Saturday, January 16, 2010

Shine a Light


Best part: the Stones playing a Muddy Waters song with Buddy Guy. Mick Jagger singing about his woman, Keith Richards turns around with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

I can't help but see how Keith Richards makes the perfect pirate king.

Fun show, but I would pay more to see Led Zeppelin.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Moliere

In 1658, playwright/actor Molière, having been given a theater in the capital by the King, is back in Paris after touring the kingdom of France with his company of players. One day, a young lady asks him to follow her to the deathbed of her mother... Thirteen years earlier, Molière already runs a troupe but goes broke and is thrown to prison. Fortunately (?) his debt is covered by Monsieur Jourdain, a rich man who wants him to help him rehearse a one-act play he has written with a view to seducing a beautiful bright young widow, Célimène. As Jourdain is married to Elmire, and is the "respectable" father of two daughters his design must remain secret so Molière is introduced into the house as Tartuffe, an austere priest...

This French film was recommended to me by my cousin, Melanie. She's a costume designer and that's a lot of what she looks for in movies. The costuming in this movie was really awesome--I wish I hadn't had to be reading subtitles the whole time. It's advertised as a comedy, and it definitely did have some funny lines, but the last ten minutes really confused me as to whether it really is a comedy or not. Besides the fact that the movie was a little long and drawn out (or maybe it was just late), it was quite enjoyable!

Best scene: Jourdain imitating a horse.

Confessions of a Superhero

Confessions of a Superhero is a 2007 documentary film directed by Matthew Ogens about costumed superheroes on theHollywood Walk of Fame. The film focuses in particular on Christopher Dennis, Jennifer Wenger, Joseph McQueen, andMaxwell Allen, who dress as Superman, Wonder Woman, The Hulk, and Batman, respectively.

My feelings at the end of this movie was basically a pit in my stomach. I couldn't help feel sorry for these people who are trying to become Hollywood names, but day after day just dress up and wander around Hollywood Boulevard.

Superman, who described himself as "the historian of Superman and keeper of artifacts" really loves what he does. Interestingly, his girlfriend is a psychologist, and even she can't figure out what's wrong with him. Their apartment is plastered with Superman posters, paraphernalia hanging from the ceilings, every book shelf stacked with Superman comics and movies--I was surprised to see that his shower curtain was a beach scene. He really is the star of the movie, next to George Clooney look alike, Batman, with anger problems and alleged murders to his name. The Hulk, who dresses in a full costume and mask, was homeless for 4 years, and now just feels like a glorified pan handler. WonderWoman is a cute, cowgirl from Tennessee who is trying her best to make a living as an actress.

Overall, good movie, really strange subject matter...left me feeling slightly depressed.

free trial

Netflix sent me a free trial offer for 14 days. Movies are one of my weakness. I don't really know why--I don't claim to be a movie buff or anything, but I love watching movies and impulsively buying them, too. So, as I am taking advantage of this free trial, 3 movies out at a time, and plan to watch them all the time (this may cause a problem for the homework load), I propose a free trial for you. Your free trial is also a 14 day offer of reading my movie critiques. Again, I don't claim to know much of anything about movies, but I know what I like when I see it.

Your promotion code: 80025567
Offer ends: 01/28/10

Enjoy!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

be true to your school

first week...check! i have learned one valuable lesson and made one self discovery.

valuable lesson #1: a whole can of chipotles should never go in anything you actually want to consume happily.
self discovery #1: if there was one thing i could do without any consequences, it would be to drink whole milk.

on another note...

cd of the week: mayer hawthorne "a strange arrangment". i think the tally of times listened has grown to at least 25.

Friday, December 11, 2009

author unknown

"The greatest remedy in the world is change; and change implies the passing from the old to the new. It is also the only path that leads from the lesser to the greater, from the dream to the reality, from the wish to the heart's desire fulfilled. It is change that brings us everything we want. It is the opposite of change that holds us back from that which we want. But change is not always external. Real change, or rather the cause of all change, is always internal. It is the change within that first produces the change without. To go from place to place is not a change unless it produces a change of mind--a renewal of mind. It is the change of mind that is the change desired. It is the renewal of mind that produces better health, more happiness, greater power, the increase of all that is good in life. And the constant renewal of mind--the daily change of mind--is possible regardless of times, circumstances or places. He who can change his mind every day and think the new about everything every day, will always be well; he will always have happiness he will always be free; his life will always be interesting, he will constantly move forward into the larger, the richer and the better; and whatever is needed for his welfare today, of that he shall surely have abundance."

"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living." --Gail Sheehy

Monday, December 7, 2009

A Second Use and Service Auction

Finally, a second use for the Prom dress! A formal dinner and service auction. It felt a little tighter than I remember...Joce and her boy Ronie. He's a good kid. We like him. And so does Joce. He lives in Salt Lake, so it's a real treat when he comes down to visit.
We had a two page, front and back, packet full of services being auctioned off. The Sweet Goodnight Package, including warm treats and bedtime stories sold for $110! I couldn't believe it. We auctioned off homemade ice cream, and it went for $20. There was also a silent auction, mostly sweet treats. There was a really awesome photo someone took of Mt. Timpanogos, which is a really good mountain. I was going back and forth with a girl I didn't know. I went up to $50, then she went to $60. I just felt bad, like I should let her have it. I tried to buy some dinner services so that I didn't have to make dinner tomorrow, but once I got to $20, I gave up. I think I might have won some Sunday treats and grilled Chicken...but we'll see. There were some hard decisions to make.
Some people didn't dress up, and made those of us who were dressed up feel awkward. Such as Vale's brothers, and their roommate. They just came for the catered food, really, then left. Classic.
Vale got pulled into an advertisement for someone's service. We were sitting too close to the front. The service was raquetball lessons with this kid. He's the one that bought our ice cream, by the way.
It was a fun night, and since I got so much done during the day, I didn't even feel guilty about having fun!