Who the heck do I think I am?

Yes, I realize I'm like the last person in HP fandom to see DH1 - well, except etakyma, because we went to see it together last night.

It was okay. It was better in parts than I feared, more painful in parts than I hoped, and surprising in a few ways. Best thing in the film was Jason Isaacs, though. I think he really did an amazing job of treading that line between scared shitless and trying to maintain the shreds of his dignity, authority, and prowess. The Endless Camping Adventure of DOOOOOOM was mercifully kept moving through the wondrous power of film - and basically skipping the monotony in favor of, y'know, actual plot development. Rhys Ifans cracked me up, mainly because all I could think of anytime he was on-screen was "Notting Hill" and the ridiculous Spike. Yaxley! I am so glad we have a visual for him now. Bill Nighy as Scrimgeour was also freakin' hilarious (though I didn't need the EXTREME close-up of the first few frames).

One moment of huge cognitive dissonance for me was the scene in the tea shop because I had immediately recognized the Death Eater later revealed as Dolohov - only I immediately recognized for the icons that the HP Alternity player has chosen for Rodolphus.... so I had to do a little mental somersault and reassign him in my head. (Yeah, I know. But HP Alternity rocks.)

There are some visuals I want to be able to spend more time on - like Sirius' room (I want MORE!) and Regulus' room (again MORE) and the exterior of the Manor (though not the interior - way too Gothic and not Georgian enough)... long hair on wizards is growing on me, especially styled like the head Snatcher. (I'm kinda glad it wasn't Fenrir, actually. I don't mind that change.) I'm also glad they didn't include Remus's freakout scene when he comes to 12GP because that was one of the bits that really pissed me off - not that he was panicked, but that Harry got all self-righteous with him and really had no clue what he was talking about. (The sequence just drove home why R and T weren't well-matched the way JKR wrote them.) On the other hand, the inclusion of George playing it cool in the face of Harry and Ginny making out? Price. Less. And Luna ALWAYS RULEZ. M'kay?

Oh, does anyone know why on earth the guy Harry polyjuiced into in the Ministry infiltration sequence (Runcorn), was walking so strangely? That was never explained as far as I can tell.

Hm. What else? Since I probably won't see it again until it's on cable or whatever.... I thought it was reasonable. Maybe it's because I'm just not as invested in the story anymore. I dunno. Heavy on the angst and woe in the opening scenes... but overall better than I was expecting.


In other news: Full Monty, baby! At Turtle Lane. End of February. I'm playing Pam and will play Vicki for some number of performances. This is awesome for a few reasons, not least of which that it comes with a very small stipend, which basically pays for the gas and probably for going out afterward. Yayz.

Still no word on the job - I'm told we will know something "this week." Argh. I needz a job.

My Christmas shopping is 2/3 done. And I bought a pair of PJs that I need to exchange for a different size. And the Penguins won, hoorah.


Tonight, I have been watching "The Princess and the Frog" on cable. Er. Well. It does have a bit to recommend it. But I still can't forgive them for Disneyfying her - though there is a better explanation for her outfit in the context of the story... she still was prettier and more appropriate before they mucked with her look. However. Keith David has always had a sexy voice. He's even sexier when he sings. SHIVER. (Oh, and it's worth noting that the dream sequence toward the end shows her in much the way they had her look originally.)

Okay, so....

First off, I have purchased a knock-off brand of toning trainers for only $30 (instead of $80-100 for name brands). I have tried on virtually every trainer on the market that offers this technology, that doesn't have a mesh fabric (because going into autumn, I don't want a trainer that's going to soak through). I even got a blister from tightening shoelaces. But hey, $30 and new trainers and (one hopes) they will do what they're supposed to do as I walk.

Also, Bad-Ass Faeries now has a website, so watch for more information about that soon.

Also, FictionAlley needs money. We're looking into grant opportunities but we could use donations to tide us over (and if we don't get a grant soon), so go to FA and donate or at least use our Google Ads and links when you shop on Amazon and so on, so we'll get kickbacks.

Next, I finally received "Brotherhood of the Wolf" from Netflix. It wasn't in their library when I first requested it three years ago; they finally added it and I watched it this afternoon. Really rather good, though not particularly pithy. It's French (subtitled) and watching subtitled movies is always tricky owing to the lack of multitasking. My French is way rusty, so without the subtitles I'd catch about every third word. It's also notable because it features Marc Dacascos, better known as the Iron Chef America Chairman, in a super-hawt role. I kinda want this movie, though I'm not anxious to add it to the collection. Someday. It's not even that expensive - just not a necessary acquisition at this time.

