Tuesday 23 February 2010

see you in a week

I am flying to New York tomorrow for a week so wont be posting for a while. But don't worry I've got a stock pile of books and films to review and the postman has been busy as well, so have lots to write when I get back! I am staying near central park and in true Jenny style have no plans, will go where the wind and mood takes me! But one thing is for certain I will have a good time. See you all soon!

Sunday 21 February 2010

Bargain of the day!


I use the word 'bargain' very loosely!!!! bought 2 reference books "Collins Fact File" and "The Penguin Dictionary of Quotations" for £5 from my local Oxfam shop, don't know if I am a miser or I am being unreasonable but think £5 is excessive for second hand books! The reason I bought these books is I am trying to develop my own little reference library to help with my course (any suggestions welcome). Sadly cheaper charity shops don't tend to stock reference books regularly so am stuck with Oxfam book shop for now!

What the postman brought me 5

Suprise, suprise, this is becoming a habit, another Midsommer Murder this time Stranglers Woods! What attracted me to this dvd, apart fom the price, is it stars Sting's wife, Trudi Styler. Ithink she is a very good producer, my favourite is A guide to recognising your saintshttp://http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473488/. Am interested to see her acting, hope i am not disapointed!

What the postman brought me part 4


Nora Roberts -The Calhouns, Suzanna & Megan. A kind soul From Read it swap sent it to me. I have not physically read any Nora Robert books but have listened to 2 of her audio books and really enjoyed them. I hope that reading turns out to be as good as listening!

Wolfman

I braved the cold last night and took a trip to the cinema last to see The Wolfman. http://http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780653/Which I really loved and had me hooked for the whole of the showing. I could not tear my eyes away from the Gothic and dark scenery, from the barren moors to the dark and menacing gypsy camp. It was simply stunning. The Cast was fantastic and worked very well together. Anthony Hopkins was dark and menacing as Sir John Talbot. I think his natural accent and the connotations of Hannibal Lector, give him a malevolent air. Benicio Del Toro was a huge gamble as Lawrence Talbot. First of all, after seeing the trailer, i thought he didn't look physically right for Victorian England and I couldn't remove the sound of his natural accent from my head! was absolutely gorgeous, he could attack me any day! But in reality he blended into the film really well, his accent was very believable, his acting was good and his emotions was believable, all in all very good. Emily Blunt was suitably cast as Gwen, must look up some of her films! and Hugo Weavings portrayal of arrogant Abberline was phenomenal, almost wanted the wolf to eat him. The Wolves themselves was not as good as the wolves in New Moon. Overall well worth the £5.20 cinema ticket

Saturday 20 February 2010

Angel news


Angels continuing to grow at a rapid pace! She is developing into a very girly cat, she loves my handbags, coats and hair bobbles. It's got me thinking if she was a boy would she still like these? She has taken to sleeping on my glass table, on her little pink bed! She also climbed into an empty Stella Artois box, so I have cut a little flap into it so she can have that as her bed, only problem is it makes me feel a bit of a cheap cat mummy! But i guess monetary value of items is not big on Angels agenda! She is continuing to eat really well, tried he with some fresh chicken and kitten milk, no vomiting.....a success! I've also successfully given her worming syrup. Things are going well in Angels world!

Friday 19 February 2010

What the postman brought me part 3


Kind Mr postman has delivered to my post box (I live in a flat) the DVD Midsommer Murders- Judgement Day. Again, I've been racking my brains (didn't take long!) to create some witty and humorous monologue to hide my embarrassment at loving this show. But I couldn't think of anything, so i guess I'll stick to being embarrassed!

The Brit Awards

I think it is a very sad day for the Brit's when the Daily mail describes the rits as not very rock 'n' roll! well.......they do have a point. One word sums up the award and performances for me: Forgetable.
But the only glimmer of talent and exitement was the fantastic Peter Kay, who injected a most welcome dose of northen humor into a dull as dish water award ceromony. My favourite nuggets of humor that he gave us were:
  • calling Liam Gallager a 'knob head'
  • Shouting 'don't forget your brew' to Lady Gallager
  • Caling JLS the black Bucks Fizz

