A long time ago over on VDCC, I decided to come up with a Top 30 animated films list. I didn't actually make it all the way through, not by a long shot, but that's because I have trouble finishing anything I start. I've decided to finally right my wrong and, 2.5 years later, provide the full list here sans commentary. I would disagree with some of my decisions now (for instance, I don't even like - spoiler! - Ratatouille), but the list belongs to a slightly younger, more cultural criticism-minded me.
Without further ado, in descending order.
Oh, hectic I am.
So many things have happened in the last few weeks that it's hard to recount them all, so I won't. However, there are a few major things.
- The GRE and my inability to speak of it without great acrimony (thanks, GRE guide makers, for giving me over 490 of the most often recurring words on the GRE and it being completely useless in application): Without disclosing too much, the GRE is hard. Though I only studied for a day, I came out ahead of where I could have been, but I can't help feeling that $140 I spent wasn't worth the plastic I put it on. We'll see once I start hearing back from grad schools. There's always window-washing if things don't work out, I s'pose.
- Two all-nighters later, and I have somewhere around half of my thesis done: You may think that I've done well from that alone, but keep in mind that the rough draft was due last Monday. God, someone shoot me. I just want it to write itself already. It almost literally does except for pesky things like "continuity" and "chronology."
- The "Oh-my-God-how-does-someone-forget-a-midterm-*headdesk*" moment: I'm varying back and forth between being disgusted and being apathetic about this, but I let a Monday-after-Fall-Break midterm sneak up on me and bite me pretty hard. From the looks of the study guide, I could wing it and make a passable grade (the first identification term is "Hernando de Soto" - hellooooo, sixth grade!), but why on earth do I need to take that chance. I'm filling out the study guide and studying before class tomorrow, but I am not happy that I forgot.
I've had an otherwise eventful weekend, but it's been one of those survive-now-and-live-to-tell-the-tale type weekends. I will say that it's been one of my most interesting as well as one of my most (negatively) enlightening weekends of my life, and that's
excluding the GRE.
I'm planning on starting either a new blog or posting a new page with .pdfs of some of my work (papers and such) so that grad schools have URLs to access my presented-but-unpublished papers and articles. What do you all think? .PDFs and a new blog, or .PDFs on this blog? My only worry about this blog is the possibility that it's inappropriate. I don't think it is too much so, but it is certainly not professional. Let me know what you think soon so I can take your thoughts into account when I decide this week.
Oh, and the top five list changed.
1. UT at Austin
2. Vanderbilt
3. OU at Norman
4. Ole Miss
5. Duke
Now to contact professors in each history department! Hurray for the most time-consuming high-risk activity I've done thus far in my academic life.
Edit: Also, a review of the Fall movie
Blindness is up at VDCC.
Alright. I've been alluding to some major goings-on. I waited because I didn't want to say something and not have proof, but gone are those days. Here's the news, almost verbatim from where I broke the news earlier this week.
I know a lot of you remember that I took Donna's Core IV media criticism class. Well, I kept up my site (now at vdcc.net) and applied for a job at a site called ObsessedwithFilm.com. The ad said it paid, but that turns out to be in "exp" rather than "gil" (sorry).
Anyway, the guy read my review of WALL-E, and immediately offered me the job.
Well, two weeks after that, my first review is finally up on the site. I'd appreciate all of the comments you guys can muster. I hope to review a more serious/less a "waste of my money that won't be reimbursed" movie next time, for a but at least this time around I hope everyone can at least be supportive that I've made it to the equivalent of benchwarming in the minor leagues. Yay!
Here's the review: Mamma Mia!
And for other reviews with considerably more feeling, including The Dark Knight, WALL-E, Civilization Revolution, and more, go to my site at VDCC.net. I'm trying to grow it into something worthwhile, and would appreciate all of your help. And for those of you who don't use RSS, email subscriptions are available too. :)
Sorry if this seems like a shameless advertisement, but this is the best thing that's happened all summer (the review on OWF) accompanied with the most revived thing I've poured my energy into this summer (vdcc.net). Even though the website who published is going through some rough transitions and even rougher reviews, it still feels like an accomplishment I should share.
Well, there you have it. My good news.
And yes, I'm excited.
Ever work really hard on something for someone, only to be told that it's not needed anymore? See the products of those efforts on the newest review over at VDCC.
In other news, I plan on seeing The Dark Knight tomorrow night, and Mamma Mia this weekend. Any news on either?
Life is topsy turvy at the moment. Everything's up and down, and sometimes at the same time. My job has been at a questionable point for quite a while, but a meeting helped to reset the feelings that had grown hard with time. Also, I got to go through a magazine to pick out things to order for two days straight. I hadn't had so much fun in months. I swear to God I should have been an accountant.
