Received this email today:
Friends
I have just been made aware of a 'census' coming in August.
I am NOT in the habit of forwarding emails, but this is of consideral importance to myself & the country I was born & choose to live in.
I will be ticking CHRISTIAN.
Blessings
Leith
Forwarded Message
From: Michelle
IMPORTANT
AUSTRALIA WILL BE HOLDING A CENSUS IN AUGUST
DO NOT LEAVE THE “RELIGION” SECTION BLANK. BE SURE TO AT LEAST TICK CHRISTIAN (OR YOUR UPBRINGING FAITH).
1,000,000 MUSLIMS WILL TICK THEIR BOX.
10,000,000 AUSTRALIANS WILL LEAVE IT BLANK THEN WONDER WHY A MOSQUE IS BUILT IN THEIR NEIGHBOURHOOD!!!
PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.
***
To that I say FUCK YOU.
What kind of intolerance in this world tries to prevent people in a neighbourhood from practising their faith? If people are apathetic about religion (read: don't go to a place of worship on a regular basis) then why does it matter if other people are not, as long as they don't try and impose their views on the rest of us?
Besides which, would this email have dared raged about a synagogue in the neighbourhood? A Buddhist temple?
I happen to live around the corner from the Muslim prayer hall in Artarmon and I have never had anything but polite dealings with its visitors. (Besides which, it means you can usually find a taxi close by).
It's arsewipes who use taxpayers' money to fund chaplains in schools that are the problem.
It's the backward politicians that don't recognise gay marriage because of some distant religious tradition that should be forced to see the world with 2011 eyes.
YES I AM REALLY ANGRY.
(I was going to write "I don't even know who this is!" but then I realised it's this horrible lady I met through my former Meetup group—the one that got me a boyfriend—that I never want to see again.)
My reply:
I'm happy with having a mosque in my neighbourhood. It's too many churches that spoil things.
A
29 June, 2011
#25: Favourite movie franchise/series?
Hmm! This is a hard one because the only ones I don't like are the horror ones.
I've had a lot of people diss later movies in franchises/series that 'lose their way' and while I think that's a valid argument, I feel that as long as the movie itself has something to offer, consistency with other movies is kind of secondary. I mean to say that if the film is reasonable on its own merits, then why should we worry that it's not as good as another in the franchise? After all, there are always going to be movies you think are weak or movies you don't like and that's generally subjective.
I like the X-Men franchise and, as you may have guessed from yesterday's entry, I love the Three Colours trilogy. Christopher Nolan's Batman series is shaping up to be good—better than X-Men, despite the delightful X-Men: First Class. I'll eat my hat if the third film isn't brilliant.
Another series looking to be huge is the Marvel franchise, right now a disparate bunch of films about the origins of certain heroes—Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America—which will culminate in The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon. I already know this will be good, but just how good? We'll have to wait until next year.
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
I've had a lot of people diss later movies in franchises/series that 'lose their way' and while I think that's a valid argument, I feel that as long as the movie itself has something to offer, consistency with other movies is kind of secondary. I mean to say that if the film is reasonable on its own merits, then why should we worry that it's not as good as another in the franchise? After all, there are always going to be movies you think are weak or movies you don't like and that's generally subjective.
I like the X-Men franchise and, as you may have guessed from yesterday's entry, I love the Three Colours trilogy. Christopher Nolan's Batman series is shaping up to be good—better than X-Men, despite the delightful X-Men: First Class. I'll eat my hat if the third film isn't brilliant.
Another series looking to be huge is the Marvel franchise, right now a disparate bunch of films about the origins of certain heroes—Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America—which will culminate in The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon. I already know this will be good, but just how good? We'll have to wait until next year.
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
28 June, 2011
#24: Favourite sequel?
A good sequel should carry the story of the original film but not rely on it. If a moviegoer has not seen the first film, he or she should be able to understand what's happening in the second all the same.
At the same time, people who have seen the original film need to benefit either with a few in-jokes, or having something happen in the sequel that throws light on events or characters in the first. It's a fine line to tread and I'm sure you all know it.
I don't generally like sequels but I'm one of those suckers who will go and see the second film just to know for sure that it's worse than the first and they never should have made it. I have been pleasantly surprised more often than I care to admit.
The best sequel I've ever seen is The Dark Knight, the second of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. In many ways it actually surpasses the original. I think the villains get a good workout, for starters, and share the spotlight with party boy/psychopath vigilante Bruce Wayne.
But my favourite sequel (if you could call it that) is Three Colours White, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. How to describe it? It's about an award-winning Polish barber whose wife wants to divorce him because he can't satisfy her in bed. The barber leaves France and goes back to Poland in a suitcase... I won't say more but it's funny and touching.
I'm not sure you can call it a sequel, though because there are only cameos of characters from Three Colours Blue (the first movie) in it, rather than it being a continuation of a narrative but I'm going to nominate it all the same because this is my blog.
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
At the same time, people who have seen the original film need to benefit either with a few in-jokes, or having something happen in the sequel that throws light on events or characters in the first. It's a fine line to tread and I'm sure you all know it.
I don't generally like sequels but I'm one of those suckers who will go and see the second film just to know for sure that it's worse than the first and they never should have made it. I have been pleasantly surprised more often than I care to admit.
The best sequel I've ever seen is The Dark Knight, the second of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. In many ways it actually surpasses the original. I think the villains get a good workout, for starters, and share the spotlight with party boy/psychopath vigilante Bruce Wayne.
But my favourite sequel (if you could call it that) is Three Colours White, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. How to describe it? It's about an award-winning Polish barber whose wife wants to divorce him because he can't satisfy her in bed. The barber leaves France and goes back to Poland in a suitcase... I won't say more but it's funny and touching.
I'm not sure you can call it a sequel, though because there are only cameos of characters from Three Colours Blue (the first movie) in it, rather than it being a continuation of a narrative but I'm going to nominate it all the same because this is my blog.
