Angel

review: The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:39:31 GMT

Demons Trilogy #1:
The Demon's Lexicon
by Sarah Rees Brennan

Nick and his brother, Alan, have spent their lives on the run from magic. Their father was murdered, and their mother was driven mad by magicians and the demons who give them power. The magicians are hunting the Ryves family for a charm that Nick's mother stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -- and they want it badly enough to kill again.
Danger draws even closer when a brother and sister come to the Ryves family for help. The boy wears a demon's mark, a sign of death that almost nothing can erase...and when Alan also gets marked by a demon, Nick is des-perate to save him. The only way to do that is to kill one of the magicians they have been hiding from for so long.
Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.
This is the Demon's Lexicon. Turn the page.

Overall Rating 3.5/5
Though I found some of the characters compelling and original, the author's world-building and writing was strained and felt incomplete. The characters were constantly in danger of losing consistency, and some of the twists and turns thus were mildly confusing. However, it was a fun read, with plenty of hilariously snappy dialogue.

( read the full review )

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review: The Last Knight by Hilari Bell

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:38:18 GMT

Knight and Rogue #1:
The Last Knight
by Hilari Bell

Need a Hero? You've got one in Sir Michael Sevenson.
Although there hasn't been a knight errant in over two hundred years, this young noble has decided to revive the trade. He's found himself a reluctant partner in Fisk, a clever rogue who has been given the choice of serving as Michael's squire or going to jail for a very long time. Now Michael and Fisk are on a quest to right wrongs, protect the innocent, and make the world a happier place.
It's not going to be easy. On their first attempt at rescuing a damsel in distress, they break a lady out of a tower, only to discover she was there for good reason: awaiting trial for poisoning her husband. Now the would-be heroes must find Lady Ceciel and return her to justice or be condemned themselves.

Overall Rating 4.5/5
I was in quite a rush to finish this book because I had bought it with the intent of gifting it to my friend the next day but instead, I became quite captivated by it myself. The mythology and world building is imaginative and original, combining a medieval setting with a unique blend of magic and quite "modern" characters who believe valiant knighthood is outdated. The character voices are distinct and sympathetic, alternating every chapter between the cynical but good-hearted "rogue" Fisk and the stupidly honest but well-meaning "knight" Sir Michael. However, they are not at all stagnant in their traits: Fisk learns to trust and sacrifice, while Michael learns to lie and manipulate. Side characters are also given depth and acknowledged as independent beings with their own character traits and personalities. The story itself was full of both plot and character twists, and it keeps you guessing as to who the real villains are and who is in league with who until the very end. This is one of those books where I would go and buy my own copy later because I enjoyed it that much.

( read the full review )

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review: Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:54:25 GMT

Love is the Higher Law
by David Levithan

First there is a Before, and then there is an After...
The lives of three teens — Claire, Jasper, and Peter — are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him.
Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.

Overall Rating 4.5/5
Jasper steals the spotlight as the sarcastic, gay Korean-American University student who finds himself conflicted between accepting the well-meaning comfort offered by people who couldn't relate to his experiences, or pushing them away with jokes and reassurances. Peter is far from the token love interest as his voice comes to life through his love of music and the emotions songs and lyrics stir within him. Claire is the mutual acquaintance that brings the two closer together, but while she is not entirely negligible, I was disappointed in her role as the author's preacher. While I was quite moved by the messages of love and peace, I felt that the stark reality of the actual consequences in the aftermath (anger, hatred, war) should not have been so easily omitted.

( read the full review )

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review: Hero by Perry Moore

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:50:52 GMT

Hero
by Perry Moore

The last thing in the world Thom Creed wants is to add to his father's pain, so he keeps secrets. Like that he has special powers. And that he's been asked to join the League - the very organization of superheroes that spurned his dad. But the most painful secret of all is one Thom can barely face himself: he's gay.
But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world to Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, who can control fire but not her anger; Typhoid Larry, who can make anyone sick with his touch; and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide; but they will have to learn to trust one another when they uncover a deadly conspiracy within the League.
To survive, Thom will face challenges he never imagined. To find happiness, he'll have to come to terms with his father's past and discover the kind of hero he really wants to be.

Overall Rating 2.5/5
The cliched plot points of convenience, tedious exposition of character pasts, as well as incredibly 2D side characters are only marginally redeemed by the sympathetic if rather dense protagonist Thom and his cute, blooming romance with his mysterious "rival" Goran. The action and intensity does pick up during the last third of the book, with murders and betrayals that depart almost entirely from the self-centered teen angst in the beginning. Nonsensical character decisions, appearances, and fatalities however, did nothing but frustrate me, despite the fact that the final "twist" was a relatively pleasant surprise.

( read the full review )

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Chromatic Recast: Sherlock Holmes (a la "Red Cliff")

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:12:50 GMT

So, encouraged by Ah Yuan, I've decided to participate in this Chromatic Recasting meme. I actually really really wanted to do one for Let the Right One In (THE MOST AMAZING, ADORABLE, INTENSE, REALISTIC, GENDER-DEFYING VAMPIRE MOVIE YOU WILL EVER NEED TO SEE), but promptly realized I didn't know that many grade-school-looking actors, American, Asian, or otherwise lol.

