Curiosity Killed the Cat

Well, it appears that you just need a bomb going off in town to put things in perspective. Rather weird seeing my uni area plastered across the main BBC News page, but even stranger to think that it actually happened. I mean, why? Why here in Exeter? I know it shouldn't have an amusing side, but considering it was only the guy who made the explosives that got hurt, you've got to wonder the mentality of it all. Locking yourself in a toilet then detonating the devices can hardly be called a hardcore terrorist act.

Is it wrong of me to continue to wonder whether Starbucks with still be closed tomorrow? Because we were so hoping to go there after my archaeology exam. Speaking of which, it shouldn't be too bad. It's probably the one that should be the easiest (oh, except for 'Intro' module. What kind of university course gives you a multiple choice exam for your finals?), and I'm rather looking forward to the Roman Religion exams next week. Indeed, sad, but really interesting and my kinda thing. Besides, our lecturer is amazing and Italian and thinks us Brits have a political party called the 'Conservatores'; PLT, you rock.
Good luck to anyone else who is in that exam-y period. Little bit jealous of friends who have finished, but hope they went alright. Hurrah for summer holidays! Though, having said that, got the rather upsetting news that C and myself have to stay for the last week here at uni (about 3 weeks after our last exam and the last of the actual reasons to still be here) because the archaeology department suck. I mean, why do we have to suffer due to their lack of organisation and pestilential staff changes? Grr grr grr.

But anyhow, must stop getting distracted. I just caught myself sitting here, motionless, for a good 5 minutes. Faith was wearing a see-through top in the episode we watched tonight. Yet this has nothing to do with my point, apologies. It's interesting seeing how people react to shocking news, or something unusual, even if it was only potentially dangerous. Initially the whole event seemed to be treated like a regular (yet slightly interesting) occurence that simply happened in town and a topic for a five minute chat, kinda like when the new shopping centre opened, or when we had a little group shopping trip to Anne Summers. When I phoned home (or rather, tried to for an hour) to warn my parents that, if they had heard something, I was safe and nowhere near the blast, my dad just laughed, then told me his day had consisted of mowing the lawn and having a beer with Nathan. Yet, skip forward a couple of hours, and I get concerned texts from friends saying they just heard about Exeter being on the news, and was I alright, was anyone dead and that kind of panicky drama.
Has the media managed to create hype about a rather insignificant event, scaremongering about bombs and terrorist threats when someone just blew up a toilet? Or are we living in a world, desensitised to these kind of events and expecting the worst in society? Or just that my parents are insane?

Man, do I feel tired; must have done more work today than have done for the entire year. Bed is seeming mighty tempting right about now. In fact, aimed to go to bed a good 45 minutes ago, but got a little distracted choreographer-ing dance moves for old boyband songs and comparing how high we could kick. I think we all pretty much ripped our leg tendons, but, hey, at least the pride's still intact. Pity I can't say the same thing about Katie's muscles...

I am ninja. I am sly, like snake. Or possibly fish.

Okay, having wasted a good amount of time already today (being attacked by giant fluffy rabbits, watching X-Files, having Buffy-conversations), I think I better have a plan of action. Haha, so:

- Food shopping (pretty much everything, don't forget the pineapple)
- Look for purple dress in right size
- Revision notes for a few arch. lectures
- Read first chapter of A History of the Classical Greek World
- Email Cas and Q
- Check for post
- Email D. Museum. Yet again.
- Write home

11:25 PM
Righty.

- Few hours wasted in town.
- Dress not available
- Zero hours of lecture revision done
- No educational book read (does the Cosmopolitan sex page count?)
- No emails sent (yet several non-productive hours spent on internet)
- No post. No packages. No love.
- Forgot to contact the museum
- The one thing I really needed to remember. I am a cruel, evil, heartless bitch and forgot to write.

I am such a total idiot.

