Fern G's Blog

Flight of the Conchords, Season 2

2009-03-17T10:30:00.003-07:00

Next week the last ever (apparently) episode of the Conchords is airing. My favourite song from Season 2 so far is Sugalumps. In this epsiode, Bret buys a new cup as he is fed up with Jemaine's cup roster. The purchase of the new cup means that their rent bounces and they get all kinds of bank penalties. They are forced to pawn their guitars and Jemaine decides to become a prostitute in order to earn enough to redeem them. Naturally, he is not very successful . . .

Sugalumps

Book Review: Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2009-03-17T10:14:00.003-07:00

This novel follows its characters through the formation of the nation of Biafra from Nigeria in 1967 and the three year civil war and famine that followed. I really enjoyed this book, it is really beautifully written and I learned a lot from it; this is a history that I knew very little about. Although the topic is fairly heavy duty, this book is a pleasure to read. The characters are very well drawn and I found it difficult to put the book down. I highly recommend this book.

Paddy's Day hair of the dog - flirtini

2009-03-17T10:03:00.004-07:00

After a long and fruitful evening in The Hole in the Wall yesterday, a hair of the dog is needed this evening. I have an opened bottle of prosecco in the fridge as we decided it would be a great idea to drink some at 2:30 when we got back from the pub. With this in mind, tonight I shall make us a nice little flirtini. You will need:

1 shot absolut raspberri
0.5 shot chambord (black raspberry liqueur)
1 shot pineapple juice
champagne/prosecco/cava
fresh raspberry to garnish
Put the vodka, chambord and pineapple juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a flute. Top with champagne and garnish with a fresh raspberry. My favourite cocktail!

Cool Fictional Characters. #8, Nana

2009-03-17T09:44:00.003-07:00

from the Royle Family. Norma is Barbara's mother and constantly bickers with her son in law, Jim. She likes to talk about how all of her friends are dead and her bowel movements.

Norma Speakman: Is this hat too far forward?
Jim Royle: No, we can still see your face.

Nana lets one rip

Stone Roses Reunion rumours

2009-03-17T08:35:00.003-07:00

The Stone Roses have denied that they are reforming for a Summer tour. This June will be the 20th anniversary of their first album release and they were rumoured to have a string of concerts in the pipeline, including one at Coachella in CA. Hopefully the denial is just a delay tactic as they finalise details. What a Summer for reunions- now if only the Poppies would do a few more reunion gigs!!

Robert Webb (Jez from Peep Show) on Comic Relief

2009-03-15T13:05:00.003-07:00

Please have a look at this, it's great. Robert Webb is doing the dance from Flashdance for Comic Relief and the scary part is that he's done it quite well!!
Jez Flashdance

Jane's Addiction playing Oxegen!

2009-03-06T06:14:00.004-08:00

I'm devastated! I shall have to brave the scangers and the teenagers to see Jane's play their first Irish gig. Pity Electric Picnic didn't get them!
It will probably be just as cheap to travel elsewhere to see them (I hope!).

UPDATE: I've found out that they are playing on my birthday so have bought the Oxegen tickets! Fate was calling!

Cool Fictional Characters. #7, Fr Fintan Stack

2009-03-06T05:48:00.005-08:00

from Father Ted. Played by Brendan Grace in the episode "New Jack City", he is my favourite priest from Father Ted. Father Stack is sent to the island to replace Fr. Jack when he goes into a home. He is completely obnoxious and insists on playing jungle music at top volume and enjoys drilling holes in the wall.

By the way, there is a Father Ted gig on tonight in the Laughter Lounge in Dublin!

"While you were out, I got the keys to your car. And drove it into a big wall. And if you don't like it, tough. I've had my fun, and that's all that matters." (as he cleans his ear out with the end of Ted's car keys).

Friday Cocktail

2009-03-06T05:42:00.003-08:00

That day of the week again. I am going to Carlingford tonight with the laydeez and we shall be drinking Bellinis courtesy of Sainsburys in Newry. It couldn't be easier - one shot of peach schapps, top up with champagne/cava/prosecco. Add a splash of orange juice and garnish with a strawberry. Very effective!

How would you define irony?

2009-03-04T08:17:00.003-08:00

The Irish Times have a piece today which states that banks are not looking favorably upon on-line gamblers, when awarding mortgages. Apparently, even small amounts going from an account to on-line gambling companies can set alarm bells ringing. I think the moral of the story is that the only way to gamble is very big and with other peoples money!

