Today was not my birthday. Regardless, a few friends and I went out for dinner to celebrate my birthday. I had a thank you gift in my hand, which gave the impression that it was my birthday, so we ran with that in case we got free things.
We didn't, which should have been the first indication that the restaurant wasn't that brilliant.
La Dolce Vita is a nice looking Italian restaurant on Park Road in Milton. It is situated just below the Eiffel Tower, which (as I'm sure my friends and I were not the first to point out) makes no sense whatsoever. Indication number 2.
The table service was adequate, although we did wait a while for the bill, even after asking at the counter for it. The champagne was fine (for cheapish stuff) and the waitress did suggest getting the bottle rather than glasses because it'd be cheaper, which was nice of her.
The table was on a slight slant, but otherwise nicely painted. Work had gone into those tables, as my friend noted.
The main issue I had with this place was just the food itself. Nothing major really, just the entire point of going out for dinner in the first place. I got the risotto and my friend got the gnocchi, and we had a bite of each other's food; they tasted about the same. It was all kind of bland and didn't even have a garnish, which personally I think is a big mistake for that type of eatery. Nothing tasted bad, it just really wasn't good.
Honestly, if you are going to have an Italian restaurant below a French icon, at least serve good food. Then maybe I could overlook your ignorance of basic geography. But when the lunch I made today (boiled rice with oyster sauce, soy sauce and chilli sauce stirred through it) almost tasted nicer than the meal I paid $30 for, there are no excuses.
My advice is that the chefs should spend the time that they are clearly not spending learning to cook studying geography instead.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.
Firstly, let me just say that all things are relative. Compared to the earlier Harry Potter films, this one is brilliant. The script has improved, the cinematography is great and the main trio have actually learnt to act. There were fewer moments on screen where I wanted to cringe from the corniness and a couple of really well done moments.
Having said that, it still kind of blows.
Taking a really, really good book and turning it into a film is a great way to make money. To create a work of art, though, you can’t just take the book, pluck out the important scenes and act them out then add in some special effects. This is the biggest problem with the whole Harry Potter film franchise; they add nothing of value to the books. Sure, we didn’t have Hagrid’s “I shouldn’t have told you that!” line in the books, but there was a reason: that line sucked and was NOT funny. The novels had so much more detail in them that you could not translate onto the screen, making a direct film translation of them just a less detailed and choppier version of exactly the same story, which is entertaining enough, but entirely not the point of films.
This film leaves out fun details, as any film is likely to do. In the film, Ron just follows along on the quest with Harry and Hermione with no questions asked. In the books, he is believed by Hogwarts and the Ministry to be at home, bedridden with a bad case of Spattergroit, with the family ghoul covering for him in case anyone checks. In the books, there is a Taboo placed on the name Voldemort, enabling the Death Eaters and Snatchers to easily find anyone who says the word, breaking through protective enchantments, ultimately leading to the wizard trio’s capture. In the film Harry and Hermione just stop saying the name for a reason not ever clearly explained. They get caught not by accidentally saying the Dark Lord’s name, but during their (on foot) escape from Xenophilius Lovegood’s home. While these cases are annoying, it is understandable that all details from the books cannot possibly be included in the movies.
At the same time, though, details are sometimes just changed for no good reason whatsoever, which is much more annoying to someone who has read the books thoroughly. Harry is meant to attend Fleur and Bill’s wedding disguised by Polyjuice Potion as “Cousin Barney” (which would have been funny to watch on screen and just made sense) but in the film he just rocked up as Harry Potter. Also missing was Viktor Krum, who surely wouldn’t have been that hard to include. This random ball of light falls out of the sky part way through the wedding to warn the guests of the fall of the Ministry of Magic, rather than Kingsley Shacklebolt’s lynx Patronus, which is meant to deliver the message. In fact, Patronus charms are hardly used at all for communication in the film, despite being used a lot by the Order of the Phoenix in the book. After the wedding is interrupted, Harry, Ron and Hermione are supposed to disapparate to Tottenham Court Road. In the movie, they go to some other road. There is no good reason for this, they just changed it. The trio never whip out the invisibility cloak, which would have been pretty useful to them more than once, even though they used it a lot on the books. They also didn’t send Harry and Hermione to Godric’s Hollow disguised as a Muggle couple in the film, but still had time for a conversation between the two which went something like this:
“Harry, being the stuck up smart ass I always am in the movies, I still say we should have used polyjuice potion.”
“Shut up Hermione, I’m Harry Potter, Harry, Harry Potter and I know best and needed yet another excuse to make some heartfelt speech about my past that the audience is meant to find inspiring or something.”
