Lust!

We wants it, precious.

Not yet published, officially here in the UK. Can however buy it imported and immediately for £70 from Forbidden Planet...or wait, and get it sent to me from Amazon for £40.

Taps desk.

Wait. Buy from Amazon or even better, The Book Depository.

Goes off to make sums.

Finally!

Yay!

Does a dance

The nightmare assignment is now finished. Or rather, the body of it is all down, along with appendices...now all I have to work on is layout and format...my relief is boundless.

Due date is the 1st November, which also happens to be the start of nanowrimo...I am planning to submit the assigment on the last day - Halloween - so here's hoping I at least get a merit for all my hard work.

Who knew land use and planning could be sexy?

300 Apples

glumbert - 300 Spartan Apples

For those, like Wordweaver, who has a thing about watching violent movies - i.e., they can't / don't, here then is the vegetable version of that fantastic epic movie, 300.

Be careful though - there is a plot spoiler!

Terracotta Warriors

Wow. Is that eloquent enough?

No, I agree, it isn't.

I've now been to a few world museums, seen a few exhibits and have been lucky enough to see a few utterly amazing things, like King Tut's mask, all his gold and grave goods. Having been to Athens, we''ve seen the mask of Agamemnon, the treasures of Troy. Countless amazing things.

Yet walking through the exhibition today, looking at these immaculately crafted, larger than life statues, taking in their intense detail, and learning about how they were created, what the Emperor had in mind when he had them made, how grandiose his design was...and you can only stand in awe.

I previously thought that the Egyptians took the flag with their pomp, ceremony and obsession with the afterlife. They could not hold a candle to the Emperor of China. They are still excavating the complex, having only uncovered a small part of it all. They have not touched the actual mound of the Emperor's tomb. It will not be excavated in our lifetime - the task is too immense, but also, because it is not something the Chinese are keen to do. Which I think is pretty cool, in a way. Like Lara said at the end of Tomb Raider 2 - "Some things are not meant to be found."

What really amazed both FG and myself: how very many young kids there were, dragging their parents around this exhibition. There is an entire diorama about how the warriors were made and put together. FG overheard one of these little ones say to his dad: "But dad, are they still alive in the inside?" When the dad said no, they are just hollow, the little boy shook his head and muttered. "They're still alive." We were in there for over an hour, wandering about. Admittedly, there were a lot of people, but somehow you don't mind being jostled by people who tend to like the same thing. We came away with a handful of classy photographs which we intend to frame.

I can't wait to visit it again - I am wondering if the amount of people will peter out the longer the display is held?

Tired

So very very tired.

Can I just admit to a guilty secret? As Jones as this sounds, I am quite enjoying my coursework on Land Use and Planning...but I'm now sick of this assignment that is due next week. I've been working on it all week, during the day at work, at lunch, in the evenings at home. Even now, tonight, on a Friday night.

And I am tired. And we've got a new mattress. And I can hear its siren-call. And I am succumbing.

Farewell, Town and Country Planning Act 1990, sustainable development and local authorities. Till tomorrow night, after the terracotta warriors and the meet up with nanowrimo London people.

Yes! I've forgotten to mention it this year - I have been challenged by FG to write the 50k words from November 1st - for a month. The one who is closest to the 50k words, gets to choose a restaurant and the loser takes them there for dinner. I am so glad I type faster than three finger freddy, otherwise known as FG.

Flexes. Yawwwwn.

Stardust

We did a marathon of movies today - Stardust at eleven, then Resident Evil at quarter past one. Purely to get some of the movies in that we wanted to see before the little demons and their parents take over cinemas and restaurants for half term.

