my paper heart

2004-01-08 - 10:46 p.m.

as of late i can't seem to stop listening to both the all-american rejects (self-titled debut) and to joy division's 'unknown pleasures.' though at this exact second i can't get 'a.m. 180' by grandaddy out of my head, mostly thanks to its use in my favourite scene in '28 days later,' the scene in which they go shopping at the deserted supermarket. it's so silly and carefree in the midst of danger and the entire world as the characters know it becoming something else entirely. but then they can go shopping and get good liquor and terry's chocolate oranges.

i saw grandaddy open for elliot smith twice. after the show i told elliot that his tour bus smelled like mister bubble. he grinned then. he's dead now. apparent suicide. poor elliot. he seemed so quiet and sweet. tortured and sad, but quiet and sweet, too.

my mind was kind of reeling before i walked into the theatre to see 'calendar girls,' but when the movie started it mostly faded away and i was in england with that group of women. hence i shall think on that movie with fondness for both making me laugh and for its transportation value.

i got a new phone, and for the first time i'm into technology. i mean, i've been into it before on a very basic level, such as internet and webpages and all that, but i've pretty much been taking it either in stride or for granted. but now i have this phone, and oh, so i love it. i can simply say a name and it will dial whomever i wish. i can write messages and reminders to myself, create a schedule, calculate the tip as well as how to split it up evenly, choose from various coloured backgrounds, and tell you the current time in paris with my new phone. and i love it all. i'm delighted with it. i play with it constantly, changing and personalizing ring tones, creating new banners, and adding any and all useful numbers to my phonebook. i love it. i la la la love my new phone.

so when i saw a commercial for a new car that has a tracking and navigation system built into it, i perked up. usually i ignore the barrage of uselessly clever car commercials, but suddenly i was interested. 'that's so cool,' i thought. 'i need a new car! one with fun buttons and gadgets like my phone has!' like i go trekking through the outback every other weekend or something. like i would even remotely need such features. but i wanted them. they were cool. i'm suddenly open to all these advances, no longer taking them for granted as advantages of our modern age. i am a kid who has just rediscovered toys.

speaking of cool toys, i have just recently discovered via moo that one of my two favourite tv shows ever has become available on dvd. oh yes, as of now season one of 'forever knight' is now on dvd. five glorious uncut discs of 'forever knight.' hooray would be the understatement of the year. and it's just january! i remember my sister telling me about this show set in canada about a vampire cop who longs to be human while i was a wee 15 years old, away at governor’s school for the summer. i came back, we watched, and i became addicted. thanks to 'forever knight' i almost always had sweet dreams every saturday night, staying up to watch the show then lying in bed and making up stories about nick and lacroix and, later on, vachon, who was great despite his bad headbanger hair. the first thing that i ever ordered off of the internet was the soundtrack to the show, one christmas long ago soon after we first got internet at home, when our computer was an old mac up in the attic. between 'forever knight' and 'the kids in the hall' (the other of the two favourites) i was convinced that i would move to toronto. i even wrote poems about moving there, the motivation solely based on the fact that both of my favourite shows took place there, so it must be an awesome place.

and oh, glory of glories, the first season of 'the kids in the hall' is coming out on dvd very soon! talk about heaven. transvestite comedy and moody french vampires. ahhh, that's my heaven right there. i need never leave the house again.

to think that in the european version of 'forever knight' there was nudity. nudity! what i would have given to have gotten a peek at geraint wyn davies's meat and two vegge back when i was 15 and in the heat of my smoldering crush on him. hell, i'd still love to take a peek. too bad it's the canadian version on the dvds instead. but that's okay. it's still seven minutes more per episode than the american version.

this is me, squealing with glee.

squeal. squeal.

boy, i am just a chatty cathy tonight, aren't i? cathy with a 'c'. and cabbagehead. and sex girl patrol. god i love those canadians.

now if i could get 'daria' on dvd, 'quantum leap' as well, 'key west' and 'covington cross' (two extremely short-lived shows, but i try to be the eternal optimist), the greek episodes which are missing from the 'storyteller' dvd, every season of 'buffy', 'father ted,' and 'sex and the city,' and hopefully 'queer eye for the straight guy' in the near future, i would be one happy chappy.

ahh, tv shows on dvd. beautiful. just beautiful.

speaking of beautiful dvds, while searching for a rare copy of susan kay's phenomenal book 'phantom' online, i quite literally stumbled upon the tv miniseries 'the phantom of the opera' available on dvd. ohh, could life get any more complete? that was always my very favourite miniseries ever (though i was a great fan of 'the thornbirds' and have yet to watch my tape of 'angels in america'). charles dance was so passionate, so eloquent and beautiful as the phantom, and terri polo was quite lovely as christine despite my young admonishment for not being sarah brightman (but who can be, really?). my ideal erik always had the voice of michael crawford, the soul of susan kay's 'phantom,' and the physical appearance and eloquence of charles dance.

all of these cool things from those pivotal teen years are suddenly resurfacing in the form of cool new technology. see, i knew that if i held out long enough the '00 years would be cool. yeah, my favourite tv shows have that much of an effect on me. oh, the nostalgia of it all! those were lilac days, i'm tellin' ya.

and now i'm going back to my little hidey-hole and reading more of 'the loner's manifesto' until i fall asleep. with some luck and happy thoughts i'll have some sweet dreams ahead of me, both in the purchasing of my favourite television imaginings with xmas money and in the days of splendor awaiting the meeting of those discs with my dvd player.

yes, i am a nerd. and you love me for it.