Sunday, December 14, 2008

Lend Me A Tenor

Sorry I haven't posted in a while everyone, but I've been unbelievably busy. At my new school I decided to join stage crew, and the 11-13 of December was when we put on our play, Lend Me A Tenor.

I've basically just survived 'Hell Week', as the senior members call it.

When I first signed up I thought that I really wouldn't have to do much in crew, just place a few props or paint some scenery, and as a result I would have another club to list on my resume. I was so wrong.

Our set is amazing. We've built flats (canvas stretched tight over a wood frame) close to ceiling height which serve as walls and made sure they were secure, furniture for the set, built six perfectly functioning doors, as well as a divider in the middle to make it look like two separate rooms. Then we had to prime the entire thing, and paint the entire set several coats of either pink, blue, white, or black and then repaint then floor black afterwards. Not to mention all the insane little details (little lamps attached to the wall that actually work, a chandelier, etc.)

Here's a picture of part of the partially destructed set. There was a couch and rug on the floor, but it got moved.




So the week before the play started we had to stay after school some nights until 11 p.m., and when the play was actually going on we were usually there till 10:30.


However, despite serious lack of sleep, it was worth it.




The play is amazingly funny, and everything went perfectly. So anyway, I'll be posting a lot more from now on.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Twilight Movie!!

I saw the Twilight movie on the 21!

I know that when movies are made based off books, the books are always better. And when I walked into the theater for Twilight I didn't have the highest expectations. I was still excited, but also worried.

And my overall opinion on it:

I liked it. Yes, it did have flaws, but it also had great moments too.

Some parts that were a little rough, and should have been edited better. And the movie definitely should have been a little longer and used a little more dialogue. In the beginning especially it felt like it skipped from when she first met Edward to months into the future with little transition. It was hard to see Bella and Edward's love fully and it felt like everything was rushed.





Overall, they stayed close to the events in the book and the order they happened in.
While I really wasn't sure about Kristen Stewart when she was first cast I think she did a good job as Bella(particularly in the scene where she was leaving Charlie), and Rob Patterson as Edward was ok. At some times he was a little awkward, but other times he seemed perfect as Edward. The best thing about Rob was his facial expressions. I know this sounds a bit weird, but they were hilarious!

The person that really surprised me though was the actor who played Charlie, Bella's father.
He was perfect, and had some really funny parts.

I loved the humor the minor characters bring into the movie (Mike and the window scene :D ).
My favorite quote would have to be from Edward though: "Sex. Money. Sex. Money. Cat"

The baseball and the ballet studio scenes were also amazing.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Man Submits Drawing of a Spider Instead of Payment






David Thorne didn't have the $235.95 that was needed to pay his overdue account. So he drew a spider instead.
This man is a genius.
:D

If you want to read the resulting exchanges, you can click here:





The Twilight movie is coming out in 2 days!!

And I don't have tickets yet...
And, I've heard that movie theaters near me (and not so near me) are sold out...

Not good.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

FAIL

This website is hilarious: failblog.org The site has funny pictures and videos of moronic things.
Here's some stuff off the website:







^I feel a little bit guilty about laughing at this video. ^

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

BARACK OBAMA IS THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!!! :D

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Famous Last Words

Not the awesome song by My Chemical Romance, but the actual words. I found this weird funny video on mentalfloss.com . Its a short video about some ironic famous last words narrated by the Grim Reaper himself.

Best of all its in Broadway style!







Since Halloween is coming up in a few days I thought I'd post this too, in case someone needs any ideas. They're Epic Halloween Costumes.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Fall has been pretty awesome so far. We've been having a bunch of those perfect fall days we're the air is all crisp and cool, but still warm cause of the sun. And, of course, all the leaves are changing colors. :)

My classes at my new school aren't that bad either. I'm surprised to say this, but most of them are leaning towards the easy side.

The only thing really annoying me right now is my art teacher. He's way too strict when it comes to grading people's art and most of the time he acts like he has permanent PMS.

Here's one of the projects I did recently in his class. It's a still life. Its not supposed to be yellow, but I did take it with my cell phone camera so maybe that's why. I sort of like it though; it gives it sort of an old timey look.








Has anyone read Inkdeath yet??



