rich_jacko

I had an enjoyable afternoon out with the goblin child today. We went to see Zootropolis, which was excellent. At it's core, it's a mismatched buddy cop movie, so not the most original idea, but everything about it is so well done.

It tackles contemporary issues about stereotypes, intolerance and the politics of fear (using a none-too-subtle allegory) in a surprisingly grown-up way. Judy Hopps is not your typical Disney heroine, either in the style of the princesses of old or their modern "Look how feisty I am" counterparts. She's much more rounded and interesting than that. In fact, that's true of all the characters, major and minor.

The world of Zootropolis itself may not stand up to scrutiny (Just what do the carnivores eat? How does the climate shift so radically between zones?), but it's as detailed and immersive as you could wish for. The gags feel effortless unlike so many cartoons where they come across rather forced. This is Disney reminding us why they're so successful and showing the competition how it should be done. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's their finest film for a decade. There's some nicely subversive jokes as well: "Life's not some cartoon musical where you can just sing a song and start living your dreams. Let it go!"

After the film, the goblin and I hit Meadowhell, where we managed a successful haul of build-your-own minifigs and other goodies from the Lego store. Between cinema, shops and home we read a significant chunk of Harry Potter, debated with random strangers about the merits of being able to apparate versus being able to drive, and had lots of nerdy conversations about D&D and how castle designs evolved with the development of cannon. It was a good day, and thanks to Ed and Krissy for unexpected dinner at the end of it too. :o)

So, holiday. It's taken me a little longer than anticipated to write this up. Partly because I needed to clear some disk space before I could sort through the 816 photos I took. (I really need a new computer.) Partly because of work stuff I needed to do over the weekend. Partly because I'd obviously got so unused to typing during my three weeks off that I got RSI in my left hand when I started again. But I'm getting there...

( The first week - only contains 56 photos! )

Another busy weekend in the epic month that is July 2014! (And I realised I completely failed to post last weekend, with its beer festival and two birthday meals/parties. I blame the alcohol...)

Friday was a packed 20-hour day. I was up early to catch a train to that London (and thanks to the rubbishness of tram replacement buses, ended up sprinting down the High Street to catch a blue tram in order to get to the station on time). In London, I trekked back and forth across Westminster Bridge (Far too hot!) from meeting to meeting to meeting, before catching an early train to make it back to Sheffield in time for the theatre.

The goblin was surprise-ambushed in Tudor Square by Uncle Rich and Mummy sporting tickets for Horrible Histories. The show was a different cast to the TV series, but in very much the same vein and with added audience participation. As always, the songs were the best bit, ranging from Boob-icca Boudicca's "She Will Smash You" to Queen Victoria's rap ("V&A" as opposed to "NWA"), with plenty in-between. "Burke and Hare" sung to the Postman Pat theme is just so wrong!:

"Burke and Hare, Burke and Here,
Killing people everywhere.
Early in the morning,
Just as day is dawning,
They'll pick up all the bodies that they can."
Rather than sets, the cast interacted with a big screen behind them, which featured 3D effects in the second act. A street-level view of the Dale Dyke Dam bursting was pretty impressive, and it was nice to see an often-overlooked bit of local history featured.

After the show, I put in a late appearance at the 3FS where it was nice enough to sit outside and we had the added bonus of a surprise guest appearance from Jenny! This was before getting sucked back to Chez Nightingale for girl-sized mugs of tea ;o)

Unsurprisingly, I slept in yesterday morning. Then it was the looooong trek to Andy & Jacquie's for their charity BBQ. Kate, Michael and the girls, Ju & Jamie, Kate, and the Chiverses were also all there. Sadly the weather gods were not feeling kind, as it was far too hot and sticky, but the sacrificial offerings of burnt meat must've worked as they bestowed upon us a forked-lightning, rain-setting-off-car-alarms thunderstorm of epic proportions. We retreated inside to play with all the Lego, and when the storm cleared the air was fresh and pleasant. I would've left sooner, but was unfortunately forced to stay and drink whisky...

When I got home, I fired up the projector and watched How To Train Your Dragon in preparation for this morning's group trip to see the sequel. It's a more straightforward story this time round, with a clear-cut bad guy and everyone in Berk already used to the idea of living with dragons. The dragons themselves are still adorably cat/dog-like, and although the themes are rather similar to the first film, it feels like a development rather than a complete re-hash. It's a worthy sequel. I still love the flying sequences, and get caught up as the film revels in the sheer joy and awesomeness of vikings flying with dragons. The 3D wasn't too distracting and I'm definitely glad we went for the IMAX impact (although it might have been a bit much for poor Jamie!).

The goblin didn't like the kissing parts ;o)



Next - off to roleplaying shortly!

Sorry it's taken me nearly a week to get around to writing this up. It's partly that I've been really busy since I came back, what with work, two trips to the cinema (more on the latter in my next post), helping the Chivers decorate their Christmas tree, Lard Club Christmas at Pepe's, Chinese food, and my work Christmas do at Pasta Bar, followed by a pub crawl up Ecclesall Road. It's also partly my reluctance to grapple with LJ's annoying new(ish) photo upload system. (Who'd have thought something on LJ would be less intuitive and easy to use than it's Facebook equivalent?)

Anywaaaay, ( here's what we got up to on holiday. )

All in all it was a great few days away. It was a shame so many people dropped out of the trip, but it was nice to spend time with the Chivers. The goblin and I got through a few more chapters of Harry Potter and a couple of games of Chrononauts. The bug merrily waved "See you later" to anyone he'd see, and then I taught him jazz hands... We fairly thoroughly explored two beautiful towns, I ticked another country that I've been too. Oh, and we had quite a bit of cake :o)


Click for photos

The view from my window this morning:

I seem to be extremely busy of late. Partly this is because the run up to April is always busy at work (I put in an extra five hours last week, which is normal at the moment). Partly it's because I keep filling my evenings with fun stuff, like yummy Thai buffet with Lard Club at ChaoBaby, an experimental (and well-attended) FFS at The Ball, and seeing The Company's version of Maskerade. But it was also quite nice yesterday to just sit in my living room watching the snow fall.

So, who's up for going out to play in it today? :o)

EDIT: Met up with the Chiverses in the park. The Goblin and I christened the circular sledges. The Bug was unimpressed.

...has been a busy month, in a good way :o)

I kicked it off on holiday in Flamborough. Since getting back I've been to the First Friday Social, Evie's party, Lard Club at I-can't-believe-it's-not-Roberto's Bella Roma, my own 33 1/3 party, the twins' naming party, the Third Friday Social, and Toby's Thanksgiving party (where I officially became a godfather - Yay!).

Just neil_h's pirate party (this Sat) and the Steel City Beer Festival (next Thurs) to go...

Oh, and my parents and my sister have significant wedding anniversaries this month as well!

Pinched from farrel by means of being a quick way of doing an update:

( Actually not all that quick )