Just Testing...

I've been trying to post this on Pinterest but every time I do, the picture is messed up, so I thought I'd try posting it on my blog and linking it from here, versus uploading it from my hard drive... to see if it helps.

True Confessions

The other day, I randomly stumbled upon an interview between Georgie Henley, who plays Lucy Pevensie, and James McAvoy, who plays Mr. Tumnus in the first Narnia film, and I was all smiles while watching it. They have the cutest relationship ever. James McAvoy talks to 10 year-old Georgie as if she's his equal, and their interactions are adorable. I of course went on to watch a couple more interviews between the two of them, and they were just as cute. I'm going to post them here for you to watch. If you want to that is. If you don't care about this kind of stuff, then obviously you probably don't want to watch. But I'm the person who watches all the extras on the DVD, so I found these interviews interesting in that I learned some behind the scenes information, and I also got to see how the actors interact. And it made me love James McAvoy twice as much as I ever did after seeing him in Penelope.

This one is my favorite:


And some others:




This one has an interview between Edmund and the White Witch in the middle, but it's all James and Georgie in the beinning and the end.


Watching all these interviews also made me realize how much the American school system fails, generally speaking. It seems to me that Georgie Henley is particularily loquacious, and sounds intelligent in the process, as do the other kids from the Narnia films. I'm not basing my opinion solely on these interviews, but on all the interviews I've ever watched that involve European children, whether British, Scottish, Irish, etc...They always sound very intelligent, and well educated. Maybe it's the accent, or maybe it's simply due to the slight differences in vocabulary between England and America, but either way, I wish Americans spoke like British people do, not necessarily with the accent, but with a similar vocabulary and sentence structure. I think everyone would then have a chance to at least sound more intelligent, whether it's true or not.

I also thought I'd post a couple interviews between Colin Firth and Ben Barnes because I love their relationship. They talk to each other in that sarcastically rude sort of way that I love. I find it entertaining. Ben Barnes and Colin Firth starred in Dorian Gray together, and also in Easy Virtue, which is a fantastic movie by the way.

This first interview begins with Jessica Biel, then it goes to Ben and Colin. The second interview is just between Ben and Colin. It's long, and it has some slightly boring parts, but it also has some pretty funny parts. And once again I pretty much just enjoy watching their interactions.



I think my favorite part in this interview coming up is when the interviewer mentions Mamma Mia. Listen to Ben and Colin's conversation they have under their breath while the interviewer is talking, simply bickering back and forth about how Ben didn't like a certain scene, and Colin assures him he did. I found it amusing.



As you may have noticed, I wasted a lot of time on Youtube the other day.

I Heart Gary Lightbody

Who is Gary Lightbody? Well, he is the lead singer of a band that goes by the name of Snow Patrol. If you're not sure who they are, then I'm sure you've probably heard the song Chasing Cars, which is by Snow Patrol. Chasing Cars is a great song, but so are pretty much all of Snow Patrol's songs. They just recently released the music video for their single "Called Out in the Dark," and I'm am totally in love with it at the moment. It made me realize the greatness that Gary Lightbody possesses.Please watch...

It's Been awhile...

And I don't really have much of anything to say, except that I just decided something, as in like 2 seconds ago. I am going to attempt to dedicate a post everyday to something that I'm grateful for. I sometimes don't have much of anything else to say, so I thought this would be a good way to stay involved in the blogging community. Besides, it's easier to express gratitutde for the big things, but it's all the little things that we sometimes take for granted, and I think this will help me to pay more attention. To start, I actually have two things in mind that I am very grateful for.

First-I don't work at Jansport anymore and though I was grateful when I had the job, simply because it provided me with some sort of income, I hate that place and so I'm glad it's over. But that is not actually the main reason I appreciate that it's over. The main reason? Because when I would wake up at 4:30 in the morning, and the house was dark, and no one else was awake yet, I would open my bedroom door to go downstairs, and often times visualize a person in a scream mask barreling towards me from the hallway with a knife aimed at my gut. And now I can avoid that, except for when it just happened two minutes ago when I went downstairs to get a drink of water, only to find that everyone had gone to bed and of course, the house was dark. Curse the darkness...

Second-I'm grateful that when I was at the preteen age, and the predriving age, I had parents, and parents of friends, who were willing to chauffeur us wherever it was we needed and wanted to be. I was driving to work the other day and saw some young kid waiting at a bus stop and that's when I realized how grateful I am that I never had to rely on public transportation to get me places when I was that age. It's something that I always took for granted I guess, because I just thought it's what all parents did, but I've noticed more and more often that there are young people taking public transportation these days. Of course this may be due to the fact that the kids don't want their parents to know where they're going, or simply that their parents have no idea where their children are, which makes me grateful for a couple other things...

