Doctor Who and the Asylum

I recently read this adventure about the Second Doctor and the first time the Daleks were introduced to the Who universe. It was interesting to read about a more serious Doctor with a hint of his mischievousness that we see today.

Somehow, the Daleks seemed a lot more menacing on paper than they do on television.

The first episode of the 7th series aired on Saturday (yet I will not be able to watch it until Friday, so I am trying to avoid spoilers) and it was called Asylum of the Daleks which made me think of the song by Fun Boy Three.

Red and Black Week: Diamonds and spades

My fourth entry for Sophistique Noir's Red and Black Week. I bought a dress last week, though I haven't had chance to wear it yet, and I thought the playing cards would fit well into the theme.

I saw this dress last week, and it was one of those "I have to own that" moments, when something just stays with you. Now I just need to find a time to wear it! I love playing cards and board games in general, so this is the perfect dress for me. I'm also on the lookout for accessories to match. I'd love to have earrings of all four suits to mix and match.


















I have various card games, but these are the three red and black ones in my collection. The black one is a game where you roll two mini pigs and score points depending on how they land. (I don't know the English name as it was bought in Belgium - Jeu de Cochons, or Het Biggenspel in Dutch so I guess "The Pig game").

I'm looking forward to the last day tomorrow, I have a crafty post planned. Looking forward to reading everyone else's entries!

Red and Black Week: Dalek

Welcome to my third contribution to Sophistique Noir's Red and Black Week. This was going to be a different post, but life got in the way, so instead you are treated to a photo of my red and black dalek, attacking a glue stick to give a sense of scale. He doesn't have a name yet, though I've had him since christmas, and he regularly trundles round my desk saying exterminate when turning a corner.

And to finish, here is a part of my Doctor Who book collection. There's a lot of black and the barest hint of red in there. (Apologies for the quality; it was either fuzziness or glare so I went for the former)

Red and Black week: Bookworm outfit

Did anyone else spot Stevie Wonder's black outfit with red and white during the jubilee concert last night? Even his glasses were black with what looked like red bats on the side.

Here's the only picture I could find (sourced from the Liverpool Echo website) where you can barely see the red bat. If you're in the UK, you can watch it on BBC iplayer.

So this is my second post for the Red and Black Week. I've decided to show one of my favourite tops.

This isn't a fashion blog and I'm afraid my sense of style doesn't match up to the great outfits I've seen while browsing the other blogs partaking in Sophistique Noir's event. This is just to show you the top.

I bought the bookworm top online from pindippy, a website of web series and 'stuff' run by Jessie Cave who is better known as Lavender from the Harry Potter films. It describes me perfectly, as you can see a little in the background. (There's also two rows of dvds but space is tight) It has a lovely feel, is ethically made according to the label, and as it's one-size fits all I didn't have the usual 'will it be the right size?' worry when ordering it.

Red and Black Week

I came across a post for Red and Black week on Stripy Tights and Dark Delights and thought I'd add my own contribution to the week-long event organised and led by Sophistique Noir.

So on a book-themed blog, what better way to pay homage to this lovely combination of colours than a red and black bookshelf. I own over 300 books, but in order not to subject you to an entire shelf of Stephenie Meyer whose covers are among my favourites due to their striking nature (a couple of her books still made it onto the shelf; one of them is the french version of Twilight) I hunted around for a variety.

I've included a photo below  in which most of the books are a little clearer; blame the unusually sunny weather here in Wales for the glare. I may pop down to the beach in a little while.

(The little red book is the Harry Potter book: Fantastic beasts and where to find them, and the slanted book is Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book)

Are any of these books on your shelf?

Delain and unpacking

My room (and my brother's room which I'm using at extra storage space while it's empty) look like a bomb has hit them. I'm moved back from uni at the weekend, and somehow the wardrobes and drawers are already too full.

On the plus side, while searching for the envelope I need to hand my old house's keys in tomorrow I found my £10 voucher for Waterstones; another excuse to buy some more books, not that I often need one.

Saying that, I've managed to buy 10 books and two magazines over the past few days, I'll post a picture after I get back from my two day trip to uni.

In yesterday's song, the band's name is actually related to books. Delain is the name of a realm in Stephen King's series "The Dark Towers", and "The Eyes of the Dragon" is set entirely within Delain. I'll confess to not having read a Stephen King book yet; it's on my to-read list. I'd quite like to complete the challenge of reading all my already-bought unread books first.

Eurovision!

I love watching Eurovision each year. Usually I'll print off a scorecard to rank the countries, and then settle down for a three hour marathon of silliness and the odd catchy song.

Sweden definitely deserved to win. I loved the song, Euphoria by Loreen, yet the dancing is bizarre; it seems to be interpretation but only vaguely ties in with the lyrics. Check out the 'crab steps' at 0:55.

But wait.....this post has a link to books. Cyprus had a europop catchy song titled La La Love, sung by Ivi Adamou; not the best vocals but not the worst song on the night. And....... they are dancing on a table made out of books. Now I can't work out how this is relevant to the song apart from the backing dancers whose clothing may be based on school outfits. But here's the song for your enjoyment anyway (or not depending on your musical tastes).

Who was your favourite?

What I'm reading....

As far as predators go, I find Red Kites quite cool.

My university isn't far from a Red Kite feeding station, so last weekend as a revision break I went down to the site with my Mum. They feed the birds in the afternoon to encourage natural hunting in the morning, and there was a cafe (no trip is complete without something sugary and a cup of tea - in this case: cream tea)

Until about 30 years ago this beautiful bird was almost extinct, and it was fascinating to watch as many as 50 of the birds performing acrobatics in order to get some meat.

The book covers a brief history of Red Kites, their plumage, where you can find them, what they eat and some lovely pictures of the book. If you ever want to find out more about them, I'd recommend this book.