eh

it's a tough job this movie quiz

2008-09-22T11:15:00.001+01:00

Trivial pursuit question: What was the occupation of the seven dwarfs in Snow White?
funny, but incorrect answer- domestic help.
Which is why the movie quiz this week has new jobs and job-seeking as the theme.

1. For this 2007 film Simon Pegg had weapons training in preparation for his role as Nick Angel, and also learned how to skid a bicycle properly along the way.
Name the film.

2. For this 2000 Oscar winning film the tagline was - She brought a small town to its feet and a huge corporation to its knees.
Which film?

3. In 1988 when a boy wishes to be big at a magic wish machine, he wakes up the next morning and finds himself in an adult body literally overnight.
The clue to the name of this film is right there.

4. In 2005 "A hitman and a salesman walk into a bar..." name the film starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear.

5. Name the 2006 film that had Anne Hathaway moving to New York and getting a job that was" Hell on Heels".

6. In 1999 John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton got very competitive about their job, life in general and airplanes. Name the film.

7. The original in 1969 starred Micheal Caine the 2003 remake Mark Whalberg but the real stars of both were the cars. Name the film.

8. Can you name the film with this cast: Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey and Johanton Pryce?

sorry

2008-09-16T03:11:00.000+01:00

no movie quiz this week.
busy moving house and making sence of ikea instructions.
normal service will be restored next week.

2008-09-08T02:59:00.002+01:00

This week the quiz,in honour of a good friend's engagement this weekend, is a mixture of questions about films with an engagement as a main focus. For each item, name the film.
Update- some answers
1.

Aunty and cristin got - Sweet Home Alabama

2. This 2000 film had the tag-line -First comes love. Then comes the interrogation.
Aunty got - Meet The Parents

3. Quote- I know, the people are quite taken with her. It's odd, but when I hired Vizzini to have her murdered on our engagement day, I thought that was clever. But it's going to be so much more moving when I strangle her on our wedding night. Once Guilder is blamed, the nation will truly be outraged - they'll demand we go to war.
Aunty got - The Princess Bride

4.

Aunty and cristin got - Monster-in-Law

5. Quote- Walter: [giving Annie an engagement ring] It was my grandmother's. I had them size it down. She had really fat fingers.

6. Quote- Joe: [trying to get Jerry to face reality regarding his engagement to Osgood] Jerry, Jerry, will you take my advice? Forget about the whole thing, will ya? Just keep telling yourself: you're a boy, you're a boy.

Jerry: [coming around] I'm a boy. I'm a boy. I wish I were dead. I'm a boy. Boy, oh boy, am I a boy. Now, what am I gonna do about my engagement present?
Aunty got - Some Like it Hot
7.

Aunty and cristin got -My Best Friend's Wedding

8. The 1950 version of this film had the tag-line - You're invited . . . to a hilarious wedding !
the 1991 re-make tag-line was - Love is wonderful. Until it happens to your only daughter.
Aunty and cristin got - Father of the Bride

9. Anna is a young widow who is finally getting on with her life after the death of her husband, Sean. Now engaged to be married, Anna meets a ten-year-old boy who tells her he is Sean reincarnated.

10. Five desperate men shoot themselves in order to be relieved from the horrifying frontline at the Somme, in WWI. A court-martial decides to punish them by leaving them alone in no-man's land, to be killed in the crossfire. One of these men's fiancée, a young girl who can't after an accident as a child, receives information that makes her suspect his boyfriend might have gotten away alive. So she embarks in a painful, long and often frustrating ordeal to find out the truth.
Aunty got - A Very Long Engagement

EEee EEee EEee

2008-09-07T18:21:00.003+01:00

10.05am
A woman walks into a mostly white bathroom.

She then closes the door, removes her robe, and steps into the bathtub. She draws the shower curtain closed and picks up the shower gel.
She turns on the shower.
As she is showering, through the translucent shower curtain she doesn't see the door open.
The blank whiteness, the rush of the water. The only other sound her not very good singing.
A shadow slowly approaches, the shower curtain slowly moves back.
The woman reacts to the sound of the shower curtain, turns and screams.......

Then realises that she has been watching too many horror films as the cause of the shower curtain movement is medium-sized white fluffy dog called George.

surprise

2008-09-03T10:45:00.000+01:00

Thought I'd given up on this idea, didn't you?

Nah, not yet.

Easy one this week, I think.

So, from the picture, Where The Feck Is Amanda?

dude, it's the monday movie quiz

2008-09-01T18:55:00.002+01:00

This week Keanu Reeves is 44 years old, so, all the pictures below are from films he starred in.
Name the film from the picture.

Update- some answers

1.

aunty and steve got - Point Break

2.

3.

aunty got - The Lake House

4.

aunty got - A Scanner Darkly

5.

aunty got - Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey

6.

cristin and aunty got -Something's Got To Give

7.

cristin and aunty got - The Matrix

8.

aunty got - My Own Privaye Idaho

9.

cristin and aunty got -The Devil's Advocate

10.

11.

cristin and aunty got - Speed

further tales of George

2008-08-30T04:29:00.002+01:00

A couple of weeks ago we were walking George in the local woods and as you know he likes to meet the local wildlife.
There was a man with two dogs, but he wasn't walking his dogs.
The dogs were just sitting nearby, waiting.
Because the man was busy walking his crow.
Yes, that was CROW.

playing favourites

2008-08-25T03:04:00.002+01:00

This week the movie quiz is all about films that I have given a rating of 3 /10 or less.
Name the film from the clues.

update- some answers
1. Halle Berry accepted the Golden Raspberry Award she 'won' for this film herself.
In a mystical twist of fate, she is transformed into a woman with the strength, speed, agility and ultra-keen senses of a cat. With her newfound prowess and feline intuition, Patience becomes ...? aunty and cristin got - Catwoman

2. Over 150 gallons of blood were used in the making of the movie, nearly three times the amount used on director Eli Roth's first film. The trailers bill the movie as "inspired by true events". Eli Roth says that he found a Thai website that advertised itself as a "murder vacation," offering users the chance to torture and kill someone for the price of $10,000. Roth later showed the site to Quentin Tarantino and the two developed the idea for the film. Tarantino and Roth said later on an Icelandic talk show that they have no idea if the website was real or not.
steve got- Hostel
3. Marisa Ventura is a single mother born and bred in the boroughs of New York City, who works as a maid in a first-class Manhattan hotel. By a twist of fate and mistaken identity, Marisa meets Christopher Marshall, a handsome heir to a political dynasty, who believes that she is a guest at the hotel.
aunty and cristin got -Maid in Manhattan
4. Orin Boyd (Steven Seagal) is a Detroit cop who doesn't follow rules. After he saved the Vice President by violating every order he received he is transferred to one of the worst precincts in the city. There he quickly encounters some corrupt cops selling heroin to drug dealers. The problem is, it's very difficult to tell who is the bad guy and who you can trust.
Erik (and steve) got- Exit Wounds
5. In a 2000 interview, Sandra Bullock jokingly referred to this movie as "the biggest piece of crap ever made." Keanu Reeves turned down the movie to go on tour with his band Dogstar.
The tagline for this 1997 sequel is -As the stakes get higher, the ride gets even faster.
aunty and cristin got - Speed 2 Cruise Control
6. This 2001 stinker stars Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski, has the tagline -He heard there was wildlife in L.A. He didn't know how wild. and starts with crocodile hunting has been made illegal; therefore Mick has been reduced to wrestling the animals for the entertainment of tourists, having as his rival in the business another Outback survivalist named Jacko. When an opportunity comes for Sue to become Los Angeles bureau chief of a newspaper owned by her father, Mick and family cross the Pacific to California.
aunty got -Crocodile Dundee 3

7. This 2004 waste of 91 minutes stars Ashley Olsen, Mary-Kate Olsen and Eugene Levy. All you need to know is the plot concerns one day in New York City, as Jane Ryan (Ashley Olsen) tries out for an overseas college program and her sister Roxy (Mary-Kate Olsen) schemes to meet her favorite punk rockers, a series of mishaps throws their day into chaos. In order for them both to accomplish their goals, the normally adversarial sisters decide to unite against the forces around them.
steve got -New York Minute

8. Sylvester Stallone is Judge, Jury, AND Executioner in this 1995 junker set in the year is 2139. The Planet Earth has changed into a virtually uninhabitable place called the "Cursed Earth". All of the Earth's population have crowded into the cities across the planet, now known as "Mega Cities". The crimes in these "Mega cities" became so violent and so powerful, that the regular justice system was powerless to contain, then it collapsed completely. But, a new Justice System came from the ashes, They were 3 justice systems in 1 (Police, Jury and executioner), they were called "Judges".
aunty and cristin got - Judge Dredd

9. This film won five Razzies, including worst picture, worst actor and worst director. Tom Green showed up to the ceremony to pick up his awards. It's classified as a comedy and starts out with 'Gordy' being told quite correctly that his cartoon ideas are stupid and make no sense, he decides to move back home and rethink his future. Freddy is his brother. Really that's all you're getting as I can't think about it any more.
steve got - Freddy Got Fingered

now this really is lost in translation

2008-08-21T19:40:00.002+01:00

I've been playing with babel fish translator this week.
What I found is that I can type some text in and translate it into a bunch of different languages. Fair enough that's what's it's for I can hear both dear readers think, you ain't so clever you know.
The fun part is translating it back to English again.
So, a phrase like- the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog, into Portuguese becomes

a raposa marrom rápida saltou sobre o cão preguiçoso
and then back to English becomes:
the fast brown fox jumped on the sluggish dog.

Or this quote from
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
I'm sorry, I was trying to impress you. I don't know what it means. I'll be honest, I don't think anyone knows what it means anymore. Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago.
into Korean:
I' 유감스러웠던 m, 나는 당신을 감명주는 것을 시도하고 있었다. I don' t는 의미하는 무슨을 알고 있다. I' ll는 정직하다, I don' t는 더 이상 의미하는 무슨을 누군가가 알고 있다는 것을 생각한다. 학자는 번역이 전에 년의 분실된 수백이었다는 것을 유지한다.
and then from Korean to English:
I' Sensibility the m is, you the impression week was attempting the thing. I don' t the low of meaning is knowing. I' ll is honest, I don' t any more under meaning who is knowing thinks the thing. Scholar maintains hundreds was things where the translation year is lossed before.

I know it's not big or clever but I found it amusing.
"don't judge me".

summertime and the livin' is... soggy

2008-08-18T23:00:00.002+01:00

It's the middle of August so naturally this week's film quiz features films which feature rain.
Name the film from the picture.
Update - some answers
1.

2.

3.

4.

cristin and aunty got -The Lady in the Water

5.

cristin and aunty got- Hard Rain

6.

aunty got- V for Vendetta

7.

cristin and aunty got - Spiderman

8.

cristin and aunty got - Four Weddings and a Funeral

memories

2008-08-13T11:13:00.000+01:00

I remember, many years ago, watching Starsky and Hutch on TV, when just occasionally the episode would be a little more complicated than usual. Somehow Huggy wouldn't be able to tell them who did it or the bad guy wasn't in when they went round or maybe there were more empty cardboard boxes in the alley to drive through, whatever, there was a moment in the program when I thought "uh oh, there is no way they can finish all this in 5 minutes.....it's going to be a 'To Be Continued' episode". No one liked the To Be Continued episodes, it seemed like forever to wait a week when you're a kid, and the second week they always wasted ages on the catch-up when they should have been sliding across the car and driving through cardboard boxes.
Why am I telling you this?
Because you should be getting that feeling of To Be Continued dread about now.
Time for the Where The Feck is Amanda picture!

Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends.

2008-08-11T13:24:00.001+01:00

For reasons I don't really want to get into here the film quiz this week is all about friends.
Name the film from the quote.

1. Remember, Bruce! Fish are friends, not food!
aunty got - Finding Nemo

2. You could argue he'd done it to curry favor with the guards. Or, maybe make a few friends among us cons. Me, I think he did it just to feel normal again, if only for a short while.
aunty got -Shawshank Redemption

3. Medium? Why sir, did you know that for a mere 25 cents more you can purchase a large beverage? And you know... I'm only telling you this because we're such good friends: Medium is really only for suckers who don't know the concept of value.

4. Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning.
aunty got - Trainspotting

5. I wonder if the three of us would've been friends in real life. Not as brothers, but as people.

6. Good morning everybody, this is a robbery. Now if nobody loses their head, nobody will lose their head. Now Simon says everybody lay down on the floor, except you sir. You'll have a story to tell your friends, or a tag on your toe, it's your decision, now you take this bag and empty the cash register into it.
citizen 146 got - Pulp Fiction

7. Don't you ever talk about my friends. You don't know any of my friends. You don't look at any of my friends. And you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of my friends. So you just stick to the things you know: shopping, nail polish, your father's BMW, and your poor, rich drunk mother in the Caribbean.

8. Everywhere I travel, tiny life. Single-serving sugar, single-serving cream, single pat of butter. The microwave Cordon Bleu hobby kit. Shampoo-conditioner combos, sample-packaged mouthwash, tiny bars of soap. The people I meet on each flight? They're single-serving friends.
aunty and cristin got - Fight Club

9. I don' think so. You know one day your going to wake up and realize that you no longer have a brother. And you no longer have any friends. And on that day, I'm gonna be front and center laughing my fucking ass off.

10. Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends.

11. You CANNOT make friends with the rock stars. That's what's important. If you're a rock journalist - first, you will never get paid much. But you will get free records from the record company. And they'll buy you drinks, you'll meet girls, they'll try to fly you places for free, offer you drugs... I know. It sounds great. But they are not your friends. These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of the rock stars, and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it.

12. So I guess this is where I tell you what I learned - my conclusion, right? Well, my conclusion is: Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time. It's just not worth it. Derek says it's always good to end a paper with a quote. He says someone else has already said it best. So if you can't top it, steal from them and go out strong. So I picked a guy I thought you'd like. 'We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.'

