18 Best Movies of 2009, and 6 from 2010 That I'm Looking Forward To!

Since I have exactly 5 hours left of the year 2009!  The ten best movies of the year, that I saw, in order of release date.

1. Star Trek
2. Angels & Demons
3. Terminator Salvation
4. The Proposal
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7. Avatar
8. Sherlock Holmes

Oops.  Those are all the films I saw this year . . . with the exception of New Moon, which doesn't deserve to be on the list even as a filler.  Okay then, let's try this:  The top ten movies of the year I wish I'd seen, in order of release date

1. Inkheart
2. Coraline
3. Push
4. Watchmen
5. The Soloist
6. Public Enemies
7. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
8. District 9
9. Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
10. 2012

Not included are The Road, The Lovely Bones, Invictus, and It's Complicated, because those are still in theaters and I can see them next year . . . :)

And, movies I'm very much looking forward to in 2010!

1. Salt
2. Knight and Day
3. Shutter Island
4. Letters to Juliet
5. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
6. Alice in Wonderland

"Avatar" Movie Review

This movie is . . .
Amazing.
Epic.
Beautiful.
Completely awe-inspiring.
One of the best movies I've seen in a very long time.
Totally groundbreaking in terms of production.
Epic.
Epic.
And apparently it's still doing a very good job of rendering me speechless.

Please please please do not go into Avatar expecting just an effects movie.  I have to admit that I did, and I was proved so completely wrong.  Sure, it might not be the most original story ever told, but is anything original these days?  In any case, the characters are just as strong as the effects, thanks in no small part to the cast.  My favorite characters by far were Trudy and Grace, and of course, they ended up dead (everyone always kills my favorite characters :(.  Not fair >.<).  But I still loved the movie.  Now, that takes talent.  The characters are all very real and believable, and I ended up caring more for the Naa'vi than the humans (I think that was supposed to happen, so yay :)).

The special effects.  Ohmygosh.  To quote from the LA Times' review "You've never seen anything like it.  And neither has anyone else."  I can totally see why Cameron needed to wait 14 years for technology to catch up.  I saw Avatar in 3D, and I strongly encourage you to do the same.  Pandora is perfectly real, everything from trees to floating mountains to strange creatures . . . even the Naa'vi.  You can barely tell that this is all CG.  You're thrust so seamlessly into the new world that there's never any issue of suspension of disbelief . . . you're just there.

Writing.  Leaves a bit to be desired, sometimes, but that's easily overlooked because of the acting.  Sigourney Weaver . . . I have to admit, this is the first time I've seen one of her movies, and she steals every scene she's in.  I can't believe they killed her . . . sooooo pointless.  But I suppose that's the point . . .  Sam Worthington was not overly impressive as a human, I found him much more likeable as a Naa'vi.  Zoe Saldana gives a remarkable, nuanced performance as Neytiri, which somehow all comes through even though Neytiri is 10 feet tall, blue, and completely CG.  The Colonel and the businessman (whose names I've forgotten by now, probably 'cause I hated them so much :P) were absolutely freakish in their disregard for the natives lives.  Brilliant performances.  I loved Michelle Rodriguez as Trudy Chacon, and I have to admit, I think I saw a bit of myself in her (even though I don't plan on joining the Marines any time soon :P).

The anti-corporate, pro-environmentalist standpoint is obvious throughout the film.  It might come off as heavy-handed to some, but I think we need to take a good, hard look at this film and say "We could end up like that."  It's a frightening possibility, but very real.

One more thing.  I don't cry at movies, as a general rule.  Julianne and I sobbed through probably half of Avatar.  This movie is so hard to describe . . . it left me speechless for a good ten minutes after it finished.  All I can say is . . . go watch it.  You won't regret it.

6 C's

1. Cinema (Julianne & I watching "Avatar")
2. Caffeine (Drinking more iced tea than we probably should at the Cheesecake Factory until 11.40 at night)
3. Chemistry (Yep, we did our AP Chem homework at dinner.  We are just that awesome)
4. Cold (Beautifully cold and windy outside.  A truly lovely day to be out and about!)
5. Cairde (Irish for "friends")
6. Craic (Irish for "fun')

Full review on "Avatar" coming later, but for now, I'm exhausted!

Fox News is Not News, or, Why Glenn Beck Should Keep His Mouth Shut

Oooh!  Lookit what I dug up from last October!

Unless you've been living under a rock the past month (and I hope you haven't, that sounds awfully not-fun!) then you know all about the war of words that the White House is waging against Fox News.  For me personally, I found it enjoyable to follow for the first few weeks, before I resorted to shaking my head and repeating Artie Neilson's line from Warehouse 13: "Children.  I am working with children."  Okay, I'm not working with them, but they sure are running the country!  In any case, I think Anita Dunn & Co. are emerging as the clear winners in this, for several reasons.

1. When you get right down to it, well, the White House is right.  Fox News is not news.  I wouldn't go as far as Anita Dunn and call them the PR wing of the Republican party (although several people there do a very god job of being exactly that), but it's not news.  It's commentary, plain and simple -- incredibly biased commentary, that likes to pass itself off as news.

2. Fox is populated by liars and hypocrites.  Well, actually, that's not fair.  The most vocal people on Fox (Sean Hannitty, Glenn Beck, et al) are hypocrites.  For example, Glenn Beck calls Anita Dunn a communist for saying Mao Zedong is one of her favorite political philosophers.  But . . . guess who one of his favorite authors is?!  Yep, Adolf Hitler.

So . . . interesting, yeah?

By the way, before you accuse me of railing against Fox just because I disagree with their conservative position, consider this: Keith Olbermann says many things that I agree with.  I still think he's a pretentious git, and MSNBC would never be my first choice for news, either.

"New Moon" Movie Review

I have to say, if anybody but Julianne had asked me to go see this movie, I wouldn't have.  But she's my best friend, so I felt I owed it to her . . . Anyway, you guys all know how much I hate the whole Twilight series, and why, so I'm going to try my absolute best to stay away from how awful the story is and just focus on the movie itself.

The best parts of the movie: The National Guard and Lovely Bones commercials/previews in the beginning, any scene that Victoria or Laurent were in, Bella jumping off the cliff, and the bit with the Volturi at the end.

The worst parts of the movie: Anytime Bella or Edward opened their mouths.

It's better than Twilight, and I think that's really the best I can say.  Much of the movie looks like it was directed by a 12 year old.  Chris Weitz seems to have started a love affair with slow motion that he definitely didn't have going on in The Golden Compass.  Slow motion is used to add to the story, NOT to tell the story.  There's a few scenes where it's used very well (the Victoria-in-the-forest-cliff-diving scenes come to mind) and some scenes where it's superfluous and childish (Bella running through the streets of Italy comes to mind).  On the other hand, maybe I'm just overestimating the intelligence of the general audience of this movie.

Which brings me to another one of my least favorite scenes: Bella sitting in a chair, with the camera spinning around her, watching the view outside her window change as the months go by.  Apart from the fact that the spinning camera is also way overused and all it accomplishes is making me dizzy, Weitz decided that he needed to have text onscreen saying the different months.  Way to hit people over the head . . . I think that the view alone should explain that time is passing.  Peh.

I do have to give credit where credit is due, however: the costume designers, the set people, and whoever designed the movie posters.  They all do a great job of making the film seem more mature/creepy/interesting than it actually is.  Apparently they're the only real professionals who worked on this whole movie.

