Disneyland Paris in Darkness

Nothing to add.

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Disney Parks Survey!

Disney is fun. Therefore, this.

1. How old were you when you first visited a Disney park?
I was a baby.

2. Do you like the new look of the Disney princesses?
I just don't understand their purpose. I don't really see the princesses as symbols, I see them as characters. They are the stars of their films. You can't redesign a character. You can't decide ten years down the line, much to my dismay, that Harry Potter's eyes SHOULD be green and just photoshop over all of the merch. It is just odd.

3. Do you look for Hidden Mickeys in the parks?
Absolutely and I am really angry that I didn't make more of an effort in Paris. Does Paris even have any? I am such a failure.

4. What's your favorite character signature collected from the parks?
Mickey Mouse.

5. Have you ever had a Disney movie marathon?
Most evenings, actually.

6. Do you collect Vinylmations?
No, but I have two! Liam and I decided it would be fun to buy one and then run around the park trading til we got cool ones. I came away with a Small World, which I found fitting, and Wheezy from Toy Story. I have no desire to have loads, but it would be cool to have a few and constantly trade them. I'm definitely a pin girl, though.

7. Favorite underrated Disney movie?
I don't know what is considered underrated, but I recently rewatched Lady and the Tramp and have decided it is one of my absolute favourites. I also love Fun and Fancy Free and The Reluctant Dragon.

8. Favorite Disney/Pixar movie?
Ratatouille.

9. Do you prefer Rapunzel's long hair or short hair?
I mean, symbolically and practically, short hair. But as she is Rapunzel, the long hair is sort of her thing.

10. Disney movie you watch the most?
Ratatouille, for Pixar. Additionally, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty & The Lion King.

11. Have you ever had a birthday in the parks?
Not on my actual birthday, I don't think so! One day. But I did go to Disneyland Paris two days after my birthday...last week.

12. Have you ever played Musical Chairs with the Mad Hatter?
I have not.

13. Did you like Pocahontas 2?
Never seen it. I'm missed most sequels, actually. Lion King 2 is great, though.

14. Have you ever had a crush on a Disney character?
...Simba...

15. Who is your favorite prince?
...Simba...

16. Favorite villain?
Scar is so badass.

17. What Disney movie makes you cry the easiest?
The Lion King (see a theme?), also Up and Toy Story 3, oh god.

18. Favorite land in the parks?
Tomorrowland. Or Main Street.

19. Have you ever been to EPCOT?
Nope.

20. Do you collect Disney mugs?
No, they're pretty impractical to travel with.

21. Have you ever dressed up as a Disney character for Halloween?
Naturally! My favourite was probably Mary Poppins when I was five or so. It was a whole phase. There was also a Mary Poppins themed birthday party.

22. What's your favorite Dapper Dans song?
Their Disneyland Medley fills me with joyyy.

23. Do you have a Disney OTP?
Lady and the Tramp.

24. What is one Disney song you can listen to 20 times on repeat?
"Dig a Little Deeper" and "Hakuna Matata"

25. Favorite Timon & Pumbaa moment?
The stargazing scene.

26. If you could spend a day in any Disney movie, which would it be?
Rapunzel's birthday.

27. Would you ride Splash Mountain and Grizzly River Run on a freezing cold day?
Well, "freezing cold" in Anaheim is about 50ºF most of the time, so probably xD But not normally. I don't really like getting wet and then having to walk around the park.

28. Do you have a favorite Disney park restaurant?
Pizza Port, oh god mmmm.

29. Have you ever named a pet after a Disney character?
We had a bird named Zazu and my dog's name is Winnie!

30. Favorite Walt Disney quote?
"When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable."

Books read this year: 11

Disney films rewatched: 22/76

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Birthday Donuts from M

If you follow my flatmate Marion's blog, you'll probably know that she is far superior at chronicling her life through photos, albiet normally about five months later. Regardless, when I found this birthday gem outside of my door the day before my birthday, I knew I had to take some photos in honour of her. In true MHoney fashion, this blog is being posted a week later. Thank you for the now long digested donuts, M.

Books read this year: 8

Disney films rewatched: 22/76

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A Story of a Pizza

Warning: weird mood writing ahead. You know how sometimes people call places that are sort of unknown a 'hole in the wall'? Well, this place I'm blogging about today is sort of literally a hole a the wall. Readers, meet the Crate Brewery Pizzeria thing place, I don't really know what the proper name is. 

This is a place I came across while wandering through the rather industrial area of Hackney Wick, right around the corner from the canal where this video was filmed. I had been to it's sort of sister restaurant  which is the Counter Cafe nearby and had heard this place was amazing. After winding through rows of massive seemingly abandoned warehouses, we finally found it.

