BILBO NEEDS A DATE

Hobbit Hunts Husband

Petite, hairy, medium weight but still nice and lean (food is scarce for us great adventurers). Sensitive, not too outgoing (has been out of the house quite a lot lately, but wishes he was home on the inside), thoughtful (saved dwarves on several occasions), and mighty strong brave(he can boast that. Has gotten Thorin&co. out of trouble plenty of times. Was actually quite scared but that’s not the kind of thing one would mention), cunning(or maybe just plain lucky). Enjoys spending quiet time in hobbit hole(mentioned everywhere, duh) and drinking lots of tea whilst eating many cakes. Prefers warm and cozy environments. Hates an empty stomach (despises being hungry) and the cold, or being tired, or anything relatively uncomfortable really. Looking for significant other willing to stay home for quiet time and cuddles. Must be qualified as a chef, preferably an expert on the dessert area. Must be small. Preferably furry feet. Elves, spiders, and wolves not accepted. Must be able to create small landscape drawings with smoke from pipe. Must have cloaks in all colors of the rainbow.

Email: couchpotato@recipeworld.adv
Digits: HOME FTW 941-1457-069

TIMES ARE HARD FOR DREAMERS

Le Fabuleux Destin D' A M E L I E Poulain

Amelie is a French film, written and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, starring Audrey Tautou and Mathieu Kassovitz, released in 2001.

Amelie is an out of the ordinary girl, that has a sudden inspiration one day, and from then on does small things to make other people happy. Through making other people joyful, she gains small sparks of bliss herself. One day though, she bumps into a stranger, and falls instantly in love with him. She has his photo album that he left behind, and therefore a reason to find out more about him, and meet with him to give it back. Amelie isn’t so simple though- she leaves small riddles for him to solve, it’s as if she’s postponing things. It’s about time she does something for herself, and we see that in the end, Amelie may be a little afraid of fate.

The main characters in the film are Amelie, and Nino. Amelie is an open minded, poetic, beautiful on the inside woman. She is played by Audrey Tautou, who at the time was a still pretty unknown actress; it was this film that made her gain some recognition. Nino, the similar in character boy that Amelie falls in love with, is an absent-minded, gentle, special boy. He is played by Mathieu Kassovitz, an even less known actor. I think that they both played their roles extremely well, taking care in adopting the necessary body language and facial expressions that their characters would have. I also think that the choice of using two unknown actors to star in the film could be wise, seeing as they didn’t have any stereotypes of former films to fit into particularly, and were viewed as fresh in their unique roles.

The music, was written and composed by Yann Tiersen, especially for the film. The main songs used have several versions, each differing one playing in an appropriate scene. The instruments used in some, such as the accordion, give the feel that could be found in the streets of Paris. None of the songs have any words, and therefore must express emotion only through the means of sound, making it even more extraordinary. The film was a success for Yann Tiersen as well, for the audience adored his music, and it is widely listened to today.

Amelie has a very distinct aesthetic to it. Everything is themed green and red, which are contrasting colors, but somehow every frame manages to look harmonious. Nothing out of the ordinary is presented, for one of the catch-themes of the film is how Amelie seems like normal girl, therefore there aren’t any elaborate costume, or setting designs shown. It isn’t all set into a basic reality though, for we see speaking photographs, and moving paintings. These are done well, and without the need to seem utterly convincing, because of the context in which they are set, where we are allowed to assume that the characters are imagining the interaction between them, for they are dreamers. Though the filming doesn’t strictly follow the rule of thirds, because of the range of angles used (from above, from below, directly in front of the subject, far away, extremely close, etc) this doesn’t make any shots less interesting, and on the contrary can create a pleasing visual symmetry. There is also a variation of the kind of material being watched, with time lapse and stop motion included.

I personally absolutely adored this film. I have seen it countless times and cannot find any flaws in it. Everything in it makes it easy to watch, and enjoyable. The images please your eyes, the music is ear candy, and the content makes you think. When I am ill, the only thing that will console me is watching Amelie. It makes a comment on human virtues, and how one can use them to do benefit to themselves, as well as others. It is also about love, dreaming, looking at the small things in life, the details, and savoring each moment. It makes you look at everything differently after you have watched it, you look at the clouds for shapes, you feel the rain, and you listen to the rustling of leaves on the pavement. It also portrays a love story, without any of the common cliché’s, adding even more romance to the plot. It proves that people have the power to create the kind of world that they want to live in, and fill it with splendor, wonder, and anything else they desire. Amelie was made to say : life is beautiful.

