Making Lists

The end of the year is traditionally the time of making lists, as evidenced by Kevin on his blog, where I did a shitty job by avoiding the hard questions.

I suppose the best-known end of the year list is that of Humo . I filled that out of course, since there are prizes to be won :)

- Man/Woman of the year: I didn't have an effing clue what to put there, really. The old pope for dying? The new pope? One of the many politicians that were all over the news this year? Oprah Winfrey? One of the royal babies? Paris Hilton. Truth be told, I actually don't remember what I settled on in the end. But I do know it weren't any of those last 3, no worries :)

- Dick of the year: Filip Dewinter seems a bit of an overobvious choice, but I have to say: I barely saw or heard from him this year. He's still a dick of course, but this time I voted for Anke Vandermeersch, who bothered me a hell of a lot more the past 12 months.

- Best movie: Turned out I had only seen two movies that were released this year. Yes, two. All the other movies I saw were from before 1970 or something :) So choosing between 'The Brothers Grimm' & 'Een ander zijn geluk' wasn't particularly hard. I'll leave it up to you to figure out which one I picked.

- Best actress (international): Bit problematic since I didn't really see any international actresses that are still alive. Except for that chick from Brothers Grimm and there's no chance in hell she's gonna win by default :p So I stuck with Nicole Kidman.

- Best actor (international): I don't have the foggiest notion who I voted for here.

- Best actress (national): Maaike Cafmeyer, for no specific reason.

- Best actor (national): Jan Decleir, because he is :)

- Best book: once again a little problem since I only read books from over a century old. It didn't say anywhere you couldn't vote for those, so Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens it was.

- Sportfigure of the year: Kim Clijsters, because of her amazing come-back from injury, winning a grand slam and being just so darn peachy nice.

- Most exciting sporting event: US Open semi-finals.

- Belgian politician of the year: Karel de Gucht.

- Most annoying Belgian politician of the year: same as the dick.

- Best television program (national): De Slimste Mens

- Best television program (international): Dead Like Me

- Worst television program: Paradise Hotel.

- Who would you like to see naked: I humoured my boyfriend and voted for the guy he wants to see naked (Tom Boonen), because he actually has a shot of making the top 10. If I had my pick, it would be Olivier Rochus *rrrrrr* but I doubt a lot of people will be voting for him.

While in the process of making lists, here's a long one (I don't have anything to do today and I'm a little ill, so I got time and no one reads this, so it doesn't matter if it's boring).

The Internet Movie Database is a great website for info on movies, actors, directors, affiliated, and for opinions of people (some so clever, some so painfully ignorant) and well, just about anything you can think of that has something to do with movies and television. Furthermore you can register and participate, by roaming the message boards, or simply by voting for the movies you've seen.

So here's a list of movies that have gotten a 10 or a 9 from me :) Some of 'em aren't exactly great, but I saw them when I was pretty young, or I just liked their simplicity. As people that know me can guess, most of them are just plain old :) There's not really an order to them, imdb ranks them from top to bottom and the ones with the same points alphabetically.

- Dogma (1999, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, ...) . No idea why I like this movie so much. It's about two fallen angels making their way back to heaven, an abortion doctor having to stop them with the help of the 13th apostle, a muze and two prophets, and there's a lot of angels and demons. Funky.

- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, ...) . Odd and magnificent.

- Freeway (1996, Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Brittany Murphy, Brooke Shields,...). A modern day version of Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad wolf. Witherspoon is abused by her stephdad and he and her hooker mum are arrested for drug possession. She hitchhikes across the country to visit her grandmother and is picked up by psycho Sutherland. It all gets very strange from then on and Witherspoon is great as foul-mouthed teenage hussy.

- Gone with the Wind (1939, Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia De Havilland, Leslie Howard, Hattie McDaniel, ...). One of my two favourite movies. I just love this epic , melodramatic story.

