We returned from Ibiza on Saturday. Despite my dad not being with us, we had a very nice time. The weather was great for the first few days and then changeable for the last few, but it did not dampen our spirits. The kids had a great time playing on the various beaches we went to. They especially loved digging the sand and making piles and things. If the weather had stayed hot and sunny I would have said that it is the perfect time of year to visit Ibiza because the clubbing season is almost completely over. There are no crowds at all and yet the water is still relatively warm and the weather is quite good. The worst of the weather though for us was saved for the last day. For much of the afternoon and evening it poured down torrentially. But it actually made for quite a fun time. The kids loved playing in the puddles and drips, and the adults amongst us just sheltered under the awning of a restaurant and drank beer/coke/miscellaneous beverages. There will be photos soon.
We returned home in time to see the Rugby World Cup semi-final between England and France. Oh boy was that a tense affair. With England managing to defeat the heavily favoured hosts 14-9. It followed England's fine 12-9 victory over Australia the week before (again against a strongly favoured foe), which we were able to see in a restaurant in Ibiza. Now all that remains is a final confrontation with South Africa. England will once again be heavy underdogs, which might actually work in their favour. If England manage to win, they will be the first team ever to retain the Rugby World Cup (after winning it in Australia in 2003).
One last item: my dad appears to be almost fully recovered from the bike accident. He went to work for a little while yesterday morning, which - even though he still needs to be careful not to over do things - is a good sign.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Friday, October 05, 2007
Off We Go...
So, we're off to Ibiza early tomorrow morning. Leaving the house at 3:00am in fact. That'll be nice.
My dad will definitely not be coming with us, which is a huge shame. But it does look as though my mum will be coming - it all depends on what the doctor says when they go to see him this afternoon. We have car hire all booked for when we arrive and we have a pretty good idea of how to find the resort, so... see you in just over a weeks time - hopefully with lots of good photos!
Bye.
My dad will definitely not be coming with us, which is a huge shame. But it does look as though my mum will be coming - it all depends on what the doctor says when they go to see him this afternoon. We have car hire all booked for when we arrive and we have a pretty good idea of how to find the resort, so... see you in just over a weeks time - hopefully with lots of good photos!
Bye.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
On the mend...
News on the condition of my dad first. After one slight scare, which included a trip back to the hospital, it appears he is making a gradual but steady improvement. He is still in pain thanks to his ribs and collar bone, but does seem to get better a little bit each day. He dislikes being a patient but has been advised to take it as easy as possible for about a month - only time will tell whether he will be able to do it! Unfortunately his injuries mean that he will be unable to come to Ibiza with us next week. It is still up in the air as to whether my mum will come with us, but either way it is a major disappointment for all of us.
Of course, I am still looking forward to going to Ibiza (even though it is tainted now). I hope it will provide many opportunities for me to continue my new favourite hobby, photography. I have managed to acquire a couple of lenses quite inexpensively and now have a reasonable array of equipment which will allow me to take advantage of any photo-ops that arise while we are away.
Recently I have been taking a few photos of urban scenes and details (mostly thanks to a Pact I made with a fellow Flickr member, greg.turner) and have been mostly pleased with some of the results, here are a few of my recent favourites:
I should also announce that I have created a new "portal" site to act as a gateway into all my other web areas: www.sunfacethirteen.co.uk. It is very simple but hopefully acts as a good starting point.
The twins continue to amaze and infuriate us, they are really coming along nicely with their speech and other development. Just this lunchtime Morgan started singing the Bob the Builder song even though we have never shown him Bob (he must have learned it at nursery or at the child-minder's). Here are a few recent photos:
You will also notice that I have changed the layout and look of this blog. It was just time for a change really and gave me an opportunity to match it more closely to the new portal site I mentioned before.
Of course, I am still looking forward to going to Ibiza (even though it is tainted now). I hope it will provide many opportunities for me to continue my new favourite hobby, photography. I have managed to acquire a couple of lenses quite inexpensively and now have a reasonable array of equipment which will allow me to take advantage of any photo-ops that arise while we are away.
