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December 30th, 2009
thedevilsrss
| 07:40 pm - For everyone who ever waved at a train
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DreamingOfButterflies/~3/yfw6v50oyC4/ http://www.thedevilsfeet.net/?p=441
This is a British Rail advert from 1988 when prince charles turned 40. It's a ridiculously epic portrait of a rail system which was (unfortunately) about to be fucked good and hard by privatisation and something about it really lifts my spirit. It speaks to every part of me that ever waved at a train or looked at a huge great bridge and went 'wow'. (It also features the most ridiculously amusing Recieved Pronounciation voiceover ever).
Sarah posted it originally, and her links also lead me to a rather amusing/pertinent Spitting Image parody from the time which you might well enjoy.
In other news, I have found some awesome trousers and lost a toenail (though it looks like it may grow back, fingers crossed), have an appointment next month to become bionic and would like to sing a hymn of praise to the fact that you can still buy medicines with Pseudoephedrine in, for they are delicious and yummy  .
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sobrique
 | 04:40 pm - Not as heavy as I was.
As it comes up to new year, I'm looking for comparisons with last year.
There's a whole bunch that spring to mind, and one in particular that has massively changed my world for the better.
But that's not what I was going to blither about. 2009 was the year of finally getting a handle on getting in shape. I'd spent
a while beforehand alternating between getting frustrated at not being able to do anything, and getting bored and ignoring the problem, and focussing on living it up.
I went for a medical early on in the year, as part of an employer sponsered thing, and also because I figured a comprehensive healthcheck now I'd just hit 30 was a good thing.
It was handy, in the sense that they identified nothing particularly notable, apart from my being overweight. (well, duh). Somewhat pleasingly, I was actually fairly fit, comparatively, which was good.
Didn't tell me much more, apart from my cholesterol being too low, and pointing me in the general direction of a website and ... sort of weight loss program, called 'fitbug'.
Now, I don't mean to evangelise overly, but that's what really has helped keep track and finally nail the 'root cause' of why my previous attempts to get in shape were dismal failures.
Over the course of the year, I also found a book called 'the hackers diet' (http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/) which was another interesting take on the whole human metabolism thing - a scientific/engineering sort of a viewpoint, not a hocum diet book.
Because there is the core problem - the 'super diet plans' aren't actually interested in helping you get to a stable weight. They're interested in something that looks and sounds impressive, such that people chat about it around the water cooler, try it for a while and see it 'working' before they give up and get bored of whatever it is.
And then they bring you a NEW Improved diet plan, just in time for next year's new years resolution*.
But it's all a pile of nonsense, with just enough truth buried that it isn't outright fraud. Losing weight is both really easy, and really hard. And not the other way around, like the books would have you believe.
Less calories in than you use means you lose weight. But practically speaking, if you end up economizing, you end up feeling hungry, lethargic and tired, and thus don't actually use as much energy in the end.
So your 'diet' seems to be working initially, as you shed some water or fat, but then stalls a few weeks later because you're basically slowly starving yourself, and setting off all those 'protection' mechanisms that you've spent millions of years evolving, to deal with times of famine.
Yeah, I had that too. So anyway, have been 'fitbugging'. Means I get daily steps targets, daily 'energy intake' targets, with general guidelines on carbohydrate:protein:fat ratios (and saturated vs. unsaturated fats). Each day doesn't matter particularly, but each week there's a general weekly report of 'ratios'.
Of note is the fact that 'in the past' I cut back eating, and increased workout, and then went 'splat' because I was exhausted, and ... basically didn't do myself much good by doing that - even if I did stay stubbornly 'at it' it didn't actually _do_ anything, as I didn't have the energy to burn in the first place.
So as of today, I'm quite nicely balanced for nutritional input from a 'normal ish' eating routine. I'm consuming 3000kcal/day, and aiming to be using about 3800/day. (Which if you're used to the notion, you'll be aware is actually more of a calorie deficit - and thus faster weight loss - than you'get in a 'normal' diet program)
It hasn't been flawless over the year - not by any means - but it's made it easy enough to get it back on track when I have 'slipped a bit'.
So it looks like I'm going into the new year on 117.2kg. Which compared to last year's 134.4 is an acceptable amount of improvement - it's been down as low as 114, but so it goes. 2.7 stone, or 40lb for those inclined to such units.
More though, my ability to do stuff has improved markedly - I can row at a quite intensive pace for 40 minutes, for example.