These little moments of heartfelt dialogue (there is another great speech given later by Ron) are really just bad versions of book passages. Whoever wrote the script has clearly never been told “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
Another big downfall of this movie is the fact that it really obviously feels like half of a film. Splitting the book into two movies may have been a great idea, enabling thee filmmakers to include more detail than otherwise, but this was just done really, really badly. So much of this film was just Hermione and Harry sitting around in a forest moping about how much their lives have changed or dancing badly to the radio. It dragged out forever until finally there were a few scenes of action , from the trip to the Lovegoods’, to the Malfoy Manor, to Shell Cottage, then a quick cliffhanger ending involving Voldemort practically molesting the corpse of Dumbledore, before the movie abruptly ended. It may have been a part 1, but it really still should have been stronger as a standalone film. Rather than launching straight into the action at the start of the film in some short, choppy, fast paced scenes, then fizzling into a long, drawn out bicker session of Ron vs. The World, before finally getting interesting then ending, it would have been nice if it had followed a stronger three act film structure. The makers (or money-makers) of the film seemed to be thinking that if they did it this way, everyone would be hanging out to see the second part and they’d rake in a lot more money. What they seem to have failed to notice is that everyone is going to go see the second part anyway because it is the FINAL HARRY POTTER FILM. They’ve seen the story up until now, they will want to see what happens next. It would have been possible to make a decent film AND get rich. As it is, this film just felt like it lacked a strong drive.
Some things were done really well in this film, though. Dobby was wonderful, although seriously left out of the series altogether. The scene right at the end where he dies was set up to be the heart wrenching finale, but they never gave him enough screen time for people to really get attached. Those who have followed the books would get it, but it seems (and I have read) that others would have been like “Oh, dang, Dobby’s dead....who was that again?” Without giving his character enough detail previously, his heroic rescue and untimely death really weren’t as spectacular as they should have been. They certainly should not have been the action packed climax at the end of the movie. Dobby even seems tacked onto the scene where Kreacher is sent to find Mundungus Fletcher. Dobby did not help out at this point in the book and there was no need for him to do so in the film. It seems like during the making of the film someone realised Dobby didn’t have enough of a presence and added him in somewhere they thought no one would notice. But even though he was slightly misused and underrated, he was cute, well animated and well voice acted and really felt the way Dobby should.
The scene where Hermione, Ron and several other members of the Order of the Phoenix take Polyjuice Potion to look like Harry was great. Daniel Radcliffe in a lacy bra was almost worth sitting through the rest of the film. There are some other moments well worth seeing, as well as some brilliant acting.
If this were just a film, and not a film based on one of the best books ever written, chances are I’d probably have liked it more. However, rather than having a film plot, it has a dumbed down book plot, which is left full of holes. Overall the story from the novel has not been adapted well to the screen. It annoyed me the whole way through, and though it was entertaining, it could either have been done so much better, or not done at all. The last movie, and Warner Bros’ last chance at getting it right better be amazing, or to me, these films will always be half-assed attempts at getting rich off JK Rowling’s story.
PS I am still pissed off at Peeves being cut from the films.
Having said that, it still kind of blows.
Taking a really, really good book and turning it into a film is a great way to make money. To create a work of art, though, you can’t just take the book, pluck out the important scenes and act them out then add in some special effects. This is the biggest problem with the whole Harry Potter film franchise; they add nothing of value to the books. Sure, we didn’t have Hagrid’s “I shouldn’t have told you that!” line in the books, but there was a reason: that line sucked and was NOT funny. The novels had so much more detail in them that you could not translate onto the screen, making a direct film translation of them just a less detailed and choppier version of exactly the same story, which is entertaining enough, but entirely not the point of films.
This film leaves out fun details, as any film is likely to do. In the film, Ron just follows along on the quest with Harry and Hermione with no questions asked. In the books, he is believed by Hogwarts and the Ministry to be at home, bedridden with a bad case of Spattergroit, with the family ghoul covering for him in case anyone checks. In the books, there is a Taboo placed on the name Voldemort, enabling the Death Eaters and Snatchers to easily find anyone who says the word, breaking through protective enchantments, ultimately leading to the wizard trio’s capture. In the film Harry and Hermione just stop saying the name for a reason not ever clearly explained. They get caught not by accidentally saying the Dark Lord’s name, but during their (on foot) escape from Xenophilius Lovegood’s home. While these cases are annoying, it is understandable that all details from the books cannot possibly be included in the movies.
At the same time, though, details are sometimes just changed for no good reason whatsoever, which is much more annoying to someone who has read the books thoroughly. Harry is meant to attend Fleur and Bill’s wedding disguised by Polyjuice Potion as “Cousin Barney” (which would have been funny to watch on screen and just made sense) but in the film he just rocked up as Harry Potter. Also missing was Viktor Krum, who surely wouldn’t have been that hard to include. This random ball of light falls out of the sky part way through the wedding to warn the guests of the fall of the Ministry of Magic, rather than Kingsley Shacklebolt’s lynx Patronus, which is meant to deliver the message. In fact, Patronus charms are hardly used at all for communication in the film, despite being used a lot by the Order of the Phoenix in the book. After the wedding is interrupted, Harry, Ron and Hermione are supposed to disapparate to Tottenham Court Road. In the movie, they go to some other road. There is no good reason for this, they just changed it. The trio never whip out the invisibility cloak, which would have been pretty useful to them more than once, even though they used it a lot on the books. They also didn’t send Harry and Hermione to Godric’s Hollow disguised as a Muggle couple in the film, but still had time for a conversation between the two which went something like this:
“Harry, being the stuck up smart ass I always am in the movies, I still say we should have used polyjuice potion.”
“Shut up Hermione, I’m Harry Potter, Harry, Harry Potter and I know best and needed yet another excuse to make some heartfelt speech about my past that the audience is meant to find inspiring or something.”
