(no subject)

[jackofallgeeks]

Dawn put it up, so I had to do likewise.
I'm such a sheep. -laughs-

Friend's Quiz
How much do we really know about our friends? This is a survey to
help you know your friends better.

1. What time is it? 19:28

2. Name: Andrew

3. Name as it appears on birth certificate: Andrew David P.

4. Been anywhere other than America? Yeah, a few years back when I was in Highschool, my whole family went out to Europe. My dad was in port in Italy, so we flew into London, met him in Paris, spent a couple weeks in Italy, went up into Switzerland, then back through Paris, and out of London.

5. Been toilet papering?: Nopes

6. Love someone so much it made you cry?: Uhm, hmmm... Seems like an odd concept to me, actually... But, I can't cry even when I want to, so...

7. Been in a car accident?: Yeah, I suppose so. First, my sister was going down Elbow Road in Virginia Beach in Janurary and landed us in a ditch for the ice. Then I was comming around a corner on a rainy after noon after work, my car stalled (causing the anti-lock breaks not to work) and I bumped into a Ldy waiting to turn into the neighborhood. Then, I was in California, driving home from Mexican dinner, some jerk cut me off as the light turned green, I stopped, and the guy behind us bumped our trumk. Nothing more than minor damage in any of them.

8. Croutons or bacon bits?: Croutons... no, Bacon... no, Coutons... no... Actually, I'm a fan of straight-veggi salads. -nods to this-

9. Favorite day of the week: Saturday. Nothing to do except what I want (now that I no longer have that weekend-job I had durring school. Lemme tell you, that sucked).

10.Favorite word or phrase or quote?: A true man respects and defends the honor and dignity of a lady, in all that he says, all that he thinks, all that he does.

11. Favorite Restaurant? Toss up between Outback and Lonestar. Lonestar has better steaks, I think, but you just can't beat Outback's Onion...

12. Favorite flower? Uhm... I think it was blue...

13. Favorite sport to watch on TV: Olympics. Specifically, Gymnastics. -nods- I'm not a big fan of WATCHING sports, really, but there's just something about Gymnastics that's always entrigued me...

14. Favorite Drink?: Coke. I've been trying to quit, trying to drink more Juice, but we only have Sodas at work, and the boys never make juice at home, so... -sigh- Maybe this coiming semester, when i'm on "My Own" again...

15. Favorite ice cream?: Vanilla, but it has to be the RIGHT kind of vanilla. I'm not sure exactly what that kind is, as if I've ever thought to check I've forgotten along time ago, but I think it's Vanilla Bean, as opposed to French Vanilla or what have you... A creamy-kinda not-too-sweet Vanilla...

16. Disney or Warner Bros.? Eep! Satan or Baalzamon, eh? The Frying Pan or the Fire? S'like being caught between a rock and a hard-place. But, choosing the Lesser of Two Evils, I would say Disney. My reasons for this judgment could be discussed at a later date.

17. Favorite fast food restaurant? Wendy's or Taco Bell. Wendy's has decent food, but it's becoming less and less appealing... Taco Bell, on the other hand, while not overly-appealing (though not un-appealing) is cheap. I spend $6.00+ to feed myself at Wendy's, and only $2.53 at Taco Bell!

18. What color is your bedroom carpet?: If you count this as my bedroom (it's really the guestroom), then it's a kinda red-wine-purple thing.

19. How many times did you fail your drivers TEST? None.

21. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?: Amazon.com

22. What do you do most often when you are bored? Computer games, I suppose.

23. Most annoying thing people ask you? I'm sure I don't remember...

24.Who will respond to this email the quickest? I'm sure I don't know... Stacey? Elizabeth? I almost guarontee not Leslie or Beth (subtly challenge).

25. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to? Well, to list those on my Friends List: Leslie, Beth, Mel, Megan, Claire... I'd say, least likely, Leslie. As I recall, she loathes these things.

26. Favorite TV show(s)? I don't watch TV much, but when I have, these ranked high: The Tick, West Wing, Seinfeld, The (older) Drew Carey Show, (the older) Whose Line Is It Anyways, and... uhm... I think that's it...

27. Last person you went out to dinner with?: Claire and Family, I believe.

In other news, work was OK. My boss was out of the office again, so I didn't get any *new* work, but me and David got some stuff done on our curresnt project. The trouble is, I'm 'sure' my code works, but I need the server up to test it. David's working on the Server, but he doesn't know anything about what my code does or needs, and I don't know anything about setting up the server, and to add to that, David's not the easiest guy to explain things too -- one of those types that "knows what they're talking about," even when they don't. So, right, that's fun...
I've also been told that I might be able to extend my contract through to May, and after that maybe get a pay-raise. Rock. That'd be better than the $7.50 that DSS would give me...

