The highlights of my upcoming week include listening to Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time countdown (will try and post mp3s of the ten songs I voted for) and watching the Torchwood: Children of Earth miniseries on UKTV! Well, I'm not especially pumped about the latter, but since there is a severe lack of Doctor Who on tv this year, this will keep me happy until September, when Ten's due to pop up on The Sarah Jane Adventures.

And now, onto Hotel Babylon. This will be the last episode for a week or two because of Torchwood. :/ Will watch episode three after posting this and maybe post the recap for that during the week.

( Hotel Babylon review time! )

I'm hearing....: Lenny Kravitz- Are you gonna go my way?

I have lost my day off to more work- I guess I don't mind too much. More money is good, and I should be getting my tax return and my stimulus cheque this week. Most of my stimulus money will go into savings (possibly for my little holiday to Macau/Hong Kong in the new year), though I'm reservin a bit of it to buy a copy of the great Lewis & Short Latin dictionary, which will look attractive on my bookcase and be extremely useful- though I will probably buy a second-hand copy, since USD$200 plus shipping is a little more than I want to pay.

Anyway, because of work and other random crap in my life, only got around to the first HB cap this afternoon. Haven't seen episode two yet, though it's on its way.

( All screencaps under the cut as per usual, and some spoilery thoughts. )

I'm hearing....: Glas Vegas- Geraldine

I rarely talk politics here, but I've been following the aftermath of the Iranian elections via the media and ontd_political (a closet follower of this comm no more!). I feel absolutely helpless watching some of the footage of protesters being beaten or chased by the police, but I would like to make my feelings clear on this.



Crappy shot, I know. But you get the idea. If you want to show the Iranian people that you support them too, you can send an image of yourself (or a sign, you don't have to be in the shot) like this to Stand with Iran. There are rallys going on around the place too...I went to the Brisbane one today, but couldn't stay for the march to parliament house, sigh.

So there it is.

And now on a completely shallow note: I have the series four premiere of Hotel Babylon coming. Can't wait to watch it tomorrow!

With a lack of any academic stuff going on in my life (besides my attempts to seek out information for my PhD topic- slim pickings for the most part), my Latin tutoring at the seminary has given me a bit of purpose, and has compelled me to go back to the language and extend it beyond what I've learned from the classical part. I just ordered and bought Keith Sidwell's Reading Medieval Latin, which has a chapter on the Latin of the Church Fathers.

Ideally, I'd have a really awesome dictionary to accompany new Latin text, preferably Lewis & Short (my rudimentary Latin dictionaries do not cover Latin vocab beyond maybe the third century C.E., something that annoys the hell out of me- time for a bigger, better, stronger lexicon!), though that might have to wait, given the price. However, I'm expecting my tax return later this week, so this might be a good cause to put it to.

And now, on a less academic and more fangirly note, have a YouTube clip: the trailer for Rachel Weisz's upcoming epic Agora!



The amount of awesome in that trailer, I cannot begin to describe it. That someone is even making a movie about the volatile political/religious climate of Alexandria in the late fourth century C.E. is amazing enough, that the protagonist is a female philosopher and mathematician (Hypatia of Alexandria) completely blows my mind. Rachel Weisz blew off The Mummy 3 to do this- I freaking would see this alone for that, let alone the gorgeous visuals. Only downside is that there is no Australian release date- PLZ RELEASE IT HERE, I haven't seen a good film/series about the Greco-Roman era since series two of Rome. Besides this...we've got, what, Clash of the Titans (does have Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes in it, but could still be an epic car wreck)? Bring the quality already!

I'm feeling....: creative
I'm hearing....: Khatchaturian- Gayane- Ayshe's Dance

I've been thinking about buying The Sims 3 this week- anyone got it yet? I have had this spiffing laptop for nearly a year and all it has been witness to is assignment writing. Time to put some games on it!

The big game of the year for me however is THE NEW MONKEY ISLAND GAME OMG, and whether I should buy it for my Wii or for the laptop. Think I'm going to kick it old skool and put it on the PC. The graphics look nice, though I like Guybrush better without the beard, I cannot lie. I might consider getting the new remade edition of Secret of Monkey Island too.

And that's all I have to update. Oh, and tonight's Colbert Report? :O *mourns Stephen's hair* Seriously though? I think the crew cut is kinda hot.