Ah, I know it isn't too late, but I'm a little exhausted and tired, so I'll keep this pretty short (you lucky people!). Spent rather a lot of time, for me anyhow, doing some revision. It's a wee bit worrying, when you've summarised a two hour lecture, then forget the subject it was about five minutes later. Arg.
It's not even as if I can blame it on lack of sleep! Okay, so my snoozing pattern is a little off when I'm at uni (especially now lectures and seminars are over), but I can hardly blame my wussy-ness on nocturnal habits. Eight hours sleep is plenty. Or make that a round eleven. Meh. I'm thinking food should become more of a priority though. It's getting kinda dumb again, and I don't want to fall back into really bad habits that started at school. Definitely not, they were not happy times. Shall go tomorrow. Ooh, must remember to get some pineapple.

Note to self: Bad Girls: new official favourite Buffy episode.
Faith + leather trousers + sexy dancing with Buffy = Kitti's "gay dream", as S so eloquently described it.

I'm feeling pretty confusing while writing this, but I can't really explain why. Mood swings are usually pretty unpredictable. I don't like them very much. Suddenly even Rhys the Snail isn't making me laugh like a fool, despite looking very cute, sleeping under a lettuce leaf. Been continuing my entirely unproductive few days through into today, and feel very stupid and useless. Especially with exams starting this week and I haven't been to loads of lectures or even started revising. Arg, do not want to think about that at the moment. It would really help if I had some food in the cupboards. Double arg.

On a happy note though, my lovely wonderful mother bought this beautiful dress that we saw (when she came down last weekend) for my holiday this summer. She really is the best; it's this little purple/ grey cotton dress from Fat Face (I refused to let her get it when we saw it at full price). It seems strange getting clothes actually; charity shops are the only places I'd actually part with money! Though v. luckily get much handed down from me. This is probably why it's a good plan to have shopaholic connections.

Have been watching far too many Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns with the flatmates today. Ah, that really has to be my favourite television show of all time. Also, highly amusing seeing 'Sunnydale '97' signs and the such all around the show; it's nice to see something so... dated, yet totally fabulous and still relevant.

Reasons why Kitti is so obsessed with Buffy

1) The kick-ass female leads - okay, so some people might argue this bends to sexist, patriarchal clichés (even the Slayer is an attractive blonde American teenager under the influence of an authoritative male figure), but on both a basic and deeper level, this show screams female strength. So, Buffy might whine about boyfriends and would prefer to go to the 'mall' rather than on a vampire patrol, but no-one can deny that this was a woman who you would so not want to mess with. She manages to retain her personality (even if that may be clichéd 'femininity'), without conforming to the stereotypically butch female leads. Besides, who could forget characters like Dark Willow, Faith, or Glory? Yeah, we might have hated a couple of them, but you can't deny they lacked style when beating the crap out of someone.

2) The script - I would say that this has got to be one of the best written and humorous shows to have come out of America. The writers really went beyond what was needed to have formed a standard show, instead creating something so witty and fresh, it really is pretty impressive. Yes, indeed, not even Buffy avoided the trap of the occasional cringe-worthy dialogue (why does my mind automatically skip to those 'inspirational pep talks' that sporadically reared their ugly heads so frequently in Season 7?!), but overall, I found myself totally drawn in by the brilliant writing.

3) The hotness - Hmm, this would have been reason Numero Uno, but I think I was trying to make myself appear slightly less shallow. Who am I kidding? This has got to be the best angle of Buffy. Faith, Willow, Buffy herself (not to mention an entire house of cute Potential Slayers, Season 7); what's there not to like? Especially when Faith wears those skin-tight leather trousers...

4) Giles - He is so adorable, he deserves a number all by his little self. I mean, really, stereotypically Brit, with his tea and glass-cleaning; just makes him all the more brilliant. And the G-Man in 'Band Candy'? Genius.

5) Magick - Often I find myself wincing at their portrayal of witchcraft, but I really enjoy it anyhow, especially when the witches in question are so hot. And, incidentally, gay. It's nice to have a mainstream 'Wiccan' out of the broom closet, and I think probably helped in breaking through the pagan stereotype. We don't all wear black hats and ride a broomstick, people! Only it would be majorly cool to make things go 'poof' and make pencils float.

