Kell

Just a few I've seen very recently (the first one I watched last year, the rest were all this year - not a great track record for films this year, really - LOL!). Disctrict 9 - I thought it started well, with the documentary concept, but when it then changed from documentary to film, it didn't make the transition well. I thought it very, very dull and I couldn't get invested in any of the characters. I couldn't understand why it was nominated for any Oscars at all! The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Oh. My. Gods. This was one of the very worst films I have ever seen. Visually, it's stunning, but on every other level it was utter cr@p. I can't believe we sat through the whole thing, but we wanted to see if it would have a point by the end. It didn't. New Moon - Twighlight was OK (better than the book), but New Moon completely sucked and I cannot believe I know people who went to see it multiple times in the cinema! I'm pleased I didn't part with any cash at all to see it, because it was so bad I almost gouged my eyes out. The only reason I didn't was because I'd no longer be able to look at Taylor Lautner if I had done that! Where The Wild Things Are - It was dull. Dull, dull, dull. I was pretty much bored out of my skull watching what I hoped would be a wonderfully whimsical film, but instead I was annoyed from the off by Max shouting “Feed me, woman!” at his mother (a smacked bottom would have ensued if I’d done that as a child!), and then numbed by the sense of absolutely nothing happening for the rest of the movie. Shutter Island - Far too predictable. It's been done before and done better in Identity. Also wasn't helped by the near-constant music which threatened to drown out the dialogue at times. I only watched to the end to make sure I'd been right when, about 20 minutes into the film, I made a prediction on the outcome. I was 100% correct.If I can tell you the ending just 20 minutes into a film that's more than 2 hours long, then they've not done all that great of a job on it. Not Forgotten - Fairly predictable plot. Simon Baker is gorgeous to look at and puts in a decent performance, but not his best. Pretty unconvincing stuff overall. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Fairly disappointing and highly predictable (my hubby, who hasn't read the book, picked out the culprit as soon as the character made an appearance, so if that's not predictable, I don't know what is!). Nowhere near as good as the book, despite having a fairly good cast. I won't be bothering with the sequel if this is the standard we should expect. The effects were pretty good, but that's about all there was to recommend this film. Pity, really. Sherlock Holmes - Perhaps I was expecting a little too much from this film, but I was slightly disappointed by it when I finally got to see it. The plot itself was quite faithful to the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books in that Holmes was very physical and agile (I loved the inclusion of the boxing!), but Holmes loathes women, so having him even a little drawn towards one in this film was a major departure from the original character and a slightly unwelcome one at that. He is a confirmed bachelor and quite asexual. The progression of clues being there but not “revealed” till the end when Sherlock puts it all together for the benefit of everyone else was also typical of the books (doesn’t Holmes just LOVE to display how much smarter than the rest of us he is?), but made for a slightly unsatisfying element of the film. I’m a HUGE fan of Robert Downey Junior, so he was the main draw for me, but although he certainly played the role well, he spent much of the time mumbling, so I missed huge swathes of dialogue and possibly, because of that, major plot revelations.

It takes me a lot longer these days as I have so much more going on than I used to - LOL! I used to read, on average, 125 books per year (of varying length, but averaging, I'd guess, around 300-350 pages although one year I did a "Chunk Challenge" and read at least one book every month of at least 500 pages - some were much longer than that). That equates to roughly 2 1/2 books each week. Some months I'd read only a couple of books, other months I'd read as many as 9 or 10. Now I read roughly a book each week. Again, of varying lengths, but they probably average 300-350 pages a piece. This is because I have an energetic toddler and am a SAHM. When I was working, I would read during my coffee break and lunch hour, and pre-Xander I would read in the bath for at least half an hour every night. Nowadays, baths are quick in-and-out jobs with no reading. I do most of my reading in bed at night for maybe half an hour or so (depending on how into the book/tired I am - sometimes it's more than an hour and then I kick myself because I know I'll not get enough sleep -LOL!). I'm also an avid cross stitcher. I used to do a fair bit of reading in the evenings, but now, once Xan is in bed, I stitch instead while hubby and I watch a TV programme or film together. I'd say I'm actually quite a fast reader, I just don't get as much time to read as I once did. If I didn't have Xander (Gods forbid!) and hadn't got back into stitching, I'd still be reading 125+ books every year. Personally, though, I wouldn't change how things are now for the world.

I kinda like Seth Green too. Does Steve Carrell count as a wierd crush? I find him strangely attractive. Also, Jose Mourinho - he's a bit of a silver fox.

I use variegated floss a lot on that kind of project, just to give it a bit of "oomph" - I love the effect they give.

My two most recent finishes. Miniature Circular WTF? This is for my sister as I think it's very "her". NATO Phonetics Subversive Sampler: This one's for my own hallway.

I'd also like to add the band Queen - they're fantastic and Mr Mercury is sadly missed.

