The Ramblings of Elyse

Yeah, I'm a blog about passive aggressiveness.

This is largely in response to the massively passive aggressive blog I wrote last week, I've been meaning to write it for a while but I've been lazy and had a small amount of writer's blog.

I actually made some vlogs to make up for it and then got really self conscious about them and didn't post them. Even though I spent the hour uploading them to the internet.
So, sorry guys, you are gonna have to wait til I think I'm bullet proof for me to post them.

I think they both feature singing, which is a horrible, horrible thing and yeah, that is the main thing I'm self conscious about so, alas, until I'm feeling bulletproof they are staying in the vault.

 I feel sorry for the person that gets stuck going through my computer.

Anyway! Passive aggressiveness!
My main act of passive aggressiveness has to be the fact I wrote the long detailed blog about unfriending completely aimed at someone who I know reads this. Part of me was curious to see if they'd respond or even bring it up.
If you were curious, no, no they didn't.
Did I bring it up and force a conversation about it? Yes.

One of the many reasons why it sucks to be friends with me.

But alas, I think it's all sorted, if it's not, I'm never going to be told about it, so we all move on.

Yeah, that too was a pointed comment since the person that it is aimed at reads this.

So, passive aggressiveness!

In some ways I think I'm really bad at the passive aggressive games, but that's ok, because I have people to write my passive aggressive emails on my behalf and in return I provide witty commentary and shout outs on my blog of various subtleties.

You'll have to forgive me, I started writing and then stopped at this point and don't remember what I really wanted to talk about.

The passive aggressive things I find most annoying are the Facebook status comments. Yes, we get it, you are pissed at someone, grow up and talk to that person. Don't constantly write annoying vague Facebook status.
If you feel a need to do this so often, get a fucking Twitter account, so I don't have to read your bullshit!

Ok, I think I might be confused about what it is to be passive aggressive... In my mind it's about being aggressive but in a passive way...
Right now I am pissed off at you, but I don't want to confront you so I'll make thinly veiled comments about you.
Where as Wiki seems to inform me it's some kind of personality trait that is a passive resistance to following through with actions in interpersonal and occupational situations.
Thus the "Yeah, I'll do it" and then not doing it.

Interesting...
Which, kind of kills this post for me.
So, I'm gonna stick with the being aggressive but in the not obvious way.

This doubles as sending messages in a non-direct way, which my favourite means to do will forever be there joining lots of Facebook groups with a similar theme... "I miss you so much" "Why are never online?" "I wait all night just to talk to you for a few seconds" "Why are you never by the third window facing the east so I can get the clear view of you as you sleep?"
Yeah, we get it. You are creepy stalker and now everyone on your list is praying that it's not aimed at them.


Basically, stop with the vague, repetative Facebook updates. Unless of course you are hilarious, insightful or a combination of the two.
Work sucks, people sucks. Accept it, move on or get a Twitter account.

Or you know, a blog to bitch about these people...
Clearly, the way to go.


Build  a fan base...
Bitch about fans...
Destroy a fan base.

I typed fan bass that last time.
Is it a fan for the bass? Keeping the music cool or is a fan's bass.
Why do my typos have strange questions...

I need to stop writing random stuff.
Enjoy.

Give me external validation and comment.

I love Google.

I'm not going to lie, I love Google more than I love a lot of things.
In fact, I am going to give you a list of things I love in order.

1. Patrick Joe and my other assorted musical instruments
2. Buffy
3. Google
4. Adam (He is dreamy)
5. Angel Muppet
6. My loyal readers

I wonder how many people are going to get offended by number 4 there.
I imagine that I'm gonna get sent a message being all like "Why do you love Adam more than me?", so Loyal Readers, I love you too.

I once declared my love for Google to one of my friends and I said "what doesn't Google know?" and Lexi was all "how to love?"
I took this as a challenge, and did what any other sane person would do.

I googled "How to Love".

And I thank God every day that I did that because now, now I know how to love.

Thank you, WikiHow, now I know how to love.
And it evens includes a picture to help you on the way.

I feel more equipped for the world knowing the 6 steps of love and I will go through the six steps and followed by how it is going to help me love Google more. KT, feel free to replace your name with Google if that will make you feel better.

1. Saying it.... (Google, I love you. I heart you. I less than three you! )


2. Empathize.... (Yes, Google you are a website. I understand that is what you do and that may impact how you do things)

3. Love Unconditionally... (Google, I will love you, even though I know that sometimes you won't give me the right answers in my first attempt and it might take me several attempts to get there but I know we will eventually get there.. TOGETHER. I will love you through all of that.)

