Hi Guys,
So here is my second installment on performers on The Graham Norton Show...and today, we are previewing...drumroll please...Duran Duran!
Now, all of you guys are gonna ask me...Who the hell are they? Well, allow me to explain......
If you were a kid or teen in the '80's, you'll probably instantly recognize the name. Duran Duran... to say they were '80's cultural icons would be an understatement. They were the people behind "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Girls on Film", "Rio", and whatnot. These bastards were everywhere... staples in teenage bedrooms at the time, big on the radio, and they were HUGE on MTV (Back when they actually played music videos)... I bet if any of you were alive during that time, like my parents were (they were born in '68), if you watched MTV, you would be very likely to find them in heavy airplay on there.
They named themselves after an obscure movie character from Barbarella... anyway, they are still going strong with the same guys during all these years.
The album they were promoting was Paper Gods at the time, I think this was season 18 episode 3 when they performed one of the tracks from that album, let me look up what it was....
(A Correction on the last profile... The Shires actually performed in Season 18, not Season 19 like I think they did)...
Stuff like that.
Friday, December 2, 2016
Election 2016-Voice Evaluation of Incumbents
Hi Guys,
So now, I am going to do a voice evaluation of the two winning candidates: Donald Trump and Mike Pence.
Trump's voice is very...unique. It is raspy, but it is not really deep nor is it really high. At times, he sounds like a friggin' 20-something frat boy trapped inside a 70 year old man's body. It at times does get on one's nerve-the press will pay attention to him, whatever the hell he says.
And then there is Mike Pence... Does he sound authoritative? No, not really. He does not talk much, and looks like he is stoned all. the. time. When he does speak, it is very...slow and he sounds like he is putting himself to sleep...it is also mumbly. Because of the fact that his voice is very mumbly, no one really takes him seriously as a result. And because of that, even if he does say something crazy, it probably comes out in a very odd way. Period, and he looks tired, which also enhances the fact that no one in the press will pay attention to him.
Hell, look at the vice presidential debate...Kaine sounded more intelligible than Pence did. Pence at times was hard to understand, and he mispronounced the place where they were hosting it, Longwood University, as Norwood. If that is not a wrong move, than I do not know what is.
And thank god Trump is pro-gay... Pence is one obstacle to that.
My dad says he could beg to differ, but I disagree with him lots. Don't you guys do too?
Let me know what you think
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Graham Norton Show Performers Profile #1-The Shires
Hi Guys,
Here, I'll start a series of posts profiling the artists who have performed on the Graham Norton Show (Some who I like, Some who I don't like, Some I don't know who they are). I will jump all over the place in terms of performances from specific dates, not necessarily in chronological order.
The 1st one I'll start with is this alt-country duo called...wait for it...The Shires (I am not at all a big country music fan, but I like these guys, so yeah).
They are from England (surprise, surprise) but sound very convincingly American (Similarly to Keith Urban, who was Australian)... To the point of which first time listeners must think that they themselves must probably be San Francisco transplants from the South, based on how many times they say "We may not have sunshine" or whatever they say during that time in Nashville Grey Skies. But, however, there is a track that makes it a dead giveaway as to where they are from- "Made in England". I think they released their first album last year. Don't know much about them, eh.....
Also, once you look up the word "Shires", you will find out that it is a term for the english countryside. Yeah, go figure.
This is in complete contrast to someone like LeeAnn Rimes (who also performed on the show, and whom I will talk about in a later post) who, though while also country, is actually American and she is from the South... So yes, that twang is genuine for her. She does not have much of a strong accent, but still.... She sure is talented.
They performed the last season (Series 19) on the first episode. Yeah, go figure.
From,
Flannery.
Here, I'll start a series of posts profiling the artists who have performed on the Graham Norton Show (Some who I like, Some who I don't like, Some I don't know who they are). I will jump all over the place in terms of performances from specific dates, not necessarily in chronological order.
The 1st one I'll start with is this alt-country duo called...wait for it...The Shires (I am not at all a big country music fan, but I like these guys, so yeah).
They are from England (surprise, surprise) but sound very convincingly American (Similarly to Keith Urban, who was Australian)... To the point of which first time listeners must think that they themselves must probably be San Francisco transplants from the South, based on how many times they say "We may not have sunshine" or whatever they say during that time in Nashville Grey Skies. But, however, there is a track that makes it a dead giveaway as to where they are from- "Made in England". I think they released their first album last year. Don't know much about them, eh.....
Also, once you look up the word "Shires", you will find out that it is a term for the english countryside. Yeah, go figure.
This is in complete contrast to someone like LeeAnn Rimes (who also performed on the show, and whom I will talk about in a later post) who, though while also country, is actually American and she is from the South... So yes, that twang is genuine for her. She does not have much of a strong accent, but still.... She sure is talented.
They performed the last season (Series 19) on the first episode. Yeah, go figure.
From,
Flannery.
Sunday, June 12, 2016
On the Last Week Of School-And My Thoughts On The General Election now that it's starting up
Hey Guys,
So-guess what? Tomorrow is the last day of classes! Whopee! Now I won't have to see that obnoxious kid Cameron Ward or see the face of that creepy kid Flavio Darini (a freshman) exiting the class that I'm in shouting "Make America Great Again". I'm also happy that school is out for the summer-I only have a few exams to go and whoohoo I'm finished!
And also, you guys-Clinton won the nomination! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! And as for that email scandal, pfft. Everyone's sick and tired of hearing about it, and the FBI will likely dismiss her case. Sanders gave a speech endorsing her, and Obama gave a powerful speech endorsing her. And she just bounced off Trump insults by asking him to delete his Twitter account. Yes. That motherfucker doesn't know how powerful the hills is. He's gonna get his ass handed over to him.
And as for that Trump University schtick-he did some really bad things like drop investigations against him by the Florida attorney and the Texas attorney general. Now, there's a hearing on the case on July 22nd, and there is even more pressure by the public for them to investigate the entire Trump-Bondi incident. Of course, the FBI will eventually acquit Hillary and turn their attention towards Trump, and that fucker will be exposed for the fraudulent bastard that he is. There's a lot less alarmist articles about him now, and I think he's even losing popularity-Hillary's gaining steam, very quickly. You know what? Trump is gonna be upset by all the negative coverage, denies that he is corrupt (which he is), and there eventually will be so much pressure placed on him that he will eventually go "Screw it. I'm gonna step down and go back to my business.". Cause that's just who he is.
And I went out to lunch today! Yipee!
And I promised to you that I would focus on a variety of topics for the blog-but that's not all.
I'll tell you more later on. Bye!
Flannery
So-guess what? Tomorrow is the last day of classes! Whopee! Now I won't have to see that obnoxious kid Cameron Ward or see the face of that creepy kid Flavio Darini (a freshman) exiting the class that I'm in shouting "Make America Great Again". I'm also happy that school is out for the summer-I only have a few exams to go and whoohoo I'm finished!
And also, you guys-Clinton won the nomination! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! And as for that email scandal, pfft. Everyone's sick and tired of hearing about it, and the FBI will likely dismiss her case. Sanders gave a speech endorsing her, and Obama gave a powerful speech endorsing her. And she just bounced off Trump insults by asking him to delete his Twitter account. Yes. That motherfucker doesn't know how powerful the hills is. He's gonna get his ass handed over to him.
And as for that Trump University schtick-he did some really bad things like drop investigations against him by the Florida attorney and the Texas attorney general. Now, there's a hearing on the case on July 22nd, and there is even more pressure by the public for them to investigate the entire Trump-Bondi incident. Of course, the FBI will eventually acquit Hillary and turn their attention towards Trump, and that fucker will be exposed for the fraudulent bastard that he is. There's a lot less alarmist articles about him now, and I think he's even losing popularity-Hillary's gaining steam, very quickly. You know what? Trump is gonna be upset by all the negative coverage, denies that he is corrupt (which he is), and there eventually will be so much pressure placed on him that he will eventually go "Screw it. I'm gonna step down and go back to my business.". Cause that's just who he is.
And I went out to lunch today! Yipee!
And I promised to you that I would focus on a variety of topics for the blog-but that's not all.
I'll tell you more later on. Bye!
Flannery
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Trump-Why I'm More Confident In His Loss
Hi Guys,
Hey, you know about Trump's "rise to popularity"? Pfft. You wanna know what I believe? He ain't gonna win the election in November. I know this feeling in my heart, that Clinton'll win.
Thing is, Obama's popularity is now really high. And guess what? Clinton hired the speechwriters for the Obama campaign. And we all know that worked out awesomely. He's gonna get his ass kicked, and eventually the b-----d will be out of stuff to rebuff. And Obama is giving more wages to rural people and white poor folks.
And guess what? The economic reports will come out next week, and they are supposed to be awesome, which will not only be good for the Democrats, but it'll also weaken his support. Of course, him being who he is, he will rip his supporters apart for being happy about the good economic prospects and they will turn against him, and he'll get what he deserves. Yeah! Serves you right, motherf----r.
Of course, he's recently attacked the judge (who's from Indiana, by the way) who ordered that his Trump University records be released, and he's lost the trust of many a Republican Centrist and Establishment folk after Paul f'n Ryan, of all people, said he was gonna vote for him. And Hillary just gave a kickass speech ripping him to shreds. And despite the fact that he'll probably pick someone with experience, chance is...that VP pick would be terrible. Newt Gringich? He is old (not good if you want to generate enthusiasm), worked with the Clintons, even though he hates them (bad for attack ads, as it would make the dude seem pathetic), and he's a centrist (not good for the supporters, who'll view him as the worst). He is also not liked very widely. Chris Christie? No one likes him, not even Trump Supporters (dude didn't even win a single state), he's a bad campaigner (people never really paid attention to him), and I could go on. John Kasich? TBH, he's really not that charismatic (He was at the bottom of the polls from the start and got little to no media recognition), he was previously against many of the statements Trump made (Which would lead to many supporters being driven away), and many of Trump's supporters would feel betrayed by the choice and turn against him.
Plus-The Media and the public are losing interest in him, and he has not really campaigned that much (never really spent any money on campaign ads, never really released any attack ads, rarely shows up at primaries and debates, and he only campaigns on twitter, which to be honest is not really good in terms of politics). And he literally was like one day "Fuck it, I'm not really gonna campaign these next couple of days, but I'll be flying to Ireland and Scotland to build some golf courses!". Who the hell literally goes to do a business thing for shit in the middle of a fucking presidential campaign? Trump, that's who. And that golf course could take multiple months and lots of money to build, so it would take time away and cause him to lose steam. Honestly, I think that now, he's kinda losing interest. My dad has stated more than once that he truly does not think that Trump is interested to be president, and his instincts are right. Now he's getting what he deserves. And honestly? Dude, releasing your tax returns (please, for the love of god and everything holy) would be a good way for the Republican establishment to stop bothering you. You are gonna face pressure from everyone to do it and it can get overwhelming, so please release your goddamned tax returns.
Yep-he's losing ground, i'm sure of it. Bye folks! See ya soon!
Hey, you know about Trump's "rise to popularity"? Pfft. You wanna know what I believe? He ain't gonna win the election in November. I know this feeling in my heart, that Clinton'll win.
Thing is, Obama's popularity is now really high. And guess what? Clinton hired the speechwriters for the Obama campaign. And we all know that worked out awesomely. He's gonna get his ass kicked, and eventually the b-----d will be out of stuff to rebuff. And Obama is giving more wages to rural people and white poor folks.
And guess what? The economic reports will come out next week, and they are supposed to be awesome, which will not only be good for the Democrats, but it'll also weaken his support. Of course, him being who he is, he will rip his supporters apart for being happy about the good economic prospects and they will turn against him, and he'll get what he deserves. Yeah! Serves you right, motherf----r.
