wisteria

Last night, I went to see The Artist, and OMG I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Not only is it a marvelous film in its own right, but the experience of watching it is quite fascinating. The entire movie is silent, though with a great soundtrack and a sparing use of those old-timey intertitles to show dialogue. You really have to pay attention in a totally different way than you do with other movies, as much of the experience is interpreting what happens onscreen without the easy cues of characters' speech. I thought I'd have difficulty due to my ridiculous ADHD, but I was engrossed throughout. After the film, my friend and I discussed whether it was a gimmick. We concluded that although the "silent movie" thing is kind of a gimmick, it works really well (especially in 2012) because of how it challenges our assumptions and opens up a whole different meaning -- to our modern minds -- of what a movie should be.

The Artist is also filled with amazing acting. Jean Dujardin is SO charming and gives a hell of a performance. Berenice Bejo is perfect as the ingenue with her winks and wide-eyed savvy. Those two deserve Oscars just for all the DANCING -- skip to 1:05 of the trailer to see them tapping their hearts out. Michel Hazanavicius' directing is also remarkable for how he captures those slightly jerky and exaggerated physical movements of old movies. (Gee, I'm gushing a lot. Can you tell how much I adored this movie? :)

Plus, I knew going in that I would love it because Benny Goodman's "Sing Sing Sing" always puts me in the HAPPIEST mood! I'm trying not to say anything spoilery here -- though you can probably guess how the movie plays out as the plot itself is not exactly revolutionary. ;) But I'd love to discuss it in the comments if any of y'all have also seen it! Yay!

1. Lovely day! A friend invited me to see Red Riding: 1974, the first of the trilogy that was on Channel 4 in the U.K. and in theaters here. ( Collapse )

2. If you've never seen Doctor Who, then tonight's "The Vampires of Venice" would be a great entry point. ( Collapse )

3. While at Trader Joe's this afternoon, I bought a three-pack of their fabulous milk chocolate bars. The only problem is that I have nowhere to stash them to avoid the temptation of eating all three at once. My car would be ideal if not for how they'd melt in ten minutes. Could I stick them in the freezer without damaging the chocolate?

4. Making the rounds: Kristin Chenoweth's marvelous takedown of the recent Newsweek essay about how gay actor supposedly cannot play straight characters.

5. Another thing I forgot to put in the latest linkspam: daybreak777 linked to this fun article on how to give yourself a "mini spa moment" while watching an hourlong TV show.

6. Even though I watched the season via downloads, I still eagerly tuned into last night's season premiere of Friday Night Lights on NBC. And I love Vulture's guide to how each episode will make you feel.

7. And to round out the list of funny links, check out Paul Rudd's obsession with watching himself dance. Sometimes naked.

Well. I am officially halfway through the school year. Overall, it's been a fairly good one -- certainly better than last year. The past week was quite a challenge, though. The next time someone jokes/snarks about how many vacations teachers get, I'll challenge them to spend the week before winter break with a hundred and fifty 11-12 year olds. (And while I'm being kinda bitchy, I get bristly when people tell me, "You're a middle school teacher? They couldn't pay me enough to do that!" It makes teaching -- a career for which I have a Master's degree and tons of experience -- sound rather repulsive and beneath them. I know they mean well and are expressing admiration, but I wish they'd phrase it another way!)

My hands are sore because I've spent so much time knitting in the past few days. With a bit of luck, I should have all my projects finished by the time I fly to Texas on Wednesday. Knock on wood! While knitting, I've been listening to the "Holiday Pop" station on Comcast's music selection to get me into the Christmas mood. It isn't helping much. Most of the holiday-themed music out there is pretty awful. And for some reason they threw in "Hold on to the Night" by Richard Marx, which totally took me back to 8th grade and begging to go to his concert at Six Flags Music Mill Amphitheater. Ah, the (cringeworthy) memories!

Just read an article about how charity donations tend to double in the last week of the year vs. the previous fifty-one weeks. Gotta love folks going for the tax deduction, though at least they're giving something! I really like This American Life's new fundraiser: you send a text message to a certain number, and $5 is added to your cellphone bill. So easy! And tacking it onto a bill you're already paying is perfect for someone as profoundly lazy as me.

This afternoon I watched Galaxy Quest on the local NBC affiliate for the first time since it came out. Such a cute little movie. Why has nobody written crossover RPF in which Jamie Bamber, for instance, finds himself in spaaaaaaace?

