More Pixar goodness!

I totally geeked out about this! Check it out!



I LOVED the first two films (especially the second one) and I am SO EXCITED for the third! I have complete faith in the people at Pixar to stay true to these awesome characters. Plus, isn't this teaser trailer AWESOME!

Obviously, I'm still geeking out here. :)

"Up"-lifted

For as long as I can remember, my test for an exceedingly awesome movie has been this: if I lay awake at night because I'm still thinking about it, then the film has that elusive x-factor that takes it from great to out-of-this-world fantastic.

Last night, I laid awake thinking about Up.

I don't even know where to begin. I suppose the most fitting word - on so many levels - is BEAUTIFUL.

I'm not just talking about the animation, though that's a good place to start. The animation was fantastic, of course, but then this is PIXAR we're talking about, the computer animation geniuses/wizards/magicians who routinely set the bar for technical brilliance and then sail far above it on their next film. Honestly, it's redundant to even say "Pixar" and "incredible animation" in the same sentence. I can't think of a single moment in this movie that wasn't a visual wonder.

But with Up, "beautiful" goes way beyond just the visual aspects of the film. The people at Pixar are MASTERS at the art of storytelling, and once again they have created wonderful, relatable characters that you just can't help but feel for. You laugh with them, you cry with them, you gasp audibly when they are in danger.

On the point of characters: A lot of speculation went on before this movie came out about whether or not people would be able to relate to the protagonist, a 78-year-old curmudgeon named Carl. Well, let me answer with this: after the 4 1/2 minute montage of Carl and his wife Ellie, my heart was with Carl completely. I cried at the end of that montage; I seriously believe that if your heart doesn't break a little at that point, you're not truly human.

As with any storytelling, the power of the story comes from the heart that is put into it, the moments the audience gasps and thinks "Yes, that is absolutely real. I've felt that, I understand that." There were so many moments like that in Up, but there were a few that still come immediately to my mind, and they are especially incredible because they are done completely without words. At one point in the montage, Carl and Ellie learn that they can't have children, and we see an image of the couple silhouetted in a doctor's office, Ellie's head bowed in despair. In the very next shot, Ellie sits in front of her house, her eyes closed, her face upturned, the wind blowing her hair. In that one moment, I could see such pain and sadness but also such radiant strength that my breath was taken away. I'm getting tears in my eyes right now as I write this.

I could go on and on about Up, but I think you'd all be better served by just going out and seeing this amazing movie for yourselves. I'll just leave you with my final word: Up is storytelling at its finest, a film in which the technical brilliance is only outshone by the radiance of the story's heart.

Actually, being green ain't that bad...

Today's Special: Weed rat - rotisserie style (also try some weed rat stew)

In my perfect world, theatre (as in professional stage productions) would be just as popular as movies and TV, and everyone would know (and care) that the Tony nominations were announced yesterday.

Of course, this isn't my perfect world... which is why chocolate is still fattening, Star Trek is still considered geeky, and pale is still not considered cool (no matter how hard Twilight tries to make it so).

So I'm the only one among my circle of friends who is really, really excited about the Tonys. Usually, even I don't care much about these particular awards, but this year I actually know one of the shows that is up for awards: Shrek the Musical.

Now, I haven't actually seen the show. I'm still kicking myself for not attending one of the performances here in Seattle, especially since I could have seen the awesome Brian d'Arcy James (Shrek) and Sutton Foster (Princess Fiona). But I have listened to the soundtrack MANY times, and I am in love with the music (not to mention Brian's voice... *sigh*), so I'll be rooting for Shrek the Musical when the Tony's are awarded on June 7th.

Among the eight nominations that the show earned are nominations for Best Musical (!), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Brian), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Sutton), and Best Actor in a Featured Role (Christopher Sieber - Lord Farquaad).

By the way, here's an interesting bit of trivia. Apparently, the committee that nominates people/shows for Tonys seems to like green-skinned characters. In the past several years actors playing three different greenified characters - Elphaba from Wicked, Frankenstein's Monster from Young Frankenstein, and now Shrek - have been nominated for Tony awards. Actually, make that FOUR greenified characters, since Princess Fiona is an ogre too... at least part time. So yeah, being green ain't that bad- on Broadway, at least.

In celebration of all the nominations, here are a few of my favorite songs from Shrek the Musical.

First, here's "Who I'd Be." This song was the first one I heard from this musical, and that was all it took to set off the obsession.



And here's "I Know it's Today," one of Fiona's songs:



And finally, "More to the Story," a Fiona song that was, unfortunately, cut from the show. I don't know why... it's actually one of my favorite songs from this musical.

A Trekkie's Trepidation

Today's Special: Any one of these three beverages: tea, Earl Grey, hot; raktajino (Klingon coffee); and coffee, black. Also all the gagh you can eat.

OK, I just want to get this out in the open right away:

I am a Trekkie.

And by Trekkie, I mean hard core. I've been a fan of Star Trek practically since birth; in fact, Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) began in 1987, the year I was born. At age seven, I had a complete set of TNG action figures. When TNG ended, I moved on to DS9 and dreamed about ordering a drink at Quark's and watching the wormhole from the Promenade. And of course, I cheered on Captain Janeway as she led the crew of Voyager and became the first female captain to star in a Star Trek series.

All those years of watching Trek has given me a store of knowledge and trivia that would make most of the non-Trekkies in the world shake their heads in wonder. If you tell me about an event from TNG, DS9, or Voyager, I can probably give you the episode name and the season number. I know what the Prime Directive is. I can recite the entire Borg assimilation speech and Seven of Nine's complete designation from memory. I could make an impassioned, fact-based argument for why Janeway would kick the asses of all the other captains if they were in a fight. I even know the standard drink order for Picard, Sisko, and Janeway. No doubt there are Trekkies who know more than I do, but I think I have enough Trek cred (and, therefore, geek cred) to be considered a bonafide Trekkie.

