NOT A DAILY BLOG
The (Not Again) Archives
Don't mind the fool.
- Abernaith
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- NOT A DAILY BLOG
- The (Not Again) Archives
- A NOTE ON THE MISLEADING DATES
- HIT ME, PLEASE
- December 3, 2008
- July 20, 2008
- November 20, 2007
- November 18, 2007
- September 13, 2007
- February 09, 2007
- January 30/31, 2007 (about the date...don't ask.)
- January 24, 2007
- January 23, 2007 (And no, this date is not accurate AT ALL.)
- January 19, 2007 (a misleading date)
- January 01, 2007 (Not Yet The New Year)
- December 28, 2006
- December 21, 2006
- December 15, 2006
- December 14, 2006Books, Books, and more Books...
- December 11, 2006
- December 10, 2006
- December 06, 2006
- November 27, 2006
- November 22, 2006
- November 18, 2006
- November 16, 2006
- November 12, 2006
- November 8, 2006
- November 3, 2006
- November 1, 2006
- October 31, 2006
- October 29, 2006
- October 27, 2006
- October 26, 2006
- October 25, 2006
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A NOTE ON THE MISLEADING DATES
If you're wondering why the dates are all mixed up, then don't wonder anymore. I'll worry about it for you. It started out as a freak accident, actually. I just realized that I've been putting October instead of January about the third entry. When I did, I figured that it's just as well. Part of my weirdness, whatever. If it bothers you, then I'm sorry, but you don't have to live with it--I do!
HIT ME, PLEASE
December 3, 2008
Neither Beginnings nor Endings
c/o cnn.com
I'm awfully sad to hear that Robert Jordan died last September 17. I only heard about it now. If it were not for him, I wouldn't have read or had a crush on Mat Cauthon. It was evident in all his books how deeply he loved his characters, and that above all allowed his fans to love his books. I would have wished that he could have finished at least the twelfth book before kicking the bucket, but really, knowing that he had been suffering greatly in the past few years while still writing, still pursuing the craft with sincere pasion, I would like to think that what was really best for him, what he really deserved was peace.
Music I am listening to: Antony & The Johnsons - Just One Star
July 20, 2008
There's a story in my head...
In fact, there are a lot of stories crammed into my head, especially after having spent the past week glutting on fantasy books. There's Naomi Novik's Temeraire series (and I am just dying inside right now while I wait for Empire of Ivory, the 4th installment, to be available here) and Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind, which is maybe too much of a geek's fantasy but something I can still sympathize with, if only a little.
"Geek fantasy" as used here does not refer to heavy/hardcore fantasy or so-called "high fantasy", which does not discriminate against sword & sorcery, science fiction, urban fantasy, etc. Rather, it points to the sort of lowbrow story-telling full of epic clichés that is the stuff of every fantasy aspiring-writer-cum-geek's dream. Even I had such fancies, that I guard jealously in the deepest vaults of my head. These sort of things were never meant to see the light of day, and for good reason. Later, they make manifestations in our writing as watered-down mutated incarnations whose entrance into the world of print leaves us with nuggets of despair that we cannot explain and usually set aside in our special cupboard labeled "Mysterious Artefacts, Shitty First Drafts and Aborted Stuff".
In actuality, these nuggets of despair are by-products of our inadequacies to let go of the trauma of not being able to write our Dream Fantasy Novel in the first place. (Wouldn't it be nice to have a sort-of writer's clinic where aspiring writers and esp. novelists who have been weened off the tit of fantasy in their most impressionable years are given the opportunity to put to paper-or computer, whatever works-the world(s) in their heads? What a great relief it would be for a writer to be exorcised of the living, breathing, thinking beings of the universe they have created in their three-pound (give or take) brain!)
Anyway, all this grim talk of worlds-in-your-head that is a potential cause of aneurism is just that: Grim Talk. Nothing comes of talk, although it does give me cause to grit my teeth and look into my head to get an honest account of all the worlds (not even my own) occupying brain-space that could have been of good use in calculus, accounting and or even biology.
Upon reading Dennis L. McKiernan's The Eye of the Hunter at a tender age...
This was my first "high fantasy" book, if "high fantasy" means being of fine print and no less than 600 pages in paperback. In saying this, I don't mean to insult the author. It's simply that this has properly ruined me for other genres at the tender age of nine. From this point on, it was all downhill...
If you go to my reading list, you'll see that practically all the worlds that all those books have created, adopted or even mutilated are all in my head. Some of those that stand out the most (of which, if asked, I could natter obscure facts and references about all day long) are by Rowling, Pratchett, Tolkien, Naomi Novik, Douglas Adams, Robert Jordan and Anne Rice. All of them wrote serials such as Discworld, Vampire Chronicles, Wheel of Time, etc. I can talk about them extensively not only because I have made the effort to read them all doggedly until the end, but also in part due to the fact that I have researched their worlds (esp. for fanfiction), hounded their wikis, fan sites and forums, and sincerely loved their characters (even just one or two could get me attached to the whole thing, and it says something about how OC I can get that I have to understand the whole world to better understand the character I fancy and therefore to better love and adore and pwn that character).
