I was tagged by irreparable: Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 random things, facts, goals or habits about yourself. At the end, choose 10 people to be tagged, listing their names & why you chose them. You can't tag a person who has tagged you.

Ten random things, eh? Okies:

1. I think that frogs and toads are adorable.

2. When I was in elementary school, I taught myself Braille and basic sign language because I thought I was going blind. My eyesight was failing rapidly, but my mom thought I was faking because I was jealous of my friend Karen's glasses. It wasn't until the teachers in the school took up a private collection to pay for me to get an eye examination and glasses that my mom took me to a doctor to 'prove' I was lying. Turned out that I was so nearsighted that I was borderline legally blind at that point. o_0

3. Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird) is my all-time favorite movie boyfriend. I love him with all my heart. Of course, Jack Sparrow is probably next on the list, so what does that say about me?

4. I signed up for a semester of German in college after taking 2 years of Russian but had to drop the course. Every time the teacher asked me something in German, I replied in Russian.

5. I would like to get a Fine Arts degree one day.

6. I feel like time stands still when I am drawing (portraits are my favorite thing to draw, btw).

7. When I was a very young child, I thought that tiny elves lived in street lights and that it was their job to change the colors from green to yellow to red.

8. I recently discovered that I love pickled pumpkin. (Sounds awful--tastes delicious!)

9. I once drove 19 1/2 hours straight without stopping, except for gas and bathroom breaks. I will never do that again. My limit is now about 10-12 hours without stopping. Which is still quite a lot now that I think of it. When I'm setting out on a long journey like that, I don't check my watch or the car clock to see how long I've been driving because that's too stressful. I measure the time that passes by the numbers of CDs I play along the way.

10. Vancouver, Canada, Galway, Ireland, and San Francisco, California are my three favorite cities, in that order.


I now tag ...every single person on my f'list because I am too lazy to select ten names.*


*special bonus random fact: I am extremely lazy.

Ate my last post when it popped up a "do you want to upgrade to latest version?" message. Argh.

I'm ba-aaaaack. Did you miss me, internetz?

I opted to take a long nap before driving up to Michigan, so I'm just hitting the road now. I'm hoping that I missed most of the bad thunderstorms that were passing through much of the region that I'll be driving through because, you know, middle of the night + tired drivers + thunderstorms = yikes.

I will be mainly afk for the next few days. *hugs to all*

Back in a few.

Hahaha! Y So Srs, bb?

Never slice serrano peppers and then rub your eyes.

Just ... don't.


Trust me on this one.

Current Mood: shocked

First of all, I must admit that I was awaiting the premier of Batman: The Dark Knight with equal amounts of anticipation and trepidation. That's fan geekiness to the extreme, I know, but I've been a Batman fan for a long, LONG time (since the 1960s in fact). Batman and the Joker are both on the short list of fictional characters that I adore. In decades of reading comics, I've seen many brilliant takes on both characters, but I've never seen a live action depiction of the Joker done well. I loathed Jack Nicholson's performance. So when Chris Nolan announced that he was taking on the Joker for his second Batman film, and then that he'd cast Heath Ledger, I was so anxious that they get it right that I was actually worried about seeing this film. I needn't have feared. Everything you've heard about Heath Ledger's performance, all the hype, all the talk about it be an Oscar-worthy, legendary performance... it's all true, and then some. Ledger vanishes into the role. He becomes the Joker. It's more than just the fact that his face is covered in makeup (apparently of Ledger's own design, IIRC). Everything about Ledger is altered to bring the character to life: his stance, his walk, his voice (where in the hell did he come up with that particularly perfect voice?), his expressions and mannerisms, that horrifying laugh...it was all spot on perfect. (I was particularly disturbed by the way that his tongue would dart out at the oddest times to lick at the corners of his torn mouth. It was practically reptilian and wonderfully offputting.) This was exactly the character as I've always imagined him to be. It was spooky.

