One for the Money a flop?

 

I was looking forward to seeing Stephanie Plum brought to life on the big screen, but after reading the reviews today (see link below) I'm not sure whether I'll see it at the cinema?

Movie Review: One for the Money | Herald Sun

Has anyone seen the movie? Is the 1 star review harsh or totally justified?

I think perhaps I'll just wait for the DVD.   Though I do have to confess I think it's the choice of actors that is the problem.  None of the actors cast really fit the images I'd built up in my head. On-screen Ranger doesn't look like my Ranger, nor does Morelli.  The late, great Estelle Getty would have been great as Grandma Mazur.  However, Ann Guilbert would have been fabulous as Stephanie's Grandma.  She was wonderful on The Nanny, plus she can pull off that style of comedy.  You only have to look at her done up as Yetta (below) to see what a wonderful Grandma Mazur she'd have made.

From me to you...

Review - Death Magic

I'd been waiting eagerly for this installment since finishing Blood Challenge last January.  I finally got my hands on it yesterday at my local bookshop - yeah me :-D

I rushed home and once I settled down to read it I have to admit that I was disappointed.  I loved Blood Challenge. The addition of Benedict and Arjenie's storyline, from their POV was fantastic. I enjoyed reading their narrative more than Lily and Rule's!  In Death Magic I just found it predictable.  Not the storyline so much, but the way those characters react.  Rules all intense and protective and Lily is stubborn, determined, logical and a little bit anal about things.  And while Reuben and his secret was a great twist, there was no more than a few paragraphs regarding the new baby, Ryder - and most of that was about her future sexual education! 

There was no Benedict, Arjenie, or Cynna, why not?  Hopefully the Ms Wilks will either incorporate more narratives in the next book, or give Benedict and Arjenie their own spinoff.

So after my above complaints, this wasn't the worst book out there.  There was much storywise that could have been improved of and the ending bugged me as the confrontation had been building since early on in the book, but it was over relatively quickly.  The bad guys seem to have more lives than a cat, and never seem to get busted by the cops.  Is Lily the only honest competent law enforcement agent out there?  Sam the Dragon and Lily's grandmother are no-shows (I'd love to read that story!) plus much of the time Lily and Rule were apart.  I know there is a reason for Rule's wolf to still be in the back of the storyline, but it's about time we found out why.

Death Magic does advance the storyline, but if you're not a big fan of the series who has to own every book, then I'd recommend borrowing it from a friend or your local library.

Noooooo.... Lost Pictures

I hate the fact that I can accidentally delete a picture folder in my phone's gallery, yet there is no way to recover the file.  Why do they make it so easy to delete yet not tell you "... oh, by the way - once you delete something YOU CAN"T GET IT BACK!" ... ?

Has anyone else been able to find a nifty way to recover lost images from their phones?  My Google Nexus S is only 8 months old for goodness sakes.  Even the manual (which I had to download from Google as the phone didn't come with a manual... hmmm, maybe that should have been my first clue?) doesn't recognise the terms recovery, retrieve, etc.  I think I'll be downloading an app in the future to stop this from happening.

... and Yes, I did have my phone synced to my Gmail, etc, but no photos were saved.

Oncoming Storm

Yeah!  After more than a few steamy days it looks like we're going to get a good storm.

Luckily for me, the town I live in is not prone to the flooding that has inundated other southwest towns like Mitchell, Roma, St George and Charleville.  Most of the rain that fell there over the last few weeks missed us here.  Hopefully this storm brings enough rain to cool the area down

Lots of rain

Just had a text from home.  They've had 277mm in the last 32 hours... OMG!

At the moment I've got a 'severe storm warning' where I'm at.  Thunder is rumbling almost continually - I love it :-)

Goodbye L plates!

Yes, as of last Tuesday I am now legally allowed to drive! 

I thought I'd flunked at one stage, but came out of the practical test 40 min later clutching my paperwork that said I'd passed.

Woo-hoo!

Just wanted to say...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Unexpected guest

I just went out to retrieve my mail when I noticed a visitor resting on my porch.  Haven't seen one of these for ages!

Christmas reading

Merry Christmas to you all!  I hope your day was as fabulous as mine.