These little moments of heartfelt dialogue (there is another great speech given later by Ron) are really just bad versions of book passages. Whoever wrote the script has clearly never been told “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
Another big downfall of this movie is the fact that it really obviously feels like half of a film. Splitting the book into two movies may have been a great idea, enabling thee filmmakers to include more detail than otherwise, but this was just done really, really badly. So much of this film was just Hermione and Harry sitting around in a forest moping about how much their lives have changed or dancing badly to the radio. It dragged out forever until finally there were a few scenes of action , from the trip to the Lovegoods’, to the Malfoy Manor, to Shell Cottage, then a quick cliffhanger ending involving Voldemort practically molesting the corpse of Dumbledore, before the movie abruptly ended. It may have been a part 1, but it really still should have been stronger as a standalone film. Rather than launching straight into the action at the start of the film in some short, choppy, fast paced scenes, then fizzling into a long, drawn out bicker session of Ron vs. The World, before finally getting interesting then ending, it would have been nice if it had followed a stronger three act film structure. The makers (or money-makers) of the film seemed to be thinking that if they did it this way, everyone would be hanging out to see the second part and they’d rake in a lot more money. What they seem to have failed to notice is that everyone is going to go see the second part anyway because it is the FINAL HARRY POTTER FILM. They’ve seen the story up until now, they will want to see what happens next. It would have been possible to make a decent film AND get rich. As it is, this film just felt like it lacked a strong drive.
Some things were done really well in this film, though. Dobby was wonderful, although seriously left out of the series altogether. The scene right at the end where he dies was set up to be the heart wrenching finale, but they never gave him enough screen time for people to really get attached. Those who have followed the books would get it, but it seems (and I have read) that others would have been like “Oh, dang, Dobby’s dead....who was that again?” Without giving his character enough detail previously, his heroic rescue and untimely death really weren’t as spectacular as they should have been. They certainly should not have been the action packed climax at the end of the movie. Dobby even seems tacked onto the scene where Kreacher is sent to find Mundungus Fletcher. Dobby did not help out at this point in the book and there was no need for him to do so in the film. It seems like during the making of the film someone realised Dobby didn’t have enough of a presence and added him in somewhere they thought no one would notice. But even though he was slightly misused and underrated, he was cute, well animated and well voice acted and really felt the way Dobby should.
The scene where Hermione, Ron and several other members of the Order of the Phoenix take Polyjuice Potion to look like Harry was great. Daniel Radcliffe in a lacy bra was almost worth sitting through the rest of the film. There are some other moments well worth seeing, as well as some brilliant acting.
If this were just a film, and not a film based on one of the best books ever written, chances are I’d probably have liked it more. However, rather than having a film plot, it has a dumbed down book plot, which is left full of holes. Overall the story from the novel has not been adapted well to the screen. It annoyed me the whole way through, and though it was entertaining, it could either have been done so much better, or not done at all. The last movie, and Warner Bros’ last chance at getting it right better be amazing, or to me, these films will always be half-assed attempts at getting rich off JK Rowling’s story.
PS I am still pissed off at Peeves being cut from the films.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Delicious food for slackers who can't cook pt 1: Scrambled Eggs
How to make scrambled eggs for people who can't cook for shit:
You will need: a bowl, a fork, a frying pan, a stove, oil, two eggs, some milk, soy sauce, salt, cheese, crushed garlic, crushed ginger and some ham or something similar (unless you're a vegatarian, then just ditch the meat).
Light the stove. If you have a gas stove you probably need to turn the gas on then flick the lighter on til flames appear. If you have an electronic stove, push buttons til shit happens. Heat it to about its halfway point (i.e. turn the dial halfway around or if it goes up to 10, turn it to 5, etc.) Pour in a bit of oil and let it all heat up.
Smash the two eggs into the bowl. If you have dodgy eggs or dodgy egg smashing skills, smash them each (separately) into a cup first, fish out any bits of eggshell and then chuck them into the bowl.
Splash in some milk then take the fork and whip it, whip it good. Stir it around really fast until it's all combined into one colour. Splash in some soy sauce (JUST A BIT) and a pinch of salt, then beat it all until it's kinda fluffy looking. .
Check if the oil in the pan is hot. For the love of God don't touch the stuff, just hold your hand over it and feel the air or something. If there's not enough oil add some more. It should be able to cover the whole pan if you tip it around. Once t's hot you can move on. Now, using the fork (or a separate one, or a spoon or something if you're fancy and have a lot of cutlery) throw a tiny bit of the crushed garlic & ginger into the frying pan.
Okay if the stuff starts spitting at you like crazy, your stove might be too hot or something. Just get a tea towel or a hoodie sleeve or something, wrap it round your arm and stir the garlic & ginger around the pan. Then quickly pour the egg mix in and it'll stop spitting.
If it's all going well, stir the garlic & ginger around sans arm guard and pour the egg mix on top.
Leave it for a bit, until it starts looking kinda solid. At this point you could let it go a bit longer and make a great omelette, but frankly those are kind of hard. Way too easy too burn, especially if your omelette is kind of thick.
So forget that and stir it up a bit. It should start looking like scrambled eggs pretty quickly. When most of the liquid is gone sprinkle on the cheese & meat bits (or, if you have cheese slices just break them up and throw them on in pieces, it'll taste the same in the end).
