Delusions of Grandeur

Oh journal, I have neglected you horribly these days havent I? D:

Well anyway so what have I been up to? Not much exactly. But alot of crazy things have happened, well for me they are big things lol.

Thing #1. ( blah blah real life stuff... )

Thing#2. Speaking of ties. How about that World Cup huh? I love the world cup, I dont usually either find the time, patience or channels to watch soccer/football usually but I always enjoy watching the cup. But man the first few matches of the WC were hella underwhelming this year! That said, the competition really seems to be heating up now, and I cant believe I still got a horse in this race myself. and By that i mean, USA! I am so amazed at that come back they pulled in their match with slovenia, and I was so writing them off and thinking "this is why no one in USA watching soccer cause our team sucks!" and then they do THAT! and THAT! and I am like "GOOOOOOAAL!" like those crazy latin announcers on Univision lol. My mouth dropped and I wanted to scream after that ref disallowed the third goal though! WHAAAAT >( That said, I really wish ESPN would SHUT UP about it. Like seriously, they are not revealing any new info aand just keep analyzing it to death and saying the same shit over and over and gah -_-
Otherwise I've been enjoying ESPN's coverage so far, and the mix of commentaters from different european countries helps alot, since they contribute alot to the analysis and other things. and Plus, one of the UK commentaters has a sexy northern accent <3
Anyway other times I am rooting for and hope to see succeed in this WC: Argentina, Mexico, Brazil (cause I always do root for them but honestly they havent been doing their best so far), Ghana, and Germany since I was fairly impressed by their first game, although that second one, whoo boy D:. This really seems like a cup where teams that usually didnt go very far will do well. I hope it is, with the alot of the big favorite (mainly european) teams doing poorly or mediocre so far, it makes me feel like teams like Mexico, USA and Ghana (who fucked up their last game, COME ON GHANA GET IT TOGETHER!) have a chance of going the distance, if not winning the cup altogether (which lets be honest, is highly unlikely, but girl can dream!).

Thing#3. I saw Toy Story 3! It was AMAZING as far as I am concerned. It's too early for me to tell if I love it the most out of the franchise but I think it was definitely the most exciting one of all. Not to mention the most visually stunning and beautiful. I loved the theme of friendship that was constant throughout and also the themes of growing up, letting go and moving on. As someone who has struggled in the past with these very things, it resonated strongly with me. The best part though of the film was the middle section which was a hilarious excellent parody of and homage to prison breakout films. Well played Pixar writers, well played. I am sorry I ever doubted that this film would be awesome! I confess though, I am still hella skeptical about Cars 2, even though the premise does sound kind of awesome (apparently lightning mcqueen goes around the world, I love around the world stories! :D) I am also even more annoyed that I wont see any pixar original films until 2012. So Cars 2 better be freaking amazing! >(

Also as is customary pixar played an original short film before the actual film. I must say I dont think I liked this one as well as Presto 2 years ago (which they played before WALL-E) or Partly Cloudy which they played before UP last year. That said, I still liked it! and The animation was stunning, and a very creative and unique visual style was used for this particular short that impressed me even if the story itself didnt (but it was cute nonetheless).

That's pretty much been my summer so far. I mean aside from doing a bit of writing, but I'll be honest, the process is pretty slow going so far. D:
In other news though, today is my birthday! I am 22 now. Yay! Hopefully today I will get a cake from a nice bakery (instead of the grocery store bakery which is always kind of...blah) Mmmm cake. (and I just realized Leverage S3 premieres tonight! BEST BDAY GIFT EVER <33)

I really gotta stop this updating once a month thing. Hello all! and Sorry I havent been the best commenter on people's ljs either. I really do read pretty much all the journals on my flist so if I dont comment its not cause I dont care! I just lack time and energy lately for this whole blogging and online friend thing. In fact I think I've been a bad friend in general. It's not uncommon for me to end up in a mood and avoid or ignore people in favor of my work or other distractions like movies, tv, books and video games. I know I suck :(
So I fell into one of my moods as I do, feeling put out and went on a big movie spree recently, in part because I FINALLY put in a netflix subscription, and the other reason was I find them rather energizing for my creativity (when they are good anyway). I really cant wait for my classes to end because I so want to use my freetime to write and also take up painting again. Ever since I took that art appreciation class a year ago, I've been wanting to paint again badly. Anyway today I felt pretty good! So I decided to write up an lj post entirely about movies! Yay!

