Weekend Round Up #15

After three days of storms, flooding and power outages the sun has emerged - just in time for me to write my blog...typical.

So, I, rather stupidly, bought Alien: Colonial Marines for the PS3 thinking that it was going to be a bit of fun. Unfortunately, it ruined some of the original allure for the Weyland Yutani world of Alien/Aliens but now there is a new Alien game coming out...Alien: Isolation set 15 years after the Nostromo 'disappeared' and starring Amanda Ripley (Ripley's daughter).

Watch this behind the scenes:



I love seeing this stuff because there is always a lot of effort going into things like this. I mean, I watched a behind the scenes thing on The Last of Us which was amazing as well. Plus, this game looks pretty good so far!

And from aliens to little orphans...it's the Annie trailer. It brings out the musical geek in me...



Then there is this...Browncoat for life...

Stephen Bryne mashed Firefly with Disney art styles and I love it. There is some amazing artwork on his page, check it out!

Here there be spoilers for the dreaded Purple Wedding - you have been warned...

(Source Dorkly) Basically, things I've learned from George R.R. Martin - don't go to colour themed weddings...

And finally, HISHE have done it again with this amazing video.



Hope you are all having a great Easter weekend.

Peace and pancakes
Jaime

Weekend Round Up #12

Another week and another load of trailers and new stuff to hit the interwebs. (My students get so frustrated when I say interwebs. In their brain it makes no sense, I, however, laugh at it so...)

First up is the TMNT trailer that dropped earlier this week. I'm not a fan of Michael Bay, especially after sitting through the second Transformers film. I couldn't watch the third. Now, there have been many rumours around this film and many of them have not made the fans happy. Watch the trailer and let me know what you think...



I still can't see Megan Fox as April O'Neil. I tried but I just can't. As for the design of the turtles themselves...I need to see more in order to fully make up my mind. I'm going to see it, regardless, but I'll hold further judgement until I see more from a trailer.

Next, check out this amazing deviantART gallery. Tohad has done some, slightly disturbing, BadAss art reimagining of some of our favourite cartoons.

I'd seriously love to have prints of these adorning the walls of my geeky house. They'd look perfect next to my TARDIS.

Then there was this beautiful, beautiful music from Carnegie Hall.



Honestly, this is so beautiful and fun! And, I don't care what anyone else says, I love the graphics.

This next video is from a TedTalk back in January but I just watched it the other day and thought it was brilliant. Maysoon Zayid is just hilarious...



And, finally, some more nerdy art from the talented people on DeviantART. This time an artist who goes by the name. MyCKs (MyCks Sato)

It's just so cute. Check out the rest of the gallery and then the etsy page.

I hope this weeks post has bought some enjoyment to your day. I need to get back to marking - only a couple of essays left to go. Then some planning...

Have a lovely weekend folks.

Jaime.

Things that I am...

I am human. I do the whole bleeding thing when I am pricked. (No dirty pun intended...)

I am female. I can do the whole reproduction thing if I so choose.

I am a sister. Which means that I am the only one who is allowed to love and hate my sister at the same time. (Well maybe not the only one...)

I am a daughter. I can call my dad 'daddy' just for laughs, never for money. I can wear my emotions plainly around my mother.

I am a friend. This means that I have your back. Always. Even if I think you're being an idiot and a jerk I'll still have your back until you give up on me, not the other way round.

I am a nerd/geek/dork. I can argue the benefits of being an intergalactic smuggler with a heart of gold and I get things such as 'you're killing me, Smalls' typed on a tee shirt. Or 'Schrodinger's Cat, wanted Dead & Alive.'

This list can go on and on. I don't even know what prompted me to write it beside the fact that I was thinking late last night after playing a round of Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles on the Wii and wishing I had an Xbox. (Or a Playstation - I'm not gamist.) What that has to do with me listing what I am I have no idea.

Well, I guess I could say that these ideas come from me finishing my first term of teaching. There were some amazing highs and twice the amount of lows. At least once a week I would come home feeling utterly defeated. Now, I may not have battled full on depression but I have moments where I feel life is so utterly pointless and having those once a week because of something a student did or didn't do was hard.

What was even harder was the fact that many of these students have no real identity, idea or clue as to who they are and what they're capable of. They laugh at me for being a geek (which I don't give a frak about because I am a geek.) and then they tease someone else for being different when all I can see are a bunch of young minds going to waste because they cannot see what is in front of them.

Oh, and the language, please don't get me started on the language. I swear occasionally but it isn't my second language, nor is it my third. But the way that some of these kids talk...it's disgusting.

But I am going back next term. And, for most of them, it will be the first time that they've had the same English teacher for two terms in a row. I have a lot of things that I could say about that but I am a semi-logical person and I realise that there is no point. I can't change what has happened to them I can only try to change what will.

And, to end on a lighter note, I have been listening to this amazing talent for the last two days and thought I would share.

And this:

Hope you enjoy and hope you are having a good weekend.

Random is as Random Does?

I've come to realise that I attract random. By 'random' I mean people, events and situations. For example, Monday night - let me set the scene:

It was a rather chill night with the smell of frost in the air. Our heroine (well...me...) was curled up on the couch, sneakily indulging in some ice cream, hokey pokey ice cream to be precise, while watching CSI not because she wanted to but because the other two channels had nothing to offer. With one eye on the telly and the other attempting to play Farmville an intellectual game found on Facebook our heroine became aware of a noise and not just any noise, mind you, but yelling.

