Category Archives: media madness

Crash wins

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It was the only movie (nominated for any major awards) that I saw this year. So, yay. It was a very good movie. Shocking that something that came out so early in the year was the big winner.

Reese looked beautiful, and was graceful and charming. Good thing she remembered to thank Ryan, because that would not have been a good sign. 😉

Jennifer Garner…um, perhaps more support would have been in order? Yeesh.

Songs. Wow. Those were it? The best original songs in film in all of 2005?? And why, oh why, do you make us sit through them?

I might have more thoughts, but those are the main ones.

Oh, and look for a full report (with photos) on the Boston trip later!

Weekend wrap-up

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Jen’s got some photos posted from the Arrested Development party. It was a come-in-character party..I don’t know if you can tell from the photo, but I went as Lucille II. (Rand was the never-seen Frightened Inmate #2)

Dayna was a most excellent Kitty, and, well, Mark sacrificed his facial hair to the cause to become eerily Tobias-like. 😉

Brian was the hit of the party with his Bluth bananas, which sadly were not captured on film. They were mighty tasty.

Saturday night, Jen, Rachel, Brian and I went to see the Ron Hawkins Acoustic Revue at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum and Library. Buffalo Rising has a post (and slide show) of the event.

Music is one of the truly great things about Buffalo…great local music, of course, but also all of the fantastic music from across the border. I’m so glad Jen brought me to Buffalo so I could experience it for myself!

Despite Ron’s cold, it was a great show! The museum (which I had never been in before) made a wonderful concert spot.

Know what I don’t understand, though? I don’t understand why so many people pay good money to go to a concert and then proceed to talk through the whole thing. There was a guy behind us who I don’t think shut up the whole time we were there.

You can read Jen’s account of the show here.

Music Meme

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Stolen from Eden.

Favorite Beatles song: Let it Be…or Come Together

Favorite solo song by a former Beatle: I can hear Rand tearing his hair out, but I’d have to say Maybe I’m Amazed. 😉

Favorite Rolling Stones song: Hmmm…Paint it Black, I suppose.

Favorite Bob Dylan song: I admit that I’m not super-knowledgeable about Bob Dylan, but I like Tangled up in Blue.

Favorite Pixies song: I can’t even name a Pixies song. I am so uncool.

Favorite Prince song: Tough one, but I’ll go with 7.

Favorite Michael Jackson song: Billie Jean

Favorite Metallica song: One. Because of the ridiculous memory that comes with it. 😉

Favorite Public Enemy song: Fight the Power…because it’s the only Public Enemy song I can name.

Favorite Depeche Mode song: Either Personal Jesus or Somebody

Favorite Cure song: Just Like Heaven

Favorite song that most of your friends haven’t heard: That, For Me, is You by Jim Boggia

Favorite Beastie Boys song: Girls. or Intergalactic.

Favorite Police song: Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

Favorite Sex Pistols song: Clueless. Completely clueless.

Favorite song from a movie: Can I count Save Me or Wise Up (Aimee Mann) from Magnolia?

Favorite Blondie song: Rapture

Favorite Genesis song: Follow You, Follow Me

Favorite Led Zeppelin song: I really like Bron-Y Aur Stomp, but I admit to being more familiar with it because Carbon Leaf covers it…I also like Rock and Roll.

Favorite INXS song: Need You Tonight

Favorite Weird Al song: Oh, God…how do I choose? I’m going with My Baby’s in Love with Eddie Vedder, from Running With Scissors. Running With Scissors is brilliant.

Favorite Pink Floyd song: No idea. Comfortably Numb? Another Brick in the Wall?

Favorite cover song: Collin Raye covering Let it Be

Favorite dance song: This isn’t exactly a “dance” song, but the one song in the world guaranteed to make me get up and dance, even if I’m asleep, is Ecstasy by Rusted Root

Favorite U2 song: Pride (In the Name of Love)

Favorite disco song: Waterloo (does that count?)

