Full 'Deathly Hallows' Trailer!

Okay, so, of course I devoured all of the Harry Potters books and I've seen the movies and very much want to go to the theme park, but I admit that since the book series ended and I have had some frustrations with changes in the last couple of movies and there are so many other things like the Twilight craziness that seem to be taking over the Harry Potter thunder, that I haven't been dying for the new movies. I mean, of course I wanted to see them and have the series concluded, but it was kind of a meh feeling. Until, dun dun duh!... I just watched this full trailer for the new Deathly Hallows movie coming out November 19th and was biting my lip and holding my breath the entire time! Gah! I forgot how great they are and now I want to go back and read them all again! It's like coming home to old friends, like my Amelia's, and those are the best kinds of stories ;)

The Periodic Table of Super Powers

Hmmm, if I could only have one of each category, I believe I would take E - H - Ge. I like to be practical ;)

Geek Soda

Okay, so, I'm not a big sugary beverage person, and I am way to old to get excited about things like this, but the fantasy geek in me is DYING to try these new Dungeons & Dragons "Spellcasting" editions of Jones Soda. Aaah, the fun my brothers and I would have had with these as kids, as we were role-playing fantasy/action scenarios in the backyard. The six new flavors, aka, potions, are:

Potion of Healing

Sneak Attack

Illithid Brain Juice

Dwarven Draught

Bigby's Crushing Thirst Destroyer

Eldritch Blast

How fun is that?! Jones has done other Limited Editions in the past (holiday themed, sports themed, Hot Wheels, Punk Rock Bands...) but this is by far the coolest. Makes me want to don a cape and brandish a sword and conquer evil... er, you know, like, 20 years ago. Ahem.

'Tron Legacy' Trailer

There is finally a full trailer up for the sequel to the 1982 Disney Sci-Fi classic Tron, this one called, Tron Legacy. If you watch the original now, though the idea/story is great, the Graphics look pretty cheesy. I can't wait to see how this new one will looks with what Graphics have become today. From the preview below, 'pretty sweet' is what its looking like:

Release Date: December 17, 2010

LOST is Coming ...

Whew! Okay, so its almost here folks! If you need some invite ideas for a LOST party, here you go.

If you need a refresher, here is the finale from Season 5:

The Incident- Part 1



The Incident- Part 2

There are so many rumors and theories flying about who will live, who will die, what it all means, who are truly the villains, when will this season take place... Being the final season the gloves are off, as they say, so here are some of my predictions:

1- Sayid will die before the end. I actually thought he was going to die a couple of different times last season, and yet he lived on. I think he is ready. He has been through such an emotional roller coaster and I think he is damaged beyond the possibility of a happily-ever-after. I have thought since the beginning (except for the Libby debacle, don't get me started) that for the most part, all of the characters that have died found a degree of closure first. Sometimes closure is simply being too tired to care any more. I don't think he is too tired to fight for his friends, but I think if a martyr is needed it will be him because he is ready for quiet peace, and I think death will be his peace. I am guessing more than one may die, but I feel like Sayid is a for sure.

2- Ben will live to googly eye another day. This has never been a show of purely good and evil, it has been a show declaring that we all have both of those things in us and maybe fate has some involvement, but its our choices and the people in our lives that declare who we are. None of the characters are spotless. I don't think Ben will be the ultimate villain and I don't think he will surprise us all and be the ultimate hero. I think he will make it through, looking out for himself as always, and in the end he will still be a hate-him-but-would-miss-him weasel.

3- The relationship between Jacob and the Man in Black as we have so far been led to presume will change completely. I don't know that it will go so far as to turn the tables to the point that we discover that Jacob is the true villain and the Man in Black is the 'good' one, because as I stated before, its not all good and evil, but I am not ruling that possibility out. Maybe Jacob, who seems so good, is really just a master manipulator who, like Satan, wants things to go smoothly and be in control of it all, where the man in black, like Christ, may want there to be choice in the world. I am NOT saying that they are supposed to be representing these individuals, I am just pointing out a possible parallel.

4- Every season they mix things up. We had flash backs getting to know the Castaways, then we had a new season of what has been happening on the other side of the island with the Tailies, then we got the perspective of the Others, then we started getting flash-forwards as well as flash-backs, and then finally last season we were jumping between past and present. I think this season will literally be jumping back and forth between two different realities. From the island post-bomb (whether it be in present time or still the 70s) and the very beginning, like a do-over or something. The question is, will they remember it all? If so, will they go back?

5- Not everything we want to be answered will be answered. For one thing, this is a show that can be classified in the scifi/fantasy genre, so a lot of the scientific and time travel things can't be perfectly answered because, well, hate to spoil it, but they aren't actually real. For me, as captivating as all of the mystery and puzzles on this show are, it is the depth of the characters they have created that really keeps me hooked. As long as their stories are satisfyingly concluded, that may be enough for me. I don't think we will necessarily find out exactly what the island is or how long it has been in existence or why these people were the ones chosen, and I would actually prefer it that way. Like real religion, a lot of the elements of LOST and the island are based in faith and mythology and possibly the belief in things like predestination and that time as we know it on earth is nothing to the sense of Godly time. I think LOST will end with a degree of letting us interpret things as we want to, and I think that's okay. The beauty of LOST is the mystery, and if that was completely gone in the finale... I think the story would lose something.

Here are the three different versions of the LOST Supper promo for Season 6- read into them what you will. I am sure they are chock full of symbolism and mischief:




Also, you can go here or here and do some LOST philosophizing with Doc Jensen. Yep, there IS someone who reads even more into everything than I do!

The Future is Now

I'm torn between disappointment and relief after reading this article.

Piranhas. Almost as Funny as Zombies. Almost.

I don't know why I am such a sucker for campy, gory movies! I just think they are so ridiculous that they make me laugh when a normal person would cringe. I am a huge fan of Whitney Matheson who writes Pop Candy and likes a lot of the things I like (aka, LOST) and keeps me amused and up-to-date on geeky pop culture happenings. This is one of the things she wrote about today:

Last night I went to see Youth in Revolt (very good). Outside of the movie itself, the biggest ruckus in the theater came during a trailer for Piranha 3-D, a campy horror flick opening in April. When the trailer started, I think a lot of folks assumed it was fake -- how else to explain Christopher Lloyd, Elizabeth Shue, Jerry O'Connell, Ving Rhames, Eli Roth and other familiar faces in a flick about man-eating fish? But yes, Piranha is real, and it's really in 3-D. (Director Alexandre Aja also helmed The Hills Have Eyes.) Sadly, the trailer hasn't been posted online yet, so all we have are leaked versions and set footage. If Piranha 3-D is anything like the 1978 film Piranha, though, we're in for a treat. Directed by Joe Dante (Gremlins, The 'Burbs), the '70s cult classic parodied Jaws and included bits of dialogue like this:

Resort worker: "But the piranhas ..."
Boss: "What about the (expletive) piranhas?!"
Resort worker: "They're eating the guests, sir."

Check out the original trailer:



Ummm, yeah, I feel like I am going to get a total kick out of the Piranha 3-D coming, but I also may have to see if I can track down this original. Ha!

Preparing for the iPhone

So I have been truly out-geeking myself lately. Here's how. At first when it came out, I had several legitimate reasons to not jump on the i-Phone bandwagon:

#1- They were only 8gigs at the biggest and what is the point of having your iPod be your phone as well if it isn't as big as your iPod?
#2- My brothers joined my Verizon family plan when my parents went to South Africa for the Mission and I didn't want to mess them up.
#3- I love Verizon and most of the people I call/text the most are on it, so I don't love the idea of switching to AT&T.

The only one of these issues that really remains at this point is #3, and even that is slightly up in the air. The largest capacity iPhones are now 32gigs and I am sure they will only be getting bigger. As for the family plan thing, my brother Logan got his own family plan when he got married this past June, and my brother Parker will probably go back on with my parents when they get home this coming June. This all happens to be perfect timing, because July 15th is when my Verizon contract is up.

What I have done to prepare for the iPhone (even though I won't be getting it for at least another five months):

1- Picked out the cover I want- this one from Ultra-Case; it comes in four lovely colors, but I think I like this best (to match my red computer, two red external hard drives & my red headphones, you know. There is a theme going on here):

2- I don't carry around a physical calendar because I have Internet available to me most of the time and I set reminders on my phone for important stuff, and the calendar that I have been using is an application on Facebook called 30 Boxes and I have really loved it. In the last couple of weeks, however, I have transferred all of my 30 Boxes calendar information (and mind you this includes recurring and day-to-day events clear through this coming July) to my Google Calendar. Why did I do this? Oh, because you can sync your Google Calendar to your iPhone.

3- As I have mentioned before, I make my own ringtones for my cell phone. I like to be able to set people to specific ringers, I use my phone as my alarm clock, and I like to text funny clips to people. With an iPhone you would assume that since you have all of your music on there you would be able to set people's ringtones to songs from your playlists. Unfortunately, not so. However, there is a way, albeit slightly tedious, to edit your songs into an iPod ringtone accessible format. Here is the simplest tutorial I have found on that, if you are interested. (As in, not the majority of people who actually read this blog, since you rely on me for your ringtone needs ;) The process is a little quicker for me at this point because I already have the songs I want to use cut down to the correct length. The last couple of days, though, I have been switching them over to the proper M4R format and organizing them and saving them into a file in my iTunes.

4- Trying to get others in my family on board. So I am still not thrilled about the idea of switching to AT&T from Verizon. I have always been with Verizon and I have loved it- great coverage- I never drop calls. Apple's exclusive contract with AT&T is up this coming year and so there are a lot of rumors swirling that they may not re-sign with them and that they may allow the iPhone to be open to all carriers (which would be a lucrative thing for them to do, unless AT&T offers them a dollar amount that they can't refuse to keep them exclusive). It would be absolutely ideal if the iPhone came to Verizon, but if there is no official sign of that actually really happening by July, I think it is worth it to me to switch to AT&T just for the iPhone. In talking to my folks, my Dad is sort of thinking iPhone when he gets back, so if several of my most-frequently-called people are going to be on AT&T too, then that will make it more convenient for me. (Please go to Verizon!)

