I didn't get much done yesterday. I woke up late, re-watched episode one of Heroes (since I hadn't seen it since its first air date).
Then I made a press of coffee and a brie toastie.
And continued to watch Heroes ... I really just watched Heroes all day in my jammies until everyone else got back from the joint degree. By then I was at the latter half of the sixth episode.
Then I went out and sat in the living room in an effort to be social--but I really just felt grimy since I was still in my pajamas and everyone else was nicely dressed from being at the degree and the dinner after.
Somehow I decided that I'd go to the meeting at six, which prompted shower-time and the wearing of actual clothes. But after my shower, I was back in my room watching Heroes again until it was time to leave--because that show has me hooked.
And what did I do after we got back from the meeting? Some jump-ring attaching, the progress of which you can see here:
And more Heroes, of course, until I was completely caught up (it only took me until quarter past midnight to be right up to the point where
I love Mohinder. And Peter. And Isaac. And Hiro (but not romantically--just in the "awwww!so-adorable!" sense). And really, even Sylar is creepylove. The show is just full of ridiculously handsome men.
Then, this morning I finished watching The New Kids, which I had started watching on Saturday night after Mel had dropped me off at home. I'd paused it midway because it was giving me anxiety, and anxiety isn't something you need when you're intending to go to bed some point in the near future.
It's a really stupid movie that only affirms my loathing of small towns. And rednecks. And really, the majority of America. Actually there are a fair few movies out there that have helped this loathing grow--Snake Eater and any of its sequels (scarred, scarred for life, I was), Deliverance, and certain episodes of Highlander, The A-Team, and Renegade (actually, every other episode of Renegade).
What these films and shows teach us is this: "homeland" America is not charming. Andy and Opie are lying to you. Country-folk are retarded, inbred, crazy, and dangerous--and we're all better off avoiding them as much as may be.
I mean, I've heard Pennsyltucky, but this was Floribama. Joe-Bob and Chad-Bob (can we get some more [your name here]-Bob?) and Gideon (of course, "Gid"). And why the hell was James Spader playing a messed up hick? And blond? Why the uber-blond? Bleah.
Short summary: 1985 (that's when it was released, so I'm guessing that's the setting as well), boy and girl lose their parents in a car wreck and move in with their aunt and uncle in Bumfuck, Florida and immediately get harassed by a gang of rednecks (led by James Spader). There are fights, acts of vandalism, shootings, the setting of people on fire, electrocutions, and beheadings.
Where are the parents? It would appear that none of these assholes have parents.
And, in the end, after a super-massacre of the rednecks at the uncle's Santa's Funfair (or whatever the hell that place was called) there's only this little kid left over, and the parting shot is the boy staring creepily after "happy-ending" boy and girl driving off into town. What the hell was that supposed to be? Sequel warning? Like this slop would get a sequel?
What drove me to watch it in the first place? James Spader. And, yes, he's creepy and doesn't disappoint as a crazy villain.
I also received Dare mo shiranai (Nobody Knows) on Saturday, but between Heroes and the freaky hillbilly movie, I never got to it. I'll watch it this evening.
Oh, yeah. It's snowing.
And there was a car accident as I stepped off the T at Babcock. I didn't see it happen, but I heard the resounding *crunch* of the giant white truck smacking the little black sport car sideways. And then watched in amusement as moronic pedestrians still decided to dodge out into traffic during a green light, in spite of the obvious (as demonstrated by said car accident) slick on the road.
Massholes. But I'm not surprised.
Showing posts with label mail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mail. Show all posts
26 February 2007
holding out for a ...
29 January 2007
pure morning
Oh, this past weekend ... ~_~
And now for a more-detailed account of the weekend's events, adventures in Providence, and terrorists on skis.
Friday afternoon I left work and headed inbound, stopping at Park Street to browse through the Borders at Downtown Crossing (and apparently there's another Borders on Boylston St. now, too?). I was looking for books on doll-making (big surprise, that is) and drawing super-deformed characters (chibi!), since the human dolls I'm interested in making are of the chibi/SD variety. All around, that was a very discouraging stop, since there was really nothing I could use in stock.
