Most Embarrassing Christmas Gift

Quite a few years ago my father introduced me to what would prove to be the most entertaining Christmas tool ever created. It is called Elf Yourself. It started out as a small site powered by JibJab and Office Max, it's main purpose was, and still is, to find horrible pictures of your friends and family, crop them to fit on an elf's body, and watch them dance while laughing hysterically. Since then, the site has grown a great deal and now includes not one, but several dances to choose from! You can also have up to four backup dancers (which means you can socially scar up to 5 people at one time). And, best of all, you can buy a mug imprinted with their face so they can forever remember that absolutely wonderful picture that you obtained.

Tutorial time! For those of you who have a hard time following simple instructions, I will walk you through the process of "elfing" yourself, or more likely someone else. I will be using a picture that my dear friend so graciously gave me permission to edit with the promise of one excellent Christmas present, and I will stay true to my word.

First, you will need to navigate to Elf Yourself, which I have obviously provided the link for. Time to get started! Rotate, zoom, and nip & tuck your picture until it fits perfectly within the lines:

Excellent.

Moving on to the next step. Now you can make more elves, clone your current elf, or continue. This time I'm just going to continue on to the dancing stage. Choose the dance that you want performed...

I chose Disco.

And now, simply sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. Oh, and try not to wet yourself laughing:

As you've probably noticed, I decided that a group of dancing clones would be a lot more spectacular than one single elf. My favorite dances include the Charleston, 80's, and, of course, the Orginal.

If this wasn't good enough for you, there is another site that will never fail to impress me. For those of you who are not satisfied with the picture you were planning on using, there is a way to edit it, a very seamless way, I might add. Capable of giving any picture, or person, an upgrade at any time: InStyle Makeover. This tool is pretty self explanatory/I don't feel like explaining how to use it, so knock yourself out. Fortunately for this elf, I think that this picture and video combo is fantastic as is, so I'm not going to mess around with the whole makeover thing.

So there you have it. Make videos, memories, and possibly enemies with this wonderful, and embarrassing, tool.

Adult Swim

Cartoon Network is a scary channel at night. Well actually, Cartoon Network is a bit scary during the daytime too. As anyone who has ever seen any show on this channel will probably tell you, these are the strangest shows that have ever been aired/viewed. Upon watching Courage the Cowardly Dog and Powerpuff Girls when I was younger, I didn't notice anything odd. Now, on the rare occasions that I do see my favorite childhood shows, I do notice the oddness. Generally Courage the Cowardly Dog is just a weird show. Every episode is just as strange as the next, and sometimes even scary, but I have already done an entire rant on this show so I will now move on the Powerpuff Girls. This seemingly innocent show is actually anything but: have you seen the villains? Mojo Jojo for example is a criminally insane monkey with his brain hanging out of his head.

 And what about my personal favorite; Him? This villain's gender is still under question despite what the name implies, if you don't believe me just watch this:



Despite my criticism I still love the Powerpuff Girls and all of their ridiculous foes, especially Him.

Now I shall move on to Adult Swim. Adult Swim is what Cartoon Network morphs into in the evening, which is to say that the shows are equally as "unique," but include strong adult themes, hence the name. I rarely stay up late enough to watch any of these shows, but on the off chance that I do happen across one of them, I know that I am in for a show that will never be forgotten. With shows entitled "Robot Chicken" and "Assy McGee" you will receive a pretty blatant warning as to what you are in for, but then again maybe not.

About a week ago, while I was hastily finishing up one of my blog posts, I received a text from my sister which read something along the lines of: "watch adult swim right now." Being an experienced Swimmer, I knew right away that I was going to be shocked and disturbed by what was about to pop up on my computer screen, and I was right. The show that I witnessed was called "The Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! Chrimbus Special."

Just be glad I didn't include a video clip with this one.

The best show I have ever been introduced to on Adult Swim is called "Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law." Actually, my sister is the one who introduced me to this wonderful show. Unfortunately, it is almost never aired on Cartoon Network anymore. Sad, I know. Here is a preview of the wonder that is Harvery Birdman:

What did I tell you? Excellent, right? Well that is the end of my rant. I guess what i'm trying to say is "Beware of Cartoon Network." But, if you are brave, curious, bored, or all three, you should take the time to explore the water, so to speak.

Kids Say The Darndest Things

Over the summer my family obtained Netflix. We all automatically became obsessed with watching hundreds of movies per week, sometimes per day. While scoring the films in the Instant Queue, my sister (the oldest one, as in the not crazy one) came across an interesting Indie Dramedy entitled "Me and You and Everyone We Know." The movie commences with a strange artist creating an odd monotone poetic commentary for her artistic works. The rest of the movie is equally odd, including the best scene ever created in all of filmmaking history. I simply call it the "Back and Forth" scene:



As you may have noticed the whole "Back and Forth" story is continued in this video. The whole thing is a little hard to understand out of context, but it is super hilarious if you have seen the movie. The "icing on the cake," or whatever you would like to call it is unfortunately left out in this video, so I shall tell you. SPOILER ALERT! The lady sitting on the bench happens to be a very influential, and very harsh, art show coordinator. The main character tries, without success, to have her art shown in her display. Small World eh? Hence the title "Me and You and Everyone We Know." So anyway, at the end of this whole "Back and Forth" sequence, the banner to this women's art show is shown to reveal none other than, you guessed it, ))<>((. You'd have to watch the video above to understand exactly what significance ))<>(( has.

Top 3 Christmas Songs

Since I have absolutely no other ideas at the moment, I suppose I'll just do a short rant on Christmas music. Some people love it, some people hate it. I happen to love it. The old stuff, at least. I hate the new pop and hip-hop remixes of originals - gross. I love Hippopotamus and White Chrustmas - you name it. But my personal favorites rank as following:

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time - Paul McCartney

Note: while browsing for a decent replacement music video on YouTube I found a Demi Lovato version of it. I cannot describe the revulsion and disappointment I am feeling right now.

