Hugh Jackman

I recently saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine and was a little disappointed. While Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds or more than enough reasons for me to go see any movie, no matter what my hang-ups might be, I really wish they had done a little more (or a lot less) on this prequel. Every event was rushed and the extraneous time they could have used developing core characters or events was used to introduce miscellaneous characters that were only in the movie for about five minutes. Most of the special effects were top notch, but again, it was all a little over done. As far as the X-Men series, I really like all the installments. Plots were all well thought out and cohesive and all characters meshed well into the whole of the context. In Wolverine, however, some character's powers were not even explained, which led you to believe they were just highly athletic humans, which goes against the whole story line in general. Also, I had a huge problem with how the handled the fact that Sabertooth was Wolverine's brother AND was one of the enemies that got killed in the first X-Men, something smells fishy with this plot development. But that's what happens when you throw in random characters without looking at their dynamic with the story. Example: Jean Grey being the Phoenix and killing Scott Summers in the third X-Men.
The bottom line is, I love Hugh Jackman. Not only is he amazingly gorgeous (voted People's Hottest Man) but he has talent to boot. His wife is 8 years his senior and they have two adopted kids. Seriously, what's not to like? He did a stupendous job hosting the Academy Awards this year and he's had more high quality motion pictures than some actors have in their whole lifetime. There was Australia, The Prestige, Someone Like You (one of my all time favorite movies. I actually named my cat after his character, Eddie.), Paperback Hero, Kate & Leopold, Swordfish, Van Helsing, The Fountain, Scoop! The man's been busy, not to mention his leading roles in Oklahoma! and The Boy From Oz. He can sing, he can dance, and he can act and he's from Australia, I love him.

BRAND NEW

How much do I love Brand New? So incredibly, incandescently, totally, and completely.
Brand New is an alternative American rock band from Levittown, New York, formed in 2000. I first heard them when I was in 7th grade. I was watching a late night VH1 show, Upcoming Bands. It was a school night and I should have been in bed, but I snuck to my dad’s room with a pen and paper and wrote down all the artists I liked. It showed the music video for “The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows” and I was hooked. The notes were angry, the lyrics were poignant, and the song title was long. I went out and bought their second album, “Deja Entendu”. The title is French for "already heard," which is said to be at critics who claimed that the band sounded like every other group in the genre. Every artist I had listened to up till then was on someone else’s accord. They were mostly pop music and I liked them, but it wasn’t anything exciting, nothing I identified with. Brand New was my first ever musical endeavor that was completely my own and I loved them with every ounce of pre-teen angst I had. Every song hit a chord and every word was poetry, I had never heard anything so beautifully sad in my life. In every song, they said something I wanted to say, but more eloquently and with better syntax than I could ever hope for. I listened to them day and night, all the time, repeat after repeat, and it never got old. Every song was a new discovery. Then in 8th grade, I learned about an earlier album, “Your Favorite Weapon”. I bought it and ate up every syllable and every meter. If “Deja Entendu” was depressed teen angst in your bed with the lights off, “Your Favorite Weapon” was the anthem of too young to party seriously, but too old for childish games. It was upbeat, get-me-out-of-the-house music, and I was ready to let loose. By this time I was starting to delve deeper into the meanings of the songs and how they related so perfectly with my life. And Brand New led me to other great artists: Mae, Motion City Soundtrack, Say Anything, The Alkali Trio, Taking Back Sunday, The Smiths, Morissey, the alternative-punk classics of their genres and my generation. I had started a movement with my friends, who where now worshiping Brand New as much as I did and it was exhilarating. You could walk down the halls and hear someone singing the lyrics and that’s all you’d need to know to know you had a new friend. They were a common bond unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Knowing and loving this one band made you a part of an elite few, and those few others were all you needed. Many of the long titles I loved so much were movie quotes, book quotes, and philosophical mantras. It was such an incredibly fresh change from the chorus-is-the-song-name shallowness of the rest of popular music at the time. Their second single, "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades," is a shortened version of a Latin phrase sic transit gloria mundi, "Thus passes the glory of the world" in reference to a line from the movie Rushmore; "I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light," is a reference to a line in the book The Moves Make the Man by Bruce Brooks; or at the very end of “Play Crack the Sky” when they make an allusion to The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life”.
The next couple of years we waited for another album. It was like waiting for word from God. That sounds extreme, but we were dieing to know if the band that had taken the words from our mouths and put them out for everyone to hear- could do it again- could remind us who we were, tell us how to feel. Then there was news of a new album, demos were out on the internet and I heard “The Sowing Season”. I listened patiently, some people thought they had changed their style too much and that the lyrics were no longer relevant, but I listened. Like good Brand New fashion, the chorus was original and simple, with the repeating yell, “Yeah”. From that moment I just knew, I just had an overwhelming sense of being at ease, because some good things never change. But that wasn’t the end. After so much anticipation for the new album, “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me” there were bound to be let downs. The album was angry, screaming, angstier, and confusing. I didn’t like or understand all the songs like I used to, the meanings were more referential and no longer pertained to how I felt or where I was in my life. Then my dad died, and I understood. Obviously, it’s chalk full of bible references, and, as you can imagine, for someone who has lost their family (and their faith) it all sounds very profound. “Sowing Season”, “Milestone” “You Won’t Know”, “Not the Sun” and “Jesus Christ” were my all time favorites. What am I even saying, they were all BRILLIANT. I still listen to them, I will always listen to them. Brand New, you have my heart and soul.

