What is your Sexy Brazillian Name

I need to get a life

Your Sexy Brazilian Name is:

Ticiana de Roraima

What's Your Sexy Brazilian Name?

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Now this is what I call a proper rom-com. The film version of the chick-lit bestseller makes some changes. I suppose Bridget can't interview Colin Firth when she is actually going out with the character played by him....

The film is a loose adaptation of the book, and that is not so bad. At times it is a bit too cringey and predictable, but unlike Mr & Mrs Smith for example, I did laugh out loud at moments, particularly further into the film, and I did care that the characters got together at the end, as it was such a sweet film. The soundtrack is ace (Will Young, Jamelia, Mary J Blige) and uplifting, the excellent cast look like they are having fun, especially Firth and Hugh Grant when they have the, now obligatory, fight scene. All in all this is a classic girlie rom-com, nothing more, nothing less and I don't think this is a bad thing. Best watched on a night in alone, or with girls. Preferably with a glass of Chardonnay.

Hed Kandi - The Mix: Winter 2004

Yet another old Hed Kandi purchase. This is a three CD box set. The first CD is The Winter Beach Mix which kicks off with Bonnie Bailey and Safe a lovely chillout track. Much of this CD is of the chillout/house genre and has some Latin and African type rhythms also. Some of the early tracks I could see myself dancing to but there are no real outstanding tracks on this CD, although listening to it in the home environment makes it hard to judge.

Disc 2 is Disco Heaven which is usually my favourite, and certainly starts promising with Give A Little By Andy Caldwell & Jay-J which is proper hands in the air disco. There are three tracks at least that I already know as I have them from other Kandi compilations, and in fact more than that upon closer inspection. Peyton's Keep the Faith is good enough to have twice fortunately. Mirabeau's Back from Outta Space gets a notable mention however, as not only a new track (to me) but manages to sample (yet twist) I Will Survive with some Latin rhythms thrown in for good measure. Shawn Christopher's Don't Lose The Magic samples Five Star's Find the Time if I am not mistaken.

Disc 3 is Twisted Disco ('The Darker Side of House') which usually needs to grow on me. It will have a hard time living up to Disc 2 though, even the tracks I have duplicated. Again, some duplicates (bizarrely featuring on the '05 Spring Sampler, when full versions - notably I Want Kandi by Eric Kupper/ Barrow Gang/Bonnie Bailey) are on this disc. Further proof that the Spring Sampler was a bit of a rip off even if it was cheap. Top tracks include Armand Van Helden's My My My, Strings of Life by Soul Central and Feel It by Antoine Clamaran featuring Lulu Hughes (with an interesting Pat Benatar riff ripped off). Also an interesting cover of Seven Nation Army (originally the White Stripes) by Open Air (whoever they may be). Breaker J's Higher State of Consciousness samples Stonebridge and Therese's Put 'Em High, so at least they're ripping off their own stuff now!

Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

No trip to New York is complete without a visit and I climbed to the top and got some fantastic city views, but the weather was disappointing. I am rather fond of this shot though, as you see the angle that the statue over looks the city and the eponymous Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre that was still there in 1995.

Post-Reality Romances

Found this interesting link on the web. Jodie Marsh and Darren Day seem to get around a bit, they just haven't got round to getting it on with each other yet.

Essexgirl goes to Greenwich

Ratboy and I said we were going to do some sightseeing in London on Sunday, but couldn't get up much enthusiasm for anything, so headed off to Greenwich at about 1.30pm in the car (saved us half an hour). We parked near Island Gardens and walked through the Thames Path tunnel which is 1200 feet long and varying depths under sea level depending on the tide to Greenwich. We came up right by the Cutty Sark, but didn't visit it as it was very busy with people making the last of the decent weather, plus about two thousand people walking for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

We detoured into Greenwich market, mainly second hand stuff - clothes, records, assorted bric-a-brac. We didn't see very much original crafts stuff as we expected, maybe we weren't looking in the right part. We then followed the crowd into the park and up the hill where we went into the Royal Observatory. We didn't fancy queueing to take our photos on the meridian line with millions of Japanese people with 14 cameras each, so we went on to look at the camera obscura which was a more of an advanced version of the pinhole camera you made at school, and we got to see people walking past Queen's House at the bottom of the hill. We also had a look around the small museum, which was also free.

We walked down the hill and went into the National Maritime Museum, another free attraction in London that is very well maintained and up to date. We decided not to do the Nelson & Napoleon exhibition at £9.00 each. Ratboy was feeling the effects of a heavy week, so we just had a short look around, but found the exhibitions of Explorers and Passengers very interesting before walking back through the tunnel to the car.

Strictly Stars Announced

The celebs participating in the new series of Strictly Come Dancing have been announced, with better known names including Patsy Palmer, Zoe Ball, Colin Jackson and cricketer Darren Gough. The token older lady has been taken by Gloria Hunniford. Bruce and Tess are back to present and the judges are the same. Three new dances have been added: Jitterbug, Argentine Tango and Salsa.

The new series kicks off on 15th October and I will be watching it religiously and blogging with updates.

What is Your Hawaiian Name?

One of those silly web things:

Your Hawaiian Name is:

Okelani Lanikai

What's your Hawaiian Name?

X Factor Update

The never-ending rounds of auditions with no-hopers and remedial class members has finished, so there is no one available for the nation to mock anymore. Even I was starting to get uncomfortable with the legitimised bullying that meant publicly humiliating people that were less fortunate than the majority of the population. Next week Boot Camp starts and the producers have allocated a category to each judge. Louis has the Under-25s, which is the most talented category. Sharon has the Over 25s and Simon has the groups, which are generally poor. A fact that is pissing Simon off no end, and the Sunday papers have picked up on this.

Last FM Update

The artists I have been listening too since February on the PC alone:

1 Paul Weller -54
2 Madonna - 50
3 Stonebridge - 40
4 Wet Wet Wet - 39
5 Will Young - 33
6 The Beatles -32
7 Thompson Twins -31
8 Stevie Wonder 30
8 Kylie Minogue - 30
10 Go West - 27
10 Gwen Stefani - 27

iTunes Top Ten

The Top Ten tracks I have listened too on iTunes and iPod since June last year:

1. Paul Weller - You Do Something To Me
2. The Lightning Seeds - Marvellous
3. Sugababes - Killer
4. Supergrass - Moving
5. Robbie Williams & Tom Jones - Full Monty Medley (Live)
6. Dodgy - Good Enough
7. Wet Wet Wet - If I Never See You Again
8. Snow Patrol - Crazy in Love
9. Skunk Anansie - Hedonism
10. The Lighning Seeds - You Showed Me

I May be Busy for a While

The reason I may not be writing much is the new Sims 2 expansion pack - Nightlife. I will write a full review when I can tear myself away for long enough.

Shopaholic and Sister - Sophie Kinsella

I have read all the Shopaholic books (this is the 4th) and really enjoy them, although many hate them. It is true to say that our heroine Becky Bloomwood is a hopeless case who, in each book, gets herself into a different muddle each time which she resolves by sticking her head in the sand until she manages to pull off something spectacular to save the day. the premise is pretty much the same in each book, but you do get sucked in trying to see exactly how she will get out of her latest cock up.

In this book she also has to deal with having a long lost half-sister she never knew about. Easy reading, frustrating and transparent characters, but I still enjoyed it.

Petrol Sign

From a US site.

A bloody good idea

I love a good idea and I rather like the clear shoe boxes from VivaLaDiva. They do boot and high heel ones too. I feel an investment coming on in a vain attempt to keep the clutter at the bottom of the wardrobe under control.

More iPod Accessories

Not missing a trick, Pull-i have got iPod covers (in felt) for the new Nano already.