Step Into Christmas - Elton John

Elton John is just so amazing.

Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses

Excellence.

I apologize for the lack of original music videos, but believe it or not there aren't any out there, and live is just unexceptable. So there you are. I hope you enjoy my suggestions and share in my hatred for covers of originals.

Sequel Equals Reekuel

Why are sequels so horrible? I honestly don't understand. More so I don't understand why sequels even exist. I mean why does it matter what happens after Shrek marries Fiona? Who cares? Why is it necessary to continue to portray the thousands of possible alternate realities. I just don't understand. I actually somewhat enjoyed the second movie, it was interesting incorporating Fiona's parents, Prince Charming, Puss in Boots, and human Shrek into the movie, though it seemed like a completely different series. Come the third movie I was sorely disappointed. And as for the fourth movie? I refuse to even watch it. I mean in an alternate reality where Shrek doesn't marry Fiona she would STILL BE A PRINCESS! Not an ugly ogre superhero, or whatever she was supposed to be. I mean she had plenty of men interested in her: the King, Prince Charming, I mean surely one of them would've broken the curse. I mean what has this once great Pixar comedy come to? Resorting to sequels, please!

Unfortunately, Shrek is not the only series guilty of sequels. Take for example Air Bud. That dog lost popularity in the 90's. Come on. Just end it. And The Princess movies? What are you trying to prove?! Are you trying to make everyone hate you by destroying classics? Well guess what? It worked. In Cinderella 2 an ugly stepsister finds happiness and a mate. NO. She doesn't deserve happiness because she is too mean and ugly. In the second Little Mermaid movie Ariel has a twelve-year-old daughter. NO. Ariel is what, 16 in the first movie? I don't see much difference in her appearance in the second movie. Also, her daughter is super annoying. I don't think Ariel would have such an annoying daughter:

Again, no.

Now as usual my point does have another side. Think Harry Potter. I think most people would agree that the first movie is not the best movie. The reason for this? The series is based off of books. Each book builds on the previous so that the series as a whole only makes sense after reading every single book. You don't have to watch the fourth Shrek movie to know that it is stupid and pointless.

But what about other good sequels not based on books? You may ask. Well, I think that Toy Story is pretty darn good. But think about the time period between the second and third movie: years. The creators of the movie were planning on making sequels right from the start, they didn't just decide to make one last movie spur of the moment. The movie was meant to go on. It was meant to apply to the generation of kids who loved the first movie and who will love the third movie.

The one thing that really just kills me is when they change actors. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Oh our audience is too unobservant to notice the complete reconstruction of one of the main characters. Uh, no. We will notice. And we will hate it. You can't just replace Macauly Culkin, he makes the movie! What was the point of the sequels? I know I've never seen them. So what was the point of wasting money to make them? Another movie: The Mummy. How can you replace Rachel Weisz? She's a main character. Why even make the movie without her? Everyone will know and everyone will hate it. The result of replacing an amazing actress: a horrible hokey sequel. Truth is, Rachel Weisz refused to participate in the 3rd Mummy movie because the script was so badly written:

The same source that broke that original info to us contacted me tonight to update us on why Weisz left. Our source says, “the script is still in the same shape that it was the last time I told you about, meaning that its still crap and Weisz finally took the high road out of there.” It sounds like even if they do manage to get other key cast members to participate, it won’t matter. It will take a miracle to make The Mummy 3 good. (cinemablend.com)

So yeah. Sequels are horrible unless they are planned before the first movie. I honestly don't know why they exist. I mean, they can't bring in as much profit as the original. I guess I will just never understand what really goes on in the film industry.

Someone Please Explain to Me What is Even Happening!

What do music videos do for the song they are created for? Some have seemingly no relation to the lyrics or even the style of the song, yet those tend to be the more interesting videos to watch. Accoring to Wikipedia, music videos are used primarily as a marketing device. But how do body builders going up against drag queens make the song anymore popular? I mean sure it's interesting, but WHAT?! Here's what I mean:



Now does this video seem to fit this song? I think not. That being said, I do still love the song itself and I find the music video fairly amusing.

Another interesting video i've come across while browsing Youtube for music is the song Evil by Interpol. This video features a strange human-like puppet suffering from trauma after a car crash:



Odd right? Well somehow it works with the song, even though it is quite creepy.
This last video is one that my sister showed me, which actually fits the song pretty well, though, again it's a little on the creepy side:



So those pretty much prove my point that music videos, or at least the ones associated with the music that I listen to, have nothing to do with the actual song itself. And then, of course, there are the popular music that plays on the radio.

If you've seen any other MTV or Disney channel music videos, you will notice that the majority of them actually somewhat follow along with the meaning of the lyrics and tell a story. Granted, I am making a few generalizations but you know what I mean.
I personally prefer the unrelated music videos, the strangeness of them makes the already awesome song that much more interesting. As I have said before, my favorite music style is indie. As the music itself is very individual, it would make sense that the videos would be too. So, as my parting, I will share with you what is quite possibly the most confusing/amazing song/music video combo ever created, try not to wet yourself:

What's All This Craze About Harry Potter 7?

Yes. I have seen Harry Potter 7. It was excellent. I was one of the millions of people who flocked to the theater to see the beginning of the end of Harry Potter. The saga is almost complete. The story is getting progressively sadder and more realistic as the trio of wizards face the horrors of hiding out in the real world, always worrying about the family and friends that they left behind. Death is in the air and Harry and his friends know that it's coming for them next. And cut. Cliff hanger! The new Harry Potter does not fail to impress me. I have heard a lot of people say that the newer Harry Potter movies have been lacking, and though I disagree, I think that everyone can agree that this was one of the best, if not the best installment of the Harry Potter movies. I'm not saying it's my favorite, as my favorite will forever remain Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was definitely way different than any Harry Potter yet. When reading the books it is hard to imagine a world outside of Hogwarts, but I think that this movie did an excellent job of portraying the settings and making them match the tense and depressing mood without having much to go on. We, the viewers, are finally forced to stop thinking of Harry, Hermione, and Ron as adults rather than children, which isn't hard as Harry is often topless. The only downside I see to it is Voldemort. And this has actually been a problem since the 4th movie when he first appeared in his human-ish form. He just isn't intimidating! What's worse is seeing him actually makes me laugh. That's just not right. He's just so strange! The way he says things, his mannerisms, it's just all wrong. I could say the same about the "new" Dumbledore, but those who have seen the newest movies know why that would be an irrelevant concern. Despite Voldemort and his quirks, the movie is great and everyone should see it. But only after watching all of the other movies! Here's the trailer (for both parts): Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Beginning of the End, or is it End of the End?