Well, officially, my review of Stardust is - fantastically good fun and a rollicking good ride. The sets and costumes are stunning, Michelle Pfeiffer is singularly the sexiest being alive and plays her role as a wicked witch with relish. Claire Danes shines - genuinely. She is perfect as the fallen star with Tristan, the boy from the other side of the Wall being a little clumsy, a bit funny and totally earnest and wide-eyed. Personally, I found the role of Captain Shakespear being played by Robert de Niro as a bit uncomfortable - going from gruff advisor and father figure to camp gay man dancing about in a frock to the can-can music. Not at all pleasant.

But they were pretty frocks. Grin.

All in all, I would highly recommend it. You can, like the book by Neil Gaiman see it as either a story of a young boy going on a quest to find a star for his love...or, you can see The Hero with a thousand faces...like Joseph Campbell's book. Onion layered. Quests, witches, pirates, murderous princes, unicorns, magic, glowing stars, wishes, a handsome hero, a selfish lover...all packed into 2 hours...and the best of all: I can read the book any time I want.

And remember: the best way to travel is by candlelight.

Seth Lakeman at Shep Bush Empire - 18 October 2007

This lad is a pure genius.

Seth Lakeman

I am thrilled! Have got a half day today to go and see the scrumminess that is Seth Lakeman at Shep Bush tonight. A friend who saw him last week, has booked another set of tickets for tonight. Apparently he is magic!

These are some of the pics she took – we hope to take a few good ones ourselves tonight.

Arty shots of our park

You have got to love the mist! Makes for fantastically arty shots. This is our park this morning.

Order of the Stick!

For gamers and RPG fans everywhere...and everyone who ever wanted to book anything via a telephonic system.

This is the full website here.

Dragon Wars

What fantastically brilliant pic. Have never heard about this movie, or its anime counterpart or anything....

But I love this picture and the site looks promising. However, I've heard that you either love it, or hate it, purely because it is so over the top. No idea when it is supposed to be shown here in the UK. Will however find out.

Female Comic Book Superheroes

Female Comic Book Superheroes
by Jeannine Hall Gailey

are always fighting evil in a thong,
pulsing techno soundtrack in the background
as their tiny ankles thwack

against the bulk of male thugs.
They have names like Buffy, Elektra, or Storm
but excel in code decryption, Egyptology, and pyrotechnics.

They pout when tortured, but always escape just in time,
still impeccable in lip–gloss and pointy–toed books,
to rescue male partners, love interests, or fathers.

Impossible chests burst out of tight leather jackets,
from which they extract the hidden scroll, antidote, or dagger,
tousled hair covering one eye.

They return to their day jobs as forensic pathologists,
wearing their hair up and donning dainty glasses.
Of all the goddesses, these pneumatic heroines most

resemble Artemis, with her miniskirts and crossbow,
or Freya, with her giant gray cats.
Each has seen this apocalypse before.

See her perfect three–point landing on top of that chariot,
riding the silver moon into the horizon,
city crumbling around her heels.

Fantastic little poem found over on Endicott Studios.

Anubis visits London

We saw him sail down the river on a barge yesterday. And there he is this morning, royal of bearing, implacable, stern, the keeper of the gates, the lord of eternity, the friend of the dead, Anubis.

Naturally this is not the genuine article, but not a bad representation, at all.

Writing Comp

Many thanks to all who voted for me on Finding Adam. Clearly I didn't win - but I gave it a good wollop. There is however another, and rather fun and exciting competition ongoing with the following criteria:

LYCANTHROPE: Now, we've all seen The Howling, An American Werewolf in London , Wolfen, Ginger Snaps or the more recent offerings of Underworld. The tale has been around in one form or another for as long as there have been people to tell hushed stories about it.

Your task is to take it and make it yours.

It can be gothic, humorous, terrifying, romantic, western, etc...As long as it fits nicely into the dark realm of things, follows our no sexual exploitation / abuse of children rule and includes our theme, you have carte blanche. You will be fighting against everyone else so make your work stand out. Prove to us that an old idea is worth revisiting when done right.

And this is the website hosting it: http://www.darkrecesses.com/contest.htm