Whose got the power?

In a bid to test my will-power, I haven't eaten beef in about a month now. I think. I don't really know the exact dates but I'm estimating a month, although it really feels like three. I'm thinking about breaking because I'm really craving beef soba. But then I feel like I'm giving up, and I start telling myself that "I can stick it out", but then while my brain thinks that, all my senses are like, "MUST HAVE BEEF SOBA. NOM NOM NOMM".

It's all rather confusing right now, I don't know.

Sometimes I wonder how I ever gave up pork for four years.

For the record, I wouldn't ever bother giving up chicken.

This post is dedicated to Ad Spags

I have decided that I will sporadically put up pic spams dedicated to friends of mine. And if you're wondering why I do such things you may choose one answer from below:

a) I like my friends
b) I like doing nice things
c) I like hot guys
d) I have a lotta pictures saved up in my folder and sharing is caring

To which I will tell you that this is a trick question. And the trick answer is really e) Perving is fun, and to perve is to make our wellbeing better. Also, I'm too lazy to think up fresh content so pic spams are much easier to make a post out of.

This post is dedicated to my dear friend of almost 10 years, Ad Spags. Consider this a "Welcome Back to Blogging" present from me.

(Part 1 aka Charm's post can be found here).

And thus we begin the second Sporadic PicSpam...


I didn't get the appeal of Emile Hirsch until I watched Into the Wild last weekend. For me, talent plays a big part in how I choose actors I like and perve on, and boy, the raw talent and charm of Emile is very hard to deny and totally bowled me over. Truthfully, he's not the prettiest actor around. In fact, when he's scruffed up and unshaven, his hotness factor drops 28 points. But that's okay...


...because even when scruffy, he still works the goofy heartthrob factor. Yes?



Sorry Ad. I included this picture for entirely self-serving needs. I think Gael is hot. And I wish you could see that too. If you don't, I guess I'll have to work harder and be extra hard on the pic spams. It's not an easy task but I'm more than ready to take it on and make you see the light.


How bout some French hottie lovin' for you if you're not so inclined to our dear Mexican friend? Unfortunately I do not have pictures of Louis Garrel, but Gaspard is infinitely prettier, me thinks.


SHIRTLESS ROBERT DOWNEY JR. FOR EVERYBODY'S PERVING INTEREST. I'M NICE LIKE THAT.

If you compare me to John Mayer one more time, I'mma cut a bitch
Fact: John Mayer is to douche, as Jason Mraz is to ______?

The correct and only acceptable answer is WIN. Thank you for playing.



And in light of the massive failure that was Indy 4 that we both sat through, here's some old school Harrison Ford for your time. Him during his Han Solo years in early years Star Wars was simply perve-tastic.



I can't remember if we watched Jumper together, considering our long history of movie-watching together, but it's a true fact that Jamie Bell and his accent were the only saving grace of that craptastic film.


Oh oh! This is Michael Angarano. He is a very talented actor and is adorable too. You would have seen him in Almost Famous, Dear Wendy or err.. Sky High (which btw, is where that screen cap comes from and which is why he looks so young when I swear, he's really our age!) Let it be known that he's definitely one to watch.

And because girlfriend, there is no other satisfactory way to end this post, henceforth the James McAvoy loving will spill.

We're watching Wanted on whichever Thursday it opens, right?

Oh come on! We simply must!


Don't make me call up the guys to go, because they will not understand McAvoy's dazzle. I went to watch 21 with them and they were like, "Who is this Jim Sturgess?" and then glared at me when the talk of dazzle came up. Apparently my Facebook wall post spam of "Do I dazzle you?" was not received well.




Sometimes I think guys should just walk around in tuxedos all the time. Except I think most of them will not look half as good as McAvoy here, so it'll be just a waste of time, do you know what I mean?

Remember how I was telling you to watch Becoming Jane? Well, forget about it. Because all you need to know about the film is in this screencap.

Basically, James McAvoy is super smirking smexy and Anne Hathaway cannot help me carried away in the undertow of James McAvoy super smirking smexiness.

Actually there is a scene where he is shirtless and reenacting Fight Club 19th Century style at the start of the movie, but for some reason I can't seem to find the screen cap for that. Holy smokes, don't tell me I deleted it.

And as great as B&W pictures of McAvoy are, colour is good too because we get to see his pretty eyes.

Okay, lies. You cannot see his eyes here. But damn is he wearing the leather jacket well or what?


Okay, pretty eyes; take 2! I don't think it's working.



Oh sorry (although I'm really not sorry. At all). Wrong blue eyed actor. But come on! I can't be the only person who likes Elijah Wood.


And to end this post, some abnormally goofy McAvoy. You can sorta see the blue from here. Sort of.

Dear Ad, you are one of the quirkiest person I know, and trust me, I know a fair few. And I love every single one of your crazy quirks and ticks. You give great hugs and are not afraid to dole it out when I'm being mopey Harry Potter in book #5. I'm so so so glad that we're friends after I looked past the crazy when we first met in the school canteen in form 1. :D I love that you've resurrected your blog again. Now all you need is to accept my proposal to be co-author to Pop Culture Geekery and all will be right in the world.