The Dark Knight is a gritty crime drama that just coincidentally happens to feature comic book characters as the lead characters. Gone is any trace of the beautifully grosteque artiface of Tim Burton's Gotham City, or the art deco inspired landscape of Chris Nolan's first Batman movie. There is nothing otherwordly about this Gothan City. This film is set firmly in the real world, and that is just one of the many reasons why it is so jaw-droppingly effective. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but suffice it to say that it is a believable, complex crime story involving mob money, international crime syndicates, corrupt cops and a city full of jaded, frightened, normal people who just want the violence to stop so that they can carry on their petty, normal lives. Or perhaps I should say that it is a complex crime story that just happens to have been uprooted out of the typical crime genre and plunked down into the middle of a horror movie because there is a monster in Gotham City. A human monster: Heath Ledger's Joker. There is no rhyme or reason to what he does, but none of it is random. He's a force of nature, chaos embodied. He's brilliant and charming but profoundly insane and wholly evil. This isn't a villain that anyone can figure out or ever sympathize with. He's not 'misunderstood.' He doesn't secretly just need a cuddle and a sympathetic ear to make him all better. The Joker exists solely to fuck things up in the worst possible way. By setting the story in a realistic cityscape instead of a more graphically inspired gothic landscape, Chris Nolan reinforces the dread and devastation that this human monster leaves in his wake.

All of the performances were wonderful. I've read some reviews which criticized Aaron Eckhart's performance as Harvey Dent as being blandly handsome but I disagree. The comicbook Harvey Dent was a handsome, crusading attorney with huge aspirations and media-star good looks (but an unfortunate streak of anger and dangerously high expectations). I thought that the script, and Eckhart, portrayed the character very well. Thankfully, Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced Katie Holmes in the minor, but crucial role of Rachel Dawes. Holmes is very pretty but she is a lightweight actress who could not have pulled off the maturity required here. Needless to say, both Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were perfect, but the other standout performance in this movie belongs to Gary Oldman who is amazing, no, AMAZING here as Jim Gordon. If Heath Ledger hadn't delivered such a mesmerizing avalanche of a performance, everybody would have been talking about Gary Oldman in this movie. As for Christian Bale he builds on his performance from the first movie and delivers here a Batman who is becoming increasingly removed from his 'real' life as Bruce Wayne. Much as Bruce Wayne would like to hang up his bat suit and cowl and simply be a normal guy. Alas, when suddenly faced by his Jungian shadow in the form of the psychopathic Joker, Wayne finds himself on the opposite trajectory. Bale is fantastic at portraying Batman pushed to his limits. His portrayal of Bruce Wayne seems a bit stiff and flat, but that is purposeful, because in this movie we see 'Bruce Wayne' become more and more of a false construct, an afterthought. In order to stop the Joker, the Batman must push himself to his own dark limits. The further he moves into the night, the more ephemeral the shiny, happy life of Bruce Wayne, playboy billionaire becomes. Even though the Batman will always ultimately 'win' his battles simply because he never, never stops fighting evil, (as the Joker notes, the Batman is the unmoveable object), you just know that there will never ever be a truly happy ending for Bruce Wayne the man. Bale, like everyone else in the movie, is overwhelmed by Ledger's performance, but he does a fine job with this tragic role nonetheless.

I almost wish that Nolan would stop here and never make another Batman film. I'm not sure that he could top this one. I guess we'll see.

O.M.G.

I need to go right back out and watch this again.


More coherent post later.

Current Mood: enthralled

Hellboy... Awesome. It's brainless and a bit dumb, but utterly, utterly splendid. It's a mashup of Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth, with a healthy splash of Hayao Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" added in. Lovely animation and puppetry and effects, a totally hot villain, cool martial arts, and some unique monster designs. What's not to like?

I saw a trailer for "The Mummy III: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor." It looks entertaining and fun. I'll definitely be seeing it.(My favorite character in this movie series is Jonathan Carnahan. I understand that the writers and director followed up on an idea that John Hannah had for the character. I can't wait to see how that turns out.) Kinda sad that Oded Fehr isn't in this one, but this one has Jet Li, martial arts, and a Yeti so I'll live without Ardeth Bay.

