Freaky stuff I watched this week

[petronia]

I had some emocrap content in this window, as a result of the serotonin crash I experienced from not actually having to run around doing 10,000,000 things every day, but I feel much better now so I'm glad I didn't post it last night. XD Though this may have something to do with the fact that I bought a bottle of this bright pink stuff called "rosso amaro" which is a sort of Italian herbal bitters, and have been drinking it halved with gin or sambuca all night. This is hardcore, dudes: when the regular flavours of booze begin to strike one as boring, or one is alone and need to pace oneself by making the drink as disgusting as possible. I still suspect this is part of the rationale behind absinthe.

(Actually, the real problem is that the end result is too sweet. XD;; Gin is sweet, and sambuca is sweet, so.)

1) Re: the CD mixes - akatonbo, could you let me know how many tracks there are on the CD and what the times are? XD;; I don't want to upload something that doesn't correspond to what I burned for you. sesame_seed, finish listening! *wheedles*

2) Went up to see G today, with Erin. Played a bit of Guitar Hero. Am apparently not bad at it, which surprised me, as am pants at DDR. But I've never wanted to be the guitarist; if anything, I want to be the bassist, and I think my playing style bears this out. XD; Listened to some rock songs as I was walking home and was struck by how much I don't pay attention to the chords that are being played, normally.

3) Saw Dave and Wasim yesterday. First time in more than two years - sort of amazing. Went for lunch, then coffee and cupcakes, then karaoke, then dinner, then bubble tea, criss-crossing town each time. The IC karaoke has a truckload of UK top tens. Rachel Stevens' "Some Girls" requires a deceptive amount of breath control. Spitz merely requires one to be a diva.

STUFF THAT FALLS UNDER THE TITLE OF THIS POST:

4) Sweeney Todd: one of those times where I'd heard of the thing itself but had basically no idea what the story was. I suppose I expected what it is one expects out of a Tim Burton movie that contains Johnny Depp. I was highly amused, and unfortunately went into it hungry (I say unfortunately because nothing puts me off the sight of food when I'm hungry XD;;). Afterward I read ladysisyphus's commentary, and it seems like the stage production was supposed to be funnier? I can totally see this; the setup was so OTT it could've stood to be a lot funnier (although it was pretty funny). Then again I'm a Miike Takashi fan so in my mind spraying arteries = ROLL OUT THE LULZ. My sister did her best to ruin it for me with comments like "Doesn't Anthony look like one of the Hanson brothers?" and "So let me get this straight: she killed herself because she got jumped by Alan Rickman?"

5) Capote: possibly the first movie I've ever seen that said something about writing that I felt was relevant, and that I could relate to, even if it was disturbing. I mean, there're plenty of movies where the characters are writers, but they're usually about shagging and not about what the job entails, amirite. Granted it's a terrible, uphill topic for film to take on in the first place (and not that much better a topic for books). I am also gobsmacked that Harper Lee was a character in this. TRUMAN CAPOTE AND HARPER LEE, CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AND INTREPID REPORTERS. It's like a superhero comic.

6) I didn't mean to post Pete Doherty videos three times in a row, wtf, but this is too effed up not to link:

Stalking Pete Doherty part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Sororial unit was too creeped out to watch it, so of course I did. XD Basically it's a Kon Satoshi movie. Perfect Blue, British indie version - though given that it's a documentary, it feels like it's being told from the wrong narrative standpoint. Kon Satoshi would've been like INEXPLICABLE TIME LAPSES and HALLUCINATION SMEARING INTO REALITY (unlike many of his characters, Pete Doherty comes with a perfectly good excuse). Also, Kon Satoshi would've made it about Amy Winehouse.

7) And now for the one thing you never knew was missing from your life: Morrissey on Jonathan Ross part 1 | part 2

Comments

[akatonbo.livejournal.com]

Whoops, sorry, forgot. Here you are:
3:17
4:50
4:31
6:39
4:15
1:16
5:00
2:28
3:37
3:46
4:44
4:31
4:52
3:31
6:32
3:33
4:19
4:39

18 tracks total.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Great, thanks!

[ladysisyphus.livejournal.com]

See, spurting arteries are generally the direct opposite of rollicking funny times for me, but I'm squeamish about gore, even if it's ridiculous and obviously fake. Don't show me someone getting beaten to death at length with an ewer; take that time and keep in the last verse to 'By the Sea'. Sondheim's genius really shines in his lyrics, after all. ...Which is all my way of saying, watch the production I linked to, it's pretty spectacular.

And she didn't kill herself because she got jumped by Alan Rickman, she killed herself because she got jumped by Alan Rickman at a party. There's a big difference.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I don't feel that gore per se is funny either, I've just been acclimatized by various insane Asian auteurs to assume that over-the-top fake gore is a prelude to wackiness. XD; But I figured there couldn't possibly be as much of that onstage. I'll watch it, but I'll have to give it a little time to settle in my head first. Come to think of it I'm uneducated w/r/t Sondheim in general!

[supplanter.livejournal.com]

I was actually pretty disappointed by the sweeney todd movie... I can't help but compare it to the theatrical production I saw (2x) and even leaving any issues of vocal casting aside they seemed to cut sooooooo many songs! :(  ESPECIALLY THE MAIN THEME.  They made it background music.  And some of the songs they cut/severely truncated seemed to be the funnier ones.  One can't help but think someone may not have wanted Lucy soliciting customers. >.>

[saturnoolaa.livejournal.com]

Fut fact about Truman Capote and Harper Lee: he was the model for Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird. Just if you didn't know.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I MAY NEVER READ TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD THE SAME WAY EVER AGAIN.

[two-if-by-sea.livejournal.com]

^
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WHAT SHE SAID.

attend the tale of sweeney todd

[elfiepike.livejournal.com]

but... she didn't kill herself? i mean, she tried! my understanding is that she tried to kill herself for the SOCIAL SHAME of it, and also, you know, if you are deeply in love with johnny depp, then it's plausible that having alan rickman exile him would put you off alan rickman.

i've only seen one staging of it, but i thought the movie was pretty hilarious, too, in a good and intentional way; hilarious because of the way that people interact with each other? and also, yeah, singing while killing = always good times.

[fantabulous.livejournal.com]

I've never seen a stage production of Sweeney (although there is supposed to be a U.S. tour?), but I do have a few tracks of the original 1979 Angela Lansbury/Len Cariou recording, and there are a few funny bits that were left out.

For example: my favourite is the "A Little Priest" number -- the singing is supposed to be interspersed with a lot of witty banter between Sweeney & Mrs. Lovett in the vein of, "Now, this might be a bit stringy, but then, it is fiddle player!" heheh. But the film left most of that out.