Sunday, January 27, 2013

Photos and Fun!

A quick update with lots of pictures! The blog readers dream. Right before Christmas, we got some family pictures taken with the Phillips', we just got our photo CD in the mail, the pictures turned out very well. Here is a selection of my favorites:

Here's the whole Troop!

The ladies "ooh" and "aah" over the baby

Just the gents.

Just us.































This weekend we treated ourselves to a night out at the Masquerade ball put on by the College of the Arts. It was a fun excuse to get all dressed up and go dancing. I tried my best to make a fun mask for Lee, here pictured is the final result.

Very classy stuff.




Yes, we are fancy enough to go to a Masquerade Ball. And boring enough to leave early so we could get enough sleep before church in the morning.

Monday, January 21, 2013

On a Scale from 1 to Terrible

I consider myself a connoisseur of bad cinema. That might not sound so impressive or glorious, but b-movies and blockbuster busts are kind of a hobby of mine. I haven't seen every terrible movie ever made, but I've seen enough; enough that I feel justified in making my own categorized rating system.

Category 1: Big Hits...and Misses

These are the films that were intended to be big. Everything: budgets, costumes, actors, special effects, no expense was spared. But something went wrong. Horribly wrong. Here are some of my favorite flops:

Eragon: Based on a book written by a middle school student. No joke. The story is verging on copyright infringement due to its utter lack of originality. It consists of some unknown actors being bland, Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons being bland, and John Malkovich being...you get the idea. When accompanied by rifftrax, it is a most enjoyable viewing experience.

This image alone tells me I am not the target audience.
Transformers. All of them: I know lots of people enjoyed these flicks, but they were THE WORST!! The second one was a special brand of terrible. Maybe it was the dialogue ("Gogogogogogo! Nownownownownow!!!), maybe it was the volume of the special effects (after viewing I coined the phrase "Michael Bay headache")--patent pending--or maybe it was the number of scenes that involved dogs gettin' busy. The point is, it was the worst two and a half hours of my life. Rifftrax couldn't even make it good. It's that bad.

The Last Airbender: I have heard from multiple reliable sources that the anime this film was based on is truly excellent, which only makes this utter failure even more disappointing. Its vague non-plot and awkward non-characters will surely fill you with no excitement or interest. Rifftrax makes this film entertaining.

The Twilight Saga: I'll spare you the details on this one, I've ranted about it enough. But yes, I cannot emphasis enough how good the Rifftrax are.
This is a poster for
Pirates of the Caribbean: Corporate Greed

Category 2: Unintended Sequels

These were obviously only made for the money and we all wish they hadn't been brought into this world. Prime examples of films that could have--and should have--stood on their own: Pirates of the Caribbean, Jaws, The Mummy, the original Star Wars trilogy, the original Indiana Jones trilogy, and a plethora of Disney films including but not limited to Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Pocahontus. These sequels cause thousands, if not millions, of movie-goers cry out in fury, "can't they leave a good thing alone?!" (Note that Twilight and Transformers sequels don't fit into this category, because the original film stunk.)

Category 3: "Well, it's not everyday you see the dumbest thing you've ever seen."

I feel like picking a favorite category is like picking a favorite child. I love them all, how could I choose? But if I had to pick, you know, a la Sophie's choice, I would go with this one. These are the true beauties. The movies that are so bad, they're good. They are the B-rated embarassments that get them on the top of lists like "The Worst Films Ever Made," and "Claire's Most Viewed on Netflix."

I think this shot of goblins from Troll 2 really says it all
Troll 2: Filmed in Utah by an Italian filmmaker, the writer of the script spoke English only as a second language. When the cast offered to rephrase their lines so they had correct grammar and better flow, the writer and director refused. Furthermore, there are no trolls in Troll 2. The name was changed to Troll 2 post-production to capitalize on the cult success of Troll. I emphasis again, Troll 2 is in no way a sequel or related to the film Troll.
This film is funny enough to watch without Rifftrax. Seriously. And make sure you look for a pioneer era LDS chapel. It's hard to miss, there is a plaque above the door that says "___ First Ward." Don't watch this if you are squimish or nauseated in anyway. There isn't any blood, but there is a lot of chlorophyll...it's hard to explain.

Plan 9 From Outer Space: The last film featuring the silent movie legend Bela Lugosi...in the sense that he died before the the film was made, but random footage of him was used in the film anyway. Lugosi was billed as the star of the film without having been alive when it was written. What I love most about this film isn't the visible wires, the terrible plot, or hilarious 1959 psuedo-science, it's the actor that plays Lugosi's character walking around with a cape covering his face. Priceless.

