Hey, Look!

I'm back and stuff! It was a long and brutal battle with the Graduate School Beast, but eventually I emerged VICTORIOUS!!!

HUZZAH! And whatnot!

They say that the first year is always the worst, or something, so presumably I come to you today having tamed the Beast, perhaps. We'll see, I suppose.

ANYWAY, I've been trying to think of something wonderfully awesome to give you this week in exchange for being all faithful enough to realize my spontaneous hiatus is over. The only problem with hiatuses of a spontaneous nature, however, is that anything I find on the interwebs has probably been old news for a while. BUT I won't let that stop me from sharing with you my collection of silly things that kept my sanity mostly intact during those dark exam days. And hey, statistically something here should be new to someone* 


*That's not actually true. Statistically, if you read this, you've probably seen these things. But I digress.


Who here recalls the series of Saturday Night Live skits "Celebrity Jeopardy" with as much fondness and amusement as I do? Yeah, that's right, everybody. You can't help but love Will Ferrel's straight man act as Alex Trebek, and Darrel Hammond's antics as Sean Connery. Plus any character Jimmy Fallon brought in because he's just that scary good. And I'm not gonna lie, I just love Norm MacDonald's caricature of Burt Reynolds. Well, thanks to this nifty page on splitsider.com, you too can get the full experience of reliving all 14 skits once more!

As is proper when procrastinating via internet, one link always leads to another. Which is why I can give you this:

Why yes, Steve Martin was indeed playing a banjo that was ON FIRE. My respect for him has gone up.

Then, there were the occasional political ads:

I dunno, he's got my vote....


The best part about this one is that it's made up completely of Icelandic comedians and actors. And is completely serious. And they won. Yeah. "The Best Party" is currently the party in power in this Icelandic town. More about that can be found here, if you don't believe me.

And then there was this thing. Which just goes to show you that literally anything can sound classy when said in a swanky British accent.

Then there was this song that is forever stuck in my head, but I just love it so!

*replays over and over....*

And also this, for which there really just are no words. The guy dressed up like a viking might be my favorite though.

No, I'm pretty sure he's my favorite. Him or the bright socks-wearing, avid Cleveland Browns fan, because you know that at least he's honest!

And last but certainly not least, who among us of the smart phone-less (no, it's true, we exist!) have been fairly jealous of the procrastination provided by one Angry Birds game? *raises hand.* Yeah. I know. Well, be green with envy no longer, because it's now available for free through Google Chrome! *Woo!*

Anyway, that's enough for now. Your regularly scheduled awesome should resume shortly.

This is all that I can think about right now

It's 

to the

and I'm 

and

and so 

because

Happy Easter!

The Forced Vacation Of Illness

*cough*

*hack*

*wheeze*

*croak* Hey, wassup?

Sometimes it takes a well-timed lung plague to slap you in the face and say "YO! YOU BEEN WORKIN TOO HARD! SLEEP, DANGIT!"

Because when every breath feels like you're breathing in finely ground glass and your head feels like it weighs about 50 lbs, all those homework projects you had to finish don't seem quite so important. You know what does seem important?...Just about anything else.

And so, here I am, giving you what is apparently a bi-weekly blog update (assuming bi-weekly actually means once every other week, and not twice a week...I can never keep those straight...). But don't worry, this post won't just be all about homework and the joys of being sick. Nope, this week,  I decided to take a look at what was going on with the Hunger Games movies, as I've been a bad fangirl and failed to check on it in a while andHOLY COW I'VE BEEN NEGLECTING THE HUNGER GAMES FOR TOO LONG! Stuff happened! And I missed it! So, just in case you missed it too for some reason, I am here to fill you in. You're welcome.

