Monday, March 06, 2006
Scoop!
Just heard on National Radio that Fairfax have just bought Trade Me (now the most visted site in NZ) for $700 million. They're keeping on founder Sam Morgan for "some time". I wonder if it will last? Will they keep all the facets of the site? It won't feel the same using it when it's owned by a multinational.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Watch out where the huskies go...
Listening to: Hollie Smith E.P.
Just got home from the Film Archive - went to see Nanook of the North, an Inuit "documentary" from 1922 with live music performance by Mike Cooper. As explained by Mike Cooper, it was not quite what we would consider a documentary. Surveyor and prospector Robert Flaherty came to live amongst the Inuit and was so taken with their way of life that he wanted to capture it on film. Along with normal day-to-day activities (hunting and building igloo), he had them re-enact many of their old customs that were no longer practiced. Mike's electronic accompaniment flowed alongside the iceflows with it's chilly organic pings, pops and drones. Real nice. Finished the night with a nice Thai dinner and now home with the rain on the roof.
Just got home from the Film Archive - went to see Nanook of the North, an Inuit "documentary" from 1922 with live music performance by Mike Cooper. As explained by Mike Cooper, it was not quite what we would consider a documentary. Surveyor and prospector Robert Flaherty came to live amongst the Inuit and was so taken with their way of life that he wanted to capture it on film. Along with normal day-to-day activities (hunting and building igloo), he had them re-enact many of their old customs that were no longer practiced. Mike's electronic accompaniment flowed alongside the iceflows with it's chilly organic pings, pops and drones. Real nice. Finished the night with a nice Thai dinner and now home with the rain on the roof.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Cézanne to Picasso
Popped in briefly today to Te Papa to check out the small exhibition of paintings from the Julian and Josie Robertson collection from New York - Cézanne to Picasso. There were only fourteen works but it's always brilliant to see original works like these. My favourites were the Braque and the Redon. Redon is one of my favourites, being a symbolist and all. I've just been looking at some of his work online - amazing. Unfortunately the piece in the show was one of his vases of flowers - not as engaging as his other work. Here's one I love.
stop playing with your food
Tonight: the opening of the Contemporary New Zealand Photographers (including Mr Ben Cauchi) then on to dinner at Satay Kampong where I rearranged my delicious and colourful Nasi Lemak. Isn't it a cute looking dinner? Then I ate the little fucker.
We took a trip to Boogie Wonderland and drank more wine and danced to silly 70s and 80s music. I dropped my poor dear Angie on the floor during a Fame kind of moment. I hope she recovers.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Tarot cards
Wow. I've just been to see a tarot card reader for the second time in the last two weeks. Something she told me four years ago has come to pass so I thought it might be helpful going back to see her again. She just blows me away. I have received the most helpful words from a woman who doesn't even know me. I feel like I am getting my life back on track. I won't go into detail cos it's all pretty heavy stuff, but I just have to say that tarot cards are a very useful tool, especially in the hands of an experienced and intuitive reader. Thank you Antonia.
Monday, February 27, 2006
trekkie
Thanks to Lilly for this one.
Okay, I used to be quite a Star Trek fan, but only really the original. As a kid I had a bit of a crush on James T. Oh, and that one with the thick Russian accent that looked like Davey off The Monkies. Anyway, on with the silly quiz. I was almost my crush - James T. Kirk! Oh my.
Your results:
You are Deanna Troi
Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...
Okay, I used to be quite a Star Trek fan, but only really the original. As a kid I had a bit of a crush on James T. Oh, and that one with the thick Russian accent that looked like Davey off The Monkies. Anyway, on with the silly quiz. I was almost my crush - James T. Kirk! Oh my.
Your results:
You are Deanna Troi
| You are a caring and loving individual. You understand people's emotions and you are able to comfort and counsel them.  |
Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...
Global situation
There's a guy on National Radio just now talking about our global situation and how we are all ignoring it. We all know the oil is going to run out soon. Well, apparently 99% of the cost of our food production is directly from oil - tractors, transport, storage etc. The implications of this are pretty grim. The world is screwed.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Service and creativity
I love going through old journals. Just a few pages after the last one I found is this quote. I love this one.
