In other news, the kittens were three-weeks old yesterday. I decided today that we should start weighing them, to keep an eye on their progress. Our food-weighing-thingy even has a convenient kitten shaped bowl!
FYI, Oscar isn't a he, as I suspected. I'm thinking Ophelia will be her name, Leela for short (Shakespeare and Futurama reference in one name! Nerd-score!) I would have put money on her being the heaviest, as big as she is. Well, turns out she's just really, really fluffy. Leela is the lightest at 19 ounces. Skittles comes in second at 1 pound (1 lb and 1/2 an ounce with her tail actually in the bowl, lol). Monkey is 1 pound, 1 ounce. Which is interesting because their size is actually in birth-order.
I think Leela will find a way out to jump ship from the HMS Love-Burrito in the next couple days. She's figured out how to stand up and look out of the box, but she can't yet figure out how to get her paws up on the edge to boost herself up and over yet, thank goodness. They're walking much faster now, but they fall over more. It's pretty funny to watch. They also discovered stretching in the last day or so. It's really cute when they wake up, yawn, and arch their little fluffy backs. They've also started batting at each others' faces. I foresee more eye injuries in their futures.
23 August 2011
Time to find the sewing machine!
 |
| Exactly. |
 |
| While I object to their advertising campaign ("Are you a Betty?" No! I am not a Betty thankyouverymuch! ) I still want it all!! |
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| "Prints are so 1959." |
The even better part? Butterick is having a sale online through Wednesday; their patterns are on sale for $2.99. Am I going to take advantage of this? Is Joan way cooler than Betty?
The other thing I'm super happy about is What Katie Did is having their twice-a-year sale, and I snagged some great pieces. For $27 I managed to get a '50s corset, which I never would have been able to afford otherwise. Now I'll have something to wear over it!
I also need some jewelry and QVC (don't laugh) has some pieces that look really similar to ones Joan wears. I guess it's for all the old ladies that shop there. ;) The prices are okay. My mom also has some things her mother gave her that she says she'll give me that I'm curious to see.
15 August 2011
I can haz kittehs?
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| Brand new kittens! |
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| Little kitten worms! 3ish days old. |
The kittens are exactly two weeks old today. One of our barn cats (Coco) had kittens on my brother's birthday on the 31st of July. Which was funny because all day I'd been joking that it would be funny if Coco gave my brother kittens for his birthday... and she did.
Now that they're two weeks old, their eyes are open, so I picked them up in a kitten-love-burrito (aka, clean towel) for a little bit. Mama behaved very well, and so did the kittens. I have discovered, somewhat to my horror, that I am indeed a cat person. <3
The oldest one is going by Monkey for now. She*'s looks blackish, but I think she'll end up dark grey with some stripes. "Why monkey?" you say. Well, one of my favourite videos when I was younger was a day-in-the-life sort of thing about the San Diego Zoo. In the video, there was a little black monkey who got her diaper changed and when sleeping on her side, Monkey looks like... well, that little black monkey. I'm sure she'll get a more dignified name at some point.
* I say "she"... I keep waffling about the kittens gender, it's really too early to tell, so I'm being somewhat arbitrary. I am currently leaning toward Monkey actually being a boy and the other two female, but I'm not stressing too much about it at this point.
Skittles is the middle kitten and is an adorable striped cat with a white tummy. We were a little worried this evening because he was holding one eye closed, but I think he probably got smashed in the face by one of his siblings (see video below...).
