some day, they'll go down together they'll bury them side by side...

My friend Colleen's birthday party is coming up, and as usual she is having another costume party! Me and Tiffany helped her start this tradition back in college, and this year she is going with the theme of Historical Figures.

Here is some of my inspiration...

[[ bonnie parker and clyde barrow. faye dunaway and warren beatty. ]]

Can you tell who me and Pat are going to be?

Bonnie and Clyde! I am super excited about this one! I have been wanting to do it for Halloween, but it is always so overdone... I am going off of costumes from the movie with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway from 1967, as well as off of actual black and white photographs of the real duo.

To prepare, I watched the movie twice while Pat was out of town, and I thought it was really interesting. I especially liked it when Bonnie recited her poem "The Story of Bonnie & Clyde" towards the end of the movie, indicating that she knew that death was eminent at this point, but did not try to flee Clyde's side. The real Bonnie Parker did in fact write this poem in 1932 when she was jailed, and it was published a year later when found at their abandoned hideout along with many pictures. The movie makes you really sympathize with the characters and think of them in an almost Robin Hood like manner for fighting the big banks, but in reality, their crimes far exceeded simple bank robberies and a few accidental murders. Either way, the unique story of these young Texas natives trying to escape their own poverty, falling in love, evading the police on many occasions, and of course the nature of their gruesome end, certainly makes them some of the most famous "gangsters" of the time, and thats why I chose them to be our historical figures.

She also wrote a poem called "The Story of Suicide Sal" before her own story with a similar feel. Check them out they are really interesting.

I also found some pretty sweet editorial inspirations while I was looking around online. Here is one by Aram Bedrossian (which is my favorite) and another by Peter Lindbergh.

its the end of the world, as we know it...

According to various interpretations of the Maya's all encompassing calendar, it supposedly ends today, which many speculate to mean that the world is coming to an end. Although it is an interesting theory, i'm not buying it. 

[[ our replica of the maya calendar. ]]

I just have a hard time believing that all of the sudden the earth is going to spontaneously explode with every natural disaster occurring in the same place at the same time. It is too much like all apocalyptic movies where a family is split apart trying to get to the secret government bunker underground, but luckily someone always happens to know a pilot with a fueled up plane, and John Cusack or Denis Quaid ("Denis Quaid is here!") save the day after all. (If you need an example, just watch the 2012 or Deep Impact movie trailers, or throw in a little Dante's Peak, The Day After Tomorrow, and Armageddon and imagine all five movies happening simultaneously).

Or, perhaps you buy in to the theory that aliens are going to reveal themselves, in which the Volgons destroy earth in order to facilitate an intergalactic highway construction project. Well, as far as I can tell, the dolphins haven't left yet, so I think we are going to be alright on that front as well. (See lyrics to "So Long and Thanks for All The Fish" for more context).

[[ don't panic from hitchhikers guide to the galaxy which i referenced above. ]]

I realize that was a ridiculous amount of links and references, but I was having fun, and I couldn't stop myself. Now, on to the real stuff...

Here are some points of interest for those of you who are still convinced that the end is near... (Information as gathered from EarthSky and NASA articles, click on links for full articles and more information). 

What we do know, is that the December 2012 Solstice will occur today at 11:21 (UTC), and no, the planets, as usual, will not be aligned. (source).

Our solar system will not cross a galactic plane (the center line of our galaxies spinning disk of stars). In fact, we are currently moving away from it and are not likely to cross for another 30 million years or so. You can watch a video created by the Morehead Planetarium that demonstrates this. However, earth will cross the galactic equator (an imaginary circle dividing the also imaginary celestial sphere in to two halves for mapping the sky), which is something that happens twice every year. (source 1 / source 2).

A magnetic pole reversal is "a common occurrence that happens gradually over millennia". There is no evidence, in millions of years of geological record, to suggest that any of the doomsday scenarios regarding the magnetic pole reversal are to be taken seriously. (source).

"Nibiru, sometimes called Planet X, is not going to collide with our planet this year - or ever - because it doesn't exist." - Bruce McClure, EarthSky (source).

According to Professor David Stuart, an archaeologist and expert on the ancient Maya at the University of Texas at Austin, neither the Maya, or their calendar, ever predicted the end of the world. The Maya's created a series of calendars to track time for various things, such as agricultural and cultural events. The 'Long Count Calendar' was created to track a cycle of 400 years, (or 360 since it is somewhat disputed), which we have now reached the end of, or in other words the turn of the cycle. According to Stuart, this cycle is practically endless based on their ancient structure system and will continue on. (source).