At first our heroine is confused. Is it coming from the telly? Mute says no. So our heroine, dressed in the finest of pyjamas, wanders over to the door and peering out the curtain sees someone opened the rear door and entering my garage. Still under the illusion that it might be someone she knows she throws open the door realising, too late, that it is a complete stranger.

Anyway, it was some random repo guys looking for a place up in the middle of nowhere. This was at 9.30ish at night. Plus he smelt like he had dipped himself in the cheapest aftershave that he could find, you know, how some older folk do? My theory is they're scared of decomposing or the smell associated with it and disguise it with perfume and aftershave. Unfortunately, my sensitive nose begins to run and my eyes water: end result sneezy, blubbery mess.

Another case in point is when I found myself in an 'adult toy shop' in central London being given advice on vibrators and other such things by a woman who looked like Homer Simpson's mother. In my defence I was incredibly drunk and my friends were dreadfully funny - especially with some of the questions they were asking.

Or there was the time when my trousers/pants decided that it was the perfect time to fall down in front of a crowd. Or the time the person I'd only just met gave me a full account of his sexual exploits or the girl who threatened to call the IRA on me because I'd stopped her attacking another girl in a hostel. She also tried to strangle me and threw tampons at my bed - then denied it saying that I had thrown the tampons on my bed. (In case you were wondering, the tampons weren't used...) Luckily the security guard knew me and believed me over her. She was truly off her nut.

There are events like this strewn through my childhood. Some are hilarious while others, looking back, are actually rather wrong but I won't go into those. Anyway, this is just a small insight into the everyday on goings of my life. Tune in next time when I talk about strangers who tell me way too much personal information...

So - have any of you had strange encounters like this? Not necessarily tampons being thrown at you...

On why I should be scared of bugs but I'm not...

In the ongoing saga of insects in my life I woke last night, convinced that there was something moving in my bed. As I was half asleep I couldn't see anything and I really didn't want to turn on my light because it would have burnt my retinas...you know what I mean - that first moment when you turn on the light after waking up and you feel as if you have been staring into the sun for several minutes. So, in an half arsed attempt, I felt around, trying to see if I could find what it was to no avail. Because I was half asleep and I could no longer feel anything I went back to sleep. *

When I wake up in the morning I happen to glance over at my pillow and performed one of my non screams since there was a freaking huge cockroach just chilling on my pillow. Now, whether this was the thing moving in my bed or not it still wasn't something I expected to see on my pillow in the early hours of the morning. This just means that in the last few weeks I've had a maggot encounter and now a cockroach one. Oh, not to mention the massive huntsman spider I found chilling on my wall.

Before you say anything my house is clean. It's not like I live in a pig sty or anything resembling that I just seem to attract insects. Maybe I should re-label myself the bug lady? I could start dressing in green and just make my glasses more round and insectoid like. And now I keep seeing myself as Rita Skeeter. ** Also, even after all this I still don't mind bugs...to be rather honest I find them fascinating. I still would be a bit wary with shoving my hand into a container full of bugs but I'm still not going to run screaming from one end of the house to the other.

So, since bugs seem to be my calling at the moment I am going to watch The X Files episode "Ice" from Season One. You know the one? Where there are those parasites that cause rage and general anger management issues...

In other news that I'm still of one mind - I may have gotten a job in my local bookstore. It's only for four months so far but I'm a bit undecided on the whole issue. This is due mainly to the fact that it's the job I had five years ago and left just before I went overseas. I feel kinda of like I've gone in a giant circle? Ah well - at least it will be a regular source of income for a few months and I'll still have time to write...hopefully.

*This proves that I would probably be one of the first to die in a horror film. Or maybe not first cause I'm pretty sure I'm not dumb enough to be one of those girls sneaking off for a quick...ahem...in the middle of the forest. Nor am I dimb enough to wear high heels in the middle of the woods. Who does that?
**Bonus points for the Harry Potter mention? Right? Please?

In which I talk about the RaptorRapture...

So, it's the 22nd of May over here in New Zealand but, because I live by myself, I cannot truly confirm whether the rapture has happened. Anyway, I have decided to rename it the Raptor because it sounds so much cooler. The only thing I can confirm is that I have gone and gotten myself a stupid cold. I woke up this morning with my mouth feeling like I'd eating cotton all night and, before you ask, I checked my pillow and it was still all there. Then my ears have been popping all morning followed by the fact that my throat has gone all funky which makes everything I eat taste like arse - or how I assume arse tastes since I have never actually tasted arse... I hate frigging colds. And I hate them even more when they happen at the start of winter.

As to the Raptor (rapture) well, I had great amusement on reading the twitter feed last night. There were some very crazy puns coming out there and some great music recommendations for #myraptureplaylist. Then there were all the cool photos for rapture pranks. But then I found out that some of Harold Camping's 'followers' have spent outrageous amounts of their own money on signs and other such promotions for the rapture.

Here are some links if you're interested:

Broadcaster silent as Judgment Day hours tick by
False Prophet Harold Camping Banked Millions on Doomday Scam
Rapture: the end was not nigh, after all

Not being religious myself I had a little trouble understanding why people would blindly follow something and give away all their money for advertisements. It makes no sense to me and, with my limited experience of religion I always assumed that it was all about faith and being a good person - treating others how you wish to be treated and so on. Sadly, that doesn't always seem to be the case.

