On finishing something big

A rather momentous thing happened on Snark Squad this morning: we published our VERY. LAST. BUFFY RECAP.

It's been a long time coming - our first Buffy post went live on 1 July 2012, so there are children in the world that can walk and sort of talk now that were still foetuses when we started this adventure. But it started a couple of weeks before that with an email from Lor that said (among other things) "So. I'd like to work on a project with you for the Snark Squad if you have some free time in the upcoming weeks."

See the part where it says "weeks"? Yeah. There was a follow up email in which we discussed what style we were going to use, and Lor wrote "Episode by episode, LOL, no." We went in planning to recap three episodes per post. That plan lasted approximately two minutes, and we rapidly reached the point where we were writing somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 words PER EPISODE. Multiply that by 144, and you're talking about far more words than were in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix...

It wasn't always an easy process. There were days when we had colds, work deadlines, assignments, and Real Life Trauma to deal with. There were days when we were on holidays and had to go out of our way to locate internet access in order to comment. There were days when the episodes were painful to watch and we procrastinated as much as possible over writing/commenting on posts.

And then there was the conflict that came from certain portions of our readership disagreeing with the way we saw the actions of various characters. I already commented on that in vlog form, but things got to the point where we were forced to block someone from commenting. It's not something we wanted to do, but it's something that unfortunately became necessary. It's had ongoing fallout, where we've been called petty and immature and no better than kindergarteners stamping our feet for attention. And all for not seeing a fictional character in the same way as someone else.

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At the end of the day, people are entitled to think whatever they want about fictional characters. Ship what you want, love who you want, hate who you want. But expecting others to see things exactly the way you do is ridiculous. Instead of name calling, engage in a discussion. Tell me why you love the character, why you see their actions in a different way, why you think a scene is brilliant that I thought was ridiculous. I might not come around to your point of view, but I'll respect it infinitely more if you Use Your Words and explain things in a rational way than if you just tell me that I'm wrong.

The way I see it, everyone's opinion is worthy of my time and respect, and everyone has a right to express their opinion, whether or not you agree with it. That includes Lor and Sweeney and I.


Luckily, the positives far outweighed the negatives. For the most part, this project was a phenomenal experience. I got to work with two of my favourite people on the planet. I got to rewatch what is still one of my favourite TV shows, even if the project caused me to see events in a different light. I got to interact with the most incredible community, many of whom I now consider friends.

It seems appropriate that on the day we published our last recap, Sarah Michelle Gellar did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit. A huge number of the questions she was asked were about Buffy, and it warms my heart to see that after all these years, she's still so passionate about the show and the role that she played and, indeed, the impact that the show had on HER life.

Whatever you think of the show or its characters, the fact remains that Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a huge impact on an entire generation, and that while the costumes and the make up may date, many of the concepts that the show deals with do not. This project moved Snark Squad into new territory. It took us a while and a few battles, but we found our Scooby Gang and have come out the other side smiling at the giant gaping hole before us with the knowledge that now we're free.

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So to any of you who've ever read or commented on a Buffy post, THANK YOU. We honestly couldn't have done it without you, and I cannot even begin to say how grateful I am to have been a part of this experience. Here, have a tackle hug:

K xx

New Zealand - the "LOOK AT THE PRETTY!" edition

Previously, Ness and I drove a really long way and it wasn't particularly exciting.

After our night in Otorohanga, we packed up and headed the not-very-far-down-the-road to Waitomo. Once there, we bought tickets to tour all three caves, because GO BIG OR GO HOME, YO. We had about 45 minutes to kill before our tour of Aranui Cave, so we decided to embrace the hobbit lifestyle and have second breakfast. Well. Ness had something resembling breakfast. I had a triple chocolate brownie. And while we ate, we eavesdropped on a conversation being had about Australia by some very loud Americans.

And lucky for you, I recorded the basic details of it in a memo on my phone, so I can tell you about it.

