Miscellanea and other things of no earthly use

What Are They Thinking?

2010-01-07T20:22:29Z

I'm a fan of Alan Rickman, but I have always been the kind of fan who doesn't feel that she needs to like an artist's entire work.

And so I'm saying, "What the fuck is Alan Rickman doing on the long list for the BAFTA?"

The tiny (and in the films at least very one-dimensional) role of Snape isn't the kind of role that should get anyone any nomination, but on top of that Alan Rickman really was bad in Half-Blood Prince.

The only other film I've seen from the category, i.e. supporting actor, is Inglourious Basterds. Christoph Waltz was definitely better than Alan Rickman.

I felt like creating some icons.

2010-01-04T11:12:54Z

They are all of David Gray.

01 02 03

04 05 06

07 08 09

10 11 12

13 14 15

16 17 18

Finally!

2010-01-01T17:55:10Z

As it turned out, I hadn't properly managed to install my mood theme after all. But now it finally works just as it should.

What a good start into the New Year. ;)

Countdown

2009-12-31T16:39:42Z

Officially, the year of the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010 starts on the weekend of January 9 and 10, but I can't think of any reason not to start celebrating on January 1.

Make your own Countdown Clocks

The Annual Reading List

2009-12-31T16:09:58Z

Here's the obligatory list of books I read this year.

Somehow I feel that I didn't manage to read any truly exceptional books. There are few classics (Shakespeare, Gaskell and Stoker) that I enjoyed, but many of the newer books were just okay. I need to get better at choosing my books.

I read rather a lot German books and German translations. This might be the reason why a I managed to read a couple more books than I did in 2008. Reading in German is faster.

Russell Hoban, Turtle Diary, novel (begun in 2008)
Gilbert Adair, A Mysterious Affair of Style, novel
Madeleine Wickham, A Desirable Residence, novel
Val McDermid, Beneath the Bleeding, novel
Colin Dexter, The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, novel
Ian McEwan, The Cement Garden, novel
Jan Costin Wagner, Eismond (Ice Moon), novel
Jürgen Kehrer, Wilsberg und der tote Professor, novel
Theo Pointner, … und du bist weg!, novel
Philip Ardagh, Awful End, children's novel
William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, play (reread)
Guillermo Martínez, Die Pythagoras-Morde (Crímines imperceptibles), novel
Bernhard Schlink, Der Vorleser (The Reader), novel
Jürgen Kehrer, Wilsberg und die dritte Generation, novel
J M Barrie, Peter Pan, children's novel
William Shakespeare, Othello, play (reread)
Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs, novel
Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South, novel
Jacqueline Winspear, Birds of a Feather, novel (abandoned)
Bram Stoker, Dracula, novel (reread, first time was in German)
Mavis Cheek, Getting back Brahms, novel
Nicholas Blake, The Beast Must Die, novel
Henning Mankell, Mörder ohne Gesicht (Mördare utan ansikte), novel
Sam Savage, Firmin. Ein Rattenleben (Firmin. Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife), novel
Anthony Minghella, Truly, Madly, Deeply, screenplay

Sometime in spring when I had caught a cold, I felt like listening to an audiobook. I only own a couple and there was only one left I hadn't listened to yet:

Colin Dexter, The Secret of Annexe 3

The first book on my reading list for the year 2010 is Salman Rushdie's novel The Enchantress of Florence. I already placed a bookmark in it.

How Long's a Piece of Twine

2009-12-28T13:28:03Z

I upgraded my LJ account from a basic account to a plus account because I had come across this wonderful mood theme, and mood themes only can be properly used with plus accounts. (Or with paid accounts, but I'm not willing to pay.)

Now, I can use this fantastic mood theme, but have to stare at ugly ads at the same time. We'll see what's going to prevail in the long run: my happiness about the mood theme or my dislike of these ads.

By the way, LJ defines the astonishing amount of 132 moods, but "undecided" isn't among them. I had to opt for "pensive" instead.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T12:44:55Z

I took that photo on Carnaby Street two weeks ago. I suppose nothing says "It's Christmas time" like a pink reindeer. ;)

Love Actually

2009-12-24T00:18:04Z

It looked as if I wouldn't find the time for my annual pre-Christmas watching of Love Actually, but tonight I managed to squeeze in the film. It was lovely as usual.

