Friday, January 19, 2007

FourPlay...no, not that kind!



Here I go again with a review of another cheap DVD. Sensibly I know that romantic comedies that are below about the £7 mark, are not well-known, and have a bunch of nobody actors in them aren't going to be Oscar-worthy. But, something inside of me compels me to buy them. This is what happened with "FourPlay" when I found it in Woolworth's for £2. It has Colin Firth in it (no he's not appearing in a wet, white shirt, and I'm not doing a paper on him this time;) which is it's only redeeming quality. The cover states that it's "In the tradition of 'Notting Hill' and 'Four Weddings,'" but really that's not entirely accurate. If they mean that it has more than one wedding in it (it does) and it's set in London and has an actress in it (it does) then yes, I can see the stretch. But alas "Four Play" was really only an hour and a half of boredom wrapped up in a Love Actually-esque box pretending to be something it's not. I give it 2 out of 10 bags of popcorn...it isn't even worth £2.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Self-Portrait


Colored Foil Me - 59 of 365 Days
Originally uploaded by Anglophile in Essex.

I'm finding my entries for the 365 Days group on Flickr to be very uninspired lately. Anyone have any good ideas?

PS Check out my new haircut too :)

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Say What?

I found this Accent quiz on Stacey's blog. When I first took it the quiz said I had a Northern Inland accent (ie Ohio or Wisconsin), then I took it again and had an accent from Minnesota (I don't think so!) Finally, the third time was the charm and it stated:


What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Midland
 

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

North Central
 
Boston
 
The West
 
Philadelphia
 
The Inland North
 
The South
 
The Northeast
 
What American accent do you have?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz


That's more like it! I really don't have an accent, some words I say sound North Eastern (both of my parents were originally from New Jersey and for the most part kept their accents) but I lived in Florida since I was two years old. I don't have a southern accent either though.

Friends

So, since I changed my blog template I deleted all my friends links. If you're a friend of mine, have a blog, and don't mind if I link to it, let me know your address and I'll add you.

On an unrelated note, this is a clip I found awhile ago and thought was too hilarious for words: Nobody's Watching FRIENDS

Friday night



Pete and I went to Pizza Hut and to the movies last night. We left after he got home from work (around 4pm) and then got stuck waiting for the bus for ages. So when we got to Basildon we really had to rush to get to the festival leisure park (sarcastically known as Bas-Vegas) in time to get pizza and make the movie. I was far more excited about eating Pizza Hut's cheesy bites Hawaiian pizza than making the movie (I haven't had pizza in 2 months due to the diet). We managed to eat in good time, without rushing, and then went to see the movie. I wasn't sure what to expect from The Holiday, but after a slow start and probably a bit too much background on the part of Kate Winslet's character, it turned out to be the quintessential holiday movie. It isn't exactly an Oscar winner but if you're looking for a bit of fluff to inspire a rather dull January, this movie is for you. I give it 8 out of 10 buckets of popcorn.

Friday, January 12, 2007

Resolution, Resolution

Right, I'm back, again. It's a new year and although 2006 was for the most part a great one, I'm looking forward to enjoying "real life" in the "real world" starting this year. As many of you know, Pete and I are finally married and living together in Essex, England. It is really nice to be together all the time, it's bizarre that now it feels strange to think we were ever in a long distance relationship and had to leave each other all the time. So, yes, we're enjoying married life, and no, we don't have any immediate plans for starting a family (those seem to be the two most prevalent questions asked of us).

Little update over, here's my list of New Year's Resolutions:

1. Lose Weight - I've lost 10lbs since the beginning of November by attending Slimming World meetings once a week (Thursday nights) and following their food optomizing plan. It's by far the easiest and most fulfilling diet I've ever been on, it's a shame it's only available in the U.K. Anyway, promotion over, I want to lose around another 40 lbs if I can. But I'm definitely not getting over-obsessed with the plan.

2. Find a Job - This really should be the first on my list, but so far this year the dieting has been more successful. I've been seriously job searching since September 2006, have had 4 serious interviews (only 1 of which I felt went well) but unfortunately no job offers yet. Since businesses have started up again after the "festive season" there has been more job advertisement online and in local papers so hopefully something will happen soon.

3. Go on a holiday - Pete and I didn't have a honeymoon because couldn't afford it, so this year we want to go away somewhere this year. We're thinking maybe Dublin for my birthday in May, but nothing is booked yet.

4. Find Our Own Place - Of course this can't happened if I don't have a job, so as soon as I do we'll be saving to get our own place to rent (currently living with the inlaws, which isn't bad but not ideal either).

I'm sure I have more resolutions but I can't think of any more at the moment.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Our Christmas


Four British Christmases
Originally uploaded by Anglophile in Essex.

I did this mosiac in Flickr to show off our British Christmases over the past few years. The one on the left is us this past Christmas, our fourth in England, and our first as a married couple.

I'm back!

I'm back! It's a new year, there's a new Blogger (has Google taken over the world?), and I finally found a new template that I like. Not a lot has been happening lately, hence the absence from blogging, but things are changing (hopefully for the better) and I should have some news to share. I'm sorry for dropping off the face of blogland (that's if I have any reader's left. I'll post again soon about New Year Resolutions and all that jazz.