what a strange and distant land
I'm not sure why it is, but whenever my dad's family has a get-together on a particularly hot day, my grandparents always seem to cook soup, which is what happened on Sunday. Their house already felt like a pressure cooker, and yet they were feeding us piping hot egg drop soup; as you can guess, a combination of the two pretty much made you want to die. I don't take to the heat very well, so I mostly sucked on ice chips, which resulted in a lecture from my grandmother about how my not eating her food made her feel sad. Boo. I just can't win.
But, in an effort to escape the heat, my uncle, cousin, and I sought refuge in the nearby movie theatre, which meant that I finally saw Star Trek!
The extent of my knowledge about Trek prior to going in was, A) Red shirts are always the ones to die, and B) There's some kind of hand salute where your fingers look like a V. In other words, close to nothing. But that said, I totally enjoyed it! The story was engaging and for the most part easy to follow, the pacing was good (with the exception of the Spock Prime stuff which I felt dragged a little), and oh my gosh, everything was so pretty! I love how the aesthetic of this movie is so different and singular compared to the other major films out this summer. While those are dark and gritty, as you would expect from post-apocalyptic universes, this one is about hope: hope for new discoveries, for new relationships, for a (literally) brighter future. And I've read a lot about what people have considered overuse of lens flares, but to be honest, I ceased to notice them about half an hour in, I was so immersed in this world.
Spock was probably my favorite character, but I loved them all. I just hope if there's a sequel, it'll be more of an ensemble piece and that characters like Sulu and Scotty will receive the greater screen time they deserve. Oh, and Spock/Uhura? Yeah, I ship it. Loved that scene where she says goodbye to Spock before he and Kirk are beamed out, and the look on Kirk's face when he finally learns that her name is Nyota. Spock's all, "No, I will not discuss my hot girlfriend with you." Question: Do you think that Spock and Uhura were an item prior to the mission, or that they only began to express their love once all of the shit went down? I thought it was the former, but I learned from listening to the latest Creative Screenwriting Magazine podcast with the screenwriters that it's meant to be ambiguous. I'd love to hear what you all think.
Other things... oh, I got a kick out of seeing some Abrams television alumni, like Rachel Nichols (Uhura's roommate Gaila) and Amanda Foreman (it was a tiny one line part, so I don't know her character's name, but she was wearing red and yet did not die!). And apparently Greg Grunberg lent his voice to Kirk's stepdad? It would have been weird to actually see him in the role since he seems like such an affable guy in real life. (Come on, he was Weiss on Alias and tried to hock Smoothaise on Felicity! Him + Jerkiness =/= Sense) Wait, and the red matter was like the floaty red ball that caused Sydney Bristow so much grief! And Slusho! Abrams, you sneaky bastard you. But seriously, Madea? No, thanks. Not quite a dealbreaker, but that needs to be shut down nonetheless.
I know that most people have been fawning over Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, as they should, but can I just say that Bruce Greenwood (Captain Pike) is a gorgeous specimen who has aged very well?
If he came up to me and asked me to join Starfleet, I would do it in a heartbeat. He even makes me kind of want to watch John From Cincinnati even though the show's existence inadvertently killed my beloved Deadwood. I'm not going to deny that seeing him in a wetsuit isn't a draw for me.
Anyway, final verdict: This movie was awesomecakes, but a point or two has to be deducted because there weren't enough ladies in it. You are known for having kickass female leads in your projects, J.J., so I trust that you will amend this shortage in the sequel, yes?
Has anyone else read the Kiki Strike books by Kirsten Miller? I know that zombres mentioned wanting to read them, but I don't think I've come across anyone else who has even heard of them, which is a shame because they're such fun reads! They're witty and exciting, and they deal with themes of teamwork, friendship, loyalty, and female empowerment in such a smart yet unassuming way. They're the kind of young adult books I'd love to see more of, ones with strong and fully fleshed-out teenage girls who aren't defined by popularity or prep school bitchiness (though there are some rich girl antagonists) or boy drama, but who use their smarts to save the day. I breezed through the first two books as soon as I got my hands on them, and now I'm waiting on pins and needles for a third. So, so good!
Of course, no entry of mine as of late would be complete without some mention of baking. Things that I've made recently: blueberry crumb muffins, brown butter brown sugar cookies and crispy oatmeal cookies. The first two came out wonderfully, but I was underwhelmed by the last recipe. I think I prefer my oatmeal cookies to be soft and chewy, whereas these were crunchy and dry and thus not quite as satisfying. The rest of my family seems to be of the same opinion because there are still a few of these cookies left while the others were finished off pretty quickly (my dad alone ate eight muffins, or half of the batch). What should I try next? I'm thinking about making Rice Krispie treats. I haven't had one of those in ages...
