Times were so high, they were low...
Sunday, 16 April 2006 11:56![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apollaHi ho. You may have noticed I've been away from LJ for awhile. You may not have. Whatever.
Saw King Kong yesterday after buying the DVD. Best B-Movie ever made, right there. What a great film that turned out to be. I can see why some people wouldn't like it, particularly if they've never seen a movie made in the 30s and therefore have no idea what the movie was both parodying and paying homage to.
Adrien Brody was v. literarily heroic and v. cool. Any hero called Driscoll gets my vote anyway. Naomi Watts was OK, but I get the feeling that it could've been done just as well by a number of different actresses. Whatever happened to Fay Wray?*
Anyway, I found it horribly sad in the end, which didn't surprise me at all given the shards of the '33 Kong I've seen (last time I tried to watch it, I got as far as the ship and then went and watched something else instead. Probably with Errol Flynn, knowing me.) However, the Famous Final Line in this new version seemed to fall a little flat. Might just be me, but it was just blah.
What else? Ah yes, Doctor Who. I have adored David Tennant since that first "if you were me, you'd do what i do" line in Casanova and this didn't let me down. I laughed, I nearly cried, it was all good, but as one columnist said in the Times, the aliens are as sucky as ever they've been. And yes, I think David Tennant is a better Doctor than Christopher Eccleston, who didn't have the required Bonkers thing. Let's put it this way: could you imagine him narrating Little Britain? There you go.
Also, I woke up this morning after having had a dream about being at a concert. A Pink Floyd Another Brick in the Wall festival of prog in the late 70s/early 80s/whatever. With my brother. The members of Pink Floyd looked correct for that time period. The concert was over at 6.15pm and we went to a train station. Tube station, actually. Mikey tried to jump to a platform and ended up underneath the trains. The fear of running around to make sure the trains didn't move woke me up. The weirdest thing about this?
What the fuck was I doing at a Pink Floyd concert?
*If anyone actually thinks I need to be told what happened to Fay Wray and doesn't get the reference, I ask respectfully: what are you doing on my journal?
Saw King Kong yesterday after buying the DVD. Best B-Movie ever made, right there. What a great film that turned out to be. I can see why some people wouldn't like it, particularly if they've never seen a movie made in the 30s and therefore have no idea what the movie was both parodying and paying homage to.
Adrien Brody was v. literarily heroic and v. cool. Any hero called Driscoll gets my vote anyway. Naomi Watts was OK, but I get the feeling that it could've been done just as well by a number of different actresses. Whatever happened to Fay Wray?*
Anyway, I found it horribly sad in the end, which didn't surprise me at all given the shards of the '33 Kong I've seen (last time I tried to watch it, I got as far as the ship and then went and watched something else instead. Probably with Errol Flynn, knowing me.) However, the Famous Final Line in this new version seemed to fall a little flat. Might just be me, but it was just blah.
What else? Ah yes, Doctor Who. I have adored David Tennant since that first "if you were me, you'd do what i do" line in Casanova and this didn't let me down. I laughed, I nearly cried, it was all good, but as one columnist said in the Times, the aliens are as sucky as ever they've been. And yes, I think David Tennant is a better Doctor than Christopher Eccleston, who didn't have the required Bonkers thing. Let's put it this way: could you imagine him narrating Little Britain? There you go.
Also, I woke up this morning after having had a dream about being at a concert. A Pink Floyd Another Brick in the Wall festival of prog in the late 70s/early 80s/whatever. With my brother. The members of Pink Floyd looked correct for that time period. The concert was over at 6.15pm and we went to a train station. Tube station, actually. Mikey tried to jump to a platform and ended up underneath the trains. The fear of running around to make sure the trains didn't move woke me up. The weirdest thing about this?
What the fuck was I doing at a Pink Floyd concert?
*If anyone actually thinks I need to be told what happened to Fay Wray and doesn't get the reference, I ask respectfully: what are you doing on my journal?
