My Facebook identity was stolen

Most of you have probably received a "check this out" email from my Facebook account.

DO NOT OPEN IT!

I've received emails from some of you who have opened it (and a concerned phone call) wanting to know why I was sending out links to porn. Let me assure you now that my taste in entertainment has not taken a turn for the worst.

IT WAS NOT ME.

I was dumb enough to open the same thing from someone I knew and it spammed everyone in my friend's list. Warning....if you click on the link it will send emails out to everyone on your friend list. DO NOT CLICK ON IT...DELETE IT IMMEDIATELY.

For future reference, keep in mind that I never send out links from Facebook....if I find something I think you will like then I'll send it to you personally from my email or if its cool enough to share with everyone then odds are I will blog about it. If you ever receive an invitation to follow a link in Facebook from me DELETE IT IMMEDIATELY as I did not send it.

I just want to say I am sorry to anyone who may have opened this. I really do feel bad about it.

The Weekend Thus Far....

In a word: relaxing

It turns out that Kinkos was able to get around the broken links on some of my InDesign files. I don't know if all of the files are salvageable, but I only felt 3 of the files were good enough for my portfolio anyway, and (hooray!) I have them printed up and ready to go.

All I can say is thank goodness for that.

Yesterday I worked on my portfolio, cutting things down to the proper size, etc etc and I am actually pretty happy with how it is turning out. I still have a few pieces to print on my home computer (some logo designs and stationary sets) and my cover page to design and print, but I am confident that everything will be done tomorrow and it will be ready for presentation.

Frankly I was surprised at the body of work I have created so far....some of it looks pretty good too. I still have a lot to learn but I see an inkling of the graphic artist that is hiding in here.

I could just cry....

I went to Kinkos last night after work to print up all of my portfolio pieces....only to find that every piece created in InDesign will have to be re-worked.

The reason?

The program doesn't save images the same way as other programs. If you move the image around on your computer (or Heaven Forbid delete them...as I have done) the program file is immediately useless unless you re-link it to the original image.

Sounds easy, right?

Nope...some of those files were created nearly a year ago and finding some of them again on the internet will be a real challenge. I'd be easier off just finding new images and building on the old files. Chalk it up to a lesson learned while there wasn't an upset client waiting upon my results.

Guess I know what I am doing this weekend.

Damn.

2 reasons why this holiday season is worth waiting for

Fangirls across the world are melting as we speak.


I was interested, but not necessarily jumping up and down at the new Sherlock Homes flick starring Robert Downey Jr...however, the trailer was just released online and it looks pretty darn good. Holmes is a lot scruffier than we've seen him in other pieces, but I think I like the new look rather than a rehash of the same old same old.

Shawna's Summer Movie Review: X Men Origins- Wolverine

Hmmmmmmm.

I liked it.....I didn't like it......


On the whole it was a very good movie but it certainly wasn't worth the hype.

The storyline is mostly good, opening with Logan as a child in the 1800's. We still don't know what causes mutation but we see him through the next few centuries in an interesting montage that not only brings you quickly to the present, but reminds us of what we already know: that Logan fights for the right, even when it doesn't serve his best purpose.

In the course of the film we are introduced to quite a few new mutants, both good and bad, including a nice chunk with a young Scott Summers (Cyclops). We see a lot of Logan's life away from the "superhero world" (by the end it becomes a bit tedious and you find yourself wishing for the action to start again). We find out why Logan agrees to have adamanthium added to his skeleton, making him virtually indestructible, how he chose the name Wolverine, and why there turns out to be such animosity between Logan and William Stryker.

We also discover how Logan loses his memory.

Special effects are what hurt this film...Wolverine's natural claws look like strange bony twigs extending out of his skin. Natural material maybe, yet it looks incredibly odd. The first time Wolverine extends his new adamanthium coated claws the metal appears flat and doesn't realistically attach to the skin. It looks like an effect someone forgot to finish. Scenes with Liev Shreiber climbing walls are obviously wires that have been photo-shopped out of the picture with the actor flailing his arms while he's hauled up the side of the building.

Some of the stunts (like flying through the air to attack the helicopter...no spoiler there...that scene is all over the movie trailer) are overblown and incredibly hard to believe. Its almost as if they are trying a bit too hard to make the movie into something more than what they had written. If you're looking to see a bit of Hugh Jackman's bare buns this is the one for you as he runs around for a small portion of the film without clothes (causing the teenager watching the film with me to giggle and sigh but did nothing for me personally).

