101 in 1001 #46

Sometimes, you need to focus on the little things in life. I'm not going to lie - a good portion of this list is kind of ridiculous. But sometimes you need a little bit of ridiculous in your life. Especially if it makes you happy.

101 things that make me happy
1. Tom Hiddleston (please, like you expected anything else)
2. Puppies (see above)

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3. Hanson's "Give a Little"
4. Emails from Lor and Sweeney
5. Chocolate
6. The feeling of relief you get when you take off a pair of tights
7. North and South
8. Emails from Sara
9. The soundtrack to Les Miserables (yes, I'm aware that it's kind of weird that this would make me happy)
10. New books by favourite authors
11. Travel
12. The cast of Supernatural being adorable dorks
13. The Avengers
14. Big Thunder Mountain Railway
15. Red pandas

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16. Free wifi. Especially while travelling
17. Community
18. Ridiculous taxidermy
19. Baking
20. Eurovision
21. David Tennant
22. Emails from Kim
23. Roast potatoes
24. Doctor Who (until it doesn't...)
25. Vlogging
26. The theme from Jurassic Park
27. Fountain pens

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28. Snark Squad
29. Emails from Gina
30. Awesome historical discoveries (i.e. Richard III)
31. The Oxford comma
32. Sleepy Hollow
33. Fog
34. Super secret ice cream
35. The first day of spring. (not the first day first day. But the first day that FEELS like spring)
36. Figure skating (watching it, I mean)
37. Chocolate pudding
38. The Basics
39. Body Combat

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40. Harry Potter
41. New shoes
42. The smell of books
43. Trips to the movies
44. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
45. Dessert Day
46. New passport stamps
47. WTF Evolution
48. Scouting for Girls
49. Snail mail
50. Lego Marvel
51. John and Hank Green
52. The feeling you get when you hand in an assignment and know that you never have to think about that topic again
53. Wizarding World of Harry Potter

I mean, come on.

54. #snarkathon
55. Chair dancing
56. Mexipalooza
57. Making lists
58. Rockstar tram catching (by which I mean that you get to the tram stop just as the tram pulls up but don't have to run)
59. Toasted marshmallows
60. Robert Downey Junior
61. Otters
62. Pitch Perfect
63. A new diary every January
64. Reading
65. Officeworks

It's basically Heaven.

66. Yorkshire pudding
67. Firefly
68. New stationery
69. Hot chocolate
70. New nail polish
71. Blog comments (ahem)
72. Open fires
73. Pizza
74. Joss Whedon's Twitter account
75. Shake
76. Ballet
77. Caprese salad

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78. Elementary
79. Body Pump
80. Pulling the exact right number of pegs out of the container when hanging washing
81. The Wilfair books
82. VEDA
83. She's the Man
84. That one time I beat Little Miss A at Monopoly (which may sound like a dick thing to say, but it's only ever happened once. The girl is a Monopoly MACHINE)
85. Veronica Mars
86. Beer battered steak fries and aeoli
87. Silly memories with old friends
88. Thunderstorms

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89. The Princess Bride
90. Stephanie Perkins books
91. Haribo Tangfastics
92. Postcards
93. Once More With Feeling
94. Trips to the zoo
95. Amazing libraries
96. Hilarious Google search terms leading to my blog
97. Black Books
98. Rainbow Rowell books
99. Mediavengers
100. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
101. Pasta

What little things make YOU happy?

K xx

On my rapidly advancing age

Tomorrow is my thirtieth birthday. There seems to be an unwritten rule that by the time you turn thirty, you should have your shit together. Have a job. Have a house, whether rented or purchased. Preferably be married. Maybe have a couple of kids.

I have none of these things, and I'm totally okay with that.

I had plans to write a whole post about how while a lot of stuff in my life is the same as when I turned 20, there's also a bunch of stuff that's super different and I'm totally not the same person and blah blah blah. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut it wasn't working out the way I wanted. So instead, I'm just gonna say that I'm going to be away from the blog for the next few days because I'll be eating cake and drinking cocktails and hanging out with my friends.

And here - have some gifs that pretty much sum me up. Because everything is better with gifs.

Especially that last one... Catch you on the flipside!

