Transformers 2: Bumblebee Goes to College

After enjoying Transformers 1 SO MUCH my friend Sherri and I decided, after hearing that Transformers 2:  Revenge of the Fallen was possibly one of the most racist and sexist movies ever, that we had to watch it.

Before going over to Sherri's to watch Transformers 2, my sisters were watching The Bachelorette at my house, so I sat down and checked it out for a few minutes while I was waiting to leave.  "Ah, I see this season is just another pinnacle of diversity" I observed.  This season's bachelorette is blonde, skinny, and innocent-looking, while all the bachelors vying for her hand in marriage (that show is so bizarre) look like douchy white surfer dudes who spend hours at the gym and wear way too tight of shirts.  Not a person of colour in sight.

And Transformers 2, we were not surprised to find out, was basically as diverse as The Bachelorette, except for the one token black military guy played by Tyrese Gibson (HAHAHA Tyrese's last name finally comes out, and it is something super lame like "Gibson" - the end credits were the funniest part of the movie).  He didn't really have any important lines though and didn't actually do anything to advance the plot - I guess he was just supposed to stand around, shoot a gun, and look black.

Although, at least the fact that he was in the military and seemed to be relatively high-ranked subliminally suggests that the one black character was capable of doing important things and not a stereotype (unlike the two Jar-Jar Binks-esque "twin" Autobots who we couldn't decide if they were supposed to be stereotypically black or stereotypically gay or both, but either way they just seemed to be extremely annoying and offensive).  So while Tyrese Gibson (hahaha) was quite obviously a "token black guy" at least his character was boring enough to not end up becoming a super offensive stereotype.

Because EVERY female character (with more than one line) was an insanely offensive stereotype.  Just mind-blowingly so.  Let's discuss.

Megan Fox's character, I have to say, maybe goes down as one of the worst female characters in recent movie history.  The worst part of her character is that she's supposed to not be a terrible stereotyped damsel-in-distress, but she totally is.  Just because she can fix cars and stuff doesn't mean that suddenly makes her a non-stereotype!  Because COME ON, this is not appropriate personal protective equipment for working in a garage:

THIS is appropriate PPE for working in a garage (except not the shoes, WTF internet?????):

Megan Fox's insanely sexy, car-fixing, baby-voiced, submissive girlfriend (Megan:  "I'm breaking up with you Shia LeBleoughff" Shia:  "No you're not baby"  Megan:  "Okay lol I'm coming over soon and hopefully you tell me you love me because I won't say it first because I'm sooooo coy") character does not exist as a real person in real life, but she exists a lot in movies, and that's why she's a stereotype.

The other two female characters, who I hated almost as much as Megan Fox's character, were Shia LeBleoghaf"s STUPID STUPID DUMB IDIOT mom (worst movie mom of all time, hands-down) and this ultra-sexy college girl who (SPOILER ALERT) tried to RAPE Shia LeBleoughsf but then turned out to be a Deceptibot or whatever, OMG I was so offended, you have no idea.  The mom character was so dumb and stupid and didn't know ANYTHING and her husband had to chase her down all the time and be like "now honey, don't do that" because she was so dumb I have no idea how she made it to adulthood without getting herself killed from being so stupid (I guess that's what husbands are for LOL AMIRIGHT GUYS).  I'm glad at least that the sexy Decepticon turned out to be a Transformer because that sort of redeems her for trying to seduce Shia LeBeef so aggressively - NOT that I'm saying women are supposed to be submissive and not be seducing people but I hate the stereotype that all "college girls" have zero morals and are constantly trying to get guys to cheat on their girlfriends with them and it's NOT okay to rape people!!!  No matter what your gender.

ALSO the female Dean of the university was sitting in on Dwight Schrute's Astronomy 101 class while Dwight was being a MASSIVE perv to all the female students, who really seemed to enjoy it (after all, they are COLLEGE GIRLS), and the Dean didn't even say anything?  Come on, Dean.  Do some Deaning.  To get to your position you've obviously had to push through a lot of sexism, please teach your female students that it's not okay to be treated like that so they might become Deans someday too.

