Adventures in Ryanaguirreland

And My #1 Movie of All Time is...

2009-06-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

#1: The Lion King
(1994, Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff dir.)

Top 100 Movies of all Time: #10-2

2009-06-12T23:47:00.000-07:00

#10: Who Framed Roger Rabbit
(1988, Robert Zemeckis dir.)

#9: Finding Nemo
(2003, Andrew Stanton dir.)

#8: West Side Story
(1961, Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise dir.)

#7: 12 Angry Men
(1957, Sidney Lumet dir.)

#6: Star Wars
(1977, George Lucas dir.)

#5: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
(2001, Peter Jackson dir.)

#4: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
(2004, Michel Gondry dir.)

#3: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
(2000, Ange Lee dir.)

#2: It's A Wonderful Life
(1946, Frank Capra dir.)

Top 100 Movies of All Time: #20-11

2009-06-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

#20: About a Boy
(2002, Paul Weitz dir.)

#19: Almost Famous
(2000, Cameron Crowe dir.)

#18: Billy Elliot
(2000, Stephen Daldry dir.)

#17: Moulin Rouge
(2001, Baz Luhrman dir.)

#16: Schindler's List
(1993, Steven Spielberg dir.)

#15: Titanic
(1997, James Cameron dir.)

#14: ET: The Extra-Terrestrial
(1982, Steven Spielberg dir.)

#13: The Sound of Music
(1965, Robert Wise dir.)

#12: The Wizard of Oz
(1939, Victor Fleming dir.)

#11: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
(2003, Peter Jackson dir.)

Top 100 Movies of All Time: #30-21

2009-06-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

#30: Y Tu Mama Tambien
(2001, Alfonso Cuaron dir.)

#29: Back to the Future
(1985, Robert Zemeckis dir.)

#28: To Kill a Mockingbird
(1962, Robert Mulligan dir.)

#27: Stand By Me
(1986, Rob Reiner dir.)

#26: The Shawshank Redemption
(1994, Frank Darabont dir.)

#25: Fiddler on the Roof
(1973, Norman Jewison dir.)

#24: The Empire Strikes Back
(1980, George Lucas dir.)

#23: American Beauty
(1999, Sam Mendes dir.)

#22: Forrest Gump
(1994, Robert Zemeckis dir.)

#21: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(2002, Peter Jackson dir.)

Top 100 Movies of All Time: #40-31

2009-06-12T00:46:00.001-07:00

#40: Babe
(1995, Chris Noonan dir.)

#39: Clue
(1985, Jonathan Lynn dir.)

#38: Life is Beautiful
(1998, Roberto Benigni dir.)

#37: Airplane
(1980, Jim Abrahams & David Zucker & Jerry Zucker dir.)

#36: The Nightmare Before Christmas
(1993, Henry Sellick dir.)

#35: The Sixth Sense
(1999, M. Night Shyamalan dir.)

#34: Beauty and the Beast
(1991, Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise dir.)

#33: Raiders of the Lost Ark
(1981, Steven Spielberg dir.)

#32: Brokeback Mountain
(2005, Ang Lee dir.)

#31: Chicago
(2002, Rob Marshall dir.)

Top 100 Movies of All Time #50-41

2009-06-11T21:32:00.001-07:00

#50: Jerry Maguire
(1996, Cameron Crowe dir.)

#49: Mary Poppins
(1964, Robert Stevensen dir.)

#48: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
(1975, Milos Forman dir.)

#47: Good Will Hunting
(1997, Gus Van Sant dir.)

#46: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
(2007, Andrew Dominick dir.)

#45: The Passion of the Christ
(2004, Mel Gibson dir.)

#44: Atonement
(2007, Joe Wright dir.)

#43: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
(1996, Gary Trousdale & Robert Wise dir.)

#42: Spirited Away
(2002, Hayao Miyazaki dir.)

#41: The Truman Show
(1998, Peter Weir dir.)

Top 100 Movies of All Time: #60-51

2009-06-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

#60: Milk
(2009, Gus Van Sant dir.)

#59: Return of the Jedi
(1981, George Lucas dir.)