Lost in Translation

2008-08-10T21:40:00.002+01:00

...and then we moved back to England from Canada and I had a whole new set of stuff to miss.
I like distances in kilometers instead of miles, because as a friend said 'it means you get there quicker'.
I miss having a clean, safe underground system. Or 'tube' as people used to like saying to me, forgetting that that's only in London.
and I'm telling you, I'm missing the Canadian weather. The joke/cliche here in England is if you don't like the weather just wait 10 minutes or go 10 miles, is just not that funny. I took a photograph of the huge hail stones a couple of weeks ago. This time last year I had a tan. Me, a tan. A real one, not from a bottle. To most people this probably doesn't sound like a big deal but for me, big deal. I went on holiday to Greece a few years ago and when we got off the return flight the people waiting to board the plane were more tan than me.
I miss the Canadian National Anthem and the fact that people actually sing it . Not all the time you understand, like in the supermarket or doing the gardening, but at sporting events and other apt occasions.
And just when there was a chance of my french improving I move back here and there is no dual language on stuff.
As usual there is the things I don't miss. I won't miss Tim's coffee. Sorry but Tim Hortons coffee is terrible. I know to Canadians this is unholy talk, but the stuff is awful.
I wont miss hockey, yet more sacreligious talk! A long time ago in these very pages I wrote about hockey. My opinion hasn't changed.
And I most surely do not miss the DVP. Dear, lovely people of Toronto, there are other roads. These other roads go to the same places as the DVP - but quicker, because everyone in Toronto just uses the DVP.
So that's it. The moves and misses so far.
I'm not moving again.

sine qua non

2008-08-08T13:22:00.002+01:00

There were things I missed when I moved from Ireland to England, but then I moved from England to Canada and guess what?
Canada is a great country but I had even more crisp related problems. First off, they don't have cheese and onion flavour as routine. And then there is the pack size. You know those silver heat reflective things they give to runners when they finish a race? When the runners are finished with those they are sealed down the sides and made into chip packets.
Canadian content refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requirements that radio and television broadcasters must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from Canada. What this means is that it takes a long time to find a decent radio station. Far too much Rush and other 70's rockers. When I did finally find a good station the Canadian content rule meant the same song would be played 32 times a day. I never thought I miss Radio 1 but there you go.
I missed the variety and price of wine in England. There was less choice and what there was was much more expensive than in England, something to do with taxes I think. I missed double gloucester cheese.
Most of this was balanced by the things I didn't miss about England. Like chavs. I saw no chavs in Toronto. Really, none. I didn't miss people thinking I was Canadian, like almost eveyone I ever met in England and I didn't miss being called 'love' by strangers.
Millions of pounds every year are spent on travel guide books and television shows but none of them ever tell you the good stuff like this you know. You can't buy this advice folks and really you can never have enough shoes, Thornton's chocolate or life lessons.

part 6 in a seemingly endless series

2008-08-06T06:09:00.002+01:00

Last weeks was too difficult, this week, got to be easier right?

Go on, from the picture, Where the Feck is Amanda?

Can you taste the Monday Movie Quiz?

2008-08-04T15:08:00.001+01:00

First we had smell, then last week it was sight, in this week's film quiz the questions are about taste.
Name the film from the quote.
Update- answers

1. No, I wouldn't allow it. The taste would be terrible. Can you imagine Augustus-flavoured chocolate-coated Gloop? Ew. No one would buy it. cristin and aunty got - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2. They cursed us. Murderer they called us. They cursed us, and drove us away. And we wept, Precious, we wept to be so alone. And we only wish to catch fish so juicy sweet. And we forgot the taste of bread... the sound of trees... the softness of the wind. We even forgot our own name. cristin and aunty got - Lord of the Rings but aunty was more right with Return of the King

3. That's exactly my point. Exactly. Because you have to wonder: how do the machines know what Tasty Wheat tasted like? Maybe they got it wrong. Maybe what I think Tasty Wheat tasted like actually tasted like oatmeal, or tuna fish. That makes you wonder about a lot of things. You take chicken, for example: maybe they couldn't figure out what to make chicken taste like, which is why chicken tastes like everything.
steve got - The Matrix
4. Would you like something to eat? Something to nibble? Apricots, soaked in honey? Quite why, no one knows, because it stops them tasting like apricots and makes them taste like honey... and if you wanted honey, you could just... buy honey. Instead of apricots. But nevertheless they're yours if you want them.
steve got- Notting Hill
5. I don't need you to tell me how fucking good my coffee is, okay? I'm the one who buys it. I know how good it is. When Bonnie goes shopping she buys SHIT. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff because when I drink it I want to taste it. But you know what's on my mind right now? It AIN'T the coffee in my kitchen, it's the dead nigger in my garage.
cristin and aunty got- Pulp Fiction
6. How it's a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I'd opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive. And it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your '61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline.
steve got - Sideways
7. You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste. Good nutrition's given you some length of bone, but you're not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you? And that accent you've tried so desperately to shed: pure West Virginia. What is your father, dear? Is he a coal miner? Does he stink of the lamp? You know how quickly the boys found you... all those tedious sticky fumblings in the back seats of cars... while you could only dream of getting out... getting anywhere... getting all the way to the FBI.
cristin and aunty got - Silence of the Lambs

Wants and needs

2008-08-02T06:11:00.003+01:00

When you move from where you happen to have been born and go to another country you expect things to be different. In fact that may well be the reason for moving, for the differences.
I expected to miss the normal things, like friends and family, but it was the odd little things that I didn't anticipate missing that were the shocks.
When I moved from Dublin to London I discovered they didn't have red lemonade. The savages.
This shock was on top of my discovery that they didn't have proper crisps. These two jolts were unsettling.
In Ireland, if you are waiting for the bus to work (and to be honest, you are always waiting) it's considered normal form to talk to the person stood beside you if you happen to make eye contact.
Usually just small talk about the weather or complaints about the lack of buses.
This behaviour in England got me a few funny looks and was soon stopped.
And then there is the stuff you pay no attention to when it's there every day and only notice by it's absence. Being a lapsed Catholic (honestly, never much of one at all, shhh) I never paid much notice to the nightly event on RTE , the national television channel, at 6 o clock. But the angelus , as far as I was concerned was eternal. It was accepted and expected, like sand on a beach or sunburn on everyone the day after the first sunny day, it's just there.
Except it's not.
In fact, in England they had never even heard of it. And I had to try to explain the concept.
It went something like this:
me- Well, it's on at 6pm and is a series of religious pictures and a ringing bell.
them- why?
me- the ringing bell is to accompany the reciting of prayers.
them- no, why?
I had no answer.

who would have thought I'd do 5 of these?

2008-07-30T16:41:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure about this week's Where The Feck.

I think it may be a bit difficult and obscure.

But that's a bit like me.

So, from the picture, Where the Feck is Amanda?

looks like a film quiz

2008-07-28T11:15:00.002+01:00

Last week's quiz was all about smell, so to continue the senses theme, this week it's about sight or lack-of. So it makes sense that it's a picture quiz. Name the film from the picture.
Update- some answers
1.

Aunty Helpful Dictator and
Terra Shield got- Minority report

2.

3.

aunty and Terra Shield got - The Village

4.

5.

aunty got - Daredevil

6.

aunty and Terra Shield got - Ray

7.

aunty and Terra Shield got- Scent of a Woman

8.

2008-07-27T04:49:00.002+01:00

Would You Survive a Week in the Woods?

You Wouldn't Make It One Day.

Sorry, but if you were stranded in the woods, you'd probably eat yourself before help arrived.

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

you can check for yourself.

2008-07-25T17:23:00.002+01:00

Other names for Paris (Hilton) as suggested by the thesaurus at Dictionary.com
prism
prissy
arise
pariah
pass
press
price
prize
perish
peruse
porous
prim
peril
prison
and purse.
If only I could make this stuff up.

what, again?

2008-07-23T15:50:00.003+01:00

This is the fourth one of these in, get used to it, what might be a long series.
The first one was too easy.
The second one too hard.
The third one just right?
So, this week from the picture...Where the Feck is Amanda?

I smell a Monday Movie Quiz

2008-07-21T16:38:00.002+01:00

This week's Monday Movie Quiz is a stinker.
yeah, hmm.
That is, all the quotes are about smells. Name the film in each case.

Update-
1. Let me help you. Step down. Here we go! The drum major's widow! She's worn his coat since the day he died. The horse's head has lost an ear! That's the florist laughing. He has crinkly eyes. In the bakery window, lollipops. Smell that! They're giving out melon slices! Sugarplum, ice cream! We're passing the park butcher. Ham, 79 francs. Spareribs, 45! Now the cheese shop. Picadors are 12.90. Cabecaus 23.50. A baby's watching a dog that's watching the chickens. Now we're at the kiosk by the metro. I'll leave you here. Bye!

2. Ladies and gentlemen, / May I have your attention, puh-lease? / Are your nostrils aquiver and tingling as well / At that delicate, luscious ambrosial smell? / Yes they are, I can tell. / Well, ladies and gentlemen, / That aroma enriching the breeze / Is like nothing compared to its succulen source, / As the gourmets among you will tell you, of course. / Ladies and gentlemen, / You can't imagine the rapture in store... / Just inside of this door! / There you'll sample / Mrs. Lovett's meat pies, / Savory and sweet pies, / As you'll see. / You who eat pies, / Mrs. Lovett's meat pies / Conjure up the treat pies / Used to be!

3. ... this was supposed to be my weekend off, but noooo. You got me out here draggin' your heavy ass through the burnin' desert with your dreadlocks stickin' out the back of my parachute. You gotta come down here with an attitude, actin' all big and bad... [ yells] and what the hell is that smell? cristin got - Independence Day

4. Tom Ace. Pleasure to meet you Sir and may I congradulate you on all your success... you smell TEREFFIC! I was just telling Melissa that one of the first things we learned back at... Stanford Law... was the modern proliferation of food poisoning claims against wealthy, private homeowners. In fact, if one were so inclined, one could make quite a lucrative law practice on little else. How is everyone feeling tonight?

5. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory. Someday this war's gonna end... aunty got - Apocalypse Now

6. I like the smell of my hair treatment; the pleasing odor is half the point.

7. How did it begin? He walked into my office with his cockamamy scheme! You can make more money with a flop than with a hit! We can do it. We can do it. I can't do it. We can do it. I can't do it. Good-bye Max! Oh Lord I want that money! I'm back Max! Come on Leo we can do it! Step 1: Find the Play! See it, Smell it, Touch it, Kiss it! Hello Mr. Liebkind! Guten Tag, hop hop Guten Tag, clop clop! aunty got - The Producers

8. This is me. I think it's apparent that I need to rethink my life a little bit. What's my problem? First of all, I'm a rat. Which means, life is hard. Second, I have a highly developed sense of taste and smell. aunty got - Ratatouille

8. German shepherd starts barking. He's barking at me. I mean, it's obvious. He's barking at me. Every nerve-ending, all my senses, blood in my veins, everything I have is screaming, "Take off, man! Just bail, just get the fuck out of there!" Panic hits me like a bucket of water. First there's the shock of it... -BAM!... -right in the face. I'm standing there drenched in panic. All these sheriffs looking at me, and they know, man. They can smell it. Sure as that fucking dog can, they can smell it on me. steve got - Reservoir dogs

9. This may smell bad, kid, but it'll keep you warm until I get the shelter up... Ugh. And I thought they smelled bad on the *outside*. aunty got - Empire Strikes Back

10. Do you smell bacon, Garth?
I definitely smell a pork product of some kind.

11. And now, my beauties, something with poison in it, I think. Something with poison in it, but attractive to the eye, and soothing to the smell. Poppies... Poppies. Poppies will put them to sleep. Sleep. Now they'll sleep!

plenty of life left in the failing equine

2008-07-16T11:58:00.003+01:00

Easy-peasy one this week in the Where the Feck series of pictures. Not really working out, this idea, is it? But if Channel 4 can show 312 series of Big Brother and they can make 4 Die Hard films then I am going to stick with it a bit longer. So, from the picture, Where The Feck is Amanda?

by the numbers

2008-07-14T11:53:00.002+01:00

This week's movie quiz is all about numbers which should make it easy to identify the film from the picture.

update -some answers
1.

aunty got - 25th Hour

2.

3.

aunty got - 50 First Dates

4.

aunty got- 2001 A Space Odyssey

5.

6.

aunty got- 21 Grams

7.

aunty got- 2 Fast 2 Furious

8.

part 3 of the Tales...

2008-07-13T16:16:00.000+01:00

..in which George meets the local wildlife.
there are no hedgehogs in Canada so he didn't really know what to make of the spiny little thing on a walk the other night. It was sat there in the middle of the pavement and did it's trademark thing of curling up in a ball rather than play whatever game it was that George wanted to play.
We walked on a bit, but George did his trademark move of planting himself and refusing to move. So we turned around, but blimey the little blighters can move fast when they want to.
It was half way down the street. With that sort of speed you'd think they would just cross the road instead of just letting cars run them over.
The other British fauna that George has met is a chav. Obviously I didn't let him get as close to the chav as to the hedgehog.

It's the Grand National all over again

2008-07-10T17:58:00.003+01:00

The Grand National horse race, for those who don't know, is a big deal.
People who do not normally watch or bet on horse racing often have a go on the National, even if it's just the office sweeps draw.
I had to stop having anything to do with it after several disastrous years.
My first bad news was my selection's jockey fell off and was injured.
One year my horse fell, was badly injured.
The next year, the horse was too ill to even turn up on the day.
There was another injury.
The final straw was when a horse died.
So that was me finished with The National.
For a few years I have been a watching The Tour De France. I thought I had left The Curse of the National behind because a few days before the start of the tour 1999 I was watching an interview with a certain young texan and was so impressed with his attitude I decided he was going to win. He did, that year and a record number of years following too. He retired a couple of years ago and the Tour just wasn't the same for me. I didn't watch it at all last year.
Then during a re-cap show I spotted an interesting cyclist. I think it was about stage 3 or 4 and I was impressed by Alberto Contador. (he is espanish! Manuel)
I had found my Lance replacement.
He went on to win the tour.
woo hoo.
I was looking forward to seeing how he did defending his title this year. But he went and joined a stupid team, Astana, who have been banned from the tour this year.
According to BBC sport "Alberto Contador has confirmed he will not leave Astana to defend his Tour de France title with another team.
Race organisers chose not to select Astana for this year's Tour because of their implication in doping scandals over the last two years.
Contador said: "I will not ride in the Tour for any other team. I hope this ends all the speculation and rumour." "
Is it a surprise that I don't like sports?

if at first you don't succeed..

2008-07-09T14:22:00.002+01:00

The last one of these, hmm, was not a complete success, so another try. As Le Tour started at the weekend, this old photo seems apppropriate.From the picture, Where The Feck Is Amanda?

it's that day of the week again

2008-07-07T17:01:00.021+01:00

This week it's all about pictures. Name the film form the single frame and there is a bit of a connection, find the word that links all the titles.

