A Pinteresting Tumbl of a Day

I cheated.

This isn't from Pinterest or Tumblr, but it's a little late and too hard to try and incorporate "Quora" into the title of this series, so yeah.

This is basically the coolest thing I've seen all day week month year ever.

And it's people like this that make me wish I'd kept on in math and piano.

Find the whole thread here.

Ramblings of a Fangirl: Dumb People in Comics

Y'know, you've just gotta have a certain respect for people in comic books.

No, no, no, I don't mean the main characters; the heroes.

No, I mean the citizens. 

Yeah, them.

The people that can't distinguish between Clark Kent and Superman because of a pair of glasses.

. . . Really, people?

They're the same size.

Have the same hairstyle.

Seem to be nearby a whole lot.

And are never seen in the same room. . .

Granted, not everyone knows Clark that well.

But what about Lois???

She's Clark's reporter buddy and has only been rescued by Superman Lord knows how many times.

You'd think she - the brilliant Daily Planet reporter - would have pieced two and two together.

(On that note, why do we put two and two together? Why not one and one? Anyhoo. . .)

And then there's the people of Gotham.

They have a bit more of an excuse for not recognizing Bruce Wayne as Batman, especially in The Dark Knight, because Bruce you can easily understand. Batman just sounds like, "WGGG RRRR AYYYY?!"

Not exactly conducive to a  fruitful interrogation.

However!

Bruce randomly gets beat up - badly - the same night Batman disappears . . . 

And nobody makes that connection.

And he's a hermit for eight years. Batman is also MIA for eight years.

And nobody makes the connection.

Then Bruce comes out of hiding. Batman also comes out of hiding.

And nobody makes the connection.

. . .

The citizens of Metropolis have zero excuses, but the people of Gotham just might have one. . .

Just how much fear gas did Scarecrow pump into that city sewer?

Ramblings of a Fangirl: Opera Peeves

So, don't get me wrong, I am a huge Phan.

. . .

A fan of Phantom of the Opera.

A phan.

All of it. 

The book. The Broadway. The movies. The spin-off plays and musicals and books.

All of it.

NOT Love Never Dies. 

May the Hero Otto Webber rest in peace.

(Some of you understand what that means and I commend you.)

But there's something that really irks me about the play and the movie.

They used fake operas.

In a tale that takes place almost entirely in an opera house, there's not a single real opera in it.

There is in the book and in other versions: they perform Faust multiple times, which is actually far better suited to the Phantom than the fake ones, but that's a rabbit trail you don't want to see me go down.

But I checked on the operas, because Il Muto sounds hilarious. 

But alas, it does not exist.

The fact that they're all English should have tipped me off, but it didn't.
It irked me for a while, but then I forgot about it . . .
. . . till I saw the opera scene from Fifth Element.
Not sure I would suggest the movie, but for those of you who have missed this glorious scene, you can thank me later:

Yeah.
Is that not beautiful?
And here's where it gets even better - IT'S REAL.
It's from Lucia di Lammermoor, and this is the famous "mad scene".
You know, the "mad scene"?
Like THE "shower scene" . . . ?
No . . . ?
Oh.
Okay.
Anyway, this happens right after Lucy marries the guy she doesn't want, kinda snaps, and stabs him.
On their wedding night.
With all the guests downstairs.
Yeah . . .
Awkward.
But she's calling for her true love when she sings this.
Um . . . drenched in blood. . .
But here's what I don't get . . .
. . . a play about an opera ghost can't take the trouble to fit a real opera into the play somewhere, but a sci-fi movie that has nothing to do with operas does. . . ?

The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel ~ My Thoughts

Last Friday, the lastest Batman movie hit theaters.

Last Saturday, me, my brother, and my dad went to go see it.

Not in IMAX - they were sold out - but that was okay: we had a pretty big screen. Besides, maybe the Hobbit will be in IMAX . . . ?

So, first, the movie itself: EPIC.

I LOVED IT.

Definitely gonna have to have a Batman marathon someday after the DKR hits shelves.

I'd give it a 9.5/10.

(The missing .5 is for a personal preference, nothing huge.)

Now . . . onto the more important topic . . .

The Man of Steel . . .

Meh.

I'm not a Superman kind of gal.

Sorry Caroline.

Haha, nope!

I love Batman.

I love Young Justice.

I love Thor (and Loki.)

I love Captain America.

I love Iron Man.

I love the Avengers (read: Coulson).

But I just really can't get into Supes, even though I did watch the entire Animated Series last year.

What really got me, though, was the music they used for the trailer.

Oh. My. Gosh.

This is where I have to interject something about myself.

I am a complete soundtrack nerd. 

I have over a hundred of them, and I can generally identify the movie they came from within the first thirty seconds.

So, picture this.

I'm sitting the theater, yeah?

Watching previews, right?

All of a sudden, I hear really, really familiar music . . .

And some mournful woman singing (or maybe a choir boy).

I say to myself, "I've heard this before".

Not FIVE seconds later, it hits me: it's from Lord of the Rings.

Lord of the Rings.

DID YOU HEAR ME?!

I SAID LORD OF THE RINGS!

WHO ON EARTH USES MUSIC FROM LORD OF THE RINGS FOR A SUPERMAN TRAILER?!

You know what I think?

I think the person responsible for finding music for that trailer totally dropped the ball and picked the first thing he could find!

I mean . . . really?

*sigh.*

Essay Entitled "Cake"

Author's Note: the following is not intended to be taken literally, seriously, etc. Any of those who take this literally, seriously, etc. will deserve any embarrassment that follows from taking this post literally, seriously, etc.

Cake.

Fascinating subject, isn't it? So many varieties, shapes, and colors that have no bearing on the flavor whatsoever so when you think you're taking a giant piece of White cake it's really Coconut cake you've got on that shiny red Chinet plate you're carrying to the table that you're going to run away from in desperate search of the bathroom when you realize your fatal error!
(No offense intended to y'all out there that like Coconut, but everyone who doesn't like it totally understands.)
Cake was invented in the Year 1, when Adam and Eve celebrated their first anniversary.
Well, it was also the first anniversary ever, so I hope the cake was nice.
But, according to recent research done by Tu Retts Inc., the cake is a lie.
Yup.
That prettiful thing your momma made on all of your birthdays, even after you moved out?
LIES.
Not that mothers would lie. They've been taken in, too.
Why is it a lie?
That . . . has yet to be determined, but most likely the research methods will be able to facilitate the appropriate experiments roughly around the same time Halo makes it to the Silver Screen. So, um, yeah, don't hold your breath.

(By the way, Caroline came up with the word "prettiful"; you can read her blog here.)

And THIS is why I love OPERA . . .

^-^

Yay!

Really makes you want to go see Lucia di Lammermoor, doesn't it?

Book Preview! Part II

Time for the second sample!


This one is from "Infiltration", kind of a sci-fi thing. I definitely had the most fun writing this one.

Harpé felt herself separate from the transport chip. It was exhilarating. She was free to roam, free to explore. Binary information began to bombard her the moment of severance, and she absorbed it instantly, reveling as her knowledge expanded. The stream of raw information slowed and she began to sort and process it while appropriating controls to the systems Dante had outlined before the mission commenced.

            Security and surveillance systems: bugged – affirmative.

Motion and thermal sensors: bugged – affirmative.

            Life support: affirmative.

Chemical balance control systems: affirmative.

Temperature controls.

Harpé paused. That wasn’t on the list, but she knew Dante didn’t like to leave a job smelling sweaty, so she grudgingly appropriated it.

Temperature controls: unnecessary . . . but affirmative.

Harpé allowed herself a mental chuckle, but sobered quickly. This is too – 

Here's the link!