Friday Things: 06/29

[Woo-hoo, it's Friday! This week I've started reading Peter Pan, and man it's definitely much darker than some of the movies that've adapted it, particularly the Disney version which I've seen more more times than I can count. Just in the first few chapters I've learned a few things about Peter Pan that surprised me.
I've also been playing Braid, and man is it tough! I mean, once you figure out the puzzles it's a simple game, but they really make you think. I'm loving it!
That being said, you came here for the link dump, right? Check it out right below!]

On Writers, books and such:

Found on Jen Campbell's blog, here's a look at 15 Writers' bedrooms. Very interesting!

I'm not sure why I didn't know about the Bookshelf blog before. Check it out for pictures of awesome bookshelves! Some of them are so creative - I hope someday I have the space for a big fixture like the kind of stuff shown there.

On Star Wars:

Star Wars gets its own section today since I have not one, but two things to post that are Star Wars related (yay!)



First up is this awesome parody video of Gotye's Somebody I Used To Know, except it's called Star Wars I Used To Know. The production team did a fantastic job with this. (via Geeks are Sexy)

Clinton Felker has rendered Yoda in an interesting (and unique) way: as a Japanese mystic. I love the departure from the usual sort of Star Wars art, so of course it ended up here for me to share. Click image to enbiggen and be sure to check out his blog. (via Neatorama)

Other:

Dale North found an amazing blog today and shared it on Twitter: Photo Stealers. It points out "photographers" who steal photos from others to promote their own label without attribution. Scummy!

Natalia Tena, who you may know as Harry Potter's Tonks, has a role in Game of Thrones and recently spoke up about her feelings on gender inequality on television in terms of nudity. While Game of Thrones has some actual full male nudity, she feels the industry in general is unbalanced (and who can blame her; it's true). Read a quickie on her thoughts about some things that are wrong with GoT and the industry at large.

One of the most impressive things I've had the pleasure of reporting on for Tomopop has been some papercraft work by Diana Herrera and Matt Hawkins. Their creativity is inspiring and must be shared.

VanaFest is over and a bunch of new information was announced for Final Fantasy XI. I know I'm probably one of a small amount of people who'd read this blog interested in that kind of thing, but it is genuinely exciting, as an actual expansion pack will be released next year. Not add-ons, no cheapy missions, but a full expansion with whole new zones and battlefields, new monsters, and two new jobs (Rune Fencer and Geomancer). The expansion is called Seekers of Adoulin.

[That's it for me today. Look forward to my next recap of True Blood, and to see the backlog I now have a TV link category in the navigation bar for your easy perusal. I've also recently added Japanator A.M. to the list of podcasts I've been a guest in, so you should give them a listen sometime. See you next week!]

Thoughts On: True Blood Season 5 Episode 3

Last week on True Blood, all the jumbled up story lines ended with: Tara runs away from Sookie and Lafayette, New Steve Newlin really wants to bang Jason, Luna's daughter had her first change and Sam is stressed out, Alcide is trying to get something out of Sookie, and Bill and Eric are dealing with Roman of the Authority while Pam is reminiscing about the events leading up to her becoming a vampire.

This week we're starting to see how some of these events will merge. See my thoughts below the cut, and remember: this is a summary with my thoughts - spoilers ahead!


(also note: the new "TV" tag is up in the navigation for easy access to all my TV recaps along with my thoughts on anime or anything else that would air on television)

Friday Things: 06/22

[Another week gone by! My birthday came and went, and there was cake and tostones, which are basically fried green plantains (my favorite snack/side). This weekend marks the opening of Brave, which I will be watching and presumably enjoying. Yesterday marked the official Heat Championship as well, which makes me proud as a Miamian. Read on for this week's links and tidbits!]

On The Miami Heat:

I might as well start with this. It's great to see a home team win, and it's especially nice when it's just so easy to talk a lot of trash on Miami. To that end, Pepe Billete, local character who specializes on social commentary and telling people to go jump a lake (in more vulgar terms), wrote an open letter to Miami Heat Haters.

