It really is. No joke. I've had very little sleep for five nights now because of midterm exams, a film presentation, sundry other homework, and now I get to start stressing about those 3 separate 10 page final papers I need to start writing (or actually should have started writing weeks ago). I am utterly worn out. Sigh. Also, Mr. Thornton is adorable when he falls asleep at his desk while working.
And I've finally altered what songs play on my blog playlist now. That was a change way overdue. Not that I love the other songs any less. But even the best things get monotonous after a while. Except "The Lord of the Rings". And chai tea. And naps.
Ain't you all just the luckiest blog-readers in the world? Hehe.
I'll get the link out of the way first. This is a really awesome reimagining of the "Fringe" theme music played on piano. It's about 6 minutes long, and available for download (for a price), but listening to it on the website is absolutely free. Go to the following link:
To have a listen and a download if you like it. As a person who wishes she could play the piano but aside from teaching herself 'Scarborough Fair' has no gift with the instrument whatsoever, I really enjoyed it.
I also found a remix of the "Fringe" theme that was pretty good, if a bit long:
This vid makes me sad every time I watch it, the editing's great. Spoilers if you haven't watched "Supernatural", though.
A pretty cool "Primeval" fanvid set to a song by one of my favorite bands on the planet ("Poets of the Fall", if you were wondering ^_^):
Man, I miss Nick Cutter. Still looking forward to when the show returns, though.
And lastly, one of my favorite songs after watching "500 Days of Summer":
In other news: My eye finally started getting better today! I am almost pain-free for the first time in over a week! Which might account for my excessive vid-posting tonight. I'll wake up tomorrow and wonder what I was thinking as I posted this, probably. Definitely one of my more random posts.
I finished making a birthday card for my second brother yesterday, and it turned out really well! I'm excited to give it to him, because it's a bit of a prank card, hehehe. I'll post photographs of the card later; it'd need a full post to explain itself, I think. Cheers, all!
I went to the movies with my grandmother today, because she's been wanting to watch "How To Train Your Dragon" for a long time. I would not have gone on my own, because I wasn't sure if I was interested in the film or not; I've never liked anything by Dreamworks before, and the trailers looked only so-so to me.
Well, after watching it, I have to urge you to watch the film. It was very, very good. It managed to get past the somewhat trite plot that is in just about every kid's movie (kid doesn't fit in; kid is therefore a disappointment to his father; kid decides to secretly do his own thing; kid is found out; kid is in trouble; kid manages to become a hero and save the day) by fleshing it out and adding an emotional depth to it that I have not seen in many computer animated movies beyond Pixar's, and certainly not in any previous Dreamworks film. The animation is gorgeous; the scenery is beautiful and the characters are great fun. Yeah, I'm gushing a bit, but honestly, I really loved this movie, and loved it all the more because I wasn't expecting to love it. Therefore this is an honest, unbiased reaction. I walked out of the theatre wanting to go back and watch it again, which didn't happen for "Alice in Wonderland", for example. Please go watch it and support it! My grandmother cried at the ending, and though I didn't, I was grinning for the entire film, and yeah . . . I did get a bit emotional at times, and no film since "Up" has done that to me (although "Up" did get me to actually shed tears). "Dragon" was so good, I'm wondering how "Toy Story 3" can possibly top it. And I'm a complete Pixar fan too. "Dragon" isn't "Ratatouille", but it is extremely good nonetheless.
Speaking of "Up", there are a few silent montage scenes in "Dragon" that reminded me strongly of the opening of "Up": The emotion and time progression being conveyed through only the visuals and beautiful music. Very different in mood to "Up"s amazing scene, but still very effective. I wonder if Dreamworks was inspired by that Pixar movie in making those montages, and I hope that such minimal animation is used in future films, because I find it very artistic.
By the way: I watched it in 3D, and it's definitely designed to be fully experienced in 3D, as there's plenty of beautiful flying sequences and stuff (and a part that looks like ashes are floating right past your head, haha), but it's not slavish to the 3D format, so I think it would be beautiful in 2D too. I say this because I know 3D is way more expensive than 2D, and we're all pennypinching these days, aren't we?
