This is all that I can think about right now

It's 

to the

and I'm 

and

and so 

because

Happy Easter!

Welcome to Writer's Block. Population: me!

I labored so long and hard over what to write about this week that it suddenly turned into the next week, and I still wasn't sure what to write about. So instead, I'm going to provide you with a supply of amusing videos and whatnot that will kill time, and hopefully make you smile. If they don't accomplish the second thing, then you must not have a soul, and I'm not sure we can be friends...(JK! I <3 guys..most of the time...)

Anyway, this was Google's grand April Fool's prank yesterday, here for your convenience if you hadn't seen it yet:

I'm totally changing my major to "Technomathmagician"


I don't know what this show is, where I can find it, or why Hulu can't show full episodes, but I'm pretty sure it's the best thing in existence right now. Ever. For whatever reason, Hulu's code embedding abilities don't want to agree with me right now, so alas, you must click a little extra. My two currently favorite clips give the rules of house sitting, and show a very elaborate game of hide and seek, which I want to do. So badly. After-party and everything.

And then there's this music video for Coldplay's song "Life in Technicolor ii," which I don't recommend watching if you have some aversion to puppets. Otherwise, it's pretty entertaining:

I just love the puppet stage crew!

And while we're on the subject of music videos, here is one by the always amazing Florence+The Machine. Sadly, it was for the Twilight movie, but that doesn't change the awesome of the song. Video is freaking creepy, though:

Can we be best friends please, Florence?

Anyway, I think that's enough time wasting for now. Go accomplish things! (or, you know, don't, whatever your plans for the day were).

Langue et la musique!

Bienvenue! Willkommen! Fáilte! ようこそ！And otherwise, welcome! I trust everybody had a nice relaxing spring break this week. Unless of course you didn't have a break, in which case I trust that you had a week. This week is dedicated to awesome music that's not in English. Because you don't have to understand the lyrics to appreciate the song (not that anyone says that you do, but a lot of people don't seem to realize this fact). 

Case and point, who could ever forget this internet gem?

We watched it for the amusing antics of one brave (or...something) individual, but don't tell me the song wasn't fully ingrained in your brain for at least the rest of the day. We called it the Numa Numa song, but it's actually Dragostea din Tei by O-Zone (Moldovan band, Romanian lyrics), if you weren't already aware. 

Also, you already know my obsession with this particular anime theme song. I'm going to embed it here again, just because I love it that much. Don't recall if I said so before, but this is Parallel Hearts by FictionJunction (Japanese band and lyrics), from the anime "Pandora Hearts."

(we'll get back to Japan, I promise)

Then there are songs that are probably more amusing if you can roughly follow or understand the lyrics, but infinitely more so with helpful subtitles. But this song in particular is so bouncy  it'd be nice and catchy whether you could catch the story in the lyrics or not. This is Le Cafe by Oldelaf et Monsieur D (French band and lyrics):

And that, kids, is why coffee is just for grownups and should never be abused.

Moving further westward, we get to the Emerald Isle, home of all that Celtic wonderfulness (Riverdance, anybody?). Despite the domineering Englishness in Britain, some pockets still speak Gaelic (among other things, I'm sure, but I only have Gaelic songs, so deal with it). So this here is Dulaman by Celtic Woman (brought to you by the same people who gave you Riverdance, so go be grateful!). I'm pretty sure it's about a girl trying to decide between suitors, or something along those lines.

Bear in mind that this particular song didn't incorporate Celtic Woman's super-excellent violinist, who is arguably my favorite part of the group. But alas, as classical music isn't technically a language, that will be another post for another day, I suppose. 

Jumping back to Japan for a Tokyo minute, I wanted to make a point that there is great J-pop that isn't tied to an anime. Then I looked through the songs I had, and according to Wikipedia, all were used for an anime. So instead I'll give you one that I never heard attached to a show, because then it will count...kind of. Anyway, this one is Rolling Star by Yui (Japanese band and lyrics). It was used at some point for Bleach, but I never really cared for that one, and so didn't hear it that way, so we'll pretend I didn't look it up....

If nothing else, this is an example of a good Japanese song that the anime incorporated, rather than a good song specially made FOR the anime, like Parallel Hearts was. 