But even the ones that aren't serials, or those books whose fan communities I am not part of...their worlds are still lodged in my head. I can't talk about them as extensively or accurately, but I retain a sense of their presence, which, if I allow myself to think about long and hard, could still be said to be whole. The scary part is that all these (immensely complicated and not to mention duly copyrighted) things are sitting in the back of my head, crammed like sardines in the cupboard labeled "Unnecessary, Useless and Idle Information", and ready to explode a vein and cause me a fatal hemorrhage any day now.
There are too many books in my head, too many stories, but I still can't help devouring more and more worlds that are just so tasty, so delectable, so well-written, well-formed and sincerely loved by a writer and fellow fantasy enthusiast. I really think that the only way to prevent having that Final Fantasy (pun intended) is to let out your own dream fantasy novel, and unleash your creatures upon your hapless mortal readers (so that they, too, will have to face the dilemma of having an over-filled cerebral repository of universes).
November 20, 2007
RETURN TO YOUR ROOTS, Oh humble bookworm!
image source: BorisJulie.com
This is an awfully presumptious title. I'm not much of a bookworm because I am pretty selective about the books I read. Like, I don't read (or rather, cannot read) math books, I avoid New Age like SARS, and I absolutely abhor Self Help books. Personally, I think people who are desperate enough to read them are either morons or sad, friendless dudes with no one to talk to. But then, I'm being such a judgmental, snub-nosed know-it-all, aren't I? Well, there's really nothing wrong with Self Help books, but for books like that to be accepted as right means the world has just gone to the monkeys. And that's just sad.
Anyway, on to the main point of this entry:
I decided to look into my guestbook and I spotted some very interesting and helpful advice left by a certain "DeWayne White", way back in September of last year. Well, Mr. White, I'm sorry that it took me so long to get your message, but now that I've finally read it, I can properly acknowledge you! Thanks for your [Books#|great links]!
See, his comment got me thinking...how serious am I in aspiring to be an "accomplished bookworm"? I mean, there are hundreds of thousands of books out there that are on the so-called "must-read" list for all litterateur wannabes. Classics from Homer to Shakespeare to Jayne Eyre. And it is apparently the dream of every serious bookworm to read all the Great Books at least once in their lives. (Ahaha...that just sounded hilarious right now...I mean, you'd have to be reading 24/7 from the crib to the grave just to accomplish that...and who'd want to be that way?)
But, see, I find that I don't wanna read everything that is considered a "must-read". I might find some of the Classics palatable, but an awful lot (like Homer's Iliad and Tolstoy's War and Peace) are just too dry and outdated in style that the only way I'd appreciate them is in a practical sense--no, not as toilet paper, so stop sniggering!--but as research material for, say, ancient Greek warfare and weaponry, or for an analytical essay called "How to Write a Story and Expect Readers Not to be Utterly Bored by It".
My point is that I am more likely to pick up books I like, most likely contemporary fiction with narrative that incorporates modern plot tricks and present-day language to keep me excited--keep me 'in the loop', so to speak. I don't want to feel as moldy as the book I'm holding. And, well, not many 'moldy old books' have got me feeling excited about their stories. Oh, the soap opera-ish quality of some (*cough* Dumas *cough*) still gets me hooked and grinning like the cat that just licked clean a dish of cream, but it's not just the same.
I long for the contemporary. I am fond of myth and fantasy, but I like to see them in a fresh light, hear the voice of the narrator through the text and be absolutely sure that it is a modern voice, capable of ingenuity that only this day and this age of TV and Tylenol and plastic food can produce.
I know that a "Must-Read List" is only a guide to establishing your own list, your own "library" of books that you could proudly say you've read--or even, encountered, as some claim that books are more than mere manuals but modalities--in life. So maybe I'm now at this point where I am contemplating on what direction I ought to take, where I ought to take up the metaphorical shovel and start digging the foundations of my own library. I know for a fact that it's not going to contain only books of the conventional format (plain text on pages bound together). It's very likely that I'll expand my horizons to include comic books (just last year, I finally discovered the joys of comic books--I'd say graphic novels, but apparently, that's a sensitive term for some) and manga and, of course, stuff I read in the Internet. The Internet is my oyster--oh, wait, scrap that...I don't even like oysters very much!--the Internet is my chocolate pudding. (Which means sometimes it gets you in such a high that you start to drool, just like when looking at that oozing richness of wonderful chocolate pudding--and lay off, ya pervs! It's not the p-word I'm talking about here!) I look forward to the near future when essays, short stories, novels, and other literary works both traditional and experimental that are published in the Net will be accepted as mainstream, and will be credited by major institutions, like, say, the Pulitzer? (Har-har-har... This is turning into a sentimental speech about my Pulitzer-wannabe dreams...how embarassing...).
End of rambling.
November 18, 2007
What do you do when a cat stares at you? BLINK.
Hmm... my last attempt at fixing up this joint was December of last year. I am unfortunately out of aliens to abduct me so I cannot in good conscience make that excuse, but something did abduct me, in a way. A book. Or rather, a fantasy series. And it all began with Book the First of The Wheel of Time Saga...
