Saturday, July 30, 2005

The Booke of Days

I've been lucky enough to find a brilliant book on the Crusades... The more I think of it, the more I have to share. It was called The Booke of Days by Stephen J. Rivelle. It's not a modern fiction or reference book, but a translated version of the journal of a French leader named Roger, Duke of Lunel who marched with over 80,000 others as a Crusader in 1096. He went for the promised absolution of his sins by God, and to retake the holy Christian city, Jerusalem, from Muslim hands. The journey took 4 years. During that time, Roger and his men fought and bribed their way through Europe. They faced mountains, desert, countless enemy soldiers, disease, malnutrition, desertions, treachery and constant attack on their beliefs. By the time they reached Syria, the Pope's holy army was cut to less than 10,000 men. Even so, they went on, and captured Jerusalem. This may not be a good thing in our histories, but it's an incredible feat. That subject alone could carry a book to greatness - but there is more to it than that. This was a journal, a place of salvation for the tortured thoughts and discoveries of the inspiring, charismatic man who kept it. He hides nothing. All the tension, the mistakes, the beliefs and cruelties of that age live again, untempered. It's amazing.

Okay, that's enough for today... ^ - ^

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Saturday, July 23, 2005

My last night in paradise

I'll try not to get too mopey - this is just a warning that I may be gone for a while as internet access at Mum's is few and far between. I'll also have a lot of homework, no doubt. Oh, the joys of NCEA! *end of sarcasm*
I suppose I'm lucky to even have a chance to live where I'm am now, though. Look at it! That's my backyard! ^ - ^ I've also found (or rediscovered) some good band sites: The Perishers, Starsailor, and just for the heck of it, 67 Special. (Their link can also be found in the sidebar :-) And if you want to go even more arty/indie, check out The Secret Machines or Doves.
I'm stifling the urge right now to go completely overboard and post links to all my favourite music sites... no, I'm stopping it... mission completed. You shall not have to be overwhelmed by linkage, but only suffer through this rather loopy paragraph. (If you're searching for a point, it may take a while.) ^ - ^
On to hopefully more coherent things, and... be back soon.

posted by Anonymous @ 5:27 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Un Uovo Nuovo

Added some more links, including one to my Dad's page 'Un Uovo Nuovo' which he tells me definitely means 'a new egg' in Italian. :-)
He's taken a lot of great pictures on his trips overseas (lucky thing!) and will hopefully be adding tons more to the few he's already put online. They're mainly from Rome, Florence and the Amalfi Coast in Italy, but this year he visited Scotland and got some absolutely gorgeous shots of castles and mountains... ^ - ^ I wanna go!

P.S. If you're lucky enough to live anywhere near these places, make sure you enjoy it, huh? They're beautiful!
P.P.S. Pleeeease don't laugh at the picture... and if you don't know what that means, I'm not going to tell you. :-P

posted by Anonymous @ 11:05 AM 0 comments

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Gerrit Dou and War of the Worlds

At the moment I'm in a happy place for me (a literal one, that is) with a person I don't often see. It's good. Relaxing. ^ - ^ But I don't mean to rub it in... So maybe I won't give air to the only problem that's bouncing around in my head.

This glorious glass-and-steel creation is the Christchurch Art Gallery in NZ, a $50 million construction only completed in the last few years. I went for a walk around today and saw some absolutely amazing stuff. Have you ever heard of Gerrit Dou? He was a 17th century Dutch artist and his paintings are so detailed it's impossible to see a single brush stroke. The tone is brilliant as well, and the colour - I could have stared at it for hours. I would post it for you, but copyright laws and all that. :-P How about this page for a rather faded version of 'The Physician'. (The colours are so much more vivid in person.)

Right, now on to my first exploratory movie review... Steven Spielberg's The War of the Worlds. It was fantastic! I'd been looking forward to it with a bit of caution after hearing a lot of smack about the ending (which may not be the best, but wasn't as bad as I'd thought) but one of my friends at school loved it so I gave it a go. Does that make sense? Well, whether I am coherent or not, War of the Worlds is definitely worth seeing. The atmosphere is steady and chilling throughout the entire film, the story is well-directed and the actors all pull their weight - especially Dakota Fanning, the young girl, who demonstrated her gift and gave a performance that added immensely to the story's impact. Steven Spielberg's version focuses more on the added relationships between Tom Cruise and his two children, instead of adhering strictly to the (legendary) versions of the past. I loved it; and there would probably have been enough epic images of monstrous, towering tripods crashing around the urban centres of America to satisfy all but the most bloodthirsty of viewers. The heat rays were awesome. ^ - ^ Not particularly gross, either.
Thanks for trawling through all this! Have a good night... or day. Be happy!

