"It's all about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism." Okay, so that's Craig Ferguson talking about Doctor Who, but this blog endeavors exactly that. Lofty yes, but what the hell, why not. Onward, my romantic intellectual companions!
Somewhere, in the craziness that was midterms, finals and party planning, I never got around to talking about two rather stunning visual art forms I encountered. So, as a bit of post-holiday catch-up, here it goes:
http://upload.wikimedia.org
Les Miserable: I saw this at the Orpheum with [Львица], [The Question], and [save the panzer]. I'd been fortunate enough to see it when I was fourteen at the Ordway back on one of it's previous tours and totally feel in love with it. It's my favorite show, now tied with La Cage. I'm a total sucker for the music; I absolutely love it (especially "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" - someone once mentioned it in connection to Torchwood on Tumblr and I can't get it out of my head. I was totally thinking of Jack singing it after he's lost half the team during the actual show... God, I am way to devoted to this show; it's usurped the plot of a Tony-award winning musical!) The show was good - Valjean was great, Javert was wonderful, and Marius, who too often can be kind of wimpy, was PERFECT. I've never really liked his character but that night I realized he's the one I sympathize with most - the one who wants to change the world but doesn't want to get swept up into radicalism to do so. Cosette was typically weak, Fantine was a disappointment, but Eponine was wonderful. And Enjolras looked like Roger Daltrey. So win. It wasn't quite as stunning as it had been the first time - maybe because I knew what was coming and because I liked the staging of it at the Ordway just a little better - but it was still an excellent show.
http://upload.wikimedia.org
Fright Night: I had wanted to see this movie over the summer because it had Colin Farrell in it, and Anton Yelchin, also known as "that funny guy from Charlie Bartlett." I'm usually not into remakes but, having never seen the original and DESPERATELY WANTING a movie in which vampires are actually SCARY, I really wanted to see it. I didn't get the chance but then this winter I realized, with my new-found Doctor Who obsession that David Tennant was in it. So my longing to see it tripled.
I know what you're thinking - revamp (hah, pun intended) of an 80s horror movie? Probably going to be lame with gratuitous gore. NOPE. NOT AT ALL. I am not a big horror movie fan. I don't like gore. And they generally have shitty plots. I haven't seen the original - and apparently all fans of it hated the remake. SO I have nothing to compare it to (well, I do, but not plot-wise). That being said...
THIS MOVIE ROCKED. SERIOUSLY. I LOVED IT. Maybe I'm desensitized, but I didn't think it was that gory (have you seen CSI lately? Jesus, last time I saw it, it was WAY grosser than it was when I was thirteen). I liked the characters. I liked that it was humorous. And I liked the fact that Colin Farrell was hot and FUCKING SCARY. But not so scary that I felt like I would never sleep again.
http://moviesmedia.ign.com
Also, David Tennant was an epic win. I'm probably just saying that because of the leather pants. But seriously, I thought he was great.
WINNING
Fright Night has really become my favorite horror movie. Seriously. I'm not really a good person to judge on that, I suppose, since horror movies aren't really my favorite sort of film (too many years of watching bad Sci-Fi channel creations and having enough nightmares without watching horror movies, thank you very much). But I really like the balance of humor with the horror elements. And I like that it used a teenager plot line without being totally campy or stereotypical about it.
So, yeah, if you want a something that's not super scary, not Twilight and mind-fuckingly gory, I recommend this. Also, you know, the Doctor Who connection doesn't hurt.
Sorry, had to use this damn gif. Blame Tumblr. Actually, what the hell am I apologizing for? I'm not sorry at all ;)
I just watched Super 8 with my parents tonight and I realized that I've been having a lot of bizarre dreams in connection to it.
Like just the other the night I dreamed that Freddie Highmore, looking just like Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was my son (how my son was British, I'll never know) and he ran off into the forest (that looked just like the forests in Martha Marcy May Marlene) and teamed up with this architecture and science crew to build this secret lab to study aliens. And then he got arrested by the US government and I was really upset - both that the Freddie Highmore kid ran away, and that the government arrested him.
And then some time ago I dreamed that I was walking on this pedestrian bridge over the interstate, this one that's covered in wire fencing and ended up at some substation were this huge wooden fence had been built up around the electrical devices. Something was living back there and trying to tear its way out. The military arrived and I tried to escape but my way was barred by broken fence material so I started climbing the fence and swinging on it like a monkey. I had outrageous upper body strength and realized that whatever creature was living behind the fence was giving me some sort of superhero skills. So I escaped before the military could apprehend me.
Yeah, so I should seriously stop watching sci-fi. Like that's gonna happen.
