In My Eyes, You Only See Yourself

top five!

2010-01-13T00:46:19Z

Stolen from redfairie19.

Ask me for my top 5 anything: fandoms, ice cream flavours, cartoon moments, women in my fandoms, OTPs, ideal holiday destinations, goals for the future, celebrity crushes, books I wish would be made into movies, love songs, ANYTHING. BE CREATIVE!

too much fantasy

2010-01-06T23:25:15Z

I had the weirdest, most awesome dream last night. Three other people and I were trying to get to New York City. Sounds simple enough, right? Though I don't know who they are and we weren't on Earth. Oops. At least I think we weren't on Earth. Anyway, one of the other people, the woman, tried to teleported us to NYC. She succeeded well enough to the point that we could see the skyline of the city off in the distance. I believe there was something post-apocalyptic about the landscape. Not in as much that there was a nuclear war or anything, but there were no people anywhere. Go anywhere within 500 miles of New York City and there will be people anywhere. Also the landscape was wide plains, almost like the savannah - tall grasses being the most prominent feature. Maybe some drastic climate change had happened; perhaps a sudden switch of the Earth's magnetic poles had thrown every ecosystem out of whack.

We walked towards the city for a short while before coming upon an old, crooked highway sign that read "New York City: 250 miles." Well done there with the teleporting, woman. She expressed concern over the length of time it would take to walk to the city. I looked over towards where we had come from and said something along the lines of "Then why did you bring the Everlasting Giraffes with us?" At first they looked just like regular giraffes, except bigger. But, after we had wrangled them in, I saw that they had human faces and could talk! I tried to get the cutest looking EG for myself - because appearances are very important - however they were all four of them supremely ugly. Anyway, riding the EG was a big thrill, very comfortable, and extremely fast. They rode more like a horse than with the rocking motion of a camel like they should have.

Riding for a while, it became dark. We had left the plains behind us and were running down a path with bushes on each side. At intervals were large topiaries that looked like jack 'o lanterns, and they moved from one side of the path to the other. My Everlasting Giraffe was talking to me at this point, telling me it was getting too dark to see. At this he began shooting fire (from where, I don't know) at the jack 'o lanterns ahead, setting them ablaze and lighting the way for us.

Late at night we reached the Forest of Mirrored Ghosts. I dismounted and we moved slowly through the forest, careful not to attract the attention of any of the ghosts because they were obviously bad news. We could see glimpses of the ghosts through the trees and they rippled, like water in the rain, and I could not get a clear image of what they looked like.

In the morning we reached a park of some sorts, still within the confines of the FMG. Essentially, it was a more manicured version of the forest. The ghosts were still there as well, except during the day they weren't dangerous and I could clearly see them. And they all looked different. We came upon one that took on the appearance of two small tin drummer-boys attached at the hip. I was unaware that they were less dangerous in the daylight and attempted to skirt around the ghost. However, my EG told me to watch, that this was his favorite part. "Look what happens when you stare at them." So I looked, he stared, and the ghost started to spin, faster and faster until the two drummers had merged into one, who then turned and ran away. I looked around at my fellow travelers and saw all of them staring at the blurred images of spinning ghosts.

Unfortunately, we never reached New York City to see what had become of it because here is where I woke up. And I wish I hadn't.

song of the day - the new year

2010-01-01T01:06:35Z

Every year, or at least for the past two, DJ Earworm has made a fantastic mashup of Billboard's top 25 songs of the year. This year his song is called "The United State of Pop: Blame It On the Pop." This mashup includes songs by The Black Eyed Peas, Lady GaGa, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Pitbull, Jay Sean, Jason Mraz, Keri Hilson, T.I., Kings of Leon, Jamie Foxx, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, and more.

This is an absolutely fantastic song, the construction of which must have taken hours. It sounds amazing. Please check out Blame It On the Pop.

