*NightShadow13

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

I was struck today by how much I enjoy two old shows of mine: Pimpernel and Ragtime.

I haven't listened to Pimpernel front to back for years, and it used to be a great source of pleasure for me, so I should really do that again.

As for Ragtime, I was blown away by the orchestrations the first time I listened to it, blown away by the quality itself, as it's by far and away the best Flaherty Ahrens show there is, and listening to it now, I am blown away again. It is not my favorite show, but it is very good, and it's too bad I couldn't see it when it played in Lake Oswego.

It's always great to fall in love again with shows you'd missed!

Cold's on the mend.

Forgot to mention! I finished Six Ways to Sunday! I have a reading scheduled for tomorrow, but I am probably going to have to postpone as only three people have RSVPed. I need a minimum of five....

I have other things to report, but I really just wanted to have a brief journal on my musical loves.

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

It's been a rough week, and I am very sick. So what pushed me over the edge was socks.

See, Jessica stole my clothes a while ago as a prank. Funny, yes, but she put them in her boyfriend's room. So my brand new black socks that I hadn't even gotten to wear got mixed up with his. And now I have one. So I can't wear them.

I called my dad sounding horrible because I'm sick as a dog and I am just in tears. The socks in and of themselves aren't a huge deal, though am upset because they were mine and I hadn't even gotten to wear them yet. but what really upsets me about it is that it's been such a hard week, and I can't even talk to Hanna and Douglas about this because they hate Jessica and talking to them about anything she does just upsets them. Even good things, they just get angry and rag on her. And yeah, she's not perfect, but she's still my friend.

I just wanted to tell something that could respond, I didn't really want to write it in my notebook. I know what you're thinking, though, you're thinking, "Uh, Emily, Doug and Hanna read your journal." And yes, they do, but I needed to talk to someone, okay?

I'm going to go put my singular sock away.

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

Paul Newman has died at the age of 83, and I am taking this moment to commemorate his passing. You may remember I've listed "The Sting" in movies of the month. If you still haven't seen that, go out today and rent it. You won't regret, and you can remember a great actor and a downright good person.

Paul Newman, rest in peace.

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

I know, I know, I've been neglecting my journal, but now that I'm at 9,500 hits on the nose, it's time for - you guessed it - a 10,000 kiriban contest!!!!

I'm actually amazed I'm that close to ten thousand hits, but whatever. I've been here for four years, it's gotta stack up eventually.

So, the rules, I'm sure you know, are very simple: be my 10,000th hit, take a picture/screen cap, email it to me, my email's here on the site. Come on, guys, this is easy. A word to Hanna and Douglas - I don't know why, though, as they never listen - don't keep hitting refresh! I tell you this five thousand times and you keep on doing it and then you don't get the screen cap and I never give out a prize. God blessed, just follow the damn rules.

Anyone who isn't Hanna or Douglas, don't you do refresh either. I will punch you.

But what you're actually interested in is the prizes! And there is a prize: win the contest, you get whatever you want, artistically speaking. You want me to draw you with the puppies, you want me to write you gay erotica (which happens more frequently than I would like), I'll do it. You just gotta get the screen cap.

and don't do refresh, damn it.

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

Yeah, I know. Long time, no updates. Don't talk to me about that right now.

I fucking hate the first weekend after classes start. The freshman cut loose like no other, and all the others make up for lost time by being even drunker and louder than usual.

I've been going to bed early, and it's been fantastic. But some ass called me at 11:30 - and hour after I went to bed - and the loud, drunken debauchery (full of screaming, pounding, slamming doors, you name it) has kept my blood pressure and myself up ever since.

God, I honestly love college for the most part, but right now, so hate it.

I am not a party girl. And what I really hate is that it's so socially unacceptable to not be. God, so angry. And tired.

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

Check it out at [link]

Go or I will cut you.

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

You know what I think my favorite thing about the Back to the Future trilogy is? It's not that they're exceptionally great cinema, because they're never going to make AFI's Top 100 list; it isn't the bitchin' soundtrack or awesome performances by Christopher Lloyd of Michael J. Fox. It isn't the fact it's a sci-fi adventure the whole family can love. It's the fact that there won't be anymore than three movies.

Seriously, I was thinking about this today. How ass raped was Star Wars by George Lucas and his fucking prequels? "A lot and painfully," is the correct answer to that. George Lucas, once upon a very long time ago, was a fresh director with an interesting take - and then he used up every ounce of creativity he had on Star Wars. The thing of that is, is that the saga isn't all that good. The best written and best directed of the original trilogy are the films co-written with Lawrence Kahn and directed by, well, take your pick there. My personal favorite is Empire Strikes Back by Irvin Kershner. But if we look at all the films that Lucas decided to completely control - the fucking prequels and now this bullshit "The Clone Wars" (which, by the by, I am not going to go see) - they suck ass. The writing is beyond awful, and the direction unoriginal. The prequels especially suffer from this, and they're more a vehicle for Industrial Light and Magic than for any meaningful continuation of the Star Wars Saga. Hell, George doesn't even have any real say on what happens in the Extended Universe, he just slaps his name on it and gets a shit load of money. But that's old hat, let's look at the latest offenders.

Indiana Jones. Don't get me wrong, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was surprisingly watchable, it was a downright good addition to the franchise; of course, the archeology was crap - so much crap that Erik von Daniken does a terribly gay dance crying, "They'll believe me now, they'll believe me now!" and my poor arch. professor rolls over in his grave. And he's not even dead. But, if you consider, that makes sense, as the first three films dealt with three different religions, and in this day and age where religion gets a bad rap, it makes more sense to deal with non-religious artifacts. Doesn't make too much sense when dealing with the extremely religious 1950s America but whatever, I can let that go. It wasn't as painful to watch as the fucking prequels.

The reason, you've got to know, that there even is another Indy flick is the fact that's another George Lucas production. Luckily Steven Spielberg directed that, so he couldn't leave his fat, greasy now-corporate fingerprints all over it. George Lucas is made of irony, in that he hated production companies when he was a young director with vision, and now he's basically become one. But hey, that's really the saga of Star Wars for you in its essence.