Favorite The Who song: I feel like I’m stealing this from Eden, but Behind Blue Eyes

Favorite Elton John song: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Favorite Clash song: Should I Stay Or Should I Go

Favorite David Bowie song: Let’s Dance. Because where else can you find the world’s most nonsensical simile: tremble like a flower. Hee!

Favorite Nirvana song: Heart Shaped Box

Favorite Snoop Dogg song: I’m not really a big Snoop fan.

Favorite Ice Cube song: Er….no idea.

Favorite Johnny Cash song: Ring of Fire

Favorite R.E.M. song: You Are The Everything

Favorite Elvis song: All Shook Up

Favorite cheesy-ass country song: Oh, so hard! Ummm…John Deere Green, I suppose.

Entertaining

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Well, considering the weather this weekend, I am very glad that Jen
and I went to see Hamlet on Thursday night! Great show. Paul Todaro
did a fantastic job as the prince of Denmark, as I would have
expected. Ophelia, played by Kate LoConti, was outstanding. In fact, I
thought everyone did a magnificent job. I can’t think of a single
thing to dislike.

(Aside…does anyone know why all the Norway/Fortinbras stuff is in
the play? I haven’t found a completely satisfactory explanation. It
really doesn’t do anything for the story.)

We’re so lucky here in Buffalo, to have such a wonderful free
Shakespeare festival. As I’m sure everyone knows by now, they lost a
pretty good chunk of funding because of Erie County’s budget woes. I
would encourage anyone who values Shakespeare in Delaware Park to send
them a donation…

Friday night, I went to see The Aristocrats. I hadn’t heard much about
it beforehand…I even had to have Rand tell me what the joke
was…but it was great. Really, really funny. I noticed that
Shakespeare got rained out, because the actors who played Laertes,
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were at the movie. Kind of funny…I saw
these three guys walk in and thought, “Hmm…they look familiar. How
do I–OH!” Heehee.

I also got to see Kung Fu Hustle over the weekend, which was also very
entertaining.

Anyone have any good movie recommendations for me? 🙂

Holy train of thought, Batman

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I was just sitting with Jen in the living room while she was channel-surfing, and she happened upon this movie…I saw Robert Downey Jr, and knew I recognized it.

“Isn’t this the one where the ghosts are following him around?”

I saw Charles Grodin, and knew it was indeed the movie I was thinking of. (Incidentally, I did not know that Charles Grodin was born in Pittsburgh…the things you learn on IMdB…)

Anyway, seeing Charles Grodin always reminds me of that movie with Jim Belushi, where Jim Belushi plays a convict who has to sneak out of prison to see the Cubs play in the World Series. He finds Charles Grodin’s appointment book and pretends to be him. I’m telling this to Jen, and she’s just looking at me blankly.

“No really,” I say. “It’s actually pretty funny.”

I’ve actually seen it more than once. It was one of those constantly on cable movies.

The movie, whose name I could not remember until I looked it up was Taking Care of Business. It came out in 1990. The same year as Mr. Destiny. It was a big year for Belushi.

Anyway, the most interesting thing I learned on my trip to the IMdB, was that JJ Abrams has a screenwriting credit on Taking Care of Business. Yep, that would be the same JJ who’s brought you Felicity, Alias, and Lost.

Who knew? 🙂

Oscars, part II

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Well, overall I didn’t fare that well…I got 11 picks right. But the only two *big* ones I missed were Martin Scorsese and Annette Bening. Honestly, I really thought this was going to be the year Oscar said “Okay, Marty…here’s your Oscar.” I was wrong. And Annette Bening was wishful thinking. I hold no hatred in my heart for Hilary Swank, but I really *wanted* the older, graceful, absolutely radiant Bening to win. I haven’t seen either movie, so I can’t grumble too much about that.

And someone tell me…what’s with the whole “to win a best actress Oscar, you must play homely/a man or man-like/disabled/hooker” deal?

The ones I missed were ones I honest-to-goodness guessed on. Animated short? Documentary? Score? Eh…no clue. How does one go about seeing the live-action shorts, anyway? Hmmm…

Mostly, I didn’t think the show was all that exciting. I didn’t even cry during the tribute montage. I did tear up during Jamie Foxx’s acceptance speech, though. Sniff.

