The tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth!

Grace Dental Clinic - My Chiang Mai Dentist

As a child, my deciduous teeth were very attached to me, so much so that my dentist (Dr. B) had to remove them as and when the new ones started to come through. When I was 15, I somehow developed an abscess (I've always been very particular about my oral hygiene, so I can only put it down to the fact that my mother had a habit of repeatedly hitting me in the face, and all that trauma created a weak spot), and so I took myself off to see the dentist.  Dr. B was on holiday, and instead, I was seen by his locum, who as it turned out, was quite the worst dentist I've ever had dealings with.

Review: The Artist Residence Hotel, Brighton

Last Tuesday Kevin and I headed off to Brighton for the Develop conference. It was Kevin's turn to book the hotel for our overnight stay, and as usual, he opted for the quirky choice; The Artist Residence, on Regency Square.

The girl at reception was welcoming but didn't know we'd paid in full up front; she couldn't find any record of our payment! Fortunately she eventually came across it!

The room, whilst looking fun and funky, was exceptionally small, particularly the bed, which was described as a double but was in fact tiny. In addition, it was very uncomfortable and there was only one thin pillow each. No extra bedding was provided.

It was a very warm night but we couldn't have the window open, due to the noise of drunken revellers outside. That and the fact that the other hotel guests were incredibly noisy; slamming doors, very loud voices etc. and one even vomiting very loudly meant we got less than an hour's sleep. This wouldn't be so bad if we weren't at a conference and in meetings the next day.

Breakfast was rather lacking; a cold croissant (with no preserves or butter), bottle of room-temperature water, a small apple and a Nutrigrain bar (which I'm not sure even counts as food!), left in a bag outside the bedroom door. I have no problem with the casual attitude of breakfast-in-a-bag but in all honesty, I have stayed in far better hotels where I've paid less per night, and had a full English breakfast plus yoghurt, fruit, pastries, cereal and toast!

We would have liked to sit out on the balcony to eat our breakfast; unfortunately, the scaffold planks were very wobbly and didn't seem very safe, and the chairs were covered in bird guano! I don't think they'd ever been cleaned, especially as there was a large pile of droppings to the left of the balcony - clearly below a favoured roosting spot!

The advertised WiFi didn't work. We had to ask for the passkey as it was not volunteered; unfortunately it only connected us to the WLAN, not the internet, so we had to go out to a café in The Lanes in order to check our work emails!

We didn't have much time to watch TV, which was just as well because there was no reception, other than Film4! I would however, have been grateful for it in the small hours when I was being kept awake. Thank goodness for my laptop and BBC iPlayer!

Perhaps most disturbing of all was the lack of smoke alarm in our room. I say lack - there had been a smoke alarm once; however, when we were there, all that remained was the plastic base plate screwed to the ceiling, with a few bare wires dangling from it. I'm pretty sure the hotel was breaking the law by not having a working smoke alarm in the room.

The one really positive element was the shower! Granted the en-suite was quirkily bijou (it was in a cupboard) but the shower itself was wonderful. Very powerful, and the water very soft. A real pleasure to use.... even if the cubicle could have done with being a bit larger! Nice complementary products too (Bee Kind).

To sum up; in principle, I love the quirkiness of The Artist Residence but in practice I found it to be poor value and very uncomfortable. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone wishing to get a good night's sleep, or requiring a decent breakfast.

The table was really sweet - shame all the bird poo prevented us using it!

My laptop bag, which is 18" wide, is there for scale - the bed is tiny!

This cupboard houses the shower cubicle, washbasin and loo! You can actually just see the loo if you look toward the bottom panel of the right-hand door!

Star Trek XI

SPOILER ALERT: Whilst there aren't many, there are a couple...you have been warned!

Although I wasn't expecting anything dire, I really wasn't prepared for the absolute brilliance of it all. Not only was it well-written and wonderfully directed, but the casting was top-notch too. Quinto & Pine have Nimoy & Shatner's nuances and mannerisms down to a tee. So much so, that it really was as though we were watching their younger selves! Even down to McCoy's sniping at Spock! Plus, the humour was very natural - it certainly felt more like the originals than the oft-forced banter of later Treks. The chemistry was definitely there!

I thought it was very well-paced too; there were no "Skip to the end" moments ('Spaced' fans will understand this!), no slowing down, no boring bits. It was relentless...but in a strangely relaxing kind of way!

