TTT - Books to revisit from my childhood/teen years

Another Tuesday already? Must be time to talk about books and link up with the Broke and the Bookish!

It seems very appropriate to be discussing the books we want to visit from our childhoods this week, seeing as last month I fiiiiiiiiinally got around to sorting out the cupboard where a bunch of books that I haven't read in approximately a million years are stored. And now that there's some actual order in there and I can actually FIND things, there's a reasonable chance that I may actually get around to rereading some of the books on this list one of these days! 

I've seen a lot of Babysitter's Club, Sweet Valley High, and Goosebumps on lists today. My list will not contain any of those for one simple reason: Snark Squad. Those books are so much worse than you remember, guys... 

Anyway, without further ado, let's get on with my list! 

1. Pagan's Crusade by Catherine Jinks

I was OBSESSED with these books in my early years of high school. Totally, totally obsessed. But I haven't read any of the original trilogy since about 1999. I have the second book - Pagan in Exile - on my shelf, so one of these days I really should remember to pilfer Pagan's Crusade from work and reread the entire series. (But preferably not with this totally nonsensical cover...)

2. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr

I LOVED this book when I was about 10 or 11. It was probably my first introduction to World War II, and I really need to revisit it one of these days. Especially seeing as I have the whole series in the aforementioned cupboard.

3. Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park

This one's an Australian classic, and I read it several times as a kid. But apparently I've totally forgotten everything about the plot over the past 20 years because all I remember is that it possibly involves time travel?? Or ghosts?? Or both?????? Clearly, it's time to revisit it. 

4. Redwall by Brian Jacques

Oh my God, I loved these books as a kid. I had all the books that were published up to about 1997, and I read them all multiple times. I reread Mossflower a couple of years ago for a uni assignment, and failed to see what it was that I loved about the books so much. But Redwall was always my favourite of the series, so maybe I need to revisit it and see if I can discover the magic again...

5. The Boggart by Susan Cooper

This book is sadly dated now - I read it about 5 years ago, and laughed hysterically over a computer with a full colour screen and 250MB hard drive costing $10,000 - but it was such a fabulous story that I want to reread it again. 

6. Matilda by Roald Dahl

It's been YEARS since I read this, but I remember absolutely loving it as a kid. Having introduced Little Miss A to Roald Dahl a few weeks ago, the idea of rereading this one has been lingering in the back of my mind ever since. 

7. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

I read this when I was ten. Yeah. I was kind of a weird kid... I remember almost nothing about it, and I'm pretty sure 10 Year Old Kirsti had literally no idea what was happening for most of the story so it's DEFINITELY time to pick it up and read it again. 

8. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I have a box set of the full series in my cupboard that I got for my sixth or seventh birthday. And they're falling apart because I read them so much. I'm not sure I'd love them on reread, but I feel like I should give them the chance. 

9. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett 

This was the first book that we read for English in year 7, and I remember really enjoying it despite the odd character throwing a screaming fit over literally nothing. I should probably revisit it one of these days. 

10. The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard

YA didn't really exist when I was a teenager, so I spent most of my teen years reading crime and historical fiction. This series - a Downton Abbey sort of a thing set during World War II - was one of the ones that I read more than once. I haven't read them in years, though I DID see the BBC series that was made in 2001. Just don't mention how awful the covers are... 

What's on your list this week?

K xx

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

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This is the ninth book that I've read for Classics Club so far, and that means I'm 15% of the way through my list. Now, someone remind me not to leave all the ones I'm dreading until the end, yes??

Bilbo Baggins and I go back a long way. Back, in fact, to 1994 when my mum read The Hobbit to me and my little brother as a bedtime story over the course of several weeks. I've read it maybe twice since then, but the last time I did a reread was probably in about 2009, so it's been a while.

I'm pretty sure everyone knows the story of Bilbo Baggins and his adventure to the Lonely Mountain, whether it's from the book version or the two (soon to be three) movies that Peter Jackson's managed to drag out of a 350 page book. But what surprised me this time around was how obvious it is that it's a children's book. Maybe it's that I've been reading more middle-grade books since I started working in a primary school library, and so it's more obvious to me?? Whatever it is, there's something about the descriptions, about the language used, about the simplicity of much of the dialogue that just makes the intended audience incredibly obvious.

It shows through too in the fact that much of the violence of the story - and it IS a violent story. There's a dragon, trolls, giant spiders, and an enormous battle for starters! - takes place quickly and in very brief terms. The Battle of the Five Armies takes place over the course of seven pages, and at least one of those pages is basically Bilbo going "Oh shit, we're all going to die" and then getting knocked unconscious. Smaug being defeated takes about a page to describe, and the dwarfs have no idea it even happened until days after the event. It's all surprisingly low-key when compared to the story that Peter Jackson tells us.

I loved the story, as I always have. But what I loved most this time around were Tolkien's illustrations. Despite being simple, black and white line drawings, they really bring the story to life. Especially when it's apparent how much the illustrations have influenced the set designs in the films. All you have to do is look at Tolkien's drawing of the front hall at Bag End to see the similarities:

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All in all, I love the somewhat childish story Tolkien weaves. It gives you this warm fuzzy sense of nostalgia while still being full of action. And I'll be very interested to see how Peter Jackson handles the remaining chunk of the book (I mean, he inserted that ridiculous dip-the-dragon-in-melted-gold scene to The Desolation of Smaug, so......) when the final film comes out at the end of the year.

In short, there's a reason this book is a children's classic and remains on bestseller lists across the globe - it's really freaking good.