And it was particularly nice to realise that pre-Christmas London rather does look like it is shown in the film. There is a huge Christmas tree on Trafalgar Square; there is an ice rink at Somerset House ...

Buy One, Get One Free

2009-12-12T08:25:26Z

On Wednesday, I saw David Gray at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. To buy a ticket had been a rather spontaneous decision after I had seen his new song „Full Steam“, a duet with Annie Lennox, on YouTube and realised that he's the same singer who sings the song „Fugitive“, which I had enjoyed listening to on the radio in the past few months. So it was a lucky coincidence that I had already booked a flight and hotel room for the date when he would give that concert.

As it turned out, my decision was a very good one because it was one of the best evenings of my life. Due to the fact that I was unfamiliar with how concerts work in Britain, I turned up at the venue rather early and ended up standing right in front of the stage. Okay, it was the fourth row, but I've never been so close to a stage, and later I even managed to get a little bit closer (third row and finally second row).

David Gray and his band were just incredible, and the excellent light show lent the concert a fantastic atmosphere. They started with a slightly more hard edged version of „Fugitive“, and from then on it only got better.

Here's a one-minute clip of him starting to play his song „Nemesis“.

The picture isn't too good, but the audio quality is better than I expected it to be.

What I find fascinating is how he keeps beating time with his left leg – presumably without getting a cramp.

And then when he finally said that he would now sing his latest song „Full Steam“, he announced Annie Lennox, and indeed, there she was. What a brilliant surprise!

The photo is of even lower quality than the others, but it's really her.

As for taking pics, as much as I'm happy now that I have some pics to remind me of a wonderful evening, I have to say that I enjoyed the concert even more when I stopped taking photos. :)

Men's Fiction

2009-11-30T21:23:57Z

The other day, I read a book that the Times praised as "quality women's fiction" on the cover. I'm sure that the novel was written with more female than male readers in mind, but what I actually started to wonder is whether there is men's fiction.

If I go to one of the local bookshops, there's a shelf that is titled "chick lit", and it includes many novels that have light blue, pinkish and other pastel-coloured covers. The book I finished some days ago is some kind of orange-y. All the books scream, "We are meant for women."

But what about fiction for men? Where's the "dick lit" shelf?

There are shelves that cater to the fans of classics, science fiction, fantasy and detectives stories, but surely these are no genres meant for men only?

They Are up in the Air again

2009-11-27T22:44:05Z

The skijumping season has begun today, and in order to celebrate this fact I created a wallpaper, using photos of Dimitry Vassiliev.

The German team came in second today at the team event in Kuusamo. Who would have thought that?

Yay Me!

2009-11-27T20:16:56Z

I created my very first animated icon.

Took me ages!

Panto

2009-11-19T22:36:36Z

If I'm totally clueless about fairy tales and can't tell the difference between Snow White, Rapunzel and Cinderella, would I enjoy watching a panto? Would I have any idea what is going on?

Essential Michael Caine

2009-11-14T10:52:20Z

Harry Brown, Michael Caine's latest film, is released in the UK these days, and the film magazine Empire took this as an opportunity to celebrate Michael Caine by listing 22 essential films.

Zulu (1964)
I'm sure I've never seen this one.
The Ipcress File (1965)
I must have seen at least one of the Harry Palmer films, but I couldn't say which one it was.
Alfie (1966)
I would like to watch this one very much but it's never on TV.
The Italian Job (1969)
Seen it. Rather clever, if I remember it correctly.
Get Carter (1971)
I own it on video and once tried to watch it but didn't understand a word due to the heavy accents.
Sleuth (1972)
Actually, I didn't like this one very much.
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
Seen it.
The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
I think I've seen this one as well.
The Swarm (1978)
Not impressed.
Educating Rita (1983)
Fantastic film. I bought the playscript afterwards.
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
This is probably the film that made me a fan in the first place.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Seen it. It's horrible, which Empire also agrees with. There are other films that should be on the list instead.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Seen it.
The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992)
This is just brilliant.
Noises Off (1992)
Extremely funny.
The Cider House Rules (1999)
Seen it and known that he would get another Oscar.
Last Orders (2001)
I've read the novel but haven't watched the film yet.
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
I haven't seen any of the Austin Powers films.
The Quiet American (2002)
Very good film – despite Brendan Fraser.
Batman Begins (2005) / The Dark Knight (2008)
Not seen them. Don't intend to.
Children of Men (2006)
This escaped me. I can't even remember whether it was shown here.
Harry Brown (2009)
I really hope this will also be released in Germany.

