Bon Iver, Bon Iver

E got me Bon Iver's second album for my birthday. I've been listening to it all day, enjoying it a lot.

It's got me in a very content and peaceful state of mind- which is a bit of a feat considering how anxious and yuck I've been of late. Perth is my fav.

Old Boy

I turn 34 today.

It's been a nice birthday so far, nice and relaxed. I hung back to have breakfast with the girls. E cooked up a great big brekky with the works which was delisho.

Now I'm setting about doing as little as I possibly can. It's a really beautiful day, and I feel thankful to God for His renewed mercy and love each morning. He is GOOD. Life gets hard, but He never changes.

I don't mind getting older. This year in particular has brought a few extra crows feet and also the greying of 11 of my chest hairs (at last count). I'm okay with that.

Life's a bit of an uphill climb at the moment. If posts are a bit light on, that's why.

The Quiz

1. Have you got hangy ear lobes or those joiny-up ones that are welded to the face?
2. An item of clothing that keeps on giving
3. Why would anybody want to be..
4. A movie you've been meaning to watch again
5. A movie you wish you'd never seen in the first place

AWOL

I'm going to be away from my blog this week. See you guys soon.

Thursday Peanuts

Stop Press!

I just saw an Asian schoolgirl on the bus who looked exactly like a Stand By Me-era Corey Feldman.

Apart from her being Asian and a girl, it was uncanny.

Book Review Wednesday by Crazyjedidiah

Blood Faerie
by India Drummond

Review by Crazyjedidiah

Eilidh, a Faerie, was exiled, for using forbidden magic, from her world a quarter of a century ago, since then she has been living in Perth, Scotland (Not W.A.). A horrific murder occurs right near where Eilidh is living and she can tell that the murder is carried out by magic. Eilidh tries to get the help of her old countrymen to help defeat whoever has performed this murder and the other ones that are found, while making friends with a policeman who is more than he seems. She also must decide whether she is going to learn more about and use the forbidden magic.

This is a fantastic urban fantasy which I really loved. I have not read much urban fantasy in the past, but I have read quite a bit of other fantasy books, especially Historical fantasy. However the other thing that I loved about this book was the element of crime fiction in it, which is another of my favourite Genres. I really loved how Crime fiction and fantasy were blended together in this book.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes either fantasy or crime fiction or who would love to see a blending of the two genres. I would also recommend it to anyone who loves Scotland.

Thanks for the review! Crazyjedidiah blogs at Gibberish.

Jane Eyre- A Review

I enjoyed Jane Eyre a lot. When we came out, I said I loved it, whereas e said she was a bit disappointed. What happens with me is that I'll love something, but as time goes on it'll drop in my estimation a bit, as I ponder the flaws. But, as I say, my first impression was love.

I thought Mia Wasikowska was really great. I really loved her performance, and really empathised with her. I thought she got across a lot of deeper emotion with just a few lines of dialog. E thought she was a bit bland and unmemorable though, so it was a bit of a David and Margret situation going on..

It looked fantastic. Who doesn't love windy moors? It was just how a Bronte adaptation should look, I thought. And the music worked really well too.

My main complaint of the movie was the pace. It clipped along very quickly, and it felt like a chapter of the book got about twenty seconds of screen time. This disappointed me because I wanted to slow down and get more immersed in the world before the plot moved ahead too much.

It felt like the writer had written down all the key points in the book they wanted to hit, and then tried to string them together in the quickest way possible. Early life at the Reed's was summed up very quickly, with John Reed pretty much only getting one scene. And then the long dreary years at Lowood were over quickly too. An important character, the kindly teacher Miss Temple, was left out, and this meant it didn't make that much sense why at such a strict school Jane was allowed to stay with her dying friend. It also meant we didn't see how that nice teacher kind of inspired her on to eventually apply for the job at Thornfield.

Anyways, from this point on it worked better, although the relationship between Jane and Rotchy seemed to develop super fast as well. But I thought the actors had good chemistry (even though The Rotch was meant to be ugly and have a massive forehead- something I was particularly looking forward to).

