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Saturday, January 31, 2004
 Dear book!Legolas,
Please stop using the word "grope" and complimenting Gimli on the "hardness" of his "axe". I'm trying to be good and not to pay attention to all the double entendres that are ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE IN THIS BOOK TOLKIEN YOU PERVY OLD GOAT, but as Chungy tells me this book is supposed to be Pristine and Innocent, should be ignored. I was succeeding for the most part until YOU came around and started perving up Helm's Deep. You are henceforth not allowed to talk ever again, and must resign to standing around and looking pretty. You're good at that. (Oh, and Aragorn and Eowyn have had only a scene and a half together so far in which they've only said like two words, and they already have more chemistry than Aragorn and Arwen. What's up with that?) Crossly, Priscilla Priscilla said at 11:00 PM Dear Immune System,
If I'm starting to get sick, there will be WORDS. Love, Priscilla Priscilla said at 9:44 PM *giggles* Ah, SomethingAwful.com, how I adore thee.
Meanwhile, And Then There Were Six! It's been fun mocking you, Lieberman. Anyone in the mood to take your spot as 3rd place for the position of 3rd place? (Now that your "joementum" has come to a halt, is this a good time to pen a "joebituary"?) Priscilla said at 8:36 PM I think I have overstepped the bounds of geekdom.
Priscilla said at 7:18 PM TOP THIRTEEN WAYS HOWARD DEAN IS LIKE ARAGORN:
Brought to you by Priscilla Spencer of Fangirls for Dean. Priscilla said at 6:35 PM So many LJers have adopted my Disco Fever Dean icon that I decided I needed a new one. Thanks to permetaform and rechan!
All those in Feb 3rd primary states (AZ, DE, MO, NM, ND, OK, SC), get out and vote! Unless you're voting for Kerry, of course. :D Priscilla said at 1:07 PM Ooh! 21 readers are now syndicating abeybaby, Cult of Lincoln's LJ feed. So who are you? There's no "Friend of" feature on syndicated accounts, and I'm curious. Roll call in the blog comment field!
Priscilla said at 12:56 PM
Friday, January 30, 2004
I love getting to be a regular at take-out places. In New York, the guy at the eatery across from class would give me half-price on sandwiches and now, Tarik at Bitar's gives me free mini-desserts. Life is good.
Priscilla said at 8:36 PM Dear Disney,
You cannot fathom my wrath. This project will be dropped immediately. You are not cool and we are not pleased and this is the evidence. Get your act together and don't mess with my favourite book. (Unless, of course, you throw us a complete curve ball and actually manage to produce an enjoyable film. You gave us PotC after all, though that was entirely due to the Midas touch of Johnny Depp.) Wrathfully, Priscilla Priscilla said at 12:59 PM Renata! Neil linked to you again! (Also, this is the entry that has the thing about Johnny. Come back to us, Terry Gilliam!)
Priscilla said at 10:44 AM EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Tanja's going to be able to come to America this summer! You're welcome to crash in Dallas at any time, my loffie. And hmm, come to think of it, I'd love to go to Alaska and meet Rebecca, too...
Priscilla said at 10:18 AM *gurgles*
Just found out from Heidi, who found out from Neil's blog, that before the Good Omens movie was put on hold, Johnny Depp was set to play Crowley. How perfect is that casting? Guh, I feel weak in the knees. Can you just imagine him calling Aziraphale "angel"? Humminahummina. Priscilla said at 10:01 AM
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Whee! I got laughed at by total strangers today!
Well, classmates, but people I didn't know, nonetheless. I suppose it all starts with laundry. I had gone far too long without doing laundry. Because it's very difficult to get a washing machine in the evening or over the weekend, I decided to wash my clothese while I was in class today. Unfortunately, my only pair of non-superformal pants that I hadn't worn were my stripey Nightcrawler pants, so I decided to wear those to class while my jeans were in the wash. I should have known the effect they would have on me! I've found that while wearing them, they magnify my natural dorkiness quotient 400%, which is always dangerous. Alas. We were having a quasi-review session in my Communications class, as the teacher had to be somewhere else, so the TAs were going over old material and covering some things we hadn't yet touched on. One of these was focal length and lenses in film and photography. However, when talking about the "flattening" effect of long lenses, it was obvious to me that many of the students (and in fact, the TA as well) didn't understand the concept. So I piped up with an example of wide angle and long lens used in tandem, Hitchcock's Vertigo, and described the effect achieved by zooming out and moving the camera towards the subject at the same time, keeping composition the same but changing focal length. But with every word I said, I could feel the class thinking "What the...?", so I wrapped up quickly and retreated into my coat, like a turtle. The whole class laughed a "What did she just say and why did she say it?" laugh as I repeatedly facepalmed, much to the amusement of those around me. "Because everybody here has seen Vertigo" a fellow DMDer said with a grin. "Well, they also use it in Lord of the Rings..." I said in a small voice. So three cheers for dorkiness! I had an incureable grin all the way back to my dorm. It's so healthy to laugh at oneself every so often. Priscilla said at 4:40 PM I know that nearly every entry I've posted the past three days has either been about LotR or Howard Dean, but this just needed to be shared. And W00t, finally acquired a d/led copy of RotK! And the quality is fantastic! Go me!
In other news, I really need to update tnm.n. And think of a new layout. The current one went up in May 2002! Priscilla said at 10:11 AM
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Priscilla said at 8:08 PM For Your Consideration LotR Oscar nominations website. *sobs over just about everything*
Oh, and Orlando Bloom, age 4. And the M&P quintessential hobbit scenes from RotK. W00t! ... WOAH! I just got totally freaked out! My sister and I are M&P! Melissa and Priscilla. And ever since we first encountered Pippi Longstocking, my family nickname has been Pippi. My middle initial is N, so I am Pippi N. And because my sister also has a male middle name (Hudson), when she was young, she gave herself a second middle name: Mary. We are Mary and Pippi N. Why did it take me this long to notice that? *twilight zone theme plays* Edit: And, um, my mom's grandfather was a Sam, and one of my dad's rugby buddies had his name legally changed to Gandalf, and er... I think I'll stop right there. Priscilla said at 1:02 PM Guess what? Dean's still ahead. But in a way, I'm glad we came in second in NH. I'll be nice to have the media attacking Kerry for a while. Provided, of course, that he doesn't bore the media out of their minds in a week.
Meanwhile, SNOW AND LOTS OF IT. *dances* Priscilla said at 12:08 AM
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
*beams* I'm just so good today! I finished Java ultra-early, and I demonstrated brilliant, radiant insight and intelligence in my Communications course. We were discussing the use of close-ups vs. long shots in cinematography, and Prof. Messaris was highlighting the three main functions of the close-up: information, identification with a point of view, and emphasis. I brought up the concept of the close-up as a method of convincing the audience and allaying skepticism, citing the increased use of close-ups in Lord of the Rings in scenes that use scale doubles. Because the faces of the scale doubles could not be shown (without a mask, at least), in order to convince the audience the audience that yes, indeed, these are the same characters, right at the point where the viewer could begin to doubt, Peter would cut to a close up of the actor's face to reassure the audience. I kind of went on about it for a while, also citing the use of close-ups in action sequences that used stunt doubles, and how shots are generally closer when actors perform their own stunts to showcase their faces to the audience whenever possible. When I finally stopped talking, my professor looked incredibly pleased and asked if I'd come up with this on my own. I told him yes, and he asked if I was considering going into filmmaking. He looked even more pleased when I told him I was DMD. So w00t! Fabulous day! Even freezing rain cannot drown my spirits! The only thing that could make my day better is Dean winning New Hampshire. And results will start coming in in just over an hour. Oooh, the excitement! In the meantime, run yourself!
Priscilla said at 6:56 PM Ri rocks my socks.
Priscilla said at 1:58 PM Oscar Nominations!
I must say, I'm ever-so-pleased to see Johnny Depp nominated for Best Actor in PotC. I thought for sure that he would be overlooked! I doubt he'll win, but hey, I'd be delighted if he did. However, in that same vein, Sean Astin and Andy Serkis? Robbed. No other word for it. I would have thought Andy would be a good excuse to make Oscar history, regardless of the fact that I think he royally deserves it. Of course, I've only seen one of the "Best Supporting Actor" nominated movies, so I don't really have a fair idea of the competition, but seriously. Snub city. I don't care that LotR got 11 other nominations. Andy and Sean deserve some major props. And to think, many theorized that Peter gave Andy the pre-ring!Smeagol cameo to improve his chances of being nominated, so that his character wasn't 100% digital. Just when you think you've got the Oscar politics figured out... ah well. His name wasn't even on the LotR "For Your Consideration" Oscar ads, so my hopes weren't incredibly high to begin with. Still, Sean Astin? Hello, McFly? Hello? Meanwhile, on the Best Actress side, what a surprise to see Keisha Castle-Hughes nominated for "Whale Rider"! Another pleasant surprise! But again, on this list, I've only seen two out of the five. I really need to see some of these other movies before I can pretend to be an authority or have any kind of opinion. Hmm, so 11 nominations. Does that count include the Sci-Tech nomination for "Massive," the AI fight simulator thing? I don't feel like counting, myself. But can I gloat for a second? NUMBER OF NOMINATIONS FOR FILMS STARRING BILLY BOYD: 21. BOOYEAH. Okay, I'll count anyway. Art Direction, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Makeup, Music, Song, Picture, Sound, Visual Effects, Writing (Adapted Screenplay)... hey, it doesn't include the Sci-Tech nom! Go Weta! And hey, two out of the three men nominated for their work in rendering realistic-looking skin worked on LotR! Ken McGaugh and Joe Letteri! I'm surprised to see "Master and Commander" raking in so many nominations. I mean, it was a great movie, but it wasn't that great. Not One-Nomination-Less-Than-LotR-Great. I mean, "Best Makeup"? What outstanding achievements in makeup did they achieve? The "windswept look"? Yeah, there was the kid with the arm and all the bullet wounds and the wigs and stuff, but seriously. And might I point out that a large number of "Master and Commander" special effects were executed by Weta, Peter Jackson's special effects company, when Peter Weir was so impressed with the miniature work in "Fellowship of the Ring". So props to Richard Taylor! (Of course, Weta is just one of six FX companies to work on M&C, but oh well.) But... wait a second! What the... why are neither of the Matrix sequels nominated for best special effects? Sure, the final result really wasn't that realistic-looking and the context was cheesy (in fact, probably one of the worst movies of the year), but the techniques they pioneered were unbelieveable. I don't want them to win, I just want them to have been nominated! Heck, I would nominate them solely for the sake of that poor, poor woman who had to fake an orgasm over 100 times in the filming of the Merovingian's first scene. The motion control for that one special effect took over six hours to shoot. So Priscilla's Honorary Oscar Nomination For Putting Up With Horrible Working Conditions and Psychotic Directorial Demands goes to Tory Musset, the other nomination of course going to Andy Serkis. Hee, poor Andy. Mkay, the other awards very quickly: Best Picture/Director: I agree with Rave, I think RotK is the "sentimental favourite" for Best Picture/Director. They've been holding out on the other two, I belive, so that RotK can get the glory. I mean, TTT vs. Chicago? Give me a break. The politics are on our side, even. Besides, I'm hard-pressed to think of any film ever made that deserves Best Director more than RotK. Makeup: They're competing against PotC and M&C... Funny, because I was under the impression that all the zombie effects in PotC were CG. So where does that leave us? I would think anything PotC would have to offer in terms of makeup would qualify more as Costume Design. And I've already expressed my sentiments on M&C makeup. So LotR for the hobbit feet and ear tips and filthy orcses and wigs, wigs, wigs. Art Direction: Tossup. Costume Design: I haven't seen "The Last Samurai" or "Girl with the Pearl Earring", but regardless, I doubt this will go to RotK, as so many of the costumes were reused from FotR and TTT. Ah well, can't win 'em all. Editing: I would find it hilarious if we won this, as after November, no one will ever watch the theatrical release of RotK ever again, as they'll all just watch the Extended Edition. Score: I never paid any attention to the score in the other nominees, so I can't really judge. But Danny Elfman is among my favourite movie composers, so I'd be tickled pink if Big Fish won instead of LotR. I haven't seen Cold Mountain or The House of Sand and Fog and never noticed the score in Finding Nemo, so yeah. Song: Again, of those nominated, I've only seen two, and of the two, I prefer "Into the West" a hundredfold to "Kiss at the End of the Rainbow." Can't speak for the others. Sound: Not RotK, but did you know that the sound of the battle cries of the massive orc army at Helm's Deep were made by the crowd at a cricket match? Visual Effects: LotR by far. Pit them against Gollum and it's no contest. Adapted Screenplay: I have more and more respect for the screenplay with every page of the text I read. Still, the only two of these I've seen are LotR and Seabiscuit and I haven't read Seabiscuit, so I'm not entitled to an opinion. Okay, that's all the Oscar blathering I'll be subjecting you to today. You can go about your business now. Gah, this entry is long. As a reward for reading this far, Survival Tips for seeing LotR in Theatres (ganked from Ashley and Tanja). Priscilla said at 1:30 PM
Monday, January 26, 2004
How do I love my dorm? Let me count the ways.
1/30- Our January Penn PM event will be a Johnny Depp movie marathon in the Hill Gallery featuring "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Edward Scissorhands", and the newly released "Once Upon a Time in Mexico". It will begin at 8pm and go until the end of the last movie (~2am). Refreshments will be served. Priscilla said at 9:44 PM Hey... I just realized one of the reasons why I so instantly loved Judy Dean! She reminds me of Mrs. Ashley, my beloved math teacher in 5th, 7th, and 8th grades and sponsor of middle school Math and Science Club. Dr. Steinberg Dean and Mrs. Ashley have the exact same mannerisms, it's uncanny. Judy has that quiet, simple, strong-yet-gentle, caring demeanor that made all my classmates yearn to be in Mrs. Ashley's class. And they both have the same mouth. And love bike riding. Interesting.
So vote for Dean at your state primaries! Because we need someone like Mrs. Ashley to be our First Lady. Plus, the other Democratic candidates' wives kind of scare me. (oh, and I probably won't be able to keep up with comments posted on the feeds in LJ, so if you have anything to say, click the link to the corresponding blog entry and post a comment there.) Priscilla said at 9:35 PM Augh! So sorry, to anyone that just friended abeybaby. It just published my last 20 entries or so in one big block. I promise, that's just a one-time thing!
Priscilla said at 7:23 PM Oh! I am so good! Yes, LJ-users can now add "abeybaby" to their friends lists to get CoL syndicated. Huzzah to the fifth!
Priscilla said at 7:07 PM I do believe this might work! If not, I'll be back at 7 to keep plugging away at it until it does.
Cult of Lincoln RSS feed, for LiveJournal! W00t! Priscilla said at 3:50 PM Test: 1, 2, 3! Does the site feed work? *pokes Blogger*
Edit: Trying again... Edit: I think I've got it! Priscilla said at 3:38 PM *cackles with laughter*
DeviantArt Note of the Day: Bush or somebody is trying to ban anime from the USA so sign this petition to SAVE ANIME!!!I love people. They're so stupid. Priscilla said at 1:18 PM Penguin Baseball. I needent say more.