Oh, and I found out afterwards that David Tennant voiced one of the Vikings, an unnamed minor character, but still. He's getting everywhere. And that's not a bad thing :)
A large part of why the film was so wonderful, to me, was the music. I'm posting a Youtube video below that contains main themes from the film, so you can have a listen. This is now one of my favorite soundtracks ever; the Celtic-ness of it all of course plays to my Irish dancer nature anyway, but it's absolutely beautiful and emotive as well, and pairs perfectly to the film itself. It should definitely be nominated for awards this year. Give it a listen.
Anyway, I'm done jabbering for now. I'll try later today to post a medieval poem I discovered yesterday which I think is very suitable for Good Friday. Have a wonderful Easter weekend!
PS: I am aware that "How To Train Your Dragon" is originally a book. I am also aware that this film is supposedly completely different from the book apart from sharing the title and some character names. I haven't read the book, so I can't really say which is better, but I think this is a case of "Howl's Moving Castle": The book may be excellent, and the film may be very different from the book, but the film is excellent too, in its own right.
. . . Which is pretty much how my life's been going the past few days. Which doesn't leave me with anything significant to blog about, I guess!
I think I'm reduced to talking about the weather.
Well, the weather has been rather interesting recently. The mornings are glorious, bright and clear, with blue-blue sky and the grass lemony-green because it's so bright, and the flowers glowing so brightly they look molten and you expect them to drip their excess color onto the soil.
Around noontime, however, vast clouds colored so dark they are almost blue come rolling over the mountains. It's rather spectacular looking, and rather thrilling too because they're a little scary: so thick and low, and appearing from behind the mountains (which are so close here) like an army or something. It makes me think what it would have been like to live here before Cook came, or even be one of the earlier explorers. What would it have been like to be here, in the jungle-surrounded valley, and seeing those clouds swallowing up the sky so suddenly?
Anyways, and then the sky is silver-dark for a couple hours. And then comes the wind, which is immensely strong for about five minutes, and then--a storm of rain, so that not only the sky, but everything around you is silver-grey, and if you're outside you are running with water and absolutely soaked within seconds, and can't see your hand in front of your face.
This lasts for about 5-10 minutes. And then comes the sunlight again, and the rest of the day is an even mix of cloud and blue, but no rain.
And that's the weather report. Thrilling, isn't it? Oi, I need a more exciting life, I guess!
Oh, wait, I have been reading books. The Charwoman's Shadow, Master and Commander, and Emma are my latest reads, and they were all very good. I actually prefer Charwoman to Elfking's Daughter, which I didn't think would happen when the main character was introduced as Ramon Alonzo Matthew-Mark-Luke-John, but ultimately did. I really, really love that book. And M & C was rather good too, good enough that I am determined to pick up the next one next time I am at the library. Post Captain, I think? It's a very different style to what I'm used to, so I had to be careful reading it because otherwise I missed important events. I laughed aloud at certain parts though . . . most notably the remora incident and where Aubrey smacks his head on the lintel. Yeah, I also still laugh when Gandalf smacks his head in Bag End in the Fellowship film. I don't know why, usually I'm not a slapsticky person.
Okay, and that is about all I have to say right now. Except I have decided: I will buy the Complete Symphonic Recording of Les Miserables. I must. That my favorite Javert sings in it sorta tipped the scales. And I do love Michael Ball's voice, just don't want to see him while he's singing, ha ha. Too bad Lea Salonga isn't singing Eponine, but . . . it's good enough for me. I love all things Les Mis. Yay!
Ever heard this song before? . . . If not, give a listen. If you have, you'll probably be wanting to listen to it again. It's fantastic; I heard it for the first time a few months ago and only just thought of posting it now.
Do the lyrics make anyone else think of Aslan, or is that just me?
Note: I know this is not the original version. And it's funny, but I don't like most of Celtic Woman's covers, because I find the originals to be far better. But I really did like this version of the song.
Do you guys remember the Pachelbel Rant video? Laura, I believe you sent it to everyone . . . well anyways, I was looking it up today, and came across this. And it's impressive (to me anyway) musically, but it's also pretty hilarious.
If the stress of everyday living is ever getting you down, or if you live in Hawaii and suffer from insomnia due to the humid nights, or if homework is keeping you awake and caffinated 24/7, just listen to this song. It makes everything better.
It really is. No joke. I've had very little sleep for five nights now because of midterm exams, a film presentation, sundry other homework, and now I get to start stressing about those 3 separate 10 page final papers I need to start writing (or actually should have started writing weeks ago). I am utterly worn out. Sigh. Also, Mr. Thornton is adorable when he falls asleep at his desk while working.