That was back in December the 24th. It seems like ages ago, now. When, after getting hooked by the series, I decided to have a Wheel of Time marathon instead of paying attention to my other non-productive happy-go-lucky hobbies, I actually set myself a calendar that would mark the last week of January as the finishing line after 11 books that are 600+/- pages each. Well, I just finished today, the 18th of February, because after the first 5 books, the plot of WoT (heh, cheesy, that) got majorly bogged down and reading the rest grew tedious. And to think that, at the peak of my WoT marathon, I was reading at a rate of 2 doorstoppers per week. *SIGH* Perhaps I will find myself a better saga with consistent high quality to read. Hmm...but where oh where could I find one?
On the matter of searching for books, I have some great tips on that coming up in an undisclosed time in the future. Yes, I'm taking precautions now. It's rather irritating to set a date and not be able to meet it, and the sloth monster in my brain allows for a 90% chance that I do not meet target dates for accomplishing anything I ever set out to do. It's a rough world, even without complications like this. Sometimes I feel that the only thing keeping me sane are my kooky superstitions like the "sloth monster". (Yeah, right. Like there's really an inter-dimensional vortex in my brain that connects to a parallel Hell-verse where a sloth monster agent working for a Breachers Firm of Malpractioners and Ambiguists is patiently writing out the pages of my lethargic life.)
September 13, 2007
The Cat Returns
Aye, it's been a pitiful year. But worry not, here I am. Or in French, me voici! (Har har, been taking up philosophy...and there's Arthur Rimbaud in the mix somewhere...but life is good, worry not.)
Anyway, I'm here to make a report (to myself--which is kind of crazy, but really, who else is reading this anyway?) about the current revival of my reading habits. Just recently, I have practically devoured two Terry Pratchett books, "Equal Rites" and "The Wyrd Sisters", in less than 72 hours. It's good to know I still got the knack of it. As I say (from time to time), it's all about proper time management. (And also, sheer stubborness in sticking to one's jolly good vices, i.e., reading fiction.)
I finally took the chance and dove into the world of the Wyrd Sisters, that is, the Witches arc of the Discworld books. I'm a staunch fan of the Rincewind series, and an enthusiastic supporter of the Nightwatch books (because I love Vimes, that suspicious bastard, and Vetinari too, come to think of it ...innocent grin...). Now, I finally see the light in the Witches arc too, and it's a funny kind of light...all bendy and honey-hued and thick as an over-silted river. And that's classic Pratchett quality fun for you.
This is Greebo the Cat, by the way. He's the familiar of a certain Nanny Ogg, one of the Wyrd Sisters. The way Paul Kidby draws him is just fantastic, all cunning and beast and ferocious animal with the sex appeal to match. Ahaha, it's just a drawing of course, of a fictional feline...Ahaha.
A small note about the title of this post: If you know your Studio Ghibli, then you might have heard of one of their movies called "The Cat Returns". It's got the most dashing and debonnaire1 cat I have ever seen, and he's called "Baron Humbert Von Jikkingen" (silly name, but that's all Japanese creative etymology for you). More on Ghibli and its wonderful movies on my next post.
(1) "Dashing and debonnaire" are so obsolete now, don't you agree? The moment I thought them, the odd feeling produced by the stuffy smell of mothballs struck my metaphorical nerves. =shakes head= Honestly, I wonder where I get these backward adjectives...
(2) Image of The Wyrd Sisters and Greebo the Cat from Paul Kidby's site. Please feel free to visit. It's got lots of very interesting Discworld art, and one or several are bound to make you smirk.
February 09, 2007
PBwiki Fanclub
This so totally rockz my sockz! XD
PBwiki Fanclub has gone live! Yey! It started as a vision, and with vietmusic's genius and industry, the dream has finally turned into a reality! W00t! *does the happy-jiggly-dance*
I'm so happy I think I'm gonna have a crazy seizure right now. XP
January 30/31, 2007 (about the date...don't ask.)
A Very Special Kind of Post
I love teh heat, co'z it friez mah brain cellz...(X__X)
A "VERY SPECIAL" POST ABOUT PROPER ENGLISH GRAMMER:
Abernaith is such a very special person. You can tell, because she receives guestbook comments such as this:
Never, ever, EVER refer to yourself in the third person (unless you're a pro-wrestler in the WWE and your name is The Rock). If you're serious about being a writer that's the first thing you should know.
-from, not-yer-business-to-know person
Abernaith shall follow this sage, sage advice. Oh yes, she will. As a hopeful writer, she likes to do things by the book, to like, uphold ye olde principles of Proper English. Oh, wait--whazzat, Peregrine? *mewling in background, that sounds a bit like sniggering...* Hey, whatcha sayin' bout mah fashizzle grammer!? Shut up, kitty, or I'll sic the crazee monkees on ya.
Yessir. Abernaith is really a very special kind of person.
