So I was sitting around my house on Saturday morning, surfing Tumblr as I am wont to do when someone is fangirling all over about Adele's new James Bond single. I'd heard she was doing it, but definitely didn't expect it to be out yet. Naturally, I was listening to it within the next five minutes.
While I actually haven't seen a whole lot of James Bond anything, being knowledgeable in film I'm very well aware of Bond's existence. And if you know anything, you know that whomever does the next James Bond song has a lot on their hands.
Anyway, Adele hits the nail on the head yet again, even sampling the original Bond theme into the song. It's a wonderful dramatic throwback. I couldn't enjoy it more. Like seriously, everyone needs to go listen to it now, if only to run around their house and strike poses.
-Randi
Monday, October 8, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Banned Books Week
It's that time of year again. The last week of September each year is dedicated to the awareness and discussion of banned books in schools, libraries, everywhere.
I can't remember if I've posted anything on the subject before, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to talk about it again.
So a few years ago, I was taking a small four week writing class at my little home school and one of the subjects we were given to write about was Banned Book Week. It was the first time I'd ever heard of the subject. And it fascinated me. That there were people out there who wanted to stop the circulation of some books I hold very dear to my heart, like Harry Potter and To Kill A Mockingbird. And the I met people who actually wanted to censor books. At my church, at my school, everywhere. I'm not talking about parents not letting their kid read a book; that's fine. But people who were for the censorship of books. I'd even heard a story about someone who had to read a banned book for summer reading at school and failed all the work on it because their mom wouldn't let them read it!
I find stuff like this appalling. Not to sound like your grandpa, but book bannning doesn't hold up to American values, or even just the basics of being a good human being.
I'm one to talk though. If I'm reading or watching something that makes me uncomfortable, I stop, and because of that, my parents don't have to keep a very tight leash on what I do. Even if something does make me slightly uncomfortable, I'll talk to them about it. And my mom does read a lot of the books I do. We've both really enjoyed Markus Zusak's Book Theif, The Hunger Games, Veronica Roth's Divergent novels, so on so forth. Other kids don't work like that.
I'm not saying that we should put Fifty Shades of Grey in a seven year old's hands. I'm just calling for a bit of reason.
So here's what I, along with thousands of others, believe about book censorship: It depends on your kid. One fourteen year old could handle The Hunger Games or Laurie Halse Anderson's much challenged Speak. Another may not. It all depends on the level of maturity your on. There are probably grown adults who couldn't handle Speak or something like The Perks of Being A Wallflower. But never under any condition would I listen to someone who told me that Harry Potter is inappropriate, or that I shouldn't read Twlight (although I'm not doing that again). It's mine and my parent's choices, not yours.
Thoughts?
-Randi
I can't remember if I've posted anything on the subject before, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to talk about it again.
So a few years ago, I was taking a small four week writing class at my little home school and one of the subjects we were given to write about was Banned Book Week. It was the first time I'd ever heard of the subject. And it fascinated me. That there were people out there who wanted to stop the circulation of some books I hold very dear to my heart, like Harry Potter and To Kill A Mockingbird. And the I met people who actually wanted to censor books. At my church, at my school, everywhere. I'm not talking about parents not letting their kid read a book; that's fine. But people who were for the censorship of books. I'd even heard a story about someone who had to read a banned book for summer reading at school and failed all the work on it because their mom wouldn't let them read it!
I find stuff like this appalling. Not to sound like your grandpa, but book bannning doesn't hold up to American values, or even just the basics of being a good human being.
I'm one to talk though. If I'm reading or watching something that makes me uncomfortable, I stop, and because of that, my parents don't have to keep a very tight leash on what I do. Even if something does make me slightly uncomfortable, I'll talk to them about it. And my mom does read a lot of the books I do. We've both really enjoyed Markus Zusak's Book Theif, The Hunger Games, Veronica Roth's Divergent novels, so on so forth. Other kids don't work like that.
I'm not saying that we should put Fifty Shades of Grey in a seven year old's hands. I'm just calling for a bit of reason.
So here's what I, along with thousands of others, believe about book censorship: It depends on your kid. One fourteen year old could handle The Hunger Games or Laurie Halse Anderson's much challenged Speak. Another may not. It all depends on the level of maturity your on. There are probably grown adults who couldn't handle Speak or something like The Perks of Being A Wallflower. But never under any condition would I listen to someone who told me that Harry Potter is inappropriate, or that I shouldn't read Twlight (although I'm not doing that again). It's mine and my parent's choices, not yours.
Thoughts?