I suspect the bit with Scotty materialising inside the tube was a nod to the the Scotty TNG episode. Also, Deep Roy had a cameo (I saw him briefly on the bridge of the Enterprise), so maybe that was an explanation for the Willy Wonka-ness of the scene. Simon Pegg was genius (we gave a little cheer when he finally appeared on screen!), and I suspect that he enjoyed playing the part just as much as we loved watching him. I also loved all the little homages to earlier Trek (Orion slave girl as a cadet, banging head on overhead beam, Delta Vega, ubiquitous hairy monster fight...although I did think it was going to get kicked in its knees!), and I loved the other sci-fi references too - particularly Cadet Vader, and one gribbly being swallowed by an even bigger one! They were a really nice touch, and a definite geeky crowd-pleaser! Apparently there were some Lost references there too but since I've never seen the show, they were....well, lost on me!

Visually, the film was stunning. It wasn't just a case of excellent SFX - although they were pretty darn fab - but more one of brilliant design and crisp contrasts. I absolutely loved the drab harshness of the Narada in comparison to the almost sterile environment of Spock's ship. The Romulans were pretty cool too actually, and it was great that they were gnarled and hard-bitten miners as opposed to the shoulder pads and psuedo-Vulcan hairstyles of TNG. For that alone, I think Nemesis did a good job! The tattoos were brilliant as well! I like tattoos! The Enterprise too, looked amazing - you really got a sense of scale and magnificence that I don't think has ever really been present before. I have to admit to getting a little goosebumpy!

I also really liked that the classic uniforms were kept. Yes the fabrics may be 21st century (and I'm glad they ditched the ric-rac braid!) but the style and the colours were faithful...and very cool! And it's great to see that a red shirt still means you're going to get bashed up (and certainly don't ever wear a scarlet skydiving suit!)!

All in all, a thumpingly good film; well written, well acted, well directed. A finely crafted piece of sci-fi....and a jolly good romp around the galaxy to boot!

As for Bones – definitely swoonworthy! He was my favourite character from TOS (and The Doctor is my favourite from Voyager too!); it was great that Karl Urban managed to recreate that curmudgeonly attitude so well. And I am sooooo pleased we got a "Dammit, I'm a doctor not a physicist" line! Of course, it would have been good to have a "She cannae take it Cap'n" from Scotty but I suspect that's something for another time! Apparently the next one is already in progress! Yay!

I heard on Friday from someone in the know that the SE DVD will be an extended version, with over an hour of restored deleted scenes, including, I presume, the sex scene between Kirk and Uhura.

I think there is every probability that I shall have to see it at least twice more at the cinema!

Defiance...

Last night we went to see Defiance. It wasn't bad - not a great film but certainly not a bad one. Daniel Craig, despite being stubbly, scruffy and largely dirty (and not in a good way!), was still gorgeous - he was the highlight of the film! Great to see him actually acting again too...although I have absolutely no objection to his eye-candyness of James Bond (aesthetically, I still prefer Mr Brosnan though).

Two things which struck me about the film; the sense of doom - no matter where they ran to, they would always be hunted. How on earth do you manage to keep up morale in that kind of situation? I suppose given that they didn't actually know how long the war would last, they just hoped that tomorrow it would all be over. Even so, it was surely unutterably grim. I don't think the film really conveyed just how awful it must have been.

Secondly, the film conveniently neglected to mention anything about what happened to them between 1944 and the end of the war. If it's OK to show that the Nazis slaughtered Jews, why is it not OK to show the same regarding the Russians? OK, it may not have been the wholesale slaughter of the Nazis but we know that once the Russians gained control of Belarus, many Jews returned home and were promptly murdered by the Russians who'd taken over their homes, farms and factories, so why not say so in the epilogue? Instead, it was all happy happy, nice nice. Sure, for some there was a happy ending but for others it was completely tragic. I do think that if film makers feel the need to inform through their storytelling, then they should do it properly, and not be so keen to turn a selective blind eye. Surely in doing so, it devalues to some extent, the magnitude of these people's travails?

On a happier note, I am feeling justifiably pleased with my own defiance in the face of demon Minstrels! No, not some hellish fiddlers forcing me to dance unceasingly on the Sabbath, but those of the rather more chocolatey variety! Previously, our cinematic experiences have always included a pot of Minstrels and a large cup of Diet Coke (with no ice, for certain they are the Devil's lumps!).

Not last night though. Oh no, I planned ahead!

I knew my resolve would probably not be enough to tell me that snacking at the cinema was just a psychological habit, and that I didn't actually need anything to eat; aware of this, I made myself some baked vegetable crisps (recipe to follow), and took along a banana and a bottle of water. As yummy as they were (and believe me they were), I didn't even eat half of the crisps! But even better, Kevin had a pot of Minstrels (he didn't munch his way through all of them, I hasten to add), and I wasn't even tempted. In fact, I can honestly say I didn't so much as think about it!