Finally, thank you for giving me (and Nick) the free pass to School of Rock way back when. I rewatched the DVD yesterday. And was reminded of the utter fabulousness of this kid.

You're tacky and I hate you.

Cheers.

Daily Internet Rituals

stolen from Sophia.

Wherein I tell you my favourite haunts on the Interwebs, regardless of whether you wanted to know in the first place.

1. ONTD_twatlight.
Currently, this Livejournal community is my biggest time waster on the Web. It's a community that's devoted to mocking and bagging the hell out of the most craptastic book since the time of A.D. The book is called Twilight, the community is _twatlight and the members are lovingly called twatfaxers. It's basically one big inside joke and it brings the LOLs in massive amounts. It's great to be part of a community that have little baggage and awesome personalities. And gosh, the inside jokes... I now smirk at the mention of the weather, maize, bacon, duct tape, sous vide, umbrellas, Chris Hansen and a zillion other innocuous things. This site has also completely won me over the prettiness of Robert Pattinson, whom I pic-spammed about two posts ago.

2. ONTD.
ONTD is the best gossip site in existence. It's just a fact. There's no draggy add-on life story like PinkIsTheNewBlog, and neither does it promote inbred-neanderthalness as exhibited on PerezHilton.com. Because all the contents are user generated, you get celebrity news from members who come from all over the world. Add to that magazine scans, newspaper articles, and industry insight, it adds up to a really comprehensive coverage of news from the celebrity realm, all for your easy access from one site! If you google "best communities on Livejournal", this site is the first one on the list. Yes, seriously.

3. Pajiba and by association, Webster's Is My Bitch.
Pajiba is my favourite and most trusted movie review website ever. The reviews are usually spot on, the comments very clever and the snark and wit invokes the essence of Television Without Pity, but without the excessive bitchiness. Webster's is a subdivision of Pajiba, or more accurately the gossip arm of the parent company. I really like the format they use in presenting posts, where they utilize a word or phrase and explain the meaning as well as attach it to the celebrity gossip. See for example, the explanation for the word worthless, and the phrase, I've made a huge mistake.

4. AV Club.
The AV Club deals with all things pop culture-related. Music, TV, movies, art... their articles are well-written and covers a very diverse range of topics. The only thing that shits me up the wall about the site are the commenters. Commenters on pop culture sites as a whole, are generally predisposed to having an inflated sense of self-worth that often translates to bitchiness and wit that run the gamut from genuinely funny to bucketloads of fail. Go ahead, ask me how I know this. For whatever reason, the AV Club seems to be the proverbial trailer park for the trailer trash of the commenting world. Although to be fair, their trashniess doesn't even come close to the commenters found at IMDb.

5.. Gala Darling, Fashion is Spinach and Fops and Dandies.
I've put these three blogs together because they mostly talk about the same subject, fashion and to a lesser extent, lifestyle issues.

6. All the links on both my blogs and my Livejournal friends-list, which is basically made up of communities and Sophia.
I might not always comment, but please know that I'm lurking in the corner watching every post you make. Wow, I sound about as lame-stalker as that reads.

7. Quaintly.net.
I don't remember how I stumbled across this blog, but ever since, there's been no regret and constant lurker action. Su Ann is a really intelligent girl who writes like a dream. She describes her feelings very succinctly without relying on flowery prose and the impact is that much more overwhelming because of the underwhelming way it's been conveyed. Does that make sense? Probably not. Just know that she is very, very ridiculously articulate and her command as well as usage of the language makes for a fantastic read.

8. Karen Cheng.
Look Sophia, I read her too! I'm not usually a big fan of 'mommy-bloggers' because most of the time, I'm not nearly as fascinated as they are about their self-described cute kids who also most of the time, are about as cute as a new born pug, which is to say, not very cute. At all. Holy run-on sentence, Batman! (I really need to stop doing that). Anyway, Karen bucks the trend, not simply because we share the same first name, or because she's got two very adorable sons, but because she conveys the ups and downs of being a stay-at-home mum with lots of grace and dignity. Often times we get hints of her frustration, but there's always an awareness of her good fortunes with the life she's chosen.

That concludes the top 8 sites I frequent everyday. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I don't go to news sites much, but I read the paper and watch the 6.30 pm SBS World news, which for me, is sufficient consumption of daily news.

Number 9 and 10 shouldn't technically be included because they've both shut down and stop producing new material, but back when they did, I was a constant visitor to the sites. Even now, I troll the archives re-reading the articles. Please know that if I had my way, they wouldn't have stopped and instead lived forever, thus making themselves number #1 and #2 respectively on this list.

The would-have-been number #1 but now is number #9: Stylus.
Stylus was this beautiful slice of perfection when it came to news reporting from the realm of popular culture. There was the obligatory coverage of movies and music, but what sold it best was the diverse topics Stylus wasn't afraid to cover. Unlike one certain music website that is all about the hipster wankery music -rolls eyes-, Stylus didn't shun popular music and often wrote really introspective articles of the state of pop. The movies reviewed covered art house flicks, cult movies, foreign films and big Hollywood blockbusters. Discussions were passionate but never rude. And the Staff Top 10 lists as well as features, were always an excellent read. It's a shame this site had to die for I have yet to find an equal to it.

