Urrggghhhhh

Otherwise know as the oligatory over-reacting to a touch of flu post! Yeah I'm ill, and it sucks to be ill at this time of year, especially as I'm due to head over my parents house tomorrow morning (though I'm tempted to go today as I can catch a bus if I do so). It started with a thumping headache on Wednesday which brought on dizziness and vomiting, and pretty much confined me to bed for the whole day. While my body knackered itself out sorting them out, it seems flu crept in unnoticed and managed to establish a beachhead that my tired immune system is now having some diffculty in dislodging.

This particular strain of flu seems to have been concocted with a peverse sense of humour though as it is keeping me drowsy and craving sleep, and yet I cannot sleep. I just lie there for hours staring at the inside of my eyelids. I've been awake since about 3am currently as I got fed up or trying to sleep and though maybe an hour or two being awake would make me nod off... so far no luck.

Thankfully Gareth is off out to the shops, so I've thrust a tenner in his hand and begged him to drop by Boots chemists and pick me up a bottle of Covonia cough medicine, which is the rough equvalent of declaring nuclear war on this flu. It is by far the foulest tasting and most powerful cough medicine I know of, the taste is akin to gargling with petrol, but by golly does it work!

Really hoping to get some of that down my neck, sort this damn cough out and hopefully the drowsiness too, get a nap in and then decide whether to head over my parents house today or leave it to tomorrow morning.

My Only Wish This Year

Here is the second in my short list of newer Xmas songs that I'm really fond of. I'm not a fan of Britney Spears really, and find the woman's personal life (and her habit of flaunting it and then bemoaning press intrusion into her "private" life) to be quite distasteful and more than a touch hypocritical. That said this is a cracking song, which has some real power behind it.

My Only Wish This Year by Britney Spears

Last night I took a walk in the snow.
Couples holding hands, places to go
Seems like everyone but me is in love.

Santa can you hear me
I signed my letter that I sealed with a kiss
I sent it off
It just said this
I know exactly what I want this year.
Santa can you hear me.
I want my baby (baby, yeah)
I want someone to love me someone to hold me.
Maybe (maybe, maybe maybe.) he'll be all my own in a big red bow

Santa can you hear me?
I have been so good this year and all I want is one thing
Tell me my true love is near
He's all I want, just for me underneath my christmas tree
I'll be waiting here.
Santa thats my only wish this year.
oohhh ohh yeah
Christmas Eve I just can't sleep
Would I be wrong for taking a peek?
Cause I heard that your coming to town

Santa can you hear me? (yea yeah)
Really hope that your on your way
With something special for me in your sleigh
Ohh please make my wish come true
Santa can you hear me
I want my baby (baby)
I want someone to love me someone to hold me
Maybe (maybe maybe) we'll be all the love under the mistletoe

Santa can you hear me
I have been so good this year
And all I want is one thing
Tell me my true love is near
He's all I want just for me
Underneath my christmas tree
I'll be waiting here santa thats my only wish this year
I hope my letter reaches you in time
Bring me love can call all mine
(yeah yeah) cause I have been so good this year.

Can't be alone under the mistletoe
He's all want and a big red bow
Santa can you hear me (hear me?)
I have been so good this year
And all i want is one thing
Tell me my true love is near
He's all I want. just for me
Underneath my christmas tree
I'll be waiting here (ohh yeah) santa thats my only wish this year
Oh santa can u hear me? oh santa
Well hes all I want just for me underneath my Christmas tree
Oh I'll be waiting here
Santa thats my only wish this year.

Painting Update

Well my painting proceeds slowly but surely. I have abandoned the attempt to try and get a good score on Cool Mini or Not for this year, took too long a break mid year in painting to be able to catch up and improve my skills enough for that to remain a feasible goal, so that's now one for 2012. I've found that I am very good at starting projects and not so hot on finishing them, however, I now am in the position that I'm running out of room on my painting desk for any new start-up's, so I aim to finish a bunch of figures for my Space Marine Army so as to free up some room, and also because it's looking likely that our group of  friends will be getting some games together soon, there's been talk of a league being formed and I'm determined to be able to field a fully painted army right from the start.

