Clocking in at a ripe 250 years of age, I was born in the year of the rat.
In other news, I may have to do some salsa dancing tonight if I can't persuade the others to go to a normal kind of establishment.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Oh my god she's blogging about comics
I just wanted to mention how much I really love this page that I found referenced on Neil Gaiman's blog.
Quite the insightful bit of work for 9 little frames.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Review: Lost in La Mancha
**Lost in La Mancha feels like (probably because it was originally intended to be) a super long DVD 'making of' featurette. Sidenote: I think I've referred to these features in some shape or form in all my last three reviews: how odd.
Unfortunately, it doesn't have much more substance than that, and thus certainly doesn't enter the league of real documentaries. If you aren't familiar with the concept, I will once again be oh so gracious and provide some background. Essentially, eccentric director Terry Gilliam has dreamed of making a film version of Don Quixote for the last decade. Having no luck in Hollywood, he turned to Europe for the money. Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis (Johnny's real life partner), and renowned French actor Jean Rochefort signed on.
Moreover, not all that much really does go wrong! There's an initial lack of budget ($32 million, about half of what would normally be required for a picture of this scope). There are some pre-production problems with scheduling, and later a storm screws up a scene and damages some equipment. The coup de grace is Rochefort's illness that causes him to exit production for at least a month. Yes, some bad luck, but it doesn't seem quite so extraordinary that a whole movie was warranted.
More likely, they were just trying to salvage some of the $32 million squandered. It appears the box office total was less than $1 million, so hopefully the DVD sales pulled in a bit more than that. It seems that Gilliam has a bit of a track record for screwing things up.
Actually, I think this would have been a much better little documentary if it had starred a more appealing director than the insufferable bugger that I had no idea Gilliam was. He is constantly swearing, yelling at his cast and crew, and blaming others for his own failures. His one shining moment is standing beside his first assistant director, who inevitably gets blamed for everything (apparently this is just how it works in Hollywood). But besides Brazil (which I never particularly liked), 12 Monkeys and The Fisher King seem to be the only things he's done right. His resume is full of half-completed, abandonded films and flops. His latest, Tideland, appears to be continuing in this tradition, already receiving unanimous 'boos'. Hey, at least he finished it!
So, I wouldn't recommend Lost in La Mancha unless you happen to be a big Gilliam / Don Quixote fan, or an aspiring little film-maker yourself - where this may serve as a useful "how not to make a movie" manual.
Review: The Big Chill
***I don't often bother to summarize the plot in my reviews; I'm not that kind to my poor readers. And I usually manage to spoil it in some ways for those who haven't seen it. (Although normally not as much as in my History of Violence review below). Anyways, today I am being kind.
The Big Chill is about a group of close friends who attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor some 10-15 years ago. One of their members has committed suicide for reasons that remain unclear at the end of the film (corpse admirably played by Kevin Costner). The ensemble cast works exceedingly well as a sort of family, due largely to the many weeks the cast spent in close quarters before shooting began. On a DVD featurette this was referred to as a "brilliant decision" on the part of director Lawrence Kasdan - to me it seems rather obvious.
Moving past this small disagreement, the movie is quite well done. Detailed directing; a skillful script full of emotional, thought-provoking, real moments; competent actors, none of whom stands out (in this case a good thing); and some interesting inter-connected drama among the group. I especially liked the decision to not reveal the motive behind Alex's suicide. The 1960s inspired soundtrack works at some times better than others (notably good: You Can't Always Get What You Want, The Weight. Notably bad: When a Man Loves a Woman, Natural Woman). But overall the music adds to the picture, not distracts from it.
But let's get to the bottom line, shall we. The ending. I can't imagine a more cliched way to wrap everything up: Nick continues to follow Alex's path, Meg gets a baby from the only appropriate source, Karen & Sam hook up with unseen ramifications. All of these events could have been predicted within the first 5 minutes. Moreover, there isn't a whole lot of resolution. In a movie about losing your way as you enter the real world, you expect there to be some kind of ... finding of the way at the end. I think this could have been done swiftly without being too suffocating. To not walk a certain path is much more realistic for most of these characters, but they seemed to have left just to meet again at the next funeral (most likely Nick's).
