#anyways i also rewatched star trek 2009 last night . . .

[katierosefun]

you ever not watch a movie for a few years and then you re-watch it and realize it’s still good and, in fact, it might be even better than the last time you watched it because

[iristigerlily-archive]

Rules: Answer the questions in a new post and tag 10 you would like to get to know better

I was tagged by @onedamnminuteadmiral so here goes! I RAMBLE BECAUSE I HAVE LOTS OF FEELINGS I’M SORRY. PRESS J TO SKIP THIS POST ON YOUR DASH.

1. Nickname: My name is Evelyn so I answer to Evie (both Eh-vy and Ee-vee depending on which country I’m in). 

2. Star sign: Virgo! I’m definitely fussy and reserved. Not too sure about ‘neat’ though...

3. Height: 163cm (I think? It’s been a while since I measured myself, usually for cosplay)

4. Time right now: 10.48pm

5. Favorite music artist: This changes day-to-day, but I think in terms of bands and artists I never get tired of listening to... Snow Patrol, Amanda Palmer, Florence + the Machine, Enya and/or Clannad. And anything scored by Hans Zimmer.

6. Song stuck in your head: Right this second, it’s Let’s Go Crazy by Prince and the Revolution, because I watched Yuzuru Hanyu’s routine to it last night.

7. Last movie watched: Spectre. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.

8. Last TV show watched: Yuri on Ice is on my TV right now. As it was last night. And the night before that. Never before in my life have I been able to say without hyperbole that I’ve “lost count” of how many times I’ve rewatched something. Until now.

9. What are you wearing right now: PJ’s my grandma got me for Christmas. It’s so hot here right now, but I can’t open a window or I’ll be eaten alive by sandflies and other creepy-crawlies attracted to the light.

10. When did you created your blog: 2009. And before that, LiveJournal since... 2005? I feel so old.

11. What kind of stuff do you post: Multifandom blog where you’re all along for the crazy ride of whatever I’m into at the time. Mostly (in no particular order) Star Trek, Star Wars, Yuri on Ice, Tolkien (Silmarillion is my fav) and some Back to the Future and Marvel movies and comics. 

12. Do you have any other blogs: I actually have a few, but none that I’m willing to link to as they’re mostly unfinished. I tried to start a Tolkien sideblog but I’m lazy, so. I used to have a art one that I posted sketches to, but I’ve deleted a bunch of stuff. Maybe this year I’ll start it up again. It’s @irisartings :)

13. Do you get asks regularly: Not really, but then I also don’t interact with people on here a lot ‘cause I’m shy. It makes my day when I do get them though! I need to remember most people actually feel this way...

14. Why did you choose your URL: My username is my first and middle name in the Hobbit name generator (which I’ve tried to link to and it’s down) and I’ve used it since I was about... 12? And I’m 26 now, haha.

Basically, Evelyn = Iris and Máire = Tigerlily. My last name ‘translates’ to Hardbottle. I can just picture an angry Hobbit mother screaming out the window to her daughter with her dress six inches deep in mud and twigs in her hair, “Iris Tigerlily Hardbottle, get yourself inside this instant!” or something to that effect. My Hobbit self would hopefully emulate Elizabeth Bennet to some extent ;)

15. Gender: Cis woman.

16. Hogwarts house: HUFFLEPUFF. I have so many feelings about and love for this house. I was sorted on the LJ community Hogwarts is Home aaaaaages ago and this house was so welcoming. I hoped to get it when I was sorted on Pottermore and I did! When I moved to the US, almost all my friends were in Hufflepuff as well and we would go to Wizarding World on our days off and wear our scarves in the blistering Florida heat and do wonderful silly photoshoots in the back alleys and ride queues with our wands and robes and I LOVE THIS FAMILY SO MUCH GUYS.

17. Pokemon team: Instinct

18. Favourite color: If I had to pick, purple, but I feel this is more a hang-over from my childhood. I look best in dark green and blue I think.

19. Average hours of sleep: Pfft, if I manage 6 I’m lucky. I’m so bad.

20. Lucky number: 19. I was born on 19/09/1990 at 19:05 and at 19″ long. It rarely lets me down.

21. Favourite character: Like, do not get me started about Jim Kirk. Or Luke Skywalker. I also live for any mention of the word ‘Fingon’ in the Silmarillion except for the part where he dies.

I feel I should mention that recently with Yuri on Ice, Katsuki Yuuri has been an inspirational character for me. As someone who struggles with feelings of anxiety, watching this show has really helped me recognise some of my own thought patterns and behaviors and it’s made it easier to change my way of thinking.

22. How many blankets do you sleep with: At the moment? I’ll kick them all off in my sleep because it’s so disgustingly hot. For New Zealand anyway. It was worse in Florida and Australia but I’ve acclimatised now. In winter, usually one feather-down one.

23. Dream job: Writer and novelist! I should probably actually write things. At the moment, I want to switch careers to becoming a web developer because hospitality and retail are soul-sucking.

24. Following: 444 :)

I’m super shy about tagging people, but here goes... @nzotaku, @sarabeegoofy, @noochan, @verymaedhros

[chadnevett]

Random Thoughts (March 18, 2017)

* It's been a week... Michelle and Ryan are out of town, so I've been taking the bus to and from work, which, given that we decided to buy a house on the complete other side of town has not been tons of fun. Plus, we've been short at work, so I've been working extra, both at the office and at home. Just... tired. Not trying to complain, because the week actually went much better than I had anticipated coming into it. Lots of things broke my way. Just saying that I'm tired and, as much as I miss my wife and son, the fact that they're not back until tomorrow night is lovely. Some time to rest up and relax. For now, that means just typing out these random thoughts...