Thus far I have finished painting the following:

• A 5 man Terminator Squad. Not happy with them as had not really finalised my army colour scheme when I painted them, so they will do, for now, but will be replaced in time.
• A 10 man Tactical Squad. Very happy with these.
• An Emperor's Champion. Mostly happy with this guy, could have turned out better, but he will suffice. He is going to be one of my Chapter Master's honour guards.

I am in the process of painting the following:

• A Techmarine with Servo Harness.
• A 10 man Tactical Squad.
• A Chapter Master (Pedro Kantor figure) and 2 honour guards.
• A Predator Tank.
• A Whirlwind Tank.
• A Razorback Tank.
• A Chaplain in Terminator Armour.
• Captain Lysander.

And I have the following to assemble & paint up still:

• A 10 man Assault Squad.
• A 5 man Scout Squad.
• 2x 10 man Devastator Squads.
• 2x Rhino Tanks.
• A Razorback Tank.
• A Contemptor-pattern Dreadnought.
• A Space Marine Attack Bike.
• A 6 man Sternguard Veteran Squad.

All in all a pretty formidable force and one I'm hoping will be up to the challenges that will be posed by battling against Tony's Tau, Emil's Ultramarines, Charlie's Dark Eldar, Valda's Ork's, Richie's Eldar, Mike's Tyranids and Lee's Imperial Guards. I'm certainly not going to lack for variety in my opponents!

Scrooge

Back when I first started this blog, I marked that December by posting lyrics to my favourite Christmas songs in a series of blog entries. Since then I've heard and grown to love a couple more such songs, so here's one of them, from the amazing movie The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Scrooge by The Muppets

When a cold wind blows it chills you
Chills you to the bone
But there's nothing in nature that freezes your heart
Like years of being alone

It paints you with indifference
Like a lady paints with rouge
And the worst of the worst, the most hated and cursed
Is the one that we call Scrooge
Unkind as any, and the wrath of many
This is Ebenezer Scrooge

Oh, there goes Mr. Humbug
There goes Mr. Grim
If they gave a prize for being mean
The winner would be him
Old Scrooge, he loves his money
Cause he thinks it gives him power
If he became a flavour you can bet he would be sour

There goes Mr. Skinflint
There goes Mr. Greed
The undisputed master of the underhanded deed
He charges folks a fortune for his dark and drafty houses
Us poor folk live in misery
It's even worse for mouses
(Please sir, I want some cheese)

He must be so lonely, he must be so sad
He goes to extremes to convince us he's bad
He's really a victim of fear and of pride
Look close and there must be a sweet man inside
(Nah . . . uh uh)

There goes Mr. Outrage
There goes Mr. Sneer
He has no time for friends or fun
His anger makes that clear
Don't ask him for a favour cause his nastiness increases
No crust of bread for those in need
No cheeses for us meeces

There goes Mr. Heartless
There goes Mr. Cruel
He never gives, he only takes
He lets his anger rule
If being mean's a way of life you practice and rehearse
Then all that work is paying off, cause Scrooge is getting worse
Every day in every way
Scrooge is getting worse

Time For Some Movie Quotes!

Not done one of these in ages and there have been lots of good movies released since, so without further ado, here are some of my favourite lines from a few of them:

Conan the Barbarian (2011)


Conan: You have a name?
Tamara: Tamara Amalia Jorvi-Karashan. And yours?
Conan: Conan.
Tamara: [pause] Conan... that's it?
Conan: How many names do I need?

Conan: Run from me... and I will tear apart the mountains to find you! I will follow you to Hell!

Conan: No man should live in chains.

Corin: When a Cimmerian feels thirst, it is a thirst for blood. When he feels cold, it is the cold edge of steel. For the courage of a Cimmerian is tempered: he neither fears death... nor rushes foolishly to meet it. To be a Cimmerian warrior, you must have both cunning and balance as well as speed and strength.