UPDATE -some answers
1.

cristin got - Groundhog day

2.

Aunty got- Ferris Bueller's Day Off

3.

Aunty got- Any Given Sunday

4.

Aunty got- Hard Day's Night

5.

cristin got - One Fine Day

6.

Aunty got - 28 Days

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

cristin got- The Day after Tomorrow

12.

13.

cristin got -Saturday Night Fever

14.

Aunty got -28 Days Later

15.

Where The Feck

2008-07-02T10:11:00.001+01:00

We have been back in Blighty for 2 months now, which sounds like a long time when I look it like that. I have a couple of posts planned, but for today I am going to try something new. Inspired in part by Matt and other peple I know who are away in exciting places and also by a lack of money, I have decided to start a weekly picture from past travels. The twist is, from the picture, you have to say Where the Feck is Amanda.

The prize is ..... I will send you a postcard from sunny Leeds!

The World Cup of football film quizzes.

2008-06-30T13:05:00.002+01:00

With Euro 08 finishing last night I thought I'd have football as the theme for this week's film quiz. In the true spirit of the beautiful game it will be full of cliches. Obviously clichés should be avoided like the plague. But it's football after all, and football is riddled with them. There are great wet lettuces, sick parrots and giving it 110%. I gave the idea of a quiz of two halves the red card (don't stop me now, I'm in the 6 yard box). Football's a funny old game, and at the end of the day, just when we think it's all over, I'll be gutted, obviously.

Shall we get on with the quiz? BTW, some strong language follows, you have been warned.

Updates:

1. This is the first film produced in Bhutan to be released internationally.
Based on a true story, with the tag line "Buddhism is their philosophy. Soccer is their religion."

Name the film.

2.

Name the film.

3.

Name the film.
cristin got- Bend it Like Beckham

4. [Paul's doorbell is buzzing during the last minute of Liverpool v. Arsenal]
Paul Ashworth: [out a window, not really seeing who it is] Will you please, please, please, please, please just fucking FUCK OFF? You have arrived during the worst sixty seconds of my life, and I really don't want to see you.
[the window slams shut. The visitor is revealed to be Sarah]
Paul Ashworth: [to Steve] Why ask? And what sort of berk would do that? You'd just about forgive an alien visitor from the planet Tharg, but even then, you'd have...
[Paul realizes what he's done and runs to the door]
Steve: Where're you going? You're mad. You might miss something.

Which 1997 film is this exchange from?
Aunty got - Fever Pitch

5. Name the 1981 movie about some inmates in a WW2 prison camp, who have a passion for football and which starred : Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Pelé, Bobby Moore and Osvaldo Ardiles.

6. Another old one, from 1979 a film based on the long running TV series of the same name, name the film these lines come from :
[ Fletcher finally gives in and reads Bunny's letter]
Fletcher: All right, I'll just give you the 'ighlights, all right? 'Dearest Bunny, blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah...
[pause as he turns the page]
Fletcher: blah.
Bunny Warren: Blah blah blah what?
Fletcher: It's trivia, Bunny, it's just trivia, it's the weather, her mother's catarrh, she's retiled the lav, the canary's got haemorrhoids, she's met a welder at the Fiesta Club and she's thinking of movin' in with him. All right? Must rush. Can't hang about.
[exits]
Bunny Warren: But...
[pauses]
Bunny Warren: ...we 'aven't got a canary.

7.

Which 2001 Hong Kong film is this?

8. And I suppose there has to a question about football's dark side. This 2005 film
is less about the football and more about the fighting, it starred Elijah Wood as Matt and had the following lines:

Matt Buckner: What are you guys like an organized political movement or something?
Pete Dunham: No mate, we're a firm. You never heard of a firm in the States?
Matt Buckner: No.
Pete Dunham: Every football team in Europe's got a firm. Some have two. Christ, I forgot how clueless you Yanks are. All you've seen of us the stadium lights on TV innit? Come on. See, West Ham football's medicore... but our firm is top notch and everyone knows it. GSE. Green Street Elite. Arsenal. Great football. Shit firm. The Goolies, Tottenham - shit football and a shit firm. The Yids, they're called. I actually put their main lad through a phonebox window the other day.
Matt Buckner: So basically, firms are gangs?
Pete Dunham: Kind of... but we're a far cry from all that Bloods and Crips bullshit. I mean shootin' a machine gun out of a movin' car at an 8 year old girl. That's just cowardly. See, we might be into fightin' an all that... but it's really about reputation. Humiliatin' another mob in a rumble, doin' somethin' the other firms get to hear and talk about - like a Yank in his first fight

and

Pete Dunham: Fuck it, I will take you with me. You might learn something...
Matt Buckner: About soccer?
Pete Dunham: No mate. Not about soccer, AND FOR FUCK SAKE, STOP SAYING SOCCER!
Aunty got- Green Street

Return of the return of the drum roll Monday Movie Quiz

2008-06-23T20:42:00.006+01:00

So, apparently someone actually likes the Monday Movie qiuz.

In honour of George Carlin who died today, the quiz today is all about him. He did more film stuff than you think, you know.

1. The main location of this film was in Los Angeles a few blocks from McArthur Park. It was torn down in the late 1980s. While it was open, the marquee of the car wash announced it was featured in this film.

Name the film from 1976.

2. He said - Hi. Welcome to the future. San Dimas, California, 2688. And I'm telling you, it's great here. The air is clean. The water's clean. Even the dirt... is clean. Bowling averages are way up. Mini-golf scores are way down. And we have more excellent waterslides than any other planet we communicate with. I'm telling you, this place is great. But it almost wasn't. You see, 700 years ago the Two Great Ones ran into a few problems. So now I have to travel back in time to help them out. If I should fail to keep these two on the correct path, the basis of our society will be in danger. Don't worry. It'll all make sense. I'm a professional.
Name the film.

3. Another quote - Cardinal Glick: Fill them pews, people, that's the key. Grab the little ones as well. Hook 'em while they're young.

Rufus: Kind of like the tobacco industry?

Cardinal Glick: Christ, if only we had their numbers.
Name the film.

4. Fillmore, the VW Microbus voiced by George Carlin, has license plate '51237'. This is Carlin's birth date; May 12, 1937. But what was the film?

5. He played The Architect in a (not very good film),but name it anyway -

The Architect: The answer is simple. You are the eventuality of an anomaly. You are inexorably seeking a sedulant probability.

Cindy: Sedulant? I uh...

The Architect: Grotesquery?... No?... What about, contingent affirmation?... That's gotta mean somethin...

6. The tagline of the film , in which he was Frank Madras, and you have to name is - The CIA is trailing them. The KGB is tracking them. The phone company is tracing them. The police are chasing them. The cowboys are herding them. And the Indians are hunting them. Are they going to fall for all of that?

The long wait was worth it.

2008-06-22T14:30:00.000+01:00

The latest video of Matt and his trademark dancing, here.
love these

inspirational quote of the day

2008-04-09T23:32:00.001+01:00

Some days you're the bug, some days you're the windshield.

I wonder

2008-04-04T19:24:00.003+01:00

This week I have been even more easily distracted that usual.

We have a lot to do, what with organising the shipment of our house contents back to England, arranging the transport for the dog, clearing the house and garage, applying for jobs and stuff.

So why is it that I spent 6 whole minutes looking at the facebook 'gifts'?

Seriously, whole minutes contemplating why anyone would spend $1 to send someone a picture of a one cent?

I'm just as guilty, I have sent a couple of gifts, but only the free ones. And they can be another source of wonder. Look here and someone explain to me why anyone would want to give or recieve a bracket thing.....

What day is it?

2008-04-01T15:00:00.000+01:00

click here for the video of the day.

tales of the George part 2 in which I finally get a job offer

2008-03-13T17:24:00.003Z

After over 2 years of fruitless job searching here in Toronto, the decision has been made to return to (his) Old Country.
We moved over 3000 miles once we can do it again.
I just can't get a job here unless I completely re-train from the very start. This I just don't want to do for many reasons- it's insulting to have to go do a course here to in something I have 15 years experience in, it makes no financial sense to pay 10 - 15 thousand dollars for said course only to get a job which pays 35 thousand, and mostly, I just don't want to.

My first job offer here came the other day while out walking the Georgester.
That dog really is the friendliest dog ever, anyone shows even a hint of interest in him and he is all over them. Which is what happened the other day. Danforth Avenue Man said hello to him and because George went over to him straight away and is 'such a happy dog' - (Danforth Avenue Man's words) I was offered a job walking his dog.
Maybe I should take George to all my interviews....

Highway to

2008-02-12T22:33:00.000Z

The following story is true in all details, only the names have been changed, not to protect the innocent but to have cooler names.
Picture the scene.....
It was a dark and stormy night. Um, not that late really, more like late afternoon and it wasn't really stormy just a bit overcast. But, it had been snowing the day before.
I'm not doing such a good job of building the tension here.
Interior of car, driving along, listening to the radio.

Zephyr is driving, Zola in the passenger seat, Zoltan the dog in the back.
Just ahead in the other lane is are two oversize load trucks, with their accompanying convoy vehicles. All are travelling much faster than the posted speed limit.

Up ahead a road sign.....

The song playing on the radio is (seriously) Highway to the Danger Zone

listen to it here

You know the one, from the Top Gun film, includes the lyrics

Revvin' up your engine

Listen to her howlin'roar

Metal under tension

Highway to the Danger Zone

Ride into the Danger Zone

Anyway, back to the car. The trucks are speeding along, snow is blowing and swirling, the bridge is getting nearer....
Zola tenses in the passenger seat, her mind flashes back to several years previous, another snowy day and a head-on collision. The injuries that time were minor -just bruises and a chipped ankle bone.
Zephyr speeds up slightly....
And safely passes the trucks.

Monday Movie Quiz...the return

2008-02-11T20:52:00.002Z

Valentine's Day. I don't know your feelings for this day. I find it to be a troubling time.
Forced, ritualised displays of affection, where the pressure is on to supply or receive conspicuous bouquets or ridiculous balloon arrangements and public displays of affection.
And, of course it's then there are the "romantic" movies ... I'm not talking about actual romantic movies like Casablanca, Harold and Maude, Amelie, True Romance or even Shrek.
I mean movies that are either overrated or, in some cases, just plain creepy. Like Dirty Dancing, Maid in Manhattan or Along Came Polly.
Disagree, call me a cynical jerk, whatever.
Anyway all the quotes below are about all that gushy mushy stuff. Well sort of. If you are expecting hearts and flowers, you are on the wrong blog.

Name the film.

Update -some answers
1. I know better than to argue romance with a French woman.

2. We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.

3. If you gave me a million years to ponder, I would never have guessed that true romance and Detroit would ever go together. And til this day, the events that followed all still seems like a distant dream. But the dream was real and was to change our lives forever.

4. You wanna know why? Cause you wanted to believe it. You wanted it all. All the romance and emotion, all wrapped up in a cute little nose and a cute little ass!

5. [voice over] random thoughts for Valentine's day, 2004. Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap.

6. Jane divorced her husband. I never knew him, it was before I met her. Apparently she came home from work unexpectedly one morning and found him in bed with the milkman. Honest to God, the milkman ! But from that day forward I've noticed she never takes milk in her tea.

7. Equally important: will find nice sensible boyfriend and stop forming romantic attachments to any of the following: alcoholics, workoholics, sexaholics, commitment-phobics, peeping toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits, or perverts. cristin got - Bridget Jones's Diary

8. It would be nice to think that since I was 14, times have changed. Relationships have become more sophisticated. Females less cruel. Skins thicker. Instincts more developed. But there seems to be an element of that afternoon in everything that's happened to me since. All my romantic stories are a scrambled version of that first one. Aunty got - High Fidelity

9. Wouldn't he? Lizzy, how can you put your faith in a man you spectacularly binned for being unreliable? A man whose idea of a romantic nightspot and an impenetrable fortress are the same thing? It's... This is a pub! We are in a pub! What are we going to do? Aunty got - Shaun of the Dead

10. Marriage license, did you say marriage license? Oh I love you Adam, Alex, Peter, Brian, whatever your name is.

11. I've got a new theory about marriage. Two people are in love, they live together, and then suddenly one day, they run out of conversation.

12. Love, love, you know what love is? Love is an illusion created by lawyer types like yourself to perpetuate another illusion called marriage to create the reality of divorce and then the illusionary need for divorce lawyers.

13. A relationship, I think, is like a shark. You know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark.

14. Why didn't I go in? I'm such a chicken. I'm such an idiot. I should have kissed her. I've blown it. I should just go and knock on her door and just kiss her. It would be romantic. It would be something we could someday tell our kids. I'm gonna do that right now.

friday's found

2007-12-07T19:27:00.000Z

Honestly, you think I'd know better than to even start playing these games by now
http://www.kongregate.com/games/PitchMobile/shield-defense

breaking news.....

2007-11-11T11:57:00.001Z

....this just in, if you leave the handle of a wooden spoon near the flame on the cooker, it WILL catch on fire.
It was a surprise to me.

MIA

2007-10-16T04:24:00.000+01:00

Sorry I've been off the radar again.
In acknowledgment of all things missing, the movie quiz this week has had the titles or actors faces removed(very badly)from the pics. Do you see what I did there, missing! Subtle, eh?
Name the film in each case.

1.

Taffy got Harvey

2.

3.

Taffy got The Cooler

4.

Taffy got High Fidelity

5.

6.

7.

cristin and Taffy got Amelie

8.

Taffy got Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

9.

10.

Steve got Brokeback Mountain

11.

Steve got Thelma and Louise

12.

13.

Taffy got Billy Elliott

14.

Taffy got The Exorcist

Interesting or annoying?

2007-10-11T17:35:00.000+01:00

I'm really not sure about this.

The Right Brain vs Left Brain Test If you see dancer rotating clockwise, you are right-brained (creative), counter-clockwise, left-brained (logical).

It definitely started out going anticlockwise but after a while it was clockwise.
Did it switch or did my brain switch?

toasty

2007-10-08T17:32:00.000+01:00

If there is still anyone who doubts global climate change, well today, October 8th in Toronto, it is 30 degrees.
30.
October.