Do you have:
(1) your own cell phone
(2) a television in your bedroom
(3) an MP3 player
( ) a photo printer
( ) your own phone line
( ) TiVo or a generic digital video recorder
(4) high-speed internet access (i.e., not dialup)
( ) a surround sound system in bedroom
(5) DVD player in bedroom
(6) at least a hundred DVDs
(7) a childfree bathroom
( ) your own in-house office
( ) a pool
( ) a guest house
( ) a game room
( ) a queen-size bed or larger
( ) a stocked bar
( ) a working dishwasher
( ) an icemaker
(8) a working washer and dryer
( ) more than 20 pairs of shoes
( ) at least ten things from a designer store
( ) expensive sunglasses
( ) framed original art (not lithographs or prints)
( ) Egyptian cotton sheets or towels
( ) a multi-speed bike
( ) a gym membership
( ) large exercise equipment at home
( ) your own set of golf clubs
( ) a pool table
( ) a tennis court
(9) local access to a lake, large pond, or the sea
( ) your own pair of skis
( ) enough camping gear for a weekend trip in an isolated area
( ) a boat
( ) a jet ski
( ) a neighborhood committee membership
( ) a beach house or a vacation house/cabin
( ) wealthy family members
(10) two or more family cars
( ) a walk-in closet or pantry
(11) a yard
( ) a hammock
( ) a personal trainer
(12) good credit
( ) expensive jewelry
( ) a designer bag that required being on a waiting list to get
( ) at least $100 cash in your possession right now
( ) more than two credit cards bearing your name
( ) a stock portfolio
(13) a passport
( ) a horse
( ) a trust fund (either for you or created by you)
( ) private medical insurance
( ) a college degree, and no outstanding student loans
Do you:
( ) shop for non-needed items for yourself (like clothes, jewelry, electronics) at least once a week
( ) do your regular grocery shopping at high-end or specialty stores
( ) pay someone else to clean your house, do dishes, or launder your clothes (not counting dry-cleaning)
( ) go on weekend mini-vacations
( ) send dinners back with every flaw
( ) wear perfume or cologne (not body spray)
( ) regularly get your hair styled or nails done in a salon
( ) have a job but don't need the money OR
( ) stay at home with little financial sacrifice
( ) pay someone else to cook your meals
( ) pay someone else to watch your children or walk your dogs
( ) regularly pay someone else to drive your taxis
( ) expect a gift after you fight with your partner
Are you:
( ) an only child
( ) married/partnered to a wealthy person
(14) baffled/surprised when you don't get your way
Have you:
( ) been on a cruise
(15) traveled out of the country
(16) met a celebrity SCOTT GORHAM! BRIAN ROBERTSON! ERIC BELL! PHILIP LYNOTT'S MUM!
( ) been to the Caribbean
(17) been to Europe I have included this despite BEING IN Europe, because I have been as far East as the Czech Republic and Poland and as far South as Rome and as far West as Portugal.
( ) been to Hawaii
(18) been to New York
( ) eaten at the space needle in Seattle
( ) been to the Mall of America
( ) been on the Eiffel tower in Paris Couldn't be bothered. I fucking hate Paris. If Jimmy weren't there, I'd never go again for the rest of my life.
( ) been on the Statue of Liberty in New York
( ) moved more than three times because you wanted to
( ) dined with local political figures
(19) been to both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast If NYC counts as the Atlantic coast, certainly have.
Did you:
( ) go to another country for your honeymoon
( ) hire a professional photographer for your wedding or party
(20) take riding or swimming lessons as a child Swimming lessons weren't a big deal here, cos I think they were run by the council. Didn't do riding. I don't think they're comparable, personally.
( ) attend private school [through grade 9]
( ) have a Sweet 16 birthday party thrown for you
So, in conclusion... this is a weird list for me to fill out as it asks for a very North American concept of 'spoiled'. If I'm spoiled (and I possibly am) it's because I had a whole ton of different music lessons as a kid, have parents who have always been willing to pay for important stuff (ie, I never got the toys I wanted just because I wanted them, but brand new shoes and decent clothes were always given). And you know, some of this stuff is what The Grown Ups have anyway.
