![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
today
-gym gym gym
-e-mail advisor again
-Mamma Mia! with Donna and Jordan
What a day. From car drama to The Dark Knight to Legally Blonde to my mom...
We had the rental until about 3:57 PM, so I was able to get a ride to the gym with my dad on his way to work. I found that doing intervals on the treadmill was more time efficient, calorie-wise and also because it made the time seem to elapse faster. However, I still have a bad habit of relying on the handrail for support when I'm recovering instead of just pumping my arms, which I do when I'm running :p
- I don't know where to begin. The movie was... an experience. I thought it wasn't the kind of uplifting movie that I'd want to watch again and again, in part because it's so emotionally arresting. I finally pulled myself aside at one point late in the movie and reminded myself that it was all pretend. It was indeed a compelling film, but it wasn't necessarily quite the kind of escape I'd seek from everyday life when selecting a movie.
It was well-made, that's for sure, and Batman has always been my favorite comic book hero because 1) he doesn't use guns (a scene in which Bruce Wayne deftly dismantles a rifle was particularly, erm, how do I say this? hot), 2) he's Bruce Wayne, Gotham's millionaire, and 3) that he is not a human or alien endowed with superpowers, as well as some of the villains' less supernatural backstories somehow made the series more compelling to me.
I admit that most of my knowledge of Batman stems from watching Batman: The Animated Series years ago on Cartoon Network; I hadn't known until just now that Harley Quinn was an innovation of this cartoon series whose popularity made her a part of the comic book canon. But I digress. MILD SPOILERS AHEAD!
- I realized I spent the entire movie figuratively at the edge of my seat, and even during the action/thriller/shoot-and-blow-'em'up trailers preceding the movie, I sensed my shoulders were tight and high. I knew the movie would be dark because of the tone of the previous film and, hahah, the title, but I left the movie overwhelmed and feeling a bit depressed at how destructive mankind can be. I've never liked the Joker in the Batman series because I always thought he was pointless in that he never seemed to have a concrete REASON to commit all these crimes. That he just seemed to want to cause discord for no good reason always bothered me.
- Obviously there is something mentally wrong with the Joker, but he has to possess enough cognition to be able to plan such intricate schemes. I had to close my eyes at times because I was afraid they'd actually show things, like the scene in which the Joker explains to a thug how he got his rictus grin scars while intending to do the same to the guy, and the scene in which the portly criminal complains repeatedly that his insides don't feel good, and that the boss would promise the "voices inside his head" would stop because we all knew what was going to happen next.
- It was good to know a little about Batman in that I knew from the commercials and trailer that Aaron Eckhart would become Two-Face, and that Gordon couldn't die because he had to become Commissioner Gordon. I thought Rachel Dawes wasn't from the Batman canon, but that Christopher Nolan and crew would screw with the general Batman canon enough by potentially killing Gordon raised my eyebrow until he "came back" later in the film.
- When Harvey Dent first lashed out as Two-Face in the hospital room scene, I wondered aloud in a whisper to Donna whether or not he may have had a history of psychological disorder in his family, and surely enough, I read that Dent's character has multiple personality disorder. (I knew he was Two-Face, but I'd never read anywhere about MPD.) However, it made me wonder why it hadn't manifested itself earlier in the movie. I also thought it was interesting that the film made the two-headed coin an heirloom belonging to his father instead of Maroni's coin, and that the entire killing of Rachel Dawes was the reason for Harvey's disfigurement and resulting spiral into depravity.
- Bravo to both Heath Ledger and Christian Bale for becoming their respective characters to the point that it took me a long time to remind myself that the movie was just that, a movie.
- Donna couldn't stop laughing at Christian Bale's gruffer Batman voice ._.
- I don't think I'll buy it on DVD, but I will rent/Netflix it to hear the commentary and watch the behind-the-scenes features. I left the theatre so ready to watch Mamma Mia! tomorrow evening with Donna and Jordan, a diametrically-opposite kind of film.
So, in short, The Dark Knight: well-made film, emotionally-gripping, made me want to research Batman further and wish I were still currently taking Abnormal Psychology so we could discuss the film in depth.
We had Chinese for dinner, which, in all honesty, was disappointing because I do not equate Chinese food with healthy, and I had been doing well until tonight -- I had a reasonable breakfast and lunch and had been chugging water all day, before, during, and after the gym. I didn't get any iced coffee when my friends got their lattés, but I did share the unbuttered popcorn Donna bought before the movie :p I was surprised that I was able to drink a liter of water throughout the course of the 152-minute film without needing to use the restroom.
