The Daily Adventures of Mercat

Yay nice day today! Tried to sleep in again but that damn rooster woke me up again. We went to a super sweet zipline which was fun for the first few rides, but later it was just sort of a nice view and now my inner thighs are sore because of that freaking harness and the whole thing not really being set up for short people. Grr. And I don't know if I just ran out of adrenaline or if I was disappointed we weren't at Kipu falls and the ropeswing or if listening to Laura and Savannah have a general disregard for societal politeness drove me kind of crazy, anyway, I got bored about halfway through. I dunno, I think if you're already going to put up a zipline, why not put up a hard-core superfast one? I mean, these were nice and all, but they started off high, fast, and long and got lower, slower, and shorter. You would think you'd finish it off with a good one down the hill face or something...

Anyway it was really beautiful where we were, though, and interesting to learn a little about the area. The land it's all on is beautifully pristine, and privately owned. It used to be a sugar plantation but like all the others in Hawaii, it closed in debt. (Last one to, I believe? Basically, when Hawaii became a state, labor laws kicked in and the cost of sugar skyrocketed to pay for wages, effectively killing this market.) So along comes this guy, Steve Chase, who just buys it up. And of course all the locals are worried because if you have that kind of money you're probably going to want to develop it for businesses and stuff, but. So everyone was kind of surprised when he not only kept it development-free, he paid off the debt, paid retirement for the workers, and leases the land out to local farmers for $15/acre per year. Apparently the guy who created AOL (and subsequently made his billions selling it to Time Warner) is from Kauai, and nobody knew it until he bought the land. So this zipline/tubing business is the only one allowed back on the land. Though, last summer they were filming a movie there, the one that's coming out soon with Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller. It actually seems pretty interesting, I just read an article about it; it's about an actor in a Vietnam war film, but it's Robert Downey Jr. who decides to take on the role and in order to do so has to become a black guy. Craziness. But, Ben Stiller directing and acting so it can't be that bad, right? (Not as bad as I Am Legend, by far, which was sold out at the grocery store for $20.99. Wut?)

So then we came back and lazed around and mom and dad took a walk on the beach (and mom picked up a cowrie that we found out a few hours later was still alive, so I had to walk down to the tidal pool and throw it back in, lol), and then we drove into town to look around and pick up some more necessities and stuff. I got a cheapo lavalava (which, it really pisses me off that they're all sold as "sarongs" here) that's yellow with blue flowers (utterly fantastically tropical and tacky), and we also found the best thing ever at Safeway. A dinosaur sandwich cutter. What it does is decrust (who cares) a sandwich so it is diagonally cut (essentially) in the shape of two brontasauri. (Brontasauruses? Apatosauri? oh fuck me, I really don't care.)

Probably the most awesome thing to ever happen to a sandwich.

In other news my mind's been totally in the gutter the past few days. I mean, no big surprise, that's pretty much how band kids are all the time, right on? Well, yes, but at the same time it's quietly in the gutter when in mixed company (ie with not band kids). But Laura and Sav have been on a "that's what she said" kick, and they are the kind of people who say whatever they want, whenever they want, as loudly as they want, without caring whether what they said was impolite to be overheard by everyone around them. (Which was kind of a problem earlier today as they have no problem gossiping or mocking or dropping the f-bomb, and we were ziplining with a family with a slightly retarded son. Not the best sitch.) Anyway, what with Melissa and I training eachother last semester into "whatever whatever" "you whateverwhatever" "your mom whateverwhatever" "your face whateverwhatever"
"your mom's face whateverwhatever", it has all resulted in some interesting things coming out of my mouth and a lot of laughing.

And there are a lot of things that halfway through saying them I'm just like "oh damn, I set myself up again." It's getting rather annoying, tbqh. Not even the joke, just the mind-in-the-gutter-ness. Eh, it'll pass.