(1) your own cell phone
(2) a television in your bedroom
(3) an MP3 player
( ) a photo printer
( ) your own phone line
( ) TiVo or a generic digital video recorder
(4) high-speed internet access (i.e., not dialup)
( ) a surround sound system in bedroom
(5) DVD player in bedroom
(6) at least a hundred DVDs
(7) a childfree bathroom
( ) your own in-house office
( ) a pool
( ) a guest house
( ) a game room
( ) a queen-size bed or larger
( ) a stocked bar
( ) a working dishwasher
( ) an icemaker
(8) a working washer and dryer
( ) more than 20 pairs of shoes
( ) at least ten things from a designer store
( ) expensive sunglasses
( ) framed original art (not lithographs or prints)
( ) Egyptian cotton sheets or towels
( ) a multi-speed bike
( ) a gym membership
( ) large exercise equipment at home
( ) your own set of golf clubs
( ) a pool table
( ) a tennis court
(9) local access to a lake, large pond, or the sea
( ) your own pair of skis
( ) enough camping gear for a weekend trip in an isolated area
( ) a boat
( ) a jet ski
( ) a neighborhood committee membership
( ) a beach house or a vacation house/cabin
( ) wealthy family members
(10) two or more family cars
( ) a walk-in closet or pantry
(11) a yard
( ) a hammock
( ) a personal trainer
(12) good credit
( ) expensive jewelry
( ) a designer bag that required being on a waiting list to get
( ) at least $100 cash in your possession right now
( ) more than two credit cards bearing your name
( ) a stock portfolio
(13) a passport
( ) a horse
( ) a trust fund (either for you or created by you)
( ) private medical insurance
( ) a college degree, and no outstanding student loans
Do you:
( ) shop for non-needed items for yourself (like clothes, jewelry, electronics) at least once a week
( ) do your regular grocery shopping at high-end or specialty stores
( ) pay someone else to clean your house, do dishes, or launder your clothes (not counting dry-cleaning)
( ) go on weekend mini-vacations
( ) send dinners back with every flaw
( ) wear perfume or cologne (not body spray)
( ) regularly get your hair styled or nails done in a salon
( ) have a job but don't need the money OR
( ) stay at home with little financial sacrifice
( ) pay someone else to cook your meals
( ) pay someone else to watch your children or walk your dogs
( ) regularly pay someone else to drive your taxis
( ) expect a gift after you fight with your partner
Are you:
( ) an only child
( ) married/partnered to a wealthy person
(14) baffled/surprised when you don't get your way
Have you:
( ) been on a cruise
(15) traveled out of the country
(16) met a celebrity SCOTT GORHAM! BRIAN ROBERTSON! ERIC BELL! PHILIP LYNOTT'S MUM!
( ) been to the Caribbean
(17) been to Europe I have included this despite BEING IN Europe, because I have been as far East as the Czech Republic and Poland and as far South as Rome and as far West as Portugal.
( ) been to Hawaii
(18) been to New York
( ) eaten at the space needle in Seattle
( ) been to the Mall of America
( ) been on the Eiffel tower in Paris Couldn't be bothered. I fucking hate Paris. If Jimmy weren't there, I'd never go again for the rest of my life.
( ) been on the Statue of Liberty in New York
( ) moved more than three times because you wanted to
( ) dined with local political figures
(19) been to both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast If NYC counts as the Atlantic coast, certainly have.
Did you:
( ) go to another country for your honeymoon
( ) hire a professional photographer for your wedding or party
(20) take riding or swimming lessons as a child Swimming lessons weren't a big deal here, cos I think they were run by the council. Didn't do riding. I don't think they're comparable, personally.
( ) attend private school [through grade 9]
( ) have a Sweet 16 birthday party thrown for you
So, in conclusion... this is a weird list for me to fill out as it asks for a very North American concept of 'spoiled'. If I'm spoiled (and I possibly am) it's because I had a whole ton of different music lessons as a kid, have parents who have always been willing to pay for important stuff (ie, I never got the toys I wanted just because I wanted them, but brand new shoes and decent clothes were always given). And you know, some of this stuff is what The Grown Ups have anyway.