Only a few short years ago I recall writing on this blog with great anxiety about my daughter Zoe leaving home to go to University. I was a total mess at the time; a mess of worry and a mess of emotions. I was filled with a strange and unsettling mixture of pride, melancholia and knee-trembling fear that I haven't really come up against since then. I suppose that letting your children leave home to find their own place in the world really does have it's own unique set of emotions. A set of emotions that can't completely be defined or replicated, and equally cannot be forgotten either.  
I recall that one of my blog entries at that time was entitled But I don't want you to go.... and it was filled with my deep concerns and neurotic carry on about how Zoe could ever cope without me, and also what my life would look like without her around 24/7. I know that at that point in my life I just could not imagine what it would feel like or look like to not have Zoe there all of the time, it was such a foreign idea to me; an idea that I didn't really want to entertain.
​And now here I am, preparing to see Zoe graduate from University tomorrow and wondering what it was that I was so worried about when she left home a few years ago and about how my life and hers, turned out to be just fine, in fact better than fine, pretty damn great! And there is something really comforting about that. You see, I now have the knowledge that in spite of our greatest fears and anxieties we can adjust, we can move forward and we can achieve marvellous things as well. 
Tomorrow Zoe will take to the stage in her gown and tassel mortar-board and she will become a University graduate, the first University graduate in our family and we just couldn't be more proud of her. And she did it on her own, in a new town without us beside her to bolster the waves and lead the way, she did it all on her own. Now I could say that it was because we are such epic parents that she could manage all of this, but I honestly can't take the credit for all of her hard work. This one is Zoe's and Zoe's alone, she did it and she did it so well that she's been invited back to complete her honours as well. Woohoo - you go girl!
This whole experience has not only made Zoe grow up and learn about life, but it has also made Craig and I grow up and learn about life as well. We've changed a lot over the last few years that Zoe has left our home, and we have had a glimpse at what life looks like when you have less chicks in the nest to tend to as well. And you know what? We survived and we thrived, and we are all still close and we all enjoy each others company. I also now know for sure that just because your chicks fly the coop, that doesn't mean that they won't come back to roost for a spell every now and then, and that they aren't still your chicks in every way. 
Letting them fly is difficult because you're so damn worried that they will fall without you, but I cannot tell how incredibly good it feels when they don't fall at all, but when they actually soar to greater heights than you could ever reach yourself. Words just cannot describe it and nothing I write will ever do it justice, so I am not even going to try, but I'm pretty sure that you get the idea. 

I love going to the movies or sitting down to watch a film and finding a hidden gem. Sometimes I get the most delightfully unexpected surprise from a movie that I wasn't expecting it from, and I just love it when that happens, it really spins my tyres! And it really doesn't happen as often as I would like, a lot of the time when I leave a cinema or get off the couch after a movie I am left with a rather underwhelmed kind of a feeling or even worse, I start to contemplate the hours that I just wasted and will never get back again!
Life is way too short to waste reading bad books, watching poor movies and wasting your precious and valuable free time having mediocre experiences. Especially cinematic ones, after all that's why you have me! I've already found heaps of hidden gems for you, so you can just relax and enjoy the movies that I consider to be the best (and unmissable) hidden gems that you may have accidentally missed or overlooked.
Now, don't feel bad about it, people actually miss a lot of top quality viewing experiences all of the time because smaller and independent movies just get squashed by blockbuster movies, and most people just aren't going to the movies to see small budget or independent films. They also aren't going to the cinema half as much as I am either I would imagine, so it's more than likely that you've missed some of these rippers along the way, not through any fault of your own, but just from a lack of exposure; but never fear....I've got your back!
In no particular order (and remember that my full reviews of these films are on their genre lists if you want more information), here are my top 20 picks for hidden gem movies that you may have missed: 

1. The One I Love (Romance) 
2. Don Jon (Drama)
3. The Cabin in the Woods (Horror)
4. The Only Lovers Left Alive (Art House)
5. Short Term 12 (Drama)
6. A Ghost Story (Art House)
7. Wind River (Drama)
8. Once (Foreign/Romance)
9. Calvary (Art House/Foreign)
10. Moon (sci-fi)
11. Ingrid Goes West (Drama)
12. Son of Rambow (Comedy)
13. Sightseers (Foreign) 
14. In the Mood for Love (Foreign)
15. Young Adult (Drama)
16. Beautiful Boy (Drama)
17. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Drama)
18. Youth (Drama)
19. The Fall (Fantasy)
20. The Grand Seduction (Comedy)

I have only been back at work for two days and I have already found my number one hidden gem movie of the year! How good is that? And when you are as movie obsessed as I am and constantly thirsting for quality entertainment, then that is something to get happy about!

Freshly back in Australia from our adventures in New Zealand, and what adventures we all had! I can honestly say that our family trip to New Zealand was one of the best trips that I have ever had overseas and now I am already keen to return and check out the New Zealand South Island as well.
The Gods truly blessed our trip and we had terrific and mostly mild weather for the entire duration, all of our Airbnb accommodations were even better than we had anticipated them to be and we managed to fit in everything that we had planned to do (and then some) without a hitch or a glitch along the way. And trust me when I say that we did plenty whilst we were there.
We only spent one night in Auckland before hitting the road for the Waitomo Caves to do the 'Black Labyrinth' glow-worm cave tour. This tour required us to don a wetsuit and caving gear, carry a flotation tube into the depths of the earth and then navigate ourselves through the uneven and dark terrain to see the glow worms that line the roof and walls of the caves. No-one told me that this tour would require me to leap backwards off waterfalls into water of an unknown depth in the dark whilst we were in the caves, if they had've I probably would've chickened out and then missed out on what turned out to be three of the funnest and most exhilarating hours of our entire trip.
For all of the initial fear, there was a tonne of fun to be had in those caves, and our guides were really helpful and knowledgeable and certainly  alleviated all of our concerns very quickly. The glow-worms are really dazzling and floating about in the dark water surrounded by their intense blue light is a pretty magical  and once in a lifetime experience.
We spent the next few days indulging in all of the exciting opportunities that Rotorua and the surrounding areas had to offer us. Which included a tour of Hobbiton (which made us all gung-ho to re-watch the trilogy again), a ride on a skyline gondola, some downhill luging, ziplining through the forests, kayaking on Lake Rotorua, zorbing (not for me thanks!), a Maori interactive experience and hangi (cooked in coals under the earth) dinner, a trip to see the thermal geysers and hot pools, a visit to a wildlife park to see a kiwi up close and personal (turns out that they are nocturnal birds, which I did not realise until I went to see one) and we also celebrated Seth's 14th birthday as well!
For the five days that we spent in Rotorua we stayed on the lake in a home owned by a movie lover like myself, which meant unlimited access to thousands of DVD's and also included a hot-tub, a daily visit from the resident swans and around an acre of immaculately landscaped gardens to explore, tough going I know, but someone had to do it!
From Rotorua we headed to the largest lake in New Zealand, Lake Taupo. Lake Taupo is large enough to fit Singapore inside of it! No shit, it's really that big! We went out on a yacht to take a look because there are some incredible Maori carvings out there that can only be reached by boat, and even though we sailed on the lake for the entire morning, we only saw around 6% of it. It has it's own horizon for goodness sake, it is absolutely massive! We had a lovely couple of days chilling out and enjoying our final days of lake life at Taupo. 
From there we headed down to our final destination of the trip, Wellington. The home of the vampires from What We Do in the Shadows and the city that Wellington Paranormal (one of my personally favourite TV shows) is based on. We stayed on the edge of the North Island in a flashy modern beach house that shares its neighbourhood with Peter Jackson. We kept our eyes open for any sign of him, but sadly he wasn't anywhere to be seen.
However, we did get to see a seal which was lazily sunning itself and hopping into the sea for a cool down swim off the rocks just across the road from our accommodation, which absolutely chuffed me! I haven't observed a large wild animal (without a handler) doing whatever it likes that close up before, usually you have to pay for those kinds of experiences, it was a real treat. There were also penguin nesting boxes there as well, but I think that the seal may have scared them away, so we didn't get to see them in action, but apparently they do cross the road regularly in that area because our Airbnb host told us to watch out for them. 
The coastline provided us with plenty of opportunities to collect abalone shells (paua shells), observe starfish and native sea life in the rock pools and also swim and snorkel. Our (I say our, but really it was mine) main priority whilst we were in Wellington was to visit the Weta Caves, which is a treasure trove of movie memorabilia and special effects information for movie geeks like me. I got a some great shots with the cave trolls from The Hobbit whilst I was there. And then in Wellington central we rode the city Cable Car to the peak of the city and strolled the botanical gardens taking in the incredible views and local flora. 
Fair to say that we were kept pretty busy, but it was a joyful level of busy. There was still ample time for sleeping in, eating out, shopping, meandering, meditating, late night movies and generally lollygagging in an awe-struck fashion at the incredible mountainous and green landscapes that we constantly engaged as we traversed the island. I have some incredible photographs of the amazing and altering terrain, it was so lush and made Australia look even more flat, arid and dry than I remembered it being when we left ten days ago, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't glad to be home again, because we all know that there is no place like home. 
Would I recommend a trip to the New Zealand North Island? Hell yes I would! Our family trip was worth every cent that we spent on it, we all had the best time in New Zealand and now we have a lifetime of memories of our time together to enjoy forever. It has been an unforgettable summer vacation  for us all.