Another thing that really stood out for me was the absence of Grace Poole. In the book she plays a massive part in building the drama for the revelation of ol' Bertha. For a while in the book Grace is a really frightening chilling character, and it was disappointing for that to be left out. This meant that there wasn't as much build up for Bertha, and consequently the attic wasn't as scary and she wasn't as ominous. I wanted to be SCARED like when I saw a miniseries as a kid, and she leapt up and bit someone on the face. Come on, how can you omit a face bite?

I liked the structure of the plot, how it was revealed in flashback. In other versions I get a bit bored when Jane goes and works at a school and the whole John Rivers bit. I feel like I want to get back to the main plot. So for me it worked well for that to be interspersed throughout the movie, rather than being an annoying boring bit 3/4 through.

Anyways, enough blabbing on. I liked it a lot, and would happily watch it again. Had it been an hour longer, to flesh it out more, I would have really loved it.

4/5

Day Off/Night Out

Had a nice day off on Friday for E's birthday. Cooked up a big brekkie in the morning, and then after lunch my mother in law came round and minded the kids while E and I went out for the night. It was nice.

Had a drink and a game of pool in a pub, saw Jane Eyre (I'll post a review soon- I loved it), went out for dinner, and then stayed in a hotel for the night. On Saturday morning we had a nice slow brekkie at a cafe, and then got home around mid day.

It was good for us, I think. It was our first night alone together since Little e was born four years ago, and it was good to properly catch up, and have some good conversations.

The Quiz

1. Don't you hate it when..

2. Do eggs go in the fridge?

3. What excites you?

4. What doesn't?

5. Something you'd like to do before the year's out

Having the day off tomorrow for E's Birthday. I have secret plans! I'm excited.

See y'all Monday.

Train People

Book Review Wednesday by Belle

The Praying Life
By Paul Miller

Review by Belle

Earlier this year my mum bought A Praying Life by Paul Miller and passed it on to me to read first. That was months ago and it’s high time I returned it to her, particularly because I’ve been urging her to read it ever since I finished. It’s hard to let go of this book, though! It’s a book that needs to be studied rather than speedily read, and it’s also a book that could be read a hundred times over without it losing its freshness or ability to convict. I’m a little bit in love with it.

All aspects of prayer are covered in A Praying Life, including the reasons we don’t do it (cynicism is one, according to Miller), the reasons we should (including seeing God's story unfolding in our lives), and different ways to help with getting around to it (prayer cards and journaling are two of his tips). However the book is much deeper than this simplistic summary implies, so if nothing in there inspired you to read it, please ignore this whole paragraph (hopefully the next will be better). Miller is someone who has struggled with prayer, so his tone throughout the book is understanding rather than bossy and by the end you feel motivated to pray rather than lectured and hopeless.

A Praying Life should be compulsory reading for all Christians (along with The Contemplative Pastor by Eugene Peterson). God has used this book to completely transform my prayer life, and that is a very good thing.

Thanks for that, Belle! Go check out Belle's Elbows.

Kindred Spirits

Two movies come out in the next week or two that I'm pretty pumped about. The first is Jane Eyre.

Another remake, sure, but it's a good story that I'm happy to watch again and again. As I've said before, the Brontes are my kind of period dramas, because they have good things like ghosts coming through windows and mad women in attics. These are the important ingredients that are sorely missing in your Jane Austens.

This interpretation of Jane Eyre looks really good, and got a positive review in the Herald on the weekend. Mia Kawa...sowk..swki..something or other looks to be good in the role too. So, as I say, pumped. I'm a bit sad that I'm still only about half way through the book. It's sitting on my dresser tut-tutting me. Remember I got all in to it and drew all those characters? I gotta get back on to that. Anyway, here's a trailer.

And then secondly is a remake of Conan The Barbarian! Oh yeah. I'm not sure if you know, but I have a deep love for Conan. Mainly from comics, but I like the old movies too. This remake could very well be a pile of bog, and I'm prepared for that. But so long as there is a long haired guy swinging a sword, and some sort of evil guy doing sorcery, I'll be happy enough. Here's the trailer.

You know, really Jane Eyre and Conan aren't so different, though you may nod earnestly at the former and roll your eyes at the second. Just two lil' orphans trying to find their way and eek out an existence in this big bad world. One chose to teach a little French girl her lessons, and the other chose to deal out some other kinds of lessons. In pain! They're kindred spirits in many ways.