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
26 June, 2011
#23: Favourite director?
This used to be an easy question. I took a look at all my favourite movies and shortlisted the ones where I thought the direction was exceptional. Then I tallied up which director had the most movies in the shortlist and the answer was Christopher Nolan.
Before Inception (yes, I am one of the many who believe Nolan was robbed of a Best Director Oscar), which is the only heist movie I've ever liked, there was The Dark Knight and Batman Begins. But before *those* were The Prestige and Memento. Not only does Nolan pick interesting movies, he directs them well, and that combination is the winning one.
Now I said this used to be easy because I've come to realise that there are a number of films I really, really like that I don't necessarily own or name on my top films list that have amazing direction.
Among them:
Danny Boyle, for 127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire, Sunshine, 28 Days Later and The Beach.
Guillermo del Toro, for Pan's Labyrinth.
Spike Jonze, for Where the Wild Things Are, Adaptation, and Being John Malkovich.
I also don't mind a bit of Quentin Tarantino—and I think Duncan Jones is one to watch.
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
Before Inception (yes, I am one of the many who believe Nolan was robbed of a Best Director Oscar), which is the only heist movie I've ever liked, there was The Dark Knight and Batman Begins. But before *those* were The Prestige and Memento. Not only does Nolan pick interesting movies, he directs them well, and that combination is the winning one.
Now I said this used to be easy because I've come to realise that there are a number of films I really, really like that I don't necessarily own or name on my top films list that have amazing direction.
Among them:
Danny Boyle, for 127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire, Sunshine, 28 Days Later and The Beach.
Guillermo del Toro, for Pan's Labyrinth.
Spike Jonze, for Where the Wild Things Are, Adaptation, and Being John Malkovich.
I also don't mind a bit of Quentin Tarantino—and I think Duncan Jones is one to watch.
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
#22: Favourite documentary?
Ah, how to describe a documentary? Filming real life? Is a tortoise eating its vegies a documentary? I think Baraka is one of the most stunning pieces of non-fiction film you may ever behold, but I don't think you could call it a documentary.
According to Wikipedia, "documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record" [my italics].
Very well then, I nominate Paris is Burning. I saw this film as part of my cultural studies class 'Reading the Body'. It had so much in it—race, gender, underground culture—and it was such an eye-opening doco that I watched it three or four times even though I only needed to see it once (or twice if I were particularly studious).
The most fascinating aspect was not the queer and transvestite culture depicted, although that was the most fun to watch, but the individual lives that this culture touched. The spectre of the AIDS era and the ever-present danger of being found out in a straight world added a dark reality to what is otherwise a colourful, often garish film.
See IMDb and Wikipedia entries.
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
According to Wikipedia, "documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record" [my italics].
Very well then, I nominate Paris is Burning. I saw this film as part of my cultural studies class 'Reading the Body'. It had so much in it—race, gender, underground culture—and it was such an eye-opening doco that I watched it three or four times even though I only needed to see it once (or twice if I were particularly studious).
The most fascinating aspect was not the queer and transvestite culture depicted, although that was the most fun to watch, but the individual lives that this culture touched. The spectre of the AIDS era and the ever-present danger of being found out in a straight world added a dark reality to what is otherwise a colourful, often garish film.
See IMDb and Wikipedia entries.
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
23 June, 2011
#21: Favourite movie quote?
It's the whole Latin lesson scene from Life of Brian.
Centurion: What's this thing? "ROMANES EUNT DOMUS"? "People called Romanes they go the house?"
Brian: It... it says "Romans go home".
Centurion: No it doesn't. What's Latin for "Roman"?
[Brian hesitates]
Centurion: Come on, come on!
Brian: (uncertain) "ROMANUS".
Centurion: Goes like?
Brian: "-ANUS".
Centurion: Vocative plural of "-ANUS" is?
Brian: "-ANI".
Centurion: [takes paintbrush from Brian and paints over] "RO-MA-NI". "EUNT"? What is "EUNT"?
Brian: "Go".
Centurion: Conjugate the verb "to go"!
Brian: "IRE"; "EO", "IS", "IT", "IMUS", "ITIS", "EUNT".
Centurion: So "EUNT" is ...?
Brian: Third person plural present indicative, "they go".
Centurion: But "Romans, go home!" is an order, so you must use the ...?
[He lifts Brian by his short hairs]
Brian: The ... imperative.
Centurion: Which is?
Brian: Um, oh, oh, "I", "I"!
Centurion: How many Romans? [pulls harder]
Brian: Plural, plural! "ITE".
[Centurion strikes over "EUNT" and paints "ITE" on the wall]
Centurion: "I-TE". "DOMUS"? Nominative? "Go home", this is motion towards, isn't it, boy?
Brian: (very anxious) Dative?
[Centurion draws his sword and holds it to Brian's throat]
Brian: Ahh! No, ablative, ablative, sir. No, the, accusative, accusative, ah, DOMUM, sir.
Centurion: Except that "DOMUS" takes the ...?
Brian: ... the locative, sir!
Centurion: Which is?
Brian: "DOMUM".
Centurion: (satisfied) "DOMUM"...
[He strikes out "DOMUS" and writes "DOMUM"]
Centurian: ..."-MUM". Understand?
Brian: Yes sir.
Centurion: Now write it down a hundred times.
Brian: Yes sir, thank you sir, hail Caesar, sir.
Centurion: [saluting] Hail Caesar. If it's not done by sunrise, I'll cut your balls off.
Brian: (very relieved) Oh thank you sir, thank you sir, hail Caesar and everything, sir!
(Thanks http://www.epicure.demon.co.uk/latinlesson.html)
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
Centurion: What's this thing? "ROMANES EUNT DOMUS"? "People called Romanes they go the house?"
Brian: It... it says "Romans go home".
Centurion: No it doesn't. What's Latin for "Roman"?
[Brian hesitates]
Centurion: Come on, come on!