My iTunes and music/video files are already immaculately organized, so it doesn't hurt to have everything else prepared in advance as well, right? Am I completely neurotic? Am I the absolute biggest geek of your life? Sigh. I'm okay with it.

Horror Classics

With my love of vintage, and possibly the reason for my love of vintage, is my absolute adoration of old vintage movies. Vintage being Golden Hollywood stuff. From the cheesy, sing-songy, synchronized swimming romances of Esther Williams to the dark and somewhat misogynistic James Cagney mob thrillers, I love them all. Included in this wide range of vintage movie options, and particularly at this time of the year, I absolutely love old horror classics. Certainly some of them like Creature from the Black Lagoon and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, albeit entertaining to watch, walk a fine line between Classic and B Movie. What makes them classic is that they were the first and B horror movies are ripoffs of these. Then there are the very original German inspirations for the Hollywood horror classics such as the silent movies The Cat and the Canary and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari that are ridiculously creepy to this day, even though they still seem a little silly just because they are sooooo old. To us now, characters like Dracula and Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and The Mummy, are staple horror characters that we have known about since we were small and are mostly just overdone costume options. (though when I use the genre Horror I am being broad- these ones would probably more specifically be classified as Creature Features)

These days horror movies come out all the time, but what would it have been like to have gone to the theater in 1931 and seen Frankenstein brought to life for the first time, when having special effects at all was a ground-breaking art for movies and horror was a completely new and revolutionary movie genre? My Anniversary Edition of Frankenstein has a fantastic documentary about the origin of the horror movie and it is fascinating to hear some of the people talk about how honestly shocked and horrified they were when they saw Frankenstein and Dracula the first time, even though no one would really be scared of those version now (except for very small children (see my random Sharlie the Lake Monster story) and people named Jessica Jane Doxey Plowman (love you girl! ;)) The movie industry has come incredibly far in the last eighty years concerning special effects, but you have to respect the old horrors for being the first of their kind and for the effects they were able to accomplish with oddly-colored lighting and shadows and music without the graphics of today. For being released in 1933, I will forever be impressed by the smooth effects in the scene in The Invisible Man when he finally sort of goes crazy and unwraps the cloth from around his head as he rants and cackles wickedly and we finally see the nothingness beneath...

I know its cheesy, but try to think of it from the perspective of the time it was made. I always try to do that with old movies, and it makes the experience so much richer.

Even today we don't see a lot of original horror figures- certainly if you want to call Freddy Kruger and Michael Meyer modern classic horror figures that is your prerogative, but they lack the mythology and the pathos for their former humanity that the real classics have. What we mainly see are retellings of the staples. So, as All Hallows Eve approaches, I would like to declare my respect and appreciation for the Hollywood horror classics. Without them, the 31st of October would not be what it is today.

In parting, as we learn from The Wolf Man:

Even a man who is pure in heart
And says his prayers by night
May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms...
And the Autumn Moon is bright!

Happy Halloween ...

Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters

So I just finished reading Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters. It definitely wasn't as good as Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. It was sort of a poor man's version. With PPZ, it was really the authors pet project and he was so thorough and though there were additions to the story, obviously, it really was just like an alternate reality to the original. The way he wrote the characters, you could really imagine that is how the Jane Austen characters would have acted had their world been invaded by a plague of the undead. With SSSM though, the book company just hired an author to write it, hoping to bank on the PPZ phenomenon, so it wasn't really this guys project, it was just a paycheck.

It was still an amusing read, but almost too over-the-top. With PPZ it was supposed to be funny, but at the same time he took the story very seriously. With this one it felt a little forced, and there were just some oddities and changes that didn't ring true. I know that may seem an ironic thing to say about novels that put monsters into distinguished literary classics, but somehow PPZ pulls off a certain grace that SSSM does not. So, I didn't hate it, but it was just okay. I would still definitely recommend PPZ though.

Now what will be next, you may ask? Perhaps, Emma Meets the Wolfman, or possibly, Mansfield Park: Space Invasion? Well, looks like what is next is a prequel to PPZ called Dawn of the Dreadfuls. Its another new writer, and this time, as a prequel story, it is only based on Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice characters and isn't actually taking any lines from a real story of hers. We'll see how it goes, but it may have been best to just stick with the originality of the first. Zombies are just funnier than Sea Monsters though, so I will probably still give it a shot.

Just A Charming Autumn Weekend...

