Flogging Flicks

[ETA: so I completely forgot about Paris je T'aime which I reviewed earlier this year. Goes to show how long ago even February felt!]

So clearly books get quite the bit of attention from me here and it's literally been years since I properly recommended or reviewed a movie, which is crazy because just as I love allowing myself and my imagination to disappear into the worlds the written word conjures up, I also love the total sensory and emotional surrender you get when you go to the cinema.

Seriously, considering my love of story is great enough to allow me to be enamored by random internet urban legends (see: Slender Man) and games backstories (see: pretty much any backdrop and history for any video game, even those I don't play which, let's be honest, is pretty much most of them), one of my favourite things in the world is getting to sit in that darkened movie theatre and just enjoy incredible stories, amazing performances, the most beautifully composed scores, awesome cinematography and, where it fits, well crafted special effects.

So far this year, I've only seen a few movies at the cinema (oh, Schmoes and other movie hoes, how I envy the sheer number of movies you get to see) but I've enjoyed each and every one. Funnily enough, as I tried to remember what else I'd seen this 2016 it also occurred to me that I went with the absolute perfect people to see each film which only made them more enjoyable.

Eddie The Eagle

What a fun movie! As a fan of Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman (more so after following the Eddie press junkets - what a ridiculously charming pair), I was really looking forward to this movie and I love that it introduced me to a person I'd never heard of before. In '88, I was in kindergarten and I don't recall even caring about the Olympics, let alone the Winter Olympics (and I certainly didn't watch the news, my childhood self shudders at the notion). Jackman has made numerous comments about how well-loved Michael 'Eddie' Edwards was in Australia at the time, but that all flew right over my head so learning about him and his dogged persistence and dedication was really enjoyable and this movie paid him lovely tribute. He even thinks so himself which is a credit to both actors and to Dexter Fletcher who manned the helm on this. Yeah that's right, Spike from Press Gang directed this movie, a fact which only added to my 80s nostalgia watching it.

'You don't have to win to be a winner' is a line Hugh Jackman's credited to a friend who saw the movie and repeatedly mentioned in interviews when drawing out the heart of the movie. Spot on. Eddie Edwards was a dreamer who really fought for his chance to compete in the Olympics and then took on the challenge and all its subsequent challenges with seriousness and dedication. For him, it wasn't about being the best, something he may never be (and ultimately many of us will never be). It was about doing the thing he loved and really giving it the best go he could possibly give.

Yes, this movie definitely had its sports movie cliche moments - the comedic fumbles, the uplifting speeches, the fun training montage - however as many reviewers before myself have said, Eddie the Eagle embraced its light-hearted ambitions to simply entertain you with a great sportsy story. I loved the fact that Fletcher enlisted actual artists from the 80s to bring to life a wonderfully 80s synth-embued score and I loved that he was so intent on taking us on the ski jumps with his crazy shots from atop the different heights, making seeing it in the cinema so much more worthwhile. And of course, the relationship between Eddie and Bronson was made all the more fun thanks to Egerton and Jackman's clear delight in each other's work and company. Seeing this with Ma and my sisters was a great cherry topper because it was definitely a great family flick that was both entertaining and inspiring.

Do I rate? Should I rate? If I could, I'd probably give it a good 4 1/2 out of 5 stars because it was what it was, it loved what it was and I loved it for that.

Captain America: Civil War

I went with the guys to see this and holy crap, I loved this movie. Sure, it helps that I love pretty much everyone in it (Evans, Mackie, Stan, Renner, Downey Jr., Cheadle, Rudd, Bruhl..!) but hell, even the trailer above was awesome. The set up without the pay off would have been severely disappointing, but thankfully it wasn't. At all. The Russo brothers nailed this movie. Though I'm definitely still curious about just how successful they were in making it Honest Trailer-Proof, I'd say they've likely done a great job.