I finally finished the Lost saga, though I finished with a heavy heart. I suspect that there are very intense feelings about the season finale, some good and others not so good. The series ended like every episode ended, in a confusing cliff-hanger that leaves the viewer wanting more. Though I found the ending quite satisfying, I noticed that a lot of questions were left unanswered, which is a good reason not to like the ending. I have done a little research to see what other people thing. Here is the preface for the Los Angeles Times article on the topic:

If "Lost" guaranteed anything with its terrifically moving but mythology-deprived series finale, it's that the show will go on, as fans spend the summer re-watching and analyzing what "The End" offered and what, others argue, it failed to deliver.
The finale episode drew a respectable 13.5 million viewers, but by not attracting the huge finale audiences of other classic TV shows, the ABC series cemented itself as a cult phenomenon.

One major problem contributing to the mixed feelings over the ending is the masses of people that were interested in this show. Everyone is different. And since the show left a lot of wiggle room for the viewer to decide what they wanted to happen, when the end actually came and they did or didn't see what they wanted to see, the debate began. It is no surprise that people were put off when the show had to be explained out of context, but then another argument comes up, if everything was explained during the show, would that make it better or would it ruin the general effect? I believe the first. The show was great as is and the ending left the viewer thinking. I know it took a while to sink in after I saw it. I found myself day dreaming during school about what could've, would've, or, in my opinion, should've happened. I think this is a necessary quality for a truly good show. It should make the audience think. There are too many mindless reality TV show nowadays. Like I said before, originality is good. Lost, however, is like a jigsaw puzzle. You need each episode to understand everything. Miss one and the final picture is incomplete. Unfortunately, I missed several from the first season so that probably adds to my confusion.

I have another review coming up and I would first like to say, besides the fact that this is from someone who really hated the ending, there are detailed descriptions of exactly what happens in The End. So here goes:

Those who spent the better part of the last six seasons wondering where in the heck the sometimes frustrating, almost always entertaining mystery could possibly go finally got their answer. If they can make sense of it, that is.

In the end, the electromagnetically charged mystery island gave way to a hug-filled waiting room leading to a pan-spiritual afterlife, led by the aptly named Christian Shephard. Whew!

It’s a daring way to end “Lost” — leaving plenty of questions unanswered and winking out on what has to be its least satisfying twist to date.

At least no one can say they saw that coming.

Again, this is only an excerpt from the whole story, but you get the point. When browsing through the articles having to do with the Lost finale, I hardly found any articles praising the writers for their work on the ending, but I did found one which is necessary to show all sides of the story:

Thrillingly, cleverly, and in a manner that tapped into the simple, profound truths of great American works like Our Town, the show spelled out for viewers what it has been saying all along. Lost is about life and death, faith and science, spirit and flesh, and has always stressed that the title refers to the characters' souls, not their location.

So there you have it. All opinions on the end are adressed. Almost. Close enough. Now all that's left is for you to watch the show and form your own opinion about the ending and then post it in my comments. Happy losting!

Total Life Forever

I was recently introduce to an amazing new British Indie Rock band called Foals by my sister. From the moment I heard their first song my mind was instantly and officially blown. It's funky, it's fresh, it's fantastic! Here's a sample of their best song, in my opinion: Total Life Forever. Moving away from Foals and into the broader topic of Indie music in general, some of you may ask: What is Indie music exactly? Well, as provided by Wikipedia, the definiton is: In popular music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie," is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels and and outonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing. Hmmm, and I always though indie was shord for Indian. Despite my ignorance to the origin of the name of this musical style, I have grown to love it. It is hard to explain what the sound is like. Some might call it trippy, others mellow. I call it amazing. One distinctive feature is the simple guitar riff, which is what I like most about this style. That paired with very talented musicians. In our world today there is a popular belief that anyone can sing. While it is true that anyone can sing, this does not mean that everyone can sing well. Take for example Disney channel. Now i'm not saying that all of them are bad at singing, but it should not be necessary to use that much technology on someone's voice. Especially when that person is famous soley for that purpose. It's like cheating. That's another thing that's good about indie music; originality. My biggest fear is that indie music will become a new fad to use and abuse, like so many other good styles before it. Part of it's authenticity is it's secrecy. When discussing music with my friends, or anyone for that matter, I often find that they have no idea who I am talking about when I mention Interpol or The Delgados, or sometimes even Stars. Of course there are some pretty well known indie bands such as Radiohead, but I still rarely ever find someone else who shares my love for indie. Though indie could be beneficial to society by restoring some of the originality that used to be necessary to become famous, but has as of late become a minor requirement, I am glad that this style remains shrouded behind the curtain of popular musical genres.

The Grudge!

