"The Fall" set to Poets of the Fall

Perfection. I should really do a post sometime with random music fan videos for stuff that I've found and liked, there's some great ones out there.

Yep, it's Summer

Happy Summertime, everyone! Well, except for my NZ friends, that is, who are now enjoying their winter. I still can't quite wrap my head around that, partially because summer is in such full swing here. Every day for a couple weeks now the sky has been cloudless and blazing, and the air so thick with heat it burns against your skin. Normally I'd be hating it. As it is, however, I'm enjoying it as much as I can because once I return to Hawaii the heat will be humid instead of dry (dry heat being much easier to bear, in my opinion) and at least here at home I have a working air conditioner which I don't have in Hawaii. So I'm trying to be philosophical about things. Same with the insect-life; sure the June bugs have started buzzing around, but if I was in Hawaii it'd be cockroaches, so I should be grateful for what I have--or, rather, do not have--right now.

Anyway, the heat also provides a fantastic excuse for both cold drinks and cold desserts and going to the local theme park to get drenched on their water rides, so I'm feeling rather kindly to it on the whole.

It will be overwhelmingly strange and sad to leave home again to return to college, but I know once I am back in Hawaii I will settle quickly and easily into my routine there again as though I had never left. In a way, this saddens me more than it reassures me. I'm scrambling in an attempt to get my driver's license before I have to go back to Hawaii, but I'm not sure if it's happening or not, we'll see. I am a much more confident driver now and can handle myself well on the busy main roads, but I have not yet ventured onto the freeway (nor do I want to) and my parallel parking is . . . not as parallel as I would like.

Movies! I'm looking forward to seeing "Captain America" so much, and am interested in "Cowboys and Aliens" but am not yet sure whether I'll pay to see it in theater or just wait until it comes out on DVD. More films I'm eagerly looking forward to: "The Artist", "War Horse", and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", the first because it just looks absolutely amazing in every way, the second because of the gorgeous music and the fact that it's a WWI story (and I also want to see the play but since I can't anytime soon this'll have to do), and the third because of the cast. Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy, and BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH all in one film together?? Really??

Speaking of film, I recently watched "This Gun for Hire" for the first time, and it's really good, I'd recommend it. The very end was a little too staged for my liking, but other than that it was a very enjoyable film, and Alan Ladd is awesome.



Okay, that's all from me for now, but I'll be trying to write more regularly. Cheers!

AT LAST

The Hobbit cast all gathered together in one fine video Q and A!

[link]

I am so excited right now, I don't even know what to do. Other than watch the video again

What makes me the happiest? . . . The revelation that there's going to be Dwarves singing in the film. That makes me almost ridiculously happy, hahaha.

Also the fourteen guys seem really brilliant together, so . . . basically I can't wait for 2012. Even more.

I made a promise to my friends while the Hobbit was still in limbo a couple years ago that if and when it finally was released I would go to the cinema dressed as the Lonely Mountain. I guess I have to start planning my costume now

(Reposted from my dA page, which explains the little emoticons, haha)

"Tangled" Tomorrow!

I am so extremely excited about this film, it's unbelievable. It's an obsession. I'm terrified it won't live up to my expectations. Augh, why do I do this to myself?

Here's a shiny new trailer--Japanese, no less!--which is a million times better than the standard American trailers. Why couldn't the American trailer been more like this one in tone? It gave both me AND my 16-year old brother goosebumps. Take a look. The audio is in English, never fear, although the voiceover is Japanese. I tried to get my brother to translate for me, but he was able to manage translating only about 60% of it.



I've been kidding my younger sister and saying that we shouldn't comb our hair until we watch the film. My younger sister is 10 and has never had a haircut, and my own hair is down to my knees, so we are major Rapunzel fans.

Sacramento was gorgeous and fun. The drive there and back went pretty well, all things considered--we got a new 12-seater van, which was really strange, especially since I was sitting in the back and found out the hard way that my parents in the front seats can't hear me when I'm way back there unless I yell at the top of my lungs. HR, my 6-week-old baby sister, cried sporadically but overall was extremely well-behaved. I'm very proud of her.

