The Blog

Having a blast in London...

Haven't really had the energy to blog, so have a chunk out of my diary (I forgot to bring a book so I'm typing into a file). Note that it's not been edited, so may contain typos, sentence fragments and other awkwardness

Somehow my "awesome trip out to see the rest of the Thames festival" turned into "Catherine is entranced by Korean culture, to the point where she buys the soundtrack to the hybrid traditional/modern dance performance and freezes to death watching a kimchee western". And that was okay by me, as the music was great (and the dance too) and the movie was awesome.

No Korean food though, which was sad-making. I had a craving for a bibimbap, and all I could get was an apple and pork traditional english sausage (so good) and an apple and cinnamon crepe (rather average really). Ooh, and a Belgian hot chocolate, made from a chocolate fountain and something else that was nice and creamy and staved off the freezing to death for at least an hour.

Oh, and I finally bought some things at the markets: a terrorist scarf, because I had a feeling I wasn't dressed warmly enough.

Then to the movie, "The Good, The Bad, The Weird". It was awesome, a little gruesome, but I've come to expect that from the few Korean films that are exported to the rest of the world, and aside from a serious lack of female characters (which I expected from a western, but was vaguely hoping they'd subvert) I thought it was definitely worth the time in the cold.

Basically, it's the tale of a treasure map, and the people who will fight to get a hold of it and the treasure it points to. I'm not really sure I got the historical context for the film (they were in Manchuria, which was occupied by Japan, but all the named characters were Korean expats (and clearly feeling 'han' (okay, what is the correct way to use a foreign word for a feeling of sad quiet nostalgia in a sentence? (and where did all these parentheses come from and have I closed them all?)))

The best bit was when about three quarters of the way through I gave in to temptation and thought, "this feels so very Quentin Tarantino, I bet the director's a fan." At that moment, the Kill Bill remix of "Don't let me be misunderstood" kicked in and I couldn't help but laugh, despite it being a very serious moment in the film (an awesome shootout was about to begin).

And in the end, many hundreds of people (and horses!) had been shot, the treasure located (and unappreciated by its finders) and those that made it through went on with their lives. I was very satisfied and wouldn't mind seeing it again with anyone reading this who wants to watch a western with me sometime.

Labels: korea, london, lonely-Cat, movies, the good the bad the weird, trip09

Explorations in Brazilian television...

Good evening all.

I'm sitting in my hotel room while most everyone else is at the $200R conference banquet. What this means for you is a running commentary of Brazilian soap operas, because they are awesome. Sadly, I don't know what this program even is, but it's fantastic. First they were doing a "who's the father of the baby?" scenario (the poor actress is about to explode), and now there's a chimpanzee running around some person's house, scaring off burglars and playing with his feet in a tin of paint. I don't get it at all.

HOLY CRAP! The supposed father/boyfriend and the best friend were just walked in on by the expectant mother (I actually thought her friends were driving her to the hospital, but no, they were just giving her a lift home), who is about to go nuts with a broom on them. And now the credits are rolling. :(

Now I know I have to be back by 8pm tomorrow night to watch what happens next, because damn you guys, soap operas are addictive when you don't speak the language. And I know the title, "caras and bocas", which now must be googled. (Ed: And it has, but only in Portuguese, damn it.)

In actual news, there's some big scandal going down where a tv personality / reporter has been arrested and is in huge trouble because it seems he's been manipulating the news to the point where he organised killings so he could be the first on the scene to report them. OMG, Brazil!

Labels: lonely-Cat, missing you, rio de janeiro, television, trip09

Still alive...

Went to the park and was amazed to find a pair of black swans there. Haven't seen swans there since about 1989 or so. Read a few chapters of the novel I'm currently enjoying (the bridge, by Iain Banks) then came home. Oh, and Mum showed up with junk food.

As usual, was able to find someone else able to articulate how I am feeling much better than I ever could.

ETA: Swans, bitches.

Labels: lonely-Cat, middle class mediocrity, sending our love down the well, swans

*sighs*...

Yesterday, Julia and I threw a rather successful party for 20 people celebrating the fact that D'Arth is getting married (I really ought to finish illustrating that, ne?). Was exhausted and overwrought by the time I got home (and thanks again to Mum for being my driver for the day).

Today I'm so lonely I could cry and am getting my kicks by switching off the cable modem for 30 seconds at a time in order to drive my kid brother mad.

Labels: lonely-Cat, losing sleep, photos, weddings

You will be pleased to note...

...that I just paid my bill and will remain at this url for another two years. This is good.

If anyone has visited the site recently, you'll note a mess of broken links and odd formatting. Apologies, I'm working on it in what little free time I have at the moment.

And since I'm here I might as well blog this column and this video are my favourite web things from the last week.

Labels: chasing after butterflies and wishing I could fly, lonely-Cat, politics, random, retail therapy, still poor, wasting my life, web stuff

   Why do they leave me alone on the weekends?...

Whenever they do, whenever I have free time, I end up sitting here alone watching terrible movies or television shows, moping about all the things in my life that don't feel right and wishing that I was one of those girls in the movies. It can't be that hard, right? And yet it is.

I want to have friends who want to hang out with me, not just have me over to make up the numbers. I want to have friends who want to hang out at my place from time to time, who like me unconditionally.

I want to be able to have a nice conversation with an old friend, and not have the email followup read "that was the most interesting conversation I had with a girl in a long time". Because I didn't think me being a girl should factor in us being old friends. Needless to say, it's been a month and I haven't found any need to reply.

I want to feel sexy.

I want to feel that I am more than just competent at what I do. I want to be great at something, anything really. I just want do not be so stupidly average at everything.

And I want this wishlist to be shorter.

Labels: cheer up emo Cat, lonely-Cat, unhappiness

Labels: hating myself, lonely-Cat

Labels: lonely-Cat, my room, random

Labels: daleks, holiday, lonely-Cat