I suck at thinking of subject lines.
First of all, I completed a week of uni! For the first time ever, actually. 3 days, 5 lectures, and I went to all of them. Pretty frightening that I've not managed to complete a week before now, but still, I'm proud of myself! :) *fingers crossed* that I still complete weeks now that seminars have been added to my timetable!
I went to the cinema last night (Friday) with some friends I'd not been out with before, which was great. Should have gone out tonight as well actually, since my friends' band, (9xDead) were playing, but decided I wasn't really in the mood. Hope to see them again soon!
Me and Pete, one of my co-workers, were told off for mathing in work today. Had to giggle at the rest of my co-workers anti-maths feelings. "What the hell's the matter with these two?". :) Pete, by the way, is by far the most intelligent person in our work. He's got a degree in psychology, a masters in business, he lectured at the school of business and medicine, he's in a good band (not the above band), and is writing a novel... "but I decided I'd rather put trifles on a conveyor belt". He's funny too. :)
Ok, a not so little update on my week. Wednesday got off to a pretty bad start. I had a lecture at 11.10am, and of course, first lecture of a module (philosophy of history - looks like being really interesting!), so entirely unmissable. And I slept through my alarm and woke up at 10:53am. Had to get dressed, get a lift straight in, and somehow still made it on time. But still, it wasn't fun!
Then I did the cinema thing, of course.
The Hard Word - Australian heist movie. Slightly better than most recent heist movies I've seen, though not doing anything overly different or original. Somewhat formulaic, as these movies tend to be, and Rachel Griffiths was mis-cast, but overall it was really enjoyable.
Young Adam - This one's had a lot of good reviews, and Ewan McGregor is getting praised like heck for his performance in it. He was very good, but the movie dragged and dragged. It was also staggeringly repetitive. There was so little development of story, that similar scenes were used over and over again. I had really expected a lot from this, but ended up disappointed.
Gigli - Yes, I saw this! I went in expecting the absolute worst movie I'd ever seen, but I came away thinking that reviewers had been unfair to it. The critics had hammered this movie harder than any movie I'd ever seen reviewed, and although it was partly justified, as the movie did suck, they seemed to attack it for entirely the wrong reasons, and seemingly just because they were enjoying mocking the first J-Lo/Affleck movie. A few reviews pointed out that it was a particularly awful romantic comedy... which doesn't really do the film justice, since it wasn't a romantic comedy at all. Gigli tried to do too much, and to be too much at once (all sorts of genres), and failed miserably. Lopez and Affleck had absolutely no on screen chemistry, Al Pacino will look back at this and cringe, and the movie was a big mess. But it wasn't as bad as Harvard Man, it was definitely not as bad as Dude, Where's My Car?, so compared to what I was expecting it to be, it turned out alright. Still a terrible film.
The less said about Wednesday night and Thursday morning the better. Suffice it to say, not getting ANGEL when I wanted it was frustrating, but once I'd finally watched it on Thursday morning all was well.
I watched Snatch on video on Thursday - and what a movie! I was in stitches at times, the script was so terrific. One of the best movies of the 21st century I think, and it's made me want to see Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels again.
The down side of Fridays is that my first lecture starts at 9am, so that's a 7.30 wake up. Not fun. Not as bad as waking up for work, but still not ideal. Having 3 of my 5 lectures on Friday mornings will work pretty well though, as I like having lectures and seminars condensed together. The Nietzsche module sounds like it'll be really interesting. The Religious Language module *should* be a really interesting one, as all the topics inside the subject are things I find really interesting, but the lecturer seems determined to make it as unfun as possible, partly by just being a boring lecturer, and partly by introducing pointless side things into the course instead of concentrating on the main topics. Black Political Thought has a really great lecturer though, and seems like another module I'll really enjoy studying.
One of the annoying things about uni this term is that all the subjects I'd most like to do by portfolio essays (ones that have questions that have lots of debate involved that I can use the net to find different points of view) are in exam form, and the ones that I'd like to be in exam form (ones with little debate, and more requirement for depth of knowledge, etc.) are in porfolio essay form. It's unbelievably inconvenient, and will end up costing me a heck of a lot of marks I bet. Also, Rhys, my best mate in uni, missed all the Friday lectures, and the Wednesday lecture. And on Monday we'd both been so excited about the prospect of completing a week of uni, and both determined to go to every lecture, and really turn things around this year. He had an even lower attendance than me last year, which is something of an achievement. And his new start lasted all of a day. He'll pass easily enough, so it's not a concern, but is fairly amusing I think.
Last year Friday was my busiest day as well, and it ended at 5pm, this time it ends at 1pm, which is great - as it gives me the chance to see a couple of movies in the cinema.
