Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Shout-Outs & GBPPs

So, my Princesses entry yesterday sparked some debate on Facebook, which is cool, but I did not mean to upset anyone. To those who have been posting about it - A) thank you for reading!! You may have started reading because it was about the Disney Princesses, but if you're reading this right now it's because you saw something you liked, and I appreciate you coming back! B) I acknowledge your points, and may be writing another post about them to address your concerns.
Having said that, I'm hoping this entry will be a little less controversial, even though I am once again choosing two favorite characters. This time, they are in the Marvel and DC Universes.

I have three biosiblings, so while we were growing up our parents started this concept of  "claiming" characters - I'm pretty sure that's what we titled it, I feel like my Mom would not call it that - so that it was easier to buy toys and stuff for us. For example, in the Hello Kitty world, I got Pochacco,  my sister got Hello Kitty (and Spottie Dottie sometimes...she was way more into Sanrio than the rest of us so she claimed more), one of my brothers got Badtz Maru, and the other brother got Keroppi. Of course, then Pochacco disappeared from the Japanese store in our mall when it shifted from being purely Sanrio...but that's not the focus of this entry. I just wanted to explain the concept of "claiming" because it has followed me into my adult life...I tend to choose one or two characters and focus my paraphernalia on them.

In DC and Marvel, "my" characters are Batman and Iron Man - the genius billionaire playboy philanthropists (yes I just quoted The Avengers). As loyal as I am to Marvel as a whole, I have to admit that, of the two, I prefer Batman. Anyone who has gone into Spencer's or Hot Topic with me will know this first hand - I tend to immediately gravitate to the Batman stuff. They are my favorite characters because they are not enhanced in any way - they are just poor little rich boys who have a lot of money, tons of cool toys, and a moral obligation to do the right thing. Even Steve Rogers had chemical enhancements before he became Captain America (granted, he voluntarily went into the procedure, and he was chosen because he was an exceptionally good guy, but still - he didn't become the superhero until he had enhancements).
Batman and Iron Man are two superheroes who could possibly exist in the real world, and I honestly kinda really wish they would.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Disney Princesses

In an interview, Joss Whedon was asked, "So why do you write these strong female characters?" To which he replied, "Because you are still asking me that question."
Those who know me personally may recognize this blog entry, because I have probably said this vocally, and I believe it was a "Note" on Facebook at one point.
I grew up on Disney Princess movies. The earliest I can remember, the group was Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, and Pocahontas. Of course, now we also have Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Merida. (Though, if you want to only include the Princesses who are officially inducted into the Royal Court, we have to leave Merida off the list. However, it's only a matter of time until she has her own ceremony.)
I'm not a major feminist, but as much as I love the Disney Princesses, the most classic and well-known of them are not very good role models. Disney has slowly started getting better, but on the whole I do not want any future daughter to take their lessons to heart.

SNOW WHITE is a girl who moves into a house with seven men, and immediately begins cooking and cleaning for them (the "proper place" for a woman). And then, when she is in danger, she is powerless and must depend on the dwarves to help her and then her Prince to save her. Not a strong role model.


CINDERELLA is a girl trapped in servitude by her stepmother, and her only way out is to marry a Prince. She has no thought of simply leaving and living on her own; the man must come and save her. How is that a role model??


AURORA is even more powerless than Cinderella! She pricks. her. finger. on a spinning wheel, which throws her (and the entire castle) into a coma. And the only way for them to wake up? You guessed it! The Prince must fight the dragon and kiss her. And since he must be her true love, she marries him! They barely know each other - they had only met once, in the forest - but since he was her first kiss, they must be destined for each other. Awesome example for the young girls, Disney. What the hell.


ARIEL actually has a special place in my heart; I was born in 1989 (the year her movie came out), I have always had red hair, and my family are River Rats, so I pretty much grew up in the water. However, even with the connection I feel to Ariel, I have to admit that she is a terrible role model. She spends her entire life ignoring her Dad, fantasizing of leaving for a world she doesn't understand. Which, okay, is pretty much every teenage girl, with one big difference - she actually does it. She makes the decision to completely change herself to be what Eric (the Prince actually gets a name this time!!) needs, paying the price of never seeing her family again.Who wants their daughter to learn THAT??


BELLE is the beginning of the stronger females, but she's still not quite there. Sure, she refuses to marry Gaston and dreams of a life outside the small provincial town in which she and her father live, and when her father gets kidnapped, she's the one who rides into the dark forest to rescue him. She makes the decision to stay in the dungeon in order to save her father, but that's where her Good Role Model status pretty much ends. For the rest of the movie, she is an emotionally and physically abused woman who refuses to leave, because she believes she can change the Beast. Though it makes a better movie, what's worse is that she actually succeeds, giving young girls a precedent. That is not something you want your daughter believing!!