K xx

Special snowflake

No, this is has nothing to do with the forecast dusting of snow that's apparently heading in DC's direction tonight. This has more to do with me being a special snowflake.

So remember last week when I said that I realised a Stanley knife was called a Stanley knife because it was made by the Stanley corporation? Yeah. I've been having a lot of those moments since I got to the US.

1. We went to one of the headquarters of Goliath National Bank* earlier this week. When leaving, I went "Oh, they have a Goliath National Bank ATM in the foyer, that's nice and convenient for their staff!!". Yup. A bank having an ATM was surprising to me.

2. I got stuck in a toilet cubicle at Pentagon City shopping centre. The lock was kind of busted, so I have no one to blame but myself. But yeah. I got stuck. And had to yank the door from the top to get it open. And then obviously texted half of 20SB to tell them about it. General consensus? "BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA".

3. Also at Pentagon City shopping centre? I lost the subway station. There were signs everywhere pointing to the Metro. I still couldn't find it.

4. In an attempt to FIND the subway station, I followed a crowd of people all heading in the same direction. This took me about three blocks away from where I actually wanted to go, AND also led me to the middle of a car park. Well done, Kirsti. Well done.

5. Earlier this week, we went to Walmart. The number of times I had to walk up and down the baking aisle before I located the chocolate chips? FOUR.

6. I got a Kindle for Christmas. The number of times I push the 'next chapter' button instead of the 'next page' button? ASTONISHING. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have to locate the page you were on when you do that?

7. We had a guy presenting to us the other day who was trying to give his presentation an Australian focus. So he mentioned ANZ, one of our big banks. Except that because he pronounced it Ay En Zee, it took me literally five minutes to work out that he was talking about ANZ (read: Ay En Zed).

8. I was watching the news before, which included the weather report. The weather reporter was like "And we're heading for a top of 49 degrees on Saturday". To which my response was "FORTY NINE FREAKING DEGREES?!?!?!? But I have no shorts or singlet top or thongs, and WAIT. They mean Fahrenheit, don't they..."

So...yeah. I'm clearly not going to need this any time soon:

Please tell me you guys have special snowflake moments too???

K xx

* name has been changed to protect the innocent from my idiocy.

In which people are weird, part 2

Remember back in June when I vlogged about all the bizarro Google searches that have led people to my blog? I think it's about time I did another one. Except, you know, without the vlogging because I'll be vlogging my 500th post next week(!!), and two vlogs in two weeks is way too much like hard work!

So. What random crap has led people to my blog lately?

Jedward laptop. Dude, I have no idea what you were looking for. Is this a laptop used by Jedward? Or a Jedward THEMED laptop?!

Terrifying scarecrow. You mean like this?

Thanks for THOSE nightmares, Supernatural... Also, source.

Eagle fighting tiger. I've been wondering about this one for a while now. Is it an eagle fighting a tiger? Or is it a tiger that's capable of fighting eagles?? Jeez, people. Structure your searches.

John Barrowman emphasis on wrong syllable. I...have no idea what this means. Is it Barrowman putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable? Or mispronouncing his name - like John BarROWman??

IMDB storyline the boy see in his dream that his girlfriend will died in a taxi accident which is a cello player. Seriously??? I have no idea how this led you to my blog. And I have a similar lack of idea about what you're looking for.

Jedward costumes for kids. OH MY GOD. IF YOU HAVE LITTLE KIDS, PLEASE DO THIS FOR HALLOWEEN????? (I'm looking at you, Gina)

Pippa Middleton fingernails. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh????

In the movie Independence Day, what newspaper was the President (Bill Pullman) reading when he was told of the attacks? Dude. That is one hell of a specific search. I can't imagine why you'd ever need to know that. I don't know the answer, and it's probably a fake newspaper. You know, just FYI.

Steampunk Ned Kelly. I have to admit, I would read the crap out of a steampunk Ned Kelly book.

Two person llama costume. As far as I'm concerned, any two person costume is a pretty terrible idea. When it comes to this, I really want to know if the front person has to spit like a llama to make it seem authentic.

Pelvic thrust homestay gif. I have literally no idea how the 'homestay' part relates to the rest of it. And I don't really want to know what you'd use such a gif for anyway.

