Andais

Did I ever mention that I love the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series? No? Well I do. There really is no part of the novels that I do not enjoy. It is a tragedy that Douglas Adams didn’t live to see today, I think he would have liked it.

Or at least been able to get  few novels out of it.

So, in my appreciation of the novels (and the film, and the BBC show) I have just got this lovely piece of work, from Nomi-Chi over at The Fall, in Vancouver, BC.

Look, enjoy, be jealous.

Finally got to see the Last Airbender. Before I say much about the actual movie, the first thing I should mention is that if you are expecting the whole series, you will be sorely disappointed. From what IMDB is telling me, if you expect Books 2 and 3 to be made, you will also be sorely disappointed.

There a lot of things wrong with the movie, and not enough good things. In all honesty, you are better off watching the original cartoon than bothering with this film.

I can’t say that it was terrible, because it wasn’t, but it certainly wasn’t good. The kid who plays Sokka brings the trainwreck that is Twilight into this movie, with his bad acting, terrible character portrayal and inability to mesh into a film.  The boy who plays Aang isn’t bad. Actually, besides the actor of Uncle, he might be the best this movie has to offer, acting wise. They got all the races of all the nations totally crosses, which, if you watched the show is unsettling and disorienting.

The scenery and setting was actually surprisingly well done, with the cinematography the brightest shining light of the movie. Unfortunately, some of it was ruined with the 3D treatment, which I didn’t like at all. It didn’t need to be 3D, and shouldn’t have been. The only nice part of the 3D is that there isn’t a lot of it, and it is very subtly done.

All of the story changes just pissed me off-especially when I realized (quickly) that this was only Book 1 of the series. I mean, once that was realized, a lot more of the plot and it’s smaller points could have been developed and given a proper amount of screen time, which left me feeling both rushed and bored. Some things did not need to be in the film, and a lot of things needed expansion.

I think it’s still worth a watch, but one that is in 2D and, if you can swing it, downloaded. It isn’t worth the money to see it in theaters.

Where have I been? Well, besides school things (such as 3 midterms and a paper, to say nothing of Fall registration) I have been doing a lot of anime watching.

See, what makes watching anime hard for me is that I have seen A LOT of anime in my lifetime, so to find one that is new, interesting and (hopefully) dubbed in English is a rather daunting task. That isn’t to say that it can’t be done. Also, depending on the anime and how awesome it is, I don’t even mind watching a series more than once (like I did with Gundam Seed and Ouran High school Host club)

I should also mention that whenever I find a anime that I really enjoy, I tend to go find the manga of that anime and read it. I find that the manga version is drastically different than the anime version, with certain things toned down for the anime to make it more accessible for the masses.

Recently, I have been watching Gundam 00, and I am right near the end of season 1. Before that, I finished AirGear, Devil May Cry,  Gode Geass-Laouch of the Rebellion, Code Geass R2 and Blood +. I also just started Gravitation, but this one, I’m watching alone, without the company of my husband. Why? it falls under the category of shounen-ai, and that isn’t really his thing.

With the manga, which I find right here, I just got into Vampire Knight, and am anxiously awaiting the next installment of Ouran Host club. I can’t complain about the lateness of any of the scans, because, really, I get it free, and in English so that sort of defers any resentment I have. I’ve read a LOT of manga while I was between semesters, but now that its midterm time, I just don’t have the leisure to read an 80+ chapter manga. There is a lot of time and dedication needed to read through an entire series, and, frankly, I just don’t have it right now.

I am also completely incapable of reading just one chapter. I have to blow through the entire series in a day, or, if its super long, break it up with sleep, and go right back to it when I wake up. It’s a hard schedual to live by, and yet I am totally incapable of breaking that cycle once it starts.

The desire to know what happens next is insatiable.

I do realize that I am older than the typical Vampire Academy reader, however, I think its such a great series that age doesn’t matter.

The newest installment, Spirit Bound, just came out last Tuesday. The author, the ever talented Richelle Mead, is currently on tour to promote the book. I would love to go to one of her events, but none of them are ever really close enough. She lives only a few hours away, and yet its still fairly far.

I try to make it a habit to attend fun release day parties, when I can, or at least purchase the book on release day. Spirit Bound was no exception. I have the book in my hot little hands, the new cover, an uncracked spine..

yea, that’s right. I haven’t read it yet. This from the person who can read a book in less than a day.

Why not?

A few reasons, actually. Now, I hate spoilers, so if you haven’t read up to Spirit Bound, then I’d stop reading, if I were you, just in case.

I am totally on team Adrian. While I don’t actually know the ending of Spirit Bound, or the series, this is shaping up to be one of those epic love story sort of books. This means that Rose will somehow cure Dimitri, and blah blah blah. There is an 80% chance that this is the type of book it is, which is fine. Most of the readers will be happy-more than happy, really-with that.
I won’t be. I’ll be disappointed, even though I have no doubt it will still be a great book.

I also haven’t read Spirit bound because, well, the final book-Last Sacrifice-doesn’t come out until December 7th, and, you know what? That’s a damn long time! Through Twitter and other spcial media sites, I have learned that the ending is a wee bit of a cliffhanger. You know what? I fucking hate cliffhangers. Well, that’s a lie. I usually really like them, but only when I can pick up the next book and continue on where I left off.

To get my fix on VA, I have been re-reading the other 4 books. I gotta tell you, it was a damn fine idea because I am picking up on a lot of little things which I previously had not.

I think I might cave this weekend though. I’m just about done Shadow kissed, so I jus have Blood Promise to go before I hit up Spirit bound. I’m actually looking forward to it, and yet still remain a bit trepidatious.