The question of responsibility for all the innocent lives lost in every battle is an important one thus the notion of a force being put in place to reign in the Avengers makes absolute sense but at the same time, Steve's doubts as to the integrity of such a force are also completely understandable and these conflicts help to blur the lines between a clear good and bad side in the story. They all have reasons and they all have a point and in the end, they just have to fight for what they think is right and you can't not feel for everyone involved. Every single character in this movie made me give a damn about who they were and what they were trying to do and I was drawn in from beginning to end. Tony's guilt, Steve's love for his friend and everyone around him, Bucky's battle with himself, alongside everyone else's fear, anger and loss pulled this movie far above its (genuinely fantastic) action. Seriously, brilliantly written and excellently acted.

I'll rein in more gush as I could go on a lot longer but to run through moments of brilliance - the recruitment of the teams (bless you. Paul Rudd, my gosh, your addition to this franchise just makes me happy... and Peter Parker!), Bruhl (yes, a second mention - I love this guy), the airport sequence and of course, the revelation about Tony's parents which killed me to watch. I've been a fan of RDJ since the 80s so my faith in his acting is fairly solid and this scene punched me square in the gut.

This one was a happy 5/5 for me. I understand the questions a lot of people have regarding the plot and the motives, particularly Zemo, but it all worked for me so I was thoroughly entertained.

X-Men: Apocalypse

As a fan of the old X-Men cartoon, I remember being pretty excited to watch the movies when they first came out. To my friends, I am well known as a non-fan of a lot of the casting, particularly Anna Paquin as Rogue and I was even more critical of the omission of Gambit and I remain so to this day. Then when X-Men: First Class came out, I was overjoyed by the direction the movies ended up taking and X-Men: Days of Future Past did a great job of unpicking the ruin that was X3. Coming in to this third installment, I was definitely looking forward to it and I decided to take my friend, another big X-Men fan, out for her birthday to see it - which we both did just last night.

Straight off the bat, the movie has some definite flaws. The pacing often dragged and somehow the cheese felt a bit more pronounced to me, not to take away from the moments of genuine dramatic weight (Fassbender, what an actor), but at times the dialogue definitely had my face scrunching. I was also surprisingly not too impressed by Jennifer Lawrence in this. I wouldn't go so far to say that she was bad this time around, but her acting felt oddly stilted at times and particularly compared to the last two movies.

That said, the comedic moments were enjoyable and overall, I didn't walk away let down. There are some really great sequences and the opening was impressively done. While a particularly frustrating plot point comes in the form of Moira's part in Apocalypse's resurrection, it's easy to let go. I loved the introductions of the future X-Men and Quiksilver being back in the picture was outright fun and made for an awesome scene. It's admittedly weird seeing him as two different actors in two different movies and I have to say, I take Evan Peters' go over Aaron Johnson's though I'm curious what heftier comic fans think of it. And of course, Apocalypse's defeat came in the form of an event that I straight up loved as an X-Men fan.

I'd say about a 3/5 because despite the flaws, my friend and I still enjoyed it and as a fan of the old cartoons, it served up enough to delight.

At this point, Ant-Man is just about to finish as I type - a movie I finally caught on Netflix and am so glad I got to see just before seeing Civil War because it wasn't just entertaining as hell, it also made Ant-Man's part in the movie so much more enjoyable for me. Oh, and go Anna Akana! Loved her bit at the end. Yep, loved this movie. Marvel does some excellent comedy and Paul Rudd plays some excellent Scott Lang.

Another rec that comes to mind that I didn't necessarily see in the cinema would have to be Straight Outta Compton (O'Shea Jackson et al killed this movie and the beat drop at the Detroit concert is now one of my favourite movie moments ever). I'm sure there was a fair amount of gloss over but the story remained compelling and of course, there was the music.