And while I'm on the topic of weird dreams, I keep having this reoccurring one where the same thing happens - for no apparent reason, my teeth get loose and fall out. I had it once this semester and then again just last night. I mean, there I was, eating or something, and then I realized my two front teeth were loose. And suddenly the came out like baby teeth. And I woke up with "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" in my head and I was not happy. But I've had this dream at least six or seven times over the last year or so and I have no idea why. This terrible dream dictionary I have says it means I'm worried about some relationship or friendship or something. I think it means I have some weird phobia about my teeth. Oy.
If I could do a face plant right now without hitting my face on my keyboard, I would do it.
OH MY GOD. I AM SOOOOOOOO NAIVE.
I'm so naive a guy I just talked to on the phone whom I haven't even meant can tell I know NOTHING about Hollywood. I'm pretty sure I just made the biggest fool of myself in my entire life and even if I have any possibility of retaining any respectability, I doubt he will ever take me seriously because I'm certain he already thinks I am probably part of that 98% who will run back home from Hollywood, crying my eyes out.
Let me explain.
The other day, I went in to talk to my advisor for Cultural Studies, Jules. She recommended that I message two people that have graduated from the U who are now working in L.A. I did so and heard back from one of them pretty quickly. He gave me his phone number and I called him tonight... well, it's tomorrow now. Even though it's only 10:19 pm in California. Stupid...
Anyway, I gave a brief run-down of my life (not very interesting, I admit). I told him that I really want to intern on the Late Late Show. I told him, though I was embarrassed, that when I was little I used to pretend that I have my own talk show. He told me there was nothing embarrassing about having a dream. I suddenly felt better about life.
The idiocy on my part was to come next. He told me how there's this thing called the UTA job list, which lists a bunch of available jobs in Hollywood. Except it's way more epic than that. Which I didn't fully understand until he described it later, after he'd already offered to email to me but then decided that I wasn't "that excited about it." Problem number one. When he did re-explain the UTA job list, it made me feel like a major asswipe for NOT being more excited about it. Because it's basically something only Hollywood executives get. It does get spread around in other ways, obviously, but most people don't see it until two or three weeks until after it's been released, which doesn't help much. So it's a big damn deal... and I failed to comprehend this on first description and was just like, "yeah, that'd be great." That's like saying, "yeah, that'd be great to have the codes to the nuclear football."
In my defense, I am really fucking tired today. But I feel like that excuse stopped being valid the moment I started my freshman year.
So there's that fail. And then as he went on to describe Hollywood and I compared it to Sunset Boulevard, I probably epically failed again. Because this movie probably glamorizes the unglamorous of Hollywood. Which means I just expressed that I'm a total moron. I'm cringing in my chair just thinking about this... I should never, ever converse on the phone, EVER. It always goes badly.
On my part, it did catch me off-guard that he didn't think I knew anything about Hollywood. I do know that it's not glamorous. I know that it's not exactly beautiful. What I didn't know is that it's a disgustingly UGLY place (or so he stated). I know it's competitive. I know I'm more likely to fail than succeed. I know it's all about who you know. What I didn't think about in context to myself is that there are thousands of people, less lucky, less well-off than me, who are going there everyday, working longer than I will, kissing ass as much as they have to get what they want. I know that people are better than me. I know that I have to really fight for what I want. But fight with what? Better at what? How do I keep from becoming Joe Gillis? Am I already Joe Gillis? Did I just talk to Joe Gillis?
I'm beginning not to make sense... this means it's time to shut up and to go to bed. More about this tomorrow... later. Whatever. You know what I mean.
Well, it's been like 16 hours since I wrote this and I am feeling much, much better about the world. I talked to a grad student in the CSCL department who has worked on the set of "I am Legend" and is pretty much amazing. She was much friendlier and far more helpful than the guy from last night was. In fact, when I told her that he said that 98% of the people who go out to L.A. come home crying, she replied, "He sounds like he's gone totally L.A."
My thoughts exactly.
She was really excited that I was interested in working for the Late Late Show and seemed really positive about it. A bit bitter about film school (apparently a lot of frat-boy wanna-bes show up there thinking they're the next Spielberg) but not at all saying it's going to be hell. Yeah, it'll be a lot of hours and it'll be a lot of work, but if I volunteer first to do thing, really get involved, show I care - they'll be no problems. She said most everyone she knows who have done things like that have gotten jobs out it. She also recognized that I want to go out there for WRITING not... whatever Mr. L.A. automatically assumed I wanted... directing? Producing? I couldn't really tell. She says that writing is a very different field than other parts of the entertainment industry there. And she hadn't heard of the UTA list; she said it was probably, "just a job list." Not the be-all, end-all of my existence. So see if I call Mr. L.A. back wanting it... Like I'd call him back anyway.
