Harry Potter 6

This weekend I went on a marathon watching session of all six currently produced Harry Potter movies. Today was a bank Holiday, so it had been a long weekend and as I am pretty much cash-less and very much bored, all I could afford to do was re-watch my dvd's and then scrimp on my food budget to go to the local cinema for a five quid movie, and what better movie to see when you're starving than Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?

Well, I enjoyed it as I enjoyed the rest of the films, as an exercise in escapism with some smiles, some frights and some feel-good moments. I enjoy the books more, as pretty much is always the case, but c'est la vie. It was no better or worse - although, the acting from the kids does get better each time - than any of the other films. And I do enjoy the music and seeing the realisation of my imagination on the screen.

But the movie theatre itself was more of an adventure than I bargained for. HP6 been out for a while now - I have been putting off seeing it to avoid the crowds - so I was expecting it to be shown in a smaller cinema rather than on a bigger screen, but I didn't expect the size of screen I got. It had to be the smallest theatre I've ever been in, including the one's when I was a kid on summer holidays at the caravan park in Lorne where the movies were shown in the local guide hall. This was a tiny room. The screen wasn't much bigger than a large plasma, about four feet by seven I'd estimate, and the cinema wouldn't have had more than 100 seats. The lighting was all red, and I mean blood red - I felt like I was in a bordello - and the elevation... well, there wasn't any. I could hear the film whirring in it's reel behind me and every whisper of every patron was perfectly clear.

All-in-all, I think that next time I want to see a film here, I won't wait to try to avoid the crowds. I seriously could have had a better viewing experience on my laptop.

Ah well, lesson learned and experience experienced.

My New Home

Some pictures from Plymouth. It's actually quite a lovely little town - about the same number of people as Canberra in actual fact - and there are enough book shops and HMV stores to keep me happy. And there is loads of history here - Drake set off to conquer the Spanish armada from here - after finishing a game of bowls at the local club of course, which is also still here. Hay, the tide was against him ok? :) Mind you, it's not usually as blue-sky'ed as it is in these pics... Rain is pretty much a constant, so I was lucky to pull a lovely morning for these shots.

Word of the Day: Matelot

Pronounced Mat-lo, it's French for Sailor, and it's what they call the Navy boys around here. Used to specifically refer to a sailor on a merchantman, but has been hi-jacked to mean any person who walks on water these days.

If you hadn't already guessed, I'm working in the Plymouth Navy Yard, so during lunch time 'rambles' around the base (as is the custom here), I am invariably inducted into the history of the place. I can't for the life of me remember what we call Sailors in Aus - the army are the grunts or diggers and the air force are fly boys, but I never had much to do with naval personnel before. However, I am now forever hearing about what the matelots do around the place, and when I questioned the origin, I got a rather strange look. Why isn't a sailor a sailor? 'Cause he's a matelot of course! Right.

Anyway, I didn't have much luck finding too many definitions for the term that weren't in french, but I did find some rather interesting descriptions here and here. Have a read if you want to raise an eyebrow!

Flavour Fest

Another outing in the Plymouth Summer Festival calender: Flavour Fest. This was an open air market, kind of like a big farmers market or a food-oriented Christmas market, under rows of white canvas. It was quite interesting as there was a lot of local produce and specialties. I had a Durby Lardie, which is politically incorrect sweet bread soaked in lard. Yes, lard. It was ... oily but nice. And then there were the local beers to taste and cheeses and meats and stuff generally. I wandered around but as I am penniless, I was looking but not touching. Ah well, maybe I'll be around for next year.

Bluuuuue! NO! Greeeeeen!

I have been quite lucky in the timing of my arrival in Plymouth. There's been lots of things happening for a summer festival that the city has organised, so I've had things to do whilst I was waiting for a job.

One of these 'things' just happened to be the British Firework Championships, held in Plymouth every year on 'The Hoe', which is a large green area facing the Sound of Plymouth. Six fireworks companies compete for 10 minutes each over two nights to be crowned king. That's 60 minutes of fireworks for the proles to watch folks! And 60 minutes of GOOD fireworks too. Very, Very, Very Cool!

I, unfortunately, started my first day of work on the first night of the championships, so crashed out and slept through it... well, almost. The backpackers is located quite close to the foreshore, so I was woken up several times by some pretty loud bangs. It also happened that the first night was the good night - no clouds and minimal wind.

The second night (this evening) there was almost complete cloud cover and some misting rain. This is of course the night which I chose to go. Anyway, I enjoyed it and saw lots of pretty colours and heard many loud bangs and here are some photos to prove it.

And for any of you who went to the Royal Show at Adelaide Show Grounds... remember the announcer? Every time I see fireworks, I think of that guy! :)

Heart Re-Start

I have a job. Finally, I actually have income. One day soon it'll even be more than my expenses! I won't be paid for another month yet, but I will be paid. I can breath again.

I'm not going to give details of the job here - that's bad manners - but I'm happy and they're a lovely bunch of people and the work should be interesting so all good.

And get this - the building I'm working in was built in 1722, which is 50 years before Captain Cook 'discovered' Australia. How cool is that?!?

The Cure to Everything

I'd forgotten how much I love The Cure. I was talking to the two Aussie girls in my dorm yesterday about music and how it brings back memories, and one of them hadn't heard of The Cure. I was dumbfounded, but then, there is a decade difference in our ages (they're both 21) so I'm not sure why I was. Anyway, I decided to find The Cure's greatest hits online and played 'Love Cats' and 'Friday I'm In Love' to the girls, to recognition I'm happy to say. But it reminded me of how much I love the band. I'm now listening to the Wild Mood Swings album, which is actually one of my favourites, next to Disintegration and Wish. Ok, so their music is very melancholy for the main part and pretty insane for the rest, but they were a very large part of the soundtrack to my life for a number of years, and that music brings back so much. Those memories may be sad, but oh, they are so precious, and now-a-days, the music makes me feel safe and happy. Go figure.