I've started doing the 'hundred pressups', although that's slipped a bit over christmas as well - none the less, that's noticably improving - I can do 25 in one go, rather than the 6 when I first started.
My concern though, was that weight loss sort of bibbles around oddly when you're doing it by 'activity' - muscle weighs more. So my scales that read the body fat percentage have been another way of tracking. That's dropping, steadily.
There's still a way to go - I've notionally set myself the target of a hundred kg, although I'll settle for a higher number if it comes with a suitable body fat percentage.
(Bodywise Scales)
But people are noticing and commenting, which is more gratifying than I thought it would be. For all this is for the benefit of my health and my life, I can't really see the different from a year ago - because I see my face in the mirror every day, and the change is gradual.
I take my achievement from the fact that I can row 8km in 40m reliably, and can push for 9, 9.5 and hope to make 10km at some point. I get a small smug glow every time someone at the gym gets 'competitive' to try and show me up, and fails dismally, and ... well, y'know what, I just like the feeling of being able to sleep properly - losing weight has improved my snoring (so I'm told ;p) but I do notice I sleep better.
Onward, ever onwards.
* Oh yeah. Diet books. I was thinking of writing and publishing one, based on all the principles of awesomeness that Atkins esposes, appealing directly to the faddy dieters. It's called the lard, olive oil and vitamin pill diet. Quite literally, it's to get your daily calorie intake from oil and fat alone, from pre-cutting some lard into blocks for your daily portions. Probably with some handwavy explaination of how it's a metaphor for putting fat in, in order to make you think about the fat going out again. Anyway. You'd be allowed to season it a little too - so maybe lard _and_ spices.
It'd work for a couple of weeks, as your outrageously screw your metabolic balance, and it'd be utterly disgusting to eat spoonfuls of fat (not to mention when you use the toilet at the end of the day) meaning you'd be significantly cutting back on the calories too.
And then almost everyone would 'give up' and blame their own lack of willpower, but _will_ have seen it working for a while, and thus credit me with an awesome invention, and blame themselves for being useless failures of a human being with not enough willpower to eat lard by kilo each day. But I don't much care, as long as they bought the book, DVD and promotional gear.
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auntysarah
 | 04:29 pm - Rail/Industrial Porn
I found this on YouTube today. It's a British Rail advert from 1988, and the sound is a bit distorted in this recording, but I think the photography and the editing are just gorgeous. It gives me warm fuzzies inside!
Originally posted at http://auntysarah.dreamwidth.org/219859.html - you can comment here or there.
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December 29th, 2009
sobrique
| 03:36 pm - Christmas leftovers - chinese style
Still got some leftovers from christmas dinner? Bored with turkey sandwiches already?
I tried my second (well, third, kinda) pass at egg (vegetable/special/...) fried rice.
Ingredients were christmas leftovers. So some lamb, bacon, couple of bits of sausage, some onion, some beetroot, a bit of chopped lettuce, pepper (half a red, half a yellow) and would have been about half a chilli, if we hadn't had a toddler to feed. It would have probably included some turkey, if I weren't allergic to it, too :)
4 eggs were used, and a useful amount of olive oil.
About 250g of rice was ample to feed 5 adults and said toddler, along with the 'rest' of a brunch (so couple of sausages, some bacon). If you wanted the rice alone, you might want a little more - I think the bag recommended 75g per person.
Pre cook the rice the night before and leave to cool. I drained it, but didn't rinse it, and I should have done - it worked well enough, but I think it would have been better still if I'd rinsed the rest of the starch off.
Rice was boiled in the pan, but with a dash of olive oil in the water. Strained and drained, and put in a dish to chill out overnight. (Cover/refrigerate). I think it works best if you leave the rice with a minute or so of cooking left on the clock - so it's technically underdone, but just about cooked enough to eat, if you see what I mean - you're going to be cooking it more tomorrow, and that preserves the flavour and texture a little.
Other prep - which can also wait until the next day - is to whisk up the eggs. 1 per person seems about right - we used four, but five would have been fine. Whisk until it's a smooth and fluffy yellow slime, of an even consistency.
Ingredients for next day were fried up - meat first, as that's important to cook through, followed by stuff in order of how cooked I liked it, which was mostly onions first, then all the rest. Use plenty of oil, as you'll be cooking egg and rice in it as well. Either fry, or cover and 'steam' depending on exactly what it is you're cooking - I went for frying the bacon, lamb, onion (And would have done with chilli) until they started to soften, then mixing in the rest of the veg, covering the pan and leaving to steam for about 10 minutes. (Lower heat needed, you don't want burningness)
Wait until your veg is about ready to eat - but again, aim for the 'crispy/not quite done yet' side of cooked, as you've still a little longer to go. But should be hot, starting to soften, and ready to eat standalone.