So this is a big "Thank you" out there to Robert Zemeckis. Thank you for knowing when to let go, for being a damn kick ass director, for not skullfucking our childhood. America salutes you, sir.

...

In other news, Hanna is alive and well in New York and has called me, and this makes me happy for now particular reason Wuv for my best friend!

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

I've been considering re-writing a really old Pimpernel fic of mine, the one that brought Hanna and I together almost exactly three years ago now; the Green Eyed Monster (Part two is in my gallery, located [link] and I'll put in a link for the ff.net version once I'm home, the site's blocked at work). I'm usually not big on rewrites, but I've been rereading the thing - it's four years old - and going, "God, the grammar, must...fix..." and thinking some plot points could be better resolved and changed.

I dunno, I'm not usually very big on rewrites, is the thing. Usually if I didn't like something I just let it go and say, "Well, this bit was good, but it just didn't work like I'd planned it."

So, I don't know, I'm thinking about it. As a story, it isn't bad the way it is now. I could just make it better.

Any thoughts on that? Or life generally?

(I wish there was a mood that was called "itchy" since there's an "I have to pee" one...)

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

I had my first coffee date today. I had a good time, but it isn't really something I want to discuss. It's with the previously mentioned boy I met on Friday, and maybe it's because I had such a good time but won't be seeing him again that I can't really talk about it. Suffice to say, I could not find a guy so exactly everything I've wanted if I actively looked for the next thirty years.

But, I figure, the things you know or at least you think you want desperately don't come the way you wanted them to, and for good reason, because more often than not, the universe has something better for you in mind - just not something you'd ever thought to want before.

Anyway, a big thank you to Hanna for helping me have the balls to ask the guy to coffee, I had a good time, and even though nothing will ever happen, it's an important step in the right direction; it's a healthy place to start.

In other news!

Maybe some of you have wondered - or gotten really tired of - the Pimpernel quizzes I put up here and the fanfiction and little bit of art I submit with characters you've never heard of. Well, fear no more, for Hanna and I have created a joint account designed to advertise our bizarre version of Scarlet Pimpernel canon! It's just getting started, but feel free to check it out at: Let us know what you think! For fans of either Pimpernel or us, we welcome you!

Anyway, that's the news, I really need to go study for my psych final now. Ciao.

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

Hopefully this'll be better than that hippopotamus crap....

A not should be made for this: the numbers seven and five only come up once, so if you choose to use this, I recommend switching some numbers: for question number seven, change the nine to a seven; for question number ten, change ten to a five. That's all.

Choose twelve characters:
1. Percy Blakeney
2. Armand Chauvelin
3. Marguerite St. Just
4. Suzanne de Tournay
5. Andre Madeline
6. Coupeau Loriet
7. Helena Rallier
8. Theresia Cabbarrus
9. Lucian Chauvelin
10. Elizabeth Blakeney
11. Henri Chauvelin
12. Delphine Chauvelin

1. 12 (Delphine) comes out of the closet to 1 (Percy). What is their reaction?

Percy awkwardly stands there and coughs, swaying from foot to foot. If he's with his friends, he pretends he hasn't heard anything and says, "So, who's up for cricket?"

2. 6 (Coupeau) tells 9 (Lucian) their secret, and 9 blabs it. What is 6's secret and what do they do to nine?

Coupeau says something along the lines of, "Psst! Lucian!"
"Yeah, Uncle Coupeau?"
"I'm gay!"
"Yeah. Duh." If Lucian can be arsed to tell anyone, Coupeau will maybe pretend to be upset about it, but then reconsider and find it is a blessing to mankind to spread the Good News that he loves having things in his ass.

3. 4 (Suzanne) has been feeling lonely and decides to get a pet. What kind of pet do they get and what do they name it?

Oh, Suzanne's either going to get a kitten and name it Monsieur Rolf after her childhood pet, or she's gotten into the lapdog fad and is driving Andrew nuts and has named it something like, "Edward," or something.

4. 2 (Chauvelin) has begun a new career of teaching in the local high school. What subject do they teach? How popular are they?

Chauvelin's probably teaching something like Military history. And I figure he's probably one of those teachers you either love or you hate; he's probably tough on his subject and pretty ornery with the kids, but I bet some of them are just going to get on their knees and worship him.

5. How attracted is 1 (Percy) to 8 (Theresia)?

Ooh boy. Well, let's say attracted. Very attracted. Attracted enough to have sex with her outside at a ball and then begin an affair and father a bastard son....sad day for Percy....

6. Is 8 attracted to 1 back?

Yes, but she only wants his body. Because she's a slut.

7. Rent's gone up in 9's (Lucian) area and he needs to take in a roommate. His choices are 6 (Coupeau) and 10 (Elizabeth). Which does he choose?

Elizabeth. Coupeau will whine and pout and pitch a fit, but Luc will move in with Elizabeth, start the whoopie machine, marry her, and start the machine back up again. I somehow don't think Elizabeth will be contributing much to the rent, but boy will he be enjoying himself.

8. 12 (Delphine) is the head of a super secret spy organization. 6 (Coupeau) is their top agent. It's discovered that one of their agents, 1 (Percy), is actually a double agent. What does 12 have 6 do? What are their codenames?

Boy, does this sound accurate. Well, Coupeau demands to pick codenames for everyone, and names Delphine Big Fat Bitch while she foams at the mouth. He calls himself Rainbow Boy and let's Percy get by on Scarlet Pimpernel. Delphine, AKA Big Fat Bitch, orders Rainbow Boy to take the Scarlet Pimpernel out, but Coupeau interprets his to mean take out on a date, and is hard at work seducing a very confused Percy.

9. 9 (Lucian) is trying to work up the courage to ask 3 (Marguerite) out on a date. Do they say yes? Where do they go?

Oh gosh....you know, this could really go either way. If Marguerite does agree to go out with her son-in-law, they probably won't got any farther than Lucian's room as he screws the brain out of her. Which she probably won't mind too much. Dear God.

