Beavers Like Wood (and Books and Music and Movies)

if for some inexplicable reason you liked this blog...

2009-01-16T13:37:00.000-08:00

...even though I think it was pretty darn crappy, you should out my NEW BLOG, which is going to be ten million bajillion times cooler.

http://perfectopop.blogspot.com/
^it's awesome.

If I'm the most recent entry, read me

2008-05-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

I heard a few stragglers inquired into the health of my blog, and I just wanted to clear a few things up:

Beavers Like Wood went into a coma shortly after the post regarding Cop Rock, and its health deteriorated throughout early 2008. It has been cryogenically frozen, and this summer I believe I will find a cure for the lack of inspiration and overdose of AP Government essays that contributed to its vegetable-like state.

Currently, I have a few interesting things I wrote for my journalism class that I may post sometime, and I think I may pursue my interest in music reviews with more entries this summer... Or I may not bother.

For now, I'll leave you with a taste of the great music I'm listening to with Skye Sweetnam's brand new DIY video for her rockin' (if mildly disturbing) song "Babydoll Gone Wrong":

my top 15 albums I bought in 2007 & more...

2007-12-28T15:52:00.000-08:00

my top 15 albums I bought in 2007:
Skye Sweetnam - Sound Soldier
Relient K - Mmhmm
Relient K - Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... But Three Do
Bowling for Soup - The Great Burrito Extortion Case
Jonas Brothers - Jonas Brothers
Skye Sweetnam - Noise From the Basement
Jonas Brothers - It's About Time
Relient K - Let It Snow Baby... Let It Reindeer (haha, I bought wayyy too many Relient K cds this year...)
The All-American Rejects - The All-American Rejects
Brie Larson - Finally Out of P.E.
The Veronicas - The Secret Life of...
Paramore - Riot!
Aly & AJ - Insomniatic
Boys Like Girls - Boys Like Girls

and by far the best single I bought this year:
Lalaine - I'm Not Your Girl

Oh, and while I'm here, here's Aly & AJ's cover of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree":

Happy New Year everybody!!!

oh yeah.

2007-11-27T14:22:00.001-08:00

http://indianspring.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/11/chesapeake-bay.html

After spending 5 minutes clicking through all those annoying post-quiz offers, I just had to post this...

2007-11-18T05:52:00.000-08:00

Take the Emo Quiz - How Emo Are You? at QuizRocket.com!
Make Your Own Quiz

MY CHRISTMAS LIST Part 1: T-Shirts (Funny & Cute)

2007-11-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

Funny/Cute tees I'd like for Christmas (Link below picture - click on price or name of store)

Mostly in the order that I want them.

Aliens & a fan vid that might as well be from another planet...

2007-10-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

Never have time to blog anymore, high school sucks, I may be resigning from the blogosphere, but before I go, one of most hilarious Skye Sweetnam fan vids ever:

And I want to write a whole blog on this, but in case I forget, anyone who thinks Aliens in America has too many dumb jokes about Muslims & racist Americans should realize that when you're watching a show about teenagers, you have to expect a few horrible jokes. I think that's the best new show of the season, best show about high school made in a looong time (okay, in like, 2 years, but that's about one-eighth of my life), and would really be just as good without Raja, if it were just about being a dork in high school.

And the jokes about Moze's breasts are just plain WRONG! Gosh, it's Moze *shudders"...

And really, they'll run out of bad Muslim-themed jokes halfway through the first season and we'll all look back on these episodes with fond distaste. Seriously, there aren't that many semi-dignified jokes about Muslims in middle America out there. There just aren't.

Boys Like Girls News (how's that for an unoriginal title?)

2007-09-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

I don't know how to post myspace video directly on Blogger, so go to BLG's blog and check out their hot new video commemorating the start of the Tourzilla tour that I can't get tickets to.

Doesn't Paul look hot when he sticks his mouth right up to the camera and tells you get tickets? *sighs dreamily*

And listen to an exclusive acoustic version of "Hero/Heroine" courtesy of Entertainment Weekly here. (Personally, I think they sound kinda girly in this version. Martin's voice can go really high... Gosh, I hope Martin sings lead cuz I kinda forget who's who, and that would be a bit embarassing to get it wrong...)

And vote for them on the mtvU Woodie Awards! Yay! x3

Cop Rock

2007-09-28T10:55:00.001-07:00

If you're not in my media class, you may not have heard of the Emmy award-winning "Cop Rock". But if you have heard o fit, you'd know it was the greatest police drama/musical of the '90's, possibly even the greatest of all time. Oh yes. And it's all over YouTube. So even if you've heard their catchy hit "Let's Be Careful Out There," you've never heard anything like "Baby Merchant" or "Don't Touch". So be sure to check out this amazing footage of a revolutionary show that just never really caught on outside Ms. Taylor's class...

And if you want to find out more about "Cop Rock," here is the link to its IMDb page. Did you know it won two Emmys and was nominated for three? Seriously.

Seriously, these videos will change you life. As scanale 425 on IMDb said, "it was too hip for TV then (and probably now, too -- TV is pretty square.)" So don't be square - watch "Cop Rock".

Life in the hood ain't no piece of pie
Anybody could die
When the bullets fly

And in these streets, we [the gangstas] got the power.
(But the cops got a pretty rockin' theme song.)

So let's be careful out there

And don't touch
(Cuz every cop's ambition is to have a water fountain in the john.)

Or fall for her beautiful, beautiful eyes
(She played me sweeter than a saxophone - now that is some heartfelt balladry)

With the copper-toned skin
(This show deals with some heavy issues. Crime, racism, johns with water fountains...)

Cuz it's garbage in and garbage out
(The girl got a pretty hot mug shot, in my opinion...)

Okay, I'm sick of quoting the songs and tryign to tie this together. Just watch it.

And, um, the Baby Merchant will have your baby for you?

Oh, dude, here's the baby merchant in action!!!!!

This town has a definite crime problem...

And speaking of problems, these fans take lameness to a whole new level...

And they do it again... I'm not quite sure how this one relates to the show. But you can't deny, the guy singing lead knows how to jump around...

Oh wait, I don't think that last one was even about the show... Oh well, if you watched all those videos, you have too much time on your hands anyways...

Barbie Inspires the Best Music

2007-09-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

So, looking up Skye music I don't own on YouTube, Barbie Diaries comes up of course. I decided to check out Barbie's other music in case any of it is also Skye singing, and I found this amazingly *hilarious* song, "Boys Will Be Boys"

Five minutes of extended mix misery, joy, or tears from laughing so much. I'ds say this rivals "Barbie Girl"...

Oh, and sorry the on-screen lyrics are WAYYY off. Not my fault...

So, after you've watched the video, read the Customer Reviews on Amazon. Apparently even boys like it. And Linda S. Trokey says that "Every woman should own this cd!!!" Guess there's something out there for everyone...

God Loves Me. He Gives Me Cheap Brie Larson CDs.

2007-09-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

Maybe I see the randomest little things as acts of God, but I feel truly blessed.

