Did you know?

Every morning, on my way to campus, I pass a sign for “Mrs. Mac’s Famous Meat Pies.” This sign, without fail, leads me eventually to think about “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” and how I really want to read it again. I know that seems like an odd connection to make, but let me explain how my mind gets itself there:

Seeing the sign for “famous meat pies” makes me think of “Sweeney Todd” and Mrs. Lovett’s meat pies. (I actually said this once to Jamie and Andrea, making a joke about Mrs. Mac using the same sort of “meat” as Mrs. Lovett, but either neither of them have seen “Sweeney Todd,” or they both didn’t think it was funny, because they didn’t laugh. Oh well.) Thinking about Mrs. Lovett makes me think of Helena Bonham Carter, who played Mrs. Lovett in the recent movie. (Which then momentarily makes me think of how pregnant she was in that film, but that’s really neither here nor there). I then think about how Helena Bonham Carter plays Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter movies (and does so very well, I might add). Thinking about Bellatrix makes me think of her demise in “Deathly Hallows” by Mrs. Weasley’s wand, which makes me really want to read the book again. And so we go from meat pies to Harry Potter.

In my defense, I only read the last book once, and I really wanted to read it again. But I just never found time. Perhaps I’ll have to pick up a copy here and make it my travel reading on the way to Australia next month. I’ve seen it in bookshops, and not only is it not too expensive, but, in paperback, it’s a lot thinner than I would have imagined.

I suppose I have quite a few similar random things I could prattle on about now. Should I? Perhaps not. But I will anyway.

Some more amusing TV ads:

Picture this: A gorilla is centered on your TV screen. The opening strains of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” drift in, as the gorilla blinks and stretches its neck. The song begins, and you have no idea what this ad is about, or if it’s even an ad for anything. The gorilla sits there until right before the drums enter into the song. Then, the camera pans back to reveal the gorilla sitting behind a drum set. A drum set it proceeds to play along with the Phil Collins song. What’s the ad for? Cadbury chocolate, of course. A minute and a half ad for chocolate in which chocolate is never pictured, but a gorilla plays the drums. I’ll leave you to figure that one out on your own. I’m told that particular Phil Collins song is now back on the charts here in New Zealand. Go figure.

You can see it on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKdQC-hbY7k

Okay, now this one: A woman in a sexy dress is in front of a pedestal sink and mirror, pulling her hair back, when a man (perhaps a husband? or at least a lover of some sort) walks up behind her and takes her hand. She turns around, and they start making out. The man lifts the woman up so that she’s sitting on the edge of the pedestal sink. But suddenly they both fall over, and sprawl out on the floor. The camera pulls back to show the pedestal part of the sink to be all rubbery and bent over – deflated, if you will. The camera then focuses on the man, who is curled into a near-fetal position on the floor. Text comes up that reads: It’s better when it’s hard. And it’s an ad for Viagra. Ha! I love it.

I’ve been learning more kiwi-isms in the past few days, too. I’ll add them all them to my previous list, but there are a few I’d like to point out:

Tina refers to eating a meal as “having a feed,” which I find both slightly awkward and brilliant at the same time.

Also, apparently they don’t use the word “period” here to describe that little dot at the end of a complete sentence. They call it a “full stop,” and tell you you’re crazy if you say anything different. Dani even called it “disgusting” when I referred to it as a period. It’s strange, because I had no idea that wasn’t a standard part of grammar. Like, you know, the comma. Why don’t they have a special word for comma? This is quite confusing to me. And whenever I think of calling it a “full stop,” the only thing I can think of is that scene in “The Sound of Music” when Liesel and Friedrick are “writing” telegrams to each other before they dance/sing in the rain. “Dear Friedrick. Stop.” Except the stop is actually the period, or “full stop.” Which, I suppose thinking of it in that way, actually makes perfect sense. Huh.