DVD sale!

There’s a world cinema DVD sale happening at Borders this week!  And there’s lots of titles on sale that I’ve been coveting for ages! I’ve actually got quite a lot of foreign films on DVD now… though often it’s hard to find anyone who wants to sit down and watch them with me.

It seems that we only tend to get the absolute best foreign films being released here… someone, somewhere is weeding them out and we only get to see the creme de la creme of foreign content.  So if a foreign film actually ends up with a cinema release in Australia, it’s generally worth checking out, as it has to be pretty exceptional for them to bother marketing it to us I think.  We’re probably missing out on a lot of worthwhile films but it’s one of those things I guess.

 
I really enjoy world cinema, there’s always always some strange little cultural oddity that you notice, or sometimes the entire film is so bizarre when compared to your own life experiences and usually so disparate from the stereotypical American pop culture that we’re spoon fed constantly, that you can really feel like you’ve gained an insight into the lives and habits of people living in other cultures.  Only downside from watching foreign films is that I can’t watch and work on my embroidery at the same time!!!  I dont care how talented you are in the multi-tasking department – it’s absolutely fucking impossible to concurrently embroider and read subtitles….. unfortunately. 🙂  Though I’m finding more and more that my French is good enough that I can embroider and muddle my way through a movie without missing anything. 
Anyway must try and resist going down to Borders to spend a couple of hundred dollars on movies…. when I should be saving for travel.  🙂  Well maybe just one?  One little copy of ‘Farewell My Concubine’ … that’d be alright, wouldn’t it? 🙂
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Update:
I’m absolutely hopeless! Was killing time this morning waiting for the travel agent to open and popped into JB HiFi while I waited!  Didn’t even have to get anywhere near the Borders sale and picked up ‘The Wedding Banquet’ at the same price… sigh… wont have enough money for new Turkish rugs at this rate!
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Things to do before I die

I’ve nearly died – a couple of times actually, which has led to a strong, ‘Do it now, while you can’ attitude in my life choices. In no particular order – My Bucket List as they are known…