On the whole, quite watchable, if you are willing to overlook some flaws. While I won't see this one again in the theater, I will probably still buy it on dvd.

Personal opinion? See it at the dollar theater...this way you get the theater experience without sending the big bucks.

Oh, be sure to stay through the end credits. There is a an extra scene at the start of the credits and then another one at the end. There are actually 2 different end scenes so its the luck of the draw which one you will get. The one I saw today involved Ryan Reynolds' character (no big shocker since they just announced his character is going to have his own film next summer). The other one is apparently one of Cyclops...which I am hoping means his origin film will be coming soon.

All Disney Review OR How I Spent My Saturday

Saturday morning. 6 a.m. I roll out of bed minutes before my alarm goes off only to see a text message from Cynthia saying "hey, stay in bed...you don't have to be here until 8:30".

Thank goodness.

I reset the alarm, crawl back into bed and lose myself in the world of dreams for another hour...or so I think.

Once a cat knows you're awake...or even partially awake...they are all over you for breakfast.

Fine. Breakfast it is.

Cats fed, I head for a shower and then begin to get ready to meet Cynthia and the girls over at the Scera Theater. A promise is a promise after all. I'd missed the girls' last performance because I had class so I agreed to come to this their final production for the year. For those who aren't aware the Scera Theater has an acting group...I have no idea exactly how much it costs but it can't be too much because the girls pay for their own lessons and then act in several productions throughout the year. Not knowing what I was in for I climbed into my car and headed for the theater.

Hmmmmmmmm....an all Disney review....this should be interesting. Cynthia had gotten us tickets for front row balcony so we had a great view of the action down below. Before the show various instructors and the older kids wandered around in costume and in character. Woody and Buzz were accosting every kid they met and Buzz kept trying to get them to admit they wanted to be a Space Ranger when they grew up...to no avail...Woody won hands down. Little girls and boys alike all said they'd much rather be a cowboy (or cowgirl) when they grew up.

Poor Buzz.

Eventually the show began and I was in for quite a surprise. Okay, some of these kids are new, some have been around for awhile and some were seriously off-key but they threw their little hearts into the performance nontheless and I had an amazing time. The show was divided into two parts with an intermission (which was good because each half was a little over an hour long). Honestly, I was sad when it was over.

I brought my camera to the performance so I could catch Cynthia's girls in action, but ended up taking many more shots of various performances and "thespians". Here are a few of my favorites (keep in mind it was dark and I had forgotten to turn off my macro setting! Ugh, I know....amateur photographers!)


Woody and Buzz, Masters of Ceremonies


"We're All In This Together" ~High School Musical


"A-E-I-O-U (The Caterpillar Song)" ~Alice in Wonderland (I love this kid's makeup and he really got into the performance)


"It's a Jolly Holiday with Mary" ~Mary Poppins (normally I hate this song and pretty much everything Mary Poppins related but the kid playing Bert had an amazing voice and gave such a fun and animated performance that I found myself loving it)


"I'm The King of New York" ~Newsies (again, not a fan of Newsies but these guys made it fun)


"He Lives In You" ~Lion King (I had never heard this one since its from the Broadway production but oooh, what a great song)

It was over far too soon but I was all but bouncing through the rest of my day, grooving to the Radio Disney in my head.

Acheivement....

June 11, 2009

6 pm

Provo Tabernacle

The notification came yesterday and I was stunned by my reaction. After all, I'd told myself this would be no big thing and that I wouldn't be making a fuss or anything. Honestly, I was asked about this the other day and had no idea specifically when it was going to happen and had no plans to do anything about it anyway.

Graduation.

For those who know me I have been in college off and on for years and never got anywhere with it. Graduation, when it would finally come, could be brushed off as I wasn't about to sit through some big ol' boring production...not of my own free will that is.

Funny that since the notification came that I was eligible to walk I've had this strange little feeling creep up on me....astonishment for starters (in fact it feels unreal) but now I am working up an honest-to-goodness excitement.

I've no real plans here....just go to the ceremony and come home (no fanfare or anything planned....after all it is a weeknight) but its really got me excited for my Bachelor's graduation fall of next year.

I expect to throw myself quite the party on THAT night!

Having never been in the Provo Tabernacle I have no idea how big it is or how many people will be allowed to come. Cynthia is coming (in fact she's the one who got me to finally agree to do this) and Teach you're invited if you can make it. I'll post again once I know how many people are allowed to show....that is, if anyone else is interested in coming.

Anyone else find this a good excuse to buy a new dress?