Velociraptor cheesecake. No idea what they were after, but any mention of velociraptors is okay by me.

Frozen peas for Congress. Are Congress in need of frozen peas?!

Pin the owie on the clown. As far as I'm concerned, this should read "cut the head off the clown", because in addition to teaching me that scarecrows are creepy, Supernatural taught me that clowns are creepy.

Jude Law Patrick Downey Jr. Oh, honey. No. Let's review. This is Patrick Dempsey, star of Grey's Anatomy and Sweet Home Alabama:

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THIS is Robert Downey Jr, total badass and star of The Avengers, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Sherlock Holmes (which co-starred Jude Law):

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Do not get them confused. Kim will probably kill you...

Ugly cake. Fuck you very much, my cakes are NOT ugly.

Terrible passport photo, look very depressed. Fuck you very much, my passport photo is NOT terrible, and the Australian government mandates that you have to look depressed, dammit!! >.<

Make a kneeling man out of fondant. I have no idea why you would want to do this, but it reminds me of the time in high school when we saved a bunch of wax from Mini Babybel cheeses over several weeks and used it to make a little sculpture of a man sitting on the toilet. Clearly, we had too much time on our hands...

David Tennant fashion icon for boxers. Do you mean because of the boxer shorts he wore in The Decoy Bride that were covered in quills and ink wells? Either way, I'm on board with this search.

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Famous Egypt building. Really????? *facepalm*

Good riddance you traitor cake. I kind of want an excuse to make one of these. Because LOL FOREVER.

Gandalf the Grey in Chamber of Secrets. Okay, you guys. I mentioned this in part 1, because apparently people have found my blog multiple times by searching this. Apparently there's a rumour that when Harry goes into Dumbledore's study at the end of Chamber of Secrets, and the camera pans around over all the portraits of past heads of Hogwarts, that one of them is Gandalf. WRONG. It's an old dude with a beard. So stop searching for pictures of this. Because it didn't happen. Mmmmkay??

So. What weird Google searches have you had recently??

K xx

It's baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!

Unless you're not a Whovian and/or have been living under a rock for the past week or so, you'll know that Doctor Who starts back in the UK, America, and Canada on Saturday night. Australia, on the other hand, will not see it grace our screens until September 8th. HOWEVER. The ABC announced yesterday that they will be putting the new episodes onto iView less than an hour after they air in the UK.

Yes, that's Tom Hiddleston doing a fangirl flail. Source

This is insanely exciting, as it means I don't have to avoid the entire internet for the better part of a week, trying to stay away from spoilers. (I should point out that I will NOT be getting up at 5.10am on Sunday mornings to watch it. As much as I love Doctor Who, I can wait until a civilised hour, thankyouverymuch)

ANYWAY. In honour of this brilliant news, I hereby present you with a list:

Kirsti's Ten Favourite Episode of New Who (to date)

1. Tooth and Claw
Where I feel like Christopher Eccleston took a while to settle into his role as the Ninth Doctor, David Tennant dove in with fanboy glee, and had the Tenth Doctor to perfect by his second episode. As much as I love New Earth (seriously, how can you go past Cassandra??), Tooth and Claw is my favourite episode. Werewolves + Queen Victoria + Tennant being Scottish (albeit briefly) + the founding of Torchwood + an enormous diamond + kung fu monks + the chemistry between the Doctor and Rose = OMG SO AMAZING.

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2. Partners in Crime
A close second to Tooth and Claw for me is Partners in Crime. Obviously, I very much like the idea of being able to lose a kilo overnight EVERY night. I also love the scene where Donna sees the Doctor through the window and they start miming at each other. Kills me every time. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the Adipose are completely adorable. And to finish, that squee-worthy moment of "OMG ROSE FOUND A WAY BACK!!!"

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3. Blink
This episode terrifies me. I really want to go and take photos in the cemetery not far from my house, because there are all kinds of interesting monuments in there. But there are statues of angels, and NO THANK YOU. That said, the Weeping Angels are fantastic villains. And Carey Mulligan carries this episode fantastically well. It's a rare show in which you can put all the main characters in the background for an entire episode and still have it work brilliantly.