How to Train Your Dragon: I saw this in the theater last weekend and I LOVED it! The story itself is nothing new or very novel, yet the execution was excellent and I rarely enjoy this kind of story as much as I did when I watched this movie. Certainly I would not call myself a fan of the "Boy and His Dragon" stories simply because they are often very narrow in scope, saccharine, conventional and more often than not, just plain dull. This film however is none of those things (well it's a little conventional but forgivable I'd say). I really found myself incredibly fond of Hiccup, he was a little dorky, a little inept, alot scared but never cowardly or pathetic, and he was also incredibly compassionate I thought. Basically he is a very likable lead character, this and the movie taking at least some effort to incorporate girls into what is essentially a typical "boy hero" story made this film very endearing to me. I really liked Astrid, I liked that she was tough and didnt let Hiccup get away with anything, I liked also that she didnt soften on him until she went on a magic carpet ride an amazing dragon ride with him. Speaking of the dragon riding, it is the flying scenes that really carried the film, they are just so free spirited, beautiful, hopeful and pure. I totally had a big silly grin on my face throughout every flying scene!
My favorite thing however was the very strong and sweet bond between Toothless the dragon and Hiccup, it was just so precious and believable and I found myself really caring caring about them from beginning to end. There is a bit at the end that was a wee bit disturbing to me simply because I was not at all expecting it and was surprised in fact the movie went there. ( Just the barest hint of a spoiler~ )
Basically this is an awesome movie, so if you are fond of animated films and open minded about children's films, then I say go see it!

Princess and The Frog: I have very mixed feelings about this movie, my main concern before watching this was how Disney would handle Tiana (the main character's) race, before I watched this I read enough of other people's reactions to know that the film did rather well in this regard. Indeed when I watched it I felt that this may in fact be Disney's most racially/ethnically sensitive film ever produced (which is not saying very much) however, there are two big issues I had wit this film which greatly diminished my enjoyment of it.
Problem the first, Tiana and her beau Naveen spend 85% of the film as FROGS. I knew she became a frog, I knew she was a frog for most of the film, I had no idea however that she would be a frog for THAT LONG. I really hadnt signed up for that, but considering this is a Disney film I should have at least seen it coming -_-
Problem the second, ( cut for spoilers and ranting/ragey typing ) Anyway, the animation is lovely and I did enjoy the characters and the music but I think this is definitely not gonna go on my list of favorite disney films anytime soon. Such a shame. I hope Disney goes back to the 2-D animation again soon though, watching this (and Book of Kells not long ago) I realize how much I've missed it.

Fantastic Mr Fox: I just saw this last night and it was EXCELLENT. Wes Anderson is always amazing, and this movie is no exception. I also find that I am yet to run into a film that is based on a Roald Dahl book and not enjoy it. (well no wait, I didnt like The Witches at all....) Anyway despite the source material being a children's book (albeit one with a slightly dark sense of humor) it has a very adult sensibility. Kind of like Where the Wild Things Are which, despite being a film about a ten year old boy is probably a film that will resonate far more with adults and teens that it ever would with little kids.
Unlike Wild Things though, i do believe this film will be enjoyable and accessible to youngsters, however I think it is probably even more enjoyable if you are over the age of 13. I loved the usage of the stop motion animation here and I think greatly added to the whimsical atmosphere of the movie, the voice cast is excellent and very well chosen (oh man Michael Gabon as the main villain and George Clooney as the hero could not have been more perfect in their roles) and the characters despite all being forest critters feel very human and real. With the dysfunctions of the Fox family the film somewhat reminded me of the Royal Tenenbaums (a movie I also love <3) but this is much more light hearted than that film was. Basically I cannot recommend this film enough, its quirky, its fun, the characters are very engaging, the animation and colors are beautiful and eye-catching, the voice cast is great and the story itself is both thoughtful and ultimately uplifting. Basically very strong all around. Everyone go see it!
(I also wanna add that the score and music throughout the film is also A+ and I found myself dancing to the song in the closing credits.)

