I've only managed to open three presents thus far, as I went to work (tho' following what happened before lunch, I really wondered why I bothered). Anyway! My favourite present so far is this little lady:
Following last Christmas and this Christmas, I've decided to collect these lovely dolls for birthdays and Christmas. They look pretty and I love holding them - much better than a stress ball and they massage your hands! I haven't collected anything for years, but I thought these might be a nice to gather randomly, Since shoes don't really count... They're a necessity. Of course. *Ahem*
Yes! Finally, all that office monkeying around has been worth it! Most of the time, when I say I want to treat myself, a) money's a bit of a, er, 'issue' or b) I can't find bugger all that I WANT (I don't believe in buying for the sake of it: I must WANT whatever it is. Even if it's a air growing plant. True).
But it all went freakily to plan, including not being late for anything and buying (other people's) birthday presents. Go me!
The things I that made me think "Ah, how temporarily happier my life will be if I could just find the following..."
- Petrol/Midnight Blue Nail Varnish - mission accomplished (Ruby & Millie and Collection 2000 on a gift voucher, oh yes!)
- Patterned early '70s influenced empire line mini dress - mission, unbelievably, accomplished (Dotty P's, I thank you)
- NEW SHOES!! NEW SHOES!! NEW SHOES!! *ahem* - mission accomplished, so I'm now the proud owner of these little beauts (cheers To'Sho'):
Apart from actually earning a wage and having no social life, my other justification for these was "I don't have blue shoes". Perfectly acceptable I think. Anyway, I have to make the most of it, as I'm obviously going to be a perpetual student for the rest of my life and this will be the last time I ever have any kind of expendable income *sigh*
Sometimes, I'm so glad the shallow things in life can make me happy...
(This is basically a rehash of a comment that I just posted on Janine's blog, but I quite liked it, so I'm digitally regurgitating it here...)
When I was 9 I knew I never wanted an office job. And I'm now an office monkey *groo* However, I now know I'd quite like to make a living amongst books and, hopefully, telling people (well, young adults and mature students) Stuff About Them, so I know 9 year old me would wholly approve of that.
The power of your past-self is a, erm, powerful thing: Last week, I finally bought Nicky Wire's solo album because I kept having a vision of a 13-year-old-me smothering adult-me with a pillow for being such a traitor to the Manics fan cause. (This is completely believeable - when I was 13, I once threatened to throw myself off the canal bridge if I didn't get the NME with the Manics poster in. I didn't have a whole lot going on with my life, lol).
So I bought the solo album. And after sticking it on my media player, I find that I pretty much skip every track.
But at least I won't get murdered in my daydreams now.
Is there a more predictable way to start the new year? Noooo.
Well, as I was wittering on with Top 5s in December, I feel that it is only fitting to carry on the theme by stating that in the Top 5 Worst Hangovers of My Life EVER, yesterday's must have been a shoe-in at #2.
(Actually, number 1 is from 2006 too: Me and Janine lying on my bed for five hours straight, watching the same two episodes of Green Wing, twitching, in the aftermath of a spectacularly messy Killing Fantasy. Niiiiice).
And now here I am at work, despite wanting to fall asleep on the keyboard...
...Oh god: am I an adult now??
Show us a video that cracks you up.
I have two from this year:
I don't have a great deal to do at work this week.
I know you probably haven't noticed this, but just thought I'd point it out.
*Heh heh*
What next, d'y think: Top 5 cooking implements of 2006?
"The TV! The TV!"
Yes, like Bart and Lisa Simpson, if the TV suddenly died this year then there was a good chance that you'd cry out at the misfortune of it all (look at that: introducing a telly list by quoting a TV programme. How postmodern/ironic/wanky/something). For 2006 was a Good Year for TV, so much so that it was all too easy to think of a Top 5. So here it is, in descending order...
5) Life On Mars - Who knew that when someone pitched "a-comedy-drama-cop-show-like-The-Sweeney-but-with time-travel-and-psychological-weirdness-thrown-in" that not only would that person not be instantly redundant, but that idea would produce possibly the most original TV drama in YEARS. And not only that, but is was so well written I wanted to cry each episode and it was ridiculously accessible without losing its credibility (and credulity). Let's face it, when John Simm is in something, we know it's gonna be very, very good but that it will also be incredibly weighty so you better get a whisky and a sedative ready. So Life On Mars was a beyond-pleasant surprise on all accounts. Plus - like it needed anything else to make it great - it had a powerhouse performance from the mighty Philip Glenister as "the Gene Jeanie". Amazing, amazing, and it's not long to go 'til the second (and last) series.
