Post 159: Musicals

Previously on my blog: "I have seen Fiddler on the Roof and I must say...not the biggest fan. I didn't hate it. But, it is far from my favorite musical, in fact, it is preceded by Cats, Wicked, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Mamma Mia, The Book of Mormon, Rock of Ages, Evita, Grease, Sound of Music, Lion King, and Les Mis, and Flashdance (based off the actual musicals, not the movie versions.)"

This got me thinking about musicals vs. movies. I don't know if I have talked about it before, but I am quite often annoyed by the classification of things as musicals. Now, I understand that the definition is a film/show/play that consists of musical numbers, but I feel like the musical numbers must play a specific role to be classified as a musical. 

Shrek 2 has a musical number where Fairy Godmother sings on a piano, that is the only real musical number where a character sings, but I would not classify the movie as a musical. In the movie, Kinky Boots people perform songs on stage. But they don't just sing. It isn't like High School Musical where people sing rather than talk to people or keep their feelings internal. In Lemonade Mouth, there is not a single song that isn't part of a performance or band practice. 

Kinky Boots and Lemonade Mouth, to me, aren't musicals. Their subject matter happens to be a band or performer, but the songs don't really follow the pattern of other musicals and could be left out without changing the plot. 

Lemonade Mouth could have been declared a band and their performances could have been talked about rather than seen, and it wouldn't effect the plot. Meanwhile, you take out the songs from High School Musical or Evita and their is no plot. I feel like true musicals are almost back-to-back songs, where the songs move the plot along and are narrative devices. 

This is why, while I like Footloose, I don't classify it as a musical. Kevin Bacon goes around dancing, while listening to music and they have a school dance. But at no point does anyone sing, as a plot device or otherwise. Same with Pitch Perfect, they are singers. It isn't like in Grease where it is just accepted that people are going to sing, in Pitch Perfect they have a reason to be singing. 

Step Up has dance competitions, but no one sings randomly. They are performers. They dance in accordance with the plot, not to move the plot. 

If I am on Netflix looking for a musical, I am not looking for something like Pitch Perfect or Footloose or Flashdance (though, an ACTUAL musical version of it was made and it was quite good) I am looking for an ACTUAL musical. Netflix can you do something about your genres please?

Post 158: What do you want to watch?

I can be indecisive. There are moods that I get into where I really feel Buridan's ass paradox. It basically says that a donkey (ass) placed an equal distance from a source of water and a source of food, would die from starvation/thirst as it would not move. It has variants that a person between two identical sources of food would starve because they could not choose which one to eat and their indecision would lead to their death. 

Of course, to a lesser extreme. It comes up when asked, "what do you want to have for dinner?" 

But more often it comes up when I want to clean, cook, work on something, etc. and am looking for a TV show/movie to have on in the background. 

And I often don't know what I want to watch. So, recently I started looking up some quizzes for aid and almost every SINGLE one asked: "what do you feel like watching? Comedy, action, etc." 

IF I KNEW WHAT I FELT LIKE WATCHING I WOULDN'T NEED TO BE LOOKING UP QUIZZES TO GIVE ME SUGGESTIONS! 

What actually usually happens is I settle for some movie and then when the trailers come on, I see a trailer for something I would rather watch (though, 8 times out of 10 I don't actually own the movie I then want to watch). 

I will now take one of those quests, posting the progress with you so you can see what I mean. My thoughts are in red, my answers are in blue.

Question 1: What kind of movie do you feel like watching?

If I knew that I wouldn't be here, would I? 

Answers:

• Comedy 
• Adventure
• Romance
• Action

What about horror? Sci-Fi? Fantasy?

Question 2: Which actress would you love to spend a day with?

This is not helpful AT ALL. There are a lot of actors/actresses that I think would be cool to spend the day with, but not the best actors/actresses or that are in movies I dislike even though they seem like good people. But good actors/actresses in good movies/TV shows that are horrible people in real life. 

Answers:

• Anna Kendrick
• Ellen Page
• Cate Blanchett
• Kate Winslet

Other than Lord of the Rings and Cinderella, I cannot really say I know what Blanchett has been in, but I have heard that she is very nice and funny. Speaking of funny, each question has a picture and the picture for this question is Kristen Stewart, the epitome of my earlier point. I dislike Twilight and wasn't a huge fan of The Cake Eaters, but from interviews and fan commentary, I've heard she is actually a nice person. It is also kind of funny because she isn't one of the possible answers. Kristen Bell, on the other hand, I think is both someone who's work I like and seems like a good person. 

