New discovery: Sumo Sundays at Yo Sushi!

Every Sunday, at Yo Sushi!, you can pay £19.50 and eat all you want from the conveyor belts (save the grey or yellow dishes) for an hour. I initially thought that one hour was too short for me to enjoy all the sushi, but it soon turned out to be more than enough, as I was eating at such a rapid rate that I was full after about 45 minutes. The range of food on offer wasn't restrictive at all, I had vegetarian sushi, salmon, regular sushi, calamari, fruit salads, sweet desserts, etc. A few photos:

My final plate tally came to:

All that gluttony came at a cost, however. By the time it came to leave, I could barely move my sorry ass:

Overall, it was a fantastic culinary experience, with you earning back what you pay, several times over. It's particularly good fun if you go with a group of friends - you can see who eats the most! I went with two boys, and out-ate them comfortably. Just braggin ;)

Bea's Vintage Tea Rooms.

For my housemate's birthday, we had tea at Bea's Vintage Team Rooms, in Bath. In Bath, there are a lot of places where you can go for tea, but we chose this one as the prices were reasonable for the amount of food on offer. And it was a lovely experience!~~

It was one of these platters to share between two people, and they filled us up a treat! The sandwiches came in three flavours: salmon, cucumber and cream cheese, and egg and cress. They were all wonderfully made so that even a seemingly plain flavour like cucumber ended up being really tasty. The clotted cream was very rich and there were a range of cakes.  Me and Theo shared the chocolate and lemon ones, I preferred the chocolate but the meringue on top of the lemon cake rendered it quite tasty too.

Overall, a wonderfully cute place to go, full of pretty teacups, friendly staff and delicious food. Recommended!

Grade: A

True Colours.

I wore a rather bright pair of Hollister tracksuit bottoms to Stamford Bridge last Thursday for Chelsea vs Rubin Kazan:

They're a bit on the bright side, but it had to be done for the banter~~

Häagen-Dazs Secret Sensations Creme Brulee.

Now released in large-sized pots, perfect for sharing, the Häagen-Dazs Secret Sensations Creme brûlée is the tastiest, most innovative dessert out there. A wonderful spin on the classic vanilla taste, there are two surprises that come with the Häagen-Dazs Secret Sensations Creme brûlée. the first:

 

Delicious crispy chunks throughout the ice cream, and then --

 

An incredible juicy centre! So the ice cream is, quite literally, like a creme brûlée (hard on the top, soft on the bottom). The mixture of the three textures - soft ice cream, hard chewy bits and gooey liquid, make for a fantastic cocktail of the very best kind of post-dinner dessert, or a guilty snack. The vanilla is a perfect complements the sticky sugariness of the treats at the centre and the blend and proportions of the three chief ingredients are selected to perfection.

 

The creme brûlée flavour used to be available in cute little pots, but now that they're stocked in a larger size, you have no excuse not to get some for a girly night in!

 

 

Those high heels are not your friend.

I'm still going through each of the things I bought in that sales haul on the Barratts website. Today, it's my £8 nude heels with the stud detail that I wore on a night out:

I found the heels extremely comfortable to walk/dance in, given the thinness of the heel, as well as that it was my first time in them. They fit my feet perfectly and I had no issues with them feeling too tight, or slipping off on the dancefloor. Given the £8 price in the sale and the way nude complements most outfits, I simply must give these bad boys a resounding thumbs up.

Grade: A

Side Effects (Steven Soderbergh, 2013)

Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara) has been waiting for her husband Martin to be freed from prison for four years (he, played by Channing Tatum, was sent down for insider trading). After the day occurs and he is finally let out, however, she is taken over by spells of depression which culminates in her driving her car into a brick wall. This seeming cry of help is noticed by trendy clinical psychiatrist  Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law). Dr. Banks allows her release from hospital on the proviso that she checks in with him a few times a week. After trying various standard medications to try and elevate her mood to no avail, he puts her on the newest mood drug, Ablixa, which rejuvenates her, giving her energy, happiness and a sex drive, much to her husband’s delight. However, it comes with the considerable side effect of almost fantastically lucid sleep-walking that culminates in a terrible occurrence that leads to Emily getting jailed and Dr Banks questioning his practices.

