What is WRONG with these courts? (And with us, for allowing them to continue doing this?)

Labels: current affairs

I'm guessing pretty stupid.

Personally, I have managed to delete 99% of my Alan Rickman photos, collected through the last six years, during the last hard drive move. So if anyone has any photo of him that is a must-have, I would appreciate a link, because I can't be bothered to go looking for them all over again. It's really quite amazing how I have managed to do this, and there must have been more than a thousand photos altogether, just disappearing.

Still, leaves a lot more space for other things, and luckily my two most important collections are still intact. ;-) However, having more pictures of Jonathan Ross than of Alan Rickman is slightly disturbing.

No, my Wossy collection is not one of the most important ones. :D

And don't you just love Onion?

Labels: Alan Rickman, computers, humour, personal, technology

They launch the Chinese version of MySpace and immediately censor "controversial" themes.

These kinds of stories always remind me why I should be infinitely glad I live in a part of the world where civil rights are in force.

Labels: current affairs, technology

Catty, perhaps, but not a cat person.

I am constantly picking links from emails Aug sends me, but I have a feeling the links I pick are not the ones he was trying to tell me about. Anyhoo, today's fun link is My Cat Hates You. Enjoy.

Labels: humour, time wasting

Three days off, three days to do mischievous things. So I...

...watched the first series of The Fast Show
...watched all the three Back to the Future, wondering how people managed to wait between films to find out what would happen next
...watched Blast from the Past for the umpteenth time, still laughing at all the quirky moments. And Dave Foley
...watched 10 minutes of the first ever Kids in the Hall show, because of Dave Foley
...was very happy Heroes was back
...cleaned my bathroom, which also made me happy
...played Shadow Hearts: Covenant on the PS2. A LOT.

All in all a highly fruitless three days, but at least it was a lot of fun.

Labels: film, gaming, TV

That's Bulldog Broadband for you.

Last week we received an email from them informing us they had received our cancellation request and would disconnect us within days. We had not made such a request and contacted them. Apparently, their system had been hacked and a lot of customers had received the same thing. We should not worry. At the same time, we finally managed to get our bill settled. Perhaps. It's been going on for months. (Do a search on "Bulldog Hell" on Google and you will see we are far from the only ones--in fact, most customers seem to have had some problems with that crappy company)

Two days ago, we were disconnected completely. No phone, no internet. Called the next day, as line was still down after several attempts to reconnect the previous day. Thank god for mobile phones. Anyway, they said a lot of customers had been complaining about the same thing, and that Bulldog was not to blame. We would have to re-order the package and we would be back online within four weeks.

Well, sod that for a game of soldiers--I could finally see our misery ending and threw myself onto the 'Net today (at work, naturally) to find a completely different broadband provider. Hopefully we will be back online within a few weeks, with a better deal and with NO CONTACT WHATSOEVER, EVER AGAIN with Bulldog. When people keep giving them lousy scores? There is a reason for it. Especially now, when other companies give you better deals at a lower cost and with infinitely better customer service.

And now you know why I haven't updated my blog in a while.

Labels: personal, technology

Apparently, we celebrated St. George's Day more when I was a Norwegian girl guide than they do over here, where it's supposed to be the symbol of England.

Also happy birthday to this man, who won lots of money on...staying alive!

Yesterday I was so tired after work I just wanted to watch telly to stay awake, so I gathered the troops (i.e. my flatmate, a bowl of soup and the stuffed moose Moosey who resides in the sitting-room) and we watched the Graham Norton Show, Wossy from last week and the Swedish film Evil together. All in all a nice evening.

Labels: film, personal, TV

Watching Alpha Dog made me want to play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. And what was up with playing XBox in 1999, a whole two years before it was launched? Bad research or I must have imagined it.

There sometimes is a strange smell in this room which reminds me of when we had just moved here and I was stuck with my very few belongings, my MiniDisc player with assorted music and my trusty Gameboy Advance for three weeks while waiting for our stuff to arrive. The smell always makes me slightly uncomfortable for a nano second, and then I remember I am not that unsure about my immediate future anymore.

No wonder I am becoming grey-haired.

Labels: film, gaming, personal, technology

Seriously, people, voting for Ben to stay until next week and then voting OFF Johndeep and Chris B? Are you totally tone-deaf and/or insane???

Parents, stop giving mobiles to your teenaged daughters; they clearly know not what they do.