The problem of the conversation with Mr. L.A. was that he assumed a lot of things about me. Now, I can't say that he looked at my Facebook account - probably not, he seemed like the super-busy, pretty self-interested sort - but he totally made a lot of off-hand comments that may not have necessarily applied. He assumed I was Minnesotan. I am, but I haven't lived here my entire life. And I'm not sheltered and inexperienced, if that's what he was trying to say with that comment. He assumed that I hadn't been through much hardship or ever worked super hard - both valid and invalid. He seemed to think I couldn't see myself making mistakes or totally failing. Um, really? That's everyday of my fucking LIFE, dude. I make mistakes at a rather high rate. And you fail more than you win in Hollywood? Such is life. He automatically figured I didn't know anything about Hollywood and how competitive it is. Maybe he just wanted to gloat a bit about how much work he's put forth and complain about how shitty people treat him there. He said he was doing what he wanted to do... but he didn't exactly sound happy to me. And this coming from the guy who thought I wasn't excited. Hmmm.
I bring up the Joe Gillis mention from Sunset Boulevard again, partly because I can't get the song from the musical out of my head.
Yeah, it's John Barrowman. Shut up, judging voices of the world.
I remember seeing the movie Sunset Boulevard when I was about fourteen or fifteen. It was one of the first classic films I saw and it totally changed my life. I relate to writers - always have, always will. Because I kind of am one. And seeing Joe Gillis, a writer so fundamentally changed by life in Hollywood... well, it stuck with me. And haunted me. And it's been one of my fears, I guess I'm concerned that You think I've sold out/ Dead right I've sold out/ I just keep waiting/ For the right offers will embody all I've become. That I won't care about anything but money. I don't want to be like that. I want to do this because I WANT TO DO THIS. And because I WANT TO DO THIS FOR OTHER PEOPLE. I don't want this becoming all about fame or fortune or my work. I want to do this to make people happy, to entertain them, TO INSPIRE THEM.
Dreamy, yes, but that's how I operate. I'm not supposed to be embarrassed to have a dream, right?
Mr. L.A. told me that if I don't get an internship over the summer, then there will never be any chance of getting into Hollywood. He kept emphasizing that I should look into one, which wasn't helpful. I DO want to get one. I even know WHICH ONE. It's just GETTING it that will be the problem. He told me he only got the internships he did because his brother was working out there and he had connections. It's all about who you know; I knew this. Mr. L.A. told me twenty times that this was the case. This might make it harder for me. But going in, it's a risk I have to take. If I don't get this internship in L.A. - the only one I really want - well, then I won't be working there. Fine. I get it. I'm not so wet behind the ears to think that things are just going to handed over to me, that things are going to be easy, that I'm not going to have to put up a fight for everything. Clearly, Mr. L.A. doesn't understand that I've spent a better part of my life fighting for things in one way or another. I'm not just another empty-headed dreamer. I'm a pensive dreamer who's not afraid to get her hands dirty. But I'm also not afraid to stand up for who I am and resist to the pressure to become something I'm not. So if I don't belong out there, okay. I'll have lived and learned.
Regardless, I am feeling way WAY better than I did this morning. Despite the fact that I told Mr. L.A. I wasn't going to have any second thoughts, I totally did (because when you get the perception that Hollywood is full of people like him, you can understand why I would run the other direction). But I REALLY want to do it. And after talking to the CSCL grad student, I feel like I'm not selling my soul or committing to something I don't want to do (which was for some reason the vibe I was getting from the other guy). It's a risk - but a risk I want to take. And I need to think positively - realistically, but positively. Which means a hell of a lot more of this :D -
Today during Italian when, for the second day in a row the sub for our professor did not show up, I found myself daydreaming about Scotland once again. (May I note that it's especially weird in college when subs don't show up? Technically students are allowed to leave after 15 minutes if no instructor arrives but if you do this, often you will get yelled at later. Yesterday, we did take advantage of this, but today, we found the film we were supposed to watch on Netflix and watched about 30 minutes of it. We should get extra credit for that, I think :D Especially as the film was quite odd). Anyway, I was sitting there, watching the odd film, thinking about this movie theater we went to on the last day in Scotland (I mentioned it in the post on Captain America, thus it's recently been in my thoughts).
It's called Cineworld City Center and it is apparently the world's tallest cinema (12 stories, baby!). I wish I could find pictures of the inside of this theater because fellow Yanks like myself will be utterly blown away. IT'S INCREDIBLE.
