So I'm moving to Norway for a year. I want to see what it's like to live and work there, and figure out if it's something I could do long-term. My departure date is at the end of April.

It's scary and exciting all at once. It's also a lot of work since I need to find someone to take over my lease for May 1st and sell most of my furniture.

If you have any friends or family in the Montreal area who are looking for a place or for any kind of furniture, please pass on this message with this link:
http://montreal.kijiji.ca/c-PostersOtherAds-W0QQUserIdZ53252999

Dear Bryan Fuller,

I wanted to thank you for your work in television, both in creating and writing for shows. A short time ago I finished watching the aired episodes of Pushing Daisies. That show truly is something special. Less than twenty minutes into the first episode, I knew I loved it. It didn’t take much longer with Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me, although I like those in very different ways.

Pushing Daisies always leaves me feeling good after watching it. It has warmth and a sweetness to it that’s contagious. It’s interesting because in every episode someone dies, and yet the show doesn’t dwell on it. With this formula, the show could easily go to a more depressing place. Dead Like Me is an example of that sometimes, but the magic sprinkled into Pushing Daisies keeps it safe.

Every episode of Pushing Daisies is a work of art on its own. Like a story book, every word carefully chosen, every shade of paint picked with a purpose and every small detail attended to, down to the foil on the cover. The end result is something unique and beautiful, often times fantastical and larger than life.

I realize that putting it all together is very much a team effort, but to have steered all those people in the right direction to create the feel of the show is an accomplishment on its own.

Thank you very much for sharing your creativity and for adding depth to all the characters you write for.

I’m looking forward to seeing what else you might be creating for TV in the future and I can’t wait to see what you’ll do to help fix Heroes. Company Man rocked by the way.

I wish you the best of luck.

Sarah
April 5, 2009

feeling: good
listening to: The Beatles - Girl

It's been a while and a half. Squared. I was browsing some old entries and realized that I miss writing. And drawing.

But hey, icons! Most are from various movies & tv shows.

Teasers:





( 131 total ranging from Angel and Firefly to Muppets and Veronica Mars behind the cut )

You may use any of the icons, just comment and credit in keywords.

feeling: unwell
listening to: Billy Joel - Vienna

"I really do believe that all of you are at the beginning of a wonderful journey. As you start traveling down that road of life, remember this: There are never enough comfort stops. The places you're going are never on the map. And once you get that map out, you won't be able to refold it no matter how smart you are.

So forget the map, roll down the windows, and whenever you can, pull over and have a picnic with a pig. And if you can help it, never fly as cargo."

- Kermit the Frog

My thoughts on life in a nutshell. Except maybe the part about the pig.

feeling: tired

The pages of the calendar
Are flyin' off faster as I get old
And if I had a second take
I'd wanna make the same mistakes
Except for the clothes
- Smash Mouth, "Right Side, Wrong Bed"

I realized something today. Emo haircuts? They kind of make me laugh.

It's not that I find it ugly (unless you count the unwashed nerdy-goth look of My Chemical Romance), it's just that 10 years from now we'll look back on them and realise that it was a typical haircut of our decade. And by then we'll probably have come to our senses and realized that emo haircuts were in fact pretty stupid looking.

The 60s had what? Mop-tops? The 70s had afros, 80s had Farrah-hair, 90s had "The Rachel" and the [whatever we're calling this decade] will have emo haircuts.

It's kind of funny to see the evolution.

Can't imagine looking back on the clothes though *shudders at the thought*

feeling: observant
listening to: Lifehouse - Somebody Else's Song

I'm being spoiled this month with new music, it's great. The Servant has How to Destroy a Relationship coming out on the 26th. They're the guys whose song was played in the Sin City trailer and in the background of the DVD menu. The title track from their new album totally rocks.

There's also this new band I discovered this week: Orson. I listened to a song and a half from this group and I said "I must own their album right now." I challenge you to check them out. My favourite songs are No Tomorrow, Artificial, Saving the World and well, I could just about name everything on their album. They're just the perfect mix of rock and pop, the singer has a great voice and they even have a sense of humor in their lyrics. When you listen to these guys, it'll just wash away your bad mood. It's fantastic.

I found out about them thanks to a little Dutch radio station on iTunes that I listen to while I'm at work. The great thing about listening to a European radio station is that it's almost completely different from what's playing over here. Thus, not the same old overplayed crap you're sick of hearing. I don't know what the one I listen to is called, but it starts with a "Z" and is the last one in iTunes' list of alternative rock stations.