JASMINE is a bit stronger, and one of my favorite Princesses. Her father, the Sultan, is trying to force her into marriage since the law states there must be a male Sultan to succeed him.Jasmine doesn't want to get married, however, and so runs away from home to live on her own. This is where she gets a little less awesome, though. A strange, dirty street rat (he had to smell bad, too) saves her from losing a hand, and so she agrees to go with him to his home. Which turns out to be a sketchy, abandoned building, with an admittedly amazing view of the palace. As much as you don't want your daughter to think it's okay to go home with a guy right after meeting him, Jasmine's strength, personal power and overall positives pretty much outweigh that one negative (and to tell the truth, I totally had a crush on Aladdin while I was growing up). She's a pretty good role model.


POCAHONTAS is the strongest of the Princesses so far. She is all about preserving the land she has grown up on, and the love story just sort of happens. Her father has picked a husband for her, Kokoum, who is the best hunter, and a very attractive man. But Pocahontas is not interested in marrying simply because she is the princess; she would rather wait for love. She happens to find that in John Smith, a European settler who is part of an "invasion". She teaches him the beauty of nature and why it must be preserved, and they unintentionally fall in love with each other. However, John's superior and Pocahontas's father do not understand the other side, and because of fear and misunderstanding, become aggressive. John is caught in the crossfire, and must return to England for medical attention. He asks Pocahontas to return with him, but she makes the decision Ariel wouldn't - Pocahontas tells John that, though she loves him, she must stay with her family in the New World. Now that's a role model.


MULAN should not be considered a Princess, in my opinion. She is the daughter of a soldier, poses as a soldier, and then marries a soldier. There is no royalty in there anywhere. However, Disney disagrees with me, and they're the boss. SO, ignoring the fact that she is not a Princess, she is a strong role model. Very early on we learn that she does not impress the matchmaker, and is much more comfortable without makeup and fancy clothing. When her father is called into service even though he is injured, she steals his summons, cuts her hair, and poses as his son in the army. She begins to fall for her commanding officer, but cannot act on it because he thinks she's a man. Even after her ruse is discovered, she returns to the palace - against orders - and saves the Emperor, as well as all of China. She returns home, having returned great honor to her family. And then, almost as an afterthought, her commanding officer appears to ask for her hand in marriage. That's a pretty good role model.


TIANA is the first of the new batch of Princesses. I have to admit, I saw her movie once and then haven't since. But she's a struggling cook who wants to open her own restaurant (or keep her father's restaurant open? something like that - either way, she wants to own a restaurant) but she just doesn't have the funds. She meets a frog who insists he is a Prince, but when she kisses him, she becomes a frog instead. They must then go on a journey to learn the lesson and return to their human bodies. Falling in love along the way, of course. While this pretty much is a love story, Tiana has spunk and ambitions and does not need the Prince to save her. She's an acceptable role model.


RAPUNZEL is one of my FAVORITE Princesses! She is kidnapped as an infant and held hostage by the woman she thinks is her mother. She does not want to disobey her mother by leaving the tower, but she dreams of seeing the floating lights that are in the sky on her birthday every year. One day, a thief named Flynn Rider sneaks into her tower and, after being knocked unconscious and tied up by Rapunzel, agrees to take her to see the lights. The entire movie is Rapunzel following her dreams, saving Flynn's life more than once, and finding her true family. She is an excellent role model.


MERIDA is the newest Princess, even though she is not officially inducted into the Royal Court yet (give her some time - her movie just came out a couple months ago). Her father is the Lord of Dunsborough and to keep the peace among the tribes, offers a competition to the lords' firstborns for Merida's hand in marriage. Merida is not happy with this - she has always been more comfortable riding through the forest and practicing her archery - and so enters and wins the competition (her father had never specified it was for the first born sons). Without spoiling too much, thanks to a shady witch and a spell to change her fate, Merida must save her mother before it is too late, and is able to do so with only the help of her little brothers - there is no Prince or love interest to be found. She is the best role model to date.

