In my junior year of high school I wrote 2 term papers on Andy Warhol. One was for my art class and the other was for my literature class.
A friend of mine saw me write up a rough draft during lunch and said she had a book that I might like. I said whatever made me write a better paper would be great. She gave me this book. When I first saw it, I thought it was just a collection of interviews from people who had met Warhol. Then I started reading it. I was just what the title said. It was journal entries by Warhol himself collected over the years and published in one huge book. Needless to say I was dumbfounded. Since then it's become one of my favorite books to read. It's not fiction...it's basically history to me. Plus, I got A's on both my papers.
If you love Warhol, or love art in general, I really recommend this book to get a glimpse of what he was like and how the mind of a great artist works.
Ah...Poppy Z. Brite. She's the other author that saved my sanity. Well, I guess more postponed my manic episodes.
The house on Violin Road is the setting for this creepy horror novel. It's about Trevor McGee. His father killed brother and mother and then committed suicide. He ran from that place and then returns to get answers to 2 questions. 1) What drove his father to murder/suicide and 2) What made his father spare his life? It's a twisted tale and I had a hard time reading this before bed because it truly creeped me out.
Here's the link with excerpts from Drawing Blood. Happy Reading!
If you want to keep in with her horror novels, I also recommend Lost Souls, which is an amazing gothic vampire novel a la Anne Rice, but in modern times. Also, kinda better. I know, I know...how could i say someone wrote a better vampire novel than Anne Rice, but people...it's true. Just sayin'. She also did a book of stories called Wormwood. Great book, but not as good as Drawing Blood and Lost Souls.
Poppy Z. Brite lives in New Orleans with her chef husband and a multitude of felines to take care of.
Not only has she written many horror novels and short-stories, but she has been delving in the food-mystery novel genre with her wonderful characters Ricky and G-Man.
She introduced those two first in The Value of X:
Then came a trilogy of novels that sealed those two in my library for good:
I'm stuck in the Sarlacc! I keep getting sucked into this thing through the wind chamber. I'm using force lightning to get through, but i still get sucked in. One time is damaging, but twice kills. i can't see the chambers w/ all those tentacles in the stomach. I notice they're around when the electric hub gets visible.
At least i know my way around. I'm on the hunt to rescue Senator Bail Organa. I'm very content being an apprentice as well. Usually people like to be a Jedi or a Sith Lord, but apprenticeship is fantastic with me.
Anyhow, if anyone has tips for helping me out with this level, please let me know because it's getting on my last nerve. It's one of those forever levels with me. Kind of like what happened when i got stuck on Raxis Prime. That seemed like a million years ago though. I got through once, but then I got stuck in the stomach pit and I couldn't get out. Eventually I just killed myself and started the level over again because it was taking forever. So, I'm back at the beginning, I totally forgot how I got anywhere, and the stupid wind chambers are killing me.
Going through these tunnels is almost like going through a gauntlet of tornadoes. I'm still trying to level up though so i can get my Dashing-Rush combo. I'm slow on the holocrons because I'm too obsessed with getting to the next level. I need to take my time. I've been doing great so far, but I could use more mastered forces and combos.
aka.....I'm frustrated and I want pointers from gamers before I hit the cheat codes and tutorials!!
There are only 2 authors out there who've actually saved my sanity on more than one occasion. One of those authors is Francesca Lia Block. She has written so many amazing characters that it's incredible to think someone has that expansive of an imagination. She has been a staple in Los Angeles literature since the early 90's. Her most beloved character is one miss Weetzie Bat. I'm not exactly sure how to describe her. Umm....you know that really crazy but cool aunt people have? Or the wicked cool grandma that grew up in the 60's? Well, I'm pretty sure that's how I could describe her.
In these first books gathered together, it tells the tale of young, fairytale-like love and loss. When nobody around you really understood what was going on with you. How society would see teenagers who did not fit their mold as outsiders, freaks, weirdos....delinquents. There are 5 stories in this collection:
1. Weetzie Bat
2. Witch Baby
3. Cherokee Bat and the Goat Boys
4. Missing Angel Juan
5. Baby Be-Bop
Each story is as good as the others. The names, the supporting characters, the scene detail. It all kind of makes you float through the book. It pulls you into a world of pink dresses and combat boots. I don't want to say too much because this is a book I want everyone to read by themselves and not have outside influence. For everyone who's ever felt like a freak...I can't emphasize enough how much this book would mean. Actually, Francesca Lia Block has written many of my favorite books. She writes of forbidden love, social excommunication and acceptance from the odd people created in her world.