Art dolls are ... interesting, but they give me the creeps. I'm not talking about sock creatures or weird animals or patch-work creations--but rather dolls like this. I recognize their art value; I can even understand why some people would want to collect and create them; but I wouldn't deal well with having one in my room. I would have Puppet Master nightmares (except that the nightmares would actually be scary rather than stupidly funny, like those movies).
From Park Street, I went to Harvard Square to visit Tokyo Kid, looking to see if they had any plushies in a discount bin; because, at a cheap enough price, I wouldn't mind buying one just to take it apart. Yes, I should've known better, really. Nothing is ever cheap at that store. Plushies of the type I was interested in were starting at $14. Yeah. No. Not for a UFO-catcher doll. Not when I've seen them on eBay for $6.
They did have how-to guides for drawing manga characters, but they weren't really what I wanted (and $20 besides); so I left without buying anything and continued on to The Coop. They were also a no-go for doll-making books, but they did have a very nice selection of manga-drawing books on the lowest shelf in their Art section. I might've bought one, but when I looked at the neverending line for the cashier, I lost my verve and opted to just go home. It was easy to do, really, since I knew I'd be spending money on Saturday. And since I went to Amazon.com, and ordered this.
And, check, spent money on Saturday. Melissa picked me up at the train station and we drove 'round to The Fabric Place and A.C. Moore. At The Fabric Place (where my head spun around and exploded upon entering--no, not really, but yikes, it's overwhelming) I bought velour in white and light gray, an evergreen suede, and a book on the basics of making soft toys. A.C. Moore had beanie babies for $4 ... yes, ashamed to say it, but I bought two: a skunk and an owl who have joined Jiji on the top of my television set. Oh! and some fat quarters in red, black, purple, and blue with different and interesting patterns.
Really, I wasn't as bad as I'd expected. The grand total could've been much worse.
After that, we went back to Melissa's to pick up Erich so we could all go to lunch. We went to The Texas Roadhouse. It's awesome. Yeah, the music is country-western, and we could all live without that, but the food ... The food is really just to-die-for. I haven't had steak in ... forever; and this was the perfect reunion for me and steak. And I ate alllll my food--and didn't really notice how full I was until it was time to get up and leave. And Mel very graciously spotted me the money for dinner again, so I really must buy her and Erich dinner next time around. I feel like a free-loader! TT_TT
Then we went back to the house for stitching and season two of Doctor Who. The six-minute segue between the end of season one and "The Christmas Invasion" (that I'd never seen before) really helps the Christmas special make more sense (so far as Rose accepting the Doctor's body-change, and how they crash). And holy crap, I love the outtakes so much. It makes me want to dress up as a cyberman and run around the Common, chasing squirrels and pigeons. Mmm. David Tennant.
And I was being productive too! I cut new arms (as I was less than pleased with my first attempt), hand-stitched them, and hand-sewed them into the torso seam, all ready to be stuffed when I got home. That doesn't seem like very much when typed out, but it took me a while to do all that. I think the biggest headache was in figuring out the placement of the arms in seams; because I wanted the seams to be perpendicular, not lined up (I like making life difficult for myself). But after they were pinned into place, it wasn't too bad.
After the Doctor Who outtakes, Mel drove me home--which was super-nice of her. And I, of course, stayed awake to stuff the doll's arms and torso, and attach the head. This was all while half-heartedly watching Icebreaker. I didn't know what the hell was happening in that movie by the time I'd finished crafting and was actually paying attention ... so I started the DVD over again from the beginning. And promptly fell asleep.
