Shallow joy

I was just sitting here bumbling about (bit tired, children are watching Maisie) and suddenly there was a ginormous crash, exactly like someone had posted a brick through the letterbox. Except a brick wouldn't fit through the letterbox, but that is irrelevant.

Anyway... it's the new Ikea catalogue! I am very pleased by this. I will shortly get frustrated by the fact that the selection of things they pick for the catalogue never includes what I actually want, but for now there's a whole new array of things I don't need. I can now play the New Ikea Catalogue games, which include:

1) Spot the new lower prices for things I own
2) Pretend I've got such rooms as a dining room and virtually furnish them
- or the next level...
3) Find a house I'd like to buy on Rightmove and virtually furnish the whole thing
4) Select my new style of kitchen and price up the whole thing, including an island that wouldn't fit
5) Ridicule everything garish
6) Giggle over all the possibly rude names

My house is almost entirely furnished from Ikea. In fact, I think our bed and the sofa are the only pieces of furniture not from Ikea. This is not actually due to a love of Ikea, but the fact that they make the only cheap furniture that isn't actually completely rubbish. And anyone that can't make up an Ikea flatpack is thicker than a Lack shelf.

Got to go now, I've got a catalogue to pore over...

Hot and Not

What a woman of very dubious taste thinks is good and ungood at this moment in time:

GOOD

Swatches. I got one, and my very watch is in this week's Press as a "what's hot". So there. They seem to be trendy, I can assume I absorbed this before hankering after one.

Radio 2. I know it has its moments of immense badness and cheesy music propagation, but look at what it has:
Bob Dylan, Chris Evans, Dermot O Leary, Jeremy Vine, Jools Holland, Jonathan Ross, Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie, Richard Hammond, Russell Brand, Alexei Sayle...
And comedy. Marvellous comedy. I caught the end of the Jason Byrne show last week, excellent. And Rob Brydon was doing Ken Bruce's show today. Marvellous stuff. He played "You Win Again" by the Bee Gees, which I love. Although bizarrely so did Forth 2 (or whatever the am version is) about five minutes later when I was looking for VRN and failing. Yes, that's the other good thing about Radio 2, you get it on any radio. The other stuff I listen to at home on my Bug is all digital only. Top moment of today: Rob Brydon played Smokey Robinson and then said "oh sorry, we meant to play Amy Winehouse". Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

The Seat Ibiza Ecomotive. It's exempt from tax! Sorry, what I meant to say there was "it's better for the environment". And it doesn't go THAT slowly. It does only have 3 doors though, all is not perfect. Apparently DVLA are going to give me one which is very nice of them.

Sleep. And those who want it at the right time. 3pm-7pm is never a good time to want to sleep and nor is 8am-11am. Sad really.

Maestro. No, not the car. The programme. I am really looking forward to the next episode which I may even watch "live".


NOT GOOD

Glasvegas. They make quite nice tunes, but what's with the accents? You're not supposed to hear accents when you sing. I heard them cover "All you have to do is dream" and it was all "when ah neeeed ye, ah close ma eyees" which made me embarrassed for them. And what were they thinking when they picked the name?

Most other chart acts. What is the purpose of a Kate Nash?

Fish. I simply can't stomach it these days. Not sure why.

The housing market. And the people that caused it. C***s. I'm stuck in a flat I can't sell and rates of everything going mad because the fat cats got too greedy and now we have to bail them out? Oh, thank you Mr Brown, glad you felt you couldn't do anything to stop the situation, like 3 years ago?

Eastenders. It's always crap.

Duh, part 856

"If you pick a paw paw OR a prickly pear"

Not the same thing, I am an idiot. Damned Disney. I have not eaten one. I will leave the error in to remind myself not to be a smartarse.

CNPS failure

Yesterday was the first day with no numberplate. Well, clearly as I was out and about, I saw several, but not one single 26. And I think I've done all my being out today so that's THREE DAYS of nothing.

Sigh. I was doing so well as well.

Anyone in the Kirkcaldy area that has a 26 reg, please let me know where you park.

edit: it was not three days, it was 2. I got 25 on Sat, then nothing on Sunday or Monday. Counting's hard you know.

Copykitten, or the VGT Omnivore 100

Copykitten: I'm not sophisticated enough to be a cat. Meeew.

