Hahaha

This college student is a bad poster. ..anyway.
   
     Bon Iver you know the awesome folky band that won the 2011 Grammy for best new artist.  Even though For Emma, Forever Ago has gotten near constant rotation both literally and figuratively, in people's CD players since 2008.  This is why I love the Grammy's they always seem just a little late to the game, despite the fact that they represent the pinnacle of the music industry.  The Grammy's have always struck me as a band of crusty old men in black robes that are always a bit behind the curve, and it's moments like this that solidify that for me.  Don't get me wrong I think Bon Iver totally deserves a Grammy, but best new artist ...seriously?  Yeah you grammy wizards are a little behind the times.  Thank god we weren't... Now if you'll excuse me I need to go sing along to Skinny Love and bob my head.

As always tour page

This Side Up! Delux Edition

This Side Up! gets a whole new look.  Otherwise known as Farrin was screwing around with buttons and after adding the three check boxes at the bottom of the post, and then realizing what they were, promptly tried to remove them.  Somehow deleting her original layout in the process whoops... Needless to say after much frustration, I was able to rescue most of the old layout, but I'll be damned if I can remove those stupid check boxes...

Well anyway, now that I remembered this blog existed be on the look out for funky film stuff, crazy commentary, and an unhealthy dose of caffeine.  Keep an eye out this will be fun!

Bear Kicking

Because we all know I'd go there!


Created by Oatmeal

The Dinosaur Speaks

I'm noticing this tendency to blog after becoming slightly inebriated, but perhapes it's just my love of communicating that's driving me to the computer screen. I'm a third year collage student majoring in pre-medical studies. I love what I do but I have to admit I find medical school extremely intimidating. I'm wondering instead if PA or nursing school is the correct path for me. I came to my four year college as a means to and end, medical school was always my goal, but now that I'm up to my eyeballs in the medical sciences I'm worried about my ability to thrive in such a demanding profession. My life right now seems committed to my textbooks and lecture and I have little time for anything else. There is a part of me that loves being indebted to my studies, there's another part of me that wants to throw caution to the wind, major in art, major in music, raise my voice to the heavens and let the pieces fall where the may.

I keep saying to myself that there are no definite plans, and that I need to "follow my heart." But it's so hard to know where to go from here, I wonder if there are any other people stuck in my predicament. I think about my parents and how they came to be where they are, how they fond each other, and how they found a way to make a living and wonder how did they get there? Do they feel like they made the right choices? These are thing I think about so often, I compare myself to them constantly, but this age they were married, and by this age they had completed college, by this age they were employed and making a living, and totally independent, and find that I am not measuring up. Sure I'm forgetting to factor in inflation, and a slew of other things that plagued my parents when they were in their twenties, but I can't help to feel like I'm failing some how. I've been told that in your twenties life seems to be slipping by so fast and that you feel that you have so much to prove to the world. Taking in that regard I'm not to far off target, but I just wondering if I'll ever have the answers. If I'll ever wind up where I want to be.

Right now I'm going to say that I will, perhaps it's just the drunk optimism talking, or maybe it's the truth, despite what I think, I have the time, and I have the love, the only thing that's stopping me is me.

Now back on to This Side UP normalcy WHERE HAVE THE FLEET FOXES BEEN ALL MY LIFE?! I'M OBSESSED... buy their self titled album it's great... and that's not just the alcohol talking...

So hey we missed last Sunday, but never you fear we're watching it right now!

So the railroads were being constructed, and this historian like "we picked Chinese they engineered the Great Wall." And it's totally worth him saying stupid shit, because Margret Cho immediately addresses the inherent racism, in our exploitation of immigrants. Thank you Margret Cho! For being the only sensible non-propaganda sprouting talking head on this show.

Apparently the West is "untouched" hhmm

My roommate and I are still trying to decide that if this show was made in the ninties, if it would be less right leaning or more? I'm still on the fence on this one.

But I will say that I'm shocked that in 2010, the History channel has released such a steaming pile of blatant propaganda white washing....Ok no, no I'm, not...