If this were my list, I'd add the following films:

Dressed to Kill (1980)
Jack the Ripper (1988)
Without a Clue (1988)
Little Voice (1998)
Miss Congeniality (2000)
The Statement (2003)

Valmont

2009-11-08T15:36:00Z

The other night I watched Valmont for the first time. It's a couple of years ago that I read Laclos' novel and watched Dangerous Liaisons for the last time, but Valmont came across as quite different. Still, I rather liked it in its own right although I still haven't decided yet what to think about the changed ending. It's not as dark as the one in the novel.

I really enjoyed Colin Firth and Annette Bening as Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil. They seemed more human than John Malkovich and Glenn Close did in the respective roles. I wasn't too happy with Meg Tilly as Madame de Tourvel as long as she still resisted Valmont. She appeared very subdued and willingly repressed, but when she finally gave in, she became much livelier and more emotional.

I will have to rewatch Dangerous Liaisons sometime, but I think I prefer the look of Valmont. It seems to me that the settings were brighter. Not to mention that the film was quite funny at times.

Being an Actress is Hard

2009-11-06T15:07:40Z

I went to the casting the local theatre had organised because they are looking for extras for a production next year. But I don't know yet whether I've passed.

In groups of five women, we had to approach the set and costume designer and make him feel as if we confronted him. We were supposed to act as a group and react as one, not as individuals. This turned out to be more difficult than I would have thought. At least in my group, we managed to all start walking with the left foot.

As for the dates of the rehearsals and performances, the set and costume designer and the head of the extras were even more clueless than we applicants. So we now have to wait whether we will be needed in the first place and then find out what the dates are and whether we will have time then.

Better late than never

2009-11-03T20:09:02Z

For many years I've been a huge fan of the TV series Frasier. In Germany it used to be aired shortly after midnight, which meant that there never was a huge fan community. Still, the show had it fans who were truly pissed off when the TV channel skipped the tenth and last but one season. That's several years ago, and to the best of my knowledge the season has never been shown on free TV. Until now. According, to my TV magazine some obscure channel will air it from 17 November on - at midnight, but I will watch it anyway. Actually, I know some of the missing episodes because someone copied them for me when they were aired in Great Britian, but I'm still missing parts of that season. So, finally I get to see the entire season.

Bilingual Book Meme

2009-10-28T11:57:23Z

tudorpot posted this, and I have changed it a bit for my liking. Apart from adding a few German books, I didn't always pick my favourite books but sometimes rather a random book of a favourite author. It's also ages ago that I read some of the books, and I can't really remember much about the plot and characters, but I still know that I adored the books while reading them.

1. Pick ten of your favourite books or series.

2. Post the first sentence of each book. (If one sentence seems too short, post two or three!)

3. Let everyone try to guess the titles and authors of your books.

1. It seems increasingly likely that I really will undertake the expedition that has been preoccupying my imagination now for some days.

2. FROM 3 ½'' DISC LABELLED: BACKUP.007; FILE LOVE.001
You always remember the first time. Isn't that what they say about sex? How much more true it is of murder.

3. Im achtzehnten Jahrhundert lebte in Frankreich ein Mann, der zu den genialsten und abscheulichsten Gestalten dieser an genialen und abscheulichen Gestalten nicht armen Epoche gehörte.
"Das Parfüm" by Patrick Süskind

4. One may as well begin with Helen's letters to her sister.
"Howard's End" by E M Forster

5. On a January evening of the early seventies, Christine Nilsson was singing in Faust at the Academy of Music in New York.

