The Tenth Cup

Listen

2010-04-06T09:26:00.003-06:00

I have come to the conclusion that Hans Zimmer is amazing. Just listen. Try NOT to listen to its awesomeness over and over and over again.

African Queen

2010-04-06T08:33:00.003-06:00

Thought some Carlsons might appriciate this....

Micropost for 2-18

2010-02-18T19:44:00.002-06:00

I was rereading the first Harry Potter book yesterday when I came across this passage:

One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.

This is mildly amusing until you realise that the Weasley twins were bouncing snowballs off Voldemort's face. At that point it becomes hilarious.

...Especially if you happen to be reading this at 10:30 at night :)

Best Show in the 'Verse

2010-02-07T14:13:00.001-06:00

So yeah. It's been a week since my friend got me to start watching Firefly. It's an awesome show, which is "an American space western television series".

...

Basically, it's about space cowboys.

Anyway, I love it. It's dramedy, so you're never quite sure when to take it seriously or not (like this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k4vXwe8lmM) so after a while you just learn to stop trying to figure it out and just enjoy the ride.

Firefly has a huge universe (literally), which is what I love about fandoms-- A:tLA, the DC Universe, Harry Potter; there's a lot of room to navigate.

Unfortunately, Firefly only ran for one season (curse you, FOX), but hey, that just leaves more to the imagination. Anyway, I'm 10 episodes into the 14 episode season. The rest aren't online (though that may change by tomorrow) and I've put the first disk near the top of the Netflix queue in the hopes that I can get some of my other family members to watch it (note to mom: please give it a try).

---yzb

Collage

2010-02-06T08:08:00.003-06:00

I made it for Art class but I can't use it for that particular project. I still like it though.

This Was Gonna Be My Facebook Status, But Then It Got Too Long

2010-01-23T21:59:00.002-06:00

I am surprised by the number of fictional characters on Twitter.

I am now following Victor von Doom, Selina Kyle, Tony Stark, Mr. Fries, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Magneto, Dr. Manhattan, Nightwing, Cyclops, Two Face, Harvey Dent, Rachel Dawes, Superman, The Huntress, James Gordon (TWICE), Barbara Gordon, Batman, Jubilee, Agent Zero, Mary Marvel, Zatanna, Psylocke, Mary Jane, Kurt Wagner, the Black Mask (who I never figured for the Twittering type), Sally Jupiter, Vicki Vale, Jay Garrick, Shazam, Wolverine, Harvey Dent again, Rorschach (I thought he died before Twitter was invented....), Cassandra Cain, Otto Octavius, Spiderman, Bruce Wayne (who seems to be able to tweet DESPITE the fact that he' been dead for almost a year), Damian Wayne, Cable, Deadpool (Wade Wilson), Deathstroke (SLADE Wilson), Edward Nigma, Hal Jordan, the Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Tim Drake.

And Remy LeBeau.

And Jason Todd.

...and David Willis.

Micropost for 1-17

2010-01-17T19:32:00.002-06:00

Mulan II is a good movie from the time Shang dies to the time it turns out he's alive.

That amounts to 2 minutes and 19 seconds.

The movie is 79 minutes.

That should tell you something.

Future Sociologists Should Dig Up My Arm

2009-12-23T21:39:00.003-06:00

So during fitness today, we didn't do anything, thanks to our half day. I took this opportunity to embellish my arm. Here's what I ended up with: (italics are my comments)

Pretzels a reminder to bring pretzels to my English party
VVVVV Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici meaning "By the power of truth, I, while living, have cquered the universe." A line from the play Dr. Faustus and V For Vendetta
Filling up on cheap thrills and carousels a song lyric
It's a school night, boys and girls. The first line spoken by Batman in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
I couldn't think of anywhere I would have rather been to watch it all burn away. A line from the song Grapevine Fires.
"quite frigid" My friend Jamie, upon entering our Spanish classroom, remarked that it was "quite frigid." I had never realized how funny it was to hear a 14 year old say those words before, but let me tell you... It's funny.
Look! Monkeys! A reference to this: http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20051230.html
Q: What overpowers you but doesn't hurt you? A: Communism. In eighth grade, our math teacher gave us an inordinate amount of sheets which had riddles you had to solve by solving the equations. Eventually, we got the hang of finding the answers because the types of questions they asked where all the same kind of humor. However, we couldn't quite figure out the answer to this riddle, so I figured "communism" was as good an answer as any. I think they correct answer was "sleep" but I could be wrong. An alternate but just as appropriate answer: Socialism.
Nothing ever ends. An Alan Moore quote, spoken both my Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen and V in V For Vendetta.
My gym lock combination. By now I've memorized it, but it's sort of a habit/ritual to write it down, and also a safety net: when I lock up my stuff for fitness I'm locking in my planner; the only other place which has my combination.
Bruce Wayne: vaguely annoyed. Another reference to Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Throughout the whole movie (the exception being the flashback in the middle), Bruce Wayne has this vaguely annoyed expression on his face, which just gives him double the awesome. And Bruce Wayne has a whole lot of awesome.
I'll be over here. Inform me when you resume breathing. A line from It's Walky; http://www.itswalky.com/d/20000605.html just after Sal and Walky have been informed that they're actually twins. Have I mentioned I love David Willis?
That's entirely subjective! Another Jamie quote. Spoken basically whenever a substitute teacher tells us we're getting too loud.

