Stringy Lamp Shade

Tom and I had a go at making one of these last night.

We took their advice but I made a few adjustments and have some personal advice.

You will need:

An old towel or large piece of tarpaulin

A glass bowl or old plastic container

1/4 litre Cornflour

1/8 litreWater

1/8 litre PVA glue

Wool or String (I recommend wool)

Balloons

Right, as you might all know, if you mix water and cornflour together, it becomes a compound, where as, if you mix the water and glue together and then introduce the cornflour, it turns to a crazy ultra strength glue mixture.

It's best to do this on a hard floor, or outside in a dry area. My flat has hard floors but we stupidly set it up in the middle of our sitting room, and then had to limbo every time we walked in. So think carefully before you set up.

Suspend some wool or doweling rod (if you're lucky to have one), across an area, and place the towel or tarpaulin under it. Blow up the balloon and suspend from the line/rod.

We found that we needed two of us, as one of us spent most of the time holding the balloon in place when placing the gluey wool. We also took the advice and lubed up the balloon (which is a new experience).

Cut lengths of the wool and dip in to the glue. In hind sight, I would have ensured that we'd stripped off more of the excess glue, than we did, when pulling the wool out of the mixture and placing on the balloon.

We also ensured that there was at least three inches round, clear at the top of the balloon, as we have a wide fitting on our sitting room light fixture.

We experienced some issues with getting the wool under the balloon to stick, stupid gravity. But we found the more we added, under and over, the easier it was to hold it in place. We also, purposefully tucked the ends and beginnings under, or next too, other lines.

Add as little or as much as you'd like, it's a personal choice. Leave until dry. We had to restring the suspension, as it was touching the ground by the end. They suggest you leave it for 24 hours, but our balloon popped after 17 hours, which was eventful!

I tried to cut off the excessive glue and loose woollen strands, but decided I was only being anal.

They also suggest you spray paint it afterwards (I was going to glitter spray it but decided to leave it neutral/nature), but I was thinking that different coloured wools would be quite fun. Rainbow lampshades any one?

I used some thin wire and suspended it from the fitting. It's not great, but as a first attempt, I was relatively pleased (what can I say, I'm a tough crowd).

Growing Shit Pt.1

Since moving in to the flat, I've found that I own a lot of random bits and bobs which are perfect for a house, they just sucked when I only had a room and one cupboard in a kitchen. After getting bored of unpacking on the third day after moving in, I got bored, so threw a couple of baskets of stuff under the bed. Major mistake, as most of it could go in the kitchen: candle holders, jars, fairy lights, cups and saucers, bunting, need I go on...

Anyhow, I've always failed at growing things, house plants, herbs, vegetables, if it needs help to grow, I've killed it!
But, I now have a south facing window, that gets a lot of light and thanks to my grandma, a pile of terracotta pots. I cheated by buying pre-potted herbs from Sainsburys and repotted them. Within 2 weeks, they were all still alive, thriving even, and I've had to repot the Basil due to it being huge! The only one which is suffering is the Coriander, I'm at a loss! Must do some research.

When walking past the Bishopgate Kitchen the other day, they handed me what I thought were matches but in fact were herb seeds. Well. Instantly I got excited, I've kept pre-potted herbs alive (bar the Coriander, which is technically alive but not happy), how hard can it be to grow from scratch! I've filled two teacups with some soil and am going to have a go at growing Thyme and Sage! I'll keep you up to date!

Upholstery Funtimes

Now located here: Pipsy Designs - Upholstery

Upholstery Funtimes Part 1

So, I'm not very good at this, I've done loads of renovations, of various kinds but have never blogged about them (well not really), so bear with me...

Once we had the flat confirmed and we'd check the size of the kitchen and what furniture we needed, we journeyed to the reclaim yard close to my parents house, Haynes of Challow, if you live anywhere near it, I recommend it, it's great! We went in to the final two sheds (leftover crap/house clearances, that no one else wants). JFo, Tom and I all scoured the place, JFo found a huge leather topped desk that she could have quite happily lived in/on, given a chance, and an antique rocking chair she had a mild love affair with.

Tom found many things he liked, most of which were out of our price range, although he did love a lampshade that was of the Victorian "World" map, it was lovely but he wouldn't buy it?!

I fell in love with everything but I have a love for poor, seatless, backless chairs that require some love, new seating, new legs, new backs, etc. Anyhow, we found four hapless said chairs at the back of a pile of other hapless chairs, and due to them all costing a total of £48, we could justify the £98 for the gorgeous fold out dining table, which has a hidden drawer and is just too charming for words.

Tom's choice was a leather covered chair with a bite out of the back, and a really charming chair, with holes in the seat. I chose two sorry looking chairs, one with the seat falling off and the webbing ripped, and the other with the webbing ripping but the seat, relatively in tact from hessian down.

The one with the hessian intact (see right) was easy to fix, especially as I used some gorgeous fabric from a kind friend, and I threw some new webbing in and a new cushion, for good measure. I also, put some trimming over the staples I used, yep, I totally cheated. I did however, stick the trimming on with furniture pins. I'm learning!

The other one, with ripped webbing and screwed seat didn't quite look like this, when we bought it, it was falling apart, filled with horse hair and had a rotten seat. After I threw out the seat, I ended up with this sorry looking thing (see left). The next exciting thing I did was try to get the nails out and the webbing off. It was interesting, a lot of them, I had to hammer a lot of them in more, rather than try to remove them, as many of them had rusted. I did my best with a pair of pliers, a tack hammer and a claw hammer and some determination (plus one hurting finger, due to a miss hit with the hammer, ouch).

After I'd gotten it cleared, I set about making a new seat base, I had to use curtain tape, as the haberdashery near my new pad didn't have any webbing (damn it!). Curtain tape worked very well though. I used the furniture tacks to perfection, as I totally forgot to buy carpet tacks earlier. They worked a treat and the seat works well. It looks stupid, but I can't wait to put the new cushion and cover on it! It's so exciting!

Isn't it cute!

After I'd got the seat webbing sorted, I set about finding a cushion, I totally cheated, I was going to get some foam and shape a seat accordingly, but instead, I used a cushion pad I had lying around. I was going to use two, but it seemed too poofy, so chose one big pad and shaped it (Although in hind sight, I should have used two, as it feels very thin now).

