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sub_dividedNew journal layout, winter colors in honor of Thanksgiving's freak snowstorm and those radio stations playing nothing but holiday music from now until the 25th. Also, GIP! It's my holiday season default icon, "sad rose in snow."
More important than the seasonal stuff is the nifty nested tags box on the sidebar (from this tutorial). Now I can not only tag entries, but categorize tags! Organization yeah!...of course all the tag box really does is drive home how completely disorganized my journal entries are, but anyway.
I'm choosing classes for next semester tonight. Following parental advice there will be no physics or math classes at all, just art and history and maybe english. This is my vacation semester. If I still can't pull myself together, well.
From here on out is mediablogging XD. Still haven't seen the new Pride and Prejudice movie (someday!).
RENT
Went with Eugene. He said the movie stars the original Broadway cast? Man, I was really gyped when I saw this on Broadway, then, because there was no comparison. (Exception! I disliked Roger, because he sounds and looks like Bon Jovi.)
They did this thing in the opening chorus where as each actor was panned across, that character was loudest. Very subtle, very cool. The city backgrounds were stunning. And ohmygod nostalgia trip -- mostly it's the early-nineties music, but I remember New York before they cleaned it up too. (How do you spell "shishi"? As in, "the Village used to be a starving-artist enclave but now it is completely shishi." (Is this even a word? Does anyone know?))
Another difference from the play! You know that scene where we are all supposed to mooooo with Maureen? Yeah, I felt pretty silly mooo-ing at the screen. So there's a point for going live. (I know, I know, I'm awful and should be more appreciative of live performances. Superior sound quality, etc etc I do like plays, but when you're in the third row from the back, all the way on the left? It's not necessarily a more rewarding experience.)
I hadn't realized that RENT's refrain -- no day but today -- is something they teach at AIDS support groups. That makes so much sense! Also, movie soundtrack (mp3-quality), for those who are interested.
The Ice Harvest
Went with my family over break. We were at the theater in time to see it empty from the previous showing. You can usually tell how good a movie is going to be from the expressions of the people coming out. In this case they weren't happy, or angry, or talkative, just puzzled. Like they didn't know whether what they'd just seen was good or bad.
The problem is that it's a hard movie to categorize. The main character is a total loser sleaze the audience would've hated if he hadn't been played by John Cusack. My brother says this is a comedy but it is much too depressing for that. Ice Harvest opens with a voiceover: "I believe in the perfect crime. Otherwise, I would be committing suicide, stealing from my boss" (John Cusack is a Wichita mob lawyer). And then the rest of the movie proves him so, so wrong. There're a few more throwaway noir film references, some beautiful Kansas scenery, lots of cussing and drinking and strippers and gratuitous mob violence, all on Christmas Eve. Twisted sense of humor required.
...you know, I still don't know whether this was a good movie. I liked it at the time. It's unexpected, anyway.
Some bookblogging because it would a shame to be organized now, XD.
Kindred, Octavia E. Butler
Time-travel book, not a good one. The problem is that the set-up -- modern-day black woman is transported to 1840s South to protect her many-generations removed slave-owner ancestor, thus securing her own future existence -- completely dictates, well, everything. It's a very mechanical book, like when you read that 99th X-goes-to-Hogwarts fic. There's checklist and Butler is making her way down it. Initial confusion and disbelief? Check. Attempted/successful rape and murder, lynchings, beatings, etc? Check. Plan to return to present? Check. Insertion of historical trivia? Check. Conflict with denisons of the past, resolved through display of Useful Future Knowledge (in this case, the ability to read and write, although this is itself problematic)? Check.
It just seems...foregone, I guess. Especially when the main character is working something out. A shame, because the best part of Butler's protagonists is usually the introspective. They're all very logical and practical, I find it really easy to identify with them. The problem here is that is so easy that it's like reading self-insertion, or something. You always no exactly what the main character is going to say, because it's the only thing she can say, given her situation. By the end I still didn't have a good sense of the character. On the other hand the slaves were great, very empowering.
One interesting thing, Main Character is accused of being secretly white by the other slaves -- because she's educated and compromises on a lot of things in the interests of practicality, right? Butler's Xenogenesis series is about (black) woman who "betrays" human beings to an alien race. And Parable of the Sower was a about a (black) false-empath who survives the destuction of her dystopian enclave by planning to leave everyone in it behind. So that's a theme, maybe (though Wild Seed doesn't fit into it, being about a paired set of immortal african sorcerors).
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austin.
Yeah, so I started watching the miniseries. Then I realized I really didn't have another four hours to spend on this, not when the book would be faster. So I borrowed it. XDXD very entertaining. Knowing what Elizabeth is thinking -- for the most part, will I be happy with this man? if yes, perhaps I love him -- makes a big difference. It's not nearly as romantic as I'd heard. At least, it's less romantic than the miniseries, which I'm betting is less romantic than the movie.
Television!
Why wasn't I watching Rome earlier? Oh man. So much sex in that show. You can tell from the positions what two characters are feeling. If they do it missionary style, it's either love or the woman is being deceitful. If they do it girl-on-top, it's a purely lust-driven thing. And doggie-style means the guy doesn't care at all (ahaha Octavian. I shouldn't have thought that was cute, BUT I DID).
One thing that bugs me about that show, there shouldn't be spaces between the words. So the Latin grafiti on the walls, while a cool concept, is... but anyway there are probably better things to take isssue with here. Like the fact that Luicius and Titus' interactions are Hercules or Xena-level cheese. I cheer when the focus shifts from them to the backstabbing upperclass.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:
ADV Films is having an anime sale from now until December 4th. $6.00 DVDs! I'm getting Princess Tutu vol 1, Orphen vols 2-5, and Five Star Stories (movie). Watch out for the shipping, it isn't calculated until just before you confirm the order.