There's very few characters in this film that I don't hate.  In fact, I can list them all on one hand.  Rosalie, Victoria, Laurent, the Volturi, and Jacob.  Unfortunately, they are the characters who get almost nothing to do the whole movie!  Rosalie is in like 2 scenes; Victoria gets enough time to come down out of a tree, scare a man to death, and cliff dive; Laurent just shows up to get killed, the Volturi are present but under-used and under-developed, and Jacob is in . . . my friend told me 30 minutes of a movie that's over 2 hours long.  Now, I've never read the books, so I can't say if their screen time in the movie corresponds to their roles in the book, but I think it's a darn shame that they're not given more to do.  That alone would have made the film better.  Like Rosalie.  We know pretty much nothing about her, except that she hates Bella.  Why can't that dynamic be explored more?  Or Victoria.  She's easily my favorite character.  Pretty, strong, and, like Rosalie, one of the very few characters who has no pretense at all.

So, I give this movie a 0.5 out of 5 stars.  The movie itself is sloppily put together, the underlying story is pathetic, and most of the main characters are boring as anything.  I watched it just to make fun of it . . . I suggest you do the same.

*hides from screaming horde of Twilight fans

"Once" Movie Review

Once was the first R-rated movie I saw (and it doesn't deserve that rating anyway). For that alone, it would hold a special place in my heart, but I love it for many, many other reasons.

For such a small-budget indie film, Once is really professional.  The director is obviously experienced, and knows how to bring out the best in his actors.  For two people who are musicians who have never had a large role (or even any role) in a film before, they're remarkably natural and comfortable, both in front of the camera and with each other.  This film makes great use of natural light/settings, for example, filming the party scene at the lead actor's own flat.  It gives a sense of warmth to the scenes that fits perfectly with the story they're telling.  They use a lot of medium close-ups, and a lot of really small sets (like in the Girl's flat) that make it clear that the film is almost just a window onto a very intimate and real friendship that develops over the course of the movie.  There's also an amazingly beautiful crane shot at the end that is just . . . wow.  It basically says everything the film is.  You really have to see it to understand . . .

Another thing I love is that the music is so seamlessly integrated into the film.  It doesn't even seem like a soundtrack at many points, it's more diegetic sound, such as when the Girl is walking down the street and starts singing along to one of the songs she's writing lyrics for.  The music is beautiful by itself too.  This is where the advantage of casting two professional musicians shows up: They wrote and recorded all their own songs.  Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are two extremely talented musicians, and their songs are beautiful and heartfelt . . . and occasionally very, very, funny, a la "Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy".

And then, the story is just so unique.  While I take pride in being one of five girls in the theater to see Transformers 2, and I usually avoid romance/drama films like the plague, Once is something else entirely.  It's not a traditional romance at all.  The two leads have such an easy camaraderie, it's so lovely to watch.  The Girl is strong and independent, raising her child while working as a flower seller.  One of my (many) favorite parts is when she totally flips out when the Guy asks her to spend the night, and then he realizes what an idiot he was.  It's not about the sex and the drama, like so many other romance films are (The Other Boleyn Girl, which deserves an "R" rating far more than Once does, comes to mind), it's about the friendship and the respect.

Overall, I think Once is one of the best movies I've seen in a very, very long time.  Its funny (I love the scene with the Girl dragging her broken Hoover down Grafton Street.  It's just . . . perfect), warm, and realistic.  The ending is sad, in a way, because the Guy and the Girl can't be together, even though they seem so perfect for each other; at the same time, the Girl has another shot at a real relationship with her husband and the Guy gets another chance with his girlfriend in London.  Once is so hard to describe because so much of its power comes from the acting, rather than the storytelling.  Just watch it :)

Lazy Amazing Days

It's a cloudy, rainy day in December, and I'm in one of those funky, artsy, calm-but-hyperaware moods that the rain always puts me in.

I'm sitting in bed, doing AP Government homework and listening to Enya music.

But I'm also ripping some Stargate Atlantis episodes.

But I'm also dying to go out and dance in the rain.

But I'm also writing a story.

But I also just kind of want to curl up and go to sleep.

See what I mean?  Southern California rains are just so rare, and real cold winter rains, complete with clouds and raindrops running down your window are just so rare.  There's a big tree right outside my window and I can see individual raindrops on its leaves from across the room.  I'm slightly in awe.  I went outside and sat in my backyard for a bit, just watching the world turn.  My backyard is huge and a bit wild, and when it rains I feel like I should see garden fairies or something.  I'm normally a more analytical person, but fairies have always held a special place in my heart, and the rain brings out all the wild myths that I've always half believed in.

The rain washes LA clean, more, I think, than in other cities.  All the colors are sharper, the air is more welcoming, the city is more alive.  You feel like you should see plants growing in front of your eyes, and the world has a new soundtrack for a bit.  That's why I love the rain, it's wild and powerful and beautiful and it brings you life.

Politics: The Next Generation

Hey guys!  Ashley and I have started a new blog aimed at making politics fun & relevant for teenagers.  It would be awesome if you would check it out and tell all your friends.  We're trying really hard to get the word out, because we think this is something that could become really big over time.  You can find it at http://doubleapolitics.blogspot.com.  :)

Firefox vs. Opera vs. Safari vs. Camino vs. Shiira vs . . . Chrome?

Now that Google has finally released a Chrome beta for Mac, I have of course downloaded it . . . and am now seriously considering making it my default browser.  Now, I have to say that I happen to have every single web browser listed in the title.  And I know that that's far more web browsers than any normal self-respecting person needs, but I have never claimed to be normal.  And besides, how can I say that one web browser is the best when I haven't tried all of them?

Firefox.  Well, what can I say that hasn't already been said?  Widely regarded as the fastest, best, coolest browser, with thousands of add-ons (which other browsers don't come close to replicating).  However, maybe because I feel like being a rebel, I find I don't use it that often.

Opera.  I've used it as my default for a while.  It has some definite shortcomings, including a tendency to freak out over my school's website and refusing to let me tag people in statuses on Facebook.  However, those are more than made up for with its Speed Dial feature (which other browsers, like Safari and Chrome are starting to copy), the Widgets (I love playing Pandora through its widget, and any of the multiple "get lyrics" widgets), and the ability to save different groups of tabs as sessions.  In the end, Opera suffers most from its relative anonymity (although I think it's used more as a mobile browser than on computers) because it's an excellent browser without the widespread recognition it needs to become the next Firefox.

Safari.  Well, I know it's the default browser for Macs, but I have to admit that between Firefox and Opera, Safari has mostly shown up as a blip on my radar, and "oh, shoot, I need to update Safari to get x other application to work.  That said, Safari 4 is nice.  I don't really use it, but I like the Top Sites feature (though Opera's speed dial still wins in a debate between them, I think) and it does play videos (like on YouTube and Hulu) faster than either Firefox or Opera.

Camino.  I'm kind of eh on this one.  I mean, it's basically Firefox customized for the Mac without the add-ons.  It's fast, it's pretty, but I really use it only when I'm testing my website in different browsers or when my dad wants a screenshot of it to add variety to one of his books.

Shiira.  You know, it's a bit of a hassle to use because pretty much the entire development team is Japanese, which makes their website full of typos, but apart from that, I actually really like Shiira.  It gets better with every release – and real, tangible improvements, like adding tab expose and RSS feed support in the latest version, not just an "oh it runs faster" update.  Shiira is a web browser that I would love a lot more if I had more time to devote to exploring it, but I still highly recommend it.

Chrome.  The new love of my life.  Fast, sleek, pretty, with nice themes, a really cute home page that mimics Opera's Speed Dial while adding in what my recently closed tabs are.  I think I'll be using Chrome a lot more in the future, but I'm still not giving up on Opera :)

Probably the most non-professional reviews of web browsers you've ever read, but it's nice to get a new perspective sometimes, yeah?