Labels: Lloyd-Webber, musicals, TV

I am currently very much looking forward to the following:

Spider-Man 3 - dubbed "Speidermann" by me by mistake yesterday; funny only to Norwegians, I suppose.
Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End - well, Geoffrey Rush is back, so what's not to look forward to?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - the fifth film had BETTER have a lot of Snape in it!
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - the last book will be released in exactly three months from today and I should probably start thinking about taking a few days off at around that time! After all, I will be going through serious withdrawal and pain after having read it.
The final performance of Evita - it'll be my eighth visit and I am sick and tired of spending so much money on that show. If only I could actually afford it, it would not have been such a problem (duh), but as my debts seem to be growing and not decreasing with every down payment, I really should stop spending my money on...anything, really.

See why I need to have something to look forward to? Jeez, now I've depressed myself. Off to read Freakonomics.

Labels: Alan Rickman, evita, film, geoffrey rush, literature, musicals, personal, philip quast, theatre

Yes, this is the 600th post. Yay.

So...Philip Quast appearing in a memorial/tribute/thingie for the late director Steven Pimlott on the 17th of May. Going there because of PQ is wrong on so many levels, so I am actually rather glad that it is also the Norwegian constitutional day, which means I am already fully booked that day. :-)

I got 10 quid from a cash point the other day, because the bloke in front of me didn't get all the money he had ordered. I will give it to charity; bad karma otherwise.

Labels: Norway, personal, philip quast, theatre

Go to Google Maps. Click on "Get Directions". Type in "New York" in the "from" field and "London" in the "to" field. Read the directions, especially taking note of no. 24...

Labels: humour

The Onion news in brief (well, one news item, anyway, but clicking arbitrarily the other links may lead to more laughter.

Also, try these two games (thanks to Aug for leading me in their direction):

Boomshine
Virus

Labels: gaming, humour, time wasting

For some reason, more than twenty degrees in April seems wrong. I am walking around wearing very little clothes and Easter just went.

Enticed my flatmate into joining me for a walk today; went through the nearby ghetto and up to Forest Gate, from there had an argument with an annoying pharmacy clerk before going back home with a mission to buy ice cream and sitting on the balcony, basking in the sunlight. Mission accomplished.

Spent the rest of the day washing clothes, cooking and playing Final Fantasy IX. Looking forward to tomorrow's drama starring Matthew MacFadyen. Not looking forward to starting my six-day-shift tomorrow. Sigh.

Labels: gaming, personal, TV

Apparently, the Virginia shooter was a loner and very weird. He also listened to pop, rock and classical music. Let me just say right now that I do not intend to go on a killing spree. Ever.

Today my flatmate accepted a place at drama school, which is great! Really looking forward to seeing her on stage in the future.

We also had home delivery of food again today; the poor guy was two hours late and about the size of a small dog and had a bit of trouble unloading the bags, but we managed somehow. This was the first time our whole order was delivered, without any substitutes. Amazing. I hardly ever go to the grocery store these days, actually, even though we have home delivery only about once a month.

I simply have to mention Thank God You're Here which I have started watching lately (the US version, not the original, Aussie one). It is actually rather good! I would have loved it if all of the actors had no script, though, not just the guest actors. Would have made it more fun.

Also, I wonder if Hugh Grant will ever be able to play in anything but romantic comedies. Recently watched Music and Lyrics which was entertaining, but still just about the same as every other film he has been in since...ehmm...Four Weddings and a Funeral, I suppose. Oh well, I still like him and his films. Fortunately not a fan, that would have been very boring indeed.

And last, but not least, what on earth is going on in the world of telly when Huey and Casper from The Underdog Show goes all the way to the final? Let the poor dog have a rest from that scary guy, for god's sake!

Labels: comedy, current affairs, film, personal, TV

Thank god anyone can get a gun in America, so that they can start shooting people arbitrarily. At least 30 people killed at Virginia Tech and who knows how many wounded. Who would like to do such a thing?

Today we went to the cinema to see Wild Hogs, which was actually better than expected and quite funny. I laughed out loud many times. Also, no biker movie without Peter Fonda.

Finally got to see the Any Dream Will Do programme from yesterday; much like last year's How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria we are once again slagging off the contestants. We have a couple of favourites so far and a couple we really don't like at all. Next week, however, I will hopefully be able to vote as well. Last Saturday I was busy watching Evita, which, after all, is more important than anything else (except for, perhaps, eating and sleeping).

