Things I've Done This Week

I went to see Ponyo. Not my favorite Hayao Miyazaki film but his retelling of The Little Mermaid is fairly delightful even though I think Sosuke's mother would have been reported to child services at some point for all that reckless driving... and leaving a five year old alone in the middle of a typhoon.




I also saw District 9. I'm sort of maniacal about spoilers so I didn't know much about it and suspected it might be some sort of Cloverfield-esque piece of poo. Oh how wrong I was. Strangely, I think I liked D9 more than anyone else I know that's seen it. The joy of reduced expectations, I suspect. The film also made me cry more than once. I'm really just... getting to the point of head asplode over how we treat each other and even though it was just a movie, I sat there thinking, "Well, of course this is what would happen."




I finished reading Phillipa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl. It was a bit of a chore getting to the finish of a 600+ page book when I knew how it ended, but the detail of life in Tudor England was beautifully done. I mentioned in another post what a jerk Henry VIII was. I sort of reveled in his piggish decline as the book wound down and his madness escalated. Next on the reading list: getting back to Anne Perry's William Monk series and checking out Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which comes highly recommended by a trusted friend.




Let's see, what else? I got called one of "Obama's Youth" and a communist in one sentence by someone I know and like. He wondered if I was reporting dissidents to the Kremlin (White House) over health care reform. So that was fun.




And finally, I watched both the Project Runway All Star Challenge and the premiere of season 6 last night. The All Star Challenge was a bit disappointing. I wanted Sweet P to win and couldn't believe they chose Daniel Vosovic for two reasons: that athletic shirt/bubble skirt combo seemed ridiculous and his restaurant dress with the vertical black tubing across the midriff looked like he was going for some sort of suicide bomber chic. Still, Daniel was the least annoying of the bunch and I was reminded how much I do not miss Korto, Jeffrey and, of course, Santino, who was so awful Tim Gunn said he contemplated cyanide.

As for season 6, there are so many contestants it's hard to tell where the show's headed. Already we have this season's Ricky Lizalde in the form of Johnny Sakalis, the ex-addict who spent much of the episode in tears. I think the irony is lost on no one that Ari Fish got the auf wiedersehen as she's a dead ringer for guest judge Lindsay Lohan's on again/off again girlfriend Samantha Ronson. I mean, they auf'ed her in favor of a dude who sent his model down the runway in a beige chiffon tent. A look deemed "unwearable" by the judges. La Lohan made for an opinionated judge. I guess designing leggings has really made her an expert in sartorial critique. My favorite looks of the night came from gender bending Malvin Vien and Kohl's designer Ra'mon-Lawrence Coleman. Why the judges loved this thing, I have no idea. Then again, Tom kind of liked it, too, so maybe it's just me.

Ok... that's it for this week in the life of LP. I read this morning that Trinny & Susannah have a new show on TLC that starts tonight. Oh yes, I am very pleased about this.

Is there anything I'm missing out on? Book, film and TV suggestions are always appreciated. Oh, I also watched Mad Men for the first time ever, but since the theme song was my favorite part of the show I figured it's best not to discuss and irritate all my MM loving friends.

A Witch Hunt For Another Girl

The Cure - New Music - More Music Videos

If you read Velocity, you'll find out tomorrow that I planned to spend this summer writing a YA novel. Now the summer's half gone and all I've managed to do is move two miles down the road and stare at my monitor a lot while listening to "Sweet Home Alabama" (yes, that's what's playing right now, I am a hick).

I have been doing loads of research, though, or so I call it when I feel guilty for sitting around reading Evermore or watching Make It Or Break It.

However, most of my days are spent across the pond in merry old England as I'm in the midst of making my way through The Other Boleyn Birl and catching up on Skins as I eagerly await the season three premiere on Thursday. I'm also watching The Tudors at bedtime and come to think of it, that might explain why I'm having such weird dreams lately.

Life in the UK sure has changed in 500 years. England in the 1500s seems like no place to be. Even if you're a courtier, life pretty much sucks and there's always someone scheming to take your place. Henry VIII is kind of a jerk, too, always sleeping around and ordering beheadings and hangings. I bet he'd be wearing Ed Hardy if he was alive today. I find it interesting that all the political tension and violence centers around religion, something true since the dawn of time, I suppose, and obviously true today. Makes you wonder if we'll ever all just get along.

Modern day Bristol, where Skins is set, is no picnic, either, come to think of it. If one thing hasn't changed, it's that where there's youth, there's drama. I'm going to miss Tony, Sid, Maxxie and Anwar as we head into a new series of the show with all new characters, save Effy. I'm sure the new lot have just as much trouble, angst, sex and sadness headed our way. I think Skins is one of the best shows to depict the realities of being a teen and of course it's all set to fab music.

I know my teen years seem a lot better in retrospect when replayed against a backdrop of The Cure, Bauhaus, et al. I can remember them as somehow rosy when I know they were really just a series of embarrassing events that included lots of boy rejection, watching kids blow pot smoke in a guinea pig's face, buying beer and driving my friend's mother's car when I was 15, sitting in the middle of the street drunk while Liz and Clint made out in the bushes, and so on and so forth. There were good times, though: running through the park at night, driving through downtown Dallas hopped up on speed listening to Guns n Roses, walking in on the panther backstage at the Motley Crue concert (my friend Steph was engaged to their pyro dude), the first time I heard Robert Smith's voice, putting baby powder on my face and laughing with my friend Amy about how we'd always want to look as pale and wan as possible.

Maybe someday I will capture these moments in words that make up a story that someone can read but in the meantime I'll just say goodbye on a night like this...