So what have we learned? Show your daughters the Princesses from the 21st Century, when Disney realized that the damsel in distress just would not cut it anymore. And make sure they see Tangled and Brave especially - those are just really really good movies.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Podcasting is the Future of Radio

I have never really been a talk radio person. If I was going to listen to the radio, I wanted music. But then music got annoying, and I discovered the Nerdist Podcast. I am now obsessed with my podcasts - they are the only thing I will listen to in the car if I have to drive more than five minutes...I currently follow Nerdist, Pop My Culture, The JV Club, The Nerdist Writer's Panel, Freakonomics Radio, Save It For Air, and Mike and Tom Eat Snacks. Some of them I follow for helpful tips and tricks (Nerdist Writer's Panel, Freakonomics Radio), some I follow for pure entertainment (Mike and Tom Eat Snacks, Save It For Air, JV Club) and some have a nice mix of both (Nerdist, Pop My Culture).

What is a podcast? Basically, a podcast is a talk radio show, but without the restrictions of a corporately produced station, and without a third party time restraint; the shows themselves decide approximately how long they want to run. For example, Nerdist tries to stay at about an hour. However, if they have an awesome guest or have gotten onto an especially enthralling topic, they have run to an hour and half or more before (I don't think they have ever hit two hours, though). On the other hand, M.A.T.E.S. tends to run about half an hour to forty-five minutes, because their concept (Pick a Snack, Eat a Snack, Rate a Snack) just does not lend itself to a ton of material each episode.


NERDIST was the first podcast I started listening to. It is hosted by Chris Hardwick, Matt Mira and Jonah Ray, and has no real structure. They currently release three episodes a week: two of the episodes have guests, one is a "Hostful" where the three of them sit around a table and shoot the breeze. Guests have ranged from Chris's former roommate and good friend of twenty years, Wil Wheaton to Neil deGrasse Tyson, from Nathan Fillion to Alison Brie. Regardless of career or fame, if there is someone they want to talk to, they are usually able to get him or her on the podcast. It is very entertaining, but the guests also often have incredible advice for those wanting to break in to their respective industries.

POP MY CULTURE is also a podcast centered around guests. Hosted by Vanessa Ragland and Cole Stratton, their guests are often in the film/tv industry (mostly actors and comedians, but some writers and producers) and has very minimal structure. For the first half of the show, they talk about whatever they feel like discussing, and this is where listeners can find any advice the guests happen to share. It's a bit more rare than on Nerdist, but it happens every now and then. For the second half of the show, Vanessa and Cole have prepared questions (often ridiculous, designed to be fun and silly more than hard hitting) for the guest to answer.

THE JV CLUB is perhaps the most guest-centered podcast on the list. Janet Varney (JV - see what she did there?) interviews female celebrities about their pre-fame high school and formative years and how that shaped the person they are now. Not many career-building tips and advice, but very intriguing to hear just how normal these famous women are.

THE NERDIST WRITER'S PANEL is extremely structured. This is actually the broadcast of a recorded live panel at Nerdist Meltdown Theater (in the back of Meltdown Comics in LA) moderated by Ben Blacker, and features major writers from the television industry. They often crossover to films as well, but they are on the panel because the write for TV. This is an incredibly helpful podcast for those of us hoping to join writers rooms, because the panelists give an accurate perspective on the reality of being a writer - warts and all, no bullshit. They talk about how hard it is to break into the career, the long, tiring hours, but also the payoff and the wonderful aspects. I absolutely recommend it to anyone and everyone who is interested in that career.

FREAKONOMICS RADIO is an actual 5-10 minute segment on NPR radio every other week, hosted by Steven Dubner. So, on alternating weeks they will have a 5-10 minute episode (which is also broadcast on NPR) then they will have half an hour to an hour long episodes which is often not broadcast on NPR. They will discuss social and economic issues facing America, and I find it absolutely fascinating. It's rather hard to describe, but it is a relative to the Freakonomics book - Dubner was a coauthor.

SAVE IT FOR AIR is my most recent podcast, hosted by Katie Levine and Logan Moy. I have not listened to very many episodes yet, but from what I have heard, it's Katie and Logan sitting at a table, talking about topics they chose beforehand, like TV Shows. Or Childhood Toys. They sometimes have guests, but not very many and the guest isn't the focus of the podcast. It seems interesting and I'm going to keep listening for now. We'll see how it turns out.

MIKE AND TOM EAT SNACKS is like junk food for your ears. It has no major substance and you probably won't learn anything (except we're not viewers! It's an audio podcast, thus we are not viewers) but it's fun to listen to hosts Tom Cavanaugh and Michael Ian Black do what they do (which is the podcast. They are about women's rights, but they do the podcast). And though they do repeat inside jokes every single episode (all the parentheses) it's interesting to hear what they have to say about the snacks they put through their PER system (Pick, Eat, Rate).