Medium Season 1


http://http//www.imdb.com/title/tt041217 I watched this series over the course of a week. It is fundamentally about a women who has the gift of 'seeing' elements of murders, she uses these 'sights' to help the DA's office, on a freelance, solve murders. I found it a very enjoyable watch, which kept me entertained and interested all the way through. I really like Patricia Arrquette (even though it took me ages to get my head around the fact that she is not Daryl Hannah, the resemblance is striking) and her portrayal of the lead character Alison Dubois. It was very refreshing to see an Hollywood actress have bad teeth and be slightly chubby, this made her character very endearing to me! Her main character flaw is that at times she was very whiny and on certain occasions I found her selfish, sometimes putting her job before her kids. I also found it very quirky and unusual that there was lots of focus on the more 'mundane' aspects of family life, such as breakfast time, laundry folding etc. Which i felt set 'Medium' apart from the usual crime genre, were there tends to be a main focus on the case, not aspects of their family lives. I really liked her husband, Joe played by Jake Webber, who seems like a nice guy, his main character flaw was the he appeared a bit of a 'doormat' on more than one occasion i shouted at the TV for him to grow some balls and stand up too Alison! The Dubois family was the best casting I have ever see, they looked a perfect family and they all gelled and worked so well together. The stories were good, but very predictable and very formulaic, but i have concluded from my hours of watching American crime shows they are not very original and have 'set' crime templates e.g. one good/one bad soldier, child abduction etc. which s not necessarily a criticism more an observation. Anyway, now I am hooked on medium cant wait for season 2.

Thursday 18 February 2010

Harold Shipman Prescriptin for Murder- Brian Whittle and Jean Richie


This book is basically the story of Harold Shipman, his early life, career (doctor and mass murderer) and the 'aftermath' of his crimes.I found it a very interesting book and very informative, well written but lacking an emotive element to the writing. It is missing the sensationalistic element that a lot of true life murder books have. But on the other hand i don't know an injection, to quote a politician can be 'sexed up'. Also the victims characters was not developed, which is a shame because you don't get the same bond you get with other victims of murder, the victims, with out being crude and disrespectful, are almost throwaway characters in this book.It has left me with one big question, which if anyone knows the answer to please let me know!First of all i was not very moved, as I feel you should really be moved by a book about mass murder i have a few theories why; a) I am secretly Psychopathic/suffering from a personality disorder b) It's a sign of the times I have become desensitized to murder and crime and only react to sensationalism c) That there is a set formula for writing true crime books and if the author deviates from this it throws me! d) Lack of emotion+ murder = no impact on reader? e) the nature of the crimes i.e. the convectional 'lack' of violence, it almost makes the crime feel unreal, a society dictates to us that crimes especially murder are physically painful.

Answers on a postcard...............................or in our technical age answers in the comment box

Tuesday 16 February 2010

What the postman brought me part 2


Boy A by- Jonathan Trigell- a swapped book from Read it swap it. Read a review on the forums at RISI, hadn't heard of it before looking foward to it. Also found out it has been on tv so am going to see if i can get a copy of it on dvd and compare an contrast! I have a huge To Be Read pile so plwnty of time to search for dvd

What the postman brought me part 1


Midsomer Murders- Written in Blood dvd. A purchase from Play.com with my funds from selling on there! was very shocked at the price of box sets for Midsommer Murders! Midsommer murders are a very, very guilty pleaseure of mine! I love them i think its a mixture of me being a northerner peeking at southerners, the innoecenc of the show or the fact that i am in awe of the lives the characters live!

Bargin of the day!


Rachel getting married 1.99 from british heart foundation shop! Very pleased with this, I am trying to convert myself to becoming a Anne Hathaway fan. She's a good actress, but hugely irritates me. She has what i called The 'kate Winslet' effect on me which is fantastic actress but is over shadowed by an irritating personality!

Angel news



Well angel has been with me just over 3 weeks now and she has turned my world upside down! She has gone from a shy little ball of fluff to the queen of my house I have been de-throned.I am very lucky she always uses her litter tray, is a good eater and loves grooming! She is incredibly energetic and very playful her fave things to play with are socks, paper, balls, pens, ribbons and my laptop. She is growing up so fast, i have just worked 4 night shifts and I am convinced she has grown. Each day she is learning something new, over the last 2 days she has learned how to jump on my table and to jump out and scare me (am convinced she must be part lamb lol)!