I also recently watched "In the Bedroom" - Wow. That's a powerful film. Deceptively simple. Tom Wilkinson is in everything, man. And he's always fabulous.

Still nothing on the job front. I just need to keep applying.

And last but totally not least, etakyma and I went up to Manchester last week to have dinner with bekkio. We went up early to check out the Currier Museum of Art, which is quite a respectable little collection. They had three changing exhibits, the best of which was a kinetic sculptor named George Sherwood (www.georgesherwood.com). Wicked cool. And a retrospective on photographer Jerome Liebling, also impressive, but not as "woah" as the sculpture. It was a fun day.

I have some auditions coming up, have to prepare for those. And...I dunno. I guess that's it. Holiday weekends - pretty much the same for me as any other day. Only in some ways more boring.

We're leaving for Infinitus TOMORROW!

Leg one of our journey starts once I pack my car and go to A's house, where we will pack the car MORE and then drive to our hotel which is just south of Philly.

Leg two will be getting up Sunday and booking down to the other side of D.C. where we will catch the AutoTrain. Adventur! Train overnight in our little "roomette".

We will arrive in Orlando Monday morning and proceed to the Royal Pacific once we get our car off the train. We will have WiFi definitely in the hotel tomorrow night, but I don't know that we will on the train.

Then INFINITUS begins OMG.

This whole last couple days have been weird. Because of the intense heat I've been basically living in my bedroom instead of the front of the house (because here's where the A/C unit is). It's been surreal, only going out into the rest of the house when necessary. I've also been doing all the little things one does when leaving the house for almost two weeks: cleaning out the food gone bad (so it's not all even more STINKY when I get back) and all the packing that couldn't be done until I was done with the items going in. And dealing with all the last-minute stuff that we're dealing with in preparation.

And in the midst of this, pegkerr turned me on to this HILARIOUS blog on Buzznet: Mark Reads Harry Potter. I've caught up with his reading of SS and CoS and the 15 chapters he's read so far of PoA. They are hysterical. He's reading each book and blogging the experience, one chapter at a time, trying to remain as spoiler-free as possible - not easy when people spoil him in the comments. I really feel for him, about that, because the absolute charm of this project is watching him discover everything as a first-time reader who, remarkably, knows next to nothing about HP. It's great fun and needless to say his reviews are GOLD. He's fair when he sees a critical problem, but overall he's experiencing the wonder and the WTF and the OMG that is the first time through a series with this many twists and turns.

He apparently came to this project after reviewing Twilight in the same manner - and I'm reading that now. OMG, so funny. He totally calls Twilight for the POS that it is (I mean, really, it IS) and is HATING every chapter with more and more hatred. These are endlessly entertaining, folks.

Mark Reads Harry Potter - go all the way back to the beginning, it's High-freaking-larious.

Also, ABC Family is doing HP weekend again with previews and inside looks at HP&theDH, but I'm excited because at 11:00 I am going to watch MOOSE ATTACK! on Discovery. It should be all kinds of AWESOME. I mean. It's about MOOSE. ATTACKING! It's got to be cracktastic.

Maybe worth a second glass of wine. I think so, don't you?

(Oh and in other news my house got chosen to be a ratings family. I think. It just said 337, no unit number. I may have to take the paperwork with me and go online to file to make sure they don't want my landlord's unit instead of mine. Because fuck yeah, I want to be a ratings family!)

So, last week there was this water main bustification in Boston, and we were on a "boil water" order for a while. They lifted it the morning I left for Rochester (so I got to wash my dishes before hitting the road), but my dentist appointment had already been postponed.

I hit the road, spent a couple days with Mom, went down to Pittsburgh for Crown, and came back home (via Rochester again) yesterday.