#58: Oliver!
(1968, Carol Reed dir.)

#57: Toy Story
(1995, John Lasseter dir.)

#56: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
(2003, Gore Verbinski dir.)

#55. Mean Girls
(2004, Mark Waters dir.)

#54. Driving Miss Daisy
(1989, Bruce Beresford dir.)

#53. Aladdin
(1992, Ron Clements & John Musker dir.)

#52. Shakespeare in Love
(1998, John Madden dir.)

#51: Amadeus
(1984, Milos Forman dir.)

Top 100 Movies of All Time: #70-61

2009-06-10T23:33:00.000-07:00

#70: Walk the Line

(2005, James Mangold dir.)

#69. That Thing You Do!
(1996, Tom Hanks dir.)

#68: The Little Mermaid
(1989, Ron Clements & John Musker)

#67: Love Actually
(2003, Richard Curtis dir.)

#66: The Incredibles
(2004. Brad Bird dir.)

#65: Jesus Christ Superstar
(1973, Norman Jewison dir.)

#64: Minority Report
(2002, Steven Spielberg dir.)

#63: Pride & Prejudice
(2005, Joe Wright dir.)

#62: Into the Wild
(2007, Sean Penn dir.)

#61: Little Miss Sunshine
(2006, Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris)

Top 100 Movies of All Time: #80-71

2009-06-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

#80. Memento
(2001, Christopher Nolan dir.)

#79. The Prince of Egypt
(1998, Brenda Chapman dir.)

#78. Fight Club
(1999, David Fincher dir.)

#77. Finding Neverland
(2004, Marc Forrester dir.)

#76. The Dark Knight
(2008, Christopher Nolan dir.)

#75. Wall-E
(2008, Andrew Stanton dir.)

#74. Kill Bill Volume 1
(2003, Quentin Tarantino dir.)

#73. The Departed
(2006, Martin Scorcese dir.)

#72. Pleasantville
(1998, Gary Ross dir.)

#71. Spider-Man 2

(2004, Sam Raimi dir.)

Top 100 Movies of All Time: #90-81

2009-06-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

#90: Jurassic Park
(1993, Steven Spielberg dir.)

#89: Dreamgirls
(2006, Bill Condon dir.)

#88: Quiz Show
(1994, Robert Redford dir.)

#87: Peter Pan
(1953, Claude Geronimi dir.)

#86: Silence of the Lambs
(1991, Jonathan Demme dir.)

#85: Fantasia
(1940, James Algar dir.)

#84: The Devil Wears Prada
(2006, David Frankel dir.)

#83: Gosford Park
(2001, Robert Altman dir.)

#82: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(1975, Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones dir.)

#81: Lillies of the Field
(1963, Ralph Nelson dir.)

Top 100 Movies of All Time: #100-91

2009-06-09T23:27:00.000-07:00

#100: Revolutionary Road
(2008, Sam Mendes dir.)

#99. What's Eating Gilbert Grape
(1993, Lasse Hallstom dir.)

#98. Not Another Teen Movie
(2001, Joel Gallen dir.)

#97. Hairspray
(2007, Adam Shankman dir.)

#96. Monsters, Inc.
(2001, Pete Docter dir.)

#95. Evita
(1996, Alan Parker dir.)

#94. Star Trek
(2009, JJ Abrams dir.)

#93. Apollo 13
(1995, Ron Howard dir.)

#92. A Beautiful Mind
(2001, Ron Howard dir.)

#91. Crash
(2005, Paul Haggis dir.)

A Visual Recap of the Tonys

2009-06-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

Talented motherfuckers.

Elton John mic fail number one.

Let's play spot the Puerto Rican.
Trick question. THERE IS NONE.

Bret Michaels WIPEOUT.

IM ALIVE.

Amazing opening number.

LATINA FAIL.

THIS is what Matt Doyle has chosen to date.
FML.

Mic FAIL FAIL FAIL.

JB Wright sighting!

Ay Papi.
LATINA SUCCESS.

YOU DON'T KNOWWWWWWWWW.

That look....
UGH.

One of these things is not like the other.
I'll give you a clue: it's the middle one. Because he's gay.