So, instead, I've turned to my recent obsession, the Sherlock Holmes series! Prior to the 2009 movie (RDJ SO MUCH LOVE ♥), I had been a huge fan of Hound of the Baskervilles - I literally reread it multiple times per day when the mood hit me lol - so my choices are also influenced by the original novels as well. However, the moment I decided Takeshi Kaneshiro would be my Holmes, my actor choices immediately gravitated towards his co-actors from the recent John Woo epic Red Cliff. Okay, I can probably explain why most of my choices are actors from this awesome awesome movie: John Woo went ahead and casted some gorgeous and talented people. They're also multi-ethnic (to a degree)! Takeshi and Nakamura from Japan, Tony from Hong Kong, Lin Chilin and Zhang Zhen from Taiwan, and Hu Jun, Zhao Wei, Zhang FengYi, etc. from mainland China. As someone who watches all different facets of East Asian media, I've seen most of these actors in at least one film before, all of them quite memorable. So I'm not just randomly excusing myself to recast one movie into another fandom, really XD;

And thus, onto my Sherlock Holmes Chromatic Recast, aka "the meme wherefor I ended up recasting Red Cliff actors into Sherlock Holmes"!

( Chromatic Recast Meme: Red Cliff → Sherlock Holmes )

Um so, I'm not sure how many people have actually watched Red Cliff and/or Sherlock Holmes (2009), but I definitely had fun mixing up the roles =D

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NaNoWriMo'09: cover art WIP

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:02:00 GMT

oh god I haven't been working on Nano at ALL these past few days DDDDD8
however! I have been slaving(?) over character sketches! this one will probably be either the cover or a character page for YeLin:

(click to see larger)

I'll be updating on the WIP over at my blogger account too (it actually has an earlier/uglier stage screenshot as well)
erm...20k is my new goal...yes...

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I don't know if I should love Chinese fantasy TV or hate it

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:21:26 GMT

8min trailer for Fantasy Zhu Xian

on the one hand it is gorgeous in terms of actors and special effects, on the other I'm going OMGWTFBBQ?! through the entire trailer because it is just THAT wacky
a love story of two people separated by 200 years and the girl losing her memory, some evil puppeteer dude with a child's toy (I LOLed really loudly at that), weird flashbacks, emo lurking/stalking, but did I mention it is very pretty???
granted, this is based off of a popular Chinese online fantasy RPG, so the storylines are supposed to be half-baked and vague...
I would watch this if I just happen to see it on TV, if only for the squishy Hu Ge and his man-pain, but I'm not in China atm...such a dilemma =T

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BE PREPARED TO HAVE NIGHTMARES

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:10:19 GMT

Top 10 Creepiest Robots Of All Time

I love how most of the robots on this list are Japanese XDDDDDDD
creepiest ones in my opinion:
"five year old girl" and "1-2 year toddler"
ARE THESE INSPIRED BY HORROR MOVIES? NO WONDER MOST ROBOT FILMS NEVER HAVE KID ROBOTS. IF THIS IS WHAT THEY'LL TURN OUT LIKE I VOTE THEY SKIP THE DEVELOPMENT STAGE AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE ADULT STAGE.

and I found this actually quite cute:
The Animated Pillow

they've all pretty much got movement down (see Big Dog and PETMAN), it's mostly the minute details - blinking, mouth movement - that's got problems...

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also non-Latin domain names

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NaNoWriMo'09: excerpt #1 from Prologue

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:04:47 GMT

okay, here's a few hundred words of what I've got done of the prologue so far:

Red Threads, Book 1: No Faith
Summary: Half a millennia ago the Elemental Beasts were born from the gradual concentration of four elements in the east, south, west, and north corners of the mortal realm. While magnificent, they were as impassive to mortal life as the natural disasters they embody, and were eventually ordered to be imprisoned in the underworld by the Jade Emperor of the immortals. As punishment, they were stripped of their immortality and condemned to numerous lifetimes of the very suffering they had caused.

Over the centuries, as the mortal realm slowly returned to peace and prosperity, the beasts and the terrors they wrought faded from the mortals’ memories， until they remained no more than a faraway legend.

Now, five hundred years later, their spirits have been reborn as five mortal beings, each struggling through their own trials of redemption, and each connected to the other by a red thread of fate. Caught on either side of the conflict between the rénlèi (humans) and yāojīng (nonhuman entities that can take on human form) will fate bring them together as friends, or enemies?

序幕《紅線》
Hóng Xiàn
(PROLOGUE: RED THREADS)

Yùe Lǎo

The small ferrying cloud I had summoned scatters in wisps beneath my feet as I hurriedly make my way through the spirit gates of Dìyù, realm of death and rebirth. Ahead of me lies the path to Dìfǔ, the court of the underworld, blanketed by clusters of translucent línghún – mortal spirits – drifting through, clinging to their peers and silently bemoaning their deaths.

Nervously, I start to dust my robes off of the tendrils of residue immortal energy that had followed me down during my descent from Tiān’táng, the upperworld. Some of the línghún are already breaking from their clusters and gathering towards the weak immortal light of my own essence, the dead drawn to the allure of eternal life and everlasting wisdom. Knowing that the yánwáng – judges of the dead – disliked any and all interruptions to their orderly business of assigning doom, I quickened my pace and did my best to avoid the wayward spirits slowly crowding around me. My long silver beard I kept tucked inside my robes just in case – the hair of an immortal holds just as much power as their blood.

