Friday 28 March 2008

The Top 10 Bunnies in Film

This email from my DVD rental service arrived this morning. 


Easter has arrived! Which means it’s time to sit on the sofa, stuff your face full of chocolate and enjoy some much deserved time off work. Worried about gorging ourselves on too many sugary treats, this week we celebrate the coming of spring and all things Easter with our top 10 bunnies in film list. Ok, we’ll stop rabbiting on now… Read more

I laughed out loud. I love bunny rabbits! And what a great idea for a list; I love lists!

But hang-on, the good people at LOVEFiLM are promoting Easter movies -- five days after Easter!

I shook my head, laughed again, and then clicked on the “Read more” link. Shock and horror: I had been mis-lead! They’ve included HARES alongside rabbits!!! Are there not enough talented bunnies to make the list? Unbelievable!

My heart pounded as I scrolled down the page. On reaching the bottom, I sighed with relief; all ten places ARE occupied by rabbits. Phew!

But it left me thinking, I’d like to see a lot more roles for rabbits. ;)

Wednesday 26 March 2008

A (Secret) Crush and Newborn Lambs

For a couple of years, I’ve had a huge crush I have not mentioned to anyone. My reason for secrecy was threefold: he’s an older man, a married man, and his dress-sense is slightly dated. But push those things aside (quickly!) and he embodies all I admire.

He’s intelligent, creative, and driven. He has soul. He draws and makes things out of wood. He writes wonderful short fiction and wonderful epics. His name is Philip Pullman.

And whenever I read one of his interviews, I feel enriched. Sigh...


(The Firework-Maker's Daughter, and Clockwork, or All Wound Up are two of my all-time favourite novels.)

**********
En-route to the Lake District for Easter weekend, I drove through Caldbeck Common -- where the ponies grow thick, winter coats.



Driving home on Tuesday, I jumped out of the car to snap the cutest newborn lambs… I’ve seen in all my life!!!

Click on the photos for bigger and better views!

Thursday 20 March 2008

Happiness, Sadness, and Something In-Between

:-)
I love good news. And good news about a brilliant book by a fabulous writer is double (or even triple) good news! Which means it must be GREAT news! What, what, what? Well, I’m delighted that Patricia Wood’s wonderful debut novel, LOTTERY, is a contender for the 2008 Orange Prize for Fiction!

And, because I’m having no luck winning the UK’s National Lottery (though I live in hope), I’ll trot along to the bookie’s and bet on LOTTERY winning the Orange Prize!

:-/ 
I adore characterful property. And the gypsy blood that runs through my veins means I’m always thinking of moving. In fact, I was supposed  to be moving next week. To this apartment:



But my buyer backed down two days before exchange of contracts, so I was forced to pull out of the purchase. This is exactly what happened when I tried to move last October. So, I’ve had two potential buyers pull out, you guessed it, two days before exchange of contracts. And on both occasions, I was trying to move to an apartment!!

This must be a sign that my next move should be… NOT to an apartment, but towards my dream of living in the country.

:-(
The untimely death of writer and director Anthony Minghella is incredibly sad news; “… absolutely ghastly” is how Juliet Stevenson describes it in her warm and insightful tribute.

I re-watched Truly, Madly, Deeply only last week, as part of my research on ghosts.