I'm a terrible person, but I want this to happen so insanely badly over at T9.

Also, this is pretty much going to be my only art post this month - I haven't had time to draw with finals, and I'm not taking my scanner home over the holidays, since it'd be a pain to take home.

I finally finished my term paper in my film and literature class. I've been doing research for it since the third week of school. I've compiled three annotated bibliographies on it. I've written four drafts of it. And it's finished, printed, and turned in to the prof. And because I'm feeling especially nerdy, I'm going to share with all you my (sort of) abstract.

This essay is an exploration of the film noir genre and its evolution, using Howard Hawks’s The Big Sleep and Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner as focus points of a forty-year span of film. It argues that film noir as a genre did not end in the 1950s, as is the popular belief, but has lasted through the 1980s and into the present. Part of this argument lies with the emergence of the neo-noir genre, introduced in the 1970s, which, despite aesthetic differences, is still true to the classic genre. It also discusses the way in which noir has lived on through the use of noir elements and themes in seemingly unrelated genres, especially science fiction. Through out the essay, I will elaborate on how the two focus films both fit into and influence noir.

If anyone's interested in reading an essay on the film noir genre and it's last effects on film, let me know and I can email you a copy of the paper. God, why am I saying this? I'm such a geek :B

Now I need to get back to writing a paper on the influence of Rome on the modern day. And then rewrite an essay on why the film adaptation of Ethan Frome fails at framed narrative.

I want to watch Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Day of the Locust back-to-back and then write a paper on the use of the grotesque, the surreal, and the deconstruction of the American Dream presented in the two films.

However, I think that watching them back-to-back would be so much of a mind-screw that by the end of DotL, I'd be reduced to a whimpering ball cowering in a corner.





...I also want to write a paper on framed narrative and the use of children as a symbol of innocence and imagination in The Princess Bride, The Adventures of the Baron Von Munchhausen, and The Fall. Because I'm just that lame.

Most of you know that I play Terry McGinnis/DCAU's second Batman over at trans_9. I've been playing there for over a year now, and perhaps the only real problem I've had (besides rp commitment issues which I've done a pretty good job of getting over) is finding good user icons. I've found a few here and there, but since the show has been over for six years, and the fandom is pretty much dead, finding decent pre-made icons is pretty hard. I've made most of my icons myself.

And that what this post is for. As of now, I have about 30 icons that I use between my two rp journals, and more that I've made but don't use. And I'd like to share them. To give a hand to other Terry rpers out there that need icons.

( Icons )

Whoot, Artemis Fowl graphic novel 2 is out! That was my favorite book in the series, and I love the design of the GN (especially Holly's design). Though, they did leave a preeeety big plot point in the first GN (well, small for book 1, important for book 2), so I'm not sure how they'll get around that. But, yeah, I may just order it off Amazon and have it shipped to me. Or wait until I go home for fall break and get it from an indie shop in Denver.

Though, my first thought when I found this out was 'Sweet, more icons for Holly's rp journal!'

So, my sister can in to town for a couple days, and we wandered around town and hung out. She also made me finally go to the comic store a few blocks down the street from the college. I've been meaning to go there for a while, but was kind of embarrassed to admit that I don't really read any comics. But the guys at the store were really friendly and nice, and talked me into picking up some Green Lantern comics and reading Blackest Night.

They also made my fucking month. How?

Because they sold me something that I've been wanting for a year.

Something that's kind of rare and hard to find.

That's been out of production for six years.

A Batman Beyond action figure... for $7.

Fuck YES I am going there again.

ETA: Photo!



I didn't realize it until I took the picture, either, but I put Batman right next to my Canned Bat from Carlsbad. :B

So it takes me until I'm nearly 19 and trying to figure out how to say 'My favorite animal is the fox' in Spanish to realize that Zorro is literally The Fox in Spanish. And I've been a Zorro fan since I was, like, eight. I guess I'm just used to vigilantes dressing up like the animal they're named after.

...Though, that does sort of explain why I like Zorro so much...

So, there are very few things that make me literally fall out of my chair laughing. But Voldemort tap dancing is definitely one of them.



(Voldy starts dancing at about 3:20)
And if you liked that, check out the rest of A Very Potter Musical, you can watch the all of it starting here. Trust me, it is hilarious.

I don't know if any of you watchers of mine care about Doctor Who, but if you do, it might interest you to know that The 11th Doctor's costume has been revealed.

I gotta say, I love it. I'm glad that they're making 11 kind of quirky and odd-looking. I look forward to season 5.

Anyone remember this post? Well, it may not be Nathan Fillion and John Leguizamo, but my friends and I did put on a Las Vegas-set version of Two Gentlemen for the Public School Shakespeare Fest (or at least the final scene):



I play Valentine, the '70s Elvis.

This was filmed in a classroom the day before the fest, because the fest has been so noisy in past years that it's nearly impossible to get decent sound. But there are some pics under the cut of the fest itself!

( Photos! )

So, by no means are we good actors, but that's not really the point. This is the fourth time I've been in Shakespeare Fest - the first was in 8th grade for a scene from Two Gentlemen in which I played Julia's maid, and a friend of mine played Julia, and we actually played the scene straight. The second and third were for 9th and 10th grade, with a group similar to this one, in which we did Goth Midsummer's Night Dream (I was Puck) and Samurai King Leer (I was Kent), both done as comedies. I've learned that it's just a lot more fun to perform Shakespeare as a comedy, to not take it too seriously, and to just have a good time with it.

Also, we did this back in early May, but I just now got around to posting about it. >.

So this is one of the coolest fucking things I have ever seen or heard.

A fossilized dinosaur (a hadrosaur, to be exact) was found with it's skin fossilized and intact. This is something that is very rare - skin decomposes, so it's not likely to fossilize. It takes just the right circumstances - in this case, being quickly covered by water and silt - for skin to fossilize right along with bones. This is a huge, HUGE discovery in paleontology, because up to this point, we haven't been able to tell what a dino looks with skin. All the models, drawings, etc where guess work, with some cues taken from impressions of skin found in fossilized rock. Unfortunately, that article has very few pictures of the fossil itself, though it states that the whole body was intact.

I'm sure this isn't as exciting to everyone else, but I love dinosaurs. Like, seriously LOVE dinosaurs. When I was a kid, I had a tape of songs about dinosaurs that I listened to so much that the ribbon shredded. I had a tone of dinosaur toys. I even got the book Dinotopia, and read it religiously. Not because the story was any good (it was crap, really) but because of the rich illustrations of dinosaurs living along side man. Hell, when I heard about the dino skin on the radio, I knew exactly what a hydrosaur was.

And for the record, my favorite dinosaur is deinonychus, a small raptor with a large, nasty claw on its feet.

So I opened up my first checking account, and I'm going to be getting my first debit card soon. College orientation is on June 23rd, and school starts August 14th.

I keep getting hit with these moments of 'Holy shit. I'm an adult now.'



...and then I find myself standing in line at Target looking at Pokemon cards and seriously considering rebuilding a deck, just because the pack has a buneary on it. Pfft, adulthood.

Hey, LJ buddies.

If you could make a movie, with any budget and any actors you wanted, what would you make? Like, what would the basic plot be, who would be in it, etc?

Me, I'd make a modernized version of Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona, set in present-day Las Vegas. Valentine and Proteus would be Elvis Impersonators, and the reason Valentine goes to Vegas is because he won a spot in an Elvis competition. Julia would be an erotic dancer, her maid Lucetta would be the manager of the club she worked at. Silvia would be a Vegas show girl, and her father, The Duke, would be a mob boss. Thurio would be one of the Duke's hitmen. It would star Nathan Fillion as Valentine, Zach Braff as Proteus, John Leguizamo as Julia, Michelle Pfeiffer as Silvia, and Robert De Niro as The Duke. Lucetta and Thurio, I'm not too sure.

