"Thinking too much...gives you wrinkles."

Do not disturb me tomorrow. Cross posted from my real blog.

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 03:25:31 GMT

For my seems to be annual LJ post, I figure I'd talk about Harry Potter.

Well, it's an hour away until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is officially released. My brother and I are very excited. Other brother has finally started reading the books, and is about halfway through Goblet of Fire. My mom has watched the movies, but insists that I should download it online now. Want book. And I'm not going to someplace at midnight and buying it then, because when I get my hands on that book I want to read it immediately, and I want to be fully awake for it. I had to take a nap through my first reading of Half Blood Prince because my eyes were blurring the words.

Funny story (well, not really) on how I might not obtain the copy I preordered from Amazon tomorrow. I set the order to be shipped to my dad's house, as that's where I usually am on Saturday. Dad left for Europe on Tuesday, and stopped his mail. If it's not at the post office for me to pick up, I'm going to have to go buy another copy, or wait for my brother to finish reading the copy he intends to buy tomorrow morning.

So why did I just go into my Amazon account and change the shipping address? Don't think I didn't try. I realized this address faux pas a week before the book was due to ship, and realized that my account wouldn't let me do anything to the order. I emailed Amazon to see what was up, and I got an email back saying that since the item was shipping soon, they can't do anything about it. Their solution? Place another order to my mom's address, and by the way, they can't cancel the other order. Fuck you, Amazon. If I'm buying another copy, it won't be from you.

Anyway.

1. Voldemort is 71 years old at the time of the last book, according to what we know about his age from Chamber of Secrets. Does he act like an old man? No. Is Ralph Fiennes made up to look like an old man? No. So how do we account for this? Eleven years without a body? Six pieces of his soul put in horcruxes? I guess so. On a similar note, the same storyline makes Hagrid 68. But then again, Hagrid is half giant, so who knows how long he can live.

2. So if these characters are that old...how old was Dumbledore? I saw a website that put his birthdate in the 1840s! So we can assume that he stayed alive through Elixir of Life given to him by Nicholas Flamel, but at the end of the first book, Dumbledore tells Harry that Flamel and his wife have enough elixir to set their affairs in order and then they will die. So that would mean Dumbledore would soon die too, but he obviously did not die of old age. Confusing.

3. Draco Malfoy seems to be the only Hogwarts student to say anything like "Wait until my father hears about this." I'm surprised that their aren't more parents complaining about their children's education. I'm not just talking about the dangerous stuff like the Chamber of Secrets opening and dementors prowling the grounds, I mean little things that were it a real school, it would have angry parents calling day and night. I know I'd be pissed if I had a kid that was sorted into Hufflepuff.

4. How come you never see a homesick kid anyway? Eleven year old kids away from home for the first time? No owls begging mommy to come and pick them up?

5. What do wizard children learn education-wise before they enter Hogwarts? Math, science, grammar? Does that all stop at age 11?

6. How many Muggle parents decide not to send their children to Hogwarts? Do they ignore the letters like the Dursleys and then have multiple letters sent to them? Are their representatives sent to explain what the hell's going on? How to the Muggles get to Diagon Alley?

7. Last, but not least, the Snape debate. I'm happy to say that I remain completely unspoiled, so these are just thoughts here. I'm thinking that Snape's on the bad side. I know Dumbledore trusted him, but like McGonagall (my favorite character) said, she never could figure out why. He did make the unbreakable vow to Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, but that was just to protect Draco, and that can be worked around. Then there was the heresay conversation between Snape and Dumbledore that Hagrid relayed to Harry, and some think that was Dumbledore convincing Snape to kill him (and to that I still say why?????), but...you can't do the avada kedavra curse and not truly mean it. Snape might have been an awesome wizard and all, but if he had been the least bit reluctant to kill Dumbledore, it shouldn't have worked, right?

Okay, I'm done.

Kerfluffle in Jeopardy? You betcha.

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 21:31:12 GMT

I'm still a very avid Jeopardy watcher. So much, in fact, that I've been reading Ken Jennings's blog since the day it went up. Ken Jennings was the guy who went on the show two years ago and won $2.5 million. Throughout his run on the show, he frequently had a quick sense of humor, contributing such clips as these, which is still one of the funniest things I've ever seen on the show.