Have a wonderful New Year's celebration!

pachy @ 2009-12-26T12:13:00

2009-12-26T17:13:14Z

So, yesterday. Spent the night at my mom's house, a.k.a across the street. In the morning we took our usual spots - me on the floor by the dining room table, her in her corner table - and opened our presents. The only surprises in any of the presents are the ones that came from Carmen, but even those weren't much of a surprise because she always gets me underwear and socks. But what kind? is the question. And I can always use new socks. Oh, and she gave me a bottle of wine. Must be a regift. Mom got me the complete Ally McBeal on DVD, which is awesome and which is what I am currently doing with my Saturday. Also received: my Kylie poster nice and framed, tickets for Promises, Promises and A Little Night Music, Super Mario Brothers for the Wii, gift cards for Barnes & Noble and Fairway (food!), the awesome Harry's of London boots that I wanted turned out to be too big so we're getting a smaller pair, and two pocket-size umbrellas - one blue and one brown for any outfit.

I set mom up with The Blind Side, The Hurt Locker, and Invictus. She loved The Blind Side, of course. Then I went over to Dad's and got the movies from my list: Up, Harry Potter, Star Trek, 17 Again (Zac Efron!!!), and The Sound of Music. The latter is necessary for The Sound of Music Drinking Game. He gave me $150 towards the Rosetta Stone language program. I wanna learn German. His awesome off-list gift is The Book of Genesis Illustrated. The entire Book of Genesis in graphic novel form! Can't wait to get into that one. We watched Up and then we had our usual Christmas Chinese food dinner, although earlier than usual.

I came home and then proceeded to rock out to Z100's Top 100 of 2009 while playing Super Mario Bros. and drinking the Christmas wine. The Shoshana and Aleksy came over to play Mario Party. At one point Katie came home and that's about all I remember. I woke up in shorts, not what I remember wearing last night. Apparently at one point I walked out of Katie's room and said "These pants suck!", took them off, and stayed in my underwear for 45 minutes. Kinda glad I don't remember that.

My head hurts and I want Subway. KATIE!!

song of the day - countdown to christmas, it's here!

2009-12-25T22:52:43Z

Merry Christmas everyone!

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified, more upbeat lyrics, which has become more common than the original. This song has been performed by many artists, including jazz singer Rosemary Clooney. This a very beautiful, although slightly sad, version which has still become my favorite Christmas song.

Please enjoy "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and have a wonderful day!

song of the day - countdown to christmas, 1

2009-12-25T04:07:12Z

Band Aid was a charity supergroup featuring British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. It contained many popular artists of the time including Bono, Freddie Mercury, Simon Le Bon, George Michael, Sting, David Bowie, George Michael, Paul McCartney, and many more.

"Do They Know It's Christmas?"

merry swiftmas! the video!

2009-12-24T18:49:50Z

song of the day - countdown to christmas, 2

2009-12-24T15:27:26Z

In 1966, the Broadway musical Mame opened on Broadway starring the legendary Angela Lansbury. Written by Jerry Herman, the musical's score includes such the famous songs "Mame," "Bosom Buddies," and the now classic holiday song "We Need A Little Christmas."

Herman also wrote the scores for the famous musicals Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles. In addition to her portrayal of Auntie Mame, Lansbury is known for such roles Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Rose in Gypsy, as Jessica Fletcher in the TV series "Murder, She Wrote," and roles in The Manchurian Candidate, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Beauty and the Beast and many more in over seven decades in show business.

Have a happy holiday and take a listen to Angela Lansbury's original version of "We Need A Little Christmas".

Here is also a clip from the 1974 movie adaptation starring Lucille Ball:

song of the day

2009-12-23T13:05:03Z

In 2006, English DJ Paul Oakenfold teamed up with the late actress Brittany Murphy for the hot dance track, "Faster Kill Pussycat." It's a great song and Murphy's vocals are surprisingly excellent. The song reached #7 on the UK charts and #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Tracks chart.

I give you "Faster Kill Pussycat". RIP

song of the day

2009-12-22T02:58:59Z

Since I'm on an Avatar high right now, and probably will be for a few days, today's song is from the move. Sung by Leona Lewis, "I See You" is the theme song, written by James Horner, who also worked with James Cameron on Aliens and, most famously, on Titanic. In the movie, saying "I See You" is a Na'vi greeting, meaning that one can see into you, your soul. It's a very good song - not on the same level as "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic - but still quite good.

