Today at work:

I encountered:

*a couple looking for Wii games for an eight year old girl; not only did the woman REEK of meth, but she would speak LOUDLY over me after asking me a question to repeat what I was saying and putting it into question form, again.

*woman asking for a discount for an item already marked to 50% off the tag because, “She’s had a really awful day.”

*man brings in a system to sell; we have to test first, after telling him how much it will be, hooking up the thing, running a game for half an hour, he decides it’s not enough money and collects his sytem for home. Lame.

*while going through a customer’s dvds, I open a case to check the condition of the disc, only to discover some drug paraphernalia…”whoops!! we won’t sell that one!!”

*one of my least favourite customers in the world, comes into the store TWO minutes before closing, and proceeds to wander around aimlessly for FIVE minutes.

*two 18ish year old kids come in smelling of pretty good pot, and ask to buy a system; “We sell that for $227.79.” –”Oh, we only brought….how much?……We’ve only got about $219.00″ …….”I’m afraid that’s probably not going to be enough.” –”…..Oh…oh…damn.”

[And there are so many other things to be blogging about too; we saw Jess in Boston over Thanksgiving, complete with lots of pictures; and we've been decorating for Christmas; and a ton of recipes to type in; hopefully they'll all be added in soon.]

-K

Project Runway season 6

So the 6th season of Project Runway ended last week… and i’d like to share my thoughts on this.

Okay, as for a little background on how such a brutal, rugged, wicked dude like myself came to watch Project Runway… i really didn’t set out to like this show. Kate had been watching season 2 or 3 pretty devotedly, and i would come into the room solely to make fun of her for watching a reality show about (of all despicable things) FASHION. But then, i would sit there with her just for the company, regardless of how i felt about the show. Before long, i found myself coming in, making fun of the show, sitting down, then talking about how the stitching on that top looked like shit. This is how i became addicted to Project Runway.

As a human, i could care less about fashion. I wish everything that everyone wore had an image of a wolf silk screened onto it. But there is something about this show that is damn fantastic!

So anyway, this year’s season was, overall, excellent. This year saw the highest saturation of talent i feel the show has ever seen. There really weren’t any designers that were totally terrible, everyone was very good at what they did! It would seem the show’s creators chose this year’s batch of designers based on their talents rather than their outrageous personalities, as there weren’t any totally crazy or evil people this year (see: season 5’s Christian with his stupid, stupid haircut or season 4’s antagonist Santino Rice). Some people probably are complaining about a lack of “drama” in this season, but i enjoyed it. The show really focused on the designs and their construction more than it did workroom affairs.

I am disappointed that this year’s winner was “Mean-a” Irena, though. She was talented, sure, but so were a lot of other people on the show were. Irena seemed like a deeply conceited, arrogant, snobby bitch. She seems like she would be zero fun to hang out with. As for her designs, they were very well-made and looked WAY more expensive than they actually were, but i thought they seemed very 1980’s. One of the judges said (in a positive light) that her designs looked like something you would have seen in the 80’s in Aspen, and i see that as a bad thing. Lots of bulky furs, lots of beige/tan…ugh.

The three designers all had very well put together collections for the final runway show. Althea’s collection was really solid, but i find that i can’t remember a single piece of clothing that came down the runway from her show. Well, actually, i just remembered she had this one jacket that had sleeves that were WAY too long (on purpose) and looked stupid (not on purpose). Carol Hannah’s collection pretty damn great. Lots of color and variety, and she displayed a wide array of designs and styles. Irena’s collection was… black. Lots of black. And silly hats. Most of the women looked like Polo players from The Matrix. I think if her line had a couple small splashes of vivid colors, it could have been pretty slick, really. everything was immaculately tailored, but it just all looked the exact same (well, except for the couple of tan/brown shitty fur things she had walk down the runway. In this day and age, do people even NEED to wear real furs anyway?). So there you go. Black and brown. Most fucking boring line to ever win PR.

So yeah, i think the winner was clearly Carol Hannah. The judges complained that her line lacked a single “creative thread” that ran through all her designs. i suppose i could see this, but i think its better than having your line be all black, brown, and/or furry. ugh.

Prodigal Summer

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver is a book that I recall being passed around my college like crazy; I saw references to it and it’s author fairly frequently throughout college and while wandering around the local used book store.
To be fair, I am not a fan of appalachian novels; perhaps its growing up by the mountains have drowned me in these stories; perhaps I’m a city-girl at heart; perhaps there are only a certain number of sad mountain stories one can read in a given lifetime (although this book is not terribly sad).
The writing is trite, the characters extremely predictable and awful caricatures of whom they represent. At times the writing is so horribly cheesy, I found myself open-mouthed in shock that so many people have praised this book so highly. The story moves along at the slowest pace ever; I found myself wanting to crawl into this book and physically push the narratives forward.
The good parts were very few, her depiction of the farmers and the close-set families who live below the mountain is truthful and her descriptions of the flora and fauna in the area is extraordinarily detailed.
Her knowledge of the area is arguably the very best part of this slow, predictable, and uninteresting book.
-K

isn’t this what I’ve been saying for months?!?!??