Just remember, Don't Panic! 
...And no matter what, always make sure you have your towel. 

a sick day

Everyone at my work has been fighting off the same wicked cold for a while, and after evading two close calls and one sick boyfriend, my immune system finally caved in. So, today is a sick day. Most of which has been spent eating soup, napping, and watching some great animated films. (Sorry for no post yesterday, I came home from work early and slept pretty much the rest of the night).

Despite my symptoms, any day where I have time to watch Despicable Me, Wall-E, and Up can't be too bad... (even if Up makes me cry like a baby).

[[ up, wall-e, despicable me. good medicine. ]]

halloween costume '12

I can't believe that its already almost Halloween! Where did the month of October go?! I feel like I missed the entire thing... No pumpkin patch this year (unfortunately), but there is still time for pumpkin carving and a few more holiday movies (thus far I have only watched Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas). And I have yet to eat even a piece of candy corn, which is very unlike me.

Anyway, since Halloween is on a Wednesday (which is super awkward), everyone is celebrating this weekend instead. I figured in the tradition of my past two years of blogging, that I had better announce what we will be dressing up as this year...

Wayne's World, Wayne's World, Party Time, Excellent!
Me and Pat are going to be Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World! I am super excited! It should be hilarious!! Here is some costume inspiration... We have a lot of work to do!

[[ images from google images, video found on youtube from the first movie. ]]

((( Here is what we were last year, and the year before. )))

stay classy san diego

I was going to start my California Adventures Posts this week, but with Brad and Alia's wedding, the 4th, an anniversary, and last minute trip coming up this weekend, I figure it will be better to wait until I return from the next portion of my Summer vacations in the state directly below us. This weekend (through Monday), I will be flying to California once again. This time for a family get together. I am not entirely sure what I am getting myself in to since it is a sort of meetup with people I have not seen since I was a little girl, but my Grandparents and cousins convinced me to book a last minute plane ticket and attend with them. So, late Friday night I will be getting in to San Diego where I will spend the weekend. We did not make it quite that south last time, so I guess I am just making sure to cover the remainder of the state...or something...

Anyway, I thought Ron Burgundy seemed appropriate for this post. 

((( a scene from Anchorman. )))

game of thrones

I am pretty sure that by now everyone and their Mother is as addicted to Game of Thrones as I am, but in case you have not started watching yet, you are definitely missing out.

Me and Pat were introduced to the first season of the HBO series sometime last year and although we were initially a bit thrown off by the pilot episode/prologue we decided to keep watching and realized how incredible everything about this "show" really was. From the set design and costuming, to the amazing acting and character development, to special effects and shooting locations, the quality of this television series is truly incredible. However, to praise the success of the show we must first praise the author George R. R. Martin for coming up with such a detailed and twisted plot and describing it in excruciating detail over what will be seven books in A Song of Ice and Fire series. These are not any teenage novels. Love, lust, deception, betrayal, black magic, secret plots, twists and turns around every corner, opposing royal and lorded families, war, vengeance, sex, murder, the undead, and of course, dragons.

The books mainly follow four houses throughout the series (although many other characters and families are introduced along the way): the Starks, the Baratheons, the Lannisters, and the Targaryens. Although I will not trouble you with the details of each house, I will say that you are initially prompted to fall in love with the Starks, and then find yourself torn among them all as you begin to side and sympathize with other characters as well. Because the books are not written from one perspective but switch back and fourth between characters (as does the series), it is hard to simply choose one favorite character. I initially was drawn to Arya Stark and Daenerys Stormborn (Targaryen), but have found myself sympathizing with Jon Snow (Stark), and Tyrion Lannister as well.

Since we just watched the finale of season two last night I thought I would take the time to post a little bit about the series. Me and Pat are also on the 5th book.

As a visual reference for this post, I decided to throw up the opening sequence. This is a compilation of all of the castels shown on season 1, and those from the beginning of season 2, as created by Michael Delving (before Quarth and Heronhal were shown). The opening is incredible, it seriously amazes me every time I watch it, (and as with the series, it is ever changing to match the books and chapters being explored).

"When you play the game of thrones, either you win or you die."

the d

In a few short hours me and Pat are heading to Bend for our glorious Memorial Day weekend! (I did not even realize it was Memorial Day and that I therefore get Monday off until two days ago, so I am extra excited for the happy surprise). Our friend Brad, and his soon to be wife Alia are meeting us there for some (hopefully sun-filled) festivities, and of course... a little Tenacious D.