America The Story of Us: Drunk and Disorderly Edition

I am so excited for this! So far the ground rules are thus... Ok I ran out of time to buy Whiskey so it's coffee infused vodka for now

1. Any mention of an action changing the course of history/America/the world:
   0ne shot
2. Black and white/slo-mo/ freeze frame: one shot
   
3. Bear Attack!: two shots
   
4. White Washing/racism: one shot
5. Hyperbole: two shots
6. Random celebrity: one shot
   

9:o6 Daniel Boone toturtured by savage took -one shot
9:07 Donald Trump
9:10 Fancy Rocky Mountains & Death:-one shot
9:11 Mini Bear attack: half shot
9:11 Norman Rideout is terrifying! (J's Note: All three of us screamed. Loudly.)
9:13 Everybody loves beavers
9:15 Noble Savages - one shot
9:16 BEAR ATTACK!- two shots
9:18 Michael Douglas and "a tidal wave of hope" - one shot
9:19 Ore(gone)
9:21 "The greatest toll of all: DEATH" - one shot
9:23 Already drunk
9:25 (Julie takes over)
9:26 Farrin is now too drunk to type. Julie is now blogging. (She claims she can type. I doubt this.)
9:28 Sheryl Crow (and Donner Party birth scenes. In German.)
9:30 Tamsin Donner's journal Entry: "If the journey continues like this, I shall think that the difficulty was all in the beginning." Famous last words if I ever heard them...
9:31 A broken axle. And wolves. And 5' of snow. With ominous music. 60 FOOT DEEP SNOWDRIFTS HOLY SHIT!
9:32 3 weeks = no more food. "They then ate pack animals. Then charred bones. Bark. Leaves. Dirt." Farrin says "Cannibalism!" Show says: "Cannibalism." When did it happen? Christmas. Labeled flesh so they don't eat their own kin. (2 gallon kettle of human blood. AAAAAAAACK)
9:34 "Gold fever is about to change the West. And the American character forever!"
9:36 Farrin: I can still type! There's some kind of Chevy commercial which means I can stop drinking!
9:40 Julie is back in control. Also: the Spanish Empire > America.
9:41 Slow-mo fall off the Alamo! Slow-mo sandbags. Slow-mo Davey Crockett Death! 3 shots for Farrin!
9:42 REMEMBER THE ALAMO! (Also: "A turning point")
9:42 Slow-mo formation of gold: magma --> quartz --> GOLD
9:43 James Marshall finds a 3 oz. nugget of gold. Farrin cracks up.
9:44 "In California, you can taste the American Dream"
9:45 Gold Fight! Farrin wants to drink. Julie says no.
9:47 Co-founder of Wikipedia!
9:47 Magic Growing California Cities!
9:49 Farrin is switching from shots of Cafe Aztec to shots of water
9:49 Geico caveman commercial of a Segway tour of Washington DC with pedantic teenager teaching funfacts about the White House
9:50 Farrin: "The lights are really bright." Real life: Not so much. Only kitchen lights are on.
9:51 Farrin: Since when are we fighting in the Himalayas?
9:52 "God, I hate this fucking wall commercial. Are you blogging that? God. I'm never going to get hired again."
9:53 AND WE'RE BACK!
9:54 At 18, the boy becomes a man. And who is this boy? ABE LINCOLN!
9:55 Magic building log cabins: "The trailer homes of the day!" "And they bury their dead!" Um...yes?
9:55 Abe Lincoln freeze frame of chopping wood.
9:55 John Legend cameo (Julie doesn't know who this is, but Farrin's drinking again)
9:58 "The West is open for business!"
10:00 "Lookit how tight that man's pants are!"
10:01 Farrin has the computer!
10:01 POWERHOUSE!
10:03 "the United states of America isn't going to let nature stand in its way!"
10:o4 Giuliani -one shot
10:05 "oh fuck it's Bloomberg"
10:06 Alcohol, the Irish, and explosions. Sounds a lot like tonight, really! (J's note: Except a helluva lot more Irish than us...considering that the two of us only make up half of an Irishwoman)
10:07 P. Diddy FUCK more booze
10:10 "humans owning other humans. It's called slavery." Thanks History Channel!
10:11 Julie is back in control
10:12 "Cotton spreads west in search of fertile soil." Really now? The cotton itself?
10:15 "WHY IS IT SNOWING INSIDE???" "Because it's a cotton mill. It's...cotton."
10:16 "Mill-girls help support widowed mothers and drunken or invalid fathers." Farrin: "Don't tempt me, History Channel."
10:16 OH FUCK IT'S MARTHA STEWART
10:17 Cotton mills pioneered Silicon Valley. AND THE INTERNET!
10:19 Women's suffrage: brought to you by whales.
10:20 SLOWMO COMPUTER ANIMATED WHALE (with scary music as whale breaches the water)
10:20 The Hubble Space Telescope runs on whale oil. Really???
10:21 Whaling = opportunities for black men. The whaling industry provided equal opportunities...to die?
10:23 Farrin: "Look! I can still walk! ...It takes more concentration than I'd like to admit"
10:27 And we're back! To a slave auction day in New Orleans.
10:29 Ohhhh...It's Al Sharpton. one shot
10:34 Frederick Douglass is about to be caught for false papers. UNTIL A CHICKEN GETS LOOSE ON A TRAIN TO BALTIMORE!!!
10:35 Harriet Tubman kept babies quiet with opium. Hell yeah.
10:48 We appear to have gotten too distracted to blog. Also: Farrin is starting to sober up. And thus has the computer back to her after here.
10:51 Why is this show so patronizing, to everyone!?!
10:54 "[John] brown won't go down..."
10:56 Former NFL star... booze time
10:58 Random military dude booze
10:59 Newt Gingrich uggg...one shot
11:00pm

Liev Schreiber's the fucking narrator?!