Twilight: The Anti-Christ

Twilight is bad. It’s not kind of good, it’s not sort of good- it is down right bad. When I read those books (and yes, I read them all) I was so frustrated that I had never written down my pre-teen vampire fantasy because then I could be a multi-millionaire like that no-talent Mormon hack. Not only is the plot pathetic and completely predictable, it’s unoriginal, and the writing itself is bad. Let me say that again: IT IS BAD WRITING. Stephanie Myer couldn’t write herself out of a phone booth. There is a good page and half dedicated to describing how Bella washed a dish. Pure genius. The characters are all totally static, they never change, and they never evolve- with the exception of Bella’s sudden and total commitment to motherhood over night. Am I supposed to find these characters relatable or interesting?
Bella is the biggest whine-bag I have ever come across in literary history. I hope to God no teen looks up to her because she is the manifestation of anti-feminism and then some. Afraid of blood, afraid of the dark, clings to her little boyfriend for dear life, and she’s so original and unique because she READS. “Holy Crow” give me a medal, where’s my mister perfect, I read! And just because Meyer makes reference to Romeo and Juliet does not make this series high quality work. J.K. Rowling should be incredibly offended that this toilet-paper novel claimed to be ‘The Next Harry Potter’. What in God’s name is our society coming to? There are grown women- smart, smart women- who think these books are the bee’s knees. I pity them, their children, and their husbands/ boyfriends- if they have any.
The movie was no better. I mean, it would be hard to make a good movie out of a book with literally no substance, but hey, even The Lost Boys gave me a thrill. While the end scene was the only redeeming part, it was ruined by Kristen Stewart’s eye-crossing, weird moaning, almost-death scene; especially the hospital scene where we got to see Stewart’s ad-libing skills at their best with a bunch of non believable mumbling nonsense. Thank you, Kristen. The movie just made the book that much worse, it was like the antithesis of something that sounds good in your head, but then when you say it out loud you think, “Man, I sound stupid.” But Stephanie Meyer just couldn’t keep her mouth shut! We got three whole books of her teeny-bopper, vampire gold. As if Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel didn’t milk it up enough, now we have Twilight. Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you, the down-fall of a generation of morons.

A Little Vellini in All of Us

The Last Mistress, while it was incredibly raunchy and explicit, was totally and marvelously good. I say with a little shame, Vellini is a character after my own heart. Why do we have to cater to men's idea of what a woman should and shouldn't be? This concept relates to all women in any age or era and it stinks. Men do it to, I know, but for some reason it's more OK for men to be feminine than it is for women to be masculine. The character Vellini was so amazing to me because she never apologized for the way she was, she did what (and who) she wanted and didn't pay attention to commentators. I wish I could be like that. I also wish I could get what I wanted. Vellini is a one of a kind for a reason, and it's a movie for a reason. It's not real. It's not reality and that's not how the cookie really crumbles. In real life Vellini gets an STD and dies a horribly slow and painful death. There is no rest for the wicked, and she definitely was wicked.
One of the things that struck me and was so fascinating was the basic relationship between her and Ryno. It's a perfect example of why sex is not a strong enough tether in a relationship to keep people together forever, but there was something a little more to them. They were both looking for something more that they weren't finding in their counters at the time. Ryno for a strong feminine lover and Vellini for a naive, 'loving' (as in obsessive) partner.

