Growing up with Paddington & Paddington 2

Marmalade sandwiches all round!  Paddington is back in the cinema but before I get to talking about the film, I want to take you back in time.  Not far, just a couple of weeks, to half-term when we were in London.

Lucas happened across a mention of a props exhibition for Paddington 2 at The Museum of London while reading 'First News'.  (An excellent introduction to tough news stories for kids.). I looked it up online and discovered that not only was there an exhibition, there was to be a talk the next day by Karen Jankel, Michael Bond's daughter, all about growing up with Paddington!

The Godzilla Household

Half-term has been a noisy affair in our household.  Dave and Lucas went to see the new Godzilla film and since then, all I can hear is Godzilla-esque "Skreeonk!" noises and epic kaiju (monster) battles.

Lucas's fascination with Godzilla started a few years ago after watching an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars with the capture of the Zillo Beast.  Dave mentioned off-handedly that it was based on Godzilla, Lucas wanted to know what that was, and ever since I've found myself immersed in Godzilla and kaiju.

Now, he's not just got a passing interest in it....he's a proper fan.  He can tell you when a movie was filmed and why they used certain monsters and not others, and all sorts of arcane bits of information.  Friends in America feed his habit by sending across occasional issues of the G-Fan magazine which he treasures.  (I love how obsessed kids can get with things.  My brother was the same when he was a kid--obsessed with tartans (of all things) and could tell you all about any sort of tartan you could think of, along with the history of the clan it belonged to.)

On our last holiday in America, we had to drive to four different Toys R Us stores to find him a Godzilla and then a Mecha-Godzilla toy!  Godzilla needed someone to battle, after all!  He spent all of his holiday money on Godzilla toys and has loved them ever since.

All this Godzilla love has culminated in Lucas and Dave's first Godzilla film! Complete with CGI (cardboard-generated imagery).  Feast your eyes on 8 seconds of awesome!



(Dave used iMotion HD to film on his iPhone. Lucas made the flames and atomic breath with some cardboard and colouring pens. Toy extras courtesy of Lucas's extensive [sigh] collection.)

The boys are already planning their next film and Lucas is busy writing and drawing his own Godzilla comic.  I'm wondering if I'm looking at a future Hollywood wunderkind...hopefully he'll remember his dear old Mum when he's walking the red carpet at his first film premier!!

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Friday Favourites #20

Today there was a strange glowing ball in the sky; it was bright and hurt my eyes.  I am informed that this was "the Sun"...most peculiar!

This weekend we have nothing planned, which makes a nice change!  If the sun keeps shining, then I think a walk somewhere pretty would be nice.  Especially if there is cake afterwards...

Favourite Spring recipe: Coconut Milk Ice-cream with pistachio crumb and blueberries

(© Top With Cinnamon)

Doesn't this look amazing and indulgent?  I'm betting that it is, and in good news...it's pretty healthy!  It looks just right for a Spring dessert and luckily I happen to have everything other than blueberries in the larder, which makes it a sure thing this weekend.

Favourite craft find: 30-minute infinity scarf

I love scarves.  They never make you feel fat when you try them on, and there's a scarf out there for every occasion in every conceivable colour.  And if you can't find what you want in the shops?  It's easy to make one yourself!

What makes this scarf unique is that it is knitted with your hands and arms.  No needles!  I am dying to try this, but I suspect that I'll need to have Dave (or Lucas) on-hand with a pair of scissors to cut me free of the tangles.

Favourite Geekery: Transformers: Age of Extinction trailer



We've all been geeking out over the new Transformers: Age of Extinction trailer.  I'm thrilled that Shia LaBeouf has been replaced by Marky Mark, who is much easier on the eye and less prone to assholery.  Plus, Optimus Prime riding Grimlock is super-cool and worth the price of entry alone!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend xx

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Square Eyes, or films I've watched lately

We've watched quite a few films this week--I blame the crappy weather--so I thought it might be fun to do some quick reviews.  I doubt that I'll be challenging the brilliant Kermode & Mayo as film critics and reviewers any time soon, but I enjoyed watching these films so I thought I'd tell you a little about them!

At the cinema: The LEGO Movie

I went along to The LEGO Movie thinking that it would be mainly a film for Lucas, but I ended up having a really, really good time.  The highlight of the film, for me, was LEGO Batman who was awesome.

BATMAN: I only work in black.  And sometimes, very, very dark gray.

I thought the LEGO DC characters came off really well in the film--loved the Superman/Green Lantern interactions--and we've been wandering around all week singing "Everything is awesome"!

There's a surprise twist about 2/3 of the way through which I swear I've seen before which serves to make the entire movie more awesome.  Go and see it, especially if you have kids!  (You should probably take them, too.)

Rented: Despicable Me 2

I'm not sure why I didn't go and see this at the cinema with the boys, but this was another hilarious outing with Gru and the Minions.  Not quite as poignant as the first film, but still thoroughly enjoyable with loads of great laughs.  I'm quite excited about the forthcoming Minions movie which promises to be utterly hilarious.  (It will no doubt spawn even more amazing minion cakes!  That's a good thing, by the way!)

A long, long time ago: The Last Boy Scout


You can tell this one is from ages ago...aside from the atrocious dress-sense on display, Bruce Willis has hair.  It also briefly features a very young Halle Berry as a stripper, sorry, exotic dancer.

The plot revolves around a conspiracy, which Bruce Willis--as a disgraced (but for doing the honourable thing) former Secret Service Agent--is trying to untangle with the help of dead!Halle's boyfriend whose name I never bothered to learn.  It's an 18, which gives it serious novelty value these days, so expect lots of explosions, swearing, and violence.  Oh yes, guns.  Many, many guns.  There's even smoking...indoors!

It's not my favourite Bruce Willis film by any stretch of the imagination, but it was amusing for a couple of hours!

* * *

On the subject of films, have you seen the amazing Disney Dream Portrait Series by Annie Leibovitz?

Scarlett Johanssen as Cinderella

Annie Leibovitz has cleverly photographed celebrities as Disney princesses and characters.  Scarlett Johanssen is perfect as Cinderella and I adore Rachel Weisz as Snow White.  Check the series out here!

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