WOW! I haven’t seen you in awhile. NO, I have not been avoiding you…This is Awkward

SOOOOO. I added those unnecessary o’s to ease my way back in my blogosphere. I have missed you, like an old lover inexplicably abandoned. So much shit has gone down in my life I feel like I could seriously have a compelling reality show. First and foremost, I am going to med school in NYC. Yes, wtf. This is so awesome that a month and half after learning I would be living in the big apple I still haven’t absorbed the info. What will it be like? Will I become a pretentious, indifferent urbanite hipster? PLEASE YES. Most likely I will meet cool people, study a lot, and sleep less than I do now. I have to say I grew so much in my last semester in college. It was an insane orgy of emotions, new friends, new experiences, partying, studying last minute and getting really stressed, and maturing. Basically, I felt like the last semester of my college experience was the only authentically “college” part of the whole damn four years. I fucked up, I did amazing shit, I took chances.  Sike, I didn’t fuck up ANYTHING. And baby, this shit is only beginning. Ok, part of this new me is maybe toning down the cursing. Maybe. Anyway, lots of struggling with personal acceptance, but once you accept who you are *wink” it all goes from there. Went to Europe with my Mom…yes, damn that awful combination of something wondrous and my mother. Love her, but the woman is Steve-O level crazy. We are different people who should not spend every minute together for three weeks. But despite that, Europe was ridiculous. Hit up London, Paris, Piacenza (northern italy), Florence, Rome. London is my favorite place ever, basically. And when i got back I realized, America has its own unique charm as well…I actually missed it a tad. And the last two weeks-ish since I got back has basically been a reading/Youtube orgy. Stop using orgy, dammit. I read more than I have in years…Nightlife by Isaac Asimov & another guy, some brilliantly funny book by David Sedaris about death, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Age of Innocence by Edith Warton, the first 6th of Pillars of the Earth, and first 3rd of White Horses by Alice Hoffman. Yep, random and interesting reading. I subscribed to about four channels on Youtube, including my new favorite people luanlegacy, someonetoshoutfor, itskinglseybitch, anthonylangford, and I think that is it. Funny awesome guys who love everything gay just like me. My obsession with gay men is so typically sad. Granted, I don’t want to be a gay man like some of you ladies (that requires having a penis). I just appreciate them greatly. But I seriously need to stop being so sexist and check out the probably great selection of gay female cinema, including “Aimee and Jaguar”, and interesting looking movie/book about a love affair between two women in Nazi Germany (I think?). AND it’s a true story. I do love “Imagine You and Me”, that movie is just too romantic! Continuing on with my directionless, convoluted post, what has been new on my movie & music radar??? Let’s see:

A Rare Smile from Sherlock!

Sherlock, new BBC adaptation: A bit cheese-esque at times, this three part series is mostly just funny and clever as hell. And randomly moving. And has two perfect actors playing Sherlock and Dr. Watson with legitimate chemistry and complexity. Somehow, just when you think Sherlock is going overboard with the whole high-functioning-sociapath-thing, he actually has humanity. And just when you think Dr. Watson is too self-serious, he is somehow zany, innocent, and scarred all at once. Sidenote: I watched this right after I came back from Europe, and I recognized like five specific spots they filmed in as places I had visited. The best was the scene in the graffiti skater place in Southbank. Click dashed line for bigger version of my awesome picture from there:

SOME of the many riveting characters

Downton Abbey: Complex, subtle, unique, addictive. I NEED SERIES 2. If you like masterpiece theater-esque programming with social/ class exploration, romance, and well-executed drama this series will be like orgasmic cake. AND unlike Jane Austen, many of the characters actually live outside the exclusive upper class world of 19th century England (I do love Austen, so don’t be mad). But these “lower class” people aren’t all depressed and boring; they are complex and dignified and full of soul. Oh the quiet dignity! Just talking about it makes me want to watch it again! Downton Abbey is a grand achievement.

Fantastic Mr. Fox: Whimsical, emotional, modern, ironic, funny, and too smart for its own good. When I say adults and not so stupid children will LOVE this stop-motion adventure about foxes, I actually mean it.