I did not recall in my championship, but I did place 22nd. To be ranked 22nd in the entire Western Region is not a bad thing; sure I wish I had placed high enough to be recalled, but I am grateful I was able to dance at all, and enjoyed myself. I haven't been to any big competitions in a long while.

My little siblings weren't that excited about the competitions, since they go to feises all the time; dance is old news now. Instead, they were excited about other things: a horde of cows we saw (and smelled) on the drive; trying to translate the Latin painted on the walls of the cathedral we attended Mass in; howling with laughter when the wind blew my umbrella inside-out during a rainstorm; seeing magpies for the first time; collecting the bright-red fallen maple leaves. I liked all that too, as well as the cold weather; it was nippy, but so refreshing a change, especially seeing all the fall colors.

There was a basketball court at the hotel we stayed at, so my dad got a basketball from the front desk and we all trooped outside to play. The littlest kids have never played basketball before, so it was fun teaching them and seeing them attempt to dribble and shoot a ball which is basically as big as them. Then we had an impromptu game after dividing up into teams. It was fun until my 16-year old brother for some reason decided to pass the ball to me by throwing it as hard as he could at my face while I was standing about two feet away from him. I was afraid I had broken my nose at first, but it seems okay now, though still very sore if I touch it. That was the end of the game for me, anyway.

Now I will spend the rest of the month focusing on exercising, "Tangled" (I am saving to buy the soundtrack and graphic novel), Thanksgiving, and my NaNoWriMo novel. Said novel is currently only at 15,000 words, partly because I spent the last week or so devoting all my writing energies to writing a birthday story for one of my sisters (it ended up being 38 pages long), and partly because of how dance has been eating up my time this month. I wrote a lot more on the car trip though, and I'm determined to get back on track. Somehow. I'll do it. I WILL.

"Tangled"!

First of all, I am soooooo excited for this movie, it's almost absurd. As a "Beauty and the Beast" devotee I have the bar raised incredibly high for "Tangled", but I honestly think it'll clear that bar just fine. Everything I know about it just makes me fall in love with it more. Have you seen the clips Disney has released?



Only three words really to say about this clip: ALAN MENKEN MUSIC. Oh, and Rapunzel is adorable.



And the animation is beautiful too!



As for the characters? I LOVE them.

And the songs?



I can't wait to hear them in full! I'm going to be like a little kid at the theater.

If anyone else out there is as excited about this film as I am, here's a few giveaway contests you might be interested in; follow the links for the details: http://tanisharenee.blogspot.com/2010/11/disneys-tangled-giveaway.html and http://thedirtytshirt.com/walt-disney-pictures-tangled-giveaway

Before I can watch "Tangled", however, I have to get through Oireachtas, which is next weekend! I'm extremely nervous, and I'm not sure if it's more terrifying or reassuring to know that this time next week it will all be over. Today was a five-hour dance practice, and I'm still exhausted from that.

So, this will be a very busy week for me. I might not even post again until after the Oireachtas is finished! If that is the case, wish me luck everyone, and see you again on the other side!

Oireachtas Coming . . .

Oireachtas practicing officially started today, and I have the aches and pains to prove it. Plus, after losing my beautiful old hard shoes at my last competition due to a mix-up and REALLY poor management by the feis committee, I have a brand new pair to break in which, as any Irish dancer can tell you, means I'm going through a torturous time. I mean, I have blisters on my heels. Blisters, Gandalf! And I never get blisters any more, or at least not for a good many years. It's sad :(

Dance itself, however, remains wonderful. Frustrating at times of course, but always well worth the effort put into it, and more. Blisters become calluses, with a little time. I'll be fine.

Books! I've already finished my Nathan Hale biography, the first of the O'Brian novels I borrowed, and am now happily devouring both "The Mauritius Command" and my book on the American Revolution. So there will be a real proper Book of the Month this month, as well as a good number of reviews, huzzah!