ETA: Yes I have seen A2A season premiere and the new DW episode! and I loved both immensely, perhaps I will blog about them in more detail in my next post (or I'll just wait till this week's eps come out and blog about those)

Sup y'all. It's been a while hasnt it? School kept me away from all of you wonderful people. But not anymore! anyway Let's talk about Tv. I have alot to say about it this evening.

Glee: I am feeling very frustrated with this show lately. When I first started watching this show, there was four things that stuck out to me and made me want to watch it. 1. awesome musical numbers. 2. Diverse and multicultural ensemble cast. 3. funny quirky humor. 4. classic underdogs story with a focus on highschool social hierchy and cast of peculiar misfits. Somewhere along the line 2 and 4 got lost by the way side.( Let the rage begin... )
Ok for those who found that too tl;dr, here's the short version: Finn and Rachel need to stop gettin all the musical numbers, minority students should get more storylines and development, show needs to STOP focusing on the stupid adults and their stupid love triangles, I love all the kids (even stupid finn), mercedes has an awesome voice that needs to be used more, sue is awesome, will is a douchebag, puck is hot, baby storyline is stupid, quin has a big booty, (ok that wasnt in the original rant but it's worth noting all the same). and I really hate showtunes unless Kristen Chenoweth is singing them.

Yes I know this is alot of anger for a show that's supposed to be fun and playful. and For me it was pure happiness at first, but I hate the way things are devloping. and sad thing is I dont see anything changing anytime soon. I am not gonna stop watching just yet. But if this shit does not improve by the end of the season. I'm out.

Gossip Girl: I feel very dispassionate about this show, it's possible I always felt this way and now that feeling has jsut become amplified. It was always what I call a "Cotton candy" show, sweet, fluffy, fun but ultimately EMPTY. With other far better tv out there now, I really dont know if I want to continue bothering with this show.

Lie to Me - hear me dear flist! and Know! I have found a new love! Thy name is really freaking awesome. Yes I started watching this show on a whim a week or so ago, because Tim Roth was in it and he's an awesome guy. So far I am enjoying the hell out of it, it is not by any means groundbreaking television or the best show ever but it is probably the only procedural I can think of in which I am ACTUALLY invested in the crime investigations of the week. Mostly because it's alot less about crime and alot more about analyzing human behavior and making deductions based on that. It's basically a show immersed in behavior sciences. The show has a psychologist Gillian Foster and a guy who researchers human and animal behaviors, Eli Loker and then there is Cal Lightman who is played by Roth and he is basically a guy who can always tell if someone is lying.
( He's know when you've been naughty and he knows when you've been nice! )
Honestly I love this show, and I'm glad as hell that the rating seem to be doing ok because I'd be super sad if this got cancelled. I love that the characters of Cal and Gillian are based on real people, and the show's foundation is based off real discoveries and facts about people and their behaviors. Ultimately people interesting me alot more than procedures, and concepts and blood/gore. and that's why this show is so appealing to me. Even more so, there are no actual cops part of the main cast, it's not a crime drama even though the Lightman Group gets immeresed in crimes at times because they are often recruited to use their expertise to prove or disprove someone's honesty/dishonesty. The cases of the week are not the most original or brilliant ideas but there's alot of potential to be explored in this show. and So far S2 has proven to be much more well written than S1 was, which was decent but beyond the intriguing premise, not anything very special.

Community - I really love this show, I have enjoyed every ep. I'm glad I decided to watch it despite my general dislike of sitcoms. It is set in a community college and it does FEEL like a community college. I go to a community college atm, and I have met people just like the characters of troy, abed and shirley. I love that they address how community colleges are looked down on, even my family has teased me for going because my sis was able to get into university right out highschool. Though it was not my first choice to go through comm college before uni I dont regret it cause they really do have some great professors and quality of education, and I do appreciate the classes are not huge like alot of uni classes are. I suspect when i finally transfer out of here that I will miss it alot.
( all the awesome things... )

The Mentalist - love it so far, one of the only dramas not to dissappoint me in some way this season. I love how the show drops little tidbits of info about the character's each week. It's very nice, and watching the team and jane work is so fun and enjoyable that even if they dont solve the red john murder for a while, I dont think I will mind. I was originally concerned abotu this but the fact is the show doesnt hinge entirely on the red john thing, therefore when you put it out for your head, it's a really fun entertaining show. Even when it's being dark and angsty. I'm glad that Cho and Rigsby are getting more focus cause I love those guys, especially Cho, I do hope Van Pelt gets more screentime in the coming weeks. ( spoilers for 204 )

House: so far it's not bad but I am starting to remember why I never quite liked this show very much to begin with. I really dont see myself hanging on until the end of the season, but we will see I guess.

