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