Here is "I See You", the theme from Avatar.

avatar

2009-12-22T02:34:14Z

James Cameron is a genius. There, I said it. It's out there, and I'm never taking it back. He can spend as much money as he wants on a movie as long as something as amazing as Avatar is the result. This will not be a review. There will not be spoilers. I just need to express my amazement at the near-perfection of this movie. Sure, it was quite predictable but I don't care. The visuals were absolutely astonishing and I swear I must've forgotten at some point that they weren't real. I couldn't imagine seeing it in something other than IMAX the first time. I think it would almost be an insult to the movie if you did. I walked out of the movie with Caitlin and was like, "this is all we got?" Also, really loved seeing Joel Moore in something other than Bones (which he is also great in). Just look at that movie! Technical masterpiece!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

gah

2009-12-19T20:31:22Z

And then Merlin had to go and ruin my perfect day of satisfying television.

dollhouse

2009-12-19T16:28:47Z

Yesssss! That episode of Dollhouse in the attic was the best yet! And that ending...wow!

EDIT: AND now Sanctuary! Why is it all so good?!

panic attack!

2009-12-18T23:30:33Z

This is a pretty awesome short film, apparently made for only $300. See if you can spot the homage to Battleship Potemkin.

song of the day

2009-12-18T04:44:45Z

Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter; she was one of the leading country vocalists and songwriters during the 1960s and is revered as a country music legend. With an impoverished upbringing, a troubled yet devoted marriage, chronic illness and exhaustion due to her hectic pace, and several tragedies through the years, Lynn's own life often provided the grist for her popular tunes.

In 2004, Lynn made a comeback with the highly successful album Van Lear Rose, the second album on which Lynn either wrote or co-wrote every song. The album was produced by Jack White of The White Stripes, and featured guitar work and backup vocals by White. Her collaboration with White allowed Lynn to reach new audiences and generations, even garnering high praise in magazines that specialize in mainstream and alternative rock music. Van Lear Rose was one of the best reviewed albums of the 2004 and the decade.

Here is the lead single of Lynn's fantastic album, Van Lear Rose: "Portland, Oregon"

Here is the music video, featuring Jack White:

movie award season

2009-12-17T20:45:41Z

So the Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations both came out this week and I'm not going to go too deep into analysis at all. I must say, though, that I am extremely excited to see Sandra Bullock in both for The Blind Side. I thought she was absolutely fantastic in that and I sometimes find myself using her little catchphrase of "well, alright then."

I've already seen Precious, The Blind Side, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Up in the Air, The Hangover, The Proposal, Duplicity, Up, Coraline, and Where the Wild Things Are. I plan on seeing Avatar with theficklegirl on Saturday, Invictus and Sherlock Holmes with my dad next week, as well as Nine with Shoshana. I also have 500 Days of Summer, The Hurt Locker, Princess and the Frog, and Inglorious Basterds on hand to watch as well. So I think I'll be making a big dent in the list of things I haven't seen soon. I really really also want to see A Single Man.

I just realized that the Golden Globes are on January 17, the same night as Lady GaGa. Damn! I guess something's getting taped and I think we know which one that is.

doctor who on the weakest link!

2009-12-17T05:12:12Z

part 1 of 6.

song of the day

2009-12-17T04:55:35Z

Definitely a day to pick a song from Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós as the song of the day. And so I'm certainly going to pick one from my favorite album, ( ), but which one? I'm actually going to stray from what usually would have been my favorite track and choose "Untitled 3" as today's choice. It is one of the two songs from ( ) that is entirely instrumental and, therefore, feature none of Sigur Rós' signature Volenska (Hopelandic) language. Nevertheless, the sweeping crescendo of the song fronted by the simple, repetitive loop of the piano is very haunting.

Please take a listen to "Untitled 3" by Sigur Rós.

Here is a fan made video I found that is very beautiful. Warning: tear-jerker alert.

as was the day

2009-12-17T01:05:11Z

Today I spent most of the morning listening and downloading Sigur Ros songs, including some of the first album, Von, and the B-sides. Around noon I headed out for some Christmas shopping and got my dad a nice sweater from Zara. I also managed to NOT anything for myself, so big accomplishment there.

