Delusions of Grandeur

So Spain beat Germany! Crazy huh? I never saw it coming to be honest (but apparently, PAUL THE OCTOPUS DID) until the game then just watching how aggressive the spanish were being and how many shots they kept getting at the goal, I figured it was only a matter of time before they scored. What I didnt get was wtf the Germans were doing. Playing so defensively and before then I'd seen them play both offense and defense very well. Was the loss of Thomas Muller a big factor in this change of play style? (did they hear Paul's prediction and become nervous? lol jk)
Oh well eh? Third again it seems. Unless the Uruguayans come up with something tough in the runners up match on Saturday. I suppose it hurts less now than it did back in 06 ya? Or no? I for one cant lose this World Cup because I already lost! USA was out early on. and Argentina was completely crushed by Germany. Seriously the Argentines LOST their shit completely and were flailing around the field in a huff while the Germans practically danced in circles around them. talk about humiliation! (I will be sad to see ol Maradona go, sure he's a washed up ex druggie football player and probably helped popularize cheating in the sport but hey, he's also a laugh and a half! Plus he totes reminds me of my crazy grandma back home in Lebanon. for realz).
Brazil also lost rather shockingly to the Dutch. Or perhaps not so shockingly considering their lukewarm play throughout the tournament. Really It's a testament to Brazil's talent pool though that they could leave one of their best players at home and play half assed yet still advance to the quarter finals. Anyway, it's funny considering how poorly most of the Europeans did at the start that we are looking at an all Euro final once again. That said, I doubt anyone would have expected the Dutch to advance THIS far and for the Spanish this is their first final ever in WC history! Craziness! All those fancy Spanish clubs and that's the National Team's first time? I wonder who will win it. Either way it's gonna be a first time for one of these teams and that's pretty awesome to behold. I do love being privy to history. Sure all my teams went home but I'm not sad! Because one of my World Cup wishes did come true. Italy got knocked out! and Hella early! WOOOO KARMA IS A BITCH ITALY. *still angry about the 2006 WC final*

I will be sad when this World Cup ends. What will I do with my day hours now? Get work done? Prepare for classes in august? Start an exercise regime? Read all those books I keep saying I will read? BAH. Bah I say! (on the bright side this new surge of interest in Soccer from the US public seems to have convinced ESPN3.com to start putting up matches from the big European leagues on their live streaming. WOOHOO. I get to keep following this stuff even after the WC is over! Now if only they would start actually airing this shit on tv. Sure I could shell out for Fox Soccer Channel but shoot, I aint rich! That stuff aint cheap man)

A video of various reactions of Americans during that tense match yesterday! Who knew so many Americans gave a shit about soccer huh? My sister works in a sports bar and apparently got to see this kind of reaction first hand. I on the other hand was probably more like the arkansas guy in that video lol, I ran around the house and then starting squeeing to my mommy! XD

And for fun, Colbert and J. Stewart's responses to the USA win:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/313495/june-23-2010/us-defeats-algeria
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-june-23-2010/world-cup-2010--into-africa---us-beats-algeria
the Daily show video is hilarious. Poor John Oliver, he got mega burned lol.

I am hella glad that USA doesnt have to vs Germany this weekend. Cause I would not like those odds. Though Germany V England should be epic. plus if the English lose, I can laugh about it after!. That said, I love team Ghana and up till now I have been rootin for them. However, I am an American first, so I am for team USA all the way! WOO *pulls out flag* In the mean time though, I will be rooting for Brazil in the sure to be EPIC Brazil v Portugal game tomorrow (or today for some of you lol) :D

That was...BEAUTIFUL. Two finales in two days is enough to do a poor girl's head in! But this was really a beautiful finale. I cried my eyes out!

I know some people hated that Alex and Gene couldnt stay together and Gene had to be alone in the end but I was totally cool with it. To me it had a certain poetry to it. I was very moved. He has a job he has to do and he can't leave. It's heartbreaking in a way but also hopeful. Because things go on. Just like life goes on and sometimes we lose people through death or other circumstances. and It hurts but we all move on. Watching the whole series come full circle and watching Gene say to the new guy the same words he told Sam in the very first episode of LOM was just, to me, beautiful. But then I do love a good cycle, must be the historian in me.

Alex realizing she was dead and then CRYING and begging to stay with Gene just BROKE my heart. It was so sad how she had to move on cause it was her time and I bet Gene wanted her to stay but she just couldn't ;_; SO SAD but so beautiful at the same time. I loved that Alex stuck with him to the end and while even though this ending was mainly about Gene, everyone still had an important role to play. Alex most of all. I don't feel like she overshadowed it, and even while Gene was celebrated here, I dont feel like he was completely canonized or glorified.