Stir it up a bit more until it's all cooked (doesn't have to be brown or anything, just not liquid anymore).
If it looks kind of like it's turning BACK into liquid and bubbling, don't freak out, it's probably just cheese melting out of it. Just ignore that.
Once it's done take it off the heat and turn the stove off. Serve it on toast, with sauce if you like. Or just eat it. Whatever works.
If you wanna be fancy, serve it on toast and add avocado slices & Kewpie mayonnaise (or if you don't have any, the usual Australian kind will do, but Kewpie tastes better thanks to the added MSG).
Bam. Delicious scrambled eggs. Of course if you are really not fussy, just whip up eggs and milk in a bowl, then stir it around a frying pan in some oil til it's cooked. Not as yum but hey. Still got the protein in it.
You will need: a bowl, a fork, a frying pan, a stove, oil, two eggs, some milk, soy sauce, salt, cheese, crushed garlic, crushed ginger and some ham or something similar (unless you're a vegatarian, then just ditch the meat).
Light the stove. If you have a gas stove you probably need to turn the gas on then flick the lighter on til flames appear. If you have an electronic stove, push buttons til shit happens. Heat it to about its halfway point (i.e. turn the dial halfway around or if it goes up to 10, turn it to 5, etc.) Pour in a bit of oil and let it all heat up.
Smash the two eggs into the bowl. If you have dodgy eggs or dodgy egg smashing skills, smash them each (separately) into a cup first, fish out any bits of eggshell and then chuck them into the bowl.
Splash in some milk then take the fork and whip it, whip it good. Stir it around really fast until it's all combined into one colour. Splash in some soy sauce (JUST A BIT) and a pinch of salt, then beat it all until it's kinda fluffy looking. .
Check if the oil in the pan is hot. For the love of God don't touch the stuff, just hold your hand over it and feel the air or something. If there's not enough oil add some more. It should be able to cover the whole pan if you tip it around. Once t's hot you can move on. Now, using the fork (or a separate one, or a spoon or something if you're fancy and have a lot of cutlery) throw a tiny bit of the crushed garlic & ginger into the frying pan.
Okay if the stuff starts spitting at you like crazy, your stove might be too hot or something. Just get a tea towel or a hoodie sleeve or something, wrap it round your arm and stir the garlic & ginger around the pan. Then quickly pour the egg mix in and it'll stop spitting.
If it's all going well, stir the garlic & ginger around sans arm guard and pour the egg mix on top.
Leave it for a bit, until it starts looking kinda solid. At this point you could let it go a bit longer and make a great omelette, but frankly those are kind of hard. Way too easy too burn, especially if your omelette is kind of thick.
So forget that and stir it up a bit. It should start looking like scrambled eggs pretty quickly. When most of the liquid is gone sprinkle on the cheese & meat bits (or, if you have cheese slices just break them up and throw them on in pieces, it'll taste the same in the end).
Stir it up a bit more until it's all cooked (doesn't have to be brown or anything, just not liquid anymore).
If it looks kind of like it's turning BACK into liquid and bubbling, don't freak out, it's probably just cheese melting out of it. Just ignore that.
Once it's done take it off the heat and turn the stove off. Serve it on toast, with sauce if you like. Or just eat it. Whatever works.
If you wanna be fancy, serve it on toast and add avocado slices & Kewpie mayonnaise (or if you don't have any, the usual Australian kind will do, but Kewpie tastes better thanks to the added MSG).
Bam. Delicious scrambled eggs. Of course if you are really not fussy, just whip up eggs and milk in a bowl, then stir it around a frying pan in some oil til it's cooked. Not as yum but hey. Still got the protein in it.
Monday, November 30, 2009
freedom, Freedom, FREEDOM
So I broke up with my boyfriend a couple of weeks ago. While of course it was a little sad, for the most part it was a big relief. For a while I had just been sick of his arguing about nothing and general annoyingness and objection to everything.
Rachel had been telling me constantly to dump him but as if I would do that just because someone told me to. It got a little bit freaky when even my horoscope told me to break up with him, but still, I kept going for a while to see if maybe we could sort out the issues, but after a few more weeks it became clear that it was just dragging on and I was only staying with him for the sake of staying with him. Doing anything for the sake of just doing it is generally a waste of life and I figured there was no point wasting my life (I mean what if te PERFECT guy happened to ride up on his white horse and offer to take me away to his castle and I had to decline because I was already dating someone?) so I broke up with him.
I was planning on being mature about it and seeing him in real life and doing it properly but then after texting him initially suggesting it might be best it kind of just happened and we just were broken up...so that failed and I haven't seen him IRL since....
Oh well it's done.
Now I can enjoy being free to do as I wish for a while. I can wear whatever socks with whatever shoes and whatever jeans I fancy.
No one will argue about the sense in knowing where Spain is located or the practicality of eating breakfast with a knife and fork.
Hurray.
Rachel had been telling me constantly to dump him but as if I would do that just because someone told me to. It got a little bit freaky when even my horoscope told me to break up with him, but still, I kept going for a while to see if maybe we could sort out the issues, but after a few more weeks it became clear that it was just dragging on and I was only staying with him for the sake of staying with him. Doing anything for the sake of just doing it is generally a waste of life and I figured there was no point wasting my life (I mean what if te PERFECT guy happened to ride up on his white horse and offer to take me away to his castle and I had to decline because I was already dating someone?) so I broke up with him.