That time has rolled around again, the time for me to collate all of my viewing efforts and put forward my recommendations for the best viewing choices of 2018. As I have mentioned before, quality television really dominated my time this year and I gave more 5 Chilli Pepper ratings to TV series than I gave to movies this year. To be honest, overall I do feel that the quality of movies this year was not as strong as it was in 2017, and I feel like I watched a lot more mediocre movies than I did last year as well, but sometimes that happens. 
In total I viewed 253 movies in 2018 and 133 TV series (some of which had several seasons). I have watched programs across every genre, and I can honestly say that there were excellent offerings in all of those genres in both movies and television. This year I am not going to list my least favorite viewings for 2018 because I have made myself a new years resolution to be more positive and to not focus on the negative things, so to list the worst things I saw in 2018 would be counterproductive to that resolution. Besides, as I have said before, even if I didn't love it, doesn't mean that someone else won't or that it is rubbish. At the end of the day, even the movies that we don't really enjoy have required a lot of time, money and effort to be produced; to shit on someone else's dream or vision is a pretty lousy thing to do, so I am choosing not to go there. 
I hope that you find something on these lists that you have not seen yet and can hopefully now explore. For full reviews of all of the recommended movies below, just go to the appropriate genre tab at the top of the page.
So without any further ado, here are my TOP MOVIE CHOICES (2018 release):  

• ROMA - Foreign 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Hereditary - Horror 4.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Beautiful Boy - Drama 4.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Isle of Dogs - Kid Friendly 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• BlacKkKlannsman  - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers 
• A Star in Born - Romance 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Tale - Gritty 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Paddington 2 - Kid Friendly 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Avengers: Infinity War -  Super 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - Art House 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Upgrade - Science Fiction/ Action 4 Chilli Peppers  
• John Leguizamo: Latin History for Morons - Documentary 4 Chilli Peppers 

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• A Quiet Place - Sci-Fi/ Horror 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Annihilation - Sci-Fi 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Black Panther - Super 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Ready Player One - Fantasy 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• The Breaker Upperers - Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Searching - Crime 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Game Night - Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Love, Simon - Romance 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Bohemian Rhapsody - Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Blockers - Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers

Here are my top recommendations for pre- 2018 releases that I didn't see until 2018: 

• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Drama 5 Chilli Peppers (Hall of Fame)
• Bright Star - Romance 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Wind River - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers
• Good Time - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Shape of Water - Fantasy 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Coco - Kid Friendly 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Mudbound - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers
• Call Me by Your Name  - Romance 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Ingrid Goes West - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Beasts of No Nation - Gritty 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Tunnel - Foreign 4 Chilli Peppers 

BEST TELEVISION SERIES of 2018: 

• Master of None S2 - Comedy/ Drama 5 Chilli Peppers 
• One Strange Rock - Documentary 5 Chilli Peppers
• Atlanta S2 - Drama 5 Chilli Peppers
• Sharp Objects - Crime 5 Chilli Peppers
• Patrick Melrose - Drama 5 Chilli Peppers
• Kidding - Drama 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Who is America? - Comedy/ Documentary 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Here and Now - Drama 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Maniac - Sci-Fi 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events S2 - Fantasy/ Kid Friendly 4.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Mosaic - Crime 4 Chilli Peppers
• The End of the Fucking World S1 - Crime 4 Chilli Peppers
• Dirk Gently S2 - Fantasy 4 Chilli Peppers
• Barry S1 - Crime/ Drama 4 Chilli Peppers
• AHS - Apocalypse - Horror 4 Chilli Peppers
• Mr Inbetween - Crime 4 Chilli Peppers
• Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat - Documentary 4 Chilli Peppers
• Just Another Immigrant - Comedy  4 Chilli Peppers
• Mr Mercedes S1 - Crime  4 Chilli Peppers
• Wanderlust - Drama  4 Chilli Peppers
• The Miracle - Foreign  4 Chilli Peppers
• Anne with an E S2 - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Britannia S1 - Fantasy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Ash vs Evil Dead S3 - Horror/ Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Swedish Dicks S2 - Comedy/ Crime 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Future Man - Sci-Fi/Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• GLOW S2 - Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• The Detectorists S2 - Comedy/ Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch - Horror 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Wellington Paranormal - Horror/Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• The Kominsky Method - Drama/ Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 

So many people have asked me if I think that a remake can be better than an original version of a movie, and my answer is always the same: 'Yes! Of course it can!' With movie technology continually improving, we can now enjoy advanced CGI effects and superior sound and visual experiences, which in short means that we can have a more immersive cinematic experience than we ever could have had before. However, that does not necessarily make the original version redundant or of lesser value and importance, because if I was also asked if remakes were always better the original versions, I would most definitely answer 'Hell No!' 
To this day I still watch a lot of classic movies, and by classic I mean movies from the 1930's to the 1970's. Movies from that time period didn't have a lot of options in the effects and sound department compared to today's standards, so they are often movies that relied on excellent acting and directing to deliver their stories. I have a stockpile of movies on my 'still need to see' list (which seems to be ever expanding and absolutely endless) and around 70% of them would fall into the classic film category. Most of them are very good, some of them are downright legendary and could not be improved upon by a remake, but some of them certainly could. 
To be better than the original movie, there needs to be an improvement on all fronts, and not just in the effects department, because if the storyline is thin then my attention is never held for very long by CGI effects and all of the other bells and whistles that filmmakers feel compelled to throw at movies. For me, there needs to be something fresh about a remake that warrants the movie being remade in the first place. The perspective needs to alter in some way or the story has to become enhanced or given more depth or meaning in a remake. The actors need to be every bit as good and preferably better than the original actors and the director needs to be an avid fan of the original in a way that forces them to keep the integrity of the original intact, in other words it needs to not feel like a director's ego trip, which has happened so many times in remakes. 
There have in fact been heaps of excellent remakes that are deserving of your time, even if you have seen and enjoyed the original version. 
Here is my list of the best movie remakes that I have experienced, in no particular order:
Romeo and Juliet -Baz Luhrmann perfectly remixed this Shakespearean classic by installing a couple of modern heart-throbs and infusing it with a funky fresh soundtrack, and it is slice of pure brilliance. 
Mad Max: Fury Road - I also really liked the original, but the heart-pounding, high octane, adrenaline rush action of the remake was just so damn good, oh and Tom Hardy was in it, definitely a bonus. 
The Jungle Book - Jon Favreau's version of this Rudyard Kipling's classic is a perfect example of how CGI can be used to enhance an experience. It is magical!
Dawn of the Dead - This comedy/ horror homage to George A. Romero from Zack Snyder is a brain eating spectacular, so much blood and tasteless humour! 
Blair Witch - I didn't really like The Blair Witch Project original, but I really got creeped out by the 2016 remake that was simply called Blair Witch. Kept me away from camping for years!
A Star is Born - remade four times, and finally they got it right! The onscreen chemistry  of Coops and Gaga and the modern musical score made this new take an old romance a real winner. 
Ghostbusters - The girls had a swing at it in 2016 and were every bit as good as the boys were in 1984, and they didn't try to 'remake' it so much as have another go at something similar and I enjoyed it a lot. 
The Ring - The 1998 Japanese version was still really good, but the 2002 Gore Verbinski English language remake had an expanded storyline and some extra creepy CGI visuals. The acting was seriously stepped up in this version as well. 
Bram Stoker's Dracula - Dracula has been done to death (pardon the pun) but when Francis Ford Coppola had a go, well it was just magic, finally something Stoker would've loved!
IT - Probably the best horror remake of all time, the effects and storyline have been fine tuned to perfection, unmissable remake material. 
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -Tim Burton takes us on a delicious and disturbing romp into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in this accurate realisation of Roald Dahl's classic tale that his own family were involved in creating.
King Kong - Peter Jackson's epic realisation of Skull Island and the tragic tale of Mighty Kong is by far the best version to see for all of it's impressive CGI effects and in depth story telling. 

