Ode to Joss Whedon

Just watched Serenity again and remembered that it was incredible. It also made me think of a speech Joss Whedon gave:

(To jump straight past Meryl Streep, go to 1:50)

A Couple of Reviews

So, my semester is over. Yep, on Friday at 3:00 pm I walked out of my last final a free woman. However, finals week doesn't actually end until today at 4:00, and a great deal of my friends are still in the process of finishing their work. To ward off boredom, I have been reading a lot of books and watching a lot of movies. In the last three days, I have read 750 pages, and watched eight and a half hours of video (not including the countless number of YouTube clips). In this time, I have discovered two gems, which I would like to share with you, readers:

MOVIE:

BUBBA HO-TEP

directed by Don Coscarelli

I'm going to paraphrase what my boyfriend said about this movie: If someone were to tell me that there was a movie about Elvis (played by a B movie actor) living out the end of his days at a retirement home because the impersonator he payed to switch places with him dies before they can switch back, AND THEN old Elvis fights a mummy in cowboy boots that threatens the souls of the elderly at this retirement home was going to be subtle and heartfelt, I would laugh and not believe it. Sure, I might believe it was campy, ridiculous, and good fun, and I'd probably have a strong impulse to watch it.

The thing is, it is campy, ridiculous, and good fun, but it also manages to be subtle and heartfelt. While the parts with the mummy are about as campy as any B movie could get, the rest of it adresses getting older, lost dreams and families, regrets, patronizing nurses, and illness better than any movie I've seen in a long time. And even though juxtaposing this with images of Elvis fighting an enormous scarab beetle with his walker, bed pan, and a fork sounds like a horrible idea, it works.

I think this is one of those perfect movies. It set out to do something, and it did it. If this were gymnastics, it would have stuck the landing. I didn't find any of it superfluous, the dialogue rubbed me the wrong way, and I don't think I've met a better cast of characters in years.

BOOK:

FIRMIN

by Sam Savage

This book really surprised me. When I saw it at Powell's Books, I knew right away I was the target audience. See that white chunk on the right side of the cover? It's a literal chunk taken out of the book. As though I rat had nibbled it. On the back, it said it was a book about Firmin, a rat who begins by consuming literature, but soon finds it consumes him. It's about a rat who loves books. Perfect for me. So I bought it, guessing it would be a fun, cute summer read, with little substance.

It isn't cute, and it certainly isn't lacking in substance. Rather, it is a beautiful exploration of a lonely genius. I couldn't help but identify with Firmin the rat as he navigated the human world, separated by his lack of voice and the fear most humans hold for rats.

The cast of characters is rounded out by a bookshop owner, a compassionate (but probably off-his-rocker) sci-fi author, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (who are residents of Fermin's fantasy life), and hundreds of books. In his isolation, the books Firmin reads become his companions, adapting to fit into his world. Perhaps my favorite line is the following:

"And I introduce people. I put Baudelaire on the raft with Huck and Jim. It did him a lot of good."

I loved it only a few pages in, but I also realize that I would probably find it pretentious if it wasn't about a rat. As it is, it's the perfect balance between profundity and humor--very dark humor.

More StumbleUpon

Here are more things I found in my days addicted to stumbling:

1. Artists are an amazing and sometimes insane bunch:
   
   
   
   Check at more of his work here.
   
   
2. A couple in Kyloe, Northumberland bought a church a while back and turned it into their home. While I don't think I would chose to live in a church, the renovation is beautiful and I certainly wouldn't mind living in a part of the world with that kind of landscape.
   
   
   
   
   The best part is probably the stained glass in the bathroom.
   
   
3. There's this guy in Finland that is trying to collect one million hand drawn, hand sculpted, hand made giraffes. It's a world wide project, and it's pretty amazing how many people have contributed. You can read that stats here. Help him out, guys! I did:
   
   
   
   My giraffe: http://www.onemilliongiraffes.com/?id=9550
   
   
4. I read this interview with British philosopher AC Grayling. He called it "This Much I Know." I rather like it. Some of my favorite things that came out of it are:
   
   

   I'm a vegetarian, but I wear leather shoes. Some people say that's a contradiction; I say I'm doing my best.

   Life is all about relationships. By all means sit cross-legged on top of a mountain occasionally. But don't do it for very long.

   Every professor of philosophy needs a nine-year-old daughter.Mine has a habit of saying, "Daddy, that is a very silly idea." She is always right.

5. This series of photographs someone found at a flea market is both beautiful and haunting. It's strange to think about the little pieces of evidence of our own lives we leave around, and how they reflect upon us.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   

This is what I want to do with my life:

When I was little, this show was on PBS. My parents made the genius decision to record it, so I've been enjoying it for years. The artistry is incredible, and I this is what I'm going to do this summer (when I'm not interning it up in the costume shop of a local theater.) Yep, me and stop-motion animation in my basement for weeks on end.

Well, this is surreal

End of the Semester

Tech weekend is over. I spent 24 hours in the theater last weekend as we slowly worked out the wireless microphone bugs, figured out lighting cues, and organized the horde of students that volunteered to be on crew.

I counted up the hours I spent in rehearsal last week and they totaled over forty. That means I am working a full time job (and putting in overtime) in addition to being a full time student and working a part time job in the costume shop. Nevertheless, I got through the week relatively unscathed and not very behind, and I somehow think the week of dress rehearsals and performances is going to be a lot less stressful, even with finals right around the bend.

I want a weekend.