I love this pic that Kath took of me with Matthew whilst they were up over Christmas. However, I was more than a tad concerned when talking to an old friend over FB the other night I was asked how many kids I have…so just to set the record straight, no he’s not mine!

Everyone moans, it’s part of life, but since the invention of FB, moans have become a lot more public. I know I’m about to do the same here, but I find it really annoying when people publish cryptic statuses that are obviously meant for their friends to immediately respond asking what’s going on.

Well I’m sorry to say, I don’t have enough head space to deal with such shit right now, so to keep things simple, if you have a problem with me, tell me.

That’s enough seconds wasted on that though….

stolen from twitpic via facebook…

Many sites including Wordpress and probably more famous Wikipedia are balcked out today to protest proposed U.S. legislation that threatens internet freedom: the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). From personal blogs to Wikipedia, sites all over the web — including this one — are asking you to help stop this dangerous legislation from being passed.

So why the big fuss? Isn’t it all just about stopping pirates?

Apparently not..this is taken from http://gizmodo.com/5877000/what-is-sopa

” The beating heart of SOPA is the ability of intellectual property owners (read: movie studios and record labels) to effectively pull the plug on foreign sites against whom they have a copyright claim. If Warner Bros., for example, says that a site in Italy is torrenting a copy of The Dark Knight, the studio could demand that Google remove that site from its search results, that PayPal no longer accept payments to or from that site, that ad services pull all ads and finances from it, and—most dangerously—that the site’s ISP prevent people from even going there.”

For us mere muggles this means:

“if your status update links to The Pirate Bay, Facebook would be legally obligated to remove it. Ditto tweets, YouTube videos, Tumblr or WordPress posts, or sites indexed by Google. And if Google, Twitter, Wordpress, Facebook, etc. let it stand? They face a government “enjoinment.” They could and would be shut down….while Facebook and Twitter have the financial wherewithal to stave off anti-circumvention shut down notices, the smaller sites you use to store your photos, your videos, and your thoughts may not. If the government decides any part of that site infringes on copyright and proves it in court? Poof. Your digital life is gone, and you can’t get it back.”

So what can we do about it?

Click on the links below for more info!

Tonight me and Anna enjoyed a lovely 3 course meal at The Ashlea in Cheadle for just £10 each (not inc drinks of course!) I had a cheese and cauliflower soup for starters, which I was pleasantly suprised by, as I couldn’t imagine that combination working as a soup! I followed this with the Mozerella burger with sweet potato chips and a lovely slice of apple pie with custard for afters.

With all of the hours we’ve both been working recently, I think we’ve both been neglecting to eat properly, so a proper meal was a very welcome change!

I was starting to form my thoughts and thinking about how to portray the film to give it the credit it deserved when I came across this review on IMDB which says it all!

The lights dim, the movie begins with a brief prologue, and the zany and incredibly weird opening credits begin, set to a creepy cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.” From the beginning, we are in for a wild ride as Stieg Larsson’s incredibly popular novel “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is brought to life on screen.

Scorned journalist Mikael Blomkvist is called upon by Henrik Vanger, a very wealthy man, while writing a book. Vanger is in search of an answer to the disappearance of his niece, Harriet, which occurred over 40 years ago. He assumes that Harriet is dead, and that she was murdered. He looks to Mikael to investigate her disappearance and who killed her. Then Mikael gets assistance from Lisbeth Salander, a dangerous but intelligent 24 year-old punk who is an accomplished computer hacker and a great contribution to the solving of other crimes. Together, Mikael and Lisbeth go on a dark, eerie journey into a world of crime, Nazism, and corruption that will lead them to Harriet’s assassin.

I walked into “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” with almost no knowledge of Larsson’s novel or the Swedish film made a few years before David Fincher’s version. The end result is ultimately an extremely satisfying, brutal, and complex thriller thanks to great direction by Fincher (known greatly for his work on “Seven,” “The Game,” and “The Social Network”), excellent writing, and an impeccably chosen cast.

