Random Updates

I haven't made a post in awhile, so I decided it was time I put in something. Quite a few exciting things for me have come out in the past couple of day, right when I'm finished school of course, so I've been greatly enjoying my time off. Anyway, here are some of the highlights of my past 1-2 weeks.

COMICS

Two big things happened this week in comics: The conclusion to Blackest Night came out and the first issue and chapter of X-Men: The Second Coming was also released. Both are huge events in DC and Marvel respectively.

I've only really been into super-heroe comics for about half a year now, so this was my first huge cross-over event that I ever followed. Personally, speaker as a new-comer to comic books, I'm happy with how it all turned out. Some of it felt rush, and a lot of it wasn't nearly as good of as other of Geoff Johns' stuff (Sinestro Corps Wars comes to mind) but it was a lot of fun following the events of the Blackest Night and I'm really excited for the aftermath of this huge event: The Brightest Day.

Amazing artwork by Ivan Reis also really helped to propel the series; Blackest Night had some of the most amazing spreads I've ever seen.

The second big comic to come out this week was the first issue of the big X-Men event The Second Coming. I'm not much of a Marvel person, but I've been slowly getting into X-Men, and after having read the first two volumes of X-Force and a little time on Wikipedia, I felt comfortable jumping into this event without having read any other X-Men. So far, though it's still only the first issue, it hasn't been too hard to follow, which is awesome. Since it's still only the first issue, I don't have too much to say except that it was enough to keep me wanting to read the rest of this event and see how things turn out. :)

BOOKS

Not too much going on here, though there is a book I'm excited about that's coming out this Tuesday: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan! :DD

Summary: When two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name, their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend, who produces a play revealing his relationship with them both.

So kind of a crappy summary, but this is written by two authors who I've greatly enjoyed in the past. John Green is the really famous author of the very popular Looking For Alaska which is one of my favorite books ever, as well as two other books: An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns. David Levithan is famous for his collaborative novels with Rachel Cohn (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Naomi and Eli's No Kiss List) and is most well-known for his novel The Realm of Possibility (also one of my favorite books.) So, needless to say, I'm ridiculously excited to see what these two amazing talents can come up with together.

MOVIES

Nothing super exciting in movies has come out lately (for me anyway) but I DID go see Avatar in 3-D at the frikken IMAX last night and I must say; my mind has been blown. Now I know there's tons of flaws with this movie and I acknowledge that, but there's no denying that this movie is absolutely eye-candy. So seeing it in its full glory in 3-D on such a huge screen was definitely a treat.

So that's it for now! I've been doing a lot of reading (especially of manga and comic books) so I'll probably post reviews of those when I get the time. :)

Scott Pilgrim Trailer!!

So I'm ridiculously excited for this movie. I absolutely love the comics they're based on. I am however, unhappy with the casting of Michael Cera as the titular character, but meh, whatever. I'll deal.

Also, here's a really cool frame-by-frame of the trailer pointing out and explaining all kinds of fun things about the movies and comics. Definitely worth checking out.

Fun Pics (1): Pikachu!!

Really really busy today. So many essays and so much to do!! However, I do have some fun little pictures to show. :)

Check the license plate. ;)

Can't tell if this is photoshopped or not. :/ But whatever, ahaha.

What I'm Listening to: The Vitamin String Quartet

My current music obsessions has to be string renditions of modern and popular songs. One great label, Vitamin Records, does string quartet versions of a lot of great songs. Actually, here's a much better description of the String Quartet series (from Wikipedia):

"The String Quartet Tribute is a series of string quartet covers released by Vitamin Records by several different groups of musicians. They focus on one band per record, and perform classical versions of their songs, generally note for note. They use a wide array of instruments but focus mainly on violins and cellos. Over the years, they have put out a staggering number of albums (214), honoring both mainstream and indie groups alike. They have put a classical spin on many genres of music, including rock, pop, punk, techno, hardcore, country, metal, and rap."

Emergency - Paramore


Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

A Favor House Atlantic - Coheed and Cambria

(cross-posted to my collaborative blog Collision)

Dr. Who Boxset. :)

I've actually had this boxset for awhile. I ordered it shortly after Christmas and get it in pretty quick, but it was shipped to my friend's house and she held on to it for me for quite awhile. Unfortunately I need to tweak with these DVDs a little bit before I can actually watch them (their region code is different and my DVD player can't play them. D:) But the boxset is so pretty!! (Pardon the crap quality of the pictures; I just took these with Photobooth on my Mac.)

pata pata pata PON

Seeing this has pretty much made me want to run out and buy a PSP, just so I could play this game.