I was planning on being mature about it and seeing him in real life and doing it properly but then after texting him initially suggesting it might be best it kind of just happened and we just were broken up...so that failed and I haven't seen him IRL since....
Oh well it's done.
Now I can enjoy being free to do as I wish for a while. I can wear whatever socks with whatever shoes and whatever jeans I fancy.
No one will argue about the sense in knowing where Spain is located or the practicality of eating breakfast with a knife and fork.
Hurray.
Monday, November 9, 2009
If I were Harry Potter
I suppose my name would be Harriet.
Anyhow, I had a dream last night that I was Harry Potter, as in I was me but in his place, Ron and Hermione were my best friends and I went to Hogwarts and sucked up to all the teachers.
So in this particular adventure, I had to solve a lot of clues to save the day once again. So while I was in class (I think it was Maths though, nothing magical) I came across this funny shape (looked like a Heartagram) with some funny writing. I can't remember how I came across it exactly but then the teacher was explaining that sometimes if you can't work something out you have to just study it really really closely so I did and there was some tiny writing about the centre of something.
So I was pretty darn confused but then some kind of image of the recently deceased Dumbledore came and assured me that I had to follow the shape to get to Australia and save the world. McGonagall thought I was making shit up and was maybe going slightly crazy, but went along with it just enough.
I told Ron and Hermione and started packing some things (but all I had to carry stuff was a tiny pouch around my neck. I grabbed a handful of Australian coins I had lying around in my room (since I am from Australia of course) and my wand and that was pretty much it, except we were all wearing thongs so we'd blend in when we got to Australia.
So now I just had to work out how we were supposed to follow this damn signal, until Hermione points to the sky and there it is, made up of stars. So we stood up in the top tower of the school, one with big full length windows, the three of us and McGonagall and the other (maths?) teacher. Watched for a few minutes until I realised that the shape almost lined up perfectly with some old giant building, like a cathedral or something (Hogwarts was in the city by the way), and announced that maybe if we waited a few minutes the shape would line up so it was being poked right in the centre by the tall spire on the building. Once again McGonagall thought I was a bit nuts and didnt see what that could possibly do, when we could just move where we were standing and it would look like it was lined up anyway, but as she was saying that the shape did line up perfectly (from my point of view anyway and I guess I was the important one) and lines formed across the stars lighting it up and emitting a strong glow.
So now it was clear, we had to head for the magical shape and it would provide some kind of portal to Australia. Only problem was, we couldn't take broomsticks because Hermione sucked at riding them.
Not to fear though, the teachers let us in on a little secret; you can fly without a broom or even a wand, all you need to do is strike a match against the wall as you leap out a window and bam off you go.
Seemed logical enough, and she handed us a single match. Of course then I suddenly realised that we were wearing thongs, which would of course fall off my silly bony feet when we started to fly, so I took those off and tucked them under the front of my bra (I NEEDED those for when we got to Australia, it was very important I didn't lose them), and being in a dream and totally fearless struck the match as I leapt out. I think I mustn't have struck it hard enough because I started to drift down very fast but before anyone could notice I struck it again against another wall as I fell past which worked and I could now fly normally. It was pretty fantastic, but when I looked back the other two were freaking out a bit.
While I was hovering around watching them take off, I stupidly dropped my match down deep into what I think might have been the Thames river. When they caught up I asked, hey guys do you think we need those matches to land...I dropped mine...
They seemed to think it'd be fine so we kept flying but we must have accidentally flew through a big open window and landed in someones little office. There was a girl behind the counter filing her nails and looking very comical. Then I suddenly realised that since we had landed I couldnt fly anymore. Dammit now I needed matches....oh well, in true adventure game spirit I engaged the girl in conversation and asked if she had any matches. No of course she didnt.
Okay so now I didnt know what to do, that shape wouldnt stay lit up for much longer surely and we had to get there quick.
Oh wait, no, she DID have a match, but she didnt want to part with it. I said I'd pay her for it, she said three dollars, and I in my excitement said Id give her four fifty (Australian dollars though, dont know why she even accepted it since we were in London). Anyway so I gave her the kangaroo emblazoned cash and she handed me not one match but a masssive fat matchbook full of them, so I was ansolutely delighted.
I pulled one out and tucked the box into the waistbnd of my underwear (didnt want to lose that), but then thinking cleverly took some matches out and put them in the little pouch around my neck instead. The whole matchbook wouldnt fit but now I had plenty of matches anyway.
We left the girl and her office straigh through the window behind her by declaring that we were magicians and would show her a neat trick. She fell for it and was like "WOW how do you do that, that is so cool, I cant even see the wires or anything!"
I ended up flying a bit faster than the other two, but it was very dark now and there were fewer city lights. Thinking very cleverly for someone in a dream though, I pulled out my wand and actually remember that to make light you say "lumos". So now I had a light and could see where I was flying.