Once I'd got that sorted, I drapped the chosen material over the chair and started to staple accordingly, tucking the edges in for a crisp look. I found that stapling first, means you've more room to change and adapt. I mainly focused on getting the corners neat, as they have the most work to do. Once I was happy with the shape, I tacked it in place to secure the material.

Due to running out of upholstery pins, I glue gunned on the trim to cover the tack heads (cheating once again). It was a steady job but definitely worth it. I'm really proud of my work, even if I cut corners. Although, now I've sat on it a bit and realised I should have put two pads on the seat, I'm going to cover another cushion in the same material and use it accordingly.

New Flat

With baited breath on Saturday morning, we packed up the car with Tom's property and headed to London, to meet with our letting agency, sign the contract and get the keys. There was a small part of me that had suppressed my excitement about it all, in case it's fell through at the last minute. Once we'd parked up near the shop and walked in the door, I felt all anticipation disappear. We signed the contract, got the keys and headed to our new humble abode. Right next door to Brick Lane.

It is perfect, bigger than either of us had remembered. Far too much surface space and storage in the kitchen (if there is such a thing). The sitting room was deeper, the bedroom bigger, than I remembered too. We can see Brick Lane from our flat window (it is only a 30 second walk after all) and the Gherkin from our kitchen window. It's truly perfect. It's easily accessible from Euston Road, outside of the Congestion Zone and surrounded by nice pubs, bars and shops. I couldn't be happier. Oh yes I could, we met our landlord on Sunday morning (there I was in knickers and a cardigan, hungover to fuckery, meeting him for the first time), and he's lovely, friendly and helpful. He mentioned our mouldy shower and instead of doing an Oxford Landlord classic (grout over the old mouldy grout), he's going to completely retile the entire thing, as well as the kitchen. I'm still pinching myself to ensure I'm not in the Matrix or something.

After a 30 minute wait at the One Stop Shop to get parking permits and visitors permits, etc. With the aid of a very kind and friendly lady who worked there and the direction of another extremely kind and friendly member of staff, who told me what to say, I had applied for and was in receipt of said permits. Which made the entire moving 1000 times easier for us. Thank you kind people of Bethnal Green One Stop Shop.

We unloaded the first lot of Tom's property, with the kind help of James, and off we set for the second load. A three hour round trip and Tom was moved in, I was stressed, Tom was happy/hot/sweaty/patient/kind (delete where appropriate) and I was also in the possession of a cold glass of wine, thanks Tom.

That night we finally made our way out to the pub, Carpenter's Arms, which if they'll accept us, might be our new home from home. A great selection of wine, a good looking menu, small courtyard garden and friendly staff = a very happy and drunk me! At the pub we sat with James, his partner, Caroline, and her school friends, who were far too kind, friendly and generous, for their own rights. Eventually, I realised I was wasted and departed for home, via our late night offy, right around the corner from my house, what perfect location! Although, their bacon is shit!

Back home, we watched Kill Bill Vol.2 in our new bedroom, drinking wine and eating bacon sandwiches. Eventually I passed out in our new flat. The next morning I woke to some arse tooting a horn at 7am, I struggled out of bed, mid slumber to shut the windows, to then hear the chorus of neighbours telling said wanker to shut the fuck up. I love our neighbours, already love them! Back to slumber and eventually woke up to the Sunday market, where people of the world gather to sell food, clothes, art, antiques and stolen stuff!

Did I mention that I love our new flat? How I love our new Street? Did I mention that I couldn't be happier? Yeah, I didn't think so.

All that is left now, is to move all of my crap (there is a lot of it) into the flat, with the generous help of Tom, Lianne and Chris and I'll be as happy as the pig in shit, while I pay my kind friends with food, drink and entertainment. Let the new period of my life, dwelling in London Town commence...

Oil issues!

I've a car conundrum. I've owned my Nissan Almera 1.6 05 since October 2008. For the first year or so, it ran beautifully, then Autumn last year, it started making very sporadic grring noise, I got it checked out when the noises became regular (as Mechanics need something to go on) and stupid me, I had no oil. I was dry. I was dry to the bone! I was arid, more like the desert (my poor car. Since then, I've had a very hollow horse sound within my engine (no oill damage, of course).

Ever since that oiling up, I've run out of oil within three months, regardless of trip length, I drive quite a lot for work and pleasure, doing about 13,000 miles a year. I popped to my local garage earlier and they advised me to get my engine steamed, so they can see clearly where the leak is. Mr Steamer, who is a lovely and helpful guy said there was hardly any oil on the underside of my engine and was unsure to why my car would be using so much?! I've now left it with my mechanic he's going to look at it, he suggested I could be burning it through my exhaust (but that seems crazy), I guess we will see. But if I am burning that much oil, that's awfully expensive and seems ludicrous! And if that is the case, boy am I glad that I'm selling it come August.

In case, you're wondering, it has 60,000 on the clock and has never had any major, or minor, issues when being MOT'd.
And confession time: I haven't done the engine check (putting cardboard under the car overnight - silly of me, I know) but oil speaks have appeared outside work when it's been parked up for 8 hours, they seem to be the size of a penny, which is nothing I know, but over time, obviously...

Departure

I'm moving to London, as of mid June. Tom and I have been planning it for ages and are finally getting everything sorted. We've found a flat, busted many a groove around our new district (Bethnal Green/Shoreditch) and applied for 1001 jobs. No jobs as of yet but they will come soon enough, positivity is the way forward.

But this does mean that I'll be departing the dizzying heights of Courtyard. 9 years of Courtyard loving and I'm finally leaving them all behind. They've kindly offered me a lunch to say "adios", which obviously I've said "hell yes" too. I'm no fool, free food + drink = funtimes Pipsywoo!

I'm a little excited about the future but I'm constantly feeling emotional about leaving this part of my life behind; work, friends, my parents being accessible and my grandma. I feel extremely bad about leaving my grandma behind but I have committed 10 years to caring for her, and my mum is soon semi-retiring, so will have more time to offer her.

For my departure lunch, I'm going to get drunk off my arse and wear sequins. I love sequins, they are so happy and sparkly! It won't be the first time I've been drunk at work, or with work colleagues but it will be the first time it's in the middle of the day and not the next day!

I'm a little worried I'll cry all the way through lunch, there I'll be, wearing hot pink sequins, drunk on red wine and crying inbetween bites of my meal, sobbing my heart out with every mouthful, declaring my undying love and appreciation for everything my bosses have done for me. Oh what a sight it'll be!

