Travelling through time

This is a random post really as I won't be able to post on Feb 29th for another four years (and I somehow doubt I will be blogging four years from now) so better make the best of it! I just watched Lost, wow it is so strange and confusing, yet compulsive and oddly addictive. I honestly don't have a clue as to what is happening, but it is certainly something to do with time travel which seems very apt considering that it is a leap day.

What no meat?

I was intending to bake something nice today and post it here, like American cupcakes, carrot cake or a Victoria sponge. However, I realised that we do not have the right equipment yet for baking (e.g. baking trays/tins, or anything to measure the ingredients) and none of the shops in this small town sell them. :-( When I get out of this dead town next, I shall buy the appropriate equipment so that I can attempt some baking. For the meantime, here is a pic of the tofu and vegetable stir fry that I cooked tonight. Hubby is doing well so far in Lent, he hasn't had any meat for quite a while. At least he can still have wine!

Under surveillance

We noticed a helicopter circling around overhead today. It isn't the first time that we have seen it either. I wonder what or whom it is looking for? Perhaps it an senile person who has got lost - I can't imagine much happening in this town.

Actually I witnessed an arrest a few weeks ago, one morning on the way back from an inteview. I was sitting reading my paper in a train station waiting room when a secuirty officer came in, and made a phone call saying 'I've found him.' A police officer arrived, and asked the man about the bag next to him. The man denied that it was his. He was taken outside for questioning, and the police officer asked the people in the waiting room if he had come in with the bag. I make a terrible witness as reading my paper I hadn't even noticed him before the arrival of the secuity guard, which was a shame as I was the only person in the room before him. Luckily (well, unluckily for him!) he had been caught on CCTV on the way into the station carrying the bag. The policeman told the man that he didn't believe him, and arrested him saying 'You do not have to say anything, but anything that you do say may be used as evidence against you.' The man was handcuffed (although the police officer had some difficulties doing this because of the guy's coat and was cursing him a bit) and taken away. All for... a carrier bag of things from M&S, I think I could see some toothpaste in it!

On a completely different note, I have been reading some food blogs today which is inspiring me to do some baking and put some pictures up on here. Not that I have ever done much baking but maybe I should give it a go.

The night the earth shook

At around 1am I was just sitting on my sofa when I felt the earth shaking. I knew straight away it was an earthquake as I remember one back in September 2002 and then I was really scared as I didn't know what it was. This one was slightly scary but also a bit exciting, I'm glad that I wasn't asleep. I'd hate to live in Japan or somewhere though where big earthquakes are commonplace, it must be really scary. This one was 5.2 on the Richter scale, with an epicentre in Lincolnshire, so we weren't even that close yet still felt it. It was the biggest earthquake here since 1984 (I don't remember that one!). Despite this though, nothing really major happened, nothing even fell off a shelf.

The interesting thing was that there nothing on the BBC news website/BBC news 24, and in this modern age it is faster to get info via forums and social networking sites. I joined a really funny group on Facebook which popped up as soon as the earthquake happened 'I was in the great quake of 27th Februrary 2008 ... AND SURVIVED (and went straight on Facebook).' We were listening to listening to Gloria Gaynor's 'I will survive' afterwards.

The Woman Who Stops Traffic

I was looking at the Radio Times website and saw that at 9pm tonight there is a programme about the stuck-up inhabitants of Marlow who refuse to leave their cars at home. I shall be watching this with interest, and will replace the Radio Times review below with my own one later.

The Woman Who Stops Traffic

Edit: I just watched this programme. Marlow is a small town and one of the first things I noticed when I moved here in November was the shocking amount of traffic for somewhere so small. It is difficult to drive around, with cars parked everywhere even where they shouldn't be parked, and beeping each other constantly because they get impatient e.g. when someone else is parallel parking. Cars have to take it in turns to go down the roads, as there are cars parked on either side so there is only room for one car to drive down the middle. What shocked me most about this documentary is that people are so stubborn, and won't change their ways. This was filmed a year ago yet the problem hasn't reduced, and especially at the school rush hours the traffic is crazy. I no longer drive around Marlow, it isn't worth it, because as the documentary pointed out, it is just as quick to walk somewhere here as it is to drive.

Our first visitor

Today, we had our first visitor to our flat. She was neither invited nor welcome here, and had managed break into the bathroom through a vent. However, we treated our guest well, took some pictures of her and then released her back outside. Next weekend, we are going to have some real visitors who will be made much more welcome. I took some pictures of our little friend to share with you.

The boring up-market town where I live

I have to say that I am living in a very boring town. It is expensive too - probably because it is near to London but still a nice quiet town by the Thames, which initially sounded appealing. However, everything here is not quite as rosy as it seemed at first...

