My mom and I made chocolate cake today whoo-hoo! It was glorious. The best part is ALWAYS licking the batter off the bowl. And yes, I'm feeling better, thanks Marisa, Arashida and Mona for wishing me well. Well, I still feel weak, but at least the fever is gone and my throat doesn't feel like I'm eating a hedgehog everytime I swallow. The balmy weather helps too.

Apparently my results are out but I can only go see it next week, since I want to REALLY heal and not subject myself to another relapse. On another note, UIA hasn't call me, and since their semester starts next week, I am forced to acknowledge that I did not get the teaching job. Sigh. Oh well. Chin up, focus on my thesis, and find another teaching job then. All while drinking tea. Yep.

During my recuperation I rewatched Invader Zim episodes and OH GOD I YEARN FOR THE DVDS!! I would content myself with only buying the third volume, because it's filled with my favourite episodes! And most of the 24-minutes episodes are in there, as well as the uncut version of Most Horrible X-Mas Ever!! I can't get "Jolly Boots of Doom" out of my head!

Anyone here can tell me how to order from Amazon? I think Arashida knows how...

Relapse. Am still sick and flu pills are knocking me out silly. Am heavily doped.

Feel light. And heavy. is that normal? go to bed now

Finally my fever is gone. Kinda. Y'know, I said it once and I'll say it again, I can take rainy days anytime over blazing hot ones. You can escape from the cold and wet, but there's not way in hell you can escape the heat, except in air-conditioned rooms. And when you go out, it's hot again! And the drastic change of temp will screw your body heat and thus, fever. Argh I hate hot days! Why can't it rain more often? Or at least be a bit cloudy. Last week was very rainy and downcast, but I've never been happier and content, even at the price of soggy socks and wet laundries.

I'll post pictures and reports from the BBW Sale tomorrow because I want to go there again, since when I first went there on the first day there's a freaking huge crowd and Mona and I practically scrambled for escape after 30 minutes of browsing. And we escaped just in time too. 15 minutes later there's a HUGE line to enter the sales area. Wow. Last time I've seen lines that long for a booksale is during the embargo date for Harry Potter books. And ticket lines for LotR: RotK. Besides, both of us were sick out of our minds (even Ratna noticed), and I was sweating from the fever and I just wanna book out of there. Hopefully there's some good books left and I want to take lots of pictures. I wonder if Mona wants to come along, hmm.

Watched Brilliant Minds on Discovery Science and I absolutely adore Michio Kaku. Regardless of their field of study, I really love listening to people who are so enthusiastic about their studies that it becomes blatantly obvious from the way they speak about it. I love it when Michio Kaku said that when a physicists read Einstein's equations they would cry because of the sheer beauty of it. I know how it feels; sometimes I stumble across words or lines of prose and poetry that are so beautiful and breathtaking that I either cry or want to shout them to the world.

Though all these space time theories are making my head spin. What the hell is time warp? Did Einstein just proved that gravity doesn't exist? Is the black hole just a theory? Has anyone actually seen it? What's this about running alongside light and time slowing down? Sometimes I kinda want to have a small tutorial session where someone explain to me most of Einstein's theories in layman's terms so that I can get what the hell the man did that changes the universe forever.

On a parting note, everyone knows that my sister is pregnant and her stomach is showing. I take great pleasure in saying stuff like "he's cute, and sticky looking!" and "HI BABY!" at the general direction of my sister's stomach, but to my utter dismay, no one gets the reference. Which is a shame, cos I think that's one of Gir's best-delivered lines.

Ahh, I finally finished my courseworks studies, and I'm cautiously optimistic about my results this semester. In any case, I totally did my best and all I can do now is hope for the best.

All right, I've been steadily watching Pushing Daisies and awww isn't it the cutest thing ever?? I love the witty dialogues and the Amelie-like atmosphere of the series. I've been watching season 2 only though, since I kinda don't feel like going through the first one, and the very first episode pretty much sums up season 1 anyways. So I'm totally in love with Olive Snook. Really, she's my favourite character, with Emmerson Cod the immediate second. My heart bleeds for her and I hope that she'll find her own happy ending in the finale. I love her and Emmerson's bonding in the case at the lighthouse. Not to mention that despite her short height and cattish behaviour, she's actually the resident badass in the series. Though I'm kinda hating Charles Charles right now.

My mom accidentally called Twilight "twinkle". Very apt, all things considered. I tried to read New Moon, seeing how I survived the horror that is the first book, but I quickly grew disgusted by the thin plot, Bella's patheticness, Edward's push-and-pull tactics, and the moronic internal monologue. Mona and I exchanged many amusing emails ridiculing Twilight though. Bashing Twilight is so easy; it's easily mockable.