Know-It-All American: "In Australia, they have to take food everywhere on these massive trucks."
Friend: "Oh, really?"
KIAA: "Yeah, they're called roadtrains. And once they start driving, they're impossible to stop."
Me: "..................................."
Friend: "Whoa."
KIAA: "Yup. They drive from Perth to Sydney without stopping at all!"
Me: *busts an organ trying not to laugh*

Right. The roadtrains drive 4,000km without stopping at all. And when they reach Sydney, the only thing that stops them is that they drive into the ocean and that floods the engine and shuts it off...

KIAA: "The city centre in Melbourne is really small. And they call it the CBD - centralised business dominion."
Me: *mutters* "DISTRICT. Central business DISTRICT."
KIAA: "You can walk around the Melbourne CBD in like half an hour."
Friend: "Oh, wow. That IS small."
KIAA: "But to walk around Sydney's would take you ALL DAY."
Me: *mutters* a) You're really wrong on both lengths of time, b) Melbourne's CBD consists of more than just the grid, you abominable twat."

There was also something about the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, apparently, but I can't remember what it was, unfortunately.

Of course, these delightful individuals turned out to be on our tour. And the friend turned out to be wearing sparkly platform flip flops while carrying her nine month old baby. The tour specifically said to wear sturdy shoes with good grip as the cave is often slippery. Luckily for everyone, the baby and its mother made it out in one piece.

Anyway, Aranui Cave was pretty if not especially big (well, the parts you could walk through, anyway):

From there, we moved on to the Glowworm Cave, where you can't take pictures. And let me tell you, it. was. AMAZING. Technically, they're less glowworms and more maggot-y things, but PFFF. They're still super pretty. You walk through the cave looking at a couple of basic formations, and then they load you into boats to go through the glowworm part. I'm pretty sure I spent the entire boat ride with a massive grin on my face because it was so incredible.

(If you want to know more about the glowworms, you can go watch this SciShow video from Hank Green)

After a quick spot of lunch (under no circumstances did I have chips and garlic mayo for lunch NOPE DIDN'T DO THAT), we headed out on our tour of Ruakuri Cave, which was kind of awesome because we got to see some glowworms up locse, and also because we got to see some people doing the high ropes course through the cave, which looks INSANE. Plus, parts of the cave were really pretty:

Aaaaaand I think that's quite enough for one post, so I'll split Waitomo into two parts. Next up, we investigate a waterfall, have a delicious dinner, hang out with some more glowworms, and come across something unexpected.

K xx

Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens

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Another month, another book off my list for Classics Club!

Those of you who've been around these parts for a while know that I have a long running (like since I was ten) love of Charles Dickens. So I figured it was appropriate (seeing as I have THREE Dickens books on my list) that I throw myself into one of his books at the first opportunity.

I've owned Our Mutual Friend since 1998 - as evidenced by the fact that I own the BBC tie-in edition - and made it about a third of the way in after I received it as a Christmas present. But then it somehow fell by the wayside and I never picked it up again. Well, not until a couple of weeks ago.

This is effectively two books in one. On one side of things, we have John Harmon, who discovers that his inheritance is conditional on marrying Bella Wilfer, who he's never met. (Uh, dick move, Papa Harmon...) But John is found drowned, and the fortune passes to the adorable dustman, Mr. Boffin. He and his wife promptly take Bella - who's kind of obsessed with wealth - under their wing and introduce her (and themselves!) to polite society. Along the way, Mr. Boffin acquires a secretary - also named John - who falls for Bella, but she's all "Ew, you're poor"*.

On the flip side of the coin, we have Lizzie Hexam, a working class girl. Her father dies, her little brother is kind of an asshat, and two guys - neither of whom she particularly likes to begin with - fall in love with her. Of course, Dickens takes an "Hey, why stop at a love triangle when you can create the friendzone!"* approach, and things rapidly get out of hand.