Although, terrible sexism and racism aside, we did find that the plot of this Transformers was easier to follow than the plot of the first Transformers.  Like, we didn't have to rewind the ending 3 times to try to figure out what happened.  Don't get me wrong though, it was still a TERRIBLE movie filled with leg-humping by small animals and Transformers (ew so uncomfortable) and a LOT of scrotum jokes, which did seem to imply that the movie was written by Michael Bay's 14 year old nephew or something.  But the weird thing about this movie is that critics and fans all agree (and Michael Bay too) that this one was wayyyyy worse than the first one.

Um, are you guys sure you saw the first one?  Because it was actually so terrible too.  I think what happened was that people were so excited and hyped for the first Transformers that they wanted to like it, and thought it was better than it really was.  Then when the second one came out they weren't as excited so they were like "oh... this actually sucks" but it was too late to change their reviews of the first one, which sucked just as much, and maybe slightly more plot-wise.

But anyway, my biggest wish for this movie was that they had called it Transformers 2:  Bumblebee Goes to College.  That would have been awesome.

Air Plants!

I am pretty sure a while ago I wrote a post about how Etsy had such an amazing selection of terrarium-type stuff but none could ship across the border into Canada and I was so sad.  I was also sad because at work my office does not have any windows, and it's basically impossible to keep plants alive in it if because the air is insanely dry, and having discovered air plants on Etsy I really wanted to order some for my office because it seemed that these might finally be the mystical plants that I could keep alive in my office.

But TODAY, I found an Etsy shop that ships them to Canada, so I ordered a bunch!  I'm so excited.

Air plants are really weird plants that just sort of grow - they don't have roots and they don't require to be in water or dirt.  They're sort of like living pom-poms that you can attach to anything to make it look cool, and you just have to mist them once a week or so if the room they're in isn't humid.  But mostly they just absorb all the moisture they need from the air.

If you look up the Wikipedia article about air plants, they'll classify even things like orchids as air plants, however the kind you would get if you went to a nursery or searched online to order "air plants" are the kind pictured below, or more green, like spider plants (but they aren't spider plants).

(Source:  Etsy shop TwistedAcres)

Kind of weird, but also cool!  I can't wait to "green" up my dry office a bit.

THANKS ANITA

I saw a commercial this past week for AT&T.  I don't remember exactly what product it was but in the bundle it was advertising you'd get national (US) access to the AT&T Wifi Hotspot Network so you can basically have wifi everywhere you go.

THEN, to demonstrate how useful having wireless internet everywhere you go would be, it showed a scene of a family out to dinner together and one of the kids asked his dad some (extremely important, obv) question about a comic book character.  The dad was like "uhhh, uhhh what do I dooooo" because TV dads are always super dumb and don't know to say normal dad things like "I'm not sure, let's look it up when we get home" or whatever. 

BUT DON'T WORRY PEOPLE the daughter saved the day because she was able to look up the answer to this very important question on her LAPTOP, which for some reason her parents allowed her to have out at the restaurant while they enjoyed a family dinner, and the stupid TV dad was like "OMG thank you so much Anita, you saved me from looking like a stupid TV dad" instead of being like "Hey Anita, put that laptop away and have a conversation with us since we're buying you a nice dinner."

It was one of those commercials where I yelled at the TV, in case you haven't figured that out yet.  If you are a longtime reader you also have probably figured out that I yell at TV ads a lot.

My future children are NOT allowed to bring laptops out to family dinners.  Plus, mixing food and drinks and laptops on the same surface is generally not a good idea anyway.

House Hunting Week 2: The Home Feeling

Note:  This was written on Saturday evening, so there may have been new developments since then, but maybe not...

We've brought our "viewed house" count up to 22 houses by now (probably more by the time this posts).  I think we've both learned a lot by now, and we're ready to make an offer if the right house comes along.  Having seen this many houses in all sorts of neighbourhoods and within our price range, we've got a pretty clear idea of what works for us and what we can generally expect to see.