(Back story: Since the appearance of Lady Gaga I’ve been trying to convince everyone I know that she is a man.)

Thanks to TFLN, I think I’m gaining a following:

“(334): you know i’m gay cause i’d have sex with lady gaga. what straight man would say that?”

ha!
-K

internet nonsense

So, I should have been cleaning the house or folding the laundry or something equally productive and instead I find myself wandering all about the giant interweb and finding some neat/cool/random/bizarre stuff to share:

We love some Electric Six round these parts, but somehow, I’ve missed the amazing video to “Gay Bar”:

Although equally impressive and extremely bizarre this is the same band’s video for “Danger! High Voltage.”

I’m a die-hard fan of the not-so-motivational funny pictures that abound all over the internet, such as:

More can be found here and here.

The strangest things can make me sentimental, this video about the night the Berlin Wall fell, is one of them:

Here is a short clip about how a few people reacted to the fall of the Berlin Wall; even after 20 years, the voice hope and happiness is still in their voices.

(And a small political note: I’m quite disappointed in our President, who had enough time to go and fight for the Winter Olympics, however when Germany asked him last week to come and commemorate with them the 20th anniversary of the fall, he said, “Sorry, I’m too busy.”)

I am in love with the (hand-drawn, OMG!!!) animation in this video:

I L-O-V-E local commercials, especially so wonderfully well done and full of badassery:

-K

tonight…

…we ate some always amazing El Sazon chicken fajitas, drank an embarrassing amount of margaritas, and hooked up our Wii (for the first time!!) to try our hand at WiiSport and Mario Party 8.

Lots of laughter, and a wonderful night alone.

-K

Events on the Horizon

Upcoming movies we’re getting excited about:

…and oh, there are SO many more!!
-K

sexism in the workplace

Not by other employees or by bosses, by customers…how to deal? Most of the time the sexism I will encounter is extremely offensive, but every now and then, it’s kinda sweet in a our-generations-are-separated-by-so-much-time-you-would-die-if-you-realized-how-I-happily-live-my-hedonistic-life way.
This morning, a very sweet old man who orders old old old movies and looks for jazz that is usually very rare and any kind of classical music. Most mornings he arrives, he’ll stand around and talk to me for about half-an-hour, and as long as I’m not too busy, I don’t mind. Every now and then his conservative beliefs shine through; and growing up in the bible belt of America, I’m quite used to people just expecting everyone to be, if not Baptist, then at very least an ordinary Christian.
He came by to pick up his movie, Northwest Passage, and in describing it to me told me, “Well, it’s more of a man’s movie. It’s rough and there’s fighting and not a lot of women in it.”
Rather than argue I just smiled and kept working.
“Why are you smiling like that? It’s true.”

“…..well, you know, it’s just a little sexist.”
“Of course it is. I am! [laughing] Who do you think was made first?”
(!!!)
And after a long pause from me, “Well, who do you think was made better?”

And you know, he bought it. He even agreed.

-K

…and breathe.

peace

After a busy busy week, it’s nice to have a Sunday evening together with tea and leftover Halloween (butter spritz) cookies.

-K

Halloween Movies!!!

In honor of our favourite holiday and (one of) our favourite pastime, the month of October is spent watching Halloween-esque movies. Not necessarily scary movies per se, but good Octoberish stuffs.

We’ve been watching (in no particular order):

Addams Family & Addams Family Values: A delightfully dark comedy set whose gothic humour is sorely missed in modern movies. And of which I have recently found out will be on Broadway VERY SOON! (!!!)

Witches: Early ’90s family masterpiece based on the book by Roald Dahl.

Hocus Pocus: Early-mid ’90s Halloween comedic must-see starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, with a young appearance by Thora Birch as the little sister.

Children of the Corn: Stephen King’s classic short-story about demonic children’s takeover of a small town. This was the first time we had ever seen this movie, and although good, wasn’t quite as gripping or horrifying as it would have been 25 years ago.

The Strangers: Oh, man. I mean, OH! MAN! Have you seen this?! Because it is terrifying. Absolutely and completely. I love me some monsters movies, old classic horror films, just about anything zombie related, and although I may jump or be anxious during, afterwards I can happily critique with everyone else. But this movie. This. Movie. I had nightmares following it’s viewing. No kidding. Scared me that bad. But it’s good. It’s really well made. Ben was writing and I was working on my xmas gifts when we started it, halfway through we realized we were both sitting on the edge of the sofa, absolutely gripped by the movie. That good.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula: The Coppala classic; wonderful, enchanting, and after watching some of the special features, highly impressive. Despite being made in the age of the green screen, Coppola insisted on all the special effects being done on set or in camera. What used to be one of our top movies of all time quickly became one of our most impressive (and let me tell you, we’re a hard group to impress).

