7/16 - 7/26
I'll be taking a summer course at Georgetown.
And happy birthday to everyone on my f-list who is celebrating it (
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
flowerings, mmejavert, and anotherplay, I believe) next week!5 comments | Comment
we are poised mid-way between the atoms and the stars.
17 July 2009 @ 12:50 am
7/16 - 7/26
I'll be taking a summer course at Georgetown.
And happy birthday to everyone on my f-list who is celebrating it (
flowerings, mmejavert, and anotherplay, I believe) next week!15 July 2009 @ 10:29 pm
So, HBP! I went in with a considerable amount of skepticism, but I ended up really liking it! It was loads better than the pieces of crap that were the fourth and fifth films, anyway.
Good:
• Alan Rickman. I mean, I'd pay him to have sex with me.
• Tom Felton, surprisingly enough. I think he's the best actor of all the kids.
• The art direction. Two of the most visually impressive scenes were Snape kneeling over the wounded Draco (beautiful image) and the flames encircling Dumbledore (what a bamf).
• Emma Watson because she's gorgeous.
• DanRad during the Felix Felicis scenes, omfg.
• Jim Broadbent, who made Slughorn interestingly sympathetic.
• The kids who played young Tom Riddle (especially Frank Dillane since his dad is brilliant).
Bad:
• TOO MUCH ROMANCE. I last read the book four years ago, so I don't remember all that much, but really. GTFO.
• Whoever played Lavender Brown since I was absolutely sick of her after the first ten minutes.
• The awful anti-climactic ending! WTF. The Death Eater team was so casual after Dumbledore's death and caused no mayhem whatsoever.
• The lack of a funeral for Dumbledore.
Good:
• Alan Rickman. I mean, I'd pay him to have sex with me.
• Tom Felton, surprisingly enough. I think he's the best actor of all the kids.
• The art direction. Two of the most visually impressive scenes were Snape kneeling over the wounded Draco (beautiful image) and the flames encircling Dumbledore (what a bamf).
• Emma Watson because she's gorgeous.
• DanRad during the Felix Felicis scenes, omfg.
• Jim Broadbent, who made Slughorn interestingly sympathetic.
• The kids who played young Tom Riddle (especially Frank Dillane since his dad is brilliant).
Bad:
• TOO MUCH ROMANCE. I last read the book four years ago, so I don't remember all that much, but really. GTFO.
• Whoever played Lavender Brown since I was absolutely sick of her after the first ten minutes.
• The awful anti-climactic ending! WTF. The Death Eater team was so casual after Dumbledore's death and caused no mayhem whatsoever.
• The lack of a funeral for Dumbledore.
06 July 2009 @ 10:55 pm
I saw Public Enemies today, and it has earned a 6/10 rating from me. I'm too lazy to write a nice coherent review, so:
Cons:
• Filming in hi-def digital - I don't really need to see everyone's pores!
• The "shaky cam" effect used
• Christian Bale's ATROCIOUS accent and often wooden acting
• Elliot Goldenthal's melodramatic, bombastic score
• Marion Cotillard attempting and (failing epically) to hide her accent
• Marion Cotillard's crappy stylist who made her hair look like a fucking rat's nest
• No character development/fleshing-out
• No context for/explanation of Dillinger's status as a folk hero
Pros:
• Stephen Lang's performance as Agent Winstead
• Johnny Depp's ageless face
• Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover! So entertaining!
• Absolutely gorgeous art direction
• The old-school jazz
This missed being a really terrific film by that much, but I honestly can't put my finger on why. As an art movie, I loved it, but there was simply no dramatic substance. I see why Michael Mann directed and wrote it the way he did, but a movie is fiction, not fact - that role belongs to a documentary. As I walked out of the theatre, I realized that I didn't give a shit about a single character, even Dillinger. If you're going to make the movie less about the characters and more about "the bigger picture" or whatever, fine, but it was not the case here. Mann could've easily made a movie about the era itself, why Dillinger was so revered, etc. etc., but that was only hinted at. Manohla Dargis of the Times praised it for being a "new kind of gangster story to fit the times, one that makes room for greater ambivalence, and lawmen and outlaws who are closer to one another in temperament and deed." Well, no, that ambivalence has been addressed in movies before, even in Mann's own Heat. Anyway, I will shut up now. Interesting movie, not without its flaws, but worth the price regardless. See it as a costume drama, it's most pleasing that way.