Neil Patrick Harris success.

Great time had by all.

Perfection You'd Never See at the Oscars

2009-06-01T01:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/396555/andy-samberg-medley.jhtml#id=1611659

Let The Beat Build

2009-06-01T00:17:00.000-07:00

Nyle "Let The Beat Build" from Nyle on Vimeo.

Amazing.
I love talented people.
Hello, June. May, where'd you go? (I miss you so).

Bella... Do you know what happened to you?

2009-05-31T00:56:00.001-07:00

You fell down two flights of stairs....

... and through a window!

Ryan Getting Happy

2009-05-31T00:41:00.000-07:00

Taurus Horoscope for 5/30/09: Today's the day to revive tht blog you've been ignoring! Try writing about something you love, like a movie you have just seen. It's therapeutic!

So here we go.

There’s a moment in Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married in which, after Rachel’s wedding, the enormous cavalcade of multiracial guests convene under a bejewled tent dressed in such a variety of garb ranging from traditional Indian saris to Hawaiian shirts to tuxedos, thrusting and grinding in pure ecstasy to the beats of rave music blaring in the background, eyes closed and hands in the air, reminiscent of the infamous orgy scene from the stellar Matrix:Reloaded (note: sarcasm).

It is in the moment that, for the first time in the hour and 31 minutes of this movie, I thought, “Wow. This is not a typical wedding.”

It was in this realization that I recognized how unconventional every little thing in this move is, from the best man humping the shit out of the soon-to-be maid of honor to the electric guitar cover of “Here Comes the Bride” to the presence of Tamyra Gray (whyyy?); and yet, I bought it all.

I think it is in the realism that this movie soars. Anne Hathaway, playing Kym, the sister of the title character, is FUCKED up… like, homegirl is straight JACKED. And yet, Hathaway’s absolutely incredible acting (Best female performance of last year, IMO) forces – scratch that- compels, even challenges the audience to feel compassion for her. In the aforementioned humping-the-shit out (in?) scene, one would expect Kym to be reeking of desperation (this violent act appears mere seconds after Kym exits an AA meeting, where she met Kieran, the humper); this was not the case. In the post-ejaculatory bliss, Kym bathes in not defeat but rather, success. It is the first (maybe the only?) time we see her confident.

Fast -forward about 25 minutes: Kym is at another AA meeting; it is her turn to share. He tells the story of when one day, while high as a kite, she (SPOILER!) accidentally kills her baby brother by driving her car over a bridge and drowning him. She ends her confession with:

And I struggle with God so much, because I can't forgive myself. And I don't really want to right now. I can live with it, but I can't forgive myself. And sometimes I don't want to believe in a God that could forgive me. But I do want to be sober. I'm alive and I'm present and there's nothing controlling me. If I hurt someone, I hurt someone. I can apologize, and they can forgive me... or not. But I can change. And I just wanted to share that and say congratulations that God makes you look up, I'm so happy for you, but if he doesn't, come here. That's all. Thank you.

I’m sorry, that is just brilliant writing.

But in the wrong hands, it could have fallen flat. Hathaway fucking soars. The pain in her eyes delivers more agony than the words she says. She could have been silent the whole movie and still been better than Kate Winslet in The Reader (don’t shoot me just yet). Lets just say homegirl has come a long way since Genovia (lol I almost typed Anatevka).

LOOK AT HER GO. Damnnnn.

Not to say that isn’t as good when she does speak. She elevates already pristine writing to pure emotional, heart-stringing gold. Even in scenes where emotion wouldn’t necessarily be expected (see: cake cutting scene) the tears flow, and whatever’s going on elsewhere, the dialogue, the facial expression, whatever, we feel either the immense, genuine pain of this addict or the relief from finding pure joy in something so simple, so real. Homegirl is fucked up, yet she gains our sympathy. When she tells about how she lies in rehab, we don’t necessarily forgive it but we accept it.

SLAP.

When she says, “You don’t get to sit around for the rest of my life deciding what I’m supposed to be like.” Ugh.