My Cameras :)

I suppose you all have gathered by now that I'm a photography nerd.  I'll be the first one to say that my knowledge is . . . well, not all that vast, but what I lack in that area, I make up in enthusiasm and a desire to learn more.  I mean, I can tell you what ISO means, and I can tell you what a slow shutter speed means, but I'm not one of those people that obsesses over cameras.  Either way, though, since I'm hoping to make my photgraphy a bigger part of my blog, I figured I'd write a little bit about my cameras.

Right now, the only camera I own (for sure) is a little Canon Powershot A590. And actually, it's not even my camera, it's the family camera and I'm the only one who takes good pictures. It's basically a really high end point & shoot, but I can adjust enough of the settings when I shoot on Manual or Program to make it worth my while.

It's got the basic ISO settings: 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600. I generally try to shoot around 200 or 400 for everyday photos & school events, but I shoot on 80 or 100 when I'm doing city scenes (my pictures from downtown LA & Denver were all shot on either 80, 100, or 200.) My yearbook teacher actually told us not to shoot above 400 because it would "hurt her feelings". Well, I can say she's taught me well. My shutter speed goes from ... to ..., and aperture settings go from ... to .... Now, I have to say that I personally find dealing with shutter speed and aperture on the A590 a pain. Maybe it's just me, or maybe I need more practice, but I usually end up shooting on Program and letting the camera automatically adjust most of the settings.

On the other hand, I absolutely love my cousin's Canon EOS30D, and I found its light meter (to adjust shutter speed/aperture) really easy to work with. I only played with that camera for a few hours when I was over at his house for Thanksgiving, but I had sooo much fun. We went down to the pool at like 9.30 at night, and put the camera on a tripod. With 30 second shutter speed, we got pictures that looked just like they were taken during the day! We also had a lot of fun taking "ghost pictures": walking into the shot for 15 of the 30 seconds and half-appearing in the photo. Here's an example . . . I'm holding one of my cousin's other cameras up to my face, that's why it looks like there's a random hole where my face is supposed to be :P

Annnnnd . . . I've played a bit with Ashley's Leica film camera, not as much as I'd like too, but from what I've seen of it, it takes GREAT pictures.  I love the focus . . . ^_^

One last camera . . . and this is the reason I said I only own one camera "for sure" is because my mom apparently has a BEAUTIFUL old Olympus camera from when she was in high school, complete with hugely long telephoto lens, that I am getting as soon as she gets it out of the garage.  Unfortunately, our garage has more similarities than I'd care to admit to a black hole, so the odds of finding it anytime soon are pretty small.  But I will for sure write a post devoted only to it once I find it.

I'm looking at different cameras to ask for for Christmas (preferably digital), that are high-quality and not point-and-shoots that aren't too expensive.  Something like Canon's Rebel series.  If you have any suggestions, please comment!

More politics posts coming soon, and stay tuned for a new, politics-only blog that Ashley and I are going to be launching over our Christmas break! =)

Itouch!

I just updated my blog from my dad's iTouch! I feel like I just fulfilled a major life goal :)

"So if you jaywalk and the cops don't see you, is it still jaywalking?"

Ah, isn't that the million dollar question in Denver!  Practically nobody waits for the light to be on their side before crossing the street, and even fewer actually bother to find the crosswalk.

So, I suppose you're wondering why I'm even talking about Denver, right?  Well, I was there for the Irish Dance Western Regional Championships (Oireachtas), and I had brilliant fun . . . but more on that later.  This post is about the city.

I went to Denver without any real expectations as to what the city would be like.  My previous experience with Denver was 4 hours spent at a layover in the airport on a flight to Costa Rica with some kids from my school last April.  It was so much cooler than I had thought!  For such a big city, it has a wonderful fronteir town feel.  Basically, it just feels small and home-y.  It's not a place I would live . . . at least, the part where we stayed isn't.  But it's an absolutely beautiful place to spend a few days.

It was pretty cold while we were there -- I don't think it ever got above 55 or so.  I loved it!  I'm such a cold weather nerd (when I was in Ireland, I teased my family for being such "tourists" because they were always wearing huge jackets), and the fact that there was snow on the ground was brilliant!  I'd never actually seen snow in a city before, except for Mammoth (and that doesn't really count, 'cause we go up there to ski anyway in the winter).  I was also glad that it wasn't actually snowing, because that would have made lugging dance gear around/enjoying the city so much harder!

We stayed in a 30+ story hotel that was right across the street from the Convention Center, where we were dancing.  Just a block up was 16th street, which was full of shops.  In fact, cars aren't even allowed there, there's so many people -- you have to take this really cool shuttle up and down the street.  I must've rode that shuttle about 10 times, to different cafes, stores, etc.  My dad and I found this amazing independent bookstore, called the Tattered Cover, during our explorations.  It's this amazing 3 story brick building that, when you walk into it, just feels like home.  There's a little coffee place inside that makes amazing pumpkin "steamers" (what coffee-free lattes are called) and nutella croissants (YUM!).  They have books on every single subject, and magazines, and . . . pretty much everything!  I got Madeleine Albright's Memo to the President, a Stargate magazine, and a copy of the latest Macworld.  Yeah, that describes me in a nutshell.

We also went to Union Station to take pictures.  As you might've realized from my last post on my photography trip with Ashley, I have a fascination with trains, train stations, etc.  They're so beautiful and haunting, and even more striking when they're practically empty, as they were when I went.  Except . . . guess what!?  There was another guy there taking pictures too!  He had a nicer camera than me, but when we saw each other, we smiled and, I think, recognized each other as fellow artists.  Such a cool encounter. . . . Denver is a brilliant city to photograph.  Not just in the more urban parts, but when we went down by the Platt river, there was no shortage of photos there either.

We ate at this awesome little Irish pub by the river called McLoughlin's that had these amazing little flatbread pizzas, among other things.   Which brings me to another topic about Denver . . . the food!  There's all sorts of cool little places to eat on 16th street (which was mostly where we were).  There was a Cheesecake Factory, a chocolate factory, the pub, multiple Corner Bakery Cafes, about 30 different Starbucks, and so many more places!  If you're ever in Denver, check out 16th street for the food.

We also visited the state capitol, which gets major points for having beautiful poetry all around the walls.  The legislature wasn't in session, unfortunately, but we did get to see all the empty rooms.  I would have loved to watch the House or the Senate meet . . .

So yeah.  That's Denver.  I feel like I have a really hard time describing it in words, so maybe some of my pictures will do the trick.

Roswell! Oh, and Happy December :)

This started out as a comment on Tay's reveiw of Roswell (found here), but it got so long that it deserved it's own post.

I have to start out by saying that I've only seen the first seven episodes, so if I say anythng glaringly strange, considering how the show ends up, well, that's my excuse.

~Katherine Hiegl is brilliant
~The show is VERY unique.  I've never seen anything quite like it before, even in the other scifi shows (Stargate, X-Files) that deal with the Roswell crash.
~Julie Benz's character, the guidance counselor/FBI agent is probably my favorite so far. Her drop-kicking the creepy sheriff has got to be my all-time favorite moment so far!  Although, since I know her mostly as Darla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I always get creeped out whenever she's with any of the kids alone.  I feel like she should be trying to eat them or something! :P
~I love how all the shots are set up to focus on the characters.  It's very clear that they, and not the surroundings/action is the main focus.  There's interesting uses of reflections/lens flares, not exactly normal, but then again, the whole premise of the show is that life is abnormal.
~Maria deLuca is one crazy amazing friend.  Czechoslovakians, anyone?
~I love how Max just looks like a normal guy.  No super-hottness, no idealized view.  Just a normal kid I'd like to hang out with.  That's so rare in shows, especially those targeted at the teen age group.

Overall . . . I am liking this show very, very much!  I'll put up a recap at the end of season 1 with my final thoughts, it'll be interesting to see how my views have (or haven't) changed.

And finally . . . happy December you all!  Make it an awesome last month of 2009!! :)

If I Can't . . .

If I can't check out videos/CDs on my own library card 'till I'm 18, why can I drive when I'm 16?

If I can't text while walking without running into trees/tripping/etc, why do people need a law to tell them not to text while driving?

Just some stuff to think about, I suppose.  Comment if you have any others :)

"Team awards during Oirechtas is the only time you'll see seventeen year old guys dancing to 'Barbie Girl' and feeling no shame."

It's true . . . I promise you.  I was trying to persuade my 12 year old friend to dance, and pointed out several guys who had to be between 15 and 18 years old to prove that there was nothing shameful in it at all (I was dancing too, I have to admit).

But anyway.  From my previous post, you already know why I was in Denver for the weekend, and, odd as it may seem, I did get some dancing time in among all my city explorations!  My sister danced with the younger age groups on Friday, in the traditional set competition.  She placed 6th!!  I'm so proud of her!! :)  We also had 4 Nationals qualifiers and 3 Worlds qualifers from the younger kids.  Saturday was team day, and all of our teams (U10, U12, Seniors, and Adults) made the top ten!  This was brilliant . . . I honestly didn't think any of our teams would recall, since the U10 team had 2 six year olds, the U12 team had 2 new dancers, and the seniors were just dancing . . . well, not so great.  The adults, well, they only had two teams in their competition, so they better have gotten first!!  Sunday was a good day too.  I danced then, and I think I did really well!  My hardshoe round went brilliantly, and in the softshoe round, the girl I was dancing next to almost ran into me!  I got places ranging from 84th to 48th (out of 85 . . . ) and ended up 62nd!  I was sooo happy, considering that this was my first time dancing solos at Oireachtas!  We only had 2 girls from our school recall, but everyone danced soooo well.

Irish dancing is pretty much all about the waiting.  You wait for them to start the competition . . . you wait for your number to come up . . . you dance . . . you wait for the next round . . . you wait for the recall list . . . you get the picture.  It was especially interesting dancing in Denver.  The high altidue and 30 degree temperatures do not help when youre trying to warm up and stay warm.  Okay, so the Convention Center wasn't 30 degrees, but it was still cold.  It was pretty hard to dance 3 steps in the altitude, and most girls came off looking miserable.  It was easier for me, I think, because we'd been practicing doing 6 steps (dances twice through without stopping) at class, but my throat was still really raw from trying to breathe once I came off the stage.

Overall, it was a brilliant trip, dancing-wise.  We're a very close-knit school, so everybody saw at least a few of their teammates dance.  We had a huge party Saturday night to celebrate how well everyone had been doing, and we would always try to hang out with each other, in the ballrooms or at dinner.  I can't wait for the next feis in Palm Springs :)

Photojournaling Our Way Thru LA

On Friday, we had a half day of school, so Ashley and I decided to get on the metro and see where we would end up.  It wasn't entirely random . . . we had vague plans . . . and a timetable . . . and I knew we had to end up in North Hollywood for a dance lesson around 4.30-ish . . . but we had a grand adventure anyway!

We took the red line downtown to the Civic Center stop, and walked around the courthouse and City Hall and the Los Angeles mall.  We were staring at the criminal courts building, wondering if we could/should go in, when a lawyer who was passing by told us that we could definitely go in, everything was open to the public .... aaaaaaaaaand he also told us where the best cases were argued.  So, we have perfect plans for next time we go downtown!

We took a whole bunch of photos downtown, I loved the opportunity to play with all the aperture/exposure/etc. settings on my camera, which I generally don't have time to do when I'm taking pictures for yearbook.  Downtown is such a great place to take pictures, mostly because of the buildings.  Architecturally, it's one of my favorite cities.  Ashley had a film camera (a beautifullll Leica, which has quite possibly the nicest focus I've ever seen on a film camera), which was great fun once we figured out how to rewind the film/switch rolls.  Unfortunately, she only had a roll and a half of film (apparently her mother thought that since they had 40 exposures each, that would be enough.  Um, no.  I have 192 pictures from our trip ... way more than 60!).  It was great fun while it lasted, though, and it is now my goal to get myself a film camera one of these days.  Sure, they're more work, but they're also way more fun!

After that, we walked around the Ahmanson/Mark Taper/Dorothy Chandler/Music Center area.  Apparently, Mary Poppins is/will soon be playing at the Ahmanson!  That would be soooo much fun to go see! Plus, the fountain in front of the Taper is ridiculusly amazing.  Ashley and I had a ton of fun being silly and taking pictures of each other in ridiculous poses around the fountain, while laughing at the huge tourist groups that were doing the exact same thing!  :)

We then took the Red line all the way down to the North Hollywood station, for my dance lesson.  We listened to our iPods on the way, and maybe . . . but probably didn't . . . annoy the other passengers by singing along (but quietly, and in the back of the car) (In case you're wondering, the artists that came up were Death Cab For Cutie, Taylor Swift, Lady GaGa, Modest Mouse, and The Corrs.  Eclectic? Yes.  Amazing?  Completely.)  I was way tired after walking all around downtown (plus it was my school's 10K walk in the morning, so I was way tired) but I had a good lesson overall.

Then, we had to meet my mom in Pasadena, so we rode down to Union Station, took a ton of awesome pictures, and then, after a bit of confusion about what train we needed/when it was coming (I realized too late I only had the schedules for the redline, oops) we ended up in Pasadena.  We were originally going to meet one of our other friends to go to pilates, but she bailed on us (well, she had tickets for the taping of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me so I don't blame her . . . ).  So my mom drove us to the Americana, where we had dinner and hung out at Barnes & Noble.  The wait at the Cheescake Factory for a table for 2 was 45 minutes (yikes!) so we just got burgers at the diner instead.  At the bookstore, we read magazines, and finished up the day by improving the “New Moon” display by layering it over with MacLife, Stargate Atlantis magazine, SciFi magazine, and Star Trek magazine.  Overall, a beautiful day!

The full set of photos from this trip can be found at my Picasa web album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/col.starchild/PhotojournalingOurWayThruLA110609

'Tis Tuesday in November, So . . . Elections!

Hey, just 'cause it's an off-year election doesn't mean i'm not paying attention.  Truth be told, I pay more attention to off-year/midterm elections because they're usually far more interesting than the presidential ones.

So, here's a quick recap of the night

• Bob McDonnell (R) is the new governor of Virginia
• Chris Christie (R) is the new governor of New Jersey
• Bill Owens (D) won the congressional race in NY23 (New York's 23rd district, for you non-politics people)
• Main voters overturned their legislature's law legalizing gay marriage
• Michael Bloomberg (R/I) is still mayor of New York City
• Democrats picked up another House seat, from Northern California
  

Writing this in the few days after the election, I can't say I'm surprised by any of it.  Disappointed by a lot, sure.  I would have liked to see the governor's races and the Issue 1 in Maine go down differently.  But when you think about it, y'all should've seen it coming.

Jon Corzine, the incumbent in NJ, was hated, hated by so many people . . . even those of his own party.  For such a small state, it has a ton of problems.  I can completely see why he would lose.  Even though Obama campaigned for him, Corzine has none of the glitz and glamour and excitement that the so-called "Obama surge voters" associate with the president.

Virginia, well, they have a history of being rather unhappy if their governor is from the same party as the president.  Add to that the fact that they are historically a very Republican state, and, well, bye-bye, Mr. Deeds.

Maine's Issue 1 was California's Prop 8 all over again, right down to the same firm running the "yes" campaign's attack adds.  And, yes, it makes me just as mad the second time round.  When you have ultra-fundamentalists/conservatives running blatently false ads, you have little chance of people voting the sensible way.  And yes, I'm aware that that's a generalization.  Not everyone who voted "yes" is fundamentalist, and they're perfectly entitled to their own opinions.  But this repeal is a disappointing setback to equal-rights activists everywhere.  Not to mention that the ads that were run for the "yes" campaign were completely unture (there was nowhere in the law where it was stated that gay marriage would be taught in schools).  They were purely playing on irrational fears, which leads me to believe, once again, that most Americans just don't think enough.