The face of wistful regret

Handsome Harry: A movie about a Vietnam veteran who visits a dying Navy friend in this hospital and subsequently goes on a journey to find each member of a group of friends who beat the shit out of a fellow officer when they served. As we learn about Harry and each of his old friends lives after 20 years, and see mysterious flashbacks to their jazzy, nostalgic past in Vietnam, we begin to understand more of the story behind the inexplicable, savage event that shaped the rest of their lives. Guilt, music, homophobia, and regret all swirl into this subtle, focused story. I actually stopped watching 15 minutes because I didn’t realize the story would get so interesting and heartbreaking. And the movie has an unnatural amount of star power talent; Jamey Sheridan, Steve Buscemi, Aidan Quinn, John Savage, Campbell Scott, Titus Welliver. (a poetic review, much better than mine, available on npr.org: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126174228)

Not the only character, obviously, but she is SO GOURGEOUS

Game of Thrones: I don’t know how to describe how mindblowing this show is. Imagine a fantasy, historical show that smoked crack and became a beast of politics, action, sex, violence, and rich characters. Yeah, that didn’t even do it justice. WINTER IS COMING! And I never even read the books and I love it this much. Standouts on the show: everyone. The acting is just RIDICahlus. Peter Dinklage is as good as he was in “The Station Agent”, even though the character is a bit different. Nikolay Coster-Waldau and Lena Headey are understated but scary as hell. Sean Bean is a heroic pillar. And a slew of great young stars who act like they have always been these characters.  This show has fucking epic young actors. I have a crush on John Snow (Kit Harington) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). If you have ever liked anything on HBO, you WILL like this. It’s only ten intense, exciting episodes, you can do it!

You sexy twats.

Made in Chelsea: Pure guilty pleasure. Basically, the British version of the Hills. I love it ironically. Mostly.

P.S. I am about to live in a state where gay marriage is legal. YEAH NEW YORK!!!!

The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance

Excellent excellent song. Did not even realize it was a Vampire Weekend cover. Sorry Vampire Weekend, I love you to death, but B.o.B. really did this song justice. I Know this because I heard Vampire Weekend sing it and completely forgot it in an instant. Then I listen to the B.o.B. cover, and listened to it about 10 times in a row. That song would be ironic on the soundtrack of The Kids Are Alright. I am dying to see that. I have had a bit of a wild summer. Wild as in stressful. Life really stares you down the summer before your senior year in college. Medical school applications flood in, take all my money, and make me write bullshit proclamations. Sounds like the rest of my life. I find myself increasingly disappointed with the world around me. Not because of med school apps. I am actually looking forward to med school…especially if I can go in New York. That would be a dream. No, this disappointment comes from realizing the harsh reality of things. I will not get political here, because I find the Flame War video by College Humor quite amusing, and I don’t want to be one of those people. I am speaking more abstractly here. With all this “anti-incumbent” talk, Tea Party people, Prop 8, the Islamic center that is supposed to be built near ground zero, general wars going on everywhere, etc, I just want to scream how much everyone sucks.  I can see how people have become so polarized. When you see people spewing hatred, and turning everything you believe to your core to dust, it really makes you want to be completely radical in the other direction. Damn, I went and got all political. SORRY. But I can’t just become some crazy liberal either. I can’t tote the evils of war, the necessity of religious freedom, the deep racism and homophobia that live in this supposedly equal country. There would be no point. I don’t really know enough about politics to talk smack anyway. But when I see people preaching hatred as some way of protecting this country, it confounds me. How can we live in a world where people are still so prejudiced? Duh, I said to myself, wake up to reality. When I get this way, movies are a deep comfort. Watching a better world makes you believe that it can exist. People create movies because they have a vision of how things could be or should be, or reveal the true face of how things are. The Siege is one great example. This movie predicted the anti-Islam wave that would hit this country after a terrorist attack BEFORE 9/11 even happened. Way to tap into the vein of prejudice. I do not speak to get into politics, or even discuss that Islamic center being built…I am not here to argue anything. I just am deeply saddened and disappointed by people’s reactions. Milk is another excellent example of a movie that reveals something about society. This movie is based on the true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold public office. I don’t need to tell you how inspiring this movie was. And it came at an essential time in this country’s history. Seeing what Harvey Milk could do, even at that time, inspired me to want a better world, where citizens of this country of different sexual orientation are given the rights they deserve. In this country, “gay” people (gay is an annoying word, just an observation) are treated like second class citizens. In this day and age, in the words of Margaret Cho, we live in a facist state. But there remains hope for “society”. Prejudice in all forms towards all kinds of differences will eventually be defeated. It just depends on how long it will take. When I have stopped and allowed myself to think about the state of things, it is almost too unbearable to comprehend. It hurts, but it must be comprehended. So, sometimes a rambling, mildly incomprehensible blog post is needed for a cathartic release. Ahhhhhh. That helped. Movies and music next time!!!!