Big Screen: The Queen.

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Really unusual idea, great acting, great writing. Some of the actors’ resemblances (as made up/acted here specifically) to the real people were just absolutely striking.

Really interesting how they handled the relationship between Blair and the Queen and the dynamics there. So much of this is supposition (unclear if they had ANY sources and who, or which (if any) parts were perhaps “true” or drawn from documented information), but rings true nonetheless

Two connected scenes where I wasn’t sure what you were supposed to think: which way the director was leaning toward. Doesn’t matter obviously, you can make up your own mind, but afterward BOTH of us asked “but were you supposed to think this? or this? did they want THIS to be the point? or not?” about the same scenes so clearly raised questions.

I did not know much about her later in life, or follow her in that way, but as a seventh grader, I did get up at 2 a.m. or 4 a.m. or whenever (man I am old, I cannot remember!) to watch Diana marry her prince in real time. Curled up in a blanket alone in the TV room about an inch from the screen while the rest of the house slept…It’s one of the first worldwide psuedo political events I remember…

And the summer I lived in the UK with my British cousins, I actually saw her (believe she was still HRH then/still married). We were about a foot apart as her limo came through the roundabout in Cornwall where the police had stopped all of us other drivers. I looked through the windows separating us, waved (she waved back, but of course) and thought “hey…I just saw a princess!”

I want to live at Balmoral. With my books and my quiltin’ and my knittin’ and my prince. WHERE IS HE.

Cable: End Game.

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This movie sucked so hard I can’t believe I watched all of it. Lots of good actors (good in other things actors, I mean): Cuba Gooding, Anne Archer, Angie Harmon, James Woods. But bad plot, bad dialogue, bad, bad, bad, bad. Typical presidential assassination/insiders involved/espionage like storyline.

*SPOILER* In this movie, BOTH the president AND the first lady are having affairs. Come on.
So bad.

A Look Back at Beck.

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The major albums. Approximate dates. Random thoughts.

  • 1994 Mellow Gold – never bought this album. Love “Loser”. Have no clue about the rest of it!
  • 1996 Odelay – Fun, Jazzy, Hyper, Goofy.
  • 1998 Mutations – Melancholy and melodic. Lovely lyrics.
  • 1999 Midnight Vultures – Sexsexsex. Techno.
  • 2002 Sea Change – Sad. Heartbreak. Orchestral. Thick.
  • 2005 Guero – My least favorite. Rock. Punk. About as “metal” as Beck gets.
  • 2006 The Information – Pop. Ramblin’ Rhythms. Little bit of everything. Some Stones moments.

When happy, I prefer Odelay and The Information or listening to “Loser” over and over again on repeat.

When I wanna dance, I prefer Midnight Vultures mixed with Odelay, The Information, and maybe a little bit of Guero thrown in.

When sensing possibility or just plain horny, I prefer Midnight Vultures.

When sad, quiet, contemplative or lonely, I prefer Mutations and Sea Change.

Y’all know which of those I most often am.

Beck Live.

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The music sounded great. He played at least something off each album. And the Puppets were amazing.

You can read more about them here (thx to Heather , who looked super cute in her green sweater at Rhinebeck!, for the link), and here where they also discuss another unusual happening in the concert: when the band (and the puppets as well) ate dinner on stage.

This ranks pretty high on my “funnest concerts EVER” list. Loved it.

Oh, except for the part where it was at the UIC Pavilion and there was NO BEER ALLOWED. That part sucked. Me loves me a beer.

Big Screen: The Departed.

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Wow. WOW. Sooooo good. Super intense. Super violent, yet lots of comic relief; funny moments that had the whole theater laughing even during the most violent scenes. Also hilarious was Markie Mark’s hair. His acting was great, his hair was hilarious.
In general: well-acted, well-written, well-directed.

My one caveat was ONE of the many twists at the end was just too “out of the blue”; the audience was completely in the dark and that felt a bit “unfair” or not a legitimate twist. But it was one tiny moment and was made up for by the next one.

I think Leo’s often a good actor but I’ve never been on the oh-he’s-so-cute bandwagon. That said, there are two scenes in this movie during which he was just so very, very attractive. During one of them (NOT the sex one), I found I was holding my breath…

So.SO.Good. GO!

Like Synesthesia, but Tactile-Based Rather than Color.

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“What could be more dry than a statistic? More indifferent than a number? To be treated like a number, in common parlance, is to become an entirely replaceable part — an object lesson in depersonalization.”

Two is solid and tingly, like the Liberty Bell….Eight is rough and hard like a stone, and 10 is smooth like a pebble on the beach. Nine…seems ready not only to ring but to shatter and burst like a fruit. [quoting Richard Friedberg]

–“Mind Over Matter, Conversations with the Cosmos”, by K.C. Cole.

So Beautiful It Hurts.

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But you know what really broke my heart? When you described yourself to me to make sure. Because of how you somehow diminished yourself into one single sentence, in parentheses on top of that (“Quite tall, long curly messy hair, glasses…”). If you really feel yourself to be in parentheses — at least let me squeeze into them as well and let the whole world remain outside. Let the world only be the element outside the parentheses that will multiply us on the inside.
–from “Be My Knife” by David Grossman.

Yearning, and bittersweet, and oh so very, very sexy. It’s almost hard to read it in public.

All Beck, All Day.

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Realized this morning that less than half the Beck I own was on my iPod. (Eh?) So I had to bring a stack of CDs in to work today to get primed for the concert tomorrow.

I forgot how much some early Beck …SOUNDS LIKE… late 60s/early 70s Stones. Sassy lyrics and tone, guitar licks, jazzy blues feel.

Odelay-hee-ho.

I never expected Stevie Nicks.

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There is this boy who lives down the hall from me, who lives in the opposite time zone. When I am leaving my house at the ungodly hours of 5:15, 5:45, 6:15 and the like, he has clearly either just gotten home, or never gone to bed, as he is blasting music and dancing around his apartment, and usually has guests over as well. (Yes, I’m jealous. Let’s move on before I get upset about it, shall we.) Hip-hop, rap, rock, alternative, he plays it all, but generally in the happy, hyper, loud and obnoxious mode. Yet this morning, I found myself stuck outside his door, listening to this sweet lilting chorus “Time cast a spell on you but you won’t forget me…”

I thought “No. Seriously? No. Can’t be!” It was. Stevie Nicks “Silver Springs”, and good morning to you.

A New Batch of Aussie Slang from Casey

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  • That bloke’s crooked like a dog’s hind leg (He’s a crook)
  • That sheila’s a sausage short of a hotdog (She’s stupid)
  • A man worth his salt (He’s a good man)
  • Gidday you old Bastard (A term of endearment)
  • You little Beauty (when something good happens)
  • Town Bike (local slut)
  • Even Blind Freddy could see that (when you miss something obvious)
  • I’ll be right back, gunna go point percy at the porcelain (guys going to the loo)
  • I’m off like a frog in a sock (I’m leaving)
  • Mate, I’m crook (I’m sick)
  • Been speakin into the great white telephone (Been to the toilet)
  • She’ll be right (I/things will be better soon)
  • Your shout (Your turn to buy me a beer!)
  • Piffed a yonny at his noggin (threw a stone at his head) – victorian