Paul Weller - Paul Weller

I bought an old Paul Weller album recently. I am going through some kind of Weller renaissance at the moment I think. This CD is from 1992 and kicks of with the catchy Uh Huh Oh Yeh which was a single, though I don't remember it being a particular hit. It is followed by I Didn't Mean To Hurt You which makes we wonder if it is autobiographical as sleeve notes refer to him thanking his wife for standing by him during his low points.

I believe Bull-Rush may have also been a single, and joins its predecessors with the guitar led jazz sound that is quite unique to Weller and makes his tracks so pleasant to listen too, though not always instantly grabbable (although Uh Huh Oh Yeh is a possible exception off of this album, and there are other exceptions off of Stanley Road and Studio 150).

Round and Round is a particularly jazzy number and Above the Clouds is more mellow. Remember How We Started, particularly at the end has jazz influences. Clues is quite an unusual song with an interesting flute part.

Into Tomorrow has a bit more of the rock influences that Weller demonstrated in The Jam and The Style Council, but still is a lot tamer than anything they offered. Most of the songs are very listenable and this is an excellent background CD for mellow moments.

Hitch

Watched on the flight to Hong Kong. Quite good rom-com with Will Smith being cute and funny. Perfect for lightweight film watching conditions.

6.5/10

Kafka Museum Statue - Prague

Kafka Museum Statue
Originally uploaded by Essexgirl.

This statue is outside the Kafka Museum in Prague. You can't see it that well, but they are having a wee whilst rotating. They do a lovely hot chocolate in the cafe.

National Talk Like A Pirate Day (Yes, really)

Today is National Talk Like a Pirate Day. I found this website to tell me my correct pirate name: Iron Anne Bonney :

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Essexgirl Goes to Hong Kong

After almost imploding with frustration and misanthropy at Heathrow Terminal Three we finally left for out week in Hong Kong. We arrived the next day in the late afternoon and found chaos with our shuttle bus service. A short walk from our hotel the Eaton we found the local MTR (tube station) Jordan and bought an Octopus card for HK$150 ($50 refundable) which is just over a tenner, and then (after a nice Chinese dinner) we got the Star Ferry over to the island, before getting the tube back to crash out.

On the Monday we went to the tourist office and booked tours to Lantau and for Tai Chi and Tea. After this we went to Man Mo Temple, one of the oldest in HK and had a walk down Hollywood curios and antique market then to the escalator, which was going in the wrong direction. Later that night we went down to the waterfront, to the Avenue of Stars where you can watch a Sound and Light show over Victoria Harbour. We ate at a Blues on the Bay restaurant which was Western styles and we both had lovely Thai style curries. Ratboy's had the world's largest prawns in his and my veggie one had fruit such as grapes and strawberries in it. Hong Kong is a great city to walk around late at night, it is still very warm but less crowded, plus we had the opportunity to explore Temple Street Night market where I got three bags.

On the Tuesday it was our Lantau tour. We got the ferry across and had a short break at Cheung Sha beach so we could say we had paddled in the South China Sea. From the bus we saw the resevoirs and a couple of the seven prisons on the island (which has only two hotels). Next we went to see the world's largest, seated, bronze, outdoor Buddha. He was a big fellow. Our guide showed us a round the museum associated with it and pointed out a bone from the neck of the original Buddha kept in the museum. After that we went for a vegetarian banquet lunch at the Po Lin monastery which was delicious and then had some time to walk around the monastery before visting Tai O fishing village, whilst fishing is not as big an industry as it was, the villagers still live in traditional stilt houses and fish (especially dried fish) are available to sell. It was about a million degrees centigrade at this point, with 4000% humidity, no breeze and the smell of fish. It was a miracle my lunch stayed in my tummy. We also visited at Taoist temple and then got a boat to see the pink dolphins which live in only two places, the Amazon and the Pearl River Delta and can only survive in mixed fresh and sea water conditions. No one is sure about their colour and whether it is to do with the pollution or their food. I was expecting some pinkish grey dolphins but they are a really strong girlie pink colour. I have a few photos of the splash they made as they disappeared back under the water as I pressed the shutter. We took the digi video cam and notched up 12 mins of film of the (empty) South China Sea before a pink dolphin graciously agreed to appear in the right place at the right time for approximately three seconds.

