostly with no hairdressing skills what-so-ever) cut my hair (this has included both males and females, and among others electricians and programmers, who know a lot - just not about cutting hair) I kind of like the fact that most of my haircuts have a story to go with them :)
• Letting my sense of humour loose when buying shoes, jewellery, clothes. Or when dressing... sometimes I'm sure that two randomly moving brain cells collide... it's beyond my control! (It hasn't happened with shoes for a while, but I did recently buy this loud scary beaded ring thing... it's huge and jingles).

Places...

The places I love mostly tend to be those with a good mix of people. Or something quirky or unusual. Or peaceful... or nostalgic.

• The city... or the country... I like both extremes much better than in-between-ness.
• The Zoo - and the otters. Being in the sun/ouside and walking when there's nothing better to do and when the day is too nice to waste... or when some otter therapy is required.
• The night sky in the Northern Territory - it's so clear... the stars are visible... it's the best thing about the Territory... and you only have to be a wee bit out of town.
• I love West Coast/Lower Eyre Peninsula beaches... and the sounds of waves crashing against rocks.

Ten latest books I've read

I am not very genre loyal... I just like books. Or reading. Be it flipping through magazines (whatever is available), reading the back of a cereal pack or indulging in a book. I pretty much read anything I'm handed. I like non-fiction as much as fiction. I love some classics, some comics, and some 'trash'. I've even been known to enjoy trashy romances and westerns without apology. I love getting book recommendations - so if there's something you think I should read, lemme know.

1. Stardust by Neil Gaiman. A delightful fairy/faerie tale for adults. [the movie]
2. American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
3. Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich. A light fluffy enjoyable read, made slightly irksome by the fact that Evanovich keeps recycling characters in her books making them all too ho hum the same. Somthing new would be nice. I don't think I'll continue buying this series, I thought I'd give the first two a go but wasn't in love with the first one, finding it too similar to the plum series and the second one failed to change my mind.
4. The Man Who Never Sleeps by Levin A. Diatschenko. (See also Undergrowth)
5. Anybody out there? by Marian Keys. Very conversational book. I have resisted buying these books even at my laziest reading moments, but having been handed one by a friend, I'd give another one a go. I think the main reason I found myself obsessively racing to the end of this book was because the family and friends of the main character in the story were delightfully quirky - something I most definitely relate to :)
6. The Falls by Ian Rankin. I enjoyed it. Will definitely add Ian Rankin to the the 'i'm in the mood for crime' list.
7. The Alphabet Sisters by Monica Mcinerney. I couldn't finish it. It took way too long to get to the point... I perservered and kept reading but the point didn't seem anywhere in sight so in an out of character moment, I decided to put the book aside and leave it at that. I wanted to enjoy it because it's by a South Australian Author... but... sigh.
8. Twelve Sharp! by Janet Evanovich. The latest in the Plum Series. I liked it, but it wasn't as good as some of the other books in the series... (to be fair, I read this while I had the flu and bad concentration, so I might change my mind later). Enjoyable. And it featured Ranger (yippee) - readers of this series tend to be of the Morelli camp or Ranger camp. In my cousin's case, she just thinks Plum is a bit skanky. Oh well. I read it in a night and dutifully handed it to one twisted sister (she demanded it I read the entire thing the night before so she could have it next morning at breakfast). Twisted sister two, used stage whispers to indicate she was having it the minute it was next available - and then indicated her mother-in-law would be in line after her. Fun (as always) - just not the very best of the series. Oh and.. more Ranger!
9. Some book in a similar vein to Reichs and Cornwell by a UK author living in Australia... maybe. Can't remember the title or the author's name and have passed book on. Not bad.
10. Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen. It's funny, I had this book sitting there, waiting to be read - in the end, I had nothing else to read so I forced myself to start... then found I loved the whole adventure. I'd definitely read other books by this author.
11. Ultimate Punishment by Scott Turow. A discussion on the factors affecting views on capital punishment. (Uses examples from US and, in particular, the state of Illinois).

Currently Reading...

Related stuff: Books list archive, ooks and authors, List: grudknows 'read it if you get the chance' list

Watching the idiot box

Meh. Having created a grudknows profile at tv.com, I've ditched the list that was previously here and any inane TV related commentary can now be found via that website.

If you want a summary, I'd have to say I enjoy lots of stuff and detest "reality" TV for a number of reasons (I highly recommend the book 'Shooting People' if you too want some reasons to rethink 'reality' tv).

I don't mind shows changing formats to attract a wider audience but I hate it when they sacrifice quality (all the things you like and that keep you watching) in order to do so.

Firefly is up the top of my fictional tv list (probably, I hate putting such things in writing because what if I change my mind later? I just knowsomeone will quote these words back at me - sigh).

Veronica Mars - Season 1 and 2 are up there, I'm still debating Season 3, even though I've been avidly awaiting and watching every episode.

Traditionally when I've watched TV, it tends to be later in the evening to wind down - so have inadvertently become hooked on stuff that airs later - Dark Angel (I re-watched both Seasons in marathon fashion over the 2006-07 Christmas Break), ALIAS, Arrested Development, Wonderfalls, Battlestar Galactica... stuff.

Torchwood, for instance, is kind of appalling - I don't think they've decided quite what they want the show to be or where they want it to go - but I keep watching it anyway. It could be because of John Barrowman/Captain Jack or just because it's a Doctor Who spin off, who knows how my brain works in such matters. It's possibly pulp and I kind of like it anyway.

That'll do for a summary, right? No? Guess you'll need to go to tv.com then.