happy bday idgie threadgoode!

For those who have seen the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, I know it's a little much, but today is Mary Stuart Masterson's birthday. She is 42.

She is the blonde on the right. To the left is Mary-Louise Parker, best known for her role as Nancy Botwin in Showtime's hit series Weeds. 

p&l

rachel 

If you haven't seen Fried Green Tomatoes, you really should. Especially if you're from the South. Or have a best friend.

a weekend of movies

My posts have been few but not very far between... There's not much to talk about as of recent, but jury duty starts next week, so there might be more to talk about in the days to come... However:

It hasn't really been a movie filled weekend, I've just seen three new movies that have recently come out on DVD: 

1) The Other Boleyn Girl

2) Jumper

3) The Golden Compass

It's a mixture of genres, I think it's a pretty wide variety for only three movies. 

Now, I've never read The Other Boleyn Girl, or the Jumper books, but I'm slightly interested in reading them. Especially the Jumper books. I've already read The Golden Compass and the other books for the His Dark Materials series. 

All three movies were good, surprisingly. My favorite amongst the trio was The Golden Compass. Then Jumper. I did enjoy The Other Boleyn Girl, because Natalie Portman was a conniving, sneaky, betraying whore to her sister. I was doing some reading on the Boleyn sisters, and apparently Mary (played by Scarlett Johansson) was a whore too. In the film, she is portrayed as a moral, slightly uptight married lady who only wants to do what's best for her family. Even if they are forcing her to become the King's mistress. 

Anne was properly portrayed, I believe to the best of my knowledge. I think, historically, she should be more hated than Marie Antoinette, but I don't know how equally they were hated in their own times. Anne Boleyn spent just as much money as Marie Antoinette did, maybe more. She forced the King to break from the Catholic Church, and get rid of his first wife, which probably started the trend of his serial marriages. Six wives. Oh Anne, she created a monster of herself when she was taken to Court. 

Mary... I can't believe she could have been so chaste as they made her out to be. She went along with her father's wishes, as did her husband! I suppose a man can't say no to the King when he wants to sleep with his wife. Then, when she gave birth to their first child, a son - the heir, Anne stole the heart of the King, and Mary says that Anne should know that she, Mary, loves the King. Blah blah blah. I mean... shouldn't she love her husband first over all? Her husband eventually died of a sweating sickness in 1528, at the age of 28. King Henry VIII wasn't even the only king who she was mistress to. And apparently, she had two children with the king, not just one. 

I wonder what The Other Boleyn Girl would be like if Wishbone ever got his paws on the novel.....

p&l

rachel

here and there

Tonight's topic: Nip/Tuck

Nip/Tuck is a very innovative television show. I have the second season on DVD, and I'm almost done with it. The Carver is making himself known in Miami. The doctors are going to be doing their second pro-bono case on another Carver victim.  

Christian slept with Kimber even though she was seeing Sean. Christian was dating the blind girl, Natasha - played by Rebecca Gayheart, but broke her heart because he thinks that he's supposed to be an asshole, so he constantly is an asshole. In all his relationships. Christian is getting tested for HIV because Gina just showed up saying she is positive for it.

Sean... I've always disliked him for his over-reacting temper. He's very high maintenance for a man. As is Christian. This show makes Miami seem so glamorous and glitzy. Like another Hollywood or something. As if there would be paparazzi waiting outside the clubs and restaurants for the wealthy and well-known of Miami to unveil themselves. 

Beauty is a curse on the world. I kind of agree.

I wonder why Christian keeps going back to Kimber time after time during the first few seasons, when she proves to be crazy again and again. The Kimber Sex Doll. 

Nip/Tuck is kind of off it's rocker when it comes to plot twists. How so? I mean... just look at some of the things that have been part of the show: Matt isn't Sean's biological son even though he raised him for 17 years; Sean has relations with the Kimber Sex Doll and Kimber in the same night; Matt dates his life coach who turns out to be a man and was sleeping with her adopted son, then gets the shit beat out of him by transexuals who pees on him; Julia, intoxicated and on pills, falls through a sliding glass door; Matt and Kimber doing/making meth together in a trailer; and so much more.

