OH NOEZ

Awesomeness. Minus my lisp and my bad hair and the bad acting of most of the "cast."



Ever since I figured out how to embed things I am a video MACHINE.

And Blue

I love this video. And I have to give all the credit to Stefanie (even though she doesn't read this) for showing it to me.

Sunday and Monday TV

I was going to start my sentence "the only TV I've really watched this week was Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, Heroes, and Chuck" and then I realized that's more than most people watch in a whole week, much less two days. But for me it is sadly lacking. Anyway, I have to say this season is not shaping up the way I thought it would.

First, I really, really enjoy Housewives again. I remember we used to plan our Sunday nights around it the first season, and then the second season sucked hard-core. But it's fun again! I really like all the women. I hate the men more than ever, but that's why it's called Desperate Housewives. All of the men just need to be shot. I realize Carlos is blind, but he can't shave? I never look in a mirror and I manage to shave on a regular basis. Why must he look homeless? Mike is boring, but he always has been, so I'll at least give him points for consistency. Brian Kinney is a bit too "I LOVE you" for my tastes, although Susan is being a bit stupid. Don't even get me started on Orson. Are we just going to glaze over the whole "YOU PROMISED ME A POT ROAST" scene? Bree should have stabbed him in the eye. And Tom is being a whiny child, and he deserves to be smacked upside the head. He's my favorite of the husbands usually, but he really needs to act more like an adult. The women are good, though. Susan is less annoying, Gaby is endearing, Lynette is Lynette, Bree is wonderful, Edie is funny, and Kathryn is under-used. I loved Dana Delaney last year, and I feel like she's just background this season. I'd like to see her start up a rival company to Bree, since clearly Bree doesn't appreciate her. And I don't remember who it is that said "suddenly she's all important when last week you weren't giving her any credit" but WORD. Oh, I almost forgot my rant about the gays. Apparently they can only show up to make inappropriate prison rape jokes and look shocked. I thought Andrew was getting a storyline this season. I don't care if they're under-used, I just care that they're only randomly included to promote stereotypes.

Brothers and Sisters was actually kind of enjoyable this week. I've decided episodes without Tommy and Kitty centric stories are better. I like Justin mostly, I like Kevin when he's with Scotty (To be honest I just like Scotty a lot. And not just because I think he's hot), and I just look at Sarah and think of how good an actress she could be if not saddled with shitty storylines. And Nora is tolerable too when she's not sniping at someone over dinner. The scene at dinner and after when Kevin didn't get the promotion was great. That's exactly how I would be in that situation. Actually I'd be more like Scotty, sucking up to my nasty mother who doesn't accept me. Oh, wait...

Chuck is also surprisingly enjoyable this season. On Monday when big bang and HIMYM were repeats, I actually chose to watch Chuck over Gossip Girl or Terminator. And wow, "Touch" so made it worth it. I got up and started dancing about, and I even wasted a text message to twitter about it. The ending was a little lack-luster I thought, but the rest of the episode was fun.

And then there was Heroes. I left this to last because I really don't know what to say about it, and that's not a good thing. It's all so...lackluster. Claire is melodramatic, Peter is emo, and everyone else is forgettable. And when Kristen Bell comes onto a show and is sucky, you know there's a problem with the writing. The scene with her on the plane was ridiculous. No one could see the giant blue electricity? I know we all try to avoid eye contact with people on planes, but lets be serious. And Suresh is continuing to mutate. I watch it and it's clear they tried to make him into this Dark Beast kind of character, but his motivation is so haphazard. One minute he just wants to save Maya, and the next he's sticking her to his wall. It'd be one thing if he showed some remorse for losing control, but he just looks crazy. I never liked him, and these developments just increase that. I also need someone to explain to me the intentions of Papa and Mama Petrelli. Like, we know they're at odds, but for what purpose? and isn't it a little stupid that they're both set up in cover companies? Am I the only one that thought Primatech was a cover name for an actual organization not called Primatech? These super heroes and the best they had was "the company"? And if Sylar wanted to save Peter, do you think he could have been a little bit less obvious about it? Why doesn't Papa Petrelli just steal his powers too? When will Peter get his powers back? because without them he's more than a little useless and I will be happy to be rid of him, but since I know that won't happen, it's just a question of when, not if. And wow how easy is it to see the future? Every five seconds someone gets all white-eyed. And why didn't Ando eat some of the paste? (this one I know: Purely so he could freak out over Hiro) It's all just such a disappointment that I don't really care where it's going. In the first season you were curious to see how things would turn out. Same with Lost. Now I'm like "Well, we have to get to 'Fugitives' so clearly Peter is going to be on the run from something, what contrived plot device will they use".