Uncover, stir in rice so it's well mixed, turn up heat a bit, and wait for rice to start to turn a little bit brown (as in, actually starting to cook from the frying - it's already cooked from the boiling). Then make a little well in the middle, by scooping the rice/veg mix to the edges. Add a bit more oil if you need to - if it's starting to stick - and leave it to warm up a bit - and pour your egg into the middle. Leave it for a bit, so it starts to cook like you would an omlette - the longer you leave it, the larger your egg-lumps will be, which is a matter of taste. But you don't want it fully cooked before you start to stir.
Start stirring it into your rice mix, again whilst keeping the heat fairly high - egg cooks quite fast - a matter of a minute or so.
Total cooking time is about 20 minutes to half an hour. Beetroot is an interesting ingredient, as it'll make your rice go a pinkish colour. Not necessarily a bad thing, just ... be aware that's what'll happen.
All in all, I rather enjoyed it.
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thedevilsrss
| 09:24 am - Circles and Circles and Circles
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DreamingOfButterflies/~3/C3_vwOWE_8w/ http://www.thedevilsfeet.net/?p=439
We have survived Christmas! (Not that it took much surviving, it was actually rather nice). We descended on my parents as is usual, had a day of good food, good wine and very good company indeed where many very silly games were played due to the sterling mirthmakign efforts of one Ezekiel Edgeworth, mistress of ceremonies. Once again we didn't do the gift thing, prefering to get a bit charitable with it, though She and I made up for that in the ruinously cheap steam sale and via a little potter through John Lewis and Next for cute tops and patterns for cuter ones still.
The steam sale is one of those ridiculous, wallet emptying contrivances that waits for gamers at the end of every year now and, to be fair, we made out like bandits. Ezekiel came away with a huge pile of mystery solving and object finding games, and I walked off with Left4Dead2 and Borderlands for online shennanigans, and Osmos and Freespace 2 for offline fun. With Dragon Age still ongoing as well as Fallout 3 I think I'm set for the decade here (though I would rather like Mass Effect 2 when it pops as well).
Just a short week to wobble through now before the new year when we have Doodle visiting for our usual festivities, followed by the annual Weasel and Mal birthday spectacular when we ... have a quiet meal together at my folks place adn enjoy each others company ... we are but simple folk  . I shall be diving headlong into my thirties this year and am rather looking forward to it. It'll be a nice little get together before work takes off again on the 4th and everything returns to its usual silly pace. Not going to even think about going back to hospital re: the is it or isn't it lupus silliness yet (if I can manage not to), there are far too many interesting things to be distracted by before that.
Last of all, I've gotta talk about the Dresden Files. I picked these up from the Library after Lamasu linked me to a p. indignant review about how awfully bloody mysoginistic they were and had a bit of a rant about the author. This kinda intregued me so I had to check things out and ... wow. This is the most beautiful Noir detective trash I've seen in ages. If it was any more Noir it would be printed in black text on black paper. If you've got a thing for yon anita blake style supernatural problem solving and cheesy detective fiction you could do a lot worse than picking this up. I'll be working through the rest of them as and when the library can supply over the next few months.
That's all for now, piggies, be love .
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someposifeed
| 01:58 am - [SP/RWW] Corsetto & Milholland pt 1
http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp12282009.shtml Something Positive returns January 4th.
If there are any problems with the comic or website, or if you have any questions, comments, or complaints you would like to address directly to Randy, please email him at choochoobear@gmail.com.
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purp1e_magic
 | 01:14 am - Illness
I wasn't sure whether to write next about illness or about Christmas in Bristol, but I guess they're one in the same!
On the last day in Crawley Simon threw a high temperature. He was then ill for 4 days and nights, which is ludicrously long for a child. Simon normally bounces back really fast. He was so miserable, achy and with a yo yo temperature. He put a brave face on it, and we managed to enjoy stuff a bit. But we missed Christmas mass. I was really looking forward to going, but he was too unwell, and of everybody there, I was the obvious choice to leave behind. In the end, I'm kind of thankful this was the case, because I tried to stay up until the others got back, and found that I would have ended up pushing myself too far had I been sat in a pew at church. Instead I watched some comedy on TV and then a programme about sacred Christmas songs, and then I tried to go to bed. In the end I couldn't sleep either, so I got up again at 1.30am when the others came home.