And now we get to songs in other languages PLUS Latin, which is dead and therefore universal. The first is a German gothic/electronica...thing. I don't generally go for the goth-rock genre, but there's something about E Nomine and the way they incorporate the Latin and techno that just works for me. Also, it's great for keeping yourself awake for all those all-nighters/early morning adventures. This is Mitternacht (Midnight), and is probably one of the most well known E Nomine songs out there (and yeah, the whole album is about werewolves and vampires and things that go bump at midnight, if you were wondering. Also, yes, I do realize that whoever made this video doesn't know how to spell "German," but it's hard to find the right video, so shut up!):

Also, is it completely politically incorrect for me to suggest that if one were to listen to something particularly gothic, then German is the perfect language to accompany it? Yes? Too late, it's already been said. Make your complaints at the door. 

Finally, this last song mixes Russian AND Latin AND English AND is awesome. Yes, it's another song created for the sake of an anime (Ghost in the Shell), but try to deny that it's pretty wonderful. No, go ahead, try. Well, listen to it first, then try. It's Inner Universe, was composed by Yoko Kanno, sung by ORIGA, and like I said, is in English, Russian, and Latin. 

Ok, now try. You can't, because it's awesome. I particularly like the fact that Yoko used Latin as a breath of serenity in the midst of the fairly chaotic techno music, in contrast to E Nomine's use of the language to enhance their creepiness factor. Latin's pretty versatile for a dead language, it seems. 

Anyway, that's all I got for now. Come back next week and I'll either blow your mind with something awesome, or cop out again. Or something in between. Gotta keep things mysterious, after all.

In Response to Birdsong

Dear little songbirds,

Yes, we are all very excited that spring is here, and we can share in your jubilation that you have made it home safely after your winter-long visit down south. We understand that you must have a lot of catching up to do with the neighboring birds whom you haven't seen all winter. However, beyond your trees are windows, and beyond those windows reside various inhabitants who would be very much obliged if you would quell your vocalizations until a more a reasonable hour. Three-thirty in the morning, for example, is not reasonable. You see, we humans tend to associate birdsong with daylight, particularly in the early morning. You could then imagine our confusion when, while sleeping fitfully for fear of waking up late, we are suddenly startled awake in the middle of the night upon hearing your many warbles and believing it to be much later than it is. Therefore, in the interest of everyone's sanity, we hope that we can all come to the agreement that all birdsong should be postponed until dawn is actually breaking. In other words, we would all appreciate it if you would please find it within yourselves to SHUT THE HECK UP!!

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Some Concerned Citizens, otherwise known as "The Humans Contemplating Getting Cats Just to Hunt You Down"

Potpourri

You know, like the Jeopardy category that could be about anything and everything? So is this week's post. Also, in case you couldn't tell, the Grad School Beast has finally resurfaced after it's long winter break and snow day hibernation, and it's hungry for some student attention. So the "weekly" posts may become less wonderful as the semester continues, but I'll do what I can!

So! Captain America!

Patriotically smashing into theaters this summer!

Now, granted, I'm not as familiar with the Captain America mythos. All I know is that he was a WWII hero and the first Avenger, so the movie can't really ruin anything for me. The casting all looks pretty good too, Hugo Weaving and Tommy Lee Jones are both set to be in it. But who's going to play the Captain himself?

um, hi. Imma war hero 'n stuff

Now, if he could look more like this for the role:

I could see it better. Rugged looks good on him, makes him look older and whatnot. But military is all about clean-shaven, and Captain America was a military hero, sooo....

iz me again. hai. 

But you may or may not recall the role he already played in a major Marvel franchise:

Yep. Somehow, I feel like playing two major dudes in different Marvel universe films will cause some kind of breach in the Marvel-space-time-continuum. And one more breach would probably just be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back, because the Marvel universe is pretty precarious as it is. 

But enough about that. I have a question for you, internet: Did you see Inception? And if so, did you get it/enjoy it? It was never supposed to make perfect sense, the whole point is for it to be kind of a mind trip that leaves you questioning, but wasn't that the best part? I ask because I had an encounter with some non-nerds the other day. I was a little shocked, as I've somehow imagined the whole world was populated with nerds on some level. Apparently that's not true. Inception came into discussion, and these are just some of the heated complaints that suddenly flew around the room:

"Oh man! I can't believe I wasted my life!"

