the journal of a fangirly insect

Dexter!

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:56:45 GMT

Oh man, just when I was thinking that this season wasn't that great, this episode knocked my socks off. :D

Dexter's "What is it with you and rape? No one's raping anyone!" had me laughing out loud for several minutes. XD It was the way he said it (kind of reminded me of Heath Ledger's Joker) and the hand flailing and Dexter's complete aversion to the idea. Hilarious.

I also really liked Dexter's interaction with his latest victim. She made him think a lot about what he values. I like watching the character grow.

Lundy and Deb got shot! :O I was shocked. I really don't like cheaters, but I love Lundy/Deb and think that they belong together.

***SPOILERS FOR NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE BELOW***

I saw two preview clips for next week's episode (they're available on the Showtime site), and I was on the edge of my seat. Dexter freaking out about his sister getting shot made me all happy inside. I need some awesome Deb/Dexter interaction, since there hasn't been a ton in this season yet.

And Lundy dies. :( The second clip says "the murder of a former FBI agent and shooting of a Miami Metro homicide detective." I am sad about this. I love his character, and I was happy that he and Deb looked to be finally getting together like they should have done two seasons ago. Sigh.

hooray Friday!

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:46:05 GMT

It is the weekend, and that means I have survived another week. Hooray!

I bought this yesterday. I may not be into Phantom right now, but I could not pass this up, especially since it was listed at $79.99 and I snagged it for $24.99 (not including tax). Plus Halloween is my favorite holiday, and one can really not have too many Halloween things.

I woke up this morning, stumbled into the bathroom, and found one of these waiting for me on the bathmat. It looked more scared of me than I was of it, and I quickly squashed him (her?) with a shampoo bottle. To give you some perspective, the spider was about an inch and a half long, including the legs. Eww.

Did I mention how happy I am that it's the weekend? ;) Only seven more weeks to go before finals!

this is quite possibly the most awesome comic ever

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:49:00 GMT

I love it when DCBS updates their site at the beginning of each month. It's like Christmas every time, sorting through all of the goodies and wondering what I'm going to order. I don't have as much money to blow on comics as I used to, but I still set aside a bit each month.

And while browsing through the specials, I found a title called "Jesus Hates Zombies." Intrigued, I clicked, and got this description:

No one knows for certain what caused it, but in only six days a zombie plague swept across the Earth, consuming three quarters of the world's population. Disgusted by the sight of the walking dead devouring His precious creation, God has sent back His only Son to once again set right the wrongs of the world. But this time, there's no room to turn the other cheek. This time, the message isn't one of love and compassion. This time, the J-Man is looking to unleash some Wrath of God, because this time Jesus hates zombies!

So I had to click on the picture, of course. And I didn't think it was possible, but it got even better.

Oh my god. With that description and that cover? I needed to have this thirty-five minutes ago. :D

my icons, let me show you them

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:03:23 GMT

I've done this before, but I've had a huge icon turnover since then, so why not. :D

MAH ICONS.

default	oldest	newest


saddest	happiest	angriest


cutest	sexiest	funniest


fave ship	fave fandom	fave animated


best quote	best textless	best stolen idea


use the most	favorite

HOW MANY ICONS DO YOU HAVE: 110
OUT OF HOW MANY AVAILABLE ICONS SPACES: 110
IF YOU COULD BUY SPACE FOR MORE, WOULD YOU: nah, that seems to be enough
DO YOUR ICONS MAKE A STATEMENT: Ummm...I like comics and Dexter?
WHAT FANDOM DO YOU HAVE THE MOST ICONS OF: Marvel Comics (if you let me count that as one fandom; otherwise, Watchmen)
AND THE SECOND MOST: Watchmen (or Deadpool, if Marvel Comics doesn't count as one fandom)
WHAT SHIP DO YOU HAVE THE MOST ICONS OF: PIETRO/WANDA FOR THE ~~MOTHER~~TWINFUCKING WIN :D :D :D
ARE YOUR ICONS MADE MOSTLY BY OTHER PEOPLE: yeah, although I have several that I made in there too
DO YOU MAKE ICONS: yep
ARE THEY ANY GOOD: not really; I just make them because I can't find ones I like of particular characters
ANIMATED ICONS ARE: shiny

DO THE MEME.
Coding can be found here

oh noes! it's the FBI TEAM!

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:26:06 GMT

Haha, I just got an email from the FBI Team!

Hello everybody,this is the F.B.I TEAM speaking!.We are deeply sorry to inconvenient you ,but we just have to do our job.We the F.B.I TEAM have discovered many people around the world being double crossed by Scammers all over the world.During a massive investigation,we came across one Mrs. Anita Powell who loosed over a $1000 trying to buy pets{Puppy} to no avail.Finally we caught the fraudster and he is under our custody .We just want to inform each and everyone who must have been a victim that we are under strict investigation and the criminals would not go unpunished.right now we have arrested 40 of them{35 from Africa}.If you know that you have once being a victim,that is if you have ever been duped trying to buy anything from somebody through the Internet{Cars,Pets,Oil,Parrots,etc..}just contact us through our E-mail address and we promise to investigate and recover your money.WE ARE AT YOUR SERVICE.
Thanks,
Director, ROBERT MUELLER.

