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[17 Jul 2009|08:59am] |
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Watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I probably shouldn't bother with the back story, as if you're a fan you will have read the book already. But, set against the backdrop of Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, it follows on from the partial victory against the Death Eaters in The Order of the Phoenix, albeit with the inevitable preparation for the final battle, spanning between this and the next book/film. And so the story unfolds. I went into the film with low expectations, after reading some mixed reviews. Maybe it was good that I did as I thoroughly enjoyed the film, despite being a lengthy 153 minutes. There's something quite eerie about watching the cast grow up from film-to-film, and that in itself lends a special quality to the Harry Potter series. Also their acting talent has grown substantially from being perhaps inevitably so-so child actors in the first films to being rather good in the latest, although Emma Watson still annoys the heck out of me. The film is pretty much a rollercoaster ride from start to finish, and not for a second did I find myself bored or looking at my watch (if I had a watch). The effects are great, as they should be, with a good but non-intrusive score. If I had any criticisms it would be in a couple of areas in terms of editing and pace. One particular edit was so abrupt I wondered if the projectionist had changed the reels too abruptly, if projectionists even do this any more, which I doubt. I'm sure I don't need to define who this is recommended for. You know who you are! 5/5 (Excellent)
In other news...
Off to the Bourne Show tomorrow afternoon. Mum has volunteered to work on a stall at some point. It takes place on the Bourne recreation ground, where I used to play frequently as a kid.
We'll also pop in and see Nan, who was much the worse for wear the last time we very briefly saw her. Hopefully she will be better this time.
Then it will be a belated birthday celebration for Mum, probably at Pizza Express.
Sunday is the Elvetham Heath Car Show, which Mum and Dad will probably pop over for late morning. No idea if it will be any good, but you can't expect much from something like this.
I'd like to buy a bike rack, so we can take the bikes over to Alice Holt. I haven't ridden there in a good year or more. Not sure if Lu will be up for it.
Not sure if we'll have any time to visit a National Trust place.
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| Hey! |
[16 Jul 2009|09:47pm] |
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Last post was sparked by something less-than-awesome, so now I need something to balance it out. So.............. fun links, good art, bad art, interesting web curiosities, amusing comments, GO!
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[16 Jul 2009|09:10pm] |
Bringing this up sort of voids what I'm going to say, but I want to just put this out there (it makes me feel better to be as up front as possible, and also so people can't say I never said it).
There are few things that are off-limits in my conversations. Maybe being brought up in a fairly restricted household is the cause of that, or maybe just because lots of things interest me. Holding a good conversation is always enjoyable, and even if my knowledge of the topic isn't that broad, I'll at least try to be a decent listener.
That being said, here's my caveat.
I do not discuss politics.
You could also consider 'politics' to encompass the topics of human rights, healthcare, war, religion, extreme activism, and certain current events.
This is not to say those topics are completely taboo for me, nor does that mean I ignore them entirely. There are definitely exceptions where I'll make a comment/statement or have a basic conversation about some of those things, (for example, my frustrations toward same-sex discrimination) but if things turn argumentative then it's over.
For the most part, I find people just want to argue or bring it up at inappropriate moments, so I choose to just not talk about it. One main rule that I have always tried to stick to is NEVER to talk politics or religion in the office or during a meal. It just seems abrasive and offensive when others do so, especially if they enjoy debating just a little too much. The other thing is since politics (and the other topics) aren't my cup of tea, I don't research them, and therefore don't have enough to say to hold up my end of the conversation.
In case you couldn't tell, I'm not a fan of conflict. It wastes too much of my energy and does bad things to my stomach. See why even writing all this out goes against writing it all out? It's a very bad loop, and goes against my Taoistic feelings... but I do feel better for having vented, so maybe it was for the best. :) Thanks!
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| Writer's Block: 5//7//5 |
[16 Jul 2009|10:28pm] |
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A dark room, sore ass
You would think that means buttsecks;
I've lost my wallet.