Brought to you from blogs everywhere:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich (this should not be a filling)
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream (yummy yummy yummy)
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear (I would say paw paw, you'd say papaya)
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox (smoked salmon, please)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

NB, don't know how to cross out, italics means NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!

Now, I may have an uneducated palate, or maybe I just need to travel the world a bit more, but these are the ones I hadn't heard of (marked above in purple). Google time:

3. Huevos rancheros - eggs with spicy peppers and what not, for breakfast.
10. Baba ghanoush - eggplant dip. That's aubergine I believe?
12. Pho - Vietnamese noodle soup.
16. Epoisses - a cheese from the Bourgoyne
19. Steamed pork buns - a doughy chinese style bun, filled with char sui and sweet beans.
21. Heirloom tomatoes - a heritage tomato apparently. Right then.
25. Brawn, or head cheese - Potted head, the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - a type of chilli pepper
30. Bagna cauda - an italian dip, not a legal document.
33. Salted lassi - yoghurt drink. With salt?????
43. Phaal - a mightily hot curry.
46. Fugu - it's puffafish.
52. Umeboshi - a japanese fruit
53. Abalone - sea snails.
56. Spaetzle - Germany's answer to pasta
59. Poutine - chips with cheese and gravy, a la francais
61. S’mores - marshmallows and chocolates between crackers. Right then.
63. Kaolin - anti diarrheoa medicine. Right then.
64. Currywurst - a curry flavoured German sausage. Sounds dirty to me.
65. Durian - A mighty weird looking fruit.
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette - Pig Intestines. Say no more.
74. Gjetost, or brunost - Norwegian cheese
76. Baijiu - a distilled liquor that sounds like strong vodka. Hmm.
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - some type of apple pie.
81. Tom yum - Thai soup
83. Pocky - Japan's answer to Kit Kat
93. Rose harissa - chilli sauce with rose petals in. Ok.
95. Mole poblano - chilli sauce

I tried to find out what a VGT omnivore was, and found everyone else's blog on it. VGT stands for a lot of things, mostly anti animal factories people in Austria, but having re-read the instructions I was hit by the blinding realisation that it stands for... Very Good Taste, as in www.verygoodtaste.co.uk Duh.

Practical Parenting

Hmm, having just had a conversation with a first time mother-to-be about parenting (through which I was hugely know it all, I can't seem to help assuming the world authority position on birth and early parenting because, like, I've done it, you know), I've been thinking about the whole being-a-parent thing.

It doesn't change your life unduly. It does away with:

lie ins
spontaneous activities
social life

But, other than the first of those, the things that change aren't much of a loss if you are over 25, and hey, you can go to bed early (ha ha ha).

What does change is your perspective. For one, the planet suddenly seems to matter a lot more, and the whole question of religion is entirely different when you have people to explain such things as Christmas to. I don't feel comfortable with saying "well, there's this story about a guy called Jesus, much like Aslan, or as you're not old enough to have read that yet, we'll go with Poppy Cat, and if he did exist he wasn't actually born in December at all and probably what we're celebrating is the ancient celebration for the sun..." but I'm not sure how I feel about saying "well, there's this thing called God and he had a son that was born on this day". Because I don't believe that. Or maybe I believe in Jesus but not that he was the son of God. I don't know. What do I tell them?

Ahem. Got carried away there. You think about things differently. Shoes for example, really really don't matter. In my case I've taken this a LEETLE too far and often appear in public looking like a bag lady. I need to remind myself that, yes, hairwashing is necessary often, and that I should probably brush it too.

But the biggest change is in your perspective of parenting. All those smug thoughts that you had, about what sort of parent you would be, disappear as soon as they learn a bit of wilfulness. Yet, you still look upon other parents with disdain, except you have the added smugness of "my children would NEVER do that", that was purely imagined before. You do learn that the greatest thing you can have as a parent (other than a full time nanny; by my side, not in my place) is not utmost respect for and from your offspring, it is the patience to wait till they've finished their paddy and for the signal that there is an opening for interruption and diversion. Despite what you thought before, there is NOTHING you can do to stop it prior to this, aside from picking the child up and running away as fast as possible. Or staying in all the time. There's obvious exceptions with parents that really should have been sterilised a long time before conceiving, but now when I see the situations that used to make me think "God, I would NEVER have children behaving like that", I either feel empathy, or fear that this exact scenario may happen to me too some day.