Once Upon A Time In Mexico - Great movie: awesome music, loads of good action, some particularly outstanding scenes, and most importantly: Johnny Depp. Every scene he was in was brilliant, just like he was in Pirates Of The Caribbean. He's probably my favourite actor in the world at the moment, and any film he's in will be worth seeing for his presence alone.
Raising Victor Vargas - Really outstanding independent film. Uses no score music, and the result is that you really feel like you're being taken into the house of the family this film is about. Had a lot of depth, and a lot of charm, and the characters were wonderful. I highly recommend this one.
Then my friend Rhianedd invited me to go and see a movie with her, her sister, and her sister's friend. I'd not seen any of them in over a year, just talked online a lot (typical of me really!), and for that reason I was slightly nervous about going (*rolleyes* at myself) but I'd have regretted it had I not gone. So after leaving the house late, and a calamitous drive to the cinema, I saw Down With Love. It was a strange, if very enjoyable movie up until a certain 'surprise twist' towards the end of the movie that made the whole thing seem ridiculous, and the movie was all down-hill from there (remaining 10 minutes or so.) It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny, but there were a lot of amusing moments. David Hyde Pierce stole the show for sure.
This morning I was in work for 6am, expecting to work through until 2pm. First of all, the lorry full of trifles didn't arrive on time, so the first two hours of work was spent sitting down reading. Then when the lorry did come, there were only 8 pallets on there instead of 26. So I was out of there by 11.30! (That's the type of work day I enjoy!)
Watched Monty Python And The Holy Grail, and I know this is near-blasphemy, but I didn't think it was that great. Don't get me wrong, I did think it was funny - just nowhere near the side-splitting laughter that I've had from other films and TV shows. Also, I thought it was a bit too silly at times, that made me unable to enjoy it as much as I'd been expecting to. So despite finding it funny, I'd have to say my first taste of Monty Python is a disappointing one.
Then watched Say Anything, which I really enjoyed, though I do think it could have been a lot funnier. Not typical of teen movies... it had more of a grown up feel to it, I suppose, which worked in its favour in some ways and against it in others. Again though, like in The Sure Thing, John Cusack was outstanding, and the female lead in this one was really appealing as well. And the song that plays in the car scene and in the boom box scene, In Your Eyes, is superb!
Then I watched another first season episode of the West Wing, watched next week's ANGEL (no late showings for me this time!!), spent some time online, and realised that there is no good reason to be up past 6am, and went to bed. Or, am going to bed. You know what I mean. :)
Wow, that took quite some time!
I went to the cinema last night (Friday) with some friends I'd not been out with before, which was great. Should have gone out tonight as well actually, since my friends' band, (9xDead) were playing, but decided I wasn't really in the mood. Hope to see them again soon!
Me and Pete, one of my co-workers, were told off for mathing in work today. Had to giggle at the rest of my co-workers anti-maths feelings. "What the hell's the matter with these two?". :) Pete, by the way, is by far the most intelligent person in our work. He's got a degree in psychology, a masters in business, he lectured at the school of business and medicine, he's in a good band (not the above band), and is writing a novel... "but I decided I'd rather put trifles on a conveyor belt". He's funny too. :)
Ok, a not so little update on my week. Wednesday got off to a pretty bad start. I had a lecture at 11.10am, and of course, first lecture of a module (philosophy of history - looks like being really interesting!), so entirely unmissable. And I slept through my alarm and woke up at 10:53am. Had to get dressed, get a lift straight in, and somehow still made it on time. But still, it wasn't fun!
Then I did the cinema thing, of course.
The Hard Word - Australian heist movie. Slightly better than most recent heist movies I've seen, though not doing anything overly different or original. Somewhat formulaic, as these movies tend to be, and Rachel Griffiths was mis-cast, but overall it was really enjoyable.
Young Adam - This one's had a lot of good reviews, and Ewan McGregor is getting praised like heck for his performance in it. He was very good, but the movie dragged and dragged. It was also staggeringly repetitive. There was so little development of story, that similar scenes were used over and over again. I had really expected a lot from this, but ended up disappointed.
Gigli - Yes, I saw this! I went in expecting the absolute worst movie I'd ever seen, but I came away thinking that reviewers had been unfair to it. The critics had hammered this movie harder than any movie I'd ever seen reviewed, and although it was partly justified, as the movie did suck, they seemed to attack it for entirely the wrong reasons, and seemingly just because they were enjoying mocking the first J-Lo/Affleck movie. A few reviews pointed out that it was a particularly awful romantic comedy... which doesn't really do the film justice, since it wasn't a romantic comedy at all. Gigli tried to do too much, and to be too much at once (all sorts of genres), and failed miserably. Lopez and Affleck had absolutely no on screen chemistry, Al Pacino will look back at this and cringe, and the movie was a big mess. But it wasn't as bad as Harvard Man, it was definitely not as bad as Dude, Where's My Car?, so compared to what I was expecting it to be, it turned out alright. Still a terrible film.
