Quarterly Rewind: Spring 2014

July 1, 2014 / fiona / 2 Comments

So, hi guys! It’s me again, believe it or not. Sorry for the lack of posts lately! I’ve had a really hard time coming up with ideas for posts lately, but hopefully I’m back now. Keep an eye out for my review of Ash by Malinda Lo, as it should be coming soon!

(And yes, I’ve borrowed the Quarterly Rewind from Musings from Neville’s Navel again.) It’s a bit late, but hey, who cares?

Favorite Quote From A Book I Read This Spring

“I got to thinking that poems were like people. Some people you got right off the bat. Some people you just didn’t get- and never would.”

-Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Sáenz

This Spring In One Word

Busy!

Most Popular Review This Spring

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Top Two Books I Read This Spring

Ash, by Malinda Lo. I haven’t even finished it yet, but gosh, this book is amazing. Queer protagonists! Fairy tale style storytelling (in a YA book)! What’s not to like?
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. METAPHORS! Metaphors everywhere!

Two Things I’m Looking Forward To This Summer

Horseback riding. I’m doing a summer camp, so that’ll be fun. Even if it’ll be really hot out.
Guardians of the Galaxy comes out on August 1st! I can’t wait!

Three New Obsessions This Spring

Comic books. I still haven’t read that many, but the ones I have read, I’ve loved.
Renaissance-era stuff. My school is doing a renaissance fair next year, so I’ve been doing a lot of research.
Polyvore, a new favorite website of mine. Which is weird. I’ve never really been into fashion. Even if it’s fandom related.

Most Popular Three Blog Posts Overall This Spring

How to Read and Write Circular Gallifreyan

Elsa and Anna: Not the First

Why Gertrude Yorkes Needs a Bit More Appreciation

Three Posts I Loved On Other Blogs This Spring

Review: The House of Hades (Musings from Neville’s Navel)

Bending Over Backward (This Page Intentionally Left Blank)

Writers Should Learn Languages (YAvengers)

Three Things That Happened This Spring

I’ve branched out in my reading interests a bit. I’ve started reading a lot more historical fiction, queer fiction, and comic books lately.
I was REALLY busy in May. I had a horse show and two big school events. It was fun, though.
I volunteered to help teach a book club at school next year with a few friends!

Six Songs That I Listened To Far Too Often This Spring

Cassandra’s Waltz, from the Doctor Who soundtrack. It’s so lovely and sci-fi sounding at the same time.
New Year’s Day, by U2. I don’t know what it is about this song, but I love it.
New Soul, by Yael Naim. Which is weird. This is more my mom’s kind of music (I usually don’t listen to upbeat songs), but… I like it.
Nobody but Me, by Save Ferris.
Warg Scouts, from the An Unexpected Journey soundtrack. This one is great for writing action scenes to.
I Can See the Light from Tangled.

X2: X-Men United Movie Review

March 17, 2014 / fiona / Leave a comment

Okay, okay. Maybe I did promise a bunch more book reviews. They’re coming, don’t worry! But last night I finally got to watch X2, so I’ll be reviewing that today.

*Spoiler Alert*

If I had reviewed this last night, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything but ramble about Jean’s “death”, because number one, it was late and I was exhausted, and number two, Jean “died”. One of my favorite X-Men. Even though, I knew she wasn’t dead… It was almost as bad as Reichenbach. Except not quite, because I knew how she survived.

Annnyway. I’m rambling, aren’t I? Sorry. You’ll have to bear with me here.

So. NIGHTCRAWLER. You may remember that I mentioned Jean was one of my favorite X-Men? Well, Nightcrawler is number one on that list. What’s not to like about a fuzzy, blue, swashbuckling pirate ninja with awesome teleportation powers? I’m not too sure of what I thought about him in the movie. He’s looks quite different from the way he looks in the comics, but I suppose it would take massive amounts of CGI to pull off, say, this.