Labels: current affairs, evita, film, Lloyd-Webber, musicals, theatre, TV

So the Bourbon Dolphin, which capsized off Shetland a few days ago, has sunk, presumably with five crew members still on board. It is all very sad and difficult to explain. Hopefully the commission set to investigate will find the reason, but apparently the same thing happened in Africa (I think it was) four years ago, with no explanation.

Also, the papers over here have been filled with stories about the break-up between Prince William and Kate Middleton. It would be very sad indeed if it turns out the media pressure was too big. If people would just stop buying and reading the bloody tabloids! Buy some real papers instead, some that have at least some substance to them, not just a front page saying "Oi! Big knockers this way!" - but apparently that is the only thing many people can muster to comprehend in the morning. Been up a bit too late, perhaps, binge drinking?

I am currently sitting in bed typing this, and it's actually quite nice. If only the computer wouldn't get really hot within the first ten minutes, I could get used to this.

Oh, and there was actually an hilarious scene in Foyle tonight. I never thought that would happen. It only lasted for about a minute, but the dry wit of Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle really did the trick.

My weekend starts right now and I am contemplating going to see Wild Hogs at the cinema tomorrow. It looks like fun. I also know it will most probably make me want to see Galaxy Quest and Mystery Men back to back afterwards, so I will end up spending the whole day watching films...and having read my old blog posts lately, that sort of reminds me of how it used to be, so why not?

Anyway, I would still need to sleep a bit in the mean time, especially since I am still knackered since yesterday's busy day at work.

For the record, it is April the 16th and there's been 26 degrees centigrades today. Phew.

Labels: current affairs, film, personal, TV

More than a week, in fact.

I have been reading through all of my blog posts (593 in total, counting this one) in order to add tags to them all. Also, I did not correct any spelling mistakes etc., as I believe in the First Draft Theory.

It was great fun reading through my blog, as there were a lot of things I had completely forgotten about. Even the most mundane everyday stuff was interesting to read about, so that should be a great incentive for updating more often.

Btw, the previous post, with the World Leader test thingie? Turns out I had already done that one years ago, and that time I got Che Guevara.

Since last I updated this thing, I have been working, watching a few films, playing a few games, and shopped A LOT on eBay. In fact, I have upgraded my wardrobe quite a bit. It was time to get back to the real me, because that bit of me has been dormant for six years.

Last night I went to see Evita for the sixth time (I thought it was my seventh, but my blog says otherwise) and it was as fabulous as ever, although I must admit I had a hard time keeping a straight face because even in the most emotional scenes I kept picturing Mark Heenehan as Tinky-Winky (which he played at some point in his career). I should never have been told that little fact.

Then I stood by the stage door for the first time in about four years, which was nice, especially since we actually got something out of it. The few others who had stood there to begin with, disappeared within the first 30 minutes (oh ye of little hope), so then just the three of us (the brilliant minds behind The Philip Quast Guide and myself) were left. I was actually going to leave straight after the show, seeing as I was getting up early to go to work this morning, but luckily (in this case) I am easily persuaded (in other words, Captain Wentworth would not have liked me) (bad Jane Austen reference, sorry) and stayed despite my growing headache. I always get a headache when I go to the theatre. Maybe it's the air, maybe it's the tension, who knows.

Anyway, that's when Philip Quast turned up with his bicycle and had a chat, which was nice.

Uhmm...

Yes, you're right.

I was much more ecstatic, of course. I am just trying to stay focused on the important things. Like not exploding. Or dying of a nervous laughing fit.

At least this time I remember what was being said. I don't remember a thing from my short chat with Rickers in NYC, and I honestly forgot everything but the embarrassment only hours after I met him. I must have learnt something since then. Or I wasn't as embarrassed. Or what was being said was actually interesting (Meeting Rickman, I did the talking, yesterday Quast did the talking. Huge difference.)

I am leaving work in 30 minutes and you will not believe how much I have been looking forward to these next few days off. Especially since yesterday's Grand National event; we were so busy I almost fell asleep during Evita due to being knackered! Eeek!

Labels: Alan Rickman, evita, musicals, personal, philip quast, sport, tests, theatre

Visited Torill's blog and felt compelled to take this test...

Labels: tests