Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

So sue me, I'm in the mood for Doctor Who / Torchwood related trivia, photos, spoilers, screencaps and set shots... My Good Friend Google provided me with lots of interesting stuff today !!! I'm not much for baking myself these days, however that's mostly because my baking tends to be random, strange and definitely not something I need to expose others too... Ever tried making a peanutbutter-and-honey cake? No? Well, I have. Start with your basic chocolate cake recipe, change it so you don't recognise the original any more, pop it in the oven and enjoy... Or try a couscous, honey and pine nut stuffing inside Moroccan bread... Actually, should try that again some time, I really enjoyed that particular recipe. Anyway, back on topic, here are some cool links to awesome Doctor Who cakes and cake-baking websites: Check out this recipe for a Tardis cake at Do It Myself... Awesome pics! Cool Doctor Who cakes at Cake Wrecks - Love the Tom Baker tribute! Also very...

Source : The Pandorica Opens , Tardis Data Core I love the work of Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. I also love, love, love Doctor Who. Combine the two, and you have what is one my most favourite paintings in the world right now... A van Gogh style rendering of the Tardis exploding. How cool is that ??? !!! ??? !!! As I've got tomorrow off, I figured I deserved some quality time with my good friend Google. Had a proper geek-happy moment on visiting the pages below showing van Gogh versions of superhero / sci-fi / modern culture images. Check out: Van Gogh, les parodies et les geeks at La Boite Verte Gotham Starry Night And Other Van Gogh Parodies at Popped Culture

With the 2011 Rugby World Cup final approaching, every self-respecting Kiwi is finding excuses to wear black... Lots of black. While I'm not usually a girly-girl who cares too much about appearances, even my nails got a make-over and now look amazing... Tried to get a close-up shot of them using my phone, and to have it look vaguely artsy at the same time. Not sure how well that worked out though ;-) Now go back to your lives, remember to dress up in black on Sunday (the winners-to-be are after all called the All Blacks!!!!), and enjoy the big game! And just in case you can't get enough of fancy nails and nail art, check out this link to  Emily's Nail Files - totally awesome blog !!!!!

It's been a long time since I went on a holiday. Well, that's one way of looking at it... One could also say that I'm still on holiday, a holiday that's lasted for almost two years now. Life here in The Netherlands has been good. I really enjoy my job, have some pretty awesome friends, and feel at peace with myself. It's not a glamorous life or a very exciting one just right now, however all things can change! At the moment, my life is simple. Easy. Uncomplicated. Boring even, quite a lot of the time. I will most definitely go stir-crazy if I have to live this life for another two years, however for these past two years, it's been what I needed. Living a simple and easy life has allowed me to get settled in, it's allowed me to save up, it's allowed me to get a job and make friends and figure out what I want without a whole lot of stress. And now I'm going on holiday. I'm going back to New Zealand. I'm excited and looking forward...

Being grateful. Sometimes it sounds very easy, at other times it sounds quite hard. When life seems to be going well, being grateful feels easy. We love our job, enjoy spending time with friends, attend interesting courses, we're fit and healthy - whatever makes us feel happy, satisfied and content, those are all things to feel grateful for. When life throws you curve balls and making ends meet or staying sane feels impossible, being grateful can seem pointless or futile. Life sucks - why should I be grateful for that? Yet even in the face of disappointment, curve balls, stress, grief, loss or hardship, we are alive and able to think about whatever may be happening in our lives. We are able to examine our lives, to look at what is happening and to find ways to get through whatever it is we're going through. One of the many perks of the way our minds work! Focusing only (or mostly) on negative thoughts, feelings and emotions like Life sucks / I'm a failure / Nobody love...

I've been busy. Both in real-life and in the online world. How busy I've been online over the years shows itself in the amazing amount of emails I receive about Friend Requests, New Posts, Great Offers, New Games and more. The thing is - these aren't spam emails, they're newsletters / updates from websites and social networking sites I've subscribed to over the years. So, I've started a huge clean-up action. I plan to keep lots of online community subscriptions - Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Goodreads, Youtube and Google are the keepers, off the top of my head. Thing is, these are websites / communities I actually use. Some of the ones I no longer use are Hyves, Yahoo, Bebo, MySpace, and several others I can't even remember the names of, just that I un-subscribed from them yesterday. One inspiration for doing this was Googling my name and coming up with a whole list of hits that weren't about me but someone with my exact same name. Not that strange...