Would-have-been number #2 but now, number #10: Fametracker.
Fametracker was the absolute shiznit when it came to talking about celebrities. I believe it's from the same people/company who brought you Television without Pity, so there was the inbuilt snark from the get go. Their 'Hey! It's That Guy!' feature covers the plethora of actors who you often find yourself saying, "Hey! It's that guy from _____". To put it simply, the site was complete and utter brilliance.

---

When I am really, really, really bored and am looking to waste more time on the Internet, I go to eBay and Flickr. I also stalk famous people on the Internet, namely James Gunn's MySpace blog, Jason Mraz's blog and the people who run and work or created College Humor.com. Well, I did say "waste more time" and I never do a half-assed job if I can help it. I also go to Cracked for the occasional laughs. Oh, and Nintendo 8 to play old-school Mario and Galaga.

I suppose it's easier to say that the Internet becomes a free for all when I'm looking to kill time.

---
Sites that I loathe
1. Perez Hilton
Ugh. The shameless self-promotion, the childish picture scrawling, the irrepressible need to plaster his goddamn ugly mug on every third post.. How do I loathe thee, let me count the ways. I honestly lose respect for people when they say they frequent this site. True fact. I overheard this one girl in my tute talking about it in a tone that wasn't derogatory and we never became friends. I don't think it's my loss.

2. TwoP
I used to go to TwoP a lot but the insane amounts of fanwank got to me after a while. Look, the third season of Veronica Mars sucks. It really does. Accept it and deal with it. No amount of explanation or fanwankery will make others see otherwise. Fuck, season 2 wasn't even all that great. Blame CW all you want, but ultimately Rob Thomas CHOSE to subvert the formula that make Season 1 such a critical success. He chose to end season 3 without a proper ending knowing full well, that there was a very big chance the show won't be coming back. Get over it or I'll sick the wahhhmbulance on you.
/end rant.

Honestly, I still frequent the Mondo Extras bit. It's content that would have ended up on Fametracker anyway.

3. IMDb
Ditto for IMDb. It's very hard trying to present an articulate argument because whatever you say, asswipes are just going to come back with a "If you don't like it, get the fuck off the boards" type comment. And regardless of how you tell them you're just trying to have a discussion, they call you a troll and the whole boards deteriorate into a name-calling session. Goddamn wankers. These days I get my information off Wikipedia. It's a lot easier and makes me less prone to stabbing people with a blunt fork.

4. Pitchfork
I sincerely want to smack every self-congratulatory bastard on this site for their self-deluded thoughts on being music maestros of the music universe just because they frequent this oh-so-exclusive website. Wake up and smell the green grass, because there's so much more to music than Indie Rock. You're so much worse than those 14 year old die hard My Chemical Romance fans, because they at the very least, do not have age and experience on their side. Fuck you for giving the genre a bad name with your self-wankery.

---
This post ended up a lot longer than I expected. Sorry, Sophia! And as a treat for reading all that, here is a great interview by Complex magazine with both James McAvoy and Common for the upcoming movie, Wanted. Yes, that's the actor from Scotland and rapper from USA. It's a bizarre match but both of them seem to have a good rapport and the interview is a fun read. Here's a snippet:

Common: ...I was just excited to work with James. I seen James in Last King of Scotland, I’m one of them people like, if I see somebody and I think they got something, I become a fan and follow they stuff. So when I seen James, after that, what was that movie you did with “ten?”
James McAvoy: Starter for 10? I can’t believe you watched that.
Common: [Laughs.] I wanted to see that just because I liked James. So I was excited to work with him. Going back to the whole classical training, whatever he was bringing was just right, and he’s like that in every movie I seen him do.
James McAvoy: Thank you, man.

Part 1.
Part 2.

via, where else, the fabulous ONTD.

Things that have crossed my mind lately

- I hate shopping sites that don't readily put out the price of their products and only reveal it during the check out bit. Price plays a big factor in my decision to purchase something so not having the price readily available annoys me muchly.

- My grammar and spelling is deteriorating at a shockingly high rate. I wonder if that has anything to do with my growing fluency at Net speak.

- Consequently, what are the odds that future employers would be impressed if I added 1337 and LOLcat to 'languages I speak' in my resume?

- Thanks to Net speak, the term 'serious business' elicits giggles that confounds my conversation partner. Trufax. I had to explain to someone about the importance of the correct brand of toilet paper and he said not ironically, "This is serious business." I guffawed like a donkey on fire.

- Additionally, Zoolander made me forget that the correct term for 'investigatory journalist' is actually really 'investigative journalist'. The former came out in conversation the other day and I was completely stumped as to what the correct term was till Google informed me.

- Why is it that movies seem to run much longer than they really should these days? Indy Jones 4 was 2 hours and 2 minutes of total abomination and 21 could have been 21 times better if 21 minutes was cut from its total length of 2 hours and 3 minutes (clap, clap, clap). What happened to exercising some control in the editing room? Tighten up the script and cut the flab, script writers! Which leads me to my next thought.

