Bethany

Once again, this list is a complete copy/paste job from facebook. How would I ever remember anything that happens in my life if the internet didn't keep track of it for me?

( Films of 2009 )

Now all that is left is my TV of 2009 post... which, if previous years are anything to judge by, will probably take me like a week solid... um, the silver lining to my current unemployment, I guess?

Top fives! Overloading on verbosity/picspamminess, as usual. If there are any more you'd like for me to do, feel free to give your suggestions in the comments.

( Five favourite Robin Hood moments. )

( Top five things I hope to see this season on Psych )

( Five most heroic ladies I would like to be when I grow up (or at least be BFFs with) )

( Five most bangable dudes )

( Top five shows I think EVERYONE should watch. )

Epic Girl!crush Picspam of Doom that I started, like... a month ago... is finally finished! ...Sort of. Well. Finished in a me definition of the word, where I spent way too long working on it; started getting picky over everything; somehow picked up two new fandoms in the meantime; felt compelled to add more and more; felt guilty over stuff being left out; finally said ENOUGH ALREADY, SELF -- CLOSURE!! So I limited it to television girl!crushes. From shows currently airing -- or that would be airing if they weren't on hiatus. Or if they hadn't been off the air for years, and that I'm only now catching up with. Except for, well, the one that's already aired and I've already caught up with, finally, but am not ready to let go of. Ahhhh this is why I can never get anything done.

( A few of the reasons why I love my TV... )

For the third and final part of my Fictional 2007 review, I bring you my year in television shows. This post has been an embarrassingly long time in the making (as evidenced by the fact that I did the first two within the same day and yet have been adding onto this one for the better part of the week), because, wow. I don't think I quite realized just how many new TV shows I've picked up on the wayside. I remember a few years ago making an agreement with myself to limit my major TV fandoms to only House and Lost, because I was HUGELY invested in both of those and didn't think I could make room for another obsession of a similar caliber. And then somehow I justified watching a few summer shows, some reality TV, maybe some educational programming... and holy bejeebies where did all these fandoms come from? I also blame the fact that, through some installation mix-up or something, I've been getting full cable (70+ channels) at school for the past semester despite the fact that I only pay for basic (about 15 channels); and being the terrible person that I am, I've decided to milk the mistake for as long as I can (and, ooh, spooky coincidence -- my Comcast bill literally just popped up in my inbox as I typed this. Weirdly enough, this is one bill I don't get annoyed at paying; instead, I get excited about having another month of TV!!! :D Yes, I am in desperate need of a life).

Caution: contains lots of large-ish images, as well as spoilery discussion of the most recent seasons of Lost, House, Robin Hood, Psych, Star Trek: TOS, Star Trek: DS9, American Idol, and Pushing Daisies

( Part Three: Television )

In typical lazy me fashion, I'm waiting until the first week of the new year is almost over to usher out 2007 properly. The majority of the memes circling about seemed to be more focused on real life events, which. Blah. I'm guessing you probably don't want to read about mine (I don't even want to read about them), so here instead is my Fictional 2007: A Year of Books, Movies, and TV Shows.

( Part One: Books )

...And you know, it would probably make things a lot easier if I just posted about these things as I read them, instead of waiting until the last minute to throw all my thoughts together. At this rate, I think I'm just going to split movies and television into separate posts, because otherwise this could go on for quite some time. So look for parts two and three in the near future!

As of late, I've become way too invested in way too many TV shows. Even if it's something that I'm recording, I still drop everything when it comes on, because it would be impossible to wait a moment longer to watch it (okay, lie! Sometimes I'll let it record for about fifteen minutes so I can fast forward through the commercials. But you get the idea). And now I'm trying to deal with my ever expanding list of TV boyfriends. My TV boyfriend was initially open to only one person at a time, but it has become too difficult to juggle back and forth between which one is cooler each week. I've settled on having one TV boyfriend from each show that I'm currently following, which seems reasonable enough. Some were harder to narrow down than others, but I managed to come up with my final list -- complete with lovely visual aids!

