I am catching up on NaNoWriMo word count today, and since I just got a new job I’d like to sleep well enough to not pass out on the tills tomorrow. Sunday: expect news and updates though, stay tuned!
Of the bread kind, not the alcohol kind, obviously.
For all you clever little bees who figured out that my promised blog last week didn’t come, I apologise. Exams had me by the metaphorical balls and I had to make the effort to get them to let go. I’ve now only one exam left, this coming Monday, before I can call myself truly a free student. It’s ridiculous how quickly the year has gone… and how quickly the holidays will pass before summer school dawns and brings with it a 5-day week, 2 hours a day of a subject that quite frankly sets my teeth on edge. Damn you required papers.
I recently started working for a friend of Q’s helping out with a major D.I.Y. project that she has going. I’ve only worked one “shift” so far – we have an interesting shift system that goes by the “today there are too many people in my house, see you tomorrow?” timetable – but in those five hours I’ve developed a new appreciation for the handyman (and woman). I’ve always thought it was cool to be able to do so many things and call it a skillset. It’s funny how random knowledge really helps when you’re sitting in the middle of the landing on the stairs constructing bookshelves all morning in between hauling heavy furniture up and down those same curled stairs before insulating the deck and garage with a broom and trash bags filled with polystyrene chips.
As Q put it, I caught the bug. Once you start something and it engrosses you you just keep going without realizing that three hours have passed and it’s time for lunch considering you haven’t eaten anything all morning. Add to that the fact that using a mallet is damn satisfying when you’re in the mood to hash out your problems with inanimate objects. To put it bluntly, I’m looking forward to going back for another shift. The promise of gardening and mulching await me and I need to break in my other other workboots.
Besides this, life has been pretty status quo. I’ve grown used to my flatmates casually walking into my room without comment and making themselves comfortable on my couch and reading my magazines. I no longer spend five minutes staring at them before they look up with a questioningly cocked eyebrow as though to ask “what’s the problem?”; it wastes valuable writing time, and that is time I cannot waste.
I started NaNoWriMo a week late due to exams and have been pushing for anything between just-over and double writing goal since then to keep up. Although I doubt Mack will see my word count as “keeping up” so I’ll just nip that argument in the bud before she smothers me one evening. My word count, at the moment, is just over 100 words over the goal for the day. I have a busy weekend ahead of me and another exam on Monday (thinking I’ll keep bringing it up so that people can remind me I have one in case I forget). After that I’m hermitting in my room with my bass headphones on full listening to Holmes and I plan the story from start to end over our Coromandel roadtrip. I need to confirm specific dates and details you see.
Data, data, data, and all that, for those who get the reference.
I’d decided early on that I would post the parts of my NaNo on here as soon as they were written and proofed so that I could have feedback to work with later. Since the goal of NaNoWriMo is 50,000 in one month, I need to make the count, but we planned this story longer so once I reach the goal and claim my prize of a paperback version of my story, I have six months to edit it to perfection before I send it off. And before I hit that stage I need to know if what I’ve written – even if it will be reworked and reworded potentially – reads well and is worth me making the effort. Put it this way, I’ll publish the thing anyway because I would’ve made word count but I’m curious to see what others think. Fair? Conceited? Both? Most likely both. *shrug*
Because of this, I’ve made a page for my NaNo this year on here. Yes, it is a story with aspects of slash, no you don’t have to read it, but yes, it is very easy to read if you don’t slash or simply dislike the pairing. It’s called reading the warnings above every chapter and skipping the ones you don’t like. It’s an ASPECT not the focus. The focus of the story is the history of these two people, THAT’S what 50,000 words are on. Slash takes a back seat in this, and only appears because we just feel it inevitable to. I can guarantee only two chapters that are NC-17 and should be skipped by haters. Skipping the chapters won’t disadvantage you.
It is free to comment on, as is everything, and all the information you need about it is on there, or you can ask if you need to. I’d love opinions of anyone who has a moment to skim over. In this case I will request only typo and comprehension errors in the grammar department, we’ll fine-tooth-comb the thing after November for everything else. Otherwise just tell me if it reads well and if you like it and would keep reading. It does help if you’ve seen both Inception and Brick but it’s not vital. If you haven’t seen the latter, though, Part 2 and partial sections of Part 4 may not make much sense, so be prepared for that. Other than that… looking forward to the responses, if I get any.
Oh! Also please let me know if the coding is off on any of the pages, cheers.
In Other News…
Current NaNoWriMo wordcount: 18,463
My NaNoWriMo page is right here if you’re keen to follow updates and get excerpts.
Current collab wordcount: 397,307
My story with Jack is currently on semi-hold as both of us work on our respective NaNos for the month. However it is still an obsession, yes, it’s ridiculously long, no, I’m not making the word count up, no, I have no idea if and when this will ever end, yes, I will keep updating the word count, no, you don’t have to care.
RAOC had a documentary made about it by a student from South Seas Film and TV School. That’s right, the same South Seas that I went to in 2009 and graduated from. The director was lovely and I can’t wait to see the finished product. Keep you posted on both here and the RAOC website so check in on the link once in a while.
I have no new reviews in The Midnight Screening this week. NaNo has taken over my life.
“1000+1 Books” has a few more books. I add to it when I feel like it, since this isn’t a review page, but it’s always a good place to go if you can’t think of your next book to read. For much better (and very informative) reviews, check out Collecting a Library, she never lets me down.
Incidentally, don’t forget to check out the new entries from Jack (who has promised an entry, finally) and Lochinvar too. Show em the support and love they deserve, guys, these blogs are amazing.
