2012 Oscar winners

Winners of five awards:

The Artist 

Best picture
Actor in a Leading Role - Jean Dujardin
Directing - Michel Hazanavicius
Costume Design - Mark Bridges
Music (original score) - Ludovic Bource

Hugo

Cinematography - Robert Richardson

Art Direction - Dante Ferretti (Production Design) and Francesca Lo Schiavo (Set Decoration) 
Sound Editing - Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
Sound Mixing - Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
Visual Effects - Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning


Winner of two awards:

The Iron Lady

Actress in a Leading Role - Meryl Streep
Makeup - Mark Coulier and J. Roy Hellend


Winners of one award:

Beginners

Actor in a supporting role - Christopher Plummer

The Help

Actress in a Supporting Role - Octavia Spencer

Rango

Animated Feature Film 

Undefeated

Documentary Feature

Saving Face

Documentary Short

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Film Editing - Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

A Separation

Foreign Language Film

The Muppets

Music (original song) for "Man or Muppet" by Bret McKenzie

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Short film (animated)

The Shore

Short film (live action)

The Descendants 

Writing (Adapted Screenplay) - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash

Midnight In Paris 

Writing (Original Screenplay) - Woody Allen

Click here to check out the full list of nominations.

Nestle's Aero Orange Flavour

I'm a big Aero's fan, so when I saw this new flavoured Aero's chocolate, I said to myself that I need to buy and try this!

Aero's milk chocolate thumbs up (^_^)b. Aero's mint chocolate a massive thumbs up (^_^)b. But Aero's orange chocolate is a big thumbs down! (-__-)p

I don't hate orange flavoured chocolate, but the sweetness of the chocolate in this chocolate bar takes away the orange flavour. If the chocolate was more chocolatey, I think the orange flavour would have stood out more, which would have given this a pleasant thumbs up.

For those who haven't tried it, try it out yourself and see what you think!

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close review

Some films highlight just how sensitive modern day society is, others reflect how intolerant we are of certain disorders, be it mental, physical or developmental and some films just set out to make you cry.


'Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud' is one film that manages to do all of the above, in a very heart-wrenching and believable manner, with the film's success resting firmly in the tiny hands of lead-star, Thomas Horn.


Oskar Schell is anything but an ordinary nine year old. He suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a condition which affects his ability to interact with others socially and makes him very anxious. Despite this set-back, he is an incredibly intelligent young boy, with an absolutely astounding memory. He idolised his father, who was tragically killed in the 9/11 attacks. Whilst searching in his father's closet, Oskar breaks a vase and finds a key inside of it, subsequently becoming obsessed with trying to find its lock. On his adventure, he meets several peculiar characters, such as the mysterious man known simply as 'The Renter', who cannot speak at all and must write down anything that he wishes to say. It's an utterly charming plot that has divided people not due to its cast's portrayal of its characters, nor the crew's representation of the story-line, but rather the simple fact that its plot revolves around the traumatic events of 9/11, particularly the mystery that surrounds 'the falling man'.


The first thing that strikes you is how salient the cast is, the most remarkable not being box-office favourites Tom Hanks or Sandra Bullock or even the increasingly popular Violas Davis, but rather the remarkable unknown lead, Thomas Horn. His performance was truly breath-taking, especially considering his young age. Anyone who says that Oskar was an incredibly annoying character and deserved a slap should be ignored immediately. Horn's portrayal of a somewhat autistic child mourning the loss of his father was near perfect and proved him to be one of the names that we should watch out for in the coming years. Although nearly certain to be overlooked, Bullock's performance as Linda Schell was also utterly brilliant, portrayed with a heart-breaking honesty that several times reduced me to tears. There is one scene in particular where Horn and Bullock's acting capabilities shine, where Oskar tells his Mother that he wishes that it was her that died instead of his Father, to which she replies on with "me too". Max Von Syndow is the only member of the cast to be nominated for an Oscar this year (nominated for 'Best Supporting Actor for his role as 'The Renter'), which is particularly impressive seen as his character doesn't utter a single word throughout the entirety of the film. The expressions on his face speak for his character, as do his actions. He is utterly fantastic and, like the rest of the cast, manages to convey a variety of difficult emotions with a single look.


