The Chemistry of Death - Simon Beckett ****

"When the bizarrely mutilated body of a young woman is found near an isolated Norfolk village, it isn’t just the fact that she was a friend that disturbs Dr David Hunter. Once a high-profile forensic anthropologist, he was all too familiar with the different faces of death until personal tragedy caused him to turn his back on that life.

Now hidden away as a country doctor, Hunter had hoped his past would remain buried. So when he’s asked to help track down the killer, he’s reluctant to become involved--to do so will stir up memories he’s long tried to forget. But then another woman disappears, plunging the community into a maelstrom of fear and paranoia. No one, not even Hunter is exempt from suspicion and he will need all his arcane skills if the killings are to stop…"

Quite good, unexpected ending after a few late plot twists keep you guessing. I'll look for more by him now.

4/5

Oscars

I'm only going to feature two gowns, one I absolutely LOVE, and the fuggiest I found.

I am in love with Reece's gown.

I covet it. *salivate*

But also really like Anne Hathaway in her Black and White number.

And an Honourable mention to Rinko Kikuchi from Babel. Stunning.

Helen Mirren also, very age appropriate, and fabulous.

We have a winner with this monstrosity from Gweneth Paltrow. I hate this and I think it makes her look sallow and awful. Plus the red lipstick just accentuates the grossness. And the constricting across the waist? And the mid chest cross over thing? What is going on here???

For fug, it was really hard, but honourable mentions to Kirsten Dunst, Faye Dunaway, Jodie Foster for crimes against breasts, Maggie Gyllenhall, Jennifer Hudson (who I honestly think looks like a chocolate bar half unwrapped), Naomi Watts (preggers or no) and Jennifer Lopez (ew).

The Devil's Feather - Minette Walters ****

"Amidst the mire of a bloody war, who will notice the emrgence of a sexual psychopath from the ranks of the mercenaries?

When five women are brutally murdered in Sierra Leone, Reuters correspondant Connie Burns questions the arrest of three rebel soldiers for the crimes. No one listens. In the wake of a vicious civil war that saw hundreds of thousands killed and displaced, the rape and murder of women are of little consequence. And who cares if the child soldiers are beaten into confessing?

With little to go on, except her witnessing of a savage attack on a prostitute, C onnie belives a foreigner is responsible- a man who claims to have been in the SAS and who works as a bodyguard to a Lebanese diamond trader, She remembers him from Kinshasa when he was a mercenary for Laurent Kabila's regime, and she suspects he uses the chaos of war to act out sadistic fantasties against women.

Two years later in Iraq, the consequences of her second attempt to expose him are devastating. Terrifiedm degraded and destroyed, she goes into hiding in England, where she strikes up a friendship with jess Derbyshire, a loner whose reclusive nature may well be masking secrets of her own. See parallels betweeen herself and Jess, Connie borrows from the other woman's strength and makes the hazardous decision to attempt a third unmasking of a serial killer, knowing he wil come looking for her."

Very good book.

4 / 5

Long live Dataceptionist

I have confirmation for you all that have been waiting with baited breath.....

(pretend ok?)

I have a new job!

I will be Data-ing it up for another week but as of next Monday I will be working somewhere else.

Never fear though, I cannot shed Dataceptionist so easily and will continue to blog under this mantle. Everything will be just like normal, so keep on readin!

Manyana!! (round two)

Went away for the weekend just gone, very nice and relaxing. Unfortunately Manyana put up a poor showing for the second time and it rained most of the weekend. It was still good, at one stage as we passed through Ulladulla the rain was pouring down so hard it had flooded the bridge through town and I thought we'd get stuck. I should have taken pics actually now I think about it.
But it was good, don't get me wrong. I got two books read, more to follow on each of those.

Highlights though were multiple kangaroos to view in peoples backyards and I actually got to see my first real life Sting ray and it was huge! That was at Bendalong Beach, and I'm sure if the weather had been less gloomy there would have been more as I hear there normally are.

*Yawn*

So bored today. Kill me.
Or give me a real job.
*sigh*
Had a good weekend, caught up with some old work friends at the Mean Fiddler (not a local haunt for me) whilst there for Re's birthday. A good evening by all accounts.
Sunday we caught up with Tim & Kel and little Ryder and finally got a hold of him. He's so cute, took pics but haven't uploaded them yet.

Doop de doop de doo. *sigh*

In their Footsteps-Tess Gerristsen ***/*

For Beryl Tavistock, the place to ask questions about the scandal surrounding her parents death is on Paris's rain slicked streets. But the answers are proving that old secrets die hard.

Caught in an increasingly deadly search for the turth, she enters a world where danger is spliced with desire-a world where the man she's just met, ex-CIA agent Richard Wolf, seems very much at home. But in this world, friends can be enemies and enemies can be killers....

Good. Not as good as her others but readable.

3.5 / 5

Did the Earth Move? - Carmen Reid ***

Meet Eve:

Four kids, one hectic job

two complicated exes and a lot on her mind.

Like, is sex with the vet better than no sex at all?

Is she too old to shop at Topshop or dye her hair pink?