This is probably the funniest spam email I've received all week. XD

when fandoms collide...

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:15:22 GMT

I had one of the most epic, crackstastic, crossover dreams last night. XD I guess this is what I get for reading The Welsh Girl, listening to the Eagles, squeeing over Dexter, and reading Marvel Zombies all before going to bed. Basically, Nazis were trying to covertly take over the world, and it was going to happen at an Eagles concert (which cost $1000 a ticket) when they played the song "Desperado." I was Dexter and Rita wanted to go, but I ended up sending her to go with Deb instead, for I was a Nazi in a previous life and was like a secret agent for them. But then Deadpool showed up and cut off my head, but since I was also secretly a zombie, that didn't matter, and I managed to bite him, turning him into Zombiepool. And then he crashed the Eagles concert and made everyone there zombies, including the Nazis. And then Silver Surfer showed up to herald the coming of Galactus to devour our world, but we killed him and peeled off his shiny metal skin, and beneath that was chocolate! And it was delicious chocolate.

I don't even know what to say about that one, except LOL.

Writer's Block: Top of the Charts

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:10:32 GMT

What's the most-played song in your music library?

View 2052 Answers

"The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel

No surprise, considering that is my favorite song ever. I love this version, without the drums and electric guitars.

Also, I totally want Art's hair. HAIR ENVY. I mean, my hair looks similar on some days, but usually not. And it never looks as awesome as his.

Hmm...

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 01:58:26 GMT

Okay. So if I move my bed so it's flush against the wall, get rid of the nightstand, push the armoire-turned-bookshelf about six inches to the right, and take down the Phantom of the Opera poster on the wall (which I've been meaning to do anyway), I *think* I can fit one more bookshelf in here. By god, I will do it.

Looking at Neil Gaiman's oh-my-god-look-at-those-shelves-I-just-jizzed-in-my-pants library has inspired me. No more boxes of books stacked to the ceiling because I don't have room for them! Maybe the stacks will only be waist-high now!

I wonder where the nearest IKEA-like store is...

And there was much squee to be had.

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:10:52 GMT

It's the first day of my three-and-a-half week vacation. If that wasn't awesome enough, I got a package in the mail. :D

These are issues that I really, really wanted, and yet they cost way too much for me to seriously think about buying them: Team-Up with Widdle Wade, the Encyclopedia Deadpoolica, Deadpool/Death annual 1998, Deadpool #44, Black Panther #23, New Mutants #98, Baby's First Deadpool Book (okay, I already have a copy of this, now that I think about it, but it was part of the lot), and Deadpool #66-69. All of them are in NM condition. And I got them for an average of a dollar apiece, including shipping.

*huge comic book geekgasm*

I know no one is likely to care but me, but...dude. This is incredibly awesome.

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:39:32 GMT

Maybe it's the lack of sleep, but I think this "secret" is AWESOMESAUCE. XD (You'll need to have watched True Blood to get it.)

Showtime has apparently put up the first episode of the new season of Dexter on their site. I'm not sure if I'm going to watch it now or wait until they actually start airing the shows in September. I'll probably cave, provided it's still up on the site when I decide to give in. ;)

I got about three hours of sleep total last night, so I feel like death warmed over. Blargh. I am really looking forward to vacation, which is so tantalizingly close. Three relatively stress-free weeks! It sounds like heaven, if I believed in such a place.

I should be getting my Quicksilver bust tomorrow (I got the green one instead of the blue one, since he looks more like the arrogant bastard he is in the green one, and the green one is definitely the better sculpt), and I got several comics today in the mail.

Life is pretty good. :D

Damn you Amazon!

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 06:32:14 GMT

Why is it so hard for me to quit you? Even though you package my books poorly and they end up all mangled, I still can't stay away. Sigh.

I checked my "spam" email account tonight (the email address I use to sign up for sites and the like) and saw that someone who actually seemed like a real person and not a robot replied to my latest complaint. Not only are they going to refund my account once they get the books back, but they gave me a $15 gift card. If there is one thing I cannot resist, it is the lure of free books. Even if those books will probably arrive damaged like every other book I buy from the damned site. They're still free, right?

It is 2:30 am and I cannot sleep. (Not because of Amazon...I don't know why I can't sleep.)

I've felt grumpy all day, and I don't even know why. :| Hormones? I don't know. I suppose that's as good of a guess as any.

Writer's Block: Two Truths and a Lie

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:06:43 GMT

Post two truths and a lie about yourself as an answer to Writer's Block. Have people guess which is the lie in the comments.

View 533 Answers

1) Math was almost always my favorite subject in school.

2) I believe that there must be intelligent life somewhere else in the universe besides Earth.

3) I feel short if I'm not wearing shoes with at least two inch heels, even though I'm 5'7".

So...which one's a lie? ;)

argh

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:31:02 GMT

As a book lover, this about makes me cry.

Once again, I bought a book from Amazon because it was a couple of bucks cheaper there. And, once again, they just slopped it in a box with no protection and it arrived damaged. I should have taken a picture of the first book; the entire back cover was creased down the middle, as well as about fifty pages of the book. So, they say that they'll send me a replacement. The book above is actually the replacement book. I think it's in worse shape than the first book, because at least the first book wasn't torn.

In comparison, when I buy books from In Stock Trades, they wrap the books in plastic, then put these foam things around the books so they don't get jostled in transit, and then put them in a box that fits. So I get the books looking and smelling like they just came from the distributor. Sure, it might take a week for the books to get here, but they get here in excellent condition. I get the books from Amazon in two days, but when the pages are torn and ripped and creased, why does it matter how quickly they get here? They just have to go back.

ARGH. Why do I bother ordering books from Amazon?

My life according to Def Leppard

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:59:56 GMT

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, answer these questions.You can't use the band that I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)"

Pick your Artist: Def Leppard

Are you a male or female? American Girl (cover)

Describe yourself: Lady Strange

How do you feel? Long, Long Way to Go

Describe where you currently live? High'n'Dry

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? Desert Song

Your favorite form of transportation: Rocket

Your best friend is: Let It Go

You and your best friends are: Me & My Wine

What's the weather like? Ride Into the Sun

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called? When the Walls Came Tumbling Down

What is life to you? Personal Property

Your relationship: Love Bites

Your fear: Only the Good Die Young

Thought for the Day: You Can't Always Get What You Want (cover)

How I would like to die: Rock! Rock! ('Til You Drop)

My soul's present condition: It Don't Matter

My motto: Action! Not Words

I'm noticing a trend here

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:32:13 GMT

I think that I update my journal on Thursdays to complain how tired I am. XD Well, today is no different. I'm exhausted, and I will probably be asleep by eight tonight, because I am that tired. And I have so much to do! I still need to write my fic for masked_ball, which was due a few days ago. I've started it, but alas, real life and I are not getting along right now. And answer some emails and messages and OH GOD, I AM SORRY, I'VE KIND OF DROPPED OFF THE PLANET. Tomorrow I'll catch up, I hope.

I did manage to find room to read Deadpool #12 (the newest issue), and what. This just makes me cling to my almost-complete Joe Kelly run all the harder. I love Deadpool. He is my favorite comic book character. I also have more than a touch of OCD when it comes to being a completist. And yet if Daniel Way doesn't get better in the next few issues, I'm dropping this solo. :P

Umm...nothing else to say, except sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

where did the month of June go?

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:00:30 GMT

I had two interesting dreams last night.

The first was about Taskmaster, which I guess isn't a surprise since I wrote fic about him before I went to bed. He took his girlfriend, Sandi, to see The Proposal in the theater so he might learn how to express his romantic feelings better (the dude has photographic reflexes, so he almost-instantly learns how to do things by watching others do them). And he was all pissed because Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) was in the movie. XD It was funny.

The second was about Phantom! :O I dreamed that the Phantom tour was coming to Detroit in September (which I believe to be true?) and that Thomas Schulze was the new principal Phantom. That was enough to get me to buy tickets to Detroit...haha. Even though I don't care about the musical much anymore, if I had the chance to see Thomas Schulze live, I'd still take it in a heartbeat. Mmm.

EPIC DO NOT WANT when it comes to going to work today. Bah.

meme from Beaver

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:06:46 GMT

Fandom meme: Comment and I'll find (up to) THREE FANDOMS you apparently love. And then you answer these questions about them!

01: What got you into this fandom in the first place?
02: Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
03: Favorite episodes/books/movies/etc.?
04: Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
05: Do you think that more people should get into this fandom?

CABLE & DEADPOOL

01: What got you into this fandom in the first place?
Well, I read Maus and Watchmen, and I wanted to read more awesome comics. So I asked for recommendations, and everyone said that Cable & Deadpool was awesome, so I bought the trade paperbacks on a whim and settled in to read them. I loved them to pieces. Then the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie came out, so I started looking for a fandom, because I figured that there must be others out there who loved Cable and Deadpool as I did. And then I found a couple of lj communities. :D

02: Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
I think that I'll stay in this fandom for a long time, especially since both Cable and Deadpool have their own continuing solo series now (in fact, Deadpool will have two soon!), so there's always new stuff to talk about and think about. Too bad they aren't "together" in a shared series anymore, though.