( By the time I reached Dìfǔ’s doorstep... )

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book blog + NaNoWriMo + BSG

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:14:04 GMT

I've created a new book blog for myself over at blogger since that seems to be where many of the book bloggers hang out
ninefly's book blog
(I just realized I've been juggling around 3 different screennames recently, ninefly, denenkyuu, and angeltyuan...I'll probably stop using denenkyuu for new accounts and stick to ninefly/angeltyuan from now on...)
took me a while to tweak the layout to my liking and it's rejuvenated my love for html/css XDDDD;
but that's besides the point, I've posted up more detailed/revamped versions of my previous book reviews there, as well as joined a few reading challenges 8D
my DW account will now just be a general life-blog, though I'll still post snippets of new reviews/fandom projects and stuff from my other journals occasionally =)

# # #

and, against my better judgement(?), I've signed up for NaNoWriMo!!...?
FIFTY THOUSAND WORDS. WHAT FACE AM I SUPPOSED TO MAKE? D8? 8D?

the "novel" is going to be the first volume to the story I posted about a while back, and it's officially got a title now:
Red Threads, Book One: No Faith
NaNoWriMo officially starts tomorrow, so I'll post up progress bars and stuff later
oh, and wingstodust is going to be my Writing Buddy ♥
we're going to cheer each other on right? right???
at least I'll finally get off my ass and start writing this thing for serious...

# # #

I'm on the last season of BSG and...well I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of Starbuck/Apollo BFF-NESS DDDDDD8
I also preferred Kara with shorter hair, though I guess it's supposed to symbolize character growth or something =T
also, I cheated and found out about the ending, which makes me kinda really really sad...the fact that the writers are hinting at more movies though...maybe they will fix this sadsad ending? PLEASE???

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book sale finds + Battlestar Galactica

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:22:15 GMT

there was a library book sale this weekend downtown, so I went and tried to pick up some good books. problem was, they didn't have a YA/adults fiction section, only something vague called "general fiction" WTF. also, I went for the last few hours on the last day of the sale so I guess pickings weren't great, but still...I only got one book.

The Walking Boy by Lydia Kwa
THIS HARDCOVER COST ME ONLY 50 CENTS.
erm...yeah. not that it sounds terribly exciting or anything (it's about a hermaphrodite child and his journey to find his master's lover or somewhat?), but I'm very interested in the premises with the first/last female emperor of China (the story is based on historical facts) and I'm using it as consulting material for my own story -- which I haven't forgotten, really.

so yeah, the book sale was at a remote corner of the downtown area, and the buses only came once every half-hour, so I decided to walk back up towards my campus in search of lunch/dinner. there were various other used bookstores along the street too ( so I picked up a few more bargain-ish books )

the book salesman said I had a broad spectrum of tastes XD;

ate lunch/dinner at the asian vegetarian restaurant, their pseudo-meat is actually quite good.
I think I'm becoming addicted to pineapple + rice actually, I had quite a few meals with them in various combinations over the summer, and today's dish was Pineapple with (Veggie) Chicken Fried Rice. yum ♥

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also, I've become officially addicted to Battlestar Galactica.

I technically blame it on my sci-fi class, though we only had a screening of an episode from the '78 series ('04 series screening is this week).
technically, BSG is sorta like Stargate in the spaceships trapped in space and survival themes, but I love BSG way more because I love the characters (most of them anyways), even if I can hate them at times, the show has a way of making you realize that everyone has their problems and situational pressures that push them to do the things they do.
favorite is Starbuck obviously, she is so kickass, I have a girl-crush on her ♥ she's the kind of character who sometimes defies categorization of gender. there's also a lot of gender role reversal here, where Apollo seems the pushover/sympathetic "talker of feelings" while Starbuck is the arrogant and aggressive "don't wanna talk 'bout it" kinda person. I also like how Apollo and Starbuck are always friends first, saving each other and generally goofing around like they're kids, it's very rare to find another guy-girl pair like them on TV.
also, lots of philosophy on identity, what is "human", war, responsibility, forgiveness, and some very plausible military strategic plans for their battles. the use of "low-level" technology also makes the plot just that much more frightening since it makes the "future" (robots rebelling and massacring humans) seem just that much more eminent and possible as opposed to if they had the ships outfitted with much more advanced technology to suggest that we had more time to prevent this.