Are violets the new geraniums?

What the hell is in the fridge for supper?

And, most important of all,

has she let the love of her life get away too easily?

Did the Earth Move?

is a sexy, thought-provoking and wildly entertaining

novel from the best selling author of Three in a Bed.

This was alright, a bit of fluff, easy reading though : ) Not going to rush out and find other books of hers though.

3/5

***late publish, from 12/2/07***

So wrong, but so funny 2

Edwards Bloggers Quit

**Update**
The two Edwards' bloggers who I mentioned just days ago to have been kept on staff, (after Public formal apologies), have both resigned within days of each other, citing amicable splits with the campaign. I think this is sort of sad, but they felt immense pressure that their very existence now compromised the campaign for Edwards.
What I don't understand is why there was such an outcry from their opposition for them to be sacked?
All this indicates to me is that the people seeking their removal felt Edwards is a strong candidate. If you compare this to our politics; imagine the Labor party had a suspicious character on their staff, if the party chose to keep them (as Edwards did) then if you were unhappy with the decision you'd simply vote with your feet and vote for the other party, simple I would have thought? Am I off-base here?

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I know, I'm happy and sickeningly in love and happily married. Sorry to all the single people for my Valentine's rant, but here's a cartoon to which I think everyone can enjoy.

Also, amusingly,

Opposition health spokeswoman Nicola Roxon says Valentines Day is the perfect opportunity to highlight the increased rise of heart disease for people living on their own...."Those already planning to enjoy a dinner today might like to invite their single friends along as well so they can enjoy a nutritious meal.".....

Because quite obviously, if you don't have a partner tonight, there's no way in hell you're going to be able to feed yourself properly. It's all deep fried Mars Bars and cookies and cream icecream, with a side of gravy.

Meanwhile, in the small town of Gulgong, near Mudgee, a man has been shot dead in a Jealous rage at 7am this morning. Lovely.

Are you one of three Australian women that dread Valentine's day? I myself don't recall ever dreading Valentine's day for any of my (20?) single years. I was in nappies or carefree abandon admittedly for a good chunk of that. Oooh, do you guys remember that rose thing they used to do at school? When I think about it they did really well to sell them for $5 or so, I saw single (dodgy) looking roses at Woolies today for $10, and single delivered red roses go for $53.55 on Interflora (holy hell). Ahh the memories.

Give me your Valentine's memories people.

So wrong, but so funny

Sorry they're so small. For more see Cyanide and Happiness

Presumed Guilty -Tess Gerritsen ***

"Someone was sleeping in her bed...
But he wasn't really sleeping. He was dead. Miranda Wood hoped it was just a bad dream, but the man had been stabbed with her knife, in her house. And worst of all, he wasn't a stranger.
So the nightmare began on Maine's tiny Shepherd Island, where all the evidence seemed to point to Miranda's guilt. There was no one who would believe she hadn't murdered her former lover, least of all Chase Tremain, the dead man's brother.
Chase wanted revenge at any price-until he met Mrianda. But when he became a convenient witness to several attempts on her life, he began to wonder....Was she a fresh-faced country girl with whom he could fall in love? Or was she a consummate actress-and a cold blooded killer?"

A good yarn, bit of a departure from her usual stories which she tends to cleverly work in some sort of religious angle, or have a Medical Examiner setting. Also a departure from a group of characters that were a good read, I hope she comes back to them. This is actually two books in one, so I will have to recycle the cover picture, it actually says and IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS in small text under the title. More about that when I finished the second (completely unrelated) story. I thought this was good, but on reflection there are a couple of sub plot holes that didn't quite get tied up I don't think, and neither the main story nor the subplot really got developed enough, almost like reading a draft of the story idea when I think about it, or some of her early writings, except she's not really established enough to be doing a "way back when" type release. Still a good read, but could have been better (or written under a pen name-Bachman?)

3/5

News just to hand....

......I may not be Dataceptionist for much longer.........

Keep you posted..... xx

BAFTA fug

I'm sorry, but not a fan, too 80's for me

Pancake boobs!
At ease Daniel.

Oh dear god. What is she hiding in there?
I think that might qualify as a scrolldown?
**Update-This is Thandie Newton, surprising, she's so pretty.
Currently in Pursuit of Happyness as disgruntled wife
and that horrid Eddie Murphy crap Norbit**

Grammy Fug

What the hell? I'm sure someone knows who these people are...

Mormon Candidate

Well we've got them all, the woman, the black guy, the ex-mayor of New York who saved the town in the wake of September 11, and there's even a rumour of Arnie running. Now we come to the Mormon Candidate, Mitt Romney.
Romney's faith causes large hurdles for him in the campaign, as the Evangelical Protestant sector votes and many American's will not vote for a Mormon. Romney isn't concerned though, as even John F Kennedy had to address the fact that he himself was Catholic, not popular at the time, and he has been studying Kennedy's speeches on the matter closely. I'll say this though, he's no JFK, and even though Mormon's class themselves as Christians, mainstream American apparently sees them as more of a cult than anything.