ODD TIMES WEEKLY

A new political movement is thought to have begun in many of the major cities around the world. People have been witnessed everywhere, having the lack of proper bottom clothing essentials. Both women and men are now roaming the streets looking normal from the waist up, but only in their underwear from the waist down. Many argue that this is a call to society to break free of social rules and boundaries, via displaying the unexpected and non-socially acceptable.

BRAIN.

To live a life with fear is to live half a life

Agree- If you live your life with fear, you will end up avoiding doing everything that you aren’t ready to deal with. Either that, or as you engaging in things, you’ll end up dreading them the moment they’re happening. Neither of the two is pleasant. You can’t ever really enjoy something, for you’re fearing what could happen. Satisfaction or relief will end upcoming from not doing things, instead of the opposite.

Ignorance is bliss

Depends- If one is bliss because they choose not to want to know anything, therefore not worry about anything, then that is true. Although, at the same time, greater feelings can be achieved with knowledge, positive ones. With knowledge, also comes the negative side, the learning of the hardship in the world. One could choose to ignore this though, or know it and simply live with the fact- and still be bliss. It changes according to the content of the situation.

It’s better to take chances and lose, than to never take chances

Agree- You will never achieve anything without taking chances. Perhaps one doesn’t lose by not taking chances, but there is zero chance they will win. Everyone learns from their mistakes. If you lose, you can always try again, but don’t hesitate just because you’re afraid of losing. You can only get to places by risking what you’ve got.

AY AMOR

Rosalinda enters room
:03 Rosalinda: Fernando Hose
Fernando Hose stands up
:06 Rosalinda: I’m so happy, I brought you the money
Eduardo stands up
0:12 Eduardo: Excuse me.
Eduardo leaves room
0:14 Fernando Hose: How?
(stern look on face)
0:16 Rosalinda: Oh my love my darling, that’s not important, the point is I got it for you my love
0:23 Fernando Hose: How? How? Did you steal your mother’s jewels again? Do you think I want that kind of money? Did you sell your body?
(they are following each other in room)
0:34 Rosalinda: No, No, look it’ll all be alright this time
Fernando Hose turns around
0:36 Fernando Hose: No! I’m tired of your games
0:38 Rosalinda: What do you want from me?
0:39 Fernando Hose: Nothing. I want nothing from you. You think this is alright? Being a criminal, using your ways to repay off people you owe money to? (laughs) Well I’m not like that. Don’t want you’re your money. Get a job.
0:57 Rosalinda: Listen to me. How have you ever helped me, hm?
1:00 Fernando Hose: How? How can I? You’re doomed anyway.
1:02 Rosalinda: Christ!
1:03 Fernando Hose: No. You don’t understand Rosalinda.
1:08 Rosalinda: Why are you doing this to me? I’ve tried so hard. (Pause). Look, I love you. I’m in love with you. I’d do anything for you. And I have.
Rosalinda takes Fernando Hose’s face in her hands
1:27 Fernando Hose: I loved you too you know. I did once. But how do you think I feel? Don’t you think I’ve gotten hurt enough? I’m not doing this anymore. I’m not.
1:43 Rosalinda: Hah. Yes. I suspect you think you’re the only one that’s gotten hurt in this entire situation don’t you? Well, it isn’t like that you know. I’ve suffered too. I’ve suffered even more. I’m not doing this anymore either. I hate you. I never want to see your face on this earth ever again. Oh, and as if all you did wasn’t enough, you have the nerve to judge the way I’m keeping my part of the deal. But you know, Fernando Hose, I am Rosalinda the great. I will crush you, my love. I will kill you. I will make your life a living hell. Be ready. It’s so over.

UNCE UNCE UNCE

School was out at last. Now, for an entire summer, Ms. Theodotou could stop being that person, and finally be Marianna.