I guess it's a bit of a conundrum really. Lives aren't often never fixed, and certainly not in a weekend. The film is ultimately interesting and quite feel-good but has a cliched feel and lacks that extra mile of real substance.
My adventure on Dundas street
I think I might see Happy Feet tomorrow as a matinee. Not that I think it'll make my list for 2006, but it might be fun and it's only $4 and I'm not quite bored yet but almost.
Today was an exciting day, from being woken up at 9am (early for those of us who had been getting up at 1pm), to running around dealing with rent cheques (Dad got his wallet stolen about a month ago, whole kerfuffle with the pre-authorized debit things), lunch with Mom, Dr.'s appointment at 6pm. Speaking of that, apparently all doctors in Ontario have to "night hours" one day a week. I think these run until about 8pm. My guess is that it's for single moms (for instance) who can't get off work during the daylight hours. I felt kind of bad for my old man doctor. At least he's still robust, not feeble.
He convinced me to go in for a phyiscal some time in late January.
So anyways, there was kind of a story here I swear. The combination of these new night hours and the fact that it's about 2 blocks away from my apartment lead to me walking the streets of almost EOA (not quite) after dark. I am not afraid of such things at all, but on the way back there was a slightly sketchy looking young man walking in front of me. I crossed the street (not to get away from him, it was just street crossing time), but shortly after I did I believe he was tackled to the ground by some other men? Being as it was dark, it was hard to tell exactly what had happened. But there was definitely one man on the ground, behind held down by two other men. No one was yelling, and the two standing men seemed to have flashlights which I thought might be a sign of "good guys" ? It didn't really seem like much of a struggle, so I briefly considered phoning the police (while funnily trying to stay out of sight in case I was witnessing some kind of criminal activity) but opted to just walk home instead. Hope my inaction didn't cause any harm.
I'm try and be the type who opts for acting, even though I'm just a girl and not a very big one at that. I just never want to be one of those people who hears someone screaming and does nothing just because they assume someone else will. But in this case, I think inaction was the right choice.
Today was an exciting day, from being woken up at 9am (early for those of us who had been getting up at 1pm), to running around dealing with rent cheques (Dad got his wallet stolen about a month ago, whole kerfuffle with the pre-authorized debit things), lunch with Mom, Dr.'s appointment at 6pm. Speaking of that, apparently all doctors in Ontario have to "night hours" one day a week. I think these run until about 8pm. My guess is that it's for single moms (for instance) who can't get off work during the daylight hours. I felt kind of bad for my old man doctor. At least he's still robust, not feeble.
He convinced me to go in for a phyiscal some time in late January.
So anyways, there was kind of a story here I swear. The combination of these new night hours and the fact that it's about 2 blocks away from my apartment lead to me walking the streets of almost EOA (not quite) after dark. I am not afraid of such things at all, but on the way back there was a slightly sketchy looking young man walking in front of me. I crossed the street (not to get away from him, it was just street crossing time), but shortly after I did I believe he was tackled to the ground by some other men? Being as it was dark, it was hard to tell exactly what had happened. But there was definitely one man on the ground, behind held down by two other men. No one was yelling, and the two standing men seemed to have flashlights which I thought might be a sign of "good guys" ? It didn't really seem like much of a struggle, so I briefly considered phoning the police (while funnily trying to stay out of sight in case I was witnessing some kind of criminal activity) but opted to just walk home instead. Hope my inaction didn't cause any harm.
I'm try and be the type who opts for acting, even though I'm just a girl and not a very big one at that. I just never want to be one of those people who hears someone screaming and does nothing just because they assume someone else will. But in this case, I think inaction was the right choice.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Review: A History of Violence (2005)
In one of the DVD's special features it mentions how Cronenberg often does movies about change - people becoming different (often physically, but in this case mentally). By the time Fogarty and his crew arrive in town, it's as if Tom has actually forgotten them. He, to spoil the movie entirely ... so stop reading now if you don't want that to happen ... has indeed become Tom. The first 1/3 of the movie is undoubtedly the best, and so utterly convincing that the viewer nearly forgets this is a Cronenberg film (except for the auspicious opening scene lingering in the back of one's mind).