Haha, I love how that poster is the first thing you see after the whole 'charming' thing. I crack myself up. Know what else cracks me up? Horror movies. It's hard to find people to go with me because most people I know get freaked out and hate them, but I like that cringy feeling of mystery in the theater and I like the creepy anticipation of what's lurking around the corner, but mostly I tend to just get a kick out of how hokey and predictable they are. I don't like the Satanic ones or the teen slashers that are more unnecessary nudity than mystery, but I do love a good thrill. I particularly enjoyed Shawn of the Dead, the British spoof on zombie movies. So funny, though I do have the edited version ;) Well, this past Friday night my friend Adam and I went to the new movie Zombieland, another horror spoof. I don't go to a ton of Rated R movies, but I don't really mind when its for violence, like action or war movies, or in Zombieland's case, for "horror violence/gore." I'm not squeemish. On top of being funny and gory, I was happily surprised to find that the movie actually had some tender moments and endearing characters. Also, there is an amazing cameo in the film that I did NOT see coming! I seriously laughed my head off in this movie. Adam is jumpier than I am, and so there were a couple of times that he was crouching a little in his seat, along with the majority of the audience, and I was just guffawing away. I think he thought I was a little nuts for not being horrified like a normal person. Maybe he's right, but I just can't be scared of zombies. I mean, I am sure that there are some scary zombie movies, but the traditional zombie, you know, with the goofy limpy walk and making unintelligible shrieking noises and with their negative IQ's... I just can't find it in me to be afraid of those dummies. So, if you have sense of humor for the outrageous and bizarre, are cynical and slightly desensitized and find amusement in the silly undead like I do (zombies are the new vampire), then you will like this movie. If, on the other hand, your soul is far more pure than mine, I would still suggest finding an edited version of this to watch in the future.

On Saturday, (beautiful, clear, seventy degrees Saturday, perhaps the last of its kind for the year, grumble grumble) it was the final day for the downtown Farmers Market that comes every summer. I met my friend Kirsten and, as usually ensues when Kirst and I get together and there are fresh wares to be purchased, much eating ensued:

Yummy tamales!

This was our favorite store- the woman takes these vintage book covers and puts in blank pages and makes them notebooks/journals...

She also makes these sweet light switch covers. I would have gotten one but the light switches in my apartment aren't the traditional shape.

Fresh fruit pies...

...We could NOT resist getting one. Look how cute and small! It was like a Cup Pie from Pushing Daisies!

I bought some fresh noodles that I made into a stir fry for lunch on Sunday- yum, yum, yum, deliciouso!

Kirst buying some fresh basil (bets on how long it stays alive? J/K Kirst... sort of ;)

Mmmm, cherry honey from a tube.

Then we shopped around at The Gateway for a bit trying to find Kirst a good Winter coat. Sadly no luck- it may still be a tad early for that.

Audrey Hepburnesque coat that I loved (but didn't buy, sigh)

Trunk set that I loved (but again, didn't buy. Prolonged sigh)

We loved these! I bought a couple of the napkin sets and Kirst and I both bought the mug that says, "Funny... I don't recall asking for your opinion." Ha!

Sunday was another gorgeous sunny day, so I went walking and enjoyed the Fall colors and the leaves blowing across the streets. Later that day I went and saw my cousin Heather who should be having baby cub Jack today or tomorrow! She is sooooo ready to have the kid, and I am so ready to meet him!

30 Rock... You Make Me Soooo Happy

30 Rock Season 4 premieres tonight and I just thought, in my joyful anticipation, that I would peruse the Top 5 reasons that I adore this show (though there are many more):

5: The Guest Stars- This could have said 'Salma Hayek' as she has definitely been my favorite of the guests so far. Who knew she had such amazing comic timing? Some of her lines, all the better for how she delivered them, were my favorite part of last season. Like when she comes into Jack's office wearing a tee shirt that says, 'What the frack?' (A Battlestar Galactica reference) and she is telling Jack about her sordid past and, in total seriousness, in her beautiful Mexican accent, says, “I am so sorry to tell you such a dark tale while wearing such a silly T-shirt." Ha! I'll admit that a couple of the guest stars storylines were a tad over-the-top, but part of 30 Rock's charm is it's outrageousness.

4: The Shameless Plugs & Societal Cliches- It has sort of become a joke on 30 Rock to make fun of other shows, and themselves, by having very obvious plugs for their sponsors, like Snapple. Dialogue example:

Pete: Wow! This is Diet Snapple?
Liz : I know, it tastes just like regular Snapple doesn’t it?
Frank: You should try 'Plumagranate'. It’s amazing...
Cerie (the token hot girl, while looking directly into the camera): I only date guys who drink Snapple.

One episode was entitled MILF Island, which is the name of a (fake, obviously) reality show that is cougars (aka, hot older ladies who dig younger men (in case you didn't know, Mom ;)) and underage teens stuck on an island together and pushed into situations where hanky panky will inevitably ensue. Of course there is no way that this show would ever be approved in real live, but I love that they make fun of our society's obsession with reality TV and how far networks push the boundaries for the sake of 'entertainment.'