Of course, he's recently attacked the judge (who's from Indiana, by the way) who ordered that his Trump University records be released, and he's lost the trust of many a Republican Centrist and Establishment folk after Paul f'n Ryan, of all people, said he was gonna vote for him. And Hillary just gave a kickass speech ripping him to shreds. And despite the fact that he'll probably pick someone with experience, chance is...that VP pick would be terrible. Newt Gringich? He is old (not good if you want to generate enthusiasm), worked with the Clintons, even though he hates them (bad for attack ads, as it would make the dude seem pathetic), and he's a centrist (not good for the supporters, who'll view him as the worst). He is also not liked very widely. Chris Christie? No one likes him, not even Trump Supporters (dude didn't even win a single state), he's a bad campaigner (people never really paid attention to him), and I could go on. John Kasich? TBH, he's really not that charismatic (He was at the bottom of the polls from the start and got little to no media recognition), he was previously against many of the statements Trump made (Which would lead to many supporters being driven away), and many of Trump's supporters would feel betrayed by the choice and turn against him.
Plus-The Media and the public are losing interest in him, and he has not really campaigned that much (never really spent any money on campaign ads, never really released any attack ads, rarely shows up at primaries and debates, and he only campaigns on twitter, which to be honest is not really good in terms of politics). And he literally was like one day "Fuck it, I'm not really gonna campaign these next couple of days, but I'll be flying to Ireland and Scotland to build some golf courses!". Who the hell literally goes to do a business thing for shit in the middle of a fucking presidential campaign? Trump, that's who. And that golf course could take multiple months and lots of money to build, so it would take time away and cause him to lose steam. Honestly, I think that now, he's kinda losing interest. My dad has stated more than once that he truly does not think that Trump is interested to be president, and his instincts are right. Now he's getting what he deserves. And honestly? Dude, releasing your tax returns (please, for the love of god and everything holy) would be a good way for the Republican establishment to stop bothering you. You are gonna face pressure from everyone to do it and it can get overwhelming, so please release your goddamned tax returns.
Yep-he's losing ground, i'm sure of it. Bye folks! See ya soon!
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Trump vs. Clinton-An Update
Hi Guys,
So if you guys follow the news, you may have heard that Trump is using Clinton's past scandals in attack ads, but that is just not going to work. It just isn't.
First of all, using Whitewater- that is just not going to work. It just isn't. No one cares about Whitewater anymore-that crap happened a long time ago, in the 90's. And also the Vincent Foster suicide? Fishy? Pfft... how can a suicide be "fishy"? How can it be "covered up"? And honestly, could you please leave the foster family alone, news channels? They really are suffering terribly, and exploiting their pain is cold and heartless.
And if the FBI would just leave Clinton be-Trump's whatchamacallit went up by 40 percent-and stop bugging her about the emails (in the words of Sanders, people are "sick and tired" of hearing about her "goddamn e-mails"). And now, what with the FBI investigation into those emails, jesus... but I think it'll all work out fine.
The thing is, with this election being crazy-both of the candidates are really, really unpopular. Trump and Clinton both have their fair share of obnoxiousness-in the news. Clinton could face enditment or whatever you call it for the e-mail biz (I'll highly doubt she'll get it though). Trump is viciously racist, sexist, and obnoxiously brash-not very good in a general election (he's trying to tone it down, he really is-it isn't working. Hell, there was a protest that occurred in Washington-and even as he's toning it down, the protests just keep on escalating).
As for VP picks-it really is vital now. Trump's VP pick is unlikely to be a woman or a minority-it's very likely going to be a white male. And one of the leading contenders is...oh god help us all...Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey. That would be disastrous-he's even more of a bully than Trump is, and he's really unpopular-he was trailing in the polls from the very beginning. The GOP will very likely choose not to have Trump's...er...Mexican immigrant plan as part of their platform, which would drive a lot of his support away.
To be fair, Trump's VP list is pretty weak-and Newt Gringich would also be terrible.
Mary Warren as a VP pick for Clinton would be awesome-not only would she be able to successfully lock in the more youthful and the Sanders supporters in to Clinton's base, she would also be successful at beating the crap out of Trump or whoever his VP pick might be at debates...she's a good campaigner, feisty, and able to successfully attack people without coming across as unlikeable.
I am highly confident in the ability of Clinton to re-capture the popular vote from that mean jerk-it would be awesome to have a two-woman ticket, don't ya think? I bet so.
Anyway, like you guys a lot and hope to see ya soon! Bye!
So if you guys follow the news, you may have heard that Trump is using Clinton's past scandals in attack ads, but that is just not going to work. It just isn't.
First of all, using Whitewater- that is just not going to work. It just isn't. No one cares about Whitewater anymore-that crap happened a long time ago, in the 90's. And also the Vincent Foster suicide? Fishy? Pfft... how can a suicide be "fishy"? How can it be "covered up"? And honestly, could you please leave the foster family alone, news channels? They really are suffering terribly, and exploiting their pain is cold and heartless.
And if the FBI would just leave Clinton be-Trump's whatchamacallit went up by 40 percent-and stop bugging her about the emails (in the words of Sanders, people are "sick and tired" of hearing about her "goddamn e-mails"). And now, what with the FBI investigation into those emails, jesus... but I think it'll all work out fine.
The thing is, with this election being crazy-both of the candidates are really, really unpopular. Trump and Clinton both have their fair share of obnoxiousness-in the news. Clinton could face enditment or whatever you call it for the e-mail biz (I'll highly doubt she'll get it though). Trump is viciously racist, sexist, and obnoxiously brash-not very good in a general election (he's trying to tone it down, he really is-it isn't working. Hell, there was a protest that occurred in Washington-and even as he's toning it down, the protests just keep on escalating).
As for VP picks-it really is vital now. Trump's VP pick is unlikely to be a woman or a minority-it's very likely going to be a white male. And one of the leading contenders is...oh god help us all...Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey. That would be disastrous-he's even more of a bully than Trump is, and he's really unpopular-he was trailing in the polls from the very beginning. The GOP will very likely choose not to have Trump's...er...Mexican immigrant plan as part of their platform, which would drive a lot of his support away.
To be fair, Trump's VP list is pretty weak-and Newt Gringich would also be terrible.
Mary Warren as a VP pick for Clinton would be awesome-not only would she be able to successfully lock in the more youthful and the Sanders supporters in to Clinton's base, she would also be successful at beating the crap out of Trump or whoever his VP pick might be at debates...she's a good campaigner, feisty, and able to successfully attack people without coming across as unlikeable.
I am highly confident in the ability of Clinton to re-capture the popular vote from that mean jerk-it would be awesome to have a two-woman ticket, don't ya think? I bet so.
Anyway, like you guys a lot and hope to see ya soon! Bye!
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Hey-About Chorus
Hey guys,
Hey. It's good to give you something other than politics for once. I think it's time to balance focuses, since I do not want this to be all about politics (I for one, have had it with Trump-why does he have a narrow lead ahead of Clinton?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Good god, sometimes anti-establishment people can get on my nerves...)...
I want you guys to know that I am at my school right now, and that I am waiting for 5 o'clock to roll around so that I can finally get to chorus. I am in the concert chorus, which is performing for their spring concert tomorrow. There are a lot of kids in that class, some of whom don't come everyday, they just come on only even or odd days in the cycle, but everyone shows up for the concert.
Our teacher, Ms. Maria Abeshouse...she can be picky at times. No wait, a lot of the time. She constantly stops us for singing in a particular way and to shape our vowels, she's a bit of a perfectionist, and has a pet peeve for anybody who shows up late past the bell.
I wake up early everyday to go there, and even though I sit down for a lot of the time (I don't know why)-She criticizes me for sitting down and not "joining us" (I do join the group-I apologize for my favors.).
So for the concert, we are doing a lot of songs that are in minor key, us concert chorus. For the guys, they sing this traditional Scottish ancient folk song called Loch Lomond. For us girls, we sing that song by that old folk duo (albeit with a different arrangement) Simon and Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water. All of us are doing an arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody by that famous classic rock group Queen (the song came out in '75, and celebrated its 40th anniversary last year). Those are pretty much the only songs in major key that I can think of. There are two songs that we are doing from Mozart's incompleted Requiem (go listen to the soundtrack of that French Rock Musical about him, titled Mozart l'opera rock. Awesome, man.) called Dies Irae (which is really fast and it's about the..uh...day of judgement warning, but it's in Latin) and Lacrymosa (Also in latin, and also utilized in that awesome Evanescence song that's 10 years old called Lacrimosa).
Oh, and for those of you who grew up in or were teens/in college in the 80's, you may have heard of Annie Lennox before. She was the frontwoman of the group the Eurythmics. Why do I bring her up, you may ask? Well, we are doing a song by her (yep, she's had a pretty successful solo career that's still going strong) in a choral arrangement that's 2 years away from turning 15 years old, called A Thousand Beautiful Things. The senior girls all have singing parts of the female solo in the arrangement, as they take turns singing a phrase or two and then we chime in. I plan on checking out the original recording by Annie Lennox when I have time.
The Chamber Chorus are going before us, though, and they...honestly, I don't know what the hell they will be singing. Just have to wait and find out.
I'm waiting, so I'll have to go sometime to the auditorium soon to start the rehearsal. I sent an email to dad, so he knows.
Anyway, I hope you guys have a nice day and see ya soon! Bye!
Hey. It's good to give you something other than politics for once. I think it's time to balance focuses, since I do not want this to be all about politics (I for one, have had it with Trump-why does he have a narrow lead ahead of Clinton?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Good god, sometimes anti-establishment people can get on my nerves...)...
I want you guys to know that I am at my school right now, and that I am waiting for 5 o'clock to roll around so that I can finally get to chorus. I am in the concert chorus, which is performing for their spring concert tomorrow. There are a lot of kids in that class, some of whom don't come everyday, they just come on only even or odd days in the cycle, but everyone shows up for the concert.
Our teacher, Ms. Maria Abeshouse...she can be picky at times. No wait, a lot of the time. She constantly stops us for singing in a particular way and to shape our vowels, she's a bit of a perfectionist, and has a pet peeve for anybody who shows up late past the bell.
I wake up early everyday to go there, and even though I sit down for a lot of the time (I don't know why)-She criticizes me for sitting down and not "joining us" (I do join the group-I apologize for my favors.).
So for the concert, we are doing a lot of songs that are in minor key, us concert chorus. For the guys, they sing this traditional Scottish ancient folk song called Loch Lomond. For us girls, we sing that song by that old folk duo (albeit with a different arrangement) Simon and Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water. All of us are doing an arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody by that famous classic rock group Queen (the song came out in '75, and celebrated its 40th anniversary last year). Those are pretty much the only songs in major key that I can think of. There are two songs that we are doing from Mozart's incompleted Requiem (go listen to the soundtrack of that French Rock Musical about him, titled Mozart l'opera rock. Awesome, man.) called Dies Irae (which is really fast and it's about the..uh...day of judgement warning, but it's in Latin) and Lacrymosa (Also in latin, and also utilized in that awesome Evanescence song that's 10 years old called Lacrimosa).
Oh, and for those of you who grew up in or were teens/in college in the 80's, you may have heard of Annie Lennox before. She was the frontwoman of the group the Eurythmics. Why do I bring her up, you may ask? Well, we are doing a song by her (yep, she's had a pretty successful solo career that's still going strong) in a choral arrangement that's 2 years away from turning 15 years old, called A Thousand Beautiful Things. The senior girls all have singing parts of the female solo in the arrangement, as they take turns singing a phrase or two and then we chime in. I plan on checking out the original recording by Annie Lennox when I have time.
