new hayao miyazaki offering about a goldfish who turns into a girl
ponyo on the cliff by the sea + accompanying article
interactive comic. sorta.
one way out [comic]
lego set i wished i owned as a a kid, cos i sure as hell can’t afford them now!
10 amazing lego sets
you can wait for chrome beta to own, or you can turn firefox into a chrome clone (see what i did there?)
turn firefox into chrome
yeah you read right. what do you own? loser.
the tree that owns itself
i was very eager to sink my teeth into this book, especially while riding on a sandman-induced natural high (i knocked back the whole series + endless nights within 3 days).
and boy, was my excitement sorely misplaced.
the prose has none of gaiman’s easy-going cadence or charm which bugged me, but i thought “hey, it’s a collaboration – gaimanXreaves” and perhaps he role was somewhat more conceptual.
it did surprise me that michael reaves has been (according to the wiki) involved in many beloved animated cartoon series: batman, the animated series (totally rocked), teenage mutant ninja turtles (omg), he-man and the masters of the universe. so why would a gaiman-reaves partnership fall so short of the mark?
if anyone asks, i can never really admit to finishing the book. sure i know what happened. i know it was idiot savant saves the world. underdog turns accidental hero. clichéd and hackneyed, it was a book i couldn’t wait to put down.
you could accuse me of being a little harsh on a book targeted at 9-12 year olds, which is when i direct you to the very excellent coraline. while written for the kiddies, it still manages to be deliciously creepy, original (or a nice take on an old formula) and gripping without being written like a horror story “for kids.”
interworld’s premise was an interesting one: everytime a big decision is made, the course of action you do not choose creates another new world or alternate universe. and within these multiple millions of earths exists individuals who have the power to navigate between them, the Walkers. no prizes for guessing who has this innate talent. -_-”
and of course fighting for control of these worlds are two sets of baddies (one based in science, the other in magic) and the Walkers are part of a grander scheme of things to keep the balance of the cosmos in check.
and it still would have been a mighty interesting read seeing as how all the alternates of our protagonist (his name’s joey harker, but by the novel’s end you still won’t care) are not mirror-image knock-offs, but completely different entities – chicks with wings, chicks with claws, cybernetic shorties and uh… other forgettable characters.
warning, there is no character development. none.
you feel nary a stab in your black heart when joey tells his mom goodbye (what kind of mother lets their kid join the interworld army without question anyway? social services!) not an iota of feeling when jay dies. whoops, spoiler! and certainly we’re not cheering anyone on in this lame conquest of worlds by equally lame magic-based, pig-faced baddies.
so essentially the plot is: kid is lame.
kid has magic powers joins super guerilla team.
mission goes wrong, team captured.
kid gets memory erased and sent home cos he’s lame.
kid regains memory.
kid goes back and saves team, destroys baddies, saves the universe(s).
kid is still just damn lame.
neil gaiman and sci-fi… it really sucks.
barely a week into the month (well, two weeks after payday) and i’ve been stressed up to my eyeballs. and y’know i’ve recently discovered what a joy retail therapy can be. as evident by the unworn items of clothing i’ve got at home. hey, but there are plenty more i do wear, so stuff it.
shopping sites are evil and pwetty. and i got my skirt delivered to the office today. azlina eyed me with much amusement today as i skipped into the pantry.
my new skirt from velvet ribbon. am gonna wear it tomorrow. muahaha.
have sent my brother to cod with oh, popsicles! this cute chica with cute bajus. and i guess i’m indebted to send him to work for the rest of the week.
which i think is well worth my effort and teensy weensy petrol expenditure.
and then of course i was itching for a new dress. and this ladybird dress from quadruple queen caught me eye.
this should also be on its way to the office straight into the arms of its loving new parent. moi moi moi! not you.
photos in the post are all property of their respective site owners, borrowed a bit nia.
trying to brief an illustrator via email and i didn’t know what this action was called. so we video’d it and sent it along with the written directive. fist-pump? reverse punch? celebratory elbow? fool-making manoeuvre?
the description for delirium of the endless’ two mismatched eyes is given as: one emerald green, the other vein blue.
but the silver flecks have been known to reside in either eye.
so is it a continuity error, or just characteristic of the youngest endless?
:)
so despite loving the new google browser, i’m suffering not being able to rate/review sites on stumbleupon (the toolbar is only available for ie and firefox).
thankfully there’s a bookmarklet for toolbarless stumbleupon - bookmarklets for surviving without the toolbar for you to drag into your bookmarks folder.
phew.