In Love

In love with the big bed, the big headboard, the basket at the bottom of the bed filled with linens, and the scruffy terrier relaxing in the middle of the bed.  From decor8 blog, and Rue magazine.   The only thing I am not sure of is white linens, I would be hopeless at keeping them clean, I would need a cleaning lady.

The Kids are Alright

The Kids are Alright - DVD (2010)

The DVD was alright, it tried to be indie, and drama and I guess a bit edgy.  Two teenage kids live with their Lesbian mothers, and decide when the oldest turns 18 to find out about their sperm donor.  After giving him a call, he enters their lives and things begin to change.

It was ok - not earth shattering, and I guess Lesbians are Oscar material.  Just be warned, Mark Ruffolo has his pants off a bit in this little movie, not a bad thing on Saturday night.  2.5/5.

Sunday Smiles

This one made me smile during the week.  Hope you have a lovely week!!

The Social Network

The Social Network - DVD (2010)

The good thing about not going out to the movies, is that the DVDs come out in only a few months, and I am enjoying not spending $17 on movie tickets.  So it was looking like a boring Friday night with only American Idol on tv, which we already knew who won thanks to the interenets.  So after finishing late at work,  a takeaway dinner was in order and I dropped into the library for a quick look.

I wasn't really interested in this one when it came out as I don't do Facebook and I was familiar with the story already, and it all seemed a bit over hyped.  My instincts were correct for although a modern fable for our times, it just seemed full of dull lawyer scenes, uninspiring parties and lots of posh boys with sour grapes.

For me it is only worth a measly 2/5 - hardly entertaining, but worth a few points for the cinematography.

Petite Anglaise - Catherine Sanderson

Petite Anglaise - Catherine Sanderson (2008)

Catherine is an English girl who has a fascination with things French, and escapes to live in Paris.  There she meets a boy who becomes Mr Frog, and together they have a small daughter Tadpole.  After a couple of years they realise that they are not as happy as they once were and Catherine makes contact with one of the fans of her blog.  This forces her to reavaluate her relationship, and life changes.  However her new fella ends up promising a lot and not quite delivering it all.

Does that give it all away?  Billed as a memoir, and even though she is a good writer it does come across a bit as chick lit  and I could see the ending coming a mile away.  I'm going to sit on the fence and give it a 2.5/5.

ETSY Love

Because I love ETSY, and also love David Bowie, I'm thinking of getting this one for the wall.  Also nice that they can customize the colours for you.  I think you can find it here:http: //www.etsy.com/listing/70314847/i-will-be-king-and-you-will-be-queen

Heaven is for Real - Todd Burpo

Heaven is for Real - Todd Burpo (2010)

Colton Burpo is a sick four year old when he has to undergo an emergency appendectomy.  When he gets better he tells his family about leaving his body, seeing his parents and visiting heaven.  He meets Jesus and sees God and members of his family.  Over the following months, he informs his parents of what he experienced.

It was ok - an interesting thought, of such a small child having a near death experience, an area I am interested in.  As his father is a pastor, I am sure that Colton must have been aware of some of the bible stories before this happened, hearing about God and bible stories. 2.5/5.

The Cry of the Go-Away Bird - Andrea Eames

The Cry of the Go-Away Bird - Andrea Eames (2011)

We get to meet Elise, who is growing up in Zimbabwe in the 1990s.  Living on a farm with her mother and stepfather, life at first is simple with school, and weekends and days off exploring and hanging out with friends.  As the political situation changes, tensions begin to rise amongst the white farmer as farm takeovers become more and more frequent.  Friends and family begin to leave, and those that stay are threatened by locals, it becomes a tense place to live.

I had been reading Andreas blog for a while, and was looking forward to the release of this book, and after a bit of a slow start, once I got into it  I enjoyed  it a lot, and enjoyed reading a novel about an area of the world that I don't know a lot about.  4/5

Baggage - Janet Street-Porter

Baggage - Janet Street-Porter (2004)

When I lived in the UK I didn't watch a lot of TV, but Janet Street-Porter is a journo who turned up on a lot of shows over there.  The only thing we see her in here in NZ, are on 5 year old repeats of the F word.  Anyways I picked up this memoir from the library and liked the first page, so it seemed like a good choice to bring home.

What I didn't realise was that she was born in the 40's and it basically is a memoir of the circumstances of her birth, when both her parents were married to someone else, and a childhood growing up with strict parents and a sister she didn't like.  Then there is a series of boyfriends and sexploits as she tries to escape her homelife - you know usual 60s stuff.

So a 2/5 - interesting but not memorable.

The Butcher and The Vegetarian - Tara Austen Weaver

The Butcher and the Vegetarian - Tara Austen Weaver (2010)

The author was bought up in a household with a mother who was a strict vegetarian, and even though she tried the odd hotdog, she never really commited to eating the flesh.  Later on in her twenties though she finds that after feeling rubbish for some time, her doctor recommend the addition of meat to her diet.

So a lot of the book is taken up with hearing about Taras adventures of trying steak and meatballs, and she to her credit takes a lot of time to find ethical farmers and goes and visits the slaughterhouse.  There is a lot of discussion surrounding the ethical reasons for eating and not eating animals.  All of which I understan.  Personally, I don't know if I could eat meat, if I had to kill it myself, and I would like to think of the animals I eat being treated humanely.  I do feel guilty if I don't buy free range chickens, eggs or pork.  I always think of Food Inc, where it shows chickens who never see the sky or touch the ground in their lifetime. In New Zealand I think that most of the cows and sheep we consume, get to live their lives outside in the sun, eating green NZ grass.

I have had my own periods without meat.  A few years as a child, when I wouldn't eat it and lived on eggs on toast for two meals every day.  In my twenties I lived in a vegetarian flat for a while, and a few years ago, after a few stomach problems, I had ten months without red meat, although I still consumed a lot of chicken.  But I still go back to liking steak and chicken, although I wouldn't consider myself a big meat eater.

So it was a thought provoking read, although I thought she was a bit limited in how she choose to go about discovering meat.  There are so many awesome recipes and cooking shows, and although butchers may sell the meat, I think that they are probably not all gourmet cooks bristling with recipes or ideas. 

So a worthy 3/5 that I enjoyed finishing today at lunch, while I ate my minature bacon, tomato and egg pies.