Obligatory Oscar Post

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I’ve been formulating a post about the Oscars for several weeks now, but am just now getting around to writing it. I’m having a good Oscar year…I’ve seen three of the best picture nominees…The Aviator, Finding Neverland and Sideways.

I enjoyed all of them. I know that the only one that has any chance of taking away the top award is The Aviator. And that’s only if it beats Million Dollar Baby, which I have not seen. In fact, I didn’t have any particular desire to see it until I kept hearing how *amazing* it is. I can’t say I really understand the voting whims of the Academy, so I tend to make my predictions based on instinct rather than claiming any sort of insight.

I’ve joined in Eden’s Oscar group for picking the winner. I’ll let you know how I did. 😉 Here are my picks for the major awards:

Best Picture: Million Dollar Baby
Director: Martin Scorsese for The Aviator
Actor: Jamie Foxx
Actress: Annette Bening
Supporting Actor: Morgan Freeman
Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchette
Animated Feature: The Incredibles
Writing (Adapted): Sideways
Writing (Original): Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I guess on most of the other categories, even documentary, because I know so little about them.

Somewhere around here, I had made a list of the Oscar-nominated movies from the past five years that I still haven’t seen. I don’t know where it is at the moment. For this year, I still want to see Million Dollar Baby, The Incredibles (ahem), Hotel Rwanda, Closer, Being Julia, Maria Full of Grace, Kinsey, Shrek 2, and possibly Ray.

Let’s roll out the red carpet, shall we? 🙂

Some thoughts on music

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I caught a wee bit of the Grammy Awards last night. Ugh. Snorefest. We happened to pop in at the point where a bunch of country singers were singing with Lynrd Snynrd. Gretchen Wilson makes me want to claw my eyes out. (aside…Redneck Woman wins best female country vocal performance. Eek. No wonder I rarely listen to country radio anymore.) I can’t stand her. I can’t stand her stupid song that, for reasons completely escaping my comprehension, has become a crossover hit.

Sample lyric:

I ain’t never been the Barbie doll type
No, I can’t swig that sweet Champagne
I’d rather drink beer all night
In a tavern or in a honky tonk
or on a four-wheel drive tailgate
I’ve got posters on my wall
of Skynyrd, Kid and Strait
Some people look down on me
but I don’t give a rip
I’ll stand barefooted
in my own front yard
with a baby on my hip

Full lyrics here.

“This is going to sound bitchy,” I told Rand, “But she’s trailer trash with a recording contract.”

Umm…anyway…I did find myself listening to WYRK a bit over the weekend. They were playing older stuff, from like ten years ago, when I first started listening to country music. The very first song I heard was “That’s My Story” by Collin Raye. Yay, Collin! Then it was “18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses” by Kathy Mattea, which got me to thinking about one of the things I first enjoyed about country music…the story song.

I love story songs. Perfect little pieces of flash fiction set to music. And country music was doing it better than pretty much anyone at the time. Some of my favorite story songs:

Love, Me
Harder Cards
She’s in Love with the Boy
The Thunder Rolls

***addition, I can’t believe I forgot Little Rock.***

I’m sure there are more, but those are good for now. 🙂

And on the other end of music, I had Jessica (my little) in the car with me on Saturday. We listen to hip hop when she’s in the car, which I don’t mind at all…that is, until I start listening to the lyrics. Then I end up depressed that this is what 13-year-old urban girls are identifying with. Sigh. This is the one that got to me on Saturday:

Soldier (Destiny’s Child)

Destiny’s Child? I’d have thought better of Beyonce and the crew.

Sample lyric:

If his status ain’t hood I aint checking for him
better be street if he looking at me I need a soldier
and he’s gotta stand up for me
known to carry big things if you know what I mean

Am I just old and out of touch?

Back to school again

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So on my first day as a substitute teacher, I got a call. Yay!

Pluses…actually working in my field, getting back into the classroom, networking.