I tried to watch it again on Sunday morning. It's a really bad movie, Bruce Campbell and Sean Astin notwithstanding. A concise description of the plot idea would be "Die Hard with skis." If you think that sounds dumb, you don't know the half of it. I swear it was written by somebody (probably a former member of ski patrol) who was working at a ski resort and got bored. I can just see it:
"Oh, what if terrorists showed up?" [for no bloody reason at all] "Hmm. Yes. They need a reason to be here, don't they? ... Uhh, they've lost their nuclear weapons from Russia in a plane crash on the mountain! And the only way to get them back is to take the ski lodge hostage!" [never mind that Russia is small beans anymore, but they can't just sneak up there and get their nuclear stuff back without anybody noticing?] "No! We want this to be like Die Hard! And, instead of a cop, what if a member of the ski patrol had to save the day?" [because, you never know, it could happen] "And we can have terrorists on skis, chasing the hero down the black diamond trail!" [the terrorists know how to ski?] "Yes." [and snowboard?] "Yes!" [and shoot guns at the same time?] "YES!" [how do all the terrorists know how to ski?] "Because they do!" [and, yes, losing me ...]
You know that's how it went. Sean Astin should've known to stay away from terrorist movies after Toy Soldiers. Oh, well. In spite of its being a really dumb movie (actually, maybe because it's a really dumb movie), I did kind of enjoy it. But then I enjoyed Toy Soldiers too, and that's equally absurd.
Oh, yeah. A little after ten o'clock the doorbell rang. It was the USPS carrier. On Sunday. My package from Aranzi Aronzo had arrived--less than a week after ordering it. From Japan. And on a Sunday. The EMS packaging boasts: "fastest International delivery." I think they've earned that boast. I really didn't expect it to arrive that fast.
The book is beautiful and chock full of visual instructions that make it really easy to follow along. And the fact that I can read katakana helps a bit too.
On the invoice somebody wrote a small note in very neat (and somewhat broken) English. But it was just so nice. And personalized. And it definitely made me go: "Awwwwww!"
It might be a generalization of their culture, but it's a good one--and so, hopefully, forgiveable--but ... Japanese people are so damn nice.
05 January 2007
deterred, in a few ways
--by weather.com.
I had all my credit card info entered into American Airlines' web-site. And then the thought occurred to me: It's January, and I'm thinking of going to London.
So I visited weather.com to check on the forecast. Rain. And rain. And--here's something new!--more rain.
I'd like to walk around and take pictures when I visit the city. That's likely to be impossible if it's raining all the time. And I should've expected that kind of weather initially, but I just wasn't thinking about it before. I'd feel better if there was a forecast of clear skies (or if I'd made these plans a month ago, and there just happened to be inclement weather, and I couldn't do anything about it), but that just isn't the case. I haven't paid for the tickets yet, and I don't have to go when the weather is shit.
It might be a rotten reason not to go, but no. I'll wait until the weather is improved, and I've a better chance of actually enjoying myself while there--not shut up indoors the whole time.
Or should I just buy a poncho and go with it? ...
Even regardless of getting around London without getting drenched, weather could prove a problem with flying (there and back). I'd rather not get stuck somewhere and end up trying to explain to my boss by long-distance phone or confusing e-mail why I can't come to work on Tuesday, thanks.
FedEx has the most obnoxious office location they could possibly have relative to where I live.
They tried to drop off my iPod AV kit yesterday at around 9:45 AM according to their tracking web site. But because I wasn't there to sign, they wouldn't leave it (just as well since the thing was expensive, and I'd prefer not to lose it or have it stolen). Instead, they left a door-hanger asking for me to sign for it indirectly or come and get it--at their hub in South Boston. My other option was that they would attempt to deliver it again today (with no clue as to when that is going to happen either).
Hi. I work, like normal people who have a rent to pay are wont to do. Don't try to deliver a package to me in the middle of the morning on a work day, and don't expect me to be home. Also, why can't FedEx have more delivery-holding offices around this city? It's not like they don't have the business to support it. Or why can't their main hub be in some central place--maybe near the Government Center? And, I know, South Boston has more warehouse space. Blah, blah, blah. I don't care. They could afford to have local offices (as the USPS does) if they wanted.
But, this rant aside, my flat-mate offered to drive me over there after work if they fail to show up at a more reasonable hour today.
So hopefully I'll have this thing by tonight; and hopefully it'll work with my television too.
20 December 2006
present? presents! ... and our tree and its ornaments
I said I would take pictures, and so I took pictures. And this is the rather pathetic fruit of my efforts ("pathetic" being in reference to my nonexistant picture-taking skills, not the items in the pictures themselves)--but you get the idea. Click the little babies for a larger view.