So anyway we came back and watched V for Vendetta, which I forgot how much I loved. I had only seen it the day around when it came out (a Wednesday) late night senior year with Rob and Lara. Somehow we all decided that we'd go see it and convinced our parents that I needed to see it for my senior thesis for Hemmert, which involved masks. That wasn't the real reason but I did end up using it in the paper. (But that paper was a piece of shit, I rambled on for ten pages without ever making a point.) Anyway I pretty much fell in love when they started it with the 1812 Overture, which has been my favorite piece of music since as long as I can remember (thank you Ernie Kovacks and Grandpa.). But there are so many good things about it that I enjoy; a lot of the message is good, there's art and music appreciation, literature references, costumes and a good futuristic manipulated-government storyline. (What's the word I'm looking for here? Like the opposite of anarchy...?) Anyway, and the whole time I just kept thinking "haha, it really does fit so well with Anonymous" even though I think they wear the mask originally because of Epic Fail Guy. I could be wrong, it's all rather complicated, especially when lulz are involved. But, the "a revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having" pretty much hooked the "we did it for the lulz" connection for me.

Who wants to go blow up cannons (or something) for the 1812 with meh?

[[sorry but I'm about to collapse so tomorrow I'll edit in my Indy fact (I forget what I was going to say anyway...) and some tags for this sucker.]]

[EDIT] Well it's been a few days so I'm not going to add much, just that LJ ate the txt-to-post that I had sent previous to posting this. I don't know where it went and I can't check my phone because it's disappeared from the sent folder. Oh well, I don't think it said anything particularly important anyway, just that I wasn't getting good internet and yay 59 (?) days.

Well, I just sat down and watched Anchorman and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, both for the first time. Anchorman is definitely hilarious and I didn't realize just how often my friends quote it. (It's also hard to get over the fact that Fantana or whatever the character's name is is the same guy that's in Clueless... SO TOTALLY DIFFERENT)

And also that Becky's "Good morning, Starshine, the Earth says hello!" is from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (technically Hair, but she says it like Depp).

Dang, the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is actually pretty good. The storyline isn't as great as the old one, or the book, but it's still pretty good. (Also LOL Christopher Lee. I am Darth Dentist! FEEL THE WRATH OF MY LISTERINE) [EDIT: Ooh, now I have two "evil dentists" and something else to keep track of!] But it's fantastically weird and you know if there's one thing I like it's weirdness. There's some really clever stuff, too, like the 2001 parody (didn't see that one coming by a mile, lol). The music is AMAZING, I love it. It's very weird and the song parodies are HILARIOUS. Also, I love how weird Johnny Depp is. I love actors who can play characters all over the board, I really respect that because I'm very drawn to subtlety and if you're a typecast actor I don't tend to think you're a person who understands it. BUT.

It sort of feels like an excuse to show off Depp's talent, with the whole Wonka backstory, but it's not like it was bad or anything, far from. And I LOVE the way Wonka looks at the caterpillar mash in the jungle. It's pretty much taken straight from WILLIE in Temple of Doom. (No shit! I was like. Wait, they're not going to--no, they wouldn't, I mean, it's a jungle and nowadays jungle is like automatic Indiana Jones, but, I mean this is like total Willie set-up, they wouldn't, right--OMGTHEYSOWENTFORIT) And MAD PROPS to Deep who played ALL the Oompa Loompas. He's a total star on his own. Skillz and love. He had to learn an ass-lot for that role, TOTAL FUCKING PROPS.

(Also, why does no one do The Great Glass Elevator? I love that book. I WANT ME SOME VERMICIOUS KNIDS.)

Basically I should have been studying all day, and... yeah, I didn't.

Ooh, something I found that I thought someone might be interested in: some photos from 1957.

Man, you guys get like three Indiana Jones facts tonight! I'm spoiling you.

79 days until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! Today's trivia: OMG ALFRED MOLINA

WTF WHY DO YOU GUYS NOT PASS THESE THINGS ON

This is what I get for not perusing Wikipedia thoroughly.

I REALLY CAN'T GET OVER THIS ONE

I MEAN SERIOUSLY SNIDELY WHIPLASH

I LOVE DUDLEY DO-RIGHT

now they are inexorably linked in my mind

SERIOUSLY OH MY GOD

Okay, so, did everyone in Ohio decide it would be a good night to get roaring drunk or something? I mean, I don't really have a huge problem with it (other than a certain scenario which I'm not really free to discuss, but I'm sure if you contact any student you know at a certain high school I attended you'll be able to find out), but... I dunno, is there something in the water? Lol. (Yeah, alcohol... Hey, you all know the polish word for water is about one letter away from "vodka" anyhow, right? Yay being Polish!)