I guess what I find most appealing about podcasts (other than the lack of censoring - the Nerdist boys can say whatever they want, and iTunes will just put an "Explicit" tag on it) is the variety of topics. Truly anyone can make a podcast about anything, and it doesn't matter. Just pick something you feel passionate about, drum up the hosting fees to put it online, and go to town. There are no restrictions, and that is a marvelous feeling.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Olympics 2012 (XXX Olympiad)

Today has been a lazy day of procrastination...for the past week I've been very adult (cleaning out a garage! two dentist appointments in as many days!), proactive in the job search (two malls walked through! various websites visited!) and decided to take today as a day off; after all, the Olympics opened last night AND it is BBC America's Sat-Nerd-Day! Except for the lunch break I took with my grandmother and cousin to the local barbecue place, I have spent the entire day flipping between the Doctor Who marathon on BBC America and the Olympic Games on NBC.

When we left for lunch, Kazakhstan won the Gold in the Men's Road Race in Cycling, Ryan Lochte secured the second fastest time in the Men's 400m Medley with Michael Phelps barely sliding into the eighth fastest time (he won his heat by 7/100s of a second and was SIX SECONDS slower than he was in Beijing), we managed to get at least one name in the Women's 100m Butterfly (I honestly don't remember much about the Women's qualifying heats - I really liked the Doctor Who episode that was on at that point...oops) and the USA Women's Basketball team was ahead of Croatia by six points. I missed the end of that game, but I'm hoping we were able to hold onto our tenuous lead.

But what I really want to discuss is last night's Opening Ceremonies. I missed the first half hour, but was able to watch most of it, and holy cow!! I got chills from the pure theatricality of it.
Kenneth Branagh is one of my favorite British actors, and to have him "orchestrating" the transition from the rural England to the Industrial Revolution was absolutely beautiful. I loved the representation of the Industrial Revolution overtaking the green fields and turning the sky black with smoke. And then the forging of the Rings!! Oh goodness, I loved this part. The use of light and pyrotechnics to simulate fire was absolutely brilliant. And then the sparking ring was raised to the sky to meet four other "freshly forged" Olympic Rings and create the Olympic Symbol...oh lord it took my breath away. The rest of the performance bit was enjoyable, I liked the beds with lit mattresses, blankets and pillows during the "Child's Nightmare" section. I also loved the LED screens attached to the audience seats. It was such an innovative way to integrate the audience into the performance...the whole lighting concept behind the Ceremonies actually reminded me why I was so passionate about lighting to begin with.
During "Frankie and June Say Thanks Tim" it felt a bit chaotic and disorganized, but I liked the music. There was a hint of the T.A.R.D.I.S. noise near the end of one section, and my grandmother and cousin thought I was going mad. HOWEVER, it was confirmed this morning that they had planned a Doctor Who segment that had to be cancelled due to time constraints, so, I was NOT hearing things!! I have yet to tell them this, but I doubt they care anymore - it's just my stupid self who has held on to this.

Speaking of the Doctor, I have to admit I was a little disappointed by the absence of David Tennant. I was really hoping that would be their nod to such a cultural staple - have the guy we thought was the final runner stumble, then David Tennant would appear out of nowhere to keep the flame from touching the ground and carry it to the cauldron. How EPIC would that have been?? But I also acknowledge how ridiculous that actually is to anyone who is not an avid Whovian, and so I really liked the reality.
It touched my heart that the next generation of athletes - six or seven teenagers who are hoping to be Olympians in 2016 - were the ones who carried the torch around the stadium and up to the cauldron. And that cauldron concept was mind-blowing. Throughout the entire Parade of Countries, my grandmother was continually inquiring about the the strange brass things that the small children were carrying. No one had explained it, and yet every country had one. Come to find out, they were brass leaves of a tree used to make up the cauldron. It's hard to explain how they did it, but basically when the runners approached the tree all the limbs were fanned out, and once the runners lit their respective leaves, the leaves lifted up and became the cauldron. It was absolutely beautiful.


Also, side note, my cousin Thomas and I were keeping track of athletes throughout the Parade of Nations - Australia brought 441, USA brought 519 and Great Britain has 558. Compared to the countries (some of whom had millions of people in the population - not tiny countries) who brought maybe a dozen athletes...I like those odds. GO USA!!!

Friday, July 27, 2012

READ. THE. BOOK!