This week’s songs are :
-+- Till I Collapse – Eminem
-+- Good Life – OneRepublic
-+- Time – Hans Zimmer
Stay classy guys, till the day after next Castiel day… (correction as requested by Mack)
Bandit, OUT.
THIS FRIDAY’S ENTRY
…
ON SATURDAY
due to exams and studying for them
A while back I had an entry listing my favourite movie/TV characters, and I mentioned then that I might make an entry similar, but with book characters instead. Not by popular demand, you understand, but just to make an interesting entry for an otherwise completely uninteresting week before I hit exam mode and by proxy mucho stress and ramblings.
The problem with book characters – as opposed to film ones – is that unless the book has been adapted (usually badly) or someone has made some rather amazing fanart to it, it’s hard to describe a character physically. And a lot of people – myself included, so not judging here – like to judge a character by their appearance as well as their qualities. So… I’ll attempt to describe them as I saw them as I read the books, using actors people either know or can easily look up, in hopes of enticing visually-stimulated readers to check out my list of amazing fictional characters.
Keep in mind that like the other entry, this is just a list of SOME OF THE CHARACTERS I like. By FAR not all of them. These are either the ones I always tell people about or the ones that came to mind first at this rather ungodly hour of the morning for most people. For me it’s still rather early, but I have an appointment with my linguistics tutor in a few hours to discuss the transitivity of verbs and the S structure of adverbials so… maybe sleep is a good idea at a decent hour.
ANYWAY before I go off on yet another tangent that will bore my readers to tears, here it be:
The Phouka
In My Mind: Tom Hiddleston-[with darker skin]-meets-Eames-in-an-alleyway
From: War for the Oaks
By: Emma Bull
This is probably one of the only characters on this list for whom finding a fanimage is damn near impossible. It’s beyond me why more people haven’t read this book, I adore it beyond words and recommend it to pretty much everyone I know. The Phouka is faerie, he’s a sprite, he’s a trickster, he’s a wonderful shapeshifting smartass who wins the heart of anyone and everyone who reads him on the page. Phouka is charismatic, he’s funny, he’s ridiculously sympathetic and he’s a character who makes me adopt his mannerisms and speech patterns every time I read the book (which is so often it’s potentially unhealthy). I’ve been meaning to write this book into a screenplay since I read it the first time, because I would love to see this made into a film. I’d only trust Tarsem Singh (The Fall, The Cell, Immortals) to helm it, but I would love to see it made.
Anyone who’s read the Hunger Games trilogy would assume that of all the characters to choose to represent the series on my list, Haymitch isn’t the first that comes to mind. But if I’m honest, the series astounded me with more than just its plot and absolutely stunning ideas, but with its minor characters. Arguably, Haymitch isn’t a minor character, but he’s not one of the first to come to mind when one asks for main characters. I love Haymitch because he’s real. He won the games 24 years ago, he’s been drinking himself slowly into the grave since, and hating life when every day he wakes up alive again after nightmares upon nightmares of the games he won and years and years of seeing young kids go to their death from their district. Haymitch takes no bullshit and gives none, his advice to Katniss and Peeta is “stay alive”. Nothing more nothing less. I can’t actually tell you why I love him so much, but he was battling Cinna and Finnick for this space so something about his humanity must’ve rung true. I’m well aware that the film has been cast, but I disagree with 98% of the casting so I cast him as I saw him in my mind.
This is technically an internet graphic novel, not a book, so finding images of Doc Worth are a lot easier than of any of the other characters so far. There are tons of fan communities for Hanna, and I have to agree with the casting by the majority of the fans… Paul Bettany would work the shit out of this character and have a ball doing it. I’ll actually use Tessa’s description of Doc to make it easier and more entertaining. Disclaiming right this very instant that the following passage is NOT MINE. “Doc Worth did the whole fancy going to medical school thing for a while, until he realized that dressing nicely and remembering a bunch of ‘useless crap’ wasn’t really his style. So he dropped out, fell out of touch with his family and started a practice in a dark alley somewhere while simultaneously deciding that all of his coats needed to have a line of fur on it for absolutely no reason except maybe that it made him look sorta dingier and skeezier.”
I read this book yonks ago and it’s another of my all time favourites to reread and recommend to people. Especially if they like reading, considering the plot. Guy is an interesting character for me because he’s easy to relate to. Yes, he goes through the typical hero growth-arc; first he follows along with orders, then starts to think for himself, then starts to understand the pull towards breaking the law and why he did it previously… it’s hard to explain. Something about Guy makes you like him and, for a while at least, pity him. I know that this has been adapted before, but if I’m honest I am too scared to watch it in case it ruins my beautiful imagery that I’ve built up in my mind for such a long time… I’d like to see Cillian act him, he’d work very well.
I am positive that besides Q no one else will know this book. It was thanks to Q that I found it and read it, actually, so thank you. It’s difficult to describe the Strugatsky brothers’ work… this is the first book of a trilogy, but you can read all books standalone; it’s a melding of science fiction and dark satire of society; it’s actually not my favourite book in the trilogy but I happen to like Strannik in it the most. Also he loses his “title” in book 2 (Beetle on the Anthill). Strannik is a difficult character to explain because he is so shadowy and UNexplained. For most of the book you have no idea who he is, he’s probably considered a minor character even though he’s the key to the entire book in the end. He’s not a villain, he’s not a hero, he’s both. It’s damn near impossible to relate to him but he is so fascinating that I doubt it’s possible to outright hate him.
This is one of the few books which I loved just as much as the film adaptation, and it’s probably the only book where I will cast the character as he was cast in the film adaptation. Why? Because I saw the movie first. But believe me when I say that it is so beautifully and perfectly cast that I wouldn’t be able to recast the Narrator if I tried. The Narrator is never named in the book. It’s written in first person and whenever someone refers to him it’s either with use of a pronoun or as “Jack” which isn’t his name but rather a name taken from an article the Narrator reads in both the book and film that he adopts to describe himself. The Narrator is – scarily, for those who’ve read the book/seen the film – probably the only character I can relate to to the point of frightful accuracy. Insomnia has never been described so well. The Narrator comes close to being an “everyman” (to quote another book which I don’t plan to review/talk about on here) but in the most twisted and convoluted way… I won’t spoil the ending here.
Yes, yes, cheating post, I know, sue me. But if you’ve read the book you know that you can’t have Aziraphale without Crowley and vise versa. For those freaking out over slash, no, not in that way, though I know most of the female fandom of Good Omens sees them this way all the time. I don’t. I just love them as unlikely best friends and allies, being an angel and a demon as they are. These have to be two of the most beautifully crafted characters I’ve read in a long time; they’re fleshed out, they have enough history to fill books (and do, if you’re religious with a sense of humor) and they are FUN to read. Easy to relate to? Not unless you gave away your flaming sword to Adam and Eve as they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden or threaten your plants into growing. Highly entertaining duo nonetheless.
I know this was made into a film also and there are no words for just how much I HATED and despised that adaptation and its casting. Holy mother of Christ. If you even think about watching the film before reading the book you may potentially be dead to me forever after. Just saying. Urgh. Henry is one of the most stunning, powerful and complicated characters I’ve ever read. I haven’t been able to make it through the book a second time because I know that I’ll cry from about the midway mark again and I’m not sure I’m stable enough to handle that much pain at the moment. It’s the author’s skill that made Henry’s non-existent disease not only believable but believable to a point that you forget that it doesn’t exist. The way Henry handles Chrono-displacement, the way he explains it to others, how he goes about SURVIVING with such a thing… there are just no words for how amazing he is.
My God, can this be? A FEMALE character on the list? That’s right, there are few female characters I like in books and Wanderer makes the cut. If Haymitch hadn’t've made the list earlier, Katniss would have been first in the female line, but alas. I say this every time I recommend this book to people – which, like the rest on this list, is often – DO NOT JUDGE THE BOOK BY ITS AUTHOR. That sounds ridiculous but it’s true. Forget that Meyer ever wrote that shit called Twilight. This is a brilliant book, don’t let your Twihate cloud that. I did for far too long and I regret not reading it earlier. Wanderer is interesting in a number of ways, first and foremost in that she spends most of the book as not only herself but Melanie also. Wanderer is a soul. Technically she has no body unless she possesses one, but this is about CHARACTERS… as a character she’s incredible. She’s lived so many lives, on so many planets, and seen so many things that she didn’t understand before coming to earth and taking over this powerful, desperate human who teaches her things that her poor soul essence had never encountered. For those who know the book… yes, I cast her as her final vessel. I always cast Melanie as Sophia Bush.
Like Fight Club, I agree with the casting on this, so it’s staying. I read this book when I was quite young and reread it recently and I adore it. Q said she saw a stunning theatre performance of this and has been unable to forget it since, and I can only imagine how beautiful that must have been. Dorian is interesting to me because he grows so much as a character and because of just how LONG it takes him to do so. He’s arrogant, young, foolish and nothing he does will kill him. To a point, it’s easy to understand what he did and why, and even – for a time, at least – for length of time he did it for, but at the same time it doesn’t take long into the book before the reader is feeling uneasy with all the things Dorian does, takes for granted, and forgets. I love it because it’s a logical and frightening take on beauty, sexuality, irony and immortality, and it’s presented through a beautiful, young face.
Sweet. God. That took a while. I’ve been at this for about 3 hours now and I swear there will still be more typos in here than I’d rather see. Ah well, makes it genuinely and legitimately mine then. Like I said before, this is barely grazing the list of characters and books I love, but I can’t go over 10 before I hit a ridiculously huge word count and start to nit-pick to the point of nauseating boredom. The last few characters on any list are the ones you fight for and chew over for a long time. I’ve missed tons of characters I love, but that’s due to list restrictions.
If you made a list who would you include? If you know/like any of the characters I’ve listed… do you agree with my casting? Yes, I’m desperately trying to get my followers to talk to me again on here. One can hope right?
In Other News…
I’ve signed up for NaNoWriMo and you can find me right here if you’re keen to follow updates and get excerpts. Wish me luck!
My story with Jack is now at 377,465 words and we’re still going strong. Yes, it’s an obsession, yes, it’s ridiculously long, no, I’m not making the word count up, no, I have no idea if and when this will ever end, yes, I will keep updating the word count, no, you don’t have to care.
RAOC had a documentary made about it by a student from South Seas Film and TV School. That’s right, the same South Seas that I went to in 2009 and graduated from. The director was lovely and I can’t wait to see the finished product. Keep you posted on both here and the RAOC website so check in on the link once in a while.
I have no new reviews in The Midnight Screening this week. However I am going to watch a movie with Q tomorrow night that I’ve been waiting for a very long time so chances are I’ll review it upon my return.
“1000+1 Books” has a few more books. I add to it when I feel like it, since this isn’t a review page, but it’s always a good place to go if you can’t think of your next book to read. For much better (and very informative) reviews, check out Collecting a Library, she never lets me down.
Incidentally, don’t forget to check out the new entries from Jack (who has promised an entry, finally) and Lochinvar too. Show em the support and love they deserve, guys, these blogs are amazing.
This week’s songs are :
-+- Till I Collapse – Eminem
-+- Everything to Lose – Dido
-+- Sing It Out – Switchfoot
Stay classy guys, till the day after next Castiel day… (correction as requested by Mack)
Bandit, OUT.
