Surf's Up

Saw this movie yesterday and got a positive surprise! The reviews here have been quite bad.
Apart from the storyline that indeed was a bit thin, I really liked it! I've never seen an animated film in a documentary format, innovative and very fun, they really portrayed the natural, non-acting behaviur and humour of the characters. (When the mother serves her "stew" is hilarous!)

And the animation and computer graphics were AMAZING!! The water looked real and fooled me many times. And they had real weather, like on the day of the big surf event, the weather was real bad and you could feel it in the light, colours and shadows. The standard thing to do would be to make the big event day sunny and bright!

I also loved the chicken character, voice by Jon Heder. He is always a pleasure to watch, animated or not!

(Another well made film is Ratatouille, but I found the story rather childish)
(Another nice surf film is Blue Crush with Kate Bosworth. Not the best movie you will see but its in my top movies in the feelgood category.)

Gråsuggan

I recently bought this bug from IKEA for my godson, it's SO cool! The mouth has a zipper and you can hide stuff in there. I felt a little stab in the heart when I gave it away, so I had to get one myself. Buy these for your kids! They are supersoft and have no plastic parts. I love it!

Equale rättvisemärkt choklad.

Jag har ofta en väsk-choklad i handväskan för de där tillfällena då man behöver litet energi (och njutning). Ju mörkare desto bättre är min devis, åtminstone upp till 76%.

Min senaste väskchoklad är Equale Extra Mörk från Sackeus. Rättvise- och kravmärkt (den första i världen enligt de själva).

Och jättegod! Ett fint klick när man bryter den ska ju vara viktigt, så det lyssnade jag efter och det lät bra.
Smaken är underbart fyllig och fin med nåt slags blomster-eftersmak. Konsistensen är slät, fast och krämig på samma gång.

En solklar rekommendation!

Faki faki cheap price

If you decide to go to Gothenburg, do not miss the lentil soup, Faki at Alexandras Soppkök in Saluhallen, Kungstorget. (Tramstation Kungsportsplatsen)

At only 30 SEK it is a culinary miracle! Red hot and tasty.

Alexandras has daughter-shops in Malmö and Lund as well. The one in Malmö ( Saluhallen by Lilla torg) is excellent as well, Lund I have not tried.

Wanna make your own faki? Try this recipe. Or this one. The secret is in the red vinegar.

Heroes

I've become addicted to NBC's new tv series "Heroes".

Great everything so far, concept, story, acting, beautifully shot.

The viewer is tossed around between multiple sub-stories all over America, India and Japan.
Random (?) people suddenly discover that they possess an unusual skill and react very differently to it.

This series is in fact as much an intricate relationship drama as it is a superhero-story.
So it doesn't matter what you're into, Heroes won't disappoint you!

I like: The fact that the Japanese guy is called "Hiro", fun pun!

Hiro's expression while he uses his power!

That the cool little daughter in "Remember the Titans" (great film btw)
grew up and became one of the superheroes!

Mmm..my new darling

You know that furry feeling (referred to as 'woolen gloves' by a friend of mine) on your teeth after eating something sweet?

I finally found a way to get rid of it. Listerine mouthwash! (available at Apoteket, länk här)

Green, mean, tastes exactly like Swedish chewing gum Jenka.
It claims to keep teeth clean for 12 hours, so used morning and night gives you full protection against the gloves!! I really noticed a difference, no matter what I eat, my teeth are smooth as a baby's bottom.

Just be careful with how much you take, it's so strong that a few drops (a teaspoon?) is enough. 20 ml is waaaaay too much, believe you me! Give it a try why dont ya!!

Muji

I just solved two of my major storage problems. See, the thing is that I forget about stuff that I don't see all the time.

I have loads of makeup. It used to be all mixed up in a huge makeup box, all the little packages rubbing against eachother, most of them long since forgotten.

Until I went to Muji (at the recommendation of a sales person at Face Stockholm). This lovely lovely little shop. (or corner of Åhlens) I found these lovely little acrylic storage units with drawers.
Two of them got to go home with me, one 3 drawer and one 5 drawer unit.

They solved all my problems! I got so happy that the next day, I went for yet another one for my earring collection. I can now see everything that I own. And stuff will not get chipped or sticky och yucky because of excess fumbling. Thank you, Muji!

The Notebook

Totally predictable but very very cute, the Notebook is a real gem in it's genre.


This movie will leave no eyes dry, great acting from Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling (and the rest of the cast). I love Geena Rowlands too. Ooh, and what I especially like is that they didn't follow the obvious path and made the "other guy" an especially bad one. Good job!!

The story? Pretty much the usual, at first it seems impossible but love conquers all.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Hiya. Long time no see. It is mainly because I work full time and have no time left for discovering new and wonderful things to recommend. That and I'm lazy as hell.


Anyways, I saw a refreshingly different movie yesterday that I think you should see too.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. (rated 7.9 on IMDB, everything above 7.0 is often very watchworthy.)

The movie is a murder story/comedy that takes place in Los Angeles, starring Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer. It's brutal and confusing but hysterical and beautiful. I especially like the pre-movie-credits (word?), beautifully illustrated and animated in black, white and orange. ( all right, I am a credit fetischist..)

Read Pixelsurgeon review here.

Fah la la la laaah la la la la

I need to get the Christmas spirit going. A great way to do this is to see 'Love Actually'. It's adorable, I get all warm and fluffy inside when I watch it. The movie consists of a number of main characters of different ages, with different stories that turn out to be interwoven in intricate ways. Of course it also has it's fair share of goosebump moments and moist eyes... All in a lovely Christmas setting. To me, this one is already a classic ( albeit, in the "romantic comedy"
section of my moviemania, I am not as hard a judge as usual...).
I'll probably go on watching it every Christmas, and you should too.