10. 12 (Delphine) and 10 (Elizabeth) decide to stay in and have a night of movies. What genre of movies would each like? What titles do they pick?

Delphine probably goes for a combination of horror and really dry documentaries while Elizabeth likes romantic comedies. They duke it out until Elizabeth decides, "Screw this," and goes back to the apartment she shares with Lucian to watch "Pretty Woman," and then have sex. Delphine fumes and watches "Dawn of the Dead," by herself, eating popcorn and possibly getting turned on. There's an image for you.

11. 9 (Lucian) wants to take over the world. Will 1 (Percy) agree to be their henchman? Will 3 (Marguerite) be able to stop their dastardly plan?

No and no.

12. What would happen if 6 (Coupeau) and 11 (Henri) became sworn enemies?

The entire planet would burst into tears and Chauvelin would need intensive therapy to decide if he's going to side with his beloved daddy or one of his best friends. Ouch, that hurts.

13. What is 6's (Coupeau) most precious posession?

Coupeau? I don't know, anal lube?

14. 2 (Chauvelin) is engaged to 10 (Elizabeth) but has an affair with (Percy). 3 (Marguerite) feels it is their duty to let 10 know of the deception. What happens?

Oh....good....Lord.....

Well, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility for Chauvelin to be marrying such a young woman, as Severin is not much older, and he marries her. Chauvelin's also an aristocrat, so it's a sensible union. This, clearly, is one of Douglas' naughty dreams as he's having an affair with Percy, which is probably very hot and dirty. I'm amazed Marguerite's first thought is, "I must tell my daughter!" and not, "My husband and former lover are having sex!...That's kind of hot." If she does tell Elizabeth, the poor little baby bursts into tears and is comforted emotionally and sexually by Lucian, who ends up sweeping her off her feet to live happily ever after, and Chauvelin and Percy...are illegally adorable....

15. 2 (Chauvelin) and 7 (Helena) are coworkers. Do they get along?

Quite splendidly, yes, with lots of heavy-duty flirting.

16. What is 8's (Theresia) battlecry?

"I'm getting sex toniiiiiiiiiight!!!!!!!!!"

17. What does 10 (Elizabeth) cry in the heat of passion?

Oh gosh. If she is very vocal, it's probably nothing original, but lots of, "Oh God!" and "Yes!" and "Yes, Lucian!" Yeah.....

18. 10 and 1 (Percy) are passionately making love with 10 gives that cry. What is 1's reaction?

o.O? *bonk* Dear God, no....

Percy's having sex with his daughter when she cries out for her husband. Incest is supposed to be limited to the Chauvelin family curse, damn it! I guess Percy get's offended, though really, he shouldn't have been sleeping with his kid, so it serves him right.

19. What song best represents 9 (Lucian)?

Oh gosh....ummm....I dunno, I want to say "Alive," or something equally villainous.

20. What pickup line does 9 (Lucian) use on 12 (Delphine)?

"Well, you fucked my dad, wanna try me?"
"You are a bastard villain."
"Is that a yes?"
"....okay."

Oy vey.

21. 8 (Theresia) is an officer of the law out to catch 10 (Elizabeth). Are there any complications for them, emotional or otherwise? Do they succeed?

The only complication Theresia suffers from his overwhelming laziness, so yes, she fails.

22. 3 (Marguerite) is marrying 8 (Theresia), but 4 (Suzanne) stands up and objects. What is their reasoning? Do 3 and 8 still get married?

"Marguerite, stop, you can't!"
"Suzanne? You have feelings for me?"
"No! She's just a woman..."
"Oh. Yes, this is an excellent point..."

So, no, hopefully not, while all the men present send Suzanne death glares as they wanted to see the kiss and hoped there would be tongue and that their passion would overcome them and they'd get it on right there at the altar.

23. 6 (Coupeau) is running for president. Will 9 (Lucian) vote for them?

No, he dare not subject the world to so much fabulousness.

24. 11 (Henri) is contemplating suicide. Is 3 (Marguerite) able to dissuade them?

It would go something like this: "I just wish I had something to live for! Like the tender love of a woman I could treasure and make passionate love to."
"Oh! I guess you could make love to me..."
"Score one for Henri."
"What was that?"
"Hold me!"

That old sly fox....

25. 8 (Theresia) walks in on 2 (Chauvelin) and 5 (Andre) having sex. What does 8 do?

Join in and much fun is had by all.

26. 9 (Lucian) is in love with 2 (Chauvelin) (Gee, that's accurate) who's in a relationship with 10 (Elizabeth). 11 (Henri) advises them that they should just confess how they feel. Meanwhile, 3 (Marguerite) is planning on trying to seduce 9. What happens?

Lucian does tell Daddy how he feels, but Chauvelin explains he's just not okay having sex with his kid (but apparently has no problem sleeping with his kid's wife...). Lucian is so heartbroken he quiet willingly is seduced by Marguerite, his mother-in-law. And they all live disturbingly ever after....

I think this was a really good quiz!

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

I really don't have much to say this week; yes, our guests from France are here, and that's fine, and yes, I've been doing stuff, and yes, I am deadbeat exhausted and a little ill because of that. And yes, I have my psychology final and Tuesday, and yes, I met a boy yesterday who I think is very special, heck, I even have an Evil!Pedestrian story (I swear, the pedestrians and bicyclists around here suck. some of them are even violent!) - but I just don't want to talk about that, you know?

So, I'm know really giving much of an update, because really, I just don't have much to say today.

Trying to keep awake, I really need a good solid rest - which I'll hopefully get this week when I have the house all to myself. Letting my movie load up, been talking to Bob. I'm just kind of having a low key day.

God, I am so tired, I need a nap in the worst way.

Yeah, guys, enough's been happening, I just don't really feel like sharing it at this moment. Perhaps later if I get bored! Which I guess I kind of am, but really, I'm too tired to be bored. Seriously.

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

It's been a week, gotta report my happenings, which are few, but still.

My last journal on politics generated some of the strongest responses I've ever gotten, which makes me laugh. Used good, solid logic as argumentation as learned in Philosophy, and I am proud to say held my own and in some cases won my points. Didn't properly document sources or anything, but it's a blog, not a paper. I think I'm allowed that.

Back at work again, down to just two days a week now. It's rather chilly today, which I do not like, as I am tired and still getting over my minor cold from Thursday. Got two name tags today, as well as a shirt that actually fits! Now if I could just get pants...

I've really been on a Pokemon kick the last couple of days and would love to play now, but I don't bring my DS to work. So I might play my computer game, but it just isn't as much fun to be constantly switching back and forth, you know? Anyway, we'll see how bored I get.

ff.net has this nifty new feature that tells you how many hits your page gets and where your readers come from, and I was surprised to find I have a lot of international readers. Makes you feel important.

I had to give up on trying to fix Max and Douglas, the former won't change and it just frustrates and hurts the latter no matter how many times I try and fix it. It's kind of frustrating. I'm just kind of waiting for Max to grow up, and I guess I should stop making the excuse of, "Well, that's just Max," and accept that he may never grow up. But that's true for most of my friends, so no surprise there....

The last couple of days I've been suffering from a lot of anxiety. Thinking about it from a psych perspective, it's just the age, but I'm in one of those, "What if I can't do anything with my life?" terrors. Really, I'm historic at planning too much ahead and then finding there's no real means of controlling that, so I've just been trying to tell myself to make whatever plans I can, work as hard as I usually do, and then just see what happens. Still, doesn't do much when the anxiety really hits ya.

I've been getting a lot of criticism all across the board lately, and I don't know if it's just me or what. I don't think I've been behaving any differently than normal, so why so much this week. Am I just annoying people? But why more so this week and not any other time? Am I doing something wrong? It's really distressing, especially since I don't know what I'm doing. If I am annoying people more than usual, I don't know why. Maybe it's not me, but that's very convenient for me, so it's probably me. I just don't know what it is.

Guests from France arrive Monday, I need to clean up my bathroom. Probably won't happen until Monday, since they don't get in until eleven at night.

My blanket is just about killing me there's so many problems with it, but I just work on it and enjoy it as best I can.

Got an A on my last psych test, should be doing psych reading now, but I'm putting it off....Still have an A in the class, though!

I guess I'm suffering a bit from life/social anxiety.

...

Another kick I forgot to mention is the Batman kick I've been on lately. And I'm talking the kickass animated series, I've been going online and watching it - not as much as I'd like the last couple days as the internet apparently hates my guts. But I'm really excited to revisit Batman Beyond once I get through the BTAS episodes.

Also need to rewatch Return of the Joker. I'm appalled at how little I remember of that. OF course, I probably haven't seen it in a good five years. That thing was disturbing, man. But great. It was a great series and a great movie to go with it.

I always begged my parents to get me that movie for Christmas, never happened, though. Discovered Batman Beyond now on DVD a year or so ago, though, so perhaps someday in the distant future I'll buy that. Oh, the possibilities....That was seriously my early adolescent addiction, I'd set my alarm for two in the morning on Saturday nights so I could catch Batman the only time they played it on Cartoon Network. That's actually kind of sad...

Something I discovered on wikipedia that I dislike: apparently Bruce is Terry's genetic father. I strongly dislike this. It is a seriously unnecessary and unrealistic twist. And I'm not talking Bruce Wayne met Mary McGinnis years ago in a bar, I'm talking some nutty reporter scraped some of his DNA off of Gotham, inserted it with a microchip into Mr. McGinnis, ergo Terry and Matt are both Bruce's.

No! Just freaking no!

Seriously, the show's way better without throwing in that biological tie. It just makes it more sincere. And for some reason Bruce knows about this but chooses not to say anything to Terry. WTF? What the hell? The reporter even insults poor Terry, saying he's not as smart as his genetic daddy. Gee, thanks, my whole life's been built upon a lie, that's exactly what I want to hear...

I don't know. That probably didn't make sense to anyone as I've never really met anyone else who watched that show...Oh, I think Max said he did. But that's seriously it.

Hey, at least they didn't cover this bizarre epilogue in the show, I can just ignore it in my happy little world.

Batman Beyond was a great show, though from what I remember of it, the original does come off with better supervillains. Blight's probably the best, but he dies off pretty early on...which, don't get me wrong, is a good thing, Derek Powers was a total a-hole...

Okay, I think that's my rant. For the moment. Expect this periodically, folks.

Hope that tides you over for this month!

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

Reason #3020375: Just because Bill made a paper airplane and spent a good ten to fifteen minutes tossing it around and doing tricks. That never happened at the PPB.

Something interesting I found is that President Bush's IQ is 125. The clarify, the average is set at 100, so all this crap about him being stupid is, well, crap. but I've always said that. People (*cough* Democrats *cough, cough*) have always given Bush a hard time, calling him a moron, when really, he's just not a good public speaker. That's really all it is. On the other hand, they just worship Barack Obama, who is extremely eloquent, and says absolutely nothing. And, in fact, changes positions frequently on the nothing he says. No one ever believes me when I say this, but hey, that's what happens when you're a Republican living in hippie Oregon. Jesus Christ.

This is not to say I've been in love with everything President Bush has done, merely that I don't think he is the devil like everyone says.

I was ecstatic on Wednesday when I actually heard a conservative program on NPR. They tend to do good reporting and maintain a middle-of-the-road approach, but there's always a tendency in public media to be a little more liberal (which you can't really fault them for, as liberals tend to give them more money, and he who pays the piper....). But the people they had on were addressing how Barack Obama is getting way more media coverage than John McCain, and they discussed it with supreme intelligence. Some of the liberal radio callers, well, they didn't, and completely diverged from the topic, which made me both angry and gleeful.

God, please win, McCain, please win!