NY23's race was probably the one I was watching most closely, because the dynamics there were so interesting.  It's a historically Republican seat, yet the Republican nominee here, Deirdre Scozzafava, was basically forced to withdraw from teh race by her own party, for being too liberal.  I think she simply had a good head on her shoulders, but anyway.  That left the Democrat running against the Conservative Party nominee -- who just so happened to pick up an endorsement from Sarah Palin (maybe that's why he lost!)  Add to all that the fact that Scozzafava still walked away with 5% of the vote, AND threw her support behind the Democrat, and you have a fascinating election.  I think this one went pretty well :)

As for Michael Bloomberg, all I can say is "duh".  He goes to all the trouble to make himself eligible for a third term, then spends a ridiculous of his own money on the (entirely self-financed) campaign.  It would be crazy if he wasnt elected.  Although the margin of victory was much smaller than anyone (including me) had thought, seeing as how Bloomberg was leading the polls by double digits.

And Democrats picked up a second congressional seat, this one from California.  So overall, an okay night.

So what does all this mean?  I don't think it means as much as other people think.  It's not really a reflection on Obama so much as it is a reflection on the party in power.  And I think we Democrats did pretty well tonight.  I also think that if the two gubernatorial races had been in, say, Texas and Alabama, that we would have been much less surprised to see two Republicans walk away with the seat.  Theres so much hype here, in my opinion, because Virginia, although historically Republican, voted for Obama last year, so people were maybe half expecting that trend to continue.  Also, NJ is a historically Democratic state where the Republican candidate won pretty handily.  So that might have been a surprise to some people.

Okay, this post is getting way long now, and I'm tired.  G'night everyone :)

Computer Updates + Halloween = Happy Anya!

So, it turns out that when I'm bored with schoolwork, I become very productive with non-school related things.  More to the point, updating pretty much everything on my computer!

A summary:

• Mac OSX 10.5.2 to OSX 10.5.8.  Honestly, I don't see much of a difference, maybe it runs a bit faster, and I can run Safari 4 and other stuff now.  Reccommended in any case :)
• Safari (something) to Safari 4.  Okay, everyone needs to do this.  Well, probably everyone already has, I feel like I'm a bit behind the times here, but it's much faster, much prettier, and has a ton of new features, like being able to browse your most-visited sites in cover-flow style, that are pretty cool. 
• iTunes 8 to iTunes 9.0.2.  The whole reason I went through all of these updates in the first place!  Now that I can actually use the iTunes store, I'm loving this particular upgrade much more than I was previously!  To avoid turning into an Apple commercial, let me just say that if you haven't tried iTunes 9 yet, you are being deprived of LIFE!  Haha, okay, not that extreme, but you should get this :)

 And, on a totally random note, I'm sure the Vatican has better things to do than condemn Halloween as dangerous, pagan, and satanic.  The main danger comes from kids crossing the street in the dark, pagan is not a bad thing, and Halloween originated as a harvest festival, which I do not think is satanic at all.  What's next, trying to ban Dia de los Muertos because it celebrates dead people?  Sheesh.  Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely, safe Halloween, and happy November to you all :)

U's and Reviews

Lame title, maybe, but just deal =)  it'll all make sense, eventually, haha.

U2 is playing at the Rose Bowl tonight, and I'm not there!  Life is so not fair sometimes.  But on the plus side, I'm sitting here at my computer, watching the live stream on youtube.  In a way, it's better than actually being there, becuase with the 90,000+ people there, I'm sure I wouldn't have seen a thing.  Add to that the fact that U2 has lovely camera people (do you know how rare that is at concerts?) and that my little geeky self is loving the lens flares, you have a pretty happy Anya, all around.  Bono is funny, the stage is amazing beyond words, and the band overall is perfectly top-notch.  I'm crossing my fingers that they'll play "New Year's Day", but I was looking through old set lists and they haven't recently =(  In any case, I can't wait for the DVD of this!

My friends got me totally, utterly, helplessly addicted to Law & Order: SVU.  Thanks a lot, you guys . . .  I won't be doing reviews for each individual episode (I wish I had that much free time!) but I'll do a recap at the end of each season, 'kay?  'Kay good.  I watched the first four episodes this weekend . . . Olivia Benson is fast becoming one of my favorite TV characters, period.

I finally finished watching Atlantis Season 3!!  So now I have three more episodes to review, and then I can cross something off my to-do list! =)  Review for "Sunday" is finally up on my website, check here.

A few words of advice:  naps are not just for little kids, they are lovely for everyone.  Just don't take them on couches in hotel lobbies while waiting for your sisters to dance at a feis.  The people who work there tend to be rather unamused.  Um.  Yeah.  Story of my weekend . . .

Anyway, that's all for now, since I'm beyond tired, but check back soon for some more politics-related stuff, rather than just my random ramblings =)

Things Wrong With The World, Part 2

This was originally going to be in honor of Banned Books Week, a rant about censorship and stupidity, and the futility of trying to keep knowledge from children.  Well, I kinda missed that train (stupid.schoolwork.takes.over.my.life.) but I'll just incorporate that into a larger rant.

I was driving with my mom the other day (well, fine, my mother was driving, but hey) and I just happened to look out my window.  The woman in the SUV next to us had about six bobby pins in her mouth and both her hands were occupied with putting up her hair.  Going sixty miles an hour.  On the freeway.  Are you trying to get someone killed?  I know people in LA can't drive, but this is really taking it too far.

Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  For, um, making nice speeches about "hope" and "change" and being an optimist?  Because that's all I can think of at the moment.  I'm sure there were plenty of other people who have sacrificed much more and accomplished better things that this prize could have gone to.  And as much as I love my country and think President Obama is pretty cool, I would have much rather have seen this be awarded to him in a few years' time, when he's made genuine progress on his Middle Eastern peace initiatives.  This lovely New York Times columnist has written what I think to be the perfect speech for Obama to give at the ceremony in December.

NASA crashed a spaceship into the moon to look for water vapor.  And practically no one cared.  Except the scientists.  And me.  What's up with people?  This is the future we're talking about!

Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck are pathetic excuses for human beings, just like FOX news is an insult to good journalism.  Honestly, it's people and organizations like this that give all Republicans a bad name.  I laughed when I saw that the White House was treating FOX like part of the "political opposition", because .... they so are.  Really.  And as for some of Anita Dunn's comments . . . wow, remind me to never get on her bad side!

I'm still shocked by the amount of incivility and childishness that our Congresspeople demonstrate.  California's Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano thinks it's perfectly appropriate to yell "You lie!" at Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with several other unreapeatable things.  Sheesh, all the governor did was show up at a fundraiser.  A Democratic one, to be sure, and he's certainly made many of us Democrats angry, but there's no excuse for saying what he did.  And then a senator says that Republican opposition to healthcare reform just means they wan't people to "die slowly".  True?  Possibly.  Inappropriate? Oh yes indeed.  And if that wasn't enough, a representative finishes up his rebuttal against a House colleague by cussing him out.  That's practically beyond ridiculous.  I mean, no wonder Congress never gets anything done, everyone is too busy fighting.  I cant believe people think that it's okay to say these things.  Because it's not.  I have the urge to go up to some of these people and shove a bar of soap in their mouths, because these people need a good mouthwashing.

