Birthday Stash
Well, it was my B-day the other day, and I managed to win myself a pretty enjoyable day...
My BFF turned up in the morning with her adorable little boy, who toddled around my apartment while we had a chat. The two of us grabbed a hot chocolate from the nearby coffee place and watched him explore the playground in the middle of the open-air shopping mall. Despite the cold, it was actually quite refreshing to be out and about (and the hot chocolate helped) plus we had a funny moment when Reuben spotted his grandmother buying fruit on the other side of the mall. We sent him across to greet her, and she had quite a shock when her grandson appeared out of nowhere!
Look at how cute he is! This was actually taken about six or so months ago, but he's wandering around on his own two feet now.
That afternoon I went out with Mum and Caroline (sister) for pork and vegetable dumpings at a Chinese restaurant. They are SO good, especially with hot chili. That evening, I had dinner with all the family - though we usually go out for birthday celebrations, this time we had Indian takeaways. Butter chicken. Mmm. There was a lot of good food that day.
Apart from that, I got a good stash, mostly books and DVDs, including:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (I wasn't too fond of this adaption, but it completes the set).
The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (don't judge me! I just like the spectacle, dammit!)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (an illustrated version)
These were all from Caroline, plus I recieved a paua-shell bracelet from the BFF and Android Karenina from my other friend in Australia (yes, it's another one of those quirk classics, along the lines of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).
I treated myself to season two of Downton Abbey and My Fair Lady on DVD, which I've never seen before, and the folks have given me leave to choose something from Amazon.com - yay! It's like having a buffet, only with books!
I've also decided to start keeping a book-and-movie diary, just to keep track of what I've been reading/watching. Maybe you'll find something interesting in here:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Yeah, this is the one everyone's been talking about, and so it was inevitably overhyped for me. The plot was creative (and the prose incredibly dreamy and vivid, as contradictory as that sounds), though the characters were little more than cardboard cutouts. I suspect I'll enjoy it more as a visual spectacle - ie, when the imminent movie is released.
The Measure of the Magic by Terry Brooks
I don't know why I keep reading Brooks. Okay, I do - it's because my father loves him but only ever reads books once. Thus he buys Brooks straight off the shelves and then passes them on to me afterwards. Consider him "Tolkien-lite", but somehow he's gotten under my skin. Having written a series set in a fairly typical medieval/fantasy series, as well as contemporary supernatural thrillers, he's now doing something rather interesting by breaching the two series with a prequel/sequel. It's essentially exploring the past and the present of his earlier works at the same time, and though it's all still rather pedestrian, I've become semi-invested in seeing how it all ties in together.
Dracula: the Undead by Ian Holt
Urgh. Having gotten the stamp of approval from the Stoker family, this is the "official sequel" to the novel. It's bizarre, as in his afterword Holt displays genuine fondess and enthusiasm for "Dracula", and yet he so utterly misses the essence of the original work. Everything that made the novel special: the story written in the form of letters and journal entries, the participants having little to no idea what's going on, and the fact that scarcely a drop of blood is spilled "on-screen" is quite emphatically not recreated in the sequel. It's shlock horror, nothing more.
The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh
It's official: kids get all the best books. Aimed at eight-to-thirteen year olds, this is the story of Will Paynel who lives in a seventeenth century monastery in the middle of winter. Melding Christian mysticism and pagan superstition (usually authors only choose one and thus cancel out the other), a mystery begins to unfold. Strange guests arrive at the monastery, spiritual forces in the forest are stirring, and somewhere out there a (supposedly) murdered angel is buried under the snow. This was one of those books that caught me by surprise, and I enjoyed it all the more because of it. It's a great read - atmospheric, spooky and suspenseful, with a historical backdrop and plenty of old folklore and superstition.
Kung Fu Panda 2
I'd heard good things about this sequel, so I was surprised to find it a bit lacklustre. Perhaps it was because I enjoyed the first one so much, but there was just something missing in this one. Shen as a villain was good, but not as good as Tai Lung. The story was thankfully not a retreat of the first, but Po's discovery of his roots was not as poignant as the prior bonding with Shifu (who is barely in this one). The love between Po and Mr Ping was lovely, but the sequel hook seems all set to undermine that. The Furious Five were still underused. Even the action sequences didn't capture me that much (the "musical" fight was inspired, but the dragon costume and the revolving jail cell was *yawn*). It's a shame, as I was looking forward to this one.
Downton Abbey Season 2
I love having Downton Abbey as background noise when I work, and having lent the first season to the BFF, I now have all-new conversations on the periphery of hearing/sight! I don't really think that it was as well-structured as the first: Julian Fellowes has a tendency to introduce interesting stories and then lose interest almost immediately, the war seemed like an afterthought, and so many of the plots are borderline ridiculous (Matthew's injuries, Lavinia's convenient death, Bates's evil wife), though I can't say that I don't enjoy watching them. I also have this odd condition in which the fandom darlings are the characters that least interest me. Bates, Anna, Sybil, Branson, Matthew, Isobel...*snore*. My favourites are Mary, Edith, Carson, Hughes, Cora (sometimes) Carlisle (yeah, it surprised me as well), Rosamund and poor old Anthony Strallen. I love the quasi-mother/daughter relationship between Mrs Patmore and Daisy, as well as the "parents of below stairs" vibe between Carson and Hughes. Even Thomas (a name that will always be mentally followed by "the evil footman" thanks to the Comic Relief spoof) grew on me. I think the only point in which myself and fandom agree is on the indisputable awesomeness of Lady Violet.