4. Expect nothing in return... (Google, I understand that you are a website and many people love you, they love you as their outlet to the web, in their quest for knowledge, to find out so many things, you lead the way. I'd be naive to think that I'd be the only person to love you and I know, that you are a website, who helps so many and could love so many that, I know this love may be unrequited. But it is something... It is something...)

5. Realise it can be lost... (Dear Google, I know there will be day where your awesome searching abilities will be beaten by something or the internet dies, but I will live in the now where our love is strong. All my love, Elyse)

6. Never stop loving... (There's always Yahoo!)



Now, this knowledge combined with another helpful page I found on WikiHow.
Seriously guys, WikiHow... It will teach you how to live...

And also apparently help you pick up...

How to hug a guy... ROMANTICALLY>....

Hot.

I don't think it's really Ramblings of Elyse to go through this blog, I don't want to corrupt the minds of the readers...
But readers, just remember if you are planning to go out, find yourself a man to hug just keep these in mind.

• If you don't think you're ready to try all of this, don't worry. Wait until you're ready - then you can really enjoy it all.
• Don't force the hug. He might not be ready for it, so just wait for another time.
• Don't attack the guy. Show him how you feel, but let him take the lead.
• If things go past either of your limits, stop it right away and let each other know how far your limits are.
• Don't hurt the guy. And don't let him hurt you. Everyone has their squeeze limit.
• Only apply this to a guy you actually like. Never toy with a guy's feelings, especially if it's because you want to make someone else jealous. It never ends well.
• Make sure that he actually likes you because if he doesn't,it will be really awkward in the end.

Ok, I don't want to appear sexist, I'll see what I can find out for the boys.



I'm back! Ok... I guess you couldn't really tell if I left.

One thing this lesson has taught me is that man, I am such a whore, I give up my hugs so easily.
I don't think Jesus hugged anyone like that.

So, Boys, how to hug a girl. 
Everything you need to know about how to hug a girl...
Now, this isn't about hugging romantically, but I think it could be renamed "How to pick up with your hugs".

But it does warn me:
""Couple" status is not a requirement for hugging a girl, but you should at least be on familiar terms with her. Hugs between opposite-gender friends are often reserved for more significant moments, such as when parting before moving away, or returning after a long absence. Still, as long as you are respectful toward her, an occasional hug is probably fine. If it is too awkward for one or both of you, it may be best to avoid initiating one, but don't rule out the possibility of a hug being appropriate at some later point."

The best way to make sure we all know what the hug is "if it is just a friendly hug, don't hold on for more than 3 seconds and laugh when you let go".



Good to know, WikiHow, Good to know.

I'll be paying attention to this now when I go to hug some boys. Yeah, that's right... I said plural. What up? 


You've taught me that I should just stick to my Christian Side Hugs...



Yes, I can't get enough of that video and EMBEDDING! What's not to love?

OkWikiHow from the not Relationships section...

Here's a good one.
How to avoid being shot by a Police Officer
I have some good advice for this.

Don't break the law. Don't carry weapons. If there is a cop with their gun out, don't be a douche.
Simple advice.


And finally, something I can use in my every day life.

I realise that is the assumption that you actually click on the list.
If it helps, one of the tips is "Don't be a geek, or a nerd. Be well liked among your class, by chatting and giggling with everyone. Make sure everyone has heard of your name before!"

I wonder if I can get tips on being a nerd...
Oh... They do. Awesome.

Way to perpetuate stereotypes, Internet! 

Armed with knowledge...
ONWARDS we go!

I'm sure we are all familiar with the term "unfriending", well you should be, it was the Oxford word of the year last year and I believe we all know how I feel about the good people at Oxford.
That wasn't sarcasm, it is good things. All good things.

Unfriending!
In the world of online social networking you get the list happening of friends, relatives, acquaintances, co-workers, former enemies, current enemies or those people who are friends of friends who were suggested. I'm not going to lie I have some people on my friend list who I have no idea who they are, I KIND of know who they are, but you know, they know other people so whatever...

I don't actually have a selection policy or a criteria, the only thing that I do with Facebook is that I generally don't add other people. Yep, they've got to add me. Some people I'm curious to know what it is.
So this is my policy, someone requests to be my facebook friend, I'm accepting that because that's just how I roll.

That is my selection for adding people, but what about my selection for deleting people?
Yeah. I don't have one of those policies. Every now and then I think about going through my list and get rid of the people that I don't actually know or have never really conversed with or the people I just don't give a fuck about.

I never do, because I'm lazy, but I've thought about it.

Then it comes to, what happens when you are defriended?
And this is the situation I've found myself in in recent times.
Not just as one of those people that fit my three options or maybe I am in that third option and I don't even know about it.