Following on from the last post, I did some Google research. Normally, I´d research before writing - something left over from my days as a university student no doubt, however today, I wanted to write first and research later. Something about not spoiling the sense of wonder I felt when first reading the article with lots of statistics! Check out this post from the website of the Smithsonian on Gobekli Tepe for some more information. And yes - it´s an awesome website too, and one I´ll hopefully be visiting lots more in the future!

So I haven't written a blog post in a couple of days. Mostly as I've been spending all my spare time watching Battlestar Galactica online. I finished the series on Friday. Started on Caprica yesterday and am liking and enjoying it just as much as I liked and enjoyed BSG. The Taurons are portrayed like Italian mobsters from the 30s with their hats, suits, crime syndicate and especially "Little Tauron". Interesting to see that, coupled with futuristic-ish equipment and environments, yet the combination somehow still feels right.  Hilarious to see dogs, cats, cars and refrigerators on Caprica that look *exactly* the same as they do in our world. Sure, humans having pets and keeping their food in a place where it won't spoil - logical for sure, however I'd expect things to look just a bit different, really. Star Trek's pet sehlats and targs seem more realistic, somehow. But then, the BSG-verse story is that the remnants of the human race settled on our...

Simply HAD to share this link. Love the "Chakotay", the "Dax" and the "McCoy". Find the Star Trek Dictionary at aaaugh.com  and see what your favourite new definitions are!

OK, I really didn't think it was going to happen. I figured I'd watch a few episodes, recognise a storyline here and there, probably enjoy the show to some degree, watch another episode at some point in the future if I got bored... Take it easy, basically - cruise along. Yet it's happened. I've fallen for another TV series. As of two days ago I am officially a Battlestar Galactica nut. Few years late to the party, but hey... at least now I don't have to wait for a new episode every week; I get to gorge myself on them every chance I get! Halfway through Season 1 as of now, and am totally and absolutely hooked already.

Having just watched Season 4 of Primeval and Season 2 of The Vampire Diaries , I'm now wondering what show to watch next. Doctor Who 's adventures with Amy Pond and Rory are up to date. So is Torchwood . Star Trek Enterprise and Stargate: Atlantis I watch on TV. The X-Files was awesome, but not something I'm keen to watch again right now. I watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles about two months ago, can pretty much dream every episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and Voyager , am up to date on True Blood ... Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are shows I still quote from and know near off by heart. Charmed finished so long ago that I've seen basically every episode at least three times by now. Really, I'm looking to get stuck into a show with plot-lines that develop over an entire season or series - complex and intricate stories that take time to understand. Stand-alone episodes are great, however I'm more of a Big Picture girl. Think ...

I tend to jump from website to website in search of news on my favourite TV shows, without really remembering how I got to a given site. Found this quite awesome guide to seasons 1, 2 and 3 of Doctor Who online and decided I'd share. It's the Doctor Who Guide by Matthew at the Daemons TV website. In short single-paragraph episode descriptions, there's an explanation of where an episode fits in the overall Doctor Who / Torchwood saga and what major things are explained / revealed in it. Not a hugely comprehensive guide by any means, yet still an interesting and valuable one!

Original Plan for today : Do some shopping, head down to the water with my camera, then relax in my backyard enjoying my book and the sunshine. New plan for today : Play games on my computer, spend some time cleaning the house, then chill on the couch with my book and a bag of chips. Conclusion : Dear Wind, while bike-riding, sun-bathing and relaxing outside are always a joy with you around, I would like to remind you that I ordered a "Gentle Wind" for today, not "Near Gale-Force Wind". I want a refund !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week was a lot of things all in one. Hectic, fun, relaxing, enjoyable, busy, quiet, and best of all, it ended really, really well! Watched the second part of two-part TV series Alice last night. I love the story of Alice in Wonderland , found the books to be some of the most amazing I've ever read, and enjoyed this version of the story immensely. Andrew-Lee Potts plays the Hatter in Alice, and seeing this brilliant actor play a lovable clown like the Hatter reminded me of another lovable clown slash geek role of his - that of Connor Temple in Primeval . Realising I hadn't yet seen any Season 4 episodes of Primeval, I browsed the Net and found some very helpful websites :-) Just finished watching Episode 4 of Season 4 and while Primeval's changed again as it does every season, I'm still loving it a lot.The new characters seem interesting, the new sets are amazing, and seeing " Doctor Bashir " (the role Alexander Siddig played on Star Trek: Dee...