One of my favorite horror movies of all time is The Grudge. I love Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Jason Behr (Roswell), though neither of them gave their best performance in this movie, but hey, it's a horror movie. No one does their best work in horror movies. The one thing that annoys me about horror movies is how stupid the characters are. I know that they're scared, but that doesn't mean they can't be smart and at least run away. That's why I like Red Eye and The Uninvited so much, the characters are brave and they think fast. But I guess the star of this movie is that Japanese ghost known as The Grudge. She dwells in a tiny old house and haunts whoever enters her territory for the rest of their lives, which end soon after, no doubt. I suppose Karen (Gellar) had to be pretty crafty to survive that long, though. I mean she was able to escape every time, and at the ending, which I promise I will not reveal to you, she was pretty dang brave to be able to do that. I really don't know why I like that movie, as i'm still scared of it. But then again I am very paranoid. The actress that played the Grudge had very terrifying make-up, and tactics, appearing at random moments out of nowhere. But, she is at least restricted to her own house, in Japan. Which is why i hate the second and third movie so much. New characters, and no restrictions. Meaning no distinguishable plot. A killing fest is not a plot, sorry. I really don't like that the curse spreads past the house. And I really don't like the characters. On a slightly related note, the new Nancy Drew game is coming out in two days. How is this related? Well tha game pretty much follows the idea of The Grudge, that there is a vengeful Japanese woman haunting the main female character. Here is the trailer is you don't believe me that there is a resemblance to The Grudge: Nancy Drew: Shadow At The Waters Edge. I just hope this game isn't as scary as the movie, I won't be sleeping that night then. But seeing as Nancy Drew is meant for 10-year-olds, i think I will be alright. The plot of the movie is pretty good. It presents you with something completely out of the ordinary, and explains it in more detail as the movie goes on, which I really like. I hate not knowing why there are creatures and where they came from in horror movies. It makes them that much scarier.

And now, I realize that I never provided that Halloween playlist and movie suggestions like I said I will, and since I won't be on for a while I figured i'd just give you the whole playlist:

1. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
2. Dare - Gorillaz
3. Devil Inside - Utada Hikaru
4. Dirty Harry - Bootie Brown/Gorillaz
5. Feel Good Inc. - De La Soul/Gorillaz
6. The Ghost Inside - Broken Bells
7. The Ghost of Genova Heights - Stars
8. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk
9. If U Can't Dance - Spice Girls
10. Land of a Million Drums - Outkast
11. Making Out - No Doubt
12. Monster Hospital - Metric
13. O Green World - Gorillaz
14. Phenomena - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
15. Plastic Beach - Gorillaz
16. Smiley Faces - Gnarls Barkley
17. Spoon - Cibo Matto
18. Thriller - Michael Jackson
19. Toxic - Britney Spears
20. Toy Boy - Stuck In the Sound

Enjoy!

Guess Who

Gillian Owens. Satine. Grace Stewart. Joanna Eberhart. Lady Sarah Ashley. What do all of these women have in common? Besides the fact that they are all fictional, they are also the same person. Nicole Kidman. She is definitely my favorite actress by far. Almost every movie that I have seen with her in it has been excellent, with the exception of Margot at the Wedding, which was good, I just didn't like it. She is very vesatile, ranging from flashy temptress in Moulin Rouge, to independent tomboy in Stepford Wives, and everything in between. Along with all of that she is a very good role model. She's not one of those celebrities that you hear about getting a DUI every week or offending everyone by one arrogant comment. Moulin Rouge has got to be one of my favorite movies, it has a good plot, a good cast, and good music. Everything a good movie should have. On top of that, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor were actually singing, no lip syncing necessary, as if I didn't idolize them anyway. Practical Magic is also one of my favorite movies. In this Kidman plays the rebellious red-headed sister of Sally Owens, aka Sandra Bullock. She plays the part well, sucessfully being both iognorant and lovable, a difficult feat. In the Others she plays a completely opposite role, taking on the persona of a very overbearing mother living in France and taking care of her two photosensitive children while her husband is off at war. Since her children are allergic to light, the setting is very dark and spooky within their old victorian house. In Stepford Wives, she easily adopts the strong minded feminist attitute of Joanna Eberhart, and then the contrasting hypnotized version of herself later in the movie. One of her most notable performances was in Australia, though. It's hard to keep an audience interested during a 3 hour long movie, but her and Hugh Jackman do it well. And that's all I have to say about Nicole Kidman, at least until she appears in another great movie.

Based off a Book by...

You've probably all seen the Twilight movies, am I correct? Well I bet most of you have read the books too. I know I have. Don't expect this to be a post of me gushing about how great Twilight is, it's not. I started reading the first Twilight book the summer of seventh grade right after my sisters had finished it (this was back before it was super populer). I loved it, of course, and quickly continued on through the whole series. When I got to Eclipse, right after it came out, was when I started to notice how annoyingly popular the books had become, but I wasn't going to let it get to me just yet. It was when Breaking Dawn came out that I put my foot down. First of all, the plot of the book was ridiculous. (Do NOT CONTINUE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK) Bella finally becoming a vampire wasn't nearly as satisfying as I thought it would be. The story lost it's thrill. Also, the obsession with Twilight had become unbearbly annoying so I just stopped reading. I realize now that those books weren't actually al that great. Don't get me wrong, Twilight will always be one of my favorite books, but the plot is just simple. A silly teenaged girl developes feelings for a 100 year ole vampire. What more is there to say about it? My growing hatred for the series was only fueled when the movie came out. When I first heard that there was going to be a movie, several years before, I was extremely excited. My sister had printed out the cast list that Stephanie Meyer originally wanted. And then I saw who would really play Bella and Edward. And let's just say my excitement was no more. Kristen Stewart just isn't right. She's too awkward but yet not clumsy enough. And as for Robert Pattinson, I loved him in the fourht Harry Potter, but I just don't see him as being a gorgeous immortal vampire. And Jacob is not supposed to be better liked by the public than Edward, but somehow that has happened. The movies, have at least, gotten better. The acting doesn't make the audience feel as awkward as it did in Twilight. To close, I will let you see my ideal Edward and Bella:

Psycho Killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?