"It was so boring!"

"I just didn't get it! Why did he keep spinning that thing?"

"I tried watching it, but I just ended up texting the whole time."

I wanted to cry a little. I always thought that even non-nerds could appreciate some nerdy things on some level, why else would Spiderman and Star Wars have been so huge, right? Nope. My faith in humanity was killed a little bit that day. So to feel better, I obsessed over the soundtrack (yeah Hans!), particularly this one:

Quite possibly one of his best tracks ever (and why he didn't win the Globe, but Social Network did, I'll never understand)

Speaking of the Globes, what's up with the Social Network? No, I haven't seen it yet, but did it deserve best film score, best screenplay, best director, and best motion picture-drama? Especially if that meant beating Black Swan and Inception? It didn't even stay in theaters for very long, it acted like it was a bust movie, and now all of a sudden it's expected to win every Oscar it's been nominated for (which is like all of them, apparently)? What happened? 

Me too, baby, me too

Finally, in the world of the Hunger Games movie, Debra Zane has been recruited to be the casting director for the movie. They aren't holding any open casting calls as of right now, if you had high hopes, but they are working on the cast. So far, we just know that Hugh Laurie is unavailable to play Haymitch, which makes me sad. Also, Lionsgate has announced the opening date for the movie: March 23, 2012. Why is this brilliant? You may recall a certain other wonderful movie releasing about the same time last year, How to Train Your Dragon. It works because all the other big young-adult movies of the year like to be released in late summer or November, so now the Hunger Games won't have anything to compete with. Smart Move, Lionsgate, smart move. 

Well, that's all I've got for this week. Tune in next time for some more average nerdiness!

Ashley: "Oh yeah, didn't you notice the lettuce growing on my balcony?"

Britt: "How did it survive the snow?"

Ashley: "It's iceberg."

*and yet, if someone had written that into a sitcom or something, it just would have been corny*

The Post That Will Not Be About Something Medieval, I Promise!

Looking back through some of my posts recently, I realize that I've been on a bit of a medieval kick lately, between the dragons and Robin Hood and King Arthur and even more King Arthur. So it's time to branch back out to that little bit of everything that I'm supposed to be about. But first, I have a single complaint. The Golden Globes come on tomorrow night, right? I looked up the nominees to see what's up. For the most part, all stuff I could expect...but then I got to "Best Original Score." Can anyone tell me why in the name of all that is good and right in the world John Powell was not nominated for How to Train Your Dragon, but Danny Elfman for Alice in Wonderland was??? Granted, I understand what Inception is doing there, Hans Zimmer is da man and all, and I haven't yet seen the others, but geeze! Where's the love for John Powell??

See? You even made baby sad :( 

Ok, the pout-fest is over now. Let's move on. Today is all about anime. Woo! But first, I need you to understand something about me, as a disclaimer of sorts. I will read/watch/listen to almost anything in this nerdy world of ours except for romances. Or rather, anything but modern romances. I'm ok with the old fashioned kind of romances that require sword fights or possibly explosions before the romantic part is possible, ala The Princess Bride or any superhero movie with a love interest. But romance for romance's sake, like The Notebook or anything else that Nicholas Sparks vomits up? Can't stand it. Usually. Exceptions: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre (does that even really count as a romance, in the end? It's an awfully pragmatic conclusion...), Moulin Rouge, and this anime, Kimi Ni Todoke. 

This is about a highschool girl, Sawako, who is generally rather shy, socially awkward, and comes across as gloomy. Because of that, people started calling her Sadako, the creepy girl from The Ring, and believed that she could see ghosts and cause unfortunate things to happen if you stare into her eyes for more than three seconds. Meanwhile, all she wants to do is be able to successfully say hello to her classmates without disappointing all their expectations about her supernatural powers. But she meets Kazehaya, the popular boy in her class, who slowly helps her make some friends and be seen as a good luck charm rather than the school curse.  Ultimately, of course, she begins to understand her feelings towards Kazehaya, deals with some nasty rumors, meets her first romantic rival, and is all the while simply adorable in her naive little way. Youtube didn't have any clips of the episodes, just various versions of the theme song, so here is the full first episode. Watch it!