....to be continued...

America, America, we're here to save the motherf**kin day now!

Oh lordy I haven't blogged in forever, but I've found something with enough lolz to drag me out of the woodwork. The History channel's America: The Story of Us, is basically my primary school textbook come to life via the mutated spawn Jerry Bruckheimer, and James Cameron. Complete with freeze frames, explosions, and golden ghost trails erupting from horses' behinds (how else are you supposed you tell Ben Franklin is galloping at full tilt?!) America...is a 13 year old boys whitewashed wet dream put to history.

America: yada, yada, yada has done little to change my mind (or give me hope) about the mainstream view of American history.
The settlers treatment of the Indigenous Americans has been nothing more then a series of stories painted with smiling faces. They did dole out a single sentence to the small pox epidemic that systematically desecrated the Indigenous populations after first contact ... cuz you know that was sad. The robbery of Manhattan seems to have been forgotten (dude sweet deal!), and sure slavery was bad, but some guys got free and even fought along side the revolutionaries!1! ... equal opportunity for all right?

Why do I have the feeling of Howard Zinn could see this he'd be rolling in his grave?

Things I've learned (so far!)

1. Musk bullets move in slow motion, especially before they hit people.
2. Black and white makes everything more awesome!
3. Ragtag militiamen had a real hard on for George Washington.
4. Every event that has been documented by America: The Story of Us, has changed the course of America/history/the world FOR-EVE-ER!!!1!! (Seriously, it's every other sentence...)
5. In ye olden dayz houses pop out of the ground, like flowers.
6. Bayonet wielding is Serious Business!
7. Random ass celebrities make history come alive. (thanks Michael Douglas!)
   

FEEL THE EPIC!!!!!!11

Needless to say I know what I'm doing every Sunday for the next six weeks: Live blogging America: the Story of Us with an open bottle of Jack Daniel's. Hee Haw!

And Our Number One Spot Goes To

Today is the day I have been waiting for since the announced they were beginning filming in October. I will be at the cinema this evening. With a large smile in my face.

#1
"Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose"
Season 3, Episode 4

In the midst of a psychic sideshow while on a murder case. Mulder and Scully enlist the help of a man who may have a true psychic ability to foresee how people will die. Mulder hopes to use this ability to help catch a man killing fortune tellers. (from tv.com)

Why I love it: It's perfect. Humorous and touching, like Jose Chung's it loops back upon itself, as it ties up the loose ends. Like Beyond the Sea, Peter Boyle is a perfect guest star. You laugh and at the same time you're touched by his tragic hero. The script itself it witty, and some of the sublime humor is bar none. Like Boyle's character guessing that a scrap or fabric is from Mulder's NY knicks t-shirt. (from Beyond the Sea) Also like Jose Chung's, this episode really deserves multiple viewing, just to lap up all the details. I always play this episode for X Files newbies, not only to prove how great the show really is. But to prove that great television is out there. I want to believe. (*wink* groan...)

PS: This is also one of the most well done pieces I've ever read or heard, about fate and chance. It really makes you think.

Quotable Quotes:
Yappi: Skeptics like you make me sick.
Mulder: Mr.Yappi, read this thought.
(Yappi concentrates for a moment)
Yappi: So's your old man!

Clyde: What is this?
Mulder: The only evidence recovered from Claude Duckenfield's body. That fiber may have come from something the killer was wearing at the time of the crime.
Clyde: Don't you have crime labs that could analyze these things for you?
Scully: (meaningful look at Mulder) Yes! Yes, we do.
Clyde: Look, I've got my own work to do. I'm not a crime fighter by trade.
Mulder: Mr. Bruckman. I can't speak for my partner. But I'm desperate. For some insurance.
Clyde: General Mutual has some very comprehensive coverage...
(Mulder waves the evidence bag in front of Clyde's face)
Clyde: Oh I can't tell you where this is from, but the killer is going to kill more people before you catch him.
Scully: Can you see him physically yet?
Clyde: No. No, just more insight into his character which I know you hate.

