Home Made Pizza

Yep - totally home made.  My son James and I mixed the dough and kneaded it then did our thing re the toppings - one pizza each.  Yum yum!!

Scrabble

On Sunday Carmel and I escaped the heat by playing Scrabble in the airconditioned library at Carindale.

I had no idea that there were lists of "official" words - our house rules meant using a dictionary - say the COD - because I am interested in meanings - not just the letters.  But "real" Scrabble players play to win!!  :-)  If you are interested, this is the book of lists -

By pure co-incidence, on the morning we were going to play, I read this post making comparisons between Scrabble and life - my favourite is "there are no bad racks, only players".

Indian-inspired Design

I love the pattern on this envelope...

Last Day of Christmas

Today is the day the tree comes down and all the decorations are stored away for another year.  Usually this job is done on 12th night (January 6) but as I decorated later than usual I have kept things around a little longer than usual.

As I take everything off the tree I am reminded of all sorts of things - the children's pasta projects from primary school, gifts, travel - lots of memories.

I had totally forgotten about this project of my own - it speaks for itself...I made a whole heap for the family that year....

January DVDs

Tommy is a classic rock opera, and I was looking forward to seeing it.  Like most people I knew some of the songs, and I thought there'd be many more like that...but it was quite different from what I expected.  The story line was quite amateurish, there was a lot of heavy handed symbolism, and the music (except for Elton John's standout "Pinball Wizard") was nothing exciting.  This is the original cast and it was been re-made (goodness only knows why).  I didn't particularly enjoy it, but I am pleased I have seen it (and just as pleased to think I never have to see it again...).

This is a slow, thoughtful and interesting movie.  We aren't sure at first what Will's character is up to.  We slowly solve the mystery as the pieces come together through flashbacks and his actions in the present day. Will's character is troubled, but he has found a way to heal his conscience, heal his pain and make a difference.  It's hard to say more than this without giving away the plot.  It is a bit of a tear jerker, but very satisfying in the end.

I'm not a huge Jim Carrey fan, but he is really good in this film.  He plays the part of Joel, the boyfriend of Clementine (played by Kate Winslet).  During a rough patch in the relationship Clementine has her memories of Joel erased.  When Joel finds out he decides to do the same, but part way through the process changes his mind.  We take a fascinating journey through Joel's memories as he tries to save what he can of his memory of Clementine.  This part is cleverly done through the use of intercutting and other techniques.  I hoped so much that Joel's memories wouldn't be totally erased!  There is a mind-stretching twist at the end which is wonderful...

Clint Eastwood plays Walt, a crusty old man who just wants to be left alone following the death of his beloved wife.  He is a veteran of the Korean War, but at this stage of his life he has almost no relationship with his sons or their families, and he tends to sit with his dog on his porch and watch the world go by.  He plays the curmudgeon perfectly.  Walt's longed-for quiet life is disturbed when he is drawn into the lives of the Hmong family next door, and he starts to feel that he has more in common with these strangers than his own family.   A well-meaning action on his part backfires, and Walt realises he has to make things right.  Very funny, but also sad, this is a satisfying movie, and the ending is just right.

Awww

I rarely walk by a pet shop without taking time out to see what the cute little furry critters are up to....

Readability

If you have a blog or web page you may be interested in testing the readability level of the content.

I had a bit of fun testing this blog.  The Gunning Fog Index came in at 13.18 (that is, you need that many years of schooling to be able to understand what I have written).  The Wall Street Journal scores an 11, and The Times, The Guardian score 14.

Full results here.