Waiting on Sister Girl to arrive

[cleolinda]

So, the mouse is still in residence, but the cat has discovered him (her?). Fortunately or unfortunately, whichever way you prefer to look at it, the cat hasn't been able to catch him, but we (the cat and I) have definitely been spending a lot of quality time together. Particularly at night. The way I figure it is, apparently the mouse is smart enough to stay out of my room when the cat's there, and that's sufficient for me. Meanwhile, I'm still cleaning, and I've probably gotten further in a week than I got all last summer. What my mother suggested was that I pick a given area of my bedroom (keep in mind that I have four large bookshelves, a dresser, a large closet, several boxes of unsorted crap, and an under-bed area to tackle) and work on it for an hour at a time. At the end of an hour, I can walk away and do whatever I want. As simple as the concept is, it's actually working for me, because I think one of my unspoken fears about heavy-duty cleaning is that it'll take over my life and I'll be shackled to a garbage can for days at a time, unable to escape until I've gone through every single thing I own and made the Sophie's choice of whether I get to keep it or have to throw it away. When you rephrase the task as "Spend an hour alphabetizing your CDs and then walk away," it's much easier to swallow. And since I've got this mouse hanging over my head (uh... metaphorically), I keep coming back for another hour, and then another. So... thanks, Reep!

(Why alphabetize the CDs? you're thinking. Isn't that unnecessarily fussy? Well, because most of my music is on my computer now. The CDs need to be straightened and arranged on a rack, so alphabetizing means I have them in a nice library format whenever I need to pull one out, and since I rarely touch them anymore, it's an order that can be easily preserved. I would never bother alphabetizing books, because I'd never be able to keep them that way. Although I do tend to group them loosely by author and genre--top shelf, right left side of room is historical biographies; top shelf, right side of room is fantasy, with a corner set aside for Harry Potter books.)

Anyway, it's a slow, sweltering Memorial Day weekend, and not much else is going on beyond cleaning and writing oh God help me I am so bored. Linkspam:

'Laugh-In' comic Dick Martin dies at 86.

Buffett sees "long, deep" U.S. recession.

Parents claim racism in Harper Lee's Ala. hometown.

FDA warns of harmful nipple cream.

Spatterdashes for the Discerning Lady. Omg openwork leather steampunk mitts and spats! (I love collecting steampunk fashion links, particularly on Etsy. Even if y'all never see what's in my notebook, it's like production-designing Black Ribbon in my head.)

'Dollhouse' Fans Campaign to Save Show 8 Months Before it Airs.

First review of Viva La Vida/Death & All His Friends. I know the title is hugely pretentious, but the Coldplay iTunes commercial has me really, really wanting to hear this one. (Too bad my computer hates any Apple software more complicated than Quicktime. I tried to install iTunes the other day, just so I could browse the site, and Betsy 2.0 crashed halfway through the download.)

Indy Grosses $126 M... since midnight on Wednesday, with an additional $25M projected for tomorrow. Also: Cinematical Seven: Indiana Jones Influences, and io9 weighs in: "Plus, why did putting the crystal skull inside a burlap sack prevent it from being magnetic? Oh I know: probably the same forces that made gold and gunpowder ferromagnetic in the movie. The force of crap."

Winner of Cannes' top prize is unanimous; French docudrama wins top honors at Cannes; Live from Cannes: Boos for 'Palermo Shooting.'

Harry Potter star Robert Knox knifed to death in row over mobile phone. I really hate the way this story has been reported, or at least the reductive nature of headlines, because almost every one I've seen has been something like "Harry Potter star fatally stabbed." So then you go OH MY GOD WHAT? WHO? And then you read the article and go, "Oh, wait, it's some new kid in a minor role we haven't even seen yet, never mind." And that's a horrible, callous, inadequate reaction to have to someone young dying violently, and yet the bait-and-switch nature of the headlines leaves you almost no other way to respond.

New Dark Knight Photos; Gary Oldman Interview.

David Fincher's Potential Masterpiece - 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.' I'm really intrigued by this one, and a couple of y'all brought in some interesting info: corkdorkdan figured out that the trailer music is "The Aquarium" from "Carnival of Animals," and robyn_ma supplied a link to the original short story (Fitzgerald? Huh). Don't worry about spoilers there--the story sketches out the basic concept and takes it through to its logical conclusion, but it's far lighter than the movie seems to be--the movie reminds me a lot of The Fountain for some reason I can't put my finger on. (Maybe because Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett were the original leads on that one, actually.)

Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro's Hobbit webchat; McKellen, New Zealand location confirmed for Hobbit films.

