Overall I thought it was tame, although you’d never see it on the Disney Channel. I also wished I could move my hips like Miley, I’m jealous!

Mum said it’s just what she’s being told to do and she’s going along with it, but she said the same thing about Britney Spears. O_o How do we really know that this isn’t her idea, this isn’t the real Miley?

I don’t know. Mum and I had a (totally unrelated) conversation recently about perception versus intention, what people intend to do versus how other people perceive the actions. An example was anyone who demanded an apology from Obama because of something he said which got misinterpreted. In other words, people are saying, “I expect an apology from you for what I thought was said.”

Regarding Miley’s show, I thought, hmmm, if 8-year-olds danced like that, it would only be the older people who would be scandalized by it. The little kids aren’t trying to find sex for themselves, they’re just moving their bodies. It’s all the fault of the adults who see sex in it and then molest children, just like it’s the fault of the guy who saw an attractive woman and raped her.

We as a society don’t like to see provocative attire (especially on children), and condone the sexy moves of celebrities as indecent and completely inappropriate for children.

If that’s true though, and we don’t want kids to mimic celebrities in order to protect them, it’s also logical how in Islamic countries women are required by the government to cover themselves so they don’t make men horny. It’s not that they’re nonentities in burqas, women are just protecting themselves and the men who have no sense of control.

Whose fault is it really? The teen-aged singer who wiggled her hips, or the adults who interpreted it as SHE’S SELLING SEX ON THE SEASHORE NOW.

Next up … I can’t remember the order. ._. I’ll just go with Burt’s Bees Beeswax lip balm.

I saw this ad in a Vanity Fair issue (I bought it for a class, but I can’t recall which one) decrying lip balms for using petroleum-based ingredients, and to make sure what you put on your lips is all-natural and not refined rotted dinosaur remains. I don’t remember what product the ad was for. But it definitely hit a mark.

I decided, since I needed more lip balm, to try a natural one, i.e. Burt’s Bees Beeswax. I saw it at Target, right next to Chapstick. The Burt’s was about a quarter more than the Chapstick, so I was questioning the au naturale ideas in my head, especially since there were three Chapsticks in one package, and only one of the Burt’s — pay less for triple the product? Very tempting. But I decided to not be cheap and try the Burt’s at least once.

I have to say I’m disappointed. The Burt’s gives my lips this cold tingly feeling , which I do not want. (Apparently other customers like it though…)

Hmm … it appears that it was a good thing I waited to write this up, because the info on the Skin Deep: Cosmetics Safety Database changed since I last looked at it. Chapstick lip balm now looks more harmful than Burt’s Bees Beeswax lip balm. Huh. (And oh hay look, white petrolatum in the Chapstick!!1)

Well, natural lip balms at places like Lush cost too much for me (and I never like having to touch lip balm to apply it — don’t they advise not touching your face because of the bacteria on your hands?), and Chapstick seems out (unless I can find this Chapstick all natural version), so I don’t know what to go for next. But that won’t be for a while. I can count all the lip balms I’ve had in my life on one hand; most of them were freebies.

Next item, 3Musketeers Mint. I saw commercials for this starting Christmas of last year? 3Musketeers is probably my favorite candy bar. It doesn’t mean I absolutely love it, but most of the time I’d accept eating one, which is better than what I can say about other bars. So when I saw the mint, I wanted to try it.

I found it in the checkout line at Albertson’s here, so of course I grabbed it. When I got home, I realized it’s smaller than the normal 3Musketeers bar, and it’s packaged with two bars, half the size of a regular one. Slight disappointment there, but maybe mint costs more or something, I’d forgive them for that.

When I bit into it though, it wasn’t that great. Maybe my expectations were too high. I think I expected something like a York Peppermint Patty. But the 3Musketeers Mint isn’t as sweet. It’s okay. I probably won’t buy it again. But I’d accept it if someone offered it to me. *grin*

The really rad thing about it though, the main reason why I’m talking about it at all, is the packaging. XD First, 3Musketeers Mint wrapping in normal lighting. It’s got that normal metallic look that the 3Musketeers bar has, right? Then, 3Musketeers Mint wrapping while backlit. Whoa! Transparent wrapper! XD It’s not a good quality photo, because in real life the nutrition facts can be read while backlit. mreh.