BTW: I found everything bagels at Wal-Mart today, which makes me very, very happy. 

p&l

rachel

alas - 103rd post (go organic!)

So, I'm three blogs behind the illusive 100th blog posting. Oh well. No celebration. No cake. I would like some cake though. I don't feel as though I wasted the 100th post on video games.

I have to admit, that when I earlier talked about my love for VitaminWater, I hadn't yet tasted my newest favorite flavor: power-c, the dragonfruit (c+taurine) beverage. It's my ultimate favorite. I bought a 32oz. bottle of it yesterday and I haven't opened it yet, which is painful. However, I still have 3 other bottles of it in the kitchen. Go mom and go wal-mart! Even if you didn't have any everything bagels. I might just have to go in there myself and do some searching.

I picked up Grey's Anatomy season 1 today at the library, and paid a $4.05 fine. So many things out and being overdue... not very penny-smart. Re-watching this show makes me realize that Meredith Grey, being the daughter of renowned surgeon Ellis Grey, follows in her mother's footsteps, saving patient after patient with her quick thinking intuition. She saved a beauty pageant contestant who had a small aneurysm that was causing her seizures. That was the first episode. All the patients she saves are quite last-minute as well. Like she gets there with the right answer, just-in-time. Although she feels like she has no clue at what she's doing - because all interns feel that way, I guess - she keeps proving herself wrong to her superiors and peers several times during the first season. Everyone is jealous of Meredith Grey, in a way. Envious, I suppose. Wanting some aspect of her life as their own.

Something that's odd about Grey's Anatomy is that it only has 9 episodes. Buffy the Vampire Slayer's first season only had 12 episodes. I guess it's not so uncommon, but I'm going to have to do some deeper digging on the subject of why there weren't the common numbers of 23 to 24 episodes per season. With this previous season's writer's strike, most seasons only had episodes numbered in the teens. 

My sister painted Buster's nails pink. I'll soon take a picture and post it, but as of right now, I need new batteries for the CyberShot. 

Yahoo! has been disappointing me lately. First, the Daily Games on their Games webpage isn't working on my computer anymore. I can no longer play Word Roundup, Hollywood Jumble, or the Daily Crossword with Hints! It's saddening because I don't own a lot of games for the Mac. Or any at all for that matter. And the dinosaur game that comes with the computer is lame and I didn't really understand how to play it. I always have the Solitaire website. It's free.

Second (on my reasons on my anger with Yahoo!), I read an article about that "lost" South American tribe many weeks ago, and tonight I find out that it was a hoax. The tribe is a real tribe; however, they weren't exactly lost, there are records on this tribe from 1910. The photographer had the tribe's best interests in mind though, he says he told the fib because he wanted to make people aware of the logging in that area of S. America and how it may affect the tribe's natural habitat. We have conservations for birds and other endangered animals like koalas and certain types of penguins, why not have conservation areas for the lost tribes of S. America. Wait - don't we have that in N. America already? I think they're called Indian Reservations. 

A week from tonight, I'll have to go to bed early, get up early (6amish) and be in Gulfport at 7:45am. I'll be doing some things I haven't done in a while: eat breakfast (other than at Waffle House), see early morning goings on.... I'm gonna have to get a full stock of everything bagels if I'm going to be eating breakfast. 

Whatever. I'm folding under pressure. If I don't show up, lets say I don't wake up (but I'll doubt that will happen since I'm living with my parents.). Well, if I don't show up I'm going to jail, so that sounds like a lose-lose situation to me. 

Ah, and I only mentioned it in passing, in a not really serious kind of way, but I did want to talk to my friend W about living together in Oxford during the Spring semester. We should probably do some chatting about that. Also, my bff L is a hoebag.

I ate the final everything bagel today. It was delicious. 

(Later 1:09am - I really want an everything bagel right now.)

p&l

rachel

dumbledore v. uncle sam

I just saw this on The Harry Potter Alliance website. 