And finally, Pepsi wins the Bad Taste award of the month for it's iPhone app, designed to help men "score" women.  It's rude, it's degrading, it stereotypes women, and as a joke, it goes way too far.  What happened to Apple's famed "app approval process" (oooh, alliteration skillz xD) which is criticized for being to harsh but lets something like this slip through?  Not okay.

In Your Place: Randomz

I made it my mission a bit ago to find Republicans With Brains (they get capital letters in their title 'cause they're just that rare, y'know?).  Actually, Ash kinda inspired me to go on that search.  I found two: Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, two lovely senators from Maine who care about things like bailout packages, social equality, and affordable healthcare.  Kudos to them for knowing when to drop the party line.

I want a Kindle.  And an iPhone.  And a tablet.  Why do all the best things in life come with such huge pricetags?  Apple should hurry up and release their tablet . . . but if it's just a large-scale iTouch, I will be quite unhappy.  On the subject of computer-y things, I have a newfound respect for Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator (we're using them a lot in designing our yearbook).  I'll still take GIMP over Photoshop any day, but I haven't found anything to compare to Illustrator or InDesign (my dad thinks I'm a bit crazy.  He says, "why would you want software you have to pay for?"

I love Nancy Pelosi.  She doesn't stand stupidity from anyone, and when told by a senior army figure that she needs to be put "in her place" she responds with "I am in my place".  And her place just so happens to be Speaker of the House of Representatives.  I approve =)  There needs to be more people like her in Congress.  Maybe then things would actually get done in an orderly fashion.

Speaking of, I'm in my place right now . . . watching Stargate Atlantis and "doing schoolwork".  I suppose I have to get back to the second part of that now (though the schoolwork is the reason I have to multi-task and watch SGA at the same time, because it's taking me three months to watch four episodes.  Sheesh).  Catch ya on the flip side! =)

Warehouse 13: "MacPherson" Review

This episode was absolutely. bloody. brilliant.  I have no idea how on Earth I am going to survive waiting MONTHS for Season 2!!  (Watching shows on DVD has spoiled me, I'm afraid).

Some comments . . .

• I was right all along.  Leena was the mole!  I knew it couldn't have been Claudia!  Truth be told, I thought there was something odd with Leena way back in "Duped", when she a) couln't tell that there was a different consciousness inhabiting Myka's body and b) couldn't tell that the Myka in the mirror was alive.  I excused the second one because I wasn't sure completely how the mirror worked, but the first part is bugging me even more now.
• I really want to know why Leena decided to work for MacPherson.  Or even if she's doing it voluntarily.
• Warehouse security sucks.  Majorly.  If the Bronze Vault houses the worst of the worst, why is there a huge "reverse" button right next to the machine?  Trust me, you're not going to put someone in there by mistake.  Ahhh, plot devices, we love you.
• The Phoenix is one of the most interesting items in the Warehouse so far.  I'm so glad that this is a storyline that will be getting some attention, because I'm loving the moral/ethical issues that are being raised here.  I think W13 is finally gaining some of the maturity it needs to handle these issues, and I can't wait to see where it leads!
• So, um, someone hid about 1000 stairs pretty darn well, or the Warehouse is bigger/weirder than I had thought.  Either that, or there's another warehouse that's been hiding in someone's back pocket for a bit.
• The psychedelic glasses are so cool!  It's totally awesome how Myka's the only one to be able to see the clues with them.  Although I do wonder if they ever considered they might be walking into a trap?
• "Children . . . I'm working with children . . ."  'nough said =)
• Claudia needs to come back!  I can't wait to see how that is wrapped up.  I think Mrs. Frederic should go looking for her.  She sooo owes her an apology.
• That thimble . . . I'm so curious as to how it works!  I really don't get it.  I mean, if it can make you look like whoever you want . . . then . . . um . . . I dont know!  I can't even properly explain what I don't like about it!  Maybe it has something to do with how it can possibly make the huge muscular bodyguard look like short, fat Artie.  What happens to all that body mass?  And how did it fool the DNA/retina scanners on the different artifacts?  Just a tad too convenient for my tastes, although super-cool.
• MacPherson backstory!  Yay!
• Since Mrs. Frederic had that necklace on the whole time . . . could that possibly mean that she has that chemical in her blood, too?  If so, what did she do to deserve that?  If not, why does she have the necklace?  Curious . . .

Okay, that's all for now.  Im sure there's more that I've missed, but right now I'm too excited (plus I have about 30 thousand fanfic ideas in my brain that I need to sort through).  So check for fic/art later on, and I can't wait for season 2!!

Things Wrong With the World

Call me insane, call me sleep-deprived, call me over-sensitive, but this stuff just shouldn't be happening.

I saw a ten year old reading New Moon at the feis this weekend.  Absolutely disgusting and entirely not appropriate.

Obama dropped his demand that Israel cease building settlements in the Occupied Territories.  Excuse me?  Haven't those been declared illegal by pretty much everyone who matters?  The settlements are one of the true roadblocks to Middle Eastern peace, and it's sad that Obama is willing to bend to pressure from the Israelis (because Prime Minister Netanyahu is the one being unreasonable here.  Did anyone read his conditions for a Palestinian state that came out earlier this year?)

Iranian police are starting to order shopkeepers that any mannequins they have in their store windows be wearing proper hijab.  This is how ridiculous this is:  It showed up as a headline in the LA Times Twitter feed I have in my Google reader, and I thought I had accidentally hit the Onion's Twitter feed.  So I started laughing.  Until I realized it was real.  Stuff like this leaves me speachless with shock over how badly women are treated, and how unable we are to put a stop to it.

Speaking of Iran, President Ahmadinijad has been denying the Holocaust.  Again.  How blind to you have to be to stare all that evidence in the face and say it's faked?  Such hatred and such stupidity.

An off-duty police officer was driving drunk in NYC and killed a woman.  How can you not know better?

Stuff like this makes me want to curl up in a corner with my eyes shut tight, waiting for things to improve.  But if this is ever going to change . . . we have to get out there and make it change!

Rationalizations (Spoilers/Guesses for Warehouse 13's finale)

I know the finale was last week for those of us in the States, and YES I watched it and YES it was amazing, but this is something I wrote up before and never got around to posting ('cause this is me, after all).  So, for all of you who don't want to be spoiled for the finale . . . don't read any farther.

Anybody who's like me (aka a spoiler hound) knows that there's a mole in the Warehouse (Allison Scagliotti said so on an interview . . . that I don't have the link for anymore >.<)  A lot of the discussion seemed to suggest Claudia was the mole, but I really can't see that.  And before you ask, I'm not doing this just because she's my favorite character (but she is) but because I honestly can't see her being evil.  This is my list.

• Claudia loves the warehouse.  Totally and absolutely.  I have a very hard time seeing her wanting to leave.
• More than that, she loves the people in the warehouse.  She finally has a family besides Joshua: Artie is her dad, Pete's her big brother, Myka's her big sister/best friend.  She would never hurt them.
• When would MacPherson have contacted her?  Between psych wards, foster homes, and searching for Joshua, she's been pretty hard to reach.
  

So who is the mole then?  If you want my opinion, I think it's Leena.  Why?  Well, I just went through the reasons it wasn't Claudia.  It's not Myka . . . not after MacPherson went after her parents in "Nevermore".  It's not Pete . . . he is, for all his flaws, too good and loyal to switch sides.  It's not Artie . . . MacPherson's been his nemesis for far too long.  It's not Dickinson . . . he's been in three episodes and is too much a DC beaurocrat to get involved with strange things.  It's not Mrs. Frederic . . . mysterious she may be, but she wants to catch MacPherson as much as Artie does.  So that leaves Leena.  Quiet, unassuming, very close to Artie, came to the Warehouse semi-recently (after MacPherson and Artie split up).  She's been under-used this whole season, and although I like her, making her a mole will vastly expand her character and let her hold my interest for more than two minutes at a time.