1. It does not have any big shops. Mainly restaurants, pubs and expensive boutiques.
2. It does have some shops that could be potentially good, such as M&S Simply Food. However, they are very small outlets, and the branch here has even less choice than the one at Reading station. Fab. It reminds me of Tescos which have relaunched in America as 'Fresh & Easy' with very small branches, pretending to be like a local shop rather than the big monster that it really is. The lady running a B&B that I stayed in here said that this is how they like it here, with small shops, but if the shop is M&S acting like a small shop with nothing in it except for a few ready meals, then what is the point?
3. The only food shops here are M&S, Sainsbury's (both tiny) and Waitrose. There are no cheaper shops like Tescos or Asda. I wouldn't mind so much if there were independent shops instead, but there aren't... (except for a fishmongers, but this is leaving the high street soon due to the extortionate price of renting the shop. A so-called 'Sultan' bought many of the shops here, charges a lot, and forces out local business).
4. There is no bookshop here, the biggest sin according to my husband. Again because the prices of renting shops here are too high for local businesses. There was one until recently, but this became a Costa Coffee.
5. There is no post-office either for the same reason, the high street post-office had to close down. However, a small one has recently opened up in a temporary hut in a car-park.
6. It is very expensive- for nothing, except its reputation. Despite this, there was a theft the other week at building site over the road from us, and this week it was discovered that a former war lord has been living here.
7. The library, whilst the librarians are very welcoming, does not have much stock.
8. It does not have good public transport links. A slow train leaves the town every hour. You cannot even get directly to London from here.
9. It is an absolute nightmare to get to Heathrow by train (or any airport, or anywhere for that matter!) from here, involving four changes and having to carry suitcases over footbridges at each station, despite being able to hear and see planes travel over-head all of the time.
10. The roads are very narrow, with lots of cars parked at either side, which makes it a difficult place to drive around.

What makes all of this worse for us personally is that we no longer have any reason to be here, and it is further away from my family than I was before I re-located to this dead town.

Films

I have been using my free time to catch up with some films... the only benefit of being unemployed as far as I can see. Here are some of the films I have enjoyed over the past month...

1) The Kite Runner- A film based on one of my favourite books, about an Afghanistan man who is after redemption for betraying his childhood friend. Usually, if I watch a movie after I have read the book, I am left feeling very disappointed, but this time I was pleasantly surprised. Although of course some parts had to be left out, I felt that this film did justice to the book. The characters were pretty much how I had imagined them, and little Hassan was very cute. Without giving too much away about the plot, the film was difficult to watch at times due to the horrific things that happen to the characters, despite the fact that I knew the plot. I think that this film should be rated a 15, not a 12A. 8/10

2) Stranger than Fiction- Another film directed by Marc Forster who also directed The Kite Runner, and who I think tells a good story (although I did not enjoy the violent 'Monster's Ball'). This movie is the story (quite literally!) of a man who leads a very dull and ordinary life as a tax inspector until one day, he discovers that his life is being narrated by an author who wants to kill him off. I found this film very sweet and moving, and would highly recommend it. There were, however, parts that I didn't like, such as Queen Latifah's character who didn't seem to fit into the the movie (I still imagine her as the prison officer in 'Chicago') and also the relationship between the two main characters wasn't that believable. All in all though, a very watchable film. 9/10

3) Juno- I saw this film at the cinema with my husband yesterday. Following all of the hype I was curious to see it, especially as I enjoy quirky, 'independent' movies. An overly savvy teenager ('Juno', played by Ellen Page) becomes pregnant, and wants to give her child up for adoption. She finds a rich couple who seem to have everything except for a child, although as she gets to know the couple better she discovers that their life isn't as perfect as she had hoped for. I did enjoy this film, although like others I did find the dialogue unrealistic (surely teenagers do not speak like this?) which was off-putting, and made the film jar somewhat. I especially liked Juno's wise father, and whilst somewhat creepy also enjoyed the interaction between Juno and the would-be adoptive father of her child. However, I did not like the relationship she had with the biological father of her child, who I do not feel was smart enough for her. Nevertheless, the film was touching & funny at times. 8/10

More reviews to come later...

How fat you are!

An excerpt from the start of a novel, 'How Fat You Are!' that I wrote back in 1992 when I was 11 (posted for my Dad).

'Are you listening to me, Rebecca Adley?' asked Mrs Barion. I was looking out of the window through at form 9B, especially at David Ontillo, who is very handsome. I am in form 9L. 'I said, Rebecca Adley are you listening to me?' repeated Mrs Barion sternly. I turned around and saw her staring at me. She has brown eyes and brown hair, and wears brown clothes and brown shoes. 'What have I been talking about right now?' she enquired, looking down her nose at me.

