People are always talking about cities, you know? The whole: "Oh, did you check out that cute little shop on the corner of ____ and ____? It's got the cutest stuff!" or "Oh Mi Gawd that bar downtown is SO HIP!" etc. etc. Granted, places like that are great; I like cities! I kinda have to...I was born and raised in one. But when I moved to a little town of about 17,950 people...as opposed to the 26,851 that I was raised in. Ok, granted it's not a "small" town per se, but it's smaller than my city. Still, you find TONS of stuff to do around the area that is completely unrelated to shops and bars.
Recently I visited Hico, TX, which isn't far away from my college in Stephenville, TX. Now you're probably asking "A.J, why the heck would you visit a small town like Hico where the main coffee shop was once a gathering place for the KKK?" (not sure about that last bit) Actually I stopped there for a few reasons (or rather my parents and I did), the main reason being this:
Yep, it's a Billy the Kid museum. Now according to legend, The Kid was shot and killed in 1881 while fleeing the law. Well that may be accepted by most people, but certainly not by the good people of Hico. They believe that this guy:
Is actually Billy the Kid. Ollie "Brushy Bill" Roberts is supposedly the Kid, who escaped death and went on to live in secrecy. He lived in Hico for a while and died there as well...he is featured in the Billy the Kid Museum in Hico. You should definitely go check it out if you're a conspiracy theorist, since they actually have quite a bit of decent evidence to promote the fact that Billy lived and the sheriff, in fact, shot the wrong guy. Anyways, moving on. We left the Billy the Kid museum sporting a six-pack of Dublin Dr. Pepper and a shot glass, and proceeded to roam the streets until we found a lovely little antique shop.
When we went in we found the most interesting gadgets...I found a few old rotary-dial phones (and I now want one in my apartment when I get one...), a typewriter (that actually worked well, though a few of the keys were sticky), and a very, VERY old crank-dial phone. It was way cool.
We then stopped at another antique shop which didn't measure up AT ALL to the last shop we visited. However, I did find this:
Yes, the man in the picture is a matador who has just slain the bull he has fought. I don't know who the artist was, but had I had enough money I would have purchased that painting. Something about the man's expression struck me harder than any other painting (ink, watercolor, or otherwise) that I'd seen to that day. Is it exhaustion? Maybe weariness of the same thing over and over again? We may never know...I just hope when I go back to that shop that this picture will still be there.
We also stopped by the Hico Popcorn Shop, which, aside from Wisemanhouse Chocolates, is really an interesting food place in Hico. They make their own popcorn and add some of the strangest flavorings to the popcorn as well...Ranch, garlic parmesan (pretty good, salty!), peppermint, cinnamon, dill pickle, and vanilla just to name a few.
As we stepped back out onto the streets I got a chance to get a few pictures of the old buildings as well, and began to wonder...what was it like?
The opera house has been converted into a furniture shop, but I stood and wondered at this place, as well as the ones in Stephenville and other old places...what was it like in its hayday? Before cars and major roads left it as a tiny dot on the map, a tourist attraction to be known just for its chocolates and history with Billy the Kid. Imagine being a citizen here a hundred or so years ago. You'd get up in the morning and get some "Bright and Early" coffee or tea before heading out to work on the farm or in the local general store...then stop by the opera house for a night of music and fun.
Personally I think it's kind of fun to think about that kind of stuff.
The final thing I had to say about this was a wonderful story about reuniting a baby goat with its mum. As we were driving back to Stephenville, my mum spied a puppy-sized baby goat running about near the highway. She called out for my dad to stop, turn around, and check it out. Sure enough, the baby had worked its way out of the fence surrounding the pasture its mum, dad, and two siblings were in. So after a few failed attempts to get in touch with the owners of the place, my dad, mum, and I were forced to corral the little goat and put it over the fence back into the field. It would occasionally call out to its mom and siblings and, according to my dad, its "entire little body would convulse as it bleated". We finally reunited the family and headed off on our way.
In a way it was kind of sad, since I realized my parents would leave the next day to return home, and just as we reunited their family we ourselves would break and go our separate ways. But I wasn't thinking about it that night. I was wondering to myself...
So here’s the first review of 2011! Yay! I thought I’d start with something different, since I don’t get out to see many movies, I’ll do a music review! This is one I’ve wanted to do for a while, but I’ve not had the right venue to do it. but now I have a blog on which I can write such reviews, so I will! This review is a review of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a movie that has been one of my favorites for a very long time. Also, truth be told, what Hunchback lacks in memorable lyrics (unlike The Little Mermaid) it makes up for in imagery and mysterious, haunting undercurrents that weave themselves throughout the entire piece.
