Posted: March 31st, 2006 | Filed under: Campus, My Life | 2 Comments »
Yesterday was the real first day of Spring. The official first of Spring was March 21st (the first day back from Spring Break) but it snowed 6 inches that day. Yesterday, was the first day we went outside in t-shirts. The streets were filled with people that decided to walk instead of take the bus and the frat boys goofed off on their lawns while blasting music. Everyone was enjoying the clear sky and sunshine that rarely revealed itself.
However, I wasn’t as giddy as the people around me. Sure I liked the nice wind hitting my bare arms but I couldn’t help but think about what will come afterwards. High temperatures wake up the sleeping bugs. And I don’t like that. I don’t want to spend my last weeks worrying about this again.
Also, I’m really not looking forward to the rapidly increasing heat. I’ve been enjoying the freezing air for many months and I’m not ready for them to leave just yet. I’ll have PLENTY of heat once I go back home for the summer inshalla.
Well, I can’t be too negative about yesterday. I enjoyed walking. Because I liked looking at the people and how they were making use of that day. Everyone just seemed to be in a better mood.
It will be interesting to see what their reaction to today will be. Rain and thunder. My favorite.
Posted: March 29th, 2006 | Filed under: Silly, World | 4 Comments »
Man Accidentally Divorces Wife in Sleep
Ugh. What a sucky situation. But that doesn’t count does it? I mean, he was not in his usual state of mind. If he was drunk or stoned and said that while still awake it still wouldn’t count. The couple obviously has no problem with each other, just the village who is annoying them. What if they do have to do what the village says? Poor woman will feel so disgusted and the dude will be heartbroken. Well, I hope things turn out OK.
Posted: March 24th, 2006 | Filed under: Literature/Poetry, Music, TV/Movies | 21 Comments »
Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West is a book written by Gregory Maguire. The title explains itself; it is the story before Dorothy came to place. This was a popular book but what made it supremely popular was when it was made into a Broadway musical.
A friend of mine saw it in New York and fell in love. She would play the soundtrack over and over, and I thought “what’s the big deal” at first. But there was this one song that always sent a chill down my back, thanks to the fantastically powerful voice of Idina Menzel. Those of you who have seen the musical could probably guess that the song was “Defying Gravity.” So I asked my friend to tell me what it was about and she did. I thought it was great that someone would write a story behind the story.
Spring Break came last week and I downloaded the song. I was really bored and had nothing to do so I managed to find a bootleg video of the play! Yes, a guy with a video camera! And I was so lucky that it was of a showing that had the original cast. Yes, sadly, Idina Menzel after three years is not playing Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West anymore. Anyway, I can honestly tell you that the whole thing was brilliant. Even with the quality of the video, I felt it all. The “Defying Gravity” scene just made me say “wow” like 37 times afterwards. You don’t understand how sorry you feel for Elphaba. I also researched Idina for quite a while as the video was downloading and found that she is a super nice person according to fans who’ve met her and stuff, so that added to the sympathy as well. It’s a sad sad story but had funny parts too. And the music is amazing. I downloaded the whole album right away.
The story is basically about how Elphaba was misjudged all her life. And how she was actually a good person and was best friends with Glinda, the Good Witch of the East. It very smartly explains the comings of the Cowdrly Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tinman. The Ruby Red slippers and Elphaba’s obsession with them, the hurricane and the melting are explained as well.
A fantastic experiance I must say. I actually don’t want to go see a showing in person because I don’t want my appreciation of Idina Menzel to be tainted. I might read the book in the summer though.
Idina Menzel won a Tony Award for Best Actress as Elphaba in Wicked. You can see her acceptance speech here. She was also in the movie Rent, playing Maureen. Rent is a Broadway musical that was made into a movie, Idina was also Maureen in the original cast on Broadway. So many of you have already heard her amazing voice, but in Wicked, it’s just jaw-dropping. You can find many videos in YouTube of her singing “Defying Gravity” on talk shows and award shows and such. You can also see her in her latest movie, Ask the Dust, with Colin Farell and Salma Hayek.
Wicked, the book
Wicked, the soundtrack
Wicked, bootleg video torrent updated
Posted: March 17th, 2006 | Filed under: Sports, Videos | 12 Comments »
Here are a few cool videos of my dancing boys from Brazil, Cristiano Ronaldo, and ofcourse the legend Eric Cantona as the host. Videos courtesy of JogaTV.
