gender roles

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/babiespregnancy/babies/article/995112--parents-keep-child-s-gender-secret

I figured I would start off with this, for a more serious topic. I promise I'm not trolling anyone here, I genuinely found this interesting. Also, a little ridiculous, but....well, alright, let's continue.

If you read through the (admittedly long) article, you'll basically find that it's about two parents who are raising their 3rd child to be genderless. There are, I'm sure, many people who feel strongly against what the parents are doing, and just as many people who feel strongly FOR what the parents are doing. I am one of the former; I think this is wrong, and will seriously inhibit the kid in the future. Maybe I'm a conservative at heart, but...I really don't approve of this, and I'll tell you why (I'm sure you'll all so excited, lol).

This, to begin, is different from a situation where someone was raised as a boy or girl and then feels (for whatever reason) that they identify more either as a genderless person, or as someone of the opposite gender. That's perfectly fine to me; that is great, and if said person wants to pursue that, I am all for them, and it's wonderful when parents legitimately support their children. That is NOT what is happening here, just so we're clear. This is a decision being made FOR this kid, who is a three-month old baby.

These parents are, essentially, refusing to define what 'normal' is. I mean, don't you think that part (if not the most IMPORTANT part) of a parent's job is to tell their child what is normal and what is socially acceptable? Someone said the following, as an example, which I somewhat agree with:

Pretend this had nothing to do with gender; pretend this was about parents not teaching their children how to talk because they didn't want them to be "restricted by the confining nature of established languages, thus stunting their creativity." It's pretty obvious there that the parents are setting up their kids for failure, beause they'll be unable to communicate and function in normal society. Outside of their own family group, those hypothetical children would be completely helpless, because they lack something everyone else considers an extremely basic skill.

The way these two parents are raising their children is little different, because said children are going to be so socially maladjusted that they're not likely going to understand how normal society works (and being home-unschooled is only going to compound the problems).

I agree with this, essentially. I would also say that not teaching your kids to talk is somewhat of a larger issue, because speech is a tool that one needs in order to get through every day life (or at least MORE of a tool than gender is, IMO). What's worse here is that these parents (in real life, the ones in the article) are taking things a step further; they're showing the kids how to be ABnormal, and are encouraging it. If Storm is born as a male, biologically, then...what is wrong with that, exactly? Are they incapable of raising a child as a boy, and then teaching him AFTER the fact that it is okay to challenge the norm? What's wrong with that, exactly?

These kids, not just Storm but Jazz and Kio as well, they have some rough times ahead of them, and I genuinely feel bad for them. They're going to have to go through some serious therapy if they ever want to come close to something that is 'normal', or else literally face scorn and ridicule for the rest of their lives. Being raised in an environment such as this will definitely create some serious sexual/gender identification issues, and if that doesn't mess a kid up, I don't know what will. I'm not saying they will DEFINITELY be screwed up, but they already have a tough road ahead of them. I simply disagree with this because it is something being pushed onto a three-month old baby, not someone who can make the decision for themselves.

Some might say that parents force a LOT of things onto their children, which is true. That doesn't necessarily make it right, however. For example, religion. Parents definitely force (if they follow a religion) their beliefs onto their kids from the moment they're born...yet, this is a horrible analogy, because religion in no way stunts someone's mental, physical or social growth. At the basest of levels, religion can be considered a 'hobby'...and this is coming from someone who IS religious, so bear with me. You might spend a day or two a week on it, you might learn some morals that you should have learned from your parents as general rules in the first place, and you'll get (more often than not) a book with things in it that you need to memorize. When practiced normally, religion is not taking the place of anything, such as social and intellectual interaction. Essentially, and I'm stealing this point from someone else who made it but it's a good one so w00t, "teaching a child to be religious does not remove a core skill the child would otherwise learn."

I don't want to come across as bashing the LGBT community or anything like that, because that's not what I'm doing here. There is a difference (an important difference) between a member of that community and these kids (Jazz, Kio and Storm): sexuality (or a lack of it, really) and social dissonance.

If you're attracted to your own gender, then that's a sexual urge and it's one that is not likely felt until you hit puberty, and that is a sexual feeling. The other thing here, which I've brought up already, is that of choice. Someone who chooses a transgendered lifestyle normally does that because they feel they were born with the wrong 'equipment'. Going to the kids that are currently being raised by the parents in the article, Jazz and Kio, I don't get either of these indications. Jazz, for example, wears dresses and does his hair up in pigtails...he's not doing that because he thinks he should have been born a girl, or because he feels like a member of the opposite gender (because, if you read the article, he identifies himself as a boy), he's wearing dresses because he thinks that's what a boy should do. THAT is what is messed up here. Challenging the norm is great; it's awesome, and if parents want to do that, then that's great. However, these kids are essentially having their conceptions of nearly everything screwed with, without being able to decide if that's what they want, and that is going to cause a great deal of hardship for them later on in life. They're also being home-schooled...so, great, they're going to have an even harder time when their schooling is done, since they'll have even LESS interaction with the outside world than normal.

Essentially, the choice for someone to move from a 'traditional' gender role to a less traditional one (aka, to decide that you are transgendered rather than a male or a female), that's a choice that should be taken by the child, and not the parents. These parents are forcing their own ideas of why the kid should be transgendered onto him/her, onto a three-month old baby no less, and it's sad, but the kid is going to be messed up in years to come. Kids already have hard lives....but that doesn't mean these parents should go out of their way to make it harder.

watching a lot of movies

I really have been watching a lot of movies lately. This is perhaps born of the fact that I do not have a job, but I already watch an obscene amount of movies, so I figured I would write a little about them. I've already written about seeing both Thor and most recently Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides (there's no '4' in the actual title, but whatever), but I've seen a bunch of other movies in between, so might as well talk about those!