More books I recommend from her besides "Dangerous Angels":
1. I Was a Teenage Fairy
2. Violet & Claire
3. Echo
4. Wasteland
5. Necklace of Kisses
6. How to (Un)Cage a Girl
She continues to write some of the most memorable characters in modern-day literature. If the brothers' Grimm were one woman...then it would be her.
i'm just starting Dead Space 2 for ps3....so far, i don't know. all this telekenesis grab and throw stuff just isn't good right off the bat. if it were an acquired thing throughout the game, then it would be better because it would give the player time to adjust to the control settings. granted, you can always change them, but it's not a good idea. even though i'm on the first chapter, it's frustrating. here's a list:
1. i had to run through a maze of aliens w/ a straight-jacket on
2. i can't jump
3. i can't move shit out of the way unless it's "a loose item"
4. i can't control the telekenesis unless i aim right at the object i'm allowed to move
5. i can't hit or stomp the aliens i encounter
6. when i do run, it's so slow i can't really tell i am running
7. i can't see shit unless i use the flashlight
8. i can't really use any of the weapons unless i'm aiming by holding the R3 button.
things that i do like about the game:
1. the graphics are pretty good
2. the sound is awesome
3. i can follow a route when i bring it up.
this was recommended to me by someone at GameStop because i said i loved the force unleashed and battlefront franchises. i'm not so sure it was a good recommendation. i still have a lot to learn with the game and hopefully it will become a lot more fun as i go through it.
If you read a lot, like I do, you have a list of your favorite books and authors. For me, it's mainly about genre. Fiction. I love to read fiction. Nothing beats a really good story. There are several authors in that genre whom I could go on and on about, but I'll just give a synopsis of some of my favorite stories of fiction throughout the next few days.
Perfume: The Story of A Murderer by Patrick Suskind
This story is about Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. He was born in Paris to a mother who was hanged for leaving him to die in the pestilent streets. He becomes obsessed with scent. He smells everything and knows what they are according to their scent. He navigates through streets by way of scent. He doesn't know what everything is named, but he learns by the way those objects smell. The vivid detail given by Suskind in this book is impeccable. When he escapes the putridity of his slave life to learn the art of preserving scent through perfume making, his obsession grows out of control. His ultimate goal is to preserve the scent of life itself. He does so by making his own version of essential oils. Human oils. He kills only the most beautiful women he can find and preserves their scent via distillation, wrapping them in fat and scrapping off their skin oils. It makes me wonder if that actually could be done. I don't think it could, but it's fascinating. Eventually he gets caught only to escape minutes before his execution by hypnotizing people with his intoxicating human perfume. Knowing he has the power to control kingdoms by a mere drop of his concoction, he ops for the martyrs way out. He douses himself in his perfume, walks towards a group of degenerate street vagrants, and is literally consumed by them.
The only thing just as powerful as the book itself, is the movie. It might not show every single detail the book offers, but it comes extremely close. You see the images on the screen and you can almost smell everything Grenouille does. Not to mention both Alan Rickman and Dustin Hoffman are in the film. If you don't have the patience for the book, I cannot praise the movie more.
Lost Girl is a canadian show. it's on Showcase and from what i can gather...they're kinda like showtime lol.
it's one of the best shows, in my opinion, since Buffy. for me that's saying a lot considering Buffy was and still is my favorite show ever. but i can't get over how completely awesome it is.
