gdp's Comments

The Toast : Dad Magazine: October Edition

Tue, 21 Oct 2014 18:24:22 +0000

Oh, my god, my dad LOVES freaking Necco wafers. We were just talking about this -- my mom was sure he was the only person in the world that ate them, and she had no idea how they stayed in business. My husband decided that the Necco wafer factory must have a giant framed picture of my dad up on the wall with the inscription "Our Customer." He also likes a bunch of other vile candies, like black licorice and Good n' Plenties.

The Toast : Fictional Characters Whose Lives Would Have Been Vastly Improved By An Abortion

Fri, 17 Oct 2014 19:27:42 +0000

Fanny, from Far From The Madding Crowd! It would have been better for pretty much everyone. Except I guess Gabriel, because he probably wouldn't have ended up with Bathsheba.

The Toast : Cocktail Hour: Open Thread

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 21:03:27 +0000

I just got married at the courthouse two weeks ago today! It was fantastic -- super fun, easy, but still deeply meaningful.

The Toast : Cocktail Hour: Open Thread

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 18:54:01 +0000

I don't even really FOLLOW baseball, but I was just in Vegas a couple weeks ago, where I drunkenly put twenty dollars on the Dodgers in the first Real Sports Bet of my life. So...that's a thing. (EVERYONE WAS TALKING ABOUT A FREEWAY SERIES WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED) In Sports That I Do Care About news, preseason basketball is happening! My Lakers lost by 15 to Golden State last night, because Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are gods, and they rested Nash, because he went to school with Fred Flintstone, but Kobe is actually looking good!

The Toast : Cocktail Hour: Open Thread

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 18:16:44 +0000

That is FANTASTIC, and I am going to tell that to anyone that I eat pineapple with for the rest of my life.

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Wed, 8 Oct 2014 22:44:17 +0000

Her face right there is probably the most memorable shot in the entire movie for me...and her voice, as she chokes out the words. That's when the tears actually start falling for me. (and Rick's little nod to the band to go ahead) (and Ilsa's face when she looks at Victor..."oh, you beautiful, brave idiot.")

The Toast : Link Roundup!

Wed, 8 Oct 2014 16:57:39 +0000

I've tried Supernatural a bunch of times, and it is just way too scary and gross for me. I appreciate that it's a well-done show! I admire the passionate fandom! But I'm too much of a wimp.

The Toast : Link Roundup!

Wed, 8 Oct 2014 16:53:21 +0000

My weekly total, still shy of a dozen drinks, puts me in the very drunkest quarter of Americans I don't know what my average is, but it's probably around a dozen, some weeks a lot more, some a lot less. That's somewhat distressing. I see people around me drinking and buying alcohol all the time, though! You know, in bars! Or...liquor stores. Oh.

The Toast : Link Roundup!

Wed, 8 Oct 2014 16:38:10 +0000

I so appreciate the recommendation! I don't have too many independent bookstores in my immediate vicinity, so the choice always ends up being "Amazon or Barnes and Noble?" Being able to support a union shop instead would be amazing.

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Wed, 8 Oct 2014 00:39:22 +0000

Claude Rains is perfection in that film. "If I were a woman, and I weren't around, I should be in love with Rick."

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Tue, 7 Oct 2014 22:34:08 +0000

I re-watched that this weekend for the first time since it came out (I'm on a Robin Williams nostalgia kick), and you know what was unexpected? Stellan Skarsgard's assholish-but-cool math professor was the only character in the movie I ended up caring about. Also, it was hilarious listening to him lapse back into a Swedish accent every time he raised his voice.

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Tue, 7 Oct 2014 22:18:22 +0000

I don't know what the general feeling towards The Patriot is, but it made me think that the colonies should have just paid the damn taxes, and I'm pretty sure that that was not the intended result. I mean, that's pretty much how I view the American Revolution anyway. "Oh, cool, a bunch of rich white dudes didn't want to pay their taxes. How novel."

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Tue, 7 Oct 2014 22:05:13 +0000

IT IS SO STUPID AND MAKES NO SENSE that might be forgivable if it had ANYTHING ELSE going for it, but it doesn't.

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Tue, 7 Oct 2014 21:50:40 +0000

I haven't read (or seen) the play, so grain of salt, but I do think the "Salieri has a personal vendetta against God" dynamic comes through in the film, hence the frame of him telling the story to the (rather scandalized!) priest. He makes the point repeatedly that it wasn't really Mozart that was mocking him, it was God, and throws his crucifix into the fireplace. He's furious because God put genius in an unworthy vessel, Mozart, and only gave Salieri enough talent to recognize that genius. Then Mozart dies before the Requiem is finished, and Salieri is convinced that God killed him rather than allow Salieri to share in his glory. So Salieri ends the movie convinced that God has won. I think everyone else just thinks he's lost it.

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Tue, 7 Oct 2014 21:18:20 +0000

I actually really like Roman Empire stuff as a rule, but Gladiator is so freaking BLAND. For whatever reason, it's my husband's favorite movie ever, and he watches it ALL. THE. TIME. Against my will, I have ended up memorizing the entire "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius" speech.

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Tue, 7 Oct 2014 20:51:53 +0000

I had to watch that for a class, and I was HORRIFIED. I ended up not being able to get through it at all, and just relying on a plot summary. If I hadn't been such a meek freshman, I might have actually complained to the professor about it.

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Tue, 7 Oct 2014 20:48:45 +0000

Oh, it's SO SO TERRIBLE, and ridiculously slow-paced, but it did let me discover that I do a hell of an "angry Jimmy Stewart" impersonation. See also: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Tue, 7 Oct 2014 20:43:54 +0000

Yes, Brad Pitt is profoundly irritating, and I've started irrationally hating movies as soon as he appears in the trailer. I'm really glad I didn't know he was actually in 12 Years a Slave before I saw it.

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Tue, 7 Oct 2014 20:38:17 +0000

Man, fuck Tarantino. I will watch selected parts of Kill Bill, solely because I have a longstanding crush on David Carradine, but for everything else...violent, racist bullshit.

The Toast : Let's Talk About The Movies You're Supposed To Love But Don't

Tue, 7 Oct 2014 20:30:09 +0000

YES CASABLANCA I was going through the thread going "oh, god, I know someone's gonna say Casablanca, and that's OKAY they are TOTALLY ALLOWED to not like it but..." Rick/Louis is one of my all-time OTPs. And I cry during the Marseillaise scene EVERY DAMN TIME.