Also, the mother/son conversation was really sweet. Although Mystique isn’t exactly the wise, motherly type, she passed on some words of wisdom to her son.

But anyway. Time to move on. I’m sure you don’t want to listen to me drone on and on about this.

Jean and Scott. Perfection. I loved their portrayal in the movie. They also pulled off the Logan/Jean/Scott triangle quite nicely. I also liked the developing relationship between Rogue and Iceman.

So. That’s it for now, folks.

Rating: 9/10

Frozen Movie Review

January 13, 2014November 4, 2014 / fiona / Leave a comment

Oh my gosh. Disney’s newest movie, Frozen, was amazing. And I know I promised more book reviews, but I just have to write this.

First of all, the music.

The music was all amazing. Some of the songs, like “In Summer” were amazingly lighthearted songs that were fun to listen to.

But the one song I really loved was “Let it Go.” The music was amazing, but the one thing that I really loved about it was that I could relate to it, on so many levels.

Frozen

Another thing I loved? The characters. Anna, the outgoing, naive younger sister who dreams of falling in love. Hans, the typical Disney prince who turned out to be evil. Kristoff, the sweet but incredibly shy mountain man who sells ice for a living. And Elsa, who lived in isolation to protect those around her.

Third, the fact that Frozen had the amazing combination of Brave And Tangled’s amazing, strong female leads and the beautiful music of their older movies.

The acting was great, but what do you expect from a group mainly consisting of Broadway actors and actresses?

Overall, I’d give it a rating of 8.5/10

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Review

December 16, 2013 / fiona / Leave a comment

Oh. My. Goodness.

**Spoilers Ahead**

I went to see the DoS yesterday, and… gosh. I don’t know what to say. First and foremost, I didn’t write the review yesterday because all I would’ve been able to do was squeal about how amazing it was.

And I’m going to try not to do that today, but I’m not promising you anything 😉

Let’s start with… the acting.

Oh my gosh. The acting was amazing.

Martin Freeman did a wonderful job as Bilbo, same as the first movie.

And Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug?

His voice was so filtered that I could hardly recognize it, but gosh it was creepy. ~~Almost as creepy as Sherlock when he’s mad.~~

And then Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel.

She did an amazing job, I must say, especially considering the fact that I originally hated the idea of adding in her and Legolas. But now, I’m not so sure. I was quite pleased with her character.

Except for one teeny, tiny thing.

The Kili/Legolas love triangle.

I’m perfectly fine with Peter Jackson adding in Tauriel for some female representation. I mean, goodness, look at this chart.

Tolkein really could have a done a much better job with adding more female characters, which is one reason why I liked the addition of Tauriel.

But now that I’ve seen the movie, I’ve realized that even though she did get some really cool fight scenes, she was added more for the romance than anything else.

Why can’t we just get an awesome female character without romance and love triangles in the background?

As Evangeline Lily herself said,

“Because The Hobbit was my favorite book as a little girl, and the Silvan Elves were my favorite characters in the book, it would be a dream come true to play one, I agreed very quickly. And then they said to me, ‘Your character’s not in the book.’ And I took great pause as a great fan of Tolkien. I kind of gulped and went, ‘Whaaaat? Everyone’s going to hate me.’

At that moment when [Boyens] said there was a love story, I agreed to the job under one condition. One condition. And they agreed to the condition, and it was in place for two years. The condition was: I will not be involved in a love triangle. (“It’s true,” Boyens confirms). Because any of you who are fans of Lost — I had it up to here with love triangles.”

So now I’m going to stop ranting about the love triangle, because I really honestly did love the movie overall.

Most of the things they changed from the canon, I liked.

I didn’t mind the fact that Bard was a peasant instead of the leader of Laketown because I feel that it enforced the entire theme of the LotR trilogy- that small people can do great things.

I liked how they began to show Bilbo’s growing attachment to the Ring, something that never really happened in the book.

I honestly did love Tauriel’s character, and I still think she’s an awesome.