I'm on season 3 right now though, and the show's "feel" seems to have shifted a LOT (more due to the setting and the separation of key characters I guess), but I hope they return to the original pace soon, I want the kickass Starbuck back T-T

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giveaways~

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:00:38 GMT

I've just discovered the ~*magic*~ of book review blogs and giveaways 8D
since I'm on a reading binge recently (as much as I can with psych midterms and essays due one after another) of course I signed up 8DDD

♥ strange and random happenstance (ends: Nov)
signed up for: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (complete set)
♥ undercover book lover (ends: Nov1)
signed up for: Hush Hush, The Exorsistah
♥ meghan's book blog (ends: Nov1)
signed up for: Dust of 100 Dogs
♥ teens read and write (ends: Nov15)
signed up for: Hush Hush, Fire, Intertwined, Catching Fire
♥ teenage bookworm (ends: Nov15)
signed up for: Soulless, Intertwined, Hush Hush, Prophecy of the Sisters
♥ YA book queen (ends: Nov20)
signed up for: Catching Fire, Hush Hush, Blood Promise, Meridian

♥ YA book geek
signed up for: any book I want if I win 8D

I'll be surfing through contest sites now for more (seems to be a lot of US-only ones tho D8) and adding to this post as I go =3

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reviews on shelfari 8D

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:42:29 GMT

I just went on a spree and reviewed a bunch of stuff on my Shelfari account:
♥ manga Saiyuki
♥ manga Saiyuki RELOAD (sequel)
♥ manga Gintama
♥ manga One Piece
♥ novel The Black Swan by Mercedes Lackey
♥ novel Kingdom Come by J.G. Ballard [read for class]
I wonder if I'm taking manga way too seriously when I write longer reviews for them than the novels I read...compared to the other reviewers I seem to be very ranty =X

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shelfari account + Milk

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:27:50 GMT

I just got myself a Shelfari account 8D
(link is on side bar, I might change the URL some time and update it later...)
it's a website where you can read and write reviews and manage your own virtual bookshelf
I've still got a lot more to add (though I might not remember every book I've read in the past 10 years or so...)

already posted two reviews:
- Kingdom Come by J.G. Ballard
- The Black Swan by Mercedes Lackey

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watched Milk the biography drama for Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected into office (I think)?
it basically talks about his relationships, his cause, and the obstacles he faced in a story format rather than documentary
I really really liked the Scott/Harvey fluff, and was understandably sadsadsad at the end D:
it's not boring, but it's not riveting either in terms of action/adventure
a lot of the film is spent discussing gay rights and strategies for marches/riots XD;

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debate + Dawn of the Dead

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:44:45 GMT

little asian-representation-in-american-media debate over at wingstodust's post here 8D
it is of course impossible to look at the issue without bias though =T

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watched Romero's 1978 Dawn of the Dead for consumerism class today 8D
the action scenes were pretty cheesy, and the "gore" wasn't really that gorey (realistically), but it was pretty suspenseful at times~
( very spoilery rant )

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SGU and SPN

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:52:05 GMT

hmm, just watched the first three episodes of the new Stargate Universe
it's got a similar vibe to Firefly (slow-paced, character-centric), but I can't find myself attached to any of the characters save Eli (and that's only because he's slightly adorable) and Scott (I can at least see his reasoning beyond wanting to save his own ass)
oh! and ~~surprise!Ian Edgerton~~ Telford too, though he's only a guest star D=

I pretty much hate most of the crew...
- the senator's daughter is annoying and her relationship with her father isn't really fleshed out enough to strike sympathy with me
- the medic is a little too full of herself, she says she's not qualified but she justifies her actions anyways (or maybe I just don't like the fact she sedated Telford who is in Young's body and in pain, but struggling to help scout out the ship for the people on Earth, and it's not because she cares about him, but because she cares about Young's body =T)
- Rush is also boatloads of bad!fail, he tries to be conniving but it just doesn't work; maybe he's the love-to-hate character since he gets beat up so often
- Young is brave and all that, but he seems ultimately quite useless...no charisma in my opinion

since it is a sci-fi show, suspension of belief is expected, but I'm still quite unconvinced of a few things (mostly since the show seems to be set in present-day or current-century America):
- that shuttle thing, couldn't they get the frickin' FLYING ROBOT CAMERAS to push the damn button!? it's better than sacrificing a person DDDD:
- sound in space? government with spaceships and colonizing other planets (that just happen to have oxygen-carbon atmosphere)? TELEPORTATION?
- the "Ancient" technology looks a bit too much like our own; I see how we as humans can't imagine beyond combinations of what we already have, but still =T
- also stone-mediated mind-switch??? it's much more confusing when you switch the actors in these scenes too even though they're supposed to be each others' bodies...are they not confident in their actors' abilities here? or the audience's intelligence?

the first act "Air" seemed too drawn out in my opinion, and failed to really get me attached to any of the characters and paradoxically made me hate half the crew...I'll probably drop this series if the next episode remains so mediocre

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in Supernatural news, season 5 is kinda underwhelming compared to the earlier ones...it's starting to deteriorate in terms of script and focus =T
- Castiel swearing a lot...is that supposed to be a statement? saying "bad" words will give you power/freedom? wow, that's very encouraging Show -_-
- Cas and Dean in a brothel? really? rebelling against angels = having sex?
- fanservice is going over the top, though I liked the fangirl from episode 2 (it was fabulous in terms of humor), couldn't the prophet just call Sam/Dean? this is reminding me of that Naruto slash/femmeslash fanservice chapter UGH XP
- Lindsey from episode 3 was quite annoying, sure she can express interest in Sam romantically/sexually, but does she have to invade his privacy? "tell me your life's story"? as if anyone could fit their essence into one night =T
- annnnd Sam escapes responsibility again! it's like he's all "I started the mess so I'm gonna hole up and not talk about it or do anything about it! leave that to Dean!" -_- not sure I'm feeling very sympathetic for Sammy anymore
- that scene of Sam with J***, is it supposed to be "semantic" or something? the script is kinda awful there...and seriously, 5 years and Sam still falls for appearances?
- "the voice says I'm almost out of minutes!", "I'll just...wait here then" oh Cas/cellphone ♥
- epic brother/Mic vs. brother/Luci consent showdown thing = epic man!pain x2; I'm interested on how Show handles this destiny thing though
- Jensen did an awesome job with episode 4 ♥♥♥ I can probably tell apart the two versions even if they were wearing the same clothes, that's talent 8D
I'll keep watching, if only to see it through its probable last season (as planned, so it should be conclusive)

