On Sunday a friend of mine had a Hen Day (should've been a Hen Night, but some of us are lame and don't drink/go clubbing) and we spent it by having an insane 2pm to 9pm karaoke marathon in a karaoke room that was so huge that there was more than enough space for all ten of us to jump around and dance.

Songs that always turn up for our karaoke sessions: Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"*, REO Speedwagon's "I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore", Celine & Peabo's "Beauty and the Beast" (we always butcher it somehow) and Spice Girls' "Who Do You Think You Are". I was also edumacated on the latest hip-hop/pop songs, and am now familiar with more Rihanna songs that I know what to do with.

*A friend commented that I go particularly crazy during Queen songs. This is true. I am so intimately acquainted with Queen's musical CV that I get excited at the mere mention of them.

At one point someone added "Under the Sea" to the songlist, which was a surprise to me (not all of them are aware of my crazy love for TLM) but it was way fun for all of us to sing along together and I didn't need to look at the lyrics... Then at the very end, after the last long "Under the seaaaaaa" bit and the music ended, I lowered my voice and said into the microphone: "Ariel? Someone's got to nail those girl's fins to the floor."

And because my friends are awesome, they applauded. \o/

A little while back I asked for opinions of the villains in Don Bluth's Thumbelina. The reason was because I was putting together a twee little quiz which was fun to make.

I was going to join NaNoWriMo this year, but just last week changed my mind because a friend emailed me info on an upcoming short story writing competition that made me go !!!!!!!! because it's exactly what I needed right now. I've already started writing my entry, which is pretentious little story that is really fanfic thinly disguised as original fic, but I'm a little nervous that it won't work out, so I'm also working on a back-up idea of an original original story (although it's not completely original, because what is these days) that I may take a stab at if the first doesn't work out. I'm so excited about it that I can hardly think straight, and the deadline is March next year, so I reckon I have time to finish it, edit it and throw it around my mates for them to poke at.

Unrelated, I'm watching Casino Royale right now so to gear up for Quantum of Solace which is coming out next week... I'm so excited about this film, and I just realised why I couldn't get into the earlier Bond films, which is because I couldn't relate to any of the Bond girls, all of whom are hypersexualised and so beyond my sphere of understanding or admiration, but watching Daniel Craig has changed all of that because now I want to be James Bond himself, so I can be fierce and kick-ass and wear two-piece suits to smouldering hotness. That was a long sentence.

Christian Bale, how are you so awesome? When I look at pictures of him back when he was young and ickle, at the back of my mind I go, "Wow, thank goodness you grew up into a freakishly dedicated actor, or you'dve been pegged as a pretty boy from the get go."

As everyone and their grandmother has mentioned, The Prestige is recognised as being a bizarre AU of Batman vs Wolverine but, in my head, it's actually Jack Kelly vs The Boy From Oz. (HAHAHAHAH oh lord too much caffeine I need help.)

I also feel obligated to mention that Superman was feeling a little left out, so I went and watched The Amazing Story of Superman, which was wonderful and nostalgic and had interviews with Mark Hamill and Bill Mumy and Dean Cain and Brandon Routh why are you so pretty?

ETA: Oh Brandon, don't ever lose your dorky smile.

QUOTED: "In May the (Malaysian) government started talks with Walt Disney to open a theme park in the southern state of Johor, to compete for tourist dollars with the casinos planned in Singapore."

From the International Herald website here.

A local Disneyland? HERE?

The chances that it'll happen is not out of the question considering my country's penchant for Shiny New Things, but we have such a horrible track record in maintaining high standards for tourist attractions (with a few exceptions) and Disney™ has among the highest standards of all!

I wonder.

PS. Hey, it says "Update Captain's Log" instead of "Post Entry" for today. Heh. I kinda like that.

PPS. I was just thinking that if a Disney theme park were to come to M'sia, the conservative parties would probably make Ariel cover up. XD

I'm not usually a coffee-in-the-mornings sort of person, but this morning when I woke up with every limb stuffed with pure lethargy, I knew coffee would be the only way to help me survive the rest of the day. So here I am, yawning over my cup of coffee, trying to look as if I'm typing up minutes as my boss yakkety-yaks in the next room.

So. Tired.