So several months ago, I decided to listen to Brie Larson's CD on Rhapsody since she's often (incorrectly, in most people's opinions) listed as being similar to Skye Sweetnam. And I grew to love it for all its sugary pop fluffiness. I searched for her CD at Borders and Target for months before surrendering and turning to Amazon. That was this summer, a week before I went to California. I got her CD, The All-American Rejects' debut, and a Relient K CD off Amazon so I could listen to them in Cali. So, feeling like a CD-collecting failure (Amazon? It was too easy.), I decided to check for Brie's CD in the ginormous Virgin store in Hollywood, and staring out of the front of the rack laghing at me (well, staring down dejectedly really, but you know what I mean) was Brie's CD. $13.99. $6 more than I got it for, but still. It's from a store. Oh, how I suck. *slaps forehead* Quitter.

Then today, I was in FYE waiting for my parents to pick me and my friend up from the mall. I decided to go through my normal CD-search routine: Aly & AJ, Halo Friendlies, Lalaine, Brie Larson, Avril Lavigne... (Even though I own most of their CDs by now, it's too ingrained in my head for me to change it.) OMG!!!!!!!!!! They have Brie Larson too! For only $11! *repeatedly slaps forehead* quitter quitter quitter!!!!!! Uggh. Brie Larson hates me.

But wait! There are two more CDs under the Brie Larson tab! One's some random dude, who cares who, but the other *stares in awe* Brie's single, She Said... $3.99... Hmm... Not worth it, but should I let another Brie CD slip through my fing... AHHH!!! Ringing cell phone! Parents are here! Split decision time. Consult best friend. She says sure, go for it. Once in a lifetime chance. Race against the clock... BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT!!!

So I got the CD, pulled out $5 my dad gave me for food since I blew the meager remnants of this month's allowance on a Mickey Mouse pin at Hot Topic, and stood in line... My turn... The sales guy says it costs "one." Yes, one. Cent.

He suggests I search the floor for change if I want to save even more. So I put my $5 bill back in my wallet, and grab the first coin I find, which happens to be a penny... Get the CD... I am the luckiest person on the planet... o_0

Yup, I got Brie's single for a penny. This is even more of a gift from the gods than my Jonas Brothers' debut (last day of school, after months of searching, going for $30 on Amazon, $13.99 at my favorite Borders). So, yeah... Gah, I hate ending stories cuz they seem so short and anticlimactic... Anyways...

Here are some pics of the CD & the receipt. So you know I'm not lying or anything.

Oh, and when I put the CD in, the computer thought it was "The Corner" by Common. Strange.

...Wow, this took me over half an hour to write... The end...

A gigantic ton of JONAS BROTHERS NEWS!!!

2007-09-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

So, big thanks to the Jonas Brothers for posting a MySpace bulletin with a link to this CosmoGirl blog all about them...

CosmoGirl Interview with the Jonas Brothers

So basically, Kevin likes girls who dress up and don't wear pajamas to school, and Joe thinks his singing on "Australia" is all that. And Nick would play "Hello Beautiful" to impress a girl, which shows that he is wise beyond his years and knows WAY more about girls than his older brothers do.

CG! talks to performers at Arthur Ashe Kids Day, including JB
(EDIT:This video kinda sucks. Read my commentary/highlights to see if you'll like it.)

And they got the awesome clip of Kevin spinning around while playing the guitar taht I failed to get at their concert. I love it when he does that... And wtf is up with stars tattooed/drawn on your arms and legs? One of Karmina has one on her arm, and some kids at school have been drawing those all over themselves. Wonder if there's a connection... Love Keke Palmer's shirt. Those shirts are adorable, though not quite worth 20 bucks... Haha, everyone wants to challenge Venus & Serena to a tennis match... Okay, scratch that, JB were hardly in it at all. What a rip-off.

Good news from the CG blog, in case you didn't read it the second you saw the link:

""S.O.S" was the number one song on iTunes, beating every single song from High School Musical 2! Uh-oh, do Zac and Corbin need to watch their backs?"

Yes, yes they do.

Um, I feel like I had more news... Let's see... "S.O.S" is on a bunch of Top 40 stations now, totally robbing "Hold On" of its opportunity to blow everyone away, in my opinion. I know SOS is catchier, but I think the lyrics suck. The chorus is just a mash of cliches Nick threw together in 15 minutes when he was pissed. It's a quite good mash of cliches, considering he did it in 15 minutes when he was pissed, but still, you can't deny what it is.

And besides, "That's Just the Way We Roll" and "Just Friends" are so all-pwning, they put the singles to shame.

Check the music player on JB's MySpace for their phone number. I haven't called yet, but, you know, I might...

According to Disney Adventures (new October issue), a *deluxe edition* of JB's CD, entitled Bonus Jonas (they really can't get enough of that phrase, can they?) is coming out October 23rd. Those Disney bitches. We are not buying a JB CD for our freakin' dog, though it was bcute of you guys to ask.

I sincerely hope and doubt that it will be a deluxe of their debut album, It's About Time, but it would be really nice if it was. I own that CD, but obviously somebody doesn't, since it's going for $75 used on Amazon.

So, big live JB chat's down. I was in there about 45 minutes before it went down. And killed my Firefox 3 times. Thank Blogger for automatically saving drafts. I love JB for trying to hold a chat with fans, but really, that failed. Maybe if they'd made it a forum-style thing instead of a live chat. Live chats *always* get crazy like that...

I would've asked them about songwriting tips cuz, you know, it's all I could think of. But I'd really like to know more about their deluxe edition (which I'm sure I'll find out soon) and what they were thinking when they wrote "Hollywood". Especially if they mean Hollywood Records when they say Hollywood in the song, which would mean it's bashing their old label. I used to think it was telling Disney not to push them around, but now I'm thinking it's about Columbia. I wouldn't think Disney would normally allow such a rebellious music-industry-sucks type of song, but I guess they allow more creative freedom than I give them credit for. (Even though they reportedly didn't let the song "Move On" be on the CD because parents thought it was too mean.)

Oh, and sounds like JB definitely has more than a cameo but not quite a starring role in Camp Rock, and J.O.N.A.S. has not been picked up yet, but really, would Disney do this much grooming for some kids that are only musicians?

And Entertainment Weekly finally reviewed JB's sophomore, but you'll have to pick up the magazine since it's not on EW's website.

So, I think that's about all the JB news the world can handle for one day. Only 15 minutes left of potential chat time... Somebody's fans are gonna be pissed... See ya! ;)

SEARCH FOR THE MOST ROCKIN' "HUMAN" FAN VIDEO!!!!!!

2007-09-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

So, I noticed YouTube has gained a couple more fan-made videos for "Human" (by Skye Sweetnam, in case you've been living in a cave without access to my blog for the past few weeks), and figured I'd check em out. But you can't watch just one and not the rest; it wouldn't be fair. So, seeing as there are only 8 that come up when I search "skye sweetnam human", why not hold a contest to determine the best one?

If you wanna see the competition as I did, one video at a time, keep reading. For the highlights (you do get a bit sick of it...) skip to the bottom.

An impressive fan video.

I know it's made from some template-y thing (One True Media, I'm guessing...) and she uses the super-cool transition involving what looks like patches on a jean jacket waaaay too much, and including some pics that aren't 3 years old would be nice, but really, all the other fan vids I've seen were pretty sorry-looking. At least miley3232 tried.

Speaking of fan vids that are more like slideshows...

At least this one mixed in a couple of pink-hair pics with the old ones. And DisneyMediaOnly (broke that rule, didn't we?) did include lyrics and where to download (curse you conscious! let me get it illegally!!!!)