Now, I read Wil Wheaton’s post about Scarlett Johansson’s album a while ago … whenever it was first posted. I had no idea what type of music she’d done, but I know generally I don’t share Wil’s taste in music. (I’m more pop and mainstream, although I enjoy rock and a bit of indie music.)

Her album really surprised me though. I thought she’d be doing the normal pop album. I never expected the music that I heard. (I’m no music guru, so I have no idea what style or genre it is or anything.) There are a few songs on there I don’t enjoy, but for the most part, I would buy the album if it cost me $10 or so. (Hm, maybe I should buy the mp3s on Amazon.)

It’s got a nice atmosphere to the music. Not something I’d want to listen to every day like The Cardigans, but in the right mood it would be the best music. Like Lily Chou-Chou! *grins*

So I finished reading Garth Nix’s Across the Wall … a long while ago. I loved it! I read someone’s comment that it’s not as good as the Old Kingdom Trilogy. Well of course. The Old Kingdom spans over three books, you really get to get into the world and into the characters and into the stories.

Across the Wall is a collection of short stories. Short stories are, well short. There’s no time for development and evolution. It’s just a quick event that introduces a new idea and makes you (well, me at least) think about the world differently. I thought Garth Nix was incredibly imaginative with these stories. (I love short stories, by the way. Got introduced to them properly by Neil Gaiman. Read some of Roald Dahl’s adult short stories. I need to own them!)

Garth Nix was so good that I want to read The Once and Future King. I never thought I’d pick that up. Daddy owns a copy (an ooold copy). I never was interested in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. But Garth Nix has piqued my interest … as any good author should do.

Those are my reviews. The first two were written June 6th; I’m finishing this June 17th.

The remark I made earlier about gas … well the Monday before I saw gas was $4.33. I thought of filling up, but meh I was lazy and as I always do when I’m lazy, I thought I’d wait to see if the price would go down. The next day, Tuesday, I drove by the station again and the price was $4.44. I was so gobsmacked that I didn’t even consider buying gas.

I guess I should have though. I ended up buying four gallons on the 13th to make it home to L.A. where gas is guaranteed to be at least five cents cheaper (oh big whoop, five cents…) and had to pay $4.69 per gallon. Augh.

That ends my collection of little reviews and thoughts.

I almost forgot to watch it, even though I’d been planning to watch it since commercials aired in March. Luckily C had to go work in his studio so I made dinner late and caught the movie ten minutes in.

(Spoiler, sort of.) One thing I wonder about, plot-wise, is if Ithaca is 25 and the girl is somewhere in her teens (I assume 15+ but I’m not a good judge of age), then how the heck is that workable? Calliope (the girl) would go through all that training, then in ten years her rule is up, and they need to find the next girl? What? Ithaca was found at 5 … correct? So she had her powers for 20 years. Maybe what’s-his-face (sorry can’t remember his name … William?) was supposed to be searching for those 20 years for the next girl? Or at least 15 or whatever years, however old Calliope is. But then he’s only in his 20s himself, so he would have begun searching at 10? What was that whole thing about seekers being old? (End of spoiler.)

I don’t know, I shouldn’t bother with the little things, it was only a tv movie. *grin*

The big thing I do want to complain about is a comment made by the character William. Remember, I didn’t see the first ten minutes of the movie the first time around, so I watched the rerun at 10 o’clock.

The reporter friend guy gets the invitation to Ithaca’s dinner thing in the mail and his wife says he and William should go, since she’s so very pregnant and can’t fit into any sort of nice evening gown. Then William says (paraphrasing), “Sure, like two guys going to a ball isn’t gay.” What?!