On Wednesday we had an early start and went for a Tai Chi lesson. It was very good and quite hard work even though it is not very energetic. After that we went for Dim Sum as part of a tour, which were nice, and then to a Bird Market, where many men buy and sell birds and come and display their pets to other enthusiasts, you can also buy cages, porcelain water bowls and live locusts to make your feathered friend happy. A strange, but interesting, place. Next stop was to try some Chinese teas and to see the correct way to make them. I dutifully tried them all, but am still never going to drink the damn things. After this we took a little walk to some of the air conditioned shops, there are a lot of designer shops in HK and a lot of electronic shops. For the most part they are not any cheaper then the UK. After lunch we headed back to the hotel for a quick rest.

That evening we went to Happy Valley race course for one of the first meets of the new season. There were seven races. Ratboy carefully studied the form, rider, distance etc whilst I chose the horse because I liked the name of it or the jockey's colours. I made 200% of my stake, Ratboy didn't win a thing. I also had two close losses on a photo finish. After this we got a tram and decided to explore Wan Chai, but it chucked it down with the intense rain that we don't see in the UK. We ended up in some dive called the Horse and Groom (apparently also known as the Horse and Doom in the guide book), due to the weather we did not get chance to explore the area so headed back to the hotel for a few drinks at a nearby hotel. When they started snorting cocaine at the tables and singing Kareoke, we left.

On Thursday we had a quiet day, and got up late before going over to the Island and getting the bus to Stanley. We took some time exploring the market and had a snack lunch before going to the beach for a bit and getting the train back again. We went back to the harbour that night and took some photos and then headed to Ashley Street where we went to a fab Indian called The Gaylord and I got to eat Tandoori mock-duck. Yum. Got ripped off at the cocktails at a nearby bar which was a shame, but that is a good area for going out generally.

For Friday we had booked a trip to Shenzhen in China. We had a short time in the morning and then we got picked up. We got the high speed Ferry across and then a coach took us to a few sights such as a statue of some Goddess and a mangrove. Then the groups split, some went to Lo Wu shopping centre for 4 hours of shopping and the rest of us went to Splendid China theme park where we took a little train around the park to see China's highlights in miniature. Just before the end it chucked it down with rain and we got drenched, we then ran to the restaurant where we had a pleasant lunch and then to a show where we saw dancing and acrobats. Some of the girls were fabulous and much better than the boys. We then had time for an hour at Lo Wu where I managed to purchase some Class A fake bags - Gucci and Prada bags and a Gucci purse for £50. We then caught the train home, which was opposite the shopping centre and were back at our hotel by midnight (twelve hours after we left) for a drink in the bar.

Saturday was our last day and our first opportunity to visit Victoria Peak and ride the funicular (it had been closed earlier in the week). Not missing a trick there was a shopping centre at the top. Unfortunately it was a hazy day so photos were not great. We decided to try Wan Chai again, this time for lunch and struggled to find a Chinese restaurant with an English menu. There were Western style restaurants, and one or two Chinese ones with no vegetarian options. Eventually we found a place but although the menu was in English the staff didn't speak it so requests to see the menu and ask for chilli oil were met with blank faces. We got the ferry back to from Wan Chai to Kowloon and picked up a pair of trousers I bought for the equivalent of less than £15 before getting the MTR back to Jordan and the hotel to go to the airport. The shuttle bus service was as bad coming back as going home but we got our flight without too much incidence. Regrettably the food was disappointing on return but we survived the 13 hour flight and landed at Heathrow at 5.30am.