Fast Five (2011), Wedding Crashers (2005), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Iron Man (2008), Back to the Future (1985) and No Strings Attached (2011) are all movies I have seen over the past week, in addition to On Stranger Tides (2011) and Thor (2011)...though, that last one I saw at midnight, May 6th. I saw Fast Five and OST in theatres, the others I all saw...uh....not in theatres. Yup.

Anyway, Fast Five. I was not the biggest fan of the Fast and the Furious series of movies, because really, as the series went on, the movies got progressively worse. It hit rock-bottom with Tokyo Drift, and number four (which I think was just called 'The Fast and Furious', or SOMEthing like that) kind of brought the series back to a level where things kind of resembled respectability. At it's core, the series has really only been about a few things: fast cars and hot girls. Add in a liberal sprinkling of destruction and things being blown up, and you have a series of movies that anyone looking for a fun time will give a try. Fast Five made the series a little more fun, as it was obvious that it didn't try to take itself too seriously. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, even Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson...they all had ridiculous one-liners, tough images and intense races and fights. Even Tyrese Gibson and Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges had their moments. I enjoyed this movie, I will not lie, and I enjoyed it way more than I did PotC 4. They are, however, very different movies, so it's kind of unfair for me to compare them. Elsa Pataky, one of the new cops alongside The Rock himself, is also ungodly attractive...definitely the hottest chick in the movie, hands down. But, ah well. Also, yes, The Rock and Vin Diesel fight...and it's awesome. My only complaint was that neither the People's Elbow nor the Rockbottom was used...but I guess that would have been a little too MUCH fan service? Does a thing even exist, 'too much' fan service? At the end of the day, it was a fun movie, and I enjoyed it. Happy endings for all, and the after-the-credits scene leaves it open for a potential sequel/reboot/spin-off, even IF the storyline of Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster has a satisfactory ending. Ah well; fast cars, hot girls...what more can you ask for?

Wedding Crashers was released in 2005. That was six years ago, in case you can't really count that well....it has been rented (back when Rogers Video was still around my house) by my parents MANY times, and each time, it was returned before I could watch it. I just kind of resigned myself to never seeing it, and then finally, I just got the urge, got a hold of it, and sat down and watched the whole thing. I really like Owen Wilson, and Vince Vaughn is kind of meh, but whatever, I can deal with him. It was a hilarious concept, but honestly, as soon as Wilson's character said 'Aren't we being a little irresponsible?', I KNEW that movie was shifting right into rom com territory. Indeed it did, as Rachel McAdams graced the screen soon after, and Owen Wilson's character was done. It was still funny along the way, and I got to see Bradley Cooper be the bad guy, before he was famous like he is now! I think he has a LITTLE to go to become truly a mega-star, but I mean come on, he was in the A-Team, the Hangover (which is getting a sequel this summer...how does a movie like that even GET a sequel? Isn't the lesson learned here one that says 'we should never get this drunk ever again'? ah well.), Limitless, and a few others. As far as the movie itself goes, however, it was funny, and the side plot with all the craziness that kept happening to Vaughn was also entertaining. It was just a little TOO predictable, right down to the wedding scene...but, ah well, entertaining is what matters, right?

Okay, I totally ended the last two paragraphs with questions, and I get annoyed when that happens too much, so I shouldn't do that too much myself...right? Ugh, stop it. Okay. I had already seen Sherlock Holmes, Iron Man and Back to the Future several times, the latter two being in my favourite movies ever list, so I will refrain from talking about them too much. Suffice to say they are awesome, especially the latter two. Sherlock Holmes I re-watched because I had been reading the stories again, and so it's always fun to watch another imagining of it. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law have undeniable chemistry, and I am excited to see them take on Professor Moriarty (one of my fav villains of all time, even though he's only really been in one story) come Xmas time of 2011. Back to the Future is one of the best movies ever, period, so if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

It's ironic that I spoke about BttF, because one of the things Christopher Lloyd says in that movie a lot is 'Great Scott!!' Honestly, when they said 'Great Scott!!' in No Strings Attached, I ACTUALLY thought that Christopher Lloyd was going to be the dad of Ashton Kutcher's character. Clearly not, but a weed smoking Kevin Kline is probably the next best thing. Also, what is wrong with me? I literally just STARTED watched a chick flick at 2am, and CRIED at the ending (well, not the ending, but the part where they get together/where Natalie Portman admits to Ashton Kutcher that she's completely in love with him, which is essentially the ending). No, that's not a spoiler, because it's a chick flick. You knew Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher were going to get together from the very beginning of the movie, so don't complain about that. It was a good movie, however, one that I would give maybe a 7 or 7.5 out of 10. It was recommended to me by two girls who thought it was awesome, and it WAS a chick flick, but it was a good movie nonetheless. What DID weird me out was at the end, where you see the director...Ivan Reitman?! The guy who directed Ghostbusters I and II as well as Kindergarten Cop? Wow. Ah well...his next project seems to be Ghostbusters III, so maybe that will be awesome.

There are still some big blockbusters left on the summer list, and of course I'm still going to be watching movies in between. Harry Potter, Cars 2, Green Lantern, Captain America, Transformers 3, Cowboys and Aliens, X-Men: First Class....all of those movies are coming out within the next two months, and I am going to be there to see them. wooo movies!

geoffrey rush is awesome.

I will admit, I first saw Geoffrey Rush as an actor when I first saw 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'. I had heard of him prior to that movie, but had never really seen him in action before. After the movie was done, I was immensely sad...because, you know, his character dies. SORRY, alright, if you haven't seen the FIRST PotC movie by now, then you've essentially been living under a rock and probably aren't reading my blog in the first place.

