Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Now I'm beginning to see...

Just hit another obstacle as far as doing my job today. Now I see why the library I work for goes through Library Techs the way Spinal Tap goes through drummers. And it's only Wednesday...Give me strength.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Wolverine mania

Wolverine has always been one of my favorite X-Men. He was the first comic book character that I ever drew.

I was channel surfing this past weekend, and I found one of the cartoon channels had a new X-Men cartoon. (I think it was a Nicklelodeon spinoff.) I had a WTF moment when I found out what it was called though. I clearly remember Professor Xavier and/or Cyclops leading the X-Men. There have even been instances when I remember Storm leading the X-men. But when did Wolverine go from being a loner to team leader? Have I been out of the loop that long? Or is this one of those character reinvention things? Don't get me wrong, as much of a problem as I sometimes have with change, I also realize that there are instances where it can be good. I'll be watching this cartoon to see if it is one of those changes that is good or a complete mistake. I also saw a comic book in the store with the Wolverine and the X-Men title. I'm not sure which came first, but if I enjoy the movie and the cartoon enough, if my budget allows, I may check out a comic or two of the new title and some of the other Wolverine stuff I saw. I have two shoeboxes of some older Wolverine graphic novels and comics over at my dad's place. When the closet they were in leaked, I was thanking God everything was in mylar. I have one of the larger action figures in the classic costume too, too bad the box it was in took a beating. This will definitely be an interesting weekend. Next week, I've also got to make a note to myself to get all my Wolverine stuff from my dad's place. I just had a thought...Maybe I'll go see the movie with him this weekend. Comic books/Graphic novels were one of the things that we always bonded over (As little as we sometimes understand each other, I'll always love him no matter what.). I never thought a comic book hero movie would get me waxing all nostalgic...Funny how things like that happen...

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Gearing up for Lost (no spoilers)

Well last week, my time travel theory got shot down. (ie. the universe did not implode when Miles saw himself as a baby. Therefore, at least in the Lostverse, alternate versions of yourself can exist in the same time period.) I would also still like to believe that Sun's not being transported into 1977 with the rest of the Oceanic 6, is not solely a plot device to prolong her long-awaited reunion with Jin. I'm curious about that riddle about what lies in the shadow of the statue too. (Hell, I thought the statue itself was riddle enough, not to mention the temple.)

Administrative Assistant's Day

I hope all of you out there had a better Administrative Assistant's Day than I did. That's not my title. But I do a lot of the grunt work at my job. I get no recognition whatsoever for it though. Is there such a thing as Support Staff Day? If there is, I still have half a chance to get some type of recognition/appreciation for what I do. Very few things are worse than the feeling that you're being taken for granted.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Are all women from Venus? Part II

Yesterday, I went out shopping again. Unfortunately, this time, I came back empty-handed. Mainly because there are some trends out there right now, that I am definitely not feeling. Patent leather shoes for one. I was looking for a pair of shoes to go with a multi-colored dress, that I haven't warn yet, that my aunt sent up for me. She did send a pair of shoes to go with it, but they're a bit bolder/flashier than I like to wear. So I go out yesterday and the only types of sandals I can find are patent leather. I hate patent leather, because it's so hard to keep looking nice and I am so accident prone. Not to mention I do a lot of walking.

I wanted to find another dress I liked too, but I struck out. I saw a lot of maxi dresses, but I don't really like them. It feels like you're running around in a nightgown to me. Pretty designs, pretty colors, but again, this is one of those trends, that I'm just not really into.

I also wanted to find a pair of sunglasses, but all the sunglasses I found were either ginormous or they had rhinestones going up the frame. Again, not my personal style.

I do love that wedges are in right now, but with my foot and ankle problems, they're probably not the best thing for me right now. Maybe I'll have better luck with some of my catalogues or online.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Are all women from Venus?

Today, I was sitting in the hair salon and they had Sex and the City on. I have never watched an episode of that show all the way through. I don't know why, but it just never caught on like that with me.

I went into Dress Barn looking for a black camisole top and wound up coming out with a leopard print dress. It won't break the bank or anything, but once I saw it on me in the fitting room, I just couldn't imagine leaving it in the store. (I'm trying to make it my last impulse buy for a while though, because I'm trying to save $3,000 by October, so that I can move without too many headaches. )

My sister and I were chatting this morning, and I forgot how it came up, but she was telling me that she didn't enjoy Kill Bill. I on the other hand loved it. I also got a kick out of the second half of DeathProof . My sister explained that she didn't mind violence that made sense in a movie, her problem was with senseless violence, which I can understand, because neither of us likes the Saw series. She also went on to say, that she doesn not hate all Tarantino films, because she did like Pulp Fiction. I forgot to ask her if she had seen Jackie Brown. (Pam Grier was in that. I've seen some of her blaxploitation films, but not all. I've seen Coffy, Foxy Brown, and there was another film, one where she played a private detective or a photographer, I'm wracking my brain, but I can't remember what the name of it was. I've also seen Scream, Blacula, Scream. The storyline could have been better. I liked the first Blacula way more. Ahem, getting back on track...I haven't seen Black Mama, White Mama, but I'd like to. To truly appreciate it, I'd probably have to watch the original The Defiant Ones right before it.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Channel surfing woman

I don't know how many other women like to do this, but I love to channel surf.