Anyway, about a week ago, Ken posted this entry to his blog. I laughed hysterically at it. I mean, come on! Angry bees!

Apparently, someone at the New York Post thought it was a serious jab at the show, and published an article claiming so. It was picked up by Yahoo, CNN, Fox News, USA Today, and so on, and so on. Dozens of people showed up on the message boards on Ken Jennings's website to flame him.

God forbid these people ever read The Onion. Take a joke. Recognize sarcasm. Don't be such idiots. Poor Ken.

So there.

Wed, 31 May 2006 22:15:57 GMT

why is YOUR livejournal annoying?

I never update
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Mon, 28 Nov 2005 10:47:29 GMT

I'm finally using this, because I want to spread the word.

I'm going to be on Jeopardy on Wednesday.

http://jeopardy.com/showguide_thisweek.php

What the hell, I did a quiz

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 18:57:47 GMT

English Genius
You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 93% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 69% on Beginner

You scored higher than 51% on Intermediate

You scored higher than 81% on Advanced

You scored higher than 88% on Expert

Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Wed, 11 May 2005 01:01:18 GMT

Missed Carrie's first performance. But I loved that shirt she was wearing.

And now I find out that the first theme tonight is sounds of Nashville. Now I'm kinda pissed that I missed Carrie's first performance.

Anyway.

Bo - boring song.

Vonzell - You can tell she's staying safe and picking popular songs she knows. And who said that's wrong to do? I like it better if I recognize the song, that's for sure. but with that said, she didn't do so well on "How Do I Live." Maybe she should have changed the key or something, made it higher. Oh wait, never mind, there's that higher key. MUCH better. Doesn't redeem the beginning, though.

But what the hell happened to her today that got her crying?

Anthony - Started out of tune, typical for tenors in low ranges. Anthony's always had that problem, so I'm not surprised. but this song sounds boring too.

Sounds of Philly? Gamble and Huff? Oh jesus, please take me back to Lieber and Stoller week.

Carrie - Sounded out of tune at the start. I wonder how well they can hear the accompaniment up there. Loved how Simon tried to blame the band for how bad it sounded overall. Hee.

Bo - Lose the sunglasses. People shouldn't wear sunglasses indoors unless they have an eye problem. But Bo actually looked good in the suit, and he performed the song well.

Vonzell - PERFECT song choice.

Anthony - Sang the same song as Carrie. What the hell? There are more than three Gamble and Huff songs! Plus, this is the second ballad he sang tonight. He can't sing fast songs. He doesn't perform them well. But he did a better job than Carrie on this. And I think he sang it in the same key, too! Hee!

Now that I see the recap with Carrie singing "Sin Wagon," I realize that she was completely boring for that song. Amy Adams sang it much better last year.

I really have no idea who's going home this week. I think Carrie and Anthony performed worse than Bo and Vonzell, though.

Wed, 04 May 2005 01:02:08 GMT

I missed the last two weeks because I was doing other things. And I'm really pissed that Constantine is gone. I'm rooting for Vonzell now. The only fairly consistently good performer and singer who doesn't have a criminal record...that we know of. Anyway.

I'm kinda psyched over the Lieber & Stoller theme, since I totally grew up on their music. When they did the montage about them in the beginning, I heard Big Mama Thorton's version of "Hound Dog" instead of Elvis, which made me happy, because that's the far more superior version. (They probably couldn't get the rights to the Elvis song.) Don't want to listen to any current top 40, but I'll take the good with the bad.

Here we go.

Anthony Federov, "Poison Ivy" - Boooooooooooooring.

Scott Savol, "On Broadway" - Scott can sing, sure. But he doesn't have the range, the chops, not the personality to even get this far in the competition, let alone win. Why is he stil here?!?!

Vonzell Solomon, "Treat Me Nice" - I don't know this song,but it definitely didn't sound like an Elvis song. There was some really good stuff in there.

Bo Bice, "Stand By Me" - It's really hard to mess up this song, but Bo did a nice job with it anyway.

Carrie Underwood, "Trouble" - Carrie's got no passion in her eyes, that's why I don't like her. You see Elvis do this song in the '68 special, the camera is in his face and you can see how good he is when singing this. I need more from Carrie if she wants to pull off something like that.

Anthony Federov, "Incomplete" - I didn't know this song. I didn't know it's supposed to be by a group. (The Backstreet Boys are making music again? What is wrong with the world?) I thought he did an ok job with this song.

