The Daily Adventures of Mercat

LET ME SHOW YOU THEM.

First off, where have I been? Alas, busy. Trying to get a job/internship, and drum corps. That's pretty much all of it. Trying to catch up on my huuuuuge list of to-dos so I can get back to sitting around and actually posting.

Anyway.

I did see the last Harry Potter movie last night, which was great up until the epilogue, even though I knew it was coming. Because really, their makeup was Not So Hot and I really still dislike Ginny. Despite Chamber of Secrets being my favorite book (BECAUSE BASILISKS), I feel like she really is just an accessory or leftover character after her role in Chamber, and she was Harry's consolation prize because Ron would get the shaft if Hermione ended up with Harry.

P.-the-fuck-S., their kiss was straight-up pandering I-hate-fangirls-and-this-audience-rolling-my-eyes grade ugh. I mean, please.

On the other hand, I thought 7.2 developed very nicely and flowed very smoothly. I was a bit bummed to see Neville didn't get played up more, but then I found out I misremembered THE ENTIRE ENDING OF THE LAST BOOK?! Which was because I read it on tour in '07 (the week it came out! Lucky WalMart stop on that bit) and I stayed up until three or so in the morning, ON THE BUS, reading it. Man oh man. Here's what I thought. Harry gets "killed" and carried back, we see the final little showdown happen and Neville whips the sword of Gryffindor out of nowhere and finishes of Voldy, making him the TWIST ENDING UNSUSPECTED FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY.

So... I pulled that out of my ass or dreamed it or misremembered everything or just straight up my brain blocked the real ending out?! I DON'T KNOW. Because I am a little pissed that it wasn't Neville, and it kinda seemed like More Glory Harry Didn't Need Because He's Kind of Spoiled and Whiny Like James. Yes. Anyway.

CGI on the brooms = STILL FUCKING BOTHERSOME. IT HAS BEEN A DECADE-PLUS OF MOVIEMAKING, PEOPLE, MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, AND YOU ARE TELLING ME THAT PEOPLE STILL FALL FASTER THAN GRAVITY AND MOVE THROUGH AIR FASTER THAN DRAG WILL ALLOW?! WILL YOU FUCKING CUT THAT SHIT OUT ALREADY. Okay then, pet peeve, obviously. (Third one was still the best in that regard despite everyone's boo-fucking-hoos about "uhhhh waaaaah omg the weeeerewoooolf". Shut up. It looked pretty damn realistic. You know why? BECAUSE WEREWOLVES ARE NOT REAL)

Aaaaaand it definitely felt like the end of an era to watch it. And I was a little disappointed I didn't dress up, but I don't have the whole outfit and it would have cost a pretty penny to get a Hufflepuff outfit together, and Huber is a terrible place to hang out (seriously, the crowd was awful-- all fangirly teenagers who cheered when a fucking Taylor Lautner movie ad came on, PLEASE, and no one dressed up well [seriously ghetto central] and there was a girl behind us with a shirt that said "I'M SLEAZY FOR WEASLEY" [classy] and STOP CLAPPING AUDIENCE, WHO ARE YOU CLAPPING FOR.) and et cetera.

But. I miss reading the books already and I want to make a big fort and set myself up with a cooler and a bunch of premade snacks and just read straight through the whole series again. It really is a quality series, despite how much I pick on the movies.

And I do wonder, when will they decide that it is time to remake the movies more true to the books? I seriously fucking miss all the house ghosts and Peeves and all that. And you know they pretty much hired every actor in Britain anyway so it's either going to be American actors (please for the love of god NO) or B-list actors in which case either 1) more production money for sets and CGI or 2) made-for-TV-becomes-a-years-long-television-show. A "miniseries" as it were, but, more actually, a "mega-miniseries".

At any rate. I want to go to Universal Orlando now and GET A FREAKIN' HUFFLEPUFF PIN. I got a Gryffindor one for Christmas from my great aunt, but, alas, I am not a Gryffindor.

True story, when the books first came out my cousins got a little magic-8-ball-style sorting-hat keychain and we sorted the whole family. I still have the list somewhere. Out of something like a dozen people, I was the ONLY ONE to end up in Hufflepuff. Poor Hufflepuff!