Along this road it's possible that we let a couple of good houses slip away, but I'm sure more good ones will come along.  They're most likely not going to be houses that have been sitting on the market for any length of time so probably the plan of action will be me getting a call from our realtor as soon as the house is listed, going to see it, and then making an offer - hopefully conditional on Brahm getting to see it when he gets home from work.

In House Hunting Week 1 I did a lot of looking on my own while Brahm was at work, but I'm glad we got to see a bunch more houses together this week because I'm getting a better idea of the things that might be deal breakers for him but not for me so I'll have to keep those in mind.

I'm feeling like this will be okay though because we've seen a couple houses (together) that we both really liked but didn't buy (one was possibly already sold when we looked at it, the other turned out to not have enough natural light), but there was a distinct feeling we got in those houses.  We wanted to hang out in them.  One of those houses had an amazing kitchen where we just sat around the island for a while, imagining cooking in it.  The other I wanted to sit on the deck and hang out in the yard, and Brahm wanted to hang his guitars on the basement wall.  They felt like they could be our house, rather than someone else's house that we were just looking at. 

Because these were only the second and third houses we looked at and had various downsides to them, it's good that we didn't buy either of them because at that point we still were working out the kinks and getting an idea of what we wanted and needed in a house.  But now having seen 22 houses, and knowing that the "home" feeling does exist (and WAS real when we felt it about those houses, being total property virgins) we know the combination to look for is having all of the criteria we want and not wanting to leave!

In-scent-sitive

Brahm's just getting over some sort of weird flu/strep throat-like sickness.  The other day when I got home from work I showered (because flying makes me feel grimy) and put on a brand of body lotion that I've been using for a few months now.  Then I went over to Brahm's for supper.

When I got there, he asked if I was wearing a new perfume or something, which I wasn't, and we figured this mystery smell might be from the Rub A535 his roommate had recently put on.  Halfway through supper he said "No, that's not Rub A535.  It must be what you're wearing.  It is so strong" which I thought was weird because I'd been using it for a few months and he'd never noticed.  But maybe it was because I was wearing shorts that day, and had just applied it before coming over.  I personally couldn't smell it unless I put my leg right up to my nose, but also maybe his cold was making him more sensitive to smells.

The next day I used the lotion again, thinking it would be okay because I was planning to wear pants that day, and also wouldn't see Brahm for 10+ hours after applying the lotion - surely by then the smell would have worn off, or be masked by my pants and long sleeves.

But that evening when Brahm came over before we went house hunting, he immediately noticed.  "You're wearing that lotion again."   I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved sweater.  I pulled up my sleeve and put my arm right up to my nose and sniffed as hard as I could.  I couldn't smell anything.

It will be interesting to see if this new sensitivity to smells is permanent, or just a temporary side effect of Brahm's cold.  His mom is quite sensitive to smells and he said he has had a feeling he was developing the same sensitivity, but it's bizarre that it just suddenly showed up like that.

I told him we can do an experiment (me wearing the lotion and him seeing if he can smell it) when he's healthy again, but it looks like I may have to stop using perfumed lotions.  Which is fine by me - I wasn't the biggest fan of that scent anyway but for me the smell wears off after half an hour anyway, but if it's got some ingredient that irritates scent-sitive people I'm happy to donate the bottle to someone who it won't bother.

Brad Wall, be nice to your wife

It's known around Canada that the Premier of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall, is a pretty snappy dresser, and I don't think it's any coincidence that he's a popular guy.  I'm not saying that he's only popular because of his appearance, but he just looks like a smart, nice dude, so I think that makes it easier for people to trust him than if he looked a bit like a toad, for example.

I'm not saying this is right by any means - in fact, it's one of the main reasons why women politicians have such a hard time getting elected, but that's another discussion for another day.

I read a Star Phoenix article about Brad Wall's new glasses (aka BREAKING NEWS) the other day and it made me uncomfortable.  Which parts specifically?