In terms of upcoming movies, there are a good few I definitely want to check out. Independence Day: Resurgence is something I do not intend to miss. The original may have been a 90s movie to the core, but that part of me is definitely up for whatever stories remain of that world. I'm a little uncertain about Suicide Squad at this point, but if the opportunity arises, I would happily check it out. I'm still yet to see quite a lot of this year's Oscarbait - Room, The Big Short and Spotlight are all high on my list and on the more family-friendly end of things, I'm definitely geared to see Finding Dory and the live action Beauty and the Beast (such excellent casting!).

In other words, it looks to be a fun year.

#myswf2016

I'll put together a more comprehensive review set to adorn my sadly neglected little blogger but for now, this micro-update and Studio collage, complete with dorky touristy stickers, will do.

Such a brilliant few days thanks to 14 sessions, 28 panellists/speakers (alongside some excellent facilitators) and 1 incredibly talented performer who somehow created a seamless solo hour of Austen oftentimes without the apparent need for oxygen. I look to you, Miss Vaughan's Miss Bates. Do you not breathe?

Got in a good mix of the journalistic, the political, the philosophical and the literary this year, happy crumbs of the untaken arts undergrad and the masters that will never see completion. Particular favourites? The Danger of Ideas, The Risky Business of Breaking News and Murder in the Making were all outstanding panel discussions with amazing moderators and Emma Sky, Emily Maguire (saw her in 2 panels) and Rebecca Vaughan all particularly blew me away in sessions that, funnily enough, fantastically bookended my time at the festival. Nothing to do with primacy or recency however, they three are simply that impressive.

Anyhow, cheers to SWF for one of my favourite times of year and onward till SWF2017 a.k.a. my next run on Gleebooks. In other news, I now officially live amongst piles of paperbacks threatening to topple and bury me alive at any moment. #theymaytumble #imaydie #sweetphonicdeath #iregretnothing #canyoutellthiscamefrominsta? #myswf2016

NRL 2016 Round 5 - Panthers Vs Eels - Pirtek Stadium

Holy crap, do I love a live game and we couldn't have picked a better one to haul ourselves to, regardless of the fact that we were in total enemy territory - Pirtek Stadium in Parramatta. 

Yep, that's right, my sister and I were surrounded by a sea of blue and yellow (oh, sorry, 'gold' as the announcer kept saying - sure, mate!) and even in our own circle of attendance we were outnumbered, our little Penrith pair alongside a trio of Parra boys. 

Meanwhile, what a killer game. Starting is always a little slow as the guys warm up to things and honestly, considering how rusty the Panthers side is this year after a year of crippling injuries to key players, I wasn't gunning for a crazy start (not to mention, I was aware that I still needed a voice the next day, you know, for important things like work and karaoke. Screaming straight through for 80 minutes would never help there). Then again, it didn't take long for a couple of 'No Try' moments to each team to get everyone's blood starting to simmer and the current state of my voice is evident of the resultant boil. 

What followed was some pretty even play covering both ends of the field and then some rather confusing ref calls. Saying that, I reckon that the sum of all bad ref calls tends to even out between sides, if not in a game then in a season, so I don't tend to dwell too hard unless it's really worth it. There were no real moments of sheer outrage this time around (though maybe I'd feel differently if we had lost) and come half time, the game was tied 6-6. 

The second half was a roller coaster - Panthers got in first points but the lead diminished fairly quickly after some sloppy moments and a tackle that I was hoping against hope was a strip. Soon enough, the Eels had torn the lead away from them and time was thinning out and taking my voice and my sanity along with it. With only 5 minutes to go in the game, Eels were up 18-12, Mansour was able to sneak out the side and score a try, bringing us up to 18-16. When Soward missed the conversion, I could have cried. Instead a plaintive wail of 'nooooooo..!' had to suffice. 

Soon enough the buzzer was about to signal the end of the 80th minute and by that stage, my sister and I were on our feet, jumping up and down and emitting incoherent yelps toward the field. When the Panthers got another set of 6, I think I yelled 'Don't waste it! Don't waste it!' about 10 times before the ball moved deftly to our side of the field and next thing we knew, Soward had hauled the ball at Cartwright who then scored a try a bare 10-15 metres from where we stood going completely insane.