Priscilla said at 1:14 PM W00t! So LotR won everything it was nominated for! Huzzah and huzzah again! Who's ready for the Oscars?
Priscilla said at 12:02 AM
Sunday, January 25, 2004
EEEEE! And apparently, Best Director! *squeals*
Priscilla said at 10:16 PM Eeeeee! Golden Globe wins so far: Best Original Score for Howard Shore, Best Original Song for "Into the West" Annie Lennox.
"Into the West" better have won. I still get misty whenever I hear it. Wow, I am a truly pathetic human being. And frodoandsam.net better have clips sometime soon. I need my hobbits! Priscilla said at 9:40 PM Alicey! Dom is wearing the outfit you put Fred and George in at Nimbus! It's a sign! Of what, I don't know! But it's a sign nonetheless! (Kind of like how I drew Vetinari in the same robe that Neo wears in the Matrix sequels long before I saw any spoiler images. Yeah, that kind of sign. I think I'll go back to my math homework now.)
Priscilla said at 9:39 PM Does anyone know of any site webcasting the Golden Globes? Even just audio is acceptable. Bah, some day I'm going to cave in and get some cheap, tiny, black and white TV, just so I don't have to rely on the Internet as my only media source. Like this one. Bah. *shakes fist at internet in general*
I guess I'll just keep rooting for Lord of the Rings and Johnny Depp in PotC until I can find someone to tell me who wins everything. Man, it's annoying when the world refuses to revolve around me. :D Priscilla said at 8:08 PM Watching the "Dom and Billy on the WB Two Towers Special" clip (from here). I am killed dead. Here, Billy goes on about Merry and Pippin's situtation and etc, then Dom's first words are "mmm, bosom." Anyone not head over heels in love with Dom and Billy has no taste at all.
*gasp* Chungy! Billy and Dom are Sigur Ros fans! Priscilla said at 2:16 PM Huzzah! Today's Calvin and Hobbes rerun features my other all-time favourite C&H quote! (the other being "muchas smoochies")
"Verbing weirds language," though for years I remembered it as "verbing words weirds language." Good to stand corrected after all this time! Priscilla said at 1:50 PM *chortles* See the last question. Neil Gaiman, the musical!
Priscilla said at 12:49 PM Wow. This has to be the funniest thing I've seen yet in response to the "Dean Scream," and that includes this. Hee! Oh, and booyeah.
(in other news, Dean is starting to get over his cold! Wow, I feel like such a nerd.) Priscilla said at 12:43 PM Art!
Wow, I haven't done any non-sketch Discworld art in over a year. That's kind of weird. My fandoms are so neglected! Priscilla said at 3:34 AM When tnm.n grows up, it wants to be just like cnn.com! Or something! *is so entertained*
Priscilla said at 1:32 AM THIS JUST IN!
Libertine's Guide to Surviving the Harry Potter Fandom without spontaneously combusting in an embarrassing way. Priscilla said at 1:31 AM In case you ever wanted to know more about the emperor Heliogabolus.
Priscilla said at 12:17 AM
Saturday, January 24, 2004
I finished FotR over a week ago, but I'm too lazy to say anything about the second half as of yet. But I must say that with TTT, I think I would have pawned a sibling to see Pippin's gollum impression. Not necessarily my sibling, but someone's sibling.
Which reminds me: "Come on, we're all friends here! Not necessarily to each other, but to someone!" Um... here's pi to a million decimal places. Priscilla said at 10:13 PM I am in awe with the levels of appropriateness here. Wow. Ganked from Houie!
Priscilla said at 5:14 PM Ah, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. No matter how frustrated I get at Bush and/or Kerry, you always manage to make me happy. (Just gushed to Rachel about Why I *Heart* Dean. I'll turn her into a die-hard supporter yet!)
Anyway, I finally plugged in my new heater, despite having it in my posession for over a week. Mmmm, lovely and warm. Makes me want to roast marshmallows or something. Priscilla said at 5:09 PM
Friday, January 23, 2004
Dear Jasper Fforde,
When your tour schedule says you're coming to Philadelphia, would it kill you to NOT GO TO A HICK TOWN TWO HOURS NORTH OF PHILLY INSTEAD OF PHILLY ITSELF? Dude, you could have signed my copy of "Molesworth"! Grudging love, Priscilla Dear "Liberal Media," Wouldn't it be nice if you lambasted Kerry for anger issues instead of Dean, because Kerry has shown a lot more recent evidence of anger and ill-temperedness and irritability than Dean? (see the last two paragraphs) Let's see how cool and collected Kerry stays when he has cameras in his face 24/7. Because if you want to be the President, Mr. Senator, you're going to have to get used to it. And "Yeeeeeahhhhh!" is not a cry of rage. Get over yourselves. Much consternation, Priscilla P.S.: Compare this with this. Grrgh, Kerry. Priscilla said at 6:36 PM *squeaks* Howard and Judy! They are so unbelieveably cute!
Other things on my mind: 1. *laughs* Christopher Lee was the voice of Death in the animated versions of "Wyrd Sisters" and "Soul Music"! 2. Quote of the Day, while discussing subconscious sexual imagery in advertising in my Communications class. Kid behind me: "The penis is pointing in the wrong direction." 3. Last night, I saw my first episode of "Queer Eye For the Straight Guy." Oh. My. Squee. *is dead of cuteness* ::downloads all the episodes she can find:: 4. *gasp* In the New Hampshire Town Hall thing going on now, a boy just asked if he could pray for Dean. He then led the crowd in a prayer, asking God for success on the campaign trail and a just election and to heal Howard's cold. I have just melted into a puddle of "aww". Priscilla said at 12:59 PM Item #75,364 Why I ♥ Dean: Top 10 Ways Howard Dean Plans to Turn Things Around. Click "Big Show Highlight" and be amused. [Edit: Get the full clip here on BlogForAmerica! Awww, he's so cute when he's greenscreened!]
Support Dean. Because four more years of "weapons of mass destruction-related program activities" is not what our country needs. Is there a way we can turn "Eeeyyeaaah!" into a rallying cry? Priscilla said at 1:25 AM
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Hee, New Hampshire Democratic debates! Poor Dean sounds like he has a cold. XD His throat is still sore from Iowa. (Yeeeeeeeeah!) And silly Kucinich with his graphs! *giggles*
Priscilla said at 9:40 PM Mmm, nothing like the lunar new year for an excuse to order-in Chinese! Happy Year of the Monkey, my darlings!
Priscilla said at 8:21 PM Mwaha! My friend Ko promised me this link, then forgot. But Brenna delivered, because she is cool and psychic!
See "The Two Towers" as it was meant to be seen! With all the badger scenes back in place! I love the incestuous nature of geek culture. Silliness begets more silliness and feeds off of further silliness until the point that only total nerds get the joke. Mmm, geek culture. Priscilla said at 8:00 PM Priscilla said at 7:05 PM Ha! Forget the Cult of Lincoln! Does this sound like anyone we know? XD
Priscilla said at 7:03 PM Woo-hoo! Just got an email back from the director.
Priscilla, Priscilla said at 4:30 PM *snickets* Let it never be said that politics aren't crazy exciting! God bless the Daily Show.
Priscilla said at 12:04 PM Happy Chinese New Year!
Priscilla said at 10:11 AM
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
My new favourite political group: Muggles for Dean! (Accio White House!)