It All Ends...

So I failed at the whole Harry Potter post-a-day thing. But I guess that's a good thing cuz it just means I've been busy, but now as I prepare to go see the final installment in less than 5 hours, I thought I'd share how I'm feeling about it. (I actually wrote this a while ago but never posted it, so that's why it's written as if there's still a while till the movie comes out)

WARNING: SLIGHT AMOUNT OF CHEESINESS

I don't know if you know this about me but I love Harry Potter, and as the excitement over the last installment continues to grow to the point where I think I might burst with anticipation, I can't help but also feel somewhat saddened to think that the series is actually coming to a close. It all started with the publication of the books. Then they started the film franchise. Somewhere in the middle they met and we had both new books and new films to look forward to. Then the final book, The Deathly Hallows was released and that was the end of the story, but at least we had the remaining films to experience so the story wasn't really over. But now as the last film comes to pass, a sense of conclusion can't help but be recognized, over something that I don't ever want to end.

It all started my freshman year of high school. My brother Evan had read the first book in school, and he immediately succumbed to the magic this story possesses. He was hooked. But as the hype over Harry Potter continued to grow, my dad started hearing horrible things about this book. How it was of the devil and how it preached witchcraft. As my 8 year old brother continued to broadcast his love for this "satanic" story, my dad understandably became concerned, and before he would allow Evan to continue reading future books, he wanted to read The Sorcerer's Stone for himself to discover if the rumors he'd been hearing were true. He was happy to discover that the things he'd been hearing were complete and ridiculous exaggerations of what wasn't even the point of the story. And that rather than preaching witchcraft, this was just your typical good versus evil story set in an anything but typical fantasy world. It was official, my dad and my brother were under the spell of Harry Potter.

They kept trying to convince me to read the books. But I didn't give in so easily. I'd never been much for the fantasy genre and didn't think I'd enjoy the story. Then my best friend from high school, Mallorie, tried telling me how amazing this book was and that I HAD to read it. Coming from my best friend, of course I thought her opinion held more credence. But I still was skeptical. Then Warner Brothers released the first film. I still remember how **don't tell anyone** we received a bootleg copy of the DVD from an unnamed source. My dad and my brother told me I didn't have a choice but to watch it. I conceded seeing as, let's face it, watching a movie is a lot faster than reading a book. I still remember the horrible quality of the film. It was something that had been recorded in the movie theater. Their heads were chopped off, it was grainy and the sound was horrible, but despite those factors, I couldn't help but notice the magic the story held. Simply put, it made me happy. I immediately read the first book, and the second and for the past 10 years, I've been there when I could, for those midnight releases of both book and film.

I've grown up with Harry Potter. Ten years of my life I've spent reading the books, watching the films, listening to the scores and anticipating how the story might end, and just immersing myself in the story. I've quoted the films back and forth with my brother, and learned many a life lesson from Albus Dumbledore. And so as the concluding film draws near, I can't help but feel conflicted over its release.

For those who haven't lost themselves in the world of Harry Potter, this probably sounds ridiculous. But the story has brought magic into my life and I'll always be appreciative. I know I've used the word magic several times, and I don't even mean it in the way you might think. Forget about spells, dragons, moving pictures, and changing staircases, though Rowling's creative attention to detail is what initially creates the magical world of Harry Potter. But what I mean by the word "magic," in a different sense, is simply the feeling I get when I read the books, and this feeling emerges not only from the literal magical things that take place, but from things that aren't often seen as magical such as friendship, love, trust, faithfulness, determination, community, family, and just the overall sense that light overcomes darkness and that the good guys sometimes do win. How can such a story be seen as anything but magical?

With the debut of the final film close at hand, I've been feeling somewhat sentimental, if you couldn't tell. I just don't want the story to end. But I suppose that as long as I always have that magical feeling with me, whether it comes from re-reading the books, or watching a movie for the hundredth time, then the story is never really over.

4 More Days-ish

Until it all ends. And I'm feeling so conflicted. But I'll explain that in a later post. For right now I just want to post this amazing video. I'm going to try and post something about HP everyday though for the next 4-5 days, so if you love Harry Potter like I do, then keep checking back!

This is NOT a Harry Potter Post...

Ok. So I am slightly annoyed.

Backstory: For those who actually know me and what I like to do, and my hobbies and such, they know that I like to edit videos. It's pointless but I find it enjoyable and so I do it. Generally these videos have something to do with movies or music but most commonly they join the two because let's face it, I'm a music and movie junky. After I've edited a video, I generally post it on youtube just for the heck of it. I like watching others peoples "fanvids" as they're called in the Youtube universe, and so I figure maybe someone will enjoy watching mine. Well, I've always prided myself on the fact that you could glance down my column of videos on Youtube and not see one "dislike" on any of them. Granted they don't have many views. Most of them only have 500-1000, and maybe one or two "likes." But nonetheless, I generally get favorable feedback in the form of positive comments and thumbs up.

