today i rocked a presentation. but also time stood still again as i noticed not everyone can rock a presentation the way i can. but then, i'm self actualised now thanks to a melbourne leadership course. so, i shouldn't judge. too much.

today i also met the evers-swindells. well sort of. i went to an award ceremony where they were giving out awards. i didn't win an award - only because i'm not eligible. you needed to be 65+. the moment my dad qualifies he is SO getting nominated.

oh and yesterday i saw brad pitt. in a movie. burn after reading. 8.5/10. it was welcome relief to see a good movie again. although other critics have used the word mediocre and been dismissive of its length, this review uses the word engaging and says 96 minutes is the perfect movie length. i would also agree with some people on the internet that it is essentially a collection of brilliant caricature character studies. and lord knows i love character studies and ensemble casts.

it is unlikely to be my movie of the week though. tomorrow brideshead revisited opens at a cinema near you. i have my gold lounge ticket all ready to go because if it is only 1/8th as good as the book and the 1981 tv series then it will probably win an oscar. i hope jeremy irons has a cameo!!!

i've seen more movies. i'm probably what you would call an addict. i mean how else can you explain how i saw wanted. oh hold on, there was an explanation: james mcavoy.

"hello. i am james mcavoy and i'm in the narnia movie and am TOO adorable for words"

he is not adorable in wanted, however. he is just lame. like a lame edward norton. because the only good bits made me think of fight club (evidence: mention of ikea products, dreary every day life etc...). the bad bits made me think of leaving the theatre. and the really bad parts made me laugh out loud. basically, if you can believe a guild of weavers can become assassins driven by a magic loom, then this is the movie for you. minus eight. it would have only been a minus 5, but i found out i missed out on the gymnastics showcase at the olympics by going to the movie. so it gets minus 3 opportunity cost points.

and i have also just this moment seen baby mama. and by comparison it is oscar worthy. and it has an all star cast that includes steve martin. that guy is ALWAYS hilarious. plus it is a chick flick so even when it is bad it is good. and there are babies and jokes about wanting babies and tina fey and i should probably become best friends because when she is given the chance to dj at a night club she blasts out the lady in red. which we know is the best song of all time. sadly, it empties the dance floor. 6/10.

if you want help being massively unpopular in your office, i've got it.

everytime something goes wrong you simply say:

"this is such a drysdale".



then refuse to watch the olympics because you're sick of seeing new zealanders pull a drysdale.

and then start to refer to bronze medal winners as a bunch of drysdales.

____

today was my best day at work for the longest time. we watched bevan doherty pull a drysdale and get a bronze on the big screen tele. and i got to launch four documentaries, which i had planted the seeds for with my exceptional imagination(they are obviously work documentaries, don't get too excited), i booked alicia keys tickets (i hear you say why? but the question should really be why not?) and i had cornflakes and watties fruit salad for breakfast at the documentary launch. oh, and i kept the wheels of democracy turning and what not.

but then i get home and discover my broadband limit has been BLOWN for the month.

in other words i've done a drysdale*.


*bloody tvnz live streaming of men's gymnastics has been nothing but bad news. in short, and despite the way it is all i can talk about, i can't wait until the bloody olympics are over.

cliche alert. male gymnastics is so beautiful it makes me want to cry.


god bless the olympics. even if 90% of it is duller than watching paint dry.

so far i haven't caught any male gymnastics on the tvnz coverage. due to their preference for the paint drying sports: cycling, soccer, hockey, god forsaken equestrian. that kind of thing. so i've resorted to reliving my favourite olympic moments through youtube. like this...

ps only watch the first minute of this. the rest is some other gymnasts. why bother?

the benefit of watching clips on youtube is that i can watch them in bed with my electric blanket. you may not have noticed but it is positively siberian round here these days. on saturday i thought i had pneumonia because i just couldn't get warm. then i realised it was my three fin heater and eighty year old flat conspiring against me. so i bought a new heater. and spent my nights dreaming of insulation and heat pumps.

anyway, back to alexei nemov. in 1996, when new zealand had danyon fever, i thought i would die if i never met alexei. surprisingly, i'm still alive. and now he has retired and lost some of his gymnasts physique. i'd still go there though. obv. (but not in a million years for danyon. again, obv. it was the dancing with the stars that took that one over the edge).

then in 2000 i couldn't believe he was in my hemisphere. again, i vowed death a better alternative to never meeting him. as per above, i'm still alive. despite vanessa amorosi doing her best to kill me with her 'absolutely everybody' song. ps only click that link if you are desperate to remember what song i'm talking about. you will only last like three seconds. i promise you.

but by 2004 i was a professional and didn't have time to sit around all day watching the olympics. i worked hard for my money. and plus didn't want my cowoes to know about my obsession. but still, i booed with the crowd when alexei wasn't given a high enough score by judges. i also continued my fantasy where i would marry alexei. as yet this hasn't come true. plus the athens olympics were the dullest yet. i can't remember a single other moment.

this time round all i have is other moments. due to no alexei. and no male gymnastics for me so far. only godforsaken equestrian.