Though I have this strange longing to punch Lord Grantham in the face. I'm not sure where it comes from.
My BFF turned up in the morning with her adorable little boy, who toddled around my apartment while we had a chat. The two of us grabbed a hot chocolate from the nearby coffee place and watched him explore the playground in the middle of the open-air shopping mall. Despite the cold, it was actually quite refreshing to be out and about (and the hot chocolate helped) plus we had a funny moment when Reuben spotted his grandmother buying fruit on the other side of the mall. We sent him across to greet her, and she had quite a shock when her grandson appeared out of nowhere!
Look at how cute he is! This was actually taken about six or so months ago, but he's wandering around on his own two feet now.
That afternoon I went out with Mum and Caroline (sister) for pork and vegetable dumpings at a Chinese restaurant. They are SO good, especially with hot chili. That evening, I had dinner with all the family - though we usually go out for birthday celebrations, this time we had Indian takeaways. Butter chicken. Mmm. There was a lot of good food that day.
Apart from that, I got a good stash, mostly books and DVDs, including:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (I wasn't too fond of this adaption, but it completes the set).
The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (don't judge me! I just like the spectacle, dammit!)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (an illustrated version)
These were all from Caroline, plus I recieved a paua-shell bracelet from the BFF and Android Karenina from my other friend in Australia (yes, it's another one of those quirk classics, along the lines of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).
I treated myself to season two of Downton Abbey and My Fair Lady on DVD, which I've never seen before, and the folks have given me leave to choose something from Amazon.com - yay! It's like having a buffet, only with books!
I've also decided to start keeping a book-and-movie diary, just to keep track of what I've been reading/watching. Maybe you'll find something interesting in here:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Yeah, this is the one everyone's been talking about, and so it was inevitably overhyped for me. The plot was creative (and the prose incredibly dreamy and vivid, as contradictory as that sounds), though the characters were little more than cardboard cutouts. I suspect I'll enjoy it more as a visual spectacle - ie, when the imminent movie is released.
The Measure of the Magic by Terry Brooks
I don't know why I keep reading Brooks. Okay, I do - it's because my father loves him but only ever reads books once. Thus he buys Brooks straight off the shelves and then passes them on to me afterwards. Consider him "Tolkien-lite", but somehow he's gotten under my skin. Having written a series set in a fairly typical medieval/fantasy series, as well as contemporary supernatural thrillers, he's now doing something rather interesting by breaching the two series with a prequel/sequel. It's essentially exploring the past and the present of his earlier works at the same time, and though it's all still rather pedestrian, I've become semi-invested in seeing how it all ties in together.
Dracula: the Undead by Ian Holt
Urgh. Having gotten the stamp of approval from the Stoker family, this is the "official sequel" to the novel. It's bizarre, as in his afterword Holt displays genuine fondess and enthusiasm for "Dracula", and yet he so utterly misses the essence of the original work. Everything that made the novel special: the story written in the form of letters and journal entries, the participants having little to no idea what's going on, and the fact that scarcely a drop of blood is spilled "on-screen" is quite emphatically not recreated in the sequel. It's shlock horror, nothing more.
The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh
It's official: kids get all the best books. Aimed at eight-to-thirteen year olds, this is the story of Will Paynel who lives in a seventeenth century monastery in the middle of winter. Melding Christian mysticism and pagan superstition (usually authors only choose one and thus cancel out the other), a mystery begins to unfold. Strange guests arrive at the monastery, spiritual forces in the forest are stirring, and somewhere out there a (supposedly) murdered angel is buried under the snow. This was one of those books that caught me by surprise, and I enjoyed it all the more because of it. It's a great read - atmospheric, spooky and suspenseful, with a historical backdrop and plenty of old folklore and superstition.
Kung Fu Panda 2
I'd heard good things about this sequel, so I was surprised to find it a bit lacklustre. Perhaps it was because I enjoyed the first one so much, but there was just something missing in this one. Shen as a villain was good, but not as good as Tai Lung. The story was thankfully not a retreat of the first, but Po's discovery of his roots was not as poignant as the prior bonding with Shifu (who is barely in this one). The love between Po and Mr Ping was lovely, but the sequel hook seems all set to undermine that. The Furious Five were still underused. Even the action sequences didn't capture me that much (the "musical" fight was inspired, but the dragon costume and the revolving jail cell was *yawn*). It's a shame, as I was looking forward to this one.
Downton Abbey Season 2
I love having Downton Abbey as background noise when I work, and having lent the first season to the BFF, I now have all-new conversations on the periphery of hearing/sight! I don't really think that it was as well-structured as the first: Julian Fellowes has a tendency to introduce interesting stories and then lose interest almost immediately, the war seemed like an afterthought, and so many of the plots are borderline ridiculous (Matthew's injuries, Lavinia's convenient death, Bates's evil wife), though I can't say that I don't enjoy watching them. I also have this odd condition in which the fandom darlings are the characters that least interest me. Bates, Anna, Sybil, Branson, Matthew, Isobel...*snore*. My favourites are Mary, Edith, Carson, Hughes, Cora (sometimes) Carlisle (yeah, it surprised me as well), Rosamund and poor old Anthony Strallen. I love the quasi-mother/daughter relationship between Mrs Patmore and Daisy, as well as the "parents of below stairs" vibe between Carson and Hughes. Even Thomas (a name that will always be mentally followed by "the evil footman" thanks to the Comic Relief spoof) grew on me. I think the only point in which myself and fandom agree is on the indisputable awesomeness of Lady Violet.
Though I have this strange longing to punch Lord Grantham in the face. I'm not sure where it comes from.