Monday night is apparently the one night you could order off the lunch menu, meaning smaller portions. I chose number 3, Chicken and broccoli, because it was among few dishes in which the chicken was sautéed and not fried. However, we were NOT allowed to substitute brown or white rice for the shrimp fried rice. When my friends had the small chip-like wontons with their soups, Miriam said, "Here, eat some," and I was going to eat one, and then Shliz jokingly said, "No, they're fried!," so I said, "Okay, fine." I didn't eat any.
The sauce was salty, and the overall quality of the dish was subpar. I ended up, however, eating all the rice, go figure O____o We all ended up sampling each other's foods, so while I didn't finish my dish, I had a piece of Donna's General Tso's and two of Jordan's sesame chicken. *shrugs* Oh well. Where's Pei Wei when you need it? I always have the Kids' Wei Honey Seared Chicken, which is just the right size serving and with brown rice. My fortune said, "Now's the chance to take that choice" or something along those lines.
As for Legally Blonde, I was kind of disappointed to have arrived home just minutes before the winner was announced, so I had to go back and watch the episode online. Seth Rudetsky's final vlog was amusing, as usual. I'm glad Autumn and Bailey were in the final two. In the beginning of the series, I'd liked Rhiannon, whose vocals I knew weren't stable enough, and Bailey the best and honestly hadn't given much thought about Autumn until I heard/saw the full clip of her original "Omigod, You Guys" audition.
I knew from Wikipedia that Lauren was going to be on tour understudying Becky Gulsvig, but I'm glad that Autumn gets to understudy Bailey and be in the ensemble on Broadway, while Rhiannon will be Margot on tour (I am definitely watching when it comes!) I was pleased that Jerry Mitchell complimented Autumn for her voice and Bailey for her dancing. I couldn't tell if I thought it was cool or spiteful that all the 10 competitors had to return to be Bailey's back-up for the rest of "So Much Better."
Speaking of which, she doesn't sound bad in the Broadway.com video of her and the cast recording the single. She also looks a lot tanner. I'm happy they/she ironed out the kinks she had vocally in her auditions on the show when she sang that song.
On a side note, what kind of character shoes is Bailey wearing in the finale? Are they LaDucas of some sort? They're quite pretty.
Okay. It's too late now to work on the cards, AHHHH. That is, for sure, today's task. I was heartened to see that John had written, "I love you, OK? I mean, that was the best card INTHEWORLD. I'm not to good at the whole writing letters thing (I'm willing to stick it out), but we ABSOLUTELY need to hang... I mean whenever.. cause you're, yaknow, cool..." I hadn't expected the card to arrive that soon, but I did mail it Friday evening.
-
-
-
What a day. From car drama to The Dark Knight to Legally Blonde to my mom...
We had the rental until about 3:57 PM, so I was able to get a ride to the gym with my dad on his way to work. I found that doing intervals on the treadmill was more time efficient, calorie-wise and also because it made the time seem to elapse faster. However, I still have a bad habit of relying on the handrail for support when I'm recovering instead of just pumping my arms, which I do when I'm running :p
- I don't know where to begin. The movie was... an experience. I thought it wasn't the kind of uplifting movie that I'd want to watch again and again, in part because it's so emotionally arresting. I finally pulled myself aside at one point late in the movie and reminded myself that it was all pretend. It was indeed a compelling film, but it wasn't necessarily quite the kind of escape I'd seek from everyday life when selecting a movie.
It was well-made, that's for sure, and Batman has always been my favorite comic book hero because 1) he doesn't use guns (a scene in which Bruce Wayne deftly dismantles a rifle was particularly, erm, how do I say this? hot), 2) he's Bruce Wayne, Gotham's millionaire, and 3) that he is not a human or alien endowed with superpowers, as well as some of the villains' less supernatural backstories somehow made the series more compelling to me.
I admit that most of my knowledge of Batman stems from watching Batman: The Animated Series years ago on Cartoon Network; I hadn't known until just now that Harley Quinn was an innovation of this cartoon series whose popularity made her a part of the comic book canon. But I digress. MILD SPOILERS AHEAD!
- I realized I spent the entire movie figuratively at the edge of my seat, and even during the action/thriller/shoot-and-blow-'em'up trailers preceding the movie, I sensed my shoulders were tight and high. I knew the movie would be dark because of the tone of the previous film and, hahah, the title, but I left the movie overwhelmed and feeling a bit depressed at how destructive mankind can be. I've never liked the Joker in the Batman series because I always thought he was pointless in that he never seemed to have a concrete REASON to commit all these crimes. That he just seemed to want to cause discord for no good reason always bothered me.
- Obviously there is something mentally wrong with the Joker, but he has to possess enough cognition to be able to plan such intricate schemes. I had to close my eyes at times because I was afraid they'd actually show things, like the scene in which the Joker explains to a thug how he got his rictus grin scars while intending to do the same to the guy, and the scene in which the portly criminal complains repeatedly that his insides don't feel good, and that the boss would promise the "voices inside his head" would stop because we all knew what was going to happen next.
