2004 is over. So here I am with my End Of 2004 Movie Wrap-Up.
Escapist movies that were kind of dumb, but fun too
Troy ; The Day After Tomorrow; Dodgeball; I, Robot; Bad Santa; The Phantom of the Opera
Escapist movies that were fun and managed to be a little less dumb
Harry Potter 3; The Invincibles
Biggest piece of crap
The Terminal (there were probably worse films, but this had Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, and they should know better)
Best attempts at something different
Farenheit 9/11; Bad Santa; I Love Huckabees
Most appreciated reappearances from folks who seemed to have disappeared
Tippy Hedren getting the chance to use foul language on screen (I Love Huckabees)
Isabella Rossellini getting the chance to strut around with glass legs full of beer (The Saddest Music In The World)
Jodie Foster getting the chance to show off her french (A Very Long Engagement)
Best opportunities for a good cry
Big Fish; Farenheit 9/11
Least impressive singing
Kevin Kline (De-Lovely)
Gerard Butler (playing the lead in Phantom of the Opera)
Best nudity or near-nudity
Troy (in what was a slim year)
Most annoying product placement
Borders (The Terminal)
Worst performances (or miscasting if you're being kind)
Brad Pitt (Troy)
Gerard Butler (Phantom of the Opera)
Tom Hanks (The Terminal)
Memorable performances
Kevin Bacon (The Woodsman)
Geoffrey Rush and Charlize Theron (The Life & Death of Peter Sellers)
The 3 kids, all improving with age, in Harry Potter 3
Billy Bob Thornton (Bad Santa)
Minnie Driver (Phantom of the Opera)
Best quote of the Year 2004
"We can't tell if he's in a coma or just very very sad." (The Saddest Music In The World)
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
In/Out
Lynn recently mentioned that she is planning on getting opinions on what is in and what is out for the new year. So I've started of thinking of some options. I'll try and edit this over the coming days.
IN -
* Nuts About Chocolate (yummo);
* That new Helga's bread with Sunflower seeds in it (yummo);
* Independent American films that take risks and make $$$ (Michael Moore and Mel Gibson both did it);
* Chook eggs;
* David Gullpilil, who's been nominated by the NT for Australian of the Year - imagine if Fingerbone Bill won!;
* Flickr.com;
* Walking instead of taking the bus;
* Reading books of essays by great writers;
* Currawongs - especially the clever ones who know how to steal dog food right out of their bowls.
OUT -
* The Australian film industry, at least until it gets it's act together;
* Tropfest. It was lovely when it was small, but now it simply celebrates mediocrity - and there's no point Australian film-makers perfecting getting one idea across in 5 minutes if they're incapable of telling a complete story in a feature film;
* The idea spread by conservative columnists that we should stop whinging about politicians who keep winning elections despite sucking so badly (when they stop winning elections, THEN we can all happily stop whinging);
* Hollywood remakes of old flicks;
* Starbucks.
IN -
* Nuts About Chocolate (yummo);
* That new Helga's bread with Sunflower seeds in it (yummo);
* Independent American films that take risks and make $$$ (Michael Moore and Mel Gibson both did it);
* Chook eggs;
* David Gullpilil, who's been nominated by the NT for Australian of the Year - imagine if Fingerbone Bill won!;
* Flickr.com;
* Walking instead of taking the bus;
* Reading books of essays by great writers;
* Currawongs - especially the clever ones who know how to steal dog food right out of their bowls.
OUT -
* The Australian film industry, at least until it gets it's act together;
* Tropfest. It was lovely when it was small, but now it simply celebrates mediocrity - and there's no point Australian film-makers perfecting getting one idea across in 5 minutes if they're incapable of telling a complete story in a feature film;
* The idea spread by conservative columnists that we should stop whinging about politicians who keep winning elections despite sucking so badly (when they stop winning elections, THEN we can all happily stop whinging);
* Hollywood remakes of old flicks;
* Starbucks.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Travel Fun
I've been thinking of some of the more unusual highlights of our recent trip through Europe.
Here are some of them...