Recently I have been taking a few photos of urban scenes and details (mostly thanks to a Pact I made with a fellow Flickr member, greg.turner) and have been mostly pleased with some of the results, here are a few of my recent favourites:
I should also announce that I have created a new "portal" site to act as a gateway into all my other web areas: www.sunfacethirteen.co.uk. It is very simple but hopefully acts as a good starting point.
The twins continue to amaze and infuriate us, they are really coming along nicely with their speech and other development. Just this lunchtime Morgan started singing the Bob the Builder song even though we have never shown him Bob (he must have learned it at nursery or at the child-minder's). Here are a few recent photos:
You will also notice that I have changed the layout and look of this blog. It was just time for a change really and gave me an opportunity to match it more closely to the new portal site I mentioned before.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Eventful...
It has been an eventful time since my last post. The twins celebrated their 2nd birthday on the 14th, which was a good day. We had most of our close friends round in the evening and the kids really enjoyed opening presents and cards. They still probably didn't quite grasp the reason for all the excitement, but they had a good time nevertheless. Marla made a couple of cakes, one for each of them, which we all enjoyed. Here are some photos:
Thanks to all those that came and to everyone who sent cards and/or presents. The kids don't yet appreciate it, but we do!
The following day was not a good day. My dad had an accident on his bike and was relatively badly hurt. He broke his clavicle, cracked some ribs and punctured a lung. He also hit his head and suffered what appears to be concussion, which caused him to be confused and disorientated for a couple of days. We were all very worried about him but he is home now and appears to be on the mend. He is not particularly happy about being a "patient" - but he doesn't really have much of a choice now, does he?
In other news, I am still very much enjoying my photography and have just recently began my first foray into trying to sell my pictures. My gallery can be seen at http://sunface13.imagekind.com/. I have also added a new section to the side bar of my blog.
Thanks to all those that came and to everyone who sent cards and/or presents. The kids don't yet appreciate it, but we do!
The following day was not a good day. My dad had an accident on his bike and was relatively badly hurt. He broke his clavicle, cracked some ribs and punctured a lung. He also hit his head and suffered what appears to be concussion, which caused him to be confused and disorientated for a couple of days. We were all very worried about him but he is home now and appears to be on the mend. He is not particularly happy about being a "patient" - but he doesn't really have much of a choice now, does he?
In other news, I am still very much enjoying my photography and have just recently began my first foray into trying to sell my pictures. My gallery can be seen at http://sunface13.imagekind.com/. I have also added a new section to the side bar of my blog.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Success...
This past weekend we (Friendly Fire) played in the Bristol Wreck softball tournament, which is a nice low-key, low-pressure event, just right to end the season with. We were short of players for most of the weekend and relied heavily on help from "ringers" (players from other teams, playing for us too) but the good news is that actually won something for a change. We won the D Plate competition, which in reality meant we were the best of the worst 8 teams (32 teams competed in all), but we had to win a quarter-final, a semi-final and a final and we got t-shirts and beer as prizes! It was a good weekend, with lots of rain on Saturday and lots of softball throughout. And it is so nice to end the season on a high note like that. We have one more game to play this year (tomorrow night), so I hope our good fortune continues for one more day.
Also, as promised, here are a few of the recent pics of the kids:
All these and more can be seen on my Flickr pages.
Also, as promised, here are a few of the recent pics of the kids:
All these and more can be seen on my Flickr pages.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Slacker!
Two months is a long time. Eh.
We've just returned from Devon where we spent 4 nights camping. It was a surprising success. I was expecting the kids to have a tough time with the whole camping experience but they actually took to it really well. They are almost new people since we've been back. More confident and seemingly more content. The weather was also fantastic, which really made a difference. We had one afternoon of bad rain, but apart from that it was perfect. Hopefully photos to follow in an upcoming post.
The bad side was that we had severe car problems. Two weeks ago we had to have the clutch replaced, then while we were camping the gearbox gave up - we were stranded in Devon. In the end we managed to tow the car (with Dad's help) to a relatively nearby garage, where it remains still. Hopefully it will be fully repaired by tomorrow morning so that I can drive the rental car back down to Devon and collect it. All very annoying, and very expensive!