I have little monsters. The problem: there are two of them and one of me, and they are two and a half. They both want my attention. All the time. They are adorable, very clever, and a lot of the time in public they make me swell with pride. Like when they say "thank you very much" or count things correctly, or point out interesting things. But there are times when I am standing with one child (occasionally two, but usually the "brother having a tantrum" show is compelling) lying down next to me, kicking and screaming and me saying things along the lines of "if you get up now I will give you some Smarties". I know how that looks, and I know what I would have thought BC (before children). It's not the same as I'd think now.

Yawn

Where are all the good films?

I watched "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands" last night, believing it to be a good film. Yawn. Nothing really happened in it. Rhys Ifans was very good with not-a-lot to work with, Robert Carlyle was perfectly good with a completely over the top character. Kathy Burke was as good as ever in the same role she always plays, ditto to Ricky Tomlinson. Nothing really happened in it, it just started, went along a bit, and finished.

Disappointing. Like most films.

Note to self

I also need to remember that certain people whose names crop up a lot lately are not my friends and don't know I exist. This is not a failing on anyone's part, but I need to remember.

Negativity

Spabble spabble, negative things that aren't for blogs, need a job...

...a solution: get a job and relearn how to interact with adults, and make some money in the process.

Full time, or even part time day work is not an option, because childcare costs more than I could earn and we don't have the grandparental dumping option that most people take for granted. Besides, I think me being at home is the right thing to be doing, although a less bonkers version of me might be more use. So the part time evening/weekends job search is on again, sparked at least in part by lack of money. Jobs on offer (ie they are available to be applied for, no that they have been offered) at the moment are a Saturday librarian (applied for, don't expect to get, would like) or weekend receptionist at Arnold Clark, which would mean I had 0 days a week at home with my husband but would be tolerable and give a reasonable return of cash.

All I need to do is up my confidence a little to pass an interview. Oh...

CNPS latest

I'm on 25 now!! I was up to 23 yesterday and I was resigned to not getting any today after being out for some time (the first day of none since I started). But joy! Popping into the garage just before I got home, there was a 24 sitting there just waiting for me to see it.

No gap days yet :-)

Cruelty

The New Scientist tells me that hackers can modify pacemakers to wear down the batteries or give the wearer electric shocks. And apparently other hackers sent flashing images last year to the Epilepsy Foundation website to try and trigger attacks.

Can people really be that cruel? That's beyond being a prankster.

In another entirely different and far less sinister type of cruelty, I find poor Jools Oliver being targeted as a victim in a loveless marriage again, contrary to the ongoing evidence of a sweet little family that deal admirably with inevitable difficulties. (Or maybe I'm naively believing in true love and it's all a sham). An interview she did with Red magazine contained the confession that she was considering taking fertility drugs to conceive again as "Jamie would do anything for a boy". This was an aside at the end of an interview, but is the quote that made the cover, and I've seen several reports that admit to taking the information from that Red interview, which take the "Jamie Oliver forces his wife to have IVF such is his desperation for a child" angle as if Jamie is a monster interested only in his needs. And Jools mentions nothing of IVF, only of taking fertility drugs, which she details in her book "Minus Nine to One" and is not something she kept hidden. I recall Davina McCall saying, in one of the Channel 4 snippets of celebrities answering a question, that she would like to "give her husband a son" - so what of it? Many men make no secret of the fact that they'd like a son if they have daughters. But the media are determined to prove that the Olivers can't possibly be as happy as they seem to be, there must be cracks somewhere...


(yes, I know, the pukka thing's annoying, but he is an amazing chef and he is a hero for school dinners, chickens and Sainsburys. She's a poppet).

Why do the public delight in reading of other's downfalls? Clearly they want to read about celebrities suffering or the stories of such wouldn't sell. The greedy consumption of gloom fuels the media's cruelty.

Maestro

Being sheeplike and following the guidance of those I admire (Andrew Collins again in this case), I thought I'd catch up with the first two episodes of Maestro, something I was unaware of before. A reality show with celebrities learning how to conduct doesn't really sound like a lot of fun, but this is done very well with good celebrities. I like how this type of programme can bring out the best in a celebrity, unlike some other celebrity reality programmes which seem to exist merely to humiliate.