The Chamber Chorus are going before us, though, and they...honestly, I don't know what the hell they will be singing. Just have to wait and find out.
I'm waiting, so I'll have to go sometime to the auditorium soon to start the rehearsal. I sent an email to dad, so he knows.
Anyway, I hope you guys have a nice day and see ya soon! Bye!
Sunday, May 8, 2016
The presumptive presidential race- Trump v. Clinton-Why I think Clinton Will Win.
Hi guys,
So... good news. Ted Cruz has finally (finally!) dropped out of the GOP race. I'm really glad that he dropped out, since that leaves us one less unlikeable candidate to deal with... but now, we have...oh god...Trump gaining momentum. It does not alarm me, no no no, but... there is a strong feeling in my heart that he is not going to win the general election, Hillary will probably win over him in a heartbeat. You wanna know why? Well, here are some reasons why:
1.) Attacks on Clinton are usually not effective
Even though after his successful win in the Indiana primary has him saying that now he's going to focus on attacking Clinton, extremely aggressive though they may be, that strategy will not work at all. Clinton has fought off attacks with ease, and Trump will probably think that the best way of attacking her would be through her Wall Street and controversial email stuff, which is a bad idea- no one really cares about that stuff any more and it is not enough to harm her, y'know. And even if they attack her for her involvement in Whitewater and her husband getting involved in affairs, that won't work either-pretty much no one remembers the case that well and the fact that it has faded away and no one is interested about it anymore anyway. Clinton's a better campaigner and knows how to reach out to people in a general election, too, so that's a key disadvantage to Trump.
2.) Trump's problem with minorities and women (and pretty much everyone)
You simply cannot win an election nowadays without the support of women or minorities. Or when you are nearly disliked by everyone, for that matter. The case with Trump? Well, he has practically alienated many key voters in the election and in the Republican party, from the very start. He's racist and sexist. He's also alienated many evangelical christians (a vital part of the Republican voting block), pro-abortion and pro-life people, Mormons, Catholics, regular non-evangelical christians, people with disabilities, , the LGBT community, Jews, Muslims, Veterans, the list goes on. And even though his supporters are pretty d--n loyal, there is pretty much a large percentage of them who will turn against him in the General election, I'm sure of it. Clinton, though while she does have a problem with Millenials, would probably get a big majority of them to vote for her in the general election because many of them would be pretty liberal and against the idea of the, ahem, "architectural issue" surrounding the border states and Mexico.
3.) Something terrible will likely happen to Trump's campaign that will create disillusionment and turn some positive supporters against him.
Even though Trump is focusing on the general election campaign already, his company will probably lose lots of money due to his focus on the campaign, and then he will probably lose his investment, most of his institutions will collapse and then many of his supporters would turn against him, since then he would lose a lot of employers, and with that, anger will arise. That would be a big advantage for Clinton, since Trump's attacks would probably lose their power since he will have probably lost a lot of supporters. And there's also the protests, because Trump will probably not tone down his rhetoric, and the violence will probably escalate to the point where one of his supporters will hurt some other supporters or perhaps someone who is a crazy guy supports Trump and then goes on...uh...a big crime shoot-out at a fellow supporter's or some innocent folk's home. That would probably turn public opinion of him negative swiftly and quickly.
4.) Trump's relationship with Television debates
Let's face it... Trump is a terrible debate person on national TV. He practically never answers the questions posed by the people who host the debates, and most of the debates are on Fox News or CNN, where he is not favored by the people there at all and he has a fierce, almost fiery rivalry with Megyn Kelly, which is genuinely terrible since she's probably at half of those events anyway. Also, when he does answer questions, the answers tend to have no relation to the subject matter anyway. Clinton, on the other hand, is a great debater and would probably beat him in a television debate should she be pitted against him. And also, Trump does not even bother to show up to half of the debates anyway, which would hurt him pretty badly in a general election.
5.) Pretty much no one in a general election would support a guy who wants to build a border wall or who wants to throw pro-abortion and pro-life people in jail. And who has also offended many religious groups.
Honestly, this one does not need much explanation. Should he stick to his plan of campaigning on a platform for a wall, he will alienate states with a large latino population or is located in the liberal northeast or West Coast. He will lose an especially large amount of votes in the southwest, which has states close to the border. Especially in Texas, where they have a large Mexican-American population and even though they have a problem with Mexican immigrants, they probably would not be supportive of the idea of a wall being built to stop it. He has also offended many religious groups and leaders, and since he's offended the baptist and other sections of evangelical christianity, which has a very heavy influence in the South and Midwest, since many of his policies don't agree with their views and his abortion policy has been heavily criticized for its harshness by not just members of the pro-abortion movement, but also pro-life people. That makes up a heavy percentage of the voting block, which is not good news for a Republican candidate in a general election. And most of the electoral college members loathe Trump, which is not good. Clinton has more sensible policies, and even though many evangelicals dislike her, they would probably vote for her over Trump because of more agreeableness. And he's also unpopular with Mormons, so that will cost him Utah dearly.
6.) His approval ratings in a general election are pretty low.
Though the news may make it seem like otherwise, Trump is actually not that popular than you think he is. His general election approval ratings are terrible, ranking at just 12%. That is not a lot. On the other hand, Clinton's approval ratings are fantastic! She would crush him just by that. Do not trust the polls.
7.) Both nominations will create divisions within their parties, but will damage the Republican party in particular.
It's pretty clear that both parties are facing a split in divisions, but the Democratic party doesn't seem to be that severe when it comes to the wideness of the division and the damage that has been done. The GOP on the other hand... whoo boy. To say that it has been damaged beyond repair is an understatement. Nearly everyone knows that. A large amount of the Republicans know that they would probably suffer a crushing defeat should Trump get the nomination, as the division will be too wide that it prevents the amount of votes and turnout that the Republicans need to win the white house. The guy who is the chairman of the RNC says that he wants unity, no matter what the candidate. Well, guess what? There is no way the party will unify by now. It's just hopeless.
8.) Trump's running mate choice will probably be disastrous.
You know that McCain/Palin blow that created embarassment back in '08? I have a high feeling (almost a premonition) that Trump, being the person that he is, will pick a running mate that will alienate many people away from the general election even more (if he ever does it, which there is a highly likely possibility that he won't). God forbid if it is a person who was once involved in the KKK or if it is someone whom everyone (even Trump supporters) dislikes... If he picks Ted Cruz or even Marco Rubio or, lord forbid, Ben Carson, he's toast. And if he picks of all people Chris Christie, since he has a relative who made mean comments about the South, that will not do him good. And if he picks a running mate who is a staunch opposer to him, they would probably walk out on him at the last minute. Clinton, on the other hand, will probably pick a running mate who is agreeable and good, i'm sure of it.
9.) Trump will probably say something really offensive towards rural types in the future... and his rhetoric style will fail big-time against debates with Hillary Clinton.
Look, here's the thing. Trump's rhetoric and "common man" speaking style kinda-sorta works in a primary setting, but in a general election setting...uh...not so much. With more liberal and conservative types (many, many, MANY conservatives hate Trump with vehemence) at stake, Trump could put off many people. He's already disliked widely in the Baptist church congregation... their leader just stated for the members not to vote for Trump in the election (mind you, this is the largest protestant section of the United States churches, and it is big in the South and Midwest, that will cost him voters). And also, he will probably make an offensive statement on TV about rural type people and poor people (I am sure of it), because...well...he's that predictable. And even though she has, ahem, questionable ties to "Wall Street", Clinton already has pretty strong support amongst the rural types, and with an offensive comment made by Trump, it will get bigger.
10.) Trump is horrifically terrible at foreign policy.
Listen, whatever you guys may think about the Iraq War decision, we can all agree that Hillary Clinton was actually a pretty good secretary of state. Trump, well...he is not very good with world affairs. And...uh...many world leaders and diplomats do not get along with Trump very well. And with the complicated situation involving DPRK and nukes that has the whole world apparently panicking (Honestly? No. Won't happen. Them nuking us won't happen), Trump's positions...won't work well in trying to tell the nation not to worry in case of a future calamity occurring. He also knows nothing about the middle east, and he'll probably advocate for further involvement (which no one really wants, to be honest) and end us up further into deep doodoo and cause us a second great recession (He doesn't even seem to be the least bit concerned, and treats it as if it is no big deal)). No one wants that, so they'd probably lean towards Hillary's side in a heartbeat.
11.) Trump is an attention whore... and general election people will catch on to that.
I heard from my dad that there was this interview with a person that was involved in the Trump campaign said that Trump actually ran as a so-called "protest candidate" and did not necessarily want to be president, but let his ego get in the way and look where he is now. He thrives on attention, and soon, since the very liberal newspapers are very good at empowering candidates they support, the press will viciously attack and begin a successful smear campaign against him. I think people will tire of his antics, and that will cause him to lose popularity. Clinton, though... is a genuinely down to earth person, and she's not an attention whore at all, so that gives her an advantage.
That's my stuff for now, folks! See ya soon!
So... good news. Ted Cruz has finally (finally!) dropped out of the GOP race. I'm really glad that he dropped out, since that leaves us one less unlikeable candidate to deal with... but now, we have...oh god...Trump gaining momentum. It does not alarm me, no no no, but... there is a strong feeling in my heart that he is not going to win the general election, Hillary will probably win over him in a heartbeat. You wanna know why? Well, here are some reasons why:
1.) Attacks on Clinton are usually not effective
Even though after his successful win in the Indiana primary has him saying that now he's going to focus on attacking Clinton, extremely aggressive though they may be, that strategy will not work at all. Clinton has fought off attacks with ease, and Trump will probably think that the best way of attacking her would be through her Wall Street and controversial email stuff, which is a bad idea- no one really cares about that stuff any more and it is not enough to harm her, y'know. And even if they attack her for her involvement in Whitewater and her husband getting involved in affairs, that won't work either-pretty much no one remembers the case that well and the fact that it has faded away and no one is interested about it anymore anyway. Clinton's a better campaigner and knows how to reach out to people in a general election, too, so that's a key disadvantage to Trump.
2.) Trump's problem with minorities and women (and pretty much everyone)
You simply cannot win an election nowadays without the support of women or minorities. Or when you are nearly disliked by everyone, for that matter. The case with Trump? Well, he has practically alienated many key voters in the election and in the Republican party, from the very start. He's racist and sexist. He's also alienated many evangelical christians (a vital part of the Republican voting block), pro-abortion and pro-life people, Mormons, Catholics, regular non-evangelical christians, people with disabilities, , the LGBT community, Jews, Muslims, Veterans, the list goes on. And even though his supporters are pretty d--n loyal, there is pretty much a large percentage of them who will turn against him in the General election, I'm sure of it. Clinton, though while she does have a problem with Millenials, would probably get a big majority of them to vote for her in the general election because many of them would be pretty liberal and against the idea of the, ahem, "architectural issue" surrounding the border states and Mexico.
3.) Something terrible will likely happen to Trump's campaign that will create disillusionment and turn some positive supporters against him.
Even though Trump is focusing on the general election campaign already, his company will probably lose lots of money due to his focus on the campaign, and then he will probably lose his investment, most of his institutions will collapse and then many of his supporters would turn against him, since then he would lose a lot of employers, and with that, anger will arise. That would be a big advantage for Clinton, since Trump's attacks would probably lose their power since he will have probably lost a lot of supporters. And there's also the protests, because Trump will probably not tone down his rhetoric, and the violence will probably escalate to the point where one of his supporters will hurt some other supporters or perhaps someone who is a crazy guy supports Trump and then goes on...uh...a big crime shoot-out at a fellow supporter's or some innocent folk's home. That would probably turn public opinion of him negative swiftly and quickly.
