Let Freedom Ring . . .

Today we celebrate the day our country took its first step towards becoming, well, a country. Happy Independence Day, everyone.

Happy Monday.

This morning at 2am, I was awoken from sleep by the gentle sound of running water. *Tinkle, tinkle* I awoke thinking, "Is it raining outside?" I opened my eyes and listened. Nope. No rain. Holycrapwhatthefuck.

Jumping out of bed, I got ten steps to my bathroom when my feet encountered the squish squish of EXTREMELY WET CARPET. Fuckity fuck. The bathroom floor was running with water, all from my suddenly, spontaneously cracked toilet bowl. So, out into the hallway I went, knocking on my neighbor's door, who also happens to be the building manager, and he mops up and promises to have the problem fixed today.

It's a good thing I spent Sunday cleaning up the sewing room, which until yesterday was still full of boxes. I didn't bother to go back to sleep; I finished clearing the sewing room floor of whatever clothes and costumes were still straggling around, moved Viola into the room with fresh litter and hay, and shut the door. She was pretty unhappy, but would have been unhappier still hopping over the wet, squishy carpet.

In response, here is a tripping Alan Tudyk from Death at a Funeral, which perfectly sums up my mentality level after so little sleep.

 

Do You Have a Flag?

My calendar says it's Flag Day in mexico. I say you don't need a reason to celebrate something with a dose of Eddie Izzard;)

The Road Goes Ever On . . .

Here it is, dear readers: the first trailer for "The Hobbit". I just finished reading the book for the first time last week, and I am terribly excited for this film. Enjoy;)

I'm Alive . . . .

Yes, it is cheesy and awful. But, this was my favorite movie as a child, and now I watch it every year on my birthday. Enjoy the craziness of "Xanadu";)

Home . . .

I've been singing this song for days now. I loved Lisa Hannigan's first album, Sea Sew, and this is from her second album, Passenger. Enjoy.

Erm . . . .

So . . . the first trailing for Tarsem Singh's "Mirror, Mirror" came out today, and, well . . .

I really want to like this movie. "The Cell" is still one of my favorite films (of all time), and "The Fall" was stunning. Eiko Ishioka is an amazing costume designer. The visuals in this trailer, from costumes to sets to cinematography, are impressive. But . . .

I think the thing I really hate is Julia Roberts, which shocks the hell out of me, because I LOVE Julia Roberts. In everything. I have never seen her give a poor performance. But here? Maybe it's the shots they chose, or the way it's edited, but she seems to be giving the same line-reading each time, the same throaty, bored intonation. There is no spark anywhere, no energy. And, a few of the sceneas look downright embarrassing. I feel really bad for Armie Hammer right now; the entire film seems designed to denigrate and humiliate him as the Prince. Lily Collins looked pretty. That's about the best I can say about her.

I never thought I would live in a world where I could say that a Kristen Stewart film looks better, but, unfortunately, right now "Snow White and the Huntsman", for all its obvious steals from LOTR, looks miles better than this infantile mess.

I really, REALLY hope the actual film proves me wrong. That red peacock dress alone is almost worth seeing it for.

"Hey, Dad? Can I tell you something?"

The DADT repeal finally went into affect this week, spurring some dramatic scenes of military coming out to friends and fellow service men and women. This is just one, of a 21-year-old man finally able to tell his father that he is gay, without fearing it will lead to his discharge.

How incredible to be able to be truthful about something so basic to who you are. How freeing to not have to hide. Thus far, the reported backlash that conservatives promised would follow has not materialized. This has landed amoungst the ranks of our serving men and women with a soft sigh rather than a bang, with most simply accepting it and going on with their duties.

Let us hope that such gentle acceptance and tolerance may one day be the norm, and hate be relegated to the history books.

Lost Causes . . . .

Along yesterday's post theme, here's a clip of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", the 1939 Frank Capra film about political idealism that almost made me want to become a politician. I wrote a paper on this film for my government class, and the third act can still bring me to tears every time. If you haven't had the chance to see it, maybe this video will convince you to. And if you haven't seen it in a while, let it remind you of something that is still true, no matter how often we forget: one person can make a difference.

I Will Sigh . . .

I listen to music often while I'm writing, and the last few books have been scored by Pandora Radio. It means I've made some interesting new discoveries, music I probably wouldn't have found through other means. The song above struck me so strongly I had to share it. You will sometimes hear writers say that a particular song describes a character or situation so perfectly, it is as if the songwriter crawled inside their head. Well, the "CS Lewis Song" is one of my characters. Lyrics by the incomparable author, sung and scored by Brooke Fraser.

Storytellers . . .

