Who Are You...

I bought CSI: Las Vegas last week, season 1-5, because I'm a big fan and yet I've never been able to watch all of the episodes in TV and I've never had a chance to buy the set before. Only now. And I just realized that it was only in the second season when their theme song became, "Who Are You" which is now the song that most closely related to CSI:LV. Imagine my surprise when, upon watching the DVD with the subtitles turned on, the song actually went, "Who are you... Who who... who who... who are you..." Imagine that. All the while, I thought it was, "Oooh-aaah-ooh... ooh-ooh... ooh-ooh... ooh-aah-ooh..." Now I crack up and/or smile every time I hear the song, remember how silly it all is.

I'm only up to season 2, got three eps to go before heading off to season 3 onwards... and I am annoyed. The season-ender for season 5, entitled "Grave Danger" - the one where Nick gets kidnapped and buried alive and all that and directed by Quentin Tarantino - isn't in the set. Argh. All the other seasons only have 23 episodes but season 5 has 24... hay. Must search for copy.

V For... Velasco!

Yeah, yeah, I know. Totally corny. But I couldn't resist.

Anyway, I was able to watch V For Vendetta last Saturday with my mom. I'm glad that they were still showing it in Festi else I would've missed it entirely. It was quite good, but I expected that. I expected it would make me think, and I got that. I expected it would make me go, "ooh" and it did. I mean, it's the Wazorski-whatever brothers, right? The brothers who brough us Matrix (let's forget the next two installments of the trilogy, shall we? I disliked that they minimized the philosophical slant and went crazy with the suspense/action bit), how could I expect less? Or a mediocre film? Of course not. I have to admit, I was also expected lots of action and suspense (V is, after all, supposed to be a freedom fighter/terrorist). I expected a mixture of Matrix and the two that followed so I was pleasantly surprised to see that there wasn't a lot of violence.

(Warning: spoilers) I expected to see Hugo Weaving's face behind the mask since, after all, his name is pretty big-shot and he is the main character, but it was never shown. After watching it, I realize that that makes sense. V was a freedom fighter to most, a terrorist to some, a cold-blooded killer to others, and somehow, a teacher. He was an enigma, a mystery, hence the mask. So to take it off, even at the end, would have killed that. Better yet to just see him as a mask. I got a little "ew" moment though, when Evey (I originally thought that was 'Evie' until I saw her name in the film), played by Natalie Portman - who is in her early 20s - kissed V, played by Hugo Weaving who is, what, 50+? I just went all, eh. Even in the story, V is really older than Evey, but still, they 'fell in love' or whatever. At first, it gave me slight heebie-jeebies, but at the end, when the Inspector asks Evey who V was and says, "He's my mother, my father, my brother, my friend... he is you, he is me... he is all of us" then I realize that Evey and V falling for each other is how it is supposed to be. They're not so much as two people, generations apart, who fall for each other... but, rather, they are two ideas, two different worlds, that have come to know and understand each other and find that, even though they are completely different, there are things about them that are the inherently the same and they love each other for all their similarities and differences.

Natalie Portman was outstanding - and I love her British accent. Then again, I love British accents so I'll most likely love whoever speaks it LOL Hugo Weaving was sensational. All the other characters were great. It is such a movie. It draws you in and at the end, when the credits start rolling and you're left with the image of firecrackers in the sky... you realize that, yeah, that can happen. That's life.

The entire, uh, nursery rhyme (?!?!?!) is supposed to be: "Remember, remember, the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot. I see no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 'twas his intent to blow up the King and the Parliament. Three score barrels of powder below, Poor old England to overthrow: By God's providence he was catch'd With a dark lantern and burning match. Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring. Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King! Hip hip hoorah! A penny loaf to feed the Pope. A farthing o' cheese to choke him. A pint of beer to rinse it down. A faggot of sticks to burn him. Burn him in a tub of tar. Burn him like a blazing star. Burn his body from his head. Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead. Hip hip hoorah! Hip hip hoorah!". Although in the movie, only "Remember, remember, the fifth of November" was the only one said often.