posted by Anonymous @ 6:32 PM 0 comments

Friday, July 15, 2005

Jukebox

Music. The stuff I like, old, new, classic and (mostly) random. ^^
Decided I'm a bit too enthusiastic with these songs to have them all cluttering up the sidebar - so here they are, right back from Oct '05. :-)

1. Again - Lenny Kravitz
2. Tub Thumping - Chumbawumba
3. Bliss - Th' Dudes
4. O Yeah - End of Fashion
5. Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners
6. Pretty Vegas - INXS
7. Wise Men - James Blunt
8. Seen Better Days - Pete Murray
9. Dare - Gorillaz
10. Rain - Dragon

11. Trippin' - Robbie Williams
12. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
13. Latoya - The Exponents
14. No Rain - Blind Melon
15. No Bravery - James Blunt
... (JB lyrics posted here) ...
16. Only You - Josh Kelley
17. Boom Boom - Chayanne
18. Hot Legs - Rod Stewart
19. Exit Music (for a film) - Radiohead
20. The Message - Coldplay

21. Hung Up - Madonna
22. Paranoid - Black Sabbath
23. White Wedding - Billy Idol
24. Darkness Darkness - Robert Plant
25. One Night in Bangkok - Murray Head
26. Blow Up the Outside World - Soundgarden
27. We Will Rock You - Queen
28. Patience - Guns N' Roses
29. Ironic - Alanis Morissette
30. High - James Blunt

31. I Want You - Savage Garden
32. Where Do You Go - No Mercy
33. Wandering Eye - Fat Freddy's Drop
34. World I've Known - Collective Soul
35. Man in a Box - Alice in Chains
36. Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
37. Down So Long - Jewel
38. 9 Million Bicycles - Katie Melua
39. Break Me Shake Me - Savage Garden
40. Shiny Happy People - REM

41. Walk Away - Franz Ferdinand
42. My Completeness - Thirsty Merc
43. Estranged - Guns 'N Roses
44. Love Generation - Bob Sinclair
45. Trippin' - Robbie Williams
46. Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
47. La Sirena - Los Lobos
48. Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae
49. Wake Up - The Living End
50. Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall

51. God Killed the Queen - Louis XIV
52. Cold December - Matt Costa
53. Father Figure - George Michael
54. Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers
55. Your Star, Strangled - Migala
56. An Old Familar Scene - Elf Power
57. The Ballad of Miss Kate - Matt Costa
58. Cold Girl Fever - The National
59. The Sun Always Shines On TV - Aha
60. I Bet That You Look... - The Arctic Monkeys

61. Running - Evermore
62. Forever Young - Youth Group
63. A Beat For You - Pseudo Echo
64. The Motown Song - Rod Stewart
65. For You I Will - Teddy Geiger
66. Aeroplane - Red Hot Chili Peppers
67. Opportunity - Pete Murray
68. Immigrant Song - Led Zepplin
69. Woman - Wolfmother
70. Little Red Rooster - The Rolling Stones

71. Lake of Fire - Nirvana
72. Sometimes Enough - The Black Seeds
73. All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
74. Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar
75. Killer Queen - Queen
76. Magic Moments - Perry Como
77. Opportunity - Ella Fitzgerald
78. When Love Comes to Town - U2 & BB King
79. Lucifer - Black Sabbath
80. I'm Feeling Good - RED Speedwagon

81. Fire Woman - The Cult
82. Dude (Feels Like a Lady) - Aerosmith
83. Ruby Ruby - Kaiser Chiefs
84. Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis
87. Makes Me Wonder - Maroon 5
88. Better Than - John Butler Trio
89. Flathead - The Fratellis
90. Proud - Heather Small

91. Everything - Michael Buble
92. Fidelity - Regina Spektor
93. Red Tide - The Have
94. Baby Come Back - Player
95. Take Me There - The Checks
96. Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen
97. I Hurt - Johnny Cash
98. Heartbeats - Jose Gonzalez
99. Around the World - Daft Punk
100. Paralyzer - Finger Eleven

101. End of the Road - Boyz II Men

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