- What could possibly go on in the Sex and the City movie to warrant a run time of 2 hours and 22 friggin' minutes?! I imagine the movie is made to stoke the fire of fangirls all across the nation but Christ on a stick, that's one long exercise in movie masturbation for a series that frankly wasn't all that good that people made it out to be.

- SatC is one of those things that people confess to liking as a guilty pleasure. Or if they like it, they'll say they like it best because of the strong friendship between the four leads or the fashion. Kind of like Gossip Girl. And how people only like it because of the relationships and wardrobe eye-candy. I have nothing else to add to this observation. I think there's something worth investigating there but it's not immediately obvious and I'm in a couldn't-be-arsed mood to think or formulate some kind of theory.

- There is this guy I know who I introduce as my cousin. We share the same last name and were born on the very same day a year apart. He too is a middle child and we both lack 20/20 vision. Character wise, we're as polar opposites as positive and negative come. One time, a mutual friend said, "Call your cousin to come out with us." And I was all, "What cousin?" I'm starting to forget which person I've told the lie too which is bad. We're now trying to push the fraternal twins angle because we roll that way. Stay tuned for more mischief and mayhem of the LAME-you're-the-only-one-laughing kind.

- I used to wonder why people believe the bullshit I make up. Every other person I meet I call cousin and depending on where people guess my (non)accent is from, I create a fake identity accordingly. Then I realized that it's because when we first meet people we take everything they say at face value. We don't stop to question their name and true identity because we assume they're telling the truth. This realization made me feel terrible for abusing people's trust, wonder how many people lie as well and what this compulsive lying says about my character. I think I'll stop lying when telling people that I'm Betty from a town called Riverdale, California stops being amusing. Which should be about, oh, never.

- A while ago I told Chaz that before I die, I would want to get blazed out of my mind with illegal substances so that I can experience the high without the consequences. Now, I think I'd be happy to go out in an edible orgy of egg-related food items. Bulls-eye, hardboiled, scrambled, hard boiled, cheese cakes, brownies, souffles, omelettes, chawan mushis... ahh. I'd be the most swollen and blotchy cremated body ever, but it would be complete and total eggstacy (clap).

Offline death in an online world.

When people die in real life, what happens to their online identity? I understand email accounts self-delete after a certain period of inactivity, but what about Facebook and Myspace accounts? If someone puts up a profile you on MyDeathSpace after your death, is that suppose to be enough to alert the online world about your demise? What happens to your eBay account if you have one? Especially if you were selling/bidding on things? And say you keep a blog? What happens to it?

I want to know the answers to these questions. I also want to know if it's considered too lame or of bad taste to engrave 'FAIL' or any of it's derivatives ('aboard the failboat'/'fail at life' etc) on a dead person's tombstone.

This post is dedicated to The Charmmeister

Otherwise titled, 'Boys who I think are hot but Charm does not, but let's dedicate this post to her anyway for shits and giggles.'

How can you not love a man who works the hell out of Blue Steel?
Although I suppose to be fair, I'm more in love with Dean Winchester than the actual Jensen Ackles. Which is why I think you must watch Supernatural. Seriously, Dean is the shiznit, Chaz. We're talking witty banter, (one) good looking brother, decent enough mythology and the icky-est fanfiction in the history of fan created fiction ever. Need I say more?


One of my best friend is infatuated with Mr Sturgess here. And he's lacking the double Xs in his chromosome buildup that you have, Chaz. Jim Sturgess is so adorable, he makes young golden retriever puppies cry. Trufax.


DJ/Producer extraordinaire: Mark Ronson. No need to know his music, just know he's adorable.
Honestly, this guy confuses me. Sometimes he looks super-diggly adorable like in this pic. And other times, he looks like this:


which isn't nearly half as interesting as the former. It's in pictures like this that you can finally see the resemblance to his twin sister, Samantha Ronson. So I suppose this guy's hotness is questionable.



If there's one good thing that came out of Iron Man, is the fact that the greater movie-going audience and Chaz is finally privy to the hotness and male perfection that is Robert Downey, Jr. He is one of the finest working actors in the industry and it's fantastic to see him get back on track after all that shenanigans with the illegal substances.



And you've made it very clear that you don't find Frank Iero in anyway relatable to the word 'cute'. But for chrissake's woman, HE'S HUGGING A GIGANTIC GREEN DINOSAUR AND LOOKING GLEEFUL ABOUT IT. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?!?!?

And finally, you've had to see this coming considering the recent discussions we've had about dazzle and sparkle. I'm going to illustrate to you why I think you too should be obsessed with Robert Pattinson, henceforth known as RPattz.

Look at that hair. Hardest working hair in Hollywood, I tell ya. Besides the fair that he's got the best hair I've ever seen on a guy, he also looks high as hell in 3/4 of the pictures that exist of him on the Internet. Observe Exhibit A:

So high, the Chicago Space Tower ain't got nothing on him.
and Exhibit B:


Yeah, maybe he doesn't look that high here. But take note of his outfit because you get to see it in it's entire glory in the next picture.

sparkles!!~~
Who wears a velvet jacket and leather pants to a premiere? Oh, I don't know. RPATTZ WOULD!