Anyway, that was getting a bit too deep for this morning so I am going to post this and curl up watching Bones and then maybe Zombieland while inhaling warm cups of tea, getting in touch with my British side.

Enjoy your Raptor free day all.

In which I talk about self esteem and me...

I'm never going to be a model, super or otherwise. I'm too quirky in looks and attitude. I have freckles...lots of the little blighters. I'm rather on the short side. I have hair that, if I'm not careful, makes me look like I've electrocuted myself and, no matter how much I exercise I still seem to stay the same curvy shape. I'm better than I was after living in the UK where a steady diet of fast food had my weight rocketing sky high and my self esteem falling into a crater somewhere. After a reality check that I gave myself I joined a gym and the excess weight started to drop off. I've still got a little way to go but I eat healthy, exercise daily and try to boost my confidence in small ways.

But, for the longest time, I felt confused. You see, we are bombarded with all these images of what a real woman is supposed to look like. She's supposed to have this colour hair or these coloured eyes or this build and so on. She was always to wear make up, and if she didn't have the latest fashions she wasn't cool. And, I'm pretty sure it is the same for guys.

I admit, I went through a stage where I bought the Cosmo magazine. I actually feel ashamed that I spent three months buying a magazine that is actually a poor example of reading material. Oh, wait, I do recall that there were actually a couple of articles that dealt with things such as Female Genital Mutilation and rape but all of that was hidden amongst adds for getting longer lashes, getting a smoking hot body or how to please a guy with seven moves. You know what I mean - it was always in that sealed section that you opened feeling slightly naughty.

But, over the last few years, I've had a bit of a wake up call. Nothing dramatic, mind you, just little things that I've noticed that made me re-think a lot of things. You see, I was born with a cleft lip and palate. This is something that people who meet me for the first time may notice. They may not know what it is but they may see the tell tale scars, or the fact that my nose is a little crooked. What they may not know is that I have had over fifteen surgeries to 'correct' that. (Plus four or five others due to me being rather klutzy) I've had braces, which I was actually proud of. I've had my jaw broken twice and I've been traumatised by clowns. I've had people call me names and worse, which, looking back on it, is rather silly because my problems were no worse or better than any of theirs, I just looked a little different.

For a long time, I hid behind this, not thinking that having this made me who I am, just like having blue eyes and blond hair makes my sister my sister, you know. When I see my scars I no longer see a reminder of pain but I see another of my quirks. I see the skill of the surgeon who was able to do what he did. I see the patience of my parents who drove me four hours, both ways, to have these surgeries and appointments. I also see me - and some days I like what I see and others I don't but, when those days get rather, um, yuck I make a list of things that I like - not necessarily about me but what I like in general. Or I listen to some great music and rock out like a loon. 

So, I may never grace the pages of any fancy magazines and I will probably not be seen walking down a cat walk any time soon. (Which is a good think because I have this tendency to trip over my own feet cause I'm often day dreaming far too much.) So what. Just because I'm not petite or graceful or have amazing cheek bones or a killer walk doesn't mean that I'm not a little awesome in my own way.


I guess I just wanted to let people know that, although you may feel ugly or alone or lost, you are still you. You shouldn't have to conform to someone else's idea of beauty. Embrace your quirks because, as they say, beauty fades. And, honestly, would you rather talk to someone about what kind of mascara makes your eyes pop or someone who actually has something interesting to say that isn't a stock answer pulled from a hat?

P.S. I know that everyone probably tells you the same thing over and over again but seriously, being yourself is a hell of a lot more interesting than being what everyone else wants you to be.

P.P.S - Serious post, I know. Just felt like letting everyone know that it's okay to be you. I'm putting my soap box away and getting back to my writing, I promise.


P.P.P.S. Have a freaking awesome day, each and every one of you!


P.P.P.P.S. My mum just read this and she smiled. I am happy.

In which I talk about fear...

I like to think of myself as a relatively strong minded female. I don't have a fear of spiders, snakes or lizards. I'm not scared of sharks or heights (though I don't like lifts for some odd reason). I'm not scared of breaking a nail or embarrassing myself in public, since that is an everyday event with me. I watch all forms of horror movies and get those fun little fears but nothing that makes me unable to deal with everyday life.

In short, I don't suffer from the fears that some people might have. My sister, for example, is terrified of spiders. Any spider. Even the tiniest baby spider. I have friends who are terrified of birds and flying and everything like that. This is all perfectly normal. Some days I'd like to have a normal fear instead of the irrational ones that I carry around with me.

For a few years now I have been able to say that only three things genuinely scare me. The first one is clowns - which is not irrational since being in a children's ward at a hospital apparently gives clowns the right to terrify young, sick children. The second fear is needles - which I have gotten better with after getting two tattoos. The third is a mixture of death and the fear that reality is not real...so, you know, random but within reason. And none of these are all consuming.

BUT, something happened today that scared the S*@t out of me. I was about to jump into the shower after getting back from the gym when I realised that the bathmat/towel was moving. Not much but it was definitely moving. So, I rubbed my eyes, grabbed a clean towel and my glasses and found twenty little maggots doing their thing on my towel.