ANYway. I pretty much became a huge fan of his after that movie, and also a huge fan of his character Barbossa. He stole pretty much any scene he was in, and continued to do so for the rest of the trilogy as well (but wait, Shoaib! You just said his character dies! Well, tough luck, you should watch the rest of the movies). On Stranger Tides just came out, and yes, Geoffrey Rush is back. Honestly, he is a supremely talented actor, and had Christian Bale not been even MORE awesome in 'The Fighter' this past year, then he would have easily won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in 'The King's Speech'. He once again steals every scene he's in, and has an absolutely awesome end scene (as in, the last scene that you, the audience, see him in in this movie).

As for the movie itself, however, it fails to do much beyond showcase how awesome Barbossa is. Johnny Depp is still wacky ol' Captain Jack, and the audience I was with never failed to laugh at everything he did, regardless of if it were funny or not...and frequently, most of the stuff Depp does as Jack is merely chuckle worthy. Still, he was entertaining, but I think this movie suffers from a fate that many movies suffer these days....giving away a lot of the 'big' moments in the trailer. From that trailer, I could already deduce (quite easily, since all the following things they just say outright) that the movie was about the chase for the Fountain of Youth, and that Blackbeard was on its trail. Hell, I could have deduced that from the end of PotC 3 (what a travesty that movie was...it was so bad), I didn't need a trailer to tell me that.

Blackbeard was less menacing than I thought, sadly. Ian McShane looked every bit the part that I would imagine Blackbeard to look like, and he even sounded like what I would imagine Blackbeard sounds like. Unfortunately, beyond that, there was nothing. There was some stuff with mystical powers and voodoo, but...it just all came across as nothing more than a cheap intimidation trick. No one really took him seriously, and even Blackbeard's threats to kill people came across as hollow. Even the ending, which I won't spoil, seemed like a desperate act of an old man, rather than coming across as ruthless and despicable. Penelope Cruz, as Jack's love interest, was rather attractive, but...just seemed like so much window dressing.

Finally, the love story. I am not afraid to say that Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley were my least favourite things about the last three movies. It worked for the first film, fine. That movie could have come to its conclusion, and I would have been happy to never see the characters of Elizabeth and Will ever again...but, no, it was shoe-horned into the next two movies. Well, at the end of PotC 3, their story was done! Obviously the creators felt the need to shoe-horn in another love story, because the budding romance between the missionary (whose title seemed to be there only so Jack could make a joke about the 'missionary position') and the mermaid. Trust me, the romance felt nothing BUT tacked on at the last minute, and was pretty much completely useless. Of course, the filmmakers found a way to make it somewhat important, but it really just felt totally contrived and uninteresting.

In the end, Barbossa has a really cool scene, Jack gets what he wants, and the movie is open-ended enough for a fifth movie. Considering it's made a total of over 250+ million dollars internationally (making it the biggest international debut for a movie EVER), and just over 90mill domestically (meaning in North America), I think it's safe to say that Captain Jack will be back for another adventure on the high seas. You know what? I'll be going to see that one, too, along with millions of other people. I'd give this movie a 6.5 or 7 out of 10; nothing horrible, but nothing too special. A fun summer popcorn flick for people to take in, laugh, watch some stuff blow up, and have some general fun. I'd recommend it for Barbossa alone, but there's plenty of other moments that's enough to make you laugh. Oh, and there's an after-the-credits scene. It's nothing special, just enough for a chuckle or two. Still, if you're willing to stick around for the end of the absurdly long credits, then be my guest...I know I did =P

being the bad guy (or girl)

First of all, this is probably one of my sillier posts, but whatever...who doesn't like to let their imagination run wild sometimes?

Buuuuut yeah. I said this in an earlier post, but man…I love the bad guys. I can’t say being the ‘bad guy’ or ‘bad boy’ in real life is appealing, and indeed, I try to live my life by being a generally nice person. Yeah, I make fun of you guys a lot, but I am confident when I think that most (if not all of you) know that I love to kid and joke around. Having said that, I feel as if I was suddenly approached one day out of the blue, and given a role in a huge movie (because that happens, right? =P), I would want the role of the bad guy. Bad guys like the bad guy in ‘Schindler’s List’, okay…maybe not him, though Ralph Fiennes did an absolutely fantastic job at portraying the monstrous Nazi officer. But, someone more…silly/sympathetic as a bad guy, and I think I would love to do something like that. It’s weird, though, I can’t think of a villainous role like that in recent memory that takes itself less seriously. Would Loki from ‘Thor’ be that? Probably not. Maybe a villain of a lighter movie, like Christopher Walken in pretty much anything (like ‘The Rundown’, with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) or someone like Sean Bean in Goldeneye. He’s still pretty darn evil in that movie, Sean Bean, but it’s more of a lighter evil than Ralph Fiennes in ‘Schindler’s List’. I think you guys know what I mean…even Alan Cummings as Floop from ‘Spy Kids’ would maybe fit this role the best, hehe.

In truth, I would probably not be the main bad guy. I’d be more of a henchman, like the crazy gun-toting outlaw who is Russell Crowe’s second-in-command, in ‘3:10 to Yuma’, or someone like Idris Elba’s character from the TV show ‘The Wire’. I love the movie/tv villains, I really do, they’re just too awesome. I feel, though, if we were all transported into a realm of movies (let’s say an action movie), I actually think we’d fulfill certain roles quite well within the movie-verse. Let’s say, for discussion’s sake, the people who were transported into this alternate dimension were myself, Matteo, Carrie, Jen, Ruta, Rebecca, Ashley, Christianne, and…well, I was going to keep going, but let’s cut it off there.