The celebrities on this are:

Peter Snow, who is immensely likeable (I have a huge Dad crush on him) and always good to watch, even when out of his depth.

Alex James, who is rather full of himself, but seems to have the ability here to show some humility and he still has fantastic hair, even if that is entirely irrelevant

Jane Asher, who still takes it very seriously and is a little too determined to be the best, comes across as more human than I have seen her before.

Katie Derham I was unaware of before, and I am feel inclined to dislike her based on the way she looks and speaks, but actually she's rather sweet and likeable.

Goldie, who is nothing like you'd expect and really incredibly down to earth and humble, is so likeable you simply can't help rooting for him.

David Soul is amusing and fun to watch, even if he is still rather aware of being a heart throb.

Bradley Walsh has never managed not to annoy me intensely, but he is rather sweet and little boy like here and I even find myself liking him, much to my surprise.

Sue Perkins - you can't not love both Mel and Sue, and Sue is her usual witty, clever and competent self here.

The music selected for the contestants to conduct is mainstream and pleasant (although I think they said it was to be opera next time so I may revise this) and Clive Anderson is mostly quite innocuous as presenter, with only the odd cringeable pun slipping in.

I agree with the first "evictee", that contestant was clearly the weakest, but I think personality won over ability with the second person to be eliminated. Having said that, I think the judges were possibly a bit harsh with the person that got saved. As the orchestra have the vote to save one of two people the judges deem weakest, you'd assume that they would have the best idea who is hardest to follow.

I think episode 1 is lost forever but episode 2 is still there on i-player to catch up on; otherwise it's on Tuesday nights on BBC2.

Happinose

Happinose, Happinose
The greatest balm that I possess
I thank the chemist, I've been blessed
With a full tube of Happinose.

To me this cold has mucked up my face
And I'm just about the reddest human in the whole human race
I've got bunged up, I couldn't smell a rose
But now I've got Happinose on my nose.

Happinose, Happinose
The greatest balm that I possess
I thank the chemist, I've been blessed
With a full tube of Happinose.

Happinose to me is an calming thing
Hence the need to make me sing
Or maybe almost make me breathe again
When I'm breathing I feel almost sane.

Happinose is a tube of balm
Fixing my face from the falling snot
I can see it in the cabinet
I'm so relieved to apply Happinose.

Happinose, Happinose
The greatest balm that I possess
I thank the chemist, I've been blessed
With a full tube of Happinose.

A wise chemist told me one time
That Happinose is nothing but a tube of balm
I hope when you get a cold of your own
That you don't call the doctor, call on Happinose.

Happinose, Happinose
The greatest balm that I possess
I thank the chemist, I've been blessed
With a full tube of Happinose.

Happinose, Happinose
The greatest balm that I possess
I thank the chemist, I've been blessed
With a full tube of Happinose.

(mostly credited to Bill Anderson)

Despite the wonders that are Sudafed/Happinose, I have a nose that rivals traffic lights, which makes people run away from me, and I feel kinda poorly. At least a cold goes away quickly...

Blogging busy bee

Andrew Collins has been blogging a lot since I last looked. Typical, when I check feverishly (ish), there's nothing for years and years (ok, a few days) on end, then when I don't get round to it, he goes and blogs a lot (6 in a week, I can hardly talk. But I don't have readers like him now, do I? No. Huh).

I would like to add for anyone that ever sees CBeebies and knows the song about pets that's on Something Special and Tikkabilla that goes "and my dog does something something, and my cat she something and something and she... meows a lot" well, that's the tune that Andrew Collins "blogs a lot" to. In my head, not in real life. Well maybe he does, I don't know. He maybe sits and sings to himself "and I type and I write and I think and I blog... a lot".

A point? I don't know, my nose is dripping faster than I can keep up with tissues and it's exhausting me. I'm just feeling serendipitous because I finished my proposal, which is stupid of me as there was no serendipity, it was the result of relatively hard work and putting the effort in for once.

I think the point was that I ache to be able to write like Andrew Collins, just to be able to rattle off a flow of intelligence and not random ramblings. Maybe he spends all day editing and perfecting his blogs. But I doubt it. I should probably abbreviate his name to Mr C or something to save my fingers, but it's a nice name, I quite like writing it. Andrew Collins. Andrew Collins. It looks weird now.