- Jezebel (1938, Bette Davis, Henry Fonda,..). The other favourite, with Davis as spoiled and headstrung southern belle, scheming and plotting to get her way. Awesome!

- The Lion in Winter (1968, Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, Nigel Terry, John Castle, Timothy Dalton, ...). The story of the intrigues revolving around the throne of Henry II. The facts are true, but were compressed to one place in time for better story-telling. Great acting from these Hollywood greats, and biting sharp dialogue.

- Pleasantville (1998, Reese Witherspoon, Tobey Maguire, William H. Macy, Joan Allen,...). The story of two modern day loser teens that are sucked into a black and white 50's television show and teach them a lesson, whilst being taught one themselves. Aow.

- The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman,...). I've never really liked Tim Robbins but he blew me away when I saw this years ago. I watched it again recently and it didn't lose any of its power.

Those were the 10s, 9's are for later :p

'Tis the season

Christmas is behind us and New Year's is straight ahead. I usually don't particularly like Christmas (nor birthdays, Valentine's Day, etc) as it feels very artificial to play peace and merry just because it happens to be a certain date. Over the last few years however, I have noticed that some people don't need to play peace and merry, and I suppose that does add an extra touch to the whole event.

Back when my parents were still enjoying wedded unbliss, Christmas Eve was traditionally spent at home with us four + my mother's mother, who was at that time a nearly catatonic, whale-sized wreck. Since her soon-to-be-ex-husband was usually galavanting around with one of his mistresses and / or their daughters, I suppose my parents felt it was the polite thing to do. When we were younger my mother would serve something very classic, and in later years, we would fondue (also not a great sign of originality on our parts, but nonetheless tasty). I can't say I remember very much of these events. We always had a big tree, that I know, and there would be a Christmas stable under it, because it ought to be, regardless of the fact that none of us are even a little bit catholic, and there would always be presents of course. I know my mother would usually buy my brother a book, which he would never read and always ended up in my hands. My father would always buy me something 'hands-on' like lego, or a building set, which I could never figure out (yes, I'm so damn clumsy and impractical, I can't even build a lego airplane) and would always end up in my brother's hands.

Christmas Day would be spent at my father's parents'. There, the Vervloets would congregate and eat rabbit (the kids got wild cherries and meatballs) and the night would invariably end with my grandfather puking his alcohol out. Later, when my grandmother became a bit on the worn-out side, the whole celebration was moved to my aunt's house, but it basically stayed the same. The main problem here was that most of our family members never quite liked each other. My grandmother fiercely hated my mother, and that sentiment was mutual. My mother furthermore detested most of her family-in-law (up to the point of being physically nauseated by one of my uncles). Luckily she is the queen of smiling politely.

Not that the Vervloets themselves were very fond of each other. One of my aunts was actively hated by all of her siblings, probably because she spent most of her waking moments thinking of ways to make them miserable. My grandmother was always nice to me though, but for some reason she never liked my brother. Not really sure why, he was nice enough when he was little. I think. He never got as much money as the other grandkids anyways and she rarely required about his well-being. Maybe she didn't like blondes. My nephew and me are the same age, and for some reason our mothers would always put us in direct competition. He actually has the name my mother picked for me. She was pregnant at the same time as her sister-in-law, and when she gave birth first, she named him that way, supposedly just to spite my mother. Christmas was therefore always a parade of : my son achieved this, and mine that, and he did thus and blablabla. I don't know if our mother's only somewhat hidden hostility had something to do with it, but I never really got along with my nephew. Personally, I believe that's because he's an f-ing moron, but my memory could be a little tainted :p

Suffice to say I do not have the hightest opinion of Christmases and family get-togethers. However, this year was rather nice. It was just my mother and her bf, his mother, my grandmother, my brother and Tim, and everyone got along splendidly (even my mother and her sort-of-mother-in-law, who she usually doesn't match with, she really has the mother-in-law syndrome) and my brother was friendly as well, which was a first. Christmas day I spent at my 'family-in-law' and that was nice too. They actually enjoy getting together, which makes it a lot more agreeable :) A couple more years of this, and I'll be ho-ho-ho'ing by December (that sounds so wrong, doesn't it?)