I’d like to say, also, that the first 20 seconds of this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kpfGGmCJzA) song would be my theme song. It would be great.

Anyway, to continue on. I think first we’d have to be divided into the protagonists and antagonists of the movie…with eight people, it CAN be even, but whatever. The protagonists, I think, would be Jen, Ruta, Rebecca, Christianne and Ashley. They would definitely fulfill their own mini roles within the protagonist group…but more on that in a bit. Obviously, the others would be the bad guys, meaning myself, Matteo and Carrie. I’m not saying you guys are horrible people, I just think you would be good at being bad. Especially Matteo and Carrie…woooooo!

The group of protagonists, though. There's the leader, the 'second-in-command', and then the other people. If it were an action movie, and we were all in the military or something (like a sweet special ops squad where everyone is talented in one specific area), it'd be the general leader (who is like a 'jack of all trades, master of none' type person), the sniper, the demolitions expert, the hand-to-hand combat expert, and the communications expert. It'd be Jen as the communications person, Christianne as the sniper, Rebecca as the demolitions expert, Ruta as the hand-to-hand person, and Ashley as the leader person. I also just realized that this squad would be made completely of women; that's not a bad thing in any way, but it KIND of ties into the next post I have semi-written, which I hope to finish soon.

BUT, now for the group of antagonists. If it were the type of movie where a special ops squad was called in to save the day, the antagonists could be pretty varied, I think. I DO think in this case, it'd have to be a Bond villain type character, where the mastermind is all evil and makes evil remarks every five seconds, and has a cat to stroke while sitting in a swivel chair, and all that good stuff. Any good evil mastermind has one or two chief henchmen, who (usually) get their own personalities...I think that Matteo and I would be good henchmen (you know, the type who constantly plan to eventually overthrow their boss, but in the meantime follows orders dutifully), which means that Carrie would have to be the evil mastermind. She's already pretty evil (likes 'Little Miss Sunshine', knits, enjoys equity....you know, the staples of an evil, evil person =P), so no problem here.

I am reminded of several instances. First of all, I am reminded of the Robot Mafia, from Futurama. They're awesome, and you should all look them up on wikipedia, where their article can be found. I am also reminded of the movie 'Flushed Away'. It's actually one of my more favourite newer animated movies, and has a pretty large (and star-studded) cast of voice actors. It essentially follows the adventures of a house mouse from uptown London, who is flushed accidentally down the toilet to the sewers below...where he discovers a massive town of mice and other creatures. He eventually also discovers a diabolical plot for the toad crime lord to destroy the mouse city, and hilarious things ensue. The toad crime lord has two chief henchmen, a huge, soft-spoken muscular albino lab rat, and a skinny, verbally abusive unlucky mouse. It's funny, the first one is voiced by Bill Nighy, who plays Davy Jones in the 2nd Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and who is also in 'Love, Actually' as the aging rock star dude...and the second one is voiced by Andy Serkis, none other than Gollum himself. They have some pretty hilarious dialogue/moments between them, and they're some of my favourite characters in the movie, which as a whole is pretty good, as far as animated films go. I will leave it to you guys to determine which roles you think Matteo and myself would fulfill =P

There you have it. A crack team of specially-trained soldiers attempt to take down a dangerously powerful crime lord, backed by her two unique henchmen. That would make for a pretty sweet movie...well, *I'd* watch it, at least. Would you?

gone fishin'

Due to blogger going nuts and deleting the last thing I posted, here is the last thing I wrote again.

I have brought this up with some of you, but, still, this is one of the few things that I will watch and just laugh until I die. Yes, it's sports-related, but it's just so entertaining that I have to tell you guys about it. So, the TV station TNT, they have their own deal with the NBA, and they are basically one of several television stations that have their own unique deals with the NBA, that allows them to broadcast (and cover) games during the NBA season and during the playoffs (TNT, ABC, ESPN, they're all in on the broadcasting deals). I prefer TNT the most, though, because they have a studio crew of four guys who are perhaps the funniest people on television in terms of sports broadcasting that I have seen in a long time. Chris Webber, Ernie Johnson (the host of TNT Overtime, which is the name of the show they're all on), Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith, they are absolutely hilarious (and they also know a lot about basketball, with Webber, Barkley and Smith having been players in the NBA themselves for many years). They have a segment called 'gone fishin'', that only airs during the playoffs, because it revolves around teams that get beaten in the postseason. It's pretty simple: when a team loses in the playoffs, the four of them get together in the studio and they start up the noise of their 'fishing boat', and they basically have a photoshopped picture of players from the team that got ejected from the playoffs on fishing boats...because, now that they're not playing in the playoffs anymore, what else do they have to do besides go fishing?

It's honestly hilarious, and I know not everyone finds those things hilarious (and yes, it's a bit mean, not going to lie), but omg, I can just watch those videos over and over, hehe. Unfortunately, I cannot link you the videos (not that you guys would watch it anyway), as I can't copy the link from nba.com. I can only direct you to http://www.nba.com/video, and you'll have to click on the little menus on the side where it says 'TNT OT', and find the 'gone fishin'' videos for yourself. So far they've sent the Orlando Magic, Portland Trailblazers, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, and most notably, the Los Angeles Lakers....all out on their fishing trips. I have watched all the videos this year so many times, just because it's so funny...I hope you guys at least look for them, though truth be told, you probably have to follow basketball (which I don't think any of you do) in order to find some of their jokes funny, hehe. Ah well, just another thing to share =P