Hello kids! I saw the BEST MUSICAL EVER, the other night. What's it called you ask?
Why it's

A VERY POTTER MUSICAL OF COURSE!

I recommend this to EVERYONE. But especially potter fans. I havent read the books in a while but everything was hilarious to me, it's a great great musical put on by a bunch of college students and recent grads. There's plenty more info about what the musical is, who the people behind the production are as well as the cast and why they did this at their youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/StarKidPotter. you can watch the whole play there too if you like

You can find some gifs, caps and a download link to an avi file of the entire play here:
http://bigmamag.livejournal.com/187397.html
also the dude who plays voldemort has a totally slammin bod wtf. Voldemort should not look attractive! Srsly I am so glad he got to be shirtless for almost the ENTIRE time. Speaking of shallow things, the dude who plays harry in the musical (Darren Criss) is approx 24982092x more attractive to me than Dan radcliffe ever was. But then he DOES play guitar! and can sing soulful power ballads! Seriously this was just a funny musical to me until the next to last song "You're not alone" and that was the point where I was like HOLY CRAP these guys are truly talented! It does take talent and effort to set up something like this but these arent just practical jokesters armed with prep school uniforms and access to instruments and sound equipment. They are the real deal and they could totally do serious musicals if they wanted to, they got skills, but they simply chose to make a silly musical about harry potter and show it for free. How awesome IS THAT? (I am so keeping an eye out for future projects from these guys. these are our generation's puccinis, tchaikovskys and mozarts...no rly.) and also the girl (yes girl: Lauren Lopez) who plays Malfoy? HYSTERICAL. After the play she was totally my favorite. So so funny. Everyone was great but I think she and Darren were the stand outs.

I'm such a nerd that I joined ontdpigfarts soon after watching the musical. If you like it I suggest you join the comm too. (I got sorted into ravenbawww! apparently this means I'm classy. I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE CLASSY! YAY)

and Props to ohvienna for pimpin this in her lj or I'd never have known ok I would have probably known about eventually since nothing stays secret for long in fandom but it would have taken much longer! and watching it so made my day. It will make your day too guys! OMG watch it!

Skins: My God I'm sure you are all sick of whining about how much Season 3 annoyed me but I really just want to say this one last thing then I swear I wont bitch about Skins ever again (or rather not until S4 next year)
I finally saw ep 7 from S2 which is Effy's episode and it was not only amazing and emotional and hella dramatic but Effy was SO fucking cool in it! and what kills me about it she was ten times more interesting, active, likeable and well developed in that SINGLE episode than she was ALL of season 3!( let the bitching begin.. )

For some positivity I want to say that I am enjoying Season 2 of skins SO MUCH. I am like glued to my comp screen and I'm already down to the last 3 eps if though I only started watching yesterday. I cant say that it's more cohesive than S1 and it's definitely more melodramatic but I really do feel convinced by all the emotions exploding all over the place. S2 is alot more intense and dramatic than S1 but still manages to have quite a quirky sense of humor. ( more S2/1st gen cast squee )
I'll probably post one more time about skins when I see the rest of S2 and after that it's back to blogging about other things until January (when S4 starts airing and yes i'm watching it cause I'm a masochist and also love JJ and Naomi too much not to)

Leverage 05 - I LOVED THIS EP SO MUCH OMG. ( I'm Monica freaking hunter and I'm on a hunt for the TRUTH )

College resumes for me in 5 days. :(

Ahhh Anne Stuart, she of the romance thrillers/romantic suspense books. I wouldnt call her a favorite author or even a very good author (though not a bad one either) But she is undoubtedly a guilty pleasure of mine. Her novels are basically CRACK and you shouldnt be doing it and you know it's not good for you & gonna eat away your brain tissue but YOU CANT STOP. I always go through her novels faster than anyone elses. Dunno what that says about me...no wait of course I do. I have a love of dysfunctional couples and love/hate relationships, something stuart is much more likely to explore than most romance novel authors. Bleh at fluffy romances, bleh I say!

Ice Storm = B+
Of the Stuart novels I've read so far I think I've liked this one most. It's part of Stuart's Ice series which focuses on the lives of various operatives to some shady spy organization called "The Council", this is the fourth novel in the series. ( Get into bed, I can always kill you in the morning ) All in all, Ice storm is a decent read and less dark than Sins and far less irritating than Midnight but still unabashedly unromantic and twisted enough to fulfill anyone's kink for fascination with suffering or an antagonistic couple. and by anyone I do mean me. mmmmm hate!sex.


Ritual Sins = B-
I feel like I shouldnt have liked this story, but I did, quite a bit actually. It was completely fucked up, the power dynamics were skewed, some of the plot developments were right out of a B horror movie or a lifetime tv movie and the hero was an obligatory unapologetic psychotic jackass. but I still had such a blast reading it. It's one of those stories you read where you just turn off your brain and enjoy the very trashy ride.
( Luke, part cult leader, part con man, all pyscho meets Rachel a Very Angry Woman ) Basically Ritual Sins is what it is, a creepy thriller with lots of sexual tension and then actual sex, the plot isnt very intelligent and you probably wont be surprised by most of the twists and turns but it manages to keep from being completely predictable. I managed to finish it in a day or so, a fun fast read. Well fun if your idea of fun is stalkers, murders, cults, conspiracies, evil old ladies, homicidal dwarves and sex in the back of a creepy hearse during a violent thunderstorm. Hey man, I dont knock YOUR interests.


A Rose at Midnight = C-
There is so much that went wrong with this story for me that I'm not even sure I know where to start. It's not even that as a book it was really bad, because it wasnt. Although it was miles away from good. "Midnight" started out with such a fabulously dark and interesting premise, the heroine starts out trying to poison the hero who she blames for the horrible demise of her family. So the heroine who is *gasp* french and had the misfortune to be living in france during the time of the revolution, has to watch helplessly as her aristocratic family is sent to the guillotine. Fucked up right? You bet! So of course I was intrigued. ( Here's where it all goes to shit aka I bitch alot in this review )
Vitriol aside, I will keep reading anne stuart and try to stick to some of her later novels, especially her contemporaries, cause so far those havent been too bad. I will however avoid her historicals like plague for now on. Also I cracked up when the word "cash" was used in this book because uh...I dont think they used that term for money in 19th century England. :x

In un book related news I went to the mall and got myself a dress to wear at my sister's graduation (that my mother insisted I attend, and before anyone gives me the evil eye for being a bad sis and not wanting to attend my lil sister's graduation, let me just say that she doesnt want to go either. We are both hostages! Our mother is forcing us to dress up and converse with stuffy old arab ladies! WILL THE HORRORS NEVER CEASE?) I will take pics of said dress once I actually manage to locate my camera.

Wassup Flist? I've been ignoring humanity again it seems. This time for books and a new show I've gotten into, True Blood. I am enjoying it quite alot and decided to go dl all the books in the series (so far there is nine and a 10th one comes out later this year) which I will start to read....I have no idea when considering I have a backlog of romance novels to read. I cant believe I have a fucking backlog of ROMANCE novels. I spend a lifetime not even looking at the romance section and the last two years thinking my reading fiction novels is now a lost cause. and Suddenly on a whim I pick up a romance novel or two and BAM, I'm a junkie. Shock of my life. I dont count on this being a long term interest though, I have few interests that are ever long term. But eh we'll see? I will be hopefully devoting a whole post about which novels I've read and which ones I like the most so far. and for the record I'm kind of whatever about reading them now and the shame/self consciousness about reading romance has all but dissipated. I adapt quickly. heh (I also think reading "Beyond heaving bosoms" helped)