During the week I was defriended by one of my friends who I see and converse with A LOT and I found out that I was no longer facebook friends with them because of some weird facebook glitch where I had to add someone else and it was all like "Do you want to add ?" and I figured it was a glitch and clicked the add as matey.
I'm not curious and keeping an eye on it. Still hasn't been accepted. 
It's interesting.

It only got interesting when their significant other also unfriended me. The significant other has a very strict friend control policy, but even that, I have a lot to do with them both so on what grounds for the unfriending?

I'm all for the unfriending for the people that are just a number on a list. But now I have no idea where I stand with these people.
Is it a clear message that I am meant to be receiving? Because I don't do well with subtlities, and if they don't know that than maybe I should be in the realm of listing them not only as my friends but in a somewhat inner circle.


The unfriending does send a clear message. I don't think it's even a fuck you, because a fuck you and message of hatred requires some passion and force behind it. It is the storming out and slamming the door. It is sending the message that yeah, you should be taking this unfriending as a personal affront because you are a horrible person and horrible friend.

No, the unfriending without acknowledging is a I just don't care. That is the just not showing up and the standing up. Or the whole "Yeah, we SHOULD do that" and it never happens.

As my life is lead by the monologue from passion. Yeah, without passion we would be truly dead.
Yeah, that friendship is dead.
May I let it rest in peace.

One of the current massive shows hitting the Australian airwaves is Glee.

You know it's massive, because it is only one week behind the States and oh em gee, they promo the fuck out of it!
Now, I watch an embarrassingly lack of TV. It brings me shame the amount of TV I don't watch. Television pays me, I should watch it more.

The very little television I watch is a result of walking through a room and the TV is on.
My mum is loving the Masterchef, which is funny because it is so overdramatic. I just saw a group on facebook with the caption "More Cooking, Less Sooking", though my favourite was "Less crying, more frying". 
That's not the point.

So last night, I was watching TV while eating my dinner and mocking the melodrama that is Masterchef. One of those contestants was a cop! A COP! And she had this breakdown in one of the challenges. What's with that?
Harden up, princess.

Then I started to watch Glee and saw something awesome in the credits... IDINA MENZEL! WAS IN GLEE!!
Idina Menzel!
If you do not know who that is, get out of my blog. Just get out...
Ok, I'll play nice. Idina Menzel is the original Broadway Maureen from Rent (So thus, plays Maureen in the movie) and is also the original Elaphba from Wicked... So on a show... Where they sing?
FUCKING AWESOME!

She didn't sing. That made me sad.
But I watched Glee.

The entire episode.

It's interesting.
I saw the pilot and this was like the second season or something, I don't really follow.

I watched and then the singing started.
I'm a musical fan, randomly singing doesn't bother me at all.
Though, Glee it isn't just random singing... It's in-show singing. Part of the context.
With apparently the most awesome band ever, who just happen to know all these songs all the time.
Yeah, I did think that when I watched it.
Especially when the teacher is all "Play anything, the band knows it!" So, that amused me. That is not a direct quote, I am clearly making it up.

Now, so we get the singing.
And Oh Em Gee...

What the hell is with the singing?

Now before someone is all like "There singing is awesome. You don't know what you are talking about".
I preemptively say shut up.
I do know what I'm talking about because I have both muso cred and musical nerd cred and well, shut up, this is my blog.

I don't have a problem with the actual singing but it is just so processed!
You can tell that they are lip syncing... badly.
Well, it's in time, it's just really obvious that it isn't live.

This leads me to a rant about live music and processing and how CDs have destroyed expectations about the live music experience, but that's for another blog.
It sounds exciting doesn't it?
Remember, I'm a 1/6th of  a Sound Engineer.

The musical numbers are good, but I still think the thing that would make it better is if Idina Menzel sang.
Though, plot wise I am expecting something horrible to happen to Rachel, I'm also predicting it is revealed that Rachel is the secret lovechild of Idina Menzel's character (I don't know her name due to the squee-ing. Yes, I am totally a Idina Menzel fangirl)
Because really... Those two, look exactly the same.
I stole photos and everything!


<----- Idina


                    Lea Michelle --->




















See what I'm saying.
I would completely buy that.
I'm buying it now without it even being  in existence!

I think I should have found photos that imply it better, but still...
Totally needs to happen.

I had one of the songs from Glee in my head all day and then it came on the radio. That radio was cursed today. We'd talk about songs and then they'd play.

Thus, we were talking about Glee.
Glee was created by the same dude that created Popular, an awesome, awesome so underrated series from the late 90s/early 00s. Fricken awesome show.
Which gives the show a massive head start with me, because I did love that show.

That being said, super quotable. That's a plus.

At this stage, I'll remain a geek and the L will be because of my loser status.
So, this writer is not a Gleek.

The "This writer" was for my own amusement and to emphasis the loser status, but oh well...