Dude! The Venture Brothers' shirt of the week this week is the Order of the Triad! Yay!(And if you don't know what I'm talking about... run out right now and find S1 and S2 on DVD and catch up! The Venture Brothers is one of the smartest, funniest shows on tv.)

I'm quite excited. This looks fab!

This is the Pixar short that is shown prior to Wall-E.

It started raining last night at the beach, and the forecast for today calls for rain on and off throughout the day. My sister called me and said that it was completely 'socked in' and very grey, so she's packing up and leaving. I plan to spend the rest of the weekend curled up at home, working on a new doll. I've brewed up a pot of cinammon plum tea and I have some fresh blueberries to munch on. It's shaping up to be a very quiet, peaceful day.

Here is a quick fish recipe that is really delicious:

Season a tuna steak with pepper and garlic. Pan sear it to whatever level of doneness that you like.
While it is cooking, heat 1/2 jar of tomatillo salsa over a medium heat. Add in a sliced mango, a sliced peach, and some frozen corn. Heat that until all the liquid is reduced.
Serve the salsa over the fish.
The end!

Total cooking time: about 10 minutes.
This would probably go well with rice and sliced tomatoes, but I was too lazy to cook the rice and I didn't have any tomatoes.

I'd like to say that I invented this recipe, but I actually got it from some lady at Whole Foods who was doing a cooking demonstration the other day.


Totally random link for your amusement: Links to all of the animal cams at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. I just watched a couple of tigers playing around before settling down for a nap, a sleeping cheetah that woke up when a couple of birds started flying around it (chase birds y/n? No! back to sleep for the cheetah!), and a snoozing mother and baby black-footed ferret (most hilarious even when napping, because the baby kept trying to sneak away and the mother would periodically drag it back and curl up around it. As soon as the mother put her head down and went back to sleep, the baby started crawling away again. Knucklehead!). I'm sensing a theme here at the National Zoo, and that theme is, NAP TIME. Alas, Octopus Cam isn't working atm, but I'll bet that the octopus is curled up asleep, too.

I'd been planning to spend the holiday weekend at the beach...until I saw the weather forecast. Scattered thunderstorms Friday afternoon/evening, all day Saturday, and all day Sunday. Argh! Looks like a washout, except... much of the time, there is only a 50% chance. Maybe rain/maybe no rain. Maybe it'll rain half the day, maybe not. How annoying is that sort of forecast?

Do I risk the 3 1/2 hour drive (plus however long I am stuck in the backup on the Bay Bridge, which is never less than 1/2 hour, and is usually much longer on holiday weekends), only to get there and (maybe) sit inside because of the rain all weekend? Argh! I don't know! I do not fancy driving on the Bay Bridge in a thunderstorm. I was going to stay with my sister's family. They've been there all week, but they may head home early if it's going to be raining all weekend. My sister was going to check on the weather and call me back tonight, but she didn't call, so I don't know what they're planning to do. If they leave, then I have no place to stay down there anyway. I'd been planning to leave at 7:30 AM Friday morning, but here it is going on 3:00 AM and I still don't know what I'm going to do. ATM, I'm guessing that I will not be going, but that may change. :/

Yeah, and people wonder why I despise politicians, particularly Republicans.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062301553.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/23/mccain.terrorism/index.html


Yeah, he's sorry all right. He's sorry he got quoted in print, that's all he's sorry for.