I don't scream. Not because I don't want to but because I can't - my throat just brings forth this mighty yelp followed by several curse words and I fling the maggot covered towel out the window into the rain. Then, feeling a little be relieved I have my shower.* I get dressed, a lot quicker than I would usually and decide to go on a hunt because, for the life of my, I can't figure out where they are coming from.

After ten minutes, and the occasional maggot, I finally figure out that they are, literally, falling from the ceiling. From the light socket, to be exact, which leads me to the conclusion that something has gone and died in my roof and...well you know the rest.

So, for the last few minutes I have been sitting here, occasionally shaking my head as the paranoia creeps in. I am remembering a film I watched when I was younger, Phenomena by Dario Argento. There is a scene where Jennifer Connolly's character falls into a pool full of maggots and rotting carcasses...great film if I remember correctly though very strange.

On that note - I will leave you with that disturbing image and wish you all a maggot free day. ** I'm just going to sit here and occasionally check my hair for random maggots...

*Sometimes I worry myself...
** Just to note - maggots don't tend to bother me too much as I am aware of their use in criminology and medicine but seriously...this is just freaky.

In which I am like Garfield and detest Monday mornings...

Like that famous orange cat that we love so much I sometimes have issues with Mondays and I find myself wondering whether this is something that is psychologically programmed into us from a young age. Almost everything starts on a Monday. Work starts back, if you happen to be in one of those 9-5 Monday to Friday gigs. I was in one of those once. Loved the fact that I had the weekend off then realised that I liked having days off in the middle of the week cause I could go see a movie by myself and not be surrounded by people.*

People go back to school on a Monday and I hated school. Let me rephrase that, I abhorred High School. If there was a hell on earth it would be High School. Who was the genius who decided that it would be a great idea to have teens all localised in one place? They must have known that the hormones oozing out of the very pores of these kids was a recipe for disaster, right? I mean, I can't think of anything worse than being put back into high school unless I had the knowledge I have now.** My memories of high school, which I have tried very hard to repress, always began on a Monday, which meant there were five long days for me to have gum thrown in my hair, have my uniform cut or drawn on and other lovely things that kids do to each other.

And we all know the song by the Boomtown Rats, right? I Don't Like Mondays. And we know the story behind it? Click Me

Anyway, I woke this morning in one of those moods that you can attribute to it being Monday and all I could think of was Garfield being all tucked up in his, outrageously small, cat bed peering out and saying how much he hates Monday.

So, to get me out of this funk I have been playing this song on endless repeat just to make me move and feel less like a sloth and more like the energiser bunny. I hope it brings you a little joy on this Monday morning (or whatever time it is for you at the moment you read this.)

Have a great Monday, y'all. 



*I'm not ashamed to admit that I go to the movies by myself. Sometimes I prefer it because I choose the film, I choose where to sit and I don't have to worry about getting hurt while watching a film. Trust me, it has happened.

**Actually I can think of quite a few worse things - one being stuck in a movie theatre filled with clowns...I just shuddered at the thought.

My thoughts on the Royal Wedding...

No list today though I know that there are only two days left of BEdA. Instead, I am going to share my thoughts on the Royal Wedding that is happening today. Now, unless you have been living under the proverbial rock, you know what I am talking about. The Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton.

Now, being from New Zealand, we still hold the royals in high esteem and I will be one of those avidly watching the broadcast tonight. This is, after all, the wedding of the century, so this is the wedding for our generation. And I freely admit that I am excited about this. I may not have been one of those girls who dreamed about being a princess when they were little, I was more plucky sidekick than leading character, but I have to admit that there is something about this wedding that has even the most cynical of people excited to see it.

Kate and William* seem perfectly matched. I may not be a strong believer in love other than a chemical reaction but I do like to see people happy. So far, that does seem to be the case with the royal couple. My thoughts on the matter, if you were interested, are that if you can find just one person who makes you happy and vice versa then that is great. Especially if you happen to be the second in line to the British throne.

They also give a strong front to the people and, both of them, have that way with people that make them seem real...if that makes sense. William has inherited all the good points from his parents and they both seem to bring out the best in each other. What more could you ask for in the person you are about to marry.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter what I think, say or believe because this is their day and, regardless of the pomp and ceremony, I truly wish them the best for their lives together, however long it may be. It is the same for any couple entering into marriage. It doesn't matter if I feel that it is a silly ceremony because it is their ceremony and they deserve the happiness that, hopefully, goes their way.



In finishing, I wish the Royal Couple the very best. May their future together bring all the joy and happiness that they truly deserve.

Enough of this sappiness - semi-normal broadcasts shall resume tomorrow. Until then...

*I leave out the title because I am feeling lazy not out of disrespect. In case you were wondering.

Five Things That Have Made my Day...

Seriously busy today so this is going to be super rushed.*So, here goes the five things that have made my day today...

One - Downloading some Harry Potter music or Wizard Rock. (Wrock) And some Hunger Games tunes. I knew about ALL CAPS, The Moaning Myrtles etc but only just found Alex Carpenter, Ministry of Magic and Muggle Relations. So I have been bopping around to some sweet new tunes and indulging in geekery.

Two - Seeing people at the craft market who have known me since I was a baby. They always go out of their way to say hi and ask how my life is going. They're like substitute aunts and uncles.