Tonight I watched the first episode of the show Dexter. After a few suggestions to watch it, I finally gave in. My sister forced it upon me. I'm not quite sure if I like it or not, I mean, I like crime shows and all but this one is really gruesome. But yet it didn't really phase me, and it is mystery so that pretty much guarantees that I will like it a little. Well, not always. If the mystery is easily solved or badly set up I won't enjoy it as much. But this show is good. The main actor is really great at being both a sociopath and a caring boyfriend at the same time. I guess that has something to do with the fact that he really is a good man, if you can imagine a good murderer. So I commend the actor on being able to portray that role so well. There is a lot of swearing, but being in high school I am used to it, though my mother was a bit offended, as usual. As for continuing on with the show, I don't know if I will or not. My priority is to finish Lost, and then if I have the time or desire to I will start watching Dexter after that, though I am considering going through the Buffy The Vampire Slayer series for the fourth time. It might be nice to change it up.

Netflix

This summer my parents decided that we needed Netflix. I had no opinion on the company until I started using it. It opened up a whole new world for me - a world of laziness. Instead of taking the time, energy, and money to go out and rent a movie, I could now instantly watch movies with the click of a mouse. I realize I probably sound just like the TV adds right now. One of the few downsides of Netflix is that not every movie can be watched instantly, meaning that you have to wait a couple of weeks for it to be sent by mail, which can be a real pain when your dad adds the whole series of Twin Peaks to the list. I finally got Red Eye today, meaning the Cat Returns is next! Yipee! Quick side note, I don't remember if I already explained the plot of that movie and why it sounds so awesome, but I might as well say it again. The movie is about a little girl, voiced by Anne Hathaway, who rescues a cat, that turns out to be the King of Cats, who steals to girl away to take her as his wife. So she has to have her other cat friends rescue her. It may sound ridiculous to you, but it sounds amazing to me. Did I mention that it is by the same director as the Japanese film Spirited Away? Anyway back to the topic of Netflix. Though there are a lot of movies on Netflix Instant, a lot of them are less than good. The titles and ratings can be deceiving, I suggest you don't add anything below three stars. Somehow I added what looked like a good old-fashioned werewolf movie but what I got instead was nudity, hallucinogens, and confusion. Point being, it was awkward and insane. My other point being, you won't always get what you expect on Netflix Instant. Unless you are very curious I would stick to the movies suggested to you or with well known titles. Or you could always add Pee Wee's Big Adventure. That's always a good option. I can't rightly criticize all Instant movies though, I have seen some pretty good ones. Take for example: You, Me, and Everyone We Know; Pandorum; Let The Right One In; and Labryinth. Another redeeming quality of Instant is that they switch up the movies every month or so, which was actually quite unfortunate in my case, I got all excited about to watch Lost: Season 3 when to my dismay, it was only on Instant Queue until October 1st. Long story short my mom ended up going out and renting it at the closest movie rental establishment. I was that important for us to watch it right then and there. Though I love Netflix and all of their odd and rare foreign movies, I still am grateful to movie rental stores. They provide a quick solution to a movie not being in the Instant Queue, though they don't always have what I want and there is a limit to how long you can rent a movie. I'm still a bit disappointed that they didn't have the Cat Returns or Breakfast on Pluto, but those are strange movies so I'll let it slide. Now that my dad's movies have finally stopped coming in and mine have started, I can be a better judge of the quality of Netflix's sent movies. I'm sure I will be pleased as always.

Halloweentown

If when you read the title of this post you thought of the Disney Channel movies Halloweentown, you would be correct. I am going to talk about Disney Channel movies, Halloween centered ones in particular. So I love Halloweentown and almost all other Halloween movies created by Disney, even though they, like a lot of other things that I like, have horrible acting and plots and such. Again, I don't care. They remind me of my childhood and make me even more excited for Halloween. Though it did really bother me that they randomly changed the main character in Halloweentown 4, I was able to look past this ridiculous mistake because I just love Halloweentown so much. I love Twitches. I love Mom's Got a Date With a Vampire, though that is partially because Aunt Hilda from Sabrina the Teenaged Witch is the mother, Mr. Sheffield from the Nanny is the Vampire, and Craig from Degrassi is the little brother's best friend. Anyway my point is that a movie doesn't have to be good for someone to like it, I don't like these movies because they have stupid plots and bad special effects, but because they make me happy and reminescent. I've watched the same movies every October of every year, and I never get tired of them. One movie that I have only seen once but that I loved the first and only time that I saw it is Now You See It, the one about the magician competition. I want to see it again! Now I suppose I need to redeem myself by talking about other Halloween movies, the ones meant for adults that is. Practical Magic. One of my favorite movies of all time. Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Stockard Channing, is there a better cast than that? I saw it for the first time last summer and it instantly became one of my favorite movies. It has a good plot, seemingly a family movie but I would not recommend showing this to your children until they are in middle school. The plot is just pretty much that Kidman and Bullock and their aunts and all other female ancestors are witches. That's pretty much all I can tell you, just watch the movie for yourself.

Because this is the month of Halloween, I thought it would be a good idea to recommend a Halloween movie or song for every post. So there you go, Practical Magic and all of the Disney Channel movies. That's more like 20 movies, but whatever. I'll just call it a good start.