And overall, the movie was totally AMAZING.

Rating: 8.5/10

I really should be wrapping this up now, so bye, everyone!

Oh, and as a side note, all my really old posts containing nothing but pictures have been deleted. If you really want to see those pics, most of ’em are on my Pintrest page, which is linked from the sidebar.

Greek Mythology Plays

April 23, 2013 / fiona / Leave a comment

Trojan War

Athena: The first myth we are going to present is how the Trojan War was started.

Aphrodite: The myth is about how Eris, the goddess of strife, threw an apple between three goddesses.

Hera: The apple said “To the fairest of them all”, so the goddesses started to argue over who it should go to.

(Eris throws Golden Apple on stage)

Hera: (picks up apple) What a beautiful apple! Hmmmm… To the fairest of them all… That must be me! I am the wife of the king of the gods…

Aphrodite: I’m the goddess of beauty! It’s ME!

Athena: You are both idiots. I may not be the most beautiful, but…

Aphrodite: (interrupts) You can say that again:

Athena: (glares at Aphrodite) BUT at least I am at least a bit intellectual.

Aphrodite: huh?

Athena: Let me rephrase that… a LOT intellectual.

Hera: What?

Athena: I said INTELLECTUAL. You are both so thick. Anyway, I declare a democracy. Let us pick someone to choose for us.

Hera: How about Zeus?

Aphrodite: That’s not fair! He’s your husband! He’d pick you for sure!

Hera: I’m not too sure about that…

Aphrodite: How about Ares?

Hera: That’s not fair either! He has a major crush on you!

Aphrodite: And for a good reason!

Athena: Stop bickering! You two are such hypocrites-and very biased at that. Let us choose someone impartial.

Aphrodite: Like Kronos?

Athena: What?

Aphrodite: Kronos is in pieces. Zeus chopped him into pieces with Kronos’s own sickle before throwing him into Tartarus.

Athena: No, IMPARTIAL. It means he doesn’t favor any of us.

Aphrodite: Ooooh.

Athena: (sighs)

Hera: How about Paris of Troy?

Athena: Oh, alright.

Hera: Argus, darling, go fetch Paris of Troy.

(Argus leaves, then enters with Paris of Troy and a platter of food and drink. He sets it on a table, bows, and leaves.)

Paris: hmmm… I pick… Aphrodite…no, I mean Hera… No, Athena…

Hera: I can give you power if you choose me.

Athena: I can give you wisdom if you choose me.

Aphrodite: I can give you the love of the most beautiful woman in the world.

Paris: Then I choose Aphrodite.

Hera: So Paris fell in love with Helen of Sparta.

Aphrodite: He stole her off to his homeland of Troy.

Athena: This started a giant war.

Aphrodite: It wasn’t my fault!

Athena: Was too!

(they continue to argue as Hera drags them offstage)

Medusa

Athena: The next myth is about the foolish, arrogant girl Medusa and how she was defeated by the hero Perseus.

Hermes: Medusa was very vain, always admiring her reflection and bragging about her beauty.

Athena: One day, when she came to my temple, she started bragging about how beautiful she was. I decided to teach her a lesson so I turned her into a horrible monster.

Hermes: Geez, anger management issues, Athena.

Athena: (glares at Hermes) Let me finish my story, arrogant boy. Anyway, I did the same to her sisters and sent them to live on a faraway island.

Hermes: Lights, Camera, Action!

Perseus: (asleep) Hi, Hermes. Am I dreaming?

Athena: No, you died because a giant chicken stepped on you.

Perseus: Really?

Athena: No, you fool! Of course you’re asleep!

Perseus: Oh. (looking downcast) But I wanted to meet Cerberus and Hades!

Hermes: (rolls eyes) Ok, well, to make it short, you need to go kill Medusa.

Perseus: Yay! I get to go kill more monsters! Thanks, Hermes!

Athena: There’s a problem. If you look in her eyes, you turn into stone.