Because of packing limitations we couldn't do our normal 1 gift each before bed, but Sophia did put the baby Jesus in the crib before we went to bed. I actually couldn't sleep at all, and so it defaulted to me to wake everyone up at 7am the next morning.
Peter made coffee for mum and dad, and we did our usual of all in their bed while they had coffee and watched us lot open stockings. We had some cool stuff. My favourite was a very funky jewelery set. Peter's was a laser target alarm clock. Simon's was a toy snake that he can paint himself. Sophia's was her new Charlie and Lola books. But we all had lots of cool stuff, not to mention lots of chocolate!
Then Peter's parents went to Christmas morning mass, taking baby with them. (They're in the choir, so they have to do both of those, but thankfully not the 6pm Christmas Eve mass as well. When Peter was chief alter-server he used to do all three.) We had a little lunch and opened lots more pressies. Then Peter helped Dad sort out being able to sync his new iphone with his PC, which took ages and everybody's attention, so that I overdid myself dramatically by bathing Simon in between temperatures. It had to be done, and everybody was too busy at every possible opportunity. I figured if I actually got started and then asked for help, people would actually do the job. Given that Simon's temperature started going up straight away after I finished and given that he did actually feel a lot better for it and started to recover, I maintain this was necessary even if I didn't get the requested help.
However, this spoiled the gorgeous Christmas dinner somewhat. It wasn't as unusual and lavish as some years, but it was very yummy. Poor Simon hardly ate a thing, and was really quite tearful about all the stuff he was missing out on, but we promised him a second version later on when he was better. Mum made right-way-round profiteroles, which aren't as nice as her inside-out ones, with chocolate fondant on the inside and cream on the outside, but still gorgeous. We skipped crackers and cheese. But because I'd had morphine I'd gone silly. And everybody said it didn't matter, but you could tell it did, especially because they thought I'd brought it on myself by bathing Simon. After dinner I insisted on ringing Teresa to tell how how much we enjoyed her yummy crab-apple jelly with our dinner. Then we broke one of the Christmas day rules or no TV and watched The Gruffalo, which was really good and I wish they'd done The Gruffalo's Child as part of the story.
But by then Dad was starting to get ill, too. So that packing and travelling the next morning was very difficult. But we all knew that if Simon's progress was anything to go by, Dad would have been far worse the next day! We made the journey OK in the end, with plenty of long stops, though at one point it was touch-and go about whether we stayed in a service station hotel for the night. When we got in we abandoned our plan of going out for dinner, chose some really nice takeaway food instead, and then realised that the takeaway places were all shut for Boxing Day. So in the end Mum and Peter made some fish and pasta.
The next morning Dad was a lot worse, and Peter was starting to feel a little ill. I was fine, so while Mum, Peter and Sophia went shopping after mass Simon (who was now quite well) and I did one of the things he'd been bugging me to do all holiday - some experimental cooking. We made something akin to Chicken Supreme, but with a couple of unusual ingredients. We started with a rue (butter, flour, milk) nice and thick Then we added a chicken stock cube (Asda Smart-price) and a vegetable stock cube (Knorr). I always keep a huge selection of stock cubes in the house, as the right one in the right dish can really make a difference, and having a selection gives variety to boring commonly cooked meals. Then we added a couple of handfuls of Thai violet rice that I bought in the world foods aisle in France. Some grains are actually purple, and colour everything purple that they are cooked with. We didn't put in enough to so make the dish properly purple, but it had a nice glowing sort of colour to it. Finally we put in mushrooms with a large pot of raspberry fromage-frais. It was really good sauce. We served this with pasta and hot chicken that Peter brought home from the supermarket. We also added the remainder of the chicken into the sauce and used it as vols-aux-vents filling.
I was really pleased to have managed this much without any problems, and I'm really glad to have my new perching stool. But I absolutely had to go to sleep after this. So I couldn't go to the party. Neither could Dad, and I'm told we were both really missed, and that my vols-aux-vents went down very well. The kids came back bearing more gifts, the funkiest of which was a set of fairy princess Russian dolls, which apparently kept Sophia busy for hours at the party.
Last night I had another sleepless night. I got up in the end at about 4am. I'm glad I was awake, because we had a real scare in the morning. I was downstairs playing on the computer, and I heard some funny noises from upstairs, which could have been Simon being sick or Dad sneezing. I decided to go upstairs to investigate, and was halfway up when I heard a crash. Dad fell over coming out of the bathroom. Peter and I were both right there, and I'm pretty sure he was having a small fit. His behaviour was strange, like I've seen before only when Peter had a fit. He was conscious, though, and Peter and I pulled him up and tried to walk him back to bed, but we only got so far, and had to let him sit down in an awkward position.