Service… is love in action, love "made flesh"; service is the body, the incarnation of love. Love is the impetus, service the act, and creativity the result with many by-products. Sarah Patton Boyle, US civil rights activist
Service… is love in action, love "made flesh"; service is the body, the incarnation of love. Love is the impetus, service the act, and creativity the result with many by-products. Sarah Patton Boyle, US civil rights activist
quote of the day
I've realised it's not feasible to move to an office. Looks like I'm on my own for a while again. SOD and I are having a break from each other to sort out our lives. I had everything mostly packed for the move to the new office which I was going to be doing today, but instead I'm having an almighty cleanout and reorganisation of my home office. I went on a huge cleaning binge yesterday around the house - this is something I seem to do when I need to purge feelings. For some reason I find it quite therapeutic.
Today I found an old journal from my first year in Wellington - 1994. I had a quote I found somewhere that I still really like: "Art is an axe for the frozen sea within us". Ain't that true.
I'm finding at the moment that concentrating on the practical aspects of life is very comforting. If I stop and think too much today I start falling to pieces.
Postscript: It seems this was a quote by Kafka - had to google it since I never made a note of the source at the time.
Today I found an old journal from my first year in Wellington - 1994. I had a quote I found somewhere that I still really like: "Art is an axe for the frozen sea within us". Ain't that true.
I'm finding at the moment that concentrating on the practical aspects of life is very comforting. If I stop and think too much today I start falling to pieces.
Postscript: It seems this was a quote by Kafka - had to google it since I never made a note of the source at the time.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Pens and paper
SOD's given me a little book and I nabbed one of his pens to play around with. The second drawing also includes some of my lipgloss.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
My De Facto Husband is a Bitch
When a play fight turns into a something else.... and he thought the resulting welts were funny. I'm gonna get him back, don't you worry.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Deerhoof
Okay, I have just been to one of the best gigs of my life. Deerhoof just kicked off their world tour and how cool it was to be the second international gig of the tour. These noise popsters have moments of weird jazz bridging straight into rock guitar riffs that drill into your head like a machine which then switch to quiet moments accompanied by the sweet voice of the dimunitive asian singer. I think it's this constant swing between the hard and the soft that I love about Deerhoof. Yin and Yang. Cutesy one moment, hard-arsed rockers the next. A pop melody suddenly jarred apart by big big drums and darkly deep bass guitar thrum - then back to sweet-voiced pop again. There wasn't a big crowd at Indigo, but everyone there was loving it. I've had Deerhoof in my head now since the gig. They are so much fun. I wish I could do it all again.
The support of So So Modern was a good match.
The support of So So Modern was a good match.
Time
Time gets away on me all the time. Too many things to do, too little time to do them. One of the things that never gets done, of course, is updating this blog. So I'm taking a few moments out of my work schedule (yes, it's Sunday, but I'm working) to do just that.
I've been to see a few movies recently and I'll have to try and remember what they were. One was River Queen which SOD and I both enjoyed. It had an uneven start - it seemed as though the introductory narration was going to go on forever (I was starting to think the whole film was going to go on this way and I was starting to feel very uneasy) but then it swung into the story. It would be great to see the film in its entire length - apparently there was a huge amount of footage that had to be canned to cut back the length. Another grizzle would be about the score - I'm getting sick of turgid emotionally manipulative scores in films. Less is more, people. Let the story speak for itself. However, the war action was amazing and the storytelling pulled through. I liked the happy ending too - you don't get those much these days (oh, except in schmaltzy mainstream cinema - does this fit in there?) and I don't mind a nice happy ending every now and then.
Walk the Line, the biopic of Johnny Cash, was essentially a love story with his musical career as a background. Joaquin Phoenix was pretty impressive as Cash and Reese Witherspoon surprisingly good as June Carter. I just couldn't help but feel sorry for his poor first wife though. Cash's daughter, Roseanne, felt her mother was unfairly portrayed, and it wouldn't surprise me at all. Good film, recommended. I won't go on about it too much - there have been plently of reviews. I've had friends who haven't liked it at all and others who have enjoyed as I have.