Proof that maX is the most awesome friend in the world:



X found this shirt at a comic book store a few months ago, and sent me a picture of it to my phone. I loved it immediately, and set the picture as my phone wallpaper, as sort of a reminder that I should try to find this shirt or one like it some day. Yesterday, at my bowling birthday party (a post - possibly with pictures - about that coming soon, once I'm properly awake), X gave me this shirt and became my favorite person ever.

This shirt is... kind of unique. It's a size Large (I'm really a Small), but that's because it seems to be the only one of it's kind in existence. X actually asked the comic book store if they could track down a smaller shirt - they tried, but they couldn't find any like this at all, on the internet or in wholesale catalogs. And when you look closely at the picture, you know why - under the picture (which has 'of the Future' as a continuation of the text) it has the copyright/printing date. 1999. Yeah. I have a ten year old shirt. This is probably a collector's item.

And you know what? I'm gonna wear the hell out of this thing. As soon as I wash it. No washings in ten years has left it rather... itchy.

In nerdly news, Darths and Droids has ended the first part of its campaign. Gotta say, it was excellent. Nearly every page made me actually laugh, which few webcomics do. I'm happy to see it'll be continuing on with Episode II! I really hope they do all six movies. I really, reeeeally want them to play the original trilogy. How epic would that be, huh?

Speaking of the original Star Wars, I watched Return of the Jedi on some cable channel last night. Love the movie, but this was the first time I saw the 'remastered' version, or whatever. Is it just me, or does it feel like putting Hayden Christensen in as the Anakin ghost thing feel like Lucas was pissing on his original franchise? 'Cause that just... angered me.

Also, as I watched, I noticed how well Luke (or rather, Mark Hamill) can pull off the 'all black with some leather' look, but Anakin just... can't. What's up with that, Star Wars fans? Or that puppet Yoda worked a lot better then CGI Yoda?

I got to meet up with my buddy X today and give him his christmas gift. I got him the 'High Five' Shirt from Dr. McNinja (in red). He really liked it, so I'm glad. He gave me the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon manga, which is so friggin' cute. Also, I just knew he'd give me something to do with Mudkips. I knew it. We also had dinner at an Italian restaurant in my neighborhood that I meant to take him to when we were a couple, but never did. Some how, taking him a platonic friend was just a lot nicer. We talked about the new Doctor, about the Joker, and about Watchmen, which was fun and nerdy.

Also, school was supposed to start back up tomorrow, but I just got a call from the school's robo-caller saying it would start on Wednesday. Hmm.

I need to work on my Financial aid form. Auuuugh loooong form is loooong.

Soooo I watched some of that new Batman cartoon today. 'The Brave and the Bold'. It was... not bad. Batman's design looks like a real kick-back to the original comics, and he's not voiced by Kevin Conroy, so for me, someone who grew up on B:TAS and Beyond, he just doesn't seem right.

BUT!

Blue Beetle 3 is in it. Which is great, because from what little I've gotten to know about the character, I like. Also, he's voiced by Will Friedle. Who voiced Terry in Beyond. This. Is. HILARIOUS to me. For those who don't know, I play Terry in a multiverse rp. The head mod plays Blue Beetle. So, I went back and read our logs, and all I can imagine is Terry talking to himself. It is magnificent.

Also, I found a new show on BBCA that I like. Some of you might remember how, a while back, I said I didn't like Torchwood because it was too much sex and not enough aliens? Well, Primeval is what Torchwood should be, just with time-traveling dinosaurs instead of sex. And a college professor instead of Captain Jack. Aaaand most of the characters are nerds. Not to mention, they do a great job of ramping up the tension, and get a lot of their dinosaur facts correct. So, as someone who played more with dinosaur toys then any other toys a kid, this show really appeals to me. I'd suggest everyone go look into it, but it's BBCA exclusive, and hard to find online. But still, it's good, and worth a look if you can find it.

Get out your nerd hats, everyone!

Since 2006, I've had people telling me that I just had to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender. I took this rather passively - if it was on while I was watching cable somewhere, I might watch it. But I wouldn't actively go looking for it. This happened once, actually - I caught the 'Avatar Day' episode while at my grandparent's house sometime that year.

