A few little things that I've discovered in Vancouver:
1. I walk past a building (two in fact) that were used in SG-1. This makes me very happy every day.
2. Not everyone in Vancouver is obsessed with science fiction even though I think they should be. I mean come on guys there was so much cool stuff filmed here. For instance, my friend was not excited at all by the fact that we were going across the bridge used at the end of Tron (the new one). Not at all. I was grinning like a loon.
3. The woods really are great fun to run around in and pretend you're on some far off planet.
4. People don't think it's all that strange when you want to dress up for Halloween (sort of) as a baddy from a TV series. Ok, so they don't actually know that you're dressing up as a Gou'ald, they just think you're being Cleopatra.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to see Amanda Tapping at the premiere for Random Acts of Romance. I did make the effort to go to the theatre and I even took a book with me to get signed. But it seemed that the VIPs had entered the building from the back judging by the big blacked out bus parked back there. I have to admit that I was more than a little disappointed but it wasn't the end of the world. I didn't get the chance to go and see the film at all in the end due to my new job.
Yes I have managed to find something working in a Halloween shop until the beginning of November which is really good fun. Being British I had never really seen how crazy people get over here for this holiday. At home, we're doing well if we even dress up. So amongst the many MANY costumes, I decided that I would do a Gou'ald as it's lots of fun and kind of glamourous. I even managed to find something to use as a ribbon device on my hand. I can't wait to get it all sorted out. I think it's going to end up looking mostly like Hathor due to my hair colour at the moment.
I think that's it for the moment. I've regressed a bit into reading The Hunger Games again, but I'm enjoying it mostly. I still find Katniss horribly annoying as a protagonist but hey that's not going to change any time soon. I haven't had the chance to see Looper yet even though it looks just plain AWESOME. Can't wait for that one. May have to save up a bit though, the cinema here is even more expensive than home.
Showing posts with label Hunger Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hunger Games. Show all posts
Friday, 12 October 2012
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Hunger Games and New Tattoos
I finally got to see the Hunger Games last week which was as good if not better than I was expecting. I would even go as far as to say I thought it was better than the book. Shall I explain why?
For me, the book came across as typical teen-fic/angst fare. Let me be clear, this is not a bad thing. But sometimes it feels a little bit like fanfic where two characters are kind of forced together. In the book, there is a huge emphasis placed on how Katniss feels about Peeta (and Gale). This is understandable after the author decided to go with the first person present perspective. What the film allows for is room for the themes and societal injustices to come through. For me, in the book, their relationship was cloying, it was too much and overshadowed everything else that Katniss should have been feeling going into the Games. Jennifer Lawrence, in the film, allows the other fears Katniss has to come to the fore; will Gale be able to look after Prim, what will happen when she enters the Games, etc etc. The particular scene that has stuck with me since seeing the film is when she sees Cinna for the last time before entering the arena. You could see her physically shaking and there was no other indication of her fear but that action struck me as being more powerful than anything she could have said.
The themes raised by the books are valid ones, of course they are. BUT, the teen angst present in the books swamps these themes, making them seem trivial in comparison to the romantic feelings that Katniss is struggling with. Using the medium of film, the audience can see the backdrop more prominently to the Games. The massive social inequality, the ridiculous lives of the people of the Capital and the true ruthlessness of the President.
I thought the acting in general was fantastic. Jennifer Lawrence was the epitome of Katniss. She was stronger if anything, she didn't seem to have the self-doubt that troubles Katniss through the book but I think that's probably because we don't get the inner monologue present in the book.
There was one bit that had me lol-ing though (and I wasn't the only one in the cinema); when Katniss decides to find Peeta, she finds him "camou-ed" up and hiding in the stream, which should be quite a touching reunion, except the make-up is hilarious. I audibly snorted in the cinema earning myself some rather unhappy looks from the nearest fangirls. No disrespect to my own kind of course. Further to this incident I refer you to this meme.
Leaving The Hunger Games on a light note...
