That Charming Loki

My parents have yet to see it. When they do they will no doubt give me the look that says 'does your friend hate you so much she got you that for your birthday?'
I will have to then correct them by saying that it is actually one of the best presents I have ever got (I include my swing set which I got at age six in this.)

LOKI CHARMS!!!!

 

I now am trying to decide if I should start wearing it right away, or keep it up for Thor: The Dark World?

I also got a book on Zelda Fitzgerald. I'm so eager to read, but I'm not even half way through The Cuckoo's Calling.
College is beginning to loom, I'll be back in no time and I haven't even made a dent in my reading pile. :(

I am a Fangirl, hear me roar

What is this new thing now of having to back up your claim of being a fangirl? Apparently you can’t just self-describe yourself as one anymore, you know have to sit a thorough examination on your chosen subject.
Call yourself a Sherlock fangirl? Name all of Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories.
Call yourself a Batman fangirl? Give an account of all the characters, their alias, who they are related too.
Call yourself a Harry Potter fangirl? What was Dumbledore’s wand made of BEFORE he won the Elder Wand? (I kid, that’s a trick question. J.K.R has never said.’)

Some dick on a forum that shall rename nameless, simply because I fancy calling it ‘the-board-that-shall-not-be-named,’ called me out for saying I was a ‘fangirl.’
‘What’s your fandoms?’ he insisted. When I commented elsewhere about a certain demi-god of mischief he wrote something akin to ‘I bet you only like the Avengers because of the “omg hes sooooooo sexy” men! Have you even read an Avengers comic?’
I didn’t reply. I simply simmered with rage.
I will reply here instead: Yes, I have read an Avengers comic, one Avengers comic to be exact. And in my personal opinion, it sucked! And it sucked for the sole reason that I don’t like comic books!
Like in a relationship, you change. Your partner changes. And sooner or later you may drift apart. That for me is akin to comic books. They change, move in directions you wished the character or the story didn’t go. And I’d simply rather dedicate my time to a story arc in a novel than in a comic because a novel is what it is. It doesn’t change.

On my list of things I love more than breathing are films. Action films. Romance films. Fantasy films. Comedy films. I LOVE films!
So yes, my introduction to Loki was in Thor. (Aside from the Norse Myths I read as a child) But apparently that doesn’t make me a Loki fan at all, because I’m a female, and therefore unable to appreciate him for anything other than Tom Hiddleston’s looks. I’m female, and therefore incapable of enjoying action and seeing stuff blown up on screen. I’m female, and therefore should be silenced when I talk about my excitement at all the ComicCon news.
I need to show some credentials in order to do all that. I need to name all the X-men and their relationships to each other in order to justify my enthusiasm for Days of Future Past.
Here are my credentials. *gives the finger*
I’ll be fangirl to the day I die! I don’t need you to confirm or discredit that fact for me!  

And on that note: bring on Wednesday and The Wolverine. Origins was terrible. I hope this is an improvement.

The 5 Books That Made Me

I've seen these around the 'net for a while. I never really bothered to think about my five, but I thought 'ah sure, what the hell!'

Ann and Barry

 

Oh, I remember the day. The sun was shining and I was no more than five or six. I noticed my mam standing at the front gate, as she did occasionally, puffing on a smoke, awaiting my return home from school. I picked up speed and raced along, waving frantically my new Ann and Barry book.
‘I read more than anybody else in the class,’ I panted, ‘so teacher put me on a higher book.’

I was thrilled. My mother, proud. My love of reading had already begun.

30 years from non-existance

Do you think, at 31, I can still get away with calling myself late-to-very-late twenties? I tried it for my 30th year on this green globe, but no one was willing to agree. (Feckers! My family don't have much of an imagination.)

My 31st birthday is fast approaching and I'm pleased to say I'm taking it a lot more stoically than I did my 30th. I suppose once I got over the hump that was 30, 31 is a lot less frightening. But I say that on a Saturday, come Sunday night I'll be trying to make that deal with God that Joey in Friends tried to make.

