Movies

Music and Movies

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New month, new chances 😀 I’ve continued the demolition of the wretched laminate on the stairs under the trusty snoopervision of the catsIt is now free of laminate, but I still need to spend some time removing more of the cement-glue.

Then I saw on Facebook that Ronan Keating is coming to the Netherlands in August for a one-time concert in Utrecht. I was a big fan of Boyzone and Ronan in my teens and early twenties. I still like their, and his, music a lot. As such, I immediately texted Ingrid if she wanted to go with me. Which she did! I immediately ordered tickets and they showed up a few days later.

On Saturday I went to Leeuwarden for Anne’s birthday. It was great seeing her again. Sunday was designated relax and watch movies day. I have a lot of film channels in my tv-package and record a lot of them for watching when it suits me. It’s a good way to catch up on movies I missed in the cinema. Recently I recorded The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game, both of which I missed in the cinema, so I picked them for watching.

The Imitation Game is a good film. I am a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch and he is really good here. There were some liberties taken with historical accuracy, but on the whole I like how it shines a light on the work Turing and his colleagues did. And how it showed the struggles of queer people then.

The Theory of Everything was also a good film. I am to repeat myself in that I am also a fan of Eddie Redmayne and he is great here. The liberties with regard to historical accuracy are greater in this film. The movie is, however, a well-constructed story that just focuses a bit too much on a good love story than on who Hawking was back then and what he did and accomplished.

💀💩L and Caesar

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20160217_132530Wednesday Gert and I went to see Deadpool. We had some time before so we first had lunch at Wadapartja. A few years ago it would never have worked, but now it does. It’s a very vintage-retro-hipster place. Furnished with old formica tables and chair, mis-matched lights. A lot of wood and brick and signs everywhere that if you see something you like, you can buy it. They have a lunch and dinner menu and fall in the mid-range when it comes to price. I went for a brown seeded bun with slices of pear, blue cheese, walnuts, honey and arugula. It was very tasty, but it could’ve been a wee bit larger for the price.

Then came the movie, and it is fantastic. I don’t want to spoil it, but I enjoyed the movie so much, I want to see it again. The movie regularly breaks the fourth wall. It occasionally uses bullet time during which Deadpool converses with the audience. He also references other superhero movies, points out stereotypical bits, names actors by name and so on. The story is thin, but as an origin story it gives insight in who Deadpool is and what makes him tick. Also, Ryan Reynolds is awesome.

I also wanted to see Hail, Caesar. Except it only plays on ridiculous times either in the middle of the day, or late at night. Saturday would then be the best option so I decided to go. Gert said he might come. The next day I got texting with Ingrid and she suggested she return the moving boxes on Saturday. Catching two birds with one stone, I proposed she come here in the early afternoon with the boxes, and then go to the movies with me.

And thus Ingrid showed up today, with tasty bread for lunch. I was still in the middle of doing the litter boxes when she got here but after finishing that, we had lunch. Gert texted that he would like to join for the movie also. Ingrid and I then played some Fluxx and some Scrabble before driving to the city. We met up with Gert at the cinema and got our tickets.

Hail, Caesar is a weird movie, but a fun one. It is set in the fifties, the time of big movie studios pumping out film after film with stars they had under contract. The movie takes the pacing of films from that age and has about three or so major plot lines. They all interconnect and all have a similar level of importance. Because of that, combined with the calmer pace and the low level of action a lot of the events are unexpected. There’s also the occasional laugh-out-loud fun in small moments and dance routines mostly.

After, we went to Subway for dinner before splitting up. Gert to find his bike, and Ingrid and I to catch the bus.

Spotlight

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Yesterday being a Wednesday meant only half a day of work so lots of time for fun things! I’d planned to meet up with Gert and see two movies. I was in the city centre a bit before him so I browsed the market square and then headed for the News Café to have a drink. Gert met up with me there. We chose our movies and headed on the way to the cinema. However, we had some time left so we decided on some clothes shopping. This turned out to take more time than we thought as there were sales going on at several stores. I managed to score a pair of pants and a belt for under €20 and then another pair of pants elsewhere for about €10. Score!

After this, we were too late to make our first movie so we amended our plans. We decided to take the early Spotlight and then go for dinner after. Spotlight is a great movie. It tells the tale of how the large scale sexual abuse of children by Catholic Priests in the Boston area was uncovered by the investigative journalism team of the Boston Globe. It features, among others, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams. It shows how they, mostly accidentally, stumble upon data that doesn’t add up. As they do their research it becomes clear that something has been going on for a long time. And that people had tried to bring this to light earlier, only to get ignored or shut down. The team speaks with victims, who are often reluctant to come forward, as well as with suspected perpetrators and their higher ups who want the lid to stay on.