Three - Wearing my favourite pair of shoes that remind me of my family over in the States. They're my first ever pair of Converse. (I normally never buy labels cause I dont' see the point or don't have the money but these were the best buy, ever. They're my dancing shoes.)

Four - Knowing that I have Star Trek (JJ Abrams movie) waiting for me in the DVD player. I was watching it yesterday but got super busy with the fish and chips and then the writing.

Five - Jeph Jacques' amazing webcomic series Questionable Content It is pure brilliance. It's a great way to procrastinate and the evolution of the drawing is so neat to see. Plus, Faye, Hannalore, Marten and co seem like they'd be really fun in real life, if somewhat crazy.

So, leave me a comment and let me know what has made your day today cause I'd like to know. It may have been trivial but sometimes these little things make or break your day.

*Had the Ohope Craft market this morning so I was there flipping burgers and selling drinks. (Oh the life I lead.) And now I'm back at the shop sitting behind the till pretending to be hard at work.

EDIT: One thing that didn't make my day...moronic customers...sigh. Example:
Phone rings
Me: Good Afternoon, Oasis Takeaways
Phone Person: Is this Oasis Takeaways
Me: Yes. Can I help?
PP: Are you open?
Me: Uh...yeah 
PP: So you're cooking?
Me: Yes, until 7 when we close. 
PP: When do you close?
Me: Seven. 
By this point I want to yell down the phone but I just smile and nod. Now, this happened to me eight times yesterday with only slight variations on the conversation.

Top Five Comedy films...and a mini mind fart...

It is day seventeen and I have been blogging like a fool. I'm glad I stuck with this idea of five things but I tell you, it's not easy. Sometimes it is a real struggle for me to think about what I should write and sometimes I wonder why I bother. Before you start freaking out and thinking I'm an attention whore or something like that I want to assure you that I'm not. What I mean by bothering is that there is so many other things that I should be doing and the main one is figuring out what I'm going to do since looking for a job hasn't been working for me so far.

Then there is my writing, which I really should be focusing on but I keep getting distracted and this is one of the distractions. Twitter is another because I just like reading about Cassandra Clare's characters etc. (I refuse to follow Charlie Sheen because, in my own opinion, he is a sick, sick man...I don't really need to elaborate.)

Then there is the usual cleaning, cooking and washing routine which, I admit, I am always behind in though I don't mind vacuuming...especially when I have my headphones in and I bop* around the house.

So basically, I feel that there are other things that I should be doing but then I remember that I actually enjoy looking up my favourites of things and sharing them with the interwebs. So, with that random little chat out of the way I'm diving into my top five comedy films.

Spaceball - Mel Brooks
This is the ultimate spoof of Star Wars, Star Trek and any science fiction film pre-1987. I love the whole thing from start to finish and who can forget that lovely Alien tribute at the end. You have to love a little alien in a top hat singing. And who can forget, "I see your Schwartz is as big as mine..."

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Or any Monty Python film ever.
I don't really feel like I need to explain this but if you have never seen any Monty Python you need to get out to your nearest video store or whatever and watch. It's British comedy at its best.

Shaun of the Dead - Edgar Wright
"You've got red on you." Zombies and Simon Pegg. Hilarious and a brilliant tribute to all of those zombie horrors of the last few decades. Plus Nick Frost is hilarious.

Austin Powers in Goldmember
All the Austin Powers films are funny as anything but I have fond memories of the third one and can relentlessly quote lines from it all the time. Mike Myers is hilarious and has a great sense of comic timing and a very witty sense of humour.

Zoolander
I'm not the biggest Ben Stiller fan but I really love this film. It is pure stupid fun with some great one liners. I love a film that can make fun of itself.

As you may have noticed I don't watch a lot of comedy and my preferences are towards British humour aside from that I hope you enjoy the list and let me know of any good comedies that you reckon I should watch.

Until tomorrow...


*Yep I wrote bop - and I do bop, though I guess if someone was to walk in it may look like I'm in the middle of being electrocuted but hey, dance like no one's watching, right? Right?

Top Five Scary films...maybe...

Okay, because I only have a short amount of time on the computer this will have to be a quick entry. From a young age I loved horror films. Controlled scares, people doing stupid things while you yell at them, dark rooms, cemeteries etc. There are all sorts of horror films out there and some are scary while others are pure entertainment/shock value.

So, I will dive right into the list today. Five horror films that truly scared me...

Poltergeist
Now, I don't know if it was because I was young or whether it was all the rumours of the cursed set that made this film stand out in my mind but there is that scene with the clown that has always scared me. The film has subtle scares and then moves into those full on scares which encouraged my fascination with the paranormal along with my wariness of curses.

Demons
This is a film I've only seen once or twice and it was an Italian film if I remember correctly. The thought of being stuck in a cinema with an increasing number of possessed people terrified me when I was younger and it was the ending that really cemented it for me. There was something about the almost hopeless ending that made me feel more than a little nervous about going to bed that night.

The Exorcist
Now, I watched this film by myself and, being the 'brave' teenage girl that I was I thought that it would be awesome to watch it in the dark while my parents were out for the night. This may have been a bad idea on my part because when it got to the part where Regan spider walks down the stairs...let's just say that I ran around and turned on every light in my house. I also think it was the back story to this film that incited my overactive imagination.