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4. Vincent and the Doctor
This is basically the only episode I loved from season 5. Sure, there were others that I enjoyed and that I'd happily go back and watch again. But THIS? I could watch every day without getting sick of it. It's written by Richard Curtis, the man behind The Vicar of Dibley, Mr Bean, Bridget Jones' Diary, and Love Actually. And once again, he delivers that perfect mix of humour and "OH GOD, RIGHT IN THE FEELS". Tony Curran is truly phenomenal as Vincent van Gogh, especially during the scene in the Louvre.

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5. The Runaway Bride
This is the only Christmas special to date that I've loved. Set seconds after the heartbreak of Doomsday, it gave us Donna Noble and the lines "Santa's a ROBOT!!" and "With this ring, I thee biodamp", showed us how the Doctor really does need someone to keep his humanity around, and taught us the importance of pockets. Especially pockets that are bigger on the inside. Also, the Doctor's not from Mars. Just in case you missed that.

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6. The Doctor's Wife
I seem to have this thing that my favourite episodes of the Moffat era are written by...Not Moffat. This was hands down my favourite episode from the giant mindfuck that was season 6 (PLEASE let season 7 be better. Pretty pretty please...), and it was written by Neil Gaiman. It's phenomenally beautiful and a little bit terrifying, with a wee dash of hilarious and a dose of heartbreak. You know, everything you expect from Neil Gaiman! Plus, Suranne Jones is phenomenal as the oddball Idris.

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7. The Empty Child
This is my favourite episode from the Christopher Eccleston era. It's not only completely creepy (I once walked through a supermarket and heard a small child saying "Mummy? Mummy? Mummy??", and basically ran for the exit), but it's the episode that finally sold me on Doctor Who. Prior to this point, I thought it was okay, but not great. From here onwards? Watch *ALL* the episodes! I swear it had nothing whatsoever to do with the introduction of Captain Jack Harkness, although he certainly didn't hurt!! (Seriously, Moffat. Can you bring Barrowman back please???)

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8. Closing Time
Another one from season 6, and an episode that is basically Amy and Rory free. It was almost like a palate cleanser after...well, all the episodes in between The Doctor's Wife and this. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I love Gavin and Stacey, so it was great to see James Corden back again. The idea of the Doctor working in a shop is pretty fantastic, but my personal favourite thing from this episode is obviously Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All. It'll never not be funny.

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9. The Shakespeare Code
Because I'm a giant history nerd, I love the back-in-time-meeting-famous-figures-from-history episodes more than the what-whacky-future-can-we-come-up-with-this-time episodes. (This is probably already apparent from the inclusion of Tooth and Claw, Vincent and the Doctor, and The Empty Child) So an episode in which the Doctor both discusses his love of Harry Potter and also meets Shakespeare was always going to be a win in my book.

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10. Silence in the Library
While the Vashta Nerada are completely creepifying, how would I not love an episode that includes the biggest library in history, a crapton of books, David Tennant, and archaeologists?? I mean, come on. It basically has "Hey Kirsti, check this out!" written all over it. It also marks the arrival of River Song, back in the days before Moffat destroyed her character completely. SIGH.

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Honourable mentions:
Doomsday - It's amazing, but OH GOD SO MUCH UGLY CRYING
Journey's End - Again, completely amazing. The Doctor travelling with everyone at once. The Donna Doctor. Ten Too (aka the Metacrisis). But SO MUCH UGLY CRYING PART II.
The Unicorn and the Wasp - I love the international jewel thief part and the Agatha Christie part and the "How is Harvey Wallbanger one word????" part. The giant wasp bit was kind of bonkers, even by Doctor Who standards. But the rest of it is fantastic.

So. Questions for you:
1. What is your favourite episode?
2. Are you kind of relieved that Amy and Rory are leaving?
3. On a scale of 1 to Kermit flail, how excited are you about season 7?
4. If you don't watch Doctor Who, why the hell not?

K xx

Movie Monday: The Decoy Bride

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that yesterday I said that I felt I should watch something English this week in honour of the Olympics. I ended up with a list of several things that I couldn't decide between, so for the next few weeks, I'm going to be doing a little 'my favourite British movies that I haven't already written about' type of a deal.

