Weekends of Indulgence!

Hello there everyone!

Hope you are all well... or at least better than me!

I've been sick for the last week, and it has been driving me mad! Seem to be getting worse too! Too much partying! Perhaps some snow would help!!!!!??

Probably started after drinking too much a couple of Saturday's ago...just like being back at uni... no one to blame but myself :( On the upside, the dinner at Limor's (Lebanese restaurant in North Caulfield) was excellent. $29 for 3 courses - way too much good food - dips, meat & dessert, BYO. Red wine was always going to be a bad start. There's one in Glenferrie too apparently, and it's probably a little more homely and lacking the singer with the very loud tacky backing tracks and a love of his own voice.

The 90's house party after probably tipped the scales... only a couple of drinks - but you know what I'm like with alcohol. Anyway, it was a lot of fun... but what exactly is typical 90's? Unfortunately I didn't take any photos, so I can't show you the Spice Girls, Sister Mary Clarence, the Ab Fab crew, or Gideon as a raver. It was only the next day that I realised that I should have worn my Take That t-shirt. ;P

Despite coughing on people all of this weekend, it one was a great one (apologies to anyone who may get sick.. esp. Gids) ... AND, I got a few photos!

Started off with Friday night drinks at the Balcony to celebrate Daniella's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIELLA! WE LOVE YOU!

Then dinner at the very swanky Radii with Corrie to celebrate a very belated birthday. Renee joined us for a scruptious dessert, followed by some high impact salsa at the usual Friday Night Park Hyatt Session. Question of the night - is duck a red or white meat?

Corrie & Renee - post food, pre dance

Saturday night began with dinner at Cafe La. Yet another swanky venue. Perhaps it's not fair to do comparisons, but I have to admit I enjoyed the food at Cafe La quite a bit more than Radii. Perhaps it was the company ;) hehe, or the views from the top of the Sofitel building.. and being able to see what they were doing in the kitchen was a nice touch.... but, seriously, I think the food was slightly better. And to be completely honest, despite the great chasm in pricing, the food at Limors was probably even more tasty!!

After dinner we headed over to Crown to surprise D with tickets to Floorplay. The show was awesome - well, we thought so. There were grumbles from one or two "dance connoisseurs" from the audience after the show... but I guess there is always someone who is going to complain. The dancing was unbelievably high energy, professional and extremely sexy, the singing good quality (depite the rakey stiff-bodied blonde), and the costumes and choreography bright and colourful. Unfortunately, this weekend was their last in Melbourne, so you missed out if you didn't already go.

Ladies in black - Mel, D & g after the show
(special mention to Tania who was there in spirit for the birthday present, but didn't join us for the show)

Gideon & me

Congratulations to Qwerty to make it though to the semi finals again, despite the weird arse season! Thanks to our few supporters and the cast of a thousand fill-ins we have had.

No movie or DVD reviews this week unfortunately... next time definitely!

Wishing you (& me!) good health and lots of dancing!

Love g

Important Questions That Must Be Answered

Apologies to my few fans… ie. Geordie, who has been eagerly awaiting another update…. Here it is!

What’s going on with M&M’s nowadays?

I have myself here a packet of Peanut M&M’s – Captain’s Gold Edition – Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man’s Chest (see below for review). There are only 3 colours inside – Canary yellow, Sunflower Yellow and Poo Yellow. There’s something a little screwy going on here… Whoever thought it would be a good idea to have poo-coloured M&M’s thought wrong…. Everyone knows blue ones taste the best!!... that is, unless you are watching your health – as a wise man once said (Matthew McConnaughey in the timeless classic, The Wedding Planner) – the brown ones have the least amount of artificial colouring!

Why is there no snow?

A little piece of my lusciously snowy heart breaks off and melts into nothingness every day that there is still no snow in the Vic mountains. Soon there will be nothing left, but a dark empty cavity that once held my dreams of a better life in a winter wonderland filled with fat flakes (love the fat flakes) and snow angels, where my baby board can run free. Please take pity on my desperate plight and send you positive thoughts to the mountains. Note, all donations of two or more thoughts are tax deductible.

BB – what was the big deal?

I know most of you just think – who cares! So I’ll keep this short. I feel sorry for the two guys who got kicked off Big Brother. A lot of hooha about nothing. It was not shown on TV, it was only shown on-line to subscribers over the age of 18. While what they did was probably going a bit beyond a joke, that is exactly was what it was. In fact, Camilla, “the victim” was the first to suggest it in jest. You can check out the video footage for yourself at http://www.viddy.id.au/stuff/bb6.au.day069.live.feed.incident-korntunes-cut.zip. Why the PM and Opp. Leader chose to comment on it, I don’t know? - case of sticky beaking I say!! Ridiculous!

Breakfast of the week

Corn Fritters at Mart 130, Middle Park Tram Station, 107a Canterbury Road. DIVINE! Best breakfast out I've had all year. Absolutely delicious. Despite the ongoing battle described on my favourite breakfast blog (www.thebreakfastblog.blogspot.com), the Mart130 corn fritters are definitely better than the Replete Providore ones. Oh, the other dishes looked pretty lush too... definitely going back to try them all! Perfect way to spend a rainy Sunday brunch. Warm and cosy. Not to mention the company!

Photo of the week:

Marion’s 40^th B’day - Awww... ain't he cute - Gideon & Marion

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MOVIE REVIEWS
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Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest: 3.75/5

Cast: Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands), Orlando Bloom (Elizabeth Town), Keira Knightly (Bend it like Beckham), Bill Nighy (Love Actually)

In a Nutshell: Slapstick laughs on the seas, ahoy.

Synopsis: This time, Captain Jack Sparrow is in search of the key to open the chest containing the heart of Davy Jones, the monstrous ruler of the seas.

Much of the same sort of thing as the first – but it worked then, and it’s pretty much still working now. It loses points for not being quite as cohesive as the first - the search for laughs seems to have come in at a higher priority than the plot development. This pays dividends in one particularly hilarious scene featuring the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow on an island of cannibals. While very much still the heart of the movie, Johnny Depp’s Captain seems to have turned camp in order to raise a few more laughs, and in the process seems more of a trivial character unfortunately. Also this time round, while evil dude is sufficiently ghastly, unlike Rush’s Barbossa, the character is so overwhelmed with makeup and special effects, Nighy’s Davy Jones ends up being less realistic (as man with an octopus for a head would be) and therefore less chilling. At two and a half hours, it is a touch long, and annoyingly there is no resolution as the money making machine churns towards a sequel. Despite all this, on the whole, it is still very entertaining stuff.

Over the Hedge: 3.25/5

Cast: Bruce Willis (Moonlighting), Garry Shandling (The Garry Shandling Show), Steve Carrell (The Office), William Shatner (Boston Legal), Eugene Levy (American Pie), Avril Lavine (Teen Rocker)

In a Nutshell: Excellent ending makes up for the meandering pace of the rest.

Synopsis: Self serving racoon meets a group of innocent forest foragers and encourages them to go to the other side of the hedge and steal food from the humans.

The premise is not particularly original, and not wholly unpredictable. The two main characters, the racoon and the turtle, are both quite annoying and one dimensional. Hammy the squirrel – played by Carrell is genius, and steals the show by a mile. Some of the other characters are quite cute too – eg. The possums and the porcupines. In the end there are some good laughs, but they are a long time coming. The animation is brilliant though.