GenesisDreams

May The Force Be With You

Friends - Fun - Movies - Work I came down to Nottingham from Liverpool last night. This last week of work has been exhausting. I've been running around doing so much stuff. It's really exciting, there has been so much going on and I've been in the tick of it. I've really enjoyed working hard again, I don't even think twice about working through lunch or late I'm that involved and interested in making sure everything comes out as it should. So I had a very fun reunion with Nikkie last night, then a nice long sleep in. I really needed it. Now we are both getting ready to drive down to Milton Keynes to visit my cousin. It's her little boy Jacob's birthday today and we are all going to see the new Star Wars movie. Then we are staying the night at my cousin's place with some other of their friends before coming back down to Notts. It's going to be a busy weekend, and I've got another hectic week of work after it, but you know what, this is what I want to be doing, and I couldn't be happier! Take care everyone!

The Edge of Reason

Movies Our house went to see the new Bridget Jones movie last night. Minus Graeme who for some reason stayed at home. Nikkie somehow managed to convince us all to go out and see it, and I am shamefully glad that she did. I really liked this movie, but maybe that's just the weird mood I've been in for the last couple of weeks. Graeme and Viki are cooking a roast chicken for dinner tonight. The smell is wafting all the way up here to my room. It's been so long since I last had a roast. I can't wait till Mum comes over for Christmas.

Layer Cake

Movies Walked down to the Savoy cinema (five minutes down the road) tonight with the gang to watch the new Brit gangster flick Layer Cake. It's directed by the guy who produced both Lock Stock and Snatch. It's an interesting film. It lacks the style of the earlier flims, but is slick none the less. It's about drugs, and crime, and life and love and death. All good things for a movie to be about. It also has some great music. I am currently listening to Ordinary World by Duran Duran. Check it out if it is showing near you!

Salzburg - Mozart Vs. The Sound of Music

Movies - Music - Travel I took a day trip out to Salzburg today. It is only a two hour train ride from Munich (yes I am still in Munich... leaving tomorrow) and I had a day to fill. It is a strange little town, which seems to vest so much of its tourist energy in two of its musical children, "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" and "The Sound of Music". It is quite disconcerting the manner in which recognition for the two seem to compete against each other in the town. Even though I was thoroughly indoctinated with the Sound of Music as a child (my mum loves it, but then, what mum doesn't), I tend to side with Mozart. Which side do you fall on?

Mr. Blue Sky

Movies - Music - University Sun is shinin' in the sky, There ain't a cloud in sight It's stopped rainin' Everybody's in a play And don't you know It's a beautiful new day. Hey, hey. I'm addicted to this song. It's on the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind theatrical trailer, and I've had it in my head ever since I saw it at Kill Bill Vol. 2. So I watched ESofSM, and I loved it! Mr. Blue Sky isn't in it at all, but the movie was great all the same. Anyway I'm procrastinating to avoid finishing my coursework, which is due in a little over 3 hours!! Arrhhh!! Oh well better get back to work! It should be obvious what I'm listening to ^_^

Strike That. Reverse It.

Friends - Fun - Games - Movies I went to see Kill Bill Vol. 2 yesterday afternoon. Wow. I think I like this volume even more than the first one. The snappy dialogue was there, the references to other moves, the fantastic action sequences, and the wonderful conclusion. It's a great film all round. I particularly liked the Bride's (wait we know her name now!) training session (ah so many references!), as well as the repeated mentions back to Hattori Hanzo, his swords, and the consequence (though never stated directly) of his breaking his blood oath not to make another sword. Like the first volume, this is a film that I am going to have to go seen many more times. I wish it was released as one completed film. In other news, I've started up a little poker tournament with some of the guys in the Hall. We sit up in the common room on B floor, drink beer (we were too lazy to get whiskey or cigars) and have some fun. It's a £5 buy in, 5p minimum bet. I wanted to play Texas Hold-em, but in the end we played standard five card stud. I ended up losing almost all of my £5 last night. Of course it's all part of my strategy to draw everyone in and keep them playing ^_^ (that's what I'd like to think at least). So little to do, so much time to do it in. Written while listening to Yours Truly, 2095 by ELO.

