At work, we have a chosen charity each month, and take turns trying to raise funds, in a variety of ways. Some can be as simple as a Wear Red Day, or a bake sale, others try different methods or events.
January was for Alzheimers Society, and Howard and I decided to combine our love for quizzes, puzzles and food.
I made a Puzzle book to sell, with ten types of puzzle, including Wordsearch, Anagrams, Crosswords, Logic Puzzles etc. I added a little movie quiz too, which I compiled by taking 10 random DVDs from my shelf, and making up questions about them. Perhaps you would like a go? Oh, go on, then...
1. 'This ABBA-obsessed misfit ditches her pathetic life and plastic friends in a small Australian suburb for big-city dreams in Sydney'. Name this 1994 film starring Toni Collette.
2. In The King's Speech, who played the speech therapist to the king, Lionel League?
3. Who was The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)? Name Anne's sister, and the actress who played her.
4. In the classic cult film from 1987 Withnail and I, which actors played the two unemployed actors who go on holiday to the country 'by accident'?
5. Moon is an engrossing, intelligent sci-fi movie from 2009, starring Sam Rockwell. Who directed and wrote the film, and who is his famous father?
6. Danny Boyle's film Millions, about 2 young brothers finding a suitcase full of cash when it falls out of the sky, is based on the best-selling book by which author?
7. The Kite Runner was a great success as a book and a film - in which country is the story set?
8. Who played the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android, in the 2005 movie of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?
9. Which famous author wrote An Education (2009), an award-winning film set in 1961 and starring Carey Mulligan? He also wrote About A Boy.
10. In Walt Disney's The Emperor's New Groove (2000), what is the name of the emperor from Peru who got turned into a llama?
Howard organised a lunch-time games and food session in the staff room, where we ate soups and bread and curries and rice. We played memory game with a pack of cards, tried to Name the Celebrities before they were famous, had a go at logic questions, oh all sorts of fun parlour games!
We raised a total of £130 for Alzheimer's Society, I am delighted and very proud of this!
Plus, that was the 9th List item, hurrah!
Thursday 31 January 2013
Sunday 20 January 2013
50 Words of Grey
For my 8th List item, I wrote a short story.
I have shown it to one friend, who thinks it is rather good, so perhaps it is not too bad, for a beginner. Not sure I have got the point of view right, and the tenses too, but I can edit it. It has about 1500 words.
The only problem is....it sort of....errr... turned into a piece of erotic fiction. Well, they do say write about what you know, for a first book!
Therefore I have a dilema - do I write a tamer version, for publication in this blog, or do I keep it quiet and show only trusted friends who beg for a look on my blog?
Does it count towards my 50 List if I have shared it with only one friend?
I have ticked it off, but would be interested in finding out what anyone thinks.
I have shown it to one friend, who thinks it is rather good, so perhaps it is not too bad, for a beginner. Not sure I have got the point of view right, and the tenses too, but I can edit it. It has about 1500 words.
The only problem is....it sort of....errr... turned into a piece of erotic fiction. Well, they do say write about what you know, for a first book!
Therefore I have a dilema - do I write a tamer version, for publication in this blog, or do I keep it quiet and show only trusted friends who beg for a look on my blog?
Does it count towards my 50 List if I have shared it with only one friend?
I have ticked it off, but would be interested in finding out what anyone thinks.
Saturday 19 January 2013
Item Number 7 - Carl the Menace jumper
Thursday 17 January 2013
Citizen Kane
I watched Citizen Kane this afternoon, a freezing cold Thursday when I was off work with a sore throat and a lost voice.
The film was made in 1941, and was directed by Orson Wells, who was also the main character actor. Wells was only 25 at the time, and he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Citizen Kane often features in Top Ten lists of the best ever films, or variations of this theme, so I was curious about it. Realising that I have seen very few of the classic films, I decided to add one to my List, and Kane was the obvious choice. But I have also taken the opportunity to see some other classic films as part of my quest, notably some Hitchcock movies, including Spellbound and Rebecca.