Besides, the TV guide can't possibly show you what all of your favorite channels have to offer, right? For example, I love G4, but the only way I know what's on it, is if I go to it. The TV Guide doesn't list it. Incidentally, I found out last night that the Why So Serious? website they had up for The Dark Knight is up for a Webby award. I really enjoyed the site. It seemed like each time I went there, I'd find something that I hadn't thought to click on before. Even if Heath Ledger was still alive, I'd say this regardless. What I'm not sure of, is if it would have stayed with me as long. To be honest, if he was still alive, I'd be anticipating the next film in the series, and wondering how they could top the stuff they did for publicity on The Dark Knight (or if they didn't top it, at least have it be just as exciting. I'm not really of the mindset that bigger explosions and more of them would make a sequel better. I'm more into the writing...characters, plot, etc. ). That whole thing with at the 2007 San Diego ComicCon with the scavenger hunt...I wish I'd been there, that sounds like it was wild. But I think that would have been hard to top. Or maybe I'm just not imaginative enough. (It would certainly explain why I get writer's block whenever I try to write something. I'll come up with a great beginning or a great idea, but have no idea how to follow through. As you can imagine, it's pretty frustrating.)

I also found out that the website for Coraline is also up for a Webby award in the same category (I think it was viral, but I'm not sure). Now that website I haven't been to. I love Neil Gaiman's work though, so for that alone, the site is definitely worth checking out.

Then on this same show on G4 (Please forgive me, but I can't remember the name. What can I say? I have a memory like swiss cheese and I am not a morning person. At least one person out there can relate, I'm sure.), they also showed the comic book version of Stephen King's The Stand. Those illustrations were nasty (and that's a compliment). I read the book, but I don't think I got all the way through the restored edition. I tried, but that thing was a monster (And I'm saying this, and I actually love to read. ). I do remember the Bernie Wrightson illustrations though. Mike Perkins gives him a run for his money, I have to say.

Then one of the Encore channels (Encore Mystery) had a half-assed Psycho marathon. I say half-assed, because they showed 2, 3, and 4, but not the original film. How are you going to have a Psycho marathon and not show 1? All I could think was there had to be some kind of legal red tape, because otherwise what they did made absolutely no sense to me.

Fringe was also pretty good last night, this may be a series that I will grow to enjoy.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Feast or famine

Didn't think it'd been 4 days since my last post, but with me you either get tons of posts or nothing at all.

One of my bill payments has gotten lost in the mail. This ticks me off, because I knew eventually that I was going to have be forced to switch to paying online, but I didn't want it to happen this way. I also do not want to stop payment on the check that is "lost", because the company I made the payment to could penalize me for it, and stop accepting checks from me at all. It's hard enough finding the time to run to the bank in the middle of the day, let alone running around trying to get a money order. Who needs the frustration? Definitely not me.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Pirates 4 is looking iffier all the time...

I just read on my Google Entertainment page that Gore Verbinski is not going to do Pirates 4.
I was surprised that Johnny Depp wanted to do another one. Yeah, I know they left the ending open for it, but just because he can, doesn't mean he should (and me saying that takes a lot, because I am a huge Johnny Depp fan). I would hate for the 4th film to be garbage. Depending on who is stepping up to direct Pirates 4, if it ever happens, I don't know that I'll go to theatre to watch it. I may just wait for it to come out on DVD or Blu-Ray or whatever. Movie sequels that go past 3 make me nervous, because for the life of me I can't think of one example that you don't look back at/on later and either laugh or cringe. (Critical acclaim I'm leaving out, because some of them write nasty reviews just to be nasty. I think that's messed up.) I can think of a lot of films in a series that went past 3 that turned into jokes though, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, the Child's Play series. Horror movie franchises aren't the only movie genre to suffer from this either, it happens with fantasy/sci-fi stuff too. I think some of the Star Trek movies were a bit much (Which one was the one with the whales? and Naked Uhura as a distraction? That was just insane ). The Superman movies with Christopher Reeve 1 and 2 were good. 3 and 4? Not so much.