Anyway, today Lauren and I took a historical tour of Chinatown. It was AMAZING. Chinatown in Honolulu is nothing like Chinatown in SF, and from what the guide said, nothing like the Chinatown in NY either. Chinatown here is basically where non-whites came together and lived.

Oh, by the way, our tour guide is a major native Hawaiian historian (he was of... Chinese descent, I think?), and also Don Ho's cousin. EFFING AWESOME.

So... yeah. American history was never my thing, right? Fuck it, history wasn't my thing. I'm not good on "what are the implications of xxx on yyy in regard to zzz?" because to I never know exactly what they mean. I can extrapolate pretty much any answer from questions like that, so I am a failure. =( BUT! Hawaiian history amazes me. I don't know, maybe it's because I started paying attention to years for costuming and my Indiana Jones obsession, or maybe for Art History. But I'll tell you one thing; Hawaiian History is fucking amazing. It's like watching the whole history of the world get wrapped up in about 150 years. It's fucking nuts, and I love it. You don't realize it until you study it, because there's very few signs and things, but the whole world was focused on the Pacific, and Hawaii was so important to that, and everything leading up to WWI and WWII is absolutely amazing in relation to Hawaii. I love it. It's such a thrill. If you come to Honolulu, go to Chinatown and take the tour. Crazy.

I think the reason I never did well in American history is that they never really give you a base understanding to go from... they just kind of jump right in with the details and assume you can extrapolate the consequences. Not so. With Hawaiian history you're getting the base understanding of the world in order to understand Hawaii, and that in turn actually helps you understand what was going on in Europe and the rest of the world. I mean it, Hawaiian history is amazing.

At the same time, most people to study Hawaii aren't natives; so Hawaiian history seems particularly misunderstood as far as I've seen. Both my Hawaiian and Pacific Globalization history classes are taught by Bailey, who is a riot and one of the first native Hawaiians to get a certain level of degree (doctorate... maybe?) from UH. And the guy today is Hawaiian, too, although big Chinese background, so we got yet another cultural perspective.

And you know what? I think Hawaiian history is ridiculously overlooked. I think that studying Hawaiian and Pacific history would really help people understand the globalization of the rest of the world, I mean by a ridiculous amount. And did you know that's it's still under contention, even today, whether Hawaii was taken rightfully by the US government and whether it should still be a kingdom? Crazy. Maybe I'll talk about Hawaiian history more later, it's just... God. Beautiful. Amazing. Ridiculous. I don't know. It's like the whole world came together and exploded. To go from the stone age to modern practically overnight, and to see your culture destroyed in the process. God. It's really unfortunate that history isn't more advertised everywhere, that it's such a toursity place, because DAMN it's beautiful.

So! The actual tour itself. He started out with a background of Hawaiian history and Chinatown, and did you know that the father of Communism in China was Christian? LAUGH RIOT. tangent: the word "laugh" looks really weird atm. Anyway he was raised here and brought the idea to China, so, yeah. Other highlights of the tour:

--seeing all the different food types in the open market, showing how Chinatown really isn't a normal Chinatown: Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Philipino and about a million other different types of food. Also, one of my comfort-boundary stretchers for the day. I dunno, there's something about being one of only a few non-natives being led around (though not terribly obviously) by a tour guide that just makes it so easy for me to get paranoid that I'm being hated as a tourist. I think this is different in mainland US and Europe than it is in Hawaii; for example, learning about different history classes, I don't think native Hawaiians who haven't been to the mainland understand how there's still a difference between the southern and the northern US that you have to look out for sometimes. Being in Spain I was completely scared that we, as tourists, were going to get picked on and stuff (I mean it was totally obvious we were wearing gym shoes, righto?), but nothing really happened (other than a little trouble with gypsies and pickpockets on different occasions) but I obviously stopped being nervous enough to yell "HEY, GRUPO" in a really bad American accent (not even "¡Oye, grupo!") across the street in... Granada, was it? Anyway. I sufficiently put myself outside my comfort zone today. (BUT! Did find a really authentic place to get sushi, should ai figure out how to eat it without looking like a fool. SOMEBODY FILLZ ME IN, PLZ)
--the fruit vendors... DAMN. What a lovely smell. I realized that I have not yet had a virgin piña colada yet since I got here. I must rectify this!
--Hotel Street: where all the GIs came for entertainment. Clubs, burlesques, "hotels". I LOVE IT. The only thing left is "Club Hubba Hubba" (everything else is stores), but from the looks of it, the only thing left is the neon on the sign. =/ Even the paint behind the sign is chipping and rusting, and the building is overgrown and boarded up. But... that could just be that it's a club, so they need it dark inside and inside it's clean and neet. (Anyway, lol burlesque.)
--Fish market! Wow. FISH SMELL OVERLOAD. Guh. Apparently Chinese/Japanese consider it somewhat of a sin to cook tuna, as they eat it raw. Their big appetizers are sushi, sashimi, and dum sim. And... I can't remember the term, but it's raw fish and seaweed and herbs all mixed together to eat. It kind of looks like salsa. (Wikipedia... why is there an ENTIRE CHUNK IN SPANISH in the middle of the English article on Japanese cuisine? I mean, I can read it, but... wut?) OH, it's called poke and it's actually a Hawaiian dish, but it's obviously got a lot of Japanese influence. (It's raw fish, c'mon.) My brain totally went "LOLPOKÉMON" when he pointed it out.
--more fish market! Kona crabs. Never heard of them before, but they're kind of weird looking. Also? Could have bought fish heads. LAWL. (Will admit: had the fish head song running through my head.)
--Fernandez Marín! Yay Spainiards. Kind of owned the Hawaiian harbor and dictated non-natives on the island while he was alive. Pretty cool shit. (Chinatown: utterly international. told you)
--SECRET BURIAL GROUNDS: After the US government burned down Chinatown (PLAGUE PANIC!) and it was rebuilt and they had to dig up the earth for concrete footwork, they found lots of bodies of plague victims. They buried all the bones together in a few secret green areas in Chinatown, but the gov't doesn't treat them that well. (Seriously. One's next to a dumpster in a locked alley.) Marín's remains were dug up when they built Marín tower, and the government gave them to his family in a gunnysack. Oh America, why do we have to be so insensitive? Anyway, they convinced the government that they wanted his remains here because he was happy here, and they put his bones in one of the burial grounds (if you can call it that) right on the edge of Chinatown right on the waterfront. (Seriously... it looks like one of those hotel building planters. That's the "greenspace" where Marín is buried. And there's no kind of historical markers or anything... The more I learn about Hawaiian history the more I think the US is trying to hide the fact they kind of took over illegally. LOL.
--Philipinos didn't get malaria during WWII while Chinese and Hawaiians and Japanese and Americans did! Guess why? Bitter melon! High in quinine. So, if you ever are afraid of getting malaria? BITTER MELON.
--First Catholic Church in Hawaii! Funded by Marín. Damn cool.
--more comfort zone stretching: "bubble tea" smoothie. What it is is this kind of big tapioca balls in a smoothie... they're interesting. I think in the right thing they'd be good, but kiwi was disgusting, and since I had a not-enough-sleep type of sore throat, the bubbles felt kind of phlegmy. I mean, I know they're tapioca or taro or whatever and they're kind of doughy, but... ew. Kiwi+phlegm=nasteh.
--watermelon used to be a huge import. Did you know they used to make watermelon alcohol? I'm not really surprised, I mean people kind of make it out of anything that will ferment. Just LOL. (My dad wondered last time we were here if they ever made taro alcohol? I don't know, I've never heard anything about it. I think taro might be too expensive.)

Lauren and I might bike around the island, it wouldn't be too long of a ride. A good, slow, day ride to get some miles on my butt for TOSRV.

Okay, I think that's everything for now.

81 days until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! Today's trivia: I am convinced that Adventure Express at PKI was supposed to be an Indiana Jones ride before that was a Paramount park. (Was it?) I don't know, totally a guess, but they did play the music there the last time I was there. There was a rumor about four or five years back that they were going to put in an actual Indiana Jones ride. I AM SO SAD THAT PKI IS CEDAR POINT NOW. D= I hope they renew the Paramount licenses...? I mean, the Tomb Raider ride will kind of be dumb now, and I love that ride. =( Bets on whether Congo Falls goes back to being called Amazon Falls? AND WHO'S EXCTIED FOR FIREHAWK hell yeah. (You all probably rode it last summer while I was gone, I know. But I never got to ride King Cobra before it got taken out [I WAS TOO SHORT DAMMIT], and I really want to ride a standup coaster.)