And Hathaway is not alone: she is in the company of 3 other amazing performers, Bill Irwin playing the heart and soul of the movie, Kym and Rachel’s loving father, who perfectly balances love for his children with the struggle (refusal?) of accepting that Kym is not quite as sane as is older daughter; Rosemarie DeWitt, as the title character, who simultaneously loves and hates her sister and both loves and hates to love and hate her (whoahhh, whaat?). The range of feelings she not only voluntarily chooses to express to her sister but also the ones that she not so subtly represses reveal how much DeWitt understands this character, and what incredible control she has over her. Finally, Debra Winger is just incredible in the slapping scene. ‘Nuff said.

But outside of all this jargon that really makes no sense, the movie is just feel good, whether intentionally or not. The problem I have with most character studies are their desire to wrap things all up in this tidy little package, forcing their characters to move this way or that and luring them to arrive at neat, tidy endings with little or nothing gained (see: The Wrestler). Rachel Getting Married has no interest in forcing convenience. The awkward moments are AWKWARD. The touching moments are TOUCHING. The painful moments are damn PAINFUL. And yet, it never once felt forced. Skanky Brazilian ladies danced through a crowded wedding party as a tearful Kym released a lighted lantern-boat into a swimming pool and it didn’t feel unusual. The family is obviously dysfunctional but the dysfunction came so naturally that it took me awhile to realize that this family is in fact different than my own.

And that is why I liked the movie so much. Because it felt so real. It harmonized pain and joy so effortlessly. And if this family can find joy through all their ridiculousness, why can’t mine? This movie is full of freaks but we not only enjoy being their company but absolutely love it. And that “Heaven” line was just adorable.

Whatever.

A-

In other news:
1. I’m sorry I haven’t updated this.
2. I will try my best to update this more.
3. I am finally home from Italy, and as much as I love and miss it, it is so good to be home.
4. Matt Doyle Bye Bye Birdie Whaaaaaaa?

5 more weeks.

2009-04-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

Allora.

When in Africa...

2009-03-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

I hate these retarded keyboards.

Where are my keys, I lost my camera

2009-03-09T01:53:00.001-07:00

On our first night in Madrid, my camera with over 100 pictures from Portugal was stolen right out of my pocket. FML. The millions of pictures will simply have to be developed through ORAL TRDITION, ala the cavemen or the disciples. The silver lining ist hat my favorite person in the world, Alyssa Glykokokalos, will sent the camera that was recently regurgitated by Madeline Sayet´s bed over to Florence for me to have for the rest of my stay abroad. Great successes abound.

In other news, Lisbon and Madrid are absolutely gorgeous (and not just the scenery). I am quasi-journaling, but here are a few key points regarding recent happenings on this excursion:
1. You really get what you pay for with Ryanair. And you pay for near death; I seriously was saying my prayers and thinking what my last thoughts owuld be thousands of miles in the air in the worst turbulence I´ve ever felt.
2. I have seen Carmen Pistachio´s favorite painting, that earthly delights one. Quite beastial.
3. I have chosen not to check Facebook throughout the duration of my stay abroad. LEAVE MESSAGES!
4. Madrid ha molto non-normale if you catch my drift.

So it´s another day in Madrid, then off to Valencia, Casablanca, Marrakech, and Barcelona, then MEETING UP WITH MOMMY AND KUYA IN VENICE!!!! Skeet skeet motherfucker.

ADIOS MUCHACHOS burrito burro guacamole y tu mama tambien

Arrivederci!

2009-03-05T15:27:00.000-08:00

OK! I am off on my week and a half long Spring Break. I will be either in Pisa, Porto, Lisbon, Madrid, Casablanca, Marrakech, Barcelona, Venice, or Rome. So expect to not recieve any updates till I get back (not that there were very many anyways). But I PROMISE i will write and journal so I'll have something to throw on here when I get back. If you need to reach me please call, all my contact info is on my Facebook.

Until then, here's a little present of our current excursions, at the Florence chocolate fair in San Marco. ARRIVEDERCI!