-Randi
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Things Public Schools Could Learn From Hogwarts
This post was partially inspired by Hank Green's fantastic Harry Potter song "This Isn't Hogwarts'.
In the video where he posts the song, he notes that the public school system could learn a thing or two from Hogwarts. Well, since I'm currently sitting by myself in a public school classroom (don't worry, we're on break), I thought I'd take a moment and write some things I think that my school could use from our wizard friends.
1. Cafeteria food. Do I even need to say so much. I get hungry every time I read or watch a Potter book or movie, just because the stupid house elves cook up all the good stuff. I'm not saying that we need to have Halloween feasts and stuff, but the stuff that gets served here is not exactly edible.
2. Experience learning. What do Hogwarts kids do when they're learning about potions? Make them. What happens when they're learning about plants? They go outside to actually work with the plants. What do you do when you learn about chemicals in high school? Write down some formulas and forget about it the next day. What do we do when we learn about businesses and how to dress for success? (I should mention that I have to take a business tech class. It's required.) Arguably, experience learning is the best way to learn. We should do more of it.
3. Houses. While the Hogwarts houses determine mostly where you live, I think that adding a house-like system with names and colors based on student interests might make for an interesting social experiment. I know for me at least that it's really hard to make friends, because the cliques from middle school are still effective because they all got classes together (I don't know if I ever published that thought but my mom once said that all the cliques are going to break up 'cause they'll all have different classes. They outsmarted us on that one). If we were sorted into something like houses, we'd have an immediate something to talk about with a lot of people and similar interests. I hate to put people in a box, but this might work, seeing as most high schoolers are pretty socially awkward.
What do you think? I'm probably just insane.
-Randi
es
In the video where he posts the song, he notes that the public school system could learn a thing or two from Hogwarts. Well, since I'm currently sitting by myself in a public school classroom (don't worry, we're on break), I thought I'd take a moment and write some things I think that my school could use from our wizard friends.
1. Cafeteria food. Do I even need to say so much. I get hungry every time I read or watch a Potter book or movie, just because the stupid house elves cook up all the good stuff. I'm not saying that we need to have Halloween feasts and stuff, but the stuff that gets served here is not exactly edible.
2. Experience learning. What do Hogwarts kids do when they're learning about potions? Make them. What happens when they're learning about plants? They go outside to actually work with the plants. What do you do when you learn about chemicals in high school? Write down some formulas and forget about it the next day. What do we do when we learn about businesses and how to dress for success? (I should mention that I have to take a business tech class. It's required.) Arguably, experience learning is the best way to learn. We should do more of it.
3. Houses. While the Hogwarts houses determine mostly where you live, I think that adding a house-like system with names and colors based on student interests might make for an interesting social experiment. I know for me at least that it's really hard to make friends, because the cliques from middle school are still effective because they all got classes together (I don't know if I ever published that thought but my mom once said that all the cliques are going to break up 'cause they'll all have different classes. They outsmarted us on that one). If we were sorted into something like houses, we'd have an immediate something to talk about with a lot of people and similar interests. I hate to put people in a box, but this might work, seeing as most high schoolers are pretty socially awkward.
What do you think? I'm probably just insane.
-Randi
A Thought on The Hunger Games and The Hipster Complex
As most you know by this point, two years ago, I read a fantastic little novel called The Hunger Games. And then the novel became wildly popular and was made into a great movie and now girls around the world are wearing Team Peeta shirts.
While I love that I get to discuss such an awesome book/movie with so many people, something just seems really weird and meta about The Hunger Games popularity.
I've talked to my family a lot (They've all seen the movie or read the book) about how I think it's funny that the whole point of these books is that we force these children to fight each other in an arena until there's only one left and then they make celebrities, and yet that latter bit is kind of what we're doing in real life. Every time I see Mockingjay earbuds, or Katniss and Peeta cardboard cut-outs, I can't help but think of some similar instance in the book and think 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Something just seems incredibly off about this.
And that's when I realized I had a hipster complex.
Hipster complex (n)- A complex one develops when they've been involved with a group or fandom for longer than most fans. A hipster complex leads one to believe they have more of a say in how a fandom orchestrates itself because they've been around longer, even though most of the time they have no creative control over anything to do with the production of the movie/group/show/book/.
And I have one of those with The Hunger Games.Even though I know nobody on the production team (well, my mom had a class with Woody Harrelson in college, but that's beside the point), I somehow believe that I know more about this and care more deeply about it than other people. Not okay, I know. I need to get into some Hipster Complex Anonymous sessions.
