Movie & Book Review: The Da Vinci Code

I started reading the book a week before it was released and did not want to put it down! I picked the villain easily enough and enjoyed all the twists and turns.

The movie was alright. I had a pounding headache when I went to see it, so that probably didn't help matters. I didn't think it was as gripping as the book, but I think they did a bloody good job. I'm not sure it deserves the bad reviews it's getting, but each to their own.

Plot: While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu (Tautou), and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

On A Roll

I'm on a roll!!!

I went shopping on Saturday and was standing in the express line at Woolworths in Mirabooka, when a lady behind me asked nicely if I could let her in front of me as she was on her lunch break and had limited time.

I let her in and no sooner had I done that when the last checkout in the express line opened and I went straight through!

I was through the checkout quicker than the lady I had let in! *big grin*

A Good Deed

While doing my shopping on Saturday I went to my regular fruit and vegie shop to pick up some things for a salad. I managed to snag one of the only hand baskets left and proceeded to wander through the shop.

Because it was so busy, I decided that I would buy my salad stuff later and started to walk out of the shop. On my way out, I saw an elderly lady struggling with a large armful of vegies while her husband who was standing next to her was holding nothing, so I offered her my handbasket.

When I went back to my car, I found $5 on the ground.

It just goes to show that karma is out there.

Road Rage

Driving along Wanneroo Road the other day, on my way to Mirrabooka Shopping Centre, I was being tailgated by a rather impatient driver.

I was watching him in my rearview mirror and could not believe my eyes! Instead of trying to intimidate me to speed up or change lanes by flashing his lights or using his horn (as people do) he drove up onto the kerb! He ended up passing me in the other lane and cut back across in front of the car in front of me. He was trying to catch up with a commodore that was a few cars ahead.

He kept jumping lanes, cutting it close a couple of times to the cars either side of him until he got in front of the commodore. If you've ever seen a movie or video clip with those cars where the back end keeps bouncing, that is what he was doing.

What a loser!!

Happy Mother's Day

To all the mother's who read my blog, I hope you have a Happy Mother's Day today!

Random Facts 6

1. The names of all the continents end with the same letter they start with
2. Cats have better memories than dogs
3. Apples, not caffeine are more efficient at waking you up in the morning
4. Of all the senses, smell is the most closely linked to memory
5. From the age of 30, humans gradually begin to shrink
6. 35% of people who use personal ads for dating are already married
7. You can hear the tick of a watch from 6 metres in very quiet conditions
8. A cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime
9. Turtles and honeybees are both deaf
10. The King of Hearts is the only king without a moustache

I Understand Gibberish!!

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.

The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig t o a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was
ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it.

Movie Review: She's The Man

I won tickets on an internet site for this, so I didn't have any preconceived expectations of the film. Besides being predictable, there are some cringe-worthy moments in the film. One of my favourite moments is to do with tampons - watch the film, you'll laugh yourself silly! If I hadn't won tickets, it would probably be something that I would eventually get around to watching on video or when it came on tv.

Plot: In this update of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Viola Hastings had her own good reasons for disguising herself as her twin brother, Sebastian and enrolling in his place at his new boarding school, Illyria Prep. She was counting on Sebastian being AWOL from school as he tried to break into the music scene in London. What she didn’t count on was falling in love with her hot roommate, Duke, who in turn only has eyes for the beautiful Olivia. Making matters worse, Olivia is starting to fall for Sebastian, who – for reasons Olivia couldn’t begin to guess – appears to be the sensitive type of guy she’d always dreamed of meeting. If things weren’t complicated enough, the real Sebastian has come back from London two days earlier than expected and arrives on campus having no clue that he’s been replaced – by his own twin sister.

Return To Work

I went back to work yesterday after being off since Good Friday.

I was reading through my work emails and came across a reminder that I was to have my flu vaccination at 8.30 yesterday morning. There was a mjor problem with that... I didn't start work until 9.45! So I headed downstairs to get my needle.

By the end of the day, the area around where he jabbed me, was a bit red and sore. It was very uncomfortable trying to sleep because I tend to sleep on that side as well. *wince*

The good thing though, is that nearly everybody else who has had the vaccination has the same big red spot on their arms too!

Movie Review: March Of The Penguins & Eight Below

I actually dragged my mum to see March Of The Penguins on Friday while we were waiting for my car to be serviced and I could pick it up. I have been a little slack as it was supposed to be serviced in February. Finding the time to do it has been hard because I have been doing so much overtime at work!

It is definitely a "sanitised" version of some of the nature documentaries National Geographic are noted for. You can't help but look at these amazing creatures in a new light and realise that they are pretty intelligent - not to mention cute! A definite must see!!

On Monday, I went to see Eight Below. Another "sanitised" film as it was "inspired" by a true story. It has been given the Disney treatment, making it a kids movie - I read somewhere that of the 8 dogs, only 2 survived.

Plot: Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker) is the guide at a research base in Antarctica where his best friend is knockabout cartographer, Charlie Cooper (Jason Biggs). There is also an unspoken “thing” between Jerry and the team’s pilot, Katie (Moon Bloodgood) – which means that neither of them has done anything about their feelings for each other. Jerry, who believes his job precludes having a real girlfriend, nevertheless has eight “kids” – six huskies and two malamutes – who are as close to him as any human family.

The latest passenger that Katie flies into the base is Davis McLaren (Bruce Greenwood), a scientist who is searching for meteorite fragments from Mercury. With winter about to descend, the supposed location of these is dangerously distant, but a reluctant Jerry is ordered to take McLaren to the spot. The mission is a partial success - McLaren finds his meteorite - but on the way back, he breaks his leg in a life threatening accident and is saved by Jerry and the dogs – one in particular who risks her own life to help him. What’s more, a severe storm is approaching and when the team returns to the base, everyone is ordered to fly out. But there is no room on the plane for the dogs. Katie assures Jerry that she will come straight back for the dogs who are chained together before the plane takes off – but the deteriorating weather conditions put an end to that plan.

Determined to return to find his beloved dogs or at least to know their fate, Jerry tries to mount a rescue mission without much success, but he perseveres. Back in the endless icy whiteness, the dogs – most of whom have now freed themselves – try to survive. Each segment of their ordeal is preceded by a title that tells us how many “Days On Their Own” they have endured, and as the days multiply, these become more distressing. Their journey is not without its tragedy or its hazards – including a frightening confrontation with a monstrous and very angry sea lion – but how they work together as a team is remarkable.