Oddly I don’t have any Marvel Avengers t-shirts, so I can’t take a pic of me in my comic book geeky excitement… I guess that will have to wait until I get one, or when the next Batman or Superman films come out.

Speaking of Marvel goodness, has anyone seen the new Disney XD Marvel line up? This past weekend I watched the new Ultimate Spider-Man with Nick Fury AND Avengers, with a little retro Marvel Mash-Up in between, I had to remind myself I was watching a kids channel instead of a “This is only for Dawn”.

(again, articles and blogging are kept minimal for the next several weeks)

Current Mood: chipper

Birds In Spaaa-aaaa-aaace

Yes I was an Angry Birds snob for the longest time, but I’m not one who is set in my ways. A year or so after the debut and hype of the game, I finally played the version on Chrome. I got the appeal and addiction; once I made it through rehab… I happened across “Seasons”. I figured one little try wouldn’t hurt- now my addiction is in full swing again.

I am near the end of Seasons 2011 and I was about to get my self stoked for the current year when I stumbled upon “Ice Bird”.

The bird turns concrete into ice, thus (probably) allowing the blue birds to swoop down and BREAK THEM ALL!!!!!!

I love the birds. I’m currently writing a song about my awesome love for them. It goes something like, “I love angry birds, and they’re not really angry… but they make me angry… and in my masochistic way… I liiiiiiiiiiike that! Oooooh angry birds, you make me happily angry and I LOOOVE… OOOOOOOOOVE you.”

 Of course being the addict I am, I downloaded the Birds in Spaaa-aaaa-aaaa-ce game. Now I’m actively playing two versions and I need to pull up old FB photos to remember what my loved ones look like. As for the cats, I think they’ve pretty much started their own ‘Lord of the Flies’ (from what I’ve glanced at it’s quite interesting).

The Birds in Spaaa-aaaaa-aaace terrain is incredible! It’s topsy turvy wacky bliss. I’m going to write another song later tonight about it.

Current Mood: chipper

Oscar Night

Love it, hate it, leave it… but you can have a freakishly fun time watching the Oscars if you ignore a few key things:

1. Screw the judges. Don’t try to find rhyme, reason or taste in their decisions. The academy is made up of over 5,000 people who rarely see eye to eye with me and obviously have a difference in opinion (for the most part) of what good cinema is.

2. Ignore the “A List”, “B List” …over paid puppets who make more than you ever will in multiple lives (if you believe in that). I don’t care what they wear, who they show up with or what they’re doing afterwards.

3. Hosting… I don’t care too much about who is MC’ing the night; for one, nothing can beat the Hugh Jackman opening number in 2009. Period.

The night is about winning; your win, not theirs.

The first thing you need to do is print up the nominee list and make your selection. It doesn’t matter if you’ve seen the films, believe in the films or even like the films; this isn’t about heart it’s about the prizes.

Okay, maybe the first thing you need to do is find someone willing to place bets as well. Once you’ve found that person, then of the 24 categories there are to choose from you need to find 24 prizes. The best way to go about it is to divide up the prize purchasing, that way you’re at least guaranteed to win at least one surprise (lesson learned and will be applied next year).

Place the prizes in paper bags (decorated or not, it’s your choice). This year the prize addition was last minute so I just bought a bunch of lunch bags, made sure the prizes would fit in the bags and then after stuffing them I had Geoff number them off randomly. Next year I might dress it up a little more unless I procrastinate again.

Set the bags aside and put on your favorite glam outfit. I chose my tiara first; a nice little tiara and earring set that was found in my local grocery store kids aisle- $3.99 plus tax. Yes, I go all out for the awards.

The next thing I did was throw on an evening gown over my lounge pants and then secured my tiara to my up-sweep using bobby pins. I was styling baby, ohhhh yeah. I chose a green oriental long, body fitting number and some left over beads from Mardi Gras (don’t worry, I didn’t degrade myself for the beads… Geoff bought them for whatever reason, so I made him work for the beads… and then took them after Mardi Gras was over with).

My date wore a sleek fedora, black dress shirt, tie, and pajama bottom loungy pants with blue slippers… Mmmm sehxsey!

Try to remain sane and not overly competitive. It’s just a night (and yet another good reason why I’m not allowed I don’t watch sports to bet on.

Yes I may have freaked a little when I looked at the time and saw the channel was tuned into something that was not the event. “It’s 7:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHANGGGGGGGGGGGGE IT!” “Don’t scroll!!! CLICK ‘LAST’! Click ‘LAST!’” (I originally set it up so that all you had to was hit ‘last’ on the remote control… Perhaps I should have told someone other than myself.)