Don’t worry, guys, a week hasn’t flown by since my last entry, I just felt the need to blog a quick bonus message before I collapsed into bed and slept.
So Mack and I went out to support the French against NZ at the Rugby World Cup final tonight and I made some amazing new discoveries. A few more were discussed later as we arrived home and met up with Aych (pronounced ‘H’) who was also out supporting France but in another part of town.
The first was that this experience was the closest we’ll ever come to a zombie apocalypse. People were everywhere. Stumbling into each other. Screaming. Swearing.
The next was that some people are just born stupid. No matter how much alcohol they will imbibe, or how sober they claim to be… the French flag will never be the Italian one. In any country. And especially not at the world final between New Zealand and FRANCE.
Lastly, and what inspired the title of this blog, was a story Aych told us upon her return. The bar she was in was filled – as the city had been – with hundreds of All Blacks fans (for those not aware, that’s the highly original name that our rugby team) and a highly enthusiastic Frenchman. Now, the Frenchman was happily supporting his team, enthusiastically as the rest of the fans in the bar were supporting theirs. The only difference was that whenever the Frenchman yelled happily, he was met with angry glances and racist comments.
Seriously, guys, what the hell. Sure, you’re obsessed with your team. To the point of it being pathetic. To the point where you push people away from you with angry yells if they aren’t blindly following the same team you are. And as soon as someone else starts supporting their team you attack them? Really? How dumb ARE you all?? Urgh.
This is why I really am so against the RWC. Not because it’s apparently good for our economy. Not because it’s a way to bring people together. No. Because New Zealanders don’t understand the meaning of fair sharing. And understanding. By the end of the night Mack and I honestly thought that the city wouldn’t even come together like this if we’d just won a war. When countries come together for things like riots against corrupt governments or to save the planet, our country only comes together for a rugby match. And even then it’s not a country coming together, it’s a country that expects the entire population to follow one team, and care about the victory of that one team.
So, to quote Aych… I almost wanted to cry I was so embarrassed for our country.
Mack and I are embarking on a journey of self discovery this week with something I like to call the “toast and tea diet”. Technically it’s not a diet at all. It’s something I eat when I’m ill and can’t stomach anything else. But I’ve found, through experience, that it has a rather pleasant dexotifying effect on the body if done for a decent amount of time. Longest I’ve done this has been three days during a very bad bout of flu, and since I just finished university for the year (more on that later) and have recently gone through a bad bout of flu, I decided to attempt the toast-and-tea (from now on known as TNT) for a week. Mack thought it sounded like fun so she decided to join me.
This is our story.
Now, many of you may be thinking that eating TNT for a week will be boring and we won’t last and I won’t lie, I agree. Because of this, Mack and I have a failproof, idiotsafe plan in place. We will make every recipe known to man or mouse with bread and tea. We’re starting simple with bread-tea and tea-bread, followed by a wonderful dinner of bread-pizza with some bread-salad on the side (and breadsticks), tea-wine to wash it down with and bread (no butter) pudding for dessert. And that’s just the first evening. We have so many culinary plans for this week that I can’t fit them all into this tiny paragraph.
On top of this, to entertain ourselves, we’ve decided that our week needs a soundtrack. So we’re busily reworking a few much-loved classics to fit our purposes. Currently on the disk (available at the gift shop to your left) we have
Together We’ll Face The Bread
My Bread Will Go On
The Circle of Bread
The Final Breaddown
and many more. Stay tuned. Or offer up your own suggestions, we need enough to cover a “best of”.
Beyond that, as previously stated, this was my last week of university for the year. To refresh the memories of those who care, this is my first year at Auckland Uni. I went to film school for a year in 2009, took a gap in 2010 to work in the industry before deciding I was bored pushing tapes into a deck on 17-hour shifts and went into uni. In retrospect… I loved it. I actually can’t wait till next year since I know exactly what I want to do and I’m going to take some subjects that interest me greatly that just weren’t offered in first year.
At the same time, this year has gone by so ridiculously quickly! Exams are a week away and then it’s break till March! Though, not really, considering I plan to take summer school it’s break till January for me, but once I’ve done summer school I’ll never have to see statistics again so that’s worth celebrating in itself I think.
Sadly I’m missing Armageddon this year, and can’t meet Mark Sheppard in person due to my exams being IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAMN THING however once I’m done there’s a huge chance that myself, Mack and hopefully 13 others are off to a 3-day writing retreat near Mt. Ruapehu. I rambled on and on about NaNoWriMo last entry so I won’t do it again, but it is NaNo related. By next entry I will be one exam freer and a few thousand words further into my NaNo. I’ll keep a count on here for anyone who cares.
Other than that… I’m gonna call it a night, and hope – with the rest of my flatmates and most of my friends – that the French win the rugby tomorrow JUST so I can entertain myself by watching the entire country go into a mourning period over a sport that originated from a naked fertility ritual. As Master Four said in a comment, “I just think it would be a perfect statement on NZ if other countries were having riots over economics and we had a riot from losing the rugby world cup to the French.”
In Other News…
I’ve signed up for NaNoWriMo – as previously mentioned – and you can find me right here if you’re keen to follow updates and get excerpts. Wish me luck!
My story with Jack is now at 359,893 words and we’re still going strong. Yes, it’s an obsession, yes, it’s ridiculously long, no, I’m not making the word count up, no, I have no idea if and when this will ever end, yes, I will keep updating the word count, no, you don’t have to care.