6) Storylines - The show ran pretty solidly for 7 Seasons, 145 episodes, and dozens of deaths, resurrections and, yet again, more deaths. And still kept us hooked.

7) My first lesbian role-model - Aww, how nostalgic. Kinda like My First My Little Pony or something. Willow. Iconic. Enough said.

*sigh*
She is so cute...

Alas, thanks to a rather late night yesterday (involving a very interesting conversation about werewolves, shower sex and S&M; I think MP was very glad she wasn't there, I can imagine some severe mental scarring.) I totally missed the LGBT picnic this morning, grr grr. But to be honest, the weather here is still pretty dire (even if I love dancing in the rain, I don't think my flatmates were too enthusiatic at the prospect), so I'm guessing it wouldn't have been a huge gathering. Oh great, now I feel even worse.

Spoony and myself had a fabulous time this afternoon listening to all the horrendous Eurovision Song Contest entries to be showing this Friday - we're all pretty excited at the prospect of a fabulous night of Euro-cheese and the amazing Terry Wogan. Should be a nice way to celebrate the first of our nightmare exams. *shudder*
Overall, we are fully rooting for both Ireland (Dustin the Turkey. Please, no.), Latvia (whose horrendous Jack Sparrow inspired three piece pop band - Pirates of the Sea - left us screaming 'walk the plank!' when they broke out with 'a hii hii hoo and a hii hii hey'. Wrong, wrong wrong, even by Eurovision standards. Hang on, what's this? Oh, a Scootch nightmare again.) and finally, the genius that is Rodolfo Chikilicuatra representing Spain.
There also seems to be more 'heavy-metal' or 'alternative rock' bands this time round, which I personally like, as they seem to take Euro-cheese to a new level. Remember 'horror, rock monsters' Lordi? Expect to see a lot more of these antics on stage this year. Heh heh heh, oh Finland, you should be a laugh...
Finally on this tangent - good luck to Andy Abraham - you might never have a career after this, but it might be a novel experience, actually having a UK entry who sings in key. Plus, no flight attendants in low cut tops whispering 'would you like something to suck on for landing sir' while waving UK flags. Major cringe.

Rhys (my pet snail) looks pretty cute now, in his new snailiquarium. As happy as a snail can look, anyhow. Though he doesn't seem very interested in his authentic little habitat (that I spent a good minute or two putting together), and seems to want to just sleep at the top of the glass. Harumph.

    Gosh, today really has been an unproductive day. Even by my standards, and that is certainly saying something. In fact, I've kinda totally run out of food, and still haven't quite got the motivation to get off my arse and wander to town for a bit. Alas, just leave it to tomorrow, eh?

    My little Welsh stowaway (from Wednesday's trip), Rhybudd the Snail, appears to be doing very well; I finally have a pet in my uni room - haha room inspectors, I'd like to see you find him in the chaos here! He lives out of a vodka-shot glass and seems to be happy on his diet of Stubb's lettuce and my windowsill herbs. Bless. Plus, I can say anything in front of him, and he won't understand. Because he only speaks Welsh. Anyone kept snails before? Having got Shrimp doing a little Wikipedia research, apparently you have to give them soil or something? I'm thinking he can have a new 'snailquarium' soon. Well, as soon as I finish that jar of pasta sauce (wait, I forgot. Don't own any. Crap).

    Other than a ridiculous amount of time spent watching him slime around his little shot glass (amazingly funny to us for some unknown reason), I've only had one lecture today (Oh. That makes a grand total of... one lecture this week), and spent a very productive hour or two this morning watching Hannibal Rising.