The comment itself isn’t what’s bugging me, it wasn’t that bad (right? I’m not underreacting, am I?). But I do hate that this is a movie airing on ABC Family, so probably kids as young as … 8? could be watching it. I don’t care that William used the word “gay” when kids are watching, but I can’t stand that he used it in that joking, derogatory manner.

Maybe I’m overreacting about this and gays have become so much a part of the norm we can joke about them now…? But it still creates this idea for kids that it’s okay to say things like that! They might say it around other kids, who might or might not be gay, and those kids will feel … however they feel. Marginalized?

:x Sorry, my brain’s shutting down now … this is why I suck at blogging. Argh.

Closing statement … stupid Disney is still furthering a world where gays are seen as bad and can be shot or tortured. Am I going too far there? Oh yeah.

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“Racially Charged Incidents Rattle L.A.” ← headline on Yahoo.

“…the inland suburbs of Los Angeles…”   “…Riverside and San Bernardino counties…” ← in that article.

Yeah, ’cause Riverside and San Bernadino counties are included in the city boundaries of Los Angeles … I mean, I understand, who outside of Southern California has heard of Riverside or San Bernadino? They have to make it so other people understand where the general area is … but it still annoys me.

This one guy said online, I forget where I read it, all cities in California are L.A. :b I wish! (Well not really…) You should know that I really like L.A. Not all of it, but I like the convenience of everything, I like how it doesn’t have that really big city feeling unless you go downtown or something, I like the diversity, I like the weather (of course) … other things I can’t think of. I plan to never ever ever leave SoCal. And, I guess considering how not like L.A. other places in SoCal are … I’m never going to leave L.A.?

Not that I’m generalizing other places … I hope not … I know there are good areas and bad areas to every place. But this is what makes me feel like L.A. is a veritable little island paradise: hearing about white supremacist groups in Riverside and San Bernadino counties; knowing Simi Valley is (or was, I guess?) a white flight area, meaning whites who wanted to get away from minorities moved there; hearing about this one mosque that almost wasn’t in Orange County because churches were protesting its existence, saying that a mosque would create even more traffic and take away more parking spaces on Sundays (or in other words … “They’re taking my flock away from me!”). I dunno.

I’ve been … sort of living in Ventura County for the past three years … well, during the week, when I attend classes, and only fall/winter/spring. The one thing I’ve noticed about myself … last semester I was amazed at every single Asian face I saw … and this semester it’s not only Asian faces but every single non-white face. o_o WTF?! Every time I see a minority I just go “Wao! MINORITY! *gawk*” >_<

So … if anyone knows of a big city with absolutely no night life and has a lot of commercialization and diversity and nice weather and everything, tell me. I want to know my options when the Big One (earthquake) comes.

Oh yes, someone, anyone, try commenting on my tagboard?

If you love him, let him go.

I don’t know, maybe it really isn’t his time to go, but every time I see him, he seems to be suffering, and I can only think about all those … faithful? … who are praying for him to stay alive. o.<

Yes, there are other things I could make entries about, like Terry Schiavo, or spending two years in Iraq, or L.A. Riots episode II (possibly), or our beloved President Stupid Bush allowing LOGGING IN SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK … okay I’ll stop before I have a heart attack. Yeah, I could maybe possibly mention those things … but I choose the Pope. :b

http://www.holisticmed.com/splenda/

Chlorines? Euww. Regardless of whether sucralose is actually digested and absorbed by the body or not, I just don’t want chlorine going through me. >_>

C2 (which is what Pepsi Edge is copying) doesn’t have aspartame or sucralose or anything, but it does contain phenylalanine. I looked that up too. I couldn’t find anything much about that other than it’s something that the body needs naturally and that some people can’t have too much of it and I don’t really remember what else. But I found out tonight it’s one of the amino acids included in aspartame. That explains why, when one looks up phenylalanine, one gets lots of results for aspartame as well. :b

Not that I like C2 or anything. N bought it, ’cause he’s a fan of Coca Cola (don’t ask). I think he, Mum, and M88 tried it, and they liked it. N offered one to me, but I didn’t want to drink it until I looked up phenylalanine, then after that I forgot about it. ^_^;; So whatever.