Buffy has the scoobies. Xander, Willow, Giles, Anya, Tara...and others. Bo has Dyson, Lauren, Hale, Trick and Kenzie. i think Kenzie is the most awesomest character on tv since the scoobie gang. Ksenia Solo (many will recognize her in Black Swan) does a great job w/ the one-liners, quirky sense of humor and sweet sidekick attitude.
horror movies are so fun to watch. not only because you get to see a bunch of murder, blood and guts...but also you can relate to a lot of those characters. i think Dave Alexander explains it best in issue #108 of Rue Morgue Magazine. the article is on page 6 and aptly titled: "WTF is 'eleveated genre'?"
like all good things...guitar hero has come to an end. i hear a lot of people saying, "well, everyone should play a REAL guitar now". for some, guitar hero was the reason they picked up a real guitar. i started teaching myself how to play a long time before guitar hero, but that game was one of the reasons why i wanted to be great at playing. it was a way i could feel like i was in a band and playing in front of thousands of people, mess up, and not feel horrible about it.
i know what some are thinking...."start a band then!"...i have agoraphobia. that means i have a fear of crowds. i get very anxious and short of breath. doesn't necessarily mean i can't be IN a crowd...i just get panicky and nauseous if i'm at the center attention of that crowd. which would explain why i always hang around alone away from everyone. but i digress..
a lot of my favorite and not so favorite bands have appeared on Guitar Hero. my all time favorite band EVER was:
my second all time favorite band ever was in there also:
those 2 bands are so influential to me that i had their band logos tattooed on me.
even though i don't have a lot of money, i always made sure my music collection was something that got updated immediately. to a lot of music fans, guitar hero was the awesomest thing ever. for video game fans it was the same. i'm gonna miss Guitar Hero, but i guess they know better than anyone when to bow out.
1. i love the paranormal.
2. i love paranormal shows.
There seems to be a plethora of paranormal shows popping up. After the extreme success of Ghost Hunters, every network seems to be showing some sort of paranormal reality shows.
Here's a list of paranormal reality shows that i know of. They are either still on or were on at some point.
1. Ghost Hunters
2. Most Haunted
3. Paranormal Cops
4. Ghost Adventures
5. Ghost Hunters International
6. Most Haunted
7. Dead Famous
8. Destination Truth
9. Fear
10. Paranormal State
those are the ones i can remember off the top of my head. i know there are TONS more, but i'd be typing forever if i named them all.
anyhow, i know a lot of those shows have been deemed fake, but it's still interesting to watch. i'm particularly disappointed in Scariest Places on Earth. i actually enjoyed watching that show because it was hosted by Linda Blair (The Exorcist) and narrated by Zelda Rubinstein (Poltergeist), who sadly passed away just last year. They're icons of the horror/paranormal genre and to think they were a part of a show that were said to stage their paranormal activity is devastating. though i'm sure they had nothing to do w/ the staging itself.
Paranormal reality shows have always been criticized because nobody knows if the evidence is staged or authentic. why? because nobody really knows what exists out there. when people claim they do have proof, it's deemed "fake".
i, for one, enjoy watching Ghost Hunters because they go into an investigation as skeptics and trying to find logical explanations for paranormal activity, or "debunk" activity. if they can't find any explanations for what they capture, then they're still skeptic about the situation and want to do more than one investigation to come to a secure conclusion. i think that's a very logical way to see things. me, being a realist, i have to see it to believe it.
i also enjoy the shows that explain personal experiences. paranormal reality dramas like "A Haunting", "Celebrity Ghost Stories" and the paranormal history shows on The History Channel, The Discovery Channel and The Travel Channel. why? because i like the fact that they present people's point of views and not force people to believe them. it's like story-telling on tv.
anyhow, weather you believe in the paranormal or not, there are a lot of choices on tv to help feed your paranormal thirst.
Raxis Prime has a level through the construction facility that is driving me insane. walkthrough after walkthrough and i can't get the timing right. ugh!!
Not the second one, not elite, not republic commando...the first one. The O.G.
Sure the cover says it's rated "T" for teens, but once u play it, you're hooked!
As a huge Star Wars fan, I was firmly disappointed with the second trilogy. Well, the first. But you know what I mean. Revenge of the Sith was really awesome though. To see Anakin Skywalker rise and become Darth Vader was way too fucking cool to not like. But I digress.
When I first played the game, I had just bought a PS2. I get very "late in the game" when it comes to consoles. Once I started, I couldn't stop! I was getting frustrated though because I couldn't play with other people online so I decided to buy the PC version. Oh Lord Vader, I was basically addicted. I still am to this day. When my old computer broke down on me, I bought another one (which I'm still paying for) and bought the Star Wars fan favorites package which includes Battlefront, Battlefront II and Republic Commando. I do like the other games, but not as much as the first & pretty much only Battlefront known to me legitimately lol.
