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Saw Phantom of the Opera with mum, which was quite good. The visuals were so magnificently opulent that it would take a dozen repeat viewings to fully appreciate them, and the voices were much better than I expected them to be. However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as other movie musicals I’ve seen, mainly because it didn’t really offer anything beyond what the stage musical presented. Usually, movie musicals are either totally new (like NMBC) or offer a radically new spin or interpretation on pre-existing material (like Chicago or Moulin Rouge). Meanwhile, Phantom had fabulous visuals, but the script was essentially the libretto of the musical. I guess that should please the purists, and I suppose that was probably the intention, but I went in to the theatre wanting to experience something new and different.

I wanted a new spin. I wanted to not want to hit Christine in the face with a large fish. I wanted to be able to find it in my heart to ship Christine/Raoul for once, but nope, even on the silver screen, Christine/Raoul is duller than Buffy/Angel (oh, and that scene on the roof [All I Ask of You], where Christine and Raoul obliviously kiss, and then it pans over to the Phantom, seething behind the horse statue? Three guesses where my mind went, and the first two that aren’t “the last scene of ‘End of Days’ [BtvS 7×21]” don’t count. I wanted TheFirst!Christine to appear by the Phantom’s side and make some snide comment.)

And now I’ve gone off on a major tangent about an aspect I didn’t like, and I haven’t said anything about why I did like it. One of my favourite bits came in the form of Minnie Driver as Carlotta. Oh my good gravy, she was fabulous! Her mannerisms were comic gold, and her costumes were fantastic. Listening to the CD, “Prima Donna” is one of my favourite bits from the show, though it seemed a bit flat in the movie version, despite the frantic busyness and energy of the visuals. It really didn’t bother me that it wasn’t her singing.

Was it just me, or did the dancers in black in the background of “The Point of No Return” conjure major “Roxanne” flashbacks? Why is it that I can’t spell “conjure” properly on the first try ever since playing Conjur Woman in Dark of the Moon?

Uh… Meg/Phantom OTP? I’m going to go ahead and post this, as I am finishing this entry at 8:33PM, when it was dated 1:01AM, which is just silly.

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And so this is Christmas! Man, I cleaned up! More cute tops and sweaters than you can shake a stick at (including an Avenue Q shirt), Paul Kidby’s new Art of Discworld, James Fee’s Peleliu Project (a book I’ve been yearning for since senior year), a couple books on Broadway, the PBS Broadway special on DVD, a book of Edmund Teske photographs (which I lusted after with my mom in NY–she must have returned to the store without me and picked up a copy!), and to top it all, the Lord of the Rings Extended Edition trilogy.

Second to the LotR merriment, my other favourite gift was the one that was the most unexpected. When I got home from Philadelphia, we sent my sweaters and coat to the cleaners, with the knowledge that I could use some other coat lying around the house in place of my normal coat while I was in Dallas. My mom looked through the closets and found a coat she had bought last year, but which she never really wore, because she found it got to be a bit too small. However, on me, it fit perfectly, and is fabulously flattering. She said I could have it! It’s like my normal coat, but ankle-length and with two columns of buttons instead of one. I luuuuuuuuuuuurve it! And now it is mine, mwahahaha!

Also, for the first time, we opened the portfolio case Keith Carter sent us and basked in the glory of the “Spotted Apple” print we bought last summer in Santa Fe. Not sure where we’re going to put it in the house yet, but I can’t wait to see it framed! *drools*

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Auxiliary Backup Hobbit Christmukkahwanzafestivagnosti– *takes deep breath* –saturnalieid-ul-fitratheist-kids-get-presents-day! My holiday card is going to have to wait a few days, because apparently even at 2AM, there are no Christmas miracles where Maya is concerned. *thwaps software*

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YESSS!!!! There are more that share my delusion vision that Juliet Landau (Drusilla) would make the perfect Bellatrix! I am not alone! And to think that Moni laughed at me when I suggested it. Hah, take that! They laughed! They laughed at me! I’ll show them all! I’ll show everyone! MUAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!! *lightning strikes*

::cough:: Ahem.

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Does anyone know if there were new episodes of either Lost or Smallville last night? Judging from the absence of commentary on my flist, I assume the negative, but I don’t want to miss out on the off chance that I’m mistaken.

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Oh! I should probably mention that I’m home now! I got in just before midnight last night. Yay, winter break! *does a little dance*

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WOOHOO!!!! And we have heat again! *does a brief dance, then immediately returns to typing frantically on last-minute work on final theatre lighting project*

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Ugh. I just took a 5-minute freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie break (thank you, Nikki and Lisa!) from the evil theatre lighting thing. Nikki and Lisa were watching “The Real Gilligan’s Island,” so as I ate my cookie and drank my chocolate soymilk, I watched a couple minutes.

WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO MY FIRST FANDOM?

Good grief, this is what they cancelled shows like Firefly and Angel for? What on earth is the appeal of reality TV, I want to know?