Obviously, my all-time favourite English movie was covered in the lead up to Christmas last year: Love Actually, so that one is off the table. But I watched this last week, and I pretty much want to watch it over and over again, because despite being ridiculously cheesy, it was also completely adorable.

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I'm going to do something I wouldn't usually bother with, and give you guys a plot summary, because I'm guessing most of you haven't seen it. Basically, Lara Tyler (Alice Eve) is a super huge enormous American movie star. She's engaged to James Arber (David Tennant), an English author. Every time they try and get married, the paparazzi turn up. So her agent (Michael Urie) arranges for them to go to the tiny island of Hegg, in the outer Hebrides. When the media also turn up THERE, the agent decides they need a decoy bride. Enter Katie (Kelly MacDonald), the only single girl left on the island. But when Lara disappears and Katie and James accidentally get married for real, craziness ensues.

Seriously, though. It's better than it sounds. You know what? Here, watch the trailer:



Reasons why The Decoy Bride is awesome:
1. David Tennant. I mean, come on. How could you not expect him to be at the top of this list after seeing that trailer?? (Sadly, he's not being Scottish. On the plus side, he's using his Tenth Doctor accent)

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2. Kelly MacDonald. She's the voice of Merida in Brave (which I have yet to see), and she's pretty hilarious in this.
3. The heartwarming scene between an old deaf couple, wherein they ask James to play the bagpipes, and begin to dance even though they can't hear the music.
4. Dylan Moran as a newspaper editor demanding the paparazzi get him photos of the wedding.

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5. All the Doctor Who references, whether they're intentional or not. (Uh, hi. Tennant's character is engaged to a woman who's young and blonde and her surname is TYLER...)
6. Sally Phillips as the agent's offsider. She's pretty hilarious. She also wrote the script! You may know her better as Shaz from Bridget Jones' Diary.
7. Michael Urie, aka Marc from Ugly Betty. He pretty much plays the exact same character, and he's brilliant.

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8. James Fleet as the local laird. It's a bit part, but he's great whatever he's in. You may know him better as Hugo from The Vicar of Dibley.
9. There's a haunted toilet. Haunted by the ghost of a cow.
10. The fake wedding, in which Katie has to attempt an American accent.
11. This costume. Not to mention the fact that he does that little foot pop thing:

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12. David Tennant playing the bagpipes. Or pretending to, at least.
13. The opening scene where there are a bunch of different 'brides' in different coloured dresses to throw the paparazzi off track.
14. The scene where Katie pretends she lives in the haunted toilet and offers the paparazzi grilled puffin for lunch.
15. This scene:

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16. David Tennant in a swan shaped pedalo. 
17. Hamish Clarke, aka Duncan from Monarch of the Glen.
18. It's now available for streaming on Netflix. YOU'RE WELCOME, AMERICA. And it's available on DVD in Australia.

- "Turn me concave with caverns of longingness." "Oh, God. Did I write that? 'Longingness.' It’s not even a word." "No. That was just me saying what I was thinking." "Oh, right. Sorry....... [awkwardly] It finally got dark, then?"
- "My life flashed before my eyes, and I was bored half way through... Drowning was actually a highlight."

- "Please, forgive me. I've spent lots of time with...hermits."

- "A chapter can be a book."

- "I've gone man vegan. They say that after the first six years, you don't miss them any more."

- "Predominantly, it's a sheep snatching thing."

- "We could get married in outer space, or the lost underwater kingdom of Atlantis?"
- "There is somebody out there for you, somebody's sensitive, and faithful, and kind. But you'll never meet him if you're hiding here." "Good! I don't want to meet him, he sounds like a twat. Anyway, I'm like kryptonite to men. Kryptonite dipped in cellulite."
- "How do you know that you've met the one?" 'Whenever you look at them you'll find yourself singing "you are the wind beneath my wings."..."
- "I'm pretty sure that's not a real cow. Unless it's gotten hold of a kazoo..."

- "Did you sign the register?" "You saw me. Why?" "I think in all the fuss, I may have signed my own name!"

- "Do you like him?" "He's an emotionally retarded arty boy who's in love with another woman. Of course I like him."

- "At least the fact that you're going to leave me for another woman has been agreed in advance..."