But anyway, I did find a little point in this mess that still bothers me. And I'd to hear some reader's thoughts on this as well.
Do you think the Hunger Games is over-merchandised?
I get that we don't live in Panem. I understand that Katniss and Prim and Peeta and Gale and Haymitch and Effie and Cinna aren't real. But the whole point of these books was that this future might not be that far away. And I'm not saying it's wrong to own a Mockingjay pin or a t-shirt either. But the pillow cases and cardboard cutouts and whatnot are still a little creepy when put in context with the book.
But I digress. This is the last I shall ever speak/write of the subject, something my family is probably celebrating. So when Girl Scout Camp comes around and we do a Hunger Games theme, I'll just roll with it.
Thoughts?
-Randi
While I love that I get to discuss such an awesome book/movie with so many people, something just seems really weird and meta about The Hunger Games popularity.
I've talked to my family a lot (They've all seen the movie or read the book) about how I think it's funny that the whole point of these books is that we force these children to fight each other in an arena until there's only one left and then they make celebrities, and yet that latter bit is kind of what we're doing in real life. Every time I see Mockingjay earbuds, or Katniss and Peeta cardboard cut-outs, I can't help but think of some similar instance in the book and think 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Something just seems incredibly off about this.
And that's when I realized I had a hipster complex.
Hipster complex (n)- A complex one develops when they've been involved with a group or fandom for longer than most fans. A hipster complex leads one to believe they have more of a say in how a fandom orchestrates itself because they've been around longer, even though most of the time they have no creative control over anything to do with the production of the movie/group/show/book/.
And I have one of those with The Hunger Games.Even though I know nobody on the production team (well, my mom had a class with Woody Harrelson in college, but that's beside the point), I somehow believe that I know more about this and care more deeply about it than other people. Not okay, I know. I need to get into some Hipster Complex Anonymous sessions.
But anyway, I did find a little point in this mess that still bothers me. And I'd to hear some reader's thoughts on this as well.
Do you think the Hunger Games is over-merchandised?
I get that we don't live in Panem. I understand that Katniss and Prim and Peeta and Gale and Haymitch and Effie and Cinna aren't real. But the whole point of these books was that this future might not be that far away. And I'm not saying it's wrong to own a Mockingjay pin or a t-shirt either. But the pillow cases and cardboard cutouts and whatnot are still a little creepy when put in context with the book.
But I digress. This is the last I shall ever speak/write of the subject, something my family is probably celebrating. So when Girl Scout Camp comes around and we do a Hunger Games theme, I'll just roll with it.
Thoughts?
-Randi
Monday, August 27, 2012
In Which I Review Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog
So it's been a while since I've written here on le blog. It's been pretty weird what with starting public school, trying desperately, and in vain. to catch a showing off the Dark Knight Rises (still haven't seen it).
Now that school has started, I'm hoping I can get into a routine and update this thing more often.
Anyway, onto the point: Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog.
If you're not already interested in this thing after hearing the name, you may need to be examined by a doctor.
Directed by Joss Whedon, Dr. Horrible's is on youtube in it's entirety and rumor has it that it's going to be developed into a TV show in the next year or so.
Basically, Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) goes about singing songs, building a freeze ray, going to the laundromat, trying to get his dream Penny (Felicia Day), and avoiding his arch nemesis and Penny's new boyfriend, Captain Hammer (Okay, I completely blanked on his name, but he's the guy from Castle). He's trying to get accepted into the Evil League of Evil, and fails constantly. I won't give anything else away, but I loved it. It's forty-five minutes of awesomesauce with singing and super hero jokes. What's not to love?
Probably the coolest thing about Dr. Horrible is how even though he's unquestionably a villian, he's the equivalent of the hero in this story. It's quickly apparent after about fifteen minutes of the musical that Captain Hammer is, to put it lightly, a jerk.
The music is surprisingly catchy, and the actors do a great job with the vocals as well. I've had a few of the songs stuck in my head for a while now.
As is Joss Whedon's trademark, the dialog is quick and witty, and the story is classic. Boy likes girl, girl kind-of-sort-of-more-than-likely- likes guy, guy builds freeze ray, but it twists all that into something entirely new and fresh. And the actors handle the material wonderfully. Felicia Day is especially good here.
Another interesting fact: This was filmed during the strike in Hollywood a few years back. The cast and crew behind this did it not only because it's a fracking good story, but to show you didn't need a big studio and fancy geekery to make a good film. The whole thing was shot in six days. That's pretty amazing.