Twilight means never having to say you're kidding. Oh how I love this motto.

Mona and I are going to see The Christmas Carol in 3D! Wheeeee! I hear 3D movies are potentially barf-inducing I can' wait!

Still mad about 9. Still loving Invader Zim. Still adoring Edgar Vargas. Still reading Nation.

20 Animated Films Vying For 2009 Oscars

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Oh my god I'm so excited! 9 is up for consideration for Oscar nomination! I really really want it to win but I have to admit that this has been a VERY good year for animation so there's a high chance of 9 not winning. I mean, there's Up, Coraline, Ponyo, and not to mention the upcoming The Princess and the Frog, which according to the trailer, looks absolutely breathtaking. But 9 comes from a very small studio, and if it made it past into nomination list then I would've already be happy, since all the other contenders come from big studios. And it'll be a slap in the face to all those who thinks that animation is just for kiddies.

Holy goddamn Batman look at his badass stick flipping at 1:24! BRILLIANT drum cover of an awesome song!

3 and 4 are made out of a pair of garden gloves (see icon)  XDDDDDD ♥ ♥ ♥ So cuuuuuuuute ♥ ♥ ♥ If anything can work as a brain bleach then that would *flails*

Out of all the stitchpunks 3 and 4 are my favourite. 3 is "to define" and 4 is "to teach", so yeah, it's a no-brainer that they ended up my fave. And despite them not being able to speak, the twins completely steal the scene whenever they appear. And they're so innocent and childlike; it's such a soothing balm to see them admist all the horror in the movie. ( More musings on the characters (spoilers ahoy!) )

...wow, I didn't even mean to write that long. I think I need a 9 icon for all the posts I've been doing for the movie.

Why yes, I have exams next week. I haven't forgotten, yup.

I just read "Guts" by Chuck Palahniuk. Oh, oh my God. OH MY GOD. WHERE IS THE BRAIN BLEACH?!!

That just killed any chance of studying I may do today.

I want to throw up. Ugh.

Just for fun, I'm posting pictures of my cats. Yep, my family have two cats, despite most of us are allergic to them. But they're so cute and amusing, we can't help ourselves! These particular kitties also have weird sleeping poses, which cause us no end of hilarity:

( Sleeping cats behind cut! )

Yeah, that's all.

I did a better, more comprehensive review of 9 for marisarepin 's zine, because the movie is just too awesome, and the more people watch it the shinier my world will be. The review is over 1000 words (I kinda got carried away Marisa, but I hope that won't be a problem), so it's under the cut:

I find it tragic that the release of this movie has mostly gone unnoticed by Malaysian film-goers. With Tim Burton as the producer and featuring a strong cast of voice actors which include Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer and John C. Reilly, newcomer director Shane Acker brings us a brilliant animated masterpiece that was heralded as a revolutionary work of art.

 

( Read more... )

 

Oh god. Danny Elfman is the one who composed the soundtrack songs for 9. The same Danny Elfman who composed songs for Corpse Bride. Agh no wonder I feel like killing myself lately! (Of course I could also blame the coming exams, but) That guy's songs are beautiful! Too beautiful it should be illegal! Especially when put in context with the movies; they just break my heart! Especially "Burial" and "Release" from 9 OST. Hell, even Welcome Home (trailer song) by Coheed and Cambria sounds tragic, in a badass epic way.

I notice that the Wikipedia entry for Postcolonialism has summaries for the theories for Edward Said, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Franz Fanon, but none for Homi Bhabha. You hear that? There is no summaries for Homi Bhabha. THERE IS NO SUMMARIES FOR HOMI BHABHA.
THERE IS NO SUMMARIES FOR HOMI BHABHA.
THERE IS NO SUMMARIES FOR HOMI BHABHA.
THERE IS NO SUMMARIES FOR HOMI BHABHA.
THERE IS NO SUMMARIES FOR HOMI BHABHA.
THERE IS NO SUMMARIES FOR HOMI BHABHA.

EVEN THE PEOPLE AT WIKI CANNOT DECIPHER HIS SHIT SO WHY MUST WE STUDY HIM????? He just threw words together and called that jumble a theory! Are you people on dope or something? Because that's the only way the man makes sense to you!

My talisman.

Holy shit I just found out that 9 and Coraline were both released by Focus Features. Not that it made any difference but damn now I want to go hunt for Caroline dvd. Malaysian cinemas are run by morons for not playing these movies.