Perseus: So I have to kill her without looking at her? Sounds like fun!

Hermes: You’ll need my winged shoes to fly to the island.

Athena: Here’s a polished shield. Keep it shiny so that you can look at Medusa’s reflection while you fight.

Perseus: Thanks so much, guys! I’ll go kill her now. See you soon! (picks up cardboard boat and goes to Medusa)

Perseus: Hi Medusa! Hermes and Athena say I need to kill you now.

Medusa: Already? I haven’t done any harm!

Perseus: (looks at statues)

Medusa: Well, not much…

Perseus: Sorry, but do you mind if I say that you’re ugly?

Medusa: Yes. (looking angry) I do mind.

Perseus: Well, it doesn’t matter now.

Medusa: Yes it does.

Perseus: No it doesn’t, because I have to kill you now.

(chases Medusa offstage, comes back on with medusa head) I did it!

Commercial

Gorgon: Do you ever suffer from scaly, slithery snakes? (holds up shampoo bottle) Then you need Apollo’s Snake Away! Take it from me, all your snakes will disappear!

Athena: (snorts)

Gorgon: (glares at Athena) Just spread it on top of your head, put a hat on, wait till all the snakes die, and Presto! All you need to do is wait for your hair to grow back- the baldness will only remain for about a year! Side effects include vomiting, fainting, loss of hair, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

The Minotaur

Theseus: Every year, the king of Crete orders us Athenians to send seven young men and seven young women to go be eaten by the minotaur. As you can see, this is very draining on our population, so I offered to go as one of the sacrifices and be eaten by the minotaur.

Ariadne: I still think it was a stupid idea.

King Colchis: Hurry up, let’s get this show on the road!

Theseus: Dad, I’m gonna go kill the Minotaur.

King Colchis: Good idea, son. Go for it!

Theseus: Thanks, dad. I’ll sail away on a ship with black sails. If I live, I’ll change the sails to white when I come back. If I die, I won’t change them because I would be dead.

King Colchis: Good idea, son. You make me proud!

(Theseus, Woman, and Man get in the boat)

Woman : I don’t wanna die!

Theseus: I’ll avenge your death by killing the minotaur.

Man: (glares at Theseus) Hey! You won’t have to avenge her death because I’LL save her!

Theseus: Yeah right… it’s obvious that I’ll be the only survivor.

Woman : (sarcastically) Thanks, that’s so reassuring. (rolls eyes)

King Minos: Welcome to my island!

Ariadne: (looks at Theseus) Do we have to kill him, dad? He’s so handsome!

King Minos: My little darling’s growing up! No. We have to kill him.

Theseus: (walks up to Ariadne) Hey, you want to sit next to me at dinner?

Ariadne: Sure! (walks offstage with Theseus, comes back on and puts up cardboard labyrinth)

King Minos: Ariadne, you can send the sacrifices into the maze.

Ariadne: Thanks dad!

Ariadne: (to extras) You go ahead. (extras nod and go into the maze) Theseus… I don’t want you to die… put this ball of yarn on the ground and it will lead you to the center of the maze. But you have to promise to take me back to Athens with you.

Theseus: Whatever you want, my love.

Woman: HELP! HELP! AAAAGH!

Man: RAAAAAGH! DIE MINOTAUR DIE!!!!!! AAAAAAAGH! HELP ME!!!!

Minotaur: GRUNT GRUNT RRRRAGHHH I KILL YOU GRRRRAAAARRRRR DIE SILLY HUMAN DIE GRAAAGH (throw red painted fabric over the wall)

Woman 1: Mercy! Have Mercy! AAAAAAAaaaaaagggggh…

Theseus: (looks into maze) eeew. Don’t look, Ari.

Ariadne: ok,Thesee.

Theseus: (goes into the maze)

Ariadne: (gasps) Theseus? You ok?

Theseus: I’m fine… just fine….. AAAAAAAGHHH!

Ariadne: Theseus!

Theseus: Just kidding.