Seeing as I'm writing this on my super fancy (and super painful to use) school laptop, I cannot provide such an extra-curricular link at the moment, but as soon as I remember, I'll post it here.
Seriously just go watch it. It's great. Come back here and let's make inside jokes about it later.
-Randi
Now that school has started, I'm hoping I can get into a routine and update this thing more often.
Anyway, onto the point: Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog.
If you're not already interested in this thing after hearing the name, you may need to be examined by a doctor.
Directed by Joss Whedon, Dr. Horrible's is on youtube in it's entirety and rumor has it that it's going to be developed into a TV show in the next year or so.
Basically, Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) goes about singing songs, building a freeze ray, going to the laundromat, trying to get his dream Penny (Felicia Day), and avoiding his arch nemesis and Penny's new boyfriend, Captain Hammer (Okay, I completely blanked on his name, but he's the guy from Castle). He's trying to get accepted into the Evil League of Evil, and fails constantly. I won't give anything else away, but I loved it. It's forty-five minutes of awesomesauce with singing and super hero jokes. What's not to love?
Probably the coolest thing about Dr. Horrible is how even though he's unquestionably a villian, he's the equivalent of the hero in this story. It's quickly apparent after about fifteen minutes of the musical that Captain Hammer is, to put it lightly, a jerk.
The music is surprisingly catchy, and the actors do a great job with the vocals as well. I've had a few of the songs stuck in my head for a while now.
As is Joss Whedon's trademark, the dialog is quick and witty, and the story is classic. Boy likes girl, girl kind-of-sort-of-more-than-likely- likes guy, guy builds freeze ray, but it twists all that into something entirely new and fresh. And the actors handle the material wonderfully. Felicia Day is especially good here.
Another interesting fact: This was filmed during the strike in Hollywood a few years back. The cast and crew behind this did it not only because it's a fracking good story, but to show you didn't need a big studio and fancy geekery to make a good film. The whole thing was shot in six days. That's pretty amazing.
Seeing as I'm writing this on my super fancy (and super painful to use) school laptop, I cannot provide such an extra-curricular link at the moment, but as soon as I remember, I'll post it here.
Seriously just go watch it. It's great. Come back here and let's make inside jokes about it later.
-Randi
Monday, July 23, 2012
A Word on the Shootings in Colorado
Thursday night was a big one in the movie industry. It was the much anticipated midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises.
As you all know, it didn't end well in Colorado.
I'm so sorry to hear about all of this. The guy behind this is nothing short of a terrorist and deserves to be imprisoned. My thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected. This should have been a night of good film and friends, not one of tragedy and horror. I cannot even begin to fathom what these families are going through. I've heard so many heart wrenching stories of what happened that night and it sounds like a nightmare. I can't imagine why anyone would ever even THINK of doing something like this.
And while my pain is nowhere near the level of those actually involved, I feel like this has had an impact on myself as well. The movie theater is a second home, a place where I have learnt, laughed, screamed, cried, and had so many adventures. This feels like a violation of my space.
I hope that comic book fans, film fans, and all decent people can come together and get through this situation together.
Again, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
Deus operatur per omnia.
-Randi
As you all know, it didn't end well in Colorado.
I'm so sorry to hear about all of this. The guy behind this is nothing short of a terrorist and deserves to be imprisoned. My thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected. This should have been a night of good film and friends, not one of tragedy and horror. I cannot even begin to fathom what these families are going through. I've heard so many heart wrenching stories of what happened that night and it sounds like a nightmare. I can't imagine why anyone would ever even THINK of doing something like this.
And while my pain is nowhere near the level of those actually involved, I feel like this has had an impact on myself as well. The movie theater is a second home, a place where I have learnt, laughed, screamed, cried, and had so many adventures. This feels like a violation of my space.
I hope that comic book fans, film fans, and all decent people can come together and get through this situation together.
Again, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
Deus operatur per omnia.
-Randi
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Electra Heart by Marina and the Diamonds
Welcome to the life of Electra Heart.
So states a song on Marina and the Diamond's newest effort, Electra Heart. If you're not familiar with Marina and the Diamonds, it's led my Marina Diamindis. Their first release was a cool fusion of new wave, pop, and small pieces of punk. Marina's vocals are awe inspring and operatic, and her lyrics range from the simple and ecstatic, to the strange and melancholy.
Electra is a definite departure from anything on the first record. Marina has chosen to introduce us to a character she has created named Electra Heart. She is the vehicle for the album's ideas. The ideas? Loss of identity in American Culture. Sound boring? Listen to the album first.