* I saw my friends' cat Cleo wandering into the loo one afternoon. I asked whether she liked it in there and was told that she goes to the toilet on the toilet. I had to pop my head in to check it out, and there she was! Cleo, sitting on the toilet, taking a peaceful tinkle!
* I joined my friend on his Vespa for two short trips through the back streets of Turin. It was a fairly small Vespa, so it went very very slowly. Nevertheless I was scared like a girl at first.
* In Turin's museum of Egyptology, they have Nefertiti's knees on show. They may or may not actually be her knees. The tomb they were found in was in a bit of disaray due to previous grave-robberies. But their best guess is that the knees belong to her.
* Also in that museum they have some explicitly rude papyrus pictures, of Egyptians behaving in base and beastly ways. I'd never seen rude ancient Egyptian drawings before. Rude greek vases, yes. Rude Egyptian papyrus, no.
* One night I joined some friends who went to take polka dancing lessons at the local school hall. Polka dancing is a very active activity. Lots of jumping about. Not that most elegant way to dance around a room, but good to work up a sweat.
* In Venice we visited an exhibition of some of Dali's work. A number of his works made reference to a painting by Millet of a man & a woman in a field. In the original they have stopped to pray. But Dali has reimagined them involved in lustful poses.
It was quite exciting two weeks later to be wandering through the Musee D'Orsay in Paris and suddenly see Millet's original on the wall.
* Another happy occurance... While in Paris I wanted to get a photo of a statue of a rhinoceros that I had once seen in a photo, with the Eiffel Tower in the distance. I was told this might be in the Trocadero Gardens. So we went there, and we found some statues, but none of a rhino, or any other animals. I gave up on my quest.
But two days later, at that same Musee D'Orsay, there was the rhino at the entrance! It had been moved for some unknown reason from the Trocadero to the museum. How happy I was to see it!
* Nutella gelato. This is great stuff. I only managed to get it in Turin (the home of nutella). Beautiful soft gelato, with big gobs of nutella spread through it :-)
* Possibly the best salad I ever had was in Paris, at a cafe with a view of Notre Dame. I remember it involved diced potato and a dressing like I've never had before. If you're interested in the recipe, please buy me a ticket to Paris and I can walk you to the restaurant.
* Why do so many people have to stand in front of famous paintings to have their photos taken in the museums of Rome & Paris? And it really annoyed me when they used flashes, which are bad for the paintings and distracting for anyone trying to actually look at the things. I was mighty p*ssed off when I saw one woman brush with her hand one of the frail DaVinci's at the Louvre. But I got to have some joy when I saw a fellow thrown out of the Sistine Chapel for taking a photo with his mobile phone. Those Sistine Chapel bouncers mean business!!!
* The cowbells in Switzerland. They sound great. Every town should have cows walking around with the deep clanking sound of their cowbells following them around.
Here are some of them...
* I saw my friends' cat Cleo wandering into the loo one afternoon. I asked whether she liked it in there and was told that she goes to the toilet on the toilet. I had to pop my head in to check it out, and there she was! Cleo, sitting on the toilet, taking a peaceful tinkle!
* I joined my friend on his Vespa for two short trips through the back streets of Turin. It was a fairly small Vespa, so it went very very slowly. Nevertheless I was scared like a girl at first.
* In Turin's museum of Egyptology, they have Nefertiti's knees on show. They may or may not actually be her knees. The tomb they were found in was in a bit of disaray due to previous grave-robberies. But their best guess is that the knees belong to her.
* Also in that museum they have some explicitly rude papyrus pictures, of Egyptians behaving in base and beastly ways. I'd never seen rude ancient Egyptian drawings before. Rude greek vases, yes. Rude Egyptian papyrus, no.
* One night I joined some friends who went to take polka dancing lessons at the local school hall. Polka dancing is a very active activity. Lots of jumping about. Not that most elegant way to dance around a room, but good to work up a sweat.
* In Venice we visited an exhibition of some of Dali's work. A number of his works made reference to a painting by Millet of a man & a woman in a field. In the original they have stopped to pray. But Dali has reimagined them involved in lustful poses.
It was quite exciting two weeks later to be wandering through the Musee D'Orsay in Paris and suddenly see Millet's original on the wall.
