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The One With "Angel: After the Fall" #3
Okay, I know I promised myself I wouldn't do this, but – although I hate to admit it – I got sucked into the "Angel: After the Fall" comics. I think that in the long run, I pretty much know why – Connor is there and I loved his character, and we actually get to see him interacting with his father (as well as Spike) and of course, Angel and Spike, but most importantly, all the crap that filled the last three (or at least 3 and 4) seasons of Angel is missing from the comics so there is very little left to dislike and after all, they are pretty short.
So, so far, so good. Not Buffy-good, but good. The storyline is pretty shaky, but I have enough imagination to fill the gaps and I do like the general idea. I find it more than a bit strange that with Los Angeles going to hell, Buffy is still not in the picture, but I hope they will address that in some stage. The artwork is decent, although the coloring work, particularly in issue #3 is kinda bad, but still dealable. And of course, we get to meet up with Angel, Connor and Spike. Illyria I can tolerate if I really have to, Wes I don't mind, in fact I'm interested in seeing what they'll do with his character, and Gunn's pitiful excuse at a villain/whatever I can just ignore.
But most importantly, and the reason for this blog – I just got my hands on issue #3 and – o my god – they did it! Angel is human!!! 
That was the best surprise in Jossverse I've had in quite a damn while. After all these debates in the fandom on whether or not he signed away his Shanshu or whether or not Spike was entitled to it (Spike sure thought so). But there you have it – you cannot sign away a destiny and no Spike or anyone else deserves humanity more than Angel does. Interesting though is the fact that he is clearly not completely human, or at least not yet. He appears to be some sort of hybrid, like Connor maybe. I'm actually on the edge of my friggin seat because of a bloody comic book. February 27th can't come soon enough!
Mood: Excited
Listening to: Mellonova - Hideeho
Posted on Wed, Feb 13 2008 @ 03:13
198 comments
The One With Sculpture and Lectures
Gotta love my lecturers. 
A class about sculpture history in Dublin:
"… They even placed a guard near the statue to keep it from being blown up. One day, he went off to the pub with his mates, when he came back, the statue was rubble."
"One day the Gards saw a pile of bags at the foot of the statue. They didn't know what to make of it so they went away to investigate. While they're thinking it through, up goes the statue."
"They didn't know what to do with the statue of the Queen. If they take it down, it will be an insult and if they don't, it'll be blown up. So they thought and thought about it and decided the ministers needed a parking space close to the Dail and Queen Victoria was getting in their way."
Very Irish way of disposing of statues. Funnies aside though, it was really an unfortunately shameful period in Irish history because the amount of beautiful artwork that has been demolished and lost in the name of national hate was horrendous. Really, if only people were not so clouded by hate, so much could have been saved. Well, what can you say? Way of the world and all that. 
We also came to an agreement about the Spire, a.k.a. the-pointy-piece-of-shit-stuck-up-Dublin's-ass. Ah, that was good .
Speaking of sculpture, I was allowed to write my assignment about the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens. I'm so happy! She wanted me to go to London at first, so I could have access to the statue while I'm writing, but I convinced her it wasn't necessary. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to go, but right now, financially and time-wise, the timing (no pun intended) is pretty lousy. Besides, I know this statue like the palm of my hand, and frankly, I'm just elated to get an excuse to read up on its construction, origin and background. I already discovered some pretty fascinating stuff that can only be attached to a Peter Pan statue 
.
And speaking about lectures - – Dr. Cottrell Buffied a word the other day, it was so hilarious! And the funny thing is that I wasn't nearly the only one in class who picked up on it. I mean, it's common knowledge that Slayer-slang wormed its way even into the Oxford Dictionary, but when your lecturer uses it in class, it's way cool. Brill!
Mood: Funniness
Listening to: Laika - Black Cat Bone
Posted on Sun, Feb 10 2008 @ 00:56
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The One With Russian Fairytales
I had my laptop working over-hours for the last couple of days because I finally decided to do something I had been thinking about for ages but never got to actually doing it: I decided to find and download all of my favorite Russian fairytales – both animations and films and make sure I don't lose them again. So after a search that really wasn't all that long (after I created a Rapidshare account, I swear to god, this website is a gold mine), I started finding almost everything I'd been looking for for so long.
It feels great to have all of them at my disposal again; I missed them all so much! "The Tale of Tzar Saltan", Pushkin's fairy-tale-poem I used to have memorized when I was like 5 was the first one to be downloaded and I almost missed college that day because I wanted so badly to stay and watch this movie. Really, Russian animation in that day was second to none. As far as I'm concerned, it still is. I mean, Disney had its golden age (that produced about a handful of really amazing movies such as "Lion King", "Pocahontas" and "Beauty and the Beast"), but the soul one finds in Russian fairytales has no rival. I really can't see myself growing up as a child with something else. It's amazing; I haven't read that poem in years, I wasn't even sure I remembered it, but as soon as I saw the movie, it just started coming back. The words and the animation are just so enchanting, they're absolutely captivating. It's priceless.