Soderbergh talked about Side Effects being his last film. It would be a massive shame for the cinematic world to miss out on his talents, which brought us an eclectic range of pictures from fun ensemble heist movie Ocean’s 11, to Channing Tatum as a male stripper in Magic Mike, to inspirational feminist biopic Erin Brockovich, to the engrossing patchwork of drug tales in Traffic, to name but a few. For all his faltering – I was left wanting by Contagion and Ocean’s Twelve was nothing short of a mess, Soderbergh is a talented, versatile director, and he is at the top of his game in this twisty, convoluted medical thriller. Under pseudonym Peter Andrews, he also takes charge of the film’s cinematography, as well as editing (curiously, under the alias of Mary Ann Bernard); rendering this a proper Soderbergh picture, from top to bottom. Finally, the film is aided considerably by Scott Z. Burns’ cerebral script, which captures the workings of the legal, pharmaceutical and psychological industries, as well as all the flaws of Jude Law’s protagonist.

For his part, Jude Law puts in one of his finer performances. His last collaboration with Soderbergh in Contagion – another medical drama – featured him sporting a bizarre Aussie accent and completely failing to impress, or convince. Here, he lays true to his roots in playing a British psychologist. As his character explains, he came to New York to practice psychology because, if you say you’re going to see a shrink in Britain, people assume you’re sick. If you say you’re seeing a shrink in America, that implies you’re getting better. His character is driven by lucre at the beginning of the film, and, in a story where one of the character was sent away for letting the investment banking culture go to his head, the perils of greed are starkly highlighted throughout. In that case, it initially becomes hard to warm to Law, with his cushy job, swanky downtown Manhattan flat and his knack of only taking a true concern with Mara’s character when things takes a bitter turn. However, as the film progresses, we do come to empathise and pity him, especially when the rug is pulled from under him and he stands to lose everything he’s worked so hard for.

Rooney Mara is, as ever, perfect. In Side Effects, her character displayed this knack of chewing her lip whenever she wasn’t speaking (my boyfriend also does this, ha), which I can’t say I noticed in her previous acting performances. I couldn’t tell if it was an affectation or something the character was supposed to be doing. When the film finished, thinking about, I realised which one it was, and it renders her performance a very clever one indeed. Her large, glassy blue eyes make for magnetic watching, and although the film is relatively low on “thrills” by Hollywood’s Saw-standards, one scene, in which she looks in the mirror and sees a transfigured  reflection staring back at her, is disturbing despite its simplicity.

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Channing Tatum are sadly, less convincing in their sketchier roles, although thankfully, it doesn’t detract from the genius of Side Effects, which made for very effective entertainment on a Wednesday night, and a welcome change from the mindless gunk Hollywood is serving up as cinema these days. If this truly is Soderbergh’s last film, then he has well and truly gone out with a bang.

Grade: A-

Emma's girlcrushes, 2013.

I like to do a yearly update of this list, so I can trawl tumblr for beautiful ladies. Here was last year's list, in case you were wondering.

10. Miranda Kerr

A new entrant on the list, I've always been a fan of her angelic, baby-faced beauty, but she really turned my head when she wore a dress to the Golden Globes that had both a) a slit up the thigh and b) plunging cleavage. Fashion rules dictate that you should only really have one or the other, but Miranda Kerr is stunning enough to work it. She has a wonderful physique - they don't let out-of-shape girls be Victoria's Secret models, and has to adhere to a very strict diet to maintain it, rendering her the very epitome of "yummy mummy".

