Movie Review: Casino Royale

Phwoar!!! I've always enjoyed the Bond movies but have never particularly thought of Bond as sexy until now! James Bond has never been this physical (as seen in the opening few minutes) nor brutal (flash to the torture scene at the end of the movie).

The only downside was that the cinema was pretty packed and the lady sitting next to me went to the bathroom no less then 6 times! Talk about a small bladder!

Plot: Casino Royale introduces James Bond before he holds his licence to kill. But Bond is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to “00” status.

Bond’s first 007 mission takes him to Madagascar, where he is to spy on a terrorist, Mollaka (Sebastien Foucan). Not everything goes to plan and Bond decides to investigate, independently of MI6, in order to track down the rest of the terrorist cell. Following a lead to the Bahamas, he encounters Dimitrios (Simon Abkarian) and his girlfriend, Solange (Caterina Murino). He learns that Dimitrios is involved with Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), banker to the world’s terrorist organisations.

Secret Service Intelligence reveals that Le Chiffre is planning to raise money in a high stakes poker game in Montenegro at Le Casino Royale. MI6 assigns 007 to play against him, knowing that if Le Chiffre loses it will destroy his organisation.

Bond is initially annoyed when a beautiful British Treasury official, Vesper Lynd is assigned to deliver his stake for the game and watch over the government's money. But, as Bond and Vesper survive a series of lethal attacks by Le Chiffre and his henchmen, a mutual attraction develops leading them both into further danger and events that will shape Bond’s life forever.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. Try to keep cool and not stuff yourselves too full of yummy Christmas food!

What, No Chocolate?!

I have been hunting high and low for a tin of Quality Street chocolates as a Christmas present.

Being Christmas, you expect there to be a lot of chocolate gift boxes etc, and there are, but I am specifically after this. The people I'm buying them for are not fond of Lindt as they find them too rich, nor of Roses because they are always given them by their grandchildren. Plus, neither of them come in a tin.

If anyone does spot them, can you please let me know where? Hopefully I will find some in time for next Christmas! :-{

Kylie's Show Girl Tour

In one word - Awesome!

I'd bought tickets with a friend when they were first released at the end of January last year and was looking forward to going when Kylie postponed her concert due to being diagnosed with breast cancer.

I held on to my ticket (my friend returned hers) and was excited when she finally announced that she would be recommencing her tour!

I organised to have a couple of days of work - again (I had organised a couple of days off for the original concert) and borrowed a friend's camera (which I also used at Robbie Williams concert a few days before).

From start to finish, you just couldn't take your eyes off the stage. With about a dozen costume changes and no support act it was almost a 3 hour performance.

She even took time out at various parts of the show to chat to the audience (a notable mention to the glitter wig trio up front) and again during her second encore when she had 2 young girls dressed up as fairy princesses from the audience, come up on stage and sing Can't Get You Out Of My Head.

Again, if given the opportunity I would definitely like to see her - preferably at an outdoor venue!

Digital Camera

I have finally bought a digital camera - an Olympus MJU 740. The guy that served me gave me a great deal (and he was yummy to boot!)

• Camera price $440 (I was quoted $499 & $569 in some stores)
• 1Gb memory card $70 (he knocked $15 off store price - other stores selling for $100)
• 5yr extended warranty $85 (normally $100+)
• Free camera case (worth $15)

It has different shooting modes from self portrait to fireworks to snow to underwater.

I was also given a great website to compare different camera's (as determined by consumers) and with discussion groups of other consumers.

A New Look

I've been playing around with Blogger for the last few weeks - tweaking this and that as to how I want my page to look. Now I think I have got the look I was after.

Robbie Williams Rocks Perth

I've just gotten home from the Robbie Williams concert and thought I would upload my photo's. I hadn't thought of going, but was offered a ticket a few days before. I had to bail on babysitting for Ace (who teased me mercilessly in the days leading up).

A few other people from work went to last night's show and said that it was awesome! Apparently there was a record number of people at tonight's concert, compared to last night's.

I went with a work colleague, and unfortunately our seats weren't close together (she had binoculars and was on better angle than me) but that didn't matter. I had a clear view of the giant screens & had borrowed a friend's digital camera (which has an awesome zoom function) so managed to get some decent pictures like this one.

As a venue, Subiaco is good. It would, however, be great if they were to upgrade the seating in the tiered stands (because my back and butt were so sore!) and upgrade the lady's toilets - there was a huge queue after the concert which took about 20 minutes to get through because there were only 4 cubicles!

It was just a great atmosphere with everybody singing along to all the songs and there was no brawls/fights or bad behaviour in general. If I could, I would definitely go again.

Next week is Kylie....

Random Facts 9

1. About 10% of the world’s population are left-handed.
2. The flea can jump 350 times its body length. It’s like a human jumping the length of a football field.
3. The smallest man ever was Gul Mohammed of India, who measured 1 foot, 10 inches.
4. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
5. The world’s oldest piece of chewing gum is over 9000 years old.
6. Studies show that the principal reason people lie is to avoid punishment.
7. The average human body contains enough iron to make a 7.62cm nail.
8. A typical bed is usually home to over six billion dust mites.
9. A zebra is white with black stripes not black with white stripes.
10. 1.5 billion kilograms of chocolate are consumed worldwide each year.

New TV

I had to buy a new tv today because the old one has started to make a high pitched noise which is driving me nuts!

I now own a 51cm LCD flat screen and I also updated my VCR so I now have a VCR/DVD combo. The old one was only a 31cm tv so it will take some time to get used to.

Movie Review: The Devil Wears Prada

A pretty decent movie in all. I especially liked bad boy Christian (Simon Baker) and good guy Nate (Adrian Grenier). Both were very easy on the eye! ;)

Plot: In the dizzying world of New York fashion, where size zero is the new 2, six is the new 8, and a bad hair day can end a career, Runway Magazine is the Holy Grail. Overseen with a finely manicured fist by Miranda Priestly – the most powerful woman in fashion – Runway is a fearsome gauntlet for anyone who wants to make it in the industry. To make Runway the fashion bible of New York and therefore the world, Miranda has let nothing stand in her way…including a long line of assistants that didn’t make the cut. It’s a job no self-respecting person can survive, yet it’s an opportunity a million young women in New York would kill for.

A stint as Miranda’s assistant could blast open the doors for recent college graduate, Andy Sachs. More college drab than haute couture, she stands alone among the small army of “Clackers” on staff at Runway – super slim fashion divas checking their stilettos down the halls of the magazine’s Manhattan headquarters. But when Andy comes in for the job, it dawn on her that making it in this industry will take more than drive and determination.

And her ultimate test stands before her in head-to-toe Prada.

Miranda can spin the fashion world like a basketball but has a devil of a time finding and keeping a good assistant. Andy is completely wrong for the job. But she has something the rest of them don’t: she refuses to fail.

To become the perfect assistant, Andy will need to make herself over in Miranda’s image. Soon, much to her boyfriend’s dismay, she can talk the talk, walk the walk and never again confuse Dolce with Gabbana. But the more of life she sees through Miranda’s eyes, the more she begins to grasp that Miranda’s world is a fabulous but lonely one – and that sometimes great success depends on great sacrifice…but at what cost?