Scott Savol, "Everytime You Go Away" - Flat. Flat flat flat. And him saying that tomorrow he's going to start picking his songs for next week?! What an asshole!

Vonzell Solomon, "When You Tell Me that You Love Me" - I'll admit it, I like this song. And Vonzell made a good choice picking this - she's been singing it for weeks already, and no new words to memorize. And that was a terrific vocal.

Bo Bice, "Heaven" - Good song choice for the personality, but not to sing by yourself, too many harmonies on the lead. And don't sing the spanish part in english. It doesn't fit.

Carrie Underwood, didn't catch the name of the song - There were a few bum notes, but Carrie's voice is meant for country. She could have a nice career singing country ballads, but she's not a pop singer. That poppy modulation they tried to put in there just didn't work.

You can tell that Simon's going to tell Bo and Carrie that they're go not matter what now, and tell everyone else they suck. But I'm voting for Vonzell. Bo's better than the other three, but when he's home, he's a guy who buys coke at strip clubs.

Thu, 28 Apr 2005 01:34:29 GMT

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who the fuck is voting for Scott and Anthony?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I thought Constantine was going to WIN, dammit!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wed, 13 Apr 2005 01:00:44 GMT

I like the theme this week. Aww, baby pictures, so cute.

1. Nadia Turner, "When I Dream" - Horrible song choice, Simon and Randy were right. I had trouble just remembering the song title (I hope I got it right), let alone her performance. But damn, girl's got nice legs, doesn't she?

2. Bo Bice, "Free Bird" - Oh, how lucky is this guy to have that song come out the year he was born? Perfect. Just perfect for him.

3. Anwar Robinson, "I'll Never Love This Way Again" - Anwar is the best singer here. He can do what no other guy in this competition can't - sing a straight tone in tune. All the others can't get in tune until the vibrato kicks in. However, I still say he needs to button up his shirt, it looks sloppy.

4. Anthony Federov, "Everytime You Go Away" - He did not suck this week, I'll give him that.

5. Vonzell Solomon, "Let's Hear It for the Boy" - She gets a vote from me. Two or so notes that were pitchy, but a great performance overall.

6. Scott Savol, "She's Gone" - You make a whole fuss about how you rock out, and then you sing...a Hall and Oates ballad. O...kay. By Scott Savol standards, it was pretty good. But in the real world, it was still only okay. (At least Hall and Oates seemed to like it, anyway.)

7. Carrie Underwood, "Love is a Battlefield" - I like rockin' Carrie. She did pull that off. However, she had parts out of tune (especially the very beginning), she messed up some of the words, and did nothing but sway side of side. However, this is the closest she's come to getting me to vote for her.

8. Constantine Maroulis, "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Nice performance. However, in order to perform this song on this show, he had to cut out large chunks of a classic, and it doesn't fly with me. No vote from me tonight.

Sigh. I think Nadia's going home this week.

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 01:01:22 GMT

Showtunes week. Here we go.

1. Scott Savol, "The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha - It was obvious he'd never heard the song before this week. He had no conviction, no drive when he was singing. Plus his singing wasn't the greatest tonight. Why hasn't he been voted off yet?

2. Constantine Maroulis, "My Funny Valentine" from Babes in Arms - Weird arrangement. Constantine turned this classic into like, a Barry White song. But it was tres sexy. I might have to vote for it.

3. Carrie Underwood, "Hello, Young Lovers" from The King and I - I agree with Randy. Horrible song choice (especially for her type of voice), but still a good vocal.

4. Vonzell Solomon, "People" from Funny Girl - I agree with Paula and Simon. She was good vocally, and hit that high note very well, and not even Streisand goes for that note. But it still wasn't fantastic. (And does Paula Abdul have perfect pitch or is she informed of the keys they're singing in beforehand???)

5. Anthony Federov, "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from The Sound of Music - Rodgers and Hammerstein are rolling around in their graves right now. Hideous arrangement. Hideous performance. Anthony can belt (sometimes), but he can't sing. His low register at the beginning was weak, and that last note was horrible to listen to, it was so out of tune.

6. Nikko Smith, "One Hand, One Heart" from West Side Story - The perfect choice for you tonight is to sing a duet?!?!?!?! How does that make any sense??? Anyway, I did not dig the sneakers with the nice outfit, and you are not supposed to turn showtunes into R&B numbers, I don't care what Randy and Paula say.