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| Special SpaceWeek Thursday Launchday Anniversary Monday Morning Video |
[16 Jul 2009|08:08pm] |
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"Witnesses' Waltz"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_GciXA-6Ag
As I said to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) chuckvideo earlier today: By July 16th, 1969, I was a veteran of watching so many launches that I knew the last hour of news coverage of the night before (midnight-1 a.m.) and the first two hours of the morning coverage (5-7 a.m.) would tell me nothing I didn't already know (in the last hour before midnight they had broadcast the third repeat of the day of an explanatory clip of how the spacesuit diapers functioned), so I went to bed at midnight and set my alarm clock for seven.
At 6:58 my eyes s*p*r*a*n*g open from the first of only two times in my entire life that my internal clock has awakened me with such precision. I deactivated my external alarm before it could buzz, went into the living room to turn on the big hunk-of-furniture color t.v., then got a bowl & spoon, milk, and Cheerios and sat down in front of it, prepared for for what I knew was going to be a flawless launch.
Some events are just microcosms of perfection. That morning was one of them.
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| Bilbao, Espana |
[17 Jul 2009|03:51am] |
I recently saw Bucket List. It’s certainly not too often that you get to accomplish something from that list.
My bucket list isn’t made up of grandiose action items. It isn’t hiking to the top of Mount Everest or being the first Latino president of the United States.
If you know me, you know that I take pleasure in simple things. A couple of them have already been achieved on this trip:
1 – Go to Spain
2 – Have sangria on a plaza in Spain
3 –Be in Spain, have dinner at 10pm and be out until at least 5am.
Some of them have yet to happen:
1 – Have paella in Valencia, the home of Paella
2 – See a bullfight in Madrid
3- All night beach party
4 – Watch Barcelona v Real Madrid in Spain
The point of that previous rant was to transition into my time in Bilbao, Spain. I am a huge fan of contemporary design and moderately interested in art– so visiting the Guggenheim in Bilbao has long been a dream of mine.
The building alone, the work of American Frank Gehry, is a work of art. While I enjoyed the Pollock, Kadinsky, Picasso and others the building was mind-blowing. Being unlike anything I had ever seen is not really the fascination as much as the unconventional lines, the titanium materials, the glass and the surrounding mountains and river. It all came together pretty seamlessly.
Here are some of my favorite shots of the building:
Even though I am not a museum person – the Guggenheim in Bilbao is a sight to see. We spent a good hour on a bus from San Sebastian to Bilbao to see the museum and it was worth every dollar, eh Euro, and minute.
Bilbao is a bit of a one trick pony, but it is a beautiful little town so we made the best of our time and explored the town:
Caption (above): El puppy in front of the Bilbao is a popular attraction. There is construction directly in front of it right now so no luck on getting any good pictures with it.
Caption (above): Me and Linds in front of the Guggenheim
Caption (above): Petting the puppy!
Caption (above): Lindsay at the Guggenheim
Caption (above): Ok, the spider is fun too.
Caption (above): Lindsay, watch out!
Caption (above): European man-pris (man Capri pants) are quite the rage.
Caption (above): Manpris even on mannequins!
Caption (above): Bilbao is onto something. Light rail on the left, cars in the middle, pedestrians 2nd from right and protected bike lane on the far right. AWESOME.
Caption (above): jajaja
Caption (above): If you love old churches, Spain is the place for you. I believe this is cathedral deSantiago.
Caption (above): A vegetarian sandwich in Spain…has jamon. Haha. No joke.
Caption (above): We finally found the elusive churros con chocolate! Like Sangria I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I haven’t seen a ton of actual Spaniards eat this. I’ve been in Spain over a week and this is the first place after 3 cities where I have see this offered. Sangria – thus far I’ve only seen tourists drink. Actual Spaniards have been drinking wine and beer.
Caption (above): Kinda in heaven
Caption (above): The big difference between our churros and Spanish churros is theirs are smaller. Next big difference is the chocolate we tried is that it was REALLY thick. Not as liquidy as ours. You can see this in the picture.
Caption (above): The other thing that seems to have caught on is the “harem pants” as Lindsay described them. I can’t say I am a fan.
Bilbao 55
Caption (above): Not as big as the manpris but the cut off jeans shorts seem to be making a comeback inSpain.
Bilbao 56
Caption (above): I decided to walk into a local H & M to put this fad to the test. See bright circa 90’sshirt, gold shoes and cut off jean shorts. And here I was thinking you could only get this at American apparel!