I have to say, it's a pretty interesting way to get the newest legals to vote. Or maybe they're going a little overboard...? Who knows. 

p&l

rachel

if you crave something a little salty and sweet:

For the longest time, wal-mart didn't have the delicious, my favorite, everything bagel. This is quite unheard of in other stores. I don't know why this one particular wal-mart doesn't carry them....

HOWEVER:

I did find some wal-mart bakery bagels yesterday, and to my surprise, they were EVERYTHING BAGELS!!!! It's been months since I've had the glorious taste of a toasted bagel with a good thick layer of cream cheese. Now, I've had one and a half immaculately tasting bagels. 

I think the flavor of an everything bagel with cream cheese is my favorite flavor as of right now. I don't think I could think of anything more delectable. I think I'm going to need a Thesaurus if I'm going to have to explain my love for these bagels much longer.

I truly hope that they will continue to carry these in the future. Or I'm just gonna have to start shopping for my bagels somewhere else.

p&l

rachel

I <3 video games

These two games I really want to play again. They were really, really fun.

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria and Dragon Quest 8: The Cursed King. Very great games. They're both less than 20 bucks at GameStop, but I don't have that amount of funds right now. Ugh... maybe I can talk one of my parents into it. 

p&l

rachel

the o.c. still reigns supreme

Needless to say, The O.C. is a completely classic TV show. At least it is, in my opinion. 

Apparently, I haven't been blogging as much as I should be, and I've noticed I haven't blogged either. There really isn't much to talk about.

Ah, I did finish Twilight, and I have to say.... it's worth the read. Although the dialogue is cliché at times, the story is intoxicating. Edward Cullen is a rare man, or well... vampire. I've also started the second novel, New Moon.

In other news, I think my father has quit his job. I don't know if he's going to go back or not, but I'm thinking this is pretty selfish on his behalf. He can't quit his job now, without a back up plan. Without something to fall back on. I mean... now that my mom has a job, we have a good flow of cash coming in, but if he's not planning on going back to work.... I don't know. All I do know, is that this cannot end well, in whatever way this plays out. Never mind.

My sister and I made brownies the other day. They have walnuts in them, and they're incredibly great. Especially with some milk.

Buster keeps scratching his right ear. The outside, not the inside. I wonder why. He doesn't have any bugs. There ain't no bugs on the bug. 

Eh.

p&l

rachel

so many things to say....

  

Currently, I'm watching the first four episodes of The O.C. I absolutely love this show.

I never really liked the Pilot when I first saw it, but I just watched it for the second time today and it was great. I don't know why I didn't like it before. 

I also picked up the book Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, today. I haven't finished the first chapter yet, but I will report on if it's worthy of being read.

Also, this evening I saw The Incredible Hulk. I absolutely love Edward Norton. He is one of my most favorite actors of all time. Especially his performance in Fight Club. That movie rocks almost as much as the book by Chuck Palahniuk. Which reminds me that I almost bought Snuff today, but it was more expensive than the paper-back version of Twilight. I talked my mom into buying it for me. :)

As for the Hulk movie, it was quite an epic vision of beauty. Tim Roth was fun as a crazy, power hungry military man. The romance between Liv Tyler and Edward Norton was very believable. If their on-screen chemistry would match their off screen chemistry, I'm sure they'd make a very nice couple. Except that Liv Tyler's married. 

I may have to see it again, because when I saw it, I was sitting on the first row in the theatre. I had to look to the left and the right to see the whole screen. It was a tad bit difficult, and now my neck hurts on top of it all.

I've been reading this fan-written book called James Potter and the Hall of Elder's Crossing. I forget the man's name who wrote it, and I'm too lazy to open the file on my computer that I have of this book, complete with drawn pictures at the beginning of the chapters and a table of contents. The book is 405 pages as well. I found it online and there was a .pdf file that you can download to read. Of course, you need the newest version of Adobe Acrobat. 

I have a headache. I think it's because of my sinus. Great.

p&l

rachel

What is Mischa Barton wearing??!?!?!?! Always worst-dressed, that one.

p&l

rachel

i took a very short IQ test

It says I'm above average intellect, but I think they're wrong, because I know I'm smarter than that.

