The Active Scrawler

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Movies not to show a pregnant woman

Alien series

Species

They Came From Within

Inseminoid

The Black Cat (1934)

Demon Seed

Abraxas: Guardian Of The Universe

Breeders

The Unborn

It's Alive

Rosemary’s Baby

The Omen

Inside

Grace

The Brood

Dead Alive

Dumpster Baby

The Baby (1973)

Hanger

The Abortion

The Cradle

Imprint

Dumplings

Fortress

Monday, June 17, 2013

Rosy's scrawled manga recommendation: Say I Love You by Kanae Hazuki

Say I Love You
Kanae Hazuki

Blurb
Mei Tachibana has spent her 16 years without making either boyfriend or friends. One day, she injures a popular boy in school, Yamato Kurosawa, because of a misunderstanding but for some reason it seems that he takes a liking to her and one-sidedly claims that they’re friends. Furthermore, he not only protects Mei from a stalker, he does it with a kiss…?!

Alternative names
Suki tte Ii Na Yo
Say I Love You
Suki-tte Ii na yo

Status
Ongoing

Manga reader sites (free)
Manga Reader, Manga Fox

Rosy's scrawlings on Say I Love You
Mei is a young girl who's been bullied and used as a scapegoat for so long she no longer trusts anyone, particularly of her own age, to see or deal with her like a fellow human being. She expects betrayal and to be hurt by others if she tries to connect so she doesn't try at all, in order to avoid the pain. Because of this she is so lonely she can't even feel loneliness properly and believes she is fine. All this begins to change though, when she accidentally kicks Yamato Kurosawa for flicking up her skirt when in fact it was his friend who'd done the deed. Instead of getting angry Yamato, the most popular guy at the school, becomes intrigued by Mei and begins to try to woo her, with many a halting start.
The romance of Say I Love You is slow and sweet, focusing on Mei's personal growth and recovery and on Yamato as he learns how to treat someone so withdrawn. There's the occasional rival for either Mei or Yamato's attention and both struggle to accept that the other could be taken from them. There's also a fair few of the school's girls who disagree with the match, attacking Mei for one reason or another while trying to convince Yamato that he's just fallen under Mei's spell or made the wrong choice. The romance is one very much like most first loves, complete with the awkwardness, but Yamato does have enough experience to be able to be a kind, knowledgeable partner. Overall, the story doesn't explore new territory but Mei and Yamato's romance is captivating enough to have you reading on, wanting to see the pair and their love mature. The story is gentle and shows both the kind and nasty sides of people, their judgements as well as the impact of group judgements and peer pressure.
The art of Say I Love You is simplistic and focused mainly on the characters and their expressions. The style isn't unique but the images are well drawn and pleasing to the eye just as the flow of the story is slow and sweet. There's a carefulness used to create the expressions that allows you further insight into the characters. The upshot is, that while there are several standard elements to the story and the art the mood, the story's progression and the characters create a warmth that make this manga lovely to read.

I'd recommend this manga to: women who love gentle romance stories, those who like school settings and misfit characters. Perfect as a lazy weekend read.

Notes on manga reader sites
The quality of manga readers can vary. The uploads are often done cheaply or as a serious hobby by a collective. Be aware that sometimes licence hasn't been given but the sites noted above, Manga Fox in particular, are extremely careful about adding and pulling mangas according to license agreements. So you shouldn't have to worry too much about the material being pirated. There are also translated works and non-translated. Amongst the translated works you will find that the quality of translation may vary according to the skills of the translators. Usually the works are perfectly readable anyway, with only a few added or dropped words or a word in the incorrect tense or with/out plurals. But sometimes the text becomes gobbledygook. In which case, either seek another version or give up and buy an official copy once a printed translation comes out. The other issue of note is you may need to expand the screen to read the text easily as sometimes the scans are minimised a little.
I find that if a page doesn't download properly or some other issue occurs (too slow or someone ordered the pages incorrectly etc.) with one reader then skipping across to another reader and picking up where I was is quite easy and rarely annoying.
Otherwise, enjoy and watch out you don't get too addicted you forget about the necessary things in life.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Allergy free chocolate sweet potato cake recipe

Ingredients

100g Lindt 70% dark chocolate, chopped
3 tsps Orgran No Egg whisked with 180mls water until thick
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup olive oil
300g sweet potato, peeled, baked until tender and mashed
2 tsps vanilla essence
2 tbsps cocoa, sifted
¾-1 cup coconut flour
1½ tsps baking powder
¼ tsp salt
3 tsps cinnamon or chai powder