Cons:
• Filming in hi-def digital - I don't really need to see everyone's pores!
• The "shaky cam" effect used
• Christian Bale's ATROCIOUS accent and often wooden acting
• Elliot Goldenthal's melodramatic, bombastic score
• Marion Cotillard attempting and (failing epically) to hide her accent
• Marion Cotillard's crappy stylist who made her hair look like a fucking rat's nest
• No character development/fleshing-out
• No context for/explanation of Dillinger's status as a folk hero
Pros:
• Stephen Lang's performance as Agent Winstead
• Johnny Depp's ageless face
• Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover! So entertaining!
• Absolutely gorgeous art direction
• The old-school jazz
This missed being a really terrific film by that much, but I honestly can't put my finger on why. As an art movie, I loved it, but there was simply no dramatic substance. I see why Michael Mann directed and wrote it the way he did, but a movie is fiction, not fact - that role belongs to a documentary. As I walked out of the theatre, I realized that I didn't give a shit about a single character, even Dillinger. If you're going to make the movie less about the characters and more about "the bigger picture" or whatever, fine, but it was not the case here. Mann could've easily made a movie about the era itself, why Dillinger was so revered, etc. etc., but that was only hinted at. Manohla Dargis of the Times praised it for being a "new kind of gangster story to fit the times, one that makes room for greater ambivalence, and lawmen and outlaws who are closer to one another in temperament and deed." Well, no, that ambivalence has been addressed in movies before, even in Mann's own Heat. Anyway, I will shut up now. Interesting movie, not without its flaws, but worth the price regardless. See it as a costume drama, it's most pleasing that way.
Current Music: "R U Professional"
01 July 2009 @ 07:46 pm
I saw Billy Elliot last night! Fuck da haters, I thoroughly enjoyed it (despite some really crappy tunes from Sir Elton) and David Álvarez was absolutely phenomenal.
---
Leave me a comment and I will give you a letter. Then, write 10 things that you love starting with that letter. Post the list in your journal. Give out letters to your commenters in return.
sprawl gave me the letter D.
1. Doctor Who
For all its banal melodrama and moments of sheer "WTF," this is my all-time favorite show.
2. Dresses
I don't wear them often, but putting on a great dress makes you feel so confident!
3. Dr. Pepper
I actually used to despise Doctor Pepper until a year or so ago, but now it's secured its place as my favorite soft drink along with Coke.
4. (Interior) design
Interior design is my guilty pleasure; I can honestly say that I have over one hundred magazines dedicated to it.
5. Dick
This movie is such a fucking trip, but it is hilarious! My friends who didn't know a lot about Watergate and the subsequent fallout thought it was idiotic, but my mom and I adored it.
6. Antonín Dvořák
One of my favorite composers. His Piano Quintet in A is unbelievably beautiful.
7. A Devil to Play
This book chronicles the very entertaining quest of Jasper Rees, a British journalist, to conquer the French horn, despite not having touched it since high school, and perform at a festival in the span of only one year. As someone involved with music, this has given me so many "I've been there!" moments.
8. Danishes
I made a mean fruit danish in Home Ec. class.
9. DCI (Drum Corps International)
I'm a marching band nerd, so shoot me... But really, DCI is incredibly cool and even those not involved with it find it fascinating. Phantom Regiment 4eva!
10. Hugh Dancy
Gorgeous. Need I say more?
---
Leave me a comment and I will give you a letter. Then, write 10 things that you love starting with that letter. Post the list in your journal. Give out letters to your commenters in return.
sprawl gave me the letter D.1. Doctor Who
For all its banal melodrama and moments of sheer "WTF," this is my all-time favorite show.
2. Dresses
I don't wear them often, but putting on a great dress makes you feel so confident!
3. Dr. Pepper
I actually used to despise Doctor Pepper until a year or so ago, but now it's secured its place as my favorite soft drink along with Coke.