And finally, my longest quote; the begining of "Last Second Plays", a song by Brett Erlich:

You, you know the game is on the line, you are running out of time; time's going slower than it should-- at least that's good! 'Cuz that last second play, it's the last second way for our underdogs to be the top dogs today. It wouldn't be much of a climax if we blew them away so it's down to the last second play. And you shoot it and you're running and it's bouncing and it's all slow motion and it's going, and really? it's not over? now a flashback and it's takin' forever and it's bouncing and bouncing, and rolling and rolling and it's in. And the other team's like "Crap!" Well, GET YOUR OWN MOVIE LOSERS!

Refer to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZzSIwCg8o

Yeah, I messed up that middle part. But at that point my pen wasn't working particularly well and I was getting agrivated. So yeah. Fascinating stuff, this.

Jk.

--yzb

HE SMILES!

2009-12-07T05:50:00.002-06:00

Fourth Place!

2009-11-27T12:33:00.002-06:00

Woo! I got fourth for this:

My first opportunity to use Ohlo de Boi or Century in a while...

Next round please!

One of the Most Amusing Sentences I've Ever Heard

2009-11-20T21:13:00.001-06:00

"If you answered yes to these questions, then you might have exploding head syndrome."

http://www.sleepeducation.com/Disorder.aspx?id=33

One Day Until the New Prisoner

2009-11-14T11:06:00.005-06:00

The new Prisoner series starts tomorrow. I want to see it, but my expectations for it are *hehhm* not particularly high.

If you've seen the trailer (there are two out there, one is a minute and a half, the other is nearly ten minutes) you might see where I'm coming from.

Ian McKellen looks like a fairly good 2, though I'll be disappointed to have the same 2 without the series, as opposed to changing every episode. 1112, whoever he is, looks like a decent actor, but my issue is with the new 6.

6 is supposed to be, oh, I don't know, competent. Getting an American guy to play him just seems so wrong.

With Patrick McGooghan, 6 and 2 are always supposed to be trying to get a few steps ahead of each other; like in The Chimes of Big Ben. 6 gets a few steps ahead by agreeing to assimilate into society, cleverly disguising his escape attempt as an abstract sculpture called (what else?) Escape. He figures out which places don't have audio surveillance and meets his informant there, and makes talk of an escape attempt look like a love scene... only to find out that 2 (then played by Leo McKearn sp?) has been manipulating him the entire time.

Now, excuse me James Caviezel, but I'm not really sure what the point of making 6 less intelligent is. Maybe to make him more relatable. But I'd rather have an unrelatable, super-awesome ENGLISH 6 than relatable and incompetent American 6.

(On the subject-- to make people more relatable, TV makes them dumber. Does that tell you something about our society?)

I dunno, maybe I'm completely underesimating this new series. I'll report back.

Be seeing you.

This is Turning into a Very Odd Day...

2009-10-31T08:05:00.001-06:00

I was humming 'The Messiah', which somehow turned into 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight.'

Something tells me this is going to be a very interesting Halloween...

Practice

2009-10-29T16:40:00.000-06:00

The Power of Bruce's "Look"

2009-10-27T16:54:00.004-06:00

Bruce: ...and second, the voice kept calling me Bruce. In my mind, that's not what I call myself.
Terry: What do you call yourself?
[Bruce gives him a look.]
Terry: Oh yeah. I suppose you would. But that's my name now.
Bruce: Don't tell that to my subconscious.

Bruce 1, Terry McGinnis 0.

[about Bane]
Bruce: Be careful.
Terry: Come on, he must be a zillion years old. What trouble could an old geezer--
[Bruce gives him a look.]
Terry: Never mind.

Bruce 2, Terry McGinnis 0.

A Tagline

2009-10-26T07:15:00.003-06:00

Two Face and Renee Montoya: Between them, they each have a face.

...
Eh?

Eh?

Anyway, as the content may imply, I got my book! 'Tis wonderment! Yeah, and it's only been a month! [/sarcasm]

Anyway, it is quite amazing. Especially the Two Face/Harvey/Renee interactions, and Barbara Gordon. Just... Barbara Gordon.

Anyway (I really need to find a new way to begin my paragraphs), I'm on page 153. I'll keep you updated on any more especially amusing parts.

The Best Way to Describe Tuesday

2009-10-21T20:12:00.002-06:00

Good Day or Bad Day?

2009-10-13T20:34:00.002-06:00

Good: My bio and world history tests were easier than I thought they would be.
Bad: I still have a health test tomorrow.
Good: I got a chance to read more of Enemies and Allies today.
Bad: Everyone in Enemies and Allies is stupid.
Good: I have no clubs tomorrow.
Bad: It's been 2 weeks and No Man's Land still hasn't come.
Good: I got up to the current point of a story I've been reading online.
Bad: Piandao.org and Iroh.org have been suspended. (Why? Who knows?)
Good: I made more paper cranes today and now have roughly the equivilent of a small paper crane army in my locker.
Bad: While about to give Mom the laptop, I accidentally clicked "Log Off" instead of "Switch User", which caused me to lose 6+ images and several hours of work in Photoshop.

I'm still mad about that. (You would be too. It happened 10 minutes ago.)

So....consensus?

Good day or bad day?

The Triumph of Communism

2009-10-06T18:51:00.003-06:00

Today at quiz bowl (yes I'm on the quiz bowl team, thanks for asking) we split into two teams for our normal game, but instead of naming the teams after one of the players, we decided to be the US and Communism. I was on the side of communism (YAY COMMUNISM!). Anyway, we on the last question we were tied aaaand then.... well, if you can't guess the outcome, reread the title of this post.

Which is actually pretty surprising considering the makeup of the teams.

Anyway, we still had half an hour left so we played a round of only toss up questions (no bonuses) and we started to play individually (ie, with each person as their own team).

Surprisingly, I got second place with three answers...though not any particular accomplishment when you figure that the guy who won had 12 (13?) correct answers.

On Thursday there's a bakesale for Amnesty International... any ideas for what I should (or rather CAN) make??

My New T-Shirt

2009-09-23T13:34:00.001-06:00

...because I can.

Micropost for 9/22

2009-09-22T16:01:00.001-06:00

I was doing notes for World History, and I saw the words "Holy Roman Empire" my first thought was, ROBIN!

"Holy Roman Empire, Batman!" indeed.

That... Just Made My Life

2009-09-18T15:41:00.001-06:00

So, this afternoon I found out that Alfred Kinsey graduated from CHS.

And that just made my life.

Dvořák Link for Mom

2009-09-17T19:35:00.001-06:00

Eh, no point not doing it this way, seeing as how MY MOM is the only one who ever reads my blog...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7icDhpR4M8

How Old Are You, Sozin?

2009-09-17T04:42:00.004-06:00

Okay, bear with me here. No one cares about this, but it's getting preeeeeetty frustrating.

We (well, I, but this is a pseudo-collective "we") know that there were 112 years between the death of Roku and the return of Sozin's comet (Aang was born when Roku died; Aang was born 112 years before the return of Sozin's comet, though you'd think he would have turned 13 by now). Ozai ruled six years (Zuko was 10 years old when Ozai assumed the throne; Zuko's 16 at the return of Sozin's comet) before ~~utter pwnage by a 12 year old~~ Sozin's comet returned. Before that, Azulon ruled for 23 years as per the fire sages in Zuko Alone:

Fire Sage: Azulon, Fire Lord to our nation for 23 years. [...] We lay you to rest.

So, Azulon's reign plus Ozai's reign is 29 years.

Then comes the 83 years between the begining of Azulon's reign and the death of Roku/birth of Aang. Admittedly, it would be quite possible for him to have had an 83 year reign, if that was all it was.

But it wasn't.

You see, Sozin's reign didn't begin with the death of Roku. I'm using the death of Roku as a time marker because we all know exactly how long there was between death of Roku/birth of Aang to Sozin's comet--something that has been utterly ingrained in continuity from the begining. Sozin had been Firelord before that for a long time-- in fact, this was how old he was when Roku died:

I mean like, at the least, he was fifty. Bare minimum.

And 50+83 does not work in the Avatar universe (unless you accidentally freeze yourself in an iceberg, in which case-- who cares about biology?)

Of course, the Avatar Wikia is zero help--they say Azulon ruled for SEVENTY FIVE YEARS. I mean, it's one thing to make up stuff because you have no information, but another when it CLEARLY STATES AZULON ruled for only 23 years...

Any theories about Sozin's age?

Three Days Done

2009-09-09T04:44:00.006-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted much about school so far.

Ninth period yesterday they finally fixed my schedual, which means that I get chamber orchestra (...yay?) and I'm not going to be able to eat lunch with my friends anymore (nuuu!!).

I have at least one friend in most of my classes, which is cool. On Thursday there was an activities fair in the gym (or one of them, I guess) and I signed up for nine things. Seriously.

One of the things I signed up for was quiz bowl, which had its first meeting yesterday, which we played a few trivia things....

...aaaand I just checked my email and found out that I have a meeting of Amnesty International afterschool today.

Joy.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to put off writing the great American novel for another day.

-yzb

COMPLETED

2009-09-03T14:32:00.007-06:00

Well, yeah it's been done for a while, but here it is:

Yeah, there's stuff I need to fix including but not limited to changing the second clip of Lee, adding the Ty Lee hairflip from The Beach, and playing with the Sukka Serpent's Pass kiss. But it's pretty much done.

edit: Augh. Audio's off.

Also, disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender or Love Actually. Those belong to Nickelodeon and Universal, respectively.

Video Checkpoint

2009-09-01T11:43:00.001-06:00

ONE MINUTE COMPLETED!
YES!

*whips out confetti*

Today's Project

2009-09-01T07:42:00.002-06:00

A preview of what I'm attempting to do for today:

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or L. A.

So...

2009-08-24T13:42:00.000-06:00

So apparently Hallie's psychic.

Everything I Need To Know In Life I Learn From Comics: Lesson 11

2009-08-23T19:46:00.002-06:00

Lesson 11: If you need to take advice from Batman about romance, your love life is probably doomed.

(Starcrossed, Justice League episodes 50-52.

Batman: The most mysterious creatures in the universe.
Green Lantern: Pardon?
Batman: Women. Don't be too hard on yourself. You didn't know she was spoken for.
Green Lantern: Uh... Thanks.... [gets wierd expression and walks away] )

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies... the Manga?

2009-08-12T10:41:00.003-06:00

"Several other projects were announced [at San Diego ComiCon] like a historical prospective of CLAMP and a manga adaptation of the hit book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies."

I can see my relatives jumping for joy already.

It's going to be produced by Del Ray, though I can't figure out whether this is going to be real manga or a Japanese-style graphic novel (comment if you know the difference). Del Ray is also going to be producing a manga adaptaion of The Last Airbender, which is NOT a Nickelodeon show, it's a movie being released in 2010 based on the aforementioned show.

If you don't live with me, you may not have heard every little detail about it, but here are the basics: the director is M. Night Shamalyan, it's coming out on July 2nd, 2010, the main characters are played by Noah Ringer (a Texas martial arts champion), Nicola Peltz (who's been in only a few movies and a Miley Cyrus music video grrrr.....), Jackson Rathbone (unfortunately his major acting experience comes from Twilight) and Dev Patel (who played the main character in Slumdog Milionaire) as Aang, Katara, Sokka and Zuko respectively. There are a few other actors whose names have been released as of now, but I won't bore you with all of them oh what the heck I will. Aasif Mandvi as Zhao, Shaun Toub as Iroh, Cliff Curtis as Firelord Ozai, Seychelle Gabrielle as Princess Yue, Katharine Houghton as Kanna, Jessica Andres as Suki.... .