In other news, our softball season is drawing to a close with only a couple of weeks to go, plus a tournament next weekend. It's been a disappointing season with only a few good performances... and I have not played well the last couple of games, so I am really hoping to pull myself together for the final few. The Premiership football season starts tomorrow (it comes round so quickly). Liverpool will once again try to challenge Manchester Utd and Chelsea, and even though they have made some good signings, I am still in doubt as to whether the squad is strong enough to be serious contenders. We'll see.
We've just returned from Devon where we spent 4 nights camping. It was a surprising success. I was expecting the kids to have a tough time with the whole camping experience but they actually took to it really well. They are almost new people since we've been back. More confident and seemingly more content. The weather was also fantastic, which really made a difference. We had one afternoon of bad rain, but apart from that it was perfect. Hopefully photos to follow in an upcoming post.
The bad side was that we had severe car problems. Two weeks ago we had to have the clutch replaced, then while we were camping the gearbox gave up - we were stranded in Devon. In the end we managed to tow the car (with Dad's help) to a relatively nearby garage, where it remains still. Hopefully it will be fully repaired by tomorrow morning so that I can drive the rental car back down to Devon and collect it. All very annoying, and very expensive!
In other news, our softball season is drawing to a close with only a couple of weeks to go, plus a tournament next weekend. It's been a disappointing season with only a few good performances... and I have not played well the last couple of games, so I am really hoping to pull myself together for the final few. The Premiership football season starts tomorrow (it comes round so quickly). Liverpool will once again try to challenge Manchester Utd and Chelsea, and even though they have made some good signings, I am still in doubt as to whether the squad is strong enough to be serious contenders. We'll see.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Playing catch-up again...
OK. Time to update the old blog. My posts are becoming fewer and further between. I do have a legitimate excuse this month though. The twins are just now getting over their bout of Chicken Pox (does that need to be capitalised?). It started two weeks ago when Morgan was sick in the night, that then turned into the whiney clingy phase, which eventually transformed into the spotty "pox" phase. I have to say it has been one of the more challenging periods we've had since the kids were born. They have been out of nursery for much of the time so I have been at home with them far more than usual, and coupled with a random attack of impetigo (still don't know how to spell that), which meant they were both on anti-biotics, it has been difficult. They both seem to by much better now, but the spots are still around causing a bit of itching for them. Thank goodness we'll only ever have to go through it this one time!
In other news, Paul and Rachael were married what seems like ages ago now. It was only three weeks ago, but blimey, much has happened since then. It was a nice wedding ceremony and a very groovy reception, with Rachael's dad's band providing the music. Jolly good. And congratulations to them for finally tying the knot.
We are continuing to play softball with mixed results although we have won our last two games. The weather continues to be changeable - glorious on Tuesday, but pouring down for much of the rest of the week.
Other things worth mentioning include Liverpool's Champions League loss to AC Milan, 2-1. It was a decent game during which Liverpool may just have been the better team, but they were unable to take the few chances they created. The much anticipated visit from my Flickr friend from Aberdeen three weeks ago was a great success - we showed her and her friend around some of the sights of Bath and had much fun over dinner and a game of Ticket To Ride. Speaking of board games, I am still attending the Frome games club on Thursdays. It is a great way to keep learning new games and I've met some nice (if slightly geeky) people.
In other news, Paul and Rachael were married what seems like ages ago now. It was only three weeks ago, but blimey, much has happened since then. It was a nice wedding ceremony and a very groovy reception, with Rachael's dad's band providing the music. Jolly good. And congratulations to them for finally tying the knot.
We are continuing to play softball with mixed results although we have won our last two games. The weather continues to be changeable - glorious on Tuesday, but pouring down for much of the rest of the week.
Other things worth mentioning include Liverpool's Champions League loss to AC Milan, 2-1. It was a decent game during which Liverpool may just have been the better team, but they were unable to take the few chances they created. The much anticipated visit from my Flickr friend from Aberdeen three weeks ago was a great success - we showed her and her friend around some of the sights of Bath and had much fun over dinner and a game of Ticket To Ride. Speaking of board games, I am still attending the Frome games club on Thursdays. It is a great way to keep learning new games and I've met some nice (if slightly geeky) people.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Busy...
