My thrilling life

Thrilling up dates on my life.

Good things:

1. I bought X3 so I can watch the yummy goodness of Hugh Jackman tonight. Shut up: Wolverine is quality entertainment and my admiration of his complex character is not at all superficial.

2. Hockey has begun! Hurrah! And I am in a hockey pool and even got some of my picks.

3. I have tickets to see Los Angeles vs. Minnesota in about a week. Game on!

4. I have an exciting Halloween costume which is a bit big but is excellent. I am so ahead of the game!

5. First opera of LA Opera season I've seen, Don Carlos, was mainly very excellent. The lead singers didn't have much charisma but the men playing King Philip and the chief inquisitor were marvellous. Plus there was an enormous chorus which always cheers me immensely. ETA: BTW, this is certainly the most homoerotic opera I've ever seen. There are many scenes which shriek of male love. Plus there is incest of a sort, so it's got it all.

6. Yearly trip to Vegas was fun even if it meant sleepwalking through the rest of the week. And there was hockey (Frozen Fury) as well as gambling. I do love that Star Wars slot machine.

The bad:

1. So much work. I am really wondering if I can do it all - normally I'd say it would be possible if I just put my mind to it, but at the moment I am very over subscribed and beginning to think this might be a repeat of last autumn which involved very little sleep.

2. Today I was walking back with my purchase of X3 trying to dial on my cell phone and I tripped on a kerb and crashed in a very inelegant way and then had to do that leaping up and pretending you are not hurt thing you do when people are watching. And then when I got home my knees were all scraped and really hurt quite a lot. The most depressing thing is that quite clearly I have not mastered the difficult act of walking and using a technical device.

3. My ipod battery has conked out and I really don't want to get a new one. Maybe for Christmas but it does seem a bit rubbish that after about a year and a half the life of one of these things has fled never to be seen again.

4. I am watching Alien vs. Predator and I have come to the horrifying realization I must have no taste, because I don't find it too terrible. Admittedly it is very SciFi movie of the week, but it is not without its entertaining moments.

X3: The Rewatch

Because I'm bored and I've cleaned the bathroom and procrastinated by doing household things.

a. Oh, I'd forgotten how smug Xavier is. You spend a lot of time when he is on screen wanting to smack him. So much smugness inside that shiny, pointy head. It's like he's channelling Picard. And both he and Magneto like to blame other people for their problems and dump them when they are no longer useful. And not tell anyone their full plans.

b. Halle Berry had a case in the first two films for why she didn't bother to act. In this one they give her more of a role and she still doesn't bother to act. Or have any charisma. Xavier's belief that she would be a good leader is but one sign of his advancing age. Also her 'who would take this cure except a coward' spiel would be a lot more convincing if her mutancy wasn't rather a fun one. Rogue on the other hand has about the worst mutancy ever.

c. There's quite a number of mutants who look like drag queens in this one. I am not sure if that's intentional or not.

d. I want Magneto's cape. That's where Xavier falls down in a big way. He should get some ruffles and jazz up his wheelchair if he wants to compete.

e. Logan's hotness only increases on second viewing. Damn those stubborn trousers.

Sappho

I am prepping a lecture on Sappho and I bring you some of the most gorgeous poetry ever to have been written.

Sappho 16

Some say an army of horsemen, others
say foot-soldiers, still others, a fleet,
is the fairest thing on the dark earth:
I say it is whatever one loves.

Everyone can understand this --
consider that Helen, far surpassing
the beauty of mortals, leaving behind
the best man of all,

sailed away to Troy. She had no
memory of her child or dear parents,
since she was led astray

reminding me now of Anaktoria
being gone,

I would rather see her lovely step
and the radiant sparkle of her face
than all the war-chariots in Lydia
and soldiers battling in shining bronze.

( More poetry behind the cut )