The Last House On the Left (Original)
This is one of those films that you have to be in a certain mood to watch because there is no paranormal evil in this film, it is an all too human evil. I think the fear of something that could actually happen is far more terrifying because it is more 'real' than haunted houses etc. It is a good film though.

The Hills Have Eyes (Remake)
I haven't seen the original so please don't shoot me but the remake is still very scary. Like The Last House... it is a little more real aside from the crazed mutants but still this film was actually really well done. I loved the fact that no one was safe...not even the dogs.

Now, there are thousands of other films that are probably more scary but these ones all stand out in my mind from my childhood till recently as well.

Let me know if there are any films that have scared you or still resonate in your mind.

Peace and pancakes

Blog Every(d)ay in April...day one...

Happy April Fool's - though it is past midday so I guess that makes me the fool, which leads perfectly into the next thing I was going to talk about: BEDA or Blog Every Day in April. This is where I attempt to post a blog every day for the next thirty days. This also means that I must wrack my poor brains for something interesting to mention - even if it just seems interesting to me.

So - this is officially day one and this is about the third time I have attempted to write this entry. I keep promising myself that I will be better organised but I never am. Maybe, just maybe, this will aid in my attempts to better organise myself. Maybe I could design some lists or maybe a wall chart? Or I could use this as an excuse to go and buy a lot of new stationary. I mean, who doesn't like new stationary? There is something about the feel of a brand new pen on the first page of new refill.*

Anyway, enough of my rambling. I was thinking of doing a theme for this whole blog everyday in April but I wasn't sure that I would be able to stick with it so I thought I would continue on in my rambling self. And, as an introduction I thought I would do a version of five things about me - cause blogging is somewhat self indulgent...right...

One - I have been attempting to teach myself guitar for the last few years. I can play a dozen chords but seem to come out with the same melody every time. Plus, I don't practise as much as I should. I'm not so much lazy as I am a daydreamer. This means that what I think I sound like and what I actually sound like can often differ.

Two - I collect books about urban legends or stories based on urban legends. Let's be honest - I just collect books but I do have an intense fascination with the whole idea of oral story telling and how it shifts fluidly from teller to teller.

Three - I have an irrational fear of jelly. Yep, jelly. Something about the way it wobbles seriously wigs me out. I shudder thinking about it. I'm also scared of clowns but that's old hat now.

Four - I write fanfiction occasionally. I started many years ago and did stories about X Men: Evolution and Charmed before attempting some Supernatural fanfiction. I do this when I have bad bouts of writer's block. which seems to be happening way too often.

Five - I used to raise calves, mainly beef breeds, for our local calf club. I had a goat one year and didn't get anywhere then I had a beautiful beef breed called Simba and I got all the way to group day where I got reserve champion. (Farm girl at heart?) Needless to say I stuck with calves from that day on.

So, here goes my attempt at Beda...hopefully the next post is more exciting and witty.

Peace and pancakes everyone. And, for those doing Beda as well, best of luck.

*I happen to be very quirky in my likes of stationary. There is definitely something about a stationary store that gets my brain all hyped up and excited. Come on...you can admit that you get the same feeling.

In which I am odd

As a child I was always considered odd. This was the kind of odd that most parents smile and nod about but behind your back say such things as:

"Boy, your kid has quite the imagination there." Random visitor
"She sure does. The other day she came tearing through the house screaming about evil knights who were after the kingdom before diving out that open window there and rolling down the hill." Proud (hopefully) mum. *

"Does your daughter know that it isn't appropriate to hold seances in the school library?" Concerned parent.
"She's an imaginative girl, we don't want to stifle her creativity." Confused but proud father. **

"Why did your daughter go to a cemetery on her birthday?" Confused parent.
"She likes to pay respects to the living by remembering the dead." Possible equally confused mum. *** Oh, and I have to apologise to the poor girl that I may have possibly scared by sneaking up behind them in said cemetery. She was a friend - well until I realised that she was standing on an unmarked grave. I honestly didn't mean to scare her that much.

To many my parents were often considered too lenient on my...uh...different behaviours. To say I wasn't like the others in my peer group growing up could be an understatement. But I don't think I ever saw the world in quite the way that others did. Cemeteries were never scary places whereas clowns were, and are, the minions of the devil. Yes I am scared of clowns. The feeling is mutual I like to think. Or maybe it's just because I lash out at clowns who enter my personal space bubble.

All through primary school I was do my own thing but often drag a lot of the others into my hi jinks. I guess it was a good thing that the school I attended was a small rural school. Can you imagine the kind of trouble I've gotten into if I was living in a city. I mean, convincing others that the library was haunted. Telling ghost stories to scare the younger kids. Alternatively, I was earning science badges left, right and centre and writing up projects on Marie Curie and Dr Jack Horner while causing a fuss to the Bibles in Schools programme that was forced on us. It wasn't my fault that I was upset when the teacher, who shall remain nameless because I've forgotten the name, told the entire class of 5 year olds that Santa wasn't real and that they should give their presents to the church. Or when another one tried to tell us that dinosaurs and man walked around at the same time. I think it was around that time (when I was about 10 or 11) that my parents removed me from that particular lesson.