3: The Witty/Intelligent Writing- Majority of contemporary comics, please watch this show and see that you don't have to go for the bathroom/racy jokes to get a laugh. Quit being so lazy! Watch 30 Rock or watch old episodes of The Carol Burnett Show or The Cosby Show and come up with something original. There are so many clever jokes in this show that you really have to be paying attention to even catch them all. There is a lot of random humor as well, which I love. Most things are predictable these days and so a sure way to stay interesting is to come out of nowhere. Also, I love how many geeky references there are, since I get them all ;)

2: The Cast- The whole ensemble is fantastic, but major kudos to the four main leads, Jane Krakowski in particular, who plays crazy diva Jenna: I first fell in love with her because I was a huge fan of the quirky lawyer show Ally McBeal that she was in. Now she of course is best known for 30 Rock and I have to say, I think she is the funniest part of the show. The way she just throws herself into the most insane and slapsticky situations and can be so vain and insecure and horrible and likable at the same time is just amazing. In 30 Rock they sort of make a joke out of Jane's singing because she is such an attention hog, (Like when Kenneth the pageboy is making everyone laugh in the elevator and she hates the the attention is away from her so she starts singing Wind Beneath My Wings really loud in everyones face! Ha! Also, awkward) but the girl really can sing and has theater credits to her name, which makes me like her all the more. Tracy Morgan is also amazing- it has got to be real talent to act that random and idiotic, and there is no one in the world who can deadpan like Alec Baldwin. As for Tina, she is just plain likable and for starting out a writer, not an actress, I think she gets better as the seasons go on. (Also, in real life her husband is a composer and wrote the goofy/catchy 30 Rock theme music which is one of my favorite ring tones.) Way to be a sexy geek, Tina.

1: The Bromance (sort of)- 30 Rock reminds me a lot of its brilliant predecessors Seinfeld and Arrested Development in that unlike some other funny sitcoms (Friends, The Office, How I Met Your Mother...) you don't get too emotionally attached to the romances of the characters. It stays unsentimental and there aren't ever really any big aaaaahh moments and you don't get really anxious for people to be together, but not so much that you don't care. The main couple of the show is Jack and Liz, though they will never ever really hook up romantically and I wouldn't want them to. Liz may technically be a woman, but what she has with Jack is a beautiful bromance.

So, basically, best said in the words of Liz Lemon... I want to go to there.

Making Your Own Cell Phone Ringers

Be forewarned, this is a technology tutorial. I'm kind of awesome at technology ;) -

So I don't really use my phone to store full-length songs onto, since I have my iPod, but I like to have a lot of options for ringtones and I like to be able to text people funny sound clips from movies and TV shows. I like to have the closest people to me on specific ringers, so then I know who is calling me right when the music starts. I have my sister on Tim McGraw's Where the Green Grass Grows because that is sort of her theme song, I have my brother-in-law on Steve Miller Band's Jungle Love because he used to always do the whistle from that song so it makes me think of him, I have my brother Logan on the theme song from the X-Men cartoon, and so forth. You can hardly ever find the songs you want through the regular ringer download process and if you can find it, it is always the wrong part or bad quality or in an elevator music style. Plus if you get way too bored with one ringtone and like to have a lot of options, like I do, it can get pricey. So, I set out to discover how to make my own. It isn't free, but in the long run it sure beats paying for crappy versions of songs and is worth the flexibility. This is how:

1- You need to get a membership at http://www.freeringers.net/. There are other programs that may work as well, depending on what phone you have, like http://www.bitpim.org/, but freeringers is the best and most organized option that I have found. It's only like $10 for a year membership and it has been totally worth it. (You can also send images to your phone through this site if you want a particular picture for your backdrop.) Once you sign up you will type your phone number and carrier and specifications into your profile. I believe you can add up to four phones to one account, but make sure you type them in correctly, because you can't edit after the fact. On the website it directs you to download a free music file converter, http://www.dBpowerAmp.com/.

2- Once you have it downloaded, click on the dBpowerAmp icon that should now be on your desktop and find the Mp3 that you want to make into a ringer, then choose the Wave option in the drop-down at the top. Some of the settings need to be changed to a lower quality so that it doesn't take up all of the storage space on your phone: 16 Bit (CD), 22050 Hz, 1 'Mono,' mark the 'Volume Normalize' and un-mark the 'Preserve ID Tags,' set it to save to the folder of your choice and then hit 'Convert.'

3- Now for the actual editing part. For this you will need to have editing software. (It's possible that you can find something like this for free online, but I haven't really looked because I already had a program.) It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just something really basic and simple that will maybe be $15-$20 bucks at any computer type of store. The one I have had for years is called Audio Studio 7. (You can do a lot of other editing stuff too, like muting out curse words or splicing songs together or enhancing the bass or whatever). Basically all you have to do is cut find the chorus or whatever part of the song you want as your ringer, and cut it down to less than 30 seconds. (The icon for this typically looks like a pair of scissors.) Now save the shortened Wave.

