OK…so I’ve been lazy

I really have been up to stuff but to be honest I had forgotten to blog about it. The main reason I suppose is that when you have gotten used to living somewhere the everyday things become mundane.
If you really want me to share…we have been to the usual Friday night movie. Actually this week it was Tuesday and Friday. I will be blogging about these later. I have also been trying for the last 3 weekends to find a dress for a wedding reception we are off to on Friday. It must be said that they do weddings on a rather grander scale that at home. You are expected to dress up rather posh so this has put the pressure on to find a glam frock. Finally found one although I still have to find shoes. Can I just say how much I dislike shopping for clothes let alone shoes!
Also this morning I discovered one of the speakers at this years Kendal Mountain Film Festival will be Alain Robert (one of Steve’s rock climbing heroes) so I promptly bought tickets for that. It is not until November but it will sell out fast I would imagine.
To top off the weekend I just watched Dirty Dancing. I can’t tell you how many times I watched this as a teen (and at the Mission Bay movie theatre at considerable cost I am sure as I went a number of times). They were having a Swayze movie weekend on telly….sigh, he was bliss.
Anyway, it is now nearing 11.30pm and I have work tomorrow. Night all.

Movie: Dorian Gray

Having seen the original movie and now this one I can say that I enjoyed them both for very different reasons. Is it rather lazy of me to admit that I haven’t actually read the book? Maybe I would like the novel even better if the trend of books never translating as well to movies would be believed.
Colin Firth was fabulous in a decidedly un-Darcy like role this time around. Ben Barnes plays Dorian Gray and with that face how can you not feel for his character. The difference between this movie and the original I saw was that I did feel sorry for Dorian this time as you saw his innocence slowly being eroded one decision at a time. You could feel a connection to the character and a compassion to spur him on to fight against his unscrupulous friend. The fight to hold onto his morals is fought in a losing battle. His morality continues to be eroded until depravity becomes the norm and his painting takes on the evidence of his degraded soul. I think also this is where this movie is set apart. It has a story to tell about the effects of your choices. Whereas the original movie I first saw years ago “The Picture of Dorian Gray” was more focused on his beauty this movie seems to highlight more of Dorian’s battle with his soul.
Graphic at times it was wonderfully vibrant in colour and decadence with a story to take away to ponder. 4 out of 5.

The Snow Center – Hemel Hempstead

Opened in May of this year Steve recently found out about The Snow Centre and was keen to take a trip. I had some annual leave days up my sleeve, he had a day off and so today we took off for a day of skiing.

Our GPS, Susie, indicated it would take 2 hours but as we got nearer to London this became rather more like 3 hours. Oh well, thankfully we had the day all to ourselves.

The indoor center is lovely and new with a 30 metre width on the slope enabling more area to try some of those longer linked turns. What the heck am I talking about, I’m lucky to get to the bottom in one piece! We got a 2 hour ticket which comes at a reasonable price of 27 pound each as it is off peak. I needed about 1 hour of this to get my mojo happening.

Anyone who knows me well will know that I am rather risk adverse. Ok, so extremely risk adverse. Maybe this comes from my OHS background..this leads to that, which creates this = consequence. Manage the consequence by managing the risk. When you strap planks to your feet and point these downhill on a steep, slippery slope this would indicate a high probability of injury. Injury = pain, I dislike pain intensely…you see where I am going with this.

Maybe I continue to do it is because in my head I see a far more competent skier who can do amazing jumps, tight turns and laughs in the face of danger…then I wake up in a cold sweat and strap on the planks anyway!

So, here are some pics from today. Thankfully I made it home in one piece with thanks to my incredibly competent ski buddy who stuck with me, gave me advice and didn’t get too frustrated with me even when I finally listened to his advice at the very end and would have to agree that apparently going faster does make turning easier. Who knew! Maybe I should try this theory in the Rover.

The only person with a stack hat!
The Snow Center - main slope

Movie: Whiteout

This movie had so much potential, a thriller, based in the beauty of Antartica, Kate Beckinsale and Tom Skerrit. Tragically, it was not to be.
It failed on so many fronts, where should I start? Actually if I was to say that the first 5 minutes contains a shower scene of the incredibly gorgeous Kate Beckinsale ,this to me sums it all up. Basically, get your moneys worth here boys ’cause the rest is a waste of time. I’m still coming up with more plot holes and “what the heck was that about” moments and it is two days later! Seriously happy if I never see this again. 1 out of 5 (’cause I feel sorry for the actors).

Movie: District 9

Rather too bizarre for me I think. It left me a bit confused as to what the heck it was on about. Is it just a ride of a movie or were they trying to say something about how we treat others? The story in short as outlined on www.imdb.com – “An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds a kindred spirit in a government agent that is exposed to their biotechnology.”
It sits within the genre of Starship Troopers (which I love) with the explosions and goop. It was captivating and well done but I probably won’t bother seeing it again. 2 out of 5.

Movie: A Perfect Getaway

I just noticed that it has been ages since I blogged about any of the movies we have seen. True, lately the movies have been a bit sparse in coming out but we have been.

I really enjoyed A Perfect Getaway with Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil series), Steve Zahn (Sahara), Timothy Olyphant (Die Hard 4.0). A couple on their honeymoon in Hawaii take a remote hike only to become concerned they are being stalked by psychopaths. Hawaii looks amazing and the story, although a bit slow really gets going about 3/4’s into it. I was rather surprised. 2.5 out of 5.

Bristol half marathon

Today was the half marathon around the streets of Bristol. You will notice that I have been rather quiet as of late regarding my running progress. Not that I was intending to do the half by any means! Maybe the 10k, but that is not until next year now.

Since the pulled muscle incident (squash game related), our trip to France and terrible weather, I have been rather slack on the running side. It was rather inspiring to see the runners today doing the half so I shall make an effort this week to get back into it (weather permitting).

Today I also had a really good long talk to my dad via Skype. Fathers Day in NZ and although I didn’t actually call until Sunday evening NZ time…I did remember! Great talking to you dad! Love you.

I spent the rest of the day wandering around taking photos of the Bristol half and then in the library. Man, there are some very odd people that hang out at libraries these days (I wasn’t including myself in that comment thank you very much). Tonight I’m cooking up the rest of the beef casserole and rice that I made. I still can’t seem to get a casserole right. Most likely because I am impatient and end up pulling the casserole out far too early. I have however cracked the rice making aspect. Yee ha, no more gluggy rice.