Maybe I've just never been to a really fancy movie theater. I mean, I'm looking up photos online and I keep getting images of Gerard Butler and Ewan McGregor at film premieres. Clearly, this place is kind of a big deal. Now I'm wondering how the likes of me got in there :P
Let me try to explain how incredible this theater is. For one thing, their ticket area takes up a good chunk of the first floor... er, ground floor for you Europeans. None of this pathetic tiny box office area like we have in some American theaters, where you're standing on each other's hair if there's a long line. No, Brits seem to understand that there needs to be ROOM for queuing. Then, there's the fact that they have a STUDENT DISCOUNT. FOR MOVIES. I can't even get a student discount for some museums and theatrical productions in the States, let alone movie theaters! Then there's the floors - there are a million escalators taking you up to each floor, which was a bit baffling for us because there's only two theaters or so per floor (sorry, sorry, American theaters put everything on one level so then our theaters stretch out like a shopping mall. Kudos for you guys for making it classier and more compact, even if the long elevator ride is somewhat dizzying). But once you reach the floor you need, you begin to understand why there's only two theaters per floor. Because the concession areas are BRILLIANT.
It's like... a giant popcorn/soda area along with an candy shop. On each floor. Along with other eatables like pretzels and such. Seriously, if I hadn't been running out of cash and had no idea how much cab fare to the airport was going to cost the next morning, I probably would have splurged on British sweets. I was totally blown away by what the theater was like. Seriously, going to the movies in America is usually not this cool. Maybe because we do it all the time.
I think this is a different theater, but you get the idea of the basic layout and design.
Even watching the movie itself was different. The previews at the beginning were different from American previews (seriously, the ad for Bridesmaids was nothing like the one shown in America). The disclaimers about pirating movies and not letting kids in for adult films were shown more and much more... I don't know, government-y, official sounding. More forceful. And it was different just to hear everything said with a British accent (seemingly minor, but really... for an American, who hears American voices all day long - except when watching British TV - it's kind of weird. Although it does get to the point that when you hear American voices THAT sounds weird).
So, if you're in Glasgow and you have nothing better to do, spend 10 quid or so and enjoy a memorable cinematic experience. And if you don't mind, bring me back some of that candy, please :)
Disclaimer: This is NOT a blog post about Torchwood.
Shit... well, it is now. Can't bring up Captain without this flashing through my mind:
Okay, well, this WASN'T supposed to be a post about Torchwood. This is a post about Captain America (sorry for those of you who thought it was about a Walt Whitman poem. Better luck next time).
I realize now how many superhero movies I've seen this summer. Granted, there were a lot in theaters. But I saw A TON of them. I watched The Green Hornet on the flight to Scotland because it was something to do when I couldn't sleep and it had Christoph Waltz in it (other than Waltz, the movie was a disappointment). I saw X Men: First Class in Glasgow on our last day there (James McAvoy AND Michael Fassbender in the same film? WIN.) I saw The Green Lantern with a bunch of high school friends in the 'burbs. I did NOT see Thor but had how excellent the actor's abs were described to me about fifteen million times.
I was skeptical about Captain America. "A super-human created to defeat the Nazis? Isn't that defeating the purpose?" I thought (upon voicing this opinion to [X], an apparent comic book fan - which was news to me, yet another sign I don't know my friends much anymore - I got abrupt awkward silence. Oops). They actually carried that quite well by stressing that Steve Rogers is not a bully and the scientists are not trying to create a superior race of beings; they're just trying to win the war and help a guy do what he wants to do with his life, more or less.
Overall, the film was totally enjoyable. It was weird seeing Hugo Weaving (you know him as Agent Smith in The Matrix or Elrond in Lord of the Rings) play Red Skull, because it felt a bit like he was trying to channel Christoph Waltz's Hans Landa. At least until he was got all evil and red and... skull-ish. Chris Evans, though not the best of actors, was a pretty great Captain America (and buff, I must add; he ought to be after he had to take steroids to beef up that much). I freaking loved Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) (because who doesn't love a badass 1940s British chick?). I had no idea until like five minutes ago that THAT WAS STANLEY TUCCI PLAYING THE GERMAN SCIENTIST (Dr. Abraham Erskine). HOLY SHIT, DUDE.
I was, however, kind of disappointed in the ending. Because it was all building up for The Avengers film, which I totally expected, but still left me bummed out and feeling all sad and blue for poor Peggy and Captain America's relationship. Being frozen and discovered sixty years later certainly puts a damper on your love life. I'm looking really forward to The Avengers movie now, though, because I fricken' love Iron Man and Captain America is pretty awesome too. And Captain America had a nice dash of Howard Stark, which was fantastic. Gotta love the Starks.
So yeah. Thank you, Marvel, for making your superhero movies better than they were a few years ago. I congratulate you. I may still be partial to Batman, but because I can only watch Christopher Nolan's dark flicks for so long before feeling rather grim and angsty, I'm glad there's another superhero franchise where things are tending to be... a bit on the brighter side of life, you might say.