I panicked though, I could no longer see the illuminated shape to follow. I yelled out for Hermione, but she could still see it, there had just been a building in the way. We kept flying towards it for what felt like ages, until suddenly we lost it. None of us could see it anymore, but it had still been really really far off. Strangley it also started to become a lot lighter, til it felt like the middle of the day already. It seemed a bit weird but maybe we'd just been flying a lot longer and further than we thought. We stopped flying and hovered for a while discussing what we'd do, maybe she'd have to go all the way back to hogwarts and try again another night and be faster so we didn't lose the shape. The other two kep talking when I looked around and realised the place looked really familiar. I told them, "Hey you guys, um, I think we ARE in Australia. Look at all the trees, and the buildings." It was pretty obvious now that we all looked around, we drifted down to the ground and there were Australian trees and buildings all built around a river surrounded by people wearing thongs. We donned our thongs and pulled off our wizard capes and set off exploring.
I decided we should buy some food, which is about the point where the dream lost the plot and we didnt really try looking for any more clues about saving the world. We did buy hot dogs from a shop (a Wendy's rip off) run by Asians (we were definitely in Australia). We basically ran out of money then but Hermione has brought her credit card (she had rich dentist parents, I didnt, I certainly didnt have a credit card) so she was able to get cash from an international ATM.
Nothing else happened...unfortunately there was no indication of what we had to do in Australia. Oh well I'm sure we would have worked it out, especially since I was Harry Potter (meaning there were now two girls and one boy in the group, so productivity would have tripled).
The End
Anyhow, I had a dream last night that I was Harry Potter, as in I was me but in his place, Ron and Hermione were my best friends and I went to Hogwarts and sucked up to all the teachers.
So in this particular adventure, I had to solve a lot of clues to save the day once again. So while I was in class (I think it was Maths though, nothing magical) I came across this funny shape (looked like a Heartagram) with some funny writing. I can't remember how I came across it exactly but then the teacher was explaining that sometimes if you can't work something out you have to just study it really really closely so I did and there was some tiny writing about the centre of something.
So I was pretty darn confused but then some kind of image of the recently deceased Dumbledore came and assured me that I had to follow the shape to get to Australia and save the world. McGonagall thought I was making shit up and was maybe going slightly crazy, but went along with it just enough.
I told Ron and Hermione and started packing some things (but all I had to carry stuff was a tiny pouch around my neck. I grabbed a handful of Australian coins I had lying around in my room (since I am from Australia of course) and my wand and that was pretty much it, except we were all wearing thongs so we'd blend in when we got to Australia.
So now I just had to work out how we were supposed to follow this damn signal, until Hermione points to the sky and there it is, made up of stars. So we stood up in the top tower of the school, one with big full length windows, the three of us and McGonagall and the other (maths?) teacher. Watched for a few minutes until I realised that the shape almost lined up perfectly with some old giant building, like a cathedral or something (Hogwarts was in the city by the way), and announced that maybe if we waited a few minutes the shape would line up so it was being poked right in the centre by the tall spire on the building. Once again McGonagall thought I was a bit nuts and didnt see what that could possibly do, when we could just move where we were standing and it would look like it was lined up anyway, but as she was saying that the shape did line up perfectly (from my point of view anyway and I guess I was the important one) and lines formed across the stars lighting it up and emitting a strong glow.
So now it was clear, we had to head for the magical shape and it would provide some kind of portal to Australia. Only problem was, we couldn't take broomsticks because Hermione sucked at riding them.
Not to fear though, the teachers let us in on a little secret; you can fly without a broom or even a wand, all you need to do is strike a match against the wall as you leap out a window and bam off you go.
Seemed logical enough, and she handed us a single match. Of course then I suddenly realised that we were wearing thongs, which would of course fall off my silly bony feet when we started to fly, so I took those off and tucked them under the front of my bra (I NEEDED those for when we got to Australia, it was very important I didn't lose them), and being in a dream and totally fearless struck the match as I leapt out. I think I mustn't have struck it hard enough because I started to drift down very fast but before anyone could notice I struck it again against another wall as I fell past which worked and I could now fly normally. It was pretty fantastic, but when I looked back the other two were freaking out a bit.
While I was hovering around watching them take off, I stupidly dropped my match down deep into what I think might have been the Thames river. When they caught up I asked, hey guys do you think we need those matches to land...I dropped mine...
They seemed to think it'd be fine so we kept flying but we must have accidentally flew through a big open window and landed in someones little office. There was a girl behind the counter filing her nails and looking very comical. Then I suddenly realised that since we had landed I couldnt fly anymore. Dammit now I needed matches....oh well, in true adventure game spirit I engaged the girl in conversation and asked if she had any matches. No of course she didnt.
Okay so now I didnt know what to do, that shape wouldnt stay lit up for much longer surely and we had to get there quick.
Oh wait, no, she DID have a match, but she didnt want to part with it. I said I'd pay her for it, she said three dollars, and I in my excitement said Id give her four fifty (Australian dollars though, dont know why she even accepted it since we were in London). Anyway so I gave her the kangaroo emblazoned cash and she handed me not one match but a masssive fat matchbook full of them, so I was ansolutely delighted.
I pulled one out and tucked the box into the waistbnd of my underwear (didnt want to lose that), but then thinking cleverly took some matches out and put them in the little pouch around my neck instead. The whole matchbook wouldnt fit but now I had plenty of matches anyway.
We left the girl and her office straigh through the window behind her by declaring that we were magicians and would show her a neat trick. She fell for it and was like "WOW how do you do that, that is so cool, I cant even see the wires or anything!"
