Friday night, I watched The Woman in Black with my boys and my youngest's friend Jake, who was over for a sleepover.

That is an extremely atmospheric film, and a fairly scary one. Not scary, maybe, to people who require/expect monsters or Saw levels of gore, but for an old coot like me, pretty tense. My Beloved refused to go to the theater to see it, because the trailer scared him so much.

In any case, the boys and i had plans to watch it, and we had been under the impression that Jake had several other offers for the night and would not be coming. But, he came over anyway. Robert and I told both him and William not to talk during the movie, but you might as well tell water not to be wet. Jake's a talker.

"There should be monsters. Monsters are scarier than ghosts. Ghosts aren't scary..."

Robert and I, together: Shhhhhh!

And so on. Eventually, he excused himself to William's room. I figured he'd just get his laptop out and wait for William to join him. But no.

A few minutes later, this black thing jumps out from behind the couch onto William, making a strange, blood-curdling noise. It's Jake, who had excused himself to change into a black morphsuit. He then sat down and watched the rest of the film through te mesh of his morphsuit.

Jake is a bit of a character. He is a very good actor - he's very expressive and loud, and also makes some amazingly ...um, atmospheric noises. He and William get on very very well, partly because William is just socially impaired enough not to exclude Jake for his obvious eccentricities. Not that there is anything wrong with Jake. He's actually amazing enough that if he were a grown man, he'd probably already have his own TV show. Part of his amazingness is how little he cares about fitting in, when most twelve-year-olds think that is their full time job.

What amazed me was that, when packing for a sleepover, he brought a black morphsuit, just in case.

He got us all, good.

***

The movie was creepy enough that my creepy old house -- to which I am largely accustomed -- once again became old and creepy. I hung a dress over my mirror just to sleep. (It is positioned such that when trains go by a lot of the light that makes it in the window gets cast about by it, making my bedroom full of writhing black shadows.)

Also, Dan Radcliffe grew up kind of hot. I feel a tad dirty-old-woman-ish just saying that, but... yeah.

First, today's xkcd is like a peek inside my head meats:

http://xkcd.com/883/

Second, here's the Doctor Who panel at ... WonderCon? In any case, cool beans.



***

Yesterday, we took our guest to the French Quarter. It was its usual awesomely weird self (I will post pics when I have some time). On the way we passed some movie crew guide signs. Those are colored signs with the production initials and arrows printed on them. They are put up as guides to help the cast and crew find the filming locations that day. These were bright yellow, with ALVH printed on them. My Beloved pointed them out to our guest, explaining what they were.

My Beloved: I don't know what movie ALVH is, though.

Me: Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

Everyone: ...

My Beloved: Is that a real thing?

Yes. Yes it is. They filmed a scene in the park I run in, the other day.

I LOVE this city. I really, really do.

Odd that those things should go together. To be honest, I have not been journaling in as personal a way as I would like. Lately I have been better about being honest and still trying to keep it to things which might be of interest to others. Not sure how I'm doing, so feel free to give me STFU feedback if you feel so moved.

First of, my weekend started Friday because everyone in my family had the day off. We went to see Harry Potter at 1:00pm at the Prytania theater, which is walking distance from my house (but beyond a distance I would like to walk in high summer, to be honest). It was not packed because of the time of day and it being a weekday and all. The new manager greeted us and we started up a bit of a conversation. It was easy because my Husband's former employee, Michelle, was with us. This woman is like Auntie Mame, if she were more foul-mouthed and less sexually inhibited. Going ANYWHERE with Michelle is an experience.

Anyway, I got to wear my favorite Harry Potter shirt:



The Manager guy really liked it and asked where I got it (here, if you're interested). When we left,there was line stretching outside and a bit down the block. It was not yet 4pm. I can only imagine that the evening showings were packed.

Then we picked up Big Boy's friend and brought him home to stay the night.

