Books books books!

I like books. I also like buying things that are inexpensive.

I was at Chapters last week looking for a hot pink Bible (!!) and I found one that was terrific. But alas, it was $40 and that seemed a little steep for something that could almost fit in my back pocket.

So I checked out this online bookstore called Better World Books that I had bookmarked months ago but never really looked at... I found the same Bible for $20. Then I found out that international shipping is only $4 regardless of the destination. Then I also learned that they use carbon-free shipping (which I'm not exactly clear on but I know it's better for the environment) and a portion of the money I spend on every single book goes towards charities that focus on worldwide literacy, etc. So it was basically a triple-whammy and I got super excited and felt excellent whipping out my credit card for a package of goodness that will arrive in 7-10 days and is $15 cheaper in total than the same thing Chapters offered (without much customer service, may I add..).

So pretty much what I'm saying is forget about Chapters. Except for magazines because they're pretty cheap anyways. Even though my annual bill for my Elle Canada subscription is only $12 for 12 issues. As for books though, I'm totally sold on this site. The link is http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

And in case you're wondering about what their selection could possibly be like if they're so cheap, check out this photo of their warehouse. Crazy.





Also, get your hands on "Hallelujah" by Kate Voegele. She has the voice I've always dreamed of. And in case you like theatre, Les Miserables is playing at the Arts Club and it looks great. Bard on the Beach is doing Othello and three others this summer; their link is to your right. I really like recommending things, apparantly.

Some interesting ditties

"Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar." -Edward R. Murrow

"Suspense is like a woman; the more left to the imagination, the more the excitement." -Alfred Hitchcock

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it." - Mark Twain

"If we cannot be our brother's keeper, at least let us not be his executioner." -Marlon Brando

"All that we can take with us is that which we've given away." - It's a Wonderful Life

"One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." - Plato

"before we fall asleep..."

We’re all busy. Meditating monks in their cells are busy. That’s adult life, filled to the ceiling with things that need doing. (It seems only children and the elderly aren’t plagued by lack of time—and notice how they enjoy their books, how their lives fill their eyes.) But every person has a space next to where they sleep, whether a patch of pavement or a fine bedside table. In that space, at night, a book can glow. And in those moments of docile wakefulness, when we begin to let go of the day, then is the perfect time to pick up a book and be someone else, somewhere else, for a few minutes, a few pages, before we fall asleep...


I'm far to busy to write anymore, but this is from Yaan Martel's letter to Stephen Harper. He sends him a book every two weeks and you can see them all if you click on the appropriately titled link somewhere to your right.

In six weeks I never have to sit in a lecture hall again and then hopefully I'll get back to this thing because life will be exciting and full of beaches and skydiving or something.

Christmas anti-materialism

Well apparantly I get bored of pretty much everything I try to do, such as this blog. However, since Christmas is looming (and this year, for some reason, I'm getting really into it) I thought I'd share some delightful holiday goodies....

First, check out this ballin' website: http://www.adventconspiracy.org/
The video on the main page made me cry, and I think they've got some sweet ideas.

Also, I was in Oregon for a girls' youth retreat last weekend and this kid Austin came out to speak about this organization he started when he was 9 called Hoops of Hope. I wont explain it since the site already does that, but it's a sweet organization to keep in mind! http://www.hoopsofhope.org/

Burn After Reading

I went to see Burn After Reading last night, it's that new Coen brothers' film. What I heard before I went to see it was that they wanted to do something light and silly after last year's No Country for Old Men (which is probably the only film that compares with Citizen Kane in greatness, but that's another story) and they did it. What I read after the film was a review that gave it a B+, which I think is pretty accurate.

It's not a film to watch if you want a mint plot, because the plot is pretty Coen-ish in that it's bizarre and doesn't conclude like the perfect American cinematic attraction, but that's what I like about their screenwriting and directing - it doesn't cater to people who are only in the theatre for brainless air conditioning. The characters are what really makes the film worth seeing - they all nail exactly who they need to be to interact to create the banter and hilarity (is that a word? I like the sound of it) of the film. It's sort of difficult to reccomend this one to a wide demographic; I'm completely unaware of who reads this blog (if anyone) so I can't really say "go see it!" if my youth kids are reading this (hey kids, I love you) because it's SO full of swearing. I don't really mind it because I've watched my fair share of Scorcese and Coen films, and in this one a lot of the time they twist the language to make the words themselves pretty funny.