I have never seen Dad look so old, frail and helpless before. Peter and I were both concerned, because we weren't quite sure what had happened - hypo, fit or stroke. We asked mum to take a blood-sugar reading, which she really struggled with. But by then Dad was beginning to be a little more sensible and talked her through it. If he hadn't started talking sense pretty quickly we'd have had to take him to hospital, which would have a been a major problem, as Dad is phobic of hospitals. Anyway, it seems that the high temperature triggered a tiny fit, and he's all back to normal now. The illness, the odd eating and so on probably hasn't helped his anti-fitting medicines work properly, either.
Mum seemed pretty useless in an emergency, contrary to what Peter and I both thought ought to be the case. We both just shrugged this off and thought 'oh, well. Some people surprise you.' But it turns out that the problem was that she was in the middle of a bad migraine at the time, and hadn't twigged properly, having just woken up suddenly, that this was the case.
I've been about 6 or 7 hours behind Peter in the illness. I could feel my throat getting gradually more sore. I could hear my chest getting gradually more wheezy. I looked after him really well this morning, and did some tidying up and directed the kids to do the rest. Then it hit me, so I took some paracetamol and went to bed. Out of everyone, I think I'm currently the most ill, because it's playing havoc with the fibro. But on the other hand, I think I'm also the most equipped to deal with it. I'm used to being incapacitated and in pain, and I have a variety of very strong medications that the others can't use. I had some oramorph earlier and some diazepam a couple of hours ago. Now I'm not sleeping again, but I'm comfortable enough.
Meanwhile, we have visitors. We tried to contact Stan and Claire to warn them that we were the house of the Dreaded Lurgy, but they didn't get our message until they were nearly here. Stan and Mum cooked our pretend Christmas dinner for Simon, so he's happy now and no longer feels like he's missed out on Christmas. He stayed up till late with Stan and Claire, playing, whilst all the adults went moaning to bed. Hopefully some of us will start to feel better tomorrow, so we can actually enjoy our visitors. I love social things, and I feel like I've already missed out on 2 big social opportunities because of my illness.
I'm trying to stay positive. For once, it's proving a bit of a problem. Largely the issue is dreams. I've been sleeping and dreaming a lot lately, and in my dreams I'm perfectly happy and healthy and hearty and hale. I'm much slimmer with long shiny hair and a great bouncy smile. And I can do whatever I feel like. In dreams that can be anything! I can jump over buildings and sew beautifully and so an. So to wake up and not even be able to dress yourself feels like it's not really my body, but some broken one I've got by accident. It's really hard to get used to the limitations because half the time (the time whilst I am asleep) I'm perfectly fine. Part of it is that I've now been ill for over a year, and all the things that last year seemed like "never mind, it's only for a while" are now triggering thoughts of "and I might never..." 'I might never' is a sensible thing to think. It sounds negative, but is actually a truth that needs to be faced as part of the recovery process. But it's a hard truth to swallow. When you can still jump buildings in your spare time, "I might never get to go to midnight mass again, but I hope I will" is a harsh contrast.
Peter was supposed to be going back to work tomorrow, but that's not going to happen! Charlene starts again tomorrow morning, and I am looking forward to changing my clothes and having a bath. I hope she'll help me do a cooked breakfast for my guests.
I hope Dad is better soon, and that Mum and Sophia don't come down with what the rest of us have had. Maybe we can go and see Avatar after all.
Oh, and Uncle John is in hospital in Leicester with a swollen foot, and is currently on iv antibiotics. Not really sure what's wrong, but it adds to the general concern levels in the household. Mum rang the hospital earlier and left a message for him.
Oh, and no one has responded to my New Years Eve party invitation. I'm not sure whether to cancel or not, given we might all be fine by then, and in any case if no one has said they're coming then there doesn't seem much point in telling them it's cancelled. But someone said they were having trouble getting texts through to me, so I don't know if that's the problem. I'll find and reboot my phone in the morning.