Another thing so many people fail to notice (and I read a great NYT article on this, man I wish I had that paper instead of the Oregonian) is that their best-beloved change and progress liberal Obama is a shrewd politician, and he plays it old school. The progressive, happy-go-lucky-youth is a total front. He is campaigning the way politicians have for centuries, and it's actually McCain who is campaigning in a progressive manner; Obama makes himself unavailable for direct quote by the press (a politically savvy move), and rehearses everything he says to avoid slips. McCain, on the other hand, will just sit down any old place, cafes, barbecues, you name it, and lets any old person come up and ask him any old question - no rehearsal, no cover up. And this does leave him more prone to slips of the tongue (he made a very tiny error in geography on Good Morning America, but come on, it was minuscule, I would have screwed that up). Which, of course, has people jumping all over his age, as he'd be the oldest man to ever be elected. If it were Bush, they'd say it was a lack of intelligence.

But, to be fair, were it Obama, they'd say it was his lack of experience. That argument, really, doesn't hold. Mom said she worried about him being African American and not getting voted in because of that, and I scoffed at that. "That has absolutely nothing to do with anything." We may not live in a perfect age, but that won't stop him from getting votes the way being Catholic didn't stop Kennedy. The times are just progressive enough for that. And I don't buy Obama's lack of experience, that man is smart as a whip and just as dangerous - he's a smooth operator, but I think (as was discussed on the radio program) he is ridiculously liberal and would be horrible for the Presidency.

McCain, bizarrely, gets a lot of flak for being too moderate. That's actually why Erin doesn't like him, she likes Ron Paul better, which really just floors me. Maybe because I think the Libertarian view is a little too out there, maybe because I'm a moderate myself, but Jesus, who better to vote for than a moderate! As much as politics is about winning and beating the other side (and I get as caught up in this as anybody), running a nation responsibly shouldn't be about that, and someone more in the middle who can make both sides reasonably happy is way better than crazy-liberal Obama. I don't know, I just don't like how Socialist he is and I do like McCain for his excellent Senate record and his stance against torture (yes, that's the thing I really didn't like about Bush.)

I didn't intend for this to be a political ramble, but...well, you know, guys, 'tis the season, I couldn't really help it.

Share your views! What do you think?

Hope that tides you over for this month!

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

It's been a long two weeks, and it isn't quite over yet.

I woke up at a quarter after five this morning to a hell of a lot of noise downstairs in the kitchen, which travels directly to my bedroom. I didn't think it was five fifteen, I figured it was somewhere between six and seven and remembered we're supposed to be getting a new faucet installed. "But that isn't supposed to be until tomorrow!" I grumbled. It was one of the few times I had decided not to fuss with putting in ear plugs, and now I regretted it. So, eventually I got up, got the plugs, checked out my phone, and decided I hated my father - because it wasn't our friend Allen installing the faucet. It was him making an ungodly amount of noise feeding the animals.

I got back to sleep eventually. What is noteworthy, though, is how immediately I'd forgotten most of the substance of my dreams despite trying very hard to remember, and how in less than five seconds, the wave of depression I'd been experiencing the night before it me all over again. Usually, I have to remember that sort of thing - I didn't even think about it and it attacked me. Which sucks.

Anyway, I got up at my normal time, utterly exhausted and kind of ill feeling, got my stuff together, and asked if my mom would make me coffee, which she did. At first I was pretty down, but mom was in a good enough mood and I enjoyed putting together my lunch enough that I decided to just not be depressed. That doesn't always work, but this morning it did (of course, now I'm feeling kind of down again talking about this, but it will pass quickly).

Of course, I was running just late enough that I wouldn't have time for breakfast, but early enough that I ought to be able to pick something up without making myself late. So, I stopped in at McDonald's, and - of course - things moved slow enough to make me even more late, so I was a good five minutes late to work, which I hated. And the food wasn't even good. I used to love Sausage and Egg McMuffins, but the last few times I've gotten it it just hasn't tasted good to me. I don't know if that means the qualities lessened or my taste buds and stomach are just starting to revolt, but if it's the latter, that's sad for me.

It didn't end up mattering that I was late to work at all, as the only rangers here today are Marv and Bill. Bob, Kim and all the rest are either on vacation or up in San Juan reenacting the Pig War (and for those who don't know - which will be most of you - the Pig War was a local conflict that took place after the Americans gained control of the Oregon Territory wherein the only casualty was...a pig. No joke. They're off reenacting the Pig War.) It was too bad as I kind of looking forward to seeing Bob, but Marv and Bill, they take really good care of me. Marv kind of treats me like a mother hen will a chick, telling me to drive carefully and making sure I get breaks and then asking if I had studying to do today (which I'm not even supposed to do at work, apparently) but Marv is just a dear.

I've been seeing a lot of bunnies at work today; we have a lot of wildlife that just lives here, but most of all we have bunnies, they live beneath my building, but today I saw one in the garden, and then another by the woodpile in my mad dash for the bathroom this morning (because maybe I am getting an aversion to McDonalds, and coffee has a tendency to turn to poison in my stomach. I don't know). I'm always a little surprised to look at them and see how wiry they are, since when I think bunny, I usually think domesticated ball of fluff that would not have a snowball's chance in the wild. No, these bunnies are leaner and wiry and all brown except for their tale. There's some sort of local mutation, though, and there's some pure white bunnies around. I haven't seen them, but Marv has. A conversation on that between him and Bill went something like this:

Marv: I haven't seen that white bunny around. It probably stuck out too much.
Bill: That's right. It looked like dinner.

But I guess the mutation is surviving, because Marv saw another white bunny just the other week.

(I didn't want to come to work today, but I do like my job, mostly for guys like Marv and Bill)

The bunny in the garden made me think of the Tale of Peter Rabbit. Mom and I would read that a lot as a kid, and I would "read" it to her as well. In actuality, we'd read the same books so many times that I'd just memorized them and would mimic my mom's vocal tones.

"And Peter squeezed under the gate."
"And Weter sweezed under wa gate."

Dude, I still say it like that. Only, you know, with proper enunciation.

