Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: birthday, food, Internet, movie, party, presents
August 8, 2009
Dear readers,
It’s a one-man panic party at my house as I prepare for my party. In all my freaking out, I forgot that you get presents at birthday parties. This must be the first birthday where presents was not on my mind.
Yesterday spoiled me, really. Being at my mom’s office with high-speed Internet was heaven. I got a lot of work done on Letters From Katherine. This morning when I started up this computer I remembered reality. Seriously though, isn’t Verizon wireless supposed to be really really good? My dad claims it’s a conspiracy to get us all to switch to FIOS. That would be stooping low, but I don’t think it’s come to that.
I’m worried that we’ll run out of things to do at my party. We certainly won’t run out of food. We’re planning on serving pasta, but my mom just went out and bought three Domino’s pizzas “for lunch”. I suspect foul play. We’ll probably end up eating pizza for dinner too. 
At Wal-Mart the streamer section was pitifully understocked. And even if I planned to use our own plates and such my mom insisted on some sort of color coordination, which means Mad Hatter-style is out.
I hope it doesn’t come down to, “I’m bored, let’s watch a movie.” Because that make this no different from any other gathering. My friends are always gathering at someone’s house to watch a movie.
So I guess I’ll see you after the party.
With Crossed Fingers,
Grapes
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Ernest, Pirates of the Caribbean, Johnny Depp, Arizona Dream, library, movie, Vincent Gallo, Emir Kusturica, film, bugs, Lilli Taylor, grumpy, bad day, common sense, Iron Man, comic books, Persepolis, Robert Downey Jr., road trips, favorite movie, Faye Dunaway, Jerry Lewis
July 29, 2009
Dear reader,
It started yesterday night, and I had a sneaking suspicion it would follow me to today. I was right. Last night I struggled with last-minute cramming for my psychology exam today, and as the night wore on I grew increasingly frustrated.
Sometimes the more tired you are the more restless you are. I was jittery, my eyelids were twitching, and I couldn’t stop shaking my leg. Not that I couldn’t, but if I had stopped I would have been even grumpier.
Even when I get emotional there’s a part of me that stands back and talks sense. It’s weird, but it’s there, like a mini-psychologist or some other scientific/analytical presence. I’m sure you there’s a definition for that but I don’t really want one. Occasionally ignorance is bliss.
After our exam we were let out an hour early. I had to wait for my ride, who didn’t get out of class until 10. My phone was low on batteries (it’s been acting up lately) and all my friends had gone home. Here I am, sitting alone at a community college. Joy to the world.
Finally, at 10:14, he calls to tell me his car broke down. My mother is not picking up her phone. I sit until 11:44, when one of my mom’s coworkers comes to pick me up. All this with a ticking time bomb of a cell phone.
I didn’t want to write about this, because I didn’t want to label today as a bad day. There’s still half the day left. Things can get better. But I thought, bad days don’t happen too often anymore. This calls for some recognition.
Oh yeah, Miya was supposed to come over but she couldn’t. And while I was waiting for a ride I stabbed my palm with a pencil. It bled, and I clutched it, pretending to have paid the blood payment for the Curse of the Black Pearl. I know. Indulge me.
I watched “Iron Man” yesterday. I know I’m late. Eh, it didn’t really live up to the hype, but it was okay. Because I’d seen the Batman movie first, I kept drawing parallels. That aside, comic plots are often too similar.
Tonight I’m going to watch “Persepolis”. Apparently I’m the first person to borrow it from the library. Borrowing movies from the library is hip, okay? Especially if it’s the Cerritos Library, because you can stop by the Children’s Section and marvel at how awesome they made it. T-Rex anyone? Giant aquarium? Lighthouse? Rainforest? Hogwarts Ceilings? CHECK.
I like the Old World section though, if that’s what it’s called. They made it seem like the library of an English gentleman. Big armchairs and a lot of wood. If I’m not mistaken, even banker’s lamps. I’d have loved to have gone shopping for the Cerritos Library.
