my opinion matters

I was just at the Wright State bookstore and as I was checking out, the lady at the cash register said “take a free stick of gum” so I did. Who doesn’t like free things? I don’t remember what the gum was called because I threw out the wrapper, but it was sour, then turned sweet like bubble gum. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? Does this mean that the whole meal in a stick of gum concept made popular by Willy Wonka is in our future? I hope so.

On Saturday, Ryan, Rachel, their mom and I went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. First, a brief comment on the audience. I understand that the books are largely viewed as children’s books, but the books really grow with the characters and by the time the sixth book comes around, the students are fourteen and the general tone is pretty dark and depressing… cause that’s what fourteen-year-olds are like. They are. It’s true. My problem, then, is not with the books or the movie, but with the parents who allow their VERY young children (like under the age of eight, as young as around two or three) to come to the movie theatre for the seven o’clock showing and sit through two and a half hours of gruesome and scary scenes. Let’s be honest – if I was really young and saw this movie, it would probably scar me for life (much like the movie It – that is terrifying and you know it). In fact, when the inferi come out of the water I jumped, as did most of the audience including the rea...

I know that I haven’t posted anything in awhile, but it’s hard to keep up a blog when you actually have other things to do. Right now I’m interning full-time in the archives at Wright State, after which I will graduate with my MA!! Exciting!! Things are good. Except that Michael Jackson died. There have been so many different views about him stated in the last day or so, the worst of which are that he was a child molester and people are glad that he’s dead. I don’t understand. I mean, I get that he may have done some unspeakably awful things – but he *was* acquitted. So was O.J., but still. And to wash away all of the amazing contributions he made to music and dance is shocking and appalling to me. I think that he was amazing, even to the end. Perhaps his final tour may not have been so amazing, but we will never know. He had an extraordinary amount of talent and he was a force to be reckoned with throughout his entire life. I will miss Michael Jackson, if for no other reason than anyo...

This new show starts tonight called Harper’s Island, where apparently they’re going to kill off one person every week – which sounds pretty cool. I think I have a good chance of liking it because I don’t really like horror movies but I like serial killer stuff. Should be interesting. Other than that there hasn’t been much on of interest – LOST of course, but besides that there’s just American Idol (which is just terrible) and Top Model (which is lame because none of the girls are that pretty). Family Guy is still there, but there aren’t really any shows besides LOST that I’m super excited about. Movie-wise, there’s been better stuff. The Prestige was seriously one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time, and Doubt was absolutely fantastic. I also saw my first Bond movie: Casino Royale, and I loved it. Journey to the Center of the Earth wasn’t even that bad. Crazy, I know. And Slumdog Millionaire! I didn’t expect much, but I’ve seen it twice and it is super good.

This year, I was a bad Oscars viewer as I had seen NONE of the movies nominated, except The Dark Knight, and that doesn’t really count anyway. Still, just like every year, I made my predictions based on buzz about the movies, other awards they won, and how much I wanted to see them. Turns out, I know what I’m talking about a lot more when I have no idea what I’m talking about. I successfully predicted: - best picture (slumdog millionaire) - best actor (sean penn) - best actress (kate winslet) - best supporting actress (penelope cruz) - best supporting actor (heath ledger) - best director (slumdog millionaire) - best adapted screenplay (slumdog millionaire) - best makeup (benjamin button) - best original score (slumdog millionaire) - best sound editing (the dark knight) - best animated film (wall-e) that’s pretty good. so out of 24 major awards, I successfully predicted 11, and I got all the awards anyone cares about, so I am totally awesome. Woo!!!!

I like finding new music, because finding something I really like doesn’t happen very often. So here’s what I’ve been listening to a lot lately: - Jason Mraz. First of all, I like his last name, so he already gets points for that. I like that remedy song he did a few years ago, but he recently came out with “I’m Yours” and it is seriously my favorite song right now. It is happy and catchy and I really enjoy his voice. I downloaded the rest of his album and I’m listening to it right now – lots of brass and fun happy music – I also like “Coyotes” and a few others. He performed on SNL a week or so ago and he was amazingly good, and usually people are terrible on SNL. I mean seriously, TV on the Radio? Where are the people who actually like that music? Because it sucks. - Lady Gaga. I have to admit, I hated the hell out of that stupid “Just Dance” song for awhile. But, like all good pop music, it gets in your head like a freaking virus and it worms it’s way through your brain until you sta...

Okay. So the first two episodes of LOST aired last week and I have a few theories and lots of questions. I continue to hope that the show will not end without telling me… something. About something. And that it isn’t aliens or a “who shot JR?” kind of thing. I think the creators know that fans would go fucking crazy, so here’s hoping. If I’m being honest, the beginning of the premiere worried me because it was bad. BAD. But then Sayid killed a guy on a dishwasher and I slowly started regaining confidence in the new season. I really like the episodes that don’t focus on one person, but at the same time I got way too confused and there was too much information to digest properly. I like that Hurley got the first flashback of the season and I thoroughly enjoyed his flashforwards – although I was surprised he told his mom the truth… but I guess if anyone was going to believe him about everything, it would be the person who experienced the numbers curse along with him. But still. I thought ...