4.) Trump's relationship with Television debates
Let's face it... Trump is a terrible debate person on national TV. He practically never answers the questions posed by the people who host the debates, and most of the debates are on Fox News or CNN, where he is not favored by the people there at all and he has a fierce, almost fiery rivalry with Megyn Kelly, which is genuinely terrible since she's probably at half of those events anyway. Also, when he does answer questions, the answers tend to have no relation to the subject matter anyway. Clinton, on the other hand, is a great debater and would probably beat him in a television debate should she be pitted against him. And also, Trump does not even bother to show up to half of the debates anyway, which would hurt him pretty badly in a general election.
5.) Pretty much no one in a general election would support a guy who wants to build a border wall or who wants to throw pro-abortion and pro-life people in jail. And who has also offended many religious groups.
Honestly, this one does not need much explanation. Should he stick to his plan of campaigning on a platform for a wall, he will alienate states with a large latino population or is located in the liberal northeast or West Coast. He will lose an especially large amount of votes in the southwest, which has states close to the border. Especially in Texas, where they have a large Mexican-American population and even though they have a problem with Mexican immigrants, they probably would not be supportive of the idea of a wall being built to stop it. He has also offended many religious groups and leaders, and since he's offended the baptist and other sections of evangelical christianity, which has a very heavy influence in the South and Midwest, since many of his policies don't agree with their views and his abortion policy has been heavily criticized for its harshness by not just members of the pro-abortion movement, but also pro-life people. That makes up a heavy percentage of the voting block, which is not good news for a Republican candidate in a general election. And most of the electoral college members loathe Trump, which is not good. Clinton has more sensible policies, and even though many evangelicals dislike her, they would probably vote for her over Trump because of more agreeableness. And he's also unpopular with Mormons, so that will cost him Utah dearly.
6.) His approval ratings in a general election are pretty low.
Though the news may make it seem like otherwise, Trump is actually not that popular than you think he is. His general election approval ratings are terrible, ranking at just 12%. That is not a lot. On the other hand, Clinton's approval ratings are fantastic! She would crush him just by that. Do not trust the polls.
7.) Both nominations will create divisions within their parties, but will damage the Republican party in particular.
It's pretty clear that both parties are facing a split in divisions, but the Democratic party doesn't seem to be that severe when it comes to the wideness of the division and the damage that has been done. The GOP on the other hand... whoo boy. To say that it has been damaged beyond repair is an understatement. Nearly everyone knows that. A large amount of the Republicans know that they would probably suffer a crushing defeat should Trump get the nomination, as the division will be too wide that it prevents the amount of votes and turnout that the Republicans need to win the white house. The guy who is the chairman of the RNC says that he wants unity, no matter what the candidate. Well, guess what? There is no way the party will unify by now. It's just hopeless.
8.) Trump's running mate choice will probably be disastrous.
You know that McCain/Palin blow that created embarassment back in '08? I have a high feeling (almost a premonition) that Trump, being the person that he is, will pick a running mate that will alienate many people away from the general election even more (if he ever does it, which there is a highly likely possibility that he won't). God forbid if it is a person who was once involved in the KKK or if it is someone whom everyone (even Trump supporters) dislikes... If he picks Ted Cruz or even Marco Rubio or, lord forbid, Ben Carson, he's toast. And if he picks of all people Chris Christie, since he has a relative who made mean comments about the South, that will not do him good. And if he picks a running mate who is a staunch opposer to him, they would probably walk out on him at the last minute. Clinton, on the other hand, will probably pick a running mate who is agreeable and good, i'm sure of it.
9.) Trump will probably say something really offensive towards rural types in the future... and his rhetoric style will fail big-time against debates with Hillary Clinton.
Look, here's the thing. Trump's rhetoric and "common man" speaking style kinda-sorta works in a primary setting, but in a general election setting...uh...not so much. With more liberal and conservative types (many, many, MANY conservatives hate Trump with vehemence) at stake, Trump could put off many people. He's already disliked widely in the Baptist church congregation... their leader just stated for the members not to vote for Trump in the election (mind you, this is the largest protestant section of the United States churches, and it is big in the South and Midwest, that will cost him voters). And also, he will probably make an offensive statement on TV about rural type people and poor people (I am sure of it), because...well...he's that predictable. And even though she has, ahem, questionable ties to "Wall Street", Clinton already has pretty strong support amongst the rural types, and with an offensive comment made by Trump, it will get bigger.
10.) Trump is horrifically terrible at foreign policy.
Listen, whatever you guys may think about the Iraq War decision, we can all agree that Hillary Clinton was actually a pretty good secretary of state. Trump, well...he is not very good with world affairs. And...uh...many world leaders and diplomats do not get along with Trump very well. And with the complicated situation involving DPRK and nukes that has the whole world apparently panicking (Honestly? No. Won't happen. Them nuking us won't happen), Trump's positions...won't work well in trying to tell the nation not to worry in case of a future calamity occurring. He also knows nothing about the middle east, and he'll probably advocate for further involvement (which no one really wants, to be honest) and end us up further into deep doodoo and cause us a second great recession (He doesn't even seem to be the least bit concerned, and treats it as if it is no big deal)). No one wants that, so they'd probably lean towards Hillary's side in a heartbeat.
11.) Trump is an attention whore... and general election people will catch on to that.
I heard from my dad that there was this interview with a person that was involved in the Trump campaign said that Trump actually ran as a so-called "protest candidate" and did not necessarily want to be president, but let his ego get in the way and look where he is now. He thrives on attention, and soon, since the very liberal newspapers are very good at empowering candidates they support, the press will viciously attack and begin a successful smear campaign against him. I think people will tire of his antics, and that will cause him to lose popularity. Clinton, though... is a genuinely down to earth person, and she's not an attention whore at all, so that gives her an advantage.
That's my stuff for now, folks! See ya soon!
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
My Trip To Baltimore-Recap
Hi guys,
Hey! What's up? I'm doing great, thanks. Mom currently has the case of the hiccups right now. Like, big ones. Hiccups can be a pain in the a-s-s sometimes. I have to visit a collage tomorrow-oh, and also, it was nice to be rid of the goddamn GOP bullshit that I have to hear every single day. Honestly, when will the GOP finally realize that the way how things are going are not so good right now.
But anyway, enough of that. Let's get started.
So, before we got to our hotel, Mom, Dad, my 14 year old sister Quin, Me, and our 4 year old adopted brother Jack, drove in our Ford force flex (which Jack calls a minivan, for some strange reason) to get to Baltimore (With the little pesky at times Waze thing getting along). Of course, we stopped by for Lunch along the way at this rest-stopish place in New Jersey along the side of the highway turnpike called "Clara Barton", specifically at Burger King. Me, my sister, and Jack all got Chicken Nuggets with French Fries. I don't recall what drinks we had, but I remember that I had a Sprite. I also saw some photo of the current (hated) New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a guy known for embracing You-know-who Trump and for being a bully. Wow. Way to go, Jersey (not hating on it or anything).
So we drove with the handy dandy waze helping us, and eventually we got to our destination-my cousin Annie's school, to watch the play she was in. She's in, what, 7th grade? The play she was in? Into The Woods. She was the Narrator. Apparently, there were two alternating casts- the "Yellow" and "Red" casts. Someone else had played her part alternately with her for 4 shows-this was the last one. She was part of the "Red" cast. Now, I am very much familiar with the play. Grammy (Me and the other Monaghan grandkids' nickname for my mom's mom) had already seen it a long time ago in the 80's or possibly even 90's (when we didn't have to worry about things like encryption and loony people running for the Republican nomination). I had never seen the actual play in its entirety (even though I really really REALLY want to, but the last broadway production that was recently occurring was I believe in 2003- when I was just 3 or 4 years of age), but I specifically remember going to see the movie version with my dad at the movie theaters, when I was a 15 year old sophomore in High School (I just turned 17 last week, go figure). I loved that movie, a lot... Disney did not screw a lot of things up. Thing is, I thought the middle school drama production was... so-so. None of the singers really stood out for me. It was also a junior production-it kinda missed out on the point that Soundheim was trying to make, that not all people get their happy endings, and if they do, it's guaranteed to come at some cost of sorts. Presenting it with just a happy ending kind of...um...really doesn't get the message across. Not that I'm hating on all junior productions, but this... it just didn't emotionally resonate with me or make me sympathize with the characters as much as the movie did. It's not exactly a "family" movie or show either- plus, not a lot of the microphones weren't working on the kids (At times, their singing was muffled or difficult to hear)-and some little kids started crying during the performance or were talking (Not that anyone minded though). Many people did not have their cell phones on, thank god. But there was this lady at times who acted more like a kid/teenage girl at times who occasionally started to talk behind me, which annoyed (s) me to no end, and my brother, as usual, could not sit still. Oh, well, that's life.
We went to a lot of restaurants and visited some colleges-but our visit was cut short because of the fact that Jack had the coup, so we didn't stay for all 3 days that we planned to stay in Baltimore. It was still a good couple of days, but sharing a room with Jack-jesus. He is the worst whisperer ever and he never dozes off immeadiately. Pfft... ugh.
I wish I could catch up on more details, but hey. That's life.
Hey! What's up? I'm doing great, thanks. Mom currently has the case of the hiccups right now. Like, big ones. Hiccups can be a pain in the a-s-s sometimes. I have to visit a collage tomorrow-oh, and also, it was nice to be rid of the goddamn GOP bullshit that I have to hear every single day. Honestly, when will the GOP finally realize that the way how things are going are not so good right now.
But anyway, enough of that. Let's get started.
So, before we got to our hotel, Mom, Dad, my 14 year old sister Quin, Me, and our 4 year old adopted brother Jack, drove in our Ford force flex (which Jack calls a minivan, for some strange reason) to get to Baltimore (With the little pesky at times Waze thing getting along). Of course, we stopped by for Lunch along the way at this rest-stopish place in New Jersey along the side of the highway turnpike called "Clara Barton", specifically at Burger King. Me, my sister, and Jack all got Chicken Nuggets with French Fries. I don't recall what drinks we had, but I remember that I had a Sprite. I also saw some photo of the current (hated) New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a guy known for embracing You-know-who Trump and for being a bully. Wow. Way to go, Jersey (not hating on it or anything).
So we drove with the handy dandy waze helping us, and eventually we got to our destination-my cousin Annie's school, to watch the play she was in. She's in, what, 7th grade? The play she was in? Into The Woods. She was the Narrator. Apparently, there were two alternating casts- the "Yellow" and "Red" casts. Someone else had played her part alternately with her for 4 shows-this was the last one. She was part of the "Red" cast. Now, I am very much familiar with the play. Grammy (Me and the other Monaghan grandkids' nickname for my mom's mom) had already seen it a long time ago in the 80's or possibly even 90's (when we didn't have to worry about things like encryption and loony people running for the Republican nomination). I had never seen the actual play in its entirety (even though I really really REALLY want to, but the last broadway production that was recently occurring was I believe in 2003- when I was just 3 or 4 years of age), but I specifically remember going to see the movie version with my dad at the movie theaters, when I was a 15 year old sophomore in High School (I just turned 17 last week, go figure). I loved that movie, a lot... Disney did not screw a lot of things up. Thing is, I thought the middle school drama production was... so-so. None of the singers really stood out for me. It was also a junior production-it kinda missed out on the point that Soundheim was trying to make, that not all people get their happy endings, and if they do, it's guaranteed to come at some cost of sorts. Presenting it with just a happy ending kind of...um...really doesn't get the message across. Not that I'm hating on all junior productions, but this... it just didn't emotionally resonate with me or make me sympathize with the characters as much as the movie did. It's not exactly a "family" movie or show either- plus, not a lot of the microphones weren't working on the kids (At times, their singing was muffled or difficult to hear)-and some little kids started crying during the performance or were talking (Not that anyone minded though). Many people did not have their cell phones on, thank god. But there was this lady at times who acted more like a kid/teenage girl at times who occasionally started to talk behind me, which annoyed (s) me to no end, and my brother, as usual, could not sit still. Oh, well, that's life.