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the milky way tastes like raspberries

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:22:18 GMT

Numb3rs has such awesome lines, lots of random knowledge gained ♥
here are some quotes from 6x01 "Hang Man":

Larry: "the milky way tastes like raspberries" (this is true btw)

Don: a guy's sitting on a roof in the middle of a flood, a boat comes along and he says 'no no God will save me', another boat passes and he says the same thing, then a helicopter comes along and he still says 'God is on his way'; so the guy drowns, and he asks God, 'why didn't you save me?', and God says, 'what do you want from me? i sent you two boats and a helicopter!' (this is paraphrased a little)

more on season 5:
the last half of season 5 was pretty awesome; lots more female-interaction (Liz, Nikki, Amita, Robin...Millie seems to have gone AWOL though...), and Liz is part of the team again ♥ but Nikki is still kinda annoying, but then again maybe it's because she's not as sympathetic as the previous "new guys"
they brought up math and mental illness again though (two episodes now, and even a direct reference to "A Beautiful Mind"), so I'm really hoping that isn't foreshadowing anything similar happening to Charlie DDD:

and now season 6:
- Don's hair is longer and curlier! \8D/
- Charlie doing flash calculations during a shootout, that was so awesome 8Q___
- David and Colby's "dates" hahahahaha XD
- same with the Charlie foreshadowing, I hope Don's shaky hands and that hugeass scar aren't leading up to anything nasty DDDDD:

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The Mentalist season 2 ramblings:
- new titlecard!
- Lisbon has long hair! so flippy!
- more Jane angst =(
- Cho discusses his juvie time! but it's still rather vague...
- I love how Cho went back to pick Jane up after Lisbon gets mad at him XD;
- Jane/Lisbon snark ♥

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tv ramblings + media/sci-fi class

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:42:21 GMT

why I'm loving Numb3rs season 5 a lot so far:
- it's lightening up again! less angsty moping!
- Don's curly hair is the most adorable thing ever (the brothers match!)
- Don is smiling more (which is also adorable) ♥
- Charlie stands up to the bullies!
- Charlie admitting he's addicted to FBI work ♥
- Don and Charlie defending each other ♥
- Liz seems to come back often, she's my favorite female agent =3

what I'm not liking so much:
- the new Math Analogy Scenes (TM) makes it seem cheesier than the original voice-over versions (season 3/4 was my fave) =T
- the 5x03 case was kinda WTF (aka random Colby!affair is random)
- I miss Megan D:
- need to get used to Nikki, still don't like her much...

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FlashForward episode 1x03
- I don't really like Mark...it's more the actor I guess? he tries to seem srz business, but it kinda fails when he tries too hard; I'll probably hold it to lack of charisma (unlike Don 8D)
- in fact all the FBI agents kinda seem too full of themselves (except Demetri 8D)...or maybe it's the script...their lines are way too dramatic and the actors don't seem really emotionally involved in their roles =T
- Demetri/Zoey is way too cute, they better get married, show better not break our hearts D<
- the crow thing...just...I don't even know...sure it's ~*mysterious*~ but kinda overdone =T
- I do like the fact that they have the German characters speaking German; good to know foreign languages still make it on American tv

huh, seems only reason I'm still watching this is the fact that John Cho is in it and he might maybe actually sorta kinda sing (he has a gorgeous voice)

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not following any Asian shows this season...nothing's really catching my attention...
Okada's not doing any new dramas D:
other Jap dramas probably have pretty awful acting (JE boys...*sigh*)...
maybe I'll go hunt for a Korean show?

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we're doing zombies in my consumerism course 8D
watching Dawn of the Dead next week

really loving my scifi-tv class, lots of debate on ethics and world views

time travel really is just a plot device, doesn't make sense scientifically; isn't there a rule of physics that says there are only a specific amount of atoms in the "world" so technically a person cannot just introduce their composition into a time in the past...
and if you're travelling back in time to "fix" something...once it's fixed, won't your future self lose that motivation?
the only theory that makes even marginal sense here would be alternate reality...but that would mean the future!person would be trapped in that universe...? the atoms theory still holds though =T

I also read somewhere that scientists who discovered "warp drive" say that every time a spaceship goes into warp mode (tearing up the space or displacing something or other), they would leave behind a black hole...yeah...