Cuckoo's and Christies

Still I've yet to get my hands on a copy of The Cuckoo's Calling. To be fair, Eason's and Chapters have them in stock. But I've yet to get into town at a time when Eason's is open. (I'm opting to buy it in Eason's as I'll earn myself some nifty points with my loyalty card. And since I used to work there, well, I feel a sense of loyalty to the place.) Besides, I'm trying to plough ahead with my own writing, to get sucked into a book right now will take up most of my time. And while I don't mind that, I'm just not all that eager for it just yet as I'm at an exciting part in my story. (Escape and kidnap and rescue. Oh my!)
Anyway, this post is more an edit post than a little randomly talking crap post. First off, I thought The Cuckoo's Calling was set in Edinburgh. I've found out it's actually set in London. I'm slightly disappointed in this. And by slightly I mean very.
And secondly, err...duh!!! I'm an idiot. There was me talking about how I not that much of a fan of crime fiction. If I had of only looked left I would have seen the shelf I have dedicated solely to the marvellous Agatha Christie.
To make myself clearer I should have said I am not that much of a fan of modern crime fiction. Modern crime is all too real. If I wanted to read about modern crime, I'd pick up a newspaper, or simply ask the family what's going on in the neighbourhood. I don't so I won't!
Agatha Christie may be crime, but the past, particularly an English past, is rose-tinted and it's easier to get sucked into, thus enjoy more, the fiction of a Christie whodunit, like one big game of Cluedo. At least that's the way it is for me.

The Dopple Ganger Chronicles: The First Escape

The concept of the illustra-novella is new to me. In fact, before The First Escape, I had never actually heard of them.
Why? I hear myself asking. They are brilliant! Half novel, half graphic novel. It's the best of both worlds. Add a fun story with great characters and you have yourself my new favourite thing.
"Hotter than Potter" perhaps not, the series' don't really compare as The Dopple Ganger Chronicles are awesome in their own particular way. They actually put me more in mind with Ronald Dahl than J.K Rowling.

Moondial

 

Staying with an aunt after her mother is involved in an accident, Minty spends her time exploring Belton House and its grounds. Coming across a moondial, Minty is transported back in time and meets Tom. Inexplicitly they also are transported further back in time and come across the sad and mysterious Sarah. Labeled a ‘devil’s child’ by the other child, Sarah is only ever seen at night, heavily hooded. Both Minty and Tom decide to find out Sarah's secret and save her.

There are certain shows that aired during my childhood that I loved; Are You Afraid of the Dark, Sabrina etc but none came close to the affection I held for Moondial.
Perhaps because I saw it at a much younger age, or maybe because I read the book that accompanied the TV show not long after I viewed it. I still remember the thrill of finding the book on the school library shelf. (I never knew it was a book: the thought never actually crossed my mind.)
I’m nostalgic. I always have been. I have always gravitated to the past, but before it had always been someone else’s past. A Viking past. A Roman past. (Suffice to say I was the history geek in my class.) But lately I find I’m gravitating to my own past, so coming across a used copy of Moondial on amazon meant I ignored my aversion to amazon and purchased it. Transporting myself back, (kinda like Minty J) to childhood, it was like getting lost in the pages and going on the adventure with Minty and Tom all over again.

The TV show of Moondial is ace. Looking back at it now I still get that warm fuzzy feeling I had as a child. The ‘adventure can and does happen’ feeling. You unfortunately lose that as you get older. And while you do have adventures when you’re older, they're never what you hoped they would be. Life gets in the way of those adventures, and instead it presents you with its own ideas of ‘adventure’ - which are always anticlimactic because there is much less magic involved.

Botanic Gardens

One of my favourite places here in Dublin is the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin. I particularly love it on a warm sunny day. It's close to where we live so my friend and I decided to make good use the sunshine, and pay the Gardens a visit.

Last time we were there we chased some squirrels (not literally.) This time we followed a crane around the lily pond.

Oh! That Wily Rowling

So J.K Rowling has pulled a Barty Crouch Jr. on us all by going incognito as a crime fiction writer. Got to love that woman! Got to hate those douchebags who are currently savaging the rave reviews Robert Galbraith got for The Cuckoo's Calling!
Three things in life are guaranteed: Death. Taxes. And haters gonna hate.

I'm not going to pretend that I read and loved the book, as I saw one acquaintance do. (Siriusly, she's a right ol' Lockhart if ever there was one!) because the truth is that I'm not that much of a crime fiction fan. I only read those that come highly recommended by close friends. It's the Classics, Young Adult and History sections that I hoover around in libraries and bookshops.
But now The Cuckoo's Calling is calling. AND I MUST BUY. It's J.K Rowling AND Edinburgh.

I haven't blabbed on about Edinburgh in this blog. Yet. No doubt I will. But I adore that city above all else. All the places I've been hold some sort of happy/fond memories for me, even Lourdes *shudder* but Edinburgh is the one place I could see myself living, if ever I were to decide to leave Dublin.

