From Michelle...

Its nice to see what one of my American GAP Year team thinks of me!

Film Review

I had been looking forward to seeing this film ever since I saw the trailer. Even though I knew nothing previously of the Watergate scandal surrounding Nixon.

I did enjoy the film. (Even though one of my friends didn't think it was quite 'my thing'! Rude! Not sure what he quite meant by that!)

When I look at Michael Sheen all I can see is him as Tony Blair! But I was able to watch him in this as a very convincing David Frost. The fact that they both presented a Bafta this week was very amusing.

If you like political dramas then this is a film that I would recommend seeing. It was shot very well and the recreation of the 1970s outfits was very convincing.

PC Illusions

I was sent the below image with a load of other 'illusions' that freaked me out!! I find these sort of things facinating.

The instructions are as follows...

1. Stare at the four black dots in the center of the image for 30-60 seconds.
2. Then look at a blank wall or surface.
3. You should see a circle of light developing.
4. Start blinking your eyes and you will see a figure emerging.
5. What or who do you see?

Film Review

This is all film reviewers can talk about and all prizes are awarded to right now. I was supposed to see it on Monday, but the snow prevented me from doing so! Once again I had read no background on this film, only going by what the title gave away.

This film was narrated through the life of Jamal. The three main characters were portrayed by three different actors at different stages of growing up in India. It really opened up my eyes to the bleaker and corrupt side to the country. The theme throughout the film is love, between brothers and lovers. Each question of the quiz takes us through the life of the characters and the reason why this boy from the slums knows the answers.

It was a quite sad film for most of the duration, with only a small amount of humour. I did expect the happy ending to be ruined, but gladly it wasn't!! It is well worth a trip to the cinema to see what all the fuss is about.

Splat!

Originally uploaded by Roothie

Mr Kingham threw this at my window to scare me today! Such an adult example to the rest of us!!

Snow Day

SNOW IS MY FAVOURITE THING! Hooray for snow days! I had such fun today. I did not want to attempt to drive to work, and my Mum (even though I am almost 28!) phoned and said that I was not allowed to! With Boris cancelling all of the buses I had no way to get to work! All that left me to do was go out and play! I spent all day with my friends Jaymie & Steve. After pelting me (as the poor defenceless girl) with snow we set about to make a snowman! I have never made a giant snowman before. We took over the shop garden. I was proud of our efforts, until the boys carved breasts into it and made it a top heavy snow woman! Jaymie set about building an igloo in my little section of garden. It looked really good, but as the garden is a concrete paradise I am concerned about melting and flooding issues!! The Enfield Oasis threesixty team came over in the afternoon and after more snowball fun in the concrete paradise we headed up to Hilly Fields armed with one ikea tea tray!!! It made for bad sledging, so the boys made a massive snowball. It was going well until it got stuck in mudball and when we did push it out the force of bumping down the hill towards the river caused it to break! Never have I seen grown lads so sad about a ball of snow! All in all it was a fun day.

More snow pictures can be seen by clicking on this photo and going to my Flickr site.

Film Review

I had heard this was receiving quite bad reviews. But I did want to find out for myself how good or bad it really was. I had read nothing on the film beforehand, so I went along with no idea what the film was about. Only trying to make a link with the Shakespeare phrase, 'seven pounds of flesh'.

The film was made up of a lot of flashbacks and at first I had to get used to this style. But they helped to build and create an understanding of the main character. It was a very emotional film and did manage to slightly crack my tear ducts, which most films don't these days! The end of the film was fairly predictable in my opinion, but then not everyone would agree.

It is well worth going to see, even if it is so you can form your own opinion of it!

Reunion Time

Every few years, and not often enough, me and my university Christian Union mates get together. Considering most of us live in or around London we really don't do this as much as we should. This time one guy we've not seen for nine years came down from Birmingham and one couple from Northampton. It was so good to see everyone and they all bless me very much. I am privileged to have been in a small CU that was all about fellowship and supporting each other, and we have all remained in contact because of that.

Bad Press

I still have very strong links with MLS, the company I worked at for five years before I joined n:flame. I will always remember my time there fondly and be thankful for the working skills that I came away with. It has always conducted business on a very tight budget, and in more recent times it has gone through some bad times. I am well out of the loop when it comes to the business decisions made and the reasons for it, however their choices seem to be dragged through the press in a very negative way. Including an article in last nights Evening Standard. As always the press has a very one-sided view on the situation. I am not saying that MLS have conducted themselves flawlessly, but I still get very defensive of them!!

True To Form?!

I was sent a 'blonde' joke that I found very very funny. I read it aloud to the office and a blonde colleage who had also recieved the same email said that she didnt get it...highly ironic!

WHAT IS A 710?

A few days ago I was having some work done at my local garage. A blonde came in and asked for a seven-hundred-ten.