Last Fm Update

The tracks I have listened to on my computer since I downloaded Last Fm (then Audioscrobbler) in February.

1 Paul Weller - 52
2 Madonna - 50
3 Stonebridge - 40
4 Wet Wet Wet - 38
5 Will Young - 33
6 Stevie Wonder - 30
6 Thompson Twins - 30
8 Kylie Minogue -29
9 The Beatles -28
10 Gwen Stefani - 27

Hed Kandi - Spring Sampler

I bought this old Hed Kandi CD from this spring as it was cheap and helped fill in my Amazon order! It is a single CD of 15 tracks divided into three genres:

The first is Winter Chill and I was unfamiliar with all five tracks although Barely Here by Claude Bareau and his Orchestra Feat Bonnie Bailey was very haunting and Heal by Bonnie Bailey and Peyton is pleasant, although no track stands out as being fantastic. The theme for these tracks was definitely laid back, but I find them slightly dull.

The second set are the Disco Heaven tunes, which are usually my favourite. Peyton's Keep the Faith is promising and it features Be My Friend by Scape featuring D'Empress which is on the Disco Heaven CD from earlier this year. That is the one bad thing about Kandi compilations, some tracks can be on three or four different CDs.

The Twisted Disco set features the good old HK classic Take Me Away by Stonebridge featuring Therese plus some other hard core dance and house tracks. Other notables include I Want Kandi by Eric Kupper presenting The Barrow Gang featuring (the now ubiquitous) Bonnie Bailey. Quite. Bizarrely most tracks in this latter third are all very short.

Verdict: Could do Better.

500th Post

This is my 500th post. *proud*

What About Me? - Kate Figes

This book is written by a mother, Sue (in her forties, menopausal) through e-mails to her sister in Australia and her daughter, Frankie (fourteen) in a diary. The format makes it very easy to read, and it was quite enjoyable. Both lead characters are likeable, yet dislikeable, as they come to terms with the events of a busy family year and at the end of it see how both characters have grown-up.

Not a must read recommendation, but worth picking up if you have the chance.

Mr & Mrs Smith

This Brangelina movie has been much hyped due to the alleged romance between the two leads. I found it to be an average film. There was little comedy in it, as neither actor is a great comic actor, it would have been funnier with other leads. The action was good, with a couple of very good fight scenes, the romance was painful and the plot quite poor, with a 'twist' so weak it was more of a twirl.

The married leads are secretly assasins for different organisations and are hired to take each other out. That is about it.

5/10

Hong Kong

A preview shot from our trip to HK last week. This is Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong island from the Kowloon side:

Apple latest

Apple have been busy whilst I have been away and have intoduced the iPod Nano, a pencil thin iPod starting at £139 for 4gb. I'll stick with my 20gb for now, ta.

Paul Weller - Studio 150

This CD is an album of cover versions that are given the unique Weller take, adding on his own influences to give these songs a unique twist. A lot of the tracks I didn't know before buying this album, but they are so Welleresque that you'd never know.

If I Could Only Be Sure (originally Nolan Porter) is the first track and is very much jazz influenced, this is followed by the better known Wishing On A Star (originally by Rose Royce) where he has speeded it up and very much made it his own, in a lovely drum beat led ballad with a great guitar solo.

Next up is Don't Make Promises (originally by Tim Hardin) which wouldn't be out of place in any Blues bar if it were played. The Bottle (originally Gil Scott Heron) gets full on jazz treatment, with a complete brass section. Next up is the folk style ballad Black is The Colour. I am not a big folk fan but it is done well and simply with Weller's croaky vocals.

One of the more interesting covers is that of The Carpenters' Close To You, the jazz influence is there as is the influence of classic soul on the backing vocals. Another folk track is Early Morning Rain, which is OK as folk songs go, but that is my personal taste. He also covers Oasis' One Way Road and the intro sounds like it should be on Bugsy Malone as there is a strong trad jazz influence. Hercules is another song that I didn't know, again jazz is a big influence with an assortment of brass instruments stylishly playing in the background.