And any mere mortal would have looked horrible in that dazzling ensemble. But guess who ends up rocking the velvet/leather combo while looking really, really smarmy and hot? RPATTZ, THAT'S WHO.


See Dean Winchester (above) about hot guys rocking the Blue Steel look.

And when he cleans up,

So hot that the temperature meter system has been changed from Kelvin to RPattz

Oh hell yeah, he cleans up good. He also has a very versatile look, not necessarily always dazzling in the dreamboat kinda way.

Here's him being a (dreamy) nerd.


And him looking like a (dreamy) homeless person.


And him looking (dreamily) blazed out of his mind.


But seriously though, he's got such a great smile. And an even better side profile. Plus in pictures, he always looks like he's having fun (comes with being highhhhhh) so I imagine that in real life, he would be all sorts of dazzling.


Here's him in one of your favourite colours. See him here? Rocking the Mills&Boons romance book cover look. That's what we call versatility. Otherwise spelled as H-O-T.

So dear Chaz, this post is dedicated to you. Thank you for putting up with my childish ways, like tagging you on Facebook pictures when you're not even fucking in them, or hearing me ramble on about the best community on Livejournal, _twatlight, and entertaining SMSes that talk about bringing 'freedom' back to food. Also thank you for not judging me when I gulp down a jug of Coke and not smacking me in my face when I pimp you out to my other friends. Finally thank you for having such a high bullshit tolerance level and continuing to be my friend, although I have given you many reasons not to. You're the best. For your birthday this year, I'm giving you bacon and gaffer tape and a cookbook on cooking sous vide style.

Also, you should probably know that all the above italicized words are inside jokes at _twatlight. You have no idea how much fun I had making this post. Please join _twatlight already so I can stop giggling to myself while making blog posts that no one understands. If this plea isn't enough to move you, here's a macro that hopefully will.

All credits go to ink-faerie at _twatlight

Psst, I got sidetracked because of this.

Eugoogly: Mr Robbins of Baskin-Robbins

"Frankly, I never met a flavour I didn't like."
-Irvine Robbins, co-founder of Baskin-Robbins

via Baltimore Sun

Thank you for Jamoca Almond Fudge and Peanut Butter & Chocolate, sir. Your ice cream is really quite expensive but those two flavours make the five bucks go a long way in taste and quality.

[addendum]
This is post #200!

Links Almighty!

This is one of the funniest videos I've seen in a while.

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

CollegeHumor, I think, is fast becoming one of the best websites for producing good comedy on the Internet. The rest of the site may be more male-orientated with the running frat-boy theme amongst the articles and the pictures, but I'm particularly enamored by their original videos. It's a combination of having good writers, decent enough means of production ie. sound/video editing, photogenic crew (seriously, there is no unattractive person working there) and buckloads of creativity. Most of the people working there end up creating such fantastic on-line personas that I get curious enough to start finding more information by means of stalking them on their blogs and Flickr account. Thank goodness that most of them have utilized the powers of Web 2.0 that their company banks upon.

---

In unrelated news, visit Faildogs.com.



Proving that cats aren't the only animal in the animal kingdom who bring the massive FAILs.

Oh.

More, you say?








Although that last one doesn't actually have anything to do with the dog.

---

In even more unrelated news, I really like Mondays and Wednesdays because in the mornings, this really adorable guy from one of the meat shops at Victoria Market comes by to get coffee for his shop. Before I knew he existed, his elder brother came in, and even then I was already slightly perving. Since he looks almost exactly like his brother, it's much easier on my conscience to ogle at said guy. Oh, and he gives the most spastic winks. Whenever I greet him, he says hi and winks, and I have to stifle a smirk. He probably thinks I have a weird-ass cheek-biting condition that prevents me from meeting his eyes. But he's seriously spastic! His whole face contorts and I think both eyes actually close when the supposed wink happen but that just simply adds to his level of adorability. Naturally. Gotta love cute guys with spastic winks at 6 am in the morning.

Incoherency

- A weekend with the family at Queensland just isn't enough. My family is one of those disgustingly Brady-like family with weekends scheduled for 'family time'. And rage against it I may have once, but my stance changed after realizing that acting like an idiot negates my right of making fun of other (worser) idiots. This past weekend at Surfer's Paradise also marks the first time the 5 of us have been away together since 2003 with no possibility for a recurrence in the near future. Hence with the added momentum of the weekend away, it was especially hard to walk away from the embrace of the doofuses + Mum that make up the Wongs. Still, the world turns on its axis, and life moves on.

- I'm not prone to grand hyperbolic statements. So when I say that I believe Surfer's Paradise to be the arsehole of the universe, it probably is.

And yeah, it really, totally is.

- Over the weekend, I read this book below.