Bilbao 59
Caption (above): I also love long stairs. You can see plenty of these throughout Spain. Bad for knees,good for pictures.
Bilbao 64 and 66
Caption (above): Kids playing soccer in the plaza. Awesome. I have to admit I haven’t seen as many people playing soccer as I thought. There are definitely tons of fans and people talk about it pretty frequently but haven’t seen much in terms of people playing.
Caption (above): Even the mannequins have bad haircuts!
Caption (above): I just found this amusing.
The rest of the pictures from Bilbao can be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/calmenda/sets/72157621562761516/
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| my muse |
[16 Jul 2009|05:07pm] |
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I couldn't decide which version I liked better... color or black + white?
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[16 Jul 2009|03:12pm] |
here's the article from a few days ago from the boston globe about sarah palin's objecting to obama's cap and trade plan*, which hilariously enough, was part of her & mccain's platform last year.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/07/palin_slams_oba.html
the best part about any news article covering so inflammatory a character as sarah palin are, of course, the comments. following are hand-picked, for her pleasure, a smattering of the best of the conservative reactionaries' comments, plus a couple of good jokeys. italic comments on some are mine.
*for the record, I don't know what cap and trade is. I don't really care.
Sarah Palin is one of the most strongest GOP leaders and with time will grow in popularity and strength and Support the Democratic party fears her and we all smell it
Posted by deniro11 July 14, 09 12:32 PM
talk about Dumb Obama surrounds his world with smart people why he lacks any Intelligence or knowledge on matters that require simple thinking my pet rock is smarter than he is and its name is Rocky
Posted by deniro11 July 14, 09 12:35 PM
thx for the memoriez, & also the smells, deniro11
WAKE UP!!! Green is the new FACISM!!!! The Earth does not need your help, you arrogant human fools!!!
Posted by Scott July 14, 09 12:40 PM
TASTE MY WRATH, AND ALSO MY MENSTRUATION,
She is highly intelligent. And don't be hating on her because she is extremely hot and you can't have her!
Posted by Jamie July 14, 09 12:42 PM
Say what you will about protecting "Gaia" or whatever, but I would hate to see our economic potential or recovery curbed because of special interest that is currently under much more fire from the scientific community.
Posted by Worried... July 14, 09 12:44 PM
SARAH PALIN IS RIGHT!! OBAMA'S CAP N TRADE PLAN WILL ONLY FILL THE POCKETS OF THOSE ON THE TOP AND MEANWHILE WILL INCREASE THE COST OF EVERY MARKET PRODUCT THAT AMERICANS BUY. IF THIS IS MADE LAW, IT, ALONG WITH THE NEW NATIONALIZED AUTO INDUSTRY, THE NATIONALIZED BANK INDUSTRY, AND NATIONALIZED HEALTH CARE WILL LEAD TO THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR DEMOCRATIC FREE SOCIETY AS WE KNOW IT. ALL WHO VOTED FOR OBAMA'S "CHANGE" , ALONG WITH THE REST OF US, WILL BE DEPENDENT ON GOVERNMENT FOR EVERYTHING, EVEN OUR LIBERTY!! AMERICANS MUST BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT WHAT THESE POLICIES WILL DO TO THEIR OWN LIVES!! GREEN MAY BE COMING BUT AT WHAT COST?? HIGH INFLATION THAT NO ONE CAN COPE WITH?? IT IS COMING!! AMERICANS MUST ACT TO PREVENT OUR UTTER DESTRUCTION!!
Posted by Donn July 14, 09 01:01 PM
I think Donn was my high school civics teacher
He is still President Obama...Miss titleless! he is not against responsible drilling....just define responsible.
Posted by orlando July 14, 09 02:04 PM
most of the amusement from these comes from having no idea whaaaatthefuck these people, orlando included, are saying. maybe he's talking to an anonymous commenter? I have no idea.
With an 'illegal' president (Where's the birth certificate?) that we now have soon he will be promoting that we allow him to remain in office indefinitely just like his friends in Cuba and Venezuela
Posted by Annie July 14, 09 01:50 PM
lololololol birthers
The last speech she gave there were no "tele-prompters". She did not ramble and speak incoherent.