( This list is longer than is probably healthy, but I just can't help it! )

Since everybody else is doing it... 2006: A Year in Movies! I'm not even going to bother with an lj-cut for this, because I barely went to the movies this year. That's right, I only managed to make it to the movie theatre nine times this year. Nine! I will admit that I went into a period of movie-depression after Phantom of the Opera left theatres, but by the time I felt like going to the movies again I was up at school, stranded thirty minutes away from the closest decent theatre without a car. So I suppose the elements were against me this past year... I am the sort of person who keeps every. single. stub. so thankfully I have all of them here carefully organized to help me recreate my movie going experience, starting back in January.

Jan. 1, Adam's Rib. I did get an early start, didn't I? Okay, I know this isn't exactly a new movie, but I did go see it at the cinema so it still counts. I always try to make it to at least two films during the Tampa Theatre's Classic Film series, and I was absolutely thrilled that they included this one. Hardly anybody went -- their loss! It's a funny thing, but even though Katharine Hepburn is without a doubt my favourite actress, none of her films are in my all-time favourites, with this movie as the single exception. Every time I see it, it just seems to get more clever and more wonderful.
Feb. 26, Beyond The Rocks. Another one at the Tampa Theatre; definitely not new, as it came out in 1922. This was a bit of a birthday present, fitting nicely into my budding obsession with Rudolph Valentino. It really showed me what a difference the score can make in a picture. When I went with my dad, it had a live organ accompaniment that was sweet, romantic, and rather on the comical side. I didn't think it was the best movie ever, but it was a fun time. I caught the movie on TCM a few months later, with the score that was included on the DVD. It's dreary, depressing, and just all around blah, and the movie really suffers for it. It's incredibly disappointing that now everybody will have to watch it that way. Too bad, because I found it pretty entertaining the first time around.
Apr. 1, Ice Age 2. I guess the movie was okay, but it was accompanied by the most awkward/embarrassing date in the history of EVER and I'd just rather not think about it.
Apr. 28, Lucky Number Slevin. Incidentally, I think this was the first Rated-R movie that I ever saw in theatres. What a milestone! I'll go ahead and say upfront that I only watched this for the Josh Hartnett, but I went with two guys and I can't really answer for their motives. On the off chance that somebody still wants to see it, I'll stay spoiler free and just say that I liked it.
May 26, X-Men 3. To be honest, I really do not remember this movie at all. I think that says a lot more than anything else I could have written about it.
Jul. 6, Pirates of the Caribbean. This was the first time I got truly excited about a movie in ages. It was also the first time I finally made it to a midnight showing. Okay, so nothing can ever match up to the brilliance of the first movie, but it was still a whole lot of fun, and three cheers for lots and lots of Norrington.
Jul. 12, Pirates of the Caribbean. A second viewing, to watch the movie with all of the non-crazies who didn't want to go at midnight.
Jul. 16, Casablanca. Boy, I sure do love the Tampa Theatre, don't I? Gone with the Wind is usually my ubiquitous classic of choice, so this was actually my first time seeing Casablanca on the big screen. I think the best part of it was seeing it as part of an audience, surrounded by people who all clearly loved it. Laughing, gasping, sighing, crying together... It's a lot different from when I usually try to force somebody into watching it with me, and the greatest show of emotion they give is a yawn.
Dec. 14, Casino Royale. A delicious popcorn movie (even if I am too cheap to actually pay for the popcorn), and although the romance got a little heavy handed, I did like it. The only other major flaw was the worst theme song ever. Seriously. I confess that up until this summer, I had never seen an entire James Bond movie. I watched Octopussy on TV, because, come on. Who wouldn't want to watch a movie with that title? And also Louis Jourdan is in it. Anyway, I'm afraid that's the only Bond I have to compare it to, and I actually liked that movie in a campy sort of way.

You know, writing about Casablanca got me thinking... I am 100% sure that I went to see Gone with the Wind this year, because I go with my dad every summer. And yet I cannot seem to find the ticket stub. How frustrating! Oh well, I think I do still have the program, so I guess that brings my total up to an even ten. Argh, but wait! I have plans to go see The Muppet Movie at (you guessed it) the Tampa Theatre on New Year's Eve, so I guess that will bring it up to eleven. Too bad, I do so love round numbers! But I also love Kermit, so I guess it's a fair trade.