* Another happy occurance... While in Paris I wanted to get a photo of a statue of a rhinoceros that I had once seen in a photo, with the Eiffel Tower in the distance. I was told this might be in the Trocadero Gardens. So we went there, and we found some statues, but none of a rhino, or any other animals. I gave up on my quest.
But two days later, at that same Musee D'Orsay, there was the rhino at the entrance! It had been moved for some unknown reason from the Trocadero to the museum. How happy I was to see it!
* Nutella gelato. This is great stuff. I only managed to get it in Turin (the home of nutella). Beautiful soft gelato, with big gobs of nutella spread through it :-)
* Possibly the best salad I ever had was in Paris, at a cafe with a view of Notre Dame. I remember it involved diced potato and a dressing like I've never had before. If you're interested in the recipe, please buy me a ticket to Paris and I can walk you to the restaurant.
* Why do so many people have to stand in front of famous paintings to have their photos taken in the museums of Rome & Paris? And it really annoyed me when they used flashes, which are bad for the paintings and distracting for anyone trying to actually look at the things. I was mighty p*ssed off when I saw one woman brush with her hand one of the frail DaVinci's at the Louvre. But I got to have some joy when I saw a fellow thrown out of the Sistine Chapel for taking a photo with his mobile phone. Those Sistine Chapel bouncers mean business!!!
* The cowbells in Switzerland. They sound great. Every town should have cows walking around with the deep clanking sound of their cowbells following them around.
Saturday, October 16, 2004
TURIN - Hotel Fun!
Had a experience today that was an embarrassment and could have turned traumatic, but happily got sorted out.
After a morning in downtown Turin, I was going to meet up with Tino for lunch, and dropped into my hotel to make use of the bathroom, drop off some stuff and freshen up a little.
But then I found myself faced with a problem.
Firstly I'll explain that I've only bothered to learn a few words in Italian. I'm generally confident that I can get by in most countries as long as I know just a few important words...
ONE, TWO, and THREE; YES and NO; HELLO and GOODBYE; PLEASE, THANK YOU, and SORRY.
Knowing the words for WATER and some of the local food is important too. This is about my limit of Italian vocab.
So back to my hotel room, where I suddenly find that I need to say a whole lot to the staff at the hotel, and have no idea how to start saying it.
What I needed to know how to say in Italian was this.
'Hello? Yes, hello. Do you work here? Because if you do I need help as I've locked myself in. Yes, I've tried turning the brass knob many times but I've seriously locked myself in really really well and the brass knob is not doing me any good. When I came into the room I closed the outer wooden doors and put the metal bar across locking them from the inside as I normally do, and then I closed the inner glass doors without remembering to remove the keys (uh oh) from the outside of the doors, thereby locking those doors from the outside. I am therefore locked in and you are locked out. To get to the bar on the outer doors I would first have to unlock the inner doors which I can't do, and to get to the keys on the inner doors you would have to be able to remove the bar from the outer doors which you can't do, so I'm locked in in a very secure way and I don't know how we're going to get out of this pickle but maybe you can think of something and I really hope you can.'
I also would have liked to say a few more things about the situation.
'This is very embarrassing. I'm so sorry I've done this. Has this happened before? Do people do this all the time? Is there some quick and easy fix solution you know through experience? Tell me there is. Because I really wouldn't want you to have to take an axe to the door, as that would make me kind of nervous and I'd prefer not to have to face a hotel-owner who has just been forced to hack up part of their hotel due to the stupidity of one of their guests and is standing in front of me holding an axe while they're thinking about whose fault this whole thing is. Though I think the builders should have put more thought into these doors as they could have been made more idiot-proof, don't you think? And if you're thinking it's time to bring out the axe maybe I could suggest that I just leave through the window for the time being, though I guess that's only a short-term solution as all my stuff is in here and you probably can't rent out a room with no door. Hmmm.'
If I read out all of the above and only said the words that I know how to translate into Italian, all I would have been able to say to the people outside my room would have been this.
"Hello? Yes, hello. Yes. Hmmm."
I am guessing that 'Hmmm' is the same in English and Italian.
This didn't leave me much to go with.
