branquignole | Entries tagged with glee

Hello! I've been rather silent these past few weeks, but that is because they have been pretty awesome. Because I have magically found people who are exactly my kind of crazy and I love them like mad and we've been having a lot of fun. <3

Two weeks ago, I was invited to two birthdays (people usually don't see that much of me on weekends), one of which was spent ordering Chinese (and eating unholy amounts of it) and playing Singstar, at which I always do exceedingly bad, but it's masses of fun anyway! At the next party, we ate tacos with chili con carne, and I successfully managed to break my taco at once, which led to awkward eating, so I limited myself to French loaf afterwards. :D After dinner, we proceeded to watch 3-Day Weekend, a film that dazzled us with considerable lack of plot, and there definitely wasn't enough gay sex to make up for it. So then we watched two episodes of Glee, Journey to Regionals and Theatricality from season 1, and I'm pretty sure at least half of the people present didn't really like it, which makes me sad because let's be honest, Theatricality is one of the best Glee episodes ever! :(

On Monday (which was one day late for the birthday!), Watercolors arrived and three of us resolved to meet up again to watch it, hoping for more plot and/or gay sex than there was in 3-Day Weekend. It was actually not that bad. It's about Danny, the misunderstood bullied artist type, and Carter, a swimming prodigy, who don't have anything in common, but when Danny's mum has to babysit Carter because his father is away on a business trip, Carter acts as Danny's inspiring new model and they start falling in love. And whoop, schmoopy romance ensues! (Undying love one week into the relationship!) But it's a secret schmoopy romance and it's actually all very tragic. And I now want Tye Olson to play Peeta in The Hunger Games because Tye Olson owns my heart and Peeta owns my heart also, and it would be perfect.

And after that film night, we decided to establish this as a tradition, and met up again last night to watch Pirates of the Carribean. First, we watched part of a Glee concert, bouncing along on the sofa and squeeing over Chris Colfer a lot. Then we popped the second PotC film into the DVD player, and that is about all I remember because half an hour into the film we just started talking and never stopped. And I don't think I've ever known people in real life with whom I could just talk about anything that comes to mind because finding true friends is kind of finding a fairytale true love, and it's difficult when you like so much stuff noone else seems to like because you can't just go clicking on lj interests or anything, because this is not the internet. But now I have found my fairytale friends (only it's a very twisted fairytale; but it's good). And next week we're going to watch Inception or (500) Days of Summer or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or anything comparably awesome (which is kind of a waste because we're going to talk over it again anyway :D).

In other news, amazon is taking the piss out of me and being generally annoying with their standardised e-mails because, fuck them, this is not a problem which can be solved by reading the faqs. I don't want to have to call them. :/ But on the up-side, lots of stuff I can use for my termpaper are headed my way, and I'm hoping for it to arrive sometime this week because I am so excited to go through it all and read it. Especially Transforming a Rape Culture, and Jane Eyre - Early Soap Opera or Feminist Novel?. Or that feminist magazine I ordered. Or all of it, really. Eeeee. :D

( Tiny paragraph of Glee Spoilers. [Sexy & Original Song] )

First things first: I already wrote a post about the Spring Awakening show I saw on January 14 over on my German blog, and I usually leave it at one post about a show, except when the cast is very different. But last night's show was so incredibly amazing that I wanted to type up something a bit more thorough than last time. Since I was already acquainted with the plot, the characters and the actors, it was easier to take in more details which added to the overall experience. And then there's also the fact that there was one of the cast's cabarets after the show, so there's also something completely new to add to this.

( The show. This is still quite coherent. )

( The cabaret. This is not even remotely coherent. )

Anyway, this last part of the entry has kind of got out of hand and become rather incoherent, but the gist of all this is: they rocked the stage. I love them. I want to keep them and never give them back. Now, how do I arrange this? *stealthy ninja mode*

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Just gonna stand there and watch me burn-

I proudly present: my 2010 in numbers and in a nutshell. I saw 19 musicals (I wanted to make it 20, but then Spring Awakening was cancelled) in 12 different cities and 2 countries. On the whole, I was in 3 countries. 32 episodes of Glee made me laugh and cry. I saw Harry Potter 7.1 twice in the cinema, and it was the first time that I actually managed to go and see the original version of a film. 3000 Days of Innocence has made me happy. (Okay, I cheated, the number is part of the title.) I've taken on quite a challenge by deciding to translate it though, since it's over 130,000 words. I've already translated the Prologue and 7 chapters though. And I read a lot, of course - A LOT. I absolutely wanted to read more again, and I'm incredibly proud because I actually managed to read 75 books. 30 of those are classics, 8 of them German classics. I've also finally reread a ton of books I've been burning to reread (such as the Harry Potter series). On top of that, I've read the first six books of the Bible, but those are not listed here because I first want to read the Bible in its entirety. And I did manage to read The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes this year!

( List of books under the cut. )

On the whole, it was a really great year with hundreds of beautiful moments. I'm really grateful that I have so many wonderful friends who shared it with me, and friendship is something that can't be expressed in numbers.

Thank you. <3 I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: I heard someone crying, maybe it was me.

I realize I've taken to blogging about the things I watch on TV a lot. But since I haven't been reading anything thought-inducing - still reading Moby Dick - those are the only things that prompt blog-worthy thoughts at the moment. I've been actually wanting to blog this since the day I saw episode 15 of GLEE because that's the episode where everyone has to do a Madonna assignment, and they all have to sing a song by Madonna, so that the boys have to put themselves in the girls' shoes for once. It is an episode about equality, about how to treat other people with respect, and about the fact that we need variety. Kurt actually says it all: "Mercedes is black. I'm gay. We make culture." I love how this short statement is a celebration of minorities.