I think that Sergei Bodrov's amazing biopic should be renamed, Genghis Khan, a Love Story because the intensely devoted relationship between the Mongol warrior and his bride is the emotional heart of this story. The film chronicles the first 30 or so hard-fought years of the life of a minor Mongolian noble named Temudjin, before he united the warring Mongol clans and became known to history as Genghis Kahn (portrayed as a child by a terrific child actor Odnyam Odsuren, and as an adult by the incredibly attractive Japanese star Tadanobu Asano). As the film opens, we see 9 year old Temedjin on the way to pick out his future bride from an enemy tribe called the Merkits. It's meant to be a peace-making gesture between the Mongols and the Merkits, but young Temedjin has other ideas. He picks his future bride Borte from a different clan. Rather, in an amusing and endearing sequence, Borte (played as a child by Bavertsetseg Erdenebat and as an adult by Mongolian actress Khulan Chuluun) picks him. Right from the start, they are equally matched. As he and his entourage head home, his father (the Khan of their tribe) is murdered, Temudjin's family is exiled, and young Temudjin becomes marked for death. Since Mongols don't kill children, his rivals decide to wait until he has grown up enough to kill him. What follows on is one misfortune after another, as Temudjin is repeatedly captured and enslaved, only to escape again and again. He's determined to survive, find his bride, and unite Mongolia under his rule. Along the way he forms a close friendship with young prince Jamukha (played by a terrific Chinese actor named Honglei Sun) and the two become blood-brothers. Temudjin will ultimately go to war over his bride and she in turn proves that she will do anything to save his life again and again. His relationship with his blood brother proves more problematic, as each vies to become Khan.

There are numerous astonishing battle sequences, including one with 1,500 sword-wielding soldiers on horseback. The camera is right down in the midst of the fighting. Folks who can't stomach violence, I gotta say this film is NOT for you. It is graphic and bloody. It is also achingly beautiful. It was filmed on location in Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan. The landscapes are gorgeous and everything in the film is so richly detailed that you feel as if you have been transplanted back in time and halfway across the earth. The performances were all terrific and the cinematography was top notch. The film is supposedly part one of a trilogy, though I've read that director Sergei Bodrov may not film the sequels. No matter. This was enough. It's not always historically accurate, but it's fantastic film-making.

So, many years ago I had a friend who used to mess around with a Ouija board. According to her Ouija board, I had been Ghengis Khan in one of my past lives. Gracious! (No one is ever anyone boring in their prior lives, ever notice that?)

Apparently, I started out as an Egyptian high priest, then I was some miscellaneous desert Bedouin type, then Henry II of England, then Ghengis Khan, then a Native American shaman, and now me. Nothing like a history of extremes, I guess.

I thought about this for a bit, and then pointed out to my friend (and her Ouija board) that Henry II and Ghengis Khan lived at the same time. Ha! Take that, know-it-all Ouija board! Well...per the board, when I died as Henry II, my spirit had a spirit battle with the person currently living as Ghengis Khan, and I took over the Ghengis Khan body so that I could conquer the world. Huh.

So, there you have it. My Ghenghis Khan story.

Clearly, I am in my slumming, goofing around on the Internet life this time around. I wonder what I will be next time? :D

What brought this wacky tale of my mystically misspent youth to mind? Easy! I'm off to see Mongol on Saturday! It looks fantastic. The trailer is below.

There was a huge water main break in Montgomery County yesterday morning, leaving tens of thousands of residents here with low or no water. Even though the local water authority restored service by Monday evening, we're still supposed to boil any water we plan to consume for the next 3 days. I guess I'll use bottled water to brush my teeth and drink for the next three days. The Post article indicates that the usage restrictions have been lifted, but I have to wonder how safe it is to bathe in, or wash my dishes with water that isn't safe to drink. Oh well. In the big scheme of things, this is just a minor annoyance. I'm sure that all of the local area restaurants that were shut yesterday and ordered not to prepare food today feel differently, but they'll get over it. Compared to earthquakes and floods and tornadoes and such going on in the world, I'll deal with a few days of wonky tap water.

I cannot sleep.

Ugh.

As expected, the House of Representatives has effectively killed Rep. Kucinich's attempt to impeach President Bush. Instead of acting on the measure, they voted to refer it to the House Judiciary Committee for "review." It is expected to languish there until Bush leaves office.

Congressional Democratic leaders have repeatedly said that they would squash any attempt to impeach Bush because it would be "devisive" and interfere with their political agenda</a>. Yeah. So, it's okay to impeach a President for lying about having sex, but apparently it's too 'devisive' to expect Congress to impeach a President who lied about a war, trampled on US civil liberties, endorsed torture, and left an American city to drown in a hurricane. Yeah. Business as usual in Washington.