Also, in relation to Greek mythology, I suspect that Hufflepuff's "black" color is perhaps iron? Like, wrought iron is black, as is cast iron, and all the other houses have their respective metals: gold, silver, bronze. According to the Greek mythological ages there were the three failed ages, gold, silver, and bronze, and the iron age which resulted in Humans As We Know Them Today. (That is, not Titans, etc.)

As a civil engineer and a mythology aficionado, I APPROVE HEARTILY. (Not the shiniest but we are the strongest? I can deal with that. ;P)

Anyway, um, I think that's all of it. As for other books being made into movies, American Gods is, and I kind of want to refuse to see it, based on the same reasons I refused to see Chronicles of Narnia (it ruins the version in my head). BUT, at the same time, American Gods is REAL PLACES, some of which I have already been to and were in fact the entire reason I got the book in the first place (House on the Rock). So... I am conflicted. We shall see.

Oh, also, I watched the original Planet of the Apes yesterday. It's a shame I already knew the ending, but still, the storyline is sadly relevant to a lot of today's politics and still extremely well done. Well, except for the part where the space crew is two white guys, a black guy, and a white woman, and [SPOILER ALERT] the woman dies in the first ten minutes, and the black guy dies in the first maybe thirty minutes, and the savior of humanity ends up resting on the shoulders of one stuck-up asshole white man who apparently is willing to attack his cagers for their paper instead of signaling with, you know, HAND MOTIONS, the motion of writing or handing him the paper or something. For reals? Sadly. Aaaaaaanyway.

Aside from that, I also couldn't get over how VENTURE BROTHEEEEEERS the whole thing felt, sorry Charlton Heston. Your voice-acting is just tooooo much. (But also, that was the times. I get it. But it's almost a parody of itself, so many years later.)

At any rate! I recommend it nonetheless.

Oh! Trailers attached to HP. Batman was a huge letdown. Sherlock 2 was AWESOME but I can't wait until Christmas, PLEEAAASSEEEE (and where was Stephen Fry?!). Cowboys and Aliens is going to BLOW MY FUCKING MIND. Taylor Lautner makes terrible career choices and sometimes Alfred Molina Satipo does too. The Borat guy, on the other hand, is some kind of mad genius (he's in Hugo, which looks good but odd).

Oh, and Ciaran Hinds was Aberforth, who for a split second I thought was Stephen Fry and was SO CONFUSED, and I remembered how awesome Ciaran Hinds is (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, the second Tomb Raider), and then I remembered I hadn't come up with Alfred Molina's name yet and we were halfway through the movie (DAMNIT SATIPO) and I also remembered that I hate Daniel Craig's American accent (Tomb Raider, the first one). So. Yes. Also I still have not seen the new X-Men, but I did see Horrible Bosses last week and it was okay but really slow to start and not great but maybe rent it if you're bored and looking for a comedy. Why is Kevin Spacey so good at being evil? (LOL Lex Luthor.) Also I still have no goddamn desire to see Captain America. It just looks so lame and STOP RECASTING DC CHARACTER ACTORS AS MARVEL ONES, CAN WE PLEASE. Fantastic Four was awful. I hate Captain America's costume. FOR SERIOUS.




...HUFFLEPUFF PRIDE! NO SHAME. GO BADGERS. (AMIRITE, WISCONSIN?)

I caught up on some of the stuff I missed (but far from all of it) over the summer, so guess what that means? LINKSPAM!

Last survivor of Titanic dies. Rather sad. (And yes, I realize nearly all this news is old for you people who've been in real life this summer.)

Speaking of deaths, the day we all heard Michael Jackson died, none of us believed it because of the Bob Barker effect. Same thing when the tally kept rolling in... Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, (and then after our next block) OMG Billy Mays! No one believed that last one, though by then the Michael Jackson one had been verified by several sources.

I can only imagine what a massive clusterfuck the internet (and ONTD, in particular) must have been that day.

