Post-Haitus

Hello, all.

Apologies for being less than loquacious as of late. After the aforementioned move into the new house, my new semester started, and I auditioned for (and received a lead role for) a play at my college. I'm painting the set for this show, as well as doing prop design and art direction, along with a full roster of classes. Needless to say, life has been quite hectic and busy lately.

I posted my first vlog here earlier, and since, I have recorded a singing vlog. I am going to try to record another vlog sometime this weeked just to let the people who may or may not) follow me on youtube know why I've been absent.

With that out of the way, Ay dios mio! So much has happened in this past 2 or 3 months! I'll start with saying that my heart goes out to all those affected by the metro rail crash last Monday, and you'll all be in my prayers. Secondly, the world was grieved to lose the King of Pop yesterday. We'll miss your musical genius, MJ. Millions of people are going to remember you for your music, and not for your unfortunate publicity. I almost feel bad for Farrah Fawcett- her death was slightly overshadowed by Jackson's for most.

The sad stuff out of the way, lets talk movies!

First of all- Star Treeeeek!

5 out of 5. Absolutely. I will admit to being a Star Wars nut, and I saw very little of the original Star Trek, but I had geekgasms at the original Star Trek trailers that simply showed the Enterprise. Needless to say, I've been very excited for the movies release, moreso with watching the cast grow on Imdb. I went and saw it as soon as it came out with my Bff, and we absolutely loved it.

The movie has a perfect balance of action and plot with accurate representations of the characters. I was very impressed by Chris Pine's ability to carry the absolute smugness of Kirk with out doing continual Shatner impressions, and Zachary Quinto's Spock stood apart from as well as paid homage to Nemoy's immortal character. I absolutely adored Simon Pegg's Scotty, and I will admit to continually drooling at Karl Urban's Dr. McCoy.

There were a couple story line problems (someone didn't do much research on black holes... and if they needed that small of an amount of the red matter to blow up a planet/ destroy a black hole, why were they hauling such a huge and dangerous amount around the galaxy?) but they didn't even bother me in the big picture. There were many surprising cameos, and I very much hope that there is a sequel in the making.

So, yes. 5 out of 5. If only for Chris Pine indignantly running around in his skivvies and Karl Urban scowling his way through the entire movie. ^_^

Next! Up!

You know its bad when you get choked up at the freaking SHORT at the beginning of the movie. Regardless. Another cinematic masterpiece from Pixar. The story was absolutely and completely touching, and the montage in the beginning of the movie positively took my breath away. As usual, the character design is gorgeous, and Ed Asner's vocal work as Carl Fredricksen is impeccable. Honestly. I have nothing bad to say about this movie. It made me laugh, it made me cry (twice, goddammit) and I left the movie wising I could turn back around and watch it again.

This is why I want to work for Pixar. These people are amazing at creating these beautiful masterpeices. And they love their jobs! Have you seen their offices? Want! I need to mention that I did not get the internship I applied for in the spring, but no matter. I will apply again and again.

So, Up. 5 out of 5. Loved it.

Finally, The Hangover.

Dear God, hysterical. From the very first scene, I was laughing out loud. This movie was great. It had jokes in it for every level of humour. From brash, to smart, to gross, to stupid, whatever type of humour you have, you'll get your moment in this movie. The storyline was clever and moved along quickly and smoothly. Ed Helms (or Andy from The Office) was an absolute riot from his first scene in the movie. Bradley Cooper is, quite surprisingly, in a movie where he doesn't sleep with someones girlfriend/fiancee/wife, and shows some surprising comedy chops. This is the first time I'd seen Zach Galifianakis, and he played such a delightful awkward and odd character that he is certainly the most memorable coming out of the movie.

Full of huge, crazy surprises and many, many laughs, I would absolutely recommend it.

5 out of 5.

Some exciting, completely unrelated news- My birthday is this Tuesday, the 30th. I'm going to Florida! I'm very very ready for doing nothing but lying on the beach an soaking up some sun for a week. I definitely need the vacation. I'm ging to take lots of pictures and hopefully doing some drawing while I'm gone so I'll have plenty of stuff to post when I return.

I'm going to try and get back into a regular posting schedule. I have lots of movie reviews to post, including angels and demons, love n' dancing, and others. Plus, I have an awesome story for when my BFF and I tried to go and see Tally Hall in concert. More to come in the near future though. Stay classy, all!

T

My first Vlog!

So, here's something exciting!

Today I posted my very first video blog on youtube!

Now the editing is quite crappy, I'm still considering re-uploading the vid,but I'm still quite proud of my work.

Check it out!

Sorry for the absence...

Um...

Hi. ^_^

Sorry for disappearing for a month. My family is in the middle of a move at the moment. Good news is that we finally signed the contract, bad news is that we have to finish packing all this crap and actually move it to the other place. Le sigh.

I'm buried in pre-finals homework assignments and studying as well, and just generally losing my mind.

I have, however, whipped up some art pieces, so I'll upload a few of those as well.

On a really awesome note! I applied for an art internship at Pixar studios this summer, so I'm crossing every digit I have in hope to get it.

I've decided, also, that I want to join the video blogging community over on Youtube. I need a webcam, which I'll be ordering here in a few days. I plan to blog about movies, music and art (and very likely lots and lots of Doctor Who). Hopefully I can get my music uploaded there and get my name out atleast a little.

Also, I signed up for a Dailybooth.com account, so you can follow me there at http://dailybooth.com/trit . I'm trying to update as often as possible there. Also, if you don't lready know, I have a twitter, so you can follow me there at twitter.com/toryritter . That one is also updated fairly often because I'm a total twitter nut.