Mystery Mania

So I spent my whole Sunday watching a Scooby-doo marathon and it got me to ponder how much Scooby-doo has changed, and how much it has stayed the same. To tell the truth I have no idea whether or not I have actually ever seen an origianl episode. I feel like I have at some point in my childhood, but definitely not recently. How exactly do you tell them apart? Is it the theme? Did they have the original theme in some of the newer ones? I could easily answer these questions with a little research but i'm too lazy. I have mixed feelings on the new episodes. Obviously since I can't tell the difference with the early recreations, I like those. In general I like What's New Scooby-Doo? Which is one of the continuations. They have the same personalities, similar voices, and identical features. The only aspect of the new show that I am very opposed to is the time. It is supposed to take place in the 70's and they are supposed to be in high school. I appreciate that they are trying to modernize the show without changing it too much, I feel like their popular 70's fashion was part of the appeal to the show, as was their Mystery Machine and their youth. The phrase "I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids" doesn't apply so much to adults. Moving on to the movies, as they follow the the What's New Scooby-Doo? series. I don't think I rememer enough of the movies to make a solid statement. With the exception of Scooby-Doo and the Witche's Ghost, I haven't really enjoyed the movies all that much. I saw Scooby-Doo and the Samurai's Sword today and I hated it. The fact that Daphne would be invited to an international martial arts competition in Japan is completely ridiculous. She's not supposed to be that good, it's just supposed to be a little hobby on the side because she is tired of being the damsel in distress. Abracadabra-Doo was the other movie that was on today and that one was infinitely better, but it still wasn't amazingly good. I don't know what it is about Scooby-Doo and the Curse of the Witch's Ghost, but I just love it. It's good. The music by the Hex Girls is actually alright and the plot is interesting. Anyway on the topic of the Hex Girls, the first episode of Mystery Inc. that I saw featured them. They were being sabotaged and Daphne had to disguise herself as one of them to protect Fang (the lead singer). She sang a new song, Trap of Love, which is actually pretty good I think! Mystery Inc. has the opposite flaws as What's New Scooby-Doo? The appearence and personalities of the 'gang' was altered a little too much for my tastes, but their clothing and era went back to the original. As for the plots of these episodes, some of them can be pretty ridiculous and a little too modern, but other than that I feel like it sticks more to the original mysteries. On the topic of mysteries, the demo for Shadow at the Waters Edge (the new Nancy Drew Game) finally came out! I played it and I approve. Though the beginning is a little slow, most are and I have faith that it will pick up and become infinitely more interesting. The setting is gorgeous and culturally correct as well as creepy. Very Grudge-esque if you ask me! The characters have very distinctive personalities which is always more fun than four bland motive-less culprits. As I was playing along, I noticed a possible reference to the Ring. Nancy is supposedly teaching 7-8 year old Japanese children how to speak English and you, as Nancy, must grade their homework. One of the girls names is Sakura. Slightly similar to the name of the little girl in The Ring, Samara. Also in the desriptive profile of Sakura it explained that she is obsessed with wells and she tends to make cryptic and dark comments and often has to be redirected. Coincidence? I think not. I really hope that this turns out to be a really scary super mystery. That ghost thing, or Yurei, better pop out several times! Several times as in every five seconds. And there better be plenty of secret passages and spying on the characters and snooping through their stuff to find out what they are hiding. The fact that I still don't know how two of the characters' mother suddenly died in a horrible way having to do with the ghost is very very promising. I hope whoever is reading this takes my advice and attempts to play a Nancy Drew game instead of just calling me a nerd and never reading my blog again. After all, the demos are free. I mean who doesn't love a good mystery? That is the only kind of plot I am still never able to fully predict, which is great because movies have gotten just a tad too predictable for me lately. I think it's the fact that I watch a lot of movies and so I know what to expect rather than the plot, but it's nice to admit that I am completely clueless as to what is going to happen at the start of every Nancy Drew game, or mystery book, or Psychological Thriller movie. I hope I will never have the misfortune of being able to predict the outcome of a mystery. And with that I will end this post. Happy Sleuthing everyone!

Cause It's the Thriller!

So seeing as it is almost Homecoming and Halloween is coming up pretty quickly now too, I decided to do a post dedicated to the dance and music video Thriller. First off I would like to say: Why do we not have music videos like that anymore?! What is wrong with the world today? I don't care if it's cheesy and the animation is horruible, that's partly what makes it so amazing! I'm sick and tired of all of these crude and nasty music videos today, I mean really, be more original. Follow Michael Jackson's lead, in music and videos that is! The 80's in general just had amazingly awesome music and videos to go along with them. I don't care how tacky their clothing was or how there is too much keyboard in the music, it's just great. That's pretty much the best I can sum it up as. Back to Thriller. Here's the original video: Thriller. Also, why is Michael Jackson such an amazing dancer? How is that humanly possible? It's just not fair. Speaking of his dancing skills, I happened to come across a series of videos on Youtube about how to do the Thriller dance. I watched them all and I approve. I can now successfully, for the most part, do the whole Thriller dance. And now you can too! If you have patience... Thriller Dance here ya go :) now go off and learn it so you can impress EVERYONE. Or not. Just imagine: everyone standing in a circle around you as you dance to Thriller immaculately. They cheer and watch you with jealous eyes. Actually probably not. In reality they wouldn't care and most likely you would freeze up in fear, but hey, it's still a fun dance to learn. Just make sure some of your friends know it too so you're not the only one stuck doing it. I also found a video on how to moonwalk, but i'm gonna keep that little trick to myself. Also i'm lazy and you could probably easily find it yourself. Anyway have fun "Thrilling the World" with you're newly discovered mad dance moves!