Posted by Jerry July 14, 09 01:44 PM
adverbs r ur fren, Jerry. & u kno, proper use of quotation marks
It would be nice if all the Palin supporters would check their spelling before submitting comments. Mispelled words and por gramer negutivly impact my abilty to take seriusly calls to ignor scentific reserch and pruposed economic polisy.
Posted by HM July 14, 09 01:36 PM
It just amazes me how Liberals are sooo stupid and ignorant. Global Warming is a hoax! You are foolish to think you could possibly have any kind of affect on the climate with CO2. WE ARE MADE OF CARBON! WE EMIT CARBON! One volcano eruption puts WAY MORE pollution into the atmosphere than we could possibly attempt to do in a year. Carbon Dioxide is a trace gas in the total makeup of the atmosphere, .038 of 1 percent!! THAT'S LESS THAN 1/2 OF 1 PERCENT!!! 100 years ago it was .028 of 1 percent!! Chew on that for a while...... Keep drinking the Gore/Obama Kool-aid, idiots!
Posted by kurtg July 14, 09 01:21 PM
I FUCKING LOVE KOOL-AID AND I'LL MOTHERFUCKING SLAUGHTER ANYONE WHO SPEAKS AGAINST IT. also I am amazed too also.
I have no specific political affiliation I am neither liberal or conservative in my views like what I suspect most of the silent majority in this country I just want to live my life with the least drama possible but current politics is dividing this country by left and right race sex in truth I wonder how long we have left as a union
Posted by fin July 14, 09 01:07 PM
this one's fine I guess but I just love the runonnity of it
Palin is great because shes logical woman who sees through BS.. who cares if she is republican or democrat- she doesnt.. if she wants to be an analyst - awesome! Obviously she believes she'll have a larger impact and at least she isnt apart of the the same machine blind leading the blind that we have right now.. which CLEARLY isnt working all of you 1 trillion annual deficit/highest unemployment EVER lovers..
Posted by Laura July 14, 09 03:12 PM
"1-trillion-annual-deficit/highest-unemployment-EVER lovers.."
Well spoken Sarah.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
You'd make a fine President.
We need people like you fightin for America.
Cause it is the right thin to do.
Posted by George W. Bush July 14, 09 03:04 PM
I actually really want to believe that this is him
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| Going around in circles, circles... |
[16 Jul 2009|04:04pm] |
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Today I wasn't as productive. Z & I went to the Evil Empire, and got some elastic, and I picked up Tombstone cause I adooooore Val Kilmer in it. Oh, and Scotch Guard. I MUST SCOTCH GUARD MY CLOAK.
I've only had it since.. Uh... Stockwood Faire? Yeah. When was the last year that was on? I think that's the year I bought it. Maybe the year before.
ANYRATE.
Z gave me a shirt that she bought for like a dollar off of a long lost friend. It's actually a lil' summer dress, but it's for someone like, 30 sizes smaller than me. So it looks like a maternity top on me. I cut the neckline WAAAAYYYYYYY down and edged it and I'm gonna wear it under the Khadija bodice I stole from Z. She also gave me a lil' shirt she made like my black one, and since it's STUPID short, I'm gonna tie it and use it as a choli top.
Huzzah.
Garb made for me this week:
A Mauve knit suede shawl with trim
Purple linen pants, striped
Green linen pants, striped
Green over shirt
Beige & Orange striped over shirt
Repaired Orange slit pants
Repaired Green slit pants
Repaired Blue plaid bog dress
Repaired Brown pants
Altered Brown flowy shirt
Hmm... oh, and I made a bag for my portable wardrobe. It's a SOLID bag. I am so excited I made something useful out of scrap.
Z made the two over shirts. :D She also made a fuck ton of garb. A couple of tunics, several pairs of pants. All like, see through, I swear. LOL
We're gonna be the most naked fully dressed camp, I swear. Too much muslin.
Well, I've vacuumed here a bit and cleared off the floor so that it's useable as a floor again. Piled all my shit by the door and now, I am off to go home.
HOOOMEEE!! Spend some quality time with my cat since I won't see her for 3 weeks.
Wow, you know you've been spending too much time up in the wee hours of the morning when you see 4PM and think your computer is wrong.
Anyrate, much like a prom dress, I AM OFF!
Soooo not looking forward to dragging all that shit downstairs.
