Just forget the words and sing along

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Neither Smoke, Nor Rain, Nor Coughing Fits

So, if you watch the news, you know we're in rough states here in Alberta right now.  We've got smoke blowing in from the BC forest fires, making our air quality the worst it's been in years.  On top of that, there was rain in the forecast for this Saturday.  And, on top of that still, I'm feeling quite under the weather right now.  Lived in Athabasca for 4.5 years now, and finally got sick enough where I felt I had to see a doctor.

Naturally, with all this going on, I jumped out of bed and said, "I'm going to the city today!"

I had to go to the city.  I had a very important reason to go to the city.  I had to see Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.  Because it opened in #5 last week, I knew that my chances to see it in the theatre would be running out fast.

You've probably seen the commercials for it.  Scott Pilgrim is a young 20-something in Toronto who plays in a band, and he meets the girl of his dreams, the bewitching and enigmatic Ramona Flowers.  But Ramona's got some serious baggage following her around...seven evil exes, and if Scott and Ramona want to live happily ever after, he must defeat all of them in combat!  Which is where the film gets its visual flair.  All the fights take the form of super hyperactive video games.

This film makes me wish I played more video games in my youth, because it's so full of references to the 8-bit era of video games that most of the jokes were over my head.

Other than that, I enjoyed the hell out of this film.  It's all about that period you go through in your early-20s, when you're finally casting off the last vestiges of your youth and learning to be a grown-up.  Needless to say, it brought back happy flashbacks to my college days, as I saw elements of people I knew in pretty much every character on screen.  It's all about discovering that yes, she has a past, and if you're a man, and if you love her, you'll get the f--k over it and work things out.

This has been a lean summer for films.  Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, and now Scott Pilgrim vs. the World are the only films that had me walking out of the theatre 100% satisfied.

Then I stopped in at HMV.  There were lots of DVDs in the discount bin that caught my eye, but I was craving new music.  A lot of those digitally remastered Beatles albums that made such a big splash a year ago are now starting to pop up in discount bins, so I snatched up Magical Mystery Tour.  This one has more of my favourite Beatles tunes on it.  I am the Walrus...Penny Lane...All You Need is Love...Strawberry Fields Forever...so why the heck not?  Hmmm...it just occurred that I seem to be limiting myself to the Beatles' soundtracks.  First A Hard Day's Night, and now Magical Mystery Tour.  I guess that means Help! and Yellow Submarine will be next.

And then, that led to one of the more embarrassing moments in my life.  Since HMV's discount bin CDs are usually marked "2/$30" and all that, of course I was buying a second album.  A grabbed my second choice, and walked up to the counter.  The clerk was this attractive young blond.  She rang up the Beatles, and then my second album.  She looked at the album cover, looked up at me, and said, "Really?  You like Selena Gomez?"

At least I was able to hold my head high and answer her truthfully:  "I tend to put the Disney Channel on for background noise, and she gets stuck in my head."  Heck, the only reason why I ever sat down and watched a whole episode of the Selena Gomez show is because I discovered her TV mom is Hawkgirl.

So yeah.  Selena Gomez.  It's unremarkable, bubblegum pop, but it gets stuck in your head.



All in all, worth getting out of the house. 

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