And what is up with all the More from this User things showing Keke Palmer fan vids? Just wondering where the connection was...

So now poor ol' RVShow's radio rip looks pretty sorry... They did post it before anyone else...

^You know, in case you forgot what it looked like.

RoCkAnG3LHSM101 kept the same picture up the whole time. But I think this was more promotional getting-the-single-out-there than fan-vid-ly.

But I should just be grateful anyone with HSM in their user name has good enough taste to promote Skye *playfully sticks out tongue at those HSM freaks*

Here's a boring one by Nappilicious2.

Yup, just the NFTB cover the whole time. Thanks for trying...

And of course, Koiriiah's, the one endorsed by Skye Sweetnam Project, presumably because it has ALBUM VERSION written all over it. Not sure how they know, unless they got their hands on a copy...

Knocking points off for choosing a kinda creepy pic of Skye as the background image for the entire video.

And besides a couple live versions, I think that's all the "Human" fan vids on YouTube at this time.

So, my analysis... Hmm... None of the fan vids are really more than slide shows. miley3232 definitely had the fanciest. But DisneyMediaOnly had the most variety, and she included links & lyrics, extra thumbs up for that. RVShow had the most new pics, so I think hers would be best for promoting Skye's new image, if it weren't missing the first few seconds. And RoCkAnG3LHSM101 had a nice little review of who Skye was, good for newbies.

Prettiest to Look At: miley3232

Best Effort: RVShow

Overall Best "Human" Fan Video: *drumroll please*... DisneyMediaOnly!!!!!!!!

Yayyyyyy!!!!!! Hopefully someone will actually read this post and acknowledge the awesomeness (or lack thereof) of all these videos.

Oh! Wait! Scratch all that. This video, by xinsomniaticx, pwns them all. It's a Hannah Montana fan vid, so I excluded it from the contest at first, but, just giving it a quick little peek, it's actually REALLY well-done. The clips mostly relate to the lyrics, and, if I didn't unconcditionally dislike everything involving Miley Cyrus, I would absolutely love it.

It's really impressive. Beats all that other stuff. Check it out:

Props to xinsomniaticx for actually winning the contest. Your video really is rockin'.

WHICH TO WATCH:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK1vw_-D_4k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E0-XjQs_Uc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNIACHJKrHo

(Those are by xinsomniaticx, DisneyMediaOnly, and miley3232, in case you were wondering)

Hope you liked the search!
x3 Meredith

I'm a gorgeous hottie with a great body.

2007-09-14T14:38:00.001-07:00

And YEAH, I repost MySpace bulletins on my Blogger!!! This one was just too funny to pass up :)

What color of shirt are you wearing?

Red=loud
Green=gorgeous
Blue= sexy
White=beautiful
Aqua=freaky
Yellow=innocent
Purple=a little TOO happy
Black= EMO
Orange=funny
Gray= skanky
Pink= preppy
light pink= sweaty
Multicolored= tree-hugging
Other= Hott
Nothing= sexy

What kind of pants are you wearing?

Shorts=football player
Skirt/Skort= Cutie
Corduroy= Faggo
tight jeans= skater
Ripped Jeans=EMO
Cammo=cage fighter
jean shorts=hottie
jeans=prep
Cargo=clown
Sweats/basketball shorts/yoga/pants= athlete
Boxers=hoe
Bootieshorts=stripper
Pj's= pirate!!!!
capris=Gangsta
Nothing=whore
Dickies= weirdo

What is your natural hair color?

light brown= with great feet
auburn= with a broken heart
blonde= that flirts too much
black= with a nice smile
brown = with a hott boyfriend /girlfriend
red = with beautiful eyes
Dark Brown =with a nice butt
strawberry blonde= that is to much to handle
dirty blonde= with a great body

Post as " I am a __"

My mom is gonna go crazy if she ever sees this, seeing as she just showed me an article in Family Fun about why kids post inappropriate online. She told me she'd cut her wrists if I ever posted sexy of myself online. So let's see what happens with this blog...

(I love you, Mommy! And just so you know, I'm really more of an innocent EMO with great feet. I can't help it that I was born blond/dirty blond/light brunette and am wearing a green shirt that happens to be way to big to show off any gorgeousness and is by Loyal Army, so you know it's cute, not slutty, and... well, I can't deny the jeans shorts... But they go all the way down to my knees!!!!!!! And my friend who should be a preppy cutie with beautiful eyes or feet or something got EMO skater with a hott boyfriend, so you know this is all fake anyways...)

But really, who would not want to repost something this hilarious? At least it shows you have high self-esteem...

A song I wrote about Paris Hilton to the tune of Cruella De Vil for governament class

2007-09-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

For my government class, we had to write a "creative" version of the Declaration of Independence, following its structure and philosophical ideas (Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu!!!) but with some clever subject, like the kid last year the teacher won't shut up about who declared himself independent from wearing underwear, "the cotton tyrants of man". So, I did Paris Hilton's dogs declaring their independence from her to the tune of "Cruella De Vil". I figured I'd post it here, so someone who cares can read it. :)

(Oh, and sorry the verses aren't as... separate as they could be. I'm too lazy to adjust it for the Internet. But, I know it makes reading it more difficult.)

Declaration of Independence

To Paris Hilton from her Dogs

(to the tune of “Cruella De Vil” from 101 Dalmatians)

Oh Paris Hilton

It’s time for you to hear

Our Declaration

We want to just be dogs

And go have fun

Oh Paris, dear Paris Hilton

We know you have issues

But listen to ours

We believe in

Separation of Powers

We need two equal branches, not just one! (Montesquieu)

Oh Paris, please Paris Hilton

That civil liberty’s

A thing we don’t have (Rousseau)

How can we be free

Inside a Gucchi bag?

We ought to form a state or sovereign (Rousseau)

Oh Paris, oh Paris Hilton

We feel that your society’s

Not civil

You’re just living in Nature’s perfect state (Locke)

We’ve come to realize

You’re not the owner we once liked

You’re an absolute monarch

Who dictates! (Locke)

We think that you need

Some balances and checks

To limit your power

Like Montesquieu said (Montesquieu)

This mansion could be so

Democratically run

Except for Paris, that Paris Hilton

FOR thinking that we’d like

To go to the beach

Then sticking us in these

Doggie bikinis

FOR subjecting us to this

Humiliation

Oh Paris, oh Paris Hilton

SHE has dragged us to all these stupid parties

And walked us with a handbag, not a leash

SHE has made us quarter

Nicole Richie’s Pomeranians on her orders

When she and Nicole were in times in peace!

SHE has made us wear little

Pink doggie sweaters

But we think that we are

Able to do better

We are declaring our independence!

Oh Paris, dear Paris Hilton

Understand that we don’t hate all you humans

The guy who brings us food is rather nice

We feel like four-legged brothers

To all you others

It’s just Paris who’s ruining our life

Oh Paris Hilton

We’re independent

From you and everyone

So don’t try to stop us

From having canine fun

Oh Paris, dear Paris Hilton

That's Hot

2007-09-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

If you are ever bored or need cheering up, google "Paris Hilton's dog". There is some pretty hilarious dirt on Tinkerbell & the gang.

Oh, and why not start your search with this USA Today (yeah, a real newspaper... weird...) article here?