* Last Sunday, I watched Captain America: Civil War and Star Trek Beyond (I still have Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice for later today). I enjoyed the latter much more than the former. As I said on Twitter, Star Trek Beyond was a dumb movie that didn't try to act like it wasn't; Civil War was a dumb movie that thought it was a smart movie. I mean, fuck, it was incredibly dumb. That's not a bad thing. That's what giant action movie tentpole flicks are. But, it's amazing to me how, over the course of the last few years, they managed to build to Civil War in such a way where the natural sympathies are completely reversed from the comics. I said it after Age of Ultron, but a possible weakness of these movies that no one probably thought about ahead of time is that actually seeing this level of destruction changes the way you view these heroes. They're destroying cities and killing people and, yeah, they didn't mean to, but... Plus, they weren't exactly setting up Cap as sympathetic when his main goal was making sure his old buddy who's a brainwashed killer isn't arrested -- and, then, at the end of the movie, basically locks him away himself... And everyone fights and changes sides and it's all over the dumbest shit. I guess it's a bit more realistic that way, because people are stupid, but it's just dumb to watch. Star Trek Beyond, on the other hand, started with the best premise ever: "Thank god this isn't a TV show anymore, because we're three movies in and already bored!" But, they stop being bored by riding motorcycles, which you can't do in space usually, so, good on them. I also dug how they didn't even bother to give the main villain a plausible story until there were, like, ten minutes left in the movie and, even then, it was just "His ship crashed and he can't war anymore and he's gone crazy."

* On the music front... three new albums for me over the past month or so: Prisoner by Ryan Adams, Solidarity by Bill & Joel Plaskett, and Wild Cat by Danko Jones. Prisoner is tops of that list for me. It probably says nothing good that, for a while there, "Breakdown" by my favourite song. Tough week that week, y'know? It's the sort of album that I need when I want something a bit quieter but with some rock -- whereas Wild Cat is what I need when I want something loud and kinda dumb in places. I mean, the two spots where I tend to sing along are the lines "Come over here, baby, and let me love you like man" (off "Success in Bed") and "Revolution... but then we make love!" (off "Revolution (But Then We Make Love)") I mean, it's Danko Jones... it's dumb cock rock with lyrics that you're sometimes embarrassed to sing along to, but it rocks. The Plaskett album is a collaboration between father (Bill) and son (Joel) and seems to follow a folky sort of root based on blue collar/socialist ideas. I'm a fan of Joel's and wasn't sure what I'd think of this one going into it, but it's rather good. "Blank Cheque" is the track of choice here. Good albums so far this year.

* A week or so ago, I finished reading 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster. It's a big book, especially for Auster, who usually is more of a 150-300 pages kind of author (with the former being more common than the latter). It's, what 866 pages. It starts with a prologue chapter, of sorts, detailing the grandparents and parents of Archie Ferguson prior to his birth. Then, he's born, and we get four versions of him, depending on which town in the same region in New Jersey his parents pick to live. Every chapter goes through the cycle of each Ferguson in order as we see their differences and similarities and all of that. It's an interesting book that takes a while to really get into a groove with as it takes a while for all of the different details to sink in. You almost need a little chart to remind you which Ferguson is dating Amy, which Ferguson has her as a cousin by marriage, and which has her as a step-sister -- which is autobiographical Ferguson, which is reporter Ferguson, which is prose Ferguson, etc... Auster denies the autobiographical elements, but they're hard to miss. At least in broad ways. The details are no doubt fictional, but the broad experiences of growing up in New Jersey, longing for New York, going to Columbia, being a writer, going to Paris, etc. are all from his life. Even the types of writing the different Fergusons do seems to be the various types Auster has done over his life/career and each one given to one of the Fergusons. It's like he splintered himself to a degree and then added a lot of "What if...?" type stuff to it. Which is what a lot of fiction is anyway. For such a long book, I never really felt like it was a slog. A lot of critics harp on Auster's prose style, but it's such easy-going... writing that encourages you to keep reading. It's a pleasant experience. My only complaint is that I'm not sure any of the Fergusons would have made a strong novel on their own (maybe #3?). Much of the power each narrative has is in comparison/contrast to the others. I mean, that's the gimmick of the book, but I guess I would have liked it if they stood on their own a bit better. But, I could also see me waiting a decade or so and, then, reading each Ferguson narrative on its own to see how it stands up. (I've considered doing something similar with James Ellroy's Underworld USA books... just because...)

* Watched all three Major League movies this week, because baseball is coming. Conceptually, there's a lot that I like in all three. I could see a remake being done of the first one where it's not an owner tanking to move the team, but a front office tanking as part of the rebuild process -- and how the players react to that concept. The sequel looking at the effects of success and budding stardom on players was interesting. The part that really stuck out to me was when Willie Mays Hayes comes back form the offseason bulked up a bit and looking to be a power hitter instead of the leadoff guy and the manager just berates him about knowing his role and not deviating from it. We're supposed to side with the manager, but I found myself siding with Willie. Find another leadoff guy -- if a dude can hit for power, you don't hold that back. Especially because he later showed that he still had speed. That sounds like a guy who just added another dimension to his game.

* For reasons that only make sense to me, I'm in the middle of rewatching everything Randy Orton did in 2009 that I have on DVD. I will write about it. Shit, I should go watch some of that, because I haven't all week. With the extra time on the bus and working and being TIRED, I haven't wanted to do this... I think I left off with Ortin beating Triple H in the awful Three Stages of Hell match at the Bash. Onto the next night on Raw for a Gauntlet match against Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, and Mark Henry...