We also would read the Adventures of Jemima Puddleduck, which was about some goose trying to have eggs or something, I don't remember that one as well, though that was a part of those Peter Rabbit books. And I had a video about this little black and white kitten who looked like Rip who almost got baked into a pastry by some sort of household pest, I think it was a mouse or something (a mutant mouse, if it's eating a kitten). And we'd read Bicycle Bear ("Bicycle Bear, Bicycle Bear, just give him a ring and he'll be there." And that's all I remember, though that's probably a good thing), I had two books about this family of clowns called the Clownarounds. And then there was the Very Bumpy Bus Ride. Which was about all these people going to a fair on a bus, including some woman selling apple butter or something. The little boy who was taking his goldfish to the pet talent show always stuck out in my mind; the bus ride was so dangerously bumpy that the fish ended up doing all sorts of flips and spins and winning. And probably going belly up right after, I don't know. I mean, you have to wonder about little boys riding the bus all by themselves these days.

Of course, there was that woman in New York who let her eight year old ride the subway home all by himself; there was a bunch of public outcry on how neglectful this woman was, but the kid was fine. I heard on NPR once that it's actually safer for kids to travel alone now, the media just makes horror stories more close at hand now and freaks people out, and parents are so wired to cellphones with their kids that they won't just freaking take a breath and a chill pill, because apparently the kids are just fine. And really, that makes sense. Like, my dad was riding his bike all the way to the coast and camping by himself and being totally self-sufficient when he was twelve. He did everything by himself. And my Mom rode the bus downtown with her sisters to buy records. Heck, my dad hitchhiked across America, played football and rugby, went to Afghanistan with the Peace Corps, joined the Marines, became a cop, was a mountain climber, joined the Coast Guard and he's never died once! I don't know, maybe my dad's just more manly then guys these days. I think Douglas would say so.

I have brought this subject up with my parents before; I was totally unequipped to ride the bus if need be, the only one of my friends to be like that, since my parents were the only ones who could drive us around places (a mantle which I adopted when I started driving, though other people were pretty self-sufficient once they started driving, too, and were driving before me) My dad agreed things were a lot different for me, and it was kind of a downside of parents who cared so much/were ridiculously over protective. But, he contrasted, they'd grown up with parents who cared less, so it was a lot different. Anyway, I became more bus efficient after last summer, commuting by bus all the time, but...I really don't like buses. As much as Portland loves to brag about it's shitty public transport (actually, Portland loves to brag about it's shit in general. Especially the fucking Oregonian, which is worse than a high school newspaper, and made the award winningly vague statement "By 2015, more people will be riding public transport." Um....k? That means absolutely nothing, moron), I really hate the bus, and MAX is even worse - and unfortunately, a MAX line will probably be in Milwaukie soon, just saw the headline in the paper this morning. When I was a freshman, they wanted to put the MAX station right across from my high school. Cause that's safe. Yeah, the public transportation system which has no ticket check and almost no policing where a woman almost got killed seems like a great addition to a campus that's already fraught with violence problems. Great planning there, guys.

Seriously, the MAX sucks. The streetcar is pretty safe (unless you get run over by one, which I almost did once), but the rest of the Portland public transportation sucks ass.

So, I bought a new belt Wednesday when I got together with Jessica. It's very pretty and simple, but it doesn't have a buckle; it's one of those kind that you just sort of loop through the buckle, but has no holes. Which would be fine, it fits for the pants I need it for, but the strap has a tendency to come loose and make my pants ride lower. I'm still brainstorming how to fix this.

I think I heard somewhere that coffee is a natural diarrheic (the suggested spelling for that word in Firefox is "incendiary" o.O? God, I hate Firefox, it downloads so much spy ware onto my computer). Does anyone know if that's true? I'd look it up myself, but there's something about looking up diarrheics at work that I find distasteful. I don't know, weird things pop into my head sometimes.

Hope you enjoyed your exceedingly long rambling update.

Hope that tides you over for this month!

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

I am having a crappy evening.

Wasn't a horrible day, it was actually pretty decent, but I am exhausted, depressed, and I feel under-appreciated; I'm being treated very poorly by my parents and I would say poorly generally and am just really, really not happy right now. I'm a combination of mad and depressed, and that's about all.

.

Hope that tides you over for this month!

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

That's why I let them have their own separate journals. (I'm really bored today)

Choose ten characters:
1. Percy Blakeney
2. Armand Chauvelin
3. Marguerite St. Just
4. Theresia Cabbarus
5. Capt. Jack Redden
6. Lilly Falkland (Jack really hasn't been developed much yet, and I'd kind of like to develop his "love interest," so this is actually a good way to do that)
7. Dr. Jonathan Hill
8. Suzanne de Tournay
9. Lucian Chauvelin
10. Elizabeth Blakeney

1.) So....4 (Theresia), 9 (Lucian), and 3 (Marguerite) are all eating a radioactive pie. Do they say anything about its radioactivity?

I'm wondering why the hell anyone would willingly eat radioactive pie...

Lucian: I'm going to get super powers!
Theresia: Well, you already have the super power of being a great lay.
Marguerite: Oh, that's just sick...

2.) 7 (Dr. Hill) decides to take up line dancing. Does this end well?

o.O? No. It would end in embarrassment and possibly the destruction of the world.

3.) If 6 (Lilly) and 1 (Percy) are on Mars playing checkers, then where are 5 (Capt. Redden) and 9 (Lucian)?

What the hell is with these questions?

Well, while Lilly and Percy are having a gay old time in London society, Jack is plotting his vengeance in Paris and how he'll force Lilly to marry him, and Lucian is just doing everything in his power to irritate him.

4.) 10 (Elizabeth) becomes gay/lesbian!!!! What does 6 (Lilly) say?

"Oh my. Well....cough, hm. I, uh, hope your father isn't too upset...you're not going to start hitting on me, are you?" Lucian, meanwhile, encourages her to do just that so long as he can watch them when they have sex.

5.) If 4 (Theresia), 3 (Marguerite), and 6 (Lilly) were to jump off of a waterfall, would any of them die?

Well, I'm sure it would depend on the size of the waterfall. So....yes?

6.) After Jumping off of the waterfall, would 6 (Lilly) be stupid enough to do it again?

That would, again, depend on the height of the waterfall. She might, if it were enough fun.

7.) 10 (Elizabeth) gets some kind of attack and falls to the ground, what does 7 (Dr. Hill) and 2 (Chauvelin) do?