One of my biggest pet peeves is sitting in a movie theater of an adaptation and hearing, "Oh, this is based on a book??" It takes all of my self-control not to turn around and very fiercely say, "Yes, you illiterate moron. This is a very popular book, actually, hence the movie. Maybe you should actually pick up a book that doesn't follow a teenager who is emotionally and physically abused and must make the oh so important decision between bestiality and necrophilia" (Have I told you my true feelings about Twilight yet? Don't worry, this isn't the post for that. But if I haven't yet, it'll come). And alright, my response usually isn't quite that strong. But I do get extremely annoyed when someone does not realize that a movie is based on a book, especially when it's a popular novel; I'll forgive more obscure literature (especially self-help books - who decided those would make good romcoms??) because I have been guilty of that too. But once I research the movie (which I almost always do before going to see something) I usually find out.

And, more often than not, the book is better than the movie; that is just a truth universally acknowledged (see what I did there??) The one exception I have found is Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook. It is one of my favorite sweet love movies, and so I decided to check out the book. I could not finish it. I found the ending scene with the older couple boring compared to the young couple, but watchable. I could not finish the books. As soon as I finished the part with the young couple and realized I still had several pages left, I put it down. I attribute that to the fact that it was one of his early works and he hadn't perfected his technique yet.

But other than The Notebook, I have yet to find an instance where I prefer the movie. I think my favorite adaptation is currently the Lord of the Rings trilogy...Harry Potter was very good, but they weren't quite as accurate as LotR. Sure, I was saddened by the absence of Tom Bombadil, but honestly, when adapting, you have to cut stuff out, and LotR is one of the few adaptations I've found which has kept to an acceptable movie length AND been accurate and faithful to the book.

I was homeschooled until 9th Grade, and the rule in the house was that we were not allowed to see a movie until we had read the book; Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, A Little Princess, etc. and I have allowed that philosophy to bleed into my adult life. Because honestly, it adds an extra layer to the movie, and makes me a more well-rounded viewer and reader. So before you go see a movie, go read the book.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

The British America

I love watching BBC America. Doctor Who (of course), The Graham Norton Show, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, the new series coming up, Copper, looks really good....it's just a fun channel. And back in December, it started getting even better - there was a Nerdist special after the Doctor Who Christmas Special, and another one in January. And guess what? IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN, ONLY DOUBLED.
BBC America has dubbed this Saturday (the 28th) as Sat-nerd-day. Starting at 6am EST, they will be showing a twelve-hour Doctor Who marathon, followed by the two previously aired Nerdist specials (I'm excited about this, because I missed the Christmas one) and then at 9pm EST is the Nerdist Tribute to Comic-Con followed by Nerdist Tribute to Toys & Games at 10. I am a major follower of the Nerdist Podcast, and I love everything Chris Hardwick has managed to accomplish. (Check out the Nerdist YouTube Channel if you haven't already)

I am mildly obsessed with the British Isles. Jenna and I had started discussing a move to England three or four months after meeting each other (whether that says more about our obsession with the country or our friendship, I'm not sure....but she's still my best friend and we still plan on getting over there somehow). Number one on my bucket list is to spend significant time in Ireland. I'm far more proud than I maybe should be of my Celtic heritage. And if I wouldn't get weird looks (and honestly, judge myself just a lot bit) I would totally walk around with an English accent. However, that doesn't stop me from cursing in British - "bloody hell" is one of my favorite phrases ever.
And all that probably has something to do with my adoration of BBC America, as well as Nerimon/Alex Day and Charlie McDonnell (two English YouTubers) - they give me a glimpse into the culture I wish was mine.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Good/Evil #2 - Castiel

**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**

What is so worth saving? I see nothing but pain here! I see inside you, I see your guilt, your anger, confusion. In Paradise, all is forgiven. You'll be at peace.
Castiel is an angel of Heaven. He is completely devoted to God, so you would think that this would be no question - he's Good. But he doesn't necessarily agree with what the other angels are doing, which starts the grey area. Angels are from Heaven, so they must be Good, and yet they are trying to bring about Armageddon and so they are painted as antagonists on the show (I could do a whole entry discussing them...hmm, ideas!!) With that in consideration, in addition to God missing, it seems as though Castiel is still Good. And ever since he was introduced in season four, he has been one of my favorite characters. He and Dean developed an adorable Bromance - at one point, Cas even admitted to Sam that he and Dean do "share a more profound bond". Which made the ending of Season Six all the more heartbreaking.