09. Rooney Mara

I'm watching Side Effects tonight, and Miss Mara is one of the main draws; I loved her arresting turn in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and really thought she deserved the Oscar above Streep. The first film I saw Rooney Mara in, The Social Network, she was pretty, but nothing traffic-stopping, but it was David Fincher's movie that made her notice her as an actress, and her gorgeous red carpet appearances promoting the film that made me realise she was also a rather tasty bit of eye candy, too.

08. Rihanna

So-called "feminist" Caitlin Moran likes to frequently feign concern for Rihanna, telling the Barbados singer that she needs to "wear a cardi" more. Frankly, I couldn't care less what Rihanna does or doesn't wear, and find Moran's stream of thinking it's in her control to tell either women what they should be wearing extremely patronizing. Anyway, I feel Rihanna is always unfairly overlooked as a singer and an artist - listen to the raw emotion on her voice as she belts out Love the Way You Lie; she's no autotone troll. The fact that she's sung many of my nightclub favourites and the effortless swagger she had in the What's My Name video as she strutted down the video means that she's pretty much my cool-ness icon.

07. Kristen Stewart

Poor Kristen got the worst time after she got caught last year, when the Twittersphere practically imploded on itself, with Twihards rushing to dub her a "trampire." It is extremely misogynistic to slut-shame a girl for having an affair, when men do it - and get praised for it - all the time. As far as I'm concerned, the only thing Kristen has to be sorry for is appearing in Snow White and the Huntsman, one of the dullest films I've seen in recent years. But then, a few months later, I watched her in On the Road and realised she was actually a rather accomplished actress, given the right roles. The fact that she proved to be a bit of a minx on the side, as far as I'm concerned, just adds to her allure, now.

06. Selena Gomez

Baby-faced Selena Gomez is the object of my wardrobe envy - everything she's sported at film premieres and public appearances, I've wanted. At 20, she still has the cheeks that served her so well as a Disney chick, but as she enters her twenties, she wants us to know that she's more than that, and hence her appearance on the risque-looking Spring Break, which, judging  from the trailers, she spends the entire movie in just a bikini. Hey, I'm certainly not complaining.

05. Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis had a very distinctive eye colour. It started out with one eye being brown and the other green, but with time the two colours converged to produce something that is the best of both worlds. She also has incredibly large eyes, a soft button nose and incredible legs and bum. Yeah, I just really like staring at her.

04. Frankie Sandford

A regular of the Top Three (where she has been comfortably for the last two years), I'm afraid I've had to bump Frankie down one place, simply because I just don't understand why she's still with that weed Wayne Bridge. As for the rest, she's stunning; possessing the most stunning abs ever, which she knows how to show off with a pretty belly bar, and the most infectious smile in The Saturdays. Gorgeous, gorgeous girl.

03. Kaya Scodelario

Kaya simply gets sexier with age. And, bearing in mind that she already had the vamp factor pretty much up to a maximum as Effy in Skins, is really saying something. So attractive that she's frequently cast as the femme fatale in music videos (She Said, Stay Too Long, Candy), she's learn to work the ice queen schtick so well that it feels like a second skin. Soft, round grey eyes that I could stare at all day, the figure of a model and a range of hairstyles that bring out her best features, she is quite the stunner.

02. Dianna Agron

Glee is a mess these days. Honestly, I have no idea why I continue  watching, each episode just leaves me banging my head against the desk. But on the rare occasions when Quinn pops up, I do feel that my perseverance is rewarded. Dianna Agron is responsible for what remains, to this day, my favourite Glee cover (the "I Feel Pretty/Unpretty" mashup), and her dulcet tunes suit my ears like a bee to honey. A twist on the classic blonde beauty look, Miss Agron has amber eyes instead of blue eyes, but this unusual blend just adds to her aesthetic appeal.

01. Lana del Rey

Lana was at Anfield on Sunday, and given my thoughts on Liverpool Football Club, you'd think that would put me off her. No such thing. Despite the paltriness of her surroundings, the sight of Lana smiling her irresistible smile at the football ground had me grinning too. She's my favourite artist - my boyfriend and I cuddle to her songs all the time, and her keenness to use Lolita imagery throughout her songwriting simply adds to her vixenesque appeal. Luscious lips, hair that's full of volume and eyes as round and delicious as cherry pies, Lana remains the definitive girlcrush, Anfield or not.

