Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Zumba

Oh yeah.  I finally got to a Zumba session and I loved it.  In a dark hall in a school in Christchurch women of all ages and sizes gathered to dance the night away.  With a flapping of bat wings and a jiggling of tummies everyone's inhibitions were set aside and away we went.   Not a midriff in sight. What fun.  I can say that I had trouble being loose, especially with my very damaged lower back but everything else worked fine.  Today my knee is a little sore as is my toe...new shoes me thinks.  Being an aerobics junkie in the 80s and 90s, Zumba was like a trip back to the mothership.  I noticed it was taking us all a bit of effort to loosen the hips but the spirit was strong and music fantastic.  Add that to the swimming and tennis in the weekend and I am feeling great, if not a little creaky.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

thanks to free to air tv in nz

...I have been able to catch up on some dvd watching on a Saturday nights because the pickings are very slim, in fact you could say it was SHIT!  Week after week after week of crap weekend tv. 
Loved 'In Bruges'.  I have been meaning to watch that for ages.  It was sold as a comedy with amazing chases and a whole range of other bullshit.  Always pays not to believe the hype.  It was much much better than that.  It is a very dark comedy with a lot of things to think about and some very funny dwarf gags.  Not because I think it is funny to be a dwarf, more that Ray is a total dick and that Jimmy is very assertive and a cool guy.  Loved Colin Farrell and the irony of being sent to Bruges.  Funny and alarming, well worth a look.  Loved it. 


'An Education'.   Nice little flick set in the 60s that tells a very telling tale of the times with the conflict I am sure young women of the era found them selves in. There really was a crossroads to navigate and I wonder which way I would have gone.  Anyway, enjoyable film with some lovely clothes.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

birds, bees, blossom and babies

Having been off my bike for one whole week due to poorliness, I was overjoyed to be back in the saddle on Thursday.  I do believe there was singing involved.  As I whizzed along the river I had to swerve for a tiny baby duck....yay SPRING!!  All is right with the world.  Blossom, bees and birds abound.  Sneezing and eye watering too.  Who cares...it's SPRING!!!  I have mentioned that already?

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

At the movies

Winter really is the best time to go to the movies.  I love the way movies are like a pause in a conversation.  You chat chat chat all the way there, sit - watch - listen and then away you go again, chat chat chatting.  Some films percolate some disappear instantly,  poof.  Anyway, I have been to a few lately and seen a couple of dvds.

In brief

Toy Story 3 in 3D.  not a big fan of 3D but I didn't let it get in the way of having a ripper of a time with this and might I say a little tear or two...and not in the bits that everyone else seemed to.  Yay Woody.

All we managed to get to in the Film Festival was the kids animation.  Great as always but some of those eastern Europeans are a bit on the odd side.  However, The Lost Thing was fabulous.
The Lost ThingAndrew Ruhemann, Shaun Tan/Australia 2010/15 mins
Pure magic. An utterly enchanting big screen adaptation of Shaun Tan’s book of the same name. The story of a young man who happens upon a friendly creature who just isn’t quite in the place it should be in.
And with Alex I saw two flicks... My one and only with that funny little woman called Renee Zellweger...nice looking film and sweet.  Very nicely filmed and put together.  The gorgeous girl interest in the film plays Alexis on 'Castle'.  I know that because I am obsessive about things like that and use IMDB as my movie bible.  The clothes, jewellery, hats and cars were all just delicious...
Eden is West had something delicious about it too.  Sadly it was not the story which was actually quite sad. About a gorgeous  North African illegal immigrant who ends up washing ashore in an exclusive beach club.  Eager to get to Paris he has many misadventures and heartaches along the way.  There are lots of light moments and it is again a very nice looking film but the end was a little bit annoying.  It did make me think about all those Afircan street peddlers and beggars you see in Paris and how you might be a bit wary of them but they are just people, desperate and a bit sad.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Blog Hibernation

What with the perishing winter weather and the insane speed of our computer I have been so unmotivated to spend time blogging this month.  Not that I have a lot of readers, but I do apologise for tardiness.  We have had some sun recently but it just seems not to be in the weekend, thus the requirement to sit inside by the fire.   Some weekends I have barely moved off the sofa.  Not great.  However, I have been doing some stuff like a lot of baking and making great meals out of my many dish and cuisine mags.  I have been to about three films, the art gallery with Nic's class, QEII for our first family swimming training session. And to top it off,  I went with Alex to see Ray Avery, New Zealander of the year, talk about his life and promote his book.  What an amazing man with a great story.  If you buy his book 'rebel with a cause' $16 goes towards his charity, which is a free one if you now what I mean?  No donated money goes towards running it.  Everyone gives their time for free.

Three interesting things I remember him saying - so far (I took notes)
  • 'I have found my state of grace'
  • 'Pure love [of his wife and child, especially child] has healed me'
  • Inventors are observers.  Inventions seldom use elements that don't already exist, they are just used differently.  Inventors see a problem and go about fixing it.  They observe. 

And a very selfish note I have also read about 5 books that I haven't blogged either.  Let's hope this getting back on the bloggy horse will yield some more posts before the end of the month .

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Dial Up!!!

Oh my God.  After a week of no Internet at home thanks to the monumental incompetence of Telstra we have gone out and bought a dial up modem (we will be sending you the bill Telstra), plus the bill for the 5+ hours Jonty has spent waiting on the 'help' line.  Yes, we use that term loosely.  NO HELP, NO EXPLANATIONS, NO ACTION.  We would move on but we don't want to change our email address.  However, like many,  I suspect we are going to move on very soon.   Haven't seen any Telstra business ads on the telly lately.  Imagine trying to run a modern business with no Internet.  And Dial Up sucks.
And for all those readers who want to say ..you are lucky to have broadband and a computer....blah blah blah,  that is not helpful or sensible.    Computers and technology are an expensive necessity in this world for a million reasons so it should be fixed!!!  This is not Africa or a remote tiny island in the middle of nowhere where one tiny generator runs the entire grid for the country.   Get your shit together Telstra.

Ok, rant over, for now.  Next post will be serene and full of loveliness, books, pictures, movies and sweet stories.    
Enjoy this picture... it took 4 minutes to add to the blog...phew