Now, I'm not opposed to criticism, as long as it's constructive. I do hate, however, when people view a video that clearly has the topic in the title, and then watch your video only to write hate comments and hit the dislike button because they don't like the topic of the video. YOU MORON! THEN WHY DID YOU WASTE 3 MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE WATCHING A VIDEO ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DON'T LIKE? Videos that involve Twilight, and Harry Potter are a couple examples because people either love them or hate them, but if you hate them, don't watch the videos. If you love them, and then watch the video and still find that there are things about the editing that you don't like, THEN you can leave a negative comment. But don't get on there and say "Harry Potter is stupid and this video sucks," because I think YOU suck for watching it with the sole purpose of leaving a hate comment. Go start a "Harry Potter Blows" blog or something where you can chat with people who feel the same way you do and leave those who like it alone.

Okay. That was a bit of a tangent.

Now this is why I'm annoyed. I just logged into my youtube account and saw that my most recent video has 16 dislikes! Where as a couple days ago it had 7 likes and 0 dislikes! How did that happen? Granted, the quality is horrible if you don't watch it in HD, but that's why I say in the information box to watch it in HD. I also kind of hate the editing I did in the beginning of it, but even that I don't think warrants a whole bunch of dislikes in the last couple days, especially cuz I think after the very beginning the video is pretty decent. Oh and no, this is not a Harry Potter video I did. It's a Titanic video because I'm one of those people who loves Titanic, mainly because of Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet, which happen to be two of my favorite actors. So I was confused as to where all the dislikes came from, especially because Titanic isn't a really popular topic at the moment, seeing as it came out 15 years ago. It's not like Harry Potter or Twilight which is everywhere, and if you're watching a Titanic video it's probably cuz you searched it out simply because you like Titanic. So I was examining my video and all of a sudden I realized there was a link in the info box that said something like, "As mentioned in the Michael Jackson Forum...." What the? Titanic has nothing to do with Michael Jackson, and I never linked it to any Michael Jackson forum, but apparently someone did. I'm thinking that maybe a lot of people were pissed off that a Titanic video was posted in a forum about Michael Jackson, (cuz Michael is one of those things that people are passionate about) and then went and viewed the video just so they could hit the dislike button...? I don't know. Or maybe the video is really just that bad. Either way, I think I'm most annoyed that someone posted my video without my permission, which normally wouldn't bother me, except for the fact that they posted it somewhere where it was completely off topic, which is always going to spawn hate comments.

And that is why I'm annoyed.

And if you actually took the time to read this I apologize. I pretty much was just blowing off steam about something that really isn't that important.

Oh, and 14 days!

For Some Reason I Thought It Was English...

Hey there. Long time no post. So guess what? 15 days and counting, and yes, I'm talking about Harry Potter, which is mainly what I think about all the time at the moment. Especially since I just discovered a friend that I work with who is just as excited, and just as much of a nerd as I am, which is fantastic! We therefore talk about it all the time and exchange random video clips and pictures that we find in various places on the internet. It's so much fun. Anywho. I wanted to share this video that a friend told me about in which the cast of HP try to speak "American." I found it funny. Tom Felton (Draco) is hilarious and probably sounds the best. The one thing this video made me realize however, is that I really don't like Dan Radcliffe. Sorry if that offends anyone. And no, it's not cuz he hinted that he doesn't like Glenn Beck. I could care less, though my dad might be offended :) He just seems really awkward, and for some reason, his harry chest really grosses me out. And those are my reasons. The end.

Here's the video.


And WARNING. There may be numerous Harry Potter posts in the up and coming two weeks.

Update: I just realized I spelled "hairy" like "harry"...no pun intended...or was it. I dunno. You figure it out. I also almost just wrote "spelt" instead of "spelled." This is what Jansport and getting up at 4 am do to the mind. I bet I have a lot of wrackspurts floating around up there :)

Just Felt Like Sharing This

Who Needs American Idol?

Well. These people do, because without the show they'd probably still be unrecognized talent. This season of American Idol has been amazing. Not one of the 7 people left are bad. They all are extremely talented, so much so that it's hard to predict who will win when no once ever suffers from a poor performance. The contestants along with new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, who are quite the duo and bring a new flare to the show, has made this season the best in a long time. Here are my favorites of this season.

Haley Reinhart is my absolute favorite girl. She has an amazing tone to her voice that makes her very unique.