Have you read it? What did you think? And are you equally intrigued by how Peter Jackson is going to turn, like, one chapter of a book into a two and a half hour movie?!

K xx

Movie Monday: The Empire Strikes Back

This may seem like a strange time of year to cover The Empire Strikes Back, but I always associate it with Christmas time. Because a family friend was completely obsessed with Star Wars when we were kids, and every time we came home from Canada/England/wherever, we'd go to their place for New Year's Eve. And the four kids would end up sitting in the front room watching Star Wars. You may ask why this doesn't mean that I associate the Star Wars movies with New Year's. An excellent question. Well, it's because they were one of the few families we knew/know in Australia who have a real Christmas tree. So said viewing of Star Wars would always be accompanied by the smell of slightly sad and dried out Christmas tree.

ANYWAY.

Reasons why The Empire Strikes Back is awesome:
1. Harrison Ford. I mean, come on.
2. The music.
3. This scene:

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4. Carrie Fisher.
5. The literal translation of the French title is "The Empire Counter-attacks", which I think is fabulous.
6. Tauntauns.

Source. Also, LOL.

7. Abominable snowmen. LOLOLOLOLOL.
8. C-3PO. Oh my God, the sass.
9. The obligatory chopped off arms.
10. YODA!! Even if he's kind of an obnoxious little shit to start with.

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11. Han trapped in carbonite.
12. Taking down the AT-ATs.
13. Moving rocks with the Force while doing handstands.
14. The fight scene between Luke and Vader.

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15. Hiding out in the asteroid belt.
16. Lando Calrissian.
17. R2-D2. Tiny droid of awesomeness.
18. The big reveal of Vader being Luke's father.
19. The laws of physics are optional extras.

Plus, the following quotes:
- "Why, you stuck-up, half-witted scruffy looking NERF HERDER!" "Who's scruffy looking?"
- "The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi."
- "Do, or do not. There is no try."
- "I love you." "I know."
- "I am your father."
- "Prepare the boarding party. And set your weapons for stun."
- "You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."
- "Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1!" "Never tell me the odds."
- "Always in motion is the future."
- "Why, you slimy, double crossing, no good swindler!"
- "Laugh it up, fuzzball!"
- "Oh, my! What have you done? I'm BACKWARDS. You flea-bitten furball! Only an overgrown mop-head like you would be stupid enough to..."

Movie Monday: Scream

Given that it's Halloween on Thursday, this seemed an appropriate choice. I'm an epic wuss when it comes to all things spooky. There are still occasions when I watch Supernatural from behind a pillow/my hands. So when it comes to horror movies, I'm firmly on the Nope Train. Except when it comes to Scream. Because way back in the dim dark past of 1999, the English curriculum included something called a Communication Project. We had to form pairs or threes, and develop a project that required us to work with others from outside the school to do something like hold a masquerade ball or a formal, or put on a play, or host a presentation about something.

Em and I decided that we were going to make a spoof version of a horror movie. And we decided on Scream. We watched it approximately 500 times while writing our script, roped a bunch of friends into starring in it, and then filmed about two scenes because it took FOREVER to do anything. How we were planning on editing our movie, I have no idea...

ANYWAY. That's a really long winded story about why I love the crap out of Scream when I can't stand horror movies.

Reasons why Scream is awesome:
1. Drew Barrymore. She may only be in one scene, but it's a pretty damned fabulous scene.

2. Murder-y trivia competitions.
3. Neve Campbell. She doesn't stand around screaming when she gets attacked. She fights back every step of the way.
4. The ridiculous costume Ghostface wears.
5. Matthew Lillard. He's so fabulous at being an asshat. And this line is solid gold:

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6. Cell phones as a giveaway that someone might be the murderer.
7. David Arquette and Courtney Cox.
8. Sid punching Gale in the face.

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9. Ridiculously oversized scissors.
10. Henry Winkler. That's right, the Fonz is in it. And he's fabulously awful.
11. Video stores.
12. Rose McGowan.
13. Speaking of, let's add death by garage door.

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14. Sid impaling Billy with an umbrella spike.
15. Death by giant 90s television.
16. The hilariously awful 90s costumes. Especially Gale's.

WHAT IS THIS SUIT??? Also, source.

Plus, the following quotes:
- "That is SO sexist. The killer could easily be female!"
- "Liver alone! Liver, liver. It was a joke..."
- "He's my superior!" "The janitor is your superior."
- "How does it feel to be almost brutally butchered?"
- "Oh, now that's in poor taste. If you were the only suspect in a senseless bloodbath, would you be standing in the horror section?"
- "There are certain RULES that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. For instance, number one: you can never have sex." "BOOOOOOOOOO" "BIG NO NO! BIG NO NO! Sex equals death, okay? Number two: you can never drink or do drugs. The sin factor! It's a sin. It's an extension of number one. And number three: never, ever, ever under any circumstances say "I'll be right back." Because you won't be back." "I'm gettin' another beer, you want one?" "Yeah, sure." "I'll be right back."
"See, you push the laws and you end up dead. Okay, I'll see you in the kitchen with a knife."
- "There's a formula to it, a very simple formula. EVERYBODY'S A SUSPECT!"
- "Careful. This is the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back to life, for one last scare." "Not in my movie."
- "You sick fucks. You've seen one too many movies!" "Now Sid, don't you blame the movies. Movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative!"
- "Where do you get this shit?" "Ricki Lake."

What's your favourite scary movie?

K xx

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books you were "forced" to read

Time to link up with the Broke and the Bookish again!

