Episode 43: “On the bed, on the floor, on a towel by the door”

These videos have been doing the rounds lately (at least the first one has) and they’re hilarious. The first is a clip from Jimmy Kimmel’s show during an interview with his girlfriend, stand-up comedian Sarah Silverman, where she’s got an important video to show him.

The second is a response to the video from Jimmy Kimmel and it’s got a surprising star-studded cast. How many celebrities can you spot?

Interesting links for February 27th:

• Evolution of Nintendo Characters – The various depictions of Mario, Link and Donkey Kong throughout the years. Those last ones though aren’t in-game, right?
• Playboy Towel – When you hear “Playboy towel” I bet you’re thinking it’s a pink towel with the rabbit on it, right? It isn’t. This is slightly different. I can’t imagine a girl actually getting this towel and using it.
• The neurobiology of the Mona Lisa’s smile – Pretty neat explanation of why Mona Lisa’s smile looks so mysterious.
• mydeco – Cool design-your-room web app. Not the first of it’s kind, but better than the ones I’ve seen so far.
• Hitchcock Classics – Again the collection of Hitchcock photos, but now from the original source (Vanity Fair).

Interesting links for February 23rd through February 25th:

• The Clbuttic Mistake – The Daily WTF – Hehe, brilliant. A clbuttic tale. Another reason to always proofread anything you write.
• Dating Sites For Geeks – For all you single geeks out there: The Great Geek Manual got a list of all the geek dating sites out there. Find your own geeky girl/boyfriend.
• Spell with flickr – Cool little site that let’s you create words with images from flickr.

Sometimes I’m not the brightest. For some weird insane thinking I thought it would be okay to schedule the second wisdom tooth removal 1 week before my birthday. True, I booked it only minutes after I had done the first one, not fully realizing how long it would take to get better (last time it was also “only” 11 days before Christmas). But you would think I could have maybe thought it through a bit more better. Sigh. So here I am, drowsy as anything with a sore cheek/mouth/jaw and barely able to eat on my birthday. Yes, sometimes I’m not the brightest.

As far as birthday’s go though, it been pretty okay. Lots of best wishes and birthday cards, be it virtually or physically (what’s the correct opposite of “virtual”? I’ve been racking my brain over this, but I can’t come op with the right word) and a great bunch of birthday presents (I’ll blog about this later). I’ve stayed most of the day on the couch (what else can I do?) watching dvds: No Country For Old Men, Blades of Glory, 1408 and the new Knightrider pilot. Being the movie geek I am though, what more can a geeky girl wish for?

I haven’t blogged in almost a week, but then again it hasn’t been exactly my perfect week. Last Monday I got my second wisdom tooth removed (both bottom teeth were impacted) and, believe it or not, the surgery itself was even worse than for the first tooth. The aftermath though seems to be a whole lot smoother, so thank god for that.

With the previous tooth, the surgeon first drilled through the tooth and then sawed through it, eventually breaking it into two and pulling both parts (the top and the root) out. This time around it felt as though the surgeon literally was attacking the tooth. He would drill a bit, break a bit off, drill again, break again a bit off and so on. Plus unlike the other nice surgeon that explained every single thing to me, this guy barely spoke to me and when he did it felt very condescending.

It somehow also felt way rougher than last time. I even got a bit of bruising around my left mouth corner, where he kept pulling my mouth open. Also the way he put the stitches in wasn’t that pleasant. I think, I got at least four stitches now. I’m not really sure; the guy didn’t tell me and I also can’t really see in my mouth how many there are. They also put a iodine soaked gauze into the wound, hoping that it would prevent an infection such as last time. It will be taken out next Monday; let’s hope it did it’s job.

As expected after such a rough procedure, it also hurt a lot more when I came out of it. The anesthetic hadn’t even worn off yet and I was already in pain. It swelled up in a different manner than on my right side and it hurt right down to my collarbone. Hooray, for painkillers though! I only get so drowsy from that stuff; I’ve slept most of the last 6 days.

So what’s my status now? The good news is the swelling is almost gone and I’ve barely had any real bruising. It hurts, but with painkillers it’s bearable. The bad news? I still haven’t got any feeling in half of my bottom lip and chin. I think they hit a nerve, which depending on the damage can take days, weeks or months to heal. I’m hoping it will be sooner rather than later. I’ve also got no way to know if it’s gotten infected or not. I’ve kept it clean, but then again I did so last time and it also got infected then.