On a fine summer afternoon, Marianna awoke, looked out of her window, and gazed at the Amsterdam skyline. She’d always loved this place, it had a certain feel of freedom to it, and Marianna was indeed a very free spirit. She had tried places like Mykonos before, but she felt she got enough of loud people screaming wildly in all the clubs, she got enough of that at home in her classroom. So, this was the perfect location for a wild summer vacation. As she went for an afternoon walk, her eye stopped upon an unusually colorful poster, and as she approached it, she saw what it was for. It simply said: RAVE, TONIGHT. FOLLOW THE STARS TO REACH DESTINATION. DRESS UP MAKE UP. And sure enough, to the right of the poster was a large white star, and a little bit farther, another, and another. Marianna’s night was set.

Night time came, and Marianna began the preparations for the night that lay ahead. She wasn’t one all in for dressing up, but she pulled on the good old Cyberdog T-shirt, and because she wasn’t satisfied with just that, dyed some streaks of her pink, Manic Panic’s Pretty Flamingo™.

At about midnight, feeling happy with her look, Marianna began her journey of following the stars (the ravers had thought of everything. The stars where glow in the dark.). After about 45 minutes of star following, and now feeling a bit of a fool, Marianna reached the beginning of a forest, and saw her first hint of what lay ahead, a glow stick glowing on the ground. She smiled and carried on, and soon she heard music, and after a while, a clearing, full of people, packed with bright colors and ecstatic faces all jumping up and down. It was her kind of thing. She jumped right into the crowd.

And it wasn’t just the music and the energy of the crowd. She soon noticed pills and other things were being exchanged. She was a careful person though, sort of, and didn’t want to risk anything happening to her in a foreign country. After her drink got spiked though, Marianna got so muddled, that slowly slowly she began devouring these substances as well, and as the night went on, the colors grew brighter, and she felt increasingly energetic. And then someone gave her a “stamp”. If she was in her right mind, she never would have taken it, especially in that environment. People hadn’t been dropping acid at raves since the 60’s. Right about then, things fully stopped making sense.

She typical unce unce unce of rave music turned into Mozart, and suddenly she was a rabbit, being chased by a bear. She tried to escape the bear, by climbing into a rabbit hole, but she couldn’t fit. She thought this was because she wasn’t like the one from Alice in Wonderland, and tried to look for her pocket watch that she always had attached to a patch of fur in case of emergencies, to persuade the hole that she really was that rabbit. She said the magic words, ‘Oh no!”, and the bear turned into a swarm of butterflies, all flipping and flapping around her head. She picked one up in her hand, but it was a bat, and it bit her finger, and as the green blood trickled out, it turned into it’s true identity, a vampire, but she thought it was a very handsome vampire, so she asked him to dance. He said he had no proper shoes though, so she went to find some for him. As she stumbled on she found a pair of heels, and thought that would do, but as soon as she picked them up they turned into carrots. And, being a rabbit, she ate them, but didn’t feel too good. She lied down on the ground for because of the carrots, which she now realized must have been magic, her feet shrunk and she couldn’t walk. She gazed at the sky as it changed into the colors of the rainbow in order. Then, slowly, her eyelids fell, and she was in a deep, deep sleep.

Marianna woke up head first in a pile of mud; it must have rained while she was sleeping. She looked for her belongings but couldn’t find them. Dragging her sore feet, and sore brain, that didn’t remember a thing of the night before, she began making her way out of the forest. “Ah well”, she said and smiled to herself. Though she had no memory of the previous events, she was sure that whatever she had been up to was great fun, and all she wanted now was to sleep deeply, in her hotel room, and find another adventure for the coming night.

THE HORRORS

SHE'S A SPECIAL GIRL YOU KNOW, THE KIND I'D HOPE TO SEE, HANGING ON A WALL, WATCHING ME CROSS THE STREETS
I AM A HORROR

“Music is my life”, I hear people say over and over. Yeah, well:
Layla. says:
Music is your life when you lie on the floor and listen. When you let it run through you and not exist only around you and you feel ready enough to hit the ceiling with your fists because that entire band is speaking to you, sitting with your head in their laps and listening to you yell and scream about how unfair it all is and cooling your hot little teenage head because no one else can.

Music changes people. Music is a part of what makes people who they are. Everybody listens to music. It’s the universal language.

