I am very annoyed by the ending of Dr Who this weekend. The part I did like was that the Doctor didn't die (David Tennent is hilarious as Dr Who) and that he was morbidly depressed at the end of the show (I do like dark emotions). But I have a big gripe with the fact that they got rid of Donna.



Not only was she a great character - managing to be strong, funny, gentle and loving all in one - but she was, as far as I'm concerned, one of the only quote-unquote normal women on TV. What I mean by that is that she's a woman - not a girl; she's over the age of thirty and actually looks her age; she dresses in clothes made for a woman not a teen, plus she doesn't have everything hanging out (so rare these days). I was annoyed enough when the creators of the show said no way to any hanky panky between her and the Doctor - I mean, why wouldn't a millenium-old man fancy a strong woman who can keep him in line? Just because she's not skinny, blonde, buxom and submissive, doesn't mean she's not attractive. Now that her character has been shown the exit door, I honestly can't think of any single female on TV or film who would make as good a role model as she was. I don't get attached to female's in the media very often because none of them speak to me on any level other than the odd "she's hot". I know it's probably a boring thing to hear - yet another pissed female griping on about how the only women depicted in the media are skinny, young blonde girls without any sense, but it's true! Sure, I have a chip on my shoulder because I'm not skinny, blonde and stupid, but that's cos I'm average-weight, dark-haired and have a brain - and am of the opinion that when I have children I don't want them to be raised to believe that's the be all and end all of life. There should be more characters like Donna on the TV! Much, much more. The media is so centred around youth and skinniness, and stupidity, and selfishness, and beauty, and every one needing to look and act the same (be that blonde bimbos or angry goths - I am completely aware there are two stereotypes of women portrayed). I've never followed the crowd so now that the media is focused on only one stereotype character for all their female roles I find it extrmely difficult to relate to them, and to then enjoy the programme. Rant, rant, rant ;)

I was cheered up Sunday evening when Nadal won Wimbledon!



It went to a five-set game, even though Nadal was winning by two sets by the time they went into the third set. He did it just to keep us all on the edge of our seats ;) It was nerve-wrecking to watch (poor Ray got his hand squeezed too hard several times) and when he finally did win we all hollered. And he was so gracious in his victory as well. Truly adorable. Finally some fair play: the best player of the tournament won. I'm going to miss the tennis ...

Labels: dr who, nadal, photos, rant, tennis, wimbledon

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Usually Saturday is mother/daughter day but this week we brought it forward to a Wednesday. So off we trundled to the cinema (I can't tell you how fun it is to have a cinema within walking distance) to see Hancock.

I'd seen the trailer for it a few times and it looked absolutely hilarious. It didn't disappoint. It was very funny. I always love to hear the entire cinema laughing out loud together. But it soon twisted away from comedy and went to some other place. There was superhero-action scenes, love scenes, sad scenes, more funny scenes. It was a hard one to pin down, which made me love it, of course. You know how I love to mix genres.



Now: tennis. Lleyton Hewitt is out. Federrer kicked his ass. I then hoped the Croation guy might kick Federrer's ass but he didn't. But I was glad to see that Nadal booted Murray out so convincingly. I know I should support Murray cos he's British, and in a way I do, but he's such an arogant git I find it hard to back him completely. I like Nadal. He's the best player at the tournament. And, yes, he does have lovely arms, and, yes, a lovely bum too, but, contrary to popular belief Raymond that is not why I like him; I happen to think he's good at tennis. And I want him to win. But then I wanted that last year and the year before so what I want doesn't really come into it, does it?

Labels: films, tennis

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The xbox360 broke Friday night. I beleive they call it the ring of death. Because it basically means the xbox has fried. But through the despair and worry, we went online and booked it in to get fixed, not really knowing how we'd find the money to get it done, we learnt that because this is a known problem with the xbox360 console, and because we've had it less than three years (not even a year yet actually!), we can get it fixed for free. Which is a big relief. Ray packaged it up and today the man from UPS came to collect it. The only good thing we can take from it is it does mean we've dug out the old xbox console and are now playing the original Lego Star Wars game. Ray is very upset, though. He loves his xbox360. I've spent most of the weekend keeping his hands busy elsewhere...

I went to see the new Narnia film Saturday afternoon with Mammy and Jemma. Such a good film. I highly reccomend it. It's darker and yet funnier than the first one. Jem is suicidal, though, cos Peter has said he won't be returning to Narnia again. We're meant to be seeing Hancock this weekend, which looks so funny. I'm really starting to get used to these girlie afternoons we spend in the cinema. I'm going to be sad if they stop.

At the moment I'm listening/watching live wimbledon because I don't want to miss my favourite player: Lleyton Hewitt. Typically he's up against Federrer, which means this will probably be the last game I see him play this tournament. I'm trying to write Olimpia Valley at the same time but something tells me I'm going to get distracted by a cute Australian in white shorts.

Labels: films, jem, lego star wars, lleyton hewitt, mammy, narnia, ray, tennis, wimbledon, xbox, xbox 360

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We had actual sunshine in Wales this weekend! Lookit:



I got to wear a dress, which I haven't been able to do in over a month now. And I saw actual stars in the sky last night - I'd forgotten what they looked like. I'm not expecting the sun to last (the weatherman keeps telling me rain is on its way again) but I'm making the most of it while it's here.

Such as watching Ray and Daddy building a shed - I love watching man's work from the comfort of my own reclining garden chair.



Sweepie had a dance with Grandma...



Then, while her daddy had a break from shed-building, she gave him lots of snotty-nosed Pug kisses:



She soon got distracted by the Evil Next Door Neighbour and decided to just sit and purse her lips in a threatening way, not daring to start yapping because she knew I'd tell her off.



We had our usual Shitty Sunday Dinner down the other end of the Woodland Park yesterday. This time we had a McDonalds Spicy Veggie Sandwich (bottom of the page), which tasted, quite frankly, like crap. Not a fan at all. It made me feel very sick. But because it was sunny we were able to get out of the car and sit on one of the many benches. And I made a new friend - a grasshopper:



Aside from enjoying the sun, we also went into town and had a look around the estate agents - most of them were shut (why do shops shut so damn early on a Saturday?) so we were only able to point at images in the window or else stare lustfully at their properties list which were teasing us from behind a locked door. We did have two property list's given to us and we went for a drink in a bar to look over them. One of them had all the payment information in the back and we now know for sure that we'll need about £900/1000 upfront. It's nice to have the actual figures now cos it means I can finance things better - I like knowing all the figures. It's an expensive job, renting; if only we had a few hundred thousand lying around, we could just buy then and cut out the middle man who's making all this money off us.



But money's money and who really gives a shit about where it goes? It's all going to end up spent in the end anyway. We bought a photo-album as well cos we've got about 250 photos getting developed at the moment that'll need a home. I cannot wait to put all the photos and bits and bobs in and add all the little blurbs. The photos haven't arrived yet, though, so I have to be patient.

Oh! And the tennis ended. Roger Federer won. No big surprise there. I missed the match (too busy enjoying the sun) but caught the bit at the end where he was being interviewed. Nadal should have won. What am I going to do without Wimbledon playing in the background when I write now?

Labels: life, moving out, photos, sweepie, tennis, weather

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