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.