February flashback #2

Now that we've entered April it is really time to get my February blogging done. :)

The other big thing to be remembered about February is of course the masquerade. Here in Hungary kids don't dress into costumes at Halloween, they do get to have a ball and loads of fun in February. It is the carnival season in many European countries.

In my daughter's school they prefer home made costumes to readily made ones. This cute cat was entirely my daughter's idea. She wore a pair of black leggings, black leotard, a pair of soft boots my sister bought her last year, and the ears and tail I bought her at a joke shop. She hates face painting so she only let me smear some black eye shade on the tip of her nose and a few lines for whiskers. And then she had some lunch: fish sticks. Ideal for my kitten, don't you think so?

The new year has just started in here

Usually, after New Year's Eve, a lot of my friends complain about how it takes days, sometimes weeks for them to get used to using the new numbers on documents or whatever. I was quite proud of myself for avoiding that this year, I used 2012 ever since the first of January and was rather satisfied with my ability to remember the proper date. As if it's proof of my genius. Until earlier today, when I realised that when downloading my digital camera's content, I'm still saving the new photos into a folder called 2011. If my psyche could facepalm, it would. So much about that.

Just noticed

I have exactly 100 followers! Let's party! :)

Golden Sunday

 We usually have the same glass fibre enhanced, colour changing plastic tree that comes with its own ornaments already wired to the branches. This year my girl wished to decorate a christmas tree for the first time, and I gladly obliged. The tree is still plastic of course, and the majority of the ornaments are purple and pink, as those are her favourite colours. We still need to buy some lights and the top ornament will be a huge, silver colour silk poinsettia. We had that for a month, and yes, she spotted that in a Tesco and begged granma to buy it for her. So the tree is really according to her taste this year! I can't wait 'till it's present opening time.


 After that we went skating. She has ice skating lessons once a week because her school specializes in PE training and sports, and all first graders learn ice skating. It was soooo brilliant! I hope to do this again very soon.

Eye of the tiger 2.0

My sweet friend Sophie called my attention to a fun video. In yesterday's post she commented on how Eye Of The Tiger and the tv-show Supernatural have a fascinating crossover. I googled it and it made me LOL. I cannot embed it, but here is the link for your viewing pleasure, click away and have fun watching it!

A different view

I'm wondering if I should change the link in my signature line to http://jadestitch.blogspot.com/view/sidebar because I love the new view feature of Blogger and I am not sure if users are generally aware of it. I love it though. I love switching back and forth between views depending on what I am looking for.
The sidebar view is good for some general browsing. It also improves speed, as it shows one post at a time and the sidebar gadgets of the traditional look that take a lot of time to load are hidden.
The flipcard view is best for image heavy bloggers. It can also be reorganized by date, label or author, thus giving an easier overview if you are looking for something specific.
The mosaic view is exactly what it's called, just a fun way of looking at a blog.
The snapshot view grabs all the pictures from the entires.
The timeline view is of course a chronological presentation of one's blog. It's fun to look at a blog like mine this way, because my blogging is so periodical; I write an entry or two a week, then I sign up for NaBloPoMo and post like I'm paid for it, and then I'm absent for a month to recover. :D
So, did you play around with the various views? Did you like it? Which one is your favourite? Make sure you share!

Cat vs Printer - The Translation (BEWARE OF STRONG LANUGAGE)

This is a vid I came across months ago. I'm sharing it now because my printer acts like this. The wheels go round and round but won't pick up the paper, no matter how carefully I fill the tray. I have to feed every sheet one by one and even then it may not pull it in and say "paper jam" instead of the "no paper" and it is getting more and more annoying. I know, maintenance, but I cannot afford it. So I just feed the paper sheets to this monster, carefully, one at a time, and cursing like a cat in the progress.

The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Exp...

This is great, I thought I was clear on what stands for what, but I learned some new data from this video. Enjoy!

Kitchen and I

I found this piece on XKCD.com, and it's a scarily accurate diagram of the love/hate relationship I have with cooking. Actually, it's more like a hate/hate relationship, the only thing I like in the kitchen is photographing my daughter making a mess of the ingredients.

:

Example:  

Comics can be epic

The wonderful world of cats

I just love cats. I always have. Somehow they were never the number one favourites, but were always there in the top three. 

I am always annoyed when someone asks me if I am a cat person or a dog person. Surely you can love them both? It's not like there is a law that makes you must choose sides. Also, they are like apples and oranges. They have different attitudes and give love in a different manner. Why should you have only one kind? It's like saying one loves only daughters or sons. You cannot compare the two and you shouldn't have to live without either. I've had dogs and cats in the past, and I am looking forward to the time when my financial status and housing situation allows me have them again, that is, when I have a place that is bigger than a cubicle and at least feeding them would not mean that I cannot have more than one meal a day. Until then, all I have is dreaming and looking at animal pictures.