Sneak Peek: 'Quantum' Boat Chase With James Bond And Camille; Avon And Arterton Team For Bond Girl Fragrance. The fragrance, created by Firmenich, evokes the glamour, confidence and sensuality of the famous femmes fatale of the Bond franchise. The scent is a sexy cocktail of velvety florals, cool freshness and warm woods. It features top notes of velvety white peach and orange blossom followed by mid-notes of jasmine, calypso orchid and freesia. The drydown consists of amber, cashmere wood and patchouli. Bond Girl 007 is housed in a sleek, seductive bottle reminiscent of a woman’s body. The cap is a stealthy homage to a Bond spy gadget. You had me at "white peach" and then you lost me at "freesia," Avon. Also, thanks to Bella Swan, I am now incapable of seeing the word freesia without laughing my ass off.

Hi-Res Photo of Kristin Kreuk as Chun Li; New Tropic Thunder stills.

Mel Brooks Talks Get Smart, Steve Carell, and More.

Camus to Hit the Big Screen with French Version of 'The First Man.'

Rumor: Robert Downey Jr. to Play Hugh Hefner?

Discuss: With Gyllenhaal Out, Who Could Play Spidey? It's not a certainty that Tobey Maguire won't, but after that last movie, I'm not opposed to seeing someone else take it on. Of course, if they write Peter Parker as an emo-banged jerkass again, it won't matter who plays him anyway.

The Uwe Boll Slot: 'World's Worst Director' Not Winning Any Converts.

Comments

[flamingtoilet.livejournal.com]

There is nothing wrong with being OCD like that. Everything needs its place.

[cygnus.livejournal.com]

New Dark Knight Photos

That link is wrong. :(

[canadian-pixie.livejournal.com]

I alphabetize my DVD's (all 300+), but I'm a little obsessive about that to the brink of ridiculousness. I tried it a couple times with my CD's and it never stuck for very long.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Also, thanks to Bella Swan, I am now incapable of seeing the word freesia without laughing my ass off.

I also have that reaction. I was in the grocery store and I spotted some freesia-scented shampoo, and right away I was picturing Twilight tie-ins:

EDWARD: You have a very floral smell...like lavender, or freesia. It's mouthwatering.

BELLA: That's because I buy Suave freesia-scented shampoo. It's a rare day when I don't get somebody telling me how edible I smell. Strange how many creatures want to eat flowers.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

After checking it, I think it's right--it's just that they've been forced to take down the story. It's the same link as in the RSS feed, at any rate.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Just as a tangent, I used a papaya-scented St. Ives shampoo in high school for a while that actually caused multiple people to tell me how good my hair smelled. Like, in tones of shock, like they couldn't restrain themselves from telling me. I ended up having to use something else for my hair type, but man, I wish I could have kept using that.

[cygnus.livejournal.com]

Oh, poo. :/

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

At least you smelled like papaya, which is, you know, a food. I've actually smelled some vanilla-scented shampoo that made me have that reaction.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

Oh, Chun Li. She was always my favourite. My brother and I bonded over video games. He was always that GI guy with the spikey hair, who's name I now forget, and I was always Chun Li, who had the cute buns (in her hair) and the awesome 'Speeneeng Star Keeecka!'. Good times.

That's how my mum and I clean, too. We chose a room and clean it, then go and do something fun. It makes it much easier to handle than thinking 'I have to clean this whole house today!'

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

*cough*

See new icon.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

He was always that GI guy with the spikey hair, who's name I now forget
Guile! SONIC BOOM!

[poinsley.livejournal.com]

I do, too.

[animejosse.livejournal.com]

About Robert Knox: It didn't help that our paper shortened the poor guy's name to "Rob", which led to some confusion.

Dad: They said one of the Harry Potter actors were killed in a knife fight.
Mum and I: O_O What? Who?
Dad: Someone named Ron.
Me: Wait, was the character [he was playing] named Ron, or was that his name?
Dad: I think that was his name.
Mum: Couldn't be any [of the trio], there'd be more about it.
Dad: It was one of the headlines on their homepage.

After I checked what was actually written, me and mum caught ourselves reacting the way you described. Which is pretty damn aweful, because his friends and family must be devasted and yet here we are relieved it wasn't any of the main trio.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Heh. And the Bella version: "I haz a flavr!"

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

Yes! That's his name! Thank you. :-)

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

...I'm so glad that when the news debuted on the bbc post-eurovision, they reported it as 'another horrific fatal teen stabbing', went into how it was affecting the community, his family and friends, the circumstances, mentioned he was an aspiring actor and only *at the end* mentioned the harry potter thing.

Yeah. The Mirror has never, ever been classy. Or subtle.

Also : alphabetising CDs when you have a lot and they aren't in nice display cases = being able to find them quickly. dvds, on the other hand, I group by genre. But then those tend to be on display.