...Lol. Crappy fact today. I don't care, I think the fact that I actually posted lots of realiztic historical information makes up for that. Fine, here's a TWOFOR! Hawaii + Indiana Jones: Indy IV filmed some on the coast of the Big Island. I think close to Kona maybe...?

HOW CAN IT BE MARCH ALREADY, DAMN.

Oh, I remembered another one of my "weird word" uses. I like to say "awesome possum" and "neato burrito" a lot. Haha.

( I also wiki'd Mad Anthony Wayne a little for you! )

SUMMARY: Wayne negotiated the Greenville Treaty that put the Ohio into the union. rock on

Ooh, also fell asleep watching Kiss Me, Kate today. (I didn't get enough sleep last night.) Pretty good musical, yay Cole Porter! And yay Shakespeare. But FUCK a play within a play within a play. AAAAAH gotdamn.

woooooo

[EDIT] I WANT A CHANTILLY CAT

And I totally stole this from somebody, it's hilarious:

I'm cutting this one close. My bad...

82 days until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! Today's trivia: The next movie is taking place in the year 1957... I'm hella excited. Why? Well, I was pretty much raised to be a '57 Chevy lover. Also, I love the kitsch of the 50's. That was the year pink flamingos were invented! <3

...I think I need a pink flamingo dressed up as Indiana Jones now.

Wow, so today we went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.

If you ever go to Hawaii, DO IT. It's AMAZING. You see those movies of reefs with all the anemones and stuff, so you're kind of shocked that everything is so bleached when you first get in the water. But once you make it past the barrier, the water is colder and deeper, and a lot fewer people snorkel out there because the pull is stronger. But the coral starts to get color, and the fish are more numerous, and it's absolutely fucking nuts. It's gorgeous. I'm going to try my best to talk my mom and dad into going, because my mom hardly ever goes swimming anymore but it's not difficult. But she rides bikes, so as long as it we took it slow I think her back and her knee would be fine, I mean you get flippers. (My toes cramped a little, and my ankles hurt after a few hours, but it was TOTALLY worth it. If we go again I will invest in an underwater camera DEFINITELY.) I saw a good number of fish, stuff I remembered from that lagoon on the Big Island (which sucked because it was a manmade lagoon and was too shallow, so there was lots of sand that got stirred up and not many fish because there was no where to feed and it was too warm, but the turtles were cool except that you lost them if you weren't three feet away) like parrot fish and the humuhumukunukunupuapua'a (state fish of Hawaii!) and angelfish and just freaking EVERYTHING. It was amazing. The coral kind of looks all the same, until you look closer. It's amazing. And all these different types of urchins hiding in the rocks, too. I think I somehow scraped my knees on some rocks/coral without knowing?! Meh, it doesn't hurt. God, I can't get over how beautiful it is, it really is like going to a completely different world. I'm going to get some pictures up, but none of them are underwater. =(

Also, speaking of having a totally cracked out day, after we left Hanauma Bay and had our cookout on Ala Moana beach, we were laying out (napping yaaaay) while the people who went back with the van (we had to turn it in at three) came back on the bus. And guess what. They fucking ran into David Beckham. LOL. I wonder what I would have done if that were me. First of all, I hate soccer. Second of all, my roommates and I mercilessly make fun of that stupid underwear ad (Calvin Klein or something?) because there is a WALL-SIZED version of it at the Ala Moana mall, and it's so ridiculous. Third, for some reason I have it in my mind that he's a douche? But I don't know if that's actually something I read somewhere or I only thought that because I was half-asleep on the beach.

I have a feeling I would have given it a totally sarcastic face, especially because I am one of those people who believes in not freaking out when you meet celebrities, but treating them like normal human beings. (I have yet to put this into application, because the only celebrities I ever met were Maynard Ferguson [who was kind of being a douche] and Winnie the Pooh at Disneyworld, and I think I am perfectly justified in smiling like a dork at hugging Winnie the Pooh.) Also, I totally can't get this hilarious image out of my mind of him going to the Ala Moana mall and just laughing at that damn ad. I mean SERIOUSLY.