The highlights:
- Haircut! (quite a few compliments at Crown, too)
- New Headshots! This is good because I had an audition last night (grump: no callback) and one tomorrow, and I'll need 45 of the suckers for the June auditions
- Watched "Harper's Island" with Mom
- Acquired a bag of old garb, some of which can still be used, most of which either needs modification (ahem, I'm fat) or will just be part of the costume closet for theatrical use
- Continually squicked / worried about Mom and the way she lives. Not sure I can do anything to improve her situation.
- Left "The Last Detective" with her (she was finishing them up when I got there on Monday), which she enjoyed / devoured.
- Crown was COLD, RAINY, MUDDY - in other words, an AE Crown. Good practice for War Practice (note to self, remember arm-warmers and cold weather gear)
- I have a new misspelling of my name on the magnet! It's always hilarious when they get his name right (the complicated one) and mine wrong (the easy one)
- Watched Game 5 with the family
- Puked a LOT on Saturday night (yuck!)
- Went to dinner with erink and her partner, and also went to see Iron Man 2 with them. Did not get to play with the iPad because grouchyoldcoot bogarted it.
- Took Mom out for dinner for Mother's Day. Then she topped off my gas tank (which didn't quite even it up, but I'm not complaining)

Came back to Boston, got ready for the audition. Dutifully left in time to find the place, only to wait until after my appointment time with no one around. Phone dead! Went home, turned on computer. Immediately noted that I was IN THE WRONG PLACE - but the right place was only 5 blocks away. Jumped back in the car - tearing my pantyhose - and screamed over there. No problem. Only had about a 10 minute wait (enough time to shuck the torn hose!), but really didn't do well on my songs - especially the second one. The first one was okay, but I was tired from the long drive and I guess my voice wasn't sitting right. I could not get my heart rate or breathing back after the first song, so the emotional shift for the second was off. No callback. Not surprised, but MEH.

Cloudy and cold today. Also cramps, yuck. And NOTHING on the job front. Dentist appointment. Gum recession - yay. Don't need to do anything yet, but will.

ARGH.

And the Penguins are losing. What the fuck, boys?

Can there be Alternity? If I have to be wearing my crankypants, I'd like to at least be able to escape to where my characters are having a crappy time for much more life-threatening reasons.

I'm in a spammy mood. So sue me.

I'm watching a program about supermassive black holes (which are really cool). But the music they're using? Is from "The Black Hole." Ha-ha, Science Channel. You are so funneh. (Okay, now it's "Vertigo".)

What is NOT funny is the Penguins' performance. ARGH.

(And that the office I have to go to tomorrow, that I thought was north of me...is actually further south than I went today. Oy. I will need gas tomorrow!)

And one more thing before I stop spamming you today - two movies I watched:

Monster's Ball - okay, this has actually been on my Netflix list for over two years, and every time it gets near the top I push it down. It was sort of.... well, it wasn't as hard-hitting as I expected it to be. It was much quieter, somehow. Not a bad movie - but I dunno. Was it all it was cracked up to be? I might have to watch it again, but at least now I think I can drop in on it if it's on TV, without feeling like I need to watch straight through.

Gran Torino - by contrast, this is on my Netflix list but happened to be on TV, so I watched it. OMFG. What a movie! This is the kind of story that will be with one for days after seeing it. Wow. Amazing. (I haven't seen Million Dollar Baby, because frankly the subject matter is not interesting to me, and I haven't seen Letters from Iwo Jima because subtitles are difficult when I'm always doing things that don't let me stare at the screen. I have parts of seen Flags of our Fathers, but I think I fell asleep. Honestly, this is probably the best Clint Eastwood film I've seen since Unforgiven.) SEE THIS MOVIE. Holy shit. I think/hope my mother owns it because if so, all is right with the world and I can rest easy, but if not? It goes in the "to own" pile. Day-um.

Okay, back to doing nothing.

First off, pursuant to my post about upcoming movies, there's this piece from A.O. Scott in today's NYT:

Screen Memories - in which he actually has kind of a meta discussion about movie-viewing and personal canon.


Second, in my ranting about SPN last night, I forgot a mini-rant about Top Chef this week. I'm not sure this counts as a spoiler - so without revealing the outcome, I'll just say that Tom Colicchio FAILS at Food History 101. He actually criticized one of the chefs Wednesday by saying, "I don't know how much you know about Medieval food, but basically, meat was so rank back then that they spiced everything really really heavily to cover up for it."

NO, Tom. That's a myth. Granted, I pretty much agree that the chef didn't show any understanding of medieval food, or any creativity, but they did NOT spice things because they were eating rotten meat. Thanks for setting cultural anthropology back again - on national TV. No Love, Gwen.


Third, sigh. I was really hoping she'd be out today.


Fourth, Project Runway: Um... Why am I not thrilled with any of these collections - and honestly, I really don't care for any of the models who are still in the competition. Tanisha is a great model but really vain. I don't like Kalyn at all. Lisa annoys me. Oh, and Irina? Get over yourself, honey.


