Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Complicated and interesting things that fascinate me.


The Universe - I have been watching countless shows on TV about the universe. Solar flares, supernovas, black holes, event horizons and our search for Earth two. Future plans for space exploration and the long term implications that it would have on the human body. Solar radiation, landing on the moon and the concept of wormholes. Thoughts on how Mars may have once been and how Earth could once be. The concept of how galaxies are built, how they move and how they sometimes crash into one another. How with each passing year things become even further out of our reach then before. Our obsession with finding life on other planets, no matter how miniscule. The slow demise of our own sun and how once its runs out of hydrogen fuel, it will collapse and life as we know it will die. How dark matter and dark energy make up over 95% of the universe. How we are literally made of stardust. The theory of the Big Crunch and a new Big Bang or the opposite, which is the never ending expansion of it all.


And why Dr. Michio Kaku is somehow involved on every single show about the Universe. MICHIIIOOOOOOO IS KING!


The concept of Parallel Universes and the M String Theory - I will not even attempt to explain this in great detail because I doubt I could do it justice. So I will try to keep it simple, if that is even possible. This is the notion that an electron is not a dot, but a rubber band which, if vibrated enough times, can turn into every single sub-atomic particle in the universe. It either explains everything, or it explains nothing. The new M string theory operates out of 11 dimensions, meaning that Parallel Universes would indeed exist, if proven. Every time I listen to Michio, each sentence makes sense. It's only when you get to the end of the show that you realize you're still hopelessly lost. Wrapping my brain around it all is not something I'm capable of doing. I want to grasp it, but the more I read on it and the more shows I see on TV, the more questions I have and the more confused I become. MICHIO, you're one insane puppy!


Immortality and advances in science - If the death of normal cells is inevitable, why do cancer cells live indefinitely? While studying cancer cells and the prevention of their growth, we at the same time are beginning to explore the possibility of human immortality. Will the next generation be the one to live forever? Some say it's possible. Our aging cells are always under attack by free radicals in our environment. We survive because our cells have the ability to duplicate before being killed by these natural causes. Each time our cells duplicate, the DNA molecule which resembles a spiral ladder splits. Each half of this spiral ladder then rebuilds the missing half making two new DNA molecules. However, each time this process happens, a very small portion of the DNA molecule "telomere", which are at the ends of the DNA molecule, are lost and not copied, making the spiral ladder shorter. The effect is very insignificant, but the shorter the ladder gets, the older we get and the closer we come to death. Scientists are now looking at the possibility of increasing "telomerase" activity in normal cells, which might stop the biological clock of aging. Isn't Science amazing? Would this be like a preventative daily pill? A onetime injection? A SUPER JUICE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH COCTAIL? Oh the endless stupid possibilities! Now the question is, if in the future, you had to option to live to be 250 or forever, would you actually want to? Would it be available to everyone? Who would get to choose?

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

ZOMBIE!!!


I would like to have a Zombie cookout. NO ONE seems to think that this is a good idea. I have searched deep within myself to try and figure out why and to make sense of it all. But no answer is to be found. Getting dressed up for no reason at all in a costume = GOOD. Zombie = GOOD. Meat = GOOD. Get together with friends = GOOD! What's the problem damn it? What could be more amusing then a zombie gnawing on a medium rare steak while the neighbors watch in horror? Or devouring a hot dog covered in blood (AKA ketchup)? I don't get it!

I will push for this next Halloween. Since "sane people" need a reason to put on a costume. My only requirements are boredom, imagination and at times, a camera to "capture the magic". I was to be one last Halloween but that didn't work out. I still have the makeup and it taunts me every time I look at it. (Put me on, put me on, cover your face with this amazing fake blood and scab mixture, do it, do it, do it…). As hard as it is, I resist. Though I think waking up one morning and doing it would be hilarious. Especially since Nick wakes up later then me every weekend. HA! Hi Honey, I would say with a wicked smile. With a blood covered chin while I sip on my coffee. I doubt he would find it as amusing as me though. He would just roll his eyes, call me crazy and continue about his day. NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME. Ha!


I have it all visualized and planned out and in my warped little mind it is magnificent. A brain shaped cake made out of red velvet cake. Red punch filled with ice in the shape of a hand. I FOUND A HOW TO MAKE A FROZEN HAND BLOG! What are the odds right? Cookies in the shape of fingers. Eyeball poppers! COME ON! SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!


More fun if you don't do it on Halloween in my opinion but whatever. I shall wait. Impatiently..... And when the day comes, I will feel VICTORIOUS!

Monday, July 13, 2009

MOVIES! YEAH!


I've been on a movie watching spree lately and I show no signs of stopping. A few weeks ago I watched Terminator Salvation. I give it a C+. It was just OKAY! The best part of the whole movie for me was Marcus, the character played by Sam Worthington. A Machine that did not realize it was a machine. The best parts of the movie revolved around him coming to terms with what he was and seeking redemption for the things that he had done when he was still alive. A second chance to make a difference. His role was heartfelt and real where as the rest of the movie was all action packed, monotone and repetitive and worst of all, expected. I was let down but not completely disgusted.