6. Sir Walter XXX, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage; ...
"Persuasion" by Jane Austen

7. Als Herr Direktor Pogge mittags heimkam, blieb er wie angewurzelt stehen und starrte entgeistert ins Wohnzimmer. Dort stand nämlich XXX, seine Tochter, mit dem Gesicht zur Wand, knickste andauernd und wimmerte dabei.
"Pünktchen und Anton" by Erich Kästner

8. O for a muse of fire that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention, a kindom for a stage, princes to act, and monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
"Henry V" by William Shakespeare

9. Usually, the dwarfs kept bringing him back – back to the circus and to India.
"A Son of the Circus" by John Irving

10. „Gestern war er noch gesund“, sagte Maude. Ihre Ohren zuckten nervös.
"Glennkill" by Leonie Swann

Entering the Stage

2009-10-22T18:59:30Z

The local theatre is looking for extras for a theatre project next year. I sent a short application and was told in reply that the casting will take place in a couple of weeks. I don't know yet when the rehearsals will be so that I might need to bow out right away, but I'll definitely attend the casting to see what they have to tell us about the project. I can't imagine what the potential extras might have to do during the casting, though, because they are looking for women for a dumb Greek choir.

Like to Write in English?

2009-10-03T14:40:35Z

I came across a writing competition called Daniil Pashkoff Prize, which is meant for non-native speakers who like to write in English.

This is how it's described on the website:

The Daniil Pashkoff Prize for Creative Writing in English by a Non-Native Speaker is named after the first Russian student to study English at the Technical University of Braunschweig. Its goal is to encourage creative writing in English by writers whose first language is not English and to provide them with a forum where their work will be published and read by others.

The prize money isn't very much, but the winning texts will be published. Of course, the copyright remains with the author.

The competition sounds like fun because you can write about every possible topic. You can also choose between prose and poetry. Even dramatic texts and haikus are allowed.

The original works have to be submitted by 31 January, 2010.

For once I Quit

2009-09-25T15:29:11Z

When it comes to reading novels, I tend to be masochistic and finish reading them even if I don't like them because I usually think that they will get better. After all they are really popular is what I tend to think.

This time, though, I'm giving up. Some weeks ago, I read Jacqueline Winspear's so called detective novel Maisie Dobbs and was very disenchanted, but because the author has published a few more acclaimed novels about Maisie Dobbs, I thought I'd give her second novel Birds of a Feather a chance. After all, it just had to be better.

Well, it's a complete bore, and the main character Maisie Dobbs gets more annoying with each page. She's so sensible, wonderful and holier-than-thou that I just can't bring myself to like her.

Just as in the first novel there isn't a real detective plot. I've read 130 of 300 pages, and we already know what happened to the missing woman that Maisie Dobbs was asked to look for. We don't know yet why she disappeared but it's really asking too much to read another 170 pages to find this out.

I wouldn't mind so much that the books are no detective novels at all if they possessed the one characteric that I really like about most English novels. They include wit, and usually the narrator doesn't take the characters too seriously. There often is a bit of an ironic distance towards the characters - at least that's what it comes across to me when I compare them to German novels. Sadly, this can't be said of Jacqueline Winspear's novels.

Unseen Photos

2009-09-20T16:21:55Z

Sometimes I think that I come across new photos despite the facts that they are old. I bought a programme from Tango at the End of Winter, and I know I have seen a pic with Alan Rickman and Beatie Edney dancing before, but this version, which shows the entire stage, is new to me.

I could also swear that I've never seen the following pic before. One doesn't get to see much of Alan Rickman, but I like the misty and mysterious atmosphere of the photo.

Look at the Rat!

2009-09-10T21:48:55Z

Sometimes I'm amazed that often when I have a look around Ebay, searching for Alan Rickman stuff, I come across things I've never seen before. This French poster, which advertises Truly Madly Deeply, is completely new to me.

Have you ever seen such a cute rat? This has to be the best TMD poster ever.

Who Was I Kidding?

2009-09-08T09:43:34Z

I've dropped out of the severusbigbang. I had signed up more than three months ago, but didn't manage to write one single line. Actually, I didn't even come up with a proper outline for a decent story. I thought by signing up I could force myself into writing, but I should have known that it wouldn't work. It's time to stop deluding myself.

Impressions

2009-09-01T15:43:23Z

I visited my second favourite English town and the surrounding area for a few days.

A rainy afternoon in Jesmond Dene

The Leas (North Sea)

Souter Lighthouse

The Angel of the North

Now a gallery for contemporary art

St James' Park metro station

At night (using a rather unsuitable camera)

Can you tell that I like rivers and bridges?