However, I was in California doing breathing tubes (I think that was the last time we got them--when Scott got there) and snowcones. Bleh. And we had a terrible rehearsal run and the staff was pissed and we did laundry and got screwed over on our WalMart run. But I digress.

More Tomb Raider! Hey, as long as we're putting out adventure films, I'm happy. I loved the Angelina Jolie ones, ESPECIALLY the first one, so you'll get no complaints from me. Only one I would is that they even considered conotinuing through Mummy III after Rachel Weisz dropped out. (And I think, sadly, the same thing is going to be said about Iron Man I, which is a shame considering how utterly awesome Iron Man was.)

This photo has a very Firefly feel about it, and with I would answer the titular question with a veritable "yes".

...I don't think I used "titular" right. Meh.

YAY more Series of Unfortunate Events but some DAMN GOOD POINTS ABOUT FUCKING SEQUELS, HOLLYWOOD. goddamnit

Kenneth Branagh is directing Thor?! I am so. there.

Disney to squeeze more money out of Winnie the Pooh. I was actually bitching to my sister about this the other day and ended up twittering about it, so I'm glad I stumbled upon a relevant article.

Look, here's the thing. You know people who flip out when DC/Marvel get new writers or completely reboot or just continue to mess with different canons? That is how I have been feeling about Disney's treatment of Winnie the Pooh as of the past few years. One, that fucking heffalump movie. SPOILER, but the whole point of the heffalumps and woozles is that THEY DON'T EXIST. Baby Pooh? (And Tigger and Piglet and everyone) Okay, I can see that, messing with styles is cool to keep things interesting. Otherwise I wouldn't have that fucking rad purple stylized Winnie the Pooh bag.

And then I saw the new tv show. A mystery show. In 3D to make it even more painful (though you all know I love mysteries, so that's not where I find fault.) So I'm looking at a playset or a commercial or something and what do I see? The human character is a GIRL.

Look, I'm all for equal treatment and shit like that but this is kind of a definitive matter. YOU KNOW, CHRISTOPHER ROBIN, THE BOY WHO KIND OF FUCKING NAMED THOSE DAMN STUFFED ANIMALS?! God damn. Disney is really pissing me off lately.

P.S., anyone know what happened to the Disney award this year? We were really hoping to get it and wipe that smile off everyone else's faces, and then it didn't happen.

=/

Tim Curry in an Alice & Wonderland thing? Yes, please. Already there.

Pirates 4 seems to be on the move. To which I say, HOORAY! I loved 2 and 3, but I must say, they were several lacking in the buried/cursed/whatever'd department.

Remember what I said about Iron Man? Yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh...

That is some sexy cover art, and yes I mean the art nouveau.

Patrick Stewart on the new Star Trek, and holy crap it needs to come out on dvd YESTERDAY. I didn't see a single movie all summer I was gone and that was SO. FUCKING. GOOD.

Well, fuck. The plot actually sounds good. Really good. I'm willing to eat that crow if I have to.






Oh hey, what's this? First off, no shit, sherlock. But otherwise,

FUCK YES.

I'll be sad if it's another biblical artifact unless it's out of Revelations, but hey, what was it I said after I saw IV?


At least he can't do the crystal skulls idea anymore. :D



Now, all I have to do is pray they go for the Hawaii or Easter Island or some polynesian (/melanesian/micronesian) angle and I will be happy.

Fuck, I'll even take Australia E];D





apologies if my language seems suddenly harsher. It is. That's drum corps, and that's me. <3

I have a good pile of links, I've been trying to clean up my googlereader. Blech. The bad thing is that when I sit down and read through Gizmodo and Make... I get all psyched up about electronics. Bleeeeh.

This is pretty cool, and be sure to look at the photos. This guy was able to urge bees to build in nonstandard patterns... It's pretty wicked art/architecture/sciene. I don't know what to call it. It's just fascinating.

Did you know there's a Mars simulation station in the desert? They have people live there as if they were on Mars and then study them. Pretty effin' cool.

They are planning to reboot the Tomb Raider series. I actually had no problems with Jolie, but then again, I have never even played a Toomb Raider game. I just enjoy them as the modernizing-Indiana-Jones-popularity thematic things that they are. So... anything with a good set and maybe some good artifacts, I'm in.