The slaying of Fogarty and his crew is a bit I have problems with. Sure this is ultimately a movie about violence (Cronenberg has also commented that he intended it to be rather Darwinian in nature), but it still seemed rather out of place. The blood continues into Philadelphia where Tom goes to confront an old acquaintance (William Hurt). I've never seen Hurt play anything like this, and thus am continually impressed with his acting chops - some of the best in the business, in my opinion.
But moving on to more pressing matters, what is this film really about? What does it have to say? Cronenberg seems to think it's got something to do with the duality of lives and realities, and some kind of survival of the fittest. One of the most crucial scenes for me would be the initial diner scene where Tom is pushed aside, 20 years of hard work shattered to preserve his physical safety (subconciously). I guess this matter of 'who is Tom?' is what the movie is about from Tom's perspective, but to Edie (the always wonderful Maria Bello), it's about something quite different, and the same holds true for Jack, their son. I enjoyed these mutliple layers quite a bit. I also appreciated the film's tight 96 minute run time. If you actually read any of those reviews I posted a while back, you'll know that being too long gets you a big X in my book.
So anyways, this is a solid addition to the quirky Cronenberg collection, but could have benefited from a bit less violence.
Rating: *** 1/2
Celebrities Don't Need More Money
I believe Matt (?) mentioned how the gift bags at the Oscars are no more. This is a little ray of hope.
After we watched Ice Age 2 the other night (Mom's decision), I got to thinking about an article I had read a while back. It consisted of interviews with various cartoon voice actors complaining about the recent wave of celebrity voices. Up until the Shrek era, it was quite uncommon for a Hollywood star to voice a character in an animated film. After all, the skills needed for each type of work are quite different.
Lately all of these 'original' voice talents have been getting no work due to Raymond, Eddie Murphy, Queen Latifah, etc. stealing it all. It seems these Hollywood types really get a kick out of not having to get all made up, and perhaps starring in something that their children can appreciate. It seems nowadays that even the minor characters are being voiced by celebrities. Watched the Ice Age 2 credits, it seemed only characters with 1 line were given to a 'pedestrian'. Personally, I'm not a big fan of this. Sometimes it's useful and appropriate to have a Mike Meyers as a Shrek character, but most of the time (re: Queen Latifah...) it just distracts. And now I feel bad for all these out-of-work voice actors who were probably not making much to begin with.
After we watched Ice Age 2 the other night (Mom's decision), I got to thinking about an article I had read a while back. It consisted of interviews with various cartoon voice actors complaining about the recent wave of celebrity voices. Up until the Shrek era, it was quite uncommon for a Hollywood star to voice a character in an animated film. After all, the skills needed for each type of work are quite different.
Lately all of these 'original' voice talents have been getting no work due to Raymond, Eddie Murphy, Queen Latifah, etc. stealing it all. It seems these Hollywood types really get a kick out of not having to get all made up, and perhaps starring in something that their children can appreciate. It seems nowadays that even the minor characters are being voiced by celebrities. Watched the Ice Age 2 credits, it seemed only characters with 1 line were given to a 'pedestrian'. Personally, I'm not a big fan of this. Sometimes it's useful and appropriate to have a Mike Meyers as a Shrek character, but most of the time (re: Queen Latifah...) it just distracts. And now I feel bad for all these out-of-work voice actors who were probably not making much to begin with.
Happy New Year!
I don't have any resolutions that I plan to stick by, but here are some random thoughts on general goals / improvements I would like to have in the grand old era of 2007:
1) Stick to my budget
- I made one for the summer of 2006, and then adapted it for the school year 2006/2007. So far it has been going quite well. I am about $1000 under budget for the first semester of school, and that's a nice feeling. So I guess you could say my goal for next semester would be the same level of saving. Most of my money in 2007 will be going towards (in no particular order): books/school fees, cost of living from Jan-May (food, cable, etc.), cancun trip, europe trip, buying car from parents, extra accounting course fees (for the CA requirements), moving fees to Toronto, first/last month's rent in Toronto (not excited for this).