^Best cover ever!^

I just noticed it came out the other day when I was in Borders. Its $25 dollars though, so I'm ordering it off amazon.com for cheaper.
If anyone's read it yet, you have to tell me how you like it, because I can't wait to read it.

Friday, October 10, 2008

New Twilight Trailer

Summit Entertainment saved the best trailer for last. This Twilight trailer is amazing!! I think, that after seeing this, I have total confidence that the movie is going to be great.







I think my favorite scene has to be the one at the end were Edward says, "You are my life now."



Thoughts on the trailer/movie?

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Gigi!!

So around last week I went into the store Pet-Smart for the first time in my life. I didn't actually own a pet (long story as to why I was there in the first place). Soooo...I was completely taken by surprise when I saw that they had cats for sale there. And being the enormous sap I am I begged my parents to come and see them and adopt them. Turns out they're saps too cause in no time we were filling out the adoption papers.
They're called the Forgotten Cats Foundation and they take in cats and kittens off the street. This is how I adopted Gidget, my new kitten. She's 3 months old, a calico, and completely and utterly adorable. Gigi was found in on the streets Trenton, NJ, and was the only one to survive out of her litter.


She's been running all over the house sniffing and trying to eat/play with everything. And she purrs like a freakin' lawn mower. :D


Here's some pics of her:






Thursday, October 02, 2008

A New Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?!?

I realize I've been talking a lot about books lately, but I just HAD to talk about this. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the others written by Douglas Adams are some of my absolute favorite books ever. In the words of Eoin Colfer:

"The Guide is a slice of satirical genius. A marvel of quantum tomfoolery. A dissection of the absurdities of our human condition. A space odyssey that forces us to face ourselves and collapse in hysterics. Imagine if Messrs. Hawking and Fry were locked in a room with the entire cast of Monty Python and forced to write a book which would subsequently be edited by Pink Floyd, then the result would need a lot of work before it could be cut from Douglas Adams’ first draft."

As you probably know already, Douglas Adams died before he could write anything after Mostly Harmless, the fifth book. :(

Which brings us to the big news: Eoin Colfer will be writing the sixth novel!!

Eoin Colfer is the author of the awesome Artemis Fowl series among other books.

"My first reaction was semi-outrage that anyone should be allowed to tamper with this incredible series. But on reflection I realised that this is a wonderful opportunity to work with characters I have loved since childhood and give them something of my own voice while holding onto the spirit of Douglas Adams and not laying a single finger on his five books.
Once again I am terrified by a Hitchhiker book and this time it is my own. I feel more pressure to perform now than I ever have with my own books, and that is why I am bloody determined that this will be the best thing I have ever written. And if it isn’t then I will make sure that the cover is extremely pretty."



So what do you guys think? Will he write something worthy of the Guide to the Galaxy name or will he completely screw up the series?



P.S. I may *crosses fingers* be getting a kitten soon! We submitted adoption forms for a 3 month old calico kitten and right now its pending.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

New Terry Pratchett Novel!

Terry Pratchett, one of my all time favorite authors has a new novel called Nation coming out September 30th!! He was diagnosed last year with early onset Alzheimer's, but he's still planning on writing as many books as he can. He has also donated 1 million t research for it.

It isn't part of the Discworld series, but it still looks really good.



SUMMARY:
The sea has taken everything.
Mau is the only one left after a giant wave sweeps his island village away. But when much is taken, something is returned, and somewhere in the jungle Daphne—a girl from the other side of the globe—is the sole survivor of a ship destroyed by the same wave.
Together the two confront the aftermath of catastrophe. Drawn by the smoke of Mau and Daphne's sheltering fire, other refugees slowly arrive: children without parents, mothers without babies, husbands without wives—all of them hungry and all of them frightened. As Mau and Daphne struggle to keep the small band safe and fed, they defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long-hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down. . . .
Internationally revered storyteller Terry Pratchett presents a breathtaking adventure of survival and discovery, and of the courage required to forge new beliefs.