I'm feeling....: excited
I'm hearing....: Ralph Vaughn Williams- Fantasia on Greensleeves

Saw Martin Short last night- he was all kinds of amazing. Haters can hate, I think he's a god among comedians. And I can't believe that Brisbane got included in his little tour up the East Coast. But then I always feel some vague sense of awe when actors/comedians show up here to promote their work, mostly because I'm surprised they know that Brisbane exists at all. Anyway, it was fantastic and hilarious and all the things you'd expect from him- seeing some of his work from SCTV and SNL was worth it too- I wish they'd release this stuff on dvd here!

Went and saw Angels & Demons on Monday with Libby, and it's safe to say that the only reason either of us was going was this:



I dub thee Father Sexy. Woof woof!

( More review under the cut. )

I'm not going to bother with The Lost Symbol when it comes out. You can keep your Dan Brown novels, the most anticipated book of the year for me is Robert Harris' second novel in his Cicero trilogy, Lustrum- I just pre-ordered it!!

In further good news, there's now a small press pack for Hotel Babylon series four. Huzzah! Disappointing that Emma Pierson's leaving the show though- I'll miss Anna. And wtf, they wrote Jack out? They're not even bumping him back to deputy manager? Wasted potentially awesome characters make me sad, as does no more Lee Williams. But I'm happy that they've made Tanya head of housekeeping (finally!). I'm still quite excited for series four too- it's like the dessert in my tv diet.

I'm feeling....: content

Ok, so there's no exact date, but BBC are premiering Hotel Babylon series four in....about two or so weeks?

I don't care about what day it's on, I'm just glad it's coming back- Dexter Fletcher is apparently bringing out his Spike accent out of retirement for an episode! THANKYOU FOR FINALLY SCHEDULING IT, BBC!

I'm feeling....: excited
I'm hearing....: Empire of the Sun- Walking on a Dream

I can't believe it's taken me nearly two months to write all this down. I suck. ;p Enjoy, though! Pictures here.

( More under the cut. )

I'm not sure where I want to go overseas next, though I'm hoping to travel in January. I've considered returning to Japan then, but I'm also considering Hong Kong/Macau- it would be a short trip if that was the case- Asian countries appeal to me in a way because they generally don't involve long-haul flights and the time differences aren't drastic so there isn't too much jetlag involved. Part of me is absolutely itching to return to Italy as well, but that requires more planning than I'm prepared to do presently, argh. Greece might also be on the agenda too- my older sister and I talked about going there a few years ago but didn't because of my honours commitments. Decisions, decisions!

I'm feeling....: accomplished

No updates lately more out of laziness than anything- I promise the final Japan post soon though. And then I can move on with more fannish pursuits- like where the hell is series four of Hotel Babylon? I'm dying here! :( I'm thinking about checking out Martin Shaw's new series on UKTV though- I believe he's playing a priest/exorcist? It looked alright judging from the ads.

In the meantime, I hope the local flisters are enjoying the truly epic wet weather we've BEEN having lately. Our study is slightly flooded- I say slightly because I don't believe that the water's not covering the whole floor and I don't think it'll go further. The bookshop is a cause for greater concern though, as we had damp patches and water dripping from the ceiling in a few places. Fingers crossed I don't go to work tomorrow morning and find a disaster area instead! TAFEs, like rather a lot of government-owned buildings, don't have regular maintenance done until they're virtually in ruins. D:

I'm feeling....: lazy

Today was a sad day, but in the interest of getting out of the cycle of grief, I didn't really stop to think of Maryke. It does go without saying however, that a day does not pass when I'm not thinking of her and asking the same questions that I was asking two years ago and yet receiving no answers for.

I was struck sharply by news from a friend that a priest who ministered to me and other students at Stuartholme passed away unexpectedly. I remember Fr Norbert for the droll sense of humour in his homilies and his affection for us- he was very popular and well-loved in the Stuartholme community. It was also two years ago today that he was saying mass for Maryke, and then was there to comfort me a week later when I attended my class reunion.

Anyway, as David Horton might say: Moving on. I've written up the post on the second leg of my Japan trip. Pictures are here.

( A week in the Kansai region. )

I'm feeling....: melancholy
I'm hearing....: Sarah Blasko- Flame Trees