did some discussion on Star Trek today, and I've just realized how much of an imperialist Kirk really is =T seriously, he breaks the Prime Directive way to many times and pushes "democracy" onto "primitive" cultures, then laughs it off as just another day of "defeating evil" when Spock tries to get him to reconsider -___-
democracy is starting to look a lot like communism when it's forced upon other cultures that "don't know any better" this way; he even says "you'll love it!" as if he knows what's best
perfect metaphor for American cultural imperialism today I'd say

now I know why I never really liked Kirk that much
sure, K/S is epic and stuff, but I can never really bring myself to like TOS!Kirk by himself

and while we're on that topic, reboot!Spock kinda bothers me with his disregard for killing off the Romulans regardless of what they did...
I know he's a teenager (kinda) and his emotions are all over the place after his mom/planet's death, and he's not the "same" Spock in the alternate timeline, but isn't peaceful resolutions a key characteristic of the character of Spock?

and don't even get me started on the hypocrisy of old!Spock saying Nero was a "particularly troubled Romulan" while not divulging the fact that Nero does have his reasons (his own planet/family died) outside sociopathy; it's like pushing responsibility away from himself -_-

which is why I like TOS better since it fits a message into every 50 minutes while reboot seems rather message-less (or rather bigoted) for the whole 2 hours

that is not to say reboot isn't an enjoyable movie, I've put it on repeat several times, but it's more of a ohhh!pretty movie than a deeply philosophical one...

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tv show: Numb3rs

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:47:04 GMT

First time doing a review, but I'd just like to put down my thoughts on the show, see if I can get anyone else interested. I tried to not include any major spoilers, but they will be marked/hidden.

official site @ CBS
summary from CBS website: "...a drama about an FBI agent who recruits his mathematical-genius brother to help the Bureau solve a wide range of challenging crimes in Los Angeles. The two brothers take on the most confounding criminal cases from a very distinctive perspective. Inspired by actual events, the series depicts how the confluence of police work and mathematics provides unexpected revelations and answers to the most perplexing criminal questions."

I've admittedly only watched 4 seasons so far (the 6th season just started this month) so I can't vouch for the quality of the entire series, but I really love what I've seen so far.

# # # PLOT/STORIES # # #
Of course, what makes up a crime drama are the cases that it explores. I haven't watched/liked many crime dramas actually (only The Mentalist and a few episodes of Bones) because I'm not that fond of sensationalism over dead bodies and the one-sided story-telling.

( what I like )

( what I dislike )

# # # CHARACTERS # # #
My absolutely favorite aspect of the show. For me, characters make or break a series, which means even if the plot is tight and polished and the cast is pretty, I still won't like it if I don't like the characters.

( what I like )

( what I dislike )

Overall, this series is a very character-centric crime drama that covers a wide spectrum of social issues and challenges and encourages the audience to acknowledge the usefulness of math using interesting analogies and applications.

###

Well that took me a few hours...

I'm almost done season 4 by now and am advancing on season 5. I can say for sure that the show is getting darker as we go. There are still lighthearted scenes, but we can see some of the characters' psyches degenerating over time.

Very curious to how the rest of the series will progress~

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creepy singing robots + KKBB + the Pill of Good

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:15:30 GMT

it seems like those creepy Japanese robot-apocalypse animes are much closer to realization than I had previously thought
even if these "human-like" robots only sing they're still creepy as hell

"Mizuki":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LorTKDFIsxc

that Vocaloid girl (who ironically sings worse than the previous one):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdnAxvus_Co

###

just finished watching Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
it was awesome 8D
Harry was adorable, sarcastic, clearly a little dumb/"special" and kinda wicked when he's angry
Perry wasn't a "gay stereotype" as I feared he might be, very kickass
I even didn't dislike Harmony

I admit I kinda like the OT3 going on there XD;

and now I have an urge to rewatch Iron Man for RDJ-awesomeness

got RDJ's The Futurist album (includes "Broken" from KKBB) because my English song collection is very sad in its small-ness

###

oh, and apparently the Pill makes women make better decisions in choosing a long-term mate as opposed to grabbing the manliest man in the room to have babies during ovulation

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hotsprings + pandas

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:07:50 GMT

Celebrated my grandpa's birthday a few weeks ago at the KunLun Mountain Hotspring Resort.

The guys (dad, uncle, grandpa, bro) played majiang and the women (mom, aunt, me) went for the hotsprings 8D

We tried a few medicinal ones, the volcanic ash bath (basically it's like covering your whole body in sesame soup...took us a while to wash it all off...) then the milk and red wine springs.

I didn't really read what they're supposed to do for you though...

And then we had a big dinner where my bro proved he's a very very capable drinker (he downed nine cups of white wine in the 1-2 hours we were there Oo;). My dad and uncle were kinda not-so-capable drinkers...uncle was hallucinating earthquakes by the end of the meal XDDDD;

We first checked in to a suite room style building, but then my grandpa wanted to stay longer so we rented a rather large house for the second night. Ours was named 雨蝶庭 (Butterfly in the Rain). They had a automated majiang table available and the guys spent most of the rest of their stay playing majiang...again -__-

I brought along the cross-stitch portrait I was making for my grandpa's birthday. It says 寿 (long life), with a peach, a symbol of immortality. Didn't actually finish it on time for the birthday date (my grandpa celebrates his birthday by the lunar calendar), but here is a photo of it all framed and stuff:

Here's the cross stitch keychain thing I made for my Mom's new carkeys (red Peugeot):

Also, here's a photo of the mini-hot spring pool thing in the backyard of the house. It's not pure hot spring water, but it was pretty nice...