4) That Mitchell & Webb Look - This received really good reviews at the time, but now critics seem to be getting rather sniffy about it. Well, I'm not! If their problem with That...Look is that, on reflection, it was 'just' a conventionally formatted sketch show, then I think they're just feeling guilty that it got better reviews (and more laughs) than Extras (which was on before Mitchell & Webb). Now, Extras was very good, but as the second series went on, it did seem to sink in the quagmire of it's own heartless cleverness: the whole 'celebrities-sending-themselves-up' was a great concept that Extras successfully fleshed out, but it did seem like people were queuing up to show how 'ironic' they were. And Mitchell and Webb were a welcome relief from the realism and shallow anti-political correctness that every new comedy series seems to want to replicate. So what if not all the sketches completely worked? The vast majority of them were frickin' hilarious and they didn't commit the sin that Catherine Tate is too, too found of: repeating the same sketches EVERY EPISODE. None of that for Mitchell and Webb! There were so many fantastic moments: psychic biscuit man, the green clarinet, the special snooker words to Lady In Red, the millionaire brothers and their 'enormous yachts' ("TUES-day"), Sir Digby Chicken Caesar, Numberwang... But most importantly, Dead British Actors... "CRUMPETS!!"
3) That's Numberwang! ...Okay, (semi-)seriously:
3) Greenwing - Ah, the comedy equivalent of Marmite (not that I've even tried Marmite, so a useless cliche really). Sod the fact it's gloriously stupid, OTT and just down-right strange, it has one the greatest love stories ever broadcast: the ever squidgy triangle between Caroline, Mac and Guy. Nothing this year has made me a) fall off the bed laughing and b) scream at the telly. God, it made staying in on a Friday the ONLY option. Just... genius. Also very clever, in that I so desperately wanted Caroline and Mac to get together, only for him to be such a long-running pussy that I wanted to push him off the hospital roof and shove Guy at Caroline. Or steal Guy for myself, I haven't decided...
2) Jane Eyre - And from many of the people who brought you 2005's Great Period Drama, Bleak House, sprang forth this sexy little number. Goodness, I was anticipating a minor disaster as it is one of my favourite novels, but no, it was beyond successful. They changed elements of the novel, which I agree with - I believe that attempting to replicate any classic novel is impossible and trying to do so always makes for a hideously dull adaptation (see ITV's godawful Wuthering Heights). Ruth Wilson was stunning as Jane, and Toby Stephens... Toooooby Stephens... Well, let's just say I'll never think of Mr Rochester in quite the same way again... Is it me, or has it gone hot in here?
1) Doctor Who - Like Highlander, there can only be one. Unlike Highlander, this is actually good. This time last year, it was just amazing to think Doctor Who was not only fantastic but also a massive hit. This year, it was a case of can they do it again and with a new Doctor? The answer, predictably but happily, was YES. On a personal note, the second series started with a few unexpected collywobbles: after being desperate for David Tennant to be the new Doctor (one of my favourite actors, even before Who),the first couple of episodes actually made me feel like smacking both the Doctor and Rose for behaving like very irritating children. However, it soon got into the swing of things as the impending sense of DOOM started knocking rather loudly. The whole series was fantastic enough to remain the highlight of my week (oh, the depression once 7:47 came...), but the last two episodes alone would have rocketed this to numero uno. I can't actually think of a more dramatic, emotional piece of drama. And not only did Russell T. Davies directly steal Rose's fall into the vortex from my favourite episode of Buffy (Series 5, The Gift, if you were wondering), but he actually made it better than sodding Buffy! That's not allowed! Oh and the end... the end... I think I didn't stop sobbing until hours later. And I then burst into tears again the next morning when I thought about it again.
Ms Billie Piper, I salute you.
Roll on Doctor Who day... Erm, I mean, Christmas Day. Yeah.
Honourable mentions:
- Gideon's Daughter
- Torchwood
- QI (I love you Stephen!! Ahem...)
- Have I Got News For You
- Channel 4 News (you rock. And you also refuse to turn into The Day Today like all the other channels)
Bafta Prediction - Best Actress: It'll be a dramatic cry-off between Billie Piper, Ruth Wilson and Helen Mirren (Prime Suspect). All of them really went for it - facial warping, snot and all. But who has the edge? On a poll of tear drenched, scrunched-up tissues-per-drama, our survey says Billie will walk off with the bronze mask. *Sob*
What are your top 5 CDs/albums of 2006?
Submitted by eliz. s.
