one down … a whole year to go

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college, cycling, Dublin, education, quotes, teaching

After a week of teaching I have been playing catch-up on myself again. Somehow, over the long summer, I have managed to forget how much time things actually take and although I have spent the last few weeks preparing and getting all my files in order I am already struggling to keep up. But I am sure after a week or so, when the overwhelming sensation of new students, new names, new courses, new data inputting system and new everything has past, I will be back on track,

One thing I do have to say is that cycling in and out of town has been good, well nearly good. After just three days of pedaling round town I got a flat and since I had to teach all I could do was wait for a short break and wheel my disabled bike to a fixer-upper. So now I hope that this is not going to be a common occurrence as otherwise it will be more expensive than taking the bus, even if it does save me some time.

But overall the first week back has been good, a promise of  a wonderful year to come.

The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts. – C.S. Lewis

Film review: Blue Jasmine

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Alec Baldwin, Blue Jasmine, Cate Blanchett, entertainment, Film review Blue Jasmine, Films, movies, Peter Sarsgaard, Sally Hawkins, Woodly Allen Films, Woody Allen

Woody Allen is back, again. After Midnight in Paris and Vicky Cristina Barcelona he is returning to what he knows best: neurotic behaviour. But Blue Jasmine is far from a comedy; it is a drama portraying the breakdown of the high and mighty.

Self-named Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) has lost everything, her husband, her pent-house, her step-son and all of her money. Forced to abandon her Park Avenue home Jasmine moves in with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in San Francisco. This shabby chic apartment above a Mexican café is far from Jasmines usual standards and she can seemingly only survive with the help of a steady flow of alcohol.

Not wanting to give up, Jasmine takes a job as a receptionist and tries to better herself with an evening computer course. But she can’t let go of her past life and in flash-backs we meet her ex-husband Hal (Alec Baldwin), her high society friends and obviously questionable lifestyle.

Unable to deal with the present, Jasmine talks obsessively about her past, her wealth, her husband, her travels and property, creating an alternative reality in which she seems more at home than in the real world. Her pearls, Chanel jacket, Fendi bag and Roger Vivier shoes are all that remains of this high flying past, that she is so desperately yearns for.

Over time Jasmine unravels more and more and when her last hope, a promised engagement to diplomat Dwight (Peter Sarsgaard), evaporates because of the web of lies she spins, she becomes completely undone.

Allen is at his best in Blue Jasmine but it is arguable that this is mainly down to Blachett’s stellar performance. The only downside to her brilliant portrayal of this Park Avenue downfall is that she isn’t very likable.

Hawkins as Blachetts sister Ginger is good, but sadly nearly a caricature of what Allen deems working class Americans to be like. Baldwin is wonderful as Hal, he is a businessman with a hidden agenda, a little to squeaky clean, has affairs but still quite likeable.

Overall Blue Jasmine is a good film, a return to what we expect from Woody Allen, with a little bit more grit. However it doesn’t quite have the greatness of his early works like Annie Hall or Manhatten, even if the soundtrack is brilliant. The strong plot, fantastic actors and brilliant lead make Blue Jasmine a film to watch, not just if you are an Allen or Blanchett fan.

Film review: Austenland

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Austenland, Colin Firth, comedy films, entertainment, Film Review, Film Review: Austenland, Georgia King, Jane Auten, Jennifer Coolidge, Jerusha Hess, Keri Russell, movies, Mr Darcy, Stephenie Meyer

If you are expecting Mr Darcy or any Colin Firth lookalikes Austenland is going to disappoint.

Austen addict Jane (Keri Russell) just can’t find her perfect gentleman so after she pours herself another cup of tea she decided to invest all her savings in a trip to England and stay in Austenland, a Jane Austen themed park, romance guaranteed.

Since she only bought the copper package she watches from the servants quarters how ‘platinum’ Austen fans Elizabeth Charming (Jennifer Coolidge) and Lady Amelia Heartwright (Georgia King) are treated to the full blown experience, petticoats and four-poster-beds included.

Realising that she may have made a big mistake she pairs up with stable boy Martin (Bret McKenzie) and mocks the ludicrous games of make-believe. But of course there is a twist, a dance and a love story.

Sadly Austenland is anything but Austenesque and is very painful to watch as it over the top juvenile with no subtleties. Coolidge does what she always does with her overbearing stature and boobs. And although Russell delivers what is expected of her it is just not enough.

If director Jerusha Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and producer Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Saga) think that this is what women want they have gotten it very wrong. This sub-standard jokes and stale plot are just too silly and very messy. And while the film does circle around the Americans fascination with British culture and heritage and the female desire for romance it really doesn’t deliver.

