Home again, home again, and not a drop to drink.

Been back in the land of the living for several days now, and someone was like nyah blog Europe how was it? And I'm all like afrigginmazing but CBF. So, I'll just summarise with the predictions I made before reaching each destination- that is, crystallising pre-conceived notions by comparing cities or countries to my favourite films set in said cities or countries, then deciding whether they measure up in real life...

London: Love Actually vs Harry Potter

Verdict: We made our own Heathrow montages! And we (well just me really) sang Hedwig's Theme non-stop for a couple of days so yeah pretty much.

Paris: Amelie vs Madeline

Verdict: Not as uniformly whimsical and all-round charming as either of the above, and despite our best efforts we never made it to a photobooth or had our appendixes out, but still. It actually is almost as glorious which is saying rather alot. Paris, je t'aime! Satisfactorily beautiful and fascinating, merci beaucoup. Fermez la bouche! Vous avez perdu le joue! Snap!

Italia in general (Firenze, Roma, Vatican City, Pompei, Herculaneum, Napoli): A Room With a View vs La Vita è Bella

Verdict: Our Florentine experience was unfortunately not quite as romantic as the former (bar the Italian stallion stalkers in that square), and fortunately there was no genocide going on while we were there so the superficial premise of the latter didn't really apply, but the whole country is astoundingly beautiful and the coffee is motherlickin' good. Yay Italy!

Athens via Delphi: Hercules vs... Mamma Mia! (not quite in inner-city Athens but it'll do)

Verdict: OPA!

In conclusion, I spent lots of time with gorgeous friends, learned alot, gained some bigger sense of where everything fits in history and culture and the world, did no homework whatsoever and collected shot glasses from every country. Success!

So what happened while I was gone? Obama's coronation- ahem, that is, inauguration- hurrah for that. The media is so gloriously biased, or perhaps just genuinely naively optimistic like the rest of us. Yes we can! Heh! And Australia Day, which was heartily celebrated by the applying of bogan flag tattoos to faces in the bathroom of Athens Airport... Although I pretty much have to agree that we should change the date to something less imperialistic and genocidal, I'm really not sure as to what to. Federation Day would be better to celebrate but that's on New Year's Day which is kind of lame. We should get it out of the summer holidays for an extra public holiday! But come to think of that, school holidays won't apply to me personally by next year... *gulp*.

On that year 12-licious note I'd better get my arse off the internet and find my assessment schedule, then start doing some proper work. To be fair I still have jetlag and have been all insomnia-ish until an average of 3 am these past couple of days. And I read a kid's history book about WWI today, sophisticate! It made me cry a little though. Then it prompted me to read the last couple of pages from The Diary of a Young Girl, and Anne Frank made me cry a little more. Yes, I know it's the wrong war... But as Martin Brown would say;

*sigh*

Tschüss!

Today I am in Paris.

I am going to the Arc De Triomphe, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and the Place De la Concorde. I am going to walk along the River Seine. It will be cold as a witch's teat!

2008 in photographs + 2009 in FUN!

Most of them aren't exactly what I'd call beautiful photography but they're well done and give an interesting overview of what happened in the world last year The Big Picture: 1, 2, 3.

They also recently uploading a rather moving photoessay on the recent conflict in Israel and Gaza. So like, war... What the hell is up with that?

But in other news, at 4:40 PM this very day an aeroplane is going to leave Sydney for Singapore, and I, along with a bunch of lovelies from school, will be on it! And so like after Singapore, we'll be getting on another plane to London. For details on the rest, I reccommend you watch classic of contempory cinema Eurotrip (teeheehee). We come home 27th January but until then, much love everybody! Happy Australia Day in advance! (If you're into that sort of foul patriotic jingoism.) (Yes I am unfair.) Try not to miss me too hard a'ight? ;)

Oh well done BBC, the Eleventh Doctor has a smug ham face.

I am not entirely pleased, but will try to be prudent and put off judging him until I've actually seen the new series. Speaking as someone who started watching the Doctor Who revival series very early because of a sci-fi geek dad, but became mildly obsessed when David Tennant took the role in, what, 2006/7 or summat? (no 2005 apparently, but surely that wasn't screening in Aus back then) I can testify that the show is in fact watchable even without his dishy goodness, BUT the new Doctor, Matt Smith, is like 26 and kind of twitty-looking. So my hopes are not high. I was also a little disappointed that they didn't pick a black or Asian guy as was generally rumoured, or a women I guess (as implausible as that would have been, but it's science fiction and Russel T Davies' writing has been getting weirder and arguably worse of late anyways... But um he's being replaced too so there ya go!) OKAY so, have some pictures and an excerpt from an article, and tell me what you think. Good, bad or ugly?

Matt Smith has been named as the actor who will take over from David Tennant in Doctor Who - making him the youngest actor to take on the role.
At 26, Smith is three years younger than Peter Davison when he signed up to play the fifth Doctor in 1981.
Smith will first appear on TV screens as the 11th Doctor in 2010.
He was cast over Christmas and will begin filming for the fifth series of Doctor Who in the summer. Tennant is filming four specials in 2009.
Smith was named as Tennant's replacement in Saturday's edition of Doctor Who Confidential on BBC One.
The programme was watched by an audience of 6.9 million people at its peak, according to official overnight figures.
The actor said: "I feel proud and honoured to have been given this opportunity to join a team of people that has worked so tirelessly to make the show so thrilling.
"David Tennant has made the role his own, brilliantly, with grace, talent and persistent dedication. I hope to learn from the standards set by him.
"The challenge for me is to do justice to the show's illustrious past, my predecessors, and most importantly, to those who watch it. I really cannot wait."
Piers Wenger, head of drama at BBC Wales, said that as soon as he had seen Smith's audition he "knew he was the one".

The 11 Doctors
1. William Hartnell (1963-1966)
2. Patrick Troughton (1966-1969)
3. Jon Pertwee (1970-1974)
4. Tom Baker (1974-1981)
5. Peter Davison - pictured (1982-1984)
6. Colin Baker (1984-1986)
7. Sylvester McCoy (1987-1996)
8. Paul McGann (1996)
9. Christopher Eccleston (2005)
10. David Tennant (2005-2010)
11. Matt Smith (2010 - ?)

- From here.

So in some photos he looks like a Barker-educated prime wanker...

But in others he's kind of yuppie-geek-cute. Plastic specs to nothing to hide that big man jaw though...

It's motherlickin' huge!

So now the question is: the next lady sidekick? (Cause that's all women are good for...) Will it be Lily Allen? And if so, what the fucking fuck?

The Big Ask: Campaign for a strong climate law

"We need strong leadership on climate change. Too many politicians are happy to speak about the issue, but their promises have often turned out to be just a load more hot air. One exception is the United Kingdom, where a climate law has just been adopted, which will force the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions every year.We need your help to ensure that other governments follow this example.

On 10th August, more than 6,000 people took part in the recording of short film The Big Ask at Ostende on the Belgian coast. This was the largest event against climate change ever organised in Belgium. The film clip was made possible due to the engagement of volunteers from Friends of the Earth, and many film industry professionals including award winning director Nic Balthazar, film crews, production houses, actors... Music has been supplied by Hooverphonic. The video clip has been launched, and now is the time to send it round the world, and to share it with everyone you know!

Friends of the Earth groups are running The Big Ask climate campaign in 17 European countries, so if you are in one of these countries, you can sign an online petition after you have watched the film. Watch the clip online at: http://www.thebigask.be/. More info about the European Big Ask campaign at: http://www.thebigask.eu/."

Via Friends of the Earth Australia