Today we're talking about books that we were "forced" to read, whether they were for class, for book club, or because friends were all "You haaaaaaaaaaaaaave to read this!!!". I've gone with a selection of books I loved and books that I really wasn't a fan of, because obviously you're not always going to like something someone else is making you read.

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I had to read this for Year 10 English AND Year 12 Literature. I can remember - ridiculously vividly, I should add - getting my school books in January, and looking at the cover of the Penguin Classics edition and groaning because it just looked SO. FREAKING. BORING. I started reading it in the back of the car one day when my parents decided that we should go out for a drive (because OBVIOUSLY I had all my books for the year read before school started), and not wanting to put it down because I was so engrossed in the story. I've loved it every since.

2. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I read this out of sheer desperation because I'd run out of books and it was the only book available in English at the "book store" at the airport in Guatemala City. It kept me distracted, but mostly I spent the time it took me to read it thinking about how much the addition of Buffy Summers would improve the storyline. 

3. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

There was a time at the start of the year when literally half my Goodreads timeline was "OMG, I CAN'T WRITE A PROPER REVIEW OF THIS BOOK BECAUSE SPOILERS. JUST READ IT." I inevitably bowed to peer pressure and wrote my own review very much along the same lines. Seriously. If you haven't read it, you should go and do so immediately. 

4. Trainspotting by Irvine Walsh

In my first year of undergrad, I took English on the basis that I didn't know what my fourth set of subjects should be (the other three were Archaeology, History and Ancient Greek), and English had been my best subject at school. So I ended up doing a subject called Text, Criticism and the Visual, in which we read books, then watched the movie adaptations, and compared the two. It was pretty awesome, but this book? Took me FOREVER to get through, because the only way to understand about 60% of it was to read it out loud in a bad Scottish accent.

5. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

As I've mentioned approximately a dozen times in the course of this blog, my first exposure to Harry Potter was in 1998 on a flight from London to Melbourne. The ten year old son of a family friend had fangirl flailed about them to us repeatedly in the previous week. My mum - who was on a different flight to me because mine had been booked as part of a school trip - handed me the first two books at the airport, and was like "Read them on the plane and tell me what you think". The rest is history.

6. Fly Away Peter by David Malouf

This book is only 135 pages, but it took me about a week to read it. This was one of our exam texts for Year 12 English (the other was Cabaret), so we had to read it and analyse it approximately a hundred times and then write a never-ending string of essays about it in the lead up to exams. Ornithology plus World War One? SNORE. There's a reason it's on a Goodreads list titled "Read these in school - would rather have a root canal".

7. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

Another first year uni English subject book, this time for a class called The Classic Victorian Novel. I'd seen the BBC mini-series when it aired in 1999, so I knew the storyline already. But I wasn't quite prepared for just how much I would adore this book. And having seen the mini-series, I was completely unprepared for the book to just END, practically in mid-sentence. Damn you, Elizabeth Gaskell, for dying before you finished the story!! 

8. Un Lun Dun by China Mieville 

I had to read this last year as part of a book group assignment for a class on YA recreational reading. It was interesting in that when I read it, I mostly enjoyed it but was puzzled by certain elements. But in the course of the discussion, the things we disliked seemed to bounce off each other and snowball into a giant blob of "I DID NOT LIKE THIS BOOK". At the end of the day, I think its biggest problem was that it would have worked better as a series of short stories - it was trying to do too much at once, and wasn't 100% sure of its target audience.

9. Van Diemen's Land by James Boyce

I had to read this for work a couple of years ago, and it's one of the most engaging history books I've ever had the pleasure to read. Boyce is a fabulous writer and if you're interested in Australian colonial history, it's definitely worth checking out. I loved pretty much every second of it.

10. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

This was another one that I had to read for first year English, and I hated it more or less from the get go. I despise all the characters, and the story just dragged on FOREVER. I don't think I've ever been so glad to finish a book in my life. 

So. There are my ten. What are yours?

K xx

Send puppies. And chocolate.

It's kind of a well established fact that I'm the crier in the family. My dad and my brother do the whole stoic Australian "men don't cry" thing. My mum doesn't cry very often, and when she does, it's usually over in five minutes. But me? I'm an ugly crier. And I cry a LOT. Something sad happens in a movie? I cry. Someone else is crying? I tear up. I cry when I'm frustrated. I cry when I'm angry, which gets incredibly annoying because then no one takes you seriously... Plus, we've already established that I'm completely useless in an emergency because I just start crying and can't stop.

In the past year, I've cried over the following books: The Fault in Our Stars, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, A Monster Calls, Code Name Verity, The Book Thief, Eleanor & Park, and the last installment of the Buffy season 8 comics (tears of anger due to how completely awful it was). And don't even get me STARTED on my ability to cry over television shows. Two minutes into Doomsday, and I'm sobbing. Supernatural turns me into a wreck on a regular basis. Hell, even How I Met Your Mother made me cry when Marshall's dad died. Fun fact - I can actually date my crying over TV shows back to a very specific incident:

1998 Kirsti:

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Mum: "....................??????"
1998 Kirsti: "alskjfkaslfjkshdfjkshdgjshgjk!!!!!!"
Mum: "Stop crying, I can't understand you..."
1998 Kirsti: "CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN SET FIRE TO THE X-FILES OMG I CAN'T EVEN"
Mum: "...Seriously?"

So yeah. That happened...

ANYWAY.

I've been ugly crying off and on over the past 48 hours, but at least this time I had a good reason for it. Because today, we dropped my little brother C at the airport for his flight to London. He'll be back in January for a mate's wedding, but that's like FOREVER AWAY. So I bawled my eyes out yesterday afternoon. And then I cried in the shower this morning. And then I cried again at the airport, and sniffled my way through the car trip home.

