This past weekend we were in New Jersey for a wedding (state motto: let's confuse the hell out of out-of-state drivers with our brilliant jug handle turns!). In spite of said jug handles, the drive up was beautiful, with the trees in a riot of autumn colors. Too bad this picture I managed to take from the car is kind of crappy, but you get the idea.
Twilight countdown: one week! I bought my ticket to the first of many viewings, and I almost peed my pants from excitement.
Speaking of, my cousin Highmaintenancemom had mentioned the near riot that happened last week in San Francisco during a scheduled R-Pattz appearance at a Hot Topic store. Coincidentally enough, I was seriously contemplating dragging SIL Alissa with me and driving up to Philadelphia today for an R-Pattz appearance at the King of Prussia mall, but after I read about what happened in San Francisco I changed my mind. Then I saw the press release Hot Topic put out, and accepted the fact that I am no longer a hardy young person who can camp out for stuff like this, even if it is to see R-Pattz. I remember camping out for Star Wars tickets in college and, though that was a ton of fun at the time, I don't think I would have the werewithal to do that in my old age today.
Borders was giving away a Twilight poster for free with a purchase of $25 of Twilight swag, which I really, really wanted, so I got: the Twilight calendar, a bookmark, and two magazines - the Entertainment Weekly featuring Edward on the cover (it was the last remaining one in stock - looked like I got there just in time, whew!) and Film Fantasy. Then, totally embarrassed, I marched up to the cashier with my loot and sheepishly asked the nice college-aged boy behind the counter for the free poster.
I also had another wedding inquiry from my cousin's friend for six bracelets, but unfortunately the turnaround time did not work out with my schedule. It would have been a fun order to do!
And if you get a chance, hop on over to Paperback Musings for a trio of book memes. Alissa, Karmela, and I are still in the midst of our current reads, so there have not been any book reviews posted as of yet. We swear we're usually not this slow!
I missed my usual Twilight Tuesday post because I was glued to election coverage on television all night.
Since the movie is coming out soon (two weeks according to the countdown clock!), there have been tons of new links and news that Alissa and Tameka have been sending me. It's been hard to choose which pictures and news to post, so for today I will go with: the soundtrack!
Tuesday, November 4 was a big day because not only was it Election Day, but the Twilight soundtrack was finally released. I've been waiting with bated breath for Bella's Lullaby, and when I finally heard it, I have...mixed emotions.
First, here it is!
My first reaction was - not surprisingly - that it didn't sound like what I thought of as Bella's lullaby in my head, and that I liked Schumann's Widmung much better (so did Alissa). The second thought: in spite of this, the official version is a gorgeous piece of music. At first I was thrown off by the strings (I was expecting a pure piano solo), but I read that this song is played throughout the movie and reflects the progression of Bella and Edward's relationship, so it seemed like it would need to be a fleshed out orchestral piece.
I have a hard time imagining it as a piano solo because the orchestral accompaniment weaves the theme and adds color and texture to the melody, and if just a piano solo, the melody would sound rather flat. Which brings me to my next point - it was hard discerning the central melody because the piece was so short - the version they released on the soundtrack stands at only 2 minutes. The cymbals at the end give this an epic, soaring feel, but a lullaby should be quiet, intimate, sweet - not necessarily soaring. It's a beautiful composition but I don't know if it should be Bella's lullaby. Still, I would love to play this on my violin with an orchestra.
And I'll leave you with another eye candy, this time with Edward (R-Pattz), Bella (Kristen Stewart) and James (played by Cam Gigandet, who I am told was also on the OC). This was from the latest Vanity Fair interview and photoshoot.
Now you don't have to spend those few precious extra minutes in the morning trying to match the appropriate jewelry to your outfit. This necklace dress by Emma Cook for Topshop comes with the jewelry already built in, thus saving you the trouble! As expected, it's dry clean only.
Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. It's seems very avant-garde, but...
I had ambitious plans to make many things this weekend for the shop, but I got sidetracked by politics. My sister and I attended a political rally this beautiful fall afternoon. However, the speaker we came to see arrived so late that we had to leave after waiting for 3 hours in the cold, so it turned out to be really defective. But still fun. My sister was interviewed by a local TV news crew while we were waiting in line, which they will show on election night, and I got signs and buttons. I also signed up to volunteer for my candidate on election eve, putting signs on people's doors for a final get-out-the-vote push. Two more days!
I know it's not Tuesday, but I had to gush a little about "Leave Out All The Rest" by Linkin Park. I am in love with it (plus I never realized how hot the lead singer of Linkin Park is). It's going to be on the Twilight soundtrack - coming out this Tuesday! From all indications, it's going to be a good one. I was bummed that I couldn't attend the Twilight listening parties held at Hot Topic stores on October 24, but the wait isn't too long now.