But I didn't even do anything particularly tiring yesterday! If anything, I should have been this tired last Friday morning, since the night before I'd gone for the night showing of Monster House with some mates.

Monster House, by the way, was awesome. Surprisingly Burtonesque, with snappy dialogue and children in actual peril. ~lovelovelove~ And it was genuinely scary!

The movie left me with the obvious conclusion that it's adults who are more disturbed with frightening children and seeing them in peril; children tend to be okay with both. It's like, when I watched The Return to Oz as a kid, I thought it was a great movie and with a great heroine, but when I watched it again as an adult the dark themes bothered me a bit (though it's still a great movie with a great heroine).

There's no point to this post, really. I'm just trying to wake myself up.

After this I'll start writing more fanfic.

I'm a week into my new job, and I just find it terribly funny that I'm all dressed up corporate-like, prim and proper as befits the office and surrounded by professional and experienced people, and inside I'm a ditzy fangirl of massive proportions. Not that my colleagues are stuffy, because they're not, but the generation gap remains large and in charge.

I also find it terribly amusing that because I'm young and look "innocent", my boss is trying to see if he can embarrass me with a constant stream of politically incorrect comments and dirty jokes. Mr Boss Man, I know dirty jokes that would make you blush.

Drifting off-topic, hey there's a mini-wank in the comments section of the Jackie Chan vid I uploaded.

Poll #806178 Mulan
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 33

Disney's Mulan is racist.

I have a laptop! I've been wanting a laptop for some time but didn't want to ask my father for it because he's been most generous with various other material needs I've needed in my life, and a laptop is something I wanted rather than needed. But circumstances arose where that I had to buy a laptop to help a friend (long story) so now, here I am, with a laptop. And I got it well under the budget I was warned for, considering the whistles and bells I wanted with it.

Yay, laptop! Now I can surf the 'net while watching tv out in the family room, and oh gosh I'm never going to get around to getting all more chores done, like ever, am I?

And here's a thing I saw on my flist and thought was an interesting way to get some use out of my oft-forgotten digital camera:

Ask me to take a picture of any aspect of my life that you're interested in/curious about - it can be anything from the house I live in to my favourite shoes, pets, movies, my room. Leave your choice here as a comment, and I will reciprocate by taking the pictures and posting them as an LJ entry. That way you get to know a little bit about my life.

Noooooooooooooooo!

Why do you torment me so? WHY WHY WHY?!

2006 West End musicals that I'm going to miss because I left London:

1. Wicked - WITH IDINA MENZEL ARGH


2. Evita - WITH PHILIP QUAST ARGH


3. Spamalot - WITH TIM CURRY ARGH

I wallow in my pit of petty bitterness. >:O

I've listed out my DVD collection at DVD aficionado:
The Overview // The Full DVD List.
*I tried to be as accurate as possible, but some of the regions are wrong.

However, this list does not include the following DVD titles that aren't in the database (I can't be bothered to add them yet):

+ Brainiac: Science Abuse
+ Happily Ever After tv series vol. 1, 2, 3 and 4
+ Hugo the Hippo (which will probably be the subject for my next minor shrine)
+ A Peanuts Celebration
+ Saban's The Little Mermaid vol. 1 and 2
+ Swan Lake / Hakucho no Mizumi
+ Norman Conquests (a British series) vol. 1, 2 and 3
+ Xena: Warrior Princess (various episodes)

I haven't even started on my VCDs and videos.

I had no idea I was this far gone. No idea.

+++

I went to Jigsaw World today and identified the puzzle I intend to buy once I save up some moolah. It's a 4000-piece collage of various Disney movies from Steamboat Willie to Snow White to the Hunchback of Notre Dame. My goal is to complete it within 24 hours. \m| ^_^ |m/

( My previous jigsaw project. )

Edited to add: ( Now with photographic evidence! )

I swear I'm perfectly normal otherwise.

I am allergic to my room.

I've been home for about two weeks, and from my initial arrival until yesterday my eyes were puffy, red and omg so itchy. I put off going to see a doctor for as long as possible because I'm silly that way, until my mum arrived, took one look at me and went, "GO TO A CLINIC. RIGHT NOW."

Dust mites = very bad.

However, any excuse to give my room a makeover = very good.