What a busy time we've had of late. This month has really flown by with things going on nearly every weekend. Paul and Rachael are getting married this Saturday; Marla went to Rachael's hen night in Bournemouth two weekends ago and last Saturday was Paul's stag do - we went paintballing, my first time, loved it. Then, the following day we had a day-long softball tournament, which was great fun but very tiring, especially after a day of paintballing! One other event worth mentioning was the quiz night we took part in earlier in the month. There were 12 teams of four, one of which was the team of my parents (who always do well in quizzes). Our team was comprised of Me, Marla, Andy & Fi. Lo and behold, we only went and bloody won the quiz! It was momentous indeed.
Another event on the horizon - tonight's horizon, in fact - is the UEFA Champions League Final. As it was two years ago, it is between Liverpool and AC Milan. There is a great deal of positivity surrounding Liverpool's chances this year, but Milan are such a good side that I am hopeful but not the least bit expectant. Anyway, come about 10:00 tonight, I will either be very happy or very sad.
The kids are doing well. They are quite happy these days and only really get upset on a regular basis when they are fighting over toys and things, which is one of the many "joys" of having twins. Because of our busy month they have been spending a lot of time with my parents and Joe & Ruth, which I think is very good for all concerned.
Another event on the horizon - tonight's horizon, in fact - is the UEFA Champions League Final. As it was two years ago, it is between Liverpool and AC Milan. There is a great deal of positivity surrounding Liverpool's chances this year, but Milan are such a good side that I am hopeful but not the least bit expectant. Anyway, come about 10:00 tonight, I will either be very happy or very sad.
The kids are doing well. They are quite happy these days and only really get upset on a regular basis when they are fighting over toys and things, which is one of the many "joys" of having twins. Because of our busy month they have been spending a lot of time with my parents and Joe & Ruth, which I think is very good for all concerned.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Is It May Already?
It's really silly the way I can't seem to post on my blog regularly anymore. It's not like I don't have things I could write about. Just lazy I suppose.
Let's see. In the near month since my last post there have been a few things worth noting. Firstly, my friend Susanne in Boston has had a healthy (and I might add, unbelievably cute) baby girl named Caroline - born on April 11th. Congratulations again Susanne and Mark, I hope things are going well for you. I look forward to the time when we can get our children (and ourselves, of course) together, and if we also add in Andy & Fi with Harrison and Jen and her twins, it would be quite a gathering.
Speaking of the twins, they seem to be happy and healthy at the moment. A bout of cold mid-April made things a bit tricky once again, but they are in fine spirits at the moment. We took them to Cotswold Wildlife Park on my brother's birthday (April 29) and they really seemed to enjoy seeing the animals. Here are three pics from that day:
Ironically, the two photos of the twins were taken when they were looking at ducks, which are animals that they can see whenever we go to the local park (for free!). The last pic is a photo is of an Amur Leopard that I was particularly happy with.
Softball season has started for us. We have played two games and already have had mixed results. We played very well in our opening game and won it convincingly, but last night we played a team that we really ought to have beaten and lost narrowly 16-19. Very annoying.
The soccer season is drawing to a close and Liverpool have reached the final of the UEFA Champions League (European Cup as it was once known) for the second time in three years. They beat Chelsea last night after a penalty shoot-out. As happy as I am for Liverpool reaching the final, I am almost equally as happy that Chelsea did not reach the final. It seems that European glory is something that their immense riches cannot buy!
Marla has completed her work for her Masters Degree. Things are now getting back to normal in our household now as a result. I was happy to do what was needed at home while she was busy with her work, but I have to say that I am happy it is all over now.
We now have a very busy May ahead of us. But it is a good busy, with lots of social events to look forward to, including Paul & Rachael's wedding, Rachael's hen (bachelorette) weekend, Paul's stag (bachelor) day - paintballing, yay! - a quiz night, my birthday, a race day at Castle Combe, and a visit from one of my Flickr friends from Scotland.
So. That's all for now.
Let's see. In the near month since my last post there have been a few things worth noting. Firstly, my friend Susanne in Boston has had a healthy (and I might add, unbelievably cute) baby girl named Caroline - born on April 11th. Congratulations again Susanne and Mark, I hope things are going well for you. I look forward to the time when we can get our children (and ourselves, of course) together, and if we also add in Andy & Fi with Harrison and Jen and her twins, it would be quite a gathering.