I also watched He's Just Not That Into You which of course fell into the easily categorized, man hated chick flick genre. I thought that for the most part, it was honest and amusing. As someone who dated a few years back and dealt with a lot of bullshit excuses and no call backs, it struck a chord. I will give it a solid B for that fact alone. It dealt with the never-ending joys of dating and our brainwashed ideals of why men and women do what they do to each other. It was a nice tango between reality, comedy and painful truth. I thought it was adorable. However, if you have a penis, you will hate this movie. So unless you are trying to impress a certain lady friend, do not watch it.

Another great movie I thought was Broken English. I HIGHLY related to this movie and cried a lot while watching it. I thought it was magnificent and I thought that Parker Posey (love her) was just fantastic in the leading role. A sad, self doubting, 30 something woman. Her life revolves around feeling incomplete, lonely and worried about getting older and having no love in her life or children. Her mother meddles too much and everyone is always asking what is wrong with her and what she is waiting for. Of course, making her feel all the more worthless. Then she has a chance encounter with a man and it changes her life. Not in a comical, swept you off your feet sort of bullshit way that most movies interpret life and love to be. It was real and honest. The meeting lasted just a few days and in those few days he saw her at her worst. He saw her for who she was and he accepted her. But he had to go back to France and their love affair came to a quick end. The rest of the movie revolves around her taking a chance and following her heart all the way to France. And for once she puts herself first and takes a risk. I freaking loved this movie. I highly recommend it. Ladies, have a box of tissues ready. This one gets an A++. Also, do not bother with the preview, it does the movie no justice. Just watch it!

Punch Drunk Love starring Adam Sandler and Emily Wilson. I loved this movie also. A strange look into the life of a depressed and shy man who dislikes his family and the way that they treat him. He has seven sisters who all judge him in every aspect of his life. He is single, lonely and sick of everything in general. He feels confined in his life and scared of change. He has a tendency to bottle things up inside until they become uncontrollable and then he releases the stress with bursts of violent anger. All of this changes when he meets a woman who seems to like him exactly the way that he is. This of course is odd for him because he has always assumed that there was something wrong with him. Their relationship blossoms quickly and he throws himself at the mercy of love completely and finally lets go. It was lovely to watch. Of course the movie has some additional side stories to keep it even more interesting and odd but I will not give too much away. I give this one an A. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Angels and Demons - Okay, I will not dwell on this nightmare for too long. I hated it. The storyline was out of control bad and unrealistic. Which can be good sometimes, but not in this case. I found it to be ridiculous, un-inspiring and BORING! And basically, that is all I have to say. This one gets a D!

I love watching movies!!! I DO!!! There are a few coming out later this year that I am excited about. Which usually means I will be let down but I have hope. I HAVE HOPE! Check em out.

District 9 - Aliens land on Earth because they have to and had no choice. Humans treat them like trash and lock them all up in a slum like area called District 9. The movie seems to focus on how we will not let them leave so that we can gain their weapons intelligence and I believe that the government plays the bad role in this one. Looks interesting and it could possibly be a good one to watch.


The Road - A long anticipated remake of the book, there is a lot of buzz about this post apocalyptic movie. I already love it because I love the whole vibe of anything that focuses on survival after a catastrophic global event. I find it fascinating! As they all tend to, this movie is not only about survival, but it also about the destruction of humanity and the ugliness of greed and lawlessness. I don't think this one will let me down and I can't wait to see it.


2012 - This one will probably suck storyline wise but I think it will be very interesting visually. I don't think I have to explain what this one is about. Who knows, maybe John Cusack will save the movie. (SAY ANYTHING IS THE S**T! YEAH!) Ha!


Where The Wild Things Are - A movie by Spike Jonze? OH MY..... This one can't be bad. When I heard the buzz about this, I was worried that it would be a cartoon or another annoying computer animated nightmare. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it is live action with costumes and what not. This one should be good and hopefully will give the books justice! Looking forward to it!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Ghost of Ildie Past....