Austenland is as far away as you can get from Jane Austen’s beautiful storytelling and detailed character drawing. And I am sure that all involved feel no sense of pride at the end result and all your negative prejudices will be proven right if you do want to waste time watching this trivial drivel.

cat lady or catwomam

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cat lady, catwoman, quotes, relationships, thoughts, words, writing

It’s odd how one word can change an entire meaning of something. How a  few letters can create an image, paint a picture in our minds and influence how we think about something or someone. This thought occurred to me when I stumbled across the word cat lady in an article I was reading.

Interestingly enough being a lady is normally considered  being  a little bit better than just a woman. It implies you are sophisticated, have a certain flair and worldliness about you. You have taste, a sense of culture and style. But if you pop the word cat in front of it, the whole image changes.

Now if you are a cat lady you probably haven’t brushed your hair in a week, wear baggy jumpers with unicorns, hearts or teddies on them, live a lonely life surrounded by cats that you call your babies, no man in sight. However if you simply swap the word ‘lady’ to ‘woman’ a whole new image forms again.

Being  catwoman implies that you are clad in black leather or Lycra with luscious locks, a sexy stroll, a provocative purr and men groveling at your high-heeled boots.  You have your pick of the litter so to speak and seemingly lead a charmed life.

As a single woman of a certain age I seem to hover somewhere between cat lady and catwoman. I don’t own a pair of thigh-high black patent leather boots, but my allergy against cats means I don’t own a kitten either. Skintight Lycra really isn’t a good look for me, but jumpers with prints aren’t my cup of tea either. My hair isn’t long and luscious but my locks are brushed and tamed as much as I can get my curls to be. And while yes I don’t have men salivating on my toes, I do believe I am better looking and more interesting then a scarecrow.

So maybe I should just cross out ‘cat’ and try and decide whether I want to be a ‘lady’ or if being a ‘woman’ is enough for me. Or maybe I should wait until I find that man who make me feel like catwoman when I look like a cat lady and loves me even when I act like a little girl.

Be a girl with mind,a woman with attitude and a lady with class.

weekly photo challenge – from lines to patterns

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Berlin, photography, photos, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge, weekly photo challenge – from lines to patterns

What a wonderful theme, here are a few photos I took in Berlin this summer. As you can see I do love lines!

inside the lobby of the Frenseh Turm in Berlin

at the foot of the Fernsehturm

shadow -play

some detail on the old part of the Reichstag

the roof into the Friedenskirche (Peace Church) in Potsdam Sanssouci

the old university in Potsdam

going upstairs in Schloss Charlottenburg

someone drew a rainbow right around the Neptune fountain Alexanderplatz

on Unter den Linden

under a bridge

inside the Hamburger Bahnhof, now a museum for modern art

metal reminders of where the Wall stood

a stripy welcome when you cross the Oberbaum bridge, Kreuzberg

under the Ostbahnhof

stairs

Film review: R.I.P.D

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director Robert Schwentke, entertainment, film, Film review: R.I.P.D, film reviews, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, movies, Ryan Reynolds

It’s hard to know where to start on the mess of a film that is R.I.P.D. It should be could fun as it is a buddy-cop movie mixed in with zombies and lots of CGI but it really isn’t.

Nick (Ryan Reynolds) is a cop in Philadelphia, one who likes to keep some of the loot for himself. But since he is a good guy at heart he decides to change his way and hand in the gold the stashed away. However his partner Bobby Hayes (Kevin Bacon) isn’t too happy about this development and kills him.

Finding himself in some sort or heavenly police department, the R. I P.D (Rest in Peace Department) sitting opposite agent Proctor (Mary-Louise Parker), Nick soon discovers a whole new reality.

Partnered up with old time wild-west Marshall Roysephus Pulsipher , big Roy(Jeff Bridges) Nick is sent back to Philly to track down and bring back ‘deados’, dead people who somehow stayed on earth and turned into evil demons packaged in human shells.

This leads to CGI chases around Philadelphia, massive cartoon like undead running riot and a show down with a massive portal threatening to end the world.

R.I.P.D is tries to be a bit like Men in Black or Ghostbusters, but it really isn’t. There is nothing new; the plot is weak and very predictable, the CGI is a little rough and the there is no real excitement.

Reynolds is the same character he always is, no matter if it’s his take on the Green Lantern or Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins : Wolverine he just furrows his brow and spouts a few one-liners.

Bridges on the other hand seems to have cornered the “old coot” market and his version of Big Roy is no different from his characters in Men who stare at Goats, Crazy Heart and True Grit.  The only difference is this time he is dead but his mumbling tobacco chewing intonations are no less annoying.

