Studio Ghibli and their wonderful animations...

I have to tell you about a wonderful animation (or anime) creator named 'Studio Ghibli'. You may have heard of them, but I just find their anime films so amazing. A new one is coming to the Cinema - 'Arrietty'. I think it is the first time one of their creations is on the big screen. The first one I saw was on Film4 and is called 'Castle in the Sky' and it is just so atmospheric. It really shows the difference (huge difference) between 'cartoons' and 'anime' films. Did you know that one of their more recent creations, 'Spirited Away', is the highest grossing film in the Japan ever? I didn't. And yet it still does not have the amount of limelight it deserves. Well, until now, perhaps.

I would definitely urge you to watch one of their creations. Right now I am watching the anime that started off Studio Ghibli - 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'. I guess these animes go hand in hand with my love of nature. It must be true, otherwise I wouldn't feel so attached to them. 'Nausicaa' was made in 1984 and it begins with a lonely peaceful village (Valley of the Wind) which is invaded by a big army (Tolmekians),  who want to unleash one of the Great Warriors from his embryonic cell who were responsible for the apocalypse a thousand years ago. Why? To destroy the giant insects that have thrived in the so-called Poisonous Jungle, made so by the pollution caused by mankind. The embryo was found in the village of Pejite, but the Tolmekians with their superior firearms and tanks, invaded and stole it from them. The protagonist is Princess Nausicaa, a much loved young girl who lives to protect the insects and their habitat. It is really creative and thoughtful, and most of all, it is so beleivable. It is like a different world already crafted, and all you have to do is immerse yourself in it.

If you're interested (I really hope so), watch the original with the subtitles. The Western remake has absolutely no character (1980). If you really hate reading subtitles though, there is a newer one made in 2005 which is totally uncut and simply re-dubbed. I'd love to know what you made of it, and if any people out there are as much into it as I am.

Growing vegetables...

I'd like to say a few words about my veggie plants - actually, there are only two: chillies and cherry tomatoes. I have strawberries growing but their season has ended so they look like a bunch of weeds at the moment. My chillie plants are really doing well, they've had the sunshine, had the warmth, had the good compost from the growbag, and now there are about ... I'd say 25 to 35 each plant, ranging from big fat ones to little baby ones just emerging. So 3 plants = 75-100. Wow. I also have another Scotch Bonnet chillie plant with many on it (30-40). Looks like I better start learning how to make curries! As for my tomatoes, I have 6 cherry tomato plants which I only realised several months ago you had to chop off their growing stems (I like the phrase 'behead') as nicely or as brutally as you want. So now they are really ripening, having swelled up to be the size of a ... we won't go there. Table-tennis ball, yes, that type of ball. I have around 100 I think, and I've already picked 10-20.

OK, enough of my wonderful gardening successes. I am here, quite simply, to help YOU grow something. I totally failed growing courgettes (they don't seem to like growbags) perhaps because their roots got way too damp down there (sorry, courgies) so I chucked 'em in the river (sorry, courgies). They're all dead now. So, if I would recommend a veggie plant to be grown preferably outside on a balcony that gets at least 3-4 hours of good sunlight in the Spring/Summer (May to August) per day it would be these two. Tomatoes thrive in grow bags, but you must must water them. Leave a comment if you want more good honest advice.

In the past, I have successfully grown runner beans (massimo crop), French beans (tasty), peas (sweet), Brussell sprouts (cute little mini-cabbages), onions (bees and wasps LOVE their flowers), garlic and rhubarb. They were all grown at my previous home in Devon in a fairly small patch at the back which was elevated and did not receive much sunlight. Lots of snails and slugs came, ate pellets, and sort-of fizzed to death (sorry to put it so dramatically, I hope I haven't caused any tears), but many also evaded them and munched on my peas. I threw so many pellets that they started to get mouldy. Still the pests invaded. That's life I guess.

My next post will be on... well, it could be anything. I watch the news, and I have views!

Me, swans.

Hi everyone! I am from the UK, and my hobbies are badminton, running, reading and best of all, singing and playing the piano. I also like Ralph Lauren clothes. I will be studying Law at the University of Southampton shortly, i.e. October, and we'll see how that goes. As for now, well, I'm not sure what I'm going to write about in this blog, it depends what life throws at me. OK, for starters, lets talk about the swans that paddle and waddle around the river behind my house. All of them white swans, except for one black one that's a different species and has a very red beak. He's a newbie and I have no idea where he came from. Among the swans is one particularly angry one who always has his wings tensed up and feathers out, and as soon as the others gather outside for some nice tasty bread, he comes with his neck tucked deep into his chest and chases them away. Why is he like that? I have absolutely no idea. He has pecked many a swan. Actually, pecked is not the right word. He has attempted to murder many a swan.Yep, he gets his beak and clamps it around any part of any other swan he can reach, after initiating Turbo-mode and doing a nought-to-'got ya!' in about half a second. He has also attacked ducks. Once he caught a duck and threw it about half a metre in the air. It's all true. Might upload some pictures of this homicidal maniac swan. He's crazy. I have to throw bread as a decoy so the other innocent ones can escape! Well that's all for now, I will update you should anything drastic happen. Watch this space :)