Glee... That's what is up with that.

That is not a good tag line.

Ok, so I'm back for round two of Today's blogging action.

Though, this is a real blog and I filmed the vlog last night, so it evens out!

Comments I have received are: "I can't believe you forgot who Mary was" and "You sound high".
It;s true, I forgot who Mary was, which leads me into this nice segue...

I feel awful that I forgot who Mary was since we are totes BFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (spell check doesn't agreee, sorry McFly) and since she is my partner in crime video wise.

So, to make it up to her, next time I see here, I'll offer her a side hug.

It will look a little like this:

Yes, that is how excited she will be for some Side Hug action!
I actually wanted to edit in some speech bubbles there but have no idea how to. What's the Mac equivalent of Paint?

Anyway, so, I know I make fun of the Christian Side Hug a lot and quite frankly, for good reason.
Since I'm not against the frontal assault hug.


I'm not going to lie, I've front hugged a lot of people in my time, in churches, outside of churches, across the road from churches...
I am going to stop with that.

The thing with hugs, there are heaps of different types of hugs and hugs for all events.
Different people have different hugs.


For example, the "I'm getting out of your car" hug or as I call it the "Awkward Car Hug", it's awkward coz you just can't hug comfortably like that and it kind of is amusing.

That is my standard I'm getting out of your car hug, but some times something happens and it leads to the "I need you to get out of your car so I can hug you properly" hug.
That is generally the "I just said something I probably shouldn't have an feel really bad especially since on some level you know I'm right so now are super upset which adds to the badness and I feel a need to hug you because your upset and I feel bad and need you to realise I feel bad and wasn't trying to be mean" hug.

Then we have my favourite hugs of all kind.
The awkward man hug.
I have two favourite awkward man hug, the third one that is a contender was just way too awkward that I had to walk away from.

Number one: The Fender/Jacob Awkward Man Hug. Tall dude and not that tall dude hug... awkwardly... In front of the entire church as the exchange leaders crosses. There was the stall of "I don't really want to hug you, but I kind of have to since that's the tradition and I did just hug the female leader".
Awkward AND Hilarious!

Number Two of the most awkwardly hilarious man hugs:
The food court at Parramatta Westfields near the station when most things are closed. This really tall guy and quite short guy, obviously friends and one was going away.
So they are talking saying their farewells and it came to the hug, the short guy has gone in for the handshake and the tall guy has reached over for the hug and completely overlooking the handshake.

The height difference made that one since he has overpowered the handshaking guy.
Hilarious!

So, there are different hugs for all different occasions our lives. Thus, we have need for the side hug.

Ok, I keep imagining the side hugging as one sided (As one person is doing the side hugging, the hugger and the huggee as I should put it)
So there are two versions of the side hug...
The Hugger/Huggee... This is clearly the person next to me is upset and I need to show some good vibes, thus the side hug.
The I have something in my hands and thus can't hug you back
The You clearly don't want to be part of this conversation and by being hugged you can't get away and I have you here trapped muwhahahaha side hug... This might by my go to form of Christian Side Hug.

Then there is mutual side hugging which is totally less fun.
It's basically used for photos and standing there in conversation coz otherwise you'd fall over.

I think I've just confused hugs and arms around people.

They are the same thing now.
Suck it up!

How much is Mary gonna kill me for putting that photo up?

One of my favourite internet stories is the reason why I have protected tweets on Twitter.

Yeah, that's right, to stalk me on the internet, you've got to request it.
Suck it bitches!

Unless, you come here, where I have no idea who you are.

The internet, it was always about protecting the identity and don't give out credit card numbers or anything like that. I don't really remember, so here, have my credit card number. It's 8699498922 41918.

In case, for some reason you don't realise, that is not my credit card number. Also, IF it was, you actually need more information than that to be able to use it.

So, apologies who for those who were going to attempt some credit card fraud.

I'm all for the internet privacy thing and not getting a whole stalker thing happening, because if you actually sat through my Spike rant, you would have realised that one of the biggest issues I have with him is I find his stalking really, really creepy and he should have been staked on that factor alone.

But this is internet stalking, internet stalking isn't standing outside someone's window hoping to catch a glimpse of them or just watching them sleep or whatever stalkers do.
The internet stalking is completely different.

Look at Facebook, so many people have open profiles. You can learn a whole bunch about people's lives.
From photos, from status updates, from comments on walls, to their captain's plank information... I use Pirate Facebook, I don't know what the equivalent is on the normal version.

I've found out that a whole bunch of people I went to school with have gotten married recently, and from that just how many of the people I went to school with still hang out together. Which, I mainly just find odd, but maybe that's because I have nothing to do with my school friends except for the occasional facebook stalk but that's a different story.