This is Hendrix. Sad, isn't it?

(Pic from the USA Today article, I am not stealing! x3)

...AND you absolutely must read the free excerpt from The Tinkerbell Hilton Diaries on Amazon. Click here, then click on the picture of the book where it say Search Inside. It's really a pretty funny book. If it weren't $4 shipping on all the $3.50 copies, I'd buy it. I may buy it anyways. Or at least put it on my Christmas list. As D. Parker said in his/her (which is it, D?!?) review, it's the "perfect stocking stuffer for the criminally cynical"!

Oh, and while you're checking out Paris-themed books on Amazon, be sure to look at her diary! ...Well, actually, it's your diary for you to write in, but Paris provides some hilarious quotes ("People who don't like pink just aren't very colorful,") and questions for you to answer! And even if you're not interested in getting it, you have to read the rants in the Customer Reviews. I personally found the 14 year-old who's filled up 25 diaries in the past 5 years quite amusing. She really doesn't get the point.

Then read reviews from the kids who love it and are just like "Fuck off, I'm a princess like Paris! :P" I really like those kids :)

EDIT: 9/10/07 Just another fun (if gory) "story" about Tinkerbell. Gosh, who knew rich people's dogs were so entertaining?

Don't Bother Reading This Cuz I Go on a Psychotic Rant

2007-09-06T18:13:00.000-07:00

Surprise of the Century (or the Day): Lord of the Flies actually ends well. (Before those of you who knows what happens freak out,) I don't mean that it ends happily. Or that it leaves me with that golly-I-learned-a-swell-lesson-about-human-nature! feeling you're supposed to get. No, it left me thinking "Dang... William Golding can actually write a really good couple of pages."

For the record, I hate the book. It is just another lame school book that's written in the most BORING style imaginable (I take that back, it was an action movie compared to Thoreau) that tries and fails to teach us some lesson about life and humanity. But actually, it was more than that. That was Grapes of Wrath and Maggie. This was also gross, disturbing, and had some of the most obnoxious characters I've ever met. I really hated Ralph in the first few chapters. I mean, he takes off his pants and dives around on the beach pretending to be an airplane. Don't boys have any idea what they're going to get sand up?

(Okay, that was a bit uncalled-for. But it's just that kind of book.)
(Actually, I think their disregard for clothing and not-getting-sand-up-your-butt disturbed me more than the killing. I guess after you've rolled around naked on the beach for the heck of it, there's not much you can do to surprise me.)

But, the point, I think the book's crap. Good idea, but Flight 29 Down did it so much better and more kiddie-friendly. I say we declare LOTF obsolete and watch that for english class instead. Or Lost would work too, but there goes the fun-for-the-whole-family aspect.

BUT, the REAL point, there were a few pages I really liked. Maybe 5. No, probably 30 to 50 total, but 5 that were really "wow... I would read this even my GPA didn't depend on it..."

They were really good. When a certain someone is running for their life (won't spoil who it was), it just had... adrenaline. Like a Pendragon book (series by D.J. MacHale, read it, love it, e-mail me so we can obsess over how we're going to murder Bobby after what he did on Ibara). I guess I really respond well to people literally running for their lives. LOTF was half a million times more real and disturbing Pendragon, but either way, the dude's fighting to death (ish). So, yeah... Just wanted to point out that even back in... 1954... people could write good adrenaline-filled fight/flight scenes.

Which means, since the best part of Lord of the Flies is also the best part of Pendragon... And since they both contain messages & lessons about human nature and logic and Walmart taking over the world (good ol' Quillan)... but Lord of the Flies is old and sucky and Pendragon is shiny, new, and amazing... Are the curriculum-writers reading this?... (no)...

But, yeah... Long post not really about anything. Props to William Golding for almost touching on DJ MacHale's geniusness. And don't read Lord of the Flies, unless you enjoy immature boys murdering each other and 5 minutes of cool running-for-your-life-ness...

Oh, but if anyone ever gives the choice of LOTF vs. Thoreau or Crane or Steinbeck (except Of Mice and Men, which rocked), take LOTF. And hope you don't barf or anything.

...Wow, now I can't stop thinking about whether my journalism teacher would like my conclusion or not... Gar, I don't wanna think about that. She has bad taste. She likes bitchy people who give a "call to action" but just say FIX IT FREAKS!!!!!! and don't offer advice or anything. I should totally have told her I thought that "perfect editorial" had a really bitchy ending. I wonder if anyone who knows my journalism teacher will ever read this. And why aren't my parents home from Back to School Night yet? I'm not getting off the computer until they make me... Ms. C, you have crap taste and like bitchy calls to action! xP Like I bet you enjoyed the ending of Nickel and Dimed. That was the worst thing I've ever read. Not the whole book (it still pwned Thoreau). Just the last page. How should you feel, you wonder? Guilty, you ask? No.
SHAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You should feel SHAME for fucking up the lives of these poor people with your fucking maids and fucking shopping trips even though I appeared to enjoy working at Walmart but you're still fucking up these peoples' lives, you fucker, so either denounce your life of middle classosity or FUCK OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Except Barbara Ehrenreich omitted the curse words, like I should have. I just read them in between the lines... I think she is going to burn me at the stake because I am not a maid like she was for a few weeks. She really freaks me out. I think she's a bit unbalanced. Or else I'm the one with issues, since I'm the girl who cannot stop blogging and just wrote more f-words in that paragraph than she has in her life, and who thinks her hippie classmates will burn her at the stake for having set foot in Texas, and who thinks her parental parents will burn her at the stake for hating all after-school activities, and who thinks her fellow Aly & AJ fangirls will burn her at the stake for liking the Jonas Brothers more, and who thinks her too-cool-to-like-anything-from-after-the-'80's frenemies will burn her at the stake for liking Aly & AJ AND the Jonas Brothers, and who thinks her english and journalism teachers will burn her at the stake for posting this blog, and who may just set herself on fire, since deep down she knows that no one is actually going to read this blog, so what's the point of life anyways if no one reads your blogs?

But of course, if anyone does read this blog, I'll have to set myself on fire so no one will see my body and think "There's that girl who wrote that dumb rant about witch hunts and required reading... What a weirdo..."

So, hopefully you didn't just read this. Hopefully you read the thing about Kalan Porter instead.

Sugar-Pop-Fluffy-Cotton-Candy-liciousness

2007-09-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

Kim Possible graduates high school tomorrow!!! In September... that's a bit freaky...

Just thought I should mention: I have totally run out of stuff to listen to, so I'm trying Ashlee Simpson, and "Invisible" is actually a good song. Plus it sounds real and plausible. I can picture people ignoring her when she was just Jessica's little sister, then acting like they've been BFF's since like forever now that she's famous. Wonder if she helped write it... And I Am Me seems like a definitely decent album, based on the 4 songs I've listened to. I would listen to more, but my parents are out, so this is my guilty-pleasure time. I will never let them know I want to listen to the HSM 2 soundtrack, but, you know, I'm kinda craving "Bet On It"... Angry Zac cracks me up. He should so go emo for the next one. That'd bring the teens to the theater...

Dude, it's For Sale Only?!? Disney sucks cheap-o butt... Ew, now I'll have to watch the videos on YouTube, and that means clicking on the next one after each one's over, which will totally distract me from my chem homework... Speaking of that chem homework...