The book started out really well, laying out the historical evidence of cannibalism throughout the centuries. Covering most of the different historical periods from the early Egyptians to the current century, the different reasonings behind the act of consuming the flesh was examined. But then in choosing to devote the majority of the book to profiling different cannibals, the tone of the book went from BBC-History-Channel documentary to schlocky E!-True-Hollywood-Story exposé . The similarities between the psyche of these cannibals was very informative to the reader, however the in depth, and we're talking 'the-thighs-and-calves-make-for-the-best-meat' kind-of-depths detail, of the murders and actual consumption was a bit much to take. I suppose at the end of the day, that was partly why I bought the book anyway. I mean, one doesn't pick up a book titled 'Eat Thy Neighbour' expecting a story about Care Bears with the disposition of Elmo, right? I did feel really queasy after finishing the book, more queasy than I felt after watching movies of the supposed torture porn genre. But then I ended the night eating raw salmon fish, so there's that.

- This book I also read over the weekend.

I had been meaning to read the book after experiencing the massively insane fandom, so it was with much excitement that I started the book. Going into it, all I knew that it involved a love story between a human and a vampire who meet at high school. Before starting it, I gleaned off the paper that in the Top Five Best-Selling Australian Sci-Fi/Fantasy, this book and its consequent sequels scored #1, #4 and number #5 respectively. Which, frankly, is both ridiculous and spectacular enough to warrant disbelief and curiosity. I wanted to know what the hype was all about and why the people on the LiveJournal community I frequent applied the massive sparkle effects in posts. And oh boy is the reveal friggin' hilarious and so worth the read. Can I just admit right now that I am hopelessly addicted to ONTD?

Anyway, the book as a whole makes for an entertaining read. Personally, I have found another to be more superior when it comes to the Young Adult fantasy/romance fiction genre that Stephanie Meyers based her book upon. And I think the comparisons between Harry Potter and this book is completely unfounded, especially with the existence of the Night World series. Twilight was great at the start as the tension between the two protagonists build, but past the reveal and the common understanding, the story moves toward the kind of fluff that serves to whet the emotions and fire of dedicated fans. It's all dreamy prose of everlasting love, wants, needs and haves that defies reason. Which, you know, isn't bad, but pales in comparison to the other author my allegiance lies with, because she at least doesn't let the story degenerate into fluffy fanfiction.

- I sound really obsessive about Night World but that probably is because I am.

- If I could go back to Twilight for a bit though; after completing the book, I'm not sure that it will translate well to the film medium. There are only so many things CGI can do, but if and when the SPARKLE happens (sniggers), the film could potentially degenerate into one long LOL-lercoaster ride. I suppose I'm only expressing this issue because ONTD has ruined me.

- I've had the startling realization that James McAvoy is in fact, a Scottish version of Diego Luna! Or perhaps, Diego Luna a Mexican version of McAvoy? The point is besides both actors bearing a resemblance to each other, both are also incredibly talented and are slowly getting the limelight they deserve. They both have a very alluring appeal that isn't immediately obvious at first glance. And superficially, what they lack in height, they make up for in hotness. You heard it here first!

S-M-R-T

Is it worser to know what you want to do with your life or haven't the foggiest idea at all?

I imagine a lot of people would say the latter. I have found that people, especially young adults in their early 20s, are often rather envious of those who have a general direction of how their life would like to turn out. And when I say general, I don't mean, "Work for the man, eat, shit, maybe have sex a couple of times then die."

I mean, "Work for X Company". Or "start up my own company". Or even "get married by X and pop out a kid by X". These kind of guidelines that we run our lives by, ever charging towards attaining the goal is what I mean when I say direction. Unlike the panic attacks that go hand in hand with the latter group, this group knows what they want and (I assume) will work hard towards achieving it.

Personally, I belong in the first group. To put it plainly, I've got a five year plan worked out in my head. The timeline isn't set in stone, but it's safe to say I know what I want to achieve in the near future. Sounds great, right? I suppose on paper it does. I'm pretty sure a representative in the other camp would ask me to sit the fuck down and shut up while they panic about their life choices. Honestly though, it's scary as hell knowing what you want. Equally as scary not knowing, I'm willing to bet.

When you don't know what you want, all your cards, the might-bes, the will-bes, the would-have-beens, are all laid out for you. It's a matter of selecting a couple and narrowing it down to one. You don't stand to lose anything because your choices are still open. On the other hand, you've got everything to lose when you have a plan.

If you fall along the way, BAM, it's 'where the hell did I go wrong?'. If for some reason outside your control you don't get what you want, BAM, it's 'what if I did things differently?. But worst, if you put all your energy and effort and power in succeeding and you still fail, it's, BAM, disappointment of the most bitter 'holy fuck, what do I do know' kind. You're back to square one but with the added knowledge that you've failed before. Taking the building blocks one at a time won't be as easy this time round cause you're going to be second guessing yourself every way through and every big decision will be filled with doublethink (not of the Orwellian kind), trepadition and fear.

Deep down we're all afraid, man. All our actions are a reaction to that innate sense of fear we're all afflicted with. That fear manifests itself throughout our life from epic decisions to minute ones. We work because we fear poverty. We have pets because we fear loneliness. We (attempt to) live our lives to the fullest because we fear that when death comes for us, we'll reflect on the life we've led and go, "If only". But then I'm getting off tangent. Let's go back to the original point.