2007-07-27T17:16:00.000+01:00

'What" will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Monday movie quiz

2007-07-23T11:22:00.000+01:00

In this weeks film quiz all the films are linked by a theme, and that theme is water in it's various forms.
Update
1. Name the film from this still.

Steve got- The Lake House

2.. Name the actor:

Taffy got - River Phoenix

3. George Lucas took out a full-page ad in "Variety" to support director Deepa Mehta in her struggle to make this film when Indian authorities made clear their intentions to shut the production down. Name the 2005 film.
Taffy got- Water

4. Based on the true story of two scuba divers accidentally stranded in shark infested waters after their tour boat has left. The tagline was: Drifting into theaters this summer. Name the film.

Taffy got- Open Water

5. This 1998 fim stars Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater and Randy Quaid, is about a robbery and had the tagline: In the worst storm in living memory, one guard stands between five men and three million dollars. Name the film.

Steve got- Hard Rain

6. The first line of this 1988 film is - Charlie: [on telephone] Now it's five and a half weeks and I'm still sitting on four Lamborghinis that can't meet spot emissions standards. Now, how many times you wash out with EPA?
For in-flight viewing, several airlines deleted the sequence in which one of the two main characters reels off statistics on airline accidents and the scene in the airport was cut by most airlines on their plane trips... except Qantas. They even promoted one of the movie's writers to first class once when he traveled on their airline. Name the film.
Taffy got- Rainman

7. Name this American remake of the Japanese film, now set in New York City, Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly) has just divorced from her husband and is disputing the custody of their daughter Cecilia (Ariel Gade). She has a very restricted budget, so she moves with Cecilia to an old small apartment in an island near Manhattan. She does not pay attention to a stain of water on the ceiling of the bedroom, but once living in the place, she realizes that there is a drip of dark water in the bedroom and she asks the landlord to repair the leakage.

Taffy got- Dark Water

8. Name the film from the poster.

Taffy got- Mystic River

9. Name the 1999 film these quotes are from:
Sheriff Hank Keough: Tents were sent ahead. Should already be set up by the time we get there. Kelly Scott: Tents? We're staying in TENTS?
Sheriff Hank Keough: I told you, two days we'd have to camp.
Kelly Scott: Yes! Camp! But I thought that meant Ramada Inn. I never heard tents! Will there be toilets?
Jack Wells: Maybe we should just take you back.
Kelly Scott: Why? Because I prefer toilets? Maybe I should just wipe myself with some leafy little piece of poison oak. And then I can spend the whole day scratchin' my ass, blendin' in with the natives.
and
[Upon finding a decaying toe] Hector: Is this the man that was killed?
Sheriff Hank Keough: He seemed... taller.

10. Before he directed Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee directed Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood in this 1997 filmwith the tagline "It was 1973, and the climate was changing." Name the film.
Taffy got -The Ice Storm

back by popular demand

2007-07-20T06:23:00.000+01:00

I was going to post something here, honest.
It's been a bit of a week really.
Some bad stuff going on back home.
And with being on flood-alert here cuts in to the time I can tell you.
Not sure if it's a problem with the roof, the window or the gutters but when it rains (and boy, did it rain the other day) water pours in through the window frame in the middle bedroom, down the wall and eventually through the ceiling and into the living room.
Can you just picture the scene? Mr. eh has not yet been to bed after a night out buying drinks for all his new collegues and I've had about an hour sleep. Every towel in the house is soaking wet on the floor and still the rain keeps falling. After 45 minutes of mopping, wringing out towels, using everything in the laundry basket and rigging up a wicking system into a large bowl, the rain did finally stop. For a few hours anyway.....

elephants? outstanding

2007-07-13T09:08:00.000+01:00

Before we moved to Canada some people warned us about bears, thinking that the whole of Canada is over-run with wild animals. Up to now all we have seen is lots of black squirrels and the family of raccoons living in the tree in our front garden (the four babies are getting pretty big now), but this story shows that nature is out there.
Imagine the scene, you are strolling down the street and there is an elephant eating someones tree in their front garden. 'Time to cut back on the booze' you think.

Read all about it here.
This website tells some of the story but this one even has the audio of the call to the police.Which you HAVE GOT to listen to. Like.

Tales of the George, part 1

2007-07-12T10:32:00.001+01:00

The citizen has mentioned that we got a dog. That's him, George.

He is a small part of my reason for not blogging as he likes a lot of attention.

On a recent late-night walk (about 2.30am)we passed a group of about 5 lads. One of them looked at George and said 'Hello fluffster'.

I looked at the speaker, raised my eyebrows and said 'Fluffster?'

The guy, let's call him Gerald, replied ' I just took a wild guess'.

We walked on.

eh?

2007-07-10T04:05:00.000+01:00

Last week was Canada Day. I had intended to do a Canadian-themed Monday Movie quiz, but it got away from me. So here it is, only a week late.

1. Name the Canadian who wrote and directed the highest grossing movie of all time (ignoring inflation).

2. Name the Canadian film from the clues:
a. This 2006 film stars Carrie-Anne Moss and Billy Connolly and has the tag-line : Laugh your head off.
b. Based on the novel by J. G. Ballard this controversial 1996 film stars James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger and Rosanna Arquette.
c. 7 complete strangers of widely varying personality characteristics are involuntarily placed in an endless kafkaesque maze containing deadly traps.

3. Odd one out. Which of these is NOT Canadian?
a. John Candy,

Dan Ackroyd

Glenn Ford

Hank Azaria

and which one of these?
Holly Hunter

Carrie-Anne Moss

Catherine O'Hara

Kim Catrall

and finally which one of these is not Canadian
Joshua Jackson

Ryan Reynolds

Justin Long

or Brendan Fraser

4. What music icon played the role of radio psychologist Nicki Brand in David Cronenberg’s Videodrome?
a. Patti Smith
b. Siouxsie Sioux
c. Belinda Carlisle
d. Debbie Harry

5. What horror film offender is the basis for the Ginger Snaps series?
a. Zombies
b. Vampires
c. Ghosts
d. Werewolves
e. Killer tomatoes

and finally....

2007-07-08T14:24:00.000+01:00

Thanks to all those who have commented and joined in the movie quizzes.
I have not posted anything for ages.
Lot's of reasons.
Like for example, although you wouldn't know it, it takes me ages to come up with topics and then to actually write them is another age.
Also, it's largely shite.
but what the hell, I'll have another go at it.

Easy peasy, lemon-squeasy. What, is this your first day on the job or something?

2007-03-19T09:13:00.000Z

Taglines (sometimes called slogans) are those memorable (or not), tantalising short phrases used by film studios and the marketing people to advertise and sell a movie. In an effort to sum up the plot, or themes of a film. Many films have multiple taglines but I think I've picked the most well known for each of these films. Match the film to it's tagline.
answers
1.

E got - ....look closer

2.

Will got - Evil never looked so damn good.

3.

E got - She walked off the street, into his life and stole his heart

4.

Will got - It's all about women -- and their men!

5.

Will got - Does for rock and roll what "The Sound Of Music" did for the hills

6.

E got - Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas

7.

Will got- Love is a burning thing

8.

Will got - Sometimes you have to go halfway around the world to come full circle

9.

E got- You Won't Believe Your Eye

10.

Will got - A lot can happen in the middle of nowhere

11.

cristin got - Hang on for the comedy that goes to infinity and beyond!

12.

Will got - Where do you when the record is over...

13.

Will got- You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll hurl.

14.

Will got - Hunted by men, sought by WOMEN!

15.

cristin got - Some men dream the future. He built it.

a. Does for rock and roll what "The Sound of Music" did for hills

b. It's all about women---and their men!

c. ... look closer

d. She walked off the street, into his life and stole his heart

e. Hunted by men...Sought by WOMEN!

f. You Won't Believe Your Eye.

g. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll hurl

h. Love is a burning thing

i. Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas

j. Where do you go when the record is over...

k. A lot can happen in the middle of nowhere.

l. Sometimes you have to go halfway around the world to come full circle

m. Hang on for the comedy that goes to infinity and beyond!

n. Some men dream the future. He built it

o. Evil never looked so damn good

I fought the law and .....

2007-03-18T05:47:00.000Z

The following is an dialogue which took place between a TTC employee and me the other day.

Scene: afternoon, outside the subway/bus station.
Enter stage left, our main character, AJ carrying a couple of bags of shopping, on her way home.
A man runs in front of her and jumps on a waiting bus.

From behind (aggressively)"excuse me"
AJ assumes that man who ran in front of her bumped someone else who is less than happy about it so ignores the shout and carries on.
Again- " Excuse me"
Still no response from AJ.
And a third time even more aggressively"Excuse me"
AJ turns around to see two 'Constables' advancing towards her.
Cont 1(no that's not a spelling mistake): Where are you going?
AJ: Why?
Cont 1 : This is a fare-paid area and you haven't paid.
AJ: All I'm doing is walking across the car park and out that way (points to street, 20 feet away).
Cont 1: I can give you a fine of $500
AJ: For walking across a car-park?
Cont 1: There's a sign back there saying no entry and that you can be fined.
AJ: Are you serious?
Cont 2: There is a sign.
AJ: Well, I didn't see it and I walk across here all the time as I live just around the corner.
Cont 1: (aggressively)Where are you going?
AJ: (not as polite as I could have been)I just told you, I'm going home. I live just around the corner.
Cont 1: Have you got any ID.
AJ: Yes I do. (makes no effort to get it)well he didn't ask to see it
Cont 1 : Well give it to me then.
AJ: *sigh* ok, (hands him permanent resident card).
Cont 1: (condesending)I don't like your attitude. Where are you going?
AJ: (increasingly pissed off at these two fascists) I TOLD you, I'm going home. I live around the corner.
Cont 1:(flicking PR card with his fingers) I can fine you $500 dollars so improve your attitude. Show me something with your address on it and I'll do you a favour and let you off.
AJ: (muttering) oh for f... here! (hands him drivers licence)
Cont 1: (shoves both cards back at me having barely looked at second one) Go on then, I'll let you off.
AJ: hmpft (exits stage right - muttering- fucking fascist conts ....don't they have anything better to do...must be real proud of themselves....too many f-ing rules in this country....)

It was much later that I realised that they must have been standing inside the station building waiting to pounce.
And BREAKING NEWS.....apparently I have a bad attitude.
You know, all I did was match his attitude towards me, if he had been polite and explained to me (as a relative newcomer to the country) that the area was restricted, we both would have had a much better day.

have a good one

2007-03-17T15:21:00.000Z

St Patrick without the blarney.

Happy Paddy's Day.

BTW it can be St Patricks Day, St. Paddy's Day or Paddy's Day,

BUT

NEVER, never, never St Patty's Day.

That's just wrong.

Friday Found

2007-03-16T05:40:00.000Z

Have you voted for your favourite?

Father Dougal: It's like a big tide of jam coming toward us, but jam made out of old women.

2007-03-14T11:51:00.000Z

I'm new to the whole on-line music thing.
Yeah, I know, welcome to 2002 Amanda.
Now that Sandra has blogged off, I have had to find other distractions and one has been this site.
It's quick and easy to sign up and it's even possible to get music for free.
The price is determined by how many people have already chosen it.
Always on the lookout to have new music suggestions I had a look around the site.
The first thing to make me feel old was not even knowing some of the categories existed.
What is reggaeton? And how is it different to reggae?
Powerpop anyone?
While we are at it, can someone explain the difference between death metal and screamo?

Fecking hell, I'm old.

Meals are at eleven, one, half-two, three, five, seven, and nine, and if you want a quick snack, you can just ask Mrs. Doyle there.

2007-03-13T06:43:00.000Z

Ages ago (I am fairly sure it was not long after Christmas/New Year, yikes) our neighbours across the street invited us over for nibbles and drinks and the time has come to return the invitation.
They couldn't make it on the date I first suggested and somehow it turned into them coming over on St. Patricks Day.
Now this presents a few problems for me. I used to have a few cookbooks (most of them from me Mammy and sister, both better cooks than me) but when we moved over here I left them all behind what with them being big and heavy and all.
So what the hell am I going to cook for these people?
Bear in mind that they don't really know anything about Ireland (he thought it was part of the UK) and I have no idea what they know about Paddy's Day.
The mammy suggested Irish Stew. Despite the fact that Mr. eh and I are vegetarian and Irish stew is mostly lamb. But that's the trouble you see, most 'traditional ' Irish food is meat-based.
I'm really not sure that Irish stew would work with TVP.
Do I just make my staple dinner-party Mushroom Stroganoff?
Can anyone suggest something, not too complicated please, as I think I mentioned, I'm no Nigella. It's not that I can't cook, more that I can't be bothered with 5 hours preparing something that is gone in 15 minutes.

Father Ted: Fascists dress in black and go around telling people what to do, where as priests... more drink!