Warehouse 13: "Nevermore" Review

Well, I really didn't expect much of this from the previews.  I was happily surprised.  Although I don't have time to write a full review, I'll try to hit the most interesting points in a list (I should do this for all my reviews.  It makes them so much easier!)

• I totally expected more on Myka's family.  Everything went from "I hate you" to "It's all good" really quickly.  And I thought that was rather abrupt.  What we did see was brilliantly acted on both sides.  Joanne Kelly never ceases to amaze me, and Michael Hogan is always brilliant (though I'm not used to seeing him with two eyes, after watching him on BSG for years).
• Claudia gets to go out into the field!  This is what I want to see more of . . . the Myka + Claudia + Pete, or even just . . . anything that's not just Myka and Pete.  Because we know a lot about their relationship already, I want to see some other pairs working together.
• Pete could've Tesla's MacPherson and have been done with it.  He was standing right there, fifteen feet away, with his Tesla out and a clear shot.  I know it would have made for a far more boring story, but it still reflects poorly on Pete's character.  In my opinion.
• Mrs. Frederic appearing and disappearing will never cease to make me jump.  And smile.  And be very curious at the same time.
• Myka's dad's bookstore is my idea of heaven.  I could seriously live there.
• I love when Pete and Claudia opened that locker and then jumped out of the way really quickly.  And then nothing happened.
• I've said this before, but it should be said again: Joanne Kelly is bloody brilliant.
• All of the kids attending the school in "Oregon" are so . . . bland.  And boring.  And unlikable.  And . . . the school takes the idea of being old-fashioned/creepy close to the point of being unrealistic.  I mean, I suppose schools like that do exist, I just found it . . . odd.  (It made so much more sense when I watched one of Allison Scagliotti's video blogs and saw it was actually the University of Toronto.  See, a college should look like that . . . not a high school)
• Although it does show in quite a sinister way exactly what artifacts can do to unsuspecting people.  This episode is, I think, unique in that the character(s) affected by the artifact know that the object gives them power, but they don't know it's really an artifact.  It makes for a much more interesting story.
• The pendulum.  Was a supremely amazing effect.  I love how it just . . . disintegrated afterward.  Although I wonder why it freed Claudia, and then Pete.
• I actually quite liked that old English teacher.  I wonder how you survive being buried alive inside a brick wall.
• The first five minutes and the last five minutes are by far the best, writing-wise, but the directing is fantastic all the way through.  Lovely set up on the location shots, especially in the bookstore.  It makes it feel warm and home-y, while still managing to show that, from Myka's point of view, she still feels like an outsider.
• Susan Hogan is utterly forgettable.  Pity.
• MacPherson is so. creepy.  I can't wait for the finale now!!

P.S.: The guy in this comic was SO using Edgar Allen Poe's pen.  xD

Obama, Healthcare, and Stuff You Really Shouldn't Say During Congress

It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican, if you love you president or hate your president, if you are a member of Congress, and the president is addressing a joint session on a televised broadcast, you do not jump out of your seat and yell "You lie!" at the president.  Especially if he's well, not actually lying.  And yes, Joe Wilson, I'm talking about you.

Now, I'll be the first person to tell you that I haven't been keeping too close of tabs on the whole healthcare debate.  I am far and away more interested in international relations and foreign policy than domestic issues.  But I do know a few things.

The current healthcare system is broken.  Even most of the Republicans know that, even if they won't admit it.  We need a new plan, and right now, Obama's is the best one out there.  It provides coverage for the millions of Americans who can't afford insurance, and, after all, healthcare should be a right, not a privelege.  For all of you who complain that Obama's a socialist, guess what: he's not.  For all of you who think this plan covers illegal immigrants (*cough*joewilson*cough*), guess what: it doesn't.  For all of you who bitch and moan about the increased taxes, try thinking beyond yourself for once.  You might want to try reading and understanding something before you criticize it.

Now, on to the actual outburst.  Grown peoples' ability to act like schoolchildren never ceases to amaze me, and apparently even congressmen aren't exempted from this.  Basic manners say you don't talk while other people are talking.  Don't you remember learning that in kindergarten?  And while caning people on the Senate floor may have been perfectly normal in the 1800s, neither that nor its verbal equivalent is acceptable today.  I agree with the House's decision to formally reprimand Wilson just as much as I roll my eyes at his "apology" and "resoning" behind the outburst.  When even people from your own party join in condemming you, you've crossed a line.

Congress is supposed to represent what's best about America.  Checks and balances, the people's elected representatives making laws, and all that.  And no matter who currently occupies the position, the office of President of the United States should command some dignity and respect (there are those very few cases who make such a mockery of the office that I just throw my hands up in disbelief).  Civil debate is what Congress is all about.  This healthcare speech was a chance for Obama to explain his plan, to try to reach out to Republicans.  Joe Wilson, therefore, made not only himself but the whole House look stupid.  How is anyone supposed to take seriously a body that doesn't even afford the president the simple courtesy of silent attentiveness during a speech?  Honestly.

Hopefully, this was a (relatively) unbiased look at this one issue.  This is one case where my reaction would have been the same no matter who yelled at Obama.  And now . . . off to bed!

This one's for you, Ash!  Thanks for the idea =)

Warehouse 13: "Breakdown" Review

So I finally realized that no matter how much I loved loved loved this episode, I would never have time to sit down and write a proper review.  Instead, I'm going to list a few (a lot) of may favorite bits (and one or two not-so-favorites).

• There's a manual for the warehouse.  That Claudia and Myka have read.  And that they will never stop teasing Pete about.
• Myka picks probably the only non-artifact in the warehouse to save Pete from the typewriter: a broom.
• The original B&B in the warehouse, and the painting.  I wonder if it really was "Leena's" back then, since she hasn't been with the warehouse as long as Artie has.
• The bedazzler.  End. Of. Story. ^_^
  
• Mrs. Frederic counting down 'till the destruction of the warehouse ("her voice gets really annoying when she's counting down seconds one at a time!")
• The Baylor dodgeballs.  Probably one of my favorite artifacts, not counting the Studio 54 disco ball.  I especially like Myka's plan: "I run away and you get pummeled".  Pete under the mountain of dodgeballs was absolutely hilarious
• Claudia and Myka save the Warehouse.  Now, they're going off to learn how to hack the grid (Myka) or learn kickass secret agent moves (Claudia).  I soooo want to see this happen!  I love the sister-relationship they have going on, now we just need MORE of it.  And Myka still owes Claudia a hug from "Duped".
• Claudia, Myka, and Pete pretending to throw Artie a "welcome home" party to disguise the fact that they almost blew up the warehouse.
• The auto-vac and the zipline.  A very bad combination if you are Claudia.
• Silly string.  I always knew there had to be something odd about it . . . seriously.  Silly string is EVIL.
• Mrs. Frederic.  She's always awesome, but even more so when she's advocating . . . ehm, shall we say bending the rules a bit.
• Okay, the Regents in the cafe is a bit too much like Oma Desala's cafe for all the ascended people in Stargate SG-1, down to the whole more-powerful-than-meets-the-eye waitress.  It's a good idea . . . but it's been done before, and better.

So, there're the main points I want to hit.  Overall, a very very good ep, that provides team bonding, danger, and foreshadowing in equal amounts :)

Warehouse 13: "Regrets" Review

"Regrets" is the first dip in W13's pattern of wonderful episodes, but it still provides an hour of chaos, character development, and downright spookiness. I mean, I was jumping at little sounds for a good half hour after I turned the TV off.

Yeah, so, I started the review after I finished the episode, and (of course) I'm not posting until. . . the eleventh?  Sorry!  This episode just did not stick in my head at all.