In a way I'm looking forward to the start of the routines, but on the other hand I have hundreds of appointments and I have quite a lot to do before I can go to some of them, not to mention finding my diary and checking for clashes! I have psychology, which starts again with a new psychiatric nurse, the results of my sleep clinic session, a pacing session with my OT and an eye appointment for Sophia. I also have to rearrange hydrotherapy and actually book those massages, provided of course that this illness doesn't trigger a new flare-up. I also have to contact my health visitor and doctor, and I'm due another one of those nasty appointments with the union, Michael and that horrible lady from HR. At least this time I've decided for sure that I'm not going back, and the occupational health doctor's letter should make that easy.
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December 28th, 2009
zehavit_lamasu
 | 07:48 pm - That Takarazuka Meme Thang.
I don't remember where I saw this. It has been saved in a private entry for weeks for a boring day. I don't even know why I am doing this - I have only been a fan for 6 months and I don't think my taste is solidified enough but the urge is there and boredom is lurking ... so here we go...
1. Who is your favourite current Top Star?
An Evil question from the land of Evil and it is EVIL that it should be asked now when there are 4 top stars I adore... but Aaaah! It has to be Kiriyan after all ^_^.
2. Who is your favourite current Nibante?
Ranju Tomu - don't ask me why. It isn't that I don't know why because I DO! (Awesome Tomu is Awesome!) but because I will just stand there flailing and saing stuff like "Awesome Tomu is Awesome!" and that is just DUMB! I don't do things like that... aaah... yeah ... *flails*
3. Who is your favourite current sienne who is neither a top star or a nibante?
Otozuki Kei is not a nibante yet is she? I pretend she isn't here just so I can do my own special Kimu Dance ... which, trust me, you are HAPPY you can't see ^^;;.
4. Where is your current troupe loyalty?
Cosmos... I just woke up one morning and realise there was never an actress in Cosmos I didn't at least want to molest for one night... or be molested by more like... YES! I do give you more information than you want ... your point?
5. What is your favourite troupe for:
a) 1995-1999 - Hanagumi
b) 2000 - 2002 - Soragumi is begining to take over.
c) 2003-2005 - Soragumi claim to my heart being challanged somewhat by Tsukigumi.
d) 2006-2008 - Yukigumi makes a considerable advance for my soul, battle it with Tsukigumi... with occasional successful guerila attack by Hoshigumi... yet Soragumi triumphs after all ^^;;.
6. What sienne would you switch your troupe loyalty for if they transferred somewhere else?
Ranju Tomu - I will follow her to the ends of the earth and ... probably fall off the edge screaming "I LOVE YOU TOMUUUUUUUU" all the way down.
7. What play/stories do you want to see Takarazuka do?
You... you really shouldn't ask me things like that. Would very much love more double gay! MORE DOUBLE GAY PLZ! Whatever makes two Otokoyaku fondle each other on stage works for me!
Also just for the hilarity - do a version of Ulysses... seriously - it is the most awful book in creation - it can benefit from sparkles and feathers and they can do a CURTAIN SONG in honour of that 100000000++ page chapter that talks about... yeah... curtains!
8. What types of plays do you want to see more of? (ie comedy, romance, western, supernatural, fable/fairy tale)
I have the softest spots for suits - so ... more Noir stuff please... "the moment that Musumeyaku walked through my door I knew she'd be nothing but trouble. He eyes where heavy with make-up but I could see through the deceit, Chinatown... or was it Tokyo. I knew I would let her shoot me! I knew she would make me walk down giant stairways wearing feathers and sequins and I knew there was nothing I could do about it!"
Also - Comedy - the more crack the better ^_^.
9. Would you like to see Takarazuka do a non-singing play?
Nope. OMIGODDESS! That was a short answer... let me try to make it longer... aaaah... no I wouldn't want to! ^^;;.
10. What is your favourite version of Elisabeth and why?
ARRRGH! Another question from the land of Evil! Don't make me choooooooose! I love 2005 Tsukigumi for the awesomeness of the cast and for Kiriyan's Luchieni, I love 2007 Yukigumi for the fantastic Mizu-Death. But I think the one I watch most is the 1998 Soragumi - for the awesomeness of the cast for Zunko unbelievable voice and for the best Luchieni EVAR! Despite it being Wataru and not Kiriyan (you can tell because she is taller... ok... I ... I will go away now ;_;).
11. What is your favourite version of Rose of Versailles and why?
OH MY GODDESS! THEY ARE ALL AWFUL!!!! and ... errr... I love them all but... ssshhhh ... don't tell anyone. I dunno - I confess the more times Andre gets shot at the end the more I love it. So ... whatever one was the one he got shot 24 time before dying ! THAT VERSION! (yes... I counted! *dork as charged* ^^;;).
