Monday, July 24, 2006

Well played, CLERKS

Well, it wasn't opening night but it was full price and included popcorn, humongous pop and $1 Buncha Crunch. Craig, Nicole, Shad, Geoff and I went to go see Clerks II. I don't think there was a moment when I wasn't reacting in some way - revulsion, attraction (Dante has a nice set of puppy dog eyes, but not as cute as my honey's), breathtaking anticipation about where in the heck this crazy thing was going next, all while laughing my butt off (don't worry, it's still there - there's a bit to laugh off and don't forget, I did have Buncha Crunch with my popcorn),

If you've seen the trailers, you know that one of our heroes is in love. A gooey sloppy sort of love. However, I will say that the sugary coating is more than enough to help the nasty stuff go down easy. Kinda like a coney dog with extra chilli and onions with a great big glass of fizzy pop. In fact, the stuff that my brain was saying, "ewwww...that's kinda gross" was exactly the stuff that made the funny stuff funnier. I could analyze this crap all day, but I won't. Somehow, a good analogy occurs in the first third of the movie when Becky says, "in the heat of passion, it's sometimes okay to go ass to mouth." The passion and love for these charaters plus the potent combination of some of the best slapstick, pop culture riffing, and exquisitely timed comedy creates a hedonistic frenzy where the scatalogical jokes and potty humor take that premise to a figurative, if not literal level ("I miss my donkey...")

Please do not take all this as an endorsement, 'cause there is something to offend everyone in here. I would hate to say, "Good God, what do you mean you haven't gone? Get thee to the theatre - NOW!" And then have you absolutely hate it. I did that once, and it was Ally Sheedy in Maid to Order. Since then, I don't recommend movies to anyone. But I will say, as Buddy Christ is my witness, that I had a fantastic time. To quote SNL, "I loved it. Much better than Cats. I'm going to see it again and again."

^_^

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

More Blogthings!

My birthdays on the cusp of Libra and Scorpio, so I thought the juxtaposition of these two things were kinda interesting:

You are 73% Scorpio


You are 73% Libra


73% on both - what does that mean? I'm apparently 146% a bit of both! I did think it was interesting, because many of the questions asked for each blogthing really did seem to capture my Scorpio side and my Libra side. I think I am more of a Libra though - it includes more of my flirty personality that has started to emerge in my late late 20's and 30's.

Ok, I have to get to bed. I stayed up late to finish a report and now it's way to late to be up playing with blogthings and not sleeping.

^_^

Random brain fart

It's funny - you would think that having to memorize words and notes would be more difficult than just words alone. But we remember thousands of song lyrics and tunes and can't recite the Gettysburg Address or the Nicene Creed. And sometimes, those songs come unbidden, unrelenting, and incomplete. I have one song from choir that's been kicking around my head for almost 15 years. I don't know who wrote it, and the last time I tried to smuggle a copy out of the old music room, the box was there, but the music was gone. I've tried to Google, but the lyrics are fairly basic and so many things come up as similar. Plus, a lot of websites that sell choral music reference the music, but don't necessarily show you the goods.

Anyway, here are the lyrics I remember, and if you know who the composer is, drop me a line. I think it was written for SSA, and it sounds a lot like something from the Sound of Music...

My Shining Hour
I have heard it said, that into each life there comes a time
A time to laugh, a time to learn and a time to love
To each their own, to each their day, to everyone their time
And when that day is here and now, you will hear this song

Chorus
This is my shining hour
This is the best of times
This is my finest day and this day is yours and mine
This is my shining hour
This is best of times
This is my finest day it belongs to you and me


I am sure it's very popular at graduations.
^_^

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Kickin' it old school

Fall is usually my more my nostalgic time - it's the start of a new year, friends seem to come out of the woodwork and there's something kinda exciting about fresh school supplies (if you ever doubted my geekiness - doubt no more).

But like everything, nostalgia is quickly become a 24-7 commodity. Pop culture seems to be trolling through its high school yearbook, trying to answer the age old question of "Where Are They Now?" (And really, that question is almost an age old - the show premiered in 1998). Just look at our movies - the comic book characters we could only dream of seeing in real life are now on their third or fourth sequel (Geoff and I went to see "Superman Returns" Saturday night, mom and I saw X-Men III a few weeks back). Even the Transformers are coming back with a live-action movie directed by Michael Bey. I doubt they are going to include the universal greeting, though (and if you Google Transformers and universal greeting you get "Bah Weep Granah Weep Ni Ni Bong" - gotta love it!)

And to put it in print to my ever-lovin' husband, Geoffrey - you were right, babe - we should have bought stock in Marvel when we had the chance. I'm very sorry about that.

I am finding increasing evidence on the web of people I would have been in high school with (who would now be anywhere between 28 and 35), posting pieces of their childhood online, demanding their favorite songs on iTunes and writing tributes to their glory days of eating Froot Loops and watching He-Man (or She-Ra). From IMDB to TV.com to the growing number of TV series available DVD, we are cataloging to an amazing extent the things we grew up with and loved. We're not waiting for the experts to remind us of what life was like growing up in the 80's and 90's. We're basically making fun of ourselves and celebrating the best and worst of it all before someone else gets the chance to. There are pros and cons to this, of course, but I'll leave that to another time.

On Friday, rather than working on work (too obvious), I was digging up the following list of songs I loved to dance to, but I either haven't had the cash or inclination to buy a bunch of dance compilations or the original cds and they haven't yet shown up in iTunes. And not only could I finally look up the lyrics without having to buy a copy of "Song Lyric" magazine (I am not kidding, and I think it's still in publication), I could listen to 30 seconds of it, or watch the video on YouTube and remember if it was actually a good song or just the pixie sticks talking:

Come on and Get My Love
Cathy Dennis and D Mob - Cathy's solo career didn't last, though this track was quite popular. She's more known now for writing hit singles (such as "Can't Get You Out of My Head" with Kylie Minogue) and co-writing the "American Idol" theme song.

It Takes Two and Joy and Pain
Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock - Blame my brother for these two. He had 12" LPs of both of these. If someone says they hate rap, they very well might still dance to either of these tracks.

Show Me How to Dance
BingoBoys with Princessa - The video for this is on YouTube. We didn't get cable in my house for a really long time, so I didn't see it when it first came out in 1991. Did you know that this year's incoming freshman class was three years old when this song came out? THREE YEARS OLD!

Ditty
Paperboy - This song that went platinum in the US in 1993, and the reviews for Paperboy's first album are actually pretty funny (I can't tell if they're serious or not). All I will say is this: when you find yourself in a sports bar type place in the middle of a seriously suburban outlet mall and you think you're there to dance, know your audience before you place those requests at the dj booth, kids. You may find that you and your friend are the only ones on the floor. Props to Becky for not leaving me alone on that dance floor!

If all five of these songs were to be played in a row, I would need to sit down and catch my breath, so I think I'll stop here for now. Have a great weekend and hopefullly you don't have to work on Monday!

^_^