Kell
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Posts posted by Kell
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I think there's an awful lot of chat chat chat which wastes time, leading to only 6 couples dancing on Friday and then 9 on Saturday - they could have evened it out a bit more, or cut a lot of the chatter and VTs and done one long episode where they all danced. Anyway, here's what I thought of them...
FRIDAY NIGHT:
Kellie & Kevin - Tango - Cracking opening to the series. She did really well, but also has a lot of potential.
Anthony & Oti - Jive - Not bad at all! As expected, he's light on his feet and had plenty of energy. He's another one that shows potential.
Helen & Aljaž - Waltz - A beautiful, graceful, elegant dance that was quite breathtaking.
Carol & Pasha - Cha-cha - Absolutely dire! She was stiff as a board throughout, with no grace at all!
Daniel & Kristina - Waltz - Daniel surprised me with how elegant he was on the dance floor!
Anita & Gleb - Cha-cha - A strong finish to the first show.
SATURDAY NIGHT:
Jay & Aliona - Cha-cha - At first I wasn't sure he even wanted to be there, but I think now it was just nerves. He did really well and could be a contender for at least the semi finals...
Kirsty & Brendan - Waltz - She's all leg, and she didn't seem to know quite what to do with them, but she should hopefully improve as the weeks go on.
Jeremy & Karen - Cha-cha - This was just embarrassing to watch, like your dad giving it laldy at a wedding or something.
Georgia & Giovanni - Jive - Energetic! I do, however, think we might soon tire of "Team GG" and I wouldn't be surprised if rumours of a relationship surfaced.
Ainsley & Natalie - Tango - I found this performance quite fun. Not the best dance of the evening, but certainly not the worst, and he certainly gave his all to the character!
Katie & Anton - Jive - It's so nice to finally see Anton paired with someone who isn't a duffer! This was quite an entertaining number performed well.
Iwan & Ola - Tango - I hated this one, and I get the feeling Ola doesn't think much of Iwan - there was some eye rolling and slight grimacing from her!
Jamelia & Tristan - Waltz - I was surprised at how clunky Jamelia was on the dancefloor - she didn't show much grace of movement at all!
Peter & Janette - Cha-Cha - I had a feeling Peter would be the star of the show, and I wasn't disappointed! However, will he be able to keep hold of his lead? Or will one of the others who did quite well show such improvement that he will fall by the wayside? He'll have a hard time upping his game week on week with such a strong start, but I'd love to see him go all the way!
PREDICTIONS:
I think people will have a soft spot for Carol, and that will save her for a couple of weeks, so I think the first ones to leave will be Jeremy and Iwan, closely followed by Kirsty, by which time people will decide Carol really has to go. After that, Jamilia and Daniel will bite the bullet, and Ainsley's OTT personality will become too much for people to continue voting him in. After that it'll get a bit harder to call, so I'll make further predictions as we get further into the series...
For the top spots making it through to the semi-finals, I think we'll almost certainly see Peter in there, along with Helen, Kellie, Georgia, and possibly Jay.
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1. CAKE: The cake has sunk in the middle. Pick a book that didn't rise to your expectations.
The entire Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer - Everyone seemed to be raving about this series, and I love a good vampire story, but these were just awful. I found the writing to be well below par and the story to be entirely unoriginal. I still can't understand why so many people rate them so highly. Also the works of Edgar Allen Poe - I didn't find any of them even remotely chilling. I guess I like my horror to be more full on and, well, scary!
2. BISCUITS: Once you've eaten one, you’re hungry for more and each time you eat another, they get more and more delicious. Pick a book series or trilogy that got progressively better.
The Heat series by Richard Castle is brilliant! Starting with Heat Wave, the books link in with the TV series (if Castle is promoting a book on the show, then you can bet there's a real book coming out about then in the real world too!). It's all incredibly meta, with the characters in the books mirroring those in the TV show (which slightly different names - for example, the lead male character in the books is called Rook, the other name for the castle piece in chess), but there are also nods to other shows which have starred Nathan Fillion, such as names (Malcolm and Reynolds) or people wearing blue latex gloves, which harks back to Firefly, the much loved show that got cancelled before the end of its first season. There are loads of in-jokes to amuse the fans of the show and of Fillion, but they also work really well as a stand-alone series independent of the show - obviously they're ghost written, as Richard Castle doesn't actually exist, but they're well written and have cracking characters and clever plots to entertain the most discerning of crime fiction fans.