Honestly, I don't expect anyone to have read this far, but I'll keep talking anyway. A lot of the controversy about this movie centers around the casting desisions--namely, casting at least two out of the three heroes white in the adaptation of a show that was completely Asian and Inuit inspired, and casting all the bad guys as from the middle east (Aasif Mandvi and Dev Patel are from India, Shaun Toub is from Iran, and Cliff Curtis, who is Maori, typically portrays Arab characters). Much of the fandom is either pro-cast or anti-cast, though 99% of fans agree that replacing Jesse McCartney (who was originally going to play Zuko) with Dev Patel was a very, very good move.

As for me, I'm staying out of the casting controversy fray, though I do lean a little more on the anti-cast side. I'm holding out, because we don't know one vital piece of information-- the ethnicity of the main actor. And that kinda seems pretty important before you make any assumptions about discrimination.

So... to bring full circle--

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as a faux manga. Any takers?

Reasons I am Wearing Scrubs Today:

2009-08-12T06:30:00.001-06:00

A. Because I want to.
B. Because it's supposed to be hot and these are made of cotton.
C. Because it's really going to annoy Hallie.

Everything I Need To Know In Life I Learn From Comics: Lesson 27

2009-08-08T15:43:00.006-06:00

27. "The Batmobile is Not A Trolley."

(Taken from Batman and Philosophy, edited by Mark D. White, Robert Arp, and William Irwin, Chapter One "Why Doesn't Batman Kill the Joker?" by Mark D. White, section five; "Top Ten Reasons the Batmobile is Not A Trolley.")

Lesson 27, and, more importantly, chapter one of Batman and Philosophy, is comparing Batman's decision to not kill the Joker to the ethical problem surrounding a hypothetical trolley. (from page 8) "Imagine that a trolley car is going down a track. Further down the track are five people who do not hear the trolley and who will not be able to get out of the way. Unfortunately, there isn't enough time to stop the trolley before it hits and kills them. The only way to avoid killing these five people is to switch the trolley to another track. But, unfortunately, there is one person standing on that track, also too close for the trolley to stop before killing him. Now imagine there is a bystander standing by the track switch who must make a choice: do nothing, which leads to the death of five people on the current track, or act to divert the trolley to the other track, which leads to the death of a single person."

In this case, the "single person" would be the Joker, while the five people would represent Joker's potential future victims.

Camp and Hayao Miyazaki

2009-08-07T05:25:00.002-06:00

Guess what super-educational thing we did at camp yesterday?

We watched Spirited Away.

For those of you who have never seen it, it's an animated movie by the incredibly talented Japanese animator, writer and director Hayao Miyazaki. The movie itself is a story about a young girl who gets stuck in a bathhouse for spirits and has to rescue her parents, who have been turned into pigs for eating the food of the Spirits. It, like all of Miyazaki's films, is beautifully drawn and animated. The other Miyazaki films, off the top of my head, are:
Porko Rosso
Nasukaa of the Valley of the Wind
Totoro
Castle in the Sky (with Mark Hammil as Cl. Muska)
Kiki's Delivery Service
Howl's Moving Castle
Princess Mononoke
and, coming innto American theartres soon, Ponyo on the Cliff.

For some reason whenever I think of them in pairs: Porko Rosso and Nasukaa of the Valley of the Wind; Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service; Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky; Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke.

From what I can tell, the reason I think of them in those particular pairs are (in this order): ones I haven't seen; movies from the begining of my childhood; movies I loved as a preteen; movies I first watched at home, alone.

I really should force my parents to watch Howl's Moving Castle...

Something funny: After I told my parents that we watched Spirited Away at camp, I asked them whether they thought it was more or less weird than Princess Mononoke (which we had all watched together). My dad said, "Less weird," at the same time that my mom said, "More weird."

Actually, I didn't think either of them were very weird...

Today's my last day of camp.... *cue giant "No"*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Your Fanfiction Moment:

2009-08-04T16:07:00.002-06:00

Your daily Fanfiction moment (from Reconstructed Destinies, Chapter 2, by DJNS):

"Do I know you?"
"Um... no..."
"Should I know you?"
“I…I don’t guess so…”
"...then why are you touching me?"

...maybe it's just the thought of Zuko as the Avatar, but I think that's pretty hilarious.

Buttons

2009-08-04T15:07:00.003-06:00

This morning I spent fifteen minutes looking for my 4-Star pin for camp. I freaking looked everywhere! I could find all my other buttons, BUT NOT THE ONE I NEEDED! Seriously. My Ensign 1-Star pin is on top of the CPU, my Ensign 2-Star is on the bathroom windowsill, my Ensign 3-Star pin is in my drawer in the console, BUT MY 4-STAR PIN IS nO WHERE TO BE FOUND. I finally had to go, and it all turned out okay because I got my 5-star pin this afternoon. WHEEEEEEEEEE!!! (still don't know where my 4-star pin is, though...)

Comic Books

2009-07-29T19:31:00.006-06:00

Let's play how freaking pathetic is Ysa?!