Speaking of the twins, they seem to be happy and healthy at the moment. A bout of cold mid-April made things a bit tricky once again, but they are in fine spirits at the moment. We took them to Cotswold Wildlife Park on my brother's birthday (April 29) and they really seemed to enjoy seeing the animals. Here are three pics from that day:
Ironically, the two photos of the twins were taken when they were looking at ducks, which are animals that they can see whenever we go to the local park (for free!). The last pic is a photo is of an Amur Leopard that I was particularly happy with.
Softball season has started for us. We have played two games and already have had mixed results. We played very well in our opening game and won it convincingly, but last night we played a team that we really ought to have beaten and lost narrowly 16-19. Very annoying.
The soccer season is drawing to a close and Liverpool have reached the final of the UEFA Champions League (European Cup as it was once known) for the second time in three years. They beat Chelsea last night after a penalty shoot-out. As happy as I am for Liverpool reaching the final, I am almost equally as happy that Chelsea did not reach the final. It seems that European glory is something that their immense riches cannot buy!
Marla has completed her work for her Masters Degree. Things are now getting back to normal in our household now as a result. I was happy to do what was needed at home while she was busy with her work, but I have to say that I am happy it is all over now.
We now have a very busy May ahead of us. But it is a good busy, with lots of social events to look forward to, including Paul & Rachael's wedding, Rachael's hen (bachelorette) weekend, Paul's stag (bachelor) day - paintballing, yay! - a quiz night, my birthday, a race day at Castle Combe, and a visit from one of my Flickr friends from Scotland.
So. That's all for now.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Easter Weekend...
Well, Spring is well and truly with us. It is Easter weekend and the weather is lovely and sunny. The kids seem to be as healthy as they have been for a long time, which definitely makes this easier for us, although there is still the odd moment when things get hairy. But this period of relative calm allows me to look at other things in my life that get sidelined when being a parent takes up all of my time.
Liverpool are having a great run in Europe at the moment. They managed to get past Barcelona in the previous round and they played PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday in the first leg of the quarter-final and won 3-0 away from home. In the Premiership they are currently in third place and had a great win against Arsenal last weekend... so things are good at the moment on the football front.
England are not doing quite so well in the Cricket World Cup. Although they were very close to beating one of the tournament favourites, Sri Lanka, in their last match. Hopefully England's form will continue to improve and they can get some positive results in the rest of the Super Eight matches.
Marla is still working hard on her Masters project. She goes in to work often on the weekends to work on it, which is hard for her - but hopefully when it's all over it will be well worth it.
Well, hopefully we will be able to enjoy the Easter weekend and the good weather that is forecast. I'll leave you with a couple of rather splendid photos:
Liverpool are having a great run in Europe at the moment. They managed to get past Barcelona in the previous round and they played PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday in the first leg of the quarter-final and won 3-0 away from home. In the Premiership they are currently in third place and had a great win against Arsenal last weekend... so things are good at the moment on the football front.
England are not doing quite so well in the Cricket World Cup. Although they were very close to beating one of the tournament favourites, Sri Lanka, in their last match. Hopefully England's form will continue to improve and they can get some positive results in the rest of the Super Eight matches.
Marla is still working hard on her Masters project. She goes in to work often on the weekends to work on it, which is hard for her - but hopefully when it's all over it will be well worth it.
Well, hopefully we will be able to enjoy the Easter weekend and the good weather that is forecast. I'll leave you with a couple of rather splendid photos:
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Sunny day...
The weather is quite crappy today, but we've had a good few days prior to today. Yesterday was a little chilly but the sun was shining and so I took the kids into town and let them loose in Queen Square for a few minutes. Here are some of the photos:
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
18 Months and All's Well...
Yes, the twins are 18 months old today. I have a sense of it being a developmental landmark, although I do not know any specific reasons why this should be. After suffering from some illnesses recently, they both seem to be in good health and good humour. In fact, today was a very good day. They were both happy and cheerful, which has made our job relatively easy. Morgan even ate his breakfast, lunch and dinner without too much of a fuss, which is in itself a huge bonus - Morgan's mealtimes can be a complete nightmare. Here are a couple of photos taken today:
Elsewhere in our lives, Marla is still struggling to regain full health. She has a sinus infection at the moment, but is hopefully on the mend. The new conservatory at my parents house is nearly completed and is already getting good use. Liverpool are through to the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League after a great win against defending champs Barcelona. The cricket world cup has started in the West Indies, with Australia as the favourites, but I think that England have at least got a sniff of a chance of winning. So that's it for now. Bye.
