A Girl With a Sword

Golden Compass--kind of soulless

The Golden Compass was a big disappointment. I forget about CGI sometimes and then I'm watching a movie and I'm like, "it doesn't feel right," you know? Sad. It reminded me of the Narnia movie from a couple years ago, too clean, the animals looked like nothing, I mean, cartoons would be a better idea. And what was with all the epic battles, there were at least five. I was unimpressed by the Lyra girl, there was nothing memorable there. She ran around and said her lines very nicely and all, but she brought absolutely nothing to a character. I hate this, I hate that directors think they can make movies out of books without adding anything of their own. What's the point? What's the point of watching it if reading it would give me a better experience? I want new insight, I want commentary, and I don't want you hiding the author's main point behind silly CGI polar bears and something referred to only as "The Magesterium." Nicole Kidman was good, though, she brought something. Something scary.

What they really missed, I thought, was the world. I don't think it could even be conveyed through a film, the magic of a world that runs on ambaric power and has disciplines like experimental theology. I thought they did the daemon thing pretty well, for what they had to go on, although filling in the information through the dialogue felt kind of stilted: "it's horrible to see a person without a daemon," "when you get smacked it hurts me too". It made the battle scenes much more terrifying when you had to watch people's souls exploding when they died. It was really too plastic, though, the books themselves are so rich and it was like they had to cut everything away from them and then kind of stick it back together in order to make it into a movie. Ironic in a movie about people getting their souls cut out--that it could get by without a soul of it's own.

Okay, bad metaphor. Here is a picture of Eva Green, to make us all feel better:

christmastime, christmastime

I know, it was a silly hope, but I was just wanting Golden Compass to be more like this (don't tell Philip Pullman), you know, no CGI, people in animal costumes, strange conglomerations of cartoon and live action, magical fake snow.

christmas calm

Back in Nebraska, another semester over, or, almost over. I need to finish up an experiment for one of my classes and get my thesis proposal together, but all the stuff that was giving me hell last week is done. Thank God. And it's so snowy here it's like, oh hello winter. I didn't know you had come. It's nice to have this for Christmas time, but I'm glad I get to go back to Carolina afterwards.

I spent a few days in Columbia after the semester was over and it was nice to see the town settle down for Christmas, USC students left, other people came back into town. The bars were filled with long tables of people who seemed to be reuniting, we figured friends from high school or friends from college who had since dispersed. It was nice and cozy and it felt even more like a small town. I finally joined the local independent theater, The Nickelodeon. My roommate from last spring came back into town and we had to go to all the places she's missed since moving to the D.C. area. And we had to do it all in the afternoon because I really didn't get up before then . . . Then she left Tuesday night and I went to the library to get my traditional Christmas children's fantasy (reason number one I couldn't be an English kid, school gets over and I drop Nabokov and go back to E. Nesbit). I had a nice talk with the children's librarian girl, who is in grad school too and likes the same books as me. She gave me some good recommendations. I'm reading The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale right now, a retelling of the Grimm's fairy tale.

Okay, okay, and now I am really procrastinating about taking a shower. I slept for more than twelve hours last night and I feel like I could go for a little more, but better shower and make mince pies before Mom gets home.

how did I ever think writing my SIP was hard?

I hate the ends of semesters, why do they keep happening? This semester I only have one exam, but I have a 15-page paper due on Saturday and the exam was supposed to be due yesterday, but is now due Monday. I hate extensions, especially extensions into Christmas break. I've pretty much finished it and I'm going to try to not work on it any more than necessary. I'm so tired. That's been my semester, sooooo tired, more tired than I've ever been in my life. It's so important to me to know it will all be over soon, but I just want it to be over now. It's hard to even care about how it goes.

I'm writing writing writing, but it's going in circles. It's a crazy philosophy paper. On meaning holism. Basically what it comes down to, guys, is that a word can either mean everything in the world or mean nothing. There's no middle ground. There's nothing that says "when" when you're filling up a word with meanings. This is fantastic stuff and the philosopher men are hilarious, but it's hard trying to make my contribution when everyone defines the terms differently. And because this is my last thing it's dragging, dragging like hell and it's like I'll never be done because I have to figure out meaning, see? and who can do that? no one's done it yet, although they think they have. More important than thinking they have, though, they think other people haven't. And I guess I can just say none of them have and we'll all be even.

death has the last word

A clever poke at the ongoing debate:

(from Irregular Webcomic!)