nausicaa83 | Entries tagged with tv: the hour

Even if it is a rainy grey day, I had a lovely morning, with a therapy session just before lunch, where I gave my therapist a sample of the cookies and brownies I've made this week. She was the first one rather than myself to taste them, and she loved them, which made me really happy.

Then I came home, had a quick lunch, and sat down to enjoy The Hour's season finale. That ended on a cliffhanger, after making me sob my eyes out for a good 59 minutes. Yes, I'm someone who doesn't cry in real life and prefers to cry with movies and tv shows, but I never completely lose control and sob like I just did. Not counting Downton Abbey, that triggered me into a panic attack, I've cried this much at a tv show only three times: Supernatural's Abandon All Hope, The Walking Dead's Pretty Much Dead Already, and this final episode.

From what I gathered, a third series isn't a sure thing. The team would love to, but the BBC isn't that keen on the idea. With that in mind, I wish they had gone for a different ending, if there's a strong possibility those are the last frames of this beautiful show.

God, it fucking hurts! It's actually embarassing, my eyes are puffy and stinging, my face feels warm as if I were running a fever, and up until a few minutes ago I couldn't stop shaking. Getting invested in fictional characters' lives does help with the sublimation of real life traumas and so on, like my therapist always says, but from time to time it hurts a fucking lot!

EDIT: found a link to a petition for the BBC to renew it for a third season!

Current Mood: gloomy
Current Music: diamond eyes (boom lay boom lay boom) - shinedown

Today is the first day of my period, which obviously meant it was also the day I had to walk all over town from office to office. In the cold winter air. I tried to keep my good spirits up, and managed to shock not only one but two public employees when I wished them "merry christmas!". Apparently no one else had thought to do that. It got me two big goofy smiles, and that counts as a job well done to me. ^^ I also bought train tickets to go see the family for the holidays, and I found Tati's gift. Job well done indeed. *______*

Yesterday's episode of The Hour made me cry twice, and I'm talking of sobbing in my handkerchief, fanning myself and whispering at the computer screen "can't you see he loves you so much???". This show is sooooo beeaaauuutiiiiifuuuuul, I want to shout it from the top of a mountain, or a cliff by the sea, while an orchestra plays the prelude from Carmen in the background, because it is so beautiful. And it makes me so emotional. :D

Luckly I had the afternoon off (very luckly, because my back and my belly were both hurting like crazy), and I was in the middle of a crazy chocolate craving, which nowadays apparently means baking. This recipe was endorsed by Daisy Duck, apparently, and I adore her, so there. Plus, chocolate and oranges are my OTP. ;)

They're Orange-Flavoured Brownies. The preparation took less than ten minutes, and then 30 minutes in the oven, or to be more precise, Paris. Yes, I didn't even check the clock, I just put Paris on, and when the audience finished applauding I got the cake pan out of the oven. Perfect. ♥

I decided to try something different and put a teaspoon of lemon jam on top of each brownie. It's the one

space_oddity_75 gave to me, and I had been saving it for a special occasion. Brownies endorsed by anthropomorphic ducks? Special occasion! :D

And believe me, they're very, VERY good. Whoever wrote that book knew what they were doing. They're delicate, soft like a cloud, and sweet without being nauseating. The jam on top, with its sour taste, makes them perfect. *_______*

Tomorrow I'm having my second-to-last therapy session of the year, so I'm bringing my therapist cookies and brownies to celebrate! I want to be on the safe side, gods forbid next week I get the flu or whatever and I can't see her and properly wish her happy holidays!

Current Mood: satisfied
Current Music: only you - yazoo

For the first time in many, many years, today I tried my hand at baking cookies. I used to bake with my mom all the time, but it was mostly cakes and pies, and it was so many years ago. At first I felt clumsy, but after a while it was like my hands remembered everything before even my mind could, and I even changed the recipe a bit halfway to suit my taste. The recipe book is one I bought a few years back, with Disney characters associated with every recipe. This one was called "Christmas Cookies" and it had Santa Claus on it, from an old short cartoon. From start to finish it took me three hours, or in other words, from Molokai to Rotterdam, and then an Edith Piaf album. :D

Here I had almost finished. The recipe said "4 persons", but believe me, those are four hungry persons!

Each batch took 20 minutes in the oven, and then I did the chocolate frosting. Amazingly, I didn't burn it, go me!

And here are all the cookies, with the frosting applied by hand by yours truly. I ate a couple of them sans chocolate, and they taste great! I'm so happy! \o/

Bonus picture, two things I bought this morning. I needed a lamp for my desk, and I went for a yellow one because of a certain scene that I adored in The Hour. Plus, it's a pretty colour. The kettle was way overdue. I've been using one my mom and dad bought as newlyweds, but it's too small, enough for two persons. With this one I can offer tea to all my guests no matter the number. ;)

I woke up this morning with my back hurting a lot, and it's not getting better. It's my stupid period hitting, I know that, but it's still annoying. I'm going to stuff myself with cookies and get a painkiller. That's a good plan, I love this plan.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: the windmills of your mind - noel harrison

My aunt left this morning, but I'll visit her for the holidays, so it's a short wait this time. Still, it feels quite lonely now. Yesterday has been quite the eventful day, and the first true day of winter too. I could finally put away the lighter jackets and got the winter coat out, while Sakura started spending the whole day sleeping next to the radiator. That's her main activity during the winter.

