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Ok...saw Spider-man 2 last night at midnight. Yay! Good stuff. I don't know if it surpasses the first one overall, but it was quite fun and I came out smiling so that is definitely worth two thumbs up. Following are the random thoughts that I came up with around 3:17 am last night so I would remember something to write today

CAUTION! There will be spoilers. Go see it! Then discuss.

*Peter gets the girl this time! Although wtf with the last image of the movie being MJ's depressed face?
*Gooood kiss at the end. Aha! Requited love! and blast, police sirens...
*Re: ripping fabric during the train-stop scene...wouldn't shoulder joints tear first? Eh. Silly biology. Love that the gloves are still pristene after holding onto all those webs under such pressure.
*So does John Jameson's leap there at the end mean anything? I've heard rumors about ManWolf...
*Squee! Shirtless!Tobey! haha.
*Poor Harry. He spent the movie getting drunk and pissed off at Spidey. Understandable I guess, but there's only so much emoting you can do while drunk...and wtf hearing voices now? I've heard he takes up the Green Goblin mantle which is clearly forshadowed here, but let's face it, even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't a good sign. Ha. And thank goodness the movie didn't end with him picking up one of the performance enhancer tubes! And eek! re: Murderous!Harry. Not so keen on killing your best bud, are ya?
*MJ's wedding dress...fluff much? She looked a little like meringe.
*Tobey Maguire is good at earnest faces. I can't quite decide if I think he's cute or just good with emotions.
*"Hi."
"Hi."

(Spidey holds up an wall made entirely of I-beams and other random metal objects, thereby saving MJ from a particularly nasty death by squishing.)

"This is kinda heavy."

MERF! Hah. Not really a time for small talk, eh?

*I'm glad I watched the Today show interview with Tobey yesterday because Matt Lauer explicitly said Spidey would lose his powers, and Tobey said why...he was stressed out and not sleeping/eating enough, etc. I guess I could have missed it but I didn't really feel like they explained why he was suddenly webless.
*It's painful to watch Spidey/Peter fall, get punched, sliced up, etc. Or at least it was for me. I think this is good because it means you're really relating to the characters!
*Doc Ock's "I don't want to die a monster." But...he did, didn't he? Still had those arms at the end...
*Peter's reveal as Spidey. Good stuff! Each character/group that saw it reacted differently but appropriately. I love how he got his mask back. Amazingly resilient stuff, that spandex...apparently capable of sealing itself around his neck. It's the amazing invisible seam! And the I-can't-see-so-I'm-taking-off-my-mask works until he puts it back on and the eyeshields are magically clean again. Maybe the kids cleaned them off.
*Yay for telling the truth to Aunt May about Uncle Ben's death. Well-acted scene.
*So Peter's behind in his rent for the whole first part of the movie and then it never comes up again. He hasn't been making any money, so...? Ah well. Continuity sucks sometimes.
*Er, Russian Rent Girl...sorry, but there's nothing there. Thanks for the cake, though.
*The big-lips girlfriend from "24" was one of MJ's friends.
*Lovely look with the sliced up spidersuit. If he had to take that one back from JJ Jameson, what's he gonna do now? And where does he get all that spandex and rubber from anyway?
*Evil Dead moment, anyone? Per se, the hospital?
*Yay PissedOff!Peter after the deli scene. Good imagery with the fisting hand.
*Definitely some adrenaline rushes and startling moments. yay!
*Will Peter ever finish college? Will he ever get a job that pays him to websling? Will he ever write his paper on fusion, now that his subject is at the bottom of a lake?
*Poor Jilted!John, actually left at the altar by Meringe!MJ! haha.
*Eeek! Barbed Wire! Ha! I laugh at you, Barbed Wire, you mean nothing to me. I shall break these bonds in front of Harry because I can!
*Hah. J Jonah Jameson: "Call the caterer. Tell her not to open the caviar."
*I loved the reverent catching of Spidey when he's about to fall off the train after saving it. Awww! NY'ers really do care!
*Giant-web-spinning!Spidey...guess it's easier to set up than a hammock, but wtf anyway? It just looked a little silly. But Tobey did look good up there.

The characters seemed real, relatable, reasonable in their decisions, even if they were awkward or hard or strange. People you'd be friends with, as long as they weren't madmen. Peter does seem to make enemies easily. Good thing there's going to be another one. I adore the gymnastic poses Spidey has when he's (momentarily) stopped. I find it somewhat ironic that the good-evil struggle was between Spider-man, who it would make sense to have eight limbs but only has four, and Doc Ock, who is supposed to have only four limbs and ends up with eight, and whose name is ingeniously poised to accept that. Whatever.

