Walk Hard & Juno

Since I TOTALLY lag when it comes to watching movies, I figured I'll write about them, if I think of it, when I see them. Why the hell not right?
Lets start with Walk Hard. We watched this during our movie night in Havasu. They projected the movie on the side of the RV. I have to admit - thats a cool way to watch movies. Too bad the movie wasnt that great. Now, I'm not a huge fan of these types of movies anyway, but I've seen some I do dig - Talladega Nights, 40-Year Old Virgin for example I thought were hilarious. This one just didnt hit it at all for me. I'm a HUGE comic critic. I like good comedy and timing and delivery have got to be on it, or I probably wont enjoy it. Walk Hard was just stupid. I saw where it was trying to go (the "spoof" movie) but it just didnt cut it. It drug, the jokes werent that funny and I rarely actually laughed. Pretty sad considering this is a comedy right? I'm a huge fan of John C. Reilly. When he sang Mr. Cellophane Man In Chicago I wanted to die, so I did enjoy him singing in this movie. He did just fine as the character, but the movie just blew. I do want to give props to Jenna Fischer tho. She played the part of Darlene and she was quite funny. The cartoon acid trip scene was cute. Otherwise - thumbs down. I wasnt the only one who thought so eithier. A few of the people in the group I overheard making comments that they didnt really care for it eithier.
Now - Juno. I watched this last nite and absolutely adored it!!! I can understand now why it had so many Oscar nods. Ellen Page (Juno) was so cute, real, fantastic. Almost the entire cast was outstanding. Michael Cerna (Paul Bleeker) was darling. Jennifer Garner (Vanessa) was so sweet. She was totally OCD yet you felt for her. Allison Janney (Bren) played Juno's step mom and she was an absolute kick in the pants. Her character was fantastic. Right there with her was J.K. Simmons (Mac) Juno's dad. You completely fell in love with him. The way he handled the situation, the perfect dad. I also want to point out Olivia Thirby (Lea). She played Juno's best bud, and she was hilarious. Both Ellen and Olivia captured the high school attitudes. I think I'm getting sappy in my old age, because I found myself crying a few times during this flick. Happy tears of course. The only one I had a problem with was Jason Bateman (Mark). I like him, and have wanted to see him get more work, but he just didnt do it for me in the movie. I guess I'd call his performance flat. The story is about Juno gets knocked up by her HS boyfriend, and decides to put the child up for adoption to Vanessa/Mark. You then follow her thru her pregnancy, high school woes, crushes, finding herself, etc. I loved it. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside after the movie was over. I found myself longing for puppy love once again. The acting was fantastic, the screenplay was fantastic, the directing was fantastic and the music was fantastic. If you havent seen it yet I highly recommend it! A very feel good movie! (Did I mention the fantastic part? Apparently my word for this blog...)

Dreaming....

So last night I dreamed of Colin Firth. Ya, he's a hottie. He's not one of my main top hotties tho, but for some reason he popped up in my dream last night. We were at a lake (Havasu like) but it was surrounded by a forest. Trees, grass, flowers, birds - it was beautiful. I saw my friends on the boat. Colin and I were standing in the forest watching. Then we started kissing. I felt it. I felt it in my heart, my soul, my...well you know. We ran into the forest together to find a place to....well....you know. And we did. Oh did we. I woke up. I was so bummed when I woke up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tried so hard to go back to sleep, but as you know once your up thats it. I wanted to cry because it wasnt real. I think I was sad not for the fact that it was nessasarily Colin Firth (not that he was a problem in any way shape or form) but for the fact that I miss that. I miss kissing. I miss having a man in my life. I miss being held, wanted, loved, touched. I was so disappointed when I woke up. Sucks. But, I've moved on. But had to blog about it. Because now all day I have been fantasizing about him. .....sigh......