03: Favorite episodes/books/movies/etc.?
This is really hard. >:( I guess my favorite issues of the Cable & Deadpool comics are #17 (when Deadpool refuses to leave baby!Nate in Mister Sinister's clutches), #19 (when they're in the bar - plus HELLO JAILBAIT NATE), #35 (when Cable tries to teach Deadpool a lesson), #36 (when Deadpool squares off against Tasky again), and #42 (when Cable "dies" and does his whole "thank you, I'm proud of you, goodbye" spiel in his head, OMG I AM GETTING TEARY JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS ONE).

04: Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
Yes, yes I do. ;) I write fan fiction, and I lurk in discussions. But, as Lid can attest, I'm shy and quiet during most of these discussions. XD

05: Do you think that more people should get into this fandom?
YES. There can never be too many people who love Cable and/or Deadpool. Never. Although I really wish that the writers were better right now. :P I don't like Way that much, and the Messiah War crossover turned out to be pretty damned disastrous. Also, I wish that the writers would stop plunking Deadpool into EVERY COMIC EVER just because he's a hot commodity now.

----------

WATCHMEN

01: What got you into this fandom in the first place?
Well, after I read Maus, I decided to give comics a try. The Watchmen movie was about to be released and several people on my flist highly recommended the comic, so I bought the trade on Amazon. I meant to read an issue a day. I ended up reading the whole thing in less than a day. XD Then I went to see the movie, which made me want to read the comic again, which made me want to see the movie again...it was a vicious cycle. As soon as I watched the movie the first time, I looked for the fandom spots on lj and found several. A monster was created. ;)

02: Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
Oh, I think that Watchmen will always have a special place in my fandom heart because it was my first major fandom after Phantom. I was disillusioned with Phantom (and its fandom in particular), and I didn't think that I would ever love anything like I had once loved Phantom. Watchmen proved this to be wrong. That said, the fandom isn't nearly as active as it once was, and I am not writing much for it anymore (no ideas).

03: Favorite episodes/books/movies/etc.?
Ummm...haha. I'll go with my favorite scenes in the comic, I think: Ozy's shit-eating grin when he reveals that his Great Plan, Dan not being sure who Rorschach is in jail at first, Rorschach scribbling in his journal on a rooftop, Rorschach's last entry in his journal, the dream-like quality to Jon talking about his past while on Mars...

04: Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
Not as much as I used to, but I've written fan fiction for Watchmen.

05: Do you think that more people should get into this fandom?
Umm, I don't know. On the one hand, it was fun playing in the fandom when there were a lot of people in it. But now it seems that people have moved on to the Next Shiny Thing (whatever that is...Transformers? I don't know.), so the fandom's a lot smaller than it was. At least I can read my flist now - when the movie first came out, I was getting pages and pages on my flist in like an hour. It was insane!

----------

THE X FILES

01: What got you into this fandom in the first place?
I used to watch it, way back when it was on Fox on Sunday nights. XD I think the creepy music is what drew me in the first time, but the stories made me stay. I was a big Tales from the Crypt fangirl at this moment in time, and the show reminded me of that a bit. Plus I loved the "monster of the week" format that used to be in the early seasons. Fandom, though? Didn't know it had one until I met inlaterdays. I didn't really stick around in the fandom for long, though.

02: Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
I don't participate in the fandom now. I love The X Files and always will (even though I lost all interest once the "HUGE MYTH ARC OF DOOM AND EPICNESS" started coming into play), but the fandom is really full of a lot of drama. Or at least it seems like that to me. And since I'm a low-key person who shuns drama whenever I can, I'm not involved in the fandom.

03: Favorite episodes/books/movies/etc.?
This is actually easy! My favorite three episodes are: "In the Field Where I Died" (when Mulder runs into a girl in a cult who claims to have known him in a past life), "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" (where we learn about the possible past of C.G.B. Spender and how he became the Cigarette Smoking Man), and "Triangle" (Bermuda Triangle episode, and CSM is a Nazi XD). I see a pattern here - past lives and CSM. XD

04: Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
I used to participate in the episode watching and discussion groups, but not anymore. I've never written fan fiction for The X Files.

05: Do you think that more people should get into this fandom?
Meh, I don't really care since I don't have any urge to play in this particular sandbox. It is an awesome show, though, and always deserves appreciation and love. :)

[If you want to play, be sure to tell me that you want to in the comment - otherwise I may forget to give you fandom(s). XD]

I finally saw the Star Trek movie

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:00:21 GMT

I know, I'm like the last person in the United States, or at least on LJ, to see the movie. :P My verdict? It is the best movie I've seen in a lonnnnnng time. It had just about anything I could want in it. I loved it, and I haven't laughed that much in a theater since I saw the second Austin Powers movie. And I really like how they handled the material by making it an alternate universe thing.