This post was long, but I have many rants about Heroes. I will try to keep the rest shorter.

Close ever *gag choke* to me.

Two shows down, 5 to go! They went pretty well, minus a few small mishaps. Like when I literally choked on a line, or just started switching lines of the songs. But all in all I think it went well, and I'm a lot more confident. And hey! We have a sold out night! And it's one of my nights! Eat that counterpart! No need to be bitchy, I suppose, since me being there had nothing to do with selling out. The cast party on Saturday was alright, although kind of quiet given the lack of alcohol. After the show on Sunday was fun though, with margaritas. Margaritas are always fun. This week I have off (for some reason I asked for it off and I don't remember why), but then I'll be on next week.

This weekend, since I'm performance-less, I have no idea what I'm going to do. Halloween is obviously Friday, and I'm very torn about it. I sort of want to get dressed up and go out, cause it only happens once a year, but I also would like to save the $100+ it would cost (costume for $40, and drinks are never cheap). And if I decide to go to the cast parties on Saturday and Sunday, do I really need to drink 3 days in a row? Survey says no. But we'll see. Halloween is such a non-event without Brian around. We've barely decorated the house at all this year. Granted that's also because my house is a disaster cause my mother is a pack-rat without the ability to fix it herself. All I know is this shit better be cleaned up by Christmas.

The biggest problem with going out is not that I can't afford a night out, but that I'd rather save up for my trip to England (!!!!). I've got about 4 paychecks between now and England, and there are lots of things I have to pay off while still saving enough to not go hungry over there. And Christmas this year is going to be exceedingly low key. Don't be surprised if you all get shitty souvenirs from England or Paris. I'm also debating getting involved in a new play. Now that Joseph is winding down, I want to get involved in more stuff, but I'm also thinking I need to take a short break so I don't go crazy. This will also fall into the "we'll see" category.

Hopefully I won't get blown away today as the wind is ridonkulous.

I can't make shit shit up

People crack me the hell up.

Save Me

So as I was thinking about doing, I went to see Save Me after work today. The traffic was bad, and I really did want to see it. Granted I was technically late, but it hadn't started. So as for my review.

If you don't know the premise, Chad Allen plays a gay drug addict who has one bender too many and gets put in a "ex-gay" program run by Judith Light. There he meets Scott (played by Robert Gant of QAF fame), and even though they're both in the program, you can tell straight off they will probably be in a relationship at one point before the movie is over. First, I really have to give the film credit for not making Light's character an "I hate gays" charicature. You realize she feels strongly about these issues, and personally I think she's crazy, but you can feel for her a little bit once you find out why she's doing what she's doing. I also think Chad Allen did a respectable job as a recovering drug addict. He was better in the Donald Strachey films, but he did a pretty good job. As for Robert Gant...I want to like him. But some of his expressions, especially in the hospital when his father was dying, were just RIDICULOUS. He looked more surprised than anguished, and that was a particularly important scene for his character. And he can't do "sad" very well. The scene where he and Chad Allen admit to their attraction was alright, though. Overall though, I'm glad I saw it, but I will never watch it again. It probably doesn't help that the guy sitting next to me clearly was not enjoying the film.

Tomorrow is "Were the World Mine" but I can't see it because of the play. So I will have to wait until December to see it in DC. The question now is if I go to see High School Musical 3 tomorrow, or perhaps Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Depends on how early I get up, I suppose.

Greek

Look at me, I'm like a posting whore lately. Yay work avoidance.

