Rock-n-Roll Journey to Mars

Holy fuck, why didn't anyone tell me about the new My Little Pony cartoon sooner? Only two episodes in, but it took all my will power to pry myself away from youtube to go make dinner instead of watching all the other episodes. I have no idea what it is, but that show is awesome. Maybe I'm just remembering the "girl" shows from my childhood, and how I was always much more interested in watching Batman cartoons or poorly dubbed shonen anime because I felt that the "girl" shows were boring. The new MLP show, though? Has girls doing stuff! And being interested in a wide range of things instead of just makeup! And it's probably THE ONLY show I can point to where I assume that a character is female unless otherwise stated instead of male being the default. Seriously, this show is great and I really want to watch more of it.

Though, I think I heard some grumblings about Rainbow Dash being lesbian because she's tomboy and has a rainbow-colored mane and tail? Okay people, 1) they're ponies. It doesn't matter. And 2) maybe it's just me, but every pony I've seen so far strikes me as a lesbian. So. Yeah.

*ahem* Well, now that I've already been a huge GIRL all over this post, might as well add to it with some cooking stuff, eh?



New post up on my blog! This time I made some Barbecue Biscuit Cups, and they are tasty and awesome. Recipe found here!

So much awesome happened this weekend aaaaaaaaah

I turned 20 yesterday, which is awesome. No longer a teen, whoo! 'Wicked' happened to be playing in the local performing arts center this month, and my mom was awesome and got me tickets! My sister came down and saw the show with me and holy crap. It was awesome. It deviates quite a bit from the book (which I only read half of, a long time ago, but I could still tell it kind of took an axe to the source...) but it was still really enjoyable. The first part of the first act was kind of meh, but it got awesome right before the act break and in the second act. The stage effects were amazing, the costumes were amazing, the music was amazing. I loved it.

Also got comics for my birthday! Some I bought myself (Batman Beyond 1 and 2) and some my roommates got me for my birthday (Justice League Europe #1 (from the 80s!) and some 90s X-men title). Haven't read the comics my friends got me yet, but I just finished Batman Beyond and fafdafadfkjkldsafd it was awesome.

Terry teaming up with the future Justice League will always make for awesomeness, because the future league is COOL. And I am going to continue to ship Batman/Aquagirl EVEN THOUGH THEY'VE SPOKEN LIKE TWICE NOW. I said in my review of Hush Beyond that I had some issues with how they write Terry and Bruce, and I think they are improving. Terry is back to cracking jokes and being a smartass, and I can hear his dialogue in my head as being spoken by the show's VA, so that's an improvement over the miniseries. Bruce still feels more like the comic Bats then Cartoon Bats, but it's not as extreme as it was in the miniseries. He just... back-seat superheroes a whole lot more in the comics then the cartoon. Also, Terry family and Dana are actually getting some active roles in the comic! The cartoon was pretty careful to keep them out of danger, and even when their lives were threatened by the Joker in the movie, we didn't see them in danger. I like that they give Terry a reason to be careful and that they themselves show signs of bravery. Having a family is the biggest difference between Terry and Bruce, and I'm glad the comic writers are taking advantage of that.

Ah damn, that got way too long. I came here to talk about my birthday, not Batman.

I finally got my hands on the Batman Beyond miniseries comics! Well, sort of. I went to the comic store for the first time in months the other week, and they had issues 4-6, so I bought those. But they didn't have 1-3 and didn't think any store in town would. So I resorted to buying online... but couldn't find issue 1. BUT. I got 2-6, so I at least got to read them. Here's my thoughts on the miniseries, under the cut because of spoilers.

( Hush Beyond spoilers )

Wooooow, TL;DR. Congrats to whoever read through all my nerdy ramblings. So, long story short: There are some problems with characterization and the villains, but I still really enjoyed the series. I look forward to the ongoing series, and hope the fandom will get more active. Oh, and expect some icons from the comic from me soon.