3. BREAD: Kneading dough requires hard work and determination. Pick a book that you put off reading for ages and needed a lot of determination to pick up.
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver – I had no intention of reading this book, but it came up as a book group choice a few years back, so I picked it up and read it. I absolutely detested it. I found nothing redeeming in ANY of the characters, and was so angry with the mother that I actually threw the book across the room when I was finished with it.
Another one which invoked the same reaction in me was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold – it was a slog to read and I hated it from start to finish.
I will never read anything else by either of these authors - I have been completely put off.
4. DESSERTS: Foreign deserts such as crème brûlée and Spanische Windtorte are on the menu. Pick a book set in a foreign country.
Ronia, The Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren is a children's book set in some Nordic woods long ago, in a time when fairyfolk live alongside humans, and robbers roam the woods to steal from unwary travellers. It's a magical tale of friendship and coming of age, and I've always loved it.
5. ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS: Not usually used, but surprisingly good. Pick a book from a genre you wouldn't normally read but ended up loving.
I'm not really a huge reader of sci-fi, but I did love Halfhead by Stuard B Macbride. Set in a Glasgow of the future, where murderers are punished by chemical lobotomy and removal of the lower half of their head to make them instantly recognisable as they are employed doing menial work in the community. It's a stark and brutal vision of a future where human rights have gone out the window and the means of punishment aren't necessarily as effective as those in power would like to believe! Macbride is more well known for his Logan McRae series of police thrillers set in Aberdeen (which are excellent) - he's at the forefront of Scottish crime fiction today, and deservedly so!
6. PASTRY: Shortcrust pastry can crumble easily. Pick a character who you initially liked, but as you read more and more, your relationship with them crumbled apart.
Darrell Rivers of the Mallory Towers series by Enid Blyton. I remember loving her when I read these books as a child, but rereading them as an adult, I realised how horrible Darrell could be! He had a most terrible temper and would hit and shove people at a moment's notice. She was also rather imperious with the younger pupils at the school a lot of the time. She still had plenty of positive moments, but I didn't like her half as much as I did when I first read the books!
7. VICTORIAN/OLD-FASHIONED BAKES: Recipes from the past that still taste delicious today. Pick your favourite classic novel.
It's hard to choose really, I love so many classic novels. If really pushed to choose, I would have to whittle it down to these two: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, and The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. They're very different from one another in tone and style, but both have an undercurrent of wit and humour that is delightful, and the writing of these two grand masters is just sublime.
8. PATISSERIE: You’re eating a chocolate éclair but there’s barely any filling inside. Pick a book that lacked substance and fell flat.
An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge – I remember enjoying the film when it first came out, but when I eventually got round to reading the book, it was boring and, ultimately, rather pointless. I felt completely deflated after reading it and it put me in a bit of a funk for a while afterwards, where I just couldn't be bothered to read anything at all. I hate when that happens! It made me resolve never to read anything else by that author.
9. CHOCOLATE: Chocolate is a comfort food for many people. Pick a book you could read again and again and still find comforting.
The Stand by Stephen King is one of my all time favourite novels. I've read the full,m unabridged version, which comes in at well over 1000 pages, at least a dozen times over the years, and I still always find something fresh and new in it, as well as feeling like I'm visiting old friends. I'm long overdue a re-read, so I really must dig out my copy and go see Stu and Franny again! Also the works of Brom - the combination of stunning artwork and sublime writing is a surefire winner, and I could read his illustrated novels over and over again and never tire of them!
10. THE GRAND FINAL: Everyone is out to impress with extravagant show-stoppers! Pick your favourite book of the year so far that really impressed you.
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman (illustrated by Chris Riddell) - This graphic novel based on the Sleeping Beauty fairytale is visually stunning and has a few little twists that keep even those most familiar with the tale going to the very end.
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Why do you think of him so?