I'm trying *again* to get a Mage game started, though this time I just have a player group of 3, and I'm going to enlist additional help as far as certain GMing tasks go. We're planning on getting t'gether (the four of us) this coming Sunday, and hopefully getting character and setting stuff out of the way. -laughs- The way I talk about it, you'd think I knew what I was doing.

And finally -- I'm attempting to find an old friend of mine, Stephanie H. from the Bagel Bakery. Unfortunately, I rather lost touch with her when I moved out to Washington State, and then shortly there-after, we both went off to college. The internet is a wonderful tool -- does anyone knopw how I might be able to find her?

---

P.S. My parents got the Soundtrack to "Chicago" the other day. We listened to it, and I really enjoyed it (odd, though, how my parent's didn't recall "all that profanity"...). Also, I feel I must go see "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, just for the steampunkishness of it all. Does anyone have any opinions on the movie yet (Leslie, I speak most particularly to you, O Critic)?

Comments

[photoholic62.livejournal.com]

Baa Baa!!

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

-laughs-

[starlight1184.livejournal.com]

Three things:

I think I may do that survey... hmm...

Chicago - The Revival American (as opposed to the London revival) Broadway soundtrack (starring Anne Rienking and Bebe Neuwirth) is better than the movie by far. If you like the music, I highly reccommend you borrow that from the library or buy it yourself. Far surpasses the movie version, in my opinion.

Lastly... you MUST see Pirates of the Carribean if you have not already. SO wonderful. :-) Johnny Depp ROCKS!!!

[surichan.livejournal.com]

Does anyone have any opinions on the movie yet (Leslie, I speak most particularly to you, O Critic)?

Either you don't read my journal, Andrew, or you somehow totally missed this entry. ::snerk::

I liked it. It was a lot of fun. Because I'm a tough old critic, though, there were many things about it that bothered me. But the characters themselves, with the exception of one, are great. It's hardly an intellectual I think you'll dig it. Go and tell me what you think.

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

-laughs- No, I confess, I intentionally skipped that entry, and your one on the Pirates (except enough t'see you gush a bit about... Johnny Depp?). It's not you, it's me -- I fear the spoilers (not that I expect you to ever intentionally spoil anything, but criticizing often requires discussing the movie, which leads to spoilers). That having been said, I think (generally) you have a good grasp of what makes a good movie. Or something.

I'm confused on but one piece: "It's hardly an intellectual I think you'll dig it." Jigga what?

[surichan.livejournal.com]

::laughs:: Dearheart, I put the spoilers for that entry behind an LJ-cut, so people could choose to avoid them, if they wanted. ::grins:: And as for PotC...heh. There were no bloody spoilers, that movie was so simplistic.

Sorry, forgot to finish my sentence there. ::grins:: What I meant to say was, "It's hardly an intellectual piece, but regardless, I think you'll like it." 'Cause it really is fun, if you don't mind that it's just another action-driven summer movie. The characters are great, especially if you've been exposed to them before, in the novels from whence they came, or the comic book.

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I saw you mention this comic -- I didn't know there was one. What is it with all these comics-made-movies all of a sudden? Though, I have had limited exposure to a few of them, but not too too much. I was going to say something else, but I don't know what.

[surichan.livejournal.com]

::laughs:: Funny you should ask that - I myself can often be heard questioning that very phenomenon.

It seems to me that film over this past decade has come in very distinct groups. Remember a few years ago when it seems like all the films that came out were those disaster movies ("Dante's Peak" et al)? And then there were all those apocalyptic films ("Armageddon", "Deep Impact")? And then the dark, religious ones (a la "Stigmata", "End of Days", "Bless the Child", "The Omega Code", "Lost Souls")? Well, these days, the rage seems to be comic book adaptations, and everybody's cashing in on it. They're even making movie versions of comic books that are so little-known, it's a marvel they actually think they'll make any money. To my mind, only a very few people knew of the comic LXG...and I highly doubt if most of the audience going to see the movie knows of the comic's existance.

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

Well, you know, I think there may be a resurgence of Trillogies and Musicals, too, if we're lucky. Well, 'lucky,' depending on how you look at it. But what with Star Wars and The matrix, and Moulin Rouge and Chicago... -shrugs- It could happen. But you're right, they do seem to be comming in waves, especially with the X-Men, Spiderman, Daredevil, Hulk, and now LXG. Though, I must say, the thing I'm interested in seeing in LXG is the Steampunk environment it seems to have. There isn't enough Steampunk (characterized by industrial revolution era settings with fantastical/supernatural elements). We need more of those. Or something.

