Foreign Film: Amelie

My friend Savanna recently had me watch the French film Amelie. Not a big watcher of foreign films myself, I was unsure if I would enjoy it, however, the film was funny from the start and the fact that it was in a different language took nothing away from its humor (we of course watched with subtitles). The movie begins with random events that happen at the same time of Amelie’s conception followed by scenes of the quirky girl’s childhood. The story continues with Amelie as a shy adult with the goal to make other’s lives better by doing good things. The people she helps includes a man that used to live in her apartment, a neighbor with brittle bones, her own father and a blind man. Along the way she finds a man with whom she exchanges secret messages in cute ways, trying to build up the courage to meet him. I recommend this movie to anyone, whether they’re a fan of foreign films, or they’ve never watched one before.

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

I'm terribly excited, you know.

Agenda Book 4

If I Was a Photographer, I'd Do Something like This

I've recently come across Iris Humm's Photography Blog and I'm obsessed. Her work reminds me of edgy disposable camera photos. Check out her blog.

She's also doing a project with Luca Campri called Revolution Starts at Home. Really cool stuff.

Things I Learned on July 19th, 2009

• 7 am is a good time to travel from Baltimore to Ocean City on Sundays
• Drinking a large coffee before a road trip will lead to many pit-stops
• It is important to bring gas money- lots of gas money
• A good music playlist is essential in order to have a good road trip
• A driver is lucky to get a parking spot on the Oceanside of Costal Highway, very lucky
• One should bring an ipod, a book or a friend to occupy their time spent out of the water
• Don’t forget to apply, re-apply and re-re-apply sunscreen
• Places like the backs of hands, tops of feet, lips and ears are often forgotten when applying sunscreen
• If you have gauges, you will most likely loose one, if not both while body-surfing, but things like pen caps can make appropriate substitute gauges
• It is smart to bring an extra set of clothes when going to the beach. You never know when you’ll have to change
• Always check for things like vomit before swimming in a pool
• It is never good to accidentally bump into a car, especially when the owner of said car is a bitchy old pro golf employee. She will call the cops
• The police in Ocean City have better things to do than waste their time on accident reports
• 6:30 pm is not a good time to travel from Ocean City to Baltimore on Sundays
• Avoid listening to calming music while driving home exhausted, this will only make you want to sleep
• Don’t listen to the navigational device "TomTom" when trying to find the fastest route home. The monotonous machine will take you on six different highways and through the city, ultimately taking you on the most sketchy and longest route possible
• Bad things happen in three's
• Driving home at ten o’clock when you haven’t slept in 34 hours is not good. Your vision will start to fail and you won’t be able to keep your head straight

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Movie

It’s 3:50 a.m. and I’ve just returned home from the midnight premier of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. (Yes, I do realize that this is my third consecutive Harry Potter related post, however I’m sure you can understand my obsession, especially with the movie coming out.) I’ve decided to post my thoughts on the movie since they’re still fresh in my head. The movie as a whole was not a disappointment, though it did not fully meet my expectations and excitement (which were extremely high). That’s probably my own fault though; I usually get my hopes up only to be disappointed. The main issue I had was not the fact that scenes were different and/or changed from the novel, but the fact that Harry’s sixth year was supposed to be much sinister than the movie portrayed. The trailers and previews for the movie had me thinking that the movie would have a more serious tone than it actually did. In my opinion the fifth movie (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) portrayed a much darker year of Harry’s life. I thought moments like Ron's poisoning and even Dumbledore's death were a bit anti-climatic compared to the book. Don’t get me wrong however, the movie in it’s whole was quite good. The visuals were beautiful and the effects were captivating (as in all the Harry Potter movies). I (and the rest of the theater) found myself laughing almost every three minutes or so, which is a good and bad thing. Good because it means the movie was entertaining. Bad because it means the movie wasn’t serious enough. I was also laughing because whenever there was a scene of an upset or contemplative Draco Malfoy, my friend Meaghan (her blog) would whisper “Sexy Brooding Draco” in my ear. The movie also focused too much on the Hermione-Ron relationship, though Jessie Cave (who plays the obsessive Lavender Brown) was hilarious with her infatuation with Ron. The kiss between Harry and Ginny was pathetic and awkward, but so was the kiss between Harry and Cho in the fifth movie. I don’t know if I can judge the kiss without bias though, since I am not a Ginny fan. I thought Emma Watson was beautiful the whole movie, especially the scene at the slug-club Christmas party behind the curtain. And of course, my favorite, Luna Lovegood, played by Evanna Lynch, was great the whole movie, especially with her lion hat. I must say though, I think the sixth movie explained everything thoroughly, and if a non-book reader watched it, he or she wouldn’t have any trouble understanding the events, unlike movie number five.