RAOC had a documentary made about it by a student from South Seas Film and TV School. That’s right, the same South Seas that I went to in 2009 and graduated from. The director was lovely and I can’t wait to see the finished product. Keep you posted on both here and the RAOC website so check in on the link once in a while.
I have no new reviews in The Midnight Screening this week. I really need to get my ass into gear with this again…
“1000+1 Books” has a few more books. I add to it when I feel like it, since this isn’t a review page, but it’s always a good place to go if you can’t think of your next book to read. For much better (and very informative) reviews, check out Collecting a Library, she never lets me down.
Incidentally, don’t forget to check out the new entries from Jack (who has promised an entry, finally) and Lochinvar too. Show em the support and love they deserve, guys, these blogs are amazing.
This week’s songs are :
-+- Good Life – OneRepublic
-+- Artillery – Infected Mushroom
-+- What the Water Gave Me – Florence and the Machine
Stay classy guys, till the day after next Castiel day… (correction as requested by Mack)
Bandit, OUT.
For the single person who read my entry last week, I moved house last Sunday and now live with flatmates in a place I have named the Roadhouse (according to Mack it’s because we’re on road and it’s a house we live in). It’s been nearly a week so far and it’s amazing. I love the room I’m in, I love the people I’m living with, I love the proximity to the city and shorter (and cheaper) bus travel… Although I will admit freely that I really miss Q and my grandparents. But… I do like living by myself.
In the short time I’ve lived at the Roadhouse I’ve had a few interesting experiences. I’ve forgotten at least one thing every day that I’ve been here (most commonly my lunch), I’ve posed in a tiny bathtub for Mack’s photo contest, I’ve finished an essay, completed all of my assignments for the year, watched Real Steel (and loved it), acquired brogues and impressed my new flatmates with my apparently epic DVD collection.
I’ve also signed up for NaNoWriMo for next month. For those who follow Jack’s blog (which you should all be) she did a quick section on NaNo in her latest entry, but since I plan to enter it also I thought I’d add a section as well. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, though I think it’s more international now than anything, but not the point. The idea is that it’s free to sign up for anyone over 13, and the goal is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. You put up regular word count updates on your page and chat with other writers on forums.
I know, sounds like a drag to anyone who isn’t a writer, and like the ultimate challenge to anyone who is, so here’s the sweetener: if you make it to 50,000 words and over you get a voucher to publish a paperback copy of your book and a chance to sell it on Amazon. And even the non-writers you gotta admit that’s pretty sweet. Publication and a copy of your first ever book to keep? Yes please! So I’ll be working on that during the month of November. I have exams on the 31st of October before the NaNo launch party – here’s hoping another roof-top party – then one on the 5th and 7th. Last is the 14th however that’s the one I worry least about so after the 7th it’s pretty much a guarantee that I will be at my computer writing constantly. Apparently you have to average out 1,657 (or thereabouts) words a day to get the goal of 50,000, and considering that my story with Jack averages 10,000 words a session I’m confident. I worry I’m somewhat over-confident. We’ll live and see, shall we?
For those who are interested, my NaNo story idea came about when Holmes and I were returning from a mini roadtrip up to the Coromandel maybe a month back. It revolves around the back-histories of Arthur and Eames, following both of them through their youth, education, military careers and both of their entries into Inception and what they did after. Yes, it has aspects of slash but the story is mostly about two people who had difficult lives and made difficult choices and had to live with them for years after, who happen to find comfort in each other towards their 30s and work through a dangerous enough career to give anyone nightmares for life. If you’re keen, then brilliant, keep a watchful eye on the NaNo account I linked earlier (and will link again), and if not then thanks for stopping bye, hope you have a pleasant trip on your way to where you were going.
Wow I honestly thought this entry would be more entertaining and exciting but alas… perhaps because I haven’t lived here for a long time I have no interesting stories just yet to tell. Who knows, with the promises from Mack of more photoshoots I might have more amazing photos to present later and ramble on about. In the mean time…
In Other News…
I’ve signed up for NaNoWriMo – as previously mentioned – and you can find me right here if you’re keen to follow updates and get excerpts. Wish me luck!
My story with Jack is now at 346,715 words and we’re still going strong. Yes, it’s an obsession, yes, it’s ridiculously long, no, I’m not making the word count up, no, I have no idea if and when this will ever end, yes, I will keep updating the word count, no, you don’t have to care.
RAOC had a documentary made about it by a student from South Seas Film and TV School. That’s right, the same South Seas that I went to in 2009 and graduated from. The director was lovely and I can’t wait to see the finished product. Keep you posted on both here and the RAOC website so check in on the link once in a while.
I have no new reviews in The Midnight Screening this week. I really need to get my ass into gear with this again…
“1000+1 Books” has a few more books. I add to it when I feel like it, since this isn’t a review page, but it’s always a good place to go if you can’t think of your next book to read. For much better (and very informative) reviews, check out Collecting a Library, she never lets me down.
Incidentally, don’t forget to check out the new entries from Jack (who has promised an entry, finally) and Lochinvar too. Show em the support and love they deserve, guys, these blogs are amazing.
This week’s songs are :
-+- Till I Collapse – Eminem
-+- Artillery – Infected Mushroom
-+- Earthman – Poets and Pornstars
Stay classy guys, till next Castiel day…
Bandit, OUT.
So I’ve been absent for two weeks for a number of reasons, many of which I won’t get into today but suffice to say it’s been a tough two weeks. A lot of change, and for those who know me quite well, I don’t do well with change. I need time to adjust. So I guess this is just a general entry to say that I’m still alive, that I do plan to continue this blog in some capacity, and to let out my general thoughts on the changes going on around me and how I plan to deal with them.
Feel free to ignore the entry, it might be changed to a general personal entry at a later date.
