Weekly Update!

Cleaning & Cage-dancing!

This week it was back to work as usual in preparation for the return of the family I am housesitting for- hence the short post. The only time I stopped cleaning and tidying was when Chris came to stay on Wednesday evening, when we had a nice chilli and watched Up! The following day we went to the cinema to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which was amazing (see previous post).

On Friday I had an 'interview' for a full time nannying position with the family I did a temporary job for- said as so because their last nanny has upped and left without any notice, so it was more a question and answer session than an actual interview. Afterwards I drove to Chris' and we went for a pub dinner at a two for one place called The Woodside. We shared potato skins with salsa and then I had chicken topped with cheese and Jack Daniels sauce, while Chris had a surf 'n' turf. The whole meal cost £14, and it was really nice- even if I did get salad instead of corn on the cob with mine as mentioned on the menu!

On Saturday after I had finished working at the pub I drove to Lancaster, as it was my friend Geoff's birthday during the week, so a few of us decided to go out to celebrate. We drank in the house beforehand, and then went to Wetherspoons, Hustle and ended the night in Elements. Elements was full of the locals, who are none too desirable, but it was a fun night, even if I did get stupidly drunk and dance in a cage! The following day I stayed in bed until lunchtime (for obvious reasons!), before having some breakfast and then driving back home in the afternoon, after watching the Manchester derby on TV. Then I had an early night in preparation for my next couple of crazy weeks!

Winter Views...

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - 5 stars *****

I was eagerly awaiting the release of this film after seeing a billboard advertising it over summer, and being an avid fan of the books, I was excited. I never got around to watching the original Swedish versions of the films, but heard they are very good, so they are on my to-see list.
The plot is pretty complicated, so I'm going to cheat and say you can find it on Wikipedia using the link at the bottom of the page. Otherwise I'd spend this whole post going over the storyline and not actually talking about what a brilliant film it is.
First of all the cinematography in this is awesome, there are loads of great scenery shots, and techniques that are effectively used to really visually enhance the movie. The standard of acting is great, but then it is Daniel Craig who plays the lead, so it was always going to be a pretty safe bet. However, backing from Stellan Skarsgard (Bootstrap Bill in Pirates of the Caribbean) and Joely Richardson adds icing to the cake, and the actor who plays the 'baddie' is nasty in a really spine-tingling way - he would make even the most mild-mannered of people want to kill him. Perhaps the person who caught my eye the most though, was Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, the lead female. Not attractive in a standard way, but the feistiness and 'don't care' attitude that she exudes really blows you away, and as a fan of alternative looking people, I had quite the girl-crush on her!  
A word of warning to those thinking of watching this though. There are quite a few scenes that are very graphic and emotionally disturbing, so if you are not good with violence or blood, then perhaps give this one a miss. I must admit, I was quite shocked at the level of intensity that some scenes showed considering this had a pretty mainstream Hollywood cast. I knew the Swedish version was very loyal to the book (which is 463 pages long and very detailed!) but I expected a diluted version from an American adaptation. It's a good thing though, as it doesn't lose any of the grittiness and drama of the book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_with_the_Dragon_Tattoo