I've been starting to think about getting another tattoo. I got my first one a few months ago and it's very small:
But I'm really happy with it. I got the symbol for infinity as a reminder to myself of infinite possibilities and that I can do anything I put my mind to. Also it's nice and geeky although I'm starting to get sick of all the people who ask me what the number 8 means to me...
Anyway, I've been thinking for a while about another tattoo on my other wrist. As I may have mentioned before, one of my favourite books is "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. After finishing the book, I couldn't get the image of Easter's tattoo out of my head. She has a tattoo bracelet of forget-me-nots on her wrist and I love this idea. Of course in the book it's ironic, because she's the god that is almost forgotten, overshadowed by the Jesus fest that goes on in Spring. I was looking into the roots of the word 'easter' and found out that it comes from the Germanic god of fertility and spring. She was worshipped as she brought new life and vitality in the springtime. i.e. eggs and baby cute things. It's really funny that it should have been smushed together with the religious symbolism. Easter really is the most mixed up holiday there is. Anyway, after looking into this a bit more, it really cemented my thoughts on getting this tattoo as I know it will remind me of this kind of symbolism (fertility, rebirth and life NOT the religious zombie stuff) as well as the wonderfulnous that is the Gaiman. So without further ado I give you the rough design I drew a couple of weeks ago:
I would prefer the blue to be more like this but I didn't have a pen that was the right colour. I'm not sure when I'll have the nerve to do it. Or the money for that matter, but I'm hoping it will be soon. It's going to be very visible which is my main issue, I need to get over the fact that my parents/grandparents/possible employers will be able to see it.
On top of this idea, I was watching Princess Mononoke today (go and see it NOW, it's wonderful and beautiful and great in general) and I got the idea that the little 'kodama' spirits would make a very cute tattoo too.
So that might happen too. This tattoo thing is horribly addictive.
That's it for now I think. I might try and post on a more regular basis but my travel planning is stepping up so I might not have the time. I hope people enjoy these rambles. I do.
For me, the book came across as typical teen-fic/angst fare. Let me be clear, this is not a bad thing. But sometimes it feels a little bit like fanfic where two characters are kind of forced together. In the book, there is a huge emphasis placed on how Katniss feels about Peeta (and Gale). This is understandable after the author decided to go with the first person present perspective. What the film allows for is room for the themes and societal injustices to come through. For me, in the book, their relationship was cloying, it was too much and overshadowed everything else that Katniss should have been feeling going into the Games. Jennifer Lawrence, in the film, allows the other fears Katniss has to come to the fore; will Gale be able to look after Prim, what will happen when she enters the Games, etc etc. The particular scene that has stuck with me since seeing the film is when she sees Cinna for the last time before entering the arena. You could see her physically shaking and there was no other indication of her fear but that action struck me as being more powerful than anything she could have said.
The themes raised by the books are valid ones, of course they are. BUT, the teen angst present in the books swamps these themes, making them seem trivial in comparison to the romantic feelings that Katniss is struggling with. Using the medium of film, the audience can see the backdrop more prominently to the Games. The massive social inequality, the ridiculous lives of the people of the Capital and the true ruthlessness of the President.
I thought the acting in general was fantastic. Jennifer Lawrence was the epitome of Katniss. She was stronger if anything, she didn't seem to have the self-doubt that troubles Katniss through the book but I think that's probably because we don't get the inner monologue present in the book.
There was one bit that had me lol-ing though (and I wasn't the only one in the cinema); when Katniss decides to find Peeta, she finds him "camou-ed" up and hiding in the stream, which should be quite a touching reunion, except the make-up is hilarious. I audibly snorted in the cinema earning myself some rather unhappy looks from the nearest fangirls. No disrespect to my own kind of course. Further to this incident I refer you to this meme.
Leaving The Hunger Games on a light note...
I've been starting to think about getting another tattoo. I got my first one a few months ago and it's very small:
But I'm really happy with it. I got the symbol for infinity as a reminder to myself of infinite possibilities and that I can do anything I put my mind to. Also it's nice and geeky although I'm starting to get sick of all the people who ask me what the number 8 means to me...
