Thor

Posted on 16/5/2011 by WeatherGrrrl

Popcornalicious. This was an absolute hoot and exactly what was needed from a summer blockbuster: lots of energy, explody things, overthetopness, hot guys, and a complete lack of stick-up-arse, as they say in the vernacular. It made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion and permitted the consumption of butter drenched popcorn and high fructose corn syrup. What more could a gal want? Hell, there was even an interesting female character who was more than eye candy and actually talked to another female character about something other than getting a date with some hot guy. Wow, my cup runneth over!

Current temperature: here 64F/18C, there 12C/54F

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Spring has Sprung

Posted on 16/5/2011 by WeatherGrrrl

You can tell that spring has hit hard in Minnesota when the quiet sunday afternoon idyl is disturbed by the mechanised sound of mowers mowing.

Spring is definitely here and the grass has become rampant. As have all the weeds that thrive therein. We’ve been trying to mow for a few weeks but it wasn’t until yesterday that dry weather and free time coincided appropriately for the rampaging plant life to be mown down. And boy was it rampageous! Took me forever, with my handy dandy electric mower, to make it all the way around our corner lot. It doesn’t exactly look like a beautifully manicured English lawn but at least the city won’t come round and complain.

Afterwards I sat and watched the local wildlife indulge in a feeding frenzy of bug consumption. There were a pair of robins hopping across the lawn looking for worms who were particularly interesting.

Current temperature: here 64F/18C, there 12C/54F

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UMM Student Art Show 2011

Posted on 16/5/2011 by WeatherGrrrl

This year two of my aluminium sculptures were juried into the annual student art show at UMM. The base for the first piece is walnut. Photos taken by Nic McPhee.

Mother and Child

Mother and child

Hairball #1

Solid as (h)air

Current temperature: here 64F/18C, there 12C/54F

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Harry Potter 7 part 1

Posted on 1/12/2010 by WeatherGrrrl

Tense. Despite having read the book and knowing what happens this is an incredibly tense movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat for its entire length. The visuals are quite stunning and the ending left me wanting more. I’m ready for part two right now, damn it!

Current Temperature: here 14F/-10C, there 0C/32F

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Day and Knight

Posted on 1/12/2010 by WeatherGrrrl

Yawn.  This movie can’t quite make its mind up what it is, there’s just not enough wit involved to pull it above the mediocre level for which it has settled.    The action is not quite spectacular enough to be a draw and there’s not enough witty humour to amuse.

Current temperature: here 14F/-10C, there 0C/32F

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Ah yes, this is winter!

Posted on 1/12/2010 by WeatherGrrrl

So we’ve had snow, of and on, these last few months but today was the first time I needed to shovel knowing that if I didn’t the sun wouldn’t fix the situation. The storm didn’t bring much in precipitation but the wind blew everything around enough that there was plenty of snow to be dumped in the driveway by the ploughs as they cleared the street.

I managed to start shovelling early in the afternoon, so the sky was clear and a bright blue, and standing in the sunlight was pleasant. The shadow of the house only crossed the pavement in one corner so I didn’t get to stand in the cold for too long. The job took about 40 minutes and was not too onerous. The tricky spots as usual were the end of the front walk, which was filled in up to 6 or 7 inches by the wind and the two spots where the pavement intersects with the street which the snow plough had filled in.

Current temperature: here 14f/-10C, there -1C/30F

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Poem: Head Girl

Posted on 15/9/2010 by WeatherGrrrl

Head Girl by Susan Gilbert, September 2010

They are a rambunctious rabble,
gathered at one’s table.
One wonders if one has the mix right?

Geoffrey seems to have knuckled under one’s latest diktat,
even if he’s gone all Brussels on one.

Willie is.
Snooze inducing. The sensible wet side,
balanced by the mad monk, to one’s far right.

Sadly, Norman is nowhere in sight.
Maybe someone stole his bicycle?
Words will be had.

Oh my, Michael’s soft silky mane is so out of control.
All it needs is a good brushing, stroking, teasing, petting.
One might wind one’s fingers around those long luscious locks.

God, no! Cecil is flirting with one again. If one were not such a people person one would bash his head in with one’s hand bag. (It is a lethal weapon, registered with Her Majesty’s Secret Service.) Only to be used in the most desperate circumstances. Apparently, this does not count.

My. One is thirsty. Where is one’s husband when he is needed?
A cuppa would go down right well about now.

Continue reading →

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Prince of Persia

Posted on 15/9/2010 by WeatherGrrrl

Hokum.  But deliciously fun hokum.  A pretty boy hero meets a spunky heroine and they do battle with a dastardly bad guy in a plot that makes absolutely no sense.  Gotta say Jake Gyllenhaal is seriously hot and buff and well worth the price of admission.  Great popcorn and soda outing.

Current temperature: here 13C/55F, there 57F/14C

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Ramona and Beezus

Posted on 15/9/2010 by WeatherGrrrl

Sweet.  It’s not often we get to see young interesting female leads in a movie made primarily for young girls so this was a real treat.  The plot isn’t particularly unexpected but did make me laugh quite frequently.  A very enjoyable time was had by all.

Current temperature: here 55F/13C, there 14C/57F

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Lessons From The Fat-O-Sphere

Posted on 7/9/2010 by WeatherGrrrl

… Quit dieting and declare a truce with your body. Authors: Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby.

I was a big fan of Shapely Prose, the fat acceptance blog begun by Kate Harding, and mostly bought this book to be supportive and see if there were further insights to be gained that were not obvious from following along at the blog when it was still active.

It quickly became clear that I am not the target audience for this book. From the word go I found the book’s style to be far to be to loosey goosey and was not impressed by the lack of depth and seriousness. I think this book is much more suited to a twenty something who’s never really given much thought to how the world works and how she’s being manipulated and mislead by the main stream media. In some respects this book is a not unreasonable introduction to the subject and a jumping off point to learn more.

For me the style was way to informal. The style of writing more suited to a blog, rather than a book I’ve paid hard earned cash for. I wanted more depth and seriousness. While studies were quoted there was no really digging down into analysing what science had to say about fat issues. I wanted to grapple up front and personal with the hard issues where this was a brief introduction and hand shake.

The book definitely has an urban bias, which makes a number of its suggestions untenable for those living in a rural environment.

Current temperature: here 55F/13C, there 17C/63F

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