Look, I'm well aware that this is a QotD from a wee while ago, but I want to answer it NOW. So there.
One's Top 5 Albums of 2006
5) Lily Allen - Alright, Still
4) CSS - Cansei der ser Sexy
3) The Gossip - Standing In the Way of Control
2) Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah!
1) The Long Blondes - Someone to Drive You Home
Other honourable mentions (like it's some kind of honour being in my record collection, but, y'know, sense of occasion and all that):
- The Grates - Gravity Won't Get You High
- Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
- Ladytron - Witching Hour
- The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes
And while I'm at it, how's about...
One's Top 5 Singles of 2006 5) Amy Winehouse - Rehab 4) Lily Allen - LDN 3) The Grates - Inside Outside 2) The Long Blondes - Weekend Without Make-Up 1) Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces
What are your top 5 books of 2006?
Now, I've tried to keep it within books out in 2006 (hardback/paperback)... Although I have cheated slightly... *ahem*:
1) On Beauty - Zadie Smith
A really wonderful and downright hilarious book, as well as being very moving.
The blurb: Based on E.M Forster's Howard's End (which I haven't read, but it doesn't really matter to 'get' the narrative), it is "set in New England mainly and London partly, On Beauty concerns a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kipps - and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks some searching questions about what life does to love. For the Belseys and the Kipps, the confusions - both personal and political - of our uncertain age are about to be brought close to home: right to the heart of family."
Reading this actually made me want to do my MA, as I realised that the academic culture (although just plain WRONG sometimes) is something I really enjoy and feel attached. What I particularly liked about Smith's third novel is how it shows that intelligence can often be used to morally excuse oneself. But aside from the sense of intelligentsia that pervades the novel, it really is bloody funny and the way language is used is fabulous. I can't wait to read it again!
2) Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
(Okay, I know I cheated here - the paperback was out in 2005. But y'know...)
Basically, the epic story of two rival Magicians in the early 19th century, and when I say 'Magicians', they're actually more like very powerful wizards. Not content with setting her tale of magic and mystery in the 1800s, Clarke actually mimics the literary style of that period so that the novel becomes reminiscent of writers like Jane Austen and Thackeray. Without skimping on any detail whatsoever, Clarke has created an absolute page-turner, with hugely memorable characters and the footnotes have to be seen to be believed!
One of the quotes said that it was perfect to read on a stormy winter’s night, with the fire roaring. I read it during the hottest two weeks of summer. Go figure.
3) We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver
Love it or hate it, no-one who reads this book leaves it without an opinion or two.
I found it amazingly affecting (so much so I refused to read it in bed!). There's tons of articles about the bad/good mother and high school massacre themes, but what really struck me was the sense of a late 20th/early 21st century America collapsing in on itself (only to be seemingly - and apparently temporarily - alleviated by September 11th).
It may not be the best written novel I've read from this year, but it's certainly the one that's stayed with me for the longest. Creepy.
4) The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie O'Farrell
2006 was the return of my favourite contemporary writer, Maggie O'Farrell, and with her fourth short but powerful novel, she actually managed to hit the heights of her debut, After You'd Gone. One of her strengths is her ability to write about family and all the complicated relationships within them without resorting to melodrama, and it was this quality that was at the forefront of this novel. Not only that, but she managed to interweave postcolonialism and an often forgotten about affect of British Imperialism - Imperial Orphans: white British children born and raised in the colonies, only to be taken back and are forced to adjust. Sometimes with disastrous consequences, like poor Esme.
Once again, O'Farrell is the master at drifting in and out of past and present, memories and reality, and really does keep you in the dark as to where the plot is heading.
5) Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
For the time being, this is very possibly the book on post-September 11th New York. Which is impressive, as that really only provides context for the narratives. Oskar's journey to 'find' his father and fill the void left within him, is both hilarious and poignant. The humour in Foer's second novel is only heightened by the sense of melancholia and poignancy behind Oskar's more eccentric behaviour. Oskar is so wonderful that I was forever pining for his return to the narrative when he wasn't there, as there are also two sub-narratives. These two narratives were, sadly, no where near as strong as Oskar's, otherwise this would probably have been my favourite book of the year.
Unusually for a novel, it is also visually stunning and the last 'lines' actually belong to a series of images that I think would reduce anyone to tears.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is a life-affirming book in all its humour and melancholy.
It also has the honour of containing my favourite line of 2006, when Oskar is compelled to exclaim:"Succotash my cocker spaniel, you fudging crevasse-hole dipshiitake!"
Genius.