Haha.

Free-IQTest.net - IQ Test

Everyone should take it. What's your score? It's four pages long and like five minutes to do. 

p&l

rachel

PS: Don't get confused by the offers they have after you submit your email and zip code, just check your email for a link to your score. They're trying to trick people into signing up for shit they don't want. Go figure.

what is this 'twilight'?

I've been hearing a lot about this book series, Twilight, written by Stehpenie Meyer. 

I'm wondering what all the fuss is about.

Vampires, blood lust, Bella Swan and Edward Cullen's forbidden love. Those being the main characters. Now that there's a movie in progress, I think I should get down to the source of the matter. It sounds very "young adult" for my taste, but I'm interested. Some "teen fantasy" is kind of what the summer is asking for. A dark tale for a bright summer? 

However: I'm broke and there's a huge wait list at the library and there are four books in the series. I think all the books are hardback and 400 pages long or something. It sounds like a challenge, but all I need to do is get my hands on the books. Somehow this must happen.....

I should do a 'summer reading recommendations' post, for those lucky few who actually get to grace the beaches this summer. One day I'll actually lay out again too, if it ever stops being so gosh-darn hot outside. Or storming.

 

I'll actually have to do some research for this summer reading post, so give me a little time. ;)

p&l

rachel

this is funny

I read an article about judging men by what they eat/order while on a date. 

Read it: HERE!!!!!

It was very funny and interesting, but of course, probably not true facts. It's just a little something that will make me, and hopefully others too, think a little deeper about what my date orders next time I go out with someone. 

Whenever that will be, who knows. I don't. Mississippi is not prime dating ground. Especially if you want someone intelligent, which is what I look for. One of many things I look for. But... I'm not looking now, which is slightly depressing. I'm actually having a good time being single. It's fun to flirt. :) 

p&l 

rachel

octogenarian - a person whose age is in the eighties

These two women are tying the knot soon in San Francisco, CA and will be the first to kick-off the gay marriage law that has been recently accepted in the state. 

These women are named Del Martin,(right)87, and Phyllis Lyon, (left)84. They've been together for over five decades.

I know a lot of people don't agree with gay marriage, I know a few homos (who are my friends!) even who don't like the idea. However, I think that everyone should have an equal opportunity at happiness. If marriage would make someone happy, like some people do dream of their perfect wedding (gay or not), then they should be allowed to have that.

 

Marriage today isn't even usually about the spiritual connection that ties the two together and to God or whatever. I guess it's kind of a religious philosophy, but are there two kinds of marriage? One where you stand in front of God and a priest or whomever and blah blah, and another where it's just a civil service. Maybe I'm just babbling. Who knows.

Ugh. I'm not going into this any further. Who knows where my blog post will end up... or what topic it will be by the end of my rant.

p&l

rachel

ah, long lost blog....

It feels like it's been a long time since I last blogged. But of course it really hasn't been. 

Nothing much has happened since I last blogged either. Video games, Desperate Housewives, and house work. Also weekend things, I guess. There's a fair in the area right now, but I'm not going to a fair. No thanks, not again. I went with my family to the Crawfish Festival not too long ago and I was terribly miserable. But there was good food. 

Kyle MacLachlan is a crazy man on this show. 

I played pool tonight and I won a game of cut throat. But lost two.

 

Zach Young is a crazy character as well. So many crazy people living on Wisteria Lane. Susan Mayer crying in the embalming room of a funeral home. I think every one is crazy in their own way on this show. Maybe we're all crazy from time to time. 

TV dramas usually have very diverse characters all pushed together, written to be friends, and they are all friends and get along great and whatever. Each of these characters represents someone that someone else, from the audience, can relate to, I imagine.  