Enough fantasizing about the library. “Persepolis”. I’m excited to see it, except that today might not be the day for Persepolis. I feel like watching…”Iron Man”, frankly, but I’m not going to watch it again. Robert Downey Jr. has always reminded me of Johnny Depp. Sometimes when I don’t have my glasses on I do a double take.
Something’s been keen on sucking my leg blood. Taiwan has mosquitos. I didn’t stay in America to get bitten.
I was thinking about impromptu road trips. They are suddenly less intimidating. You’d just travel from hotel to hotel. One day.
Let’s talk about favorites. I was so excited when I realized I had a favorite movie. At the time it was PotC, of course. I wanted to go back and fill out all the surveys I had taken before I had had a favorite movie, as if to scream out, “I love something more than everything else!”
So. What’s your favorite movie and why? I’ll go:
My favorite movie is “Arizona Dream”, a 1993 movie directed by Serbian director Emir Kusturica that wasn’t released in the U.S. because it was too weird. How then, did I discover this gem? First, it stars Johnny Depp. Second, I was very dedicated to my obsessions. Third, Youtube was created.
Every synopsis you will find on the Internet is wrong. They interpret Paul (Vincent Gallo) as Axel’s (Johnny Depp) brother, or some other fallacy, when in fact who Paul is is not important at all. And it’s pretty clear they’re not brothers, just close friends. It would be better to watch it for yourself, and don’t be intimidated by the Alaskan opening sequence. Yes, you have the right movie – the camera will migrate to Arizona soon enough.
What I love about it is how complex it is, and with complexity comes multiple viewings. Not that you won’t understand it with one viewing, but layers and layers will be revealed each time you watch. Take, for example, the mariachis at the end of the film. Did you see them wandering the streets of the town in the beginning, before they were even introduced? I like how it uses fantasy elements without making it “part of their imagination”. I like the irrelevance that ultimately builds up to a heart-rendering ending. Why mariachis, for example? And yet they lend to the atmosphere.
Because life is not full of symbolism, there are things wandering about for no reason at all, which makes this film seem even more plausible. We’re so used to seeing dysfunction on screen in the typical “dysfunctional family”. This movie is dysfunction without “dysfunction”. It’s not “The Royal Tenenbaums” (which I want to see). This film cannot be explained, and what I love about it cannot be explained, but I think that’s part of its beauty. And all of this is without even mentioning the acting. Jerry Lewis, Faye Dunaway, Vincent Gallo, Johnny Depp, Lilli Taylor? All excellent here.
If you took nothing away from that, at least read this: There are flying machines. There are mariachis, gut balloons, flying fish, and Johnny Depp. Go see it on Youtube. Or on tape, if you’re in Europe. I look forward to seeing more of Kusturica’s work.
One of the best presents I could get would be this movie. Hint hint. Of course it’s not available in the US. And it’s only on VHS. No matter, I’ll accept even that.
Love,
Grapes
P.S. Apparently Ernest is a bad-boy name and naming your child that contributes to a higher chance of landing in jail. I don’t think we’ll have that problem with our little paper bag.
P.P.S. I sound mentally ill in the above statement. Remember, mini-psychologist. At least part of my head’s still clear.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: acting, Charlie's Angels, chinese drama, creepy, dance, entertainer, Farrah Fawcett, fever, fickle, Johnny Depp, jokes, Letterman Show, mediocre, michael jackson, movie, national geographic, Public Enemies
I woke up this morning feeling a lot worse than I did yesterday. My throat was sore and my head hurt – which quickly turned into a fever. How inconvenient, considering our first stop-motion meeting will be this Sunday. I had forgotten how horrible you feel when you have a fever – sore all over, hot and cold, the feeling that you have to puke whenever you move.
I’ve taken my illness as an excuse to do nothing for two days in a row except flip through an old issue of National Geographic Traveler and watch Chinese television. Although, tonight Johnny Depp will be on the Letterman Show so I’m going to try to stay up for that.
Ah, escapist Chinese dramas. I’m watching one that’s kind of a Cinderella-esque story. It’s horrible, but I watch it anyway, waiting for the happy ending.
Having a fever is like a constant countdown for your symptoms to return. I’m waiting for the nasty to return so I can take another Tylenol.