Director Stephen Daldry is able to present his audience with a particularly poignant film without making it into a mawkish love-letter to weepy films. It's a film of tragic loss, yes, but it also focuses on the kindness of strangers, the fragility of relationships and the uniqueness of each individual life. It is uplifting in unexplainable ways and moving in more ways than you ever thought was possible. The cinematography doesn't try to distract your attention with cheap gimmicks or pretentious art-house techniques, but rather lets it's own beauty speak for itself. Daldry phsyically puts the viewer inside Oskar's head several times throughout the film, making the more empathetic members of the audience feel Oskar's fear and frustration towards objects, people or noises. This is particularly prominent in the montage scene where Oskar reveals to the audience what he is afraid of, starting off quite calm and quiet, with the cinematography reflecting that, transitioning from item to item fairly slowly and building up into quick, paranoid flashes as Oskar becomes more panicky and loud. 


So exactly what are the critics and viewers complaining about, if not the acting, directing or cinematography?


It would seem to be the writing, mainly the fact that the main character suffers from Asperger's syndrome and his Father died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A ridiculous amount of viewers have came out of the screening complaining that Oskar's character was endlessly annoying and that the film-makers choice of having Thomas Schell die as a result of the attacks was bad taste. First and foremost, people's inability to understand why Oskar is so 'annoying' reflects just how intolerant society is when it comes to illnesses and disorders. A lack of understanding results in insensitive reactions such as these. Second, the film was based upon a novel in which, yes, you guessed it, a boy's Father dies in the 9/11 attacks. Literature is an art-form, and like all art-forms, it entitles its author to write about anything that he or she wishes to, regardless of its controversial nature. Neither the film-makers nor the author approached the matter in an insensitive manner, therefore I cannot understand why there has been such a massive backlash. My only conclusion is that people have heard that this film is about the terrorist attacks and automatically assumed it was attempting to stir up controversy, without taking note of its artistic merit.


At times, this is a heart-wrenching film and is guaranteed to make the hardest of men a little bit teary-eyed in its most emotional scenes, but the sincere dialogue and the beautiful acting truly make this a must see film. Remember to bring the kleenex.

Man on a Ledge review

"I will exit this world as I entered it - innocent"


Tense thriller 'Man on a Ledge' wastes no time in pushing its audience members to the edge of their seats with its fast-moving, action packed plot. 


The film centers around Nick Cassidy who was imprisoned for the theft of a ruthless millionaire's diamond. Nick's brother and his girlfriend team-up with the escaped convict in an elaborate plot to prove his innocence, a plot that centers around the risky distraction of a 'suicide attempt' on Nick's part. When Detective Lydia Mercer is called in as negotiator, unaware of the elaborate plot that will quickly unravel before her very eyes...


'Man on a Ledge' is the kind of thriller that everyone loves. It's tense enough to get the adrenaline pumping, it has eye-candy for both the male and female members of the audience and it is, for the vast majority of the screen-time, utterly predictable, with one very distinct plot-twist that you could not for the life of you see coming. Those who complain about said predictability are idiots for going to see a film that entire genre's is linked to predictable plots and mediocre acting. 


A pleasant surprise to viewers is that the cast of 'Man on a Ledge' are actually very good. Sam Worthington is almost perfect as anti-hero Nick Cassidy, with only several accent slips letting his otherwise great portrayal down. I often found myself wishing that Elizabeth Banks had more screen-time, as I found that her performance was the most solid of the entire casts, as well as her character, Lydia Mercer, being the most interesting to watch develop. Mercer is evidently a flawed character, turning to prescribed drugs and alcohol to help her forget a traumatic event that has psychologically scarred her, an event that is only briefly mentioned in the film, and would have been better exploring in a more in depth manner. Many argue that Ed Harris gave the best performance of the film as the brutal millionaire, and although he was brilliant, he just didn't have enough screen-time to justify that comment. He had a huge presence on screen though, that is something that no-one can deny. In fact, the only real disappointment in terms of acting were Genesis Rodriguez and Jamie Bell in their 'comic relief' scenes. They were alright alone and even together when they were focused on the task at hand, but when the script called for them to start joking around, that is when they fell flat on their faces. And judging by some other reviews, it appears as though I am not the only one who found their banter hideously embarassing.