So The Hunchback of Notre Dame takes place in Paris, specifically in the area surrounding (or within) Notre Dame cathedral itself. The titular character is a hunchback by the name of Quasimodo – literally “Half formed” – who is played by Tom Hulce. His love interest is Esmeralda (Demi Moore), who is actually in love with Phoebus (Kevin Kline), or at least falls in love with him later in the film. Then there’s the main antagonist (and Quasimodo’s “master”) Judge Claude Frollo (Tony Jay) who serves as the dark that the main characters must defeat (or the minor key that underlies most of the music). There’s also Clopin, voiced by tenor Paul Kandel. Finally come the minor characters, the Archdeacon (David Ogden Stiers) and The Gargoyles (three of them), who were supposed to serve as comic relief but just got annoying after a while. I like the tall one though. Anyways, now that we’ve got the actors out of the way, let’s get on to the music!
The Bells of Notre Dame
The opening music, The Bells of Notre Dame, is begun by a Gregorian chant, which is actually sung to the melody of Someday, which you don’t hear until the end of the film. The Gregorian chant itself is a real chant, however, I couldn’t find the lyrics to it so I can’t analyze them. *Insert sad face here*. Anyways, an all-male chorus sings the chant, but once Notre Dame cathedral comes into view the entire chorus joins in with the “Hellfire” theme. The music shifts once again when you fall towards the streets of Paris and meet Clopin, who begins to tell the tale of Quasimodo to a small group of children. If you notice, when he speaks to the children, the flute and chimes come into play, whereas when he speaks of the “Bells of Notre Dame” the music darkens and is accompanied by the brass and bell sections. His voice also falls into a whisper once he speaks of the “tale of a man and a monster” and the “four frightened gypsies” who are trying to sneak into the city on a dark winter’s night. His voice suddenly rises as “but a trap had been laid for the gypsies” and the bells toll ominously as Claude Frollo is introduced. The high strings in the background after Frollo’s entrance also add an extremely creepy and horror-like effect to the music (sends shivers down my spine every time I hear them).
At this point I was going to stop and move on to the last part, where the music turns to a major key as the riddle is told. However, I realized something…
Boom! As the woman runs with her child, the chorus in the background begins to chant the Dies Irae, or “Day of Wrath”. Lyrics and translation below.
Dies iræ ! Dies illa (Day of Wrath, that day)
Solvet sæclum in favilla: (Will dissolve the world in ashes)
Teste David cum Sibylla! (As Foretold by David and the Sibyl!)
Quantus tremor est futurus, (How much tremor there will be)
Quando iudex est venturus, (When the judge will come)
Now this may not be the “lyrical” translation, but is the “formal” translation. Anyway, you get the picture, and the Dies Irae itself has been used in so many things already (at the beginning of The Shining, Danny Elfman uses the melody in a few of his Nightmare Before Christmas songs, etc.) that I was surprised I hadn’t heard it before then. Still, it’s a great description of Frollo, is it not? The judge that comes “investigating everything”?
Also, if you listen closely, during the lines “and for one time in his life of power and control / Frollo felt a twinge of fear for his immortal soul” (this is after the Archdeacon’s accusations are sung) the chorus sings “Kyrie Eleison” which, in Greek “God have mercy [on me]”.
Anyways, after this part of the song is sung and once we are returned to Clopin’s voice, we hear the music turn major as he asks “Here is a riddle to guess if you can sing the bells of Notre Dame / Who is the monster and who is the man?”, which creates the basis for the rest of the film.
Out There
This is the song sung by both Frollo and Quasimodo when the latter attempts to leave the cathedral to join the Feast of Fools. Frollo tells him of the cruelty of the world and of its lack of pity towards anyone who is “deformed”, “ugly” or considered “a monster” (as Quasimodo surely would be). He even has Quasi himself saying “I am a monster” (brainwashing!!). so Frollo tells him to stay “in here” in his “sanctuary”. Then the music takes a shift and slowly builds up to a major key as Quasi begins to sing about how he wishes to live “not above them / but part of them”. As for hidden melodies there really aren’t any, but this is a lovely song anyways. However, something must be done about Tom Hulce’s vibrato, it’s much too fast.
Sorry, I’ve not got much to write about this song, but its one of my favorites.
Humiliation
Humiliation is a very dark song that begins with dissonant tones and minor harmonies that prominently display what is going on with poor Quasimodo in the movie (if you don’t know, this is where he is tied down at the Feast and things are thrown at him). It’s a very dark tune when you don’t understand where its coming from (and is even when you DO know what’s going on) and sounds almost like something Carlo Gesualdo would compose. As well, the Agnus Dei is prominently featured (lyrics and translation below)
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)
Qui Tollis peccata mundi (Who takes away the sins of the world)
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)
Dona Nobis pacem (Grant us Peace)
Now see, the Agnus Dei is part of a Mass, and was an interesting addition to the song, but a good one nonetheless. See, in a way, Quasimodo is absorbing all the jeering and the torture that the gypsies had to endure under Frollo’s rule. Then when Esmeralda enters the scene she is the one who grants the crowd peace, since the throwing of vegetables and other objects abruptly stops.
