Wednesday, August 31, 2005

"I'm going to the 2010 Olympics...could you try not to like squish me?"

"This is about feeling strong and beautiful for once in my life."

Ice Princess is the most heart-warming movie on the year by far. Okay, so maybe I haven't seen it and never will, but I'm pretty sure I've seen the trailer at least a thousand times. Don't ask. It features Kim Cattrall (of "Sex in the City" fame) and Joan Cusack (of being John Cusack's sister fame) and of course, the fresh-faced talents of Michelle Trachtenberg. Since I haven't seen anything more than the preview, I'm not positive, but I think the premise is that nerdy Michelle Trachtenburg, despite being around sixteen already and way past the age one would have begin skating seriously to have a shot at accomplishing anything, somehow figures out the exact mathematical formula for a triple axle or some similarly complex skating move. Then, having mastered the formula, she manages to pull one off in real life and quickly becomes a serious skater with a coach and all that crap before making an improbable run at Olympic glory. Her character's name is Casey Carlyle, which is a fantastic name and it's only a "family" movie after all, so we'll let the insanity of that premise slide. What really bothers me about the movie is Michelle Trachternberg herself. When did she get so old? And more importantly, when did I get so old? She was the little girl from "Pete and Pete" and Harriet the Spy and now I see the trailers for Euro Trip and they're using her as a sex symbol. It's pretty creepy. I mean, we've all seen actresses move from children's roles to more mature parts. I watched Christina Ricci, Kirsten Dunst, and numerous other young actresses grow into adults. The difference is, they were my age. When they were kids, I was a kid and we grew up together. Now there's this whole crop of actresses who I'm appreciably older than, who were children when I was a teenager, who are all grown up and half-naked on screen. It's pretty surreal. Let's not even mention the kids I actually knew in person who are in college and dating boys and having sex now. Time likes to mess with your head, kids. Be wary.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

coming out of the gate

This font is called Lucida Grande. That should be an indie band or a song on the new Brand New album. I must change the title of this blog soon. Writing Rainbow??? How dumb is that? I am officially not allowed to make puns anymore. Hold me to that.

My students will be setting their blogs up in class today. I hope they have clever usernames in mind. "Snake Griffin" was already taken. I cried for twenty minutes.

Is this post long enough? I think mine have to be longer since I'm the instructor. Lead by example and all that rot. But, really, isn't it about quality rather than quantity? I'm sure that's what I'll hear now when one of my students turns in a paper that doesn't meet the page requirement. Regardless, though, this entry has been filled with loads of insightful commentary and witty repartee. Note the sarcasm. Note that I'm stopping now.

Send in the Clown?

I haven't blogged in a long time, but I wanted to jot down some thoughts I had about the movie Joker . There will be spoilers. For me,...