The less said about Wednesday night and Thursday morning the better. Suffice it to say, not getting ANGEL when I wanted it was frustrating, but once I'd finally watched it on Thursday morning all was well.
I watched Snatch on video on Thursday - and what a movie! I was in stitches at times, the script was so terrific. One of the best movies of the 21st century I think, and it's made me want to see Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels again.
The down side of Fridays is that my first lecture starts at 9am, so that's a 7.30 wake up. Not fun. Not as bad as waking up for work, but still not ideal. Having 3 of my 5 lectures on Friday mornings will work pretty well though, as I like having lectures and seminars condensed together. The Nietzsche module sounds like it'll be really interesting. The Religious Language module *should* be a really interesting one, as all the topics inside the subject are things I find really interesting, but the lecturer seems determined to make it as unfun as possible, partly by just being a boring lecturer, and partly by introducing pointless side things into the course instead of concentrating on the main topics. Black Political Thought has a really great lecturer though, and seems like another module I'll really enjoy studying.
One of the annoying things about uni this term is that all the subjects I'd most like to do by portfolio essays (ones that have questions that have lots of debate involved that I can use the net to find different points of view) are in exam form, and the ones that I'd like to be in exam form (ones with little debate, and more requirement for depth of knowledge, etc.) are in porfolio essay form. It's unbelievably inconvenient, and will end up costing me a heck of a lot of marks I bet. Also, Rhys, my best mate in uni, missed all the Friday lectures, and the Wednesday lecture. And on Monday we'd both been so excited about the prospect of completing a week of uni, and both determined to go to every lecture, and really turn things around this year. He had an even lower attendance than me last year, which is something of an achievement. And his new start lasted all of a day. He'll pass easily enough, so it's not a concern, but is fairly amusing I think.
Last year Friday was my busiest day as well, and it ended at 5pm, this time it ends at 1pm, which is great - as it gives me the chance to see a couple of movies in the cinema.
Once Upon A Time In Mexico - Great movie: awesome music, loads of good action, some particularly outstanding scenes, and most importantly: Johnny Depp. Every scene he was in was brilliant, just like he was in Pirates Of The Caribbean. He's probably my favourite actor in the world at the moment, and any film he's in will be worth seeing for his presence alone.
Raising Victor Vargas - Really outstanding independent film. Uses no score music, and the result is that you really feel like you're being taken into the house of the family this film is about. Had a lot of depth, and a lot of charm, and the characters were wonderful. I highly recommend this one.
Then my friend Rhianedd invited me to go and see a movie with her, her sister, and her sister's friend. I'd not seen any of them in over a year, just talked online a lot (typical of me really!), and for that reason I was slightly nervous about going (*rolleyes* at myself) but I'd have regretted it had I not gone. So after leaving the house late, and a calamitous drive to the cinema, I saw Down With Love. It was a strange, if very enjoyable movie up until a certain 'surprise twist' towards the end of the movie that made the whole thing seem ridiculous, and the movie was all down-hill from there (remaining 10 minutes or so.) It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny, but there were a lot of amusing moments. David Hyde Pierce stole the show for sure.
This morning I was in work for 6am, expecting to work through until 2pm. First of all, the lorry full of trifles didn't arrive on time, so the first two hours of work was spent sitting down reading. Then when the lorry did come, there were only 8 pallets on there instead of 26. So I was out of there by 11.30! (That's the type of work day I enjoy!)
Watched Monty Python And The Holy Grail, and I know this is near-blasphemy, but I didn't think it was that great. Don't get me wrong, I did think it was funny - just nowhere near the side-splitting laughter that I've had from other films and TV shows. Also, I thought it was a bit too silly at times, that made me unable to enjoy it as much as I'd been expecting to. So despite finding it funny, I'd have to say my first taste of Monty Python is a disappointing one.
Then watched Say Anything, which I really enjoyed, though I do think it could have been a lot funnier. Not typical of teen movies... it had more of a grown up feel to it, I suppose, which worked in its favour in some ways and against it in others. Again though, like in The Sure Thing, John Cusack was outstanding, and the female lead in this one was really appealing as well. And the song that plays in the car scene and in the boom box scene, In Your Eyes, is superb!
Then I watched another first season episode of the West Wing, watched next week's ANGEL (no late showings for me this time!!), spent some time online, and realised that there is no good reason to be up past 6am, and went to bed. Or, am going to bed. You know what I mean. :)
Wow, that took quite some time!