So I stood looking at my door for quite a few minutes. Not much happened. I touched the doorknob a few times. Another attempted turn here, a sad and ineffective stroke there.
Rather than being brave and trying to talk to the people outside my door, I confronted the issue by calling for outside help instead. Out came the mobile phone. Tino, waiting for me at the restaurant, had himself a good chuckle and then volunteered to come over to the hotel.
I won't bore you with too many more details. Tino managed to get a rather grumpy guy from the hotel to get some tools together and bang away at the outer door. No, no guest in the hotel had ever got themselves in this situation before. After a number of attempts the bar got moved out of the way, and I quickly said my thanks and ran from the hotel. I hope the people who were there today aren't still there when I return tonight. Let me see - if I slept on a park bench I wouldn't have to go back till Sunday to quietly remove my bags while nobody is watching...
After a morning in downtown Turin, I was going to meet up with Tino for lunch, and dropped into my hotel to make use of the bathroom, drop off some stuff and freshen up a little.
But then I found myself faced with a problem.
Firstly I'll explain that I've only bothered to learn a few words in Italian. I'm generally confident that I can get by in most countries as long as I know just a few important words...
ONE, TWO, and THREE; YES and NO; HELLO and GOODBYE; PLEASE, THANK YOU, and SORRY.
Knowing the words for WATER and some of the local food is important too. This is about my limit of Italian vocab.
So back to my hotel room, where I suddenly find that I need to say a whole lot to the staff at the hotel, and have no idea how to start saying it.
What I needed to know how to say in Italian was this.
'Hello? Yes, hello. Do you work here? Because if you do I need help as I've locked myself in. Yes, I've tried turning the brass knob many times but I've seriously locked myself in really really well and the brass knob is not doing me any good. When I came into the room I closed the outer wooden doors and put the metal bar across locking them from the inside as I normally do, and then I closed the inner glass doors without remembering to remove the keys (uh oh) from the outside of the doors, thereby locking those doors from the outside. I am therefore locked in and you are locked out. To get to the bar on the outer doors I would first have to unlock the inner doors which I can't do, and to get to the keys on the inner doors you would have to be able to remove the bar from the outer doors which you can't do, so I'm locked in in a very secure way and I don't know how we're going to get out of this pickle but maybe you can think of something and I really hope you can.'
I also would have liked to say a few more things about the situation.
'This is very embarrassing. I'm so sorry I've done this. Has this happened before? Do people do this all the time? Is there some quick and easy fix solution you know through experience? Tell me there is. Because I really wouldn't want you to have to take an axe to the door, as that would make me kind of nervous and I'd prefer not to have to face a hotel-owner who has just been forced to hack up part of their hotel due to the stupidity of one of their guests and is standing in front of me holding an axe while they're thinking about whose fault this whole thing is. Though I think the builders should have put more thought into these doors as they could have been made more idiot-proof, don't you think? And if you're thinking it's time to bring out the axe maybe I could suggest that I just leave through the window for the time being, though I guess that's only a short-term solution as all my stuff is in here and you probably can't rent out a room with no door. Hmmm.'
If I read out all of the above and only said the words that I know how to translate into Italian, all I would have been able to say to the people outside my room would have been this.
"Hello? Yes, hello. Yes. Hmmm."
I am guessing that 'Hmmm' is the same in English and Italian.
This didn't leave me much to go with.
So I stood looking at my door for quite a few minutes. Not much happened. I touched the doorknob a few times. Another attempted turn here, a sad and ineffective stroke there.
Rather than being brave and trying to talk to the people outside my door, I confronted the issue by calling for outside help instead. Out came the mobile phone. Tino, waiting for me at the restaurant, had himself a good chuckle and then volunteered to come over to the hotel.
I won't bore you with too many more details. Tino managed to get a rather grumpy guy from the hotel to get some tools together and bang away at the outer door. No, no guest in the hotel had ever got themselves in this situation before. After a number of attempts the bar got moved out of the way, and I quickly said my thanks and ran from the hotel. I hope the people who were there today aren't still there when I return tonight. Let me see - if I slept on a park bench I wouldn't have to go back till Sunday to quietly remove my bags while nobody is watching...
