That was our movie of choice last night after Reuby came back from his football game (on TV). We'd been wanting to watch it for a while but never had the chance.

My honest opinion on the movie...

They should have cast a lesser-known actor. I didn't exactly like seeing Tom Cruise (and his nose) in a German uniform. Not because I object to him being a Nazi, but because, well, it doesn't suit him. Also. Also, I detest the fact that a brunette couple has 4-5 kids, all running around with perfect blond hair. I wouldn't have said a thing if either parent had blond hair, but isn't it rather odd to strike the jackpot every time they have a child?

Plot-wise, I suppose the movie was pretty accurate by historical terms. And I have no complaints about that. Reuby, on the other hand, said the movie was too slow. I suppose he's right, but he also said that it showed the typical Germans' meticulous planning.

Watch Valkyrie, if you must, but this is one I won't be seeing again. Ta-rah.


-Lissa-

While Reuby chose to sleep the chilly hours away, I preferred to curl up next to the radiator and watch movies that I had previously downloaded on Vuze. I still have a few, such as A Bout de Souffle and The Breakfast Club, which I might watch soon, along with a couple of horror flicks (Halloween, Drag Me to Hell) and movies that require some thinking (e.g. Angels and Demons, Valkyrie, Schindler's List).

But anyway, Blue Velvet was my first movie and I found it unsettling. It was all right for a movie, but I wouldn't say I liked it. Pretty much teetering on the 'neutral-dislike' margin. >.>

The Pianist, though, was tragic. It is based on a memoir written by a Polish musician of Jewish origins, Władysław Szpilman. It should have been included in the list, but it wasn't and that alone made me sad. LOL. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie, and it sort of reminded me of the horrors I saw in Auschwitz when I paid the place a visit. It told of the cruelty (and kindness) of the German soldiers, the racism and fear shown by the non-Jews, all that in addition to the suffering of the Jews and what they had to go through to survive. It was truly heart-wrenching. A must for movie fanatics.

Having watched the film, I'm itching to get my hands on the memoir and read it. :P


-Lissa-

With 3 weeks of nothing to do but eat, sleep, watch movies, etc., I've gone back to the basic time-killer. Plants vs Zombies. >.>

I don't know how the bebes do it. They're here the whole day and don't have anything but themselves and the things around them to play with. :| And they sleep a lot. I can't do that... I have the need to be productive, whether by cooking, cleaning, or killing zombies. I have to do SOMETHING, rather than just sleep.

Of course, if the kittehface is lying on my lap like he is right now (and purring VERY loudly), I could just cuddle him the whole day. :X He seems to like having his top half on the table and bottom half on my lap, which must be helluva uncomfortable but eh, he's fine with it.

Ack! Marzipan's having a nightmare. Gonna see to her. Ciao. <3


-Lissa-

Woke up later than I expected today. LOL. But that's okay because we don't have classes. ^.^

I made pancakes for breakfast... and they were great. Nummeh. I wonder if mine can rival Paddington's or Pancake House. Bwaha. Altogether there were 15, and Teo arrived just in time. LMAO.





If there are any leftovers, we can have em for tea. :D Though I highly doubt that, with Teo around. Tee hee...

I guess Cora was right when she said my passion for cutting up dead people is only matched by my passion for gastronomy. LOL!


-Lissa-

So it's confirmed. The dean came to the hostels just now to brief us on the current situation here. There's only one part of Ukraine that's been hit bad and there are no other cases reported in Ukraine. So we're not allowed to travel within Ukraine, because it's impossible to control the comings in and goings out of cities and such but we are free to leave the country. Woohooo!!! Autumn trips, anyone? :D

Reuby is looking at flights and he's gonna ask his dad for permission tomorrow morning. ^.^ So fun, yeah?

OMG. I'm giddy with delight.


-Lissa-

Woke up with a sore throat today. >.< And can you believe it's -3 Celsius outside? *dies*

Every year when the temperature drops below 10, I wonder, "How the heck do I survive at subzero temperatures?" LOL. I love the cold, but only when there's snow. When there's none, though, I hate it and the last thing I want to do is to go outside.