For this fifth and final entry about my fictional loves, I had a last minute change of heart. I had originally selected Westley from The Princess Bride; like Laurie, he fits the storybook image of the perfect lover while still being human enough to connect to. I figured that you all already knew how awesome he was, though, so I decided to instead write about my most recent love.

5. Carlton Lassiter from "Psych"
I think I have already mentioned that you guys should be watching this show, but just in case you haven't been convinced yet I'll go ahead and share my love for Lassiter. He has usurped Wilson's place as my current TV boyfriend (at least until House starts back again), if that is any indication of his awesomeness. To avoid wasting time on background explanation, you can check out the USA site for basic info on the show.

Lassiter is your typical bug up his butt antagonist who is technically on the same side as the protagonist but sure as hell isn't happy about it. He is -- dare I say it? -- something of a cliche, but I'll be darned if he doesn't prove why it became a cliche in the first place. On a show that is determined not to take itself seriously, even the hardass is ridiculously fun to watch. He gets to be mean and snarky and yet it's still okay to like him because he really is one of the good guys. And even if he's the butt of a lot of jokes, at the end of the day he could still totally kick your ass. If that's not hot, I don't know what is.

Okay, I just can't help it... I have to include some Shawn/Lassiter in this post. Love/hate at it's finest, people. You can check out a rather brilliant picspam here: theirloveissogropetastic!

I don't know if I'm even going to bother to cobble together a lame-o excuse for why it's taken my so long to write up the next person on my fictional loves list. Oh, what the heck, I'll go ahead and give it a whirl. I wanted to wait until I had seen Dead Man's Chest again, which I didn't get around to until Wednesday. Then I was working all day yesterday and today, so now is the first time I've been able to sit down and work on it. Hey, now, that doesn't even sound so lame-o after all! EDIT: And now I have to add on to my list of excuses, because it's the morning after I started writing this. "Psych" came on last night when I was only halfway done. I can't help it, it's the only new summer show I have to watch! And, hello, Shawn/Lassiter is completely my new OTP, especially after last night's episode. *winkwink nudgenudge you guys should totally watch it*

It's good that I saw DMC again before writing this, as I do seem to be enjoying it more on every subsequent viewing. I think I'm just becoming more comfortable with the character developments. On the other hand, this might also turn out to be bad because I am starting to find Culter Beckett oddly hot -- there is no way that is right! Of course, there still wasn't ever any chance that this post was going to be about him. No, it belongs to my first and dearest PotC love...

3. Commodore Norrington from Pirates of the Caribbean
Three years ago, after seeing a refreshingly original movie encompassing a panorama of piratical hijinks and all sorts of exciting action and adventure, I walked out of the theatre and thought, "Huh. That Navy guy was pretty cool."

And thus was born a love to end all loves!

Actually, I suppose it might be more appropriate to classify it as a love to begin quite a lot of other loves. Norrington gets credit as my gateway drug for pretty much all of my current age of sail obsessions. He was the first, though, and as such will always have a very special place in my heart.

Ah, there are just so many things that I adore about him! There is quite a division of character between the two movies, though, so I'll take them one at a time. I've read a couple of interviews about CotBP in which the creators describe his character as the kind of honourable, duty bound man who would normally be the hero in any other movie. It's a pirate movie, though, so of course the authorities have to be the ones set up to oppose our protagonists. Rules = bad, right? Yet somehow through all that the commodore still comes across as a genuinely good and likable person. Perhaps one of my favourite things about the first film is that they didn't decide to take the predicable route with his character and make him a power-obsessed tyrant who rules in the name of the law but simply follows his own authority. Ah, but that isn't Norrington at all! "By remembering that I serve others, Mr. Sparrow, not only myself," is simply the most endearing line of the entire film. There is something incredibly sexy about having a strict code of morals and ethics -- mrrrow! And still they also manage to avoid yet another cliche when instead of establishing him as a stodgy, emotionally closed off man of steel, they give him a gooey, squishy, "I am awfully in love with this girl in the most awkward sort of way" core. I'm not sure whether or not I can classify myself as a Norrington/Elizabeth shipper; I don't want them to end up together, but at the same time I really enjoy the dynamic of their relationship. I firmly believe that Norrington loves Elizabeth, and I think Elizabeth comes to respect him as the film progresses. That almost makes it worse, though, because by the end of the movie Elizabeth owes him her life and her happiness and yet she still doesn't love him and he still can't do or say anything about it. The movie may end on a happy note for Will and Elizabeth, but no matter how generous Norrington may be that had to be a heart-wrenching moment for him.