Yes, thats right, Saturday we will be in downtown Bend listening to Jack Black (and KG) "shred some guitar" <--- says Pat. Lets just say he is more than a little excited. When I first got a notification about them performing in Bend I was super surprised because not only do they never tour, but they certainly never pick Oregon for a random show. So this is pretty much a once in a lifetime deal, and Pat is quite fond of Jack Black and all of his crazy antics (and made up words).

I hope the show is a little something like this...

((( The clip is from School of Rock )))It is in German for some reason... and has stupid words in front of his face... but it is the only one I could find on YouTube and its the one I wanted to use, so, sprechen sie deutsch?
Skadooosh

the avengers

Last night after work I met Pat and his friend Alex for some Happy Hour Cloud & Kelly's before heading to the theatre to purchase an over priced popcorn and to watch The Avengers. 

All three of us really liked it. 
It is interesting how they have been leading up to this with all of the individual character stories to establish their backgrounds and intent, and I believe they plan on making more of them as well (Iron Man III, and another Thor).

With back story out of the way, the entirety was pretty much all action, for example, a 30 minute epic battle scene taking place in NYC. I was also surprised at how funny the movie was, I am sure thanks in large part to the Tony Stark character. Compared to some of the other Marvel movies I have seen (*cough* Spiderman III, the last couple of the X-Men series including the reboot, and pretty much every attempt at The Hulk ever *cough*), I thought this one was easily one of the best. I also really liked the first Iron Man, probably still my favorite. And in case you are wondering, of course I have seen every single Marvel & DC comic turned movie made within the past decade... I am engaged to a nerd after all, so I know what I am talking about. :)

[[ happy hour. the avengers. ]]

Side notes: 
First, If you watch How I Met Your Mother you are familiar with actress Cobie Smulders (Robin Scherbatsky) who to my surprise had a pretty large role in the movie. Good for her, I had never seen her in anything other than the show. Also, can we take a second to point out that she has a seriously bad ass name?! Cobie Smulders... Awesome.

Second, if you go see the movie, make sure you stay until the end (after the credits) because there is a really funny scene that they filmed after the L.A. premier and added in. Schawarma.

Third, I think 3D is stupid and it gives me migraines and they need to stop making every single movie in it and charging way more for it as well.

may the fourth

Somehow my calendar accidentally got synced with part of Pats, so this morning I got a strange notification on my phone saying "Star Wars Day!" Apparently May 4th has been proclaimed Star Wars Day because of the following phrase, "May the Fourth be with you." Seriously, ask any guy, he probably knows. So Pat, since you were so thoughtful to make sure I was aware, I thought I would make you a little something in honor of this very festive of... holidays?

[[ star wars day. ]]

the hunger games - movie review

The first weekend of April me, Megan, Pat, Tony and a few more guy friends went to see The Hunger Games (finally). I was definitely excited about it and could not stand to wait anymore.

I am not trying to go in to a bunch of detail, yet again, so I will try to keep this short.

[[ theater sign. ]]

The costume design in the Capitol was really incredible. Think Victorian meets Geisha with some runway thrown in there as well. Not so unlike some Alexander McQueen designs I have seen. I have read some interviews with Elizabeth Banks who definitely expresses it being near impossible to walk or use her hands due to her insane fake nails and shoes. I loved the contrast of Sector 12, which was reminiscent of depression era, with the opulent capital.

In terms of the film itself, I overall thought they did a really good job interpreting the book. There were definitely a few characters cut out, but understandably so. I appreciated the length of the movie in general, and the amount of time spent setting up most of the story before the beginning of the actual games, including the important components of training, and a bit of the tension between competitors. I do wish that they would have made Haymitch more Haymitch. He hardly seemed like a battered old competitor with a drinking problem.

Finally, I was pleasantly surprised with the way they did the actual games because all of the important scenes were included and it was still fairly brutal despite its PG13 rating, which is something I was worried they would sugarcoat too much. And I definitely cried during a certain scene in the movie...

[[ at the movies. ]]

Ok, so I guess that was me failing at "keeping it short". In a sentence: I was pleased with it, and all of the boys liked it too, including Pat much to my surprise.

accidentally excited for the hunger games ... shh, don't tell

Ok, so I may have accidentally gotten a little more into The Hunger Games then I originally intended to...

I swear I will stop posting about these silly books soon! Probably just one more after I actually see the movie, so bare with me.