Godmorgon alla barn!

... heter miniserien på ettan som jag just tittade på. Så här beskriver de den själva på SVT:s hemsida. (DÄR MAN ÄVEN KAN TITTA PÅ AVSNITTEN I 30 DAGAR EFTER ATT DE HAR SÄNTS! PASSA PÅ!) (Edit)

"En samhällskritisk dramaserie med en handling som cirklar runt dokusåpornas utslagningsfilosofi och dess följder. Eller en berättelse om barns utsatthet och hur vår förmåga att nå kärleken gått förlorad. Eller helt enkelt en surrealistisk saga om ett litet samhälle vars invånare lever ett liv bortom rim och reson."

Den är fullständigt skitdeprimerande och riktigt bra i all sin klyschighet. Mellanstadiekänslan har på pricken fångats och den är kanonsnyggt filmad, som en Lars Lerin-målning fast med levande bild. Och mer humor. I am hooked.

Wardrobe tip

With much clothes and little space, I use an under-the-bed drawer to stuff all my tops in. It works just fine. The main reason for it working just fine, is my "roll-method". I never fold t-shirts and tops, I roll them. This way you can pull out the drawer and see EVERYTHING at once. With neatly folded piles, you only see the top top (haha), and when you're in a hurry, things end up not so neatly. Or folded.

Oh, and this method also works miracles with jeans, and when packing a suitcase.

Mera Fredagsgourmet!

Nu finns äntligen en till bok i den, av mig själv tidigare hyllade, Fredagsgourmet-serien! Den tredje boken, som heter "Mera Fredagsgourmet", är späckad med 150 nya recept ur den populära kolumnen från Allt om Mat.
Har inte hunnit kasta mig huvudstupa in i recepten i praktiken, men när jag bläddrat i boken känner jag igen stuket. Lättlagat with a twist. Det kan vara en ny och annorlunda ingrediens, eller en välkänd ingrediens på ett nytt ställe. Till exempel har jag sett att de har VANILJ i en sås som ska vara till gösfilé. Måste testa!

Architecture

I just love the website of Plot (which consists of a couple of Danish architects). It is like a candy bag, a bunch of colorful little icons lead you on to something tasteful (more often than not). They seem to build a lot of physical models, some of which are very detailed and even lit from within! From the looks of it, concept rules above everything else, but I cannot help but wonder whether some of it isn't actually post-constructed...

However, Plot.dk is definitely very worth a visit! And hey, if you search the page thoroughly, you might find a special little treat!

The Blind Watchmaker

... is a great book by Richard Dawkins, that makes you think about evolution in a whole new way.
I read it a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. It has a scientific point of view without being too hard to get through, the language is somewhere in the middle of essay and novel. Very interesting from the first page to the last, give it a try!

The Skeleton Key

I spent a lovely week of sun and snorkelling on Crete, and came home Friday afternoon. More on that later. Friday night I saw a movie that I would like to recommend, "The Skeleton Key".



Without telling you too much, this is the story in short: The movie takes place in New Orleans. Kate Hudson plays a nurse who gets tired of her old job. She moves in with a couple to assist the husband who has had a stroke, gets a skeleton key that opens every door in the house (almost) and it doesn't take long before she begins to suspect something fishy is going on..

I really enjoyed the movie, it's not too scary really but a bit creepy at times. It is beautifully filmed with a yellowish tone to it (think "O Brother, Where art Thou?") and the soundtrack really adds to the spooky feeling, being a little cosy at the same time.

My boyfriend will sure be sad to see that "If I Can Dream", by the one and only Elvis Presley, is not included in the soundtrack, even though it is played in the movie...

Lemony Snicket

Saw "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events". I loved the acting, the Baudelaire kids are great and Jim Carrey makes a great appearance (or a couple, actually) as the greedy Count Olaf. The movie is built like a children's story, but it's very dark and a little bit scary for kids, I think. It makes me want to have seen it as a child.

My favourite part came at the very end. The credits are the most beautiful credits I have ever seen. A mixture of school play, silhouette theatre and animation. Do not miss them!

My favourite pen

Hiya. Sorry I've kept you waiting for so long, but I've had kind of a hectic life lately. Started an internship last Monday, very fun!

Anyways, here's my favourite pen! It's actually the refill that can be used as a pencil, since it has a cap and everything. Much cheaper to not buy the "shell". Plus I think that the slimmer grip is more comfortable.

It's called Pentel Stylo Refill, I buy it at Matton (Kungsgatan). Don't forget that students have 20% off!

A little known fact

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My sister pointed this out to me: Kara's Flowers = Maroon 5

Yep. Makes sense now that I think about it. I HAVE actually heard Kara's Flowers way back in the Weezer days, they made a couple of good songs, like "Oliver" and "Myself", for example. Maroon 5 is a bit more slimy, but "This Love" is so darn catchy that I cannot not like it.

Wu jian dao

Just got back from watching a movie at a friend's house. Infernal Affairs (2002) was smart and thrilling with beautiful camerawork. The story is about two moles, one in the police department and one in the mafia. They each get the mission to find out who the other mole is. Sometimes all this twisting and turning gets kinda confusing, be sure to watch it with a discussion partner! I am still not sure about everything. What about the very last scene before the credits, for example? Explanation anyone?