I can't say who has the bigger claim on that fear. It's not my place and well, I'm sure not there are some people reading this going, "Karen, you just ripped off Donnie Darko's love-fear Lifeline idea", which coincidentally, is a movie I absolutely detest for the simple reason that it's honestly a crap script sold as an existential-like take on mortality sold to the hipper-than-MTV niche of our generation while Gary Jule's 'Mad World' wraps up the trite package. Although I guess if there was anything good that came out of that whole junk was that Lifeline idea and Maggie Gyllenhaal. But then I'm getting off tangent again. Let's retrace our steps yet again.

Like Donnie says, "Everything can't be lumped into two categories. That's too simple." Which I accept and understand and actually agree with. It is rather simple, but then I've always said life is actually a lot simpler than what we make of it. Whether you agree, disagree or feel nothing about this post, it's okay. Just remember that this is one inconsequential word vomit of just one of billions of blogs on the Interwebs.

I'll end with this; beware the next person who tells me I'm so lucky I know what I want to do with my life for I will ask him/her to sit the fuck down and shut up.

Breaking the bank.

I just spend close to $500 on polaroid film from eBay.
I recently bought three CDs.
And I still need to buy new batteries for my CD player.
I bought a film camera just last month.
To use the film that I bought from New Zealand at the start of the year.

Would that I could get over my infatuation with lo-fi technology. Maybe that money can be funneled towards better opportunities.

However, I have very strongly embraced the ordering-food-online movement.

'Sup, Dominos?

Bolded = truths

It's like updating, but without the typing and thinking of new stuff to write about!

Appearance
I am shorter than 5'4".
I think I'm ugly sometimes. - is that egotistical not bolding that? (I've got a lot of self-confidence.)
I have many scars.
I tan easily.
I wish my hair was a different color.
I have friends who have never seen my natural hair color.
I have a tattoo.
I am self-conscious about my appearance.
I have/had braces.
I wear glasses.
I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free.
I've been told I'm attractive by a complete stranger.
I have more than 2 piercings.
I have piercings in places besides my ears. - had/going to.
I have freckles.

Family/Home Life
I've sworn at my parents.
I've run away from home.
I've been kicked out of the house.
My biological parents are together.
I have a sibling less than one year old.
I want to have kids someday.
I've had children.
I've lost a child.

School/Work
I'm in school.
I have a job.
I've fallen asleep at work/school.
I almost always do my homework.
I've missed a week or more of school.
I've been on the Honor Roll.
Within the last 2 years I failed more than 1 class.
I've stolen something from my job.
I've been fired.
I've skipped school.

Embarrassment
I've slipped out a "lol" in a spoken conversation.
Disney movies still make me cry.
I've peed from laughing.
I've snorted while laughing.
I've laughed so hard I've cried.
I've glued my hand to something.
I've had my pants rip in public.

Traveling
I've driven over 200 miles in one day.
I've been on a plane.
I've been to Canada.
I've been to Mexico.
I've been to Niagara Falls.
I've been to Japan.
I've Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
I've been to Europe.
I've been to Africa.

Experiences
I've gotten lost in my city.
I've seen a shooting star.
I've wished on a shooting star.
I've seen a meteor shower.
I've gone out in public in my pajamas.
I've pushed all the buttons on an elevator.
I've kicked a guy where it hurts.
I've been to a casino.
I've been skydiving.
I've been an abuse victim. - by the hands of one manager from Maccas, hell yeah
I've gone skinny dipping.
I've played spin the bottle.
I've drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour.
I've crashed a car.
I've been skiing.
I've been in a play.
I've met someone in person from the internet.
I've caught a snowflake on my tongue.
I've seen the Northern Lights.
I've sat on a roof top at night.
I've played chicken.
I've played a prank on someone.
I've ridden in a taxi.
I've seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I've eaten sushi.
I've been snowboarding.

Relationships
I'm single.
I'm in a relationship.
I'm engaged.
I'm married.
I've had someone cheat on me.
I've gone on a blind date.
I've been the dumpee more than the dumper.
I miss someone right now.
I have a fear of commitment.
I have a fear of abandonment.
I've cheated in a relationship.
I've gotten divorced.
I've had feelings for someone who didn't have them back.
I've told someone I loved them when I didn't.
I've told someone I didn't love them when I did.
I've kept something from a past relationship.

Sexuality
I've had a crush on someone of the same sex.
I've had a crush on a teacher.
I love to flirt.
I've been kissed in the rain.
I've hugged a stranger.

Honesty/Crime
I am a terrible liar.
I've done something I promised someone else I wouldn't.
I've done something I promised myself I wouldn't.
I've snuck out of my house.
I have lied to my parents about where I am.
I am keeping a secret from the world.
I've cheated while playing a game.
I've cheated on a test.
I've run a red light.
I've been suspended from school.
I've witnessed a crime.
I've been in a fist fight.
I've been arrested.
I've shoplifted.

