Original reasons for the blog no longer apply

Below is what I put in the about section of my blog but this hasn’t applied for about the past year and I have seen that this distracts from the purpose that it now has. This was really brought home to me when Cal Newport actually checked out my blog after I posted on his website.

This information is still relevant but now as more of an archive post.

About me well I like to drink craft beer and quite a lot of it. The people at the bottle shop in Canterbury are very happy about this fact because they get the majority of the money but my liver and wallet are not so happy about this fact. I compensate by making my husband buy lots of them hehe and by spacing my drinks out, having soft drinks occasionally, eating, talking/writing about beer and not drinking the heavy stuff so much. Canterbury 40th beer festival anyone 😉

The reason for starting this blog is that I thought there was a gap in the market for an blog about beer as all the newsletters are American based so not very helpful if you are in the UK. Also I think having a woman’s perspective on this will be quite interesting as women don’t generally drink beer although in the olden days they were the ones making the beer as it was just another of their household duties like baking the bread, cooking the food and looking after the children. We have possibly evolved from that time but with the advent of big business we have lots of mass produced, pretty much flavourless beer (think american lager). I think women should be back in charge. All power to the craft beer movement I say. Yes craft beer is going to be slightly different with each batch which is sometimes good and sometimes bad but its all going to be a lot healthier for you and actually taste of something compared to the average beer that men drink that have any vestiges of flavour refined out of it long ago (Carlsberg, Fosters, Carling etc). A particular case in point here is that Budweiser is the second most popular beer in the US yet its one of the worst rated beer on on-line rating sites. This goes to show that there is just no accounting for taste and the majority of the male American population haven’t left their college days despite their increasing years.

Greek grammar 2

I’ve been trying to write a post on Greek grammar now for a while. The first one got interupted by my computer being a pain in the ass as it has Windows 10 and it got interupted in the middle of an update as my net dropped out so it decided the next time it turned on it would present me with a Cortana and start button aint working error. Fast forward to my Windows 7 disc fixing the error and the fact that I help out my mate Angelos by proof reading his website as translating from Russian to English and back when your a native Greek is quite difficult due to the different grammatical structures in place. He does a stellar job of it angelos’s website but there are various features that are inherant in each language that are difficult to get around and its tricky to remember which set of rules applies to each. For instance Greek is a gendered language and has male, female and neuter words as well as the single and plurals to account for. This means that word endings change, the phrases at the start of words change and you don’t always need to say I as sometimes you automatically assume its there. That’s why when translating from Greek to English you have to insert all those little words which simply are not necessary in Greek. This can create slight problems if you forget but due to the brain not reading everything anyway it doesn’t really matter. I’m going to say Russian is similar to Greek in this respect but even more complex as it has more cases.
This brings me to my next point what on earth does nominative, genitive, accusative, instrumental, dative, prepositional mean? These are probably terms you’ve never come across if you have not studied a foreign language or done your native language at say degree level. These are names for all the cases in Russian which is why it is perceived as such a difficult language along with say 14 words for motion. However the Inuit are supposed to have about 20 different words for snow and if you hear the English talk about rain you will get the same idea. So its a bit exaggerated but there are ways to get around this as usual. Take it slowly and only deal with them when necessary. You will be far more receptive to the words and what they represent if you don’t bite off more than you can chew in your quest to master a language. Create your own mind pictures like today I learnt aristera is left and dexia is right in Greek and thought that resisting arrest is wrong as they put cuffs on your wrist. Also in days gone by it was wrong to write with your left. So right is correct by the law and customs. Furthermore manual dexterity is working with your hands and so many people are right handed that I think you need special tools if your left handed proving again that if you want to do something dextrous use your right as you will be arrested for using your left.

Writing, thinking, speaking, learning Greek

Simera ego xero einai o nmera oti ego archi va nomizo se ellinka.
Benny author of fluent in 3 months is actually a genius as practising speaking and having a script ready to say its definitely a good way to build your confidence. Even if its only in my mind or on paper just going through the motions is helpful in dispelling those nerves and proving that yes I can do it.
Sure I can’t quite conjugate verbs yet but I can construct simple sentences so I’m on my way to fluency. Maybe I will be able to hold a conversation by the end of the year as I have quite a varied vocabulary even if its at the level of a 4 year old.