Over the summer, I watched the first episode online - I was bored, it was there. I liked it, really, but quickly forgot about it. Last month, I remembered, and found the second episode. After that, practically every day I watched an episode. What can I say? I was hooked. I really liked it.

And why was that? It was the very original character designs, which, while they used anime-style art, were very well detailed, and animated in a fluid, realistic way. (In that it wasn't all chibis and sweat drops and what-have-you). It was the attention to culture and martial arts - watching Zuko use Chinese double broad swords in season two was amazing, because I could actually see real forms used by the higher belts in my studio. It was the rich story and believable writing. And, it was Sokka. Seriously, he was my favorite character. Snarky but intelligent normal guy who gets the worst lot of everything? Awesome.

I finished the series a few days ago, and what I have to say is: man. What a ride. That was the best American made cartoon I've watched since Static Shock. Maybe better.

That was nerdage number 1. Number 2 is this:

I'm sort of thinking of taking a second crack at starting an LJ rp. AegBalk was fun, but... I think if I were to restart it, I'd work a lot more on plot and setting before actually starting it. Buuuut, I'm thinking of starting a superhero rp, because I have all sorts of worlds and plots ready for that genre. Maybe. We'll see.

And on a less nerdy subject:
Took the ACT today. I don't feel like I scored any higher then last time. :/
And my CU application is in. I need to get FL in now.

So I've been rereading Watchmen in anticipation of the movie. The first time I read it was about a year and a half ago. I'd started reading it, and got about... 80% through it, then set it aside for a few months, and eventually went back and finished the last part in one sitting. Now, reading it then, it was great.

Rereading it now that I know what will happen in the end? All I have to say is Alan Moore is the fucking master of foreshadowing. Also, this time, I'm paying attention to all the little background details in the panels. akldfjkd GOD I WISH I WAS THIS GOOD.

And I'm noticing the images and lines from the trailers for the movie, and how they correspond to the panels in the book. Man, this movie is going to rock out loud. Even if it doesn't get everything perfect? It'll still be a lot better then the V for Vendetta movie. (Seriously, the book is about the Thatcher administration in Britain. Why did the movie writers have to make it about the Bush administration in the States? Whyyyyy?)

Also, I've been reading Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens. Normally, I think that Gaiman is a pretentious novelist. His comics, while not as awesome as Moore's, are good. His books... not so much. Overrated, if you ask me. (Secret: I enjoyed the movie version of Stardust and the comic version of Neverwhere - neither of which he had a large part in making - better then the novels) However, something about Pratchet's part in the writing makes the book awesome. It is fucking hilarious. And... I really, really, reeeeaaaally want the two of them to meet up with Christopher Moore (no relation to Alan Moore, mind you) and do a novel about Aziraphale, Crowley, Chase, and Raziel. THAT would be my religious parody novel dream come true.

Going out of town for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I'm going to visit my sister, and the family will eat in her apartment. This... is going to be nuts, I just know it. Dad will be stressed from doing to drive across the state. Mom will be stressed from cooking with a crappy electric stove. Sis will be stressed from buying all the food with the money she really needs to pay rent. I'll be stressed from not being able to get away from the crazy in the smallish apartment.

fakdhfjdd JOY.

Well, I'll still have pecan pie and turkey! :D

I got trendy new glasses. I really like the way they look, but they have no-line bifocal, which is new and weird to me. It makes me feel weird going down stairs. My friend Twiggy's reaction to seeing my new glasses (and slightly changed hair style) was that I now look like one of those girly j-pop boys. And my friend D told me that I could now do good cosplay of Urataros from Kamen Rider Den-O. :B I think of it like this:
Player AMRED acquired item new glasses
+5 androgyny
+2 charisma
EQUIP Y/N?

I should take some pictures and post 'em.

Aaaand getting back to the point of this post, I'll be out of town without internet until the 30th. 29th at the earliest.

Oh, and I finally started working on the 4th pokemon trainer/team picture. I got a new plasma monitor, though, and it's brighter then my old one. The colors look a bit harsher too. So I'm messing around with the image a lot, trying to get good colors.