God Help The Outcasts
Well, this song is going to be a bit like Out There because I don’t really know what to write about it. this song is sung by Heidi Mollenhauer instead of Demi Moore, and is Esmeralda’s prayer to the lord (once she takes sanctuary in the cathedral). At first there is only the soft sound of the wind section and the high strings, but gathers more and more instruments from each of the sections (the brass section is nearly impossible to hear, and the bell section is nonexistent for once). She asks if God was once an outcast like herself, knowing full well that she “shouldn’t speak to [him]”, then asks for God to bless the outcasts.
The song segues into the prayers of other people (wealth, love, etc.) and returns to Esmeralda as she mentions she can survive, but there are others less lucky than her. The dynamic rises and falls but barely reaches above forte, making the song a lovely soft addition to the soundtrack.
Heaven’s Light / Hellfire
This one should be fun to write about, another long one! This song begins with Heaven’s Light and Quasimodo’s confession of his feelings towards Esmeralda and his loneliness without love. Again the wind section and the lower strings accompany his voice, but as the song progresses the bell section and brass join into the melody. He sings about “Heaven’s Light” and how when he rings the bells it will make his “cold dark tower [seem] so bright”. At the end, the orchestra is accompanied by the sounds of chimes, which give the song a cheerful tone before it moves into the Confiteor section (lyrics and translation below)
Confiteor Deo Omnipotenti (I confess to God Almighty)
Beatae Mariae semper Virgini (To blessed Mary ever Virgin)
Beato Michaeli archangelo (To the blessed archangel Michael)
Sanctis apostolis omnibus sanctis (To the Holy Apostles, to all the saints)
Archdeacon and the choir in the chapel sing the song before it shifts to the Hellfire part of the song, sung by Frollo. He begins to speak to Mother Mary (Maria), assuring her that he is a righteous man (and he’s proud of it). He moves towards the fireplace, and moves very little from that spot. Here, I’ll put down the first parts of the lyrics:
Beata Maria
You know I am a righteous man
Of my virtue I am justly proud
Et tibit Pater (And to you, Father)
Beata Maria
You know I'm so much purer than
The common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd
Quia peccavi nimis (That I have sinned)
Then tell me, Maria
Why I see her dancing there
Why her smold'ring eyes still scorch my soul
Cogitatione (In thought)
I feel her, I see her
The sun caught in raven hair
Is blazing in me out of all control
Verbo et opere (In word and deed)
You see how the Latin phrases at the end of the stanzas sync up with what Frollo is saying? I thought that was amazing how Alan Menken and his buddies did this. Anyways, when he begins the hellfire part, he speaks of how the fire (his lust for Esmeralda) is a fire in his skin, a burning desire, and how it is turning him to sin. he finally breaks and runs down the hall away from the fireplace as red-cloaked figures sing “Mea culpa / mea culpa / mea maxima culpa” (“My fault / my fault / my greatest fault”) as he tries to tell them “It’s not my fault / I’m not to blame!”. He is then “sucked” into the fires in the fireplace by the red figures in a flow of lava.
Suddenly he’s back at the front of the fireplace (now kneeling), and asks for Mary to protect him…and destroy Esmeralda. As he says this last line (“Destroy Esmeralda / and let her taste the fires of hell”), the figure of Esmeralda, dancing provocatively in the fireplace, is then replaced by her figure writhing in agony, as if tied to a stake. He then goes on to say, “Unless she will be mine and mine alone”, and a smoky apparition of Esmeralda steps out of the fireplace and they attempt to embrace before the she dissipates into the air. A soldier then enters and informs Frollo that Esmeralda has gone missing from the cathedral, provoking him further. “Now gypsy, it’s your turn / choose me / or your pyre / be mine or you will burn” is what he says next, his final offer to the girl he lusts for (symbolically he throws the scarf she had thrown at him into the fire during this scene). Now this is one of the most interesting parts in the song. As he backs away from the fireplace and as dark shadows begin to follow him, he sings “God have mercy on her / God have mercy on me”, and the chorus in the background sings “Kyrie Eleison” (God have mercy), as if he is still trying to fight what he is about to do, asking for mercy. Finally, as he states his last offer, he falls to his knees, shadows whirling about him, and as all of his strength leaves him he falls flat on his face, arms outspread in the shape of a cross.
The flames? They represent fire of lust and passion that have now taken hold. By the end, the flames have been transformed into rivers of lava and undulating shadows as he becomes more and more enraged with his actions and feelings. Seriously, talk about a guy who never gets laid…
MOVING ON.
Paris Burning
Not much actually happens in the music, however, the actual things that are going on in the movie are quite frightening as Frollo’s rage overtakes him and he then takes it out on the citizens of Paris. The Dies Irae also returns (although it’s a bit shortened)!