7. Anwar Robinson, "If Ever I Would Leave You" from Camelot - See above, re: changing the song to fit you better. No. Otherwise, it was okay, better than the last few weeks.

8. Bo Bice, "Corner of the Sky" from Pippin - You know, when I first saw the title of the song on the screen, I thought, "You know, that song would work well with him." So to hear five seconds later that he picked it completely randomly...that's just dumb luck on his part. Good job, Bo. (Also, it gives me confirmation that yes, it's the contestants that pick the songs, but the producers give them a list first. The producers need to pick less crappy songs. They're not that bad this week, but still...)

9. Nadia Turner, "As Long as he Needs Me" from Oliver - She puts too much H in front of her vowels. She ran out of air on her last note. But my god, that was a great performance. And she looked gorgeous in that dress.

So I'm voting for Nadia and Constantine tonight. And I'm guessing that Anthony's going home.

Thu, 31 Mar 2005 02:30:40 GMT

WHO THE HELL KEEPS VOTING FOR SCOTT SAVOL?!?!

These people obviously have no eyes or ears. Otherwise Nadia wouldn't be in the bottom three for the second week in a row.

Wed, 30 Mar 2005 02:01:57 GMT

1. Bo Bice, "Remedy" - Simon's right, the song sucked, but Bo's still a good performer. However, he gets no vote from me tonight because of his stupid cow pun.

2. Jessica Sierra, some Leann Rimes song I've never heard of - Booooring. And she didn't really do that modulation very well.

3. Anwar Robinson, "I Believe I Can Fly" - Simon and Randy were right. Anwar concentrating on the bug finish rather than what's leadnig up to it. I think his classical training is really hurting him. Listen to how he sang the word "fly" at the end - he opened up the vowel to sing the note cleaner, which is a classical cheat for high notes. Except that he changed the sound too much, and that's not good when everyone knows this freaking song backwards and forwards.

4. Nadia Turner, "I'm the Only One" - Randy's full of shit. Nadia's one of the best voices in the competition. I have never heard her sing out of tune once, unlike everyone else. The only thing that seems to be up with her singing is that she seems to be running out of air at the ends of her phrases. But that was a great performance tonight. I'm voting for her twice.

5. Constantine Maroulis, "I Can't Make You Love Me" - Meh. I wanted him to do a rock song tonight. The vocals were pretty good, I'll agree with the judges on that. And is that his dad they keep cutting away to? That man creeps me out.

Oh, that's Simon runs out during the commericals. He's going for a smoke break. Next time, Simon, don't leave the lighter in your hand, it's a little obvious.

6. Nikko Smith, I have no idea what his song is - UGLY jacket. Good performance.

7. Anthony Federov, "Something about the Way You Look Tonight" - He needs to put his glasses back on. And his performace was saved by the really good ending. Otherwise, meh.

8. Carrie Underwood, "Independence Day" - She always starts her songs out of tunes, looks like she's about to cry, and never smiles while she's singing. She's practically as dull as white toast, so why do the judges adore her?!?!?!?!

9. Scott Savol, "One Last Cry" - That sucked. Yep. Sucked muchly.

10. Vonzell Solomon, "I Have Nothing" - Wow, Paula actually noticed that she went higher than Whitney. But Vonzell took on a Whitney Houston song and survived, so I'm voting for her too.

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 02:19:40 GMT

I made some additions this this Wednesday night after watching most of the performances twice.

Wow, do they really choose their own songs or do the producers give them a list to pick from? Because seriously, those were some crappy song choices tonight.

If I can get through on the phones, I'm voting for Bo, Constantine, and Nadia. Bo actually picked a good song, and I love that Constantine and Nadia took their pop songs and made them rock.

When I tried voting Wednesday, I couldn't get through to vote for Bo, but I don't think losing one vote would be bad for him. And I um, voted for Constantine twice. *cough* He actually upped the key from the original! I give him total props for that. Jessica should have done that too, she sounded way too low on her song.

I feel bad that Nikko and Vonzell are going to go home early in this, because you know they are. They've never truly sucked in my opinion. (Well, except for the performance that got Nikko kicked off, but that was the only time he was bad!)

