The Big Egg Hunt: Day 2: Zone 2: Carnaby Street

I did the second day of the egg hunt solo as Mr Osbiston had to work. This time it was a trip along Oxford Street, down memory lane to Carnaby Street and surrounds, which included Hamleys and Liberty, the oldest department store in London.

I managed to find ten of the twelve eggs on the list. One of the eggs was sadly stolen last week. It has apparently now been recovered and needs to be restored before it can be put back on display. So I’m keeping an eye on twitter to find out when it’s back so I can add it to the collection. On closer inspection of the location of the other missing egg, I discovered that it definitely wasn’t anywhere near Carnaby Street, even though it was marked in that locaton… but then I found another egg on Fouberts Place that wasn’t supposed to be there at all… so I think it might just have been an administrative mix-up. Many thanks to the lady also taking photos, who pointed out that it was hanging above my head.

I’m hoping last night was my last jaunt into a department store since my furtive scurrying in and out of each department definitely drew the attention of the staff, even though I was carrying a Liberty bag having bought Mr Osbiston a treat from the chocolate zone.

My favourite egg from the Carnaby Street Zone is My Generation, which I found on Broadwick Street.

Most bonkers egg of the zone was Eddie The Egg, who was hanging in the entrance of Hamleys.

The hunt is now on hiatus until Friday, when I’ll most likely be hitting Covent Garden.

The Big Egg Hunt: Day 1: Zone 1: St Christopher’s Place

Some of you will remember that in 2010, I went a bit bonkers over the summer trying (and failing) to photograph the 200+ elephant sculptures dotted around London. Well the madness is back as Faberge has launched a Big Egg Hunt, for Easter.

They’ve hidden over 200 egg sculptures in 12 zones around London and I’m adamant this time I am going to snap them all, come hell or high water.

The task is a bit easier in one way this time around as the zones are more centralised and one doesn’t have to trek all the way to Heathrow for one egg, but it’s also trickier because post-work egg hunting means having to do it in the dark, which can play havoc with the photography.

All of that said, I coerced Mr Osbiston with the promise of sushi last night and headed out to capture zone 1 – St Christopher’s Place, near Bond Street tube. It was here that we spotted our first egg, Nemesis Sub-Terra. I am not going to comment on how much it looks like a testicle.

The zone also encompasses Selfridges, where there were eight eggs dotted around the colossal department store. Paul and I tiptoed around trying to look inconspicuous in a place that we’d never normally frequent. I think we might have been more successful if we hadn’t have  fallen on the free samples in the food hall with such ferocity or run off when the olive oil man came to try and talk us into buying a bottle that cost as much as our week’s groceries. Anyway, we were successful in tracking down all fourteen eggs in the zone.

Paul’s favourite egg in zone 1 is Physical Pixels.

 

Mine is The Alpha Egg of London.

You can check out the ever expanding album here. Tonight I’m off to Carnaby Street to check out zone 8. If anyone wants to join in for any of the zones, let me know. I’m always up for some egg company!

Film study… week 70

Battle Los Angeles

This sci-fi action “epic” was very much Mr Osbiston’s choice but I’ll admit to sitting through it. The world is under attack from aliens who want our water and a band of US marines, lead by a staff sergeant who wants out (Aaron Eckhart) are all that stands between the aliens and the destruction of the city of Los Angeles. There are pros and cons to this film. The main pro being that it’s fast paced and, if you turn your brain off, enjoyable in the most superficial way possible. The cons are more numerous. First of all, it’s about as original as a McDonald’s burger. Seen Independence Day? You’ve seen about 97% of this film. Secondly it’s so full of “America, fuck yeah!” spirit that you might start to feel nauseous about five minutes in. And finally, it’s about as subtle as a boot to the face. The first twenty minutes, which are spent giving “background” information on the unit we’re going to spend the duration with, might as well be sporting a caption that says, “care about these people, godammnit cos they’re all going to die later”. Approach at your peril and with your tongue firmly in cheek.