Brokeback Mountain - sweet simple love story. What the hell is the fuss all about? I find it extremely perplexing that people would ban this film. Why does the notion of two men in love cause people to be so fearful and bigotted? There is nothing explicit here. The sex scenes are unrevealing, short and necessary to the story. And so what if they weren't? There are parts of society that just need to grow up and get over themselves. It makes me so mad. I loved this film. It was poignant and beautiful.
I've been to see a few movies recently and I'll have to try and remember what they were. One was River Queen which SOD and I both enjoyed. It had an uneven start - it seemed as though the introductory narration was going to go on forever (I was starting to think the whole film was going to go on this way and I was starting to feel very uneasy) but then it swung into the story. It would be great to see the film in its entire length - apparently there was a huge amount of footage that had to be canned to cut back the length. Another grizzle would be about the score - I'm getting sick of turgid emotionally manipulative scores in films. Less is more, people. Let the story speak for itself. However, the war action was amazing and the storytelling pulled through. I liked the happy ending too - you don't get those much these days (oh, except in schmaltzy mainstream cinema - does this fit in there?) and I don't mind a nice happy ending every now and then.
Walk the Line, the biopic of Johnny Cash, was essentially a love story with his musical career as a background. Joaquin Phoenix was pretty impressive as Cash and Reese Witherspoon surprisingly good as June Carter. I just couldn't help but feel sorry for his poor first wife though. Cash's daughter, Roseanne, felt her mother was unfairly portrayed, and it wouldn't surprise me at all. Good film, recommended. I won't go on about it too much - there have been plently of reviews. I've had friends who haven't liked it at all and others who have enjoyed as I have.
Brokeback Mountain - sweet simple love story. What the hell is the fuss all about? I find it extremely perplexing that people would ban this film. Why does the notion of two men in love cause people to be so fearful and bigotted? There is nothing explicit here. The sex scenes are unrevealing, short and necessary to the story. And so what if they weren't? There are parts of society that just need to grow up and get over themselves. It makes me so mad. I loved this film. It was poignant and beautiful.
Monday, February 06, 2006
25 things you may not have known about New Zealand
From the NZ Herald
1 - Cook's cure
Captain James Cook, the man who navigated New Zealand, is said to have discovered a cure for scurvy, a disease that results from Vitamin C deficiency, when he played around with medicines.
2 - More births
New Zealand births exceeded deaths by 29,890 in the September 2005 year.
3 - Older brides
New Zealanders are getting married older. The latest statistics show that the median ages of men and women marrying for the first time is 29.9 and 28.1 years. These brides and grooms married, on average, nine years older than their parents did.
4 - Big on butter
For each person who lives here, New Zealand produces 100kg of butter and 65kg of cheese each year.
5 - Clever Kiwis
A New Zealander invented the tear-back velcro strip, the pop-lid on a self-sealing paint tin, the child-proof pill bottle and the crinkle in hair-pins so that they don't fall out.
6 - Olympic gold
New Zealand has won more Olympic gold medals a head than any other country.
7 - Sheep dip
In the early 1980s, New Zealand was home to more than 70 million sheep, but now has 40 million, or about 10 sheep to one person. This decline hasn't stopped New Zealand from bringing in 50 per cent of all international trade in sheepmeat.
8 - Golf swings
Measured by club memberships, golf is the most popular sport in New Zealand, followed by netball.
9 - Curious Kea
The kea, native to New Zealand, likes to eat the strips of rubber around car windows.
10 - Quick work
The shortest interval between separate births in the world is 208 days. New Zealander Jayne Bleackley gave birth to Joseph Robert on September 3, 1999, and Annie Jessica Joyce on March 30, 2000.
11 - Why bother?
Two Massey University students broke a Guinness World Record in December for the world's largest tape ball. The ball, which weighs 53kg and has a circumference of more than 2.5m, was made by winding Scotch tape continually around itself.
12 - Spelling test
The longest place name in the world still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu, a hill in Porangahau in the Hawkes Bay. The Maori name translates to "the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as Landeater, played his flute to his loved one."
13 - Middle age
The median age of New Zealanders is growing. In 1901 it was 23. By 1991 it was 31 and in 2001 it was 35. By 2021 it is expected to be 40.
