Get Lynch'ed

OK, I know the picture isn't too good but it's actually Stephen Lynch standing above/in front of me on a seat of the theatre where I saw him perform (in 3D - unique quality *wink*). I'll just jump right into it.

After almost not finding the place where the action was supposed to take place I finally tracked down a voice I recognised (Spephen himself) we hit the spot and were ready for take-off. According to expectation they were a little late but all was forgiven when Stephen started with performing his new song "Loralie".
While I'm disappointed that he didn't give us "America", "Medieval Bush" or "Halleluja" from his latest album Three Balloons  at least he gave us "Craig", "Superhero" and "Special Ed" from his old albums (though two of my favourite songs are quite seasonal - "Down to the Old Pub Instead" for St Paddy's and "Halloween" - so I wasn't expecting them) and a whole bunch of awesome new songs. This not even including all the talking he did in between songs together with his buddies Rod and Joburg.

 

What made me most happy was that he ended the show by giving us "D&D". It goes as follows:



The song he performed while climbing on to the seat in front of me was a very emotional version of "I Will Always Love You" dedicated to his fans. Yeah, the Whitney Houston/Dolly Parton song.


Good night everybody! And go off and listen to Stephen Lynch right this instant!
(Psssst! He's on Spotify...)

Ett välkommet tillskott

Fillion's photobombing

The art of photobombing, by Nathan Fillion:

Just... just check it out. You'll enjoy it, I promise. I don't have the words to describe how much I love nerds.

X-Men: First Class

Prologues seem to be the hot stuff of Hollywood this century. Especially in the superhero genre. So don’t you worry - we’ll see more of them no matter how little we like the concept. A prologue is like a sequel that’s not a sequel because it’s a prologue… So does that mean that we're allowed to like them since, after all, they're not sequels? (In my point of view, there are very few sequels that pass quality testing.)

Anyhooooooo… I expected a lot of things from X-Men: First Class and I’m the first one to admit that most of them were bad ones. After having seen the trailers and teasers and reviews (damn you Empire Magazine for tempting me) I felt the sudden fear of the rapid decent of the X-Men franchise into a shallow roadside grave.

Dude, was I wrong.

X-Men: First Class takes us back to the beginning of everything. The beginning of Professor X and the beginning of Magneto and everything they are both going to personify in the X-Men movies we’ve already seen (or have we?). The first images that hit us as the movie begin rolling are exactly what hit us at the beginning of the first X-Men movie from 2000.
It’s that rainy day in 1944 when Erik Lensherr and his family are led into a concentration camp where Erik meets the evil that will shape his future. Meanwhile Charles Francis Xavier grows up safe and protected. Spoiled and naïve he seeks to tell the world about mutation as evolution.
Needless to say is that I loved the movie. I really did. I was like a boy with a new action figure. There were some minor details that I could (despite my irritation) look away from (like the continuity glitch where Alex Summers aka Havok is Scott Summers aka Cyclops little brother and therefore about 30 years before his time or that Beast looks absolutely awful). A hugely unanticipated cameo made my evening and for the rest of the movie I was in mutant heaven, giggling occasionally to myself in my Wolverine t-shirt.
There was plenty of action, some really funny history re-writing and sometimes they even took some occational inspiration from some of the X-Men comics. I was awed by Kevin Bacon (Sebastian Shaw) and Caleb Landry Jones (Banshee) but the name-dropping even got me a little tired. I recognize most of the characters and names in the movie but seen from a new beginner’s eyes I’d be more than a tad bit confused. At times I got the feeling that you’re expected to know what’s going on even though you might not in fact never have read a single X-Men comic panel. Most of the characters are never introduced – which I found disappointing since I want background on my people – but instead you’re presumed to know these characters already and remember it perfectly.
Which kind of brings me back to Beast. Not only did I find it ridiculous that they chose scrawny little Nicholas Hoult to play Henry/Hank McCoy but also that once again the make-up department falls short (or three feet behind). Beast’s face looks like someone botoxed the hell out of it. On the other hand it’s still better than it was in X-Men 3 but that’s not even an accomplishment! I would have loved him to be… awesome for once.
Like the cool and intelligent, broad-shouldered computer wiz he is in the Ultimate X-Men comics:

Not the cat-like thingamajig (still crazy smart though) with awful hair we find in Astonishing X-Men:

It's up to you to prove me wrong about this by watching the movie yourself. I'm done ranting for now. Take care now, buhbye then.

Declining

Summer and warm weather makes my blog and different internet communities flatline. No joke. I will update, some day. Not now. I'm just preparing you for a reluctantly and relatively slow period.

I'm going to see X-Men: First Class this upcoming sunday and believe you me, I will tell you all about it but after that my brain goes blank. Hit me with some suggestions about what to write about or throw me a question to answer and I'll see what I can do.
Have a good one people!

Sophisticated words...

...about being in love. Not that I am. In love that is. But it's still a really funny song so I can't help myself.



Hugh Laurie was awesome long before House M.D.