Milano, more than just a cookie

2009-03-05T08:11:00.000-08:00

Milano cookies are incomparable. I bite into one of those delicious little things and I am immediately reminded of cuddling into bed and pulling a bag out of my pillowcase and... well, thats too much information. And wow, I'm a fucking fat ass.

Milan the city is equally scrumptious, only a tad more wet and rainy. Imagine if Florence and New York both got incredibly disgustingly drunk one right and had painful, regrettable unprotected sex (for the purposes of the story, New York is male and Florence is female). They create a baby and try numerous ways to abort it to no avail (Florence pulls a Kate Winslet without, you know... dying.) Out pops Milan, a nice hybrid of the old school beauty of Florence and a hustle-and-bustle of New York City, without quite being either.

Our Hostel was a nice little place, complete with kitten bedspread, a bide (sp?) without an adjacent toilet, a bunny-ear television, and a life-size porcelin Snow Leopard. (We would soon find out that Milan is not the city of lights or shopping but rather of quite large porcelin creatures) Little did we know that the Snow Leopard would be one of the highlights of our visit (our visit was by no means bad but the Snow Leopard was just that fucking amazing).

And so our Milanese journey began. In Centro was the Duomo which, to be honest, kicked the sweet little ass of Florence's duomo. It was not only huge but incredibly ornate... After an incredibly long hike, we were treated to the roof of one of the most beautiful Catholic structures I have seen in my life. Statues of saints every two steps, pillars, marble... Words cannot describe, not even rain could dampen this sight. Definitely one of the highlights of my trip abroad so far. (also there was a billboard of our dear friend ScarJo)

Then we got hunted down by African imports trying to sell us bracelets. They do a silly little thing where they run up to you, shove seed in your hand, and wait until the birds come and ravage you. Then expect you to give them money. Yeah right, I will not pay you to get shat on so you can buy your wives in your home country fare from the Amistad.

What else? We went to this huge castle with like, 40 million museums. While they were all interesting in their own ways, one particular highlight was the enormous porcelin crab. Once again, the procelin animals reveal themselves.

That night, we went to the best resturaunt ever in the entire world. 4 euro Margherita pizza with no cover charge. Success. Food in general was just wonderful in Milan. We also went to a bakery that had CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS that you had to eat with a spoon! What a concept.

Yes, Milano was fabulous. It was like cramming two together and making a super Milano sandwich... yes, I am a fatass.

This was written two weeks ago.

2009-03-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, I haven’t updated this in a while, I know… But I have an excuse. I usually do these blogs in Accounting class (the most boring class in the history of the universe) and I haven’t had the class in two weeks. But now I’m here. And you’d think I should be paying attention, because I have my first midterm in this class (already?) next week. And I’m gonna fail. Stupid Stern curve. Anways, Venice…

Hold on. Pause: No one in our class understands anything and we’re all going to fail the test so I may need to pay attention if only for a bit…

A couple weekends ago, Jess and I took a wonderful trek to Venezia, Italia. It was the perfect day for the perfect city: as soon as I steppe off the train I knew I’d fall in love with it. I was born and raised a mere 2 minute walk from the Pacific Ocean, and I could see it from my bedroom window. I’ve always been obsessed with water: I love streams through forests and rivers through canyons and sunsets on beaches.

And I think that’s why I loved Venice so much—no streets, just canals running through the city, with boats replacing cars and bridges replacing crosswalks. Instead of tripping and falling off a sidewalk into the street, you ran the risk of plummeting into a huge body of water with no form of barricade protecting you.

As I said earlier, the day we got to Venice was probably the most gorgeous day I’ve seen so far in Italy. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the weather was a perfect 65 degrees F, and the sun was almost setting, reflecting a gorgeous orange on the faces of all the surrounding bodies of water. The walk from the train station to our hostel was about 30 minutes (contrary to the directions they gave us, which said it was 15), but it really was a great walk, and the more of the city I saw the more I fell in love with it. Bridges, gondolas, and cobblestone paths merged perfectly with Lush and McDonalds; Little shops and stands selling souvenirs stood perfectly situated outside of The Disney Store and United Colors. There was even a huge, old style church that had “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” etched across it’s front; the first Jesuit anything I’ve seen in an extremely Catholic country. It was, honestly, extremely exciting.