2007-03-12T09:11:00.000Z

For this week's Monday Movie Quiz you have to name each of the films from the trivia and then say what the connection is.

update:yes the connection is colours.
1. This 1986 comedy/drama/romance was filmed in the same L.A. high school where Grease (1978) was made."If You Leave", performed by 'Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark' , was not the original song O.M.D. had composed for this movie. Their song "Goddess of Love" was the original composition but it did not fit when the ending was changed. Rachie got - Pretty in Pink

2. Desert scenes were filmed in the same location used for Mad Max, and the contact lenses worn by the actor were briefly available to the public from Lens Quest following the release of the film. They were called Shine Job, like in the movie. Aunty Helpful Dictator got - Pitch Black

3. For this 1985 film, Whoopi Goldberg won the part of Celie in her audition for Steven Spielberg, by doing a comedy act she had developed about a stoned E.T. Aunty Helpful Dictator got - The Colour Purple

4. The electric chair featured in the film was built from the original designs of an electric chair named "Old Sparky" which is part of the museum/tour of the Moundsville State Penitentiary in West Virginia. The prison was one of the finalists for the final shooting location. Aunty Helpful Dictator got - The Green Mile

5. The first line the prison minister says in the film, "What's it going to be, eh?" is nearly identical to the first sentence of the novel ("What's it going to be then, eh?"). In the early 1990's London's popular Scala Film Club showed this movie without permission from the director (who had withdrawn it and barred it's showing) or Warner Brothers. Like Clockwork, at his insistence Warners sued and won. As a result the Scala was almost bankrupt and closed in 1993. (And I loved that place!) Will got - A Clockwork Orange

6. With the closing song "All Together Now", the phrase itself is shown twenty-seven times in sixteen languages. The sequence: English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Hebrew, Greek, Swedish, Russian, Japanese, English, Greek, Italian, Dutch, Farsi, Spanish, Arabic, Swahili, Sanskrit, French, Hebrew, Swedish, Chinese, German, Japanese, English.
Taffy got - Yellow Submarine
7. Billy Bob Thornton recorded a narration for the 3+ hour epic under the supervision of director Terrence Malick. But the final print of the film has voice-overs by 8 of the main characters in the film; none of the narration from Thornton is in the final print. In addition, several other stars who filmed scenes were left on the cutting-room floor, including Bill Pullman, Gary Oldman, Viggo Mortensen and Mickey Rourke. Will got - The Thin Red Line

8. First appearance of a laser beam in a movie. Harold Sakata burnt his hand when reaching for his hat during the Fort Knox bars and fireworks sequence. He said that the director didn't say cut so he kept on acting. Will got - Goldfinger

9. In this 2002 sequel, the original pug from the first film (1997) was used to play Frank again, but since the pug was now seven years old, they used makeup to hide the gray fur around its nose.The original ending of the film included a scene in which the World Trade Center towers opened up, releasing a swarm of UFOs into the air. Following the towers' destruction, the film's ending was changed. Rachie got - Men in Black II

10. After finding a severed human ear in a field, a young man soon discovers a sinister underworld lying just beneath his idyllic suburban home town. Several of the actors who were considered for the role of Frank found the character too repulsive and intense. Dennis Hopper, by contrast, is reported to have exclaimed, "I've got to play Frank. Because I am Frank!"
Will got - Blue Velvet
11. When Ordell Robbie first goes to Max Cherry's office and is asked if he has the cash for the bond, he responds "I got it right here in my brand new raptor bag." Although the logo is partially obscured, it is clearly that of the Toronto Raptors. The actor was frequently courtside at Toronto Raptor games the season before filming this 1997 movie. Rachie got - Jackie Brown

12. On the last day of their week long Army Ranger orientation at Fort Benning, the actors who portrayed the Rangers received a letter which had been anonymously slipped under their door. The letter thanked them for all their hard work, and asked them to "tell our story true", signed with the names of the Rangers who died in the Mogadishu firefight. Aunty Helpful Dictator got - Black Hawk Down

13. More than one film using the same title character and Henry Mancini's famous theme, the name is from a diamond which gets its name from a flaw in its structure. Aunty Helpful Dictator
got- The Pink Panther

14. Aimee Mann's music inspired the director to write the script and at least one lyric (and possibly more) from an Aimee Mann song was lifted and used as dialogue. In the song "Deathly" the lyric goes: "Now that I've met you / Would you object to / Never seeing / Each other again". In the film, one character says "Now that I've met you, would you object to never seeing me again?" Aunty Helpful Dictator got - Magnolia

15. According to Rosemary Clooney, (yes, George's aunt) the "midnight snack" scene in which Bob Wallace expounds on his theory of what foods cause what dreams was almost entirely improvised. The "Sisters" comedy act that Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye perform was not originally in the script. They were clowning around on the set and the director thought it was so funny that it was written in. Will got - White Christmas

virtually me

2007-03-10T13:06:00.000Z

Go here (via Dave if you like) to create your own.

This is actually fairly accurate, without the flag, I don't walk around with the flag.

go on, go on, go on, go on

2007-03-09T11:57:00.000Z

We had Black History Month, there are at least 3 or 4 all-french TV channels, daily hour-long news in Cantonese and Italian.
We have BBC World and Coronation Street, A Touch of Frost, Doctor Who and of course Monty Python all regularly shown on TV.
There is a Little Italy part of town and a Little Portugal, GreekTown and a few Chinatowns.
All great.
And the Irish?
We have a half hour a week, well, some weeks, of this.
An American-based program, to quote them - "news, culture and entertainment program presenting the best of modern Ireland in a magazine format".
The woman who presents it is actually quite entertaining, in a 'my god she's not very good at this' way. She has a pause-and-neck-twitch-thing going on.
So, purely in the interests of balance and not just because it makes me laugh till I cry, a couple of small examples of the genius that was Father Ted.

Father Ted - Dougal describes the Beast

2007-03-09T11:51:00.001Z

Father Ted

2007-03-09T11:40:00.003Z

from my in-box today

2007-03-07T04:15:00.000Z

From:Sara Plchnko
Subject: re Thanks

Hello have a good day,I am not sure where to begin,it is first time I try to use internet to meet the man but the thing is,that I will work abroad I can choiceUSA,Canada or Europe and I would like to meet the man to share free evenings and be my guide. My friends helped me to send a few letters to different address and I do hope that I am lucky to meet good and kind man.you should know that now I live in Russia and my goal is to leave thiscountry because it is impossible to live here for young pretty woman.they tell I look well enough,I am blonde with blue eyes,I am natural blonde.I will send a few photos if you reply.if you don't have wife nor girlfriend ,maybe we could try to meet?I am free I have not children .and I have not boyfriend here.I am 25 years old ,please reply to my mail- See you soon ,with great hope.

The junk mail has not been too bad recently and the this week, suddenly getting this and a couple about increasing the size of my penis. I used to get 5 or 6 of those a week and if I'd replied to them all, I'd have a 3 foot long penis by now.
Anyway, back to Ms. Sara Plchnko.
What is the game here?
I'm tempted to find out.

storming in, the Monday Movie Quiz

2007-03-05T08:46:00.000Z

It's currently -21C with windchill bringing that down to -32C, which is about -25F for the non-metrics out there.
I have just gone outside to feel what that is like and it's interesting.sex sex sex sex sex

Roads around the CN tower have been closed off because lumps of ice are falling off, squashing cars and hitting people so, as predictable as ever, the Monday Movie Quiz is going to be about ice and storms.

Quotes from films, name the film.
Update:

Clues
1. Jack: Says there's a storm moving in from the Pacific, worse than this one.
Will got- Brokeback Mountain
2. [reading poem in class] A storm is coming, Frank says / A storm that will swallow the children / And I will deliver them from the kingdom of pain / I will deliver the children back the their doorsteps / And send the monsters back to the underground
1 and 2 are said by the the same actor (different films)

Will got - Donnie Darko
3. Allow me to break the ice. My name is Freeze. Learn it well. For it's the chilling sound of your doom. Aunty Helpful Dictator got the gem that is - Batman and Robin

4. Mankind survived the last ice age. We're certainly capable of surviving this one. The only question is, will we be able to learn from our mistakes? Taffy got - The Day After Tomorrow

5. You think water moves fast? You should see ice. It moves like it has a mind. Like it knows it killed the world once and got a taste for murder. After the avalanche, it took us a week to climb out. Steve got - Deep Blue Sea

6. Oh, you mean your American friend ----? Soon to be the victim of a tragedy. An ice palace can be such a treacherous place. cristin got - Die Another Day

7. You know? This whole ice age thing is getting old. You know what I could go for? A global warming. Aunty Helpful Dictator got - Ice Age

8. Well, they have some of the coldest winters around. I grew up there, near Chippewa Falls. I remember when I was a kid, me and my father, we went ice fishing out on Lake Wissota. Ice fishing is, you know, where you.... Taffy got - Titanic

9. Five thousand of my men are out there in the freezing mud. Three thousand of them are bloodied and cleaved. Two thousand will never leave this place. I will not believe they fought and died for nothing. Steve got - Gladiator

10. When its freezing, Because it means the molecules aren't moving, so when you breath, theres nothing in the air, you know, you breath into your body, the molecules have stopped, its clean. This film stars Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood. Ice is part of the title.

Will got - The Ice Storm

11. Oh. They've encased him in Carbonite. He should be quite well protected. If he survived the freezing process, that is. Taffy got - Star Wars-The Empire Strikes Back

12. This place has become impossible. Nothing to eat, freezing cold and now a madman on the prowl outside with eels. E and Rachie got - Withnail and I

13. The place is like a museum. It's very beautiful and very cold, and you're not allowed to touch anything. E got- Ferris Beuller's Day Off

14. Turn on the heat. It doesn't work, but it makes a very annoying noise - distracts from the cold.

Will got- The Long Kiss Goodnight

15. I don't know. I didn't have any food, any water and it was very cold, very cold. I thought, I thought if I could save just one, but... he was so heavy. So heavy.... Rachie got - Silence of the Lambs

money makes the world go around, well really it's thermodynamics but let's go with it

2007-03-03T08:29:00.000Z

Dough, moolah, readies, drinking vouchers, dosh, greeenbacks.
No matter what you call the stuff it has a habit of disappearing, at least for me.
When we moved here, we applied for Canadian credit cards. Credit history checks, a letter of recommendation from my old bank and statements from my 3 credit cards (with a combined credit limit of about 20 thousand Pounds) meant little here. My credit limit was to be $1000 (about 500 Pounds) and only if I supplied the bank with a term deposit of TWICE that amount for them to hold on to, paying next to no interest for a year. The same for Mr. eh.
So a total of $4000 for both cards.
Everywhere else we went we had to pay deposits or extra premiums because we were new to the country. Despite BUYING our house the electricity company wanted a deposit, as did the phone company and don't get me started on the house insurance. Even our mortage broker got in on the deal. He wanted us to have 50% of the purchase price, yes that's 50, not 10 or 20 AND have a combined income of at least $60,000 AND be Canadian citizens (a process that takes at least 3 years btw).

Anyway, to get these deposits back I have to ask for them as the companies tend to 'forget'.
I finally got half (don't ask) of the credit card ransom back, just in time to start paying it out for house insurance and getting the furnace fixed....

inkblot test.

2007-03-02T06:07:00.000Z

Laney`s Original Inkblot Test

Outcome E - The Spirit.

Based on the descriptions you chose, you are very imaginative, creative, and love to dream. You'd probably be a good writer, artist, or musician. It is easy for you to find beauty in the world, and value your experiences.

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

smeg

2007-03-02T04:38:00.000Z

Too cold to post.
The furnace has broken down and I have no heating.
Off to bed to keep warm, right after I phone the company to arrange repairs.

late night television

2007-02-28T09:55:00.000Z

What a strange group of people the late-night television programers are.

Or rather what a stranger group they think they cater to. Several channels with 'paid advertising', hour-long infomercials and the rest.

Tonight it was SMC. Obviously the only people watching TV at 4 am are the ones who want to sell what I can only imagine is tacky crap. The whole thing was how I could have 'the life style I want and deserve' accompanied by pictures of other people who had started their own businesses, lying in a hammock, putting their feet up on the desk or having the time to play frisbee with the kids.

Why do I think it's tacky crap? Because there were practically no clues as to what these 'quality products' that I could make up to 300% profit were.

I had to turn it off only to be assaulted by Donald Trump. Not literally, he didn't walk in to my house or anything. I can't stand 'The Donald' as he is refered to for some reason, so if he had walked in to my house, well let's just say I wouldn't be offering him a cup of tea.

No, he was shouting in his pouty way, about The Learning Annex. One weekend can make me a millionaire. I won't forget you all.

Some other nut job was stating the fact that the big pharmaceutical companies control everything. They control the newspapers and the radio and had tried to silence him to prevent him talking about his snake oil, sorry his drug free whatever for $39.95.

Then there was the regular ads, of which there are soooo many here in Canada. An hour long program might have up to 8 ad breaks. Some of them are entertaining, though not always for the reason they think. Like the one for Alarm Force. You can see the guy who does the ad at the beginning if the clip here. That is just a taster, on the full TV ad he is so stiff he looks like he is hooked up to the power mains. And then there is the annoying jingle. It's so bad that even Mr. eh doesn't sing it and he loves to sing advertising jingles.

Does anyone know what the official line is on who advertisers think is watching TV at 4 am?

from IMDb

2007-02-27T14:42:00.000Z

"Dreamgirls star Eddie Murphy was so devastated after losing the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award to Alan Arkin he stormed out of the ceremony, according to press reports in the US, including Roger Friedman of FoxNews.com. Murphy was the favorite to win the Oscar, which instead was awarded to Little Miss Sunshine star Arkin. The 45-year-old tried to downplay his disappointment telling American publication Us Weekly, "It's fine. It happens. It's OK." But shortly thereafter, Murphy and girlfriend Tracey Edmonds left the show and didn't return. Murphy missed out on his Dreamgirls cast mates Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose performing songs from the film, as well as Hudson's win for Best Supporting Actress. "

now I'm even more pleased he didn't get it.

Oscar Wilde said, "I love to talk about nothing. It's the only thing I know anything about."

2007-02-27T04:46:00.000Z

As predictable as winners thanking their mothers and jokes about over-running is me doing the Monday Movie Quiz about the Oscars.
Update:
1. Who is the only actor to be nominated (as Best Actor) for playing three roles in the same film?
Taffy got -Peter Sellers for "Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb"
2. Only two sequels to win Best Picture? (Both were part of trilogies with all three films nominated for Best Picture.)
Taffy got- The Godfather Part 2 and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
3. Who was nominated as producer, director, actor and screenwriter in a single year for a single movie? Warren Beatty is not the name I was looking for, he wasn't nominated for production. It was Orson Welles.

4. The individual who was awarded the most total Oscars was none other than ---- ------, who walked away with 26 Academy Awards over his lifetime.
He had 64 total Oscar nominations.
E got - Walt Disney
5. Which comedy legend has hosted the Oscars the most? No, not Billy Crystal, someone else has hosted more. Will got -Bob Hope

6. Name the Biblical epic starring Charlton Heston that won 11 Academy Awards. Taffy got- Ben Hur

7. Who was the only actor to receive two posthumous acting nominations? He lost both times, so he still is a rebel without an Oscar. Taffy got - James Dean

8. One of the all-time best directors, master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock, never won an Oscar for Best Director, but he was nominated five times. Name any one(or more!) of the pictures.
Tafty got - Vertigo. What are the others? Will got Rebecca, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Rear Window, and Psycho, he wasn't nominated for Vertigo. and you are right, Sorry about that!
9. What is the only martial arts movie to win an Academy Award? Taffy got - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

10. Which of these nominated films did NOT win Best Picture?: E got- c.Saving Private Ryan.
a. Terms of Endearment
b. The Godfather, Part II
c. Saving Private Ryan
d. Unforgiven

11. Morgan Freeman won an Oscar for his performance in which film?: Will got - d. Million Dollar Baby
a. Driving Miss Daisy no, not a.
b. Shawshank Redemption
c. Street Smart
d. Million Dollar Baby

12. I remember it like it was last year....
a. Name the winner who started his acceptance speech "Wow. Alright, so I'm not winning director" Taffy got - George Clooney
b. Who thanked two imaginary people, Ennis and Jack, in his acceptance speech?
c. Name the song by Three 6 Mafia that won Best Original Song. Taffy got - It's Hard Out Here for A Pimp

13. What Oscar winner has the real name Ilyena Vasilievna Mironov? Taffy got - Helen Mirren

The 79th

2007-02-26T00:10:00.001Z

I'll be watching (at least some of it).