Fifth, Job search: I had an interview yesterday (oh, and must write thank-you note to her), but it's for a job that I would not accept. It's within the Medical Center, but it's a serious step *backward* - and not with any sort of path that would open up. Basically it's what I was doing at Mt Auburn, only within Nursing Quality, which means it's actually a level *down* because I'd be doing it for the director of nursing and not the director of quality for the whole medical center. It's also down a paygrade, which would mean a minimum of a $6,000/year cut. Now, maybe if I'd been out of work for 6 months already and wasn't finding anything, I'd consider it just to get working again. But at this point, I don't think it's the right move at all.

But on that note, when I talked with the HR person about the job search and other positions to which I'd applied, I got some of the same crap I've been getting all along. HOW in the FUCK is anyone supposed to get supervisory experience - by which they mean, professional *direct* reports over whom one has the power to hire, discipline, and fire - unless you can get a job that involves supervision?? I mean, shit, at this point, I'd be doing better if I'd gone into retail full-time. The problem with that (aside from the obvious Retail Sucks!) is that it's all nights and weekends. Which means theatre takes a swan dive. But seriously - SERIOUSLY - I can hire people. I can interview. I can fire people - it's not comfortable to do and it sucks, but dude, there are procedures and guidelines in almost any professional organization. It may be hard, but it's not *difficult*.

ARGH. I've got to find something this time that is not completely independent, that involves leading groups and/or managing other people. That's just all there is to it. Even if it's ONE other person - it's the gap I have to figure out how to close.


And speaking of theatre (I really was, didn't you see it in there?), Sixth: Auditions for "Musical of Musicals". They added a third night of auditions (which I may or may not have blogged about. I meant to, if I didn't), but even then, they could not cast the male lead. Which means they have scrapped the show - but they've asked everyone who auditioned to participate in a more traditional "gala" performance with concert-style presentations of numbers from popular shows - I believe popular shows they've done, but I'm really not sure. Don't care - I'm in, and it means I might get some good showcasing.

And auditions for "Fiddler" are coming up and I have to figure out what to do. Must go read the notice again.

Also need to check some job boards.

Bleh. I really, really hate looking for work. I kinda hate working, which doesn't help at all.

Yes, yes, I know.

Mainly, I've been using LJ for about the past, oh, 9 months, as an outlet for roleplaying gaming (in the form of hpalternity which is more fun than should be legal), and thus not really using this journal much, at all, or doing much of anything else terribly creative writing-wise.

I have, however, been planning a certain conference...which let me just say is going to be HELLA AWESOME and OMG AMAZING and is in YIPE! Two Weeks!

Followed by Comic-Con International.

Followed by Pennsic.

Yes, I am a CRAZY person, why do you ask?

But, I needed to post about something important and (getting more and more) shiny: My New Palm Pre.

She's a coy little thing sometimes, but I am learning her quirks. I picked her up Wednesday and she's actually a twin - her sister had some out-of-the-gate issues and the friendly tech at the Sprint store switched devices - but she and I are in those new stages of a relationship. As Amy said, I'm trying to determine if this little beauty will give me "the love [I] need from a cell phone."

There were a few bumps in the first 24 hours, but since making friends with my phone's very large and comprehensive User Guide, I am learning the ins and outs of Pre ownership. I already LOVE the apps and wish there were more.

Downsides are that the text editor will take some practice (I am SO still not used to the lack of a fast, easy trackball) and the QWERTY keyboard is a. very small and b. not fully featured (like no Tab, only one Alt and one Shift key (both on the left thumb) and y'know, little quirky things that will just take adjustment to over time). I would love an app for it that pops up a regular touchpad keyboard like the IPhone, but perhaps that will come soon. My father will be *thrilled* that I have downloaded the "AccuWeather" app and can now tell him *exactly* what the weather is doing wherever we are.

One thing that is frustrating me currently is that I can't seem to figure out how to get music to synch to the phone. Theoretically one plugs in the USB port, tells it to import "media", and it just ... does. But that's not happening and the manual and the online help don't seem to want to tell me why. It may be a call to the support staff at Palm. Unless someone knows? Maybe I'll check the Palm website for help.

We even ate dinner tonight courtesy of the Pre's "CitySearch" app. Found a new restaurant that went in on Moody street where the Iguana Cantina used to be. Pretty good food, too.