Brian: (uncertain) "ROMANUS".
Centurion: Goes like?
Brian: "-ANUS".
Centurion: Vocative plural of "-ANUS" is?
Brian: "-ANI".
Centurion: [takes paintbrush from Brian and paints over] "RO-MA-NI". "EUNT"? What is "EUNT"?
Brian: "Go".
Centurion: Conjugate the verb "to go"!
Brian: "IRE"; "EO", "IS", "IT", "IMUS", "ITIS", "EUNT".
Centurion: So "EUNT" is ...?
Brian: Third person plural present indicative, "they go".
Centurion: But "Romans, go home!" is an order, so you must use the ...?
[He lifts Brian by his short hairs]
Brian: The ... imperative.
Centurion: Which is?
Brian: Um, oh, oh, "I", "I"!
Centurion: How many Romans? [pulls harder]
Brian: Plural, plural! "ITE".
[Centurion strikes over "EUNT" and paints "ITE" on the wall]
Centurion: "I-TE". "DOMUS"? Nominative? "Go home", this is motion towards, isn't it, boy?
Brian: (very anxious) Dative?
[Centurion draws his sword and holds it to Brian's throat]
Brian: Ahh! No, ablative, ablative, sir. No, the, accusative, accusative, ah, DOMUM, sir.
Centurion: Except that "DOMUS" takes the ...?
Brian: ... the locative, sir!
Centurion: Which is?
Brian: "DOMUM".
Centurion: (satisfied) "DOMUM"...
[He strikes out "DOMUS" and writes "DOMUM"]
Centurian: ..."-MUM". Understand?
Brian: Yes sir.
Centurion: Now write it down a hundred times.
Brian: Yes sir, thank you sir, hail Caesar, sir.
Centurion: [saluting] Hail Caesar. If it's not done by sunrise, I'll cut your balls off.
Brian: (very relieved) Oh thank you sir, thank you sir, hail Caesar and everything, sir!
(Thanks http://www.epicure.demon.co.uk/latinlesson.html)
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
21 June, 2011
#20: Favourite movie adaptation
(from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)
A good adaptation is not necessarily one that is faithful to the events in the original text, but one that is faithful to its concepts, characters and consequences while also using the advantages of, and understanding and finding solutions to the limitations of, the silver screen.
As I mentioned on Day 10 I like Danny Boyle's take on Alex Garland's novel The Beach. What was marketed as quite a mainstream movie turned out to be edgy and profound in many ways. Unfortunately, a lot of people didn't like it and it received quite bad critical reviews. I'm not sure whether good old expectations had something to do with that.
I also like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which remains by far the best of all the Harry Potter adaptations. (I haven't seen HP7 Part II but seeing as it is a continuation of Part I I'm not expecting it to be any better than the book).
Alfonso Cuaron's direction on Prisoner of Azkaban is tight, horrifying in all the right places, and he gets the best from the cast. I emphasise 'tight' because the others tended to have a scene-by-scene deference to the book, which made the narrative choppy. Cuaron cuts all the right parts without sacrificing much in the way of plot, and best of all he deftly handles the time travel elements, making it seamless and easy to understand.
I'll add Watchmen and Sin City because I really like the films, although I haven't read the respective graphic novels from which they come.
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
A good adaptation is not necessarily one that is faithful to the events in the original text, but one that is faithful to its concepts, characters and consequences while also using the advantages of, and understanding and finding solutions to the limitations of, the silver screen.
As I mentioned on Day 10 I like Danny Boyle's take on Alex Garland's novel The Beach. What was marketed as quite a mainstream movie turned out to be edgy and profound in many ways. Unfortunately, a lot of people didn't like it and it received quite bad critical reviews. I'm not sure whether good old expectations had something to do with that.
I also like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which remains by far the best of all the Harry Potter adaptations. (I haven't seen HP7 Part II but seeing as it is a continuation of Part I I'm not expecting it to be any better than the book).
Alfonso Cuaron's direction on Prisoner of Azkaban is tight, horrifying in all the right places, and he gets the best from the cast. I emphasise 'tight' because the others tended to have a scene-by-scene deference to the book, which made the narrative choppy. Cuaron cuts all the right parts without sacrificing much in the way of plot, and best of all he deftly handles the time travel elements, making it seamless and easy to understand.
I'll add Watchmen and Sin City because I really like the films, although I haven't read the respective graphic novels from which they come.
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
20 June, 2011
#19: Favourite movie villain?
Dr Evil! "I didn't go to evil medical school for six years just to be called MISTER, thank you very much!"
There's so much I love about Dr Evil. His incompetence. The fact that he is a collage of so many other villains from spy movies but created to show how absurd they are. Read the following:
Dr Evil reveals his strange background. All villains must be strange and unloved. Most often foreign, too.
The details of my life are quite inconsequential... very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanise, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds—pretty standard really. At the age of 12 I received my first scribe. At the age of 14 a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum... it's breathtaking—I highly suggest you try it.
Here are a few quotes that show the stupidity of the villain's interaction with the hero, particularly with regard to killing him.
Dr Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?
Number Two: Sea Bass.
Dr Evil: [pause] Right.
Number Two: They're mutated sea bass.
Dr Evil: Are they ill tempered?
Number Two: Absolutely.
Dr Evil: Oh well, that's a start.
Dr Evil: Scott, I want you to meet daddy's nemesis, Austin Powers.
Scott Evil: What? Are you feeding him? Why don't you just kill him?
Dr Evil: I have an even better idea. I'm going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death.
Dr Evil: All right guard, begin the unnecessarily slow-moving dipping mechanism.
[guard starts dipping mechanism]
Dr Evil: Close the tank!
Scott Evil: Wait, aren't you even going to watch them? They could get away!
Dr Evil: No no no, I'm going to leave them alone and not actually witness them dying, I'm just gonna assume it all went to plan. What?
Now I'm killing myself laughing here.