Poor Anwar. He's Westminster trained, and he doesn't know how to move up there because of it. He was my favorite early on, and now he's probably going home in a few weeks too. Sigh.

And if Michaela doesn't get voted off this week, I have lost my faith in humanity. I think people are finally starting to realize, as I did during her freking Las Vegas audition, that SHE CAN'T SING. But on Wednesday night...HILARIOUS. Her tshirt saying "My job is to annoy you?" Ryan asking Simon if song choice was the problem, and Simon saying, "No, what came out of Michaela's mouth was the problem?" And then Michaela said "I think I'm fabulous, and my fans do too?" Simon was turning away from the camera so we couldn't see him cracking up! It was great!

AI

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 12:37:49 GMT

I doubt that most people on my flist even watch American Idol, but I have an overwhelming urge to criticize.

1. Jessica Sierra, "Shop Around" - Okay performance. She's not used to moving around such a big stage yet.

2. Anwar Robinson, "A House is Not a Home" - I do not like most Burt Bacharach/Hal David songs. This was no exception. Oh my poor Anwar, I was rooting for you, but you were boring too!

3. Mikalah Gordon, "Son of a Preacher Man" - Wow, I actually thought her performance was pretty good this week, the judges shouldn't have criticized her that much. Still hate her voice, though. And she was wearing way too much makeup and boobs for a seventeen-year-old.

4. Constantine Maroulis, "You've Made Me So Very Happy" - Blood, Sweat and Tears?!?! Do any of these contestants have any musical taste at all?!?! Constantine, you've already got the Jim Morrison hair, you should've put on some leather pants and sung "Touch Me" or something. I had to cover my ears at that high C you attempted at the end. Why do they keep calling you and Bo the "rockers" anyway? The closest you've sung to a rock song is The Police. At least Bo sung that Allman Brothers song a few weeks ago.

5. Lindsey Cardinale, "Knock on Wood" - This is 60s week, sweetie. Don't sing the version of this song that was made in the 70s. And you weren't very good anyway.

6. Anthony Federov, "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" - Same thing as Lindsey.

7. Nadia Turner, "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" - Should've sung that in a higher key. It wasn't one of her best performances (Last week was much better in comparison), and yes, it was one of the best performances of the night, but the judges were practically kissing her feet! It's like they've already picked their favorites and they're just going to say to those people that they liked or disliked them no matter how they do...sigh. That's probably it.

8. Bo Bice, "Spinning Wheel" - More Blood, Sweat and Tears?!?! Oh dear god, my ears hurt...Bo still did a good job though.

9. Vonzell Solomon, "Anyone Who Had a Heart" - Dammit, we're back to Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Okay. I usually hate this song with a passion. Vonzell made me love love it. And the judges called her mediocre. I told you they've already picked favorites.

10. Scott Savol, "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" - Okay, we know he's a very good singer, but he's not a very good performer. I think the judges just said he did well because they think moving off the stage equals talented.

11. Carrie Underwood, "When Will I Be Loved?" - Meh. Has this girl ever gone through an entire performance in tune?

12. Nikko Smith, "I Want You Back" - Hehehehehehe. Best song choice ever. I'm one of those people who thought Scott should have been voted off last week instead of him, so I'm glad to see him back. And he did very well, especially on such short notice. Well, except for not reaching that one note, but that doesn't matter much to me because the rest of it was good. And yet again, the judges hated it. Sigh.

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:29:15 GMT

Okay.

I watched the last episode of Celebrity Fit Club to see how much weight they all lost and all that. When they weighed Mia Tyler, she proclaimed that the jeans she was wearing was a size 11.

Hold up.

1) Mia Tyler is a plus size model. I don't think I've ever seen a plus sized clothing store sell size 11 jeans. Not even close.

2) This woman is two inches taller than me, fifty pounds heavier, and wears the same size jeans as me?! What the fuck?

That's it. I, with my size 11 ass, am starting a new career as a plus size model.

Reading Meme

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 01:03:45 GMT

If you have read the whole book, bold it. If you have read part of the book, italicize it. If you own it but haven't gotten around to reading it yet, ** it.