Fairie Readings

Continued from before......
She gave me a Fairie reading. It was a trip. The day before Sonia and I for fun were just flippin thru looking at the cards, this is a large deck mind you. I came across one that said Peace of Mind. "I want that one" I told Sonia, then didnt think twice about it. That morning (Day 3) Tish gave us our readings. You shuffle, then pick 3 cards. The 1st one is your immediate past - mine was Kick up your heals. It proceeded to tell me that I need to be with friends, have gatherings, throw parties, have fun. I loved it. I was cracking up because as you all know me - this is me - to a teeeee! Each card comes with an afirmation - this one was "I am spirited, playful and fun to be with. I create ways to celebrate with my friends" How perfect right? The 2nd card is your current. Now, this one I pulled out upside down. Apparently if you pull one out upside down that means you are blocking this and need to work on it. Its not a bad thing, but the fairies want you to be aware that you may be blocking this situation and to be open to it. Mine was New Opportunity. Of course - THATS the one I'm blocking. As you know, I've been struggling so much lately with my life - where I want to be, what I want to do, trying to find myself and figure it all out, trying to be positive, etc etc - and there it was. Right in front me. Its there guys!!!! Its right f-ing there!!!!!! I need to unblock, to be open - to see things! Why is this so difficult right now? Ok, enuff of the side rant - anywhoo - Tish was excited when I pulled this one and told me be as well and this was the afirmation I really needed to work on. So every day I need to step outside and ask my fairies for guidance. This afirmation is "I notice and embrace the new opportunites that are now in my life". Friends I'm asking your help on this one!!! The 3rd card is your immediate future. Are you ready for this - I pulled the Peace of Mind. I almost cried. Even Sonia exclaimed - "Thats the one you wanted!" Tish smiled. That afirmation is "My mind is now peaceful and I know that all of my needs are automatically taken care of. I can rest easily, assured that all is well". So there it is folks. I really believe that if I do embrace these new opportunities that are coming my way, I will finally have a peaceful head! Help me friends! Help me see these opportunities! I really do think that my battle for being positive is helping. I handled the Havasu trip so much differently then I could have, I came out with wonderful new friends and this really interesting reading. Help me keep an open mind....

Havasu

I'm starting to wonder if I'm actually cursed in the vacation department. Now - Havasu wasnt nearly as bad as Yosemite, but it sure wasnt what I was planning on.
We'll start with Day 1.
I arrive at Robert/Pierre's at 6:30am. So early. Keith/Katrina already there. We drive out to Norco to his parents place where the motor home is. Sonia/Tish arrive, the 7 of us pile into the motor home and head out. We're excited. It'll be fun. As we're driving its getting colder. Its raining off and on. I'm telling myself - it wont be this way in Havasu, I mean come - its Havasu! Wrong. We arrive in the rain. Yup. Pouring. We all separate to get set up in our different locations. Me to my own room, S/T to theirs, K/K to theirs, R/P to set up camp with the RV. The rest of the crew is arriving separately - Anna/Sergio, The couple with the little baby named Tatiana (but cant remember thier name...Carlos I think is the guy) & Ben. We get all set up. Its cold. Its pouring rain, I mean waterfalls comin off the canopy of the RV. Whatever. We drink the night away. K/K I'm realizing are going to be interesting- this is something I may blog on later, but right now lets just say I'm glad I got my own room for multiple reasons. Guess getting fucked over last minute worked out fine. S/T and me trek back to our rooms wet and tired, I say goodnight to the ladies and crash out.
Day 2. Sun is peeking thru my window. I get excited, I roll out of bed make my coffee in my little coffee maker I just bought for the trip and get ready to shower. No hot water and no water pressure. Fabulous. I take a freezing cold shower, hopping around, cursing then warming up with my coffee. I walk outside in my suit and shorts - its clouding up again. WTF. I take a walk, stroll down to the ladies room and we chat. Its now cold. I change. Its raining again. Fuck me. Day 2 consisted of visiting with people, eating, drinking and napping. The rest of the group arrived. Art/Raina and thier 3 boys. Another couple (names...jesus) and thier 2 little ones - a little girl (name...fuck!) and a little boy named Julio. The little girl befriended me, and sold rocks. She made a killing. I told her to hide her money and never ever let boys see it. Also during the entire portion of Day 2 R/P were working on the boat - yup - boat broke. I mean from 10am till 6pm those poor guys were at it. They eventually did fix it, but my god. I was back and forth to the boat and the site trying to mingle with all. I'm also back and forth with the BlackMeadow Landing people trying to get my hot water fixed. This takes about 2 hours of my day. S/T have now also informed me that one of thier wave runners is broken as well. Fabulous. This is starting to be a fanfuckingtastic time. I drink alot that night, go to bed.
Day 3. Sun is out. For real. Thank GAWD. My routine is the same, but now there is still no water pressure - but at least its hot. I wander down to the S/T room.
I'm going to interject here now and say that the best thing to come from this trip is I made 2 great new friends. Tish I've met quite a few times at the Bistro, but really got to know over the past 5 days. She's older then me, maybe in her 50's. She reminds me so much of my mom's neighbor Isabel. She's an amazing person. Sonia is a couple of years younger then me and very driven, confident and fun. We definatly plan on going out together in the future. Maybe we bonded cuz we were the 3 single women of the crew, but whatever it was these 2 women became wonderful friends and I'm looking foward to future experiences with them. Tish is also into Tarot cards, the intuitive and all that jazz as well as faires - yup. She gave me a Fairie reading. As I started blogging about it here, I realized its going to take another blog so look for that one next.....continuing with Day 3. Our little RV crew took the finally working boat out. When we stopped I got a little woozy so I hopped in the water. Freezing. Keith and Pierre roared with laughter at my face as I leaped back out. The boat was beautiful and fun to ride when it was moving, but when I got back to land I had to lay down due to my equilebrium issue. The rest of the afternoon I hung with the crew river front, chillin and drinking and chatting and napping. At some point Ben brought us a sampling of this pork loin Raina had made. Best fucking thing ever!!!!! That night we projected Walk Hard on the side of the RV and had movie nite. Stupid movie, great crowd tho. I go to bed dizzy and tired.
Day 4. Sunny again, still not that hot. This time we take the boat to London Bridge. This day blew. We get there, lots of waiting and no one making any decsions. We're waiting for some Brian dude and his crew. They decide to move again, this time with the slow boat moving combined with the fuel of the million other boats around us, I was done. When we docked I was sick, and I started crying. Tish and Sonia of course were right at my side. I eventually made my way into the restaurant we decided to eat at, and did feel somewhat better but never got 100%. The crew then ended up at the bar. (Naked Turtle). They were there for 4 fucking hours. I dont understand why. Its a bar. We have bars at home. Why the hell are we at the river at a bar?! We have free booze back at camp. I broke from the crowd shortly into the bar fest and found a quiet little table in the shade and sat alone for hours, just wishing we'd leave. Finally we did - I mean it was getting dark after all. Jesus. We get back, I still feel like shit. K/K are really under my skin. I was just not thrilled, nor was a few others. Whatever. Wasted day. They took the boat out for a little longer, and I found myself with our group at camp wishing I'd been there all day. This was the night that the stars were really out. My shitty day washed away as I gazed up into the night and saw so many stars. I saw at least 5 or 6 shooting stars. Art got to see his first one ever. Sonia and I went down to the lake and sprawled across the floaties staring up into the heavens. It was truly breathtaking.
Day 5. I'm so ready to go home. Of course we dont leave till noon because they take the boat out again. Whatever. I enjoyed my alone time, packing up, visiting with Anna, wandering around. Saying hi to the burros that finally decided to show up. We head home. All tired, but relaxed. Sonia, Tish and I exchange information. We load, unload, load, unload. If I decide to go again, IF. I will drive myself and bring a friend and only go if the weather will be what I like to call Havasu hot.
All in all, the trip was nice. I got away for 5 days. Didnt think about anything. I did find myself crying alone in my room a few times, and cursing at myself for doing so. I made some great new friends, saw some beautiful scenery, spent quality time with Robert and Pierre who always will hold a special place in my heart and realized some things about myself.