These are people that I'm pretty sure if I saw in the street, I wouldn't talk to. There may be that look of recognition and then keep on walking because I don't want to talk to those people. I hate small talk, really hate it and am super bad at it. Oh, the stories I have about that.

But, I give these people some kind of permission into my life. My photos are open to my friends on Facebook. My friends on Facebook are not my friends in real life.
They can look at my photos and see an album full of weird things and not understand the in joke behind it and just how that list was built and how I wasn't involved, nor allowed to see it until it was read out to me upon my farewell.

The reason it got finished is because it was declared impossible and I accepted that challenge.

So, we have facebook.
And there's twitter.

I use my Twitter a lot.
Some of my friends use Twitter.
We communicate on Twitter... a lot...
They quote me on there, even more.

You know, I do have a Facebook group entitled "The Elyse List" dedicated purely for the random stuff I have been known to say, so I think if you are fan of my random statements, you need to join it.
I was going to link, but Facebook is being weird, so from the boards over there are some of the classics:

*Its not medical attention if your copping a feel
*I expect this would be what i was like if i was drunk
*When I am ruler of the world, you will regret this list.

The List was developed at uni, before Twitter when young Christopher realised I say some hilarious stuff.

Just for the record, the "It's not Medical attention, if you're copping a feel" was actually being said while I was receiving medical attention.

Anyway, that's just some shameless self promotion.

I have this blog as well, and it started off very different to what it is now.
I don't know, but I like having this little place on the internet where I can kind of write and not have any expectations of what is being written or whether it mattered that it didn't fit in what is the "normal".
Then those expectations came, they came from me.

I can pin point when the Twitter expectations came and I realised, wait, shit people read this, and not just the people that I don't mind read some of the things and realised that, I'd no longer be able that person. Or at least the person that I enjoy pretending to be, because then Twitter, all of a sudden it was different. Like Facebook, it then became different.

I joined Facebook, because my Forum people decided to make a Facebook group, I don't remember why.
I think so some things that could be discussed in depth without getting moderators sent to attack.
Then the people, who I don't talk about and don't really care about came along. And it was different.

I guess it's just the nature of change.
I don't care much for it.

I'm worried about how many things are going to change in the aftermath of the last couple of weeks.
I'm pretty sure some of them I actually have a say in it.

Who am I kidding?
I won't have a say in it.
I let myself be powerless and why would this time be any different?

Nothing lasts forever.

Hello, I'm Elyse and I'm a commuter.

I take public transport a lot. Like a lot. Mainly trains, used to be fair bit of buses, but mainly trains.

Unlike on the roads, with those drivers, we commuters don't have any written rules or actual laws. It is chaos out there! SHEER CHAOS!

And that's where I have decided to write about the rules of the commuter.

This isn't just about "I'm on a train? What of it?" This is also about those times when you are standing at a door and think "I wonder if there are rules about this?" and the answer is "YES! MOVE OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY"

So first up, the laws of the commuter.

1. They are called headphones. Invest in them, no one wants to hear your music no matter how "good" you think your music, it's not. This is not a discotheque, just stop it. My murderous train rampage will be started when I'm sitting on a train and then some douche without headphones is all "Check out the awesome Beatles Song", Helter Skelter starts and so does my murderous rampage.

2. The seats. If I am going to have to climb over you, I take no responsibility, if I a) lose balance and end up in your lap, b) stand on your foot, which may lead to point a and finally, I have a messenger bag... It can be heavy, it can hit you in the face.

These three things can be solved quite easily if you either move over or get up and let me in.

3. Personal hygiene. It's close quarters in there, often without windows. Just for the love of god, do something about it.
Or follow these simply rhyming rules: No Reeking, No Streaking.

Which follows nicely, the train is not the place for personal hygiene things. DO NOT SPRAY DEODORANT!
Seriously, close quarters with no windows. Who does that? Fuckers.
Cutting of nails or anything like that. Not the place of the train.
Just for the record, I personally don't have issues with putting make up on the train, since I understand the value of sleeping in, but don't get shitty at people who knock you and all that. You take the risk, gotta deal with the consequences.

4. Doors!
People get off the train first. Let people GET OFF THE TRAIN FIRST!
It creates better flow of traffic and more room.
If the train is packed and you are sitting on the stairs or standing in the foyer type thing, you may just have to get off the train and stand on the platform to wait for people to get off so you are not standing in the way.

People want to get off the train, you are in the way, if you get taken out, bitch, you probably deserved it.

5. Unwanted conversation.
Don't start conversations with me on the train.
I'm not a people friendly person. The train is for quiet conversation with people they know, reading, listening music through headphones and sleeping. Ok, I guess, some people do work on their laptops or watch DVDs, but these are quiet activities.