After only a few years, the character of Lisbeth Salander has become an attention-grabbing heroine that is as iconic as Edward Cullen of the love-it-or-hate-it “Twilight” series. And we can understand why. After all the truly awful and hideous things that have plagued her life, Lisbeth doesn’t take any crap from anybody. She may be angry, violent, overtly sexual, demanding, and perhaps a little crazy, but she is a genius at what she does, and has reasons for all of her actions, no matter how gruesome they may be.

The mystery surrounding the film is sophisticated and white-knuckling, adding to the intensity and mood of the story and its characters. We’re not sure of who is Harriet’s killer, or if Harriet is even dead, until the last half hour of the film, and when we do find out the twist, it leaves a stupendous impact.

After cementing his reputation in brutal crime thrillers, and surprising us with “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “The Social Network,” David Fincher was the right man for the director’s chair. Every film he makes, even a drama like “The Social Network,” sets up a tone of genuine suspense, tension, and fear for the characters. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” isn’t any different as Fincher adds his signature touch to the movie.

Of all of the people they could have chosen to play these roles, the casting director landed in a pot of gold. Daniel Craig does a wonderful job as Mikael, showing us that he can play characters other than James Bond. With the amount of screen time she has, Robin Wright is also very good as Blomkvist’s business partner Erika Berger. Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgård also turn in great performances as Henrik Vanger and Martin Vanger.

The person to really watch out for, however, is Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Getting her big break in the underrated remake of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and later starring in Fincher’s previous film “The Social Network” (giving a dynamite performance in the opening scene), Mara has sealed her future with many more promising and exciting roles because of her portrayal of Lisbeth. This is not an easy role to play, knowing that Mara is the second person to play the character. She must endure two shocking rape scenes and a torture sequence, and there is a hefty amount of nudity involved. Mara embodies Lisbeth, immediately bringing immense intimidation, danger, and fury every time she comes on to the screen. Her eyes are wide and emotionless, almost as if you can see right through her. And with everything that has happened to the character, we understand that Lisbeth has a right to be that way. She may be smart, but she is not interested in attraction or friendships with another human being. Overall, Mara gives a sensational, fearless, dedicated, and electrifying performance that guarantees an Oscar nod.

Being released during the cheery time of the holidays, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is not a feel-good film, by any means. It is a harsh, gritty, and rough cinema trip that answers the question of leaving the kids at home with the babysitter. Also, if you’re squeamish, you will not like it. However, those who have read the book, and those who have not read it, should check it out. Even without having read Larsson’s novel, I left the theater completely satisfied. It is a movie experience that you don’t commonly get. Fincher has done it again. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is a must!

So for last year we had:

1/ Get back into exercise:

For a while I was doing really well, especially when I had the half M to train for, but then I lost focus and the half M never happened. I started waiting for the eye surgery to be done and it still hasn’t been and not only have I put on weight, but probably couldn’t run to the shops!

- start swimming again – didn’t happen!
- do 3 half’s before the end of the year – again didn’t happen
- do 5 10ks – Managed 3, Manchester, Stockport and Tatton
- carried forward from last year, get my 50 club t shirt for Parkrun – Managed one, 18 to go, which isn’t going to be easy as I now work Saturday mornings!!
- go to at least 2 more Parkruns – didn’t happen!

2/ Eat better

- plan my meals – I did do this for a few months, but then got bored and stopped
- cook one new recipe a month – I did a couple, but nothing too taxing
- try 4 new restaurants this year – I think I tried 2 new ones, one Italian in Manchester and Los Amigos in Hazel Grove

3/Get Crafty

Despite Kath’s birthday present, this didn’t even get started

4/ Sort out my finances.

I started saving money on a weekly basis, but instead of using this to pay off my loan me and Anna went to Majorca! Still only a year left on my loan and it might get paid off early!

5/ Blog more

Kinda dwindled at the end of the year, this work thing has a lot to answer for, but with this being my 30th year I might have more happening to blog about!

And now for this year…more of a to do list rather than projectz, but could mean I stand more chance of getting them done!

1/ Have eyes lasered
2/ Change my name back to Cooper
3/ Learn to drive
4/ Do the hot air balloning I promised Mum for her last birthday
5/ Take more photos…my new camera should help with that!

Lots happened last year, and I’m sure this will be just if not more, eventful…