Inspired by Republicans for Voldemort Priscilla said at 8:53 PM Look at this picture of Dom. Is anyone more than slightly reminded of Byers?
Meanwhile, yay! After my Film Noir class, I went to Fresh Grocer and got dried apricots and chocolate soymilk and other delightful and healthy things. Hurrah! Other things that are cool: Alicey and this State of the Union screencap (undoctored). W00t. Priscilla said at 3:28 PM Priscilla said at 1:41 PM Things That Are Not Cool:
# 7: Fire alarms at 4AM where you have to stand outside in the cold (19F with a windchill of 7F) for at least 10 minutes with no socks and WET HAIR. Frankly I would rather perish in the flames than suffer the frostbite. *breaks of pieces of hair, ala Cool Runnings* Priscilla said at 4:13 AM *submits homework* Still glitchridden, but it's all the same glitch, and I'm beyond the point of caring. Good night! The shower woos me with its siren call. And, like, sleep.
Priscilla said at 2:50 AM 2:30 and I still hate Java! (oh, and I never had dinner)
Priscilla said at 2:34 AM Things That Are Not Cool:
# 5703: Java homework. I've already put in 7 hours on this assignment, yet if I turned it in now, I'd get less than a 60. Why do I need to learn how to convert binary search trees into ternary search trees and vice versa? I couldn't care less. My thought process at the moment: "Weasley was born in a BinSearchTree GAKwsflg CONCENTRATE" Priscilla said at 1:23 AM
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Priscilla said at 1:56 PM Ah, it's moments like this that make me proud that my dad claims we're related to this man.
Priscilla said at 12:04 PM And then there were seven!
After talking with Alicey and my Mom, I've decided that I'm probably going to stick with the play, but first talk with the directors about the possibility of changing certain lines that really just don't need to be said. After all, I was initally nervous about doing a table dance in front of an audience in "Man of La Mancha," and that became one of the most fun aspects of the production! Of course, this is an entirely different scale, but still, often times the most awkward theatrical experiences are the ones easiest to laugh about. It'll be interesting. And it'll show the Penn Theatre Department that I can deal with content like this in a professional manner. So go me. At least I'm not playing Helen or Dido and I don't have to be scantily clad. Priscilla said at 12:00 AM
Monday, January 19, 2004
Gurgh. "Trojan Women" script revelation + Kerry winning Iowa = I feel ill.
Priscilla said at 10:18 PM *is reading the script for "The Trojan Women"*
Holy... am I really playing Andromache? wibble? Wow, that wasn't in the script excerpts they had us audition with.... Priscilla said at 6:51 PM And one for myself (but anyone is welcome to it. Spread the Deanlove!):
Priscilla said at 5:15 PM Priscilla said at 3:34 PM Iowans: CAUCUS CAUCUS CAUCUS! And for DEAN!
Priscilla said at 1:27 PM *slams head repeatedly into a wall*
Okay, so we could do that, or we could spend our time more productively working on a RENEWABLE energy source, like wind power. GRGH, this man is insufferable. Priscilla said at 1:18 PM
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Yay, archives are working again! Go me!
Priscilla said at 11:38 PM Whee! RotK is up at Hand Puppet Theatre! Infinite loff to Jerry the Frog Productions. <333333
Priscilla said at 10:06 PM Priscilla said at 10:00 PM Iowans: You'd better be caucusing tomorrow night! (And for DEAN!)
Mmm, why would anyone need a TV when they have a high-speed connection and cspan.org? Priscilla said at 7:01 PM Priscilla said at 4:49 PM Great Political Quotes, courtesy of Fark.
Priscilla said at 3:53 PM Woah! Coming back to my room after getting my book back from Giselle, a bunch of the guys were sitting in the lounge, as usual, but for some reason, I got a strange sense of deja-vu from Dan's expression. Where had I seen that face before? Then it clicked. In that moment, he looked uncannily like mini-20-year-old-Dom in "Hetty Wainthrop Investigates". If in 8 more years, goofy, cute, awkward-looking miniDom can evolve into Teh Sexxor present-Dom, then I'd better keep an eye on Dan. If he shows any indication of becoming Dom, I may have to start being Jewish, as Dan's mother has forbidden him from even looking at cute gentiles like me. XD
Ah, Dan. The quotes board is replete with your witty quips regarding this matter. Anyway, I told him to freeze and grabbed my camera and explained to him that I would not be living up to my fangirl status if I did not record the resemblance, but by the time I moved around for the best angle, the Dom!spark vanished and he was left looking mildly-like-miniDom-but-not-noteworthily-so. Alas. I shall be on the lookout for further hints of Dommage! What a pity! (Ha ha ha. Bilingual puns!) Sleep now? Yes, mother. Priscilla said at 2:01 AM Weather.com, what is a "Light Freezing Drizzle"? You're even weirder and more specific than sound effects rendered in Closed Captioning! But yay, it's no longer "too cold to snow!" It's a bit silly when you find yourself thinking "Hey! Today's high is 20! It's really warming up!"
Mkay, really going to sleep now. I wonder what Giselle is doing with my copy of LotR. She asked to borrow it for a moment a few minutes ago. I hope she doesn't get curious about my post-it notes and actually look at them. Well, most of them are fine, but the word "GAY" scrawled in huge letters across one of the tabs marking the offending Tom Bombadil song might require a bit of explanation. Priscilla said at 1:34 AM Heehee! Saffron Burrows, who plays Andromache in the new Troy movie, apparently just wrapped up production on "Gray Matters," in which she co-stars with Alan Cumming! Mmm, 6 Degrees of Separation. Of course, if life worked like that, I would wish that I were playing Helen, as she kisses Orlando Bloom, who kisses Dominic Monaghan, who has said that he would marry Billy if Billy were female. In other news, WOW LOOK A SHINY THING OVER THERE! *runs away*
Now is the time for all good fangirls to go to sleep. Priscilla said at 1:27 AM *cackles* To celebrate, I'm watching Moulin Rouge. Hee, I'm so amused. I'm always too wrapped up in LotR to be able to giggle at David Wenham for portraying both Faramir and MR's Audrey, but now, I'm giggling my head off, imagining our favourite Gondorian captain in delicious drag.
I wonder if Peter Jackson only allowed himself to cast actors who had appeared in drag in previous theatrical exploits. We have Elrond in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, and Merry dressing as a woman in an episode of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates [EDIT: Apparently, brandyhall.net doesn't allow direct-linking! For shame! See them for yourself here under Episode 6: Safe as Houses] (why do ALL MEN have better legs than me?), and Pippin... well, I have no idea what Billy is up to here and I'm not going to guess, but he's wearing a wig, and he's probably wearing a kilt, and that's good enough for me. And Legolas doesn't count because in LotR, he always looks like a girl. So yeah. Um... look at baby!Elijah! Actually, he's nine here, but he looks four. And he still looks EXACTLY THE SAME. Erm, yeah. That's all I have to say about that. Carry on. *politely shoos you away* Priscilla said at 12:18 AM
Saturday, January 17, 2004
I MADE IT!!! I'M ANDROMACHE! EEEEEEEEE!!!!!! *explodes*
Edit: I just opened the other fortune cookie. It says "A good time to start something new." Gotta love the fortune cookie industry. Priscilla said at 10:11 PM Okay. I've been checking my email every 10-25 minutes to see if the cast list for "The Trojan Women" has been posted. Just now, so that I wouldn't have to leave my room and could keep checking every few minutes, I ordered in Chinese. My fortune cookie? "A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains."