As a general rule, listening to music on your iPod or personal music device while talking to other people is exceptionally rude and shouldn't be done.

6. School kids... We hate you. Accept this, one day you'll be us and hate the next generation of school kids and the answer is yes, you were once that annoying and obnoxious. Just shut up already.

Which conveniently brings me to my next point. Doorways.

The rule of doorways... People who are getting out, have right of way. Trains, buses, elevators, classrooms. LET THE PEOPLE GO!
Then you enter.
This is the golden rule of doors.

The second golden rule of doors, is don't stand in them.
Oh, you smoke?
That's great, smoke somewhere that is not in the FUCKING DOORWAY!
People need to go in and out, and if I have my guitar case on me, I'm not going to take any prisoners.

My main issue of the day, is get out of the way of door ways.

Some general rules of commuting and walking in crowded areas:
*Stay to the left, unless over taking.
*Don't stop suddenly otherwise some people are gonna fall like dominoes and there will be tears and violence and it won't be pretty.
*If people are running, not jogging, but running coz they are running late or the like, they should dodge and weave, but it's good practice to get the fuck out of the way, because they'll hit you and fuck you up.

I believe this concludes my rant.

Just stay out of the fucking doorways, and we'll be sweet.

I don't know how well known this is but I have some pretty awesome things in my room.

I have a poster of the London Tube, as in the map, a framed picture of the Cityrail network, 2 NYC subway station signs and a postcard of Flinders St Station on a wall.
I also have two nerf swords on the wall in the cross pattern as well as a poster from an event I had to put on when I was at uni.

I also have some signs that have been made for me.

But no matter how awesome these things are the thing that is on my wall that is TRULY awesome.

Sorry, 2009 Christmas photo and Buff Cooking Team photo with quotes on the frame is that I am a certified nerd.
Yes, on my wall I have a certificate that proclaims Elyse as a nerd.

It's pretty awesome.

So there we have it. Certified nerd, what up?

That really has nothing to do with anything.

I've made it quite clear I spend way too much time on the internet, but this is a little thing about My Life is Average.

MLIA has this BIG thing about the receiving the letter from Hogwarts on your 11th birthday.
I call bullshit on this!

HARRY got his letter on HIS 11th Birthday, which is just a coincident since his birthday is a month before school starts.

You know what really proves this point?
The second book when Ginny gets her letter at the same time as everyone else gets their letter about what books they need, which happened on Harry's Birthday and I'm sure if by freak chance Ginny and Harry had the same birthday it would have been mentioned in one of the seven books, especially since Harry is normally at the Weasley's around his birthday.

Seriously gang, for people who claim to be so hip with Harry Potter you think they'd be able to put this stuff together.

All throughout school my birthday was around the last day, not the last day but it was in the last week.

I don't go around going "oh, it's your birthday, is school going to end now?" No, because that is ridiculous.

If you are going to go around making ridiculous claims on the internet claiming to be Pop Culture's bitch make sure you are a knowledgeable Pop Culture's Bitch, because Pop Culture don't look too kindly to ignorance.

I feel better about that now.
Every time I read it, it makes me sad for these people.

This brings me to my next point is Twitter is doing horrible things to me.

I like to tell stories, normally stupid things that aren't of too much importance but kind of amusing and exciting to me.

I go to tell people the stories in real life and they are all "Yeah, I read that on Twitter".
Come on, man!

This has made me infinitely a less interesting person because I only have so many stories and they normally end up on twitter.

This is not going to end well, I wasn't that interesting to begin with!



Update on my Spike Rant: Have discussed the filming. Don't know when it will happen... If it will happen. My filming schedule is a little bit backed up at the moment.

I hate titles... and character names...
Seriously, hate them.

It's the real reason why I could never be a writer... yeah, that's it.

Though, let me get real with you for a little bit.

Ok, I won't, because I'm not that much of a tool.

I think I've mentioned this before, but for some reason I have this dream to be big on the internet. That's right, I want to be a meme dammit!
I'm not sure I even know why, because these rants aren't really interesting, enlightening or that amusing to anyone that isn't me.
So that is my big internet dream.

It's dream, I'm way too lazy to actually do anything other than you know make my friends read this. You guys do read when I link you, right? RIGHT? RIGHT?!?!?!

Anyway, that isn't really why I was writing, it was just a tangent.

It is currently 12.51am, what have I done since I got home yesterday from work, not including sleep was watching this youtube channel. It is fricken hilarious.
Tomorrow all my "your mum" jokes are going to be because of that, as well be all the incidents of finger guns and winking. Seriously, this is my warning. You guys should check out my blog and you'd know all about it.