___
But no, seriously, thank you, kind stranger-who-is-an-english-teacher-and-yet-also-for-some-unfathomable-reason-pretends-to-be-the-young of-a-bird-that-is-by-no-means-aquatic-last-I-checked! It means a lot to me that a visitor cared so much about my wiki as to point out my first/third person problem. I do care about proper English grammar and all that, but then, I gotta let my brain have some fun too, y'know? I'm schizo, my dear, so I'm-a gonna deal-a it my own way. Oh, no wait...I'm actually MPD. Ergo, __we're__-a gonna deal-a it our own ways! :p (Meh.)
And, in other news...
Been laughin Teh Butte off with this. It's a very special kind of movie trailer, for a very special kind of movie trailer person. Hahaha. XD Cracked me up to a gajillion particles that I positively thought I was part-apple, part-desk chair, and part-unmentionable gaseous substance for a nano-nano-second.
January 24, 2007
All that Pastafarian jazz...
A moving story: Lessons in wielding authority...
Last week another authority figure, a member of the State Board of Education, objected to something Mousley had done.
He had allowed another teacher to tape a poster of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to Mousley's classroom door.
Mousley, the fierce enforcer, had to decide whether the poster should stay.
I must confess, I am surprised that The Flying Spaghetti Monster is still going strong. It's been close to a year now and still the new "devotees" are popping out of the woodwork.
I think that FSM is gradually turning into a bonafide icon of Individualistic Thinking. I've always been a fan of satire, and good satire is always kickazz for me, and I think that the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and all that jazz, is probably the best piece of theological-philosophical-political beast-of-a-satire in a long while. I hope that, more than being able to poke fun at rather stubborn Board of Education people, people will be able to use the concept of FSM to begin unraveling some of the terribly confusing tangles people put themselves into "for the sake of religion, et. al."
January 23, 2007 (And no, this date is not accurate AT ALL.)
World Domination Conspiracies, et. al.
I stumbled upon this while trying to find out about Google Drive aka GDrive. OMG, I am so a fan of Google, and I actually use the verb google, as in "to google" and "googled up", but this is just...like, HELL NO! *shudders*
This suddenly reminds me of this one post from this tech forum that my friend frequented. It was about Gmail, or perhaps Gmail Notifier. It started out quite typically, with reasonably good praise for the Google product, and then suddenly, before my disbelieving eyes, it turned into this full-blown rave about the 'greatness of Google' and how it rulez so much that its going to be the ruler of the world. (Or something with this same message in essence.) Is the world getting bored or something? Aren't there enough world conspiracies out there already?
On a lighter note...
I found this some time ago, while I was searching (rather in vain) for a particular orchid's name. I just typed "white butterfly orchid" in Google (because the orchid in question looks like a white butterfly...-_-; er, yeah, I AM A MORON) and was surprised to find something unexpectedly funny and certainly strange in this rather normal site:
Perhaps there is an ultra-vegetarian restaurant out there that actually serves flowers for breakfast. (Rose tart, madame? Or would you prefer a nice fresh batch of sweet Alpine grass--grown from authentic soil taken from a high altitude in the Alpine Mountains, of course--sprinkled with honeyed sunflower seed? Oh, you'd like the Mums sampler dish. Very well then.) Although, orchids are quite expensive, so perhaps they could be served as "special delicacies" or something. LOL!
P.S. And if you want a shirt just like in the image above, go here: gevilthings.com. The shirt's creator rockz, don't you agree? XD
January 19, 2007 (a misleading date)
Back from the Dead!
And after being AWOL for some time now, Abernaith presents:
FORCED HOLIDAY
Read it now...
And I owe it all to my craptastic dial-up's major failure...
January 01, 2007 (Not Yet The New Year)
♥ APRIL FOOLS' DAY, EVERYONE! ♥
The Book is finally out. The world of print has finally been Touched by His Noodly Appendage. Amazingly, although I am a self-proclaimed 'pirate of the new technological age', I cannot imagine, for the life of me, that I will be satisfied with just downloading (illegally cough cough yar!) an e-book copy, even if it's at its best price (i.e. free--yarr!) The thing is, I think this book is just PERFECT for the type of bookshelf people display on purpose in their living rooms and receiving areas to "subtly impress" the (hopefully) impressionable guest. Usually, what you see there are the typical encyclopedia-almanac-atlas-dictionary set, and a few of the popular classic literature like Homer, cheek-to-cheek with Jayne Eyre and (egads!) Sidney Sheldon... Well, you get the picture. But then, out of the woodwork, pops this most curious, most absurd little book, with the most moronic of titles to grace such a decent, typical book collection:
The Gospel of The Flying Spaghetti Monster Bwahahahaha!!! The baffled look, moreover, the awkward question that you, the host, will of course oblige with an enigmatic smile, Will. Be. Priceless. This is perfect, I tell you, perfect! Although Abernaith, owner of The Reading Cat, supports this book and FSM whole-heartedly, bear in mind that Abernaith nor The Reading Cat is not affiliated to, in any official way, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, nor its creator, Bobby Henderson.
Knox's Korner And I found this just the other day, and it just ROCKZ! XD The clay, the randomness of the plot (i.e. what plot?), the gut-busting humor...oh man, oh man, oh man. It keels me.
