there will be a fish

Things that are hilarious: LJ reminding me that my sister's birthday is today. Well, DUH. It's mine, too! :)

Things that are hilarious and weird: not one, but two cashiers at major chain stores recognizing me yesterday because I am a twin. The first was all "Your sister was in here just last week!", and the second pulled off a hilariously creepy "You're a twin." from behind me, which made me go all wide-eyed and wonder if I was being stalked before it turned out that she remembered us from a paint-buying expedition four months ago! BIZARRE. Our city is not that small, okay.

Things that are awesome! Katie wrote me B13 birthday fic! It really should not have been a surprise, since she started it back in September and I've read it like ninety times since then, but it was, because I didn't realize she was planning to finish it for me, for my birthday! Anyway, it's completely great -- set between the two movies, Damien-POV, and she wrote in Lola (yay!) and some really fun stuff that happens in those three years. And at 6540 words, it's now the second-longest B13 fic out there, a fact I find hilarious. It's called Phone Tag, and you should all go read it right now and then tell her how awesome she is (and it's her birthday, so y'all better leave comments; no kudo-ing wimp-outs, people). And if you haven't seen the movies, well, give yourself a birthday present on me and watch them, and then go read it. Because, it's awesome.

Katie and I are going to go eat brunch now. Mimosas may be involved, possibly followed by shopping. And tonight, we eat steak and cake and then hit the town with friends! Good times. :D

EXCITING HAPPENINGS OF THE PAST THREE WEEKS:

Okay, so that's misleading. But here's what I've been watching, fannishly speaking:

1. Seasons 2, 3, and 4 of Ugly Betty
2. The delicious mindfuck of Inception
3. Trying to hook my family on Mad Men
4. Banlieue 13 (aka District B13) and its sequel!
5. BBC's Sherlock miniseries

Thoughts (no spoilers, just cut for length/interest):

- Ugly Betty, ( I don't know why I ever quit you! )

- Oh, Inception. How so brilliant?

- Mad Men + martinis + live swing music last Monday = Lindsey is a very happy, thematically appropriate camper. ( swing dancing and adorable old people, yay! )

- Sherlock is a completely awesome modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. I didn't think you could translate them quite so well out of the Victoriana, but it turns out you CAN, and this Watson and Holmes are ( most excellent. )

- Last but not least, those of you who have never seen or heard of Banlieue 13 or its sequel, you really don't know what you're missing. I was idly looking for something to watch when I read etben's recent pimp post, and I am SO GLAD THAT I DID. The premise is a bit silly/contrived, and the plots are all kinds of ridiculous, but they're terribly fun anyway, and the two main characters are awesome and hit a lot of my personal buttons.

One of them, Leïto, is played by David Belle, one of the founders of parkour, who did his own stunts. He's one of those athletic, graceful people who are sheer fascinating joy to see in motion on film – like Douglas Fairbanks or Bruce Lee or Fred Astaire. I think it's beautiful, in a very unironic way. Watch even the first thirty seconds of this video, tell me you're not impressed, and I will eat ALL of my hats. Honestly. The man makes things like "climbing into the front seat of a van" into effortlessly beautiful spectacles of grace and hotness, okay; the movie is worth watching just for that.

But it's not all that's worth watching for! Leïto is ( sort of like a French, dystopian-future Aladdin. ) Leïto also appears to be highly allergic to shirts. This is a-okay with me, since David Belle has a fantastic body (see: everything he can do in previously-linked video, hell-o NURSE is he fit):

( shirtless pictures ahoy! you know you wanna )

Instead of a spirited young Arabian princess, B13 gives Leïto some insanely good buddy-cop slashiness with Damien, our other protagonist. He's an incorruptible, highly competent Parisian cop who Believes In The Law and Helps The Citizenry and Is Very Earnest and Unironically Quotes The National Motto of France. Bless him. Damien ( goes undercover a lot and is totally badass ). And then he meets Leïto, and they are even more fun together than they are separately, with the banter and the mocking and the intense sociopolitical arguments with their faces held inches apart and the joint ass-kicking. They're both smart and capable and quick on their feet, and that makes for a great time.

So what I'm saying is, you should all see these movies! There's awesome fight sequences! Parkour through Paris! Manly eye candy! Dystopian future setting! Idealism! Buddy-cop-like saving of the day! Breaking people out of prison! Handcuffing each other to things! Hugging! Fighting back-to-back! Crossdressing! (no, really)

Seriously, just watch them. The first is on Netflix instant viewing, if you have it (and I'm willing to lend out my account if you don't, plus *cough* help you find the second if you like).

*cough* Okay, enough of that. /pimp