Clyde: I'd like to see both of your badges again. Right now?
(Mulder and Scully take out their badges)
Scully: I don't blame you, Mr. Bruckman.
Clyde: (scoffs at Mulder's badge): I'm supposed to believe that's a real name? ... What is this all about? I found a dead body in my dumpster and I reported it to the police. Now suddenly I'm accused of doing things or being able to do things I couldn't possibly-- (Breaks off and walks slowly over to table, which is spattered with blood. Runs for the bathroom and vomits.)
Mulder: (To Scully) Pinch me.

(At the crime scene where the victim's eyes and entrails have been left on the table)
Photographer: They say the eyes capture the last image the murder victim sees before they get killed.
Detective Cline: What do they say about the entrails?
Photographer: "Yuck."


Clyde: We're almost there.
Mulder: Now how are you receiving this information about the body's location?
Clyde: How should I know?
Mulder: I mean are you seeing it in a vision or is it a sensation? How do you know where to go?
Clyde: I just know.
Mulder: But how do you know?
Clyde: I don't know!! (Mulder leans into the back seat and sulks) Look it's just up ahead. There are worse ways to go, but I can't think of a more undignified one than autoerotic asphyxiation.
Mulder: (Leans forward) And why are you telling me that?
Clyde: Look, forget I mentioned it. It's none of my business.


































And here's a great retrospective by Lylexf on YouTube here.

Go See X-Files I Want to Believe in cinemas now!

A Psychic Connection

Tomorrow is the day!

#2
"Beyond the Sea"
Season 1, Episode 12

Two college students are kidnapped and the only lead is an inmate named Luther Boggs, who claims to have information he's picked up through psychic transmissions. Mulder is sceptical; his profile put Boggs on Death Row and the man has reason to seek revenge. But Scully, who has seemingly just experienced a psychic vision after the death of her father, is suddenly open to extreme possibilities. Yet even she can't be sure if Boggs is telling the truth, or if she's being used as a tool by the desperate psychopath. (from the VHS tape)

Why I love it: It's a well written piece, and an acting tour de force. Brad Dourif is utterly convincing as Boggs, and I can see why some people joke about hiring real killers to play these parts. Dourif is chilling. Not to mention Gillian Anderson who's really truly shines here. In one scene where Scully confronts Boggs, I was screaming right along with her. I can't say enough good things about Anderson's performance in this one, it's remarkable. This episode is a stunner.

Quotable Quotes:
Scully: Did Boggs confess?
Mulder: No, no, it was five hours of Boggs' "channeling". After three hours I asked him to summon up the soul of Jimi Hendrix and requested "All Along the Watchtower." You know, the guy's been dead twenty years, but he still hasn't lost his edge.

(Boggs is supposable channeling visions from a piece of evidence)
Mulder: I tore this off my New York Knicks t-shirt. It has nothing to do with the crime.

Scully: You set us up. You're in on this with Lucas Henry. This was a trap for Mulder because he helped put you away. Well, I came here to tell you that if he dies because of what you've done, four days from now nobody will stop me from being the one that'll throw the switch and gas you out of this life for good, you son of a bitch!!!
Boggs: Dana... (in Mulder's voice) You're the one who believed me.
Scully: No! No, I do not believe you!
Boggs: If you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe yourself.

Boggs: There was that one time when I was fourteen and my parents had gone to bed and I snuck downstairs all alone. Got one of my mom's cigarettes and went out onto the porch in the dark. I was so scared. My heart was beating, I mean, they would have killed me if they knew. But I was so excited. Not 'cause of the cigarette, I mean, it was gross, but because I wasn't supposed to.

Dana Scully talking about what she misses in Mulder, extra audio from the promo here.

I Learned a Little Something About Courage

Tell me are you excited yet?!

#3
"Jose Chung's From Outer Space"
Season 3, Episode 20

No one really knows what happened that fated night on a country road in Klass County - including Agents Mulder and Scully. So when famous novelist Jose Chung decides to document the incident once and for all, he discovers that it could have been an alien abduction, a government conspiracy -- or an alien abduction of government conspiracists. (from the VHS tape)

Why I love it: It's bleepin' awesome! It's a great comedy piece, every time I watch it I laugh. The story has a strange structure, but it works. It's kinda a study on the nature of truth, and reality, and the way all the little pieces fit together is genus. Also every time I watch it I realize a new twist. This episode is crazy good, and it's a wonderful jab at the complicated X Files alien mythology. The actor who plays Jose Chung cracks me up. Plus the cameos for the men in black, I won't spoiler it for people who haven't seen it, but...HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Quotable Quotes:
(Mulder screams a very high-pitched scream)
Detective Manners: That's a bleepin' dead alien body if I ever bleepin' saw one.