GLEE itself is a celebration of variety. There are disabled people, homosexuals, Jews, black people, fatties, Asians, pregnant teenagers - just about everyone is represented on this show, and I love it. The problem with this diversity, though, is that you are walking a fine line between showing that everybody is equal and positive discrimination. I think that GLEE is doing a good job of passing it off, they really are, and they're doing it in a great way.

( Enable All To Be Equals. )
ETA: I just want to make it clear that I think GLEE is doing a lot of stuff wrong too, I just especially liked this aspect of the show. I always become very enraged when someone is pushing Artie around or taking of his classes, because that's in the category of Stuff You Just Don't Do. Mr Schue is being an asshole most of the time, and some of the others tend to be rather racist or sexist or whatever at times, though probably unintentionally. I know that doesn't make it right, but I still think that even though there's some weird shit going on on this show, doesn't mean that part of it isn't great satire. Would be lovely if they got it right like that with everything they write up.

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: I am beautiful, no matter what they say.

I have a headache. This has not stopped me from doing my political science paper, finishing two books and watching tons of episodes of GLEE. And it will not stop me from blogging! (Why not, I hear you all groan in unison.) But first, let me tell you that the best way to counteract an oppressiveness-induced headache is definitely hanuta + cappucino.

So, today you have tuned in to read about my random thoughts about the first episode of the second season of Vampire Diaries. And about my wild comparisons between Vampire Diaries and GLEE. Wich are totally founded on scientific research and stuff!

Okay, watch out now. For [SPOILERS] for Vampire Diaries and GLEE.

I was rather disappointed by the Vampire Diaries episode. I had been waiting for it for two months after that huge and evil cliffhanger, and then I get 40 minutes of schmoopy nonsense about Katherine being in love with Stefan? I mean, are they serious? I thought Katherine had an Evil Plan of Ultimate Evil that brought her back to the town, and now I don't know if there is one and she's just trying to fool us, or if they really want me to believe in her Eternal And Undying Love for Stefan. I hope not.

( How the evil people are always cast out. Some angry rambling. )

But I think I get a little too worked up about this. :) Therefore, I will get worked up about something else tomorrow! Namely about French literature. Which sounds very sophisticated, but actually isn't. What I actually meant to say: blog post about L'art and The Hound of Baskervilles tomorrow.

Current Mood: content

I was wavering a bit whether I should watch another episode of GLEE or blog. Blogging won, since I haven't blogged in almost a week. (Whew, imagine that!) Anyway, I've now become such a Gleek that it takes me ages to finish reading a book because I soooo want to watch another episode. Today I've already seen #7 and #8, and I can't really decide whether I want to read another Sherlock Holmes, or watch #9. Hell, this is difficult!

Part of the reason I fell in love with GLEE so quickly is probably the fact that there are a tons of awesome singers that sing on it. I don't know most of the songs (so far) since I'm not so much into pop music and what not (yes, that is the sad reality of being a musical freak), but I love all the singing that's going on nonetheless! And then there's the cast, and they're all awesome. All of GLEE Club are made of win. The people I want to squish most are probably Kurt (KURT! He is so effing adorable! And he wears hats!), Mercedes (what a woman) and Tina. Well, and everybody else. Puck's been growing on me, because frankly, he has a beautiful voice and I don't care if he's a jerk, he looks all beautiful and lit up when he sings! Finn always reduces me to giggling because he's so naive and cute ("You're so chivalrous, Finn." - "Thanks. That's a good thing, right?") And I totally love Emma although I don't agree with her choices, but she's fun and weird and CAN YOU TELL I LOVE THIS SHOW?

And although it sounds like I've been doing nothing but watch GLEE, I'm actually blogging to tell you about the book I read. (Yeah, right, who am I kidding?) After reading Kirsten Boie's Die Medlevinger I absolutely wanted to pick up one of her other books, and when I spotted Alhambra at the library, I checked it out at once. It's about Boston who goes to Granada with school. Rummaging through some wall tiles in a souvenir shop, he finds one that looks pretty old and worn and real and decides to buy it for his mum. When he touches it, though, it takes him back in time about five hundred years. Back in 1492, he lives all kinds of adventures. It's the time when Christians reconquered Granada which had been taken by the Moors, and he witnesses a lot of misery - and then he gets caught up in the events himself, and is accused of having made a pact with the devil.

What I actually don't like about Boie's YA books is that there are no fathers around. It's like that in Die Medlevinger, and it's the same in Alhambra. I know that there are a lot of children whose families are not intact, but I think it would be nice to read one book where a child has a mother and a father, where none of them is dead, where they're not divorced, where they're kind of present in the kid's life. I think that Kirsten Boie's writing is otherwise pretty flawless though. She is really good at fleshing out characters and I get the feeling that she really gets young people. She also manages to have a lot of threads of the plot running parallel to each other and she's good at tying up the knots.

I'm not completely in love with this book as I am in love with Die Medlevinger. That one just was magic. Alhambra is good, no doubt, the historic background is interesting, and what's lacking is just a little something I can't put my finger on. I just didn't get as caught up as in Die Medlevinger. But that doesn't change the fact that Boie is a great author with a knack for intriguing stories. Her books are not books I miss all the time once I put them down (it's like that with Sanderson's book), but once I've picked them up, I don't want to stop reading for a long time.