2) Excel at work
- Hopefully I'll have work to do! If they start me off not doing anything, that's not a good thing for me. I need to be motivated and busy from the beginning or I'll get used to doing nothing! Of course I would overcome this onset laziness, because I don't want to be unemployed!
3) Find a good balance between serious and care-free
- I used to be all the former, now I'm almost all the later. Balance is needed.
4) Continue being social
- As a sidebar to #3, it's worth noting that I've become ridiculously social in the last year. Sometimes I'm still shy, usually when tired, but most of the time I put myself out there, meet lots of new people, organize social gatherings, etc. This has been a great change in my life because I've made so many new friends, and I enjoy being a "go to" kind of person who always knows everyone, and what the plans are.
5) Health stuff
- This is a pretty typical resolution. Eat less, exercise more darn it!
6) Life-long learning
- Read at least X number of books. Suggestions on how high this number should be?
- Read The Economist at least once a month, or keep up on current events in some other fashion.
- Take up some kind of enriching hobby (gardening? cooking? 2nd language?)
7) Fashion
- stayed tanned (still not vacuous, I promise) and fashionable
1) Stick to my budget
- I made one for the summer of 2006, and then adapted it for the school year 2006/2007. So far it has been going quite well. I am about $1000 under budget for the first semester of school, and that's a nice feeling. So I guess you could say my goal for next semester would be the same level of saving. Most of my money in 2007 will be going towards (in no particular order): books/school fees, cost of living from Jan-May (food, cable, etc.), cancun trip, europe trip, buying car from parents, extra accounting course fees (for the CA requirements), moving fees to Toronto, first/last month's rent in Toronto (not excited for this).
2) Excel at work
- Hopefully I'll have work to do! If they start me off not doing anything, that's not a good thing for me. I need to be motivated and busy from the beginning or I'll get used to doing nothing! Of course I would overcome this onset laziness, because I don't want to be unemployed!
3) Find a good balance between serious and care-free
- I used to be all the former, now I'm almost all the later. Balance is needed.
4) Continue being social
- As a sidebar to #3, it's worth noting that I've become ridiculously social in the last year. Sometimes I'm still shy, usually when tired, but most of the time I put myself out there, meet lots of new people, organize social gatherings, etc. This has been a great change in my life because I've made so many new friends, and I enjoy being a "go to" kind of person who always knows everyone, and what the plans are.
5) Health stuff
- This is a pretty typical resolution. Eat less, exercise more darn it!
6) Life-long learning
- Read at least X number of books. Suggestions on how high this number should be?
- Read The Economist at least once a month, or keep up on current events in some other fashion.
- Take up some kind of enriching hobby (gardening? cooking? 2nd language?)
7) Fashion
- stayed tanned (still not vacuous, I promise) and fashionable
What I plan to do with the rest of my time off
1) Sleep
2) Tan (not to be too vacuous, it's just that I'm awfully pale and I don't want to spend my entire spring break and then the summer nurturing sun burns.)
3) Go to the gym
4) Accounting course #1
5) Accounting course #2
6) Watch movies
7) Play Caesar IV
8) Annoy my grandparents and parents a bit more
2) Tan (not to be too vacuous, it's just that I'm awfully pale and I don't want to spend my entire spring break and then the summer nurturing sun burns.)
3) Go to the gym
4) Accounting course #1
5) Accounting course #2
6) Watch movies
7) Play Caesar IV
8) Annoy my grandparents and parents a bit more
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Superhero / Villain Quiz
Your results:
You are Wonder Woman
Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz
Your results:
You are Poison Ivy
Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz
You are Wonder Woman
| You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.  |
Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz
Your results:
You are Poison Ivy
| You would go to almost any length for the protection of the environment including manipulation and elimination. |
Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz
Do you like me?
Don't worry I'm not that in need of approval! It's just that my new favorite thing is this: New York Magazine's Approval Matrix. Basically, they rate a handful of recent pop-culture events (everything from scientific discoveries to celebrity happenings) on two measures: lowbrow/highbrow, and despicable/brilliant. For instance, country music or the surge of NASCAR would be in the bottom left quadrant, whereas a fantastic stage play may go in the top right. If you follow the link above right now, you'll see something different than normal because they are doing their year-end summary. Normally, there would be more like 10-20 happenings on the grayscale landscape.
