It's June. How is it June?

[lunabee34]

I feel like a bajillion things have happened since my last update.

1. We had an internet outage last week; there was some kind of major accident, and a utility pole came down. Naturally, this happened two days before summer classes started, and Josh wasn't finished putting his class online. He was given permission to go on campus and work, but it was so stressful. The internet was only out for a day, and I am so grateful to the workers who got it back up; it finally came back on at 10:30 that night which means they were out there working in the dark and the rain to fix it. Such a sobering realization how dependent our livelihood is on our internet working right now, though.

2. We got the utilities to come out and mark so we can know where they are for digging and planting purposes; still waiting on the water. They were supposed to come out by the 26th and didn't; we essentially know where that line is, but still. We also had the septic tank emptied today; the guy also replaced the filter, and it was less expensive than I thought it would be. Glad to have those things checked off the list.

3. My birthday is coming up, and I already got my first present! A friend sent me a bulletin board I had on my Amazon wish list, and I'm just waiting for Josh's next grocery run (command strips) to put it up over the second desk in the study. I'm excited about having a place to display the kids' artwork and awards. Josh ordered me some pretty pushpins for it, and I'm getting myself a perfume sample present from Surrender to Chance: Lavender Sampler (Caldey Island, Serge Lutens Gris Clair, Jo Malone Amber and Lavender), Tom Ford Grey Vetiver, Jo Malone Wood Sage and Salt, Byredo Black Saffron, and Comme de Garcons Radish x Vetiver.

4. We finished the animated Trollhunters of Arcadia series. I highly recommend it. It is a deeply satisfying show. At the end they dedicate the show to Anton Yelchin. He was such a good actor; I'm so sad that we lost him so long before his time.

5. Fiona is probably going to do gifted testing at some point this summer, and I'm glad. She was supposed to do it in April, but the school closures disrupted that. I have been wondering how/when they were going to do the testing, especially since the gifted students are all enrolled in the same class(es). They're going to test a limited number at a time, and do the deep cleaning between tests, etc.

6. Josh and I have been rewatching the Alien franchise with Emma who's watching it for the first time and is really digging it. Man, I love these movies (we just finished #2). First off, they still look fantastic, especially that first movie, and I think it's because the set is real and not CGI. They feel incredibly modern and not like they were made forty years ago. Second, I absolutely love that Ripley is not objectified. I mean, for about five minutes at the end of the first one, she's in a tank top and the absolute most ridiculous pair of underwear of all time (seriously, what is up with that underwear? it's nuts; it's barely hanging on to her body); she's also in a tank top and much better pair of undies for about five minutes at the end of the second one. But for the majority of both movies, she's fully clothed in like a mechanic's outfit; she's not wearing a lycra superhero costume with a boob window or a short skirt. She's dressed like a crew member on a spaceship. Mostly, the unclothed bodies we see in the movies are male. That is very refreshing. I know that the third one has the attempted rape scene, and I don't remember enough about the fourth one to comment on how that works there, but the first two movies at least do not treat her like a sexual object.

Comments

[kore]

RIPLEY <3333333333 One of THE Top heroines of all time, no???

I hated the third movie so much I pretty much erased it from memory, but I think Alien Resurrection doesn't objectify her, plus Weaver gives an amazing performance. I think it has more female body horror right at the start, though.

[lunabee34]

We just finished the third one, and I liked it much less than I remembered. I remembered it as the weakest of them all, but not how bad it is. Honestly, the main thing is that it just moves so damn slowly. I think I'd have liked it much better if they'd trimmed about 45 minutes out of it.

It did give us Ripely with a shaved head, though, which is hoooooooooooooot as shit.

[kore]

We saw it when it first came out, in the time Long Ago Before Spoilers, and we were broke college students and it was playing so far away we walked like actual MILES to see it, because we loved Aliens so much. And then they kill off Newt AND Hicks in the first five minutes, and that frankly just poisoned everything. We might have been broke as fuck, but after that walk and sitting through the whole movie, T called a cab.

[lunabee34]

I absolutely hated that they killed Newt and Hicks, especially Newt. :(

[kore]

Especially after Ripley already lost her first daughter!

[lunabee34]

I know. :(

I mean, there is that through line of motherhood that is interesting; her daughter dies, and then a second daughter dies, and the only thing she gets to be mother of is a monster. And in the third one, she actually IS the monster's mommy.

[kore]

Oh yeah, I loved that "I'm the monster's mother" moment -- it was a total parallel to Aliens, where she's fighting the mother-monster. But....NEWT.

[tabaqui]

Yes, it is a horrible thing when you suddenly lose internet!! I have a program called ICQ, which is a chat/messenger program. You can use it on a website, as a stand-alone, or on your phone, so it's about the only way I have of communicating to my fellow online buddies that i have no internet, heh.