"Gotta Go My Own Way" is sugar-pop-fluffy-cotton-candy-licious. Gosh, I wanna hear the full version. Oh, and "All For One" is some seriously catchy stuff. You must admit, Disney is good at they do... But "Fabulous" still sucks so hard it's funny... Well, even Disney's not perfect...

Okay, I suppose I shall content myself with seeing if Vanessa Hudgens' solo album is better than Ashley Tisdale's (not hard to do)

(BTW: I'm using Rhapsody for all this listening. In case you were confused.)

(P.S. Ashlee Simpson pwns Vanessa Hudgens. What a sad day for Baby V...)

(P.P.S. Yeah, Vanessa's as bad as Ashley. And I always thought she was the most promising HSM star...)

(P.P.P.S. Should I write "edit" instead of P.P.P.S.? I think that's the more bloggery thing to do.)

(P.P.whatever.S. Now I'm listening to Simple Plan and it sounds so good :)

I'm Bringing Scrabble Back: The Funniest Music Video Ever

2007-09-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

This video actually made me laugh out loud. I mean, I always say "lol", but I rarely actually lol. But this time I did. This video rocks so hard. If this is the only video I post that you actually watch, that is okay. Just watch it.

In case you wondering, it's "Hurray" by Kalan Porter. Kalan won second place in Canadian Idol, but he's really popular in Canada, kind of like Clay Aiken is here in the States. (Hehe, I feel so knowledgeable about Canada! ^_^)

I don't really like his other songs (okay, all I've heard is "Down in Heaven" and his cover of "Surrender", and the only reason I liked "Down in Heaven" was because his line about being high.)

Okay, but he is really cute. Check out his endearing Awkward Video Blog. Lucky Canadians...

Not as funny as "Hurray (I'm Bringing Scrabble Back)" but it still made me laugh. Skye Sweetnam is quite lucky to be on tour with him. (You didn't think I'd found about him because I'm just such a big Canadian Idol fan, did you?)

And speaking of Canadian Idol, here's Kalan's audition. Check out Canadian Randy and Canadian Paula at the end. If I didn't have a life, I'd look for a video with Canadian Simon in it, but sadly, I do have a life (and precalc homework), so if you see a video of Canadian Simon, tell me.

Can you believe Candian Randy's name is Farley Flex? Who would name their child Farley Flex? Crazy Canadians...

Skye Sweetnam: Only Human?

2007-09-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

Skye's new sinlge! Wow, why can't I spell?

The song's called "Human", in case you didn't know. I think it's pretty catchy, but a bit too pop/hip-hop. And what's up with the part about dancing in your birthday suit?

I like the "Monkey see, monkey do" line, and the rest of the lyrics seem pretty good.

Much more of a mainstream pop sound than I was hoping for. I'd like the other songs to be more rock-oriented, or funky like "Into Action". This isn't quite my style...

Oh, and question of the day: Does Skye say "raped" in the chorus?

EDIT: In case anyone was doubting whether I am totally in love with this song, I'm listening to it for the third time in a row, so yes, I do love it. I just have to be a disappointed little critic the first time I hear a song... Gosh, I love this song. It's a bit sad how I have to hear something 3-5 times in succession to love it...

EDIT #2: No, wait, we think it's "brain-washed", not "raped". Amazingly huge hug to Watchmeburn for figuring that one out! x3

EDIT #3: Crap, I forgot to credit whoever made the slideshow/video... RVShow, you are one the Coolest Person of the Day for putting (almost) the whole song on YouTube!!!

Bestest. News. EVER!

2007-08-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, guys, sit down if you faint easily, or stand up and get ready to jump up and down screaming:

Skye Sweetnam has released a new single.

W0000000000000000000000ttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yayayayayyayay!!!!!!!!!! x33333333+++++++++++++++++++++ yayay :D xD :)

New single's called "Human", played at least twice on the radio in Canada. CFRB's the name of the station (whatever that is). No word on rips or ways to hear it yet... More info on the board...

And Skye has an *OFFICIAL* Facebook group here

OMG I am now an advanced member on the Skye board *cheers* 30 posts w000t!

This has been a really great afternoon, considering how I was totally embarassed and miserable in school... Reading Twilight for an hour, Friending the MySpaces of all the actors/characters on The Office, AND finding out about Skye's new single? I should have bad school days more often...

My "Camp Rock" Analysis

2007-08-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

So, "Camp Rock", the writers:

Julie Brown Sounds to me like she's directed and acted in a few failed chick flicks, but I'm not interested enough in her to find out...
Paul Brown Star Trek. The X-Files. Sounds like he's going where no geek has ever gone before...
Karin Gist "Jump In". Great...
Regina Y. Hicks "Jump In" as well. Perfect...

And several of them have worked on "Girlfriends", which seems like a rather odd piece to add to this puzzle...

Director: Matthew Diamond.
Desperate Housewives, Gilmore Girls, That's So Raven... Okay, so the shows I chose to mention are very not-representative of his career, but I gather that he can do just about any semi-fluffy TV show if he puts his mind to it...

Producers:
Kevin Lafferty - Cow Belles, Twitches, Jump In, Cadet Kelly... Not the best, but not the worst either...

Alan Sacks - Pixel Perfect (x33333333!) You Wish, The Other Me, The Color of Friendship, Smart House... He may be a bit rusty, apparently doing nothing but "His Holiness The Dalai Lama" between Pixel Perfect and now, but I'd trust those credentials. I mean, Color of Friendship won a freakin' Emmy!

And just go here for the full cast's bios....

Overall, not great. I like Alan Sacks' resume, and Paul Brown might add an interesting touch, but I'm not crazy about the rest of them...

And in case you haven't read it yet, the summary:
"Camp Rock," centers on a teen girl who desperately wants to spend her summer at a prestigious rock camp, but can only attend if she works in the kitchen as one of the cooks. When she's overheard singing - but not seen -- by a teen pop star at the camp, he is completely taken and sets out to find the girl behind the beautiful voice. But first she must confront her fears, step out of the kitchen and into the spotlight.

So, the future looks slightly dim... I foresee another ooh-Cowbelles-kinda-sucked-but-I-suppose-I-have-to-love-it-cuz-I-love-Aly-&-AJ... Then J.O.N.A.S! will probably be a My-Super-Sweet-16-The-Movie-okay,-Aly-&-AJ-CANNOT-choose-good-scripts... Man, too bad Joe and AJ broke up, they were made for each other. Or at least she might make him realize what a bad script looks like...

But you know I'm a pessimist. Well, no, but I have to bring myself down before the movie does.

Knock Knock!

2007-08-30T14:46:00.000-07:00

Best. Knock-Knock Joke. Ever.

Knock, Knock
Who's there?
You know
You know who?
That's right, Avada Kedavra!

Thank u so much Muggle1990 for using it as your signature on IMDb and not murdering me for reposting it here without your permission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Oh, and now for some real news, it was posted on the "Camp Rock" board of IMDb, and CHECK THAT MOVIE OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jonas Brothers are set to star, filming begins really soon in Toronto. Still checking the deets as to who's writing & directing...)

When Songwriters Read the Minds of Fictional Characters...