All right, you want a real villain? Bill from Kill Bill. How could he do that to her? Bastard!
And You-Know-Who. Voldy from the Harry Potter series. Ralph Fiennes plays him well. Actually in some ways I think Dolores Umbridge (played by Imelda Staunton) is more evil because she's known a better life and had a better upbringing and yet is fully behind Voldy's evil plan for domination. She's so *shudder* spiteful. Voldy, when he was Tom, was brought up an orphan and never knew love. Sad, ain't it?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
There's so much I love about Dr Evil. His incompetence. The fact that he is a collage of so many other villains from spy movies but created to show how absurd they are. Read the following:
Dr Evil reveals his strange background. All villains must be strange and unloved. Most often foreign, too.
The details of my life are quite inconsequential... very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanise, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds—pretty standard really. At the age of 12 I received my first scribe. At the age of 14 a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum... it's breathtaking—I highly suggest you try it.
Here are a few quotes that show the stupidity of the villain's interaction with the hero, particularly with regard to killing him.
Dr Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?
Number Two: Sea Bass.
Dr Evil: [pause] Right.
Number Two: They're mutated sea bass.
Dr Evil: Are they ill tempered?
Number Two: Absolutely.
Dr Evil: Oh well, that's a start.
Dr Evil: Scott, I want you to meet daddy's nemesis, Austin Powers.
Scott Evil: What? Are you feeding him? Why don't you just kill him?
Dr Evil: I have an even better idea. I'm going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death.
Dr Evil: All right guard, begin the unnecessarily slow-moving dipping mechanism.
[guard starts dipping mechanism]
Dr Evil: Close the tank!
Scott Evil: Wait, aren't you even going to watch them? They could get away!
Dr Evil: No no no, I'm going to leave them alone and not actually witness them dying, I'm just gonna assume it all went to plan. What?
Now I'm killing myself laughing here.
All right, you want a real villain? Bill from Kill Bill. How could he do that to her? Bastard!
And You-Know-Who. Voldy from the Harry Potter series. Ralph Fiennes plays him well. Actually in some ways I think Dolores Umbridge (played by Imelda Staunton) is more evil because she's known a better life and had a better upbringing and yet is fully behind Voldy's evil plan for domination. She's so *shudder* spiteful. Voldy, when he was Tom, was brought up an orphan and never knew love. Sad, ain't it?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
15 June, 2011
#18: Favourite movie hero?
Dude, this is hard. I like the new Batman (Christian Bale) because he is a psychopath and there's not very much that separates him from the villains in the films. I mean, Superman and Spiderman are basically goody-goodies who have powers—Batman is a guy with serious mental issues who uses his wealth to build gear that allows him to track and kill people. There's something cool about that.
At the same time, I quite enjoy the softies like Scott Pilgrim and Griff the Invisible, who you might argue are not really heroes at all but protagonists who stumble their way through their respective films.
Then there's Wolverine, who is a violent misanthrope, an anti-hero, and yet like Batman happens to be working on the 'right' side. Heroes are so complicated nowadays.
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
At the same time, I quite enjoy the softies like Scott Pilgrim and Griff the Invisible, who you might argue are not really heroes at all but protagonists who stumble their way through their respective films.
Then there's Wolverine, who is a violent misanthrope, an anti-hero, and yet like Batman happens to be working on the 'right' side. Heroes are so complicated nowadays.
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
14 June, 2011
#17: If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Mmmphmm. I'm not the sort of person who wants to be characters. When I was five I wanted to be Zia from The Mysterious Cities of Gold (TV series), but since then I don't think I've had a burning desire to be a character.
Every movie character I can think of comes from a book so I'm trying to think of a movie-only character. Maybe The Bride from Kill Bill? Besides Uma Thurman looking hot in yellow, she has the moves to match. And the sword. Don't forget the sword.
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
Every movie character I can think of comes from a book so I'm trying to think of a movie-only character. Maybe The Bride from Kill Bill? Besides Uma Thurman looking hot in yellow, she has the moves to match. And the sword. Don't forget the sword.
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
13 June, 2011
#16: What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
As I mentioned in my previous post, I scare really easily so this question should probably be answered by saying 'any horror movie I've ever seen (except Scary Movie 4)'.
But really, there are two that stick out in my mind and both are connected to Guillermo del Toro. The first is Pan's Labyrinth, directed by del Toro, which scared me because the 'reality' scenes were so brutal and the 'fantasy' scenes just had some freaky shit in it, particularly the bit where she has to get the dagger from the dining table without disturbing the creature. You know the one.
The other is El Orfanato (The Orphanage), which del Toro produced. There's something about creepy children, creepy orphan children, that really gets me. And occult and supernatural type stuff freaks me out. Characters seeing shit is bad enough, but when shit gets real and there's a sort of poltergeist type reckoning, I don't like it.
I should probably mention right now that because horror is not my favoured genre, I've never seen any of the classics like The Shining, The Exorcist, The Omen or even films like Pet Sematary, so this post is really about the most scary drama films I've ever seen.
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
But really, there are two that stick out in my mind and both are connected to Guillermo del Toro. The first is Pan's Labyrinth, directed by del Toro, which scared me because the 'reality' scenes were so brutal and the 'fantasy' scenes just had some freaky shit in it, particularly the bit where she has to get the dagger from the dining table without disturbing the creature. You know the one.
The other is El Orfanato (The Orphanage), which del Toro produced. There's something about creepy children, creepy orphan children, that really gets me. And occult and supernatural type stuff freaks me out. Characters seeing shit is bad enough, but when shit gets real and there's a sort of poltergeist type reckoning, I don't like it.
I should probably mention right now that because horror is not my favoured genre, I've never seen any of the classics like The Shining, The Exorcist, The Omen or even films like Pet Sematary, so this post is really about the most scary drama films I've ever seen.
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
12 June, 2011
#15: What film do you wish you had never seen?
