spanglegluppet dot com

Interested in words, literacy, and all that jazz? Then I think you should check out this list of links and tools for word lovers. Certainly some awesome stuff in there.

Also, thewordoftheday! Yeah, I know. Shameless plug. But I'm actually really surprised at the popularity it's received (3,255 followers as I post this, and more RTs than you can count)

See you around,

Tim

There's a few upcoming events that I want to talk to people in general about, so I thought it deserved a blog entry. Although this is really one of those entries that is really only posted so it will also appear as a Facebook note.

Right. First of all, I've booked my ticket for the Soundwave festival next year, which will be held in Melbourne on February 26, 2010. (and a bunch of other places around the country) I know of a few people who are going, but really want to get around to booking flights, accommodation (remember when you always struggled with how to spell the word "accommodation"? I've suddenly forgotten how to) and other rather essential things, so if anyone is considering going to the Melbourne show (presumably flying over on the Saturday (the show starts at 11am, so there's plenty of time) and flying back Sunday, probably after a day in Melbourne), and can put up with me and my friends, let me know?

Another thing. I'm currently involved with Exit Left's brilliant production of High School Musical. I have a tiny part (marching band), but it's fun nonetheless. I highly encourage everyone to see it (although tickets are expensive), as it's a fantastic show, even if you don't think it's your thing. It's got some of Tassie's best actors and I doubt you'll be disappointed. From when I post this (Friday night), there are three more shows - Saturday at 1pm, Saturday at 7pm, and Sunday at 2am.

Last thing - my band (Sploosh - please ignore the awful quality of songs on that page if you choose to listen to them) are playing a gig as part of Edge Radio's Medicine Show on Saturday the 26th of September. Come along if you've got nothing better to do!

That's all from me. Send me a message/email/text if you're considering coming along to any of these three events.

Tim

I strangely enjoyed writing the last one. So I thought I'd do another review of a film that I just watched.

Requiem for a Dream (2000)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180093/

Director: Darren Aronofosky
Writer: Hubert Selby Jr, Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly

This tale of several lives ruined by drugs is certainly a depressing one. Burstyn delivers a great performance as Sara Goldfarb, a lonely elderly lady who is reduced to insanity by diet pills, and Leto and Connelly have wonderful chemistry together as Harry (Sara's son) and Marion, a young couple who both slowly fall apart due to drugs. The theme of this movie was obviously the trouble that drugs can cause, but I felt at times it was a little too obvious, and was drilled into the audience's minds with sledgehammer subtlety. There are some subthemes, but they were all overshadowed by the main theme, which is addiction (to drugs, television, sex, etc). Possibly this is a strong enough theme to carry the entire film, but at times the film felt a little empty without anything else to support it.

The direction was fantastic, with several recurring motifs such as fast cuts between different scenes, sharp montages whenever a drug-taking scene occured, repetition of scenes, and hallucinations. These all worked tremendously well, however, like with the plot, it seemed that there were points where these effects were overdone. In my opinion, Requiem would have benefited from a lot more subtlety. The film was also incredibly depressing, although of course there's nothing wrong with that as long as it was the writers' and director's intent.

Acting: 8
Direction: 8
Writing: 6
Effects: 7

Total: 7.3/10

I spontaneously wrote this as a forum post, and thought I'd repost it here.