I also think I've decided what I want to do after university. For the longest time, I have been set on going to law school, because...well, it seemed like that was the natural thing to do, right? I was in political science, and I enjoy it, and my parents thought it was a respectable career choice, and THEY thought I would be a good lawyer (and they're talking about prosecutor/defense lawyer, not just another corporate lawyer, though I'd truthfully be good at that too, since that stuff actually somewhat interests me), so they pushed for it. I was driving my mom around the other week, and we got caught in traffic on the way home, so we just ended up talking for the hour and a half that we were on the road (not that I don't do that anyway, but it was just an ideal time to bring it up). Eventually, the subject got around to post-grad, and I brought up the fact that not only do I not really want to do it, but I'm not even sure my grades would be stellar enough to get into UofT's law school, which is where I'd prefer to go...and let's face it, you DO need a pretty high GPA to get into UofT graduate programs, and I def do not have a GPA that is 3.7-3.8 or higher. Something that has always interested me was writing (big surprise, eh?). I've been writing for a long time, and I've written short stories, poems, screenplays, most of which no one apart from me has ever seen (and I'm perfectly fine with that =P). I ALSO write a lot for this blog, and also for the various student publications, like the Strand and for the Varsity. I thought about it, and I think doing a Masters' in Journalism would be something that I would greatly enjoy, and funnily enough, the best Journalism program offered in Canada is actually offered right here at home in Toronto, over at Ryerson! That is literally a 10 minute walk from where I hang out right NOW, so I mean, it's not as if it's a huge commitment to go over there and do something that I love.

The dream job, for me, would be to work for a sports franchise, specifically either a football (american/canadian football) team, or a hockey team, as a General Manager of said franchise. The GM is responsible for many things: drafting new players, resigning current ones, trading some players for new ones, evaluating talent, and basically a lot of the behind-the-scenes work. It's a job rooted both in business and in a love for the sport, and I would absolutely love to be doing that one day in my life (preferably football, if only b/c I know way more about football and its various positions than any other sport, hockey included...though, hockey, I love it). That would probably require an MBA (Master of Business Administration), and I know that doing an MBA is definitely not as daunting as it may sound, so I might do that after my undergraduate degree sometime down the road. It's not essential to have right away, especially if I want to do a journalism degree, as many of my cousins and even my own father have gone back and done their MBA on their own time, years after they've graduated.

I enjoy having a plan, as you can tell (if you already didn't know that about me =P). Up until that talk with my mom (and my dad fully supports it, after talking with him about it later), I felt like I was just kind of ad-libbing my post-grad plans....and now I feel as if I actually HAVE a plan. It's super nice to have my parents be behind me on this: it turns out that they were only pushing for law because they thought *I* wanted to do it. I only wanted to do it because I thought *they* felt it was a good career choice....what a weird vicious circle. Anyway, that's solved. I already have the grades for the Journalism degree, so basically, if I keep my grades up/potentially better them (and keep writing, which I intend to do more this coming year in terms of The Strand and The Varsity...well, maybe moreso the Varsity than the Strand), then I'll get in no problem. wooooooo!

the cemetery of forgotten books

It's funny, you know, that this title is only really relevant to people who have read 'The Shadow of the Wind', literally one of the best books I have ever picked up and read...and the only other person who I've ever met who has even HEARD of this book is Christianne. Ah well, more references for her =P

But, to move away from that, the point of this post was about books! I love books. I love reading, and I love to write because of it. According to my mother, I learned to read (things like name tags, cartons of things in the fridge, book titles, movie credits, etc) when I was 2 1/2 years old. I vividly remember, when I was 3 or 4, having those little 'young adult' novels in my hands, starting with the Clue books; each 'chapter' is a separate mystery, and in order to find out the solution, you need to turn the book upside down, and read the back page of every chapter upside, which has all the details you need to know for the solution. Apparently, again according to my mom, people used to think I actually COULDN'T read, because they'd see this little kid holding a book upside down, laugh, and walk away. Well, sucks for them, because I've now read more books than I can count, and have amassed what amounts to a small library here in my room (I've not counted, but one small section of my book collection has almost 200 books in it, and that's not even getting to the larger bookshelf that I have...you know what, I think I'll take some pictures for the first time, and post them up here for you guys):

It doesn't look like it, I know, but that right there is over 100 books in terms of the actual novels. Each book cost me 10$, and are individually between 200 to 300 pages each. I've spent so much money on them over the years...and yes, ALL of the books in this picture are Star Wars books. I own nearly all of them, and I'm proud of that, considering I collect a ridiculous amount of Star Wars memorabilia. Near the bottom right part of the picture, is a book inside a plastic case...that is the only book there I have not read: it is the original Star Wars novel, published before 1977, which was the year that Star Wars was released, and made into one of the most popular pieces of cinema ever to grace theatres. I'm almost afraid to touch it, as if its collector's status will disappear if I do....maybe one day I'll read it, when I have time to be more careful, but until then, I guess I'll wait.

This is another bookshelf, and as you can see, I've amassed more books here. The SATA thing in the corner is just a random box, I was too lazy to move it out of the way (it has the damaged hard drive from when my laptop died, hehe), and next to it further on the right (right at the edge) are my comic books, but I didn't take a picture of that. Anyway, Robert Ludlum and Clive Cussler are here, two of the better spy and action writers around, respectively. Ludlum, as some of you may know, wrote the books that spawned the movies, the Bourne Identity, and if you look closely, you can see them there. Agatha Christie and Tom Clancy also have books in that picture, so...yeah, those are some more books there, about 30-40 of them.

woooo, more books! I had to zoom out for this one, but that is my bookshelf (the final shelf is obscured by the bottom of my bed, but ah well). It's so far zoomed out, in fact, that you can't really see each shelf and the titles on each one; I won't go so far as to name them, but suffice to say that each shelf has about 100 books on it, for a total of approximately 550-600 books (the lowest shelf, the one you can't see, has more of my textbooks and all that school stuff than actual novels I read). Finally, yes, I have read every single book shown in these pictures, most of them more than once. I've DEFINITELY read the Star Wars books ALL more than three times each, and I've read most of the books on this last picture once or more. In the 2nd pic, I've read a lot of them only once, but I've definitely read them all at LEAST once. Also, yes, in the bottom right hand corner is my Indiana Jones DVD boxset. wooooo!