'Good game. Good game. Good game.' 

My sister and the place of Triumph - the winning try was scored right in that corner and right in front of our faces.

Though I definitely felt bad for the guys we went with, all rabid Eels fans, that my sister and I got to see this game live was simply fantastic. It was a great game all round, no write offs, no decidedly outrageous calls, no stupid fights, just footy played between two sides who put on a good show from beginning to end.

And honestly, little can beat the atmosphere of a live stadium - sure, it's a little harder to follow the action without the aid of handy camera angles but the big screen does its job and really there's nothing better than the power of a crowd roaring as one, the joy of finding fellow supporters among a sea of enemies (the two Panthers fans behind us were a riot), the little kids in their jerseys, with their flags, running around and just enjoying themselves and trying to get a handshake from Sparky, the Eels mascot, as he trails the barriers (or from the giant bottle of Fountain Tomato Sauce, poor thing was walking blind), and of course the usual taunts and cusses from the crowd - I love it all. 

Followed up (as we did) with a trip to Maccas and Harry's and you've got yourself a great Sunday night.

GO PANTHERS!!!

As the Sydney Writers' Festival looms, methinks it's time for a reading recap...

Another month down, 8 more books happily swallowed whole. Amazingly enough, the lineup I'll be attending at the festival this year is a lot more political and journalistic this time around, somewhat dotted with some literary odds and ends though it's hardly a complaint.

I'm writing this with The Outsiders playing in the background, something I've been compelled to rewatch since I finished the book. It would have killed me to have written something like that by the time I was 17. When I was that age, I was still scrounging through ideas for a fourth chapter for my socially-unlikely-friendship-cum-romance 'novel'. S.E. Hinton meanwhile was making striking social commentary and allowing people a real glimpse into youth and struggle at the time - no mean feat. Quite a bit of the book's insight gets a little lost in the movie, but it does a nice job of bringing the story to life.

I read that Hinton herself attests to the faithfulness of the movie and enjoyed the experience. Having just read the book, it's true. Sure, the acting and the direction are a tad odd at times (I say this fully aware that I am speaking of the great Francis Ford Coppola, I don't pretend to be an aficionado!) and the musical integration can get a little comical, but you can't deny that watching it from the future is a real trip - Swayze, Cruise, Dillon, Lowe, Estevez, Howell and the freaking Karate Kid as a bunch of ne'er do well Greasers is just so much damn fun.

And they're all so... pretty. Though that does match the book to some extent, particularly for the Curtis boys - Rob Lowe sure is one 'movie star handsome' Sodapop and Swayze's got the coldly good looking older Darry down pat.

Thanks to all the Schmoes Know videos I've been watching as of late, I find myself tempted to rate it... a temptation I shall now fight in order to get on with critiquing the books below:

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Upon reading the introduction for this story, I was quite surprised to find that it was written entirely as a form of propaganda and I was even more taken aback to discover just how successful it was in this goal. During the war, the story was widely and illicitly distributed by resistance forces within Nazi-occupied countries. Another fact of interest was the representation of the unspecified enemy as real human beings, something not particularly common back in those days. I'm accustomed to the notion of poster war propaganda which represented Germans as crazies and Japan as a growing octopus with tentacles attempting to engulf the world so I found it quite appealing to hear that the enemy were to be portrayed as men with families, thoughts, fears and normal desires.

Reading the story itself was very interesting and I'll state it is the most interesting piece of propaganda I've ever encountered. Oh, it is certainly that - though human, the misguided overconfidence and therefore the stark vulnerability of the invaders is still contrasted by the slow simmering of emotion among the townspeople who then begin to take matters into their own hands. And of course, the ultimate sacrifice is made by their leader who leaves behind the resounding message that the resistance shall indeed live on. Saying that, as a story, it is still very captivating and Steinbeck really knows how to get into the guts of simmering societal anguish (c.f. The Grapes of Wrath, a high recommendation). Of course, being so short (which it would have to be to be effective propaganda), you're got getting fleshed out characters here. We cover the basics of just who is who and then events take over. 