I found it to be an impressive film. The story is tight, no frills and unnecessary extra drama. The narrative as-is, is more than compelling enough and the acting is great. I definitely recommend.

After Spotlight we hit Subway for dinner and parted ways. Then today, after work, it was time for the regular dinner with friends. Hitching a ride with Ingrid, we headed to Mellien’s for great food, and great company 🙂

 

Ice, Joy

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20160116_185112Saturday Ingrid had her housewarming get together. In the morning I took a quick trip to the town centre to pick up a small gift. I found a pretty vase, vaguely diamond shaped, and a jar of coloured stones to fill it with. I then added a fake flower from my collection for a pleasing little arrangement. In the afternoon I headed over there and had a pleasant time with Ingrid and friends. We all ate together as Anne and her boyfriends made a huge pile of pancakes. Nom!

Gert recently got a train card thing that lets him travel for free during the weekends. So, on Sunday he came over. We had planned to play some games, but we ended up just talking and drinking tea and such. He stayed for dinner and we played with the Monty Python fridge poetry before he had to head back home. I grabbed my bike to accompany him to the station.

20160117_181123It was still cold and occasionally icy outside, so I was pretty careful when leaving. Nevertheless, the ice won. As I turned on to the road from the path beside my block, down I went. Fortunately I wasn’t going fast so I didn’t get hurt. Gert had walked ahead so didn’t even notice. I got back up on the bike and caught up with Gert. He had heard the noise of my bike padlock rattling in the basket when I fell, but figured I rode over a bump 😀

Yesterday was mostly uneventful. So, to compensate for that, my padlock decided to freeze up and stop me from unlocking my bike. I couldn’t even get my key in. I carry a small container of lock anti-freeze in my bag, but that didn’t help. So I had to walk home dragging the bike with me… To say I was ill-pleased is putting it mildy.

Today I went to the movies after work. I’d wanted to see Joy for a while now, but I couldn’t quite make it work time-wise until this week. I was a bit disappointed by the movie. Id’seen trailers and they made it seem like a family drama kinda thing set in the sixties (ish). Plus, Jennifer Lawrence.

A few times during the movie I checked the time, or wondered how far along we were. That’s not a good sign. I didn’t expect the actual plot where she is a regular sort of dead-end housewife who does an invention. The invention goes on TV and becomes popular, then she has to fight over the patent and all’s well that ends well.

There were definitely good bits. Especially the interaction between Joy and her ex-husband is nice. However I didn’t really understand the reasoning behind letting grandma be the narrator when she’s not around for most of the movie. The other family members annoyed the crap out of me. I also didn’t like how jumpy the story became where they would meticulously show everything that happened when it wasn’t really interesting, and then skip parts that I wanted to see. In the end, it’s the kind of movie you watch when you happen to come across it during channel surfing.

Merry December Gift Giving Holiday

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20151225_150117The holidays are upon us!

Nienke and I started our gift exchange on the 24th. I had gotten her a cardboard cutout of David Tennant as Doctor Who. I’d hidden it at my Parent’s and then sneaked out in the afternoon to get it. I constructed it at my parents, walked it over to our front door, placed it and rang the bell.

Nienke opened the door and it was hilarious seeing her reaction. Full of surprise and laughter.

I’d also made a felt adipose to go with it. I found a pattern online and over two or three days made this. The feet are slightly too long, but it does help him sit better.

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She gave me the blu ray of Mary Poppins, I love Mary Poppins! It’s one of my favourite musicals.

The rest of our gifts we exchanged the next day. I’d gotten Nienke a book of Ghost stories, a Supernatural mug, a small watch, guitar picks and chocolate sushi. She gave me a Supernatural book, a colouring book of cats, a box of chocolate and a Funko Pop of Anna from Frozen. She said one of the presents was still missing and that I would get that later. So I held back a present for her as well 😀

20151226_192157I love my prezzies: Anna fits perfectly with the Elsa I already have. I don’t have that many Supernatural books yet so more is always good, and the colouring book was already on my list.

The next day, Nienke was over at her parents, and my parents came over here for prezzies and dinner. I got Mom the new CD of Adele, Dad two nice animal prints and both of them some chocolate. They got me a nature documentary about the wild areas of the Netherlands, and a colouring book of the province.