But, yes, I love to read. I'd name some of my favourite books/authors, but...it would be a pretty damn long list. A few would be the aforementioned Cussler, Ludlum and Christie...they are absolutely fantastic authors, especially Agatha Christie. Her murder mysteries are SO good. Michael Crichton, Isaac Asimov and Orson Scott Card are pretty fantastic...George R.R. Martin is great, too. Matthew Stover, Aaron Allston, Timothy Zahn...those three are up there too. Any of their books (Foundation, I Robot or Caves of Steel by Asimov, Ender's Game by Card, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, or pretty much anything by Crichton, there are soooo many) are great...I could definitely keep going, hehe, and end up naming hundreds of books, but I'll call it quits here. Like we did for the last post about movies, I again invite you guys to name some of your favourite authors or books; I'm always on the lookout for more novels to read, so...gogogo!

what does blockbuster even mean?

I always wondered that. Are blocks being busted? Is it that the 'blocks' that have been set up by previous movies are now being 'busted' by the new movies that are so popular? I think that sounds like a reasonable explanation, so I'm going to stick with it.

I was going to make a post about this girl I saw today, because she looked pretty damn stunning...but, I digress. THIS post was kind of spurred on by my previous post about Thor, but that got me thinking...what ARE my favourite movies? I have seen a LOT of movies, and I consider myself to be more of a movie buff than a video game buff, if only because I have definitely seen way more movies/can name way more actors/even filmed a bunch of short films with friends in high school. There are other reasons, but...yeah, movies are great.

So, my favourite movies. I've spoken about my favourite tv shows, and my favourite music...even my favourite childhood shows! I never really spoke about my top list of movies, though, so here it is. Note: I kind of cheat a little bit with this, as while I have individual movies listed here, I also just list favourite movie series as well. Whatever, though, we'll look at them as we go.

The top four is a concrete list:

1) Empire Strikes Back

2) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

3) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

4) Back to the Future

Honestly, after that, I couldn't really tell you where the other movies might fall. The other ones depend on how I feel on a given day, hehe, but those four never ever waver in their order. They are, quite simply, masterpieces. There are no films made currently that I feel are better than them, and I love them so much. I have seen these movies so many times I know all the dialogue for every scene, and every little detail I can remember without much effort, haha. It's honestly great, and these films are a part of my childhood in pretty much every imaginable way.

Afterwards, though, I would have the following movies in no particular order:

Ghostbusters 1 and Ghostbusters 2

Star Wars

Return of the Jedi

Back to the Future 3 (BTTF 2 was just weird, I'm not a huge fan of it other than the fact that it's another entry in the BTTF series)

Iron Man (with Robert Downey Jr., in what is IMO the best comic book movie ever....The Dark Knight can suck it for all I care)

3:10 to Yuma (the remake with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, I love Westerns)

Diehard (1, 2 and 3)

There are a few more, I'm sure, but those movies are my absolute favourite movies. I will not put any other movie above them, though I hold out hope that there will be movies someday that can be ADDED to the list. The Birdcage (with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane) is a movie that is absurdly funny, and I recommend it to all of you....it follows Robin Williams as the gay owner of a drag club, where Nathan Lane is the gay star of the club, who is also his partner/lover. Williams' biological son from a previous heterosexual relationship comes home to announce that he is getting married, to the daughter (a young Callista Flockhart, who is now married in real life to Harrison Ford!) of a prominent Republican/ultra conservative senator, and of course, hilarious hijinks ensue when the parents of both kids want to meet. Tropic Thunder is a more recent film, starring Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Ben Stiller and a host of others, and it pokes fun at the way actors make movies, much like Anchorman (another ridiculously funny movie with Will Ferrell) pokes fun at the way news is reported.

I also love Disney movies! I mentioned this before, but I've seen almost all the major movies, and they're all great. Pixar really just smashes every movie they make right out of the park, and even the 'less' successful ones are still leagues better than every other animated (and even sometimes live-action) film out there.

This summer, to return to the 'blockbuster' aspect of the post for a moment, promises to have some massive hits out there. There's Thor, which I spoke about last night; Captain America comes out on July 22nd, Pirates of the Caribbean 5 on May 20th, Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon on July 1st (Canada Day!), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II on July 15th, along with Green Lantern, Cowboys and Aliens, X-Men: First Class, and a host of others that are also waiting to captivate the public's attention (and lighten their wallets).

I confess I never really liked the Harry Potter movies. I admit that the most recent one (HP7: Pt I) was easily far and away the best of the movies, and I only say that because it had more action and less dialogue, because apart from Ralph Fiennes and Alan Rickman, every actor in that movie was stiff and uninteresting. Even the two I just mentioned didn't get that much dialogue...it was just a lot of special effects, haha. Even so, it was very good, and I was impressed. The other movies were pretty much just a step above garbage every single time, and I will never defend the movies. The books are wildly entertaining, and they allow your imagination to run wild in any direction you want; the movies just try and recreate the same magic on screen, and so far, 6 out of 7 times, it's failed. I've said this so many times, but Part II of HP 7 is going to absolutely destroy every single box office record known to man, and I want to be a part of that by going to see it at midnight. Having read the books extensively, and being able to call back a lot of the detail of said books, I (and every other HP fan in the world) know that Part II is going to have a ludicrous amount of action in it. Riding dragons out of bank vaults, blowing up the Room of Requirement, Snape being bitten by Nagini, a huge battle in Hogwarts (will Mrs. Weasley actually yell 'NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH', in Helena Bonham-Carter's face?)...it definitely promises to be an action-packed movie, which is something I expect from my huge summer releases. The less dialogue it has the better, but goodness knows we're going to have to deal with Harry-Ginny and Ron-Hermione at some point, but I hope that it will be mercifully brief.