Scary Movies

I am a huge wimp. I get scared so easily. It's pathetic. Shaun of the Dead, a zombie parody, scared me. With that being said, I truly don't understand what it is that scares me so much. Horror movies generally tend to be really ridiculous, and the really good ones just mess with your head. Last summer I had a brief period of horror invincibility. I'm not quite sure what did it, I think it depends on who I am with. I had a horror movie marathon with a different advocate over the summer who does not scare as easily and I think that caused me to relax a bit, that and she threatened to punch me if I screamed. I tried to be the same kind of leader as her when I watch horror movies with other friends now but I just can't seem to keep up my courageous facade! I desperately need some more training. At one point I was able to succesfully watch The Grudge, The Ring 2, and Paranormal Activity consecutively without being phased. And then I fell asleep, no nightmares included! It was amazing, but I did slightly miss the thrill of being scared, I just wish it didn't result in my imagination exaggerating the events and scaring me more. My breaking point was being forced to watch I Am Legend on a bus full of high-schoolers. I hate that movie and always will. The sad part is that it isn't even a horror movie! Anyway the mutated humans just scare me to death, and with that I had an epiphany: mutated humans/cannibals are my biggest fear! Carnivorous animals don't bother me, and regular cannibals don't bother me, but when it comes to mutants and creatures you can count on me to scream myself hoarse. So yeah, I Am Legend, Quarantine, and other movies of that sort are sure to scare me. Quartantine is probably the scariest movie that I have ever seen. I categorize zombies as mutated humans so that makes sense, I suppose. Anyway there is a ton of gore and suspense and tension, and the worst part is that the zombie disease is airborne. It's a mutated form of Rabies, how gross is that? Rabid humans eating other humans all trapped in a small apartment complex with a little dog named Martini. In a completely different direction I find it amusing how people tend to care more about the survival of the victims pets in movies rather than the victim themself. I admit to doing this, I have a soft spot for animals seeing as I own a dog. I am always more upset when a dog gets hurt than when a human does. That is why I refuse to watch Paranormal Activity 2. I was planning on watching it in theaters until I heard that there was a dog. Then I immediately decided that I would never watch it. Something bad always happens to the dog or cat first. It's horrible. So in yet another direction I will close up this blog with some advice when watching horror movies: try to refrain from screaming, it scares everyone in the room. Think about how stupid the main character is for just standing in the middle of a haunted cornfield rather then screaming at them to move their butt! Do not watch a movie in the dark, alone, in a cold basement. You are setting yourself up for nightmares. And finally don't dwell on what happened in the movie! Even if it is "based" off a true story it is almost completely fabricated. Don't let your imagination let you think that it is more than it is. Take this advice and you can be the one yelling at people to shut up rather than the one being yelled at.

Stupid Music

Have you ever noticed how music tends to associate itself with a time or feeling in your life? Well I have and let me tell you, it is very annoying. If the time it was associated with was very good, I feel like I need to preserve that by rarely listening to that song. Also I get jealous of how things were for me then. And then there's the obvious association; sad songs with a sad time in your life. It's just not fair! Perfectly good music has been spoiled for me by emotions! Some of my favorite songs from last year have become taboo. Thank Jesus for new music!

Super Sleuth

I love Nancy Drew PC games. Go ahead and say it, we all know it's true. I'm a nerd. I enjoy playing computer games meant for 10 year olds. But I am not ashamed. These games let you take on the alias of Nancy Drew and snoop around and solve mysteries, the whole works. Now granted these aren't your average whodoneit murder mystery plots, but hey a little originality is good for you. The earlier games closely followed the Nancy Drew book series but the latest ones only loosely follow several different plots, which is why I think they have been lacking lately. I'm not saying that they're bad now, just that they have not been improving much. The plot has been softened to fit the younger crowd and the overly concerned parents of those children. I respect that Her Interactive, the company that makes these games, actually takes the time to listen and attempt to meet all of the needs and wants of the consumers but you can't please everyone and trying to do so results in a product that is less than it should be. Now there is a new game coming out this October and I am really really hoping that it will be on par with the older games, with updated graphics of course, I don't think anyone want's a repeat of those horrible 2D graphics. So the plot for this game sounds a lot like a mix of The Grudge and Ghost Hunters and I am very very excited to try it out. It sounds like it has a lot of potential, mostly because they have finally decided to stop trying to please everyone and have gone with a ghost theme despite those opposed to the mention of ghosts and those too scared to play it. Now i'm not one to judge, but if you don't like the plot then obviously don't play it. Oh, and also please don't be selfish by tailoring the game to fit just your needs and then be stubborn when someone else suggests something else. I am so tired of reading the appalled comments about this game that hasn't even come out yet. I mean really, save it. Who cares? That's the way it is. Too scary? Don't play it. Against your values? Don't play it. Sounds stupid? Don't play it! That may sound mean but just stop spoiling it for everyone else by being a sourpuss. Anyway I found this website dedicated entirely to the new game: Shadow At The Water's Edge. It's a bit reminiscent of my favorite game, Message in a Haunted Mansion. I have already recruited many of my friends to these execellent mystery games and I hope that you will risk your reputation for the enjoyment of sleuthing. I shall keep you updated on the progress of this new game and I will most definitely review it once I buy it. Peace!

Modest Mouse

So I have really been wanting to listen to some songs off the CD "Good News For People Who Love Bad News" by Modest Mouse lately. My sister forced me to listen to them a while back and, not surprisingly, I loved them. As always when I asked if I could borrow the CD to speedily upload it to the computer, she said no, leaving me craving the music until finally it becomes too much and I find myself spending tons of money buying music that I could easily get for free from my sister. So now, since so far this blog has had absolutely no point, I shall give you a link to the three best songs from the CD: Bury Me With It, The View, and of course the ever popular, with good reason, Float On. So take a listen and tell me what you think! Despite this influx of a measley two songs I have grown bored of my current music. Finally getting those songs off of iTunes would definitely help, but any new music suggestions at all would be great, after all how can I write a blog about my experiences with new music without the new music?
Anyway here are some of my boring old songs for you to take a guess at:

1. Love, love, is a verb, love is a doing word. Feathers on my breath.
2. I'm on fire and now I think i'm ready to bust a move, check it out i'm rockin' steady.
3. And you said, it was like fire burning around the brim, burning solid, burning thin, the burning rim.
4. I got my head checked by a jumbo jet. It wasn't easy but nothing is.
5. Rosemary, heaven restores you in life. You're coming with me through the aging, the fearing, the strife.

The Cowardly Dog Named Courage

Seeing as all of my earlier posts have been bashing on modern entertainment, I decided it was time I finally complimented it. I love the show Courage the Cowardly Dog, hence the profile picture. There are no neutral feelings about that show, you either love it or hate it. I happen to love it. It's about an elderly couple living in an old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere with a little pink dog named Courage. In every episode something strange and absurd happens and it's up to Courage to protect the oblivious Muriel from the impending doom that always seems to follow her and her husband Eustace around. I think the reason that I love this show is because it has been on air since I was little and I used to watch it all the time. Also, it is just so ridiculous. I say ridiculous because it is a somewhat neutral word; some may think that it is ridiculous and pointless and makes no sense, and others will say that it's ridiculous and hilarious and excellent. Now i'm not saying that I love every episode, because I don't. Some tend to be disturbing and a little too scary for a show targeted at children. I know that some of the episodes used to terrify me as a child. The remaining episodes are funny. Again, there is no in-between. I enjoy the humorous episodes more, obviously. Needless to say I am glad that Cartoon Network decided to play this show on TV again.