It was time for Private Bob to face his biggest fear... sprouts. Buckets and buckets of sprouts.

2012

There’s no storyline here to speak of. The world is going to end but nobody knows except some scientists and world leaders who are planning to sneak off in ships that they’ve been building on the sly. Oh and Woody Harleson, in top bonkers mode, has also figured it out, based on ancient Mayan prophecies and is broadcasting it on his independent radio channel. When failed writer, Jackson (John Cusack, becoming more boring and pathetic with every film he makes) starts to pay attention to Woody, he realises he needs to get his family out… and quick. If this film was about 90 minutes shorter and had about 50% less random characters that keep getting wheeled out to die and elicit an emotional response, it might have been alright. Instead, it’s bloated and boring, leaving you dozing off in between the epic and breathtaking CGI destruction scenes, which are almost, but not quite worth it.

It was at this point that the pilot suggested that passengers place their heads between their legs and kiss their arses goodbye

Wake

Serial funeral crasher, Carys Reitman (Bijou Phillips) accidentally steals the engagement ring of a corpse, leading her into the arms of the recently deceased’s fiancé, Tyler (Ian Somerhalder). Despite the total inappropriateness of the situation Carys finds herself connecting with someone for the first time, but it doesn’t take her long to start wondering if Tyler is hiding something from her. This has kooky and amusing moments and Carys is fun in the kind of way that you’re glad she’s not your friend. Only if you’re bored.

Carys found that the best accessory at any funeral was a smug smile

The Fighter

Promising boxer, Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), has always wanted to be in the big leagues but his intense white trash family could be both his best asset and his biggest challenge. Trained by his brother, Dicky (Christian Bale), a failed fighter on the very edge of succumbing to a life of drugs and crime, and managed by his possessive mother, Alice (Melissa Leo), Micky is forced to decide who he can trust if he’s ever going to make it. This biopic is more about character than plot, really and the family drama at the centre of it is engrossing. Bale is almost unrecognisable playing the hyper, tweaked out Dicky (although I had to ask myself if he was overacting just a smidge) and Wahlberg is appropriately subdued as his needs are largely ignored, but it’s Leo that steals the show, playing a kind of Lady Macbeth character, flanked by her chorus of witchy daughters. Definitely worth watching.

Yes ladies, you know you want it... a ticket to the gun show...

Film study… week 69

Birthday Girl

John, (Ben Chaplin) a lonely small town British bank worker, orders a Russian bride called Nadia (Nicole Kidman) online, only to discover that he’s been sucked into an elaborate scheme.  While this film did have a bit of quirky charm, I found Ben extremely creepy… and I’m not sure he was supposed to be. Vincent Cassel was, as always, wonderful as one of Nadia’s thuggish accomplices but as a whole it didn’t blow me away and the storyline wasn’t engaging enough to distract me from questions of legality around the marriage and likelihood of banks just handing out safe keys to random employees….

Ben soon came to the realisation that Jenny wasn't kidding when she said she had their future "mapped out"

Creation

I wanted to love Creation. It stars Paul Bettany. It’s about Charles Darwin, whose theories shaped so much of what we know about evolution. It tells the story of his life from the angle of his family life, showing who he was as a person… even Benedict Cumberbatch pops up. But I didn’t love it. I was bored. The way Darwin’s relationship with his eldest daughter, Annie (Martha West) was portrayed was lovely but it wasn’t enough to hold the film together, even combined with the natural chemistry between Bettany and his real life wife, Jennifer Connelly playing his devoutly religious on-screen wife, Emma. Watch, but only if you’re in the mood for something really slow moving.

This is the last time I ever take acid...