Finally, I want to say hello to the people who have recently friended me. I'd love to get to know you all, but I'm too lazy to type out one of those formal surveys that usually accompany these "get to know you" posts, so feel free to just say a few things about yourself, whatever you like: where you're from, your favorite foods, Beatles or Rolling Stones, unique talents, that sort of thing. The more obscure the information, the better! And that goes for long time friends, too.
But, in an effort to escape the heat, my uncle, cousin, and I sought refuge in the nearby movie theatre, which meant that I finally saw Star Trek!
The extent of my knowledge about Trek prior to going in was, A) Red shirts are always the ones to die, and B) There's some kind of hand salute where your fingers look like a V. In other words, close to nothing. But that said, I totally enjoyed it! The story was engaging and for the most part easy to follow, the pacing was good (with the exception of the Spock Prime stuff which I felt dragged a little), and oh my gosh, everything was so pretty! I love how the aesthetic of this movie is so different and singular compared to the other major films out this summer. While those are dark and gritty, as you would expect from post-apocalyptic universes, this one is about hope: hope for new discoveries, for new relationships, for a (literally) brighter future. And I've read a lot about what people have considered overuse of lens flares, but to be honest, I ceased to notice them about half an hour in, I was so immersed in this world.
Spock was probably my favorite character, but I loved them all. I just hope if there's a sequel, it'll be more of an ensemble piece and that characters like Sulu and Scotty will receive the greater screen time they deserve. Oh, and Spock/Uhura? Yeah, I ship it. Loved that scene where she says goodbye to Spock before he and Kirk are beamed out, and the look on Kirk's face when he finally learns that her name is Nyota. Spock's all, "No, I will not discuss my hot girlfriend with you." Question: Do you think that Spock and Uhura were an item prior to the mission, or that they only began to express their love once all of the shit went down? I thought it was the former, but I learned from listening to the latest Creative Screenwriting Magazine podcast with the screenwriters that it's meant to be ambiguous. I'd love to hear what you all think.
Other things... oh, I got a kick out of seeing some Abrams television alumni, like Rachel Nichols (Uhura's roommate Gaila) and Amanda Foreman (it was a tiny one line part, so I don't know her character's name, but she was wearing red and yet did not die!). And apparently Greg Grunberg lent his voice to Kirk's stepdad? It would have been weird to actually see him in the role since he seems like such an affable guy in real life. (Come on, he was Weiss on Alias and tried to hock Smoothaise on Felicity! Him + Jerkiness =/= Sense) Wait, and the red matter was like the floaty red ball that caused Sydney Bristow so much grief! And Slusho! Abrams, you sneaky bastard you. But seriously, Madea? No, thanks. Not quite a dealbreaker, but that needs to be shut down nonetheless.
I know that most people have been fawning over Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, as they should, but can I just say that Bruce Greenwood (Captain Pike) is a gorgeous specimen who has aged very well?
If he came up to me and asked me to join Starfleet, I would do it in a heartbeat. He even makes me kind of want to watch John From Cincinnati even though the show's existence inadvertently killed my beloved Deadwood. I'm not going to deny that seeing him in a wetsuit isn't a draw for me.
Anyway, final verdict: This movie was awesomecakes, but a point or two has to be deducted because there weren't enough ladies in it. You are known for having kickass female leads in your projects, J.J., so I trust that you will amend this shortage in the sequel, yes?
Has anyone else read the Kiki Strike books by Kirsten Miller? I know that zombres mentioned wanting to read them, but I don't think I've come across anyone else who has even heard of them, which is a shame because they're such fun reads! They're witty and exciting, and they deal with themes of teamwork, friendship, loyalty, and female empowerment in such a smart yet unassuming way. They're the kind of young adult books I'd love to see more of, ones with strong and fully fleshed-out teenage girls who aren't defined by popularity or prep school bitchiness (though there are some rich girl antagonists) or boy drama, but who use their smarts to save the day. I breezed through the first two books as soon as I got my hands on them, and now I'm waiting on pins and needles for a third. So, so good!
Of course, no entry of mine as of late would be complete without some mention of baking. Things that I've made recently: blueberry crumb muffins, brown butter brown sugar cookies and crispy oatmeal cookies. The first two came out wonderfully, but I was underwhelmed by the last recipe. I think I prefer my oatmeal cookies to be soft and chewy, whereas these were crunchy and dry and thus not quite as satisfying. The rest of my family seems to be of the same opinion because there are still a few of these cookies left while the others were finished off pretty quickly (my dad alone ate eight muffins, or half of the batch). What should I try next? I'm thinking about making Rice Krispie treats. I haven't had one of those in ages...
Finally, I want to say hello to the people who have recently friended me. I'd love to get to know you all, but I'm too lazy to type out one of those formal surveys that usually accompany these "get to know you" posts, so feel free to just say a few things about yourself, whatever you like: where you're from, your favorite foods, Beatles or Rolling Stones, unique talents, that sort of thing. The more obscure the information, the better! And that goes for long time friends, too.