*Even more fun* is playing the game for yourself!
*Even more fun* is playing the game for yourself!
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Europe Trip Planning, Stage 2
Current (oversized) plan for my 6-8 week trip with the planned length of stay in days:
- Austria: Vienna (2), Salzburg (1)
- Germany: Cologne (1), Munich (1), Rhine/Bavaria country (2)
- Switzerland: Interlaken (2), possibly Geneva (1)
- Belgium: Bruges (1), Brussels (2)
- Italy: Rome (3), Florence (3), Venice (2), Pisa (1), Milan (2), Cinque Terre (2)
- Greece: Athens (2), some islands (4)
- France: Paris (3), Bordeaux / wine valley region (2), Cannes (1), Marseille (2)
- Spain: Barcelona (3)
- Czech Republic: Prague (3)
- Great Britain: London (4), Bath (1), Brighton (1), Lake District (2), York (2), Edinburgh (2), Inverness / Loch Ness (2), Cardiff (1)
= 61 days ... it'd be nice to cut this down a bit. Perhaps I'll speed through my trip faster than I expected?
Looks like I might have to miss grad. School lets out in mid May, and grad is mid June. I don't want to travel in the peak, hot, crowded, expensive summer months of July & August, so I'm keen on going from around May 15 - July 15. This does not agree with grad at all! Guess I'll go to the one in September. Hmm.
Anyways where have you been and what do you recommend?
- Austria: Vienna (2), Salzburg (1)
- Germany: Cologne (1), Munich (1), Rhine/Bavaria country (2)
- Switzerland: Interlaken (2), possibly Geneva (1)
- Belgium: Bruges (1), Brussels (2)
- Italy: Rome (3), Florence (3), Venice (2), Pisa (1), Milan (2), Cinque Terre (2)
- Greece: Athens (2), some islands (4)
- France: Paris (3), Bordeaux / wine valley region (2), Cannes (1), Marseille (2)
- Spain: Barcelona (3)
- Czech Republic: Prague (3)
- Great Britain: London (4), Bath (1), Brighton (1), Lake District (2), York (2), Edinburgh (2), Inverness / Loch Ness (2), Cardiff (1)
= 61 days ... it'd be nice to cut this down a bit. Perhaps I'll speed through my trip faster than I expected?
Looks like I might have to miss grad. School lets out in mid May, and grad is mid June. I don't want to travel in the peak, hot, crowded, expensive summer months of July & August, so I'm keen on going from around May 15 - July 15. This does not agree with grad at all! Guess I'll go to the one in September. Hmm.
Anyways where have you been and what do you recommend?
I Have a Library
After reading about LibraryThing on Neil Gaiman's blog, I was intrigued enough to make my own. This is a rather difficult chore when you're not sitting in front of your collection, so I just chose a few selections that I remember having. I spent most of the last 2 hours trying to remember what Agatha Christie titles I have and what their corresponding covers look like. You can see the fruits of my labor on the right side under the 'About Me' section: a random mish mash (ever changing) of covers in my library. I'd say 50% of them will be Agatha Christie until I can get home and update this. I want a cuecat scanner for Christmas ...
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
PS. Merry Christmas
Hope everyone is having a good time with their family and such. Though we missed the actual day, we had Christmas the next morning. Some things I got...