Also, SPOCK. I love him. Love love love love him. Still waters run deep and all that stuff.

But, that said, I have no urge at all to participate in the fandom or write fic or see the Star Trek TV series or...anything. That is so weird. D: (I am, however, going to buy this on DVD as soon as it comes out, because this movie was great.)

Voice Post

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:15:54 GMT

LID IS MAKING UP LIES

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:05:36 GMT

Okay, so I may not have really said this - but the first half is true, and I wish the second half was. XD

a proper(ish) review of Phantom

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:14:33 GMT

Phantom of the Opera
June 19, 2009
Charlotte, NC

46th time seeing the show! I'm getting old. XD

Cast
Phantom - Tim Martin Gleason
Christine - Kelly Jeanne Grant (alt...ish) [note at the bottom]
Raoul - Sean MacLaughlin
Andre - DC Anderson
Firmin - Michael McCoy (drat, I missed seeing Bruce Winant again by less than two weeks!)
Carlotta - Tonna Miller (I think Kim Stengel is on vacation)
Mme Giry - Nancy Hess
Piangi - John Whitney
Meg - Jessi Ehrlich

Random note: I hate, hate, hate downtown Charlotte. Practically every street I wanted to take was closed and had no marked detour, so I was all turned around and almost late. :P

AUCTION
LOL Stephen Trafton with a mustache. Also, why do people laugh when they bring out the monkey? I don't think it looks funny...maybe a little creepy.

OVERTURE
Since I was sitting in the first row, it went right over my head. This was cool. I've never been that close to the chandelier. Still, Vegas' chandelier has spoiled me rotten.

HANNIBAL/ETC
Okay, whoever is playing the Slavemaster is hilarious. XD He kept learing at this one ballet girl, and she was making the most epic DO NOT WANT face ever. I laughed. I guess Kim is on vacation (hooray!) so I got to see a new Carlotta - Tonna Miller. She is the most adorable little Carlotta I've ever seen. Seriously. I never think of Carlotta as being adorable, but Tonna is so tiny and has these huge blue eyes. Anyway, she had a gorgeous voice and her acting was really fresh. The only problem was that she had a hard time projecting her voice loud enough to be heard over the other people. Andrew Valera is Lefevre now...I don't know how I like him in that role. He had his moments. Buquet is now played by Justine Lee Miller, who in spite of being BUQUET, is very very cute. I shouldn't think Buquet is cute. XD DC is a total Carlotta fanboy as always, but really amped it up with Tonna. Tonna was practically molesting him over in the corner while singing ToM - she was rubbing the fur of his coat and she WINKED at him. Did I mention that I love her Carlotta already? Because I totally do. Michael McCoy as Firmin...meh. He's better than when I've seen him in the past, but he's overly grumpy and his sideburns look like they're living creatures. :| REYER = LOVE. Thomas Schumacher was my first Reyer ten years ago (is it odd that I remember this?) and still one of my favorites. Oh, and I looked up who played the princess now, because she is cute as a button and emotive and I'd love to see her play Christine someday, and Juliette and Stephen got married! Aww, that's seriously adorable. ♥ Now I want to see Juliette as Christine and Stephen as Raoul at the same time...

THINK OF ME
Ehhhh... Kelly's voice is pretty good, but her acting was way flat for a while. And then she switched into high gear in the second act and looked like she was about to tear everyone's throat out for the rest of the show, so...I don't know which I preferred. Sean is very, very cute. His features are really severe, so he tends to look like he's scowling until he smiles. But when he smiles - woah, watch out. XD He was very enthusiastic in the box...I always like that.

BACKSTAGE
Okay, already mentioned it, but Thomas' Reyer = LOVE. Other than that, not much to add. Kelly had the 0_0 face going for all of this, no change in expression at all. Jessi hit some really sour notes...eep. I felt bad for her.

LITTLE LOTTE
Sean is definitely different from most Raouls I've seen, although I can't really explain how. It's just his delivery. Which I like, because seriously, once you've seen the show as much as I have, things start running together. Also, he was giving her some "hey baby" looks. XD It made his Raoul look like a total perv, which I don't think was intentional...or maybe it was! Who knows! All I know is, he was looking kind of like a playboy up there, haha. And when they hugged, he turned his face towards her, and it was "almost smooch" central. I've never seen that before; I like it.

THE MIRROR
And, finally, Tim shows up. Pretty good entrance here, and he has a very forceful voice. Kelly still had her 0_0 face, although it looked mostly appropriate here.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Holy dry ice, Batman! I kept getting practically pummeled in the face with it; I don't know how the conductor stands it, because my eyes were so dry after this. Umm, anyway. Tim has a very commanding stage presence; you know when he steps onto the travelator for the first time. He also did this hot little "yes!" when Kelly started singing for him. Hello there. Also, I don't know if he does this on purpose, but he leaves noooo room for doubt that his boat pole is a metaphor for something, if you know what I mean. XD And hooray, his hat didn't bounce off the candles like it did the time I saw him on Broadway.