I ended up flying a bit faster than the other two, but it was very dark now and there were fewer city lights. Thinking very cleverly for someone in a dream though, I pulled out my wand and actually remember that to make light you say "lumos". So now I had a light and could see where I was flying.
I panicked though, I could no longer see the illuminated shape to follow. I yelled out for Hermione, but she could still see it, there had just been a building in the way. We kept flying towards it for what felt like ages, until suddenly we lost it. None of us could see it anymore, but it had still been really really far off. Strangley it also started to become a lot lighter, til it felt like the middle of the day already. It seemed a bit weird but maybe we'd just been flying a lot longer and further than we thought. We stopped flying and hovered for a while discussing what we'd do, maybe she'd have to go all the way back to hogwarts and try again another night and be faster so we didn't lose the shape. The other two kep talking when I looked around and realised the place looked really familiar. I told them, "Hey you guys, um, I think we ARE in Australia. Look at all the trees, and the buildings." It was pretty obvious now that we all looked around, we drifted down to the ground and there were Australian trees and buildings all built around a river surrounded by people wearing thongs. We donned our thongs and pulled off our wizard capes and set off exploring.
I decided we should buy some food, which is about the point where the dream lost the plot and we didnt really try looking for any more clues about saving the world. We did buy hot dogs from a shop (a Wendy's rip off) run by Asians (we were definitely in Australia). We basically ran out of money then but Hermione has brought her credit card (she had rich dentist parents, I didnt, I certainly didnt have a credit card) so she was able to get cash from an international ATM.
Nothing else happened...unfortunately there was no indication of what we had to do in Australia. Oh well I'm sure we would have worked it out, especially since I was Harry Potter (meaning there were now two girls and one boy in the group, so productivity would have tripled).
The End
Friday, June 5, 2009
Sleep deprived
I neeeed sleep. My sleep cycle has been messed up so much lately. Last night I stayed up sort of late after sleeping during the day yesterday due to not sleeping at all the night before. That's how it's been lately. It always seems fun to pull an all nighter until you end up with black rings under your eyes and feel like you are dying of influenza...
Even so right now I am sitting on the couch idly writing a blog entry while occasionally glancing up at the TV (which is on the fashion channel). I am currently listening to ABBA, so all in all I can pretty safely say I am doing nothing useful, and yet I still don't sleep.
Why does my subconscious brain have to be so stubborn when it comes to sleep? Maybe it thinks I will miss anything exciting and interesting that happens after I lose consciousness. Or maybe it thinks that sleeping is a waste of time when I could be doing so many things instead.
That second option is all very well except that I am too tired to do anything, quite simply am NOT doing anything, and have no problems wasting half my life sleeping in even when I actually have things that need doing.
I think tomorrow I'll make a new dress to wear to Jason's birthday bash on tuesday night.
I say that now but there's no way it will actually happen.
Sigh.
Goodnight blog.
I'm not really going to sleep.
Even so right now I am sitting on the couch idly writing a blog entry while occasionally glancing up at the TV (which is on the fashion channel). I am currently listening to ABBA, so all in all I can pretty safely say I am doing nothing useful, and yet I still don't sleep.
Why does my subconscious brain have to be so stubborn when it comes to sleep? Maybe it thinks I will miss anything exciting and interesting that happens after I lose consciousness. Or maybe it thinks that sleeping is a waste of time when I could be doing so many things instead.
That second option is all very well except that I am too tired to do anything, quite simply am NOT doing anything, and have no problems wasting half my life sleeping in even when I actually have things that need doing.
I think tomorrow I'll make a new dress to wear to Jason's birthday bash on tuesday night.
I say that now but there's no way it will actually happen.
Sigh.
Goodnight blog.
I'm not really going to sleep.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Seriously ATOMIC shoes.
So today I am in Hiroshima.
I have been here for a few days, I don't remember which day I got here but I think I've slept on this particular futon for about three nights. Maybe.
Hiroshima is probably the prettiest out of all the Japanese cities I've been to so far (Osaka, Nara, Kyoto briefly Okayama and here). Maybe it's the presence of a decent sized park in the middle of the place that I like. I'm not too sure. But anyway, it is very nice.
Right now Tom is at the arcade (or maybe on his way home from the arcade by now). We went out for dinner and then he went straight to the arcade, so I had to walk home by myself. It's kind of funny in Japanese cities when you feel as though you are walking down a seedy backstreet, but in reality it's just another road. So many of the streets except the real main ones are tiny. For a few minutes I felt like I was walking down some shady alley, but then I zoned back in to life and realised there were a whole bunch of people in eyesight, some of them also single females, so there was really not too much cause for concern.
Hiroshima is definitely the most historically interesting city I've been to so far. Tonight for example I walked home past the A-bomb dome, the only building left as it was straight after the atomic bomb hit the place. Right now it's covered in scaffolding because they're surveying its condition, but you can still clearly see it. Then I walked over the T-shaped bridge, which was the target the bomb was aimed at. I turned left in the middle of the T and walked past the Peace Memorial Park, past the Korean bomb victims memorial and the mound which contains the ashes of 10,000 bomb victims.
It's pretty strange to be walking around this normal modern city full of regular young people having a good time and enjoying life and then remembering how just at the end of WWII, not that long ago, the whole place was annihilated instantly by a single bomb.