I saw the Karate Kid remake today, and I really enjoyed it. I admit, when I first heard it was being remade, I had my doubts. The original was a great movie, and I didn't really think it needed to be remade. But as I saw the trailers come out, I became really excited about it. And it really did not disappoint.

I'm kind of annoyed by the title - it really should be 'The Kung Fu Kid' instead of Karate, and that's actually what the international title is. I'm disappointed that someone in production decided Americans are too dumb to realize that this is a Karate Kid remake without the title.

Still, the film was really enjoyable. It follows the plot of the original really closely, though with some differences (waxing the car turns into hanging up a jacket, Mr. Haung's family is lost a different way from Mr. Miyagi's, etc), but that's okay, I think. The movie is energetic and fun. When the kids hit one another, it really looks like it hurts. The audience (at least where I was watching) really go into the action, and cared about the characters. There were some points were Dre got hit really hard, and you could hear a collective gasp from everyone in the theatre. When he scored a good hit, people clapped and cheered. I don't normally like when people do that in theatres, but even I couldn't resist.

The characters were fantastic, and easy to like. Dre was portrayed as a typical American - there was hardly any mention that he was black, other then a few comments about his hair from some of his Chinese school mates. It was nice to see him be just a character, instead of a 'black character'. He was energetic and a little ignorant, but well-meaning and sweet. Mr. Haung was an amazing role for Jackie Chan. He tends to get type-cast into comedic roles, but here he really got to show off his serious acting chops, and he was amazing. He didn't have very many fight scenes, and when he did, they weren't super-fancy. At the end of them, he'd even look really tired, like he was getting too old for martial arts. His fighting didn't overshadow Jaden's, and that was a good thing. And speaking of Jaden's martial arts... holy crap. I hope the kid keeps up with it, because he was amazing. I'd love to see him getting staring roles in American-made wuxia films when he's an adult. How awesome would that be? A black kung fu star. I'd love to see that.

Anyways, it was a great movie. If you've seen the original, you know how it ends, so you may not be inclined to see it. But I think it brings enough originality to it to make it really fun and interesting.

Some college kids spend their spring break partying. I spent mine making pie.

Really awesome lemon meringue pie, at that.





*om nom nom nom*

I also tried to make s'mores cupcakes with my friend Penguin, but it was really weird. The batter didn't cook. We gave it extra time in the oven, and the tops of the cupcakes cooked through, but the actual cake was still raw in the center. It was really strange, and we had to throw them out. Which was a shame, because the bits of the tops that we pulled off of the muffin tin and ate were delicious.

Christopher Moore is going to be in town next week, signing books and talking about his latest novel, and I'm going to be back in NM. :< Sad. Though, I guess that's a good thing, because if I had gotten to meet him, I probably would have taken my copy of Fool, slapped him with it, and demanded to know what the hell he was thinking, writing a bad Mary Sue fic for King Leer. Yeah, that book disappointed me.

And I finished reading Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. It was... okay. Not really good, not really bad, just... okay. The plot was pretty much the plot of the movie Doomsday, just in Victorian Seattle instead of Future Scotland. The main characters were pretty bland and uninteresting, while the side characters were awesome and fun. I would have preferred to read a book about Lucy and Swakhammer and how they wound up in the city and in debt to the villain, rather then about the dull as hell main characters. Speaking of the villain, he doesn't show up until the last 80 or so pages of the book. Which yeah, I can understand wanting to keep him in the shadows and seem all cool and mysterious, but it doesn't really work when you reveal who he is and tie up the entire plot after he's only been in about three chapters. Climax is really rushed, and left me feeling underwhelmed. Also, a lot of elements seemed to be thrown in just to make the story more "steampunk-y", like needing goggles to see the poison gas, or describing the city as looking all washed out and yellow (seriously, I think the author wanted the reader to imagine everything with a sepia filter in their head). I wouldn't really recommend this as a staple of the steampunk genre, since it's pretty much the same tropes and cliches of all steampunk. But if you're in between books and need something to read, it's not horrible.