On a totally unrelated and environmental themed note:

This Saturday as part of the coastal cleanup, me and some other people where cleaning up trash by this creek located in Wilmington, DE. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff we found! There was a flip flop, a really old Reebok sneaker, and a pair of Adidas. Not to mention a pair of underwear (!), a shopping cart, and countless bear cans and bottles, along with the usual garbage and pastic bottles. One of the guys who got there before I did, said they also found ecstasy pills! All the things that people through away just anywhere really disgusts me. :( At least we didn't find any medical waste though.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Wordled Favorite Bands

Wordle.net is awesome! I typed a list of my favorite bands, played around with the fonts and colors, and got this!




(click to see a larger image)


To make a list of occurence-weighted artists off of iTunes you can follow these steps*

1) In iTunes, select View Options under the View menu.
2) Turn off everything but “Artist.”
3) Select all and copy.
4) Search and Replace the word “track” with nothing.
5) Paste the results into the Wordle.net Create page.



*From Scott Westerfeld's blog

Monday, September 08, 2008

I've been really busy getting used to my new school, and today I had to help unpack the moving truck, so I really haven't had time to post lately.

One cool thing about my school is that all tenth graders get to take Driver's Ed as an elective!! I'm taking it the second half of the year. The rest of the electives at my high school really aren't that great though. They didn't have web design, digital photography, intro to java, or zoology there (some of the electives I was thinking about taking).

Another not so great thing: the school itself. Its was built in the 1960's. Which isn't bad in itself except for the fact that it doesn't have air conditioning. The past week and a half have been horrible and sweaty since its been in the 90's, and incredibly sunny and humid. You can see how that might be a problem.



Also, a new book came on August 26th called Cycler by Lauren McLauglin. It looks pretty funny and Scott Westerfeld has given it his review of approval.






Review
“Artfully fractured and wickedly smart. A brilliant screwball comedy about love, self knowledge, and the secret identities inside all of us.” —Scott Westerfeld, bestselling author of Pretties and Uglies

AS FAR AS anyone at her high school knows, Jill McTeague is an average smart girl trying to get her dream date to ask her to the prom.What no one knows, except for Jill’s mom and dad, is that for the four days Jill is out of school each month, she is not Jill at all. She is Jack, a genuine boy—complete with all the parts. Jack lives his four days per month in the solitude of Jill’s room. But his personality has been building since the cycling began. He is less and less content with his confinement and his cycles are becoming more frequent. Now Jill’s question about the prom isn’t who she'll go with, but who she'll be when the big night arrives.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Midnight Sun On Hold Indefinitely!!!!

Nooooooo!

For those Twilight fans who didn't know already, an unfinished version of Midnight Sun was illegally posted and distributed online. In response to this, Stephenie has decided to put it on hold indefinitely.

Stephenie from her website on the matter:

"I did not want my readers to experience Midnight Sun before it was completed, edited and published. I think it is important for everybody to understand that what happened was a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being. As the author of the Twilight Saga, I control the copyright and it is up to the owner of the copyright to decide when the books should be made public; this is the same for musicians and filmmakers. Just because someone buys a book or movie or song, or gets a download off the Internet, doesn't mean that they own the right to reproduce and distribute it. Unfortunately, with the Internet, it is easy for people to obtain and share items that do not legally belong to them. No matter how this is done, it is still dishonest. This has been a very upsetting experience for me, but I hope it will at least leave my fans with a better understanding of copyright and the importance of artistic control.

So where does this leave Midnight Sun? My first feeling was that there was no way to continue. Writing isn't like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything. If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn't dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely."



I myself am personally disgusted with the person who posted it illegally and every single person who downloaded it and read it. I'm not too surprised that this happened, and I believe Stephenie definitely has the right to do this after what's happened. I am glad that she didn't say that there was no hope of her ever finishing it. This whole thing is a disaster.

I don't know how her fans who claim to love her and her writing could do this to her. I mean, after all she's down for us, making sure each book gets out every year, having no time to spend with her family, and then some people, who give the whole fandom a bad name, just steal something like this from her.

Stephenie has posted a link to the unfinished Midnight Sun because she knows that postponing Midnight Sun will drive even more people to look for the illegal copy. However, she says she rather her fans not read this unfinished version of Midnight Sun since it's messily written and has some mistakes.

I am going to respect her wishes and not read it, and I urge others to do the same.