Question 3: Which actor would you rather go on a date with? 

Same issue as with the previous question, with the addition of age differences, sexual preferences, and marriages. 

Answers:

• Jude Law (44)
• Adam DeVine (33)
• Orlando Bloom (40)
• Leonardo DiCaprio (42)

Not really comfortable with any of them as the closest to my age is still 9 years older, but at least I don't think any are married or gay. I chose Bloom, because if nothing else maybe I can get some stories about filming Lord of the Rings with my friends, including one in love with Aragorn. 

Question 4: What is your favorite music genre? 

Maybe useful. Though, like movie genres, I couldn't give my favorite music genre. My preference in music is often less about a specific genre and more about the feeling they evoke or whether they have a good beat. 

Answers:

• Pop
• Jazz
• Soundtrack
• Classical

I actually went with soundtrack, because while I do have a lot of pop songs (more so than jazz or classical), soundtrack is more expansive. It can include other styles: the Rock of Ages soundtrack is very different from the Sound of Music soundtrack which is different from the Trolls soundtrack which is different from the Repo! the Genetic Opera soundtrack. 

Question 5: You and your friends are hanging out on a Friday night. You decide to have a midnight feast. What kind of snack do you have?

It actually is Friday and if I am up at midnight, I am in TROUBLE. I have to be up for work at 5am tomorrow. 

Answers:

• French Fries
• Burgers and Pizza
• Pancakes
• Donuts

After a LOOONG internal debate, I choose pizza. I don't really like any of them. Donuts are sweet and sticky, I'm not really a fan. I don't really like french fries (though, tater tots aren't bad). I REALLY don't like pancakes. Not really a fan of burgers either. Pizza is....eh. I'm not really a huge fan. I don't get excited by the prospect of it, but I don't hate it either. 

Question 6: What is your favorite kind of weather?

Answers:

• Snowy
• Windy and Rainy
• Hot and Sunny
• Sunny and Breezy

Question 7: What is your favorite movie of all time?

Answers:

• Interstellar (2014) Didn't see it. 
• Bridesmaids (2011) HATED IT. 
• It's Complicated (2009) Barely remember it. Think it was funny but forgettable. 
• Lord of the Rings: FotRing (2011) I liked it, but it wasn't even my favorite in the franchise. 

Question 8: You and your friends are hanging out and you decide to watch a TV show. Which show do you watch?

Answers:

• New Girl It's okay. Felt like Jess was sometimes made to be kind of too over-the-top. 
• Sex and the City Never seen it, but sounds like too much drama. 
• Star Trek: Next Gen. Patrick Stewart. 'nough said.
• True Detective Had to watch it for a class, not bad. Super weird, dark, and religious.

So, my options are chick-flick, MEGA chick-flick, old SciFi, or Noir? 

Question 9: What is one of your values?

Answers:

• Romance
• Creativity
• Adventure
• Friendship

All of the above? They're all good values and it isn't even asking for my top value or the highest of those listed. I don't know. Must be time for eeny-meeny-miney-mo.

Question 10: Which singer would you love to see in concert?

I'm not really into concerts, which is weird because I love music. However, there are VERY FEW artists that I love all the music for. In fact, if I look at my iPod right now other than a few artists--like Avril Lavigne (26), Basshunter (38), and Adam Lambert (48)--I have, on average, two songs per artist. 

Answers:

• Lady Gaga
• Mariah Carey
• Adele
• Rihanna

I actually almost went to a Lady Gaga concert, but just a few days before my ear drum ruptured, so for obvious health reasons, I wasn't able to go. I think, though, an Adele concert would be pretty cool to see. 

RESULT:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" (2013)

I love that it isn't even the first in the trilogy. Honestly, I am far from surprised. A lot of the movies revolved around the Lord of the Rings franchise, so not surprised that this was the result. 

I retook it giving random answers and got The Holiday, a Romance with Jude Law and Winslet. And again, next time I got Inception, an action movie with Di Caprio and Page. The fourth time I got Pitch Perfect, a comedy with DeVine and Anna Kendrick.

This quiz would probably be more helpful if there were more expansive answer options. Or even better representatives of each of these genres. 

Did it help me decide what to watch? No. 