Nightmare on Elm Street: Classic horror. Just wonderful. I still maintain the character of Freddy Kreugar is one of the best villains ever created–what child didn’t get scared during the night and wish for sleep to rescue her (or him)? To give us a villain that attacked us when we are necessarily vulnerable, is pure genius.

Shaun of the Dead: HILARIOUS!! I love this English spoof! It sealed my love for the charming Simon Pegg.

Zombieland (in theatres): Oh, my!! This movie was fantastic!!! With a completely adorable and totally unexpected cameo by one of my favourite actors of all time. This movie exceeded my already high expectations. If you’re looking for a fun zombie flick, check this out!

Pet Sematary: A King classic. It’s slightly dated nowadays, but nothing creepier than that child (later to appear in Kindergarten Cop) slashing ankles from beneath the bed–scared me so bad as a young’un that to this day, I don’t like placing my feet on the floor beside my bed in the dark.

Drag Me to Hell: This movie was surprisingly very good. My friend had to really talk me into watching this one–nearly forcing me to watch it and I actually really loved it. It’s from director Sam Raimi (of Evil Dead fame long before those god-awful Spider-Man movies) and it’s a return to his specialty–campy, brutal horror classic film. I really loved it, and as Ben said, “I can totally see Bruce Campbell playing the lead role too.”

Wind Chill: A fairly recent movie, I give it props for suspense and a somewhat original story, the acting wasn’t too bad, but it was a bit predictable and took a turn of cheesiness toward the end; but overall it was pretty good and it was a hell of a lot better than remaking all the old classics (I’m looking right at you, Michael Bay; do you know what an original story is?!?).

Frailty: Extremely good suspense/thriller!! Loved this movie about a supremely religious family; surprisingly well acted by everyone involved (this included Bill Paxton and Matthew McConaughey).

Pontypool: This movie had the makings of being one of the best, one of the most creative Zombie-esque films ever. EVER. While watching this, the frame of thought is a consistent “This is Brilliant!!” and then you hit the last 10 minutes and everything falls flat. So horribly flat that it ruins the first 2/3 of this movie. The basis is a small town radio station is trying to deal with some kind of bizarre virus and nearly all of the terror is audio as people are calling in with information. It was really very well done–until you get to the last bit. I don’t even know if I could recommend this to anyone.

Sleepy Hollow: We’re major league Tim Burton fans at the Petler Inn, and this is one of our favourites–if for no other reason than it co-stars the ever lovely Ms. Ricci and the indomitable Christopher Walken.

Dog Soldiers: Surprisingly very good. There’s not enough werewolf movies out there (although with The Wolfman being released soon, I’d say we’re on the verge of a trend).

Zombie Honeymoon: This was watched one night while baking sans Ben; and it’s basically like someone’s very first movie. And I love me come campy B movies, and if this movie had taken me to where I thought it was going to end, I probably would have loved it; but the ending is sappy and couldn’t balance the campy gore in the first half.

Trick-R-Treat: Ben watched this and loved it, I’ll let him review it: “It was totally awesome. Lots of tributes to classic horror flicks in this one! It bears repeat viewings for sure. It has multiple story lines (all dealing with classic halloween themes) that all criss cross over each other. Good stuff!”

Young Frankenstein: A pumpkin-carving tradition in my family, we’ve seen this Mel Brooks classic so many times we’ve got it memorized.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Bing Crosby narrates this cartoon Halloween tradition.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Should anything else be said? Perhaps, “I got a rock.”

Ghostbusters & Ghostbusters 2: Love these movies! The first one is better than the 2nd, but they are so classic, I don’t understand how anybody could not love them.

Dead & Breakfast: Probably my favourite B movie of all time, probably. With David Carradine and Diedrich Bader alongside a cast of virtual unknowns including a youngish Portia de Rossi and having a singing cowboy-turned zombie as the narrator, how could it be bad?

And viewing during our annual Halloween bash included:

Zombie 2: The best zombie movie ever. EVER.

Ernest Scared Stupid: childhood classic; RIP Jim Varney

Night of the Living Dead: Definitive zombie movie.

There were SO many more I would have liked to add to the list, and we’ll probably end up watching these during the long winter months:
Carrie (Ben has never seen!!)
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein
Paranormal Activity
Poltergeist (neither of us have ever watched this one)
The Thing (another classic Ben’s never watched)
Trick-R-Treat (so I can see it)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (I’ve never watched this one either; shameful, I know)
BeetleJuice (I’m upset about missing this one)

…and I’m sure there are others still.

-K