Season Six is the first season after the Apocalypse has been averted; Sam is in a Cage in Hell with Lucifer and Michael, Dean is living happily with Lisa and Ben, the demon Crowley has taken over Hell in Lucifer's absence, and Castiel has returned to Heaven. However, since Michael is trapped in the Cage, there is a power vacuum in Heaven. Castiel and another angel, Raphael, have started a civil war because if Raphael takes control of Heaven, he will restart Armageddon and bring about the destruction of the world, and Cas is trying to stop that. Unfortunately, throughout the course of the season we learn that Castiel and Crowley have been working together to learn the location of Purgatory, because they can use the souls of the monsters trapped there to boost their own powers. Crowley has the Boys (Crowley has pulled Sam out of the Cage by this point) and the Campbells capturing Alphas (the first monster of a species) so that he can torture them for information. Even Castiel begins using questionable methods, becoming desperate as Raphael is winning the war. The season ends with Castiel consuming the souls of the Leviathan, though he is ultimately unable to handle them and is destroyed in the Season Seven premiere.

For most of Season Seven, Castiel is presumed dead. However, towards the end of the season Dean is sent to a faith healer, who turns out to be Castiel with amnesia. Sam is struggling with the hallucination of Lucifer, nearing the point of complete insanity. At the end of the episode, Cas offers to transfer the hallucination to his own mind, and the Boys reluctantly leave him a dribbling mess in a mental hospital, with Meg the demon as a guardian. When we see Cas again, he has been revived by a Word of God that the Boys have found, so although he is still completely bats--t insane, at least he is no longer nearly comatose. He begins to redeem himself in these last three episodes of the season as he helps the Boys take down the evil Dick Roman, but Dean and the audience find it very difficult to forget Castiel's betrayal in the sixth season.

So is Castiel Good or Evil? Considering he's an Angel, I don't think he can ever be fully Evil. However, he did begin doing some very questionable things, right down to betraying his absolute best friend in the world, so I find it difficult to call him completely Good either. So I think I'm going to go with
WELL-INTENTIONED

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Are you there, Agnes?

I believe in ghosts.
The university I went to for four years has a resident ghost named Agnes who provides plenty of stories with which to scare freshmen. The story goes that she was a student in the 1930s who was in love with a professor, had her heart broken, and hung herself in Pearce Auditorium. Details of the story differ, but my favorite is that it was her piano teacher, who claimed to be in love with her as well. Then, one day, a different professor was assigned to her class for a couple weeks. When Agnes asked what happened to the professor she had been seeing, she was told he was on his honeymoon. That night she went to the auditorium in which she performed her piano recitals and hung herself.
Agnes is usually dormant during the day, but gets very testy after 11pm - only the most brave/cynical enter Pearce late at night. Unfortunately, Pearce is in a building which is attached to quite a few dormitories, as well as the dining hall. Bailey Hall is the dormitory directly above Pearce, but Yonah, Yonah 2 and Wilkes are attached next to Pearce and Bailey. I never lived in Bailey, but I spent a year in Yonah, half a year in Wilkes and a year in Yonah 2. Because Wilkes is the furthest from Pearce, I did not have any encounters with Agnes during that semester, but Yonah gave me stories. Yonah 2 really only had bad vibes; I did not have any specific experience with Agnes, but there was definitely something off with that hall. My best stories are from freshman year in Yonah Hall. The two that stand out the most happened to my hall mates and now very good friends Alex (who was actually my suite mate) and Lindsay.

Alex's roommate, Rita, was the first one to notice something. Alex was in their walk-in closet talking to her boyfriend and Rita was on her bed. Rita heard Alex call her name, so she stuck her head into the closet to see what was up. Alex hadn't said anything, so Rita shrugged it off. Later that night, Alex came through the adjoining bathroom and asked what I needed. Turns out she had heard me calling her name, even though I hadn't spoken.
If that isn't spooky enough, a few weeks later, Lindsay and I came back from our friend Ryan's apartment late at night. We went to our respective rooms and I went to bed. She also tried to go to bed, but heard a voice in the main entry downstairs. She tried to ignore it, so the voice got louder and she could distinguish that it was Ryan calling her name over and over. She thought Ryan had followed us home, so she went down the stairs to let him up (especially since, by this point, he sounded very annoyed and aggravated). As she walked, the voice got louder and louder until it stopped when she was halfway down the stairs. She opened the door to the main entry, and no one was there. She looked around for a minute to make sure he wasn't playing a prank, then went upstairs. Once she got back in her room, the voice started up again. This time she called Ryan, and he assured her that he was still at his apartment - he even had all the people in his living room yell toward the phone so she could hear them. He also insisted he could not hear the loud voice still calling her name. She tried to keep him on the phone, since her roommate was still and asleep and the knowledge that someone could hear her was comforting, but eventually he had to hang up....and the voice was still yelling at her.
After this, my knowledge gets kind of fuzzy, but either the voice simply stopped calling her, or she finally fell asleep and by the time she woke up it had stopped.