*waves arms around* I'm moving on to DMC -- here be spoilers if you haven't yet seen the movie. Please read at your own risk! I was thrilled when I heard Norrington was going to be in this movie, interested in the condition in which he would appear, and finally horrified when I read the side he decided to take. I braced myself for instant character death when I finally saw the film. Thankfully it wasn't as painful as I had built up in my head (for once I was glad that I had spoiled myself! It made this part a lot easier to get used to), and I'll have to wait and see the direction they take him in the next film to decide if it is truly "character death" or not. I can certainly say that the Norrington of the first film is gone forever, but as I'm adjusting to the new canon I'm becoming more comfortable with the new Norrington as well. This movie showcases his physical prowess -- to all those who called him a boring girly man in the first film I say, "Ha! Told you so!" Obviously as a naval officer he has plenty of experience in these matters, but all we saw of it in CotBP was him getting caught unawares by a bunch of sneaky undead pirates. Finally we get to see the man of action actually in action. I think it goes without saying that it's pretty hot. At the same time he still retains vestiges of vulnerability; the look on his face when Elizabeth pulls him out of the pig manure is such a poignant mixture of regret and self loathing. Even though it appears that he is over Elizabeth, you can see hints of it in his reaction to Elizabeth and Will's kiss, and then again in his concern for getting her in the boat as he distracts Davy Jones's crew with the chest. He can't quite let go of a relationship that never even amounted to much in the first place, which is just as romantic as it is pathetic.

James Norrington: He's cute! He's capable! He's hopelessly terrible at wooing women and yet still really wonderful when he tries his darndest anyway! And he looks pretty dashing in that uniform. He's the best.

Nicked from crumpeteer: a discussion of five fictional loves. You are forewarned about my strange tastes -- this post may shed some light on the reason why I've never actually had a significant other. Also, this is by no means a comprehensive list. I really hate how everything is always broken down into a "top five" or "best of" list, as if I could really say that one was better than the other. Where's the need for competition when I've already established that I like them all? But I digress... On to People I Would Totally Marry If They Actually Existed! Sadly, that seems to be a limiting factor for most of my infatuations.

1. Theodore Laurence from Little Women
Again stolen from crumpeteer, and included here for inspiring me to post this in the first place. I think he may well be my first literary love. I will confess to having a bit of a crush on Almanzo Wilder in my earlier years (a God-knows-how-long obsession with the Little House series will do that to the best of girls), but he's isn't fictional and sadly there is no place for him in this post. So back to Laurie! To put it simply, for the last ten years or so (no, I cannot actually remember the first time I read Little Women. Oh, the shame!) I have cherished him as my male ideal. That might seem like quite a lot to live up to, but look at how brilliantly he does it! He's charming and kind without ever crossing the line to cheesy or saccharine. I find that there's this kind of enchanting innocence that is essential to his character as well; I think Jo refuses him partially because she fears that getting married would somehow violate that innocence, in the classic "I don't want to ruin our friendship" fashion. Of course, she also fails to realize that, HELLO-O!! He has always been in love with you anyway! Ahem. But, seriously, he manages to make everything so romantic without even trying. I don't really see Jo/Laurie as this randomly blooming love: Laurie suddenly discovers that he has hormones and his best friend just happens to be a girl and omg they must make babies! Er, no. He is clearly a very dedicated and loyal lover throughout the book, occasional flirtations and rebound wife aside.

Oh, and he's rich. Marry me!

This is getting quite long, but I want to do it right, by golly! So I think I've now decided to just post one person at a time, in hopes that somebody will be able to read them without going cross-eyed at all the rambling. Part two will come whenever I stop playing free cell long enough to actually write an entire post.