I loved the opening credits. They essentially recapped the first movie in a series of great watercolors, except for a few headshots of MJ, until the last scene where a painting morphs into a billboard with her face on it. Man I wish I could paint like that.

Posted by Jen at 12:56 PM | Permalink |

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  Spider-man 2 soundtrack: Spidey Suite

file under: movies

Just waiting...

amazing how long the day stretches out before you when you're anticipating something. Tonight the gang is going to the midnight premiere of Spider-man 2...and long do the hours seem until then, even if it's only twelve hours...odd sometimes to think about where you'll be at some certain time in the future and to know exactly where you'll be...sort of like being clairvoyant. Or not.

I'm really liking the Spider-man 2 soundtrack. The first release (or at least the first one I saw a video for) is Dashboard Confessional's Vindicated, which is pretty good. Since the only songs I've ever heard of them have been on the radio and mostly catered to popular taste, it seems like I like most of their stuff Surprisingly one of the better songs on the ST is from Train, who I normally don't like, but this is a pretty cool song: Ordinary (where the title of this entry came from ) and there's a really good one by a band called Yellowcard that was obviously written just for the movie: Gifts and Curses. It's about a girl named Mary and how the guy wants her but 'has a purpose' and can't be with her.

and my worst pains are words I cannot say
still I will always
fight on for you

It's also got a wonderful instrumental bridge with piano and violin. Yay! Good investment on my part. Can't wait to see the movie and discover which songs are actually in the movie as opposed to those 'inspired' by it...

waiting sucks. guess I should do work to pass the time.

ETA: Just doing my part to help... Interrobang. Thanks Leo

Posted by Jen at 12:19 PM | Permalink

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Remember when I told you about the new JK Rowling site? Well, that damn door finally opens. I had quite a bit of help from Alice, whose instructions I repeat here, under the extended entry for those of you who don't wish to be spoiled...because it has to do with the title of the sixth book Whee!

Go visit Alice, who is the first person to actually make use of the PLUGBOARD! Yes, that means you. If you have a button, as long as it's 100x35 or smaller, please post it! Yay traffic (small but subtle) increase for you

Who wants to know the title for Harry Potter book six?!

1. Go on www.jkrowling.com

2. Click on the hair tie next to the key

3. Click on the door (in case you didn't know, it's been locked for AGES)

4. Right, from here it's irritating. There are five bricks you can click on, and you must click on them in a specific order.
First - 7th row, 4th brick
Second - 19th row, 4th brick
Third - 5th row, 2nd brick
Fourth - 22nd row, 3rd brick
Fifth - 3rd row, 4th brick

5. The wall should move. Click on the fan, and the papers on the desk will move and tell you what the new title is.

Or if you can't be bothered to go but still want to know (ha, rhyming), highlight the following text: Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince.

Be warned that this might not in fact be the new title, as this was the rumoured title for CoS many years ago. But isn't it intriguing?

Posted by Jen at 6:47 PM | Permalink

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Saw The Chronicles of Riddick this past weekend with Alex and Leo and Kris. Wasn't going to go originally...but there wasn't much drawing me home (sorry, 'rents). I apologized afterward, because there were just moments throughout the entire movie that were just hilarious to me, and I couldn't help but laugh. Mind you, some of the moments were funny. Most of them weren't...it was more, as Kris put it, crappy dialogue laughter...and the indescribably funny image of Karl Urban in funky huge armour, eyeliner and sporting a mohawk. To remind you, KU plays Eomer in the LotR trilogy...blonde haired dude that rides a horse, remember? Anyway, I'm quite familiar with what he looks like in real life, and this was just funny. Do a web search and you can see what I mean. There was definitely an overabundance of eyeliner used in this movie. I guess dark-circled eyes do project an aura of menace, but everyone just looked either a) really tired or b) really tricked out for Halloween. Ah well. I will admit it was a fun summer flick. But it didn't make me want to see it again, nor ever, really...possibly made me want to see Pitch Black, but I don't think I missed much not having seen it before I saw CoR. It's no Harry Potter It did have good music though. Slightly strange when a silly movie like that has a good score.