Vulture Street

Fun - Movies - Music - Travel - University Well I'm back from London again. I arrived home yesterday, but I haven't even unpacked yet. I've had this CSD (ok enough with the acronyms, it's Commercial and Industrial Systems Design) coursework due, and I originally thought it wasn't due until tomorrow. Oh well, it's done now, I just had to sacrifice some much needed sleep. It was basically just a project management assignment, and I did a whole subject on engineering project management last year, so all the PERT/GANNT analysis stuff was pretty easy. Once I submit it then I've only got one more piece of coursework due before the Easter break! Yay! (Oh yeah did I mention that I've got an entire month of holidays coming up! ^_^) Anyway back to the weekend. I caught the bus down to my cousin's place Friday night where we proceeded to get very drunk and play chess using backgammon pieces with letters written on them. We woke up the next morning around midday, so we scrubbed plans to get the train into London early and went out to see a movie instead. Simone wanted to see Mona Lisa Smile, a chick flick if ever I heard of one, while Toby had to go to a meeting (rather convenient on his part ^_^). The movie sucked. It was shockingly bad. A women’s Dead Poet’s Society this is not. Simone hated it as well. Julia Roberts was passable, Kirsten Dunst was cute in a 50’s sort of way, but everything else was horrible. After the dismal movie we met up with Toby and had some Italian at this restaurant called Z’something. The food was nice but the service was bad; we waited forever for everything. By the time we got out of there it was 5pm, so we raced off down the M1, and then onto the M25 (the London orbital) around to the western edge of London to Hammersmith. We all had tickets to see Powderfinger play at the Hammersmith Apollo (there are a whole lot of musical venues at Hammersmith, and the Apollo is but one)! For those who don’t know, Powderfinger are a Brisbane band who are probably the biggest rock band in Australia right now. They are not my favourite group, but I don’t mind their music. The strange thing is that even though they are from Brisbane, I’ve never seen them live before, and I had to come all the way to London to see them! Simone knows the drummer, well she used to know him back in Uni, he was in the year ahead of her at UQ. While she was doing engineering she lived with a bunch of guys who were in a percussion band, and the Powderfinger drummer was in it too. Anyway they rocked. The Apollo must have been a pretty small venue compared to what Powderfinger and used to back home, and I think they really took to it. We were right up the front in a really great spot and the atmosphere was intense. They were really pushing their new album Vulture Street, but also played a lot of their old classics. Overall the gig was great and I’m glad I got the chance to see them. Sunday we slept in again, before driving to Northampton to have lunch at this really great Indian restaurant. Simone and Toby know the owner, and the food was incredibly tasty. After that we went to see a preview of Starsky and Hutch, which was great. Then we did some more stuff, then it was Monday, then I went home. I’m really tired now so I’m going to go to bed. I haven’t slept since Sunday night and I didn’t sleep much then either.

Lost In Translation

Movies Everyone wants to be found I went to see Lost In Translation tonight. Brendan recommended months ago that I see it, though it has taken a while for it to be released down here. He said it was the type of movie I’d enjoy, and he was right. We almost missed the start (and what a shapely start it was). I had been planning to go see it with Calvin for a while now, though LW popped online just as I was about to head out the door, so I raced round and picked her up as well. After a quick little dash through the valley we made it on time and sat down to enjoy the best movie I've seen all year (I haven't seen ROTK yet). If I didn’t realise I was lost before I saw this movie, I most certainly know it now. The whole thing was simply fantastic; I loved every minute of it. It was an extremely touching film, while at the same time managing to be incredibly funny in parts. Bill Murray gave a wonderful performance and Scarlett Johansson was simply gorgeous. The music in the film is terrific, so good that I’ve been listening to the soundtrack (plus the karaoke tracks and the Peaches track that aren’t included) non-stop since. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a movie that has touched me as much as this one. I think it’s going to be with me for a long while yet. Objectively, this is a great film, at its heart depicting two people wanting to be found. Subjectively I loved it all the more because it was set in Japan, for the most part in Tokyo, which brought back powerful memories for me. The nightscapes of Shibuya, the Shinkansen arriving at Kyoto, and the view over Tokyo, they were all painfully familiar. I don’t think I’ve ever missed Japan as much as I did when the last flowing street shots were shown while Jesus and Mary Chain’s ”Just Like Honey” played. Many things prompted stabs of nostalgia in me while watching this film. There was the scene in the videogame arcade, and running through the pachinko parlour, the women in kimonos, the crazy TV shows, the sushi restaurant and the karaoke, the pubs and clubs and people on the street. There was the initial overwhelming loss at not being able to understand the language, and then the gradual decrease in that being important. There were the repeated instances of being talked to for long periods of time in Japanese when it was plainly clear you don’t understand. There was the sense of isolation, while at the same time being surrounded by millions of people. I'm listening to Alone in Kyoto by Air at the moment and I want to go back to Japan. Oh yeah, I'm back from my trip away for Christmas too, in case you couldn't tell ^_^ I had a good time; we chased a few rainbows in the 4WD but didn't find any gold. I'm glad I went though.