In fact, I'd be surprised if they'd ever been seen in the same room together, come to think of it..

Seriously, how good are my Tigers going? It's ridiculous.

The Quiz

1. If you have a blog, what is it called? If you don't, what would you call one if you did? (see how inclusive and thoughtful I am?)
2. What's the meaning behind that name?
3. An instrument you wish you learned
4. Something you're a bit obsessed with at the moment
5. Your favourite dessert

The Poppy Field Effect

You know that bit in the Wizard of Oz where the crew are running through a field of poppies or whatever, and then they suddenly get all woozy and fall asleep?

Well, that weird Poppy Field Effect (P.F.E.) seems to occur also to any person who decides to sit next to me on the train. No matter the time of day, or where I sit, as soon as someone sits down beside me, they pretty soon head off in to a coma, swaying towards me, breathing hot, bad breath sweet nothings in to my ear, legs leaning warmly on to mine, head tilting perilously close to my shoulder.

Now I understand that my presence has a calming effect on people. That goes without saying. But come on, have a little self-control. Did you miss nap time today? Stay up too late playing Cluedo? All I ask is that you at least remain upright, tilt your head the other way, and preferably close your mouth. Even maybe brush your teeth if you think of it.

Come on, you can do it, I believe in you.

Best Of A Bad Lot

I hate ads. But I like this one.

I laugh every time.

Train People

Family Benefits

I work in the same office as the Hi-5 production peeps, so I got some VIP tickets for E to take Little e to a recording of one of the shows this morning. I just drove into work with them and they went on from there to the studios. Little e is pretty pumped.

Boy, an hour and a half in stop start traffic made me more than happy to be catching trains everyday instead. Way too stressful for a delicate flower like me. And an hour and a half of Disney princess songs as well... I need a stiff coffee now to recover.

Thursday Peanuts Turns 150!

Words That Are Too Gutless To Say What They Really Mean (Volume I)

Words can be a passive aggressive bunch. They seem to say one thing but mean another. There are many, but here are a few examples to start with-

1. Layman. When you call me a layman, or kindly put something in layman's terms for me, you are apparently being polite. But I know what's really going on. Layman. Lame-Man. Yeah, why don't you just say it. I'm not an expert like you, even though I'll have you know I did not only Maths in Society, but also at least a term of Science For Life. That stuff is hardcore, make no mistake. But I can see you looking down your 99th percentile nose. Lame Man indeed.

2. Raze. This word is just stupid, and whoever thought of it needs a good talking to. You don't raze something to the ground. That makes no sense. Unless it's suddenly opposite day. If you are going to tear something down, at least don't imply that you're somehow simultaneously putting something up. Duplicitous.

3. Plaque. I did something great and you are going to publicly honour me. But I detect the green eyed monster at hand. Why else would you decorate me with something that also means 'a sticky usually colorless film on teeth that is formed by and harbors bacteria'? Why not give me a bile. Or maybe a pus.

I could continue, but these words have made me so cross I need to go and have a lie down and a warm mug of Bonox.

Open Up And Say ARRRGGGGHHH!!!

Greetings.

I stand before today a changed man, different to the one who you have come to know and tolerate. Older, wiser, more highly schooled in the secret workings of mouth torture.

Yesterday I went to the dentist for the first time in twelve years, and got my first ever filling. All in all, the experience was a barrel of laughs, what with the injections in my gums, scraping and drilling and general WWII era contraptions stuck in my mouth. I felt thoroughly justified in having only been to the dentist three times since 1989. Hey lets go to this rad place where sadists butcher your mouth, and then you give them lots of your money. Yeah, lets.

Melodramatics aside, the dentist was pretty nice (for a sadist)and thankfully apart from decay in two teeth there wasn't anything else to worry about. The break was pretty big though. I have to go back one more time for the second tooth, but after that I shouldn't have to return before we are driving in flying cars and operating computers with our minds (ie, Tuesday week).

Gotta say, whose great idea was it to make fillings grey? Why not white? It's like they just stuck a wad of Blu Tack in there and hardened it with one of those creme brulee blow torch things. I could've done that out in the garage for nothing.

Anyways, I can now bite hard popcorn kernels again, and that's the main thing.