The cinematography was fantastic, it often reminded the viewer of how high up Nick was by changing to a POV shot, allowing us to see through the eyes of the lead and be able to understand just how terrifying it must be to have to stand on that ledge. The scene where the camera turns to a POV shot, showing Nick's feet run towards the edge as he attempts to create a distraction for his brother is enough to give anyone vertigo. One thing I did not like about this film however was the blatant caricature of modern society, shown via the vicious crowd, who several times throughout the film, were shown to record Nick 'contemplating suicide' and were even heard to be egging him on to jump. The reporter covering the story even had a bet on with her cameraman on how long he would last before he committed suicide. I realise that this is supposed to be a comment on how ruthless our society is, and how vicious the media can be, but I'd like to think that this caricature is a ludicrous fabrication and no real crowds would ever think of spurring someone on when they were contemplating killing themselves.


Despite that small annoyance, it is a great escapist film that is guaranteed to keep you entertained, even if it is not guaranteed to keep you guessing.

Fabergé Egg Hunt - The Evening Hunt

Thanks to a friend who posted her pictures online I got really geeky and went out during one evening and started egg hunting (whilst shopping for stickers and stationary) ^_^ .One can't resist capturing this moment in time in London. There's 209 of them, and I think the serious egg hunters will try to find them all!!! I'm too lazy to find them all, and so I'm only finding the easy ones instead - which are those that can be seen in the obvious places... I'm just a lazy egg hunter! o(-__-)o

Some of these eggs are not in all the obvious places. I found a few at night in the dark in St James's Park (there's hardly any lamps in that park - it's so ultra scary!!) and I got back home with muddy trainers! 

Here's the one's that I found that evening:

www.thebigegghunt.co.uk

Paranormal Activity

Well I've finally seen Paranormal Activity, thought it was ok but honestly I'm not sure what all the fuss was about.

Grundbacks

Just finished up these chaps. Now onto basing.

Wildchevy

Cadbury's Bubbly White Chocolate

In search for more milk chocolate bubbly I found this white chocolate version alongside the milk chocolate one! I'm not a big fan of white chocolate - it's just milk and butter! But after having this Cadbury's Bubbly white chocolate version, I felt it tasted the same as the milk chocolate one. I was surprised how they were able to create this because the white chocolate doesn't mix in with the milk chocolate coating.

No doubt, this is a very delicious chocolate!! (^_^)b

Salutations!

Greetings and salutations! My name is Will Connolly in real life and Journeyman pretty much anywhere else.

I've been playing Warmachine since the fall of 2009. It was my first miniature game. I then picked up Dystopian Wars and Infinity in 2011. I've been focusing on increasing my painting skills (if only they worked liked Skyrim...) the last few months.

Thank you again John Salmond for the invitation to this blog! I look forward to helping contribute posts and ideas!

Wolverine and the X-Men

Had a bit of a lazy day today and watched the first 9 episodes of Wolverine and the X-Men on Blu-ray today and so far I'm enjoying the show, the animation style has taken a little for me to get used to probably because I've recently watched several episodes of the 90's X-Men animated series.

So far the show has been entertaining and has featured some nice little twists on characters and story lines that were done in the comics and the Blu-ray look and sound great, this is a show I think I'm going to enjoy until the very end.

I think there's a monster...

I think there's a monster, trapped within my skull, nestled in behind my eyes, waiting for the right time to strike.


Like a child cowering underneath his blanket, terrified of the demons that lurks under his bed, I cannot put my fears into words, or at least, I cannot put my fears into words that an adult mind could possibly comprehend.


The monster is like my shadow. It's me... only darker. A mere shade of a being. It needs my thoughts to survive. I need its companionship to feel secure. But even then, I am aware that something is missing. The monster that once resided in my head has moved residence to my heart, and it threw out all of its contents... now it just lays bare.


It may be empty, but hey, at least it's home.


I know this monster is a destructive force, but at least it's there for me.
I know it hates me, but at least it cares.


It's been a bad night... Can you tell?

Paint Night at Gamers...

Scotty has been organizing paint nights at a game store in Ogden called Gamer's Asylum. There was a great turn out so much so we had to keep gathering tables for people to sit. This gives us an opportunity to share knowledge, eat liver fattening food and have a great time. I even brought some fresh salsa that I had made that day with some blended peppers that you could add to make it hotter. One of the mixtures had some ghost chilies in it. Grim was the only one who tried that additive. Scotty did have some of the Cheyenne/Habanaro blend which was entertaining and why he kept eating was also a question. Chevy showed a cool display idea for his minis with a very nice miniature he just painted. Sweet!! Sephirob had some sweet robots that were 50isk in nature. Sarathain was working on his Infinity miniatures and sadly I did not see his work. Jupiter was working on his Circle army for Hordes. MenothJohn was working on I believe something for Warmachine but I could be mistaken. Grim was working on Dark Age as well as Scotty. Volf showed some of his recent work for Warlord. He had a sweet looking Wolfen. Chris was working on some Circle figs for Trevor. Chris' dad was there briefly and had some serious progress on a Jack from Warmachine. For a short time TheWyrm was there to chat it up. I hope I didn't miss anyone. Anyway here are several pics from the night. If you are in the area come and join us...

