Wednesday, March 28, 2012

me today

I’ve noticed lately that when I go to bed with a wet head that I’ll wake up with my hair being all curly and full of body. Or rather, more so than it normally does. The weather today is great, sunny and warm with gusty wind - conditions which could only make my hair more awesome - so I wandered outside for a few pics.

I never realized how hard it is to take a picture of yourself with a phone. I’m used to doing with actual cameras with timers that you can sit down and have a few seconds to pose. That, plus the really bright sun, made it kinda hard for me to smile better. Oh well.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Hammer, meet head of nail

It’s been a while since I did the personality profile thing over at COLORGENICS. I’m willing to believe that something shysty is going on somewhere somehow but however they do it every time I’ve taken the test the results have been eerily spot on.

Name:Ben Aliff

Date:Friday 23rd 2012f March 2012 02:50:29 AM

Colorgenics Number:XXXXXXXX

You don’t need anxiety and problems. All you really seek is a conflict free environment which can offer peace and mental security. You don’t like the idea of being alone and, whatever the reason, at this time of your life you feel as if you are being ‘left out’. What you really need is perhaps some ‘tender loving care’.

At this time you ‘need to be needed’ and again you ‘need to need’. You have had this feeling for some time now and you are looking for someone who could share a close bond in an atmosphere of shared intimacy. You have the belief that with the right person you could conquer the world.

Matters are not progressing as well as you would have hoped and you are having to make concessions - but you still believe that your goals are realistic it’s just that people can’t seem to see your point of view. You know what you want but you’ll only accept suggestions under duress.

All the distress and agitation is the result of attempting to avoid any form of stimulation or excitement. The situation in which you find yourself at this time is one of hostility and therefore you are under considerable pressure. You are very irritable and prone to angry outbursts. You are in a mental quandary and you could be experiencing physical problems.You are very distressed by the apparent hostility of everyone around you and you feel coerced and subjected to intolerable pressures. You are resentful of what you regard as unreasonable demands on you but the situation is such that you feel powerless to control it and at this time you just don’t know ‘which way to turn’.

You are completely worn out and you are not in the mood for any further demands on your resources. The situation - such as it is - has rendered you quite helpless, unable to continue the mental battle that you have been pursuing for some considerable time. Enough is enough. All you would like to do now would be to have some time for yourself, to find a peaceful situation where you can recuperate in your own time.

Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.

It doesn’t tell you anything you don’t already know but having it in front of you in black and white, summed up concisely, can save on second guess work. Plus it’s fascinating to me that something as simple as picking colors in a certain order can give such an accurate result - if that is indeed how it’s done and not some sort of internet shenanigans.

Go see how it works for you. I’m gonna go pout now.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

some of the nicer things in the back yard


This is the first year the cherry tree has bloomed. It's been growing in the compost heap for a few years. I just figured it was another poplar tree.



I always liked how a forsythia bushes add a nice punch of yellow to the usual pinks and greens of Spring.


The plum tree has been putting on some amazing displays the past few years.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Drove dad to his eye doc at 1pm. Still there. Losing will to live. Maybe just sleepy.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Under the Moons of My John Carter Review

Under the Moons of My John Carter Review

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Saw John Carter (OF MARS) at the matinee showing yesterday. I wanted to wait a bit and let everything sink in before I talked about it. Granted I’m biased, A Princess of Mars was one of the first books I ever read and loved so I didn’t want to come off all fanboy gushy. Seriously, the only thing I don’t like about it is the title and how badly the movie has been marketed. Yes, it’s chock full of crazy action and freaky aliens but at it’s heart it’s a love story - exactly the sort of thing Disney should have been playing up when they couldn’t figure out why women weren’t interested after seeing their shitty trailers.

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It’s been so long since I read it that I don’t know exactly what did or didn’t get adapted exactly. I do know that a few elements from later books got included and that it made for a much more cohesive movie. There were a few missteps here or there with how some of the secondary characters acted, but that seems more to do with the studio trying to shoehorn in as many tropes as possible to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Whatever nitpicks I may have had were blown away by this film being exactly what my 11 year old self imagined when I read the books.

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I’ve read a few reviews that complained about the movie’s length and how 10 to 20 minutes of talking scenes could have been trimmed out. Maybe, but I had no problem with that at all. Even when there’s lots of dialogue, 1) it’s usually relevant in some way, either to explaining the world or for developing the characters, or 2) there’s something amazing on screen to look at. The CGI is top notch. The green Martians are so well done and just a joy to watch. The baby ones are completely adorable. The air ships are stunning and seem truly alien but at the same time kind of clunky and low tech. And Woola, the eight-legged lizard dog… Woola FTW!

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Saturday, March 3, 2012

All the running around and delicious food has worn me out. I'm nodding off at my desk so I guess I'll just go to bed. Lame.