Very funny, God. Priscilla said at 8:09 PM Whee! Just got back from "The Trojan Women" callbacks, and I'm really excited. There are 13 girls trying out for 5 female roles, not three, and the chorus will have significant speaking roles, as well. We find out our parts this evening. Huzzah!
As for The Penn Singers, I don't even know why they held auditions, as it turns out they never had any free spaces to begin with. Great. *sigh* Ah well. I never would have gone to the "Trojan Women" audition if I hadn't already been in the building for the Penn Singers audition, so it all turns out for the best. Priscilla said at 4:03 PM *gurgle* An interview with Billy Boyd on KissFM. Kilts! Really bad attempts at Scottish accents! Loch Ness! Haggis! Et cetera! Go listen!
(Click "Misc" and it's the first thing listed. *happysigh*) Priscilla said at 11:14 AM NOT COOL, MR. PRESIDENT. NOT COOL AT ALL.
CNN.com: The Hubble Space Telescope will be allowed to degrade and eventually become useless, as NASA changes focus to President Bush's plans to send humans to the moon, Mars and beyond, officials said Friday. (click the link above to read more) *has the MST3K "Mike killed the Hubble" song stuck in her head, but is not amused* Why is this man still in office? Priscilla said at 10:46 AM Ha! Found it! Thank you, lotrboys_daily and bagendinn! It's the image I referred to ages ago of Dom and Billy encountering photorealistic Merry/Pippin slash. (image originally from Theban Band, which is bad and wrong but also hilarious. NOT WORK-SAFE. Or parent-safe, for that matter.)
Those poor, poor boys. XD I can just imagine Dom saying "I don't remember doing that!" (From the Wellington TTT premiere) Priscilla said at 10:13 AM
Friday, January 16, 2004
Hey, kids! Remember this? Lord of the Rings + the cast of MST3K = Edward the Less! Huzzah! I wish they'd continued it for TTT and RotK, though I imagine it would be difficult to handle most of the plot elements, as the majority of the major characters in LotR don't exist. XD
Priscilla said at 12:21 AM
Thursday, January 15, 2004
I love my family.
Pris: You are no doubt familiar with the British expression "Keep a stiff filtrum!" Keep your filtrum well covered up if you go outside. xoxoxoxo, Daddy BTW, has anyone actually tried to physically keep a stiff upper lip? I think there's a Calvin and Hobbes strip on the matter. It's quite difficult. You end up making some interesting faces. Priscilla said at 10:31 PM BOOYEAH! Who just made callbacks for a show she wasn't even planning on auditioning for? Oh yeah, that would be me.
I auditioned for the Penn Singers, which went well, but could have gone better. The accompanist and I just weren't jiving, so my performance wasn't as good as it could have been, but I made a good impression on the auditioners and everything and offered the bribe of my enormous Gilbert and Sullivan mega-libretto-thing, so my chances are still good. And there weren't many people auditioning, so even though they probably have fewer spots available, I still feel like I have a decent chance. But the real coolness was happening right down the hall. Jen, another of the Penn Singers, was helping out with the auditioning process for The Trojan Women, a modernized Greek play. I decided to stick around and audition just for the heck of it, and my audition actually went insanely well. There were two parts, one with a woman named Marcie (a teacher), in which we did mainly physical acting and movement to judge potential for the chorus, and the other with a man named Jim (another teacher) and his assistant director, Billy. There were three non-chorus female speaking roles, Helen, Hecuba, and Andomache. As my fellow auditionees and I glanced over the script excerpts, Jim looked at me and told me I shouldn't even bother with Hecuba and that I should audition for Helen. What a compliment! To recommend that a girl audition for the most beautiful woman in the world? Dude. (Guys, take note.) He handed me the excepts for Andromache and Helen and told me to read for Andromache first. By the time I finished the first page of monologue, he told me that I could stop, and started questioning me in that hint-hint nudge-nudge tone about my comittments "if you were to be offered a role" and told me that I had made callbacks. Very good vibes there. So yay! Saturday! 12-3! Hurrah! And such! Priscilla said at 9:13 PM OMG!!!!!!11
"The space between his nose and his lip. I think it’s called the filtrum. That’s f-i-l-t-r-u-m. Billy’s got a fantastic filtrum. You know how babies have that very cute, sweet little filtrum? Billy’s got the exact same thing! So that would be my #1 favourite thing about Billy." -- Dom I AM SO PSYCHIC! Feel the philtrum-love. And Dom, you are excused from the spelling error because you're cool enough to know the word. *hearts* (Edit: Oh. Apparently it can be spelled both ways. I stand corrected.) Further Edit: Looking for the source of the quote led me to this interview: Dom's 18 Favourite Things About Billy (original source here). *is a melted puddle of fangirlish glee* And let it be known that searching Google for Filtrum +"billy" results in a disturbing amount of RPS. *fear* Priscilla said at 4:44 PM Happy Birthday to Heidi and Happy One-Day-Belated Birthday to Flourish! *schnoogles you mightily*
Priscilla said at 12:22 PM And it is now 12o with a wind chill of -4o. Life is so hard. And today is the first day of auditions for the Penn Singers' production of The Gondoliers. Grblxmrusvl. And it only snowed like half an inch last night, lying, scummy weather reporters. *shakes fist at the world in general*
Priscilla said at 9:58 AM Wow. A Fox News article urging Republicans to vote Howard Dean? I never knew that signs of the apocalypse could be so beautiful.
Edit: And this just in! Carol Moseley Braun is dropping out of the race and endorsing Dean. How much do I love this woman? There are no words. (Though I'll certainly miss her presence at the Democratic debates. She was like an oasis of pleasant tranquility and eloquentness. And I think I'll take this as a sign that I should go to sleep now.) Priscilla said at 2:29 AM
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
I just realized who my film noir teacher looks like: Sandra Bullock. I'm sure he'd be pleased to know that.
Meanwhile, yay, it's snowing! The cold weather is worth it if it's accompanied by the fluffy white stuff. We're supposed to get 3-5 inches! And I'm so glad it's flurrying tonight and not yesterday, as walking a mile and a half to and from 40th Street alone in the dark in the snow just wouldn't be cool. Priscilla said at 7:22 PM Current Temperature: 18oF
Wind Chill: 6oF I don't have to put up with this! I'm a Texan! *flails* Priscilla said at 9:31 AM Personal Challenge: Get the feel of Adobe Illustrator's different approach to color and the pen tool and whatever comes up along the way.
Result: My Tuesday schedule gives me way too much free time. Edit: Well! If it isn't 2:45 AM! Now isn't that quaint? Priscilla said at 2:43 AM
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Oh, Starbucks. I asked only for a shot of peppermint in my hot chocolate, and not only did you give me my wish, but you added sprinkles! You truly know the way to my heart. I've almost forgiven you for temporarily depriving me of Tazoberry.
Anyway, it looks like it's going to be an interesting semester. I adore today's (and Thursday's) schedule: just two 1 1/2 hour classes, spaced four hours apart. And organized with times that make dining easy and convenient! I will be able to eat breakfast! Hurrah! Math: Calculus. Blegh. But it looks like it will be nice and tolerable this semester, as my teacher is hilarious and insane. He's this big black guy that's SO EXCITED ABOUT HIS MATERIAL (he broke at least 6 pieces of chalk in a one hour period) and uses phrases like "Now let's kick this up a notch" talking about conic sections. And Jing and Karim are in my class with me, so that's always crazy fun. Yay math! Or something! Visual Communications: He showed us several clips from student films, one of which involving ninjas (no, not that one. A different Penn student Ninja film). And he taught one of Jerry Seinfeld's best friends Communications when the two were first setting out on the Stand-Up Comedy circuit and showed them how they could improve their act. 'Nuff said. Priscilla said at 4:00 PM Happy Birthday to Orlando Bloom! May your day be truly Orl33t!