I also watched last week's episode of Legend of the Seeker; for some reason, the local affiliate is showing them a week late. Huh. Must track down the new ep. That show is so bad that it must actually be really good and I'm just oblivious to its merits. Also, I want to applaud the show for having two strong female leads (Kahlan and Cara), yet it loses points by showing tits and ass whenever possible. It's hard to wave my feminism banner when most of the women on the show are dressed in such skimpy outfits. Alas.

Anyway. Off to knit some more. (And the 12 Days entry might be late this time, thanks to me having no ideas whatsoever. Eh, when I finish, I'll just backdate the post. ;)

1. As I've mentioned before, I'm currently taking one of three classes needed for ESOL certification. It's touted as "graduate-level", and it meets every Monday evening for four hours. The school district offers the class for free, and there's no real consequence if I fail or drop out. All voluntary. So why the hell is the instructor making me do so much HOMEWORK? Hmph.

2. Just curled up to watch this week's White Collar, but the moment that Sarah Wynter showed up as the journalist, I immediately had to stop watching and pull up her Flight of the Conchords episode that I still have saved on my TiVo. Although S2 wasn't as great as S1, overall, "Unnatural Love" is a damn good ep. I'm still waiting for someone to do a BSG finale vid to "Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor". And I could watch "Carol Brown" over and over. Love it so much that the opening melody is my current cellphone ringtone.

3. I'm currently downloading the new episode of Doctor Who. Looking forward to it! I've also spent the weekend downloading tons of oldies .mp3s for my father, whose birthday is tomorrow. He's really into American rock songs from the late '50s, and he has no idea how to use his computer, much less download them himself. So I guess all these burned CDs will make a good present.

4. Speaking of presents... Christmas knitting has begun. I'm already overwhelmed! Mom has insisted upon a sweater this year, so I'm making her the February Lady Sweater in a nice red. It's not the fanciest sweater ever, but the one I made myself this summer was a quick, easy knit. I'm also making my sister something that I won't reveal here because she reads my LJ. ;) And I think I'll make some Fetching fingerless gloves for various friends, since I can whip those out quickly. Of course, this means that the projects for myself have taken a backseat. Alas! Thank goodness I have Thanksgiving week off work, and I'm not planning to go anywhere. Let's hope I can get a bunch of knitting done then.

5. Yesterday, Grey and I saw 2012. It was gloriously ridiculous, but then I love disaster movie porn. If anything, it wasn't as disaster-y as I would've liked. Nothing will ever top aliens blowing shit up in Independence Day as the ultimate disaster porn.

Now I'm off to knit, watch The Amazing Race (then Who), and catch up on comments!

Roland Emmerich owns my disaster-movie-loving soul. It's like he took the best parts of Independence Day, but this time it's wacky ancient Mayans blowing shit up instead of wacky aliens! World-famous landmarks get destroyed while about-to-die people gawk at the oncoming dooooom even though they should be running for their pitiful lives! Except you can never escape disaster in one of Roland's movies! And, just to prove how much he loves me, Roland even threw in a tsunami!!!

Dude. DUUUUUUDE. I hardly ever go to a movie theater anymore, but I'm totally preordering tickets for opening weekend.

I think I'll kick things off this year by talking about some books and movies I've seen/read recently. No spoilers in any of these -- just general reactions!

Books:
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Movies:
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Just got home from seeing Juno -- and on the correct night! Didn't fall madly in love, but it's a cute movie. Mostly, it makes me want to pull out my Arrested Development DVDs.* I did score a cute promo t-shirt that's like the HS shirt Michael Cera's character wears; however, it's a medium, and my cleavage is ... not a medium. (A curse, not a blessing.) Perhaps one of my friends will like it.

* While at Publix last night, I saw this tall, gorgeous model-type talking on her cellphone, and she mentioned "Bob Loblaw". I sort of hovered around her near the deli counter, because I'm not used to overhearing random AD-related discussion by model types. Sure enough, a few minutes later she laughed and told the person on the phone, "... played by Scott Baio!" Excellent. And hee! I just found my AD/BSG crossover fic.

Y'know, I'm fairly zen about LJ's new adult content restrictions. ( Collapse )

My bookmarks list overfloweth, so here's another linkspam:

-- From the major newsmagazines: Why A Christmas Story has become America's favorite yuletide movie, and is photography dead?
-- NY Times: On the lack of social mobility in reality television. Also, their TV blog asks what went wrong with Bionic Woman?
-- Mo Ryan on the Psych Christmas special, and what they have in common with Jeeves & Wooster.
-- Fans of The Wire: You can watch three short prequel videos at Amazon.
-- Vulture has two short but funny spoilery bits on Monday's Heroes.
-- Now you need a receipt to return things to Target. No more giving 'em your credit card. Drat.
-- Via Pop Candy: The "Last Christmas" Blog, dedicated to listing every cover of that Wham! song. Since I saw this link, I've had that damn song going through my head.