Every now and then someone will call me out on a review that I have done on a movie or a blog post that I have made; and if you are going to put your opinions on the internet, then you have expect that people are going to give their opinions back to you as well.  Total strangers, friends and even family members will point out how they didn't like what I wrote on my blog or point out how wrong I was about a certain movie that was at least one Chilli Pepper hotter or 3 Chilli Peppers colder than I had implied that it was, and I think that a lot them really enjoy sharing their own verdict or opinion on a topic that I have raised or a review that I have posted.
I am not sure whether people are hoping that I will kick off in response to their adverse reactions to my writings, but I can say with complete honesty that I don't mind at all if you disagree with my opinions. You do not have to agree with me, it would be completely weird if you did. I do not claim to be 'the God of all movie knowledge', I am not even close to being an expert in cinema, I am just a movie enthusiast that likes to write, and that is where my expertise ends. Sure I have seen a lot of movies, but there are still millions of movies that I haven't seen, and as for my opinions, well they're just that, opinions not facts or truths to be adopted and set into action, they are merely my opinions, nothing more and nothing less than that. 
Is it actually really great to hear that people don't agree with me. I love to hear about other people's experiences of the movies that they have seen, and that is one of the things that is so damn terrific about cinema, it is completely subjective. Like any expression of art, one person's trash is another person's treasure, and cinema is no different from that in any way. We may agree sometimes, never, seldom or often, it matters not to me one way or another. Make your own mind up about the movies that I review, see them for yourself, be discerning and be disagreeable, I welcome all opinions and you never have to agree with me. 
Cinematic experiences are unique and completely individual to everyone. They can be affected by your mood, your interest level in the subject, your wellbeing, your personal experiences, your tolerance levels and even your level of alertness when you enter a cinema. There are millions of factors at play when a person decides to squat for a couple of hours to watch a film, and I wouldn't dare to assume that my experiences would be in sync with anyone elses for even half of that time. 
Nope, I don't mind if you don't agree with me. In fact, I am ecstatic to hear the opinions of other cinephiles, it is a comfort to know that other people feel as passionately about their movie experiences as I do. I would never stifle  your disagreement of my comments, I welcome them and appreciate every one of my loyal readers opinions, even when they are completely opposed to mine. Please do keep up all of the comments and the conversations about movies with me, I am always happy to receive feedback and those of you that know me well, know that I will never get enough cinema related chatter in my life, so please do share your thoughts with me. 

THE SKIN I LIVE IN
Release Date: 2011
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 120 mins 
A Spanish psychological thriller, written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar.  Almodóvar has described the film as "a horror story without screams or frights" which is an accurate description. Although The Skin I Live In can't really be regarded as horror, there are certainly plenty of horrific goings on that will seriously mess with your head. 
A regarded plastic surgeon that is plagued by misfortune, creates a wonderful new type of skin that is impervious to damage. His human guinea pig and private obsession is a woman named Vera, a mysterious beauty that resides as a prisoner in his house. 
Antonio Banderas does a brilliant job of portraying the Dr. Frankenstein like surgeon Ledgard, and Elena Anaya is painfully beautiful as his subject, Vera. This movie has all of the elements of a great psychological thriller; devious plot twists, intensely interesting and esoteric characters and plenty of back story. However, because it crosses so many lines it also induces disgust and revulsion, albeit in the most stylish fashion, and for that reason it will not be to everyone's liking. If you can handle the kink levels turned up to high pitch, then you should enjoy the ride. 
FINAL SAY: I breathe. I breathe. I breathe. 
3 Chilli Peppers ​

Sometimes we want to watch simple movies that follow a pretty linear storyline and allow us to zone out or forget about our troubles. And then other times we want to watch something challenging, deep and meaningful; something a bit grittier that we can really sink our teeth into. Sometimes I really hunger for a movie that will challenge my thinking, push me out of my comfort zone or educate me in some way. If I come away from a film with a fresh perspective or some kind of new learning about a certain topic then I feel particularly pleased with my viewing choice. 
I have heard people refer to these influential and affecting movies as 'movies that matter' but it is pretty irrelevant what title you want to give them, it is what you take away from these movies that make them genuinely important and relevant. These movies can occur in any genre, and they are the types of movies that stick with you long after the credits have stopped rolling. They are not always 5 Chilli Peppers (Hall of Fame) material because they are not always easy to watch or easy to recommend to other people to watch because in short, they are not just another movie, they are 'an experience.' And there are some exceptionally good ones out there that I believe that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. 
Here is a list of 20 movie experiences (in no particular order) that had a profound effect on me when I saw them for the first time, and although they may not all be 5 Chilli Peppers, they are most definitely important, relevant, thought provoking and absolutely worth seeing.

1. Mother! - Challenging/ Art House/ Gritty (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
2. The White Helmets - Documentary (4 Chilli Peppers)
3. Born into Brothels - Documentary (4 Chilli Peppers) 
4. Samson and Delilah - Challenging/Drama (4 Chilli Peppers)
5. Requiem for a Dream - Gritty/ Drama (4 Chilli Peppers)
6. The Thin Red Line - War (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
7. Into the Abyss - Documentary (4 Chilli Peppers)
8. Bowling for Columbine - Documentary (4.5 Chilli Peppers) 
9. An Inconvenient Truth Pt 1 and Pt 2 - Documentary (3.5 Chilli Peppers)
10. Apocalypse Now - War (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
11. Dead Man Walking - Gritty/Crime/ Drama (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
12. The Elephant Man - Challenging/ Drama (4.5 Chilli Peppers) 
13. Melancholia - Art House (5 Chilli Peppers)
14. The Great Beauty - Foreign/ Drama (5 Chilli Peppers) 
15. A Ghost Story - Art House ( 4.5 Chilli Peppers) 
16. 20,000 Days on Earth - Art House/ Documentary (3.5 Chilli Peppers) 
17. Downfall - Foreign/ War (4 Chilli Peppers)
18. Baraka and Samsara - Documentaries (4.5 Chilli Peppers)
19. The Last Temptation of Christ - Art House (3.5 Chilli Peppers) 
20. Schindler's List - War (4.5 Chilli Peppers) 

By no means are these easy viewing choices, remember that I did say that I like to be challenged by some of my movie choices, and these are all definitely challenging on some level. However, if you haven't already made the time to see these films then I would highly recommend that you do.
Full reviews of all of the above mentioned movies can be found on their respective genre lists on Spicywatch.com (under the genre drop down tab) should you require any further information.  
And I wish you well with your 'challenging' aka 'movies that matter' viewing adventures.  

Only three days back into term and....so far so good. I have actually really enjoyed my first few days back at work, the kids and the staff are all bright and shiny and well rested and it is always nice to see everyone when they are in such good spirits and portraying better versions of themselves.
Boy I am ever glad that we get those golden moments of respite (aka. fortnight of relief) after every term to recharge the batteries and reignite the fuse. The last two weeks have really allowed me to relaunch with much vigor and renewed enthusiasm, which I know for a fact that I was seriously flatlining on at the end of term two. It is amazing what a bit of rest and relaxation can do for the mind, body and soul and I do feel incredibly lucky to be able to have those blessed reboot moments regularly throughout the year. 
​Now I am just waiting for the weather to also turn itself around, however anyone with half a brain knows that the weather in Western Victoria can remain cold right up to Christmas and even beyond, so I am certainly not going to hold my breathe in July for a seasonal switch up. However, any day with a little extra sunshine and a little less wind is always welcomed at this point in the year, and like a lazy cat I am eagerly searching out any sign of sunshine that I can spot and attempting to absorb some extra Vitamin D from the pitiful rays that I am occasionally catching. 
The darkest days of the year are often a massive challenge, especially for me, but I have coped a lot better with them this year than I ever have before, which has been really great. Winter is long and hard enough without having to deal with melancholy moods and self loathing on top of everything else, so I am really grateful to have beaten my winter blues before they had a chance to really take hold this year. I know that I definitely feel a lot more settled and content than I did at this time last year, and that can really only be seen as progress in my mind. 
Perhaps you just get better at managing your own stress and bullshit as you get older, or maybe you just get to a certain point in your life where you start to realise that this is as good as it gets and that wasting your life feeling dreadful is really no way to live at all. All that I know for sure is that looking forward to every day and finding the best in every day, no matter how crappy it may seem at times, certainly makes life a lot more enjoyable. I'm hoping that I can keep on rolling out these positive vibes throughout this entire term, because it feels like I have just emerged from a dark place into the light and I really want to keep moving forward. 

After nearly eleven weeks of term, watching the children at school develop and the days grow colder and wetter, we have finally arrived on the cusp of the the winter school holiday break. I cannot tell how much I am looking forward to happily wasting time that I will actually have the pleasure to waste. It's been a lot of 'go' and very little 'whoa' for me this year, and although I have really loved all of the new challenges that my new position has offered to me, and believe me when I say that there have many;  I am more than willing to admit that I do need a break right about now.
A few sleep ins, some couch slouching, a movie marathon or two, a good novel,  a catch up with friends, some quality, unhurried time with the people that I love, some time in the garden and probably some time at the easel as well....ah yeah.... it is all looking very promising and I am more in need of a serious reboot than I have been in a very long time, so I intend to spend my time wisely. 
The year so far has gone by at an incredible pace, it's really quite hard to get my head around the fact that we are actually half way through another year already. Last Christmas really doesn't seem all that long ago to me. Is it age that makes time speed up like it does, or is it that we just keep cramming more and more into our lives and that is why we appear to have less and less time?
I can't say for sure, but I do know that I am looking forward to the next two weeks slowing right down to a snail's pace as I switch myself back a notch, lose myself in the quiet of contemplation, tune myself out for a spell and focus on all of the things that I love most about this crazy world and none of the stuff that I don't. 