14 - Rising prices
In 1984, $43 in New Zealand would buy approximately the same as $100 today.
15 - Blacked out
The longest blackout in the world was on February 19, 1998, when the four main power cables supplying Auckland city, broke down. The disruption, which lasted 66 days, affected 7500 business and residential customers and cost businesses an estimated $300 million.
16 - The sea, the sea
No part of New Zealand is more than 128km from the sea.
17 - Lost in space
In the scene of Star Trek: First Contact, when Picard shows Lilly she is orbiting Earth, Australia and Papa New Guinea are clearly visible but New Zealand is missing.
18 - Bottom line
No capital city in the world is further south than Wellington.
19 - Animal farm
Less than 5 per cent of the population of New Zealand is human - the rest are animals. This is one of the highest ratios of animals to humans in the world.
20 - Pipebands galore
There are more Scottish pipe bands per head of population in New Zealand than in Scotland.
21 - Big readers
New Zealand has more book-shops per head of population than any other country; one for every 7500 people.
22 - Bad behaviour
New Zealand has the third highest rate of deaths in the developed world from maltreatment among under-15-year-olds; third to Mexico and the US.
23 - Freshwater spring
More fresh water flows up from cracks in the limestone at Waikoropupu, near Takaka, than from any other freshwater spring in the world - more than 2100 million litres every 24 hours.
24 - Trout heaven
More rainbow trout in the 2kg to 3kg category are caught annually in New Zealand than in the rest of the world put together.
25 - World-beaters
New Zealand is home to the world's smallest dolphin, the Hectors Dolphin, the rarest sea lion, the Hookers Sea Lion, the largest flightless parrot, the kakapo, the oldest reptile, the tuatara, the heaviest insect, a weta, the biggest earth-worms, the smallest bats, some of the oldest trees, and many of the rarest birds, insects, and plants in the world.
* Facts sourced from Statistics New Zealand, Strange Facts & True About New Zealand, Guinness World records, The Kiwi Site and the ENZ New Zealand Immigration Guide.
1 - Cook's cure
Captain James Cook, the man who navigated New Zealand, is said to have discovered a cure for scurvy, a disease that results from Vitamin C deficiency, when he played around with medicines.
2 - More births
New Zealand births exceeded deaths by 29,890 in the September 2005 year.
3 - Older brides
New Zealanders are getting married older. The latest statistics show that the median ages of men and women marrying for the first time is 29.9 and 28.1 years. These brides and grooms married, on average, nine years older than their parents did.
4 - Big on butter
For each person who lives here, New Zealand produces 100kg of butter and 65kg of cheese each year.
5 - Clever Kiwis
A New Zealander invented the tear-back velcro strip, the pop-lid on a self-sealing paint tin, the child-proof pill bottle and the crinkle in hair-pins so that they don't fall out.
6 - Olympic gold
New Zealand has won more Olympic gold medals a head than any other country.
7 - Sheep dip
In the early 1980s, New Zealand was home to more than 70 million sheep, but now has 40 million, or about 10 sheep to one person. This decline hasn't stopped New Zealand from bringing in 50 per cent of all international trade in sheepmeat.
8 - Golf swings
Measured by club memberships, golf is the most popular sport in New Zealand, followed by netball.
9 - Curious Kea
The kea, native to New Zealand, likes to eat the strips of rubber around car windows.
10 - Quick work
The shortest interval between separate births in the world is 208 days. New Zealander Jayne Bleackley gave birth to Joseph Robert on September 3, 1999, and Annie Jessica Joyce on March 30, 2000.
11 - Why bother?
Two Massey University students broke a Guinness World Record in December for the world's largest tape ball. The ball, which weighs 53kg and has a circumference of more than 2.5m, was made by winding Scotch tape continually around itself.
12 - Spelling test
The longest place name in the world still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu, a hill in Porangahau in the Hawkes Bay. The Maori name translates to "the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as Landeater, played his flute to his loved one."
13 - Middle age
The median age of New Zealanders is growing. In 1901 it was 23. By 1991 it was 31 and in 2001 it was 35. By 2021 it is expected to be 40.