Next I went to see Up in the Air which was extremely good and definitely lived up to what every one had been saying about it. Though, as it turns out, there was absolutely no need that for me to have read the book before hand. Sometimes when movies get adapted from books there is some annoying alteration or a poor interpretation of the theme. In this case, however, the movie and novel have basically nothing in common save character names and the protagonist's job. The plot was different, ending different, and the message was way different. While watching the movie I never got the sense of hurtling towards some unhappy and/or some disastrous ending that I got while reading. Up in the Air also portrays Ryan Bingham as a much more likable lead than Kirn does in his book. All that aside - the movie was fantastic!

Time to watch the results show of the somewhat anti-climactic So You Think You Can Dance. I much preferred the final 4 to the final 6 - whoever has a final 6?! Also, I liked that with the final 4, everyone danced with everyone, so the girls would dance together and so would the guys. Throughout the history of the series, those dances had the tendency to be the absolute highlights of each season. I think they screwed up with this season. Especially getting rid of the rotating judges, eliminating some of the dance introductions, adding way too many new choreographers, and </i>way underusing</i> Mia Michaels. I think I saw her only once or twice outside of auditions/Vegas week! Rectify this Nigel Lythgoe and FOX!

song of the day

2009-12-16T04:56:10Z

Agnes is a Swedish pop singer and winner of the second series of Swedish Idol in 2005. Her third release, Dance Love Pop is her first international release outside her native Sweden and is due out in the U.S. some time in 2010. The lead single, "Release Me, has proven to be a top ten hit throughout Europe over the past year. The empowering chorus and heavy beats of a great dance tune are there, as well as the surprising and fantastic addition of strings.

Check out "Release Me" by Agnes.

Leap Year

2009-12-16T00:08:50Z

Today I had the opportunity to see a free sneak preview of Leap Year at the Universal Screening Room. Thank you Screening Exchange!

In Leap Year Amy Adams strs as Anna who travels all the way to Dublin, Ireland to propose to her boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) on February 29, leap day. According to Irish legend a man who is proposed to on a leap day must accept. Midflight a horrible storm forces the plane to divert to Cardiff. Additional problems, including airport and ferry terminal closures, and Anna is stranded in Dingle, Ireland (a place used, I'm sure, solely for the humor in its name) on the other side of the country from Dublin. She enlists the help of Declan (Matthew Goode), a reluctant inn-keeper, to make the journey to Dublin in time for leap day.

The first time I saw Matthew Goode he was escorting/chasing some self-important American woman across Europe. It seems that in Leap Year we have come full circle. Unfortunately for him, Amy Adams has less charm here than Mandy Moore did in Chasing Liberty and only slightly more than Louis, the Vuitton suitcase she totes across Ireland with her. Her doe-eyed innocence worked wonders for her in Enchanted. It doesn't work here, especially when combined with the stereotypical portrayal of Americans as uptight and pretentious when compared to Europeans. For his part, Matthew Goode is extremely enchanting as the inn owner who had been jilted in the past. The storyline is cute, if quite predictable, and numerous comedic pratfalls and incidents stretch Anna and Declan's journey to three days, keep them in close quarters, introduce colourful locals, and drive them towards each other.

Shot on location in Ireland, the landscape and cinematography is stunning. The most beautiful shots are the ones that are most unexpected, such as when Anna and Declan are waiting for a train and then the camera shifts position and we see them staring at a tall hill topped with the ruins of a beautiful castle. The interior shots are quaint and cozy, a stark contrast from what we're shown in Anna's hometown of Boston.

Leap Year is a fun movie, speckled with funny as well as touching moments and well worth a $6, pre-noon showing in NYC or a Netflix rental upon the DVD release.

Leap Year will be released on January 10, 2010.

song of the day

2009-12-15T04:08:52Z

First heard on Flo Rida's #1 hit, "Right Round," Ke$ha is now making an impression of her own on the music charts. Her first single, "Tik Tok," is currently sitting high at #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Her songwriting process is rooted in her life experiences, making using of straightforward lyrics and is greatly influenced by country music and their storytelling structure. She has expressed frustration at the double standard for lyrics and objectification of women in songs. A few days ago four new songs of hers hit the nets, proving that she should be more than just a one-hit wonder.

Please check out "Kiss N Tell" by Ke$ha off her debut CD, Animal.

eyemuffs!