Life cut short

I came into work today and recieved some tragic news. Our web guy died. His name was Gregory, he was 35, married, lived and worked in South Carolina. Our relationship was pretty much always via emails. He did come out a couple of times, and I met him both times he was here. Quirky guy, computer geek, funny, nice. He and I always worked fine together. He lagged on getting back to some of my co-horts often, but for some reason he was always quite quick getting back to me. Maybe its because we joked, made funny comments to each other, I dont know. We got along fine. He was 35. Only a couple of years older then me. Emily tells me she got an email from his wife today, saying he passed away Sunday. I looked his name up online, and found the story. He fell. He was trying to close a window and he fell 2 stories and died on the scene. It was a total freak accident! My heart breaks for his wife and his family. You hear about tragedies every day. Horrible things that happen to good people. Then something hits closer to home. I didnt know Gregory well, but he was nice. He was funny. He was so young. Life is so precious. I know we're not all going to live forever, but you certainly think you have a little more time then that. Anything could happen. Your life can be snatched from you in a heartbeat. You never know. Apparently the funeral is today, so please send your love into the universe for his loved ones today. And always, ALWAYS treasure life. Its just to godamn short.

Across the Universe

*Spoliers!!*

I'll start out with the picture blogging first -

I cant seem to figure out how to put pictures where I want them, so I'll start from the top! #1 - I pulled this only for that fact that its such a beautiful romantic photo. It should be in my previous blog. #2 - Dana Fuchs - fucking amazing. I loved her voice, her attitude - its the part I would want to play. #3 - Jude - Amber's boyfriend - and a beautiful shot. #4 - One of my favorite scenes in the movie. The art and the passion in this scene was put together stunningly. #5 - Another favorite scene. I admit I'm a big fan of artsy water stuff, this was that. They all looked like dancers, it was lovely. #6 - A shocking cameo - Bono. I almost fell off the couch. I had no idea he was in this! #7 - The movie poster. Just cause. #8 - This scene sent me to tears. #9 - My boyfriend...the blonde - Max. Ya - I fell for that hottie. #10 - Another favorite scene and I fucking love this picture. #11 - Shocking cameo number two - had no idea Eddie Izzard was in it, and on top of that - his scene was my favorite Beatles song.