Last night I watched this week's Greek ep, and I've decided it's my new favorite show. It's one of the only things that I go out of my way to watch as soon as it's downloaded. And the strange part is I can't put my finger on why I love it so much. The story isn't particularly groundbreaking and the characters aren't particularly good-looking, but it's just such a fun show. Calvin probably has some influence on my opinion, because I think his character is handled well (when he's doing more than being a sounding board for Rusty and Ashley), but even episodes he's not in I still enjoy. And I wouldn't call it a guilty pleasure cause I'm just that guilty about watching it. Gossip Girl is more of a guilty pleasure.

I also watched Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. I really like Ugly Betty, although I'm not feeling Betty so much. Hilda cracked me up. Who's taking bets that the boy in Justin's try-out becomes a love interest? I'm also done with Daniel, but I've been done with him for quite some time so that's no news flash. And Housewives was really good, for some reason. Granted this is by Housewives standards, but I really enjoyed it. When MJ just stood there and fell over, it cracked me up. I however hate Orson (which I think is kind of the point). And I want them to do more with Dana Delaney. She's fantastic, but I feel like she doesn't get enough screen time. Also, how can people not see that Dave is creepy as fuck?

Tonight is opening night of the play, but I don't open until tomorrow. It's kind of a strange feeling going on stage, but hopefully it will go well (assuming I don't flub lines and as a result forget to breathe). It's nice that I don't have anything tonight, although I kind of want to see "Save Me" at the Reel Affirmations film festival in town. Problem is I don't want to spend the money for the ticket to go and sit by myself. And tomorrow I will probably go see High School Musical 3 cause I'm a huge geek. I'll probably just stay in and play FFXI since I haven't done that all week.

I have to get back to "work" now.

Were the World Mine

I'm kind of ridiculously excited for this film. I've posted first a song from it that I LOVE. And then a "sneak peek" afterwards. I liked the Sneak Peek more than the trailer. Here's the website for anyone that's interested.

Politics

I'm really not overly political. I tend to think all politicians are full of crap and everything is being controlled by a bunch of scary old white men in a dark room with strange spotlights. If you've seen Evangelion, kind of like those folks. But this election cycle I watch the news and I listen to the people around me and it baffles me how people are not getting political. The country is frigging falling apart around us. The world thinks we're all idiots (and while by and large I can't disagree with the world, I would like as a whole for America to become less stupid). And don't even get me started on the sad state of gay rights. How can Californians even consider Proposition 8? It's such a hateful piece of legislation. And yet these fucking Mormons and other Christian groups are spending hundreds of millions to fight it. But I do not need to start ripping apart the illogical arguments of religious groups, because I can never win.

Anyway, the whole reason I'm writing is because of this article by David Sedaris, which more or less summed up my views on the situation. If I dwell on the topic for too long I'll just get very angry and ruin my day.

To twitter or not to twitter...

So, I started a twitter account, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Part of me thinks I would do better with the instant nature of Twitter, because until recently I seldom have time to sit down to write a whole blog entry (and even now it's only because I don't do my work). Yet, I feel it's slightly arrogant to think that the world cares about my every move. Does the world really want to know every random thought that enters my head? Am I being self-involved to want to tell everyone my every move?

We'll see how long I keep this up, but until then:

I am a Twit.

A true test of a man

So, I've decided: if you can't do this, you can't call yourself a real man.

One more thing for the life to-do list.

Joseph, how can we ever say...

all that we want to about your short skirt.

So for those of you who aren't coming to my show (and by that I mean anyone that doesn't live in the area, cause if you live in DC and you don't come, we're not speaking any more), here is a preview of my costume:

This is my slave outfit.

I'm thinking about the dreams. Sexy legs.

It's much better with the headdress.

ANARCHY. I was so tired at this point.

So, yes. That's that. Show opens on Friday, and I've only got one more run-through. I pity the people who come on opening night. For anyone who is reading this and thinking about coming, I am on Oct. 25, 26, Nov. 8, 9, 14, 20, and 21. Ask me about times!

I need to move out

This weekend I was in charge of watching my mom, cause my dad took a (deserved) weekend to go play golf. I love the woman, but watching her is so stressful, cause I never get a chance to really just sit and unwind because she always needs something, or she has her TV turned up way too high so it's just noisy. And it's sad because we used to be really close but now we're just not. That's partly due to her being stupid about her disease, and party due to her being bigoted in her opinion about gays.