The opening number started and while it was a kind of cool (in an “It’s been done a zillion times via AA and MTV Movie Awards), I realized that my green oriental dress was a little too form fitting for a night of sitting in loungy pants and pigging out on finger foods and brownies. I needed material to hide the bloat.

I did a quick change into a low cut red number (with loungy pants), threw on a shawl and took my place back on the sofa. I adjusted my tiara and got ready to sweep the night! By the time I came back the opening number was complete and the competition had begun. I don’t care *who* wins, as long as I win.

Here are the rules:

1. You cannot show your list to the other person before the show starts. Once the show starts there are changes, there’s no changing the picks. The pen you used to make your selection has to be put away and a new color can be brought out to mark the winnings and category read off.

2. If you win a category, you get to a pick a bag number and claim your prize. Yes your competitor can also win the category and they too can claim a prize. On the off chance that both of you are doing well and the bag number dwindles significantly, no one wins the prize- the bag goes back in the pool and who ever wins the next category can claim two prizes.

3. Ahead of time pick one mega category. It cannot be one of the “main” categories such as “Best Film/Actor/Actress/Director”. Our category this time was “Best Animated Short”. Granted the main prize may be won early on, but with all the little prizes, it makes the loser not feel like such a loser; or it makes the winner an even more pompous ass if they sweep the rest of the night.

My Bounty- And Sore Loser

To make it a little more painful to lose- Geoff had decided to push ups for every one he lost and arm curls with weights for each one I got correct. You can do additional things to the bags like he did; or you can be like me and just enjoy the simple prizes and not sweating.

The point of the game? You get to dress up silly, win prizes, and do something that makes the night fly by. While the winners are giving their acceptance speech you’re either opening up your prize or scrambling to get your nominee sheet up to date.

How did MY night go? I won 11 to 10!!!! And I got to do the “I Am The Champion” song and dance that I tend to do when I win, especially by such a small margin.

What did I win? Most everything I bought at a Valentine clearance sale. ^_^

Current Mood: Silly

Instead of calling authorities, when I had the opportunity to use my phone, I texted Geoff, “Semi on fire”. He wrote back possibly assuming I was referring to traffic and a delay in getting home, “Is it bad?”. I read his response and started to think about that question, “Is it bad?”

I wanted to write back initially reiterating, “Semi on fire.” Of course it was bad… a giant semi is on fire. Fire. It’s on fire. Gas tanks. BOOM! Then a quick flash back on my past six months here and that what was new for me was old hat for everyone else. Examples: My heart nearly explodes from the fear of the tornadoes closing in on the area during my first month. For me that was horrifying, for everyone else… “Meh”. Thunder and lightning striking all around while I feel like it’s the end of the world and I want to cower in a back corner until all the bad flashes of light and crashing noises go away. I’m terrified and when I express my fear to anyone local, “Meh.” My commutes are a nightmare, people zipping in and out all around- any given random day I spot at least two crushed over turned vehicles and consider my lucky, like I have a new lease on life every time I pull into my parking space. To me it’s a crazy nerve wracking adventure just to go to and from work, to everyone else here… “Meh.” Months of over 100 sweltering degree weather; where I come from it’s a disaster if we have it more than three days in a row… here it was… Okay, well that was historical for Texas.

I read his question again, “Is it bad?” I honestly didn’t know. By Dallas/Ft. Worth standards it was probably lame. I didn’t drive the other half of the major roads here, maybe there was a semi on fire every hour. It started to hit me that the cars were driving extremely casual, it was almost as if it were just an over turned construction cone to them. While I’m freaking out in my head, “IT IS GOING TO EXPLODE!!!!!!!!!!!” and trying to get as far away as I could, they were very calm and casual. It was like they knew “Well the fire is only minimal, no explosion for at least ten minutes, and by then the fire will go out by itself.

Of course my mind was too busy playing some sort of weird 6 month montage that by the time it ended I was driving at a normal speed and I was unable to respond to the text that prompted all those flashbacks.  I concluded that I was just a wimp and continued home. I walk in the door and said, “I don’t know if it was bad!”

Come to find out he thought it was a situation that was under control and I was referring to traffic. In that case, “No, the traffic was not bad… CONSIDERING THERE WAS A TICKING TIME BOMB!” I quickly logged onto the local news sites and saw no mention of it. Apparently here it is a “Meh.” occurrence.

Okay, here’s some quick Halloween themed shots I took since I don’t have a real costume thought up yet and I may forget to post anything before the holiest of holy days…

Now onto a gem that I happened across (actually Netflix shoved it down my throat via Watch Now, until I watched it), Raising Hope.