In short, I'm a barrel of laughs to be around at the moment. If someone wants to send me a puppy to cuddle, I'd be incredibly appreciative. In the meantime, I'm going to go and drown my feelings in the large quantities of ice cream that Paulie brought over last night. There are definite perks to having an almost sibling who works in the ice cream industry...

BRB, ugly crying,

K xx

Movie Monday: Music and Lyrics

I have an irrationally large soft spot for today's installment. I'm fully aware that it's quite terrible, and yet I will love it forever. I think in the year that she was in Australia, Sara and I watched it about five times. One of which was on her MP3 player in the car at Cataract Gorge in Launceston because it was pissing with rain and we had an hour and a half to kill before we had to head for the airport. Good times...

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Reasons why Music and Lyrics is awesome:
1. The opening hilariously 80s music video.


2. Hugh Grant. He totally takes the piss out of himself in this, and he's fabulous. Plus, he's incredibly sarcastic.
3. The songs. I mean, come on. They're genius.
4. Drew Barrymore.

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5. Pop! hip.
6. Brad Garett.
7. Trading outfits in the bathroom to one-up a douchey ex-boyfriend.
8. Cora. She's hilariously awful.

Actual lyric from a Cora song. Source

9. Trying out lyrics on the tonedeaf concierge.
10. The lyricist. OMG.
11. Ridiculous moving statues on the stairs at Cora's party.
12. Kristen Johnston. Quite possibly my favourite part of this movie. She's brilliant.

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13. Sophie constantly putting her handbag on the piano and Alex snatching it off.
14. Rhonda piling mashed potatoes onto Alex's plate.
15. Alex teaching Sophie's niece and nephew has to do Pop! dance moves.
16. Matthew Morrison as Cora's manager. LOL FOREVER.

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17. The dance coaching scene, where Alex just keeps doing his Pop! dance moves over and over.
18. The song Alex writes for Sophie.

Plus, the following quotes:
- "Why do you have a plant lady? Why do you even have plants?" "Because, from time to time, ladies accompany me back to the apartment and one of them once mentioned that plants make women comfortable." "Is that true? Plants make women comfortable? Well, maybe if I had plants I'd still be married." "Yes, I think that was the problem; not Susan's affair and raging nymphomania but your lack of vegetation."
- "Just hold that thinly veiled insult for one second."
- "Sleeping with a clown above my bed... "Clown" is not right..." "That's "cloud." Why would you put a clown in your bed?" "It would not be the first time."
- "The best time I've had in the last fifteen years was sitting at that piano with you." "That's wonderfully sensitive... especially from a man who wears such tight pants." "It forces all the blood to my heart."
- "My face is in the butter..."
- "Are you trying to tell me that you enjoyed that orgasm set to the "Gandhi" soundtrack?"
- "Just a little bit louder, because this song is intended for humans, okay? Way Back Into Love, take two."
- "Are you OK?" "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just my Pop! hip. It comes from years of doing our patented dance move. My God, I've suffered for my art."
- "Well, that's just ridiculous. Nobody grows up in Florida, unless they're an orange."
- "You should get some ice on that." "Only if it's attached to some whisky."
- "She wants to know if we like wheatgrass." "Sounds ominous..."

- "I wanna show you the roof. It's upstairs!" 

So. Thoughts??

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K xx

Another place, another time

Do you ever come across a song that, any time you hear it, immediately makes you think of a particular time or place? I apparently have a ton of them, and the list is constantly growing...

I was talking to Kim last week about Valentine's Day and how the whole "You can only show affection on this one particular day and through the purchase of cheesy gifts" thing is pretty UGH-worthy. And somehow, that did a massive segue kick into me telling her about how Valentine's Day was pretty awesome when I was in grades 1 and 2, because I was at school in Canada and so we basically did no school work all day, we just had a big party complete with a lip syncing competition.

There is a point to this story. And that point is this: a group of girls from Not My Year Level did a lip sync routine to Madonna's "Like a Prayer". And from that moment on, whenever I hear that song, I'm instantly six years old again, wearing my white party dress with pink, red and white ribbons in my hair.

Other songs on the list?

Biffy Clyro - "The Captain": Thanks to Channel 10 using this song to promote football telecasts FOR THE WHOLE OF 2010, this song and AFL are forever linked in my brain. (Also? I had no idea this video clip was such a giant ball of WTFery until now!)


Foster the People - "Pumped Up Kicks": New Year's Eve 2011, sitting on the deck of a mate's beach house with a cider in hand while lamb roasted on the barbeque.

Lady Gaga - "Edge of Glory": This will never not remind me of a particularly horrific squat track at Body Pump.

Green Day - "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)": Paris, 1998, walking down the Champs Elysees. Yup. We were classy like that.


Scissor Sisters - "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'": The cafeteria at Brewery Land. For some peculiar reason, EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR A WHOLE WEEK, this song played on the radio while we were at lunch. It was bizarre.

Plain White T's - "Hey There Delilah": I have absolutely no idea why, but I have this incredibly vivid memory of the first time I heard this song. It was in Peru in 2008, somewhere on the road between Chivay and Arequipa, and I was squished against the door of the minibus sharing Ness's iPod.

Belinda Carlisle - "Summer Rain": New Year's Eve 2006. I went out to a bar in the city with my cousin and her friends, and my cousin got...a wee bit intoxicated...and requested this about seven times in a row. They played it three times just to shut her up.


Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes - "(I've Had) The Time of My Life": Year 12 meant that our lockers were in the VCE Hall, a mysterious building that only Year 12s were allowed into. It also had a kitchenette, sofas, and a stereo. We blasted this song at least twice a day for the entire year.

Hugh Grant - "Pop! Goes My Heart": Tasmania, 2010. Sara and I discovered our mutual love of Music and Lyrics on that trip, and may have listened to this song about a hundred times, complete with dance moves.

Don McLean - "American Pie": Back in 2002, Megan and I spent an entire night sitting in one or other of our dorm rooms in the UK and trying to remember all the lyrics to this. Aaaaah, the days before wifi...

Les Miserables - "Do You Hear the People Sing?": Okay, this connects to a story that I have yet to tell you about my trip. We went to see Les Mis at the movies in Phoenix, and were the only people in the theatre. This song was the point where we snapped and turned the movie into a sing-along. And it was AWESOME. (You're welcome for Eddie Redmayne's face, BTW)


I Nine - "Same in Any Language": Lauren's car, driving from New York to Boston and blasting the Elizabethtown soundtrack. Poor Kat was so confused as to why we kept yelling "Did I miss 60B??".

Michael Jackson - "Thriller": My brother borrowed this from the library on VINYL in 1993. I was in my bedroom and had no idea what was going on, and the evil cackling freaked me out.

Dropkick Murphys - "Shipping Up To Boston": Red Sox vs Orieles, Fenway Park, 2011. I don't think I really need to say any more than that!!

Do you guys have songs that make you think of somewhere/when else? Or am I a weirdo??

K xx

We all have potential for greatness

Twelve years ago today (because I'm old as dirt), I finished high school. Well, technically I finished my last CLASSES at high school and cleaned out my locker and cried a lot because OH MY GOD I HAVE TO BE A GROWN UP NOW (total lie. I'm still not a grown up). I still had to sit all my exams, and go back to school a bunch of times for band rehearsals for speech night and then attend graduation and all of that nonsense. But for all intents and purposes, my high school career finished 12 years ago today.

With the end of high school (which, for the Year 12s of 2012 has just happened), you hear a lot of motivational speeches and stuff about inspirational people. So I figured I'd take the opportunity to share with you guys some of the people that *I* find inspiring. They fall into two categories:

Fictional women who kick arse. Literally. 
- Buffy Summers. This will come as no surprise to those of you who read Snark Squad (And if you don't read Snark Squad, you should really start). Buffy's pretty awesome. She risks her life on a daily basis, she fights to save others even when she's terrified, and even death can't keep her down. Plus, she does it all in heels while being snarky.

- Donna Noble. In everyday life? She's a bit bumbling, a little chubby, lives with her mother, and works as a temp. But when she starts travelling with the Doctor? She grounds the Doctor, helps to save the planet numerous times, and she was the most important woman in the universe.

- Zoe Washburne. Zoe is one HELL of a badass. She's a soldier through and through, loyal to her husband, her ship and her captain. She fights for what she believes in, no matter how terrifying the circumstances. And she deadpans her way through it all.

- Dana Scully. When I watched The X-Files as a teenager, I always thought Scully was really boring in comparison to Mulder. But rewatching it over the past few months? Scully is brilliant. She rescues herself from danger on countless occasions, gets kidnapped by lunatics half a dozen times without developing a serious case of agoraphobia/PTSD, cuts up dead bodies at stupid o'clock in the morning, is WAY more snarky than I remember, and does it all while wearing really unflattering 90s pantsuits.

- Natasha Romanoff (aka The Black Widow). Holy crap, is she awesome. She holds her own against a multitude of superheroes with no special powers other than the ones she's worked her butt off to develop. She's afraid when she needs to be, but won't let her fear stop her. And she does whatever she has to to save the people who matter to her. Plus, she outmaneouvered Loki.

Actual people who are amazing.
- Tom Hiddleston. The title for this post is actually a Hiddles quote. In addition to being a fantastic actor, he worked his arse off to get into Cambridge, he's fluent in five languages (including Latin and Ancient Greek), he once brought soup to a reporter on the red carpet after seeing them tweet about how cold it was outside, and he's quite possibly the most eloquent and well-spoken person I've ever come across.

- John and Hank Green. If you're not aware of these two (John is an award winning novelist, and Hank is his younger brother, and a talented musician), they started vlogging in 2007 as an experiment - for twelve months, they would cease text based communication, and instead record daily vlogs to each other. Five years later, they're hugely popular, and have an incredibly dedicated community. But here's the thing - they engage with their community to "decrease world suck", raising money and awareness for causes all around the world. They're unapologetically nerdy, and their motto is "Don't forget to be awesome."

- Joss Whedon. This one's probably not a surprise, considering three of the characters in the above list have had some kind of involvement with him. Joss Whedon likes to break the rules. The network says his characters can't swear on TV? He has them swear in Chinese. He directs a Disney movie? It includes the phrase "mewling quim". The writer's strike shuts down the whole of Hollywood? He writes and films a musical with three big name stars for $10,000 and makes it available for free on the internet. He's not afraid to kill off the most popular character in a show. And one of my favourite quotes is from him - "Be yourself. Unless you suck."

- Maggie Smith. Did you know that she was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer during the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? She was bald and sick as a dog, but she was determined to see it through to the end and finish playing Minerva McGonagall. If anyone in the world is in Gryffindor? It's Maggie Smith. Also? She's phenomenal as Lady Grantham in Downton Abbey.

