Wheee

Look, over there!

It's a bird! No, it's a plane!

No, it's my costume for the Code Enforcer scene that's being filmed tomorrow!
(feel free to ignore the periwinkle shirt -- I should be in a white one tomorrow)

"What's that in the bag, Mr. Wonka?"

"Why, these are my delicious Wonka Candies!"

"Would you like a candy, little girl?"

HSAW AKNOW

It occurred to me that I may-or-may-not need to have a Halloween costume by Monday at 7pm, so I went ahead and started working on one.

Since I already have brown slacks and a white dress shirt, I chose Willy Wonka. Tomorrow, the hunt begins for a purple coat and brown top hat (and, according to my notes, a "Vest w/horrible purple flowers").

What's that, you say? I am missing something? The brown bow-tie, as can be seen below? They are extremely difficult to find, say, online.


Nope, got that covered! One hour + a brown pillowcase = Wonka Bowtie!

Now, anyone want to give me some lines to feed Justin when he notices that his pillowcase is missing?

In Which I Change My Mind (Again)

Sarah accuses me of changing my mind roughly every other week in regards to my Halloween costume. And . . . she's totally correct. On the back burner I have plans to be the Goblin King from Labyrinth (I am saving it until I learn to contact juggle. Someday.), one of the Angels from the Blink episode of Doctor Who, the satyr from Reefer Madness, etc. etc.

As you may recall, the Ghoulwill Ball is fast approaching, with the theme Vampires and Vintage. I realized that no honest-to-goodness flapper dress is ever going to fit me (alas, I am not 5'6" and twiggy), so I'm not going to match my date's gangster costume.

As a result, it's back to the drawing board. I'm taking a vote here, for the next few days, at which point I'll need to make a final decision and start making my costume. SO THEN

Should I go as:

Option A) "Vampire":


+ the homemade Necronomicon purse I'd be making. Also, it would fill ME with the giggles, but probably not everyone at the party will have seen Revamped.

Option B) "Vintage":


+ well, Gene Wilder is just amazing. Also, I might make some fantastical fake "candy" to carry around. AND, I'd get to play up the "quietly insane" side of my personality that is oh-so-cleverly concealed the rest of the year (right? right??). The only challenge will be NOT using the phrase "I'm wet and hysterical!" over the course of the evening.

“Liveblogging” the debate

Well, I don’t have a wireless card yet, so I’ll just be typing notes into Word and then c+p-ing this entire thing into Blogger.

ETA: I got distracted towards the end (the cats crawled into some plastic bags, for example), so my notes get less detailed. Not that they were incredibly detailed in the first place, but. . .. Wonkette's posts are mysteriously down, but there's another post over at Pharyngula.

8:01pm

Setup for the debate, specifics of the rules. The audience doesn’t get to cheer or boo? Sads for them. I don't know that I would have that kind of restraint.

8:02pm

OMG THEY’RE HERE. WOO.

8:04

Question 1 – the bailout bill. Yikes, Biden, coming on strong. Although not, I think, in a bad way. Bonus points for a pretty specific answer.

Palin’s rebuttal: LOL. The drinking game begins – there was a section for “Palin turns her answer into an anecdote.” Calls for oversight, good. Are we going to introduce any details or policy specifics? No, apparently not.

8:06

Question 2 – polarization

Biden talks up his past; “reaching across the aisle.”

Palin rebuttal: talks up the American workforce. Use of the phrase “team of mavericks” = TIME FOR A DRINK (final Maverick count: 2x in 90 seconds)

Host calls them on “not really answering the question.” Nice.

8:09pm

Palin: speaks to “Joe Six-Pack” and Soccer Mom. Um, no. Now, mentioning that people “shouldn’t live outside their means”? Yes, points for that.

Biden rebuts: attacks McCain, praises Obama’s record. Pretty standard. Biden gives another random anecdote about a guy he met at a gas station.

Palin rebuts: “Obama voted for the largest tax increase in history”: OH SNAP.

Biden rebuts: ‘Um, McCain voted the same way. Also, Palin did not answer the question.’ UH OH PALIN REBUT, REBUT!

Palin: Decides to harp on “the tax thing.” And wow, she seems a little angry now. It’s bit early in the debate for that.

8:15pm

Question: specific questions about taxes for each opponent.

Biden: “Fairness!” No tax hikes for the middle class ($150,000 is middle class? Shit, I’m lagging behind the Jonses).

Palin: Mentions “redistribution of wealth.” OBAMA IS A COMMUNIST!!1!eleventy. Wants to lessen “tax burden on private sector.” Manages to provide policy details, yay! Attacks the federal government (bad job).