Blaine: (to Jose Chung) Well, hey... I didn't spend all those years playing Dungeons And Dragons and not learn a little something about courage.

Scully: (Hanging up the phone) That was Detective Manners. He said they just found your bleepin' UFO.

Here's Gillian Anderson last night on Leno: Part I, Part II.

In the Final Moments

†˜*Three Days!*˜†

#4
"One Breath"
Season 2, Episode 8

Scully mysteriously appears in a Washington hospital, alive but in a coma, and Mulder must fight to keep her alive in order to find out what happened to her and who did it to her. Meanwhile, Scully fights her own personal battle as she decides whether to stay or go on to the next world. (from tv.com)

Why I love it: It's does in forty-five minutes, what most epic movies try to do in two hours and forty-five minutes. It tells an involving and touching story, that muses on life and death, love and family, justice and revenge. Not to mention it's the 3rd set piece in a story arch, that not only will have a lasting effect on the characters, but the entire show as well. A must see!

Quotable Quotes:
Byers: Good work, sneaking out those charts.
Frohike: Tucked 'em in my pants.
Mulder: Plenty of room down there.

Mulder: Him! That's what happened. Cancer Man! He's responsible for what's happened to Scully.
Skinner: How do you know that?
Mulder: It's a rumor... Who is he?
Skinner: It's not your-
Mulder: Oh, you can have it all, my badge, you can have the X-Files. Just tell me where he is.
Skinner: And then what? He sleeps with the fishes? We're not the Mafia, Agent Mulder. I know it's easy to forget it, but we work for the Department of Justice.
Mulder: THAT'S what I want.

Mulder: Sit down!
CSM: How'd you find me?
Mulder: Shut up! Tonight, I ask the questions! You're going to answer me, you son of a bitch!
CSM: Don't try and threaten me, Mulder. I've watched presidents die.
Mulder: Why her? Why her and not me? . . . Answer me!
CSM: I like you. I like her too. That's why she was returned to you.
Mulder: You should be the one to die.
CSM: Why? Look at me. No wife, no family, some power. I'm in the game because I believe what I'm doing is right.
Mulder: Right? Who are you to decide what's right?
CSM: Who are you? If people were to know the things I know, they would all fall apart. I told Skinner you shot the man in the hospital, but I didn't really believe it. And here you are with a gun to my head. I have more respect for you, Mulder. You're becoming a player. You can kill me now, but you'll never know the truth. (Mulder wants to shoot, but doesn't) . . . and that's why I'll win. Don't worry. This'll be our secret. We wouldn't want others to . . . start rumors.

William Scully: Hello Starbuck. It's Ahab. People would say to me. 'Life is short. Kids, they grow up fast. Before you know it, it's over.' I never listened. To me, life went at a proper pace of many rewards. Until the moment that I knew, I understood, I would never see you again, my little girl. Then my life felt as if it had been the length of one breath, one heartbeat. I never knew how much I loved my daughter until I could never tell her. In that moment I would have traded every medal, every commendation, every promotion, for one more second with you. We'll be together again, Starbuck. But not now. Soon.

Here's a totally lovely video shared by flipflopgirl1985 0n YouTube:

Try Saying it Ten Times Fast

Gahhh! I hate oversleeping, and I hate reading bad reviews of the things I love. X Files: I Want to Believe got bad reviews. Curses you critics, I want this film to do well!

#5
"Bad Blood"
Season 5, Episode 12

While exploring the deaths of cattle killed by a series of blood extractions, the agents uncover a cult of vampires residing in a small Texas town.

Why I love it: It's hilarious! The funniest X-File of them all, and everyone usually has this one as a favorite, including Gillian Anderson! I saw this episode for the first time when I was twelve, and it scared the pants of me, but made me laugh as well. I remember I decided to watch an episode of the Brady Bunch afterwards just to bring my pulse down. (remember I was twelve) I love this one, Anderson is ace, Duchovny's dry wit is on display, and the story flows very well. Plus Duchovny's rendition of the Shaft theme song, is one of televisions finest moments.

Quotable Quotes:
Mulder: C'mon, Scully, get those little legs moving! C'mon!

(Fantasy sequence)
Hartwell: You really know your stuff, Dana.
(Mulder interrupts the fantasy sequence)
Mulder: DANA?! He never even knew your first name!
Scully: You gonna interrupt me or what?
Mulder: No. You go ahead. (Mockingly) Dana...
(Fantasy sequence)
Hartwell: Agent Scully, you really know your stuff.