4- Go back into your dBpowerAmp and find your edited Wave. Now choose the Mp3 option in the drop-down and make sure the settings are as follows: Bit Rate 32 Kbps, Channel Mono, Frequency 22050. Choose your Output folder and hit 'Convert.'

5- Finally, go into your freeringers account and go to the "Real Music Ringtones" option, upload the newly edited Mp3 and hit send. It will text the song right to your phone where you can save it as a ringer. Done and done. It may sound like a long process, but once you get the hang of it it's a piece of cake. I have made enough ringers at this point that if I already have the song in my files it only takes me a few minutes to make it into a ringtone. (Unless it has a really long chorus and I have to strategically edit to keep it under 30 seconds, but that's not process, that's just pickiness ;)

Now I know this may all seem extremely complicated and maybe not worth the hassle, but I promise that just like any other technological task, once you are over the intimidating unfamiliarness of it, it is fantastic. But, sigh, if you are a lazy, lazy bum of a human, and if I really like you... just tell me what song you want and I will make it for you and text it to you. Sorry folks on Sprint or T-Mobile though, because I don't think I have ever gotten them to work on a Sprint phone, and T-Mobile phones are hit and miss. They seem to work great when I send them to AT&T phones or other Verizon phones though.

Maybe I should start a business. How much should I charge per ringer? Hmmmm ;)

Vintage Tees

I ♥ vintage tee shirts. I have like eighteen of them or something and when I see them I always want them. My sister has several as well, and I'm not really sure how it all started. I don't actually own any honest to goodness tee shirts from the 80s, I just love the style. Maybe its partly because I have to be dressed up for work every day that on the weekends I just want to throw on some jeans and a vintage tee. A few of the tees I have are:

Oh, and there are many, many more I want. I even had a vintage style tee shirt made for my beloved LOST. Yep, that big of a dork I am. If you understand the phrase I put on the LOST tee then you are a true fan and I am bursting with pride that we are friends (If you can't tell from the horrible quality cell phone pic, it says- Wanna be my Constant?):

My favorite place to get vintage tees that has the largest selection is http://www.80stees.com/, and my favorite brand of vintage tees is Junk Food because they are the perfect fit- they are a little longer than some of the others and are a 50/50 cotton/poly blend that gives the tees the thinness like they really are 20 or 30 years old, aka, vintage. You can also find vintage tees (also referred to as screens) at some clothing shops like:

http://www.delias.com/

http://www.alloy.com/

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/

http://www.localcelebrity.com/

There are also some other sites that have semi-vintage tees, but not as authentic- they are more funny phrases and more contemporary shows and bands in a vintage-esque style, like:

http://www.slingshottshirts.com/

http://www.snorgtees.com/

http://www.threadless.com/

I'm thinking that one day I will just be a crazy dog lady with a vintage tee for every day of the year. Will you guys still be friends with me if that happens? Maybe I should start a poll for that question. Haha, er, (nervous chuckle), perhaps it's best that I don't.

Movie Mania!

So brother Bug was in town this weekend and what we like to do when we get together is go to movies. He really came down because we have tickets to The Scarlet Pimpernel musical at Hale for tonight and we figured he may as well make a weekend of it. We've had a theater movie marathon a couple of times before, depending on having a free day when we happen to see each other and depending on there being several movies out at the same time that we are interested in seeing. Our previous full day movie-going goals had never before been as lofty as they were this weekend... and they may never be again.

On Friday night we drove down to Provo because Bug has been staying at our brother Logan and his new wife Sara's house down there. I will henceforth be referring to them as 'Logra,' to save time, whether they like it or not. (I rather think they do not, but I like it and I think it sounds like a name from Thundercats or something, which makes it extra cool). So we met up with Logra in Provo and grilled burgers and then went to the GI Joe movie. Yeah, we all went into it assuming the absolute worst, and decided to just have a sense of humor about it. We had to go though, for sentimental reasons, because as kids we were HUGE into the cartoon and had a bunch of the action figures and would role play on the trampoline. The movie was, well, it wasn't Batman & Robin level of unbearable or anything, but it was pretty bad. Not only was there hokey CGI and action sequences, but even worse, it was full of hokey dialogue. It was almost so bad it was good though- I haven't laughed that hard in a movie for a while. After the first few minutes of goofy dialogue and awkwardness, we were pretty much gone ;) They set it up for a sequel and part of me almost hopes for it, just to see what other silliness will ensue. After the movie we went back to Logra's and had a slumber party. We watched Condorman. Oh. My. Classic ;)

For Saturday Bug and I started out with great aspirations to hit four (and if we could handle it, get really crazy and try for five) movies. We had a whole schedule planned out. We left Logra's at about 9:15am aiming to hit a 10:10am movie in Jordan, which should have gotten us there in plenty of time, but because of stormy weather and, surprise, surprise, road construction, we didn't get to the Jordan exit until 10:30am. Original plan aborted. So, we quickly reworked our plans, thinking we could still work it all in, just on a tighter schedule, and we headed to Century 16 to see an 11:25am showing of (500) Days of Summer. Twenty-five minutes into the movie, I kid you not, a telephone pole right outside the theater split in half and the power went out. We all stood in a long line and received coupons good to come back whenever. Plan foiled again.