There's always lots going on in the world, and thus also lots of things being reported about in the media. The President of the US, Barack Obama, announcing that Osama bin Laden had been killed, well, that was definitely a biggie. I'm still not sure I believe it, to be honest.

To say that I love the beauty of the world we live in would be an understatement. To say I adore it would be taking it too far. To say I am continually awed and amazed by our world, by the beauty of creation, that might be just right. "God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone,  but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars."   ~ Author unknown, commonly attributed to Martin Luther I am awed daily by the majesty and splendour of God's creation. I am moved to give thanks for what I see and hear and smell and feel. I am grateful that I am alive to experience the beauty all around me. And I am very happy to share some of that gratitude through this blog post. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."  ~ Genesis 1:1, 31 "It is We Who have built the universe with (Our creative) power,  and, verily, it is We Who are steadily expanding it."  ~ Adh-Dhariyat (...

Source : Doctor Who Christmas Cards at the BBC website  Awesome picture !!!!! I love the works of Vincent van Gogh and being both a Doctor Who fan and  a Vincent fan, I absolutely loved the Vincent and the Doctor episode (season 5) where Amy and the Doctor paid a visit to Provence to help Vincent fight an alien creature. Simply had to share this picture... Will have to remember where exactly I found it and link to it!

Source: Google

Having already posted a few shots on my blog, I guess saying I take photos of nature and animals is obvious. The only photos I've made so far this month are all at a friend's place - mostly kids playing and pets, which means these are personal photos and not ones I wish to share online. Some photo I would like to share are these: The photo was taken at Vogelpark Avifauna , a bird park in Alphen aan den Rijn here in The Netherlands in August last year. This amazing animal walked right onto the terrace we were sitting at, and while I have to admit I was a bit freaked out - really, how often does the wildlife walk to the table! - it was also amazing to see so many birds up close. Another photo I'd like to share is one I took in my home town. I love being near the water, and have lived near the sea for most of my life. My home town is sadly not near the sea, however it does have lots of water, which means lots of opportunities for photos! This photo was taken in July ...

Unbelievable. As most Dutch people today were enjoying the sunshine and the warm weather, a gunman went on a rampage in a crowded shopping mall and killed several people before shooting himself. At work today, I got a text message about what had happened from a friend who wanted to know if I was okay. We headed straight to one of the computers in our break room to find out what was going on. And were totally shocked. Violence is definitely not unknown in The Netherlands. We're an outspoken bunch and tend to speak before we think our words through. We argue, we fight, we scuffle, however we aren't very prone to simply killing in cold blood. There is also a lot of tension between Dutch people and immigrants, however mostly that's contained to gossip, nasty comments and people simply refusing to take the time to learn to understand each other. Violence like this - a gunman on a rampage - is something I hear about happening in the US, Iraq or Afghanistan; not this close ...

Reading "River Marked", the sixth book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, I came across ley lines. There were several scenes set at the Stonhenge replica by Maryhill in Washington State, which got me thinking about the original Stonehenge, and books I'd read set in the British Isles by authors like Marion Zimmer Bradley, Diana Gabaldon and Manda Scott. Living in Europe now, I could actually take a mini-break and go visit some of the places described in the books I've read. Places like Tintagel, Stonehenge, and for instance locations from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I'm trying to come up with a list of places that I'd really really really like to go to. So far, the list is still a *very* long one and mostly still in the "what if" stage, but still...! Just knowing I can hop on a train or an airplane and see these places, or other amazing places like Berlin and Rome and Paris... It's a pretty wonderful feeling! I've g...

One really cool and unexpected "side effect" of reading Patricia Briggs ' Mercy Thompson books is learning lots of new and interesting things. One of the things I'm learning about is Washington State. I'm currently reading the sixth book in the series, River Marked, and wanted to get a better idea of the area Mercy and Adam went to. Now sure I could take the "short-cut" way of learning more and get my information from the Forum on the website , however doing a Google search tends to come up with lots of interesting info as well. I knew the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer were set somewhere in the US. I'd looked Forks up on a map once, just to get a general idea of what it looked like. What I didn't know was where it was in relation to other places. Such as Canada, state lines, and such. Reading Mercy Thompson meant doing more research into Washington State, and this book, being set mostly away from the Tri-Cities, meant checking out more ma...