Dies iræ! Dies illa
Solvet sæclum in favilla:
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando iudex est venturus,
If you listen closely, as Frollo sets the windmill and house of another family on fire, you can hear the Kyrie Eleison phrase return.
Also…Phoebus has dissolving armor?
Sanctuary
Okay, seriously, this part is just too hard to explain. This is one of the most poignant scenes in the entire movie, as Quasimodo yells “Sanctuary!” from atop the cathedral. But since we’re not discussing the imagery, I’ll go ahead and post the lyrics and a link to the scene in the movie.
Judex crederis esse venturus
(Our Judge we believe shall come)
In te, Domine, speravi
(In You, Lord, have I trusted)
Non confundar in aeternum
(Let me not be damned for eternity)
Salvum fac populum tuum
(Save Your people)
Judex crederis
Kyrie Eleison
(In our Judge we believe)
(God have mercy)
Libera me Domine
(Free me, Lord)
Libera me Domine de morte aeterna
(Free me, Lord, from everlasting death)
In die illa tremenda
(On that terrible day)
Quando caeli movendi sunt
(When the heavens shall be moved)
Caeli et terra
(The heavens and earth)
Dum veneris judicare
(When Thou shall come to judge the world)
O, salutaris hostia
(Oh Saviour, saving victim)
Quae caeli pandis ostium
(Who opens the gate of heaven)
Bella premunt hostilia
(Our enemies besiege us)
Da robur, fer auxilium
(Give us strength, bring us aid)
Sit sempiterna gloria
(May you always be praised)
Sit sempiterna gloria
(May you always be praised)
Sit sempiterna gloria
(May you always be praised)
Gloria, gloria semper
(Glory, glory forever)
Sanctus, sanctus in excelsis
(Holy, holy, in the highest)
Mors stupebit et natura
(Death and nature shall be confounded)
Cum resurget creatura
(When creation shall rise again)
Judicanti responsurra
(To answer for judgment)
Judex ergo cum sedebit
(Therefore, when the Judge will take his seat)
Nil inultum remanebit
(Nothing shall remain unpunished)
Quem patronum rogaturus
(To what protector shall I appeal)
Cum vix justus sit securus?
(When scarcely the just man shall be secure?)
Juste Judex ultionis
(Righteous Judge of vengeance)
Ante diem rationis
(Before the day of reckoning)
Kyrie Eleison
(Lord have mercy)
Now as you listen to the music, read the lyrics and see how they match up with what is going on in the movie itself. Pretty amazing, isn’t it? I mean good lord, just listen to how everything syncs! It’s not often you find a movie that does that anymore.
As Frollo first lights the fire at Esmeralda’s feet and as Quasimodo screams “NO!!” you hear the chorus sing “Free me lord / Free me, Lord, from everlasting death”. Then, as the chains begin to break and the pillars holding Quasi back begin to crack, the lyrics change to “On that terrible day / when the heavens shall be moved / the heavens and earth / when Thou shall come to judge the world”, and further follow the movement of the film by saying “Oh Saviour, saving victim / who opens the gate of heaven / our enemies besiege us / give us strength, bring us aid” as Quasi swings in and saves the day. Also, once he reaches the top of the cathedral you hear the chorus sing “Sit Sempiterna gloria / gloria, gloria semper” (“May you always be praised / glory, glory forever”), and as Quasi screams “Sanctuary” the crowd cheers back, praising him.
I think that’s about all I’ll do for this song, since I could tie in every word to what was going on in the scene. It’s just a great scene and great music to go along with it.
And He Shall Smite The Wicked
Yet again the Dies Irae returns in this piece, but now its much more well-deserved. During this song is the wonderful fight scene between Quasimodo and his master, Frollo. As Frollo chases Quasimodo about the top of Notre Dame, the song is nearly inaudible, covered up by dissonances and quick dynamic changes by the strings. Then, as the fight progresses it grows in dynamic, then falls back to a nearly inaudible level as Frollo utters the words, “I should’ve known you’d risk your life to save that gypsy witch… just as your own mother died trying to save you.” Then, as he gives his ultimatum – “Now I’m going to do what I should’ve done twenty years ago!” – the dynamic changes suddenly again. The chorus grows in volume slowly as Frollo and Quasimodo hang from the very top of the cathedral, and finally comes to a climax as Frollo climbs onto the jaguar’s head, eyes glowing a ghastly yellow, and says “And he shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!” The brass then finish the finale as Frollo is “plunged into the fiery pit” himself.
You gotta admit, this is one of the best scenes in the movie. I mean, aside from the bad guy finally meeting a fitting end, the two lovers finally expressing their love for each other, and the outcast who lets them do so…
Man, Frollo has one eeeeeevil laugh. Brilliantly evil.
Into the Sunlight / The Bells of Notre Dame Reprise
Now there’s nothing much to say about the symbolism of this part…since there isn’t really. It’s the music that is played when all the bad things are finally resolved, and the riddle is solved. That’s the part I love, for two reasons.