Yes, I watched all 178 videos and just hilarious.
It all started when I clicked onto YouTube, it might have been because I'm looking for a new Reel Big Fish friend now that Chris is leaving me to go to Texas. (What the hell Chris? Pfft...)
Just to encourage people to become my new Reel Big Fish friend I shall include some clips of theirs from YouTube, admire their awesomeness.
A Live Clip... SR Though, that isn't their normal Trumpeter which makes me a little sad.
A Cover... Take on Me
What I always thought was their big hit... The Set Up
Their ACTUAL big hit... Sell Out
And one of my favourites... Where Have You Been This one is a live version, because I prefer the live version, coz it has the horn section and that is just fricken ace, bro.

Man, I'm totally getting good with the pimpin' stuff on my blog. Shit yeah man, I'm on fire!

Oh, right... Anyway, so I was looking at something on YouTube, I don't know, I'm sure it was super important at the time.
And then I found this video...
And man, it was gold. Pure gold and then I'm like, MUST. WATCH. MORE.
Umm.. so I did.
One of my other favourites is this one

So that was my weekend.
Hangin' out on YouTube.

Though, from watching that, I realise I want more nerdy shirts.
I guess not all of them have to be nerdy, like this one . IF that's not Elyse in a shirt, I don't know what is.

Well, I guess, this is Elyse in a shirt.

That actually took an embarrassingly long time to find.
Then again, most of the photos on here have been taken in winter, so I haven't been just in a shirt.
So man, I just used my photo bucket account.
The entire I reason have a photobucket account is so I can upload and link photos like this for my Buffy Forum. Which features some quality motivators that I made, I have lots. This one was for the challenge about using Buffy titles. Enjoy!
As I expose my tender geeky underbelly to my non-Buffy peeps.

I was going to do a post full of some other links that I enjoy, but I think I got a little carried away, so I guess that is for another day.

'til next time...

Remember, many spoilers lay ahead, be warned. Though, I'll take some abuse.

Today, I finally finished my epic journey of having read all seven Harry Potter books.

Now going back to the Half Blood Prince and the movie adaption.

So, previously I went through the general reasons why I don't approve of the film adaptions.
I mention my loathing of Harry?
Surely I did, that is one of my main reasons that I loathe the movies and the cut out all of the delightful subplot which is why I read the books!

The sixth book and movie. In my re-read I discovered that sixth is my least favourite book, I always thought it was Chamber of Secrets, but no, definitely the Half Blood Prince.

I can list the reasons why, I find many aspects enjoyable, but it's all set up. ALL SET UP for the final book.
I love that Fred and George not only have their joke shop all set up, but they also use some of their mischief making for the benefit of others. I do love the Weasley Twins, so this makes me happy.

I do hate that Hermione is so whiny in it. I won't lie, out of the three main characters, Hermione is my favourite and when it comes down to the arguement of epic proportions I think she is the real hero and it shines the most in the Seventh book. Harry would have been dead long before if not for his friendship with Hermione and he would have been kicked out of Hogwarts somewhere along the line.
But what happens to Hermione in the HBP?
She pines after Ron, and cries like ALL THE TIME, it is even worse in the movie and I was really hoping they were just amping up the angst for the sake of marketing to the Tweens and the Twilight fans, but no. It is all there.
Oh Hermione, you can do better than Ron! Ok, so it doesn't bother me that much, it's the angst that bothers me.
Then again, it's constant, Hermione was always highly strung and did the bursting out in tears thing alot. It's constant and remains constantly annoying.
In conclusion, shut up, Hermione.

The most horrific thing that occurred in the process of transferring was the final battle.
They take out the fact that Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna were fighting in the corridors, as well as the Order of the Phoenix, which is important for the set up and sets the scene for my favourite thing ever in the seven book, the thing that makes the entire journey brilliant and that is how even with Harry gone off fighting, the students still take up arms in the war and that Ginny, Luna and especially Neville continue to fight and WILL continue to fight even if Harry is dead because that is what they have to do.
Neville's journey in all the seven books is fricken awesome. That he has scars at the end and he knows how and why he got them and they are trophies for a cause. Man, it's awesome.
How are the movies ever going to bring anything like that from the books when they neglected to show that Harry WASN'T alone in the quest. It wasn't just Dumbledore and himself in this great epic fight.

That was always the big difference between Harry and Voldemont, Harry had his loyalities and allies, true allies not minions.

However, not the point. You have all this set up and neglected that it's a battle, that it's a war between two armies, each with their leaders, but beyond that.