The things he writes about are so often the absurd in an everyday situation, for example, a sex game gone wrong in Gerald's Game - the focus is actually on the people and how they cope with the situations.
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I love King - I think of him more as a profiler of life in general rather than a horror writer (my favourite is The Stand). I rather enjoyed Gerald's Game, and like you, I think it's an under-rated and under-appreciated novel in King's canon. I love that he can take a single room and make it at once claustrophobic and yet epic in its scope.
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OMGs Chalie! That's awful! <3
I'm off out shopping and lunching with my boys today. Xan decided that we had to go out to his favourite restaurant for our joint birthday lunch, so this morning he was up before Dale even left for work (5,30am!) and dressed in his smart trousers, white shirt, and suit jacket, looking very dapper! He also said I had to wear a dress, so I'm all dolled up, and Josh is dressed very smartly too. Off to have a lovely day of shopping and birthday lunching with my two gorgeous little dates.
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Mine arrived yesterday too.
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This is the first time we've watched it from the beginning. We came to it for the first time about half way through the last season and got hooked. We're SO hooked that Hubby decided to bake his own birthday cake a few weeks ago - the first cake he's ever baked! It was pretty good too!
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So far this month, Xan and I have mostly been blackberry picking!
We've filled my 6 litre tub three times so far, so we've had several large blackberry crumbles, I have three large bags of berries in my freezer, and I've made two dozen jars of jam! I also plan to make blackberry liqueur tomorrow. Going to be all set for Xmas prezzies at this rate - everyone will be getting blackberry jam and blackberry liqueur!
This weekend I'll be singing wartime classics at the Blyth Battery as part of their War Weekend entertainments. Looking forward to it.
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I've not read it yet. I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time, because I know I'm going to feel totally bereft knowing there are no more books coming from this genius of a man.
I'm hoping to get it for my birthday. If I don't, I'll be getting it with any money I might get for my birthday. If I don't, then I can probably expect it from Santa Claus...
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I guess we'll get them when we get them.
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My immediate thought was of The Shop Around the Corner too! I adore that film.
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Quite a lot of the charity shops near me have a changing cubicle in them, which is handy (not all of them, though). I get quite a lot of lovely stuff for the kids from them - when my cousin got married a year past February, I got a little suit jacket for Xan that still had the tags on - it'd never been worn - for a couple of quid. He looked very smart in it. Managed to get him a little tie that was on an elastic too - he was chuffed to ribbons! I'm always finding stuff from the likes of Next and places like that in our charity shops - stuff that I would usually think, "Do I really have the money spare to get that right now? Or could I spend a little less?" especially for the kids. I don't tend to get many clothes for myself from charity shops at the moment, because I'm still a larger size and it can be difficult finding anything, but I'm getting slimmer and it won't be long before I'll be picking up pretty dresses at a snip!
For school uniforms, I go to Asda. We get a few tops and a jumper with the school logo on from the official local supplier, but the plain tops, spare jumper, shorts, jogging bottoms, trousers and shoes we get from Asda - decent quality and good price. We got Xan's new school shoes there the other day for £15 (and they're good, sturdy leather ones).
I'm always looking out for bargains food-wise too - a family of four with two growing lads who would eat me out of house and home has meant escalating grocery bills, but we have a Premier Meats local to us and they have fantastic quality meat at very low prices - I can get 908g of extra lean beef mince (only 2-3% fat!) for a fiver! Padded out with veg, that's a good three meals for four of us (yup, that's 12 servings for a fiver!), and as I often cook in bulk, I often eke an extra serving or two out of it to freeze too! They have massive chicken breasts (with no water or air pumped into them) and lean diced steak at a great price too. I got a massive bag of diced steak for £6 that is enough for four of us to eat at two meals - yup, £6 for enough beef to make 8 servings!Once my allotment is up and producing, I'll be saving a fortune on fruit and veg too. In the meantime, I'm enjoying picking wild blackberries which grow rampant locally, and are absolutely free!
I also tend to go for the supermarket basic brand for store cupboard staples. Things like tinned tomatoes, passata, pasta, rice, kidney beans, etc, are all the same, so there's no point in paying through the nose when you can get them for pence rather than pounds. My store cupboards are always kept as fully stocked as possible with those things, so I can always throw a meal together.