I play online via GameSpy which is standard with the games. I also use something called Xfire. It's like a chatting program like AIM or ICQ or wtf ever people are using these days, but it's for gamers. With xfire you can not only talk to other gamers, but you can broadcast your game live, post screen shots of you playing, and track all the games you play. Basically it's like a mini gaming hub.
Playing Battlefront online is almost like playing chess. It's a strategic war game, but you play on teams and with multiple forms of conquering. You can totally destroy the other team, you can capture all their command posts, or play a game of capture the flag. All the characters are so intricately designed, the battlefield graphics are amazing and the sound effects are superb right down to the running & and gun clicks. Not to mention one of the best soundtracks in film history! The Imperial March is my ringtone & my text tone is R2-D2.
If George Lucas wants to make a game, you best be sure he's going to release something like whoa!
Today's movie mogul is Marlene Dietrich. I've been a huge fan since I first saw her in Destry Rides Again.
My grandfather (RIP) was a huge western fan. Most of all, he was a John Wayne fan. His next favorite movie star was James Stewart. Don't get me started on how many times It's A Wonderful Life was played in the family home. Well, while I was staying with him for the weekend, we watched Destry Rides Again. When I saw Marlene in that film, I was hooked.
Soon I began looking for other movies of hers. Unfortunately, I didn't have the internet at the time. I didn't even have a computer. I had to do all my digging the old-fashioned way...the library! Some might say, "Eww! The library!?", but I was jazzed because that meant I could go through book after book without my mom being on my case about doing something educational.
The library near our house was literally two blocks away. I picked up my backpack full of writing materials, hopped on my bike and away I went. Ahh, the dewy decimal system. how I love thee. You know what I'm talking about. Those little cards the library had before they used computers to log every book. you had to write down the section and book number. Then, you had to go looking through that section to find that a) the book was checked out or b) it's there, just not in it's place. In essence, if you really needed the information or you were really dedicated, then you just said, "fuck this!" and you would leave.
Since I had absolutely nothing else besides homework to do, I spent most of my time in the library. I would look up anything I had an interest in. I was combing the movies section when I came across a book filled with descriptions and pictures of Marlene Dietrich's movies.
All her films are so amazing. My favorite being, of course, Destry Rides Again:
As well as Shanghai Express:
And of course the most awesome Billy Wilder's A Foreign Affair:
She was a big star already in Berlin where she was born and raised. Her first international film performance was in a movie called The Blue Angel directed by Josef von Sternberg, which so happens to be Germany's first "talkie". Paramount was so impressed, they signed Dietrich to a contract. Her first American movie was a gender-bending controversy for it's time called Morocco. It was such a hyped-up film because there were so many expectations for this German beauty. Amazingly, though she knew a tiny bit of English, she garnered her first, and only, Oscar nomination. She made a big fuss in Hollywood with her men's wear in the film. That also became her signature look, men's wear and suits:
I think what is most amazing about this actress was her public admission of despising the Nazi party. She was a German-born woman in WWII-era film production. According to her, she was propositioned by the Nazis. Some say Hitler himself asked Dietrich to be his mistress. She defied their approaches and became a U.S. citizen. What a slap in the face for ya. Not only that, but she became one of the U.S. military's most notable celebrity allies. She entertained the troops, sold war bonds, performed for U.S. soldiers near the front-lines in Germany. You Go Girl! lol. She became my heroine for that.
"I aint yo bitch, bitch! Imma not only say 'fuck you', but i'm gonna work for the other guys and rile them up to kick yo fuckin' ass!"
Anyhow, she really influenced women's rolls in the film industry and some don't even know it. She was one of the first few women, Greta Garbo being another one, who wore pant suits out in public for events. She has been hailed as a fashion icon all of her career.
So not only all that, but later in her career she performed cabaret in large theaters. They paid her something like 20-30k a week in Vegas. Apparently that was a lot of money then. Well shit...it's still a hell of a lot of money in one week today. With that said, I will leave you with her most famous scene of her career. This is her American debut scene in Morocco:
let's see...what am i going to talk about on here? umm...music, movies and games. so if you don't like any of that, then you might find yourself bored lol.