   [Possible Spoilers Ahead]

   Hmm, mixed views here.
   First of all, to anyone who isn't too sure what this film is about, it's a prequel to the 'Lector trilogy' - that is; Manhunter, The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon - a kind of exploration into the origins of 'Hannibal the Cannibal' and an insight into the reasons behind his psychopathic behaviour. Written by Thomas Harris (both the original book and screenplay), a mixture of talented veteran-actors (Gong Li, Rhys Ifans) and exciting newcomers (a wonderful Gaspard Ulliel playing Lector himself), I think the premise for this movie was highly promising. It's slightly confusing as to why it didn't quite work.
The main problem appears to be the pace and flow of the plot - with the exception of a few 'delightful' moments (that is, if, like me, you enjoy sadistic torture scenes), I felt it seemed to (how do I describe this?) simply start and end, there weren't huge twists, turns and exciting plummets into Lector's madness. Even the final scene wasn't a massive adrenaline rush, rather an acceptable ending to a moderate film.
   Having said this (and I can accept people may have opposing views about this), I thought the acting was great, particularly with Lector's portrayal. His cold, dangerous aura was captured wonderfully by Ulliel, and the scene where he first tastes blood is a fabulously chilling moment. However the actor also pushed past these boundaries, displaying an impressive array of talent - a deranged, apathetic monster, yet not losing sight of the inner workings of the man. Gong Li, too, is an interesting character; stunningly beautiful with an unspoken mystery to her that I found quite compelling. So yeah, not just because she is hot! Several great supporting roles from a British cast too; Dominic West, Kevin McKidd (okay, so he's Scottish, but he was wonderful!) and, of course, the creepy Rys Ifans (aah, Rhybudd, a fellow Welsh-dude).
    I'd still recommend it, not least for the superb cinematography, but it's a good film to have on in the background; entertaining, but not quite grasping that 'wow' factor.

    Enjoy it with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

    Just wanted to start off this post with a little notice/ reminder things: tommorrow (17th May) is IDAHO - International Day Against Homophobia, an important worldwide day to recognise the lesbian and gay community's fight to achieve equality and LEGAL recognition.
It's kind of shocking to think that it will have only been 18 years tommorrow that the World Health Organisation actually removed homosexuality from their list of mental illnesses and even now, 77 countries still legally classify being gay a crime. The punishment for this (in 7 countries) is death.
So, please, spare a minute tommorrow to think of this, raise awareness and, ultimately, make a stand against homophobia.

On a happier note, hopefully I'll be at the fabulous LGBT picnic in town tommorrow to celebrate with our wonderful society (I'm wishing that this perpetual rain will clear for it!) and dragging along a few flatmates, so that should be fun. (Hope you have a fabulous day too!) x

    Bleh, I did hope to post an entry yesterday, but after getting back from a very tiring day in Wales (despite spending half the trip on the coach and the rest eating a Snickers bar and play-sword fighting) then hanging out with flatmates until silly morning hours, I was in a bit of a stupid, brain-dead mood.

Okay then, this is probably going to be a bit of a random posting, so please forgive me here.
       Yesterday was Ye Grande Archaeology Day Out (a fieldtrip to Wales), pretty exciting for a student who has yet to even see a trowel. Forget for a minute that I got up a bit late (and hence was rushing round like a madwoman. Not too unusual there), pretty uneventful two hour trip up there. Though my sandwiches squished at the bottom of my bag did become mighty tempting. Did have a rather amusing time admiring the true clichéd archaeology students though: it is true - some of them are amazing archaeologeeks. Especially one of our dear lecturers. Cast aside the fact that denim jackets were NEVER a) stylish or b) flattering, what kind of person would team this with denim 3/4 lengths, long woollen socks and hiking boots? Only an archaeologist.
It's rather depressing, considering one of the only reasons I  actually chose this course, was the prospect of having a class of sexy Lara Crofts (I guess some Indiana Joneses could be thrown in here if you like that).

(oooh...)
   Anyhow, here we arrive at this gorgeous castle remains in Chepstow, right alongside the river Wye, so I was left thinking 'ooh, maybe this trip is going to be slightly more exciting than the last one, however fascinating a dozen of fields may be'. Maybe I wasn't going to fall into a ditch this time? Yeah, thanks for the false hope.
Excitement was, of course, short lived, when we arrived in the middle of a field to look at some 'amazingly preserved' earthworks and Roman wall, followed shortly by the foundations (read: collection of stones) of an army barracks, a ditch that I was later told used to be an amphitheatre, and the remains of a bath house with videos that spoke Welsh at us.