Eek! I'm so excited! Sequins, good wine, a three course meal and, me, a sobbing mess, is there anything more perfect?!

Osama

I originally posted this on ThisBarThatBar but I've decided it is quite a personal statement and probably belongs here, due to that fact:

I'm not sure I believe this story! It all seems so ideal. There seems to be no evidence at all, it was him and yet, America is claiming they've killed Osama Bin Laden.

I get that their intelligence is extremely high and they, probably, wouldn't go in and kill anyone, I do believe that they believe it was him and maybe it was. Let's be fair, it probably was him and he has just been hanging out in Pakistan for years, chilling and enjoying some iced tea (I like the idea of him drinking Iced Tea, while in a deck chair?!).

I've been saying for years that he's working in one of the middle American States flipping burgers, but seriously I think he's been dead for ages. I personally don't believe he was killed at the weekend. I'm not sure why I feel like this, maybe it's the cynical, doubtful Brit in me, or maybe, I just like a good conspiracy theory. Who knows?! It all seems so perfect and ideal, especially politically standing, when people were starting to doubt Mr Obama, especially as people seem to think that a countries leader will change things over night, and supposedly he hasn't changed anything so far?!

I agree that Osama wasn't a nice person (within the highest order. What he represented, was horrid and for him to claim the instigation and actions of 9/11 is unforgivable and disgusting), but didn't he deserve to go on trial and get a relatively fair one at that? If there is such a thing. To have gone in to kill, seems extremely heartless, and don't get me wrong, he was a very warped and horrid being but I thought democracy was about the right to a trial and judgement by your peers, etc. I'm just so confused. For what he represents; death seemed apt, but there is still a part of me that believes, the way it was dealt with, will cause more issues in the future.

At least Saddam Hussein received a trial, by his own people. I know Osama doesn't really have his own people (most countries disown him), so therefore he would have been extradited to the UN, where he probably wouldn't have even made it to court anyway, but?!

I guess in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter if he's alive or dead. The extremists will continue to hail him an icon and he will represent their beliefs. We Westerners will still see him as one of the purest forms of evil and responsible for some horrific acts by human beings.

So I guess the real question is: Is his death actually relevant?

Suicide by Rock n Roll

David Bowie - Rock n Roll Suicide

Every time I hear this song, I see it used in a film, where the main loveable character sings it at karaoke and looses their head by the end of the film. Here's hoping that one day, Hollywood reads my blog!

Get a Handle Pipsywoo

I'm currently hoping someone will employ me to be their assistant in London. Tom and I are heading that way in June. I'm overly excited, a little anxious and generally pissed off, but I'm only pissed off right now, in 30 minutes I'll be fine.

The reason I'm peed off is: I've signed up with a creative industry agency in London, whom everyone recommended. They seem extremely professional and nice. The lady who called me was so, so lovely and she organised me an interview at their offices on Monday, when Tom and I are hoping to get irritated and pissed off at the lack of flats in our chosen area.

To save time, they've sent me through an online prove it test, to ensure that I can use a computer (mainly, I think it's to prove I've at least a whole brain and can switch a computer on), I tried to take the test the evening I got it, but I decided I'd drink beer and watch bad TV instead, as I got nervous. Then I thought about it last night but I watched a sad film and cried instead. Today, I finally bit the bullet and I found that my Mac isn't eligible for the programme required, luckily my work Mac has a PC on it too, I'm still unsure why?!

I got it running and had a go. I thought I'd try Excel first, as I can use it to a relatively competent level, although my main usage for it is to make guest lists, calendars and touring budgets, nothing more exciting, like pie charts but maybe one day. I fucked up the test big and royally! Firstly, the user system she sent over was PC based Office 2007 (I knew it would be but I didn't realise how different it is to Mac's Office setup). We use Mac based Office 2011, and were on 2010 until a month a go (this transition alone took me two weeks to master). I spent most of the test trying to find where everything was and then I fucked it anyway, as I didn't realise that the first few questions were actually supposed to change things, instead of you click on the correct area, get no response and then move on. I'm a dick, I've never done one of these tests before, I only wrote my first CV, ever, last month.

I'm guessing I've got about 50% right, when in fact it should be at least 90%.

Secondly, after nerves and annoyance, I settled for a typing test but I freaked and started looking at what I was writing, instead of what I was supposed to be writing, then my hands started to shake so I kept on hitting the wrong keys and then, bang, just like that, the test was over. I got about two paragraphs just finished, if that, and they were tiny paragraphs.

I've got left Word (I feel mildly confident but am crapping my pants, due to feeling relatively confident about Excel. I'll end up searching for the right list, option, key, etc for most of it, again) and Powerpoint (which I've already explained I've never used, so that could be fun?!).

The thing is, I don't want to blame it on the different user faces, as that is bollocks and I've got to remember that most office in London use PC's. I've got to reacclimatise to the grey, non-sensicle, awkward world that is Microsoft. Whether I like it or not. Which won't be that hard, it's only been 10 years since I was using one actively. But I'm a quick learner and once I'm dealing with a PC everyday, I'll pick it up in no time, no time at all but throwing myself into a test which is wholly PC based and having never seen Excel or Word in PC Office 2007 format before, has made me feel crappy about the whole thing.

I just pray to god that my interviewer likes me, otherwise I'm screwed!

Man V. Food

I exposed my housemate to this TV show at the weekend, and she loved it. It's perfect weekend TV and it never fails to make me hungry!

I think he's great, what could be better than watching a guy devour shit loads of food?! Yum!

Some people wonder why you'd want to watch a guy eat copious amounts of food, my question is "why wouldn't you?", it's a feat of human accomplishment, I stupid accomplishment but one, none the less! I could never do it and why isn't he the size of the house?!

I wonder how often he films the epic eating? I'm assuming one a week, maybe?! One a day in a row would be crazy talk!

Just watch him eat 5 Fat sandwiches, god I'm starving now!

Gertrude Jeannette

What an awesome woman Gertrude is!

And I'm loving the tagline on the right "Woman: I had no clue my lover's dead granny was in the bedroom closet", it's so Jerry Springer! I can almost imagine Jerry saying "And here is the ex-lover's dead granny to have her say..".

Claudia Winkleman

I really dislike *Claudia Winkleman, I'm not sure when I started to dislike her, or when it became an over whelming desire to eradicate her from my television but I do.