I first thought it was going to be a raunchy “Let’s push the envelope with vulgarity and stupidity.” type of show. I was actually quite surprised by how likable the characters are, how gentle the story is and wonderful a show I had been missing for the past year. “Jimmy becomes a single parent to an infant after the mother he had a one-night stand with ends up on death row.”

Without giving much away, it’s show about Chance. It’s a show about families making due with what they have, and what this peculiar family has is a strong bond, deep love and understanding of each other… it’s just the rest of the world that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Anything that initially bothered me about the story/characters/relationships, all started to resolve itself.

Young parents become young grandparents with a coming of age son (who should have come of age years ago) becomes a dad, and they all live in a small little home that is owned by their Alzheimer afflicted Grandma/Great Grandma/Great Great Grandma played wonderfully be Cloris Leachman (Betty White who?).

I am so happy that a night of the mundane brought to view this little gem and I HOPE that this one survives a little bit longer. It’s breath of odd fresh air.

…It gets better.

Current Mood: Thankful & Flirtatious & Crazy!

How did this happen? Console gaming has even lost its appeal since I had completed a game over a year ago that not many others could stand up against, and I’m completely not the smartphone game app type of person, or even silly mindless Facebook games that have already claimed the minds of so many near and dear to me. My fiance had come down with a minor case despite my scoffing and failed attempts at remedying his outbreak. I had heard about the game and I thought it seemed too simple and a waste of complete time. There was no way I’d even give it a second glance. I had gone over a year successfully avoiding the virus and I felt I was in the clear.

Enter in a free Chrome version. Chrome. I love Chrome. I’m the ultimate Chrome fan girl and when I saw it on the latest extensions page, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a harmless little try, after all it was free and limited to only one complete level.

I even stayed somewhat clear from it, only having Geoff play it and then I’d clean up levels.

I made sure to say during every game play “This is stupid… I’m only playing to beat your score and to tidy up the one and two stars to three stars.” It worked. There was no attachment and I couldn’t care less if the game crashed and I was to never see it again.

As soon as I had forgotten the silly nonsense game, Geoff had me take over a level that was driving him crazy on his paid iPhone app. Once more I took over the duty of thrusting little birds into planks of ice, wood, and concrete; only this time I forgot to say “This is stupid…”

I soon caught myself in a download trance on my Android and frustrated that it only had the locked version available. The next thing I know I’m searching through the Angry Birds website begging, “I’m willing to pay!!!! I need to PLAY!”

I am not a woman who is known for her patience and I was happy to find a PC version of the game that was more than happy to take my card information and allow me endless hours of thrusting and crushing.

Three weeks after it began, other than work, I’m confined to the home in my pajamas throwing birds until the three stars appear on the screen and I can continue on to the next stage.

Why is this game so addicting? I think it’s a great life lesson that distracts you from life. The easier it looks, the more difficult it is. The challenges fill you with a sense of accomplishment when you crush all the pigs that try to steal your eggs. It’s exactly like real life! Once you get three stars and get golden eggs, you know that can handle anything life has to offer (which is absolutely nothing since you’re avoiding any issues and problems by hiding out all day and night).

Angry birds allows you to get rewarded for flipping the bird to pigs. I find that gratifying.

Currently I’m on the last stage of level13 (trying to get three stars so I can confidently move on to the 14th level) and trying to convince myself all the wonderful and creative things I could be doing with all my precious time that I will never be able to get back. Sadly I keep telling myself the negative aspects of all the things I think I could be doing with my precious time in order to justifying flinging another pixelated bird at cowardly thieving pigs.

If you are one of the lucky ones who has managed to keep yourself immune; under no circumstance should you even try it out. Is it worth catching? Yes, without a doubt… I think. Be better than me. I may have lost friends and loved ones over this; I won’t really know until I complete the game… and I’m not even quite sure if all my bills are paid or the last time I fed my child. I think it was recently since he’s sitting there telling me to step away from the computer; he doesn’t look malnourished and the cats are still alive.

Current Mood: Sick

After a lengthy discussion about how “A strong female being in it” is not something that would cause me to watch a film because…
A. Either the female is dressed like a slut and made to act like a guy.
B. The female acts like a guy and dresses like a slut.

Seriously, would men want to see chick flicks if the men were casted as half naked hard bodies who acted over sensitive? Would women even care to see that? No. For the most part I like a good story- sadly most of them nearly have an all male cast who are realistic looking with women conjured up for the male audience. Hollywood won’t change so it will always be my non-indie flick pet peeve.

Regardless of if a girl was in the movie or not I ultimately decided that I wanted to see it and not even an hour into the movie (or maybe it was an hour, who knows any more), I couldn’t stand it any longer.

