Girl Scouts

Why are their cookies so addictive? Why? And how is it possible that the Caramel Delites have less fat than the Thin Mints? Is it because the Caramel Delites have coconut and fruit always makes things healthier?

Forgot to Post

Went to Mimi's and had fun. I also I forgot to post. I had time when I got home but I got distracted.

Golden Thoughts

I'm going to admit that the only sport I've ever cared about in the Olympics is figure skating. I challenge all the nay-sayers who say it's not a sport to get out there and do a triple lutz and triple toe loop.

But regardless of sport, I have to say I do love the idea behind the Olympics--fight your country's battles in frilly, skin-tight dresses. Okay, so that's figure skating again, but the same idea applies to them all (just with different costumes): make sport, not war.

It made me so happy to see Kim Yu-Na and Joannie Rochette win even though neither are from my country. Mao Asada is a beautiful skater, but she didn't try to hide her disappointment, so it was a little harder to feel as good for her. What kind of person pouts after winning a silver medal? Of course, I considered the posibility that she's going to get a lot of critisism when she gets home. I certainly hope they don't abuse the poor girl, but I know the Asian drive for excellence can be quite hard-edged, so I don't completely judge her reaction. It was just easier to feel happy for the other two because they were clearly happy, even if Rochette's triumph is bittersweet.

But commentary aside, I think the most important message here is Asian chicks rule! Yeah, and French-Canadian ones too. So as a half-Asain girl who speaks French, I'm quite pleased with the results. Clearly, even though the US didn't win, I'm on the right team.

Beautiful Figures

In honor of the Olympics I thought I'd honor Johnny Weir as my favorite current male figure skater ("current" because Scott Hamilton's probably my favorite of all time. Yay, backflips!). The above video is fun to watch, but I first fell in love with his style during a much more traditional performance that I can't presently recall. He's easily the most attractive man on the ice. Before anyone else comments, I'm well aware that his personality would lead to some obvious assumptions, but he doesn't like speculation on his sexuality, so out of respect, I'll just say that whoever's with him is a lucky person. I just read an excellent article about people's speculations about Weir and men like him. All that really matters to me (since I'm not likely to have a chance at him either way) is that he's a beautiful man and a beautiful skater.

EDIT: The clip is now in Korean because the English one was taken down. But it also made me notice a fascinating difference between the two. I actually watched the Korean one again after having watched the English one (several times) and I suspect the way both the countries video edit the performance says a lot about their different attitudes towards Johnny's sexuality. Forgive me, Johnny (yeah right, like he's reading this), but if you are reading this isn't me speculating on your sexuality so much as it's an observation about the magic of video editing. Take the same performance, but the angles in the English one highlighted sillier aspects of the performance while the Korean one highlights sexy ones. I think it's because, in Asia, they have a very different definition of "appropriate" male behavior, and while Johnny is still considered a little out there, he's actually quite a bit closer to at least one example of an Asian ideal sex symbol.

EDIT2: Okay, here's the English performance for now (until they take this one down) so you can compare the two.

Beautiful Pixels

To most my friends it's no secret that I think Link from the The Ocarina of Time and The Twilight Princess is the world's most beautiful composition of pixels ever created. So I'm adding him to my list of beautiful people. I also wish Nintendo would take note that Ocarina and Twilight Princess were two of their top sellers and both featured hot Link instead of the horrible chibi Link. It's not just girls who prefer the realistic Link. I've talked to guys (well, at least one guy) who would far rather play the manly character pictured above instead of some embarrassingly cute monstrosity. So take note, Nintendo. Link should be the man that every woman wants (the fact that he's mute helps) and every man want to be (serious weapons and serious graphic).

This is a Man...

...who is very secure in his masculinity.

So True

I read this book last month but hadn't had the chance to review it. Right now I'm listening to The Girl Who Played With Fire on audio. But I'll just focus on the first book for this review.

Summary:

Mikael Blomkvist, a Swedish reporter, stumbles into the secrets of a corrupt financier, but his evidence falls through, and he's convicted of libel. Facing the ruin of his career, Blomvkist is talked into humoring an old company mogul by investigating a long cold case involving the disappearance of the old man's niece, Harriet Vagner. At first Blomkvist does not expect to find anything, but his investigation of the Vagner family leads to growing suspicion of dark secrets. Along the way, he enlists the help of an enigmatic expert investigator, Lisbeth Salander. Together they find information that puts them on the trail of a serial killer.

Overview:

I love this book. The beginning was admittedly a bit slow because there was a lot of talk of corporate financial things that went over my head a little. The Swedish names were also a bit overwhelming at frst in a tongue-twistery sort of way. I also had to look up the references to Swedish literature, even Pipi Longstocking because I knew the name but nothing about the character. But once I got past that, I really enjoyed it. The characters are so real, and in spite of the cultural divide, I found myself able to personally relate to many of them, particularly Blomvkist. Salander is harder for me to relate to personally. Not just because she's a computer expert, but also her antisocial nature. This is a trilogy so you don't really understand Salander by the end and you're not supposed to. But I still cheered for her throughout. Larsson does a beautiful job of making Salander into a real life avenging angel. She sees the wrongs in the world and is determined to personally right them herself. He also does a good job of creating reprehensible but believable villains that you root strongly for the heroes.

Film

I was very excited to see a trailer for the Swedish movie up on IMDB the other day. I had known there was a Swedish version, but it hadn't been officially released in English yet. You could downlooad an English version illegally off the internet (ironically fitting for Salander's character) but you couldn't buy a real copy! Now finally, it looks like I'll be able to see it either dubbed or subtitled (impossible to know which they're planning. Personally, I hope it's subtitled.)

This isn't the official US trailer; it's the original Swedish trailer, but I liked it better, and it's subtitled in English, so you can enjoy and understand! :)



Rating

I would give this book 10/10 stars: * * * * * * * * * *

Book Club

This is where I discuss my thoughts on specific plot points in the book so scoot if you haven't read it.

I'm serious; this is a really good mystery and I don't want to ruin it. Go read it.

So the characters themselves are often a mystery. I think Salander wouldn't have so much trouble if she would just trust authority. The rape scene was really difficult for me to read and I've read plenty of really violent things without blinking. I wanted her to either turn that guy in to the police or kill him. But I have to confess I was very satisfied with what she did to him. I just didn't feel it was permanant enough and wished she had simply killed him. I guess I sound rather murderous, but it's just a literary fact that villains you don't kill always come back. He's also such a nasty person (though the tattoo she gave him helps to prevent him troubling other women). But it makes sense that Salander would feel she needed him to help to get the declaration of her incompetence revoked.

Blomvkist, in my opinion, is exactly the opposite of Salander. He's not exactly an everyman, but his quirks are understandable and even lovable. He might sleep around, but he respects all the women he's with. He manages to be sexually open while still being a very stable and responsible person. It also wasn't a mystery to me why he got propositioned by women so often. It was a believable mix of luck and his likable personality. I sincerely felt sorry for him when he fell out of favor with Salander in the end because I really liked them as a couple. But it's possibly the first time when I'm not angry at either party. Salander knew about Blomvkist's relationship with Erika Berger. He never lied to her about that, and Salander was the one who came onto him. All the same, I can see where, while Salander may have consciously understood about his running affair with Berger, confronting it when she's realized she's in love with him was much harder. And Salander isn't the type to talk those type of things out.

I thought that Harriet was alive the whole time. I didn't think anyone else would send the flowers (although the wall of flowers still always gave me a chill). But her owning a ranch in Australia did seem a bit out there. Still, the characters were so real that even some of the more bizarre happenings seemed credible. Some of the more complicated clues in Harriet's case also swished right over my head, but I was so into the drama by then that it didn't really matter to me.

Delta King

Today I'm going to my first dinner theatre with my mystery book club. It's on the riverboat pictured above.

EDIT: I won the murder mystery guessing game! The play was interactive and you had to guess the murderer and the murderer's motive. My book club helped me interpret the clues a lot so I don't think I would have won without them but it's still cool that I won. They even gave me this nifty plaque:

Skirt of Floodlights!

So I'm reading Extras by Scott Westerfeld and I got really excited when I so this line: "Clouds of insects danced in its skirt of floodlights." Personally I'd call it a beam, but that's not why I'm excited. The reason I'm so psyched is because I finally know what book Westerfeld was writing when he asked the question in the video above. I don't know why I think that's so cool, but I do.

Another fun thing is that his friend Maureen Johnson asks if he needs the bugs. He says no. But they're in there. Which proves either proves the stubborn nature of writers keeping things they don't need or the forgetful nature of just forgetting to take it out. Both of which I can relate to.

If I Don't See this Movie Today...

Then I probably won't see it. I have a pretty bad track record of seeing movies when they come out to DVD these days. Even if I'm interested in them. Since I generally only see movies once, I prefer the experience of seeing them in the theatre. I'd like to see it with someone but I seem to be the only historical fiction nut I know, so I'll have to see it by myself. We'll see how I feel in the morning.

Senility?

My sister just pointed out that I forgot to blog for two days straight! But we've both been so busy even she didn't notice until today.

Percy Jackson: Film Review

Last night I saw the Percy Jackson movie and very much enjoyed it. It did leave a few things out that I wish had been left in. But, overall, I felt it stayed true to the spirit of the book, and that's always the most important thing to me in movie adaptations.

In the first book Percy finds out he is the son of Poseidon and accused of stealing lighting from Zeus. Percy must find the real thief before war breaks out among the gods.

The movie follows this basic storyline. The first Percy Jackson book is very campy with a lot of pop-culture. Since this is usually how I feel Hollywood ruins books, I didn't have to worry about it with Percy. They actually made the gods slightly more serious than they are in the actual book. But I suppose they felt the need to give them a certain amount of gravitas, so this didn't really bother me. And there was plenty of campy adventure and action to enjoy.

I was both happy and sad to see that this movie is clearly self-contained. They dropped all the running storylines from the series. I feel this means they probably don't expect to make the money to do a sequel which makes me sad. If they really can't do another one, I would prefer this one be self-contained. But I plead with you all to see the film so that they do make another!

I give The Lightning Thief: 8 / 10 stars! * * * * * * * *

Oh, and in completely unrelated news: Happy Year of the Tiger!

Now beware the spoilers all ye who read below!

The Good:

Grover: I didn't think he would match the Grover I had imagined, but the actor did an excellent job. They honestly even made Grover more satyr-like than he is in the book since he was more interested in flirting with women. They didn't overdo it, and Grover's more charming personality traits are more prevalent, but I think a healthy interest in females is actually more accurate to the satyrs of Greek myth.

The Minotaur: Ack! That thing scared me! I'm almost never scared of monsters in movies so that's pretty good.

The fast pace: You do not have time to get bored.

The chemistry of the actors: I think the kid who played Grover was actually the best actor, but together they made a believable team of friends.

The Lotus Hotel: This was a pretty spot-on representation and probably the best use of Lady Gaga's Poker Face song.

Persephone: She actually gets pretty shafted in the books, but I liked their portrayal of her in the movie. Once again, even though she's not the same as in the books, it was in impovement to flesh her out.

The humor: Even jokes they added were very similar to the jokes in the books and very in keeping with the characters. My favorite added joke was probably Grover complaining about Medusa's head in the sink of their hotel. I was also pleased that they kept the part from the book where Smelly Gabe gets his comeuppance...

The Not-so-good:

No Dionysos: My favorite god in general and he plays an excellent role in the books as their unsupportive camp counselor. I do understand where they probably didn't have time in the movie. But, alas. I would have happily watched another hour if they'd added Dionysos.

Luke's depth: The actor who played Luke was good, and I felt his portrayal was accurate. But I felt they lost a lot of character conflict by making Annabeth indifferent to Luke. His betrayal in the end has less punch.

Hades as a baddie: I rather like the fact that Hades isn't necessarily bad in the books (at least, not any more than the rest of the gods). But I get that they had to drop Cronos for time (and probably special effects) reasons. Having Luke as the primary lightning thief was also fine. Like I said, I just would have preferred he have a bit more of a relationship with Annabeth.

Stupid lady: Medusa sorta explained it, but why is it people in movies always do stupid things. Like look at the gorgon even when they know what will happen?!

But you'll notice that the things I liked is a longer list than the ones I didn't! And all the things that made me sad could be fixed if they would make another film! Sigh...but with the economy being what it is, I don't have high hopes.

Percy Jackson

I saw Percy Jackson today and I liked it a lot, but I'm running close to the blog deadline so review to follow later!

North Dakota Blog Hiatus

I'll be in North Dakota tomorrow Feb 11th - Feb 12th so no blog posts for those days.

Cherie Vs. Sleep



Dude, I close my eyes for like a few minutes and suddenly this guy's sucking on my face!

I don't know why, but whenever I'm actually doing work, I feel sleepy. When I have nothing to do I'm an inveterate insomniac. I think this just proves that my brain likes to weasle out of thinking but it shan't win! Although, I may have to drink some tea....

Um...Shock

Okay, so Avatar's not anywhere near my favorite film of all time, but it's 3D effects make it worth seeing. Still, I guess people are even getting tired of the 3D because last weekend Dear John made more money than Avatar (not the gross, but just for that weekend). I get that you can only see 3D blue people so many times, but I have to confess I'm surprised that this was the most popular alternative last weekend.

EEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Okay, so fan girl squealing aside, I had a great time seeing Neil Gaiman at UCSB. Thanks again to Tim and Mag for letting us stay with them. The one sad thing is I lost the hat pictured here. It was my Denison hat so I was rather fond of it and it's a bit tricky to replace. But if I had to lose a hat to see Neil Gaiman, that's more than worth it (plus, I didn't really lose it while seeing Neil, but a few days later).

Highlights From Neil's Lecture:

He read 2 excellent unpublished stories: one about being murdered at sea and the other was called Cassandra and was a creepy story about about imaginary friends.

He answered MY question! I was thinking that it would be really unlikely because we wrote our questions on index cards and he had a huge stack and kept tossing half them aside without reading them. But he still did mine! I got so excited I started jiggling in my chair. My question was: "Did you base the graveyard in The Graveyard Book on any specific graveyard?" His answer was: Stoke-Newington, Glasgow Necropolis, and Highgate Cemetary.

He answered my sister's question which was "How many drafts do you usually write?" The answer was: as few as 1, and average of 2-3, and as many as 11.

Someone asked if he ever felt like his characters wrote themselves. He said no, but that would be awesome. He would just sit there and drink tea. Then he pointed and was like "You, write yourself faster!"

Someone said they were getting a PhD in super-herology. He didn't answer their question but said he "loved living in a world where you could get a PhD in super-herology."

When we got our books signed I thanked him for answering my question and when I told him which one it was, he said it was a good question and no one had ever asked him that before. Yay! Watching and reading every Neil Gaiman interview I can get my hands on has finally paid off! I know every question he's ever answered!

My sister mention she liked "Crowley's green-thumb" in Good Omens and he said he thinks he wrote that bit. I said how much I've always loved how Crowley "didn't so much as fall as vaguely saunter downwards." Neil says he think Terry wrote that bit.

All in all he was very nice and very gracious. Pretty much everything I had hoped for (aside from, unreasonable hopes like having his awesome radiate onto all of us making us into super-writers.) But everything else was great!

Here you see me groveling before the master as he draws an excellent mouse in the copy of Coraline I bought that night to be signed. I was a little sad he didn't look up in any of our pictures. I'm sure he probably would have since he was so nice, but I was too shy to ask him to. Some people went right up to him and put their arm around him, but I was too shy for that too. Still, he'd been looking into a lot of camera flashes, so I'm glad we could give him a break from that and not make him completely blind.

This is the signature in my book. Mouse drawn by Neil.

This is the signature in Chrissy's book. Excellent quote by Neil that summarizes Good Omens.

Santa Barbara Blog Hiatus

Tomorrow my sister and I are going to Santa Barbara to visit my awesome friends Tim and Mag and see the amazing Neil Gaiman speak at UCSB! This means no blog posts Feb 2nd - Feb 6th.