Desperately seeking

...for something to blog about! Seriously, I am tired and my brain is drained. But I made up my mind about posting every day and I am doing it!
I was browsing all over the net for something to share and I just found out that Tina Fey is the latest recipient of the Mark Twain prize for American humour! That is great because she really deserves every recognition she gets. Honestly, when I grow up, I want to be Tina Fey.
PBS is gracious enough to share the whole show on their homepage so even Hungarian housewives who only found out about the event after it was broadcast can see it. Make sure you watch the separate video with her acceptance speech, because it was much longer than what was televised and she is hilarious.

How unusual of me - a celebrity post

I don't read tabloids or watch celebrity related shows on TV unless I am really depressed and feel the need to get my mind off about how miserable my life is by paying attention to the life of others. Lucky me, that does not happen too often. Even now the only reason for me to mention Angelina Jolie is that she has been shooting her movie in Budapest for weeks, sometimes not far from the place I live, and now she took her crew to my hometown for a few scenes.
I used the opportunity to see what a real movie set looks like and took a walk around town. Part of Esztergom is on a Danube island, you may remember the air shots I shared during the flood. Now one of the two main bridges  is shut down. There are some building under construction there and it  probably seemed easy for the movie people to make them look like they are halfway destroyed instead of halfway built. They just attached fake surfaces to the walls that are "decorated" with fake bullet holes to make them look like war-torn buildings.
You can see more on-set photos if you click on this site. Click on the photo to see the gallery in a pop-up window. I even found a short video footage of what the place looks like now.
They also added other props too, of course, some barricades, tanks and burnt-out cars. Actors and maybe extras are walking around with machine guns and coffee cups. :) I was only hanging around for a few minutes, so I haven't seen any filming or the director on the set, because frankly, I am not that interested. Unlike the paparazzi, they are on the spot with their long lens cameras. And I googled the production, the tabloids still claim Jolie shoots in Budapest. There is only one town in Hungary worth remembering, didn't you know?
My favourite tidbit: the three trees that are nearest to the bridge and that will probably be in the shots have been equipped with fake foliage. The movie people cut the yellow leaves all off and tied lush green branches on them. One of the security guards said that if he didn't see it happen, he would not have believed it. It seems part of the story is in the spring or summer, and part of it is in the winter, because when I googled the story, I found pictures of them shooting in snow a few days ago. The reporters even commented how awful it must be for the crew to work in the cold. Just to let you know, this past week was sunny and warm with 15-18 degrees (Celsius) and we are yet to see the first snow of the winter, so all of that was fake as well. That's Hollywood for you I guess! :)

Gif me something to laugh about

A friend sent me a link to a collection of funny gifs (little animated image files) and I decided to share my favourites with you. I don't know about you, but I can always use a big laugh and nowadays I need it more than ever.
I inserted a jump to this post because I don't wanna overload people's computers and such an animated image heavy post may be too much for those that don't have broadband.

First, the amazing ex-parrot:

see more Gifs

Random silliness

I thought I shouldn't just post about my stitching and my whining about my life not going perfectly, so you won't get bored. So I thought of something fun. As you may know by now, I am a big fan of music videos. I like the idea of giving cinematic support to a song. So I decided that whenever I feel like blogging but have nothing in particular to share, I will come up with creative top 5 lists for my own amusement, and hopefully, yours as well.
Today's topic will be favourite cameos/appearances by movie stars in music videos.


5, The Cranberries - Ridiculous Thoughs featuring Elijah Wood

4, Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice featuring Christopher Walken

3, Pet Shop Boys - Heart featuring Sir Ian McKellen

2, Gorillaz - Stylo featuring Bruce Willis

1, Elton John - I Want Love featuring Robert Downey Jr.

Honourable mention for Annie Lennox's Walking on Broken Glass featuring the talents of Hugh Laurie and John Malkovich!

Her ideas

My girl is getting bigger and bigger, and her thoughts are also getting more elaborate in time. Sometimes she scares me. Like the one time she said she wants to try if umbrellas really function as parachutes, and one can jump out of the window with them, as seen in several cartoons. I explained to her that that is impossible and if she tried that, she'd be severely injured and possibly even die. I hoped that would be enough of a threat, but no. Here is the conversation that followed:

Her: I don't mind dying! At least I would see my great-grandma again and play with Valiant! (Our dog that died last year.)
Me: (shocked) But don't you think about me? What would I do without you? I would cry all the time if I ever lost you!
Her: Oh, then you should simply die too.