Anyway, I've been thinking for a while about another tattoo on my other wrist. As I may have mentioned before, one of my favourite books is "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. After finishing the book, I couldn't get the image of Easter's tattoo out of my head. She has a tattoo bracelet of forget-me-nots on her wrist and I love this idea. Of course in the book it's ironic, because she's the god that is almost forgotten, overshadowed by the Jesus fest that goes on in Spring. I was looking into the roots of the word 'easter' and found out that it comes from the Germanic god of fertility and spring. She was worshipped as she brought new life and vitality in the springtime. i.e. eggs and baby cute things. It's really funny that it should have been smushed together with the religious symbolism. Easter really is the most mixed up holiday there is. Anyway, after looking into this a bit more, it really cemented my thoughts on getting this tattoo as I know it will remind me of this kind of symbolism (fertility, rebirth and life NOT the religious zombie stuff) as well as the wonderfulnous that is the Gaiman. So without further ado I give you the rough design I drew a couple of weeks ago:
I would prefer the blue to be more like this but I didn't have a pen that was the right colour. I'm not sure when I'll have the nerve to do it. Or the money for that matter, but I'm hoping it will be soon. It's going to be very visible which is my main issue, I need to get over the fact that my parents/grandparents/possible employers will be able to see it.
On top of this idea, I was watching Princess Mononoke today (go and see it NOW, it's wonderful and beautiful and great in general) and I got the idea that the little 'kodama' spirits would make a very cute tattoo too.
So that might happen too. This tattoo thing is horribly addictive.
That's it for now I think. I might try and post on a more regular basis but my travel planning is stepping up so I might not have the time. I hope people enjoy these rambles. I do.
Saturday, 17 March 2012
The Gorn, Spiderman shower puffs and Doctor Who Monopoly.
I wanted to write a quick piece about a few things that have happened over the last couple of weeks. I feel like I should be writing more but I seem to barely be finding time to myself at the moment. But that's boring - on to more interesting things!
It was my birthday last week and my friends, as usual, came up trumps with the geeky stash. Over the past few years I have received David Tennant as Doctor Who posters, Star Trek (TOS) keyrings and many other exciting things. This year I got my very first Star Trek TNG comic.
As you can see it's a late TNG storyline. It's set before Nemesis as far as I could tell because Data was present. I don't read a lot of comics but the characterisation as far as I could tell was not brilliant. It was a bit typical of the later movies actually; a lot of focus on Data and Picard with the other characters reduced to parodies of themselves. Riker in particular. As I've said before, I don't like bashing things so we'll move swiftly onto the positives. The artwork in this issue was beautiful, as you would expect in the first issue of a series. There was a brilliant little 'case file' in the back of the comic that explained how the creator had gone about drawing the Gorn and building up the mythology of the race and the background. Clearly, a lot of thought had gone into it. This made me enjoy it all the more. Going into the Gorn aspect in more detail, my friends hadn't heard of the infamous Gorn fight scene in TOS. This is alluded to in the comic and I loved that. Here's the clip if you've not seen it:
This is just a taste but as you can see it has to be one of the worst fight scenes in sci-fi history. The scene has been alluded to numerous times by various other shows (including Star Trek:Enterprise, see the episodes "In a Mirror, Darkly"). Anyway, the creator of this comic creates a whole back story to the Gorn species which makes the whole thing seem not so silly. I'm very appreciative of that and I think it works.
Other geeky things that have occurred this week:
I got a new shower puff:
You like? I do feel a little bit weird using Spiderman to wash myself but oh well, it was like 50p or something!
I got a retweet! Yay! By the lovely Geek Syndicate. (I'll add there website to the list at the side when I've finished writing this.) I used my personal account so I won't go into too much detail but I was excited. Those guys are lovely.