Otherwise, I don't get a stimulus check because my mother claimed me on her taxes, yet money seems to still be in good supply this summer despite my depending on that check - which is more than many can say. The VDCC Top 30 countdown is going well, but looking forward to each entry seems to make my weeks go by faster. People, it's mid-July. Where the hell did the time go?
I'm going to have some big news coming up (though I'm going to wait until it's definitely official before I tell you) that I'm very excited about, but I'm also apprehensive - as I am with all new steps. But I have hopes that this step could ultimately help to curb the impending doom I so carefully outlined before. Like one of my friends says when quoting The Hold Steady, I need to stay positive.
Oh yeah, and the last best/worst thing.
Coheed and Cambria, my favorite band with my number one favorite lead singer and future artistic collaborator (I almost said "husband", but I didn't want to seem too hopeful), Claudio Sanchez, are doing the most amazing epic music spectacle to grace the prog-rock stage in many moons. They are going to play four nights, and each night they are going to play every song from their albums.
The catch?
Those four concerts are in New York and Los Angeles. How disappointing. My mom gave me a friendly/playfull nudge saying that maybe I could afford to do a Fun Fare if I plan enough in advance, but I doubt that it could happen. Oh, but if it could, though. How often does this happen? Honestly? Jeebus.
Anyway, I've got three reviews coming up soon for VDCC. I don't know when I'm going to finish the Washington Journals, but I promise I'll do it soon. I've got some free time coming up this weekend that, while I'm not playing Civilization Revolution, I will work on.
Hey everyone. Yes, I'm still sticking to my original plan. But I had some things come up this last week and weekend that prevented me from working on an assortment of things I had previously planned.
First of all, I totally didn't realize Friday had passed by until it had, and then it was a bit late for me to keep up with my promise for VDCC. But I stayed up late just so I could catch up on posting for it. I also posted a review of WALL-E. You should check it out!
As for finishing the Washington Journals, I can explain that as well. I put off finishing the last day so I could have something to do at work this last week. I was planning on setting aside a few minutes one day to finish the last post, then give myself some recoup time for the grand finale. Well, I actually had a lot to do at work this last week (who knew, honestly?), so I didn't have a spare moment to do it. When I wasn't at work, I was on the road. When I wasn't doing either of those, I was in bed. Three times this last week I went to bed before 9:00.
So I had set aside time this weekend to finish that last damnable entry when I had an accident. No, not in a car. But I took a bit of a spill in the house. I tripped over a poster tube (my foot got caught in an open end of the tube and it stood up with my foot in it), and landed knees first. My left knee hit a vent, and my right knee landed on a marble. Of course, most of my weight was on my right knee. The thing was, I was trying to find my keys so I could go meet a friend to see WALL-E, and the tickets had already been bought or I would have stayed home. My knee was three times the size it was supposed to be, and I couldn't bend it or put weight on it. That led to some interesting experiences climbing up stairs at The Rave, not to mention driving.
This morning I still couldn't put weight on it while it was bent, but now I have a full range of motion and can put weight on it to get up out of a chair and such... but it still hurts.
So, in short, those are my reasons for not posting recently, and I'm sorry for not keeping up word for word with my resolutions. However, I'm proud to report that I haven't had fast food or a coke since I made my promise to stay away from both, and I've lost over 10 pounds as a result.
But yeah... I'll get on that last entry. Promise!
P.S. I bought the case and the power supply for my new computer, for less than I was originally planning. All I need now is the motherboard and the RAM before I can start building (I'm cannibalizing my other computer to save money). I've made some changes to the last list to save a bunch of money, and I think everything will still work. It'll give me more time to upgrade the parts instead of putting everything on hold this summer just to build a computer for games. It's the smarter way, I think.
Just a quick moment of your time and a break from the Washington Journal series.
As most of you know, I have another blog that I started for a class my sophomore year called Voice from the Depths of the Cultural Coil. It hasn't seen a lot of action lately (for that, I'm deeply regretful - once you fall out of practice, it's hard to get back in). As evidenced by my newest review of the new Indiana Jones movie, I'm rusty.
However, I saw something recently that made me rather upset, too. The story is over at the Voice, but I'll repost it here.
Who in the world uses Yahoo? They apparently have very questionable tastes.
Yahoo! recently released a user-rated top 30 animated film list - of all time. I’ve never seen such a travesty of a list. I realize that the chaos of a million 12-year-olds does not off-set the more seasoned animated film watchers, but Lawd have mercy this list needs revamping.
That’s why I’m going to start a 16 week series of a revised top 30 countdown. Why not? I’ve got the time now. I’ll do my best to update it every Thursday. The first entry will have three films, and the last will have only one - the number one. Oh, and you don’t have to look at that list if you don’t want to - I’ll recap that list as I go along.
Hope to see you all around!
Well, there you have it. I've got sixteen weeks to churn out a 30 movie list. I'm going to go see some of the new movies that are out just so I can put them in if need be, so this is going to be an up-to-date list as well.
Now back to the Washington Journals series. Thanks for your time!
