Hallelujah by John Cale

Hallelujah. The John Cale Cover.

I have been listening to this song on loop for about an hour now. You may have seen it during an episode of Scrub – which is where I heard this particular cover version of the song.

I could listen to it all day and all night. There’s just something about Cale’s vocal quality and his pronunciation of ‘Hallelujah’ and the lyrics that makes me melt and want to cry. It’s just so beautiful.

“Love is not a victory much, it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.”

Autocad is…

Autocad  is Illustrator on Crack.

This has become my new favorite phrase as of late. I spent about 3-4 hours yesterday getting trained in the basics of Autocad at work and today I spent 8 hours cleaning building diagrams in said program. (Did I mention I’m an administrative assistant?)

Anyway, it’s a decent enough program – the input system is horrid and archaic, but it does allow you to control all the widths and use measurements that you could probably do in Illustrator but with much more headaches.

In either case, apparently I’m picking it up quickly. Hurrah. But I swear that hidden files that I can’t see even when the layer is ‘on’ are going to be the death of me. They’re so evil. *_*

And Sweeny Todd is addictive.

In other news, I’ve been listening to the Sweeny Todd movie soundtrack on loop since I first saw the movie. It’s sooo wonderful. Go buy it. It’s worth it.

Sweeny Todd

Sweeny Todd. 2007. Directed By Tim Burton.

Staring Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman, and Helena Boham Carter. (And Ed Sanders as Toby).

I don’t think anyone handles Macabre like Tim Burton – he does it so well. The movie starts with a gruesome scene of blood flowing down as rain from the sky and we follow it down photographs, walls, gears and through the sewers in a red, thick flow.

Sweeny Todd had no lack of blood. The splashes or Red on the mostly black and white film was a cinematic feast for the eyes. Mix in the gorgeous visuals with the vocals of a tight-knit, well picked cast and you’ve got a movie you want to watch again and again.

And that’s all that needs to be said. Though, I will admit – I doubt I can appreciate the original film and broadway production as much after seeing this version. It was so well done and I’m very attached.

Favorite moment: “Pretty Women” sung by Swenny Todd (Depp) and the Judge (Rickman), though the little boy’s serenade to Mrs. Lovette (Carter) was pretty nice, too.

Zombie Loan

Well, I finished Zombie Loan and I rather enjoyed it. The animation is smooth, the plot line is interesting, and it has a fun cast of characters. From the serious Shito, to the determined Chika and the adorable Michiru – it’s a fun ride.

My only major fault with the series is the same one I’ve had in the past with these shorter series like Black Blood Brothers and Loveless – mostly the lack of ending. The last arc had a definite ending – but the overall main plot was left open. Since there is a manga (assuming its released in a timely fashion) this isn’t too big of a problem. I can always read and find out what happens.

Anyway, here’s a big review of each of the arcs – spoilers included. Read on if you care to. ^_^

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Zombie Loan Anime Initial Reaction

Started watching Zombie-Loan today and got about 1 and a half episodes in before coming to the conclusion that I could watch this series alone for two things:

Chika-kun and Shito-kun.

Not only do they feature that lanky-boy animation style that I love, but they’ve got a winning combo of Voice Actors. Shito as Takahiro Sakurai and Chika as Kenichi Suzumura together in every episode win in my book everyday. It’s the perfect combination of a smooth, slightly airy deep voice, with an accented medium-pitched whine (that manages to never be annoying.)

Anyway, first episode got me hooked and I’ll report in on whether or not the rest of the series was up to par – there’s a Manga out also that I might have to check out.