Monday, February 21, 2011

Books & Movies

I watched "Amadeus" this weekend. Not my first time seeing it by any stretch, but it never gets old as far as I'm concerned. It's such a fantastic movie and the music! Ah, the music! Mozart was such a talent. As a result, I'm now downloading a variety of his music, including the entire opera The Magic Flute. Can't wait.

I saw two other movies this weekend, which makes me want to do something I haven't done since this. Without further ado, here is a long overdue:

Sugar & Gravy Movie Mania #5
I watch movies often enough, so there's no point in writing about them every time I watch them, BUT I don't go to the theatre to see movies that often, so perhaps that will be what warrants an S&G Movie Mania. Aaaanyway...

Out of character, I actually saw 2 movies this weekend. (Say what?) Here are my thoughts:

I loved it! I knew I'd like it, but I really didn't expect to like it so much. The acting was quite good, both the leads (Ashton Kutcher & Natalie Portman) were charming, and the writing was surprisingly fabulous! Lots of funny jokes, some great repartee, and just a good story. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't particularly cutting-edge, and it certainly wasn't sophisticated or anything, but it was plain fun! Plus, I went with my GF, and she was the perfect person to see it with.
Rating = 4.2/5.0

#2 "Somewhere"
This is the latest film from Sofia Coppola. I don't think I realized I had already seen two of her films ("Lost in Translation" and "The Virgin Suicides"), but I can now confidently say that I really like her work. "Somewhere" was interesting... not so much a story as a collection of drawn-out moments, all beautiful in their own way, and certainly connected, but not exactly forming a narrative. The movie is more of a snapshot of a certain type of life, and a very beautiful and interesting snapshot. The acting was fantastic (namely Stephen Dorff) and Elle Fanning (who I now see has been in other movies) was a delight!
Rating = 4.5/5.0

Now that my totally irrelevant and arbitrary rating is over with, "Somewhere" made me think about something... as you know, I watch a lot of "Entourage". For the most part, the show looks at the celebrity life in a very positive light, aside from maybe season 7. It's all fun, cars, weed, money, indulgence, mansions, etc. The audience sees some of the negative side of being in the limelight, and the pressure of being an actor, but mostly it's fluffy and fun!

In "Somewhere" we see famous actor Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) as totally miserable. On top of that, we see L.A. To me L.A. seems like such a sad place to live. For all of the lights and celebrities and beaches, it seems dirty and scary and sad and dark. Forgive me, I'm basing this on a few television shows and movies, but that's my opinion.


Moving on... I also read a bit this weekend, trying to keep my beloved RC-3 going. I finished my 2nd (of 20) book of 2011, and it was the previously mentioned The Girls by Canadian author Lori Lansens. I don't cry much when reading, but Lansens moved me to tears on more than one occasion in this book. It was fabulous! I forgot to bring my next book home with me, so I scanned my sister's bookshelf for a read and found Eat, Pray, Love. This has been on my reading list for a while, so I thought, why not? It's surprisingly good! And by surprisingly, I mean better than I expected. I'm really enjoying Elizabeth Gilbert's writing voice, and it makes me laugh a lot. Looking forward to the rest...

And that, I believe, is it for today! Until next time...

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Beep Beep, Beep Beep, Yeah!


And so the chronicles of the driving challenge continue...

I'm not sure what in particular it was about today (because I've been at my wit's end for a while now), but I could simply put it off no longer! I had to sign up for driving lessons!!!

Step 2a is now complete. On to the lessons themselves, and then... G2!!!
  1. Get my G1 by December 31, 2010.
  2. a) Register for driving lessons by February 28, 2011.
    b)
    Get my G2 by August 31, 2011.
  3. Get a car by December 31, 2011.

Monday, February 7, 2011

A girl who I will never be...

I'm reading a book called The Girls by a Canadian author, Lori Lansens. I'm not sure if I've already mentioned that I'm reading this. Anyway, I've enjoyed it from the start, but about half-way through (where I am now), I've started to really get into it. It's that thing that happens when you're really enjoying a book. You forget where you are, and you forget the physical thing that the book is, and you are so consumed by it that it feels like less of an active reading, and more passive, in that the story is being told to you. Or you're right inside it. I love when this happens with books, and it's happening now with The Girls.

When I'm really into a book, certain snippets will really stand out for me, and I'll read them over and over. Sometimes it's because of the rhythm or rhyme of a phrase, or what it's saying is really powerful. In the case of the below quotation, it was both.
I hum some secret place into being, thinking of this other me, the one that only I can see, a girl called She, who is not We, a girl who I will never be.
The Girls is an amazing novel (so far... am sure it will stay that way) set in fictional Leaford, Ontario, and it is the "autobiography" of conjoined twins, Ruby & Rose Darlen. This may sound awful, but I'll confess that I have a fear of conjoined twins. I'm not sure what the fear is based on... knowing me, it's probably based on crippling empathy, but regardless, I have to turn the channel when TLC does a feature on conjoined twins. This novel, even though it's fictional, has changed my feelings about conjoined twins. It's so humanizing and beautiful, and a mix of tragedy and comedy... I love it! Definitely a great choice for book #2 of the 2011 RC-3.

Friday, February 4, 2011

The Drive to Drive

For some reason challenges really work for me. I did my 90-day challenge back in the day, which was a complete success, and ended up being the impetus for losing 30 lbs. I did the great flossing challenge, which got me flossing on a regular basis... and although I've started to slack on that a bit, I remember to do it often enough, and still more often than before the flossing challenge. The reading challenge has been extremely successful, as since May 2010, I've read 15 books. 15 books in 9 months isn't too shabby.

Anyway, I respond to challenges. They have a mission combined with deadlines, which I guess really works for me. SO... it's time to focus on another challenge. Back in December I admitted my shameful secret (I don't have a driver's license) and committed to the following three goals:
  1. Get my G1 by December 31, 2010.
  2. Get my G2 by August 31, 2011.
  3. Get a car by December 31, 2011.
Now I've got lots of time to complete goal #2, but what do I need to do to achieve it? I need to take driving lessons. I've taken them before, but I need (at the very least) a refresher course. In order to take driving lessons, I need to sign up for them, and I haven't yet done that. SO...

2. a) Register for driving lessons by February 28, 2011.

BAM. GONNA DO IT. LOVE CHALLENGES.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Ill Cow

I can't stop listening to it. I think it might mean that I like "21" even better than "19", which I think is becoming truer by the day. It's an amazing album, and my favourite at this point is one that wasn't even on my list before... it's called "One and Only", and the lyrics are beautiful, but my favourite part is the end when it gets all gospel-y. I love it!!! Play count is at 20. I'm obsessed.



In other music news, I was walking to work today and was listening to "Hold It Against Me", which is Britney Spears' new track. I'm so used to downloading remixes of songs that I forgot that this version was the original. That's why I was so surprised when the song suddenly goes all dubstep and auto-tune on me! Brit? Is that really you, girl?



I'm not hating on the new style though... not at all. Unlike what some people are tweeting, auto-tune is not about making your voice better, it's about modifying it to a different style, a more computer-generated one. I don't think that's trying to get out of really using your voice; I think it's about making your voice work with the rest of the track's sound, and I think it's popular these days to be electronic, dubstep-heavy, etc. So good on ya, Brit! Get with the times!

Lastly, chill out to a sound totally different from both of those tracks... I sang it with the choir I'm in yesterday morning, and I just love it.



Have a great day!!!

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