MUSIC OF THE NIGHT
You know, Tim looks very bulky/chubby in the Phantom costume, and I don't know why. I've seen him in person a few times, and he's not a chubby guy at all; in fact, I think he's a little too skinny. So why does the Phantom costume (and even his Raoul costume) make him look like he's gained thirty pounds? I don't get it. Anyway. Meh, not the best scene in the performance, that's for sure. Tim was trying, but he hit a few notes wonky, and he had no chemistry at all with Kelly (she has no chemistry with either of the male leads). Sigh. I missed Jennifer Hope Wills' Christine. Anyway, Kelly just stood there with her 0_0 face and Tim tried very hard to make this scene work, but it just didn't.

I REMEMBER/STYDI
Mehhhh. Kelly still had her 0_0 face for most of it, until she collapsed on the floor, when she inexplicably switched to "I AM GOING TO TEAR YOUR THROAT OUT WITH MY TEETH ROOOOOOAR." Which...was really weird. Tim's crawl was really weird, but his emotion when he reached out to her was nice.

MANAGERS' OFFICE
Meh Firmin. DC's the same. Sean was out of breath for most of this scene...I don't know why. Haha. Loved Tonna's acting, but she kept getting drowned out by the ensemble. I think they were having mic problems or something, because Hess' Giry was drowning out everyone, at least from my vantage point. I heard every word she said.

IL MUTO
LOL return of the pervy Raoul! When Sean noticed that Christine was shaking her butt while dusting, he raised his eyebrow and did this really lecherous grin. XD And then he looked "very interested" when she and Carlotta were fake-kissing. XD Oh lord, I laughed. Other than that, not much to say.

THE ROOFTOP
Hmm. Kelly was very angry here too. You know what? She's kind of reminding me of Sara Jean Ford's Christine. :P Except I am more disappointed in Kelly's Christine because she's opposite two great leads, whereas Sara was opposite two leads I didn't like (except for Tewks' Phantom when I saw him). Sean was trying here, really trying, but Kelly had zip chemistry with him. He kissed her palm a few times and was generally adorable, although his face is so severe when he doesn't smile. I've read some reviews about him "scowling," but I just think it's his facial features. Anyway. He really swung her around. And the kiss was AWFUL. :\ Kelly looked like she was trying to devour his face, and it was just horribly bad. The couple next to me and I laughed about it during the intermission. :| Tim's reprise was good, but not spellbinding. For once, it was interesting watching the tour chandelier coming down, since it swooshed right over my head. Still spoiled by Vegas' chandelier, though.

INTERMISSION
LOL the guy beside me thought that I was a reporter, since I was scribbling down my notes in my notebook. When I informed him that I wasn't and that I was just jotting down reminders since things tended to blur together otherwise, his wife heard me and wanted to chat Phantom. She's seen the movie six times, so she's a Big Fan. Sigh. She asked me how many times I'd seen the show, and then she was pestering me for the rest of the intermission. I should just learn to lie.

MASQUERADE
You know, I don't think that I've ever seen DC flub anything ever until tonight. He forgot to come in with one of his lines, and then he seemed to remember it and rushed through it. Odd. Tim's appearance was rather anticlimactic. I hate the staging for him ripping off her ring. Always have. LOL, Sean zeroed in on Giry and locked in on her position like a torpedo.

GIRY'S TALE
I liked Sean here...

MANAGERS' OFFICE II
Good god, Kelly's Christine needs some serious anger management classes. I've never seen the character portrayed so angrily! She looked like she was liable to rip out everyone's throats. I liked Sean's Raoul here, too - he gave this horribly overbright smile when he looked at Christine, but he was glaring at the managers. I don't know; it worked with his Raoul. And then he did this "I am having a brain aneurysm" move and ruined it. XD

REHEARSAL
Yeah, no wonder Reyer let Christine in late to the rehearsal, with the glare of death she gave him! :O And Trafton with a fake mustache. LOLZ Schumacher Reyer is still great.

GRAVEYARD
Oh, okay. I now realize that Christine hates her father. Wut. :| Kelly practically shouted most of this song out. Oh lord. I'm not a huge fan of this scene by any stretch of the imagination, but...wow. This made me dislike the scene anew. Oh man, though, when Sean came onto the scene. He looked like he was ready to brawl with Tim right then and there. That is appropriate anger. ;)

SEAL MY FATE
Considering that the guy in the pit was directly in front of me, I covered my ears before the shot came. I wanted to keep my hearing. XD

DON JUAN/POINT OF NO RETURN/ETC
Oh Trafton...he looks way too young to be sporting that beard. XD This was one of the least sexy PoNRs I've ever seen. I probably wouldn't have felt so disappointed if I hadn't seen Tim have an INCREDIBLE PoNR with Jennifer Hope Wills last year. But I did, so I was. No chemistry, man. No chemistry. But Tim's reaction to being unmasked was really good. He seems very childish...which I normally like. But more on that later.