All I really know is I’m not drinking sugar-free hot cocoa mixes. And I’m not even sure about regular cocoa mix, either, ’cause the last ingredient was sucralose. I know it’s the very last, but I’m a freaky health-conscious person that way.

Matt once said he was drinking a diet soda. I wanted to scream at him, “Stop drinking it and don’t ever let it come to your lips for the rest of your life!!!” But I didn’t bother. >_> Yuck.

Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle R, they’ve drunk that stuff every day for the past 20? years or so. I remember being 8 and asking if I could have a sip of some diet drink or other and everyone would always say, “No, they don’t know if it’s safe for kids or not.” :b But anyway.

I read that aspartame could cause migraines. o.o Luckily the worst my grandparents suffer (luckily???) is memory loss. And we all thought Grandma was developing Alzheimer’s … *blink* But now Grandpa is just as bad.

—–

Something else I looked up tonight … SM00 was watching Full House, and Bob Saget was playing the guitar, and it looked like he really was playing, so I looked into it, and found this page. (Psst, look under politicians. Oh yeah. XD Vote for Kerry!) At first I was surprised that they listed Audrey Hepburn as being able to play guitar, but then I just remembered, duh, she played guitar in Breakfast at Tiffany’s! I like that song. ^^

Lori said “crap” in a comment she posted on my journal. I don’t mean to be a hypocrite or anything. I don’t really care if other people cuss (at least I try not to ^^;). And I kinda think not-so-nice words every so often … but I don’t like certain people to cuss. Namely my relatives. ^^;;; One time N said “bitch” (not to anyone, he just said it) and I was so shocked, but C didn’t seem to make much notice of it, so I tried to play it cool. ^.^; *is a dork* But uh anyway I never ever ever use cuss words out loud, unless I’m just saying the word. And I’m gonna stop typing it out online where Lori can see it. Even if I am that pissed off.

I know I’m not supposed to say “bad words” because it might offend other people. I definitely don’t want to offend other people. Nor do I want to be offended when other people say them. ^^;; But I don’t know. Sometimes words just fit. Sometimes the world is just so negative … I wonder what it’s like, telepathy. Something that transcends words …

But I’m also trying to not talk about my beliefs because I know it makes everyone uncomfortable. <_< Like when Lori brings up NDEs and reincarnation at the dinner table and I know where she’s been getting it all from (Mum and me). ^^;; And then Auntie and Uncle say things that I want to correct, but I don’t, because it’s their beliefs and they’re not hurting anyone so why should I disrupt them? *shrugs*

I am also not liking Your-site.com. x_x;; I mean, it’s reeeeally nice, I like the people who own/run it, but it’s a bit more simplified than I was looking for. (I completely forgot to check that I could create more ftp accounts!!! ARRRRGH! >_<) I want a Cyberpixels account (or even iPowerWeb, even though I don’t have that much money ^^;;;;), but I can’t, because Noelle and Lori use Greymatter and Cyberpixels doesn’t allow that script ’cause of security problems. x.x Guh. I don’t get any subdomains with y-s.com, I can’t make more ftp accounts, I don’t have any MySQL databases, and only one domain per plan. *sigh* And with Cyberpixels I could have had a free third domain name. >b Yeah, I’m starting to want crimsoncut.com again.

Ummm … I also want a blog on there. Lately I’ve been feeling like I’m putting on an act with my blog/public LJ entries. I’m not— it’s me, but it feels like an act, because I know Lori and Noelle will be reading it, so I kinda up the happy chipperness a bit. ^^;; And that blog would not be associated with my current sites at all. I’d even use another nickname on there. I’d call myself Marcy. :b So that way there’re no ties to my real life. >b Yeay, happy dreams.

Sad thoughts: Amy Lee was mentioned on the egl community because the dress she wore was designed by h.Naoto. WAO! XD So cool! I didn’t know that, but I really liked her dress. I thought she designed it, like her other dresses, but she didn’t, and this is so cool because it’s h.Naoto!!!