I'm kind of inclined to not believe them until they post pictures, so if they do I will swipe them and repost them for proof for you guys. (Haha, I am such a paranoia freak.)

Oh damn, my third thought after all that was that I kind of wish I had met him so I could send back photos to my sister and two cousins who all adore soccer. I am such an evil bastard sometimes.

Guess what, guys! 88 days until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! 88 days! Yaaaaaay! Sorry, I get kind of excited because 88 is my lucky number, and always has been. (When I was little I used to think 88 was inifnity... I'm not really sure why. I mean, I could count to a hundred easily. I also quickly realized that I was born in 1988 and a piano has 88 keys and I thought that thinking it was inifnity was cute in a silly kind of way, so it became "my" number.) In celebration the image you see as my icon is also now my facebook photo. =D Today's trivia: I'm going to guess you all knew that the mine car chase from Temple of Doom was originally an idea for Raiders, and I already told you about the infamous swordsman fight scene. So how about another removed scene? When Indy escapes from the Bantu Wind onto the Nazi sub in order to follow the ark they have reclaimed, they obviously don't show him sneaking into the sub, as it would be a rather difficult thing to do. In a removed (I believe never filmed?) scene (shown in the comic books, however), Indy used his whip to tie himself to the sub (I think the periscope) and ride through the seas that way. Rather tiring, though, wouldn't you think? However, in actuality, most subs in that time (including the Nazi submarines) only traveled underwater when being sneaky. The rest of the time they traveled at the surface, so the scene was unnecessary as Indy probably wouldn't have had to worry about it. Also, the submarine used in Raiders is the same one used for the movie Das Boot, which was being filmed around the same time and saved the movie lots of money by not having to build their own model.

Also, we saw a sub today out at the Ala Moana beach. Crazy.

I almost forgot to do my update today, guys! I've been catching up on webcomics. (Yeah, I know.) They are awesome (especially when they have Indiana Jones references--I love nerds).

Yes, yes, I know, I have no life. But I'm going snorkeling at Hanauma Bay tomorrow, so that's pretty exciting. =D

I'm still working on that epic post, I promise, I'm just trying to get over the moodiness and crying because I miss my Nana every so often. I think for the first (maybe second, if you count this summer) time in my life, I might actually be experiencing homesickness. I don't know though, it seems like everyone I know who got homesick just didn't want to be where they were and wanted to go home for pretty much no reason at all. I really love it here, and yeah I'm trying to work up the guts to do something by myself (like ride the effing bus without getting lost), but I just miss everyone back home a little (I miss laughing a lot), and that lead to this whole thing about missing high school, and oh my god that just pulled me deeper and deeper into "hate college life" zone.

But!

Becky and Megan and Aaby sent me a silly card that made my day. It's just so silly that I laughed out loud in the middle of a parking lot. Heh. Yay for having friends who can make you laugh.

Also, believe it or not, reading webcomics (specifically Shortpacked! this time around) is getting me less worried about Indy IV. The comic is about how comics fans are way too obsessive about stuff and end up not being able to enjoy stuff like they did when they were younger and first discovered stuff. Believe it or not it's relaxed me a lot.

Also, if you're looking for webcomics I would recommend xkcd, Questionable Content, and Starslip Crisis. (There are a lot of other good ones, though, too.) I think in order to combat my boredom (because all my craft supplies are at home, and in order to procrastinate about working out some more) I may actually get back on working on the webcomic Johnny and I started. =)

Anyway, for spending all this time moping, I am in a good mood, though I am about to fall asleep at the computer due to roommate issues (rant forthcoming).

Tangent--You know, it's really interesting to see what little things you pick up as you go through life. Generally mine are speech pattern things, and it's just interesting to see where they came from because I don't very often see how I worked them into my own style, exactly. For example, I now say "also" a lot and then go off on some seemingly tangential thing (though in reality my brain isn't very tangential--there's a path in there that I can see, just it's often so "6 steps of Kevin Bacon" type that I don't bother explaining), which I'm pretty sure I picked up from Dinosaur Comics, because T-Rex seems to do that a lot at the end of comics. He gets to his point and then says "Also, (some weird comment)." I don't know how I picked that up though, I never consciously did that. I know I kind of picked up Austin Powers (especially Dr. Evil) quotes because my sister and I used to quote them all the time, but yeah. I'll keep track of any more I notice.