Their whole little puppy-love-tension thing is just so cute in that chivalry-is-not-actually-dead kind of way. Also, I feel like it clicks with people who ever felt like the outsider for whatever reason. Stop making me try to explain it. When I talk about it, it just sounds like every other romance I've avoided watching, yet it hooks you in a way that all those other movies couldn't. Bottom line, it's kind of adorable, and if I like it, anybody with half a romantic bone in their body would probably devour it. 

But enough with the romance, eh? Frequently when you think of anime, there's something supernatural going on. Or at least, there is when I think of it. So then there's Pandora Hearts, which initially hooked me in with the theme song. 

Pretty much I've listened to this on repeat more often than I'd care to admit...

Pandora Hearts focuses on the young Oz Bezarius, heir to one of the noble houses. On the day of his coming of age ceremony, all Hell pretty much literally breaks loose, and Oz is sentenced to the Abyss. What was his crime? Apparently, his very existence. He escapes by making an illegal pact with a powerful Chain named Alice. The whole show has this twisted Alice in Wonderland thing going on, but with classic animeness (and when you think about the original Alice in Wonderland, you know you can expect something rather trippy). I'm not gonna lie, it has a lot of the "what the crap?" factor going on, yet that's part of the hook; you keep watching it just to see if it all  ever gets explained or make sense. But also, you experience everything through Oz and Alice's perspective; Oz is a pampered and inexperienced kid thrown into an adventure bigger than he is, and Alice supposed to be this powerful thing who can't remember anything about herself other than her name. There's espionage, nobility and secret society power plays, apocalyptic explosions, time travel, and general mind trips. Oh, and also this scene where everybody gets drunk

Yep. That's pretty much it.

Well, I'll stop there with two opposite extremes. Tune in next time for some more average nerdiness!

Just Kidding!

Now that I've already posted that "I'm not posting anything" disclaimer, I found the time and necessity to make a post for New Years. Happy New Years, by the way. I've been watching some of the talk show type things doing their "A look back at 2010" specials, and I noticed that nobody seemed to want to do anything about the fact that we're about to start a new decade! The 2000's are over people, we're about to step into the teens again (but the twenty-teens now, which are older and more mature than the nineteen-teens were), and I felt it was necessary to take a look back at the last 10 years. So let's get started, shall we?

Who can forget the tension of Y2K? I was still being an elementary schooler, not really caring whether or not the computers would be able to track my stocks properly when the year turned over (I felt I had kept them secure enough, after all), but I do recall the mounting panic. And thennnn, nothing happened. I don't think there has ever been a more anti-climactic January 1st.

Since the Academy Awards honor the movies from the previous year, but are held in the next year, it's entirely possibly I'll mix some stuff up and be off a year while talking about various movies, for which you shall forgive me (because I said so!). But anyway, this was the year that Gladiator won the academy award for best picture, Russell Crowe won best actor for the same movie (and now I realize why he seemed out of place in Robin Hood: he needed Romans!), Julia Roberts was best actress, and Traffic won Steven Soderbergh best director. But the academy aside, 2000 also gave us X-Men, Meet the Parents, The Contender, and of course Castaway

Don't look at me like that, Wilson!

Billboard has lists of the top 100 songs for each year, and I'm not going to list all of them because that would be ridiculous. But the number one song for 2000 was Breathe by Faith Hill, but it was also the year for 3 Doors Down, Destiny's Child, Santana, Brittany and Christina, N'Sync and those Backstreet Boys. 

2000 marked the beginning of the intense and seemingly never ending custody battle over a little boy between his American relatives, his Cuban father, and both of the respective governments, said to be the biggest dispute between the two countries since the Bay of Pigs (which seems a tad exaggerated to me, to be honest). Meanwhile, a concord plane exploded during takeoff for the first time ever, which soon ended the use of all concords (in France anyway, where the original exploded, not sure if everyone else agreed). It was a happy year, to be sure. Anything else? Oh yes, it was election year here in the US, the year of the recount, the hanging chad, and "good lord, Florida, just pick one already!" Finally, after all of the hooplah, George W Bush became president, and Al Gore decided he preferred global warming and inventing the internet anyway.