Shared from WordPress

Social Dilemma – A Man whose Wife Can’t Conceive – http://wp.me/p3NR8n-rJ

I’ve never seen anyone express these feelings so elegantly before.

A housewife’s tale – a story in greek

I’m sorry for the possibly incorrect grammar and spelling here its a learning exercise.

Turbo

This is one of the craziest movies I  have ever come across. The actual idea behind it is pretty simple, what if a snail, the world’s slowest creature could race? I’m not just talking pimped out snail racing but actual speed racing with cars eg Nascar. The movie they have created from this insane idea is absolutely brilliant and it’s not even made by Disney or Pixar. It’s a kids movie but don’t let that put you off watching it. It has a stellar voice cast in Samuel L Jackson, Snoop Dogg, Seth Rogen (Zack and Miri make a porno), Ken Jeong (The hangover trilogy), Michelle Rodriguez (Fast and Furious movies), Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) so you know right there that its going to have awesome tunes and that it’s going to be hilarious.

This is one of those movies that advertising did the worst job possible in promoting the interesting points of this movie. I remember when it came out and I had the option to go see this as I had time to kill but I chose not to. The trailer didn’t do it any favours either as far as I  can recall. I know knew that it involved nitrous oxide but that was about it. This reminds me of Serenity which is another excellent movie but is promoted terribly so it’s always in the Bargain Bin section but pick it up and you will find a gem. Its even better than Firefly which is the TV series it finishes. Lots of people are probably going to dislike that but ce la vie.

This movie is about having a dream and not letting anything stand in your way of achieving it no matter how impossible it seems. You never know what is around the next corner and in the case of Turbo as he calls himself , you truly don’t as he reaches heights you couldn’t imagine ever being a possibility for a snail. I like the camaraderie of the other snails of helping the underdog to beat the incumbent driver regardless of what transpires in between to prevent this from happening. It reminds me of the spirit of Cars where a young car takes on pretty much the same track and learns what life is all about. The racing part reminds me of Talladega Nights – The ballad of Ricky Bobby which was a pretty poor movie but still contains the same arrogant diver who thinks he is god’s gift to racing. That was a comedy as well with Sacha Baron Cohen but he wasn’t the main character so its not gross its more a biopic.

Its not just the snail that gets his dream come true with help from all parties. The humans involved do too so it just goes to show that with a little self believe you can do anything no matter how ridiculous it may seem.

Grimsby by Sacha Baron Cohen

Now this is your standard movie by SBC and by that I mean it has 3 or 4 moments where you’re not sure whether to laugh, cry, cover your eyes or just be shocked by the audacity of what you are seeing unfold on screen. Guys this movie may make you feel uncomfortable with the action that happens but you expected that right?

It has a point to prove this movie through all its stupidity and although it showcases England through all its bad points with benefit claimants, football hooligans and violence but also that the higher ups are no better with their aristocratic values and attitudes to those in the lower classes. England is class orientated and will always be so but it does show that upbringing and the opportunities that are presented to one at each stage of their life are incredibly important and can have drastic effects on the outcome.

Family and love is a strong theme here as that transcends money, power and politics but as it’s a comedy there is always that element there to prevent it from becoming overly soppy and romantic but also from being a serious analysis of life in general. It glosses over a lot of things so that you remain interested in the main points that are presented and you don’t get distracted by side plots.

Modern life comes in many forms but the basics are present where ever or however you live. SBC is a very intelligent man and can spin a gross out movie that entertains kids, teenagers and adults but also there is always a deeper meaning underneath all the grim that is portrayed. It has its action, geekiness, romance so everything you expect from a movie nowadays in his unique style. The movie is a bit far fetched and fantastical in its plot points but it is the dream of most english people to see what happens as regards the footballing interest. Its very teenage in its appeal but we know this already and have come to expect this as the Ali G movie, Borat, the Dictator and now this all address the issues of their time in a way that is appealing to all. (Just don’t see it with your grandparents or possibly even parents if there quite traditional.)