Liked those? Then check out a similar post of mine: Ronaldinho Gets an ‘F’ in Physics.
Posted: March 14th, 2006 | Filed under: Banned Cartoons | 9 Comments »
I think it’s time to post another cartoon from my collection. This is a cartoon that isn’t too extreme or very offensive. I want to show it since it pokes fun at Germany. So it is officially a Warner Bros. wartime cartoon. It is also notable for being the first ever cartoon in which Bugs Bunny made “a wrong turn at Alberquerque.” Herr Meets Hare was directed by Friz Ferleng in 1945, one of the more famous cartoon directors of the 30s and 40s. In his lifetime, he made cartoons for MGM and Warner Bros.
Back to the cartoon, even though you see a Cartoon Network logo at the bottom, it is still a banned cartoon. It was broadcast only once during an hour-long episode of Toonheads in which the episode dealt with wartime cartoons. However, stronger and more offensive wartime cartoons like Tokio Jokio (future post) were not and will never be broadcasted.
So the whole cartoon is about Bugs Bunny screwing around with a German hunter. He fools him buy pretending to be Hitler. And when the German captures Bugs and takes him to Hitler, both Germans are made to be sissys when they run away in fear when Bugs pretends to be Russian ally to the USA, Joseph Stalin. A similar gag was used in Russian Rhapsody.
Contact me for a download request.
P.P.S For all you other cartoon collectors, I found the Complete Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies Cartoon Checklist! Download the document I made here.
Posted: March 10th, 2006 | Filed under: Literature/Poetry | 4 Comments »
My mom sent me an email last night that had only these words:
“Please all and you will please none.”
— Aesop (fabulist)
So I searched online for the fable that this quote was based on. And here it is:
A Man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: “You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?”
So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: “See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides.”
So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn’t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: “Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along.”
Well, the Man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey with you and your hulking son?”
The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the donkey’s feet to it, and raised the pole and the donkey to
their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned.
“That will teach you,” said an old man who had followed them.
Posted: March 6th, 2006 | Filed under: TV/Movies | 14 Comments »
I was not at all impressed by the four hours of the Academy Awards Show. Maybe it’s because I am bitter that Brokeback Mountain didn’t win Best Picture and Jake Gyllenhaal didn’t win his Best Supporting Actor Oscar. But I guess I’m happy they left with Best Original Score, Adabted Screenplay and Director. I was also extrememly happy that Reese Witherspoon won the Best Actress Oscar for her protrayal of June Carter in Walk the Line, which I saw yesterday so that I would see if I think she deserved the win.
I’ve been watching the show every year since I was 13 or 14 so I think I know when a show is good or bad. The host is what holds the entire four hours together and I’m telling you Jon Stewart did a terrible job. This is not his type of venue or his style of comedy. You could tell he was gagged by the producers to not throw any political jokes. That was his problem; his comedy style is mostly about politics! Oh well, I don’t think we’ll see him on that stage in the future.
Even though the show bombed and wasn’t very entertaining, I did like a few things:
Only Entertaining Moment:
Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin come on stage and humorously babble on about the works of director, Robert Altman (MASH, Nashville, Gosford Park) whom they’re presenting an Honorary Oscar to. It was about 3 or 4 minutes of them walking on each other’s lines and reading the wrong cues (on purpose ofcourse) and pushing their own movie(s) with Altman and talking about honostly I do not know what but I was laughing.
Funniest Moment:
Jennifer Garner walks in from balkstage, trips and slips and almost falls on her way to the mic to present. It was hilarious. When she safely reached the mic, she said “I do my own stunts.” What a cutie.
Best Quote From the Host:
Jon Stewart on movie pirators: “Look at all of these people you’re stealing from, these poor women who can barely afford enough fabric to cover their breasts.”
Best Speech:
Given that it was her first nomination and win, Reese Witherspoon was not a blubbering bucket of Grade-A top choice drama queen tears (which is totally understandable if she was.. it’s a freaking Oscar!). She started off normal with the “I can’t believe this..” but then went strong with tanking her family and only the most important makers of the movie and her co-star, Joaquin Phoenix. Not every single person behind the camera, and her agent, and her manager, and her dry-cleaner, and her 3rd grade teacher. You will probably see her speech on the news tomorrow when they review it.
Overall, it was a mediocre show. I hope next year Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, or Whoopi Goldberg hosts it.