Eton Mess.

Making it:

Review of the songs on Girls (and Boys) on Film episode of Glee.

There’s a fair bit of drama covered in this episode, from the fallout of Will being jilted at the altar, to Rachel grappling with her bun in the oven and Santana barking up the wrong tree that Brody is a drug dealer (he’s actually a gigolo), so it's apt that the episode is dedicated to music of the movies~~ There were some catchy mash-ups in this episode, but, despite Naya Rivera not performing any of the songs, she remains this show's MVP in her flawless brand of sass.

You’re All the World to Me

Didn’t do it for me, liked Emma in a suit though. The shots of Mr Schue looked dewy-eyed after the sequence didn’t create any empathy in me towards him. No1curr about Will/Emma. C

Shout

An upbeat song with nothing hugely wrong with the performance, although I’m generally affronted whenever Brittany songs, as she has the weakest voice of the lot. Plus, as Artie pointed out, this wasn't a mashup. B

Come What May

A bit flat. Nothing on the Moulin Rouge! version. Kurt and Blaine’s voices do complement each other, especially when they harmonize, but I prefer it on tracks such as their cover of Pink’s Perfect. Santana’s bluntness after the performance is more fun than the song. B-

Old Time Rock & Roll / Danger Zone

Costumes, remixed beat, instrumentals, choreography, all wonderful. I preferred the pilot outfits to the white-shirt-and-white-socks-with-aviators combination sported by Sam, Ryder and Jake, but kudos to them for wearing such potentially embarrassing outfits with such a straight face. Exuberant, unassuming, unadulterated fun, truly worthy of the show’s title. A

Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend / Material Girl

As with the boys, great fun, full of standout moments, from Marley's orgasmic delivery of "everything's going so well!" to Unique's intro "the French are glaaaad to dieee for luuuurve". I prefer the original source material of both songs and therefore find them catchier but in terms of mash-up, you’d have to edge it to the boys – the Material Girl song barely featured in this mashup, whereas in the boys’ one, both songs carried equal weighting. However, the girls’ mashup gets bonus points for Unique’s Christina Aguilera-esque warbling at the end. Curiously, when their hair was all curly was the first time I've found Kitty prettier than Marley -- that hairstyle just happens to suit her more.

Bonus points for Kitty’s cheeky advice to Marley just before the song started: "Boys are like lumps of coal; they're dirty and cheap and get hot when they're rubbed but some turn into diamonds, so collect as many as you can" A

In Your Eyes

Didn’t work for me. Maybe because I find Matthew Morrison an awkward performer compared to his youthful counterparts who have much more natural star quality, or maybe because the Will/Emma romance has been protracted out so long now that we’re tired of them. The homage to John Cusack in Say Anything was the cherry on top of cringe. D

Unchained Melody

I re-watched Ghost this Christmas when introducing the film to my brother, and moved to tears when Unchained Melody played during it. The Gareth Gates version is also very sweet. This one, however, left me cold, and much of that could be because I don’t ship Marley/Jake (Marley/Ryder FTW!), and the shots of Marley nuzzling Jake whilst smiling awkwardly were beyond mawkish. Jake has a good voice, and the nice little dramatic spin where Marley imagined someone other than Jake holding her hands was telling, but the imitation of the pottery scene was, as much of this show is, an exercise in second hand embarrassment. C

Footloose

Terrific fun, with good dancing too, after it was announced that EVERYONE WON DA COMPETITION. #classicGlee Suspect timing to put such an upbeat tune straight after Finn admits to Mr. Schue that he’d kissed Emma, but clunky timing is one of the many flaws that you just come to accept with Glee. A particularly nice touch of this performance was all the cast goofing about on the stage thingy. A-