It’s long, but worth it, I think
Happy Halloween!! (It does not feel like Halloween at all here. It is warm and sunny (and the daylight lasts forever and ever) there are no decorations, no costumes, and no jack o lanterns. No monster mash on the radio. *sigh* So I just have to imagine my favourite holiday… Ah well, at least I had some pumpkin (meaning squash) salad for lunch.)
In supremely excellent news, I scored 6/1626 for this weekend’s box office challenge. 6TH!!!!! When you log in to see the scores – I pop up in the top 10!! I ROCK!! And, it puts me at 59/1626 for the month, which is in the top 4%. I’m so totally brilliant.
Bought my bus pass! Yaaaay!!! And it includes the train journey from Christchurch to Greymouth. So now I just need to save up for food and accommodation, and the activities I want to do along the way. So my itinerary is as follows;
Dec 2nd; TranzAlpine train from Chch to Greymouth, then up to Barrytown.
Dec 3rd: Barrytown to Franz Josef
Dec 4th: Franz Josef (See the glacier)
Dec 5th: Franz Josef to Makarora (stop at fox glacier, see the Haast pass, stay in a national park)
Dec 6th: Makarora to Queenstown (see lakes Wanaka and Hawea)
Dec 7th: Queenstown (recover from a night out)
Dec 8th: Queenstown to Tuatapere (head to Milford sound, see some glowworms and a bird center. Tuatapere is apparently the sausage capital of NZ).
Dec 9th: Tuatapere to Invercargill and Stewart Island (stop at a sheep farm, check out the birds on Stewart island)
Dec 10th: Stewart Island to Dunedin (drive through the Caitlins, which are supposed to be gorgeous, well like most of the South island is supposed to be gorgeous).
Dec 11th: Dunedin to Queenstown (Wildlife at the Otago peninsula)
(if the weather is bad and we don’t make it to the Otago peninsula, I can stay behind, make my own way to Christchurch and join up with them again there)
Dec 12th: Queenstown
Dec 13th: Queenstown to Christchurch
Dec 14th: Christchurch to Kaikoura (stay by the beach and see the whales and dolphins)
Dec 15th: Kaikoura to Wellington (seal colony, ferry to Wellington)
Dec 16th: Wellington to Taupo
(the bus actually goes onto Auckland that day, but I’m going to get off in Taupo and make the rest of the way on my own. I might also see if I can stay a day in Wellington to see the museum, gardens, or the karori wildlife sanctuary, which I’ve heard great things about)
Dec 17th: Taupo to Waitomo
Dec 18th: Waitomo (glowworm caves!!)
Dec 19th: Waitomo to Auckland
Dec 20th: Auckland (probably see the zoo and some of the parks)
Dec 21st: Auckland to San Francisco! I think by this point I will be exhausted enough to actually sleep on the plane ride home.
So yes – I miss out on Nelson and Abel Tasman (and sky diving in Taupo), plus I don’t think I’ll get to check out the 2 story maze, but you can’t have it all. I think the itinerary is really good, considering the constraints.
Yay! Heroes just started in New Zealand, so monday night I saw ep 202 (the US is on 206), and Jason promised to bring in 201 so then I’ll be all caught up. Also, I forgive the make-up team for cutting Milo Ventimiglia’s hair because of this scene. (the scene starts at about 1:00. And the quality is crap – but hey – it’s youtube. There is more shirtless-ness here at 3:00 and here at 1:30) You know, considering that it was Peter discovering his powers that kick-started season 1, giving him amnesia for season 2 (granted, starting with many more powers) was a pretty good idea on somebody’s part.
(Also – sooo not Cork accents. Not that I’m any kind of expert on the various Irish accents, but I found that the Cork accent was the absolute hardest one for me to understand. I think they’re just using a basic Irish accent and saying the scene is in Cork, since sure you need to yer man to be understood on tv. 😉 )
Piper’s married! I’m SO thrilled for her. Although I cannot, cannot believe one of my best friends from high school is married. We’re so young!
I got in a student registration today for a woman whose last name is Welbeloved – isn’t that great? I also had a guy in all seriousness say cheerio to me, which made my afternoon.
Oh my god. Check this out: mega-amazing technology/entertainment news. So… in a few months, I won’t need to upload crappy youtube clips with Spanish subtitles (as above) I could just embed the entire episode of Heroes into my blog to share with people. Or an episode of the Office. You’ll be able to watch full length episodes of Heroes, the Simpsons, the Office, Arrested Development (I like how they call that a classic show – yet they didn’t KEEP IT ON THE AIR) for free anytime you want. And share them. They’re adding a few feature films, as well. How cool is that?? Now I won’t have to worry about catching up on Heroes or House or the Office by downloading them (which is always a little worrisome – or expensive, if you go with iTunes). I’ll just save downloading for Dexter and Lost.
Other shows that’ll be included; My name is Earl, the Riches, Conan, 30 rock, Vanished (which got cancelled, but did star Gale Harold) (oh – better pic here but TOTALLY NSFW. Ah. I miss Queer as Folk), Scrubs, Buffy, Jay Leno, Bones, Battlestar Galactica, (if Sci-Fi is included (NBC Universal owns them), does that mean Doctor Who? I doubt it). Also it includes FX – so maybe It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will be available too? Anyways, I’ve sent my e-mail in to try out the beta version. We’ll see how it goes.