Of course, that's only Darkhavens and Sweptawaybayou, but at least they know I'm not ignoring them. :D

ALIEN!! My sister, dad and I went to see the first movie when it came out, at the theater. Holy crap, it scared us girls to DEATH. It was so good and so freaky. As we were coming home (we lived out in the woods, long drive), dad stopped so my sis could hop out and grab the newspaper that was in the box (we hadn't got it that day). And it was dark and the woods all around, and my dad goes 'watch out for the alien!'

We both screamed and my sister cried a little. We were terrified. :D

But it's my very favorite sci-fi movie of all time. 1st and 2nd are utterly wonderful in all sorts of ways. I loved how all the Marines in the second movie had the same haircut. Guys, girls, everyone has short, military hair. And nobody was even vaguely sexualized as they got out of the pods and got dressed, everybody in tees and underwear, everybody the same. That (and the shower scene from Starship Troopers) is about the best scene of men/women/bodies with no stupidity ever.

And yes - Ripley's underwear in Alien was beyond weird. NOBODY would wear that for a second - fucking uncomfortable! I liked how many layers she wore. I think she took off three shirts before she got down to the tank.

The rape scene is fully clothed, if i remember correctly, and no rape actually happens...from what i remember, it's applicable to the movie (something that would happen), and no lingering shots of Ripley's body or anything. Plus instant punishment for the attempted rapist.

Movie four is ridiculous, but has its moments, and nothing sexual that I recall, other than maybe some back-and-forth silliness between crew members. In movie four? The basketball scene? Sigourney Weaver *actually made that shot*. It's not faked or anything; the angle was weird so it looks like they might have faked it, but she really did do it. :D

Wow, i have a lot to say about Alien.

[lunabee34]

I remember seeing flashes of the movie as a kid (maybe in commercials or something) and being really scared of it. I'm pretty sure that when we went to either Disney World or Universal, there was some kind of ride where the alien jumps out (Indy mentions it below in her comment, so I'm pretty sure I'm remembering that correctly), and it scared me.

You're right about the rape scene. The third movie wasn't very objectifying of her. She's pretty much fully clothed the whole time. She gets an implied sex scene, but we don't even see the lead in to it.

We just finished watching the third movie, and it was just boring to me.

I'm looking forward to the fourth movie. I love pretty much everything Joss brings to the table, and I love how the crew in the movie is a prototype Firefly. I love that she made that shot. That's such a cool move. Of course, she did it. LOL

[tabaqui]

The third movie had it's good moments, but i was so shocked and disappointed that they killed *everyone* but Ripley in the landing. I mean...yeesh.

And it had a very interesting look to it - i enjoyed the atmosphere -but yeah, it was pretty dull.

The fourth one is fun in a lot of ways, but a bit schlocky sometimes, and not at all what I'd hoped for, heh.

Don't ever, ever, ever ask me about Prometheus or the other one, unless you want me to rant for about an hour. :D

This is fun: https://youtu.be/FF44YvDVP8Y

[kore]

Prometheus, OMFG. Did you ever see cleolinda's recap of that? It was one of her best.

[tabaqui]

Oh, i did not.

But i have now found it. They seem to have enjoyed the movie (i violently did not), so this should be interesting. :D

[kore]

i was so shocked and disappointed that they killed *everyone* but Ripley in the landing

ALSO, YEAH, THAT

[tabaqui]

RIGHT??

[lunabee34]

I did like the way the movie looked; the set was very well done. But I also hated Hicks and Newt dying. Poor Ripley.

[spikedluv]

Being internet-less is awful, and even more so now. I'm glad they got it back up quickly.

Yay for early birthday presents!

[lunabee34]

I am very happy about both things. :)

[independence1776]

The only thing I know about Alien is the bit from the Great Movie Ride at Disney World and that terrified me as a kid, so I've never dared to watch the movie.

Congrats on early gifts!

[lunabee34]

Thank you!

I am the biggest fraidy cat in the whole world, and these movies don't scare me. They are creepy and tense, but for me, they are just so far from reality that it doesn't actually scare me.

[lyr]

Yeah, I find the Alien franchise holds up well for me too, until you get to those recent ones, which are just badly written. I especially liked #2 and #4 (bonus cool femslash possibilities there!), and I try to think of #3 as a weird fanfic AU. It wouldn't be bad as a standalone thing; it only sucks if you think of it as something that really happens to characters you know and care about.

[lunabee34]

I adore the fourth one, too, which is a truly unpopular opinion, but I love Joss Whedon. He just hits all my narrative kinks.

I actually really like Prometheus and Covenant. I'm hoping I still like them on rewatch.

[amejisuto]

Glad you have a good birthday planned love! That's so great!

[lunabee34]

:)

I can't believe I'm going to be 41. Eeep.

[china_shop]

Yes, June, how already? HOW?

So glad you have internet back. *hugs* ♥

I haven't seen Alien or Aliens since 1990, when the boy and I watched them on video, on one of our first dates. Hee!

Is it too soon to say happy birthday? *stands by with ballooons and virtual consequence-free cake*

[lunabee34]

It's never too soon! Thank you. :)

Alien and Aliens both hold up really, really well. Alien especially looks like it could have been made yesterday; there's zero CGI, so everything looks amazing.