As to writing, I've been determinedly plodding along, and it's going splendidly, actually! I'm really excited to actually be making this much progress in my novel. In addition, I am just getting more and more excited about NaNoWriMo! I've written up a little blurb about the story I'm planning to write--the type you'd see on the back of a book--but nothing more than that, so I can have enough creative freedom to actually write the 50,000 words without hitting a block. I'm trying not to plot ahead at all, which is difficult for me, but hopefully will prove a helpful exercise. I'll post the blurb here once October hits.

I'm currently typing this with only half of my attention; I'm mostly absorbed with an animated short I'm watching on Youtube, "The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello". Steampunk and silhouettes and adventure and creepiness, oh my! A friend recommended it to me, and I'm loving it so far.

Tomorrow I make a birthday card for my littlest brother, who will be turning five this week! And then I'll read some more, write some more, and attempt to make tapioca pudding with the contents of a really old box of tapioca I found in a kitchen cupboard the other day. Hopefully it'll be yummy, instead of poisoning me or something. We'll see, I guess . . .

PS: Just finished the film. Strongly recommend you check it out :)

MORE Videos (And Links)!

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:

http://torley.com/the-fringe-equation-new-piano-performance-of-that-theme

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!

"Doctor Who" Season Finale Approaches!

First "The Pandorica Opens" clip released. I'll be at a dance competition all weekend and so will have to watch the actual episode late, alas! The Doctor's "element of surprise" ramble in this clip is hilarious, though. And *spoilers* Yay for Classic Series monsters!! *end spoilers*

One Down, Four to Go

I have completed my Russian 202 course, what a relief! The final exam went pretty well. Now I'm studying for my exam on Dante and Arthurian legend, which is tomorrow--And this studying is MUCH more enjoyable than studying for Russian, I can tell you that much!

A new trailer for "Inception" was released today. I've been wanting to watch this movie ever since I saw the first teaser, and it's just looking better and better with every trailer and poster. I hope it's as excellent as it seems, because this new trailer? AMAZING.



I didn't even really like "The Dark Knight", so that's not a factor here--this film just looks like it'll be intelligent, mind-bending, well-acted, and--what makes me most happy in this age of film adaptations and tired sequels--original. Exciting!

8 Bit Doctor Horrible

This is brilliantly done! If you like Dr. Horrible, watch this. It's totally awesome :D

. . . Oops, wrong fandom. But still. Watch it anyway. I can't wait for Act 3!

MIND. BLOWN.

OH. MY. SILMARIL.

I don't even want to admit how many times I screamed aloud while watching this week's episode of Lost, ha ha. So. Much. Craziness. And while I was always against FakeLocke to begin with, now I'm dead set against him! FakeLocke = Evil, and I don't care what anybody else says!!!

SPOILERS BELOW:

1) I can't wait to get back to the Richard/Ben/Miles group, because they're gonna be like a walking comedy troupe. Their personalities are gold together.
2) I laughed when Ilana blew up.
3) I was yelling "Run him over!" at Des when he's in the car at the end, and then was totally surprised but pleased when HE DID.
4) I was terrified from the moment I saw that well that I knew where Desmond was gonna end up--and sure enough, I was right again. That was one of the scream moments, btw.
5) I'm secretly happy that mad freak-out Richard is back again. He's gone through more emotions in the past two days of his life than he has for two centuries, methinketh.
6) FakeLocke's weird head-tilty thing when he looks at people scares me. I get scared by the weirdest things.
7) I was sad to see Black Rock go.
8) Imagining Desmond eating fried chicken is one of the funniest things ever. So is his new "I'm wearing sunglasses" attitude. Melikey. But get him out of the well.
9) OHMIGOSH CHOCOLATE FACTORY:



And that is all. I am gonna watch that again. And again. And then watch "The Constant" to cheer myself up. Bwaaah . . . .

Things are finally moving, and that's proving to be nothing short of pure awesome. I'm going to go do homework now because I'm too excited to sleep. I'll take this opportunity to thank Professor Littman and Anna for persuading me to watch this show over a year ago. Consider yourselves each gifted with a virtual cookie and sonic screwdriver.