This was a heavy year in the US, the year that terrorists hijacked some planes and crashed them into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center towers. A fourth would have hit the White House, had it not been for the bravery of the passengers who decided it would be better to die overpowering the terrorists and preventing further tragedy than to allow the crash to continue as planned. This was the year that the major Bad Guy status officially went from the communists to the terrorists (and I use officially quite loosely here, but Russian-Cold-War style characters in the media certainly seemed to make way for a wave of middle eastern terrorist types). It was the start of the war on terror, and one of the rare times that the entire nation was truly united, however briefly it lasted.

In the meantime and on a lighter note, the number one song was Hanging By a Moment by Lifehouse, and this was the year that Peter Jackson gifted us nerd-types with the first installment of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The snooty academy snoots preferred A Beautiful Mind for all the awards, but at least LOTR was nominated, and put up there with Moulin Rouge, Shrek, and Bridget Jones' Diary. This may have been the first year that Animated Feature Film was taken seriously as a category, but don't quote me on that. It also marked the beginning of Daniel Radcliff  et. al's decade long childhood in the Harry Potter world.

You're a wizard, Harry...and will be for the next 10+ years!

2002 marked the first total solar eclipse in whatever time span is generally between solar eclipses, but you couldn't see it properly unless you happened to be in Africa at the time. Jimmy Carter won a Nobel Peace prize, Halle Berry became the first African American woman to win an Academy Award for best actress (for Monster Ball), and Michael Jackson said hi to some fans by waving a baby around off a balcony.

"Hey look! I has kid!"

(bad taste? Well, it was still dumb...)

This was the year of sequels, with Hollywood sending us Star Wars II, Lord of the Rings II, Harry Potter II, and the Santa Clause II, all in 2002, which was clever on their part in retrospect. Chicago was awarded best picture, Spirited Away won best animated feature (hooray Miyazaki!), and How You Remind Me by Nickleback was declared the number one song (well I certainly don't remember that song, but billboard seemed to like it).

With the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad, we all got excited at the thought that it was finally finished! Woo! We won! It's over! Except it wasn't. The space shuttle Columbia exploded upon re-entry to the earth's atmosphere, all due to a loose outer tile. Meanwhile, the Martha Stewart issues gained some real momentum as she got indicted for embezzlement, and the great SARS scare began on the other side of the world (no, I'm not suggesting that the two events were related....or am I? No, not really). But it was a happy year for us bio-nerds, as the Human Genome Project was officially finished, and the human genome was declared to be sequenced to 99.99% accuracy. Woo!

science jokes!

And finally, making it a year I shall never forget, the Florida Marlins won the World Series after soundly defeating the Yankees. Yeah Marlins! (they were subsequently traded away, and have barely won another game since. Sad times). In movies, Buddy the Elf taught us the true meaning of Christmas, the king returned in Lord of the Rings, we all met the infamous yet strangely lovable Captain Jack Sparrow, and then we found Nemo. Peter Jackson and Return of the King finally won best director and best picture, and 50 Cent claimed the number one song title with In Da Club.

In case you couldn't guess/recall, the 2004 Summer Olympics were held in Greece, a big deal since that's where they originated from and all. The internet planned to rejoice when Facebook was officially launched, but quickly learned of the website's procrastination powers. Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake performed the Superbowl Halftime show, which nobody would remember if not for Janet's infamous wardrobe malfunction. Lance Armstrong won his 6th consecutive Tour de France, and Florida (and surrounding areas) were beaten to a pulp by Hurricanes Charley, Ivan, Frances, and Jeanne (personally, I recall 2004 as the year of evacuation road trips, blue roofs, and generators, all of which seemed a lot more exciting as a kid when it mostly meant road trips). But as much as it sucked in Florida (and surrounding areas), Indonesia had a much rougher time when that giant earthquake caused that even gianter tsunami. Yeah...I'll stick with hurricanes, thanks. 

Girls across the nation watched the Notebook and then swooned. Or something. I was busy watching Harry Potter do magical things again, Jason Bourne make his supreme comeback (hehe, pun), and Nicholas Cage go on a good treasure hunt before he made another string of terrible movies. Also, The Incredibles. Best animated feature film. 'nuff said. Million Dollar Baby pretty much dominated the rest of the awards, while Usher's Yeah made top song of the year. 