Scully: You're saying that I actually hit him... two times?
Mulder: Square in the chest. No effect.
Scully: And then he sort of flew at me like a flying squirrel?
Mulder: Well, I don't think I'll use the term flying squirrel when I talk to Skinner, but yeah... that's what happened.

Mulder: Oh, shi-... (Theme tune)

Here's the Sneek Peek, of The X Files: I Want to Believe that was aired during The Deadliest Catch:

Sweetheart, bitter heart

I saw The Dark Knight, it was really good. I hope that X Files: I Want to Believe lives up to it's hype as well.

#7
"Milagro"
Season 6, Episode 18

A writer living next to Mulder becomes obsessed with Scully and confesses to her that he is using her for a character in his novel. Scully finds herself strangely drawn to him even though he is now the prime suspect in the murder case that she and Mulder are investigating. (from tv.com)

Why I love it: This piece remind me of drama classes I had about breaking down the fourth wall. The fourth wall being, what separates the characters in a play from the audience. All this meaning it's when characters in a play forget that they're actually figments of someone's imagination. It's ironic for the X Files to take on this subject matter, seeing that Chris Carter invented these characters, and once the phenomenon struck, Mulder and Scully took on a life of their own. The Milagro story is commentary on the power of art and imagination, inside the already established universe of the X Files. A picture within picture. Plus it's just a really cool hour of television.

Quotable Quotes:
Padgett: (To Scully) I have to admit, I noticed you. I do that - notice people. I saw that you wear a gold cross around your neck so I was taking a chance with the painting - explaining something you may have already known. I saw Georgetown parking permits on your car dating from 1993 and a government exempt sticker that lets you park anywhere you like. You don't live in this area, but as a federal employee you have reason to frequent it. You're fit, with muscular calves, so you must exercise or run. There's a popular running route right nearby that you might use at lunch or after work. You'd have noticed this church in passing, and though parking is always a problem in this part of town, your special privileges would make it easy to visit. Not as a place of worship, but beacuse you have an appreciation for architecture and the arts. And while the grandeur is what you take away when you visit, this painting's religious symbolism would have left its impression, jogged by the gift you received this morning.
Scully: That was from you?
Padgett: I have to admit to a secret attraction. I'm sorry I didn't include a note explaining that, but you didn't know me then.
Scully: Yeah and I don't know you now. And I don't care to.
Padgett: I see this is making you uncomfortable and I'm sorry. It's just that I'm taken with you. That never happens to me. We're alike that way.

Scully: Mulder, you are making critical assumptions without any facts. What about time of death, what about- what-
(Mulder stops, grabs Scully, and spins around so she's standing in his place and he's taken her spot) Mulder, what are you doing?
Mulder: Well, you're about to argue my usual side, aren't you?
Scully: Why couldn't he have imagined it? Why couldn't he just be in the killer's head?
Mulder: You read his book. You read what he wrote about you. [He wrote about Scully and "the stranger" having sex] Are you trying to tell me he got inside your head? That what I read is true?
Scully: (Doesn't meet his eyes) Mulder, of course not.

Really beautiful written, insightful X-Files reviews, by Sarah Stegall. Here

Ice Ice Baby...

I'm sorry to make everyone's ears bleed, and reference that awful song in the title. But I just couldn't help myself! Oh and we have less then a week for the "X-Files I Want to Believe."

#7
"Ice"
Season 1, Episode 7

A group of scientists in the Arctic all die in a grisly murder-suicide, explained only by their mysterious warning. "We are not who we are." Scully and Mulder head north to investigate with a new team of scientists, discovering that the source of the homicides is a worm-like parasite pulled up from deep in the arctic ice core. Stranded by a snow storm, members of the group began to die - leading even Scully to suspect that Mulder is now infected with the deadly parasite. (from the VHS tape)

Why I love it: It's a thrill ride, scary and suspenseful, you don't know who to trust. It's like a mini movie the way it plays out. Duchovny has called this "The [X Files'] first rocking episode." I concur! Like "EBE" all the parts are in place, the scene with the dog barking when Mulder's checking stuff out, will always make me jump. I'm always paranoid that Mulder really did kill that scientist, even though I've seen it twenty times. Plus the heat when Mulder and Scully check each other for bumps, makes my dog blush. This makes me want to see the two movies that inspired it. John Carpenter's The Thing, (1982) and The Thing from Another World. (1951)

Quotable Quotes:
Murphy: Maybe the organism in the ice core somehow got into the men.
Dasilva: Come on, nothing can survive in sub-zero temperatures for a quarter of a million years.
Mulder: Unless that's how it lives.