We all looked at each other and another customer asked, 'What is a seven-hundred-ten?'

She replied, 'You know, the little piece in the middle of the engine, I have lost it and need a new one

She replied that she did not know exactly what it was, but this piece had always been there.

The mechanic gave her a piece of paper and a pen and asked her to draw what the piece looked like.

She drew a circle and in the middle of it wrote 710. He then took her over to another car which had its bonnet up and asked 'is there a 710 on this car?

She pointed and said, 'Of course, it's right there.'

If you're not sure what a 710 is Click Here

When I revealed the joke part, 'said colleague' still did not understand why it was so funny! I had to turn the image 180 degrees to reveal 'the funny'. We feel that she let her side down on proving these jokes wrong!!

Retaliation

I was just sent a link on facebook to something that Pioneer Church are doing in response to 'that' bus campaign. The flyer below can be downloaded here in PDF form. The group on Facebook is called 'There Probably is a God.'

Film Review

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have been to the cinema! (for my standards!) My list of films to see is getting ever longer!

My knowledge of the history of this film is that it is obviously the second world war! That's where it ends, if I'm totally honest I thought Valkyrie was the name of the main character!! Pretty soon on I learnt otherwise!

The cast was brilliant, lots of my favourites. There were also actors which made you do the 'what was he in?' head scan!

I enjoyed this film a lot, and not just because it broadened my small knowledge of this time in history. I know nothing of the accuracy against original events, but I felt it was portrayed well. There was a lot of tension throughtout the film. I tried not to jump out of my seat! There was very minimal swearing and gore during the film, which is always a plus for me!

Tom Cruise was on Jonathan Ross on Friday evening, his interview about the film was very good. He can talk about it much better than I could!

And So It Begins...

Its seems that 2009 is the start of all of the 30th birthdays! Its still two years away for me, but I already have many weekends and parties in the diary as these milestone for my friends occur!

This weekend was the turn of one of my best friend Kathryn. I was part of a cunning team who threw her a surprise party on Thursday, and for someone who is known for being very loud, I have never seen her so speechless! She is also quick to pick up on things, but did not guess that we were plotting this gathering! She had a small party for close friends and family last night and I had a great time. One of the major things I miss about working in central London is seeing my close friends regularly. So I got to spend some quality time with two of my best friends, Kathryn and Caroline.

Sharing Surreal Experiences

This advert has been showing on television for a short while now. It really makes me smile and I wish that everyone on the station concourse broke out dancing when I was a London commuter!!

In Palmers Green High on Friday Sammy and I were talking around the subject of 'Passing On Faith'. The Alpha content suggested talking about who we share something with when we receive exciting news or see something amazing. As I watched this advert yet again today I really appreciated the point of it, people are taking pictures and filming the surreal occurrence, and calling up people to share the experience.

What do we choose to share with people each day, and how much of it is stuff God is doing in our lives?

A Prayerful 'Experiement'

After going to Germany last month I was introduced to a 'magic' toy. The 'Grow Your Own Frog Prince' is genius! Tabea was given one for Christmas and I decided that I should buy one and make it a symbolic thing to grow ourselves some princes at the same time. Seeing as we are both looking for our own 'real life prince'!!

Maybe soon he can come out of his pot of water!?!

Amendment

Thanks to Sarah for sending me the link to a 'make your own Bart blackboard page'! With a bit of screen capturing and cropping, I am able to share it with everyone.

A Pledge...

I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more I must write on my blog more

Sad Goodbyes

I've not blogged for a bit due to life just being so busy in all areas as usual!

Tonight I said goodbye to a good friend and needed to blog about it. Over the past year I have got to know Jess very well and tomorrow she has to return to Australia. I had a lovely Christmas and new year with her joining my family festivites.

Here is a picture of us in a very cold Wales during our mini Christmas roadtrip around the South West.

Youth Weekend Away

With Amanda going on maternity leave soon, a youth weekend away was squeezed in to the schedule. None of us could believe how quickly it had come round. I drove the big blue bus down to Kent with our small group of 11 and 12 year olds. There was some frost on the ground on Friday night, but none of us expected to wake up to frost like this!

(yes that is the high ropes course you can see among the trees, we opted out of this activity!!) It looked like snow. However the extreme cold caused our pipes to freeze, and a change of location on the site. It was the beginning of a very cold weekend. The theme of the weekend was Love. Three sessions on loving God, ourselves and others; led by Amanda Steve and myself. There was only eight youth, a nice number I think and discussions were always productive as they all wanted to learn more about God.

There was also an afternoon of archery in at least minus 3 conditions!! But all in all it was a good weekend. As Amanda often says it is nice to create memories for them to look back on as we do from trips away we had when we were younger.

(faces obviously blurred out due to their age!)

Temporary Look

A very rare thing happened this week...I had my hair straightened!!!