[[ poster compilation from imdb. ]]

Upon beginning the series I put up this post with my initial reactions and comparisons which I concluded were pretty spot on once I completed the series and posted a second time. I thoroughly enjoyed the books but decided not to pay too much attention to all of the film hysteria. However, my attempts were a little bit trumped by my lingering curiosity and maybe a little bit of excitement. I could not help but purchase the special editions of Entertainment Weekly and People magazine when I came across their covers glaring at me while picking up my groceries. I similarly could not help but look up some early film reviews to ease my worry of this turning in to a teen franchise with no actual claim as a quality adaptation. So fine Hunger Games, I surrender. After reading a few reviews I am finding myself pleasantly surprised and actually more eager to see the film.

The most important review of not only the film but the book as well is this article by Greg Garrett. He goes into detail about the story itself comparing and contrasting it with our current society which is exactly what I was thinking the entire time. He even agrees with my early review comparing aspects of the story to "A Brave New World". I knew I was on to something...

If you want to read a well written review that is simply about the movie the following article by Jenny Block was quite satisfactory, though be aware that there are SPOILERS in this one if you are not familiar with the books.

I will undoubtably be adding my own little review upon seeing the movie, but who knows when that will be. No, I did not go see it at midnight last night, nor do I intend to see it today, or anytime this weekend. I live in a town with only two theaters and a large import of 18 year olds on top of the standard amounts of high schoolers for a city this size, so that sounds like a nightmare. Plus, I am not positive I will be able to convince Pat to see it with me so I will have to enlist the help of someone else. I do feel a little bit silly for being so interested in this super mainstream story especially with as popular as it is among high schoolers, but, what can I say, sometimes it happens. Case and point, Harry Potter. So bring it on. I am hoping for a well made trio of movies.

midnight in paris

Tonight me and Pat sat down to watch Midnight in Paris with no expectations, and I absolutely loved it! Neither of us had any idea what it was about, other than the fact that it was set in Paris, by Woody Allen, and were under the assumption that it would be some sort of romantic comedy. We were certainly wrong.

The film takes you back in time as the main character meets all of his inspirations in the height of their careers and falls in love with Paris in a new light. (I will not say more so as not to spoil anything, I think part of the intrigue for me and Pat was not knowing who was going to show up next). The set design and costumes are incredible! And the story itself kept me intrigued the entire time. I want to live in that movie and all of its parties! If possible my love for the 1920s has now grown exponentially and nothing has ever made me want to go to Paris more than the imagery in this movie. True story.

[[ stills from the movie. images via: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. ]]

If you have not seen the film yet I would recommend changing that asap.

For more information on the characters in the movie I would recommend checking out either of these articles: "Decoding Woody Allen's 'Midnight In Paris'" - the ny times / or / "Midnight In Paris: A beginners Guide to Modernism" - the guardian.


P.S. Adrien Brody and his looks will continue to baffle me. No one has ever pulled off gangly better and he somehow manages to be a good looking man... What is that?!

Favorite quote: "...I see, a rhinoceros."

favorite christmas movies

This past week and weekend we watched quite a few Christmas movies! YAY!
My favorites are:

- Christmas Vacation

Chevy Chase. Duh. What else needs to be said?

- The Grinch
Because Jim Carey is great in this movie! "Slunk!" And the costumes/sets are incredible.

- How The Grinch Stole Christmas (animated)

- Home Alone

- Its a Wonderful Life

"Buffalo gals won't you come home tonight, come home tonight, come home tonight. Buffalo gals won't you come home tonight, and dance by the light of the moon." Great story.

- The Year Without a Santa Clause / Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (classics)

TYWASC was my favorite when I was little, though I think I like Rudolph more now.

- Elf
Because this movie is hilarious. "Buddy the Elf, whats your favorite color?" Plus, they do a great job of mixing in references from the old Christmas movies.

- Miracle on 34th Street (the newer one)

- Jingle All The Way
because of this line, "Who told you you could touch MY cookies?! Put those cookies DOWNNN! NOW!" - Arnold

I got the images above from the following links:
Christmas Vacation / The Grinch / How the Grinch Stole Christmas / Home Alone / Elf / The Year Without a Santa Clause / Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer / Miracle on 34th Street / It's a Wonderful Life

halloween movies & snack size candy bars

Tonight we finally got in some Halloween movies! YES! (and trick-or-treat candy we bought for ourselves)...

We watched "Corpse Bride" and "The Addams Family" (which is probably my all time favorite). I want to watch the second one also before this weekend is up, I am thinking Sunday possibly along with "Hocus Pocus" and or "Casper"! Oh, side note, still need to carve our pumpkins... we are hoping for Sunday night when we get back in to town. Slackers!