Biden: Calls Palin on “redistribution” comment. “Fairness” count: 4x in two minutes. Attacks McCain’s health care plan. Gets an audience laugh on “bridge to nowhere.”

8:21pm

“What promises are you not going to be able to keep?”

Biden: Policy details on tax cuts. . . kind of meanders off topic after a few sentences, I think. (Wondering if that’s worth a shot?).

Palin: Everything is sunshine and bunnies and there are no promises she can’t keep. Then she turns around to attack Obama

[8:23: running downstairs real quick. Brb]

8:33: BACK WHAT DID I MISS

Biden is talking about energy, so I’ll assume that’s what the question was.

Ooh, the Host is angry. They must not be keeping on topic

Palin: “drill, baby, drill”? O-kay. Drilling offshore is all peaches and safety? Hmm.

8:36pm

Same-sex benefits?

Biden says of course. YES THANK YOU.

Palin says OH NO MARRIAGE CANNOT BE REDEFINED.

Of course, Biden goes right ahead and says he doesn’t support gay marriage either.

Great, they agree on something. Take a shot!

8:39pm

Exit plan on Iraq?

Palin: The current plan is working! The surge is a great thing. We “have got to win in Iraq!” (I get the feeling their plan has us being over there for quite a while.)

Biden: “And your plan is. . . ? Also, again, McCain voted the same way as Obama, here.” To be fair, Biden does go on to outline a plan. “For McCain, there is no end in sight.”

Palin: “Your plan is a white flag of surrender!” Yowch. Palin says we’ll know the war is over when their government can govern itself. And we’ll know because our military leaders will tell us. Also, Obama sucks for cutting military funding.

Biden: DUDE McCAIN DID THE SAME THING. (Palin looks pissed. Again.)

8:45pm

Greatest threat: unstable Pakistan or nuclear Iran?

Biden: Uhm, those are both bad things? Goes on to talk about a nuclear Pakistan and an unstable Iran. He gets points from me for mentioning building schools.

Palin: Both are bad, of course. Talks about Israel. Okay, call me elitist (no, go ahead), but “Nuke-ular” is a pet peeve of mine. And yet she pronounces other “hard” words perfectly!

8:48pm

Engagement with enemies: y/n?

Palin: Kissinger is great, we just talked the other day! These dictators hate American freedoms (she mentions women’s rights, finally), and we can’t talk to them. Diplomacy is not enough here.

Biden: Rebuts a specific point of Palin (+1). Says that our “friends and allies” want us to sit down and talk (Palin says we need their support and help with sanctions). We have to go the extra mile in diplomacy.

[another brief break for a Sudafed and to put a frozen pizza in the oven]

8:53pm

Biden is talking about “thoughtful, real-live diplomacy.” Good phrase, at least.

Palin: Awwww, we both love Israel. Calls Biden out for too much finger-pointing and back-looking. Meanwhile, McCain’s ticket will learn from past mistakes and bring about change (MAVERICK: take a drink!).

Biden: “Past is prologue.” Which is a GREAT line, in my humble opinion. Wants to know how McCain’s policy is going to be different from Bush’s.

8:56

Interventions for nuclear weapons use?

Palin: Kinda-sorta answers the question. The U.S. of course needs nuclear weapons, but most other people don’t. Decides she wants to talk about the surge and Afghanistan. We’re “fighing terrorists” and “building democracy”, not accidentally killing civilians, and saying anything different “hurts our cause!”

Biden: The surge won’t work in Afghanistan, and I’m not the one who first said that – it was our military. I’d like it better if Biden was talking more about what OBAMA is doing/going to do, and less about what McCAIN is doing/going to do.

Palin: Oh good, she knows Afghanistan is a different country. “The principles of the surge will work just fine.”

Biden: (looks tired of this debate). ‘everything Palin just said is wrong.’

9:01pm

Biden: “The American public has the stomach for success.” Well, yeah.

Palin: Admits that she’s a Washington outsider. Says Biden is using doublespeak and not speaking clearly. Getting a little catty there, Palin? She does go on to make a good point about not supporting genocide, so that’s nice.

Biden: Okay, I’m getting sick of hearing more about McCain than Obama. He’s hitting some points, but I’d like to hear the name McCain less.

Palin: “McCain knows how to win a war, and HE KNOWS WHAT EVIL IS.” What the hell? (This entire response was strong in soundbites and weak in … anything else.)

9:07pm

What if the prez dies?