I don't remember hating her back when (in fact I used to like her), but right now, I really dislike her and whenever she comes on the radio or tv, I want to remove her orange face and over khol'd eyes from said item. It's not personal, it's more that she seems a bit pointless. She currently hosts 'Film 2011' and yet they employ an film expert to tell her what the film is about and why it's good. I've never seen such a pointless situation in my life?! God, it makes me so so angry!!! I guess it's Film 2011 fault and not her's but I've some how morphed my issue on to her.

I bet 'Film 2011' ratings have declined massively since Jonathon Ross left, why not just have the film expert host it, or James King from Radio1 host it. Or launch a new face, who is charismatic and obsessively informed about films.

I saw her host "Nevermind the Buzzcocks" a while ago and she was pretty rubbish on that also. Unable to banter with the teams and bad timing with jokes but in an unfunny way. I'm sure she's a lovely person but couldn't she open a flower shop or a cake shop instead of hosting everything I want to watch!



*I dislike her so much that I considered linking to her Wikipedia page, to help identify her for you but couldn't be bothered, because I dislike her that much!!!

Blonde Moment

I always thought that an "airstrike" was when other countries forced your country to not fly planes or helicopters. No shit!

And I've always wondered why that would cause such disruption to civil war, etc. I knew it was wrong but never really thought about finding out what one actually was. I now know, it's all cool and it makes loads more sense, obviously!

Laurence Olivier

I'm not sure why but this is one of my favourite photos. It's by Terry O'Neill and I think it's perfect in every way!

Community Blogging

I'm trying to start a community blog with some female friends, who I think highly of.
I'd like it to be a collection of thoughts, feelings, desires, reviews, etc. that is what I'm aiming for. I've asked numerous friends to join me and I'm hoping eventually it'll pay off. It could be very interesting, if it works out.
Here's hoping for the future of This Bar / That Bar.

The Wire

I'm 28 minutes away from the end of the final episode. I'm going to lay my cards down and declare Bubbles "Reginald" the winner of the show. He's the only decent one out of the lot of them. Bloody hell, I'm going to miss it, it was a slow burning love but it is bloody great!
If you haven't seen it, do so!


- Posted from the pit of despair

Thank fuck for the NHS

I read this article today and it makes me thank god that we in Britain have the NHS. You may snipe, bitch and criticise it for how slow everything is and how crap it is run, but without it, we would all be having to pay huge bills for simple things like: doctor appointments, dentist check ups, operations, birth control, STD tests, etc.

We are one of the lucky countries, where most of this is, or can be free. And we should free privileged to have such an infrastructure. One that also will help tourists and aliens within our borders, without prejudice.
No, it's not perfect and a lot of the time it's dealing with twindling finances and constance 'round the houses' to get new policies in place. But it is something that we all take for granted and don't appreciate enough.

Maybe if we lived in a society where to get an abortion (a simple, private procedure), you have to face ignorant people, who feel it's their right to tell you, you'll burn in hell for killing a baby, regardless of considering there might be other issues at stake. Or if we had to pay for all of our birth control, or every visit we made to the doctors just to get a sick note, maybe we would then start to appreciate it?

PS I recommend the article above, it's well written and interesting to have an "abortion provider" talk openly about there profession. Especially from within a country where abortion can be seen as a huge taboo.

Kristen Schaal

I love love love Kristen Schaal, she's 100% amazing! If I was gay "hell yes"! Ever since I first saw her as Mel in "Flight of the Conchords", I've adored her. She's funny, intelligent and oh so adorably cute!

Here is a rather entertaining moment of her on "The Daily Show with John Stewart"!

Corinne Vionnet

Thoroughly enjoying her current project

An open letter to Hollywood...

Dear Hollywood,

Unless you have a magnificent computer generated film with a shit storyline, or an action packed film. There is no need to use 3D! I know it's all the rage at the moment and you can charge an extra £4 per ticket at the cinema, and make your film less interesting story wise, but it doesn't mean you can abuse this effect. Certain films are better with it and without it, pretty rubbish. Others have their own merits and should just stick to good old classic, silver screen style film making!

Kind regards
Pipsywoo

Drunken Countries

Here's a map of the drunkest countries. I like to think that I'm helping Britain stay dark purple!

Tom Waits

I do apologise if I've written about him before, I've spoken for years about my theory but am pretty sure I haven't actually written about it:

I've had a theory about Tom Waits for a while, not only is he awesome but any film he cameos in, will inevitably be awesome too.
He is the golden seal of, not only creditability, but also a certain fantastic level of "Indie", which no one else can do. I've started to watch films due to his cameo only and every time I'm more than pleased.

There is only one film on his imdb list that I'm unsure about "Domino", but I think my apprehension is the idea of Keira Knightley playing a bounty hunter?! Which I'm pretty sure most people would agree is a little hard to comprehend.

A mini list of Mr Waits' cameos:
Mystery Men,
Wristcutters: A Love Story,
The Fisher King,
The Outsiders,
Dracula,
Coffee & Cigarettes...and the list can go on and on and on...

I've got lots of him on my iPod and I've been meaning to get to grips with him more than I have, I've listened too and enjoyed "The Bone Machine", but that's it really.
Here's to my listening to his back catalogue and his future cameos. I salute you Mr Waits!

If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to tell me...

- Posted from the pit of despair

Sorry, a five letter word!

"Sorry" it's a simple word. A simple five letter word. That to some means very little, but to most means a lot.
I learnt quite early on to not be flippant with this word, otherwise when you really mean it, no one will believe you. It was a relatively valuable lesson. Due to that lesson, it's now a relatively important word to me also.

I think it's such a shame that there are people in this word who still haven't learnt the value of this word. Saying "sorry" doesn't make you weak, or make you responsible for a situation you're not comfortable with. It generally makes you stronger, and means you value the person you say it to, or at least you value their feelings. I know one person in particular who has spent most of their life throwing this word around and has never really meant it and now, the one time it would have been nice to hear it, it's no where in sight. I guess they haven't learnt the lesson yet, which is a shame.

Also, isn't it weird how there is a time limit that comes with "sorry". It's so bizarre that if you haven't heard it within a certain time of when you'd hope you might, you start to give up on that friend entirely. Who would have thought a five letter word could represent so much?

Birthday present dreaming already...

I've my fingers crossed for these for my birthday, as well as an exciting 500gb back up drive for my computer (life sometimes is far too exciting) and Lost Season 6.