2009-12-13T20:25:32Z

This weekend was sufficiently entertaining, especially last night. theficklegirl, Lily, her boyfriend Joe, and Cara came over and with redfairie19 we had dinner and some drinks. During this time we watched March of the Penguins on mute and proceeded to narrate the movie in our own way. The baby penguins were tres cute and we each decided that we want one. Like any other animal documentary, they had to sneak some dead animals or animals being killed onto the screen. Needless to say, none of us was very happy about the frozen baby penguin or the albatross attack, but no one as much as Katie. Having seen the movie before, Lily decided that a good way to warn Katie to look away would be to yell "EYEMUFFS!" right before a shot of dead babies. That would cue Katie to cover her eyes. It was a wonderful time.

We then moved on to George Keeley's to see our favorite bartender, Lindsey and proceeded to get quite drunk and eat free popcorn. We played Mad Libs on Katie's iPhone which was a fantastic idea on my part, if I do say so myself. The evening took a little bit of a sour turn when Lily and Joe got into a very silly fight beginning when Lily spilled a pint on Joe's pants. I didn't even notice that Joe had left - thank you very much Lindsey and her heavy hand.

The entire point of this evening was to get drunk and then go pick out a Christmas tree/Hannukah bush, which is what we did at this point. We piled into two cabs and headed back to the apartment and the tree stand on 97th and Columbus. Katie and Lily were determined not to repeat the accidental mistake of buying a tree 10 blocks from home. The Christmas tree guy ripped us off, as he said would happen, because we were in no state to negotiate and we ended up with a tree a couple of feet shorter than that of last year. Here is where the fun began. I wanted to carry the tree but Lily insisted that the one-year tradition dictated that she carry the tree. She ended up lying on the ground, arms wrapped around my leg while I tried to drag her towards the apartment. After I freed myself, she chased me and the tree around the corner, stole it then proceeded to try and whack and trip with it. During this laugh riot, Katie's high heels some how ended up hanging from the plastic netting covering the tree.

We finally got home and put up the tree and started to decorate the bulbs Katie and I had bought at Michael's earlier in the day. We wrote our names and our friends names and other stuff on them with glitter glue, an item which Katie was very insistent upon. At one point during the decorating, Lily (who had been texting with Joe) informed us that he was downstairs and would wait there until she was done. After some ensuing ridiculous, I marched downstairs in shorts and no shoes and dragged him inside. I had to run my feet under the bathtub faucet afterwards because I couldn't find them. Caitlin slept over and then the night ended a-okay.

Woke up at 10 this morning, extremely proud of myself. The three of us watched Gordon Ramsey and Anthony Bourdain while eating Subway, and then watched Torchwood. It is now time to chillax before Hannukah, night #3.

I leave you with these, a series of pictures from 20 of the worlds most beautiful libraries.

My favorite is probably Jay Walker's private library:

song of the day - weekend edition

2009-12-13T19:55:24Z

It's double up day! Two songs this Sunday. Que exciting!

Our selections today come from two very different artists who made waves on either side of the pond in 2009. Both were heavy favorites on a television talent show and both finished as the runner-up. Adam Lambert and Susan Boyle brought the houses down on American Idol and Britain's Got Talent respectively with performances such as "Mad World" and "I Dreamed A Dream" (also respectively). Each released their debut albums on November 23 with Boyle making a smashing debut with over 700,000 copies sold and the #1 spot on the charts, while Lambert entered with a very respectable 198,000 at #3.

The first song is brought to us by Adam and was written by another of 2009's breakthrough artists, Lady GaGa. Here is "Fever".

Susan Boyle's song was originally recorded by The Monkees in 1967, and it is this version and a 1979 cover by Anne Murray that are most famous. Boyle's cover will no doubt be among these standouts. Here is "Daydream Believer"

song of the day

2009-12-11T22:58:35Z

So, there's this commercial that I've seen a few times for the new Palm Pixi. I think the song used for it is amazing and apparently I'm big into electronica recently because this one is too. The sad thing is that I didn't know the name of the song and by the end of the show I'm watching I would always forget to Google it. However, yesterday, while watching Bones with Katie the commercial came up and I had her Shazam it with her iPhone and lo! I now know the name of the song and then proceeded to acquire it.

Here is Sleepy Head by Passion Pit.

The music video is pretty cool too: