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. :)

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.

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!

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:

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!!

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.

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

So true...

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

Unicorn Deer!

This single-horned deer was actually found in Italy! Single-horned deer are rare but not unheard of — but even more unusual is the central positioning of the horn, experts said.
"Generally, the horn is on one side (of the head) rather than being at the center. This looks like a complex case," said Fulvio Fraticelli, scientific director of Rome's zoo.












Wicked was phenomenal! The acting and singing were great and the entire play was very witty and funny. And the ending...wow, I seriously never expected that.

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...