cobblestones

I feel I should link this because the Twitards have totally ruined him for me now (plus he's way more reserved in interviews now, so half the fun is gone) but this is just a reminder that Robert Pattinson was actually amazingly awesome prior to Twilight. Robert Pattinson actually worked before Edward Cullen? OMGWUT?

Although, I did read a recent quote where he said he took a stalker of his out to lunch and she ended up getting bored of him. So I suppose he's still just as random and ridiculous as he once was?

This is totally making me wish I had bought Goblet of Fire at Blockbuster the other day when I saw it for $8.

Yes, I've read all the books, feel free to mock me, but my faith in humanity was restored when I was in Chapters last week and I heard the following conversation from a couple teenage girls:

Girl 1: Have you read those Twilight books?
Girl 2: Yes, they are amazing! Have you read them?
1: Yeah, but only because I had just moved to a new school and everyone was talking about them and I wanted to make friends. I mean, I'm sorry, but those books are awful.

I wish I had thought that after reading them at first, too. Unfortunately, I (briefly) considered going to a midnight release party for Breaking Dawn.

Best conversation I have heard on the bus in awhile:

Guy #1: Concrete never completely hardens, you know.
Guy #2: I've got a couple cement blocks at home that would disagree with you.*
#1: Well, it never completely dries.
#2: Nothing ever completely dries.
#1: This is true.

I MEAN, WHAT? But I'm pretty sure they were engineers, so that probably explains a lot.

*What we have learned about #2 is that he is possibly a serial killer.

Some thoughts on the new Doctor Who special, The Waters of Mars! ( Cut for spoilers. (There will also be spoilers for the preview clip of 'The End of Time' so be aware of that.) )

Link me to your thoughts and reaction posts, if you made one!

Movies I will be going to see in November that I'm nervous about the overall quality based on the trailers that have been released: The Road. Seriously, both trailers are incredibly crappy. Especially this one. I LOVED the novel (I think it was my favourite read of 2008, actually) and I love Viggo Mortensen, but this film just has 'possible crap' written all over it.

Movies I will not be seeing no matter how much you paid me: New Moon. I totally WANT to go, because Twilight was seriously the funniest movie I saw in 2008, hands down. But I also don't want to add any money, no matter how insignificant the sum, to Stephenie Meyer's undeserving bank account. If only we all made millions of dollars for writing bad fanfiction, I too would be a billionaire by now.

Shows I am incredibly glad to have back, after a hiatus of over a year: Spooks! I missed you, Raaarmitage (no, I do not watch Robin Hood, you can't make me!) and lovely Harry Pearce and Ros Meyers (I love her, despite the fact her forehead has reached Nicole Kidman-levels of frozen-ness.) I don't think this series will be as good as the last one, but at least it's back.

Shows you should be watching that you may not be: Modern Family. Honestly, it's brilliant. I love all the characters so much (especially Mitchell and Cam!), and it really is the closest thing to Arrested Development we are going to get at this point in time. Just give it a try, it's worth it.

Crappy things that happened to me this week that make me happy the week is over: I adopted a cat from the Ottawa Humane Society last Friday, and by Tuesday he was sneezing and vomiting and just generally depressed, so I took him to the vet, and by Thursday evening they let me know that he had a disease that he wouldn't be able to recover from and they put him down. I've done enough crying for a month by now. He was adorable and I named him Linus after Humphrey Bogart's character from Sabrina. Not to mention I paid over $500 dollars in vet bills for an animal I had for less than a week. He was so snuggly. I miss him.

Things I am looking forward too in the next month: My dad coming up to visit me on the 21st.

Things I am not looking forward too in the next month: A test worth 25% of my mark in History on the 19th, a term paper due in English worth 25% of my grade due on the 24th.

Gah, school. :(

Random television thoughts to follow.

Some completely random and mostly unrelated things:

1. Rafe Spall is completely and totally eating my brain lately. Again. I kind of forget about him for a few months, and then all the sudden I see him again and I fall in love. I know he's not amazing looking or anything, but there's just something about him that I'm immediately drawn to. And then I find pictures like this one and I just die all over again. In conclusion, cuteness!