Oscar (again, not sure if Oscar is really an he) was the littlest kitten, but is now the biggest. He's also the fluffiest, leading to the name Sir Oscar Mormont (Song of Ice and Fire, House Mormont's sigil is a bear... yeah, we're nerds). I saw him born, so I have a special place in my heart for this one. He seems to be the one who is developing the fastest. He was the first to open his eyes, the first to lift his head, then himself up on two front legs, and now he's the first to zoom about the nest as fast as his little wobbley legs will let him (which is to say, not very fast). I have no doubt that he will be the first to figure out how to escape the nest.
 | ||||
| Monkey, shown here in the patented kitten-love-burrito is two weeks old exactly. |
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| Two weeks. See how Monkey looks like a monkey? |
Skittles is the middle kitten and is an adorable striped cat with a white tummy. We were a little worried this evening because he was holding one eye closed, but I think he probably got smashed in the face by one of his siblings (see video below...).
 |
| Skittles, a little worse for wear. |
Oscar (again, not sure if Oscar is really an he) was the littlest kitten, but is now the biggest. He's also the fluffiest, leading to the name Sir Oscar Mormont (Song of Ice and Fire, House Mormont's sigil is a bear... yeah, we're nerds). I saw him born, so I have a special place in my heart for this one. He seems to be the one who is developing the fastest. He was the first to open his eyes, the first to lift his head, then himself up on two front legs, and now he's the first to zoom about the nest as fast as his little wobbley legs will let him (which is to say, not very fast). I have no doubt that he will be the first to figure out how to escape the nest.
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| Oscar wanted to leave the love-burrito as quickly as possible to continue zooming along. |
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| *cute squishy noises* |
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| Awwww! (one week) |
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| One week. |
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| Two weeks old. They've gotten so big! |
09 August 2011
Du schreibst Geschichte an jedem Tag
So, I was on YouTube looking for a song from a band I used to listen to (Panik) and had completely forgotten about until they came up on my iTunes shuffle. On the side bar there was a link to a music video titled "Madsen- Panik" and I was like, huh, I don't remember that song. Anyways, it turns out it was a song called Panik by another German band called Madsen. Evidently I'm falling behind with my German music, since they're fairly popular right now. They're not exactly my current cup of tea (I generally go more for metal and industrial, they're rock/punk-pop), but I let it play a video list to listen to, and this song "Du schreibst Geschichte" come up. My German is decent enough to know that's "You write history" and I could make out that the chorus goes something like "You write history, with every step, with every word... on every day" and I was like, huh, that sounds interesting, I should look up the lyrics. I don't normally go for "positive" rock, but the lyrics really spoke to me. That, and the mention of Geschicte made me think of my favourite history major. :D
In English:
In English:
Because the world's turning so fast
Because time's going so fast
You're not keeping up.
Because the hecticness won't stop
You're drowning in the crowd
You're a drop in the ocean.
Yet you live longer than a lifetime
You're what started it all.
Because you write history
With every step,
With every word,
You let it continue.
You write history
On every day.
Because here and now
You're a part of it.
Because there's a monster standing in front of you
Looking threateningly into your eyes
You're rather still.
Because everyone's telling you
who you are and what you're missing,
You're forgetting what you want to say.
Yet you live longer than a lifetime
You're what started it all.
Because you write history...
Because you only live once
You want things to change
Before you go, before you go.
Yet you live longer than a lifetime
You're what started it all.
Because you write history...
27 July 2011
In which I share my opinion of several movies: The Gangster Edition
I really like movies, not surprisingly, considering my chosen profession. I am also very opinionated about movies, as anyone who has gotten into a conversation with me will no doubt attest. I also like movies that are atypical of my age group; I eschew rom-coms for gritty, dark and violent tales of vengeance (mm, tasty). I do like the occasional film where no one dies violently/horrifically/strangely, but if there's some blood splashin' around, I'll probably like it more :)
SCARFACE (1983) (4.75/5)
This is one of my favourite movies and I can't believe I only saw it for the first time a few weeks ago (oh was I missing out!). There's a lot to be said about going into a movie with an open-mind. When you hear "Scarface" you think of Al Pacino going "Say 'hello' to my little friend!" and shooting lots of people. Sure, that happens, but there's so much more to the movie. This is a tragedy of Shakespearen proportions. Yeah, that's right, Shakespeare*, my friends. There is so much irony in this film- the characters continually make choices they think will make their lives better when, in actuality, they are making their lives so much worse. His rise to power and consequential downfall reminded me of Macbeth and his self-delusion as to his wife is on-par with King Lear**.