I've been reading the first few books in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs these past few days. Some of the things talked about like vampires, werewolves and fae I have a pretty good understanding of through folk tales, fiction books, movies and TV series. Other things, I'm learning lots about! Some of the things I'm learning about are now also things I've Googled. What does a coyote look like exactly, or a VW Rabbit, and oh yeah - how about a map of the area the stories are set in?! As I'm looking these things up, I figured why not store the links / photos / descriptions in one easy place. And where better to store something than here, my very own blog! Coyote  First, of course there's Mercy. She's a walker. Something I've never heard of before. Patricia Briggs' website links to a forum (which I just discovered about 10 minutes ago... Oh Bliss !!!) that has a page with lots of info on walkers . Basically - she can shapeshift/...

I´ve just finished reading Twilight´s Dawn , the latest book in Anne Bishop´s Black Jewels series. I was hesitant about reading the book, and especially hesitant about the last story in it, as I knew what it would hold before going into it. However I did not expect to be so captivated and so moved by it. By the whole book, actually. I´ve been a fan of these books for over a decade now (my, how time flies!), and have looked forward to each and every new book that comes out. I read the books as hard copy at least twice a year and listen to the books on my iPod. They make me smile and laugh and grin and cry and think about life and the wonderful world we live in - both the real word around us and the various fantasy worlds created in stories. And this book, while I hoped I would love it, I wasn't completely sure about before starting it.

Happened to visit The Voyager Blog today as I wanted to read a post by Anne Bishop about the world of the Black Jewels post-Twilight's Dawn . I love all of Anne Bishop's books and characters, however have to admit to a real fondness for Surreal and Marian. Jaenelle too is an amazing character, and Lucivar's ways of shoving life into submission are second to none. Well, perhaps Daemonar's when he grows up... Having read the post by Anne Bishop, I had a look around the blog and came across a few stories about books by Traci Harding . Traci is one of my all-time favourite story-tellers and Tory, the heroine from her The Ancient Future series is someone who has really helped shape who I am today. I used to re-read Traci's books every few months (now it's more like every year or so), and would be inspired by Tory time and time again. She's courageous and bold, smart and sassy, knows her way around ancient languages as well as a fighting arena, looks goo...

Just logged on to Twitter, saw Jerusalem was (is) a trending topic. Decided to head straight to Ha'aretz to find the headline story to be: Bomb explodes in central Jerusalem. As tears flooded my eyes reading the article, I just wondered one thing. WHY??? Why do humans feel the need to kill and maim each other to get their point across? Why does violence seem to be the answer and the solution instead of the problem ? Why??? Bomb explodes in central Jerusalem Bomaanslag bij busstation Jeruzalem

Browsing Facebook for anything fun, new and interesting, a post from the Doctor Who Facebook page popped out at me. Following the link, I came to a Radio Times article on Matt Smith doing a movie. Cool for sure and kudos to him, but gimme more Doctor Who news already!!!!! I'm always happy to find a new website with interesting articles and pictures, and The Radio Times did not disappoint. First article that grabbed my attention --> Doctor Who's Karen Gillan on being 'too sexy' Apparently Amy Pond's short skirts are too short, according to some. Seriously???!!! As the actress says herself in the article, "It's what any girl on the street is wearing." And that's exactly right. Take a look around at the local mall or any place teens hang out and short skirts are pretty much everywhere. Stop moaning about Amy's clothes already and start worrying about those cracks in the universe, I say! Personally I find Amy Pond herself a lot more in...

I haven't spent much time in front of my computer since Friday. Instead, I've been spending time in front of my TV watching the news and the updates on the situation in Japan. It's unbelievable. Just completely unbelievable. Not only do the people of Japan have to deal with the aftermath of an extremely strong earthquake, there's also a tsunami, and to top it off fears for a possible nuclear disaster. I'm no stranger to earthquakes, however I'm used to 3, 4, and 5-point quakes on the Richter scale. A quake as huge, as enormous as the one in Japan, with as many aftershocks as there have been, that quite frankly scares the crap out of me. The feeling you get when the ground you stand on starts rumbling and shaking, that feeling of utter insignificance and smallness, that feeling is incredibly humbling. It is also incredibly scary. My first big earthquake was a life-changing experience. It really made me realise (even more than before) how small and insi...