4. (Interior) design
Interior design is my guilty pleasure; I can honestly say that I have over one hundred magazines dedicated to it.
5. Dick
This movie is such a fucking trip, but it is hilarious! My friends who didn't know a lot about Watergate and the subsequent fallout thought it was idiotic, but my mom and I adored it.
6. Antonín Dvořák
One of my favorite composers. His Piano Quintet in A is unbelievably beautiful.
7. A Devil to Play
This book chronicles the very entertaining quest of Jasper Rees, a British journalist, to conquer the French horn, despite not having touched it since high school, and perform at a festival in the span of only one year. As someone involved with music, this has given me so many "I've been there!" moments.
8. Danishes
I made a mean fruit danish in Home Ec. class.
9. DCI (Drum Corps International)
I'm a marching band nerd, so shoot me... But really, DCI is incredibly cool and even those not involved with it find it fascinating. Phantom Regiment 4eva!
10. Hugh Dancy
Gorgeous. Need I say more?
01 July 2009 @ 02:44 pm
29 June 2009 @ 01:40 pm
So I've just returned from four days in Washington, D.C., which was a rather enjoyable jaunt. Through sheer dumb luck, I MET JOHN KERRY (OMFG), a most thrilling experience! I visited the Hirschhorn Museum (always a favorite), the National Portrait Gallery, the Capitol, the monuments, etc., and got a private tour of the Senate building through certain family connections.
It seems as though the internet underwent a veritable explosion while I was away, which I had sorely wanted to see! So R.I.P. MJ, Farrah, and Billy, anyway.
( 'Yahoo's 100 Movies to See Before You Die' Meme )
It seems as though the internet underwent a veritable explosion while I was away, which I had sorely wanted to see! So R.I.P. MJ, Farrah, and Billy, anyway.
( 'Yahoo's 100 Movies to See Before You Die' Meme )
21 June 2009 @ 07:20 pm
Current Music: Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus - The Golden Bangkok - One Night In Bangkok | Powered by Last.fm
17 June 2009 @ 12:10 am
1. Pick 20 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie (or call one up from your memory).
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No googling/using IMDb.
1.You'll forgive my impertinence, but even though we have never before met, I have always considered you as a father to me. Galaxy Quest
2. You have no idea how fortunate that makes you, liking people. Being liked. Having that facility. That lightness, that charm. I don't have it, I never did. Frost/Nixon
3.Is it true that there's a point on a man's head where if you shoot it, it will blow up? Hot Fuzz
4. We may have to kill my step-dad. Shaun of the Dead
5.Fuck off, they're only for lasses. I wear me shorts. Billy Elliot
6. Learned a new word today. Atom bomb. It was like God taking a photograph. Empire of the Sun
7. I heard the music of true forgiveness filling the theater, conferring on all who sat there perfect absolution. God was singing through this little man to all the world, unstoppable, making my defeat more bitter with every passing bar. Amadeus
8. I don't know why he saved my life. Maybe in those last moments he loved life more than he ever had before. Not just his life - anybody's life, my life. All he'd wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Where did I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got? All I could do was sit there and watch him die.
9. The walls recede, the roof vanishes, and you float quite naturally. You float uprooted, dragged off, lifted high. Transported, immortalized, saved. Thanks to that subtle, continuous rhythm, that music, that incessant tap-tap.
10.It means that I, like God, do not play with dice and I don't believe in coincidences. V for Vendetta
11. Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
12. I like to look for things no one else catches. I hate the way drivers never look at the road in old American movies. Amélie
13. So the combination is... one, two, three, four, five? That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard in my life! The kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage! Spaceballs
14. Only by interrogating the other passengers could I hope to see the light, but when I began to question them, the light, as Macbeth would have said, thickened.
15. The keys in the pool, the husband in the morgue! You dream too much about water in this house!
16.In pretending to be a man in love, he became a man in love. Paris je t'aime
17. Justice is balance. You burned my house and left me for dead. Consider us even. Batman Begins
18. Having a mistress is no excuse for leaving the mother of your children; the world has lost its values.
19.Wow. You've taken good care of your body. Such... a waste. Casino Royale
20.Shall I take her in, or hurl her to the wolves? Give her kindness, or the treatment she deserves? Will I take her back, or throw the baggage out? My Fair Lady
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie (or call one up from your memory).