- "Has the marriage been consummated?" "No... I just haven't had time."
- "You are...staggeringly beautiful." [Why thank you, David Tennant]
- "He's disguised as a wizard."
- "Here, we live in primitive dwellings that anthropologists like to call HOUSES."
- "Are you gonna fight like a man, or just throw puffins at me?"

It may be a complete and utter cheesefest of a romantic comedy. But it's also pretty hilarious and totally adorable. So, have I convinced you to watch it yet???

K xx

Things I Like Thursday, Volume 9

Seen random stuff on the internet that you find hilarious or just want to share? Head over to Gina's to link up!

So. Things are going to be a little light this week. Because (in case you've missed any of my numerous cases of whinging about it) we've gone over our internet downloads for the month, thanks to a bizarre set of circumstances involving our set top box. Yeah, I don't entirely understand it either... Anyway, we still have internet access. But it's basically dial-up speed. And it's killing me. KIIIIIIIIIILLING MEEEEEEEEEE SOOOOOOOOOOOOFTLY!!!!!

Ahem.

And yeah yeah. I know. #firstworldproblems

Anyway. Here are a couple of things that I found PRIOR to this state of tragedy descending.

First, there's this completely hilarious and completely insane exam, set as an end of year prank by an incredibly mean lecturer.

Second, there's this website, which takes the text of entire books, and turns them into completely gorgeous posters. WANT ALL THE POSTERS!

And finally, we have this, which Gina sent me LITERALLY five minutes ago (and it took that long for my computer to load the first page. Yeah. This reduced-speed-internet thing is a suckfest and a half...): a 'Hey Girl' meme site starring the one and only David Tennant. And when I have grown up internet access again (possibly when I go insane and cart my computer down to the library to make use of the free wifi!), I plan on going through the entire thing and sniggering like a total loon.

Found something online this week that you desperately need to share? Head over to Gina's and link up!

K xx

Things I Like Thursday, Volume 6

Seen random stuff on the internet that you find hilarious or just want to share? Head over to Gina's to link up!

So I've decided that I'm going to keep posting these on Thursday nights, even though there's a 99% chance that Gina won't have posted hers before I do now that she's moved back to Arizona. Because posting "Things I Like Thursday" on Fridays makes my slightly OCD brain feel all hinky. So if you see this, then write a post of your own and head to Gina's blog to link up, only to find there's no post to link up with yet? Don't be surprised.

ANYWAY. First up this week, we have this: The ten cruellest things Joss Whedon has done to his characters. I wouldn't recommend reading it if you've not seen 99% of Whedon's stuff, because it's crazy spoilery. But it makes you realise just how much he loves torturing the characters he creates! 

Next up, we have this. It's literally what it says. Just when you think it can't possibly keep going any more, IT DOES. It's pretty ridiculous.

Next, there's this article about celebrities who became famous through being total fanboys/girls. Not surprisingly, my beloved David Tennant makes the list.

You smug but utterly adorable git.

I also very much enjoyed this article called "I'm not a miserable bitch, really: I'm just an introvert". It sums up fairly perfectly my feelings on going to parties and making small talk (except that I would never go to a nightclub, because TOO MUCH NOISE AND TOO MANY PEOPLE AND GET ME OUT).

And finally, we have quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I have EVER found on Youtube. If anyone can explain this insanity to me, please - pretty please - feel free! 

Oh, 1980s. You continue to make absolutely no sense. (Also, I'm sorry about your retinas. I really am.)

Found something online this week that you desperately need to share? Head over to Gina's and link up!

K xx

Movie Monday: Top Gun

Rewatching today's choice has been a long time coming. First, there was Paulie having a fanboy moment when "Danger Zone" started playing when we were driving to Canberra back in February. Although I must say, doing 110kph along the Hume with the windows down and Kenny Loggins blaring on the stereo was pretty awesome.

Then a few weeks ago, Alicia asked on Twitter what the name of the actor was who played Iceman. And finally, yesterday when I was working on an assignment, I came across a blog post by the Library of Congress titled "This is Maverick requesting a fly by", and I figured it was a sign.

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Top Gun is quite possibly the cheesiest thing the 1980s ever produced, and I'm almost certain that the entire thing is one big recruiting advert. But it's still a completely kickarse movie.