Anyway, my antics carried on to high school where people would often ask me why I was so weird and I honestly didn't have an answer. I didn't really think I was weird I just worried that everyone else was far too normal plus I hated high school - or the deepest level of hell as I affectionately recall it being. The teasing was manageable, the bullying less so but the lack of interesting topics made me feel absolutely and totally bored. I mean, how many ways can you read Romeo and Juliet without wanting to scream about the stupidity of both the story and the teachers interpretation of it. Seriously, it is not a romantic story. We must remember that Romeo was only 16 and Juliet was barely into her teens. They died because they weren't honest. And let's face it, Romeo was a total playa (yeah I used the word playa. Whatcha gonna do?). I mean, one minute it was all about Rosalind and the next thing he's all "Juliet, sun, moon, stars, dead." That's not healthy. (Especially the dead part.)

Even now many people think my habits are odd or my ideas are somewhat strange. Fortunately, though, many of the people who know me well understand that it's my quirks that make me who I am. You know, the geeky obsessions, the love of quotes, dinosaurs, BSG, odd socks, fantasy, horror, adventure and the list goes on.

Oh well - at least this is a somewhat better blog compared to the last two. "May the force be with you."

Peace and pancakes


*Well, in my imagination there were fifty black knights who were trying to overthrow the kingdom and I couldn't let that happen could I?
**I was utterly convinced that my primary school library was haunted when I was younger. I decided to prove this theory by any means necessary. Needless to say, some of the other parents were not as understanding as my own.
*** I find cemeteries interesting. All these headstones as a reminder of those who once walked around with the living.

Pros and Cons of children...? Or random blog 1

It's a Friday morning as I write this and I have been looking after my niece for nearly two whole weeks. While this has provided an interesting test and challenge on my possible parenting ability it has made me look at life from a different perspective. No longer to I view everything with quite the cold and rational ideals that I normally do...well that last part is somewhat of a joke because I don't know if cold nor rational are the words that could describe me best. Quirky and kooky sound much better.

Getting back on topic, what I mean by different point of view is that I feel like I am reliving a second childhood as I am watching Scooby Doo and  My Little Pony. Both cartoons that I watched when I was younger. And, this got me to thinking about the reasons or pros and cons of having children.*

Pro - perfect excuse for watching cartoons and going to kids movies

Con - constant drain on the pocket

Pro - excuse to buy cool little clothes...seriously, have you seen what is out there?
Girl's Dresses
Boy's Shirts
Geek Onesies  (this is the best!)

Con - no social life - you become a 24/7 slave to their needs and whims...very hard if you have been miss independent for the last one hundred years.

Pro - having a little person to mould into the perfect individual.

Con - no more lie ins - sleep will become a valued commodity that is rare.

Pro - TOYS!

TOYS!

Anyway - there is more that I could add but I must continue with the writing and stop getting distracted by the toys on ThinkGeek. **

Oh - before I forget. I'm entering a competition on Amazon which means that I could get my novel published through Penguin USA. This would be nice so fingers crossed. I'm aiming for positive pessimism...;o)

Peace and Pancakes y'all

*This is tongue and cheek, if you take it seriously...well...
** Just in case you were wondering - I'm not planning on having kids for a long while yet...could you honestly imagine me as a parent...I shudder to think.

If I were a superhero...

I have been having a Chuck Norris can/is/does...quotation day as those of you on my facebook well know. I don't know why I felt like putting these up today. It could have been due to the lack of sleep finally rotting the last of my brain or it could be due to the childlike exuberance I have felt upon collecting my niece from the airport. Five years old and already flying by herself. (And pdp* if you ask me)

Back to the topic at hand. Now, I know Mr Norris is not a superhero** technically, but I often find myself wondering if I were a superhero what powers would I have etc. I don't know how many of you have given this a lot of thought or even given it a partial thought but I have. Depending on my mood I think I have rounded my ideal powers down to a small list of three.

First in my list and the one I am more than certain that I would want is that of corporeal intangibility or, in layman's terms, phasing. Just like one of my favourite X Men one Miss Katherine Pryde aka Shadowcat. While most people I know look to the likes of Jean Grey or Rogue*** as their X Men heroines I have always liked Kitty and admired her powers. And the ability to walk through walls would be pretty awesome. I don't know why this appeals to me in such a way but it always has. And to find out that one of my idols, Joss Whedon, based Buffy the Vampire Slayer partially on Kitty...well...what can I say!

Second would be the ability to communicate with animals. Then I would have my own army! Actually, I am pretty sure that I would never use my powers for evil. But the idea of being able to talk to animals possibly stems from growing up on a farm and worrying about sick animals all the time. Also from my obsession with the book series Animorphs when I was younger.

My third power that I would have, if I was ever bitten by a radioactive spider or found myself flying through a cloud of radiation etc, would be that of telekinesis - an oldie but a goodie. I wouldn't want telepathy but I would be perfectly content with telekinesis: moving stuff with my mind. I meant properly moving things with your mind - kinda like Prue from Charmed.

Anyway, this is just a short update as I am being distracted by a small pile of books that I shall attempt to read...

 I will leave you with a question - if you could have any superpowers what would they be and why?