****Update-Edwards' troublesome bloggers on his staff have retained their positions. Good on him I say for not bending to conservative pressure.****

Blackness?

What the hell is Blackness? I'm not sure, but apparently Barack Obama, doesn't have enough.
There is a certain sector of Americans that are claiming Obama is not black enough. What the hell people. I thought we were trying to overcome racial stereotypes, not step on people who weren't quite in the club. Is it my own personal failing that Obama looks black to me? I mean when we really get down to it, I personally don't really care what colour he is (other than a passing curiosity on how the American public would cope with a Black Prez-given their vastly over-fictionalised prejuidices) and I think that a vast majority {I admit not all} of my generation honestly doesn't see individuals in terms of colour.
So it screams to me of ridiculousness that black people in America would whinge that he wasn't black enough. I mean for godssake, make up your mind would you!
Are you trying to break down racism, or perpetuate it?
This springs apparently from the fact that Obama has a black African father, but white American mother. Well Gee whizz, I would have thought this would have helped his multicultural appeal, but no, it's hurting him instead. Bizarreness!

US Election tidbits

~ US Presidents can only serve two consecutive terms

~Usually when a Prez is leaving after two terms the Vice President will run

~ Dick Cheney, the current VP, has stated on several occassions (2001,2004) that he will never be president, and "...If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve"

~ This is the first election in 80 years where neither the Prez nor the Vice will be running (called non-incumbent or "open seat" election)

~Likely to be the most expensive election ever "estimated that the 2008 race will be a "$1 billion election," and that to be "taken seriously," a candidate will need to raise at least $100 million by the end of 2007."

~ Candidates started to emerge in 2006!!!

~Persons of interest and those registered thus far

Official candidates who have filed with the FEC

Senator Joe Biden of Delaware (Campaign Site) {Dem}
Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut (Campaign Site) {Dem}
Former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina (Campaign Site) {Dem}
Former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska (Campaign Site) {Dem}
Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio (Campaign Site) {Dem}
Former Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa (Campaign Site) {Dem}

Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas (Campaign site) {Rep}

John H. Cox of Illinois (Campaign Site) {Rep}

Representative Duncan Hunter of California (Campaign Site) {Rep}

Michael Charles Smith of Oregon (Campaign Site) {Rep}

Candidates who have formed exploratory committees:
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York (Exploratory Committee) {Dem}
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois (Exploratory Committee) {Dem}
Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico (Exploratory Committee) {Dem}

Former Governor Jim Gilmore of Virginia {Rep}
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Senator John McCain of Arizona (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Representative Ron Paul of Texas (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}
Former Governor Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin (Exploratory Committee) {Rep}

Candidates who have expressed serious interest:
Retired General Wesley Clark of Arkansas (WesPAC)[6] {Dem}
Reverend Al Sharpton of New York {Dem}

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia (Winning the Future)[10] {Rep}
Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska (Sandhills PAC)[11] {Rep}
Radio Talk Show Host Michael Savage of California (Savage Nation) [12] {Rep}

Other

James Gilchrist of California Constitution Party

Kat Swift of Texas (Campaign site) Green Party

Steve Kubby of California (Campaign Site)
George Phillies of Massachusetts (Campaign Site)
Christine Smith of Colorado (Campaign Site)

Doug Stanhope of Arizona (Campaign Site)

Robert Milnes of New Jersey (Campaign Site)

Steve Adams of Kentucky (Campaign Site)
Gene Amondson of Washington for the Prohibition Party (Campaign Site)
Bob W. Hargis of Oklahoma (Campaign Site)
Daniel Imperato of Florida (Campaign Site)
David A. Koch of Utah

Ken Goldstein of California (Campaign Site)
Charles T. Maxham of New Jersey (Campaign Site)

~OFFICIALLY NOT RUNNING

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts

Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana

Senator Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin

Mark Warner, former governor of Virginia

Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee

Source- Wikipedia

Interesting....things.....

*A interesting blog post from Scott Adams, the guy who writes Dilbert. Something I've always wondered about myself-
The Dilbert Blog - Artist Mysteries but with almost 300 comments I wouldn't recommend reading them all, just scroll through a read some.
His blog is pretty interesting in general really, probably something I'd say I aspire to in a way.

*Anna Nicole Smith's orphaned baby is reportedly worth 1.6 Billion $ now. Holy cow. No wonder three guys are all vying for paternity. The most bizarre paternity rumour however, is that Smith's late son was actually the father, which is why he allegedly commit suicide hours after seeing the new kid. I mean come on people, that's more Horror than Hollywood surely.

*Missy Higgins is releasing a new album. As one of only 4 artists I've ever bothered to see live, I'll be interested to see what she comes out with. This ties in nicely with the Blog article above : )
Oh god, apparently Silverchair are also releasing a new album. I say, PUT THE GUITAR DOWN DANIEL!!!
Ooh ooh and as Kyle mentioned on last years Aus Idol final, Katie Noonan (of George) is releasing an album soon which I will definitely want to hear. George feature as one of my 4. lol.
KILL ME-a Cold Chisel tribute album is being put together. Vomit.