Still, I will never understand why people seem to think you HAVE to get the family together for Christmas. Sure, it's nice when you like your family, but when they are the people you avoid as much as possible during the year, then WHY on earth invite them over for a night of perfunctory niceties and inane chatter? Is there some evolutionary explanation for this? Is it because people are afraid of being branded as 'naughty' if they choose not to see their family on Christmas? Are they just f-ing stupid? Or is it maybe because... well, the IDEA of a family to go home to is nice?

Merry Christmas one and all!

http://www.illwillpress.com/xmas.html

Just coz he's a cute li'l bugger :)

I'm glad that didn't come out my other end

Has anyone noticed how I really like Verdana? Totally random, but still. Picture: how to pick up chicks.

The end of an era has occurred: Karolien and me are no longer the inseparable duo. She is officially no longer coordinator, and Kaderweekend duties have officially ended. Not that I mind my new fellow coordinating lady (there really should be a better way of putting that :)), but it still feels a little strange. Nevertheless I look forward to having a new woman by my side, and besides, Karo and me still work together in the activities team, and she's in the RvB.

Kaderweekend evaluation was fun, I'm sort of sorry it's over and I wouldn't mind doing it again next year (and I think I got recruited for HRH Kaderweekend, though I sidestepped it mostly :p). The meeting itself went pretty fast I thought, mostly because the others were hungry. We went for a bite to eat afterwards and were waited on by a fine specimen of manhood, which was immediatly observed and ordered by the rest of the males in our little party.

I'll admit he really was a fine looking man, but it was still comical to see these full grown men (yes, you're older than me, deal with it ;)) turn into nearly salivating pubescent boys over a hot piece of chest. Especially funny was the face a certain someone made when the man was rummaging around for change in his pouch. I regret not having a picture of that, it was amazing, the lustful smirk on that visage, I could barely hold back my laughter. And yes, you looked cute, smirking like that ;)

I was feeling really ugggggggggggggggggggggh this morning and had no desire to actually live this day (this was not bettered by an annoying busdriver and a jointrolling neighbour on the bus, and aggravation continued at home where I received a nice letter telling me I was yet again not withheld for a job I really wanted) but on my way home from VDAB, I was suddenly surrounded by music. The streets of Lier are full of speakers , with cheery music, and hey, it worked, everyone was mumbling along with the songs and skip-walking. Cheered me right up :)

In case anyone gives a flying hoot, these are my most-played artists :

1) Sarah McLachlan
2) Charlotte Church
3) Delta Goodrem
4) Brigitte Kaandorp
5) Dolly Parton
6) Cher
7) Métisse
8) Madonna
9) Vonda Shepard
10) Savage Garden
11) Kaiser Chiefs
12) Natalia
13) Sandrine
14) Weezer
15) Aaron Bilodeau

I'm so very gay *girlish giggle*

High School Reunion

I love Westmalle...

For those who don't know: I spent my last two years of High School at Mariagaarde Instituut in Westmalle, and I was probably happier there than I ever was before or ever was since.

Not that there aren't things I'm happy with now, I'm really not saying that. But I suppose a lot of people can recognise the feeling: carefree and always surrounded by friends.

Back then I didn't have the perfect family life, far from it, but it wasn't as disastrous as it is now. I didn't have money problems, because I needed little money and the people I cared for most were always around.

Those people are still around, it's just that we are all so awfully busy now, and we have responsabilities that prevent us from just saying: sure, i'll be there in 15 minutes to listen to you whine all night.

I loved High School, I really did. It was a pretty carefree time and I wasn't one of those teenagers that thought life sucked so much. I'd go back if I could, I really would. Though I'd take certain things with me of course.