Monday, August 25, 2008

New Rise Against CD

On October 7, 2008 the band Rise Against plans to have their new CD released!! It'll be called Appeal to Reason. They've just released the first single from it called Re-Education (Through Labor). It's one of the better rock songs I've heard in a few weeks and I can't wait to get the rest of their album.






First two days in my new school so far, and my feelings are mixed, generally leading towards dislike. I'll write (ok, more like complain) more about it later.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Moving Day

I've mentioned this briefly in comments and elsewhere before, but this is the first time I'm posting about it. Anyway, I'm moving to Delaware.
Tomorrow we're going to rent a truck and move over most of our stuff to the house we're renting before school starts August 26th. (ugh!...So soon!)

I'm not really too fond of my new house, but we really did have to move (because of my dad's job). I guess I'm sort of OK with it. At least I get to take Driver's Ed for free this year at my new school.
One of the worst things about it are the bugs. We've been staying in the mostly empty house for a couple of nights now and we've been finding all sorts of nasty insects and spiders. I think the worst is this thing. We have like a freakin' infestation of these disgusting little (actually not so little, more like two inches long) creatures!

They're called house centipedes and are insectivores. They eat a lot of other insects (which I suppose is good), and they can grow 2-3 inches long. And, did I mention, they bite.
I really do not care how beneficial these guys are. They CREEP me out. Especially after finding one crawling around on your bed. *shudders*
Does anyone else have these things in their house?
Anyway, I'll be posting more about the move and my new house later. I do have some good news though. Twilight the movie's release date has been moved closer by three weeks! This means it'll be coming out on November 21st instead of December 12th!!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Max Ride Movie

Maximum Ride by James Patterson is officially going to be made into a movie with Columbia Pictures holding the screen rights!

Arad has hopes that "Maximum Ride" can hatch an original superhero franchise, with the elements of alienation and angst that resonate in those spandex-clad movie heroes.



Also, one of the interesting things in the article: "The fifth installment of the book series will be published next year."


I wasn't expecting that. I like the series, but I'm not sure that's the best idea after the fourth book. I love the series and the characters, but Patterson might be overusing the story. I mean, the fourth book was a little cheesy.
Oh well, I'm still looking forward to this new fifth book anyway.

Monday, August 04, 2008

BREAKING DAWN IS OUT!!!

Breaking Dawn was released three days ago!!










And yes, I have finished reading all 754 pages of it.

I'm sort of...speechless about it at the moment. NOT in a bad way. Its just...wow. I really never expected her to write something like that. I'm not going to give away any spoilers in this post because I know a lot of people haven't read/finished it/don't care. But I am going to say a few things about it.

Ok, the sort of bad thing about it first: It was, (how do I put this?), fanfiction-y. Of course, Stephenie Meyer's writing was a trillion times better than any fan fiction writer out there, but still... Some of the things in the plot...

On the plus side, it was still an excellent read. I enjoyed it immensely, and I really do believe that she ended the series (at least those from Bella's point of view) very well. The ending was a whole lot better than that of the 7th Harry Potter book's in my opinion.

Also, I adored the section that was from Jacob's point of view!! I'm hesitant to admit this, but I may have liked it even more than the part from Bella's. Jake's funnier than Bella and the whole werewolf pack thing was very interesting to read about.

SPOILER FROM THE BOOK:
I'm also extremely happy that Jake imprinted on someone. I won't say who though.

Oh, and: Renesme? Really Stephenie, what were you thinking? I guess she wanted an original name or something. Whatever...







By the way, where did all the commenters go? Its feeling kinda lonely here.

Monday, July 28, 2008

30 Gigs of Awesomness: A Day At Warped Tour

My second time at the Warped Tour was better (and rainy-er) than ever! Woot!


First, the best part of the day: I got to meet the band Ludo! Not only did I take a couple of pictures with Andrew Volpe, the lead singer and one cool dude, but the entire band signed my the back of my ipod!! And one of the band mates before signing my ipod was like, "30 Gigs of awesomeness!" I really couldn't phrase it any better than that. :D











On a side note, when it comes to meeting anyone even vaguely famous I act like a total dork. For instance, upon meeting the members of Ludo I just sort of smiled dumbly a lot instead of having a normal conversation or discussing their music.