Add in some typically ridiculous but loveable Dickens characters, some dastardly villains, and nine hundred pages, and you've got yourself a book.

I'll admit, this wasn't one of my favourite Dickens books. I think I would have preferred it if the two stories had been separated into two distinct books (okay, so the overlap between them would have been a little problematic, but STILL). Combining the two stories in one book meant that there was a somewhat overwhelming number of characters that I sometimes had trouble keeping straight, as well as numerous sideplots about the inner workings of politics and polite society.

My other major problem had less to do with the book itself and more to do with my edition. I find tie-in editions troublesome because they don't give you a chance to see the characters for yourself - you'll always be imagining them as the people on the cover (and, in this particular case, the people on the several glossy pages of photos smack in the middle of the book). The expressions of the actors in the chosen photos impacted on the way I felt about certain relationships, and gave away a couple of significant plot points. But the thing that annoyed me the most? My edition had superscripted numbers throughout, but NO FOOTNOTES/END NOTES. So I was constantly left thinking "Oh, that's clearly an important concept/something that requires further explanation", but had no idea why or what was so significant about that point.

Sigh.

ANYWAY. I far preferred Bella's story to Lizzie's. Bella's a little bit of a stuck up brat, but she still manages to be likeable. Mr and Mrs Boffin were fabulous, and the way the plot ultimately resolved itself was really enjoyable, as well as a little bit mysterious. In contrast, I wanted to punch both of Lizzie's suitors in their respective faces. Lizzie is almost a background character for a lot of the book, despite that whopping great big picture of her on the front cover...

Overall, I enjoyed it, despite this numerous downfalls of this particular edition. And I may be forced to track down the miniseries, if only for Paul McGann's spectacularly ridiculous moustache!!

I mean, honestly... Source

Have you read it? What did you think?

K xx

*May not be Dickens' actual words.

Top Ten Tuesday Rewind

It's time to link up with the Broke and the Bookish again!

Today's topic was to revisit a topic from a previous week, or to pick a topic you'd missed the first time around. There were a couple of past topics that appealed, but I ended up deciding to do a freebie - my top ten books by Australian authors! 

1. Tomorrow, When the War Began - John Marsden

This series was the Harry Potter of Australia for a while there in the mid-90s (by which I mean that EVERYONE would be reading them and waiting with baited breath for the next one to come out and "OMG WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER???"-ing). They're still great, but this? This stands alone on a pedestal for me. It's absolutely brilliant from start to finish. 

2. Saving Francesca - Melina Marchetta

Marchetta's Looking for Alibrandi is the book that tends to get more attention in Australia, and I think that's mostly because it ended up on the English curriculum in a lot of states. But for me, Saving Francesca is the stronger book. It's moving and funny and relatable and just flat out readable.

3. Van Diemen's Land - James Boyce

I read this book time and time again a couple of years ago for work, and it's completely fascinating. It's the history of Tasmania to the cessation of transportation and independence from New South Wales in 1853, but focusing on how the environment impacted on the development of the colony and its population (which sounds kind of dull, but I promise you, it's not). Filled with fabulous titbits and a focus on a number of the groups that history tends to ignore.

4. Newt's Emerald - Garth Nix

I adore the Old Kingdom series, but there was just something about Newt's Emerald that put it that cut above the rest of Nix's books for me. It was filled with magic and fun and wonderful female characters.Well and truly worth the read, especially as it's only 200 pages.

5. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

One that most people will already be aware of, but still worthy of being on the list. The narrator is brilliant, the characters are great, and the story made me feel All The Feels.

6. Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld

His Australian-ness may be sliiiiiiiiiiiightly questionable, but shhhhhhhh. This book was phenomenal. The world building is AMAZING, the illustrations are to die for, and the characters - particularly Deryn - are fabulous. I loved the whole series, but this one stood out a little from the other two. 