Here are the comic books/graphic novels at my house right now:
From the library:
Batman: Dark Victory
Gotham Central: The Quick and the Dead
Gotham Central: Dead Robin
A Death in the Family
Officer Down
The Killing Joke
City of Glass
The Lindbergh Child
Batman: Jekyll and Hyde
Epileptic
Watchmen
The Dark Knight Returns
Batman: Year One
Batman: Haunted Knight

I own:
Joker
The Long Halloween
Batman Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth

My favorites are in bold.
Read any of them? Haven't? Have a secret, subconcious desire to burn all copies of _____? Comment. I command-th thee.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

2009-07-29T19:00:00.004-06:00

It means, "Who watches the Watchmen?". Apparently I fall into that category, since I watched it last night. And honestly, my favorite part was the opening credits. Seriously. I for one thought that, cinematographically (is that even a word?) it was one of the best-done parts of the movie. One thing I noticed was how much of the book (and, by extension, the movie) is people going around telling other people what other people have told them. (i.e., in the movie, Dan Drieberg--Nite Owl II-- goes to tell Adrian Veidt that Rorschach came to tell him the Comedian is dead) It isn't so noticable in the book--perhaps because it is spaced over more time, er, panels. But after a while, you just kinda want to shake the TV and say, "I KNOW THE COMEDIAN IS DEAD!!! HE DIED IN THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES!!!!" One thing I did like was the transferance of several characters onto the screen:
-Rorschach (aka Walter Kovacs): very, very good. Especially the out-of-mask Rorshach, just after he has been put in jail, is seamless from the book.
-Nite Owl II (aka Dan Drieberg): Patrick Wilson just worked for this, at least appearance-wise. And at no point did I even think "Hey, it's Raoul from Phantom of the Opera." In fact, I didn't even realize that until I went on IMDb like, 30 seconds ago. So they get a thumbs up for that.
-Dr. Manhattan (aka Jon Osterman): I don't know. In reality, he probably looked the closest to the book, but I just... He didn't look right to me.
-Silk Spectre II (aka Laurie Juspeczyk): Again, it should have looked right, but it didn't, though I think it was more the cinematography and all the slowing-down-footage-while-she-moves-her-head-dramatically
-Ozymandias (aka Adrian Veidt): It's sad how many times I thought, "This is what Tom Felton will be doing in about fifteen years." Seriously. Matthew Goode looked more like Draco Malfoy than Adrian Veidt.

Also, I liked the insertion of the two Bernards on the streetcorner. I wonder... in the seconds just before New York blows up, did anyone see if they put Joey in? I mean, it'd be a fairly amazing fan nod and I could pause it and be like, "THERE! See that human-shaped blob over there that's out of focus? Her names's Joey!"

My friends: "... That's great. Now put it back on. I want to watch New York die."

Anyway, I also just went to the library. Amung the books I got out were Watchmen (BOOK), and the Dark Knight Returns, which has been consistantly ranked as one of the top-two Batman books of all time. I read it first in--what? January?-- but I'm not sure I completely understood/appriciated it. AND I get to watch Superman get beat up completely by Batman! YAY!!!!

Trivia fact: though Superman is a major character in the book, and spawns the world's nuclear war, NEVER DOES THE WORD SUPERMAN APPEAR IN THE ENTIRE BOOK. Seriously.

Wikipedia on Comic Book Death

2009-07-21T15:19:00.002-06:00

Seriously. They have a 2000 word article about it. My favorite part is:

"The prominence of comic book deaths has ultimately led to the readership rarely taking the death of a character seriously - when someone dies, the reader feels very little sense of loss, and simply left wondering how long it will be before they return to life. This, in turn, has led to a common piece of comic shop wisdom: "No one stays dead except Bucky, Jason Todd and Uncle Ben" referring to Captain America's sidekick (retconned dead since 1964), Batman's second Robin (dead since 1988), and Spider-Man's uncle (dead since 1962), respectively."

Only, Jason Todd came back.

And so did Bucky.

Did Anyone Look at the WOOT! Today?