The only really bad part of the day was when it started raining (then pouring, then hailing) right before Relient K came on. The whole place started flooding and I had to wade threw inches (inches, people, inches) of water in my flip flops while it was hailing. Fun! Even though I had an umbrella I still got soaked. But after 20 minutes the rain sorta died down, and the sun came back out like nothing had happened.


I saw Ludo, The Academy Is..., Angels and Airwaves, All Time Low, Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes, Pennywise, Relient K, Say Anything, and Story of the Year. All were great. :)



Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox


On the car ride back from my vacation I had a chance to finish the sixth, recently released (July 15th) Artemis Fowl novel, The Time Paradox.

Just like the previous six books, this one is full of wit, action, and cool gadgets. Plus this one, like the fifth, has the added integument of time travel. Although unlike the fifth, were there's only a small part of the novel centered around time travel, its the main theme for the Time Paradox.

This book was good, but, and I hate to have to admit this, not quite as good as the others. It happens to all things eventually. When you reach a point in a series were the sequels start loosing the grip the previous installments had on you whether by bad plots, overusing the idea, etc.

My only (very) small problems with the book was the lack of Foaly and Butler in the story, and (BIG SPOILER) the once again re-return of Opal Koboi. Although, if its in the past, can it count as a return?

All in all, the Time Paradox was still really enjoyable and a great read. If there's another book after this one I will definitely read it. I really liked seeing how Artemis, a sort of anti-hero, has changed over the course of the series for the better. And you still get a dose of the evil Artemis when he must deal with his ten year old self when Artemis goes back in the past. Also, if there are any people who like to pair Artemis and Holly (I'm neutral on the pairing) then you are in for a surprise (of the good variety). This makes me wonder if Eoin Colfer is listening to all those crazy fangirls of fanfiction.net though.

SUMMARY: (From the book)
After disappearing for three years, Artemis Fowl has returned to a life different from the one he left. Now he's a big brother, and spends his days teaching his twin siblings the important things in life, such as how to properly summon a waiter at a French restaurant.

But when Artemis mother contracts a life threatening illness, his world is turned upside down. The only hope lies in the brain fluid of a silky sifaka lemur. Unfortunately, the animal is extinct, due to a heartless bargain Artemis made as a younger boy.

Though the odds are stacked against him, Artemis is not willing to give up. With the help of his fairy friends, the young genius travels back in time to save the lemur and bring it back to the present. But to do so, Artemis will have to defeat a maniacal poacher who has set his eyes on a new prey: Holly Short.

The rules of time travel are far from simple, but to save his mother, Artemis will have to break them all and outsmart his most cunning adversary: Artemis Fowl, age ten.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Time For Some Capaignin'

Here's an incredibly funny video from jibjab.com about the upcoming election, in a rather catchy tune. :) Even after the fifth time watching it I can't stop laughing.

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

I've been on vacation in South Carolina for the past couple of days, hanging around Myrtle Beach. Which is why I haven't posted for a couple of days. I haven't really had a chance to get on the internet un til now. Our hotel room has a scenic view of the roof and a bunch of big air-conditioners. :) But it has been a pretty fun so far.




Recently we went to Ripley's Aquarium. One of the coolest features in my opinion is the tanks for most of the fish in the main part of the aquarium. You walk through a sort of tunnel and the tank is all around you, so you're able to see the undersides of the sharks and fish as they swim over you. Also, I got to pet a sting ray! :D



Pic of a turtle at the aquarium! -->





By the way, if you'd like to see more pictures my sister has a bunch of them soon to be posted on her deviant art account. (username Sarcastic-Ninja)



In Twilight news, Stephenie Meyer is posting a quote a day from Breaking Dawn on the days leading up to its August 2nd release on her website.





One of my favorite Lolcats:

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Photo Inspiration: In Which Alannah Discovers That There's Actually a Park Where She Lives

I went to my local state park a couple of days ago (I know, my summer has been so exciting so far-Not). But it was kinda fun, and I did get to take some nice pictures. Trees, a lake, the usual park-ish things.