[Львица], [The Question] and I went to see the free movie of the week at the student union on Saturday night (this week's film happened to be Captain America. More about that later, hopefully). While we were walking back, some guy was walking and talking with the people around him and, as we passed them by, he said loudly, (something along the lines of), "It was like, 'Let's get coffee. By the way, this is a date.'" And suddenly, I was sent into hysterics. I was laughing so hard I was nearly crying.
I don't know if this guy was referring to something he himself had done or something that had happened to him, but I know that very experience far too well. Because that's exactly what I did to [No-Mr-Darcy]. Whoops.
And thus, miscommunication leads to awkward situations. Because then everything feels like this:
Two reasons why this is awesome: 1) James Bond fighting at his birthplace? For the win. 2) Filming in Scotland? YES.
And on that note, there's two movies coming out taking place in Scotland, one with Ewan McGregor and the other with David Tennant? Keeping that in mind :)
I wonder if psych majors have a difficult managing their relationships.
I thought of this as I read a chapter of my social psychology book on "the self." It started after this section on self-awareness (the idea that when people focus on themselves, they compare themselves to... well, themselves; their own values and such. It seems obvious, but that way we're on the same page):
Even when we are self-aware and introspect to our heart's content, it can be difficult to know why we feel the way we do. Imagine trying to decide why you love someone. Being in love typically makes you feel giddy, euphoric, and preoccupied; in fact, the ancient Greeks thought love was a sickness. But why do you feel this way? Exactly what is it about your sweetheart that makes you fall in love? We know it is something about out loved one's looks, personality, values, and background. But precisely what? How can we possibly describe the special chemistry that exists between two people? A friend of ours once told us he was in love with a woman because she played the saxophone. Was this really the reason? The heart works in such mysterious ways that it is difficult to tell. (pages 125-126, Aronson, Wilson, Akert - Social Psychology, 7th edition)
After this, they site an example from the "old" TV show Friends (seriously, they call it old. Thanks for making me feel ancient, textbook) when Ross makes a list of things he likes and doesn't like about Rachel. This is, according to the author's, a very bad idea.
Consider people like Ross who try to analyze why they feel the way they do about a romantic partner. When people list reasons in this manner, they often change their attitudes toward their partners, at least temporarily... Why? It is difficult to dissect the exact causes of our romantic feelings so we latch on to reasons that sound good and that happen to be on our minds (remember our friend who claimed he was in love with a woman because she played the saxophone?). (page 128, Aronson, Wilson, Akert)
This causes issues for us when we make lists and then list strange things about a person (the textbook mentions a partner annoyingly smacking their gum) instead of more complex things like good chemistry. Thus if we focus on things like gum smacking, we might suddenly decide we're not really in love with our partner and break up with them, then later regret it.
And to make matters even WORSE, the authors mention a study done where men and women are startled on a bridge and the men either immediately evaluated how attracted they were to the woman or asked to evaluate after they crossed the bridge. Those that were evaluated immediately while still startled rated the women as more attractive than those who had calmed down. This "misattribution of arousal" has been found to be true in both women and men. "The moral is this:" the authors say, "If you encounter an attractive man or woman and your heart is going thump-thump, think carefully about why you are aroused - you might fall in love for the wrong reasons!" (page 135, Aronson, Wilson, Akert)
Ah, yes. The classic, creepy, uncertain story of Jack the Ripper is back in the headlines. I was hoping from some follow-up on BBC to, you know, explain why Scotland Yard might not want to release information. Something more than: "laying everything bare would violate its confidentiality pledge to informants, even those long dead, and undermine recruitment in the present-day fight against terrorism and organized crime. Naming names might even put the snitches' descendants at risk of revenge by the heirs of those who were informed on." Unless the murderer was Al-Qaeda or a mob, I'm not really understanding the terrorism part - some more explanation would be nice, guys. But the issue with the informants, putting their decendents at risk.... Hmm...
You know what this screams? Conspiracy theory time.
I won't lie - as a psychology major, mystery lover and quasi-CSI fan, the Jack the Ripper case has always been interesting to me, as grisly as it is. But most of the theories sounds sort of, well, weak. It was a mad butcher, it was a doctor, it was some German sailor? (that's the claim mentioned in the L.A. Times). But if we're talking that the heirs of the murderer have the ability to threaten the informants, that:
A) This makes it sound like Scotland Yard already knows who the murderer is
B) This makes the murderer sound like he (or she, I should stop assuming serial killers are always men, though the statistics are in that favor) was pretty high-off in society (by mentioning heirs, it almost sounds like we're talking about traceable family here. And the wealthy have better historical records than the poor). Not to mention revenge tends to takes time and the urge to keep ones name honorable.