However, as much I love a lot of the concepts introduced on the record, sometimes they don't play out as well as they should in theory.
There are a few songs that I absolutely adore. Fear and Loathing is the best of the bunch. Lies, both acoustic and electrified are amazing and lyrically beautiful. Valley of the Dolls is a slow, mournful, tune that to me exemplifies all of the themes on the album when paired with Fear and Loathing. Power and Control is definitely one of the more fun tunes. Primadonna hits all the right notes.
Then there are the songs that sort of work, or that I'm just okay with, like State of Dreaming, which sounds a lot like a Katy Perry song. How To Be A Heartbreaker just doesn't stand out. Teen Idle bores me. Hypocrates doesn't fit with the rest of these songs.
And then there are the cuts that are just not good at all. Homewrecker in particular is a train wreck. I like a little spoken word every now and then, but it definitely does not work for Marina.
The instrumentation might be the biggest difference between this and Marina's former release. It's very polished pop, produced by several people who worked with top of the charts artists. However, it still sounds unique and very fresh on most of the tracks.
The lyrics are up and down. Like I said, Homewrecker is easily the worst here. State of Dreaming's lyrics are more interesting than the song fully assembled. Fear and Loathing takes the cake again in lyrics though. It shows just how brilliantly Marina understood what she was doing during the initial writing and recording of Electra Heart.
Notice I said initial. Electra Heart seems to suffer from what happened to Lana Del Rey's debut. Marina seems to have gotten bored with writing the initial ideas she had. Electra was a long time in the making and it seemed that new ideas kept getting piled on and on and on until the concept was almost lost. There are moments when the album is not so sure of itself. One sign on this is all the different tracks being released or not released in different countries. It looks to me as though a lot of songs were optioned for Electra Heart after the initial eight or so, and they've been switching it up in different countries to see what works best. Marina, or the powers that be behind these things, can't decide what they want this album to be. That is the fatal flaw.
If you want to check out Electra Heart, it's definitely worth a listen. But past that? That's up to you.
-Randi
So states a song on Marina and the Diamond's newest effort, Electra Heart. If you're not familiar with Marina and the Diamonds, it's led my Marina Diamindis. Their first release was a cool fusion of new wave, pop, and small pieces of punk. Marina's vocals are awe inspring and operatic, and her lyrics range from the simple and ecstatic, to the strange and melancholy.
Electra is a definite departure from anything on the first record. Marina has chosen to introduce us to a character she has created named Electra Heart. She is the vehicle for the album's ideas. The ideas? Loss of identity in American Culture. Sound boring? Listen to the album first.
However, as much I love a lot of the concepts introduced on the record, sometimes they don't play out as well as they should in theory.
There are a few songs that I absolutely adore. Fear and Loathing is the best of the bunch. Lies, both acoustic and electrified are amazing and lyrically beautiful. Valley of the Dolls is a slow, mournful, tune that to me exemplifies all of the themes on the album when paired with Fear and Loathing. Power and Control is definitely one of the more fun tunes. Primadonna hits all the right notes.
Then there are the songs that sort of work, or that I'm just okay with, like State of Dreaming, which sounds a lot like a Katy Perry song. How To Be A Heartbreaker just doesn't stand out. Teen Idle bores me. Hypocrates doesn't fit with the rest of these songs.
And then there are the cuts that are just not good at all. Homewrecker in particular is a train wreck. I like a little spoken word every now and then, but it definitely does not work for Marina.
The instrumentation might be the biggest difference between this and Marina's former release. It's very polished pop, produced by several people who worked with top of the charts artists. However, it still sounds unique and very fresh on most of the tracks.
The lyrics are up and down. Like I said, Homewrecker is easily the worst here. State of Dreaming's lyrics are more interesting than the song fully assembled. Fear and Loathing takes the cake again in lyrics though. It shows just how brilliantly Marina understood what she was doing during the initial writing and recording of Electra Heart.
Notice I said initial. Electra Heart seems to suffer from what happened to Lana Del Rey's debut. Marina seems to have gotten bored with writing the initial ideas she had. Electra was a long time in the making and it seemed that new ideas kept getting piled on and on and on until the concept was almost lost. There are moments when the album is not so sure of itself. One sign on this is all the different tracks being released or not released in different countries. It looks to me as though a lot of songs were optioned for Electra Heart after the initial eight or so, and they've been switching it up in different countries to see what works best. Marina, or the powers that be behind these things, can't decide what they want this album to be. That is the fatal flaw.
If you want to check out Electra Heart, it's definitely worth a listen. But past that? That's up to you.
-Randi
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