Dr. Hill would try to remain as calm as possible and attempt to stabilize her with his very limited physical medical training while Chauvelin runs for a real doctor.

8.) You are falling from 8,952 feet in the air. You can both land on, and kill, 3 (Marguerite) or 5 (Jack). Who do you choose?

Well, Jack's a jerk, but Marguerite's pretty annoying....

9.) If 4 (Theresia) was to open up a lemonade stand and then gets sued for selling toxic lemonade, what would they do?

Have sex with whoever was suing her for the charges to drop.

10.) 7 (Dr. Hill) and 1 (Percy) are getting married! The catch? 7 is already married to 3 (Marguerite) and 1 is already married to 8 (Suzanne)!!! What does 5 (Jack) do?

o.O? What the....

So, Dr. Hill is married to Marguerite, while Percy somehow ended up with Suzanne (which I have seen shipped before), but now they want to marry each other....Cause that makes sense....

Well, while Luc insists he always knew Dr. Hill was gay, Jack sits back and proceeds not to care.

11.) Is 1 (Percy) hot?

Such hotness!

12.) If 10 (Elizabeth) was to get mauled by a rabid hippopotamus on steroids, what would 3 (Marguerite) do?

Cry.

13.) If 3 (Marguerite) was to get mauled by a rabid hippopotamus on steroids, what would 10 (Elizabeth) do?

Also cry.

14.) Now lets say that they were both mauled by said hippopotamus. What would they do?

Okay, no more water-dwelling mammals, that's just stupid.

15.) Now lets say that the hippopotamus remarked that 10 tasted like mustard. What would 3 say?

Fuck you.

16.) If 7 (Dr. Hill) was sat on by a rabid hippopotamus, would 1 (Percy) laugh?

Well, if it's after they were married, I assume he'd become upset. Who's the man in that relationship?

17.) Everyone throws 5 (Jack) a surprise birthday party. The surprise? It's not 5's birthday. What happens?

Jack gets out his gun and begins his slaughter of the innocent.

18.) 4 becomes a rabid hippopotamus and begins to chew up 3. Does 3 survive?

I'm not answering this.

19.) 7 (Dr. Hill) challenges 2 (Armand) to a wood-eating contest. Why?

Apparently Dr. Hill's caught a case of the crazies.

20.) 6 (Lilly) decides to become a homicidal, bisexual, taxi cab driver in Michigan. How many people does he manage to kill before 10 (Elizabeth) stops him?

Well, apparently Lizzy's a lesbian and Lilly's bisexual, so I assume they get it on after Lilly's killed less than one person. You do the math.

21.) If 5 (Jack) suddenly gained a third eye that allowed them to see into the future, what would 8 (Suzanne) do?

Hope that she is not involved in his future. Desperately.

22.) 2 (Percy) kills 1 (Chauvelin) for no apparent reason. 3 (Marguerite) goes into spiraling depression because of this. How does 6 (Lilly) comfort 3?

Well, the reasons for Percy killing Chauvelin are rather obvious, especially since Marguerite gets so depressed; they were having an affair and Percy kills him in a duel. And as Lilly is apparently bisexual (which might actually be interesting in canon...huh...), she comforts her with her body.

23.) Everybody transforms into rabid hippopotamuses except for 7. Does 7 feel lucky or left out?

Seriously. It isn't funny. It's just dumb.

24.) 8 (Suzanne) confesses their love to 3 (Marguerite). What does 3 do?

She'll say, "Suzanne, you should have told me in polishing school when we were practicing kissing, I would have been willing to experiment a lot more with you!"
"That's...that's really kind of awkward, Marguerite."

25.) 1 (Percy),2 (Chauvelin),3 (Marguerite)and 4 (Theresia) all decide to start a band. 1 wants to name it "The rabid Hippopotamuses". 2 wants to name it "The artichokes". 3 wants to name it "The rolling stones" and 4 couldn't care less about the name. What do they do to resolve this?

They can call it "Messed-Up Love Trapezoid", and all be angsty, probably with lots of group sex. That's actually a really interesting concept.

26.) 8 (Suzanne) and 9 (Lucian)switch bodies. Describe what happens:

Nothing good.

Lucian ruins Suzanne's good name by being an absolute slut and Suzanne ruins Lucian's reputation by screaming at a mouse.

27.) 4 (Theresia) walks into their new school to find that all the students are zombies. What do they do?

Lament the fact she won't be getting sex.

28.) If 5 (Jack), 7 (Jonathan) and 9 (Lucian) were to fight 1 (Percy),3 (Marguerite)and 4 (Theresia), which side would win?

Wait, Percy's stuck with the pansy girls on his team?

Now, I grant you, Percy is a tough guy, but against Luc and Jack with nothing but girls? He's screwed.

29.) 5 (Jack) expresses his desire to be a frog when he grows up to 10 (Elizabeth). They then make-out. 2 (Armand), who is in love with 5, walks in on this. What happens?

God, I don't even know what to do with this....

...No, seriously, I don't.

30.) 3 is being held captive by Tarzan and his rabid hippopotamus army. What do 4 and 7 do to rescue him/her?

NO!

31.) 6 (Lilly) betrays 7 (Jonathan) causing 7 to commit suicide. 8 (Suzanne), who was in love with 7, set out to kill 6. 4 (Theresia) tried to convince him/her other wise. Meanwhile, 2 (Chauvelin) is plotting to steal the earths cheese supply. What happens?

Theresia tells Suzanne not to do it, since they can all have lesbian sex together(Theresia did it in prison, I didn't make that up). Chauvelin, meanwhile, pitches a fit because he wants his bre, damn it.

What the hell was that?

Hope that tides you over for this month!

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

I had to update this a few hours early as there were some movies I can't believe I didn't put on here. I also might extend the timeline to include more recent films, because frankly, I'll run out of ideas.