C) It seems like Scotland Yard WANTS to release this information, but feels threatened in some way (especially if they think the heirs are capable of revenge). But maybe I'm reading too much into this.
I'm not clear-thinker on this case; I love hearing the wild theories that people come up with. My personal favorite happens to come from a movie (and a comic book, apparently) From Hell. The movie itself is kind of bizarrely done, but theory, I think, is fascinating. It basically theorizes that Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's grandson, had an illegitimate child with a Catholic shop girl. Because England is Protestant, having a child who would now be the heir to the throne and is also common born, illegitimate AND Catholic would be about as scandalous as you could get in the Victorian era. Fearing blackmail from the girl's friends and family, the Freemasons (I know, right? When in doubt, it's the Masons) get involved to cover-up the events. And one crazy member kills off all the girls (who happen to be prostitutes) who are friends of the shopgirl.
That's kind of a rough summary and probably not quite right (it's been a while since I've seen it) but the Prince Albert idea is interesting. Note: I AM NOT SAYING THE BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY IS INVOLVED WITH THE JACK THE RIPPER KILLINGS. I am simply saying that it does seem rather curious and that it WOULD explain the threat of revenge, reasons for Scotland Yard to stay mum, threats to informants, etc. However, I have ZERO EVIDENCE. I'm not a detective, I'm not a cop, I'm not even a historian with access to records to even give support to this idea. I'm just a blogger making wild speculations. And what wild speculations they are...
Better idea: let's start a TV series that sends CSI back in time. Better yet, they should do a Doctor Who/ Torchwood episode about Jack the Ripper. That's right up their alley, I wonder what they're take would be...
Alright, enough crazy conspiracy theories for the day. Time to start the weekend off right - with a paint party.
So I got this text yesterday, from [X], who I honestly wasn't expecting to hear anything from for the rest of the summer:
Hey, I'm en route to {school} and I just wanted to say I'm sorry we haven't hung out or talked in a while... Things have been CRAZY with me and I'm sure you've been busy too. I just wanted to say good luck this year, I'm thinking about you, and stay in touch :)
All of this right after I was debating whether or not to message her about how her trip to Chicago, or whether or not she ever read the message I wrote to her about how things with [No-Mr-Darcy] panned out. Or whether she's stumbled across this blog and now hates me (I do have a link to this on my Facebook account, but considering most people don't look at my profile, I didn't think much of it. Though according to the stats on Blogger, people have used Facebook to look at my blog... but who? Maybe I'm just being paranoid...)
I wish things were simpler, like in kindergarten. Back then, you liked people or you didn't like people. You got along with some kids and not with others. But now... now I seriously get along with like three people from high school. What the hell happened?
So I finished the serious post first today, because I sincerely doubt that my brain will be working very well as the day wears on. I was awoken by thunder, torrential rain and hail at three this morning. And then at five, I awoke with an achy stomach and inexplicably terrified after having the scariest nightmare I've had in years. Or maybe ever.
So this is what it was: I was hanging out in this living room that looked like a mix of the townhouse I lived in on campus last year and the living room of my old house in Columbus, IN. Supposedly, the power was out due to a storm, but I was watching TV with [mind ninja] and [your cat is evil]. Then this ad for a horror movie came on and I was like, "Ooh, I've seen this trailer before! This movie looks really scary!"
So this preview starts with this girl, who looks to be thirteen or something, all dirty and with a bandage on her shoulder from playing soccer. She takes off her jersey and poses topless in front of this teenage boy with a camera and all these other guys were leering behind her, along with other girls watching. They were like in some sort of abandoned house or something and this girl pinned a flower in her hair while the guy took a video of her posing and saying, "I am Diana Villers" (haha, my subconscious decided to steal and misspell a name from Patrick O'Brian's books. Great).
I could kill Diana Villiers right now. This brings about two problems:
1) I want to kill an individual.
2) I want to kill an individual who is fictional.
Which, ultimately, brings me to a third problem:
3) I am jealous of a fictional individual.
I should explain. Diana Villiers is a character in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series (aka, the series that the movie Master and Commander is based on). Diana is a fascinating character, especially given the time period she inhabits. She's a short, dark-haired smartass who goes horseback riding and fox hunting, plays the piano even though she can't read music and won't listen to her aunt's plans for her life. She grew up in India, fell passionately in love with a man who did not make a "profitable" match, but whom she married none the less. After he died, she returned to England, a black sheep in her family of gentle lambs. Needless to say, I love this maniac. She's the sort of character I've been dying to see in Regency era novels ever since I first met Elizabeth Bennet. Don't get me wrong, Jane Austen's Elizabeth is fabulous; I like her a lot. But I always longed for a character that incorporated both Elizabeth's free-thinking and Emma Woodhouse's sharp tongue. With Diana, I get the perfect match. Which, interestingly, creates the sort of girl I try to be.