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No googling/using IMDb.
1.
3.
5.
8. I don't know why he saved my life. Maybe in those last moments he loved life more than he ever had before. Not just his life - anybody's life, my life. All he'd wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Where did I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got? All I could do was sit there and watch him die.
9. The walls recede, the roof vanishes, and you float quite naturally. You float uprooted, dragged off, lifted high. Transported, immortalized, saved. Thanks to that subtle, continuous rhythm, that music, that incessant tap-tap.
10.
14. Only by interrogating the other passengers could I hope to see the light, but when I began to question them, the light, as Macbeth would have said, thickened.
15. The keys in the pool, the husband in the morgue! You dream too much about water in this house!
16.
18. Having a mistress is no excuse for leaving the mother of your children; the world has lost its values.
19.
20.
16 June 2009 @ 11:52 pm
If you are reading this right now, you have more luxury than someone in Iran could ever hope for right now. If you are watching TV or a video on youtube, updating your status on Facebook, Tweeting, or even texting your friend, you are lucky. If you are safe in your home, and were able to sleep last night without the sounds of screaming from the rooftops, you need to know and understand what is happening to people just like you in Iran right now.
They are not the enemy. They are a people whose election has been stolen. For the first time in a long time, a voice for change struck the youth of Iran, just as it did for many people in the United States only seven months ago. Hossein Mousavi gained the support of millions of people in Iran as a Presidential candidate. He stands for progressiveness. He supports good relations with the West, and the rest of the world. He is supported with fervor as he challenges the oppressive regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
On Friday, millions of people waited for hours in line to vote in Iran's Presidential election. Later that night, as votes came in, Mousavi was alerted that he was winning by a two-thirds margin. Then there was a change. Suddenly, it was Ahmadinejad who had 68% of the vote - in areas which have been firmly against his political party, he overwhelmingly won. Within three hours, millions of votes were supposedly counted - the victor was Ahmadinejad. Immediately fraud was suspected - there was no way he could have won by this great a margin with such oppposition. Since then, reports have been coming in of burned ballots, or in some cases numbers being given without any being counted at all. None of this is confirmed, but what happened next seems to do the trick.
The people of Iran took the streets and rooftops. They shout "Death to the dictator" and "Allah o akbar." They join together to protest. Peacefully. The police attack some, but they stay strong. Riots happen, and the shouting continues all night. Text messaging was disabled, as was satellite, and websites which can spread information such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and the BBC are blocked in the country. At five in the morning, Arabic speaking soldiers (the people of Iran speak Farsi) stormed a university in the capital city of Tehran. While sleeping in their dormitories, five students were killed. Others were wounded. These soldiers are thought to have been brought in by Ahmadinejad from Lebanon. Today, 192 of the university's faculty have resigned in protest.
Mousavi requested that the government allow a peaceful rally to occur this morning - the request was denied. Many thought that it would not happen. Nevertheless, first a few thousand people showed up in the streets of Tehran. At this point, it is estimated that 1 to 2 million people were there. Mousavi spoke on the top of a car. The police stood by. For a few hours, everything was peaceful. Right now, the same cannot be said. Reports of injuries, shootings, and killings are flooding the internet. Twitter has been an invaluable source - those in Iran who still know how to access it are updating regularly with picture evidence. People are being brutally beaten. Tonight will be another night without rest for so many in Iran no older than I am. Tonight there is a Green Revolution.
For more information:
PICTURES:
here and here
NEW INFORMATION:
Here - near constant updates
Here - ONTD_political live post
ON TWITTER:
@StopAhmadi, @ProtesterHelp
دنیارابگوییدچطورآنهاانتخاباتمان دزدیده اند
Tell the world how they have stolen our election
- original post by
one_hoopy_frood14 June 2009 @ 07:55 pm
I am seriously the worst friend in the history of time and space, but finals are really kicking my ass.