The Universal Stupa of Great Compassion in Bendigo hosted its annual Festival of Peace and Light this weekend and we were fortunate enough to join the celebrations. Well, word has clearly gotten out about how terrific last years festival was because this time the event had grown substantially, both in participation numbers and the lineup of performers.
Last time we were among a mere 100 odd visitors that had our own seats to view a few international acts and some fireworks and this year the Stupa was swamped with thousands of people. There were over 40 various performances in the afternoon, at least a dozen vegetarian food vans (tofu to die for people), merchandise vendors and of course, the precious Jade Buddha which has returned to the Stupa and created a most auspicious and important reason for Buddhists to make the pilgrimage to Bendigo this weekend. 
Because the event has ballooned to epic proportions it was a lot more difficult to see everything and this time there was more than one stage operating with different attractions happening at one time, kind of like a Buddhist Big Day Out, which did mean that you didn't get to see every performance like we did last time. Also forget seating, there was nowhere to sit unless you wanted to perch on a rock (which I happily did) and if you are a short arse like me you often couldn't see the action that was going on even if you wanted to, but it was still so much fun and definitely worth the trip to Bendigo. 
Chinese lions, drumming, various international dancers, hoop twirlers, a puppet theatre, live music and instrumental performers, singers, acrobats, didgeridoo performances, Tibetan chanting and let's not forget the spectacular sound and light extravaganza that always makes me feel like I am five years old again as I ooh and ahh in amazement as the fireworks go zipping across the sky overhead. 
The food vans this year were super impressive as well, with a massive array of extremely tasty and also healthy vegan delights. I had a particularly good shawarma with beetroot  and hummus, but the curries, felafel, rotis and other Indian fried delights also looked delicious and I don't think that anyone was struggling to find something delicious to eat. Again, it was the line up that seemed to be the biggest obstacle, but as long as you kept your cool and stayed the course, you got fed. Like all festival events, you have to expect crowds and queues and you have to make your peace with it, after all it was the Festival of Peace and Light; you can't go around abusing people and being a dick at an event like that. 
I think that the Festival of Peace and Light showcases Victoria's broad Buddhist diversity and the communities genuine interest in other cultures and religious practises. I know without a shadow of doubt that I will be returning next year, and I really look forward to watching the festival grow and expand each year. Next time I will be more prepared for a more grand experience than I was this time and I cannot wait to see what the organisers are going to bring to fold in 2019, so exciting!  

Every year around the end of Autumn and the beginning of Winter I suffer from a bit of mild depression. Not a throw myself from the nearest building kind of depression, more of a self doubting, self loathing and melancholic period that always seems to appear at the same time of the year. The darker, wetter and colder days seem to also bring with them an air of despair and uncertainty that leaves me feeling out of tune with everything and everyone. I can feel my resilience and tolerance faltering and my usually optimistic demeanor becomes somewhat surley and pessimistic. During these moments I have to fight the urge to run and hide under a blanket somewhere, far away from the world and all of it's noisy responsibilities and complications. 
It's a strange and unnamable feeling that makes me want to retreat, and stranger still is the fact that I am never really sure of what I am actually retreating from. Generally I am a bit over-emotional, super sensitive, easily angered and melodramatic at these times of the year, it's kind of like PMS on steroids and its not a lot of fun for me or the people around me. And what really gets to me about it all, is why? Why do I have these periods in my life and why are they so cyclic? 
Perhaps it is because of the crappy weather, maybe it's because of the stockpile of bills that come at this time of the year that need to be paid, maybe it's because I am just a little run down from being unwell and overwhelmed by the demands of my everyday routine, and then maybe it is actually just a combination of all of those things. Whatever the reason, I do know one thing for sure, it always and I mean always occurs around this time of the year.
Last year around this time I had a particularly difficult time with depression and I felt it more completely than I had in previous years. I had a total dark night of the soul and was actually really concerned about some of the thoughts that I was entertaining. I went to a really dark place and it lasted for way too long. I also had a massive and incredibly painful falling out with my siblings at this time last year, and they have all since become estranged to me, and maybe the hurt of that feels particularly raw at this time of the year and adds to my melancholy. However, I would be lying if I said that it was any one particular thing that made me feel the early winter blues so intensely. 
However, it is not all doom and gloom! By recognising this pattern of self doubt and inner turmoil, I have become a lot better at managing it. Through meditation and yoga practises I have learnt to curb my personal negativity and anxiety because I can now recognize what is happening a lot earlier on. I also know with great certainty that these melancholic moments are transient and fleeting and that I do not have to engage with them when they occur. I no longer need to feed and clothe my personal demons everytime that I get anxious or worried, I can just recognise them and then let them go quietly back into the night. I also recognise that everyone has times in their lives that are rife with anxiety and uncertainty and that I am not alone in my struggles and that it is all a normal part of any growth cycle to fall over every now and then. 
I can now bravely acknowledge that I do get blues from time to time, but it doesn't define who I am and that I don't have to let it take hold of me. Like a quiet passenger on the bus of life I can simply notice these feelings as I pass them by, waving farewell to them before they even get a chance to take hold of me. And that is big part of what surviving your own depression and dark thoughts is like really. You know that these times and thoughts are going to come around every now and again, but like negative people that are hard to have around, you just have to choose to not engage them.
Sometimes that requires a lot of strength, a lot more than you think that you can muster up, but essentially you can. You really can, in spite of whatever your head may be telling you, and just as winter arrives every year, so too does summer and the most powerful thing to remember to help you to get yourself out of a funk like this is that nothing ever lasts forever. It's all transient and it's all fleeting, and you don't have to stay in the moment any longer then you choose to, you can let go at any time, at any moment, just let it pass you by. 

I read a really startling article in The Guardian this week that was all about the research that is being done around the theory of children being 'born bad.' In the article, a psychiatrist named Dr Essi Viding, from the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at King's College in London said, that research has shown that some children actually inherit antisocial disorders from their parents and that their poor behaviour is not caused by bad parenting or a bad environment.
Being 'born bad' has now been scientifically proven to be a real thing and a lot of antisocial behaviours that children display are actually caused by a child's genetic makeup. Sure, if these vulnerable children are then exposed to poor parenting and a less than nurturing environment then their psychopathic tendencies are most certainly exacerbated, but even without those influences there are some poor kids out there that are definitely behind the genetic eight ball when it comes to having their shit together and mastering the ability to make good and appropriate social choices. 
The research was based on the psychiatrists analysis of 3,687 pairs of seven year old identical twins. Apparently identical twins are the best candidates for this type of comparison research due to the fact that they share exactly the same genes and therefore the same inherited influences. Anyway, long story short, from the data that they collated, they have identified that yes, some children are in fact 'born bad.' 
This information makes me feel really conflicted. On one hand I feel dreadfully sad that there are kids out there that are just 'born bad'  because I have always been a firm believer that  no child is ever truly 'born bad' but rather 'made bad' by influence and environment, which is still certainly possible, but it is clearly not always the case according to this study. 
And then on the other hand I feel really hopeful and quite excited about what this new research has uncovered because it means that specialists will be able to pinpoint potential problems very early on for these poor children, probably even before they are born. Which in turn will mean that we will be able to offer better forms of early intervention and support, and hopefully head off the big problems before they have a chance to really manifest. 
I suppose that this type of research can only be seen as a positive step forward, but there is something about an unborn child being labelled as 'bad' that makes me feel pretty damn uncomfortable. Maybe the word 'bad' needs to be changed up for something that has a lot less connotations attached to it, but 'disadvantaged' or 'potentially dangerous' doesn't really sound a lot better does it? Maybe we should just stamp a biohazard symbol onto their poor little heads when they pop out into the world so that we can easily identify them? 
Seriously though, as much as we all want early intervention and prevention, do we really want to be labeling 'bad' kids prenatal? All that I know for sure is that there will definitely need to be a lot of diplomacy and privacy around the handling of this information in the future, so that our so called 'bad' kids can have the same opportunities as our so called 'good' kids in this world. 