So. First and foremost… I’m moving house. In two days. An opportunity came up for me to move in to a place of a decent size with an affordable rent and people I like, and I took it. Considering the entire decision process happened in the space of less than 3 weeks – from announcement of a free room to actually moving in – I’d call it radical to a degree, but it would be unfair to say that I didn’t plan this out. I’d been wanting to move out for a while now and, like previously stated, this presented a good opportunity for me.
I won’t lie and say I’m confident, I’m scared out of my mind, but that could easily be due to the short time it took to organize more than anything else in particular. That’s not to say I’m not excited though. I’ve been talking to my new flatmates (two of whom I don’t know very well yet) quite frequently through Mack (my other, third, flatmate who I do know quite well) or through social mediums and I’m confident that we’ll get along fine. If worst comes to worst I can hole up in my new room just as I hole up in this one and leave everyone be. Here’s hoping it doesn’t come to that though.
I do have an astounding amount of cutlery that I’m taking with me (8 forks, 10 knives, 15 spoons of varying types and styles, if I recall correctly) and I’ve got a much finer appreciation of thrift stores again. My only other issue now is job hunting and budgeting. Again, for those who know me well, me and money don’t mix well; as soon as I have money I feel the compulsive need to spend it. And it’s not that I’m a shopaholic, I don’t spend on anything in particular, it’s more the urge to make the money material than anything else. So budgeting is going to be fun, I’ll be sure to keep a pretty constant twitter feed about it so stay tuned if you need late night entertainment.
Besides switching locales I’m also thinking about the future a lot more now that it’s nearing the end of my first year at Auckland University. It’s kinda scary how time flies when you stop noticing it. One second it’s March and I’m trying to find where the science building is, and the next it’s October and I’m weaving through four shortcuts to get to a lecture on time. Also it’s nearly time to choose classes for next year and I’m on the edge of my seat for the date applications open. For those who don’t know, psychology fills up ridiculously quickly at this uni, and considering I would like to major in it (along with linguistics) it would be highly beneficial for me if I got into psychology for my second year.
I did a quick scan of the classes available not ten minutes ago and set up a brief first draft of a timetable just to see. If all goes to plan I’ll be taking three papers of each of my majors for the entire year (two for linguistics in semester 1 and two for psych in semester 2) as well as a creative writing paper to keep myself sane and potentially a dance paper for my general education and “fitness requirement”. This is all, as I said, if all goes to plan. We all know how well Murphy’s Law and I get along so I refuse to name my chosen classes or call anything definite until it’s in electronic format that I’ve officially gotten into the classes I wanted.
Then I can shuffle my timetable and angle for a few more free days throughout the week.
In Other News…
It’s Q’s birthday tomorrow!! I know she’s not excited by this news but I am. There’s a chance I’ll take her out to play pool for a while; we both need to relax and hit a few sets of balls with sticks for a while in a controlled and safe environment.
My story with Jack is now at 336,189 words and we’re still going strong. Yes, it’s an obsession, yes, it’s ridiculously long, no, I’m not making the word count up, no, I have no idea if and when this will ever end, yes, I will keep updating the word count, no, you don’t have to care.
RAOC had a documentary made about it by a student from South Seas Film and TV School. That’s right, the same South Seas that I went to in 2009 and graduated from. The director was lovely and I can’t wait to see the finished product. Keep you posted on both here and the RAOC website so check in on the link once in a while.
I have no new reviews in The Midnight Screening this week. I really need to get my ass into gear with this again…
“1000+1 Books” has a few more books. I add to it when I feel like it, since this isn’t a review page, but it’s always a good place to go if you can’t think of your next book to read. For much better (and very informative) reviews, check out Collecting a Library, she never lets me down.
Incidentally, don’t forget to check out the new entries from Jack (who has promised an entry, finally) and Lochinvar too. Show em the support and love they deserve, guys, these blogs are amazing.
This week’s songs are :
-+- Colder Weather – Zac Brown Band
-+- Sing It Out – Switchfoot
-+- Thistle and Weeds – Mumford and Sons
Stay classy guys, till next Castiel day…
Bandit, OUT.
This week has been interesting. My sleeping pattern has been screwed over beyond belief, Holmes flew over from Aussie for a fortnight and we have some wonderful things planned (for more info see “In Other News” this week), I got back 4/5 of the results I was awaiting and although I’m still (according to some) irrationally annoyed with one grade the others I’m quite happy with. Not bad going for someone who spent the last week of the previous term skirting the edge of a mental breakdown and following the sleeping patterns of the Narrator.
Over the last week I’ve also been getting many blog post ideas from Master Four while the man procrastinated from studying a subject I doubt he’s even interested in. And now I’m spoiled for choice when it comes to writing one this week! And I’m even starting early, knowing that by the time my brain becomes semi-conscious and my eyes blink all the metaphorical sand out of themselves and I return home after a coffee with a friend I might no longer be tempted to write or have a spare moment to.
The title this week comes from The Hunger Games but the book – or upcoming film adaptation – won’t feature in this blog. More it’s an allusion to what I plan to write about. One of the suggestions I got was to have a countdown or general listing of sorts, of either best characters or TV series or ships. Now, I know for a fact that a few readers don’t care much for shipping – even though they ship without even realizing it – be it het and canon or slash and fanfic, so I’ll leave that one sailing this week. That leaves characters or TV series. And tempted as all hell as I am to pimp out my favourite TV series on here, I might go with characters this week.