Monday morning I’ll be going to the hospital to get that gauze removed. Fingers crossed that all goes well. I’ll still have to get my top wisdom teeth removed, but luckily they’re not impacted, so it shouldn’t be such a hassle as with these bottom ones.

Interesting links for February 17th through February 22nd:

• David Jon Kassan – Brooklyn Artist – Wow,these paintings look realistic.
• FreakAngels – New webcomic (only 1 episode so far) with an interesting premise: 12 children born on the same day at the same time with (I’m guessing here) special powers in a steampunk setting.
• Seashell House Is Unbelievably Awesome – Cool design for a house, but I couldn’t picture myself living in such a thing.

Here’s a roundup of all the interesting tidbits of movie news I’ve heard this week:

Sly Back For More
I never watched the Rambo or Rocky series, so I wasn’t that interested in the new installments of those series. I loved almost every other classic Sly action movie though. Now, Sylvester Stallone has signed up to direct and star in two more action films and rumours are that the first will be a sequel to Cliffhanger. Coolness! Although, I do have got my heart set on a second Demolition Man or Judge Dredd. “I Am The Law” [Via FirstShowing]

Smurf Alert
The film you’ve all been waiting for: The Smurfs in 3D. Seriously, do we need this movie?? Somehow this movie is going to suck big time. I’d much rather have a live action movie. Now that would be hilarious. Coming Soon has some production stills up, showing some of the new computer models. [Via ComingSoon]

Peacock
Ellen Page (Juno) and Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, Sunshine) are set to star in the psychological thriller, Peacock. Set in the town of Peacock, Nebrask, Murphy will play a man with a split personality, who fools the town into believing his alter egos are a married couple. Page will play a “struggling young mother who holds the key to his past and sparks a battle between the personalities.” It sound like an interesting concept and if anybody can pull off a creepy split personality androgynous role, it’s got to be Cillian Murphy. Add Page to the mix and you’ve got one hell of a movie. [Via Variety]

CBS Series Renewed
Yes, this is TV news, not movie news, but I couldn’t let it slip by without mentioning it. CBS has renewed 11 TV shows for the 2008-2009 season: Big Bang Theory, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Numb3rs, Two and A Half Men and Without A Trace. The most surprising absentee from this list How I Met Your Mother. This doesn’t mean the show has been canceled, only that it hasn’t been renewed yet, hopefully with the emphasis on “yet”. I find it weird though that Big Bang Theory gets renewed before HIMYM. As much as I like the Big Bang it’s not as funny as HIMYM. [Via AICN]

The Many Faces of Dr. Parnassus
After the death of Heath Ledger, the fate of his last movie The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus seemed uncertain. In the story Ledger’s character falls through a magic mirror into different worlds and there was a rumour that they would use different actors for the different worlds. Now it’s been confirmed that three actors have stepped up to offer their interpretations of Ledger as a way of tribute: Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell. I can’t imagine a more appropriate homage to such a talented actor. And damn, how much hotness could you put in one movie? [Via AICN]

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
What I was looking most forward to of Valentine’s Day? This Indy IV trailer. And WOW. I’m so psyched for this movie! Love the “Damn, I thought that was closer” line. I’ve got some of my “musings” at the end of this post, where I’m speculating about the plot, but it may contain slight spoilers (well, things that appear in the trailer, but you only notice if you’re really paying attention). [Trailer]

The Happening
A second, more plot driven trailer for this M. Night Shyamalan movie. I’m still intrigued by the idea of this movie (whole cities committing suicide for no apparent reason), but the more I see of it, the more I think this movie isn’t going to be that great. Then again I know what is “happening” (stumbled on a very early script review more than a year ago) and I’m not sure how much of a plot twist/reveal that’s supposed to be. [Trailer]

Journey To The Center of The Earth 3D
Wondering why they stuck a “3D” at the end of this movie’s name? I’m guessing, because the 2D version looks soooo bad, they want to make it clear you have to see it in 3D. This film seems so remarkably cheesy: the plot, the dialogue, the acting, how bad can you make it? The only reason people are going to see this movie is because of the 3D effects and you can see from the trailer that every scene in it is meant to have a 3D gimmick. [Trailer]

Kung Fu Panda
I had high hopes for this movie; a panda doing Kung Fu, how cool is that? But after seeing this second trailer, I have to say I’m not impressed. It just doesn’t seem funny to me and I keep picturing all the real actors when I hear their voices. Who knows though, maybe I’ll end up loving this film. [Trailer]

Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants 2
What do you get if you combine a Gilmore Girl, a Gossip Girl, Ugly Betty and Joan of Arcadia? A guilty little pleasure. I have to admit I kind of enjoyed the first movie and this trailer for the sequel seems like a perfect continuation. [Trailer]

Street Kings
Up until two weeks ago this movie was known as Night Watchman, but due to upcoming Watchman movie adaption the studios renamed it to avoid confusion. After seeing the trailer, I’m not even remotely interested in this movie, but I’m sure it will attract a fair crowd. [Trailer]

Indy IV Musings:
Did anyone else notice the Roswell, New Mexico on one of the containers (see image below)? Is this confirmation that the plot will involve aliens? I’m guessing that might mean the warehouse is Area 51. Further, the rumours are that Shia LaBeouf’s character Mutt Williams is Indy’s son, but no one’s confirming it yet. I think if it’s true though, it will be a major plot reveal. The “So you’re a teacher” line means that the characters don’t know each other. Anybody notice anything else?

Before I start this post, I have to say I’m tired. Knackered. Exhausted. My mind is completely foggy and I should get some sleep (but blogging is way more interesting), so excuse me if this post isn’t all too great.

It’s weird how some things turn out. After blogging daily for over a month, the last two days have been somewhat quiet from my side, mainly due to me traveling. Surprisingly though I’ve gotten more visitors these two days than ever before. One of my posts (this one) got stumbled and, boy, am I seeing the effects of that. Here’s a screenshot from my Google Analytics statistics from the past three days:

That’s like more than 10 times the amount of visitors I got in one year! I’m only hoping those visitors also took the time to see the rest of this blog and will be coming back for more delicious geekiness. A warm welcome to all you new Stumbled readers out there; I hope I can entertain you.

Why have I been quiet the past few days? Monday I’m getting my second wisdom tooth removed, which I’m getting done here in the Netherlands (better insurance, cheaper, etc etc). Seeing that I live in London, means having to undergo a nice “little” trip from there to here. Now most of the time I go during the day with the bus; although it isn’t as great as going by plane or train, it’s a whole lot cheaper and still doable. This time though I was a bit late with booking and decided to go with the night bus. Yeah, not a good idea, that.

The bus was completely full. I luckily got a window seat, but got stuck next to a kid who tried to curl up in her seat and played the most annoying hip-hop/rap music (using of course the terrible white iPod headphones). Of course, I also had to pick the one seat in the bus that wouldn’t recline properly. Then to make things worse, a mother and her 3 kids were sitting behind me and at times the youngest was crying, screaming and screeching. I’ve never experienced a more annoying child than that one.

Suffice to say, I barely slept that night. I got at my parent’s place at about 11 this morning and just went straight to sleep. Woke up at 6 and now (at 3 in the morning) I’m again completely exhausted. Tomorrow though I should be back in blogger mode and I’ll be posting a couple of items, including a review of Be Kind, Rewind and your weekly Trailerrific.

Episode 42: “Why does my heart cry”

I’ve been a bit lax with my “A Video A Day” posts lately and to be honest I’m finding it difficult to keep it up every single day. The last week has been extremely busy (great strides forward in my research, though) and the couple of weeks are only going to get worse (Monday wisdom tooth removal, brrr). I’m going to try to keep posting these videos, but it will be a whole lot less and certainly not every day.

As it is Valentine’s Day, I thought I should do a themed post: so I here are my favourite romantic movies. Enjoy:

Moulin Rouge
I love Moulin Rouge. It’s one of the few films that I’ll actually watch at least once a year (meaning I’ve seen it at least 7 times now). The scene with Christian singing “Come What May” in the final act still gives me goosebumps. I couldn’t find that video, so here is my second favourite song:

Amelie
For some weird reason, at first I didn’t want to see this movie. Somehow without even knowing what it was about I just didn’t want to see it. Then when I actually did (pushed into by Cristiano), I loved it. The music in this movie is superb. It never fails to sweep me away into faraway lands and fairytale settings.

Fantaghiro
Anybody else know this movie? I’ll be doing a post about it soon, but it’s a fairytale about a princess who wants to be a knight and falls in love with the prince of an enemy country. It’s a bit corny (there’s even a talking duck), but it remains one of my favourite fairy tale movies.

Ever After
A take on the Cinderella story, but with Leonardo da Vinci as the Fairy Godmother.