Degrassi Gone Bad

When I was in middle school I used to watch Degrassi: The Next Generation pretty much every night. It was definitely one of my favorite, if not my favorite, shows. It focused on the lives of several high school students and featured episodes on real issues such as internet dating, cutting, and homosexuality. The characters all started out in middle school (at Degrassi; it is a junior high school and high school combined in Canada) and were followed through their first year of college. The series started out with minor events featuring the headstrong Emma. The issues were mostly dealing with the characters getting a Saturday School, or getting in trouble with the principle for over-the-line protesting. As the characters grew up, their problems did too. It became more exciting as Craig faces mental illness, Liberty finds out that she's pregnant, and Manny considers getting plastic surgery. As you can probably already tell by what i've explained this show was not meant for middle-schoolers anymore. To sum it all up, it was a pretty great show. Recently, however, it has been majorly lacking. The character's that I knew and loved have grown up and have been forgotten. They have been replaced by superficial, two dimensional characters, who just don't grow on you. The problems have escalated to ridiculous heights with sex and drugs in every episode, not to mention the repeat of problems the original cast had. I can't stand to watch what has become of my favorite show. It disgusts me. Yet I still watch it. "Why?" you may ask, well I guess I still have some hope that the show will turn around and match what it once was, but I highly doubt that. One thing that I have come to realize is that all shows tend to lose their appeal after a while, like rotten fruit or moldy bread. Is it that the audience gets bored with the show? Or is it that the writers draw a blank? Maybe it's both. But then again, I would be wrong in saying that all shows lose their popularity. I mean, think of how long Family Guy and The Simpsons have been running. It must be that TV shows with random plots that aren't related from episode to episode are popular for a lot longer because there isn't a set plot to stick to. Anyway, what i'm trying to say is that Degrassi needs to just lay down the script and discontinue the show because it is just not what it used to be.

A "Lost" Battle

Recently I have been very obsessed with the show Lost, as a lot of people are with good reason. It has an interesting and upbeat plot, complex characters, and endless surprises. I would have to say it is probably one of my favorite shows now, though nothing could ever beat out Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but that's a different story. Anyway I digress. The reason for the title of this particular blog stems from the fact that I am very stubborn and very different, or at least I try to be different. Lost, being the popular series that it is, sounded very unappealing to me when I was first told to watch it, for that very reason. I don't like popular music or TV shows, movies are a different story, if they're popular it's usually for a good reason. Anyway I don't like mainstream media because it is mainstream and though a lot of people just enjoy it as it is I feel like a lot of other people only pretend to like it so they can fit in with the majority. I may be wrong but how else can I explain the mass attraction to the horrible so-called music on the radio today? I mean the songs are so simple and petty, repetitive choruses, superficial lyrics, bad singing. I just don't see the appeal of this music at all. Again I digress. Back to my main point. So I didn't want to watch Lost because I didn't want to conform, but then my parents started watching it and being as it was summer and I had nothing better to do, I started watching it too. At first I fought it and refused to watch it with them, but then they started watching the second season a few weeks ago and I, against my better judgement, got completely sucked in. Now I am an enthusiastic enthuisist, so to speak. I watch as many episodes as I can rationally squeeze into one night. My only regret is that I did not watch the whole first season so now I am completely confused by some of the causes of events happening now. So there you have it, I have conformed to Lost and I am finally ok with it.

 

And now I shall move on to the premier of the iPod game! I'll put my iPod on shuffle, list the lyrics to the first three songs, and then you will, hopefully, try and guess what song it is and what artist it is by:

1. Nothing is lost, only a memory; A glitch in my heart until you come back to me.
2. Everyone is, everyone is broken. Everything is, everything is broken. Why can't you forget?
3. She found a lonely salve, she keeps on waiting for time out there. Oh love, can you love me babe? Love, is this loving babe? Is time turning around?

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Modern Rap versus 20th Century Rap

Before I start I would like to say that the title of this post can be misleading. I don't by any means consider myself a rap fan but I am very opinionated about this certain subject. I hate modern rap. I seriously hate it. I think it is one of the most pointless genres of music, if you could even categorize it as such. All it consists of is reciting vulgar lyrics in a swift monotone with a bass booming obnoxiously in the background. I'm not completely opposed to rap, though. In fact I like it in certain situations. One of my favorite songs is American Boy by Estelle and Kanye. The rap isn't too long and there is some actual music in the background. Another kind of rap that I don't mind is older rap, which brings me to my point. Rap in the 80's and 90's was so much better. There was funky background rhythms and the rap wasn't so monotone. Take the theme to Fresh Prince of Bel Air for example, the lyrics are indearing and Will Smith's tone of voice shifts to match those lyrics. Another example would be Me Myself and I by De La Soul. Notice the super funky music in the background. So much better. Also the lyrics are not completely disgusting and crude. So that's the end of my little rave.

Welcome to Midge's World!

So I know what you're probably thinking, who is this Midge person and why should I read this blog? Well I guess you'll just have to decide for yourself who I am and what i'm all about now won't you? For the time being this blog will be about music, and movies, and TV, oh my! My ultimate goal for this year is to accumulate as much new (and good) music as possible! The same goes for movies. I tend to be very picky when it comes to music. I like rock, alternative, indie, and a very very small amount of hip hop and techno and such. So if you have any suggestions at all that would be greatly appreciated. One thing I hope to do about once a week is have a little game up for you guys, or guy depending on how many people decide to follow. The game is called guess the song! I'll put up lyrics from five different songs and the point is for you to guess which song that is. Sound fun? I sure hope so!