Also – NBC/Universal owns Fox? What? That can’t be right. Rupert Murdoch owns, like, everything. Didn’t he buy the stock exchange or something? (A side on fox news; the daily show’s take on the wildfire coverage, particularly Fox’s, made me laugh a lot.)
On 2 vaguely related notes, 1 – bad haircut, Jon and 2 – there have been a lot of Nazi jokes on tv recently (South Park, etc.), and I feel really awkward laughing about them while I’m sitting next to a German girl. Obviously, she wasn’t around for WW2, and so far as I know, none of her family was, but I do wonder if she finds it offensive. Whatever she thinks, I literally cannot help myself laughing every time this week’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia promos come on about the Nazi gear (the gang finds a dead guy ep.). Hey – once it’s up on Hulu, I’ll be able to post the episode.
EMQ. Because I don’t do that. At all.
Republicans are trying to steal Californian electoral votes, yet again. Bastards. Also – only 98 days till the Primaries.
Fearing Fear itself. Really good NYTimes column.
The Hollywood guide to drinking. What hit me? The last martini. Need a pick-me-up? (speaking of EMQ)
Can you identify the objectionable comment as labelled by screenit.com? Yeah, I got 8/10, so I’m rated NC-17.
First official Wanted photos. Angie’s purty.
Retro cinema: Ed Wood. Aww… I really like that film.
From the Onion, via my mother; Non profit fights poverty with poverty and PETA commandos kill 49, save rabbit (who needs a kiss, who?)
5th film from Terrence Malick coming!
Winona Ryder teams up with Penn and Moore for Pippa Lee.
Cedric Diggory to play young, gay Dali. I’m blanking now on which of Federico Garcia Lorca’s stories we read in AP Spanish lit. Oh – he did La Casa de Bernarda Alba. So that one definitely, but I’m sure I’ve read more of his work (knowing Profe Duffy’s tastes, Bodas de Sangre sounds about right). Hey – he studied at Columbia. Go… lions? What was our mascot? Fightin’ socialist lesbians!
I think this list is old, but I came across it while looking up films; the top 100 films of the 1990s. Includes a big chunk of my faves.
The 100 scariest movie scenes. I like that Willy Wonka is up there.
Linkspam via cleolinda; New ‘Juno’ poster.
Halloween cocktails from Martha Stewart.
Snopes discusses the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode that was too “horrifying” to be shown in the series’ initial run.
Ten Tales of Terror: Super-short stories from six writers, including Neil Gaiman, with audio of the writers reading them as well. Except that I count more than six stories. Eh, it’s all good. (Hee, “Zombie Cat.”) Scroll down to the bottom for more audio as well.
Is “Slutoween” Actually Scarier Than Halloween Ever Was? [Every Day Is Slutoween].
How a coffee played a role in Civil War.
When Pigs Fly: The Death of Oink, the Birth of Dissent, and a Brief History of Record Industry Suicide, by someone who used to work in the music industry. “[The newspaper industry’s] only choice was to innovate and find ways to compete in a new marketplace. And you know what? Now I can get live, up-to-the-minute news for free, on thousands of different sources across the internet – and The New York Times still exists. Free market capitalism at its finest.”Past life analysis: http://www.thebigview.com/pastlife/ [Ed: I was apparently a female bridge builder in southern Japan in 1050. The lesson my last life brought to my current incarnation? I am bound to learn to understand other people and to meet all difficulties of life with a joyful heart. I should help others by bringing them a spirit of joy. ]
Strike threatens Hollywood cliffhangers. [Ed: nooo!]
trailer_spot: Sweeney Todd, Awake, Love in the Time of Cholera, Mad Money, Sasquatch Gang, Diving Bell and the Butterfly. [Ed: shoot – I want to see the Sasquatch gang trailer and it isn’t working]
Guillermo del Toro would theoretically be willing to do Deathly Hallows; Michael Gambon On Acting, Films, and the Harry Potter Series.
Kodi Smit-McPhee is Young Wolverine, Stupidly Named.
First Dumbledore Sighting Since The Outing! (The caption on the picture made me laugh. Hee.)
6th!!!!!!!!!!
musica: by the way – Chili Peppers, Tell me where it hurts – Garbage, Five – Joan Jett, Just a girl – No Doubt, Shadow of the Day – Linkin Park, Destroy everything you touch – Ladytron, Music is the Victim – Scissor Sisters, City of Angels – Distillers, Piece of my Heart – Janis Joplin
Tags: Travel
jwdmeow
Sounds like a good itinerary to me. I’m glad you’re going to the glowing caves. I’ll look forward to the pix.
Gay Dali? Salvador Dali was married. He painted his wife often. I know it’s possible to be gay and married, but I never heard that he was.
I’m with you on the WOW. Congrats to Piper, but…wow.
Well, according to the article, the generally accepted theory is that Lorca was interested in Dali, who was not interested back. However, the screenwriter for this piece thinks that the two had an affair that ended when Dali met his wife.
I think, if I remember correctly, Piper’s husband is in the military. So that makes sense to me, since people in the military tend to marry earlier. Plus they’ve been together for a couple of years now, which is long enough to know whether a marriage is going to work out or not. My friend Jon from college is getting married in May. He’s a year older than me and his fiancee is a year younger. And I have an ongoing bet with Kristl as to whether she or Alex will get engaged first.
Luckily, there are still plenty of us out there holding down the singles fort!
Including yours truly…