And still, I'm unsure about the new Star Trek movie. I haven't seen it yet, but based on the articles I've read and the trailers I've seen, I have my reservations, and they boil down to two main things:

1. I'm not a big fan of The Original Series (TOS). That might be considered sacrilege, but TOS was really before my time. I grew up watching TNG, DS9, and Voyager. (Don't talk to me about Enterprise. Just... don't.)
2. I'm afraid - really afraid - that the movie creators are going to sell out the fans.

More than almost any other fandom, Star Trek owes its life to its fans. After all, a letter-writing campaign to NBC is what save the series in the first place and allowed TOS to reach the magic number for syndication. In reruns, more fans fell in love with the series. The fans made Star Trek into the cult hit that it has been for over forty years.

These fans - and as I said, I count myself among them - are almost universally considered members of the upper eschelon of geekdom. People call us outsiders and freaks for embracing a futuristic fantasy world with aliens and space battles and time travel. But we don't care. We've formed our own fan communities, where we can be around other people who know the difference between a Klingon and a Cardassian and with whom we can discuss the finer points of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. Despite the teasing, despite the eye rolls and the mocking laughter, we've stuck with Star Trek through the years.

I don't think it's too much for us to ask that the Powers That Be in the Trek franchise could return the favor and stick with us as well.

However, it doesn't seem like this new movie is really going to be for the fans at all.

First off, director J.J. Abrams, despite having some geek cred of his own for conjuring up the hit sci-fi show Lost, is NOT a Star Trek fan. Apparently, the Star Trek higher-ups are trying to reach out to the non-fans, and that means bringing in a director who doesn't have any particular need to hold onto certain aspects of the canon or the universe that Trekkies have come to love over the years. Maybe, they think, if we eliminate the things that might alienate the "normal" people out there - the non-fans - then we can get a broader audience.

OK. I understand that. But here's one thing they don't understand.

We're the geeks. We've spent our lives being shunned. And to be honest, this feels like one more instance in a long history. The Star Trek execs are like that friend who abandoned us for a chance to sit at the cool kids table. And so we sit alone, clutching our combadges and our action figures and hoping that our old friend will eventually realize we're the true friends - the ones they really want to keep.

I get trying to reinvigorate the franchise. But alienating your fanbase is not the way to do it. Give us a new series with strong characters and an intelligent, interesting premise. Give us a reason to feel excited about Star Trek again. Show us that you aren't out of ideas, that there are still interesting corners of the Trek universe to explore.

Give us a reason to believe, Star Trek Powers That Be. When you do, I promise you that your faithful fans will not disappoint you.

Just please, stop trying to trade us for the cool kids, OK?

I love this - check it out!

For Your Listening (and Viewing) Pleasure: Boom De Ya Dah, from the Discovery Channel

Olympic Update

Some of the AWESOME feats that have occurred already in Beijing:

• US men beat the French in the 4X100m freestyle relay with an UNBELIEVABLE final leg by Lezak! "Smash them," huh? Time to eat your words!
• Michael Phelps wins the first 3 of 8 gold medals. In the latest gold, he left the entire field behind and smashed the world record in the process.
• The US not only wins the women's fencing saber final, but SWEEPS it - gold, silver, bronze.

Stay tuned for more awesomeness!

Let the Games Begin!

The 2008 Beijing Olympics have begun at last, and if the 8/8/08 opening date has anything to do with it, these Games should be lucky indeed.

The Opening Ceremonies, at least, were absolutely awe-inspiring. I've wracked my brains for adjectives great enough to describe beauty and wonder of the ceremony, but everything I think of seems small and unworthy when compared with the event I'm trying to describe. I'll just list some of the many amazing things witnessed during the Opening Ceremonies (I can't list EVERYTHING, or this post would be PAGES long):

• First of all, the Bird's Nest Stadium itself. The place is completely original and absolutely beautiful in its deceptive simplicity. And it's HUGE too!
• 2008 drummers (that's right, 2008) all drumming in perfect rhythm.

• The giant scroll on the floor that opened up into the world's largest LED screen
• The dancers who became human calligraphy brushes
• The Tai Chi performers (2008 of them, again) who formed a giant, filled-in circle around a group of schoolchildren. As one announcer noted, try getting ten friends together and having them to stand in a circle. It's not easy.
• The Parade of Nations, especially:
• Lopez Lamar, the United States flag-bearer, who survived genocide as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and went on to become an Olympic athlete.
• Yao Ming carrying the Chinese flag alongside a nine-year-old survivor of the Sezchuan earthquake survivor who went back into the rubble of his schoolhouse to save two of his friends.

• The Torch Lighting - oh my word. It was incredible. Li Ning, a former gymnast who is still one of China's most famous athletes, was literally lifted into the air and carried around the top of the Bird's Nest by wires as he "sprinted" past images of the Torch Relay that were projected behind him. Then, the giant cauldron (see picture at top) appeared out of the side of the Bird's Nest and was lit by Li. AWESOME.

All I can say is, if the Opening Ceremonies are this amazing, I can't wait for the rest of the games. I am, of course, going to be watching as much Michael Phelps action as I can, but I'm one of those crazies who will watch EVERYTHING in the Olympics. Its the only time that I find myself cheering on athletes in sports like wrestling, badminton, beach volleyball, and rowing (to name a few). I've already watched Michael Phelps dominate in the Men's 400 m, seen Australia's Stephanie Rice hold on to win the Women's 400, cheered on Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh as they beat the Japanese team in an early beach volleyball match, and applauded as Team USA put on a strong show in the early days of the Men's Gymnastics competition.

I am SO excited for this!