2. I'm currently reading The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second novel in Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, and it's amazing. Not that I expected it not to be, the first novel is one of my favourites of the year so far.


3. I also watched the film of the first novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which was bizarrely retitled as Män som hatar kvinnor, which translates as Men Who Hate Women. It was pretty excellent as well, particularly because the roles of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist were so well cast. The guy playing Blomkvist is slightly too old for the role, I think, but I like him so much I'm going to ignore it. Plus I'm pretty sure the actor is kind of a big deal in Sweden haha.


4. I love Canada at this time of year! Crisp and cold and lovely and the perfect time for pumpkin spice lattes! I can't wait until closer to November when it starts to snow and I can start getting my peppermint mochas, like I always do around Christmastime.


5. I found $19 in my wallet today that I had no idea I had, plus I have a coupon for a free Starbucks drink because they messed up my order last time, so I am going to Chapters tomorrow afternoon to get a latte and a book, which is quite seriously my idea of heaven. And if my favourite salesperson Bill is working, I may just die of happiness.


6. I kind of like school again. We'll see how long it lasts.


7. Was it just me, or was the premiere of 30 Rock completely and utterly meh? I'm actually getting kind of sick of the show's smug winking at itself. For example, the fusion restaurant being called Season Four (heh, heh) and Lemon being all like; Is this really what we're doing our first week back? I agree, Lemon, I agree. I dunno, I expected way more from Ms. Fey and co.


8. Lie to Me, on the other hand, gets significantly better each episode. Tim Roth is fantastic, and if he wasn't twenty-five years older than me, I'd think about hitting it. But I have a no more than ten years older than me lust rule now haha. We'll see how long that lasts.


9. New Black Books moodtheme! I swear, Bernard Black is my favourite misanthrope ever. He should show that lightweight House how it's really done.

Being a Keats and a Ben Whishaw fangirl, I couldn't not go see Bright Star, as I did this afternoon. ( Cut for spoilers. )

I think I'm giving up on FlashForward. I just picked up watching Glee, and I like that so much I'm gonna keep with it. But when I pick up a new show, I try to drop an old one I'm not really into anymore so my schedule doesn't revolve around television. And sadly, I think FlashForward has to go. It's just all kinds of meh. But I might not be able to do it, because Jack Davenport is so awesome.

New Doctor Who logo! ( Cut for spoilers? )

I really, really like it. At first I was all like "NOOOO!" but now I'm kind of thrilled. It's an obvious throwback to the Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker years, which is okay by me, and the TARDIS thing is kind of awesome.

OH MY GOD I AM SO EXCITED FOR 2010.

Also, I forgot to mention the real reason I watch FlashForward - Jack Davenport! He's all lovely and he gets to keep his English accent! Very awesome.

Thoughts on the new Emma adaptation! ( Cut for spoilers. )

I'm currently reading Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and it's actually "narrated" by Gilbert Markham! Now, if the 1996 adaptation had let Toby Stephens narrate, I wouldn't have had such a problem with that. ♥

Poll #1465667 Because I can't make my own decisions!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 8

Which premiering movie should I go see this weekend?

In other news, I hate school. HATE IT. I think I should transfer to community college instead. Carleton sucks. (I am saying this because I am broke and just bombed a test and may or may not be off my meds because I'm not covered at the moment and can't afford to go pick them up.)

Blerg, I am just going to sit here and catch up on FlashForward (meh) and Bones (meeeeh.) I watched Fringe the other night, and I am getting really meh on that show as well. HOWEVER, I started watching Modern Family on the recommendation of a site I frequent, and it's actually awesome! It's the closest thing to Arrested Development I have seen in awhile. AND THE RATINGS ARE ACTUALLY GOOD.

I may or may not have marathoned all eighteen episodes of Black Books over the last two days. I am pretty sure that Bernard Black is my soulmate. Also, Peter Serafinowicz can come over anytime. I'm now following him on Twitter! I kind of hate Twitter, but I think it's so cool that I can see tweets between Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Edgar Wright, and Peter. ♥

I was going to get on my soapbox about this whole Roman Polanski thing, but others have said what I feel on the subject so more eloquently than I ever could.