Drugs/Alcohol
I've consumed alcohol.
I regularly drink.
I've passed out from drinking.
I have passed out drunk at least once in the past 6 months.
I've smoked weed.
I've taken painkillers when I didn't need them.
I'm a stoner.
I've snorted cocaine.
I've eaten shrooms.
I've popped E.
I've done hard drugs.
I have cough drops when I'm not sick.
I can't swallow pills.
I can swallow about 5 pills at a time no problem.
I have been diagnosed with clinical depression.
I shut others out when I'm depressed.
I take anti-depressants.
I'm anorexic or bulimic.
I've slept an entire day when I didn't need it.
I'm addicted to self harm.
I've woken up crying.
I've cried myself to sleep.
I see a therapist.

Death and Suicide
I'm afraid of dying.
I hate funerals.
I've seen someone dying.
Someone close to me has attempted suicide.
Someone close to me has committed suicide.
I've attempted suicide.
I've written a eulogy for myself

Materialism
I own over 5 rap CDs.
I own an iPod or MP3 player.
I have an unhealthy obsession with anime/manga.
I own multiple designer purses, costing over $100 a piece.
I own something from Hot Topic.
I own something from Pac Sun.
I collect comic books.
I own something from The Gap.
I own something I got on e-bay.
I own something from Abercrombie.

Political/Social Attitudes
In general, I don't like people.
I'm a feminist.
I'm outgoing.
I listen to political music.
I'm Democratic.
I'm Republican.
I'm liberal.
I don't like Bush because he is dumb.
I don't like Bush with my own reasons to back it up.
I am for Bush.
I'm religious.
I dress fairly modestly.
My attitude is, "If you've got it, flaunt it."

Random
I can sing well.
I've stolen a tray from a fast food restaurant.
I open up to others easily.
I watch the news.
I don't kill bugs.
I hate hearing songs that sacrifice meaning for the sake of being able to rhyme.
I curse regularly.
I sing in the shower.
I am a morning person.
I paid for my cell phone ring tone.
I'm a snob about grammar.
I am a sports fanatic.
I twirl my hair.
I have "x"s in my screen name.
I love being neat.
I love Spam.
I've copied more than 30 CD's in a day.
I bake well.
My favorite color is either white, yellow, pink, red or blue.
I would wear pajamas to school.
I like Martha Stewart.
I know how to shoot a gun.
I am in love with love.
I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS.
I laugh at my own jokes.
I eat fast food weekly.
I believe in ghosts.
I am online 24/7, even as an away message.
I've not turned anything in and still got an A in a certain class.
I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room.
I am really ticklish.
I love white chocolate.
I bite my nails.
I play video games.
I'm good at remembering faces.
I'm good at remembering names.
I'm good at remembering dates.
I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.

Short recap

It started with me completing my tutorial readings for a debate that I have to prepare for next week.

Then I trawled the Interwebs for further information. "Control yourself" was the mantra in my head as I logged online.

It went smoothly at first. I found a lot of articles that could help my case in the debate. I was feeling good about everything. I decided to take a break and oh, what a mistake it was!

On LiveJournal, I exchanged comments with a friend about Mac-wankerists (verdict: the bane of modern society) and mobile phones.

I felt compelled to hit up CNet to check up the specs of the Hip Top 2/Sidekick 2 that my inner thirteen year old wants to own.

And then got sidetracked reading about the Creative Zen Stone Plus With Speakers, which by the way is the actual name for the new MP3 player with in-built speakers, if that wasn't obvious enough.

Which made me realize how I was obsessed with the Samsung YP-K5 last year. That and the Microsoft Zune were the only MP3 players I'd be interested in purchasing then. Course we all know how Zune fared, so my interest died a lot.

Next, just to satisfy my curiosity, I went to good ol' eBay to suss out the prices of the Creative and Samsung MP3 players. And whatdayaknow, they're both actually in my price range!

So now, I end the night wondering where that control went and if I really will be fulfilling a long-time desire and obsession. As I attempt to sleep later, I will reflect on my addiction to eBay and ponder on it's ramifications. If I have my way, in a week, Death Cab will play from built-in speakers while I chew on those pesky thoughts.

And then there were three.

Faust: Love of the Damned is now the third movie I've turned off in my adventures in cinema-land. The first two are here. The movie is quite possibly the worst graphic novel/comic adaptation I've had the displeasure of sitting down to. That being said I haven't actually seen Fantastic Four 2.

I only sat through Gerry because the appeal of Casey Affleck was too much to deny and I had a remote control. I fast forwarded my through the film, gorgeous cinematography, be damned! That movie was such a waste of film. Experimental movies aren't just my cup of tea.

This will possibly hurt my street cred (watch me pop 'n' lock, bitch) but I've been itching to watch Step Up 2 since principle casting was finalized. Robert Hoffman, as the male lead in any dance-themed movie will be highly energetic and no doubt equate to jaw-dropping entertainment. Sure, it won't be cinematic poetry or brimming with verbose dialogue, but nobody goes in a dance movie expecting a Woody Allen flick, am I right?



And that is why I have no fear that Hoffman will be worth my nine dollar ticket. Oh, he'll step up too alright.

Too punny?