2007-08-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, still not telling you about California and whatever inside joke-type thing I mentioned last time. (Oh wait, was it "Last week, I died and went to heaven. Or, as you mortals call it, California."? I made that up to put as my Facebook status, but I couldn't get online til we got home... Ah well... It seemed quite clever at the time.)

This post shall be short (still haven't done quite ALL my work due tomorrow *grimaces*) and dedicated to...

SONGS THAT ARE TOTALLY ABOUT FICTIONAL CHARACTERS!!!!!!! (except not really)

You know when you hear a song and could swear the songwriter was channeling a character in some book, since the song fits the book perfectly?... Well, you may not, but I get that a couple of times, and I thought I'd devote a post to it, since it's better than going to fan forums and being all "LYK OMG+++ this song is SOOOOOO just like the book!!!!!!!!!!!" Okay, I am way too mean to fangirls. But mocking them is almost as fun as being one *grins deviously*

So, first off, the song I'm listening to right now:

"Still in Love With You" - Jonas Brothers
This song always makes me think of Brandon and Callie in the It Girl books by Cecily vonZiegsaricantspellhername. I think this song pretty much sums up Brandon's feelings. And I can't really imagine a girl doing that to Joe, Nick, or Kevin... or anyone for that matter... I still don't quite get how Brandon went to get Callie a drink and all of a sudden she and Easy were running off to make out... That's the only situation I can think of where you would forget to tell your boyfriend you were breaking up... So, yeah, I think JB was channeling Brandon when they wrote this, cuz it's just too perfect...

And is that song about the same thing as "7:05"? Just asking...

Okay, next song...

"Hero/Heroine" by Boys Like Girls
I was listening to this song a few days ago (actually, yesterday, I believe...) and it really reminded me of Twilight. Of course, I am a bit obsessed with reading that book right now, but the lyrics seemed to fit perfectly with Edward's whole we-shouldn't-be-together thing ("Do you know that your love is the sweetest sin?", " Never felt so good to be so wrong") And just this whole part sounds just like Edward:

"I never thought that you could break me apart
I keep a sinister smile and a hold of my heart
You want to get inside
Then you can get in line
But not this time

Cause you caught me off guard
Now I'm running and screaming"

I was going to include the line " And I feel a weakness coming on", but I don't think weakness would be the best thing for Edward to feel... Well, I haven't finished the series yet...

But seriously, isn't that one a bit freaky how well it works?

(DISCLAIMER: Okay, it may not work as well as I think; I haven't even finished the first book yet... but it works with what I've read so far!!!)

And finally...

"Movin' On" by Good Charlotte
This whole song is basically what Steinbeck was trying to say in Grapes of Wrath, condensed into 3-and-a-half minutes of pop-punk (Yeah, I'm half-kidding. But only half.) It tackles the themes of "life sucks" and "suck it up" that were so prominent in Steinbeck's classic novel.

The line "Like all my friends, they just keep dying" is similar to the Joads's situation; their family members (Grampa and Granma) and friend Casy died in the course of the book.

The line "the hard times will come, and we'll keep movin' on" should probably be the Joad family motto. Seriously, Ma is wayyyy too into not crying and getting over it (Poor Rose :( )

So I guess " People 'round me always crying/ In this place that I like to call my home" wouldn't quite be true, since Rose of Sharon gets to cry, like, twice before Ma makes her stop, and the Joads leave home pretty early on...

But overall, I think the theme of the song and the theme of the book are the same. Or, themes, rather. Including...

" Life,
Hope,
Truth,
Trust,
Faith,
Pride,
Love,
Lust,
Pain,
Hate,
Lies,
Kill,
Laugh,
Cry,
Live,
Die"

I'm sure a person with more time on their hands could find all those things in Grapes of Wrath...

...So, if Steinbeck was born in my generation/the one before mine... would he have been a punk rocker instead of a whiny author?...

Videos that Make Me Smile (and some that are just a bit bad)

2007-08-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

Haha, the video for "Rockstar" makes me smile :) I love that song. You rock, Nickelback.

I wish I were one of the kids in that video... And the little kids are so cute! x3

But "Imaginary Superstar" by Skye Sweetnam is still the best video in the history of the musical world.

I absolutely LOVE that video... Skye made it herself, did all the stop-motion animation and everything. Gosh, I wish I could do that... It must take a LOT of time though... I'm still working on writing the song I wrote about her all prettyly so I can send it to her fanmail and 6 months from now she'll read it and be like "OMG! Must write a lovely thank-you note!" Since she writes lovely thank-you notes sometimes, you know. *sigh* It's so cool liking an obscure singer no one knows about who has time to reply to her fanmail...

And while I'm watching Skye videos, might as well post the WNBA version of Number One. I would so download that.

The WNBA always manages to get alll my favorite singers to do ads for them... Er, they got Aly & AJ and ...someone else...

And hopefully by now, you are somewhat curious as to who Skye is, and this video does a pretty good job of explaining it...

Wow, I hope these videos work... That will be sad if they don't... And hopefully you don't hate me for posting so many videos. You don't have to watch them (except for the first two. You absolutely MUST watch them.)

OMG! Okay, only for the Skye-obsessed, but this video made me smile too. James looks sooo young; I've never seen a picture of him before. And I LOVED seeing the Capitol Records building since I saw it when I was in LA and was like "OMGOMGOMG Skye could be in that building RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!" That's what I tried to focus on when I got to LA, how Skye talked about being scared of such a big, important city. All the other people I like are on tour somewhere, so Skye was the only person I figured could be in the city... Let's just watch Skye go to LA...

So, not that interesting but... still good... I'm wasting time; I should stop... Right after this next video ;) ...

(Skye's) Homemade video for "Shattered". Not the best homemade-video-for-a-bonus-track, but "Imaginary Superstar" is a bit hard to beat...

Yeah, it kinda sucked, but you know... It WAS homemade...

And I will leave you with that crappy video, before you start throwing tomatoes... I need to do my summer homework on Grapes of Wrath (just finished reading today. the ending was CRAP!)

Beavers Don't Like Dresses

2007-08-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

Dresses hate me. They have a conspiracy where they ALL make me look bad, then they choose one that looks good on most people, so I figure, gosh, this dress looks good on her and looks like it looks good on me... Yeah, it fits, I'll get it. Then I take the dress home and finally wear it and I look in the mirror too long and decide, the dress really DOESN'T look good on me. I'm too tall for it. Or too hippy. Or I don't have boobs. (Gosh, I hate it when people blog about boobs. I am SO SORRY to mention them here and make it all awkward, but they are a major factor in Why Dresses Do Not Fit) So then I figure okay, after this, looks like I'll have to get ANOTHER dress...

I swear, the manufacturers have figured out. They totally planned this conspiracy and taught the dresses how to look really bad then decent then bad again. They have little schools where they brainwash the dresses into looking freakish and making everyone who wears them look dumb. And the only way to escape is to pay at least $200 for an absolutely beautiful thing that costs over $200...