Biden would carry on Obama’s work: fair enough answer, and it let him mention a bunch of policy information. A-

Palin sneaks in the phrase “team of Mavericks”: take a couple shots. She would carry on McCain’s work and FIGHT GREED AND CORRUPTION. (We need policy “from Wasilla main street” HUH?) B-

Biden counters with hometown anecdotes of his own. In the Wonkette drinking game, I think this is worth a shot.

Palin decides to get catty again: “there you go pointing back again!” The veep debate is not a forum to say hi to the third-graders in your hometown. She does focus on education, which is also near and dear to my heart.

9:12pm

Host: Sooo, you guys don’t seem very happy about VP’s in general. Please to explain.

Palin gets a round of audience laughter for pointing out that they were both just “making lame jokes.” Good answer.

Biden’s going to be around to give Obama good advice. Also a good answer.

9:18pm

Achilles heels?

Palin: Oh my gosh, I have so much other (non-political) experience that’s useful. Being a mom in the heartland is pretty good experience: I know what it’s like.

Biden: I just have a lot of passion! I am also a parent, and I know what it’s like. Points for admitting that he’s better off financially than most of the country. Wow, Biden just implied sexism. Interesting.

Palin uses “Maverick” again. I am so glad I’m not actually drinking (9:21). And again (9:21, 30 seconds later). “we’ve got to win the wars.” Oh dear, the plural form.

Biden finally says Maverick(9:23). As he’s attacking the use of that title. “Maverick he is not.”

9:23pm

How have you changed views?

Biden gives a fairly good example that shows a progression of thought.

Palin: has “caved” on budget issues. This is not a good example, and she’s apparently “never had to change” her mind, because in Alaska everything can be compromised on. Frick, after this debate I'm moving North. It's apparently fantastic there, what with the eco-friendly drilling and compromise and bunnies.

9:26pm

How do you change the (partisan) tone in Washington?

Biden: don’t question motives.

Palin: I’m not actually sure what her answer was here, because I turned around for a second and she had segued into how the Dems love to increase taxes.

9:28 CLOSING TIME

Palin: thanks all around. It’s fun to talk to Americans! McCain and I will “fight for average Americans.” Fight fight fight, freedoms freedoms freedoms. Taxes.

Biden: THIS ELECTION IS IMPORTANT. We need change to fix this huge hole we’re in.

Immediate reaction: It’d be biased for me to say who “won” the debate, because I’m sure as hell not going to vote for the ticket with the small-town conservative Republican. Biden seemed to keep his cool better, and did slightly better staying on topic. On the other hand, Palin produces better sound bites. To be honest, this is the first time I’ve really heard Biden speak, but I do like what I hear. Palin redeemed herself slightly after a couple of embarrassing interviews (and did she need t!), but it’d be nice if she could stay on topic.

Veeps and Things

- We got "paper 1.1" back in my Rhetoric of the Remake class this morning. I was all bummed at the "70" on my paper -- I admit it was not, as the rough draft, A material, but it was fairly well constructed nonetheless. On the bus, I glanced at the grading rubric again and realized that the prof. had failed to carry a 1: I actually made an 80. Fantastic! I will, of course, be shooting for a high A on paper 1.2.

- Sarah Palin's name alone is starting to give me the crawling heebie-jeebies. The more research I do (and nothing particularly strenuous, at that), the less I like her at all. For example, she sees no issue with creationism being discussed along with evolution in science classes ... except, you know, that one topic is science, and the other belongs in a completely different course.

She gives out lovely statements like this one:

I know the Republican platform is right for my state in Alaska because the planks we can stand solidly on are respect for equality and respect for life and an acknowledgment that it is individual Americans and American families who can make better decisions for ourselves than government can ever make for us. So individual freedom and independence is extremely important to me and that's why I'm a Republican, and there are planks in our platform that reflect that.

On the other hand, she's "pro-life and against same-sex marriage." But that's okay, because "she has gay friends!"

I'm stopping with this article, because I'm done spending my free time on this now. I wasn't really ever going to vote Republican, anyway.

R.I.P.

Paul Newman.

The Weather: I Am Under It

listening: Dragostea Din Tei, by O-Zone


I wish I could give everyone a Really Cool Reason why I had to pry myself off the mattress to get to my Spanish Literature class this morning (erm, afternoon). You know, like "I was out drinking with Hollywood folk until 8am" or "I rescued a penguin that had escaped from the Zoo."

The truth is, though, that I was simply sick all evening, which made venturing out into the sun and noise this morning sound very unappealing.

Well, actually, I was out having fun for part of the evening, but I was already starting to get a major headache when we left. I almost skipped the Alamo Drafthouse's Terror Thursday showing of Turkey Shoot, but decided to go at the last minute. It was very much worth it -- they had a very informative Q&A with the director before the movie.