I’ve decided that I like Atelier Boz and h.Naoto both. And when I get a fulltime job and am settled in a home, I shall blow big bucks on $200+ clothing items and pay someone in Japan to buy for me ’cause they don’t ship to the US.

But anyway. So on the egl community everyone (but one person) was saying they didn’t like Amy Lee. And one person even said Amy doesn’t wear her clothes very well. o_O I mean, okay, it’s their opinion, nothing to get riled up over. But it still makes me sad. Because I think she’s a great person. Human, yeah (thinking of the Cold incident), but she’s still a good role model for girls. (IE, she’s telling them to not wear skimpy clothing, unlike Christina Aguilera. Is it just me, or did the dress she wear at the Grammys look like she was spreading her legs on her chest? o_O [Yes I'm weird I know that. >.>;;])

And then they were all worrying that her wearing h.Naoto would make EGL or punk loli a fad in America, and that they’d all be called “Amy Lee wannabes” when they were all wearing it first. But she designs her own clothes (even though they go under the goth or punk label most of the time), and she’s not following someone else’s trends.

Okay now I’m just rambling and not making sense to myself.

Ooh, I made a mini movie icon for Livejournal. :D It’s not very good and it’s a bit short and choppy and headache-inducing. But lj has insane limits. Har har. I want to make a mini movie of the scene where she’s looking at the kites (the part that’s right there) and then the part where she’s on the ground next to the tower ’cause she jumped off it. *blink* Am I being morbid? I dunno. They didn’t have that scene in the music video. So now I’m stuck with the old DVD player that freezes after ten seconds of this region 0 disc or the new DVD player which doesn’t take screenshots. >.<

So I was looking at the Lily Chou-Chou fansite ’cause I couldn’t remember why I didn’t download the movie clips (they’re in .mov format, and I don’t like Quicktime on my laptop), and now I feel like watching the movie again. ^^;;; Freaky schoolgirls who tell guy classmates to “scare” another girl classmate because they’re jealous of her piano skillz, then when the guys rape her, they say “Idiots! Oh well.”

And moving from that disturbing scene, I also want to see Dumbo again. ^^;; What? Last year I read that it’s supposed to be a “perfect imitation of a Disney film” because Walt had nothing to do with it and yet they were able to rehash everything he’s ever done in a movie. :b And someone else said the pink elephants scene was utterly pointless dribble, but I never thought so. It scared me as a kid, but I also thought it was really entertaining. ^^ I also have to see the Emperor’s New Groove. Is that what it’s called? I was reading this Disney book in the college library on Disney storyboards, and they were talking about this movie called “Kingdom of the Sun” about an emperor who was turned into a llama. Yeah. I also want that book. Preeeetty paintings! ;.; Mum has this book on Pinocchio and the art in it. There’s an amazing painting of that bar of soap. :P

And now I’m bored with typing so baibai. (5:53, wow)

This one lady, I figured out her dream when she said “I was in a house I loved …” I thought immediately, past life dream. And yeah, I was right. XD Her dad was insane and strangled her in a past life. O_o Another lady said she’d dreamed six weeks ago (before the taping) that she went to the bathroom and … dropped out a baby girl. o.o; Sylvia Browne said yeah, she’s gonna have a girl. How can she tell? I mean, other than that she’s a psychic … what’s the difference between that dream and other dreams of pregnancies? I dunno.

Then we watched … or I watched 80s videos on VH1 Classic. Yes, very original. Nicer than videos nowadays. This one video I saw on Yahoo, it was just a film editting thing with footage of a concert. Boring. But there was an 80s video I saw that was kind of formatted like that. Boring.

Then Mommy came back to sit down, after she’d done whatever, so I handed her the remote so I could finish reading Sybil and take a bath. She found this movie on the International Film Channel, Raise the Red Lantern, that had started half an hour earlier. She said, “Oh, watch this, this is tragic.” So I watched it. And yeah, it’s really sad. O_o In that, “That’s just sad,” kind of way.