From Dad in Toronto (movies, all picked out by me - with a distinctly foreign theme):
- Amores Perros (2000, Inarritu)
- All About My Mother (1999, Almodovar)
- Amarcord (1973, Fellini)
- Pulp Fiction
- Sin City
- Short Cuts (1993, Altman)
- Scoop (2006, Allen)
From parents:
- Very nice hair straightener
- Joss Whedon T-shirt
- And then there were none (aka 10 little indians)
Lots of good movie watching for us, especially including all those ones the parents got. Really all I want to see is Kill Bill Vol 2.... even though I've seen it before. Vol 1 whet my appetite. A sidebar on it, perhaps: I like violence. I mean I really, really like violence. Maybe you wouldn't guess it from my seemingly sweet demeanor but I enjoy nothing better than a good, highly conceptualized bloodbath. This is what Tarantino provides better than any other recent director because he's kind enough to include some kind of plot. I don't think KB is quite in the leagues of Pulp Fiction - it's just a bit too out there. But it's meant to be, of course. The wacky 70s music, campy dialogue (that Matt pointed out), etc. is all part of a certain style of Hung Fu that he was aiming to "Tarantino-ize". I don't even find the violence in these to be all that much, because it's all very cartoony. Lots of blood waterfalls and swordfights, but no close-ups of severed limbs or bulging eyes (although one unfortuante victim did have his eye removed...). Altogether not much realistic violence. {end sidebar}
Speaking of movies, I've recently compiled a rough draft of both my worst and best movies of 2006 lists. I still have a few more I want to see to fill out the latter (Letters from Iwo Jima, The Good Shepherd, Pan's Labyrinth, Children of Men). Expect the first entry somewhere between February and March.
From Dad in Toronto (movies, all picked out by me - with a distinctly foreign theme):
- Amores Perros (2000, Inarritu)
- All About My Mother (1999, Almodovar)
- Amarcord (1973, Fellini)
- Pulp Fiction
- Sin City
- Short Cuts (1993, Altman)
- Scoop (2006, Allen)
From parents:
- Very nice hair straightener
- Joss Whedon T-shirt
- And then there were none (aka 10 little indians)
Lots of good movie watching for us, especially including all those ones the parents got. Really all I want to see is Kill Bill Vol 2.... even though I've seen it before. Vol 1 whet my appetite. A sidebar on it, perhaps: I like violence. I mean I really, really like violence. Maybe you wouldn't guess it from my seemingly sweet demeanor but I enjoy nothing better than a good, highly conceptualized bloodbath. This is what Tarantino provides better than any other recent director because he's kind enough to include some kind of plot. I don't think KB is quite in the leagues of Pulp Fiction - it's just a bit too out there. But it's meant to be, of course. The wacky 70s music, campy dialogue (that Matt pointed out), etc. is all part of a certain style of Hung Fu that he was aiming to "Tarantino-ize". I don't even find the violence in these to be all that much, because it's all very cartoony. Lots of blood waterfalls and swordfights, but no close-ups of severed limbs or bulging eyes (although one unfortuante victim did have his eye removed...). Altogether not much realistic violence. {end sidebar}
Speaking of movies, I've recently compiled a rough draft of both my worst and best movies of 2006 lists. I still have a few more I want to see to fill out the latter (Letters from Iwo Jima, The Good Shepherd, Pan's Labyrinth, Children of Men). Expect the first entry somewhere between February and March.
Avoided the plague ... sort of
I'm mostly all better now after an untimely illness struck me down at 4am on the 22nd and kept me in bed until the 26th. I still feel awfully weak; noticeable when I went to wash my sheets this morning and it took a good 5 minutes to get one pillow case off. And then I had to lie down for a bit. Is this what it's like for really old people to keep house? Because that would be really frusterating.
I hate being sick, as do most people I imagine. But it was nice to not have to worry about missing school, and being easily taken care of by people who had already taken those days off.
I hate being sick, as do most people I imagine. But it was nice to not have to worry about missing school, and being easily taken care of by people who had already taken those days off.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
General Update
Well I suppose it's time for another blog entry from me, since I've had not one but two nudges already. I just haven't been in the blogging mood, jeez! So anyways here's a general recap of what I've been up to:
Birthday!!
- I turned 20 six days ago. It was super. My wonderful parents took me out for a delicious meal. We decided to postpone the movie that usually follows because I had to get home to finish preparations for my party. I don't think I've ever had more than 5 people in my apartment at once, and certainly no real parties. I don't know if this quite qualifies either since 90% of the people that would normally have come were out of town. So it was probably more of a large gathering.