***

Saturday we woke to find that the city has a boil water advisory proving once and for all that NOLA is the third world. It is still in effect. Today they find out of the tests showed the water has been contaminated or not, and either the advisory will be lifted or changed to a boil water order. They say it best not to bathe in the water until we know, and let me tell you, we're getting RIPE. :P

Last night Ron and I watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, without really knowing what it was about beforehand. I am not a fan of graphic rape scenes, though at least this one had a satisfying dollop of graphic revenge to balance the scale. I'm not a rape or sexual abuse survivor. I mean, my family was messed up in some unusual ways, but I was loved and protected. Despite living next door to a pedophile for years (we only found out later, and we had a huge dog who hated the guy, which may have helped) and going to churches and colleges with people in authority who did such things, and even made overtures to me, it never happened.

I suspect it may have been obvious to people that I would not react in the desired way, or maybe fate just intervened. But still. abuse and sexual abuse of women has always been a hot-button issue for me, perhaps because so many of my friends and girls I knew had been victimized. Usually by men with some sort of authority, and it offends my sense of how the world ought to work. (In that way it is similar to my unusual passion about gay rights - it doesn't affect me personally, but that doesn't make me any less angry about it.)

I didn't sleep well, and the wheels are still turning. It seems rape revenge stories are very popular these days, and I wonder what that means. My gut says it's not a good thing, in general. Some of them invite the viewer to vicariously enjoy the sadistic humiliation of women, while the revenge portion is given over to implausible methods of killing.

I will say that this one wasn't like that. As much as I have grown to detest the 'victim of rape who gets tough' method of lazy character development, Lisbeth is tough before the rape, and that doesn't change. In fact, her response if rather more moderate than one might expect from stories with a rape revenge theme.

I have a feeling that this is a theme that is going to have to boil for a while before something floats to the top.

Sometimes I think my brain hates me.

***

We also watched Up in the Air, which led me to believe that George Clooney is only attractive because of his personality. He's got regular features and all, but it's the smarm that makes him interesting. I feel the same about Hugh Jackman, except it's not the smarm in his case. He has an aura. But if you shot either of them dead, their faces would no longer be interesting to look at, at least for me.

We cooked burgers by the pool, despite the water issue. The temps have been in the 70s, and it has been sunny. I can't complain.

First, there's the awesome Twilight Saga: Eclipse: With Cats over at Pop Suede. I love how they photoshopped the Edward Cat's eyebrows.

***

Oh, here's another thing I found interesting, if not particularly fun:
ADHD and School: The Problem of Assessing Normalcy in an Abnormal Environment.

***

The more stuff like that I read, the less happy I am about my Big Boy going going back to school, no matter how awesome and prestigious a school it is. Then again, it seems so providential that he was accepted to this amazing school that I can't really toss the opportunity aside. The staff there have a reputation for being very nurturing and helpful. Involved. I think he may well thrive there. I have to let him give it a go.

***

I submitted "The Sanguine Philtre" to the writing group this week. In part because I didn't want to burn them out on my novel too fast, and in part because I really need to get that puppy out in the world, and I figure one last brush-up couldn't hurt.

Then, last night, the group organizer emailed to ask if I could guide the next meeting in her place, since she's ill. O_O I'm happy to do it, of course, but surprised she asked me. I mean, K. is an MFA creative writing student, and probably has more experience with seminars, etc. than I do. Plus, she's older and all. Maybe she's not going to be able to be there, either.

***

In between writing things, I seem to be moving into a 'feeding' phase -- spending more time than usual on the consumption of stories. I moved on to Wire in the Blood season 3 this weekend. It managed to surprise me by not being as facile as Season 2. I was hooked by this show because the first story of the first season was so stunning. And by stunning I don't mean anything other than the literal feeling of being stunned by it.

Subsequent stories veered toward the puerile, had less than believable mental leaps and played very fast and loose with what it tried to pass off as "psychology" - especially in season two. But Season 3 was better.

Then there was Kurosagi. When I told my husband about the premise (it's about a swindler who makes his living swindling people's money back from swindlers), he said, "I thought that show was called Leverage." Snarky man-beast. It's not really like Leverage at all, though. The protagonist is a kid whose father killed himself and his whole family (except for him) because he was swindled. With the help of the swindler who stole his family's money (!) he sets out to destroy other swindlers. The old swindler who 'helps' him seems completely aware that the young pup intends to do him in, but he's sick and old and either doesn't care or is playing a long game on him.