Haley Singin Bennie and the Jets

Haley Singin Rollin in the Deep

Lauren Alaina comes in at a close second for my favorite girl. Though it's only she and Haley left. The boy talent has definitely been stronger this season.

Lauren Singin The Climb

Favorite Boy is Casey Abrams. He can play just about any instrument and can sing just about any style of music and make it completely his own. He's probably the most talented musician for the show in a while.

Casey Singin Your Song

James Durban is the rocker of the season and he comes in as second favorite boy.

James Singin Uprising

My two favorites together.

Casey Abrams and Hailey Reinhart Singing Moanin

Paul McDonald. I also love Paul. He was voted off last week, and although he didn't have the strongest voice, I absolutely loved the style in his voice. The great thing about the publicity that American Idol entails, is that now Paul can probably go big with his band. Here he is singing a song from his pre-Idol days.

I'm All Smiles

Cuz music has that effect on me. That's right. Another music post.

Safetysuit, which is one of my favorite, if not THE favorite of the lesser known bands I listen to, just released a new single and that's right, I'm all smiles because of it. Their sound, probably classifiable as rock/pop, is not really the type of music I'm in to at the moment. I've recently found myself enjoying more of the folk and independent singer/songwriter stuff, but despite that, I will always love Safetysuit. Mainly because of their music, but partially because of who they are as people and as a band. They seem like genuinely good people. Obviously I don't know that for a fact, but when you watch all their interviews and random homemade videos, you do get a feel for 'em, so unless they're really good at pretending to be nice, decent, fun, chill guys, they must actually be that way. Anyway here's their new single. Check it out.

Complete with lyrics and all :)

And here's a little interview regarding the album, followed by an acoustic version of their single, which is of course, just as brilliant as the full studio version.

And here are a couple random videos they've recorded that showcase their personalities.

Doug In the Studio (Guitar and Lead Vocals)

Jeremy Fixes His Amp (Bassist)

Dave Instructs the Class (Lead Guitar)

Tomfoolery with Tate (Drums)

In the Studio With Chico (Manager)

And One of My All Time Favorites: Christmas Onezies With J and Chico

Go Purchase

Uh...Seriously?

So some relatively attractive guy came into work today. He wanted candy. Like a well-trained employee, I asked him if he wanted any popcorn or soda to go with his candy.

This is the conversation that ensued.

(Keep in mind that this guy, although somewhat attractive, had an extremely slow, mellow, mumbled speech pattern. He was kind of like a ditzy blond but the male version and not as perky with a mixture of possible stoner brain, or genuine idiocy.) Anywho. Here's the conversation. And the place was dead so it was just me and him chatting over the counter.

Me: Would you like any popcorn or anything to drink?

Guy: **IN ALL SERIOUSNESS** "No. I'm trying to watch my figure."

Me: **FAKE PERKY TONE MIXED WITH EXTREME SARCASM THAT I DON'T THINK HE PICKED UP ON** "Yeah. Swimsuit season is right around the corner."

(THERE WAS KIND OF A LONG PAUSE HERE WITH ME STANDING BEHIND THE COUNTER STARING AT HIM CUZ HE DIDN'T SEEM READY TO PAY. HE THEN LOOKED DOWN AND RUFFLED THROUGH HIS WALLET, SLIGHTLY DISTRACTED, ALMOST LIKE HE WAS THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY AND SO I CONTINUED TO STARE AT HIM WITH MY "SERIOUSLY. CAN WE GET ON WITH THIS?" FACE. ) THEN HE FINALLY LOOKED UP AT ME AND SPOKE AGAIN.

Guy: "Do I look tan to you?"

Me: **NO LONGER FAKE PERKY BUT BLUNT AND SLIGHTLY ANNOYED WHILE AT THE SAME TIME SLIGHTLY AMUSED THAT HE'S SERIOUSLY ASKING ME THIS QUESTION** "Yes. But then again, I'm pasty white so pretty much everyone looks tan to me."

Guy: "That's true. Do I look too tan?"

Me: **EXASPERATED TONE** "You don't look orange, if that's what you mean."

Guy: Ok. Good.

HE PROCEEDS TO PAY AND THEN LEAVES.

He was seriously like one of those really shallow, vain, and unintelligent guys who thinks he's all that and then some. The kind I thought only existed in the movies and television shows. But today this guy proved to me that I have been mistaken and that they actually exist in reality.

Now. I'm not really judging him on his intelligence. Maybe he's actually very intelligent but simply has a hard time communicating. And I'm not making fun of him just because he agreed to my declaration that I'm pasty white. I came to terms with my lack of color a long time ago. But I AM judging him on his vanity for he stood there for what seemed like forever, clearly only thinking about the depth of his tan, until he finally just decided to ask my opinion, if only to interrupt the warring inside his head over whether or not he should hit the tanning booth tomorrow. Let's just say, I no longer found this guy in the least bit attractive. I did consider him unintentionally humorous though.