These women are two people whose opinion I trust; they are not the type of people to make something like this up just for the hell of it. So ghosts exist. I have other personal stories, but I'll save those for a later entry.
Sleep tight!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Men in Black 3 Review - yes, it's finally here!!

I was recently reminded that I have yet to review Men in Black III (shout out to awesome follower NietzscheIsDead!), which I saw a couple months ago and then promised to talk about it. I then promptly forgot to ever write about it again. So let's see what I can remember...

I actually really liked Men in Black III. I went in with some apprehension, since Men in Black 2 was just awful. In the second movie, they tried too hard to be funny, with the result being a campy movie that just could not hold up to the original. However, I had heard that with the third movie, they were trying to get back to the magic of the first, plus Josh Brolin was playing a young Agent K. How can you miss that?

The basic plot is that Agent K gets shot by an old nemesis, so J must go back in time to prevent his partner from being murdered. Overall, the movie did not disappoint - it was MILES ahead of the second movie, and, honestly, neck-and-neck with the first movie. I laughed, I cried, I actually thought Josh Brolin was a young Tommy Lee Jones. The man was incredible - he had the speech pattern, the voice, the movements, every little detail that Tommy Lee Jones has used to create K, Josh Brolin picked up and copied perfectly. There was one storyline/plot twist that was kind of hinted at throughout the movie and then resolved in the end (as all good storylines/plot twists do - and no, I won't spoil it) that caused me to get misty-eyed. I didn't outright cry, but I only sort of saw it coming and when it was confirmed, I definitely got a little choked up because it was so sweet.

I'm sorry for not remembering more details, but I do remember that it was worth the price of the ticket and more, and I was very happy for how they handled this latest installment of a franchise which I felt they had disrespected and even ruined with the previous movie. My advice? Go see it and judge for yourself, and then let me know when you agree with me. It's not a question of "If".

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Did he seriously just do that??

I went to the local discount theater last night to see Rock of Ages again. I love that movie - it has proven to me that I was born 30 years too late and I should have been this age in the 80s. There was some scheduling difficulty with the friend I was going with, so I ended up getting there mere minutes before the movie started. When I walked in the auditorium, it was PACKED (I had forgotten it was a Saturday night) so the only convenient, unobtrusive seats I could find were in the second row, and there was no one in front of me for a few seats.

After the incident in Aurora, my mind went immediately to the "S--t, if anything happens, I will be one of the first hit." but then I got pissed. Movie theaters have always been one of my favorite places. Sure, the food is overpriced, the floors can be sticky and most of the chairs are not overly comfortable, but once the lights go down and the movie starts, I tend to forget about all of that. At that point, the movie envelops me with the surround sound and the large screen which takes up most of my vision, and I am transported. So when I realized I was scared, I got really pissed at James Holmes for taking the movie theater from me, however briefly. I tried to calm my heartbeat and convince myself that no one would bother with a crappy discount theatre at 7:10....and then some idiot walked down the aisle and out of the emergency exit door.

The movie started soon after, so I tried not to think about him again. Until he WALKED BACK IN THROUGH THE EMERGENCY EXIT. And to top it off, he had stuff in his hands!! Since the sun hadn't set yet, he flooded the front of the auditorium with light, and I'm sure everyone noticed him. Especially as he WALKED. ACROSS. THE FRONT. I thought I was going to have a heart attack, and I wasn't the only one who had the same thought - a "Seriously??" came from behind me.

Nothing happened, he just walked up the aisle and (I assume) to his seat, but I couldn't believe that anyone would be so stupid. There's no way he didn't hear about what happened in Colorado, so he just wasn't thinking about what he was doing. I really hope his parents or friends or whoever he was with told him what exactly he had done. So, next time you go to the theater, please don't be a dumbass, and think about how skittish people are right now. And then enjoy your movie experience!!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

There's Always An Excuse

"There is always an excuse not to do something."
I have heard that way too often from parents and grandparents, because I have the unfortunate skill of finding every one of those excuses. "I'm not going to work out, because it's so hot outside that I will overheat." "I'm barely sunburned, so I'm not going to go do laps in the neighborhood pool - I don't want to make it worse." These are sentences that I have actually said, or thought. I'm a really bad procrastinator, and it's affecting my writing and Nerdy FanGirl projects.With Nerdy FanGirl, the excuses sound something like "Jenna and I are an hour and a half away from each other, we can't get together regularly" "I have a cheap computer, I don't have high quality film editing software".
But I have to hold on to what I realized in Little Rock - I want to be a writer. I still kind of have to figure out what kind of writer, novel, TV or film, but right now, I'm just going to work on the novel concept I've had for six years, brainstorm TV pilot ideas, and do whatever I can for Nerdy FanGirl. I'm not going to get paid for any of this yet, but honestly, as long as I'm working on it, I'm going to be happy. I don't care if I have to work at McDonald's to pay the bills (application is still pending, but they haven't turned me down yet!!) and work on Nerdy FanGirl and my novel(s) in my off hours. In that reality, I may not have a career I'm paid for, but I will be feeding my passion. I've never been very good and finding and following my passion, and I can't tell you why. I was homeschooled until high school, and then completely unmotivated throughout those four years, but those aren't reasons. Those are the pesky excuses popping up again.
What I really need to do is get off my lazy ass, stop procrastinating, and start writing. With that said, I'll talk to you later!