“You’ve got some new spectacles,” a reporter asked during a scrum on Tuesday.
“Yes, I did. My wife picked them out,” the premier responded.
“Is that how a premier picks out new glasses?” the questions continued.
“That’s how a premier who wants to avoid trouble at home picks out glasses,” Wall said, cracking up reporters already amused at the lighthearted exchange.

and

“Same brand?” another reporter chimed in.
“I don’t know,” Wall answered. “I think the other ones were another brand. They weren’t Alfred Sung. I remember this brand because Alfred Sung makes a perfume that’s my wife’s preference and again, to avoid trouble, I’ve tried to memorize that, because I’ve gotten the wrong bottle several times. And that never works out well."

(Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Wall+credits+wife+fashionable+glasses/6609368/story.html#ixzz1v9ONm1ry)

The thing that made me uncomfortable about that exchange is that it's just so common for men to joke about their controlling wives.  And when a high-profile public figure does it, it makes me feel even more icky because it seems to be making the implication "During the day I run the world with the big boys, but when I go home I let my little wife feel like she's got some control by telling me what to wear and what to buy her for gifts."

It doesn't imply an equal partnership.  I don't feel like the kind of exchange Mr. Wall and the reporters had is respectful to his wife.  Not to make assumptions, because I don't know anything about Mr. Wall's home life, it's very possible he and his wife do respect each other a lot and do have an equal partnership, which I hope is true.  And to his credit at least he wasn't calling his wife "the old ball and chain" or anything.  But it's just one of those universally accepted things to joke about, for politicians to use to endear and humanize themselves.  And it's GROSS.

It's like when I hear men having conversations like "What are you doing this weekend, want to grab a beer?" and the other one replies something like "I'll have to see if The Warden will let me, lolololol" and then they're both like "HAHA CHICKS AMIRIGHT!"

This is NOT OKAY.  I know it's very common, and it's generally tongue-in-cheek, but it's disrespectful and demeans women.  It implies that in a partnership, if a woman is being controlling, it's just silly and annoying, not unhealthy.  But if a woman said something like that about her husband, it would immediately imply an unhealthy, abusive relationship.

Not that I'm saying women should be joking about their controlling husbands either, because like I said I think that kind of joking is totally disrespectful to your partner.  But when it's okay for a woman to be controlling, but not a man, it sends the message that "it's just a woman controlling him on silly things like where to have dinner and what clothes to wear, it doesn't matter - she doesn't have any REAL power."  Because only men have the "legitimate" type of power to make control issues in a relationship unhealthy.  When the control issues belong to the woman, it's just her being silly - not scary.

So Premier Wall, if you happen to ever run across my blog on a self-Googling session, please think about what I'm saying.  My respect level for men always falls when they use this kind of language.  I hope any men reading this will also think twice before calling their female partners "the old ball and chain" or something similar in the future.

The Hockey Saga

Mom:  Were at mac donalds it twenty six out them got free tickets to hockey game tonite Haha

Mom:  Are you getting ready for bed im at the bronc oh game its three two bronc oh s Haha Its fun

Mom:  Bronc oh s won four to three im done watching hockey for this year it was freezing im there last nite and the lady sitting behind me before

Mom:  Before we moved got hit with a puck and her head bleeding so she got stitches good thing we moved Haha the hockey saga

Bryce Canyon National Park

One of the coolest places I've seen.  Like Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon in a way - but with rocks.  Just have a look at the pictures, there's not much else to say.

Palm Springs (but not THE Palm Springs)

Driving through the desert, suddenly we saw palm trees growing out of seemingly nowhere - so we pulled over and it turned out to be a cool desert spring!  I guess this is how Palm Springs got its name or something but it was not something I was aware of, and totally neat.

Especially neat that one of the little pools was absolutely teeming with little fish!

Desert desert desert... then a few feet away, palms and springs!  Then more desert.

I love palm trees the most.

Another reason to stay at Best Western

That is what it looks like - a FREE COMPLIMENTARY...

PAPER TOWEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Best Western!  I have never stayed at a hotel that provided such complimentary luxuries to its guests before!  Wow!  I am also glad that they state that you can use it however you like, as there are many uses for paper towels and travelers would not want to be limited to only one such use such as wiping hands after a meal or cleaning off a windshield.

What can I say, Best Western has made me a lifelong customer.