I managed to talk her out of that idea before she convinces the family to commit mass suicide.

Another chat with my girl, the budding fashionista:
Her: Could you buy me a backpack with a zebra's head on it?
Me: (thinking she has those funny kiddie packs in mind) Sure, no problem.
Her: But not a fake one, a real zebra head actually sewn on a backpack.
Me: (facepalm) I don't think they make such backpacks, honey. Besides, remember the zebras in the zoo? Their head is way too big to be used as an accessory. (mommy trying to reason with a 6-year-old, lol)
Her: Then maybe not a grown zebra? But the head of a zebra foal? (practical solution)
Me: (shocked) Do you actually want someone to kill a baby zebra so you can have a pretty backpack? (trying to raise a future PETA activist here, lol)
Her: (thinking) Well, not kill it, but if a zebra baby would die anyway, can some people cut its head, wash the blood off (details!) of it and then sew it on a backpack for me?
Me: (giving up) I'll see if there is one available in the shops, honey.

Seriously, where does she get her ideas?

Sunshine Award

This award is for bloggers who inspire others with positivity and creativity.

The rules for accepting the award are:
1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
2. Pass the award to 12 bloggers.
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

I got this lovely award from GoldenAngel.
Here are my 12 nominees (in no particular order):

1. Nicole
2. Jill
3. Loralynn
4. Robin
5. Barbi
6. Carol
7. Margie
8. Rachel
9. Mel
10. Shellie
11. Becky
12. Chiloe

I wanna thank every stitching and/or blogging friend for sharing their talent.

Note to self

Never again lick the floss right after eating chocolate. Never.

An unfortunate blog entry

I saw this meme on another blogs and decided to give it a go. The basic idea is to write your first name in the Google search box preceded by the word "unfortunately" and then laugh at the results. Unfortunately, my nickname gives countless mentions of the late Jade Goody and a bunch of online games that have Jade in them - Jade Empire, jade warrior, and so on - or the gem jade, so I cannot post it all, I will just share the ones that are definitely about a person and also exclude most of Jade Goody's stories or 8 out of 10 lines would be about cancer. Ready? Here goes:


Unfortunately, Jade is all too real.

Unfortunately, Jade went on a vacation to Montana

Unfortunately Jade was enjoying playing pirate a little too much

Unfortunately, Jade's case is not unusual.

Unfortunately, Jade has to pass the last stone

Unfortunately, Jade could not hide his junk properly

Unfortunately, Jade did not beat the hell out of Danielle.

Unfortunately Jade cancelled her plan to attend the function.

Unfortunately, Jade is unable to survive the electromagnetic energy surges and dies.

Unfortunately, Jade’s zeal to keep the kittens fed was unfortunately too much for one of the kittens, who was crushed by the 80-pound dog.

Unfortunately, Jade got me and Guy, too.

Going digital

This is kind of off topic, but I had to share. I love digital TV! We had a digital unit installed about a month ago and I cannot have enough of it. Why, you ask? Well, first of all, I think there has been a shift of balance in entertainment media. Ten years ago movies were quality and television was junk. Nowadays it's just the other way around. Cinemas are full of TV-show remakes and crappy sequels, while television is filled with well written characters played by excellent actors.

So, television is much better than it used to be. And digital television is much better because it lets me flip between languages! I get to watch House, C.S.I. and a whole bunch of movies in their original language! Just what I needed to get my proficiency back. Not to mention how much I enjoy all the different accents! Yes, the image quality is better too, but as I tend to stitch while "watching" telly, it doesn't matter to me as much as the sound.

To complain a bit about television technology, before you think it's all rosy between me and my telly, I am absolutely annoyed with the 5.1 dolby sound. In the case of some movies (the latest ones) I can choose between my everyday Hungarian voiceover, Hungarian 5.1 Dolby Digital, or English 5.1 DD. Problem is, 5.1 was designed for the home cinema gadgets, that is, no less than five loudspeakers. But my telly has only two. Which means that for some movies I must turn up the volume. All the way. On the scale of 100. When I watch TV in Hungarian, that is, "plain" sound, the volume is set on 10-15, and yeah, it wouldn't be a problem, but if the 5.1 movie ends and I am not quick with the remote, the ad block will shout at me exactly ten times louder than what can be called normal.

On another note, I decided to learn another foreign language. I am not sure if I should choose French, Italian or Spanish. I like the sound of all of them and wanna learn them later at some time of my life, but right now I just wanna improve my chances for a good job. I'll need some research on what "sells" best.