Actually took a second one as well that was more expansive, with probably 10 potential results or more as each question had, at least, ten responses. Though, a lot were either really vague, really similar to another answer, or very obviously connected to a particular movie. In the end, I got Fiddler on the Roof. I have seen Fiddler on the Roof and I must say...not the biggest fan. I didn't hate it. But, it is far from my favorite musical, in fact, it is preceded by Cats, Wicked, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Mamma Mia, The Book of Mormon, Rock of Ages, Evita, Grease, Sound of Music, Lion King, and Les Mis, Into the Woods, and Flashdance (based off the actual musicals, not the movie versions.)

Will I be watching it? No. What will I be watching? I'm feeling like some crime drama but like Law and Order levels of drama, not Cold Case/True Detective levels. I don't feel like watching a soap opera where they happen to be detectives, I want to watch detectives that have are well-rounded, real people.

Post 157: "The Female Point of View" on Stupid Tech

So, I was watching Shark Tank and there was an item that came up called Splikity. Basically, how it worked was that you put all your passwords into the app and then (as far as I can tell) you use the app as a browser and it automatically logs you in. Or, it communicates with the browser app you use, not 100% sure how it works really.

Either way, there were legitimate concerns about the app for security reasons that came up on the show. Like, doesn't this increase the risk of hacking? (Questions that weren't asked: who has access to the information, if it saves the info does that mean developers have access to it, if it is using the industry standard (aka the most common type that will be used and that hackers will be looking at beating) are you looking at working on improving security either by looking for better security options or having specially designed security for the app, how are you competing with the DOZENS of apps that have similar functions that are more secure, etc.)

Anyway, two of the Sharks basically shut them down when Lori chimed in with the "female point of view". That "having an app that is user-friendly would make a woman feel more comfortable" because they're "not as technological".

Now I had a problem with that for a variety of reasons, one being that I thought the app was totally stupid. And I agreed with one of the other Sharks that security is a non-gender issue. If the app isn't secure, users male and female won't be comfortable with it.

The second issue I had is the idea that it required a woman's perspective because of the ease of use. It wasn't the "female perspective" it was the "over 30 and not tech savvy" perspective. I don't want all my passwords to be saved automatically, ESPECIALLY my banking passwords. Do you know who I picture using this product? My mother. My father. My friends' parents. Lots of whom don't lock their phone or use easy codes (ex. 7890) so they don't forget. Which means if any one gets access to their phone, it will be even easier to get their personal information.

That is not secure. That does not even really require a hacker. It is like when people talk about someone hacking into their Facebook when what actually happened is they didn't log out!

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) subjects, in general, are not often associated with women. Women and girls have even pushed away from them through subtle jabs and social expectations. My father is a Mechanical Engineering professor and I've seen first hand how few female students there are compared to male students, how few female professors in these fields there are, and how people react to women when they are on tours.

I think what annoyed me was the fact that it was a woman who was making that comment. She could have said it was her perspective or a less tech-savvy person's perspective, it didn't need to be the "female point of view".

Post 156.5 : I'm a Graduate

I have officially graduated from University. I don't have much that comes to mind for things to say about the ceremony or the experience. I will make another post about it soon, for now just wanted to post the update.

Post 156: How Thunder Can Ruin a Weekend

So, my Friday was more eventful than I'd have liked. Because of it, I am currently typing this one-handed on an old laptop that is missing the 'l' key (it has the little knobby thing underneath still) and doesn't hold a charge, in PJs in a room I almost never spend time in, on a couch I find kind of uncomfortable next to my clingy, injured pooch.

My dog is scared of thunder, like most dogs. On Friday there was thunder so loud that it sent her into my bathroom to hide. My bathroom floor is, and has always been, notoriously slippery. My dog is terribly ungraceful. The two did not mix well. She slipped and fell spread-eagle on the floor hitting her back right knee on corner of the wall and her back feet as well (my bathroom kind of has a weird layout). She fell behind the door so even if she could get up the door was closed.

The fear of the thunder, being stuck on the floor, trapped in a dark room, and being in pain (bleeding from her knee, her left foot, and from her elbows and stomach from rubbing against the floor as she tried to stand caused her to defecate on the floor.

When I came home, I couldn't find her. My bathroom was the last place I'd think to look. It is where she gets baths, why would she go in there? Fear.

