Christmas/Boxing Day Roundup

Now Playing: Ravel - Une Barque Sur L'Ocean

Look what Santa left under the tree:


A Keurig B30 Mini Coffee Brewer! For all my gourmet-coffee-at-home needs. I can recommend Timothy's Columbian Fair-Trade Dorado, but you can use your own regular coffee blend with a reusable coffee filter. Now, I generally prefer teas or tisanes, but this machine makes a damn fine cup of coffee.

Boxing Day Haul: I picked up these kickin' boots at Scarborough Town. Plus Lush had a buy-3-for-the-price-of-1 deal on their soaps, so I now have Sexy Peel to last me months.

Also saw Sherlock Holmes on Boxing Day. A few quick thoughts:

• Robert Downey Jr, why so fabulous? Also Jude Law, I find myself surprised that I have taken in none of your work since The Talented Mr Ripley.
• Holmes and Watson have an epic bromance. In fact, you don't even have to squint to see it as a straight romance, really - they have a bad breakup, Watson seeks consolation in the arms of Mary Morstan, Holmes sulks.
  
• In terms of their general interaction, though - Holmes is outrageous, Watson is exasperated - they reminded me less of Holmes and Watson 1.0 than House and Wilson - who are obviously a modern, medical take on Holmes and Watson 1.0.
• When they cast RDJr, they must have filled their American cast quota because the two American roles - Irene Adler and Ambassador Standish - are played by Canadians.
  
• I thought it interesting that it was the villain - by Mark Strong - who looked most like the classical Holmes - tall, hair pomaded, the long jacket reminiscent of an Inverness cape.
• Finally, this movie is definitive proof that the rating system is completely ridiculous. It was released in Canada with a PG (Parental Guidance) rating, though it features a close-up of a dead body with maggots, boxing violence, people-being-set-on-fire violence, etc etc. Imagine the hapless parent who doesn't have time to watch trailers, and buys a ticket to watch this movie with his or her family based solely on the film's rating? "Daddy, why is that man so pale? And why are their worms on his face? Why is he sleeping in a coffin?"