7. Girt: the unauthorised history of Australia - David Hunt

This is a recent edition to my list of Australian favourites, and it's quite possibly the funniest book I've read in a good long time. It doesn't require any prior knowledge of Australian history, though if you DO have some understanding there are plenty of in-jokes in store for you. Funny and snarky and filled with fabulous anecdotes from the early history of New South Wales.

8. The Accidental Sorcerer - K.E. Mills

A Pratchett-esque story about a rather inept wizard who finds himself somewhere that he didn't quite expect. The characters are great, and the dialogue was a lot of fun. Completely and utterly readable. 

9. Graffiti Moon - Cath Crowley

A quick read of a story that unfolds in a single night. It brilliantly delivers that sense of what it's like to be finishing high school and have the whole world waiting for you (along with a lot of expectations). Entertaining characters in a fun plot.

10. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab - Fergus Hume

The book that basically launched the mystery genre. A fairly standard whodunnit by modern standards, but Hume's character descriptions are such that the characters seem like actual people and not just little actors responding to their creator's demands. And it's also an excellent insight into life in post-gold rush Melbourne, back when the city was one of the richest on earth. 

So there you have it - my top ten books by Australian authors! Have you read any of these? Or do you have other favourites?

K xx

Movie Monday: The Way Way Back

I saw this a couple of weeks ago, and loved absolutely every second of it. It's so much fun, despite being packed with feels.

Reasons why The Way Way Back is awesome:
1. Liam James as Duncan. Duncan's a fabulous, misunderstood character, and James plays him brilliantly.
2. Waterslide blockages.

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3. Sam Rockwell. Oh my God, he's magnificent. I know him mostly from Iron Man 2 and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so it was great to see him in a slightly less ridiculous role.
4. Lewis' farewell party.
5. Toni Collette. Her character will cause you a crapton of feels, but she's still fabulous.
6. Attempts at breakdancing.

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7. Allison Janney. I ADORE Allison Janney, and this is no exception.
8. The ending. All the feels.
9. Hilarious loudspeaker annoucements.

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10. Maya Rudolph.
11. Peter and his lazy eye and all the jokes that go along with it.
12. Singing REO Speedwagon on the roof of the car.

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13. Jim Rash and Nat Faxon. They not only star in it (brilliantly, I might add), they wrote it and directed it and produced it.
14. Overtaking Owen on the waterslide.
15. Steve Carrell. His character is a total asshat, but he does it SO WELL.
16. This scene:

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Plus, the following quotes:
- "Enjoy therapy!"
- "I don't get her face." "Yeah, it's like she fell on it."
- "You disappoint me, kid. You're late. You planning on making a habit of this?" "What?" "You're fired!" "But I just..." "You make a valid point. Welcome back. With benefits."
- "It's called delegation, baby. I read about it in a book about it."
- "So. You're a big fan of REO Speedwagon?" "What?" "Can't Fight This Feeling?" "Oh, no. My mom must have put that on there." "Oh. And you just got to it and thought "what the hell?" I'm going to sing the shit out of it anyway."
- "It's like Spring Break for adults."
- "I wish I could stay here forever." "You're going to love the winters. They're pretty spectacular. Painting houses until it gets too cold, bar backing at some dive, talking to inanimate objects."
- "Seriously, when's the last time you bought jeans?" "My mom buys my jeans." "Good. Always take things literally. How's that working out for you? Does that get you laid?"
- "I don't have a mom, I have two dads. In your face."
- "How long have you been working there?" "Oh, the park? Um, I've always been there. Ever since I was a small Cambodian child. Of course, that was after 'Nam. I was in the shit. Then I joined the circus to become a clown fighter. I know about 46 ways to kill a clown. I hate clowns. I'm kidding except for the part where I really do hate them."

Have you seen it? What did you think?

K xx

You're kind of hard to miss in that outfit

It's been a while since we've done the whole Kirsti Rewatches Crappy 90s TV Shows and Has A Lot of Thoughts thing, so let's talk about Charmed season 2, shall we?