Things went smoother after this. We headed up to the Gateway for a double feature, starting with a 1:40pm viewing of The Time Traveler's Wife, a trailer that I posted when I raved about the book that the movie is based on: I read the book fairly recently, which isn't usually a good idea right before you go to a movie, but I thought they did a beautiful job and did the story justice. Everything that was in the movie pretty much really does happen in the book as well, they just had to cut a lot out because the book is pretty long. There is just so much more in the novel that I would still very much recommend reading it. The movie was very good though- very emotional. I totally bawled, and when I wasn't, I felt on the verge. Some sad tears, some sweet tears, some frustrated tears. I hope this isn't talking you out of it ;) Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana are both so great.

After that we went straight into a 3:45pm viewing of Julie & Julia, the movie that jumps back and forth between the true stories of famous chef Julia Childs (played by Meryl Streep) and Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams), the bored woman who decided to cook all of the recipes in Childs' book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, blogged about it, became hugely popular, and got a book deal- Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: I had heard good things about this movie before I went to it, from reviews and friends alike, and I wasn't disappointed. It was charmingly filmed and Meryl Streep was amazing and very funny.

After watching all of that beautiful food it was a good thing that it was time for dinner! We went to Mimi's Cafe, which I love. Everything there is good and is artistically prepared and they have the best spinach and artichoke dip ever- its really cheesy and has sun dried tomatoes in it. Mmmmmm.

Then, at long last, we went back to Century 16 to use our coupons and made our second, and much more successful, attempt to see (500) Days of Summer starring Zooey Deschanel & Joseph Gordon Levitt: First of all, it had an awesome soundtrack which Zooey sings a song on and that is a little reminiscent of the soundtrack from last summer's Indie darling Juno. As I said, I have been waiting for this movie for a while and went into it knowing that it wasn't going to be a traditional RomCom like a Sleepless in Seattle or Runaway Bride or How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days happily-ever-after kind of a movie. I'm so okay with that. I didn't love it as much as I wanted too- a little too much crassness, but I did really like it a lot. I love the unconventional perspective of a romance and they did some very creative things filming-wise.

After this we technically would have had time to go to one more, but it had been a pretty long day. The other one we wanted to go to is called Paper Heart, which is only playing at the artsy Broadway Cinemas downtown. This is another movie, like (500) Days of Summer, that Bug and I wanted to go and see at Sundance last February but couldn't work it in. It's sort of a half documentary/half fictional movie starring real-life couple comedians Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi: The story is basically Yi, who doesn't believe in love, going around and interviewing people about what they think about love, and falling for Cera in the process. The story is very simple, but looks very funny and very adorable.

Well, my next crazy movie adventure will be Sundance if Bug comes up for that again. Always a good time ;)

Jane Austen: Monster Attack

So after my brother Logan's wedding in June, I drove to Texas with my sister Torry and her kids, which is about fourteen hours. I am a huge fan of Audio Books for long car rides and so I flipped through my Facebook Visual Bookshelf application (which I love and use frequently) to see what books I had been meaning to read, wanting to choose something that would surprise T and also be entertaining for that amount of time. I decided on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. T had never heard of the book, so the explosion of amusement and unbelief that came out of her during the very opening as we heard, in a very serious voice, 'Audible Incorporated presents, Pride and Prejudice ... and Zombies' was worth the choice alone.

It was actually very entertaining. My only real qualm with it is that it was even more long-winded that the actual Pride & Prejudice. It didn't really take anything out of the story or change the timeline of the events or even the style of the writing. It really just adds events like zombie attacks, duels of honor and Undead body burning, and changes some personalities and back stories slightly as they live in a warrior society and all five of the Bennet girls, especially Elizabeth, are masters in the art of the Shaolin discipline of fighting from Japan. It almost took itself too seriously at times and I wished it would hurry up a bit. Maybe it would have been different if I had been reading it instead of listening to it because it would have gone faster. The lady who narrated was very funny though- oh, you have to listen to it for the Charlotte scenes! Ha!

This picture is from what is probably my favorite scene in the book because though they had been discussing it, this is the first scene where they actually come across zombies- they are at the first ball in the story, just after Darcy's insult, when zombies attack. Some guests were standing too close to the windows and they were 'seized and feasted on at once.' Mr. Bennet then yells, 'Girls! Pentagram of Death!' and the Bennet sisters go back to back in the center of the room and pull out their hidden ankle daggers and proceed to branch out into the room and swiftly dispatch the 'unmentionables.' Oh my goodness, how T and I laughed and laughed.

This picture is from a scene where Elizabeth and Darcy are strolling in the morning and have a good chuckle as they come across some silly Undead who have stupidly mistaken cauliflower for stray brains, a trap often used to catch them.