December 28, 2006
Ohmygosh. I've been so neglecting my wiki for so long. The Real World has invaded my bubble yet again! Ack! Well, actually, I've still got some fun new things to share from the internet, like: Grooks by Piet Hein
This is one heck of an interesting form of poetry. Here's a sample:
ON AN ASHTRAY
When your thirst
and hunger cease,
may your ashes
rest in peace.
-by Piet Hein
And this is my very first take (so forgive me if it seems not up to par):
LUCK
Never trust a four-leaf clover,
Just when your life's already over.
-by abernaith
Yes. I am so morbid. Also, here's another uber-cool thing I found:
THE COOLEST ANONYMOUS MUSIC MEME __EVER__!!!
So go there and Carpe Diem people! XD It totally rocks! Oh, yeah, in other news... Today I went to a tea restaurant and ordered my first ever pot of Earl Grey. *shrug* It tasted a bit like Lipton. *shrug shrug* IshouldhaveorderedOolonginstead.
December 21, 2006
♥ Harmony Day ♥ I discovered this in my lj f-list: HAPPY HARMONY DAY!!! In other news... Wow. Still terribly ((wowed)) over the fact that my viewercount shows that I have a decent amount of visitors to my FrontPage. *sigh* Wonder what they think of it. (Personally, I'm still in grief over the fact that I haven't done anything to increase safety precautions over at Fanfiction. Aargh! It's absolutely horrible! I'm SO lazy!!! (>_<)
December 15, 2006
♥ Neil Gaiman Love ♥ Today I was browing my f-list in LJ, and saw this...
I didn't know irisbleu had plugged this, and not even recently. Just caught up with it, and thought it v. interesting. It actually made me smile, bec. it's definitely the most "concrete" depiction of Crowley and Aziraphale. Not the best, not by a long shot (for the best would involve "ahem" certain fantasies of the two...hohoho!) but still something more solid and objective rather than merely figurative or representational. And I appreciate the cover's illustrator for that. Oh, and if you--yes, you, dear reader of this pathetique not-even-a-daily blog, for who else?--haven't read the book yet, THEN I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO PICK IT UP ASAP! Not everybody thinks it's hilarious (those poor souls...), and not everybody really can appreciate or have the mental patience to deal with its predominantly British humour and witticisms, but I for one think this is one of the funniest books I've ever read. (And that includes William Goldman's 'The Princess Bride'.) What I have to say about Good Omens...
What Amazon.com says about Good Omens (with the latest cover)... And I caught this also from irisbleu: Stardust
Honestly, the first thing that came to mind was Neil Gaiman's 'Stardust'. But then I clicked on the article and, well, it was still surprisingly interesting, as a matter of fact. I mean, like whoa, Earth's scientists have now gathered stardust. You know, for some strange reason, I suddenly imagined a future, maybe 10-30 years from now, where there'd be such a thing as "harvesting stardust". Dunno what it would be like, or how scientists will achieve it, but in my fantastically twisted head, it somehow involves, albeit quite impossibly, scooping stardust with your hands... Yep. I'm a dreamer. Ain't it obvious?
December 14, 2006Books, Books, and more Books...
Currently Reading: Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts
See it in...
Official Page: Shantaram
IMDb.com: Shantaram, the Movie >.< zomg! they're doing a movie!
Amazon.com: Shantaram
Google Shantaram...
This is really an amazing book. I am totally in love with it. I would so like to finish it at once, but it's an effing DOORSTOPPER. So. A long hiatus in the Calendar here for "finished book" entries.
I like lots of books, especially fiction. My favourite genres are historical fiction and fantasy. But lately, I've realized that I actually have another really, really favorite genre, and that's geographical fiction. (*whisper whisper* Wha? Whaddya sayin? *whisper whisper* Oh, that's not a real genre!!!?? OH, FIE!)
As I was saying, I like fiction that deals with geography or culture. Like, you know, set in a certain time period, or in a certain country. I like it best when the story is steeped in culture and geographical details. Stories like 'Mexico' by James Michener, 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' by Tracy Chevalier, and Khaled Hosseini's 'The Kite Runner'. I love to experience these books. It's really like traveling, except you're in bed (or somewhere else, *ahem*), and quite safe and sheltered. *sniff sniff* All the more do they make me want to travel, really...
I just visited Fanfiction today. I distinctly remember it not having almost 700 visits the last time I was there. So, when I saw the counter, I went, "ZOMG. 700 visits! >_< Waaaaaaah!" I wouldn't freak this much out with any other page (esp. with the main page, where we all know that the viewercount is a hoax, bec. it recognizes my visits, plus my previews whenever I edit...and I preview a lot, which means the viewercount is senseless there, not to mention a little heart-numbing, considering how many visits I get per day. Although, today's count was a surprise... I was expecting it to be around 2050, but I get 2140... Hmm...does that mean lots more people are visiting my site? Co'z honestly first thing I do is deduct the number of times I edit and preview (in estimation), but today's number is still too much... *madgiggling*. Okay, enough with the ego boost...