And in case you've forgotten (somehow) or are new to the insanity here, The Hunger Games is a trilogy of super excellent books by Suzanne Collins about a futuristic dystopian society where the ruling capitol demands that two kids from every district take part in the annual Hunger Games: Last one standing wins. The story centers on Katniss, her co-tribute Peeta, and their attempts to survive the brutal rules of the game. Lionsgate bought the rights to the movie, Suzanne Collins is on the screenplay-writing team, Gary Ross (of Seabiscuit) is directing, and Hugh Laurie is not going to play Katniss and Peeta's drunken mentor Haymitch. Alright? Everyone's caught up now. They had been holding auditions for the main roles for a while now, but sometime between when I last checked and now, they found their Katniss, Peeta, and Gale already.

Katniss Everdeen is going to be played by Jennifer Lawrence.

Yeah, she's blonde, but seriously, Hollywood magic has dealt with more. According to an interview with Director Gary Ross, he and Collins are pretty excited about her potential to play Katniss. And while a lot of other fans are focusing on the fact that she's too old (a whopping 20) to play a 16 year old, Collins' main fear was that they would cast someone too young, which I agree with. Katniss may be 16 physically, but she's much more mature than that, and with a little movie-magic, Jen could do a pretty good job. And in case you're blanking out as to where you've seen this girl before, you might recognize her from the Bill Engvall show, or as the Oscar nominated actress from the Oscar nominated movie Winter's Bone. Yeah, I can see it. She'll also be in X-Men: First Class this summer as Mystique/Raven Darkholm. My hopes for this girl go ever higher. But what would Katniss be without her boys?


Next up: Peeta Mellark, the strong, witty baker's son that gets chosen to compete alongside Katniss. He's officially being played by Josh Hutcherson.

Who you may or may not know from such films as The Kids are Alright (Laser), Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (Steve), Journey to the Center of the Earth (Sean), The Bridge to Tarabithia (Jess), oh, and a voice in the English version of Howl's Moving Castle. Yep. That's all. (That's not actually all, that's just all I felt like listing). And if you're not convinced he'll do a great job as Peeta, check out what this quote from the thehungergamesmovie.org: "I was fortunate enough to be in the room with Gary Ross when Josh came in to audition,” said Collins, in a statement. “Three lines into the read I knew he’d be fantastic. Josh totally captured Peeta’s temperament, his sense of humor and his facility for language. I’m thrilled to have him aboard.” Well. There ya have it. 


But those of us who have read and love the books know that the dynamics between Katniss and Peeta are nothing without that added complication from Gale Hawthorne, Katniss'...friend/brother/lover/friend/person. He shall be played by Liam Hemsworth.

Yes. I can already see it. A little more hair and that's Gale all over the place! What, you need more? Ok, granted, his filmography isn't very impressive. The best known movie he was in was Knowing...and, well....ya know how well that one turned out. Unless you've heard of the The Last Song. I haven't, but he was in it, so if it was good...well there you go. But just like the previous two choices, Collins seems quite thrilled with his addition to the cast. And I say that if the author's happy, I'm happy. So there. 


Anyway, that's all I've got for now. I'm gonna go take a nap. See you next week (or perhaps the following week...) for some more average nerdiness!

Welcome to Writer's Block. Population: me!

I labored so long and hard over what to write about this week that it suddenly turned into the next week, and I still wasn't sure what to write about. So instead, I'm going to provide you with a supply of amusing videos and whatnot that will kill time, and hopefully make you smile. If they don't accomplish the second thing, then you must not have a soul, and I'm not sure we can be friends...(JK! I <3 guys..most of the time...)

Anyway, this was Google's grand April Fool's prank yesterday, here for your convenience if you hadn't seen it yet:

I'm totally changing my major to "Technomathmagician"


I don't know what this show is, where I can find it, or why Hulu can't show full episodes, but I'm pretty sure it's the best thing in existence right now. Ever. For whatever reason, Hulu's code embedding abilities don't want to agree with me right now, so alas, you must click a little extra. My two currently favorite clips give the rules of house sitting, and show a very elaborate game of hide and seek, which I want to do. So badly. After-party and everything.

And then there's this music video for Coldplay's song "Life in Technicolor ii," which I don't recommend watching if you have some aversion to puppets. Otherwise, it's pretty entertaining:

I just love the puppet stage crew!

