Grace Hopper was also a funny lady

Last week there was a lot of tweeting, e-mailing, and Facebooking (is that a verb?) about the Grace Hopper interview on Letterman back in the 80s. Apparently the video has been on YouTube for years, but it seems that at least a large number of us were unaware of it. She is quite the funny lady, and even brought a nanosecond to give Letterman. If you don't understand what that means, please watch the clip to hear the explanation straight from Grace Hopper! Since she is the namesake of the conference starting today, it seems only fitting to share the video with anyone who hasn't had the chance to watch it yet. Enjoy, and see you at the conference!

Buffy vs. Edward

Earlier this week my housemate sent me a link to a video created to depict Buffy (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) beating up Edward (the vampire from book/movie Twilight). The point of the video was basically to show that yes, Edward is a creep, and yes, Buffy could totally take him.

Buffy Summers takes down Edward Cullen

Since I've written before about enjoying Twilight, and vampire stories in general, it seemed appropriate to also share this link. If you know anything about these stories, you will hopefully find great amusement in the video! Also, as you may notice in the credits, something from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was used; see if you can find it, it's only a very short clip, but if you think about it, it becomes very obvious!

Guitar Hero World Tour!

Last month was Tim's birthday, so some friends and I got together to buy him Guitar Hero World Tour with the complete band. We had a huge debate about Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero, and in the end Guitar Hero won out.

Since then, we've played many times. Recently we bought 2 more Wii controllers (we only had 2) and a second guitar so that we could have 4 people playing at once! Our first Guitar Hero "party" was a big success, and we plan to have more. Since our living room is small, we can't have very many people over at a time, but we'd like to have everyone over eventually who helped buy the game for him. Between that and Killer Bunnies, we have lots of weekend activities and not enough time to do them!

I've become a big fan of the drum set. I didn't realize that it came to me more naturally than others until we had our Guitar Hero party and multiple people had problems with the basic drum beat. I've never played drum before (although I've always thought it would be "cool"), but I've been involved enough in music that I can easily keep a beat. It's a lot of fun to learn how to control your hands independently so you can hit the 5 different drums/cymbals in many different patterns. I'm nowhere near an expert, but I hope to be able to play all of the songs on Medium difficulty soon on drums!

One of our friends actually plays guitar, and he was a natural at Guitar Hero guitar. He was very quickly playing on Medium difficulty, and had no trouble with songs that Tim and I couldn't play (even though we'd played Guitar Hero guitar for many hours on Medium before then)! So it seems that musical experience can definitely help in this game.

Overall though, it was a great investment. If you can find a way to afford the $200 for this game, you should definitely get it. We use it to wind down in the evening, or take a break from work on the weekends. It's great for multi player or single player, and it feels great to see yourself getting better! Although music experience may give you an edge, you don't need it to play. You don't even need to be able to keep a beat to start playing this game, although the drums may be the hardest instrument for you. I can't see us getting sick of it anytime soon though!

Mists of Avalon - the movie

A few weeks ago I watched the made for TV movie Mists of Avalon. If you haven't read the book, you will most likely enjoy the movie. It tells a compelling story, has decent acting, and is interesting throughout.

However, it tells a different story than the book. If you really enjoyed the book, I would recommend skipping the movie. I was frustrated throughout on how they warped characters, warped storylines, and warped overarching points the author was making with her characters and plot lines. I think if I had watched this movie without reading the book I would have really enjoyed it and found it interesting. But after reading the book it was quite unpleasant and almost upsetting to watch. They completely missed the point!

If you want to watch this movie AND read the book, I recommend reading the book, waiting about 5 years (unless you have a really good memory about books), and then watching the movie.

Mists of Avalon - a must read!

Two Saturdays ago I finally finished the book Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It took me about two years to read (with at least 5 other books started and finished during that time), but was well worth it! The characters are very deep, the storyline is very compelling, and the writing is fabulous.

For those who haven't read it, the book is essentially the King Arthur legend told from the perspective of the women. There are multiple perspectives given for any given period of time, and those perspectives are often from opposite sides of the spectrum. It is a great new way to look at the legend, and is very interesting in how the events intertwine with the social forces that are at work today.

I truly believe that everyone should read this book, as it is enlightening in many ways, but I especially believe that all women should read this book. It is very touching, and actually a bit empowering as you are reminded that women really can accomplish great things even when the social norms may not allow it.

Now of course I want to see the movie (The Mists of Avalon), although I doubt it will be as good as the book. How will it deal with the internal musings that encompass most of the writing?? And how will is condense almost 900 pages into a few short hours? Should be interesting.