So if you don't mind the language and you're the kind of person who watches films for characters more than plot, this is worth seeing in theatres. Brad Pitt knows how to pick a roll, Francis McDormand is so talented, and George Clooney just may be the last gentleman Hollywood movie star. The Coens have this knack for creating films with beautiful dark humour; Fargo was so dry and O Brother Where Art Thou was so lively, but Burn After Reading sits right in the middle, which I love.

The Dog Factory

So I'm taking this really cool film class called The History and Aesthetics of Cinema before 1945, which is right up my alley and so I'm enjoying it a lot. The cinema was up and rolling by about 1896, when little theatres showed short films that were usually only one take and anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes. At this point, the cinema wasn't based on narrative, plot, character, cinematography - instead, because it was so new, it was dubbed the "Cinema of Attractions" because people went to the cinema to watch this new invention, not to watch a significant film. After a couple of years, the films were still usually only a couple of takes, but instead of featuring something simple like a train going by or a couple kissing, they had little plots that were usually silly and had some sort of trick effect.

One of my favorites was done by Edison and is called "The Dog Factory." The great thing about these early films was that they often weren't copyrighted and so some of them are available on YouTube, like this one.

I loved it - it's clever and I laughed in my lecture. Here it is.

Titus Andronicus / Art Gallery

I saw Titus Andronicus at Bard on the Beach this weekend. it was pretty fab, probably the best executed of the plays in terms of visual spectacle - The Tempest had some sweet strobe lights and bubbles but Titus had guts, neck stabs, and slit throats, and it all looked pretty dang good. If it's not sold out, perhaps go see it if you like revenge and some good old fashioned gore. Both Titus and Tamora were beautifully acted! Tamora is pretty hot for a villian. Actually, her lewd sons are pretty fine too, and don't wear their shirts very often. You just have to put up with rape and murder if you want to check out their abs, but it was worth it.

Also, if you're a full time student, it's only $35 for an annual Vancouver Art Gallery membership. If you're not a student, it's $60, which still isn't bad because if you go three times a year then you've gotten your money's worth... but totally a steal for students. I just bought mine online, so if you think this is as fantastic as I do, the Art Gallery link is in that little favorites menu on my right toolbar/menu-ish thing.

Besides that, life is completely opposite of the summer. The summer was poo. I worked with stupid people and I disliked that very much. But now it's Autumn (almost) and it's sort of nice to be back in pants and scarves, even though I haven't gotten used to wearing shoes instead of sandals yet. I'm taking pre-1945 film and it's a pretty sweet class so far. I'll probably gab about it another time.


Oh, also, this winter at the Carousel Theatre, they're putting on "Seussical the Musical" which is a Dr Suess musical. I'm all over this one like jam on toast.

The Tempest!

I went to see The Tempest for my birthday this weekend - it's the third Bard on the Beach installement I've gone to see so far. It's one of my favorite of Shakespeare's plays to read because it's very poetic and whimsical (Romeo and Juliet is still the best though, and Richard III was awesome because he was so conniving). It's the only play Shakespeare wrote with no inspiration from a previous source as well - usually he took an idea or a play and wrote it different to make it more "blockbuster" - for example, King Lear was originally a comedy and he made it tragic for shock factor. The Tempest was solely from his imagination, and it shows. When he wrote, even if his ideas weren't really his, he transformed them into something so complex and beautiful because of the language, and in this play all of those complex and beautiful lines were embodied in the show itself.

The basic premise of the play is that Prospero used to be a Duke, but his brother usurped his title so Prospero and his daughter Miranda live on an island with Ariel, a sprite, and Caliban, a sort of half beast-half human. Prospero has magic powers so he causes a shipwreck, stranding the usurping brother, some friends, and his son Ferdinand on different parts of the island. It's a comedy, and it was comedic for sure.

Two comedic relief characters were changed to girls for the production, which I actually really liked because it created a lot of awesome sexual tension and humour which wouldn't have existed otherwise. Also, the play was full of whimsy and fantasy - masks and bubbles and strobe lights and acrobatic fairy dancers. If you're a boy, you'll still like it - I went with a very manly friend and he liked it, so never fear.

What was super cool about it was the creativity that was used. In King Lear, the tragic elements were really pumped up, in Twelfth Night, the comedy was amazingly enhanced, and in The Tempest, the fantasty is embodied really nicely. You'll see what I mean if you go, but the stage management was awesome, and the way humans were used to create boats and storms was really neat.