The inside is just an open plan refurbished warehouse, basically, with the kitchen in a sectioned off area in the back. A small kitchen. As a result, the place was absolutely packed with the most Hackney-hipsters you can think of who all dressed so similarly that one might believe the place had a dress code. Anyway, we ordered and waited for a table and then waited for our one pizza. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Has it really been half an hour? Waiting, cold breeze from the door being left open, waiting. About 75 chilly minutes later, we got our pizza. Apparently this is the typical wait time, but we were definitely not told that and had we been told, we probably would not have ordered and sat down and waited.

We ordered the cheese, sage and truffle oil pizza (and added walnuts because walnuts) and while it was good, and you could definitely tell that it was made well, it was definitely lacking something. I think we basically just made the wrong choice and were frustrated that we had to wait an hour and fifteen minutes to figure it out. 

You're probably wondering why I am telling you about this pizza place. To be honest, the motivation behind this was part photo dump, part liking the idea of reviewing places more frequently and part thoughtful. The whole experience started off as something you may read about in a YA novel. Two people get lost in warehouse graveyard while searching for the hip pizza place (it could use a little development but stick with me here). It started off as a story and just sort ended as an unsatisfactory meal. Funny how that happens sometimes. You get so caught up in a moment, in thinking that what happens next will be a story to tell and you even take pictures because you know you want to share it. Then, afterwards, you forget about it until you're clearing out your computer and you decide to tell the story anyway, because what have you got to lose? 

So this was a story of a pizza and how I waited a really long time for it and how it was really unmemorable to the point that I am taking the photos of it and writing about it to ensure it does get remembered. Or that is doesn't get forgotten. One of the two. 

All the same, I would really like to go back to Crate, not on a Sunday, to try another pizza. I bet the others are great. x

Books read this year: 8

Disney films rewatched: 21/76

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My Oscar Predictions!

While I, regrettably, did not get to see all of the major Oscar nominated films (Zero Dark Thirty & Beasts of the Southern Wild, in particular, alluded me), I thought I would just post who I think/would like to win in tomorrows award show. I actually really enjoy award shows. They introduce me to films I may not have heard of, give me a chance to see some of my favourite Hollywood talent dolled up and it has sort of become my own Superbowl to watch and throw food at my screen when my picks don't win. Alas, with the time difference and a very important and busy Monday, I won't be watching them live online like I did last year (I celebrated my 20th by staying up til 5am the 'night' before on skype with my extended family while we watched the Academy Awards together. Pretty cool). Nevertheless, here are my picks for most (may have eliminated a category or two as had not bases for which to pick a favourite) of the categories!

Best Motion Picture

Argo
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty 

Achievement in Directing

Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Michael Haneke, Amour
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln (Honestly I didn't love this film but his acting, wow)
Denzel Washington, Flight
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty (As I said, I haven't seen the film, but what I've seen of her is stunning.)
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Alan Arkin, Argo
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, The Master
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables 
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Sally Field, Lincoln

Best Animated Feature Film

Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph

Original Screenplay

Amour, Michael Haneke
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
Flight, John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal

Adapted Screenplay

Argo, Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi, David Magee
Lincoln, Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell

Original Score

Anna Karenina, Dario Marianelli
Argo, Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi, Mychael Danna
Lincoln, John Williams
Skyfall, Thomas Newman

Original Song

"Before My Time," J. Ralph; Chasing Ice
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend," Walter Murphy and Seth McFarlane; Ted
"Pi's Lullaby," Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri; Life of Pi (I loooove this song!)
"Skyfall," Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth; Skyfall
"Suddenly," Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boulil; Les Misérables

Achievement in Production Direction

Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln

Achievement in Cinematography

Anna Karenina, Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained, Robert Richardson
Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda
Lincoln, Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall, Roger Deakins

Achievement in Costume Design

Anna Karenina, Jacqueline Durran
Les Misérables, Paco Delgado
Lincoln, Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror, Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Huntsman, Colleen Atwood

Achievement in Film Editing

Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Achievement in Makeup & Hairstyling

Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables

Best Animated Short Film

Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head Over Heels
Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"
Paperman (A little shocked that La Luna wasn't nominated as well because it was amazing but Paperman was truly a brilliant piece of animation mmm)

Achievement in Sound Editing

Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty

Achievement in Sound Mixing

Argo
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Achievement in Visual Effects

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Marvel's The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman

Let me know what your favourite films of 2012 were! Personally, mine was The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which I think deserved supporting actor noms for Dench and Wilkinson but whatever who needs awards when you have my ever-lasting affection, right? x

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Books read this year: 7

Disney films rewatched: 19/76

Days til 21: 4

Days til Disneyland Paris: 6