As for True Blood, I heard good reviews about it for a while but my lord was I ever SO sick of VAMPIRE STORIES. and then hearing it was set in new orleans I was like oh God, it's fuckin Anne Rice all over again, NOOOO. But damn, once again I was forced to eat my words...er thoughts. Cause True Blood is really freaking good. ( and here's WHY )

So alas it seems I have yet ANOTHER show to add to my list of shows and fandoms I'm currently following, which for anyone curious include so far: Ashes to Ashes, Merlin, Leverage, The Mentalist, Doctor Who and more recently the spanish Life on Mars aka La Chica de Ayer, which I enjoyed way more than I planned to, this seems to be happening alot lately....if this keeps up I might have to start accepting that my judgment is not infallible and then what will i....aahahhaha JUST KIDDING, as if that would ever happen.
Anyway if anyone is curious about my impressions regarding the Spanish Life on mars. I wrote out my thoughts about the first episode under the cut: ( La Chica de Ayer )

In conclusion: La chica de ayer is Muy Caliente and better than the US adaptation of Life on Mars by miles. I cant wait to see the rest of the series! It's really like discovering life on mars all over again.

So friends and fangirls, the summer season is upon us! and So with that here's what I will be considering for the summer season and also how I'm faring with the dramas from last spring so far.

So for spring, I dropped Hokaben and completed Zettai Kareshi and Last friends so far.

Last friends: I think the less I say the better. I dont want this to become a big angry ranting post. I think most of us who stuck with the drama till the end felt some level of disappointment and I know a few people who felt betrayed even by the ending. For me it was really like a slap in the face. and that's all say about LF now or ever again. I will say though Juri and Eita were amazing in this from start to finish and it was almost worth suffering through this drama to see them in it. Almost.

Zettai Kareshi: It started out with so much promise. It had a really strong start and I was so sure it would be enjoyable from beginning to end and wrap up itself nicely. Later in the season it started losing it's spark and I was beginning to worry for how it would end...and sure enough the ending was immensely disappointing. It did follow the drama's ending to an extent. but honestly I just found the whole thing a big waste in the end. I do know people who were moved by the end and didnt see it as bad so much as a bit shocking. I just saw it as a letdown and fairly predictable since as Maya Miki's chara said, you cant have a relationship with a ROBOT. I also still feel sad that nerdy scientist and hot bartending lady didnt hook up ;_;

So far I'm still watching Osen and Rookies. I just recently dled eps 6-7 for Rookies and 5-6 for Osen.

Osen: So far I am very much enjoying Osen and I dont really have many complaints about it at all. I just really love the character interactions and everyone is defined and distinct despite being support charas in uniform who could easily blend into the background and become nobodies but I distinctly remember every character and even the parts of their personality. I really love that one waitress who looks gaijin. she's kind of hotheaded which i find really cute. I hope she hooks with osamu's character before the end. Uchi is seriously A+++ in this drama. I dont care what anyone says IMO he's a way better actor than ryo was, is or ever will be. I love how Uchi's character becomes like a friend for Sen, it's clear that everyone kind of idol worhips her in a way except for Uchi's chara who sees her as a normal girl. It's very cute.

As for Rookies I'm having fun watching it. It's a very melodramatic drama but I appreciate it's heart. and also it's many scenes of Ichihara Hayato looking DEAD SEXY. I also find it hilarious that big bad Shinjo (shirota yuu's character) cries as often and randomly as a hormonal pregnant woman.

( As for summer dramas... )

Before I wrap up this post I would like take a moment to flail about my most recent Jdrama obsession. TIGER AND DRAGON!!!!! My god words cannot describe how much i adore this drama and I've decided rather than making this post any more obscenely long I'd rather just give it it's own post. BECAUSE YES IT IS THAT AWESOME. It also will give me a chance to flail about the newfound fascination i have with rakugo thanks to this show. as if I need more obscure geeky obsessions -_-*
Speaking of newfound obsessions. whoever told me capsule was a fucking awesome band deserves a pat on the back now because THEY ARE AN FUCKING AWESOME BAND er duo I dunno wtf they are but it's awesome. I love bizzaro retro/mod thing they have going. the songs delightfully surreal too. I'll be making another post for that as well. SO MANY GREAT SONGS EEE <3