Mulder: Now, I don't trust them. I want to trust you.

Mulder: Scully! For God sakes, it's me!
Scully: Mulder... you may not be who you are.

Materia Primoris: The X Files Main Theme by Mark Snow

The Conspiracy

Ooo I picked up the latest issue of TV guide last night. "The Secrets of the X Files" It does look liked they've been out clubbing, with the way the stylist dressed them on the cover. But the article is really nice, as well as some of the pictures inside. I love the table read photo with Duchovny, Anderson, Carter & Spotnitz!

#8
"E.B.E."
Season 1, Episode 16

Scully and Mulder trace a mysterious truck across the country, a truck they have reason to believe is transporting an alien being -- an Extraterrestrial Biological Entity. It's the best chance they've ever had to get hard evidence of an alien presence on Earth. But as they investigate, they begin to suspect that no one wants them to learn the truth - not even their allies. Trapped in a maze of carefully prepared lies and hard-found truths, the agents must confront the unknown with just one thing they can be sure of: they can only trust each other. (from the VHS tape)

Why I love it: The X Files involving aliens and government conspiracies my have gotten out of control by the ninth season. But is season one it was simple. Something bad was happening, and the government was hiding it. Because it's so simple in premise and relatively easy to follow, it's one of my favorite alien mythology episodes. It's all here, from government lies, to unresolved sexual tension. It's chalk full of paranoia, and there are some strange scares. The lab in the back of the truck anyone? Plus we get or first introduction to the Lone Gunmen. Oh Hurrah! I've read that some people consider this episode to be the beginning of the Mulder and Scully versus the world mentality that we see so often in later mythology shows. I'd buy that, and I'd also say they have good reason. As The Man is being shady. If I had to pick a good introduction to the alien myth arch, for a newbie. I pretty sure it would be this one.

Quotable Quotes:
Byers: Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the Russian Social Democrats, is being put into power by the most heinous and evil force in the 20th century.
Mulder: Barney?

Scully: I think you give the government too much credit. I mean, they can't control the deficit or manage crime. What makes you think they could plan and execute such an elaborate conspiracy?
Frohike: She is hot.
Mulder: Settle down, Frohike.

Scully: Those were the most paranoid people I have ever met. I don't know how you could think that what they say is even remotely plausible.
Mulder: I think it's remotely plausible that someone might think you're hot.


Warning: this game is addictive, and may drive you insane!

Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve

Yesterday this blog had twenty-five total posts on my birthday, seeing that the X Files: I Want to Believe opens on the 25th I'm taking that as a good sign.

#9
"Paper Hearts"
Season 4, Episode 8

Seemingly prophetic dreams send Mulder on a search for the undiscovered victims of a serial killer, only to discover that one of them may be his missing sister, Samantha. (from the DVD slim pack)

Why I love it: It's a great piece of character work for Duchovny. I was sort of on the fence about his acting abilities, till I saw this episode. Why he didn't win an Emmy for this one, I don't know. I will say that this episode was hard for me to pick as a favorite, not because of anything wrong with the episode, but because the subject matter is so dark. The actor who plays John Lee Roche is so convincing, your stomach will turn. You as well as Mulder become so convinced that Roche may have taken Samantha, and that is far more horrifying than any alien abduction. This episode is horrifying, but it's also well done. Just make sure you watch it with the lights on, and then refrain from watching the news.

Quotable Quotes:
John Roche: This man... this man hit me. (indicates Mulder)
Guard: I didn't see it.
Scully: (entering room) I did.

Mulder: That's exactly how it happened? Right here in this room?
Roche: Yeah.
Mulder: Wrong house.

John Roche: Mulder. Long time no see. Got a new partner.

Here's a link to the X Files Forum I hang out at. Here.

Oh Hurrah!

It's my birthday. Oh Hurrah! and X-Files: I Want to Believe is in nine days. I couldn't ask for a better present! Plus now that we've made it to the top ten, there will be goodies with every post!

#10

"Humbug"
Season 2, Episode 20

Mulder and Scully travel to Gibsonton, Florida, a town built and populated by circus and sideshow performers to investigate the death of Jerald Glazebrook, The Alligator Man. While searching for leads on the killer, the agents come across many bizarre characters including the local sheriff who was once known as Jim Jim, the Dog-Faced Boy. (from tv.com)

Why I love it: It's Darin Morgan's first script. It's also the first time X Files went into comedy. It's a wonderful premise. I have to admit that I find the treatment of the populous to be pretty sensitive. Which I find rather touching. The hotel manager little speeches to Mulder have plenty of zing. Doctor Blockhead and the Enigma are just off the wall. And the town of Gibsonton becomes a strange little world of it's own, by episodes end. One that's goofy, and spooky enough so your sad to leave by the end.

