The Day of the Triffids

I want to write a movie script.

These are quotes from The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham:



"You know, one of the most shocking things about it is to realize how easily we have lost a world that seemed so safe and certain."

She was quite right. It was that simplicity that seemed somehow to be the nucleus of the shock. From very familiairity one forgets all the forces which keep the balance, and thinks of security as normal. It is not. I don't think it had ever before occurred to me that man's supremacy is not primarily due to his brain, as most of the books would have one think. It is due to the brain's capacity to make use of the information conveyed to it by a narrow band of visible light rays. His civilization, all that he had achieved or might achieve, hung upon his ability to perceive that range of vibrations from red to violet. Without that, he was lost. I saw for a moment the true tenuousness of his hold on his power, the miracles that he had wrought with such a fragile instrument...

---

Until then I had always thought of loneliness as something negative-- an absence of company, and, of course, something temporary.... That day I had learned that it was much more. It was something which could press and oppress, could distort the ordinary and play tricks with the mind. Something which lurked inimically all around, stretching the nerves and twanging them with alarms, never letting one forget that there was no one to help, no one to care. It showed one as an atom adrift in vastness, and it waited all the time its chance to frighten and frighten horribly-- that was what loneliness was really trying to do; and that was what one must never let it do....

Attentionwhoreism

I suffer from attentionwhoreism (definition two).

"The act of trying to receive as much attention as possible via egotistical means." An attention whore is defined as follows: "A person or animal who won't leave you alone and comes up to you when you are trying to work."

Wait, wrong definition.

Okay, basically, I am just needy for attention. I don't really act out in comparison to most attention whores, but I certainly do enjoy being in the center of everyone's attention. I get it from being in Drama classes, I guess.

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about how much I need attention lately.

I've got this ex. I don't like her at all. I would be perfectly fine if I never spoke to her or saw her again in my life. But she sent me a message and I had to reply. And I want to keep getting replies from her after I answer hers. And she hasn't sent a reply in a few days. And it's making me crazy.

And then there's that other girl who has a crush on me (that sounds so juvenile). Well, she did. For a long time. And I couldn't tell if I returned the feelings or if I was just friends with her. I realize now that I was just friends with her (but relationships are very complicated when they start out as friendships, especially girl/girl relationships). But then tonight she blogged something about she felt something for so long and then all of a sudden it wasn't there anymore. And it bummed me out. Because I really want that attention.

I'm also a bit of a drama queen. I'm definitely an "overly dramatic person." That's probably a good reason why I'm blogging about this in the first place.

So if you've learned anything from this post, it's that UrbanDictionary.com is an amazing site.

Also, I finished reading The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham today. It was wonderful. Even better than the book on tape. Reading things is so much better than hearing them or watching them in a film. It was quite scary, though... I think everyone should read it. It's a classic!

Amazon.com

WHAT is the deal with Amazon.com right now?

Okay, normally I have absolutely no problem with having anything I order delivered as soon as it becomes available. I completely understand that sometimes things aren't in stock and it takes a while to receive them, and then a while longer to ship them out to the people who have paid for them.

Does that mean I should still be waiting on a DVD six months later? I think not.

I ordered Disco Pigs on 25 September 2006. Today is 25 March 2007. I still haven't received it. Amazon.com says that my [new! again!] delivery date for said DVD is between 21 March and 06 April.

Should I e-mail them and let them know that I've been waiting on this particular item for six months? Maybe. Lindsey says I should wait until 06 April and if I still haven't received it to e-mail them then.

I fancy myself at least marginally patient, but goddammit, if you're going to make me wait for seventeen years to get a lousy (I'm sure it's not lousy, but you know what I mean) DVD, then you'd better be sending me something with it. Like your soul.

I have had much better experiences with Amazon.co.uk. My The Wind That Shakes the Barley script book came just when it was supposed to. It even said it wouldn't arrive before Christmas and it did. I've got the Sunshine book on order, too. I hope my satisfaction with Amazon.co.uk remains at 100%. If they screw up it brings it down to 50%. Ouch.

Okay, rant done. I really want to see that film, though...

Sunshine.