I watched the repeat on Sunday and am in Scotland so I didn't get Nortoned on both counts as the trailer wasn't shown in Scotland and wouldn't have been shown on the Sunday either.

I don't listen to Radio 2, but I'd pick Terry over Chris any day of the week.

Oh, definitely! Can I add to that the entire Monty Python team? (Although one is actually American, I'm sure we could make him an honorary Brit and call him a National Treasure too!)

The only thing it can really have implications for is having babies.

Sir Terry Wogan would definitely be on my list - not only has be been the best British chat show host, he was the backbone of the Eurovision Song Contest for many, many years. His acerbis wit made it well worth watching every year till he decided to bow out after the 2008 Eurodebacle Contest.

Yup - Stephen Fry would be my first choice. I also agree with the others and wouldlike to add Helen Mirren - she is awesome on every level. An intelligent, mature woman who still looks fantastic and represents the very best of British talent.

I have Wolf Hall on Mount TBR and have heard of The Little Stranger, but that's it.

Looking great already, Kate!

He has such a sweet, boy-next-door look to him - no wonder Drew has snagged him!

I liked that it was the weeping angels, but I didn't think all that much of the episode, so I'm glad it's a 2-parter so there's a chance to redeem it in the 2nd half. That said, it was a hell of a lot better than last the rubbish Dalek episode last week. I do love River Song, though (I'm a huge Alex Kingston fan), so it was good to see her characterback again.

I've had a few, which I'm sure I have elaborated upon already somewhere on the forum, but I can't remember where...

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Penguin Classics Bill Amberg) by Oscar Wilde Breakfast at Tiffany's (Penguin Classics Bill Amberg) - Truman Capote The Great Gatsby (Penguin Classics Bill Amberg) - F Scott Fitzgerald The Lady of the lake, (The Canterbury classics) by Walter Scott (Author) Charles Dickens: The Adventures of Oliver Twist/A Christmas Carol/A Tale of Two Cities/Great Expectations (Canterbury Classics) by Charles Dickens Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility/Pri​de and Prejudice/Emma/​Northanger Abbey (Canterbury Classics) by Jane Austen Edgar Allan Poe: Collected Works (Canterbury Classics) by Edgar Allan Poe Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer/The Prince and the Pauper/Adventur​es of Huckleberry Finn/A Connectticut Yankee in King Ar (Canterbury Classics) by Mark Twain CLASSIC FAIRY TALES & MOTHER GOOSE (LEATHER BOUND) by Easton Press (Editor), Scott Gustafson (Illustrator) The Reckoning: Darkest Powers Book 3 by Kelley Armstrong Angelic by Kelley Armstrong Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde Always Looking Up by Michael J. Fox Heat Wave (Nikki Heat) - Richard Castle Howards End is on the Landing: A year of reading from home - Susan Hill Charted Monograms for Needlepoint and Cross-stitch (Dover Needlework) - Rita Weiss Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters - Ben H. Winters Mr Darcy's Diary - Maya Slater The Book With No Name - Anonymous The Complete Book of Cross Stitch - Jane Alford ... [et al.] Grow It, Eat It - DK Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox: 6 - Eoin Colfer Grow Your Own Veg (Rhs) - Carol Klein The reluctant widow - Georgette Heyer That last one is one I want purely because Stephen Fry said it was one of his favourite books ever. He's a frighteningly intelligent man and I adore him, so I figure that if the book is one of his favourites, it can't be bad! And I left all the links in because some of them are very specific versions I've chosen for aesthetic purposes as well as literary ones.

I just finished titching a tiny little circular subversive sampler for my sister so she'll have something to open on her birthday, as she already knows we're going to see The Rocky Horror Show (although that won't happen till beginning of July and her birthday is end of May). I've just washed and dried it, so I'll press and frame it this weekend and take a pic to show you. It's another of my own designs, but I've not posted this one on my Kincavel Krosses blog yet - I'll be posting it next week with the pic of the completed piece as the stitched model. And I'm also busy stitching an ATC with a summer theme for an exchange on a cross stitch forum. It's a summer-themed one, and I've charted my own design for it. I'm stitching it in a gorgeous variegated floss on a hand dyed evenweave fabric, so I'm hopeful that it will look suitably summery! I have the central part stitched and now just have the border to stitch, which may take a little time... This design will also be posted on Kincavel Krosses once I've finished stitching it. I plan to design one for each of the seasons so they can be stitched together as a mini sampler.

A few of my wierd crushes: Jack Black - he makes me laugh and I dig his rockin' music! And just look at him - don't you just want to get wrapped up in a big bear hug from the man? He's a man of substance indeed and I just love him to bits! Zach Braff - brings out my mothering instinct as well as some strictly non-maternal urges! And look - he's puckering up for a smooch - how could anyone possibly resist? David Spade - I tend to go for the skinny, gawky types for some reason. Mr Spade is totally geeky, but he's funny and even though he's a shorty (I usually go for taller guys - we're talking 6 feet plus), I think I could overlook that for him.