- It was good to know a little about Batman in that I knew from the commercials and trailer that Aaron Eckhart would become Two-Face, and that Gordon couldn't die because he had to become Commissioner Gordon. I thought Rachel Dawes wasn't from the Batman canon, but that Christopher Nolan and crew would screw with the general Batman canon enough by potentially killing Gordon raised my eyebrow until he "came back" later in the film.
- When Harvey Dent first lashed out as Two-Face in the hospital room scene, I wondered aloud in a whisper to Donna whether or not he may have had a history of psychological disorder in his family, and surely enough, I read that Dent's character has multiple personality disorder. (I knew he was Two-Face, but I'd never read anywhere about MPD.) However, it made me wonder why it hadn't manifested itself earlier in the movie. I also thought it was interesting that the film made the two-headed coin an heirloom belonging to his father instead of Maroni's coin, and that the entire killing of Rachel Dawes was the reason for Harvey's disfigurement and resulting spiral into depravity.
- Bravo to both Heath Ledger and Christian Bale for becoming their respective characters to the point that it took me a long time to remind myself that the movie was just that, a movie.
- Donna couldn't stop laughing at Christian Bale's gruffer Batman voice ._.
- I don't think I'll buy it on DVD, but I will rent/Netflix it to hear the commentary and watch the behind-the-scenes features. I left the theatre so ready to watch Mamma Mia! tomorrow evening with Donna and Jordan, a diametrically-opposite kind of film.
So, in short, The Dark Knight: well-made film, emotionally-gripping, made me want to research Batman further and wish I were still currently taking Abnormal Psychology so we could discuss the film in depth.
We had Chinese for dinner, which, in all honesty, was disappointing because I do not equate Chinese food with healthy, and I had been doing well until tonight -- I had a reasonable breakfast and lunch and had been chugging water all day, before, during, and after the gym. I didn't get any iced coffee when my friends got their lattés, but I did share the unbuttered popcorn Donna bought before the movie :p I was surprised that I was able to drink a liter of water throughout the course of the 152-minute film without needing to use the restroom.
Monday night is apparently the one night you could order off the lunch menu, meaning smaller portions. I chose number 3, Chicken and broccoli, because it was among few dishes in which the chicken was sautéed and not fried. However, we were NOT allowed to substitute brown or white rice for the shrimp fried rice. When my friends had the small chip-like wontons with their soups, Miriam said, "Here, eat some," and I was going to eat one, and then Shliz jokingly said, "No, they're fried!," so I said, "Okay, fine." I didn't eat any.
The sauce was salty, and the overall quality of the dish was subpar. I ended up, however, eating all the rice, go figure O____o We all ended up sampling each other's foods, so while I didn't finish my dish, I had a piece of Donna's General Tso's and two of Jordan's sesame chicken. *shrugs* Oh well. Where's Pei Wei when you need it? I always have the Kids' Wei Honey Seared Chicken, which is just the right size serving and with brown rice. My fortune said, "Now's the chance to take that choice" or something along those lines.
As for Legally Blonde, I was kind of disappointed to have arrived home just minutes before the winner was announced, so I had to go back and watch the episode online. Seth Rudetsky's final vlog was amusing, as usual. I'm glad Autumn and Bailey were in the final two. In the beginning of the series, I'd liked Rhiannon, whose vocals I knew weren't stable enough, and Bailey the best and honestly hadn't given much thought about Autumn until I heard/saw the full clip of her original "Omigod, You Guys" audition.
I knew from Wikipedia that Lauren was going to be on tour understudying Becky Gulsvig, but I'm glad that Autumn gets to understudy Bailey and be in the ensemble on Broadway, while Rhiannon will be Margot on tour (I am definitely watching when it comes!) I was pleased that Jerry Mitchell complimented Autumn for her voice and Bailey for her dancing. I couldn't tell if I thought it was cool or spiteful that all the 10 competitors had to return to be Bailey's back-up for the rest of "So Much Better."
Speaking of which, she doesn't sound bad in the Broadway.com video of her and the cast recording the single. She also looks a lot tanner. I'm happy they/she ironed out the kinks she had vocally in her auditions on the show when she sang that song.
On a side note, what kind of character shoes is Bailey wearing in the finale? Are they LaDucas of some sort? They're quite pretty.
Okay. It's too late now to work on the cards, AHHHH. That is, for sure, today's task. I was heartened to see that John had written, "I love you, OK? I mean, that was the best card INTHEWORLD. I'm not to good at the whole writing letters thing (I'm willing to stick it out), but we ABSOLUTELY need to hang... I mean whenever.. cause you're, yaknow, cool..." I hadn't expected the card to arrive that soon, but I did mail it Friday evening.
full2 eyebrows raised | Hmm...