- Jennifer Lawrence. She's a brilliant actress, but the real reason I love her? She's kind of a huge dork. She's the girl who waves to the crowd and then goes "Oh shit, I forgot to shave my armpits" (seriously. That happened). She's the girl who's all "Oh, how did I get in shape for this movie? I laid in bed eating French fries." And she's the girl who tells reporters on the red carpet about how much she needs to pee. She's not afraid to be herself, and that? Is awesome.

So. Who inspires you??

K xx

More than you ever wanted to know

So about a month ago, Fire Fairy gave me a Liebster Award over on her blog. Aaaaand because I'm a giant slacker (and also had everything planned out to ensure that my 500th post didn't fall on a Monday), I'm only just getting around to saying thank you. So thank you, Fire Fairy!!

11 facts about me:
1. The most comfortable pair of pants I own is a pair of jazz ballet pants that I bought for a dancing concert in 1997. They have holes in them and I don't care. (To clarify: they're exclusively used for sitting around the house when I don't have to go anywhere)
2. When I get angry, I cry. It's a pain in the arse.
3. The last time I bought an item of clothing was in April.
4. If I can find a way to get out of having to leave the house, I will.
5. I rarely wear skirts/dresses. After 12 years of school uniforms which required me to wear a kilt/pinafore/skirt to school every day? NO THANK YOU.
6. My current pet peeve is groups of people who walk insanely slowly while taking up the entire footpath. Especially in the city.
7. I find it weirdly fascinating to watch how other people sign their names. The conclusion I have reached from this? Everyone else has FAR more grown up signatures than I do.
8. I didn't drink until my 24th birthday (Well. Apart from that time I got drunk when I was six).
9. According to a form we had to fill in for class earlier this semester, I've saved $2,500 this year by using my local library instead of buying books.
10. I hate dusting to the point where I'll use the vacuum cleaner to try and suck up the dust from shelves/window sills/whatever so that I don't have to dust.
11. I leave my shoes EVERYWHERE. I currently have one pair in the study, one pair in the family room, one pair on my bedroom floor, and three pairs in the kitchen. This drives my mother up the wall. I, on the other hand, have realised that I'm FAR more likely to be able to find my shoes when they're NOT in my wardrobe.

Fire Fairy's questions:
1. If you could befriend any Disney villain and help them mend their ways, who would you choose and why?
Oh jeez. It's been a really long time since I saw a Disney movie in the traditional sense... On the basis that Disney owns Marvel Studios, I'm going to go with Loki from Thor/The Avengers.

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2. You've been invited to a fairy tale themed fancy dress party. Who or what do you dress as? (I need inspiration for attending such a party myself!)
Maybe Belle from Beauty and the Beast?? Then I'd have a legitimate reason to carry a book everywhere!

3. If you could choose any activity to be made an official Olympics sport, what would you pick?
Roller derby. Because it makes a million times more sense than synchronised swimming.

4. Where in the world would you most like to go that you haven't already been to?
I can never decide between my top three - Ireland, Italy and Egypt.

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5. What is your ultimate karaoke song? If you don't ever do karaoke, what would it be if you were forced to sing?
I don't do karaoke (although it's on my 101 in 1001 list. I'm a huge chicken though. I don't sing in front of people...), but I'd probably do something super cheesy that everyone knows the words to, like Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" or Abba's "Super Trouper", which I have an irrational soft spot for.

6. If you could have any famous historical figure over for dinner, who would you invite?
Just one?? Probably Charles Dickens.

7. If you went to Hogwarts, which house do you think the Sorting Hat would place you in?
I'd like to think Ravenclaw, but I'm terrible at riddles, so I'd probably never be able to get into the common room if that were the case!!

8. What was the best science experiment you did, or saw your teacher do, at school?
There are three that stand out: 1. In high school chemistry, we made mayonnaise (We were studying emulsions). 2. At school in England, our teacher separated a tiny quantity of crude oil into its various products. Because, you know, that's EXACTLY the kind of thing ten year olds need to learn about... And 3. Our school in England had 54 acre grounds. So for a biology assignment (again, JUST the kind of thing ten year olds should be studying!), we got to spend a class roaming around the grounds, collecting snails and measuring their shells with calipers. The point was, I believe to produce a bell curve. But mostly, we got to play in the woods for an hour. WIN.

What, you weren't drawing diagrams of fractal distillation
of liquids at the age of ten?? 

9. What's your favourite way to spend a hot summer's day?
At the movies or laying on the sofa under the ceiling fan, watching The Day After Tomorrow. Because you can convince yourself that you're cool while watching a movie about an ice age.

10. What's your favourite way to spend a freezing cold winter's day?
Cold for Melbourne is like 10 degrees C, so it's not really FREEZING as such! But probably sitting under a blanket watching movies and drinking hot chocolate. As you can see, I'm not really big with the whole outside thing...

11. If you could dye your hair any colour you wanted just for fun, which colour would you choose?
Purple, I guess?

I'm going to nominate the following people:
Pretzel Thief
Kat
Leah
Emmy
Gina
Kim

Your questions, some of which I'm going to steal from the questions I was asked in my 500th post because I'm brain dead right now:
1. What's your favourite fictional pairing and why?
2. If you went travelling with the Doctor, what's the first place you would go and why? (Gina/Pretzel Thief - knowing that you guys don't watch Doctor Who, I'll reword it just for you: If you found a time machine that could also take you anywhere in the universe, what's the first place you would go and why?)
3. What's your favourite Halloween related movie?
4. If you could be any kind of animal, what would you be?
5. Cake or cupcakes?
6. What's your favourite song at the moment?
7. What was your favourite subject in high school?
8. What's your favorite 90s TV show?
9. If you could be any superhero, who would you be?
10. What do you like on your pizza?
11. Do you have any weird phobias?