I've noticed that when I try to make my brain come up with random words, it usually jumps to "hippopotamus" or "cupcakes." I don't know why. I think cupcakes are inherently cute-random because of cat macros or something, though. (By the way, the cake is a lie. Does anyone know how to say that in Latin? Also, I found out that one of my band friends from high school INVENTED PORTAL. That is unbelievably cool, because that game is amazing.)

Also, this morning, I got up and it went something like this:

My Brain: Von Danaken! (Yes, my brain misspells things when I'm tired.)
Me: Von Daniken? wtf? Why is the first thing I thought about this morning von Daniken?

FYI, Von Daniken is the guy who thinks that anything remotely beyond one human's power was done by aliens; the pyramids, the South American pyramids, the Great Wall of China, and the settling of the Pacific islands. Yeah, so.

I don't know where it came from, either, because my dream last night definitely did not have anything to with von Daniken. Or aliens, or anything. (I believe it had to do with ninja-sneaking into some sort of concert or something so that we could perform. Or to watch some movie in a secret above-stage den, or something. Some kind of party that involved sneaking into, and it was above this very large room. All I can picture is the room, so, sorry about that.)

Does anyone else have dreams that ocurr in the same places as dreams you had years ago, but not the same thing happens? I've never had a recurring dream, only dream places. (That or a ridiculous sense of deja vu.) The other night I had a dream that I was in this neighborhood built around our actual house, and I know I've had dreams there before. (I was being chased by some kind of alien nazis, or something, and they were forcing me to look for something. And I tried to run home or something, and I ran out on the porch and these giant bees came through the screen. I remember they were super fuzzy like bumblebees and were called buffalo bees or something not only because of their size, but when they squished through the holes in the screen their heads looked like bison heads. And anyway they were some sort of message harbinger or something and they all had these white earthenware mask-trinkets that were a symbol for me to go back to the nazis and show them what I had found years before in the previous dream. [That almost always happens when I have a recurring dream place--I know I've been there before, and usually why, though the why isn't always true.] Anyway so I went back outside and proved to them that I had already done what they'd asked by years before digging up our front lawn [which was stll very dug up] looking for a crystal skull which I'd found and yes believe it or not this is the first time that I can recall I've had an Indiana Jones reference in one of my dreams. Usually my dreams are just so weird that they relate to nothing or little in real life. I don't recall having a single "corps dream" this summer though they are apparently common occurrence. ANYWAY.)

89 days until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! Today's trivia: Much of the mine car chase in Temple of Doom was filmed with miniatures on a track, and a camera on a track behind/in front of them. The cave walls were made with painted aluminum tinfoil. I think that's so cool. I'm wondering though, when/if they put these out for BluRay, are they going to digitally clean those scenes up or something? Because you can already tell they're superfake. Meh. The only reason I care about BluRay details is so I can obsess over details, so yeah, it's not that important.

Also, I had a request for a little information about Tom Selleck, so here goes. He was originally supposed to play Indiana Jones, but eventually had to back out because of his contract for Magnum P.I. I have the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" old board game and from the sketch (which was a character sketch) you can tell he was what they were originally looking for (ah, here it is), but it would have been a totally different character (more like James Bond), because Ford added a lot to it. I saw his screen test a while back, but I don't remember where it was or I would totally link it for you. (I don't think Marion was Karen Allen for that test, but I could be wrong.) (Nope, imdb is telling me it was Sean Young.)

Ok, yay trivia! =D Tomorrow is exciting... lucky 88 days.

[EDIT] Link to board game was forbidden (curse you, Google images), so I linked another one. Let me know if it doesn't work.

What's this "V-day" crap? ;D (Isn't V for Victory? I THINK SO. THIS IS RELEVANT TO MY INTERESTS.)

97 days to go until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! Today's trivia: The trailer is up online a indianajones.com! Also yahoo.com. I will see if I can find one later to embed here for you guys.

Also to commemorate this fact I had the weirdest dream ever... I didn't know I could hate my parents. =( I hate dreams that do that. It's going to be a weird day.

Also I should TOTALLY start posting funny cat macros. Maybe another time.

Sooo... Heath Ledger's dead.