Plus, the play is full of sweet lines - my favorite is:

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep." (Act 4, Scene 1)

treelight room

My favorite place in the whole world is Green Bay Bible Camp because I've been going since I was a little kid and every year has brought me something new. I've marked my life by summers and the Okanagan was the biggest presence of every season. No matter who I was with or what I learned or what we did, every year I came home with a head full of stories and a heart full of life. I was there this weekend and it was different - it was adult, it was complex, it was experimental, and it was a different Green Bay than what I had as a kid. But, even though it was strange and different, I brought things home in my head and things home in my heart and I made new friends and did new things. I met a girl named Lyric and she's in a band called treelight room and their music is different and individual and puts ideas in your head and life in your heart, so I thought I'd give them a plug because they remind me of the beach and the giant tree that I stood under as an eight year old as I held my kid brother's hand and watched the waves.

treelight room

The Dark Knight

I saw The Dark Knight yesterday. It was very good, but also sort of overrated. Everyone else saw it before me, and I said I didn't want to know anything about it. Instead, all I've heard is "it was so awesome" for weeks now.

It was awesome.
But not that awesome. The undertones were underrated, the overtones (?) were overrated.

A girl I worked with said she couldn't sleep because of the Joker. I think that's silly. I wanted to hug him after that hospital scene cause his getup was so dang adorable.

Also, because I didn't want spoilers, I was NOT aware of the whole Harvey Dent face situation. I have a phobia of fire and burn scars and even though his didn't look like a burn as much as an Evil Dead film, I still had a very long series of panic attacks. I'll probably never see the last half of the film again because of this. Nightmares ensued.


But, despite my complaints, it is worth seeing in theatres and Heath Ledger is deserving of an Oscar. And yes, I would say that if he was still alive. Plus, Christian Bale is a fox.

Also, I liked what the film said about human nature, etc. etc., until the scene between the two boats of people. I sympathised with the Joker when he was talking about the city protecting that man as they dealt with the hospitals as well, how if a criminal or army squadron was to die in place of a hospital of people nobody would bat a lash because those are the sort of people who are supposed to die for the 'plan.' I liked that. It made sense. I also liked how he talked about causing trouble for the sake of having fun instead of for personal gain. Obviously he was a cinematic example, but I find that when I instigate trouble it's to entertain myself with witty comments or mild disagreement with those I don't like, rather than sneaky tactics to get ahead. I think people do that universally - we enjoy being a pain in the ass. This is probably the only logical solution in explaining morning traffic.

People are born inherently evil - if we weren't, why would we need a God? Why would one exist? Maybe you don't agree with me on this one, but there isn't a doubt in my mind about that, so there isn't a doubt in my mind that we aren't as great as we make ourselves out to be. Which is why I thought the Joker was awesome, because he acnowledged that full force. Everyone else tries to cover it up with happy endings and heroes, even if the hero is drop dead sexy.

Anyways, I was loving the undertones until that boat scene, because I don't believe that both groups of people would have reacted like that. We all fight to live because we fight for everything else along the way, whether it's a promotion or custody of the kids or merging in front of that semi on the highway. Nobody is chill, nobody sacrifices.


Dang Harvey Dent's eyeball ruining it for me.

Sucker

So I know I've talked about him before, but I really dislike Banksy for several reasons, and I find him hugely overrated. However, the only aspect of him that wasn't overrated, in my opinion, was that for years he's managed to put up street art in some hardcore locations without getting caught or even photographed - nobody knew who he was. Well sir, now that's down the drain too.

Banksy's identity in Time magazine

Take that, Banksy!

My body is as absurd as my mind

Things that I'm allergic to:

-Cotton candy, because it makes me ill for days on end
-Green tea, because it gives me these insane intestinal spasms that I have to keep pills on hand for
-Fake Christmas trees, because there's something in the plastic that makes me break out in a body rash
-Caffeine, because it means I itch, can't gain muscle weight, and have mild attention-deficit
-People (I'm serious), because I'm allergic to the protein that our skin and hair omits - kind of like 'live' dust.

Conclusions:

-I am hungry at the fair, I don't get enough anti-oxidants (I hope that doesn't come back to punch me in the face one day), I dislike holidays for more than their materialism, I am a student who can't wake up, and I am miserable in malls and theatres.

Good times. I guess it's better than wheat, dairy, or normal-people allergies...

Film class!