As you see in the picture... well you know.

We have some great advice being given or as some would say some serious wisdomous is going on....

I was out of ear shot so I am just assuming some sports talk is going on. Can you guess which poster Scotty wanted to take home with him?

I was mistaken. I did say it was paint night but this picture clearly displays it was also a gun show, I forgot my reading glasses and organizational skills. In all honesty the organization portion I am going to ripoff and do that down in my hobby den.

I think Grim would have painted more but Scotty kept running off with his figs.

The master and his student as well as 'Eat my Pringles dang it!"

I had to add some comments since we didn't have audio for this. We did have a great time and if you were not there you missed it.
Cheers,
John...

Life with The OU

Sitting behind this laptop is a person who actually likes to study (uh-hm, geek). To tell you the truth I don't mind being a geek. It shows I have interests in areas where people would find it abnormal, heheheh, snort, snort (geek!).

At the moment I'm studying a management course, it involves a lot of reading, and each week there are a lot of activities to do. Each module (just the two) has three reports (so six in total), 19 weeks of activities (38 weeks of management concepts), plus a weekend course and an exam!!

My brain is swirling with financial information, but at least I'm learning a whole new different topic. My brain is going to expand with too much info, but I tell myself it's all for the best and for the future!!

加油！

(Canto: ga1 yau2; Mando: jia1 you2)

http://www.open.ac.uk/ 

Slow vs fast bus drivers

I was taking a picture of the buses but 
suddenly a person in this pink panther 
suit started crossing the street! ^_^

A topic between two men on the bus recently caught my attention which was about why there are slow bus drivers and why there are fast bus drivers. That really amused me for a few minutes, because I wonder at the same thing everyday! Sometimes I get to work really early and sometimes not.
With this kind of thing happening at certain times of the year (or maybe every day) is it because of school holidays or is it the time of the season, or could it even be because the bus driver is either early or late with their schedule and have a fear of those monitoring them will get a shouting at... Who knows!
I like fast bus drivers although there are times when I want them to go slow so I can read whatever I'm reading on the bus. But I hate slow bus drivers, especially when there happens to be no traffic at all and I'm trying to get somewhere on time!! And I especially hate it when the bus drivers are late and you've been waiting (probably for more than 15 minutes) for a bus, more than one come at the same time. Irritating for a lot of people :p
Getting on the bus is probably one of the cheapest methods of public transportation (but not that cheap in London because of the annual rise in fares - not really fair on the London tax payee)!
But the best thing about being on a slow bus is that you can see a lot of things in London whereas on a fast bus, you will only get the smallest glimpses of everything...

This is what I got to see whilst being on a semi-slow bus...

Protesters in London!

Hobby Terrain: Orgoth Tower as seen in No Quarter #22

I just added this tutorial to Salmondworks after several years. Don't know why I took so long since I was permitted to after six weeks of publication. I really enjoyed doing this one. I want to get back into molding which I am going to do here shortly. If you have any questions let me know.

Cheers,

John...

Pardon the Panda

So I was asked by the founders of this blog to be a contributing member and I happily accepted! I've learns so much from these guys and hope to share more with you all.

I started my war gaming experience like many with Warhammer 40k back in 4th edition but have since moved on to other games. Primarily Warmachine/Hordes but also own forces for Infinity, Malifaux, Warlord and probably quite soon a Dark Age force.

Can't wait to share my world with you!

A Few W's. I. P.

Well, its been awhile since I've posted anything up here, for that I apologize. I'd like to start by welcoming Wild Chevy to the crew. Hope to see some good things out of ya WC, and I'm glad to have you aboard.

As far as painting goes... well I've been in a funk. Having a hard time getting motivated. So I went to my bread and butter. These Rackham Tir Na Bor Dwarves always have a way of pulling me out of my painting funks. Ive been working on this guy for the past couple of months. I think Im finished with his face, and pretty close to being done altogether... the NMM on his Axe is going to kill me though!!! GAH! I struggle with that sooooo much. Need to get back to practicing more. Anyhow here are a few pics of ol' Brognir.