12. What are your top 3 favourite Takarazuka plays?
So ... I will be boring and say - Elisabeth, Phantom and Scarlet Pimpernel.
But slightly less boring - Ernest in Love, Me and my Girl and...aaaah A/L ... because I love how it murdered one of my favourite book series and then raped it's corpse and I felt like thanking Takarazuka for it XD. (also - Sherlock Holmes in Bitch boots and Watson in a dress... PRICELESS!).
EDIT: Actually if we speak strictly Takarazuka than Me an My Girl and Ernest in Love can't be included... so it will have to be Seal of Roses and Lucifer Tears... for cracky reasons and really odd choreographies and DOUBLE GAY! glorious, GLORIUS DOUBLE GA!!! :D:D:D
13. What are your top 3 favorite Revues?
Aaah! Harsh! Harsh! HARSH!!! Tarantella, Neo-Dandyism and Junction 24 ... Just for the bit when Oura Mizuki high kicks and shoots the entire cast AND THE AUDIENCE with a gold machine gun XD.
That was a hard question *is a revue whore* ^_^.
14. Who is your favourite Top Star combi of all time?
Ack! I am going to be boring and join the hoards that root for WaoHana. I just love how they sing together. There are many Musumeyakus I adore FAAAAR more than Mari Hanafusa but when she is with Youka Wao... there is just something about the way they sing and dance together that is perfection to me.
I think I have to add Asami Hikaru and Maikaze Rira on account of the awesome dancing. I think they actually match each other in their dancing ability... Maachan being the only musumeyaku I know who can front a line of top Otokoyaku and PAWN then like WOAH (also - this was indeed was just an excuse to talk about Maachan who I hated in Tears of Lucifer (Lame role of kind blind whore being LAME) Loved in Tarantella and finally totally fell in love with in Silver Wolf!... nothing to do with the fact she said nice things about the Glastonbury Tor in her blog... but it WAS nice ^_^).
15. What is your favourite Top Star / Nibante combination of all time?
Going to be so bloody boring again - I am too new for this question dammit! Did Osa and Asa where ever Top and Nibante together or did they just have that chemistry going despite rank?
I think the most I enjoyed was Touko and Chie in Scarlet Pimpernel though.
16. What troupe would you most likely cheat on your current favourite troupe with?
You probably couldn't move me from the glory that is Cosmos right now since ... y'know... Yuuhi, Tomu, Micchan, Tomochin... you would have to crate a troupe made of Kimu, Chie and Kiriyan to even begin to convince me... XD.
17. What character is your favourite Takarazuka hero?
Hands down! LUCHIENI!!!! *coughs* yes... And my shrink thinks I need help too! ;_;.
18. What character is your favourite Takarazuka heroine?
Despite the dreadfulness of the musical ... which is probably also a direct link to why I love it so much... Lady Oscar! But it is very much a continuation of the Manga and Anime.
19. What character is your favourite Takarazuka villain?
Carlotta and Sophie... oh look... both played by Aya Izumo who is awesome... I wonder if that has anything to do with it? ^_^.
Your Favourite! (pick one!)
1. Otokoyaku or musumeyaku
Otokoyaku.
2. Comedy or drama
Comedy
3. Singing or dancing
Tsk! Hard one! I will go with... Dancing... personal biased and all that - I tend to fall for the dancers... but it just wouldn't be Takarazuka without the singing so... meep! PASS!
4. Western style play or traditional Japanese style play
WESTERN STYLE. As much as I try and I DO TRY, I can't get into nihonmono no matter what! Something in the aesthetic is just off. I look at it - can SEE it is beautiful but it doesn't speak to my soul AT ALL!
5. Oscar or Andre
Oscar... apart from that bit when Andre gets shot a lot ^^;;.
6. Death or Franz Joseph
CAKE OR DEATH? Sorry... what? Franz Joseph was a bit of a wet blanket and my moustache tops his a million times! I would go with Der Todd thank you... quite literally - I will go home with him like a puppy-eyed fan girl and offer to make him some cake and then he can eat me... I mean the CAKE... CAKE... I don't have any sexual feeling towards Zunko in a bad wig... I mean... AAAH *hides*.
7. Play or Revue
Revue whore thy name is Lamasu - bring me the sparklies so I can sparkle... with sparkles! ^_^.
8. Tuxedo or 10 layer bell-bottom latin pants
What kind of a crazy arse question is that? Tuxedo... with 10 layers of bel-bottom latin pants... no, not really. PIN STRIPE SUITS PLZ! *elegantly side-steps question* right... not so elegantly but...).
