I have a darling. And he has a sweetie. 
PS: Happy December, everyone. Only 4 weeks until I get my final results.
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Now playing: Zac Efron - Ladies Choice
via FoxyTunes
I happened to see the Hairspray trailer and poster a while ago, back when it played in theaters, but I’d never got the chance to see it. Until last night, when I rented the DVD. And I tell you, if I ever get a chance to buy it, it’ll be a prized item in my collection.
I love it. The famous faces singing and dancing in the 60’s style tended to throw me a little (Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken just to start with), but it’s funny and sweet. Newcomer Nikki Blonsky is just great in the lead, especially her great voice, and John Travolta as her mother simply steals the show. With Travolta in the cast, you wouldn’t be surprised that the dancing is amazing from everyone- Walken even does a little song and dance duet with Travolta. The satire is razor-sharp - Allison Janney was the school councilor in 10 Things I Hate About You and now plays Prudy Pingleton, a strict mother who refers to the new teenage craze of dancing to ‘race music’ and sprinkles her daughter with holy water. Yep, plenty of satire.
The whole integration problem between whites and blacks becomes a major theme, and I like the way they handled it. It’s not too heavy handed, and keeps in theme with the rest of the movie. The scene in the school’s gym is especially striking- it took me a few moments before I realised the rope between the two groups of kids was separating blacks kids from white. The “New Girl In Town” song is also done very well, to show the difference between the regular Corny Collins Show and their ‘Negro Day’ one a month.
In short, the songs are unforgettable, the actors are amazing, the scripting is funny and well-written and I just loved the period costumes, hair and make-up. Definitely one to get if you enjoyed Grease, High School Musical, Chicago or any other musical.
Garry Newman is the smart guy who developed Garry’s Mod. So smart, that Valve even took on his mod and let him release it commercially over Steam for (some) profit. Most modders would never even dream of the success that this guy has had. Why was he successful? Well, here’s some ideas.
- He had a creative, innovative idea to use the Source engine to make a sandbox game., based on a already successful concept (JBMod).
- He released open betas. Quickly. Many were reported to be buggy, but the concept sold it and people kept coming back for more.
- He made the mod for fun. To play with a small group, and it then ballooned from there. Remember that, modders, fun?
- Gameplay was always first to him.
Cheers, Garry. If more modders followed your path, their mods wouldn’t suck. Thank you. Garry’s Blog is here, if you want to read his own thoughts or track the progress of the mod.
Garry’s Mod, for the record, is one of the most entertaining ways I’ve spent my hours on the pc recently. There are even many populars mods for it (yes, mods for a mod). And with the new beta in testing for Orange Box material, Garry shows no signs of stopping yet.
I couldn’t help myself- I signed up to DeviantART. If nothing else, it will give me an official place to post any fiction I’m working on. It’s so pretty there… I can’t help it. Writers tend to get overlooked, unfortunately.
Here’s a snippet of my latest offering- Groundboy. Just an idea for a space-themed story. Since that piece I’ve developd it more, but on it’s own I don’t think it’s too bad. Read it and comment to here or there, I don’t mind.
It’s so strange being off school… I keep expecting to have to go back for a class or an exam. I get my results on the 28th of December. Once I’m 18. Then after that… I am going to arrange that party out in the city somewhere. And find a few good friends that will take care of me when I get plastered.
Wait. I don’t have any of those.
I’m really sad. Today was my last ever exam, my final final. I was supposed to go out and celebrate with my three friends, except two can’t make it. I was then invited out with The Boys from school- who have since let me down. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was looking forward to relaxing with school people for the last time.
On the whole I guess 13 years of school wasn’t too bad. I’ll end up missing it, but right now I’m just peeved at all of my adolescent peers for letting me down. The single night of the year when I actually want to go out and get drunk, and now nobody wants to take me. I predict a quiet night, where I game by myself and go to bed sober and before midnight.
I love this song. There’s so much violence and aggression bubbling under the surface. Yay for 80’s Britrock.
P.S. 10.21 PM - I seem to have managed a fair level of intoxication by myself. Success!
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Now playing: The Jam - Going Underground
via FoxyTunes
So today I browsed DeviantART. I usually stay away from there because there is so many amazing artists and they intimidate me, the humble writer. But I couldn’t help myself. The art is overwhelmingly beautiful, these artists should be rich, famous and respected. Then again, artists rarely are, I suppose.
I downloaded a bunch of their work (ensuring their signatures or watermarks are on, I’m not about to get into a copyright battle) and they shall now adorn my desktop. It’s the best I can do, considering I am not PayPal enabled. I found this nifty freeware program to swap my wallpapers- EvJO Wallpaper Changer. I’ve used a few over the years, but this one seems cool. Enjoy.
I hate the fact that a single facial expression from my younger sister can crush my own opinions on what I’m currently wearing. So much for looking good at school today.
…was amazing. Sad and lovely and I’m so happy that Fitz found peace. Yes, that’s deliberately vague, I’m not spoiling anyone.
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Now playing: Goo Goo Dolls - Sympathy
via FoxyTunes
Yup, I’ve got another new book. But this one is The One.
Yesterday I bought Fool’s Fate, book three in the Tawny Man Trilogy. Book Nine of Nine in the Elderlings Realm. The third book in the third trilogy. So, this is the one I’ve been waiting for. Not many books I’ve read ties over 40 years worth of story, nor spans over nine books. I’m about 165 pages in, and it’s fantastic. It’s the first fantasy series (excluding Harry Potter) that I’ve followed the whole way through. I know that the author, Robin Hobb, doesn’t approve of fanfiction, so I won’t be able to follow Fitz after the book’s conclusion. But that will be alright, for now. Hobb has created such a rich world, I’d be happy to go back and read the whole thing once I’m done.
That Half Life 2 review I promised you? Well, I did finish HL2. And Episodes One and Two. And Portal. And then my (amazingly kind) friend bought me Gmod. And I modded my Gmod. Yeah, I’m pretty much hooked to the entire thing. The Half Life story is pretty damn cool, it’s amusing that I never got into the whole thing before. So, my review is a little slow in coming, but I’ll still try and get there.
I’m at a lull in between exams right now. The only finals I have left are Computers Theory and English (rewrite). Neither are a challenge for me, but I’d like to do well in Theory so I’ll probably have to study. Thankfully, one of my friends made a copy of his study notes for me, which will help.
The US trip planning is going well, with luck we’ll book it next week. I can’t wait!
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Now playing: Seether - Fake It
via FoxyTunes
I’ve found a new fantasy series to squee over!
The Firestaff Collection, starting here, is absolutely brilliant. It started off excellent, but there was a twist within the first few chapters which just completely hooked me. The author is James Galloway, and there is a nice community on the forums (and I also hope on IRC, which I’ll check out when I have time). I’m only halfway through the first book, and so far I must remark that Galloway’s characters are the most unique I’ve read in a while- parallel even to Robin Hobb’s Fitz.
Of course, finding a new obsession during exams isn’t the best course of action, but I’ll do my best to juggle both ‘interests’. Even though little interests me about exams. I got an estimation of my Computer Practical mark today- 83%. It was quite a difficult prac, so I’m happy that I did so well. Also, my teacher Facebooked me with this estimate, and that fact alone has infinite levels of coolness.
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