The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics declared 2005 to be the World Year of Physics, which is just so nerdy it makes me smile. Hurricane Katrina was late to the previous year's Stomp On North America party, but tried to make up for it with an extended visit to New Orleans. Needless to say, that didn't end well. President Bush started his second term, and male citizens in Saudi Arabia were allowed to vote for the first time. 

The Academy awards were mostly given to socially controversial films released this year, such as Crash and Brokeback Mountain. As for other movies, Narnia showed us what happens when you mix a lion, a witch, and a wardrobe and let simmer for approximately 2 hours (you get a movie! who knew?), Batman began, and Harry Potter came back with his goblet of fire. The Star Wars saga ended, for better or worse, with Revenge of the Sith, and we all stepped back to take a long look at our prides and prejudices. Mariah Carey sat on top of the billboard chart with We Belong Together. 

The first bird with Avian Flu was found this year, and Al Gore came back from his internet workshop to inconvenience us with his truths. Pluto began it's swift decline out of planetary status, suddenly declared to be merely a dwarf planet. The Iraqi Special Tribunal officially sentenced Hussein to death, and North Korea decided to let us know all about their continued nuclear weapon hobbies. 

It was a fairly widespread year for movies, with releases including everything from Cars and The Santa Clause 3 to The Prestige and V For Vendetta (Remember, remember, the 5th of November!). The Departed won best featured film, and Daniel Powter sang about his Bad Day enough to put him at the top. 

This was a magical year, the one that marked my highschool graduation. Ok, other stuff happened too. The final Harry Potter book was released and sold out faster than you can say Avada Kadavra, with the book in general causing one of the largest nerd uprisings since the last one. The writer's guild went on strike, resulting in one of the weirdest seasons of television in a while as everybody else in the studio scrambled to find reruns and acceptable excuses for shows to keep the public entertained. Yet it gave rise to the fantastically wonderful Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, which should be a part of everyone's life. 

Otherwise, Bourne issued his famous ultimatum, Harry Potter joined the Order of the Phoenix, and Juno had a baby. The Academy declared their love for No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, and Beyonce declared that you're not Irreplaceable (sorry, I'm just the messenger). 

Gas prices went extra nuts this year, Fidel Castro finally resigned, and there was a total eclipse of the heart....I mean moon. A star exploded somewhere, and if you happened to be stargazing it was officially the farthest object to be seen with the naked eye. Medvedev replaced Putin as Crazy Dude In Charge of Russia, and we waited to see if he would be a better kind of crazy. Meanwhile, Bill Gates decided to end his 30 year position  as chairman of Microsoft, and somewhere you could here Steve Jobs rub his hands and chuckle maliciously. Michael Phelps set a new record, winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, and the world didn't end after the Large Hadron Collider was turned on for the first time. Financial crisis ensued when certain banks decided to give out loans willy nilly and whatnot, and Barack Obama became the first African American president after the election. 

Heath Ledger gave us one last brilliant performance as a truly demented Joker in the Dark Knight, and then died for several alleged reasons that I don't think anybody ever actually agreed about. Slumdog Millionaire stole the show at the Academy awards, and Twilight...well, was Twilight, much to the thinking populace's disdain. Prince Caspian ruled Narnia, and Tony Stark built that immortal iron battle suit, all to the tune of Flo Rida's catchy tune, Low. 

Remember the Swine Flu? H1N1? You bet you do! This also marked the year that Michael Jackson died suddenly, taking everybody by surprise. I'm starting to suspect a celebrity serial killer is on the loose, or some kind of conspiracy. Or perhaps both. President Obama won a Nobel Peace prize for....being president? Still working on that one. The Large Hadron Collider was turned on a second time after needing some repairs and adjustments. And again, the world did not end.

In Hollywood, Avatar made a mark with it's amazing visual effects annnnd....was there a plot? But let's not forget about Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek (which unlike a lot of purists out there, I rather enjoyed, thanks very much), and Up. The Hurt Locker won the Oscar for best film, and I still haven't seen it. Meanwhile, Beyonce and her single ladies topped the music charts for the year.