For example, Turkey Shoot was apparently originally supposed to be a serious political movie (if I have the director's phrasing right, concerning "neocon excesses"), but their budget and time allotted for filming got slashed in half. Instead, he had his actors "camp it up" and turned Turkey Shoot into the 80's B-movie post-apocalyptic film (set in the future year 2000!) we all enjoyed last night. The gore was a little "euggh" in places (quoth the director, "blood is cheap!"), but everyone had to clap as the antagonists got picked off. And, I enjoyed it very much; I'm more of a fan of b-movies than deep political commentary, and this movie had some of both.

After the film, the director hung around for a little while. I'd met up with some friends who had some more questions about the movie, so he came over to our area, which was very cool.

News 'n' Things

There are several new pieces up over at The Green Yak etsy site. If you like, we can start a debate about the morality of "re-purposing" (read: cutting up) an old rosary to make this necklace and this necklace here.

My Advanced Writing professor has talked me into submitting a short piece I wrote for class to the Sun Magazine. I will be certain to let everyone know if it gets published in their Readers Write section :-D

I went to see Burn After Reading this evening. As a rule, I try to go into movies with a blank slate; I very rarely do any research other that watching the trailer. In retrospect, knowing that this was a Coen bothers film (see Fargo) would have prepared me for the ending.

I think I enjoyed Burn After Reading the most out of the four of us. The humor was very dark in places, but the plot was just plain engrossing. Also, the cast is quite literally all-star.

Death by Gaslight

My current "keep in my backpack for spare reading moments on campus" novel is Death by Gaslight, by Michael Kurland. In fact, if I have deciphered the scribble on the title page correctly, it's even an author-autographed copy.

I never thought I would say this about a book, especially a book involving Sherlock Holmes in some way, but I'm on page 98 (of 279), and I can't tell if I like it yet.

Kurland has, in fact, turned one of my favorite stories (those featuring Sherlock Holmes) on its head. The cover reads "Professor Moriarty Leads An Underworld Army Against Unspeakable Evil -- And His Arch-Foe, Sherlock Holmes." As expected, this leads to something quite different from Conan Doyle's works.

*note, in case you're not a Holmes fan: Moriarty is the big, bad-guy mastermind from the original stories*

For one, the Prof. is fleshed out more as a character here, which I do like. Some of the additions are enjoyable. Moriarty as a Man of Science Who Leads a Crime Syndicate to Finance His Experiments is an interesting take. Giving him a Watson-like partner is expected, but nicely executed. However, I think naming his housekeeper "Mrs. H" is a bit silly (Mrs. Hudson is Holmes' landlady).

And, oh, Kurland's Sherlock Holmes. I've been trying to get past his take on Holmes for almost 100 pages now. I knew we were going to have trouble when Holmes called a client "my lord" a dozen times within the space of one conversation -- I think this is more than he uses the phrase in the entirety of Doyle's works.

Even better, this Holmes is a Man Obsessed. He is, in fact, so obsessed with the idea that Moriarty is behind "every crime committed in the greater London area," that he makes a lot of stupid mistakes. The line "without Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes is merely a detective" made me die a little inside: Sherlock Holmes' claim to fame, as it were, is as The World's First Consulting Detective, not as That Guy What Hates Moriarty.

Even worse, there's a subtle sort of made-up tension that's been added. Mrs. H takes Holmes to task at one point:

the debt of gratitude that it might be thought you owe to your old friend and mentor Professor James Moriarty -- the man who took you in and treated you like a son.

"Aaaaah," said my brain, "this is not right at all!"

In any case, the random moments of "NO he did not just do that to my Holmes!" aside, I'm enjoying the book. The verbiage is a bit more than I've been used to lately, considering that Douglas Adams was the last item on my reading list, which makes for a nice challenge. And, the mystery seems to be moving along nicely -- enough so that I want to make it to the end.

I get the feeling that the ending is going to make or break my opinion of this book. I hope it's a good one :-)

Blather

Following the long-established criteria for not sounding like a whiny person, I'm going to preface my venting with some positive points.

First, today was pretty great, all around. I road-tested one of the new bracelets for my etsy shop (if things can survive 5 hours of being dinged around campus and still look pristine, I know they're good). I also got some great feedback on my personal essay in my advanced writing class -- some of the changes are going to be hard to make, but they're most likely necessary.

What else? Oh, my paycheck came in (yay paycheck!). I'm making soup for dinner because my sinuses are clogged (yay blood from the nose! wait, no, ew.), and I have very little homework this evening.

Yeah, okay, are we all in a good mood now?

