a mixed update
Dec. 19th, 2010 11:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tinpraI have completed my beta'ing obligation (and now owe a myriad of people a myriad of other things) so I am free to give update:
The wake went better (and weirder) than I thought. My friends are Mexican, and apparently they "go hard" when it comes to religious observances at wakes/funerals. People who are familiar with me know that I'm not a shrinking violet of a Christian -- I wouldn't call myself bold as brass either, admittedly -- but this was wildly unexpected. The funeral home was easy enough to find, as well as the chapel where the viewing was, but instead of milling people, a constant line of viewers, and small groups taking over sections of chairs, I came in to a section of the rosary being done in Spanish. I took French. (If you're amused, be amused. Even I found it funny at the time.)
Can I tell you, the rosary takes for-ever, especially when you're not used to it. I went to Catholic school for 2 years, but as an elementary-aged non-Catholic I never had to actually do the rosary even though I had several. There was a song, the same song, between each station, then there was a prayer, a big song, then a spoken word (all in Spanish). Seriously, it was like I'd gone to the funeral service. Had I been at the funeral service that would have been fine. Since I was at a wake it was very...odd. And tiring. The place was packed, there were no convenient seats, I was in work flats which are not condusive to long-standing, and I carry a ginormous bag. Well...mid-ginormous. Since it was all in Spanish, and b/c my frustration and grief were manifesting as disdain and anger, I was actually a heck of a lot less weepy at the funeral home than I was on the trip there. My friend's husband came by near-er the end of the service part to say hello to people, take the baby around, and perhaps to get away from the service-y part. I don't remember them as particularly religious, which added to the surprise of it all. As you can imagine, I ran into a few people I used to work with including one guy I had been thinking of this summer, and a couple of people who didn't recognize me (b/c I didn't work with them all that much at the time). Later he came by again with his son...such a cutey. That made me sad. Oh! And when he first came by he asked with all seriousness how I was doing. His wife had died and he wanted to know how I was. Anyway...
So her funeral was yesterday. I didn't go. I'd actually thought it was going to be Friday, but that's neither here nor there. I wouldn't have been able to make it anyway.
Saturday I saw TRON: Legacy with the gang. In one sense...a waste of both an IMAX experience and the money it costs to have an IMAX experience. The previews for a cute and cuddly orphaned animal movie that Disney is doing was more 3D than Tron was. I 'clare, people in the fourth row got milk splattered all over them by that baby elephant!
Ahem.
On the other hand, from what I've read from a critic who saw it both in 2D and 3D (and was wildly dissappointed), the special effects give a needed depth to the action scenes. However, after nearly playing with chimpanzees I and my friends still felt let down that I was dodging light discs and the like. Certainly the movie is full of pretty: pretty actors, pretty set design, pretty clothes (in their way, and boy could I not live in this world of skintight everything), pretty action. It's not the deepest movie, ever, although I wasn't expecting it to be. It's not even particulary bad. It's just alright. But I paid IMAX prices. I want more than alright.
Olivia Wilde was, for me, the best part of the movie. The two iconic shots of her -- lounging in a chair and clinging to Sam Flynn while he does something with a disc -- happen so fast you can blink and miss them. What I loved about her was the way she handled her character. I don't want to really go into it b/c while I don't think it'd spoil you, it may color your opinion. Basically I feel that she's portrayed as one way in previews and on posters to luremen folks in, but that's not really what you get on screen. Trust me, she's still uber-hot eyecandy. In a world of black, gray and neon, where the good guys where blue/white neon, you want your Hot Chick to have large, gorgeous blue eyes. A friend of mine did wonder, though, "Why is her wig askew." Hee. (Her bangs are asymmetrical.) io9 has lots of nifty articles about the movie. My favore is by far 7 Awesome Facts You Need to Know About Tron Legacy.