Saw a falling star last night around 9pm. At first wondered if maybe it was an airplane crashing or something, coz it was so bright. Checked the local stations and no reports of crashes, so I'm glad I made a wish! Checked Twitter and am not the only one who saw it... Now just wonder how/where it 'landed'. Gisteravond rond negenen een vallende ster gezien. Dacht eerst dat het een neerstortend vliegtuig was ofzo, omdat het zo fel was en zo dichtbij leek. Heb vaker vallende sterren gezien, maar nooit zo dicht bij! Ziehier nieuws berichtje van RTV Noordoost-Friesland: zondag 20 februari 2011 DOKKUM - Verschillende mensen hebben zondag omstreeks 21.00 uur een vallende ster in de buurt van Dokkum gezien. De nieuwsredactie van RTV NOF kreeg diverse meldingen binnen van het gebeuren. Er werd melding gemaakt van een heldere meteoor, die boven Nederland te zien zou zijn. De vallende ster verscheen om ongeveer 21.05 uur en duurde een seconde of vijf. Er was een nalichtend s...

What's the deal with people who follow you on Twitter and then unfollow you almost straight away? I'll get an email that such and such has subscribed to my Twitter feed, that they are interested in what I've got to say, in what I'm doing or thinking about, in the photos I share... Yet I click on the link to their profile in the email and where it should say "Follows You", it doesn't say that. Which means people followed my account only to unfollow me again almost straight away. Leaves me to wonder: Why do that? I'm not a celebrity or a famous author or a politician or a well-known journalist or anything of the sort. I'm opinionated and straightforward and not afraid to speak up, however that's not unique to me. I speak two languages, call two countries home, enjoy being a citizen of the world, enjoy knowing what it's like to have lived elsewhere, to have experienced life in different countries. Also not unique. I am interested in the wo...

A few days ago I left work with a half-full cup of hot chocolate. Managed to walk a few metres incident-free, then tried drinking and walking at the same time... and of course managed to get a mouthful of hot choc all over my coat! It was dark outside, there was pretty much no-one around. I laughed at myself and just for a 'caught up in a funny memory' moment, had a huge smile on my face imagining what one of my best friends would say about my choc-covered coat. I could hear his voice so clearly, could see the half mocking smile as he'd hand me a tissue to clean my coat. Just for a sec, I was totally convinced we were meeting up after work, just as we used to do. The thing is, he lives on the other side of the world. I haven't seen him in person in over a year. We still talk online, however it's not the same as laughing and joking in person. And yet, as I spilled that mouthful of hot chocolate on my coat I was completely convinced I'd be showing him my coat an...

I'm not usually one to add videos to my blog, I'm more a pictures / photos kinda girl. However, I just HAD TO post a link to this awesome band. Check out Bring Me Home by Square Attic!

I'm looking to buy a new phone. Have been looking around - online, in shops, at phones my friends have. I've pretty much narrowed it down to a list of four. So now what? Ask the nice people at the shop if I can pretty please try each one out for a week?! Fat chance. Still, if only! Guess it's back to asking friends if I can pretty please play with their phones for a minute. Ok wow - that sounds rather dodgy... I'm currently looking at the Nokia N8, the iPhone, the HTC Desire HD and the Samsung Galaxy S. Being female (or just me!), I love pretty colours and pictures. The HTC has the prettiest colours. And NO - I refuse to base an important choice on pretty colours. So, it comes down to statistics. Every cellphone I've ever had was simple, easy and straightforward. It calls, it sends txts and it might even take simple photos. No internet, no eBooks on it (which is what makes some of these phones sound so awesome !!!!!), no music, no Twitter or Facebook or che...

I picked up my very first Marion Zimmer Bradley book about 14 years ago. The Mists of Avalon was an eye-opener for me, and since my first experience of MZB's amazing story-telling abilities, I've made sure to pick up a book written by her at least once a year. Whether she writes about Avalon, Atlantis, Darkover or Truth Jourdemayne's America - I am fascinated, inspired, and awed. I write down quotes from the books, look up more information about things written about in the books, and find myself adding places from the books to my "Places I want to visit" list. Each and every time I read a book by MZB I love it and finish the final page with a feeling of intense pleasure, yet also with deep regret that the story doesn't go on and on and on.

Some photos from last month. Haven't been out with my camera yet this month as I've been working lots of extra hours, however will attempt to brave the cold and the crazy weather and snap some new shots! This is - as one can see - a tree.   I love the way this building looks, as I love the huge glass front. I absolutely love how this picture came out.