My most favourite scene from 9. It's freaking adorable, and I kept remembering the line "Speak friend, and enter." Sorry Elijah, I can never see you as any other than as Frodo XD

Watch trailer here. Now, don't tell me you're not the least bit tempted to watch the movie. I'm very shocked that the movie received next to nil promotion and hype here, considering it was produced by Tim Burton, and features high profile celebrity voices like Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly. So far, NO ONE I've met knows what I'm talking about when I said I look forward to the movie (it also doesn't help that the movie's title is simply "9". Real-life incident: Any good movies lately? I kinda look forward to 9. What? 9. District 9? No, 9, nine, sembilan. Who? Never mind.) In fact, I myself only found out about the movie while watching E! Channel and they had a short BTS of the film. Man, I am so glad I discovered it, coz I really enjoyed it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, 9.

The story goes that 9 was actually a short film directed by film student Shane Acker, and as soon as Tim Burton saw it, he immediately decided to expand it into a full-length movie. Lucky bastard. The movie tells the story of a sackdoll simply known by the number 9 on his back, who wakes up in a desolate world in which all of humanity has been wiped out. United with his other sackdolls - ranging from 1 to 8, all with different personalities - 9 finds out that while there is no one left in the world, the dolls are being terrorized by a mechanical monster that seeks to capture all of them. As they try to outwit and outrun the monster, questions hang in the air. Who created them? Who created the monster? Were they really the ones left, or are there more monsters lurking in the darkness...

It's hard to say why I absolutely love this movie. In fact, it's easier to say that the movie sucked. The post-apocalyptic plot is old, the personalities of the dolls can be quite predictable, and the lines are so cliched. I want to say that the animation is absolutely breathtaking (oh goodness is it beautiful), but then you can point out that most of Pixar's and Dreamwork's animations are beautiful. I think Todd McCarthy puts it best when he said, "In the end, the picture's impact derives mostly from its design and assured execution." Of which I truly agree. Unlike most Hollywood flicks, I can sense the efforts that were put into the animation. 9 gives me the same feeling as I got when I finished watching Finding Nemo, and it's one of the reasons why most 3D movie sucked lately; there's no spirit in them anymore. Thank god Disney is going back to 2D with The Princess and the Frog.

Furthermore, 9 never tauted itself as a movie for children. In fact, it was commercialized specifically as an adult movie. Doesn't stop some morons from bringing children to watch the movie. I've read everywhere online that children screamed and cried when The Seamstress shows herself. So parents, unless you want to make the mistake that our parents did when they let us all watch It when we're at tender ages of 8-10, yeah, you may want to discourage the kiddies from watching this. (I watched It when I was 7 or 8. I was never the same. For one thing, I always look into the toilet. For another, CLOWNS. EVIL.) Having said that, the designs for the characters are refreshingly, well, fresh. They're far from original (sackdolls are prominent design choice for voodoo related stories), but they're like a breath of fresh air. And if you think that the characters tend to lean towards the extreme (the brave are brave all the time, the hopeful are too hopeful, the coward too cowardly...and so on), the final climax explains why.

The movie is action-packed and filled with so many moments of awesome and heartwarming, as well as terrifying moments. 9 also has a great ending, as it is bleak, yet hopeful as well. But the crowning glory that sets it apart is the superb animation and kickass music. I echo Anthony Lane of The New Yorker, "Here's the strangest thing of all: it works." It really does; it worked so well for me, and it may work for you too. Many agreed that the movie may not win any awards, and judging by its terribly non-existence promos, I do not doubt that. But 9 stands out from all the rest as one of the most memorable movies I've watched this year. Transformers? Wall-E? They'll fade into the back of my head. But 9 will always stay with me.

Besides, I always have a soft spot for Elijah Wood. Ok, Frodo, really.

EDIT: So far, only marisarepin and Masyi knew about the movie prior my mentioning them. You guys rock =D

Okay, can anyone tell me what's so great about Faulkner and O'Connor?

...wait, that came out as too snobbish and moronic. For a lit student. Okay, I don't mind people tauting them as brilliant and revolutionary. Oprah absolutely love Faulkner and O'Connor is considered one of the most important voice in American literature. Fine. What I want to know is what is so AWESOME about these writers. Why are they important? What made them brilliant? What did they do differently that set them apart? I had to do Faulkner and O'Connor for my Stylistics and although I read about them and a few of their works, I wasn't particularly awed or anything, yet my lecturer claimed that she loved them and aren't their writings brilliant? I just mumbled incoherently in return.