I've also just discovered that there are two more books whose storylines occur before Mists of Avalon: Lady of Avalon, and The Forest House (Avalon, Book 2). Despite the fact that I have many other books to read, I may have to pick these up at some point as well. There are also a number of books written by a different author that relate to this series of books.

Since it's been over a week since I finished it and I am still gushing about how wonderful it was, I think it is fair to say that this is one of my new favorites!

Twilight is my favorite time...

Actually, Twilight is the title of one of my new favorite books! It's a YA novel by Stephanie Meyer that is being released as a movie this November. A friend of mine (the one I wrote about working on her MFA to write YA literature) has been gushing about this series for years, so this summer I bought the book and this past weekend I finally read it! It's an easy read (the vocabulary is accessible for 13 year olds, after all) and some parts are obviously meant to relate to people in their teen years, but it still drew me in quite easily.

There are two reasons I enjoyed this book so much: the characters, and the world definition. Edward is still on my mind this evening, he is so eloquent, knowledgeable, and fascinating. Bella is very entertaining, and actually a teenager I can somewhat relate to if I draw on the memories of my own teenage years. Both of those characters are incredibly intriguing, as are all of Edward's family. I LOVE the interactions that happen in this book among them all.

The world is one of my favorite types: everything occurs in our own world, but the twist is the definition of vampires and other "monsters" that exist. She redefines what it means to be a vampire, and how they interact with the human population. Of course, the sheer fact that there are vampires in the book immediately appealed to me; it's like a lighter version of Ann Rice, whose books I enjoyed when I actually was a teenager. It also reminds me of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that I've recently started watching in my "free time" (I never watched it when it was actually on TV).

I read 40% or so of it Friday night, and the rest Saturday night. Granted, we grad students have tons of work to do, so even though I stayed up really late I didn't sleep in much. But it was very worth it to finally read for fun again. I haven't read for fun in at least a month, and I haven't finished a book I was reading for fun in about a year (unless you count the audio books I listen to each time I have to drive down to VA and back). And of course the last time I finished a book that quickly was the first time I read the last Harry Potter book.

I hope to continue reading for an hour or so in the evenings this semester, not that I really have the time. I started Mists of Avalon so long ago I can't even remember the month or year, and it would be great to be able to give it back to my sister at some point. That's definitely another book I love, for similar reasons (more about that if I ever finish it!).

Then I'll definitely move on to the other 3 books in the Twilight series...

Pandora -- A way to Happiness

I know that for many people Pandora is old news. I've always thought it was a neat idea, but for some reason I only recently started using it regularly. Now that I use it, I think it's great!

For those that don't know, it's an internet radio website that will create a station for you based on your preferences. The people who run the website listen to music and characterize it (supposedly by "400 distinct characteristics"), and those characteristics are used to determine what music you might like based on what songs you've marked as "good" in the past. This is done from radio station to radio station, so you can mark that you don't like a song for a specific station you've created, but it could still show up on a different station.

One of the reasons I love Pandora is that I can create a station based on a single song I love, and then it'll play other songs it thinks are similar. If I don't think the song is good, I mark is negatively, and it readjusts. Since my music tastes are very varied, this is a great way to find new artists I like with little effort. I've already bought a few songs from iTunes that I found on Pandora! Not to mention that I've discovered the names and artists of songs I've heard before and liked, but never could have easily found.

The only downside is that they only have but so much music. There have been a few songs I really wanted to use as the seed to create a station that they didn't have. There is also a newer band I love that I wanted to use as a seed to see what other artists are similar to them, but they didn't have them either. However, all of the other stations have been great, I was even able to make one based on a song by a Japanese artist!

If you've never tried Pandora, you should check it out. If you already use it, please share your username so that we can share stations! I'd love to see what types of stations you guys are making (what few of you there are). You can see my Pandora profile here, my username is vtmegan.

Happy Listening!

Goodbye, Olympics!

I'm so sad to see the Olympics end; I really enjoyed watching so many sports! Fortunately I had the mental strength to avoid watching all day long and mainly watched prime time coverage (except for watching fencing online, indoor volleyball during the day, and some other online clips)! If you didn't see the Opening Ceremony, you must find a copy of it somewhere! It was gorgeous, much as one would expect from Zhang Yimou, who directed both the opening and closing ceremonies. I love his movies for their artistic elements, so seeing his creative genius in a live performance was fantastic (I wish I had been there!).