I quickly tried to surf the net to see if something was wrong with me. Was I alone in my annoyance of the film? Apparently I was.

The direction was horrible. The cast of characters were disconnected, there was no rapport or chemistry. The girl rambled off lines as if she was the smart kid who went out for the school play (smart based on her ability to read or memorize). Her eyes had nothing behind them as she rambled off lines she had no connection with. I saw her focus on the movement of her lips as if she was told to ‘enunciate’ or some how correct a mistake that almost lost her a part. I could not move past it.

Jeff Bridges mumbled and grumbled incoherently through his lines, Matt Damon was merely going through the motions and it felt as if the three of them were in three different films and awkwardly or blindly interacting with each other.

This apparently wasn’t the popular opinion of the film since nearly everything I read had the girl as brilliant and the only complaint was Bridges grumbling his lines.

I didn’t *hate* what I saw of the film and I did feel as if I didn’t give it a fair view. I was planning on watching it at a later date when I wasn’t ending a weekend but Geoff (my boyfriend) let me know it wasn’t bad (he watched it this morning) but I’m not really missing anything if I skip watching it. Instead I’m going to give The King’s Speech a watch (according to him it’s a must see that I missed).

I wouldn’t place True Grit in my list of “Mention these movies to me and you’re guaranteed to see me pull out the soap box and go off on a LONG and painful lecture on WHY these movies are hated by me.”

The list of my ‘DO NOT MENTION’:
1. Crash
2. Signs
3. The Happening (pretty much anything M. Night Shymalan)
4. The Piano (it’s a short rant… mainly having to do with Harvey Keitel’s junk… I was young and traumatized)
5. Happy Feet

There’s probably more; those are the ones that pop up immediately.

I did see and like Hot Fuzz. It was a film I put off for awhile because I mistook it for another flop I didn’t care to see “Super Troopers”. It’s not a ‘must see’, but if you’re wanting something fun, warming and gentle(ish); I suggest you pick it up and give it a watch.

Enough about film…

Last weekend Geoff and I went to the Ripley museum and in the gift shop I could not pass up a mood necklace. Yes you can get it at nearly any store, probably including your local 7-11, but  I saw it there and I had to get one for myself and Geoff’s mom.

Think about it- a female, ANY female who has a mood necklace (that falls ABOVE the bust line) is the perfect indicator to know how to approach them.

I think the designs are fine as is, however, I would would change the chart:

Red: I’m on edge. It’s best to just smile and approach with caution. A sincere generic compliment would be preferred right now, nothing specific or I’ll question your motives.
Black: I am upset over something I suspect you’re doing, might do, or did a year ago.
Blue: I’m zen, rational and approachable. Let’s discuss relaxing or fun stuff… hell, we can even make out!
Yellow: I’m FINE! I’m searching in my head for something to be upset about. Do not give me ammo.
Gray: I’m ugly. I’m fat. I’m not as good as anyone. My finances are horrible. I can’t cook. I can’t clean! I’m insecure!!! I’m frazzled. HUG ME!
Pink: The world is ending and it’s all my fault!!! Tell me how great I am and how good I’m doing… with anything.
Orange: On the sofa… in the room… in the shower… NOW! Or let’s rob a bank!!! Or… give me your keys so I can go drag racing!!!
Brown: I’m FINE! I’ll be fine once I know what you’re up to… once that chick loses her teeth… once that stupid driver DIES IN A FIERY WRECK
Yellow: I would like to make out, make something awesome, or just talk all fun and crazy like! Let’s play!!!
Purple: You… me… let’s get it ON!
Green: I really am fine this time!

 He puts up with so much…

Current Mood: Buddha

“Sometimes it’s GOD telling you to make the first move.” Really? What else does ‘God‘ tell you to do?

I have so many problems with this that it’s difficult to focus my annoyance and let the world know how moronic I think this is.

A Christian dating site that has its ad run on MSNBC and other stations here. Yes, mentally ill people do need to find love and perhaps it’s wrong for me to think they should all be sterilized and not raising the next wave of fundy nut jobs (granted not all Christians are COMPLETE nut jobs, fundy or right wing; I do think though that this site was geared for the annoying gnats of society).

Annoying gnats? Did I just write that? How inappropriate of me. I meant gnats in the nicest way. The clueless masses that creep in and kind of hover over nearly aspect of the United States society and no matter how much you try to shoo them away they keep coming back. No true direction, no real knowledge, nothing but mindlessly annoying those who are just trying to get from point A to point B in life and enjoy the scenery now and then… without little annoying gnats floating around.

I’m all for the finding of love, but don’t freaking put it on my channels in my living room. Television is no longer free, show some freaking consideration for all customers and viewers.