Enter the young, poor girl who wants to be a prosecutor, and frowns on Kurosagi's methods even while she swoons over his sweet, pouty Asian lips. *loses train of thought* Erm, where was I? She disapproves even but falls for him, even though he gives her no indication at all that he might like her. In fact, when she unwittingly rents an apartment he owns, he tries to evict her. I pretty much always find female characters in Japanese dramas terribly annoying, and this is no exception. OMG, there are TWO pretty girls, friends in the beginning, who end up fighting because they both like him, while he deliberately ignores them both.

Even when he's beaten up by a cop and the girl who lives in his building takes care of him, he's a total bitchwad to her. Bitchwad boys are apparently very attractive to Japanese university student girls, for some reason. Also, these girls fight with each other largely because the one saw the other leaving his apartment (after she looked after him when he was beaten up) and thinks they got it on. Apparently, these BFF's are allergic to talking to each other like normal people.

*sigh* But the lead has pretty lips, gets beaten up/cries prettily, and I want to know what happens, and what the old/dying swindler is really up to. So I keep watching.

My reasons for this (and, let's face it, most anything) are at least 70% shallow. I rarely watch shows in which I do not find anyone attractive. Who was it that said TV is about watching people you'd like to have sex with doing interesting things? So true. That's probably why I loved Life on Mars but hated the American version. The lead in the American version held no appeal for me, while I would totally tie John Simm to a chair on the second date.

I'm getting comment notices on LJ either very, very late or not at all, but I will catch up. :)

Big Boy's orthodontist had good news - He won't be in braces for as long as we had feared, and it won't even be very expensive (we DID win $2,000.00 worth of orthodontia for $10.00 at a silent auction, so our final cost is ridiculously reasonable).

Also, we found him a good math tutor, whom we will meet with today. I am relieved.

I'm still not physically up to speed, and it's beginning to wear on me. I'm so tired of being sickly, even though it isn't very bad. We had temps in the 70s yesterday, and I wanted to be able to enjoy it! Plus, I've let things at the website slip, which I should not have done. *grump*

***

Today at GC, we have a chance to geek out with the lovely Amalia the Savage again, with A Geeky Norse Mythology Moment. I've always loved Norse Mythology, so I found it quite fun.

***

I let the boys watch The Hound of the Baskervilles last night (Jeremy Brett). It was enjoyable, though I don't think they got it quite as well as I had hoped. Wee Boy has been reading the novel for Reading, and decided after he started that it was 'boring'. *sniffle* The again, he's only ten. I might well be the only English Classics - loving aberration in my family, which makes me a little sad.

I paused it to explain the phrenology references at the beginning, so when they got to that bit they found it properly amusing - laughed out loud, in fact. If they hadn't, I'd have had to consider the prospect of having more children. They have generally good geeky taste, but if they couldn't appreciate Jeremy Brett's performance, I might've had to start fresh with a new litter. ;)g

This is the first week of Big Boy's online classroom sessions, which are ungodly early on account of time differences. He is not happy about this, and neither is anyone else.

Finished reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets after school yesterday, and treated the boys to the movie. They enjoyed it quite a bit (we made popcorn), but still insisted the book was better (which made me very happy).

Other things, things pretty much beyond my control, are not going well at all, but there's no use in going into it. Let's just say I could use some positive energy in my direction, if you have some to spare.

***

In GeekaChica news, Goddess of All has us looking forward to DragonCon with The Mighty Dragon Lives!!!!!, adorned with some of her own con photos. (She had a bunch more, but only so many would fit with the article.) Looks like fun.

I have about three different articles I've been hoping to get out there, but time management issues have been making that difficult. I worked on it some while the boys watched the movie yesterday, but I really need to find a way to make more time. Hmm.

So, I saw the new trailer for Alice in Wonderland embedded over at my friend oberonia, and I squeed mightitly. Then I thought, Hey, I'll put this up on GC. So I snagged the embed code, and this is what I got:

It all looks right in the code, I've double and triple checked. It works fine here, yeah? But when I put that code in on GC, it produces a completely different video about games.

Grrr.

