A Gift for Ya'll

Yes, I'm going to give you a gift. It is called LibriVox. I stumbled on this site a couple of months ago and have already derived many, many hours of pleasure from it.

It is a site that is making available to audio all the books in the public domain. It is a volunteer effort. If you enjoy having books read to you via your Mp3 player then run to their catalog and download one! Not all the readers are equally gifted, but it is still a great service. I am especially fond of Karen Savage as a reader. She does Pride and Prejudice and the first three of the Anne of Green Gables books. If you see Karen's name you're in for a great reading! I listened to the entirety of The Count of Monte Cristo (117 chapters and 50 hours of audio). I had a hard time with some of the accents of several of the readers intermittently for the first couple dozen chapters but things smoothed out after that.

I love LibriVox and am spreading the love to you.

LibriVox

How to Relax...A Pictorial

First, make sure it is in the middle of the day. You're not truly relaxing unless your slacking off on a perfect summer day.

Next, find that unmade bed. You know the one...the bed you didn't make because you were relaxing earlier in the day.

Stretch out in your favorite position, like this:



Okay. This last part is really important. Ignore the idiot with the camera and calmly close your eyes preparatory to the nice long nap you're going to take:



Oh, yeah. Dat's it. Floating in the zone.

If you did it right you'll look like this an hour later:



These helpful de-stressing tips are brought to you by the Narcissist's Suck mascot, Sherbie. If you're lucky he'll grace you with more helpful tips in the future. Just remember: it's all about the naps. Zen, baby, zen.

P.S. If you click on the pics they will give you a more life-like representation of this 22 pound ambulatory hair-ball.

Something Uplifting

I bought a few new CDs this week. Two of them are of Libera, a boy's choir from London. "Angel Voices" and "Free". I listened to "Angel Voices" on Thursday and was completely uplifted and moved. I'm spreading the wealth, so to speak.

Here is a link to YouTube of Libera performing "Sanctus". It is based on Pachelbel's Canon in D. The words of the song are in Latin. These CDs are my current favorites! Believe me, if you haven't heard Libera you haven't heard all that a boy's choir can do. The embedding code is disabled so I can't post the video here on my blog. Just follow this link.

Enjoy!

Anna's List of Fav Butt-Kicking Movies--Buyer Beware

I was asked in the comments of the last post for a list of kick-ass movies as a potential source of self-help therapy for those days you want to see a bad guy get hammered. I'll put a caveat emptor here. Everybody, do your own research on a movie. Imdb.com is a good place to do that. It's your own damn fault if you watch a movie and don't like it. Not mine. So don't complain to me if you end up watching something I recommend and you hate it. I'll try to warn ya on movies I think some may not appreciate as much as I do. I have a few twisted tastes in movies...so I'll try to keep that in mind. I'm making this a post since it is easier to put in links...and I can edit to correct errors if necessary.

It seems that the list of movies I've come up with fall into at least three different categories. (1) is the serious butt-kicking flick where the 'bad guy' gets it good usually after a lot of bullets, bombs and stuff blowing up. (2) the 'bad guy gets his comeuppance' movies which usually features less action but the bad guy definitely doesn't win in the end. The bad guy may not die, but definitely he loses what he was after. (3) a combination of one of the two themes above with a goodly dose of humor. I'm going to put a "1", "2", and/or "3" depending on what category I think a particular movie falls into. Here we go:

True Lies (1 & 3)
The Incredibles (1 & 3)
Princess Bride (2 & 3)
The Mummy (1 & 3)
The Mummy Returns (1 & 3)
Stardust (2 & 3)
Jesse Stone movies (2)
Ever After (2)
Spiderman 1 and 2 (1 & 3)
Batman Begins(1)
Alien (1)
Aliens (1)
Alien 4 (1 & 3)
Man in the Iron Mask (2)
Count of Monte Cristo (2)
Mask of Zorro (1 & 2)
Speed (1 & 2)
Underworld (1)
Moll Flanders (2)
300 (1)
Bourne Identity and Supremacy (1)
24 TV series (1)

If you don't like violence then you probably shouldn't watch anything with a (1). If you don't like sci-fi with scary monsters then stay away from Alien series of movies. I like all the Alien movies of which there are four. But I think the best ones are the second and the fourth. There was quite a bit of humor in the fourth one, but that doesn't mean there wasn't lots of gross alien stuff and some gore. Joss Whedon helped write the script for the fourth movie and his humor was definitely there. Speaking of Joss Whedon reminds me of the tragedy known as the series "Firefly". That series was canceled after only one season and this is a crime. If you haven't seen the series, if you can conceptualize a sci-fi series with a western type feel to it (gotta see it to appreciate it), if you like very witty and humorous and smart writing and a uniquely told story...then watch the series. Lots and lots of bad guys getting their butts kicked. If you watch the series and LOVE it...which you will...then watch the movie Serenity. The movie wraps up the TV series. It pulls together some of the dangling strings left after the end of the TV series and you'll like it just as much as the series...if you liked the series. Husband just reminded me to tell you that the cast includes a high-class call girl. If this offends you, stay away. My husband is also freaking me out about recommending any of the Alien movies. Especially the fourth one. He agrees with me that, by far, the best of the series is the second one. The fourth one is a really iffy recommendation. The final half hour of the fourth one could be very disturbing for some. I became a fan of the movies after watching the second one back when it came out in 1986. So, in my more 'formative' years I formed a deep attachment to "Ellen Ripley". She kicks alien butt. So, naturally, I enjoy all the movies in the series. Including the fourth with its kinda gross and disturbing final scenes. Please, don't watch it if you are at all delicate in your movie tastes.