Reason why Top Gun is awesome:
1. Tom Cruise before he got all insane and couch-jumpy.

Source. Also? That article is hilarious and you should read it.

2. Aviator sunglasses. We all know they're the real stars of this movie.
3. Val Kilmer as Iceman. Total badass.
4. The volleyball scene. What? Quit judging!

I tried so hard to find a gif of this. But apparently there are a bunch of
cheerleading teams called "Top Gun", which clutters up the search results.
Also, source.

5. Anthony Edwards as Goose. He's hilarious.
6. Spectacular 80s moustaches.
7. A very young Adrian Pasdar. I know him as Declan from Mysterious Ways (seriously, did anyone watch that show? Because everyone I ask says they've never heard of it). You guys might know him better as Nathan Petrelli from Heroes though.

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8.The music. Let's face it, it's got a completely kickass soundtrack (with the exception of Berlin's "Take My Breath Away", which makes me stabby and nauseated.)
9. Meg Ryan's hair. I particularly love the part where the start of the film emphasises that it's set in "The present day" while her hair is kind of the equivalent of acid wash denim.

Contrary to appearances, she's wearing clothes in this scene. Also, source.

10. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, planes!!
11. It's produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott.
12. The scene where they flip off the MiG pilot.

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13. Kelly McGillis' hilariously enormous glasses.
14. Goose playing "Great Balls of Fire".
15. The final dogfight.
16. It led to the whole Barney Stinson "flight suit up!" thing.

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17. The retired Rear Admiral who was the technical advisor for all the flying stuff? His name was Peter Pettrigrew. (Okay, that one's probably not awesome unless you're a Harry Potter fan...)
18. It also led to people photoshopping David Tennant's head onto Maverick's body. I would watch the crap out of a movie in which Tennant played a fighter pilot. (And I now can't find a picture of this to prove it to you. FAIL. You'll just have to trust me when I say it's awesome. If anyone finds it in the depths of Tumblr, let me know!)
19. The "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" scene.

Plus, the following quotes:
- "I feel the need...the need for speed!"
- "Maverick's supersonic. I'll be there in thirty seconds."
- "Hey Goose, you big stud!" "That's me!!" "Take me to bed or lose me forever."
- "Come on, Mav. Do some of that pilot shit!"
- "The Defence Department regrets to inform you that your sons are dead because they were stupid."
- "Are you a good pilot?" "I can hold my own." "Great, then I don't have to worry about you making your living as a singer."
- "YOU! You are still dangerous... But you can be my wingman any time." "Bullshit. You can be mine."
- "No. No. Mav, this is not a good idea!" "Sorry, Goose. But it's time to buzz the tower."
- "You were in a 4G INVERTED dive with a MiG28?" "Yes, ma'am." "At what range?" "Um...about two metres? [looks to Goose]?" "It was actually about one and a half, I think. It was one and a half. I've got a great Polaroid of it, and he's right there. Must be one and a half."
- "Is this your idea of fun, Mav?"
- "Son, your ego is writing cheques your body can't cash!"
- "Tower, this is Ghostrider requesting a fly by." "Negative, Ghostrider. The pattern is full."
- "And if you screw up just THIS much, you'll be flying a cargo plane full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong!!"

Please tell me you guys are old enough to remember this movie? Do you love it? Hate it? Love to drive up the Hume Highway blasting Danger Zone?

K xx

Things that are awesome

1. I received a (two week early) birthday present from my BFF Kat in the post today. I would take a photo of it for you, but....... Anyway, it's a bag from Mushy Wear and I love it!! It's the perfect size for uni notebooks without looking like a boring book bag.
2. We heard from the insurance company today, and I should have a replacement camera within a week!! I'm super-excited about it. It looks like it's going to be the next model up from my old camera, which comes with more megapixels, higher ISO capability, and full video. It's still an entry level model, but a brand new camera is not to be sneezed at! I'll make sure to take photos of my awesome new bag when the camera turns up :)
3. THE DALEKS ARE COMING BACK IN SERIES 7. And not just the Daleks. ALL the Daleks.
4. Discount Easter eggs at the supermarket.

That last one has nothing to do with anything else. It's just awesome. Wouldn't you agree, David Tennant?