“What makes a monster and what makes a man?” is the line that Clopin asks the little girl as Quasimodo is carried off by a cheering group of villagers, adding the Aesop’s fable-type ending to the movie (much, MUCH happier than the book). You have to wonder WHAT makes a monster and WHAT makes a man…you can’t always judge a person by how they look. You also hear the Out There theme return at the end. However, there is one other thing I love about this part of the song, and it also happens in the Bells of Notre Dame (opening). As Clopin – or rather, Paul Kandel – sings:
“Whatever their pitch, you
Can feel them bewitch you
The rich and the ritual knells
Of the
Bells of Notre Dame”
Here, watch the video.
You can hear his voice rise higher and higher in pitch until finally he hits the highest note (the one sung on the word “Dame”)…GOOD LORD THAT’S IN THE FREAKING SOPRANO RANGE!!!
Paul Kandel, sir, I have to hand it to you. You have a tenor voice that can reach up into the soprano range. Now I sing on and off, and even I can’t hit that note. That is simply brilliant. Just listen to that! It gives me shivers every time I hear that…here, I’ll post a link to the vid and you can listen to it yourself. Good lord, I just can’t get over that.
Well, in the words of Porky Pig
“Th- th- th- that’s all folks!”
Have a great week :)
Also, apologies for the giant blank spaces before and after the videos. The Blogger.com software was being annoying and bothersome, so it wouldn't let me just set them up like a normal picture. SORRY :(
So a few days ago I saw TRON. Pretty awesome, the CG was amazing, but after coming home and thinking back on the movie itself, I realized I wanted to write a review…and since I’d be WAY behind if I wanted to put this up on my YouTube page I decided to put it here on my blog. So without further adieu, let’s begin!
On my little outline of what I should discuss I put1) Start w/the basics, so I will. Of course, what does that mean? Well, let’s introduce the cast (Actors and Characters)! Jeff Bridges as well as Bruce Boxleitner reprise their rolls as Kevin Flynnand Alan Bradley (respectively). Bridges also starred as Clu and Tron as well. The character of Quorra was played by Olivia Wade (better known as Thirteen on the show HOUSE, so we’ll call her that from now on). We also had Garrett Hedlund playing the son, Sam Flynn, and Michael Sheen playing Castor (Zuse). As for places, most of the movie took place within the TRON game itself, so it was heavy on the CG elements.
Speaking of special effects and computer graphics…let’s go on to the good qualities! The CG and SFX in this movie were ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. The light cycles and jets were very well done, blending with the landscape wonderfully well. Also, the suits were really cool, and the discs too. Wow. I also noticed that, since Jeff Bridges isn’t as young as he used to be, they had to find some way to make Clu (non-aging character) believable (since K. Flynn created Clu when he was younger). So what did they do? They created a CGI K. Flynn to replace him! It’s amazing what they can do with CG these days, it looked very realistic.
Of course, there was something off with his face, since they didn’t use motion tracking like they did in Avatar (his face looked too perfect). In the way of characters, Thirteen was on there! Zuse was also pretty awesome as well…very Frank n’ Furter – like…like a cross between Frank n’ Furter and Eddie Izzard. Well played. However, they didn’t give him enough to do and killed him halfway through the movie. Whoops sorry, spoiler alert!!
And with that statement, let’s move on to the bad qualities. Acting and music were lacking. Severely. Especially by Sam Flynn. Seriously, how many bad one-liners can you put into one person’s script?! Quite a few obviously, and the music, at best, was the repetitive kind you would hear in a first-time sci-fi movie. But now that we’ve discussed the acting and the music, let’s discuss the plot, hm? But first:
SPOILER ALERT!!!
Way too predictable! Sorry, but it was. There were plot holes and twists that I could see from a mile away. so let’s just go through them then!
1.) Kevin Flynn was going to die at the end. He would reintegrate with Clu and kill himself, shutting down the lead bad guy and ending the reign of terror within the game. It just took him a while. However, this confused me. instead of keeping track of Clu and his minions, K. Flynn went into hiding, like Yoda (except way less cool)! At any point, once he realized Clu was destroying everything, hurting people, etcetera, etcetera, he could have gone in and reintegrated. Besides, if he had done it if he was younger, he might have survived reintegration…ah well. Moving on.
2.) Sam Flynn was going to save the day AND get the girl. You saw it coming. Right when Quorra/Thirteen showed up everyone went “Whoop yeah, he’s gonna get her.” Its true! Of course, that’s what always happened. Transformers, any of the Bond movies, and the list goes on. Overly blockheaded (or brave), bad character development, and just plain bad acting really made Sam an understated character.