Underworld features vampires and werewolves. If you don't like creepy, scary creature effects and can't tolerate some gore then stay away. Not for everybody. The Mummy and The Mummy Returns also has some gross effects and/or scary effects. They are kind of campy movies, but high quality and lots of humor. 300 has a lot of violence, and there are three sensual scenes. You've been warned. There is featured a bigger-than-life narcissist who definitely loses in the end. The King of Persia. "Moll Flanders" is about a prostitute. So, yeah, there are some sensual scenes. There is another version of "Moll Flanders" that follows the book more closely, but it is a downer in the end (like the book). So I like the more Hollywood version where the main character ends well which is the one linked to above. I like happy endings. Who cares about the book. When someone rewrites fiction and makes it better I never complain.

The "24" TV series is not for you if you can't handle an occasional terrorist getting tortured. Jack Bauer is on a very tight schedule and if a terrorist ends up in his hands and Bauer is trying to save the world, well, the terrorist may get a bit roughed up. That totally works for me. Bad guys are very dispensable in my world view. Tough shit evil terrorist.

I only recently discovered the made-for-TV movies with Tom Selleck as the main character "Jesse Stone" based on the novels by Robert B. Parker. The first one is "Stone Cold". Selleck's character is a flawed but good man who has a knack for getting the sneaky bad guys. The movies are beautifully set in Maine. Made for TV but theater quality. There is some sensuality in some of these...but only a little.

There, now that I've told you more about myself than I really like to by my movie recommendations, hope you can find something you like on the list. Remember, butt-kicking movies means there is going to be violence throughout. If you can't handle violence then you aren't really into "butt-kicking" movies. Take responsibility for preserving your own sensibilities. There is no accounting for "taste", as they say, so just cuz you like my blog doesn't mean you'll like all the movies I do.

Speaking of movie tastes...I watched a movie based on a radio talk show host's recommendation last year. This host had recommended movies and TV series before that I have really liked. I watched this particular movie with growing horror. (It is so bad I don't even want to admit I've seen it and therefore am not naming it.) I absolutely, totally and completely hated and reviled the movie! I was shocked and annoyed because I couldn't come up with one redeeming feature of the movie. There was a definite disconnect between this host's tastes and mine on that one. Good grief. It took me about two weeks to not feel annoyed at this host for such a crappy recommendation. This person didn't even warn that some might not like the movie or name any of its objectionable themes. Which is why I'm trying to give you some idea of what the movies are about so you can avoid the ones that might offend you. I feel I'm taking a real risk offending people by recommending movies that I think have some interesting, redeeming or satisfying aspects...cuz you may see it very differently. By the way, it was my own damn fault in the end. I should have done more research instead of going solely by this person's recommendation. I truly was mostly annoyed at myself.

The over-arching and unifying theme of most of these movies is justice. Like many of you, I've seen precious little real justice dished out to the 'bad guys' in my life. That is usually the way of life. So, I like seeing the baddies going down...and going down hard...in movies. It satisfies a part of my mind that dearly desires justice. If not pure justice, then at least the decent folks getting some kind of justice. If not that, then at least escaping the predations of the bad guys. It is very American to want justice...so I'm sure it is a cultural thing too.

Sheesh. I'm getting carried away trying to protect ya'll from my movie opinions. I'll stop now. You're all grown-ups. You'll probably survive my movie picks. Holding my breath and crossing my fingers I'll hit the publish button. eeeeekkkkk!

P.S. If you've seen any of the movies I've listed and loved or hated them, feel free to write your reviews for the benefit of others. Just, please, be kind to your friendly blogger in the process. I feel like I'm putting myself out there and ain't anxious to get my necked chopped at. T'wouldn't be nice since I'm only trying to give the peeps what they've asked fer!!

[Icon is Mal from "Firefly"]

Okay, Just One More Song...

I think ya'll are ready for one more song to rock you the rest of the way through the weekend. I promise to not post another song for awhile, but I really think you're gonna get into this one. It is titled "Fighter". No, I'm not a big Christina Aguilera fan. She has an awesome voice, but a lot of her songs don't do it for me. This one kicks butt. I'm going to post the lyrics on this since you may not catch every word. Every word is worth catching. Direct every word to the narcissist in your life.

Oh, and be sure to crank it up...



Fighter

When I, thought I knew you
Thinking, that you were true
I guess I, I couldn't trust
'Cause your bluff time is up
'Cause I've had enough
You were, there by my side
Always, down for the ride
But your, joy ride just came down in flames
'Cause your greed sold me out of shame, mmhmm

After all of the stealing and cheating
You probably think that I hold resentment for you
But, uh uh, oh no, you're wrong
'Cause if it wasn't for all that you tried to do
I wouldn't know just how capable I am to pull through
So I wanna say thank you

'Cause it makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
It makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
Makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter

Oh, ohh

Never, saw it coming
All of, your backstabbing
Just so, you could cash in
On a good thing before I realized your game
I heard, you're going around
Playing, the victim now
But don't, even begin
Feeling I'm the one to blame
'Cause you dug your own grave, uh huh

After all of the fights and the lies
Yes you wanted to harm me but that won't work anymore
Uh, no more, oh no, it's over
'Cause if it wasn't for all of your torture
I wouldn't know how to be this way now, and never back down
So I wanna say thank you

'Cause it makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
Makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
It makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter

Because I'm in that kind of mood today...

JoDee Messina sold an album the day I heard "My Give a Damn's Busted". It so summed up my mood at that time as I was feeling that way about my sister...and mother.

I'm feeling it today. Probably because of today's earlier post. It is a good feeling. A feeling of finally breaking free of something that had weighed me down for so long. The spunkiness of this song and how it celebrates breaking through the bull shit. Yeah. I'm feelin' it.

So you can feel it too...