Elsewhere in our lives, Marla is still struggling to regain full health. She has a sinus infection at the moment, but is hopefully on the mend. The new conservatory at my parents house is nearly completed and is already getting good use. Liverpool are through to the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League after a great win against defending champs Barcelona. The cricket world cup has started in the West Indies, with Australia as the favourites, but I think that England have at least got a sniff of a chance of winning. So that's it for now. Bye.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Dancing toddlers...
We spent quite a nice afternoon at my parents' house today, most of the time we were in their new conservatory, where the following photos were taken. We asked the kids to hold hands, which they did and then they started spinning with each other, so I had to get the camera.
They are getting to be really headstrong. Often refusing to stop doing what they are doing when we ask them to. And they have tantrums now too. But they are also very funny at times. Morgan's vocabulary is really coming on nicely; he says nana (for banana), daddy, tractor, car, mamma, Maddie (sometimes), bye and a few others. Maddie is not talking as much, but is bright as a button in other ways; she will wink at you when you wink at her and she nods or shakes her head when you ask her direct questions. Once again, life with the twins is fun and challenging in equal measure.
They are getting to be really headstrong. Often refusing to stop doing what they are doing when we ask them to. And they have tantrums now too. But they are also very funny at times. Morgan's vocabulary is really coming on nicely; he says nana (for banana), daddy, tractor, car, mamma, Maddie (sometimes), bye and a few others. Maddie is not talking as much, but is bright as a button in other ways; she will wink at you when you wink at her and she nods or shakes her head when you ask her direct questions. Once again, life with the twins is fun and challenging in equal measure.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
This is what happens...
When your back is turned. It's been over two weeks since my last post. Interestingly it exactly coincides with a new little project I have embarked upon, namely the 365 Days project on Flickr. In a nutshell it entails me taking a self-portrait of myself (and posting it on Flickr) once a day for an entire year. Being only 14 days into the project, I perhaps haven't quite grasped the scale of what is ahead of me. Nevertheless, it has begun and I intend to see it through. Here is my personal favourite portrait so far:
In other news, the twins are becoming more independent as the days go by. They insist on doing almost everything themselves at the moment, including feeding, fighting, going upstairs, going downstairs and walking home (see following photo):
As a family we are on the back end of over a week's worth of a heavy dose of flu. All four of us are still coughing, violently at times, but apart from that we are finally getting over the worse. Fingers crossed for better health in the coming months (and years).
In other news, the twins are becoming more independent as the days go by. They insist on doing almost everything themselves at the moment, including feeding, fighting, going upstairs, going downstairs and walking home (see following photo):
As a family we are on the back end of over a week's worth of a heavy dose of flu. All four of us are still coughing, violently at times, but apart from that we are finally getting over the worse. Fingers crossed for better health in the coming months (and years).
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Tractor...
We took the kids to Dyrham Park on Sunday and they both had a go on the tractor that sits in the farm buildings:
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
King Kong...
Over the course of the last couple of days I have watched Peter Jackson's version of King Kong. I'm afraid to say that the same vision that made Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy such a triumph was probably his downfall on King Kong. It was self-indulgent on many fronts: too long, too much CGI, too many ineffectual "romantic moments" between Naomi Watts and Kong. Ironically, the fact that it takes us over an hour to meet Kong is not something I had a problem with, in fact, that first hour was my favourite third of the film. It allowed for some nice development of a number of interesting characters, including the leads (Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody) and a few of the others (most notably Jack Black and Jamie Bell). Unfortunately I felt that all that good work was then completely wasted as the film, quite understandably given its title, shifts focus to the peril and action that ensues after Kong appears. That said, I still feel that the movie could have been saved but the ongoing action that worked so well in the Fellowship of the Ring was King Kong's downfall as the characters are not given a moment to breath in a series of deadly encounters, many of which have very little to do with the discovery of a giant gorilla.