So I don't have a particular link for this, but apparently in the past few months passports have started to been distributed with RFID tags included, for easier data reading. However, it's been shown that someone driving by up to thirty feet away with an RFID reader can steal your data; so make sure if you get a new passport (and probably, some ID's already have RFID tags) that you get an RFID-blocking wallet/passport case for it. They usually just have a layer of aluminum foil added, as that's enough to block it. So yeah, it'd be relatively easy to make your own, too; there's some good how-tos on Instructables.

So this is only a design concept, but it actually looks like a very good design to me.

Finally, looking for a good insult? At your fingertips...

I forgot how awkward Daniel Craig's American accent is. Kind of like Angelina Jolie's British one, except... worse.

Auuuuugh this is SO DIFFICULT. I have to write a response paper to a book we read for history, but the only sort of prompt we were given was "write your reaction" and "make sure it's college level." I hate analyzing stories in the first place, because I can't do it. My brain just does not work that way. So, all I keep coming up with is stupid, waste-of-space sentences. I have nothing of value to say because I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M ADDRESSING.

Augh. This sucks. Technically I don't have to do it and I can write on the next book, sooo... maybe I should just do that.

I mean, it's a great book and all, but I feel like everything I have to say is up for psych discussion and not historical interest. Blech.

I very much enjoyed watching Sense and Sensibility today, mostly because Hugh Grant was not in most of it. I really can't stand him, for some reason. Also, it was really awesome and really weird seeing Hugh Laurie not be insane (though he was still snarky). It's funny, even though most Americans (including me) "know" him from House, I wasted way too much time online immediately after discovering A Bit of Fry and Laurie and laughing my ass off, so that's how I think of his character. Erm, yes. I think you'd have to have that state of mind and watch that movie to understand, maybe. It's a bit odd. But hooray for snark! I miss watching House. Also, Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman are awesome.

Also, I just realized Gerard Butler is in the second Tomb Raider. I don't believe I yet posted why whole little spiel on Daniel Craig and Angelina Jolie (uh...yeah...it was supposed to go in my "epic post"), but suffice it to say I don't think I will ever watch those movies again without laughing and laughing and then laughing my ass off some more. Even though the first one rocked, and the second one was lame, it doesn't matter. I'm wondering, if they make a third one, how are they going to top it? who could possibly be more hilarious in the male lead role

Also, I'm going to go a bit off kilter today with the countdown. I guess it's just my nature, but somehow being an Indy fan I didn't go down the "I MUST HAVE EVERYTHING FROM THE MOVIES OM NOM NOM" route, but rather the "hehehe let's collect odd bits and ends and trivia!" end. (Tangent--what is the singular of trivia? Trivium? That sounds weird.) So, yes, I "collect" (so to speak) Indiana Jones references, and I rather enjoy it. It's nice when already clever things pay tribute to something else you like, although some people think it may just be another way that uncreative people get popular, by dropping references. Eh, I don't really care. Indy is on some strain of hugely-popular-but-in-an-underground-sort-of-way, and I wonder if that's going to change, and at the same time I'd rather it not. (My guess is because Star Wars overshadowed it and continues to as Lucas markets very little to the Indy fans, which is good because do you see the crap they come up with? For gods sake, man, marketing is so ridiculous.)

Um, yes, where was I? References. I think I'll start throwing some of those in as trivia because you are less likely to be aware of them and I love them dearly. So! On with it, then.

87 days until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! Today's trivia: I watched Dogma for the first time today (so that's where Buddy Christ comes from) and I must say it was awesome. Also, I have a new Indiana Jones reference. This is one of those "assumed and not outright" references, i.e. name and/or Indy fashion is not used. So anyway, the first thing Silent Bob says in the movie is after they throw out Loki and Bartleby, to a very scared passenger... "No ticket." Last Crusade, anyone? I am now in love with this movie. I'm going to be very tempted to burn through my stash of reference trivia very quickly, so you all will have to keep an eye on me.

hee "no ticket" hee