December 11, 2006
"Brokeback fans offer love, not hate" Finally! Total BBM fan support greatness out in the "Daily Variety". T.T Wish I could get a copy, but seeing as I'm in another part of the globe... Oh, well. Still v. proud to be a BBM fan. What a classy way to show support! All I can say is, Thank you Dave Cullen, who made this all this possible through The Ultimate Brokeback Forum's ad campaign. And to all BBM fans who supported the movie through this ad with their donations, WOW! YOU GUYS ROCK!(I only wish I had monies to donate too...but I can still very well donate my love.) Viva Brokeback Mountain! I love you forever! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
December 10, 2006
Started a BBM fic to get me off the depression bandwagon. Honestly, I'm sick and tired of moping about the Oscars. I mean, just hearing the word "Oscars" makes me sick. (Alright! I'll stop using it then!) In other news...
Stumbled upon OK Cola the other day. What can I say? I never could understand American pop culture. It's pathetic in its toxicity, don't you think? It also happened to remind me of this article by Mark Morford. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), FREAKY! *shiver* Oh, and Bill Bailey's "Chaucer Pubbe Gagge" just cracks me uppe! Bwahahahahaha! (Can't for the life of me figure out why yousendit.com's page doesn't load properly in my lappie, so I couldn't properly share this hilarious mp3 file to whoever lucky sod stops by my front page. But, if anyone cares, just nag (email) me and I'll send it to you, whoever you are.)
December 06, 2006
This year's Oscars totally crashed my dreams. I'm really, really, really disappointed that Brokeback Mountain didn't win Best Picture. I mean, it's practically won a very likely 3-Oscar combo that's a sure ticket to this last, and grandest of all awards. The only thing that could possibly suck more is the song from "Hustle & Flow", "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp", winning Best Song, right after it did an onstage performance that I (not even anywhere near Simon Cowell--of American Idol--calibre) couldn't help but think was ghastly and appalling. Here's a site that has the highest average of intelligent rants/rationalizations of the sad sad fact that Crash won Best Picture :
towleroad.typepad.com
And as for me, well, I think I'll have a drink, or two, to drown my sorrows and disappointments. (I still love you Jake and Heath! BBM will outlast all the other jokers in the Oscars!!!)
November 27, 2006
The Muse is a Hush Mistress... Wow. Never expected it. Rarely do I plan on embarking on a new literary adventure. (Sounds geeky, no?) It's as much as me finding books as books finding me. Call it Providence. Call it Fate. But for better or worse, once I and a book are brought together at the right (chance) circumstances, I am bound to it till the end. So, finally read Robert Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". I think I attempted it before, when still in the peak of my Heinlein reading--I think I had a go at it fresh after "A Door Into Summer" but didn't work out satisfactorily. I was rather surprised that it worked out this time. Firgures that elements and conditions unknown to my conscious mind factor into this heavily. What hooked me was the politics; amateurish concepts tested in haphazard situation like frogs in a pot of boiling water. But I think what really grabbed my attention, more subtly through a subconscious backdoor, was the concept of a self-aware computer (Mr. Heinlein handled this poorly, or rather, only touched upon it tangientially and mainly used as plot device, but will forgive him easily bec. book was still a good romp). I've read of this before in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Saga (first 4 books spec.) and even before that, in this epic fanfiction masterpiece called "Neon Genesis Evangelion" found here. I find the subject fascinating, in my own off-handed fashion. Still wonder if I will live to see the computer age advance to that stage...there's 10-1 odds in that, my bet. Okay, better quit this talk-talk bec. still obviously under book's influence in terms of Loonie language. Must shake it off with virtual twizzle stick, always does the trick. Off now.
November 22, 2006
A Geeky Moment.. I decided to investigate the potential advantages of using a pulldown menu for my wiki. So far, Googling the term up brought lots of simple, easy-to-dig results in pleasant presentations, but this site kind of rained on my copy-paste party. :( Hrmph. Now I am 50-50 about pulldown menus again, but perhaps if in an hour or so this stalemate doesn't let up, I will succumb to the sloppy-joe mentality and go ahead with the plan anyways. In other news, I learned a new word just now: orthogonal. It's actually very interesting (well, for me at any rate) because it loosely refers to "going off on a tangent". Someday (soon, I hope), I am going to post my "Tangential Philosophical Theory" in my Oracle Dys page.