The people of Washington State must be lonely...

Bangable dudes in History!

This is a great site!!!

Frozen

I also watched this, my friend and I were looking for an extremely shit horror film to watch, the kind where you side with the killers. Now we knew there were no killers, but we wondered how you could stretch out sitting up on a ski lift for an hour and a half. We were pleasantly surprised, randomly?!
The film wasn't as bad as it could have been and I think it was a wise idea of the director to actually stick the cast up on the chair, instead of using poor/cheap special affects.
If you want to be mildly entertained and horrified by a genius use of sound affects, watch it. But please, do not get your hopes up. In fact, do as we did and believe it's going to be horrendous, that way you'll end up pleasantly surprised.



When I imdb the director, I found he'd made a film called 'Cheerleader Camp', now doesn't that sound like an awesome film!

Grizzly Man

I watched this last night and can't make my mind up about it at all. It's a very sad story of Timothy Treadwell, who lives with grizzly bears in Alaska every summer in a make shift camp. Unfortunately, during the 13th season of his doing this, he gets attacked by a rogue bear and dies. His girlfriend who had gone to visit him, also died. It's an extremely sad story and is very interesting, due to most of the film using his original footage that was recovered from his camp.



The film also interviews his friends, one of whom found his remains while searching for him, another being an ex-girlfriend, who runs a charity for the conservation of grizzly bears with him. The coroner who dealt with their deaths and his parents, among others.

I think my issues started when the coroner starting to appear extremely dramatic, it seemed unprofessional and creepy, the way he talks and deals with the interviews, left me feeling like I was watching a Christopher Guest style mockumentary. There are various factors to why I felt this way, not only the coroner, but Timothy's ex-girlfriend/colleague seems uncomfortable in front of the camera, this in turn makes me feel awkward. And I guess mainly, Timothy himself, there is a period where he has obviously been alone for a while and has a bit of a Wilson moment (Castaway with Tom Hanks), he also has this persona who he uses when he's filming, which makes me feel as though I was watching a film, rather than personal homemade films (there is no awkward voyeuristic feeling, as there normally is when watching other's home videos). The whole thing just made me feel indifferent and unsure about it.

I would recommend it to others, purely to gather other people's perspective on it. I just can not place how I feel about it. I loved how passionate Timothy is, that was truly inspiring to see and yet how he shelters from humanity and blames humans for all the wrong in the world, made me feel he was deluded for all the wrong reasons. The film maker Werner, is as considerate as he can be about such a tender subject and portrays Timothy in a very compassionate light, with Timothy's original ideals as the main focus of the documentary.

I just couldn't wrap my head around it and still feel indifferent!

Plus, I don't think it helps that I saw this film a few days before and this clip kept on popping into my head, when Werner talked.

127 Hours

I really want to see this and I'm not a huge fan of big blockbuster Oscar nominated/winning films. I normally picket them for as long as possible, then watch them and love them, due to them generally being very good, hence the award nomination, etc. But I really want to see this.
I read a bit about Aron Ralston and loved that he wanted to make more of a documentary style film, than hollywoodesque flick.
I was thinking this morning about how the conversation between Danny Boyle and Aron went, I imagine similar to this:

Aron: Hello
Danny: Hey Aron, it's Danny Boyle, I'm a film director, I'd like to do a film about your time stuck in a crevice in Utah.
Aron: Oh right, well what type of film would it be, I'm really looking to have it documented, rather than Hollywood.
Danny: Well I'm mainly an indie director, I like to get down and gritty with the storyline and make the audience feel the characters pain.
Aron: That sounds good, what other films have you done?
Danny: I did 'Trainspotting', that is probably my biggest film. It's about heroin addicts in Glasgow. I also did a little film about the slums of India. I like to get to the real heart of the project and depict it as best I can.
Aron: I've just IMDB'd you and it says you did 'Slumdog Millionaire', didn't that win lots of awards?
Danny: Well yes but the main point was never detracted from and it was never my intention to get awards, I just wanted to portray the book as best I could.
Aron: That's understandable. Send me a script and I'll see what I think.
Danny: Thanks Aron. I really think your story is amazing and I'd love to be involved.

Jan 2011

I found this mildly interesting:


I want to see this, Bridesmaids:


And I'd love to be involved with this project, I find her photos fascinating!

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

This looks great!

Dancing Queen!

I might need to spend an hour dancing later...it's far too infectious!

The Recipe for Predictable Bullshit!

Take half a cup of "predictable musical patterns", quarter a cup of "The Bono Complex" and quarter a cup of "lyrics which talk about the poor and vunerable", and a teaspoon of "African culture and scenery" and what do you make? THIS!

It's a shame, it really is. They've obviously now found a sound and equation that works for them, maybe it's an easy equation and takes minimal effort, or maybe they worked their arses off to try and make anything astounding and end up with something that is predictible and mediocre, who knows? But they've come from awesome music making, through bigger things, to what I consider their best album, to *commercially acceptable (this isn't a hugely bad thing, not at all, it's just a little "sell out-ish"!), to their present album. Which I'll be honest, I haven't heard but people who' music tastes I respect and normally agree with, have all told me to abort, abort, abort. Apparently the first song is alright.
It's a shame that the Bono complex has set in. But I'm still hopeful. I hoped all the way through "Only by the Night", that they'd return more to their roots, with the progression they'd made. Alas my hopes were dashed. I'm now hoping that once again, they might just be getting this all of out of their system and return to their amazing awesomeness from before, with added progression and growth...time will tell. I won't keep my hopes up!


*Their stupid American record label have blocked all videos, on Youtube, that weren't singles in England. What the hell man?! Dicks!

Unexplained Deaths in Miniature

I've just read about Frances Glessner Lee who revolutionised the study of crime scene investigation. The book of her study, Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Deaths, looks amazing! I almost wonder if it's what Freamon has been working on...

I wanted to be a coroner when I was younger but the years and years of study put me off. I probably should have pushed through, I'd be an awesome coroner!

Apparently they are making a film of her work, it could either be brilliant or horrendous! I'm hoping for brilliant!

The Fall

I watched 'The Fall' last night and loved it.
It's beautifully shot and apparently no cgi was used, which is quite astounding, when you see some of the scenes. It was shot in 18 different countries. But not only is the scenery remarkable, the storyline is rather compelling and the acting relatively good (especially from the lead girl: Catinca Untaru), the costumes were extraordinary, apparently they were designed by the costume designer of 'The Cell', which makes a lot of sense. It a shame that she hasn't done more projects, as she's obviously a huge talent.
It just goes to show that with a little effort, a film can be remarkable without special effects. It truly was beautiful.