These were taken with my cell phone camera, because my real, and rather expensive, camera hates me and is no longer working (something's wrong with the battery).
This is a totally unrelated sidenote, but I can't seem to get the song Morningstar by AFI out of my head. As a result I'm playing it over and over and over and over (you get the idea) again. Anyone else know/like this song?







Happy 4th of July!!






Saturday, June 28, 2008

Robot Eco Dogs

This news story sort of has to do with Little Brother, the book I just read, since the author talked about this story in the Bibliography in the back.


"For the Feral Dogs Project Jeremijenko has worked with numerous student groups to create packs of roving robo-dogs, which are “released” en masse into a community space to sniff out harmful VOCs, ozone, and other environmental toxins. The ‘packs’ of feral robotic dogs are designed to “patrol” sites of public interest like schools, parks, and industrial sites, in order to generate community and media attention on the issue on contaminants in the environment."

How cool is that? These students are hacking into toy robot dogs and turning them into toxic waste detectors!
I would LOVE to make one of these at home, but I'm definitely not tech savvy enough to do it.

Here's a link to the Feral Robotic Dogs website:
http://www.nyu.edu/projects/xdesign/feralrobots/



Speaking of robots, I saw the movie Wall*e tonight, and fell in love with it. If you don't love it for the adorableness of robot romance then you'll at least be awed by the cool computer animation.



Sunday, June 22, 2008

Little Brother

I've been really busy lately (packing stuff to move-eugh), and nothing blog worthy is currently going on in my life (again packing stuff=boring and sad), so I thought I'd post some info about the book I'm currently reading. It's called Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, and its a pretty cool science fiction novel set in the close future. The main thing that got me to read this book were the reviews. Neil Gaiman and Scott Westerfeld!! Neil Gaiman's review is especially awesome (its on the bottom of the page). By the way, if any of you don't know who either of these authors are, follow these steps:
1. Smack yourself on the head. (not to hard though-I don't want my blog responsible for any concussions)
2. Go to your nearest library, bookstore, or go to amazon.com and find books by these authors. There are many of them.
3. Read the books. I recommend Anansi Boys, American Gods, or Good Omens by Neil Gaiman. Anything by Scott is excellent.

Anyway, one of the cool things about Little Brother is that it teaches you some awesome anti-surveilance tricks.


SUMMARY:
Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.




“A wonderful, important book…I’d recommend Little Brother over pretty much any book I’ve read this year, and I’d want to get it into the hands of as many smart thirteen-year-olds, male and female, as I can. Because I think it’ll change lives. Because some kids, maybe just a few, won’t be the same after they’ve read it. Maybe they’ll change politically, maybe technologically. Maybe it’ll just be the first book they loved or that spoke to their inner geek. Maybe they’ll want to argue about it and disagree with it. Maybe they’ll want to open their computer and see what’s in there. I don’t know. It made me want to be thirteen again right now, and reading it for the first time.” —Neil Gaiman, author of Sandman and American Gods on Little Brother



“A rousing tale of techno-geek rebellion.” --Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, on Little Brother

Friday, June 13, 2008

So true...







This picture just made my day :D I thought I'd share it with everyone else.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Most Excellent Days Ahead...

Well at least for me. And only spanning the course of four days. But still, I'm majorly excited for the next couple of days.


Why, you ask? Because I'm going to see Wicked the musical this Sunday! On Broadway! I have been wanting to see this musical since I was in seventh grade and our chorus sang the songs from it. It is going to be AMAZING.
If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about you can check out http://www.wickedthemusical.com/ , a tres cool site where you can hear most of the songs from the musical in the entirety. Listen to Defying Gravity in particular, since its my absolute favorite song from the musical.


Only slightly less important than going to see Wicked is my 15th birthday which is June 9th. Then, just one more year after that and I can legally start driving! (Ok...only in some states, but whatever.)


And, although I'm slightly embarrassed to say this, I'm also pretty excited for my school's semi formal tomorrow night. I mean, I don't know why I should be, it's only two hours long, and they're sure to play crappy music, and no one will actually dance. Maybe my excitement has something to do with my finding a dress I actually LIKE. (its red, black and awesome all over!) Or, just possibly, it might have something to do with me having a cute date. :)


Of course, after all this I'll once again be thrust into the worrisome time that is My End of the Year Finals.
I really should study...



