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Tuesday 17 May 2011

A Kempt Woman

I am sick of walking around Cardiff and seeing these pristine people with their immaculate hair. I mean how do they do it? I wash and straighten my hair every single day yet I guarantee you by lunchtime I look like I’ve been caught in a hurricane. 
 
After careful consideration I’ve decided it’s my genes at fault. I’m cursed with Irish hair which needs to be free and flowing. It’s the kind of hair that refuses to be tamed no matter what I do with it. Clearly I was born to be a little wild.

Still, I dream of a day when I step out of the house looking groomed. Is it really too much to ask?

Thursday 12 May 2011

Let's Go To The Movies

I love films but it seems in the last year I haven't been able to see that many.  However, thanks to a lovely free trial of online DVD rental I'm finally getting to catch up and i've seen some crackers.  I thought I'd do some quick reviews of the ones I can remember! 

3.5 out of 5
The Social Network: Computer geek brings about the demise of the productive workday.
 
Positvies: Superbly acted and strangely watchable.

Negatives: None of the people involved are particularly likeable






4.5 out of 5
Inception: Lucid dreaming with guns and a big budget.

Positives: Not nearly as complicated as people said. Interesting, ambiguous ending.  Joseph Gordon Levitt is HOT in this movie!

Negatives (sort of): First 10 minutes play almost exactly like Justin Timberlake's Sexy Back video which meant I spent most of the movie dreaming of Justin Timberlake in sexy back video (apart from of course when I was dreaming of Joseph Gordon Levitt).



4 out of 5
Easy A: Teen pretends to sleep around in order to become more popular
 
Positives: Stanley Tucci , Stanley Tucci, Stanley Tucci! Actually a lot smarter than it first appears and very very funny in parts.  
 
Negatives: You know I can't really think of any.  It did exactly what it should have for a movie like this.



 
3.5 out of 5

Shutter Island: US Marshall sent to Alcatraz style prison asylum to find escapee prisoner.

Positives: Creepy without being scary and interesting 'reveal'. 

Negatives: The twist isn't exactly a shocker but actually that doesn't impinge on enjoyment of movie.   




3.5 out of 5
The Time Traveler's Wife: Time traveler grooms young girl by  convincing her he's her husband from the future.

Positives: As someone who enjoyed (but didn't love) the book this movie was remarkably enjoyable.  A lot funnier than expected.  The character of Clare is a lot more likable in the film than the book.  

Negatives: It's all a little bit schmaltzy for my taste.



 

5 out of 5
500 Days of Summer: He was a boy.  She was a girl.  Could I make it anymore obvious? *

Positives: One of the best movies I have seen in years.   Made me laugh out loud on many many occasions. Not that soppy and surprisingly up-beat. LOVED IT! 

Negatives: It ended.  I could have watched it for several hours more and then rewound it and watched it again.   


2.5 out of 5
Hot Tub Time Machine: The title pretty much does my job for me here. 

Positives: Despite all the odds this made me laugh, quite a lot actually.  Is really just a homage to 80's movies. 

Negatives: It's about a hot tub time machine!  




3 out of 5 

Burlesque:  Small town girl wants to makes it big in the dance world by singing. Also some nonsense about selling sky!

Positives: Stanley Tucci , Stanley Tucci, Stanley Tucci! Surprisingly enjoyable and some nice fun dance numbers.

Negatives: Cher's face is completely distracting.  Contains about as much legitimate burlesque as a Pussycat Dolls video.
Score is mainly down to dance numbers if i'm honest.

 
* I never thought I would ever quote Avril Lavigne lyrics in public!

Monday 9 May 2011

A New Blog for Bookworms

Books these days seem to be covered in spiel.  Things such as "This book will change your life' or "I couldn't put it down" decorate almost all the books you see.  For the most part however, these little blurbs are far from the reality.  

Sick of the hyperbole my bookgroup has set up 'A Riotous Oil-Painting'.  A blog dedicated to giving you the lowdown on what the reviewer really should have said. 

So if you like books (or simply hate reviewers) and have ever been lured into purchasing by the promise of "A riotous oil-painting of senility, lust and greed", only to find a faded watercolour then mosey on over to the blog.

It's very much a work in progress at the moment so bear with us!

Lazy, Moi?

Oh my I've been a bit slack haven't I?  I would love to be able to say that I've been far too busy to attempt to put a blog post together but alas that's just not true.  In fact apart from some manic decorating and a few rather drunken nights out it's been a relatively quiet few weeks and that's the problem.    

The less I have going on the less I feel like doing.  Currently I'm only working part time and my goodness have I got lazy.  The days I'm not working start of well enough.  I'm full of bounce and vigour and have wild plans of what I'm going to accomplish during the day. Unfortunately by about 10am I've lost my enthusiasm and the sofa is far more appealing.  It has only been a few weeks but still, it's not good.  

Unfortunately my lazy spell has filtered through to the blog as well.   

This week however I plan on changing it all.  I'm going to ban myself from the sofa during my days off and get some bloody work done.  Including, I hope, some blogging!  (They might be quite short posts though if I'm not allowed to sit on the sofa to type)  

Wish me luck!