Visit Fingal Caves and finally see the puffins goddammit! (even longer story now)
Tour Blenheim Palace where Kenneth Brannagh’s Hamlet was filmed 
See the 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road 
Smoke legal marijuana in Amsterdam 
Get arrested for public indecency before I’m 30 (so much for that).
Learn to make Crème brûlée
Drive a car that costs more than my house – never gonna happen!
Go to the Hot Air Ballooning festival in Canberra 
Visit the Cloisters in New York
Do the Overland Trek in Tasmania
Swim in the limestone pools at Pummukale in Turkey 
Have a white Christmas somewhere… Canada? 
Go on Safari in Kenya. Photograph the crazy wildlife
Visit Hampton Court Palace built by Cardinal Wolsey in London 
Tour the Loire valley; go hot air ballooning; eat lots of cheese
Wander through tulips at the Wynyard Tulip Festival in Tasmania
Help cook and be a part of a traditional Māori Hāngi in New Zealand
See Bruce Springsteen at Madison Square Garden
Swim with large rays in Tahiti or the Caribbean
Stay in a glass igloo in Finland in winter
Buy property in Tasmania
Trek to Angel Falls in Venezuela
Cross the Arctic Circle  
Cross the Antarctic Circle 
Go to Carnival in Brazil to people watch 
Go back to Brazil and do Carnivale properly
Check out the Geisha district in Kyoto
Pick up glass pebbles at Mendocino’s beaches in northern California
Buy something from the gold shops on the Pont Vecchio in Florence
Do a transit through the Panama  or Suez Canals
Have a turkish bath in Turkey: Selçuk, Antalya and Istanbul 🙂
Go Goth for a season and dye my hair black
Have roasted chestnuts at Covent Garden  – they’re not great
Visit Mad King Ludwig II’s Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany
Go hot air ballooning over Capadoccia in Turkey 
Stay at the Waldorf Astoria in New York 
Take a boat trip through the glow worm caves in Waitomo, New Zealand
See the Malterer Hangings at the Augustinermuseum in Frieberg, Germany.
Visit Mt Rushmore – stare at it, thinking: ‘Why?’
Visit Machu Picchu – stare at it, thinking: ‘Wow!’ 
Go to the Holi Festival (Festival of Colours) in India
River cruise through Europe on the Danube
Stay in a log cabin in the Canadian Rockies. 
Rock the Kasbah in Marrakech
Canoe with the crocodiles at Yellow Water Lagoon in Kakadu National Park
Go to Japan to see the cherry blossoms
Hit a highway and end up in Baton Rouge – go Garth (blame The Scrubber!) 
Wander through lavender fields in France
Have Chicken Kiev in Kiev 
Stay in a yurt in Mongolia; try the kumiss
Go to the Spring Dances in Kyoto
Learn to knit
Have a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel, Singapore
Visit Greenland – find out if it’s actually green
Get my own website  
Have crazy cold sex in the snow
Acquire an EU passport
See all the Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas 
Explore Antarctica (doubt I’ll get to tick this one)   SQUEE!
See Adele in concert
Do a Polar Bear swim somewhere really cold   SQUEE!
Visit the inaccessible South West National Park in Tasmania
Join the Mile High Club
See Van Gogh’s Starry Starry Night  at the MoMA in New York 
Have a baby
Stomp around national parks in Patagonia and admire the scenery 
Take a trip on a bullet train 
Go to Easter Island; take photographs  
Finish my medieval aumoniere embroidery project (finally)
Count the seats in the Ngatokimatawhaorua at Waitangi in New Zealand
Climb Ayers Rock (Uluru) in Central Australia 
Learn some German – enough to buy alcohol and pork knuckles
Take the Trans-Siberian Railway trip
Do a Jane Goodall and meet wild gorillas in Rwanda
Buy pashmina at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul  (+28)
Go do the Skywalk at the Grand Canyon 
Get ridiculously expensive tickets to see Pavarotti in concert
Start my own business 
Learn a smattering of Spanish
Take a trip on The Ghan
Venture to Thailand for the Loi Krathong lantern festival
Visit Vigelund Sculpture Park in Oslo 
Have bagels with cream cheese from street vendors in NYC 
Take the cog railway up Jungraujoch in the Swiss Alps
Go diving in the South Pacific 
Have dinner at Lee Ho Fooks in (Werewolves of) London
Check out the Hong Kong tramway  
Visit the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg to forget the Russian Ark 
Skinny dip in the Pacific ocean 
See the Great Wall of China   😀
Do a helicopter tour of New York City at night
Go see the Iditarod in Anchorage, Alaska in March
Check out the hot air ballooning in Kenya
Snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef 
Tour the Hospices of Beaune in Burgundy
Stay in the Blue Hole in Sweden to see the Northern Lights
Marvel at colourful St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow 
Try Peking duck in Peking (Beijing) 
Visit New Orleans for Mardi Gras and collect beads 
Go to the Monaco Grand Prix  and drool over the cars in Monte Carlo
Visit some Japanese onsens
Sit on that bench across the reflection pool at the Taj Mahal
Check out the Vasa Museum in Stockholm 
See the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio 
Go to some Broadway shows in NYC  
Dance the night away on rum cocktails in Havana, Cuba
Return to the Vatican museum and look for lion door-knocker earrings 
Check out red bummed snow monkeys in Japan 
Have a threesome or moresome  ...
Cruise the Inside Passage in Alaska    😀
Study medieval history and/or art history at university
Down tequilas in Tijuana with a tacky Mariachi band
Get a new tattoo in New York
See Pompeii and look for brothels  
Walk through the Forbidden City in China  
Snorkel somewhere in the Caribbean (Barbados & Curacao) 
Chase aurorae (Borealis or Australis)  
Spend a weekend at the Georges V in Paris
Marvel at the colourful, Pink Mosque in Shiraz, Iran
Go on a Russian nuclear icebreaker to the North Pole
See Joe Cocker in Concert
Play with otters 
Tootle around Amish country, in Pennsylvania
Go back to Moscow, visit the Bolshoi Theatre. Drink vodka.
Ride camels in the Sahara Desert
Swim in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland
Go back to Peru, try the guinea pig
Visit some Islamic countries (like Pakistan) to shop for rugs
Go to an authentic Tapas bar in Spain 
Learn to ride a motorbike and buy a bright red one
See the Amber Room in the Hermitage Museum  
Skydive in Tahiti at Morea or Bora Bora
Go photograph narwhals in far northern Canada
Visit the Gates of Hell in Turkmenistan
Find a copy of the Great Wave of Kanagawa actually on display 
Get my portrait drawn at Montemarte near Sacré-Cœur in Paris
Hire a pensione in FlorenceSorrento or Orvieto for a month
Chase squirrels in St James’s Park in London
Stay in a yurt and drink kumiss on a tour of Mongolia
Marry a physiotherapist
Go sailing through the Greek Islands and indulge in local seafood
Find the perfect mushroom soup recipe
Visit the Gallipoli Peninsular and salute the ANZACS
Learn to cook GOOD Hollandaise sauce
Find some favourite charities and set up regular donations. 
Wander the Hall of Mirrors at the Château de Versaille in France
See Rammstein in concert somewhere in Germany Europe
See the Cluny Tapestries at the Musee de Moyen Age in Paris
Get a Brazilian wax (I don’t get it)
Buy some THFM boots 
Go to St Petersburg…  See the Faberge museum. Drink vodka. 
Take up shooting and get my Cat H pistol license 
Stargaze at Ormiston Pound in central Australia 
Go to the US and fly on the Zero G plane thing