 
 



Here is another dude I have been working on lately. Brognir's big brother a Rackham Son of Uren model... another one of the Rackham Tir Na Bor beauties. I did some mild conversion work here... anyone notice? He is just barely in the beginning stages. Basecoat couple of washes one highlight. Still have a few more glazes to go and then a few highlights to blend him better. Anyhow here are the pics:



Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. We are doing some new things with the blog so throw a bookmark on our site and check back regularly. We have added a few more members and are trying to branch out and post more about our hobby. Stay tuned!!

-Grim...Out!!

Enter the Chevy

Hello,

Firstly I would like to thank John Salmond for the invite to this amazing group of painters.  I’m Allen, aka WildChevy, and I’ll be adding more hobby and painting articles to this site. You’ll be seeing stuff from the ranges of Warhammer 40k, Infinity, and Warmachines.

A little about myself:

 I’ve been in the hobby since 2008 when Warhammer 40k 5^th edition came out. At first my focus was on the painting aspect of the game and it took about six months before the first time throwing down dice. Since then my collection has greatly increased and so have my skills with a brush. 

I hope to help inspire new and creative ideas.

Thanks,

Wildchevy

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my geeky friends and family! ^_^
I'll be working and studying like a mad geek today but I hope everyone has a great time...
Here's my card to all of you!

Origami: Hearts and Hot Lips 

You've got a license... a license to kill

Things I've learned today:

• The things that you understand or anticipate least will be what you are tested on
• Being nervous majorly messes up your peeing schedule
• And having "a license to kill" is nowhere near as fun as the James Bond movies make it out to be

The last point is probably because you look less like this:

"I may look like a penguin, but this penguin

is stylish, deadly and is guaranteed to sleep with more

women than you would hope to get in your wildest dreams"

And more like this:

"What? Those were pedestrians?

I totally thought they were speed bumps."

Of course, I'm speaking about the dreaded... driving test.

So dramatic, it needs its own dramatic animal.

And dreaded was definitely the operative word... 


Sunday was spent doing one thing. Panicking.


And my panicking caused my parents to panic, which caused me to panic even more.


It's a vicious cycle kids.

ME: I'm going to fail!

DAD: I don't think you even want to drive.

MUM: No, I don't think she does.

ME: I doooooo! 

Conversations almost identical to this one repeated themselves on a loop... all day.


So of course, I was panicking about panicking, because if I panicked, then my Mum and Dad would panic, and I would panic more as a result.


But I didn't end up panicking, so I did what I usually end up doing... panic about not panicking.


...


Do you guys follow that? 


No, I don't think I do either.


At 11am, I began to get ready, because I thought my Uncle said he was picking me up at 11.40am.


11.40am came and went. Still no Rob.


12pm came and went. Still no Rob.


12.30pm came and went. Still no Rob.


1pm came and went and... you guessed it. Still no Rob.


Of course, by this time, I thought one of three things could've happened.

1. He forgot about me. No test for me.
2. I was going crazy and the test wasn't booked for today, but another day instead.
3. He was kidnapped by a fleet of rampant aliens.

These three situations drove me crazy. During the two hours I was waiting for my Uncle to arrive, I chewed upon twenty seven sticks of juicy fruit and went to the toilet a total of ten times.

Nervous peeing sucks. 

When he finally arrived (turns out, he had booked us in for 1.30pm... oops), we went over a few of the maneuvers and the show me, tell me questions before making our way down to the test centre.

The test centre, my little pretties, isn't as intimidating as you'd expect it to be. There aren't hundreds of people going about, there's no skulls or "turn back now" posters on the walls. In fact, it was quite a... happy place to be...

Maybe not as happy as that

The only thing that gave the misery of the place away was the lonely ambulance waiting outside the building.

Hey, I wasn't even through the gates...

Don't blame it on me!

Rob gave me a little run down on the instructors before we were anywhere near the test centre:

ROB: *Points behind me* There's the lady examiner out on a test. She's... fair.

ME: Good fair?

ROB: Fair.

ME: Bad fair?

ROB: Let's just say she's fair. 

I know appearances can be deceiving, but she seemed lovely! 


Of course... I didn't get her.


