Weekend roundup

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After some rubbish weather in the second half of last week, it cleared up nicely for the weekend. As a result I didn't spend too much time indoors, consumed with pop cultural things. This was especially true on Sunday where I was vegging/working on my tan at Midmar Dam and, more importantly, stocking up on peanut brittle from the Peels Honey Store. Nom nom nom. Anyway, this is what I did get up to Friday to Sunday:

Film
A week after it opened locally, I finally watched the Disney-Pixar family film Up this weekend. My full review will appear on this blog soon - hopefully this Wednesday - but damn, I have never been as emotionally devastated by an animated film. Up includes a montage early on in the film that had me literally swallowing down sobs by the time it ended.

Of course this probably makes the film sound like a massive downer, and while I think it is the most thematically mature and thoughtful film Pixar has ever made, Up is still a great deal of fun for children of all ages. There are plenty of humorous moments... many of them involving talking dogs. Oh, and as an exhilarating adventure set in South America Up is a damn sight better than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crappy Skull! Definitely one for the DVD collection.


Curious though how Up is the second film this year (well, in South Africa anyway) in which a grumpy old man becomes the friend and male role model of a directionless Asian boy.

Television
I'm thoroughly enjoying American Dad! Volume 4. The more I watch of this Season 3 collection the more I adore Roger the alien... particularly when he dons one of his disguises. I honestly think that if I could behave like a cartoon character for a day without consequence, I would have to be Roger's tantrum-prone, sociopathic, alcoholic queen.


For example, take this snippet of dialogue from the episode The Most Adequate Christmas Ever.

Roger: Merry merry, everyone!
Hayley: Wow, great sweater, Roger.
Roger: Thanks, I totally sniped it from a guy on eBay. I not only stole the sweater, I stole his holiday spirit. And that made my holiday spirit grow stronger. Because th-that's how it works, right? Like Highlander? There can be only one? ...I've, I've had like eight cups of eggnog. And this makes 12. [passes out]

Gaming
The annual 2-week world event Brewfest kicked off in World of WarCraft yesterday. I can't say I was too involved in the drunken shenanigans though seeing as my Internet connection was playing up horribly and I was much more focused on turning my blacksmith paladin into a specialist armorsmith. Herkon has done it but he is substantially poorer now...

Speaking of character professions, would you trust culinary creations from a chef who looks like this?


Have a good Monday and may the Dark Lady watch over you...

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