Raging Bull

Raging bull follows the life story of Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro), a promising boxer, whose success in the ring is marred by his destructive emotional behaviour outside it. Filmed in black and white, director Martin Scorsese succeeds in creating a tense and gritty atmosphere as the largely unlikable La Motta’s life falls apart. It’s hard to review this independent of the massive hype around it. I wouldn’t say that I loved Raging Bull. It was a hard watch. I will say though, that the acting is exceptional and the story riveting, if not equally disturbing and depressing. Praise is heaped on De Niro for his impressive turn as La Motta but Joe Pesci, playing his brother, Joey and Cathy Moriarty (what happened to her?) are equally good. If you have any intention of being regarded as a film buff you have to see Raging Bull but don’t expect to like La Motta.

She was powerless to resist his magnificent white y-fronts

This is England

Misfit Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) befriends a group of older skinheads who are kind to him after he’s been bullied. When their friend Combo (Stephen Graham) returns from prison with aggressive racist ideas, the group splits down the middle, leaving Shaun in way over his head. Having not been in Britain in the 80’s I can’t comment on how accurate a portrayal of the Thatcher era this is, but I have it on good authority that it is. That aside, I found this an engaging and interesting study of what shapes a person’s ideologies and how feelings of powerlessness breed hatred. There is also a sense of watching a car-crash about to happen and being unable to look away. Definite must-see. And if you’re a bit of a Brit yoof TV addict like me, look out for Joe Gilgun (Rudy from Misfits) playing Woody, Jack O’Connell (Cook from Skins) playing Puke and Michael Socha (Tom from Being Human) playing a bully.

Shaun's sign language lessons where not going according to plan

Film study… week 68

The Town

A young bank manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall) is kidnapped during a robbery. When one of the robbers, Doug (Ben Affleck) checks up on her later he finds himself falling for her without Claire realising who he is. Somehow with this description I’ve made The Town sound like a romcom but it’s far from that, combining Doug’s emotional rollercoaster – as he is torn between the idea of a life with Claire versus the environment he has grown up in – with some really tense action sequences. The characters show real development during the film and it’s a totally gripping watch. Highly recommended.

Affirmative nunnery... cos rosary beads are expensive

Little Fockers

This is part three in the Meet The Parents franchise. Greg (Ben Stiller) and Pam (Teri Polo) are now the parents of twins. In the lead-up to the twins’ birthday party, Greg starts working with a beautiful sales rep (Jessica Alba) who is inexplicably besotted with him, everything goes wrong and Jack (Robert De Niro) is still banging on about the circle of trust. Although I like a bit of cringe comedy, The Fockers just aren’t funny anymore. Don’t bother.

It was at this precise moment that Ramona decided her brother's days were numbered

Made in Dagenham

Based on a true story, this slice of 60’s working class Brit drama follows the story of a group of female Ford factory workers who lead a strike against sexual discrimination. Rita O’Grady plays Sally Hawkins, the initially reluctant ring-leader of a local strike who discovers that women are paid less across the board, kicking off a worldwide equal rights movement. Pretty inspiring stuff and a sobering reminder of just how recently it was perfectly expected practise to just routinely pay women less on principle.

Give us equal pay or we will make you wear these hideous clothes!

Jumper

A near-death experience leads David (Hayden Christensen) to discover that he can “jump” from one place to another instantaneously. Clearly bereft of any morals, David goes about robbing banks and eating burritos on international landmarks… until Roland (Samuel L Jackson), part of some kind of secret “jumper police” (sounds like the cardigan cops) catches up with him and wants to kill him. At this point he decides it’s time to look up his childhood sweetheart, Millie (Rachel Bilson) and take her to Rome on holiday, which she agrees to despite not having seen him in eight years… but Roland isn’t done with him yet. Maybe this worked as a book but between David being a completely unsympathetic character, Hayden Christensen being a terrible actor and the mythology being extremely patchy, it just really lacked substance. Don’t bother.

It's okay... I know I'm a twat. I've accepted it. If this relationship is going to continue, you need to accept it too.