Finally got to see this film on the weekend.  My husband has been dying to see it for a while as he is really interested in Genghis Khan.   The movie is actually the first in a planned trilogy but given that it took 10 years to make, we probably won't see the second and third instalments any time soon.  While it did contain quite a few gorey battlescenes, it was actually a really beautiful film.  The cinematography was magnificent (really worth viewing on the big screen) and the story of Temudjin's relationship with his wife, Boorte, and his 'blood brother', Jamukha, really moving and interesting.  Fantastic acting as well.  Looking forward to seeing the second film; this will be when things really get nasty! 

What has been your favorite mistake?
Submitted by Runnergirl

Not a mistake, just a few years earlier than originally planned.  Turned out really well though.  I can't imagine having my children too much later than I did. 

100_1697

3 comments

Beware gap when boarding

Minding the gap

The idea of photographing my feet for this week's self portrait partly inspired by my neighbour Sarah's portrait of her feet from last week.  Also finding it hard to take interesting photos on Thursday mornings when I always follow the same route to work.  As you can see from the second picture, the gap between train platform and train door is quite pronounced.  It is the same on most Sydney train stations. 

I nearly lost my son down this gap once (at Circular Quay station) but fortunately I was holding onto his hand pretty tightly and managed to catch him in time and hoik him up again. 

Have heard of other people not being so fortunate though.

I've been awake over 37 hours. I'm frazzled and exhausted, yet still unable to sleep. I thought surely I'd come in from work and collapse into a temporary coma, but thirty minutes of stillness yielded no result. Surely they wouldn't let wild animals suffer this fate...they'd shoot them with a tranquilizer dart.

I can almost see an image of myself in the corner beside the bookshelf rummaging through a stack of boxes hunting for those pesky tranquilizer darts...surely I could shoot myself in the foot with a blowgun at this range. Let's see...safety pins, guitar picks, seashells, binding brackets, mardi gras beads, allen wrenches, mojo bags, loose glitter...no darts.

I do, however, have chocolate. But chocolate can only take one so far before the possibility of complete physical and mental breakdown becomes very real...then imminent...then you find yourself in a fog of noxious breath as the leviathan itself bears down upon your skull...

Hmm. It seems that extended insomnia with the absence of drowsiness produces effects not unlike those of lysergic acid diethylamide.

Of course, I've faced far worse. I recall--albeit, rather hazily--staying awake over 60 hours in an attempt to complete an extensive paper on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

The Horror. The Horror.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24214935-952,00.html

A SMALL statue of a monk praying might have finally provided the Catholic Church with the ammunition it wants to shut down a controversial Brisbane parish.

A member of St Mary's South Brisbane Church who contacted The Courier-Mail yesterday said it was understood Archbishop John Bathersby was weighing up the future of the church, after complaints were forwarded to him from The Vatican.

"A very right-wing parishioner came and was offended by some of the artwork in the church, including some indigenous art, and an image of a praying monk which they mistook as a Buddha," the parishioner said.

"That person took photos and sent them to Rome and Rome wrote to the bishop."

Run by Father Peter Kennedy, the vibrant and strong church community of St Mary's - where women are allowed to preach and homosexual couples can have their relationships blessed - has long been a thorn in the conservative Catholic Church's side.

In 2004, claims that incorrect language was being used during baptism were upheld and hundreds of baptisms conducted at St Mary's were ruled invalid by Archbishop Bathersby.

But each weekend up to 700 people attend services, making it one of the most popular churches in Brisbane.

Fr Kennedy - who has headed up the St Mary's ministry for nearly 28 years - said he was unable to comment until he'd heard further from Archbishop Bathersby.

In a written statement, Archbishop Bathersby confirmed he had received communiques from The Vatican about St Mary's and that they included complaints about an alleged Buddhist statue in the church's sanctuary and unorthodox masses being conducted.

He said that since speaking with Fr Kennedy, he had received many letters from parishioners concerned that the church might be closed.

He had responded by saying "the key question is whether St Mary's is in communion with the Roman Catholic Church or not".

This was something he had previously raised with the church's community and "nothing has really changed since then".

The church member said the little statue - which was about 1m high - had since been taken out of the church by a disgruntled person and smashed.

Mr FD phoned last night. He did not phone the night before - he was too busy having cocktails dahling with the Governor of Tasmania and getting a tour of Government House.

He is certainly going to feel as though he is slumming it when he gets home!

I suspect that the poor Tasmanian Governor is so bored and perhaps has so little to do, that he meets and greets and takes drinkie poos with every conference in town! I do not think a group of agronomists and seeds men/women would have lightened his existence all that much.

I was already jealous that he was in Tasmania (land of the beautiful) and now getting a tour of Government House has tipped my scales into jealousy! He can have the cocktail circuit, not my thing, at any time.

Oh the life of an ordinary plebe!

I have never tried to make pickles...of any kind.  In fact, the only foods I've ever canned are fruit into jam.  Since I am on a "learn to can everything" mission, I started with the cucumbers.  I used a Bread & Butter Pickle recipe.  A lot of onions (I used sweet walla walla), sugar, ginger, vinegar, peppercorns, mustard & celery seed, and turmeric are the ingredients added to the sliced cucumbers.  Now they have to stay sealed for at least 4 weeks for best flavor!  Can't wait to try them!

Cucumbers

Pickles