I'm surprised that there wasn't more exposure of it when it came out. Although, I guess it was the wrong time for it's release, maybe something bigger was released at the same time.

The Trailer shows some of which I'm speaking of.

National Poetry Week

Radio 2 have been doing special poetry features all week, which has been a really nice experience. Especially as I've been doing lots of driving for work, often around the time of Jeremy Vine, whom I normally switch off, as listening to the barrage of bollocks from your typical English Daily Mail reading bigoted wanker, is rather fucking dull and frustrating. But this week I've been listening and enjoying people's choices. It's all been rather perfect for the beautiful autumnal weather we've been experiencing this week.

In honour of National Poetry Week, here is one of my favourite poems. Call me predictable but I can't help loving what I love!

William Butler Yeats "Tread Softly"

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet,
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams

Up The Nose

I snorted Shower Cream yesterday in Sainsbury's. I wouldn't recommend it, although the new Radox African scents do smell nice, even when right up one's nostril!

Barton on Sea & Bath

In the last few weeks I've tripped to Barton on Sea. To meet Tom's parents while they were on their holiday, it was really lovely down there and they are extremely nice and welcoming people.
Barton on Sea is a village on the edge of New Milton down in Hampshire. It's quiet and quaint. We spent the first afternoon there on the beach in Christchurch. We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out, eating and drinking. There was a lovely local pub, The House Martin, from outside it looked like a Beefeater but it was an independent brewer's which was lovely. They had some interesting lagers on tap from a brewery called Hofbrau, it was a very nice lager and I recommend it.
We went for a little potter around the New Forest also, it was a lovely day. I'd advise you to not try and play the Kiwi game 'Horse', it's far too tiring.
Tom's donkey impression is incredibly funny, that will stay with me for some time. It sounds like a disgruntled old man.
I fell in love with these huge daises, they were so incredibly beautiful and striking. We sat in the garden on Saturday evening and I couldn't concentrate at all, they kept on stealing it. I'm looking forward to return trips in the future.

Bath was great fun. Ninor is soon leaving to return to the land of Oz and she'd never been in the five years she's lived here, so I insisted on the matter. We all got the train, so we could enjoy the local offerings to the full. Chips, Tom, JFo, Ninor and Scott were all in attendance. Before we left, I kept on talking about the children's play area in the city (Victoria Park). Everyone thought I was mad, who had the last laugh, well all of us actually. It's so awesome. Not only is Bath beautiful and charming, the pubs were warm, the food good and this play area one of the greatest known to man. They have an area of grown children (Aka adults) which was hysterical. Poor Chips tumbled off the roundabout, which in my eyes was extremely dangerous but very funny, it took me about 5 attempts to get the courage to jump on.
After a little potter around the centre, to show Ninor the sights we visited the following establishments:
Gascoyne Place - it was nice, pleasant but only a short stay and I walked in to the mirror in the bathroom, like a dick!
The Raven - This was a charming little boozer. Chips came here last time he was in Bath and was impressed with it and so were we. Excellent ales, pies and service.

The Kings Arms - This was a great pub. Especially good after running around a playground. They had a great selection of bands with interesting names playing soon and the bar lady was awesome, very friendly and helpful. Plus we all tried Chilli Sambuca, it's not that bad!
Nina and I went to the Baths, while the rest of them went to H&M, as Chips had ripped a whole in his jeans and then they relocated at The Huntsman - This was your typical chain pub, which basic pub food and reasonable prices on drinks. It was nice. Busy and to be fair, nothing special but it was rather perfect for what we were looking for. We also did a shot of Tequila here, that was most disagreeable but all round rather funny.
After we finished our drinks here, we decided upon a return trip home (via Didcot) with some beers and good chat. All in all, a successful day was had by all.

This weekend I'm venturing to Snowdonia to attend the Pennal Show, there is no website I'm sorry to inform you. I've been informed it's like a country fete but with dog race like events and cake & vegetable growing competitions.
Should be good old fashioned fun! Although the 8am departure time on Saturday morning might just kill me!

Common Sense

Why would someone be derogatory about me to Tom and expect him to agree with them?! It's not the first time one of my friends have said something opinionated about me and expected Tom to agree. He's my boyfriend, he's a decent guy "why would he agree with you, against me?". I've never been rude or derogatory about my friend' partners, as it's just not what you do. It's insulting to your 'supposed' friend and it's extremely rude to the partner, as you're insulting their choices!
It's bull!

I Love Blogs!

I've been stalking other blogs lately and taking down loads of urls for them all. Will eventually read everything up there and create a perfect world of cupcakes, cushions and cuteness.

One day...

Speeding Survey

The council in Oxford decided to save some money, so have switched off the speed cameras within the county of Oxfordshire.
There has been some hoo ha about the matter. Mostly, that as soon as they were switched off, everyone would be driving at 100mph everywhere and would be unable to stick to the speed limit, because obviously it's the cameras in fixed positions that make us all adhere to the speed limit, not that fact that it's law or anything.
These sorts of comments really annoyed me, as the speed cameras purely make people who speed, adhere to the speed limit for that 20 feet. If they speed, they'll continue to do so regardless of cameras. Some times they'll get caught and other times they won't.
What irritates me about the survey above, is that you know it was taken with 0% tolerance, when the average speed camera is set at 10% plus 3, which equals speeding at 36mph or above, in a 30mph zone. I imagine that the average speed camera set at 0% tolerance, would also get rather a high rate of speeders too. It's near impossible to drive at 30mph all of the time, regardless of cameras or not.

I hate modern exaggerated, over reactionary media reports. They are such bullshit!

Bloody Times

I've just read a blog about masturbating while on the monthly flow. For some reason this makes me feel very sick!
It's the last thing I want to do at that time of the month. Mainly at that time, I want to eat loads of food, do very little and only want my boyfriend near me if it's for hugs. I know every girl is different but in the words of Cher Horowitz "Ewww, like that's totally gross!".

Alicia Duval and daughter

I'm currently watching this show and as much as I love it, as it's interesting to see the rolls of Mother and Daughter so constantly being swapped. It's also extremely worrying to see someone so emotionally unstable bringing up a daughter. I guess it happens day in and day out, without the lime light. At least Alicia's daughter, Georgia has her head screwed on and keeps herself level at all times.