Memorable scenes:

-Bathroom fight scene between Harry and Draco
-Love-Potioned Ron (hilarious!)
-Cormac McLaggen puking on Snape’s shoes
-Dumbledore with the fire in the cave (bad-ass!)
-Ron semi-moaning Hermione’s name, hell, Ron was funny the entire movie
-Harry under the Felix Felisis potion (“Hi!”)

Events not included and/or edited:

-The meeting between the Prime Minister and the Minister of Magic
-Harry and Dumbledore flying back to Hogwarts on brooms
-Dumbledore hexing Harry still under the invisibility cloak
-The battle between the Death Eaters and previous D.A. members
-Dumbledore’s funeral

All in all, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was a success film and I cannot wait for it to be released in video so I can buy it and watch it again. Go see the movie and blog about your own opinions!

p.s. sorry for all of the parenthesis

Wizard Rock

Wizard Rock is a genre of music solely based off of J.K. Rowling’s famous series Harry Potter. Frequently playing at Harry Potter Conventions and available on itunes, bands like Harry and the Potters and Gred and Forge have written many songs about the Harry Potter universe. Quickly after reading the series (unlike many, I only read the Harry Potter books a couple months ago) I came across a whole area of music that I had never heard of- Wizard Rock. One would think the music would be silly or childish, since J.K. Rowling’s books are in the children’s section at most book stores, and don’t get me wrong, many songs are silly, but they’re actually catchy. I find myself humming wizard rock songs during the day without even realizing it. When I first found out about wizard rock I went searching itunes for more bands and found many, including The Parselmouths, Oliver Boyd And The Remembralls, Draco and The Malfoys and The Moaning Myrtles. Some songs are serious, but most are extremely humorous, including songs from my favorite wizard rock band, The Whomping Willows. With song titles like “I’ve had Harry Potter Inside Me”, “Ginny Gets Around”, “Voldemort Can’t Stop the Rock”, and “Dobby, Bang Your Head” how could you go wrong?

p.s. go to itunes and listen to songs like "The House Called Awesome Theme Song", "Brotherly Love" and "In Which Draco and Harry Secretly Want to Make Out" (hehe) . Project Playlist didn't have a wide variety.

This Is What I Do At 2:30 in the Morning

More From My Agenda Book

Corset Piercings: Cool or Crazy?

"The corset piercing is most popular for performance art and fetish events, and is almost always removed immediately afterward. They usually can't heal properly because they are a surface piercing in an area prone to rejection and they use a type of jewelry that isn't really suitable for permanent use in the area. More recently, the term corset piercing has been used to encompass any kind of paired, laddered piercings that can then be laced together." read more at snopes.com

The finished result of corset piercing is really cool I think, but it seems like it would hurt so much. I don’t think it’s worth it since the wearer will usually have it removed shortly after having it done. I would never do it, but it’s neat to look at.

Agenda Book 2

The right painting is based off of the TrueBlood DVD cover

Beck - Girl

I saw her, yeah I saw her

with her black tongue tied round the roses

fists pounding on a vending machine

toy diamond ring stuck on her finger

with a noose she could hang from the sun

and put it out with her dark sunglasses

walking crooked down the beach

she spits in the sand where their bones are bleaching

and I know I'm gonna steal her eye

she doesn't even know what's wrong

and I know I'm gonna make her die

take her where her soul belongs

and I know I'm gonna steal her eye

nothing that I wouldn't try

Hey, my cyanide girl

Hey, my cyanide girl

I saw her, yeah I saw her

with her hands tied back and her rags were burning

crawling out from a landfilled life

scrawlin her name upon the ceiling

throw a coin in a fountain of dust

white noise, her ears are ringing

got a ticket for a midnight hanging

throw a bullet from a freight train leaving

and I know I'm gonna steal her eye

she doesn't even know what's wrong

and I know I'm gonna make her die

take her where her soul belong

and I know I'm gonna steal her eye

nothing that I wouldn't try

Hey, my cyanide girl

watch the video

I love Beck, and I love this song, but while looking up the lyrics i've found that the music completely contrasts the words. The song is very upbeat and happy sounding while the lyrics are pretty creepy. With pepped up beats and a catchy chorus, a first-time listener would probably not notice how dark and sinister the lyrics actually are. While listening, i for one believe the line "my cyanide girl" to be "my sun-eyed girl", also i thought "I know I'm gonna make her die" was actually "I know I'm gonna make her mine".