November 18, 2006
Caught In The Grip of A Foreign Fascination.. It had been a less than promising morning. I knew it would begin with a mental rundown of small promises of the do-this-write-that sort, all of which would end up in the trash bin by lunch time. But then, by some strange blessing, I ended up opening a new book today, called "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. It's been recced highly, even by 'extracurricular literary circles' I frequent, and I've had it in Yuki for several months now. I confess to having regard it only with half-hearted interest the whole time, but all indifference in me vanished once I started reading. I've always found it curiously easy to 'acclimate' to the foreign environments presented in books. I guess it's part of why I am such a fan of fantasy, especially of the other-worldly sort. But the thing about "The Kite Runner" is that it's not so much as a completely foreign fantasy world as a different spot on the map of the real world that I happen to know next-to-nothing about. For me, it might as well be another world/dimension/universe because I cannot even place myself in the shoes of its characters, much less have any idea of the environment where they live. Heck, I've never explored my neighbors' houses, and stepping into the threshold of a stranger's house, whether it be a stranger I've seen and known for several years feels foreign to me. In a way, the book has made me realize how...well, naive would be a start, I guess...yes, how naive I am about my knowledge of the world. How cloistered I am, and sheltered, fortunate, priveleged. It's a very sobering realization, but in a way, it also encouraged me to explore my world further, and strive to gain more experiences that could broaden my knowledge of this place where I was born and where I live, and most probably (unless aliens blow up the planet and by some strange twist of fate I survive) where I will die. It's as much a self-serving task as a responsibility to the world, I believe.
November 16, 2006
Hauled My Ass Off to do Download Heaven I finished "The Shadow of the Wind" just a little bit after lunch. I have to say, that book was a breath of fresh air, from all the drama and angst I've been reading recently. Though it had bucketloads of drama worthy of Isabel Allende's standards, it was still a mystery thriller at heart and I think that it fulfilled its genre responsibility quite sufficiently. I wouldn't say it's the best, I mean, in the mystery and looong-drawn drama/angst debacle, I'd prefer Dumas any day, even with a funny hat, but it was still good. I promised myself that as soon as I finished the book, I'd be outta the house and onto the FASTEST internet cafe in the town mall to download like crazy. Well, I'm quite surprised that I actually did fulfill my promise. It's very rarely that something like this comes to pass, so I'm happy, of course. Also, now I can continue reading "Death Note", which I've neglected for so, so long. (It's not my fault. The mangaka killed L! KILLED L!! Why did she friggin have to do that!!!???) Am returning home with ensaymada and bootleg DVDs (yar! booty!). *blissful sigh*
November 12, 2006
Flying from Time Travel, Back Into Fantasy's Arms I just finished reading "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. The story comes in quite a unique presentation, aided by the fact that it does follow the life and times of a Time Traveler. There's bits of Rainier Maria Rilke, among other things, all over the place and some of these just fit perfectly, and some tend to coax a sob out of your throat. The book's arbitrary timeline is planned, I know, but it still feels like it's all an accident, moving from chapter to chapter, from one point in time to another, back and forth. Sometimes it's really fun to read, and often I just feel envious that the guy could just pop into tomorrow and get the winning lottery numbers for today. But though the story is determinedly lighthearted, it doesn't avoid the tragedies (a lot of them, borne of the unusual circumstances) but gives them proper respect, which makes me like the book all the more. Alright, so enough of the blah. Am onto embark into another fantasy series, as (highly) recommended by clif_notes. It's called "The Chronicles of Thomas the Unbeliever" by Stephen Donaldson. I'm starting now with Book 1 of the "First Chronicles": "Lord Foul's Bane". Already it sounds promising. I hope I will really like it. I really hope so, as it's getting very very hard not to compare fantasy fiction I read to George R. R. Martin's work. And that's just really silly because nothing, nothing can beat him, ever. So, in an effort not to be silly anymore, I'm giving myself another chance with this behemoth series (9 books and still more to come). I truly hope it more than satisfies, and that it makes an impression on me. I'm sure it will.
November 8, 2006
Brokeback Mountain Madness Aw shucks. Can't believe that's its been almost a week since I had a worked a decent spell at my pbwiki. This BBM obsession has hit me HARD. I got me bootleg copy (yar! piracy!) of it last Saturday, and then it was just...Brokeback all the way. Watched it in Yuki, but he was gettin' old for some time now and the old DVD player in him just can't chew that well anymore. So, I sneaked into the living room at, like, midnight, and just finished it. Would have watched the whole thing through but it was friggin late. And then the day after, I just had to try again while people aren't around to, you know, raise their eyebrows or something, but my watching was cut an hour short due to lunch and then... *sigh* So, grand total of watching BBM: 1 1/2 times. And even then, it's drivin' me friggin nuts!!! So. Yesterday, I've gone and written my first BBM fic. (I hardly write fanfics really. Mostly I'm content to just read 'em.) Got my livejournal account up and alive again and friggin wired practically because of my BBM obsession. Submitted fic to a couple of BBM communities in lj, wranglers and brokebackslash. Right now, am downloading mp3s from BBM ost too, and it's just...WILD. God, but this obsession is sucking my soul dry. Again.