I think the more worrying factor is that Alicia spends the entire time trying to convince her daughter that brains are worthless and appearances are more important than anything. Like her friend says, she's trying to live her lost childhood through her daughter/pushing her childhood desires on to her daughter.

I only wish Alicia could appreciate how beautiful, intelligent and clever her daughter is and be proud of how her daughter has turned out, without any of the troubles that Alicia had to go through during her childhood. I've my fingers crossed for the ending of the show. And Alicia should also be proud to have created and raised such an individual.

Monthly paintings

I'm not going to lie, this article has made me feel about 100 times worse than I already do (I've got a weird, dizzy, out of head thing going on currently) but I'm kind of fascinated and also think the two canvases featured look rather beautiful, and a little as though they were collected from the scene of a massacre.

But it is kind of gross and why is that? Is it due to it being classified as human waste, or is it because it's blood? Or is it because it's menstrual blood and it's always been we females little secret. It's not something men generally understand or want to understand.
God knows but it's made me feel dizzier and a little more sicker, if not, a little more open to viewing my monthly visitor in a new light. Not that I'll be swatting over a canvas any time soon.

Summertime

Once again I've spent many hours reading other people's blogs for entertainment and failing to write anything on my own.

Things that have happened recently, well I say things, I mean endless events that mean I've drank far too much and done nothing productive. Although I've started a new scarf, a thin, wide black one, which will be extra long and extra cosy by the arrival for Winter. And I've finally committed to doing the baby blankets, to sell somewhere, it seems utterly crazy that I've had loads of down time lately and not done anything, other than eating, drinking and staying merry.

I've also just acquired a new job of cleaning rented accommodation in Oxford, once the lazy tenants have moved out. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little excited about this. I've two friends on board and my darling boyfriend has offered his time too (god, he's good. I still don't believe my luck at times). Plus, we get to nose around accommodation and earn pretty good amounts of money for a few hours work. The first one is tonight, we will see how it goes...

The Carnival was drunken, and as usual I enjoyed my The Star emotional outburst, every year like clockwork, I can be perfectly happy and yet here come the tears, it's like I've drunk through my happiness and need to go through emotional distress and then straight back to drunken happiness! Oh joy! Maybe next year, I'll conquer the emotions while drunk.

Tom and I went to Wireless Festival so he could see his musical hero in action, LCD Soundsystem. It was good, we stood right at the front and had a merry buzz on...it was a really nice day, we saw some friends and generally spent the entire day hanging out with each other. One of the better moments was that we were stood under the confetti bombs!

A couple of weekends a go, Tom and I headed north to Holmfirth and my two best friends came to stay with their consecutive partners. It was really nice to hang out with them and to let them get to know Tom, it was an all round success! The sell lots of local produce in most of the shops there, one being "Traffic Jam", which is Gooseberry, Apricot and Strawberry Jam layered in the one jar.

At the end of the lane the house is situated on, is Daisy Books, it's such a charming looking shop, especially with it's bunting strung up. On Saturdays there is a charming market held, which has some lovely stalls and really reminds me of East Oxford farmer's Market, held every Saturday off the Cowley Road. I should really get my arse in gear and get back there to sell some of my creations, I really loved meeting everyone and just hanging out, although the early morning starts do give it a little bit of a tarnish for my liking...especially as I'm normally there supping a red bull and everyone else is wearing their homemade items and eating Organic food...opps! Maybe next time I'll take homemade Sloe Gin to drink instead, at least I'll be relatively in keeping. Anyhow, back to Holmfirth! We were only there for a couple of days, most was spent drinking, eating and hanging out. Sunday morning saw us all decamping up the road to do a 5 mile walk, it was beautiful. The perfect weather, pubs along the walk to replenish and recharge, and generally beautiful views. We walked through some villages and across some reservoirs, which supplied some skimming opportunities for the guys. That evening was spent playing CraniumI can't recommend this game enough, especially if you've got a Jo & Chad to compete against who are so very very entertaining!!! Unfortunately, Monday came around and we had to return to reality, it sucked but Tom and I had our compulsory road trip meal of fast food at the service station. I very much look forward to the day when we can lounge around together and chill out, why won't retirement hurry up...

Disney Tales

This article, has many a good point. But then again, I'm the girl who didn't remember the Nazi's in 'The Sound of Music', as it preferred it ending straight after they'd gotten married...

I love...I love...I love...

I love Majestic Wines! I always have and I do utterly, over the top and completely, now. Not only do they always have deals on but you can now mix and match your purchases, instead of 6 of one. Plus, they've got the greatest selection of Kiwi wines and they always carry your orders to your car. They are always overly friendly and helpful and last night, they offered me the chance to taste some, I chose not too, as once I start...I love Majestic Wines! It just makes sense to buy in bulk, that way there is always some around and it's much more cheaper!
I also love Jessop's camera insurance. Ever since I bought my first digital camera with them, I've purchased the £26 for 3 years cover insurance and it's served me well, from the beginning to now! I've had about 3 cameras now and they've all got damaged somehow and every time, they've either been fixed for free or I've been compensated with vouchers for the value of the camera. My indestructible camera broke, I know, nothing is indestructible! Off it went and 3 weeks later, it's back, fixed with a new outer casing on it. That's not why I sent it off but they changed it anyhow. It's just bloody brilliant.

Abingdon (on Thames) has at least 13 hair dressers in the centre of town alone! That doesn't count the ones on the outskirts, neighbouring villages and mobile/home hairdressers. There really aren't that many heads to cut, regardless of the fact that in 2001 there was a population of 36,000. Basically, although most of Abingdon centre and the older parts of the town are extremely pretty, the shopping precinct is just charity shops, coffee shops and hairdressers! Welcome to 21st century towns!

June

June has been so so busy, I knew it was going to be hectic but the weeks have flown by and I'm unable to finish tasks I started:
My friend and her daughters birthday presents, which need sewing.
A scarf I started to knit.
A blanket I started to crochet.
The planting of flowers in the front garden.
The printing of photos for the wall of fame.
The smock dress I wanted to make.
A top I've been meaning to finish for my friend for about 4 years.
Some hemming that is required.
And the mural for the birthday upstairs.

And now all I want to do is make a pair of these!!! I've never felted anything ever, this is very new and very exciting!