From the site:

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalms 37:4

Why join Christian Mingle?

If you have considered trying Christian Dating online, Christian Mingle is the site for you. Christian Mingle is the online community created specifically for Christian singles looking to find friends, romance or marriage. Hundreds of thousands of single Christians have joined us, so what are you waiting for? Join Christian Mingle. Now that’s a lovely thought. A horde of grown ups talking about their love and devotion for a silly superstition that runs their lives.

Statement of Christian Faith

The basis for our faith is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Lord and Savior of the world and God’s written Word, the Bible. We believe that embracing what God said allows us to live in freedom, joy, and purpose. God’s written word that was written by man. …exactly.

The Lord Jesus Christ

We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles -We are afraid to think for ourselves. We heard about this silly made up story at some point in our lives and must believe and follow it like brainless idiots. We cannot do anything without for divine intervention. The voice we hear is our own inner voice and I guess that’s just too much to accept and understand. 

About ChristianMingle.com

ChristianMingle.com Where We Bring Christian Singles Together. At ChristianMingle.com we’re more than just a site for Christian dating, we’re a Christian personals community where you can find singles that share your values and love for God in Christ. We are always working to help you build a strong relationship with other Christian singles. Because the rest of the world thinks you’re a freaking nut job and in a normal society you feel intimidated by intellect or you’re conned and manipulated often because you’re a freaking moron. At Christian Mingle, you’re ALL idiots! It’s like a huge Roman orgy only with no sex, booze, or decent conversation. A giant sexless orgy of stupid.

This is an ideal destination for Christian men and women to find friends, dates, and even soul mates, all within the faith. In just minutes, you can create a profile and be ready to mingle with other members in your area. Our vast membership base and user-friendly interface make ChristianMingle.com a source of Christian romance around the world. When creating your profile, consider what you want to get out of this online dating and chatting experience. Share your goals as well as interests, favorite Bible passages, and explore other profiles to see what you have in common with other Christian singles. Enjoy chatting or instant messaging about current events, movies, music, dating experiences, how you came to find Christ, and other topics you are comfortable talking about. Online community networking and dating is fun, safe, and customizable. You control who you interact with and how much you share about yourself. Trust God and your God-given instincts to guide you through this experience. Find out how easy it is to get to know other Christian singles in your area by joining ChristianMingle.com. If you venture outside of “the faith” then your ignorance would be replaced with knowledge and you would shun your silly belief system because it’s… well… dumb.

 Enjoy our Christian chat rooms, instant messenger, message boards, Bible verse of the day, searchable Bible, and many other great features. We even have Christian dating tips! Free Christian dating service added features like these are a unique part of the ChristianMingle.com member package and user experience. Use them to connect with Christian singles in new ways and learn about yourself, your goals, and your walk with Christ at the same time. Sign up today to start enjoying the Christian community at Christianmingle.com Ooooh I want to see their dating tips! I bet the being on the knees has absolutely nothing to do with what I think it does, but I bet there’s a lot of it.

Just remember little fundy nutty Christians… God IS WATCHING YOU. On your date, in your bathroom and in your dreams! If you’re thinking any nasty little thoughts that have to do lust, it’s the devil trying to tempt you into being a bad little whore in order to lure you into the eternal flames of HELL! Remember also that even if you don’t act upon those implanted thoughts, merely by entertaining them, you’re bad and will be sent to hell so ask for forgiveness often you horny little hell bound sinners.

Now stop invading my television!

Me: “Okay, if we go to the noon or one o’clock showing, I can unroll the the windows, put on the heat visor… maybe crank the A/C for a few and then we can quickly pile into the car and rush into the building where I will freeze my ass off for any where between one hour forty minutes to two hours and ten minutes, as long as the end time is before five when temps reach their highest. We’ll have to speed home, if a cop tries to pull us over are you prepared to step on it and possibly drive into the Grand Canyon with me?”

The first film was ‘Captain America’. Now in all honesty I didn’t pay attention to Captain America until I went to Comic-Con ’08 and taped the ‘Legends’ panel that was for press only. Listening to Joe Simon discuss the creation, story and having Stan Lee chime in of course piqued my interest. It still wasn’t quite my idea of a must see, but it was also a ‘need to see’ in preparation for next years ‘The Avengers’ which is God Whedon’s project, and even if he had nothing to do with it; it’s a film I’ve been waiting a very long time for. Very long time for… like even before I knew what comics were or film for that matter.