Article

Cool Fictional Characters. #6, Shylock

2009-03-04T03:20:00.003-08:00

from The Merchant of Venice. I can remember being very confused in school at the bad press that Shylock got. Constantly on the receiving end of racist slurs, Shylock was supposed to lie down and succumb to the smug merchant classes. Shylock may not be the most endearing character in literature, but who would be after a lifetime of abuse? I liked him as he stood up for himself and was not cowed by his bullies. In the end, of course, he came off the worst, as the dominant Christian group prevailed.

Handy Website- www.recipezaar.com

2009-03-04T03:06:00.004-08:00

If you eat something delicious when you are out and would like to make it yourself, then check out recipezaar. They have millions of recipes and I have always found what I've needed on it. Recipes are reviewed and rated by users and you can create your own cookbooks to store you recipes in. You can also check out my recipes, search by my user name- ferng!

Aer Lingus Sale

2009-03-03T14:49:00.003-08:00

Check out the Aer Lingus sale on their website. They have 10 euro off all flights to Europe- I have just booked return flights to Prague Easter week for 92 euro! Well worth checking out.

Cool Fictional Characters. #5, Ja'mie King

2009-03-02T09:17:00.003-08:00

from We can be Heroes and Summer Heights High. Played by Chris Illey, Ja'mie is a spoilt 16 year old schoolgirl. Ja'mie is convinced that she is a humanitarian but is, in fact, extremely shallow and cares only about her looks and being popular. She raises money for Africa by doing the 24 hour fast each week, but has an ulterior motive as 'Two days a week without food keeps me looking hot. '

Ja'mie has a 'panic attack'

Lost? I am.

2009-03-02T09:06:00.003-08:00

As each season of Lost airs, I keep saying that I will stick with it to find out what the heck is going on. Now, in Season 5, and with the plot more convoluted than ever, I think that I am finally going to throw in the towel. I would still kind of like to find out what the island is and whether John Locke is the saviour or the devil, but I don't think that I care enough to watch two more seasons. Hopefully if I tune in to the finale in 2010 all will be revealed!

Handy Website - www.delicious.com

2009-03-02T08:57:00.005-08:00

I don't know how many times I've lost bookmarks when I get a new craptop or when my browser is re-set and it is really annoying! To combat this, some clever people have developed Delicious, a website where you can keep all of your bookmarks and access them from any on-line computer. You simply sign up and add all of your bookmarks (you can categorise them). You can then log in and access your bookmarks from any computer. Very handy indeed.

Cool Fictional Characters. #4, Ash

2009-03-01T04:08:00.003-08:00

from The Evil Dead series. Ash (played by Bruce Campbell) goes with his girlfriend and some friends to stay in a cabin in the woods. They find a recording in the cabin of a translation of the book of the dead, which releases evil spirits when played.
With all of his friends dead, Ash defends himself to the end and is always determined to one-up the evil spirits. Very funny!

Ash: [talking to mirror] I'm fine... I'm fine...
[Mirror Ash jumps out of the mirror and grabs Ash]
Mirror Ash : I don't think so. We just cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw. Does that sound "fine"?

Book Review: The Host, Stephenie Meyer

2009-03-01T03:49:00.004-08:00

Being a big fan of Meyer's Twilight series, I was very keen to read The Host, Meyer's novel for adults. The Host is a Science Fiction novel, set on an earth where the human race have been taken over by parasitic beings called souls. Only a few humans remain in hiding, or on the run, to keep their bodies from being implanted with a soul.
The Host focuses on a human Melanie, who is implanted with the Soul Wanderer. Unlike many others, Melanie's conciousness remains, and she and Wanderer are forced to work together.
This book did not compare to the Twilight series for me, but would be good to take on holidays or read when you are feeling a bit lazy. It's light reading and quite enjoyable, but I won't be re-reading it.

Things I don't get. #2. Rihanna gets back with Chris Brown

2009-03-01T03:44:00.003-08:00

No comment necessary . . .

Cool Fictional Characters. #3, Hansel

2009-02-28T08:37:00.003-08:00

from Zoolander. Hansel is Derek Zoolander's biggest professional rival and wins Male Model of the Year at the VH1 Fashion Awards. Hansel also beats Derek in a walk-off, but the two of them soon make freinds when Hansel hides Derek from the evil Mugatu.
Favourite Hansel quote:

"Sting would be another person who's a hero. The music he's created over the years, I don't really listen to it, but the fact that he's making it, I respect that."