#1 The Bible
#2 Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
#3 Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
#4 The Koran
#5 Arabian Nights
#6 Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
#7 Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
#8 Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
#9 Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
#10 Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
#11 The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
#12 Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
#13 Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
#14 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
#15 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
#16 Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
#17 Dracula by Bram Stoker
#18 Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
#19 Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
#20 Essays by Michel de Montaigne
#21 Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
#22 History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
#23 Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy**
#24 Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
#25 Ulysses by James Joyce
#26 Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
#27 Animal Farm by George Orwell
#28 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
#29 Candide by Voltaire
#30 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
#31 Analects by Confucius
#32 Dubliners by James Joyce
#33 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
#34 Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
#35 Red and the Black by Stendhal
#36 Das Capital by Karl Marx
#37 Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
#38 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
#39 Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
#40 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
#41 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
#42 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
#43 Jungle by Upton Sinclair
#44 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
#45 Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
#46 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
#47 Diary by Samuel Pepys
#48 Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
#49 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
#50 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
#51 Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
#52 Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
#53 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
#54 Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
#55 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
#56 Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
#57 Color Purple by Alice Walker
#58 Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
#59 Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
#60 Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
#61 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
#62 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#63 East of Eden by John Steinbeck
#64 Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
#65 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
#66 Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#67 Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais
#68 Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
#69 The Talmud
#70 Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#71 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#72 Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
#73 American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
#74 Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
#75 Separate Peace by John Knowles
#76 Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
#77 Red Pony by John Steinbeck
#78 Popol Vuh
#79 Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
#80 Satyricon by Petronius
#81 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#82 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
#83 Black Boy by Richard Wright
#84 Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu
#85 Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
#86 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
#87 Metaphysics by Aristotle
#88 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#89 Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin
#90 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
#91 Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
#92 Sanctuary by William Faulkner
#93 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
#94 Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
#95 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
#96 Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
#97 General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
#98 Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
#99 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown
#100 Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
#101 Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
#102 Émile Jean by Jacques Rousseau
#103 Nana by Émile Zola
#104 Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
#105 Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
#106 Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#107 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
#108 Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
#109 Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
#110 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
#111 Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret, Judy Blume
#112 The Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling
#113 The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare
#114 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
#115 The Witches of Worm, Zilpha Keatly Snyder

Oscar Predictions

Sun, 27 Feb 2005 22:13:49 GMT

My predictions are in bold. Granted, I haven't seen many of these movies, but whatever.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Don Cheadle - HOTEL RWANDA
Johnny Depp - FINDING NEVERLAND
Leonardo DiCaprio - THE AVIATOR
Clint Eastwood - MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Jamie Foxx - RAY

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Alan Alda - THE AVIATOR
Thomas Haden Church - SIDEWAYS (I hated him in this movie. So I don't even want to predict him.)
Jamie Foxx - COLLATERAL
Morgan Freeman - MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Clive Owen - CLOSER

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Annette Bening - BEING JULIA
Catalina Sandino Moreno - MARIA FULL OF GRACE
Imelda Staunton - VERA DRAKE
Hilary Swank - MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Kate Winslet - ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Cate Blanchett - THE AVIATOR
Laura Linney - KINSEY
Virginia Madsen - SIDEWAYS (I hated her in this movie too. But Paul Giamatti wuz robbed, yo.)
Sophie Okonedo - HOTEL RWANDA
Natalie Portman - CLOSER

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

THE INCREDIBLES
SHARK TALE
SHREK 2

ART DIRECTION

THE AVIATOR
FINDING NEVERLAND
LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT

CINEMATOGRAPHY

THE AVIATOR
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT

COSTUME DESIGN

THE AVIATOR
FINDING NEVERLAND
LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
RAY
TROY

DIRECTING

THE AVIATOR (They've got to give it to Scorcese sometime...)
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
RAY
SIDEWAYS
VERA DRAKE

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

BORN INTO BROTHELS
THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL
SUPER SIZE ME
TUPAC: RESURRECTION
TWIST OF FAITH

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

AUTISM IS A WORLD (I haven't heard of any of these, so I'm completely guessing on this one.)
THE CHILDREN OF LENINGRADSKY
HARDWOOD
MIGHTY TIMES: THE CHILDREN'S MARCH
SISTER ROSE'S PASSION

FILM EDITING

THE AVIATOR
COLLATERAL
FINDING NEVERLAND
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
RAY

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
THE CHORUS
DOWNFALL
THE SEA INSIDE
YESTERDAY

MAKEUP

LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
THE SEA INSIDE

MUSIC (SCORE)

FINDING NEVERLAND
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (It will be such a travesty if this doesn't win.)
LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
THE VILLAGE

MUSIC (SONG)

"Accidentally In Love" - SHREK 2
"Look To Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin)" - THE CHORUS (This is the one I want to win.)
"Al Otro Lado Del Río" - THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (But this one's good too.)
"Believe" - THE POLAR EXPRESS
"Learn To Be Lonely" - THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

BEST PICTURE

THE AVIATOR
FINDING NEVERLAND
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
RAY
SIDEWAYS (Either this or Million Dollar Baby.)