It's not the best and it's not the worst, and it definitely has its share of moments.  By far the best part of this was the end, when Myka and Pete finally had to face their demons.  We got to see Myka's human side, and finally find out what happened in Denver . . . I was really expecting something huge, and then Sam's death was pretty anticlimactic.  But I'm not really complaining, because Joanne Kelly's acting makes it ten times better.  She plays the tortured agent so well . . . but still manages to hit the perfect combination of vulnerabilty and hard-ass that defines Myka so much.  We finally get to see a more mature side to Pete, although his scenes with his dad had less impact on me, I think because Pete has had, what, thirty years to accept his father's death, while Myka's had months to accept Sam's.  In any case, the whole episode shows the growing trust and friendship that's been developing between Myka and Pete, and that makes me happy.


Although.  This is as good of a time as any to say that I will be extremely disappointed if that friendship turns into romance.  I can't imagine the two of them together, at all.  It would be awful in my opinion . . . and way cliche.  I threatened to stop watching the show if that happened . . . I don't think I'll do that now, but I'll be really upset, in any case.


Apart from that, there's not too much to make "Regrets" stand out in my mind.  For once, the artifact was the solution instead of the problem, which was a cool twist.  Revered Hill was poorly underused, although the motif of the Orouborus was fascinating and, in my mind, connected to Myka's and Pete's constant vicious circles of guilt.  The prison-in-lightning-storm idea was a it cliche, but definitely effective.  And . . . what else . . . oh, Claudia-the-magnet in Alessandro Volta's lab coat was a lot of fun.  And any solution involving crossbows and inflatable mattresses is, well, interesting, but apparently very effective.  I almost felt sorry for Claudia by the end, having to rewrite "I must obey Artie" over again, this time, "like she means it".  But Artie should really know better than to think that will stop her.  I bet next week she'll be back making trouble again.


One thing that "Regrets" does that I absolutely love (and some other episodes have done this too) is throw in references to things that are actually happening.  "Tropical Storm Jimena" is obviously a real hurricane that was going on about the time this episode aired.  And earlier on, "Implosion" contained a dig at the economy ("Cash only.  American credit's not what it used to be") that made me laugh probably more than any normal person would (then again I've never claimed to be normal).

Overall, good but not great.  Definitely not on the same scale as "Implosion" or "Duped", but much better than some of the early episodes.  It's not bad, but it's also not memorable.

iTunes 9 Is Love (Or It Should Be)

Apple's September conference always has me running home from school a bit earlier than usual to read the news and see what new updates have come out.  And I love most of the new updates this year.  Emphasis on most.

I won't spend too much time on analyzing all the new iPod updates, since you can read those pretty much anywhere.  Quick summary though: a new 64GB Touch, price cuts for the 8GB & 32GB Touches and the shuffle, video camera for the nano.  What I really want to focus on (read: rant about) is iTunes 9.

So iTunes 9 is a wonderful update, I'm not disputing that.  The new features are excellent.  It looks pretty, it runs faster.  And everything I've read about the re-designed iTunes store makes me excited.

Except.  You need Safari 4 to use the iTunes store.  And, well, me being me (tell me if I have anybody else who does this), I go back and forth between Opera and Firefox and never actually use Safari.  So I don't have Safari 4, 'cause, hey, what's the point?  And I can't actually download the update because (as usual) I've been lazy and haven't updated my OS recently, so I'm still running 10.5.2, while you need 10.5.7 to get Safari 4.

Now, really.  I need two updates before I can use half of what makes iTunes so great.  I know I partly have myself to blame, but seriously.  The Safari download could be easier/still availible to us who don't have time to update to 10.5.x every month.  Or . . . just . . . i dunno, make iTunes work with earlier versions of Safari?

The upshot of all this is, I'm very happy with almost everything new.  Just that pesky iTunes store stops me from enjoying everything like I should.

My Pretties! (Warehouse 13: "Duped" Artwork)

I love love love love the Warehouse 13 episode "Duped". Aaaand it just so happens that I took 261 screencaps while I was watching it on hulu (I blame Joanne Kelly. She's just too darn photogenic, whenever she comes on screen I just want to take a picture of her!). And if you've been to my website, you know I do a ton of graphic arts related to TV shows and movies that I like. But I haven't done any W13 artwork, mostly 'cause I'm lazy and screencapping from hulu is a pain (I take a snapshot of my desktop, hope the character wasn't moving too much, then go through all the pics, rename them from "Picture 12" or whatever, and crop out just the part that has the W13 bit.) and I hadn't actually had any pictures to work with 'till now.

What's this all leading up to? Lovely lovely new Warehouse 13 artwork, all based on 'caps from "Duped".

Summary: 1 animated icon (150 x 150px), 5 regular icons (100 x 100px), 2 banners (728 x 90px and 500 x 100px), 1 wallpaper (1280 x 800px).





You are more than welcome to download these for your own use, but please, please credit Anya Prynn and link back to either my website or this blog.

"Eagle Eye" Movie Review

Soooooo this was one of the movies I was dying to watch in theaters when it first came out, but, for a variety of reasons, that never worked out. I finally got it from the library (my library is AWFUL, it takes them like 5 months to get new DVDs), and, more importantly, I finally had time to watch it. And my conclusion is, Eagle Eye gets a bad rap.

Okay, so the plot is a bit lame. The storyline gets a bit unbelievable at points. But the bottom line is, Eagle Eye is a dark, fast-paced action/adventure movie that caters to those who love high-tech gadgets and explosive special effects. And the writers/directors/producers know it, too. They never attempt to pretend this is the most intelligent, thought-provoking film out there, they just focus on making Eagle Eye the best movie in its genre, without ever slipping into the trap of making it silly, pathetic, or mindless. This film is remarkably unpretentious, leading to overall better acting, better writing, and better directing.

So, at school this semester, I'm taking a digital video production course. Two weeks into the class, and I'm already watching movies going, "Oh that was a brilliant shot! I wonder how they got that effect! No, no, no, the scene should be set up like this!" I was focusing a lot on the production aspects, which maybe made the plot a bit more acceptable. Some of the things I noticed: Eagle Eye follows the "show, don't tell" principle maybe better than any movie I've seen (or maybe I've just never payed attention before). Probably the most notable example is Ethan's funeral. We aren't "told" Ethan died, we aren't "told" that Ethan and Jerry were twins, but you get all that and more from the acting. As for the special effects (*cough*explosions*cough*) they are not the gratuitous, constant explosions you'll find in a Michael Bay film (not that there's anything wrong with those, but everything in its place). They're gritty, realistic, purposeful and well done. I'm thinking especially of the falling power lines here. By the way, car chases? So much more fun when one participant doesn't know how to drive her stickshift car ;)

As for the characters, we learn a surprising lot about them. Over the course of the movie – which is really only a few days, if that – we see the two leads slowly moving from hostility to trust to friendship, which culminates in a (slightly corny) birthday scene at the end. I'm actually starting to think that Shia LaBeouf has the potential to be a good actor now. Agents Tom Morgan and Zoe Perez might be a bit stereotypical, but the actors lend them crediblity, and I was actually quite liking them by the end. Overall, much more characterization than you get from, say, Transformers.

Last, but not least, the societal commentary. Sure, we have nothing close to Ariia now, but how soon until we do? Five years? Ten? And what happens then? How much do you trust the computer? How much do you trust the government to protect your privacy? How long until the computer does something you completely aren't prepared for? All very important questions that hit you after the movie is over. Oh . . . and don't watch this with your cellphone on! Mine rang during the movie, at one of the points where Ariia was trying to contact Jerry, and I jumped a foot!

Bottom line, if you love well produced, dark, effects-filled films that still manage to be intense action/adventure movies, go watch this. Even if you don't, watch it anyway. The societal commentary just might make it all worth it.