Am I Misunderstanding Something?

I thought the purpose of a wheelchair was to assist immobile people in becoming mobile, and generally people are immobile because their legs don't work quite right. Or maybe because they don't have legs. Either way, the idea of an elderly woman, in a wheelchair, using her feet and legs to scootch herself across a room, seems slightly odd. Yet this is what I witnessed a few days ago at work. Apparently nobody explained the concept of a wheelchair to her.

A Somewhat Meaningless Post...But I'm Going to Post it Anyway Cuz It's Been So Long Since I Posted Anything

One of the longest post titles in the history of bogging I'd say.

So I love movies. Not necessarily the ones pictured above. And I have my favorite actors and actresses as I suppose many movie-loving people do. Some of my male favs are Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, and Will Smith...just throwing that out there. The name dropping is not really of any significance.

Well, me being the slightly psychotic, and slightly OCD person that I am, am very in to... collections... I guess you could say. For example. I don't know if you've noticed this before, but companies are constantly reinventing their packaging techniques for TV series, and it drives me absolutely INSANE because I'll buy a season of a show and it's in some big fatty case, and then they'll figure out how to repackage the next season in a smaller case, so then when I have the seasons sitting nicely on a shelf next to each other, the cases don't match!!! Aaaah! Books. If I have a series of books they ALL have to be either paperback, or hardback, they can't be a mixture of the two within the same series. CDs. I hate how they're starting to package CDs in thin cardboard cases meant to look like an LP sleeve, when the CD collection I started 15 years ago began with plastic jewel cases. I want them all in jewel cases!! If they'd started in the cardboard cases, then I'd be fine with it, so long as all future CD releases came in the same cases! Sorry. This was a bit of a tangent.

What I was getting at is that I have this goal in my head, (one that will probably never go away until it's accomplished, since it involves a collection of sorts) that for each of my favorite actors, I'm going to purchase and view every movie from their film career. I know it's a weird goal, but I'm a weird person, and I mean that in the best way possible towards myself :) Thanks to the handy tool of imdb.com I've been able to copy and paste the work history for my favorite actors into a list (because I make lists for everything otherwise my brain would explode) and can simply cross off a movie I get and then watch the list slowly dwindle.

Not too long ago I was updating said lists, though I only got through Johnny Depp and Leonardo Dicaprio. And I had 10 Leonardo Dicaprio movies and 10 Johnny Depp movies. Then I thought hmmm, I should go to Walmart and look at their 5 dollar movie rack, cuz I generally don't buy movies for more than 5 bucks, and whichever movie I see first with either Johnny Depp or Leonardo Dicaprio, I'll buy. Just so I can have a tie breaker. What movie did I find? "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." One problem. It has both Johnny Depp AND Leonardo Dicaprio. Did the unbroken tie keep me from purchasing it? Of course not. But I guess what I'm getting at, and the point of this pointless post is that my Johnny/Leo tie still stands. Time for another movie? Probably not since I'm supposed to be saving my money.

Told you this was meaningless :)

Other random thought. I was listening to that song Apologize by Timbaland feat OneRepublic today, although I think credit should ACTUALLY be given to OneRepublic with a "feat" Timbaland, since OneRepublic are the ones...I dunno, playing the instruments and singing the song. But somehow Timbaland gets away with taking credit for other artists' songs after doing a simple remix, which probably isn't really that simple but still shouldn't afford Timbaland the majority of the credit. Anyway. I was listening to that song today which is all about how the woman in the story did something horrible and now he's giving up on her and it's too late to "apologize." Yada yada yada. There are some lyrics however that state, "I loved you with a fire red, now it's turning blue." That line has ALWAYS bothered me and I decided to vent about it today. Here. On my blog. Because if this guy is talking about how much he loved this girl but now he can never forgive her you would think that means his love is diminishing, which I think is the point they tried to make with the "fire" lyric...BUT...the hottest part of the fire is the blue part, not the red part, so they got it backwards. It SHOULD be "I loved you with a fire blue, now it's turning red," which would symbolize his fading love for this supposed heartless woman. Unless I'm misinterpreting the entire meaning of the song....but with blatant lyrics like "It's too late to apologize..." I don't think I am.

And the Oscar Goes to...

I think they should give Oscars to those who present, perform, and create what is the event of the Academy Awards, because the show can either be extremely boring or very entertaining and it depends on the people taking part in it. This years show was the latter, which in case you forgot... means it was entertaining. Anne Hathaway and James Franco did an amazing job hosting, which is the first and overall main thing that kept the show interesting,

but my absolute favorite part of the show was this auto-tuned mashup someone created to make up for the lack of "musicals" offered this year.