We went to a lot of restaurants and visited some colleges-but our visit was cut short because of the fact that Jack had the coup, so we didn't stay for all 3 days that we planned to stay in Baltimore. It was still a good couple of days, but sharing a room with Jack-jesus. He is the worst whisperer ever and he never dozes off immeadiately. Pfft... ugh.
I wish I could catch up on more details, but hey. That's life.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
If I Could Recast Movies-Brazil (Not Advocating for a remake!)
Hi everybody,
So, one time, I hopped onto this internet forum. The subject was, "If you could recast your favorite films that have been already made in the past (and are probably not to be messed around with, who would you choose for what part?". No, these people weren't advocating for remakes, they were just "What-if-you-could so and so". So, I turned my ideas to a movie called Brazil, a movie that was released in 1985 and directed by Terry Gilliam. Now, I am NOT advocating for a remake (Honestly, I'm really not)... but eh. It's fun, what can you do. Ok, here goes... (Note: This is a post made just for fun
My dream "Brazil" recast, if I were in charge (Note that I actually have several choices in my head for recasting, way too many to even count, so I'll put my top choices in the corner). ...
For Sam Lowry, I heard that the character of him was originally supposed to be in his late twenties or early thirties in the earlier scripts. Which was pretty interesting to me. Now, in the forum, they picked Ed Norton for him. Me? I wanted someone who was a lot younger looking or actually younger than late 30's early 40's. So, me? I chose Evan Peters as him. He's actually pretty close to the age range that Lowry was in in the earlier parts of the script. I was also thinking in mind the part of Jack Lint for him, but eh. Seems good enough, eh? Fun fact, he was actually born on January 20th, 1987, just two years and 1 month later after the theatrical release of Brazil in the United States (For the UK, it was 2 years (before) and 1 month after the theatrical release) . Holy shit. And when Gilliam was first drafting the script, the dude who played Sam Lowry was just 30 at the time, 1 year older than Peters.
For Jack Lint, I wanted someone who looked like the sorta average everyday person you could walk into the streets with or is a genuinely nice guy (or plays a lot of wholesome, nice guy-ish roles). That way, it could shock the audiences when his true occupation is revealed, as with the case of Michael Palin. So, who did I choose for Jack Lint, in my case? I had difficulty deciding at first, but then it came to me that hey, how about Ben Whishaw? I mean, the dude has pretty damn awesome range, and he certainly doesn't look like the type of person to do the things that Jack Lint does to Sam Lowry in the movie. In the forum, they picked Martin Freeman. That's awesome, but I think my choice could work better. Just my opinion, but hey... Don't criticize me. He could also make a great Sam Lowry, too. He was born on October 14th, 1980, 5 years and 8 months before Brazil came out in the UK. He was 4 when the movie received its UK premiere, and 5 when the movie got released here in America.
For Harry Tuttle, it was tough. Let's face it, the guy who played him in 1985 is Robert De Fuckin' Niro. That guy is a legend, a true damn legend. I had trouble with this recasting. I didn't know whom to pick at first. They picked Woody Harrelson for their (dream) recast, but he should've gotten a break. Several options went through my head at first, but then I decided on, for some strange reason, on Chris Pratt. I mean, he can certainly portray a badass, as evidenced in Jurassic World. And now, I know you might be going, "the fuck? Him?". I mean, there is an aura of wisecrack to Tuttle as well, so it's win-win on both terms, in my world. He was born on June 21st, 1979, just 6 years and 4 months before this movie was made. He was 6 years old when the movie was released here in the United States, but was 5 by the time the film received its UK premiere.
For Jill Layton, I wanted someone who could have great chemistry with my (fan-chosen) lead, Evan Peters. I also wanted someone who could be seen as a "tough as nails" truck driver, but also at the same time the vulnerable damsel that Sam often rescues in his dreams a lot. So, with that in mind, I chose Summer Glau. I mean, come on! She was River Tam in Firefly/Serenity, for crying out loud. She has that crazy-awesome factor to her for sure. I heard that Gilliam had trouble with the actress who played Jill in 1985. For Jill, in the recast forum, they chose Melanie Laurent. Who the fuck is she? I don't know, that's for sure. Glau was born on July 24th, 1981, exactly 4 years and 5 months before the movie's release in the U.S and 4 years and 5 months when the movie was released in the UK. She was 4 at the time of the US release, and 3 at the time of the UK premiere.
For Ida Lowry, it was kind of a challenge. I wanted someone who could effectively play an overbearing mother, or someone who has had experience with plastic surgery before. I mean, Ida does get it in the movie. They chose Helen Mirren for her in the recast forum, and don't get me wrong, she's awesome, but not the type of person I would choose right away. And then, I decided on Jessica Lange. She's awesome, isn't she? I mean, the character of Ida could easily fit in with a season of American Horror Story. See for yourselves. She was born on April 20th, 1949, exactly 36 years and 2 months before the UK premiere, and 36 years and 8 months before the US premiere. She was 35 when the movie received its UK premiere, and 36 by the time it was released over here in the states.
For Spool and Doolskins (If that's how you spell the dude's last name), I decided to play around the idea of having younger actors in the roles. In the recast forum, they had Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as the two guys. They're awesome, but why not add a little youth appeal to the mix. This is why I choose Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as the duo, probably because they remind me a bit of the duo those guys play in 21 Jump Street (Sweet mother of Jesus, that film was friggin' hilarious). Channing Tatum was born on April 26th, 1980, 5 years and 2 months (since April is two months after Feburary) before the movie came out in the UK, and 5 years and 4 months (Since April is 4 months after December) before the movie received its US premiere. He was 4 by the time the movie came out in the UK, and 5 by the time the movie came out here in the United States. Jonah Hill was born on December 20th, 1983, the same month that the movie came out in the US (But 19 days and 2 years before the film's release). In the US, his B-Date was 2 years and 2 months before the movie's release in the UK. He was 2 by the time the movie came out in the US and the UK.
So, one time, I hopped onto this internet forum. The subject was, "If you could recast your favorite films that have been already made in the past (and are probably not to be messed around with, who would you choose for what part?". No, these people weren't advocating for remakes, they were just "What-if-you-could so and so". So, I turned my ideas to a movie called Brazil, a movie that was released in 1985 and directed by Terry Gilliam. Now, I am NOT advocating for a remake (Honestly, I'm really not)... but eh. It's fun, what can you do. Ok, here goes... (Note: This is a post made just for fun
My dream "Brazil" recast, if I were in charge (Note that I actually have several choices in my head for recasting, way too many to even count, so I'll put my top choices in the corner). ...
For Sam Lowry, I heard that the character of him was originally supposed to be in his late twenties or early thirties in the earlier scripts. Which was pretty interesting to me. Now, in the forum, they picked Ed Norton for him. Me? I wanted someone who was a lot younger looking or actually younger than late 30's early 40's. So, me? I chose Evan Peters as him. He's actually pretty close to the age range that Lowry was in in the earlier parts of the script. I was also thinking in mind the part of Jack Lint for him, but eh. Seems good enough, eh? Fun fact, he was actually born on January 20th, 1987, just two years and 1 month later after the theatrical release of Brazil in the United States (For the UK, it was 2 years (before) and 1 month after the theatrical release) . Holy shit. And when Gilliam was first drafting the script, the dude who played Sam Lowry was just 30 at the time, 1 year older than Peters.
For Jack Lint, I wanted someone who looked like the sorta average everyday person you could walk into the streets with or is a genuinely nice guy (or plays a lot of wholesome, nice guy-ish roles). That way, it could shock the audiences when his true occupation is revealed, as with the case of Michael Palin. So, who did I choose for Jack Lint, in my case? I had difficulty deciding at first, but then it came to me that hey, how about Ben Whishaw? I mean, the dude has pretty damn awesome range, and he certainly doesn't look like the type of person to do the things that Jack Lint does to Sam Lowry in the movie. In the forum, they picked Martin Freeman. That's awesome, but I think my choice could work better. Just my opinion, but hey... Don't criticize me. He could also make a great Sam Lowry, too. He was born on October 14th, 1980, 5 years and 8 months before Brazil came out in the UK. He was 4 when the movie received its UK premiere, and 5 when the movie got released here in America.
For Harry Tuttle, it was tough. Let's face it, the guy who played him in 1985 is Robert De Fuckin' Niro. That guy is a legend, a true damn legend. I had trouble with this recasting. I didn't know whom to pick at first. They picked Woody Harrelson for their (dream) recast, but he should've gotten a break. Several options went through my head at first, but then I decided on, for some strange reason, on Chris Pratt. I mean, he can certainly portray a badass, as evidenced in Jurassic World. And now, I know you might be going, "the fuck? Him?". I mean, there is an aura of wisecrack to Tuttle as well, so it's win-win on both terms, in my world. He was born on June 21st, 1979, just 6 years and 4 months before this movie was made. He was 6 years old when the movie was released here in the United States, but was 5 by the time the film received its UK premiere.
For Jill Layton, I wanted someone who could have great chemistry with my (fan-chosen) lead, Evan Peters. I also wanted someone who could be seen as a "tough as nails" truck driver, but also at the same time the vulnerable damsel that Sam often rescues in his dreams a lot. So, with that in mind, I chose Summer Glau. I mean, come on! She was River Tam in Firefly/Serenity, for crying out loud. She has that crazy-awesome factor to her for sure. I heard that Gilliam had trouble with the actress who played Jill in 1985. For Jill, in the recast forum, they chose Melanie Laurent. Who the fuck is she? I don't know, that's for sure. Glau was born on July 24th, 1981, exactly 4 years and 5 months before the movie's release in the U.S and 4 years and 5 months when the movie was released in the UK. She was 4 at the time of the US release, and 3 at the time of the UK premiere.
For Ida Lowry, it was kind of a challenge. I wanted someone who could effectively play an overbearing mother, or someone who has had experience with plastic surgery before. I mean, Ida does get it in the movie. They chose Helen Mirren for her in the recast forum, and don't get me wrong, she's awesome, but not the type of person I would choose right away. And then, I decided on Jessica Lange. She's awesome, isn't she? I mean, the character of Ida could easily fit in with a season of American Horror Story. See for yourselves. She was born on April 20th, 1949, exactly 36 years and 2 months before the UK premiere, and 36 years and 8 months before the US premiere. She was 35 when the movie received its UK premiere, and 36 by the time it was released over here in the states.
For Spool and Doolskins (If that's how you spell the dude's last name), I decided to play around the idea of having younger actors in the roles. In the recast forum, they had Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as the two guys. They're awesome, but why not add a little youth appeal to the mix. This is why I choose Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as the duo, probably because they remind me a bit of the duo those guys play in 21 Jump Street (Sweet mother of Jesus, that film was friggin' hilarious). Channing Tatum was born on April 26th, 1980, 5 years and 2 months (since April is two months after Feburary) before the movie came out in the UK, and 5 years and 4 months (Since April is 4 months after December) before the movie received its US premiere. He was 4 by the time the movie came out in the UK, and 5 by the time the movie came out here in the United States. Jonah Hill was born on December 20th, 1983, the same month that the movie came out in the US (But 19 days and 2 years before the film's release). In the US, his B-Date was 2 years and 2 months before the movie's release in the UK. He was 2 by the time the movie came out in the US and the UK.