This is script writing at it's best- there are no irrelevant characters or scenes, everything provided pushes the action forward. Seriously, I love this movie.
Me gushing aside, it does have it's flaws. Michelle Pfeiffer's nose has always scared the shit out of me and the heavy 1980s score can be grating (it could be worse, when the movie was re-released, the studio wanted de Palma to replace the score with modern gangsta rap). If you can ignore the obnoxious music and go into this with an open mind, you have a hidden tragic gem on your hands.
Fun fact: They say "fuck" a lot in this movie. 226 times, to be exact, which averages to 1.32 per minute.
* There's even the fine Shakespearen tradition of siblings possibly having the hots for each other!
** Dude, that "her womb is polluted" bit- straight out of act I scene 4 of Lear.
THE GODFATHER, PART I (5/5)
Marlon Brando + Al Pacino = go watch it. Oh, you wanted more than that?
I've watched this movie twice in the last three days. I watched it once, I really liked it and would probably have given it a 9 out of 10 right there, with my only complaint being the beginning was a little slow and some of the actress seeming miscast (more later). I watched it again with my siblings in an attempt to make them culturally relevant (that, and my sister is also in love with young Al Pacino. Lord, those eyes!... but I digress). On the second time around, what I thought dragged stuck me as being brilliant- the framing that introduces Vitto Corleone (Brando), and the perfect set-up of the familial relations during the wedding scene.
All I can say is, there is a reason this movie is number 3 (number 2 on the 2008 republishing) on the AFI's "100 years... 100 movies" list and its number one gangster film.
This is not your typical gangster film filled with drugs and prostitution and racketeering. The violence in the movie is rather sparse, considering its length, and as a result, always shocking (the contrast of the baptism scene is, again, brilliant). This is really a story about a family that just happens to be in the mafia.
There are so many classic quotes in this movie that alone make it worth watching ("I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." "It's not personal, it's business." Or my personal favourite, "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.")
The me not gushing stuff: Diane Keaton seems out of place to me as Pacino's girlfriend, but I don't know if that's because she's Diane Keaton and when I see her my brain goes "Annie Hall!" Every time I heard her voice I went, "Oh, that's Diane Keaton." That said, I suppose she adds a certain innocent, "all-American" quality that starts on par with Pacino, then eventually becomes his foil. I'm still not a fan of Talia Shire as his sister. Fun fact, Shire is Coppola's sister (cough nepotism cough). I found her to be incredibly annoying, any sort of emotion from her comes out as whining. (Side note, I found the final scene with her to be oddly reminiscent of Scarface... When he goes "She's hysterical," I expected one of his peons to announce that they got some pills in her and she'll be okay.) Fortunately, she's not in the movie enough to ruin it.
Minor quibble- I was very confused during the wedding scene- I didn't realize that the movie takes place in the late 1940s. I thought, because of the way the bridesmaids were dressed and the hair that it was the '70s (I actually have an identical bridemaid's dress from the '70s.) and when they referred to "the war" they were talking about Vietnam. Then Al Pacino shows up in a WWII uniform and my brain exploded. Historical fashion accuracy wasn't cared about in film until very recently, so I can't hold it against the movie, but seriously, I was really confused.
THE UNTOUCHABLES (2.5/5)
This movie seemed like it was perfect for me. Gangsters! Prohibition! Al Capone! Sean Connery! Directed by Brain de Palma (Scarface) and written by David Mamet (that playwright with the stuff where they say "fuck" a lot)! I was really looking forward to it when Shane and I popped it in the xbox. Right before we did, we debated whether we would stop the movie to watch Deadliest Warrior when it came on TV, or if we would just watch it off the DVR when we were done with the movie. We decided to just start the movie and go from there.