November 3, 2006
50 First Dates and Brokeback...wtf??--to the Future!? First time I caught 50 First Dates, and on cable. It was, surprisingly, nice. The *fluffy* nice. Made me tearducts gush but I don't hate it. It's actually the first Adam Sandler movie I truly appreciated after the Wedding Singer. Gosh, maybe I'm just going emo because of boredom, who knows? Nothing much in my life's exciting anyway, so I'm terribly prone to being suckered by movies like this. In other news, I've been going around the other places in the 'net where I lurk, or used to. There's me lj (blog-hole), and me fanfics and me poems. Haven't been to me blog-hole the longest. Decided it needed some layout overhaul and turn-a-new-leaf sort of entry. I ended up promoting pbwiki. I swear, I did it before opening my e-mail and noticing the "double your storage" promo they're giving. Honest. But, well, visiting those places made me realize something important. God, but I need more active friends in the net. Somebody pleease gimme friends. (Huh. Like, desperate. I am so pathetic, yes.) And lastly, there's this little warped treat been going around since the beginning of Feb. It's called "Brokeback to the Future". Yep, you got it. This here's a mighty fine crossover 'tween em gay cowboys and Mr. Marty McFly. (Hohoho.) Natch. Like it, hate it--whatever stirs your cuppa choco, that is. T'was done real smooth and professional though, so I thought it was lots of goodness (not to mention, lots of gut-busting laughs).
November 1, 2006
Matrix Revolutions, Rehash Revelations To my regret, it is only belatedly that I realized just how the coolness of The Matrix Revolutions is beyond imagining. I think part of the stigma of the movie is that a lot of people tend to expect too much of the human race as a whole; even in the end, they can't imagine an Apocalypse episode where the "leading character" doesn't go up in a big bang, exit stage right. It's something to do, perhaps, with the super-ego getting mixed up with the collective id, so that there's a lot more empty chestbeating going on and a lot less of the solid, meaty thunk that announces to all "I Surived!" a-la Darwin and, indeed, when only true progress and evolution, designed by Mother Nature herself, can be achieved. Sigh. Poor fools, we all are.
October 31, 2006
Woohoo! On to feed my vampire fetish! Yessss! Finally finished Flewelling! (Ain't that a nifty tongue twister?) And now, for Vampire Earth! Hopefully it's good. At least, in Amazon.com, they rate it good. Well, we'll see. And it's a timely thing too because I can't bear to watch Angel the Series! Just for today, really, because Wesley's not around and it *bleeping* hurts my feelings! Man, this freak obsession of Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. Seriously over the top already. Man.
October 29, 2006
Finally, A Finish to Flewelling Fancies I know... I know... I know I said that I'd be reading "Way of the Wolf"...but I just couldn't help it! When I looked up The Vampire Earth books in Amazon.com, I spotted Lynn Flewelling's 'notorious' Nightrunner series sharing space in the same guide. So I snuck up (can you do that in website browsing??) to its page and was swayed by the praises to Traitor's Moon (third installment of the Nightrunner series) all over again. It's been quite a while since I read book 2, "Stalking Darkness", and though the book itself was quite an adventure, I didn't really appreciate it because the copy I got was really, really poor in quality. Fortunately, the one I got of "Traitor's Moon" is quite satisfactory. For so long, the negative reviews of some in Amazon.com deterred me from reading the third book, but last night seemed to be fortuitous for both me and Ms. Flewelling's story as, after the first chapter, I found I couldn't abandon it even if I tried. (This is the cue for me to say, in a whiny voice, "And so I couldn't help reading it!!!) Yeah, well...in actual fact, I was almost breathing the words. Haha. Yeah, it's that good. Perhaps I will finish it by tonight. Hopefully. I still intend to start on those Vampire Earth books. I can't not, really; not until my craving for vampires and weird/cool gothic mayhem is sated. *SIGH* Fetishes, fetishes...
October 27, 2006
I've Got My Eyes on Another Fantasy Book: Part 2 Update (24 hours after): I just finished reading the book. The whole thing was only good for an afternoon really, and I think I might have enjoyed it better if I were in the mood for savvy politicking and casual murders. Also perhaps my choice in background music was made in poor taste (KIRORO - Japanese female pop duo). I mean, it was absolutely appalling, much later on, when I read someone else's review wherein she noted how the "gay swordsman" factor was an unusual gem. Bloody hell, but I didn't even realize that golden nugget, much less savour it for what it's worth!!!--and that just goes to show how much I hadn't been prepared to enjoy the book. *BIG EXASPERATED SIGH* Well, I think I might have enjoyed it a lot more than I did, had the conditions been favourable. Perhaps I will try to read it again...but that seems unlikely, as I have turned my eyes to another potentially good pick: The Vampire Earth Series, starting with the first book, "Way of the Wolf".
October 26, 2006
I've Got My Eyes on Another Fantasy Book This one's called Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. Her book has been highly recommended by none other than George R. R. Martin and Orson Scott Card. I still can't believe how I could have missed this before!!! (Probably though it has something to do with my discovering both Martin and Card only a few months ago. Shucks, what a shame.) Well, the moment I sign out of the internet, I'm going to start reading till my eyeballs dry up or aliens abduct me. (Huh. As if.)
October 25, 2006
American Idol and I Today I watched American Idol, and almost thought that Simon Cowell and I shared a birthday. Well, after some research, I found we didn't. So, no big. I don't know how to sing, but I definitely don't watch the auditions to commiserate with the shameless retards that step in. (God, but for some unfathomable reason, they embarass me.) That's what makes AI almost like a horror show--and the kind that I can stomach, apparently. I succumb to poor taste sometimes (it's a human thing), and perhaps that's enough reason for me to say that I like watching American Idol.
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