Bacon has perfected his sleazy bad-guy routine and offers really no surprises as Bobby Hayes. Parker is kind of cute as Proctor but can’t really offer any real support.

Whatever director Robert Schwentke was thinking when he made R.I.P.D, a big budget film, is anyone’s guess. So if you are looking to have some fun there are lots of better ways to spend 96min of your life

helmet hero

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accidents, bike helmet, bikes, cycle lanes, cycling, cycling paths, double decker bus, double deckers, double-decker busses, Dublin City Council, health, helmet., living in dublin, pot holes

Today I decided to change a habit of a lifetime and bought a helmet. I have been cycling since I was about five or six years old and but I have never worn a helmet. I use to cycle everywhere, first to school, later to both university and work. Mainly because that is the ‘done thing’ in Germany, most people opt to cycle if they can, but also because I didn’t have a car, or a drivers license till I was in my late twenties.

But since I have been living in Dublin taking the bus, driving or even walking has mostly replaced my pedaling. Of course there is that odd trip down to the beach or park, and I have on occasion even ventured into town but the reason why I don’t cycle as much here isn’t pure laziness but the fear of Dublin traffic.

Over the past few years I have been knocked off my bike twice. Once by a car turning left, and not only did the driver not see me he didn’t even stop to help me pick up all my pieces and inspect the bruises on my elbow and arms. The second time it was a big double-decker bus that pushed me over scrapping the palms of my hands and turning my knee a mixture of bright purple and green.

These two knocks bruised more than just my appendages and my cycling confidence has been at an all time low. And it doesn’t help that the Dublin City Council only paints white lines on the road and declares them cycling paths, deep pot-holes, drains and other debris included. And of course the fact that cyclists have to share their lane with the Dublin double-deckers is just an added hazard.

However lately I have been cycling more again, but every-time a car comes that bit too close or I hear a bus I can’t shake images of me flying ungracefully through the air and landing undignified on the road. But since I do really want to cycle in and out to college come next week, my teachers bag and flask tucked away in my saddle bags, I decided it was time to join the ranks of all those helmet heroes and buy myself one of those unsightly contraptions.

So today was my first trip around my neighbourhood wearing my brand new and very unattractive helmet and even though it really doesn’t suit my curls I hope I’ll feel a little safer when sharing the road with everyone else. And of course being a helmet hero may ruin my hair-do but hopefully will save my head.

 

applying apples

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crafts, creativity, cutlery, home, home improvement, home making, painting

Yesterday evening I decided it was time to do something I have been wanting to do for ages. It was time to revamp my cutlery holder.

Many years ago my uncle made me, upon request, a wooden knives, spoon and forks holder out of wood. It has five slots and lives on my kitchen counter. But over the years the wood has become more and more stained, but not in a good way. The whole thing just looks a little unloved and tired.

before the revamp

Not wanting to wait another day I spontaneously took out my paintbrush and and a small bottle of colour and painted it green, nearly sage if the label on the tube is to be believed. But just a a plain one coloured thing is not what I wanted, so I looked around for inspiration and found it in some paper napkins.

I love these retro-graphic apples

The next step was the trickiest. I had to cut out all the little apples and apply only the top layer of the napkin onto the painted wood. Because napkins are so thin it is a little bit fiddly, but with some muttering and sighing I managed to cut out and detach enough to complete my design. I applied the apples onto the wood with paste, the kind you can get in any crafts shop.  Now, all I need is for it to dry, give it a lick of of varnish and TA-DA: a new and improved cutlery-holder!

domestic diva

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cleaning, domestic diva, gardening, home, home making

Well this weekend I seem to have morphed into a domestic diva … yesterday I spent all day mopping , dusting and scrubbing, gleaming up my house making it all sparkly and clean. I even changed the sheets!

And today I only took a tiny break to wanderer around an antiques fair and even though I came back empty handed I did enjoy my little trip. But since then I have been potting, planting and preparing my tiny yard and windowsills for the cold season. I have taken my herbs indoor in the hope they’ll survive and attached a rain-cover to my bike to protect the saddle. That way I’ll never get a wet bum.

And now I think I may even tackle the Kitchen. it needs some reorganizing and my herbs need a home so a little reshuffling is on the agenda. However as the light is fading and I still need to clean the mess I made outside those selves may need to wait until tomorrow.

I just hope my Domestic Diva has another day in her, after all she rarely comes out to play and she may just disappear behind that satisfied smile for a while. But if I’m lucky I can coax her out with some chocolate and red wine, a yummy, relaxing treat perfect for those Diva desires.

weekly photo challenge – inside

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home, inside, photography, photos, Weekly Photo Challenge, weekly photo challenge – inside

… and now it’s time to relax INSIDE by candle-light