Everybody's Free

I first heard this song in Romeo and Juliet, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. My friend took the soundtrack on a plane to Europe and it got lost. Then, a couple years later I bought the soundtrack on iTunes and found this version with some random guy talking. I listened to the first 30 seconds of this guy talking about sunscreen and I got annoyed and deleted it. Somehow, I listened to it again and found the most precious diamond in the rough. This song has come to mean more to me than any other words put to music. This song is actually an essay called "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune as a column in 1997. How crazy. How amazing.
Every utterance in this song is important, indepth, captivating, and above all, true. This song inspires me in way I haven't felt in years, if ever. It spreads hope and possibility, things hard to come by in such a cynical world.

"Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded." This first line, one of the first opening statements, is incredible. An age old concept that everyone knows, and yet, no one seems to grasp it, understand it, hold on to it and make it their own. We always live in the here and now and end up looking back and thinking God! How I wasted it! I should have lived every moment, I should have breathed and kicked and screamed with all the life and happiness that was in me!

"The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind;the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday." Again, so TRUE. I think this concept is hard to people my age to grasp because they are still living in their safe little bubbles, unaware of the world around them. To quote a very wise man, "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward." Rocky Balboa was the man.

"Don't be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours." This line, like many other lessons in my life, I learned the hard way. Treat others as you would like to be treated and have respect for yourself. Jesus said, this is my new commandment, Love one another as I have loved you. The man may never have existed, his teachings could be totally false, my opinions on religion are not positive, but I do believe in love. The end-all, be-all is love. And if that's what Jesus teaches then preach on, preacher. But seriously, respect yourself enough to say 'when,' even when you feel guilty, if they love you as much as they say, they will understand, and if they don't- move on. Someone else is dieing to take their place.

"What ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s." Another hard lesson, taught to me and everyone I knew in highschool through me. I got into a pickle, if you will, and everyone was berating me, and telling me I should berate myself, because of one choice, obviously the wrong one. Maybe my investment in this line as a universal truth is a cop-out, but I NEED to believe it's true. I do know I'm not the only one to ever make mistakes, life goes on. We do what we can and try not to hurt too many people along the way. You learn from your mistakes, I know this to be true, so maybe the time we spend repenting is worth it. Sin is a funny word, but I feel like a majority of people conntate 'mistake' with 'sin'.

"Enjoy your body, use it every way you can, don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own. Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly." I just started living by this one. I took up ballet because I used to use my body for action and force. Now I'm using it like a ribbon, elegantly, flowing. I like my body this way, I like the expression it contains. I never used to like to dance, I still don't do it very well, but atleast now I try.

"Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings, they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future." Not being closer with my family is one of the biggest regrets I still carry with me. I do not take them for granted any more. You don't always agree with your parent or your siblings, but you are who you are because of them, good or bad, and you should thank them everyday.

"Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on." It used to really get to me, how people would move away and you'd never hear from them again. It was like they were dead, but worse, they were just moving on without you. I always had a terrible fear of abandonment and I hated it when people would leave, but now I know it's just a part of life. But I have held on to a couple of really dear friends. When people truely care about one another, they stay interested in each other's lives, that's what friends are and that's what friends do.

"Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85." There was this girl I knew in high school whom I hated and who hated me, we just didn't get along. She was a total air-head and, literally, had nothing of substance to add to the world. She had fake, fake, fake, platnum blonde hair. She was tall and skinny and everyone loved her, for no reason. Then one day she decided to dye her hair dark, to it's natural color. Well, not only did she look aweful, but then she had to dye it back to the white blonde it used to be. Her hair was fryed, she looked like a poodle, so she had to cut off most of the damaged hair, leaving her with a really cute short cut. Well, of course, after a while, she got tired of her short due and put in extentions to make it long again. The tempermentality of hair extentions restricts your from washing them regularly or puting product in them or excessively styling your hair. Like I've already established, this girl was going through an identity crisis and was constantly changing her hair style. Long story short, the extensions came out and so did 40% of her hair, she now has female premature balding. Don't mess with nature.

"Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth." Take everything with a grain of salt. Be humble when learning from those wiser than you, they may have gone down a dark path, but they did so, and now you don't have to. Be greatful.

"Brother and sister together we'll make it through. Someday a spirit would take you and guide you there. I know you've been hurting but I've been waiting to be there for you, And I'll be there just helping you out, whenever I can." Ahmen.