Please buy bras. Also, source.

• I have literally no memory of Dan the neighbour guy and his niece.
• I honestly think the costumes have gotten even worse.
• Their version of 2009 is fucking hilarious.
• Yessssssssss, the start of the dubious musical guests!
• Ahahahahahahahahaha, PRUE GOT TURNED INTO A DUDE.
• ...wow, a Blair Witch Project episode.
• MISHA COLLINS HOLY FUCK. He looks about 12 years old. 

LOL. Also, source.

• Leo's constant eye rolling over the Piper/Dan relationship is hilarious.
• Welp, Prue's astral projection abilities have turned up at an awkward time...
• Ahaha, douchey Glen from The Wedding Singer is Piper's doctor. 
• Awwwww. The Valentine's Day card that Leo gave Piper is kind of adorable. With a teeny side of stalker...

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• Um. Did Phoebe just get sexually assaulted by a ghost????????
• Ahahaha, Prue's digital SLR is ENORMOUS. Aaaaaaand she just broke the lens. Ouch.
• PRUDENCE HALLIWELL, DID YOU JUST SLEEP WITH YOUR KIDNAPPER??????
• AMY ADAMS, WHAT. And she's being stalked by The Mummy. I can't even. Plus, her outfits are SO flattering! 

I imagine her face looks like this now when she thinks back
on the fact that she guest starred on Charmed. Source.

• Oh my God, Anne from Buffy/Angel. Awesome.
• ....................is that Rembrant from Sliders? OH MY GOD, IT IS.
• Okay, the 30 seconds worth of zoomy shots of San Francisco at the start of every single episode are getting really old really quickly. WE GET IT ALREADY.
• Ahahahahahahaha, chimpanzees with magical powers? What the hell even is this show? 

LOL. Source.

• So apparently the alien bounty hunter from The X-Files is one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Awesome. 
• Ahahahaha, 17 year old Prue with braces. 
• BYE DAN. NO ONE WILL MISS YOU. 

And one final photo for good measure because I cannot stop laughing at how awful it is:

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And yes, the title of this post is an actual quote from season 2. Quite possibly the most accurate quote of the entire series...

Did you watch Charmed back in the day? 

K xx

New Zealand - the "we're going on an adventure" edition

Previously, Ness and I visited a bunch of waterfalls and also hung around Mount Doom for a while. Because obviously.

When we'd planned out our itinerary, we'd kept a free day in there with the idea that if it rained, we'd have extra time for hiking or whatever. Plus, we figured it would be good to have a day where we flew by the seat of our pants a little bit and had no idea where we were going to go or what we were going to do. Foolishly, however, we planned this day to be in an area where there's really not a whole lot to see or do besides more hiking.

So we figured that we'd head for the Forgotten World Highway and stop at anything interesting looking that we came across along the way. Well. We headed north along the highway and stopped at the Raurimu Spiral because a brown tourist sign suggested that we do so. It was pretty cool (more so if you're an engineer) but a little tricky to wrap your head around at first.

Model of the spiral

Actual spiral. You can see the gap in the trees and the tunnel on the right

Luckily, there was something up everyone's alley on the other side of the highway: a giant T. rex made of wood. BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY.

Clever Girl made a friend!

The road became a little hillier and we stopped at Piriaka Lookout where you can see clear back to Mount Doom:

We turned onto the Forgotten World Highway where things got even steeper, and we worried a couple of times that our teeny tiny hairdrier-for-an-engine car wasn't going to be able to make it. There were an increasing number of brown signs along the road, but when we pulled over, they all turned out to be for things that were a half hour tramp through a cow paddock and which recommended wearing gumboots. Which we had very little desire to do just to see the entrance to an old mine. So we drove on, and pulled over in a half-arsed "read the detailed sign through the car window" way for the next few. Until we got to Nevin's Lookout. It was a bit of a trek through a paddock gate and up a steep cowpat covered hill. But the view was totally worth it:

See? HILLY.