So what did I think of the film? Beautifully shot in black and white, strong use of shadows and light. I like the way the story of Kane starts with his death, and his life is told through the eyes of other people who knew him. Kane was immensely wealthy through inheriting a silver mine, and used his wealth to buy a newspaper empire. But power corrupts him, from being idealistic to cynicism, and he tries to get elected as state governor. This fails because his affair with a singer is made public. The overbearing way he treats both his wives shows that power is more important than anything else, but his dying word is 'Rosebud', and when this is made known to the newspapers, there is a hunt to find out what this meant, giving the reporter a reason to interview people who knew Kane, and to tell their story.
It turns out that Rosebud was the name painted on Kane's sled, which he was playing on when his parents sent him away to be brought up by a guardian in the city, aged 8. The reporter never found this out, but I suppose the significance is of a small child being denied parental love, which affected his whole future life.
I am glad I have seen this film, I appreciate it is wonderfully made, but some of his motivations are hard to understand, and his second wife is very annoying. It is not as emotionally accessible as I would prefer, it did not draw me into the feelings of the characters enough. But this could be age of the film.
7.5 out of 10
Number 6 crossed off the List
The film was made in 1941, and was directed by Orson Wells, who was also the main character actor. Wells was only 25 at the time, and he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Citizen Kane often features in Top Ten lists of the best ever films, or variations of this theme, so I was curious about it. Realising that I have seen very few of the classic films, I decided to add one to my List, and Kane was the obvious choice. But I have also taken the opportunity to see some other classic films as part of my quest, notably some Hitchcock movies, including Spellbound and Rebecca.
So what did I think of the film? Beautifully shot in black and white, strong use of shadows and light. I like the way the story of Kane starts with his death, and his life is told through the eyes of other people who knew him. Kane was immensely wealthy through inheriting a silver mine, and used his wealth to buy a newspaper empire. But power corrupts him, from being idealistic to cynicism, and he tries to get elected as state governor. This fails because his affair with a singer is made public. The overbearing way he treats both his wives shows that power is more important than anything else, but his dying word is 'Rosebud', and when this is made known to the newspapers, there is a hunt to find out what this meant, giving the reporter a reason to interview people who knew Kane, and to tell their story.
It turns out that Rosebud was the name painted on Kane's sled, which he was playing on when his parents sent him away to be brought up by a guardian in the city, aged 8. The reporter never found this out, but I suppose the significance is of a small child being denied parental love, which affected his whole future life.
I am glad I have seen this film, I appreciate it is wonderfully made, but some of his motivations are hard to understand, and his second wife is very annoying. It is not as emotionally accessible as I would prefer, it did not draw me into the feelings of the characters enough. But this could be age of the film.
7.5 out of 10
Number 6 crossed off the List
Sunday 13 January 2013
Nearly Knitted
I was never sure about this one - Knitting a Dennis The Menace jumper for my son - as I have little experience of the craft, having previously only knitted parts of a scarf for Mike when he left work to live in Scotland, and on that occasion, I got various colleagues to help out.
I recruited my mother, Joyce, to help out, so we chose the pattern and wool together, and she knitted the ribbing at the bottom, then left the easy bits for me. I found myself enjoying knitting, often sitting up quite late, listening to the radio while making slow progress. But it grew and grew and grew, and now it is very nearly finished. Lovely Mum is working on the complicated bits at the neck, and then I will assemble the four pieces, to create a stripy red and black homemade jumper, which I hope Carl will love to wear.
It has taken weeks, and I will miss knitting, so will my Mum. But I have no time to start another jumper, as I need to try my hand at a quilt, plus cross-stitch or embroidery etc etc
Can't wait to see the jumper completed, won't be long now, hurrah!!!
I recruited my mother, Joyce, to help out, so we chose the pattern and wool together, and she knitted the ribbing at the bottom, then left the easy bits for me. I found myself enjoying knitting, often sitting up quite late, listening to the radio while making slow progress. But it grew and grew and grew, and now it is very nearly finished. Lovely Mum is working on the complicated bits at the neck, and then I will assemble the four pieces, to create a stripy red and black homemade jumper, which I hope Carl will love to wear.
It has taken weeks, and I will miss knitting, so will my Mum. But I have no time to start another jumper, as I need to try my hand at a quilt, plus cross-stitch or embroidery etc etc
Can't wait to see the jumper completed, won't be long now, hurrah!!!
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