Sometimes in my life it can really feel like I travel two steps forward and then one step back again. I suppose that everyone feels like that from time to time. Sometimes I feel an overwhelming sense of that in every aspect of my life and I have to try really hard to not let these small setbacks make me feel deflated. Things will happen, stuff won't always work out and some of the best laid plans will turn into total horse shit.
The biggest problem with this reality is that I am the sort of person that likes to feel that I am constantly moving forward in life, and it just kills me if I think that I am not. And even though I have an excellent understanding of the fact that no-one, no matter how much they may appear to have their shit together, is ever really continually moving forwards, it is just accepting that fact that is the hardest thing for me.
Standing still or moving backwards are not really terms that ignite excitement in me, generally they have the opposite effect. However, I have discovered that when I find myself in these predicaments, as one does from time to time, that there are things that can be done to make the process a lot less agonising and in fact, even quite enjoyable!
Firstly and above all else, the best thing to do when things go wrong is to take stock of the situation and make an assessment. An assessment that is not based on how far you still have to go, but more on how far you have already come. This is where keeping a daily journal really comes into its own, because when you flick back over a six, or even better twelve month period of your life, and you see just how much you've accomplished and grown, you won't feel deflated or setback for very long. It is so very easy to focus on the negative side of things in life when you face a minor setback, much easier than seeing the good things, but when you can actually see it on the page in front of you, it is very hard to deny your own personal growth. 
And that is the other thing, just because you are being forced to stand still with your progression on something for a while, that doesn't mean that you have ceased to grow altogether. In fact a lull in giant leaps forward are actually an extremely valuable opportunity to really observe the bigger picture, to make sure that you are still on the right track and to make any necessary adjustments before continuing on. When you look at it like that, a step backwards can almost seem like a much needed hiatus and a golden opportunity to uncover a brand new learning or way of doing things. 
​And if I still feel like crap about a setback after all of that, then I like to console and remind myself that I am only human, that is totally okay to make mistakes and get things wrong and that doing dumb shit every now and again is probably good for my soul anyway. Trying too hard to get it all right all of the time is just plain exhausting and I don't want to walk around with the weight of an elephant on my shoulders. I would rather just learn to find the sage in my setbacks, the reason behind my mistakes and the calm in the chaos, because two steps forward and one step back is still one step forward when you really think about it, and I am am happy to take it all just one step at a time anyway. 

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once quoted that people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed; meaning that humans prefer to be lied to. Having a personality that it somewhat 'tell it like it is' myself, I can assure you that this quote is absolutely 100% accurate and that people do not ever really want to hear the truth about themselves or about the things that are going on in their lives. They may tell you that they want the truth, but don't be fooled by that one, they most definitely DO NOT want to hear the truth. As Jack Nicholson famously shouted in A Few Good Men, they can't handle the truth and it will just about always freak them out and send them into a frenzy of hate, self doubt and/or depression.
People are far more comfortable with you going along with the flow, keeping your thoughts to yourself, accepting things as they come and generally not 'rocking the boat' as it is often termed. As humans we do have a strong tendency to adhere to the 'flock with birds of a feather' ideology. We conform, almost on autopilot, to groupthink situations, often succumbing to pressures that we don't really agree with just so that we can maintain the status quo and have a sense of belonging. 
There have been a few times in my life when speaking the truth has gotten me into a lot of trouble. I rarely mince my words, and I like to be honest about my thoughts and feelings; I don't really see the point in going along with things that I find upsetting, unfair or just plain ridiculous. However, as I said before, people do not want your honesty, so being skilled at 'telling it like is' is not really seen as a very good social skill to have; well not if you want to fly with the flock anyway.  
This 'skill' of mine has on a few occasions led to me inadvertently upsetting or offending people. Sometimes I have felt bad about that, sometimes I have not, depending on the situation of course. However, as I get older I realise that Nietzsche was not only right about people not wanting to hear the truth about themselves, but also that his advice should probably be followed if you don't want to continuously alienate the people in your life. 
And this is where the real conundrum lies, because I don't actually want people in my life that I can't be honest with. I value people being genuine and up front with me and I don't want people feeling like they have to follow any social norms or pretend to be anything or feel anything that they don't in order to be in my life. I respect people for being forthright and I would expect that the people that I have in my life would feel the same way. Of course, I understand that there is a fine line between speaking your truth and being a totally intolerant asshole all of the time as well. There are certain things that never need to be spoken about or commented on; and yes, a white lie here or there is absolutely necessary when it comes to us all getting along, but are we all generally over editing ourselves to appease the flock most of the time?
I do feel like many people probably do drastically over edit their thoughts and opinions in favour of 'flying with the flock.' Everyone is so scared of being seen as the 'opinionated' one, or the 'difficult' one that they just adopt an insincere tolerance to things that they do not agree with and an allowance of others to behave as they like and dictate how things should be, even though it may fly in the face of their own personal values or ethics. I can assure you from personal experience, that over-editing yourself and being ingenuous about how you feel will inevitably only lead to unrest, anger, resentment and hostility, which is hardly a terrific result or positive outcome. 
I suppose that the only really zen thing to do when it comes to speaking your truth is learning to become more adept at identifying when it is and when it is not appropriate to do so. Every situation and person is unique and therefore the levels of honesty that can be used varies constantly from situation to situation and person to person. Much easier said than done I know, because I have spent a good deal of my spare time overthinking things that I have said and removing my foot from my mouth on a regular basis.
It is important to find a happy medium in life where you do feel comfortable to stand strong in your own values and truths, but in doing so, to also make sure that you are not making everyone else feel uncomfortable when you do. If you succeed at doing this, please let me know how so that I too can become better at finding the 'happy medium' where I am sometimes flying with flock and sometimes flying solo as well without making any of the birds feel bad about themselves. 

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Release Date: 2017
Rating: MA 15+
​Running Time: 132 mins 
A coming-of-age romance drama directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by James Ivory. Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Andre Aciman, Call Me By Your Name was released at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and has since received numerous accolades for its melancholic and powerful portrayal of a first love romance. 
In the Summer of 1983 in Lombardy, Italy, 17 year old Elio meets Oliver, an older handsome American that is working for Elio's father. Against the sumptuous sunburnt landscapes of an Italian summer, Elio and Oliver become involved in a passionate love affair that will change both of their lives forever. 
This film feels like a foreign language/ art house movie, and perhaps that is what makes it so good. The script never feels like it is conforming to cinematic or societal expectations, it is completely genuine and honest in its portrayal of budding first love discoveries and gay relationships which makes it uniquely forward thinking and exceptionally refreshing. 
The 80's era is portrayed perfectly and the two lead actors, Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer, are absolutely flawless as the infatuated lovers. I was so impressed by Chalamet's notable onscreen presence, he will definitely be one to watch in the future and Hammer shows us some serious acting chops that I have not seen before as well. 
Call Me By Your Name is nothing short of a modern gay classic and is powerful viewing that shouldn't be missed. 
FINAL SAY: Is it better to speak or die?
4 Chilli Peppers ​

It's that time again, the time for me to unleash my viewing loves and loathes for the year of 2017. In total, I watched 279 movies and 62 TV series in 2017, so yeah, it is fair to say that I have a robust addiction to entertainment and that I have a fairly good idea of what is out there.
My biggest undertaking for the year was a rewatch of the entire Lost Series, 121 episodes in total, and although it took me the better part of the entire year to get through, it was worth the effort. Next to the Twin Peaks Reboot, Lost was the next biggest mind fuck of the year for me.
I must say that the bar raises every single year for me because movies and TV are constantly improving in quality and there is a never ending stream of excellent viewing to be had. That makes it a lot harder for me to discern the best,  but also a lot more enjoyable in the long run.
However, without further ado, here are my picks for the best and worst of 2017, my full reviews of these movies can be found on their corresponding genre lists. 
BEST MOVIES OF 2017:

• IT  - Horror  4.5 Chilli Peppers
• A Ghost Story - Art House 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Mother! - Challenging 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Blade Runner 2049 - Science Fiction 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Baby Driver - Action 4 Chilli Peppers
• Dunkirk - War 4 Chilli Peppers
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 - Fantasy 4 Chilli Peppers
• Logan - Super 4 Chilli Peppers
• Get Out - Horror 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• A Dark Song - Horror 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• T2 - Trainspotting - Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Logan Lucky - Action/Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers

BEST CATCH UP MOVIES OF 2017: (Movies released before 2017 that I finally saw in 2017)

• La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) - Foreign 5 Chilli Peppers (Hall of Fame)
• Manchester by the Sea - Drama 5 Chilli Peppers (Hall of Fame)
• Moonlight - Drama 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Arrival - Science Fiction 4.5  Chilli Peppers
• Nocturnal Animals  -Drama 4.5  Chilli Peppers
• Hidden Figures - Drama 4  Chilli Peppers
• Moana - Kid Friendly 4  Chilli Peppers
• The Edge of Seventeen -Comedy 4 Chilli Peppers
• The Conjuring 2 - Horror 4 Chilli Peppers
• Captain Fantastic - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers
• Samson and Delilah - Gritty 4 Chilli Peppers
• The House of the Devil - Horror 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• The Mermaid - Foreign/ Fantasy 3.5 Chilli Peppers

