Tag: Neil Gaiman

V (for the Guy Fawkes mask-wearer)

Friday, 24 March, 2006 at 2:15 am

Last night (erm, Wednesday night *looks at date/time of entry*) I went to see V for Vendetta with Daddy. Right when I stepped in the theater and the previews were loud (we were running a tad late), I thought, ‘Oh no, I forgot it’s a violent movie, and violent movie = loud volume which means me plugging my ears for the entire time.’ (Although there were times where it was very talky and I could unplug my ears, there were still a couple scenes where I found the background music to be too loud.)

But anyway. What do I think? I honestly cannot answer truthfully. I really have no idea. I’m biased on both sides. It’s a Natalie Portman movie! But then, it’s just another Oooh don’t let the government get too much power or else movie, with killing and explosions. It did have an interesting way of addressing it/“solving” the problem though. So … meh.

I wonder if there’s something wrong when during one scene in the movie I thought, ‘Is this Guy Fawkes mask the one that Neil Gaiman wanted from his childhood, or is it just specifically designed for the movie?’ And, looking at his August 21, 2005 entry through the handy Search function (which I will not be linking to … no showing up of my blog in his access logs, nosirree!), I suppose it is. ^^;;;

I never understood the Guy Fawkes thing. Perhaps that problem stems from the fact that I learned about Guy Fawkes (and Guy Fawkes Day, somewhat) from a children’s book by Diana Wynne Jones, called Witch Week (which I still have, and which I realized last night that I absolutely love it, despite not having read it in quite a few years). (I couldn’t quite figure it out, did he or did he not really succeed? [I never claimed to have good analytical reading skills.])

(Also, *pokes fingers together* I never thought I’d be one to develop a crush on someone whose face I never see. heh)

Howl’s Moving Castle

Tuesday, 21 March, 2006 at 11:16 pm

I finally saw Howl’s Moving Castle this weekend. Despite not really being interested in it when I first heard about it (from Neil Gaiman’s blog, actually), I loved it! :D Now I feel like reading the book. XD Because, you know, books are generally better than the movies that are based on them. Even if Hayao Miyazaki did the movie.

2005 book list

Sunday, 8 January, 2006 at 12:48 am

Wheee, I remembered to update. :P Here’s a list of all the books I managed to read in 2005 (plus a few from 2004 >.>). (List started January 22, 2005.) I was trying to read 100 books in one year. I didn’t read that many, just half (including the few from 2004 ^^;). Another goal I’d like to accomplish in life is to read 100 books in one year! (Even though that would amount to reading one book every 3.65 days. …Unless I did it in a leap year, then it’d be 3.66 days…)

It’s kind of weird. I look over the list, and I think, Wow, I read that book then? It seems like so long ago… Like The Handmaid’s Tale or The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I want to reread Ender’s Shadow again. XD (Even though I already have about a half dozen books on my to-read list, not including class required reading. *ack*)

Also, wow, I’m gone for only one week and WordPress is updated. Hmmm, maybe I should leave other things alone and maybe they’ll get updated too… (Note to self, upgrade WordPress after backing up current state.)

Continue reading “2005 book list”

Neil Gaiman weekend

Tuesday, 4 October, 2005 at 9:29 pm

I know I’ve been lazy in updating this lately and even now with a really cool update I’ve been putting it off/forgetting about it. But I’m forcing myself to write about it now. (Maybe I should just write about weekends, or something. I mean, specialness over the weekends. Or going to the mall if something really interesting happens. Or something. I’m willing to not have records of the more mundane stuff. But this weekend was just really cool and I’d rather write this entry now than not have it later in life [and hopefully my online logs won’t disappear >.>].)

So! Friday I got Mum to go with me to the Nuart to see Mirrormask! We saw the theater and there was a line and I was freaking out thinking what if we can’t get in??? but haha we got in ($14.50 for two matinee tickets) and sat down and yeah it was a tiny cozy cool theater. ^^ And the theater wasn’t that full. I mean, much much more full than Charlie or March of the Penguins. But not like Star Wars (second weekend?) or H2G2 (first night?) Probably about 40 people there, maybe (I’m horrible at estimating), and there were bunches of teens there! Hee! (Normally wouldn’t be excited about that because, well, immature, but hey, it meant that they HEARD about it! XD Goooo Neil and Dave!) It was a really cool fun inventive interesting visually appealing movie and Helena (Stephanie Leonidas) was great and the guy she hung with and YEAH! I loooooved seeing Dave McKean’s stuff in motion. XD So cool.