FINAL LAIR
Finally Tim kicked it into high gear. Maybe his Phantom was just scared of Kelly's Christine, I don't know. XD His acting was great. He was alternately snarky and sad, and it worked really well. Even though Kelly tried to devour his face during the kiss, he really worked it. He picked up one of her curls and rubbed it between his fingers and was just all awkward during the kiss. I love it when they're awkward. Sean just kinda hung around, literally...meh. I like it when Raoul does something in the noose. Michael Shawn Lewis has spoiled me forever when it comes to Raouls! The ring return was crap on Kelly's end, but Tim made do. The one thing I did like from Kelly was she almost bodyslammed Tim protecting Raoul. Which, I generally like. Umm...that's really it?

MISC RAMBLINGS
Tim plays the Phantom as a very childish, immature, self-centered person. I think this is fresh, especially since most actors try to amp up the sex (understandably). I just hope that he's allowed to develop the character as he sees fit instead of being told to act a certain way, because I think he has the potential of being awesome. Plus I get sick of all of the "I AM PHANTOM, SEE ME GROPE" stuff. When you think about it, ALW's Erik SHOULD be a very childish, immature, self-centered person, considering his other actions during the musical. And yet, that's one of the reasons why I'm not enthralled with the stage show anymore. I've been looking outside of the box and seeing how characters in similar, or even worse, situations react to the events of their life. It's not favorable for ALW!Erik. :P

I swear, I think I was the only person in the whole auditorium who didn't give them a standing ovation, but I refuse to be pressured into doing it. I only give standing ovations when I feel like the show merited it, and it did not.

I'm okay with seeing Tim and Sean again tonight, but I'm really wishing that I had gotten a ticket to the afternoon performance instead, so I could see them opposite another Christine. Hopefully they have chemistry with her. :P

Verdict? My love for Phantom is practically non-existent and is looking like it will stay this way for a good while, if not ever. I'm glad that I came, so I can at least say that I tried, but I tell you, I'm looking at the show with fresh eyes now, and I'm finally seeing all of the flaws and silliness and threadbare patches. Sigh.

And now I am off to find a grocery store so I can make some lunch. XD

NOTE [August 19, 2009]: I originally thought that I had seen Trista Moldovan as Christine, mainly because there was no announcement before the show, no understudy/change of cast slips in the playbill, and no mention on the understudy board (which is the very first thing I check once inside the lobby, as anyone who has seen the show with me knows) telling us that we would not be seeing Trista as Christine that night. I never would have known otherwise if Trista herself had not messaged me (twice within a six hour span, no less) about changing the cast listing error. I apologize for the unintentional mistake, because I had no idea that reviews posted on the intarwebz are such SRS F'IN BZNS.

Also, comments now disabled because the lulz have been had and the macros have been made and the mocking has been fun, but now I think we are all done. Maybe. ;)

ordnance always works

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:57:54 GMT

I'm leaving Friday morning for Charlotte. I'm a little excited, but mostly not. I think it's the seven hour drive that is making me not want to go. :P Tim, you had so better be worth it. I am still disappointed that I won't be seeing Richard Todd Adams as Phantom. Sigh.

I spent a good hour or so last night adding all of my comic books to this site. Yeah, I know 212 aren't that many, but considering that I had never read a comic book or graphic novel until late February of this year? Not too shabby, if I say so myself. I've picked up a lot of cheap lots on eBay. I could pretty much spend at least a year of my life on this site, because they have all sorts of information that I didn't know I wanted to have until now. Like every single Taskmaster appearance.

One of my new favorite quotes: "I only wish I could be sure that people really do work...but when in doubt, there's always the comforting reassurance that ordnance does." It totally shows how awesome Nathan Summers truly is. XD He could be my GI Jesus any day of the week.

I apparently need to decimate my liver to be able to write nowadays. Hmph.

do do do do do do dododo

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:21:15 GMT

Soooooooooooooooooo.

Oh man. So I spent all of this time working on a Deadpool custom mood theme, and guess what I just remembered? This journal style doesn't show my mood pics! D: Now do I part with my beautiful butterflies or keep kicking myself in the ass for spending all of this time on a mood theme and not being able to use it?

I had a little to drink tonight. Results? Beaver's stealing my kidney and I wrote 4000+ words.

This is a "new" book from Amazon

Wed, 27 May 2009 23:44:42 GMT

I'm sorry, but this is going to be a rant. Maybe a rant of epic proportions. But definitely a rant.