The Star Wars Holiday Special: I saved the worst for last. The title of this category is a quote from Mike Nelson watching this movie. I almost put this in a category all it's own because it is so horrible. In 1978, the world couldn't get enough of the surprise hit sci-fi flick Star Wars. Lucas was high on his success and created a Christmas Special to further capitalize on said success. But rather that make it about the beloved charcaters of the film, Lucas introduces new characters: Lumpy, Itchy, Mala, Art Carney, several versions of Harvey Korman, Jefferson Starship, and Bea Arther...singing. Wait, what? Yeah, you read that right. There are a couple cameos from real Star Wars characters, but mostly it's about a bunch of Wookies. Yep, the main characters don't even talk. They gargle and howl.
It was received so poorly that it was only ever seen that one time. It was buried by Lucas never to see the light of day again. The only way to view the Star Wars Holiday Special now is to get a time machine, go back to 1978, record it off TV, and bring it back with you. It's that bad. Or you could get on the internet, find someone who did that--sans the time machine--and buy a copy from them. Do NOT watch this without Rifftrax whatever you do. Just...just don't.

Feel free to use this list as a "Movies to Watch" list or a "Movies to Avoid" list. As for me, I'm gonna go find a copy of Spider-man 3. That is some serious Category 2!!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Rushed Decision

Like most of my life decisions, the decision to cut off my hair was made quickly. And once I decide to do something, I see no point in putting it off. I went to get my hair cut and when I told the stylist how short I wanted it, she got out a measuring tape to see if there would be enough left over to donate it. I measure my hair at about 20 inches, so yeah, there was enough.

I didn't bother with before shots, but here are some of the afters:

 I wanted this photo really big so you could read the tape measure. It looks like I chopped off about 12 inches, and there is still enough left over to put it in a ponytail!

Will I miss long hair? Hmm... Let me put it this way, will I miss the giant hair balls in my laundry/carpet? Will I miss the tangles at the back of my neck? Will I miss the back of my shirts being soaked every morning after my shower? No. I submit to you I will not.

Any regrets? It'll be harder to do braided hairstyles. I won't be able to be Princess Leia for Halloween but wait! I've already done that! And if I get sick of short hair, it's only a matter of time before it grows out again.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Decisions are the Worst

I have long been contemplating a change to my hair, but I can't seem to decide what change to make. Hair cut? Dye? Trim? All of the above??

Bangs might be a good choice, they are good for faces or something like that. Unfortunately, they get oily and I have to brush them out of my face constantly.
I promise to do this listless face if I get these bangs.

Disclaimer: I will never be able to actually curl my hair like this.


I might dye my hair! If I were  going to dye it, I would want to do something very different than my natural color. It would be a pointless waste of money to do my hair in a color that looks just like the color it already is! But if it's too different, I will have to deal with the roots growing out. Ugh.
I've never gone "black" but I'm told that once I do I won't be able to go black.
 Lastly, I could cut my hair short. My hair is currently about 20 inches long, if I wanted to donate my hair, I would cut off half off it and do something interesting with the rest. here are a few shorter hair options.
My hair will probably not look so well put together. I don't style it.

This is what I think my hair looks like in the wind. My imagination is very good.

Can't decide between short and bangs? Why not both?
 Now, tell me what I should do. I am unfortunately torn and unable to make up my mind. All of them look good in theory, I am just scared that no matter what I do I will look like my third grade school picture. (Imagine me with sideways teeth and a mushroom shaped bob.)

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Holiday Crafts and Fun

 If you are wondering about our Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, here is the skinny:

Here I am with the Gingerbread House I decorated. This is the first picture we took with Lee's lovely new camera!

After a terrific Christmas Eve with the Johnston family, (including a snow-covered Hogle Zoo excursion) we spent Christmas morning with the Burnett's in Bountiful enjoying the company and food that goes along with Christmas.
After dinner, we went to Odgen to visit the Phillips family. We enjoyed games, movies, and more goodies!
We volunteered to watch little baby Aubrie (3 month old angel and first Phillips grandbaby) so her parents could go see The Hobbit. She refused to smile for the camera, though she was smiley enough when it wasn't around. It wasn't for lack of trying though! We tried several takes.
Almost...smile...


 Even though we didn't spend Christmas at our little apartment, we still did a little family photo with our humble holiday decor.
 As soon as we got back from our vacationing, Lee went back to work and I got sewing! I got a beautiful new sewing machine for Christmas! I started in on the crafting right away. I am too cheap/poor to buy fabric, so I have stuck to repurposing items I already have. I turned an unflattering skirt into a fun dressy top, which I wore New Years Eve in the following photos.
 I also tore up an old pair of jeans that I turned into a plethora of good things! including this cute flower pin. I wore it for New Years too, but here is a better look at it.

I too the back pocket area of the jeans to make a "tech" pouch to put in my purse. It should help protect my phone, ipod, and kindle when I need to travel. I also made a little card pouch for those days when I don't want to carry a purse or bulky wallet. You can't really tell, but I used the zipper from the jeans for the main pocket of my tech pouch so the kindle doesn't fall out.

 This is my crowning glory of DIY creativity. I had a great "A Hard Days Night" t-shirt that got too small. and holes. and stains. I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of it! I just cut the logo out and recycled it.

The bag is made of the same pair of jeans as all my other denim projects (there is a LOT of fabric in a pair of jeans) and the lining is made of an old, hole riddled, Shade camisole. I used the camisole straps to make little ties to help keep the bag closed.

I promise I won't turn this into a crafting blog, but I hope you enjoy seeing what I have been up to! As I find more useless stuff around my house, I will surely find more ways to repurpose. Happy 2013!