We’ve got about the best internet connection you can have short of fibre optic cabling, which is just awesome. It makes you not consider just how much you’re downloading, because usually it’s so damn fast. We do go through a UK ISP, however we don’t use BT or one of the bigger companies. I think that’s why we pay less, because our company is smaller and therefore has to use a cheaper price as a draw card.

We don’t have one of those business broadband and ADSL lease lines, though it’s pretty much the same in terms of download, just slower upload. We also use a VoIP service so our phone works through our modem, which I’ve always liked, but you do have to be aware that in case of power outage it won’t work. A lot of businesses are setting up their telephones online now days, but even with the higher demand it’s still much cheaper than regular phone lines. I have to say, though, I want a fancier phone, ours is still bugging me with it’s ultra quiet ring volume. One of these digital dect cordless phones would do the trick, I think.

Anyway, back to what I’d wanted to talk about in the first place! We’ve recently been buying movies online and downloading them, iTunes and another site offer this for good prices, and it’s always so tempting because you can set it up and a few hours later you’ve got a bunch of movies! Without having to go anywhere! I also like that you can get HD films like this. We have a download limit of 50 gig per month, and we’ve got about 1 gig left for the rest of the month! That’s ten days! Oh noes… @_@ Hehehe

Okay now for a knitting pattern. This is just a cute little Christmas Tree Ornament that would be a good stash buster, which is always handy!

Firstly, the one most imminent. I am really, really, looking forward to the new Pixar movie, Up. This just looks like such a sweet film, and I have always liked anything that Pixar has brought to the big screen. I like the grumpy old man character, and I love the ‘Follow your dreams’ message the film seems to be promoting. I’m really excited that this one is out this year, though we have to wait until October before it hits our shores.

Next up, Alice in Wonderland, a new Disney film directed by Tim Burton. Alice in Wonderland is such an interesting story, so rich should one want to pull it apart to gain greater understanding, or simply read/watch it superficially. In this case, I think there will be a certain kookiness to it that hasn’t been depicted in quite the same way before. Burton lends himself well to the eerie, and sometimes the macabre, and whilst I hope the latter isn’t present in this film, I’m nearly certain there will be bucket loads of the former! The casting choices have made this film a stand out one to see for me, I think Jonny Depp as the Mad Hatter will be great – though if I hadn’t seen his rendition of Willy Wonka, I wouldn’t have thought that at all – and Helena Bonam Carter will be fantastic as the Red Queen/Queen of Hearts… Apparently they are increasing the size of her head by three times for the film, I think that will be great! They have also cast Mat Lucas as both Tweedles and I think that is going to be absolutely hilarious! More great British talent has been case in Steven Fry as the Cheshire Cat, which I think will play out marvellously, and Christopher Lee has been cast as the Jabberwock which I’m guessing is going to be absolutely amazing! Here’s a link to the character screens released so far, their is definitely a very strong idea of what the film is going to be like shown here, and I think that it’s great. The release date is March 5 next year.

Lastly, I’m really excited about the up comming Hobbit film. I’m so excited to see how this book comes to life over two films! Guillermo del Toro is set to direct, and if he manages to capture the wonder and emotional intensity of Pan’s Labyrinth with the wonderful content of The Hobbit, then this film is set to be one of my all time favourites! Casting hasn’t been announced for Bilbo himself, but Gandalf, Golum, and Elrond are all set to return. I’m so glad that Gandalf especially is going to reprise his roll, because… He’s Gandalf! We can expect these films in December next year and the year after.

For today’s patterns, I think something inspired by Alice in Wonderland, these gloves, and something inspired by The Hobbit, these amazingly cute Hobbit feet baby booties. I’m thinking of scaling up the pattern and making these for myself!