Right from the beginning, The Untouchables succeeded with flying colours making perfectly serious scenes hilarious. In the very first scene a little girl walks into a bar after the bartender says something about how he's not going to work with Capone. The gentleman he was talking to gets up and leaves, "forgetting" his briefcase. As the bartender converses with the girl about her mother (clue number two of what's going to happen- oh no, the girl has a family!) she notices the case and picks it up. "Hey mister, you forgot your briefcase! Hey mister--" cut shot to exterior view of the bar and BLAM! Horrific, right? How could those meanie-pants gangsters blow up a little innocent child (with her having a mother and all!)?! Shane and I laughed our butts off. The problem is you knew what was going to happen the entire scene, and a scene of dread was not accomplished. The entire movie was filled with scenes like this.
The most bizarre was one of the last, involving a baby in a carriage, a staircase, and a gunfight (which part of this sentence does not belong?). As Costner and the bad guys shoot it out, a baby in a carriage goes tumbling down the staircase (in slow-mo) while miraculously avoiding getting shot. Not only was the sequence one of the most painfully long, it quickly became implausibly hillarious.
The score was also bizarre. Happy, excited music would play when horrible things were happening (that bridge-in-Canada part, anybody?).
The filmmakers seemed to have realised that there were no women in the movie, and wrote in a lame role for some unfortunate actress to play Costner's wife. The inclusions of those scenes added nothing to the movie and further messed-up the pacing.
And then there was Kevin Costner. I used to Nicholas Cage was the worst actor ever. I take it back. Kevin Costner gets that title. I have never seen more lifeless acting- there were continual close-ups of his face after something horrific has happened and there would be NOTHING THERE. He might as well of been thinking about what he was going to eat during lunch break. As the movie continued, Shane and I started filling in his thoughts for him, "Mmm... spaghetti." "I'm really feeling some pie right now."
Perhaps the move damning part of the movie was when Shane and I stopped it ten minutes early to take a break to watch Deadliest Warrior- we who never interrupt a movie.
I could go on for quite a while about how bad this movie was, but you get the point. If you're drunk and want to watch something funny, go for this. If you are sober and want a good gangster movie... just watch The Godfather again, okay?
PULP FICTION (1.5/5)
Confession: I really wanted to like this movies. Really really. I'd been meaning to watch it forever and finally got around to it. People would give me shocked expressions when I'd admited I'd never seen it and ensure me that I'd love it.
I didn't.
At all.
I fast forwarded bits of it, and I didn't even finish it.
I don't understand why this is on AFI's best gangster movie list. I guess it's because of the non-linear storyline ("oooh, artsy!") and all of the non-necessary dialogue ("oooooh, people talk for ten minutes about non-relevant shit, how life-like!" Sweetheart, if I want to listen to hours of drugged-out people talking about nothing in particular, I'll ride the metro).
Part of my problem, no doubt, is I can't stand 90% of the actors in the movie. Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Bruce Willis and Uma Thurman are high up there on my "I Can't Stand..." list. Uma's on there twice.
Someday, I'll try to finish it so I can talk intelligently about why this film blows chips, but for now my biggest complaint: I didn't care about any of the characters. I could not have possibly cared less if they succeeded, or were graphically eaten by bionic velociraptors. Actually, bionic velociraptors would have been great.
SCARFACE (1983) (4.75/5) This is one of my favourite movies and I can't believe I only saw it for the first time a few weeks ago (oh was I missing out!). There's a lot to be said about going into a movie with an open-mind. When you hear "Scarface" you think of Al Pacino going "Say 'hello' to my little friend!" and shooting lots of people. Sure, that happens, but there's so much more to the movie. This is a tragedy of Shakespearen proportions. Yeah, that's right, Shakespeare*, my friends. There is so much irony in this film- the characters continually make choices they think will make their lives better when, in actuality, they are making their lives so much worse. His rise to power and consequential downfall reminded me of Macbeth and his self-delusion as to his wife is on-par with King Lear**.