I read an interview in Empire magazine with movie-monster legend Stan Winston, in which he used King Kong as an example of how CGI can never entirely replace puppetry/make-up/costumes because all those things are real, whereas CGI is not. I have to say that I entirely agree with him. But it is not only apparent on the close-ups (like you might imagine), it is sometimes surprisingly obvious on some of the long range, wide angle shots. It's such a shame really, because with the right mix of CGI and models/puppets/etc. it could have been so much better.
There was great potential for King Kong to be a much better film. A lot of the pieces of the puzzle were in place ready to be taken advantage of, but I think it got wrapped up in its own cleverness. It failed where another great monster movie, Jaws, succeeded. By turning the focus from the humans to the monster, we lost the human element and so had very little emotional involvement.
Shame really.
I read an interview in Empire magazine with movie-monster legend Stan Winston, in which he used King Kong as an example of how CGI can never entirely replace puppetry/make-up/costumes because all those things are real, whereas CGI is not. I have to say that I entirely agree with him. But it is not only apparent on the close-ups (like you might imagine), it is sometimes surprisingly obvious on some of the long range, wide angle shots. It's such a shame really, because with the right mix of CGI and models/puppets/etc. it could have been so much better.
There was great potential for King Kong to be a much better film. A lot of the pieces of the puzzle were in place ready to be taken advantage of, but I think it got wrapped up in its own cleverness. It failed where another great monster movie, Jaws, succeeded. By turning the focus from the humans to the monster, we lost the human element and so had very little emotional involvement.
Shame really.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Quality not quantity...
Blogger has introduced a few new features to enhance the blog-keeping experience, some of which I have started to use. One of the new bits is a streamlined "blog archive" in the sidebar to the right. Something that is almost immediately evident if you look at previous years and months is how much my posting frequency has declined since the start of it all in March 2004 - there were a couple of months in '04 when I post 14 times, yet I managed a lowly 20 in the entirety of 2006. Does this mean that more happened in my life back then? Or does it mean that less happened? You would think that I have more to write about now, but I guess I just have less time to write it. Although you might beg to differ with how I am rambling on about nothing in particular in this post!
Anyway, I will try to write fresh posts more often in the coming months, whether they be about the twins or just about the latest movie I've seen.
Incidentally, over the last couple of weeks during the days I have been home with the kids I watched (or rather, took the odd glance at) the Lord of the Rings trilogy in order. It is my conclusion that The Two Towers (film number two) is the best of the three. While it still has a few things that let it down, it is more focused than the first and doesn't suffer from the ridiculous never-ending ending of the third. Anyone else have thoughts about this? Other Jess-related Lord of the Ring tidbits: Boromir is my favourite character (I love the scene when he saves Merry and Pippin from the Uruk Hai) and the Ride of the Rohirim (spelling) is my favourite scene from the trilogy.
Anyway, I will try to write fresh posts more often in the coming months, whether they be about the twins or just about the latest movie I've seen.
Incidentally, over the last couple of weeks during the days I have been home with the kids I watched (or rather, took the odd glance at) the Lord of the Rings trilogy in order. It is my conclusion that The Two Towers (film number two) is the best of the three. While it still has a few things that let it down, it is more focused than the first and doesn't suffer from the ridiculous never-ending ending of the third. Anyone else have thoughts about this? Other Jess-related Lord of the Ring tidbits: Boromir is my favourite character (I love the scene when he saves Merry and Pippin from the Uruk Hai) and the Ride of the Rohirim (spelling) is my favourite scene from the trilogy.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
First word...
We think Morgan said his first real word last night. He was looking through a book (as he does often) and there was a photo of a banana. Marla started saying "banana" to him, encouraging him to say it too, when all of a sudden he said "nana". The look on his face was priceless and he repeated the feat, both the word and the look a number of times... enough for me to get a photo:
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
47 days...
Yes, it really has been that long since my last post. I know at least three of my faithful followers have been eagerly anticipating this long-overdue post-holiday post.
We are back in the UK after three weeks overseas. During which time we spent at least one night in three different countries and twins had to adjust to four changes to their sleeping arrangements.