I've also discovered I now look down on anyone that hasn't gone abroad for an extended period of time, or at the very least gone abroad in something other than a foreigner-centric package trip, but then start preaching about foreign policy. I don't mean to look down on them, it just happens. I find my patience wears thin with people a lot faster lately than it used to. At 25 I've already discovered life's too short to put up with crap I don't agree with. It's not that I really think I'm a great person (nor do I think I'm a bad person, just average) but I look around in America and I'm dumbfounded by how people act. Whether its my boss (who is a really nice guy otherwise) talking about sex NON-STOP, or my mother telling me Palin isn't a cluster-fuck of a candidate. I never thought my values were that strange until recently.

Anyway rant over, cause my heart isn't really in it. I do have a rant about the sucky Apple phone service, but no one needs to hear that. Other than that in my life is not much. The play opens on Friday, with my first show on Saturday night. The great part is how we have exactly ONE practice before the show. I have yet to have a fuck-up free practice, so that's great. We also have sold literaly zero tickets for our thursday night show. How awkward will that be? This TV season is killing me as well, cause there's just too much shit on. I don't have enough extra hours in my week to watch everything, and rather than trying to stay current on the new shows, I only watch shit that was on last season. I will watch new shows after we've trimmed the fat a little bit.

I'm going to go back to being on hold with Apple for an hour.

The real villian is the shitty writing

So, let me start by saying that I think Heroes season 3 blows hardcore. Here are a few of my issues: (Spoiler Alert if you're not up to date)

1. wtf is going on with Mohinder? He injects himself and turns into Manspider? And while we're on the topic, could we get some better fucking lighting in his laboratory? Did he learn nothing in high school chemistry? That dark, grey-ness is a one-way ticket to pouring acid on yourself. and more to the point, I can't figure out if he has a "rash" as he put it, or he's scaling over. Note to all you future genetic experiments: Be specific when describing side effects. And Maya, you stupid bitch, why did you stop poisoning him? Clearly he's off-kilter. You deserved to be sacked in a corner. Granted after last seasons suckitude, I'm not so broken up.
   
2. I will allow the "Nathan back from the dead" thing. Maybe he's being reanimated. maybe that's daddy's power. who knows. I do not like the "I'm on a mission from God" storyline. And sidenote: where the hell did his family go? Did they leave him after he got all melty-faced last season? His wife could walk again, and apparently that meant she walked away from his sorry ass.
3. WTF IS SYLAR'S POWER? Hunger? watch repair? Crazy? I had always thought Peter and Sylar had similar powers, just different ways of going about them. But apparently the crazy that goes with it is VERY IMPORTANT. And while we're on the topic of Peter, how about he get a little bit MORE emo? Would that work for everyone? That scene between scar-face peter and stupid-idealism peter was annoying melodramatic and cliche. And now he's all "I HUNGER". But still not getting why. And all he needed to do to absorb the power was fix a watch? Seriously? That's like a poorly designed RPG quest.
   
4. Speaking of not-getting, Mama Petrelli says "I am your mother" and everyone's like "WOW, I HAD NO IDEA". If that crazy bitch told me she was my mother, my first question would be "Could I get a DNA test?" It's like an episode of Maury Povitch in here. And why is everyone in this damned show related?
   
5. Hiro is being overly emo as well, and I don't like it. I love that he calls Daphne nemesis, and I loved how he kept putting Sark (David Anders, i can't remember his heroe's name. Adam?) in the coffin. but all of the "I don't trust ando" bullshit is an over-reaction that you KNOW is going to turn out to be completely misunderstood. I was mildly surprised when Hiro stabbed Ando, but I just don't care so much anymore.
   