Had a bit of a scare earlier! While hanging out with a friend, I tried a sip of the smoothie she'd brought with her. The package had said it was made with berries, but it turned out to have some banana in it. ( Collapse )

Oh, and I decided to get a Costco membership. Hmm. We'll see how that goes.

So, right now I'm drinking some wine. I do love my darling gewurztraminer. I've been having a glass once or twice a week, which is huge for me. I've never been much of a drinker, mostly because I really don't like the taste of alcohol, but German white wines suit me just fine. Probably for the best, since I already have enough addictions as is!

I also rented some DVDs as a distraction from the wait for tomorrow's BSG. ( Collapse )

Very cool BSG news! In his recap of "Dirty Hands", Jacob slipped in the news that Jane Espenson has officially joined the writing staff for next season. Yay!

Just realized I haven't done a BSG promo pics poll in a while! So, here's one for "Maelstrom" - spoilers ONLY for the promotional photographs. ( Collapse )

This afternoon, I headed to Publix for baking supplies, and of course I forgot to get some butter. The woman in front of me at checkout bought three fresh lobsters for a total of $97. Wow. I had to restrain myself from boggling. I'm finally at a place in my life where I'm making a decent income -- at least, for a public school teacher. Still, I can't imagine spending a hundred bucks on lobsters that weren't cooked for me at a fancy restaurant.

I think it's time to reveal myself as a Mah Jong addict -- and I know I'm not the only one out there. I've been playing Mah Jong Towers Serenity for hours on end. Best thing about it is that they post a handful of new layouts each day, which is great for those like me who are too cheap to shell out for the full version. Go forth and waste time, campers!

dtissagirl posted a fabulous movie picspam, including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and one of my all-time favorites, Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt)! Like Pavlov's dog, any mention of that movie forces me to put in my DVD and bliss out. I've never been one for top-ten lists, but here are ( Collapse )

It's 24 night! Whee! I love this show. It's big and dumb and ridiculous and shit gets blown up! I can't understand how critics (and Emmy voters) take it so seriously, because I'm too busy laughing at all the wackiness. I've seen tomorrow night's eps and don't want to accidentally give out spoilers, but those two hours had some huge "ZOMG!" moments. Hey, where would I go for some Chloe bitchface icons?

ETA: Okay, this is really pissing me off. I'd had a poll asking which Jack was the biggest badass: Bauer or Bristauer; however, I had to reformat it, and now it's not working at all. Hmph.

A few links tonight:
-- Time Magazine interviews Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench. Together. wisteria_ blisses out. I really must see Notes on a Scandal.
-- queenofthorns did an insanely cute picspam of Zoo Atlanta's baby panda! I'm a little bit in love with Mei Lan.
-- Though I've linked before, I must again spread the love for Bad Baby Names, the blog version of one of the most hilarious sites on the interwebs, Baby's Named a Bad, Bad Thing. Someday I'll have to share the story of the mother of two of my students, who are named after Dynasty characters, or "the Bobs".

Oh, and if you've been meaning to catch up on Galactica, SciFi has a season 3 marathon tomorrow from 8am-6pm. :)

One of the amusing side-effects of Adderall is that it makes me want to clean. Given my usual tendency toward mess, that alone is worth the price of the prescription. (Amusing aside: did you know that the generic version of Adderall is simply called "Amphetamine Salts"? I have prescription speed! Whee!) It also helped me sit through TWO movies today. My friend B. and I decided that we'd, like, be all deep 'n meaningful on the first day of the year, so we saw Children of Men, which was unsettling and fascinating. I'll defer to Indi's much better write-up. Then we followed it up with the fun escapism of Dreamgirls. Overall, it wasn't as great as my expectations, but Jennifer Hudson was marvelous; I'm such a sucker for her Cinderella story.

Late last night, I also knitted a quickie hat. ( Collapse )

Linkspam time:
-- Crowds of pupils but little else in African schools: Very sad, but also SO heartwarming for this teacher! On a happier note, Oprah is building a school. I just wish those opportunities were available to ALL African kids who want desperately to learn.
-- Middle school girls gone wild: Definitely not heartwarming, though also not surprising. (I saw this the other day, but sarmoti beat me to the linking. Hmph.)
-- Slate talks about the worst commercials on television. Thank goodness for TiVo.
-- And Salon reviews the year in sex. Er, sorta.

I'm gacking this cool fic meme from selenak: ( Collapse )