Anyways, I still have movie reviews to post, and art, and the rest of the roadtrip, (man, I'm behind...), but I have homework to do first and foremost.

Have a good night folks, I'll be seeing you soon. (blows kiss)

T

Inspiring poetry

Taking a pause from roadtrip posts and movie reviews and broken fingers for a moment of inspiration.

I love Shakespeare. Like, absolutely ADORE Shakespeare. I've read nearly all his plays, and I've been slowly making my way through his sonnets for a while now. I came across one tonight, however, that I've officially fallen in love with and dubbed my favorite:

Sonnet #29

When, in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least,
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate

For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

I came across this in a song by Rufus Wainwright, "When, in disgrace with fortune in mens eyes", which is a beautiful representation of the sonnet.

Hope it provides some inspiration.


Also, my condolences and prayers go to my best friend Kitty, who found out today that her wonderful dog Lucky has cancer. So sorry, Honey.

<3

Possibly fractured my finger, but its definetely borked. Going to an ortho this week for the full gist, I'll let you know then.

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Roadtrip Day 5

Roadtrip, day 5! On our second day in Georgia, Kitty and I woke up bright and early to go into Atlanta and go to the Georgia Aquarium (and subsequent Titanic exhibit within). This was a good day, and by far my favorite stop of the trip.

We walked around for quite a while before we got to the belugas. This little girl walked right up on the glass, and the (somewhat camera-hog of a) beluga came up to the glass to say 'hi'. She was delighted.I love all things cephlapod I'm obsessed with squid and cuttlefish and I think that octopi are just about the coolest sea creature EVER. So I was INCREDIBLY happy to see that the north pacific octopus was out and about (strange for the nocturnal predator). His name is, as are all octopi to me, Alfred. Fred for short

Ah, The whale sharks. The GA aquarium is home to 4 of them, and they are, without a doubt, absolutely stunning. They are completely magestic, and glide throught the water with very little effort. Apparently, the aquarium has two girls and two boys.

The GA aquarium is also the only aquarium in America with a manta ray. She's nine years old, but you and rather small so far for a Manta. Their wing span can reach upwards of 20 feet, amazingly. I have named her Jodi.
Obligatory Jellyfish picture. I'm fascinated by jellyfish. They actually sleep- they rest on the bottom and dont move and then wake back up. This is fairly uncommon with water creatures. Most sleep on half of their brain, and their body keeps moving to keep water, and therefore oxygen, moving across their gills.
Goby. He seemed to be checking me out.. this is also the tank were a mental giant of a girl told her friend she was really into the ocean but didn't want to do it as a career because she didn't want to be "one of those marine aquarius people".
Outside of the museum were lots and lots of pretty flowers, IE- reasons for me to play with the micro lens.
Standing out front of the World of Coke!

We ended up touring the World of Coke, which was pretty interesting, despite being gimmicky and a bit more bubbly (pun intended) than Kitty and I really thought was needed. The soda tasting center stood apart for me, and was very interesting In one room, coca-cola collects a sampling of sodas from all over the world that they produce so you can try them and give your own verdict. there were a few standouts for us- The watermelon Smart soda from China was good, while the Mint soda from Djibouti was just weird. The most disgusting soda in the entire place was Italy's Beverly. I swear to you, this stuff tasted like Ass and Hangover mouth. Disgustinggrosseww. We recieved a free (pshh We paid 15$ to get in. Shit wasn't free.) bottle of coke on our way out, and took a short stroll through the store and surprisingly walked out empty handed.

On day 6, we go to the zoo, the king tut exhibit, and the terra cotta warrior exhibit!

Movie review- The History Boys, Watchmen

Alriiight, movie review number two.

Now, I am a big fan of plays and musicals, and I have been hearing about The History Boys for quite a while. I meant to get a hold of the movie ages ago, but as usual, I'm way behind.

Okay, first things first. The dialogue moves very fast, and you can easily miss a plot device or even a good joke if you aren't paying attention- typical of stage to screen adaptations (like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead, for example). That being said, the dialogue is clever, and the cast preforms effortlessly.

I thought the ending seemed a little rushed, but other than that I enjoyed the movie.

So, overall? b-

Alright, heres a big one- Watchmen.

For those of you who don't feel like reading the entire review, here's my short sum-up:

Boobs and Blue wang.

Now. I'll explain. I read the Watchmen comic, and though most people say the cliche, "You either hate or you love it" I wasn't either. I was sort of.. unmoved by the whole thing. The story line was confusing, and not incredibly grabbing. I honestly fought to finish the thing, but I loved the artwork, and I was interested in the characters.

Similarly, I found myself fairly unmoved by the movie. It had its strong points: Outstanding cinematography (obviously, considering the director), the fight scenes (with the exception of the very first one, that looked terribly rehearsed) were very badass, cg was very good, the acting was good, and Rorschach was a stand out for great acting.

The sex scenes, however, were gratuitous, and came off quasi- soft core porn more than once. I understand that it often develops a character to have a sex scene, but these just stretched on too long (Similar to the sex scene in 300... I'm spotting a trend..) and really, I've seen enough of Malin Akerman (the silk specter 2)'s breasts to last me a life time. Also- I can't focus on a scene when Dr. Manhattan's giant blue wang is waving back and forth on the huge theatre screens, and I feel retarded for getting distracted by his boys.

All bitching aside, it wasn't a bad movie, it just wasn't amazing. Give me Ironman ANYDAY.

the verdict? C. Good acting, cinematography, and fight scenes, but the plot meanders and takes occasional breaks for a wank.

Reviews coming soon- I love you, Man , The Mummy 3, Mamma Mia, RocknRolla