Odds, ends, and the tasty bits in-between

[fredericks]

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE
1. Radioshack lackey
2. University Food Service drone
3. Librarian book shelver
4. Paid notetaker

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER*
1. Bridget Jones Diary
2. The Princess Bride
3. Finding Nemo
4. Undercover Brother
(*I would include Brokeback Mountain on this list, but I realize if I watched it over and over there's a good chance I'd cry so much I'd either succumb to dehydration or sit around my house writing morose poetry)

FOUR BOOKS YOU COULD READ AGAIN & AGAIN
1. The entire Otherland series by Tad Williams
2. Lost Souls, Poppy Z. Brite
3. Fortress in the Eye of Time, C.J. Cherryh
4. Cry to Heaven, Anne Rice

FOURtwo CITIES/PLACES YOU'VE LIVED IN
1. Queens, NY
2. Providence, RI

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH
1. American Justice
2. The Venture Bros
3. Investigative Reports
4. Best Week Ever

FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION
1. Orlando, FL
2. Seattle, WA
3. Italy
4. Virginia Beach, VA

FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY
1. Livejournal
2. CNN.com
3. Imdb.com
4. Webster.com (the daily word games? very much fun)

FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS
1. Sticky rice
2. Yellow Dal
3. Chili con carne
4. Curry pumpkin and shrimp + bake

FOUR PLACES YOU'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW
1. Anywhere but my parents house
2. Seattle, WA
3. California
4. Manhattan


I think the only Sundays I've managed to go to bed at a reasonable time were the days before clinicals. I cannot believe I am still awake for no good reason. I was planning on heading to the lab tomorrow to practice for validations, but seeing as it's already 3:50 I'm probably not going to end up waking up until 11 and then I won't get to school until after 1, then I won't end up coming back until rush hour is well underway. I detest riding the trains during rush hour. I was supposed to finish up my Nutrition assignment this weekend but it's early Monday morning and still nothing. *sigh* I technically have until the end of the semester, but I don't want to be rushing this thing down on the 21st in order to hand it in by the 22nd. Gah. Can't believe there are only 9 days left in the semester.
*

I don't think I'll ever stop being amused by other Christians speaking to me as though I'm not a Christian. Or, instead of referring to themselves by their sect designation using the blanket term "I'm a Christian". Uhm, yes; and that would make me, what? A passport-carrying minion of Hell? Episcopalians-cum-Catholics read the same book you do. Oh well - I suppose we do what we must to ease our souls.
*

I saw The Chronicles of Narnia on Friday with my brothers, and I guess the main reason why I didn't mention it until now was because I didn't like it. Such a let-down for me, as I've been waiting impatiently for the movie since last Christmas. It was mainly my own fault; I went into the movie looking for LotR lite. The special effects were awkward at times, and the two younger children had some overall spotty acting. It's a great movie for children, but the adult in me spent too much time chuckling and rolling her eyes at the sloppily choreographed "big fight scenes" (me: "oh my GOD, would Peter stop dropping his shield arm! Jadis could have killed him three times over but she keeps posing like a damned fool!") and the little person who played the White Witch's personal help. I know this fellow from some other movie, and his acting was as horrendous there as it was here. There are so many little people out there that are excellent actors - I cannot believe this scenery-eating dude keeps getting parts. There's one line he spat out ("do you want some MILK!?!?") that, literally...my brother and I were left gasping for breath. Even now one of us will sneer and say "want MILK!?!?" and fall into peals of laughter. But the Aslan/table scene was really well done. The animators who did Aslan's eyes made them very expressive. If only they'd worked on making some of the other effects less laughable.
*

My mother and I went to Toys R Us a couple of days back and, for that forty minutes or so, I think I became a kid all over again (well, *more* of a kid). The toys children have today are so cool! I was captivated by these large remote controlled Caterpillar toys. One was a tractor with working front shovel, and the other was a dump truck with working back. So. COOL. Then there were remote control creatures, like dogs and this BIG T-Rex. Kids today have the widest array of toys to choose from, I think. I can't believe I missed out on all that. The best toy I can remember getting was back when I was 3 or 4. My folks gave me a My Little Pony castle, and I remember thinking how massive it was (now I'm pretty sure it was just me that was small). I was in awe of the working drawbridge (you had to crank it and the thread kept coming out of the spool, but still! very amazing) and it came with all these stickers you had to put on the walls and roofs. I wish I'd kept it. I wish I'd kept a lot of the stuff I'd had as a child.

Comments

[melancthe.livejournal.com]

Oh pooh, I've been looking forward to Chronicles of Narnia - I'm sorry to hear it wasn't that good. :(

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Now, I didn't say it wasn't good. I just said I didn't like it. *smile* A helluvalotta people in the US like it so who am I to judge?

[melancthe.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll be seeing it on Friday (at long last), so I'll post my opinion after that. Hey, at the very least, I'll be able to close my eyes and fantasise about the delectable Harry Gregson-Williams composing the score naked. ;)

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Your odd fascination with composers never ceases to amuse me. The lusting after naked men seems commonplace, but your thing about men with batons...