For M. Kurtzmann, I wanted to play around with the idea of having a grumpy boss and what it is like to have one in the workplace. They picked Alfred Molina for the boss, but I wanted someone who could come off as a bit more comical, plus I wanted a little gender-bending, so I went with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss as Kurtzmann. If you've ever seen Veep, you'll understand what I mean. And look, I know a dude played Kurtzmann in 1985, but since there is a current debate over sexism in Hollywood, I decided to tap into the resolution for that issue with my fan-recasting. She was born on January 13th, 1961, exactly 1 month (afterwards) and 24 years before Brazil came out in the U.S. (For the UK, it was 1 month and 24 years before the premiere). She was 24 years old at the time it was released in the US and the UK.
Look, I know that Brazil is a British movie, but Tuttle and Layton don't necessarily speak with English accents, and for some strange reason all these American actors were my fan-choices for (dream, not real) recasting, (well, except for Ben Whishaw), plus Gilliam is American, not British. He, by the way, was born on November 22nd, 1940, so he was around 44 by the time the movie got its UK release, and 45 by the time the movie received its premiere here in the U.S. (Sorry for all these birth-date facts, I just got carried away).
Friday, January 29, 2016
Enron Lucy Prebble Play Movie
Hi guys,
Hey! How many of you have heard of that fantastic play ENRON? You know, that play about the scandal written by Lucy Prebble? It's set in 1990's Texas. (Mostly in the 90's). Of course, for you older people, you know who the hell ENRON was. But as for young people? No clue, since they were probably just little kids by the time the scandal hit. That includes me. I only knew about it from looking up stuff on the internet.
It was a big success in the West End (In London-who knew a play written by a British Playwright about Americans could reach such success)-but it flopped on Broadway, surprisingly enough. Not that audiences didn't like it, but it premiered at the wrong time. The 2008 financial/housing crisis was still going strong, Wall street was being occupied...not really a good spot to premiere a play like that before. Then the goddamn New York Times gave a hostile review to it, and ms. Prebble was fucked. Then, it got closed after just 15 performances...I think now would be the time to give it a re-try.
George Clooney, however, noticed the potential for a movie version of the Play-and soon he snatched up the rights to it. People were excited about this, but then it was announced that it wasn't very likely that they would get the original UK cast back on board for the movie. A couple of the people in the West End were not very happy with this-Rupert Goold said that it pissed him off that he didn't get involved in the movie production and that he expressed dismay over the play being snatched up by Hollywood producers. A bunch of other people were not happy with it too-one including Phillip Hedley, and the other whatsername. But Clooney truly loved the play and Lucy Prebble is writing the screenplay, so I wouldn't get too worried.
I have a heavy feeling that this will be a cult movie. I mean, a lot of cult movies originally bomb at the box office and then get a devoted fan following. And let me tell you, this sounds a bit like Fight Club meets American Psycho meets Wolf of Wall Street. I mean, satire of corporate culture and plenty of unlikeable characters? And dark comedy to boot? I think so.
And also, I'm pretty sure Mr. Clooney will do very well with this. Smiley face.
See you guys later!
Hey! How many of you have heard of that fantastic play ENRON? You know, that play about the scandal written by Lucy Prebble? It's set in 1990's Texas. (Mostly in the 90's). Of course, for you older people, you know who the hell ENRON was. But as for young people? No clue, since they were probably just little kids by the time the scandal hit. That includes me. I only knew about it from looking up stuff on the internet.
It was a big success in the West End (In London-who knew a play written by a British Playwright about Americans could reach such success)-but it flopped on Broadway, surprisingly enough. Not that audiences didn't like it, but it premiered at the wrong time. The 2008 financial/housing crisis was still going strong, Wall street was being occupied...not really a good spot to premiere a play like that before. Then the goddamn New York Times gave a hostile review to it, and ms. Prebble was fucked. Then, it got closed after just 15 performances...I think now would be the time to give it a re-try.
George Clooney, however, noticed the potential for a movie version of the Play-and soon he snatched up the rights to it. People were excited about this, but then it was announced that it wasn't very likely that they would get the original UK cast back on board for the movie. A couple of the people in the West End were not very happy with this-Rupert Goold said that it pissed him off that he didn't get involved in the movie production and that he expressed dismay over the play being snatched up by Hollywood producers. A bunch of other people were not happy with it too-one including Phillip Hedley, and the other whatsername. But Clooney truly loved the play and Lucy Prebble is writing the screenplay, so I wouldn't get too worried.
I have a heavy feeling that this will be a cult movie. I mean, a lot of cult movies originally bomb at the box office and then get a devoted fan following. And let me tell you, this sounds a bit like Fight Club meets American Psycho meets Wolf of Wall Street. I mean, satire of corporate culture and plenty of unlikeable characters? And dark comedy to boot? I think so.
And also, I'm pretty sure Mr. Clooney will do very well with this. Smiley face.
See you guys later!
Thursday, January 28, 2016
My Old Man's B-Day-My Thoughts and a Little story
Hi Guys,
Here's a little thing on a lighter note for ya. My dad just had a B-Day on Tuesday. January 26th. My old man turned 48 this year. His date of birth? January 26th, 1968. His full name is Christopher John Morris (he goes by the nickname of "Chris" around his friends). One year before woodstock, when Nurses still wore caps on their heads and rock music (Beatles, baby, Beatles!) gripped the nation's youth of that time (Old enough to be grandparents now, eh?). He has two older sisters, each with now-college aged kids. Patrice (the eldest, born in 1958-her birthday is in either April or May), and Jean (born in 1965-wink, in September.) My mom was also born on that same year. April 15th, to be exact. My grandmother was just 23 years old when she had her.
My parents were children of the 70's in New Jersey-you know, disco, classic rock, Watergate, blah blah blah. (I'll tell you more when I get to it). It was pretty much an awesome time to be a kid then, let me tell ya. My parents both grew up in Catholic families- Mom's was large (she was the eldest out of a total of 6 sisters and 1 brother- Holy cow.). They were both teens in the 80's (the age of embarrassingly big hair and of John Hughes' Movies), since they both graduated high school in 1986. (They both went to single-sex Catholic Schools. Mom's was Holy Angels (which all of her 6 sisters went to). Dad's was Bergen Catholic). Dad was captivated by the New-Wave sub-genre-still is now. Dad, like many other people, also loved MTV (back when it actually showed Music Videos). Mom and Dad had a brief encounter at the high school prom-but they didn't fall in love until much later. In the late 80's, my parents met by chance or by sheer coincidence-they were both at a party held by one of Mom's friends, Lynne. Dad brought two of his childhood/adolescence friends along, Keith and Rob. Story is, Dad really wanted to impress some girls at the party, so he pretended that he was a master of the piano (which he wasn't). So, as he continued to play piano (or at least try to) one pretty girl caught his eye. Her name? Maura Monaghan. So, they started talking to each other-which was the part of a long story.
In October of 1991 (In the age of Grunge, Nirvana, and Plaid shirts), my parents got married after dating for quite a while. There are many funny stories about the wedding that my parents could tell you, including a confused Cousin Beth or whoever her name was showing up dressed in cutoff jeans and a T-Shirt and how two of the best men ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time.
My Parents moved quite a lot in the 90's. You can ask my mom about it, she'll tell ya. Then, in 1998, a miraculous thing had happened. Mom found out she was pregnant with her first kid. At that same time, my Parents already had a lot of nieces on my Dad's side (Those college-age kids that I was telling you about? 3 of them were little kids back then). At that time, my Mom's side of the family was experiencing some sadness-let's just say it involves a sick great-uncle and leave it at that. So, my Mom's side really needed some good news to cheer them up. After that, they moved in November of 1998 to the first house I lived in as a kid. And the kid was originally supposed to be Born in April, but some mild complications had occurred and my Mom needed to give birth to the kid via through I think a C-section. And, lo and behold, the kid finally entered the world on March 10th, 1999. Who was that kid, you may ask? Well, none other than your author. (My full name is Flannery Hope Monaghan-Morris. I'll tell you more about how me and my siblings got named in the first place). Two years and 9 months later, on December 19th, 2001 (Just 3 months after 9/11...Ouch.), their 2nd child, another girl, was born. Her name was Quinlan Claire. (As for the story of how my Brother came along, I'll tell you in a later post). We got a dog named Seamus, a Soft-Coated Wheaten, when I was either 5 or 6 years old. He's still alive and kicking, by the way.
Now, as Mom can't really have dairy anymore, I'd really like to bake Dad a Birthday Cake on his Family B-Day Party. Everyone who knows me says I'm an excellent cook and baker. I have a huge sweet tooth as well, and I pick recipes that everyone enjoys.
Mom got some mini-Cupcakes from that famous NYC chain bakery, Crumbs for Dad's B-Day on Tuesday. He also opened some gifts. I remember going to that place a couple times as a kid. I loved the huge cupcakes there. Mmmm...Delicious.
And, here's to say, Happy 48th birthday to my Old man. Here's to hoping that you will live longer than David Bowie and Alan Rickman. Love ya! Bye!
Here's a little thing on a lighter note for ya. My dad just had a B-Day on Tuesday. January 26th. My old man turned 48 this year. His date of birth? January 26th, 1968. His full name is Christopher John Morris (he goes by the nickname of "Chris" around his friends). One year before woodstock, when Nurses still wore caps on their heads and rock music (Beatles, baby, Beatles!) gripped the nation's youth of that time (Old enough to be grandparents now, eh?). He has two older sisters, each with now-college aged kids. Patrice (the eldest, born in 1958-her birthday is in either April or May), and Jean (born in 1965-wink, in September.) My mom was also born on that same year. April 15th, to be exact. My grandmother was just 23 years old when she had her.
My parents were children of the 70's in New Jersey-you know, disco, classic rock, Watergate, blah blah blah. (I'll tell you more when I get to it). It was pretty much an awesome time to be a kid then, let me tell ya. My parents both grew up in Catholic families- Mom's was large (she was the eldest out of a total of 6 sisters and 1 brother- Holy cow.). They were both teens in the 80's (the age of embarrassingly big hair and of John Hughes' Movies), since they both graduated high school in 1986. (They both went to single-sex Catholic Schools. Mom's was Holy Angels (which all of her 6 sisters went to). Dad's was Bergen Catholic). Dad was captivated by the New-Wave sub-genre-still is now. Dad, like many other people, also loved MTV (back when it actually showed Music Videos). Mom and Dad had a brief encounter at the high school prom-but they didn't fall in love until much later. In the late 80's, my parents met by chance or by sheer coincidence-they were both at a party held by one of Mom's friends, Lynne. Dad brought two of his childhood/adolescence friends along, Keith and Rob. Story is, Dad really wanted to impress some girls at the party, so he pretended that he was a master of the piano (which he wasn't). So, as he continued to play piano (or at least try to) one pretty girl caught his eye. Her name? Maura Monaghan. So, they started talking to each other-which was the part of a long story.
In October of 1991 (In the age of Grunge, Nirvana, and Plaid shirts), my parents got married after dating for quite a while. There are many funny stories about the wedding that my parents could tell you, including a confused Cousin Beth or whoever her name was showing up dressed in cutoff jeans and a T-Shirt and how two of the best men ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time.