More important than the seasonal stuff is the nifty nested tags box on the sidebar (from this tutorial). Now I can not only tag entries, but categorize tags! Organization yeah!...of course all the tag box really does is drive home how completely disorganized my journal entries are, but anyway.
I'm choosing classes for next semester tonight. Following parental advice there will be no physics or math classes at all, just art and history and maybe english. This is my vacation semester. If I still can't pull myself together, well.
From here on out is mediablogging XD. Still haven't seen the new Pride and Prejudice movie (someday!).
RENT
Went with Eugene. He said the movie stars the original Broadway cast? Man, I was really gyped when I saw this on Broadway, then, because there was no comparison. (Exception! I disliked Roger, because he sounds and looks like Bon Jovi.)
They did this thing in the opening chorus where as each actor was panned across, that character was loudest. Very subtle, very cool. The city backgrounds were stunning. And ohmygod nostalgia trip -- mostly it's the early-nineties music, but I remember New York before they cleaned it up too. (How do you spell "shishi"? As in, "the Village used to be a starving-artist enclave but now it is completely shishi." (Is this even a word? Does anyone know?))
Another difference from the play! You know that scene where we are all supposed to mooooo with Maureen? Yeah, I felt pretty silly mooo-ing at the screen. So there's a point for going live. (I know, I know, I'm awful and should be more appreciative of live performances. Superior sound quality, etc etc I do like plays, but when you're in the third row from the back, all the way on the left? It's not necessarily a more rewarding experience.)
I hadn't realized that RENT's refrain -- no day but today -- is something they teach at AIDS support groups. That makes so much sense! Also, movie soundtrack (mp3-quality), for those who are interested.
The Ice Harvest
Went with my family over break. We were at the theater in time to see it empty from the previous showing. You can usually tell how good a movie is going to be from the expressions of the people coming out. In this case they weren't happy, or angry, or talkative, just puzzled. Like they didn't know whether what they'd just seen was good or bad.
The problem is that it's a hard movie to categorize. The main character is a total loser sleaze the audience would've hated if he hadn't been played by John Cusack. My brother says this is a comedy but it is much too depressing for that. Ice Harvest opens with a voiceover: "I believe in the perfect crime. Otherwise, I would be committing suicide, stealing from my boss" (John Cusack is a Wichita mob lawyer). And then the rest of the movie proves him so, so wrong. There're a few more throwaway noir film references, some beautiful Kansas scenery, lots of cussing and drinking and strippers and gratuitous mob violence, all on Christmas Eve. Twisted sense of humor required.
...you know, I still don't know whether this was a good movie. I liked it at the time. It's unexpected, anyway.
Some bookblogging because it would a shame to be organized now, XD.
Kindred, Octavia E. Butler
Time-travel book, not a good one. The problem is that the set-up -- modern-day black woman is transported to 1840s South to protect her many-generations removed slave-owner ancestor, thus securing her own future existence -- completely dictates, well, everything. It's a very mechanical book, like when you read that 99th X-goes-to-Hogwarts fic. There's checklist and Butler is making her way down it. Initial confusion and disbelief? Check. Attempted/successful rape and murder, lynchings, beatings, etc? Check. Plan to return to present? Check. Insertion of historical trivia? Check. Conflict with denisons of the past, resolved through display of Useful Future Knowledge (in this case, the ability to read and write, although this is itself problematic)? Check.
It just seems...foregone, I guess. Especially when the main character is working something out. A shame, because the best part of Butler's protagonists is usually the introspective. They're all very logical and practical, I find it really easy to identify with them. The problem here is that is so easy that it's like reading self-insertion, or something. You always no exactly what the main character is going to say, because it's the only thing she can say, given her situation. By the end I still didn't have a good sense of the character. On the other hand the slaves were great, very empowering.
One interesting thing, Main Character is accused of being secretly white by the other slaves -- because she's educated and compromises on a lot of things in the interests of practicality, right? Butler's Xenogenesis series is about (black) woman who "betrays" human beings to an alien race. And Parable of the Sower was a about a (black) false-empath who survives the destuction of her dystopian enclave by planning to leave everyone in it behind. So that's a theme, maybe (though Wild Seed doesn't fit into it, being about a paired set of immortal african sorcerors).
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austin.
Yeah, so I started watching the miniseries. Then I realized I really didn't have another four hours to spend on this, not when the book would be faster. So I borrowed it. XDXD very entertaining. Knowing what Elizabeth is thinking -- for the most part, will I be happy with this man? if yes, perhaps I love him -- makes a big difference. It's not nearly as romantic as I'd heard. At least, it's less romantic than the miniseries, which I'm betting is less romantic than the movie.
Television!
Why wasn't I watching Rome earlier? Oh man. So much sex in that show. You can tell from the positions what two characters are feeling. If they do it missionary style, it's either love or the woman is being deceitful. If they do it girl-on-top, it's a purely lust-driven thing. And doggie-style means the guy doesn't care at all (ahaha Octavian. I shouldn't have thought that was cute, BUT I DID).
One thing that bugs me about that show, there shouldn't be spaces between the words. So the Latin grafiti on the walls, while a cool concept, is... but anyway there are probably better things to take isssue with here. Like the fact that Luicius and Titus' interactions are Hercules or Xena-level cheese. I cheer when the focus shifts from them to the backstabbing upperclass.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:
ADV Films is having an anime sale from now until December 4th. $6.00 DVDs! I'm getting Princess Tutu vol 1, Orphen vols 2-5, and Five Star Stories (movie). Watch out for the shipping, it isn't calculated until just before you confirm the order.