6. Am I they only one that didn't understand the situation when they went into the future? In the first episode they make you believe that Claire is chasing after Peter because the "specials" are being hunted, but now you learn that he's like a terrorist of some sort. Is that how the future changed? He kept talking about "Stepping on Butterflies" Other confusion, how did her four shots kill future Peter? we've already proven the healers can withstand an atomic blast, but four bullets in the chest put him down?
7. While I appreciate that Claire is all damaged, and who wouldn't be after Sylar did that to her, she's not pulling it off well enough. She's still far too emotional for my tastes. I'd like to see her dead inside. That would be interesting. She's still too feisty. And her whole "Dad, what are you doing?!?" when Noah wanted to use black-hole-boy to suck him up was ridiculous. Suddenly you care about Sylar? The man is a monster.
   

I'm sure there are more issues I have with this season, but those are the biggest ones I have at the moment. I don't mind the Nikki and sisters were genetically engineered storyline. I thought it was interesting when we find out that Nikki was indeed dead and Tracy was different. If they pull this again, though, I will be unimpressed. I like how Mama Petrelli is crazy and clearly up to no good (minus the whole "Sylar, I am your Mother" shit mentioned above). I like seeing the villians too. I just wish that the darkside of the heroes we know wasn't quite as melodramatic or irrational. Thus ends my Heroes rant.

The Spice must flow.

This makes me so very, very, very happy. And I can't figure out if it's the cute cat or the bad grammar or the Dune reference, or all three.

Edit: It should work now.

GMail is Brilliant

This is hysterical, but it makes me a little sad for the human race.

And what do the poor schlubs who never learned basic math do if they're up late at night?

For those of you playing the drinking game...

MAVERICK!

This post really has nothing to do with politics, I just watched the SNL VP debate sketch this morning, and that one line cracked me up hard-core. I determined this morning I have a really hard time telling Palin and Tina Fey apart. But this election just seems to be ridiculous now. Not that it wasn't before now, but I'm just sort of done caring. I know who I'm voting for, and short of a kiddie porn scandal in the next two weeks I'm not going to change my mind. I just wish my bigoted mother would stop trying to convince me that McCain-Palin is the way to go. Maybe if she had ever done something with her life she would realize how ridiculous it is.

Meanwhile the economy is falling apart around us. And we're bringing the rest of the world with us! Ha! Take that, suckers! Don't support us in our unwarranted invasion of another country, we'll suicide bomb your economy. Seriously though, I hope everyone is studying their Chinese, Russian, and Arabic, because with increasing frequency I think that they're going to take over the world. I hope our historic tendencies continue and we elect the right person at the right time to get us out of this disaster. I haven't given up all hope yet, but I am beginning to seriously consider moving back to Japan to avoid America imploding. Or England, but shit isn't much cheaper there.

I have actually been wanting to move to England lately. Brian seems to be having so many new experiences there with so many interesting people, and I'm just not. I'm sure it's a 'grass-is-always-greener' situation, but nevertheless, I wish I could travel a bit more. I need to make a decision about where my life is headed. I've decided I want to focus more on international business than engineering, i think. Fucking Bruce Long ruined engineering for me. I remember when I used to look forward to Micro-controllers. Now I just think "oh god, i'll be stuck in a lab all day". But I want a PhD so i can go back to teaching. Who knows what I'll actually wind up doing. Maybe someone will discover my amazing acting abilities and pay me money to do that. That would be sweet.

This weekend I didn't do a damned thing, and it makes me so happy. I just sat and played Final Fantasy XI and caught up on TV. Well, sort of caught up, but I'm now up-to-date on Terminator! And House, and Grey's, and other stuff. Not Gossip Girl or Mad Men though. Saturday I got a haircut, manicure, and pedicure. It was one of the gayest things I've done in a long time. But it was a men's salon! With beer and action movies. So it kind of balances out. Except I don't think I like manicures because my hands are now kind of sensitive. I also worked out, and my abs are still sore, but it's a good kind of sore. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of working out regularly and lose some of the weight I feel like I've been gaining.

Tonight is Heroes and Chuck and How I Met your Mother and Big Bang Theory and Gossip Girl and Sarah Connor Chronicles. Fucking Mondays. It's only a matter of time until the ratings for one of those shows really dies (I know it's already Terminator, but still), and then I will be sad. I'm off to fake-work for a bit longer.

This weekend I did not do a damned thing