Happy Towel Day 2011

You heard me people, it's that time of year again.

 You hold on to that towel now my friend. It can be the only thing between you and that carnivorous bird. Or starvation.

Book-oh-holic

Oh darn, I've gone and done it again.
I brought my American neighbour and Lucy along with me to a secondhand store (Gärdhem Secondhand, Dalsjöfors, Sweden) this morning and as always I dragged plenty of loot with me home.

I was unhealthily smug about the fact that I found the Swedish version of Douglas Adams’ Starship Titanic.


Beside books I found an old yet very well-fitting blouse, a belt and a clutch bag (size larger). But like I concluded in my last post I’m a bookworm and so even though I’ll have to stash away even more of my books to make room for the new ones I’m thrilled.

(Psst! I finally found Thomas Keneally’s Schindler’s List! Yay.)

Multitasking

I’m a bookworm.


On average, I’m reading three books at the same time. I have one by my bed, one on audio when I’m gaming by the computer and one on my mp3 for when I’m at work or walking the dogs. I’m reading a horror short story collection by the bed, listening to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods by the computer and listening to The Harper Connelly Mysteries by Charlaine Harris at work and during walks.

Harris wrote the Sookie Stackhouse series that led to the tv-series True Blood starring (among others) the very talented Canadian actress Anna Paquin (who’s not only married to her True Blood colleague Stephen Moyer but also received an Oscar at the tender age of 11 for her part in The Piano). So far, I’ve stayed away from the Stackhouse novels because I like the tv-series (who can’t like Alexander Skarsgård?) so much but figured that Harper was safe to spend some time with. Good choice. I like Harper Connelly. I’m listening to the third book now. Awesome. Recommended.

Annars då? Dagarna går sakta såhär efter en fantastiskt lyckad helg. Det kan vara så att jag blivit attackerad av en förkylning men jag föredrar det framför magsjukan som gick på jobbet när jag jobbade 12-timmarsdagar. Kan vara dags att sova men jag vill inte. När jag kollade senaste Castle-avsnittet (det sista för tredje säsongen) upptäckte jag hur trött, sliten och medelålders Nathan Fillion (också en otroligt duktig kanadensare) ser ut. Då slog det slog mig att jag aldrig kommer att få se honom i rollen som Mal Reynolds igen. ALDRIG. Då kom tårarna. Jag skyller allt på att jag är trött.

It’s not an easy thing to lose hope. There’s no button to pound now Wash. No miracle.

Pretend friend

I found the following picture on Live For Films.


Mixing the much loved Calvin & Hobbes with Fight Club? The mere thought of comparing Hobbes with Tyler Durden makes me chuckle. Pretend friends galore. I think it's genius.

Neo-medieval workshop

In short it's been a really good weekend. Saturday was supposed to be some sort of workshop day together with some friends and family and it turned out great (even though we might have talked away most of the time and as hostess I might have run around a tad bit too much to be creative). We shared thoughts, laughed loudly, did some sewing and eventually ate together. I embroidered (a pattern not at all inspired by something I've seen on Boromir's suit of armour in Lord of the Rings) a wool tunic I've been working on for those cold evenings when I'm attending Medieval Festivals/Renaissance Faires...

...and today I'm trying out making sirwal (Turkish trousers from an awesome tutorial I found on Multiculturalism for Steampunk). They are nothing less than fantastic.

I've just finished them and I have a feeling that I will wear them with all the love you can give a pair of trousers as comfortable as these. I had to make mine with drawstring at the waist because of strongly fluctuating waist measures but drawstring's so very simple.


So in the end, it might have been quite a creative weekend after all. One white dress, one wool tunic, one pair of sirwal and repairs on some old garments I had stuffed away in a pile in a dusty corner.

Yeah, good weekend.

10 years of being a legend

R.I.P. Douglas Noel Adams

Now ten years passed from us, a legend then as he is still. A decade since he was ripped away from us but always a frood who knew where his towel was. In our hearts, in our minds. We love you.

Don't Panic.

Hello sun

I just noticed myself having this (not so flattering) pink colour to my skin. Somehow I feel that it's not so bad. Sunburns are kind of nerdy. Right?

Marvel movies

I've already seen the thundering god Thor in his very own movie and it was an OK experience.



...and I'm waiting for X-Men: First Class but am also seriously dreading it. I can feel a substantial amount of scepticism toward the group of mutants assembled in this movie. On the other hand, I'm a fan of the original comics aka the original X-Men are NOT the ones in this movie. Marvel are well known to explore parallel universes and realities though. I’ll live with it.



But all things considered I think I'm looking forward to Captain America the most of the three. I think it has something to do with me not having any sort of expectations since I've always thought of the dear old Captain as something of a bastard. I am after all a Wolverine fan.



That's no less than three Marvel productions in theatres in 2011.
Energetic little buggers, ey?

Zebu Palpitation

It's like Zero Punctuation. But with better artwork.
Jolly Jack aka Mr. Jackson reviews Portal 2. Have a laugh.