I’m going to limit the pool from which I pick to only films or series this time, might do a book one if this proves interesting to more than one person or if it’s requested. I’ll also do my utmost to avoid book-to-film adaptation characters here unless I’m completely unaware that a film was based on a book. But in the meantime…
—~+~—
Lenny Drake
From: The Escapist
Played by: Joseph Fiennes
Lenny is a thief serving time (7 years if I recall correctly) for a murder he and a partner committed while stealing something. His partner gets released before he does and he, for perfectly understandable reasons, is less than pleased about this. And that’s about as much as we know about him going into the film. There are few words to describe just how much I adore this character. The guy is rumoured to “walk through walls” and while the exaggeration is obvious, it’s also, in a roundabout way, quite justified. Anyone who can make a saw that cuts through metal in a jail out of pieces of bed, plaster and a diamond imbedded in a guy’s tooth is pretty much my hero. The fact that he’s played by Fiennes and that he says very little beyond finding out specific details and glaring at everyone is just a bonus, really.
Priestly is just your average guy in his early twenties, with crazy coloured hair and more fake holes in his head than real ones, who works in a funky little sandwich store with a bunch of girls. That… is pretty much all you can say about Priestly really. He’s full of infinite wisdom for everyone about anything and is – in my opinion – one of the most romantic characters I’ve seen on film for a while. Besides the fact that Jensen played him, the character is actually pretty fleshed out for someone who is, in essence, a stereotype of all things non-conformist. I love him, anyway.
Tempted as I was to have this entire list consist of guys, I can’t deny that there are a few female characters that kick so much ass that they deserve a mention. Veronica is one of them. I actually didn’t get into this show for a long time because the idea of a series based on a high school girl solving crimes with her PI dad just sounded, well, dumb. I can honestly eat my words with that one, it’s an incredibly clever show and well acted. Veronica made the list not only because of her brains, but because, as much as I am wont to say it, she’s easy to relate to. At least, for me as a girl, maybe guys like her for her Kristen Bell exterior, I’m not sure.
Like I say in all my reviews and recommendations of this movie to others: do not be put off by Jesse McCartney heading this thing if you’re not a fan of his. I’m not, never have been, but that doesn’t stop me thinking that this is one of those Oscar-worthy performances that never got the attention it deserved. Keith is a smartass. For a while his entire way of carrying himself makes no sense; he just appears to be a kid who likes to play with words and infuriate people by being clever and annoying as hell. It’s a cliche to say there’s more to him than that, but it’s true. And what that particular thing is, is not something I plan to spoil on here.
A brilliant example of a minor character stealing every scene he’s in. From memory, he doesn’t have more than a handful of lines in the entire movie, but from all the characters (sometimes including even the mains) he’s the most memorable for me. Maybe I just have a thing for sarcastic smart smooth-talking hitmen. Besides the script for the film being Oscar-level hilarious, Clive’s character isn’t fleshed out at all; everything you know about him you gather as the film goes on. Because of this, his paragraph isn’t quite as detailed as the others, but believe me when I say he’s one of my favourite characters ever.
A few people might debate my choice of Nancy for this list, but I can justify myself. First off, she’s not from a book, she’s from a graphic novel. Radical difference. Next, of all the women in that particular graphic novel, she and Gail and Miho are the only girls who kick ass without even trying. Sure, the Old Town girls are fierce, but none of them are 19 and self sufficient from age 15 due to a huge legal and political misunderstanding. Nancy was saved from rape and a painful death by John Hartigan when she was 9, and not allowed to testify on his behalf when he was wrongfully accused and jailed. Since then she’d been in love with him and doing everything in her power to make sure she grew up strong for when he was released and she could see him again. Call me an oddity, but I adore their story, and I love how Nancy drives a shitty car only she can keep running and has a revolver that she keeps under the seat… I just love her and since this is my list she’s staying on it.
Ok Robert makes this list for one reason and one reason only: “Right you asshole, I’ve got your daughter here, and I’m gonna send her back in pieces if… OH! I’m sorry, madam. No, I haven’t got your daughter here, I’ve got someone else’s. No, we’re not married. Yes, I’ve read the same thing, it’s very hard to find suitable young men these days. Well, I’m sure your daughter’s very nice, in principle I’ve got no objection to meeting her…” This film isn’t one that a lot of people like, in fact most people think it’s stupid and refuse to watch it twice which is a shame. Robert Lewis is, in a nutshell, the worst kidnapper ever to kidnap. Maybe it’s McGregor’s acting that got me, or the script, I don’t even know anymore… but when making a list of favourite characters that aren’t from book adaptations, Robert Lewis has to make the cut.
This is probably the most recognizable face in film history and besides Sherlock Holmes (who can’t make the list due to his literary roots) was my hero as a kid. I think it was because of him that I wanted to be an archaeologist, not realizing that I would actually have to study for years and do a lot more boring paperwork and readings than I would shooting bad guys and flailing my whip around. Indy is childhood for me; he’s the ultimate badass. A professor who jumps out the window of his office when fangirls block his doorway, who was named after the dog and has the most annoying and coolest father ever. Ah, Indy… love of my life for so many years…
I am so proud of myself for holding out long enough on this list before Eames came up… it’s not exactly world’s best kept secret that I am not only head over heels in love with this man but also quite similar to him when the mood presents itself. Now that the hype has worn off, most people don’t remember the movie. Fair call. If it ever hits cult status it will take time, but it doesn’t stop me loving it. Another example, like Clive Cornell above, of a minor character – in this case more minor than the main three but still quite important – taking the spotlight away from the leading man. For me, at least, Eames was the most fascinating character with the most difficult and fascinating job. Also, he pretty much singlehandedly made up the process by which the inception had to be done so he should get a lot more kudos for that than he currently does.
