Frost Underfoot, Blue Sky Above

A couple of proper wintery nights and frosty mornings this week - much better for dog-walking in the wood with far less mud to bring home.

The Two Faces of January

 I remember back in primary school being taught that January was named after the Roman god Janus who had two faces - one looking forward, the other behind him. Whether that's true or not, this January is certainly living up to the two-faced aspect.

 We've had no snow so far, only a few sharp frosts and many days have looked as brilliantly blue and sunshiny as this with a real feel that Spring can't be far away.

There aren't any snowdrops flowering yet but the polyanthus are, and out walking in the wood, I've found catkins and pussy willow in flower.

 But then, there's always a day like this to even things up ....

misty, moisty, drizzly, dreich - whatever you want to call it, it's not fun.

6 Moves DVD Challenge - winding down.

This is the final update for our '6 Moves' dvd challenge. We sort of lost momentum in summer when we started watching the box-set of all 7 series of The West Wing, and never got back into the swing of this - though John Amos does tie it nicely to the last film Die Hard 2.
Still, 46 films in total, sometimes with some slightly dodgy links that took some research through IMDB to find. We never included the out-of-the-way DVDs in our collection but stuck just in action films and romcoms, which oddly seem to link together easily.
Now we have new DVDs for Christmas and the Teen has a book entitled "1001 movies to see before you die" that we might try to work our way through next year.

 LOVE, ACTUALLY    - (Sarah)  Laura Linney (Randi)
 DAVE   - (Dave) Kevin Kline  (Hampton Roth) 
 DEFINITELY, MAYBE   -  (Maya) Abigail Breslin (Nim)  -
 NIM'S ISLAND   -  Gerard Butler
THE BOUNTY HUNTER  -    Jennifer Anniston
THE BREAK-UP   - Justin Long
HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU   - Ben Affleck
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE   - (Wessex) Colin Firth
ST TRINIAN'S   - Anna Chancellor
FOUR WEDDINGS + A FUNERAL   - (Charles)  Hugh Grant (William Thacker) -


NOTTING HILL   - (Rufus the thief) Dylan Moran (David)  -
SHAUN OF THE DEAD  - (Ed)   Nick Frost
HOT FUZZ   - Simon Pegg
HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE   - Kirsten Dunst
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND   - Jim Carey
THE TRUMAN SHOW  - Ed Harris
THE ROCK  -(Marvin Isherwood)  Todd Louiso (Dick)  -
HIGH FIDELITY  - (Rob)  John Cusack  (Eddie) -
AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS   - (Kiki) Julia Roberts (Anna) -
CLOSER    -  (Dan)  Jude Law (Alfie)    

       
ALFIE -    (flower shop owner)  Paul Brooke (Mr Fitzherbert)   -
BRIDGET JONES' DIARY - (Daniel Cleaver)  Hugh Grant (George Wade)
TWO WEEK'S NOTICE   - Sandra Bullock
SPEED     Keanu Reeves (Nio)
The MATRIX  Hugo Weaving
The MATRIX RELOADED  (Trinity) Carrie Anne Moss
CHOCOLAT  Judi Dench
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE  Gwyneth Paltrow
SLIDING DOORS John Lynch
THE SECRET GARDEN  Maggie Smith


HARRY POTTER And the PHILOSOPHERS STONE  (Mrs Weasley)  Julie Walters
MAMMA MIA - Meryl Streep
JULIE AND JULIA -  Stanley Tucci
The DEVIL WEARS PRADA  - (James Holt) Daniel Sunjata  (Brad)
GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST - Matthew McConaughey
HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN TEN DAYS- Kate Hudson
BRIDE WARS - Michael Anthony Coppola
27 DRESSES - Krystan Ritter
CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC - Leslie Bibb
LAW ABIDING CITIZEN - Gerard Butler

PS I LOVE YOU - Kathy Bates
RUMOUR HAS IT - (Blake Burroughs) Mike Vogel (Jason)
CLOVERFIELD - (Marlena) Lizzy Caplan (Janis)
MEAN GIRLS - Amanda Seyfried
LETTERS TO JULIET - Franco Nero
DIE HARD 2