grrgoyl

Some loose ends to tie up:

• I love London, but it's just so vast compared to Denver (or any city I've visited). At this point in my life I've spent almost an entire month there and still feel like I haven't seen half of what it has to offer. Jeff and his family are thinking of coming to America next year sometime and I feel like I have to start planning NOW how to entertain them in Denver, because there's just no comparison. I mean, most of the city shuts down at 10 p.m.!

• Londoners have absolutely no sense of personal space, I noticed almost immediately. They're used to being surrounded by lots of people all the time. I am not. I feel I adapted pretty quickly (riding the tube everywhere helped), but I'm really a small-town country girl at heart and I need to breathe; Denver is really as "big city" as I can handle on a full-time basis. Though I did admire the convenience and efficiency of public transportation in London. Denver still has a ways to go in that department unfortunately.

• Here's one picture I forgot to post:
  
  
  
  
  
  Daddy's Little Girl
  
  
  
  
  Roxana was the sweetest little girl when she was happy and smiling. But like with most 2-year-olds, when she reached her full fury, I wanted to be several continents away. I decided that the worst 10 seconds in the world are those between a child's first tantrum cry, and the second one while they're taking a really, really big breath. Fortunately this didn't happen very often. As with most children, it took her a day or two to warm up to me, and thereafter she couldn't get enough. I worried about traumatizing her with my departure, but Jeff assured me within 12 hours she would erase me from her memory completely.

• One thing I forgot to mention was the delay in my plane taking off from London. After a half hour of waiting at the gate, the pilot announced that a passenger had "gone missing" and they had to remove their luggage from the plane as a security precaution. Don't know what that was all about, but I'm thankful the Brits were on top of it.
  

~*~

As much as I loved England, I missed sleeping in my own bed, and I missed especially my internet. I arrived home to discover all these things had been released in my absence. I leave for a few days....

• Marilyn Manson: Eat Me, Drink Me -- I know Marilyn's not very popular in my circles, but I still keep buying his stuff. I loved Mechanical Animals (where Marilyn first discovered melody) and keep hoping for a return to that. In this CD I finally got it. The catchy melodies of Animals style combined with Tim Skold's industrial guitar riffs work well, and it sounds like Tim also talked Marilyn into venturing into the world of guitar solos for the first time. Throw in Marilyn's growling vocals and this was love at first listen for me.

• Linkin Park: Minutes to Midnight -- Another band most of my friends will probably be appalled to know I listen to. I can't help it. Chester sounds like the lovechild of a Backstreet Boy and Trent Reznor. A very angry boy band, if you will. I haven't listened to this all the way through yet, but I'll bet some fans will be disgusted by it. It sounds softer than previous albums, with lots of whining about the war and the terrible price paid by the poor who have few options other than to enlist. Like these guys know anything about it.

• South Park Season Ten -- Most of the episodes in this season are kind of hit or miss (for instance, when Oprah's minge and asshole not only talk (in male British accents, no less), but take hostages in hopes that she'll stop working so hard and play with them once in awhile. Seems like Matt and Trey can afford fancier designer drugs with all their fame. Don't even get me started on the Al Gore "Manbearpig" episode). But this season includes the World of Warcraft episode, which is absolutely brilliant and worth the purchase price alone. Even funnier than when the boys become anime ninjas!

• Last but absolutely not least, Serenity 2-Disc Collector's Edition -- Whatwhatwhat???!!?!!?!? How did THIS slip under my radar? (especially considering I've been shopping for Firefly stuff for weeks??) The website gives no indication of how gorgeous the packaging of this disc is. The front of the case is a plastic panel with just River, and the case beneath has Mal and the ship. The back of the box has a classy monochromatic holographic picture of some of the characters in action poses. This version thoughtfully includes all the features from the previous release (if the industry MUST double dip, I prefer they do it this way so I don't have to keep multiple copies of one movie on my shelf). And Joss and Nathan Fillion should do commentary for every movie ever made. That's all I'll say about that.

~*~



Finally, a movie review. lizzieloudotcom asked if I planned to endure Perfume: Story of a Murderer in the name of my Rickman love, and I did. ( ::Here's what I thought:: )

In summary, the movie is gorgeous to look at, the story is enthralling and the acting is superb (even the non-Rickman actors), until that stupid orgy scene at the end makes it all unravel. I didn't like it enough to buy it, but certainly enough to copy it. 3 out of 5

Tery is so sweet. She rented "Party Monster" for us this weekend, not so much as a Valentine's Day offering as simply because it has Marilyn Manson in it. I had never heard of it until I saw the picture of Macauley Culkin in drag on the menu, then remembered seeing an article on it in some gay magazine or other.

This movie is so bizarre I don't even know how to describe the plot. Basically it is the tale of Michael Alig (Culkin), a nobody who became somebody on the 80s club scene by creating the "club kids," doing lots of drugs, and ultimately murdering his dealer, a crime which made national headlines (though I don't remember it. Must have been all the drugs I was doing in the 80s).

The first scene of the movie raised the hackles on my neck; I couldn't decide who was more offensive as a poncey drag queen, Macauley or Seth Green. I kind of got used to Seth as the movie went on, because he is much prettier, but Macauley continued to grate on my nerves. Unfortunately, he was the star, so he had ample opportunity. What annoyed me the most was his horrible acting. I asked Tery when he forgot how to act, then remembered I've never actually seen him act (no, "Home Alones" don't qualify as acting). His speech seemed forced and artificial, kind of like David Bowie trying to do Andy Warhol in "Basquiat." It wasn't until the end when we watched some of the bonus material that it became apparent he was only emulating the real Michael Alig, who has an equally annoying manner of speech. So I guess this makes him an outstanding actor.

As for Marilyn, he appeared as Christina, and was virtually unrecognizable (though very attractive as a woman) until about his third scene. He had no lines, but a very funny scene when he is being frisked by a cop. Then his character died about halfway through, to my immense disappointment. In the extras, Macauley told the story of buying Marilyn a pack of cigarettes for the film and how weird it was doing something so normal with "the Antichrist."

Marilyn was a definite plus. The soundtrack was ace with lots of techno and 80s dance remixes. The costumes were eye-popping, rivaling even "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" or "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (you gotta love Seth Green dressed as a troll doll, complete with 3-foot high green wig, for example). It certainly had a big cast, with Dylan McDermott, Chloe Sevigny, Natasha Lyonne, even a brief cameo from John Stamos. I still can't decide if I like this film or not, but I have a feeling it might be destined for underground cult status.

My rating: 3 out of 5. Would have been better without Macauley, I'm guessing.

Also, hooray for Photobucket. I just finished transferring all my photos over to my new free account from Angelfire. Now if only I could decide what to do with that extra $5 every month *rubbing hands gleefully at the possibilities*