'Erm, sorry but I don't know what you have been talking about,' I replied truthfully.

Mrs Barion sounded disappointed, 'If you do not pay attention next time, you will get detention Rebecca. Now, Amanda, please tell Rebecca what I was talking about'.

I absolutely loathe Amanda. She gave me a sly look. 'Mrs Barion just said that next week we are going to cover a topic on health and fitness. On Monday, Mrs Drillon (our school nurse) will come in and give our class a few tests. She will measure our height and waists, weigh us, see how much we eat, and how much exercise we do and...' However, by then, I was no longer listening. 'This will be interesting,' I thought, but little did I know how wrong you could be.

On the way home from school with Stacey, I asked her if she would like to stop at the newsagents with me, and she agreed. We bought a tape measure so that we could check ourselves before Monday. As usual, on Fridays we stopped off at Stacey's because Mum doesn't get back home from work until five. As soon as we arrived, we raced upstairs. 'Take your shoes off!' called Stacey's mum.

I went downstairs and took my shoes off. Stacey could not be bothered, and she yanked them off her feet and chucked them downstairs, one of them hitting me.

'Sorry Becky!' she yelled. I ran back upstairs again, and went into her room. I have always envied Stacey's room, as it is really pretty with stripey wallpaper, and fluffy peach carpet. When I was eight, I chose contrasting black, grey and red wallpaper, but I now regret it. Mum says that it is very grown-up, and that I will soon get used to it, but I doubt that. I think it is just that she cannot be bothered to buy new wallpaper, or tidy my room for me, like Stacey's mum does for her. Sometimes I wish that my mum was more like Stacey's. 'Shall we measure our height and waists?' asked Stacey.

'OK, ' I agreed, picking up the tape measure. First we measured height and Stacey and I were exactly the same. 'Great!' I exclaimed.

Next, Stacey measured her waist. 'Your turn now,' she said cheerfully.

I measured myself discreetly, 'Oh no!'

'What's wrong?' asked Stacey.

'Nothing.'

'Is it that you are fatter than me?' I have never lied and I did not want to break my record, so I did not answer her. She grabbed the tape measure and put it around me.

'Gracious, Rebecca, you are four whole inches fatter than me!' exclaimed Stacey in her loudest voice.

'I am not!' I replied, trying hard not to cry.

Why are some drivers totally clueless?

Yesterday, I was driving with my husband along a narrow, hilly, bendy country road at the national speed limit, when I noticed a car driving towards me on my side of the road. The car kept coming closer and closer to me with no sign of returning to the right side of the road (which is actually the left). I slowed right down and felt my heart in my throat if that makes sense! I could hardly breathe and don't think I have ever felt so scared driving. The idiot had decided to over-take the cars on his side of the road, but probably didn't realise that to over-take he would have to over-take four cars, not just one! He wouldn't have seen me at first, as I was on the other side of the hill when he started. He managed to over-take the cars just in time but only because I had practically stopped.

Mercy

Mercy, the title of another Jodi Picoult book that is in my 'to-read' pile, but also a song that is currently number one in the UK singles chart. I just discovered this song yesterday, and am loving the beat and 60's style! It is nice to see something classy at number one (not that being number one seems to matter much these days).

High school massacres

Well hello and welcome to my brand new blog! I am afraid that at the moment it isn't going to be very entertaining as currently I don't have a job or lead a very exciting life.... but I am certainly hoping that one day soon I will have something more interesting to talk about.... Also I hope that you don't mind the pinkness of the blog, I just couldn't resist!

So, what do I write about in my first blog entry? Seeing as it is lying next to me, I am choosing my current novel, '19 minutes' by Jodi Picoult, about a high school shooting in America. I was curious to read this book because:

1) I always love reading books by Jodi Picoult, even if they are somewhat predictable and formulaic.
2) I wanted see how this book compares to the excellent and thought-provoking 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' by Lionel Shriver, a book on the same topic.
3) High school massacres are sadly far too common in America, even the other day at Northern Illinois University, five students were killed by a lone gunman.

I believe that the reasons behind these crimes need to be understood in order to prevent them. The high-school killer (Peter) is much more sympathetic in Picoult's book, and a weak character, he was bullied at school for not fitting in. On the other hand, Kevin is more of a psychopath (my take was that Kevin was inherently 'evil'; if that can ever be possible). Thankfully, I don't believe that children can be 'born evil' , as there is not much that we can do about nature. However, we can influence the way that children are nutured. I strongly believe that schools should do more to prevent bullying and focus more on the outsiders who don't fit in, as this book reminds me about how cruel school can be.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Nineteen Minutes