Friday, July 20, 2012

The Dark Knight Rises on a dark night....

Let me begin by saying I loved The Dark Knight Rises. I went to the premiere for my birthday last night, and had a blast. The line wasn't horrendous, and we got to the theater with enough time to go to the pub next door and have a beer. I can't honestly say whether The Avengers or The Dark Knight Rises was better, but they were different kinds of awesome. The Avengers was written and directed by Joss Whedon, so it had an inherent sense of humor, and even in the somber moments the audience was never "brought down". The Dark Knight Rises - and in fact, the entire Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy - is such a dark interpretation of the comics (and rightly so - there is a reason Batman is called the Dark Knight) that it was intense and dark, with funny moments, but was missing the levity of Whedon's Avengers. I have to admit the first words I said as the credits began to roll were, "That was beautiful." Without spoilers, the ending was the perfect blend of a trilogy wrap-up (Nolan has repeatedly stated this is the last of his Batman movies) and loose ends waiting for someone else to pick up and tie together. I don't mean that it was a cliffhanger ending, but it definitely left openings for subsequent movies. Needless to say, my friends and I had a blast.

Then we woke up this afternoon, and checked Facebook/daily news outlets. Undoubtedly you have heard of the tragic Aurora, CO shooting by now, which authorities have named "the largest shooting massacre in American history" with 59 injured and 12 dead. I'm currently living with my grandmother while I find a job and an apartment, and we spent three and a half hours watching CNN cover the devastating tragedy this afternoon. When we finally switched the channel, they were still not speculating on a motive, but we knew that he had enough premeditation that he wore full ballistic blacks including a gas mask and set up a diversion in his booby-trapped apartment. He was a 24-year-old PhD candidate in neuroscience, and showed no evidence of being a mass murdering psychopath. I can't even begin to fathom what could have driven him to commit this horrifying act, but my heart goes out to the families and loved ones of those affected.
He could have been in any theater in the country, he just happened to be in Colorado. It makes you realize just how lucky we each are to be alive right now, and how with a tiny little twist of fate somewhere down the line you or I could have been in that theater. Appreciate your loved ones while you can, and go call your parents/kids.

Also, this guy was a crappy nerd - CNN was saying that he had dyed his hair red, and was claiming he was the Joker. THE JOKER'S HAIR IS BRIGHT FRACKING GREEN.
...rant over.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Willing Suspension of Disbelief

I have figured out why I am always the last one to disparage a movie, and why it actually means something (to me, anyway) when I walk out of a movie with a negative review. I want to be immersed into the world of the movie. I will accept ridiculous plot twists or character actions as part of the universe of the movie - or tv show - as long as they mesh with the established rules. It's only after someone mentions something out of context that I realize something was a little off or silly.
For example, take Firefly; it was difficult for many people to understand the dichotomy of the show. A dear friend of mine once asked me, "How can they have spaceships AND horse-and-carriages? If they can afford spaceships, how are they so poor that they live like settlers?" Until he had brought up that point, the conflict had never occurred to me, because those were just the rules Joss Whedon had established. Some of the planets are rich and as futuristic as you would expect of a space-travelling society, but then there are the poorer outer planets which are actually a few steps back from our society, save for a few tidbits stolen from the central planets. To understand the 'verse in this show, you have to think of it like steampunk, i.e. the balance of technology (albeit steam powered) with Victorian England. State-of-the-art technology had become commonplace in their society before the war between the Alliance and the Browncoats. After the war, although the Alliance began controlling as much as they could, they did not care enough to stretch their resources all the way out to the outer planets and the technology for those people began to decline. It is the same as current technology - top-of-the-line smartphones are available for  use; however, even though they exist, some people can still only afford just the most basic "brick" phone.
But, back to my main point, I had to think about that justification, and recall exposition provided throughout every episode of the series. While I was watching it, I simply accepted the rules of the 'verse and was thus able to enjoy it from the beginning.