3.)Quorra/Thirteen was going to be “special”. Saw that coming too! She was going to be some kind of special breed of person, some adopted orphan who learned the ways of uber-break-your-face-with-my-pinky kung foo after her parents were killed by bad guys, something like that. She was an Isomorphic algorithm (ISO), which were special programs that just manifested themselves in the game. However, even though she was one of these, she still managed to get knocked out, beat up, and just sort of pushed aside as S. Flynn bumbled his way through the fight scenes. If she was so cool, why did they give her so little to do?
4.) Rinzler/Tron was going to be a good guy at the end. He was a good guy at the start, and then was reprogrammed to be a program named Rinzler and fight with Clu. Of course, you knew at the end that Tron would resurface and save the heroes from an inevitable crash. However, WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?! At the end, he and Clu have a midair battle and fall spinning into the ocean…then suddenly Rinzler’s suit lights turn from orange to blue!! I mean really, where’d he go?! Is this supposed to be the beginning of the third movie in the series, Tron: Return of Tron or what?! Ugh. So predictable.
5.) Clu was going to be bad all the way through, die at the end, AND be WAY too dramatic. Too bad. Clu (Codified Likeness Utility) could have been an awesome bad guy, but they made Jeff Bridges overact him. He was just…too bad. He also didn’t have a British accent, so he couldn’t pull off the overacting. Like Dr. No!! he could pull it off because he was a Brit (if I remember correctly). Arg, too overdone!!
6.)They gave Alan Bradley nothing to do. Not much else to say about this, he had NOTHING to do in the movie. Seriously nothing. Kinda sad.
All in all, the CG was great, but the plot, characters, and music were severely lacking. All in all I’d give it a 2 ½ or a 3 stars out of five. Maybe 2 ½. Yeah, that one. Sorry guys. Too many plot holes.
So after I received the news of my grandfather's passing I had to reschedule a few tests and miss some reviews so I could be with my family. We got to my grandparent's house on Wednesday afternoon, and it was eerily quiet. I'm used to being there with at least my older cousins there (during the winter) or my little cousins there (during the summer, 'cause they live nearby). But it was just my dad, mom, grandma, and I. Like I said, eerie...and a bit lonely.
Well that night was the viewing. Now a viewing is when people outside of the family (old friends, nurses and other colleagues, patients - my granddad was a pediatric surgeon) can come in and view the body of the person that has died. We (meaning the four people mentioned in the first paragraph) were supposed to stay there for the full five hours. I knew I wouldn't be able to get through the viewing without crying at least once, so when my mum (about 30 minutes in) decided to go get a look at granddad in the coffin, I grabbed her arm and walked in beside her. I had no idea it would affect me as badly as it did. See, some people have to see the dead body to truly let go and let themselves be free. Or something like that, I'm not sure. I'm just positive now that I can't do that, because the minute I came within two yards of that coffin I stopped dead in my tracks and said
"Mom, I'm not going any closer."
She had told me in the car drive back to our house (a day prior) about when her grandmother died. Her family was insistent that she go look in the coffin. Insistent to the point that her father (my grandpa) grabbed her by the arm and tried to drag her in. But she said that the corpse inside was just a husk, something that used to house her grandmother's soul but no longer did. I guess that was my reaction. I hated seeing that: my grandfather, so full of life and funny stories now covered in all the makeup and whatsoever to make them look better after they die. I couldn't stand there and look at him...at it. That's what I said when my mom came to get me out of the other room (which was away from the other people). "I can't look at it mom, it's not him. It's just...just a thing."
I cried, like most other people would, took a few laps around the building in the bitter cold, then came back in and was fine for the rest of the evening. The funeral and service happened the next day and passed quickly, which was just fine with me. I also got a chance to see all my cousins who I won't get to see this Christmas, which was way fun. And even though it seemed like nothing had changed, everyone was still as happy and talkative as ever, I realized something...someone, someone very close to us was missing. there was a hole at the end of the dinner table where he used to sat. Whenever we would say grace he'd squeeze my hand and tease me by poking me with his thumbnail, and I'd respond by doing the same. I'm gonna miss that. There's just an empty chair there, and I can't sit there. I tried, but I couldn't. It hurt too much.
It was funny though...all through the funeral service I had Bob Marley's "Don't Worry Be Happy" running around in my head...a sign maybe? I don't know. He's up there watching us though, keeping an eye on us.
Mom and I boarded the plane today with a sigh of relief to have it finally be over. Or at least I did. It was a late flight, and we reached the city of Dallas just as the Sun was beginning to set over the horizon, casting blood-red and bright orange streaks along the clouds surrounding the city. That whole day I'd just been thinking about what had gone on this week, what was coming up in the next few weeks (finals, meeting old friends, etcetera), and I was worrying. No reason, I'm just a worrier. Then I looked out the window and noticed the Sun's golden rays reflecting off of the many pools and lakes in Dallas, making it seem like someone had taken nuggets of gold and thrown them all over the countryside. It was dazzling, and is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, and the moment I saw that I knew everything was gonna be all right. Meeting the old friends, passing my tests, everything seemed to melt away. "Don't worry, be happy" I hummed, then leaned my head against the window and watched the jewels glitter in the sunset.