The Oscars that it is.

no not that Oscar, this one.

I'll be sitting on my sofa, in my scruffy hoodie, jeans and slippers, drinking a glass of wine, eating some of the Tayto crisps that Over Here Mammy brought over for me and saying things like "What is she wearing?"

So my predictions:

Best actor- Forest Whitaker

Best actress- Helen Mirren

Best Picture- Should be The Departed, might actually be Letters from Iwo Jima.

Best supporting actor- oh please, anyone but Eddie Murphy. Don't let him get it when Mark Wahlberg, Alan Arkin and Djimon Hounsou all deserve it much more.

best supporting actress- Either Rinko Kikuchi or Adriana Barraza for their parts in Babel should win (sorry, I forgot the Academy doesn't like to say 'win', it's all the "Oscar goes to..." because if you say someone won, it means someone else, oh the horror, lost) but it may well go to Jennifer Hudson.

Best Director- oh for the love of....give it to Martin Scorsese.

As for the rest of the categories, well I'm sure you don't really care.

It starts in an hour....

Friday and Saturday happenings

2007-02-25T04:00:00.000Z

Last night we had dinner with the always excellent Sandra and her Mammy. Considering their hectic schedule for the next few days it was great to be able to keep them both out late.

I finally got around to seeing the film which will get Helen Mirren the Oscar, The Queen.

We had an eventful day on the TTC on Saturday. The station we needed was closed so there was lots of diversions going on. The real fun started when we tried to get home. We got on one train which we thought was going east, they waited until the doors were closed to announce it was going north , so, across the platform and back on another train. After waiting for a little while it was then announced that no more trains would be going east/west from that station so it was off get the shuttle bus. After not-too-long a wait the shuttle bus arrives, packed with people. Of the 50 or so of us waiting maybe 5 managed to squeeze on.
We started walking when there were no more buses.
Eventually, after walking about 3 or 4 blocks another bus was in sight as we got to a bus stop and we got on.
Unfortunately, the station the bus stopped at had a 'medical emergency' about 3 minutes after we arrived there. There were about 30 police, paramedics and fire officers pouring into the station just as we decided to leave (as there were no trains).
Mr. eh saw us on the news footage as we left the station to find a taxi.
By the way, Mr Taxidriver, the bag left on the back seat was to be a birthday present for our god-daughter and it would be really cool to get it back, thanks.

An unlikely truth

2007-02-24T00:06:00.000Z

Al Gore was in town last night.
He was speaking at the University of Toronto. Tickets were available throught the university website for $20.
Or rather they weren't.
Demand for the tickets was so much that the website crashed and the tickets sold out in minutes.
One guy told the news reporter than he had paid $200 for each of his two tickets.
Read one of the articles here.
What's even more funny that Al Gore being treated like a superstar is the debate that has started up about wether or not he shoulsd run for president. This question was posed by The Toronto Star newspaper and some of the replies were, hmm, not sure what the word is....
judge for yourself here.
One of my favs was this- " If you like Al Gore so much, keep him. He is a natural for Socialist hand wringers like yourselves. Reynard McClusky, Orlando, Fla."
So that's what Americans think of Canadians.
Or one American in Florida anyway.

Because, I've angered the Karma Gods, and you're my punishment

2007-02-22T11:45:00.000Z

I have to walk past the subway station to get to the supermarket and just recently there have been a rash of God-botherers.

( I wonder what the collective noun is, troop maybe or an exaltation?)

The weather here is postively balmy at PLUS 2 degrees C. The first above freezing temp in ages, and the sun was shining. I'm telling you this to in some way explain my lapse in concentration.

You see I forgot two important rules.

1. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

2. There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'

Walking back from said supermarket, carrying a shopping bag in each hand, singing a little to myself as I often do, I'm brought to an unexpected stop by a small pamphlet shoved almost inside my coat.

And the words " JesusChristLordAndSaviour" muttered at me.

Did I mention that both hands were full?

Now I'd already said a polite no thanks when I walked past him on the way to the supermarket, what made him think in the intervening 20 minutes I would have changed my mind? Am I supposed to have had a vision in the frozen food aisle? Seen the error of my ways while selecting mushrooms?

Don't get me wrong, I have complete respect for other peoples religious beliefs, all I ask is some in return.

So, I may have been a little snippy when I said 'No thanks I'm Buddhist'.

He said ' Jesus Christ is the only Lord and Saviour' as he starts following me.

Do you see the fatal flaw he made there?

(At this point in writing this, I can almost feel/hear my brother and sister back in Dublin cringing and start to feel sorry for the guy)

What did I say?

What the (expletive deleted) are you doing, you (humourous expletive deleted)? Get the hell away from me!

That's some bad karma I've collected there.

sounds like the monday movie quiz

2007-02-19T07:29:00.000Z

Continuing the (almost) theme of music this week the Monday Movie Quiz is all about soundtracks.
If I was considerably more clever and tech savy I'd have put music clips for you to listen to and fancy stuff like that, instead,
I have listed the soundtrack titles and artists, as IMDb lists them. I have taken a few of the total giveaways out, but not too much.
Name the film.
updates:
1.
"The Killing Moon"Performed by Echo & The Bunnymen
"Lucid Memory"Written and Performed by Sam Bauer and Ged Bauer
"Head over Heels"Performed by Tears For Fears
"Lucid Assembly"Written and Performed by Ged Bauer and Mike Bauer
"Ave Maria"Written by Giulio Caccini and Paul Pritchard
"For Whom the Bell Tolls"Written by Stephen Baker (as Steve Baker) and Carmen Daye
"Show Me"Written by Quito Colayco and Tony Hertz
"Notorious"Performed by Duran Duran
"Proud To Be Loud"Performed by The Dead Green Mummies
"Love Will Tear Us Apart"Written and Performed by Joy Division
"Under the Milky Way"Performed by The Church .
"Mad World"Written by Roland Orzabal Performed by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews
"Stay"(Only in the Director's Cut)Written by Danny Elfman Performed by Oingo Boingo
"Never Tear Us Apart"(Director's Cut Only)INXS
Andrew got - Donnie Darko
2.
"Busy Child"Performed by Crystal Method
"Better Days (And The Bottom Drops Out)"Performed by John Benson Brooks Trio
"Low Rider"Performed by War
"Stop The Rock"Performed by Apollo Four Forty
"Painted On My Heart"Performed by The Cult
"Flower"Performed by Moby
"Da Rockwilder"Performed by Method Man and Redman
"Party Up (Up in Here)"Performed by DMX
"Been Caught Stealing"Performed by Jane's Addiction
"Ride on Josephine"Performed by George Thorogood and the Destroyers
"If Everybody Looked The Same"Performed by Groove Armada
"Roll All Day"Performed by Ice Cube
"Down"Written & Performed by BT
"Machismo' Performed by Gomez
"You Won't Fall'Written & Performed by Lori Carson
"Folsom Prison Blues"Written & Performed by Johnny Cash
"Rap"Performed by Groove Armada
"Too Sick to Pray"Performed by A3
"Leave Home"Performed by The Chemical Brothers
"Shine on Me"Performed by Torch Song
"Sugarless"Performed by CaviarContains a sample of "Pretty Ballerina"Performed by The Left Banke

3.
"Rodney Yates"Performed by David Holmes
"Cha Cha Cha"Performed by Jimmy Luxury and The Tommy Rome Orchestra
"The Projects (P Jays)"Performed by Handsome Boy Modeling School featuring De La Soul
"Papa Loves Mambo"Performed by Perry Como
"Take My Breath Away"Performed by Berlin
"Spirit in the Sky"Written and Performed by Norman Greenbaum
"Blues in the Night"Performed by Quincy Jones
"Caravan"Performed by Arthur Lyman
"A Little Less Conversation"Performed by Elvis Presley
"Gritty Shaker"Performed by David Holmes
"Spanish Flea"Performed by Powerpack Orchestra
"Clair de lune de la 'Suite Bergamasque' - Adante tres expressif"Performed by Philippe Entremont
"Misty"Performed by Liberace
"Dream, Dream, Dream"Performed by Percy Faith and His Orchestra
"Moon River"Performed by Liberace
"Theme From A Summer Place"Performed by Percy Faith and His Orchestra
"Theme For Young Lovers"Performed by Percy Faith and His Orchestra
"69 Police"Performed by David Holmes
E got - Ocean's Eleven
4.
"Iguazu"Written and Performed by Gustavo Santaolalla
"Only Love Can Conquer Hate"Music by Ryuichi Sakamoto
"Bibo No Aozora"Music by Ryuichi Sakamoto

5.
"Misirlou"Performed by Dick Dale & His Del-Tones
"Coffee Shop Music"Courtesy of Capitol/Ole Georg Music
"Jungle Boogie"Performed by Kool & The Gang
"Strawberry Letter #23"Performed by Brothers Johnson
"Bustin' Surfboards"Performed by The Tornadoes
"Let's Stay Together"Performed by Al Green
"Son Of A Preacher Man"Performed by Dusty Springfield
"Bullwinkle Part II"Performed by The Centurians
"Waitin' In School"Performed by Gary Shorelle
"Lonesome Town"Performed by Ricky Nelson
"Ace Of Spades"Performed by Link Wray
"Rumble"Performed by Link Wray And His Raymen
"Since I First Met You"Performed by The Robins
"Teenagers In Love"Performed by Woody Thorne
"You Never Can Tell"Performed by Chuck Berry
"Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon"Performed by Urge Overkill
"If Love Is A Red Dress (Hang Me In Rags)"Performed by Maria McKee
"Flowers On The Wall"Performed by The Statler Brothers
"Out Of Limits"Performed by The Marketts
"Surf Rider"Performed by The Lively Ones
"Comanche"Performed by The Revels
Aunty Helpful Dictator got- Pulp Fiction
6.
"NATURE BOY"Performed By John Leguizamo
"COMPLAINTE DE LA BUTTE"Performed by Rufus Wainwright
"CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION"Performed by Marius De Vries
"THE SOUND OF MUSIC"Performed by Ewan McGregor
"CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION"Performed by Ewan McGregor, Jacek Koman, Joh Leguizamo, Garry Macdonald, Kylie Minogue, Ozzy Osbourne and Matthew Whittet
"ZIDLER'S RAP "Performed by Jim Broadbent
"Lady Marmalade"Performed by Christina Aguilera, Kimberly 'Lil' Kim' Jones, Mya and Pink
"Smells Like Teen Spirit"Written by Kurt Cobain, Chris Novoselic and Dave Grohl
Because We Can"Performed by Fatboy Slim
"SPARKLING DIAMONDS (Medley)"Featuring:"Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend"Performed by Nicole Kidman, Jim Broadbent, Natalie Mendoza, Lara Mulcahy and Caroline O'Connor "Material Girl"
"DIAMOND DOGS"Performed by Beck
"RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT"Performed by Valeria
"YOUR SONG"Performed by Ewan McGregor and Placido Domingo
"MEET ME IN THE RED ROOM"Performed by Amiel
"CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION"Performed by Bono, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer
"GORECKI"Performed by Nicole Kidman
"COME WHAT MAY"Performed by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor
"LIKE A VIRGIN"Performed by Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh and Anthony Weigh
"FOOL TO BELIEVE"Performed by Nicole Kidman and Jim Broadbent
"THE SHOW MUST GO ON"Performed by Nicole Kidman, Jim Broadbent and Anthony Weigh
"NATURE BOY"Performed by David Bowie and Massive Attack
Aunty Helpful Dictator got- Moulin Rouge
7.
"The Girl from Ipanema"Music by Antonio Carlos Jobim Lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes English lyrics by Norman Gimbel
"Fandango"(1997)Written by Bob Bain
"Psycho (The Murder)"(1960)Written by Bernard Herrmann
"Beyond the Sea"(1945)Performed by Robbie Williams

8.
"Shook Ones Pt. II"Performed by Mobb Deep
"Survival Of The Fittest"Performed by Mobb Deep
"Unbelievable"Performed by The Notorious B.I.G.
"Times Up" Performed by O.C.
"Juicy"Performed by The Notorious B.I.G.
"Sweet Home Alabama"Performed by Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Gotta Get Mine"Performed by MC Breed featuring 2Pac
"Insane In the Brain"Performed by Cypress Hill
"This Is How We Do It"Performed by Montell Jordan
"Gang Stories"Performed by South Central
"Feel Me Flow"Performed by Naughty By Nature
"Players Ball"Performed by Outkast
"I'll Be There For You"(Puff Daddy Remix)Performed by Method Man featuring Mary J. Blige
"Flight of the Bumblebee"Written by Nikolay Rimsky-KorsakovArranged by Walter W. Greene
"Shimmy Shimmy Ya"Performed by Ol' Dirty Bastard
"Bring the Pain"Performed by Method Man
"I Love You"Performed by Barney
"Runnin'"Performed by The Pharcyde
"Who Shot Ya"Performed by The Notorious B.I.G.
"C.R.E.A.M."Performed by Wu Tang Clan
"Temptations"Performed by 2Pac
"Next Level"(Nyte Time Mix)Performed by Showbiz & AG
"Player's Anthem"Performed by Junior M.A.F.I.A.
"Last Dayz"Performed by Onyx
"Lose Yourself"Performed by Eminem
Cristin got - 8 Mile