The first stop on our journey was on December 11th for one night in Dublin where we stayed with the Goggins family (Eddie, Suzie, Hailey & Ed) - this was all possible thanks to the timing of the Air Lingus flights which meant we arrived in Dublin from Bristol after the flight to Chicago had already left. It was good to see Eddie and his family again but the visit was all too brief unfortunately and we left the next morning.
Then we had four nights in Chicago with Marla's parents, during which time we attempted to get the twins used to the six-hour time change - not to great success it appeared. On December 16th we flew to Cancun, Mexico for the Wertz family vacation to celebrate Jim & Barbara's 50th wedding anniversary. All Jim & Barbara's four children, seven grandchildren and three in-law children were present making a grand total of 16 people. We stayed in a six-bedroom villa/hacienda type house in Puerto Aventuras on the "Mayan Riviera" of the Yucatan Peninsula. There was lots to do in the area and the trip was packed full of activities including cenote swimming, shopping in Playa del Carmen, snorkeling, zip-lining through the jungle, more shopping, visiting Mayan ruins, and general relaxing (or not relaxing if you were on twin-watching duty) by the pool. For me the highlights were the Mayan Ruins. We visited two sites: on the first day we all went to Tulum, which is the only Mayan site on the coast (and is picturesque indeed) and on the last day Marla, the twins and I went to Coba, which is 28 miles inland and boasts the Yucatan's tallest Mayan pyramid (which I climbed!). Many photos from the whole trip can be seen on my Flickr pages - I have created a special set of photos specifically for Mexico 2006.
After returning from Mexico we spent Christmas with the Wertz family and generally had a nice time. We managed to see Pam and Greg on two occasions, which was very nice (I have already told Dwight stories to at least two people since!). We were unable to see Susanne and Mark or Chris and Lisa (sad face). By the end of the three weeks the twins were really starting to warm up to everyone and had seemed to adjust completely to the time change and all the havoc it had played on their body clocks... just in time for us to return to the UK and go through the whole thing again.
We are back in the UK after three weeks overseas. During which time we spent at least one night in three different countries and twins had to adjust to four changes to their sleeping arrangements.
The first stop on our journey was on December 11th for one night in Dublin where we stayed with the Goggins family (Eddie, Suzie, Hailey & Ed) - this was all possible thanks to the timing of the Air Lingus flights which meant we arrived in Dublin from Bristol after the flight to Chicago had already left. It was good to see Eddie and his family again but the visit was all too brief unfortunately and we left the next morning.
Then we had four nights in Chicago with Marla's parents, during which time we attempted to get the twins used to the six-hour time change - not to great success it appeared. On December 16th we flew to Cancun, Mexico for the Wertz family vacation to celebrate Jim & Barbara's 50th wedding anniversary. All Jim & Barbara's four children, seven grandchildren and three in-law children were present making a grand total of 16 people. We stayed in a six-bedroom villa/hacienda type house in Puerto Aventuras on the "Mayan Riviera" of the Yucatan Peninsula. There was lots to do in the area and the trip was packed full of activities including cenote swimming, shopping in Playa del Carmen, snorkeling, zip-lining through the jungle, more shopping, visiting Mayan ruins, and general relaxing (or not relaxing if you were on twin-watching duty) by the pool. For me the highlights were the Mayan Ruins. We visited two sites: on the first day we all went to Tulum, which is the only Mayan site on the coast (and is picturesque indeed) and on the last day Marla, the twins and I went to Coba, which is 28 miles inland and boasts the Yucatan's tallest Mayan pyramid (which I climbed!). Many photos from the whole trip can be seen on my Flickr pages - I have created a special set of photos specifically for Mexico 2006.
After returning from Mexico we spent Christmas with the Wertz family and generally had a nice time. We managed to see Pam and Greg on two occasions, which was very nice (I have already told Dwight stories to at least two people since!). We were unable to see Susanne and Mark or Chris and Lisa (sad face). By the end of the three weeks the twins were really starting to warm up to everyone and had seemed to adjust completely to the time change and all the havoc it had played on their body clocks... just in time for us to return to the UK and go through the whole thing again.
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