"The Eleventh Hour"--Welcome, Matt Smith!!

If you have not yet watched "The Eleventh Hour", please go watch it. It's available on Youtube now (HERE is one link), so many thanks to our friends across the pond for not making us wait two more weeks!

Okay, so I'm too tired (it's late at night here) to write a full review, and anyways I don't see what the point of that would be. So to sum up: "The Eleventh Hour" is fantastic. The alien spaceship was pretty cheap and not very impressive, but I didn't care because of the following:

1) The Doctor. Matt Smith is BRILLIANT, as I had expected and hoped him to be, but it's still a relief that he WAS. He is already joining my favorite Doctors pantheon (that means he's joining 2, 5, and 10, in case you were wondering, haha), and it's only his first outing. I thought the episode would, at least on some level, be sad to watch. But to be quite honest . . . I did not miss Tennant. Which is a relief. I was afraid that I'd watch scenes and wonder how he would have played them, but Smith plays them so well, I simply relax and enjoy his performance and don't think about other things. So huzzah for the Eleventh Doctor, and I can't wait until next Saturday!

2) Amy Pond. Another Scottish accent! Anyway, I loved her character too; she's very real but very entertaining to watch, and her character is fleshed out and has depth already, even though it's only the first episode! She also works very well with Smith; their interactions were great. This is definitely a winning TARDIS team, and a companion who's story and welfare I can care about.

3) The music. It's different, but I really enjoy it. Apart from the opening theme, which I'm not so keen on . . . it's not horrible, really, but it's not good. The new opening visuals however are much more enjoyable than I had anticipated.

4) The story. It was not an amazing story, but was elevated by the quality of the actors' performances. The time travel plot within the story (without giving too much away) added the depth to the story that was needed, so the aliens were really only background to me against which I could watch and judge my first impressions of the Eleventh Doctor and Amy. And the story wasn't bad anyway--it was clever, and had satisfying moments of creepiness.

5) Nods to previous Doctors/episodes. Nothing really blatant. But they were there, subtlely enough to be entertaining for Classic Who fans. At the moment when video footage showing brief glimpses of each past Doctor flashed on the screen, that in combination with the awesome music and the context literally made me jump up and cheer, which was pretty much my reaction to the whole episode. I had the somewhat surreal experience of watching "The Waters of Mars" right after I finished watching "The Eleventh Hour" (there was a "Doctor Who" marathon showing all the DT specials on the telly); it's one of my favorite "Doctor Who" episodes. It was interesting; watching it I instantly identify with Ten, but coming back to Eleven, I instantly recognize Eleven as the Doctor too. Not a continuation of Ten, but a continuation of the Doctor. Smith's portrayal is natural, not an aping of Ten, for which I am relieved. It shows that the character is still in good hands, evolving and yet staying the same for yet another regeneration.

6) Script. There were some madly funny moments, some powerful moments, some poignant moments, and even some shivers-down-your-spine moments. So that's all in good hands.

The verdict: I am thoroughly pleased with this new era of "Who" as based upon what I saw in this one episode. The Doctor and Amy Pond are just about perfect. So go run off and watch it if you have not already, and then let me know what you think!

And so much for writing only a short review. Oops.

"How To Train Your Dragon"

Blessed Good Friday to you!

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.

Spring Break Day 8: David Tennant

I have discovered where I can enjoy said actor in two very, very different roles made similar only in that they are both brilliantly done.

First: Hamlet!



I've been wanting to watch this performance ever since I heard it was being staged in England, but of course being separated from England by a continent and two oceans, it was impossible to see unless it were put on dvd. And, huzzah, it finally has been. And some kind soul put it on Youtube. This part I embed isn't the first scene, but . . . it's riveting. I have not yet finished watching the entire play, but I am speeding through it, and enjoying it very, very much. Although I normally don't like it when Shakespearean plays are dressed up in modern clothes and all, I'm absolutely sold on this performance. That is some seriously incredible acting from Mr. Tennant. And some incredibly bad hair. I'm sorry, I just prefer it fluffy XD
*EDIT* His hair improves as the play goes on. Just thought I'd add that, ha. Not that it matters or anything.