Quotable Quotes:
Sheriff Hamilton: This is Hepcat Helm. He operates a carnival funhouse.
Hepcat: Oh man, how many times have I told you not to call it that?! It's not some rinky-dink carnie ride! People go through it, they don't have FUN, they get the hell scared out of 'em! ... It's not a funhouse. It's a Tabernacle of Terror!

Lanny: Mister Nutt, the kindhearted manager here, convinced me that to make a living by publicly displaying my deformity lacked dignity... so now I carry other people's luggage.

Mr Nutt: Just because I'm not of so-called average height does not mean I must receive my thrills vicariously. Not all women are attracted to overly tall, lanky men such as yourself. You'd be surprised how many women find my size intriguingly alluring.
Mulder: You'd be surprised how many men do as well.

Check out the journal that inspiried my countdown here.

The Scientific Nature of the Whammy...

It's birthday season here, at This Side Up! one has to wonder why most babies are born in July. Most of my friends were born in either July or January, with a few smatterings, in those other months.

#11
"Pusher"
Season 3, Episode 17

Mulder and Scully pursue a terminally-ill psychopath who possesses the extraordinary ability to force his deadly will on others. With nothing to lose, the man makes a demented game out of his final days -- and the object of his last diversion is Mulder. (from the VHS tape)

Why I love it: This is a classic X File. It's got it all, a great baddie, suspense, mystery, and Mulder and Scully being kick ass investigators. I've been known to watch this one over and over again. Also the actor playing our psycho is so good, you want to spend the episode punching him in the face. Mulder and Scully are at their peak, a little flirty, with a whole lot of intellect. Plus they work so well with each other on this case. But the real reason I love this one so much. It's that stand-off at the end. I still freak out, even though I know how it ends. Turns out Fox (the broadcaster, not our beloved G-man) had told Carter that a stand off like that had never been done on TV before, thank god they kept it in. It scares me still.

Best Friends

Before we begin, I'd like to wish my friend Andrew a very happy birthday! There's been a tie here, I knew I couldn't leave either of these choices of the list, and I've got the top ten blocked out. So with out further ado...

#12
"Irresistible/Post-Modern Prometheus"
Season 2, Episode 13 & Season 5, Episode 6

"Irresistible": A mortuary worker who gets his thrills from collecting hair and fingernails from the dead begins killing people to expand his collection sets his seriously disturbed sights on Scully. (from tv.com)

"Post-Modern Prometheus": Filmed in glorious black and white with a comic book feel to it, this is a modern retelling of Frankenstein as Mulder and Scully get caught up in a town where the residents live on Jerry Springer episodes and fear a two-faced monster who has been impregnating their women. (also from tv.com)

Why I love "Irresistible": Donnie Phaster, has to be the scariest villain in the X Files universe, and this episode never fails to give me the heebie jeebies. The actor is way, way, way, too convincing as a death fetishist. (read: necrophiliac) That ending sequence with Scully still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Plus seeing the character development, by the way Mulder and Scully both view the case, is an added bonus. Well done X-Files team, this is one episode viewers never forget.

Why I love "PMP": This one was just too quirky to leave off the list. Any episode that throws together "Frankenstein," Jerry Springer, Mulder, Scully and Cher. Gets major props in my book. I love that Chris Carter decided to film it in black and white, it looks beautiful. The episode is funny, and even a little touching, but it's mostly just weird. And I love it.

P.S. Both these episodes show the Mulder and Scully relationship at it's finest.

Poop Eaters Unite

Last night I had an Irish coffee, and a brownie sundae. Does this make me a bad person? I guess I believe in living large.

#13
"War of the Coprophages"
Season 3, Episode 12

Mulder while on vacation in the Vineyard finds the town on the brink of insanity due to killer cockroaches, he also finds a government experiment run a beautiful etymologist named Bambi.

Why I love it: Wow my description, makes it out to be way more serious then it actually is. A funny send up of our heroes, as well as Orison Wells's 'War of the Worlds." As only Darin Morgan could write it. I love the flashlight joke, the numerous phone calls. I love that the mystery of the cockroaches is never solved. Were they visitors from space, or was it just a series of eerie coincidences? I love that Scully's cool medical rationalizations or on display here, and Mulder is curious, and excitable, as all ways. I will admit the one thing that I don't love is the tension between Mulder and Scully. There was a lot bad vibes going between them at the beginning of season three, and this episode is no different. When Mulder tells Scully she smells bad at the end of the episode, I know it's mend to come off as a joke, but I cringe every time.