So I'm basically back on the grid. I think. I may be lying to myself. The day after my friend died someone else I know, from my childhood, died. He's older than my mom, but he and his brother worked at the community center I all-but lived in when not at school/home. I was always closer to his brother than I was to him (he was always this unreachable, uber-cool artist guy who did murals everywhere), but I still may be reeling from my friend's death. His wake is this Wednesday. I have a holiday party Tuesday, a Christmas show Thursday and Christmas Eve is Friday. Jag, I guess this means I must post tomorrow or get sucked into a vortex of not-having-any-time :s
The wake went better (and weirder) than I thought. My friends are Mexican, and apparently they "go hard" when it comes to religious observances at wakes/funerals. People who are familiar with me know that I'm not a shrinking violet of a Christian -- I wouldn't call myself bold as brass either, admittedly -- but this was wildly unexpected. The funeral home was easy enough to find, as well as the chapel where the viewing was, but instead of milling people, a constant line of viewers, and small groups taking over sections of chairs, I came in to a section of the rosary being done in Spanish. I took French. (If you're amused, be amused. Even I found it funny at the time.)
Can I tell you, the rosary takes for-ever, especially when you're not used to it. I went to Catholic school for 2 years, but as an elementary-aged non-Catholic I never had to actually do the rosary even though I had several. There was a song, the same song, between each station, then there was a prayer, a big song, then a spoken word (all in Spanish). Seriously, it was like I'd gone to the funeral service. Had I been at the funeral service that would have been fine. Since I was at a wake it was very...odd. And tiring. The place was packed, there were no convenient seats, I was in work flats which are not condusive to long-standing, and I carry a ginormous bag. Well...mid-ginormous. Since it was all in Spanish, and b/c my frustration and grief were manifesting as disdain and anger, I was actually a heck of a lot less weepy at the funeral home than I was on the trip there. My friend's husband came by near-er the end of the service part to say hello to people, take the baby around, and perhaps to get away from the service-y part. I don't remember them as particularly religious, which added to the surprise of it all. As you can imagine, I ran into a few people I used to work with including one guy I had been thinking of this summer, and a couple of people who didn't recognize me (b/c I didn't work with them all that much at the time). Later he came by again with his son...such a cutey. That made me sad. Oh! And when he first came by he asked with all seriousness how I was doing. His wife had died and he wanted to know how I was. Anyway...
So her funeral was yesterday. I didn't go. I'd actually thought it was going to be Friday, but that's neither here nor there. I wouldn't have been able to make it anyway.
Saturday I saw TRON: Legacy with the gang. In one sense...a waste of both an IMAX experience and the money it costs to have an IMAX experience. The previews for a cute and cuddly orphaned animal movie that Disney is doing was more 3D than Tron was. I 'clare, people in the fourth row got milk splattered all over them by that baby elephant!
Ahem.
On the other hand, from what I've read from a critic who saw it both in 2D and 3D (and was wildly dissappointed), the special effects give a needed depth to the action scenes. However, after nearly playing with chimpanzees I and my friends still felt let down that I was dodging light discs and the like. Certainly the movie is full of pretty: pretty actors, pretty set design, pretty clothes (in their way, and boy could I not live in this world of skintight everything), pretty action. It's not the deepest movie, ever, although I wasn't expecting it to be. It's not even particulary bad. It's just alright. But I paid IMAX prices. I want more than alright.
Olivia Wilde was, for me, the best part of the movie. The two iconic shots of her -- lounging in a chair and clinging to Sam Flynn while he does something with a disc -- happen so fast you can blink and miss them. What I loved about her was the way she handled her character. I don't want to really go into it b/c while I don't think it'd spoil you, it may color your opinion. Basically I feel that she's portrayed as one way in previews and on posters to lure
So I'm basically back on the grid. I think. I may be lying to myself. The day after my friend died someone else I know, from my childhood, died. He's older than my mom, but he and his brother worked at the community center I all-but lived in when not at school/home. I was always closer to his brother than I was to him (he was always this unreachable, uber-cool artist guy who did murals everywhere), but I still may be reeling from my friend's death. His wake is this Wednesday. I have a holiday party Tuesday, a Christmas show Thursday and Christmas Eve is Friday. Jag, I guess this means I must post tomorrow or get sucked into a vortex of not-having-any-time :s
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Date: 2010-12-20 05:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 06:47 pm (UTC)You don't have to worry about posting if you're not up to it, bebe. I can just post a note that RL is being a meanie to you if you like.
*more hugs, just cuz*