I'm getting WAY too excited about the Hunger Games. I've promised my flatmate that I'll go with him to see it next Saturday but I might have to go for a sneak peek on Friday. SFX have been running daily interviews with cast and crew, you can find them here. I have tended to scoff Twilight fans (which is what many are comparing this to) but NO LONGER. I have officially turned into a fangirl when it comes to this film. Although it seems I've become obsessed with Jennifer Lawrence as opposed to a male lead. This was proven in a pub quiz a couple of weeks ago when she was the answer to a question and I was the only one who knew that. Out of all the people on all the teams. Not a fangirl wannabe for nothing you know.
I played a lovely game of Doctor Who Monopoly with friends the other night. We had extra points for DW references made throughout the game. Someone suggested adding an infinity mirror to the inside of the box to make it look (altogether now) bigger on the inside.
I finished Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds as well. The ending was breath-taking in its scope and themes. I was blown away and when I find the time, I promise to put up a short post/review about it. I'm trying to find the time to write a review for The Time Traveler's Wife as well but that's for other reasons.
Fun and geeky japes this week. Apologies for dodgy photography, it's really not my forte.
Til next time folks, keep squeeing!
(Don't worry that's not a catch-phrase and it definitely won't be used again. I promise.)
It was my birthday last week and my friends, as usual, came up trumps with the geeky stash. Over the past few years I have received David Tennant as Doctor Who posters, Star Trek (TOS) keyrings and many other exciting things. This year I got my very first Star Trek TNG comic.
As you can see it's a late TNG storyline. It's set before Nemesis as far as I could tell because Data was present. I don't read a lot of comics but the characterisation as far as I could tell was not brilliant. It was a bit typical of the later movies actually; a lot of focus on Data and Picard with the other characters reduced to parodies of themselves. Riker in particular. As I've said before, I don't like bashing things so we'll move swiftly onto the positives. The artwork in this issue was beautiful, as you would expect in the first issue of a series. There was a brilliant little 'case file' in the back of the comic that explained how the creator had gone about drawing the Gorn and building up the mythology of the race and the background. Clearly, a lot of thought had gone into it. This made me enjoy it all the more. Going into the Gorn aspect in more detail, my friends hadn't heard of the infamous Gorn fight scene in TOS. This is alluded to in the comic and I loved that. Here's the clip if you've not seen it:
This is just a taste but as you can see it has to be one of the worst fight scenes in sci-fi history. The scene has been alluded to numerous times by various other shows (including Star Trek:Enterprise, see the episodes "In a Mirror, Darkly"). Anyway, the creator of this comic creates a whole back story to the Gorn species which makes the whole thing seem not so silly. I'm very appreciative of that and I think it works.
Other geeky things that have occurred this week:
I got a new shower puff:
You like? I do feel a little bit weird using Spiderman to wash myself but oh well, it was like 50p or something!
I got a retweet! Yay! By the lovely Geek Syndicate. (I'll add there website to the list at the side when I've finished writing this.) I used my personal account so I won't go into too much detail but I was excited. Those guys are lovely.
I'm getting WAY too excited about the Hunger Games. I've promised my flatmate that I'll go with him to see it next Saturday but I might have to go for a sneak peek on Friday. SFX have been running daily interviews with cast and crew, you can find them here. I have tended to scoff Twilight fans (which is what many are comparing this to) but NO LONGER. I have officially turned into a fangirl when it comes to this film. Although it seems I've become obsessed with Jennifer Lawrence as opposed to a male lead. This was proven in a pub quiz a couple of weeks ago when she was the answer to a question and I was the only one who knew that. Out of all the people on all the teams. Not a fangirl wannabe for nothing you know.
I played a lovely game of Doctor Who Monopoly with friends the other night. We had extra points for DW references made throughout the game. Someone suggested adding an infinity mirror to the inside of the box to make it look (altogether now) bigger on the inside.
I finished Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds as well. The ending was breath-taking in its scope and themes. I was blown away and when I find the time, I promise to put up a short post/review about it. I'm trying to find the time to write a review for The Time Traveler's Wife as well but that's for other reasons.
Fun and geeky japes this week. Apologies for dodgy photography, it's really not my forte.
Til next time folks, keep squeeing!
(Don't worry that's not a catch-phrase and it definitely won't be used again. I promise.)
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