Previously listed:
It's a Wonderful Life
Sunset Boulevard
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Casablanca
You Can't Take it With You
The Philadelphia Story
Lawrence of Arabia
The Searchers
Stalag 17
Double Indemnity
Executive Suite
The Wild Bunch
The Sting
Ben Hur
Network
The Quiet Man
Bridge on the River Kwai
People Will Talk
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
All About Eve

1. To Kill A Mockingbird
Summary: Chronicles a portion of the childhoods of Jem and Scout Finch, with focus on their father Atticus as he attempts to defend an innocent black man on trial for rape in racist Mississippi. (Shame on all of you if you haven't read this book or seen this film)
Fun facts: Atticus Finch was voted as the top screen hero by the American Film Institute. Based on the novel by Harper Lee, the book was a Pulitzer Prize Winner and the only novel she ever wrote. Lee was so moved by Peck's performance as Atticus, a character modeled after her own father, that she gave him her father's pocket watch at the end of filming.
Stars: Gregory Peck, Robert Duvall (his first movie), Brock Peters
Director: Robert Mulligan
Famous Quotes: "If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."

2. Roman Holiday
Summary: Sheltered Princess Ann escapes her guardians in Rome to seek adventure and runs into American journalist Joe Bradly, who only wants a scoop - and of course finds something else entirely.
Fun Facts: Audrey Hepburn's first film. Gregory Peck, eager for a comedy, jumped at the role, though commented that it felt like every romantic comedy he received had the fingerprints of Carey Grant - and indeed, Grant had been the first choice. The first American film to be made entirely in Italy.
Stars: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert
Director: William Wyler
Famous Quotes: "I have to leave you now. I'm going to that corner there and turn. You must stay in the car and drive away. Promise not to watch me go beyond the corner. Just drive away and leave me as I leave you."
"All right."
"I don't know how to say goodbye. I can't think of any words."
"Don't try."

3. Rear Window
Summary: Photographer L.B. Jefferies is laid up in his apartment with a leg cast and going nuts. Lovely socialite Lisa Fremont just wants him to focus on her rather than his desire to get out. But Jefferies focuses his unrest on observing the courtyard of the surrounding apartment buildings - and begins to notice in Lars Thorwald's window something that looks like murder.
Fun facts: All of the sound in the film is diegetic, meaning that all the music, speech and other sounds all come from within the world of the film. Other than a couple of shots near the end and the discovery of the dead dog, all the shots in the movie originate from Jeff's apartment. The love affair between war photographer Robert Capa and actress Ingrid Bergman is believed to be Alfred Hitchcock's inspiration for the film's romantic aspect.
Stars: James Stuart, Grace Kelly, Raymond Bur
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Famous Quotes: "People do a lot of things in private they couldn't possibly explain in public."

4. The Maltese Falcon
Summary: Detective Sam Spade accepts a case by the lovely Miss Wonderly - if that is her real name - and finds it complicated after his partner's death, not least ways by the mention of a mysterious black sculpture of a bird, the Maltese Falcon.
Fun Facts: Humphrey Bogart's breakthrough movie, as well as Sydney Greenstreet's first film appearance. Both of them along with Peter Lorre would appear a year later in Casablanca.
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre
Director: John Huston
Famous Quotes: "The stuff that dreams are made of."

Hope that tides you over for this month!

Band jokes, Lutheran jokes and theater jokes lay ahead, beware ye who enter here.

You ever notice how there are just some directors who are really bad at doing Director Commentary on DVDs?

Personally, I love the stuff. There's the fairytale of the film itself, and I get so absorbed in that I want to know it all. Thus, Director Commentary. I suppose some of it is a little illusion shattering - the "magic of the movies" and all that - but I still really like it.

And yet, what ought to be a straightforward sort of business appears to be a real talent, or a skill that needs to be worked on. Examples: I finally watched Pretty Woman (illegally online, don't tell) recently, and liked it enough I went out and bought the dvd and just got done listening to it with commentary by director Garry Marshall. And he's terrible at it! Funny, funny man, unique voice, but he just really isn't divulging the information that would be interesting to know. Usually you want to hear about the development of the story and characters, the actors, sometimes how things were shot, but he goes into the most minute details of the thing, and while every person who makes a movie is important, not everyone is especially interesting.

Mr. Marshall also had the distressing habit of talking through the whole thing. There's a delicate balance of Director Commentary, you must not say too much nor too little; it needs to be just enough so that you're really interested, but not so much it covers the entire movie and everything that is being talked about. Otherwise it's just a long, boring process. A good example of that is the commentary on Stalag 17 (though I attribute that to really old guys who just ramble...seriously) and Talladega Nights, which I thought incredibly boring, and not even funny, as they were trying to make it; I had to stop at one point, and had been so bored with it I never picked it back up again. That was commentary that suffered from, well, too much talking, but also because they were trying to turn it into a comedy and weren't actually talking about the movie. Now, jokes are great, but that just didn't work. It was just stupid.

Examples of good commentary! Finding Nemo is not only a great movie, but has fantastic commentary, and I highly recommend that one to all those who haven't listened to it yet, it's really interesting and insightful. Prince of Egypt also does a really good job (why are both my examples children's movies? Ugh.) Oh, What A Girl Wants is rather good, too, with Amanda Bynes, that's another one I would recommend.

You also don't want to have canned commentary, which was the problem for Sunset Boulevard. Most of the people involved being dead or excessively old (though I don't know why they couldn't get Nancy Olson, she's pretty healthy even in her eighties, with sound mind and all), they got Billy Wilder biographer Ed Sikov. While his information was interesting, it was all obviously rehearsed. You want your commentary to be fresh and off the cuff and not really totally prepared; commentary with more than one person helps this, as people prompt each other, and sometimes gets other people to shut up (which seriously happened in Stalag 17, and was actually embarrassing to listen to). But canned commentary, you know, it's like a canned vegetable. It's got your nutrition, but it just isn't as tasty.

I know, I know, my metaphors, sheesh.

I'd love to do commentary on something, not that I ever will (though maybe for Mulhollond Dr. if I we ever film it, which reminds me that I ought to write it.), but these are all good points to keep in mind from a connoisseur of commentary!

This is all to say that I really don't want to go to work tomorrow, and that I am inexplicably ill and I don't like it.

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone (I will cry if no one gets that).