Saw the Last Samurai last night...

and it was also pretty good. I loved the costumes and the swordplay visuals. I knew someone would have to die at the end, and sometimes it struck me as truly heartbreaking. A small bit of peace indeed. Hans Zimmer is still a pretty wonderful composer...I had actually bought the LS soundtrack months ago but never opened it, just on the strength of a few clips I listened to in the store. I'm glad I did, however...I listened to it last night before I went to bed. Of course it reminds me of something else; most likely another HZ score, possibly Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmarron or Gladiator, but I can't quite place it. Ah well. I'll figure it out eventually.

Speaking of soundtracks. I hope I can pick up the Spider-man 2 soundtrack today...the new song by Dashboard Confessional on there sounds really good. Gotta return stuff and get some groceries...soon. after I vote. See you later...

Posted by Jen at 6:11 PM | Permalink

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Happy birthday Alex!

Yay Alex! Lots of people at the house and lots of partying to be going on this week and weekend...Yay for Russ and his gf Heather, Alex's brother Kris, and Molly...and all the cool people who are going to come over and get really drunk

Softball game tonight, let's see if we can bounce back from the cruel 5-4 loss last week!

I'm seriously thinking about heading back to YaBB forum in cgi. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, worry not...it's just a random website thing that's been giving me trouble and I want to fix it dammit! And most of my sites need new layouts, content, etc, and I've got to work on my family's site, the work site, etc...one of these days I'll just be a website designer and a writer and I won't have to worry about the real world. lol.

*whine* don't...wanna...take...orgo...*whine* but I will, most likely.

Do wanna take aikido, eventually *hint, hint, Alex*

Gonna stop blabbing now...

Posted by Jen at 9:41 AM | Permalink |

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so I've finally finished the mammoth Stone of Farewell and moved onto the third "book," To Green Angel Tower, Part I. This book is so big that it had to be split into two books in the transition from hardback to paperback, each with over 800 pages. We'll see how long this takes!

Now back to your regularly scheduled serum thawing...

Posted by Jen at 11:51 AM | Permalink

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So I bought more books on saturday. This should hardly be surprising nor really merit an entry, but I'm a little bored and the journal is looking empty. The main thought is that I'm reading a lot these days, which is not a bad thing. The other main thought is that I've discovered some pretty good fantasy books that have been around for a while, I've just never gotten around to reading them (or simply didn't know about them). And there's that little bit of sadness (silly, I know, but there nonetheless) for not jumping on them sooner.

And here's where I try something...dunno what it will do, and basically I'm going to just be editing for a while...I'm reading Stone of Farewell right now, which is the second of Tad William's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy. It's a really intelligent fantasy series, but it is taking me forever to read. Each book is over 700 pages, and the last "book" is actually split into two 800+ page novels because it's so damn long! That's ok, I love long books, and I like the fact that I'm getting something good for what I paid, but it just keeps going! Really though, shouldn't complain because any book that can keep me reading for that long is certainly worthy of mention.

I have to say that I'm really enjoying the third Harry Potter soundtrack...it's got this beautiful flute part that's just achingly haunting. the whole score reminds me of some medieval play, which is odd since the story is supposed to take place in modern times, but it somehow fits the movie perfectly. I actually was inspired to try and figure out the melody on my ocarina flute, which admittedly I am not good at, but I think I got it...makes me want a bigger flute And to learn how to play guitar, lol. One of these days.

(from the Outback Jack slang glossary)
Kangaroos loose in the top paddock - Intellectually inadequate.
Mad as a Cut Snake - Crazy
Not the full quid - not bright intellectually.

Funny how they felt the need to make sure you know how to insult someone's intelligence.

Posted by Jen at 9:47 AM | Permalink

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So last night I had a dream about Hugh Jackman. I have no idea why, because while he's quite a nice looking bloke my fandom right now, when not being taken up by a certain dark-haired Brit who actually is my age is centered on another dark-haired Brit who is certainly not legal for me in any sense of the word (hint: saw the movie twice already). Actually, Daniel Radcliffe was in the dream, somehow, in a theater, and I met him...but unfortunately Orlando's name was only mentioned. And re: Hugh, somehow I got out of the apartment with John Malkovich or someone of his ilk and we had to go to this other building and break into the day care center and corner this nurse so she could look up on her list where Hugh lived. I have no idea what was going on. It seemed like Hugh and I were quite buddy-buddy, and I even showed him my (unwrapped) Boy from Oz cd except I think I picked up somethiing that was titled 'Old Man River.' He just smiled. And the apartment wasn't our apartment, it was...close, but darker, two stories...lots of people milling around.