14 - Rising prices
In 1984, $43 in New Zealand would buy approximately the same as $100 today.
15 - Blacked out
The longest blackout in the world was on February 19, 1998, when the four main power cables supplying Auckland city, broke down. The disruption, which lasted 66 days, affected 7500 business and residential customers and cost businesses an estimated $300 million.
16 - The sea, the sea
No part of New Zealand is more than 128km from the sea.
17 - Lost in space
In the scene of Star Trek: First Contact, when Picard shows Lilly she is orbiting Earth, Australia and Papa New Guinea are clearly visible but New Zealand is missing.
18 - Bottom line
No capital city in the world is further south than Wellington.
19 - Animal farm
Less than 5 per cent of the population of New Zealand is human - the rest are animals. This is one of the highest ratios of animals to humans in the world.
20 - Pipebands galore
There are more Scottish pipe bands per head of population in New Zealand than in Scotland.
21 - Big readers
New Zealand has more book-shops per head of population than any other country; one for every 7500 people.
22 - Bad behaviour
New Zealand has the third highest rate of deaths in the developed world from maltreatment among under-15-year-olds; third to Mexico and the US.
23 - Freshwater spring
More fresh water flows up from cracks in the limestone at Waikoropupu, near Takaka, than from any other freshwater spring in the world - more than 2100 million litres every 24 hours.
24 - Trout heaven
More rainbow trout in the 2kg to 3kg category are caught annually in New Zealand than in the rest of the world put together.
25 - World-beaters
New Zealand is home to the world's smallest dolphin, the Hectors Dolphin, the rarest sea lion, the Hookers Sea Lion, the largest flightless parrot, the kakapo, the oldest reptile, the tuatara, the heaviest insect, a weta, the biggest earth-worms, the smallest bats, some of the oldest trees, and many of the rarest birds, insects, and plants in the world.
* Facts sourced from Statistics New Zealand, Strange Facts & True About New Zealand, Guinness World records, The Kiwi Site and the ENZ New Zealand Immigration Guide.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Do I have to change my blog name?
Good news - I have an office! I'm heading back into town and setting up a nice little cosy home away from home on the corner of Woodward and Lambton. Got a wickedly nice view (to be posted in due course) and it's sunny to boot. I'm pretty damned pleased about this. The price is not bad either and it includes broadband. It's one of these "serviced offices" - there's a whole floor of them in the building I'm in. My friend Siobhan (who I've been doing some work with) is two doors along. She told me about the office a couple of weeks ago and I signed on the dotted line yesterday. I'm going to try to move in early next week. Can't wait! The house is going to be short of a few paintings - I'm gonna be raiding the place for anything that'll turn it into a styley designer office space - I'm going for black and white. Must do some "before and after" shots to post on the old blog. Dave is going to take over my office space at home and turn it into a painting studio - it's really ideal as it has great light - windows allr round - and a really nice outlook. I'll miss my little room, but it'll be so so nice to get out of the house. Now it'll seem lovely to "come home" at the end of the day.
My question: is it okay to keep my blog name?
My question: is it okay to keep my blog name?
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Provincial New Zealand
It was good to get out of Wellington for a few days - back into work mode again now.
Here are some of the sights of New Plymouth - I was amazed by some of the old buildings (hopefully they don't get ripped down in the name of development).
This one is the old Nurses' Home connected to the old hopspital which is now disused. I hear the land and buildings are now owned by local Maori. It seems to be used for art and craft classes at the moment - the future for these buildings is still up in the air. I was blown away by it - such strange architecture for New Zealand.
I spent my first evening down at the local park watching an outdoor show of NZ short films put on by the Film Archive. First up, of course, were a couple of Len Lye films. Here's the Len Lye designed wind wand that wobbles about on the waterfront.
I go a shot of Mount Taranaki on my sunny morning drive out of New Plymouth.
Below that is another beautiful old building - an old hotel. It looks as though it's mostly unused. Probably an earthquake risk I guess.
Here are some of the sights of New Plymouth - I was amazed by some of the old buildings (hopefully they don't get ripped down in the name of development).