My dad and I laughed hysterically at this...and if you don't find it funny, then we can't be friends anymore. Sorry!

So this is at least the third consecutive awards show I've watched now, if not more. In 2009 I watched the show at school with my roommates. We were all very excited for that show because one of our many heroes, Hugh Jackman was hosting. Last year Evan and I watched the show together, and who better to watch it with than a fellow movie lover like Evan. This year it was just my dad and I, and occasionally my mom.

I was going to post my second favorite part of the show, but a youtube video hasn't been posted for it yet so I can't. But once I find one then I will offer an update. Let's just say it has to do with Anne Hathaway singing a song about Hugh Jackman, which if you watched 2009s show, you would know that that means something :)

Sidenote

Something I learned this year: The indication that you have a good actor on your hands is when you forget where the person is from because they so easily slip in to different accents. Example. Christian Bale. Recently I've seen him mostly in American films, meaning films in which he speaks American English, but when he got up to offer his acceptance speech for The Fighter he was speaking with a British accent and using British slang. I asked my dad why the heck he was speaking like an Englishman and then he reminded me that he's from England. I argued with him forever until he finally looked it up. During that process I started to second guess myself as it slowly started to register that he was in fact from England, so when my dad mentioned that he was right and I was wrong, I wasn't too surprised. Although in all actuality we were both wrong seeing as he's actually from Wales, but I was more wrong than he was. Another example of such a person, not seen at the awards show, but such a person nonetheless, is Johnny Depp. I always thought he was British when in fact he's from Kentucky. Quite a big difference there.

Alice Cooper on Anne of Avonlea

Have any of my fellow Anne of Green Gables lovers ever noticed that in the second movie, (whether you call it Anne of Avonlea, or Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel) there's a part near the beginning where the camera pans over a field heading to the schoolhouse and you see some children running through a field and they're singing/chanting this song. They say, "No more teachers, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks." I noticed some time ago how similar that is to Alice Cooper's song "School's Out" in which it says, "No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks." Quite similar, eh? I wonder if the director or producer of the Anne movies is a big Alice Cooper fan and threw it in there just for the heck of it. Or maybe there's some history behind it that I don't know about, and it's actually something children from the early 1900s legitimately said on their last day of school. Or maybe it's a complete coincidence. Either way, I decided to blog about it today.

Bieber Fever...?

"Oh my gosh JUSTIN BIEBER. I LOVE HIM!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" That's all I heard at work today seeing as the new Justin Bieber movie just graced us with its presence.

I've never really understood the whole Justin Bieber madness. Of course, I understand madness in general, because I have things, superficial things though they may be, but I still have things that I'm passionate about, just how all these preteens are "passionate" about the Biebs. So I really have no place to harp on the Bieber fever stricken people because I'm the same way with, I dunno, let's just say 30 Seconds to Mars. The only difference is, if I saw Jared or Shannon walking down the street, I wouldn't scream and chase after them. But I believe that's just something that comes with age. So I DO understand the madness, I just don't understand why so much MADNESS has been focused on this one kid by the name of Justin.

So where am I going with this? Well, with all the hype surrounding the movie, I became curious as to what it is about this kid that has all the girls going crazy. I've been somewhat anti-Bieber just BECAUSE everyone's so gaga over him and because I haven't really heard any music of his that's blown me away (granted I'd only heard bits and pieces of his songs on the radio, I don't think I'd even heard one of his songs all the way through) but I realized today as all these kids were overcome with excitement at the movie, that I hadn't really given the Biebs a chance to prove his chops to me. And then that made me realize how extremely hypocritical I was being, because I hate it when people dislike an artist just because they're popular, just how I hate it when people dislike an artist just because they're NOT popular. I like to give everyone a shot. So I came home and I did a little research...on Justin Bieber. I watched a few Youtube vids, listened to some of his music...and that's about it. But I think it was enough to offer a fair assessment.