Below is an actual excerpt from the book- click on it to enlarge:

Since Zombies received such a great reception (apparently a movie is even in the works), I have wondered what would come next- A Tale of Two Cities and Zombies? Tom Sawyer and Zombies? The Great Gatsby and Zombies? The Taming of the Shrew and Zombies? I mean, the possibilities of classic stories to desecrate with the insertion of the brain hungry undead are really endless. I just came across an article, however, that answered my question, and they are sticking with Jane Austen. They are not, however, sticking with zombies. The new Quirk Books novel is to be ...

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

(On sale September 15th - te he ;)

Happy Birthday Brotha!

Today is my brother Parker's 22nd birthday. I seriously love this kid. He is funny and clever and we have so much fun together. My nickname for Parker is Bug, which never gets old as there are many possible variations to apply such as Bugly, Bugaboo, Buggleupagus... This name came about several years ago, I think because I maybe called him a little bug once while we were bickering about something stupid- I said it half in jest and half in irritation and all as an insult. Not an expletive that I am in the habit of using, and I don't know where in the world out of my head it came from on this occasion. I forget the full context of the story, but it was so out of nowhere and ridiculous that we had a satisfying chortle over it and the name stuck. It isn't only funny for its randomness, but also for its delightful irony as bugs are small and Parker is... not.

Exhibit A- Bug & I in Times Square:

Bug has been attending film school in Bozeman, Montana. He is wonderfully creative and has been sincerely enjoying all the aspects of movie making that he has been learning about, and I have no doubt that he will go far. I mean, if he doesn't, he can always fall back on being a cutter of cheese (not like that, people, geez. I mean literally, a person who slices blocks of cheese. We are a salty/cheese loving family and when he was little he said he wanted to be a 'cheese cutter' when he grew up, like that's a real thing). I'm have confidence in him doing well with the film route though, particularly because if he doesn't, then how am I going to get those cameos and that Assistant credit I have been promised ...

Bug. I hope that one day you will be able to look back at your career with similar sentiments as these, from our beloved Jim Henson:

I cannot say why I am good at what I do, but I can say that I work very hard at it. Nor am I aware of any conscious career decisions. I've always found that one thing leads to another, and that I've moved from project to project in a natural progression. Perhaps one thing that has helped me in achieving my goals is that I sincerely believe in what I do, and get great pleasure from it. I feel very fortunate because I can do what I love to do.

Even more elaborate, though at the risk of sounding morose, I hope that you will one day have a memorial that will look something like Jim's as well. Not including a premature death like him, silly, but with throngs of people wanting to come and pay tribute to you for your innovation and for what your work meant to them:

I especially hope that people will be wearing suits and haircuts like the voice of Wembley Fraggle in this video. PS, I became thoroughly weepy as I was sifting through the memorial and other tributes to Jim on YouTube. Why am I such a sap?

So, my snug as a Bug in a rug, many happy returns of the day to you, and to many wonderful times to come, because you and I, we're kindred goofballs, and I am your one person.

80's Toy-Based Movie Concepts

I am in love with this list from Entertainment Weekly. Particularly the Taglines and the Dream Casts. Haha!

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20246950_20263257_20286948,00.html

There are, of course, a few they have left out. As I said in my previous blog I would like to see a Thundercats movie. (Does it count as a movie based off a toy if the toy was based off a cartoon? They have Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears on their list, so I guess so) We already had a Masters of the Universe movie (with a young Courtney Cox) though I wouldn't be opposed to a remake. I would also very much like to see a live-action Teddy Ruxpin movie- you better believe I had the talking Teddy and Grubby toys. ;)

A Geek Am I

Pretty much I'm a big geek. I blame it all on the brilliant abundance of cartoons that I grew up with in the early 80s. Partly because now all of those cartoons are being made into live action movies and I already know the characters and feel sentimental about them, and partly because even though in the early 80s girls were starting to emerge as a bit more than just the traditional damsel in distress roles, the boys still got to fight the best battles and be the most brave, so I grew up a MAJOR tomboy. I loved the new Star Trek movie and I'm excited for the G. I. Joe movie coming out except that its Stephen Sommers who directed the first two Mummy movies and Van Helsing which were fun, but cartoony where I would have liked to see G. I. Joe taken a little more seriously like with the new Batman movies...



...oh, and I love comic book movies, although, don't even get me started on the discrepancies in characters and time lines in the new Wolverine movie or the disastrous plot changes to the Phoenix storyline in X-Men: The Last Stand .... whoa. See. Geek. I have all of the movies that I want to see on my Facebook calendar- I wish I could find an app. to stick that calendar on my blog... Basically what I'm trying to say is that I'm excited for the Transformers sequel that came out today, okay? Anybody want to go to it with me? Also, I hope that my future children that are girls are cool with action figures, cause I do NOT relate to Barbie. Wait, is there a Pirate Barbie? How about a Ninja Barbie? Hmmm.

All we need now is a movie like this awesome fan made trailer ;)