I guess I’m somewhat obligated to say here that Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett passed away today. I don’t know what to think – I’ve never seen Farrah Fawcett’s movies, including “Charlie’s Angels”, but I have been seeing her long struggle against cancer. She lost the fight, but maybe she’s at peace now.
As for Michael Jackson, I’m surrounded by many of his fans – people at my church, a couple of friends at school. My own personal experiences of him were seeing news stories of his creepiness and numerous jokes. That’s what I grew up with, but I know that before my time he was a great entertainer, not to mention probably one of the best dancers ever. How many dance moves today were copied off of him?
For me, he’s always existed, and it’s unsettling for something so prominent in popular culture to disappear – like that. What’s weird is that even though we enjoyed making fun of him while he was alive, people suddenly mourned so hard at his death. We are such fickle beings.
Next week – “Public Enemies” comes out. From what I’ve heard, it might be one of those movies where the movie itself is only okay, but Johnny Depp’s individual performance is still excellent as always. I hope not, because I am genuinely intrigued by the story, but we’ll see. It always feels like a waste when a great story is told with a mediocre movie.
It’s almost time for that Cinderella-esque drama. Off I go.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: adult, beauty, Cerritos College, children, deep, Ernest, film festival, fish, fun, grapes, group project, happiness, interview, Japanese game show, Johnny Depp, Karate Tetherball Girl, literature, love life, movie, MTV Movie Awards, nicknames, optimism, orchestra, PMS, Public Enemies, screenplay, screenplays, summer, superpower, Sushi, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Wife of Bath's Tale, thoughts, Vanity Fair, What Women Want, writing
Hold tight, Ernest will be back sometime this weekend.
My sister’s fish went through some sort of mysterious trauma yesterday and now they’re always hiding. It’s hilarious, really, when they all huddle under the filter and try to stealthily swim to the other side of the tank. When you scatter food they hide until one of them gets the courage to dart and nip at the food. Very stealthy, except that as a human, I can see all.
We’re down to six fish, and one of the silver ones tried to eat the last corpse. Silly fish, you’re such a fatteh.
Today was a lot of fun, because I didn’t go to school for half the day. I was at Cerritos College taking the assessment test and enrolling in Psych 101. Now that that’s done with, I’m almost finished with all my summer preparations. Huzzah.
It was also the last orchestra rehearsal of this school year. I’m happy, of course, because orchestra tends to smack you in the face Monday morning, but I think I am going to miss it.
I just slaved away on a group project by myself. It’s been a while since that’s happened, but aside from a twinge of annoyance as I copied an excerpt of “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” paragraph by paragraph, I welcome my group’s unreliability. For one, I’ve been happy for way too long. And I don’t mean this in a sadistic self-harming way, but that I wanted my happiness to be challenged. I wanted to know whether it was the circumstances around me or a real change in my personality that caused my incessant optimism. The only exception to my optimism is around PMS time, when, like clockwork, I get snappy at everyone.
And now that the final draft is finished, I love the way it looks. I love putting together packets like this, the ones that are like written ready-made missions for fourth graders. And what’s nice is that all the while I kept thinking, “This isn’t so bad,” rather than “I hate this. I hate this. I hate this.”
But enough of that. My sister’s computer was down for a while last night and I thought maybe I had lost half of my screenplays. Tomorrow night’s the Whitney Film Festival and I’m debating whether or not to go. It really depends on the amount of homework I have, as everything does. I can’t wait until summer. I’m really hoping this doesn’t end up a wasted summer, because how many more of these will I get? After I graduate high school it will pretty much be all work and little play.
I love how vague we all are on our blogs. Heck, I don’t even reveal my real name on here. Of course, I respond to Grapes in real life, and actually my real name sounds really strange to me, but still. For me, I have to really trust someone before I put their real names on my blog. As for Sushi, I’m just scared one day her Indian family will sue me for the blasphemous things I say about her love life. Not that it isn’t true, everything that she’s done. Like date James Bond and Chiranjeevi.