I'll confess I find the story's background, its dissemination and its overall effect far more interesting than the story itself, but I definitely still recommend it. It still has Steinbeck's narrative air, if not the poetic grace he was so capable of had he decided to create a more in depth piece of literature.

This was one hell of a read! Think of the most outrageous storyteller you know and just how often you find yourself thinking, 'Dude, you are so full of shit..!', while remaining hooked to every word. That is this book. The stunts and schemes that Frank Abagnale pulled off as a kid are frankly (heh) astounding! The man is the definition of balls of steel. Ok, so fair enough, the recklessness of youth could possibly attest for some of that insanity but this guy took it to every level possible. Clearly he was a whip smart kid and he would get an idea and then ride it through to the end with craft and cunning, but when it gets to the points where you forget this guy was 16, 17... hell, even 21, and that it all happened (at least one way or another), that is where things get incredible. 

Abagnale recounts this all with a fairly straightforward wit that sits well with all the scams and tales. He often acknowledges the fact that he didn't always know what he was doing and this is fun to read considering how well calculated his ideas were, even in the trial and error moments. Not only was the sheer audacity of those years of his life immensely entertaining, but I'm sure I wasn't the only reader who found themselves pondering what it would be like to have that kind of feckless confidence. Skill and brains are one thing, but he had guts. Not everyone has those. Seriously, Balls Of Steel. BOS(S).

A very, very happy re-read of an all-time favourite story. I have genuinely read this about 10 times, maybe more, and I know I will continue to read it again and again. Yep, 20 year old me, you did good chasing up a copy of the Body and thus thrusting us into our now 13 year long love of King. Thanks to the movie, most people know what the story is about and quite well too considering how faithful the movie was (Red's hair and other minor dramatic details aside though as Stephen King himself said, 'Books and films are like apples and oranges', and some things work better in each medium), however King's storytelling really does shine in novella form. As a man prone to a good digression, he only has so much room to do that in Shawshank and admittedly in this particular story, those digressions all absolutely belong. They set the scene for the world in which the characters live, they paint us living pictures of those characters and their lives and motivations and ultimately, this book was where my interest in prison and institutional psychology and culture was really born. I was fresh off of learning about recidivism in Psych and Law and to see the idea so well captured in this great story only drew me in further. It's a whole world in there and though King may have only captured some of those facets, he tells an incredible story of hope doing so and invites us to give a shit about a world we so often ignore and at worst, wish didn't exist.

Gaiman! You imaginative weirdo genius, you! I love the bizarre worlds you create through which my mind then gets to travel, desperately grabbing onto objects and moments here and there just so I can keep up and not get lost. A brilliant ride through London Below and seeing how well Richard Mayhew will survive the literally upside down turning about of his life. This is honestly the most entertained I've ever been by a mythical quest story and that is saying a lot considering I don't usually find them that appealing and I'm not a big fantasy fiction consumer. I loved the ambiguity surrounding the various characters and Messrs Croup and Vandemar are now officially two of my favourite cutthroats - hilarious psychos who truly revel in death. Gaiman's writing just lets my brain start tugging at images it would have otherwise never needed schemas for and I love that. The inside of his mind must be so, so interesting and so complex and I am so grateful that he has been so kind as to let us get such glimpse in there through his books and tales.