- There were probably around ... 15-20 people there, I guess? Most of my high school friends, a few from Ivey (including one professor!), and a handful of randoms. I'll tell you that story now. Around about 9:30pm, some of my guests sitting by the window announced that there were some people on a balcony across the way starring at us! So, having my new social personality attained in the summer, I proceeded to skip out onto the balcony and shout greetings and invitations to my party. They disappeared.
- 5 minutes later, I get a call from one of my invited guests buzzing me from downstairs. When he arrives at the door, he's joined by 5 people I've never met! It turned out the randoms from across the way were trying to buzz me by dialing my apt # (which I had shouted across), my friend found them and brought them up.
- Anyways, everyone was really impressed with the level of preparation: I had decorations, cookies, cupcakes, a lasagna, and tons of free alcohol. It was a good little party.
- Around 11 we left for the bar, where there was no line and most of us were able to bypass the cover. Inside, it was the perfect amount of busy: not too crowded, but not dead.
- Had a fabulous time.
Went to Toronto the next day.
- Visiting dad for a week.
- Seeing lots of movies.
Deloitte Christmas Party on the 16th. It was INSANE. I have never been to or heard of a party like this. This year's theme was Cruise Ship.
- 200+ tables set up for dinner, a full stage and band on either end of the long room (entire Toronto Convention Center)
- Open bar and buffet all night
- Midway games (huge) set up one side
- Entire casino area, with blackjack, roulette, craps, etc. Tokens, instead of money, were given for the draws.
- "Walk the plank" to get on, with the head partners dressed up as the captains of the ship.
- Mini golf
- Shuffleboard
- Ping Pong
- Pool tables
- People who would draw your caricature
- Massage tables
- Oxygen bar (?!)
- Karaoke
- At 8pm, all these balloons dropped for the ceiling as a "sail away" thing. Redeemed for prizes.
- Balloon maker
- Mariachi and jamaican bands wandering around
Anyways that gives you some idea of the scale of this event. I would estimate that if you consider the cost of the space, decorations, hundreds of staff needed, food and alcohol consumed, that it was probably a $5-$10 million party. I really hope I get to experience some more of these! (re: earlier entry).
Reviews in 5 words or less:
The History Boys: didn't go cliched route
Volver: best almodovar yet; perfect
Stranger Than Fiction: a long version of trailer
Scoop: more hilarious than people say
All About My Mother: classic almodovar; tight story
The Pursuit of Happyness: hope goes a long way
Blood Diamond: accent not so bad
Casino Royale: best bond, but not amazing
Match Point: i liked scoop better
Birthday!!
- I turned 20 six days ago. It was super. My wonderful parents took me out for a delicious meal. We decided to postpone the movie that usually follows because I had to get home to finish preparations for my party. I don't think I've ever had more than 5 people in my apartment at once, and certainly no real parties. I don't know if this quite qualifies either since 90% of the people that would normally have come were out of town. So it was probably more of a large gathering.
- There were probably around ... 15-20 people there, I guess? Most of my high school friends, a few from Ivey (including one professor!), and a handful of randoms. I'll tell you that story now. Around about 9:30pm, some of my guests sitting by the window announced that there were some people on a balcony across the way starring at us! So, having my new social personality attained in the summer, I proceeded to skip out onto the balcony and shout greetings and invitations to my party. They disappeared.
- 5 minutes later, I get a call from one of my invited guests buzzing me from downstairs. When he arrives at the door, he's joined by 5 people I've never met! It turned out the randoms from across the way were trying to buzz me by dialing my apt # (which I had shouted across), my friend found them and brought them up.
- Anyways, everyone was really impressed with the level of preparation: I had decorations, cookies, cupcakes, a lasagna, and tons of free alcohol. It was a good little party.
- Around 11 we left for the bar, where there was no line and most of us were able to bypass the cover. Inside, it was the perfect amount of busy: not too crowded, but not dead.
- Had a fabulous time.
Went to Toronto the next day.
- Visiting dad for a week.
- Seeing lots of movies.
Deloitte Christmas Party on the 16th. It was INSANE. I have never been to or heard of a party like this. This year's theme was Cruise Ship.
- 200+ tables set up for dinner, a full stage and band on either end of the long room (entire Toronto Convention Center)
- Open bar and buffet all night
- Midway games (huge) set up one side
- Entire casino area, with blackjack, roulette, craps, etc. Tokens, instead of money, were given for the draws.