WORST MOVIES OF 2017:

• Kong: Skull Island - Fantasy 2 Chilli Peppers
• The Great Wall - Action/ Fantasy 1.5 Chilli Peppers
• The Ghost in the Shell - Science Fiction 1.5 Chilli Peppers
• A Cure for Wellness - Horror 1.5 Chilli Peppers
• Loving - Drama 1.5 Chilli Peppers
• Valerian and the City of a 1,000 Planets - Science Fiction 1.5 Chilli Peppers
• Baywatch - Comedy 1.5 Chilli Peppers
• Yoga Hosers  -Comedy 1 Chilli Pepper
• The Bye Bye Man  - Horror 0 Chilli Peppers
• The Greasy Strangler - Art House 0 Chilli Peppers

BEST TV SERIES 2017:

• Big Little Lies - Drama 5 Chilli Peppers
• The Handmaid's Tale - Drama/ Fantasy 5 Chilli Peppers
• American Gods - Horror/ Fantasy 5 Chilli Peppers
• Atlanta - Drama 4.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Godless - Western 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Game of Thrones S7  - Fantasy 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Stranger Things S2 - Science Fiction 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Twin Peaks Reboot - Art House 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Mozart in the Jungle - Drama 4 Chili Peppers 
• Alias Grace - Historical Drama 4 Chilli Peppers 
• AHS - Cult - Horror 4 Chilli Peppers
• Peaky Blinders S4 - Historical Drama 4 Chilli Peppers
• Better Things - Comedy 4 Chilli Peppers
• A-Typical - Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Girls - Final Season - Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• The Sinner - Mystery/Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers

As far as bad TV series go, well I was so busy watching really high quality TV that I managed to miss all of the shit this year, so I'm not even putting in a category for that. To be honest, I think that this year may have been one of the best of years for quality TV that I have ever known, which fills me with a lot of hope for 2018. 
Hopefully you will find something on my lists that you haven't seen yet and will now go and see on my recommendation. Also, you now know what to avoid like the plague if you should have the misfortune of coming across it.
I hope that the holiday period is being kind to you all, happy viewing!

IT
Release Date: 2017
Rating: R 18+
Running Time: 135 mins 
A supernatural horror directed by Andy Muschietti and based on the highly successful 1986 novel of the same name by Stephen King. Clearly audiences are thirsting for excellent retro horror tales because IT swiftly became the highest grossing horror film of all time and the third highest grossing R rated movie of all time. 
It's 1988 in a small American town called Derry and something insidious is lurking in the sewers; an ancient evil that feeds on the fears of children and presents itself as a clown called Pennywise. Seemingly invisible to adults, Pennywise starts to abduct the children of Derry, and turns its sights on a tight group of friends called The Losers Club. 
With all of the terrific friendship dynamics  and comradery of The Goonies, Stranger Things and Stand By Me  and all of the creepiness of a James Wan horror, IT has a formula that works on so many levels. Not only is there a creepy as all shit clown torturing the children, but all of the adults in Derry seem to be rather unpleasant as well which adds another layer of turmoil to this already emotionally affecting tale. 
IT is most definitely the best horror movie to come out of 2017. The acting is on point, with Bill Skarsgard delivering one of the most memorably disturbing horror characters of all time in Pennywise. He is however exceptionally well supported by a young and fresh faced cast who are all bringing their A game here as well, with notable performances being delivered by Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis, Nicholas Hamilton and Jeremy Ray Taylor.
The visuals are certainly dark, dreadful and nightmarish; but the coming of age story that is playing in the background is not at all drowned out by the grim effects, which was really pleasing to see. IT is a true horror gem and a must see movie for fans of quality horror.
FINAL SAY: We all float down here. 
4.5 Chilli Peppers ​

In a type of post Halloween celebration, I took Seth and met up with Helen and Carmel at Alfred Deakin Place on Saturday afternoon to celebrate the colourful Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) event that was held in Ballarat this weekend. Dia de Muertos is a Mexican national holiday where people honour the memory of their dearly departed friends and family members, and it is truly a colourful and lively spectacle of epic and magnificent proportions. 
It is commonplace for Mexican people to visit the graves of lost ones at this time of the year to decorate their graves with elaborate imagery and offerings. Altars called ofrendas are constructed in homes and adorned with photos, calaveras (skull representations), golden aztec marigolds, incense, food offerings and gifts. There was massive and highly ornate ofrendas constructed at yesterday's celebration in memory of the dead, it was so beautiful and had a massive cross at the foot of the altar that was surrounded by rice and salt to keep the evil spirits at bay. 
We perused the gorgeous authentic mexican crafts and cultural art pieces, checked out the massive dirt and bark skeleton installations, listened to the animated mariachi band, watched a performance of an authentic Mexican Day of the Dead dance and tried some 'Grandmother's' chocolate. Grandmother's chocolate, I was told by the very helpful young lady that was running the stall, is a traditional Mexican spiced hot chocolate that is only drank on Dia de Muertos and is usually drank with 'Dia de Muertos Bread' - a sugar and spice encrusted mini sweet bread that is baked and left out in an attempt to persuade the dearly departed to visit your home with its irresistible aromas. I purchased a loaf to leave out overnight in the hope that it would entice my nanna to visit, but unfortunately I can't say that I saw her. Perhaps Mexican sweet bread is not that alluring to her. 
We rounded out our Dia de Muertos celebrations with a delicious lunch of Chimichangas and Hendrix Muddles aka Hendrix Summer Mules, which is now my new fave cocktail and will be my summer go to drink for sure - so refreshing! Followed that deliciousness with a visit to the Ballarat Art Gallery to see the new Romancing the Skull exhibition, which was also terrific and I highly recommend a visit to. Then finished it all off with a quick pop over to the local Spanish restaurant for coffee and hot churros. Yummy!
Got home in the early evening with an over stuffed gut and still had time to spare for some utterly ridiculous D grade horror that was so very bad that I cannot even remember the name of it now! What a perfect day! Seth fell asleep around 10.30pm and I crashed into bed around 11.30pm and slept just like the dead myself. 

I went for my first job interview in almost a decade today. The build up to it was the worst part of all, especially since I haven't interviewed in an age and the last interview that I went to involved a panel of scrutinizing interviewers. This interview, thankfully, did not play out like that at all and although I walked in with sweaty palms and shaky hands, I was feeling a lot calmer on the way out, which generally means that it went pretty well. 
The anticipation with interviews is a such a killer, but also having to prove your worth is equally gut wrenching. I know that I have what it takes to do the job, but convincing someone else that you are the best candidate over everyone else is where the real work is. Fortunately, I didn't feel interrogated or made to feel like I needed to prove myself today, it was far more relaxed than that and I actually really enjoyed the process.
Will I get the job? Who knows? I gave it my best effort and at this stage that is all that I can safely say about it. I did spent hours researching material that I thought would be useful and over preparing to the extreme, but there is absolutely no point in counting your chickens before they have hatched. In the past, I have been knocked back for jobs that I was sure I had nailed and given offers for ones that I thought I had failed, so I am never really sure and try never to count anything as a given. 
Who knows how stiff my competition may turn out to be? Someone twice as qualified as me could sweep in and take the prize, things like that happen all of the time and it is just the way it is. There are no guarantees in life that's for sure. It is out of my hands now, but hopefully I will know something by early next week. 
I am not looking for work because I need another job, I still have one, a really good one. And I am most definitely not looking around because I don't like my work or my workplace either, but when you have been doing the same thing for almost a decade it can be time for a change. I think that it is good to push yourself outside of your comfort zone from time to time, regardless of how much that scares the bejesus out of you. There is nothing as rewarding as having the strength to try new things and take on new challenges. That's how we grow and learn and become better versions of ourselves, by challenging ourselves.
​I am certainly not too old to put myself out there that's for sure and even if the fear of pushing against my comfort zone doesn't amount to me getting a new job, well it certainly amounts to me being willing to give it a try, and that is always worth something in my books. 

