I feel like the BBC is launching a David Tennant campaign and it's working god damn it. I'm beginning to find him cute. ( Doctor Who ) After that of course we had ( Nan's Christmas Carol ) Lastly we had ( Hamlet )

Christmas went very well, as did Boxing Day. There was definitely a cow theme to my presents, I have some very cute cow earrings and a cow calendar and cow themed chocolate. Also, everyone is very interested in my robot cows. Which is fun. I also got some lovely flat stuff including a slow cooker - soups for all! Or rather, just for me. Ruth also got an xbox so I can take the old one with me! Joy to the world! Mass Effect 2 next month! Joy to the world again!

I have a need for some icons. I want a gif icon of Hamlet giving the audience an aside glance as Polonius is lecturing him in front of the players and I want an icon of John Simm . . . as I described him above. Phwoar. If anyone sees any on their travels, please link me :)

Hope you all enjoyed Christmas and Boxing Day. I'm going to see Sherlock today, so more phwoar to follow I assume.

Woo, internet!

The move went very well, all things considering. I'm pretty much unpacked but not exactly tidy or organised. I figure that will happen next month. My flat is cold, but considering it's apparently been -5 degrees (celcius) last night, I'm not surprised I was chilly! A couple of blankets and a hot water bottle fixed that problem.

Virgin came around today to hook me up to the web. No wireless as of yet but I have a phone and I have a modem so I can't really complain. Sitting watch the Hogfather and checking up on lolcats. The Hogfather is such a brilliant film. I didn't enjoy the Colour of Magic as much, but this one is fabulous.

Tomorrow I'm going to head home for Christmas, and I'm debating figuring out how to turn the water off to avoid burst pipes. Supposedly Christmas eve will see the west coast getting temperatures of -16 degrees. This flat is in a tenement so I don't think there's much danger in leaving for a few days - internet, any thoughts on the subject?

Anyhoo, I'm cold enough to need tea to warm me up now - possibly some malt loaf too, we'll see how greedy I feel. Hope you're all enjoying Hogswatch!

Tomorrow is the moving day. So very stressed. Furniture is in piles. I have endless Ikea bags full of stuff and multiple boxes of books.

So yeah. I'll let you know how it goes, I should have internet back on Wednesday.

This year I made a conscious effort to try and catalogue what I've been reading. I've always loved stories and a good book, but in 2007 I really got back into devouring books because I had no internet and I kept up with it as best I could in 2008. So, with no further ado:

( The reads of 2009 )

The Awards of 2009

Best newcomer:
Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin. It's such an eye opening book, very personal and it really revealed a lot of Rwandan life to me.

Surprise brilliance:
The Coma by Alex Garland was not what I was expecting it to be. It's a modern day fairy tale, a parable of good triumphing even through hardship. Returning to the subway train is heartbreakingly beautiful.

Most awful book:
There are a few contenders but Canal Dreams by Iain Banks. It wins this title because it started with such promise. An older woman falling in love, being strong despite the racial prejudices against her, before it descends into hideous torture porn without rhyme or reason. It's done without sensitivity, without care - it's truly awful.

Best book:
Nation. I was betrayed when Terry Pratchett chose not to write another Discworld, especially when the threat of his mortality loomed large this year. However, giving Nation a chance, it completely bewitched me with the most charming romance, philosophy and world that I could have hoped for. I wish I could have read it as a child because it would have been a defining book in my life. Recommended wholeheartedly.

I managed to drag Ruth to see Avatar.

( Slightly spoilery review )

Yes, I loved Avatar. I loved it as someone who loved the Dragonriders of Pern and Anne McCaffrey. As someone who loves freediving and snorkelling. As someone who is a zoologist and has a passing interest in xenobiology (the geek out scene Sigourney Weaver does with the tree is so underplayed and 'boring' for the other characters, that I had to laugh). As someone who is inclined to believe in Gaia theory. As someone who loves James Cameron's strong female characters - I really loved Avatar.

Sadly, I don't think other people will love it as much. It's not going to be 'on-message' enough for the greens. It's too preachy for the capitalists. There's not enough action for the boys and not enough romance for the girls. It seems to miss on about every single thing.

But it was the film I would make.

tags: product reviews, science is my religion

Ok, relative to yesterdays to-do list I still have to:
[ ] Finish trimming and re-writing report. Not to play Left 4 Dead with sister the moment she comes in because I'm moving soon and we won't be able to play for ages and we'll miss each other, etc. etc. etc.
[ ] Call up Scottish Power about flat.
[ ] Start packing up books.

I think that's everything. I've sorted internet, contents insurance, my matriculation forms. I'm struggling a bit with my new address since it can either be Flat 6 or 2F2, but considering that the flat itself has only got numbers on the doors, not 2F2 or 1F4 or whatever, I've been going with flat six. And then on internet forms the suggestion is 1/6 and since there's no option for 6/1 I've had to just go for it. All very confusing for poor simpleton like me who lives in a house.

So, yeah. I'm probably not doing too badly on the stuff to do front, except for this bleeding paper that I can't seem to concentrate on. I hope you've all bought your copy of Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing in the Name'? I know I have. (Buying music! I know! Usually I'm a Spotify girl).

I'm anticipating a big icon shake up soon. None of my icons are really speaking to me at the moment. Time to start trawling the icon makers I reckon.

In some tragic news though, I heard that the big brother of one of the kids I used to look after died very recently. He was fifteen, it was sudden and inexplicable. It's horrible to think of, for a lovely, charming family. If it's your thing, think good thoughts their way.

Oi! So, at the Spike Video Game Awards, Bungie previewed Reach. So far, so good. My pet forum however has exploded with Teh Rage. It actually gets worse every time Bungie releases something. Spartan 6 hasn't been referred to before in the novels, why do they always retcon? Spartan 6 didn't thank his driver, I don't want to play as an asshole (which I assume means they do enough of that in real life?). Spartan 6 isn't as cool as Ghost. That dude looks like Forge. Moan, moan, moan, moan!

Personally I think the trailer looks cool, looks like it might be a different atmosphere to Halo. Like ODST was all Game Noir, Reach looks like it might be Game Grit, which doesn't hugely excite me, but I'll reserve judgement until I've seen more than two minutes of pre-rendered cutscene. Katja looks frigging awesome. Good looking, tough, (short haired!). Let's hope she manages to continue with Dare's legacy and they can atone for Cortana.

Asides from all that. I am now renting my flat in Gorgie. I need to go through to Edinburgh on Friday as Virgin will be coming any time between 7 and 3 to hook up teh interwebs. I'll also have to go through another day this week to matriculate. I loathe the drive from Edinburgh to Glasgow so I expect I shall be quite grumpy.

Today I need to:
[ ] Sort out the power
[ ] Make mince pies
[ ] Collect a parcel from the post office
[ ] Edit my dog obit paper
[ ] Sort out contents insurance.

But before I do that, I read Outlander ( by Diana Gabaldon )

tags: gaming, product reviews, the reads of 2009