Guy Pierce in Drag, and Abba!

Totally random one that had been sitting on my queue for a while: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert!

For those totally unfamiliar with the movie, it's the story of two drag queens and a transsexual who are driving from Sydney to Alice Springs (middle-of-nowhere Australia) to do a show at a hotel there. They encounter engine troubles, small town residents, closed mindsets, aborigines, tourists and other hazards of the Outback! (PS - The titular Priscilla is the old tour bus they are driving, which picks up a nice coat of pink paint along the journey.)

OK, the most memorable part of the movie by far is certainly the costumes. A very well-deserved Oscar for Costume Design here. You see several different shows that the characters put on, and never is a costume repeated, on any of the 3 performers! It's some impressive design work!

The acting is awesome, too! It's great to watch the leads, since all 3 have done so many other well known characters. Hugo Weaving is the 'main' character, the one organizing this trip into the desert, and we've all seen him in Lord of the Rings (Elrond) and the Matrix (Agent Smith). Terrence Stamp does a wonderful job with the transsexual role, Bernadette. For those that don't recognize the name, he's been around for-ev-er and has done all sorts of roles (including General Zod in the Superman movies). Very sensitively played. And then there's Guy Pierce in one of his first movie roles, 3 years before L.A. Confidential. All 3 leads are well done - no one is too cliched or ham-handed. Guy Pierce of all 3 is the most stereotypical, but he works with his character well, and becomes very believable.

Other things you notice about the movie, are the great scenery they are driving through (including a canyon they hike in full drag) and the music in the background. Both are wonderful touches - very fun.

Overall: 4.5 of 5. Even Zach admitted that though it wouldn't be the first movie he'd EVER pick up off the shelf just because (or 2nd or 3rd or 500th), it was a very entertaining one.

I was bad...

I actually bought yarn for me.

I'd been so good too! I'd been working from my stash recently, and had been sooo good about not bringing new yarn into the house (note: swap yarn does NOT count!). Of course, it helps that the nearest yarn shops are about 1 1/2 and 2 hrs away, and even Wal-Mart's 45 minutes away. If you can't stop by a store, you can't buy, right? Only so much online shopping for yarn I can do - loses something if you can't handle it first! But, anyway, I'd been so good!

And then Friday hit.

My workplace, which has been undergoing tons of repairs this past winter and had FINALLY started getting back to normal, is having problems again. We're once AGAIN dealing with repairs, our regular schedule thrown for a loop, with no estimated end to the craziness. And so, I was frustrated, to say the least. To make things better, though, I was frustrated "in town" instead of on post, so had the opportunity to go yarn shopping before making the long trek back to our isolated little outpost in the desert.

A sweater's worth of yarn later, I was heading back home :)

But, it's not impulse yarn! I know exactly what I want to make with it!

I fell in love with Mara, from one of Berroco's newer booklets (#284, if you care). So cute!! So on Friday, when I stopped by the LYS to buy the pattern booklet, I also picked up the Comfort I need to make it. It's a beautiful dark teal-peacock-type blue - very very pretty! The picture below doesn't do it justice :\

Well, if things don't ever return to normal at work, at least I've got new knitting to keep me busy :)

H is for...

Hiking!

This is an activity that has picked up a lot since meeting Zach. As he says, he sees a hilltop and it just calls to him "Come stand on top of me!" And so, he has to climb whatever hill or trail he finds, and I have to tag along to take pictures :)

We've also been hiking more since moving out here - we don't have civilization in this part of CA, but we do have a lot of National Parks. Looking back through pictures from the past few years, we've been hiking in some very diverse places: Appalachian woods in SC and VA, rocky desert in CA and NV, canyons and mountains in UT, and giant sand dunes in CA. Still to come, more CA desert (of course) and CA mountains. Big Bear has some nice hiking areas we want to check out, since they're right off the Pacific Crest Trail (out west's equivalent to the AT for my friends back home). Then, wherever we move next, we'll find the good spots there! No Army post is so completely surrounded by city that there isn't some hiking nearby - goodness, even Ft Story in Va Beach has state parks all around it! May not be mountainous hiking, but it's still hiking :)

The pictures in this post are, from top to bottom, hiking at Angel's Landing in Zion National Park, UT; at Paris Mountain State Park outside Greenville, SC; at Kelso Dunes in Mojave National Park, CA; and at Owl Canyon, near Barstow, CA.

Review: Ladyhawke

A childhood favorite, that it took honestly freakin' forever to find on DVD. (Don't even get me started about great movies which should be on DVD already and aren't) But, I have it now, and it is appreciated :) So here you go: Ladyhawke.