Priscilla said at 12:05 PM Dear KaZaA users,
The following are *not* Return of the King: "Boogie Nights," "American Wedding," 3 hours of blackness. Please do not label them as such. Love, Priscilla Priscilla said at 11:38 AM
Monday, January 12, 2004
Hmm. I'm generally pleased with my classes so far. Today I had my Math recitation, Java and Java Lab, my Film Noir writing seminar, and Fundamentals of Digital Design. 7 hours of classes, starting at 9AM and continuing to 7PM. So not the cool. Oh well. And now, on to the boring, detailed commentary/summary thing!
Math: I'm thinking of switching classes (if any of the other time slots open *shakes fist*), as having a recitation first thing Monday morning for a class where homework will either be due on Friday or at the recitation itself on Monday is absolutely stupid. Once they've hammered out all these details, I'll talk to Amy about switching. But in the meantime, all is cool, as my friends Jing and Karim are in the recitation with me. So yay. CSE: Last semester, our teacher had a very thick Portugese accent and made random references to The Hitchhiker's Guide. This semester, our teacher has a very thick Romanian accent and makes random references to Harry Potter. This new accent would probably be quite swoonworthy if attached to someone less old and blimplike. Mmmmm, inability to pronounce the "th" sound. *happy sigh* CSE Lab: Full of DMDers! And TAed by Jean, who rocks and helped me raise my final grade last semester a justly deserved 2.5 points. Film Noir: All the way across campus. And I have to go four times a week. *whines* So considering upgrade to two-wheeled transportation. Anyway, the teacher seems very cool, and my classmates seem neat. M (a girl in the class): [introducing] I'm M [last name], and my namesake is actually in one of the films we'll be seeing in this class. Me: I'm Priscilla Spencer, and I'm named for Priscilla Lane, but not the same Priscilla Lane in "Arsenic and Old Lace" Prof Donovan: Lots of frightening names in this class. It's scary, I'm going to have to give you all A's in self-defense. And no textbook! W00t! Digital Design Fundamentals: We'll be learning Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop (snerk), Corel Painter, and InDesign. The professor seems a bit weird, but I have a crazy number of friends in the class, so no complaints here. Okay, actually one complaint. We had to buy our own Wacom styli for use in the lab, which is utterly stupid. And I can't use my current stylus, as it's for an Intuos I as opposed to Intuos II, which are apparently incompatible. And the styli are $50. Lunacy. Of course, because the stylus was so expensive, we don't have to buy any sort of text or cash out on other art supplies, so it's a pretty good deal for an art class. Ah well. (And while I was in the bookstore, I got the "Four Hobbits Walk Into a Bar" issue of Premiere and some chapstick, so it's okay.) Priscilla said at 7:50 PM *snorks* I just realized that I had unconsciously selected a black notebook for my Film Noir class. I am *so* entertained.
Priscilla said at 3:38 PM LotR Drinking game! *sips lemonade*
Priscilla said at 1:21 PM Does anyone know how to get to the "Follow the Butterflies" bit on Borhtering Snape or Trouble at Hogwarts? *is clueless*
Priscilla said at 12:11 AM
Sunday, January 11, 2004
::goggles:: Apparently, I am a BNF. *finds this and all comments on votes absolutely hilarious* Obviously, Maggie won by a landslide, but duh, she's MAGGIE. I'm surprised I got any votes at all! *is pleased*
Aliceypoo: and did you see this? Aliceypoo: http://www.livejournal.com/users/hpbnfdm_lives/3514.html#cutid1 PriscillaofDoom: GAK! Aliceypoo: I wonder who's behind this whole thing and if they actually knew that you and Mags've actually slept in the same bed :P PriscillaofDoom: Since when am I a bnf? *flails* And I could never stand a chance against Mags' super sexyness! Aliceypoo: I was in an earlier round, i somehow got paired with Sam :p PriscillaofDoom: *laughs* Aliceypoo: the whole thing amuses me PriscillaofDoom: *reads comments about my artistic ability* PriscillaofDoom: *cheers* PriscillaofDoom: *is SO amused* Aliceypoo: there are some mean ones too Aliceypoo: I want to thwap them Aliceypoo: but then it'll just turn into wankery Aliceypoo: and artists will have nothing to do with wankery, unlike writers! ha! *sticks nose in air* Aliceypoo: you are totally BNF Aliceypoo: and Mags is too! PriscillaofDoom: noooo, say nothing! bnfers aren't real people, so they have no feelings, remember? Heck, I'm well aware of the fact that Mags is a better artist. I accepted it long ago. Aliceypoo: *laughs* favourite vote: "magsby. priscellie's art is even uglier than starling's, and that's saying something." *laughs and laughs* Priscilla said at 9:59 PM Philtrum!
Priscilla said at 9:10 PM From "The Daily Show": Why Dean is Unelectable
(do not attempt to eat or drink anything while watching this clip) Priscilla said at 6:45 PM Someone with more free time than me needs to make a website dedicated to the Fantabulous Philtrum* of Billy Boyd. Because dude, philtrums are sexy.
::runs off to make icons:: * Philtrum: n. The area between the bottom of the nose and the upper lip. Edit: Scandal! Apparently, I am not the first to come up with the idea of a philtrum fansite! J-Lo, your philtrum PALES in comparison to the lusciously philtrum-tastic Billeh. Priscilla said at 5:17 PM Mwahaha. Just got back from the bookstore, and out of five classes, apparently three don't have texts, one is most likely optional, and the last is the same as one of my classes last semester. Go my schedule!
Priscilla said at 4:08 PM Dear President Bush,
You are a complete moron. Don't push for things in the space program that you don't understand. And I'm sorry, but with our economy in this state, the LAST thing we need is a revitalization of the Apollo missions. VotingDean-fully yours, Priscilla Priscilla said at 4:00 PM Back at school again. Alas and woe. But awaiting me in my mailbox was the next issue of Cinefex, which spotlights RotK (and Peter Pan and Master and Commander) and I have a Christmas card from Sannali! And Abe has the same edition of Lord of the Rings as I do, so I can borrow his copy to read the first 14 pages, which are mysteriously absent from my copy. Joy of all glees!
Also, I'm a complete moron and I just realized that I left the power cable for my 1:4 USB adapter at home, so I can only hook up two USB devices at the same time. At the moment, my mouse and printer are connected, but I'll have to get creative when I need to hook up my camera or tablet or summat. I'll have to make a list of all the stupid things I left at home, then give it to my parents at the end of the week so they can send everything together. I realized on the plane that I forgot my loofah. Priscilla said at 3:32 PM
Saturday, January 10, 2004
One of my classes is in room 12 of the Addams Fine Arts building. Addams-12. Please tell me I'm now the only one really amused by this.