Shawna's Summer Movie Review- Star Trek

Okay, first of all let me get the negatives out of the way....we were in the second freaking row. Yeah, second row...the section where you have to tilt your head back and instead of moving your eyes to follow the action you have to move your whole head and you just know you aren't seeing it all.

Think of it as the IMAX experience without the IMAX price.

The only problem with that is extreme close-ups appear out of focus and I also found myself getting carsick with all of the action shots.

But who cares about that because this movie was AMAZING!

Honestly, the only bad things I really have to say is I thought Winona Ryder as Spock's mom was poor casting. It was pretty obvious that the aging make-up they put on her was fake and Ryder played the same flat, boring, no personality character that she has always played. Luckily she's barely in the film so it wasn't too bad of a distraction. Also disappointing is Eric Bana as our bad guy....but then I have yet to see Bana in a film where I liked him (sorry, but its true). He never really manages to make me believe in the characters he's portraying...but then Romulans are pretty much emotionally dead on the surface anyway so in this case it suffices.

For those who aren't familiar with Star Trek its no big deal because this is the story from the beginning....literally. We see Kirk's birth and Spock as a little pipsqueak being bullied on Vulcan for being half-human. I loved the nice cameo of Jennifer Morrison as Kirk's mom (for fans of "House M.D." she is Dr Allison Cameron).
Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel in the original series, Lwaxana Troi in "Next Generation", Ms. Gene Roddenberry in real life and the voice of the computer in every ST series and film) recorded her voice once again for the computer on this series before she passed away which was an especially sweet touch.



The movie opens with a bang (literally) and pretty much doesn't let you go. We are offered a storyline that is confusing at first, but then slowly unfolds to bring you up to speed along with our heroes. An old cast member returns...nicely I thought though the build-up to their introduction on-screen was a bit over-the-top....but then again, this is Star Trek....everything is a bit over-the-top with this series. A plot mix I was secretly betting myself on actually happened as two characters hook up in an interesting twist....but I won't spoil the surprise with who they are. The effects are amazing and the movie moves along at a pretty nice pace and there is a surprising amount of fun moments even with the universe crashing around them. The audience and I were all screaming and clapping by the end (most of us anyway). And yes, those of us who came in street clothes rather than dressing up as Klingon's or Starfleet personnel were cheering too.



Okay...casting.

The new cast is pretty dang good....Simon Pegg ("Shawn of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz") as Scotty is a scream, though he doesn't appear until nearly halfway through the film. Trust me, he's definately worth the wait. Newcomer Anton Yelchin (yes he's really Russian) as Chekov is endearing and funny...and the extra thick accent he adopts as an homage to Walter Koenig was hysterical. Sulu (John Cho from the Harold and Kumar films) has a few entertaining moments and Zachary Quinto (Sylar from "Heroes") makes for a great Spock. I worried I wouldn't get past seeing him as Sylar but he's definately not a one-dimensional actor. He managed to show Spock as wanting to be Vulcan and yet still showed us his "weaker" human side.

Zoe Saldana ("Drumline", "POTC") as Uhura really brought the character to life, showing that girls can pretty much kick ass as well as the boys. Surprising cast of Chris Pine as Kirk. For a guy who's biggest roles to date were pretty much in "Princess Diaries 2" and "Just My Luck" you'd think he'd be consigned to the pretty boy/made for tweens stuff, no matter how charmingly good he was in those films. While he wasn't channeling some "inner Shatner" (frankly no one does over the top better than Bill Shatner) he managed to get you to like the character even though he starts out as a bit of a bum with a chip on his shoulder. You find yourself rooting for Pine and wanting him to succeed. I read he's being offered the lead as The Green Lantern in an upcoming film and, judging by this performance, he'll be very good at it.

And last (but certainly not least) my favorite in the Star Trek pantheon. DeForest Kelley as Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy was dry and witty....endearing and yet still able to give out crap one liners "Damn it Jim I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer!" with conviction. Karl Urban ("Lord of the Rings", "Bourne Supremacy") plays the character to perfection. Not much backstory here but we learn how he got "Bones" as his nickname (I always thought it was because he was a doctor but nope...something else entirely different). Karl Urban has a great sense of comedic timing while still keeping in character. But then anyone who has seen him spend a few episodes of "Xena: Warrior Princess" dressed up as the minor god Cupid already knew that. Urban has you cheering and/or laughing pretty much everytime he comes up on screen. Thanks to Urban I can continue to love "Bones" just as he is...and he has certainly left me wishing and hoping for more Star Trek films to come.