Kindly fill this out!
Many thanks!
Kindly fill this out!
Many thanks!
10 June 2009 @ 10:10 pm
I am absolutely mesmerized by Wesley Taylor's performance at the Tonys in Rock of Ages! WORK IT!
3:14:
3:14:
05 June 2009 @ 05:51 pm
02 June 2009 @ 07:11 pm
Fuck, I need a job. I've applied at Eden Gourmet, Rita's, and Walgreens already, so I'm crossing my fingers that they are, in fact, in need of high school students! My parents stipulated that I pay for half of my summer program at Georgetown (a hefty sum at $1800), so I clearly require $$$!
31 May 2009 @ 08:16 pm
I watched Le Scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) last night - what a profoundly beautiful film. When I put it into my Netflix queue, I thought, "Oh, I'll be sobbing by the end of it!" But I was quite shocked to find that I was not in tears at all. Julian Schnabel took what could've been a sob story about Jean-Do's deprivation and the ultimate futility of his existence and created a celebration of life. I certainly wouldn't call it a cheerful picture, not by any means, but I was left with a certain feeling of miraculous enlightenment.
29 May 2009 @ 07:16 pm
I can't believe school is almost over! It's actually quite surreal; I feel like it was September only a minute ago.
In accordance with my obsessive personality, I tend to have periods wherein I religiously listen to only four or five songs for a week.
• "Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT Remix)" - Metric
• "Leggy Blonde" - Flight of the Conchords
• "Divine" - Sébastien Tellier
• "Barcelona" - Plastiscines
• "1901" - Phoenix
Whilst browsing youtube last night in an attempt to procrastinate, I found Piotr Walczuk's celebrity impressions. Not every single one is impeccable, but I could easily mistake most of them (especially Ian McKellan and for the real thing! Crazy.
In accordance with my obsessive personality, I tend to have periods wherein I religiously listen to only four or five songs for a week.
• "Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT Remix)" - Metric
• "Leggy Blonde" - Flight of the Conchords
• "Divine" - Sébastien Tellier
• "Barcelona" - Plastiscines
• "1901" - Phoenix
Whilst browsing youtube last night in an attempt to procrastinate, I found Piotr Walczuk's celebrity impressions. Not every single one is impeccable, but I could easily mistake most of them (especially Ian McKellan and for the real thing! Crazy.
16 May 2009 @ 01:47 am
• APs are over, thank god! French was fair (prediction: 4), U.S. History was easy except for the last free response (prediction: 5), and English Lang & Comp was cake (prediction: 5).
• If you haven't seen Star Trek, kindly do so immediately. BRILLIANT! Also, Simon Pegg = my future husband.
• I am obsessed with Dvořák's Piano Quintet in A!
• Thank you, Office, for giving me an adorable finale! Some episodes this season have been rather atrocious, but I'm glad it ended on a high note.
• If Southland gets relegated to Friday nights this fall, I am going to be most irate! Its ratings haven't been stellar lately, and ugh! it deserves so much better.
• THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING CLIP IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. I love you, Murray! ♥
• If you haven't seen Star Trek, kindly do so immediately. BRILLIANT! Also, Simon Pegg = my future husband.
• I am obsessed with Dvořák's Piano Quintet in A!
• Thank you, Office, for giving me an adorable finale! Some episodes this season have been rather atrocious, but I'm glad it ended on a high note.
• If Southland gets relegated to Friday nights this fall, I am going to be most irate! Its ratings haven't been stellar lately, and ugh! it deserves so much better.
• THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING CLIP IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. I love you, Murray! ♥
06 May 2009 @ 04:24 pm
One AP down, two to go! French was astonishingly quite easier than I expected, so I'm calling a 4 (maaaaybe 5) on that. I'm irrationally worried for U.S., though. I know I can get a 5 easily, but I have this absurd fear that the free responses will be on something of which I remember very little, e.g. Native Americans, women's rights, the New Deal. Anyway, eh. English Lang & Comp will be cake.
02 May 2009 @ 05:21 pm
22 April 2009 @ 12:42 am