9.
"SHAKE YOUR MONEYMAKER"Performed by Elmore James
"SOOTHE ME"Performed by Sam and Dave
"HOLD ON! I'M A COMIN' "Performed by Sam and Dave
"BOOGIE CHILLUN"Performed by John Lee Hooker
"LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL"Performed by Louis Jordan
"YOUR CHEATIN' HEART"Performed by Kitty Wells
"ANEMA E CORE"Performed by Ezio Pinza
"THINK"(uncredited)Performed by Aretha Franklin
"SHAKE A TAIL FEATHER"(uncredited)Performed by Ray Charles
"GIMME SOME LOVIN'"
"MAIN THEME FROM 'RAWHIDE'
"STAND BY YOUR MAN"
"I'M WALKIN'"Performed by Fats Domino.
"MINNIE THE MOOCHER"Performed by Cab Calloway
"EVERYBODY NEEDS SOMEBODY TO LOVE"
"SWEET HOME CHICAGO"
"RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES"Performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
"HORST WESSEL LIED"(uncredited)Performed by an uncredited German Chorus
"BOOM BOOM"(uncredited)Written and Performed by John Lee Hooker
"I CAN'T TURN YOU LOOSE"(uncredited)Written by Otis Redding
"CUANDO, CUANDO, CUANDO"(uncredited)Performed by Murph & the MagicTones
"JUST THE WAY YOU ARE"(uncredited)Performed by unknown 'Muzak' band
"THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA"(uncredited)Performed by unknown 'Muzak' band
"SHE CAUGHT THE KATY"(uncredited)
"THE OLD LANDMARK"(uncredited)Performed by James Brown
"PETER GUNN THEME"(uncredited)
Aunty Helpful Dictator got- The Blues Brothers
10.
"Mr. Quiet"Performed by Technical Difficulties
" Welcome Song"Performed by Danny Elfman
"Good Morning Starshine"Written by Galt MacDermot, James Rado and Gerome Ragni
"Augustus Gloop"Music and vocals by Danny Elfman featuring The Alleyns School Brass Ensemble
"Violet Beauregarde"Music and vocals by Danny Elfman
"Veruca Salt"Music and vocals by Danny Elfman
"Macarena"(Bayside Boys Mix)Performed by Los del Rio
"Also Sprach Zarathustra"Performed by Die Wiener Philharmoniker
"Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Two Mixed Choirs and Orchestra"Performed by hr-Sinfonieorchester, Frankfurt
"Mike Teavee"Music and vocals by Danny Elfman
Will and Aunty Helpful Dictator got- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

post 222

2007-02-19T04:44:00.000Z

Somehow I have ranted and rambled and waffled and carped and prattled on for 221 posts.
So, now for a little test to see if anyone is still awake. One of the following statments about me is false, can you spot the bogus, concocted, erroneous, fake?

1. I once did a firewalk. Barefoot over 20 feet of red hot burning embers. And I walked slowly and didn't get burnt.
2. I once got locked in at work. It was late and most people had left, I put my keys on my desk while I went to the bathroom and got locked out when someone else thought everyone was gone.
3. I once got locked in at Highgate Cemetery. Strolling around one Sunday afternoon, didn't realise how late it was, gates were locked.
4. I still don't really get left/right. I have to look at my hands to know which is which. Every time.
5. When I worked as a kitchen assistant at various Dublin events I once chopped a good portion of my thumbnail into the lettuce and the chef still made me use it.

if I had a million dollars, I'd go again

2007-02-17T18:13:00.000Z

I took lots of pictures of the snow and if Mr. eh hadn't borrowed the camera before I downloaded them you'd be able to see for yourself.

They tell me we had 11cm of snow, looked and felt like more to me, but that's why I'm not on the TV doing the weather reports.

Still minus something-teen here most days too, and who else but a Canadian band would think that this is the perfect time to go on tour?

The Barenaked Ladies have been around, as Ed pointed out, for almost 20 years and I have liked their clever/funny/sad lyrics for about 10 years.

Despite booking the tickets ages ago our seats at the Air Canada Centre were a bit disappointing so it was a good job that the band were so good as that took my mind off the fact that we were sat almost at the top of a very high and steep cliff.

By a strange coincidence their new video features some of the 'internet superstars' that I talked about yesterday, including Matt dancing, the mentos and diet coke guys and 'numa numa'. You'd think I planned this or something.

friday found

2007-02-16T06:38:00.000Z

I have had a link to Matt 'Where the hell is Matt', that dancing guy on my side bar for a while now and the reason I'm mentioning it now is he has been asked to take part in a Vh1 "40 Greatest Internet Superstars".read it here.
I love his dancing videos because he can't dance and he knows it but that doesn't stop him.
Some of the other internet superstars up for the vote are also well worth a look.
The Evolution of Dance guy was everywhere a couple of months ago and I've seen a few of the others before too, some of them are well, full blown crazy.

Is Valentines day on the 14th this year?

2007-02-14T07:40:00.000Z

The shops have barely taken the tinsel down, in fact one place last week had the tinsel draped over the Valentines cards and the Easter eggs.
In the post box for me this morning, yet another letter for someone who hasn't lived here for years (no wonder the post takes so long, everything is delivered a couple of times) and two of the many pieces of junk mail theat I get every day.
Inside the menu for Dominos pizza was a flyer for the local gym for a free trial. So, was it clever marketing or a funny coincidence that the two were combined like that?

Monday Movie Quiz

2007-02-12T07:05:00.000Z

Sort of in the spirit of six degrees this weeks Monday Movie Quiz is all about connections.
Name the actor/actress who links the films.
Update:

1. Scream 2,
The Matrix Reloaded and
Collateral. yyyyyE got -Jada Pinkett Smith

2. Collateral,
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and
Rumor Has It... yyyyyE got- Mark Ruffalo

3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sin City,
Everything Is Illuminated and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Aunty Helpful Dictator got- Elijah Wood

4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,
The Curse of Frankenstein and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. yyyyy E got- Christoper Lee

5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sleepy Hollow, Donnie Brasco and
Ed Wood. E got- Johnny Depp

6. Ed Wood, Full Metal Jacket, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and The Cell.

7. The Cell, Zoolander, Wedding Crashers and Starsky & Hutch.

8. Starsky & Hutch, Armageddon, Wedding Crashers and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

9. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Notes on a Scandal and The Good German. Aunty Helpful Dictator got- Cate Blanchett

10. The Good German, Seabiscuit, Spiderman and Wonder Boys.
Aunty Helpful Dictator got - Tobey Maguire
11. Wonder Boys, A Scanner Darkly and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Aunty Helpful Dictator got-Robert Downey Jr
12. Good Night, and Good Luck., South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut and Out of Sight.yyyyy Sandra got- George Clooney

13. Out of Sight, Mission: Impossible series and Pulp Fiction.yyyyy E got- Ving Rhames

14. Pulp Fiction, Unbreakable, Snakes on a Plane and Kill Bill: Vol. 2. E got- Samuel L Jackson

15. Kill Bill: Vol. 2, Sin City, Thelma and Louise and Reservoir Dogs. E got- Michael Madsen

friday found on the interwebs

2007-02-09T21:42:00.000Z

I'm sure everyone has heard of six degrees of separation.
There was a play which was made into a not very good film and then of course there is the Kevin Bacon game.
Well now Kevin Bacon has set up a charity website based on the whole idea and the total donations are alreadyover $100,000.
All good.
There is also the chance to get up to $10,000 for your charity if you are quick. The site will match donations up to that maximum if you raise the most.

UoooPS

2007-02-08T12:13:00.001Z

From the UPS website:
2005 Revenue: $42.6 billion
Employees: 427,700 Worldwide (360,600 U.S.; 67,100 International)
Package Operations
2005 Delivery Volume: 3.75 billion packages and documents
Daily Delivery Volume: 14.8 million packages and documents
Daily U.S. Air Volume: 2.2 million packages and documents
Daily International Volume: 1.5 million packages and documents
Service Area: More than 200 countries and territories; every address in North America and EuropeCustomers: 7.9 million daily (1.8 million pick-up, 6.1 million delivery)
and
Canada Delivery Fleet: 2,521 (package cars, tractor, vans and trailers)
All sounds quite impressive doesn't it? even if they do have those nasty brown uniforms.
So with all these resources, expertise and experience in delivering packages, is it unreasonable of me to expect them to deliver a package?

A week ago, Susie-from-UPS left a message on my phone. They had tried to deliver a package to my old address only to be told that we had moved so she proceeds to ask me to call back, and recites a tracking number for me. This tracking number is 19 digits long. Seriously.
My dyslexia makes it difficult for me to follow a standard phone number of 7 or more numbers so 19 is just taking the piss. I listened to the message three times and still couldn't get it.
I rang them back and explained that I'd got this message and that I didn't have a complete tracking number. (had to own up to the dyslexia at that point)
Now, the apartment block we used to live in was, I think, 21 floors, with several apartments per floor. Even so, realistically, how many packages would UPS be delivering there in one day?
Let's be generous and say - 10.
How many to the fifteenth floor?
Again, on the generous side - 2.
So why is it if I can give them the full address, including postcode and apartment number, and at least a third of the tracking number, why can't they find the package?
I leave my phone number (which they already had, remember) and new address and wait for them to get back to me "by tomorrow".
5 days later I decide to phone them back.
It was like a time warp.
Same questions all over again. When I pointed out to Richard that I had already given all these details to his co-worker several days ago all I got was one of those nervous laughs.
Next day, pounding on the front door.
Before I can open the door all the way I can see the nasty brown uniform as it disappears back in to the nasty brown van. He just left the package on the door step.

if I build the monday movie quiz, they will come

2007-02-06T04:35:00.000Z

Breaking news......last night there was an American football game played in a secret location.

You probably didn't hear about it as there was no hype or fuss.

I was, well cheering is not quite the right word as I didn't watch much of the game, but I did want the Chicago Bears to win, and well, not so much. So moving swiftly along, the theme for this weeks Monday Movie Quiz was inspired by sport. I know, honestly, pretty much nothing about sport, but I do know that Chess is not a sport and IMHO neither is cheerleading, so no questions about either of those, some other questions have been included which you may not consider sports, that's fine, you don't have to consider them real sports, it's not like anyone cares.

Anyway
Update

1. Name the film from the picture:

Taffy got -Wimbledon

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Will got- Kingpin

wwwwill got - Kingpinddd

dwwdddd

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3.

Swearing Lady got- Belleville Rendez-Vous

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4. Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Martin Scorsese team up in Raging Bull, a story based on what boxer? Taffy got- Jake La Motta

5. Which comedy great played 18 holes with the Dalai Lama? Taffy got-Bill Murray

6. Which one of these movies doesn't have any football in it? Will got - d

a.The Last Boy Scout
b.The Faculty
c. Invincible
d.Trick question: There's a bit of football in all of them

7. Which one of these movies doesn't star NFL hall of famer/ part-time murderer/actor O.J. Simpson ? Will got - d

a.Capricorn One
b.The Towering Inferno
c.The Naked Gun
d.The Hand

8. Which one of these movies isn't about basketball? Taffy got - d

a.White Men Can't Jump
b. Space Jam
c. Coach Carter
d. The Longest Yard

9. Name the film the following quotes are taken from:
a. There's no crying in baseball. Taffy got- A League of Their Own
b. Let me remind you all of one thing: this is not a game we are playing for fun and entertainment - this is a fight we must win.
c. I don't train girls. Will got - Million Dollar Baby
d. God made countries, God makes kings, and the rules by which they govern. And those rules say that the Sabbath is His. And I for one intend to keep it that way. Taffy got- Charoits of Fire
e. Our Father, who art in Calgary, Bobsled be thy name. Thy kingdom come, gold medals won, on Earth as it is in Turn Seven. With Liberty and Justice for Jamaica and Haile Selassie. Amen. Taffy got - Cool Runnings

10. Name the American football film from the cast list:

a. Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid, Cameron Diaz, James Woods, Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J. Taffy got -Any Given Sunday

b. Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates and Fairuza Balk. Taffy got - The Waterboy

c. Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Brooke Langton and Orlando Jones. Taffy got -The Replacements

d. Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon, Buck Henry, Vincent Gardenia and Jack Warden. and Taffy got - Heaven Can Wait

so much for groundhogs

2007-02-04T17:04:00.000Z

Weather warning from Environment Canada
Wind chill warning for:City of Toronto
WIND CHILL VALUES OF MINUS 30 EXPECTED ACROSS ALL OF SOUTHERN ONTARIO TONIGHT AND VALUES NEAR MINUS 40 OVER PORTIONS OF EASTERN ONTARIO TONIGHT. THIS IS A WARNING THAT EXTREME WIND CHILL CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.

Groundhog day

2007-02-02T23:03:00.000Z

Today is Groundhog Day.

Good news, Punxsutawnay Phil says to expect an early spring.

But, maybe I should be listening to Wiarton Willie.

According to Wiki: The story of Wiarton Willie dates back to 1956. A Wiarton resident named Mac McKenzie wanted to showcase his childhood home to his many friends, so he sent out invitations for a "Groundhog Day" gathering. One of these invitations fell into the hands of a Toronto Star reporter. The reporter travelled to Wiarton looking for the Groundhog Day event. None of the townspeople knew about a festival, but one suggested he check at the Arlington Hotel, the local watering hole. There the reporter found McKenzie and his friends partying and was invited to join them. The next day, the reporter lamented to McKenzie that he needed some kind of story to take back to justify his expenses. So McKenzie grabbed his wife's fur hat, which had a large button on the front, trooped out into the parking lot, dug a burrow in the snow and pronounced a prognostication (which no one remembers). The picture of Mac and the hat ran in the February 3, 1956 edition of the Toronto Star. A year later, about 50 people arrived for the festival. Half were reporters from various media, including the CBC and Canadian Press. Seizing on the opportunity, McKenzie invented a festival that has been added to over the years.
Wiarton Willie himself is a more recent addition to the festivities. In the early years, prognostication was provided by the "mythical" trio of groundhogs Grundoon, Muldoon and Sand Dune. Willie appeared on the scene in the 1980s.
Wiarton Willie's predictive powers are attributed (by his followers) to his situation on the 45th parallel, exactly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. He is claimed locally to be accurate in his prognostications around 90 per cent of the time, although scientific studies show groundhog predictions to have a success rate of more like 37 per cent.

His prediction is for spring too.

give the woman a medal.

2007-02-02T02:35:00.000Z

Further proof, as if any was needed than Sandra over here is a lovely and well-brought up young woman.
She sat on my sofa, drinking her tea and showed no signs of fear at all the George Clooney paraphernalia around the house. The fridge magnets, the mug, coasters, key-ring and magazines.
And then there was the movie collection.
All the usual stuff is there, Oceans, Perfect Storm, Oh Brother etc, but my level of interest means I also have copies of Combat Academy, Red Surf, The Magic Bubble ,and (have I no shame...) Return of the Killer Tomatoes, in which George says one of the all time great movie quotes: That's the bravest thing I ever saw a tomato do.
She even sat through whole minutes of these films.

Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai

2007-01-29T12:12:00.000Z

Update-
1. Roughly how many movies does Bollywood make in a year?
A: 200
B: 400
C: 750
D: 1000 cristin got -D: 1000

2. In which year did commercial cinema begin in India?
A:1895 no, not this one
B:1879
C:1913
D:1902

3.Which Indian movie was nominated for an Oscar Awards in 2003?
A Devdas
B: Dil Chahta hai
C: Asoka
D: The Legend of Bhagatsingh

4.Name the film in which six perfect strangers plan one perfect crime
A Chhal
B Kaante yes, cristin the answer is Kaante
C Soch

5. One of these statements about Aishwarya Rai is false, which one?

A.Turned down the role of Helen in the film Troy (2004).

B.She was the first choice for the role of Jane Smith in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), but she turned it down due to filming conflicts.

C.Ran the Olympic-torch relay in June 2004.

D.Her favourite film is Casablanca.

E.Has written three columns for BBC South Asia. Yes, cristin, this is the false one.

6. One of these statements is not true of Amitabh Bachchan, which one?

A. Presenter of Kaun Banega Crorepati, India's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

B. Is a vegetarian.

C. His favourite screen name is Vijay, which he had as his character name in over 20 movies.

D. Purchased a villa on a man made island on the coast of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

E. He got his break in Bollywood after a letter of introduction from the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, as he was a friend of her son Rajiv Gandhi.

Name the film from the picture

7.

Cristin got -Mother India

8.

Cristin got- Devdas

9.

Cristin got- Lagaan

10. The movie Bride and Prejudice was directed by Gurinder Chadha who also directed :
A. Dance like a man.
B. Bend it like Beckham. Cristin got this one too, the answer is B.
C. Mitr, My friend.
D. Hyderabad blues.

3 miles an hour

2007-01-27T08:51:00.000Z

Distance from Toronto to Dublin -
Miles:3261.75 or
Kilometers:5249.14

Number of days for Christmas presents for my family to arrive: 44
So thats 74.13 miles per day
or 119.3 kilometers per day, if I include weekends and such.

3.09 miles per hour/ 4.97 kilometers per hour.

Priceless.

are you?

2007-01-26T21:43:00.000Z

18/20 means I'm not an idiot.
Reassuring, I can tell you.

brrrr

2007-01-26T04:58:00.000Z

Today, according to that little weather yoke over there in the sidebar, it was -13C and feeling -24C (I think that's about -10 American). While not quite the coldest place on Earth, I think most people would agree that it's really fairly chilly, you know, cold enough that you might need a scarf.
So, not surprisingly I wasn't too keen to go outside.
I wasn't alone in my reluctance.
This presented a bit of a dilemma unfortunately, as there was not very much food in the fridge.
I briefly considered an Elvis sandwich, which according to legend is the grilled banana and peanut butter sandwich (recipe here ).
I didn't, had an omlette instead, quite good, come round I'll make you one.
Anyway I got to thinking about National dishes. Lots of countries have a traditional stew-type dish -Irish stew, goulash, scouse, borscht even curry and chilli could be considered to be in the same group. But I couldn't think if there was a Canadian version.
Turns out there are lot of traditional foods, depending on the area of this vast country, but no stew type dish.
And now I wondering why?
Does anyone know?

Best Graffiti Ever

2007-01-25T04:30:00.000Z

can be seen from the metro train when it goes over the Bloor Street Viaduct. Down below is the Don Valley parkway (for my first couple of months here, I wondered who this man Don Valley was. Nobody told me the river was called the Don).
Writen in big, bright multicoloured bubble letters is - Supercalifragialistic.
Every time the train I'm on goes over the viaduct I look at this graffito and wonder how long it took to do, how many cans of paint it must have taken and were there any spelling mistakes?

Then yesterday, I heard that the viaduct is ranked as the second most fatal standing structure in the world, after the Golden Gate Bridge.

Who ranks these things anyway?
Over 400 hundred people have jumped off the viaduct.
The reason this came to my attention at all was because I heard about this documentary. Filmed over the course of a year, cameras running from dawn to dusk on the Golden Gate.

Maybe the graffiti should be a helpline number.

no worries

2007-01-22T07:49:00.000Z

In honour of Australia Day later this week, the Monday Movie quiz features Australian actors.
Name the actor and the film.
And just to make it a little harder all the pictures are upside down.

Update-
1.

Will got-
George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service

2.

Will got -
Nicole Kidman in The Others

3.

E got-
Guy Pearse in Memento

4.

Will got-
Hugo Weaving in V for Vendetta

5.

E got-
Naomi Watts in 21 Grams

6.

Will got-
Jeffery Rush in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

7.

E got-
Cate Blanchett in Charlote Gray

8.

E got-
Hugh Jackman in Swordfish

9.

Will got-
Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain

10.

E got-
Toni Collette in Muriel's Wedding

11.

...for I have sinned

2007-01-20T07:38:00.000Z

Maybe it's because of my birthday, maybe it's from watching My Name Is Earl but I'm feeling the need to come clean on a couple of things.

First, Helen G. that I used to go to school with.

A few years ago, on another significant birthday you sent me a card (via my old home address). We hadn't kept in touch after school so it was a surprise.

You included your address but I never wrote to you.

Of course, the grown-up me knows that you were a bit mean to me when we were kids because I was the only one that you could be mean to. Even so, I never could bring myself to write back.

I should have.

vvvf

When I was forced to go to confession I made up sins to tell the priest. Or Geraldine would make them up for us.

I was 8 or 10 years old, and a total wimpy goody-two-shoes, what possible sins could I confess?

Of course, the nuns would have told me different, as just by saying that I was probably commiting the sin of pride or something and then there is also lying to a priest. It's no wonder I gave up on the whole Catholic thing.

,,,,,,,,,

A few years ago, I worked for a well known international company. The job involved a hellish amount of commuting every day and was a hellish place to work. I called it The Hell Mouth.

Anyway, travelling on public transport every day in Yorkshire meant I got a lot of colds and flu.

The deeply unpleasant people I worked with never believed I was ill, so when-ever I had a cold/flu/chest infection I still had to go to work. I sometimes got their mugs from the cupboard in the kitchen and licked all the way round the rim.

Lá breithe mhaith agat!

2007-01-20T06:15:00.000Z

David Lynch, Skeet Ulrich, George Burns, Federico Fellini, Tom Baker, Buzz Aldrin .

I don't like musicals

2007-01-19T06:52:00.000Z

I don't like musicals.
I did like Moulin Rouge.
And Chicago.
I suppose The Happiness of the Katakuris and Beyond The Sea are technically musicals and I liked them too.
But still I say that I don't like musicals.
So why do I love Bollywood films?
It all started with Lagaan. Three and three-quarter hours later I was hooked. And it's about cricket!
Since then I have seen quite a few more, some old, like Mother India (I was the only person in the cinema for that one) some new like Water. (yeah, I know it's not a 'Bollywood' film, in fact it's Canadian....)
I have also got quite a few on DVD including some I didn't get a chance to watch before we moved here. The new DVD player (a total bargain for $38) plays all of my discs and I settled down to watch one of Shahrukh Khan's earlier films, Darr.
I have had a few problems with Bollywood films on DVD in the past, even when there is a big sticker on the front delaring 'English subtitles' sometimes the subtitles are missing.
All was well with Darr, until well past the 2 hour mark. Then, the person doing the subtitles must have gone home early, thinking 'well, that will do, I'm sure they can figure out how the bad-guy-stalker gets found out without the dialogue'.
I mostly sort of did but still....

Dear People of Toronto

2007-01-18T07:24:00.000Z

To the guy in that coat on the TTC: I know it was -11C and 'feeling' -19C (convert here) in the middle of the afternoon, but there was no excuse for that coat. Brown matted fur with a deep V neck fringed with a big fluffy fur collar? The only good thing about it was it distracted from your ear muffs.
To the girl wearing the short denim jacket and midrift-baring top: a scarf does not make up for insufficient clothes. When skin goes that shade of blue it's time to get out the winter clothes.
To the 5 layers guy: While I applaud your preparedness, you couldn't really see where you were going, could you? The hood up, hat and scarf combo really cut down on your peripheral vision and the shirt/jumper/cardigan/coat made it a bit difficult to negotiate the steps. Maybe you and denim jacket girl could work out some sort of compromise?
To the woman behind me at Starbucks: Did you think I was standing in the queue waiting to have a chat with the staff? No? Then why, when I am plainly ordering a coffee did you feel the need to try to order at the same time?
To the guy singing along to his iPod: pretty good, I liked it.

pass the crackers

2007-01-17T05:10:00.000Z

I think I have finally found a replacement for my long-time favourite cinema, here.
The contender is The Cumberland.
They have an annual membership which gives me a discount every time, early matinee showings every day so that I can see two films a day and still get home at a reasonable time, it was the only cinema in Toronto with the advance premiere of The Good German and it's a straight run on the subway with no changes.
The only down-side so far- the ticket guy trying very hard to persuade me to go see Miss Potter despite me telling him that Renee gets on my nerves. And then proceeding to tell me why he thought she was great, a story which involved the quote "you had me at hello".
I didn't have the heart to tell him I think that to be in the Top Cheddar Movie Lines.
In no particular order these include:
"Nobody puts Baby in the corner" - Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) in Dirty Dancing.

"Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed." - Carrie (Andie MacDowell) while standing in a downpour in Four Weddings in a Funeral.

"You can be my wingman any time." - Iceman (Val Kilmer) to Maverick (Tom Cruise) in Top Gun.

Robin: I need a sign that you've turned over a new leaf.
Ivy: How about "slippery when wet?" Batman and Robin (in fact about 74% of all the dialogue in that film)

Judge Dredd: Emotions... there ought to be a law against them.

Catwoman: Time to accessorize!

Gord Brody: [playing the sausage organ] Daddy, would you like some sausage? Daddy, would you like some sausage? and every other line in Freddy Got Fingered.

Mary Jane Watson: I know you think we can't be together, but can't you respect me enough to let me make my own decision? I know there'll be risks but I want to face them with you. It's wrong that we should be only half alive... half of ourselves. I love you. So here I am - standing in your doorway. I have always been standing in your doorway. Isn't it about time somebody saved your life? Spiderman 2

Which ones did I leave out?

Golden Globes trivia

2007-01-15T16:26:00.000Z

Some trivia on the Golden Globes which are being awarded tonight.
Update
1. In 1998 Ving Rhames gave his award for his part in Don King: Only in America to another actor.
Who? E got Jack Lemmon

2. Which of the following actors refused to accept his Best Actor award?
Sean Penn
Marlon Brando Woozie got- Marlon Brando
Robert DeNiro
Woody Allen

3. Which of the following has not won the Cecil B. DeMille award for career achievement?
Robert DeNiro
Gene Hackman
Dustin Hoffman
Robin Williams

5. Who holds the record for most Golde Globe awards? No, not Katherine Hepburn

6. Which is the only film to win the Globe in all five major categories (Best Motion Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, Screenplay)? E got- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

7. Youngest winner?

8. 'The Departed' is a Hollywood remake of 'Infernal Affairs,' a foreign film from which country?
Brazil
Japan
Italy
France
China E got - China

9. "Ugly Betty" has made America Ferrera a nominee. Which actress is an executive producer of the show? cristin got - Salma Hayek

10. Which film holds the record for the most nominations in one year?
Titanic Surprisingly, not Titanic
Cabaret
Nashville

Top tip

2007-01-14T01:56:00.000Z

When it is -4 and feeling -9C don't go outside with wet hair.

Questions

2007-01-12T18:16:00.001Z

It was a dark and stormy night, when he knocked on the door.
It wasn't really that stormy, I suppose.
More than a week ago I answered the knock at my door, it was an engineer-type guy, in a hard hat who straight away starts with "ok, so I'm going to hook these guys up to your water now."
Eh?
I said- 'I'm looking at you blankly, because I've no idea what you are talking about"
This prompted a rant about how the day guy was supposed to have already talked to me, not all of which I caught.
Short version - neighbours next door have a leaky water main in their basement, so have to have the water turned off and the repair guy wants to hook them up to our outside tap.
The hose is already attached to the outside tap at the front.
Now, if anybody had bothered to tell me any of this I could (and did at this point) explain that that tap, doesn't work. In the sense that no water comes out of it, which is really the only purpose of a tap, unless for some reason you like the turning on and off part, but really without water coming out even that gets old real quick.
I say all this because when I told hard het it didn't work, he required an explanation.
Where was I?
Being the nice person that I sometimes am, I suggested the outside tap at the back of the house.
The second time I suggested it, I was actually listened to.
So the hose is hooked up there instead and I'm told at least three times not to turn the water off.
A week goes by, with intermittent low water pressure. No big deal. And no update from the neighbours.
So, another dark and feckin' cold night. Same hard-hat guy back knocking at the door.
This time he all but accuses me of maliciously turning off the water.
I give him my best Paddington Bear stare and ask him why I would do that?
Suitably flustered (the Paddington Bear stare can be very effective) he tells me that the water has frozen in the tap and the only way that can have happened, even in the depths of a Canadian winter is if someone had turned off the water.
He goes away, and comes back.
Turns out next door had turned it off.
The only way to un-freeze the tap, he suggests, is to get a hair dryer to it.
He goes away again.
The tap on next door is frozen too, hardly surprising as it's -5C (23F).
Over the next 30 or so minutes he is back in my house another 3 times. The hair dryer thing will take about 15-20 minutes to work and it's clear that he expects me to do this. He and next-door-neighbour have had words and the whole deal is getting unpleasant.
Question- would any of you stand outside, in the dark and freezing night holding a hairdryer to an outside tap, (even supposing that your hairdryer reached, which it didn't, which is when I decided to give up)?

Next morning, I have no water in my house. The reason? The ouside tap is open and gushing water all over the back garden. I have no idea how long it's been unfrozen and running.
I am up earlier than usual, because of the jack-hammer at 8.30am.

Next day, today, and a second team of work men have turned up to make noise at 9am.
Road works the world over, why do a one-day job with 2 men when it can be 3 days work for 6?
They are out there now, standing around, scratching themselves, trampling all over my garden, trying to get water from the outside tap at the front.
I'm not going to tell them.
Would you?

eh