In my life, music is what tells me what I’m feeling. It’s the songs that capture my emotions. It’s my mood setter. Also, it’s what creates time periods in my life. When I listen to a song, I think and remember everything I used to do and with who way back when I used to listen to it. It brings back the memories and feelings of something I’ve already lived.

Seeing that this is the key role that music plays in my life, there isn’t a certain particular kind of music that coincides with my personal culture, since it changes according to what I’m feeling. I do have a preference for underground music though, since I find it often has much more background to it, and also creates sounds that aren’t heard often. My taste in music hasn’t matured over the years- only broadened. As long as it has quality and originality, all music appeals to me. I listen to all sorts- from folk, to industrial, from rock, to jazz, from electro, to indie, and hopefully everything in between.

I don’t think I have a favorite band, but one of my top bands are the Horrors. They are a relatively new band, created only in 2005. They are British and play garage rock.

The members are:

Faris Badwan (formerly Rotter) - Vocals
Joshua Third[6], formerly Von Grimm (Joshua Hayward) - Guitar
Tomethy Furse (Tom Cowan) - Bass
Spider Webb (Rhys Webb) - Combo organ
Coffin Joe (Joseph Spurgeon) - Drums

Farris Badwan and Tom Cowan attended Rugby School together, and met Rhys Webb in the early 2000’s. In 2005 , Joseph Spurgeon and Joshua Hayward joined the band which revolved around all of their love for 60’s garage rock music. They mainly only played at underground clubs then, and weren’t big at all yet.

They weren’t really a known band till 2006, when they released their song Sheena Is A Parasite. Thanks to support from other bands they played with later on, in performances such as the NME Indie Rock Tour 2007, they gained even more recognition and their popularity increased.

Strange House was released in March 2007, and 37th on the UK charts on the 5th of the same month. To promote it, they played a tour all over the world, and made many more appearances that year, including the Glastonbury Festival. A second album is expected some time in 2009.
Some recent activity of theirs was playing at the NME awards show with Crystal Castles, another one of my favorite bands.
Discography

Albums

Strange House (March 5, 2007), UK

The Horrors EP (24 October, 2006)

The Horrors have a very particular, original sound. They’re the kind of band that nobody sounds like, and if you hear a song of their’s you haven’t heard before, you’ll immediately recognise it because of their characteristic style. For example, one unique thing about them is the way their keyboard is set to sound like an organ, which you don’t hear very often in groups nowadays. Another interesting thing about them is the way they dress, they haven’t changed their style and had it from before the indie outfit was popular. Their unique hairstyles, skinny jeans over their skeletal figures, and pointy shoes weren’t too popular yet.

I like this video clip because of the way they put together video and animation, but still kept their dark-ish style. I find that the girl they portray manages to look wretched yet beautiful at the same time. Also the band members seem to be interacting with the later drawn sketches. The song She Is The New Thins is somewhat similar to Sheena Is A Parasite, content wise, talking about a girl that we’re not sure is really wanted or loved. I particularly like the instrumentation in this piece, it’s just as important as the singing. I find it an addictive song that I can’t get out of my head for days when I listen to it. I find that the song is great on it’s own- but the video that matches the mood perfectly makes it even better.

M/N

"In my dream, I was a werewolf,
my soul was filled with crystal light,
lavender ribbons of rain sang,
ridding my heart of mortal fight"

I think that the way to describe myself in simplest form, is to say that I see things differently. In my eyes, puddles of water have looked like horses, panels of wood have looked like faces, branches look like arms, and in the sky I see everything I could imagine. If I were an object, I could be a locket, since they’ve got a certain appearance on the outside, but on the inside contain many different, intimate things that are usually a secret and kept to one s self. Or perhaps I’d be a pocket watch that has stopped ticking- I take the time to notice things that people don’t, and live for the moment. I believe that life is like a lucid dream; one lives in a beautiful magical world where things don’t always make sense, like the dream world, but we all have the power to turn that round to our benefit and control our path. I believe in art, and love. I think that everything in the world is based on those two concepts when you break it down far enough. They’re also two things that have the power to change the world as well. My hobbies and interests are always changing, as I’m still trying to shape myself, meaning I change all the time. Perhaps I don’t change though, perhaps there are several versions of who I am. In conclusion though, I, as a whole, am a curious wide-eyed creature.