Wether awkward and klutzy, materialistic and proud, and whatever other character types there are, each one of these character will most likely have one similar character flaw: stubbornness. It's common knowledge that the typical scenario for someone, lets say John Locke from Lost, first off - the character is faced with a difficult situation and can't see how they're going to make the right decision. In the season 2 finale, John Locke decides that they were going to stop "pressing the button" in the hatch they found at the end of the first season. The character then makes the decision or whatever and feels that they've done the right thing. When things go wrong, the character then realizes that what they've done wasn't the right thing to do. Ah, like Susan Mayer again. At the end of season 3, she chooses Ian Hainsworth over Mike Defino. Anyone with eyes could tell that Susan was more in love with Mike than she was with Ian, but like I've been saying, Susan was being quite stubborn, the "most common character flaw."

To write a hit show, have lots of characters that are stubborn and make terrible decisions that unfold horribly, but then they have everything they want happen by the end of the season. Everything falling together and whatever, but then something completely unsettling happens right at the end of the season that keeps people wanting more. It's simple...

p&l

rachel

billy goat's gruff

Today has been a pretty productive day. I:

• Dusted the house
• Did laundry (3 loads - not my record, but still a good bit of laundry)
• Took my sister to and from the mall

That's all. Not much has really happened, I guess. I watched my friend M play Oblivion for a few hours and then we started watching Desperate Housewives. The last part of season 2, and now I'm watching the third episode of season 3. 

Gabrielle just ran into an old flame.

I probably need to go to Blockbuster tomorrow. Blah. Maybe I can rent The Golden Compass, I've been wanting to view it. I read the book and I heard it's not supposed to be anything like the book because of whatever stupid controversy Christians want to complain about this time. First, Harry Potter and now The Golden Compass. I wonder if they'll even finish the trilogy, since that's what it is, in book format. 

It's all a big load of crock, I think. Religious controversies in young adult literature. It's called FICTION after all, right? Shouldn't we be encouraging our children to use their imaginations? Encouraging them to expand their minds? Or at least open-minded people are like that. I liked the His Dark Materials trilogy and I wouldn't give a rat's ass if my kids watched it. Being afraid that a fictional movie will change their children's religious views is ridiculous, in my opinion. If that kids really believes in what their parents believe, then that's their own choice. Religion isn't something that should be forced upon someone. What am I talking about?

p&l

rachel

desperate housewives vs. the o.c.

Is Mike Delfino the older version of Ryan Atwood? They sure do act alike. Maybe Ryan Atwood had to go into the Witness Protection Program. But what would Seth, Summer and Taylor do? Who knows. Maybe I'm just going crazy.

p&l

rachel

puppies for sale

I need a smaller picture for my blog. Or something better that's not me. I don't know what I want.

Anyway, today I used the Gillette Alluring Avocado shaving cream and it was pretty amazing. I don't know why we girls buy these scented shaving gels when we obviously are going to end up putting other lotion on top of that. I just like avocado. 

Other than that, it's been a pretty uneventful day. I did pick up the first two discs of Desperate Housewives season 3 today, which I'm excited about watching, but I'm waiting for a friend of mine to come over. I also went to Dollar World. Big woohoo.

I have to go to Wal-Mart with my mother now.

p&l

rachel

fat carol, this is a review-blog

Today, I watched Untraceable (2008). 

It was a pretty good movie, overall, but truly, it seemed very bland, I guess... I can't find the right words right now. 

Diane Lane plays a FBI agent that specializes in online predators of all kinds. Her partner is played by Colin Hanks and is a very likable character. 

The threat in the film is a person who kidnaps people and then sets them up on the Internet where when the more people who sign onto the website, the faster the kidnapped person dies. The deaths are creative and gruesome. I'm not a huge fan of gore, but this is slightly tolerable. Gore is never tasteful though. Ever. 

As a FBI agent, Diane Lane is slightly unbelievable. She seems terrified when the threat is directly upon her, without any backup. I guess someone, anyone, would be upset in that sort of situation, but an FBI agent should always be on top of their game, right? I mean, Dana Scully from The X-Files never got truly frightened about her surroundings, or have I just not seen enough X-Files? 

The ending of this movie is what makes me angry. It's very cliff-hanging, I guess. There's no ending for the characters, really. It's what makes me think that this film was the movie-version of a Faye Kellerman novel. Or someone to that extent. 

p&l

rachel

quick update

News Flash: I have jury duty. I am a juror. For a federal court case. For the whole month of July. 

