Gretch-a-sketch (old)

I'm crashing over at All The Wine's place today geeking out about webcomics. You can read my guest post titled "Hey Pete, you want to see a comic book with pregnant zombie nuns?" here and if that's not enough to get you interested, I don't know what else to do. Come say hi!

A review of WALL-E

Just a heads up--the following post contains info about the plot of WALL-E, go figure.


It's a tale as old as technology. Boy robot meets girl robot, girl robot goes back into space, boy robot follows her into the final frontier, boy and girl robot must save the human race.
I had been vaguely interested in this movie based purely on the fact it's a Pixar film. I read so many positive reviews yesterday (which is a major testament to the power of the internet) that I knew I had to see it opening weekend. And really, what can I say other than Pixar has done it again?

Pixar has this enviable ability to be able to portray raw and relatable human emotion in the most unlikely of subjects. They've covered toys, insects, fish, monsters, automobiles, and rats. (In my opinion, their strongest film yet is The Incredibles, but they were dealing with people in that one.) What makes WALL-E so impressive to me is that it seems like Andrew Stanton and crew viewed this the film as a challenge to improve everything else they have done before.

It first ups the ante because communication is dealt with in a very R2-D2 fashion of beeps and mechanical whirls. However, you still easily understand the longing of WALL-E for EVE and EVE's frustration with WALL-E. Secondly, the soundtrack melds together futuristic themes with some very old-fashioned stylings. One of the most beautiful scenes is aided by Louis Armstrong's La Vie en Rose in the background. Lastly, the color palette on earth is muted and stark, but still stunning in its own way. It's one thing to show that the undersea is lovely with bold fish as in Finding Nemo, but to use mainly shades of brown and still get the impression of earth's grandeur? That's some crazy talent.

Like all good movies for kids, it's more than enough to keep the adults engaged. A major strength of Pixar to other studios is that Pixar relies on rich storytelling and keeping the animation brimming with details as opposed to crass innuendos and pop culture references. Granted, it does allude to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars: A New Hope, and Short Circuit, but I think those are requisites for making a movie about space.

I loved the intertwining of Hello, Dolly! It's always been a favorite musical of mine and my senior year of high school I was in the pit orchestra for that show with all of my friends. I particularly adored the emphasis on hand-holding--in today's world there's so much focus on rushing the physical aspect of relationships. It was nice to return to a period where something simple like hand-holding meant a great deal. Heck, I still get giddy over the prospect. The romantic aspect of the show is terribly endearing, especially one scene set in zero-gravity.

Naturally, John Ratzenburger makes an appearance. I'm sure it's filled with other easter eggs, but I was too wrapped up in the story to pick up on them, so a re-watch is needed. The credits are gorgeously crafted. There's no extra end-bit like in Cars or A Bug's Life, but just stay for the new Peter Gabriel song and the art. Oh, also! The pre-film short is called Presto! and it's delightful. The story is about a magician and his rabbit in a brilliant homage to Bugs Bunny and the classic Looney Tunes. Chuck Jones would be proud.

There are a few take-home messages, namely 1. Take care of the planet, 2. Hard work is more rewarding than the easy way out, and 3. Stuff is less important than relationships. They aren't heavy-handed; in fact, they're important lessons for the upcoming generations to learn. It's also interesting to look at it as an updated version of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Honestly, I think the main moral I learned came from Pixar in general--put the most effort and care into your work you possibly can. Not because of the money, not because of the praise, but because the things you love deserve your best labor. The passionate production of WALL-E shows and the time spent is entirely worth it.
4/4 Stars

A few things that have made life worth living in the past week...

Eric D. Snider blogged about a new site called Seriously, So Blessed! I have never seen something that so effectively and snarkily parodies the "Mormon Princess" culture. There's a "Breaking Dawn" countdown in the side bar and multiple exclamation points. The clique mind-set is expressed by the fact that it's written by Tiffany/Amber/Megan/Nicole who is married to Jordan/Jason/Wes/Taylor.

I have a date to the zoo tonight. This is exciting because a) I haven't been on a date in a good long while and b) I have this love of the zoo that exceeds that of your average 21-year-old. And probably your average 8-year-old, which is saying something. I don't know the guy very well, but I'm planning on having a blast.

Pandora, step aside! A friend directed me to ruckus.com. It's a free music download service for college students. I don't know if it works for alumni, but you do need access to an .edu email account.
Cons: It requires its own player and the site is inundated with ads. You can't burn the music and they won't play on iPods. Not all music is available that you might want. (Really, ruckus? No Dog Problems?)
Pros: It's extremely quick to get set-up and oh yeah, 100% FREE. The selection is actually quite wide-spread. Since Wednesday, I have downloaded something like 75 albums. (That is a completely accurate number.) There may have been tears of joy shed when I finally was able to download Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends.

I worked out plans for going home for Independence Day. I have a history of really crappy Fourth of Julys, but I think this year will be perfect.

3 weeks until graduation! I've been receiving emails with all the nitty gritty details. I'm so ready to be done.

I just watched the Girlfriends and Boyfriends episode of Freaks and Geeks. I'd seen the Nick/Lindsey basement scene lots of times before (you know which one), but to see it completely in context? Beyond belief good. I haven't fallen this hard for a show in a long time.

This easily qualifies for the Best. Meme. EVER. Be sure to check out the answers from srah, Jennie!, and Heather Anne.

You are in a mall when the zombies attack. You have:

1. One weapon.
2. One song blasting on the speakers.
3. One famous person to fight alongside you.

Weapon can be real or fictional; you may assume endless ammo if applicable. Person can be real or fictional.

1. A lightsaber, hot pink--Just like Princess Leia's. That's not in the movies, but it is in the books. coughShutup!cough

2. Killer Queen, Queen--Dynamite with a laser beam, baby.

3. Veronica Mars, hands down. Those zombies are TOAST.

Also, the title comes from the most amazing song about zombies. Jonathan Coulton is at least nine different levels of awesome.

For your viewing pleasure: The visual aids for my addiction presentation in neuroscience today.
A+? Or A++?



I was always the Jessie of the group.



The ironic thing about this video is that the words they use to diss dope at the beginning are also pretty good descriptors of their character.

(I also plan on using Michael Scott's line about more people using cocaine than reading a book to their children during my portion on addiction statistics.)

I’m going to break the cardinal rule of Wordless Wednesday right now and use words. Le shocker! This was another $.66 buy at the dollar store—awesome. Also, you know you spend too much time blogging when you see it and think, “This is just like those soup bowls Dooce posted about last winter that she uses for her jewelry! Must have!” Man, I can’t wait to move back to Utah so I can start stalking Heather. I will have a picture taken with her before the year’s end.

So...anyone else make cheese this weekend? Just me, then? Okay.
I whipped up a batch of paneer, which in the past I'd always confused with the Panera Bread Cafe. I've heard good things about both and they're both food related, so it's understandable.
Coconut & Lime gave a recipe a couple weeks ago and I was intruiged. It didn't seem too hard. The ingredients are basically whole milk and lemon. Simple, right? It did require an adventure through the aisles of Albertson's, which I like to call The Epic Quest for Cheese Cloth.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Once milk heats up, it froths up very fast. There was some spillage onto the super hot burner and now we have this burn mark that we can't get off of our stove. Oops.
2. It's because of this that I don't think it got quite as hot as it needed to be. I still added the lemon juice anyhow and let it curdle, which is a pretty cool process to watch.
3. The draining took longer than I thought and was quite messy.
4. The yield was much less than I anticipated--that was a bummer. I only got about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup, when the recipe said I'd get 1 1/2 to 2 cups.
5. The texture is similar to mascarpone and it tastes a bit like unsalted ricotta.
6. So far, I've tried it with rice and cinnamon and vanilla--that was tasty. Even better was Sunday dinner. We made sausage marinara sauce and mixed a bit of the paneer in with that. Yum. Next time I make it, I want to try Saag Paneer.


Fun fact: I bought the plate with three other vintage poster style dessert plates on Saturday at the dollar store of all places. Better yet, they were only sixty-six cents because the store's going out of business. They're enough to keep me satisfied and smiling until I can afford these.

P.S. I went this whole post without making a "That's so cheesy!" joke. You should be proud.

Dear Firefox,

I'll admit. At first, I was apprehensive. You were unfamiliar and difficult to navigate. Everyone swore that I would love you and I just wasn't sure. You temporarily messed up my g-chat, but I was able to fix it with a quick cache clearing. My bookmarks did indeed transfer over, but it took a few clicks to restore them to the proper folders. The fonts changed, as did the appearance of my school e-mail account.

Firefox, I'm sorry for doubting you. Everyone has their faults and you more than make up for them. There's twitterfox, Foxytunes, and so many more. I'd heard of the joys of automatic spell check and I'm amazed! No more pop-ups? Hallelujah! You also allow me to update my facebook status as "Gretchen is firefoxy."

Plus, just look at how cute you are in stuffed animal form. {Image courtesy of qwantz.com}


I do believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Yours forever,
Gretchen

Dear Internet Explorer,

It's not me, it's you.

-Gretchen

-I faithfully downloaded Firefox 3, but I'm reluctant to switch over, since Internet Explorer is the browser I know. Plus, I'll have to redo my enormous amount of bookmarks and folders. Is it really worth it? What add-ons do I need?

-Threadless must have changed the shirts they print on, because the medium I'm wearing right now is noticeably wider and longer than the other mediums I own. I also have a couple of the old smalls and those are a tad snug. So next time do I buy the new small size, in hopes that'll fit me better? Not knowing the exact sizes and outrageous shipping prices are the only downsides to online shopping.

-I really, really, really like T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

-I'd like new music and a bigger iPod. Not necessarily in that order.

-I spent yesterday afternoon re-reading River Secrets. That was good for my soul.

-This helped me realize I need to remove myself my computer more often. (And yet...here I am.)

-Otter pops are at their best when they're still a mite slushy. Also, if you freeze otter pops vertically, then your scissors won't get sticky because there's a small amount of air at the top. That's probably the most useful thing I've ever said on this blog.

-I have to teach two classes next Monday (Behavioral Neurobiology and Intro to Psych), since the professor will be out. I'm flattered he asked me, but also deathly afraid of screwing up. Intro to Psych has 106 kids in the class. Eek!

-I'm pretty bummed out there's no new Harry Potter book coming out this summer. I mean, I know we get the HBP movie (Part Uno) (srah corrected me--it's DH that's in two parts) this fall, but I've always associated reading Harry Potter with the most sweltering parts of summer.

-I'm going to make paneer this weekend. Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures before eating it all.

-4 weeks until graduation!

-Some friends and I do a GRE Prep class every Thursday night. There's already a high level of nerdiness, given that it's strictly student-run and we make analogy jokes and stuff. Somehow, I have been branded as the geeky one. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but mostly proud.

-I've been debating about this post I wrote a while back. It's not really controversial, it's just a big step for me to actually put it out there. Maybe next week? We'll see.

-I've been playing around with new blog ideas. Wordpress vs. blogger? Do I dare to make the switch?

I love my camera phone because it's there if I need to capture something that instant. Heck, even National Geographic published a book centered around how to take great camera phone pictures. Because, you know, if I'm ever in the Amazon and this rainbow macaw comes flying by, I am going to whip out my Samsung Stripe and get some great shots courtesy of NG.

1. I went to the new Asian Market with my family on Friday. Those places rock. I saw everything from Tofu Jerky to "Cutted Pork Foot." They even had a whole section for Oriental Kitsch. This was one of my favorite finds:

It's a Pearl Soybean drink in Mung Bean flavor. As Creed Bratton will tell you, "I sprout mung beans on a damp paper towel in my desk drawer. Very nutritious, but they smell like death." Ah, Old Man Smell in a can!

2. This sign is in the hallway at our university library. I kind of wanted to take it down and hang it in my room, because I'm just that much of a nerd.

3. Without getting into the various rules my uber-conservative school enforces , let's look closely at the wording on the sign. "Leggings may only to be worn with modest knee-length clothing covering them." My favorite part's the person who crossed out the "to" and wrote next to it, "Proofread, stupid!" EDITING FAIL.