Mum liked the movie. She said she woke up the next morning thinking about the movie. hehe! Yeah, I woke up in the middle of the night and thought, ‘Did I have a dream about Mirrormask?’ (I couldn’t remember. ;.; But it was a nice dream. ^^)

Saturday (non-Neil Gaiman, even though there was a signing at Vroman’s, just didn’t feel like standing in line for hours just to get him write his name in the book; I probably would have liked a doodle in my book, but he only doodles in the first 100 or so books, so meh)

Sunday at 1:15 got ready to go to the West Hollywood Book Festival got there about 2 minutes before he started talking. We stood behind the seats, a little to our right. Then he came out in his leather jacket and sunglasses and sat down and he took off his jacket (it was warm, but not completely unbearable) and he was wearing a black t-shirt. XD And he looked in our direction for most of the talk! (Although I think he was looking at the Death/Daniel/Dream cosplayers.) And yeah. He talked. Yayfun! Mum said she understood half of what they talked about. I’m glad. She asked me a few questions about him after that. heehee. Saw the Golden Apple place where he was gonna sign. They had some of his stuff there. Saw the Sandman Companion. And other comics of his that I don’t have (yet). Sandman has new covers. o.o I like the old Dave McKean covers better though. *pout*

What did he talk about? Umm, a little about writing Anansi Boys, a little about Anansi Boys, a little about writing, a little about some Genie (??) account that he had 1989–1992 (“So you’re a proto-blogger.” –Heidi McDonald XD), a “tiffle” sound (pfa?) he would make while writing (found out while writing on Beowulf with Roger Avery), the little coffee (?) place in the midwest he wrote Anansi Boys in for 6 months (he left after someone recognized him and an employee said they’d be keeping an eye on him; “‘Oh, there he is writing again—no wait now he’s looking out the window.'”), about his daughter and her graphic novels course at college, stuff. ^__^

Then we went to Waldenbooks so I could buy Anansi Boys with a 25% off coupon and YAY I got a FIRST EDITION!!! XDDDDDD *points at the words first edition on that information page* But it’s already kind of curling (from the sun? air?) :( I don’t feel like taking it with me to class anymore. *hugs protectively* I haven’t even got to “the bad thing” in the middle of the book yet either! (Something Heidi brought up at the talk. She said she had to put the book down and walk away. o.o Neil Gaiman said he was surprised by it too, and didn’t write for four months after that. ^^;)

So…yeah, that’s it. The book isn’t really like American Gods, it’s funnier, not as, well, dry (I like AG, but still, it’s … not Neverwhere or Good Omens, definitely). Although I just read this part where he visits the old gods, and it’s kind of like AG. ^^;;

That’s it. I’m late getting to bed again. ;_; (10:11)

yayness! (lab, summer, skateboard, Making of Fallen)

Saturday, 7 May, 2005 at 8:45 pm

Yay! I’m done with my formal lab report! Or, almost. I just have to draw the structure of the molecules. Then I’m done! *celebrate*

Summer’s almost here too! Yay! I have lots of stuff I’m planning to do. Don’t know how much of it I’m gonna accomplish, though. Considering I had a list last year and I don’t think I did much of it. Um. What I want to do: finish crediting all the lyrics (possible) on my site, upload lyrics of my recently acquired albums; convert my GM entries to WP entries; read lots; move my dreamlog to a WordPress blog on my site (baibai Diaryland…); umm … I forget other stuff, but I have it written down somewhere.

…

(I’ve adopted Neil Gaiman’s method of breaking up sections. *grin*)

I was thinking recently that I need exercise. Not the go to the gym get sweaty kind, but just … get outside, do something other than sit around all day. I like to rollerblade, but the sidewalks around here are kind of in various states of disrepair. It’s fun going really really fast and then jumping over cracks, but then … doing it all the time? It just makes my joints hurt (in my mind). I also thought, I don’t know, I could have always rollerbladed, and I never did, so why would I now?

But! I had a really crazy mad thought! Maybe I could take Hidek’s old skateboard and learn how to ride that! hah. I don’t know. *thinks of old entry about wanting to skateboard* It’d be fun. I’d have to tighten the trucks or whatever it is Hidek loosens to make his board more turny-able. But then the biggest problem with my idea is that I think Hidek doesn’t have an old skateboard I could use. He has an old skateboard, but I can’t use it. I think something like, one of the trucks is broken, or he lost a screw or something … meh. *dreams*

…

[edit:2:00am] Oh yeah, I forgot, somehow. O_o Double yay! I managed to download the Making of Fallen part II file from Evanescence Website! XDDDD Finally! After maybe half a year … Now to watch it … *happyhappyjoyjoy*