Return

Feeling a bit bummed out this week... which is causing a stagnation of my work and attitude. I don't quite know how to verbalize what's going on for me internally, I feel a bit stretched and torn.
The time which I spent back home seems to not have been enough for me. Whenever I return to that place, it feels less and less like the place that I used to live. It's all become alien and strange. My friends have all scattered to different locations in and outside of the country so now when I return I spend most of my time with only a few people outside of my family members. Even those who do decide to return have become different people. At times, it is a welcome change in personality, but for many of them, they are transitioning into young adults with entirely different motivations... I did not spend enough time with my mother and father, and that is my own fault but I feel sometimes that there is a wall that is built up while I'm away for the school year, and it takes weeks to tear it down when I return.
Another cause for this is also just feeling a little useless right now. The job that I was originally supposed to have upon my return to Boston has been put off until the end of the month, so I have virtually nothing to do for most of the day. Lately I have been preparing for my brother's arrival to Boston, getting my funds in order, and writing out the lesson plan that I hope to use next summer, but it just isn't enough to satisfy. I need purpose and structure to be able to function at my best, I suppose... and lately it's been to my detriment.
I was so eager to return to Boston, and I suppose I became overeager about many of the expectations that I had about my arrival. I shouldn't have built them up in the way that I did... It should have been just a natural progression. I should stop kicking myself for it.

SUMMER MOVIES?!

With midterms and the beckoning of beautiful weather, there comes the beautiful anticipation of summer movies. This summer proves to be an intriguing one in terms of comic book movies, anticipated sequels, sci fi, and CGI.
Many friends of mine think that my excitement for a few of these ones is a bit unwarranted, especially in terms of the comic book movies and the sequels. A pox on them.

#1) Iron Man - May 2nd
Dir. John Favreau, Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and SAM JACKSON.
Ok, Robert Downey, Jr. fits Tony Stark perfectly. Call it typecasting in terms of Downey's partier past, but I think that some method acting in terms of Stark could get some interesting results. I also get some good vibes from Favreau, though I'm pretty easily won over by the fact that he directed an episode of Undeclared in the long long ago.

#2) Speed Racer - May 9th
Dir. The Wachowski's, Starring Emile Hirsch and a pretty interesting cast.
I'm not as excited for this one as some of my friends are, but that would stem from the fact that I wasn't a particularly avid watcher of the cartoon during my childhood. BUT, I must say that I'm excited for another feature film by the Wachowski's. They rarely disappoint with their cinematography, and the creation of full focus camera work should be a really cool new effect for the film industry. The intense color saturation that is present in the previews also catches my eye as a fan of cartoons and that general aesthetic. It also just genuinely seems like its going to be a fun movie going experience.

#3) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - May 22nd
Dir. Steven Spielberg, Starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, and Shia LaBeouf.
I felt a little ill writing "Shia LaBeouf" just now... but that aside, I'm hoping that this one will be fun as well. The cynical side of me looks at the preview and says "If they make one more goddamned 'I'm getting too old for this' joke, I'm going to throw something."
On the good side of it though (my optimism often rules out, especially with series' that are so close to my heart), they've cast my favorite Jones girl, Karen Allen (Marion Ravenwood), who I felt had very good chemistry with Harrison, not to mention that her character could drink him under the table and go toe to toe with him in a battle of witticisms. Cate Blanchett looks like she's going to be a pretty great addition to this, especially because I just really dig her in dominating female roles (I probably shouldn't have said that). And lastly... it's Harrison Ford. The first crush I ever had during my childhood was on Han Solo: his cynicism, wit, devil-may-care attitude, and dashing good looks won me over even when I was 6 and more interested in eating dirt than in boys.
I have tons of friends that say that this movie has a huge chance of sucking, but to them I proclaim, "Never tell me the odds."

#4) The Incredible Hulk - June 13th
Dir. Louis Leterrier, Starring Edward Norton, Liv Taylor, Tim Roth, and William Hurt.
I'll keep this short and sweet: Ed Norton > Eric Bana, Liv Taylor > Jennifer Connely, Tim Roth > Nick Nolte, but William Hurt < Sam Elliot... but few men can claim to be greater than Sam Elliot.

#5) WALL-E - June 27th
Dir. Andrew Stanton
I'm a sucker for robots and Pixar. Need I say more?

#6) Hancock - July 2nd
Dir. Peter Berg, Starring Will Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman.
It's pretty obvious to say that I love superhero movies, so this one just kinda turned me on when I saw the preview. I also really like the idea of superheroes being fallible. It gets a little boring to see heroes portrayed as such fundamentally good people, so I find it refreshing to see a superhero who seems to be a notorious fuck up.