Nothing was said about the man in the high visibility jacket. 


However, Rob did warn me about this one man...

ROB: You've just got to watch out for the man who doesn't wear a high vis and has the ball chain around his glasses like an old school mistress. He's... fair. They're all fair, but this man is meant to be a bit of a...

He would always trail off after that bit. 


The fact that his superiority meant he didn't need to wear a high vis jacket didn't bother me in the slightest. His glasses did however. We had this absolute monster of a science teacher/deputy head in primary school, and she had those glasses with the ball chain. We were all petrified of her. I hated going back to school on Tuesday afternoons because she would scare the living daylights out of us all. 


Anyone and anything that reminds me of her either makes me laugh or want to cry.


His glasses were the latter.


Nae doot, I got the man with the glasses. 


Dave his name was, and I shouldn't listen to my Uncle because he was lovely. Up until the very end, when he then began to criticise me, but hey, that's what he's paid to do, right? 


I don't want to go into too much detail about my test, but let's just say:

• I got a bay park. That's my worst manoeuvre.
• I've never been able to understand the roundabout at Asda Bridge of Dee... guess what roundabout I had to go around?
• I came very close to failing because of hesitation at a roundabout, so thank you to whoever told me to go when I did, because Dave said that if I didn't, I would have failed.

Anyway, he gave me my pretty practice test certificate at the end and I got a big hug from Uncle Rob.

ROB: Out of all the people that have went up for their tests, you are the one that I wanted to pass most.

D'aaaaw.

Anyway, I went home and told my Mum and Dad, and they were really proud. Therefore, I'm pretty happy today!

Before I switch off (it's 0.10am now and I'm growing tired quickly) I'd like to tell you about a really strange thing that happened just before I went out of the house to drive to my test this afternoon...

Basically, I was trying to calm myself down because I knew that if I didn't, I would mess up and fail the test. Anyways, I was trying to do that, when all of a sudden, I got a familiar smell of soap and cologne, a smell that I have not been able to sense for the past six years. 

It's the smell that I associate with my Grandad, who died back in 2006.

He always used to try teaching me about cars and he was the main reason that I was so eager to learn how to drive. And knowing that he was there on the day of my driving test made me so happy.

I know, I know, he wasn't physically there, but to be honest, I really couldn't care. He was there in my mind and in my heart, and that's all that matters.

So that pass was for you Grandad, I just hope that I made you proud :)

Lauren xxx

YOU HAVE A VAGINA

You can say that wrestling is a completely fake sport,

but you can't argue with the spontaneity of those put downs.

My family is now bonding over these guys:

Sport doesn't get much camper than this.

I find it hilarious that me, my Mum and my Dad can sit down and watch an hour of wrestling, amiably chatting away (read: shouting at TV) without any talk of jobs, schoolwork or university (the usual topics of conversation). 

MUM: *shouting* Get him! GET HIM! Oh you silly... LIE DOWN ON HIM! Oh... I told you!

DAD: There's no way someone could be slammed down like that and flip someone over the next minute.

MUM: Oooh... look at his body...

DAD: I thought you didn't want me to have a body like that?

MUM: ... It would be nice.

DAD: Fine. I'll get you that for Christmas.

MUM: Oooh! Lauren! I'm getting a body like that for Christmas! 

My favourite wrestler (three words I never would have guessed would come out of my mouth) has to be CM Punk. He's so chilled, even though they try to make him seem like a bad guy.


I thought it was sweet that there was a little video that came on before the wrestling began, with a few of the stars explaining that they were bullied when they were little, and urging the viewers that it gets better. See, wrestling isn't just smack-talk and dangerous stunts!

Okay... it's mostly smack-talk and dangerous stunts. 

Not much has happened this week. I found out that I've got an interview for college on the 23rd February however. I found out I had an interview directly after falling down a muddy hill. Don't worry, the only thing I hurt was my dignity.


Keep your fingers crossed for that... It'll be just after my Maths prelim. Urggghh. Busy days kill me.


Also, I've got my driving test really soon, so I'm panicking a lot over that. 


I keep thinking that I am going to forget the alphabet, therefore I'm going to fail my eye-test at the beginning and fail the test immediately...


Going to go away now and panic some more... but for all you learners out there, I'm going to leave you with this...

‎MUM: What have you got to do before your driving test?

ME: Ummm, practise these questions, go over round-abouts...

MUM: NO! Don't go over them! Go round them!