I remain uninvolved in Arthur/Guinevere, I'm sorry. ( Merlin 2x02 - Cut for spoilers. )

I should be writing a paper that's due on Tuesday right now, but I'm exhausted despite the fact I didn't get up until five o'clock this afternoon, and I really feel like watching some sort of BBC costume drama.

I didn't watch the Emmys last night because I don't have cable and I couldn't be bothered, cause the only race I cared about was the Best Miniseries one, and even then I didn't care who won since I love them both (Little Dorrit and Generation Kill.) I have to be honest, I'm quite surprised that Little Dorrit won, only because I thought the mini got a little muddled towards the end, whereas Generation Kill was pretty solid the whole way through. That said, the lit nerd in me actually liked Little Dorrit more.

To make a long story short, I guess I'm happy with that choice.

Does anyone know if Andrew Davies actually was there to accept his award for Best Writing for a Miniseries or Movie? I have such a love/hate relationship with that smug motherfucker haha.

I wish Matthew Macfadyen had been nominated. And that Tom Courtenay had won.

But I usually get way more excited about this shit. I don't know what's wrong with me this year. :(

Yesterday, I skipped class and snowpuss and I went and saw Adam, with the always wonderful Hugh Dancy. ( Cut for spoilers. )

Some disappointed thoughts about the True Blood finale - ( cut for spoilers. )

I finished the Sally Lockhart quartet of books today, and all I can say is that I really need the BBC to make the other two movies, right now. I mean, especially the fourth one. Because it's all Jim-centric, and hey, Matt Smith is kind of famous now, so I bet the viewing numbers would be great! So get on that, Auntie Beeb.

I also think the fact that I read so much has ruined real men for me. I mean, I've only ever had two serious boyfriends, and two other guys who expressed interest that I had no interest in, but other than that I've not had much experience with, you know, real boys. This is because literary ones have usurped them in my heart, sad story. If only they actually made boys like Jim Taylor and Gilbert Blythe and Mr. Tilney/Knightley/Darcy/Rochester, I could be happy. But, alas! Thank you, Jane Austen, for ruining my life haha.

Speaking of Austen, I wasn't completely sold on the Emma adaptation coming out in October with Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller (♥) but I'm in such desperate need of a new costume drama to watch that I'll likely end up downloading it. Which reminds me, I think I'll have to get my hands on a copy of Daniel Deronda for Hugh Dancy and Romola. WHICH REMINDS ME, I haven't read any George Elliot. I wish I didn't have to sleep, so I could get a lot more reading done. Sigh.

So, I just ordered myself maroon Converse because of the photos of Matt Smith & Karen Gillan that have been floating around with Karen wearing maroon Chucks. IN MY DEFENSE, I'd been meaning to get Chucks for awhile, only I was going to get the Who ones with the British flag on them.

But the maroon ones are backordered until September 29th. UGH WHY CAN'T I HAVE A SHRED OF ORIGINALITY.



That is all.

I really want to start watching The Tudors, but I hate Jonathan Rhys Meyers so much. Is it worth it?

Do you suppose, once Henry dies, they'll fast-forward twenty years or whatever and make the show Elizabeth centric? Yeah, I know, probably not. But that would be fantastic.

I know they were trying to go young with the show, hence the JRM casting, but oh man, I've always wanted to see Kenneth Branagh as King Henry. I think he'd be fantastic.

Obligatory True Blood links for the day:

Alexander Skarsgård* plays guest DJ *my ex-boyfriend, I'm sorry, but Evan Rachel Wood? Really?
Got questions for Kristin Bauer (Pam)? Ask them here!

I'm currently re-reading Philip Pullman's The Shadow in the North. God, I love Frederick Garland so much. And it has almost nothing to do with the fact he was played by JJ Feild in the BBC's version.

School tomorrow! I paid my first semester's tuition today, and am now broke. Seriously. It was almost $3000. I hate Carleton.

Now I know why, as a rule, I avoid reading doctorwho on a regular basis. On the one hand, I love the fandom for being so involved and so passionate and so opinionated. I do appreciate that some people like some Doctors, and some don't. But it's kind of sad that people are viewing the pictures of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan and deciding that one or both are going to suck based on paparazzi shots of them filming s5.