And while we're on the subject of music videos, here is one by the always amazing Florence+The Machine. Sadly, it was for the Twilight movie, but that doesn't change the awesome of the song. Video is freaking creepy, though:

Can we be best friends please, Florence?

Anyway, I think that's enough time wasting for now. Go accomplish things! (or, you know, don't, whatever your plans for the day were).

Langue et la musique!

Bienvenue! Willkommen! Fáilte! ようこそ！And otherwise, welcome! I trust everybody had a nice relaxing spring break this week. Unless of course you didn't have a break, in which case I trust that you had a week. This week is dedicated to awesome music that's not in English. Because you don't have to understand the lyrics to appreciate the song (not that anyone says that you do, but a lot of people don't seem to realize this fact). 

Case and point, who could ever forget this internet gem?

We watched it for the amusing antics of one brave (or...something) individual, but don't tell me the song wasn't fully ingrained in your brain for at least the rest of the day. We called it the Numa Numa song, but it's actually Dragostea din Tei by O-Zone (Moldovan band, Romanian lyrics), if you weren't already aware. 

Also, you already know my obsession with this particular anime theme song. I'm going to embed it here again, just because I love it that much. Don't recall if I said so before, but this is Parallel Hearts by FictionJunction (Japanese band and lyrics), from the anime "Pandora Hearts."

(we'll get back to Japan, I promise)

Then there are songs that are probably more amusing if you can roughly follow or understand the lyrics, but infinitely more so with helpful subtitles. But this song in particular is so bouncy  it'd be nice and catchy whether you could catch the story in the lyrics or not. This is Le Cafe by Oldelaf et Monsieur D (French band and lyrics):

And that, kids, is why coffee is just for grownups and should never be abused.

Moving further westward, we get to the Emerald Isle, home of all that Celtic wonderfulness (Riverdance, anybody?). Despite the domineering Englishness in Britain, some pockets still speak Gaelic (among other things, I'm sure, but I only have Gaelic songs, so deal with it). So this here is Dulaman by Celtic Woman (brought to you by the same people who gave you Riverdance, so go be grateful!). I'm pretty sure it's about a girl trying to decide between suitors, or something along those lines.

Bear in mind that this particular song didn't incorporate Celtic Woman's super-excellent violinist, who is arguably my favorite part of the group. But alas, as classical music isn't technically a language, that will be another post for another day, I suppose. 

Jumping back to Japan for a Tokyo minute, I wanted to make a point that there is great J-pop that isn't tied to an anime. Then I looked through the songs I had, and according to Wikipedia, all were used for an anime. So instead I'll give you one that I never heard attached to a show, because then it will count...kind of. Anyway, this one is Rolling Star by Yui (Japanese band and lyrics). It was used at some point for Bleach, but I never really cared for that one, and so didn't hear it that way, so we'll pretend I didn't look it up....

If nothing else, this is an example of a good Japanese song that the anime incorporated, rather than a good song specially made FOR the anime, like Parallel Hearts was. 

And now we get to songs in other languages PLUS Latin, which is dead and therefore universal. The first is a German gothic/electronica...thing. I don't generally go for the goth-rock genre, but there's something about E Nomine and the way they incorporate the Latin and techno that just works for me. Also, it's great for keeping yourself awake for all those all-nighters/early morning adventures. This is Mitternacht (Midnight), and is probably one of the most well known E Nomine songs out there (and yeah, the whole album is about werewolves and vampires and things that go bump at midnight, if you were wondering. Also, yes, I do realize that whoever made this video doesn't know how to spell "German," but it's hard to find the right video, so shut up!):

Also, is it completely politically incorrect for me to suggest that if one were to listen to something particularly gothic, then German is the perfect language to accompany it? Yes? Too late, it's already been said. Make your complaints at the door. 