De-stress Time

Random

1. House guarded by shotgun 3 days a week – guess which days.
2. Give a man a match and he’ll be warm for a minute, but set him on fire and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.
3. Actual headline – Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery, Hundreds Dead
4. The real trouble with reality is that there’s no background music.
5. If my calculations are correct SLINKY + ESCALATOR = EVERLASTING FUN
6. Everyone is entitled to be stupid but some abuse the privilege.
7. Always remember you’re unique. Just like everyone else.
8. War doesn’t determine who’s right. War determines who’s left.
9. Sarcasms helps keep you from telling people what you really think of them.
10. Answering machine saying – sorry I can’t get to the phone right now because my girlfriend and I are doing our favorite thing together. Personally, I like doing it up and down while she likes doing it side-to-side r-e-a-l slow… so I’ll get back to you when we finish brushing out teeth.

Quotable Quotes (c/o Ro)

1. If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything.
2. My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music.
3. Morality is simply the attitude we adopt toward people we personally dislike.
4. We was robbed!
5. Judgment is forced upon us by experience.
6. If you are prepared, then you are able to feel confident.
7. Make hunger thy sauce, as a medicine for health.
8. It is not enough to succeed; others must fail.
9. Nothing shocks me. I'm a scientist.
10. Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.
11. We are drowning in information and starved for knowledge.
12. The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
13. To err is human, to blame the next guy even more so.
14. Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.
15. In idleness there is a perpetual despair.
16. Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking.
17. There is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.
18. Oh, give us the man who sings at his work.
19. I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.
20. An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.
21. Every improvement in communication makes the bore more terrible.
22. The computing field is always in need of new cliches.
23. Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.
24. I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance.
25. Diplomacy: The patriotic art of lying for one's country.
26. The basis of optimism is sheer terror.
27. Conservation is humanity caring for the future.
28. I don't mind being miserable as long as I'm painting well.
29. Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.
30. If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your thing.
31. Laws do not persuade just because they threaten.
32. There are mighty few people who think what they think they think.
33. Amusement is the happiness of those who cannot think.
34. There is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.
35. Obviously crime pays, or there'd be no crime.
36. The only thing good about it is you're not dead.
37. Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one.
38. Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.
39. Between saying and doing many a pair of shoes is worn out.
40. Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined.
41. Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity.
42. The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.
43. SCRIBBLER, n. A professional writer whose views are antagonistic to one's own.
44. Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.
45. The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.
46. Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed.
47. All the world's a cage.
48. I have learned to use the word impossible with the greatest caution.
49. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
50. It is only the wisest and the stupidest that cannot change.
51. To feel fit as a fiddle you must tone down your middle.
52. The great man is he that does not lose his child's heart.
53. He who boasts of his ancestry is praising the deeds of another.
54. Human kind cannot bear much reality.
55. In giving advice, seek to help, not please, your friend.
56. No nice men are good at getting taxis.
57. I love acting. It is so much more real than life.
58. The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next.
59. I never know how much of what I say is true.
60. University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.
61. All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.

The Biggest Collection Of The World’s Biggest Lies Ever Told…

1. The check is in the mail.
2. I’ll respect you in the morning.
3. I’m from your government and I’m here to help you.
4. It’s only a cold sore.
5. You get this one, I’ll pay next time.
6. My wife doesn’t understand me.
7. Trust me, I’ll take care of everything.
8. Of course I love you.
9. I am getting a divorce.
10. Drinking? Why, no, officer.
11. I never inhaled.
12. It’s not the money, it’s the principle of the thing.
13. I never watch television except for PBS.
14. … but we can still be good friends.
15. She means nothing to me.
16. Don’t worry, I can go another 20 miles when the gauge is on ‘empty’.
17. I gave at the office.
18. Don’t worry, he’s never bitten anyone.
19. I’ll call you later.
20. We’ll release the upgrade by the end of the year.
21. Read my lips: no new taxes.
22. I’ve never done anything like this before.
23. Now, I’m going to tell you the truth.
24. It’s supposed to make that noise.2
5. I ‘love’ your new _____!
26. … then take a left, you can’t miss it.
27. Yes, I did.
28. Don’t worry, it’s ok – I’m sterile.