Peace and pancakes y'all

*PDP = Pretty Darn Precious
** Actually he is a superhero because he's freaking Chuck Norris...
*** Not everyone I know but you get what I'm saying

Odd thoughts...*

I've been working on a blog post all day. I promised myself that I was going to try to do regular updates and I intend to stick to it but this has to be about the thirtieth attempt at trying to condense my witty (and modest) thoughts into something that vaguely resembled the English language. If I had gone with the things on my mind this post would probably look like this:

Smurfs are blue. I can't stop singing the theme to The Goof Troop. Pie. Oh, I smell fudge...no, wait...I don't know what I smell. Toes are strangely weird. Looking For Alaska - reading it again. Must Wii. Oh Warehouse 13 is on...squee. Dinosaurs will always and forever be awesome. Rawr. Hmm...quarks is a fun word to say. Must watch the latest Vlogbrothers vlog. Fishbloodybite specials again.

With that small insight into my mind I hope I haven't scared you all off. I do hope, though, that this has shown you how sometimes my thoughts run away with me, which could explain why I give people a blank look every so often. It isn't that I am ignoring them/you but my thoughts sometimes clamour to be heard.

This could also explain why my childhood seemed to be punctuated with "Are you listening to me?" "Daydreaming again?" "Hello, anyone home in there?" These could also be explained by the, recently, acknowledged fact that I am deaf in one ear but I tend to lean towards the first explanation.

Anyway, so it is roughly 9.30 at night and I still don't have a coherent thought in my mind though looking back through those thoughts I am getting the urge to watch the antics of the ever amazing and awesome John and Hank Green. My the amount of times I have been mentioning them lately I am starting to feel like a fangirl of the Green brothers but they bring about such witty awesomeness.

Anyway, I am going to leave it at this otherwise it will be full of nonsense.

For those of you who are wondering about the Vlogbrothers and/or Nerdfighters check the video below. It is awesome! That is all.
Peace and pancakes.

 

*can't believe I forgot to add a title...fail...

Cheesy Dialogue and The Pirate's Mistress

I entered into the idea of NaNoWriMo with a smile and thoughts of it being a piece of cake. I now realise that I was very delusional - this may not come as a surprise to many of you but I thought, after a year of writing essays on changing curriculum and classroom management that writing 50 000 words in 30 days was going to do fine. I admit, the word count is going okay so far. The plot, however, is more than a little shocking. There are some redeemable points, I just have to dig through the bad dialogue that is coming through.

I do have to admit that I am having a strange form of fun in testing the limits of my writing. I can look at this as a great experience, whether I finish it or not. I hope to finish it, don't get me wrong, but I don't feel that is the real aim of NaNoWriMo - well, at least not for me.

Anyway, my plot is all over the place a the moment and the character development is kinda being made up as I go along. I currently have two main characters and half a dozen minor characters. There has already been several spells cast and one case of bleeding ears. And, before you ask, it isn't fantasy - well not normal fantasy but it is urban fantasy.

Funny side note - writing this reminds me of a story I wrote to amuse myself and others while I was working a dull job inputting data and dealing with rather snobbish customers. I think the title was The Pirate's Mistress. Now, this was a comic attempt at writing and I made it to make people laugh and to show how easy it was to write a bad story. The basic plot was the pirate of the story had two mistresses, one in Tortuga (guess where that came from) and the other was the sea. And the sea was a harsh mistress. There was also the first mate who had a peg leg that had roses and other pretty things carved into it. A neurotic, depressed parrot who was down to his last few feathers and the sweetest whore in the world. Now, if that isn't bad writing I don't know what it. It was a lot of fun to write, though, and it got the desired laughs.

The reason I brought this up is because, even though the plot for my NaNoWriMo won't be winning any awards, I know that it is bad writing and it has made me re-evaluate my finished novel. So, all in all I have to thank 'WriMo for helping me appreciate my writing style and for giving me that chance to explore a different form of writing. It's helping me hone my skills and hopefully others are finding the same.

Also, I don't know about you but forcing myself to continue with this story has made me think of ways to finish other drafts. For all the supposed writer's block I feel like I've been getting, this is really helping it.

Sorry for the short post today. I've had car troubles which meant I couldn't make it to a friends engagement party. (Sorry!) And then the eftpos went down at work, meaning that everything was cash only today.

Peace, love and pancakes to you all.
JJ

Word Count: 13361
Tunes: Hey, Soul Sister - Train

Of dreams of running and worlds within worlds...

What if you could slip through the cracks, literally? What if you found yourself in a world very similar to your own yet very different at the same time? Mattie Allerdice has suddenly found out that her earth is not as alone as she once believed.

Anyway, how the above blurb came about was through the rather peculiar dream I had last night which involved a girl running up the stairs into a huge library, turning down a quiet stack of books and finding an odd door that she had never seen. She pushes open the door and see that it opens into another library though something is very different. There are mistakes on the books. Authors assigned to the wrong titles. She is slowly drawn into the world of the wallwalkers (a title in progress I have to admit) a selected group whose job is to keep the peace between the worlds and to stop any who wish to do harm to the other worlds.

So, this dream has stuck with me all day to the extent that on my lunch break I barely ate. Instead I grabbed my pen and notebook (something that should be on an author's personage at all times) and began furiously scribbling down ideas and the likes till I had a roughly developed story in my mind which is getting more filled out as the day goes along. So I thought I would record it here right now before starting out on it.

This means, however, that my other story will have to go on the back burner at the moment as this story has me moving at such an odd momentum I cannot stand aside and let it pass. I know it's odd to refer to a story having a life of it's own but this one seems like it does so I will give it free reign over my thoughts for now.

Novel word count - none so far for the new novel as I am still in the planning stage but bear with me...:o)