This made me laugh...

...it's funny, though I'm not sure it would work as a full length film it made for a cute trailer. Take a gander at everyone's favourite: the original Karate Kid.

Random Link of the Day

http://i.imgur.com/Spt9L.gif

Is it wrong for kids to swear?

It always surprises me when I realize that I really am a lot more of a prude than I think I am. There's something both hilarious and unsettling about young children using swear words and this video made me cringe for exactly that reason. Though very funny, it begs the question of what type of influence these kids' parents are having on them.

Alternately am I putting too much importance on words? We're constantly trying to reclaim words which have been deemed offensive as they encompass negative emotion towards women, homosexuals, or a specific race or belief system. Am I falling into the same trap by caring whether these girls swear or not?

Little asian PC girl vs. MAC parody - watch more funny videos

Proof that I am a petty child...

That is all.

They finally made my life into a movie...

...and it features someone who has to be introduced as starring in the Travelling Pants movies.

So sad.

At any rate, it got me thinking: if your life was a movie, which would it be? If I'm being honest my life is actually this film:


Followed closely chronologically by Office Space:


And I'm really hoping that the triumvirate is completed with the Princess Bride:

...but that's just because I'm optimistic and would like an excuse to sit in bed all day while a grandfather figure reads me bedtime stories and I pretend I'm six and don't have bills to pay.

So what movie (or movies) would your life be?

Star Trek: the next review

I saw this a couple weeks ago with some friends and wanted to weigh in since I’m pretty sure there is at least one person who will read this (other than me) and I like to be there for them. I care.

As action films go I think it was successful in doing what it set out to do (i.e. revamp a popular franchise in order to considerably expand its fan base). The film is fun and fast paced, never dragging and not overloaded with countless exchanges of unintelligible diatribe (you know like the last half of that sentence). I do believe that the gigantic collection of knowledge which surrounds the Trek universe—essentially that any question one might need answered in order to properly develop one’s characters has already been answered—benefits the production in that they were then able to concentrate on picking and choosing which aspects of the story they wanted to explore.

If there’s already a fully formed world, you don’t have to spend so much time creating it.

The other nice part about starting at the beginning of the story is that it allows you to retell it and shape the characters in the process. In the case of the film, it allows the actors to avoid having to try and mimic the original series (at least not TOO closely). Certainly there’s a little “wink wink, nudge nudge” going on between the director and the audience when a character speaks their famous lines, “damn it man I’m a doctor, not a physicist!” But by in large the actors were allowed to create their own versions of each character and it works to the film’s advantage (this is of course excluding Zachary Quinto’s Spock, who is more or less a spot on rendition of the classic Leonard Nemoy).

I cannot speak for serious fans of the original series (who I believe would probably have more than a few notes for Abrams; a self professed anti-fan of the series). But as someone who is quite familiar with the Trek universe, I enjoyed it. Like the Batman films, this work because the series is being rebuilt from the ground up as an entirely new entity. Because it’s not trying to improve, merely examine from another angle. That seems to be the key to revamping a series without angering its fan base.

Unless it is Keira Knightley’s Pride and Prejudice.

That revamp, had no hope...just a lot of buying power.

However, it's not all rosy in the new land of Trek because JJ Abrams (and I do enjoy his work) has made the worst rookie mistake (or the dumbest directorial decision) in history. LENS FLARES!!!! The set is so shiny (specifically that of the bridge) that whenever the actors move around the additional light catches the camera and flares in the lens. Now it's been minimized as much as possible I'm sure but it is the most annoying thing about the film. By the end (read climactic scenes in which all the hardcore resolution is meant to be happening) I was busy counting lens flares!

Just try and ignore them: I dare you.

Case in point: are we in vegas or on a starship? And where did Spock's ear go?

-Siobhan

P.S. Just because I love all things random and the fact that Star Trek fans will pretty much buy anything: http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/05/star-trek-knit.html

On the radio...

...this morning on my way to work, I heard the startling news that a man tried to rob a convenience store using a beer carton as a mask. Why you may ask? Didn't he have access to a pair of nylons or even the ever popular ski mask?

Not so much.

In a shocking turn of events this mastermind in fact left the carton behind as he was fleeing the scene. I imagine the police will be dusting it for prints but anyone this clever clearly left the carton as a calling card and wouldn't be stupid enough leave prints. He's been dubbed the Beer Box Bandit (alliteration: 6 points) by the media and the story has rapidly become international news.

I love it.

A day of ridiculous news stories...

This series of articles are too good not to share so please sit back and enjoy a few stories which have been deemed "Ridiculous enough to re-post":


Street Racer: the Legend of Reverend Jo (TheStar.com)

Defend your country: expense your porn. (Charleston Daily Mail)

This falls under "duh" for today... (Reuters.com)

What a smooth criminal (PennLive.com)

The title of the article was too perfect...PANTS ON FIRE (MSNBC.com)

Forget Fear Factor...these people PAY to eat testicles... (CBCNews.com)


-Enjoy!

Aerial viewing: adult artistry

A friend pointed this out to me and I thought it was hilarious...

Take a look!

Ripping the Fashion Rags

I have recently realized that I very much enjoy ripping on fashion magazines (particularly the free of charge variety that are piled neatly in the racks that line the walls of bus stops and subway stations). Now it could be my underdeveloped sense of style or the fact that most "off the rack" clothing doesn't exactly accentuate my virtues (read: fit me at all since--and this is not the bitter curvy girl rant--there are VERY few people for whom off the rack actually fits properly). Or it could be that I am bored and unenlightened and "just don't get it". Either way I LOVE to deconstruct the images and information in fashion magazines.

It has become my new time waster.

So I got my hands on a copy of the new issue of "H&M" magazine (admittedly not a feat of great skill seeing as they give them out free when you walk into the store) and inside was a picture of the above monstrosity.

Is it just me, or does this girl look like an escapee from some kind of CW reality show asylum on acid?! It's a little like ANTM decided to have a crossover event with Grey's Anatomy and they've introduced Dr. McPhyscotic. Sorry honey, that part is being quietly plodded through by Kevin McKidd. Oh god I hope they didn't hire him for his name...

...although that might explain a few things.