For the non-Trekkies reading this...you should still go see it. Its filled with humor, action and some pretty fantastic special effects. If you are a bit of a fan you will not be disappointed in the new take on an old universe. For die-hard fans who know every character's geneology and who still playact on cardboard sets in their basement...you probably won't like the changes and tweaks director JJ Abrams ("Lost", "Mission: Impossible 3") has brought to the table. Yes, things have been changed in spots to fit the story, but its explained at the end how they are able to "cheat" like this. It works so get over it.

Personally, I fit somewhere inbetween. I love the original series the best but have enjoyed the "Next Generation" and "Voyager" incarnations as well (I never did get around to watching "Deep Space 9" or "Enterprise"). I have never attended a Star Trek convention or even considered whipping up a yeoman's costume (I don't have the legs to pull off the miniskirt anyway!) I just enjoy the universe Roddenberry created and I love a good sci-fi when its presented to me.

I think Gene would have liked this one.

Summer Movie Review

Well the movie review is starting early this year....in fact my first review will be online tomorrow.

Yup, tomorrow.

I just found out that Star Trek is opening tonight instead of tomorrow (they decided to do a soft opening!) so this girl promptly Fandangoed herself a ticket. None of this "midnight sneak preview" crap....I am going to the first showing at 7 pm.

I can't wait!!!!!

Another great has fallen...

Dom DeLuise died yesterday at the age of 75 due to illness.

An amazing actor...and an incredibly funny comedian and someone I have enjoyed watching ever since he hosted an episode of the Muppet Show, opening the show with the Swedish Chef dressing Dom's head on a plate with lettuce and an apple in the mouth (a schtick on Dom's famed appetite and love of cooking).

The still above is from one of my favorite films "The Glass Bottom Boat" in which he starred alongside Doris Day and Rod Taylor (I want that dvd back someday Cynthia :D) in which he plays a bumbling spy. Besides plenty of films (including recurring roles alongside Burt Reynolds and Mel Brooks) he also voiced Jeremy the Crow in "Secret of NIMH", Tiger in "An American Tail", Fagin in "Oliver and Company" and Itchy in the "All Dogs Go To Heaven" cartoons and was a very memorable "Pizza the Hut" in Mel Brooks' "Spaceballs". He acted alongside all 3 of his sons in a memorable episode of "SeaQuest DSV" in the 1990's (2 of his sons were regular cast characters) where they played the ultimate in disfunctional families.

Maybe its because I am getting older and so are the actors I admired when I was younger but it seems like more and more performers I admire are passing on. Its probably because I never paid that much attention when I was little, and goodness knows the internet wasn't around in the way back when...news took a bit longer to get around. These days its instantaneous....here Dom died yesterday and Wikipedia already has a notation that he died due to kidney failure and respiratory problems. Dang.

Regardless, what a bummer. Another favorite is gone.....

Monday Morning Blahs

Not necessarily blue....just blah.

noun
the blahs, a feeling of physical uneasiness, general discomfort, or mild depression; malaise: After the long weekend many workers had the Monday-morning blahs.

As usual I didn't accomplish as much as I wanted to this weekend. Don't get me wrong, I really did get a lot done...just not as much as I had hoped for.

I still need to clear off my desk (that'll take probably an hour on its own....that sucker is pretty loaded with miscellaneous crap). Then I will finish picking up the random pile of blankets and whatnot in front of my closet, hang some more pictures on my walls (just half a wall left to decorate!) and then I will be finished in there.

Mostly.

The more I get done in my room the more I love my personal space. I bought sage green sheer curtains to hang in my windows that give my room a lovely light. Not to go all girly but I love it when they flutter in the breeze...very romantic.

I have most of my artwork on my walls...I think all that is really left to put up are some family photos. I also need to put my pet gate up (it doesn't do me much good sitting in the living room) and then I am thinking of hanging a half-curtain across my doorway since I can't fully shut my bedroom door...with my desk sitting by the door it has the teensiest overhang of about half an inch. Of course that problem is easily remedied...all I need is to dismantle my bed frame and buy a black metal one without headboards or footboards. I love the one I have now but my new matress is about a foot shorter than the frame and a good 6 inches on both sides (I downsized last year from a Queen to a Full). That's a lot of wasted space being eaten up by my frame...space that would otherwise allow my desk to fit and for me to walk at the end of my bed to use the bookshelf I've placed there.

Once all that is done then my room should be tres ooh la la.