I'm not entirely sure how to answer this: never seen because it was really bad? A waste of time? Scared the bejesus out of me?
Hmm, I'd probably say Cabin Fever for a bit of all of those reasons. I'm not a horror fan at all, at all, so the way I came to see this film was a (now ex) friend of mine had won free tickets through some sort of competition.
I found it a bit schlocky and seeing as I didn't really want to see it in the first place, I considered it a waste of time. And yes, it did scare the bejesus out of me, because I scare really easily and I have a great fear of disease, especially diseases that involve spraying around a lot of blood (can't withstand zombie films, for example...).
If you've seen Black Swan, you may remember a scene near the beginning when Nina goes to the bathroom and she picks at a bit of skin next to her nail and rips it back but then it turns out she didn't actually do it? Well, I found that the most terrifying part of the movie because this is something I do quite often (not tear off my finger, mind, just rip small slips of skin off so it bleeds because I'm careless). Let's forget the sprouting black feathers and stabbing people with glass; the fingernail scene is scary.
Anyway, Cabin Fever has a similar scene in it where one of the girls, who doesn't know she has this flesh-eating disease yet, starts to shave a leg and the skin of her leg falls away. Ever since that I've made an effort to depilate with Silkymit over a razor. For this alone I wish I'd never seen Cabin Fever.
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
Hmm, I'd probably say Cabin Fever for a bit of all of those reasons. I'm not a horror fan at all, at all, so the way I came to see this film was a (now ex) friend of mine had won free tickets through some sort of competition.
I found it a bit schlocky and seeing as I didn't really want to see it in the first place, I considered it a waste of time. And yes, it did scare the bejesus out of me, because I scare really easily and I have a great fear of disease, especially diseases that involve spraying around a lot of blood (can't withstand zombie films, for example...).
If you've seen Black Swan, you may remember a scene near the beginning when Nina goes to the bathroom and she picks at a bit of skin next to her nail and rips it back but then it turns out she didn't actually do it? Well, I found that the most terrifying part of the movie because this is something I do quite often (not tear off my finger, mind, just rip small slips of skin off so it bleeds because I'm careless). Let's forget the sprouting black feathers and stabbing people with glass; the fingernail scene is scary.
Anyway, Cabin Fever has a similar scene in it where one of the girls, who doesn't know she has this flesh-eating disease yet, starts to shave a leg and the skin of her leg falls away. Ever since that I've made an effort to depilate with Silkymit over a razor. For this alone I wish I'd never seen Cabin Fever.
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
10 June, 2011
#14: What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
I accidentally already answered this on Day 11: it was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. Oh the shame. The shame.
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
#13: What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Er. I guess the best way to describe the films I like to watch would be philosophical/reflective fringe-of-mainstream drama.
This genre is probably best exemplified by films like Richard Linklater's Waking Life, dramaticised biopic Into the Wild, cult hit Donnie Darko and pretty much anything written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation et al).
So I'm not all the way indie/underground/cult, but I'm definitely not frat boy comedy, blockbuster action or arthouse noir.
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
This genre is probably best exemplified by films like Richard Linklater's Waking Life, dramaticised biopic Into the Wild, cult hit Donnie Darko and pretty much anything written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation et al).
So I'm not all the way indie/underground/cult, but I'm definitely not frat boy comedy, blockbuster action or arthouse noir.
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
07 June, 2011
#12: What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
X-Men: First Class.
Really enjoyed it. It was everything a good comic book adaptation should be, which is to say it should have a compelling story, strong characters and not get overwhelmed by action sequences. Stylish substance over just style, if you will.
I thought the ensemble was terrific; kudos to James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender for doing a great job of complementing Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen's seminal roles in the original films without stepping into their shoes and trying to emulate them. This is a different film, a prequel, and the relationship between them is different, which was expressed well.
Also, Rose Byrne! (Australia represent) Tony from Skins! (Nicholas Hoult aka Hank)
I don't read comics, so really the films are all I have to go on, and I've liked all of the X-Men films in the franchise—some more than others, of course. This is a particularly good prequel. There is not much you need to know about X-Men to enjoy this film, but if you have seen other X-Men films it shows where a lot of the character drives come from in later periods.
Interestingly, it reveals Xavier to be more flawed than you would at first think in the other films. His mistakes feed the dramatic tension of the later 'episodes' and make Magneto an excellent foil, much better than at first realised.
There were maybe too many digs at Professor X's hair for comedic purposes, but I'll forgive it.
P.S: LOVED the Wolverine cameo.
P.P.S: After I wrote this I went to a Sydney Film Festival event where they showed some trailers for 'green' films. Then my boyfriend and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides, which I enjoyed despite the romp getting a little obscure at times. "I'm still bent. Hellishly so." - Jack Sparrow
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
Really enjoyed it. It was everything a good comic book adaptation should be, which is to say it should have a compelling story, strong characters and not get overwhelmed by action sequences. Stylish substance over just style, if you will.
I thought the ensemble was terrific; kudos to James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender for doing a great job of complementing Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen's seminal roles in the original films without stepping into their shoes and trying to emulate them. This is a different film, a prequel, and the relationship between them is different, which was expressed well.
Also, Rose Byrne! (Australia represent) Tony from Skins! (Nicholas Hoult aka Hank)
I don't read comics, so really the films are all I have to go on, and I've liked all of the X-Men films in the franchise—some more than others, of course. This is a particularly good prequel. There is not much you need to know about X-Men to enjoy this film, but if you have seen other X-Men films it shows where a lot of the character drives come from in later periods.
Interestingly, it reveals Xavier to be more flawed than you would at first think in the other films. His mistakes feed the dramatic tension of the later 'episodes' and make Magneto an excellent foil, much better than at first realised.
There were maybe too many digs at Professor X's hair for comedic purposes, but I'll forgive it.
P.S: LOVED the Wolverine cameo.