Look what finally arrived! I was planning on having a The Hour marathon, to cheer me up and all, but I had completely forgotten about the new Dresden Files book, so goodbye plans for this evening because I have to skip sleep and know how Harry Dresden is doing. Who needs sleep anyway?

Current Mood: melancholy
Current Music: furr - blitzen trapper

Kind of a self-indulgent post, I know, but I got a few requests for new photos of Sakura, and she is growing her winter coat, soft and ginger, so I couldn't resist and I went all ninja on her with my camera:

Since everytime I try and steal a picture she usually looks like she's judging me, my clothes and my life choices, I'm really proud of these two masterpieces. :D

Let us try to give some more sense to this entry by linking you all to this audio file of Ben Whishaw reciting E.E. Cummings. You're welcome. ;)

Current Mood: dorky
Current Music: the enemy - mumford & sons

I'm back! Did my blood test, had a lovely conversation with the nurse there (they have the sweetest staff ever), and then my aunt and I came back home and ate a ridicolous amount of pizza. I think we earned it, not to mention my aunt skipped breakfast to keep me company because she's the best of the best. *______*

Have I mentioned how beautiful The Hour is? Because, oh my god, I can't get over the fact that that show is perfect in every way. I watched the latest episode yesterday before going to bed, and I spent the whole time trying very hard not to blink so that I wouldn't miss a single detail. I want to make sweet, sweet love to this show, and then cook it breakfast and write love poetry and spend the whole day dreaming of this show. :D

Now it's 18 days until the next medical exam, and it's also going to be the last one ever at the usual hospital, fifteen years, end of an era, etc etc. I'm so excited! I should plan something memorable for that day, but I know I'll end up celebrating at the Disney Store as usual. :D

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: give me love - ed sheeran

Just a short entry to let you know I'm up-to-date with The Hour. That's 8 hours of marvellous television, best sleepless night ever. Now I'm in that sort of haze where my body needs more episodes, and I'm just sitting here with a dumb expression on my face counting down the hours until the next one. It's a lot of hours. *cries in her pillow*

But seriously, how brilliant is that show? And all the actors are SO GOOD, and Ben Whishaw is extraordinary, is it something in the water up there in Britain, is that why they have so many amazing actors? Or perhaps was it a deal with the devil? One does wonder.

This second season looks just as amazing, and rationally I admire them for choosing to change the tone of the show, and give it brand new themes and all. A small part of me, though, misses the spy story, and the MI6, and the Soviet agents, and squeeing out loud everytime they mentioned the James Bond novels. ^^

In other news, my aunt is coming next wednesday! We've decided we'll call my old-and-new oncologist together, so stay tuned for news on that front too.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: two hearts - chris isaak

I'm really loving this new gym instructor. She's very strict, and makes us work very hard, but I feel healthier and stronger than ever, and she has great taste in music. Yesterday she had us working out to a mix cd with all these classics, samba, mambo, a few Santana hits, and Guns'n'Roses to top it all. Everytime a new song started, we all squeed and cheered, it was so fun. :D

Today I started watching The Hour. A friend on tumblr recommended it to me, told me it was a fantastic show with the actor who plays Q, "and I'm not going to tell you anything else, just see it for yourself". My god, it is absolutely amazing. In a way, it reminds me of Life on Mars, with the meticulous work on recreating a precise time period, in every incredible detail. And let us not forget the soundtrack, with all that jazz music played on the saxophone. But what's made me fall head over heels in love with this show is the gripping story. I just finished the second episode, and so many things have happened, every scene had meaning, the characters are so fascinating, the actors are out of this world, and I'm probably not going to sleep tonight because I'll be watching this show. I need to know what happens next! I'm on the edge of my seat because I want to know what will happen next with the President of Egypt and the Suez Canal even if I already know, since I studied it at school. That's how well-written this show is, I'm biting my nails while watching a show set in a historical period I studied. *__________*

I know it's being described as a Mad Men sort of show, but, besides the time period, it's not much like it. I'd say it feels more like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, mixed with All the President's Men.

I also have a movie to recommend, it's Paranorman. It's from the ones who did Coraline, so it had to be good, but I wasn't expecting it to be so beautiful. Very delicate and melanchonic, and even if I saw a certain plot point coming, it still made me tear up. The humour is light, never vulgar, but the keyword here is delicate. And it also has the first openly gay animated character, whose sexuality is only revealed in a very casual manner at the end of the movie. It is definitely unmissable.

Current Mood: energetic
Current Music: 1901 - birdy