Here is my conclusion. Justin Bieber is adorable. He's cute in that little kid sort of way, and I can see why all the teen girls go crazy over him. He also seems extremely kind, funny, and personable. Those are the things I learned from watching some videos and interviews of him. However, after listening to his music, I still just can't get into it, with the exception of a couple songs. Never Say Never has a little bit more "substance" to it, though not much, and I think Justin's voice got a little deeper before he recorded it, so it makes it easier to listen to. That factor combined with the prepubescent voice of guest rapper Jaden Smith (Will Smith's son) makes the song adorable if not catchy. I also discovered a song he did called "Pray," which is a cute song, and actually has some meaning behind it. Then there's his song "Somebody to Love," which is the only one of his extremely poppy, superficial songs that I own, and that's only because BYU-I did a lip sync/flash mob to it and so now I associate it with that video, which I love. Other than that I found most of his songs to be...blah. My main problem with Justin Bieber's music, even with his couple catchy tunes, that I'll admit to liking, is that I find it hard to take his music seriously when he's singing about "love" and girls and experiences, and yet he sounds like he's 12 years old. Does that mean I might like his music more once he goes through puberty? Possibly, though it'd be more likely if he wrote something of substance in his lyrics. Something other than, "baby, baby, baby oh...." Although, I suppose that's why the majority of his fanbase is comprised of the preteen age bracket. Because they find his music relatable. Am I saying that all the music I listen to is nothing but meaningful? Of course not. I love Britney Spears for goodness sake. But Justin's sappy, puppy love lyrics, combined with his little boy voice, makes it hard for me to listen to the majority of his music.

That being said, what does this conclusion mean? I suppose it means that I'll cease being such an anti-Bieberist. Though his music isn't for me, I can see why all the teens go crazy for the whole package of what is Justin Bieber. I probably would too if I were 12. And if someday, Justin's voice changes, and he learns how to write some decent and compelling lyrics, and maybe if he realizes he can sing without having his voice autotuned like crazy, (which I do actually believe he has a good voice, though it's hard to tell with all the electronic alteration) then maybe I'll actually start listening to his music. But I suppose he's off to a good start, he has a decent voice, and he seems like a pretty decent person, which I suppose is the most important thing. I only hope that part will last. Who knows, if he remains a good person, and learns how to write good music, I might even come down with a case of Bieber fever, though perhaps only a mild case. He's a little young for me :)

Anyway. In honor of Justin Bieber's movie release...here are a couple videos I discovered on Youtube while researching.

"Pray (Acoustic)" Music Video-I think this is cute, though I wouldn't consider the song acoustic, even though that's what the producers seem to think it is.

"Never Say Never" Music Video from the film. This is alright in this condensed amount of time, but if this is what the whole movie is like then I pity the parents who had to sit through it with their children.

Meet Mr. Nobody

This is Nemo Nobody

Here he is with glasses.

Here he is without glasses.

Here he is with long hair.

Here he is in a snazzy sweater vest.

Here he is as a young boy

and as an old man.

Here are his parents.

Here are his parents preparing to go their separate ways. Should Nemo go with his mother, or with his father?

Here are the three girls Nemo could choose to have relationships with: Jean, Elise, and Anna.

Here is teenage Nemo with Jean.

Here is teenage Nemo with Elise.

Here is teenage Nemo with Anna.

Here is adult Nemo marrying Jean.

Here is adult Nemo marrying Elise.

Here is adult Nemo marrying Anna.

Here is Nemo rinsing his mouth.

and here he is... drowning.

It is this last picture that inspired my desire to tell you about Nemo, and the fact that I have Jared Leto on the brain, because in less than 7 days I'll be seeing him in the flesh...but mainly it is because I had a near Mr. Nobody experience today. Mr Nobody is a movie about this boy named Nemo, and all the different ways his life could have turned out, depending on the choices he made. It's a brilliantly executed film with terrific acting, and an interesting message...that we ARE the choices we make. Some choices we make are right, some are wrong, maybe both are right, or both are wrong, but either way, one choice can change are life forever. Anyway, so back to the reason behind this post. In the movie, there's a part where Mr. Nobody is driving down a road parallel to a lake, when all of a sudden a bird flies straight into his windshield and splatters. It surprises Mr. Nobody to the degree that he swerves off the road, resulting with his car sinking into the lake. Yes, this is the Mr. Nobody moment I almost experienced today. A bird took a dive right at my windshield. Luckily I wasn't driving by a lake at the time. Actually, I'm lucky I don't drive by lakes often in general, because birds seem to see my car driving down the road, and tend to experience sudden death wishes when doing so. That's right, birds fly directly at my windshield...ALL THE TIME! Does anyone else have this problem? I dunno, but thanks to Mr. Nobody, whenever it happens, I think of him, and it makes me grateful that I'm not by any lakes. As much as I don't want the little birdies to die a sudden death by flying into my car, I kind of appreciate their attempts because without fail it will result with my pondering Mr. Nobody, which means I will be thinking about Jared Leto, and I'm ALWAYS okay with that :)

Have You Ever Tried...

sleeping without a top/flat sheet on your bed?