Other things I loved about this finale:
Keats. OMG HE WAS SO SCARY AND CRAZY. HE WAS TOTES THE DEVIL YOU GUYS!
I love also that Keats was a Club Tropicana fan. THE MUSIC OF EVIL.
ELEVATORS TO HELL! EEEEEE (I also feel vindicated now in my decision to never take elevators)
AND SHAZ! SHAZ IS FROM THE NINETIES! AND SHE GOT PROMOTED AT LAST. AND SHE LOVES CHRIS! FOREVER AND EVER! D'AWWWWWW <3 I love how even after that they still gave us some adorable Chris/Ray too. OT3 to the end!
JUST BEAT IT! that was such a badass scene
"I am arresting you for killing my car!"
Shaz kneeing the dutch guy and then putting a gun to his head. A+
Alex's shoes <3
The kiss! I wasnt a big shipper during S2, though I kind of liked Galex in S1 and then S3 renewed my affection for the ship.
NELSOOOON!
Dixie from Dock Green closing out the series! That was great! I just love references like that.
The very classic THE END to end the series. That is just. God so perfect. As a lover of stories and film it's just, so classic and perfect.
Basically everything! :D

Can't believe it's over. But...even though the show is over, I'd like to think this world and these characters will continue to live in our hearts and minds (and fanfiction).
So in the immortal words of Porky Pig:

I saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland today!

Non Spoilery thoughts: Very fun! After two whole years of anticipating this film (though really I was waiting my whole life for this movie, no that's not even an exaggeration, I've wanted Tim Burton to do an Alice movie ever since I figured out Alice in wonderland was gothic horror, and really his style was perfect for that type of story) I was worried I'd be severely let down....BUT I WASNT!

Wonderland looks as beautiful, eerie, stunning, grand, dreamlike and amazing as I'd hoped. and The plot was a very fun albeit loose adpatation of the books, it took elements from both Alice books, and perfectly executed some of my favorite alice scenes. That said, it really isnt a super faithful adaptation plot wise but tone and style wise I feel like it's one of the most faithul Alice adaptations to ever emerge.
I really loved how the main battle was between two Queens and the one who is responsible for slaying the Jabberwock and giving the crown back to the rightful queen was Alice. Much cooler than having her just wander around wonderland being lost and cute. I've never seen the actress they cast to play Alice in anything before but I feel like she did very well, and she had some STRONG competition.
Depp's hatter was very weird, and unlike the hatter in the books seemed to be bi-polar and would often switch from talking like a nutty british fop to ranting about in a strong scottish brogue. Very odd, but fun to watch. My favorite thing was really the Red Queen/Queen of Hearts as played by Helena Bonham Carter, girlfriend was born to play that role she was so awesome in it! She had the perfect blend of crazy, megalomania, rage, sweetness, narcissism, pitifulness and delusion. I honestly feel like the most underhanded character in the film wasnt the Red Queen but the Knave of Hearts her (supposedly) loyal servant. Dude CREEPED ME OUT.
I really loved all the beautiful costumes in the film and I think Alice ended up changing her outfit more times than a model during a fashion show. The ending is really sweet and lovely, it was so great to see this young woman take charge of her life and go towards this bright exciting future.
I dont know how realistic that was for victorian society but I also really dont care, if we can accept talking animals and jabberwocks, then we can accept victorian woman actually making decisions about their lives and futures.

Voice casting was also really well done and brought the animated creatures to life in the best way! I was really worried about Tim Burton's weird blending of animation and live action but it really didnt look bad at all, it worked! But I didnt see it in 3-D so I dont know if that is the same for the 3-D picture.
and I loved that not only did the Jabberwock make an apperance but so did the Bandersnatch casually mentioned in that poem as well! I only feel sad that neither the walruus nor the carpenter (and their famous feast of oysters) made an appearance in this film. That actually kind of broke my heart a bit ;_;

All in all a solid effort I think. Was it the best Alice movie EVAR? No I dont think so. Though I'd be hard pressed to think of a BEST Alice movie EVAR since every adaptation has it's strengths and weaknesses, I think my favorite will always be Jonathan Miller's version though but Burton's adaptation is easily my second favorite and is the most visually amazing and beautiful alice film I've ever seen. As a huge Alice fan I am very pleased!

Anyway!

In my effort to watch all the oscar nominated animated films for this year. I have taken to various means (both legal and...less so) to watch all of the films. Anyway I already saw Up back when it came out but I have sadly yet to see Fantastic Mr Fox and Princess and the Frog. I did see Book of Kells recently though!