After that this short came on, called “Colic” (Mommy: “It better be short!” ^^;;;) about, well, a colicky baby, and the dad, who had to quiet it down, and it showed him … well it’s hard to explain. Anyway. It was very clever. ^_^ Mommy always complained about mothers who made their husbands take care of the baby in the night when the husbands had to go to work the next morning, and the mothers didn’t have to go anywhere, and had the time to take a nap the next day while the baby was sleeping. Sometimes I wonder if she’d get mad at me if I made my husband get up to take care of the baby … *koff*

Well, then other stuff showed, and the next movie was Eat Drink, Man Woman, so I watched that. Dangit! I want good food!! Ever since Hamburger Habit, I’ve been wanting really good food. Like chicken teriyaki from the mall, or udon from Mitsuwa, or steak from George Petrelli’s … or almost anything. Mommy asked me, “Are you pregnant?” Ahah. Right. Anyway.

The daughters in the movie, they were all twenty or over, and they still lived at home. Wow. There was a study shown on Yahoo recently about expectations people have for life, and people generally said they should move out of their parents’ house by 21.5 (I think), which made no sense to me. I mean … if you’re still there at that age, just stay for a year or two longer, save money, buy a house, build up on real estate, help the economy! … Okay I’ll quit ranting. Um. Anyway.

The oldest daughter was … 27, at least, I don’t know her age, 31 at most, and everyone considered her an old maid, and expected her to stay at home and take care of her father. The youngest was 20 and worked at some fastfood restaurant while she went to university or whatever. The middle girl, I don’t know how old she was, but she was like one of the only women in an airline business thing, and I guess she slept around rather easily, and no one faulted her for still living at home. She was very successful. Although she got an apartment at the beginning of the movie, it was because she couldn’t stand her father anymore. Um. The point is … I don’t really care. I’ll live at home for as long as I durn well want to!

*ahem* Really, it isn’t a bad idea, considering. Mommy said stay as long as we wanted, she couldn’t stand having us spending money on housing when she had perfectly good roofs for us. Also, I wouldn’t have to buy/cook food. And I have no idea what job I’ll have, but I could save up a lot of money for a house in this area that way.

Which is another thing. Over the weekend, Daddy showed me this ad: built in 1939, “fabulous details, fireplace, plantation shutters, and hardwood floors,” “formal dining room with arched entry,” 3 bedroom, 1.75 bathroom, living area 1,580 sq ft, lot size 4,996 sq ft … asking price: $569,000. What the hell??? OUR house is worth that much, if not more! We don’t have the “fabulous details” or the “plantation shutters,” but we have FIVE bedrooms and TWO AND A HALF bathroom. Maybe the great room brings down the price though. A lady at my cousin’s bridal shower said they’re making houses with great rooms now, and just a small living room. She thought it made sense, everyone in the same room. Another lady said she thought the kids would be too noisy and in the way. O.o What kind of gathering is that, I ask? Not one that I’d wanna be at …

Anyway. I’m telling myself I’ll be going on aim tomorrow, but I don’t know. It’s just easier not to.

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Rosa Parks will not attend Saturday’s NAACP Image Awards because the event’s host, Cedric the Entertainer, made jokes about her in the film ‘Barbershop’ that she considered offensive.
–http://news.yahoo.com/….

*sniffle* I mean, on the one hand, it was mean and all that, but on the other, it’s just one person, and he immediately faced the consequences in the movie (they say in the article). Y-Y

Aaaarrrgh [people see different heavens at death article] … I almost scratched the screen reading that. ^.^;; Em well anyway, it couldn’t have anything to do with the eyes, ’cause the light is so bright your eyes would be blinded, right? Or … I don’t know … *shrugs* Ah well.

It’s rather interesting. And ooh, that thing about Hindus seeing something else, isn’t that interesting? Doesn’t that kind of feed into the thought that Heaven isn’t just one big place for Christians, that right now there are different levels, and people are greeted with what they love the most? I’m not saying that they’re going to stay in Heaven *koffkoff* but I don’t know, it’s just … *shrugs*