[surichan.livejournal.com]

Oh, we've been in the era of trilogies and sequels. Remember the running count Beth and I were keeping of sequels coming out? I think our last count was 22. Right off the top of my head, "Tomb Raider 2", "Ocean's 12", "Bad Boys 2", "2 Fast 2 Furious", "Cube 2: Hypercube", "Charlie's Angels 2"...you get the picture. Gone are the days when they used to make sequels sparingly, and the sequels used to actually be kinda good (like "Ghostbusters II"). And a lot of films that could have gone as one-shots and been okay are gearing up for trilogies - "Spiderman", "xXx", and "X-Men"...although the lattermost is now contracted for 5, and I don't feel badly about that because...well, just look at how great the first two were.

And LXG left room open for a sequel. I really hate that. People need to re-learn the lost art of making a movie that stands alone. Like, now. With the quickness.

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

-laughs- Ocean's 12? Are you serious? That's just wrong.

No, see, there's a difference between making a sequal and making a trillogy. And there's a difference between making a Trillogy and milking a concept. Spiderman is making a sequal. If it makes more, it's milking the concept. Matrix walks the thin line between making a trillogy and milking a concept. All the comic movies are just trying to get a piece of X-Men's market.

The trouble is that Hollywood seems to have this idea of "Hey, if it sold once, it'll sell six times!" It's not so much that they -can't- make a good stand alone picture (though, don't press me for any recent ones) but more that they WON'T make them. They'll get more cash out of your pocket if they can hook you once and beat you out three or four times, you see?

Ocean's twelve... that's wrong in so many ways...

[surichan.livejournal.com]

First off, whenever I read "trillogy", I can't help but think of a trio of musicals - "trill" being to sing in a warble or vibrato. ::grins:: Pardon me, it's just the anal-retentive speller and English speaker in me...and it never ceases to amaze me how you're such a stickler for precise speech and language use, and yet don't seem to care a whit for spelling. ::laughs::

As for "Ocean's 12"...yes, my initial reaction was much the same. It disappoints me so much, 'cause "Ocean's 11" was really great. I saw it without expecting to get anything out of it, and I ended up loving it - that's a rare thing, and it made me so happy. But now they're making a sequel, and it's just like...okay, you're not original. Anyway, each of these guys walked away from the tri-casino heist with millions of dollars; are they really gonna need to pull another job, like, ever again?! Anyway, now the whole secondary plot is blown as well, 'cause Clooney's got his woman.

It's just a stupid idea, and no sequel is gonna be able to back itself with as much coolness as the first one. The first one just had style oozing out of it, and I can't see how they're gonna get that back without going totally over-the-top.

You know, I can't think of a really great Hollywood stand-alone in recent years, either...all the really awesome stand-alones I can think of were either made independantly or in other countries.

See, my take on the Hollywood machine these days is as follows: Hollywood makes a bunch of trash films, but they do so with big-name actors and market said trash films well, making them look really cool. Thus, lots of people pay money to go see said movies, whether for the actors or the cool-looking shit, or both. Thus, said trash films make a ton of money, and since money is what makes Hollywood go 'round, Hollywood takes this to mean that they can make more bad movies, since, hey - they're a dime a dozen, and they don't have to use any real brainpower or skills to make something worthwhile so long as people are willing to pay for crap. And hell - even when trash movies bomb at the box office, Hollywood just figures they'll do better next time, and aim to make a cooler-looking sequel with even bigger-name actors with which to lure people into spending money. And the cycle continues.

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

-ashamed- Well, no, you see, I am a stickler for grammar, and word usage, and yes, even spelling. The trouble is I'm so very, very poor at it. I'm sure you can tell. I do try, you know, and I've quite improved. The trouble is, I find it quite distateful (and ultimately self-destructive) to rely on a Spellchecker... So, yes, many, many times I hit poor spelling, but I try earnestly. -smiles- You'd laugh at me if you knew how I wince while reading the poor spelling of others, and I do try to correct myself when I can.

As for Hollywood... I think it's really just a flaw in mass-market generally. That is, shit sells. And as long as shit sells, what's the use in putting out the effort to make something better? In the end, most companies are just out to turn a buck, even if the individuals in that company believe in something greater. Until people demand better, we'll get exactly what we're willing to pay for. -shrugs-

[surichan.livejournal.com]

Indeed. And as someone who has, admittedly, paid to see shit movies, I don't suppose I can really talk.