Quick update

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

Just a quick update to let you know that I'm feeling a bit better. My coughing is still here but is really slowing down and my throat doesn't hurt so much. My abs are actually really sore from my coughing so much during the last 3 days (is it just me, or does everyone squeeze their abs when they cough?) The one cough medicine that seems to work totally knocks me out so I can only take it at night.

In other news, yesterday I experienced the grossest cicada incident ever. Let me back up to explain. The area I live in gets overrun by cicadas once every 17 years. They are large insects that fly around, have huge red eyes, and make lots of noise. Every 17 years we get hit with a ton of them; they are everywhere for about 6 weeks. So my town is in the middle of the invasion. Yesterday I went to the farmers' market. Since it was like 9:00 in the morning and already 85 degrees, I wore a tank top. This one has a built-in bra. One cicada flies around and manages to fly into my tank top. For a few horrifying seconds, it is caught between my breast and the underwire. I pull on the bottom of my shirt to let it out and fortunately it drops right out. Ewwwww.

Oh yeah, I am still enjoying Rifftrax. They are these hilarious MP3's that you buy (most cost $2.99) where some of the guys from MST3K make fun of mainstream movies. I've seen their X-men, LOTR, and Star Wars Phantom Menace ones so far. They are funny. They always have some dumb jokes but lots of good ones. They were brutal with Phantom Menace. Didn't have much of anything positive to say about it as a movie.

Be warned - if you get the LOTR one, the Rifftrax goes with the version of the movie that was released to theaters, not the version with all the extended and additional scenes.

Comments

[sarahetc.livejournal.com]

Oh gawd, cicadas! You are so brave. It was in your shirt, on your boobs and you lived to tell the tale. I am having a disco freakout on your behalf.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

In my dealings with cicadas, I just repeat silently to myself 'They don't bite. They can't hurt us. They don't bite...'

It's really just the squick factor one has to contend with. But yeah. It's pretty gross to get one on your boobs. I'll never again complain about the time one landed on my sock. :)

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

Oh I'd LOVE to see your cicada dance?

[yubsie]

Well, it IS The Phantom Menace. :p

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I have such mixed feelings about that movie. When it came out, I liked it. I ignored Jar Jar, the endless pod race, the bad acting and just told myself to love it. I can now see its flaws and see how fans were disappointed. But part of me still likes it, you know?

[yubsie]

I'll give it one thing: Padme is definitely at her coolest in that one. :p And I did like Obi-Wan and QUi-Gon's interactions...

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I did like Padma. And her costumes. She was a good ruler. And I loved Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, and especially thought McGregor did a great job sounding and acting like the old Obi-Wan.

So, do you think most fans thought Episodes 1-3 sucked?

[yubsie]

Padme's costumes were AMAZING. I'm just sad that her characterization fell apart in the later movies. It's like Lucas didn't know how to keep her a strong character once she was involved in the romance.

Ewan MacGregor's performance was solid through the whole trilogy. It's definitely HIS storyline that makes AotC worth watching.

The impression I get of the fandom is that there is little love for 1 and 2, but that 3 is considered to have redeemed the trilogy, despite the NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

The impression I get of the fandom is that there is little love for 1 and 2, but that 3 is considered to have redeemed the trilogy, despite the NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Interesting. I'd been wondering, as I enjoy all the Star Wars movies and have seen each of them at least 2-3 times, but I'm not really fannish about it or into the fandom. I do know a lot of people who said Episode II (and I) was dreadful.

In the Rifftrax, they were too harsh on Episodes I and II. There are plenty of things wrong with them, but they just ripped them to shreds. Especially Hayden and Natalie's acting. Hayden did have a better performance in Episode III, didn't he?

[yubsie]

The thing with Hayden and Natalie is that they both ARE good actors. Unfortunately, they were working with a less than stellar director. Hayden was quite effective in RotS, but poor Natalie's best scenes once again got left on the cutting room floor.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

*nods*

And you know, they both had miserable dialog to work with. It was terrible. Even the best actors in the world couldn't do much with the lines they were given.

Too bad Lucas didn't ask for and get some help with the dialog.

I've never even bough the DVD for RotS or seen the deleted scenes. I should get out there and watch them.

[yubsie]

It baffles me, since Lucas even ADMITS that he's primarily a visual storyteller. You'd think that knowing that, he'd be willing to seek help on the other aspects.

There were a lot of really good deleted scenes. Most of which involve character development for Padme. THere was a whole subplot about her involvement with the resistance against Palpatine and generally DOING STUFF in RotS that got completely left out. (But I could go on forever about my frustration with the treatment of the female characters in the prequel trilogy as well as the expanded universe novels under Del Rey... the publisher switch just HAPPENING to coincide with the beginning of the prequels.)

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

Yeah, don't get me started on the treatment of female characters - not just in the prequel trilogy but in all of Star Wars. Would it kill them to ever have more than 1 woman in a film?? AotC was one of the few movies that even had more than one female with speaking roles. But as far as I recall, RotS went back to having Padme being the only woman who has dialog to speak. And how hard would it have been for them to make some of the female Jedi more prominent in episodes 1 - 3??