THE WAGES OF FEAR
Release Date: 1953
Rating: M
Running Time: 131 mins
It's gripping suspense and nail biting drama all the way with this French language film from director Henri-Georges Clouzot. Set in a backwater town in Latin America, this film has plenty to say about about the desperate and dangerous conditions of the times, both politically and socially, and plays out with incredible suspense. Together with Diabolique,  The Wages of Fear earned Clouzot a reputation as a French- Hitchcock.
Four men, desperate to earn a wage, undertake a suicide mission to transport two truck loads of nitroglycerin across insanely treacherous terrain for The Southern Oil Company. 
It's one challenge after another as the men push themselves physically and mentally to deliver the pay load, all of them succumbing in one way or another to the pressure. This is certainly a high tension thriller that continues to turn the screws right to the end, it's truly riveting material.
FINAL SAY: When I was a kid, I used to see men go off on this kind of job...and not come back. 
​4 Chilli Peppers ​

Just because you can't see something or prove something, that doesn't make it untrue. Thousands of people have devoted their lives to a God that no-one can really prove is real, but can we safely say then that God is not real or true? And how many people have seen ghosts or had unexplainable occurrences happen in their lifetimes? Again thousands, but can we prove any of it to be true? No we cannot. However, if we cannot prove something to be true, then we also cannot prove something to be untrue, and therein lies the most wonderful thing of all, possibility!
​Possibility has intrigued and infuriated minds since man first had the brains to consider it. It has given room for people to ponder and believe in so many different things, things that some of us completely dismiss, and things that some of us wholeheartedly embrace. Gods, aliens, supernatural beings and abilities, angels and even things like Bigfoot; these are some people's truths, some people's belief systems and the things that keeps some people going. Who am I to deny anyone of the right to their own beliefs? Who am I to decide or to dictate what is real and what is fiction when I have no proof for or against any of these matters? 
Just because you cannot hold it in your hands or see it with your eyes or smell it or taste it, that does not mean that it is not real. If that were true, then what could be said of love? Or hate? Or any of the other complex emotions that we all know to be true and massive in variation from person to person? We all understand and accept these complexities of life as true because they affect us individually, but what if you had never actually experienced love for yourself? Would that then give you the right to deny another of the truth of what they feel when they claim to have felt love? Of course it doesn't. 
It matters not what others believe in or put their stock into, for them it is the truth and that is evidence enough for me. I do not have to become a believer in anything to be able to allow others to believe, do I? Aristotle once said "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."  And this is so very true, just because it is not your truth, that doesn't make it untrue for someone else, and it certainly doesn't make it yours to pull apart. Everyone has a right to feel what they feel and to believe in whatever they wish to believe in, and as long it's not harming anyone or anything, then I say all power to you. 
And is it really that important that everything in life be proven to be true anyway? Are we really that hung on the truth as humans? Generally I think that we are not, and taking away some else's truth or trying to prove a point or weaken someone's belief system is never going to make anyone a better person in the long run anyway. Live and let live, believe in what makes you happy and don't feel the need to prove your beliefs to others. Don't listen to anyone that tries to devalue your beliefs; and remember that only the weak and the insecure ever seek to disprove the beliefs of others. Take comfort in the knowledge that if cannot be proven, then it cannot be disproven either, and that is a very powerful awareness to have. 

Made six dozen cupcakes for a work colleague's birthday this week. Four dozen that were edible and two dozen that ended up in the bin. Don't mix up the olive oil with the vegetable oil when making cupcakes, blahh, totally disgusting, the smell of them was enough for me to bin them! Anyway, after redeeming myself with 48 successes, the house smelt of vanilla for a couple of days and apparently they tasted good because the feedback was positive, so it all turned out okay in the end. 
I am not really a very good baker. I have made some bloody horrid cakes in my time, some really filthy bad ones, the type of shitty cakes that even dogs won't eat. I made a chocolate cake once that so bad even little kids (that claimed to love chocolate when I was cutting it) wouldn't eat it! How woefully bad! Also, since I am gluten free, it is very much in my favour to avoid creating any type of tempting pastry or refined flour based products that may lay around the house for days on end, gently calling out my name in the wee hours, coaxing me with their doughy goodness. It's tough to resist, it is better if I just avoid baking on all fronts really.
I must admit that I have gotten better at baking as the years have gone by, and when the occasion calls for it, I can pump out a reasonably respectable cake, but I never really know what they taste like since I don't eat them myself and that just never really feels right. It kind of feels like being dishonest. What kind of a chef doesn't taste their own food? I'll tell you what kind, a shitty one. If you never actually eat any of the stuff that you bake, you probably aren't that a good a baker, well that's what I tell myself anyway. 
I'm not a bad cook though. I have a pretty good repertoire of recipes that I can make well and that I know taste delicious, because I have tried them myself. I also really like the whole 'eye work' dash of this, dash of that, type of a thing that cooking allows for; where nothing has to be exact. Baking on the other hand is a science and science is an exact thing, and I am not known for my exact-ness. More for my round-about, kinda, near enough, something like that-ness; so cooking suits me a lot more than baking. 
Perhaps I will have more patience for the science of baking as I get older, but for now I am just happy to watch the Great Aussie/ British Bake Off and admire the professionals doing their thing. I certainly don't feel the need to make another 72 cupcakes again in a hurry that's for sure! 

Life is a crazy and beautiful thing. It leads you down a lot of roads; some clean, smooth highways, some long, bumpy, forgotten paths, but it is always moving and it is always changing and we have no choice but to move and change with it. Time waits for no man as they say, and what you choose to do with your time is your choice and yours alone; but don't get too tangled up in the realities of time when it comes to your life. Because all that we really ever fully get to have is this moment - right now - yesterday's gone and tomorrow never comes, so just embrace the moment.
The unpredictability of life is what makes it so exciting, and yet terrifying at the same time. No-one really knows what lies around the next corner and life has a way of blindsiding you, no matter how well you think you can predict the road that stretches out up ahead, chances are that you will find yourself on a completely different pathway that you hadn't even noticed without even knowing how you got there.
And that is what life is like. Life is a tricky thing. It's weird and it's wonderful and we all get to play our parts and change our roles as we move further along the pathway of our lives and uncover new things about ourselves as we do that.
I love that life offers us so many chances to evolve ourselves. At any moment we can change our minds and our ways of thinking, we can embrace a new way of being whenever we want to. Everyday is another chance, another go around if you will, and with time marching forward, it is important to embrace all of the twists and bends in the road for what they really are; opportunities.
Sometimes opportunity can come in the guise of misfortune and that can make it really hard to see the lesson for what it is, but I really do believe that all of life, every day of it, is filled with endless opportunity. And by opportunity I don't just mean 'things' presenting themselves, I mean the opportunity to change the way we view things. An opportunity to see things with fresh eyes, perhaps with more clarity, more openness or more willingness. That is the opportunity that I am speaking of, the opportunity to live life to the full. To embrace life for all of its beauty and its ugliness, for its perfections and its failures and for everything that falls in between as well. 
When you can truly do that, then that is when you really begin living life to the fullest. That is when your life is complete; when you have not only made your peace with the winding road, but when you also love it for being as wild, unpredictable and filled with opportunity as it is,  and that I believe is the essence of life, and it is wonderful. 

For three days from sunset on June 20th the Mid-Winter Solstice occurs. It is sometimes also called Yule or Alban Arthuan, and it's origins pre-date all organised religions. When early humans first saw the sun at its lowest point and all of the earth's vegetation was dead or dying, they feared that the light of the sun and life would not return to them. A tradition of lighting great bonfires began; lit torches would decorate evergreen trees that had been dragged into caves and homes (that's how the humble Christmas tree got its beginnings) and loved ones would gather in closely to shelter from the cold and gaze upon the light from those torches to remind themselves that light would return again one day soon and the earth would be green again.
These days it is clearly nothing nearly as dramatic as that, because science has taught us that the Mid-winter Solstice simply symbolizes the least amount of daylight hours, or the darkest days of the year. The sun never really gets very high in the sky at this time of the year, so the dawn occurs much later and the sunsets much earlier, making things seem very dreary indeed. On the upside, once we are past the darkest days we have much to look forward to. Days will now begin to get longer, the earth will start to awaken from it's Autumn and Winter slumbering and slowly, day by day we will move towards the warmer and brighter moments of Spring.
Every year Helen and I get together to celebrate this turning of the season, it has become somewhat of a tradition for us. This year we made a variety of homemade soups and a butterscotch pudding to enjoy by the light of many candles with a few generous libations of good wine. There is nothing like the comfort of home, a good friend, a loving family, some homemade comfort food, tasty wine and a cosy environment to push back the darkness and to keep you heading forward towards brighter days. For that I am truly blessed, because without these comforts in my life right now, this Mid-Winter Solstice would have swallowed me whole. 