[melancthe.livejournal.com]

Hey! I bet it's the batons that do it for me! :)

[lab-brat.livejournal.com]

The toys children have today are so cool!

and so expensive! lol *eyes the list of stuff still to get for kiddo*

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Ain't they, though? My other thought is that kids expect a heck of a lot more than we did than we were growing up. I asked for board games and dolls when I was younger. Kids today think nothing of asking for expensive clothing or electronics. Somehow, I think if all the big game systems were up and running when I was growing up I wouldn't have asked for them...and technically I *didn't* - it was my brothers who asked for and got all the Nintendos and the Segas and the Playstations. I played them, but I never really did want to ask my folks to spend hundreds of dollars on them :/ .

[nescheetah.livejournal.com]

As a kid I was drawn into the shiny video game displays. I would beg my parents for one! I at last got my nes when it was nearly obselete >.>

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

As a kid I think I always used to ask for books. A couple of years I'd ask for board games, but that was the rare occasion. I played video games as I grew up but I never had the cojones to ask my folks to spend hundreds of dollars on me. My brothers did all that. I still think the best present my folks ever gave me was that damned My Little Pony castle.

[nescheetah.livejournal.com]

Oh trust me. They got it so they did not have to watch me. :D. I wish they would of gave me more books. But my parents where trying to "not have a pansy boy for a son" thing.

[trueseven.livejournal.com]

The White Witch's elf also played all the Ommpa Loompas in the 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I was disapointed in CoN too. Peter particularly irritated me, though The White Witch was spectacular.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Now, I still find Peter cute. Much better on the big screen than IRL. And I thought his acting was pretty good on the screen. Skandar's acting (Edmund) was the worst out of the lot of them, to me. Jebus.

I'm sure my post came out wrong. I disliked the movie not because I went in expecting it to be on the same level as LotR (which was lovely but also had its down moments) but because it was lacking in a number of places. The score was distracting. I didn't feel for any of the children. Really. Nothing. The "drama" with the dead Lucy? rang of the part of LotR where Aragon got thrown off the clifftop during battle. You KNEW no harm was going to come to either character, whether or not you'd read the source material - it was simply a given that they'd make it to the finale. Peter's agonizing over killing the wolf had me cursing him for being a fool than worrying whether or not he could go through with it. And - I almost forgot - Susan was given a kill, in direct defiance of Lewis' words about women not seeing battle. That was amusing and eye-rolling. I mean, hells - you could have given her a couple. The way it played out was cheesy. But the WW was definitely great. Best actor out of the lot. It would have been impossible NOT to shine in a position like that.

[zelle999.livejournal.com]

Poo! I'm sad that you didn't like Narnia. I'll totally still go see it though.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Good! Don't let my embittered words discourage you. *grin*

[xioley.livejournal.com]

I thought 'Lucy''s acting was quite good--but that the White Witch was overacted.

You know what's kind of sad? Supposedly since Pixar fully belongs to Disney now, there is Finding Nemo 2 in the works. No! Unnecessary!

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Supposedly since Pixar fully belongs to Disney now, there is Finding Nemo 2 in the works. No! Unnecessary!

Wait...WHAT??? Pixar, baby, what are you DOING!!!!
...
Give me a moment; I need to compose myself. I thought they'd moved away from Disney and Cars was their last obligation to the Mousers?

If it's only Pixar that has a hand in it they might make it work. Hells, I really liked Toy Story 2. And I want to know what happens to the fish from the dentist's fish tank. But Finding Nemo ended on an excellent heartwarming note (talk about a movie that gets me choked up every time I watch it); I'd hate to see them screw that up in the name of money.

[xioley.livejournal.com]

It's just that since Pixar made those movies under Disney, Disney technically owns the rights. Hence--why a Finding Nemo 2 will come out--of Disney studios. But this is something technically 2nd or 3rd hand; we can only hope they won't try and ruin it.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Oh, thaaaaaaaaaaat.
Yes, I remember hearing about that. Disney was planning on making another Toy Story or another Nemo since they own the rights to everything Pixar has made up to and including Cars. If such a movie came out I'd be sure to avoid it. I'm happy Pixar is off on its own right now.

[twoworldsin1.livejournal.com]

Heh. Good to hear a person's opinion on Narnia that didn't like it, if only for some variety in opinion.

And thanks for listening over AIM last night. :)

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Ha. Even if my opinion is worded in a pretty crappy way. My measuring stick for movie likability is how many times I can see myself watching it in theatres. When I left the showing of Narnia a part of me wished I'd saved my money and waited until it came out on video. That's where the post opinion came from.

And thanks for listening over AIM last night.
You're welcome; any time. That's what (LJ) friends are for, right? *grin*

[nescheetah.livejournal.com]

I wasn't away! :P. Come back online. D:

[lostcrackerjack.livejournal.com]

I really liked Narnia *ducks*, I suppose it brought back a certain childhood nostalgia for me. I dunno, I remember the book and how I envisioned the characters.........I thought the movie did a pretty fantastic job with that. I do agree the acting was ok, nothing special and some of the dueling scenes were too choreographed, but overall I wasn't dissappointed in the least. Personally, I felt it was good enough to place in the top 5 movies of 2005, but that's just me. :-P
*slowly tip-toes away*

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Personally, I felt it was good enough to place in the top 5 movies of 2005, but that's just me. :-P

Top 5? Don't let me dispatch the Ninja Lemurs of Death^TM on you.

*grin* I think the movie did a great job with the characters as well. Nice casting, overall. It's just something I don't feel moved to watch in the theatres again.