So, I'm going to my friend's quinceanera. (Isn't that awesome? I never figured I would be friends with anyone HISPANIC enough to have a quinceanera! I mean, all my other Spanish-speaking friends are too lazy to plan one, or their parents don't wanna throw one, or they ARE having one but can only invite like 5 friends cuz they need room for their seventh cousins and junk...) But anyways, FORMAL!!!!!!! I'll have to wear the (ugly) black dress my mom got me for Homecoming or some other equally lame thing I ended up not going to... And I need shoes. Cuz all I have are ugly Payless things that look like turkeys & pilgrims (Seriously, they do. You have to see them.) So, SHOPPING! We go to Macy's, cuz for some unknown reason my mother loves Macy's, and check out the shoes. They have more AWESOME Ked's flats, like the ones I already own but better looking but not on sale, and then... fancy shoes. :(

And of course, boring or ridiculous, they all cost WAY too much for dumb shoes, in my opinion. WE go through, see a few nice black flats (and some sweet blue-and-white stripedones I'm not allowed to get), but I don't wanna get the shoes just yet cuz, well, I haven't looked at the dress in about a year... It's black... I think the fabric is not shiny but not soft either, kinda glittery meshy, totally unexplainable. So, off to dresses to find a similar-looking dress and jog my memory!!!!!!!!

We find the exact same dress I own. The EXACT same. Probably marked down to abotu 20 bucks by now...

Well, we're here, might as well check out the other dresses... Semi-wearable sundresses (too casual)( >:P I hate you Mommy)(just kidding Mommy x3 )... Super-formal prom dress-types (including Bride of Frankenstein at the Under the Sea Dance and Bride of Frankenstein at the Spring Fling Dance)... And...

OMG A SUPER-CUTE BLACK & WHITE DRESS WITH LACE & PLEATS & FLOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I lied. I mean, it WAS super-cute, but my first thought was...

OMG A HILARIOUSLY UGLY BLACK & WHITE DRESS WITH LACE & PLEATS & FLOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It looked sooo goth... I had to point it out to my mom so we could laugh at about it and decide which horror movie character would wear it to what dance... But her first thought was "How beautiful!" Then, pretty soon I realized, wow, it WAS beautiful... In a goth-meets-teacup-pattern kinda way...

So I fell in love with it. It is the perfect dress that I will wear someday when I become a rock star... and can pay $200 for it...

But there were a few more decent if not goth-pretty-perfect dresses out there. And my mom let me try them on (I asked to try on the perfect one, but she said no cuz I'd look so good she'd have to buy it. Wow, though annoying, that was actually pretty sweet... Huh. Mothers...) Anyways, I tried on this cool Hawaiian-looking dress that was black with bright blue stuff on it. My mom said it would be very versatile (quince to luau, oh yeah!) And this black dress that my mom liked but I didn't, which was good cuz I didn't quite... fill it out... enough. Then I tried on this babydoll (oh, how I hate that style!) dress with black and white circley, swirly patterns on it that was... actually really fun... Wow, I hate the babydoll-ness, but... This is actually a really cool dress. It's fun to swirl around in. AND it has thick straps so you can actually wear a decent bra under it. That is quite a rarity.

And I tried on this kimono thing I really liked on the rack but hated on me cuz I felt like an old Asian lady. No offense.

But whatever, cuz I was getting the stupid-but-nice babydoll! And possibly the quince-to-luau.

...But...

The only REASON I could get them was they were on the SALE $40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111 rack... But they weren't on sale...

:(They were on the wrong rack. They cost about $100 each.

So, the Ugly Back Dress it is! Yay Boringness!!!!!!! >:/

And, yeah, that is my story of why dresses hate me. Looking back on it, it was not much of a story. I could've just told my evil-brainwashing-school-for-dresses theory cuz that was the most interesting part... Ah well... You read it, too late, I'm posting it...

Oh, and some posts on the time I died (It'll make sense in my next post, and if it doesn't, comment and say you'll murder me again if I don't explain it) later... Ciao for now, my good-bye rhymes are lame for any time! wow, I'll shut up...

Save Lilo & Stitch!

2007-08-06T17:39:00.001-07:00

Oh, I totally forgot, today is Save Lilo & Stitch Day, in honor of the movie being aired on Disney Channel tonight. Go here and bitch about how much you love the movies & show! And start chatting with the automated response from Disney Channel Member Services, it is such a good listener and always replies to your e-mails!

And for all you confused lazy-butts who can't find the e-mail program, it's here. Just type in your name, e-mail, and the subject, and voila! You've just harassed over 30 Disney employees about it!

Leaving for *CALIFORNIA* tomorrow! Tty in 2 weeks!

Where to Get Your AWESOME School Supplies

2007-08-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I went to Target for...

BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every year, I get most of my supplies from their super-cool line of stuff for high school/college students. The stuff that's all blue and green and brown with circles and lines and looks amazing. Last year, I got there a bit late and couldn't find much, so I reused a lot of stuff from 8th grade (the year before).

So this year I got there early in the summer, ready to soak up the awesomeness!

And there wasn't any :(

Not "there wasn't any LEFT". There wasn't ANY. I think they may have discontinued the line or something. I did get a couple notebooks that were matching cardboard with colored stripes. Gosh, I hope that isn't the remnants of their great collection of folders, binders, notebooks of all sizes...

But never fear! I just discovered a new place to find incomparably amazing notebooks & folders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fueled By Ramen webstore. Yeah, it's 5 times as expensive as Target was. BUT YOU CAN GET A FOLDER WITH PARAMORE ON IT OMG+++!!!!!!!!!!11111111

So, time for you to soak up the awesomeness.

Actually, scratch that. I can't figure out how to post pictures of the stuff. Stupid Blogger. No smilies AND difficulty posting images? Maybe I will go back to being a loser who blogs in myspace :P

So, anyways, links to the awesomeness. You can soak it up once you click on them

Paramore notebook

Paramore folder

Cute Is What We Aim For notebook

(^ I am so totally buying those 3, so you better not steal them if you go to my school :P)

Cute Is What We Aim For folder

Fall Out Boy notebook

Fall Out Boy Stationary (for school of course)

And there are more, and a Fall Out Boy folder I couldn't find the second time I looked, so since I don't really care about the other bands, you can look for yourself.

Oh! Wait! I LOVE this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GYM CLASS HEROES GYM BAG + T-SHIRT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! x333333

I think that is the cutest idea in the UNIVERSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wanna get a deal with Fueled By Ramen so I can have my own school supplies...

Yeah, hope you love that half as much as I do. And I hope your parents (and mine!!!) see the beauty and genius and are willing to shell out a few extra books for the coolest notebook their child has ever seen...

Masters of Science Fiction: So Subtle... It's Impossible to Find

2007-08-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

I LOVE science fiction short stories. I remember reading The Veldt by Ray Bradbury in eighth grade and being so stunned but feeling so proud when I realized that the parents were eaten by the lions and that was what the kids were imagining all along (ooh, spoiler there. Hopefully that won't make any sense if you haven't read the story yet..) My mom thought it was disturbing, but I thought it was awesome and that Ray Bradbury was a genius (yeah, I guess your kid loving a story in which the kids kill their mom would be a bit disturbing...) And the BEST part was that realization of what was going on.

So, last night, after realizing that Stu Wolff, the fictional rock star in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, is hilarious when drunk but unbelievably sappy when sober, I stayed on ABC long enough to watch the premiere of their new series "Masters of Science Fiction." In other words, I stayed on ABC an hour too long.