We were going to eat raclette, so I pulled out the raclette set from the attic. I think the last time we used it was before I even moved out… So more than a decade at least. I plugged it in and we waited for it to get to temperature. But not two minutes later, the whole house went dark. A short.

Using my phone I made it over to the table to unplug the raclette. Then on to the cupboard to switch the circuit breakers back. When the lights were back on, I checked the raclette. It was really hot despite only being on for two minutes. It was quite obvious that the raclette was no longer safe for use.

We still needed to eat, so I piled the meats in an oven dish and placed that in the oven along with the veggies. In the end, the food was just as tasty like this. The desert was an ice cream cheese cake with caramel topping.
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I Want a Rolling Robot

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20151216_092751Wednesday I had another check-up after my surgery earlier this year. I took the bus there, and as such got there early. I had breakfast at the cafe in the hospital. Bread with ham, pineapple, grilled cheesse and apple chutney. Very tasty 🙂 Then I headed for the clinic for the appointment. The scars look really nice, the nipple grafts look good. The left one is even responsive. The only thing that bugs me is that the end of the scar, under my arm, is pointing outwards. The doctor agreed and we decided to get that fixed. Luckily that’s a small job that can be done at the clinic with just some local anesthetic. Just have to wait a while for it to be scheduled.

I then went to work for a few hours after which I met up with Gert to go see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I really enjoyed the movie. I’ve seen the other Star Wars movies once, years ago. I can’t remember everything anymore but I know enough to be aware of the general story. Plus, with Star Wars being so ingrained in pop culture, it’s hard to miss.

The new movie introduces new main characters while leaving some room for golden oldies to return. I like Rey and Finn and I love the new robot. I’m definitely keeping the BB-8 plushie from last year’s Nerd Block 🙂 The sequences with the golden oldies, Leia, Hand, Chewie, were charming and I hope we do see more of them in the next movies. I’m less impressed with Kylo, he seems too wimpy. But maybe he’ll grow into his boots. Other than that it was a fairly straight forward story with fun action sequences and good visuals.

Then yesterday Ingrid and I went to the Oosterpoort for a concert show by The Kik. We’d been talking about going to this, and then Ingrid gave me the ticket for my birthday. I’d not heard of them before, but the description of what they do sounded fun. They’re a band that plays music from and inspired by the fifties, sixties and seventies. They write their own stuff, but also cover existing songs from that time. The show wasn’t just a concert but a way of walking through their inspirations.

The stage was dressed with a handful of doors in the back, and a cabinet with vinyls at the front. They would pick a record from the cabinet and tell something about the artist or the song and then play a song by that artist, or something of themselves inspired by. Occasionally a doorbell would ring and there’d be a cutout of an artist behind one of the doors as an introduction to another song or bit of talking. It was an energetic and fun show, and I got to hear a new side of Dutch music.

City Stuff

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20151122_18024320151123_191302I’ve been colouring in my Animorphia book some more and last weekend finished this bird. The day after I made gorgeous burgers with cheddar, alfalfa, jalapeno, fried onion and American sauce. They were delicious.

Wednesday I hit the city with Mom to go shopping. We’d been talking about doing a day out like that for a while but never got around to it until now. We started at the market square and I showed her Sostrene Grene.

They’re one of my favourite stores with knick knacks and random things that change regularly. This time around I got some fabric, some stickers, some cards, a blank book, a bell jar, wood chips, some christmas puppets and a tote bag.

20151125_131550We also went to the Bristol and there I found a nice pair of ankle high shoes for only € 35,00. Since winter is coming and I need a new pair that is warmer than what I now usually wear, I snagged them up.

After the market square we made our way down the main shopping street. We took our sweet time for everything and when we got to the Hema we decided a break was in order. We had some food and I had a beautiful iced coffee.

Then, from the Hema, we stopped at Zara and I bought the sweater I left behind earlier this month when out with Gert. Except I got it in a darker colour now. When we were done there, it was time to go back home.

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The next day I had a double movie date with Gert, again. We saw The Good Dinosaur and Mockingjay, part 2.

The Good Dinosaur is a fairly standard Disney story. It takes place on a planet earth where the dinosaurs didn’t get wiped out. Main character is this dinosaur kid who’s clumsy and feels like he doesn’t fit in. His dad tries to help and sets him the task to protect their crops from vermin. The kid fails at that so he and his dad go out for some character building. Bad stuff happens, dad dies, kid feels guilty. He gets accidentally lost and needs to find his way back home. He then comes across the vermin, which is a little human boy. Except the humans aren’t very developed yet and the human kid basically acts like a dog. Together they set out to get dino kid back home.