I'm sure there was more to it, but that's all that stuck in my head when I got up this morning. Any ideas?

[ETA: I've just realized I've made over 400 posts to this blog. In reality it's probably closer to 500 as not all of the posts from the previous blogging software were transferred since I'd closed some of the posts from way back when. But it's kinda cool to think about all the stuff I've written about in the past two years...]

Posted by Jen at 12:37 PM | Permalink

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J.K.Rowling Official Site - Harry Potter and more

Oh, I had fun at this site today. It's been up for a while but I just now got to take a look at it. You'll probably spend a while there, as there is plenty of interactivity. It mostly only makes sense if you have read the books, and beware the spoilers...but it's fun to click around the site and find the special content for dedicated searchers I'm not going to tell you how to get them unless you ask nicely, to avoid that lovely spoiler-y goodness that you silly non-book readers hate That's what you get for not having much to do on a friday.

Voting and going home!

Posted by Jen at 5:31 PM | Permalink |

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m15m: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Fifteen Minutes

If you liked the one I posted for Troy a few weeks back you'll like this one too. Warning: spoilers and coarse language, but damn is it funny! Thankfully I have a room to myself so I can laugh as loud and long as I want to at work and people don't think I'm crazy. I suggest you find a private place of your own or else Madame Pince will have your hide.

Highlights:
Harry storms off into the night dragging his trunk, apparently having left his owl to the Dursleys' tender mercies.

HP FANS: OMGWTFHEDWIG!

--

CORNELIUS FUDGE: *has a Ministry of Magic office in the middle of a tavern for some reason*

--

MRS. WEASLEY [with Scabbers]: OMG RON! DON'T FORGET YOUR PLOT POINT!

--

SCARY SHRIVELED HAND: *pulls open door*

DEMENTOR: SHIIIIIRE. BAAAAAGGINS.

KIDS: AHHHHHHH!

DEMENTOR: *dements*

--

RON [in his sleep]: Spiders! spiders! Spiders want me to tap-dance and I don't wanna tap-dance, Harry!

HARRY [looking up from map]: You tell those spiders, Ron.

NOTHING: *is funnier than that line*

--

SOMETHING: *rustles in the bushes behind them*

HERMIONE: What was that?

HARRY: Nothing, just a plot point. Come on, we've got to get out of here!

--

HARRY: AHHH! WHOMPING WILLOW!

HERMIONE: Hey, didn't it used to be on a totally different part of the grounds?*

--
HERMIONE: If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us first!

HP FANS: OMGWTF THAT WAS RON'S LINE! YOU CHANGED THINGS FROM THE BOOK!

LOTR FANS: What are you, new?

*I just loved how they had the Whomping Willow so promently displayed in a TOTALLY different part of the grounds, especially when there's a WHOLE SCENE showing the location of the tree in the second movie...but I did love how Harry's hair was continually messed up, like it's supposed to be. Green eyes! Although how does a kid with a green-eyed mother and a brown-eyed father end up with his mother's green eyes when brown eyes are dominant? I didn't learn much from genetics, but I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen...ah well, plot device...

Posted by Jen at 4:14 PM | Permalink |

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Anyway, if you didn't know, the OMNIMAX is an IMAX theater which basically shows movies on a huge, wraparound screen. It's a little disconcerting if you don't know what to expect, but the sound is WONDERFUL! I love being in that theater, it's sort of like your own private place because the seats are set on levels far enough apart that you don't see anyone else (when you're looking up, of course ) I did manage to kick some guy in the head accidentally, because unfortunately we were in a row where my feet were on a level with his head in the next row down. Most of the rows aren't like that; I was just lucky.

I'm glad I saw it on a regular screen...there are actually quite a lot of shots where the action is to the side, and with the huge screen you really have to turn your head to see it, instead of just your eyes. That got to be a bit annoying. I don't guess I've noticed it on previous IMAX viewings, but those were only an average of 40 minutes long HP needed to be longer. There's more they could have put into it. Maybe they're just storing up for HP 4 Yay Goblet of Fire! And when is Order of the Phoenix ever coming out in paperback?

Btw, you can check out the Aspire Bookshelf and see some of the books I enjoy...there'll be a better navigation system soon, that's very much a work in progress. Yay books!