# # #

And then, since I'm leaving China on the 8th, one day before my birthday (on the solar calendar), the family decided to give me an early birthday dinner before I leave. Aunt and uncle bought me a cake with this adorable little panda sitting on top plus some moon cake ♥. Jeff got me a bottle of Coke Zero. Both can be seen in the photo:

The triangles on the sides are chocolate and the center is piled with fruits ♥

The panda tasted awful though >3>

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drenched bicycles + novel

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:15:19 GMT

Moved to GuangZhou last week.

Went bicycling with Mom on the 大佛山 Park trails today and got caught in a typhoon DDD:

Got shelter in a small rest stop for a while (and got three humongous mosquito bites regardless) and went riding again when the rain lessened to a drizzle, but it started raining harder again and while we biked home in the downpour we got completely drenched. (We were gonna try and convince Jeff that it was "all the sweat from our lots and lots of bountiful exercise \8D/" but he saw thorough it right away >3>)

I usually loathe rain, but it actually felt great once it seemed inevitable. 爽 XD

# # #

Got the outline for the first 5-6 chapters of my Chinese fantasy novel thing written down and the general plot for the whole story hashed out. Seeing as I grew up only knowing the bare minimums of Chinese mythology (ex. stuff in HongKong dramas, Monkey King stories, etc.) I've just decided to borrow names of the mythical figures (ex. Jade Emperor, Elder of the Moon, Hei and Bai Wu'chang) and make them my own characters.

Still, the naming and terminology I'm trying to use is giving me headaches because English is just too incompatible with the feel of Chinese culture (I'm only writing this in English because my Chinese literary skills suck).

Main problems are Western equivalents for words that have very different meanings in Chinese, examples:
- the Chinese dragon has a long body, a horned head with spiky manes, four short legs with claws, a fish's tail, and can fly without wings (I'm still kinda mad at the Harry Potter people for making the "Chinese Fireball" some sort of iguana with wings), dragons are also considered divine beasts, definitely not hunted (killing a dragon will probably end in your entire family executed by the immortals); the tiger is the king of beasts, not the lion (because it says "王/king" on its forehead D8)
- "Heaven" and "Hell" are not the same; "Heaven" in Chinese mythology is the palace of the immortals (I hesitate to use Gods because that word carries with it too much implications), there are no "angels" ('cause Chinese immortals don't need wings to fly, they ride clouds), and people don't go up when they die, they go down, to "Hell" (which has another set of inconvenient associations) which is basically the realm of the dead, spirits go there when they die and get judged for their good/bad deeds in life, the unworthy ones either get sent to the 18 Planes of Hell (to suffer mortal pains for their bad deeds) and the others are allowed to be reincarnated (after they drink a soup to forget their past lives)
- phrases like 妖精/yao'jing that can't be explained away with "demon" or "monster" or be called "special animals with powers in human form" for the whole novel...I find brackets are helpful in this case...

Thus, my writing is halting at best (as I try to figure out the word to describe something)...it took me three days to write 2 pages in Word.

( summary and notes )

I was bordering on insomnia ever since inspiration hit five days ago. Been writing and plotting non-stop. For some reason I am especially inspired right before I sleep. This has resulted in me keeping a notepad by my dresser so the second I think of something new, I can write it down right away instead of having it bother me all night and afraid I won't remember it in the morning.

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summer2009 roadtrip day 10

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:21:30 GMT

阆中(LangZhong): 张飞庙(ZhangFei Temple), 华光门(HuaGuang Tower), 贡院(Imperial Testing Grounds)
重庆(ChongQing): home

# # # chinese doorsteps are tall # # #
More photos of the courtyard I'm staying at. Here is a depiction of the typical courtyard. Ours has a similar layout, except with two courtyards (the second one connected behind the first). This Li family must have been very rich.
( # photos&video # )

# # # zhangfei's beef...and his temple # # #
ZhangFei, one of the sworn brothers of LiuBei, leader of the Shu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms era, is buried in LangZhong. He also guarded the city for a long time.
Oh, and he was a cook. That's why there's beef named after him.
Anywhos, first stop today was the ZhangFei Temple. It wasn't particularly amazing really. Like most other temples I've visited, lots of incense (which I think I'm allergic to I swear) and commemorative statues.
( # photos # )

# # # climbing a tower is like climbing a ladder # # #
After the temple, we took a little boat downstream.
Turns out the Ancient City is kinda huge.
( # photos # )

Our next stop was to climb the HuaGuang Tower. Not sure exactly what the tower is for...maybe it's a lighthouse? Or a watchtower for the city?
The tower itself was really difficult to climb as the stairs are narrow and the steps are short.
( # photo&videos # )
Not much else to the tower, it was fun for impromptu ladder-stairs climbing though.