Ok then - Across the Universe. I've been hearing so much about this movie, but as most of you know me - I lag on watching the damn things. Amber came over last night for one of our movie nights and she brought this. I was so excited because I had wanted to see it, and so many people came up to me saying "Jami of all people you will love this movie". I never knew why. Now I do. I remember when Mel saw it, she said "It made me want to paint!". So here's my little mini review/synopsis/whatever - I'm just now writing about movies I see and books I read cuz I think its healthy. *Spoliers*

The voices in the movie were lovely. The artistic value was beautiful. The take on the sixties sent me over the edge. They hit so many different aspects - the Detroit Riots, the Columbia protest, the war. The all lived in an artistic commune - Sadie (Dana Fuchs) who had a raspy fantastic rockstar voice - very "Janis Joplin", Jo Jo (Martin Luther) a guitar player - very "Jimi Hendrix", Prudence (T.V. Carpio) a darlin little asian lesbian, then the main ones - Max (Joe Anderson) my new boyfriend, Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) and Jude (Jim Sturgess). Max and Lucy are siblings and Lucy and Jude fall for each other. Max gets sent off to war. This hurt my heart. All the "war" stuff they did of course brought tears to my eyes. I have an extreme hatred and emotional reaction to war. I will NOT watch war movies to this day as a matter of fact. The choreography they had when Max goes to get drafted was amazing and fucked up. Uncle Sam was singing "I want you". They took this Beatles song to a whole other level. The "She's so heavy" chorus part - the new drafted kids were carrying the statue of liberty. Throughout the rest of the movie when they'd show the brief war moments with Max I'd cry. When he was in the hospital they had an amazing choreography set up like Russian Roulette (each soldier...its like russian roulette) I absolutly loved the symbolism they had in this movie. They showed a brief scene from the Detroit Riots - a little kid singing "Let it Be", voice of an angel - also made me cry. But moving on to the fun stuff - I think one of my favorite parts of the flick, was when they all meet up with "Dr. Robert" played by Bono - this was totally reminiscent of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters - psychodelic bus and all. They also stopped at "Dr. Geary's place" very reminiscent of Timothy Leary and the odds Leary and Kesey were at back then. I about died - I'm a HUGE fan of Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Timothy Leary, William Burroughs, Allan Ginsberg - that whole scene - that whole time. Following that scene is a wacked out acid like trip to a traveling circus headed by Mr. Kite played by Eddie Izzard - you cant get better then that - combining my favorite Beatles song, Eddie Izzard and a flashback I didnt need one drug for! There was another scene I loved when Jude was upset and having a flip out session in is room with paint and strawberries running the same time with war shots with Max. The music, the cinematography, the passion of this scene was incredible.

SO - all in all - I fucking loved the movie. No there's not a whole lot of thinking or depth in this flick, but its stunning to watch, fun to listen to favorite Beatles songs, so so beautiful and hit on all the aspects of 60's - which as most of you know was the era I should have been born in (both my parents have told me).

Romance....can I have some please?

Obviously I'm not busy at work today, so of course I find myself daydreaming, fantasizing, longing for love, blah blah blah. Maybe its because I'm in a major dry spell. Maybe its because I haven't had a real relationship since my divorce, maybe its because I'm just horny, maybe its because even though I dont want to admit it - but deep down in my little romantic soul I really do want a little romance. I do. Not a lot. Just a sprinkling please. Just a little something...just something. So - in the meantime - some of my favorite love scenes are here. These scenes stick out to me for different reasons. I'll explain each (in no particular order btw):

1st - Jeremy Northam and Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma - when he confesses that he's loved her all this time the look in his eyes....I could just die.

2nd - Scott Speedman and Kate Beckinsale in Underworld - maybe its just because both of them are incredibly H.O.T. but damn.

3rd - Brad Pitt & Gena Davis in Thelma & Louise - if you've seen it you'll know. SMOKIN HOT

4th - Winona Ryder and Gary Oldman in Dracula - talk about romantic....rawr! Gary Oldman makes you melt. He can bite me anytime.

5th - Donna Reed & James Stewart in Its a Wonderful Life - that proposal scene is one of the most romantic things I've ever seen. I really dont know why.

6th - Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge - brilliant actors - they just make me want to break out into song.

I'm sure they'll be more to come, but for now there ya have it. Maybe someday I can be kissed like that.......