Posted by Jen at 5:20 PM | Permalink

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I saw Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban last night. That made me very happy. This is one case where I like reading the book first. I like knowing what's going to happen, I like seeing how they visualize the characters and the scenery. Yes, it was darker, yes it was a little scarier, but it wasn't so much different than the others. Just little touches that showed it was directed by a more eccentric director than the first. And some things were completely changed, like the location of the Whomping Willow, and everyone looked just slightly more than a year older, but it had me smiling and laughing and cheering silently that I could overlook those things. Daniel Radcliffe is pretty cute for all that he's only 14, and I do like his green eyes even if they're only contacts. Yay werewolves (even if a little disappointingly rendered) and yay for time past. Kudos for actually learning some defense against the Dark Arts, and for some really funny moments. Rupert Grint is quite a good comedic actor. Emma Watson is just too pretty for 14. But she acts smart and gets to punch Malfoy which makes me laugh. I think the story adhered pretty closely to the book, which is always a good thing. And I'll look forward to seeing it again with my parents. For all you spider-phobes out there there aren't any here! Whee! Go see it.

On a totally unrelated note, my softball team won its first game last week, 10-4. I wasn't sure we were winning for a while, but I guess that's ok because it makes you want to play better. One thing I will never understand is how people can drink beer while playing a sport. Well, how people can drink beer in the first place is a mystery to my anyway, but it just seems like your stomach would rebel when you actually get on base. Maybe that's just me. And I really have to learn how to field ground balls with my glove and not my shins. Ouch.

It's another hot one...yay st louis summer.

A man walked into a bar, sat down, and ordered a beer. As he sipped the beer, he heard a soothing voice say, "Nice tie." Looking around, he noticed that the bar was empty, except for himself and the bartender at the end of the bar.

A few sips later, the voice said, "Beautiful shirt." At this, the man called the bartender over and said, "Hey, I must be losing my mind. I keep hearing these voices saying nice things and there's not a soul in here but us."

"It's the peanuts," answered the bartender.

"Say what?" replied the man in disbelief...

"You heard me," said the barkeep. "It's the peanuts...they're complimentary."

Posted by Jen at 10:06 AM | Permalink |

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Stem Cells without embryos Wouldn't it be nice if this actually works? Then all those pro-lifers could stuff it. Er. That sounds harsh, I realize. I just wish they'd let the research go on...I sure hope Kerry is in favor of SC research.

Oy. This past weekend everybody went down to my grandparents' farm and cleaned it out. They had to be out by yesterday so I guess it's a good thing...it's so unfair that they had to move. There was all sorts of stuff about them being there in the will of the guy who owned the land but the will got broken and the woman who inherited just didn't want to take care of the land so she sold it. I don't really know the full story but it just pisses me off. So lots of heavy moving and hard work and little air conditioning. Just my parents and I spent sunday night in the only motel that Richland offers (which, aside from the ant problem, was quite nice) and then we did the last of the moving. I will say I won't miss the bumpy 15-minute drive to get there from the highway...but they still live three hours away. In a trailer moblie home. This may or may not be permanent, depending on the market. There's a really good family diner nearby with barbeque chicken wings which happens to be the only thing my grandpa could stomach, but that's not exactly a ringing endorsement for the little town. At least everybody really does know your name.

And on a sad note I managed to lose my WU track jacket somewhere between the front door of my apartment and my car. I was carrying a lot of stuff (loading up for the weekend) and I guess I dropped it along the way (the SHORT way) and didn't pick it up. But I didn't realize that I didn't have it until later that night; I assumed I had left it in the car, but I was already dressed for bed and didn't want to go outside and check. It probably wouldn't have helped anyway. Before we left for my grandparents the next day we stopped by just to see if it was still there, but it wasn't...there was a note on one of the apartments across the street but I didn't have time to read it. Wish I had. Probably not about the jacket anyway. I put up a sign on the tree near our place, but I'm not holding out much hope. I just hope you feel stupid, whoever you are wearing my jacket with MY name on it! I know it's just a thing, it shouldn't be a big deal, but man, I paid for that thing, it was useful, it has memories stored in it. Sigh. I'm trying not to think about it. I was down the whole weekend anyway and that just made it worse.

I'm getting fairly excited about the third Harry Potter movie. I just reread the books (and have to pick the fifth one up at the library so I can read that again) and I have to say the third book is one of my favorites of the series. I've heard this one is darker, more sinister, just plain more. This is good. Potter Tale takes Darker Turn. Probably won't get to see it on opening day, alas. Someday.

Posted by Jen at 9:47 AM | Permalink |

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