The rules:
1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award Presenter on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who awarded you.
3. Copy and Paste the award to your blog.
4. Nominate at least 5 blogs (up to 11) to receive the award.
5. Inform them of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Include 11 random facts about yourself in your post.
7. Answer the 11 questions the person that has nominated asked you and create 11 new questions for the people you have nominated.

Feel free to answer the questions in the comments if I didn't tag you! (Hell, even if I *did* tag you, feel free to answer in the comments)

K xx

Movie Monday: Dead Poets Society

I decided yesterday that I've been posting FAR too many comedies, and that it was time to blog about a movie that is spectacularly unfunny, but still amazing. Apparently I am a masochist. If I ever come to this decision again, please come round and knock some sense into me, 'kay??

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This movie has been in my life for a long time now. If you ever want to make an entire classroom full of 15-16 year old girls cry uncontrollably for weeks at a time, you should make them study this movie for English. (Honestly, it kind of surprises me that we watched this in Year 10, because my Year 10 English teacher was SUPER concerned about us being too young to see stuff. So she would always fast forward through kissing scenes or violence or death, even in Year 12 Literature. For which we studied Tess of the D'Urbervilles and King Lear... Seriously, that happened. Must Be Thrifty can back me up!)

ANYWAY. I love this movie like whoa, but I can only watch it every couple of years, because I end up a snot covered hot mess by the end of it.

Reasons why Dead Poets Society is awesome:
1. Robin Williams. He was nominated for an Oscar for this role, and he completely deserved the nomination.
2. Phone calls from God.

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3. Robert Sean Leonard. I know that to most people, he's Wilson from House. But to me, he will forever be Neil Perry. He had almost nothing on his CV prior to Dead Poets, and he is phenomenal in it.
4. The final scene. Oh my God, so much ugly crying. (Also? Has anyone else ever secretly wished they had a teacher so awesome that it warranted doing this??)

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5. Ethan Hawke. Another one with almost no acting credits to his name before taking on such a huge role. He deserves all the awards for...
6. The scene where Todd finds out about Neil. They did it in a single take, and it's completely heartbreaking.
7. Knox Overstreet (played by Josh Charles). Any time I see Josh Charles in anything, I inevitably squeal "KNOX OVERSTREET!!!!" at the television. Knox is such a completely adorkable character.
8. Meeks and Pitts dancing on the roof when they finally get their homemade radio to work.

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9. Charlie Dalton (played by Gale Hansen). Another truly spectacular character.
10. Flying desksets.
11. The scene where Mr Keating is trying to teach them individuality through walking.
12. Amazing cinematography.
13. I will never be able to think of poor Walt Whitman as anything but a sweaty toothed madman.
14. Knox's "WTF??" face when Mr Keating is giving his 'Carpe Diem' speech.

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15. It's directed by Peter Weir, who's also responsible for Gallipoli, Master & Commander, and Picnic at Hanging Rock.
16. Ripping out the terrible introduction by J. Evans Pritchard, PhD, and Cameron using a ruler to ensure his is ripped neatly.
17. The scene where Charlie plays the saxophone. It always reminds me of Ferris Bueller.

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18. It won an Oscar for best screenplay. It deserved more than just the one.
19. Reading poetry during soccer training.
20. Charlie quoting Shakespeare and Byron to the girls in the cave, and claiming that he'd just made it up especially for them.
21. The scene where Keating takes the Dead Poets Society book out of Neil's desk at the end. Anyone who thinks Robin Williams is a comedic actor should watch this scene.

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22. The scene where Knox finally plucks up the courage to phone Chris, but then hangs up the second she answers.
23. Whistling the 1812 Overture.

Plus, the following quotes:
- "'O Captain, my Captain.' Who knows where that comes from? Anybody? Not a clue? It's from a poem by Walt Whitman about Mr Abraham Lincoln. Now, in this class, you can either call me Mr Keating, or if you're slightly more daring, O Captain, my Captain."
- "Dead Poets honour."
- "Exercising the right not to walk!"
- "From now on, call me Nuwanda."
- "I sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world."
- "I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life."
- "We're not laughing at you. We're laughing near you."
- "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race."
- "No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world."
- "Carpe... Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your life extraordinary."
- "Sucking the marrow out of life doesn't mean choking on the bone."
- "You must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all."
- "Welton Academy, hello. Yes he is, just a moment. Mr. Nolan, it's for you. It's God. He says we should have girls at Welton."
- "Language was developed for one endeavor, and that is - Mr. Anderson? Come on, are you a man or an amoeba? [pause] Mr. Perry?" "To communicate." "No! To woo women!"
- "Close your eyes, close your eyes! Close 'em! Now, describe what you see." "Uh, I-I close my eyes." "Yes." "Uh, and this image floats beside me." "A sweaty-toothed madman." "A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brain." "Oh, that's *excellent*! Now, give him action - make him do something!" "H-His hands reach out and choke me." "That's it! Wonderful, wonderful!" And all the time he's mumbling." "What's he mumbling?" "Mumbling truth." "Yeah, yes." "Truth like-like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold." "[some of the class start to laugh] Forget them, forget them! Stay with the blanket. Tell me about that blanket!" "Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it'll never be enough. You kick at it, beat it, it'll never cover any of us. From the moment we enter crying t-to the moment we leave dying, it'll just cover your face as you wail and cry and scream." [long pause then class applauds] "Don't you forget this."
- "Todd, I think you're underestimating the value of this desk set. I mean, who would want a football or a baseball or..." "Or a car." "Or a car, if they could have a desk set as wonderful as this one? I mean, if-if I were ever going to buy a desk set, twice, I would probably buy this one. Both times! In fact, its shape is... it's rather aerodynamic, isn't it? You can feel it. This desk set wants to fly! Todd? The world's first unmanned flying desk set. [Todd throws it off the roof - papers fly everywhere and things crash and clatter to the ground] Oh my! Well, I wouldn't worry. You'll get another one next year."
- "Excrement! That's what I think of Mr. J. Evans Pritchard! We're not laying pipe! We're talking about poetry. How can you describe poetry like American Bandstand? "I like Byron, I give him a 42 but I can't dance to it!""
- "It'll help you get Chris!" "Yeah? How?" "Women swoon!" "But why do they swoon? Charlie, tell me why they swoon!"