On top of this new music, there's Smash Mouth's new album coming out a week from Tuesday. It's been 3 years since the last one. Say what you will about this band, but I love them. Lots of people say they've sold out over the years to movies, commercials, etc., but I say that they always stayed true to themselves, kept the same energy and sense of humor in their music and lyrics. Their guitarist, Greg Camp, is actually one of my favourite songwriters. If these guys made a polka album I'd buy it. Seriously, that's how far my dedication goes.

It's quite refreshing to have new music to listen to. It gives you a good feeling in your gut. Well, in mine anyway. It feels almost like their was a part of me missing before, as ridiculous as that may sound. I used to live and breathe music. I used to come home from school and sit in front of the TV watching MuchMusic all afternoon. I used to be in the loop about all the local bands.

Times have changed. 3 years ago I got a special deal on a subscription to Chart, Canada's music magazine. Now I read it and I've hardly heard of 90% of the artists featured in there, never mind even listen to them. Needless to say, I won't be renewing my subscription in October. Instead I'll be opting for Premiere.

I've bought far more DVDs than CDs in the past year. In fact most of the music I've bought has been film scores. Not that that's a bad thing. It's just so nice to have something with lyrics, a good beat and an overall more positive vibe going on. It's a well needed breath of fresh air, as silly as that sounds.

---

On a completely different note, I feel that I should talk about one of my latest obsessions: V for Vendetta. Bought the movie the day it came out on DVD and watched it 4 times in the first week I had it. I kind of loved it.

I was a little disappointed to find out that my 2-disc collectors edition didn't even have a commentary to show for it though. There's so much symbolism in both the movie and the original graphic novel, I would've loved to hear the director's or someone else's comments on that. Plus knowing why they chose to adapt the movie from the novel the way they did would've been great.

As a consolation prize, I think I just bought one of the coolest movie companion books ever, V for Vendetta: From Script to Film. It contains the entire script with pencil annotations on nearly every page. There are tons and tons of gorgeous production photos throughout the book. It has storyboards compared to concept and production artwork and the actual shots in the film, pages filled with all the variations of the movie's posters. In a nutshell, it's 10 shades of awesome.

I've only skimmed through the book so far, but let me tell you it was worth every penny. Even the layout and paper finish is gorgeous (yes, that's the graphic artist in me speaking). If you're a fan of V, this book is a must-have.

---

Oh, and here's something of interest in case you didn't know about it. Amazon.com has a lot of DVD season sets on special: comedy, drama and scifi. There's not a ton of stuff that interests me (that I don't already have), but I have been eying Greg the Bunny for a while. I've never seen the show, but I've heard good things. Plus, at 16 bucks you can't really go wrong.

When am I going to stop spending so much? I just bought two season sets which I haven't even started watching yet and already I want more... I really need to make a list of stuff I'll be needing for my apartment. It'll put things into perspective. A detailed spreadsheet including prices, prospective pieces of furniture and places to buy. Yeah, I'm sort of nerdy that way. I know I've said this before, but I think it bears repeating: I can't wait to have a place of my own.

feeling: happy
listening to: Orson - Artificial

Heath Ledger is going to play the Joker in the next Batman movie. I swear that I did not just make that up.

I really like Heath as an actor, but WTF?

And on another note, Flixster's Never-Ending Movie Quiz is ridiculously addictive. You must try it now.

Ah, look at the time. As Mason would say, "I need to be unconscious."

feeling: confused

Hearing covers of songs I know sort of make me start to feel old. Not just songs that I know, but I mean, songs that were originally released in the last, say, 10 years or so I guess.

My mom recently bought Jacksoul's new album, "mySOUL." It's an album that consists almost entirely of covers. The fact that I know most of these songs -- while my mother, music genious extraordinaire, doesn't -- sort of wierds me out.

Stranger still, these covers are actually pretty good. This guy's (or band's, I'm not quite sure) goal was to prove that you can still make great soul music today without always singing the old classics. My opinion? That's a pretty damn cool mission statement. Props for going through with it.

Covers are pulled from an odd range and include Blue Rodeo's "Try" and The Guess Who's "These Eyes." These, although nice, I might have heard too much of, thus less appealing to me. But that's nothing. Try listening to soul versions of David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes," the Smashing Pumpkins' "1979" (which really isn't all that hard to beat because Billy Corgan probably has THE worse voice in rock & roll history) and Jane’s Addiction's "Been Caught Stealing." Jane's Addiction?! What was this guy thinking?