It might actually be fun to get dressed up and have my tattoos all showing and whatever, and going into this large federal courthouse. 

Ha. I can't wait until June 30th, when I have to call for the first time about my jury duty. What a perfect way to learn more about the justice system from a first-hand experience. Ah, we'll see how interesting the cases actually are. I doubt I'll even be able to talk about it.

p&l

rachel

death cab for cutie is rockin

I've downloaded the new album, Narrow Stairs, and it's freakin' amazing. Or at least what I've paid attention to was pretty awesome. 

I had a haircut today, but you wouldn't know it because the woman did like a terribly short trim. Ugh, I'm a little mad I paid 13.95 + a 5.00 tip. Bitch. 

I picked up the second half of Desperate Housewives season 2 today. Some things I already know are going to happen. I wonder what it is that makes these housewives so desperate?

I also just picked up season 1 of Ugly Betty today. 

Susan Mayer (said "Myer") is my favorite desperate housewife. She's a children's book illustrator, but I think she writes them too, I think. She's been divorced once, that I've seen thus far, and is in love with Mike Delfino. I want to be a children's book writer/illustrator. It's got to be pretty fun, interesting and not to mention probably easy. 

Edie Britt is going crazy on this girl, but then she got attacked by a whole herd of waitresses. Quite classic, if you ask me.

Some things are unfolding in front of me on the show. 

Pretty scandalous things. 

I think I'm hungry, and I want some ravioli, but I don't want to go through all the work right now at 11pm just to have Buster all in my face trying to eat my food. I wish I had a table in here, or a real desk. Nah, I just want food too much. Whatever. I just want food.

I took this picture just because I was bored:

 

Desperate Housewives covers a lot of very controversial topics: other people spanking other people's children, sex addicts anonymous, the perfect housewife with a gay son(?), and some other things but I can't really think of them right now. One of these days I'll come up with a real list or something like that. One day I'm going to really need to start talking about actual things about books and television and movies and whatever. Maybe I could get this blog off the ground. Get other people to read it. 

I had some cookies, btw. Nutter Butter. They were grrrrrreat. 

p&l

rachel

time is of the essence

I've seen the first half of the second season of Desperate Housewives. It's quite exciting. I can't wait to find out what happens. Then I'll have to get season 3 and then hopefully watch season 4 online. 

I think Ida Greenberg is a good character on D.H. She's the local drunk until fate intervenes one night and her bottle breaks because it's hit by a bullet. 

There's a dog barking on the TV and Buster is not even flinching. He had another swimming day today with my family. I stayed at home and slept all day, having another sinus headache. I really need to clean my room tomorrow. It must be done.

I don't understand why most shows don't go with the short intro sequence like Grey's Anatomy or Heroes. On the D.H. DVDs there are some episodes where it has a long intro and then other episodes that have short intros. It's pretty confusing and strange.

Ah, but I am enjoying a nice Vitamin Water. XXX flavor. Acai-blueberry-pomegranate combo. Triple my antioxidants. I love it. 

I've started watching season 2 again until I can go to Blockbuster tomorrow and get the next two discs. It will be great. 

p&l

rachel

desperate housewives character profile #1

Name - Julie Mayer 

Who is she? - Daughter of Susan Mayer

Age - 14 (Season One), 18 (Season 4)

Resident of Wisteria Lane

Julie Mayer is a very interesting character. She and her mother Susan are quite the duo, with their quick wit and honest-but-secretive relationship. Her father, Karl Mayer, left them about a year before the series begins. She loves to sing. To Susan, she was the picture-perfect child with her straight-A's and for always being honest to her mother. But being the teenager that she is, Julie does keep a few secrets from Susan, which does surprise Susan when she finds Julie making out with Zach Young, who Susan was certainly not fond of. 

(I haven't seen all the seasons of Desperate Housewives yet, but I'm working on it currently with Season Two. The links go to wikipedia pages, because I like those character descriptions better.)