P.P.S: After I wrote this I went to a Sydney Film Festival event where they showed some trailers for 'green' films. Then my boyfriend and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides, which I enjoyed despite the romp getting a little obscure at times. "I'm still bent. Hellishly so." - Jack Sparrow
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
06 June, 2011
#11: How often do you go to the cinema?
(as opposed to renting films out or watching them at home)
I didn't really go to the cinema as a kid. My parents weren't those kinds of parents. The first movie I saw in an actual proper cinema (as opposed to a cabaret set-up in an RSL) was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. It was for a friend's brother's birthday (hi Beq! Hi Benny!) and I was 12 at the time.
In my teenage years, cinema-going was still rather sporadic; it was not until uni that I started going to the cinema at Macquarie Centre during long breaks between classes (I went to Macquarie Uni). Student ticket prices helped.
The past few years has seen my cinema consumption go up from about once a fortnight to 3-4 times a month despite the fact that I consider movie ticket prices exorbitant. I rarely pay full price anyway, it's just nice to bitch about it sometimes.
A lot of this comes from film festivals where I'll see anything from 5-10 movies in the season. I also like to enter competitions that have movie tickets as prizes, as well as bid for a place at free preview screenings.
Compared to my DVD/home consumption, this is high. I don't own a lot of DVDs—maybe 20 movies and 20 TV shows/music DVDs—and I don't watch movies on TV. I do have a Quickflix account, which gives me four rentals a month, but they tend to be for hard-to-get TV series or docos rather than films I miss at the cinema.
If I want to see a film I'll see it at the cinema, I guess. Or sometimes on a plane.
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
I didn't really go to the cinema as a kid. My parents weren't those kinds of parents. The first movie I saw in an actual proper cinema (as opposed to a cabaret set-up in an RSL) was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. It was for a friend's brother's birthday (hi Beq! Hi Benny!) and I was 12 at the time.
In my teenage years, cinema-going was still rather sporadic; it was not until uni that I started going to the cinema at Macquarie Centre during long breaks between classes (I went to Macquarie Uni). Student ticket prices helped.
The past few years has seen my cinema consumption go up from about once a fortnight to 3-4 times a month despite the fact that I consider movie ticket prices exorbitant. I rarely pay full price anyway, it's just nice to bitch about it sometimes.
A lot of this comes from film festivals where I'll see anything from 5-10 movies in the season. I also like to enter competitions that have movie tickets as prizes, as well as bid for a place at free preview screenings.
Compared to my DVD/home consumption, this is high. I don't own a lot of DVDs—maybe 20 movies and 20 TV shows/music DVDs—and I don't watch movies on TV. I do have a Quickflix account, which gives me four rentals a month, but they tend to be for hard-to-get TV series or docos rather than films I miss at the cinema.
If I want to see a film I'll see it at the cinema, I guess. Or sometimes on a plane.
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
Roam if you want to
Following on from last week's RTS saga, I received a call this morning (waking me up) from a Roam representative who told me that they did not handle the change of address function.
Now, I'm starting to think that no one reads what I actually write (which, as a writer, is a career killing trait) because not only did I indicate that I preferred to be contacted via email, the following conversation took place:
Me: "What can I do?"
She: "I suggest you send the mail back return to sender."
Me: "I already did. Seventy-eight times. That's why I've contacted you."
Anyway, it turns out that Roam deals in numberplates and the RTA is the one who gives them the address. So I have to go through the RTA system to try and get them to disengage my address from Peter's numberplates.
My email to the RTA:
My suggestion is that you should keep your contact database up to date. I have received 83 letters this year addressed to Peter [surname], who has not lived at [address] since March 2010. I have sent ALL these back (and several in 2010) returned to sender but they keep coming.
I contacted Roam about it and they said they received address info from the RTA. So... find out where he lives now and update your database. I'm so tired of this.
And so it goes.
Now, I'm starting to think that no one reads what I actually write (which, as a writer, is a career killing trait) because not only did I indicate that I preferred to be contacted via email, the following conversation took place:
Me: "What can I do?"
She: "I suggest you send the mail back return to sender."
Me: "I already did. Seventy-eight times. That's why I've contacted you."
Anyway, it turns out that Roam deals in numberplates and the RTA is the one who gives them the address. So I have to go through the RTA system to try and get them to disengage my address from Peter's numberplates.
My email to the RTA:
My suggestion is that you should keep your contact database up to date. I have received 83 letters this year addressed to Peter [surname], who has not lived at [address] since March 2010. I have sent ALL these back (and several in 2010) returned to sender but they keep coming.
I contacted Roam about it and they said they received address info from the RTA. So... find out where he lives now and update your database. I'm so tired of this.
And so it goes.
05 June, 2011
#10: Name a film that you liked that everyone hated
There are two I like to trundle out when this topic gets mentioned.
The first is Australia, Baz Luhrmann's oft-maligned antipodean epic. I can only say poor Baz was the victim of some incredibly near-sighted tall poppy syndrome style attack for:
a) daring to make an Australian blockbuster;
b) striving for global success with said film; and
c) naming his film after an entire country as if representative of it.
So when I went into the cinema, to sate curiosity as much as for business purposes (I was then the editor of an export magazine and since Baz had stitched up a deal with Tourism Australia it seemed relevant), I was expecting drivel.
Well. There's a lot to be said about exceeding low expectations, but leaving aside that factor, I found Australia to be entertaining, well cast, suitably action-packed, dramatic and, above all, beautifully shot. I even liked Nicole Kidman's performance, which says a lot.
The press went for the jugular and all I heard was disparaging comments about it. I believe even Kidman said she was "embarassed" by it. And yet... every time I talk to someone who has seen it, there's applause in their response. So it seems most of the negativity came from people who didn't even see it. This may be a case of 'leave your prejudice at the door'; if you actually saw the film, you'd probably like it.