This is script writing at it's best- there are no irrelevant characters or scenes, everything provided pushes the action forward. Seriously, I love this movie.
 |
| "Say 'hello' to my little M16 with a M203 40mm grenade launcher barrel-attachment!" |
Fun fact: They say "fuck" a lot in this movie. 226 times, to be exact, which averages to 1.32 per minute.
* There's even the fine Shakespearen tradition of siblings possibly having the hots for each other!
** Dude, that "her womb is polluted" bit- straight out of act I scene 4 of Lear.
THE GODFATHER, PART I (5/5)Marlon Brando + Al Pacino = go watch it. Oh, you wanted more than that?
I've watched this movie twice in the last three days. I watched it once, I really liked it and would probably have given it a 9 out of 10 right there, with my only complaint being the beginning was a little slow and some of the actress seeming miscast (more later). I watched it again with my siblings in an attempt to make them culturally relevant (that, and my sister is also in love with young Al Pacino. Lord, those eyes!... but I digress). On the second time around, what I thought dragged stuck me as being brilliant- the framing that introduces Vitto Corleone (Brando), and the perfect set-up of the familial relations during the wedding scene.
All I can say is, there is a reason this movie is number 3 (number 2 on the 2008 republishing) on the AFI's "100 years... 100 movies" list and its number one gangster film.
This is not your typical gangster film filled with drugs and prostitution and racketeering. The violence in the movie is rather sparse, considering its length, and as a result, always shocking (the contrast of the baptism scene is, again, brilliant). This is really a story about a family that just happens to be in the mafia.
There are so many classic quotes in this movie that alone make it worth watching ("I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." "It's not personal, it's business." Or my personal favourite, "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.")
 |
| "I'm sorry, you just said something, but I was too busy thinking 'it's Diane Keaton!' to listen." |
Minor quibble- I was very confused during the wedding scene- I didn't realize that the movie takes place in the late 1940s. I thought, because of the way the bridesmaids were dressed and the hair that it was the '70s (I actually have an identical bridemaid's dress from the '70s.) and when they referred to "the war" they were talking about Vietnam. Then Al Pacino shows up in a WWII uniform and my brain exploded. Historical fashion accuracy wasn't cared about in film until very recently, so I can't hold it against the movie, but seriously, I was really confused.
THE UNTOUCHABLES (2.5/5)This movie seemed like it was perfect for me. Gangsters! Prohibition! Al Capone! Sean Connery! Directed by Brain de Palma (Scarface) and written by David Mamet (that playwright with the stuff where they say "fuck" a lot)! I was really looking forward to it when Shane and I popped it in the xbox. Right before we did, we debated whether we would stop the movie to watch Deadliest Warrior when it came on TV, or if we would just watch it off the DVR when we were done with the movie. We decided to just start the movie and go from there.
Right from the beginning, The Untouchables succeeded with flying colours making perfectly serious scenes hilarious. In the very first scene a little girl walks into a bar after the bartender says something about how he's not going to work with Capone. The gentleman he was talking to gets up and leaves, "forgetting" his briefcase. As the bartender converses with the girl about her mother (clue number two of what's going to happen- oh no, the girl has a family!) she notices the case and picks it up. "Hey mister, you forgot your briefcase! Hey mister--" cut shot to exterior view of the bar and BLAM! Horrific, right? How could those meanie-pants gangsters blow up a little innocent child (with her having a mother and all!)?! Shane and I laughed our butts off. The problem is you knew what was going to happen the entire scene, and a scene of dread was not accomplished. The entire movie was filled with scenes like this.
The most bizarre was one of the last, involving a baby in a carriage, a staircase, and a gunfight (which part of this sentence does not belong?). As Costner and the bad guys shoot it out, a baby in a carriage goes tumbling down the staircase (in slow-mo) while miraculously avoiding getting shot. Not only was the sequence one of the most painfully long, it quickly became implausibly hillarious.