All of the images below remind me of my early childhood in Hungary. Sometimes I miss the simple times when my biggest decisions for the day were what tree to climb and what direction to go exploring in. All we did was run around and get into dirt. There was this abandoned convertible that was all rusted that we used to climb into and pretend that it was a boat. Oh imagination, I miss thee. I'm not even sure that we knew what a car was at the time. No one in our little town owned one. I would climb cherry trees and eat cherries until I became sick. Me and my little posse would go roaming through cornfields looking for foxes. We never saw any but were convinced they lived there. We would also visit what I still refer to as the "forest of paradise" that just magically grew out in the middle of the HUGE cornfields. The place was blanketed by purple and white flowers and just seemed magical. My mom used to tell us to watch out for the gypsies. Not as an inside joke either. They used to live around town and steal our corn and vegetables. I never had any run-ins with them though. Except that one time I caught one in a ditch with a hand full of corn. HA! We used to walk to the ice cream parlor with empty glass jars and get some of the best ice cream in the world. I still remember the way the ice cream smelled. I have not had ice cream that good since. We would race home with the tasty jars before they melted. I thought for years that babies really did come from a stork because they were found EVERYWHERE in our little town. Making nests on chimney tops and what not. I used to watch joyfully as my Papa butchered the chickens we had for dinner. Somehow at the time it didn't scare me at all. I bet I wouldn't be able handle it now. We used to grow vegetables and while my mom would pick them I would eat them. Nothing tastes better then fresh sugar snap peas covered in dirt. I had a little green bike that I would ride around. I remember being a curious kid. I was never still. I remember me and Ann riding on the back of my moms bicycle to the train station and then taking the train to the next city to go to school. I remember our little uniforms. Stupid white pantyhose and my little skirt and this blue jacket that went over it all. One of my little jackets was shiny and I insisted on wearing that one all the time. I remember finding this little duckling once and crying when my dad said I couldn't keep it as a pet. As odd as it was, finding animals everywhere like that was a normal occurennce. I remember Easter, when all the men and boys in the neighborhood would come around with cologne. It was tradition for them to sprinkle some on all the ladies and girls and then kiss them on the cheek. Oh I was petrified. I didn't want anyone kissing me. I used to run through poppy fields so beautiful that I still think about them to this day. Flowers taller then me all around. I remember putting my boots out every Christmas, waiting for Santa to fill them full of good stuff. My mom got us good one year. No one heard her creeping around and I think we thought that she was at work. I was convinced for YEARS that Santa visited us after that night. I remember getting this TINY little Barbie like doll with long dark hair. I loved that stupid plastic thing to pieces. HA!



I miss being a kid!
(By the way, I found all of these pictures online and all are of Ketegyhaza, which is where I grew up. We never owned a camera. That's for fancy folks)

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Toasted Marshmallow, I SHALL have thee!


The 4th was once again full of excitement, fire, drinks, food and merriment. It started off at a family get together at Nicks' Aunts' house. Overall, not bad. We had a few beers, had some delicious foods and after a few hours packed into my hot little car to make the long drive to Atwater. We arrived at roughly 6:00 after about an hour on the road. WTF. I know it was not this far away last year. Maybe I don't drive as fast as Nick. Who knows. We joined everyone in the backyard. Somehow the atmosphere was a bit different. And by this of course I mean that everyone was still sober. Very odd. Very odd indeed. Apparently they had made a make-shift "bar" in the camper that was parked on their property. Check out this beauty. It smelled worse inside then it looked!

I quickly made myself a drink and wandered back to the deck. The boys (PRE too drunk to do so safely) took a shotgun to the very back of the property to practice target shooting. DON'T WORRY! They have ALL fired guns before and this was a completely safe situation. I along with all the ladies of course did not go. I hate guns!!! Anything designed for the sheer purpose of murder and purchased only out of fear, anger or hate bothers me. Don't give me that "protection" crap either. Buy a damn bat! While sipping on my tall cool glass of Captain and Coke and heard excited murmurs all around me. women shrieking, hugging, crying. What the hell was going on? Now it was all making sense. The party was less rowdy because of an unexpected but joyous pregnancy. And on top of that two other ladies were now "trying" to conceive also. While I found all of this to be wonderful and disgustingly cutesy news, I found myself sipping my drink alone for the time being. NO MATTER. I was driving home so it's better to drink now as opposed to later.

The food smelled so good... I was drooling. Drinking always makes me hungry. Damn burgers. Why must you taste so DELICIOUS!

After falling out of the trance the food preparation had lured me in I realized that they were setting up the fireworks and a MASSIVE bonfire pile already. Oh man, this should be good I thought while making myself another drink. By the time I made it back from the camper the fireworks had begun. They don't even wait for darkness anymore. I love these people! There were even better then last years.

After the fireworks were over they lit the massive bonfire pile. The flames were so high and hot that toasting the marshmallows turned into an adventure.

People crafted sticks and stuck them inside their shoes making their reach as long as humanly possible. But this did not work either. Some others ran up for seconds and then sprinted back, repeating this process until they got it toasty enough. Nick devised a shield of sorts but the flames were so freakin HOT that it just wasn't enough to tame them. I fought for roughly 10 minutes to toast my fluffy wuffy stuff and then with half of it toasted, I gave up and devoured it.


No one caught fire, no one puked and no one fell. All in all, a great day I must add. The drive home however was special. I had to ask which way to get to 224 at least 10 times before leaving because Nick was in no condition to give directions. HA! The area we were in was full of dark and narrow gravel type roads with no streetlights. FUN! But I found it eventually. And after making an EMERGENCY STOP on a side street for my lovely significant others' upset stomach (sure you know what I mean here), we made it home in no time.

The Marshmallow did not beat the man!
 

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