So, the viewage:
Death of a Ghost is very yay. Lots of wintry London (overcoats!), Lugg being gloriously stroppy about not getting to have any fun, a character called Tom Daker which sounds rather too much like Tom Baker and causes inadvertent amusement, and drunken Albert. 'My biscuit is soggy', he says, and kisses the sphinxes at Cleopatra's Needle. Hurrah.
The Aztecs is successfully converting me to that nice old First Doctor. (I have only seen The Keys of Marinus before, and he's on holiday for most of it.) Him and Cameca are lovely, as is the scene where Ian tells him he's a randy old bastard. (I may have made up my own dialogue for that bit.) Barbara actually is a Goddess, as we all know, so that's all jolly good, and she pwns due to having Actual Knowledge of Aztec civilization, which makes her a Very Excellent Companion and much cleverer than the Doctor really. Speaking of which...
Destiny of the Daleks close on the heels of City of Death has confirmed it: I am now officially Gay for Romana II. I appreciate I am a bit late to this party, but I got distracted by that episode of The Professionals where she shagged Doyle and then turned out to be evil (obviously). And how did I not know that the pink outfit is a replica of his? I am a fool. She is the Doctor we are allowed to be, I think: Tom exudes so much Tomness that we are always observing him, never really in his head, but we can be a Time Lady who is clever and funny and has wonderful boots but also gets pinned to a wall by scary Daleks and has a bit of a cry. Oh, and the bit when she is in the tube? EEP. I was proper scared. Anyway, I have not seen anything else with her in yet, meaning I have lots of happy hours of loveliness and outfits still to come.
(Cross-dressing companions are good, aren't they? I would've liked Rose more if she'd done drag. Maybe Martha will oblige.)
OK, this definitely had nothing to do with hair as I actually had to go out of the house to an actual cinema. The Notorious Bettie Page is a wee flim which is, er, ok. Gretchen Mol has a fantastic pair of norks, it must be said (although not quite the Bettie bum'n'hips combo), but the screenplay's a bit flat. And they sort of footle around the pornography issue, pointedly showing you the hilarious 'naughty' movies where girls covered practically head-to-toe in unattractive underwear playfully pretend to slap each other on the arse (tee hee, fancy! people thought this sort of thing was for deviants!), but then casually throwing in a few shots of girls tied up in full-on scary rape scenarios (uh-oh, some of these shots still look massively dodgy even by modern standards, especially in the context of a film about a woman who was serially abused...er...look! here are some nice outfits!).
To be fair, that is largely the same footling I myself do on the subject of porn. And the outfits were very pretty. 50s Americana so wins over the Sea of Brownness and Rationing of Blighty.
Now exhausted. Shall collapse in front of telly to recover...
Comments
Henna? You're brave. I henna my hands, and occasionally my feet (it's really difficult though, on account of legs being much longer than arms), but I've been too scared to do my hair. Possibly because if I accidentally dye my forehead I can generally scrub it off, but henna stains for a long time. And it's so gloopy. Though I do love the smell.
This makes me feel all glowy, when probably it should make me mildly perturbed ;) I am taking note of the title as clearly I shall have to hunt this down. (I thought Year of Intelligent Tigers was the slashiest, on account of him having shacked up with some bloke? Or does Fitz finally confess his undying luff?)
I got a top tip from the lady at Lush: if you wipe their 'Babyface' cleanser on your forehead, parting, ears, neck etc the henna doesn't stain your skin. Worked like a charm: I was amazed. I should add this is my second attempt with henna - I previously tried to do my sister's hair and it was an utter disaster, more henna on the floor than on her head and virtually no difference in colour. Steep learning curve but worth it once you get the hang of it, I think. I would love to do the hands thing one day, though I'd have to get someone else to do it for me: lovely swirly patterns are somewhat beyond my stubby little fingers, but they are purty.
Ooh, that's a good plan. And *laughs* henna is the Queen Of Messy Products. Love it to bits, but it's like a big, particularly mobile cowpat that makes everything it touches go orange. Though since I've cut most of my hair off, I'm more prepared to do drastic things to it (since if it goes horribly wrong I can just shave it off) and also I don't have these images of my totally uncontrollable hair dripping and flinging henna everywhere. So I might have a go sometime.
I'm epicly (sod, that's not a word) clumsy and not at all artistic, and I've actually got to the point where I can henna with my left hand. It's a matter of slowing down, taking baby steps, and practising. Oh, and having paste of the right consistency in a cone that's the right size for you to hold easily. That kind of helps. http://www.thehennapage.com is a great resource, and its how-to on bridal mendhi takes you through tiny steps to make quite complex patterns. Though then you end up getting roped in to do hennaing at random events, and finish the day with hand cramps and a desperate need for a beer or a calming homicide. That might just be me, though.
So if you've successfully hennaed your hair, are you now a ginger minx? *grins, ducks, runs*