After our 30 minute self-touring of the city, we finally got to our Hostel, called The Venice Museum, which was a lot like a museum: busts on the wall, huge paintings abound, and ornate vases and tables everywhere. We met up with dear Holley and Brooks, who came down to Prague for Jess’s birthday, and walked around the city even more.

The first memorable locale in which we found ourselves was at the Ponte Rialto, the Rialto bridge. It sits above a primary river, and because the day was absolutely gorgeous it was quite a sight to behold. Gondolas going up and down the river against a postcard backdrop…. Beautiful.

Then everything is a haze, because it happened like a month ago. DAMN this stupid blog! But we went into this gorgeous palace, which is where my newfound love for ceilings originated. That palace whose name slips my mind is definitely one of the highlights of Venice… what is it called? The Doge Palace? Anyways, it was beautiful. I believe a masquerade ball in its main hall is in order, ala Gossip Girl.

Another highlight was the main cathedral, Catedrale San Marco.

What I do in Italy all day

2009-02-26T03:39:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp9Gm-aRe5A

Real post coming soon, I promise!
Pisa tomorrow, then Porto/Libson/Madrid/Marrakech/Casablanca/Barcelona/Venice and Rome for Spring Break!
I miss USA mucho grade.
And happy Lent.

Ciao from Venice

2009-01-31T12:03:00.001-08:00

Too many epic adventures to put into words!

Will update tomorrow when I get back to Firenze... Venice is fabulousss.

The Adventures in Florence Continue...

2009-01-27T08:38:00.001-08:00

Ok, New year’s resolution: write on this more (don't pull a Matt Doyle, to who this blog's URL is an homage)

SOOO Orientation Week is over and classes have begun. The schedule: Monday: Holy People Holy Place 1:30-4-15p, Tuesday: Principles of Financial Accounting, 3:00-5:45 p, Wednesday: Intro to Marketing, 9:00-11:45 a, and Intensive Elementary Italian, 6:00-7:15 p on MTW and R. Good times. It’s nice having class only once a week but the 2 hour and 45 minute thing can be mucho grande grueling and since there’s such a huge gap between classes, the homework like to pile up. But bringing my lap top to class helps (for example, I am in Accounting class now)

Florence is a gorgeous city. It’s been gross and rainy the past few days but the sun finally decided to push its head through the clouds today. Florentine sunsets are absolutely gorgeous… about 5 different colors spew from the horizon as the city is painted red-orange. The shudders on the window in my classroom refuse to close, and the sunlight is pouring through the crack down the middle. It’s absolutely breathtaking.

A little over a week ago we did a bit of touring through the city. It’s hard to walk more than 10 feet without smelling newly cooked waffles, waiting for nutella to be spread across them. Most of the little gelato shops on the side of the streets sell them, with gelato as topping. The gelato melts on the warm waffle, looking and smelling like absolute torture to anyone walking past. We haven’t had to opportunity to try it, but we certainly will before we leave.

The main street by Florence with all the stores has lots of cute Italian stores, but also plays home to a lot of familiar names too, such as United Colors, The Disney Store, and H&M. I am on a desperate quest for a peacoat (I lost my coat at the Paris airport) and have yet to succeed.

(Sidenote: the sidebar of Facebook is offering me a chance to win a trip to Italy)

Silly story: we were walking down the street and outside a café, a cute guy was standing outside and looking at us. He smiled and said hello. We eventually walked around and ended up outside his store, and he smiled and said hello again. We walked away again, got gelato, and then walked back,,, he was still standing outside. He smiled at me and said, “Does that taste good?” and winked. YEE YEE. We walked away from his store and, as I turned back, he was still looking at us. He waved, I giggled and waved back; he saw my wave and hand gestured us over. Super stoked. So we walk over and say hello. He points to me and Jess and ask “Are you two brother and sister?” That’s a question that makes sense with Jess and Marianne… not me and Jess. Silly. Anyways, lies—he was TOTALLY into her. He was glaring into her eyes and fawning over here, much like a baby deer. In her words:

italian man that is still of relative gorgeousness upon closer viewing: "what are your names?"
ryan: "ryan."
italian man: "ah, bryan. and yours?"
jess: "jessica."
italian man: "OH JESSICA." (LOOKS DIRECTLY INTO MY EYES)

It was then I realized that my gaydar would be out of order throughout the duration of my stay in Europe.