Priscilla said at 10:36 PM EEEP! How could I have not posted about this? I remember writing the entry... Blogger must have eaten it somehow. Anyway, here's my belated GUSH GUSH GUSH over the fantabulously rockin' picture of Percy that Maggie left in the guest house for me to find when she went back home. *heartheartheartheartheart*
It bears the caption "Not evil. Just better than everyone else." <3333333333333333333333333 Meanwhile, as my dad and I drove back from dinner, he referred to my car as "Baby." Now, when I first got my car, I referred to it as "my baby" because, well, it was. But I said that I didn't want the name to stick, and that I would come up with a better name eventually. Of course, I never did. But tonight, as he had read my post where I dreamed that he was Aragorn, I said that he was more than welcome to drive my car while I was at school, as "the King of Gondor deserves better than that ancient Cadillac." At that, a potential name sprang instantly into my head. Brego, Aragorn's horse? Of course, as my car is an evil, gas-guzzling SUV, my mind next went to the environmentally unfriendly Saruman, who, after all, has "a mind of metal and wheels." This amused me far too much in its appropriateness, but as my car is my symbol of freedom in Dallas (and my friends' freedom, the moochers XD), "Saruman" is a bit too evil for my tastes. Mmm, I shall continue to ponder. Maybe something will leap out at me when I'm reading the book... Priscilla said at 10:01 PM I don't want to go back to school tomorrow. Wah.
*complains* Priscilla said at 8:28 PM Participate in the HPVP or be shunned from polite society for LIFE!
Priscilla said at 4:26 PM Me last night:
"It's 3AM! Go to sleep, self!" "But this theory is so coooooool!" Then before I got to post about it, my computer went whacko and I had to restart, so I lost the link. But then Burkhead posted about it in a comment, proving her sky-high coolness and psychicness quotient. Go her. Priscilla said at 4:23 PM Captain vs. Ranger and CG Characters and Deterioration Deathmatches. Too funny.
Priscilla said at 1:40 PM Weird dream. I dreamed that I broke my leg somehow, and I had to wear a cast for 11 weeks. But I never actually wore a cast, it was just my bare leg. After five weeks, I went in to the doctor to see how the bones were healing, and it felt completely healed, except for a tiny spot just below my knee, which was still sensitive. The doctor told me that if I had been wearing proper, sturdy shoes, it would have healed already.
So I went shopping for new shoes in a gypsy market with my dad, and we came upon a French brother and sister, who were playing Monopoly with an oversized deck of cards. The girl was claiming to play solitaire. We struck up a conversation in French, and she laughed at me and asked me if I had ever been to school, as my grammar and vocabulary was painfully bad. I told her I was American and had only taken a few years of French, so I could only speak a little of the language. We continued talking, with her correcting my French every so often, when the store was raided by police officers who arrested the brother and sister. I can't remember what they had done, but there was no question of their guilt. Because we felt sorry for them, my dad helped pay for their arrest/trial/bail/whatever, as my mom looked on in disapproval. Then my dad was Aragorn, and he signed the credit card "King Elessar." Go figure. *shrugs* Priscilla said at 12:05 PM Mostly for Alicey, but really for everyone: The Script to Return of the King! *saves*
(Edit: Ah! So it's confirmed that the elf is Figwit? Score! I am so right!) Further Edit: Ah, reading this transcription conjures memories of seeing RotK with Alicey and Mags. While we waited for the movies to start, Alicey taught me a few words in elementary sign language. "Good," "bad," "thank you," "sexy," etc. She had me stop writing a direct transcript early on in the movie, as she found she could understand what was going on without my frenzied secretarying, but as anyone would expect, there were some details that could not be gleaned from visual clues alone. As Gandalf told Pippin of the mercenary ships making their way to Osgiliath and Minas Tirith, she turned to me, puzzled. The sign language gesture for "bad" was all that was necessary to keep her abreast of the new plot developments. As the movie went on, she taught me the gestures for "brave," which I used on Sam, and "cute," which I abused on Merry and Pippin. Now I really want to learn more Sign Language. It's just so nifty! *goes back to reading* Priscilla said at 1:45 AM
Friday, January 09, 2004
A little help here, guys? Does anyone happen to know where I can find the picture of Billy and Dom reacting in horror to a piece of M/P slash art? I saw it months ago... mentioned it to my friends at lunch, and Chungy and Sleen want to see it.
In the meantime, SomethingAwful.com's Medieval Masterpieces! *is so entertained* Priscilla said at 5:16 PM
Thursday, January 08, 2004
Something Hilarious: The Seven Types of Lord of the Rings fans.
01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07. I classify myself as #2, with hopes of becoming #5, though more likely to become more like #6, due to large #3 tendencies. *resigns to loserhood* Priscilla said at 5:49 PM HAPPY B-DAY TO MEIN SCHLIENEN! *tackles*
Priscilla said at 5:25 PM On an entry a couple days ago, Tanja suggested "It would be interesting if you kept a LotR diary or something similar where you would compare the book and the movie. Just your random thoughts. Many people have compared the movie and the book, but I have never seen a comparision made by someone who saw the movies first."
Sounds like a great idea, say I. So without further ado: Musings on Book One of Fellowship of the Ring Plenty to talk about here, though I imagine many of the things I'm going to point out could easily have been made by someone who had read the books first. Of course, because lines from movies often stick in my mind more readily than lines from books, I suppose I have a slight advantage, as it would therefore be easier for me to pinpoint the source of narration and dialogue as I read for the first time. I think that to keep references to the books and movies straight, the book titles will be prefixed as "Book!Fellowship of the Ring" (or B!FotR) and the movie titles as "Movie!Fellowship of the Ring" (or M!FotR, with M!FotR:EE indicating the Extended Edition). Mmm, acronyms. Spoilers assumed for both versions of the entire "trilogy." I guess the first character I should mention is the obvious Tom Bombadil. I'm struggling to think of why on Middle Earth people were getting so up-in-arms about his removal from the screenplay, as he really didn't strike me as being terribly vital to the story, with the possible exception as being vehicle to gratuitous hobbit nekkidness and blatantly obvious super-gaydom. In fact, so much of what I've read so far seems so drawn out and superfluous. I would probably feel very different and much more territorial and protective if I had read the books first, but having seen the movies first, it's much easier to appreciate Peter Jackson's nerve and ability to look through the book and ask himself "Is this vital to the plot? What is this supposed to contribute to the story? Could something else fulfill this same role?" Without it, M!FotR would probably end up being about 15 hours. And interestingly enough, I've come to realize as I make my way through the book that the film is actually surprisingly close to canon. Tolkien's story still gets told. It might be Gollum muttering the incantation of the Barrow-wight or Treebeard speaking the words of Tom Bombadil (I'm now curious as to what Treebeard himself has to say, now that so many of his movie lines are revealed to have come from Tom.) or Gandalf imparting to Pippin the description of Frodo's dream of the Grey Havens, but the words are still said. The "shortcut to mushrooms" is not the only easter egg Jackson offers the fans. I was positively gleeful when I found the words of M!RotK!Pippin's "Steward of Gondor" song in one of Bilbo's old travelling songs, then noticed that in M!FotR(:EE?), Gandalf and Bilbo in turn sing one of Frodo's walking songs ("The road goes ever on and on". (Edit: Oh, wait. The song was Bilbo's first. Well... Gandalf and Bilbo sing it in the movie, and Frodo and Bilbo sing it in the book. So there.) I just love what the movies do with the songs I've seen so far. "Ho! Ho! Ho! To the bottle I go" is amusing (or slightly depressing, given your reading) in book-context, but I think M!FotR:EE Pippin's modification was a great improvement over the ending of Tokien's version in the new movie context, i.e. sung while very, very drunk. "Better than rain or rippling brook/There's a mug of beer inside this Took!" *loves* I adore all the songs the book has to offer, and I'm sad to see so many of them go for the movie. Though I'll probably have more to say about this when I see Legolas bursting into song. I grinned at Fatty Bolger's cameo in M!FotR, as he was practically a bigger character than Merry in Book 1 of FotR. Hanging around with Alicey has gotten me in the habit of watching movies with captioning; I don't think I would have noticed it otherwise. He's one of the guests Bilbo greets at the party, and interestingly enough, one of the few hobbits that didn't look totally stereotypical and overblown in Hobbitness. I marvelled at the "Concerning Hobbits" scene in M!FotR:EE, as none of the hobbits Bilbo describes really look like real people until you get to Sam, who is a bit of a surprise in comparison. Probably because he was one of few hobbits Bilbo wasn't making fun of. *shrugs* I'm not yet sure how I feel about Arwen taking Glorfindel's place. Yeah, it works, and it's one less (fewer?) character to introduce, and it's nice to have a bit more female representation following Goldberry's removal from the script, but as I'm still a book newbie, I'll keep my mouth shut on matters I haven't read enough about. And I've now written way more than enough, so I'll close this chapter of Priscilla's LOTR Diary-Thing and return when I've finished Fellowship. *goes off, humming M!FotR:EE!Merry and Pippin's drinking song* Priscilla said at 5:15 PM [re: Gollum]
Dom: Sometimes he looks old, sometimes he looks young, sometimes he looks like a dog, sometimes he looks like a frog, sometimes he looks like a monkey, sometimes he looks like a bus... Billy: A bus? Dom: Sometimes a bus. Priscilla said at 2:17 PM
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
WOOOOO HOOOO!!!! Who's your daddy?
CSE 120 PROG LANG & TECH I 1.00 CU B+ Priscilla said at 12:54 PM
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Billy: We disappear in the film for fifty minutes.
Dom: And that is probably some of the darkest piece of cinema, that you'll see in those 50 minutes. Billy: I think it's actually a storytelling device. That it makes people get sadder and sadder. Dom: Just long for Pippin and Merry. Billy: Yeah, they're thinking, "I'm missing something here. I don't know what I'm missing." Dom: "There's a piece of my life, a shard of my heart, has been torn out." Billy: "I don't know what it is!" Dom: "I don't understand what it is." Billy: And then, there's the two little buggers up a tree! Dom: Ah! Billy: Ahh, that's better, eh? Dom: Like a new sunrise! Billy: Ah, it's beautiful. Like someone's just given you a cake. Dom: Yeah. Or candyfloss. Or cotton candy, as you might say in America. Billy: Mmm, cotton candy. Or a big bag of popcorn! Dom: Or pumpernickel! Billy: Ahh, pumpernickel. Rocky road. Dom: Baby Ruths. You just get sudden chocolate bars then. Billy: Mmm. Dom: I look like my brother there. Billy: Yeah. Dom: I think maybe "The Two Towers" should have been called "The Adventures of Merry and Pippin." Billy: We shall rename it. Because I think we spoke about... I lost my train of thought. Say something for a minute. Dom: I really like eggs in the morning. And bacon at night. Is that wrong? Billy: No! Carry on, carry on! Dom: When I was seven, I used to eat ants. Billy: Got it! We were talking about... em... lost again. (They laugh) Billy: It's quite incredible, isn't it? Dom: It was probably a lie, Billy. *SO MUCH LOVE* And I love how they provide commentary on each of the actors as the credits roll. It's so MST3K! Dom: Viggo Mortensen! Billy: Mad as a fish. Dom: Smells a little bit. So much better than the Elijah/Sean/Andy commentary, which has a lot of bickering and talking over one another, and the Orlando Bloom, which is essentially just fanboying of his fellow actors. OR1337!!1! (Though John Rhys-Davies and Christopher Lee and Sir Ian rock my socks.) Yeah, Dom and Billy. *happysigh* Stream of consciousness. So hilarious. And if you find someone in the world with a cuter accent than Billy, I will eat my laptop. (Yes, I still love you, Alan Cumming. But Billy never did "Spy Kids" or "The Mask II." Shame, Alan. Shame.) Meanwhile, today's Bad and Wrong Yet Absolutely Hilarious award goes to PointlessWasteofTime.com for these two articles. Please don't visit these links, Mom and Dad. (I need to set up a "No Children Named Emmy" system like Sam. That would be helpful.) Priscilla said at 7:15 PM Just watched the Gollum "Behind the Scenes" segment on the TTT:EE DVD. If I wasn't already comitted to becoming a 3D animator or special effects artist, this would have convinced me beyond all shadow of a doubt. Gravy. (Oh, and Andy Serkis is so cool there are no words.)
Priscilla said at 1:45 AM
Monday, January 05, 2004
Hee! As if we needed more reasons to poke fun at Kucinich.
Priscilla said at 1:48 AM
Sunday, January 04, 2004
In case you missed them, here's the record of what went on at the crazed CG Trio gathering the past week!
Photo Post #1 (First dinner) Photo Post #2 (All in between) Photo Post #3 (Final dinner, bowling) Art Post #1 (F&S, A/L, Sex-me-up!Sirius, Jack Sparrow, Arr! Sea Turtles, K/O, Galiceydriel) Art Post #1.5 (H/D, Luna, Rebel!Percy) Art Post #2 (Armor!M&P, T/B vs. T-R, Monopoly!K/O) Replies to Comments: Tanja: Yes. Percy was heavily involved in all elements of the production of Return of the King, from start to finish. He was especially fond of Rosie Cotton's smocking patterns. Me: (Who are you? Identify yourself!) Yes, I saw the movies before I read the books. Is that a crime? I'd read The Hobbit and I was about halfway into FotR when the movies came out, but I put LotR aside for some reason, and now I'm going back after seeing RotK and now I'm reading the books after seeing the movies and probably enjoying them much more than I would have had I not seen the movies first. And dude, my respect for Peter Jackson has increased exponentially and I'm only on chapter 11 of Fellowship. Moni: Mags is doing Simon and River for me, but alas, he is not shirtless. He is rather rumpled, though, and rumpled!Simon = lickable. And Alicey did a rather nice Simon as well, but she apparently is not so fond of it (even though it rocks) and has not scanned it yet. Priscilla said at 11:53 PM Heeeeey! Pippin's "Steward of Gondor" song was derived from Bilbo's walking song in chapter 3 ("Three's Company") of FotR! Hee, It certainly has a different tone than it does in the movie. *is so amused* It's very "There and back again," rather than the movie's "There and killed by orcs." Ah, the joys of finally reading the silly things for myself. ChubbyandProcrastinatory!Frodo! Put-upon!Sam! Whiny!Pippin! ReallyLame!Nazgul! Huzzah!
Priscilla said at 4:16 AM
Saturday, January 03, 2004
I met a possum!
No, really. Coming back home from seeing Big Fish (maybe to be Peppered. eventually.), my dad had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting it. It was quite cute. My dad then told me the story of Roansborough, TX, which calls itself The Possum Capital of the World. "I don't imagine they have much difficulty protecting that title, though," dad continued. "I don't think other towns would really consider it a coveted title." "But what if they did?" I asked. "They could have a possum-off." And now, while trying to find the correct spelling of "Roansborough", Google tells me that Brasstown, TX, and Wausau, FL now claim the title of "Possum Capital of the World". Roansborough is surprisingly mute on the issue, coming up with no hits at all. Of course, they probably don't have access to the internet, what with all the possums chewing through the cables. So who wins? There can be only one, you know. And possumcapital.com is no help at all. So let the possum-off begin! The losers have my condolances. Edit: Dad just came into my room and told me it was spelled "Rhonesboro." Too much Britishness affecting my spelling judgement. XD They have annual Possum Festivals and elect a Possum King and Queen. They have my vote. Priscilla said at 11:58 PM
Thursday, January 01, 2004
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! *blows noisemakers*
Priscilla said at 12:00 AM Title cartoon by Bruce Eric Kaplan, used without permission.
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