The wierdest one by far on this CD is Ashlee Simpson's "Pieces of Me." Everytime I hear it, I think "wait, don't I know this song..." only to come to the painful realisation "oh! ewwww!" -- Ew to the thought of the original. Jacksoul's version isn't too bad.

My favourite on the album is the cover of Radiohead's "High & Dry." I'm not entirely convinced yet, but I'd almost go so far as to say that it's better than the orginal. I haven't decided yet. It would be saying a lot, because I love the original. Which is actually saying a lot on its own, because I loathe Radiohead...

This guy must've taken one nasty blow to the head to have come up with the idea for this album (or his hairstyle is numbing his brain**), but overall it works out nicely. It's reccommend checking it out.

** Seriously, Marge Simpson has a better hairdo. Someone needs to sneak up on him during the night and shave it off. He'll thank them later. Really, that hair is clouding his judgement.

Also, the guy is Canadian and managed to put in a few songs from the mother country on his album. Extra karma points for that.

feeling: tired
listening to: Radiohead - High & Dry

"Did you think to kill me? There's no flesh or blood within this cloak to kill. There's only an idea. Ideas are bullet-proof."
-- V

Awesome quote. I'm re-reading Alan Moore's V for Vendetta. I'd only read it once before and I'm really enjoying it more the second time around. I'm unsure how I feel about the story in the first part, but just a bit before the part where Evey gets her head shaved, I think it really hits its stride.

I'm noticing a lot of tiny details I had missed in my first reading. The subway station sign's shadow on the ground, The Salt Flats poster V picks up and the connection to Valerie, the chapter titles and how Book 3, Chapter 5 is written with a roman numeral. I like picking up on the little things.

I'm also appreciating the artwork a little bit more. I've never been a fan of the artists Moore has worked with. For example, I loved The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but hated the drawings. When it comes to comic art, Joss Whedon & Karl Moline's Fray is my absolute favourite. While reading V again, I haven't so much gotten into the drawings, but the colours are pretty nice. Particularly when anything is happening at the Kitty Kat Keller.

I really have to check the movie out when it comes to DVD.

On another note, last night I discovered the score of Requiem for a Dream. I've never even seen the film (although I've heard it's awesome and has the reputation of being a "mindf*ck" movie), but this music is bloody amazing. I can't tell you how many times in a row I listened to "Lux Aeterna" last night. It's that awesome.

The guy who did this score will also be doing the one for the upcoming movie The Fountain with Hugh Jackman. Now I have another reason to look forward to that film. October is so very far away though.

feeling: hot
listening to: Clint Mansell - Lux Aeterna (Requiem For A Dream OST)

Has anyone else noticed how the people who were involved in the making of Brokeback Mountain are really sore losers?

Crash won this year's Academy Award for Best Picture and ever since they did, people have been saying that Brokeback Mountain was robbed of what was rightfully theirs.

I saw both movies. Crash was better. I know, blasphemy to the fangirls! But I stand by that statement. I liked both films. They left me with this strange feeling after watching them. Like, "hey, that was good, but was there a point or a moral to this story?" It's hard to describe, but it was kind of nice. Overall though, I felt that Crash was far more interesting and had more to say about people than a movie about gay cowboys.

I know that the Oscars are somewhat old news, but I bring it up now because I just read this article.

First you get Jake Gyllenhaal, who's a littler bitter about not getting the Best Actor nomination (to be fair, Heath Ledger had more to work with in the movie). Then Heath didn't win. Take it easy boys, you're young. Your moment will come sooner or later. After Oscar night, just about everyone was shocked and apalled by the Best Picture loss. It's not like the Academy is going to change its mind if you complain about it. Now the author is pissed and ranting the whole "scandal" in a newspaper.

Seriously, Brokeback Mountain is an acclaimed film and has received several awards (including a few Oscars). That's something to be proud about. You can't win them all guys. Not to mention that wanting it all is a little greedy. Show a little grace and move on.

I'll say it again in case you missed it the first time: Crash was better.

Although Brokeback Mountain had better music. I just about squeed when I heard Rufus in the end credits :D

feeling: happy to not have to work today
listening to: Third Eye Blind - Knife in the Water