I got a haul: a pretty card from the 'rents; a DVD player, also from my folks; a Venetian mask; Forever Knight Part III from Sue; and Fables, Nick of Time, and Serenity from Andrea.
TREE!
These are mostly blurry, but still pretty.
FREAKY PENGUINS!
My sped penguin ornaments--so weird, so retarded, so perfectly cute.
MORE ORNAMENTS!
Again with the blurry, but some of them are okay.
And that's all for now folks!
07 December 2006
"animals howling in the night"
The Holidaily prompt of the day is asking us to recall our most memorable "perfect day"--but that isn't sparking any inspiration. It's just causing Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" to lodge itself in my brain and not go away. So I think I'm going to ignore the prompt, and I hope no one cares.
My mom sent me a vacuum cleaner in the mail. I'm taking this as a subtle hint (on top of her earlier more blatant remarks) that she thinks our apartment is dusty.
But mild resentment over opinions about my nonexistent housekeeping skills aside, I'm actually happy to have it; it's an improvement on the Dirt Devil, as it is bristle-free and won't scratch the wooden floor. And, more to the point, I recently decided that I need to pull down the storm-windows for the winter season. Lots of "stuff" accumulates between the window pane and the wire mesh screen over the spring and summer months. Suffice to say, I desperately need to vacuum out the cobwebs and dead insects around and inside my windows, so I hope this vacuum has attachments.
Mum also forwarded a UPS e-mail notification that says something else is supposed to arrive on Monday--and I'm guessing it's something that is also heavy or bulky, else she'd have had it delivered to their address and waited till I came down to visit them.
Very excited, very excited, indeed. Have become Welsh. ... Ignore that Eddie Izzard reference if its meaning escapes you. It's not that important.
Anyway, I don't really know what it is--but I'm hoping it's a region-free DVD player, so I can finally watch The Tribe and Lawless on my television, rather than my laptop. And I could rescue (and watch) the Once Were Warriors DVD from my parents' house. And finally get around to ordering The Brave from Amazon.co.uk, a film that I've been meaning to watch since, well, forever.
Yes, counting eggs as chickens. Good, good.
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The eighth episode of Torchwood became available in the late afternoon on Tuesday, so I downloaded it and watched it on Wednesday morning. It's entitled "They Keep Killing Suzie" ... and, as you might expect, they really do keep killing Suzie (a character that died in the first episode, whom they resurrect for this one).
On imdb.com there has been much speculation about the end of the episode, wherein Ianto and Jack are discussing the myriad of uses for a stopwatch (an implement that Ianto is carrying around and using for most of the episode). So many imdb.com users are insisting that it could be completely innocent. Well, no, boys and girls--the creators are trying to make it obvious that it isn't innocent fun and games. I mean, really, the producers have already announced that all the main characters on the show have the potential for omnisexuality (especially Captain Jack), so why is anyone surprised about a possible Jack/Ianto pairing (it's easier to swallow--double entendre really not intended--than Jack/Owen or Ianto/Owen)?
And besides, we have this from the Official Site: the Jack/Ianto instant messenger transcript. Yeah, so what if Ianto's girlfriend just died; we suspend lots of disbelief for the sake of this show, so there's no reason to not suspend it here.
... I can't wait for episode nine.
And I can't believe there are only thirteen episodes per series! Is it a solely State-side trait to have a 26-episode season?
In other entertainment: yesterday, I received the third and fourth discs of Witch Hunter Robin in the mail--SPOILER ALERT: skip the tiny paragraph between the following images if you've not watched this series and intend to do so.
That cannot be the end of Amon!! We're only halfway through the series! Helping her escape and then being some kind of martyr?! What the crap was that?
That being said, I'm supposed to get the fifth disc today, and I'm excited about finding out what happens.
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Ooh! look what Se gave me to try!
I had Cappuccino, Strawberry, and Praline. They are awesome--and so ridiculously cute! Little chocolate seahorses! Se says that this kind of chocolate is very expensive in China due to import taxes, so she buys them here and gives them as presents when she goes to visit. Nice idea.
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