Since I can now post videos, I call upon the aide of music video watchers...or the next poor person to stumble across my blog. Watch this new Lady Gaga video and tell me: what the hell is going on here? Why is Lady Gaga a mermaid? Why is she kissing herself? Why is she some sort of mechanical Frankenstein monster? And if the only answer that makes sense is "no reason," ala the avant garde movie Rubber (about a tire that suddenly has the power to blow things up - watch it if you're in the mood for something bizarre) then I fear I have truly stopped understanding anything Gaga does. As if I understood arriving in a giant egg in the first place.
Please, Gaga, please don't get so weird that your albums suffer. I loved "Bad Romance" - where did that sound go?
Hahahahaha! While messing around with my blog today, I found out WHY I couldn't post videos. It wasn't because I didn't have Google Chrome. It wasn't because I'm totally un-tech savy (though some days I'm close). It wasn't even because of a world-wide conspiracy against Apple (which would be pretty shitty, lemme tell you).
It was because I was using an old version of Blogger editing and I was unaware of it. Wouldn't you think that'd be something you'd want to tell me, Blogger, so I can update and make you look better? Whatever, I fixed it. No hard feelings, right?
To continue the post from yesterday, on things that make me happy...
5) Awesome sexy actors: So I'm going to sound like a ridiculous fan girl but I can't help it. I'm a cinephile, I'm a girl and I'm an American - we love our movie stars. And yet none of my favorite actors are American. Or really super famous. Or people my friends would have at the top of their "list.” I'm too disorganized to have a real list. Especially as my favorite movies have fluctuated a lot of the years. It seems to have stabilized after college. And now that I have favorite movies, I've finally advanced to having favorite actors. This sounds weird, but I just never really equated actors and hotness until I was probably… fifteen. Yeah. I know. I went to Catholic school, several different Catholic schools – that’s the only thing I can think of that delayed that realization. I mean, I didn’t know who the Spice Girls were until Spice World was already out and everyone had seen it twenty times, because no one at my old school were talking about them. Or maybe I was just a very unobservant, un-culture vulturey youth. Thus why I've berated myself for being a freak; I am not – I’m just different. Stubbornly different.
Remember that thing I started about keeping a list of things I'm happy about? Well, this is a continuation of that. So deal with it.
3) The sea: I saw it for the first time this year. Well, I sort of saw it when I visited Venice. And when I was in New York. But when I went to Scotland, this time I was up close and personal and it felt real. I saw a jellyfish, for the love of Pete! I know some people have been unimpressed when they finally see the ocean, because they expect it to be so spectacular. I was more than impressed - it absolutely blew away my expectations. The cool sea breezes, the color of the waves, the smell and feel of the rain that fell (it tasted salty! I couldn't believe it!) Weirdly, it made me feel at home. I've always had this huge affinity with water ("it's because I'm a water sign, hahaha" I joke. I'm a Scorpio - yes, that's a water sign. What scorpions have to do with the water, I don't know. But I appreciate the ability to use it as an excuse for something I loved before I even saw it). Thus, my obsession with bodies of water leads to another thing I'm happy about.
4) The movie Master and Commander: I cannot explain why I love this movie (because of all movies, why I'm currently obsessed about this one, I can't say). Mainly, because it's about the sea. And based on my previous post, you can tell I like that. Also, it is about the turn of the 19th century, when is a time period I'm obsessed about, for reasons I understand about as much as I understand why I like the sea. The books the movie is based are equally spectacular, if not more so (don't expect the movie to be much like the series; they mix a bunch together but I still think the movie is great on its own). Also said movie connects to yet another thing on my list… which will be spoken of in another post :)
So I Googled "Weird stuff going on," hoping to find a weird news story to talk about. Instead, I got this: The End Time: Very weird things going on in Sicily with clocks (another blog! Hello, friend) If you think this is weird, you should experience the dreams I've been having after I watched "The Da Vinci Code" too late at night. Hence the pointless blog title.
I'm having a hard time following the idea though... so apparently because clocks are acting weird in Sicily, there is a demon realm and it's the end of the world? I guess my Catholic upbringing didn't really stress the threat of demons (unless it involved exorcisms and that was never addressed in school or church. I actually blame Hollywood for that fear and infatuation in my life) or the end of the world. Maybe it's because I don't have a very good streak of reliability with technology, but it seems like electronics exploding and clocks not keeping time is, yes, some very freaky shit and I would not want that happening, but also not out of the realm of "normal" happenings. Electronics do weird stuff all the time. I've seen a waffle maker flip itself over and spit out a waffle for no reason at all, but I didn't think it was demons (though, come to think of it, half the electronic stuff didn't work in the townhouse. Hmm...) Also, not that I'm a demonologist or anything, but wouldn't demons have more important things to do than fucking with our clocks? I thought they were supposed to be more evil than that. But that's just my humble opinion.