Captain America played by Chris Evans. Another superhero film that expects us to forget the actor played a significant role in a different superhero film that isn’t the film we are watching. It’s hard to ignore that Captain America is really The Human Torch. I guess since Captain American has been around longer, he’s really The Human Torch, actually I believe Torch came first… but not really… Still… I kept expecting him to shout, “FLAME ON!” That actually would have been pretty cool!

I saw it a couple of weeks ago so I’m going to pull from my really bad memory- Captain America, the first Avenger who I believe is the last to complete the cast: Take us back to WW2 with Steve Rogers, a scrawny little guy who wishes desperately to serve his country is a man of mind, heart and courage. Unfortunately he’s physically not fit to be a soldier. Thanks to a special top secret experiment and being the right type of candidate for it, he becomes ‘Captain America’! Presto, he’s the perfect soldier who is quickly thrown into more of a ‘boost the countries morale’ type of figure.

Throw in a very charismatic Howard Stark who provides top of the line technology ability who assists in making us one of the first Avengers.

Lurking around is the evil and sadistic Johann Schmidt (played wonderfully by Hugo Weaving) a Nazi nightmare who Captain America winds up breaking free from his troupe and… well… I’d rather not give much more away for those who haven’t seen it. All I can say is… stay until after the credits finish rolling (you do stay to watch all the credits, right? All the wo/men who work so hard on a film and deserve their mentions to be read- please tell me you stay regardless of whether or not there’s an added treat afterwards.)

I give it 3 and a half katanas.

Next on my list is X-Men: First Class.

We were a little late getting to the theater; well actually we were on time, but by the time I finished going to grab popcorn and soda, the film had already started. On the screen it showed a young boy in Poland… I squealed “MAGNETO!” then took my seat.

I was going to write my own synopsis, but this is where the lazy comes in further (I’m tired right now) so you get the massive Wiki one and then I’ll write my take.

At a German concentration camp in occupied Poland in 1944, scientist Dr. Schmidt[6] observes young Erik Lensherr bend a metal gate with his mind when the child is separated from his parents. In his office, Schmidt orders Lensherr to similarly move a coin on a desk, and kills his mother when the child cannot. In his grief and anger, Lensherr’s magnetic power manifests, killing two guards and destroying the room, to Schmidt’s delight.
At a mansion in Westchester County, New York, young telepath Charles Xavier meets homeless young shape-shifter Raven. Overjoyed to meet someone else “different” like him, he invites her to live with his family.
In 1962, an adult Lensherr is tracking down Schmidt to take revenge. In England, Oxford University graduate Xavier is publishing his thesis on mutation; Raven, now his foster sister, lives with him. In Las Vegas, CIA agent Moira MacTaggert follows US Army Colonel Hendry into the Hellfire Club, where she sees Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, and Azazel. After Shaw threatens Hendry, Azazel disappears with the officer; moments later Hendry is in the War Room, advocating that the US install nuclear missiles in Turkey. Shaw later kills Hendry, revealing himself as Schmidt and demonstrating the energy-absorbing mutant power that has de-aged him.
MacTaggert, seeking Xavier’s advice on mutation, convinces him and Raven to join her at the CIA, where they convince Director McCone that mutants exist and Shaw is a threat. The unnamed “Man in Black Suit”, another CIA executive, sponsors the mutants and invites them to the CIA’s secret “Division X” facility. Xavier locates Shaw, arriving in time to stop Lensherr, who had attacked Shaw, from drowning as Shaw escapes. Xavier brings Lensherr to Division X, where they meet young scientist Hank McCoy, a prehensile-footed mutant whom Xavier inadvertently outs as a mutant. McCoy, developing a bond with Raven, promises her he will find a way to normalize their appearance. Xavier uses a mutant-locating device, Cerebro, to find and recruit mutants for training to stop Shaw. He and Lensherr find stripper Angel Salvadore; taxi driver Armando Muñoz, who takes the code name Darwin; Army prisoner Alex Summers, who calls himself Havok; and Sean Cassidy, who dubs himself Banshee. Raven takes the name Mystique. She also dubs Charles “Prof. X” and Erik “Magneto.”
When Frost meets with a Soviet general in the USSR, Xavier and Lensherr capture her. Meanwhile, Azazel, Riptide and Shaw attack Division X, killing everyone but the young mutants and offering them the chance to join him. Angel accepts; when Darwin tries to fight back, Shaw kills him. With the facility destroyed, Xavier takes the mutants to train at his family mansion. McCoy devises protective uniforms and a stealth jet. In Moscow, Shaw compels the general to have the Soviet Union install nuclear missiles in Cuba.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, US President John F. Kennedy institutes a blockade to stop a Soviet freighter from moving the nuclear missiles to Cuba. Shaw, wearing a helmet that foils Xavier’s telepathy, accompanies the Soviet fleet to ensure the missiles arrive, trying to trigger World War III and achieve mutant ascendency. Raven goes to seduce Lensherr, who convinces her to embrace her nature as a mutant. Later, McCoy offers Raven his cure for her appearance, but she refuses. The cure backfires on McCoy, rendering him a leonine beast. Though ashamed of his new appearance, he pilots the mutants and MacTaggert to the blockade line. In an ensuing battle with Shaw, Lensherr takes the helmet for himself, allowing Xavier to immobilize Shaw. Despite Xavier’s objections, Lensherr kills Shaw by forcing the Nazi coin through his brain, thus avenging his murdered mother, and displays his body to the mutants.
Fearing the mutants, the fleets fire their missiles at them. In a struggle, Xavier keeps Lensherr from destroying the fleets with the missiles, but when MacTaggert fires at Lensherr, a deflected bullet hits Xavier in the spine. Lensherr, remorseful, leaves with Mystique, Angel, Riptide and Azazel. A wheelchair-bound Xavier and the mutants return to the mansion, where he intends to open a school. MacTaggert promises never to reveal his location and they kiss; at the CIA later, she says she has no clear memory of recent events. Lensherr, in a uniform with the helmet and calling himself Magneto, breaks Frost from confinement.