Pixar is turning 25 and  for me it's hard to remember a time without Woody and Buzz, without Mr. Incredible or Dory or Dug. I watched a fascinating documentary a few years back on the evolution of Pixar, from its beginnings at Disney to its eventual return, and one of the things they emphasized was the desire to tell stories, rather than sell merchandise. Watching a scene like the one above, you can see that philosophy at work. When we watch toys going through existential crises or tear up as a monster has to say goodbye to a little girl, we know that here is a different kind of film-making. Pixar believes in the power of the pause, in the strength of silence, and of allowing their characters to be unmarketable old curmudgeons or rats or ants. How else can we end up with a film where nearly all the characters don't speak english (like Wall-E), or a tale about the indignities and fear that come with getting older (like Up and Toy Story 3). These are not the topics that most animation studios would have been brave enough to tackle before Pixar blazed the trail, and because of them we have a new generation of more sophisticated family films; they made Shrek and Toothless the Dragon and Po the Panda possible, and so many others.

  For Pixar, the story comes first. I, for one, hope that they spend another 25 years making us cry like babies at least once in every film.

Learning-Impaired . . .

Most of you treading this know me pretty well.You know my track record with relationships, and my tendency to pick guys who are utterly wrong for me and who have absolutely zero interest in dating me. You also know of my habit of getting crushes on these guys that last months or even years (hello, first boy I ever loved in high school!*waves*) So, you know what I'm going to say next.

Well, why not let me say it for myself, with a new vlog. This is not a heart-wrenching Adele sort of love for the ages. Just a silly crush that I really, seriously ought to know enough to avoid. But, when it comes to my heart, I am an embarrassingly slow learner . . . .

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor . . .

If you haven't read "The Hunger Games" Trilogy yet, just do it. Yes, it is YA. But, you won't find any sparkly vampires or moony teenage girls. Instead, there is a bleakly dystopic future, ruled by a totalitarian government that demands its citizens sacrifice their children each year in brutal sport, to remind everyone who is in control . . . and what happens to rebels. The children fight each other to the death. It is bloody and terrible, and definitely worth a read.

Mainstay Pro have been making Hunger Games videos for quite a while, and they are pretty astounding. They're an honest-to-goodness production company, and these videos show it; if you've read the books, these videos definitely capture the scenes they portray. there is an impresive one above, but check out the others on their YouTube page. I hope the Lionsgate film is as good as this.

Porcelain . . .

When I was in college, I took a class called "Acting for the Camera". We spent the entire semester filming scenes where we were given a short set of lines, and could only use that dialogue. The scenes that we came up with ran the gamut from talking about a dead cat, two people having an affair, and a Hitchcockian murder scene. All with the same eight lines.

This scene was part of a contest with the same principle: The only lines allowed are "What is that?," "It's a unicorn," "Never seen one up close before," "Beautiful," "Get away" and "I'm sorry." This is the winner. I dare you not to cry watching what the filmmaker created out of just those simple words.

Cracks in the Foundation . . .

One of my favorite UK artists, with a powerful song about a relationship going bad. I think many of us have been here, but usualy can't look at it so truthfully.

Is Anybody There?

A powerful and moving number from one of my favorite musicals, "1776". The lyrics for Adams' song are actually lifted from his writings and speeches. If you have not seen this musical, I highly recommend it.

Freedom will Reign . . .

A few scenes from the exceptional HBO series, John Adams. If you have always thought of this period in our history as nothing more than a few dry pages from a history book, take a look at this. Our freedom was won with the passionate urging of great men, with drama and bargains and nail-biting suspense. I can only imagine that the real scene was even more incredible than we could ever recreate it.

The Joys of Parenthood . . .

So, I heard about this book a few weeks back, and thought it was a brilliant idea. Now I listen to the genius pairing of Samuel L Jackson with this book, and I am laughing so hard, I may pee a little. Very NSFW language; stick some earbuds in, and play this shit.

Into the Wild . . .

I hope everyone had as lovely a holiday weekend as I did! My sister came to visit, and we went to the San Diego Zoo on Saturday!

The Zoo is huge and the landscaping is beautiful. We did feel a little bit herded at times; there are specific trails and routes, and once on them, you feel like it's a little hard to get off of them and go somewhere else. But, we did get the chance to see a lot of the zoo; we were there for over four hours!

An adolescent giraffe. It was pretty amazing seeing the giraffes up close. At one point the large male walked all the way up to the edge of the moat, as though posing for us, and you could truly get a sense of how tall they really are!

I got to see several animals I've never really seen before, like koalas, and of course pandas. These Greater Rhinos were bigger than any I have seen previously.

The ever-present wandering peacocks.

I'm pretty sure this mountain lion wanted to eat me. It stood as close to the fence as possible, tensed and watching all of us below. It was pretty unnerving, and I was glad when we moved on.

The pandas were funny to watch; they seemed a little like blase celebrities, sitting, eating, and posing for all of us. Very cute, of course, but the whole area felt a little too staged for my taste. Still, it was cool to get to see them.

It was a fantastic time overall, and it'll be a while before I make the two-hour drive again! I'm glad I got to enjoy it with Tab, and I hope you all had as much fun with your holiday as I did;)

Happy Rabbit Awareness Week!

This week is Rabbit Awareness Week: Yay! I could not help smiling watching these joyful bunnies rolling, flopping, and doing binkies;) Enjoy, everybody!