So I decided to just put all of the Cabots in one considering they are all pretty much the same book with a few adjustments in character and name and narrative format. Also, it took me all of one evening to down all three, a certainly entertaining evening. Man, I remember reading Boy Meets Girl for the first time back in 2004 and thinking it was just the cleverest thing ever - a story (and a love story no less) written entirely in letters, work memos, emails, journal entries and notes taken on whatever paper could possibly be available. It certainly made consumption of the hilariously thin romance much more fun and honestly, that all applies to each and every one of the above stories. The formulas are the same - girl meets boy under circumstances which make her either hate or doubt said boy, despite a clear attraction immediately sparking between them, and then said pair then encounter hilarious perils to their better understanding one another in the form of dopey miscommunication, presumption and evil exes/parents/employers/etc. They're certainly fun stories to read in the right mood and I was clearly in that mood thanks to a workmate who had also recently decided to give Cabot a re-read. To be fair, out of all the chick lit I've read, these are among the best and the least insufferable.

I loved this book. As I mentioned above, Hinton was 17 when she wrote this and I could only wish my 17 year old self had the coherence to construct such a poignant narrative as the one she shares with us via Ponyboy Curtis. Class struggle and adolescence are pretty much your perfect mix for melodrama but I personally didn't find the book melodramatic at all - Hinton wrote like the teen that she was and she was very self-aware in her story. Much like any (non-douchey) teen would, Ponyboy would share a moment of clarity and then immediately follow it up with an acknowledgement of the fact that it's just an idea, a brain fart, what does he know? His journey from artsy Greaser to a kid who realises that the world isn't as simple as he once thought was one I enjoyed getting to share because despite all the shit he's seen and everything his family and friends have been through, he's still so innocent and the still untouched youth inside of him shines right through. He's endearing without being a wimp, he's artistic without being a douchebag and in his brief self-destructive phase, you're too busy feeling for him to mind his being a total asshat. I really cared about this kid and his brothers and I really cared about what was going to happen, despite the fact that I already knew having seen the movie before. Hell of a job on your first novel, Hinton. Super Tuff.

Next on the list and as yet unstarted:

I am looking forward to this. I've only read one other Woolf - Mrs Dalloway - and it is a favourite so I look forward to seeing what else Woolf is capable of.

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And now onwards! I present the obligatory book related GIF or pic below:

Oh yeah, that's totally me.

A dangerously close description of public commentary these days...

Although, as an immediate antidote, a rather refreshing take on the issue can be found here: The 'Other Side' Is Not Dumb by Sean Blanda.

The whole notion of fighting fire with fire loses all integrity when it comes to bigotry and this article addresses the issue of actual bigotry - the intolerance of difference in opinion, whatever those opinions may be and not based on one notion of moral superiority.

(Although a difficult notion to postulate without sounding like a soapboxer. Hurrah the joys of hypocrisy!)

Books, books and oh, look! BOOKS..!

Amazingly enough, the last couple of years have seen me drive through the most books I've read in a very long time... and I love it! As I tweeted the other day, I've begun my literary year with Salinger and Hemingway (and Shelley) and I could not have hoped for better companions to accompany me into a new year of story dwelling. Steinback, I'm sure, will only prove to be a worthy and beautiful follow up from that.

It would be funny to list my particular recommendations from this pile, considering the answer would be almost all of them... however some definite call outs would have to include the following:

• Stasiland - Anna Funder's incredible delving into the Stasi and the world of East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall is a genuinely eye opening read that only further solidified that which I've learnt from both my trips to Europe and the Philippines - that I am a ridiculously fortunate human being, living on the back of freedoms fought for by generations I will never be able to thank. 
• Circle of Friends - I've read this so many times and, soapy though it may seem, Maeve Binchy's writing forever feels like home in the midst of a still foreign, but beautiful Irish wit. 
• The Truth and Other Lies - Sascha Arango's entertainingly truth-twisting tale of a man and his moral dilemma.
• Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories, and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour an introduction - for the sheer beauty and brilliance that is Salinger.
• Reasons To Stay Alive - Matt Haig's wonderfully honest insights built from a life battling depression.
• and last, but hardly least, A Moveable Feast - where Hemingway recounts simple yet so vibrantly written encounters of living in Paris as a young writer amongst other writers of his generation. 