I should probably note at this point that yes, Baz does go over the top. That's what he does. Expecting a subdued thinkpiece from Baz Luhrmann is like waiting for Richard Wilkins to say something sensible—if it happens it'll be a complete surprise, but don't hold your breath. But Australia is much deserving of the Baz OTT treatment: after all, it's about Indigenous relations, the droving lifestyle over big country, death, war and love—who'd want to belittle any of those themes?
The other movie I'll represent is The Beach, based on the Alex Garland novel of the same name. Not only is the film a great interpretation of the book, despite two main characters changing nationality from English to American and American to English, it is also well cast and beautifully shot.
Leaving aside any negative impact the film reportedly had on Thailand's beaches, where it was shot, Danny Boyle (before I really knew who he was—I admit I didn't really care for Trainspotting) did a fine job of treading the line between paradise and dystopia that Garland so carefully crafted in his novel.
The result was an accessible movie with some pretty dark themes. I can only say a lot of people hated it because Leo DiCaprio played a naive yet confident backpacker who had more gritty determination in him than even he knew, rather than another Jack from Titanic. Maybe it was marketed wrong. I'm not sure. Anyway, it's bloody good.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
The first is Australia, Baz Luhrmann's oft-maligned antipodean epic. I can only say poor Baz was the victim of some incredibly near-sighted tall poppy syndrome style attack for:
a) daring to make an Australian blockbuster;
b) striving for global success with said film; and
c) naming his film after an entire country as if representative of it.
So when I went into the cinema, to sate curiosity as much as for business purposes (I was then the editor of an export magazine and since Baz had stitched up a deal with Tourism Australia it seemed relevant), I was expecting drivel.
Well. There's a lot to be said about exceeding low expectations, but leaving aside that factor, I found Australia to be entertaining, well cast, suitably action-packed, dramatic and, above all, beautifully shot. I even liked Nicole Kidman's performance, which says a lot.
[Nullah's mother has just died]
Lady Sarah Ashley: Nullah, I wanted to extend my condolences...
Nullah: Go away.
The press went for the jugular and all I heard was disparaging comments about it. I believe even Kidman said she was "embarassed" by it. And yet... every time I talk to someone who has seen it, there's applause in their response. So it seems most of the negativity came from people who didn't even see it. This may be a case of 'leave your prejudice at the door'; if you actually saw the film, you'd probably like it.
I should probably note at this point that yes, Baz does go over the top. That's what he does. Expecting a subdued thinkpiece from Baz Luhrmann is like waiting for Richard Wilkins to say something sensible—if it happens it'll be a complete surprise, but don't hold your breath. But Australia is much deserving of the Baz OTT treatment: after all, it's about Indigenous relations, the droving lifestyle over big country, death, war and love—who'd want to belittle any of those themes?
The other movie I'll represent is The Beach, based on the Alex Garland novel of the same name. Not only is the film a great interpretation of the book, despite two main characters changing nationality from English to American and American to English, it is also well cast and beautifully shot.
Leaving aside any negative impact the film reportedly had on Thailand's beaches, where it was shot, Danny Boyle (before I really knew who he was—I admit I didn't really care for Trainspotting) did a fine job of treading the line between paradise and dystopia that Garland so carefully crafted in his novel.
The result was an accessible movie with some pretty dark themes. I can only say a lot of people hated it because Leo DiCaprio played a naive yet confident backpacker who had more gritty determination in him than even he knew, rather than another Jack from Titanic. Maybe it was marketed wrong. I'm not sure. Anyway, it's bloody good.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
03 June, 2011
#9: Name a film that made you cry in the cinema
I find it funny that this meme topic specified in the cinema, as if to say it didn't care about what you did at home with your DVDs.
Well, the earliest film I remember crying at was All Dogs Go to Heaven. I was seven at the time. I pretended to my mum that I had something in my eye, which was just lame-o.
Now I'm quite unashamed of showing emotion. The one thing that will generally set me off is when a character tries really hard to do something, get somewhere, achieve something and s/he fails. But then I also cry with joy when they succeed.
I also get weepy at plot points that involve a great sacrifice (not a physical one, generally an emotional one, and especially one that is made altruistically without other characters knowing about it).
So I'm surprisingly weepy. The last few films that set me off were: Griff the Invisible, Boy, and Departures.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
Well, the earliest film I remember crying at was All Dogs Go to Heaven. I was seven at the time. I pretended to my mum that I had something in my eye, which was just lame-o.
Now I'm quite unashamed of showing emotion. The one thing that will generally set me off is when a character tries really hard to do something, get somewhere, achieve something and s/he fails. But then I also cry with joy when they succeed.
I also get weepy at plot points that involve a great sacrifice (not a physical one, generally an emotional one, and especially one that is made altruistically without other characters knowing about it).
So I'm surprisingly weepy. The last few films that set me off were: Griff the Invisible, Boy, and Departures.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
02 June, 2011
#8: Ever walked out of a film?
No. I'm more likely to sleep instead. I'm not going to waste a dark room and a cosy chair, considering the exorbitant cost of movie tickets nowadays.
Having said that, I don't think I've ever slept either (unless you count microsleeping at the end of LOTR: Return of the King when I did the trilogy marathon—yeah, 10 hours later at 6 in the morning, who isn't going to be sleepy?).
I tend to do a fair bit of research before I decide to see a film. When I say 'research', I usually mean seeing the trailer, reading the blurb, checking out who is in it and talking to my movie friend. I don't heed a lot of reviews, though I sometimes read Empire magazine or Filmink. The only reviewer I really pay any attention to is Sam Clark from FBi Radio because I can always tell whether I'll enjoy a film by what he says, and not always because I agree.
So all of that adds up to: I'm unlikely to see a film I'm going to walk out of, and even if it was bad, I'd be more likely to take a nap instead of walk out.
Day 09 - Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
Having said that, I don't think I've ever slept either (unless you count microsleeping at the end of LOTR: Return of the King when I did the trilogy marathon—yeah, 10 hours later at 6 in the morning, who isn't going to be sleepy?).