Stardust (2007)

Yvaine: What do stars do? They shine.

Yvaine: You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn't true. I know a lot about love. I've seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars. Pain, lies, hate... It made me want to turn away and never look down again. But when I see the way that mankind loves... You could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and... What I'm trying to say, Tristan is... I think I love you. Is this love, Tristan? I never imagined I'd know it for myself. My heart... It feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it's trying to escape because it doesn't belong to me any more. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I'd wish for nothing in exchange - no gifts. No goods. No demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine.

[to Ditchwater Sal after she has turned Tristan into a mouse]
Yvaine: Would I be correct in thinking that you can neither see nor hear me? Then I'd like to tell you that you smell of pee. You look like the wrong end of a dog. And I swear, if I don't get my Tristan back as he was, I'll be your personal poltergeist!

[Shakespeare and his men are selling collected lightning bolts to Ferdy, their fence]
Captain Shakespeare: So! Name your best price.
Ferdy the Fence: For 10,000 bolts?
Captain Shakespeare: 10,000 bolts of finest quality Grade A.
Ferdy the Fence: Yeah, but it's difficult to shift, isn't it? Difficult to store. If I get the revenue man in here sniffing around. Uhmmm... Best price: 150 Guineas.
Captain Shakespeare: [to his crew] Gentlemen, put the merchandise back on board and prepare to sail.
Ferdy the Fence: Whoa, whoa! Hold on. Hold on. One minute, Cuddles. 160? 160.
Captain Shakespeare: Seeing as I'm feeling particularly generous today, I'll settle for 200.
Ferdy the Fence: 200? Okay, you're having a laugh.
[Ferdy laughs]
Ferdy the Fence: Have you had your head in that? Has he been staying up where the air's too thin?
Captain Shakespeare: [darkly] You're being very rude.
Ferdy the Fence: Not any more.
Captain Shakespeare: 200.
Ferdy the Fence: 180.
Captain Shakespeare: 200.
Ferdy the Fence: That's not negotiation! I'm changing my number! 185.
Captain Shakespeare: Did I hear 200?
Ferdy the Fence: From you, you did. Yeah.
Captain Shakespeare: You said 200?
Ferdy the Fence: If I did, you're a ventriloquist. Okay, 195. Final offer.
Captain Shakespeare: 195 it is.
[they shake hands to seal the deal]
Captain Shakespeare: So, with sales tax, that's... let's see... 200.
Ferdy the Fence: [resignedly] Brilliant. Put it in the back.


Thor (2011)

Agent Coulson: [interrogating Thor] It's not easy to do what you did. You made my men, some of the most highly trained professionals in the world look like a bunch of minimum-wage mall cops. In my experience, it takes someone who's received similar training to do what you did to them. Why don't you tell me where you received that training? Afghanistan, Chechnya? No, you strike me more as the soldier of fortune type. Who are you?

Agent Cale: [staring at The Destroyer] Is that one of Stark's?
Agent Coulson: I don't know. Guy never tells me anything.

Thor: This mortal form grows weak. I require sustenance!

Thor: Once I retrieve Mjolnir, I will return to you the items they stole from you. Deal?
Jane Foster: No. You think you're gonna just walk in and walk out ?
Thor: No. I'm gonna fly out.

Clint Barton: Do you want me to take him down or would you rather send in more guys for him to beat up?

Thor: [walking into a pet shop] I need a horse!
Pet Store Clerk: We don't have horses. Just dogs, cats, birds.
Thor: Then give me one of those large enough to ride.

Clint Barton: You better call it Coulson, cause I'm starting to root for this guy.

[Thor approaches the Destroyer]
Thor: Brother, forgive me for whatever wrong I did to you. But these people are innocent, taking their lives will gain you nothing. So take mine.

Jane Foster: So is this how you normally look?
Thor: More or less.
Jane Foster: It's a good look!