The travel part where they try to get home is the best part of the movie. It’s funny and sometimes touching. The beginning of the movie where they give a peek into how dinosaurs run a farm is fun too. The emotional stuff is a bit heavy handed sometimes. The animation is very nice in some places, but okay in others.

Mockingjay was a very good film. As far as I can remember it’s still very close to the book. I liked how Katniss is really getting into her own and seeing through things now. I think I wanna see it again.

When I got home that night, a package was waiting for me. In it was this little statuette of Jonas. It is the final piece of my Kickstarter reward for the Wormworld Saga book 2.

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Nerd Block: November

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Time for a new Nerd Block! Theme for this month is ‘Tis the Season. I didn’t really see the theme in the items, except for the shirt and the shot glass.

The first item that I saw when opening the box was a Titan vinyl figure of Sherlock. This is from the same brand as the Tenth Doctor and Spike figures from earlier boxes. I’m becoming a fan of these vinyls as the faces are a bit more detailed and each figure comes with a prop. In Sherlock’s case, a magnifying glass. Or maybe a slide for under a microscope.

Aother fantastic item is a Serenity ornament. A metallic painted model of the ship from Firefly, which is one of my favourite scifi shows.

Continuing with scifi, the next item is a Star Wars desktop calendar. I have no use for this and since 2016 is getting nearer, I don’t know if I can find someone to give this to in time.

Then, the shot glass. This is a plastic item and comes from The National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I’ve never seen that movie, nor do I want to. The shot glass is funny, though, so I’ll keep it for now. Maybe I can use it for laughs at my next birthday.

The shirt is a mash-up of Back to the Future and The Nightmare Before Christmas. I like the shirt, the graphic is pretty, the colour is nice. I’m not a big Back to the Future fan, but I do love The Nightmare Before Christmas.

On the bottom of the box I found an art print of Bill Murray and I love it. I’m a big fan of Murray and this is a very fine addition to my slowly growing collection of art prints.

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Spectre

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20151111_123031Guess what day it was? Double feature movie day!

After work yesterday I had lunch at La Place and then took a stroll around the store before meeting up with Gert. We did some browsing in various stores.

We took a coffee and cake break at Hema before slowly heading towards the cinema. With one last stop at Zara where I found a gorgeous sweater. It wasn’t in the budget for this month. I hope it’ll still be there later.

The first movie we saw was Pan. It was a fun adventurous romp without substance. Hugh Jackman was fun, but I didn’t expect the Nirvana rendition.

20151111_143651We followed it with Spectre. Now this was good. I’m not well versed in the Bond universe. I’ve seen Bond movies, and I’ve seen the first two Daniel Craig ones. I’ve not seen Skyfall so I didn’t understand all of the bits that referred back to the events of that.

I don’t really have any judgement on if it was a good Bond story or all of that. I just know that from the moment it started with the whole Mexico City action sequence I was gonna have fun. It had all the things I expect from a Bond movie: action sequences, high speed car chase in expensive cars, many different countries, a pretty woman, and an interesting plot.

The only downside was that it got shown in the big theater and there weren’t many movie goers at that time of the evening. This results in a very, very cold room.

After Spectre was done, I had some time before my bus. We decided to warm up with a coffee at Subway. And sitting there, with the front door open, it was warmer than the movie theater…

Interning for the Last Witch Hunter

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Ingrid had suggested, a while ago, that we go to the movies with the three of us. We didn’t get around to it for a long time, but yesterday we finally made it happen. Ingrid, Nienke and I went to see The Intern. I’d already seen it, but I loved the movie so I didn’t mind watching it again.

After the movie we sat at the Pathé cafe for a drink and something tasty. While there, I noticed there was a late showing of The Last Witch Hunter. I wanted to see that one also. Nienke and Ingrid declined so I texted Gert if he wanted to come, which he did.

We stayed at the cafe for a while longer until it was near bus departure time. Then Ingrid and Nienke left, and I waited for Gert to show.

20151104_142314The Last Witch Hunter is a fun but not particularly good movie. The visuals and effects are good, the action sequences are fun but the plot is meager and Vin Diesel doesn’t really impress here.

Outside of fun things I’m also studying. Through work I’m taking two LOI courses on PHP and Java. I’m doing the PHP one first, and Monkey  makes for an excellent study buddy.