P.S. I love love love the typography of the Addams family's opening credits. Love.

[[ images from imdb & cia.com. ]]

the fairest of them all

I just stumbled across images from the untitled Snow White movie, which does not come out until March 2012, and realized that it is being closely followed by another adaptation called Snow White and The Huntsman, said to release the following month.

I suppose you could say that I am a sucker for classic fairytales, especially when they are remastered with a new take, especially a darker one. These films seem to be no exception. The "Huntsman" version (with Kristen Stewart, Ian McShane, and Charlize Theron) seems to be quite a bit darker and with a different story line, where the "untitled" (with Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, and Nathan Lane) version takes on a more colorful whimsical approach with elaborate costuming and set design.

Both have some good actors on board and look interesting, though I must say that I am not convinced Kristen Stewart can really handle a role where she is required to do much more than look gloomy and confused... (sorry, I am not much of a Twilight fan). Though to be fair, I do not know much about the other "princess" either aside from the fact that she is Phil Collins daughter.

Either way, I am excited to see some trailers and learn more about these two.


Check out a few images I found from around the web:

Untitled Snow White Project

(images from this article & IMDB)

Snow White and The Huntsman

(images from IMDB)

scallywags

Last night we went and saw the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and I have to say I quite liked it. In my opinion the story in the third one began to spiral out of control because there were so many different plots and character developments going on within the one story. This one is much more simple, back to basics I guess.

It feels sort of like the first film was its own story, the second two were one story, and this is now starting a new adventure. It was left completely open too... I seriously wonder how many of these they are going to make!? They have pretty much proven that the only person they need on board is Johnny Depp and the series can continue. Perhaps they are having a battle with Harry Potter?

I really liked the introduction of Mermaids in this one, possibly because I wanted to be Ariel when I was a little girl. Another notable part is when Jack Sparrow and Barbosa are on the shipwrecked ship looking for the chalices and the camera draws our attention to a scene recreated from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. It involves a heavily adorned victorian bed surrounded by jewels. In the bed is a skeleton holding a magnifying glass that allows the viewer to see his enlarged teeth... sound familiar? I love how they did this in the first movie as well in a few different scenes. I wonder if there were nods to the ride in the second films I missed?

Here are a few screen shots from the film:

[[ screenshots from imdb.com ]]

Also I found this image of Astrid Berges-Frisbey, the actress who plays the mermaid Syrena, at the screening of the movie. I love her earring... I cannot tell if that is some sort of weird piercing or if it is just the jewelry (more likely) but I really like the look of it!

uh oh shoes...

Oh man I am awful at posting lately! Maybe it is due to being sick, or just busy, but I have not been blogging as regularly as I have in the past. I almost forgot a post for tonight...

I am currently working on wedding invitations, watching my first season DVD of "That 70s Show" (disk 1), and contemplating the purchase of some new shoes from F21, (don't worry Pat! I have a gift certificate. Thank yooou Karen). I have been pretty bored with my heels lately, and wanted something a bit more fun. I definitely want some platforms for summer, tan preferably, but I have not found the right ones yet. For now, I think these grey suede wedges will do the trick. I am also sort of a sucker for these leopard ones though... uh oh. The platforms I love, but am not sure I could actually walk in, so I think I will pass on those for now. I wish that I had some of the shoes that Jackie wears on the show!! She always has the cutest boots or wedges on. I would take some of Hyde's band shirts as well!

[[ that 70s show cast. brown platforms. suede lace ups. leopard wedges. ]]

midweek inspiration 11

Hello. I am so off my internal calendar this week, I completely thought it was Thursday and started writing out my post accordingly almost completely skipping my Midweek Inspiration (gasp). Now that I am back on track things can proceed as normal. Warning, this is a long long visually heavy one...


There are many blogs that I frequent each week as time allows, one being Design Sponge, as I have mentioned before. I was looking through some of their recent posts and discovered a "Living In" on the movie "The Secret Garden" which used to be one of my favorites! Curiosity triggered, I thought that I would browse through some of the other titles to see what stood out to me, and I found lots. Thus, my inspiration this week are the "Living In" posts at Design Sponge. (Notably, one of my other favorite blogs Green Wedding Shoes, stages photoshoots based off of movies from time to time, I will have to do a separate post on some of those soon because they are amazing!)