Being in the vein of watching B movies, I saw "Teeth" with my roommates this weekend. While I'd love to whip up another scathing summary of this film and talk about what made it terrible, I just can't do it. I honestly have nothing I can publicly say about that movie. If you know it's plot then you'll understand why. I could probably come up with something, but then I'd never live it down and regret it for the rest of my life. Somethings just shouldn't be said online - especially about horror movies like this. So I'll leave you with a poster of the film and come up with something more meaningful to say at a later date (not that I ever do say anything that meaningful but hey, maybe I'll outdo myself for once).
I recently saw "Surf Nazis Must Die" and am terribly torn as to whether it is the worst movie ever or not. Previously, I thought "The Room" was beautifully horrible. But now... now I am questioning that logic.
Which reminds me I should really write up something about "The Room." But not now. Now it is the time of the Surf Nazis.
Surf Nazis think they're totally badass. But for some reason all they're capable of doing is spray painting really badly, putting puff-paint swastikas on their clothes and stealing stuff. Oh, and randomly killing people in pretty nasty ways (especially 'cause one Nazi has a hood hand. And he goes surfing while wearing said hand. Right...). Adolf, their leader, acts like a stereotypical gay man and people who appose him make fun of him for this. Until he has an awkwardly explicit sex scene with his girl in the first 20 minutes of the film. After that, it's just weird. Especially when he returns wearing a cape with a giant swastika on the back. I can't decided if I should be more offended by the symbol, the ideology they're trying to link to it, the fact that they may have no idea of the ideology it entails, or how tacky it all appears. It's probably all of the above, really.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the Surf Nazis surf (randomly, in wetsuits with more swastikas). It's like somebody wanted to make a movie about surfing and didn't know how, but also had this random anarchist subplot and tried to think of a really badass gang. And the most badass thing they could think of were Nazis. But they'd obviously never payed much attention during their history classes and had never been to Europe (especially Germany). Or they were trying to mock Nazis... and just failed. Regardless, this ridiculous hodge-podge disaster is worth watching. If only because I can't figure out what is exactly it's trying to accomplish. Or why anyone would ever think it was a good idea.
I won't give away the ending (yes I will - all the Surf Nazis die. Big surprise, right?) but I will give one last critique. If you're going to make a movie about Nazis, please learn what a Fuhrer is before you decided that you're main character is the Fuhrer of the new beach. Yes, I may be a bit obsessed with history. But such a painful insult to history and screenwriting that I can't help but think this movie is really the worst thing I've come across in a while. It is lacking the mesmerizing honestly of horribleness that "The Room" presents. But that almost makes "The Room" a better movie...
Ugh. You'd think it'd be easy to decide what's the worst movie ever. But it's just not that simple. To be decided at another time...
Okay, so the title makes no sense; it's my attempt to tie in Mark Zuckerberg's name with the tiny bit of German I know (and have probably spelled wrong). But after seeing "The Social Network," Zuckerberg keeps popping up in conversation between my roommates and I. And in honor of it being nominated for an Academy Award, I've decided to write about it.
It's a good movie - better than I was expecting. I was afraid it was going to be one of those "This is the greatest piece of technology ever made and we must worship it!" kinds of things. But it was more critical than that. Yeah, it didn't talk about how Facebook is kind of addicting and could possibly ruining our forms of communication. But the creation of Facebook (as told by the screenwriters, of course) was pretty sweet. Jesse Eisenberg's Zuckerberg was an interesting, complicated character and (though he may be more fiction than fact) I feel like it was a unique way to express someone who's become a billionaire and Time's Person of the Year all within a few years. And it makes me realize just how prevalent Facebook is. Like I ate a Lean Pocket for dinner yesterday (because the stove was being temperamental - screw you, stove!) and there was a little icon on the envelope advertising to go on line and "follow" Lean Pockets on Facebook. Wow... Just wow.
However, the after-effects of seeing "The Social Network" has been a bit weird. None of my roommates and I can log on now without feeling odd... sort of bad, in a way. Like I'm screwing over Eduardo or something. My roommate, [mind ninja], had a weird combination of the movie "Surrogates" with Zuckerberg trying to take over the world. And yet, I'm still logging on to Facebook everyday. What the hell does this mean? I don't know... I still don't know how to feel about Facebook in general. But it's not like I can just delete my account - I still like it, and it's my only way of staying in contact with certain people. I've just got to keep in mind that there's more to Facebook than just profiles and statuses (like being "wired in" to the whole thing really seems... well, for lack of a better word, weird). If only it were that simple...