Listen to my Mum!

Lauren xxx

The Woman in Black

Pic of the poster taken outside of the cinema

I have wanted to watch the stage version of The Woman in Black for a while, but when I saw the trailer for the film, starring Daniel Radcliffe in December 2011 (and was waiting for Sherlock Holmes II to start), I became ecstatic and decided I must watch this film no matter what I was doing in February! 

What a moment that was!! ^_^

No doubt I am a faaaaan of Daniel Radcliffe from watching all of the Harry Potter movies. In this film, he has undoubtedly grown up for this role, but probably not mature enough to be in a father role. The film version (as always) is different from the book (which I have not read yet - but there's a synopsis on Wiki), and also different from the stage version. Every few moments in the film there was a scary moment. My heart was pounding, nerves rattling and you could feel everyone's tension in the cinema (even though it was noisy from people reaching into their popcorn and sweet bags). At several points I had my scarf wrapped around my mouth to stop me from screaming out loud. Hahahah, that's how good the film is! I even thought towards the end that this is better than The Ring (Japanese version) - which I thought was scary! But nope, The Woman in Black ultimately won the spooks war (for now).

I recommend this film for anyone who likes a scary film but it is definitely not for the faint-hearted. I won't spoil any more now... so watch it, watch it, watch it!

My Geeky Rating: 4.9/5 ^_^ (It lost a 0.1 mark for Radcliffe's matureness for the role - but he is definitely a great actor!)

If I had a house...

These would be the things that I would buy to decorate it with.


WARNING: Post might get ridiculously retro.

LIVING ROOM

Relax scrabble cushions - £100

The price may be a tad excessive, but with a twelve point score, can you really blame them? I mean, let's be honest, you can't buy victory.

Laser Cosmos light - £129.99

For stargazers who hate the cold outdoors. Enjoy the beauty of the stars from your very own living-room! This would be on more than the TV would be, I swear.

R2-D2 projector - $3160

In a galaxy far, far away... you will be able to find a search engine that is able to locate this amazingly cool product.

Until then, nerds can just drool over this amazingly cool gadget.

KITCHEN

Yumbots - £12.99

This is so cute, I can't even...

If I ever own this, you better believe that I'll be baking cupcakes every. Single. Day.

Vinyl bowls - £17.95

Vinyl is cooler than a penguin in a freezer. I know record players (as well as the vinyl themselves) are on the way out, but it would see as though it was immortal if I possessed these bowls.

Long live LP's.

Chocolate cupcakes with Vanilla frosting and sprinkles canvas - £102

This would look great (and yummy) in someone's kitchen... it would also give you inspiration to make your own using the yumbot ;)

Salt and pepper bots - £12.99

They might look slightly possessed, but these are harmless little guys who just want to season your food... and possibly progress to take over the world.

Rocket Napster napkin rings - £25  £15

Six musical treats in assorted colours, these are a necessary investment for any music lovers. You might not use napkins now, but if you buy these, believe me, you soon will.

BEDROOM

Decorative deer head  - £79.99

I saw this on a interior design program two years ago and have been lusting after it ever since. I've never been one for hunting, but the effortless class of the aluminium is what makes this piece look so appealing. 

Contemporary swallow wall stickers - £24.99

Loving how chill these little swallow silhouettes look. I'd definitely paint "No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings" beside them, you know me and quotes.

"Horror" wall clock - £32.99

You can probably tell by now that I have a bit of a thing for vinyl. This company makes a whole heap of vinyl artwork clocks, mainly cutting out cities skylines such as New York and London into the vinyl itself, resulting in these funky clocks.

Rock on coat hook from handjob - £90

The makers may have given these particular brand of coat hooks a risque name, but the quality and kitsch-ness of the product speaks for itself. An essential item for any rockstars luxury pad.

Falling books bookend - £15.95

Oh no! The poor man is going to be crushed by... knowledge? This little bookend is reminiscent to just about every one of your favourite, pathetic horror movies which involves a monster of some-sort. 

BATHROOM

Give a hoot rug - $32.95

Rugs are awesome. Owls are also awesome. Therefore, this rug is roughly twice as awesome as you could ever hope to be. My only complaint? This little owl is looking a bitty bare up top, someone give him an afro.

Puddle mirror - £4.99 onwards

Splodges. This would definitely be in my bathroom... I'm so clumsy. There would probably be marks resembling this all over the walls.