[tabbyclaw.livejournal.com]

My DVDs, CDs, and books are the only things I'm obsessive about keeping in order. My room looks like a literate tornado hit it.

[dives.livejournal.com]

I've been looking forward to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for a while. I (occasionally) post on a fans' board for Jason Flemyng, who's playing Brad Pitt's father in the film, and he (Flemyng, not Pitt) also very occasionally posts updates there*. He says he's very excited about the film and he's been pretty open about saying if he thinks something he's done is crap, so it's sounding good.






*it's been corroborated IRL that it's actually him, and not just someone on an internet windup. Which is good, I guess, because it would be bizarre if it was just someone pretending to be the guy who plays Jekyll from LXG.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Hmm, we must have seen different BBC articles because the one I saw was helpfully titled Potter film actor killed in fight (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7418311.stm). I'm disappointed in them.

This is what, the 14th violent teen death so far in London this year? And only two weeks after the last one (oh god, I've just read that they both played rugby for the same club!) It's not like they needed the acting angle to make this catch people's attention. This is an average of one violent teen death every 10 days, that's what should be shocking people.

Plus the sheer sensationalism of headlines like "Potter actor dead in fight" or whatever. Ugh.

[callmesyd.livejournal.com]

"Plus, why did putting the crystal skull inside a burlap sack prevent it from being magnetic? Oh I know: probably the same forces that made gold and gunpowder ferromagnetic in the movie. The force of crap."

Okay. Having JUST gotten home from Indy IV, I call bullshit. Did this guy miss the scene where Indy and Mutt were going "This shit isn't magnetic, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING MADE OF 'CUZ IT SURE AIN'T CRYSTAL"?

Then again, I actually pay attention to dialog in Lucas movies, which makes me a freak of nature, I know, BUT STILL. IT WAS THIRTY FEET HIGH IN SURROUND SOUND, FOR GOD'S SAKE, PAY ATTENTION.

[callmesyd.livejournal.com]

o hey i just figured it out

There was a ton of psychic stuff surrounding the skulls (hi2u Cate! SO FIERCE!), and they were only magnetic when a) someone was trying to locate them, or b) someone was trying to use them. Yes, mucking with it in the grave counts, because they were trying to figure out what it did and knew it was magnetic, because that's how they found it. Subconscious expectations have an effect.

And then Crazy Ollivander used the skull on the ants, which had nothing to do with magnetism and everything to do with psychic manipulation.

...

I watch too many pulp/B/Lucas movies, don't I? WHATEVER. GLAD TO HELP, INTERNET, GLAD TO HELP.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

hmm. I was watching the news as opposed to reading it, and they didn't even announce it as a headline, just had it as the last story before the weather. Glad at least one avenue has some decorum.

[svz-insanity.livejournal.com]

Hey Cleo, this is going to sound so strange, but are you sure it's St Ives?

I just googled and they don't seem to only sell skin products. :( I'd love to have some papaya scented shampoo.

[callmesyd.livejournal.com]

Chun Li is awesome. Especially when she has the Toe Tap attack. Just jump over your opponent, bounce off of his head, double-jump, bounce off of his head, double-jump bounce off of his head...

If you say "Toe tap! ^_^" every time you do it, people get sooooo pissed. XD

[edda.livejournal.com]

Robert Downey Jr. To Play Hugh Hefner?

Am I the only person to feel nothing but dread at that? I like RDJr and I LOATHE Hugh Hefner. This is not two great tastes that taste great together. I WISH Brett Ratner would direct this movie and they'd put James Woods in the lead. Then I could fully LOATHE it as much as it would fully warrant.

[melchar.livejournal.com]

[think, re-think, scratch head]

But the CDs -should- be alphabetized, as should the DVDs, videotapes [that survive] and ALL the books.

Or well, the books sectioned by topic and then alphabetized. The 2 -big- bookcases get the fantasy & sf paperbacks, the long/low bookcase gets all the hardbacks; one of the tall bookcases gets all the vampire fiction, Tolkien and mysteries, while the other tall bookcase gets all the non-fiction [mainly history], manga books and web-comic books.

Doesn't -everyone- do that? ^_^

[somewhatmoot.livejournal.com]

I've got this non-kill mousetrap that works awesome

[zrath.livejournal.com]

I saw Indy on Thursday with some friends.
They showed us the trailer for "Benjamin Button".
After it was over, I leaned over to one of my friends and said:
"He's from Ork."

[arithil.livejournal.com]

Maybe they stopped making hair products? I've never used the papaya shampoo Cleo was talking about, but they definitely used to do hair care. Back when I dyed my hair, I was all about their intensive repair conditioner.