A wish: I hope Richard Herring got plenty people for his show tonight.

Wooo hoooo

Well, the proposal is written and ready to hand in on Friday. Go me, finished 34 hours before the deadline! Fingers crossed it's not complete garbage but I did really well in the exam so I only actually need to get 40%. I sincerely hope I can manage THAT.

I now have a streaming cold. Himself had it last week starting Thursday, the kids got it on Sunday, and I've been expecting it ever since. And ta da, nose of tap proportions, throat of sandpaper and general health of, well, me.

Ventured into SportDirect.com (which is a stupid name for a shop) which was horrible and procured myself a cheap waterproof jacket, which looks disturbingly shell suit like and makes me look like a cross between Vikki Pollard and a mad old lady. It was however both cheap and waterproof, so I can't really complain.

proposals and sleep

Argh. It's 1.50 in the morning and I'm sat here writing my proposal. I can't get anything done by day due to the terrible twosome and so it falls to nighttime. I am tired now and I can't find the articles I need. Proper academic articles are relatively easy to lay your hands on, media reports are harder to pinpoint and I NEED one with a sensationalist headline. A relevant one. Damn damn damn.

My regular stalkage leads me to comment:

The reason people aren't packing out the Fringe this year is because we are all skint and it costs £300 for a tub of dairylea. If little known performers also want to buy Dairylea, they'd have to charge more, making prices increase and everyone cry.

Moral: If you want to make it big, get on the telly. And stay on it.

It's a sad world.

Films

Well, one of my 101 things is to try to have seen at least half of the top 100 films. I've been trying to get such a list for some time, but I can't seem to get a definitive list. I tried to see if Andrew Collins had ever done one and got a bit scared by the 1-19 I could find. So I'm going with IMDb's one, theoretically it should be representative. Except the average person is a moron and I don't agree with their taste. But as the purpose is to not be an idiot with any film references, the widely agrees top 100 should cover the basic knowledge. And I don't like more films than I do like, so it stands to reason I'd dislike a lot of them.

So, here's the list and a note of which ones I've seen (the bold ones I've seen):

1 The Shawshank Redemption (1994) (overrated)
2 The Godfather (1972)
3 The Dark Knight (2008)
4 The Godfather: Part II (1974)
5 Buono, il brutto, il cattivo., Il (1966)
6 Pulp Fiction (1994) (never fancy it, enjoyable when I do watch it)
7 Schindler's List (1993) (brilliant)
8 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) (really good)
9 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (just for Darth Vader
10 12 Angry Men (1957)
11 Casablanca (1942)
12 Star Wars (1977) (I do like this)
13 Shichinin no samurai (1954)
14 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
15 Goodfellas (1990)
16 Rear Window (1954) (One of those films that was fine without a remake)
17 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) (I have seen this, in about 1981, I remember nothing)
18 Cidade de Deus (2002)
19 C'era una volta il West (1968)
20 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) (GODDDD. I slept through some)
21 The Usual Suspects (1995) (Amazing film, I love this)
22 Psycho (1960) (Probably would have been better if I didn't know everything that happened before I watched it)
23 Fight Club (1999) (Really good, but I kind of wish I hadn't seen it because it's disturbing)
24 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) (I can't abide Peter Sellers, he spoils this)
25 The Silence of the Lambs (1991) (Good, except I can't stand Jodie Foster's voice)
26 WALL·E (2008)
27 North by Northwest (1959)
28 Memento (2000) (Brilliant)
29 Citizen Kane (1941) (May have been amazing at the time, now it's tedious)
30 Sunset Blvd. (1950)
31 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
32 The Matrix (1999) (Good, but I always fall asleep, I don't think I've seen it all in one sitting)
33 It's a Wonderful Life (1946) (Just really nice)
34 Se7en (1995) (I liked this at the time, I can't remember now)
35 Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
36 Apocalypse Now (1979)
37 Taxi Driver (1976) (Don't remember anything about this other than the overused line)
38 American Beauty (1999) (More unnerving than good)
39 Léon (1994) (Astounding)
40 American History X (1998)
41 Vertigo (1958)
42 Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (2001)
43 Paths of Glory (1957)
44 The Departed (2006)
45 M (1931)
46 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
47 A Clockwork Orange (1971) (Not as good as it's supposed to be)
48 Chinatown (1974)
49 The Third Man (1949)
50 Alien (1979)
51 Forrest Gump (1994) (I loved this at the time, there's been so many parodies it seems a bit sad now)
52 Leben der Anderen, Das (2006)
53 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
54 Double Indemnity (1944)
55 The Shining (1980) (Don't remember enough)
56 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) (Amazing)
57 The Pianist (2002)
58 Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
59 Saving Private Ryan (1998) (First 15 mins is fantastic, rest is tedious)
60 Laberinto del fauno, El (2006)
61 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) (Fantastically silly)
62 Requiem for a Dream (2000)
63 L.A. Confidential (1997) (I really liked this)
64 The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
65 Aliens (1986)
66 Boot, Das (1981) (Amazing)
67 Reservoir Dogs (1992)
68 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) (This was the best film ever at the time, it's still really good)
69 Rashômon (1950)
70 The Maltese Falcon (1941)
71 Raging Bull (1980)
72 Untergang, Der (2004)
73 Metropolis (1927)
74 No Country for Old Men (2007)
75 Modern Times (1936)
76 City Lights (1931)
77 Rebecca (1940)
78 Singin' in the Rain (1952)
79 All About Eve (1950)
80 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
81 The Prestige (2006)
82 There Will Be Blood (2007)
83 Amadeus (1984)
84 Vita è bella, La (1997)
85 Sin City (2005)
86 Some Like It Hot (1959) (You can't not like this)
87 Hotel Rwanda (2004)
88 Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957)
89 The Great Escape (1963)
90 The Elephant Man (1980)
91 On the Waterfront (1954)
92 Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)
93 Touch of Evil (1958)
94 Full Metal Jacket (1987) (First section with training is amazing, the second part is same-as, same-as)
95 The Apartment (1960)
96 Batman Begins (2005) (I really liked this but there's some unnecessary bits that make it too long)
97 The Sting (1973)
98 The Great Dictator (1940)
99 Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
100 Jaws (1975) (Maybe I'd have been scared at the time)

