I might be pinterested...

Lately I've been a little bit obsessed with Pinterest.

from Pinterest.com

For those of you who don't know, Pinterest is an online pinboard. You just sign up and whack on some pictures, quotes, ideas for clothes, stories, places to go, people you'd have liked to meet in their heyday, animals looking stupid... you know, that kind of thing.

So I've been obsessed with the 'places to go' boards, and trying to put on all my favourite things. This is because generally, I try to write stories and poems, and it never really works out, so I'm trying to get some pin-spiration (get it??) . Right now I'm pretty sure I have about 12 destinations on my online pinboard, all of which I seriously want to go to. They look utterly beautiful. Top of my list, though, is:

1. Norway (on a cruise, to see the Northern Lights)
2. Peru and Venezuela (Macchu Picchu, Kuzco, Lima and the Angel Falls)
3. Hawaii : specifically  Honolulu. It just reminds me of everything wonderful when I look at that place.
4. Spain and Gibraltar (it's where hlaf of my family come from)
5. The German Christmas Markets. Because I went there when I was 15.. or was it 14.. and never got over how amazing it was. And because I love Kinderwein and Bratwurst.

My current favourites are also marzipan fruits, quotes (mostly Einsten and Lewis Carroll) and some music that I adore (ie. Play that Funky Music by Wild Cherry, a bit of Queen, some Elton and a pinch of Stevie Wonder).

I reckon if I carry on like this I just may find myself organising a full blown party. Seriously, so many food ideas and handmade decorations, fashion inspiration and so on. It seems only natural to plan a party, your ultimate round the world trip, your dream home, your wedding and your funeral. (I would not be surprised if people do that on there).

So, if you're interested in joining me in this love of Pinterest, please visit me at My Pinterest Site.

Weather you hate rain or not, this is for you.

I've been reading some weird news articles yet again, And have found an interesting one.

The Nubrella, from Inventorspot.com.

First things first, it would have been incredibly handy over the four day weekend, when on occasion it completely peed it down with rain. It is a completely hands free umbrella, found HERE.
The article its self boasts that the Nubrella can resist winds of up to 50mph, and is secured by shoulder straps to protects the face, head and shoulders. I can't help but think that it won't protect the rest of my body. It also says that it slips back like a hood, so you won't have to lug it around when you're not using it either.
I reckon I would buy one, because it's an umbrella for the average lazy person, and that sounds a little like me. Also, I break my umbrellas in low winds, so one that resists high winds should be a good investment. It is also said to NEVER invert, which is how I break my umbrellas.
Look out Nubrella, you may have a customer.

Personally, I reckon they should also invent a material that looked really good and was completely weatherproof. This includes not being too hot in the sun, not getting drenched in rain or snow, not being hurt by hail stones and so on.
Then everyone could buy a full length coat and we'd all be happy.

Dressing for Dinner or Dressing as Dinner? Your Call.

Cheese Shoes (found at Metro.co.uk)

After having a good old look about the Internet for weird news stories, I found a corker.

A pair of shoes made from Cheese. You don't believe me? There's a picture for proof, and HERE's the news article. So, how about some more dairy footwear, anyone?

Picture from Google
Lady Gaga and Meat
Dress.

And let's not forget Lady Gaga's infamous Meat Dress. Which many people had a lot of beef with. (Pardon the pun.) But seriously, what is it with fashion and food?

I reckon I can find some really good food fashion out there though. So this is my post mission.

Food on clothes have always been an idea, we've seen pictures of cakes on clothes, fruit on heads and the cherry fad that happened, don't know if you remember, but not so long ago fruit was all around us. Cherry dresses everywhere. I'll admit, I did really want one, and I did get something with strawberries on it at one point. But it was all in the name of food. Something I love.

But this just seems a little ridiculous.

Picture from Google

Saying this, I did find this very interesting Burger Dress. I actually quite like it. Would never ever wear it, but at least it would certainly make people stop and stare. 

Of course this also makes me think of the poor people who have to parade outside restaurants and cafes trying to lure people in wearing a food costume of their choice, and the unfortunate people at fancy dress parties who think to come as food. Although very original, most people do think it's weird. Personally, I reckon I could get away with it. And everybody should really. Fight the conformity and all.

I also found THIS website hosting some pictures of food as outfits, and personally I adore the bread one. And the Artichoke hearts. But wow. Elegance and food combined.
Plus I can see a massive upside to food as clothing. When you get hungry all you have to do is take something from the piece of clothing. I'm thinking I'm going to have a cake hat.

So to bring this to a close, I reckon food fashion is the way forward, providing it's not past it's use by date. Ew.

'Bofiloksms' - Why Books and Films don't mix.

Adapting books into films. You'd think that the film makers would have learned their lesson by now. Where has this seemingly endless fascination with adaptations come from?

Sure they'd realise by now that most of them are pretty much doomed to failure.

Especially if the book is a good one.