The thing I noticed most, is how none of them have really changed. Sure, Maarten cut his hair, which used to really long, and is now quite the stud, but he's still the same good ol' somewhat naive person who believes everyone is basically a good person (and I love him for it). Evi now has the job of her dreams and she's getting ready for a business trip to Italy, but she's still the same giggling girl. Mary is the silent serious one who turns into a party animal once given the chance, Ann is still quiet and nice and sort of in the backgroudn, Karin is still loud and always in the front, and the first one to go home, Klaas is still brooding and sexy and silly and adorable by being a dork. Kristof did everthing he always said he would do, and has achieved more than he ever wanted, and he's still the guy that got harrassed so much for being himself, which is probably why I liked him so much, and still like him. He talked to the people that picked on him for years, and he didn't seem to hold a grudge at all, and that's what makes him the great man he is. He's a tank commander now, and he talks about this technical stuff I will never understand, like he always did, but somehow it's still just nice to listen to it. Sigrid is the same girl, only she's now ten times as pretty as she used to be, but she doesn't realise that herself and she's still as sweet as back then.

One thing I did realise during this little reunion, is that almost all of them are living the life they pictured back then: Evi has a flashy job title and benefits that go with it, Kristof is in the army, Karin & Ann both love their work, Mary does as well. Maarten just got a job and adores it, Eef is working and loving it.

Me, I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be, and that's a little bit depressing. I know the reasons for it and I'm fine with it up to a point, but it does sting a little bit, just a little.

Anyways, Els and me made an agreement to restart our moviedates, and I hope we will keep it. Evi promised to let me know next time she goes to the Link and I hope she will. Sigrid promised to get the Gang together again soon for her birthday, and I hope she will. Maybe not all of these things will actually happen, but just one is not too much to ask , is it?

Tor Be Funny or to Be Gross

When does something stop being funny?

This comic is one of many rather crude ones from Ghastly, and I think it's sort of funny. He's done better, which were usually a lot more crude.

But when people are telling crude jokes, I often don't find them funny at all. I feel guilty about laughing at racist jokes, I think fart and shit jokes are just stupid and absurd comedy goes far beyond me.

And I actually feel guilty listening to a joke or rude comment about someone I like, so that'll not get a laugh of me either.

Yeah, this is indeed a filler post due to boredness, and an excuse to pot the comic, which can be found at the delightfully politically and morally uncorrect http://www.ghastlycomic.com/ Be sure to read from the beginning :)

Tastes & Poses

http://www.last.fm/user/EndlessAudacity/

Last fm is a pretty cool website. It tracks the music you play in Winamp or Media Player, makes lists of the artists you play the most, the songs you play most, people who have the same tastes as you, and -best of all- it recommends artists you might like, based on what you've played before.

I'm not afraid my musical taste, is like my taste in art: quite shallow. I like peppy songs, or sweet songs, without worrying whether they're actually good. You'll never find me listening to a techno or whatever song while I'm at home, though I don't mind them at a party. It's quite clear to see in my top artists list: I'm not very cool :)

Some people are cool: they praise the alternative music, the things that are hip without being mainstream. Nice for them. But... I'm quite confident that a few people I know, praise this , simply BECAUSE it's hip without being mainstream (I suppose they somehow believe this makes them hip, without being mainstream). They talk about music without knowing what they are saying and you just know that secretly they're Kylie fans. Posers are sad and should just accept themselves for the shallow pop-loving ditzes they are.

It's possible of course they don't even realise they're posing and actually think they prefer the hip music to the latest Madonna, but in that case they're just really pothetic and not excused at all :p

And I don't know why, but I get the strangest recommendations, people I've never heard of and can hardly find. Tim's tastes are more towards the alternative and his recommendations are much more mainstream than mine, it's silly.

One of my recommendations picked a rather unfortunate name: Femminem. Maybe you're wondering why this is unfortunate, but you see, for FunWeekend last year, Cathy and me went to the pharmacist to buy woman condoms and guess what those are called? Woman condoms, blond Dutch ditzes singing crappy songs, I'm sure there's a powerful metaphor to be found here, but frankly I'm too lazy to go look for it.