And if you can, make friends with someone who keeps their own chickens (if you can't keep them yourself!). My hubby is a postie, and one of his customers keeps chickens, so every couple of weeks he comes home with a dozen organic free range eggs from them - they have so many they just gift them to him! They are some of the tastiest eggs we've ever had, with lovely big orange-gold yolks often double-yolkers too!). -
Wee Mad Spike. Sounds about right - LOL!
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Surely that should be SHE made the world round and laughed and laughed - LOL!
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Lost 4lbs this week. I am now 49lbs lighter than I was at the start of the year and have lost 20% of my total body weight! I am now officially the same weight I was when I got pregnant with Xander (January 2008).
Today I realised I have lost the same amount of weight than Xander now weighs. So I picked him up. I could only hold him for a few minutes before I had to put him down again. I cannot believe I carried that amount of extra weight around ALL THE TIME! It just seems impossible!
To celebrate, I have ordered a new 1940s style dress for the re-enactments in 3 weeks time. It is FOUR SIZES smaller than the dresses I wore at the start of the year.I still have 3 stones to go till I'm at target weight, but that's less than I've already lost, so it seems far more attainable now - I'm past the half-way mark! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's not an oncoming train!
Today I am a very happy pixie!
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I'll have to see if I can get hold of a copy - I read it as a child and I remember loving it, but I don't remember much about the story at all, so it'd be interesting to go back and re-read it now.
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My old local library has had zero acquisitions budget for years, so until I moved away, they got all my books when I'd finished reading them. If they were duplicates, they sold them and bought new books with the cash raised, but mostly they went straight on the shelves.
It's so sad that local authorities aren't investing in their libraries any more. They'll disappear soon at this rate.
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Talisman - congratulations to you and Coran on your radio piece - I went and listened to the one you posted the link to and it's wonderful.
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Mine are...
January:- Point Break
- The Revenant
February:
- Deadpool
- Beauty and the Beast
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
- Zoolander 2
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
- Hail, Caesar!
March:
- Ben Hur
- Allegiant Part 1
- Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
- Grimsby
April:
- The Jungle Book
- The Brontes
May:
- Friday 13th
- X-Men: Apocalypse
- Alice Through the Looking Glass
June:
- Now You See Me: The Second Act
- Independence Day: Resurgance
- The Secret Life of Pets
July:
- Star Trek Beyond
- Tarzan
- Knight of the Roundtable: King Arthur
- The BFG
August:
- Pete's Dragon
October:
- Gambit
November:
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
December:
- Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One
- Dance of the Goblins
That's just for starters though - I've not had a chance to really look at what else is coming and see what they're all about.
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Wow, way to go Kell!!! I support Macmillan and will make an extra donation
Thank you, Garcia. I really appreciate it.
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Congratulations! I am SO jealous!
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I signed up for Brave The Shave in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support today. On 2nd August next year, I will be shaving my head. All money raised in sponsorship will go to Macmillan Cancer Support, and my hair will be donated to the Little Princess Trust which makes wigs for children who have lost their hair through cancer treatment. That's the reason I'll be shaving it off NEXT August - I want my hair to grow as long as possible between now and then. I feel really good about this.
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Lots of good things happening today, including:
- It's my twelfth wedding anniversary.
- My sister has come to visit for the weekend (we haven't seen each other since Easter)
- The sun is shining.
- After today, hubby will be on holiday from work for two whole weeks, so we have loads of lovely day trips planned with the boys.
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I totally forgot to mention these arrived the other day (sorry - very remiss of me - I thought I HAD come back and posted, but obviously I was wrong about that - LOL!). They are absolutely stunning and I can hardly wait to start colouring! Just waiting for a rainy day when I have finished the housework so I can sit the kids down and we can all colour together - they with their colouring books, and I with mine!
The X-Files (2016)
in Music / TV / Films
Posted
We just started watching the TV show from the very beginning again tonight. Watched the first two episodes. Decided to work our way through the entire back catalogue before watching the new movie.