The Closing Ceremony was equally pretty, but obviously not as elaborate as it was shorter. I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the British part of the closing ceremony though. It wasn't as pleasant to watch or hear, although I think that may partially be due to the television feed. I thought the hand-off to the Brits was done in an interesting way, but the level of artistry seemed much lower than we've seen in the rest of the Beijing performances. I hope that London has a more artsy opening/closing ceremony in 2012 than it appears they will; I won't bother to watch if it's just music celebrities performing.

The good thing about the Olympics ending is now I can be a better grad student and spend more time doing work! I was definitely not the only one here who spent extra time in front of the TV (even some of my grad student housemates that rarely if ever watch TV watched much of the Olympics), but that doesn't help the work get finished. To my credit though, I did do some mindless research-related tasks while watching some of the primetime coverage!

Well, good job athletes, I look forward to seeing you on TV again in 4 years!

Dr. Horrible, fencing champion!

Have you seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog? If not, you really must! You can watch it for free at that website, or you can download it from iTunes for $5. It's a show created during the writer's strike as an alternative to using the big name studios, and has only been released on the internet. The main character is played by Neil Patrick Harris, with other major characters played by Felicia Day and Nathan Fillion.

The plot revolves around Dr. Horrible's attempt to join the Evil League of Evil, his love for Penny, and his nemesis Captain Hammer. Much of the plot occurs via song, as it is indeed a musical. Very entertaining!

So why do I call him a fencing champion in my title? Well, I swear that his outfit looks much like fencing gear! For the first few minutes of the show you only see the top half of him, and his jacket looks almost identical to a fencing jacket. Similar material, similar fastening, and similar fit. Once you see a full length shot you can tell that it's a much longer jacket than would be worn in fencing, but it seems vaguely inspired by it. His gloves however, are definitely fencing gloves. They look exactly like a very commonly used brand of glove (similar to ones seen here, with a blue "grippy" material on the hand. I hear many people have been trying to replicate the costume; use fencing gear! The gloves especially are quite cheap, the jacket not so much....but if you're like me and have it lying around under your bed, it could be a good use for it!

Olympics are almost here!!!

I'm so excited about the Olympics!! I love playing sports, watching sports, and wishing I was to that level in sports! This year they are showing TONS of events online, so even if your favorite sport isn't shown on TV you can still watch!

This momentous change is great for me, as my favorite sport is fencing. I fenced in college, and ever since have been frustrated with how little we see on TV. During the last Olympics they did at least show the semifinal and final rounds in sabre (which was my weapon), which is better than nothing. This year it appears that is all they are showing as well, but at least now I can watch more of it online anyway!

Of course, the bummer is that I'm out of town during the sabre final, which will be shown at 2AM! What horrible luck. Last time I believe it was at least shown at a decent time (although then it wasn't live). I wonder if my friends will want to stay up until 2AM to watch fencing on TV? Somehow I doubt it.

But still, I'm excited. I suspect I will be able to find the events online somewhere after they happen, even if it's not via the NBC website. I noticed via Windows Media Center that they will have channels that allow you to watch Olympic events after they have happened (so not live). I don't how much it costs (or if it costs) to subscribe to that, but it may end up being worth it. I don't understand how other people can not care about the Olympics at all, I'm already giddy with excitement and it's still a week away!

Another big problem is the Olympic opening is during a concert I was planning to attend. I think I might still go to the concert, but it's actually a hard decision!

Jane Austen -- finally I understand the hype!

I've been hearing for years how much everyone loves Jane Austen's books, but I had never read them. Now, I have still not read them, but I have finally watched three related movies: Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and Becoming Jane.

I absolutely loved these movies, although I loved Becoming Jane the least. Since that movie is about a fictional version of her life, I guess it shows that she was better at creating good stories than the writers for her pseudo-biography. For Sense & Sensibility though, I watched it twice in 2 days, which is something I very rarely do with movies. I would have happily done the same with Pride & Prejudice if I had the time when I rented it.

These movies really entertain me because they are not only interesting, but they also create a tangled mess of relationships that is slowly sorted out by the end. Of course I had my suspicions on how everyone would end up, but I could not have guessed the paths that would lead them there. The characters were extremely engaging, most likely due to how different they were from each other (both female and male characters). There were also strong female characters, who always keep me engaged. As far as movies based on love lives of a group of people go, these are much deeper than most newer movies.

If you haven't seen these movies, I definitely recommend that you at least see Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility. After you have watched them, if you are hungry for the same type of movie, then by all means watch Becoming Jane, but don't expect as intertwined of a plot as exists with the other two.