This year was the first time I have never received a book for Christmas.  Strange, but true.  Luckily, a pre-ordered title showed up - just in time for some Yuletide cheer. 

"What book was it?" I hear you ask... well, it was the latest story in the seemingly neverending Breeds saga by Lora Leigh.  Lawe's Justice picks up soon after Styx's Storm and we find Rachel's sister, Diane, hunting for the location and names of Breeds or former Council scientists who can help her niece, Amber.  A Huntress, she is wary of her mate, Lawe Justice, as he wants to corral this high-spirited warrior, and keep his mate safe behind Sanctuary's formidable walls.

Adding to the tension between the two is a feral breed, Gideon, who has endured torture that was beyond compare.  He is using Diane to locate 3 former captive Breeds whom he considers betrayed him by keeping him alive (they did it out of love I think?), and is killing every person he considers guilty.

There are appearances by the other alpha's, and this is a continuation of the Bradenmore storyline. 

Braden and Megan are present for a brief moment, this is their first appearance in a looong time, so I savoured it.

Although this is Dianne and Lawe's story, the introduction of Gideon made me want to read his story instead.  He is such a forceful, tortured character that he simply overrides the others.  He's just like Jonas - only, you know, psychotic.

This book was only about 2 1/2 stars, but Gideon pushed it up to 3.

You can read this as a stand alone book, but it is much more potent when you have read all the others.

Great... that's just what I needed

... not.

Frustration is at an all time high as just when I want to print out the final copy of my assignment, my printer dies about 3 pages in. It stopped and told me that I had the incorrect print head.  What the f*#$!

Print Head

 Seriously, just what are the odds of that anyway?

My Canon Pixma MP970 has been an excellent printer, and at only 4 years old I thought that the part I need might still be available.  So I called local office suppliers, and places like Dick Smiths - an electronics chain store for those not in Oz - only to be told that the part would cost around $200!  That's nearly as much as I paid for the printer brand new.  Other places told me that the "print head is the life of the printer.  Lose that and it's cheaper to replace the printer than buy a part"... OMG.

Thankfully, mum came to the rescue.  I called her about sourcing a possible replacement print head, cause she's not out in the sticks, and turns out that it is really cheaper to replace the whole thing.

So after downloading brochures online, I think Santa/Mum will be bringing me a new printer for Christmas.  A new Canon Pixma MG4160. 

Please Santa, let it last.

Salt Dough Ornaments, Part 2

 

Just thought I'd post a pic of my salt dough decorations.  I blogged about making them over a month ago, and they are finally on the tree.

The snowflakes came out the best I think, but they all stayed a nice off white.  Very rustic, and perfect for the basic colour scheme I was going for.  Red and white, with the only read colour coming from the multicoloured lights.  Now all I've got to do is find a fabulous tree topper.

Beautiful Xmas Tree Shadow

No, I'm not kidding.

I just turned on my Christmas tree lights for the very first time and discovered the most amazing byproduct... a trippy, hippy, psychedelic shadow that's being cast on the wall behind!

What do you think of this? Weirdly beautiful isn't it.

Damaged Book Update

You really can get good customer service from internet sellers.  The book I was grouching about last week, Five Odd Honors, was bought online from Book Depository.

I emailed them regarding the quality of the item, they wanted some pictures as proof (I was happy to oblige), and... PRESTO!.... I have a replacement copy being sent out to me.

I wasn't rude, or demanding.  I just stated my case and asked what my options were.

See, there are still some responsible vendors left online :-)

Cooking up a Gingerbread Army

Today was such a tiring day!

I'm editing the final draft of my assignment.  So after staring at the screen for an hour getting nowhere I decide to bake, hoping to relieve my stress...

Yeah, right.

I had bought a packet mix so there I was... I kneaded, and floured, and rolled and cut.  My benches looked like Frosty the Snowman had burst!  Then I had the little darlings in the oven, watching them rise.  Ah, it was all fun and frosting till I saw the washing up... oh boy

Anyhow, next year I'll use my old recipe.  These ones aren't very flavour-some.  A tiny bit of ginger, and no dark brown sugar I suspect.  Next year I'll kick butt with a dark sugar, rich and flavour packed Gingerbread.

In the meantime, I hope all your gingerbread turns out fabulously this Christmas.