Anyway, those are my favourite movies, and some of my thoughts on the subject. I have yet to do this, but, I would be thrilled if you guys would post in the comments section your OWN top list of movies! Even if you don't have a concrete list like I do for my top four, just list some of your own favourites! It's always interesting to find out more about these things, so...gogogo and tell me! Maybe we can even have some interesting discussions about them! =D

the god of thunder

Yup, a post about Thor. It's only right I write a post about the movie I just saw; I've already updated my Facebook status, updated Twitter, and BBM'd Matteo, so there's only this left to do ANYway =P In fact, as soon as the credits started to roll, I did the last two (in opposite order, obbbbviously I BBM'd Matteo first) right away...woo! I'm also going to do some shameless self-promotion here, and post this link (http://blogvincible.blogspot.com/2011/04/simply-marvel-ous.html); in it, I talk a little about Marvel and its movies, but here I'm going to talk about the movie itself, rather than the comic book aspect. People have all said it was the best Marvel movie to date (so, to recap, current Marvel movies would only include Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk [with Edward Norton, NOT Eric Bana], and now Thor; the X-Men movies, Fantastic Four and Spiderman, they are all owned by Fox/other production companies, despite being Marvel characters), though I disagree. It is DEFINITELY better than IM2 and Hulk....but, no, sorry, Robert Downey Jr.'s debut role as Tony Stark/Iron Man is still the best Marvel movie around. Thor is a close second, though.

Chris Hemsworth is an awesome actor, and I'm glad he got the chance to shine in this movie. I feel as if we'll be seeing him in a lot of other movies, as he was just the right amount of likable for a Marvel movie + the right amount of badass...because, let's face it, you NEED to be a badass in order to wield a giant ****ing hammer. Tom Hiddleston absolutely stole the show, however. While Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman and Idris Elba (the last of which was SO BADASS ALL THE TIME) were their usual amounts of awesome, Hiddleston was someone I had never really seen before...and my goodness, he was easily the best actor here. The perfect choice for Loki, who has also been cast as the villain of 'The Avengers', he just mesmerized the audience in every single scene he appeared in. As I've mentioned before, I've long enjoyed the villains way more than the good guys, and Loki just leapt to near the top of my list, solely because of Hiddleston.

I'd give this movie an 8/10, I think. IM1 would be a 9.5/10, with IM2 a 7/10. Hulk would be a 6/10...but, yes, Thor was awesome. The special effects were super cool, too, but don't go see it in 3D like I did, it's not really worth it. The end credits scene only really makes sense for people who are fans of the comic books, but stick around and see it even if you're not; it's still a treat to just watch. Finally, a certain actor (who has only recently become famous, thanks to 'The Hurt Locker') makes a cameo in a certain role....his character is never called by name, but there is absolutely no question who that character is supposed to be. People who are not fans of the comics probably won't get who he is beyond some random government thug (which isn't his backstory, it just makes sense within the context of the movie), but people who ARE fans (and even the lightest of Marvel fans would be able to know who he is solely by his weapon of choice) will definitely recognize him the moment he runs out onto the big screen.

My goodness, the geek in me came out several times during this movie. The fight scenes were cool, and there was just so much fan service in terms of in-jokes, dialogue, the aforementioned cameo, other supporting characters....so good, sooooo good. I should also mention that the previews showed an extended trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. That movie, honestly, is going to be bad. I'm sorry, it's not going to be a good movie. Having said that, it IS going to make an assload of money, just like HP7 Part II will, and just like Transformers III will. Of those three, HP7 Part II will probably be the best actual movie in terms of quality, but even then, that's not saying much, considering the HP movie franchise is not the best when it comes to quality. Yes, the universe is wildly entertaining, but....the movies get a huge meh from me (other than Ralph Fiennes, that is, he is so deliciously evil). Oh, also, there was a movie where Zoe Saldana was shown (as the star of a movie where she is a trained assassin)...my goodness, she is definitely one of the sexiest women ALIVE. I mean, maybe 2nd, after George (I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF, THE JOKE WAS THERE TO BE MADE, OKAY?!).

Ah well, though. Thor is a fantastic movie, and knowing all the people who read my blog, I think you would ALL enjoy this movie. Even if you're not a comic fan (and really, only ONE other person who reads this would fit that category), this movie is still a fun summer flick, and is truly 'that' movie which always kicks off the summer blockbuster season. It's fun, there are pretty women, snappy dialogue, jokes, interesting and fairly deep characters, continuity with previous and future movies, and everyone manages to avoid the trap of making their characters stiff. Every single one of the characters, in my opinion, were well portrayed, and that definitely helps to suspend my disbelief. Now that Thor is done (soooo good ahhhhhhhh), that leaves the following movies on my summer list:

Captain America (midnight)

Harry Potter 7 Part II (midnight)

X-Men: First Class (midnight)

Cowboys and Aliens (midnight)

Transformers III

Green Lantern

I think I may be leaving one or two off that list....suffice to say, I'm going to a lot of midnight releases. I may remove X-Men: First Class, but my god, I am going to see Captain America at midnight if I have to walk there by myself through a hurricane. Harry Potter I kind of want to see at midnight if only to say I saw the LAST HP movie at midnight, because god knows that movie is going to obliterate every box office record known to mankind. Heck, I may even wear my Vic scarf, and then show off my college as well as pretend to be from Gryffindor at the same time =P Cowboys and Aliens...Harrison Ford AND Daniel Craig in the same movie? Uh, yeah, midnight. The other two get meh/10, so, I'm just going to see them whenever....probably the day AFTER they come out, hehe.

