Songs: Royals

You know Royals?  Of course!   Who doesn't?  It's a great song.  

Well, what about this cover?   It's by the amazing Walk Off the Earth.   Check out the video!   It's so awesome!   how many times did they have to rehearse that??

While we're on the subject, I quite like this cover too.   It's sung by a 7 foot clown.

Film Reviews: The Great Gatsby

Despite what the critics say I really like this film.   I love the colour, I love the over-the-top splendour, hell, I even love Tobey Maguire!   People complain that the film has lost all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's subtlety and poetry and that he's killed the spirit of the book.   But I think that books are open to interpretation and I like this one.   It wouldn't be a Baz Luhrman film if it wasn't a big and bold, dazzling, colourful, loud spectacular.   I think it's possibly even more so that Moulin Rouge.   It's about Gatsby, a wealthy but enigmatic man trying to win back Daisy, the wife of wealthy but nasty Tom Buchanan, in 1920s New York.   It doesn't end well for anyone.   It's told through the eyes of Nick Carraway, Daisy's cousin.   As I said, I love Tobey Maguire as Nick, and usually I don't have a lot of time for him.   I think Tom Buchanan and Jordan Baker (Daisy's friend) were perfect as well.   Exactly how I imagined them.   Contrary to the rest of the world though, I'm actually not that keen on Leonardo diCaprio as Gatsby.   Can't quite put my finger on what I didn't like...   One thing I would say though is that the story is a bit tricky to follow, but well, I suppose it was in the book as well.

  

Ballet Reviews: Highland Fling

I went into this one knowing very little about it.   I'm not sure I liked the story.  It's about a young Glaswegian man who becomes obsessed with a fairy he saw while on pills.   In the end his obsession kills him.   Having said that, it was very interesting and very cleverly done.   I've never seen ballet mixed with gritty that way before.   The dancing was really clever too.   Somehow the dancers managed to use ballet to convey drunken stumbling out of bars and crap dancing.   And it really worked.   There was also tartan absolutely everywhere.   Not sure I really liked that either.   We get that it's Scotland, there's no need to ram it down our throats.   Still, a really interesting and clever show.

 

Film Reviews: Apollo 13

Obviously this is quite an old film, but I only saw it for the first time recently, and I loved it!   Being a nerd it obviously appealed to me in the same way that anything to do with space and NASA does.   It's about the real life Apollo 13 mission that went horribly wrong.  The astronauts barely made it back to Earth.   It's an amazing story of courage and ingenuity made all the better because it's true, though obviously the film makers did use a little dramatic license.  I really enjoyed Tom Hanks's performance as Jim Lovell, the mission commander.   He portrayed him as a really warm and charismatic person, which must be very hard to act.  Well done!   I also loved the historical context.   For most people these days it seems NASA doesn't figure much in their everyday lives, but this film really gives an idea that back then everyone was excited by it.   Apollo 11 had just been to the moon and everyone seemed to be celebrating the amazing achievement.   It looks like it was an exciting time to be alive.   If you haven't seen it, it's well-worth a watch.

   

Songs: Don't You Worry Child

Again, this is another of those rare times when I actually like something on the radio, and it's very very unusual for me to like a dancy number like this, but I really like the raw emotion in it.   Enjoy!

Photography: Rome, Day 4

The fourth day of our Rome trip took us back to the Palatine Hill for a proper look round there, and to the forum, and to the Pantheon as well.   The two photos I liked best from the day weren't really of any of those things.   I really liked one HDR photo over the roofs of Rome.   The normal version looked pretty mundane, but the HDR version really brought the scene to life.   You can see a little bit of the forum in the foreground, but the focus is on the rooftops.   The other is a photo of the Colosseum from a different angle.   I really like the warmth of it.   It looks almost autumnal.

   

Songs: Wake Me Up

One of the very rare times I actually liked a song that was on the radio.   It's very different to the usual chart rubbish.  I understand the sentiment, but I don't agree with it at all.   Live your life!   Still catchy though.

 

Baking: Millionnaire Shortbread

This is some good, tasty, unhealthy stuff!   It's a layer of shortbread, with a layer of caramel on top of it, topped off with chocolate.   Yum yum!  

For the shortbread:

500g plain flour
150g sugar
350g butter

For the caramel:

200g butter
200g sugar
800g condensed milk

For the topping:

400g milk chocolate


Despite the three layers, this is a pretty easy recipe, though it is a bit time-consuming because you have to wait for things to cool before adding the next layer.   Start by making the shortbread.   Mix the flour and sugar together and rub in the butter, to make a dough.   Press the dough into a baking tray with your fingers and bake at 180 degrees until slightly golden on top.   This should take about 20 minutes.   This also works well as a stand-alone shortbread recipe.  

Next, make the caramel.   Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the sugar and then the condensed milk and bring it to the boil.   This takes longer than you think it will, and I can never manage it without ending up with a few burnt bits.   Simmer it for about 10-15 minutes, then pour over the cooled shortbread.  

Finally, melt the chocolate and smooth it over the top of the cooled caramel.   Leave to set and cut into squares.   Yum!

Ingredients

 

 

 

Shortbread pre-baking

 Caramel, complete with burnt bits

 Chocolate set and cut into squares

Cross-section!