All these books have made the journey through the latter part of 2015 to these early 2016 months immensely more pleasurable alongside the awesomeness of the life continuing to roll along outside of them. 

About to begin:

Finished (since last entry):

2015

(most happy re-read)

2016

Recently acquired (in addition to the already huge piles I've yet to conquer!):

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So here's to the the upcoming journeys to still uncharted worlds, the as yet unmet characters and their lives and histories - I look forward to encountering you all!

Bring it on, 2016!

Paris, je T'aime... indeed. Indeed I do.

Paris je T'aime - 14e arrondissement 

Though I bought the movie quite a while ago, I only finally watched it today and I adored it. Such an immersive and beautiful film that further delighted me personally as a lover of Paris who hopes to one day return and see all that I didn't see (the first short by Bruno Podalydès reminded me right off the bat that I have yet to visit Montmartre). Each story was touching and well executed (yes, even the oddball vampire love story between Elijah Wood and Olga Kurylenko, certainly the most bizarre of the lot, though I daresay it still fit) and I was pretty well entranced from start to finish.

This, however, is particularly due to my absolute favourite out of all the segments - 14e arrondissement (linked above). I love this one. Alexander Payne, what a lovely and simple way to bring the movie to its close. Beautifully shot, as were all the rest, and Margo Martindale, superbly bad French accent and all, was absolutely perfect in it.

I loved every little bit - from the notion of this sweet mail carrier from Denver taking French classes so she can go and have an adventure in Paris, to her relishing in her independence and thus skipping on a tour group, to her elegantly insightful ruminations about dictators, love and Paris itself - all exquisitely tied up by her poorly accented but nevertheless moving narration as she reads about her love affair with Paris to her French class. In fact, that touch only made her and her story just that much more adorable. Bravo to whosoever decided to go with it.

The rest of the stories are also quietly compelling in their swift simplicity and I particularly enjoyed Quais de Seine (lovely job, Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges), Loin du 16e (a quiet gut puncher about a mother who for income's sake has to sacrifice her time with her own child in order to take care of another), Tour Eiffel (entertaining as hell mime love story) and Quartier des Enfants Rouges (excellent tale twist and Maggie Gyllenhaal, yet another reason to love her).

Honestly, cheers to all the directors for such a lovely piece of cinema. C'était vraiment incroyable.

Germany/Europe 2015 - In Selected Pictures (4 months late)

This trip came about so unexpectedly that a part of me still can't entirely believe I got to see the places I got to see so, that said, the photos below are kind of there to allow me to relive and re-believe. I'm happy to leave these un-captioned for now what with all that stuff about pictures painting thousands of words on their own, but I may return for a fun few hours of my usual brand of 'witty' pictorial commentary.

Enjoy (as I very much did)!

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Bad Homburg - Frankfurt

Thanks to my wonderful friends, Col and George, this place was my home away from home while I got to traipse about more of Germany and Europe. Frankfurt is a great city and Bad Homburg is a beautiful little town which is honestly so amazingly representative of just how beautiful Germany is as a whole. So very pleased to have gotten the chance to stay there!

Full Album

Leipzig

Such a beautiful city and I had no idea of the history it held - in fact, I learned some of that history a little too late, particularly in relation to the Stasi and Leipzig's place in the revolution that finally tore down the Berlin Wall. I didn't read Stasiland until after I'd returned and now I wish I had been able to make it to the Stasi Museum. Saying that, while I was there, I was amazed to learn of Johann Sebastian Bach's time spent working there. We also ate at a cellar restaurant that dates back to the fifteenth century - Auerbachs Keller and it was genuinely amazing. Thanks to a Mass Mishap, I missed out on visiting the Monument to the Battle of the Nations with Col and George, but hey, another excuse to go back, right?