I agree with basically all his points, except where he makes some brief, but general commentary on OKC going home to Weight Watchers meetings. I have nothing against OKC - they played well and they showed some decent sportsmanship at the end of the game (more than I could say for other teams that've played against Miami). I look forward to seeing their game in the future. Everything else, though? Relish it.


Warning: if you're not from Miami, you probably won't understand a few references.

On Movies:

Brave has just come out, and folks are already plenty divided. Here's one positive review from The Mary Sue with a few balanced opinions on where the movie is good and where other folks might see fault.

Are you a fan of Blade Runner? Someone is doing it in watercolor. Every frame.



Someone covered the theme from the Harry Potter series on wine glasses. (via Geekologie)

Angelina Jolie has never looked better as she does right now as Maleficent. It's just too bad we have to wait until 2014 for the actual film release.

I'm a fan of the new Tinkerbell movie series, and I was already pretty excited for this year's release Secret of the Wings. I'm even more excited now to know that this movie reveals that Tinkerbell has an actual sister. Her name is Periwinkle and she's adorable.

On Video Games:

I found this Pokémon page. I can't stop looking. So much merchandise! It's not like I'd buy up a whole ton of the stuff nowadays, but the nostalgia factor is pretty high.

VanaFest is coming, and I sadly can't attend. If you happen to be around on Spt. 22, there will be a concert at University of California at Berkeley. Here's the info.

I'm ridiculously excited for the upcoming Epic Mickey games. I unfortunately haven't bought in to the 3DS yet, but Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion looks fantastic. Epic Mickey 2: Power of Two will be out this year as well, and I know I'll definitely be getting it and probably for PS3.

I think that while I was in high school, I would have killed for a Majora's Mask back pack like this.

I'm sure I would have killed for this Goomba skirt, too. Hell, I'd wear something like that today. It looks great!

[Alright, I think that's good. Things you should know about: you may or may not have noticed that I've begun my True Blood recaps. I'll be doing my summaries all season and they will not be entirely spoiler-free, so proceed with caution! Once Doctor Who begins to air I'm going to be doing the same for that. Pretty soon (probably this weekend) you'll start seeing a Movies/TV/anime tab or something to that effect up at the navigation area and I'll filter anything that falls under that category over there.]

Book Review: 'The Whip' by Karen Kondazian

It's never easy to, after living your life a certain way, just up and change every aspect of it completely. Nowadays it's even harder with the internet tracking your every move. Back in the 1800s though, the odds were still against you if you were female or black. The Whip is about a woman who beat the odds. She even got to vote (as a man) in 1868.

Charley Parkhurst, orphaned girl with fair skin and golden hair, with nothing in the world besides her "brother" Lee Colton, lives a tough but independent life until she falls in love with a black man at age 35. She thought she'd found her happily ever after, but then disaster strikes and all is taken away from her. The decision she makes afterward: dress herself as a man and go out west to chase the killer. She becomes a whip (stagecoach driver) for Wells Fargo, one of the last and most famous of their kind at that, and makes a whole new life for herself. All while keeping her gender a secret from (almost) everybody.

Bonus: Congratulations to Karen for taking best historical fiction of 2012 over at the USA book awards!

(See the rest of my review under the cut)

Thoughts On: True Blood Season 5 Episode 2

Last week, Tara was turned into a vampire, and Eric and Bill were exchanged among various hands until they ended up caught under the Authority's thumb. We also saw Terry wigging out a bit over the sudden appearance of his comrade, Alcide taking responsibility for killing the Packmaster, and Jason and Andy having problems with their love lives.

My thoughts on this week's episode are below the cut, and it should be rather obvious, but: spoilers ahead!

Friday Things: 06/15

[Another Friday...another set of links that I hope everyone will enjoy! My birthday is coming up next week... but it doesn't really feel like it. Maybe once I start seeing balloons and fried green plantains and such it'll feel a bit more like I'm turning a year older.]

On Travel:



A trip through Asia in 90 seconds. (via)

According to PopPhoto, these are the top 25 places in the world to photograph. *Beware,* this is one of those pages you have to click for each entry.

