Mental Post-Its

Thoughts, Notes, and General Mental Mayhem

Tag Archives: movies


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February Atlanta Events

459993477Ah, amore! It’s may be cold outside, but hearts remain warm inside. However, whether you’re flying solo or part of a duo, there are plenty of things to keep you busy in February.

Stay cozy out there!

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The Oscars—A Recap

My party voted for Lincoln.

My party voted for Lincoln.

If you read my Oscar thoughts and predictions, or take a look at the photo above, you’ll see I was clearly hoping Lincoln would take home the Best Picture trophy. Argo, however, was a fantastic flick. It was a great year for movies, and there were a lot of well-deserved golden statues handed out tonight.

Here’s my quick recap because I’m tired, and have to get up early.

 

WINNERS

Overall, great show.

Seth McFarland, awesome. Very talented. I look forward to him coming back.

Loved the theme of music in the movies. Great performances.

Loved that the set dressing changed to reflect the award being given.

Loved seeing Charlize dance with Channing! Let’s see her in a movie dancing! (Loved all the dancing.)

Daniel Day-Lewis. Period.

Beautiful ending to Anne Hathaway’s speech, “Here’s hoping someday in the not-too-distant future the misfortunes of Fantine will be only found in fiction and not in real life.”

 

LOSERS

The camera people who couldn’t do a cutaway shot to save their lives. How did the actors react to the jokes? No idea.

The Bond tribute, if that’s what you want to call it.

The presentation of Best Picture and Best Original Song. Hated the way they lumped them all together, and not throughout the evening. And stinks that we didn’t get to see all the songs performed.

The only award I really felt was lacking was Best Actress, which will probably come as a shock to many. I though Emmanuelle Riva should’ve won. I thought Jennifer Lawrence was very good in the role, but realistically, she probably would’ve had her last in her list of nominees. I kinda felt it was more about the hype surrounding her right now.

 

MENU

For this party, I paid tribute to Lincoln the best way I knew how. The American way. The culinary way. With food.

Bacon, Onion and Cheddar Corn Muffins (primary exports of Lincoln’s state of Illinois)

Bite Sized Apple Pies (classic American)

Black and White Cookies (notice the clear separation of colors)

Orville Reddenbacher’s Natural Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper Popcorn (again, with the black and white)

Accompanied by Potterybarn movie themed plates.

 

Great night! Thanks to Raechel, Kat, Michelle, Emily and Brent who shared in the fun with me!


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How to Survive Almost Anything

If you know even just three things about me, one of those items is probably how much I love TV and movies. One of my favorite genres is anything to do with spies. Outside of that, I love action, end of the world, comedy, dramady, some SciFi, some fantasy, some romantic comedies, mostly fiction…ok, lots of different genres. (Mostly, you can just leave out Westerns, Reality and co-dependent teen vampire flicks, and I’m in.) Therefore, in my vast amount of research, I’ve been taking notes on how to survive almost anything–End Times, zombie apocalypse, kidnapping, bombings, physical attack, vampire awakening, virus outbreak, alien invasion and/or galactic invasion. And I’m here to share that knowledge with you. You’re welcome.

Learn….

  • a second language. You almost always need to be at least bilingual. This flaw is an American’s Achilles heel. I need to get back to practicing. If were are talking near future, learn Spanish. (See most stats for 2030.) Far future, Chinese. (See Firefly.)
  • to pick a lock. Despite my asking for a lock picking kit for years, I’ve yet to receive one for my birthday or Christmas. Don’t be fooled, kids. A credit card won’t work on any real door. Get yourself a set of tools and practice. And all locks were not created equal, so don’t get cocky.
  • kickboxing or another form of martial arts or higher level self defense. You must be able to defend yourself. This tactic should come in hand in almost any situation, except for evil wizards.
  • Morse Code. Old school or not, it could prove to be invaluable in a variety of situations. It’s survived itself, hasn’t it? Morse Code would work for when the power goes out, when you need to communicate without words, or even in a German submarine.
  • a warning phrase. You need to choose a phrase to communicate with your friends and loved ones in case you are in trouble. This simple exchange could communicate that you’ve been kidnapped, you’re cover has been blown or that your job won’t let you share that a meteor is headed to Earth in 19 hours. So, you may want to choose a few phrases, as well as one that says, “It’s ok. I was wrong. It was just a flock of wild geese flying backwards.” Don’t make it too obscure, though, or someone will catch on. Example: Jack and Sydney said that there was construction on the freeway.
  • to like exercise. Let’s face it. In any of the movies where your life is on the line, these people are running. It’s the awful truth. Some strength training and running will come in handy. Watch The Firm or War of the Worlds. It could be almost anything.
  • to wield a weapon. Let’s not make the mistake that there will always be a gun on hand, and that you can just point and shoot. You may want to take up an axe, bow and arrow, wooden stake or shank. It would also be helpful if you can make your own weapon, and several of the aforementioned lend themselves to that.
  • to survive on less food. If it’s End Times, don’t count on a filet every night. Practice fasting, and it wouldn’t hurt if you learned to eat things you find in nature for good measure. Panham isn’t that far away.
  • to push through your fear. Fear gets you killed. It makes you think slower. React and go. Remember, there are only two choices: fight or flight. Both involve action, though. One exception: only play dead if there is a bear nearby.
  • who you can trust. You may think it’s easiest to survive on your own. It is realistic to think that there is a Brutus around every corner willing to sell you out for their own survival, cash, power or appointment within the alien regime.  But the real truth is that you need your Ron and Hermione. Know who those people are.

Of course, there are probably a few other items that could be added to this list. What would you add? I’ve just tried to cover the basics for you. These topics will take you a while to learn, and you may discover others in the process. After you’ve mastered the above, you’re in good shape. Then you can move on, and hone other survival skills. But for now, congratulations in taking the first step. You’re well on your way. I’ll see you on the other side…

Note: even if you never have to use any of these essential skills, you’ll look way cool in front of your peers.