Movie: Sex and the City

Last week I went with a few female friends to see the Sex and the City movie. I was never a big fan of the show, mostly because I have never had HBO, although one of Tim's housemates used to watch it regularly so I watched a few episodes with him the last few years. Thanks to that I at least knew the characters and what the show is about.

One of the people I went to the movie with was an avid fan of the show when it was on originally, so she explained much of the backstory after the movie. However, I was never lost throughout the entire movie and actually enjoyed it! Although knowing the backstory made the movie a little more rich in plot, I think it stands fine by itself. Granted, it was not one of the best movies I have ever seen, but it was not the worst either. It was entertaining despite some cliche lines and the obsession with certain clothing brands, especially as it really hit home on the fact that strong independent women sometimes do want what less career driven women desire as well (such as marriage, a nice wedding, etc).

One of my favorite aspects of the movie is that the personal assistant Louise the main character hires halfway through is an African-American female Computer Scientist (played by Jennifer Hudson)!! Not only is she portrayed as smart (she fixes the main character's website, is able to organize her life, and gets the main character back on her feet), but she is also beautiful, and interested in "girly" things like fashion. With so few women and African American computer scientists, I hope that this character helps to subconsciously remind girls and women that they too can succeed in our field. Too bad she wasn't doing something stronger computer-wise (websites can be fairly basic when compared to other types of computer work). It's also sad that she was one of the few non-white characters in the entire movie, but I suppose that is something for someone else to write about.

Overall, it was entertaining and fun to watch, even if it was a weakly done chic flick.

A new writer to keep in mind

A friend of mine from undergraduate is about to finish her MFA degree (Masters of Fine Arts) in children's literature. I've had the pleasure to "beta-read" what is likely to be her first young adult fiction book, which is also part of her Masters thesis. The current title of the book is Arion, and I have to say that it is absolutely fabulous. This book is in the fantasy genre, so she has created her own world in addition to her own characters, plot, etc. It's so amazing reading a book that is so well done when I personally know the author!

I would love to share a link with you, but she is still in progress on making her website. However, I can tell you that her name is Kathleen Foucart, and as soon as she has a published book I will be posting again to let you know! She is definitely going to be a great writer if you can appreciate YA books, and I'm not just saying that because I know her!

The story of my life!

I love XKCD, and this is another comic that demonstrates why: it's so true! I was a member of a marching band from 8th grade through my junior year of COLLEGE, and after marching to the beat that long it's really hard not to do it in daily life. Occasionally when I'm in stores I have to force myself not to walk to the music's tempo. Yes, that sounds sad, but is it really horrible to be aware of time signatures??? Personally, I think I get much more enjoyment out of music from being able to find the beat, tempo, and harmony.

Granted, the comic may be an exaggeration (well yea, it's a comic!) but it really can jolt you when something weird like that happens. There's got to be at least one former band nerd reading this that agrees, right??

Funny on many levels

One of the online comics that I love to read is PhD Comics. I love this comic strip both because it applies to my life as a graduate student, and because it's just plain funny.

The comic from yesterday is titled It's 3AM, and it something you should read. No, it has nothing to do with the Matchbox 20 song. If you are a graduate student or in a job where your boss would expect you to be working basically 24/7, you should be able to relate to this comic. For those who don't follow the comic already: the first character is a graduate student, the second character is that student's advisor.

This comic is also funny for an entirely different reason though, which everyone in the USA should be able to relate to: it's mocking/mimicking/inspired by an ad supporting Hillary Clinton. I have absolutely nothing against Hillary Clinton, but her campaign ad that is very similar to this comic strip is a little strange. It was even featured on Daily Show last night on Comedy Central, so I'm not the only one that finds it amusing.

It's so rare that a comic about graduate student life is highly related to the rest of the real world, that I couldn't resist pointing it out to my few readers.

Juno

Last night a group of grad students went to see Juno at the local theater. We were the last people in line to get tickets! It's been a long time since I've been to a sold out show. We weren't expecting as many people there to watch it since it's been showing for weeks, but I suppose if only the independent theater is showing it then there haven't been that many showings since it came out (they only have 1 larger theater, and 2 really small theaters).

The movie was fabulous, and you should all see it (the trailer is here). It is a comedy/drama about a 16 year old girl that has sex one time with her "best friend" and then gets pregnant. She then struggles with what that means and what to do, finding a family to adopt the child. Both Juno and her baby's father are also struggling to understand how they feel about each other. Juno's parents were refreshingly understanding about her pregnancy, even though they were still upset with her.