ETA: I got it to work!! I'm not sure how or why it didn't work the first 14 times I tried, but at least it's up now! Drink Me: The New 'Alice' Preview Shows Freaky Promise

By way of deadcat_vagrant :




I'm falling over with unsurprise. Don't get me wrong -- I'm no conservative-basher, myself. I'm a fiscal conservative and a social liberal, but holy cow, torture is torture. While I admit to being a fan of Jack "I'm gonna need a hacksaw" Bauer in real life, there have to be principles.Besides, torture doesn't really work - people will say anything if you hurt them enough, but it doesn't mean what they say is true.

There just... there has to be a line we don't cross.

***

In other news, I'm really proud of myself for fixing some issues with the website all on my own, today. I'm not ready to lose the training wheels yet, but I'm learning.

***

Last night I watched Deception and it really was as bad as everyone said. It's like a suspense/thriller for people who were dropped on their heads as babies -- Hitchcock for the short bus crowd. The actors were all great, and I'm not even sure the scrip was the problem. It was either the director or the studio did focus groups populated by people so stoned they had to have badges in order to remember their names.

First, a thingy I discovered by way of oberonia that was pretty cool, I thought.



Hee!

Okay, on to business. Coraline is freaking creepy. I believe my kids enjoyed it thoroughly -- one in spite of the creepy, and one entirely because of the creepy.

I believe this is a sign of my excellent genes and superior parenting skills.

...

Well, okay. Maybe not. But still, I love a good story that doesn't back away from real peril and horror just because it's for kids (and, to be honest, it is entirely possible that Coraline is scarier to adults than to children). That is exactly the reason so much children's entertainment is unforgivably stupid and bland. (The same is true of entertainment for grown-ups -- nearly all of it is either stupid or bland, and most of it is both. But that is another rant.)

Without spoilers, I will say that certain button-eyed ghosties annoyed me a lot. Not the fact of their existence, which I expected, but their voices and over-all visual presence. I think it may have been a case of not wanting to be too scary tipping the character design into the realm of, well, ridiculous. People chuckled at them. I'm uncertain whether they were supposed to be funny, but I don't think so.

Still, that was the one visual/auditory failing in what was overall a fantastically creepy and original story converted to a fantastically creepy and unusually honest film that I think children and adults can enjoy together. The 3D, which will not be available next weekend, was worth the extra cost of admission, if mostly for the enjoyable depth of field it gave to everything. The "stuff coming out of the screen at you" shots were minimal.

(Plus, there was a trailer for 9 at the beginning, which ,made my eleven-year-old deem it totally worth the price of admission.)

First off, I missed you guys!

Second, We're back early because Big Boy had some stuff I wanted him to do for school, not homework per se, just stuff he was supposed to be working on over the last couple weeks that I let slip. He brought everything with us that he would need to do it, except for the Internet. Papa doesn't even have a dictionary! I was stunned. So, here we are. I'm glad to be back.

While we were gone:

It got cold.

BIL fed the cat, but took no notice of him. Thus, Irascible Cat has been keenly affectionate to me, and generally keen to fight and play tag with everyone else.

micehell is an angel of Light and Mercy, assuring that I have Video Crack to come home to, plus pictures of Travis Fimmel, actor and Calvin Klein sock underpants model. I dare you to Google him. I double dog dare you. *chortles madly*

While I have not seen the movie Twilight (and probably will not seek out said experience, though I won't go out of my way to avoid it, either), I have truly enjoyed reading your reviews of it. From narniadear and abrynne who had a good time and fell rather hard for the "wrong" character *wink* to hopeandprey, whose review contained many jewels, such as the following:

If you haven't read the book: don't. It's billed as a squeaky clean romance with supernatural elements, but it's really a how to guide for getting into an abusive relationship. On top of that, the entire narrative is first person from the perspective of a lovesick teenage girl. So, no sex, whiny teen angst, and vampires, the obvious ingredients for an international best seller.

She also refers to the book/movie's narrator/main character, Bella, as "the damned fool cunt at the center of this tale," a salty bit of veritas you are not likely to encounter elsewhere. Go read the whole review. It'll make you long for a theater for grown-ups near you.

(ETA: Since it isn't clear, I should probably add that all the people I mentioned reviewing it really enjoyed the experience of seeing this movie, and really liked the scenery, too.)
These are just a few of the reasons y'all are so much fun to come back to at the end of an exhausting holiday.