Exactly what the title says! I'm thinking of doing a sketch dump once a month from now on.

( Aliens, Steampunk, fan art, and one very angry cat under the cut )

In other news, I finally finished the Zot! Black and White Collection by Scott McCloud. It had some problems, but I really liked it. The conflicting ideologies of strict science and loose imagination where interesting, without be contrived or a bit science versus magic/religion/whatever plot. I also really loved the focus on the mundane - I've always dug looking at normal people doing normal things in a epic setting, because it helps me relate to the characters. Sure, I wanted to know what Zot was up to, but I could relate to Jenny's yearning to be in the perfect alternate earth and trying to deal with an idealist in a world that doesn't live up to their standards. The art could be better, and sometimes the story is a bit scattered, but it's definitely a good read.

So I saw the latest Harry Potter movie yesterday, and... honestly, it was better then I expected. In short: it had more humor then I was expecting, cut out a lot of more dull parts of the book, and was decent. There were still a lot of problems, such as the over-use of de-saturization filters, a lot of wooden acting, and a few too many Lord of the Rings similarities. A longer and rather spoiler-filled review is under the cut.

( Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince review )

Agh, way too long there. But fuck it, I had to say it.

So, y'know on monday, how I said I was going to post photos from DC? Yeeeah, not gonna happen. Our digital camera memory card reader died a horrible, horrible death on us. >:( Which sucks, 'cause there were some nice pictures from the trip. Like of really awesome jellyfish and stuff. Darn.

In other news, I saw Watchmen and Milk with my sister this week. My thoughts on both (a bit spoilery, so behind a cut):
( Watchmen and Milk )

I've got a lot of scholarship stuff I need to work on, but for the most part I'm pretty relaxed. I've been excepted to my choice colleges - the stressful part is over. One way or another, I'll get the money I need for school. I'm content now. I'll probably turn back into a ball of nerves close to June or July, though.

Also, I decided to pick up another character in T9. Holly Short, from Artemis Fowl, one of my personal feminist role models. She's so different from Terry; she's an adult, level-headed, with no hang-ups about guns. She's a tough and pointy lady cop, and I know her and her canon backward and forward. Seriously. I can name every item she carries on her belt. FFFFF I'M A NERD.

Heeey, hope everyone had safe and happy holidays! Oddly enough, this year was wonderful in my house. No big meltdowns or anything. I think it helps that my sis has a steady career-like job and is taking some meds (she's bipolar. Seriously. To the point that she has two emotions - really happy and really depressed), so she's not stressed out like she was in college. Which is great, y'know?

My family used to spend christmas with my mom's brothers and their families, but once all the cousins started going to college and my grandmother died, we stopped that tradition. Now we see a movie on christmas day. We saw Seven Pounds, which was... okay. The story was good, but it took waaaay too long to get to the plot. And it was really easy to see where it was going with it. I would have preferred to see Frost/Nixon or Milk, but, eh.

I finally have some new games for my DS! (I've only had Pokemon Diamond since I bought the DS) Now I have Pokemon Ranger, Mystery Dungeon (blue team), Phoenix Wright: Justice for All (is this the sequel or the first one? I can't tell), and Apollo Justice. Played a bit of PW, but stopped right at the first cross-examination because it was midnight and I didn't feel like yelled at my DS. Pokemon Ranger was kind fun, but the character designs are kind... Kingdom Hearts-y, which I don't really care for. And FUCK, SOLENA, PUT ON SOME GODDAMN PANTS. Mystery Dungeon is ADORABLE. I think it's the cutest game I've ever played. I'm a mudkip in it, and my partner is a Torchic named Pecho. adkfdlkf so cuuuuute.

Oh, and I have a top hat now. :3 I can be dapper. Maybe I'll get some pictures up.

Anyways, happy holidays to everyone! I've got some art I need to upload, so I'll get to that soon.

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.