Apparently H1N1 is hitting the state of Crimea pretty hard. 30 deaths already? Schools have been closed and we've gotten word that our university might be closing too. Not sure for how long, but it could be from a few days to three weeks. o.O

Wouldn't that be awesome? Now why didn't they do that during Social Medicine? >.> Then again, our next cycle is Tuberculosis so we won't have to travel that far. <.< IF the uni really does shut down. :P

*yawns* So tired. But more cold than tired. Feel like curling up in bed with some hot chocolate and my computer. I have so many movies I don't know when Imma finish watching them all. Baha. I'm just rambling about whatever goes on in my head because I'm too tired to even think of what to write.

There's a lot to do today, mostly rearranging stuff and all that. I can't wait to get my own house and we'll be able to host parties and stuff without having to remove all the kitchen stuff from the prepping table. LOL. I love the Jack-o-Lantern. It's unbelievably cute. Hehe... And the cake... That was the biggest I'd ever baked. It was good, though all of us were too full to actually thoroughly enjoy it. I blame Reuby because of his burgers. Sandwiches would've been fine, methinks. But it doesn't matter now. Everyone had fun, everyone enjoyed the food, so that's what matters most. :)

Blood, anyone?


-Lissa-

I worked my ass off the whole day today but I'm not complaining. Everything was worth it in the end. I can't remember the last time we threw a party like this... Christmas, perhaps? Most likely.

Anyways, I was unsatisfied with how the angel food cake turned out, so with Reuby's permission, I baked another cake - yellow butter cake. That's like classic. And failproof. LOL. Yes, I'm anal like that. Everything has to be perfect. :P

Reuby's first task of the day was to carve the pumpkin. And he did an amazing job of it!




The devil's food cake was lovely. OMG. So sinful.

The witches' brooms were delightfully cute. LOL. I loved them. <3 And making them was fun too!





The pretzel sticks were a little too long, so guess who had the 'horrible' chore of eating the little bits I broke off?

You guessed it!




The devilled eggs were a breeze... We've done this so many times before, it's all second nature. With just the right amount of mayonnaise, salt, pepper and mustard. Mmm... Delish!







Assembling the cakes, though, was the difficult (and scary) part. That, and frosting them.














We didn't get to watch Halloween as planned because there were so many parties around. :( So I'm gonna head to bed as soon as I upload the photos to Facebook. Nevertheless, it was a good one. Hosting is always fun. :P





-Lissa-

Right-o. First item on the list - Devil's food cake.

After that, Witches' Brooms while waiting for the cake to cool off. Then I might make Cobweb Cookies. Devilled Eggs come next and we'll do the pumpkin carving. Yay! ^.^

I just hope everything turns out okay. :-S Especially the cakes. >.<


-Lissa-

I am tired. Apparently baking without dinner gets me exhausted faster than I have ever imagined. Either that or I am really, really, really pooped.

It could also be due to the fact that the angel food cake didn't turn out like I expected. Actually, I don't know what I expected. I was thinking it would be something light and fluffy like my yellow butter cake, but instead it was this meringue-y stuff? What the heck is that? I'm not a fan of meringue, I've come to realise, so I don't think I like it very much.

My opinion of angel food cake has pretty much gone down the drain.

*shrugs* Looks like I'm all in for the sinful stuff. >.> :P

But I'm baking that tomorrow. I'm just too tired to bother tonight. Ta-rah. Zzzzzz...


-Lissa-

Imagine my horror when I came back to start baking the cakes, only to realise that I had no cake pans! ARGH!!! There was no doubt as to who had them. Amos. The only problem was... Amos had left on his holiday this morning and won't be returning until Tuesday. Maddening, isn't it? To make matters worse, the Internet went all crappy again. GAH.

Wanted to borrow cake pans from friends but they had been loaned to another friend who was throwing a Hallowe'en party as well. BLAH. So we were stuck with one 10-inch pan from the next door neighbour. I suppose it's better than none. But I was frustrated, and I have a good reason, too.

Never again will I let anyone borrow my baking things. *huffs* It's annoying, infuriating, and more. *slams head against desk*


. . . . . .


*breathes deeply* Okay, I'm ready to start. Angel food cake first. Heh.


-Lissa-