My petty thoughts- I was a little annoyed by the lack of female attire. For one, it was freezing in the theater and while the men are fully clothed and looking quite warm, the women are in micoskirts. It’s comic book land though, unless the women are scantily clad, they’re not allowed to be in the club. Any way, in my shivering “COME ON- at least crank on the heat to a comfortable 35F instead of the obvious (obvious due to the penguins stage diving) -15F!!!” It made the skirts seem possibly even shorter than they were, considering I was wearing one not much longer.

I’ve always like Magneto, in all honesty; and it was nice seeing his , Xavier’s, Mystique’s, Beast’s and other origins in a live action flick. Bring on the next one!

4 katanas.

Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the Second Dimension

BRILLIANT! This was BY FAR the best movie of the summer.

Perry’s worst fear comes true when Phineas and Ferb finds out that he is in fact Secret Agent P, but that soon pales in comparison during a trip to the 2nd dimension where Perry finds out that Dr. Doofenshmirtz is truly evil and successful. Written by smcarter1966

5 katanas. If you’re a Phineas and Ferb fan, or just a fan of clever writing with a Joss Whedon type “Just shut up and the story will answer your questions.” then it’s a summer/winter/spring/fall/slushy break up season/full moon/weekend/any day ending with ‘day’ type of film for you. Seriously. I loved it and I don’t want to go into massive details because it’s now after nine and I am logging off!

Current Mood: Amused

Buffy, the creation of God Whedon is still a show I rotate on my DVD player/stream through Netflix now and then.

My latest round of viewing was to catch my boyfriend up on the part of the entertainment world that I actually do like and an annoyance in the atheist ‘community’ has had me pull out my feminist soap box (if you know what I’m talking about… I sided with Dawkins. Girl wouldn’t know a feminist issue if it… well, I’ll save for a later if I need to go there again).

My initial draw to Buffy was a summer of boredom. It was after Season Two had just ended and I had avoided that show due to the film association that gave it a bad rep. I didn’t want to see some airhead cheerleader slay vamps with poor acting and dialogue. I didn’t want to watch a dumb high school drama and ‘Buffy’… what kind of name was ‘Buffy’?

My life plate was full with raising two kids, one at that time was more frequently in and out of hospitals for major and minor operations; I was rallying with the special needs communities for accessibility to the community (you don’t think how poorly constructed a city is until you have to maneuver it with a wheelchair, and since at that time I didn’t have a car yet some of the sidewalks or lack of made things tough… but we didn’t whine, we made changes.)

By that point, even at that young age, I had a lot of life already lived from Alaska to Oregon; as a woman, single mother since I was 16, quadriplegic child, absence of Christian faith and being cursed with incredible good looks I had no tolerance for flaky or weak females- or men for that matter. Xena didn’t interest me and most everything else out at that time had no appeal.

I had just gotten out of a month long stay at the hospital with my son and with him being in a spica cast that went from his arm pits to his toes so we didn’t really have any place that to be that summer.

I guess in order to prep for the up coming season they were doing a two season marathon and boredom and lack of things to do got me caught up rather quickly. What was the appeal other than boredom? I guess in a way I related to a young woman at a young age quickly had to take on the world- but did it with style and a humorous ensemble. She was quirky, awkward and clueless about love and life regardless of physical strength or situation endurance.