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Melt the chocolate gently in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the No Egg, sugar and oil.
Slowly add the cooked potato, melted chocolate and vanilla into the No Egg mixture, beating until just combined.
Add the cocoa, baking soda and salt to the wet ingredients and then slowly fold in the coconut flour a bit at a time.
Gently fold the ingredients together until everything is just combined.
Spray a medium sized bundt pan with olive oil.
Pour in the cake batter and level the top with a spoon.
Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes or until cooked through.
Remove from oven and leave to cool in the pan.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Allergy free Indian sweet potato curry recipe

Ingredients

500g sweet potato, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
700g chicken breast or thigh, each cut into large chunks
1 red onion, sliced into wedges
2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
100ml boiling water
125g spinach leaves, chopped if necessary

Rogan Josh paste

1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1cm fresh ginger, peeled, chopped fine
35g roasted capsicum, chopped
½ tbsp paprika
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tomato puree
½ fresh red chilli, seeded and chopped
½ small bunch fresh coriander, leaves and some stem picked
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp black peppercorns

Method

Prepare all the paste ingredients then puree and/or crush until a paste has formed.
Cook the sweet potato in boiling, salted water for 5-7 minutes or until just tender.
Drain well then set aside.
In a large frying pan or wok, heat the olive oil over a medium to high heat.
Add the chicken and red onion.
Cook until the chicken is browned and cooked through.
Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 minute until fragrant and evenly combined.
Stir through the tomatoes and cook for another minute.
Pour in 100ml boiling water and mix well
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the spinach leaves and cook for 2 minutes until wilted.
Fold in the potatoes and heat through.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Best quotes from Alien for tattooing

Kane: "Quit griping."

Lambert: "I like griping."

Parker: "What are you some kind of parrot?"

Brett: "Right."

Parker: "We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space."

Ash: "You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility."

Ash: "Unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality."

Ash: "I can't lie to you about your chances, but... you have my sympathies."

Ripley: "Come on, cat."

Brett: "This is the worst shit I've ever seen, man."

Ripley: "Listen to me, if we break quarantine, we could all die."

Dallas: "Ripley. This is an order. Do you hear me?"

Ripley: "Yes. I read you. The answer is negative."

Ripley: "Don't worry, Parker, yeah. You'll get whatever's coming to you."

Ash: "Let's try it. I mean most animals retreat from fire, yes?"

Dallas: "Fire, yeah."

Mother: "The ship will automatically destruct in "T" minus five minutes."

Ripley: "You... BITCH!"

Dallas: "Bones are bent outward, like he exploded from inside."

Dallas: "Well, I don't trust anybody."

Ripley: "You are my lucky star. You... Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky."

Brett: "Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Meaow. Here Jonesy."

Ripley: "We'll move in pairs. We'll go step by step and cut off every bulkhead and every vent until we have it cornered. And then we'll blow it the fuck out into space! Is that acceptable to you?"

Parker: "Let's go over the bonus situation. We haven't - Can we just talk about the bonus situation?"

Parker: "I wanna go home and party."

Ripley: "This thing bled acid. Who knows what it's gonna do when it's dead?"

Mother: "Danger. The emergency destruct system is now activated. The ship will detonate in "T" minus ten minutes."

Parker: "So, um, we think we should discuss the bonus situation..."

Dallas: "Drive it into the airlock and zap it into outer space."

Lambert: "Well, how about a little something to lower your spirits?"

Parker: "It's got a great defense mechanism... you don't dare kill it..."

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Allergy free rich date and coconut slice recipe

Ingredients

2 cups chopped pitted dates
1 cup water
⅓ cup caster sugar
¾ cup Nuttlex
1 cup brown sugar
1⅓ cups Orgran all purpose flour
½ tsp bicarb soda
1½ cups desiccated coconut

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Line a 3cm deep cake or lamington pan with aluminium foil and spray with olive oil.
Combine the dates, water and ¼ cup of caster sugar in a saucepan over medium a heat.
Cook, stirring, for 10-15 minutes, or until the dates have absorbed the liquid.
Set the dates aside to cool to room temperature.
In a large bowl, cream the Nuttlex and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Sift the flour and bicarb soda over Nuttlex mixture and stir until well combined.
Add the coconut and mix well.
Press half the mixture into base of the pan.
Spread the date mixture over the top.
Crumble the remaining coconut mixture over the dates so the dates are completely covered.
Gently press and spread the crumbled mixture into place with your fingertips, disregarding any small gaps.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden.
Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of caster sugar.
Allow to cool in the tin until room temperature.
Remove and cut into slices.