The show was either unfathomably deeper than my small brain can handle, or completely pointless. (Spoiler alert) Here's the plot of the first episode, "A Clean Escape": A psychiatrist is trying to help some guy regain his memory. Everyone tells her to stop, he's a waste of their resources and her time. But she just says she needs a little more time. (Oh, if only she'd given up after the first 10 minutes!...) The man can remember the first 41 years of his life as if they were yesterday (er, he actually thinks they WERE yesterday...) but not the next 24 years. Back in his forties, he developed defense systems for the US government. But apparently, after that, he became president and blew up Russia in a preemptive strike (using the weapons he developed, I'm sure). So they blew us up. And then apparently everyone else blew themselves up. So now we've been stuck in nuclear winter for a year, and he can't remember any of it. But - oh look! - here's a video of the blown-up Western White House! And there's his wife! And there are the organs inside her burnt-to-crisp body! And we can see the kids next! No, wait... He's crying... He remembers! HE REMEMBERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The psychiatrist's obsessive quest has been fulfilled! Now we can all live happily... uh... oh no! Psychiatrist has a gun! Mr. Prez begs her not to shoot him. So she takes mercy on him! And shoots herself, we presume. At least, someone dies a bloody death. And now her best friend is trying to make the Prez remember again. Apparently he forgot... So... Show's over... Wasn't that a biting parallel of... something... we would understand...

I mean, my dad pointed out every Bush stab (which there were surprisingly many. Was that in the short story the episode was based on, or did they just write it in so the show would seem edgier?) And I learned that nuclear war = bad. And from a few side comments, I learned that presidents who don't believe in global warming will destroy us all.

And, to tie this all back to my enthralling tale of what I read in 8th grade, this show was lacking that one little thing: realization. The point where you get the point. (Actually, it was missing a lot more than that. More later.) Why was it so important to make the guy feel bad? And WHY did they have to do it again after the psychiatrist died??? One of the guys in charge made it sound like Mr. Prez was a waste of resources, so they should hurry up and kill him. So they wait until she makes him remember what a shit-bag he is. Then they let her best friend make him reremember he's a shit-bag. So what's up with these wasted resources? Was the PSYCHIATRIST a waste of resources? Was that the point? And what about that weird-o first scene where it looks like we see a psychiatrist clone floating there and some guy tells the (presumably) not-clone psychiatrist she has 3 or 4 months to live? (I think that's what happened, but of course you understand a word they say. My dad decided to turn on the closed-captioning so we could follow it.)

And why do the last 871 humans alive have nothing better to do than make the president remember he destroyed the world, only to have him forget again 40 minutes later? Wouldn't they be better off trying to seduce him into repopulating the Earth?

Speaking of repopulating, the psychiatrist says that humanity will survive. Let's hope they have a lot of Viagra in there... Not to mention food. Sure, you could say it's worth wasting food on your mentally-damaged president since he's, you know, the president. But then you torture him into remembering he's president. Do we value his life or not?

One more complaint: the show is about as cheap as you could imagine. There are only about 3 scenes that take place outside the psychiatrist's office. The only futuristic equipment we see (other than those random tanks of floating clones) is a projection panel and a cool little light-up control pad on Crazy Psychiatrist's desk that could possibly just be a light under some frosted glass... But of course it's a super-hi-tech control pad that was quite expensive to make. Of course.

One specific example of cheapness: Crazy Psychiatrist shows Mr. Prez a wide range of big cities after the nuclear holocaust. But except for still-smoking New York & London, we get to watch Mr. Prez's facial expressions!!! You know that's the exciting part...

Actually, it might be. The best part of the show by far was the actors. Crazy Psychiatrist is intense, stony, determined, a bit too intense... Like any good crazy psychiatrist would be. Mr. Prez is nice & lovable but totally determined not to talk about this project at work. And waaay too stubborn to believe he's the president... Sound like how any presidents we know would act? Oh, ABC, you slay me...

The rest of the actors get about 5 lines each. No sense letting minor characters talk...

Oh, and I think Sam Waterson (the actor who plays Mr. Prez) is supposed to be a BIG DEAL, so if you know why, be satisfied in knowing that he does not disappoint. Even his character mostly makes sense. Wish we could say that for the rest of them...

Oh, and the flashbacks and "OMG HOW DARE U NOT REMEMBER ME YOU KILLED MY CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" mini-rants by Crazy Psych made me think she & Mr. Prez were married. And I think that would've added a more-fathomable layer to the story. Just saying...

Oh, and apparently everyone at TV.com liked it, or at least is willing to see more... Curse you, cookie problem that won't let me in!!!!!!!! I need to share this brilliant review...

This review is decent. I don't get why the reviewer still wants to see more, but I guess hope springs eternal.

I'll try posting this on IMDb.

And sorry I'm a whiny bitch ;)

W00t first post!

2007-08-01T15:21:00.001-07:00

Oh gosh, the title sounds like I'm one of those people who obsessively post on their new MySpaces and Facebooks "first comment!", or worse, those odious creatures that do it on bands' blogs "first comment! lyk ong!!1" :P Except when they're actually the second or third comment. Then it's hilarious xD

I sound so pretentious. Wowww... And there are no cool smilies here :( Screw credibility and absence of child predators, I want my MySpace smilies ;( But at least this tells you when you spell things wrong. I guess MySpace assumes you misspell stuff on purpose in you blog but accidentally in your About Me... Weird...

So. I posted 2 blogs on MySpace today, so I'm afraid I'm a bit out of new material. And my my eyes are starting to hurt. So, um, welcome; I'm Meredith; I like beavers, long story; sorry this post was so lame; I'm off to read Out of the Silent Planet and hope I can pass it off as summer reading that's above 10th grade level (you really don't want me to start. I'm sure I will some other time. In short, Harry Potter pwns all of Thoreau, Steinbeck, and Fitzgerald's works combined.)

I still miss my smilies :( This is so cold and unfeeling...

Beavers Like Wood (and Books and Music and Movies)

if for some inexplicable reason you liked this blog...

If I'm the most recent entry, read me

my top 15 albums I bought in 2007 & more...

oh yeah.

After spending 5 minutes clicking through all those annoying post-quiz offers, I just had to post this...

MY CHRISTMAS LIST Part 1: T-Shirts (Funny & Cute)

Aliens & a fan vid that might as well be from another planet...

Boys Like Girls News (how's that for an unoriginal title?)

Cop Rock

Barbie Inspires the Best Music

God Loves Me. He Gives Me Cheap Brie Larson CDs.

A gigantic ton of JONAS BROTHERS NEWS!!!

SEARCH FOR THE MOST ROCKIN' "HUMAN" FAN VIDEO!!!!!!

I'm a gorgeous hottie with a great body.

A song I wrote about Paris Hilton to the tune of Cruella De Vil for governament class

That's Hot

More Skye Videos!

Don't Bother Reading This Cuz I Go on a Psychotic Rant

Sugar-Pop-Fluffy-Cotton-Candy-liciousness

I'm Bringing Scrabble Back: The Funniest Music Video Ever

Skye Sweetnam: Only Human?

Bestest. News. EVER!

My "Camp Rock" Analysis

Knock Knock!

When Songwriters Read the Minds of Fictional Characters...

Videos that Make Me Smile (and some that are just a bit bad)

Beavers Don't Like Dresses

Save Lilo & Stitch!

Where to Get Your AWESOME School Supplies

Masters of Science Fiction: So Subtle... It's Impossible to Find

W00t first post!