And don't get me started on all the racial problems in episode 1. On Rifftrax, the MST3K guys had a field day with that.

[yubsie]

I figure the original trilogy does get credit for Leia, considering the female characters in MOST science fiction in that era. The prequels, on the other hand, are in a lot of ways a huge step BACKWARDS, especially with the majority of Padme's non-love interest scenes getting cut from 2 and 3, not to mention the whole "Now she dead from stupid" bit.

The decline in the expanded universe was similarly saddening. In the Bantam era, Leia was leader of the bloody GALAXY, and an effective one at that. And what does the Del Rey era harp on? The fact that she was too busy leading the galaxy and raising children to be a Jedi. Leia's daughter went from being an ace pilot and generally well adjusted teenager to permanently fourteen years old, with no storyline beyond "Which guy will she pick?" And poor Mara Jade Skywalker, former assassin, randomly switched between bitchy (there is a LINE between willing to knock some sense into Luke with sarcasm and being bitchy) and... CLINGY? The Bantam books had a lot of strong female characters, but other than my beloved Aaron Allston (who is a holdover from the Bantam books...), no one under Del Rey seemed to be able to WRITE these women.

[fireflyfailure.livejournal.com]

i definitely squeeze my abs when i cough, hurts like hell after a while. i'm cglad you're on the mend!

oh god, the CICADAS, they're DISGUSTING. i never used to mind them, but this year? EW EW EW EW EW EWWWWWWWWW X.X

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

My abs really do feel like I've been doing killer ab workouts for the last 3 days. I'm glad it's not just me who feels this way.

Do you also live in an area that gets periodic cicada invasions?

[denisia.livejournal.com]

*cue evil music*

They're here. They're in your town. They'll strike when you least expect it...CICADAS 2007. (Rated R for violent content). :)

Seriously, that does sound creepy! Horror film time with these insects! I'm sorry to hear you've been sick, but also glad to read you're doing better today.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

LOL!

[carynsilver.livejournal.com]

I've been wanting to try Rifftrax.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I definitely recommend it. I mean, if you like MST3K, you'll like Rifftrax. In a way, it's better because the movies they riff on are much better than the movies MST used.

Each Rifftrax has made me laugh out loud at least a few times, despite several stoopid jokes too.

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

To cough is to work out your stomach musles. they automatically clench when you cough. So when you're doing it a lot, yeah it hurts.

I think we had a cicada out break a couple of summers ago. Those thing are sooooo freaking annoying! There was on right outside my window when I was trying to sleep on time. I almost cried I was so tired.



Yeah ... I might have had to go topless for a few minutes.

YAY! for MST!!!
where do you find this stuff?

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

Thank you for that lovely cicada photo. :) I'll always hold it close to my heart...or breast...or tank top.

About the MST and Rifftrax - I found out about it the same way you did, when one of my friends posted about it on LJ! :-) Ah, the power of word of mouth. Rifftrax really are a lot of fun. Now that I've finished Star Wars Attack of the Clones, I think I'll watch either Star Trek V or Terminator III. Can't wait!

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

Snicker-

Do they have one for X-Men 3?

As for the cicada ... -shudder- was it still alive when it hit the ground? Did anyone see you pulling on your shirt?

And thanks for the link. -hugs-

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

They haven't done X-men III yet. In fact, they haven't done X-men II yet either.

I believe the cicada was still alive when it hit the ground. Ewww. I actually was in an area of the farmers' market where not many people were around and I don't actually think anyone noticed what had happened.

P.S.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

Oh, did you mean *literally* where do you find rifftrax? If that's what you meant, it's at www.rifftrax.com

Re: P.S.

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

lol No, you got it right the first time.

PS I got my first PBS book today. :-D I can't wait to read it. :X

Re: P.S.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

So glad your first PBS book arrived! Fantastic!

Today I had a fantastic PBS day. Not one, but *two* books that had been on my wish list became available to me today. I ordered them both. I am happy to see progress on my wish list.

Re: P.S.

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

has anyone else signed up for PBS?

Re: P.S.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

You mean like, anyone else I know? My sister signed up. And I posted something on an LJ community for the magazine BUST (BYST is where I first heard of PBS), and one person signed up directly from that post. (I know that because I got the credit for the referral!)

Has anyone you know signed up for it? You could always post something in your LJ if you wish. Word of mouth is truly the best way for this to grow. PBS's site also has emails you can send to friends telling them about it.

Re: P.S.

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

No one's signed up, but I haven't really pimped it like I could.
I think I'll do that.

Re: P.S.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

You should! Send out the emails from the PBS site. (Under Community, then Spread the Word). Mention it on your LJ. Give the link and be sure to mention that if you're given as the referral, you'll get a book credit. It's a great site and the word needs to be spread!

Re: P.S.

[razycrandomgirl.livejournal.com]

Aye, Aye Cap'n! :D