Film 2010: Monsters

The voyage through the Empire top 20 films of 2010 continues, with one I would certainly never have watched otherwise.
All things considered, I am very glad that I did.

Number 18: make a wedding cake

I am tempted to put this as number 18 to 39, as there were so many firsts involved here...

Not the least of them include
- bake a cake the size of a whole oven
- use a spirit level (a lot) while baking
- hire a cake tin
- marzipan (neatly)
- white icing (very neatly)
- go cross eyed putting 100s of spots on

The list could go on!

It was made for my sister-in-law's wedding last weekend, which was a magical event in lots of ways.

I love weddings, a lot. There is something wonderful about being part of en event where everyone is happy for the same reason and genuinely wishing the couple the best. The cake is just one small part of the day and while it was a big challenge for me to learn everything I needed to, it was a pleasure to be involved.

In fact, the only real stress was in getting the three levels all the way to Eastbourne with no damage... There are lots of roundabouts and potholes between here and there!

Number 17: cheerleading

Not expecting this one, eh?

It was always on the long list although even I would admit it is highly improbable that I would don the amount of lycra and legwarmers needed for bouncing about as a cheerleader. But that is without taking the 'hen do' into account.

There are many things I have done on a hen do that I would never do in any other walk of life. Wear toilet roll, record a record and have my nails painted salmon pink are among them.

So, cheerleading it was. Sadly (or not sadly at all) I don't have any photographic evidence of me dancing about as I made the fastest run for the camera while we were in the 'dance' studio. Pictures of me would only have shown up the many occasions when I went left rather than right or punched someone near me in the head.

However I do have the pom-pom heart, which has the bride in the middle. I am on the far left looking like I am about to lean too far and fall over into the mirror. I probably was.
It was the start to a great hen night :-)

Number 16: a wheat free week

Should I put a picture of an Oatibix here? Maybe a corn flake? Maybe a wheat field...
If I am completely honest, this wasn't a huge challenge for me, as I only have one wheaty meal a day as a rule. I had cause to visit a nutritionist a couple of years ago who made the astute observation that three wheat based meals a day was probably a bit limited. It's amazing how easy it is to achieve too: Weetabix for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and pasta for tea and that's it, a mono-food group diet.

He pointed out that this was a bit artificial and if nothing else, variety would do me good. So I switched to Oatibix for brekkie and now only rarely have a sandwich for lunch. It's much less boring too, and one day I will learn how to make sushi and save myself a fortune in M&S veggie lunches.

We decided to try a full week mainly to see how wheat affects us and the result, if we are honest, is not much. There is definitely less bloatiness in the morning and I don't think you get that overfull at Christmas' feeling after meals. But we didn't really cook anything new and exciting or cook a miracle meal that we loved and made us feel zen and energised.

But we both said that we would try to have more variety and rely on wheat less. So that's probably a good thing.

Scavenging: the April list

Another good list - thanks to Postcards from the PP!
I'll admit that rather too many of these were last minute, but at least this month I can honestly say that all of the photos were taken in the month of April. A high standard I'm sure I'll fail to keep to in the coming months.

And now for the best bit, to see what everyone else has been taking pictures of. Hope everyone has enjoyed it!

Number 15: break a world record

I have spent HOURS on google trying to sort this one. Honestly, I have never seen so many garbage hits for a search - try putting 'world record attempt' into the search box and see how many out of date hits you get. Katrillions.

Is a katrillion a number? If not it is a collective term for garbage on google.

And then, as if by magic, T got an email asking him to take part in a world record attempt on XBox (which I never play) to be part of the biggest number of players all playing a single game, in this case the 100m sprint on Kinect Sports.

With huge generosity, he said that I could play for him and be part of the attempt and SURELY I would get to be a tiny part of a world record. What a gent.

Come the hour, come the sprinter (for sprinter, read waddler). We logged on and I popped upstairs to change into an outfit that didn't make me look like a traffic cone on the kinect (long skirt, not a winner with movement recognition). When I came down, T was frantically going through the screens to register me as an online user in my own right, so we could both be part of the event. Great in principle, but with one minute to go and the registration screen still rolling on, the tension started rising.

No time to change my automatically selected user name from puffdaddy725, sleepingdragon272 or supernova843 or whatever it is, no time to make my character look more like a sprinter and no time to update my 1983 hair style.

The race starting time came as we raced through the final screen, arrived at the start line and tried to get the race started within the appointed minute. I was standing like a statue to stop the kinect getting confused with two of us moving and then managed to false start by using the principle of hitting GO (in this case running) as fast as possible before the race starts so you get off the line ASAP. Doesn't work with kinect, you just get branded a cheat.

Then go go go! I flailed like an idiot down the line. Then we waited for the fireworks... or the victory world record holders lap of honour... or the podium... Nothing. No email, no notification, no nothing at all.

So officially, I don't know if we did it, but I have the picture to prove it so I'm claiming it anyway. Crouchingtiger385 is a winner!

Film 2010: Four Lions

New film review on the tab above.
I'll have to add some extras at this rate, I'm burning through 'em at a fair rate. I clearly don't have enough to do...!

Number 14: visit a mosque

Isn't this amazing? That's my name in Arabic.

This week I had the opportunity to accompany my brother-in-law's class of year 6s to the Islamic Centre at the University of East Anglia. I know UEA pretty well and know that the Centre was opened fairly recently, but to my shame I know little more than how to find it on a campus map.

It's just a short walk from the school to the University, which let the kids let off some steam which might have contributed to absolute hush when we went into the Centre itself. There is a real pause for ceremony as you go in, as the girls donned headscarfs and we all left our shoes at the door.

The centre leaders then gave a introduction to the muslim faith as well as a guide to mosques around the world - the portable buildings at UEA are not really representative of the fabulous architecture found elsewhere. Then there was a demonstration of the call to prayer and a standard 'unit' of prayer, both of which they translated so we could follow.

It was a fantastically interesting visit and great to get a better understanding of a faith that I have had very little contact with until now. The Centre went out of its way to make us welcome (the kids had more biscuits than they could manage!) and they were extremely generous in letting us wander into areas they may normally keep more tranquil.

This was an opportunity I was delighted to take up. Thanks to the Islamic Centre for their hospitality and to year 6 for the invite and letting me tag along!

Film 2010: Lebanon and Kick Ass

Two new film reviews under the Film 2010 tab...
Watch out Claudia Winkleman :-)

Scavenging: the March list

All done and dusted! Looking forward to April's list.
This should go full screen if you click on it...