I am not a sci-fi fan. I've seen a few sci-fi films, but I don't flock to the nearest cinema to check them out. The only one I own on DVD is Alien vs. Predator, and that's only because it was three bucks at the video store and I needed a fifth one. I haven't seen 2001 or Event Horizon, and I don't remember anything about Alien. I saw Armageddon in 1998, when I was eleven years old, and I just remember being embarrassed at that scene with the animal crackers.

That being said, this film may have turned me into one of the sci-fi fans. If nothing else—if seeing a film that explores more than just "action" on screen isn't your kind of thing—the film is gorgeous. The shots of the sun are some of the most fascinating bits of effects I have ever seen in any sort of film, not only sci-fi. The film is set only fifty years into the future, and therefore the technological aspects of the set are relatable rather than hard to imagine.

The characters are well developed, and the actors are top-notch. Every single performance is phenomenal, and I was even a bit taken aback by how much I enjoyed Chris Evans's portrayal of Mace. Everyone seems to have taken the time to learn about the science and about the psychological factors of being with the same people for so long (most likely due to the fact that Danny Boyle sort of forced them to), and it shows on screen. The characters are all real, and although none of us know what it would be like to be in space and alone for sixteen months, there are aspects of them all that are immediately relatable.

The plot is secondary. That doesn't mean that it isn't well thought or anything like that, but the human drama and psychological journey of the characters is the primary concern in the film, and the fact that they are going to re-ignite the sun is merely the background story that puts them all together in the first place. There are far more triggers that ask the audience to think about their life and the life of mankind and of the universe itself than there are for the audience to question, "Well, how did that just happen?" The film asks us to have a brain and be willing to use it.

Sunshine is a religious experience. It is very personal and is a very unique experience to each member of the audience. It is incredible, awe-inspiring, intense, and one of the most beautiful pieces of film I have ever seen. Danny Boyle, Alex Garland and Andrew Macdonald have done it again. A+.

Sunshine = Obsession

ob·ses·sion /əbˈsɛʃən/ [uhb-sesh-uhn]
–noun
1. the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.

- Dictionary.com


Sunshine.

Dominating my thoughts and feelings? Check.

Review of the film soon.

I just got back from London tonight. I saw two screenings and met several people involved with the film. It was incredible. The film was magnificent. The performances were top-notch and everything about it was wonderful. I'll need to see it a few more times. A few thousand more times, perhaps.

Insomnia

"Insomnia is characterized by an inability to sleep and/or inability to remain asleep for a reasonable period," says Wikipedia. By God, Wikipedia might have a point.

As I read through that Wikipedia article I learned that I am currently suffering from "transient insomnia," which only lasts from about one day to a week, and is commonly caused by jet lag or short-term anxiety. And probably a bit of nerves and/or excitedness, too, am I right? Because I think that's what's going on in my case.

Although-- is it insomnia when I just can't sleep until nearly daybreak, but then I sleep until noon or later? Or is it just a case of my sleep schedule being completely skewed? And how exactly does my schedule mess itself up like this? Probably something about the fact that I stay up until 5am trying to finish editing my latest video instead of going to bed like I should've.

By the way, who ever heard of "fatal familial insomnia"? Apparently it's a disease of the brain and is very rare. NO. WAY! Yes, way! But, I mean, an insomnia that's fatal? That sounds like something out of a bad horror flick. "SLEEP OR DIE" could be the tagline. I'd take one look at it and run screaming. Scary movies are awful. I have nightmares for weeks. Although a tagline like, "SLEEP AND DIE" would scare me a lot more.

Anyway, this isn't really anything substantial, but, hey, I'll bet you learned a little bit about fatal familial insomnia, didn't you?

Hello, new blog.

Well, I guess it is actually a new blog, isn't it? That's nice. I've never had a Blogger blog before, so I'm just learning how to use it. I doubt anyone will read it, and that's okay, but I want to learn how to use all of the cool things on this site because of the whole blog revolution. I don't think I realized exactly how popular they were until recently, so here I am.

My blog is titled "What the heck is moderation?" or something to that effect, and I chose that name because I never really know what moderation is. If I become interested in something, it's damn near obsessive, and if I find something I want to update a blog about, it's usually a pretty passionate update. I don't really have moderate feelings for anything. I generally am very, very passionate about it, or I'm not at all.

Anyway, I'll probably keep all of my personal updates at my GreatestJournal account, but this one will be for "important" things. We'll see how it works out.