And finally, we get to 2010, the last year in this wacky decade. It was kicked off with a devastating earthquake in Haiti, shortly followed by an even bigger one in Chile. Not the best way to start off a new year. An oil platform exploded in the Gulf, causing all kinds of environmental, financial, and general humiliating issues. And about a week ago, we saw the first total lunar eclipse during a solstice since 1638. Also, I moved to grad school; a major headline in the world to be sure ;)

In the movies, we learned how to train dragons, watched the end of the Toy Story saga, and saw the first half of the final movie in the Harry Potter lineup. There was also Inception, Scott Pilgrim, another Narnia movie...pretty much a great year for movies all around. The Oscars haven't happened yet, but here's hoping Pixar's animated film winning streak will be stopped by the wonder of dragon training. But then, I may be biased. Just a little. The Billboard list hasn't been made yet either, so here's hoping Bieber isn't on top. Or near the top. But watching the Twilight phenomenon...he probably will be.


Anyway, this has been more post than any one blog post needs to have, but it is here and complete. Here's to a new year, a new decade, and all kinds of new opportunities for some average nerdiness. Happy New Year!

Who needs a turkey when there are dragons??

Happy Turkey Day, Internet! And what better way to celebrate this classic American holiday than with the time honored traditional element: dragons! No, you heard me, I'm celebrating my Thanksgiving with dragons.

 

Be Jealous

But why, you may ask, am I forgoing the traditional turkey and stuffing for a more mythological approach? I dunno, I'm bored, so why not. 

Technically it all started with a movie that is apparently still underrated, given the amount of people I've introduced it to since it released on DVD. I'm talking, of course, of the Dreamworks gem, How to Train Your Dragon.

Don't tell me you don't want three

Seriously, if you haven't seen it yet, what in the world are waiting for? Sure, it's no Shrek, and it's no Pixar movie, but there have by far been worse movies in existence (really, just look at last week's post). It's cliched, but who cares? It's pretty; I'm sorry if you missed the chance to see it in 3D in theaters, but blue ray on a good tv comes pretty close. It sounds freaking awesome

It's hard to just pick one to post, so you're homework is to listen to more!

and ultimately, it's FINALLY a good movie about dragons! I mean, what great dragon movies have we had lately? No, wait, what good movies containing dragons at all have we had lately? 

ok, there's one. A minor character, at best. And before that?

that's the Harry Potter dragon, if you forgot about it too. And before that?

uuummm, not so much. Great books, lousy movie. Before that?

granted, it was awesome when I was 12, and I haven't seen it since, but that alone should be a good indication of lousyness, right?

Anyway, you get the point. We were due for a good dragon movie. Very, very due. 

And to continue my newly created tradition, today Cartoon Network premiered a new movie "Firebreather," about a 16-year-old half human half dragon named Duncan. I was bored, it promised dragons, and so I watched it. 

Honestly, I wasn't expecting very much, and that's exactly what I got. Not very much. But come on, you promise some dragons, at least just make all the "monsters" dragons, not...wierd...demon...things. They did, however, enlist the voice acting of one Dante Basco to play Duncan's friend. You may recall him as the firebending Prince Zuko in the Avatar cartoon, and also as American Dragon: Jake Long (yeah, remember that one?). Basically, Basco can't seem to stay away from those dragon-fire related roles, eh? 

Finally, I've been reading a new book (I know, shock!) that seems like it holds some promise. It's called Starlighter, by Bryan Davis. 

Looks promising, though, right?

I'm not very far in yet, but so far there are two separate stories going on (I can only assume they merge at some point). One involves Jason Masters, who's of the warrior variety in a world that merges sci-fi photon ray guns with classic medieval swordsmanship, and his mission to locate a gateway that may or may not exist. Meanwhile, Koren is a human slave girl in a world ruled by dragons. Real dragons. Real dragons that have more society and civilization (and...slaves) than any dragons I've seen or read about so far, but hey! You can only establish so many rules about mythological creatures, right? Anywho, we'll see how this book goes. In the meantime, go enjoy your new Turkey Day tradition (or just stick to the old ones, I'm not picky). But don't forget to tune in next time for some more average nerdiness!