[wirrrn.livejournal.com]

Spiderman- Milo Ventimiglia would be good. A new spidey suit where he's naked except for a red hourglass on his belly would also be neat *g*

Cat vs Mouse- Meese often vacate a house once they smell a kitteh anyway. You might be able to resolve the situation without bloodshed.

INDY 4 was good, not great (much like CRUSADE). I think Spielberg still feels guilty over TEMPLE OF DOOM (ironically, my favourite entry). The best bit was Marion. And the Bullet Ants (even though my inner Entomologist was screaming at me to hurl jaffas at the screen)

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

What threw me the most about the reporting of Robert Knox's death, wasn't the headlines, it was the quote at the end of that piece. "And now his career has been cut short...." His career? He's dead, and that's the most important thing the guy could say?

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

A friend just picked up some of those, to trap the one mouse they had. Which turned out to be three mice, at least. And yes, they work awesomely. Very impressive.

[daiseechain.livejournal.com]

The Beeb's been disappointing me for a few years. Their coverage is becoming increasingly biased and sensationalist, going for not quite the lowest common denominator, but heading there. I frequently find myself yelling at the tv "But what about X's side of the story!"

[sneaky-minx.livejournal.com]

Cleaning used to be a stressful thing for me. I'm such a packrat and everything, no matter how frivolous, had some sort of sentimental value. I would just sit there and let my mind wonder off about what consequences I'd have to live with should I get rid of the object. Needless to say, I didn't lose much. Except for clothes. I can't seem to get rid of clothes fast enough. And it's not like I'm making room to buy new ones. I rarely buy new clothes. I have a tiny and repetitive wardrobe, but I'm okay with it.

Anyway, now, cleaning is actually a de-stressor. When things are getting bad, cleaning lets me organize things and just straighten everything up. It gives me this feeling that I actually have control of something. And it's really nice. Cognitive therapy can work sometimes. And it seems like it's working for you right now, which is good.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I'm 90% sure it was. Keep in mind, though, that I was using this shampoo a good fourteen years ago--if they made it then, it's possible (likely, even) that they don't make it now.

[idrach.livejournal.com]

Reading that Buffett link after finishing Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower is not a good idea. Just fyi for those who would want to try it.

Seriously though, after reading that the article was basically all I could think of. It's getting bad out there, and it's scary to know that it will only get worse and there's nothing your average citizen can do about it.

[batmaz.livejournal.com]

As I work in a record store, I now obsess over alphabetisation. I can't stop myself. I would do my books if only I had a bookshelf... at the moment, they're taking up about a fifth to a quarter of the floorspace in my room. And the obsessive compulsive in me dies every time I look at them, so I've trained myself not to.

Also, I do believe the phrase 'dry and cracked nipples' will be haunting me for the next couple of weeks. I understand they get sore, but really, that's just way too much information to put into a news article. Next time I look at a new mother, that's what is going to be going through my mind. *involuntary shudder*

[count-01.livejournal.com]

I only alphabetize my cd's. My dvds and books are organized by genres that exist only in my head (modern classics, exceptionally cool, borderline porn, badass action, opera -- yes, I have opera on dvd, award-winners, should-have-won indie flicks, and so on; books are in a similar vein.)

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, your fears about room-cleaning bring back memories of the Epic Closet Cleaning Project(s) that I did every single year until college. Somehow my closet would always start out neatly organized, and by the end of the year it would be this gigantic, seething, teeming mass of random stuff, papers, toys, shoes, markers, books, you name it. So once a year (or...erm...more frequently, several years), I'd literally empty the whole closet onto the floor. Then for the next 5 days I'd sort through it, while my parents lamented that they couldn't walk more than 2 feet into the room ("No, you can! Look! You just jump from THAT spot to THAT spot on your toes!See?") and asked when I was going to be done. Somehow, even while getting rid of trash bags of stuff, my closet never stayed organized for more than a month. I think it was possessed.

P.S. I also alphebetize CDs. And sort my DVDs by color (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v600/foresthouse/?action=view&current=2007_11_14029.jpg).

P.P.S. I'm going to see Indy this week! Also, free Hamlet! (When I told my mother this, she said, "Have fun rescuing Hamlet from prison!" My mother is silly.)

[angelbaby732.livejournal.com]

I definately reacted the same way because of how they worded it, and that is probably what they were after. I almost had a mini heart attack wondering who it could have been, and then it says, "Oh, yes a boy who was going to be in the next movie but hadn't filmed yet." And I was sighing with relief and then felt awful because I realise that yet again, more kids are being killed London.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Well, they had just announced that they'd finished the entire shoot a few days before he was killed, so I guess he's still going to be in the movie. But yeah, I don't even know how many lines the Marcus Belby character has.