Saturday, May 31, 2008

Japanese IQ Test

Ouch...I am so sunburned right now. I went to Dorney Park (its an amusement park for those of you who haven't heard of it) the other day with my school and I forgot to put on suntan lotion, which explains why my face is the color of a tomato right now. The weird thing is that only my face and like one patch of my left arm burned. The rest of my is still ghostly white. Grrr....stupid skin.
Anyway, this Japanese IQ Test is apparently given to job applicants for important companies in Japan. It's pretty challenging, and it took me around ten minutes to solve.

http://www.robmathiowetz.com/


Also, the cover I posted for Breaking Dawn was the real thing! Wooo! The special edition of Eclipse with the poster I posted in my last post is out today and it has the first chapter of Breaking Dawn in it! I think Stephenie Meyer's website will also have the first chapter up in a couple of days.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

The REAL Breaking Dawn Cover?

EDIT: Ok, so this actually is the REAL Breaking Dawn Cover!
<----- Proof off amazon.com :)


Wow, I know I am way too obsessed with the Twilight series but I just had to post this here. The special edition of Eclipse which is coming out in 5 days has a picture of the never before seen cover and Breaking Dawn and the first chapter of Stephenie's much anticipated new novel.

Only some copies of the special edition have gotten out early...
So is this the REAL Breaking Dawn cover?




Or is it just an extremely elaborate fake? Personally, I think its might actually be real. It even has a quote on the bottom (click on the picture to enlarge it and read the quote). But people can make quotes up...
It was definitely not what I was expecting for the cover, but if it is the real thing I like it.

So what are your opinions of what could be the cover of Breaking Dawn?

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

New (And Even More Dramatic) Pendragon Book Out

The new Pendragon novel (9th in the series), Raven Rise, is out today. I'm not sure if I really like the new cover art for the series. Its sort of...uglier than the previous ones.

Summary off Amazon.com
This is where it begins. The showdown for Halla. At stake is nothing less than all that ever was and all that will be.
There's only one thing missing--Bobby Pendragon.
While Bobby remains trapped on Ibara, the battle moves to his home territory: Second Earth. Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde are left on their own to defend Second Earth against the forces of Saint Dane. They must face off against a charismatic cult leader who has risen to power by revealing a shattering truth to the people of Earth: They are not alone.
The Convergence has broken down the walls. The territories are on a collision course. The final phase of Saint Dane's quest to rule Halla is under way.
And Bobby Pendragon is nowhere to be found.


I don't know about you, but that summary might have been a little too dramatic. Just a little... :) . But I am intrigued, and I'm going to try and find the book this weekend.

I've been noticing some some similarities with the Pendragon series and the tv show LOST (which is also way too dramatic for its own good). Such as the whole weird time travel aspects, too many people dying all the time, the love triangles, and betrayles.






And look what else I found!Its the 6th Artemis Fowl book cover!



Ooooohh, shiny! And green! :) ------------------------>

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Computer Destroying Ants

Houston is home to a new invasive species of ant, thought to have arrived via a container ship in 2002. The as-of-yet unidentified species is colloquially referred to as the crazy raspberry ant for its erratic foraging habits, appearing to dart in every direction but straight ahead. The ant has quickly become a nuisance both to the local ecology and to the people living with them. They are omnivorous and will eat everything from flora to other insects and even the hatchlings of a local grouse called the prairie chicken. They have destroyed all matter of electrical equipment, insinuating themselves into fire alarms and sewage pumps, mucking up the works as they go.
While the species is already too widespread and established for any hope of eradication, even simple population control is proving to be difficult. The animals are not attracted to the usual poison bait traps and so require specialized extermination. The colonies are polygyne (having multiple queens) and may even be interconnected into supercolonies, making colony destruction nearly impossible. Even when individuals are killed, the survivors will smartly pile their dead over the pesticide-treated areas to cross to safety.
(Woooo! I made the entire paragraph a link! :) )

A pic of the crazy raspberry ant, which are attracted to electrical wires, and have ruined several people's computers, among other things.


