The Blood Is Love

I don't care if people don't like Twilight. To each their own, right? And it's not like I like everything. I loathe ugly Betty, have never seen Lord of the Rings and really wasn't that excited about Transformers. But since Twilight is extremely popular right now, people love to hate it. And since I work at a bookstore, where every other request is for the books or movies, I hear about it A LOT. The following are the most common complaints about the story I hear:

1. Vampires Don't Sparkle

Ummm, vampires aren't real. It's like saying the Boogie Monster isn't green. Um, he's not real so if a writer wants to make him blue and yellow polka dots, he/she can.



What about Vampire Diaries which allows many of its vamps to be out during the day because of a special ring? It's just another element to the story. Not a big deal.

2. Edward is controlling.

I often hear people say that Bella is a horrible role model. I'm sorry, but last I checked the book was classified as fiction. I never read it for my own self help. And if you've read the books, you'd know that Edward is trying to protect Bella. She's a klutz and always getting hurt and then she has a crazed vampire after her! Of course he wants to be by her side all the time.



3. Robert Pattinson is not that good looking.

Um, you're wrong.



4. The book is not good for feminists.

THANK GOODNESS!

5. Stephenie Meyer is not a good writer.

Yes, she is. She's a good writer, not a great writer. Better than I am, for sure. Have I ever written a novel? Nope. Do I even have an idea for a novel? Nope. She wrote something that has engaged a gazillion people. Now, if those people don't realize there are bigger and better things out there, that's their fault!

5. No sex.

This bothered me at first, too. Most know that Stephenie Meyer is very conservative in her beliefs and I was annoyed she wrote books with abstinence as the lesson. BORING. BUT storywise, it is explained: Edward is afraid he'll kill her if they get it on. Yes, it's also because he wants to be married, but what's wrong with that? Though not common, that is still the belief of many people. But mostly I just focus on the fact that he is afraid she'll get hurt.

6. Kristen Stewart sucks.

I don't think she does. Also, I think she's just really shy and awkward. How would you handle a million questions thrown at you and people falling over themselves to get to you? Um, scary. I say stupid shit all the time, but luckily no one is taping it and reporting it to the world.



Check this out: Shirley Manson likes her!

XO,
SVR

With Twilight As My Guide

I'm not going to lie, I really want to stay in a Twilight-themed hotel:


Pacific Inn Motel in Forks, Washington

http://io9.com/5436011/twilight-town-gets-its-own-reality-tv-show

A Rush Of Blood To The Head

I remember watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and thinking, "Damn, he's hott! And that accent! I love it!"

Robert Pattinson. He's hott. He's always been hott. Now he is extremely popular and a part of the Twilight saga so people like to say he's gross...but they're wrong, he's hott. I'm going on blogger record with this.

I think Robert Pattinson is HOTTTTT!!!!!!




And it's not because I want him to suck my blood*. It's because he is a delicious man. I'm sick of people grouping me with the teeny-boppers who love Twilight** and are in a fantastical mindset and think that RP is actually a vampire. I am 29. I am normal. And denying he is hott is ridiclous.



That is all.






XO,
Scarlet



*My neck, yes. And that's only for foreplay purposes.
**Although I do love Twilight...and what's wrong with that??

Under The Moonlight

As promised, here is my New Moon playlist:

1. Apocalypse Please- Muse
2. Pain- Jimmy Eat World
3. The World Has Turned And Left Me Here- Weezer
4. Take It Easy (Love Nothing)- Bright Eyes
5. Blue Side- Rooney
6. Fix You- Coldplay
7. Someone's In The Wolf- Queens Of The Stone Age
8. Vampire/Forest Fire- The Arcade Fire
9. Hyper Music- Muse
10. Honey And The Moon- Joseph Arthur
11. Under The Moonlight- Travis
12. The Scientist- Coldplay
13. DOA- Foo Fighters
14. Black Tangled Heart- Silverchair
15. Sing For Absolution- Muse

XO,
SVR

We Suck Young Blood (Your Time Is Up)

In addition to my mom inquiring about Twilight the other day, I have now gotten her into True Blood, as well. Last night I let her know a mini marathon was on and today she told me how much she enjoyed it. We both love how Bill says Sookie's name and thinks he's a vampire dream boat.


So over the summer, when Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer came out, I volunteered to make some mix CDs for the Barnes & Noble midnight release party. I went a little overboard and ended up making six mixes. One for each book and two extra, just because. If you would like a copy of the following, let me know! And I'll post the other playlists later.

Twilight:

1. Why does it always rain on me?- Travis
2. Charlie- Red Hot Chili Peppers
3. And it rained all night- Thom Yorke
4. In my place- Coldplay
5. Blood- Sons & Daughters
6. The blood is love- Queens Of The Stone Age
7. Rain Ammunition- Pavement
8. What is your secret?- Nada Surf*
9. Raindrops + Sunshowers- Smashing Pumpkins
10. A forest- The Cure
11. Precipitate- Interpol
12. Time is running out- Muse
13. Stand inside your love- Smashing Pumpkins
14. Twilight- Elliott Smith


*Anyone wanna go to the show on Friday? I got my ticket forever ago, but my peep can't go.

Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But...

I am sucked in, for lack of a better term, to the mini True Blood marathon on HBO. So while I watched these vampires, let me write about some others.

Like I said the other day, Ali and I saw Twilight on Thanksgiving. I had read all four books about halfway through the hysteria. I finished the 3rd one just as Breaking Dawn came out so I wasn't as invested as the people writing "Bite Me, Edward" on them at the release parties, but I was more into it than the average Joe who had yet to pick any of them up. I'm a fan of a good story. If remembering that the books are for teens and written to also promote abstinence, then they're pretty good. So while I don't consider the books fine literature, I think they're very entertaining and I guess I could say that about the film version as well.

First off...the casting.

+Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen is perfect. He's hott. And brooding. And did I mention hott? I am so glad the film version of Edward did not constantly "wrap his arms around Bella's waist" as he seemed to constantly do in the books. I think I like film Edward way more than book Edward.

+Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan. She's described as being kind of dumpy in the books (yet beautiful...mostly just dumpy clothes) so I was pleasantly surprised that she did not go around wearing khakis and blue silk shirts in the movie. My only negative is her way of acting flustered...it looked a little like Tourette's. Otherwise, she was as I imagined, yet they left out a lot of her clumsiness in the movie.

+Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black. Ali really liked him. I heard some people say he wasn't cute enough, but I wouldn't say that. And apparently he is not as tall as described in the books, but I thought he was well cast. He definitely looked younger than her and is supposed to start getting a lot bigger soon, so that should be interesting.

+Gil Birmingham as Billy Black was dead on how I imagined him. Perfect.

+Peter Facinelli as Carlisle Cullen. He is married to Jennie Garth. He looked so young, but otherwise, he was great. So was Esme. She was as I imagined her.

+Alice was good, except I didn't know she had short, choppy black hair until book 4, I think. Jasper made me laugh every time he came on screen because he looked like the younger brother of Edward Scissorhands.

+Rosalie and Emmett were fine, too. I loved the scene, *THUMP* "Oh, it's just Emmett."

+Charlie was awesome. I had pictured him as older and with grey hair for some reason, but I think that is because my dad has gray hair. I always love the dad in a movie.

So enough about casting. I thought it was a good adaptation. Not much seemed to be left out (unless I forgot A LOT of the book, which is possible). Ali and I have been reenacting the car scene all week: "Your hands are ice cold!" "Put on your seat belt!" I was curious before seeing it if it would come across as believable and I'm not talking about the vampires. Would it come across as real that Bella and Edward love each other or would they just seem like stupid teenagers? The progression from meeting to loving was quick, but believable, in my opinion. It was also a quick progression in the movie from Bella wondering what makes Edward different and hearing the Quileute story and piecing everything together that he is a vampire. "How old are you?" "17" "How long have you been 17?" "Awhile."

Twilight is one of those "go to" movies. When you want to sit down and be entertained for a couple of hours, but don't want to invest in something too deep. It's like when I pick Cruel Intentions over Babel for a movie to put on.

Oh, and my favorite thing about the movie? It ending with a Radiohead song. <3!


Has anyone else seen it? Thoughts?


XO,
SVR

This I Love

For the first time in my life, I went to see a movie on Thanksgiving Day. Ali and I saw Twilight.

Ummmm, <3.


More on this later*. I'm freezing down here where my laptop is**.


XO,
SVR

*One might think, "why write anything at all?"
**Aren't laptops mobile? Yes. Yes they are. But dial up phone cords are not. Welcome to my life.