I feel like this song could be so many different things for the different people who listen to it since it's so ambiguous. One person could just hear it as a poppy summer song to jam out to in the car while another could see that it's about an ex who's life has fallen out and she wants her boyfriend back. Yet, another person could look at it straight forward and see that it's about a stalker torturing a girl and leaving her to die ("with her hands tied back and her rags were burning/crawling out from a landfilled life").


So, whether you hear the pop beats and happy music, or listen to the spine-chilling lyrics of Beck's Girl, I hope you find some kind of meaning or enjoyment out of this awesome song, because I know I did.

I should be sleeping

But I can't. I'm on my summer sleeping schedual and there's no way I will fall asleep until probably three. The problem is I have to get up at 6:30 for the beach. Well, since i'm up i've been listening to Tracy Chapman and clicking around the web. I found Jennifer Tzar's Photography websight and it's amazing. Edgy and provocative and grimy. Check it out.

The Beach

I am going to the beach tomorrow and I am super excited! To share my excitement, I’m posting a couple links to some very talented photographers that I feel capture the essence of summertime perfectly. Enjoy.

Pineapple Luv

Lazy Waves

Grass Is Greener

Goose Jerky

"Your generation has such a hard time understanding because you're so into technology. But people didn't just drive to the beach, call their friends on their cell phones, surf, and drive away. We lived on the beach and lived with the beach." -Carol Schuldt, 75

Amazing Australian Artists

Go check out The Jacky Winter Group: A collection of Australian artist with unique style and cool creations. Some of my favorites include Kate Macleod, Rebecca Wetzler and Lilly Piri.

"Named after a native Australian Robin that shares its initials with its founder, The Jacky Winter Group connects a diverse range of Australia's finest contemporary illustrators with a broad international and local client base..." read more...

All Good Things

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Agenda Book Art

During my junior year my school agenda book slowly became a sort of sketchbook for me. I've decided to post one or two pages a week until i start my new one in senior year. Enjoy.

Love, ashley

The Worst FanFic of All Time?

I recently came across a Harry Potter fanfiction by the name of My Immortal, and I have to say that it is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. I know I must have lost at least 25 brain cells just trying to understand what the author was trying to say. It’s filled with extreme misspelling, excessive outfit changes, and pointless author’s notes. Just a few of my favorite parts are where the author cusses out all the "PREPZ" for flaming her "goffik" story, has a character slit their wrists and drink their own blood, creates a non-pun followed by the word "geddit" it parenthesis’, and uses "thingy" and "you know what" to represent sexual anatomy. According to Google it holds the record of being the worst Fanfic ever written. The story My Immortal is so terrible that someone actually made a drinking game to go along with it. However I'm pretty sure the average person would suffer alcohol poisoning only a quarter into the story, so alternating between alcohol and a non-alcoholic drink might be necessary to actually survive the game. Nobody knows if My Immortal is just a fic making fun of other fics, or if someone honestly thinks this story is worth reading. I hope it's a parody because I don’t understand how stupid a person must be to write something so lacking in plot, correct spelling and grammar, and basic common sense. So go ahead, please read My Immortal and gawk at how ludicrous it is, but beware, your brain may turn to mush.

Summer Storm

Another storm is comming tonight. I can already hear the thunder.

They walk out of the front door into the spitting rain. It’s not heavy, it’s erratic and sharp. Four girls head to the local convenience store on a warm summer evening to get drinks despite the large abundance of food inside. They only really use the need for drinks as an excuse to escape the confinements of the basement they frequent regularly. Walking to the store provides a small summer night adventure for the girls, even if they’re only going there and coming back home. One girl pulls out a pack of cigarettes and passes it around as they begin their walk, a foolish idea since the rain is picking up. Despite the weather though, two of the four teenagers light their tobacco and attempt to keep the paper from getting wet in the rain. Conversation flows with happy comments and the occasional sarcastic remark as the group walks down a sidewalk littered with streetlights. The rain grows thicker and the two girls with their cigarettes give up on their effort to smoke. The rain is cool but the puddles on the ground are warm from the sun-soaked asphalt. The rainfall brings out the child in each girl, as if enchanted precipitation soaks through her maturity. They laugh for no reason, shout, jump, splash and play. One skips while another starts to sing. Dancing and twirling, they make a turn onto a busy street and continue their late night walk to the store. Shoes are removed and the twirling continues. The group must look odd in the eyes of the oncoming cars, but they could care less. Finally, they make it to the convenience store. They replace their shoes on their feet and attempt to calm their contagious laughter. Trying to look semi-presentable in their saturated hair and sopping clothes, the girls walk through the door.


I had the urge to write something, but i'm no writter.
Love, ashley