I ran around the house looking for her and calling for her. Then, I heard whimpering coming from my bathroom. The door opened to blood and poo smeared a cross my bathroom floor with my poor dog on top squirming trying to get up. I managed to get her up (though, it was hard because I could only open the door a few inches so I had to kneel with one arm arm under her trying to lift her up, the other trying to keep her feet from hitting the corner of the wall) and out, but it was clear she was in pain.

I called my mom. She didn't answer. I called my friend and her mom and they were an hour away, but they still came over as soon as they could, because I wanted to take her to the vet and I was a mess of tears and panic.

She calmed down when she got to her bed in the living room and had a pain pill (or two), I...didn't. I was probably just as scared as she was. My mom has said before that if she hurts her legs and cannot walk, we cannot take care of her. She is too big for us to carry her when she needs to go out and I was terrified she broke her leg or foot and that my mom would say that we have to put her to sleep. And I stayed late after work to talk with a coworker, so I was feeling guilty for being late and wondering how long she had been there and if I coming up right after work would have put me at home before she fell. And I was/am watching the house, so I was home alone and she was my responsibility as was any medical decision. And I had called my mom (3 times) and she hadn't answered. I was not in a good place.

I have said thank you quite a few times to my friend and her mom (her mom even helped me get her to the vet the next morning, since it was closed by the time I was home the night before). I don't know if they know that it was just as much the emotional support they provided as the actual help that I was thankful for.

It pretty much ruined my Friday. I didn't eat dinner until almost ten, because it took a long time to get the dog settled enough she could sleep and wasn't bleeding on the carpet. Then, I had to clean her up because she had been lying in blood and poo. Then I had to clean my bathroom floor so it didn't get stuck. Then, I had to clean myself. Then, I could eat. And then I slept on the living room couch. Or I tried. At about midnight, she started whining and panting. And so I took her out to pee, she fell when she tried to squat to pee and she couldn't get up the two steps outside our house by herself. I gave her another pain pill. At 3am, she was up and she was whining again. I barely got any sleep. And she didn't either.

That is when I decided she needed to go to the vet, for sure. I thought maybe it was the cuts causing her pain, but didn't want to risk it.

Thankfully, it was mainly just cuts and bruises. So, she is to keep off it as much as possible, but can walk on it.

It is now the third day after Friday and she is doing better. She is still unsteady on her feet. And she still limps. She whimpers when she is standing up and needs pain pills to keep from panting and hurting. But, she gets better very day.

So, we are sitting in the living room (where my desktop is not) and she is on the couch next to me and I'm wishing I knew where this old laptops 'l' key is.

Post 155: I'm Alive and Almost a Graduate

So, it dawned on me recently that I have not been on in awhile. Or rather, I've been on but have been editing old posts rather than making new ones. There are a couple reasons for that:

1. I got in the beginning of the month after I last posted and that has sporadically kept me busy. Some weeks more than others, but still cut into my free time. 
2. I am in my final semester as a University student (at the undergrad level). Yay! Graduation ceremony in early June, by the way. 
3. I started a HUGE project that has been taking up a lot more time than I had ever anticipated. Which led to....
4. A mini project that is a smaller version of the huge project. After getting like 5% into the huge project I realized I was in WAY over my head because it was something I had NEVER done before. I hadn't even done anything like it at the time and it was such a massive undertaking for my first attempt. So, I wanted to try a smaller version to see if I couldn't figure out some ways to make the MASSIVE one easier. 

What project am I talking about? Only a choose-your-own-adventure story website. And, of course, I choose horror. I mean, why would I choose the main genre that I typically write when I can choose the one that I write in the least? 

This is the link for it here. Yes, here. Just click this line if you want to check it out. 

That's the little one. The mini story. And no, it isn't complete. There is one false circuit where you can get trapped in a loop. (Yikes, not good!). And I've asked some friends and some have requested a different font color and a basement. So, still have some work to do. But, all in all, I really like how it has come along. It has been a total time suck, though. 

Now, I have my FINAL final tomorrow and work.And then I have some things on Friday that will fill up my day. And then.....FREEDOM. Well, not entirely I will still be working but all the time I am not working will not be filled with studying. 

Though, I will still be working on mini story, but I have decided to pause MASSIVE story until I get the mini story fully completed. Then I can test it out and see what people liked and didn't like for when I start "the big one". 

Anyway, I just wanted to post an update and say that I am alive, I am busy, but I will be less busy soon. 

Ta Ta!~