This week I registered for my second-last semester at SFU, but the really exciting news is that I'm taking The History and Aesthetics of Cinema until 1945. I get credits for WATCHING BLACK AND WHITE FILMS all semester! I have a friend who took the post-1945 class, so structure-wise I know what to expect - I get to choose a film of my choice to discuss for my final paper, which pretty much means I get to talk about how the way a film looks reflects it's content and themes. So obviously I'm going to do Citizen Kane. I am so much more excited for this class than I am for pretty much everything else I'm excited about right now, except for seeing Spenser because I'm going a little crazy.

I also cut my friend Jonny's hair into a mullet last night.



Annnnnnd that's pretty much all I have time to say, because I'm being bombed with wartime term papers. World War II was poo, don't study it - study something interesting and NOT overrated, like Africa.

Twelfth Night

This past week I went to see the second play I have tickets for for Bard on the Beach: Twelfth Night. When I read it earlier this year, I found it funny and loved the wit between some of the minor characters, but I didn't think much else about it and put it back on the shelf when I was finished. Seeing the play brought the text alive because of how well they pulled off the comedy. The play is set in the 1920's with an old Hollywood feel - the costumes for this one were amazing. The entire show was bright and lively, but the performances of Ryan Beil as Sir Andrew Augecheek and Andrew Wheeler as Malvolio stole the night. I don't have time to say much else, but it was better than Lear, and that's saying a lot.

King Lear at Bard on the Beach

The line up for Bard on the Beach this year is fantastic, and because I read all of the plays this year, I bought season tickets. The plays are King Lear and Twelfth Night on the main stages, as well as Titus Andronicus and The Tempest on the studio stages.

Yesterday I went to King Lear, which was the first of my tickets and to be honest, the one that I was least excited for. King Lear is probably the most tragic of Shakespeare's plays for a couple of reasons. For one, the plot is unreal - King Lear banishes his favorite daughter (the only one who isn't evil), goes insane, watches his corrupt daughters turn on each other, watches all three of his daughters die, and then dies of a broken heart himself. Sorry for spoiling that, but if you haven't read it after 400 years, I'm not going to tip-toe around it. Secondly, when Shakespeare wrote the play, he adapted it from a similar storyline - but in the original, things look like they're going to fall apart but work out in the end. Original audiences went into the Globe expecting reconciliation and were slapped in the face with disaster - they weren't prepared for it at all. I guess it would sort of be like watching Forest Gump and instead of the great ending, some serial killer comes out of the woods and bludgeons everyone to death.

Last night's rendition was a pleasant suprise. I didn't read anything about the production before I got to Vanier Park, and I'm glad I didn't. For one, the play was set in modern times with a very minimalistic stage - the only props were Lear's wheelchair and a vacuum cleaner. I thought that was great because one of the main themes of the play is "nothing," or "no thing" - yes, it's symbolism for how women have no "things." Cute, Shakespeare. So needless to say, I loved the way they played with the theme in a material way. Also, they emphasized the comedic elements of the play - Shakespeare is famous for combining comedy with his tragedy, tragedy with his comedy, etc., and because the original production seemed like it was going to end well until it didn't, I thought it was cool that they put in so much humour last night.

One of the highlights for me was the music - there was a girl who did percussion (a funny xylophone, cymbals, bongo drums, etc.), a guy who played upright bass, and on occasion, members of the cast rocked out with their accoustic guitars when everyone on stage sang. When I read Lear, I never really focused on the funny little ditties, but the production brought them to life and gave everything a very tropical feel. That was really awesome considering behind the set, the tent curtains were drawn, giving everyone an amazing view of the bay and Sunset Beach across the water. Let me tell you, watching Shakespeare, the ocean, and the sun go down as you listen to sweet beachy music will remove all doubt in your mind as to why you're living in Vancouver.

What really pulled the play together, however, was the performance of Christopher Gaze as King Lear. He's also the Artisitc Director of Bard, and his talent totally shines - everything from his posture to his speech to the way he conveyed emotions even if it was only through his eyes was perfectly done, especially considering Gaze is probably in his 40s or 50s, and Lear is elderly.



So, hopefully after all of my gushing, you're frantically looking for ways to get your hands on tickets. They're $33 and you can buy them from bardonthebeach.org.