The concept for these is basically Amy Merrick, one of the editors, takes films and creates a collage of items, clothing/furniture that correspond. I can think of many many many more films that I would like to live in, or books that need to become films, but here were some of my favorites included in her posts. (On a side note, I have some long lost movies to find asap...)




The Secret Garden ( A childhood favorite that I am now dying to watch again. I think this film cemented my love for skeleton keys and slightly destroyed looking homes/furniture/antiques... )

Amelie ( One of my favorites for its complete oddness and color palettes. )

Frida ( Because not only did I do a project on this movie in college, but Frida Kahlo was a fantastically original and talented artist, and finally I have a deep love for the Day of The Dead concept and decorations. Picado banners and Sugar Skulls, yes please. )

Dazed and Confused ( I would have done awesome in the 60/70s. Imagine the concerts I could have gone to! Great soundtrack, great movie. )

Romeo and Juliet ( I loved this movie so much! It is incredibly visual, the colors and interior design are fantastic. It is a really unique take on the classic play, and since it came out in '96 when I was a little one, I loooooved Leo like every other young girl. )

Edward Scissorhands ( Tim Burton is a visual genius. Enough said. )

Ferris Bueller's Day Off ( Classic. But I can't believe they didn't include Sloans white leather jacket in the collage!! )

The Big Ledowski ( "It's The Dude, man." )

[[ all images from design sponge. ]]

weekend adventures 21

I would not really say that I have a tremendous amount of exciting adventures to share with you... this weekend was more about getting things done, or at least started. There was also quite a bit of nerdy movie watching... thanks boys.

friday night
I was so stressed out from last week that it felt great to kick back and relax knowing that I did not have to be at work early in the morning. I don't know how we got on the topic... but Pat, surprised that I had not seen 'The Matrix' series, insisted that we start watching it. Most of the evening was good, except for a little mishap, so I guess you could call it relaxing-ish.


saturday
I was focused on the robot party and set out to find some costume making supplies. I honestly thought that I would be able to find some clothes at one of the very limited cheap clothing stores we have around town to go off of, but came up completely short handed after visiting Goodwill, Ross, and TJ Max. Left with no choice, I headed over to Home Depot, a place I absolutely HATE visiting! I always feel so out of place and confused when I have to go there alone. I do not know much about home repairs, in fact every single time I have gone there by myself I have been picking up paint or various "art" supplies.

I grabbed a shopping cart and just started wandering the aisles until I stumbled across some of the things I was looking for. I could not ask for help because the conversation would have gone as follows / "Hi, can I help you?" / "Yes, I am looking for that silver, metally, tubey stuff... you know the thick tubey stuff that is bendy, like in E.T., but smaller and silver..." / "..." / In fact, when I finally checked out with my silver metally tubey stuff, some hex bolts, washers, two cans of spray paint, and a lot of duct tape... the woman at the counter politely asked me what kind of project I was working on, and upon explaining that the materials were all for a robot costume she laughed and said "Ok good, I was worried you were actually trying to build something with all of this!"

[[ some of my robot building supplies. ]]

Saturday concluded with some well deserved drinks after all of that exploring and the next in the Matrix series, which was not nearly as good as the first one. I liked the concept of the films, the story is very intricate, but I did not really like the introduction of the village and all of the tribal elements, that took it away a bit for me. It seemed artificial, forced, and a bit corny at that point. I did like the introduction of the Frenchman and the ghosts though, that was totally weird and creepy, my favorite thing apparently.


sunday
Sunday was all work and no play. I completely secluded myself all day to my room (since I have no office anymore) and really got started on the wedding invitations I am freelancing. I think I got the main direction of the system worked out... I just have to put the elements together, mimic some materials, and create all of the little components before it is ready to be presented as the first draft to my client. I wish that I had more time to work on it during the week, it is hard to work on it for only an hour or two at a time when I get on a tangent... I feel like I need five hour blocks to really make the progress I am looking for... but during the week, I just do not have that luxury.

[[ the matrix series screenshots. ]]

Sunday concluded with?? Surprise, the last Matrix movie. So nerdy. This one was pretty cool special effects wise, but I still preferred all of the Matrix scenes as opposed to the Zion business... though visually interesting during the fight scenes, I still found it to be a bit cheesy. People sure take a long time to die in these movies... I also wonder if the sales of pleather and alternative looking sunglasses skyrocketed once the first one came out in 1999. Interesting series. More interesting concept. Visually awesome and really advanced for its time. Creepiest villain ever. Overall not a bad watch. Though I think that they did that Kung Fu "come here" hand motion too much. But, I do really like the overall story conceptually.