Second: Dangerous Beans!

One of the books in contention for being named my Book of the Month for March is "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents", by Terry Pratchett. Just today I discovered that the BBC had made a radio play of the novel, and since I love the Beeb's radio plays (I proudly own their version of "The Lord of the Rings", it's fantastic), I managed to hunt it down. Imagine my delight and surprise when I found out that Tennant is one of the voice actors. Even better? He plays one of my favorite characters from the novel, Dangerous Beans (hahaha!) the rat! I didn't even recognize his voice at first. He somehow changes it for the role--it's very soft and cute. If you haven't read the novel yet, I strongly recommend you do, but I also recommend this production. It's available for both listening to and downloading here: http://www.david-tennant.com/2009/id95.html, under the '2004' heading.

So that's how I've spent my most recent day of being sick (apart from writing a paper and studying Nutrition): With Shakespeare's famous tragic and maybe-mad Prince of Denmark, and an idealistic, mostly-blind albino rat called Dangerous Beans. Good gracious, the Tenth Doctor is versatile. If he is chosen to play Bilbo Baggins, I will not protest the choice.

Connor Temple from "Primeval"

Connor Temple. Making geeks proud everywhere. And me in particular, seeing as how he actually wears the One Ring on a chain around his neck, just like I did until my particular Ring broke all to pieces, haha!

I found this video quite amusing and well-edited.

The Eleventh Doctor is Coming!

Only a few weeks left! I'm extremely excited! Although I'll always miss Tennant, this is the type of show that must go on and does go on--and, I'm hoping in this case, goes on brilliantly. All the best of luck to Mr. Smith, and this fan trailer is cool. There's some other good ones I might post later too, but this one made me happiest :D

"Dr. Linus"

BEST EPISODE SO FAR THIS SEASON.

Because I was freaking out the whole time that my two fave characters aside from Desmond were going to die. Even though I knew that they wouldn't, not yet, I couldn't help but be all wound up about it anyway.

And then they were fine. And we got a beautiful throw-back to the first season ending. And . . . dawwww, the fuzzy cuteness!!! Even if neither of my favorite characters got a hug at the end!

Celebratory vid:



YAY for the Not-Dead-Yet Richard and his trip to da ship!

FUN!

I just had to post this, because it made me laugh so hard. And I don't even like Spongebob.

Moon

Yes, I finally watched it. Yes, it's now one of my favorite movies ever. Yes, I have been a fan of Rockwell's since I first saw him in Galaxy Quest (haha), but love him even more here. But yes, "Moon" isn't kidding when it says it's rated R for language. Strong language is pretty much pervasive. Other warnings: Brief nudity, brief sexual scene. So watch at your own risk.

But first, watch this trailer. I got hooked on this film from the moment I watched this trailer about a year ago--it's simply one of the best film trailers ever. I personally enjoy it as much as the film, so if the above warnings have made you decide that this film isn't quite your cup of tea, just watch the trailer! And Rockwell deserves an Oscar. And Gerty should get best supporting actor :)

If you like brainy, emotional, and tragic-yet-ultimately-uplifting science-fiction--science-fiction that explores the good in humanity, and not the bad, and enjoys messing with your mind while it's at it--then I can just about guarantee you will like "Moon".

The New Widget. . .

Comes courtesy of Combom's fabulous Doctor Who blog, which is a veritable treasure chest for any Who fans. The episode finally has a release-date! I'm looking forward to it, as I always welcome more Doctor Who, especially Tenth Doctor, but I'm also dreading it, because it's the beginning of the end. Tennant's Doctor dies on New Years--what a way to start a New Year, huh? But "Waters of Mars" looks like it'll be a lot of fun, so yeah, it kind of does merit a countdown.

Not Ice Warriors, but still looks great! Definitely gonna miss you, Ten.