I originally wrote this list years ago… and every couple of years or so it gets added to. So far, I’m not doing too bad…

Neighbourly…

HDC: You’re going to need the newest version of the connection manager software… If you like I can send you a new disc, though that may take several days…  Do you have any alternate access to the internet?

Customer: Not really …

HDC:  If you don’t want to wait for a disc in the mail, the connection manager software is available from the Downloads section of our website.  Perhaps you could try a friend’s connection or public internet access somewhere, and you could download it there…. that might help you complete your install without having to wait for the disc?….

Customer: Oh.. okay… hang on a minute… okay I’m in… where did you say it was on the website?

HDC:  It’s under the Help and Downloads options….. Oh, Is your device working now?!?!? Are you able to connect and browse the web??

Customer: Ummm …not exactly … I’m just kinda… umm … hacked into my neighbours wifi…

😐
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Corny’s Meme

1. Can you cook? 
Yeesss… is this a trick question?

2. What was your dream growing up?
I.wanted to dance!  (actually no i can’t back that up)
3. What talent do you wish you had?
I wish i could disappear

4. Favorite place?
Bed of course
5. Favorite vegetable?
Is avocado a veggie? no?  Then mushrooms or sweetcorn

6. What was the last book you read?
Flashman and the Tiger

7. What zodiac sign are you ?
Capricorn and Metal Pig
8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings?
3 and 3
9. Worst Habit?
High expectations
10. Do we know each other outside of lj?
Yep, I know you… but not in a biblical sense.
11. What is your favorite sport? to play or watch? 
Watch none – play basketball

12. Negative or Optimistic attitude?
Negative and cynical all over
13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
Hmm… are the lights on?
14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
I grew up
15. Tell me one weird fact about you?
Ummm i can spell onomatopoeia?
16. Do u have any pets?
One dog…and does ray count? (he he stole your line)

17. Do u know how to do the macerana?
Proudly no

18. What time is it where u are now?
20.18
19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
Ditto… scary
20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
Taller
21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
Me? conscience? yeah right!
22. What color eyes do you have?
Mostly grey

23. Ever been arrested?
No.. never got around to it

24. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?
New camera, no wait holiday.

25. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?
Don’t do gum

26. What ‘s your favorite bar to hang at?
Don’t do bars…

27. Do you believe in ghosts?
Nope
28. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
What is this ‘spare time’ you talk of!
*pokes it with stick*
29. Do you swear a lot?
Yep – unashamedly so
30. Biggest pet peeve?
Urgh! too many to count!
31. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
Incorrigible

32. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?
Nope…. aw…. maybe.
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