Full Album

Mainz

One of our day/photo trips, this time to George's dad's alma mater's town. They had their camera stolen not long before I got up there and I was able to get them a replacement, but it still meant that George lost weeks worth of photos which was a real shame so Col and I did a couple of trips for him to regain some of his lost memories and maybe get a present or two for his dad from good ol' Johannes Gutenberg University (my envy at Mr. Tan's German fluency knows no bounds!). I didn't create an album for Mainz so have included more choice pics below.

Berlin

I got to go back! I am so, so pleased and so in awe of the good fortune that got me back there! I am genuinely very much in love with this city. It is just bursting with history and character and even after two visits, I have still nowhere near seen enough. I even climbed Fernsehturm and the views were worth my patronising that shocker of a tower (yes, still equal parts disgusted and fascinated by the structure). I got to revisit some places (happily!) and then Col and I wandered out to some of the neighbourhoods and enjoyed some great strolls and some lovely little finds. Honestly, what an amazing city. Whether or not the comparison seems due, Berlin is my NYC of Europe. I would happily spend a year there because I know that would at least begin to let me soak in as much of the city as I so badly want to.

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Lourdes

I don't even know what to say other than I can't believe I made it Lourdes. Repetitive though I am beginning to sound, I just never knew if it would ever happen, despite my desire to finally see it and that I did leaves me in awe and full of joy. As I mentioned on my FB album, I took very few pictures because I was there to do much more than that. Seeing the Grotto where Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette with my own eyes and touching the water... praying with thousands of other faithful... it was overwhelming and I could not be more thankful. Seriously, so very genuinely blessed.

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Copenhagen

This was a sort of last minute trip decision once I got up to Frankfurt and Col and I started thinking of places to see. I'm so glad she was happy to go back because Copenhagen is such a beautiful city and so interesting! Seeing Nyhavn in real life was surreal and drifting about on the water was such a great way to get around. The Tivoli Gardens was beautifully abandoned because of the rain and at night, that place is insane with lights. Christiania was certainly a funky experience, as well as hitting the street food hall next to the Experimentarium (which we went to and almost immediately regretted considering we were the only lone adults there! We felt so creepy..!). I also came across one of the coolest r&b mixes I'd heard while getting my magnet and the shop owner was far too kind while I went about prying through his songlist trying to get its name.

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Cologne

Another day/photo trip though this one was slightly more eventful than Mainz - freaky tandem walking couples, unfortunately lost tourists, cool and random bits and pieces of art all over the street, including one that acted as a hilariously weird reminder of someone I know. One of the most magnificent cathedrals or doms I have ever seen stands proud in Cologne and, oh, I also had the best pork knuckle and potatoes I've ever had served by one of the best servers ever. Love, love, love the German wit. As per Mainz, no album for this lovely city (I started feeling how much I was over-inundating my poor FB friends' feeds so I decided not to include day trips), so choice shots below.

Stockholm

I've been to Sweden! Never ever expected to be able to say that, but I have! Stockholm is just one of the most interestingly laid out cities I have ever seen and its harbour is one of the few I could say begins to stand up against my home harbour in Sydney. The sun also rivals ours, being the brightest I've ever seen in my life. From strolling around Gamla Stan, which is the old town, to sailing around the islands to seeing the Vasa in real life and then rocking out on a Yamaha at Abba the Museum, that seriously still only felt like the beginning and honestly, I would love to go back and then of course visit more of the Nordic countries. That's right, Norway, I'm coming for you!

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And... done! Funnily enough, it just occurred to me that something I didn't get to capture much with my camera? A whole lotta handsome. Seriously. Germany and Sweden represent.

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Alright, now I'm only one lot of photos behind! Next insane photographic influx will be of my first ever trip back home to the Philippines to spend Christmas and New Years with my family, as well as celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. Cheers to my cousin Taki for this, but mas masaya talaga sa Pilipinas!