I like having the nicknames though. Like KarateTetherballGirl. It’s fairly obvious who she is but it sounds like a minor character in an indie movie or a “young adult” novel. God, I hate young adult novels. I like children’s literature, and I like adult literature. Not…”adult literature”. I mean like, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy sort of stuff, not Wild Nights in Williamsburg With Sushi. Good god.
I was just thinking in the shower, not about little Japanese game show boys this time, but about being able to hear other people’s thoughts. Then, just as I was about to get all happy about this new imagined superpower, “What Women Want” popped into my head, as it often does when I wish I could hear people’s thoughts. Stupid movie, it never knows to knock before entering.
I imagine that it would be irritating though, having to wade through “That woman, she’s so beautiful. What a divine goddess. What’s her name? Sushi? Oh, nevermind how it sounds. She’s perfect. Look at those curves.” And so on.
I’m trying to get back to writing stuff other than screenplays. Of course I’ll still be working on scripts, but I think it’ll be nice to stick with some traditional writing as well.
With that, I’ll leave you before I get too profound and deep. I know too much of that tends to get irritating.
Meanwhile, Johnny Depp has appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair, I think the first magazine cover he’s done in a while that isn’t a “Public Enemies” still, and there’s also that clip of “Public Enemies” from the MTV Movie Awards yesterday. First interview he’s done in a while too.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AP Human Geography, Charlie, cloud, creepy, directing, fanvideo, filmmaking, haircut, ice cream, movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, razor, subservient wife, Sweeney Todd
When they take that murderous kiss out of context it seems romantic. Almost had me for a second there. PotC? Why, yes.
Today after church service I had a talk with one of the people who is also interested in directing. Of course, she’s way ahead of me in experience, but it was nice because she asked me about the “Angry Asian Man” script, and if I have time this summer she expressed, basically, that she’d help out with filming.
Oh my gosh huzzah.
AP Human is this Friday. Am I nervous? I should be more nervous than I am, if I’m here blogging instead of studying like mad.
Today I was taken by my mom to cut our hair, and I got a manhaircutter. His name was Charlie, already a hint as to disappointment, as it conjured up images of mini-cow-face-who-can’t-do-an-American-accent, “Candy Mountain Charlie,” and “Charlie bit me!”.
After he was done washing my hair, instead of notifying me that I should sit up now, he pulled on the towel around my neck. I felt like a cow on a yoke – the best feeling in the world.
And then he proceded to not speak to me, only yanking my head around. I have to admit though, when he pulled the switchblade razor out (even though it was more for layering hair) I felt a bit of a kklfjkl;wjwklueklthwkltj SHREENEY TODD moment. Otherwise, I averted my eyes and kept my head down.
And I can finally say I know what it feels like when someone else caresses your face. Creepy, even if he was just trying to reach across to cut the other side of my hair.
So now on the back of my neck there is a patch of what happens to your eyelide when you don’t pluck your eyebrows for a week.
Also, today I had the best ice cream ever. It was like eating cloud.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cinema, directing, director, Ed Wood, Epiphany, film, happiness, Jean Valjean, life, movie, movies, passion, Pirates of the Caribbean, STAR testing, underwear, Who Am I?
It’s the second day of STAR testing, which I’m not complaining about. Being confined to one’s French classroom to finish fifteen minutes worth of work in an hour, one gets a generous amount of thinking time. Maybe it’s only me, though, because every time I look around it’s like a battlefield. Everyone’s sprawled all over their desks, and there’s a bit of snoring going on behind me.
I have a problem with falling asleep in public, however, so I stay awake, thinking about scripts I’m working on. Occasionally I venture into that cheesy territory of Jean Valjean’s: who am I? For me, the best way to answer this questions is by imagining I’m being interviewed.
That sounded way more epic in my head.
This job shadowing experience, while not over, has taught me a lot about the film industry, as much as I hate to admit it. I thought I knew enough, but it turns out that I didn’t. And thank god I haven’t encountered anything that would make me shun filmmaking forever.
As of now, I’m going to say directing is for me. The acting bug is shrinking, although I fully expect its return full-force next year when I take Theater Lab. Could it be more obvious when, instead of watching interviews with actors, I watch interviews with directors? And when Johnny Depp’s explanation of his character from “The Astronaut’s Wife” doesn’t move me as much as Martin Scorsese talking about the balletic movements in “The Tales of Hoffman”.
