Some of my favourite Discworld quotes:
Every evil tyrant has a plan to rule the world. The good people don’t seem to have the knack.
– Guards! Guards!
books I’ve read lately
Holy Cow! by Sarah Macdonald
I’m usually not a huge fan of travel books – to me they can often feel like sitting through a stranger’s long tedious slideshow of What I Did on My Holiday. This author though spent some time actually living in the country, and India always fascinated me (and ok, I really liked the colourful book cover). I’ve been to India about nine years ago, and if I hadn’t travelled to Egypt a couple of years previously I’d probably have found it as much of a culture shock as Sarah did on her first trip. It leaves her absolutely hating India and she swears to never return again; however when her partner moves to India for work she follows him to New Delhi and tries to make a life there.
Thank You for Discworld Terry
Terry Pratchett passed away today. I’ve known about his Alzheimer’s for years but despite everything I was always hoping he’d be with us for a while longer, certainly longer than 66 which is no age to die at all. And while Alzheimer’s is a tragedy for anyone, how much more cruel it is to happen to one of the sharpest, brightest minds in writing.
The Imitation Game – Film Review
I had a discount movie voucher to spend before the end of February, so I decided to see The Imitation Game, which had stuck around the local cinemas for what seems like ages now.
Quote of the day
I’m reading Ian McEwan’s Amsterdam right now. I’ve got many favourite authors that I love for various reasons, but McEwan is a writer whose command of English language just makes me pause and go, damn this man can write.
This passage really stuck with me, partly because of some personal things going on in my life that made me reflect on people and relationships:
We know so little about each other. We lie mostly submerged, like ice floes, with our visible social selves projecting only cool and white.
Favourite Fictional Felines
1. Behemoth (The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov)
This list is not really in an order of preference, but Behemoth is probably my favourite fictional cat, and not just because I’ve read this book about 50 times over, in both Russian and English. He’s an enormous black cat who accompanies Satan on his visit to Soviet Moscow in the 1930s, and provides some of the novel’s best humourous passages. He walks on two legs, has a fondness for sarcasm, pistols and vodka, but is polite enough to offer to pay for the tram ride. What’s not to love?
Wild – Film Review
Friend and I saw Wild at Classic Elsternwick, in the tiniest cinema I’ve ever been to – it felt more like a private screening room.
Smart Cats
An illustration I did way back in uni for an annual report project. Mine was for a fictional cat food company called Smart Cat. See if you can spot the cat that’s clearly an impostor 🙂
Birdman – Film Review
spoilers warning just in case
Saw Birdman with my Mum tonight. It’s nice to see a much-hyped movie that actually deserves the critical drooling, once in a while. We discussed it briefly once the credits got rolling, and both agreed that we’ve never seen anything quite like this movie.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Film Review
Finally saw The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies last week.
This prequel trilogy has been a wildly uneven ride for me. I don’t think I’d ever care to watch the first film again in my life; it was three long hours of boredom, unnecessary story padding, pointless cameos and forgettable action sequences with far too many CGI characters. The Desolation of Smaug on the other hand was a pleasant surprise that made me feel like these films finally had a reason to exist. It still suffered from many of the same problems, most notably overlong action sequences with very questionable physics (even by movie standards), but it also injected some urgency and momentum into the story, introduced new engaging characters, and had great action even if some of it went on for too long. I even liked the elf/dwarf romance which apparently annoyed a lot of people. And of course it had the magnificent creature that is Smaug the dragon.
yggdrasille.com 