So, I've seen 35. I need to see 15 more, and I am PRETTY sure that they mostly need to come from the bottom end of this list. I'd like to say in my defence of what I've seen that this is mostly dictated by the films that came out when I was a teenager and had little else to do other than go to the pictures, and the films other people have wanted to see. I need to exert a little film assertion.

Expensive!!

Skint as we are, we are trying to make the most of the fact that until the children are three, they get into most things for free. OK, so they don't enjoy most of them, but it (possibly) beats a day of dough and CBeebies (oh! for a garden...).

But it still costs several limbs for us. I came across this (courtesy of Motley Fool) which is the cost of the most popular UK attractions:

(excuse the formatting...grrr)

Attraction	Standard adult entry fee
1	Stonehenge, Wiltshire	£6.50
2	Giant's Causeway, County Antrim	Free
3	Big Ben	N/A*
4	Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh	£12 (peak -- June-Sept)
5	Ben Nevis, Lochaber	Free
6	The Needles, Isle of Wight	Free
7	The Eden Project, Cornwall	£15
8	London Eye	£15.50
9	Blackpool Tower	£16.95
10	Angel of the North, Gateshead	Free

So basically, the only things that are free are things that are just there. Apart from Stonehenge because naturally that must have huge running costs to justify £6.50 from every visitor. £12 for Edinburgh Castle (peak season) ????? And why is that the 4th most popular attraction?

Go to Alton Towers, people! Spend your money wisely. You know you want to. And if you like stacks, go to Shetland; ok, they're not hexagonal, but they are magnificent.

101 things

I've started to compile a list of 101 things I am to complete in 1001 days. This is hard! I have got to 64: complete this list. I cannot think of 101 things I need/want to do. No. 65: kick self up backside. No. 66: Find imagination.

New blog to detail this (potentially failurific) attempt.

Ho hum.

CNPS update

I now have 19. Standing in Tesco car park, loading my shopping into the boot, a 19 drives past. Hurrah! All I need to do now is to come up with some ruse to go to Asda to go past the garage that has a 20 in it. Or I could just say "I'm going to drive across town to look at a numberplate". He knows I'm bonkers.

CNPS clearly stands for COMPULSIVE Number Plate Spotting.