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| where it all began |
[16 Jul 2009|10:40am] |
may 2001
I have very little photos of us when we first started dating. A few physical photos but a lot of the ones I had were on my hard drive when it got stolen. It's hard not to get sad about losing those memories. This is one of the very first photos of us together, one of the first 5. I was sitting here at my desk and looked up at the frame. I decided to scan it before time and wear has its way with it cause this is one of, if not my favorite photos of us.
This is where it all began. It was early May, 2001. My sister Bee was graduating from SDSU that morning and I woke up with him in my bed. We had been seeing each other a couple of weeks. 2 weeks in and I was about to take off to a major family event. My parents had flown in from Mexico, we were all going to be there. I wasn't about to put the "meet my family" pressure on someone I had been seeing for so little... but I told him where I was going and extended the invite if and case he wanted to come. He was all about it.
So he came with me that day to spend the morning with my family and I. My parents were kind of taken back by him, I think it was the hair. Shit, what am I talking about! It was the hair. But of all the guys my parents had seen me with, he felt the most natural. My mother commented about how similar our features were and with the gleam in her eye, I could tell she really liked him.
We went to Bee's graduation, followed by lunch at the Spaghetti Factory downtown. After lunch we were walking back to my car which was a ways away and on the corner of 6th and Market, he told me he was in love with me. *beams*
As we were getting home he received a phone call that really upset him. Things with his current living arrangements were getting hostile. He asked me if he could take my car and he ran off to handle some business. Later that evening we went to get his belongings. As we drove back and pulled up to my apartment on C St. I stopped the car, Blink 182's "rock show" was on the radio. We just looked at one another and smiled, kissed. I said, "I hope you won't regret this".
I am not one to condone crazy things like moving a guy you barely know into your apartment after two weeks but something in me told me it was right. It felt right, he felt right. The day this photo was taken was really the beginning of everything. He met my family, he professed his love, he moved in with me and it's been like that ever since.
(I love you Josh, you're my t.m.f.t.n.s.)
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| carley foreplay |
[16 Jul 2009|09:58am] |
So last night I gave Josh the "hey, get the girl to sleep so we can *wink wink*" signal. Honestly it was a lot more crude than that... it kinda involved some ass waving and something to the effect of "wanna stick it in me?". Circumstances didn't pan out and it never happened. Oh well.
This morning Josh comes to me and says, "hey so I didn't get to stick it in you last night, maybe we can tonight" and proceeds to do something like this...
Sometimes I wish I had a video camera in my head so I can record spontaneous moments like these to put here.
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| News Flash – Combat is Unhealthy |
[16 Jul 2009|10:53am] |
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Originally published at BunkBlog. You can comment here or there. There’s a new report from Fort Carson that details some of the potential reasons that post has been home to a distressing cluster of homicide and suicide in recent years. Not surprising to veterans, it concludes that combat makes some people messed up in the head. And, also not a surprise, some (many?) soldiers and leaders belittle mental health issues, causing soldiers who are messed up to not seek treatment except through alcohol, drugs and the occasional act of gunplay.
Mainstream press is surprised.
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| BLARTY!!!!!!! (to the sky with diamonds) |
[16 Jul 2009|12:36am] |
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Oh I fail at LJ. I EPIC FAIL.
And it's nothing against you guys (you're out there somewhere going 'wtf? I thought she was dead or something!') because I rather like you guys. Fondness, it just doesn't seem to factor into my ability to keep up a conversation. It's really... my RL friends, if they could speak (they can normally, just LJ-ally? whatever) would totally attest to my massive suck when it comes to communication over any distance of any kind.
But! Get me in a room, preferably a room with lots of coffee, and I can talk for hours, I can entertain and amuse and make you think (in a good way!) even blow your mind (in a non-porny way)
The online stuff, though... Facebook? I manage. Twitter? I'm already kinda wimping out of it. And LJ, Place Where Good Fanfic Lives (tm pending), that, well, obviously not so hot at that.
Still, I have the journal already and unlike the rest of the Big Scary Interwebs (tm pending) LJ is full of some freakishly awesome people who love the same random-ass shit that I love and are kind enough to mix it, spam it, icon it and fic it AND share!
... and that is all. For now.
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