Friday, October 15, 2004
Rant time - Marriage Rights
I don't know if anyone will bother to read this, but I have to get it out and belatedly blast John Howard about his attititude to the idea of gay marriage.
Two months ago, when he made his proposal to ban it, the Labor party got all indecisive and put a little committee together to think it over.
During a speech at a Christian fund-raising dinner, John Howard had a go at the Labor party for this. He ridiculed them for taking time to think about it. According to him, banning gay marriage was simply 'common-sense', and no thought or debate was required.
I couldn't believe it. Here he was publicly admitting that he believes he already knows what rights gays ought to be entitled to. He didn't need to think about it or consult his conscience. He didn't need to discuss it with anyone or educate himself about the subject or look at all sides to the debate. And most definitely he didn't need to actually talk to any gay people about it. No, he can happily make decisions about our rights without consulting us or considering our point of view at all.
I know this is how he's behaved in the past with aborigines and refugees, so it's nothing new, but it was incredibly hurtful to have this attitude directed to a group I belong to. How dare he.
And it's frightening that the Australian public have just voted again for a man who thinks like this.
Two months ago, when he made his proposal to ban it, the Labor party got all indecisive and put a little committee together to think it over.
During a speech at a Christian fund-raising dinner, John Howard had a go at the Labor party for this. He ridiculed them for taking time to think about it. According to him, banning gay marriage was simply 'common-sense', and no thought or debate was required.
I couldn't believe it. Here he was publicly admitting that he believes he already knows what rights gays ought to be entitled to. He didn't need to think about it or consult his conscience. He didn't need to discuss it with anyone or educate himself about the subject or look at all sides to the debate. And most definitely he didn't need to actually talk to any gay people about it. No, he can happily make decisions about our rights without consulting us or considering our point of view at all.
I know this is how he's behaved in the past with aborigines and refugees, so it's nothing new, but it was incredibly hurtful to have this attitude directed to a group I belong to. How dare he.
And it's frightening that the Australian public have just voted again for a man who thinks like this.
Rant time - Crappy Election Result
According to a story on the abc new website today, Australians (the ones who own proprety) have never been wealthier.
The average person has assets of $250,000. Which means that for every dollar under $250,000 that you have, that's an extra dollar someone else must own instead. I wonder who has my $240,000?
And to think that we just had an election where the politicians were trying to throw money at everyone. Apart from those at the bottom, Australians have NEVER been wealthier. Middle Australia can't pretend it has anything to worry about money-wise. I can't help thinking that other issues didn't count in the election simply because people don't give a stuff.
The environment, Iraq, honesty in government, the treatment of refugees, aboriginal issues, gay rights, the locking out of young people from the housing market, our blind sucking up to G Bush, the seperation of church and state, who cares. I can't think of many things worse that a Prime Minister can do than send a country to war for the wrong reasons. Even a PM who did this with all the best intentions at heart deserves to be thrown out simply for incompetence. I can't decide whether half of Australia sucks (that's a definite possibility), or just the politicians and media who told them that the election was about interest rates (despite the combined opinions of every economist in the country that any change in interest rates would be because of other factors and not as a result of one party or other being in government).
The average person has assets of $250,000. Which means that for every dollar under $250,000 that you have, that's an extra dollar someone else must own instead. I wonder who has my $240,000?
And to think that we just had an election where the politicians were trying to throw money at everyone. Apart from those at the bottom, Australians have NEVER been wealthier. Middle Australia can't pretend it has anything to worry about money-wise. I can't help thinking that other issues didn't count in the election simply because people don't give a stuff.
The environment, Iraq, honesty in government, the treatment of refugees, aboriginal issues, gay rights, the locking out of young people from the housing market, our blind sucking up to G Bush, the seperation of church and state, who cares. I can't think of many things worse that a Prime Minister can do than send a country to war for the wrong reasons. Even a PM who did this with all the best intentions at heart deserves to be thrown out simply for incompetence. I can't decide whether half of Australia sucks (that's a definite possibility), or just the politicians and media who told them that the election was about interest rates (despite the combined opinions of every economist in the country that any change in interest rates would be because of other factors and not as a result of one party or other being in government).
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