My Parents moved quite a lot in the 90's. You can ask my mom about it, she'll tell ya. Then, in 1998, a miraculous thing had happened. Mom found out she was pregnant with her first kid. At that same time, my Parents already had a lot of nieces on my Dad's side (Those college-age kids that I was telling you about? 3 of them were little kids back then). At that time, my Mom's side of the family was experiencing some sadness-let's just say it involves a sick great-uncle and leave it at that. So, my Mom's side really needed some good news to cheer them up. After that, they moved in November of 1998 to the first house I lived in as a kid. And the kid was originally supposed to be Born in April, but some mild complications had occurred and my Mom needed to give birth to the kid via through I think a C-section. And, lo and behold, the kid finally entered the world on March 10th, 1999. Who was that kid, you may ask? Well, none other than your author. (My full name is Flannery Hope Monaghan-Morris. I'll tell you more about how me and my siblings got named in the first place). Two years and 9 months later, on December 19th, 2001 (Just 3 months after 9/11...Ouch.), their 2nd child, another girl, was born. Her name was Quinlan Claire. (As for the story of how my Brother came along, I'll tell you in a later post). We got a dog named Seamus, a Soft-Coated Wheaten, when I was either 5 or 6 years old. He's still alive and kicking, by the way.
Now, as Mom can't really have dairy anymore, I'd really like to bake Dad a Birthday Cake on his Family B-Day Party. Everyone who knows me says I'm an excellent cook and baker. I have a huge sweet tooth as well, and I pick recipes that everyone enjoys.
Mom got some mini-Cupcakes from that famous NYC chain bakery, Crumbs for Dad's B-Day on Tuesday. He also opened some gifts. I remember going to that place a couple times as a kid. I loved the huge cupcakes there. Mmmm...Delicious.
And, here's to say, Happy 48th birthday to my Old man. Here's to hoping that you will live longer than David Bowie and Alan Rickman. Love ya! Bye!
The GOP and Fox News-And Donald Trump.
Hey Guys,
*Sigh* The news. Jesus, will they ever leave us alone for once?!?!?!?. And about Donald Trump-dear sweet mother of god... Can't we just ignore what he says? He's racist, sexist, and a disgrace to us Christians. Honestly, why did he even enter the race to begin with????? Things would be a whole lot easier if he hadn't come in. And it would be so much easier if the San Bernadino and Paris Attacks never happened. (We could have prevented it or someone could've, but no. No one did anything.)
Me and my Parents (along with my sister) are very liberal. Mom, in particular, even more so. So she understands what I feel about this whole crisis. I know a whole bunch of people who plan on moving to Canada if he gets elected (I doubt it, but the whole damn world never seems to listen. Seriously, the possibility of Trump winning a landslide election? He's not very popular with general election people, who tend to lean more on my side.) Does Trump even know anything about foreign or domestic policy? Nope. He doesn't. He probably doesn't.
And don't even get me started on Cruz...That guy is very unlikeable. I mentioned that in a previous post, My mom knew someone who knew him. And roomed with him. And he was very much unlikeable, even in those days.
And FOX News. They are not helping us at all. I have nothing against conservatives if they are really nice people, but FOX News. Ugh. I really wish that they would just...go away for once. Have the right-wing extremists ever learned anything from the failed Barry Goldwater campaign? No. Not that much at all. Thank god Trump is planning not to participate in the next debate. Because, if you follow the news, FOX News makes up all those debates (or a large majority of them). What happened to all the decent, sane, moderate Republicans? Where did they go? Most of them have already dropped out, or are probably planning on doing so. And...god...enough with the I-S-you know what crap. We don't need to hear anti-Muslim and Refugee rhetoric over and over again. It's the Iraq War all over again...
And honestly, his followers have been misled by his campaign. Will he "Make America Great Again"? Hell, no. He ripped off that campaign phrase from Reagan. And why aren't these comparisons to Hitler hurting him? I am clueless, let me tell you. But anyway, to you Trump followers, I am not meaning to offend you, but...here's the truth. Your "hero" is not what he says to be. And honestly? He's insulting everyone-but it is endless who he has offended. If you are next on his list, let me warn you, don't be surprised. Rather, just stop clinging to him. And our country's not in as bad of a shape as you think they are. We are actually, minus the entire arab affair stuff, in pretty good shape. So please...take my words into consideration sometimes. I don't use twitter or Facebook, so this is my way of telling you so.
*Sigh* The news. Jesus, will they ever leave us alone for once?!?!?!?. And about Donald Trump-dear sweet mother of god... Can't we just ignore what he says? He's racist, sexist, and a disgrace to us Christians. Honestly, why did he even enter the race to begin with????? Things would be a whole lot easier if he hadn't come in. And it would be so much easier if the San Bernadino and Paris Attacks never happened. (We could have prevented it or someone could've, but no. No one did anything.)
Me and my Parents (along with my sister) are very liberal. Mom, in particular, even more so. So she understands what I feel about this whole crisis. I know a whole bunch of people who plan on moving to Canada if he gets elected (I doubt it, but the whole damn world never seems to listen. Seriously, the possibility of Trump winning a landslide election? He's not very popular with general election people, who tend to lean more on my side.) Does Trump even know anything about foreign or domestic policy? Nope. He doesn't. He probably doesn't.
And don't even get me started on Cruz...That guy is very unlikeable. I mentioned that in a previous post, My mom knew someone who knew him. And roomed with him. And he was very much unlikeable, even in those days.
And FOX News. They are not helping us at all. I have nothing against conservatives if they are really nice people, but FOX News. Ugh. I really wish that they would just...go away for once. Have the right-wing extremists ever learned anything from the failed Barry Goldwater campaign? No. Not that much at all. Thank god Trump is planning not to participate in the next debate. Because, if you follow the news, FOX News makes up all those debates (or a large majority of them). What happened to all the decent, sane, moderate Republicans? Where did they go? Most of them have already dropped out, or are probably planning on doing so. And...god...enough with the I-S-you know what crap. We don't need to hear anti-Muslim and Refugee rhetoric over and over again. It's the Iraq War all over again...
And honestly, his followers have been misled by his campaign. Will he "Make America Great Again"? Hell, no. He ripped off that campaign phrase from Reagan. And why aren't these comparisons to Hitler hurting him? I am clueless, let me tell you. But anyway, to you Trump followers, I am not meaning to offend you, but...here's the truth. Your "hero" is not what he says to be. And honestly? He's insulting everyone-but it is endless who he has offended. If you are next on his list, let me warn you, don't be surprised. Rather, just stop clinging to him. And our country's not in as bad of a shape as you think they are. We are actually, minus the entire arab affair stuff, in pretty good shape. So please...take my words into consideration sometimes. I don't use twitter or Facebook, so this is my way of telling you so.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
The GOP and Sarah Palin- and the Election of '08.
Hi People, Hey! It's me again. And though I am busy studying for midterms... There's one thing that has been on my mind lately.
Let me tell you, The GOP...jesus christ. Why doesn't the goddamn media ever take a break from reporting about that? The general election is a long way away. Yet, the media won't stop reporting about Cruz or Trump. I mean, we've already heard the same damn thing over and over again. When more "news" comes up about them, I'm like "Really? This again? Calm down.". There are reasons why you shouldn't always be trustfu-ah, fuck it. I'll tell you about it later.
Nothing has changed since the Bush administration. Nothing at all has changed in that party. Bush, mind you, was a terrible manager at foreign policy-his controversial decision to send troops to Iraq has left us in a mess with some parts of the Middle East ever since. He has also led us into a recession, and everyone pretty much hates him. In fact, I think he created disillusionment among the Republican Party. His controversial legacy is still felt with us-the fact that his younger brother, (who actually looks older than him.), Jeb, is currently running for office right now isn't helping matters either. And it looks like the right-wings have learned nothing from the loss of Barry Goldwater in '64, at all. My mom knows someone who has a friend that legitimately roomed with Ted Cruz in law school. He says that Ted Cruz is actually a legitimate a-hole in real life.
Oh, and let's get onto Sarah Palin. Her endorsement speech of Trump... dear god, it is the most unintentionally hilarious and worst endorsement speeches ever given. Just look up a video of the speech in question. Trump himself looks at times to be holding back laughter (just barely) or looks very confused as in "What the fuck is she saying?". And the way that she's dressed...really? She looks more like she's going to a party than an actual GOP conference. And this is why no one probably wants her to be a running mate with someone...God forbid if the nominee picks her to be his running mate, because we all know what happened last time...
Let's go back in time a little, to the election of 2008. I was 8 years old (by the time the general election ended the time the election occurred, I was 9)and I was in the third or fourth grade. Though I was too young to understand what the hell was going on, and me and my family (then at the time just consisting of me, my then-6 year old sister (she turned 14 in December of 2015) Quinlan, my parents, me, and our dog, Seamus) were relatively unaffected by the world around us, the adult world that my parents inhabited was in conflict. The U.S. had entered a big recession as a result of Bush's presidency, the housing market had a crisis, and people were fed up with the Iraq War. Bush, by the time he left the presidency, was very unpopular (still is now), with pretty much everyone. John McCain (the Republican nominee) did not originally want Sarah Palin as his vice president, originally. He wanted someone with more experience. His adviser looked up an interview with her and hired her based on her speaking skills showcased in the video. The campaign people soon came to regret the decision. Sarah seemed a bit crazy at times, and didn't know anything about foreign or even domestic policy. She also seemed to swing in between being a fantastic public speaker to a laughable one. The fact that her daughter, Bristol, then a teen, got pregnant during the campaign and gave birth to a kid, causing many to question her reliability and trustworthiness, didn't help either. There were a whole bunch of other factors, too, but I won't get into that (I will, once I write my review of that fantastic HBO original movie, Game Change. I plan on owning it on DVD once.). So, she was one aspect I think of the whole reason why McCain had lost.
I think the presidential candidates should bear this incident in mind before they can choose a running mate. I mean, we should have learned from that screw-up once or twice. Yeah. That's it, I guess.
Let me tell you, The GOP...jesus christ. Why doesn't the goddamn media ever take a break from reporting about that? The general election is a long way away. Yet, the media won't stop reporting about Cruz or Trump. I mean, we've already heard the same damn thing over and over again. When more "news" comes up about them, I'm like "Really? This again? Calm down.". There are reasons why you shouldn't always be trustfu-ah, fuck it. I'll tell you about it later.
Nothing has changed since the Bush administration. Nothing at all has changed in that party. Bush, mind you, was a terrible manager at foreign policy-his controversial decision to send troops to Iraq has left us in a mess with some parts of the Middle East ever since. He has also led us into a recession, and everyone pretty much hates him. In fact, I think he created disillusionment among the Republican Party. His controversial legacy is still felt with us-the fact that his younger brother, (who actually looks older than him.), Jeb, is currently running for office right now isn't helping matters either. And it looks like the right-wings have learned nothing from the loss of Barry Goldwater in '64, at all. My mom knows someone who has a friend that legitimately roomed with Ted Cruz in law school. He says that Ted Cruz is actually a legitimate a-hole in real life.
Oh, and let's get onto Sarah Palin. Her endorsement speech of Trump... dear god, it is the most unintentionally hilarious and worst endorsement speeches ever given. Just look up a video of the speech in question. Trump himself looks at times to be holding back laughter (just barely) or looks very confused as in "What the fuck is she saying?". And the way that she's dressed...really? She looks more like she's going to a party than an actual GOP conference. And this is why no one probably wants her to be a running mate with someone...God forbid if the nominee picks her to be his running mate, because we all know what happened last time...