We'll take, for example Children's books.

Always irreversibly ruined by the film industry.

I give you here as examples Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series, Darren Shan's Cirque Du Freak Series and Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle (Including Eragon) series. Of course, these adaptations are now virtually unheard of. A. Because they're a bit pants in comparison to the books and B. because they haven't even made a second film adaptation for any of these series.

Inkheart Book Cover.

Some are in fact horrifically massacred. A favourite of mine is the Inkworld Series by Cornelia Funke. It's set in a beautifully crafted world which absorbs the reader right into it, quite literally. The characters are lovable and interesting, with their bad sides on show for everyone to see. But the film version just takes the book and does a number 2 on it.

Brendan Fraser and Helen Mirren are fine in their own way, but they are definitely not at their best. The story completely lacks the ethereal beauty and description of the books and turns a novel into generic children's film. As I'm sure you can tell, I was not best pleased.

Saying this, some adaptations have been hugely successful. This includes J.K Rowling's Harry Potter, Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, J.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and C.S Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia Franchises. Though some of these books are deemed of bad quality and little inspiration, the film have nevertheless been adored by millions of people around the world. Harry Potter and Twilight are always seen to be competing for both bad press and the headlines, fans seemingly both overjoyed and outraged at the differences between the books and the films of each.

Whereas the Chronicles of Narnia are a light read and watch, and in my opinion have the warmth, simplicity and charm you expect from an older styled book, reminiscent of Enid Blyton and Beatrix Potter.

Lord of the Rings, however was made into an adventure epic that seemed to overshadow the book, but missed out some of the more intricate and perhaps necessary plot points.

Some film adaptations have had me screaming at them. OK, quite a few. The Time Machine, for example, had me raging at it's incapability to be even remotely based on the interesting H.G Wells novella. Once you've plodded your way through the obscure wording and far-reaching concepts you really want the film to be slightly like it. The film, instead, was a study on a man trying to bring back his loved one, but ending up going into the future and trying to help a future race.
Yes, this is vaguely the storyline of the book, except the future race are very, very different and there is no loved one. He travels simply for the knowledge and excitement.

Also an interesting, rather than good adaptation of the same kind is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I was put off of the film automatically because it seemed to me to be trying to make the story too action-y. And the ending was a far cry from the events of the book, but still a good one. Ben Barnes would not have been my choice for Dorian either, his character lacks the subtlety that I would have liked. Not a film I would see again.

The three Alice's. 1.Book
2. Original Disney Cartoon
3. Tim Burton Disney film

Perhaps one of the best adaptations I have seen would be Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. It captures the devilish and oddball side of the story that the older Disney version lacks. Although not sticking to the original stories, it doesn't need to. It's a new story about Alice, and a good one at that. (Also see Lewis Carrols Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

One area I haven't covered yet, mainly because it's so trashily awful, is the comic book genre. Spiderman, Superman, Watchmen, Catwoman, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Batman, Iron Man.. you name it, it's been ruined.
The film versions of comics are always going to be a little crap with a general mixing of story lines. Mainly because the story lines of comics changes so much. But when they get something really wrong, it makes comic geeks out there furious. And the hugely successful Spiderman franchise is an example of this. It doesn't follow story lines and the characters are out of place and sometimes just plain wrong.
Most of these comic based films completely miss out on their fan base because they don't use the better story lines, the characters are one-sided and are more child-oriented than their comic counterparts.

And perhaps some other good ones are more of the older style books. Such as Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula, depending on which versions you choose. But generally these book make good films because of their originality. The way that they can be adapted in a variety of ways that still makes sense.

If you watch these adapted films alone, they're OK, sure. But when you read the book your estimation of them just crashes down around your feet. It's very rare to find a film that matches up to the book, let alone is better than it, although for me Narnia comes close.

Although most films seem to bare no resemblance to their book counterparts, here the Guardian lists some films that apparently do:  Guardian's Top 50 good adaptations - This includes Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sin City, Dangerous Liaisons and The Remains of the Day.

On the other hand here is A list of 20 Good Books made into awful Movies. This includes Bicentennial Man, Stardust (a favourite book, and a horrifically child-oriented film), The Shining, Breakfast at Tiffany's (Although there is some debate about that one, some say it's brilliant, and some say it's awful), The Black Cauldron and a Mention of other classics such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mary Poppins.

 So there you have it. Books and films just don't mix. You know it. I know it.
So a notice to film studios everywhere: Just don't do it. And if you do, make sure it's a rubbish book that you can make better.

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This blog was written with inspiration from http://empire500.blogspot.com/ - A blog reviewing films from Empire Magazines 500 5 Star Rated films of all time. Thank you :).

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And for those who read this only to see if there was a picture of twilight.. I'll give in to your needs. Only this picture will be a nice, natural picture. Shirts on:

There you go. I hope you're happy.

 OK, I lied completely, but he does have a very chiseled body.

 (All images from a google search)