SPIRITED AWAY 
Release Date: 2001
Rating: PG
Running Time: 125 mins
Hayao Miyazaki brings to life all of magic and intrigue of another world in this visually pleasing animation movie. If you are looking for PIXAR then don't look here, this is a delicate body of work with a whimsical soundtrack that enhances the refined animation style.
The film follows the adventures of 10 year old Chihiro as she delves into a fantasy world full of spirits, she's on a quest to save her parents who have been turned into pigs by the evil witch Yubaba. She encounters many weird and wonderful characters through her employment at the spirit bath house and must call on her inner courage and bravery, to overcome the many challenges that stand between her reunification with her parents. 
It is an intelligent piece of children's cinema and perplexing even to some adults,  a worthy watch. 
FINAL SAY: You'll be spirited away.
4.5 Chilli Peppers ​

Got together with Zoe and my mum and dad to celebrate this year's Mother's Day.  Had a lovely lunch and then went to see Wicked at Her Majesty's Theatre, which I absolutely loved! My favourite Ballarat production to date, it was just terrific. The costumes and sets were dynamite and the voices of the two lead roles were absolutely electric, I actually got shivers! I really enjoyed it and so did everyone else. 
I was really spoilt this Mother's Day. Zoe bought me a gorgeous turquoise ring, Craig and Seth gave me a delicate white orchid, I got breakfast in bed, had lunch out and went to the theatre, what a wonderful way to spend the day. Mother's Day is most definitely a 'spoil day' for me every year and it always makes me feel very loved and appreciated by my darlings. I get enough fuzzy feelings to see me through the darker days every Mother's Day and I do appreciate all of the extra good stuff that comes my way on that day. 
In general, I do think that mothers (although celebrated on Mother's Day) usually receive the crappiest end of the shit stick. I know that I often feel pretty under-appreciated in the humdrum cycles and monotonous routines that being a mother seems to generate. Mums are expected to bear the brunt of their offspring far more than fathers are ever expected to. For example, when things go 'wrong' with a child, everyone always looks at the mother first, like it is inherently her fault that the child has gone bad.
​The pressure to be a good mother begins before children are even born these days, and once the child is out - boom! The pressure is really on! Not only do mothers need to behave, look and dress a certain way, they also need to be able to breastfeed really well and keep a home immaculate, cook better than Gordon Ramsay and get that hideous postpartum physique back into shape ASAP! And it just goes on and on forever like that, different pressures at different times, but generally it is a relentless gauntlet of expectations. 
Also, after a baby had exited your vagina, you are only really allowed to be one of two things. Traditionally mumsy or Kim Kardashian MILFY, everything else is just not cutting it, it's mediocre and not really respected by society or the mums that already fit into one of those two acceptable mother modes. But mostly what it is, is bullshit! Mothers have so much ridiculous pressure forced upon them by the media and society these days to conform to one of those two tightly wound pigeon holes of existence, that is no wonder that so many women suffer from postnatal depression and anxieties related to being a mother. 
Women are already terrifically good at beating themselves up and feeling like they are not enough, the last thing that they need is even more pressure when it comes to being a good mother. I have said it once before and I am going to say it again, there is no such thing as a perfect mother. We all fuck up and make mistakes, we all second guess ourselves and none of us immune to the wrath of the media on how we should parent.
The real truth is that most mothers, like 85% of them, are just doing the best that they can to try and raise normal healthy members of society and to be there for their kids as best that they can, and when you are doing that 24/7 it is actually more than enough; seriously - it's enough. 
So yeah, let's celebrate mums on Mother's Day - all of them, the weird and wild ones, the sweet and humble ones, the sexy and sassy ones and the cute and cuddly ones - today we salute you all! Go forth life bringers and never be afraid to be a mother that breaks down stereotypes and kicks down the walls of societal expectation, because you deserve to be whoever you want to be - after all, you're already a mother, so there's nothing that you cannot do!

Kids can be such relentlessly vicious little fuckers. I have just about had my fill of nasty dickhead kids being assholes to other kids. It is just brutal. The shit that some kids say to each other and think that it is okay, it's just horrific! What the hell goes on in the households of these children? Seriously, I do wonder, where does all of this hostility and meanness come from?
Children lack any sort of finesse or bedside manner when it comes to delivering their emotions and needs, and it is fairly reasonable for that to happen when children are quite young, it's all a natural and unfortunate part of the growing up process, I totally get that. However, when you get to Year 6 and higher and you are still saying shit like "no-one likes you dickhead, everyone hates you, go away" you need a high five - to the face - with a chair as far as I am concerned. What kind of an asshole goes around saying things like that and thinks that it is okay? And that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the mean things that I know that kids say to each other, because I am hearing some pretty whack shit lately, and I am over it! 
Parents have a bloody responsibility to teach their children about important life virtues like kindness, honesty, patience and respect. The old 'do unto others' certainly doesn't come into play much these days, I can tell you. It's all dog eat dog from what I can garner, both in person and online. Seriously, you practically need to be a bulletproof pre-teen to survive  the onslaught of ugly behaviours these days.
We all know that mean kids can also grow up to be pretty mean adults in the future, which is also a really disturbing thought. Some of these kids scare me now! They have the manipulative skills of a well trained psychologist and the ruthlessness of assassins, I worry about how that is going to look for me when I am old and need to be cared for, but mostly I worry about my son and how all of this will impact the kind of man that he will one day become. 
Both of my children and myself were bullied at one point or another during our school years, and sometimes I wonder if it is the 'unusual' in us that has been the source of all these problems. My children are both pretty unique and headstrong individuals, because I raised them to be that way, and I often think that maybe if I had raised more 'go with flow' mainstream kids then their struggles would be lessened. Nah, I could never sleep at night if I didn't encourage my kids to be themselves and be willing to step up, even if it risks being singled out. However, being different or unique doesn't win you brownie points at school and it certainly seems to put a target on your back when it comes to bullies.   
Bullies aren't new though, they've been around forever, and maybe it is just because I am an adult now that I am more aware of the presence of these insidious little dirtbags. I just don't remember kids being so relentless and deeply damaged when I was younger, even supposedly 'nice' kids are not really that nice at all. I am often shocked by the behaviours and utterances that I hear about, and I really feel quite sad that kids have to endure such hatred and prejudice in their formative years. 
I guess that it is a right of passage to come against some wanker that is going to try and make you feel like shit about yourself in order to make themselves feel larger on the road to adulthood, but no-one likes the thought of their child going through it. It is one of the least enjoyable aspects of parenting that's for sure. It is difficult to not get emotionally entangled yourself when you hear about some of things that go on around the school yard when no adults are around; but we all know that it happens, it was happening back in our day too. 
Yep, it's enough to make a mum want to go to war! Luckily for those horrid bully kids I'm a pacifist, so there will be no bloodshed here. However, some days when I catch wind of something unpleasant or malicious brewing, I secretly do wish to see all of the vicious little fuckers get their comeuppances in a rather swift and unpleasant form....but only some days. 

Well into the second week of first Term and I have pretty much worked out what my main challenges are going to be from here on in. My biggest and most major hurdle is definitely going to be stifling the control freak within me and not overthinking every fricken thing. Sounds simple enough, but it is so hard for a freak like me. 
After five weeks of pretty much total withdrawal from society, zening around doing yoga and feeling like bloody guru swarmee, I am finding that my ability to re-adjust and compensate for so many other people's needs has dropped; substantially I might add. Boo to me, it's so difficult to be zen around so many children, but I am trying really hard. The introvert in me is going bonkers!
I am also sure that I am driving the teachers that I work with absolutely nuts as well because I am asking so many questions and seeking so much clarity. Go with the flow I am not, and it has made me a bit shitty with myself for not just stepping back and being a bit more chilled out. Even though my efforts to be organized do come from the right place, I am even starting to annoy myself with all the bullshit.
​It's just so weird to go from virtually no activity to pretty much zero down time and an overabundance of input, the contrast always screws with me for the first few weeks until I can level out again. I feel like I want to hightail it and run back to my zen cave of withdrawal, but I have already made the choice to stop running away from things, so running away is not an option, and besides, I need my job! I'm gonna have to find a way to suck it up, keep calm and carry on - and leave my own anxieties and pedantic bullshit at the door on the way in. 
Think I may need some help from Mr Jamiesons this weekend, a little Irish courage should serve me well. 

It never really feels like a proper Summer unless you have had a trip to the beach, and in Victoria we are pretty spoilt for choice. With The Surf Coast and The Great Ocean Road just over an hour away from us, it seems stupid to not take at least one trip to the coast for a generous whiff of salty air and a dip in the cool sea waters.
Swimming in the ocean is one of my absolute favourite things to do in the Summer-time. I love to put my back to the pounding waves and to feel the perfect weightlessness as the salt water sweeps you off your feet. I like to just float around on the ocean water, letting it buffet me about in the sunshine. Absolute heaven! The ocean is most definitely one of my favourite forces of nature, and swimming in it on a hot day is second to none. 
The salt water is excellent for your skin, and the hot sand is the best free exfoliator for the feet; there are just so many health benefits to hitting the ocean waves for a few hours, both physically and mentally. Every time that I go to the seaside I wonder why I have not been for so long and curse myself for not going more regularly throughout the year. It is most definitely a place of healing and relaxation. 
Zoe and Lachlainn also joined us on the sand dunes in an attempt to escape yeaterdays 40 degree heat, but it really never seems that hot at the beach, not with the cool coastal breezes blowing in. In fact the heat is often very deceptive at the coast, making it very easy to get tricked and burnt to a crisp is you're not being sunsmart. 
I think that I will have to indulge in at least one more day at the beach before the Summer break ends, it was just so lovely to be re-united with the ocean and that sweet salty air once again.