Some people have even stated they won't be watching the new series. People seem to forget that when Tennant took over from Eccleston in 2006, there was so much backlash it shut down the BBC's website. And, though I prefer Eccleston to Tennant, it seems like the fandom, as a whole, loved Tennant more as time went on.

Poor Matt Smith, in particular, who we haven't even seen as the Doctor yet, is getting so much negative press.

I guess what I am very inarticulately trying to say is, 1) wait until it actually turns out he sucks to jump ship, and 2) I hope he is amazing, so all the detractors will have to change their minds.

I, for one, can't wait for 2010. No more Rose! No more RTD! No more Tennant!* Sounds good to me.

*I do love Tennant a great deal. I'm just very ready for someone new.

So, I'm currently marathoning season five of Grey's Anatomy because that is how much I love Kevin McKidd and Owen Hunt/Cristina Yang. I kind of wish the show was called Yang's Anatomy instead, because, prior to McKidd joining the show and upping the number to two, Sandra Oh was the only redeeming factor on that program.

I can't even imagine how happy I would be if it was just Owen & Cristina being awesome and having sex a lot, instead of all that boring Izzie and Meredith and Derek crap.

Oh my god, also, I didn't realize how loltastic Grey's Anatomy was. Best lines ever over the last couple episodes were when Patrick Dempsey was like; "AM I A SURGEON, OR AM I AN EXECUTIONER? IT IS UP TO YOU" and when the serial killer he was just referencing was all like "Oh man, my grandfather as he was about to die all he smelled was lemons, I wonder if this is true?" and then as he was about to be executed he (who was Eric Stoltz by the way, who deserves a thousand times better than this) looked up into the camera and was like "I CAN SMELL THE LEEEEMONS!"

Ah-maaazing.

Also, people, I understand Jeffrey Dean Morgan is awesome, but his character died THREE YEARS AGO. Writers, let him go.

So I start school in three days. I'm taking a history course (Europe in the 20th Century) a psychology course (because I have to take it for my breadth requirements anyway and I decided on psychology because that's what Alex Drake from Ashes to Ashes specializes in, and if nothing else, you should know I live my life by my tv shows haha), a film course (History of World Cinema, VERY excited about that one) and an English course (British Literature before 1700, which I am also VERY excited about because we are studying Malory's La Morte d'Arthur, and ever since I started watching Merlin last year, I've been really into Arthurian legends and the like. I'm currently reading T.H. White's The Once and Future King, and it is mammoth, and not the easiest thing I have ever read, but my edition is so pretty I like to read it in public because I'm shallow like that.

Speaking of Arthurian legends, there's some new (to me, anyway) promo pictures for the upcoming season of Merlin, which apparently starts this month sometime. All I have to say is 1) Gwen got a wardrobe upgrade and 2) Oh Bradley James, I love you.

No True Blood this week made me very sad. I was talking to a friend of a friend about it last night as we were playing a dinosaur board game (lollol) and she doesn't understand that Eric is clearly the most amazing character on that show. At least attractiveness wise. She, like my ex-roommate, prefers Sam. I DON'T GET IT. SOMEONE ENLIGHTEN ME.

Can we please talk about how awesome True Blood was tonight? ( True Blood 2x09 - Cut for spoilers! )

In other news, I am finally moving on Thursday, so a picture post is forthcoming!

So, I'm doing a rewatch of Band of Brothers, and guess who's in it that I didn't even realize?



TOM HARDY!

I realize I am the only person who has any idea who he is. But anyway, he's adorable and British and kind of has BJ lips and I love him.

I'm downloading The Virgin Queen from a torrent and it's taking for-fucking-ever. But it looks awesome.

Most pointless post ever. But yeah, Tom Hardy is adorable!

I finally sat down and finished Generation Kill. ( Cut for spoilers and some general fangirling. )

I've been really sick the last few days, so I've been trying to catch up on the massive amounts of TV I have saved on my external harddrive. Right now I am watching Whitechapel with Rupert Penry-Jones and Phil Davis, and after I am done that I am going to finish the final two episodes of Wallander with Kenneth Branagh. If I'm feeling really ambitious, I think I'll start an Ashes to Ashes rewatch.

True Blood tonight! I seriously hope they start using Eric more. What is the point of having him in every episode if the writers underutilise him?