The music and style of the movie was perfect, as it continued to reiterate the fact that she is still a child "trying to cope with things way beyond [her] maturity level" (as said by Juno). I think a lot of teenagers need reminding of that fact, even though Juno is well aware of it. She was quite juvenile, but no more so than many people that age. There were stereotypes galore, all of which were hilarious. Juno gave many great lines, as did many of the other characters as well.

Although the movie was very funny, there were also touching parts. I think I lost a few tears on a few different occasions (although some were due to uncontrollable laughter). It was a glorious combination of the two genres though, and easily lived up to my (already high) expectations. The acting overall was great as well, and I was especially pleased to see Allison Janney (from West Wing!) playing the role of Juno's stepmother.

Now that I've rambled on, I encourage you to watch this movie! It's entertaining, thought provoking, and filled with witty lines as well as plain old humor. Very much worth the time! One of my favorite movies from the past year.

Tatebanko paper diorama

One of the presents Tim gave me for Christmas was a pair of Tatebanko sets. These are paper dioramas inspired by the Japanese art of the same name, apparently popular from the 17th to 20th centuries. The company that makes them can be found here, although he apparently ordered them from a store in Brooklyn, NY.



It's hard to tell in the picture, but there are many layers from the front to the back, giving a 3D effect. They are fun to put together, even though some of the cutting can be slightly tedious. In the packet you receive multiple sheets of paper (poster board strength) that have shapes drawn on them. You cut on specific lines to create the different pieces for your picture. Each piece is numbered, and can then be glued to the matching number on the base. There are side pieces, a back, and a top that all need to be glued on as well. We assembled the first one together, with the result in the above picture. It was a fun craft, and since there are many pieces that need to be cut apart, folded, and glued it was a great one to do as a team. Hopefully we will do the other one soon as well.

This is definitely a craft that anyone with a little patience can enjoy (but a great deal is not require). You only provide your own scissors and school glue. A steady hand is also useful, although my hand was shaking as I glued pieces together and it still turned out fine. The final product is approximately 7" x 5" x 3.5".

Lars and the Real Girl

Last night we saw Lars and the Real Girl. I hadn't heard about it until the day before, and the preview only made it look marginally interesting. However, this movie was absolutely hilarious. The whole theater was cracking up during much of it. Other parts were sad, touching, and otherwise dramatic. It was definitely worth seeing though. The story is fantastic, and isn't similar to any other movies that I remember. The acting is phenomenal, I really loved the reactions that all of the characters had to the girlfriend throughout the movie.

This movie is basically about a man who has been lonely and very introverted. He orders a full size love doll and then talks to it as if its alive, treating it as if it's his girlfriend. He really seems to believe she's alive, and it's very interesting to see the progression of his delusion as well as the townspeople's opinions.

If you like funny movies, romances, or especially a combination of the two, you absolutely have to see this movie. It's one of the best movie comedies I've seen for quite some time.

Paprika

On Sunday I saw Paprika at a local theater. I hadn't even heard of it before a friend asked me if I wanted to go, but I knew it was meant to be once I read the cinema's description: "In this psychedelic sci-fi adventure anime, it will take the skills of Dr. Atsuko Chiba -- a genius scientist by day, and a brawling dream warrior named Paprika by night -- to save the world when a machine that allows therapists to enter their patient's dreams is stolen."

The beginning was a little odd, but it definitely turned out to be the perfect place to start. The characters were all interesting and relatively deep for a few hours of animated film. There were great twists, wonderful artwork, and fun surprises. I really feel like it was anime at its finest, telling a compelling story that would have been much harder to accomplish in live action. One of my housemates has since been searching for the other 3 films that the director has made (all of which are advertised in Paprika), and I believe he's found at least one. I will definitely have to make time to watch it.

Hairspray - A Fun Movie

I saw Hairspray a little over a week ago with my officemate, and we were cracking up almost the entire movie. Although there are a few parts that are definite social commentary from the era, overall the movie is very funny. There are great one liners such as "Oh, so you've met my mom," but you'll have to watch the movie to find out why that's so funny.

I never saw it on Broadway (although I wanted to!), so I can't make a comparison. But overall it was highly entertaining and I walked away feeling energized and wanting to dance good 'ol dance like the lawn mower, the shopping cart, and the sprinkler. Which of course reminds me of all the fun half-time shows we did in college with those dance moves in the middle. That's how you get Lane Stadium energized!

But back on track...you should see the movie. Even if you are one of those silly people that don't like musicals, you will be entertained. Many of the singing parts are funny just because of the context when they burst into song. I don't know that I'd watch it again and again, but if you want a fun-loving movie this is the one for you.