Hi everyone

lol Sorry!!
Why aren't you in a good mood? Are you ok?

Hope you're feeling better soon. Watch some more Out of Practice to lighten up your mood. Or did you already finish it?

I also started watching it a few days ago and almost finished it now, but I think I'm keeping the last few eps for when I'm back at home. But the show just totally cracks me up. And Ben/Chris is soooo adorable, awww!!

Aww, thanks guys. Feeling quite a bit better now.

@ Dan: Hehe, I watched loads of eps last week, but I've left the last 6 or so for later. I always feel sorry for Ben, the family 'failure'.

I hope you're feeling better, FiFi! *hugs*

Gahhh, have you seen Ingmar Bergman's film Shame? Just saw it in class today. Wow. I'm still trying to process it. So intense! I really don't like war movies.

But I also saw some Bergman parodies. Love those! They're hilarious.

I'm not a big fan of war movies either. I haven't gotten around to Shame yet, but I do fancy seeing it. Ullman/Sydow are such a dream team too.

I've never seen a Bergman parody, that would be interesting.

Yes, they are! And I love Ullman with Bibi Anderson! Though it's nice to hear Ullman have some speaking roles if you know what I mean.

Shame is an intense movie, but you should see it!

Here's a Google video of the main one I saw in class (saw other ones too, smaller clips), but this is the big one De Duva (The Dove). It makes fun of and references a few Bergman films, the main one being Wild Strawberries, but there is a notable reference to The Seventh Seal and others, I'm sure.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3803584387889303730#

And this is a parody of Persona:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XrAH9Z_Bjk

Glad you're feeling better.

Hehe, I can't wait to finish OOP when I get back home from my brother's. And yep, poor Ben, I always feel sorry for him too.

So do you know how to configure Trillian for MSN messenger accounts?

I do!! It's easy!!

Just type in your MSN username and password like your would normally do on MSN, but do it thru Trillian and it should save your info on Trillian too.

Ah, thanks.


edit: Didn't work. It won't accept my MSN account name.

That's weird. I've used Trillian since 2006 when my ex-roommate showed it to me. Though back then I didn't use my MSN account there, just my AOL and Yahoo! ones. But I signed up with Trillian again cuz I have a new laptop and it seemed to work just fine. I've only been on Trillian once since signing up again, but I haven't had any problems. Not yet anyway. If you have more than one instant messaging client that you use and Trillian still doesn't work, just keep it separate. I don't know what else to tell you!

I figured it out. The latest version wants you to sign up for some other account before entering the one you have. By going to an older version I was able to do as you just described. But I also deleted MSN Messenger and downloaded a different version. And that other version fixed the problem I had with the version I was using. It's not great, but it's better than what I was forced to upgrade to before.

Sorry, I haven't been around, just read this!

@ Kev: Don't you like the new version, Kev? I really like it because I have all of my Yahoo, GTalk & MSN IDs set-up within the one Trillian ID, so when I have to reinstall like I did last week, I just installed and signed in with that and it had the other IDs already set-up within it.

Although one thing I don't like is whenever I type in LOL or LMAO and send the message a kid laughs. It's oddly creepy.

@ Lara: LMAO I love the French and Saunders one especially. They always have the perfect blend of silliness and observation for spoofs.

"Listen, I am trying to cope with the presence of god and the universal experience and I haven't even had a cup of tea yet!"

I haven't actually had a conversation on it yet. I rarely chat by instant messengers any more.

I've only recently started to get back on it regularly/semi-regularly too. I got out of the habit for a while and it always seems that I never time it right! If you have any probs give me a shout.

Thanks. Back when the old forum was new a lot of people that were there I talked to on it, and some people from elsewhere. But most of those people have found other lives, and I never replaced them. So I just don't have people on my current list.

Glad you liked the Bergman parodies. I wish other people could enjoy them, but you only really understand them if you've seen enough Bergman films. I think we're watching Scenes from a Marriage this upcoming week!

But OMG, what is up with Cries and Whispers? That movie was SO intense! My professor warned us about the mutilation scene, but God, that scene stays with you!

@Kev: I'm similar. I talk to less online friends these days, so it's mostly 'real-life' friends who live in NZ and their schedules are usually exactly opposite to mine because of the time diff.

@Lara: I haven't seen Cries and Whispers yet. Would you recommend it?

Yes, I do recommend it. But I recommend it with the warning that it is probably Bergman's darkest, if not definitely one of his most darkest, films. The imagery and character emotions stay with you. It is a very intense, albeit fragmented, story.

WARNING: There is a mutilation scene! One of the characters takes a piece of glass and, um, stabs herself in her private parts. The reason I'm giving you the warning is cuz my professor gave us a semi-warning in class, but she didn't give us specifics and one of my other classmates asked if she could give future classes she teaches on Bergman a better warning about that particular scene. It's just really intense and tough to watch. I could tell the guys in my class were even bothered by it. It's a great movie overall, but it just carries a pervading darkness that is hard to shake off.

I also found it very strange to be watching a Bergman film in color for the first time. Normally, I dislike black and white films, but I've been loving (most of) Bergman's films.

OH! We're watching Scenes from a Marriage this upcoming week and I believe we're watching Fanny and Alexander the week after that. But yes, Fanny and Alexander is definitely a film I get to see!

Fi!

Been wondering what the weather is like in your neck of the woods this week? I hear Scotland has it pretty bad. How are you doing?

@ Lara: Cool. What did you think of them?

@ Louisa: It was mental during the end of Nov/start of Dec. It didn't affect me too much as I live in town, but for over a week my team of 6 was a team of 2. There were a few days when there weren't any bakery products in the stores either. Crazy! I'm good. Considering a move in city and job, but at the moment it's just an idea. How's the book going?

I like Bergman films. I'm a sucker for dark, psychological stuff. This semester, I'm taking a film genre elective called Musicals and Noir. Some of the noir films remind me of Bergman's films because of the darker themes.

What have you been up to lately? Are you finding a new job or going back to school?

I'm glad we can come to agreement about Eliza. I was talking to my best friend about her yesterday and I was wearing my TC shirt and she was like, "Ugh, why do you have that whore on your shirt?" I'm like, "It's because of Tru, not Eliza." But she likes the show and I still think she harbors a crush on Jason! "He's sooo cute!"

I LOVE Tru Calling. Will always be a TC and Tru/Jack fan. But I will also defend Tru Calling with my life and I don't like Eliza's attitude about the show nor do I like the person she's become. Definitely shallow and superficial.

I love the darkness of Bergman's stuff, but I also like that he's funny as well at points. Not so many directors are good at both I think. Musicals and Noir, that's kind of a random combo. Do they fit well together?

I have not been up to much lately I'm afraid. I haven't been looking for a new job or anything. I'm thinking about moving cities, but worried about the job market, so I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing right now. I also need to start looking for a new job again. My job's OK, but if I don't do something about my lack of career soon, I will really be out of options as the older you get, the more limited the options I think. I'm so unfocused, which is my main problem. People always talk about following your dream, but what if you really have no specific dream? LOL Sorry, this is in danger of turning into some stream of conciousness ramble.

What do you mean about Eliza's attitude to the show? Has she been dismissive of it? I'm totally out of the Eliza loop. I occasionally get a titbit from a movie website, but that's about it.

I'm bad on the career front as well. I have no concept at all of what I might want to do in the future. I've about reached the point where I don't care what I do, so long as there's a pension at the end of it.

Ugh, tell me about it. Sometimes I really don't hold out much hope of anything happening for me and being stuck the in crap job cycle forever. I really wish I'd spent less time messing around when I was younger.