The last couple of days, relationships have been the topic of conversation in my circle of friends (and on all the blogs you find in the links section). Joy, despair, marriage, mockery (the classical stages of any relationship if you ask me :p) all are commented on.

I think it's odd how some single people (before you start cursing me, mind that I said some) seem to think that a boy/girlfriend is the answer to all their problems. I've been single a lot and there was only one period of time this made me unhappy and that wasn't because I was single, just because I was still in love with my ex-boyfriend. I can understand that being single for ages might get a little exasperating, and yes, we all need a hug, a good conversation with a likeminded individual and -let's face it- a shag every once in a while. And it is true that these things are different within a relationship then when you get them from friends / co-workers / anonymous men or women on a chat-site.

But some people seem to believe that having a relationship will solve all their problems. Here's a newsflash: it doesn't darlings. I love being in a relationship and I love my boyfriend, for better or for worse. But there is worse and there's no denying it. Having someone you love, who loves you back, can be truly amazing and make you feel like the tallest person in the world (well, a little latter than I am in my case, let's not ask for the impossible :)), but it can also make you feel the most miserable you can imagine.

It's not a secret that Tim and me have had a tumultuous relationship, so I'm not going to pretend everything was roses. In fact, I know most people thought we would be over in a month. We lasted longer than that, but not without lots of work, a lot of fights and copious amounts of tears.

We're on our second time (or third if you're going to be technical :p) around now and things are much smoother. I'm not going to claim we're sailing through life effortlessly now, far from it, but we don't have embarassing huge fights in public anymore and that's a big plus :) I guess we both learned and we both grew up a bit. We struggle with all the same things and it's almost comical how the same issues keep coming back, and back again, like in a bad soap opera, but unlike Sami Brady & Lucas Roberts (yes, it's a Days of our Lives reference and there's nothing you can do about it!) we have learned to deal with them in a different way.

I wish I had some sort of strong and catchy conclusion to this whole rant, but I don't. I don't think life is about conclusions, and if it is, I haven't made any yet. I just found questions that lead to more questions. The main question on my mind nowadays is "Can we make it?". I think we can, if neither of us grows tired of banging into the same walls and talking things through, and if we both keep believing in it.

We're pretty stubborn people, so who knows ;) Maybe love really is enough sometimes.

In random news: The Stella awards have been handed out. What you say?

The Stella awards are named after Stella Liebeck, the woman who spilled hot coffee over herself and then sued McDonalds, and won, for millions of dollars. The Stella awards are handed out each year to the dumbest people with the craziest lawsuits, who actually won, and were thus rewarded by society for being f-ing morons.

The runner-ups:

* Jerry Williams won 14,500 dollars from his neighbour because his beagle bit him on the arse. small detail: mister Williams was shooting at the dog with a pellet gun when it bit him.

* Amber Carson got 113,500 from a restaurant because she slipped in a soft drink on the floor. How did the drink get there? Miss Carson herself had just thrown it at her boyfriend.

* Kara Walton won 12,000 from a nightclub for falling out a window and knocking out het front teeth. Why was she there? She was crawling out the window so she wouldn't have to pay for the toilet...

The Winner:

Mrs. Grazinsky, who won 1,750,000 dollars... She sued the company that makes Winnebago's (you know, those big camper things, mobilhome or whatever they're called). She had just purchased a new one and went out on the freeway, where she set the speed at 70 miles per hour, put the camper on cruise control and then went into the kitchen in the back to make sandwiches. She crashed and instead of being arrested for endangering other human lives, and being so f-ing stupid it boggles the mind, she sued the company because "the manual did not say you shouldn't put the car on cruise control and leave the steering wheel". She actually won all that money PLUS a new camper. The company changed its manual so it now actually says the thing cannot drive on its own. Hail justice!