I tend to do a fair bit of research before I decide to see a film. When I say 'research', I usually mean seeing the trailer, reading the blurb, checking out who is in it and talking to my movie friend. I don't heed a lot of reviews, though I sometimes read Empire magazine or Filmink. The only reviewer I really pay any attention to is Sam Clark from FBi Radio because I can always tell whether I'll enjoy a film by what he says, and not always because I agree.
So all of that adds up to: I'm unlikely to see a film I'm going to walk out of, and even if it was bad, I'd be more likely to take a nap instead of walk out.
Day 09 - Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
01 June, 2011
#7: Name a film that you would recommend everyone see
Well, what kind of stupid movie meme topic is this? A film I'd recommend *everyone* see? That's unpossible! All my recommendations are carefully tailored to individual tastes.
For the action-oriented, I'd put forward Inception. For the biopic lover Elizabeth is awesome. For a comedic turn, I'd nominate Zoolander for the dumber humour, and Life of Brian for the sharper tools in the shed.
Actually, I change my mind. Everyone should see Griff the Invisible. It isn't the film you think it is. It would benefit from your eyeballs actually absorbing what it has to offer. It's sweet, funny, dramatic and quirky. It involves a chick trying to walk through walls and a guy who makes an invisible suit. It is more awesome than you could ever know by not watching it.
Day 08 - Ever walked out of a film?
Day 09 - Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
For the action-oriented, I'd put forward Inception. For the biopic lover Elizabeth is awesome. For a comedic turn, I'd nominate Zoolander for the dumber humour, and Life of Brian for the sharper tools in the shed.
Actually, I change my mind. Everyone should see Griff the Invisible. It isn't the film you think it is. It would benefit from your eyeballs actually absorbing what it has to offer. It's sweet, funny, dramatic and quirky. It involves a chick trying to walk through walls and a guy who makes an invisible suit. It is more awesome than you could ever know by not watching it.
Day 08 - Ever walked out of a film?
Day 09 - Name a film that made you cry in the cinema.
Day 10 - Name a film that you liked that everyone hated.
Day 11 - How often do you go to the cinema (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Day 12 - What’s the last film you saw in the cinema?
Day 13 - What’s your favourite/preferred genre of film?
Day 14 - What’s the first film you remember seeing in the cinema?
Day 15 - What film do you wish you had never seen?
Day 16 - What is the scariest film you’ve seen?
Day 17 - If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be?
Day 18 - Favourite movie hero?
Day 19 - Favourite movie villain?
Day 20 - Favourite movie adaptation (from book, play, musical, graphic novel etc)?
Day 21 - Favourite movie quote?
Day 22 - Favourite documentary?
Day 23 - Favourite director?
Day 24 - Favourite sequel?
Day 25 - Favourite movie franchise/series?
Day 26 - Popcorn?
Day 27 - Total number of films you own on DVD and video.
Day 28 - Last film you bought.
Day 29 - Last film you watched.
Day 30 - Five films that mean a lot to you.
Twenty-one categories of this meme are from Books and Movies and Wordsmithsonia. The rest of the categories are my own creation.
RTS rant
I have been diligent all my life. It has taken me to the age of 30 to realise that this does not mean everything results in success. Case in point: RTS mail.
I bought my house in March 2009 and let the existing tenants stay. I then moved in last year. Of course I realised I would be returning a whole bunch of mail. I did the right thing and wrote 'RTS no longer at this address' on everything that wasn't mine. Most senders took the hint, but there was one persistent correspondent, only known by its return address (Locked Bag 5004, Parramatta NSW 2124).
At the beginning of this year I began to record when I received these letters and the number. Today I reached 78 for the year and something in me snapped. For some reason it hadn't previously occurred to me to Google the address to see who the sender was. This evening I discovered it was Roam, the people who manage the road toll accounts.
FFS, I don't even own a car.
Here is my email to them:
Hello, my name is Adeline Teoh. You won't have a record of me because I don't own a car. I do, however, own a house at [address given].
One of its previous tenants was a guy called Peter W. He has not lived at this address for more than 14 months. I'm guessing he had a car and didn't pay the toll because letters and letters and letters from you keep turning up at my house.
I have done the right thing. I have returned every one of them notifying you that he no longer lives here. This year, I started numbering and dating the returns. I can tell you when each and every one of the 78 letters you've sent in 2011 arrived.
Please, for the love of god, find another way to contact him because he doesn't live here any more and I'm just tired, so very tired, of sending back his mail. Why don't you update your records? WHY?
http://twitpic.com/55e9um
I will keep you posted on what happens.
I bought my house in March 2009 and let the existing tenants stay. I then moved in last year. Of course I realised I would be returning a whole bunch of mail. I did the right thing and wrote 'RTS no longer at this address' on everything that wasn't mine. Most senders took the hint, but there was one persistent correspondent, only known by its return address (Locked Bag 5004, Parramatta NSW 2124).
At the beginning of this year I began to record when I received these letters and the number. Today I reached 78 for the year and something in me snapped. For some reason it hadn't previously occurred to me to Google the address to see who the sender was. This evening I discovered it was Roam, the people who manage the road toll accounts.
FFS, I don't even own a car.
Here is my email to them:
Hello, my name is Adeline Teoh. You won't have a record of me because I don't own a car. I do, however, own a house at [address given].
One of its previous tenants was a guy called Peter W. He has not lived at this address for more than 14 months. I'm guessing he had a car and didn't pay the toll because letters and letters and letters from you keep turning up at my house.
I have done the right thing. I have returned every one of them notifying you that he no longer lives here. This year, I started numbering and dating the returns. I can tell you when each and every one of the 78 letters you've sent in 2011 arrived.
Please, for the love of god, find another way to contact him because he doesn't live here any more and I'm just tired, so very tired, of sending back his mail. Why don't you update your records? WHY?
http://twitpic.com/55e9um
I will keep you posted on what happens.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)