Goodnight everyone, good luck on finals (to those of you who have them)!
Truly, it IS something one never likes to think about. Death really is an ugly thing; not how you die, but why it happens. I mean, your heart stops beating, you cease to breathe, all higher brain functions cease, and you begin to rot from the inside out. Its cause of all the bacteria that live in your body, and all the creatures that go "Ooh! Dead meat!! NOM NOM" after you cease to exist. It's a frightening prospect when you think about it, having creatures crawl all over your flesh, in and out of your body, reproducing and eating away at you until you're nothing but a pile of bones stuck in a casket. It's bothersome, thinking that that will happen some day.
Even worse, death takes us by surprise. No matter how ready you think you are for it, learning someone close to you (or just someone you know) has died is like Life pulling back its arm and socking you in the stomach. That's what it feels like. Pure shock. It's kind of like having a baby: you prepare and you prepare, and then you prepare some more, but when the big day comes you go "WTF AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" and then you deal with it. But see, death is harder to cope with because, instead of bringing a new life into the world, life is taken out of the world. Then we have to deal with funerals, caskets, and how to tell the family what happened. When the funeral rolls around, you have a roomful of people sobbing and holding each other, which is just awkward. I've made up my mind though: When I die, I want to be cremated, and have a preacher say a few words, then at the reception, I want plenty of wine and a band playing some good old King Oliver dixieland jazz. Like a New Orleans funeral. None of this "dressing in black and sobbing" stuff.
I'm talking about this because, recently, my grandfather died. Recently being Saturday. We knew it was coming, and we understood that it had to happen, either before or after Christmas. We hoped he would be around till New Year's, but fate has a funny way of going "F*** you!" and kicking your hopes in the groin. I wasn't expecting it. I thought I was in the homestretch, finals were in sight, and last-minute tests in my classes were coming to a close. Then, Saturday, as my friends and I readied ourselves for a drive-through safari, my dad calls. That's weird...dad usually doesn't call this early in the day. I thought. But I picked up the phone, stepped out of the car (we were still in the parking lot), and talked to him. He told me hello, asked me where I was, then proceeded to give the WORST news one could possibly receive on a sunny, cool Saturday morning. "Hey sweets, your granddad died this morning. Went to bed last night and never woke up."
My breath caught, my heart stopped for a split second, and I sort of hung there outside of the car for a minute, not saying anything. I could hear my friends behind me trying to get things set up in the car, so I moved away. I realized I had to get everything with my teachers sorted out by Monday (today) of this week so I could attend the funeral. But through all of that, one thought prevailed. My Granddad is Dead.
After I got off the phone, I just sort of stood there, then moved to the fence and hung over it as I started to cry. My friend walked over and asked me what was wrong, and I dropped the bombshell on her, who immediately wrapped her arms around me and began to walk me over to the car. I didn't discuss it for the rest of the trip.
When I got home that night I vlogged about it, talking about how cool he had been, and how much I would miss him. I wondered whether or not I should have gone up to Nebraska over Thanksgiving weekend to say one last goodbye before...before the inevitable happened. But then I stopped and realized something. I know, right now, he's up there watching me. I may be questioning my faith as a Christian (in truth, I can't really call myself one now), but I think there's an afterlife...and I think he's somewhere, in some other world, watching. Now he can watch me grow, listen to me play piano, and make sure I don't get into any trouble...all of these things he could never watch me do because we lived so far away. And that made me happy.
He had been raised near Foster Creek, NE ("Foster crick" as he would say), and would always tell me funny stories about how once he caught a bear down there, just using a piece of fishing line and a fish. He told me how to catch moose in Colorado (they have a cabin in Grand Lake) by rigging a line that would drop salt on its tail (somehow this would pacify the moose, I have yet to try this). When I was going through my dinosaur craze when I was little, he would tell me he once fought a T-Rex with his bare hands, and took him out with one punch:
"This hand!" he said, pointing to his right one. "This hand took him out. Best be careful. I have a registered license for this hand, it's so dangerous."
I'd say "Granddad, there are no dinosaurs now!"
"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I beat one! But he got away before I could catch 'im." I'd laugh and try to tell him stuff like that didn't exist, but he didn't care. Of course, all of these stories were stories to tease me with (which he would do all the time) and keep me entertained when I was bored. He still told me stories like that even after I got to old to hear them. The last time I spoke to him on the phone (Thanksgiving week), he said he couldn't hear me, so I said "I'll put my mouth closer to the phone, then!" He replied "Be careful! You might bite it! I lost five teeth that way!"
He was a brilliant pediatric surgeon before retirement, was in the Marines, and was probably the most stubborn and headstrong person I've ever known (aside from my dad...his son). By the end he was having people do everything for him: feed him, clothe him, take him to the toilet...an insult to someone with his personality.