This one is the old Nurses' Home connected to the old hopspital which is now disused. I hear the land and buildings are now owned by local Maori. It seems to be used for art and craft classes at the moment - the future for these buildings is still up in the air. I was blown away by it - such strange architecture for New Zealand.
I spent my first evening down at the local park watching an outdoor show of NZ short films put on by the Film Archive. First up, of course, were a couple of Len Lye films. Here's the Len Lye designed wind wand that wobbles about on the waterfront.
I go a shot of Mount Taranaki on my sunny morning drive out of New Plymouth.
Below that is another beautiful old building - an old hotel. It looks as though it's mostly unused. Probably an earthquake risk I guess.
Monday, January 16, 2006
(Yet) another list
Cheers to Paintergirl for this one:
4 places you've been on vacation
Bali, Sydney, Moeraki (NZ), Maubisse (East Timor)
4 websites you visit daily
lillyslounge,Pointless and Absurd, Paintergirl, Mick O'Grady
4 favorite foods
fresh strawberries, oysters, french cheeses, belgian chocolate truffles
4 places you'd rather be
London, Prague, Paris, Rome (although I have never been to any of these - one day!)
4 albums you can't live without: Broken Social Scene (You Forgot it in People), Neil Young (On the Beach), Bob Marley (Kaya), Bailter Space (Tanker)
4 vehicles you've owned: Toyota Starlet (pooh brown, according to my kids), Wine Red Rover (current vehicle and much improved on the pooh brown Starlet) and some old thing I can't remember before that. I think it was a Vauxhall...
4 jobs you've had in your life: waitress at Cobb & Co, shop assistant at an antique and gift store, manager of the Reprographic Department of a polytechnic college, evening job laying out ads at the local newspaper
4 movies you could watch over and over: Donnie Darko, Coffee and Cigarettes, Songs from the Second Floor, Labyrinth (spelling?!)
4 TV shows you love to watch: Shortland Street, The Office, Trailer Park Boys, Malcolm in the Middle
4 places you've been on vacation
Bali, Sydney, Moeraki (NZ), Maubisse (East Timor)
4 websites you visit daily
lillyslounge,Pointless and Absurd, Paintergirl, Mick O'Grady
4 favorite foods
fresh strawberries, oysters, french cheeses, belgian chocolate truffles
4 places you'd rather be
London, Prague, Paris, Rome (although I have never been to any of these - one day!)
4 albums you can't live without: Broken Social Scene (You Forgot it in People), Neil Young (On the Beach), Bob Marley (Kaya), Bailter Space (Tanker)
4 vehicles you've owned: Toyota Starlet (pooh brown, according to my kids), Wine Red Rover (current vehicle and much improved on the pooh brown Starlet) and some old thing I can't remember before that. I think it was a Vauxhall...
4 jobs you've had in your life: waitress at Cobb & Co, shop assistant at an antique and gift store, manager of the Reprographic Department of a polytechnic college, evening job laying out ads at the local newspaper
4 movies you could watch over and over: Donnie Darko, Coffee and Cigarettes, Songs from the Second Floor, Labyrinth (spelling?!)
4 TV shows you love to watch: Shortland Street, The Office, Trailer Park Boys, Malcolm in the Middle
A brief excursion
I thought that since Dave was away I would head off for a little break myself so I'm currently at my sister's house in New Plymouth. I enjoyed the drive up - I love driving through countryside and turning the music up as loud as my ears will take it (usually involves some ringing in my ears at the end of the trip). I don't know quite how to describe how I'm feeling at the moment - I guess you could say "all over the place". My emotions seem to really up and down and tears spring unexpectedly. I hate feeling like this - it makes me feel weak and silly. Hopefully this is a passing thing. I think there has just been so much happening in my life at the moment that I'm suffering from emotional overload. I'm sure that everything will settle down soon and that life will settle down into some semblance of normality, whatever the hell that is! Well, everyone else seems to be venting at the moment, so I thought it must be my turn!
Anyway, heading home tomorrow morning and will try to upload some photos of the local scenery. Straight back into work upon my return (naturally!).
Anyway, heading home tomorrow morning and will try to upload some photos of the local scenery. Straight back into work upon my return (naturally!).