Its news stories like this that make me REALLY glad I don't live in Texas.
I finished the Host, which is 600+ pages in a DAY. IT IS AMAZING. (I know I'm using caps in this post more than usual, but the Host is just that good.) So if you're in a book store soon, go check it out! Another great thing about Stephenie Meyer's new novel is that it also proves she's successful at writing other stuff besides her best-selling Twilight saga.

Friday, May 09, 2008

Go Buy the Host!

I just bought the Host!! *does a dance of joy for anything Stephenie Meyer related*





Unrelated to the Host:
This is another one of those online games that are not so much fun as more of an addictive quality to them. You kow, the kindof game where you know you should stop because you have so much work to do and you're wasting the precious minutes in your life...





http://www.hurtwood.demon.co.uk/Fun/copter.swf

Monday, May 05, 2008

Bamboozle!

I went to the Bamboozle festival this Saturday in New Jersey. Like Warped Tour, its sort of a festival with a lot of great bands playing all in one day.

The weather was pretty lousy, it was drizzling and cold all day, but I still had an amazing time.





I saw:


Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Streetlight Manifesto
Ludo
Jack's Mannequin
The Bravery
Zox
Paramore
Jimmy Eat World





If you ever get a chance to see Ludo perform live, do it. They're amazing in person and actually really funny! For those of you who haven't heard them yet, I think two of their best songs are Love Me Dead and lake Pontchartrain. Go listen!!






Also: The first official Twilight movie trailer!! *hyperventilates* I've watched it about 10 times already...
See it here: http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=33429578

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Cascades of Ice

Some of you have already seen this up on my deviantart page but I thought I'd post this pic here for two reasons:
1: People seem to actually like it, and/or think it looks cool
2: It's Springtime! So I thought I'd post this picture as a sort of farewell gesture to all things wintry, icy, and cold (ie. Most of the things that make me miserable)







I actually took this picture in a parking lot! I know it looks like I trekked out to some rocky cliff in the middle of winter to take it, but this cropping of rocks was at the end of a mall parking lot. Despite being a 14 year old girl, I find that I actually prefer nature like this most of the time to the often too crowded, boring mall I live near.
In other news:
The Bamboozle Festival is this Saturday! And I still haven't gotten tickets. What am I thinking?
I'm going to be posting a review for a cool book called Generation Dead which I just finished reading and should be reaching a bookstore near you,

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Persepolis

Autobiographical novels are usually not my preferred genre of books, but the graphic novel Persepolis is the one exception to that.

My world cultures class is now reading Persepolis, but I had actually heard of and been interested in the book before that after hearing glowing reviews, finding out that a movie was adapted from the books, and seeing Marjane Satrapi, the author and illustrator, interviewed on the Colbert Report.


So when I finally started reading the graphic novel I had somewhat high expectations. And Persepolis totally reached those expectations.




Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel telling the story of what it was like for her growing up as a young girl in the '80's in Iran during the Islamic revolution and the war with Iraq.


Its a quick read (since its after all only a 150 or so page comic book), but it stays with you. In fact, the illustrations make the book even more powerful by showing the joys, violence, tragedy, and love for her family in Marjane's life.
This is an amazing and interesting book, and you should check it out even if comics or history aren't your favorite things.




Here is one scene from the book (click to enlarge):


Tuesday, April 22, 2008

An Insight on Dentists...

It's Earth Day everyone! But, instead of talking about this environmentally friendly holiday, I'd like to share with you, my readers, a small thought about dentists.

I'm not sure if other people have noticed this, but dentists love to talk. At least the several that I've known. I was at the dentist's offive today, and my dentist, who shall not be named, chatted away the entire time. He even began to sing--while filling a cavity! And I was powerless to stop it, seeing as I had sharp metal tools inside my mouth at the time. The other two dentists that I've known have acted in similar ways. It makes me wonder whether some people become dentists simply because they like hearing themselves talk.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Friday, April 18, 2008

A Guy Reading Twilight?!

*gasp* How can it be?

Ok...That was a little over dramatic. I actually know several guys who have read Twilight (shout out to Dan!), but this is the first website by a dude to actually record his reactions to the books chapter by chapter.


Check out his website, twilightguy.com which has been doing exceeding well considering he only just started it very recently and has only reveiwed the first chapter of Twilight. I'm looking foward to following this site :)