Finally, this last song mixes Russian AND Latin AND English AND is awesome. Yes, it's another song created for the sake of an anime (Ghost in the Shell), but try to deny that it's pretty wonderful. No, go ahead, try. Well, listen to it first, then try. It's Inner Universe, was composed by Yoko Kanno, sung by ORIGA, and like I said, is in English, Russian, and Latin. 

Ok, now try. You can't, because it's awesome. I particularly like the fact that Yoko used Latin as a breath of serenity in the midst of the fairly chaotic techno music, in contrast to E Nomine's use of the language to enhance their creepiness factor. Latin's pretty versatile for a dead language, it seems. 

Anyway, that's all I got for now. Come back next week and I'll either blow your mind with something awesome, or cop out again. Or something in between. Gotta keep things mysterious, after all.

Stuff and.....stuff....

*WARNING* This post may be composed of way less awesome than previous posts have been. For your own safety, lower all expectations now! *END WARNING*

'Sup. As you may or may not have noticed, I didn't post anything last week, my reasoning being that I had given you two posts the week before and you could just deal with my self-proclaimed vacation (well, one post and a half, but still....). Also, the last two weeks were when the Grad School Beast goes on it's bi-semesterly hunt, fattening itself up before it's mini-hibernation during Spring Break. Long story short, I haven't had the time to read, watch, or hear anything new and wonderful to write about, and I've already used up my current stash of potential topics for when I have no topics (yes, it was a pitifully small stash. Shut up). So I said to myself "Self: Spring Break is coming up. You'll finally have some time to sleep and think and get back on all your tracks. Woo!" 

And then Spring Break came along (that's right, it's right now for those of you keeping score at home), and I came to the horrifying realization that I still had nothing to say, mostly due to the same reason stated above, which hadn't yet had a chance to rectify itself. 

So instead, I could just tell you about my Spring Break Adventures in Catsitting. Except that, as mature cats and therefore no longer adorably rambunctious kittens, they don't generally do much but eat and demand to be scratched. Then there's this, which pretty much exactly happened this morning:

except I'm not a dude, the room's not quite that messy, and it was the horrifying sound of something fragile falling from a high place instead of a baseball bat to the face. Same effect though.

-PS- I looked all over the room, and couldn't find anything that looked shattered, so the good news is that nothing seems to be broken. The bad news is apparently I'm hearing things now.

I could also tell you about my new venture into Dungeons and Dragons. It was the "Dragons" part that won me over. And also that I could make a character who was a dragon-person (don't ask, I don't know either), complete with working dragon wings, who radiates dragon magic, breathes dragon fire and is on a quest to learn about dragon heritage type things! DRAGONS! Otherwise, I've learned that D&D in it's entirety is apparently far more complicated than I care to know at the moment (or possibly ever, but definitely at the moment). 

Or I could just continue making blandly lame excuses about why I didn't sit and wrack my brain grapes for a better post idea.

Yeah, I'll go with that last thing. 

So. How 'bout that daylight savings thing again? It keeps happening, just like clockwork..hehhehhehee...

Ok, ok, I'm done. See you next week with what will hopefully be a much more post-like post!

In Response to Birdsong

Dear little songbirds,

Yes, we are all very excited that spring is here, and we can share in your jubilation that you have made it home safely after your winter-long visit down south. We understand that you must have a lot of catching up to do with the neighboring birds whom you haven't seen all winter. However, beyond your trees are windows, and beyond those windows reside various inhabitants who would be very much obliged if you would quell your vocalizations until a more a reasonable hour. Three-thirty in the morning, for example, is not reasonable. You see, we humans tend to associate birdsong with daylight, particularly in the early morning. You could then imagine our confusion when, while sleeping fitfully for fear of waking up late, we are suddenly startled awake in the middle of the night upon hearing your many warbles and believing it to be much later than it is. Therefore, in the interest of everyone's sanity, we hope that we can all come to the agreement that all birdsong should be postponed until dawn is actually breaking. In other words, we would all appreciate it if you would please find it within yourselves to SHUT THE HECK UP!!

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Some Concerned Citizens, otherwise known as "The Humans Contemplating Getting Cats Just to Hunt You Down"