Eventually, after going through a completely awesome single lane tunnel through a mountain, we reached something relatively unexpected (although it WAS marked on the map, so we probably SHOULD have expected it) - nearly 20kms of unsealed road. We debated whether or not to drive through it, as the gravel was really coarse and we a) didn't have a proper spare tyre, just a space-saver one and b) were driving a car that had the hubcaps attached with cable ties. We dithered for so long that a massive Winnebago-y thing drove through, closely followed by a 4WD. We figured that would pack the gravel down enough that if we followed in their tracks, we'd be okay.

The gorge that the unsealed road ran through wasn't nearly as exciting as anticipated and by the end of it, we were both a little cranky (partly due to hunger, partly due to thirst, but mostly due to the fact that we'd turned the air conditioning off to help the engine along and the car was really stuffy and kind of dusty feeling...). There were several towns marked on the map, so we figured we'd stop in one of them for lunch. Except that they all turned out to be either closed (as it was a weekend) or nothing more than railway crossings. Eventually, hot and bothered and in desperate need of a wee, we reached the Whangamomona Hotel.

They could have served nothing but haggis and only had a squat loo, and I still would have been thrilled. Luckily, neither of those things were the case. After far too short a lunch break, we got back in the car and headed back the way we'd came with plans to stop for ice cream if/when we stumbled across one.

Of course, just to spite us, there was not a SINGLE PLACE SELLING ANY KIND OF ANYTHING until we reached Te Kuiti, a couple of hundred kilometres later. And by that point, we were over the idea of ice cream, so ended up with milkshakes from the cafe attached to the service station, which gave us the sugar rush we needed to get the rest of the way to Otorohanga, where we promptly checked into our hotel, sat around in our PJs for an hour or so, then headed out for dinner. After which we watched a random Topher Grace movie on TV and collapsed into bed.

All up, we (by which I mean Ness) drove about 600km on "highways" that were mostly twisty country roads populated largely by slow moving vehicles. We didn't really see anything particularly fascinating, and I managed to get sunburnt IN THE CAR. In short? If you add a free day to your travel itinerary? Make sure it's in a place where there's stuff that's actually worth seeing and doing without driving for several hours... Because it may start out like this:

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But it'll end up feeling like this:

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Also, if you're in New Zealand, don't trust the free maps that the hire car company give you. They're full of lies...

Next up, Waitomo makes up for everything.

K xx

You think we do WHAT??

When you travel a lot as an Australian, you get asked a lot of weird shit. This is probably common to a lot of nationalities, but due to the tyranny of distance or whatever, Australians seem to cop the worst of it. That whole "tons of weird animals that don't exist anywhere else" thing probably doesn't help...

Anyway, I put together a list of questions/misconceptions that I've heard over the years, and figured that it was time to answer some of them. In vlog form, because obviously.



What misconceptions or weird questions have you had to deal with while travelling?

K xx

PS. My thanks to Youtube for once again selecting the most ridiculous screenshot on earth.

TTT - Top Ten Reasons I Love Being a Blogger/Reader

It's time to link up with the Broke and the Bookish again!

Today's topic has to do with being a blogger (more specifically, a book blogger) and a reader. 

1. ARCs.

Free books? YES PLEASE.

2. Interacting with authors.

This is more a Twitter or Tumblr thing that anything else, but there are so many authors now who are more than happy to talk to their fans, and who actually take the time to read the reviews you write, and who clearly actually read the tweets and messages that people send (see: Stephanie Perkins, John Green, Rainbow Rowell, Patrick Ness, Alysia Gray Painter and Joanne Harris).

3. Millions of new worlds to discover.

Need an escape from reality? What better place to find it than a book!

4. The friends.

I've made the most amazing friends all over the world through blogging, and I am so indescribably grateful for each and every one of them.