So, I signed up for Amazon Prime in April, mainly because I am a huge book nerd. I also lack a great deal of patience, so I like to have what I want NOW. So, I figured that it'd be a good investment. Since signing up for Amazon Prime, though, I've been getting a hell of a lot of books that look like this:

That, my friends, is a "new" book shipped from Amazon. Oh yes, it arrived in two days. But...the condition! The front cover has two large diagonal creases (the "classic" you see in the bottom corner is actually from the first page and not the cover), and the top corner is literally peeling apart (the inside pages aren't white - that's the "guts" of the cover) and smushed.

Now, I know that this could happen to any order. What I dislike, however, is that this is happening at a very high rate. Out of the nine books I've ordered in the past two months, five have been damaged so much that I have had to return them. That's over 50%, and I don't like those odds.

The problem is that Amazon throws books into boxes that are far too large for them without any packing materials at all. So, in the end, I get a book that looks like it has been brought here by the Pony Express from California, not UPS from Kentucky.

I'm pissed. I'm tired of having to return books all of the time because Amazon can't get this right. I've emailed customer service three times, and all I get is a "oh I'm sorry, we'll send you a replacement" canned response. The kicker? The "replacement" is often in just as bad of shape, if not worse, than the original.

Take, for example, the Clay Enos Watchmen book I bought for $35. The first copy I received had a three inch tear in the dust jacket. Now, I pay $35 for a book, I expect it to be in very good condition. I do not expect a three inch tear in the jacket. I returned it. Amazon sent me a replacement. I was happy until I opened the box. The replacement had three tears in them, one of them being four inches long. Yes, I measured these tears. Back it went to Amazon, this time for a refund, and I bought the book on eBay from someone for $18 including shipping. It arrived in pristine condition.

ARGH. I am definitely not renewing my Prime membership once it expires. :P It's nice to get books quickly, but you know what's even nicer? Getting them in good condition. :P

Terminator Salvation

Thu, 21 May 2009 18:49:47 GMT

Whoa, I saw two movies in two days? I think that this is some new kind of record for me.

Up today: Terminator Salvation. It was one of those movies that I probably never would have seen if I hadn't been bombarded with a pretty awesome trailer every time I went to see Watchmen. The first twenty minutes or so were kind of slow, but then the action picked up really quickly. Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I may even go back to see it again before it leaves the theaters.

I really wish that the trailer hadn't given away that Marcus was apparently some machine/human hybrid. I'm kind of slow about picking up on these things, so I probably never would have caught that he was a hybrid if it wasn't for the trailer. I would have guessed he was just reanimated or something. :P And then it would have been a WHOA WHAT moment when it was revealed that he was half machine...I mean, the film even tried to play it that way, because you see John and his wife and Blair talking before OMG BOOM HE'S A MAN-CHINE shot. Sigh.

SPOILERS FOR THE FILM ARE BELOW THIS
Why do film makers feel the need to hit you over the head with clues about the ending? I mean, seriously. How many freaking times did they need to focus on Marcus' heart and how strong it was and second chances at redemption? As soon as Blair mentioned his heart, I knew there would be something up with that. And as soon as someone remarked that it was a human heart (after they figured out he was a machine), I was like LOL I BET JOHN CONNOR IS GOING TO GET SHOT IN THE HEART OR SOMETHING AND MARCUS WILL ~*~SACRIFICE HIMSELF~*~ AND DONATE HIS HEART BECAUSE THAT WILL BE HIS SECOND CHANCE AT REDEMPTION. And...that was exactly what happened, except John was stabbed and not shot. :P

I also do not know how Mrs. Connor (I never did catch her name) performed heart transplant surgery in the middle of nowhere with unknown tissue compatibility. You just can't throw in any ol' heart into a chest, you know. It's a delicate surgery and complicated! Then I thought, maybe it was because this is 2018 and they have new technology. And then I remembered that the new technology was what was killing off the humans. Ha. And considering how simple antibiotics were prized, I'm guessing that they didn't have a handy supply of immunosuppressants to prevent John's body from rejecting that heart. But, whatever. I guess that wouldn't make a good ending if it showed reality.

Also, the Skynet plan was overly complicated. That seems to happen a lot in movies. If the whole point was to kill John Connor, why didn't Marcus go batshit and kill him when he had the chance? He had several opportunities. He could have just stood by and let those hydro-things eat him. But oh no, he had to save John's life...so he could unknowingly lure him into Skynet headquarters, where the terminators could kill him. Hmm. I mean, really. The dude is human. Just slice his external jugular and be done with it, you know?

And I never got the Kyle Reese thing until I googled him just now. That's kind of head-trippy.

But, really, the action was pretty good. And those terminator things are kind of scary.

I've never watched any of the Terminator movies, which is apparently a crime against pop culture. I guess I'll need to remedy this, because I've heard good things about them (at least the first two), and I think that I'd probably understand TS more if I knew the background here. Although the film did give a couple of blurbs for the uninitiated, such as myself.