Do I sound overly pretentious today? Blame it on the English Language Arts section of the STAR test, the reading passages of which I must not be outdone by. There I go again,with the lengthy sentences.
I’m so in love with movies right now – they are as epic as PotC 3. I really appreciate every single director out there…even if their movie is crap, they’ve got passion for it and ideas that just…didn’t translate to the audience. Which is not good, but I admire their passion. Yes, I did just watch part one of Ed Wood, how did you guess?
Whell. This half-baked post can’t be as bad as that highlighter-yellow underwear Miya and Nobu bought me…which will never see the light of day.
One last question. These epiphanies, do you ever reach a certain age where they stop appearing?
Filed under: gift guides | Tags: Chiranjeevi, collector's set, evite, fredflare, free spirit, from abba to zoom, gift cards, gift guide, hair, hitler: the commander, India, James bond, love, madonna, movie, organic bike tote, pop culture, Rainbow Brite, scandalous, Sushi, sweet sixteen, t-shirt, The Soup, who's that girl
In honor of receiving Mr. and Mrs. R.’s evite to their daughter Sushi’s Sweet Sixteen at the Rupee Room, here is the list of presents I would give Sushi if I were rich. As it is, she will be receiving a tastefully chosen book from Borders bought with part of the $50 worth of gift cards my friends all decided to give me at Christmas. Karma is a chienne.
1. Organic Bike Tote. An organic tote bag, with a bike on it. Also, the words “free spirit”, which describe Sushi perfectly. All her loves in one present, huzzah!
fredflare, $24
2. Madonna Who’s That Girl tee. Didn’t we say that Sushi has curls like Madonna’s? And couldn’t Sushi be Madonna, with her “innocence”? And isn’t “Who’s That Girl” synonymous to “Who’s that on the street?”
fredflare, on sale: $19.99
3. James Bond Limited Edition Ultimate Collector’s Set. So that Sushi can wallow over what she lost, rather, threw away, and hopefully realize that she should get him back. And maybe, if he returns, he’ll realize that it’s not a box of love letters from Chiranjeevi, but a shrine to him. And they’ll get back together.
amazon uk, 399.99 pounds
4. “Hitler: The Commander”. What could be better than seeing her former love Chiranjeevi portray her even formerer love in a great movie from her homeland?
amazon, $71.43
5. From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century . Because god knows she needs it.
amazon, $12.89
If you didn’t get anything I just said, it’s okay. Just enjoy the pretty pictures.
Thanks for the evite, Mr. and Mrs. R. I’m abbreviating your names because I know you wouldn’t appreciate me putting your identity online, and because I know my readers wouldn’t appreciate trying to pronounce it.
Sushi thinks those pictures are not online…teehee.
Although, your evite had this huge gaping hole in the middle and I stared at it for fifteen minutes waiting for a picture to load. Also, where the heck is the Rupee Room? Sounds like there’s a mystical journey awaiting me. I’d better take some star sprinkles.
Ride Starlight, ride!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 21 Jump Street, 80's, acting, actor, Arizona Dream, brain, chocolate, Dustin Nguyen, facial hair, Holly Robinson Peet, homework, John Dillinger, Johnny Depp, Jonathan Glazer, karma, kung fu commercial, love, Marion Cotillard, movie, Numb3rs, Private Resort, Public Enemies, Puerto Rico, readers, Rob Morrow, shirtless, spring break, The Rum Diaries, tommy-gun, trailer, Tu Morrow
Lately the girl-who-always-has-the-latest-stuff-of-Johnny-Depp has been bombarding my youtube homepage with “Johnny on set of Rum Diaries!” and “Johnny shirtless in Puerto Rico!”. Just last summer, this would have been the happiest time of my life, but I’m a bit irritated.
Or I was, until I saw that the 2nd trailer for “Public Enemies” had just come out. And it is more soap opera-y than the first. The first trailer was all about the action. It yelled, “Oh my gosh! It’s Johnny Depp with a tommy gun! Look how awesome he is!”