Unpacking has been fun, too. It's like uber-Christmas, ripping through boxes and bubble wrap like there's no tomorrow. I also finally got to have a look through that Encyclopedia of Disney Characters that I bought off ebay but didn't get a chance to read while I was in London.

( Here's Georgette's excerpt. )

Now, onward to the screencaps! And catching up with my flist. It's been what, three weeks now? Eeep.

Been busy. And cold. But mostly busy, doing stuff like shopping, hanging out with my peeps and getting my NaNoWriMo project on the way. I'm still behind schedule on that last one, though. Eeek!

12,473 / 50,000 (24.9%)

I also had my last romp through West End, watching:

( The Producers. )

( Les Miserables. )

( Mary Poppins. )

Anyone who's curious to see the London cast of Mary Poppins, check this out. It's a montage of clips from the show and interviews with the actors. This site also has some wonderful clips of Practically Perfect and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from the BBC Children in Need performances, just go to the media section.

Totally off-topic, but during my mad downloading binge of songs from musicals, I found this. It's Jodi Benson singing I Got Rhythm in the Broadway cast recording of Crazy For You. Much love.

I have three days to empty out my refrigerator, and then it's moving day!

Item One. I need to stop buying stuff off ebay. The newest items in my collection are two small hardback Pocahontas storybooks: The Hidden Village and The Long Way Home. The second one in particular caught my interest because it's set after the events of the movie and yet John Smith is on the cover. I had to have it.

Items Two: I have started renting DVDs of the Watership Down 1999 series. Completely unrelated to the 1978 movie, it looks and feels so very different. Still, I'm tickled that John Hurt, who voiced Hazel in the 1978 movie, returned to voice General Woundwort in the 1999 series. I'm confused as to why they still use the Bright Eyes theme song, though.

Item Three. I watched Mary Poppins again. That makes it the third week in a row that I've watched it, and sat in roughly the same area of the orchestra stalls. Dude. Besides the fact that NORMAL PEOPLE JUST DON'T DO THAT, I was also fangirly enough to go and get Gavin Lee's autograph afterward. I'd never hung around the stage door for autographs before, so that was a definite experience. Yay!

*Gavin Lee plays Bert. *points to icon* He is most awesome. I'm still amazed that he can sing and dance that much during the 2 hours 50 mins and make it look so effortless. The physical demands of the role are just whoa.

**Here's an mp3 of Chim Chim Cher-ee, the rooftop duet between Bert (Gavin Lee) and Mary Poppins (Laura Michelle Kelly).

***Gavin is most adorable up close, spectacles and all. Bweeeeeeeee. *is a spazz*

I've been away for a while doing holiday-type things, and I come back to a house being packed up. GAH. This is the perfect example of when RL gets in the way of fandom. At the heart of the matter, I'm leaving London. The packers are coming in on Monday to take most of our stuff, save a few essentials to tide me over until November. They are taking my computer.

The issue is not internet access, for I'll be keeping my father's laptop and there are internet cafes all around. The issue here is that my father failed to inform me that I cannot install programs into his laptop.

Which means for 55 days I will not have:

• Miranda - No chatting with my friends who are halfway across the world and keep me from getting homesick.


• Limewire - No downloads.


• DVD-ROM - No burning of CDs and DVDs for people who've requested stuff from me*.


• Paintshop - No fiddling around with pictures for icons, banners or anything else.


• AceFTP - No mp3 posts or the updating of my site.

Today's entry was brought to you by the letter L (for Livid) and the number 55.

*joeytheteapot and forever_ivory need not worry. Your stuff is burned and ready.

Guess what day it is. GO ON, GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS.

GUESS!

*cough* Alright, moving on. ^_^



( Are you interested in this movie? )

PS: This arrived today! Whee!

PPS: Pimpage! nachonaco went and made a forum for my website. It's a little empty now, but... yeah.

Yay, I'm free. I sent my friend off to Heathrow last night after two hectic weeks of running around London and Oxford doing tourist-type things. Since I am introverted by nature, my body retaliated to this sudden burst of activity by letting me get sick. So now I have no voice. But that's okay, for I am free to hug my computer again. *hugs computer* I also have 14 days of back posts on my flist to catch up on. Eeek!