Unfortunately, I can't get to a bookshop until tomorrow. And even then I doubt they'll have what I'm looking for. I'd well imagine the few copies Eason's stock would have been whipped off the shelves yesterday when the news broke. But hopefully by the weekend I'll manage to get a copy somewhere :)

P.S I do hope the copy I do manage to get has this cover

Newbridge Park

In a follow-up from yesterday's post: I did both. I managed to get some words down. And we had a little picnic in Newbridge Park. No frolicking though. Shame. (But then again, I always feel that true frolicking can only be achieved when wearing some sort of flowing white dress. Not jeans, a t-shirt and an old manky pair of runners.)

Jack, not looking all that entertained picking daisies for a daisy-chain.

Sunshine and Creativity

It's been a case of writers block today and yesterday. I barely got 500 words down yesterday. Today I am simply staring at the blank screen, willing myself to write something, anything, just bust that wall down!
I know my plot. I know what happened, and what's going to happen. It's just getting from what has been (A) to what will be (B) that's the problem.
Truthfully, it's the sun's fault. My window is opened, pushed wide in order for the smallest of breezes to come in. Everything outside looks appealing. Inside means hot, clammy work. Outside means picnicking beneath large oak trees. I know which I prefer. And I also know which I can't have :(
(But that said, perhaps I'll write non-linear - just get something down, then frolic in the dying evening sun? Frolicking in this heat is stroke encouraging.)

Tedious Tidbits

I'm currently having fun filling in passport forms. That's sarcasm, only Ned Flanders could have fun filling in tedious forms. But it expired sometime last year, so I really need to get it renewed soon.
It seems like more reading than anything else. Do's and Don'ts. I was never one for reading instructions. Not until it all goes terrible wrong. That's prime time to go reading instructions!
(At least I've got some Paramore on the docking system, dulls the monotony.)
I'm hesitant to send my previous passport back, I know you have too, but still. I like seeing the stamps in it. I've Canadian, USA and Turkey. Not that many, but still considering they are probably the only places I'll be visiting (where I needed a stamp or visa) for some years to come, I'll be sad to lose them out of my passport. The new one will be sad and empty.
The bright-side is saying goodbye to that picture. God knows, I'm not photogenic as it is, but that's some other shit altogether! It's weird to see myself still with braces and glasses. Sometimes I forget I had them. Or perhaps I'm just repressing those memories.

edit: I just realised, they may send back the now expired passport. I hope so. And I think I've said passport enough for one post so I will say no more about it. passport.

Beautiful Creatures (2013)



Finally, I've been able to watch this film. Despite it being released on the 17th of June, I was unable to find it anywhere. I was really surprised, I've never had difficultly finding a new release DVD before. It just re-awoke my grief for the loss of HMV.

Eventually though, I found it. The bottom row, on a single shelf  that could only hold three DVD's, in Golden Disc's. This did not endear me to believe that this will be an enjoyable film. In my experience, the harder the film is to find, the more likely it is that it wasn't worth the search. But I enjoyed the book, and the cinematography in the trailers did make me think it was worth the effort.

I'm glad to say I was right. It was worth it. I especially loved the end. I won't give anything away for those who've not yet seen it, but it veers from the book, and while I think hard-core fans will be annoyed by that, I couldn't help but admire the attempt to add some intrigue. I liked that the writer/director twisted it for those of us who have read the book, and gave us that final 'oh no, this isn't going to end well. It's got to end well. Please, end well' heart skipping a beat moment.

I loved the two leads, Lena was less whiny. Ethan less high and mighty. Ripley, more believable as a siren than she is in the books. In the books she was a caricature of the 'slutty blonde.' (It's a label I am loathe to give, but that's the only way I can describe her.)

The only thing I had issue with is the Genevieve/Ethan flashback scene. Don't get me wrong, it works well and is in keeping with the story, but I had loved their story in the book so that was a *gasp* 'what are they doing this for?' moment.

The Internship

 



Urgh! I didn't have high hopes for this film, but then again I didn't expect it to be so dire either. Woeful, just painfully woeful.
I saw it with my nephew, not my friend who wanted to see it. When I told her it was dreadful she said 'not another Wedding Crashers then?' It is, most certainly, NOT another Wedding Crashers. Wedding Crashers had, a least, a few funny moments that weren't shown in the trailer.
In fact when I asked for two tickets, the cashier corrected my pronunciation. I had pronounced it like someone was being interned in Guantanamo Bay.
By the end of the film, I wanted to confront the cashier, I was right, she was wrong. That pronunciation was fitting: someone should have been interned in Guantanamo Bay for this crap.