#7) Hellboy II: The Golden Army - July 11
Dir. Guillermo del Toro, Starring Ron Perlman (EEEE!), Selma Blair, Doug Jones, and John Hurt.
Guillermo del Toro, Ron Perlman, demons, cool special effects makeup and one of my all-time favorite comic books? Count me in.

#8) Dark Knight - July 18th
Dir. Christopher Nolan, Starring Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine... and ON AND ON WITH THE GREAT CASTING, GAH!
I'm not going to lie. I drooled, cried, yelled, and almost peed when I saw each preview for this. I should probably feel ashamed for those things, but I most certainly am not. Batman was always my favorite comic book character: his troubled past, his willpower, his passion, and his tormented soul just made him so much more interesting than any other comic character I've ever read. When the first Christopher Nolan directed Batman movie came out, I was a bit skeptical. After watching Tim Burton's versions (which were interesting in their darkness, but completely untrue to canon, not to mention that Michael Keaton wasn't the best Bruce), and then being RAPED by the Joel Schumacher ones, ("chill" "uncah alfred!" "holy rusted metal, batman!" and BATNIPPLES?!) I was on my gaurd. But then Christopher Nolan just... opened his arms, gave me a hug, and made me truly believe just how awesome Batman could be in film form. I love all of the casting choices that were made, (apart from Katie Holmes and her ever visible nipples) I enjoyed the costume, and though the new Batmobile just isn't the same, I still appreciated it. Christian Bale is an amazing actor as well. No one that has been cast in the past has been able to adequately play both Bruce and Batman (Val Kilmer did relatively well), but Bale portrays both in such an incredible manner. I'm dying for this to come out and wish that I could just hop into my Delorean, gun it to 88, and get to July 18th right now. *sigh* Patience. Patience is a virtue.

#9) X-Files sequel?! - July 25th
Dir. Chris Carter, Starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.
Wait... what?! I hope it's true. I hope it's not IMDb lying to me.

Anyway. Hope I didn't bore you 2 readers with my rant. Come see these movies with me this summer!

We're here to burn up the night

Capen is a trooper. Up until 5 AM rehashing the past and drawing this.

Sjadajim!

One of the usual responses KC gives me when I'm being "irrational."

written by Felisia Sainz and KC Lewis

art by Felisia Sainz

{eeeee, first comic!}

Luke, at that speed do you think you'll be able to pull out in time?

Today was a truly wonderful day. You may ask "Why was your day so particularly wonderful, Felisia? We want to know of your entertaining life."
Actually you probably wouldn't ask that... but if you did, I would reply,
Reasons that my day was awesome
#1) I popped the Star Wars cherry of my best female friend, Tricia.
A couple of weeks ago she told me that she had never seen the original Star Wars Trilogy, which of course caused me to flip out a bit. Since then, I have been ranting and raving about it, making fun of the fact that she doesn't understand when someone says "IT'S A TRAP," doesn't get it when I make a Wookie noise, and just gets freaked out when I laugh like Salacious Crumb (yes, I have perfected it since childhood).
As we watched Episode IV today, I felt such a sense of satisfaction. I was sharing one of my greatest passions with one of my closest friends. When Luke made his "one in a million" shot into the exhaust port of the Death Star, I heard Tricia gasp and witnessed a smile cross her face. In that moment, I remembered fondly the experience of watching Star Wars for the first time with my parents. It was a wonderful feeling.

#2) Two words. Bizzy Bone.
There is an AMAZING little deli/convenience store in Roxbury called Wan's. If you ever have the good fortune of finding it, go in and ask Al to make you a Bizzy Bone sandwich. It is by far the best thing I've ever freaking tasted... damn now I want another one.

#3) Free ice cream day at JP Licks. I don't really need to say more than this.

#4) I have a good buffer of comics that I'm finally planning on scanning and then putting up here. I'm not really expecting anyone to look at them, but just the fact that they're out in the world makes me feel as though I've accomplished something, however small that something is.

There... now maybe my single reader will be sated.
Hoorah.

Felisia

star wars rage

I recently discovered that my soon to be roommate has never seen the Star Wars Trilogy.

Felisia: "Oh man. I'm... gonna cry. I'm MAKING her watch all of them (the original Trilogy, not the newbs) this summer."
Adam: "By this summer, you mean... right now."
Felisia: "I dont have my collection in DVD form I have the VHS
BEFORE they made it fucking Hayden Christiansen at the end of episode VI."
Adam: "EE!"
Felisia: "Dammit. I can't explain it to Tricia without ruining everything. Because then I'd have to tell her that Vader is Luke's father and I don't want to rob her of that initial shock that all NORMAL people got to experience when we were practically toddlers... I can't comprehend how her parents never showed her the original trilogy. I'm demanding her phone, so I can ask her father WHYYY."
Adam: "NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO. You should have done that when you found out... There are people who haven't seen The Trilogy. Some consider these people to be...un...natural."