Maybe I'll be wrong (and this is definitely one of those cases where I want to be proven wrong.), and Pirates 4 will be the exception to the rule. One can only hope (and pray).

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

What's happening to education in this country?

I just got a call from a grown woman who doesn't know what a call number is. I described where you'd find it on books at the library and she still didn't know. If that doesn't say something about the sad state of education in this country, I don't know what does. At least she knew to ask for the ISBN number so, there's hope, but I've just never heard of that before. Scary.

Kurt Cobain

I just remembered something and now I'm confused. Yesterday, I was on Twitter and I read a note Jeri Smith-Ready had posted. So, I go over to Wikipedia just now (Yeah, I know shame on me. But the thing about using wikipedia at all, is that you have to remember it's not a reliable source and don't let it be your only source. ), and they have Kurt Cobain's death down as April 5, 1994. I'm pretty sure I remember hearing about his death on April 7, 1994. However, Wikipedia says his body wasn't discovered until the 8th of April.

I'm not saying my memory is infallible or anything like that, but I'd love to compare notes with somebody and find out if I'm just tripping or this is just another case of wikipedia being wrong.

I remember what I was doing the day I heard about Kurt's death and everything. I was at work (at one of the college libraries, where I was a student) and one of my co-workers had called our supervisor, and she was in tears telling him what had happened. I was sad and I remember I drew his portrait. Depending on how things go in the next few months, maybe I'll scan some of my artwork and put it up here or create another blog just for that. Who knows?
I remember thinking (and I still think) what a loss it was. I enjoyed Nirvana's music a lot, but I don't think I really had a whole favorite album with them. I liked different songs from each album though. I like that they did stuff like The Priest They Called Him. I think I still have the CD somewhere...I wish I knew where. I also liked looking at Kurt's collages and whatnot. They were weird, but they were interesting. (If art is going to be weird, I'm sorry, but I'd like it to at least be interesting. Like Frida Kahlo's stuff for example, it's strange but it tells a story. You just have to know how to interpret it.) I think he had a lot of potential that he never got the chance to fulfill.

Top Ten list of Most Overused Movie/TV songs

I heard grumblings about this back when people were complaining about the use of Leonard Cohen's version of Hallelujah in the Watchmen. I'll be shocked if Rob Zombie's More Human Than Human doesn't show up on the list somewhere. (Don't get me wrong, I really do love the song, but that song has been featured in more trailers than just a little bit, I'm sure.) I saw a trailer where Dragula was used yesterday. I bet the Proclaimers I'm gonna be (500 Miles) is on there too. (Yes, that's another one that I like.) For romantic comedies, I bet Sixpence None the Richer's Kiss Me is on there too (That unfortunately is not a fave.). Maybe I'll list more of mine once I look at the whole list that Imdb has a link to. I also like to read the comments to stuff like this, because they're always a riot. Plus, it's always nice to find other people who share your opinions.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The New Star Trek Movie

I hear they're already planning on a sequel to this, without even having seen the results of how well the first one does yet. That's just crazy to me.
I'm too young to have seen Star Trek the first time around. I caught it in syndication. My father liked it and so did my mother. I think he has watched all the series, even Enterprise. He's not really a trekkie or trekker or whatever the preferred name is now though. He's never even been to a convention. I'm even more of a casual viewer. I do have favorite episodes from the different series though. My favorite episode of the original Star Trek is Mirror Mirror. I think a lot of people like that one. Another thing that used to trip me out about the first series, was how when the ship was supposed to have crashed into something, they'd stagger all around the place holding on to things with these looks of horror on their faces. I'd just be in stitches. At the time it was made, maybe it looked more believable. Do I have favorite characters from the original show? Yeah...It's a tie between Spock and Uhura. I'll be very curious to see if this new movie is any good. Time will tell.

Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series

I just stumbled across this series. I love really well-written urban fantasy, so I guess it was only a matter of time before I got to these books. I also enjoy the fact that there's no one else out there quite like Mercy. When I just get into an author I also like to look around on the web, see if they have a website or anything...I went to Patricia Briggs website and she has the most amazing artwork displayed there. I scrolled down to the bottom of the homepage and the artwork on Patricia Briggs website is by someone called Dark Natasha. I went to Dark Natasha's gallery. Those have got to be some of the coolest images I have ever seen. If I wasn't on a budget, I'd be buying from this woman willy-nilly. I'll do some more exploring of the website later. If you get the chance though, it's definitely worth a look. I also found out on Google, that the Dabel Brothers have also done work on a Mercy Thompson graphic novel called Homecoming. I'll have to pick that up when I get the chance too.