Minuses…a lot less computer time. 😉 Postings will probably be fewer and farther between, as I am now a busy, busy girl.

(Hilary, I haven’t forgotten about your tag…I swear. I’m working on it!)

My first day wasn’t bad. A few seniors with attitude problems, but that’s to be expected. Here’s hoping I get called tomorrow!

I finished Bird by Bird (#47 in the 50-book challenge, by Anne Lamott) last night. This was a great book about writing, and I found Lamott’s writing to be honest, funny and touching. She gives great advice, her personal insights are fantastic, and reading this made me want to check out some of her fiction. I need to go back through and find some of my favorite quotes. I kept reading things to R aloud. I definitely give this one a thumbs up.

I need to finish Moonshadow (#46), but I’ve also started:

45. The Dominant Blonde (chick lit)
44. Passionate Hearts (poetry)

I was kind of confused when R gave me The Dominant Blonde to read, but when I read the “about the author” blurb, I learned that Alisa Kwitney was “a former comic book editor for the Vertigo impirnt of DC Comics.” Ahhh…it all makes sense now. Heehee.

I’m enjoying both very much.

Also on my “to read” list:

100 Years of Solitude
Dave Barry is Not Taking This Sitting Down
The Joy Luck Club
Kiss Her Goodbye
Sense and Sensibility
Breakfast of Champions
Maus (I somehow missed this when the rest of the known universe read it in college…)
Books 1 and 2 of A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Sandman (series…how many books should that count as? 😉 )
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth

I saw Finding Neverland Friday night with R and his friend John (I sometimes think I should abandon the “R” thing, as I’m sure that everyone reading this knows his name by now…hmmm…), and I really, really enjoyed it. I don’t know if it’s “Best Picture” material, but I did enjoy it. I got all weepy and stuff…

And get this, Lost fans, John gave me my *very own copy* of the comic featured on the show! It’s not in Spanish, but it is the very same comic. It’s an issue of Green Lantern/Flash: Faster Friends, for anyone keeping track of that sort of thing.

“I wouldn’t recommend reading it,” John said. “There’s way better comics out there.”

But still, way cool. 🙂

On Sunday, we watched Dodgeball…lots of fun. I thought the best parts of the movie were the clips…the Globo Gym commercial, the Dodgeball video, the ESPN 8 stuff. (Oh, and Gary Cole and Jason Bateman were an absolute riot as the commentators.)

I do have more to say, but I’m going to stop here for now…happy almost-February, everyone!

Alias talk

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So I’m curious to know what other Alias-watchers are thinking about this season…I’ve been hearing a lot of general negativity about the stand-aloneness of the episodes, but it hasn’t really been bothering me. The network is clearly trying to pick up new viewers with the Lost lead-in, and so they’re being slowly indoctrinated into Alias-world.

I really enjoyed last night’s episode. The guest casting on this show is always fantastic…kind of makes you wish some of those baddies didn’t die so quickly. 😉 Anyway, I thought the shining moment was when Syd and Vaughn, posing as a married couple for some super-secret Russian spy thing (don’t ask), were asked how Vaughn proposed. Syd kind of pauses, looks at him, starts to speak, but then he jumps in.

“It was in Santa Barbara…”

Santa Barbara, faithful viewers will remember, is where Syd and Vaughn were supposed to be going at the end of Season 2. Unfortunately, after nearly being killed by the evil double of her roommate (again, don’t ask), Syd was kidnapped and woke up in Hong Kong.

TWO YEARS LATER.

So Vaughn tells the story, and it’s clear that he intended to propose on that trip to SB that they never got to take. Sniff. It was all tender and sweet and emotional, and very well-played by my TV boyfriend Michael Vartan. 😉

Another thing I hear people complaining about is the lack of chemistry between Sydney and Vaughn this season. They’re mostly blaming JG’s relationship with Ben Affleck. Eh…whatever. I thought their shower scene last night was pretty hot.

I was kind of sad last night when I realized that I had forgotten that Lost was a repeat. Wah. And no Alias next week. Double wah.