- "Walk the plank" to get on, with the head partners dressed up as the captains of the ship.
- Mini golf
- Shuffleboard
- Ping Pong
- Pool tables
- People who would draw your caricature
- Massage tables
- Oxygen bar (?!)
- Karaoke
- At 8pm, all these balloons dropped for the ceiling as a "sail away" thing. Redeemed for prizes.
- Balloon maker
- Mariachi and jamaican bands wandering around
Anyways that gives you some idea of the scale of this event. I would estimate that if you consider the cost of the space, decorations, hundreds of staff needed, food and alcohol consumed, that it was probably a $5-$10 million party. I really hope I get to experience some more of these! (re: earlier entry).
Reviews in 5 words or less:
The History Boys: didn't go cliched route
Volver: best almodovar yet; perfect
Stranger Than Fiction: a long version of trailer
Scoop: more hilarious than people say
All About My Mother: classic almodovar; tight story
The Pursuit of Happyness: hope goes a long way
Blood Diamond: accent not so bad
Casino Royale: best bond, but not amazing
Match Point: i liked scoop better
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Ghostwriter!!
Facebook is great for utilizing the often superior memories of your peers. Although, I'd actually thought at Ghostwriter at least a couple times a year since it ended in 1995. Anyways through a friend's profile I found a group devoted to this television masterpiece. Through this group, I found that you can watch episodes on Youtube! Technology is fabulous.
The only downside is that the episodes come in series of 4. So far only 2 parts from separate episodes are posted, so I have no idea who was the culprit! It was great to relive this piece of nostalgia from my childhood, and now I really want to see all of the episodes! They aren't available on DVD (petition online), and only a couple episodes are available for sale on VHS on amazon. Alas. eBay has a DVD set (created by a fan) of all episodes from the first two seasons (which is 90% of all episodes aired) but it's already at $50 US and it's not even close to closing. Ah well. Maybe in a few years when every other show possible has been converted to DVD, so will this.
The only downside is that the episodes come in series of 4. So far only 2 parts from separate episodes are posted, so I have no idea who was the culprit! It was great to relive this piece of nostalgia from my childhood, and now I really want to see all of the episodes! They aren't available on DVD (petition online), and only a couple episodes are available for sale on VHS on amazon. Alas. eBay has a DVD set (created by a fan) of all episodes from the first two seasons (which is 90% of all episodes aired) but it's already at $50 US and it's not even close to closing. Ah well. Maybe in a few years when every other show possible has been converted to DVD, so will this.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Marijuana is Fun, Part 2
I am now 6 episodes into Weeds Season 2 and let me tell you, it is fan-tastic. "Turning it up a notch" is an understatement. We're talking the same great dialogue, acting, and good storytelling, now complete with plot twists that will blow your mind!
So far I'd give the second season a 9.3 out of 10 (or 93 out of 100, if you'd prefer!). Not too shabby. For reference / comparability:
Lost Season 1: 9.4
Lost Season 2: 9.0
Veronica Mars Season 1: 9.5
Veronica Mars Season 2: 9.7
So far I'd give the second season a 9.3 out of 10 (or 93 out of 100, if you'd prefer!). Not too shabby. For reference / comparability:
Lost Season 1: 9.4
Lost Season 2: 9.0
Veronica Mars Season 1: 9.5
Veronica Mars Season 2: 9.7
Annoyed
That with my new blog layout, it's so difficult to see the things that I've bolded! Basically the bolded text looks just like the regular stuff. See the Lost post below for example. Suggestions?
I also don't like how narrow the posts appear on the screen with inches upon inches of empty space at the sides. Talk about inefficient.
Furthermore, where is the left pane? I want a left pane jeez! All my lists take up far too much room on the right side and it would be great to spread them out a little.
I also don't like how narrow the posts appear on the screen with inches upon inches of empty space at the sides. Talk about inefficient.
Furthermore, where is the left pane? I want a left pane jeez! All my lists take up far too much room on the right side and it would be great to spread them out a little.
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