I’m not sure which film, if any, will beat out The Fall for me for my favourite film of all time. There are just no words to describe how brilliant this movie is, and how much I loved Lee Pace in it. Roy is one of the most powerful performances I’ve seen on screen, and even though he’s the last character I plan to post about today he is by far not the only I wish I could mention. Roy is a stunt man lying in a Los Angeles hospital paralyzed from the hips down after a stunt went wrong. He’s upset, he’s in pain and he’s young. Every emotion portrayed by him in reality, as well as all that are projected on to the Bandit in his story, is so humanly genuine it’s painful to watch. He’s a completely unforgettable character; he owns my heart, my soul and I am honored to take his name on this blog weekly.
Sadly, as I just said, I have to stop at 10. There are so many more I want to write about, but I’ve already doubled my word count for the week and fear if I push for 15 I’ll find an excuse to push for 20 and so forth. Might keep this idea around for once-a-month entries when I run out of ideas for anything else. Besides, I still have book ones to do!
In Other News…
My collab with Jack now sits pretty at 249,480 words and counting as we speak (early morning writing sessions, bliss), kids are going to school next door and I’m cackling at them since I don’t have Russian today and can come in later for coffee with a friend and NOTHING ELSE. Love Fridays.
Holmes and I are taking a roadtrip this weekend up north and a little east to the Coromandel Peninsula to see an old car show. Here’s hoping the weather parts for us, it’s been pouring with rain here pretty regularly and we need it to stop. Or, put it this way, we would prefer if it did. We can work with anything, though, we’re just that awesome.
RAOC has some amazing things upcoming, so watch this space and the website for details on that as it happens!!~
I have no new reviews in The Midnight Screening this week. I really need to get my ass into gear with this again…
“1000+1 Books” has a few more books. I add to it when I feel like it, since this isn’t a review page, but it’s always a good place to go if you can’t think of your next book to read. For much better (and very informative) reviews, check out Collecting a Library, she never lets me down.
Incidentally, don’t forget to check out the new entries from Jack (who has promised an entry, finally) and Lochinvar too. Show em the support and love they deserve, guys, these blogs are amazing.
This week’s songs are :
-+- Super Psycho Love – Simon Curtis
-+- Set Fire to the Rain – Adele
-+- Lose Yourself – Eminem
Stay classy guys, till next Castiel day…
Bandit, OUT.
…and that’s so I can rant about how much I can’t stand it.
Right now the Marching Bands of fucken Manhattan are practicing circuits behind my eyes and everything is fuzzy so I’ll make this quick.
For those who don’t know, the Rugby World Cup is on and hosted by Auckland in New Zealand. If you don’t know about this, then congratulations. This means you are either in the 0.2% of the world that hasn’t decided that headline news is now Rugby or you don’t live in this country, which makes your life pretty much one-up mine by the nth degree.
Now, why I’m writing about this.
Since we’re hosting the cup this year, our city’s been flooded with tourists and sport fanatics from pretty much the world over for the 6 weeks the damn thing is on. Because of this, our city has changed its bus routes, changed the way you PAY on buses, cleaned up the streets, covered buildings in shiny designs proclaiming that “the world is here to play” and force fed “country pride” down the throats of anyone living in the City of Sails (currently City of Rugby, where the World is Here to Pay).
To be honest I am so beyond sick of hearing about the damn thing that there are no more words. I was in Real Groovy with Master Four the other day searching through the vinyl collections there before he had the good sense to drag me out by the scruff of my neck before I spent any more money on music, and this guy randomly comes up to us and starts telling us how “the last tiem da All Blacks plaid it wz against Aussie and dem bastards cheated” (exact transcription). Now, honestly, who the bloody-fuck cares?? We’re in a music. store. This is where they sell things that belong to something called culture, which you, random guy, have no concept of.
Today was the opening of the games and fans were everywhere. 98% of all cars had flags of the teams they support on them. That wouldn’t be such a huge deal, if people hadn’t gone as far as to drive and HOLD THE DAMN FLAG OUT THE WINDOW AT THE SAME TIME. Not only that, but this isn’t a tiny fan-flag, this is a full-blown actual-size flag. Hanging out the driver’s window. Held by the driver while he’s driving. That is pretty much obscuring any view of any rearview mirror of any car in front of them. Kudos, guys, way to show the world how things are done in NZ.
Although I’ll say that I’m pleasantly surprised and very happy to find that a large number of guys I know agree that the hype is not only annoying but highly embarrassing for Auckland. Thank you, gentlemen. Most of you even dress well. I feel honored to know you.
Urgh. I’ll stop before my head splits open. I’ll try my utmost to not make the next entry angst or short but fuck… if the fans screaming outside my window don’t shut up in the next 20 minutes I will find a hammer and smash them till they die.
In Other News…
My collab with Jack now sits pretty at 226,317 words, there are drunken idiots screaming outside my window, my head feels like it’s about to split open and I really truly madly deeply want to listen to Super Psycho Love again.
RAOC has some amazing things upcoming, so watch this space and the website for details on that as it happens!!~
I have no new reviews in The Midnight Screening this week. I am on break now though so chances are I will at least get a chance to WATCH films again.
“1000+1 Books” has a few more books. I add to it when I feel like it, since this isn’t a review page, but it’s always a good place to go if you can’t think of your next book to read. For much better (and very informative) reviews, check out Collecting a Library, she never lets me down.
Incidentally, don’t forget to check out the new entries from Jack and Lochinvar too. Show em the support and love they deserve, guys, these blogs are amazing.
This week’s songs are :
-+- Super Psycho Love – Simon Curtis
-+- Set Fire to the Rain – Adele
-+- Home – Mumford & Sons
Stay classy guys, till next Castiel day…
Bandit, OUT.
