<happy dance> I got another parcel yesterday! From Joules this time containing a signed copy of Crystal Power (gorgeous!); a DVD (Blow Dry mmm... Rickman...); a cinnamon scented, grape festooned candle; another piece of the lovely salmony silk; a massage octopus (<snerk> 8 thumbs, eh?); a froggy floating pond ornament; 3 packets of strawberry angel delight! (<swoon> mine!); 16 sachets of the Turkish delight hot chocolate; a CD full of music and manga (Raditz, phwoooar! ... just looking!); and a good handful of Cadbury creme egg bars (which are mostly all gone now. <licks lips>)
Thanks, Joules, your Care packages are as appreciated (squeed over) as ever. <g>

Right, The Libertine. Fascinating movie, not pretty at all, despite the glorious costumes - it seemed to view everything through a miasma of mist, and mud and candle light. In the opening frames the Earl of Rochester (Johnny Depp) tells us bluntly that we won't like him, and he's correct, up to a point. For me it wasn't so much a case of dislike for the excesses of the 17th century poet, as pity. The movie's tagline 'He didn't resist temptation. He pursued it.' is misleading. It makes John Wilmot out to be a romantic sort of rogue, and he is not. He is a deeply unhappy man who retreats behind moral cowardice to avoid the effort - and perhaps pain - that's needed to realise his potential. It felt like a life wasted. Here was a brilliant man who could've overcome his weaknesses but chose not to, and when his life falls apart with drastic consequences all he can say is 'I warned you not to trust me'.
It was a tragic story with a tragic ending, and yet, he does rally himself for a sort of redemption at the end. It was a small gesture compared to the damage he'd brought to himself and others, but it was a glimpse of what he could have been. And that was when I started sniffling. :) I'd like to read the play now, if not some of Rochester's writings, and I want a copy of the DVD when it comes out. Not just because it's another notch in my Depp collection but because it's an intriguing piece of art in its own right. <shakes head> Who wants to fill up on cotton-candy movies when there's stuff like this around?

Speaking of cotton-candy... I couldn't resist the bishie on the cover of Absolute Boyfriend and so I bought my first ever manga. It was so cute, and so funny, I giggled all the way through. (And of course, being alert to the slashy possibilities didn't detract from the reading, either <smirk>). I liked the style of art, too, simple and clean but very expressive. Volumes 2 and 3 of the translations are available, apparently, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for those.

I've recently been keeping track of the weather, just to see how accurate the forecasts are. I only had 14 days of data to play with for July but even so the results were interesting. On average, the weather bureau underestimated both the low and high temperatures by only half a degree. I'm trying to get a full month's date for August then I'll run the figures again - but I suspect it'll be a similar result.
(Good gods, next I'll be looking into rain gauges for my garden. As long as I don't begin taking an interest in shovels I should be all right...)

Our ABC - which is my default telly channel - occasionally broadcasts some very strange things late at night. For instance, sometime last week I looked up from the 'puter to see a performance by an 'experimental orchestra'. <blink> Music, only by the vaguest definition, enhanced by the orchestra members writhing about while wearing plastic bags and shredded paper. I got the impression of something oceanic but that was only because one man appeared to be acting like a seal. The rest made no sense at all... Oh well, 'art' is only in the comprehension of the beholder, I suppose. :)

After a really good day at Puffing Billy on Saturday, Sunday was very strange. I let myself sleep in and when I eventually opened my eyes at 11 a.m. I felt very bleurgh. Headachey and hungover; very annoying considering it's been months since I had a drink. Anyway, dragged myself out of bed but only managed an hour or so of useful activity before I had to apologise to the cubs and take myself back to bed for another few hours. It was well into the evening before I began to feel better. I really don't like days like that.
(Chatting to Penny about it on Monday we concluded that I must've been channeling her vodka hangover. That, or I just let myself get horribly dehydrated.)

I took 132 photos at Puffing Billy, for a total of 25 megs, and I discovered a lot about my woodgie phone camera. It doesn't handle motion very well, and without a flash I can only rely on available light. Not much of a problem with flourescents but incandescents don't work well at all. The 2 megapixels can sometimes give a surprisingly good picture but I've had to learn to judge what probably will and won't work with the digital zoom, or with close-ups. I probably have more 'failed' shots with this camera than I would with an SLR but I'm learning the media and I love not having to cart around rolls and rolls of film. As someone known to take oodles of photos at the merest hint of something interesting, the cost saved is significant. I do fret a little, however, at the volatility of the medium. One 'puter crash and you've lost everything, without having negatives to go back to. So, I've been very good about burning everything to CD on a regular basis. Ideally I'd like to have hard copies of favoured photos too, but that can wait for the moment. Even more ideally I'd still love to have an honest to goodness darkroom, but again, that can wait... :)