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

BIRTHDAY BOY (Once again, guessing.)
GOPHER BROKE
GUARD DOG
LORENZO
RYAN

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

EVERYTHING IN THIS COUNTRY MUST
LITTLE TERRORIST
7:35 IN THE MORNING (Yep, guessing.)
TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT
WASP

SOUND EDITING

THE INCREDIBLES
THE POLAR EXPRESS
SPIDER-MAN 2

SOUND MIXING

THE AVIATOR
THE INCREDIBLES
THE POLAR EXPRESS
RAY
SPIDER-MAN 2

VISUAL EFFECTS

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
I, ROBOT
SPIDER-MAN 2

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

BEFORE SUNSET
FINDING NEVERLAND
MILLION DOLLAR BABY
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES
SIDEWAYS

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

THE AVIATOR
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
HOTEL RWANDA
THE INCREDIBLES
VERA DRAKE

Here's hoping I get some right!

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 02:09:38 GMT

Figured that if I'm going to to do something to do with this LJ, I'll use it to talk about Lost.

For once, I actually noticed something....Hurley was on the Korean tv! I have a feeling it wasn't about a backgammon championship, though.

So...Walt is a very stupid child.

Oh, and this episode had the best ending ever. I'd wondered when those batteries were going to run out, but dude! Why'd it have to be in the middle of a Damien Rice song???

This sounds about right...

Tue, 23 Nov 2004 14:07:52 GMT

You Are a New School Democrat

You like partying and politics - and are likely to be young and affluent.

You're less religious, traditional, and uptight than most Democrats.

Smoking pot, homosexuality, and gambling are all okay in your book.

You prefer that the government help people take care of themselves.

What political persuasion are you?

Wed, 03 Nov 2004 17:26:33 GMT

Kerry concedes, and Delphi crashes within minutes. Coincidence? Hell no.

I'm button-happy.

Tue, 02 Nov 2004 21:01:35 GMT

I Voted... Did You?

Wow

Wed, 06 Oct 2004 03:12:28 GMT

I only caught the first hour of the supreme bitchiness fest (aka the vice presidential debate) before I switched over to Nip/Tuck, but I'll just say these two things:

1) Did Dick Cheney seriously say that terrorism is down in Israel because Saddam Hussein is in jail? Can someone explain the logic of that to me?

2) I expected to not like John Edwards' answer when he was asked about gay marriage. What I didn't expect was to like Cheney's answer. Damn. He all but said he disagreed with Bush on the matter!

Okay, now that I'm done with that, HOLY SHIT I think that Nip/Tuck finale killed me. And shame on me for not recognizing Art Garfunkel's voice at the end! But with everything else going on causing my brain to shut down, I think that it's plausible to only get to the stage of "that voice is familiar, I just can't tell who it is." Holy shit. The suspense of waiting to find out what happened after that cliffhanger is killing me. I mean....they can't do that. They won't. Holy shit.

Nip/Tuck

Wed, 18 Aug 2004 03:14:27 GMT

I caught on to watching Nip/Tuck over the summer, and I am totally hooked. I just watched the newest episode, and it's so much drama and completely fucked up and I love it. I love it!!!!!!!!!!!

Eee!

Grr.

Fri, 30 Jul 2004 02:16:44 GMT

I managed to combine the right username and password and FINALLY log in to my Gmail account. Hooray!

However, several attempts at sending an email with it proved to be rife with error messages. Boooooooo!

Gmail's causin' me grief, yo.

Uh oh...

Wed, 28 Jul 2004 02:35:57 GMT

My brother found a link online to play that old computer game that I used to be addicted to, Lemmings. I tried to open the link to play it on my own computer and it shut down and restarted. I thought it was due to the rain that was coming down at the same time, so I tried to play the game again, and it did it again!

LEMMINGS ARE TRYING TO KILL MY COMPUTER! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!