Book Review: Waters & the Wild by Francesca Lia Block

Title: The Waters & the Wild

Author: Francesca Lia Block

Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy,

Summary:

When Bee woke up, there was a girl standing in her room. "You are me," the girl said. Then she was gone.
I am a thirteen-year-old double Gemini. I get bad grades, write poetry with my left hand, dance in my room, surf the net. I Google images of the tattoos my mom won't let me get. . . .
But my world belongs to someone else. Someone who lives below the concrete of Los Angeles, someone with wild eyes and twigs in her hair.
And I think she wants her life back.

Review: I had an idea what to expect when diving into this book. I originally bought it because I had read Block's verse novel Psyche in a Dress a few months ago and thoroughly enjoyed it for it's evocative descriptions of passion and love and for still being such a compelling despite its short length. Waters in the Wild delivered on all these fronts as well.

The story, while it does have some fantastical elements to it (such as the idea of fetches and changelings) is at its core a very relatable and fundamental story about being a teen trying to find yourself in the world. The way that Block presents this notion though is absolutely brilliant. It's fresh and original and the prose was as beautiful and breath-taking as it was in Psyche in a Dress.

Rating: Worth Buying/Owning

Needless to say I'm going to keep reading more of Block's work. She's making her to being one of my all-time favorite authors and is definitely a voice in YA that should be heard. While this book was short, it was definitely just as sweet. It's different and refreshing, and while this might turn some people off, I really enjoyed it.

What I'm Listening to: Land of Talk

I'm always game for some great canadian music, and Land of Talk delivers just that. These guys are from Montreal, Quebec and they definitely got a great sound going on. I discovered them about a year and a half ago and I still listen to these two songs on repeat constantly. :)

Summer Spacial (live)



Some Are Lakes

Vlog #1: Random News, Chatting, etc

Hey guys, not much going on today. Just hung out with my really good friend Alley (whom I only see periodically because she goes to school out of town.) She's an avid blogger herself and felt like making a vlog to update on some news and whatnot going on with her. Well, it features me! So I decided I may as well post it here since I've been busy today and haven't had time to think of something to post. You all get to see how much of a retard I really am. :DD Enjoy.

Much self-promotion abound!!:

Alley's "Review" Blog: Sarcastic Humour and Chewed Up Pen Caps

Alley's personal/academic blog: Someone Like You

My book blog: Michelle's Reads

Wednesday Comics, Feb. 17th 2010

If you love comic books then this isn't news to you, but for all you people out there that don't know, wednesdays are a very great day in the comic book reading world. The reason for this is that every wednesday is when new issues to different monthly series come out. So here's what I got this week:

Green Lantern issue #51

Written by Geoff Johns

Art by Dough Mahnke and Christian Alamy

The most epic battle in BLACKEST NIGHT yet comes to a shocking conclusion as Hal Jordan makes the ultimate move to take on the Black Lantern Spectre. But what price comes with the unleashing of Parallax? And what does this mean for the future of the emotional spectrum's avatars?

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This is probably one of, if not my absolute favorite cover I've seen for Green Lantern so far. So so awesome!

Green Lantern issue #45

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Art by Patrick Gleason and Rebecca Buchman

The battle for the Green Lantern Battery on Oa comes to a bloody end as the new front in the War of Light emerges!

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Another awesome cover for this title this month. This cover actual parallels the Green Lantern one. They look pretty cool side by side. :)

Hello World

Hello all, and welcome to my blog! The name's Michelle and I am a connoisseur in anything and everything nerd. This blog is mostly for personal use. I'll post videos/photos/reviews and just anything in general that piques my interest. It just so happens that pretty much everything I enjoy is geeky. Hopefully I'll still amuse and entertain any readers I may happen to garner in my ventures.

What kind of nerdy things am I mostly interested in? Well, reading for one. I read anything and everything, from young adult novels, to science fiction and fiction and comic books to manga. Some of my favorite authors are Tamora Pierce, Robert Cormier and John Green and some of my favorite comic/manga titles are Green Lantern, Batman & Robin, Sandman, Transmetropolitan, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fruits Basket and Nana.

Video games are also of great interest to me. Though I've been lacking on playing them lately due to time constraints. I have a soft spot for RPGs, my favorite series being The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy. I mostly play games within the Nintendo franchise.

As I mentioned earlier, I am a fan of manga, so unsurprisingly I am also a fan of anime. I'll watch pretty much anything and everything. Some of my favorite titles are Fushigi Yugi, Escaflowne, Neon Genesis Evangelion, His and Her Circumstances, Death Note and Elfen Lied.

Some of my less nerdier pastimes include photography and movie-going. I'm a bit of a movie buff and mostly enjoy good indie flicks; blockbusters aren't really my thing.

Well, that's pretty much it. Hope this wasn't too long of an introduction and I also hope you all enjoy my blog. :)