Also in our first week we had a lovely night out. We went to a bar sort of place and ordered drinks called invisibles, which comprised of 5 shots, one from like 5 different clear liquids, topped off with a little fragola. It was… well, it was quite silly. The color alteration effects on my face are documented on Facebook. After we went to a Discotecha (hehehe). Italians dance quite differently here… first it is not sexual; they mainly dance to themselves, flailing their arms and- gasp!- moving to the rhythm. The place we went to blasted crazy techno music that was in sync with seizure ending lights. It constantly felt like my head was going to split in two.

This past weekend, a group of us took a day trip to Lucca. It was cold, freezing… absolutely miserable. I believe Jess and I captured the general feeling of the group when we groaned, “This is the absolute worst day of my entire life.” It was a very pretty city; the food was good, and I had a white chocolate pistachio hot chocolate that was so rich I had to eat it with a spoon… but the rain, cold, emptiness of the city, and mildly psycho tour guide (“This is a starture. It represents a man.” Silence)

Accounting just ended. To be continued.

Buon Giorno.... continued.

2009-01-16T06:12:00.000-08:00

So... where was I?

I got breakfast in the kitchen or food room or whatever its called here. Most adorable meal ever. Croissants, hard boiled eggs, coffee and hot milk, and endless fruit. How European.

More orientation, then off into the city! After a short hike down Via Bolognese (the street my campus is on), we walked through the city toward the Duomo, that huge famous Dome in the middle of the city. It was so amazing looking around and just taking everything in... it's such a gorgeous freaking city. Its hard to explain in words everything I saw and everything I felt... its just so surreal thinking that this is the city I'm going to call home for the next 3 and a half months.

View at Sunrise from my bedroom

2009-01-16T02:24:00.000-08:00

Completely irrelevant.... Final 2008 Oscar Nomination Predictions

2009-01-16T02:09:00.000-08:00

6 days 'til nominations. Here we go.

Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Alternates: Doubt, Wall-E

Best Director
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Alternates: Stephen Daldry, The Reader, Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Alternates: Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road, Richard Jenkins, The Visitor

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
Alternates: Melissa Leo, Frozen River, Kristin Scott Thomas, I’ve Loved You So Long

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
James Franco, Milk
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Alternates: Ralph Fiennes, The Duchess, Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire (Worst category fraud EVER)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Kate Winslet, The Reader
Alternates: Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married, Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons

Best Original Screenplay
Happy- Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh
Milk, Dustin Lance Black
Rachel Getting Married, Jenny Lumet
Vicky Christina Barcelona, Woody Allen
Wall-E, Andrew Stanton
Alternates: Frozen River, Courtney Hunt, The Wrestler, Robert D. Siegel

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Roth
Doubt, John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, Peter Morgan
The Reader, David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire, Simon Beaufoy
Alternates: The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, Revolutionary Road, Justin Haythe

Best Animated Feature
Bolt
Wall-E
Waltz with Bashir
Alternates: Horton Hears a Who, Kung Fu Panda

Best Cinematography
The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
Alternates: Defiance, Milk

Best Art/Set Direction
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Alternates: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Synecdoche New York

Best Costume Design
Australia
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road
Alternates: The Dark Knight, Milk, The Reader

Best Make Up
The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Tropic Thunder
Alternates: The Dark Knight, The Reader

Best Film Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Alternates: Defiance, Revolutionary Road

Best Original Song
“Down to Earth,” Wall-E
“I Thought I Lost You,” Bolt
“Gran Torino,” Gran Torino
“Jai Ho,” Slumdog Millionaire
“The Wrestler,” The Wrestler
Alternates: “The Call,” The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, “O… Saya,” Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Score
The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, Alexandre Desplat
The Dark Knight, James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer
Defiance, James Newton Howard
Slumdog Millionaire, A.H. Rahman
Wall-E, Thomas Newman
Alternates: Changeling, Clint Eastwood, Revolutionary Road, Thomas Newman

Best Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Alternates: Australia, Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Best Sound
The Dark Knight
Defiance
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Alternates: Australia, The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons

Best Sound Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons
The Dark Knight
Defiance
Iron Man
Wall-E
Alternates: Cloverfield, Waltz with Bashir

Buon Giorno

2009-01-16T01:47:00.000-08:00

It's my third full day in Florence and it really hasn't sunk in yet.