Where is it written that we need to have a top sheet under our comforter? I guess I'm not one to think outside the box, or maybe I'm a conformist, but I've always slept with said top sheet. Then one day I read an email from my brother who is currently living in Germany, and he mentioned that one of his favorite things about living in Europe is that no one sleeps with a top sheet on their bed. Then my dad mentioned that when he lived in Denmark, the "no top sheet" idea was also one of HIS favorite things. What an interesting concept! All those times of waking up in the middle of the night because I'm all tangled in my sheets or because all my bedding is falling completely off the bed, could have been solved simply by removing my top sheet. Why didn't I think of that?! Well I tried it, and simply put, it's amazing. No more getting tangled in my sheets and I actually prefer the feel of the underside of my comforter vs the sheet I used to sleep under. Not to mention, it speeds up the process of making your bed in the morning.

Rapunzel Rapunzel. Let Down Your Hair

How does Rapunzel wash her hair?

In one of the songs on Tangled, Rapunzel sings about the things she does while locked in her tower and she mentions brushing her hair. But I was wondering, how does she wash it? Even brushing it seems slightly impossible, although she claims to be able to do it. Brushing hair is one thing, but washing it is something entirely different. How does she do it? Or maybe magical hair doesn't NEED to be washed, but if it needs to be brushed, I would come to the conclusion that it also needs to be washed.

All I know is that if Rapunzel had grown up like a normal teenager, not locked in a tower, and some guy she didn't like asked her out on a date, she could legitimately use "I'm washing my hair" as an excuse not to go.

Don't You Love It When...

People say "Merry Christmas?!" (I just did a "don't you hate it when," so I thought I'd follow that with a more positive, "don't you love it when?")

Anyway, I love it when people say Merry Christmas. Working at the movie theater this Christmas season I got to talk to a lot of people, and one thing I noticed was how almost everyone who mentioned any kind of "holiday" greeting, flat out said, "Merry Christmas." This made me extremely happy because it seemed like people were trying to boycott the whole PC-ness of the phrase "happy holidays." I've always felt that the whole ordeal revolving around the Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays issue was slightly ridiculous. If you're taking the time to wish someone "happy holidays", then most you most likely celebrate Christmas, so why not just say "Merry Christmas"? Whatever idiot introduced "happy holidays," and caused a stir over the political correctness of saying "Merry Christmas," should die. Harsh but true.

I also love how people become so much kinder towards others. Example: At work one day, these kids (probably about 11 yrs old) were ordering food at concessions, and of course they were short on money because all the stuff we sell is BLOODY EXPENSIVE. I would have offered to pick up the difference but I hadn't brought my wallet to work so I didn't have any cash. They were really embarrassed and kept putting stuff back in hopes to make it into their price range, when some random stranger who wasn't in line for concessions or anything, but was just watching, offered them a coupon she had gotten for a free popcorn. With that free popcorn coupon, the price dropped by about 6 bucks and the kids were able to afford the food they wanted. As I worked the past month or so, I noticed several acts of kindness such as this. Unfortunately I've also noticed how these events occur less and less as that Christmas spirit fades away come the new year. It's too bad we can't all be so kind, all the time. I know many people maintain that kindness all year long, and I envy them, for I'm sorry to say that I tend to be one of the ones who becomes more self-absorbed with the end of the Christmas season....I think I just found one of my New Year resolutions.

Don't You Hate it When...

You've been talking to someone you think is kind of attractive, and then the next time you look in the mirror you notice something embarrassing on your face. Even something as little as smudged eye makeup, or something as bad as a huge booger hanging out of your nose...which I suppose could happen, but I would think you could feel that. Either way, it kind of sucks. And then you can't help but worry that it was there when talking to said "attractive" person. This didn't happen to me today, but I was just randomly thinking about how much that sucks.

Sidenote: I came home from work tonight, snuck in the front door VERY quietly so as not to wake my nieces and nephew who were sleeping on the living room couches, fumbled my way through the dark house and maze of toys to the key basket, and very lightly placed my keys in the basket so as not to wake my sister who was sleeping on the family room couch, when HOLY CRAP I see a person sitting on the other couch. This person is not either one of my parents, or my brother-in-law, or my sister, cuz as I mentioned she was sleeping on the OTHER couch, and the person is too big to be either one of my nieces or nephew. Now, this whole thought process happened a lot quicker in my mind then it takes to read, so basically...I saw a dark shadow belonging to a skinny person, of which there are none of in my house at the moment, and I FREAKED OUT. Then I realized it was the dummy we made last night of my brother Evan. He's in Germany right now but we wanted him to be there for our New Years Eve festivities and so yes, we took some of the most Evan-like clothes and stuffed them full of sheets, and then cut out a huge picture of his face and made an Evan dummy. We've now decided he's going to accompany us on all our family functions for the two years he's gone :)