Remember this? Swine Lake

2009-02-28T08:22:00.007-08:00

from the Muppet Show. This is from my favourite ever episode, with Rudolf Nureyev. If you get a chance, check out his and Piggy's version of Baby it's cold outside, it's really funny too. The full version of Swine Lake is on the link below;

Swine Lake

Pork Gyoza (Potsticker Dumplings)

2009-02-28T08:15:00.004-08:00

Saturday is normally dumpling day in our house. These dumplings are fried and then steamed to finish. They are really delicious and we have been known to eat 12 each. I get the dumpling wrappers from the freezer section of the Chinese Supermarket (the one at Jervis St. Luas stop is my favourite). I have posted the recipe on my recipezaar and if you would like to find out how to make them, follow the link below:

Pork Gyoza

Friday Cocktail

2009-02-27T08:01:00.002-08:00

It's my favourite day of the week again and if I weren't on poxy antibiotics, I would be making myself a nice Classic Champagne Cocktail tonight. My budget does not stretch to champagne, naturallement, I use dry cava or dry prosecco instead. I use brown sugar cubes, only because I think they look nicer- you can just use granulated sugar if you have no sugar cubes. You will need :

1 sugar cube
Angostura bitters (3 drops)
1 teaspoon brandy
chilled champagne
lemon slice to garnish.

Let the three drops of bitters soak into the sugar cube and place in the bottom of a flute. Pour the brandy in and top with the champagne. Garnish with the lemon slice. No need to stir but if you really feel you have to, do it gently so that the bubbles do not dissipate.
Yum yum, can't wait until next weekend.

Cool Fictional Characters. #2, Daphne

2009-02-27T01:19:00.002-08:00

from Some Like it Hot. Jack Lemmon plays musician Jerry, who has to go into hiding after witnessing the Valentines Day massacre with colleague Joe (Tony Curtis). They end up disguising themselves as women and joining an all-female band on a trip to Florida. This is one of my top 5 favourite films and I just love Lemmon's female persona, Daphne. She may not be the prettiest broad, but she bags a millionaire at the end!

Daphne meets Osgood

Masterchef 2009

2009-02-27T00:44:00.000-08:00

The right man won! I was very happy with last night's Masterchef final as I was convinced that Andy of the Zero Personality was going to win. I liked Matt from the very beginning, he seemed like a nice guy. It seems to me, though, that the standard was not as high for this series. Poor Christopher was defo just making up numbers.

Save money with on-line texts

2009-02-26T07:20:00.000-08:00

Whether you are a user of Vodafone, Meteor or O2, you can avail of free web-texting when you are on-line. I use Vodafone and I simply log on to their website using my phone number. When I send a text, the recipient sees a text from my mobile number. Why pay for texts when you are on-line in work? You can buy me a drink the next time we are out with the money that you save.

Things I don't get. #1, Rumer Willis

2009-02-26T02:55:00.000-08:00

Exactly what is her function/talent? Why, oh why, was she in People Magazines 100 Most Beautiful list? So many questions.

Cool Fictional Characters. #1, Alan Johnson

2009-02-26T01:11:00.000-08:00

from Peep Show. Played by Paterson Joseph, Johnson is Marks' slimy slickster of a boss. Supremely confident and charming, Johnson steals Big Suze from Jeremy and Marks falls in love with him.

"Don't be alarmed, Mark, it's just Tai Chi. Take a seat and I'll just power through. Should take 45 minutes, I'm done in ten. Stick that up your dojo."

Book Review: The Road, Cormac McCarthy

2009-02-25T15:05:00.000-08:00

Cormac McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize for The Road in 2007. It's about a father and son travelling across America to reach the coast in a post-Apocalyptic world. I read it in one go (took about 3 hours), as it was a pretty compelling read. It was really well written, but will never be a favorite of mine as it was a real downer! I felt pretty depressed when I finished it as ultimately there was very little hope left for the human race. I'm really not sure whether I'd recommend this one or not!

Business Time

2009-02-25T11:08:00.000-08:00

Here is the link to my favourite Flight of the Conchords song, 'Business Time'. If you haven't seen it before, please take a look, it's v. funny. The second series is currently airing on HBO and I shall be reviewing each episode on this blog as they air (Episode 7 is out this week).
Business Time

Enjoy!

Faith No More Reunion

2009-02-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

Great news!
Faith No More have announced that they are reforming and are going to have a European Tour this Summer. I haven't been this happy since Take That got back together! For news on the reunion, please follow the link below:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/149365-faith-no-more-to-reunite-for-european-tour

Bring it on!

Update: Here's the official statement from the band