The story centers on Phillipe "the Mouse" Gaston, a pickpocket who, when escaping from the dungeons of Aquila, is saved from a manhunt by Etienne Navarre, a mysterious exiled knight travelling with a hawk. As Phillipe begins to travel with Navarre, he learns that the knight and his lover are under a terrible curse. She is a hawk by day, human by night, while he is human by day and a wolf by night. Phillipe begins working with Navarre and a crazy monk named Imperius to travel back to Aquila, kill the corrupt bishop who enacted the curse, and hopefully free the pair from the spell.

The casting in this is great. I loved Rutger Hauer in this movie, and haven't seen another of his English roles that I liked as much (I haven't seen Blade Runner,though, and I've heard that's pretty good too). And Michelle Pfeiffer is just, quite honestly, one of the most beautiful people that ever lived. I like Matthew Broderick in other movies he's done, but this is still my favorite role of his. Imagine Ferris Bueller's running commentary on things, but with a bit more heart and a bit less sarcasm.

Love the writing in this. Matthew Broderick (Mouse) is basically the narrator. It's not a voice-over narration, more of a running commentary on the happenings surrounding him. Leo McKern (Imperius) has some of the best lines, several of which have entered part of the family vocabulary (yes, a good friend thinks that our family has it's own little language - movie like this are a good portion why he thinks so!). Some of our favorites:

• "Walk on the left side!" Honestly, we cannot say anything about 'doing ___ on the ___ side' without saying it in that voice.
• "She flew away. God's truth, she flew away!"
• "Not unlike escaping Mother's womb. God, what a memory"

Watching this again recently, it makes me wonder what this would be like if made today. There's so much in this movie that could have been overdone with CGI. I guess my take on CGI is that when used subtly or sparingly, I enjoy it. it helps all the fantasy stories I like come alive. However, it's very VERY easy to overdo it (the 3 newest Star Wars, for example). So, in some ways, I actually like the transformations here better. I just get the feeling that if this was made in 2005 instead of 1985, we'd have overblown transformation scenes like in the average werewolf movie (or even like in Harry Potter 3). We'd probably have a movie that just used CG animals, instead of real ones, too... Bah, I'll stop wondering about that one - it's depressing me!

Over-educated musings: The city that these adventures focus on is Aquila, which is Latin for Eagle. Was that intentional, with all the focus on birds of prey in the movie? Seeing as the Latin for "Hawk" is "buteo" and much less poetic sounding as far as words go, maybe? Or maybe I had too many years of Latin and think too much :)

Trivia: Alfred Molina plays Cezar, the trapper. It was an early role of his. This role's just a little after he was the guy killed in the opening temple chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark. That's right, he's the "Throw me the idol" "Throw me the rope" "Throw me the idol!" guy. (Did you catch either of those, Anne?)

Biggest downside: The music score. It fits, but at the same time, certainly dates the movie to mid-1980s. I'd love to see a classical score fitted to it. At the same time, though, it's not bad music. Just could be more timeless.

Overall: 5 of 5. Not a deep movie, but fun, with beautiful scenery, a good romance, and some really memorable lines. Ranks up there with The Princess Bride for one of my favorite fun fantasy movies.

Easter Greetings!

G is for...

Goofball!

You know that whole reputation cats have about being aloof and regal and majestic? Yeah, Scruffy missed the memo. This is one of the goofiest cats I've ever met. Don't get me wrong - we love him dearly. But seriously! What cat sleeps like this?? And that's just the start of his peculiarities! He's certainly an entertaining little furbeast. So, to celebrate G is for our Goofball (and since I haven't posted any cute pictures of the fuzzies recently) here are several pictures to justify Scruffy as the goofiest cat I've ever met.

Knitting Knews :)

So, two main projects on the needles now:

Of course, the Baby Blanket of Eternity. I don't even bother taking pictures now - you can never tell I've done anything :\ Yeah, it's at that point in the process. Still, I know I'm making progress, even if I can't tell right away!

But, cast-on-itis struck again, and I've begun a Shetland Shorty. I'm using Magic Stripes from Lion Brand, one of those self-striping sock yarns. The colorway is red and black and white, and appropriately called Lumberjack Black. All the reviews on Ravelry say Shetland Shorty is a nice quick lace pattern, and I'm hoping that's true. One can never have too many cute little shrugs :) Especially in a place like this, where it's soooo hot outside in the summer, but still so air conditioned inside (well, everywhere but my office!) Gotta have something to cover those shoulders when it cools off! It's all Raveled here. :)

Here's the yarn for the Shorty:

And here's how far I've come: