I hear and obey! (Part 1)

[sigerson]

Film Flops:
1. Chronicles of Riddick. What a lovely, screaming bit of stupidity! Glenn Gould rocketing through space; "here, Second-in-Command, you get to wear the even sillier hat!"; Vin Diesel outrunning the sun; freaky costumes.
2. Red Sonja. A fine, fine piece of sword-n-sorcery, complete with mega-mullet, heaving bosoms, and annoying bratty kid. Plus the woman is the asskicker! Although she swings the sword like a baseball bat. N.B. the Governor of California shows up in tight red velvet pants. This has a poor impact on viewing pleasure.
3. Titus. It's Shakespeare, but it's his worst play. It is also visually stunning, start to finish. Somebody gave the director (famous for her costume designs) a big budget and said "Do what you want." The result is a beautiful soap opera of blood, gore, and Anthony Hopkins being Betty Crocker.
4. 12 to the Moon, but only in the MST'd version. "Ask the American. He'll know what to do."
5. The TNT version of Treasure Island, mentioned by stealthmuffin recently. Charlton Heston makes a very good Long John Silver. No, really. Stop laughing. And there's a hot redhead captain and Christian Bale looking either a hot 17 or a juvenile 12.



Reasons why paganism:
1. Sociological. A friend introduced me to the idea in highschool, and I was pretty much following his lead to start with. Then I moved away and just kept going.
2. Anti-eschatological. There is no millenium barreling down on me; no day when all will come to an end. That's not to lose responsibility for our actions--if anything, we have to be even more conscious of the right and wrong of what we do, because the world will keep going with the damage/joy we put in it, and that will make things worse/better in the future.
3. Doctrinal-ish. Immanent divinity makes the most sense given the incredible beauty and cruelty of the world. THe most banal things are glorious.
4. Improvisational. Frustrating as the lack of doctrine, certainty, or structure is, it also makes paganism exceptionally adaptable without being relative, flexible without being utterly formless. It may be the best way to deal with the contradictions we live in. (That said, the tendency to anything-goes relativism is very, very strong, and tends to piss me off, especially when I catch myself doing it.)
5. Mystical. At this point, I don't think I could say no to Her without having a tectonic shift in my total personality. This is the face She has chosen to show me, and the way I've chosen to walk.



Siblings:
1. The Stark boys and girls, before R.R.Martin hit them with the Awful Stick.
2. Simon and River.
3. sen_no_ongaku's twin nephews.
4. Esme and Lily Weatherwax. Ah heh heh heh.
5. Siger, Mycroft, and Sherlock. Siger's existence is hypothetical, but asserted by some fine minds among the Irregulars. Mycroft freakin' rules. I wish I could sit in a club and be the British Government.
Boone and Shannon do not make the list, because while I like both of them, incest is icky. Even stepincest.



sal_sal asked for two lists, really...
Things hanging on walls:
1. My grandmother's painting of birch trees from New Hampshire.
2. A picture of a flower printed on copper. sen_no_ongaku and I bought it together.
3. A huge framed rubbing from Xi'an. It shows a mountain, wreathed with clouds, small buildings and gardens in occasional places, and there seem to be new details each time I look.
4. A photo of the Temple of Saturn. I need to move it to a better spot.
5. A map that I drew a long time ago, in conversation with a dear friend. It's cryptic and meaningful only to me, and I remember the map she showed me.

Comments

[thastygliax.livejournal.com]

A couple random comments, one completely trivial and tengential, the other less so:

1. For soem reason, your mention of Treasure Island made me think of Disney's Treasure Planet, which is a pretty lousy movie. The only character I actually *liked* was Captain Arrow (done as a catgirl, but with Arrow's British propriety intact), and she didn't get nearly enough screen time.

2. I don't consider myself a religious person, and certainly not a devout one. However, in doing some research for a game character recently, I found a more in-depth discussion of the Wiccan Rede (and its implications for personal responsibility) than I'd seen before, and decided that it actually matches up pretty well with my personal philosophy.

[ltlbird.livejournal.com]

Dude, homegirl was already in dire need of some action before you had to go and mention Christian Bale... :)

[sigerson.livejournal.com]

He is indeed hawt. However, as Jim Hawkins, he moves between hawt and not-even-legal. I, for one, focus on the redheaded grouchy captain...

I will have Mr. Bale bathed and sent to your quarters, m'lady.

[laobscuridad.livejournal.com]

ltlbird the homegirl.   Now *that's* a mental image...