I did however this month go to Paris and Newcastle!

It was very enjoyable and lovely. I got to meet a very good friend of Tom's, James. He, his girlfriend and their housemates were far too hospitable. Tom's been to Paris loads of times and I'd never been, but he did well at showing me the sights and keeping me entertained. We didn't bother going in to any of the museums, as the queues were huge and we only had a couple of days. It's only 2 hours away, I can back to see it all in more detail.

Newcastle was amazing, although I hardly saw any of the city. I saw the train station and the metro line, both were charming. And am looking forward to going back soon. I also want to go to Durham, it looks beautiful! I mainly saw some charming villages in Northumberland, for the wedding I was attending. The sun coming out made all of the photos on the beach even more striking.

The Finale

I've read this recap blog since it started in Season 5 of Lost and I truly believe it's one of the greatest. I think the final recap explains it's better than most. And yes the island did exist and yes, some of them escaped the island and carried their lives on elsewhere. And no, it's not purgatory!

I adore the theme and meaning of the show and still stand by my original opinion "it is, was and will always be, a truly amazing TV show".

The Artist Is

This is quite interesting, a more kind of similar stagnant version of Antony Gormley's 4th plinth.

Marina Abramović is sitting in the MOMA in New York and inviting people to sit with her in silence. I originally thought it would be rather nice to sit with someone in a museum in silence, until I found out that you actually had to sit opposite her, at that point, I thought it would be far to intense, uncomfortable, personal space and the like. Do you look at the other person, in the eyes? Or do you look over their shoulder, at the crowd, with closed eyes?! God knows.

Apparently numerous famous people have popped by, from actors, to writers, to fellow artists and of course the general public.

Here are the portraits of those who sit with her and how long they stuck it out for.

Solution to Crack

What every low riding wearer has always required! The Crack Patch!!!
Congrats Kimberlily for inventing them and making them so affordable. If only they didn't look so stupid!

Foreign Zombies are the best!

Oooooo, a new Foreign Zombie film to get excited about!

American Able

Not sure why but I love this photo and I love the concept behind the project.

Recap

I'm so irritated! I've had this before and I should have copied it, in case there were issues but the stupid 'autosave' was buzzing away, so I assumed it was being saved and oh no! Was it too much effort Google, eh?

I originally wrote about doing my vote this morning and how for some reason, the polling station signs always remind me of World War Two. No idea why?

I wrote about my swollen lymph node which appeared last week behind my ear and felt as though a value price, uncooked baked bean had been slipped under my skin. Pretty gross but luckliy, it went down after two days. And I now agree that no one should ever self diagnose online. I got very irrational and feared that I'd got head lice. Wasn't so bothered with the other implications for some reason.

I wrote about my not drinking booze for a short while. Which is a good thing. I think my entire body will thank me, especially my brain that has spent many mornings pounding. Oh and I guess my liver will be pleased too. Although I thought Tom would disown me due to this but he didn't quip or comment. I'm guessing his PMT yesterday clouded his hearing, might just not mention it again and see if he remembers.

I also wrote about how I'm going to Paris with Tom. It's Supergrass' last show and I've never been there, so am all rather excited! Just need to find some money from somewhere for that and for my return trip to New Zealand next February and my trip to Newcastle mid-June and life generally. Oh money tree, why won't you grow?

I also wrote about my acquirement of an iPhone and how Tom kind of expected that if I ever got one, that would be the last he'd ever see of me. Luckily, as much as I love it, I also hate the stupidly extra clever predictive word spell. It corrects the words that are wrong but also corrects slang and nicknames. Woop = Wool. Dennos = Dennis. Me = Mr. And yet, doesn't correct a 'C' at the end of a sentence to 'X'. Stupidly extra clever piece of annoyance!
But I do, or should I say, did love this app. Although now I've completed it with Sheri's help, I feel so empty! Why did she introduce it to my life?!

Totally rocking the awesomeness of this in the Car-e-oke. I'd like to note the special performance up Divinity Road last Friday, windows down, strangled cats and Fleetwood Mac a hollering!

Ugh!

I'm getting fucked off with Blogger! Just wrote a proper blog for the first time in a while and it's wiped it! Unimpressed!

Xanadu

Was speaking with some friends the other day about rollerskating and it reminded me of the awesome film "Xanadu" with Olivia Newton John. I've ordered it on DVD, to show how great it is to my friends. They'll be wow'd with it's 80s awesomeness!

Mahnahmah-yum!

Golly, they are almost too good looking to eat! I'd love an Animal one, love love love!

All thanks to this blog!

Whimsy

After randomly finding a whimsical blog, I started to troll the links attached to it and now, I totally feel like a failed female.

I'm not one of those girls who dresses head to toe in second hands clothes and purposefully gets up an extra hour to ensure my outfit is perfectly matched to be alternative and interesting. Or have one of those haircuts, which requires washing and styling every morning. I'm not sure if it's just not really what my generation does, especially as it is more a younger generations theory of ideal perfection. Or maybe, it's just not what the majority of my friends do.

I spent a lot of my childhood trying to impersonate 'Clarissa Explains It All' style but it was the 80s/90s and nobody had style or flair and I also lived through and remember the 80s, so I've no need to relive it. Especially as a good 90% of all 80s clothes were made from the ugly fabrics of polyester, nylon and acrylic.

But looking through these websites makes me believe it's easy to be whimsical and stylish. Although it still seems like far to much effort (taking 1000 photos of one outfit in a stylish fashion, just seems like a huge waste of time to me). I'd rather get an extra hours sleep, or be down the pub with good friends and live through my "awesome" personality, badly applied make up and creased/dirty clothes.

Or maybe I could just start taking all my photos in sepia and blur them with the sun, so my life seems whimsical, even though it's not. I mean, I already knit, crochet, sew, paint, draw, make candles, cards, cushions, etc. Isn't it enough to do those things and not document them with stylish photos, so others can feel inferior. Or maybe I'm just being the cynical, miserable, judgemental bitch that I am?!

Consumption

I used to believe that when people died of 'comsumption', I thought they'd eaten themselves to death. Which to be fair, didn't sound so terrible to me. Plus, at the time of poverty, when everyone was dying of consumption, I thought it was a wonder that they could afford enough food to eat themselves to death. Although I guess if you've never eaten much food, eating a large helping would probably have killed them and I'm not going to lie, this was when I was about 23.