King Lear was probably the best play I've seen in my whole life (which is actually saying a lot. I've seen about a dozen in the past couple of years, and they included Jesus Christ Superstar and The Diary of Anne Frank) and considering it was my least favorite of the four to read, I am now almost ecstatic to see Twelfth Night (set in the 1920s with a Hollywood feel), The Tempest (my favorite play ever! I'm going for my birthday, and it's set in the seventeenth century with a string quartet), and Titus Andronicus (which also has a modern setting, as well as a parental advisory. It's awesome).


Please go. I'll love you more.

Kimbob (!!!)

I was reading the Georgia Straight once last year and I came across an article about this mint little Korean place down on Seymour. They sell kimbob, which is a seriously awesome name (and reminds me of Hanson's "Mmmbop" song) and a seriously awesome food. My life became so much more epic after I found that article. Kimbob is the Korean version of sushi, but it's made with sesame oil in the rice so there's more flavour... you don't really eat it with soy sauce. It's also packed full with way more delicious goodness than regular sushi, beacuse they put in ham and egg and stuff like that. But the best part of kimbob is when you order it, you also get soup and salad - and the total for everything is $4.99. That's pretty insane. I almost didn't believe it, but then I ate it and it was mind blowing.

So if you need food one day when you're downtown, go visit Kimbob E Ramyun (423 Seymour St.).

<3

Ten things that changed my life:

10. "Your Song" by Elton John and "Time of Your Life" by Green Day

9. Salvador Dali's "The Temptation of Saint Anthony"

8. English 347 (American Lit before 1900) with Dr. Everton at SFU

7. Death Cab for Cutie

6. Going to Paris, Prague, and Germany

5. Green Bay Bible Camp

4. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

3. The day I picked up a paint brush

2. My mother's heart

1. The day someone asked my Grandpa what the highlight of his life was and he answered, "Margaret"



What are yours?

Dali on concrete

I have a lot of strange life goals, and one of them is to paint a massive mural on the concrete field in Burns Bog. I don't remember what used to be on the concrete (some sort of building) back in the day, but it hasn't been there in ages and a big, fat field of concrete is just chillin' real lonely in the Bog now. It's right around the 72nd Avenue overpass in Delta (the one you drive over to get to Highway 91) and it's home to a lot of havoc (ie. highschool kids wanting to party). Under the overpass is a pretty major spray spot, but everyone paints over it all the time and I want to leave my mark in a more memorable way.

I've brainstormed endlessly (mostly because when I wanted to do it last year I didn't get around to it, and the weather needs to be nice because it takes awhile) and I've decided to paint Salvador Dali's face - the photo is pretty much the most famous one taken of him. I want this to be MASSIVE - I'm going to have to grid it out with sidewalk chalk and roll it on before I get the detailing done. I figure Dali is a good choice because he's my main man as far as twentieth century art goes, and his mustache is just plain old dang awesome. I want to do it alone, but I guess I'll need a spotter because the Delta Police will probably have a beef with me - but the way I see it, the field is uglier than most ugly things in life, and it could use some cheering up. Plus, it'll be visible by Google Earth. How cool is that?

Answer: so cool we'll have to measure it in Kelvins.


Here's the photo I'm going to use.

Super duper Spider....dancer?

I had to Google superhero images at work yesterday for my PowerPoint, and this is the first one that came up for Spiderman. It's totally flamboyant and not at all strong and hero-ish, but it was hilarious so it has a home on Slide #19.

In other Internet news, I was goofing off on YouTube last night with Spenser and he showed me two hilarious videos, check them out, especially if you think kids are sort of cute.

"Charlie Bit Me"

"Buhlud"

Work and words

Today at work, Nancy and I are planning all of the music for our VBS programs this summer - I'm doing the PowerPoints of the lyrics and she's making up actions for the songs. She was reading over this one song and said, "these lyrics suck. What does being invincible have to do with Jesus?" to which I responded, "you do know what 'invincible' means, right?" She answered, "of course I do - it means you can't see him!" This is why I love working with her.

Our office also looks like a jungle. We weren't too pleased on Monday when we had to rip out carpets and empty the sanctuary for the painters because we were dressed all pretty and were already stressed about what we were supposed to be doing - plus, the lack of gloves when we were getting rid of the carpet made us pretty typically female and catty. Our solution was to move all the plants from the sanctuary into our office temporarily, instead of putting them into storage. It looks pretty ridiculous, not going to lie.


Random and unrelated conclusion to this post.... here are my three favorite words:

-Euphemism - the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.
-Relapse - this is the name I sign off with when I wheatpaste or spray around Delta
-Interstate - it was in a line from a Death Cab song, I think it's interesting