Then there is the biggest crime of them all. Dumbledore put Harry in a body bind curse or something making it PHYSICALLY impossible for Harry to be able to interferr in Draco and Snape eventually killing him.
He was there and bore witness to it all, but couldn't do anything until Dumbledore was dead because that is how the spell was broken, and then Snape ran. He ran and took the rest of the Death Eaters with him.
In the movie, he was just there and saw it all and could move and could stop it, but didn't and he calls Snape the coward?
They are cowardly moves, especially when Harry's anger is one of the biggest plot points. He is an angry, angry guy. It's annoying at some points, but it is a constant plot point and it is one of the main reasons I don't like him. Well, that and he misdirects his anger and completely undervalues everyone around him which I just can't stand for.
It goes back to my points about Hermione.

So there we have it, they turned a book that was all set up in to a movie that was all about set up except they missed a large portions of the things that were meant to be set up.

There is a literacy device called Chekhov's Gun (""If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there." )
The beauty of books is that everything is there for a reason because everything that is written is in the control of the author. If something on the wall is mentioned, it is mentioned for a specific reason to be recalled at any point or to add a layer of depth to a character. It doesn't exist for any other reason.
In a series of Seven books?
Everything is going to come to a climax of the previous 6 books, the movies can't cover everything and things need to suffer.

And thus, the travesties of the Harry Potter movies exist.
It's a shame too.

I can't seperate the two in my mind either. Often I can do that, but nope, not in this case.

Why, why?

Oh well...

Tomorrow is a new day, and a new book...
Or a new rant...

Maybe combine the two.

SPOILER ALERT! The Toaster Falls in Love!
So if you haven't read the Harry Potter books (or seen the movie) approach with caution because the spoilers are EVERYWHERE!

Be warned.



So, I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a Harry Potter Tragic.

I have read the entire series through when one of the new books was released (well for 4,5,6, and 7) and the procceded to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows in one day, the day it was released.
Needless to say, I am very familiar with Mr Potter and the rest of that crew.

Knowing all of this, I have also seen the films. I've seen all of them exactly once and generally at the movies. Which in itself is a fairly big deal since I think the last 10 movies I've seen at the Movies 6 of them have been the Harry Potter movies.

Why is that I have read the books countless times but yet, only seen the movies once?

I realised it one my last read through, I hate Harry Potter. The Character. I really, really hate him.
I pinpointed the moment where I really started to loathe him, in the begining of HP and the Order of the Phoenix when he has this massive go at Ron and Hermione about keeping him out of the loop in regards to stuff and the proccedds to yell at them how he is this big massive hero who has done all this great stuff.
Well, just shut up Harry!
You'd be fucking nowhere without those two! In fact you would have been dead in the first book, as well as kicked out of hogwarts for failing so just shut the fuck up boy!

This is very important to why I dislike the movies.
The books have created this rich multidimensional world full of such a range of characters, from black hats to white hats to those who play in both worlds. Generally the line between good and evil is pretty clear, except for Snape who is the most interesting character, which isn't generally my forte.
But all those characters are there! They have stuff to do! Other plotlines and little things happening, it's not all about Harry and whatever happens to be the title, which another issue when it comes to the 6th book/movie.
The Weasleys are such a massive part of the books and pretty much are Harry's Family and they are just byproducts of the movies.

So that is my major problem with the books, I hate Harry and the movies take all away that delightful subplot and just leave me with harry.
Why would they do that?

Then of course, we have my other problem, why are they wearing pants?
Seriously, all the wizards are wearing pants! What the hell?
It's meant to be robes! Robes aren't meant to be at all pant like. They are meant to be well, Robes! That is just some poor design.
And don't get me started on the whole people not wearing robes outside of Hogwarts, in the books they always make a big deal about the lack of ability of wizards to dress like Muggles.. Largely probably due to the pants!
One of the first comments I made to myself upon seeing the opening scenes was "My God, Snape is wearing Pants" and then "My God, they are all wearing Pants!".
Pfft...

Ok, now on to the casting, which isn't entirely their fault since they are limited by people and with talent. It would be hard to do.
In particular, Dumbledore is totally not quirky enough. Seriously, Dumbledore in the books is an absolute nutjob, a genius but a nutjob. The Movie Dumbledore doesn't come across with the nuttyness. It's disappointing.
Alan Rickman is pitch perfect, love him! Though, it is Slughorn and Umbridge.
Mainly because I swear Slughorn is described as being like a Walrus, so I've always pictured him kind of like the Walrus in Alice in Wonderland, the Disney Movie, as in the Walrus and the Carpenter who eats all the oysters.
And Umbridge is described as being Toad like, so I always pictured a human Toad like thing from Mario, you know the evil ones... Toadstalls? What the hell are they called.

Elyse says as she rapidly loses her nerd cred.

But yeah, I guess that is bound to happen, it is just they were so vividly described.

I guess I'm going to have to save my specific rant about Harry and the Half blood prince for another day, as it is late and I am old and it's a school night... or work night, whatever.

'til next time,
Elyse