We went to the Peace Memorial Museum the other day which was really interesting and incredibly sad. There are models of the city centre as it was before the bomb, and immediately after. The first one is a city full of green trees and houses and (though they aren't in the model city) lots and lots of people working outside for the war effort. The second model is a flattened burnt black nothing, with a couple of concrete skeletons here and there.
The A-bomb dome isn't the best example of what happened. I never really knew that when I was younger, and I guess I never thought about it too much, but the domed building is only still here because it was the closest surviving structure to the blast. The patches off ground around it containing nothing are probably a better example of what the place looked like, except you'd have to set it on fire and add some people suffering radiation burns to their entire bodies and slowly dying in agonising pain.
Anyone who visits Japan and travels around at all should definitely come see Hiroshima and visit the museum. I think just for a laugh they should get Harry Truman to stand at the exit and keep a tally of how many people punch him in the face.
I found these fantastic boots in a store here yesterday. They were a bit like converses in design, but they were knee high boots with stiletto heels. They were lined with red plaid and looked awesome with the top folded down.
Only problem is that this is Japan, and Japanese girls apparently have tiny feet. So far I haven't noticed cute shoes that come in a size LL, but I'm hoping I might find some before I go (on sale, preferably).
I also found some rainbow hair extensions that looked fun. I might go buy them tomorrow if I get bored. Or maybe the pink and black ones. But, on the other hand, I could always just dye my hair those colours. I'll see.
I could go nuts here shopping though. There are SO MANY cute things. So far all I've bought is one top, two little toys out of vending machines that look like guinea pigs and some fake eyelashes, but I'm yet to really go shopping.
I'm kind of saving it for Tokyo because I figure I'll be able to find pretty much everything I've seen somewhere there, and more.
The good news is that the dollar went up a bit today. I hope it keeps going up. Then down as soon as we go home. Do that please, dollar. Arigatou gozaimas.
I have been here for a few days, I don't remember which day I got here but I think I've slept on this particular futon for about three nights. Maybe.
Hiroshima is probably the prettiest out of all the Japanese cities I've been to so far (Osaka, Nara, Kyoto briefly Okayama and here). Maybe it's the presence of a decent sized park in the middle of the place that I like. I'm not too sure. But anyway, it is very nice.
Right now Tom is at the arcade (or maybe on his way home from the arcade by now). We went out for dinner and then he went straight to the arcade, so I had to walk home by myself. It's kind of funny in Japanese cities when you feel as though you are walking down a seedy backstreet, but in reality it's just another road. So many of the streets except the real main ones are tiny. For a few minutes I felt like I was walking down some shady alley, but then I zoned back in to life and realised there were a whole bunch of people in eyesight, some of them also single females, so there was really not too much cause for concern.
Hiroshima is definitely the most historically interesting city I've been to so far. Tonight for example I walked home past the A-bomb dome, the only building left as it was straight after the atomic bomb hit the place. Right now it's covered in scaffolding because they're surveying its condition, but you can still clearly see it. Then I walked over the T-shaped bridge, which was the target the bomb was aimed at. I turned left in the middle of the T and walked past the Peace Memorial Park, past the Korean bomb victims memorial and the mound which contains the ashes of 10,000 bomb victims.
It's pretty strange to be walking around this normal modern city full of regular young people having a good time and enjoying life and then remembering how just at the end of WWII, not that long ago, the whole place was annihilated instantly by a single bomb.
We went to the Peace Memorial Museum the other day which was really interesting and incredibly sad. There are models of the city centre as it was before the bomb, and immediately after. The first one is a city full of green trees and houses and (though they aren't in the model city) lots and lots of people working outside for the war effort. The second model is a flattened burnt black nothing, with a couple of concrete skeletons here and there.
The A-bomb dome isn't the best example of what happened. I never really knew that when I was younger, and I guess I never thought about it too much, but the domed building is only still here because it was the closest surviving structure to the blast. The patches off ground around it containing nothing are probably a better example of what the place looked like, except you'd have to set it on fire and add some people suffering radiation burns to their entire bodies and slowly dying in agonising pain.
Anyone who visits Japan and travels around at all should definitely come see Hiroshima and visit the museum. I think just for a laugh they should get Harry Truman to stand at the exit and keep a tally of how many people punch him in the face.
I found these fantastic boots in a store here yesterday. They were a bit like converses in design, but they were knee high boots with stiletto heels. They were lined with red plaid and looked awesome with the top folded down.
Only problem is that this is Japan, and Japanese girls apparently have tiny feet. So far I haven't noticed cute shoes that come in a size LL, but I'm hoping I might find some before I go (on sale, preferably).
I also found some rainbow hair extensions that looked fun. I might go buy them tomorrow if I get bored. Or maybe the pink and black ones. But, on the other hand, I could always just dye my hair those colours. I'll see.
I could go nuts here shopping though. There are SO MANY cute things. So far all I've bought is one top, two little toys out of vending machines that look like guinea pigs and some fake eyelashes, but I'm yet to really go shopping.
I'm kind of saving it for Tokyo because I figure I'll be able to find pretty much everything I've seen somewhere there, and more.
The good news is that the dollar went up a bit today. I hope it keeps going up. Then down as soon as we go home. Do that please, dollar. Arigatou gozaimas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)