I won't remember that though. I'll remember the stories, the smell of pipe smoke and old cologne, the moose-baiting stories and how he once punched out a T-Rex with his bare hands. I'll remember how he always had something nice to say about my piano playing, even when I didn't do that well.
Moreover, I'll remember he was my granddad: I will never forget him, and I will always love him.
To you Granddad - From your Granddaughter with all the love in the world.
A friend of mine was given a task in her senior english class to write a letter of complaint. She decided to do a play on the "Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook" (A Monty Python's Flying Circus Sketch) and write her complaint letter to the publisher of the book. However, the letter itself was shorter than what the rubric specified, so she didn't get as many points as she had expected. Anywho, she decided to give it to me and asked if I would publish it on her blog. I changed a few things, added a few more things in, but most of this is originally her handiwork. Please enjoy this letter written by a good friend of mine (her name will not be mentioned).
The letter is as follows:
November 18, 2010
Szendrey Marika
27 Cale St.
London SW3 3QP
UNITED KINGDOM
Alexander Yalt
Phonetic Phrasebook Company
46 Horton Terrace
London A12 3BC
UNITED KINGDOM
To the Publisher of the Hungarian-To-English Phrasebook:
I am concerned about the functions of your latest product, the Hungarian-To-English phrasebook, and what effect they may have on visiting Hungarian tourists.
I live in Kensington and recently discovered that a close friend of mine would be staying with me for a few weeks. She hails from Kecskemét, a city in Hungary, but wished to learn a few English phrases (rather than have me be her interpreter). So, on the date of November 2, 2010 I purchased a Hungarian-To-English Phrasebook from your internet store, and when the book arrived from the post on my front doorstep I decided to take a quick peek inside. I soon became aware of some very severe (and vulgar) defects.
I was shocked! The simple phrase “May I buy that book of matches?” in Hungarian was translated as “My hovercraft is full of eels.” in English. As well, the phrase asking to buy a pack of cigarettes was translated “I will not buy this record, it is scratched.” I flipped through the book only to realize how lewd the translations became, the worst being: “Do you want to come back to my place, bouncy bouncy?” (The Hungarian phrase being “How much will that cost?”). I later observed a Hungarian tourist using the book at a tobacconist’s shop, only to see the same tourist dragged from the tobacco shop by a policeman spouting such phrases as “My nipples explode with the light!” which I can only guess is some twisted form of “I am innocent.” Though many bystanders found it quite entertaining (one even going to far as to say “It’s bloody brilliant!”) and laughed at the poor man’s expense, I was disgusted.
Being a speaker of both English and Hungarian, I am outraged at the imbecility and immaturity this phrasebook presents. I am convinced that this book will cause no end of troubles in the Hungarian tourist community, and I suggest you recall all books of this type and republish them, this time with accurate translations of the phrases. I will be sending this letter not only to your company but to neighboring bookstores as well, warning them not to sell your book until it has been completely revamped.
Hi there everyone! So I'm back, and I'm here to talk about something I read on the internet today. I found it on Facebook (because there are some GREAT links there :) ) and I wanted to share it with you all. Cop's Wife of Nerdy Apple Bottom wrote a blog post recently about her son. This details how her five-year-old boy, an avid fan of Scooby Doo, decided to dress up as Daphne for Halloween. Her son expresses concern that "people will laugh at him...[and] their laughter would be of the 'making fun' kind". However, its not the children that are bothered by the costume, but the parents (the other mothers). She makes the comment that, were it a girl dressed up in a boy's costume, no one would care, and that started me thinking ("A dangerous past time" as LeFou would say).
Recently we've been learning about sex and gender in our sociology class, and one of our topics was "gender roles". Now gender roles are attitudes, behaviors, and activities defined as appropriate for each sex and learned through the socialization process (taken straight from my textbook). Now why is it more socially acceptable to dress like this:
This is one of the few pics I could find of a cross dressing
woman. It's a pretty awesome tux she's wearing, too!
Rather than like this:
For those of you native Austinites, you'll know this man as Leslie
Cochran, a local celebrity of sorts. He is WAY AWESOME!
Its just a bit bothersome that people make such a big fuss about how people in this day and age should dress.
Granted, parents from the past generation look on today's culture and think "Why in God's Name are Hot pants coming back into style?". I know my parents do, and in a way so do I (hotpants...you'd never catch me wearing them...) but I try not to go straight up and say "Hey, those look absolutely hideous on you and everyone else wearing them" (no I don't think that, they work on some people...very few...).
Anywho.... if Cop's Wife is reading this (though I doubt she will be, no one has read my blog or commented yet to my knowledge) I just have this to say:
Tell your little boy he looks absolutely ADORABLE in that costume! Go for it, wear whatever you want, and don't be afraid of who you are. You're awesome!
That last line sounded incredibly cheesy, no? Sorry...