Because I just have to touch on one of my pet peeves: unhelpful peer critiques. Don't get me wrong, there were some really helpful comments tossed around in class today, and I also understand that sometimes one just has nothing particularly insightful to say about a piece. It's cool.

What I have a problem with are peer comments that (in my opinion) actually [unintentionally] would make the writing worse.

For example, one classmate went through and made a bunch of changes to the "voice" of my writing. I'm thinking, if this is a personal essay, maybe we should leave my voice intact? Hmm? Yes.

There were also a few scattered comments about my not having a neat, nice little conclusion. I struggled with this while writing the essay, because most people are conditioned throughout their academic careers to wrap each paper up nicely with a bow. Unfortunately, this isn't really a topic/style that lends itself to fully-answered questions at the end. So there *nyah*

In conclusion, the worst thing that happened to me today is that I was mildly annoyed for ten minutes while reading some comments from well-meaning peers. I've had worse evenings :-D

Alien Apocalypse

We watched Alien Apocalypse last night.

Alien Apocalypse was good. Well, I say "good"; I mean it was a B movie about aliens, which was pretty much what we wanted. There were ridiculous plot points and hilariously-shaped aliens, and two of my least-favorite actors (in the movie) died within 20 minutes of the opening credits. For his part, Bruce Campbell runs around snapping people's spines into alignment (when not stabbing alien overlords) and wearing an astronaut's outfit that seems to have been inspired by a gi. All in all, not a bad way to spend the evening.

On the other hand, there was something a little "off" that kept Alien Apocalypse from being a "great" B movie, and I just figured out what it is when I did a Google search:

Alien Apocalypse is a Sci-Fi channel original movie

Ah yes. I've been saying for ages now that the phrase "SciFi Original Presents" before a movie is like the kiss of death. For a good example, see the IMDB page for Mansquito. [Yep, that title is pronounced exactly the way you think it is.] Actually, I'm apparently not the only one who has noticed this, because there are rules out there for a SciFi Original Movie drinking game.

If you have cable -- we don't, and I kind of miss the SciFi and Cartoon Network channels -- have one on me. Or, more likely, have about 15.

I think the next movie on our Encore list is American Zombie, which looks promising.

Kidnapped Coed

The most recent Weird Wednesday movie (NSFW, by the way, so click at yer own risk) at the Alamo Drafthouse was, as you may have guessed, "Kidnapped Coed."

Surprisingly, the movie was much better than the title (or the single review on IMDB) had led me to believe.

Also known as "Date with a Kidnapper," the movie follows a young, presumably wealthy woman who is kidnapped for ransom . . . and then things go horribly awry! The film alternates between long, slow shots and fast(ish)-paced action scenes. Honestly, the whole thing should be alternately boring and confusing, but the movie was actually very visually entertaining.

And, of course, randomly hilarious. A few times, the humor was intentional: the rest of the time, it's more of a good old-fashioned this-is-supposed-to-be-serious-but-oh-man laughter.

Staycation Photos, part II

Here are part of the remaining photos from our staycation.

First, pictures from the sailboat! It's been a long, long time since I even went down to Lake Travis, so this was exciting. Well, actually, it was very, very relaxing.


Oh, and I caught (read: reeled in) a little catfish, which we then had to release -- somebody on the boat doesn't like seeing their food before it's been cooked.We almost got to sail through a storm (whee!), but missed most of it. We did plenty of rain and some bumpy water for a while, though, which was also fun. For obvious reasons, there are no photos of us in the rain with the boat at a 30-degree angle.

And then I got a nice little visit to the spa. Mom tricked me -- I was promised a massage and pedicure, and she slipped in an eyebrow wax as well. Yeowch!
But boy did I look adorable afterwards :-D

Code Enforcer

When I grow up, I want to be a gofer.

Well, by "when I grow up" I mean "when filming starts," and by "be a gofer" I mean "get my name in the credits."

The screenplay that dad wrote with his friend Steve is on its way towards becoming a movie! You can check everything out over at the Code Enforcer page. I got a chance to read the Code Enforcer screenplay in one of its later drafts, and I can say that I'm looking forward to seeing it produced. The Code Enforcer cast is definitely (erm, mostly) very pretty.

[As an aside, I am really hoping that they're able to get Meat Loaf to play one of the characters. Although that would probably get me banned from the set for being a fangirl]

As a family member of the writer, I'll be helping out, of course. Unfortunately, since I have neither the $5,000 necessary to invest in Code Enforcer, nor the cash to make a nice-sized donation, I'll have to give of my blood, sweat, and tears.

In other words, when Code Enforcer comes out in theatres, look for my name under "First Gofer." :-D