I dunno how I feel about this. I was kind of shocked, because he seemed to have pretty good movies and be generally a pretty good guy. And I'm sort of upset because I have a lot of respect and love for the Nolan brothers' Batman, and his Joker looks awesome. (Are they even finished filming? I'd think so, with the trailer out...) But at the same time, the only other movie I could have told you he was in was Brokeback Mountain, although Brothers Grimm and A Knight's Tale are ones I've seen as well, which I like very much. (Just didn't realize it was him--if I don't particularly like an actor, their movies tend to not stick in my head. Heck, even if I do they don't.) So, I never really watched for news of him or anything, so it doesn't really affect me much, other than making me a little upset that Dark Knight and Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus might be affected. =/ That's probably seemingly rude to say, but it's not like I knew this guy on any sort of personal level. ([EDIT3] Oh, and I'm Not There, which I really wanted to see because Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett were in it, as well as Ledger who I had recognized as being awesome for being chosen as the Joker. But I still seem indifferent, and if less so only because I didn't realize how much faith I put in the Nolan brothers after watching the amazing plotlines of Batman Begins and The Prestige, even though I totally knew I did.)

So honestly, it's just rather surreal, and not even in a paranoid "something's not right here" type of way. It's just... huh. Odd. Like it should have been someone else? Like I should care more, rather than just turning around and going about my business? Something like that. *shrug*

It really is sad for his two-year-old daughter, though. =( I bet it would be weird to be watching successful movies and going "hey, that's my dad," and that being the only way you know him. That's fucking creepy, and sad.

Sadder/creepier? It seems like the emotion he put into his work--really living the character--is what did him in. From everything I've read so far (I know, it's been less than 24 hours, how reliable are these sources), it seems like playing such a psychopathic and strange Joker really messed him up. Apparently he did an interview saying that his "inconsistency" (to make it scary) caused him to sleep terribly, and that taking two Ambien only helped him sleep for an hour or so. Which, if you look at that fact next to the fact that he died next to a bunch of sleeping pills, seems very tragic and unfortunate, but it does say something for how dedicated he was to his work, and why he was such a good actor. ([EDIT2] Apparently he was researching for a drug-addict role as well? Even more tragic, but I still can't look at it with anything more than a studious interest.)

Um, so... yeah. Life goes on? I will watch the Dark Knight and will probably think about how surreal it is that he's no longer alive, but that's because I do have that weird morbid twinge. (So it's interesting that I'm compelled to write this much--I think I should care more than I do.)

Huh.

[EDIT] Actually, it kind of reminds me of how I felt when someone told me (Saturday morning before a football game) that Steve Irwin had died. More like it was a trivia fact than anything, and it seems tragic for the rest of your life every time you think about it, but not at first.

Still. Huh.

[EDIT4] Apparently he'd had pneumonia, too. Which really just makes it more of a tragedy, almost a Victorian one, in my mind. What a loss.

I really need to do my homework. =/

I JUST LEARNED HOW TO BURP NOT-LAMELY ALMOST ON-DEMAND

=D

Life is awesome.

So, not only is mercat a Spanish, and possibly Italian and Latin word, there is also a Scottish use of it called the Mercat Cross which is basically a pillar-ish thing that marked where the market was held in town. Read more! lol

And it appears to be an okay but crappy-looking bar in New York.

And an artists' production company...

WOAH, I'm 58th on Google. I've jumped a lot, but maybe because I'm posting more often and writing the word "mercat" more? 'Tis a possibility. (HAHAHA, my cached page is SO fucked up formatting-wise. Practically useless...)

Damn, my instructables username came up 68th! Thaaaat's kind of scary.

This mercat painting that kind of ticks me off because it reminds me too much of another artists' work, who did it first; (this is the other artist, but it's her other cats that it reminds me of)

a cute necklace I kind of want now;

an antique bookery;

Elfwood art; (somehow I've never seen that before)

AND MY FAVORITE PAGE ON THE INTERWEBS. I'm 90% sure I have that posted in my profile, along with Jess' art of THE Mercat, me. Haha, I'm a weirdo.

You know what this calls for? I think I need a logo of a mercat (catfish-ish style) on a big pillar. I think I would totally win, hands down.

Yes, this is a contest. I am the Mercat so I am the winnar.