But, seriously, the god of thunder sure knows how to have a fun time, whether it's in Asgard or on Earth, and I'm sure you guys will have fun watching him blow stuff up...I know I did =P

special forces to the rescue!

Goodness, Facebook has become an even LARGER cluster**** than normal, with the news that Osama bin Laden is dead. I have not only learned that bin Laden is dead (via the actual news, not the pseudo-reporters that seem to comprise my friends list), but I've also read some pretty interesting (read: some are weird, some are funny, and some are just dumb. Some are also pretty normal. You can decide which is which) status updates:

"...is interested in the news and wonders where the United States goes from here...?"

"Is this the killing of Osama bin Laden or a Sugar Ray free concert in Daytona Beach?" (from George Stroumboulopolous' Twitter, reposted via fb)

"Hey Obama, will I be able to keep my shoes on at airports now? Can I take my water bottle with me?"

"I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this."

That last one resonated with me particularly. Right now, outside of the White House, Americans are cheering and singing the national anthem, and all this other nationalistic stuff. Goodness knows people are already/have already blogged about everything, and I'm sure all the pseudo-reporters have already (or are now starting to) geared up to tackle this on their blogs, calling it a 'new day in the fabric of history' or other such stupidness. Let's be honest here: Osama bin Laden hasn't been relevant for almost half a decade now (if not longer) within the scope of international terrorism, and millions of people ALREADY thought he was either A) already dead B) part of a government conspiracy or C) both. I greatly enjoy that so many people are coming out of the woodwork now, and declaring the world a safer place all of a sudden. Really? Reeeeally? The world is safer now because ONE guy is dead? Yes, sure, he claimed responsibility for the attacks on 9/11 on his own behalf as well as the behalf of Al Qaeda, but...I'm sure that this massive terrorist organization has more than one person in its structure. Apart from that obvious fact, and I'm certain the White House (along with every other government) knows that already, but....the world ISN'T suddenly a safer place. It's still as dangerous as it ever was, both overseas and domestically. There are still dangerous people and organizations (Al Qaeda and many others) that are out there for their own gains, and, really, I am a little disappointed that so many people are proclaiming this a 'new day'.

I read something that was pretty interesting, on one of those aforementioned blogs (see, they're not ALL bad):

Apparently people are rallying around this subject at the White House. ‘People’ being the people I went to college with, the same people who rallied around the White House when Obama was elected.

So here’s what I think about this. I think that this death should not be a celebration. This death should be solace. I think that the culture we live in is incredibly militarized and no one really thinks about it, because when you live under the specter of war for ten years, you get used to it. I think that there are millions of people who will wake up tomorrow able to breathe a little easier. I think that this war is not over, and until it is over we have to continue to work toward its end. I think that militarization is quiet, and angry, and does something to a person and to a nation that is difficult to fix. I think it gets inside of you and makes a part of you spoil. I think that there are children who can never remember a time when the US wasn’t at war. I think I am one of them, and I am not a child. I worry about what that does to them. I worry about what that does to me.

This is a moment. We should take it in. And tomorrow we get back to work.

That was taken from http://hopesichord.tumblr.com/post/5122451903/its-a-busy-evening; while I don't read that blog at all, the link was posted on fb, and I thought that was interesting. It's not a 'new day in history'. It's just another moment in the war, a war that was declared on terror and ending terrorism (or at least denting it seriously). Killing this man does not end that war, and like that blogger said, tomorrow we get back to work. Everything continues as normal, really; it's just another moment.

Yet another person had this to say about the whole bin Laden situation:

The best outcome for this guy, the best sort of revenge or way to undo what he stood for, was just to let him fade into obscurity and be forgotten. His whole MO was getting attention, that's what terrorism IS, and now you've given it to him again. The Celebrity President dragged out his corpse on the eve of his re-election campaign and all of his 'intellectual' followers are now chanting "USA!" too.

You can feel good about whatever sense of revenge you've got from this or whatever, that's fine, but killing an old man on dialysis isn't going to accomplish anything. It doesn't help the economy, cure the sick, feed the poor, or do anything even remotely noble, like governments are supposed to be worried about. Hell, it's not even going to end the war they started over him!

That's pretty much right on the money. I agree with this wholeheartedly, and while I'm definitely not begrudging people for feeling good (although they're feeling good about a man's death, which is someone morbid and a little wrong, in my opinion)i n a time where it's always their soldiers getting sent home wrapped in a flag (which is awful, by the way, there's no sarcasm or making light of the situation here), his death doesn't really accomplish anything.

Someone ELSE posted about the ramifications that this could have for the Canadian federal elections, and had this to say:

Canadian (hence short term). Does the conservative base get all energized and be like 'oh hey wait, terrorism, we DO need super jails and jets and stuff) or does everyone forget that it's election day and turnout falls stupendously

I dunno if I think ANYthing will happen, really. I think that people are going to come out tomorrow, and think to themselves 'well, Osama bin Laden is dead. Time to go vote!', and everything will proceed as normal. Turnout will be fine, the Liberals will still get destroyed, Jack Layton will still win his popularity contest (but not be made Prime Minister), and Harper will get another minority government. Yeah, sure, I could be wrong...but normal polls open in a matter of hours, so...I guess we'll see! Anyway, I'm going to go to sleep. I had aimed to go to bed earlier, and then my friends decided they wanted to hang out, so we ended up playing video games. I have an interview at 2:30pm, so...time to go get some rest!