Friday, January 06, 2006
King Kong vs. Narnia
Have seen both of these films recently. Both have of course been hyped up to the extreme.
For a start, I'm not one for mainstream film and my prime objective when heading off to the cinema is not to be entertained (although there are occasions to the contrary when I'm feeling a bit jaded), so I guess I am not the target audience for films of this type. However, I have to say that I think King Kong misses the boat. Too long. I can sit through long films - the length itself is not a problem, but the film needed tighter editing. The action scenes (obviously set up as action sequences for where the real money is - Playstation and PC gaming) should have been half the length and I quickly lost my interest. Too much time was spent on Skull Island. There was a slow-mo action technique interpersed through the film that seemed unneccessary and poorly executed. And too many calculated close-up of expression-filled eyes. Yawn. Wide-open scared eyes looking into the distance - cue scary monsters coming to get someone. Maybe this is a nod to melodramatic films of the 30s, but I found the devices overused and shallow. Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody did shine though and Kong himself was a surprising success. I was glad when it was over though.
Narnia however, I did enjoy. I loved these books as a child and the resulting film fitted with my imagined world of Narnia amazingly well. Although Mr Tumnus looked more youthful than my version. There were many schmaltzy moments, but that was to be expected. With a book full of valour and virtue and personal sacrifice what else can you expect? I had the occasional lump in my throat, but I didn't feel manipulated into my emotional reactions. Tilda Swinton as the white witch was an inspired casting.
For a start, I'm not one for mainstream film and my prime objective when heading off to the cinema is not to be entertained (although there are occasions to the contrary when I'm feeling a bit jaded), so I guess I am not the target audience for films of this type. However, I have to say that I think King Kong misses the boat. Too long. I can sit through long films - the length itself is not a problem, but the film needed tighter editing. The action scenes (obviously set up as action sequences for where the real money is - Playstation and PC gaming) should have been half the length and I quickly lost my interest. Too much time was spent on Skull Island. There was a slow-mo action technique interpersed through the film that seemed unneccessary and poorly executed. And too many calculated close-up of expression-filled eyes. Yawn. Wide-open scared eyes looking into the distance - cue scary monsters coming to get someone. Maybe this is a nod to melodramatic films of the 30s, but I found the devices overused and shallow. Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody did shine though and Kong himself was a surprising success. I was glad when it was over though.
Narnia however, I did enjoy. I loved these books as a child and the resulting film fitted with my imagined world of Narnia amazingly well. Although Mr Tumnus looked more youthful than my version. There were many schmaltzy moments, but that was to be expected. With a book full of valour and virtue and personal sacrifice what else can you expect? I had the occasional lump in my throat, but I didn't feel manipulated into my emotional reactions. Tilda Swinton as the white witch was an inspired casting.
Braindead. Is this a new year kinda thing?
Listening to: Broken Social Scene, Broken Social Scene
I put a brown rice teabag in my cup. Came back five minutes later to pour in the water and added sugar and soymilk like I was gonna have a normal cuppa. Had to throw the whole thing out and start again. This must be a new year thing after having a break from work. Brain. Not. Engaged.
Hey, hey, Broken Social Scene might be coming our way this year! This excites me more than I can say. I sussed out that they were going to be playing a few gigs in Australia so made some enquiries via the tour manager over there to discover that there are negotiations underway for them to finish their tour with a show in Auckland. Unfortunately they don't think a gig in Wellington is a possibility sadly, but I am willing to travel the six hours necessary to see them. Waiting for comfirmation of the show. Hope they get it booked.
I put a brown rice teabag in my cup. Came back five minutes later to pour in the water and added sugar and soymilk like I was gonna have a normal cuppa. Had to throw the whole thing out and start again. This must be a new year thing after having a break from work. Brain. Not. Engaged.
Hey, hey, Broken Social Scene might be coming our way this year! This excites me more than I can say. I sussed out that they were going to be playing a few gigs in Australia so made some enquiries via the tour manager over there to discover that there are negotiations underway for them to finish their tour with a show in Auckland. Unfortunately they don't think a gig in Wellington is a possibility sadly, but I am willing to travel the six hours necessary to see them. Waiting for comfirmation of the show. Hope they get it booked.
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