   On the positive side, wooden swords provided much entertainment, particularly when DD fell asleep and I got to 'wake' her up. Also, 'finding' a massive length of 'CAUTION CAUTION, ELECTRIC CABLE BELOW' seemed very funny (due to it's Welsh translation) at the time, prompting me and my friend to 'surreptitiously' slip it into my bag. I'm not exactly a sly person, so I discovered. It is still very, very funny, and is now strewn across my room to the utter confusion of the room inspector. Ooh, speaking of which, yet AGAIN I've been threatened with a fine, just for leaving ONE joss stick out. Very annoying. Especially as I basically have to dismantle half of my room for every room inspection, because candles/ incense/ tealights/ oil-burners (all of which live here) aren't allowed. Yet they give up a stove that sets fire to itself? Yeah, logic abound in this place.

    Exciting random tangent - X-Files debut trailer has been released! Being an utter geek, hearing about the production of the new X-Files movie (I Want to Believe), to be released 01/08/08, sent me into an all-out nerd freak-out. I got mixed desperation, confusion and pity. What is wrong with my flatmates?!
What do you think of the title? I'm not all that sure, I was never too keen on that quote/ tagline from the original show. However, the trailer does look pretty awesome; I was very impressed, the atmosphere was electric and it looks like it's going to stay faithful to the feel of the original show. I mean, I didn't dislike Fight the Future ('98); I enjoyed the story, it had some great, gory 'X-Files' moments, but at the same time, I've heard a lot of criticism for this movie. And I also had a problem with the step forward they took with the whole Mulder/ Scully relationship - the things they left unsaid in the show seemed an integral part. Obviously there's going to be a divide within fans about this, but the unsaid things seem so much more significant. I read that this romantic subtext would be a lot less central to I Want to Believe - any thoughts on this?
Before I forget - one problem I noticed. WHAT have they done to Scully's hair? I always thought the bob was so trademark Scully (not to mention, I had a major crush on her. Make that 'still have'), and somehow the long-haired look doesn't look quite so right.
Billy Connolly looks like he could be a fabulous character - I enjoy his energy on screen - and it's nice to have a non-American accent. I'm sorry! I don't know anything about 'Dakota Whitney', but Amanda Peet could be a good choice: I think she has a slightly more exciting or unusual sense, and she's very pretty in a non-generic way. Looking good, X-Files!

You can view the new movie trailer (I believe it was shown with the release of Iron Man) here: http://www.imdb.com/video/trailer/vi3101884697/

You know what, I have yet another pet hate.

And her name is Katy Perry.

Let me clarify this for a second - this is a 22 year old woman from California, looks like a cross between Lily Allen and my annoying flatmate M, and sings irritating, catchy songs that are as sickeningly sweet as neon-chemical cherryade. Euwch. If you can face it (warning disclaimer - even I am catching myself singing along to her songs, like the infuriatingly titled Hot N Cold), you can visit her MySpace page --> http://www.myspace.com/katyperry

Where do I start? I'm thinking here, with I Kissed a Girl.
Yep, from the title I was thinking 'okay, so finally we've got someone who's open-minded' or else, 'Christ, not a Jill Sobule remake', yet pretty much with a neutral opinion of this little madam. This song starts off with a pretty generic pop beat, until Katy promptly interrupts with her plain (slightly monotonous), clichéd, 'bi-curious' crap that will pretty much rub any slightly tolerant woman up the wrong way. And NOT in the good sense.

"This was never the way I planned
Not my intention
I got so brave, drink in hand
Lost my discretion
It's not what I'm used to
Just wanna try you on
I'm curious for you
Caught my attention

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry Chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it

No, I don't even know your name
It doesn't matter
You're my experimental game
Just human nature
It's not what good girls do
Not how they should behave
My head gets so confused
Hard to obey"

I am sorry, but what?! 'It felt so wrong', 'it doesn't matter', and that lovely little comment; 'it's not what good girls do, not how they should behave'?! I mean really, how appallingly stereotypical is this girl, and how can she think she can sing all this homophobic shite and fool a record label into selling it?