Book of Kells: This was a beautiful animated film. This is really and ode to irish folktales and culture, both the pagan and the christian. It really does a good job of respecting both sets of beliefs and in this fantastical version of medieval europe both the pagan beliefs and christian beliefs are treated as true and real. It's refreshing in that sense. More refreshing is the lovely 2-D animation that you really just dont see anymore, and the hero of the film is very delightful and sweet and while he does slay monsters and save the day he does so with his wits, courage and heart and not with any kind of violence/weaponary or even some sort of magical power.
There is also the sweet befriending of the boy hero with the faery girl Ashley, which I really liked since again it highlighted this harmony between the pagan and the christian, even while the Abbot would rail against pagans and their beliefs.
The central conflict of the story is an interesting one, it's basically a fear of viking attacks here called "the northmen". Historically Vikings were VERY scary and caused great havoc to much of europe in their heyday, it was nice to see a threat that had real roots in history in a story that also treated faery creatures and primordial snake monsters as real. That said to perhaps express the horrifying way Vikings appeared to their victims, the vikings in this film are animated to look almost like hulking shadowy monsters that only resemble men in the vaguest most distant sense. It was a very effective way to show just how scary vikings were without actually making them into some kind of fantastical monster army.
Anyway in a nutshell, Book of Kells is a great story about a young boy coming of age and becoming the great man everyone knows he will one day be, but it's also a story about friendship, facing your fears, faith (not just in deities and heaven but in yourself), and also it's a story that beautifully and excellently blends history with folklore, and pagan with christian. and just watch it! It's lovely and you wont regret it. You can also totally take kids to see it :D I also want to add that the irish folk music in this film is so beautiful and really adds to the rich culture of the film.

I have also watched 3 of the 5 nominated Shorts for the animation category. While I enjoyed all 3, my favorite was easily "Granny o Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" totally cracked me up while also being a really creepy retelling. I hope whoever wrote this film does a full length film one day too.
You can watch the oscar nominated animated shorts here: http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/43953738.html

I hope everyone had a lovely thanksgiving to all my fellow american friends and happy thursday to the rest of you ;) I realize I havent updated my lj in several weeks but I am not dead, just busy. Between preparing for the upcoming Eid holiday, thanksgiving, my mother's birthday (which is today), finishing up my assignments before break, and playing my fabulous new game "Dragon Origins", I've been one busy busy bee. I will continue to be so for some time I think. Hopefully though I can update my lj soon. I am still doing my best to read everyone's entries though! and hopefully I can start commenting more regularly when I finish up this school semester. :)

I saw the new Harry Potter movie today and it was so good that I decided to blog about it!.

You know i've seen the last 5 movie installments in this franchise. and I dont remember hating or even really disliking any of them. The first two potter films were nice but not especially memorable (but i could say the same for the first two potter books though I actuallly liked the 2nd one alot) and the 3rd one was filmed in a very interesting way and is possibly my second fave potter film. the 4th one was alot of fun but was basically shot like a major action film. The 5th one had some beautiful shots but the scenes shifted SO fast and the film just felt like all over the place and i barely remember it. But this one is easily my favorite of the bunch and I think is the first harry potter film to really impress me. This film actually MOVED me, the other ones entertained me but this one made me got me in the heart. I cried and I freaked out and I laughed and I was just utterly completely sucked in.

( Something wicked AWESOME this way comes.... )

So so much awesome. Basically a great film, I recommend it to EVERYONE, whether you read the books or not but especially if you did. It actually managed to renew my love for Harry Potter for a whole 3 hours. I might even actually read the 7th book now cause I never did (but of course I read all the spoilers) and now I really feel like I wanna know how events proceed now rather than wait the 5 years the next two films will take and yes TWO cause someone had the bright idea of splitting the 7th book into two parts.

Finally managed to get my hands on Lisa Kleypas's "Dreaming of You" after having to wait for 2-3 weeks for it to get sent over to my library.

( blah blah books and bookstores )

Anyway as you all can see I've been reading a lot of novels and did some reviews, well really just writing about my impressions.

Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale. Grade: A-

If you are looking for a fluffy romance this is definitely not your book. This is one of the most angst and drama filled romance novels I've ever read (so far). and also was one of the most emotional. ( why this book was pretty awesome )
All in all I would say a very good read. I think I'm going to be reading more Kinsale in the future.

To wrap this entry up, I changed my layout a week ago and all the color coding took me at least 2 hours, and I never did manage to get the titles on the main page the precise color I wanted but eh, it's good enough I think.