RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING

1) I'm so excited about the new Hunger Games movie that will be coming out soon!  I mean, I'm not going to wear a bow and arrow to the theater or anything, but I'm excited.  The books were phenomenal, and that isn't something I usually say about YA books.  I got these books because my sister told me that my oldest nephew, Logan, liked them.  I figured that if the book could hold a non-reader's attention long enough to finish the series, I should try them.  I'm so glad I did.  :)

One funny thing I've noticed about the whole deal, though, is that so much of the marketing of the movie has become a reflection of some of the aspects of the book itself.  On purpose or not, the author paints a picture of a society where materialism, marketing, and entertainment have become a driving force for the government of Panem, which, if you aren't familiar with the books, is a future, dystopian United States that was fractured after some cataclysmic war.  A great deal of time is spent detailing the frivolous lives of the people who spend so much money advertising and promoting the hunger games, not to mention the people who go nuts watching the thing and buying products either promoted by the games, or by the winner.  Just in the last couple of days I've seen an influx of merchandise that promotes the movie, as well as things like "Train Like a Tribute" exercise classes, hairstyles and clothing, and even a wedding photo shoot (not for an actual wedding, mind you, just an artistic shoot) on styles based on the book and movie. It's become this huge thing, and it's almost funny how closely it parallels the story.

It's kind of mind blowing, really, when you realize that the subject matter of the books is basically children murdering each other in almost Roman gladiatorial games types of ways.  It's a brutal story.  However, I completely understand the marketing and all that, since they've got to make their money.  I just wonder how many of them realize that they are promoting a movie that is basically mocking them? 

2) I think I'm the only person in my gym that sweats.  Well, me and this tiny, Indian lady who runs on the treadmill. I'm not kidding, I'm starting to get a complex.  I see people working as hard, if not harder than me and they look like they just stepped out of a freezer or something, and I'm sweating like crazy.  Of course, I suppose if I didn't sweat I'd die of overheating, so I guess I should be glad for my own sake that it's happening. Yuck, though...

3) I'm currently following a gimmick Twitter feed about the Titanic. (@TitanicRealTime)  It's interesting, because it is basically supposed to look as if someone, or different someones, are doing a Twitter feed during the actual building and maiden voyage of the Titanic.  They talk about how the building is going, they post pictures, and talk about the different luxuries and such that the Titanic offers.  I've got to wonder, though, how far they'll take it?  Will they be tweeting about how the ship is  sinking, or how the back is starting to raise out of the water, and the ship breaks in half?  Honestly, if we are pretending that people from the Titanic are tweeting the events, at what point should these imaginary people just put their iPhones (iTelegraphs?) away and get into the stinking lifeboats already!!!  My personal hope is that the last tweet will be something along the lines of "Well, I guess this is it.  None of the lifeboats came back, so I guess I'm going to freeze to death in the frigid waters of the north Atlantic. I REGRET NOTHING!!!! #glub"