2009-07-21T05:18:00.002-06:00

It's a collection of Star Wars bobbleheads, and this is what's below it:
The Conscience Of The King:
CLAUDIUS: So let me see if I’m following you. We’re trying to prepare for an invasion because of a perceived weakness after the death of your father, the king, and you want us to take a few hours off to watch a play that you wrote?
HAMLET: Aye, my lord.
GERTRUDE: It would mean so much to him, darling.
CLAUDIUS: Okay, what the hell. Do we need to go anywhere or can we just stay here in the kitchen?
HAMLET: Here’s fine, my lord, I’ve got everything I need with me now.
CLAUDIUS: Hold up. Are those Star Wars Bobbleheads?
HAMLET: Aye, my lord, the actors.
CLAUDIUS: So we’re gonna be watching you play with dolls?
HAMLET: The play’s the thing, my lord.
CLAUDIUS: Did you buy him those?
GERTRUDE: Be gentle with him, darling, he’s always been a bit special.
CLAUDIUS: Ah, hell. Let’s just get this over with.
HAMLET: Act one, my lord. In which 4-Lom and Bossk meet a Tie Fighter Pilot on the edge of the muirs.
CLAUDIUS: What the hell are muirs? Is this about Lando?
GERTRUDE: They’re like a swamp, darling, only for english majors.
CLAUDIUS: Why isn’t Yoda there, then? He’s all about swamps.
GERTRUDE: Muirs, darling.
HAMLET: My lord, Yoda has been murdered. The Tie Fighter Pilot has been sent to inform 4-Lom and Bossk.
CLAUDUS: It hasn’t even started yet and I can’t follow a damn thing. Who’s got a beer? Can’t a king get a beer in his own damn castle?
ENTER OPHELIA
CLAUDIUS: What in the hell is she wearing? Is that some goth fishnet crap? Good god, son, you need to date a cheerleader or something. Your mother babies you too much.
OPHELIA: O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown! The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s-
CLAUDIUS: Yap, yap, yap. Is this part of the damn play? Where’s that Skywalker guy? I want to see him get kicked in the teeth.
HAMLET: My lord, pray ye observe now the entrance of Luke Skywalker and Ham Solo, two gentlemen of-
CLAUDIUS: Ham Solo? You’ve been on the Internet too much, kid. It’s Han! Luke and Han!
GERTRUDE: Darling, it’s symbolic. He’s projecting himself into the play.
CLAUDIUS: Projecting? What kind of damn fool kid are you raising? Why doesn’t he just walk over there and act instead of playing with dolls?
OPHELIA: And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, that suck’d the honey of his music vows-
CLAUDIUS: Oh. My. God. Listen, Siouxie, nobody wants to hear about how much you suck! Okay, Ham, this little Star Wars Bobblety-boo thing is great and all, but I got things to do. Is there some twist ending or something? What’s the point here?
GERTRUDE: Darling, I think he’s accusing you of killing his father and also demanding revenge.
CLAUDIUS: A wuss like Hamlet is doing all that? Is that true, Ham? You mannin’ up at last?
HAMLET stabs CLAUDIUS
CLAUDIUS: See, now that’s a damn fine way for a man to act. Damn fine. Too bad you missed all the important bits. Didn’t you ever learn how to stab a guy? What did your mother teach you?
OPHELIA: Blasted with ecstasy: O, woe is me, to have seen what-
CLAUDIUS: Nobody cares! Ham, really, are you gonna let this go so we can get on with taking over Norway? You and me, we could rule the world as father and son. Just put down the bobbleheads and talk to me. Huh? We okay? Ready to kick a little Norwegian butt?
HAMLET: My lord…
CLAUDIUS: Huh? You and me? Kings of the world? Sounds pretty good, right?
HAMLET: Your beer, my lord.
CLAUDIUS: Smart boy, smart boy. Hey, listen, kid, maybe I was a little hard on you. Tell you what, why don’t we dump off your mom and Stevie Nicks over there at the hair salon and you and me go down to Ye Old Topless Joint and have a few… did you put poison in this beer?
HAMLET: Aye, my lord.
CLAUDIUS: Kid, I’m beginning to like you more and more.

From http://www.woot.com/

Everything I Need To Know In Life I Learn From Comics: Lessons 19, 20, and 21

2009-07-19T19:33:00.011-06:00

Lesson 19: No one stays dead.

(Examples: Stephanie Brown-came back in Batgirl #62; Jason Todd-DC made a telephone poll so that people could vote whether he lived or died, he was killed off, then came back in Hush..wait, no, that wasn't him... came back again in Batman #638; Batman-was killed by Darksied, but we all know he's coming back; Superman-lots of times, first thing that comes to mind is Justice League episode Hereafter; Harvey Dent-"dies" in The Long Halloween, comes back in The Long Halloween, dies again in, guess what, The Long Halloween (and, in case you were wondering, he comes back in The Long Halloween); Alberto Falcone-dies in The Long Halloween, comes back in The Long Halloween to kill Salvatore Maroni; Sofia Gigante- killed by Catwoman in The Long Halloween, comes back in Dark Victory, Thomas Elliot- dies in Hush until we figure out that he is Hush...hmm....; Two-Face-metaphorically dies many times... The Dark Knight Returns, Hush (I think, I have to ask someone who's read it...), B:TAS episode Second Chance; Jim Gordon-the Dark Knight, though, to be fair, that was basically adapting Harvey Dent's death from The Long Halloween, Crispus Allen-died in Gotham Central, Corrigan part...five, I think?, he freaking came back from the dead to become a villain after I nearly (coughcough okay I did coughcough) cried when he died; Bruce Wayne-died as a kid along with Martha Wayne in JLA: Earth 2, making his older brother, Thomas Wayne jr become an evil Batman named Owlman... though I guess this doesn't really count because when Bruce came it was Earth-1 Bruce, not the Earth-2 Bruce that had died... wow, I con't believe anyone would actually read this far... post a comment if you did)

Lesson 20: Ever.

Lesson 21: Especially after being thrown down an elevator shaft.

(Examples: Oh dear. Not even going to try this one. But here's a peice of dialouge from the TNBA episode Holiday Knights (after accidentally pushing Bruce Wayne down an elevator shaft):

Harley Quinn: Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! We-we killed him... Oh well.
Poison Ivy: We were going to do it anyway.)

(PS, yes, Bruce Wayne does come back.)

Edit: The more obvious He doesn't stay dead for Bruce Wayne is in the movie Batman Begins, where Bruce Wayne is declared dead after being gone for seven years... then comes back with ninja skills.

Also in Batman Begins, Ra's al Ghul is supposedly killed, until we figure out that Ra's al Ghul, the guy whose name is in ARABIC is Liam Neeson, that Irish guy.

Edit #2: I'm gonna also assume that Ra's died at some other point simple because of the title of The Resurection of Ra's al Ghul, because it's pretty hard to be resurected if you aren't already dead. I can't be sure about this, though, as my copy's in German and I can't find a German-to-English dictionary in the house.

Everything I Need to Know in Life I Learn From Comics: Lesson #42

2009-07-09T05:30:00.004-06:00

Lesson 42: If it's Christmas and you hear something land on your roof and it comes down your chimney, it's not Santa, it's the Martian Manhunter stealing your Oreos.

(Justice League, episode 49, Comfort and Joy)

Quick Pic Quiz

2009-01-19T16:05:00.003-06:00

Can you guess what this is? (Hallie, I think you know, and if you do, don't post it here)

I've Multiplied!