Let's go back in time a little, to the election of 2008. I was 8 years old (by the time the general election ended the time the election occurred, I was 9)and I was in the third or fourth grade. Though I was too young to understand what the hell was going on, and me and my family (then at the time just consisting of me, my then-6 year old sister (she turned 14 in December of 2015) Quinlan, my parents, me, and our dog, Seamus) were relatively unaffected by the world around us, the adult world that my parents inhabited was in conflict. The U.S. had entered a big recession as a result of Bush's presidency, the housing market had a crisis, and people were fed up with the Iraq War. Bush, by the time he left the presidency, was very unpopular (still is now), with pretty much everyone. John McCain (the Republican nominee) did not originally want Sarah Palin as his vice president, originally. He wanted someone with more experience. His adviser looked up an interview with her and hired her based on her speaking skills showcased in the video. The campaign people soon came to regret the decision. Sarah seemed a bit crazy at times, and didn't know anything about foreign or even domestic policy. She also seemed to swing in between being a fantastic public speaker to a laughable one. The fact that her daughter, Bristol, then a teen, got pregnant during the campaign and gave birth to a kid, causing many to question her reliability and trustworthiness, didn't help either. There were a whole bunch of other factors, too, but I won't get into that (I will, once I write my review of that fantastic HBO original movie, Game Change. I plan on owning it on DVD once.). So, she was one aspect I think of the whole reason why McCain had lost.
I think the presidential candidates should bear this incident in mind before they can choose a running mate. I mean, we should have learned from that screw-up once or twice. Yeah. That's it, I guess.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Tom Stoppard- My Love For Him-& Julie Taymor
Hi Everybody,
I'm sorry I haven't posted in the last few weeks. It's just those goddamned midterms, you know... and I have to finish my National History Day Paper tomorrow for my AP US History Teacher, Mr. Scott. It's on the 1964-1965 World's Fair. But that has nothing to do with this post right now.
Hey- have you guys ever heard of the playwright Tom Stoppard? No? Well, you should know him. He's friggin awesome. His works are friggin awesome. He's a big name back in the West End and here in America, among geeks like me and playwrights. Proud pop-culture and theater geek, whoo! I own a copy of his trilogy of plays set in pre-Stalinist, Tsarist Russia, called "The Coast of Utopia". Can't wait to read it. Oh, he's not only done a shit ton of plays, he's also done screenplays, radio plays, television scripts, operas, and he's also a novelist. He's also a director, too. Oh, and he's also an outspoken human rights activist and an anti-Marxist. He's also won Tonys and Oscars, and I think he was even nominated for some Emmy awards. That's a sign of awesomeness, people. Did I also mention that he is so badass that he actually got a knighthood from the queen. Not kidding people. Holy shit. A. fuckin'. knightdom. And two years before I was born as well (Born in 1999. March 10th, to be exact. His birthdate is July 3rd, 1937). I asked him to legitimately come to my school to give a talk to the kids via through his agents, yet they won't respond. Jesus. (Oh god, I might be coming off as a tad obsessive to the point of stalkerdom here. I'm sorry, Mr. Stoppard, if you are reading this, I am a genuinely nice gal. Sorry.)
See, my love for him began with this play called Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I discovered it through via looking it up on the Internet. This wasn't the 1st play Mr. Stoppard did. But it was the one that caused him to become a star, when it premiered in August 24th of 1966 at the Edinburgh Festival, when the Beatles were in their heyday. He was just 29 years old. However, an earlier form appeared in 1964 as a one-act play, titled Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Meet King Lear (whatever the hell happened to that one-act play, I don't know.). Stoppard must've been, what, 24 or 25? Christ, that's young. Nowadays, he's old enough to be a grandpa (and, in fact, he might have kids that are grown and have kids themselves already. Or just knocked up their girlfriend or got themselves knocked up or something). But anyway, I stumbled across the movie on Amazon. I watched it, and the first few minutes in, I was hooked. How many times have I watched that movie? I have no clue. I invited my dad to watch it with me one night, but he fell asleep during it (not of boredom, but out of tiredness), and I was pretty much the only one watching it. I was absorbed throughout. That movie premiered on September 5th, 1990. So that means last year, the movie had its 25th anniversary. Wow. It doesn't feel dated, not at all. The cast (especially the two leads) is/are awesome. The script is badass. What more can I say. Why the hell it wasn't nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted screenplay (alongside Best Director for Stoppard) at the Oscars, I don't know. Maybe it was because of the fact that the movie didn't get a worldwide release and was limited here in the States? Yeah. Could be a factor.
And I'd love it if he would do a script for a movie or something with Julie Taymor. Who is she, you might ask? I'm doing my final Film Studies project about her. She's very well known in the Theater community for the broadway production of The Lion King (which is still going strong after all these years) as well as many others, including the infamous mess that was/is Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark (That show had potential, what with Bono and the Edge as collaborators and an awesome soundtrack and pretty damn good leads. But Taymor got a little too carried away, I guess... which explains why they had so many screw-ups that led to those record-breaking number of reviews and the accidents involving the actors on the flying wires.) She's also many other things, including a composer, a screenwriter, former puppeteer, costume designer, director, head of a production company, production designer, blah blah blah... her films are feasts for the eyes, and the visuals/production design are pretty gorgeous, if not a bit trippy and psychedelic at times. I think she would be a great collaborator for Mr. Stoppard to work with, since he's not unfamiliar with trippy sequences (Ahem...Brazil anybody? In February of last year, the movie celebrated its 30th anniversary. I watched that film in its entirety in my Film Studies class. He wrote it with (Terry) Gilliam and other people, yeah, but still. Weird as fuck, but also crazy awesome, like Mad Max: Fury Road.). They would work pretty well together, I guess. I think they should make do with Darkside, since that is pretty much the most Taymor-esque thing Stoppard has ever done. And Taymor has already done a musical jukebox film (Across the Universe, that was one of the most wicked (in a good way) uses of Beatles music in any form of media ever.), and since Pink Floyd is one of the most theatrical classic rock bands in the world. From England, too, hells yeah!
Oh, and if you guys are wondering, the movies I used for my Final Project were Titus, Frida, and The Tempest. Titus came out the year I was born. It bombed at the box office. (If you have ever read the play, you could see why.) Could be considered a cult film, even if it is based on Shakespeare. No, scratch that, pretty much all of Taymor's movies are very culty. I love her. A lot. I watched that movie on New Year's Eve, and let me tell you...the movie was weird. Probably the most trippiest Shakespeare movie ever to be filmed. It's also one of the most entertaining and awesome. Yep. Really is.
Also, guys, I hope you've had a really nice day and hope to see ya soon! Bye!
Friday, January 1, 2016
My Childhood and NYC (Specifically PJ Clarke's)
For as long as I could remember, New York City was a part of my life. Even before my (not-biological) brother Jack came into the picture. In fact, I can proudly tell you that I lived there for 5 years before I came to live in Pelham (my family lived there from the time that I was 9 years old and my (biological) younger sister, Quinlan (Quin for short, born in December of 2001) was 7 in the mid-to-late summer of '08 to the summer of 2013, when I was 14 years old and Quin was I think around, what, 11 years old (My brother Jack, that I told you about, is adopted and has a late June birthday, and he's currently 4 right now, was around then so he might have been 2 years old by then)? That's an accurate guess, I guess. Let me tell you, It was an awesome place to go visit (and live in) as a kid growing up during the 2000's in New York. Well, minus the 9/11 part (Stupid Islamic Extremists!) for you older readers. Ok, maybe I didn't live in Times Square, but this was what it was like when me, Quin, and my Mom (Maura) and Dad (Chris) moved to the city in the summer of '08. Hell, I was even born in NYC- Mt. Sinai Hospital was where I was born in during the year of 1999, specifically on March 10th. My birthdate fell on a Wednesday that year, and next (well, it's close enough to say this) year, I will turn 17 years old on that date. My younger sister, Quin, was also born on a Wednesday in NYC- her birthdate is December 19th, 2001. That was the same year that 9/11 occurred, shortly two months before my sister's birth. Ouch.
When me and my sister were really young, like starting around when we lived in Mount Kisco (a suburban town in which we lived in when we were just a family of 5, from the summer of '04, when I was 5 years old and Quin was 2 years old, to the summer of '08, when I was 9 years old and my sister was 7 years old), we often (well, it got less and less amounts of time when we moved to NYC) visited my Mom whenever we got the chance to. You see, she works as a lawyer at this law firm called Debevoise and Plimpton. She did/does work at home at some times, though. She mostly does briefs, and doesn't really get that much cases. Back when we lived in Mount Kisco, my mom took the train, on days that she went to the city, to work. It was a pretty damn long commute for her (In fact, one of the reasons why we specifically , but me and my sister were OK with it, for the most part. Both of my parents worked back then, as my dad was a printer at this printing company called Brady Palmer (he ranked high in terms of job position(s)- he quit by the time I was a 14-year-old Freshman in high school, mostly because he found a lot (not all, but a lot) of the people to work with were, in my words (though he did not say this) to be "fucking assholes"). Me and my sister, on days that I (or she) did not have school, would go to visit my mom with our babysitter. Shortly before that, we would meet her for lunch at the original location of P.J. Clarke's. It's a really old place, established back in the late 1800's, and it was visited by many famous people in the past. Me and my sister would often order a plain burger or the mac and cheese with orchiette pasta (we ordered it without the peas and bacon that came with it). It was soooo good! They also (Still have it) had a jukebox (not kidding, a legit jukebox) that you could press the arrowed dials to flip around the catalogued CD collection they had (it ranged from all sorts of eras and genres) and hit numbered buttons to select the song you wanted from a specific album (you had to pay for it in actual US dollars to get the song played, if you wish to know). Me and my sister got a kick out of that thing, and we thought it was the coolest shit to ever fucking exist. Well...now we haven't been to PJ Clarke's in a while, so yeah. Now, in 2016, I vow to go back there. As well as get a social media account. Which I don't have. Shit, I better get my life together. Here's a picture of the location and its exterior, If you want to see it.
Now, expect me to talk a lot more about my childhood, teen years, and New York City in upcoming posts. I don't know how to write this conclusion, so let me just say...bye!
When me and my sister were really young, like starting around when we lived in Mount Kisco (a suburban town in which we lived in when we were just a family of 5, from the summer of '04, when I was 5 years old and Quin was 2 years old, to the summer of '08, when I was 9 years old and my sister was 7 years old), we often (well, it got less and less amounts of time when we moved to NYC) visited my Mom whenever we got the chance to. You see, she works as a lawyer at this law firm called Debevoise and Plimpton. She did/does work at home at some times, though. She mostly does briefs, and doesn't really get that much cases. Back when we lived in Mount Kisco, my mom took the train, on days that she went to the city, to work. It was a pretty damn long commute for her (In fact, one of the reasons why we specifically , but me and my sister were OK with it, for the most part. Both of my parents worked back then, as my dad was a printer at this printing company called Brady Palmer (he ranked high in terms of job position(s)- he quit by the time I was a 14-year-old Freshman in high school, mostly because he found a lot (not all, but a lot) of the people to work with were, in my words (though he did not say this) to be "fucking assholes"). Me and my sister, on days that I (or she) did not have school, would go to visit my mom with our babysitter. Shortly before that, we would meet her for lunch at the original location of P.J. Clarke's. It's a really old place, established back in the late 1800's, and it was visited by many famous people in the past. Me and my sister would often order a plain burger or the mac and cheese with orchiette pasta (we ordered it without the peas and bacon that came with it). It was soooo good! They also (Still have it) had a jukebox (not kidding, a legit jukebox) that you could press the arrowed dials to flip around the catalogued CD collection they had (it ranged from all sorts of eras and genres) and hit numbered buttons to select the song you wanted from a specific album (you had to pay for it in actual US dollars to get the song played, if you wish to know). Me and my sister got a kick out of that thing, and we thought it was the coolest shit to ever fucking exist. Well...now we haven't been to PJ Clarke's in a while, so yeah. Now, in 2016, I vow to go back there. As well as get a social media account. Which I don't have. Shit, I better get my life together. Here's a picture of the location and its exterior, If you want to see it.
Now, expect me to talk a lot more about my childhood, teen years, and New York City in upcoming posts. I don't know how to write this conclusion, so let me just say...bye!
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