First and foremost, getting here was terrible. Awful. Miserable. I cam to the airport a solid 3 hours early, checked in, called the insurance company abotu the Santa Clara car crash fiasco, then ate lunch with my mom. Thank god that when my mom dropped me off at Security she didn't cry, because I was on the verge and if she had cried I definitely would have, and I really do hate bawling at the airport.

Our initial plane to Paris, set to take off at 3:35 pm California time. We boarded on time and sat for an hour. We were surrounded by 16 other study abroad students going to Florence through Syracuse (the girl next to me was from USC!) After an hour of sitting, the pilot announced that the plane was missing a part. (Like, WTF? Do the pilots land and then go, Oh whoops, feels like we've been flying without a part... Mah 'B. Really? Like, really?) Therefore, it didn't take off for Paris until 8:30 pm California time. The positive: Me and Jessgot $15 food vouchers for anywhere in the airport. So naturally, we got $15 worth of food even if we weren't hungry. SUCCESS. Can you say Cappucchino, diet Coke, biscotti, chocolate chip cookie, and bagel with cream cheese? Because I can. Yessss. After mucho hours of waiting, we finally boarded and took off.

After a 10 hour and 30 minute flight (I was asleep most of the time) we got to Partis around 6:00 pm, Paris time. Of course, we missed our connecting flight. Air Paris gave us two options: either to stay in Paris for a night and catch a flight to Florence the next morning, or to fly to Pisa. We uninimously opted for the latter. After another 2 and a half hoursof just chilling in the Paris airport, we took a connecting flight to Pisa (as in Leaning tower of...) around 8:30 pm, Italy time, and landed in Pisa at 10:30 pm. After picking up our bags, the bus driving the other study abroad kids brought us all into Florence, arriving at their hotel at 1 am. Finally, Jess and I took a cab from that hotel to the NYU campus, with me finally getting into my dorm at 1:30 am.

I unpacked and then realized I didn't buy an electrical converter, because I'm a fucking genius. My incredibly kind roommate let me borrow his, so I got internet access for the first time in 24 hours... which is a big deal, actually. I unpacked all my stuff and crawled into bed around 2:30 am, finding it pretty hard to sleep due to jetlag and all the sleeping on the plane and such.

In other news, I finally finished Goblet of Fire. Great successes abound.

I spent the entire night waking up and falling asleep and waking up and falling asleep again, finally giving up at 6 am. Got up, got dressed... finally saw the campus in day light, HOLY SHIT. Gorgeous much? Why yes. Did the orientation thing starting at 10:30.... at about 2:30 time difference took its toll, and I stumbled home, crawled into bed, and was knocked out. I woke up at 11:00 pm to pitch black. Shit, I wasted the day! Haha. I decided that I didn;t want to go out into the city by myself (good choice), and took a Vikoden (sp?) to lull back to sleep...

...Just to wake up at 5:30 am. Damn. Deciding I wasn;t going back to sleep, I crawled out of bed and stumbled to the Villa Natalia (my building's) common room. I finished my final Oscar predictions (I would, wouldn't I?) and kept reading Order of the Phoenix (I would, wouldn't I?). Shower, breakfast, more orientation.

To be continued.

The First Post

2009-01-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

I have 3 primary reasons for starting this blog:

1. Apparently this is what people do when they go abroad.
2. People have been asking me "how's Italy?" and it seems this is the only way I can provide a legitimate answer without leaving anything out.
3. I have been instructed to "journal," and since I don't write things out this is how we're gon' do it.
3.5. Oscar shit.

Sound good? Here we go.