# # # ancient tests are a billion times more painful # # #
Next stop was the Imperial Testing Grounds.
The Imperial Tests (or Chinese Civil Service Tests) happen every 3 years where young males from around the region gather to write exams that will be judged and sorted until the ones deemed most worthy are presented to the royal court. The highest prize to be won is the status of 状元/ZhuangYuan among other positions within the court. Of course this tended to only recruit people like-minded to the values in the exams into the imperial courts - and of course women were excluded.
This testing system is also the basis for civil service exams in other parts of Asia and Europe.
( # photos # )

I lost the photo for this next part, but exam takers were stuffed into small rooms of a dozen or so cubicles about only wide enough to sit a fully grown man. Each cubicle had wooden panels that serve as a desk during the daytime (when there's light to write the exam) and a "bed" during nighttime (when there's dim light and people take out their cheating clothes to cheat by moonlight).
They would then stay in their cubicles for like a week or something (there were pots for bathroom breaks in the rooms) until the testing period was over.

Some people spend a great deal of their lives taking the exam over and over again (since they come once very three years) hoping to get a position in the imperial court or, you know, rich.

I'm going to go ahead and skip the part where the tour guide helped cheat us out of like, 20yuan in the "temple of good luck" where exam takers came to pray for good fortune for their families or whatever before taking their exams.
Every Chinese tourist spot seems to have a "special prayer" stop where they take you to a room, tell you it's a good idea to buy some sort of magic luck charm, bow to a clay figure of some emperor or immortal, and then get your fortune told by a monk who smokes and tries to cheat even more money out of you (say...1000yuan) in the name of holy charity or something.

Aaaand I seem to have not skipped that rant after all. You have been warned.

What a despairing note to end my trip journal on...
At least I enjoyed most of it!

# 完 / THE END #

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summer2009 roadtrip day 9

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:09:45 GMT

阆中(LangZhong): 古城(Ancient City)

# # # china's only female emperor # # #
Forgot to mention this fun tidbit about GuangYuan, birthplace of China's only female emperor, 武则天 WuZeTian.
The phoenix, to the Chinese, is the "representative" of the female (usually women of power or brides), while the dragon represents the male (usually kings or grooms). On the day of her birth, it is said a phoenix circled once overhead and then flew to the Eastern Mountains. The mountain was then renamed to 凤凰山(Phoenix Mountain).
There is also a 凤凰楼(Phoenix Tower) that's closely related to her life:
When she was 14, WuZeTian was brought into the palace as a scholar; the tower had 14 levels.
After her benefactor's death, WuZeTian assumed the throne and ruled for 42 years; the tower is said to have been 42 meters tall.
Chinese are very superstitious people (at least, those who keep traditional beliefs/values), and often they see coincidences as fate. On the other hand, they may approximate things to make them coincidences, and thus "fate", one can never be sure.

In the front hall of the hotel we stayed at on Day 8, there was a decorated plate with an image of a Phoenix sitting on a 梧桐(Chinese parasol tree), surrounded by 牡丹(peonies), all symbols of women. Also, it is said that "if you plant a wutong tree outside your home, a phoenix will surely come".

We left GuangYuan without seeing any special attractions there though.

# # # good old old old days # # #
Next stop was the Ancient City of LangZhong, one of the four most well-preserved ancient cities in China.
( # photos # )

# # # majiang/mahjong # # #
Because there were some conveniently located majiang rooms near where we parked the car, we spent the last good hour or so of our day playing (without money of course).
Fortunately, we played daodaohu (the version where we don't need to count points and can win as long as all our sets are complete) so I didn't quite fail as much in counting points...
Oh! And it was an "automatic majiang table" as you will see behind the cut.
( # photo&video # )

# # # little butterfly # # #
Our "hotel" for the night is actually a room in one of several 四合院(courtyard houses) in the Ancient City. This particular one belonged to the Li Family. These courtyards are also open for tourists to explore.
Our room was called 蝴蝶儿(Little Butterfly). It's fabulous (sorta).
( # photo&video # )
There were also two blackbirds in cages in the open courtyard. They can also copy human voices. Dad really liked playing with them. So far, I've only heard them say 你好/Hello and 恭喜发财/Wish you good fortune in a SiChuan accent.

More photos of the courtyard tomorrow morning when it's less pitch black.

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summer2009 roadtrip day 8

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:16:59 GMT

汉中(HanZhong): 古栈道(Historical Army Path)
广元(GuangYuan): hotel

# # # morning of fail # # #
What a day for the red demon to visit me this month.
Today's main attraction was basically a climbing exercise and my haywire hormones + the scorching sun didn't help one bit.

# # # clay figurines and statues # # #
The Historical Army Path was supposed to be this mountain path that the armies of the Three Kingdoms era had forged as they crossed the mountains. There were little clay figures along the route to the Path that depict some of the events from the Three Kingdoms, like LiuBei visiting ZhuGeLiang three times to scout him as his advisor and some key battles/meetings.
There were also lots of statues (new ones built for the tourist site) of famous emperors and generals.
( # photos # )

The actual Army Path was to be reached by climbing a couple million steps along the mountain and I really wasn't up for that much exercise while I'm cramping and overheating. So basically I gave up.

Instead, we walked over this really long drawbridge (labeled "Lover's Bridge"...though it was kinda too narrow for two average people to walk across side by side) and played by this pretty (artificially directed) waterfall that flows into the river the bridge hangs over. Dad and Jeff got down to the water's edge and started catching shrimp from under the rocks. Dad-2, Jeff-1.
( # photo # )

And then, another full afternoon of driving.

# # # more photos # # #
Updated my deviantART account with photos from the roadtrip. Mostly the lotus fields and the bee closeups so far.

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