9. Sequins or feathers
Sequinned Feathers... see what I did there? Actually - the belly dancer is still strong in me - SEQUINS!
10. Main theater or Bow Hall (or Umeda or whatever other smaller theatre they use)
Can't decide... will tell you after I saw some shows live, OK? If there was ever a chance that I could get to sit on front raw and then Ranju Tomu kinda... fell on me from the silver bridge... than I would have to say - Main theatre ... but until that unlikely eventuality I reserve my right not to answer this question (or any) properly!
11. Heroes or villains?
MUWAHAHAHAHAAHAH! That is all! ^^;;.
12. Osa or Asa
Who... WHO WROTE THIS QUESTIONER? Are they trying to torture me? I am NOT going to answer that question... OK... I will... RANJU TOMU!
THERE! :P
This was awful ... I really enjoyed it... must do it again in 3 years time ^_^.
My spell checking is not working so it is probably dreadful to read and quite frankly - I have written it really fast and I suspect I will change my mind about some things if I look again...
So it stays as it is for now.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/acedia/littlegent/bored.gif) bored
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auntysarah
| 05:36 pm - PimpMyBoobs Dot Com
For ages in the second half of this year, a unit in Cambridge's Grand Arcade shopping mall had, "Rigby and Peller, coming soon" written on it. A few weeks ago, a shiny new branch of said shop, brassiere makers by Royal Appointment and Stuff™ opened. There's the oft-quoted statistic that something like 300% of women in the UK are wearing the wrong bra size, which will lead to FAMINE and WAR and TIT DROOP, and I have frequently expressed my frustration at how no two people can seem to agree on how bra sizes are supposed to work. Being in earshot for many of these occasions, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) the_local_echo bought me a most excellent Christmas present - a fitting appointment at our newly opened branch of Rigby and Peller, and a 50 pound gift voucher at the same boutique.
I have heard great things of them, and was somewhat apprehensive as I walked into the shop for my appointment. I had visions of that scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts' character walks into a high class clothing shop and is made to feel about 2 cm tall by the snooty "assistants" there.
In the event the experience was extremely pleasant. One of the assistants, Julia, introduced herself to me and took me through to a fitting room, where she asked me to take my top and bra off. She explained that they size by eye and then try a few things on and refine their sizing accordingly. When I first grew breasts I started using one of those formulae, where you measure round the bottom of the breasts, add a seemingly random number between 4 and 8, divide by your mother's maiden name, subtract the number you first thought of and multiply by your birthday, or something like that. By the time my breasts were more or less in the shape they are now, this resulted in me wearing 38B bras from Marks and Spencer.
It eventually occurred to me that these bras were providing almost no support, and the cups were a horrible shape for my breasts, leaving air pockets into which the fabric would randomly collapse. With some experimentation I ended up where I was this morning, wearing either an M&S 36B or 36C, depending on style.
Julia initially sized me at 34B, with a quick visual inspection. The first bra she tried was too tight, so she went up to a 36B in the same style, which was the same size as the bra I came in wearing, and which probably fits the best out of all my bras - I got it for 2 quid from the M&S sale rack a few months ago. After trying a few more styles over the course of the next half an hour, during which I got the "face forward, arms through straps, lean forward, stand upright, turn to the side, face forward again, raise arm" routine down more-or-less pat, I ended up selecting a 34C push-up bra in both black and also a colour which more-or-less matched my skin, which Julia said would likely work better under a white top than a white bra (this had never occurred to me - I'd never bought a bra in this colour before).
Anyway, they fit really well and I love the way my breasts look in them - nice, rounded and shapely, and I'm really pleased. They're expensive though.
I've heard some of my friends rave about Bravissimo. For the rest of us, those who are not sufficiently well endowed to avoid being laughed out of that shop, I can thoroughly recommend the Rigby and Peller experience. Just take a lot of money.
Originally posted at http://auntysarah.dreamwidth.org/219519.html - you can comment here or there.
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thedevilsrss
| 10:52 am - feel like flying
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DreamingOfButterflies/~3/YAro4S0F7Ww/ http://www.thedevilsfeet.net/?p=437
Underworld - Rez/Kowgirl with timelapse footage - if you asked me 'what is good in life' then this, along with love and long hot showers would be my answer. Everything Everything everything everything.
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December 27th, 2009
triggur
 | 09:26 pm - Yum
Avatar really is pretty great.
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