170 - Christmas Movie Nostalgia 🎅🎄
Merry Happy, !
I broke the model I trained and now it's all effed up - the prompt here was 'Vince as santa riding a sled pulled by reindeer' but I see no santa, no reindeer and a weird sled :D It's relatively Christmass-y though so got that going for me!
HO HO HO - final newsletter of the year before I get a rest and start sometime in January again (mainly because I'm going to be busy moving in!).
It's that time of the year when I've got time to watch movies, and the best movies at this time of the year are Christmas ones. However, I haven't actually watched that many of them; I've got a bunch that I need to watch, so I thought I'd just do a list of the ones I do know about :D
Movies I watch every year:
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Love Actually: it's my favourite favourite FAVOURITE Christmas movie despite all the dated references, slightly creepy vibes, and early 2000's energy. Every year, I get heartbroken by Emma Thompson, laugh at Rowan Atkinson's gift wrapping, fume at Alan Rickman and fall in with with Colin Firth's broken Portugese. What a film!!
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Die Hard: I hadn't watched this 'til just before lockdown, and it instantly became a favourite - it's just so brilliant as an action movie, and I love watching Alan Rickman get his comeuppance when you do a double feature with Love Actually!
Movies I should watch at Christmas more:
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How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: I miss watching an unhinged Jim Carrey absolutely screw with the Who's - who were all such assholes to him just because he was green! Also I'll never be able to unsee that they had a key party? But when the Grinch's heart grows 3 sizes, so does mine T_T such nostalgia!
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Home Alone / Home Alone 2: Again, nostalgia, but it was so fun as a kid to watch Macaulay Culkin set up traps all over the house, survive the scary night against burglars and defend against them in a bunch of different ways through sheer ingenuity. Fan-freakin'-tastic!
Christmas movies I haven't watched yet but want to:
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It's a Wonderful Life - it's a classic, right?
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Elf - again, a classic, but I don't know whether it'll actually be good?
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Last Christmas - I remember when this came out a few years ago I said I was gonna watch it but I just forgot. I think it's on Netflix or something?
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Tokyo Godfathers - I came across this one when looking at some 'best of' animated movies that were like Ghibli, and it seems super heartwarming.
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Any recommendations? :D
Have a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year friends!! See you when we're back :)
Let me know if you have any feedback for the newsletter!
✔️Real Life Recommendations
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The Fifth Season - by N.K. Jemisin - the first of a trilogy of books which all won the Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novel (the highest sci-fi / fantasy award possible). I've read the first two now, and going to sink my teeth into the third; it's a fantasy setting with relatively predictable apocalyptic events (called "Seasons") where there's class warfare between non-magical and 'magical' humans, earth-shattering powers, heartbreaking mysteries and a fantastic story-telling style (a lot of it is in 2nd person!). I also liked that it rewards a re-read - a lot of the exposition up front gets better explained when you know the whole story! Highly recommended if you love sci-fi :)
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minimaru - if you need some last-minute fun gifts, here's one to check out! Japanese homewares and cute things - my fav things here were soy sauces dishes that have lil animals on them, a sushi Shinkansen, and some super cute ceramic chopstick holders in the shape of sushi / dumplings / pancakes / other foods! Highly recommended for last minute gifts :D
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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Doors of McMurdo - ever want to know about the different types of doors at the McMurdo Antarctic facility? Well, you're in luck!
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Productivity Blocker - a lovely Chrome addon that everyone needs over the break - block yourself from doing ANYTHING productive while you're on the Internet! Fantastic :D
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The Longest Ever Flight Was Over 64 Days In A Cessna 172 - a longer read for you to melt into the holidays - hope you have a good one <3