We got together here and not in Framingham (I've mostly been going there these past couple months to either help or stay out of the way in Amy's pre-Azkatraz Project Factory), because the local theatre, the one that plays more arts films, was showing "Moon." This is Duncan Jones' full-length directorial debut. And while that might not mean a lot to many of you, to me and Amy it has significance: he was two years behind us in college.

Yeah.

It was a really good movie and we're very proud of him, even though Amy only took one class with him (Playwriting) and I never even properly met him.

Did I mention that I'm running a conference? It's sort of an accomplishment, I guess.


Anyway. So. Conference. Alternity. Palm Pre. Job continues. Stress puppy = me.

Yeah.

Okay, so Watchmen?

Violent. Sin City kind of violent. But really good.


Also, IAWTC: A's review of Cabaret, except for 1-2 points about the way to approach the title song. Yes, she should not be breaking down during the song, but there should be some desperation and defiance and just on the brink of breaking down during the song. I do agree that the woman playing Sally was terrible.

Gang, rarely have I been so relieved to have not been cast in something. There are worse things than to be the best thing in a bad show - and one of them would be to be someone who Gets It in a production where No One Else Gets It. Gah. Even the best, most veteran actor on that stage last night was hit and miss, because she didn't have anyone giving her direction. I actually feel bad for the crew and my few friends in the cast, because it's not their fault they're in such a dreadful show.

I was really, really hoping that I would see something - anything - in the performances that justified the casting choices. Nope.


Anyway. Bills are paid; I need to withdraw cash for Gulf Wars, wash dishes and pack tomorrow.

Seriously. I've ducked them - pretty much successfully - for basically (gulp) 20 years.

( My high school found me - cut for the uninterested. )

Oh, and Amy - you'll laugh. Guess what came in the mail yesterday? I'll give you a hint: You predicted I'd get one. No? Well, I can get that second potholder.


In other news, taxes are done, yay! I should get my refunds just in time for Gulf Wars.

However, US Air sucks. This is the second time now that I've booked travel and had it completely not go through. You know how you click the "Purchase" button and it tells you "We're processing your request; don't click this button again or you may buy it twice!" and you wait? Yeah. Well, apparently it didn't work. I was supposed to go to Mi-No-Hi this weekend, but no. No ticket, no confirmation, no transaction on my credit card - NOTHING. As if I never pushed the button. ARGH.

But. Coraline 3D was even more rockin' the second time, and Watchmen comes out soon. Gang, we may actually have to leave Gulf Wars to go to that again.

Okay, so first, there's something small and *very* fast crawling around my living room floor. The first time we saw it it was running across the wood floor and went under the recliner. Then a little bit later I spotted it across the rug by a binder on the floor. At least, I hope it was the same one. I'd hate to think there are more than one. It looked blacker than a silverfish, maybe a roach or beetle of some kind? It moves really fast. Ycch.

Next up, The Women opened yesterday and etakyma and I went to a matinee today.

So can I just say, there's a reason I hardly ever go to films in the theatre anymore? MAN, THE COMMERCIALS. And OMG, $7.75 just for a matinee? I remember when $5.00 was FULL PRICE.

However, that said, they did a GREAT job with this film. They kept almost all the best parts of the original play, borrowed a few things from the '39 film version, and for the rest, they updated it beautifully. There was no need to code Alex, and Jada Pinkett Smith did a fabulous job with the character. Who knew she was so good at physical comedy? Not just slapstick, either.

They did a really nice job of casting. Carrie Fisher and Bette Midler both did an awesome job in their small but pivotal roles. Relocating the "Reno" section to a yoga retreat, and cutting out a lot of the silliness with the actress chick, was an inspired way to get around the complications of the play's second act, and the need for Mary to go to Reno to await divorce. The updated "Molly" instead of "little Mary" was sensitive and much more believable and relevant than the original text (which was probably relevant, but even a little cheesy back then). Candace Bergen and Cloris Leachman rocked, and Debra Messing was HIGH-larious.

The movie was also produced in cooperation with Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty, and at the end of the credits each of the four central actors - Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, and Jada Pinkett Smith - talk about what they consider to be "real beauty." The whole screenplay is written with an awareness of the mixed messages that women receive in our society: strength vs. femininity, cosmetic beauty vs. internal happiness, sisterhood vs. career demands, and so on. And they did an awesome job of reflecting the catch-22 women find themselves in, as well as the value of knowing one's self and knowing how to get what you want, without betraying the people who will stand by you while you get there.


So, really good.


ETA: Silverfish. HUGE one. Dead now.