Another interesting cover is Sister Sledge's Thinking of You which is slowed down from its disco roots and sang over sweeping strings. Also featured is Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower, which could do with the rocky, punchiness of the original. The CD finishes with Neil Young's Birds, a classic piano ballad.

There is an extra EP available with live versions of five of the tracks on the album plus a cover of The Beatles' Come Together, which I really like, so I elected just to buy that track from iTunes. He does credit to it with the funky, rocky guitars and the vocals work well.

A very good buy.

Greetings from HK

Having a fab time in HK, seen pink dolphins, a large buddha, done Tai Chi, won at the races and am shortly going to China for a day trip (plastic, tourist China I should think).

Also - Lots of shopping!!

It is just gone 10am in the morning.

I'm off on holiday....

What is in a name?

I love stuff like this. John Lewis Gift list has checked out of four popular surnames to see what is typical on the Wedding Lists.

Patel - Higher consumers - Plasma TVs; Fridge-freezer; Top end crockery.
Jones - Entertainers - Coffee makers, hammocks, champagne buckets.
Smith - Homebodies - Sofas, board games, microwaves.
Cohen - Dinner Parties - Le Creuset pans, lemon squeezers, fondue sets.

Get Your Rocks Off

Lovin' it! The Top 15 tracks to play on your Audio vibrator!

1. American Woman - Lenny Kravitz
2. I Love Rock n' Roll - Joan Jett
3. Family Affair - Mary J. Blige
4. Come Out And Play - Offspring
5. The Distance - Cake
6. Kiss - Prince
7. My Sharona - The Knack
8. Just a Lil Bit - 50 Cent
9. She-Bop - Cyndi Lauper
10. Coin Operated Boy - Dresden Dolls
11. You Spin Me Round - Dead or Alive
12. Gonna Make You Sweat - C & C Music Factory
13. Mony Mony - Billy Idol
14. In This World - Moby
15. Lust For Life - Iggy Pop

Last Fm Update

The new Audioscrobbler tells me I have listened to the following artists the most since February:

1 Madonna - 49
2 Paul Weller - 41
3 Wet Wet Wet - 37
3 Stonebridge -37
5 Will Young - 31
6 Thompson Twins - 29
7 Kylie Minogue - 28
8 Stevie Wonder - 27
8 Gwen Stefani - 27
10 Goldfrapp - 26

John Grisham - The Summons

It didn’t take long to finish The Summons, it is a small book and Grisham’s books are easy to read. Anyone who has read anything by him before will not be surprised to learn it is about a lawyer from the Deep South. In this case Ray Atlee is a professor of law and the son of a judge who summoned Ray and his brother to his house before he dies. Unfortunately he dies before they can get there and Ray discovers a bundle of cash stored in the house. Even more unfortunate is that someone else knows about the cash and rather fancies it themselves.

This book did not set the literary world alight, but if you read Grisham then that is not what you are looking for, you are just looking for a good legal adventure that will entertain you, and that is what this book does although it is far from his best.

Goldfrapp - Supernature

Ever since I hears Goldfrapp's debut single Ooh La La from their new album Supernature I loved it and was keen to hear more. Fortunately XFM were keen to oblige when it came out last week and played a few tracks for me so that I knew it was worth buying. It also got a good, if poncy, review in The Daily Telegraph.

Slick, disco tracks like Lovely 2C U, Number 1 and Fly Me Away are enjoyable, plus slightly darker tracks like Ride A White Horse, Koko and Slide In. There are also chillout tracks in the shape of You Never Know, Time Out From this World and Let It Take You and they are all mixed up together to make a great album to listen to in track order or be happy about when it turns up on shuffle. One of my favourites is the Scissor Sistersesque - Satin Chic.

A top album that I will listen to again and again.