The next one after it was "The Scarlet Flower", which is a version of the original story of what later became "Beauty and the Beast". Then followed "Mowgli", which is granted, not Russian in origin, but as far as I'm concerned, they have done the best variation, animation or live-action, of anyone who ever tried. This is Rudiard Kipling's most known work and I cringe just thinking of the horror that was the Disney animated film. One thing that the Russians understood, even back in the 50's and 60's, was that child is not another word for dumb. They did not dumb-down their animations because they were oh-so-sure children would not understand it otherwise. I really wish English speaking people could see their version of Mowgli. Maybe if they did, they would actually understand what this story is about when it's not spoiled with idiotic music and songs, horrific character portrayal and complete loss of the message Kipling was trying to get across in his book. I really wish the Russians had tried their hand at Tarzan as well, but what's done is done, I guess.
It is actually a pretty disturbing evidence of the difference in these two cultures' approaches to children, or rather what they perceive children to be, and Americans perceive children to be idiots who can't understand a deep thoughtful idea if one hit them in the face, or for that matter, anything at all that does not revolve around the aforementioned idiotic songs and talking animals. On the other hand, the Russians thought children could understand adult themes and they didn't shy away from them. And no, I did not feel it put pressure on us that we were thrown into culture before we could read. If anything, I think that in the long run, it made us into better and more competent adults who could actually use their heads on occasion.
As far as live-action films go, who can forget Cinderella? A black&white version from the 40's but still transcends anything that has ever been done in color. With its brilliant and witty dialogue, magical characters and classical ideals and notions of love and fairytales, it once again, triumphs, and most importantly, it is not at all dumbed down. In fact, this film is mostly known in the Russian population among adults rather than children, who simply memorize whole chunks of the dialogue because it's so brilliant. My parents use it on regular basis. It is another gem I wish the English speaking audience could enjoy just to see how things are done.
And of course, the gorgeously done "Snow Queen," who can forget that? "The Tale of the Dead Princess and Seven Warriors," a beautiful tender classic story, and yes, you did guess where this story is from and no, the Russian version is not – again – dumbed down to idiotic 'dwarves'. Then there is one of my all-time favorites, "The 12 Months," and "The Hunchback Horse," "The Bremen Musicians," etc. Some might say the Russian original folktales are all the same, as in once you've seen one, you've seen them all, and in a sense it's true, but the same is true for all fairytales. The prince will always rescue the princess, the stepmother is always evil, the spell is always broken and everyone always lives happily ever after. The thing is, it's the soul of a true fairytale that is so difficult to find nowadays; something that will remind you of just how genuinely smart these stories were and also take you back to your childhood in a way nothing else can. And really, with their multi-million corporations, how many animations or feature films produced nowadays can still do that?
Such a shame. I'm so glad I can understand this beautiful language and I'm so glad I'm in a position to enjoy something so unique and beautiful.
Mood: Nostalgic
Listening to: Tatiana and Sergei Nikitin - Alexandra
Posted on Fri, Feb 8 2008 @ 03:29
2 comments
The One With My Parents
Got my exam results for the previous semester and o my god! I friggin rock! In my wildest dreams, I didn't expect A's and B's, I'm on cloud 1009 now, talk about confidence booster. Now I just gotta make sure it doesn't go to my head. I'm struggling as it is to find the time to do things and if I lose focus completely now, it'll be the end of me.
Talked to my parents today. My brother is not coming; he transferred all the money he'd saved for the trip to my mom's account (without her permission) to help cover her debt. What can I say, I knew he was gonna do that for some time and although I'm so disappointed he won't be here, I'm also insanely proud of him. My parents raised a good boy, there is no doubt about it. At least he knows to prioritize. My mom is very upset now, she keeps going on and on saying where did she go wrong, not being able to give her children everything but having them give her everything instead when they have nothing. To a certain extent it's true, my brother and I are guilty of that, but this is how our parents raised us and thank god for that. No, they didn't raise us to give them money, but they raised us to think of others before ourselves and they raised us to help others even on our own expense and I'd be damned if I didn't follow up on that, or my brother for that matter. That is why I never tried to thwart him when he first told me he was going to do that. Hell, if I had money in my bank account (which I don't, by the way, I have about 20 euro… 
), I'd do it myself. And I did before and I will again. My parents might feel guilty accepting things from us, but the fact of the matter is that however much we give them… it will never be enough to repay them for everything they'd done.
Oh, one more thing, I was talking to my dad today, and we started fooling around like we usually do, and it was kinda hilarious, so I thought I'd post a transcript (I know it might sound harsh to some people, but my parents and I are just joking around like that so it's all in good humor, honest ):
Me: You don't have a daughter.
Dad: Why?
Me: I called you two times today to tell you about my exam results and you didn't answer.
Dad: You mean you called the wrong number?
Me: … Still don't have a daughter.
Dad: Not listening. Not listening…
Me: Blablablablabla.
Dad: Fine, I don't need your results, you fail everything anyway.
Me: Huh?!
Dad: *laughing*
Mom (in the background): Stop annoying your daughter.
Me: Tell mom to shut up.
Dad (to mom): She asked you to keep it down. In other words shut up.
Mom: Tell her I don't care. In other words why don't you both go to hell.
Dad (to me): She told you to go to hell. (Then he realizes…) Wait, why both? Why do I have to go too?
Mood: Happy
Listening to: Far - Job's Eyes
Posted on Tue, Feb 5 2008 @ 00:53
2 comments
The One With The Update
Well, I'm certainly breaking records here. The fact of the matter is though that I didn't really feel like writing much of anything lately. I mean, nothing story-of-my-life-ish that is. Not to say I wasn't writing at all (as you will soon see for yourselves). I also held off responding to emails, which is – and here I apologize in advance – is still not something I intend to do anytime soon. I know it's been a while, for some people more than others, but at this point of my life, I just don't want to get into that. reason for it, among others, is that writing to a person takes a certain something that right now I simply don't have. I know that if I start, I will only squeeze something out of myself for the sake of satisfying an obligation and I feel that when you write to a friend, you do it for different reasons. So… just give me a while longer. I'll bounce back. Hopefully .
As for other types of writing, I did finally finish something I had first written years ago (although hell, years ago it wasn't nearly as long). I finished my analysis of the episode Restless of Buffy's 4th season. Every real Jossfan has written an analysis of this episode at some stage, however long or short, and so did I, but I lost mine ages ago and when I started writing the new one, realized I barely remembered anything of the old one. I am sure though that the old one was not nearly as long (22,426 words! ) or as diverse. So yay for me. didn't actually take me nearly as long as I'd thought it would to complete it, which was a surprise, but I am glad I finally finished it. It'd been boiling up inside me for far too long. Here's the link, by the way, if you dare. I did warn you it was long though so my ass is covered .
Other than that, my life is college galore. It is the final semester of my final year and I'm losing my mind. The aforementioned facts mean more than I care to bring up at this point, so I'm not getting into this, but I honestly have no idea how I'm going to get through this one alive (or at all). Too many books, too many assignments, too many essays, too many exams and too little time and even less energy (which is actually another reason why this blog, unfortunately, will die down even more in the next couple of months).
Work is hard. Honestly, I'm learning so much, but I feel that I have even more to learn with every step I take. If I look at myself months ago, I realize that I have made an enormous progress, but for me it just isn't good enough. It's demanding, it's challenging, it's everything I love, but I need to get used to the idea that I still have a long way to go. It's too deceptively comforting. I had my first assessment last week though and it went very well (really well, actually), which gave me a very positive boost, but again… still a way to go. I know that when I do leave this job and move on, like I'm bound to eventually, I will do that with very valuable lessons and enormous experience.
In spite of all that though, I have been thinking recently that I'm unusually happy. I have an amazing family and the best parents. I do have a great job that I love and I'm working with great people. I'm in college, learning and broadening my horizons about life, among other insanities. I'm already imagining my graduation, and I will friggin earn that cape and diploma for all I'm worth, and then hopefully will proceed to MA and then PhD if everything goes as planned. And above all else – I'm waking up in Ireland every morning. Windy, rainy, freezing, cold Ireland I'm in love with more than anything else, even after years that were supposed to have disillusioned me. Funny, isn't it? The snowdrops are out now, by the way, and they'll soon be allover the place. I just love these tender and beautiful flowers; they smell like childhood with the tiniest aroma of heaven. Every time I walk by them I want to pluck at least one and bring it into my room, but I don't have the heart to do that. Kinda reminds me the feeling I got when I wanted so badly to snap pictures under the Sistine Ceiling, but couldn't bring myself to switch the camera on. I keep thinking they deserve better than to die cooped up in some room.
I will finish this blog with a weird final note that has little to do with anything else, but I have to vent. I think my dad is having a serious midlife crisis and I really don't know how to pull him out of it . We were talking over the phone a while ago, and although technically I called him to discuss a certain people-problem I have in life at the moment, we got talking about him at some stage and I just really didn't like some of the things he was saying, mostly along the lines of "the only good thing I've done with my life is having wonderful children." I will be the last person in the world to say he is not an amazing father, but he is so much more than that, and as much as I appreciate being called a good thing in his life, it is wrong I should be the only good thing. He's depressed about his job, about his life, and hell knows what else, and while he does talk to me, I don't seem to be able to find the right things to say. I recently started thinking it could be because there is nothing to say, as in I should just wait until it blows over, but I really don't support this approach. I asked him to come over, and he said he wished he could, but they wouldn't give him the time off at work. Pricks. He worked his ass off for them for years, they're nothing without him. I'm gonna try and keep working on convincing him though, see how it goes. Maybe if I have him here, I'll be able to ease the crisis a bit, so to speak.
Mood: Headachy
Listening to: Sprung Monkey - Right My Wrong
Posted on Sun, Feb 3 2008 @ 00:21
2 comments
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