The score was also bizarre. Happy, excited music would play when horrible things were happening (that bridge-in-Canada part, anybody?).
The filmmakers seemed to have realised that there were no women in the movie, and wrote in a lame role for some unfortunate actress to play Costner's wife. The inclusions of those scenes added nothing to the movie and further messed-up the pacing.
 |
| "Come on, Costner! I'm acting my nuts off here!" "Mm... bacon." |
Perhaps the move damning part of the movie was when Shane and I stopped it ten minutes early to take a break to watch Deadliest Warrior- we who never interrupt a movie.
I could go on for quite a while about how bad this movie was, but you get the point. If you're drunk and want to watch something funny, go for this. If you are sober and want a good gangster movie... just watch The Godfather again, okay?
 |
| You're mocking me, aren't you? |
Confession: I really wanted to like this movies. Really really. I'd been meaning to watch it forever and finally got around to it. People would give me shocked expressions when I'd admited I'd never seen it and ensure me that I'd love it.
I didn't.
At all.
I fast forwarded bits of it, and I didn't even finish it.
I don't understand why this is on AFI's best gangster movie list. I guess it's because of the non-linear storyline ("oooh, artsy!") and all of the non-necessary dialogue ("oooooh, people talk for ten minutes about non-relevant shit, how life-like!" Sweetheart, if I want to listen to hours of drugged-out people talking about nothing in particular, I'll ride the metro).
Part of my problem, no doubt, is I can't stand 90% of the actors in the movie. Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Bruce Willis and Uma Thurman are high up there on my "I Can't Stand..." list. Uma's on there twice.
Someday, I'll try to finish it so I can talk intelligently about why this film blows chips, but for now my biggest complaint: I didn't care about any of the characters. I could not have possibly cared less if they succeeded, or were graphically eaten by bionic velociraptors. Actually, bionic velociraptors would have been great.
 |
| What Pulp Fiction lacked |
20 July 2011
rawr MAD MEN rawr
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| Joan- the reason I am going to go ginger again |
Seriously, I love it and I'm still drooling over the costumes.
At some point I am going to have a Mad Men themed party so I can dress like Joan. I wish I had a job as a secretary so I could dress like Joan everyday.
To that point: What Katie Did has amazing faux vintage underwear. I am going to buy some, I just need to decide what.
 |
| ChicStar's red pencil dress. More '30s that '60s, but I still think Joan would approve |
11 July 2011
First bad review... sort of...
So, King Lear is playing at the Fringe Festival in DC right now, which is both stressful (and hot) and fun (and hot). Seriously, it's really hot in DC.
Well, baby got her first bad review... sort of. Lear got a good- not great, but good (3 out of 5)- review. The reviewer like Lear and Edmund and Kent and Gloucester, but as for the rest of us:
Here's the rest if you want to read it.
In other news, The Washington Post is reviewing Lear. I am petrified.
Well, baby got her first bad review... sort of. Lear got a good- not great, but good (3 out of 5)- review. The reviewer like Lear and Edmund and Kent and Gloucester, but as for the rest of us:
[T]his production is not without its problems. With the exceptions of the actors mentioned above, the rest of the cast is only varying degrees of competent; some struggled with the text, either flubbing lines outright, or delivering them in the lilting style that comes from actors not understanding the meaning behind Shakespeare’s words.I think that's a little unfair. Yes, there are a couple actors who don't have the chops for this show (which I won't get into here) but the rest of us I think are decent enough. I personally thought I'm doing a million times better than I did last time. Ah, well. If this is the worst review I get, I'm doing okay, I guess. And my name is nowhere in the article, so it won't come up on my internet record. :)
Here's the rest if you want to read it.
In other news, The Washington Post is reviewing Lear. I am petrified.
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