I might not be a 'good girl', but I sure as hell know what I want. And do NOT need to be pissed to do it.

Yep, weather being as un-characteristically British for yet another day. Phew. Thankfully have been able to stay in relative shade of flat today (arch. lectures finished for this semester, ack), lazing around watching Friends, listening to some music and doing some form of work. Everyone else seems pretty unproductive too, which is nice, except for those annoying flatmates going swimming. Mad.

Though, to be honest, I am very jealous of them. I haven't been swimming for absolutely ages thanks to stupid cowardice and self-consciousness. Arg.

Ah, getting into summer. Though that should mean barbeques, sunbathing and general sun-related frolics, for some of us it unfortunately equals that dreaded E X A M time. Bah. We should all be allowed to curl up with a nice iced-tea and forget about it. Though, probably, we have, which is a bit of a problem.

Please don't think for a minute that I have been working though, 'cause, hey, that never happens (I lie a little - might have done a bit of reading out of... interest? Christ, that's scary). Aside from faux-working; my first moan. The sun.
Why do people love it so much? WHAT is so fabulous about swelteringly hot days, which just leaves you with awkward tan/ burn marks or deathly pale skin that (having been hidden for a good few years) is forced on display? A combination of these two has left me in a very unfortunate predicament: a sorry attempt to cool down WHILST covering up (an oversized polo-shirt) has left me with a pathetic tan on my face and a v-neck around my neck. Oh, how I hate sun-tan. And envy those annoying people who can pull off that 'pale and interesting' look.

Surely the heat is the worst side effect of this weather. There really is nothing pleasant about summer fashion. How many man-shorts have I been seeing? Too many. Sure, there is nothing wrong with man legs but I fail to stay nonchalant after seeing dozens of hairy man-legs on display out of oversized shorts that make you look a good foot shorter than you are. Not nice. And boys, what is with this flip-flop obsession? I thought it was pretty funny seeing you struggling through winter clinging onto them (plenty of amusing torrential rain moments when you STILL insisted you could climb the hill to lectures in miserable soggy sandals), but summer is taking this to a new level. Sweaty, sticking flip-flops? Eww.
Girls, you are even worse offenders. Bug-sized sunglasses are NOT cool, no matter how many celebs are wearing them (and since when have Victoria Beckham or Nicole Richie been someone who you've wanted to emulate?). This, teamed with 'tousled' (read: sticky, over styled bird's-nest) dyed-blonde hair, teeny tops and denim skirts with the aforementioned flip-flops, is a style us university students should shun along with tracksuits, gold-hoop earrings and yesterday's make-up. It is not classy.
Also, for that girl with the mini-floaty black skirt who walked past when we were lying on the grass; please, PLEASE wear underwear. That was not nice.

One thing I better not forget to mention - the most hated of all fads - CROCS.
Never, ever, are these acceptable.
They are vile, trashy, plastic crap. Okay, I've accepted that my dad will not abandon his 'slippers' (crocs that are so shameful, not even he wears them outside. The man who wears cow-smelling boiler suits and sock/sandal combos.), but this does NOT in any way mean I can condone this travesty. And the worse thing is, you always seem to find them in pairs. Okay, they haven't shown their hideous faces on campus yet, but ten minutes into a shopping escapade at the weekend, and my eyes had already been insulted by several pairs of neon pink, blue and green monstrosities. Often by people walking around together. Do you people buy them in packs? Because, seriously, if someone encourages you to buy a pair, they are NOT your friend. S/he is a total arse.

Good things about summer?

Hmm...:

- Barbeques? Oh, but they're banned on campus. Because, of course, we are not safe with matches or whatever.

- The beach? Okay, so dozens of hot bikini-clad girls might persuade me to venture there, but since when does this EVER happen? Screaming noise, sunbathing and, EW, sand. Let's definitely not go to the beach.

- Ice cream? Students like me cannot afford it. Enough said.

I am not a summer lover.
Bring on the snow.