2009-01-10T18:28:00.003-06:00

We got a few inches of snow today, so me and Hallie went out and froliced in the snow for a while, then came in and started the photoshopping fest while listeing to Beatles at high volume and avoiding my science homework (which I just did :-) )

We just watched the Reduced Shakespeare (including all the special features). It's as funny as ever. :) Happy Saturday y'all!

What's Up With Yazzy?

2008-12-20T08:25:00.006-06:00

Wow, no one's called me that in a long time.

Musical Obsessions:

1. In The Heights- Saw it on last Saturday. AMAZING! I'm listening to it right now.
Best Song: Breathe or Carnaval del Barrio

2. A Chorus Line-I saw it a while ago, and used one of the songs (I Can Do That) to audition for Oklahoma.
Best Song: Nothing or I Hope I Get It

3. RENT- Saw it May, one of my longtime obsessions, I rewatched the movie last night with my friend L, who was watching it for the second time, and filled it with banter about differing from the musical and Roger's wig.

Best Song: Halloween or La Vie Boheme

Runners Up: (I was actually trying to think of five, but then I realized that none of the other ones I am that obsessed with)

Little Shop of Horrors

Les Mis

Phantom

Books:

1 and 2. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and the Book Thief by Markus Zusak

First lines: (Speak) It is my first morning of High School. I have three new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomach ache.

(The Book Thief) First the humans. Then the colors. That's how I see it. Or at least, how I try. Here is a small fact: You are going to die.

3. One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones

First line: I'm not that depressed,
considering that this
gigantic silver bullet with wings
is blasting me awasy from my whole entire life,
away from Lizzie Brody,
my best friend in the world,
away from Ray Johnston, my first real boyfriend.

4. Joker by Ranulfo
First Line: Here I am in Hell.

5. Timeline by Michael Crichton
Can't find the first line, sorry.

TV Shows:

1. Slings and Arrows- halfway through the third season, who could resist a show with Shakespeare, an insane artistic director, a reappearing ghost and a ranmpaging lizard named Cybil?

2. House- I think the only reason I still watch the show is because it gives me an exuse to go on PoliteDissent. ;)

3. The Soup- Exersizer, exersizer, sanitizer, sanitizer, pizza driver, pizza driver, eneregizer, energizer, energizer...

4. Avatar- don't ask. Seriously.

5. Scrubs- would be higher up, but I haven't been watching it that much lately, and I don't think I'm going to like the new season.

What's going on right now:

Talking about Chrstmas trees with parentals and mi hermanita (yes I went there).

What's up in the Pink Prison--er, Palace?

2008-12-06T08:11:00.003-06:00

My school can be categorized by one characteristic: the sheer fact that it's pink. Thus, to the teachers, it's the Pink Palace, to us... the Pink Prison.

Last night was the talent show. I was in two acts-- one, I played Eleanor Rigby on viola with my friend, a violinist, and some random drummer, and second, I sang What You Own with my friend ABH (I was Mark). Someone taped it, but I haven't gotten the chance to look at it yet. Another friend, who was an MC, had shoes that were killing her, so I lent her mine and walked around barefoot for most of the second act.

Cast list got put up today for Oklahoma. I wasn't really surprised at any of them, but my friend ABH got a minor lead, so there was the necessary ten full minutes of screaming. ;)

You have not been to the Pink Prison until you've:

heard one of Mr. S's rants about how much money he makes
forgotten your password because of the ridiculous standards they make you set it as
had a fight in the pink bathroom on a half day
been to the library so many times that you can find a book where more than half of the signatures on the library card is your own
been locked out of the internet because you tried to go on Wikipedia or google images
danced in the girl's bathroom with no shoes on.

Quote du Jour

2008-12-06T08:08:00.000-06:00

The only thing keeping me sane is my insanity.

Totals

2008-11-29T07:59:00.002-06:00

Hours of sleep: 9 1/2

"Cup o' Noodles" eaten in the past 24 hours: 2

Times watched Twilight trailer: .5

Times watched Twilight trailer spoof: 1,000,000,000

Scrubs references: 8

Angsty fics read: 2.5

Number of chairs plastic chairs in the room: 15

Election Day Results

2008-11-05T06:08:00.002-06:00

I'm sure you've heard. We have a new president elect. Its a little guy by the name of Barack Obama. Whooooooooooooo!

We had a wild election party last night, but I won't post about it yet, because I have some pictures I want to post and they're not on the computer yet. In the meanwhile, here's that song again!

Yes, This is My Fifth Post Today

2008-11-04T17:16:00.002-06:00

...but I had to write this somewhere. ULTIMATE RENT REFERENCE!

Okay, so Hallie and I were frosting cookies for the election party (see pic) and I wanted one, but she didn't want to give me one of the good ones, so she gave me a slightly burnt one and asked me what color frosting I wanted.

Me: It tastes the same.

Both of us: If you close your eyes!

Haha.If you get it, either slap your forehead, or leave a comment.

Or both.

I Just Realized

2008-11-04T16:56:00.001-06:00

...that I posted three posts today o.O

DANCE PARTY!

Welcome to My Town...

2008-11-04T15:22:00.012-06:00

...where the difference between political signs is not whom they support but which Obama sign they have.

There is some diversity in local issues, (left and above)

but when it comes to Republicans, I only found one McPalin sign:

In fact, I think this picture I took sums it up nicely:Count it.
And not only are there signs, there are

*bumper stickers

*flowerpots

*and... pumpkins?!?

Anyway, good luck, Senator Obama! You better win, cuz I spent two hours walking around town taking these pictures!