On book-related things:

This is one of the more hilarious exchanges I've read in a while. Maureen Johnson had FedEx deliver her manuscript to Random House (the publishing company), but the FedEx driver insists he can't deliver her package to a random house.

On Disney:

We can't have Marvel characters running around at WDW Orlando because of agreements with Universal Studios, but that isn't going to stop Disney from placing The Avengers at Disneyland Resort. Lucky!

I'm absolutely loving these stained glass Disney designs (seen at The Mary Sue, via Lesbian Reader). There's one above, and you'll have to click the LR link to see the other. 

Here's the scoop on Disney's upcoming female-led animated adventure film, Frozen.

Sad to see the end of the Toy Story films? Don't worry, a continuation is underway, just not in full-feature film format.

Clothing and accessories:

Why yes, I would like any of these awesome Batman panties. Finally, some nice designs!

Other:

A fifth grader from New York was supposed to deliver a speech to his school and chose same-sex marriage as the topic. He was then told to change the subject or forfeit. You should have a look at the wonderful insight he has on the subject, including the fact that just because your parents want to censor particular subjects at home doesn't mean they're horrible things that shouldn't ever be talked about. He even makes the valid point that all he needs to do is turn on the news to hear about these issues.

Aisha Tyler got a lot of nonsense flak for being at the helm at Ubisoft's press conference at this year's E3. Her response? Classic. (via Letters of Note)

Thoughts on: True Blood Season 5 Episode 1

For a show that was kind of going off the deep end with its fourth season, True Blood definitely had a strong start last week. Last time, we were left wondering what would happen to Tara - whether she'd miraculously survive, or be turned into a vampire, or exit the show entirely. We got our answer, though it's incomplete. What happens if Tara is messed up just like Bubba in the Sookie Stackhouse books?

(And why is Bubba not even in the show? C'mon!)

(click through to see the rest)

Friday Things: 06/08

[Ah, hey! I kind of suck, because last week I was too busy playing crossword puzzles to read more books and even get this Friday Things column up. Don't worry, though... because it's back! Check out all the links for this week below]

On Travel:

Disney/Pixar's Brave will be coming out in theaters soon (June 22), and Scotland is thinking it'll be great for their tourism. There are even a couple of group trips planned already and they sound like a rad deal.

Summer's here! Check out CNN Travel's picks for best affordable beach resorts.

On Video Games:

Ron Gilbert spills on upcoming Cave (and much more) over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Check it out and get excited. (Part 1 | Part 2)

The Indie Game Music Bundle is out, and you've got three more days from the time of writing to purchase it! It a pay-what-you-want kind of deal, but you get tons of music if you drop $10 or more.



Wreck-It Ralph looks pretty awesome. You know, like the right kind of video game movie.

Other:

This is a great list of handy tips to help you survive living out on your own.

The last time, I shared a video of Neil Gaiman's speech at UArts. Since then, an artist has produced a webcomic strip inspired by a portion of that speech. It's awesome. You should take a look.

I had seen this great artwork in the past of all of the Doctor's companions, but I didn't know who the artist was until she made some waves recently with her Disney Princess-inspired art based on the idea that they're room mates. It's called Pocket Princesses by Amy Mebberson. For more, check out her archive.

[And with that, I think I'm through with linking stuff for this week. Enjoy, and see you next time!]

Book Review: 'Hoot' by Carl Hiaasen

After reading Chomp (review here), I was charmed enough to want to pick up more of Hiaasen's work, be it books for adults or youths. After setting my own review live, I started poking around for others and noticed that some folks are generally "tired" of some of the recurring themes in Hiaasen's books. Naturally, it only made me all that more curious to check out Hoot and see what gave people this impression.

Roy Eberhardt moves around with his parents often due to his father's job. He has just moved to Florida, and being the new kid sucks. One day, while a bully on the bus had his face smushed on to a window, he noticed a curious boy running barefoot along the street. Roy's own curiosity got the better of him, and he gets sucked into an adventure right in his back yard. Following the boy that day completely changed his life.

(click through to read the rest!)