Random stuff we did during the past 14 days:

• Went to Christchurch Cathedral, where they filmed the Great Hall scenes in the first two Harry Potter movies.


• Explored the Tower of London which is so very cool and brimming with preserved dark and bloody history. There was also a cat there, but it was the snobbiest thing ever.


• Got lost on the way to the Tower of London.


• Watched Les Miserables, which was AWESOME. I will probably drag someone else to watch it again with me later.


• Went punting. I got scared of the ducks.


• Had ridiculously overpriced hot chocolate at Harrods. Worth it for the experience, but I'm never doing that again.


• Giggled over the extremely cute Burberry salesmen at Selfridges.


• Apologised for not having explained to my friend beforehand that Covent Garden is not a garden at all.


• Geeked out over museum references to yesterday's scientists. Alexander Fleming, oh my!


• Watched Guys & Dolls, which was very fun but I wished that I fancied Ewan McGregor because then I'd be able to enjoy the experience more. I didn't hound him for pics or an autograph, because the crowd waiting for him was insane. He and Jane Krakowski were excellent, though.

Now I'm back, and I have loads of catching up to do. But first of all... screencap time!

( Today's exhibit: a shot from Pocahontas. )

Now off I go!

This morning I spent some time fiddling around with screencaps for my site, and I ended up making this:

mermaidbia should appreciate this, at least. :)

Alrighty then. Back to real life, in which I act as a tourist guide for my good friend who's here visiting merry 'ol England. Much fun is being had, but my feet hurt. A lot. Arrr.

Because I got tagged by remembering_sun. Erm.

Write 20 facts about yourself. Note the number of minutes it takes you. Then tag that same number of people.

( Twenty, you said? )

Do I have to tag people? Dammit. Alrighty, I tag kidagakash84, drquinzel, ladydemando, thewiterabitt, spelldust, alram, snowin_fro, mermaidbia, broadwayjamie and spider_girl1991. But please, no one's under any obligation to comply. Peace!

And just to wrap things up, I thought I'd put up a little poll.

Poll #545906 Pocahontas Sequel
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 42

What did you think of Pocahontas 2: Journey to the New World?

I am happy. So happy, in fact, that I've been skipping (honestly, skipping) and spinning around giddily like a five-year old who's swallowed one-too-many twix bars.

All because my braces came off today, after nearly 27 months of wearing the blasted things. My treatment was originally intended to be a mere 12 months, but when I moved to the UK things got a little delayed and I had to find a new orthodontist and almost start things over.

Anyway today was D-day and I could barely contain my giggles while my orthodontist did his thing. Then, the first thing I did once I got back home was look in the mirror, and by doing that I discovered that hey, I'm actually kinda pretty. I know that sounds narcissistic, but wearing braces does some awful things to one's self-esteem -- which is why I don't think it's a good idea to force kids who are struggling through puberty to wear them, it's not like they don't have enough problems to deal with.

So here I am, now free once again to eat corn on the cob.

There is one problem, though. While I was wearing the braces I went all-out to prevent myself from smiling toothily, choosing instead to do like Mona Lisa. So now I realise that I've actually kinda forgotten how to smile properly. O_o

I am by no means a shopaholic. As far as traditionalist girl-shoppers go, I find clothes-shopping tedious, make-up-shopping even more so, and shoe-shopping a form of capital punishment. Jewellery-shopping, however, is a completely different story because hey, shiny, and I have deeply ingrained magpie tendencies. Still, I can get a little carried away at times.

Anyhow, I'll be moving soon to my own place in a while (long story) and I had a look-see at the stuff I've accumulated since I arrived here a year ago.

( Whoa, stuff. )

Conclusion? HMV and Amazon are black holes of DOOM.

( West End too, for that matter. )

PS: New trailer's up for The New World! Holy movie spoilers, Batman! ( I hate it when trailers reveal too much, but... )

Item 1: London bombings, the reprise? LAME. >_<

Item 2: Watched Once Upon a Forest for the first time today. I think I may have missed the age for appreciating it, woe.

Item 3: Angela Carter makes me weep with the glorious darkness of her re-told fables. Where have you been all my life? T_T

Item 4: There is no Item 4. Toodles!