Yes, some of the concerns they wrote for her were superficial and shallow, but so were some of mine. I was drawn in and saw the show as something I could watch with my daughter (sometimes awkwardly) and for my son he was used to being around strong females, he liked it immediately and told me that I was like Buffy. Granted, me bleaching my hair blond, wearing a crucifix and thrusting wooden stakes in pretty much everything assisted with his comparison… even though it took a few months of doing such and answering the phone “Hi, this is Buffy… the Vampire Slayer… Jonathon, did you hear me?” Don’t judge.

Basically yes- in America we live in a much better world than woman did even fifty years ago. We can report it and have it taken seriously if you beat us, rape us, flat out deny us work if we’re female (because we are of child bearing age, and yes that happened to me too), are sexually harassed at work. Unfortunately in my life time some of the laws didn’t come into effect until right after the fact, but the world around us continues to get better for human rights as long as we don’t remain quiet and passive. We are able to, and are encouraged to build up our strengths and defenses to protect ourselves should anything bad come our way so we can prevent it or at least have the mental strength to come out of it not being a vegetable.

Through the Buffy vehicle, a lot of issues were hit upon as the years progressed and you could tell there were strong female writers (my favorite was Marti Noxon). Writers (male and female) who ‘got it’ and didn’t write for sensationalism or mainstream. They had something to say and they said it through the dialogue, having the characters give a certain look that said so much more than words could.

The show didn’t try to be brainy, it didn’t try to overly campy, it didn’t try to be anything more than real… as real as you could get for slaying vamps/demons and just about anything else you could imagine.

It had wit, subtle humor and little observations that you could relate to or hit upon something that assisted you in your own life dealings. The additional thing it gave you that other shows lacked was its quirky group of underdog friends that you found attractive through personality and dynamics as time went on. Each character had their own struggles and vehicles for growth and I don’t think there was anyone I was wishing away or didn’t cheer on.

The show didn’t insult your intellect and at the same time you didn’t need a dictionary sitting beside you in order to understand it. It wasn’t arrogant or pompous and at one time or another, it gave everyone a soul.

Watching the show causes me to say what I said when it ended almost ten years ago… there’ll never be another one like it again, and there hasn’t been.

R.I.P. Buffster- I miss you. As for God Whedon… YEE TO AVENGERS!!!

And now to give you something to watch. I saw this on Huff-Post today in a blog and I just have to say to Dar Williams, thank you. The song brought back so many wonderful memories of, well, when I was a boy.

Current Mood: Giddy

First I’ll do a quick Eureka recap of the first part of the season. It was all “Omg did that really happen, yeah it happened, holy crub what are they going to do? Are they even going to try to get back? Awww that’s so awesome!” And then of course there was the mid season hiatus which returned with “COOL! Oh. No!!! Not again… WOW! Neat! WATCH OUT! Well how the hell… ah…” Monday’s airing was more along the lines of “YAY (Felicia Day)! Oh no he di’n't, oh yes he di’id. Why is he… well freaking hell… What’s going on? Ooooh that makes sense. WATCH OUT! Oh no she di’n't, oh yes she di’id… well, maybe she did!” Now you’re caught up.

Movies: 13 Assassins by one of my all time favorites, Takashi Miike. The Samurai era is ending and Lord Naritsugu is having a blast with his sadistic raping and torturing innocent men, women, and children. In fact, I wanted to jump in the screen and (censored) head off and (censored) stuff worm meal in (censored) before cutting off his (censored) and feeding it to pigs while he watched. So Takashi did a great job at making a soulless villain that you want wiped off the face of the Earth. The film was slow moving with the back story and assemblage of the assassins who rekindle the Samurai spirit and take down asshat who is the current Shogun’s younger brother who is considered ‘untouchable’ and yet hated and feared by all.

There’s so much seppuku going on that I kept getting flash backs of John Belushi’s SNL skits. I had waited a long time to see this film, and although I felt a little disappointed in the story and flow of the film, it wasn’t half bad. Basically it was only a little less than half bad. I viewed it after a long day of work and a partial Buffy marathon, so in all fairness, that could have added to my lack of attention span and nodding off towards the end. I’m going to give it a watch redemption after I purchase it for my DVD collection because it is, after all, a Takashi Miike film and it has samurai in it and the word ‘assassin’ in the title.

I give it three and half katanas.

The next movie was Sanctum. My viewing went along the lines of “OMG scary cave” claustrophobic feelings gripped me and I had to remember to breathe; made a wager on survivors/lead, and then there was the bad acting by everyone but Richard Roxburgh and Rhys Wakefield. I refuse to give this film more attention than I feel it deserves. I give it 2 katanas.

And for your viewing pleasure:

Current Mood: chipper