5. Branching out and reading new stuff.

Sometimes you'll come across a book that's not in your usual sphere of interest, but a fellow book nerd has written a rave review, or a friend emails you and is all "READ THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY". So you take a chance, and it's amazing.

6. Recommending books to friends.

See above, but in reverse. Sometimes you find a book that no one else knows about and it's so fabulous that you want to sing its praises from the rooftops.

7. Getting to talk about books all the time without people thinking you're crazy.

This was one of the best parts of doing a Masters in librarianship - hanging out all day with people who are as passionate about books as I am, and think nothing of hour-long conversations about nothing but books. The book blogger community is pretty much the same thing. 

8. It's a cheaper addiction than most.

Sure, books aren't exactly cheap (especially in Australia...). But you can get them from secondhand shops or in ARC form or from friends or on sale or from the library for free. Try doing that with other addictions. 

9. Learning new things.

There's a book out there on pretty much any subject you can think of - I mean, there's one on the history of swearing! All you have to do is open a book and you're automatically learning new things. 

10. Books make me happy.

I've reached the point now where I can't sleep unless I read for at least 20 minutes first. There is no crappy day that can't be made at least a little bit better with the addition of a book.

What's on your top ten list?

K xx

Movie Monday: Sliding Doors

Oh, 1998. It doesn't seem that long ago, and yet it's so hilariously dated. Still, I have an irrational soft spot for today's movie, so...DEAL.

Reasons why Sliding Doors is awesome:
1. Gwyneth Paltrow. As a general rule, I'm not a big fan of Gwyneth when she's not playing Pepper Potts. But she's pretty great in this.
2. Monty Python quotes.
  


3. John Hannah. I have an irrational love for John Hannah, and this movie did nothing but solidify that.
4. The "what if..." concept.
5. Zara Turner as Anna.
6. It's so hilariously 90s. I mean, the costumes alone are a trainwreck from start to finish...

I mean, seriously. Also, source.

7. Bonding over milkshakes.
8. Jeanne Tripplehorn as Lydia.
9. The ending.

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10. Douglas McFerran as Russell. Especially the part where he just cackles with laughter at all of Gerry's misfortunes.
11. Humming the Beatles.
12. Lydia's outbursts.

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13. Conversations with the mirror.
14. A very young Kevin McNally.
15. Lydia standing outside the kitchen window.

Plus, the following quotes:
- "Okay, I'll go. I was getting a bit choked up with all the testosterone flying about the place. Best I get out before I start growing a penis!"
- "Everybody's born knowing all the Beatles lyrics instinctively. They're passed into the fetus subconsciously along with all the amniotic stuff. Fact, they should be called "The Faetals"."
- "I'm really not a nutcase, I apologise."
- "What are you doing two weeks on Saturday?" "Probably killing myself." "Excellent. What time does that finish? Do you like boats?"
- "Gerry, I'm a woman! We don't say what we WANT! But we reserve the right to get pissed off if we don't get it. That's what makes us so fascinating! And not a little bit scary."
- "'Never make a joke about a woman's hair, clothes or menstrual cycles' - page one."
- "You want my opinion?" "Will I like it?" "Well, of course not! It'll be based in reality."
- "Anna, I'm over him! What do you mean I'm not? How do you know I'm not?" "Well, two things really. One, you're still counting how long you've been apart in days - and probably hours and minutes - but the big-flashing-red-light way of telling you're not really over someone is when you're still reading their horoscope in the hope that they're going to get wiped out in some freak napalming incident." "Smartarse!" "What is he?" "A wanker. Oh. Aries." "Aries... Aries... well, just shows how much I know. "With Mars your ruler in the ascendancy, you will get wiped out in a freak napalming incident and Helen says bollocks to you." This guy's very good."
- "Come on! If you don't drink your fatty drinks, you'll never really achieve quality cellulite."
- "Put a wick in her mouth and she'd burn for a fortnight."
- "I kissed you." "Yeah. Yeah, I spotted that too."

What do you think?

K xx