And in the middle, he suddenly grew facial hair, and I knew what a good actor he was.
This new trailer makes it seem like everything John Dillinger did was for love. We’ll have to wait to see which perspective the movie will come from. Seriously, check it out. Beside the Johnny Depp thing, this movie seems like it’ll be really good. Okay…it is the Johnny Depp thing, but someone should come watch it with me. Any movie buddies?
I’d just like to point out how awesome it is that Johnny Depp doesn’t respond to his own name when he’s in character. This is probably something that’s simple for actors, but I would imagine that if I played a character called “Grapes” it would be disconcerting. In fact, when I hear the real-life counterpart to Grapes mentioned in school I already get a jolt. It’s unreal to me. Anyway, in “Arizona Dream” Axel’s buddy Paul is like, “You think anyone f*cking touches Johnny Depp’s face?” and Johnny is sitting two rows behind, not a twitch on his face. And in “Public Enemies”, Marion Cotillard is like, “Johnny!” and again, no twitch. If there is a twitch, it is well hidden by the shadowy shots.
I just found out that uglycooldude from Numb3rs, Don, was in “Private Resort” with Johnny Depp in the 80’s. One of the few Johnny Depp movies I had no interest in during my obsession, where they go to a hotel and try to scandalize women.
Sad how he ends up on “Numb3rs” and Johnny Depp ends up in PotC. Well, who’s the one that named their daughter Tu Morrow? Karma is a chienne.
Same with the guys from “21 Jump Street”. Occasionally I see Holly Robinson Peet in the Colgate commercial, and the other day -
Oh my. I forgot to tell you – at my last job shadow the guy showed me some commercials by his favorite director, and I swear the kungfu guy was Dustin Nguyen. I know I should have been paying attention to the shots and the art direction and whatnot, but I spent the time staring at the guy’s face trying to figure out if it was him or not.
Oh goodness. A quick google search reveals that yes, it is him. Huzzah.
Spring break is the last great vacation of the school year. At the end of this fleeting week, my brain’s going to have the mental capacity of my thigh – only enough to make music with my fat if commanded to do so.
I’m going to be spending it doing homework.
And will the readers of this blog please raise their hands? Or, just comment. My stats are going through the roof (I exaggerate and flatter myself) and I wonder if it’s just hit-and-misses. Does anyone besides Miya read this somewhat regularly…
Wow if no one comments it will be sad. I may be forced to comment anonymously so this doesn’t become a tragedy.
PS. Unwrapping chocolate eggs without tearing the wrapper makes me happy. And chocolate looks sweaty.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: devil, DVD, filmography, frolic, Johnny Depp, Knott's Berry Farm, ladybugs, Miya, movie, PE, Robert Pattinson, Sushi, the ninth gate
“Graaaapes,” she says sweetly, “I saw a Johnny Depp movie today at the piano teacher’s house.”
Immediately, I light up. Unable to contain my grin, I say, “Which one?”
“The Ninth Gate.”
What blasphemy is this?! Why does this movie keep popping up everywhere? After I had listed Johnny Depp’s entire filmography during homeroom, Miya and I figured out that the DVD on her grandma’s shelves was indeed, “The Ninth Gate”.
It’s calling to me or something.
Maybe I should watch it. Even though I already know that Johnny Depp has scandalous with the devil. Oops. Enjoy the movie anyway!
Comps are this week, and I cannot wait to be roller coaster buddies with Sushi at Knott’s.
Did I mention that PE is the best, because I get to frolick? And not like, la dee dah dee dum frolicking. Real frolicking. The kind you shouldn’t do because you sprained your toe the night before. The one where you could potentially land wrong when you come down from that giant airy leap you took with an exquisitely off-tune laaaaaaaaaaa.
Hiding in bushes is fun too, I guess. But not as fun as frolicking.
Also, Miya set a herd of ladybugs on me. Never again. Well, okay…maybe once more.
I also took a quiz on seventeen.com and apparently Robert Pattinson and I are meant to be…I just know myself so well, don’t I? But one can’t marry oneself.