I rather thought you would!

What's been awesome for you recently?
K xx

Amazingness

A week or so ago, my wonderful bloggy BFF Kim asked on Twitter if anyone wanted a free blog redesign. I did a Kermit flail in my chair, and immediately stuck my hand up. By which I mean "sent her a reply that basically said "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" and hoped like hell", because I'm pretty sure she couldn't see me sticking my hand up from all the way across the Tasman.

With the directions "something fun and kind of bluey-greeny. Hey, that reminds me of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey and now my brain's in a David Tennant place, wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, DOCTOR WHO IS AWESOME!!!!!", she came up with a spectacular design that I adore. Which is to say that she's amazing, and didn't get exasperated when I sent her emails that said "HAHAHAHA, I totally didn't realise that greeny bit at the top was a map of Australia! Now can you make the bluey bit lighter?"

So if you're using a reader/subscribed by email, stop by and check it out!

A huge, enormous thank you to Kim for all her hard work, and for also being fluent in Whovian. I think it made things a lot easier for both of us!! ;) <3 <3 <3 Also, if you're not reading her blog about life in New Zealand, you should. Homegirl is hilarious.

Anyone else want Kim to redesign their blog? Go here. Like, right now.

What do you think?
K xx

2011 in review

Confession: I just wrote "2001 in review" in the title line. Eventually, Brain, you're going to have to get used to writing a 1 rather than a 0...

Anyway. Here we are at the end of 2011. I honestly can't believe how fast this year has gone!! Christmas Day in Melbourne brought massive thunderstorms:

A shit ton of Doctor Who themed presents:

(In case you can't tell, that's the complete series 1-4 boxset, the complete specials box set, the 2010 Christmas special, the Doctor Who equivalent of Where's Wally, and a box of fruit flavoured Dalek shaped candy. WIN)

And an ice cream maker.

It's been quite the eventful year. I've written over 200 posts here, along with two guest posts.

January brought the dreaded Summernats car festival and me talking about being afraid of butterflies. It also brought the start of my cookbook challenge.

In February, I joined Twitter. I honestly can't believe it was less than a year ago. I also ploughed my way through five cookbook challenge recipes.

March featured me having to talk to a group of small children at work, reaching 150 posts, and being a bridesmaid for Em and Matt. I also went to see Red Riding Hood at the movies, and wished to God I hadn't.

April started off my participation in the 30 Days of Books challenge. It ended with me turning 28.

May started with ninjabread men. (That post brings me a truly disturbing amount of traffic) I also booked my trip to the US.

June? June was a big one. For starters, the gallery opened. (And if anyone wants any ACTUAL information on it, just flick me an email!) I also reached 200 posts, saw X-Men First Class in gold class, posted more random crap about myself than anyone ever wanted to know, and wrote a love letter to the BBC.

In July, I finally left Canberra and moved back to Melbourne. I also finished the 30 Days of Books challenge. And to fill the challenge void in my life, I decided I needed to do a Day Zero list.

August saw me head to Chicago for the 20SB Summit. It was amazing. As was meeting Sweeney, Lor and Penny.

September was spent hanging out with the bestest friends a girl could ever ask for, and visiting Colorado, Washington DC, New York and Boston. And an unexpected 24 hour stop over in Los Angeles. (Okay, most of those posts were written in October. That's totally not the point)

October saw the start of my Movie Mondays series. It also featured me crying a lot, when we had to have my beloved Domino put to sleep.

In November, I participated in National Blog Posting Month, and bored you all senseless wrote many wonderful posts about nothing. I also started the 30 Day Photography Challenge, which I honestly haven't forgotten about. I also took advantage of my unemployment to cross a few more things off the cookbook challenge list, and wrote a GIF-filled love letter to Doctor Who.

And that brings us to December, and the launch of Dessert Day with the lovely Deidre!

It's been a year filled with ups and downs, but also a lot of wonderful memories. So roll on 2012 - I can't wait to see what you've got to throw at me.

Source Also? I really hope you're right, Tennant.

I'm off to the beach with a bunch of friends for New Year's Eve. It's meant to be insanely hot, so it's definitely the place to be!

Who's doing something exciting for New Year's? And how's 2011 treated you?

K xx