My favorite pic:

Ignore this post

2008-11-04T15:13:00.001-06:00

Ha. If you can read this, you're not ignoring it!

Anyway, I get to punish you for disobeying me (most repetitive song ever):

Happy Election Day!

2008-11-04T08:56:00.002-06:00

I'm wasting my election day watching Mythbusters (long story), helping my friend friend post her story online, and trying to decide whether to turn my fic into slash.

Democracy is wonderful, isn't it?

I'm also trying to telepathically will all McCain supporters to stay home. I'm not sure how well it's working, since no channel has news on at 10:01 am (though channel 7 has Rachel Ray on, and I'm sure people just love to hear where they can get darling ceramics online).

There's an actor, Michael Weston, who is in everything. The first time I saw him was a minor part in the movie Garden State, though I didn't really connect it until later.

The first major part (okay, four episodes) I saw him in Scrubs, playing a guy who had a head injury in Iraq, which spawned a political debate (His Story IV). Eventually he tried to kill himself, and got discharged, thus the end of Private Brian Dancer.

The second major part I saw him in was House. He was in three episodes in the newest season as a detective House had hired to investigate his team. He hasn't been in any of the recent episodes, so I think his run has ending. He's getting his own spin-off of House.

Third is one episode of Psych, as a failing lawyer (who happens not to have a very good fashion sense). Private Dancer (that's all I can think of him as): My firm doesn't really believe in...
Shawn: Winning?
Private Dancer: No...
Shawn: Mermaids?

But the funny thing is about Garden State. I saw it before I saw the episodes of Scrubs he was in, but I didn't realize he was that guy. It's funny, because which each actor we know has one role that makes us remember them. Like the guy who plays House. He played the dad in Stuart Little. But when I saw him in House for the first time, I didn't think, "Hey, it's that guy from Stuart Little." I doubt If I had seen it the day before I would have made the connection. Or the movie Clueless, with Donald Faison (Turk) from Scrubs playing Cher's boyfriend. Or Neil Flynn.

Neil Flynn was the dad in Mean Girls. I saw Mean Girls last November on our New England trip. By then I had already seen a few episodes of Scrubs, and I started watching Scrubs regularly, where Neil Flynn has a regular part as the Janitor. And yet, I didn't make the connection until an unfortunate incident left me watching it on vacation, and I thought ZOMG. It's the Janitor!!!

But then there are people like Richard Kind, who just stay with you. He plays a massive hypochondriac named Harvey Korman on Scrubs (yes, I'm still talking about Scrubs). I saw him in a minor, minor part in a movie and connected it.

Looking back, I just realized I talked more about TV than the election. gObama!

Halloween and Two Birthdays

2008-11-02T06:57:00.000-06:00

First off, happy birthday to Hallie, whose is today; and Haven's whose was on Thursday.

Also, Halloween!

I was Ben, an obscure character from Scrubs.

ZOMG... I Learned Something!

2008-10-30T15:36:00.000-06:00

I've been sick the last two days, (though I'm feeling better now) and today we had an infestation of plumbers. I went over to K's house (and recorded one quarter of a book on my cell phone w00t!). K has Verizon Fios, which I figure is just like TiVo, except with a different company backing it. Anyway, I watched a couple episodes of House (none of which were new, I've seen all of them) and in on episode, the final solution was Psittacosis, and I had a sudden thought, which went something like this:

Hey I know what that is its parrot fever read about it on Wikipedia wow Chase's hair is weird they didn't use eye protection during surgery I'm thirsty should I get up and get some water?

As you can see, I don't think in complete sentences.

But I was right, I'd read about it on Wikipedia, and even learned something extra: less that one in 500,000 people have it.

Another House note: In the episode Acceptance, which I also watched today, LLCoolJ played a serial killer.

And somehow I couldn't take him seriously knowing that he'd been a guest judge on Project Runway.

Polite Dissent

2008-10-25T09:01:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite websites is called Polite Dissent. Usually I go on it to read medical reviews of "House," but I started reading "True Tales of Medical School." Here's an exerpt from it:

As part of the third year of medical school, each student had to take a 3-month Surgery rotation. There were 3 choices for your Surgery rotation. You could choose Group A (the “I know I want to be a surgeon” group), Group B (the “I may want to be a surgeon” group) or Group C (the “no way in Hell am I going to be a surgeon” group).

Anyway, I'm probably the only person who finds them funny, but they're pretty amusing.

On another note:

I can't believe PR is over!!! But I'm glad Kenley didn't win.

Twitching and Grammer

2008-10-19T09:03:00.000-06:00

As any of my friends could tell you, my eye keeps twitching, and it is SO FREAKING ANNOYING. Anyway, when I got up this morning, my eye wasn't twitching, which made me very, very, happy inside. Later, at about eight-thirty, I went on the computer to the Scrubs fanfiction archive, like I always do, and saw that someone had posted FIFTEEN slash fics overnight. They didn't really have summaries, just "Story inside; warning: slash." So I clicked on one with the name "Ben's Discovery," because Ben is one of my favorite characters. The story was... well, lets just say I've read a lot better. But the most annoying thing was, well, I'll do it and see if you can guess my complaint:

This is my first blog post

As Leo knows, it was taken down for a time as "potential spam"

Hallie just asked "How many planets are named after gods?"

I replied "All except Earth, i think"

She nodded and agreed with me

See? It hurts my brain.

Anyway, near the end, my eye twitches. And the moral is... don't use bad grammar. It makes Ysa die a little inside.

Also, don't use bad grammar, otherwise Ysa will leave reviews such as,

"abuseCan you please, PLEASE, put periods at the ends of sentences? It would make this so much more bearable."

Ciao!