Seriously, you guys. Please tell me you cry like a baby in this movie too?? And if you haven't seen it, GET ON THAT RIGHT NOW. Because of all the reasons.

K xx

Movie Monday: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Welcome to the final installment of "Instead of the Olympics, I'm going to watch awesome British movies"!

This movie is hands down, one of my favourite movies of ALL TIME. In fact, I spent large chunks of Year 10 maths classes quoting chunks of it (and all other things Monty Python) with Emily. I don't think our teacher was particularly impressed. But hey - I passed at the end of the year, and that's what really matters!

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Reasons why Monty Python and the Holy Grail is awesome:
1. It's Monty Python. 'Nuff said.
2. The Knights who say Ni.
3. The French guards.

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4. It led to the creation of a completely kickass musical.
5. The scene with the wooden rabbit.

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6. The random subtitles about Sweden and moose in the opening credits.
7. The scene with the witch.

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8. Tim the Enchanterrrrrrrrrrrrr.
9. The killer rabbit.

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10. Coconuts.
11. The Black Knight.

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12. Sir Robin and his minstrels.
13. The scene with Dennis.

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14. The flagellant monks.
15. The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

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16. The Castle Anthrax.
17. This scene:

18. Swamp Castle.
19. God getting cross when people grovel and avert their eyes. HILARIOUS.

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20. The Bridge of Death.
21. Swallows.

Plus, the following quotes:
- "Run awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!"
- "What is the land speed velocity of an unladen swallow?"
- "Fetchez la vache!"
- "Bring out yer dead!"
- "Go away, or I shall taunt you for a second time."
- "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!" <-- This? Is my favourite Monty Python line of EVER.
- "Look, you stupid bastard, you've got no arms left!" "Yes I have." "LOOK!!!" "It's just a flesh wound."
- "What makes you think she's a witch?" "She turned me into a newt!!" "A newt?" "............I got better."
- "Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called 'Arthur King', you and your silly English kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-niggits!"
- "Listen, strange women lying about in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!"
- "I'm invincible!" "You're a loony..."
- "You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"
- "One second thought, let us not go to Camelot. It is a silly place..."
- "Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?"
- "What's wrong with her? She's beautiful, she's rich, she's got huuuuuge...tracts of land."
- "We are no longer the Knights who say Ni... We are now the Knights who say...Ekki-ekki-ekki-ekki-PTANG zoom-boing znourrwringmm!"
- "I told them we've already got one!"
- "Pie Iesu Domine, dona eis requiem. *thunk*"
- "You must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with...A HERRING!"
- "Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who..."
- "We want...A SHRUBBERY!"
- "I wave my private parts at your aunties, you cheesy lot of secondhand electric donkey bottom biters!"
- "Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer!"
- "Well, now, uh, Lancelot, Galahad and I wait until nightfall, and then leap out of the rabbit, taking the French by surprise - not only by surprise, but totally unarmed!" "WHO leaps out?" "Uh, Lancelot, Galahad and I, uh, leap out of the rabbit, uh, and uh...l-look, if we built this large wooden badger.........."
- "O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayest blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy."
- "How do you know so much about swallows?" "Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know."
- "Help help, I'm being repressed!"
- "And the Lord spake saying 'First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out! Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch toward thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.' Amen."
- "Arthur! Arthur, King of the Britons! Oh, don't grovel! If there's one thing I can't stand, it's people grovelling." "Sorry..." "And don't apologize. Every time I try to talk to someone it's "sorry this" and "forgive me that" and "I'm not worthy". What are you doing now!?" "I'm averting my eyes, oh Lord." "Well, don't. It's like those miserable Psalms - they're so depressing. Now knock it off!"
- "And that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana shaped."
- "What an eccentric performance."
- "There are ways of telling whether she is a witch." "Are there? Oh well, tell us." "Tell me. What do you do with witches?" "Burn them." "And what do you burn, apart from witches?" "More witches." "Wood!" "Good. Now, why do witches burn?" "...because they're made of... wood?" "Good. So how do you tell whether she is made of wood?" "Build a bridge out of her!" "But can you not also build bridges out of stone?" "Oh yeah." "Does wood sink in water?" "No, no, it floats!... It floats! Throw her into the pond!" "No, no. What else floats in water?" "Bread." "Apples." "Very small rocks." "Cider." "Gravy." "Cherries." "Mud." "Churches." "Lead! Lead!" "A Duck." "...Exactly. So, logically..." "If she weighs the same as a duck... she's made of wood." "And therefore..." "...A witch!"

So, on a scale of one to a swallow carrying a coconut, how much do you love this movie?

K xx