Gaga and other wonderful things.

So, Gaga is headlining Lollapalooza. Which means that I have already started saving my money for Lollapalooza. The rest of the lineup, except for headliners which were leaked, is currently unknown to the public but is bound to be great. My friend and her brother always go, so as long as my parents see the light then everything is for sure already. CROSS YOUR FINGERS! If I do get to go, I'm totally making a special outfit for the night of :D

Florida is in less than 3 weeks. I'm still going to the Y and stuff, but I'm basically having body issues right now because I randomly gained 5 pounds so I've finally gone back to eating healthy. Except for last night, when I basically ate sugar and then some pizza. All while watching Food Inc. Yeah I don't know how that was possible either.. And then I'm going back to Florida in late June for my sister's vball tourny...Well the real reason my pale ass is going is Hogwarts at Universal Studios! Wands at Ollivander's I cannot wait. So fucking excited :D

I got my hair cut and I like it, but I always have to straighten it which can get on my nerves.. It's too short to wear curly. But also I think I am going to bleach all my hair this summer, so I'm blonde! but also with cool colours and stuff... and then before school starts I'll cut it off into a faux hawk. So that's two things off my list of things I've always wanted to do but probably won't because they're risky.

Last night was really fun. I hung out with Maria and we saw Shutter Island (see review below), then went to Buffa Louie's for dinner, Went to Kroger and Wal-Mart (where we picked out a Goosebumps double feature and The Perfect Score (again, reviews below)), then picked up Magen from her house, and we promptly came back to Maria's house for a sleepover. We started off watching Goosebumps, then the Perfect Score, then talked for an hour or so, where the subject of Magen's possibly impending conversion to vegetarianism came up. Maria and me both said she should see Food Inc., nominated for an Oscar (you know the drill), though neither of us had seen it, so we looked on Maria's Netflix and sure enough there it was. About the time that was over it was around 6 am, and we decided to call it a night. It was great, very spur of the moment which is always lovely.

Well this next week is finals week, which is really exciting. Next trimester I have my very last German class ever, and Sewing! Finally, I ahve been waiting for this for a loong time. I can begin working on my Gaga outfits. I'm working on my final project in art, which is a pop art self portrait in the style of Warhol. It's looking pretty good and since I'm no painter that is very surprising. If it turns out amazing, I'll put a pic up on here! Now onto those reviews:

Shutter Island: I thought it was really well made, very stylized, very well acted. I really liked the storyline as well. I must say, it was different than I expected, and not very Scorsese- like, but at the same time it still was. There were a lot of unexpected twists and, to be honest, it really took a toll on my brain.By the end of the movie, I had been jerked around so much my brain almost refused to take the ending of the movie as real. It's very hard to explain, but if you see it, which I recommend, you will understand.

A-

Goosebumps: No, it wasn't a real movie. It was in the $5 bin at Wal- Mart, but I love these things so much. It just reminds me of my childhood, the cheesy music and intro, which looks kind of like it was edited in Paint. The real surprise was Ryan Gosling as the main character. I honestly wanted to watch a ton of these after it was over.

As a fan, A+.; as a critic, D.

The Perfect Score: Uhh, what? There were so many well- known actors in this, it was almost Valentine's Day. Just kidding, but still. It was about the cliche group of misfits who band together in order to do something heroic, in this case steal the answers to the SAT. Since I know that nobody is planning on watching this anyway, I feel shameless about giving away the ending. They end up breaking into the office only to find out that the answers can only be accessed with the help of five other passwords (or something along those lines). Well they decide, after much anguish, to split up the SAT and the three pairs each answer a certain portion of the SAT (which they can access on the computer with no passwords needed). Anyway they find out through teamwork they can do anything, get to the SAT and all decide they don't need the answers they can do it on their own, where the only good part of the movie, the asian, slips the answers to all the stoners. It was an MTV film if that gives anything away about the quality. Honestly though, The stoner asian was absolutely hilarious. Also starred Scarlett Johansson, surprisingly enough.

D

Food Inc.: I'm not completely ignorant about where food comes from. I have done research, I have seen the hidden camera footage from the slaughterhouses. This was very eye opening though. I thought the film maker did a very good job of presenting different sides of arguments. There was some bias against the corporations, but they kind of showed you everything, not just what would prove their side of the argument. There were a lot of startling statistics and information. Like how many of the people in teh FDA used to be Presidents or CEO's of those major food corporations... This is a must see.

A

P.S. I don't know why I never said anything before but, RIP Lee "Alexander" McQueen. You were such an inspiration, so creative, so innovative. When I found out, I honestly couldn't function for about a day. Your Suicide was such a tragedy. I always wanted to meet you and have so much respect for you and what you make, but now I cannot. I'm still not quite sure I understand but I don't think I reall have to. We love you, we miss you.

Lee Alexander McQueen 1969-2010

No, I'm not dead. But I do have a review!

Okay so I went to Cirque du soleil today... and it was absolutely amazing. I went to the traveling version of Alegria and was blown away. I loved nearly everything about it, especially how weird it all was. I kept expecting Tim Burton to walk out, it reminded me so much of Big Fish, which is not a bad thing at all. From what I can remember, there were clowns (that were actually funny), acrobats, contortionists, live fabulous music, balancers, a guy who was basically on a rubber band, fire breathers but who also did tricks and caught on fire and stuff, a ribbon girl/ring girl, and that's all I can remember right now. The whole atmosphere was just terrific. My seat was not the greatest, but after it started it didn't even matter. My favorite was probably when they moved the panels of the stage to reveal a huge trampoline in the shape of an x. They were doing all sorts of tricks nearly hitting each other but you knew they wouldn't. They're professionals. I also loved the clowns. They were still doing clown things, as expected, like slapstick and such but then in one scene I believe they were imitating a train and then they just kind of broke out into beat boxing and it was just hilarious. Those were the two standout performances, but I really did love it all. Some other cool things was the audience involvement, the performers would occasionally bring an audience member up on stage or in the spotlight to participate (they were in the VIP section, but still). Also I liked how the performers would also serve as grips as opposed to hiring actual grips. My only complaints was the huge red light that would occasionally come on, shining directly towards my section and blind me; as I was sitting evry far away from the stage, I couldn't really see the makup or costumes well which was a bummer; also the first act was much stronger than the second, and there was not really any big bang at the end. The very best thing about Cirque du Soleil? It's like a circus without the animal cruelty and gimmicks. Completely human, and all about true mind blowing performances as opposed to the strong man or balancing plates.

I would give this a strong A. If you have enough money and a Cirque show ever comes to your town, go see it. It's the experience of a lifetime.

P.S. I clapped so hard my arms started hurting. Also, I'm watching ice dancing right now and I keep comparing it to Alegria.


also: all photo credit goes to cirque du soleil.